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"And don't give the devil an opportunity" (Ephesians 4:27)
"Cut me some slack!" How many times have you ever heard that, beloved, or even said it yourself? One early use of this term was by mountain climbers who used ropes for ascending and descending heights. Sometimes when roped together, one climber might need some space to move around or reach another level, so would say to the one controlling from above or below: "Cut me some slack!"
Metaphorically, then, the term has come to mean to give space for something. Here in the words of the Apostle Paul to the believers in the city of Ephesus, we find him writing to them about the importance of not giving way to unrighteous anger in their daily living. To that end, he cautioned them against unwittingly "giving the devil an opportunity" in their lives. The word translated "opportunity" is the Greek topos from which we derive our English word "topography." The word literally means "a place" and has been applied by Dr. Spiros Zodhiates as used here by Paul to mean "to give place to" or more simply "to make room."
Whenever we do not follow the leading of God's Spirit and live by His Word, beloved, we unintentionally "make room" for Satan to operate in our lives. I have heard it used to mean giving the devil room to operate. That is an excellent translation and is the intended meaning here by the apostle. He was warning the Ephesian saints not to make room for the devil in their living, not to "cut him some slack" and, thus, room to move about. So how do we as Christians make sure that we do not ever give the devil any room to operate in our lives, no opportunities to work against the plan and purpose of God? Consider what this same apostle wrote to the believers in Philippi about guarding themselves spiritually:
"Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these things" (Philippians 4:8)
As followers of Jesus Christ, we do not ever "back off and cut some slack" to the devil! We need to set our minds and hearts on the things that Paul mentioned to the saints in Philippi, beloved, to guard our thoughts and our hearts from Satan's ever-vigilant efforts to worm his way in and lead us astray. Whether it is unrighteous anger or the physical enticements of this lost and condemned world-system, we who are Christians need to post "No Trespassing!" signs around our lives and be always alert for the devil's attempts to invade our holy living and lead us astray.
Don't give the devil an opportunity! Stay in constant touch with the indwelling Spirit of God and allow Him to control every thought, word, and deed. Practice the Lordship of Jesus Christ, beloved, and Satan will never be able to mount an offensive that will steal you away from the One who rightfully rules in your life.
Ron
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Thursday, September 9, 2010
I Have to Give Thanks for What?
"Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus" (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)
Here we go again, everyone! One more time back to the well of the Word in a glorious howbeit brief challenge from the heart of the Apostle Paul! And this time we encounter an issue over which much confusion seems to have reigned within the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. Are we really supposed to give thanks when bad stuff happens to us?
D. Edmond Hiebert has labeled Paul's exhortation here "a startling injunction." For many believers it is more of a "struggling" injunction, one in which they have assumed that they are expected by God to quite literally give thanks for everything that comes along, no matter how painful or heartbreaking it might be. What we discover, however, is that it is in coming to better understand the qualifying term "in everything" that the cloud of confusion is lifted and our muddled thinking and erroneous conclusions are cleared up. The Greek preposition en ("in") points to the actual circumstances in which we find ourselves when called upon to be thankful. I prefer the translation "in connection with everything" when it comes to understanding just what the apostle is saying. Very simply, beloved, Paul was not exhorting the Thessalonian believers to give thanks "for" every circumstance that they encountered, but rather "in the midst of" those circumstances.
And how is it possible for us to be truly thankful whenever we face mountainous obstacles in life that threaten our peace of heart and mind? I can almost hear someone somewhere saying, "You just have no idea what I have been through!" Nor is what the apostle is saying here trying to minimize anyone's suffering, beloved. What his exhortation seeks to do is to draw our attention away from staring at the particular issue we face, like Peter on the water not looking at the waves but at Jesus, and onto the glorious promise of God concerning whatever it is that we face:
"And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose" (Romans 8:28)
So it will not be in the removal of the particular trial of life that we will find the ability to give thanks, beloved, but rather in the realization that, whatever it is, God is at work in and through it for our good and for His ultimate glory. As Hiebert has so wonderfully written about such a prospect:
"When we realize that God works all things out for good to those who love Him and are yielded to His will, thanksgiving under all circumstances becomes a glorious possibility" (The Thessalonian Epistles, p.242)
Genuine gratitude is the response of the redeemed heart, then, to the realization that God is in control and is working through all of life for our good and His glory. Be thankful in everything, beloved! A wondering world is watching.
Ron
Here we go again, everyone! One more time back to the well of the Word in a glorious howbeit brief challenge from the heart of the Apostle Paul! And this time we encounter an issue over which much confusion seems to have reigned within the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. Are we really supposed to give thanks when bad stuff happens to us?
D. Edmond Hiebert has labeled Paul's exhortation here "a startling injunction." For many believers it is more of a "struggling" injunction, one in which they have assumed that they are expected by God to quite literally give thanks for everything that comes along, no matter how painful or heartbreaking it might be. What we discover, however, is that it is in coming to better understand the qualifying term "in everything" that the cloud of confusion is lifted and our muddled thinking and erroneous conclusions are cleared up. The Greek preposition en ("in") points to the actual circumstances in which we find ourselves when called upon to be thankful. I prefer the translation "in connection with everything" when it comes to understanding just what the apostle is saying. Very simply, beloved, Paul was not exhorting the Thessalonian believers to give thanks "for" every circumstance that they encountered, but rather "in the midst of" those circumstances.
And how is it possible for us to be truly thankful whenever we face mountainous obstacles in life that threaten our peace of heart and mind? I can almost hear someone somewhere saying, "You just have no idea what I have been through!" Nor is what the apostle is saying here trying to minimize anyone's suffering, beloved. What his exhortation seeks to do is to draw our attention away from staring at the particular issue we face, like Peter on the water not looking at the waves but at Jesus, and onto the glorious promise of God concerning whatever it is that we face:
"And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose" (Romans 8:28)
So it will not be in the removal of the particular trial of life that we will find the ability to give thanks, beloved, but rather in the realization that, whatever it is, God is at work in and through it for our good and for His ultimate glory. As Hiebert has so wonderfully written about such a prospect:
"When we realize that God works all things out for good to those who love Him and are yielded to His will, thanksgiving under all circumstances becomes a glorious possibility" (The Thessalonian Epistles, p.242)
Genuine gratitude is the response of the redeemed heart, then, to the realization that God is in control and is working through all of life for our good and His glory. Be thankful in everything, beloved! A wondering world is watching.
Ron
Thursday, September 2, 2010
White Knuckles on the Back of the Pew
"And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew dialect, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads'" (Acts 26:14)
We've all seen it, beloved, if we've ever stood next to anyone in church during the altar call. You can always tell those with whom the Spirit of God may be dealing because they develop a syndrome that evangelists from my boyhood days used to call "white knuckles." The term came from the practice of gripping the pew in front of you while you listened to the preacher's invitation for you to make a decision for Christ. Usually those "white knuckles" indicated that you were doing your best not to step out and yield yourself to His will for your life!
Did you know that Saul of Tarsus himself experienced his own version of "white knuckles on the back of the pew," beloved? When Jesus knocked him to the ground on the Damascus road, Paul later reported that the Master said to him, 'It is hard for you to kick against the goads." A "goad" was a stick sharpened on one end and often covered with metal. The animal driver would walk beside the ox and would as needed "jab" the hapless animal in the rump if he should slow down or refuse to pull the load. To "kick against the goads," then, was the action of that stubborn animal continually refusing to yield to it and just do the work he was set into the traces to do.
So what did Jesus mean when He addressed these words intended for animals to a man, to Saul of Tarsus? For the one who does not have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, it refers primarily to resisting the prompting of the Holy Spirit to walk the path that leads to redemption. Saul thought that he was on the way to Damascus to arrest more Christians and hopefully to bring to an end fledgling Christianity, but God had put him on that road for an entirely different reason. Saul was on the Damascus road to meet Jesus Christ face to face! The Spirit of God had clearly been at work in this man's heart for some time, yet he continued every day to "kick against the goads." It was only when God put him on his face with a mouthful of dust that Saul relented and asked (Acts 22:10), "What shall I do, Lord?" And the rest, as they say, is history!
For you and me today as followers of Jesus Christ, beloved, to "kick against the goads" is to resist the leading of the Holy Spirit in our lives in any way whatsoever. It is to grip the back of the pew so hard that our knuckles turn white as we choose for ourselves and refuse to bend our will to His divine purpose. It is, finally, to refuse to the Lord Jesus Christ the sovereign right that He has to rule over us. For so many professing Christians today, then, to be "saved" means little more than that they are forgiven and on their way to heaven, but that in the meantime they are free to go their own way, make their own choices, and do their own thing. It is to them as if God has saved them, patted them on the head like good little children, and then sent them out into the "backyard" of this world to play until He calls them for supper - the marriage supper of the Lamb!
The stubborn ox of Paul's day found life so much easier when he simply accepted his place in the traces and carried out what his master had given to him to do. He avoided the painful "goad" when he chose to do things his master's way! And much more like that stubborn ox than we care to admit, we too find that life is not only so much better, but that we are far more effective in living for Christ whenever we too "accept the traces" of His Lordship over us. Does God carry a big "goad"? You bet! And He is not afraid to use it when we force His hand.
"All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it produces the peaceful fruit of righteousness" (Hebrews 12:11)
So it is hard for us to kick against the goads! And it is pointless as well. It accomplishes nothing in our lives but to cause us to get in God's way and to endanger our walk with Him and to hinder His kingdom's purpose in and through our lives. Look down at your hands right now, beloved. See any "white knuckles"? Let go! Learn to simply yield yourself to the Master's gentle hand and go wherever He leads.
Ron
We've all seen it, beloved, if we've ever stood next to anyone in church during the altar call. You can always tell those with whom the Spirit of God may be dealing because they develop a syndrome that evangelists from my boyhood days used to call "white knuckles." The term came from the practice of gripping the pew in front of you while you listened to the preacher's invitation for you to make a decision for Christ. Usually those "white knuckles" indicated that you were doing your best not to step out and yield yourself to His will for your life!
Did you know that Saul of Tarsus himself experienced his own version of "white knuckles on the back of the pew," beloved? When Jesus knocked him to the ground on the Damascus road, Paul later reported that the Master said to him, 'It is hard for you to kick against the goads." A "goad" was a stick sharpened on one end and often covered with metal. The animal driver would walk beside the ox and would as needed "jab" the hapless animal in the rump if he should slow down or refuse to pull the load. To "kick against the goads," then, was the action of that stubborn animal continually refusing to yield to it and just do the work he was set into the traces to do.
So what did Jesus mean when He addressed these words intended for animals to a man, to Saul of Tarsus? For the one who does not have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, it refers primarily to resisting the prompting of the Holy Spirit to walk the path that leads to redemption. Saul thought that he was on the way to Damascus to arrest more Christians and hopefully to bring to an end fledgling Christianity, but God had put him on that road for an entirely different reason. Saul was on the Damascus road to meet Jesus Christ face to face! The Spirit of God had clearly been at work in this man's heart for some time, yet he continued every day to "kick against the goads." It was only when God put him on his face with a mouthful of dust that Saul relented and asked (Acts 22:10), "What shall I do, Lord?" And the rest, as they say, is history!
For you and me today as followers of Jesus Christ, beloved, to "kick against the goads" is to resist the leading of the Holy Spirit in our lives in any way whatsoever. It is to grip the back of the pew so hard that our knuckles turn white as we choose for ourselves and refuse to bend our will to His divine purpose. It is, finally, to refuse to the Lord Jesus Christ the sovereign right that He has to rule over us. For so many professing Christians today, then, to be "saved" means little more than that they are forgiven and on their way to heaven, but that in the meantime they are free to go their own way, make their own choices, and do their own thing. It is to them as if God has saved them, patted them on the head like good little children, and then sent them out into the "backyard" of this world to play until He calls them for supper - the marriage supper of the Lamb!
The stubborn ox of Paul's day found life so much easier when he simply accepted his place in the traces and carried out what his master had given to him to do. He avoided the painful "goad" when he chose to do things his master's way! And much more like that stubborn ox than we care to admit, we too find that life is not only so much better, but that we are far more effective in living for Christ whenever we too "accept the traces" of His Lordship over us. Does God carry a big "goad"? You bet! And He is not afraid to use it when we force His hand.
"All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it produces the peaceful fruit of righteousness" (Hebrews 12:11)
So it is hard for us to kick against the goads! And it is pointless as well. It accomplishes nothing in our lives but to cause us to get in God's way and to endanger our walk with Him and to hinder His kingdom's purpose in and through our lives. Look down at your hands right now, beloved. See any "white knuckles"? Let go! Learn to simply yield yourself to the Master's gentle hand and go wherever He leads.
Ron
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Am I Really Supposed to Pray All the Time?
"Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus" (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)
I want to take you back to that same passage we were considering the week before last, beloved ("Does God Want Me to be Happy?"), and ask the question often posed: "Does God really expect me to pray all the time?" Here the Greek verb proseuchomai is very general, referring to all forms of prayer into which we as believers may enter at any time. The apostle's focus is clearly more upon the reverential "attitude" of the believer in prayer than the type or details of any particular prayer. Very simply, it must become our prevailing attitude toward and approach to God in prayer that is to be our continual practice.
Furthermore, the Greek adverb adialeiptos means literally "without ceasing" and is what makes Paul's command to pray so compelling for us as Christians. The command, however, is not that we should prevail in the practice of prayer every moment of every day. The apostle is not calling us to enter into a perpetual prayer meeting! Rather he is exhorting every believer to seize every opportunity to pray as it might be presented to us by the indwelling Spirit of God. Dr. Spiros Zodhiates agreed when he wrote:
"In 1 Thess. 5:17, we find Paul's injunction to incessantly pray, which means to pray every time an opportunity presents itself and to be in a constant attitude of dependence upon God" (The Complete Word Study Dictionary, p.82)
Thus, it is clearly more toward the believer's attitude of prayer that the apostle here turns our attention, beloved. As D. Edmond Hiebert put it:
"In the Christian life the act of prayer is intermittent but the spirit of prayer should be incessant" (The Thessalonian Epistles, p.241)
Prayer is the one resource, then, to which we can and should turn immediately whenever the need arises. It should be the atmosphere of our living, the battleground of our spiritual warfare. So closely to the act of prayer should we walk every moment that we are never any farther from it than the effort it takes to call upon the Lord. We should remove from it any and all religious vestiges that might cause us to think of it as solely or even primarily belonging to the church sanctuary or to the structured service of worship as it appears in the church bulletin. Prayer is at its most basic level communication with God, beloved, such communication as is natural and flowing and the healthy response of the human spirit to the moment by moment prompting of the Spirit within.
Am I really supposed to pray all the time? No. Am I ever to be in the spirit and attitude of prayer? Absolutely! Don't make God have to "chase you down" and bring back to your mind the need for prayer, beloved. Stay close to it! Breathe it in as you walk in fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ. As you do, the promise of the Apostle James to the first century church will become a living reality in your life as well:
"The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much" (James 5:16b)
Ron
I want to take you back to that same passage we were considering the week before last, beloved ("Does God Want Me to be Happy?"), and ask the question often posed: "Does God really expect me to pray all the time?" Here the Greek verb proseuchomai is very general, referring to all forms of prayer into which we as believers may enter at any time. The apostle's focus is clearly more upon the reverential "attitude" of the believer in prayer than the type or details of any particular prayer. Very simply, it must become our prevailing attitude toward and approach to God in prayer that is to be our continual practice.
Furthermore, the Greek adverb adialeiptos means literally "without ceasing" and is what makes Paul's command to pray so compelling for us as Christians. The command, however, is not that we should prevail in the practice of prayer every moment of every day. The apostle is not calling us to enter into a perpetual prayer meeting! Rather he is exhorting every believer to seize every opportunity to pray as it might be presented to us by the indwelling Spirit of God. Dr. Spiros Zodhiates agreed when he wrote:
"In 1 Thess. 5:17, we find Paul's injunction to incessantly pray, which means to pray every time an opportunity presents itself and to be in a constant attitude of dependence upon God" (The Complete Word Study Dictionary, p.82)
Thus, it is clearly more toward the believer's attitude of prayer that the apostle here turns our attention, beloved. As D. Edmond Hiebert put it:
"In the Christian life the act of prayer is intermittent but the spirit of prayer should be incessant" (The Thessalonian Epistles, p.241)
Prayer is the one resource, then, to which we can and should turn immediately whenever the need arises. It should be the atmosphere of our living, the battleground of our spiritual warfare. So closely to the act of prayer should we walk every moment that we are never any farther from it than the effort it takes to call upon the Lord. We should remove from it any and all religious vestiges that might cause us to think of it as solely or even primarily belonging to the church sanctuary or to the structured service of worship as it appears in the church bulletin. Prayer is at its most basic level communication with God, beloved, such communication as is natural and flowing and the healthy response of the human spirit to the moment by moment prompting of the Spirit within.
Am I really supposed to pray all the time? No. Am I ever to be in the spirit and attitude of prayer? Absolutely! Don't make God have to "chase you down" and bring back to your mind the need for prayer, beloved. Stay close to it! Breathe it in as you walk in fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ. As you do, the promise of the Apostle James to the first century church will become a living reality in your life as well:
"The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much" (James 5:16b)
Ron
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Grace for a Dead Dog
"Again he prostrated himself and said, 'What is your servant, that you should regard a dead dog like me?'" (2 Samuel 9:8)
Now I'll be the first to admit that the image of a "dead dog" is not a very palatable picture to bring to your minds, beloved! But there really is nothing else that I can use to make the glorious point that we find here in the words of Mephibosheth, son of Jonathan, to David, king of Israel. So why did this grown son of David's best friend refer to himself in such a manner? And what can we learn about the grace of God from what transpired between the king and the son of his dearest friend?
The reason why Mephibosheth called himself a "dead dog" when lying prostrate before King David we find in the closing words of this chapter - "Now he was lame in both feet." Mephibosheth had been dropped by his nurse when she had learned of the deaths of Jonathan and Saul and that fall had left him permanently crippled (4:4). To Mephibosheth, then, he was about as good as a "dead dog"!
In this chapter we discover a marvelous picture of God's love for us as sinners, of His unmerited favor shown to us in Jesus Christ. David owed the house of Saul absolutely nothing, yet he chose to show favor to the grandson of the former king because of his love for Jonathan. Did you know that what God has done for us He has done because of who Jesus Christ is and because of His love for Him?
And where was Mephibosheth finally located? He was found in a place called "Lo-debar" whose name loosely translated means "desert place" or "wasteland." Where did Jesus Christ find us but lost in the domain of darkness and of sin? And from that domain He called us in love, much like the way that David sent for Mephibosheth and had him ushered into his royal presence.
What did David do for this helpless cripple once he had him lying prostrate before him? He chose to restore to him all that his grandfather had possessed and to make it his own. Though it rightly belonged to David as king, he willingly chose to give it to Mephibosheth and his family. In the same way God has made us "heirs" of all that is His and "fellow heirs" with the Lord Jesus Christ. We are forever part of God's family and it is all because of His decision to extend that gracious invitation to each one of us.
Finally, David invited Mephibosheth to dine permanently at the king's table as one of his own sons. He was made to become a member of the royal family! He who had been eking out a living in Lo-debar with no future and no hope from that moment on sat at the king's table under the king's loving and watchful eye, belonging there as surely as if he had been David's own biological son. You and I do not deserve what God has done for us in Christ, beloved, but we most certainly do belong at God's table! One day we shall sit down with the Lord Jesus Christ at the marriage supper of the Lamb. What a glorious day that will be!
This ninth chapter closes with the reminder concerning Mephibosheth that "he was lame in both feet." Perhaps those words bringing this paragraph to a close serve as a wonderful reminder for you and me that, in and of ourselves, we too are each a "dead dog" spiritually. We are all "lame in both feet"! And as we remember that fact as we live from day to day, perhaps we will better and more faithfully give God all the glory for His amazing grace so undeserved by us, yet so full and rich and free in our lives.
Ron
Now I'll be the first to admit that the image of a "dead dog" is not a very palatable picture to bring to your minds, beloved! But there really is nothing else that I can use to make the glorious point that we find here in the words of Mephibosheth, son of Jonathan, to David, king of Israel. So why did this grown son of David's best friend refer to himself in such a manner? And what can we learn about the grace of God from what transpired between the king and the son of his dearest friend?
The reason why Mephibosheth called himself a "dead dog" when lying prostrate before King David we find in the closing words of this chapter - "Now he was lame in both feet." Mephibosheth had been dropped by his nurse when she had learned of the deaths of Jonathan and Saul and that fall had left him permanently crippled (4:4). To Mephibosheth, then, he was about as good as a "dead dog"!
In this chapter we discover a marvelous picture of God's love for us as sinners, of His unmerited favor shown to us in Jesus Christ. David owed the house of Saul absolutely nothing, yet he chose to show favor to the grandson of the former king because of his love for Jonathan. Did you know that what God has done for us He has done because of who Jesus Christ is and because of His love for Him?
And where was Mephibosheth finally located? He was found in a place called "Lo-debar" whose name loosely translated means "desert place" or "wasteland." Where did Jesus Christ find us but lost in the domain of darkness and of sin? And from that domain He called us in love, much like the way that David sent for Mephibosheth and had him ushered into his royal presence.
What did David do for this helpless cripple once he had him lying prostrate before him? He chose to restore to him all that his grandfather had possessed and to make it his own. Though it rightly belonged to David as king, he willingly chose to give it to Mephibosheth and his family. In the same way God has made us "heirs" of all that is His and "fellow heirs" with the Lord Jesus Christ. We are forever part of God's family and it is all because of His decision to extend that gracious invitation to each one of us.
Finally, David invited Mephibosheth to dine permanently at the king's table as one of his own sons. He was made to become a member of the royal family! He who had been eking out a living in Lo-debar with no future and no hope from that moment on sat at the king's table under the king's loving and watchful eye, belonging there as surely as if he had been David's own biological son. You and I do not deserve what God has done for us in Christ, beloved, but we most certainly do belong at God's table! One day we shall sit down with the Lord Jesus Christ at the marriage supper of the Lamb. What a glorious day that will be!
This ninth chapter closes with the reminder concerning Mephibosheth that "he was lame in both feet." Perhaps those words bringing this paragraph to a close serve as a wonderful reminder for you and me that, in and of ourselves, we too are each a "dead dog" spiritually. We are all "lame in both feet"! And as we remember that fact as we live from day to day, perhaps we will better and more faithfully give God all the glory for His amazing grace so undeserved by us, yet so full and rich and free in our lives.
Ron
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