Look at Me! I'm Holy!

 Heart to Heart from the Housewrights

Honor the LORD, you heavenly beings; honor the LORD for his glory and strength. Honor the LORD for the glory of his name. Worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness. The voice of the LORD echoes above the sea. The God of glory thunders. The LORD thunders over the mighty sea. The voice of the LORD is powerful; the voice of the LORD is majestic. The voice of the LORD splits the mighty cedars; the LORD shatters the cedars of Lebanon. He makes Lebanon’s mountains skip like a calf; he makes Mount Hermon leap like a young wild ox. The voice of the LORD strikes with bolts of lightning. The voice of the LORD makes the barren wilderness quake; the LORD shakes the wilderness of Kadesh. The voice of the LORD twists mighty oaks and strips the forests bare. In his Temple everyone shouts, “Glory!” The LORD rules over the floodwaters. The LORD reigns as king forever. The LORD gives his people strength. The LORD blesses them with peace. 

Psalm 29 (NLT)

This morning, Missy and I were reading Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest. Such deep and thoughtful readings…

Today’s entry - February 21 - dealt with Mark 14:6 - “She hath wrought a good work on Me.” Speaking about Mary of Bethany anointing Jesus, Chambers takes that beautiful moment in scripture and relates it to our love for God. And, he wonders, have we ever realized or understood that our “ordinary, simple human things…give evidence to God that I am abandoned to Him? Have I ever produced in the heart of the Lord Jesus what Mary of Bethany produced?” 

He then contrasts this type of love (complete abandonment to God) with personal holiness. “(Abandonment) to God is of more value than personal holiness. Personal holiness focuses the eye on our own whiteness; we are greatly concerned about the way we walk and talk and look, fearful lest we offend Him. Perfect love casts out all that when once we are abandoned to God.”

Whew. What a statement! “Personal holiness focuses the eye on our own whiteness…”

Don’t believe it? Let’s see if we agree with Chambers…

1. When you take a picture of yourself - do you take it when you first wake up or when you get made up? 

2. When you talk about yourself to others - do you talk about your failings or your accomplishments? 

3. When you’re in worship and hear the message - do you thank God it’s for the person next to you or do you take an honest assessment of yourself? 

4. When someone asks how you are doing - do you immediately reply, “Great!” or do you actually share how you are doing including where you are not living according to the commands of Christ?

Kind of makes Chamber’s assertion understandable. We worry about how we look in other people's eyes. We worry about our outward whiteness.

We are called to be holy. “Be holy as I am holy,” Leviticus 19:2.  That command we dare not/cannot refuse. God demands we live as redeemed, restored and reborn individuals. That is not up for debate.

Holiness is demanded, but personal holiness screams, “Look at me! I am holy!” 

But, love that leads to abandonment of self? That kind of love “covers a multitude of sins.” Abandoning love does not let “the right hand know what the left hand is doing.” Abandoning love is imperative. Abandoning love is sacrificial. It demands I look upon others and not myself.

Paul writes in Galatians 5:24: “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” In this verse, it’s clear, self is to be abandoned.

All of us, as followers of Jesus of Nazareth, are called to be holy. But, that holiness means nothing if we are acting like a Pharisee crying out, “Look at me! I’m better than everyone else! I’m not a sinner like those people!”

On the other hand, we are also called to “love the Lord our God with all of heart, with all of your soul, with all of your mind, and with all of your strength…and love your neighbor as yourself.”  Holiness and love must work together. That is true abandonment.

Maybe we all need to take a step back today, this week, and like Mary of Bethany do something beautiful for Jesus. Not focusing on ourselves or our own holiness, we will rather focus on Jesus and abandon ourselves to him. And if we do that, there will never be a more beautiful or holy moment in all of our lives.

Missy and Steve

Spiritual Health without Pills!

 

Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart. Pray for us, too, that God will give us many opportunities to speak about his mysterious plan concerning Christ. That is why I am here in chains. Pray that I will proclaim this message as clearly as I should…Tychicus will give you a full report about how I am getting along. He is a beloved brother and faithful helper who serves with me in the Lord’s work. I have sent him to you for this very purpose—to let you know how we are doing and to encourage you. I am also sending Onesimus, a faithful and beloved brother, one of your own people. He and Tychicus will tell you everything that’s happening here.

Aristarchus, who is in prison with me, sends you his greetings, and so does Mark, Barnabas’s cousin. As you were instructed before, make Mark welcome if he comes your way. Jesus (the one we call Justus) also sends his greetings. These are the only Jewish believers among my co-workers; they are working with me here for the Kingdom of God. And what a comfort they have been!

Epaphras, a member of your own fellowship and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends you his greetings. He always prays earnestly for you, asking God to make you strong and perfect, fully confident that you are following the whole will of God. I can assure you that he prays hard for you and also for the believers in Laodicea and Hierapolis.

Luke, the beloved doctor, sends his greetings, and so does Demas. Please give my greetings to our brothers and sisters at Laodicea, and to Nympha and the church that meets in her house - Colossians 4:2-4; 7- 15 (NLT)

As we get older physically it should be expected that we grow spiritually. And while physical health may decrease as our birthdays increase, our spiritual health should continually increase. Sure, we may eat more oatmeal and fiber to offset certain bodily issues or rub a little more Tiger Balm on our joints and muscles…but the most vital concern of getting older must be our spiritual well being.

We may get that 55+ discount but the real issue is this: are we maturing in the faith?

In his letter to the church at Colossae Paul lists several names. People who are important to Paul, important to Christ, important to his kingdom. Why are they important? They are mature.

And if we are not growing or maturing? We are contributing to the deteriorating health of his church. That’s something we believe none of us want to be guilty of.

Therefore, what does it take to grow spiritually? Bible.org has a seven step suggestion we would like to share with you: What Does It Take To Grow? | Bible.org
  

    1. In order to grow we need to eat—The Bible
    2. In order to grow we need to breathe—Prayer
    3. In order to grow we need good spiritual hygiene—Confession
    4. In order to grow we need a caring family—Fellowship
    5. In order to grow we need regular exercise—Service
    6. In order to grow we need protection—Holiness
    7. In order to grow we need to give—Stewardship

That is a list we all should place somewhere in order for us to see it daily. No matter our age we all need to be growing in our faith…without having to add another pill to our pillbox…

The author of Hebrews understood this. He writes in chapter 6: So let us stop going over the basic teachings about Christ again and again. Let us go on instead and become mature in our understanding. Surely we don’t need to start again with the fundamental importance of repenting from evil deeds and placing our faith in God. You don’t need further instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. And so, God willing, we will move forward to further understanding (Hebrews 6:1-3).

Did you notice the wording? “Let us go on…become mature…we will move forward…”

None of that just happens. It isn’t automatic. In other words, you don’t just believe on Christ Jesus and, “BOOM!” you’re a spiritual giant. It takes time and effort. It takes making mistakes, confession and going at it again. As Peter writes, But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen. (2 Peter 3:18).

The English poet, Alexander Pope, wrote, “As the twig is bent, so grows the tree.” When new trees are planted it’s best to put stakes into the ground beside the tree. The stakes are there for a purpose—to train the tree to grow straight and tall.

Those stakes work great when they are put in place when the tree is first planted. That said, if crooked growth has been allowed to develop for several years, stakes will not be effective.

This is why a young Christian should be modeled and taught the spiritual disciplines. We do great harm to new Christians when we fail to share with them the need for Bible reading, prayer, confession, fellowship, service, holiness and stewardship. If they don’t do these things they are setting themselves up for failure, spiritual immaturity and grief.

If however, we set the stakes up from the beginning, those “trees” will go straight and strong.

After all, the very first Psalm reminds us: Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take  or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,  and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither—whatever they do prospers.

We've Got a Confession to Make

09-01-2021

Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.

- James 5:16

If we say we have no sin, we decieve ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make Him out to be a liar, and His word is not in us. - I John 1:8-10

I (Steve) have a confession to make. I committed murder. It happened in the middle of the night. I even heard the victim trying to get away. The victim was not innocent by any stretch of the imagination. It had stolen our food - even the dogs were missing a few nuggets. It had even pooped in our house. Missy and I had finally had enough - we decided to put the proverbial nail in the perp’s coffin.

Now, trapping and killing a mouse (you weren’t thinking human were you?!) may not seem like actual murder to you. Yet, part of me felt a little pity for the poor fellow. Diseases and droppings aside, the mouse was just trying to find a little grub - on the house so to speak.  I ended up digging a small grave and burying it. (Don’t judge me)...

It reminds me of a text we received this week which asked the question: “Is it wrong or a sin to wish the bad person in a movie to get killed?” 

Some might have laughed at the question and said, “It’s just a movie! Nobody really died!” Maybe you were even thinking - “It’s stupid mouse! Kill it and move on!” However, may we suggest the question posed is a very deep and theological one?

How often have you actually wished someone to be dead? Come on - be honest. Pedophiles, terrorists, lobbyists, lawyers, rapists, serial killers, politicians, military dictators, abortionists...are probably just a few of the types of individuals that we have thought, “The world would be alot better without that person.”

To us, the question about whether or not it’s ok to wish a fake person to die reveals a much deeper truth. It reveals a person who knows how evil we can actually be ourselves AND it displays a growing heart that is tender to the Spirit of God.

Jesus himself actually brought this type of issue up when he declared, “Why do you see the speck in your brother’s eye, but fail to see the beam of wood in your own? How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me remove the speck from your eye,’ while you yourself don’t see the beam in your own? You hypocrite! First remove the beam from your own eye, and then you can see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye,” Luke 6:41&42.   

Christians really don’t talk about confession of sin anymore. If we do, it’s simply  a general acknowledgement - “Forgive me of my sins, God” - rather than getting down in the dirt and muck and asking God to reveal where we have “fallen short of his glory.” We are quite adept at pointing out sin in others. Ourselves? Not so much.

The term sin in the New Testament means to “miss the mark.” God commands us to be holy as he is holy yet in the flesh we are so very weak - we miss the mark alot! In I John, referenced earlier, we find that John states: “This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: ‘God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all.’ So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth,” 1 John. 1:5-6 (NLT). Sin is spiritual darkness. Holiness is light. Confession of sin brings light into darkness and the darkness cannot overcome it. 

Dr. John Oswalt, preeminent scholar of the Old Testament and biblical holiness in general, suggests there are three lies we all need to know about sin:

Lie # 1: Since you have been a good person from the time you were born you do not need forgiveness or for Christ to come into your life (1 John 1:10).

Lie # 2: You can be in a relationship with God who is light and go on sinning, which is darkness (1 John 1:6).

Lie # 3: You can come to the place where you cannot sin (1 John 1:8).

In response to Lie #3 Dr. Oswalt writes the following: “Clearly, John is trying to convince us, his readers, that a Christian cannot sin (1 John 3:9). We cannot bring the light into our lives and then expect a little darkness to coexist with it. Can you imagine a lighted room where there is a blob of darkness floating around?! But “cannot” is not talking about impossibility. It is talking about permission or expectation. Christian, you cannot expect to sin any more than I can expect to commit adultery against my wife. I cannot! Ah, but we never come to the place where sin is not a possibility. If we allow ourselves to drift away from the light, darkness is inevitable. We, like the moon, do not produce the light, we reflect it. So, stay in the light!”

So, does a Christian need to sin? Absolutely not. Can they sin? Absolutely. But the Good News brought to us through Jesus Christ is that if we sin (and we will) we can just as easily confess and repent to God that we have broken his law and immediately the light will come back into our lives and we will shine “like a city on a hill.”

We’ve got a confession to make. How about you?

Steve and Missy