More and More

"As for other matters,

brothers and sisters,

we instructed you how to live in order to please God,

as in fact you are living.

Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus

to do this more and more.

For you know what instructions

we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus."

1 Thessalonians 4:1-2

In the 2004 comedy Napoleon Dynamite, the awkward and quirky main character endures the care-taking of his middle-aged uncle while his grandmother recovers from a freak injury.  Uncle Rico is stuck in the past, constantly reliving his glory days when he was quarterback of his high school football team.  It seems adolescence was the pinnacle of his life since he's done nothing of merit since graduating.

While Uncle Rico did have some success as a teenager, he seemed to have lost all his drive once he entered the adult world.  It is also easy for me to get caught up in what I've done in the past and forget that life goes on, just like Uncle Rico does.  God, however, doesn't want me to rest on my laurels, but to continue living for Him.  There is always improvements to be made, pride to chisel away, and lessons to be learned.  

Living to please God happens in the present, not in the past.

Pure Life

Water purification systems are growing in popularity as people become increasingly concerned with contaminants in their water supply.  Bacteria, pesticides, chemicals, lead and other toxins are common impurities found in tap and well water driving concerned citizens to take steps to increase the purity of their own drinking water.  Water filtration, distillation, deionization, and reverse osmosis are some of the methods used to remove harmful contaminants from water.

While it is important to my overall health to have a source of pure drinking water available to me, it is even more important to my spiritual health for me to pay attention to the purity of my heart.  Sin corrupts my heart and leads me on a path away from God where I am driven by my passions, lusts and fleshly desires.  

God's grace gives me the power to withstand my natural tendency to sin and to prefer doing things His way.  He is constantly taking me through tailor-made situations, difficulties and trials that serve to purify me from these fleshly desires, leaving behind a more godly focus.

Oswald Chambers helps me understand this concept by asking, "Are we prepared to let God do as He likes with us--prepared to be separated from conscious blessings?  Until Jesus Christ is Lord, we all have ends of our own to serve; our faith is real, but it is not permanent yet.  God is never in a hurry; if we wait, we shall see that God is pointing out that we have not been interested in Himself but only in His blessings."

Cultivating a desire for Christ and Christ alone is the purpose of sanctification and results in the attitude of a pure heart.

Life of Love

Love sent the Creator to live among those He created.   Love then drove Him to the cross where He suffered at the hands of those who were to benefit from His sacrifice. (Romans 5:8) Love precipitated a plan of salvation before the beneficiaries even knew we needed saving.  

There is no doubt God is love.  His love is what defines Him and everything He does is filtered through love.  Furthermore, without His love, I have no hope of ever loving anyone the way He loves me. (1 John 16:19)

I learn how to recognize His love in myself and others by reading 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 .  What I don't always realize, though, is that I can't love too much.  God's love rules my life when I truly make an effort to grasp hold of it.  As Joe Stowell, president of Cornerstone University pointed out, "Once you embrace how wonderfully loved you are by God, it will be much easier to be the loving person God calls you to be--even toward those who don't show you love."

When I realize how much I am loved, I will strive to live a life of love.

Quiet Life

Reading the headlines as I wait in line at the supermarket, I see all sorts of bizarre behavior.  Plastic surgery, torrid affairs, marital problems, financial ruin; all are displayed for the world to see.  Many celebrities live life in a bubble, as if their entire existence is meant for the entertainment of the public.

While I could not imagine the strain of living under such scrutiny, I do have to admit a certain desire to show off at times.  Maybe it's the new car, the success of a career or a project of which I want people to see, but there is just something about getting a little attention that brings me satisfaction.

Other times I tend to be nosy, spending too much time concerned with the lives of others when I have plenty of problems of my own.  Instead of seeking attention for myself or turning my focus on others, though, I am called to live a quiet life where I mind my own business.  This is not to say that I keep to myself, but that I stay in my lane, taking care of the affairs God has placed in front of me and desiring to please Him and Him alone in the work I do.

Each day I can strive to live a quiet life where I am paying attention to the work God has given to me.

My walk with Christ is dynamic and exists in the now.  Even if things were great between us in the past, I must continue to strive to do more and more.  He desires in me a pure life that is identified by His love and brings praise to Him.  When it comes to faith, I can always do more; not because my efforts save me for I know that I'm saved by grace.  Instead, I'm driven on because this desire to grow in my faith pleases Him!

As I begin this day it is my prayer that, when it comes to Jesus, I will always strive for more!

How do I sit back and let my past steps of faith keep me in a rut?

When am I tempted to desire attention for the work I do?

No Neutral Ground

"He who is not with me is against me,

and he who does not gather with me, scatters.

When an evil spirit comes out of a man,

it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it.

Then it says, 'I will return to the house I left.'

When it arrives,

 it finds the house swept clean and put in order.

Then it goes and takes seven other spirits

more wicked than itself,

and they go in and live there.

And the final condition of that man

is worse than the first."

Luke 11:23-26

Sweden has long been known as a neutral country, refusing to take one side or the other but simply staying out of any conflicts or wars.  Today this philosophy is spilling over into the social realm as many Swedes are pushing for a gender-neutral government and society.  This year they have added a new pronoun into their official online version of the National Encyclopedia to be used as a gender-neutral replacement for "he" or "she."  "Hen" is now the preferred pronoun to be used to refer to a person without specifying their gender.  

While these progressive Swedes have deceived themselves into thinking gender does not matter, their foolishness does not change the Truth. God created man in His own image and made a distinction between males and females.  To God, gender does matter.  (Genesis 1:27)

This is how God operates.  There is truth and then there is falsehood.  There is right and there is wrong.  There is male and there is female.  While the world likes to try to convince us that there is a neutral ground or a gray area, God says otherwise.  Either I am working with Jesus, or I am working against Him.  I'm on His side, or I'm on the Enemy's.  I'm furthering the Kingdom of God, or I'm hampering His work.

I don't like to think of myself as working against God, but there are several ways in which I do just that.

Clean it Up

A friend of mine is trying to quit smoking.  She is finding out that there are a lot of different programs, treatments and methods available to help her stop this destructive and unhealthy habit.  While she wants to quit, she knows from past experience that it is virtually impossible to expect success from anything that resembles cutting out the nicotine cold-turkey:  It is beyond her own strength and ability to withstand the resulting side-effects.

It's like this with any bad habit or routine.  I may have the desire to stop cursing and resolve to never again utter a four-letter word, but the moment I'm weak and temptation strikes, I'm prone to going back to my old ways.

My attempts to try to clean up my act and behave more "Christian-like" work against what God wants to do in my heart.  He wants to transform my thinking and soften my heart, making it more sensitive to sin.  If, instead of surrendering to God, I try to sweep myself clean of everything evil and sinful in my own effort, my "house" will be empty and vulnerable to attack from the Enemy of my soul.

I am not saved by works, nor can I ever think to rescue my own self from the influence that sin has over me.  Instead, I must rely on the power that comes through my faith in the blood of Jesus which fills me with His Spirit.  (Romans 7:24-25)

Nineteenth-Century missionary Andrew Murray recognized his own helplessness against sin.  He said, "Remember the great need you have of the grace and assistance of God.  You should never lose sight of him--not for a moment."

I am made right with God through faith in Jesus. (Romans 1:16-17)  And this gift of grace is what opens up a relationship with a holy God who finishes what He started when He first called me.  He doesn't leave me as I was when I first began to call Him "Father."  No!  He begins His work in me from the moment I accept Jesus as my Savior and submit myself to Him as my Lord, and He doesn't quit until He's finished.  (Philippians 1:6)  As my friend likes to say, "Be patient with me, I'm under construction."

I am called to live a holy, pure life.  This process of sanctification, however, is not a job I can take on myself.  Instead, it is the result of God's hand in my life as I surrender myself to Him and exchange my will for His.  (1 Thessalonians 4:7-8)

When I try to clean up my own act in my own effort, I work against God and what He wants to do in His power, for His glory.

Fake it

I have heard it said that we should, "fake it 'til we make it, " meaning that with a positive attitude I can make anything happen.  Do I want to have the confidence of a rock start?  Pretend like I do until it comes naturally.  Have I always visualized myself as a novelist?  Tell myself I am and soon I'll be writing like the pros.  Am I up against a devastating bout with cancer?  All I need is optimism and everything will turn out alright.

Unfortunately, there is only so far a positive attitude will take me if there's nothing to back it up.  It reminds me of a movie set where it looks like I'm seeing a real city landscape, but when I walk around to the backside of the storefronts, I find out it was all a facade: there are no real businesses to back up the claim of a town.

Does this translate to my walk with Christ?  Can I fake a humble heart until it actually exists?  I don't think so.  A sense of humility comes from recognizing my weakness and inability to do anything good in and of myself.  It also acknowledges that God is big enough to use me even if I can't see myself able to do anything for Him.  In other words, humility is the ability to take myself out of the equation and focus completely on God and His glory.  

Jesus is the picture of humility.  He is God.  He has every right to be treated with respect, honor and glory.  He should be exalted.  Even though He knew all of these things, He chose to lower himself to the position of a mere man out of obedience to His Father.  He didn't demand to be treated as He deserved, but instead took the treatment He was unjustifiably given.  Jesus was all about His Father's will, not His own position or rights.

This kind of attitude cannot be faked.  It comes through a process God takes me through as I admit my weakness and need for Him.  He guides me through struggles, presents difficulties into my life and serves us a generous portion of suffering, using these as tools to humble me.

When I try to fake it till I make it, I work against a God who knows how to humble a man or woman.  (Daniel 4:37)

Work

My husband has always been a hard worker and admires anyone who holds a high work ethic.  If you want to impress him, put your nose to the grindstone and get the job done!

It's easy to transfer this attitude that hard work pays off into my walk with Christ.  I like to think that I can impress God with all the labor I'm putting in for him.  I gladly volunteer in any capacity within the church when help is needed.  I cheerfully take on projects that no one else will do.  I pitch in whenever a call for assistance is placed.  

When I work for God, I'm the one in control of what I do, when I do it and who I work with.  I'm not following His lead, but running ahead, desperately trying to get His attention.  If I want Him to notice me, all I need to do is sit down and acknowledge His presence. (Psalm 46:10 , Jeremiah 29:13)  When I focus on my relationship with Him, it gives Him the opportunity to show me what He wants me to do. He changes the way I think as I spend time with Him, allowing me to see things more from His perspective.  (Romans 12:1-2)

Waiting is hard.  Pausing and letting God take the lead means that I'm admitting I'm not in control.  Trusting God does not come naturally.  When I'm unsure how I'll pay the bills, faith is resting in His provision despite what my checking account tells me.  When I'm living a nightmare that seems to never end, faith is leaning on His protection regardless of how vulnerable I feel.  When I'm tired of fighting the good fight, faith carries on in the face of fatigue.

Letting God work for me is not without it's rewards.  Isaiah so eloquently penned these words so long ago, but they still ring true today: ". . .they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint." (Isaiah 40:31 KJV)

When I try to work for God I'm working against Him and soon run out of steam; but if I wait for Him and follow His lead, I'll never grow weary.

In God's kingdom there is no neutral ground:  Either I'm working with Jesus or against Him.  I don't intend to oppose Him, but I do just that when I attempt to clean myself up, fake the fruit of the Spirit, and work for God in my own strength.  It is my desire to instead work alongside Jesus to gather the harvest to which He has called me.

As I begin this day it is my prayer that I can firmly plant my feet on Jesus' side.

How do I try to clean my outside up while inside I'm still as dirty as can be?

When do I try to fake humility and which people in my life know the "real me?"