Self-Contained

I believe one of the primary characteristics of spiritual maturity is our readiness to accept whatever condition we are in without complaining. Paul wrote, "I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content" (Philippians 4:11). The Greek word for content here means self-sufficient. Paul is certainly not claiming self-sufficiency in the way we speak of it—autonomy and independence. No, he is declaring that Jesus is all he needs. With Christ indwelling him, Paul says ‘I am self-contained’ not wanting or needing anything more than I already have.

Spiritual maturity comes when we have learned to trust Jesus has given us all we need. But let me be quick to add: being content in an undesirable circumstance doesn't mean we enjoy it. It means we have learned to focus on Jesus’ sufficiency—not on our discomfort. We have joy (not 'en'joy) knowing our Lord is using the circumstance to mature our faith, and that it is, in fact, ‘normal’ and ‘necessary’ for our growth in faith.

Remember that your Christian brothers and sisters all over the world are going through the same kind of suffering you are. But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. (1 Peter 5:9-10). In other words, you will have all you need: self-contained.

When Cruise Control Doesn't Work

When you have travelled along predictably on your familiar freeway long enough, you can be lulled into a sense of safety in your routine—like being on cruise control. But sooner or later, you will encounter some kind of unexpected road hazard—a phone call at two in the morning that your mother has been taken to the emergency room. And immediately, you are forced to disconnect from cruise control. It’s time to keep your hands on the wheel and your foot on the gas pedal—either slowing down or even coming to a dead halt. These interruptions are inevitable. The danger of cruise control is falling asleep and running into one of them.

In the moment of one of these emergencies, you find yourself talking to God with an intimacy you will not otherwise know. Will you be able to say, like the Psalmist: “The suffering you sent was good for me, for it taught me to pay attention to your principles” (Psalm 119:71).

Trying to Keep it Simple in a Complicated World

I don’t usually remember jokes, but this one stuck in my mind for its humorous conveyance of helplessness in our financial crisis: “If you laid all the economists in the world end to end, they still wouldn't reach a conclusion.” Indeed, the causes and cures for the recession are complicated.

Paul said I am focusing all my energies on this ONE THING: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead (Phil. 3:13). And what lay ahead for Paul was knowing Jesus better and better. Before his conversion, Paul placed high importance on his knowledge of many things. But from that instant of new birth, he wanted only ONE THING: to know Jesus. He knew that everything else was worthless when compared with the priceless gain of knowing Jesus (Phil. 3:8).

In the midst of a complicated world, knowing Jesus is the ONE THING we need. Every believer who really knows Jesus will fear nothing on earth. But be careful: these confusing times will lead many away from pure and SIMPLE devotion to Jesus (2 Cor.11:3). But those who know Jesus as the ONE THING will dwell in peace. You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, whose thoughts are fixed on you! (Is. 26:3).

"I Left My Heart in Egypt"

You probably recognize the title of this post is as a play on Tony Bennett’s signature song “I left My Heart in San Francisco.” Unfortunately, after being phenomenally delivered from Egypt, it became the Jewish national anthem. Within days of crossing over the Red Sea into the wilderness, the Israelites began thinking longingly about the things they missed in Egypt—the “leeks and onions.”

Moses said: “God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you … He allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna … that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord” (Deut. 8:2-3). Interestingly, the root of the Hebrew word for wilderness, midbar, means "speak" or "word." God speaks to us in the wilderness; it creates in us a hunger for God’s words.

But of course that didn’t happen—the Jews couldn’t stop thinking about what they left behind, about the way things used to be. You may call it nostalgia; God calls it rebellion. None of us should expect that we will ever fully possess our Canaan (the abundant life Jesus spoke of) while our heart still thinks wistfully of the way we were (another sad song title). Listen to these words: "Do not call to mind the former things, or ponder things of the past” (Isa 43:18). In other words, get your heart out of Egypt.

Blessed are those whose prayers have not been answered

I have a friend who prayed for months that God would do something about a noisy neighbor keeping her awake at night. (I am sure her prayers were something like this: ‘God can’t you make him be quiet’; or ‘God, why don’t you make him move?’) But last I heard from her, the neighbor is still noisy and she is still waiting for God to answer her prayer.

I call unanswered prayer a divine mystery. On one hand, Jesus said “if you ask the Father anything in my name, He will give it to you” (Jn. 16:23). But Scripture also gives examples of men and women of faith who endured pain, suffering, torture, even horrible death… and died without ever receiving the promise (Heb. 11:36-39)—their prayers of deliverance seemingly unanswered.

The writer of Hebrews tells us God had something better for them. We expect God’s answers to be “yes” or “no.” But in doing so, we limit God to human logic. Have you considered that God’s answer to your prayer is I have something better for you? “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Is. 55:9). There really is no such thing as unanswered prayer: unanswered prayer is an oxymoron! God always answers you—but in His time and in His way. If God does not answer “yes” or “no,” it is because He has something better for you.

Where is the Weeping?

My Belizean friend wrote to me recently: “I guess that the Good Lord has come to hear the crying of the few, and now He is moving.” I thought about his words 'the crying of the few.' "Yes," I thought, "but how few are crying these days." Immediately the story of Nehemiah came to mind: When I heard these words, I sat down and wept and mourned for days (1:4a). What caused Nehemiah’s sorrow? Learning that the Jews who had returned to Judah were disgraced by the condition of Jerusalem—its outer walls broken. The same word “broken” is used in Psalm 51:17 for a "broken” heart.

Nehemiah’s heart was broken over the condition of God’s people. And when Nehemiah arrived in Jerusalem some months later, not only did he rebuild the broken walls, he ‘restored’ the broken people. The Bible says as he read the Law, the people recognized their sinful condition and wept (Neh. 8:9).

Where is the weeping of God’s people today? Why is my own heart not more broken over the condition of God’s people in our age? Why are we not more grieved over the way this disparages the Lord’s reputation? Perhaps it is time to regard the words of James: Let there be tears for the wrong things you have done. Let there be sorrow and deep grief. Let there be sadness instead of laughter, and gloom instead of joy. Then, James immediately provides us with this promise of hope: When you bow down before the Lord and admit your dependence on him, he will lift you up and give you honor (James 4:9-10 NLT). But let me end with an even more positive note. After the Jews had wept, confessed, and repented, Nehemiah said: Do not be grieved [anymore], for the joy of the Lord is your strength (Neh. 8:10).

Get a Window Seat

Whenever I fly, I like a window seat—I love the view! Things on earth become very small; and the higher you fly, the smaller they get!

The benefit of being raised up with Christ and seated in the “heavenly places” (Eph. 1:20; 2:6) is the new view we get—we see the things of earth from a heavenly point of view! Living in perilous times, as we are, there is a greater need than ever to look at these events through heavenly eyes. Jesus said, “When these things begin to take place (perilous times that precede His coming) straighten up and lift up your heads” (Luke 21:28).

When we look up, we see that our Father is in control of everything. Things on earth seem to matter less. It seems to me if everything we need is to be found in the heavenly realm, we would want to get a window seat.

Are You Ready for Anything!?

I have friends who are going through troubles that seem more than they can bear. Maybe that’s how you feel too. Think about this: the only reason we consider them to be ‘trouble’ is that they are beyond our ‘natural’ ability. In the spiritual realm, increased spiritual life is directly proportional to decreased natural life. And in order to be decreased in our natural abilities, we must be challenged beyond what we think we can endure. When we’ve reached the end of our resources, we’ll be eager for His.

Every ‘proven’ person knows it is not easy times, but hard times that provide the most opportunity for growth. This is why James calls these troubles “opportunities for joy” (James 1:2 NLT). Without the conflict and pressure produced by these troubles, we would become spiritually passive and ambivalent. James goes on to say: “For when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be strong in character and ready for anything” (James 1:3-4 NLT).

Waiters are Called Servers

From the moment of conception, we begin waiting (waiting 9 months to be born!). Then we have to wait until we're old enough to cross the street alone, dive a car, finish school, graduate from college, get a job, find a mate and marry, conceive and have a child. And when we are old, we wait for the end of life.

Though waiting is natural, it is still very difficult! If you have to wait for someone who's late, or if you're expecting something important in the mail, or if you're waiting for the phone to ring, it can almost drive you crazy! Why? Because waiting means you're not in control; someone else is.

Waiting on the Lord, however, is a different matter. He is in control. And when God delays, He has a reason. This is why waiting on God is one of the most spiritually rewarding things we do. Waiting causes you to be more dependent on God; it causes you to be more attentive to Him, more alert. It makes you more sensitive to your sin—knowing it may hinder you from hearing God. Waiting makes you a better 'servant': a 'server.'

The Slater Slide

By now everyone has heard of flight attendant Steven Slater’s angry slide down the JetBlue aircraft’s emergency shoot in a rebellious “I’m out of here” spirit. Within minutes, he slid onto the front pages of national news, and became an overnight sensation on Facebook, with over 14,000 sympathizers.

But before you get captivated by this “rebel with a cause” spirit, think about this. This self-determining spirit of rebellion has been around since time began—captivating our first parents, Adam and Eve, and bringing judgment on all those who have rebelled against God.

God hates rebellion, calling it the sin of witchcraft... and idolatry (1 Sam. 15:23). The cause of Lucifer’s fall (Is. 14: 12-14), the spirit of rebellion characterizes all who are called the “sons of disobedience” (Eph. 2:2). But having become “sons of God” (Rom. 9:26) we must avoid the Slater Slide—a slow and gradual decline that will harden out hearts toward God’s authority.

Ask yourself if you need to make some adjustments: “for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience; therefore, do not be partakers with them” (Eph. 5:6-7).

Don't Lose Sight of...

Does it seem to you that things are getting worse on planet earth! In just the last few weeks and months, we have seen a rash of natural crises: cataclysmic earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, mudslides, fires, soaring temperatures (not to mention the man-made crises). And on every continent, ethnic, tribal, religious hatreds and animosities continue unabated, exploding in senseless, inhuman violence, while all human effort at peacemaking fails miserably.

By the natural eye, things look pretty bleak. So Paul says look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal (2 Cor. 4:18). Paul and Silas demonstrated this while in prison. If they had focused on their circumstance, their hearts would have been filled with fear and anxiety. Instead, they focused on God—their hearts full of praise (Acts 5). Long before the angel opened the prison doors, they were already “free.”

If earthly circumstances are causing you to focus on that which is seen, you need a visual adjustment. Don’t allow the things which are seen cause you to lose sight of what Jesus is doing.

Come Up Higher

All of us are faced with two realms of reality. We deal with the visible, the tangible every day. We know that it is real. But there is another world, another realm of reality which vies for our attention. The spiritual, the heavenly, and the eternal!

One day when John was on the Island of Patmos, he had one of these “another world” experiences. Then as I looked, I saw a door standing open in heaven, and the same voice I had heard before spoke to me with the sound of a mighty trumpet blast. The voice said, "Come up here… (Rev. 4:1).

The door which John saw was the opening between heaven and earth--symbolically, between the visible and invisible realms. Do you see that same open door? Don't you hear that same voice calling you to come up higher? Do you see the throne and He who sits on it?

You can be sure He is not wringing His hands over a world that seems to be spinning out of control. Note that He is not anxiously pacing around the room. He is sitting on the Throne. He is sovereign—He is in control. Stop looking at those things as they appear to be. Ask God to change your perspective around the vision of God on the throne. Set your mind on things above (Col. 3:2).

When will Jesus return?

The Mayan calendar ends on Sunday, December 23, 2012. Is that the end of the world? Harold Camping of Family Radio now proclaims the Lord's return will be on October 20, 2011! A friend of mine who is a biblical scholar says “Many of us who follow world affairs and try to be well-read in eschatology strongly believe the coming of Jesus Christ for His (true) Church is very likely to happen any day now.”

How do we know the time is near for Jesus to claim His Bride?

The long answer won’t fit in this venue! But here’s the short answer: When His Bride is ready (Rev. 19:7); when she is spotless (Eph. 5:27; 1 Pet. 3:14); when she loves Him passionately and longs to be with Him (John 17:26; Sng. of Sol. 4:9). A primary role of the Holy Spirit is to prepare the Bride for Jesus' return.

What kind of bride do you think the Spirit wants to present to Jesus on that day? One who is halfhearted, lukewarm, ambivalent? My friends, we are being prepared for the marriage supper (Rev. 19:9). But will He return to a Bride whose heart does not cry out, "Come, Lord Jesus…."? (1 Cor. 16:22; Rev. 22:17, 20)

Can You Bear the Truth?

Christ taught his disciples for 3 years, but couldn’t teach all that He would have, saying, “I have many things to say unto you, but you cannot bear them now.” (John 16:12) You and I are able to hear and bear these deeper truths of Jesus. Why? Because we have been given the Holy Spirit.

Christ promised to send the Spirit of truth to guide believers into all truth! The Holy Spirit would help them discern the very essence of Jesus’ heart, the deeper spiritual truths Jesus wanted to teach his disciples at that time, and could not until the Spirit of truth had been given to them.

But even now, the Holy Spirit only reveals as much as we can bear (able to understand, apprehend, apply). For instance, you do not force-feed a baby, because when he is full he will spit out any more food. While that may be normal for spiritual babies, it should not be so for someone who has been a believer for many years; yet still cannot bear deeper truth.

[If] you have been Christians a long time now, you ought to be teaching others. Instead, you need someone to teach you... You are like babies who drink only milk and cannot eat solid food. And a person who is living on milk isn't very far along in the Christian life and doesn't know much about doing what is right. Solid food is for those who are mature, who have trained themselves to recognize the difference between right and wrong and then do what is right (Heb. 5:12-14).

God is Giving Us an Opportunity to Love the Opposition

Yesterday, a federal judge declared California's ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional, saying that no legitimate state interest justified treating gay and lesbian couples differently from others and that "moral disapproval" was not enough to save the voter-passed Proposition 8. The ruling was the first in the country to strike down a marriage ban on federal constitutional grounds.

Some of you may be angry about this judicial intervention—a violation of the voters’ rights. You may be angry with the court; you may resent the movement toward what-is-called ‘equal rights’ for gays and lesbians. And in all of this you may think your anger is justified—righteous anger! But let’s not forget the heart of our Savior is not anger, but love.

“You have heard the law of Moses says, Love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven…If you love only those who love you, what good is that?... If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that" (Mat. 5:43–48).

Yes, the Bible does say that homosexuality is sin! But so is anger, bitterness and unforgiveness. Surprise those who are thus oppositional: by loving them! Pray for them! That is exactly what Jesus did!

Turn off the ROBOT and answer your phone!

A recent USA Today article reports that of all electronic communication, social networks, like Facebook, have become the dominant form of communication—surpassing email. And among the 20-somethings, voice-to-voice telephone contact is being rapidly replaced by texting. And not only that, but almost all businesses now have phone robots with whom you will have to interact. Add it all up and you get something no one could have imagined 50 years ago—we do a lot of talking to and through robots.

Don’t you get irritated when you call AT&T with a specific problem, but you have to answer a bunch of questions by a robot before speaking to a live person! And who hasn’t been bothered when you are in the middle of a crisis and you call your friend (husband, wife, etc.) and get their voice mail because their phone is turned off! (You have to talk to their robot—their ‘voice mail’!)

Aren’t you glad we have a personal God—one who speaks to us intimately—through His Holy Spirit, through His Word, through teachers and pastors? Listen to how God spoke to Israel in the light of a ‘missed’ phone call: “I called, but you did not answer; I spoke, but you did not hear.” (Is. 65:12) When the Lord calls you, make sure your phone is turned on.

Then the LORD called, "Samuel! Samuel!" And he said, "Speak, for Your servant is listening." (1 Sam. 3:10)

What is Your Main Occupation?

I have been reading a recently published book “Jesus Manifesto—Restoring the Supremacy and Sovereignty of Jesus Christ” by Leonard Sweet and Frank Viola. I highly recommend it to you.

The authors’ objective is to counter a spirit of narcissism that has crept into the church, where ‘conversion’ is less a turning to Jesus than a turning to success and self-discovery. Of the top 100 best selling Christian books on the market in 2009, they point out, just 4 were about Jesus.

They ask “what is it that will change the course of Christianity, putting it back on course? What will emancipate God’s people from all the things that Jesus nailed to His cross? What will create a spiritual revolution in the world today?" The answer: a total occupation with Jesus.

Many Christians are not occupied with spiritual things at all. And others are errantly occupied with good things like evangelism, or worship and praise, missions, or end times, or church growth or city-wide prayer. All good things, but may keep us otherwise occupied. Jesus must be our 'only' occupation. We must pray for an inward revelation of Christ to our hearts by the Holy Spirit—a progressive unveiling of the Person who is seen on every page of the Word and occupies all things. Have we become so self-occupied, so preoccupied that we have forgotten it’s all about Jesus?

Like Fruit Falling Off a Tree

Paul's reference to being rooted in Christ (Col. 2:7) is drawn from the metaphor of a tree (common throughout Scripture) but with apparent emphasis on roots and soil.

In the parable of the sower and the seed, Jesus spoke of four types of soil. Each soil received the same seed but not all bore fruit. Jesus explains that the soil is like your heart, and the seed is the word of God. (Mark 4:33-34) The expectation of the sower is that the seed will go deep into the soil and bear fruit. Though the same seed is sown, only one type of soil permits the seed to bear fruit. Hard soil, like a hard heart, cannot receive the seed. Shallow soil, like a half-hearted person, does not allow the seed to go deep enough to germinate and bear fruit. Soil that has not been cleared of weeds and rocks, like a heart otherwise occupied, cannot nurture the seed and bear fruit. Only seed that is sown into good soil bears much fruit.

What is the significance of fruit bearing? First, Jesus said our Father is glorified when we bear much fruit (John 15:8). Second, we were planted in Christ Jesus to bear fruit. Paul uses 'good works' synonymously with fruit. (Rom. 6:4; Eph. 2:10). In Colossians 2:7, Paul is telling us that if we sink our roots deep into Christ, we will not be able to stop the fruit from coming. The good works will come like fruit falling off a tree.