Jan 25 I would but I can't

January 25

   Give Me This Mountain

Jos 14:12 Now therefore give me this mountain

Why do men want to climb a mountain?  Other than a great view there isn’t much at the summit. George Mallory failed to climb Mt Everest twice. During a fund raiser for his 3^rd attempt he was asked why he wanted to climb Everest, to which he responded “Because it’s there!”  He died during his third try at Everest in 1924. His frozen body was discovered in 1999, a thousand feet from the top.

But Caleb had a different reason for wanting the 3000 foot high land around Hebron.  When the Israelites left Egypt they came to the land that God had given them and before attacking the inhabitants spies were sent to check it out. 

Nu 13:17 And Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, and said unto them, Get you up this way southward, and go up into the mountain:

If you are not familiar with this story turn to Numbers chapter 13 and read it. Here we find twelve spies sent out to search out the land. When they returned 10 strongly advised against going against the strong people they had seen. Only Joshua and Caleb were in favor of taking the land.  God rewarded their faithfulness by allowing them to live through the wilderness wanderings and arrive in Canaan.  You are probably familiar with this Biblical event.  Then it came time to divide the land and Caleb said he wanted Hebron. 

Jos 14:12 Now therefore give me this mountain

Why would he have wanted the same mountain that 45 years earlier the ten spies said was filled with giants and walled cities and was unconquerable?  There were many reasons why he should not have wanted that mountain.  He was 85 years old and too old. The Anikim were giant people. The cities were walled. God’s command to take the land was 45 years ago and things had changed. Nearly everyone agreed that the Anakim were too strong to defeat.  They also were on top of hills over 3000 feet high. Fighting uphill was even harder. Any one of those difficulties would have stopped the average person.

But Caleb was not your average person. He believed God, obeyed God and trusted God.  In the 14^th chapter of Numbers we find a conversation between Moses and the LORD. Here is what God thought of Caleb.

Nu 14:24 But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he went; and his seed shall possess it.

That is exactly what happened. Caleb knew God would fight for him, went up that mountain, defeated the Anakim and possessed the land.  

Notice some things about Caleb in the verse above.   He was a servant of God. He had a special spirit within. Caleb followed God fully. God enabled and prospered Caleb.

Most of us would like to have that kind of spirit that would say “Give me this mountain”.  But we can’t do that. Not really. When God presents a great opportunity, or a major challenge too often it is just not possible for us to respond like Caleb.

We would have done that when we were young, but we are just too old now. (Or too young).   

The task is just too big for us. There are giant obstacles that will prevent us from succeeding.

We doubt doors will be opened to us. You can’t build bridges where there is nothing but walls.
Yes, God’s Word has lots of instructions, but some of them are pretty old fashioned.  Things are different now. What God wants would make me, well, peculiar. Go along to get along!
And let’s face it, the thing God wants done would be a long uphill battle. I’ll pray He finds someone to do it.  I would love to do it if I could, but I can’t. 

Gentle reader, are you a servant of God?  Do you have a special spirit within you? Do you fully follow God?  If so then when God lays a task or project on your heart, do not make excuses like the children of Israel who died in the wilderness.  Instead may God help us to be like Caleb, faithful, trusting, obedient Christians who will respond,

“Yes God, give me that mountain!”

 

 

Jan 24 Finding and Knowing

January 24

God’s Will?

Pr 3:6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

“Would you be willing to help in Bible School”  is a question that is often answered  “Oh, ….let me pray about it”  When I received that answer from people I often would reply, “OK, do you want to pray or should I”   The truth is they did not want to tell you no.  They would prefer to tell you no next week after they had “prayed about it”.  Is that really what we mean about following God’s will?  What kind of questions do we really need to pray about anyway.  If you try to be hyper spiritual down at the local hamburger joint and pray “Oh God, do you want me to put mustard on my hamburger?” you will impress people, but not in the way you want. Their impression will be you are weird.

But seriously how do we know when God is leading us in some major decision?  Does He Lead? How does He lead? Can we know when God is leading and know what He wants us to do?  The answers to those last three questions is Yes, Yes, Yes.

One of the essential ways to determine God’s will is to read His Word, the Bible. Often God speaks to people through the scriptures, either as they read them or when a situation occurs that causes them to recall some verse they have read.  But God cannot speak to you through His Word if you don’t read it.  “Mom I don’t know what you want done.”   “Did you read the note I left you on the counter?”   “Uhhhh….well, not exactly”  

In addition to reading the Word we need to do what the Word says. 2 Tim 3:16 says the Word is useful for doctrine, for reproving us, for correcting us, and for giving us instructions in righteousness.  That does not mean we should try to compile a list of do this and don’t do that. Rather we should look for guiding principles.  Love one another is a great Biblical principle that makes hundreds of rules unnecessary.  Doing what the Bible teaches will help us to recognize His leading.

Ro 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

Circumstances may not be to your liking but may be what God is using to get your attention. There is a great object lesson and song that talks about some people who did not want to leave a nice sheltered area under a tree. But when a hornet’s nest fell out of that tree they were very willing to leave. If I recall correctly the song said “He doesn’t make you go against your will, He just makes you willing to go.”

A word of caution with circumstances.  Putting out a fleece is probably not wise in most situations. We should not tempt God. “OK God, if something happens I will know you want me to do such and such.”  That usually proves nothing. A great skeptic used to hold up his watch and tell his audience “If there is a God let him strike me dead in the next minute.” When nothing happened the skeptic would use that as proof that God does not exist. (Oh by the way, that great skeptic is dead now!)

Pr 12:15 ¶ The way of a fool is right in his own eyes: but he that hearkeneth unto counsel is wise.

Listening to a counselor is good advice. Just be sure you listen to people who are going to give you unbiased, objective advice.  You probably don’t want to ask the local car dealer if he thinks you should buy a new car.  Listen to counselors who are spiritually mature. A good example of how not to do it is found in 1Kings 12:6-16

1Ki 12:8 But he forsook the counsel of the old men, which they had given him, and consulted with the young men that were grown up with him

Of course prayer is part of the process of determining what God’s will is for you.

Jas 1:5  If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, …. and it shall be given him.

Allowing the Holy Spirit to lead us is also an essential part of determining what God’s will is. 

If you have wrong motives in your heart then you can forget about God leading you.

Ps 66:18 If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:

Finally the desire of your heart must be consistent with Godly principles.

Ps 37:4 Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.

Ps 37:23 The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way

Today I have briefly touched on a subject that needs more explanation. But hopefully there is enough here to get you thinking about what you need to do if you want to understand what God wants you to do. Or in simple words,  what is God’s will for your life. God’s will is knowable.  He will reveal it to you, but you need to be sure your heart and mind are receptive.  The evidence of that is confirmed when you read God’s Word and seek His face.  May God bless you as you seek His will.

Jan 23 -Don't worry - Be happy

January 23

Learning to be Happy

Pr 16:20…whoso trusteth in the LORD, happy is he.

Years ago I had a picture of a monkey dressed in a ragged suit, with a rumpled hat on its head  and a stub of a used cigar in its paw. He was sitting on a curb with his feet in the gutter. The caption said “I have been rich, and I have been poor   –  rich is better”  That picture sort of reminds me of myself.  “I have been angry and I have been happy  -  happy is better.”

   I was an angry Christian for many years. There were some deep hurts from my childhood and life was not easy growing up poor.  Lots of things made me angry. It didn’t take much.  A car that was parked crooked and took up two spaces so I had to park 6 rows farther away was enough to make me growl all day.  While I was a relatively pleasant fellow there was always anger just below the surface.  But one day that completely changed.

Did I have to suffer a catastrophe,  or other major event to make that change?  No, just a Chinese fortune cookie which said “No man can take your happiness!”  Now that really made me mad!  What kind of stupid lie was that anyway? People made me mad. Things broke and made me angry.  Sometimes I became angry over some circumstance that was not my fault but which affected me. And I had every right to be angry!  I was still angry when I returned home so I went to my library and started doing some research on happiness.  I knew that Chinese fortune cookie was wrong and I would prove it.

Warren Wiersbe has a book on Philippians entitled  Be Happy.  When I pulled that book from my shelf and started reading I had no idea that a study of Philippians would be life changing and turn me from an angry Christian into a happy Christian.  This is not the place for a lengthy Bible study so I will summarize what I learned.  Wiersbe pointed out that the four chapters in Phillipians each dealt with different ways we could lose our happiness. 1- circumstances, 2- people, 3-things and 4-worry .

A few days later I came into the house sputtering over the lawn mower that would not start!  My dear wife simply asked me “Well, what did you give your happiness to this time?”  She was absolutely right. There was no way a pile of metal could take anything from me. I had given my happiness away to a thing.  It might sound silly but I turned around, walked back to that lawn mower, gave it a kick and said “ You can’t have my happiness you stupid lawnmower. I am taking it back. I don’t care if you want to run or not. It isn’t worth my happiness”  And I did take it back, and went smiling into the house.  I only had to do that once.

 From then on when I would start feeling angry I would mentally stop and say to myself. “No that isn’t worth giving up my happiness”  It only took a couple months or less and I didn’t even have to think about it. It just became second nature to me. I really am happy all the time now. Yes, sad things still make me sad. Both my sisters died recently. One just 4 days ago as I write this. While I am sad, there is a deep joy inside of me that keeps me happy all the time, even in sadness. 

The opening verse is incomplete.  The entire verse has the two keys to real happiness.

Pr 16:20 ¶ He that handleth a matter wisely shall find good:

and whoso trusteth in the LORD, happy is he.   

We cannot obtain happiness by just praying and laying in a hammock waiting for one of God’s angels to come with a magic wand and make us all happy.  Wham-bam you are now happy!. The verse details the two ingredients of true happiness.  Gaining wisdom enough to handle matters wisely is the first ingredient.  Most of us realize we are not the smartest rabbit on the bunny trail. So how do we become wise and learn to use wisdom?

Ps 111:10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom

Pr 2:6 For the LORD giveth wisdom

How will you know when you have gained wisdom?  The answer is also in the verse. You have wisdom when you have learned to trust in the LORD.  We must use wisdom to do our part, but beyond what we can do we must leave the rest in God’s hands. That is what trusting in the Lord is all about. Leave it in his hands. Take your burden to the Lord and leave it there.
 

Pr 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding

 

Wiersbe points out that when you do not lose your happiness over circumstances, things or people then chapter four explains there is then nothing to worry about.  If you are not happy is it because you have not learned to trust God to work it out.  Count your blessings. Leave the rest to God. Do not give your happiness to anything. 

“No man can take your happiness!” 

 

Jan 22 Take Some Credit

January 22

Take Some Credit.

Ge 3:6 ¶ And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food…

… she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat…

People today are too quick to give away the credit for what they have done themselves. I think it starts early when they are children.  “Who made this mess?”  “Not me MaMa, it was Billy”  Through the school years the skill continues to improve.  “Don’t blame me, he started it!”

As adults we too often give someone, or something, credit for what we have done ourselves.  It has been happening since Eve was in the garden chatting with a the serpent.

Ge 3:14 ¶ And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this…. upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:

When God came into the garden he asked Eve “What is this that thou hast done?”   God must have made a mistake blaming her so she corrected Him. “Nope, wasn’t me. I ate it but it wasn’t my fault. The serpent fooled me”  (The devil made me do it!)

And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.

We almost laugh at Eve because it is so obvious she chose to do it. Oh the serpent lied to her, she exaggerated what God said about not eating it, and then  decided “Why not? What could it hurt”   

God had told them (Gen 2:17) “…thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”  Eve translates God’s Word into the Eve translation and said, (Gen 3:3) Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.”  God said don’t eat it, Eve said don’t touch it. God said “…thou shalt surely die” but Eve said “…lest ye die”  The serpent said “…Ye shall not surely die:”  He lied to her.  So why should we blame poor deluded Eve.

We should blame her for the same reason people are at fault today. They do not know or remember what the Word of God actually says; they accept the lies of our modern culture, (things will make you happy) and they avoid blame by a multitude of excuses. I was mad; I was in a bad mood; he started it; it wasn’t my fault; look what you made me do; I was tired; everybody does it; So what is the big deal anyway; they deserved it, etc etc.  There seems to be no end to the excuses. But the Bible says Eve decided on her own to eat and it gives three reasons which are at the core of all our decisions to do what we call mistakes or messing up. (The Bible calls disobedience sin!)

  But first it should be noted where was Eve when this happened. Was she with her husband? No. Was she roaming through the splendors of the garden enjoying fruit from all the other trees in the garden? No.  Where was she?  She was standing near the forbidden tree!  She must have been curious.  What is so wrong with this tree? Why is the fruit forbidden?  Was she planning to disobey God? Probably not. Well, why was she there?  She was like many carnal Christians today who spend time wandering near sinful things, just curious, you might say window shopping for sin. Not planning to buy but enjoy looking.  To avoid falling into the pit, you should stay away from the pit.

First we should not be window shopping for sin. Once we have our eye on it three motives surface to tell us to go ahead

She saw it was good to eat.  The lust of the flesh is a powerful force which leads to sin.

It was pleasant to her eyes. The lust of the eyes fills our souls with longing after something.

It was desired to make one wise. The pride of Life fills our spirit with longings  for wisdom and knowledge. 

1Jo 2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

These three downward steps culminated in her taking the fruit and eating it.  They were effective because she was in the wrong place, where she heard bad advice. It all began with a simple conversation that the serpent began with an innocent question. “Yea, hath God said?” 

Dear reader, we must study our Bibles to know what God hath said, lest a tempter confuse us. The promises of God are so much greater than the prohibitions of God.  Let us Praise His name for giving us His Word for our edification. May we seek after the fruits of the Spirit. 

Ps 34:8 O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.

Jan 21 But I had Plans

January 21

But I had Plans

Ga 2:20 I am crucified with Christ:

Galations 2:20 is often quoted without giving it much thought. Some people have that verse underlined in their Bible. Others may have claimed it as their life verse.

Ga 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

This great verse is filled with wonderful and meaningful expressions of dedication.  There is too much in this verse to consider all of it so dear reader, let us look at the first phrase today. I am crucified with Christ.

Crucifixion was the worst way the Roman government could think of to kill people.  Normally the cause of death was asphyxiation.  If you extend your arms out and a little above your head, as if nailed to a cross, you will notice breathing becomes a little harder.  When the Romans nailed someone to a cross they made sure the feet were nailed so the knees were bent a little.  The crucified person would raise their body to take pressure off from their arms so they could breathe. But with bent knees the muscles would tire. Also putting pressure on the nailed feet would add pain. So the victim would slide up the cross to breathe and then slide down the cross as the legs tired and the pain in their nailed feet became unbearable.  When breathing became too difficult they would again raise the body with their bent legs to catch a breath. Death would usually occur in a day or two or three. It was a miserable way to die.

 Yes crucifixion was a gruesome punishment, but I want to focus on the crucified man rather than the process. There are at least three things about the crucified man I want to consider.

First the crucified man is looking in only one direction.  His ability to look at first one thing and then another has been taken away. Now he only looks in one direction.

Secondly, the crucified man has no thoughts about returning to what he was doing before he was crucified.  Old things are gone. The skills he had learned, the property he had acquired, the things that were important to him, and any unfinished project is gone. All that he was, all that he had and all he had done were gone. He would never more return to any of them.

Lastly he had no future plans for his life. They were also gone.  His plans to buy or sell, to travel, to retire, to acquire or spend, to achieve, to attain, to learn, gone, all gone.  Crucifixion would take all he had and all he ever would have.

I am not suggesting that a Christian needs to give up everything to follow Christ.  A follower of Christ must be willing to give up something from the past or future, but crucifixion by its very nature, takes everything from the past and the future.  This is not a verse that requires Christians to sacrifice all they have or ever will have to be followers of Christ. The word crucifixion in this verse does not focus on the process of being crucified but on the end result. We are dead. Verse 2:19 is a key to understanding verse 2:20

Ga 2:19 For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God.

Galations 2:20 is a culmination of Paul’s argument that starts in verse 16. He is explaining that we are dead to the law and nothing of the Mosaic law needs to be connected to salvation. It was not necessary to become a Jew or follow Jewish customs before a gentile could be saved. Verse 20 is focused on being dead and not on crucifixion. 

But it is still a great verse. As we read scripture it is important to understand the context of a verse. The context of Galations 2:20 is part of an argument Paul is making against those who would require gentiles to add Jewish customs to their salvation.

Oh how blessed we are that our salvation is free and is the gift of God and not of works. That is what Gal 2:20 should remind us of. We are dead in Christ and dead to the law and “the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”         

Jan 20 - Avoiding Comfort

January 20

Avoiding Comfort 

Ps 77:2 In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord:

… my soul refused to be comforted.

 

The psalmist tell us he was having a bad day. He had something he considered troubling.  He must have been a wise man because when he had trouble he sought the Lord.  But he found no comfort.  You may have done the same thing and wondered why God did not answer you.  

Perhaps you have not accepted His son, Jesus; or you were insincere in what you said; or God did answer but His answer did not comfort you, or God has a lesson only distress and agony can teach.  Those were four reasons we considered yesterday. If you missed it I suggest you go to Jan 19 and read it to better understand today’s thoughts.  

Today I want to focus on why the psalmist was not comforted.  Read our verse carefully and note that after he sought the Lord it does not say “…and God refused to comfort him.”  It says MY soul refused.  When we just read over the verse with little thought it reads like he sought God but God would not comfort him. Instead we now see that God may have provided the means of comfort but his soul refused to be comforted.  Yesterday we looked at why God may not have provided the comfort sought after. Today we will look at why the psalmist refused to be comforted.

There is a multitude of reasons why people will not be comforted. Here are a few.  Perhaps the most common reasons are ignorance or stubbornness.  The Word of God is our instruction book. Some people do not read the instructions.  Have you ever tried to assemble something and after a few failed attempts turned to the instructions and learned some simple thing you were doing wrong?  Yes, the same thing happens to people who do not spend time reading the Bible. They don’t read the instruction book of life and wonder why things are all messed up and they are not comforted. 

But our vesre says “…my soul refused to be comforted”  Perhaps the psalmist is like many Christians today who have some special problem that is so unique the Bible has no answer.  They know what the Bible says but…!  That word “but” is the key to their stubbornness.  You may know Christians, even pastors, who mention something from the Bible and explain why that won’t work in their very unique case. The truth is they refuse to follow clear Biblical instruction and try to excuse their disobedience by claiming some new, never happened before, circumstance. 

Ec 1:9 … and there is no new thing under the sun.  

Unless there is a medical reason , the plain fact is people often refuse to be comforted.  They want anger, discouragement, frustration, and trouble to continue.  Why would anyone want that?

Bitterness is one reason. The best definition of bitterness I have heard is “withholding love”.  The Bible says “love one another”  13 times. (Rom 13:8, 1 Thes 4:9, 1 Pet 1:22, 1 John  3:11, 3:23, 4:7-11-12, etc)  But the bitter person thinks it is OK to withhold love. Someone hurt them and in spite of clear Biblical instruction they feel entitled to withhold love.  

Busy bodies meddle in what is none of their business. If you pick up another person’s offense you will be troubled. God gives grace to those who are having trials but not to those who aren’t.  Yes we should “bear one another’s burdens”  (support, pray, and care for them) but when you assume another’s problems as an offense toward you, there will be no God given grace to sustain you and no comfort for you.  

People refuse to be comforted because they want their own way. Twenty years later they are still complaining about the people who wanted that ugly blue carpet in the church, instead of the beautiful lime green one they wanted.  They feel discomfort every time they see that blue carpet.

Others like the attention they get.  I knew a man who would retell the details of why his soul was not comforted and the people who were at fault for making him miserable. Every effort to help him was side stepped with some reason why it couldn’t be done.  I finally stopped trying to help him. He refused to be comforted because he wanted people to feel sorry for him and pay attention to him.

Some are not comforted because they think God needs their help and have told Him how they want a problem solved. But God has not done exactly what they have told Him to do. They can’t understand why and are not comforted.

And finally some try to continue in the pleasure of some sin and wonder why they are not comforted. 

There are many reasons people refuse to be comforted.

When you find someone who is troubled they may have refused to be comforted for one of the reasons mentioned.  But be assured it is a failing on their part and not God’s.  You can cast all your cares upon Him for He careth for you. Christ said his yoke is easy and His burden is light. If your burden is heavy it is self-imposed.  God is in the comforting business. 

2Co 1:3 ¶ Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort;