A pest in the garden

"Rise up my love, my fair one
and come away"
by James Shaw Crompton

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Song of Solomon 5-8; Psalm 12


TO CHEW ON: "I had put off my garment;
how could I put it on?
I had bathed my feet;
how could I soil them." Song of Solomon 5:3

Even this idyllic garden of love has a pest or two. In today's reading we see glimmers of selfishness when Beloved comes to the door, but Bride doesn't feel like getting dressed or soiling her clean feet. So she delays. When she does eventually open the door no one is there.  Beloved has gone. She has delayed too long.

We may recognize Bride's selfishness in reactions that well up within us. We don't like to be interrupted, pulled away from activities that we have planned, or have our sleep broken by the telephone.

After ignoring the summons to respond we may be filled with regret just like Bride was. But when we try to back-track, we often find, just like she did that once an opportunity to show love has been squandered, it is lost forever.

PRAYER: Dear God, I recognize Bride's selfishness in me. Help me to respond to opportunities to show love and think more of others than myself. Amen.

PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 12

MORE: The sober truth

John Piper explores selfishness in a February 2011 sermon entitled "I Act the Miracle":

"Selfishness is virtually the same as pride and is the deep, broad corruption that is at the bottom of it all. I would give it six traits.
    •    My selfishness is a reflex to expect to be served.
    •    My selfishness is a reflex to feel that I am owed.
    •    My selfishness is a reflex to want praise.
    •    My selfishness is a reflex to expect that things will go my way.
    •    My selfishness is a reflex to feel that I have the right to react negatively to being crossed.
And the reason I use the word “reflex” to describe the traits of selfishness is that there is zero premeditation. When these responses happen, they are coming from nature, not reflection. They are the marks of original sin.
Now what happens when this selfishness is crossed?" 

By John Piper. ©2012 Desiring God Foundation. Website: desiringGod.org

Read all of I Act the Miracle and discover ANTHEM (an acronym for victory over selfishness and its nasty symptoms).


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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Egocentric idols

Image: Microsoft Clipart

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Isaiah1-4; Psalm 109

TO CHEW ON:  "Their land is also full of idols;
They worship the work of their own hands,
That which their own fingers have made." Isaiah 2:8


John Piper takes a little swipe at a common interpretation of Jesus' command, "You shall love your neighbour as yourself (Leviticus 19:18; Matthew 22:39):

"The popular misconception is that this command teaches us to learn to esteem ourselves so we can love others. This is not what the command means. Jesus does not command us to love ourselves. He assumes that we do." — John Piper, Desiring God, p. 209.

It seems to me there is only a short distance between healthy self-love and idolatrous self-love. I wonder if, in our rich, possession-obsessed society, we don't indulge in such idolatry more than we realize. We regularly look to the things we own to give us a sense of worth. We dote on their excellence and how their quality will reflect well on us. When we get down, we shop for more things to help us feel better.

Making an idol out of a car or house or pair of shoes is an easy kind of idolatry to identify. However, there are other ego-centric idols that are just as widespread, but may be harder to put their fingers on. Dale Hanson Bourke in a chapter on idols in her book Embracing Your Second Calling speaks of a Bible-study worksheet (written by Tim Keller) that probed her heart in this regard:

"...the worksheet contained a list of the types of idolatry many modern-day men and women embrace. In part, it included statements like:

Approval idolatry: 'Life only has meaning / I only have worth if I am loved and respected by...'


Control idolatry: Life only has meaning / I only have worth if I am able to get mastery over my life in the area of...'


Helping idolatry: 'Life only has meaning / I only have worth if people are dependent on me.'


Work idolatry: 'Life only has meaning / I only have worth if I am highly productive and get a lot done.'


Achievement idolatry: 'Life only has meaning / I only have worth if I am being recognized for my accomplishments / excelling in my career.'

...One suggestion from the study is to think about what you fear the most or what you worry about most often. If you follow that trail, you almost always arrive at the foot of an idol." -- Dale Hanson Bourke, Embracing Your Second Calling, pp. 90-91

These thoughts convict me. I need to sweep a spotlight into and through the tucked-away rooms of my heart to see what self-idols are hidden there. What about you?

PRAYER: Dear God, please show me where I am worshiping something/someone other than You. Amen.

PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 109

The Bible Project VIDEO: Isaiah 1-39 (Read Scripture Series)






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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Don't face trouble alone

"For He satisfies the longing soul, / And fills the hungry soul with goodness" Ps. 107:9

TODAY'S SPECIAL: 2 Kings 20-22; Psalm 107

TO CHEW ON: "Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble,
And He saved them out of their distresses." Psalm 107:19

The first part of Psalm 107 talks about many kinds of trouble, described in the language of bondage.

• There is the bondage of being owned by the enemy (Psalm 107:2,3).

• There is the bondage of homelessness and not enough to eat and drink (Psalm 107:4-7).

• There is the bondage of terminal illness (physical—and spiritual? "… sat in darkness") that is caused by rebellion and insisting on one's own way (Psalm 107:10-14).

• There is the bondage of foolish, self-destructive behaviour (Psalm 107:17,18).

The writer uses a variety of words to describe this subjection: "…wandered … distresses … longing soul … hungry soul … sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, Bound in affliction and irons … chains … gates of bronze … bars of iron … gates of death … destructions…"

It's easy to recognize ourselves described here. Perhaps we see ourselves as we were before we came to Jesus, lost and wandering. Or we've experienced the humiliating bondage of an illness or accident (when I was convalescing from my broken hip in 2014, the feeling of being limited and bound by pain and weakness was very real). It doesn't even have to be a big thing or event that binds us. I'm intrigued by the words:

"He sent His word and healed them,
And delivered them from their destructions" - Psalm 107:20 (emphasis added).

Sometimes slavery comes from within ourselves—our appetites for food, entertainment, our physical, emotional and social longings.

When we feel bound by a physical condition or mentally, emotionally or spiritually, do we do what the psalmist says to do here—cry to God in our trouble (Psalm 107:6,13,19)?

How He answers in our specific case—by supplying food and drink, or healing from illness, or helping us break chains of habit and addiction—is up to Him and will be tailored to us and our situation. But we do need to take advantage of the recourse we have.

PRAYER: Dear Father, when I am in trouble, help me to remember whose I am, and to call out to You for help, intervention, and deliverance. Amen.

PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 107

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Destructive cycles

Image: Pixabay

TODAY’S SPECIAL: Judges 9-12; Psalm 73

TO CHEW ON: “Then the children of Israel again did evil in th sight of the LORD and served the Baals and the Ashtoreths…

So the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel and He sold them into the hands of the Philistines …

And the children of Israel cried out to the LORD…

And the children of Israel said to the LORD, ‘We have sinned…’

So they put away the foreign gods from among them and served the LORD. And His soul could no longer endure the misery of Israel.” Judges 10:6,7,10,15,16).

In the depressing chapters of our reading today we see firsthand the living out of the summary of this book from Judges 2:

1] The people leave God to worship idols - Judges 2:11-13. 

2] God gives them over to plundering neighbours and nomads who wreck their land and livelihood - Judges 2:14-16. 

3] In desperation the Israelites pray to God for help - Judges 2:15,18. 

4] God sends a leader—a judge—to deliver them - Judges 2:16. 

5] They have peace during the judge’s lifetime but on his death revert back to idol-worshiping ways - Judges 2:19. 

6] The cycle begins again - Judges 2:20-23.

As we read today’s stories of Israel descending with every generation and judge into greater anarchy, chaos, and depravity, it’s easy for us to feel critical. How could they not recognize the self-sabotage in their cycles?

Yet I would submit that their actions are only an outworking of the condition of the human heart that by default rebels against God and looks for other deities.  And I’m not so sure we’re immune from these same kinds of cyclical reactions that keep us from freedom and forward motion.

Do we find ourselves in the same spot of joblessness or debt or hoarding or obesity or addiction or relationship problems that we’ve broken free from in the past? 

Could the answer to complete and final breakthrough be that we need victory over spiritual rebellion in some chamber of our own hearts? Are we returning to our own idols of self, indulgence, fear of not enough, lust, etc. 

Let’s pray for God to give us insight into our own destructive cycles.

PRAYER: The destructive cycles of Israel are not unfamiliar to me. Please help me to see and recognize the rebellions and idols of my own heart that have me going in circles. Please show me the path to breakthrough. Amen.
 
PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 73

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Thanks for reading! This year we are using The Bible Project "Timeless Reading Plan" to read through the Bible in 2018. If you'd like to read along in your own Bible, you can download a pdf of the reading plan HERE.

The impossible life

TODAY'S SPECIAL: 1 Thessalonians 5:12-28

TO CHEW ON: "Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." 1 Thessalonians 5:23

Reading through this passage, I'm struck by how impossible its instructions are:
"… be patient with all …. always pursue what is good, for yourselves and for all … Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks …. Test all things … Abstain from every form of evil…"

Can you do it? Neither can I!

The process Paul is describing here is sanctification. He uses a form of the word in a sum-up verse after naming the specifics above: "Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely..." - 1 Thessalonians 5:23.

The Encyclopedia of the Bible defines sanctification:
[…  the process of acquiring sanctity or holiness as a result of association with deity. Its synonyms are consecration, dedication, holiness and perfection" - Encyclopedia of the Bible, accessed through biblegateway.com.]

It's an impossibly tall order. However, the next verse has the reassurance that we're not expected to do it by ourselves. This process of sanctification is not, finally, our project but His:

"He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it" - 1 Thessalonians 5:24

Whew! So we can just sit back and it will happen? Not exactly. We have a part to play. It's really a joint effort.

An article in The Dictionary of Bible Themes lists means and obstacles to sanctification (each undergirded by many Bible verses*):

Means of sanctification:

• The work of the Holy Spirit

• Meditation on the Scriptures.

• Our active pursuit of holiness and righteousness.

• Obedience and self-denial.

• Prayer.

Obstacles to sanctification:

• A lack of faith.

• Rebellion against God.

• Satanic temptation.

• Self-indulgence and greed.

• Yielding to sinful desires.

Let's view the specifics of the sanctified life (the 'be patient with all," the "rejoice always," the "pray without ceasing," the "in everything give thanks" etc.) through the grid of these means and obstacles. Are we allowing the Holy Spirit to put His finger on where we need to change—be more joyful, pray more, give thanks etc.? Do we read the Bible? Do we meditate on it? Do we actually obey the things God tells us to do? Do we pray, confessing the times we resist, rebel, mess-up?

Or do we throw up our hands with "This is too hard!" and carry on as usual, resisting the voice of conviction to be joyful, pray, give thanks, procrastinating on obedience, telling ourselves, everyone else can live like they please—why can't I?

PRAYER: Dear God, thank You for the means You have given to bring about this set-apart life. I love the part of the definition that says it comes about through "association with deity." I want to hang out with You today. Amen.

MORE: *Access the article on Sanctification and view supporting Scriptures:
1. Click on the link 1 Thessalonians 5:12-28 (passage on biblegateway.com).
2. Click on "Study This" - the blue box that displays to the right of the reference.
3. In the right sidebar that opens, click on "Dictionary of Bible Themes."
4. Select #6745 "Sanctification."

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Serving versus impressing

Image: Pixabay

TODAY’S SPECIAL: Matthew 23:1-22

TO CHEW ON: “‘But all their works they do to be seen by men.’” Matthew 23:5


This word stabs me right where I live this morning, coming as it does on the heels of a prayer for how to handle something nasty I’ve seen in my own heart.

Pride! It stinks. And it’s so adaptable. You think you’ve finally dealt with it once and for all and then you sniff it coming from another area of your life.

The trouble with pride is it’s also subtle. You share a moment from your life on Facebook, perhaps, and then catch yourself growing more and more puffed up as the likes, reactions, and comments come in. Or you slip little bits about yourself into the conversation and feel miffed when someone changes the subject away from you. Yuck!

I see dealing with pride as similar to dealing with the eating / overeating issue. The trouble with weight control is you can’t just stop eating or you’d die. It’s similar with ego control. You can’t stop communicating as in sharing yourself with others. If you did you’d die socially and emotionally.

Detecting when that self-disclosure changes from a desire to share your life  in a healthy way to grubbing for compliments, praise, and strokes is similar, I think, to sensing when eating goes from a legitimate need for nourishment to indulgence.

Thankfully, Jesus didn’t stop talking at verse five. His solution to our easy-to-come-by overweening, self-exalting attitude comes in Matthew 23:11:

“‘But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant.’”

PRAYER: Dear Father, thank You for answering my personal and specific request with this passage today. Help me to give pride the boot by focusing on serving rather than impressing. Amen.

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Who dictates in your heart?

Image: Pixabay.com

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Jeremiah 9:4-16

TO CHEW ON: "And the LORD said, 'Because they have forsaken My law which I set before them, and have not obeyed My voice, nor walked according to it, but have walked according to the dictates of their own hearts and after the Baals, which their fathers taught them…'" Jeremiah 9:13,14


It's easy to read these Old Testament prophetic passages with an "I would never do that!" attitude. Yet I fear sometimes we are (I am) like these people. I do the very things God is scolding them about.

A couple of weeks ago I was asked to take on a small ministry responsibility that I hadn't counted on. It was the end of summer. My day planner for the next few weeks was full. And I really didn't' want to do that thing. So I declined.

After saying "No," though, I felt pangs. Why had I said no? Was it more about walking according to, as Jeremiah puts it, the "dictates" of my own heart, than the attitude I want to have of carte blanche "Here's my life, Lord. Do whatever You want with it"?

Now I'm not suggesting that we feel obliged to say "Yes" to every request (ministry or not) that comes along. But we do need to be open to God changing our plans in such ways. Those who know me know I don't do spontaneous well. I like to know ahead of time, to get my head around an activity, to plan for it. But God often seems to reveal His ways and make His requests by surprise. Our responses—my response says a lot about who dictates in my heart.

The prediction Jeremiah makes for the end of these folks is a warning to us—to me. A life of habitual following the dictates of one's own heart and its idols (anything we pursue more than God, including our own projects and productivity) leads to bitterness ("wormwood" and "gall" - Jeremiah 9:15), scattering, and eventual wipe-out (Jeremiah 9:16).

PRAYER: Dear God, may the dictate of my heart be to obey and please You above everything else. Amen.
 
MORE: Doing work for God

"True earnestness is found in obeying God, not in the inclination to serve Him that is born of undisciplined human nature. It is inconceivable, but true nevertheless, that saints are not bringing every project into captivity, but are doing work for God at the instigation of their own human nature which has not been spiritualized by determined discipline" - Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest, September 9 reading.

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Self-indulgent and bored

David Sees Bathsheba Bathing - James Tissot

TODAY'S SPECIAL: 2 Samuel 11:1-13

TO CHEW ON: "In the spring when kings go off to war, David sent Joab .... One evening, David got up from his couch and was pacing back and forth on the roof of the palace ..." 2 Samuel 11:1,2

The two opening verses of this incident speak eloquently of why David was vulnerable to temptation:

1. He was taking a break from his normal routine. It was spring and he was usually off fighting. But not this year.

2. He was bored. What was he doing on his couch so late in the day (without any TV too) so that it was evening when he "got up from his couch" and was "pacing back and forth on the roof of the palace"?

Ripe for some excitement, for a little spice in his humdrum existence, the sight of Bathsheba bathing on a rooftop was just the ticket.

It's a cautionary tale for us during this holiday time of year. Vacations and holidays—a break from the work routine—are part of the yearly cycle for many of us. But when our attitude becomes too self-indulgent we may be opening ourselves up to temptation. The old saying "The devil finds work for idle hands to do" is another way of expressing the danger of boredom.

This summer let's be on guard against self-indulgence and boredom. As our pastor admonished us in a last Sunday sermon before summer: "Read your Bible in the extra time you have during the holidays. Pray with your spouse and children. Play praise music and sing along as you travel..."

PRAYER: Dear God, I never want to take a vacation from You. Help me to get to know You better during the holidays instead of drifting into danger. Amen.  

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Egocentric idols

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Isaiah 2:1-22

TO CHEW ON: "Their land is also full of idols;

They worship the work of their own hands,

That which their own fingers have made." Isaiah 2:8

John Piper takes a little swipe at a common interpretation of Jesus' command, "You shall love your neighbour as yourself" (Leviticus 19:18; Matthew 22:39):

"The popular misconception is that this command teaches us to learn to esteem ourselves so we can love others. This is not what the command means. Jesus does not command us to love ourselves. He assumes that we do." — John Piper, Desiring God, p. 209.

It seems to me there is only a short distance between healthy self-love and idolatrous self-love. I wonder if, in our rich, possession-obsessed society, we don't indulge in such idolatry more than we realize. We regularly look to the things we own to give us a sense of worth. We dote on their excellence and how their quality will reflect well on us. When we get down, we shop for more things to help us feel better.

Making an idol out of a car or house or pair of shoes is an easy kind of idolatry to identify. However, there are other ego-centric idols that are just as widespread, but may be harder to put their fingers on. Dale Hanson Bourke in a chapter on idols in her book Embracing Your Second Calling speaks of a Bible-study worksheet (written by Tim Keller) that probed her heart in this regard:

"...the worksheet contained a list of the types of idolatry many modern-day men and women embrace. In part, it included statements like:

Approval idolatry: 'Life only has meaning / I only have worth if I am loved and respected by...'


Control idolatry: Life only has meaning / I only have worth if I am able to get mastery over my life in the area of...'


Helping idolatry: 'Life only has meaning / I only have worth if people are dependent on me.'


Work idolatry: 'Life only has meaning / I only have worth if I am highly productive and get a lot done.'


Achievement idolatry: 'Life only has meaning / I only have worth if I am being recognized for my accomplishments / excelling in my career.'

...One suggestion from the study is to think about what you fear the most or what you worry about most often. If you follow that trail, you almost always arrive at the foot of an idol." -- Dale Hanson Bourke, Embracing Your Second Calling, pp. 90-91

These thoughts convict me. I need to sweep a spotlight into and through the tucked-away rooms of my heart to see what self-idols are hidden there. What about you?

PRAYER: Dear God, please show me where I am worshiping something/someone other than You. Amen.

MORE: More from Tim Keller:

Pastor and teacher Dr. Tim Keller develops the concepts of modern idolatry further in his book Counterfeit Gods. A talk he gave at The Gospel Coalition in 2005 is summarized  in "The Grand Demythologizers: The Gospel and Idolatry." Follow this link to hear/watch the entire talk.

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