Integrity

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Psalm 26:1-12

TO CHEW ON: "Vindicate me O Lord,

For I have walked in my integrity ....

But as for me, I will walk in my integrity ...." Psalm 26:1, 11

In this psalm David twice uses the word integrity—a word we don't run across often in the Bible. He uses it to describe his own life and lifetyle.

[Integrity means (according to my Funk and Wagnalls)

1. Uprightness of character, honesty, probity (virtue or integrity tested and confirmed; strict honesty).

2. The condition or quality of being unimpaired or sound.

3. The state of being complete or undivided.]

The first definition (uprightness of character, honesty, probity) is most likely the meaning we would think of when we describe someone's life. However, I would suggest that a life lived that way leads to a life and reputation that would embody the other aspects of integrity as well (i.e. a life unimpaired, sound, complete, and undivided).

David gives us some clues in this psalm about how he conducted his life so it would have integrity. Perhaps we can pick up some pointers from him about how we too can live that way.


1. David lived with the consciousness that God sees everything. 
David, it seems, had dealt with secret and public matters in his life to the extent that he was confident in inviting God's scrutiny (Psalm 26:1-3). This is surely the attitude of someone with no skeletons in his closet.

Have we cultivated such a clear conscience before God and people?

2. David was intentional about the company he kept.
He avoided spending time with hypocrites, evildoers, the wicked, and people who worshiped idols (Psalm 26:4-5). He was not naive about his own susceptibility to corruption and didn't want to end up with the corrupters (Psalm 26:9-10).

Though Jesus' great assignment gives us a reason to spend time with non-believers, and He Himself was a loving example of this, I believe we need to be as intentional about the company we keep as David was. The company we keep also includes the movies and TV we watch, the books, magazines, and online content we read.

3. He voiced his praise and thanksgiving.
David's guilt-free living ("I will wash my hands in innocence"  - Psalm 26:6) expressed itself in praise and thanksgiving to God (Psalm 26:7). 

What we express in words and song, even if at first half-hearted, is bolstered even as we speak and sing the words.


4. David loved to spend time in God's house and with fellow believers.
The fact that David loved God's presence is another witness to his integrity. He would not have been able to bask in God's glory (Psalm 26:8) if his life had been full of known sin. The "congregation" gave him a safe place to identify with like-minded people and encourage them with his presence and the aroma of his relationship with God (Psalm 26:12).

Our desire to attend church (whether that's going to a building or just being with fellow believers wherever) and spend time with other Christians can be both an evidence of our integrity and a way to reinforce it (with mutual encouragement and example).

Can we say with David, "I have walked in integrity .... I will walk in my integrity"? If not, let's make the integrity of our lives a matter of attention today.


PRAYER: Dear God, thank You for David and his articulate transparency that helps me find ways to examine my own life. I pray with him, "Search me, O God .... Try me .... see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting" (Psalm 139:23-24). Amen.


MORE: More about integrity


"Keeping your word is the essence of integrity," says Michael Hyatt (former CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishing) in the blog post "Keeping Your Word." He goes on, "As Stephen Covey points out, 'honesty is making your words conform to reality. Integrity is making reality conform to your words.' It is essential to leadership. Without it, you cannot be an effective leader."

Read all of "Keeping Your Word" to discover the organic link between integrity and leadership.

(From the archives)

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Divine healing

 TODAY'S SPECIAL: James 5:1-20

TO CHEW ON: "Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven." James 5:14-15

Chances are you know someone who is sick. Perhaps you are sick yourself. Problems, issues, pains, and malfunctions of the human body are everywhere.

When we are sick, we desperately want healing. When our loved ones are sick, the pursuit of their health turns our lives upside down as well. So it's not surprising that our chosen verse today is one of the most well-known and often quoted sections of James.

In it the author suggests a way for Christians to confront sickness. Let's look at these verses closely to gain insight on how to deal with sickness in our own lives and the lives of those we love.

1. "Is anyone among you sick? Let him call ..." (vs. 14).

Here we see that the sick person takes the initiative to call for prayer. When you think of it, this makes sense. Remember the last time you were in the middle of an illness and faith for even the next breath was hard to muster. Summoning someone to pray whose faith is not hampered by physical illness and weakness is a good place to start.

2. "Let him call for the elders of the church..."  (vs. 14). 

Elders are officers of the church. The qualifications of such officers (1 Timothy 3:1-7; Titus 1:5-9) ensure that they are men and women of personal integrity and character, full of discernment and (though not specifically named) people of faith and prayer.

3. "...let them pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord" (vs. 14).

The oil isn't medicine or magical. Rather it is a symbol of the Holy Spirit. It can symbolize the consecration of the sick person and, as my Bible's footnote expresses it: "the joyous presence of the Holy Spirit, in this case to bring healing in response to the obedience and faith of the elders" - Jon Mark Ruthven, New Spirit Filled Life Bible, p. 1757.

4. And the prayer of faith..." (vs. 15).

We think of the gift of faith Paul talks about in 1 Corinthians 12:9. Here that faith is for the healing of the sick person prayed for.

5. "...will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven" (vs. 15).

According to the study notes in my Bible, when James says "save the sick" and "he will be forgiven" he doesn't mean that the prayers save the sick person from sin. Rather, "save" here refers to physical restoration and the "sins ... forgiven" refer to sins that may have contributed to the illness. Although not all sickness is caused by sin, sometimes there is a connection (Mark 2:5-11; 1 Corinthians 11:27-30).

6. ...and the Lord will raise him up..."(vs. 15).

"James stresses God's healing power through prayer that accompanies the anointing" (NSFLB - p. 1757). In the final analysis, healing comes, not from the oil, or the floweriness of our prayers, or even the robustness of our faith, but from God.

It's hard to understand why God steps in with supernatural healing at some times and not at others. We will never have the answer to such questions on this side of heaven. But we do know that God has, through Bible writers, told us to bring our requests to heal sickness to Him. Let's do that, and then continue to depend on Him to work all things together for good in the realm of physical wellness as in other areas of life.

PRAYER: Dear God, I know that the power to restore health is in Your hands. Please keep faith for my ill loved ones alive in me as I continue to pray for them. Amen.

MORE: Smith Wigglesworth on this passage:

"We have in this precious Word a real basis for the truth of healing. In these verses God gives very definite instructions to the sick. If you are sick, your part is to call for the elders of the church; it is their part to anoint and pray for you in faith. Then the whole situation rests with the Lord..."

- Smith Wigglesworth, from Smith Wigglesworth Devotional,  p. 130.

(From the archives)

Life-saving fear

Feast of Purim Commanded - H. Melville

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Esther 9:1-19

TO CHEW ON: "The Jews gathered together in their cities throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus to lay hands on those who sought their harm. And no one could withstand them because fear of them fell upon all people.
And all the officials of the provinces, the satraps, the governors, and all those doing the king's work, helped the Jews because the fear of Mordecai fell upon them." Esther 9:2,3

Something... Someone supernatural must be at work here for the tide of public opinion to turn so dramatically for Haman one day, against him the next (although my Bible's notes suggest the Jews had some months to prepare for their defence).

The way the Bible describes it: "And no one could withstand them because the fear of them fell upon all people .... the officials etc. helped the Jews because the fear of Mordecai fell upon them," gives one the sense of an irresistible force on the Jews' side causing others to lose their courage and to give up on destroying them.

I am reminded of another time the fear of the Lord became a force in the life of the Jewish nation. Remember Rahab, the woman who hid the Jewish spies, and what she said: "...the terror of you has fallen on us .... all the inhabitants of the land are fainthearted because of you ... our hearts melted; neither did there remain any more courage in anyone because of you for the Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath" - Joshua 2:9,11.

Then there's the early church. After the coming of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost and many joining the new believers "... fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles" - Acts 2:43.

It's comforting to know that God works in this way. Lets pray that the fear of God come over our nation where attempts to silence public witness about Jesus are becoming increasingly bold and pervasive. Let's pray that the fear of God come over other countries, especially those where it is illegal to be a Christian and converting is a death sentence.

PRAYER: Dear God, perhaps before the fear of God comes over my nation, it needs to affect me. Help me to have a view of You that begins to understand how worthy You are of my fear, awe, and worship. Amen.

MORE: Fear and wisdom

John Piper in a sermon from the text Proverbs 10:11 ("The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life.") says,

 "The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life" (cf. 16:22). So if the "teaching of the wise" is a fountain of life, and "the mouth of the righteous" is a fountain of life, then one element in this righteousness is true wisdom. Righteous people are people who live by true wisdom.

Then I remembered that the most crucial thing Proverbs says about wisdom is that "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" (9:10). So I assumed that "the fear of the Lord" is right at the heart of the wisdom which is the basis of the way righteous people live (fear of the Lord—wisdom—righteousness). The surprising thing was the way this was confirmed in 14:27, "The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life."

So I conclude that the mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life (10:11) because righteousness is a life based on true wisdom which is a fountain of life (13:14), and true wisdom is a fountain of life because it begins with the fear of the Lord, which is a fountain of life (14:27)." - By John Piper. ©2012 Desiring God Foundation. Website: desiringGod.org. Read all of "The Mouth of the Righteous Is a Fountain of Life."

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The importance of timing

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Esther 5:1-14

TO CHEW ON: "So Esther answered, 'If it pleases the king, let the king and Haman come today to the banquet that I have prepared for him.' .... Let the king and Haman come to the banquet which I will prepare for them, and tomorrow I will do as the king has said.'" - Esther 5:4,8

Marriage experts stress the importance of good timing. It's a good idea, they say for example, to make sure your husband is well fed and comfortable before you introduce him to the kitchen reno you're dreaming of.

I don't know how much of Esther's double banquet plan was Persian custom or wife's intuition but it is obvious that God used the extra day to get more things into place. Haman's gallows, and Ahasuerus's sleepless night both played important parts in the event's outcome.

Ecclesiastes says, "...a wise man's heart discerns both time and judgment, because for every matter there is a time and judgment" - Ecclesiastes 8:5,6.

Do we have the wisdom to discern, and the faith and patience to use the powerful principle of good timing and, even more important, to wait for God's timing?

PRAYER: Dear God, as someone who lives in a fast-paced culture, I easily give in to impulse and impatience. Please give me discernment about timing and the patience and faith to wait for You to work when I'm not sure about what to do. Amen.
 
MORE:  Wisdom about timing

"To everything there is a season
A time for every purpose under heaven ....
A time to keep silence
And a time to speak..." Ecclesiastes 3:1,7.

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Unlikely disciple

"St. Matthew" by Pompeo Batoni

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Mark 2:13-22


TO CHEW ON: "As He passed by, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, 'Follow Me.' So he arose and followed Him." Mark 2:14

I love Levi's (Matthew's) uncomplicated faith, shown when he dropped everything and followed Jesus (here and in Luke, Matthew is called called Levi). Didn't he even have to give this career change some thought? Apparently not. Or maybe he had given it thought, had become increasingly discontented with his job, was aware of Jesus, secretly longed to get to know Him better, and here was his opportunity.

Matthew is an interesting choice as a disciple. The Bible tells us he was a tax collector—one of a class of people who worked for the hated Romans. Tax collectors made their living by charging slightly higher fees than the Romans for general, agricultural, census, and traveler taxes. Licensed tax collectors often hired publicans to do the actual collecting. Publicans, who tacked on additional fees, were usually Jews and doubly despised as tax collectors and traitors.

Matthew was one of these publicans whose booth was beside the road outside Capernaum. In addition to collecting the road tax, he may also have collected taxes from fishermen. Imagine how the career fishermen (Andrew, Peter, James and John) must have felt when this loathed publican joined their band!

However, Jesus knew what He was doing when He chose Matthew. He was probably good with numbers and could read and write. He was well educated in the Scriptures, judging by how much of the Old Testament he had at his fingertips to quote in the Gospel of  Matthew.

He also had a missionary bent, shown when he shared his new Rabbi with his friends. For shortly after accepting Jesus' call, he hosted a dinner for his "tax collector and sinner" friends.

That desire to share Jesus eventually led to his writing of the history of the life of Christ we know as The Gospel According to Matthew. What a legacy!

• It contains the only account of the wisemen visit.
• Its detailed account of the Jesus' teachings (called the Sermon on the Mount) is three chapters long (Matthew 5, 6 & 7) versus Luke's 29 verses (Luke 6:20-49).
• It contains parables of the Day of Judgement found in no other gospel (Matthew 24)
• It emphasizes Jesus as the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy.
• It stresses that Jesus was Messiah.
• It depicts Him as King.

What an amazing contribution from someone who came from the most despised category of people, "tax collectors and sinners," whom Jesus Himself characterized as sick: "Those who are well have no need of a physician but those who are sick" - Mark 2:17 (and Matthew 9:12).

The story of Matthew should give all of us hope. For when Jesus calls us, He sees right through our family and job categories. He is not influenced by the labels others put on us or we put on ourselves. When He says "Follow Me" and we jump up and follow Him, we set out on the road to discover a potential and a destiny we never dreamed possible.

PRAYER: Dear God, thank You for Matthew (Levi), a tax collector who became the writer of a history that has influenced millions. Help me to trust You with my future like he trusted You with his. Amen.

MORE: The Feast of St. Matthew

Today the church celebrates the Feast of St. Matthew. The liturgy for the day begins with the following collect:

"We thank you, heavenly Father, for the witness of your apostle and evangelist Matthew to the Gospel of your Son our Savior; and we pray that, after his example, we may with ready wills and hearts obey the calling of our Lord to follow him; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen."

Sources:

• "The Gospel According to Matthew - Introduction," New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, pp.1287-1289.

• Illustrated Manners and Customs of the Bible, J. I. Packer, M. C. Tenney, editors, pp. 529-531.

(From the archives)

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Intelligent obedience

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Psalm 119:25-40

TO CHEW ON: "Make me to understand the way of Your precepts;
So shall I meditate on Your wonderful works." Psalm 119:25-26.

Do you remember student days and studying for tests? For me, rote memorization of concepts rarely worked. I had to have an outline—a framework—of facts in order for me to remember them. I needed a certain level of understanding to ensure recall.

The writer of this psalm requests in several ways that God help him know and understand His will and ways (called statutes, precepts, commandments, testimonies, judgments, word, works, and law). I appreciate his emphasis on intelligent obedience.

We can see by what he says that he has already given a good deal of thought to what keeping God's ways will do for him, for he:
- asks to be revived and strengthened by them (Psalm 119:25, 28, 40).
- expects them to help him resist the temptation to lie (Psalm 119:29).
- prays that they keep him from shame and reproach (Psalm 119:31, 39).
- assumes that running the course of life by God's ways will give him the spirit to persist ("enlarge my heart ... I shall keep it to the end" - Psalm 119:32,33).
- wants to live for God whole-heartedly (Psalm 119:34).
- assumes that living by God's ways will keep him focused on worthwhile things (versus having a covetous attitude that looks longingly at "worthless things" - Psalm 119:36, 37).

Do we likewise have such a thoughtful approach to how we live? Have we, for example, considered the various sinful options that we face, taking them, in our imaginations, to their logical conclusions so that we understand why God has forbidden them? If we have, we may find that some temptations lose their lustre because we understand that God has put them off-limits for very good reasons.

PRAYER: Dear God, please help me understand You and Your ways better, as I meditate on the benefits of keeping them, and the downside of breaking them. Amen.

MORE: "All the Way My Saviour Leads Me" - Chris Tomlin

Let God be your promoter

TODAY'S SPECIAL: James 4:1-17

TO CHEW ON: "Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up." James 4:10

In his book Make Love, Make War: Now is the Time to Worship Brian Doerksen tells the story of how he came to write "Father, I want You to Hold Me." The moment the song was conceived was one of special connection to his baby daughter.

"The first of our six children, Rachel, arrived on August 8, 1988 (8/8/88!). I was both delighted and scared to death. There was a moment that I shared with Rachel on the west coast of Vancouver Island that changed everything for me. She looked up at me with those big brown eyes and held her arms out, and without words she said, 'Daddy...I want you to hold me.' This is what I always wanted to say to my earthly father...and ultimately to my heavenly father: Father, I Want You to hold me'" (p. 73).

He went on to write "Father I Want You to Hold Me." He called it "my secret song to God" (p. 74).

It was sometime later that Andy Park, the worship leader of the church he attended, asked him to share an appropriate song after someone had talked about the Father-heart of God. Brian says of that moment, "I sensed it was time for my secret song to become public (at last with those twenty people), and so I shared it" (p. 74).

A few months after that, this time at a John Wimber and Vineyard Ministries Conference, Andy asked him to play that specific song again. John Wimber came up to Brian after the meeting and asked, "Can we publish this song?" Later that year, Wimber did just that — published Brian's "private song." It was his first song to be published.

What I love about this story is how it illustrates today's verse about God lifting us up.

The concept of waiting for God to promote us gets little traction amongst even Christians in our competitive culture. Within the world of writing and publishing words, with which I am most familiar, it's all about getting seen and being active on social media (Twitter, Facebook, Linked-in, the blogs). It's about creating buzz around your name, your product, your brand, about gathering followers,  and building a platform. Where is God in all this promotion, I sometimes wonder. Brian's story is a refreshing reminder that He can and does have a marketing plan for the things that honour Him. He is very able to lift us up if that's where we belong.

As Brian Doerksen says in his "Songwriting Tips" at the end of this chapter:

"Let God bring you forward. Don't promote yourself and your own songs. This is a really challenging area. You could move through seasons when it is time to be bold and share what God has given you. But don't start there. Start in a place of hiddenness and service. God knows what you have written, and He is fully able to call it forward at the right time and in the right place." p. 83.

PRAYER: Dear God, You know my own struggles in this area. Today again I commit to You the things I write. Help me to never lose sight of the fact that my first and main goal is to honour and bless You — my Audience of One — with and in all I do. Amen.

MORE: "Father I Want You to Hold Me" by Brian Doerksen




(From the archives)

Godly wisom vs. the other kind

TODAY'S SPECIAL:  James 3:1-18

TO CHEW ON: "But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy." James 3:17

For anyone pursuing godly wisdom, James 3 is a little goldmine.

This passage, with its lists of words begs for a word study. Rather than look at the modern definition of the words used by translators, we're going to look at what the Greek words used in the original text mean — for they are eloquent.

First, James tells us what godly wisdom isn't (vs. 14-16).

Godly wisdom isn't:

Jealous* (#2205 - zelos):  an envious, contentious rivalry.

Characterized by selfish ambition (#2052 - eritheia): electioneering or intriguing for office; a desire to put oneself forward, a partisan fractious spirit.

Earthly (#1919 epigeios): existing upon earth, earthly, terrestrial.

Sensual (#5591 - psuchikos): of or belonging to breath; the principle of animal life which men have in common with the brutes;  the sensuous nature with its subjection to appetites and passions.

Demonic (#1141 daimoniodes): resembling or proceeding from an evil spirit, demon-like.


Godly wisdom is:

Pure (#53 - hagnos): exciting reverence, venerable, sacred, pure from every fault, immaculate, clean.

Peaceable (#1515 - eirene): harmony, concord, peace between individuals, security, safety, prosperity (because peace and harmony make and keep things safe and prosperous).

Gentle (#1933 - epieikes): equitable, fair, mild.

Reasonable (#2138 - eupeithes): easily obeying, compliant.

Full of mercy (#1656 - eleos): kindness or goodwill towards the miserable or the afflicted, joined with a desire to help them.

Full of...good fruits (#2590 - karpos): 1) fruit of a tree or one's progeny— descendants; 2) that which originates or comes from something, an effect, result, work, act or deed.

Unwavering (#87 - adiakritos): without dubiousness, ambiguity, uncertainty. The NKJV translates this "without partiality" - which was the topic of our meditation yesterday.

 Without hypocrisy (#505 - anupokritos): unfeigned, undisguised, sincere.

Oh my - what convicting lists! Do you find yourself in any of the words that describe what godly wisdom isn't? Sadly, I do.

Let's set our hearts on seeking after and fleshing out in our lives true godly wisdom.

*I used words from the NASB translation, because that's the translation of my concordance which has the Strong's Concordance numbers.

PRAYER: Dear God, I so easily pursue the methods of earthly wisdom. By Your Spirit, please point out places where I do that, then help me grow the attitudes and actions of godly wisdom in my life. Amen.

MORE: Astute wisdom or the supernatural equipment of God?

"When looking back on the lives of men and women of God the tendency is to say — what wonderfully astute wisdom they had! How perfectly they understood all God wanted! The astute mind behind is the Mind of God, not human wisdom at all. We give credit to human wisdom when we should give credit to the Divine guidance of God through childlike people who were foolish enough to trust God's wisdom and the supernatural equipment of God." Oswald Chambers - My Utmost for His Highest  October 26 reading.

(From the archives)

Shame and hiding

Eve and Adam - painting by Phillip Ratner

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Genesis 3:1-15

TO CHEW ON: "And they heard the sound of the Lord walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden." Genesis 3:8

Adam and Eve in sweet companionship with each other and God  (Genesis 2:23-25) is ripped apart by sin. Adam and Eve's eating the fruit of the Knowledge-of-Good-and-Evil tree did a lot more than set them in the direction of death. One thing that happened was an immediate urge to hide.

This urge grew out of guilt and shame.

[guilt: The fact or condition of having committed an offense, especially a willful violation of a legal or moral code,

shame: a painful sense of guilt or degradation caused by consciousness of guilt or of anything degrading, unworthy or immodest...a state or condition of regret, dishonour or disgrace."]

So they went from "naked and unashamed" (Genesis 2:25) to hiding their bodies from each other and hiding themselves from God.

Throughout the Bible we discover a similar urge to hide in the presence of guilt over having committed sin. It was often accompanied by drastic results which impacted more people than just the ones who sinned:

• Achan took spoil from Jericho, hid it in his tent and as a result 36 men were killed in the battle with Ai before he was discovered. Then he and his family paid the price (Joshua 7).

• Gehazi, Elisha's servant, tried to hide the fact that he had taken Naaman's gift, offered earlier to his boss. He ended up with leprosy (2 Kings 5:20-27).

• We smile at the irony of the Israelites secretly building "high places" for idol worship. "High places"! And they thought God couldn't see? (2 Kings 17:9).

David, whose hiding episode included adultery and murder, got it right when he asked, rhetorically in Psalm 139, "Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence?" and answered, in effect, nowhere (Psalm 139:7-12).

I ask myself, am I keeping secrets from God? One sign that I am may be is a reluctance to meet with Him (just like Adam and Eve). For I have found that when such is the case and we do get together, He invariably puts His finger on my supposed secret.

If we're not sure, we can pray the prayer David prayed at the end of Psalm 139:

"Search me, O God, and know my heart;

         Try me, and know my anxieties;

 And see if there is any wicked way in me,

         And lead me in the way everlasting."

If God exposes concealed sins, Psalm 32:5 is the perfect way to deal with them:

"I acknowledged my sin to You, And my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,” And You forgave the iniquity of my sin.  Selah  

PRAYER: Dear God, please help me to realize the futility of trying to hide things from You. Help me to recognize "secret sins," to acknowledge and confess them, and to deal with any interpersonal fallout. Amen.

MORE: Shame versus guilt
Mark Yarhouse in his book Homosexuality and the Christian, makes a distinction between guilt and shame:

"Guilt is about feeling bad for something you've done. Shame is about feeling bad for who you are" - p. 158.

Keeping that in mind, shame would be the appropriate response to humanity's (and thus our own) reluctance to appear before God caused by Adam and Eve's sin. But through belief in Jesus and His death on the cross, the shame of our inherent sinfulness is no longer necessary (see Revelation 3:18-20).

(From the archives)

Implicated

TODAY'S SPECIAL: John 19:1-16

TO CHEW ON: "Therefore when the chief priests and officers saw Him they cried out saying, 'Crucify Him, crucify Him!'" - John 19:16

Here we see enacted what we read about in Proverbs yesterday. The Jews' rejection of Jesus was the coming true of:

"...scorners delight in their scorning
And fools hate knowledge ...
...I have called you and you refused
I have stretched out my hand no no one regarded
... you disdained my counsel
And would have none of my rebuke
... they hated knowledge
And did not choose the fear of the Lord  - Proverbs 1:22, 24,25,29.

It's easy for me to shake my head and think, I would never do those things. But then I am reminded of the list of sin's fruits (yesterday's devo) and how I have tolerated them in my own life. Why all I need to do is think back to yesterday to find contention, dissension, selfishness, an 'outburst of wrath.' What Isaiah said is so true:

"All we like sheep have gone astray
We have turned every one to his own way
And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all" - Isaiah 53:6

So I find myself—we all find ourselves—in the scene of Jesus before Pilate and feel a pang when He says, "You could have no power at all against Me unless it had been given you from above. Therefore the one who delivered Me to you has the greater sin." For we are all implicated as "the one who delivered Me to you."

PRAYER: Dear Jesus, thank You for letting Yourself be put in Pilate's hands and paying the death penalty for my sin.

More: Above All - Michael W. Smith

The fruit of one's own way

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Proverbs 1:20-33

TO CHEW ON: "They would have none of my counsel
And despised my every rebuke.
Therefore they shall eat of the fruit of their own way,
And be filled to the full with their own fancies." Proverbs 1:30,31

One of the things that persuaded me to give my life back to the Lord when I was backslidden was this principle of fruit. For the fruit of even a few years of living away from the Lord was not that good!

The Bible speaks often of sin's fruit. It is:

Bitter - Moses prophesied that Israel would rebel against God and in rebellion her fruit would be "...the vine of Sodom and the fields of Gomorrah / Their grapes are gall" - Deuteronomy 32:32.

Disappointing: Just like the vineyard owner was disappointed by his workers' efforts in Isaiah's vineyard song, targeted to Israel's leaders who had become unjust and oppressive  - Isaiah 5:2.

Selfish: According to Hosea, talking about Israel in her backslidden state - Hosea 10:1.

Deceitful: Another fruit of going one's own way that Hosea mentions - Hosea 10:13.

Corrupt: Giving evidence of the kind of tree (life) really on display (Jesus in Matthew 7:17).

Diverse and plentiful: Paul contrasts the works of the flesh with the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5 where he lists some of the fruits in sin's fruit bowl: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, cursing, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, "and the like" (just in case he's missed any) - Galatians 5:19,20..

It sure makes one want to have the other kind of fruit—wisdom's fruit—doesn't it?


PRAYER: Dear God, this list of sin's fruits shows me again how important it is to give You—the source of all wisdom—the control of my life. Help me to do that day by day. Amen.

MORE: The fruit of the Spirit

"The the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law." - Galatians 5:22,23

Muddy vision

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Mark 8:1-26

TO CHEW ON: "'Having eyes do you not see? And having ears do you not hear? And do you not remember?' .... Then He came to Bethsaida; and they brought a blind man to Him, and begged Him to touch him." Mark 8:18, 22

Have you noticed how in several stories of Jesus, what He was trying to teach His disciples and the miracles he did went hand-in-hand? Here for example, he was troubled that they didn't get it when He said "watch out for the leaven of the Pharisees" and called them blind. Then a little later He healed a blind man.

What was Jesus calling leaven, and what did He want them to understand?

He had just performed a miraculous feeding of 4000 people, then crossed Galilee. No sooner had he touched land than He was met by a group of argumentative Pharisees asking for a sign. Jesus refused. I can think of several reasons why:

• His miracles weren't crowd-wowing magic tricks, but divine interventions to fulfill real needs.

• It appeared the Pharisees were suspect of anything that they hadn't experienced or seen themselves. Surely the news of Jesus' miracle feeding had reached them but the word of others about Jesus' signs wasn't enough.

• Jesus knew their hearts, which were determined to doubt Him no matter what. They inevitably twisted His miracles into something bad (e.g. Matthew 12:24).

I believe it was this skeptical, rigid view of life that refused to see God breaking through that was the leaven Jesus was warning the disciples about. For it was in the setting of them worrying about their own lack of bread that He said, "Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees."

And then a few verses further on, He healed the blind man—though in stages. Does this tell us anything about the healing of our spiritual blindness? Two lessons come to mind: 
1. Jesus needs to touch our eyes. We can ask / beg Him to do that like the blind man's friends implored Jesus for their friend.

2. Sometimes sight / insight is gradual. It took several washings for the blind man's vision to clear up completely and so with us it might take repeated washings of the mud of naturalism, skepticism, and our rigid explanations of how God works before we see.

PRAYER: Dear God, please help me to wash away the debris of skepticism and doubt that continues to cloud my vision. Amen.


MORE: He Touched Me (an oldie but a goodie)

Test of faith

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Mark 7:24-37

TO CHEW ON: "And she answered and said to Him, 'Yes Lord, yet even the little dogs under the table eat from the children's crumbs.' Then He said to her, 'For this saying go your way; the demon has gone out of your daughter'" Mark 7:28,29

Jesus had made a little trip into non-Jewish territory—the only time He did that, according to my Bible's footnotes. Perhaps He needed a break from the crowds that pressed close day and night when he was in Galilee or Judea. But if He expected to escape into anonymity, He was disappointed.

The Syro-Phoeneician mother was despairing and desperate. Jesus' response seems calculated to add to that despair when He chides her—a Gentile—in a seemingly prejudiced way, for asking for a miracle.

But she has nothing to lose.

She turns His insult inside out. I may be a Gentile dog, but even dogs get table scraps (my paraphrase of  Mark 7:28).

My Bible's footnotes again: "Actually assuming the appearance of traditional Jewish prejudice, Jesus was drawing from her a confession of triumphant faith" - Notes on Mark, New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, p. 1363.

And then Jesus pronounces her daughter healed!

This story makes me ask, am I too easily discouraged in my prayers? When the answer is "No," do I give up, or persevere?

Maybe it was just for this woman that Jesus made the trip into Tyre and Sidon. Maybe faith, tested in just that way will be precisely what she will need in the days and years ahead, as other circumstances challenge her and her daughter.

PRAYER: Dear Jesus, thank You for these Mark 7 stories of Your power over dark spirits, and disability. Help me to have faith for crumbs, no, whole loaves of Your power in my life. Amen.

MORE: "He Saw It All" - the Booth Brothers

The story in our reading goes on to tell how Jesus returned to Galilee where He opened the ears and loosed the tongue of a man who had been deaf and mute. The onlookers "...were astonished beyond measure..." Mark 7:37.

"He saw It All" sung by the Booth Brothers is a fabulous expression of that awe and an invitation to trust for our own miracles.

Secure because He is faithful

Modern Jerusalem - photo by beggs

(on flickr, via everystockphoto.com - used with permission)

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Psalm 125:1-5

TO CHEW ON: "As the mountains surround Jerusalem,
So the Lord surrounds His people
From this time forth and forever." Psalm 125:2

Psalm 125 is a "Song of Ascent"—one of the songs Jewish pilgrims sang on their way to Jerusalem to celebrate the yearly feasts (Psalms 120-134).  In this one, the writer likens the travellers' security to the security of their destination, Zion (Jerusalem).

Eugene Peterson in his book about these psalms talks about Jerusalem's physical situation and draws a spiritual parallel:

"Jerusalem was set in a saucer of hills. It was the safest of cities because of the protective fortress these hills provided. Just so is the person of faith surrounded by the Lord" - Eugene Peterson, A Long Obedience in the Same Direction, p. 85 (all page numbers below from the same book).

If we are so secure ("surrounded by the Lord") why do we often feel insecure? Peterson points out three possible sources of insecurity and how God anchors us even in them.

1. We listen to our feelings which change with circumstances. One day we're up, the next we're down.
To counter that, Peterson says, "... we learn to live not by our feelings about God but by the facts about God .... My security comes from who God is, not from how I feel" - p. 87.

2. We experience pain and suffering.
But these conditions are not permanent: "Nothing counter to God's justice has any eternity to it - 1 Corinthians 10:13" - p. 89.

3. We fear we will defect, give up, backslide.
About this insecurity Peterson says, "It is not possible to drift unconsciously from faith to perdition .... Defection requires a deliberate sustained and determined rejection.... We are secure not because we are sure of ourselves but because we trust that God is sure of us" - pp. 89,90.

Whatever life throws at us in the form of feelings, physical challenges, or self-doubts, we are secure because our security is not in ourselves but in our God who never changes!

PRAYER: Dear God, I am so glad that in You there is no "shadow of turning" and that You never change and that I can trust You to hang onto me even when I am discouraged, hurting or fearful. Amen.

MORE: Great is Thy Faithfulness sung by Chris Rice

Partiality

TODAY'S SPECIAL: James 2:1-26

TO CHEW ON: "Have you not shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?" James 2:4

I can't help but think, as I read the first part of James, how partiality-based is the culture in which I live.  On my local TV lineup is an hour-long daily news show devoted to examining the mundane minutiae of the lives of entertainment and sports personalities. It is these people who set the social and fashion trends so that years ago we all got Farah Fawcett and Beatles haircuts, while now little girls swoon for Justin Bieber and want to look like Taylor Swift.  As a society we give people acceptance and adulation because of their appearance, wealth, and how well they play sports or entertain us.

I understand partiality very well, for I struggled with it as a youngster. If a person who acted odd or dressed funny came to school or church, I sure wasn't the one to befriend her. I see now that my cold unfriendliness was based on insecurity and lack of self-confidence. They were related to the fear of being identified with or appearing to be the same kind of person as the outcast was (the flip side of befriending a popular person to gain acceptance by association). Pride and covetousness (especially when there is the hope that by fawning over the popular person, he or she will include us in his generosity) are two more roots of partiality.

James gives an easy-to-understand example of partiality in verses James 2:2-4, describing how, when his readers meet together they give special treatment to the people who look rich while ignoring the ones who look poor. He points out how nonsensical this way of acting is in the natural because the people to whom they are showing special favour are the ones who are oppressing them.

The clincher in his argument against partiality, though, is that it's not God-like. James calls these biased Christians "judges with evil thoughts" because they are judging by the world's standards, not God's. Showing special favour on the basis of appearance, wealth, popularity, performance, and status is not at all consistent with the upside-down Kingdom of God way of evaluating. James describes that in verse 5: "Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?"

Consider Jesus' standards of Kingdom greatness:

"Blessed are the poor in spirit...those who mourn...the meek...those who hunger and thirst after righteousness...the merciful...the pure in heart...the peacemakers...the persecuted...the reviled and falsely accused..." (Matthew 5:1-12).

There's not one mention in Jesus' list of physical appearance, worldly wealth, or influence mattering to God accepting us. That's the standard we need to use when we respond to others.

PRAYER: Dear God, I so easily show partiality. Help me to understand the source of this shallow way of responding to people, and to adopt Your way of looking past outward appearances to the inner person. Amen.

MORE: Seven Reasons Why We Should Not Show Partiality:

1. Partiality contradicts faith in Jesus Christ as the Lord of glory (vs.1)

2. Partiality reveals a judging heart and behind it evil thinking (vs. 2-4).

3. Partiality to the rich contradicts God's heart, because he has chosen many of the poor for himself (vs. 5).

4. Partiality dishonors people created in the image of God (vs. 6a).

5. Partiality to the rich backfires and becomes your downfall (vs. 6b,7).

6. Partiality makes you a transgressor of the law of liberty (vs. 9-11).

7. Partiality is not mercy. But if you don't show mercy, you will perish (vs. 13).

From "The Peril of Partiality" By John Piper. © Desiring God. Website: desiringGod.org

(From the archives)