Nearing the End

“For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God” (Col. 3:3).

This verse came to mind as I was thinking about what it would be like to face an imminent death. We all know that death is a certainty unless Christ returns first. We just don’t know how soon our end will come. You’ve probably heard some variant of the question, “If you knew this was your last day on earth, how would that change your priorities?” But the Apostle Paul puts a different spin on it, because he says we have already died and our remaining days belong entirely to Christ. He uses the same reasoning in Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”

How should it shape our priorities and daily lives if we remembered that in Christ we have already died to the things of this world? The first thing that comes to mind is that I would care a lot less about what people think of me. It wouldn’t matter so much whether I am accepted, appreciated, or adequate, because I’m already fully loved and accepted by the only One whose opinion really matters. For some, the first thought might be a different definition of success—no longer striving for perfection or achievement, but focusing on sharing the gospel with those we love and want to be with for eternity. For others, it could be a realization that the things we depend on for safety and security in this life are not going to matter in eternity, and therefore they don’t require as much attention or effort as we might otherwise dedicate to them.

I was introduced to the 7 Primal Questions concept from Mike Foster. I find the psychology of it interesting, but from the few videos I watched it sounds like his primary advice is to turn each question around:

• From “Am I safe?” to “I am safe.”
• From “Am I secure?” to “I am secure.”
• From “Am I loved?” to “I am loved.”
• From “Am I wanted?” to “I am wanted.”
• From “Am I successful?” to “I am successful.”
• From “Am I good enough?” to “I am good enough.”
• From “Do I have a purpose?” to “I have a purpose.”

For the Christian, every one of those questions is answered “yes” in Jesus Christ. We have all the security, love, and purpose that we really need because we are children of the Heavenly Father. Admittedly, that doesn’t always feel like enough when we’re living in a broken world. We’d all like to have people around us who will affirm those truths frequently, and the Church doesn’t always do a good job of that. That’s one reason we need to remind ourselves that we have died with Christ, and we now live in and through Him.

People will always disappoint us one way or another, and we will disappoint them too. But our Father is never disappointed with us, because He knows us better than we know ourselves. And there is coming a day when we will see our Savior face to face and we’ll know the full depths of His love, acceptance, and forgiveness. Until that day, we can remind ourselves and one another that this life is far shorter than we can comprehend and we should order our priorities accordingly. By doing so, our lives will probably start to look more like the Beatitudes—meek, merciful, pure in heart, peacemakers, seeking righteousness, etc. (Matt. 5:3-12), because we know that the promised blessings are already ours in Christ.

“Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb. 12:2 BSB).

© 2023 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture are ESV and all images copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

Still Waiting

It seems like the past year and a half have been one long lesson in patient waiting. Waiting for lockdowns to end; waiting for schools to reopen; waiting for the church to return inside; waiting for a vaccine; waiting for appointments to get the vaccine; and now waiting to get gasoline. Curiously, none of that waiting would have been necessary if we didn’t live in a broken and sinful world.

We’re all tired of the status quo, but the question is, are we waiting as anxiously for the things of God? The psalmists wrote,

“For God alone my soul waits in silence; from Him comes my salvation. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken” (Psalm 62:1-2). Are we waiting for God alone or for some change in our circumstances?

“I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in His word I hope” (Psalm 130:5). Is our hope founded in the Word of God or in politics, government, technology, or something else?

“Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices!” (Psalm 37:7). Does evil and brokenness occupy our thoughts and words more so than the goodness and provision of our Lord and Savior?

“Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!” (Psalm 27:14). Are we more discouraged by the world than we are encouraged by the Body of Christ?

What can we do to better trust in God’s promises and faithfulness and to help others to do the same?

***

Here’s an encouraging reminder in song from Keith & Kristyn Getty, “I Will Wait for You.”

“But for You, O Lord, do I wait; it is You, O Lord my God, who will answer” (Psalm 38:15).

© 2021 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture are ESV and all images are copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

One Thing

It’s curious how times of testing impact individuals differently. Although I’m not thrilled to be working at home for three weeks or more, I feel like I’ll be able to handle it okay. (Of course, this is just the first day, so that may change before it’s over.) Thinking back a couple decades or more, I recall that my habit whenever I was home alone was to have the TV on in the background all the time for company. It didn’t really matter to me what I was seeing or hearing, and I didn’t care how that input was changing the way I thought about things. It took me a long time to realize the negative impact it had on my spiritual life, and even longer to be convicted enough to pray for change. If I’d been stuck at home for a few weeks back then, I shudder to think what I would have done with my time. As God has graciously enabled me to change and to mature as a Christian, my thoughts, desires, and temptations are not what they once were. That’s not to say that I never seek distractions from trials or make sinful choices, but I’m much more likely to seek God instead.

In this time of stress and anxiety, I’m sure that many people are tempted to “self-medicate” with the old patterns of sin they once enjoyed. I keep returning to Ephesians 4:

“Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds… They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. But that is not the way you learned Christ!—assuming that you have heard about Him and were taught in Him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness” (17-24 ESV).

As this enforced isolation has come during the season of Lent, it’s a good time for all of us to dive deeper into Scripture and prayer and to truly seek God. My prayer for my fellow church members is that this would be a time of purification rather than returning to sin, that God would guard us from temptation, and that He would help us find ways to uphold one another in prayer and with encouraging words. None of us are strong enough to overcome sin by our own power. We can’t sanctify ourselves. We need God’s help.

In the words of Rich Mullins’ song “My One Thing”:

Save me from those things that might distract me
Please take them away and purify my heart
I don’t want to lose the eternal for the things that are passing
‘Cause what will I have when the world is gone
If it isn’t for the love that goes on and on…

May we each find ourselves drawing closer to God during this time. And though we are physically distant from one another, may we be reminded frequently that we are still one body under one Lord.

“One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in His temple. For He will hide me in His shelter in the day of trouble; He will conceal me under the cover of His tent; He will lift me high upon a rock” (Psalm 27:4-5).

© 2020 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated all images are copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

Thoughts on Thoughts

On a recent read through Philippians, I happened to notice how often Paul refers to the way we think.

1:9-10 (ESV)- “And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ.”

2:2, 5- “Complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind... Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus.”

3:10, 13- “That I may know Him... But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead.”

3:15- “Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you.”

3:19- “Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things.”

4:8-9- “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.”

The way that we think is important to God, and what we think about depends largely on what we put into our minds. When Paul wrote these words, I’m sure he could never have imagined the wide variety and instantly accessible media we have today. From where I’m sitting by a lake right now, I can access the world through my phone. We have a constant temptation to use our time and brains for unprofitable things.

That’s one of the things that I’ve been convicted of lately. As I’ve been on sabbatical, I’ve had much more limited access to television than usual. I haven’t really missed it, because I’ve had other things to keep me occupied. But I know when I return to my usual schedule I will have to be careful not to get back into the same old habits. It’s just so easy to turn on the TV for background noise while I am doing other things like reading or writing. What I’ve realized though is how distracting it actually is to try to multitask. As others have pointed out, we can’t really multitask. All we can do is switch our attention rapidly from one thing to another.

While it seems like a harmless habit, there is very little on TV that qualifies under Paul’s admonition to think about things that are true, honorable, pure, lovely, etc. Even when we try to filter what we watch, there is a lot that is unworthy of our attention. I don’t want to get legalistic about it, but I know I need to set some boundaries on how I use my time and attention. I tend to go through phases of cutting things out then letting them creep back in over time. I am being reminded that God usually speaks in a still, small voice, and I’m not likely to hear Him if I’m constantly bombarded with other voices and media.

Even my “quiet times” can be fragmented by trying to do too many different things. I don’t often read an entire book of the Bible in one sitting, so it’s not surprising that I hadn’t previously noted Paul’s repeated comments on thoughts before. In particular I saw the contrast between 3:19 and 4:8-9, setting our minds on earthly things or on eternal things. Paul makes the same parallel in Romans 8:5, “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.” So then, why do we who have the Spirit choose to set our minds on earthly things so often? That’s a question that we may prefer to avoid unless we really want to make changes in our lives. I can see why some people will go so far as to get rid of their television. I’m not ready to take that step, but I will seriously consider what I can do to reduce the amount of “earthly input” I’m getting as compared to spiritual input.

Something to think about!

“Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For His sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ” (3:8).

© 2018 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated all images are copyright free from pixabay.com.

I Problems

Some time back I wrote about Job’s entitlement mentality. I’m reading through Job again and noticed particularly in chapter 31 how Job repeatedly says “If I have...” The first verse of chapter 32 says, “So these three men ceased to answer Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes.” It appears that the last time Job really had his eyes on God in worship was in 1:21, “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” Beginning in chapter 3, his eyes are on himself, “After this Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth.”

It’s amazing how easily we can stop focusing on God and starting focusing on ourselves. It doesn’t take Job-like suffering to do that. Such distraction can come from minor suffering, success, and even service. When we’re in pain, we tend to look at the reason for our pain. C.S. Lewis wrote:

“I once read the sentence ‘I lay awake all night with a toothache, thinking about the toothache and about lying awake.’ That’s true to life. Part of every misery is, so to speak, the misery’s shadow or reflection: the fact that you don’t merely suffer but have to keep on thinking about the fact that you suffer. I not only live each endless day in grief, but live each day thinking about living each day in grief.” (A Grief Observed).

And when things are going well and we’ve achieved some success, we are likely to get distracted by our pride. Comfort can quickly lead to apathy in the Christian life.

But even service can take our eyes off of God. We can get so busy doing good things, even church activities, that we lose sight of the purpose behind them. As Pastor Matt wrote in this week’s sermonrecap:

“Many so-called good works are poisoned when we allow the number two command [love people] to eclipse the number one command [love God]. The purpose of our good works is to glorify God. This completes the circuit, closes the loop, fulfills our function. We were created to glorify God, and this is why we do good works. Not to be seen or praised (Matthew 6:1-17), but so that God might be seen and praised.”

In church activities in particular we run into a conundrum: those who serve should be doing so without expectation of praise or recognition, and yet the Body needs to have an appreciation for all that goes on behind the scenes to make things happen. Service itself is a spiritual discipline, knowing that we are ultimately responsible to God for how we use the gifts He has given us. But I believe praise is also be a discipline we need to practice—we need to be praise God for how He has supplied the Body, and we need to express thanksgiving to people for the ways God has been able to work through their service.

Among his many greetings to individuals in his letters, Paul singles out three and says, “I rejoice at the coming of Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus, because they have made up for your absence, for they refreshed my spirit as well as yours. Give recognition to such men” (1 Corinthians 16:17-18). He didn’t stop with saying thanks, but he urged the church to take time to thank them as well.

Unfortunately, our lack of praise is another “I problem.” Some possible reasons for it include:

• We don’t know what is being done that is worthy of praise, perhaps due to inattentiveness.
• We don’t believe it is praiseworthy, perhaps due to jealousy, pride, or judgmental attitudes.
• We don’t care enough to take the time to say thanks.

If we look around us with our eyes focused on God, it shouldn’t be hard to see opportunities to thank others for their acts of service. But in case we don’t get around to it, God never forgets:

“For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for His name in serving the saints, as you still do.” –Hebrews 6:10