I Wish

Fill in the blanks in this old commercial jingle: “I wish I were __ _____ ______ _____. That is what I’d truly like to be; For if I were __ _____ ______ _____, Everyone would fall in love with me.”

This is not just a catchy tune. (My apologies for getting it stuck in your head.) It’s also a pretty accurate description of our mentality. Not that we want to be hotdogs, but that we’re always trying to fill in the blank with whatever we think will make us happy, successful, and loved. If I were just prettier, smarter, richer, married, divorced, taller, tanner, a parent, an empty-nester, a homeowner, employed, retired… The list goes on and on. We think that the next thing will finally satisfy our needs. As the old saying goes, “How much money is enough? Just a little more.”

There are several attitudes and beliefs that both feed into this mentality and grow out of it.

• Discontentment – What I have is not enough. I feel I deserve something more or better.
• Envy – My neighbor has a better house, job, family, etc. I wish I could have that.
• Lack of thankfulness – How can I be thankful when I don’t have everything I want or need?
• Lack of trust – God hasn’t satisfied my desires, so He must not love me. People have failed to provide for me. I have to take care of myself.
• Lack of love – I don’t feel loved, therefore I must not be loved, therefore I don’t need to love people who don’t love me.

Obviously Scripture has a lot to say about where our hopes and dreams should be placed and what our expectations should be:

Paul says, “I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.” And what is that secret? “I can do everything through Him who gives me strength” (Phil. 4:12-13). Contentment lies in knowing the One who loves us, cares for us, and provides for us all that we really need—eternal life with Him.

 “What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? You want something but don’t get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures” (James 4:1-3). We may not literally be guilty of quarreling and murder, but that envious attitude can sure kill a relationship.

“Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thess. 5:16-18). Don’t just give thanks when all is right with the world, but in all circumstances.

“Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him and He will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun” (Psalm 37:4-6). If God’s desires are ours, we can be sure that they will be fulfilled. But if our focus is anywhere else, we’ll be frustrated when things don’t go our way.

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:34-35). Our love doesn’t depend on feelings or on the people around us, but on God alone. He has shown us the ultimate love, and so we are to love others regardless of how we feel in the moment.

You’d think that Christians ought to be the most joyful and content people on earth, but much of the time we don’t seem to be any different than the non-Christians around us. We’re all working to get a little more money, a little more knowledge, a little more recognition, etc. One day we will wake up and see that all our discontentment has been a waste of time and energy, though for some of us that moment won’t come in this lifetime.

Armored Personnel

I was thinking this morning about the Armor of God mentioned in Ephesians 6:10-18, and wondering how exactly we are to put it on. It seems pretty elementary now that I think about it, but I don’t recall anyone ever pointing this out to me before. First we have to realize where the armor comes from:

• Belt of truth - Jesus said, “I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6).
• Breastplate of righteousness - “…Not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith” (Phil. 3:9).
• Shoes of the gospel of peace - “For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man’s gospel. For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ” (Gal. 1:11-12).
• Shield of faith - “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God” (Eph. 2:8).
• Helmet of salvation - “I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes…” (Rom. 1:16).
• Sword of the Spirit - “By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you” (2 Tim. 1:14).

As I highlighted in the verses above, all of the armor comes from God. It’s not something we can create or muster up by our own strength and willpower. And it’s not something we have to obtain, but it is freely given by God to all His children.

So how then do we put on the armor? By believing what God has said is true of us in Christ and living accordingly. We can fight the lies of the enemy if we know the truth of God’s Word. God has said we are overcomers (1 John 2:14), conquerors (Rom. 8:37), free from sin (Rom. 6:18,22), reconciled to God and ministers of reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:18), along with a lot of other powerful truths.

I don’t know about you, but all too often I feel weak, inadequate, and incapable. That’s what the enemy wants us to believe, and in our own strength we will fail and fall. But that’s when we need to turn to the One who has made us strong in Christ. In His power we can resist sin and temptation, and we can combat the enemy’s lies with God’s truth. If we try to manufacture our own armor and stand on our own, we’ll be as ineffective and immobile as David was when trying on Saul’s armor. But by the strength and grace of God, in the armor He provides, we can kill the giants that come our way with just a few little stones of truth.

I don’t think it requires any elaborate ceremony to put on the armor. It is just daily remembering who we are in Christ—feeding our minds with the truth of Scripture, praying for His strength and wisdom, and turning the battles over to Him. I can’t say I’m very good at that yet, but it is becoming more clear to me, especially when I fail. If nothing else, failure causes us to see our great need for God’s grace, mercy, and strength.

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might” (Eph. 6:10).

© 2013 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.

The Clothes Make the Person

I’ve encountered a few situations recently that remind me how badly we all need to have a firm grasp on who we are in Christ. On multiple occasions I’ve heard people say that they have a fear of the Judgment Day because all our sins will be made known. One author (I think it was Mark Driscoll) addressed that fear this way—if God has said that there is now no condemnation for us in Christ (Romans 8:1), then why would we be faced with an upcoming day of shame? Several Scriptures come to mind:

• 1 Peter 2:24- “He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness…”
• Colossians 2:13-14- “And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This He set aside, nailing it to the cross.”
• Psalm 103:12- “As far as the east is from the west, so far does He remove our transgressions from us.”
• 2 Peter 1:9- “For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins.”
• Isaiah 43:25- “I am He who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.”
• Isaiah 61:10- “…He has clothed me with the garments of salvation; He has covered me with the robe of righteousness…”

We have this mental image of our lives being projected on a giant screen for all mankind to see. However, these Scriptures and many others make it clear that we have nothing to fear, for if we are in Christ our sins have been removed from our “life movie.” I imagine it as if when my name is called, the movie that will be shown is the life of Christ, for I am clothed in His righteousness. “I no longer live, but Christ lives in me” (Gal. 2:20). 

If we are clothed in the robe of righteousness that Christ has put upon us, then we have no reason to worry or fear judgment. I’ve heard people ask, “What if someone doesn’t confess their sins right before they die?” That presumes that it’s possible to lose your salvation because of your sin. But if we did nothing to earn salvation in the first place, how can we do anything to lose it? We never deserved it to begin with! “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Eph. 2:8-9). And we “were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it” (Eph. 1:13-14).

It is God who has clothed us in righteousness by His grace, and we can do nothing to remove that robe. Think of it like an astronaut’s spacesuit. He can’t put it on by himself, and he can’t take it off by himself. And so long as he has it on he is protected from the deathly environment of space.

Max Lucado points out that when Adam and Eve sinned, the Bible says that God “clothed them” (Gen. 3:21). And now, millennia later, God is still clothing His children. Only now it isn’t with animal skins but with the blood of His own Son. If we are trying to clothe ourselves in good works, or relying on frequent confession to dry clean our lives, we will live in fear that we’ve never done enough, we’re never good enough, and we may have forgotten to confess something. But if we remember that salvation is based on His merit, not our own, then we can trust that the Day of Judgment will be one of grace for us. Don’t worry, He’s got you covered!

Thoughts from Family Camp

These are just a few random things that came to mind this week. Now that I write these down I realize that there is a common theme.

1) I think of meeting people I’ve known by name but not by face and realizing we are one big family even with strangers around the world because we are all in Christ. We have the privilege and responsibility to support one another with love, prayer, resources, and talents even though we may never meet in this life, and we may not even know our brother’s or sister’s name. As we discussed in Bible class, biological families are only a shadow of the greater spiritual family that we begin to experience now, but we’ll experience in full in the Kingdom (Matt. 12:46-50).

2) I think of a hike-turned-mud-slog and remember that we all have to go through those muddy days sometimes, and it helps when you can go through them with friends. There are all kinds of mud to slow us down—sin, pain, sorrow, loss, etc. if we try to get through those times along, we are likely to fall so often that we may eventually give up. But if we have people to encourage us and lend a helping hand, we can make it to the end of the trail. We were never meant to live the Christian life on our own (Heb. 12:1-2).

3) I think of a youngster who ran on ahead in the hike and got temporarily separated from the group when the trail split. After a brief moment of panic, he was rescued and restored. In the words of Mike Yaconelli, “Children are not afraid to ask for help. They have no problem admitting they are in over their heads... Adults, on the other hand, are anxious about calling for help... it’s an admission of need, an acknowledgment of weakness, and we don’t want to experience that kind of humiliation” (Dangerous Wonder). I can think of many times when I’ve wandered around, lost and panicking, but either didn’t call for help or didn’t think I had anyone looking out for me. It’s interesting that the first rule of wilderness experiences is if you get lost, stay put, so you don’t keep wandering farther away from those who are looking for you. That rule assumes that someone really is looking, which can be unlikely if you live your life in isolation from friends, family, and the Body of Christ. But even then, God knows where we are and often sends people just when and where we need them (Psalm 139:7-12).

4) I think of a comment I overheard one evening, “Church X is no longer a true community church because they’ve joined the Advent Christians.” This was immediately following a sermon in which we were reminded that the true Church is not about the building, denomination, or doctrine. (Evidently these ladies didn’t listen to the message.) In reality, every church is a community church because the Church is the people of Christ, and goes out into the community wherever the people go. If we think that church is just what happens when we gather together, we are sadly misinformed and therefore lacking in initiative to represent Christ in everyday life. Church gatherings are for the purpose of learning, encouraging, and equipping the Body of Christ to be His light in the world. However, I think some folks blow out their candles when they leave the door of the church building (Matt. 5:13-16).

One final thought—we are each unique. Some people are talkers and some are listeners. Some are energized by time together and some are energized by being alone. Some enjoy nature and some enjoy shopping, though I think everyone enjoys ice cream and/or fudge. No matter what our preferences, we can find something in common, especially if we are all in Christ!

Giant Killers

I am rereading the book Giant Killers, by Dennis Jernigan, for the third or fourth time. He points out that when David killed Goliath, he picked up five stones from the brook. And in fact there were four more giants mentioned in Scripture that were killed by David and his men in later years. Goliath was just the first, and his name actually means “to be disgracefully stripped naked.” The other four giants were:

Ishbi-Benob (“to retreat”) – 2 Samuel 21:15-17
Saph (“to snatch away”) – 2 Samuel 21:18
Lahmi (“foodful”) – 1 Chronicles 20:5
And the unnamed six-fingered giant – 2 Samuel 21:20-21

Jernigan parallels these giants to some we face today—shame, discouragement, fear, evil desires, and enslavement to sin. I don’t know about you, but I’ve met some of these guys. Some of them seem to come back to life when I think they’re dead, and sometimes they come one after another.

As I’ve been reading this book I’ve also been listening to Mark Driscoll’s sermon series on Ephesians, which is closely related to his book Who Do You Think You Are? Both Jernigan and Driscoll do a good job of reminding people that the way to defeat the giants we face is to remember who we are in Christ. Our tendency is to define ourselves in terms of our status, our circumstances, or our sin. “I am” —married/single/divorced, parent/grandparent/childless, unemployed, white collar, bankrupt, alcoholic, drug addict, victim, adulterer, sinner, guilty, ashamed, etc. But are those the terms God uses to define us? As Driscoll says, “Those things may help explain us, but they don’t define us.”

Instead, God says we are saints, blessed, saved, reconciled, gifted, new creations, forgiven, adopted, loved, victorious, etc. If we rely on our human terms to define ourselves, we miss out on the strength, courage, and hope that come from being rooted and grounded in Christ. If we start to believe who God says we are, we should find that the giants in our lives lose their power. They don’t necessarily stop showing up entirely, since we are still in the middle of the battle, but they won’t win the war.

When the Israelites first encountered Goliath, they believed the lies that they were weak and couldn’t win the fight. David realized the truth that the battle belonged to the Lord, so he took action against the giant. After he killed Goliath, he probably didn’t expect to encounter any more giants, but because of his faith in God and with the support of his men, each giant was defeated.

The lies of the enemy are so pervasive that we forget they are lies. If we define ourselves as victims, we will act like victims and never find healing. If we believe we are sinners, we will continue to give in to temptation and never realize the freedom we have in Christ. If we believe we are rejected, we will act like we’re rejected and never have the confidence to experience the adventure of living as God’s children. We need to remember who we are in Christ and learn to live accordingly, no matter what comes our way.

We also need to be careful how we define others. We need to remember that our fellow believers are also forgiven, loved, new creations. If we use God’s perspective, it is easier to love some of those folks who get on our nerves or seem to keep doing the wrong things. If we look at them with God’s eyes and treat them accordingly, they may learn to look at themselves differently, and that can make a huge difference in their lives.

In our relationships with unbelievers, viewing them from God’s perspective can also change their lives. It occurred to me this week that if we say we “hate the sin but love the sinner,” perhaps the first thing we need to do is stop looking at them in terms of their sin and start looking at them as individuals who were created in the image of God, who God loves and is pursuing, and for whom Christ died. Yes, it is true that they are sinners (just as we were before we were saved), and that they need to repent, but it is the Holy Spirit’s job to bring conviction and repentance. Our job is to show them God’s love in action. If we can’t look past whatever sin “defines” that particular person, maybe we need to take a hard look at ourselves and deal with our own pride or judgmentalism. All varieties of sin are reprehensible to God, so just because one particular variety makes us more uncomfortable doesn’t give us the right to condemn one person as worse than another.

I can’t think of anything that gives me more confidence when facing giants or more desire to change than to know that God loves me unconditionally. Because of Jesus my sins (past, present & future) have already been forgiven, so nothing I can do will separate me from His love. And I can’t think of anything that reminds me of that fact better than a few people who know me well and love me anyway. I know what that has done for me, and I can only imagine what it would do for someone who has not yet met the Savior. Will they meet Him through my love or yours?

Don't Give Up

The other day after running I was sitting on the bench by the church and praying. I looked down and saw a little clover plant near my foot, and it was moving. It wasn’t just swaying in the breeze, but jerking back and forth. I could see no cause for the movement, so I assume there was some little critter underground tugging on the roots.

It made me start thinking, so often the things we see have small causes that we may never see (as in the parable of the mustard seed in Matthew 13, which was the subject of a recent sermon). In our own lives, spiritual growth often takes small steps that we may not really pay attention to, though eventually the cumulative result is highly visible. But the thing is, it has to happen from the inside out. Trying to manage behavior without changing the heart is a hopeless endeavor. Reforming the flesh only makes us better looking sinners. It’s like trying to make a plant grow by dressing up the surface. That doesn’t really do anything for the plant. (But try telling that to the poinsettia growers who insist on decorating the leaves with glitter!) The only thing you can do to the outside of the plant is perhaps kill a few insects. Real growth has to come from water and fertilizer being absorbed through the roots.

Max Lucado gives the rather bizarre example of a freezer that got unplugged. He did everything he could to polish the outside, dress it up, and encourage it with love and friends, but wondered why it was still full of rotting food (The Applause of Heaven). We try to do the same with our lives by making ourselves look and feel better without changing the root problem. Only God can change the heart. And the good news is that for believers He has already done the dirty work of forgiveness. What we need now is to turn to Him for the nourishment for growth, strength to resist temptations, and faith that He will do what He has promised.

And since the church is made up of many individuals, growth in the church can only happen through growth in the lives of the individual members. Each little seed that has been sown has to grow up together for the field to become full and ready for harvest. It is discouraging in our own lives if we don’t see the kind of growth we’re looking for, and the same is true in the local church. Sometimes we have to trust that God is indeed at work even if we don’t yet see the fruit. We want to go out in the orchard and paint the apples red in order to make them ripen faster. As James wrote, “Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains” (James 5:7). God’s fruit will grow and ripen in His time, not our own.

I have to say, I wish God would work a little faster sometimes! He certainly has the power, and just think what a testimony it would be to the world. But He doesn’t seem to do that very often. Discouragement is one of the greatest tools of the enemy. If we fail to see or believe that God is at work, then it is easy to give up and give in to temptation, depression, and doubt. That’s why it is crucial to have those folks in our lives who know us well and can point out what God is doing that we may otherwise overlook or discount. We can be so focused on the negative that we don’t see anything else. We need frequent reminders that God is at work even though it seems too little and too slow.

Run to the Cross

When I’m running laps around the church, I often use the cross as a reference point for my start and finish. That’s probably a good analogy for the Christian life as well.

True life begins at the cross where we receive new life in Christ. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Cor. 5:17). If we forget this beginning, we forget who we are in Christ. We will either think too highly of ourselves—“my righteousness is my own;” or we will think too little of ourselves—“I’m a hopeless sinner.” But when we remember the cross we know that our righteousness comes from Him and we are neither righteous in ourselves nor hopelessly lost.

All of life should flow from the cross because Christ is our strength. “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me” (Phil. 4:13). The cross reminds us of the One who endured great suffering on our behalf in order that He might live in us and enable us to abide in Him. Without the cross our striving is in vain, but with it we have strength for today and hope for tomorrow.

Our activities should be constantly referring back to the cross as our standard. “Looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb. 12:2). We tend to forget that our life in Christ began with suffering. We are never promised a life free of suffering. Serving our Lord means serving others. We may have to give up some of our comforts and independence if we are to give our lives in love.

Unlike running laps and circling back to the cross, we have the privilege of taking the cross with us wherever we go. However, there may be times when we choose to turn our backs on the cross and venture into sin. But when we realize our error we can turn around and find that the cross is right there.

Thinking back to my years of track and cross-country, there were a few lessons the coach tried to instill in us. First, practice like you’re really running the race, otherwise you’ll run the race as if you’re just practicing. Second, don’t stop running until you’ve crossed the finish line. I don’t know how many girls I passed in the last few meters because they slowed down at the end. Third, even if you trip over the last hurdle (as I did) you still get up and finish the race.

I wonder if we tend to treat the Christian life the same way? We figure we’ve already got salvation (the prize), so we don’t need to put any effort into the race. Or we bemoan the fact that we’ve fallen, so we don’t bother to get up and keep running. Fortunately we’re not running alone. We have many people surrounding us who not only cheer us on but also help us on the way. We aren’t trying to beat the competition to the line, but we lift up the wounded and weary to make sure we arrive together.

Scripture gives several reminders that this race is not over and we want to be found faithful. (See 1 Cor. 9:24-27, Gal. 2:2, Phil. 2:14-16, Heb. 12:1-3.) May we persevere and keep our focus until the very end. May we not grow weary and abandon our first love (Rev. 2:3-4)!