Genesis 22:1-4

“After these things God tested Abraham, and said to him, ‘Abraham!’ And he said, ‘Here am I.’ He said, ‘Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering upon one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.’ So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac; and he cut the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place afar off” (Genesis 22:1-4 NRSV).

Have you ever said “no” to God?

As many of you know, my husband and I are in the process of moving into a beautiful house given to us by the Lord. Moving in and unpacking a container we packed up two years ago, discovering things we’d forgotten that we had. It’s like meeting old friends again, finding the things we’d lived with for a long time and then suddenly didn’t have for two years. In many ways, a warm reunion, finding a place to put each thing.

In the process of unpacking I found a series of books that I’d had . . . and missed. I’m an avid science fiction fan and this series of books has been very enjoyable for me to read. I keep my books and read them over and over; the characters are, in a real sense, old friends with whom I become reacquainted each time I pick up a book. Yesterday, the Lord told me to clean out this particular series, to get rid of it. While there is no obvious sin within the books, there are moral threads that don’t exactly line up with scripture. Still, the main story line is moral (the good guys win) with strong characters.

The Lord said get rid of the books.

Can you believe I have fought with the Lord for an entire day? That I would either think I could convince Him to change His mind, that I could convince myself that I hadn’t heard from Him, or that I would have the temerity to say “no” to God? Finally this morning, I got up, surrendered (albeit still a bit rebelliously) and put the books in the thrift store stack in the garage. (And, no, I won’t be bringing them back into the house.) Sometimes our “loves” get between us and God. It doesn’t mean that I was in any sense in danger of losing my salvation, but I was willing, at least for a time, to trade God’s next blessing for the comfort of what I knew.

Not today.

It made me think of Abraham and the story of God demanding that Abraham sacrifice his son. The biblical account is very flat; it doesn’t give us the details of what Abraham was thinking, of how he had to have struggled during the night with what God asked of him, or how he continually prayed, pleaded, and begged God during the three day journey. But you have to know that he went through all of these things. Isaac was the child of his old age and the child of promise. How could God bring about what He had told Abraham without Isaac growing to maturity, marrying, and having children? You have to know that Abraham argued and bargained, demanded and pleaded during those hours prior to finally climbing the heights of Mt. Moriah. And yet, how much would Abraham have missed if he had refused to obey God?

I know that there are other things in my life—beside a set of paperback books—that stand between me and obeying God fully. If I want God’s best blessings, if I want to become the woman that He envisions me to be, I need to be willing to set it all aside in order to seek Him and Him alone.

© 2011 Robin L. O’Hare. All Rights Reserved. Permission granted for nonprofit and church groups to use this article in its entirety (including this notice). For other uses, please contact servinggodalone@yahoo.com.

Romans 6:16-18

“Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God that you, having once been slaves of sin, have become obedient from the heart to the form of teaching to which you were entrusted, and that you, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.” (NRSV)

The Lord has been talking to me a lot lately about how I make decisions. There has been instilled within me a strong Puritan work ethic: God only helps those who help themselves. And while I do believe that Christians are commanded to work and to work hard (and often), I think that my own worldview has been corrupted with the idea of American self-determination.

Romans is an interesting book. Of all the books, this is the one that is the least personal. All of Paul’s other epistles are letters written to churches with whom he had personal relationships, but the letter to the church at Rome was written to people he had never met. Thus, Paul takes the time to outline the doctrines of Christianity. In essence, this—even more than the other epistles—is a book of the Bible written to us for this time, a church which Paul never meets and a church which desperately needs the anchor of correct Christian thought and practice.

Prior to his conversion, Paul had been trained as a rabbi, but even more than that, as a Pharisee. To understand what this means, we need to understand the concept of rabbi and talmidim, the Jewish concept of teacher and student. It was very different than our concepts of teacher/student today. In fact, in America, that concept is in the process of changing with the introduction of the learning concept of constructivism. To understand the difference in how Paul thought and how we thought, we need to understand where we are now.

Constructivism is the idea that knowledge isn’t a static entity which can either be known or learned. It isn’t a concrete set of truths or ideas which the student must learn from the teacher. Rather, constructivism teaches that each student constructs their own reality—their own truths—from the environment around them. The teacher, then, rather than being a sage that communicates truth to the student becomes a facilitator, helping the student find the resources that she needs to learn what she deems to be important. This is a drastic change in worldview from our previous beliefs that teachers were deposits of knowledge from which the students needed to learn. It is also a drastic change from the idea that there is one Truth which can be learned.

It may be that constructivism is actually the result of the idea of American self-determination. America is, I believe (though I’m not a historian), the first country to believe that every person has the inalienable right to determine what he will be, where he will live, what he will do, and what he will decide. And while it’s unlikely that our founders believed that this concept would take our nation far away from God, unfortunately it has.

Paul didn’t believe in self-determination. As a talmidim to the Pharisees, he lived by a strict code of conduct governed by the Jewish religious laws. Every decision was pre-determined by those laws, with no room for personal choice. And even though it had been his personal choice which launched him into this life, once there, all choice was taken away. What he wore, what he ate, where he could travel, whom he could marry . . . everything was predetermined by the Jewish religious laws.

It was within this worldview that Paul wrote what he did in Romans 6. There he teaches that human beings have no ability to self-determine at all! He teaches that we are all slaves . . . all the time! We are slaves either to sin or we are slaves to righteousness. He gives no third option. Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? (6:16). The Lord Jesus Himself confirmed this truth:

“Jesus answered them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, every one who commits sin is a slave to sin’” (John 8:34 NRSV).

In America, we have become accustomed to there being moral neutrality, so much so that our churches even have often bought into it. I’ve had pastors tell me that there are songs that are morally neutral (neither good nor bad), even though those songs promote immoral lifestyles! Paul is clear: everything we do is either as a slave to sin or as a slave to righteousness. No other options are given.

How does this affect me as a believer? I believe that it clarifies whether or not my choices are sinful or righteous and it gives me actually no choice at all! Either my choices are determined by God or they are determined by me. If they are determined by me, then I am asserting my independence from God. And independence from God is rebellion. I am either God’s slave or I am not. When I am God’s slave, I wait upon Him to tell me what to do and I do it without question. If I am not God’s slave, then I am a slave to sin, doing what I want, asserting my independence from Him and becoming a rebel.

Paul writes to the Ephesians:

“Follow God’s example in everything you do, because you are his dear children. Live a life filled with love for others, following the example of Christ, who loved you and gave himself as a sacrifice to take away your sins. And God was pleased, because that sacrifice was like sweet perfume to him. Let there be no sexual immorality, impurity, or greed among you. Such sins have no place among God’s people. Obscene stories, foolish talk, and coarse jokes—these are not for you. Instead, let there be thankfulness to God. You can be sure that no immoral, impure, or greedy person will inherit the Kingdom of Christ and of God. For a greedy person is really an idolater who worships the things of this world. Don’t be fooled by those who try to excuse these sins, for the terrible anger of God comes upon all those who disobey him. Don’t participate in the things these people do. For though your hearts were once full of darkness, now you are full of light from the Lord, and your behavior should show it! For this light within you produces only what is good and right and true. Try to find out what is pleasing to the Lord. Take no part in the worthless deeds of evil and darkness; instead, rebuke and expose them. . . . So be careful how you live, not as fools but as those who are wise. Make the most of every opportunity for doing good in these evil days. Don’t act thoughtlessly, but try to understand what the Lord wants you to do. Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, let the Holy Spirit fill and control you. Then you will sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, making music to the Lord in your hearts. And you will always give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 5:1-11, 14-20 NLT).

This is an amazing passage and very convicting. I can see that there are still many areas in my life where I am rebellious, where I don’t want to give up my sin! Father God, please forgive me for my rebellion. Take hold of my hard heart and teach me to love You as I should, giving up what little I have in order to claim all that is Yours! I ask this in the name of the Lord Jesus, my Savior.

© 2011 Robin L. O’Hare. All Rights Reserved. Permission granted for nonprofit and church groups to use this article in its entirety (including this notice). For other uses, please contact servinggodalone@yahoo.com.

2 Thessalonians 1:3-8

We must always give thanks to God for you, brothers and sisters, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of everyone of you for one another is increasing. Therefore we ourselves boast of you among the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith during all your persecutions and the afflictions that you are enduring. This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God, and is intended to make you worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering. For it is indeed just of God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to give relief to the afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. NRSV

It’s interesting that Paul doesn’t address the persecutions of the Thessalonians in the same way that we often address persecutions. If you think about it, most pastors tell us that our faith is exemplified when we take authority over Satan and believe that our trials will disappear based on God’s love. But Paul, rather than preaching that, says that faith is based on persevering through afflictions.

We need to ask ourselves what we believe.

I think that many American Christians live in a state of fear, in a state of doubt, because we have come to expect that Christians who have faith won’t have trials. To the contrary, there are at least three reasons why we do have trials, some of which we can avoid, some of which we can’t.

• We experience the trials that are the consequences of our bad choices.
• We experience the trials that are God’s discipline.
• We experience the trials that are a result of living in a sinful world.

We experience the trials that are the consequences of our bad choices.

When we sin—when we make unrighteous choices—we usually suffer because of it. Driving too fast in a car often brings a ticket. Demanding our own way at work can lead to getting fired. Spending too much money on our wants can results in our having too little for our needs. The problem with many believers today is that we have failed to understand that self-discipline is one of the foundations of the Christian faith. And this isn’t a self-discipline that is put on us, but rather a self-discipline that we embrace in order to bring glory to God Who has forgiven us all.

The apostle Peter encouraged believers not to bring suffering upon themselves that was a result of their own choices.

“Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that is taking place among you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. . . . But let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, a criminal, or even as a mischief maker. Yet if any of you suffers as a Christian, do not consider it a disgrace, but glorify God because you bear this name” (1 Peter 4:12, 15-16 NRSV).

Suffering for our choices is suffering that is easily avoided by simply making better choices. Don’t overeat (or eat wrongly) and you won’t gain weight and will likely be more healthy. (You won’t suffer from bodily pains and illness). Don’t overspend (or spend wrongly) and you won’t suffer anxiety about not being able to pay for the necessities of life. Tend to the tasks of life set before you (rather than indulging in recreation) and you won’t be called to task when something important has been left undone. Live a life that always seeks to bring glory to God and we won’t have to suffer the consequences of bad choices.

We experience the trials that are God’s discipline.

David was king of all Israel. He could have any unmarried woman he wanted for a wife (and indeed had several already). But he took, instead, the wife of Uriah in an adulterous affair and got her pregnant. Then, to cover his sin, he had Uriah, a soldier, sent to the front lines of the battle where Uriah was killed. David thought that his problems were over, that his sins were hidden and thus gone. But Nathan the prophet exposed David’s sin to the entire Jewish royal court and then pronounced God’s judgment on him.

David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” Nathan said to David, “Now the Lord has put away your sin; you shall not die. Nevertheless, because by this deed you have utterly scorned the Lord, the child that is born to you shall die.” (2 Samuel 12:13-14 NRSV).

God doesn’t hold believers accountable for their sin in the sense that we don’t have to suffer His holy judgment for sin (which is death). In 2 Samuel, Nathan assures David that his sin won’t be held against him: The Lord has put away your sin. However, God’s discipline included the fact that the child born to Bathsheba and David would die.

“Endure trials for the sake of discipline. God is treating you as children; for what child is there whom a parent does not discipline? If you do not have that discipline in which all children share, then you are illegitimate and not his children. Moreover, we had human parents to discipline us, and we respected them. Should we not be even more willing to be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share his holiness. Now, discipline always seems painful rather than pleasant at the time, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it” (Hebrews 12:7-11 NRSV).

Father God disciplines us—His children—in order to teach us how to live in such a way that glorifies Him and avoids sin. As scripture teaches, discipline is painful, but it will yield the fruit of righteousness if we allow ourselves to be trained by it.

We experience the trials that are a result of living in a sinful world.

These trials are two-fold. Some are simply because we live here: physical death, the difficult interactions with each other, the toil of growing old, the loss of things. Sin is a destroyer; consequently, nothing here can be permanent due to the effect of sin upon it. Everything and everyone is in the process of decay. And as much as our society would like to ignore the death and dying process that surrounds it, sin has wrecked havoc on this world and will continue to do so. That is why God will destroy this world and replace it with a new heaven and a new earth (Revelation 21:1). Meanwhile, we live in a world where things (and people) wear out, break, and are destroyed. Even having the best, more careful habits, we can still get sick. We will (unless the Lord comes) still die. We often suffer consequences of the bad choices of those around us.

We live in a sinful, dying, hurting (and hurtful) world.

And so, what should be our response to the pain and suffering that we must bear? Scripture tells us that we should cast all of our cares on Him! (1 Peter 5:7). It is the Father’s responsibility to take care of us (Romans 8:28), to bring judgment and vengeance where He would and for us to simply continue to trust Him in the darkness. It pains the Lord Jesus when we are persecuted for His sake; He will bring judgment against those who deliberately harm us. And His judgment—and vengeance—is far greater (and more appropriate) than anything we could do. Meanwhile, it is our responsibility to forgive those who would hurt us and to trust Him to take care of us.

© 2011 Robin L. O’Hare. All Rights Reserved. Permission granted for nonprofit and church groups to use this article in its entirety (including this notice). For other uses, please contact servinggodalone@yahoo.com.

John 3:16-18

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him may not perish but may have eternal life. Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him. Those who believe in Him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God.” (NRSV)

Today is Christmas, the day traditionally that Christians celebrate the birth of our Lord. Surrounding this tradition are such things as nativities, Christmas pageants, Christmas carols, family celebrations, gift giving, and the like. But as a Christian, I believe that it’s very important that I not so focus on the Child in the manger that I fail to see either the Savior on the cross or the King returning in the clouds.

The Christmas story is one of amazement and wonder. Music and stories sometimes reduce to the story to actually less than it is (and was):

Away in a manger, no crib for a bed,
The little Lord Jesus laid down His sweet head:
The stars in the sky looked down where He lay;
The little Lord Jesus, asleep on the hay.

Yes, the Lord Jesus had no crib when He was born. Yes, His mother laid Him as a baby in the hay trough used to feed the animals. But it is so much more than that. Father God—the Creator and Master of the universe—sent His Son, the very essence of Himself, to earth to exist within the frail form of a human for the purpose of bringing us salvation, a salvation that couldn’t be secured in any other manner. God Himself, both judge and savior, understanding that mankind was lost beyond hope because of our own sins, provided a Hope by becoming that which He had condemned, a human. He condemned us by necessity and His holy judgment. He saved us from that condemnation through His own sacrifice and His overwhelming love.

The Christmas story isn’t a story that exists in isolation. We cannot tell the Christmas story, even the story of the Child given to rule (Isaiah 9:6) and stop there. The story of Christmas is only the beginning. And, in fact, even the story of Easter is still yet only the beginning. The 33 years that Christ lived on the earth was the beginning . . . the beginning of a marvelous relationship that God, in His infinite love, wants to offer each and every person who has ever been born, who has ever lived on this earth. For God so loved the world, not part of the world, but the entire world, and gave His Son as the only possible sacrifice to reinstate a lost relationship, a relationship lost because of our sin.

The story of the life of the Lord Jesus—the life lived here on earth—is such a small part of the story. For God Himself will write the end to the story of this earth through a great judgment:

“Then I saw a great white throne and the one who sat on it; the earth and the heaven fled from his presence, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Also another book was opened, the book of life. And the dead were judged according to their works, as recorded in the books. And the sea gave up the dead that were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and all were judged according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire; and anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire” (Revelation 20:11-15 NRSV).

The One who sits on this throne is indeed the same One who came as a baby and lay in a manger. God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit will sit in judgment over each person who has lived. This is the Christmas story, the guarantee to those who have had their names written in the Lamb’s book of life that there will be no more punishment for sin, but instead full forgiveness and salvation! There will be no more death, but life for those of us who have fully thrown ourselves upon His mercy and grace. And this isn’t an exclusive club or society where only some may enter. Anyone who wishes to come to the cross and accept this gift may come. All are invited:

“The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come.’
And let everyone who hears say, ‘Come.’
And let everyone who is thirsty come.
Let anyone who wishes take the water of life as a gift” (Revelation 22:17 NRSV).

The KJV uses the phrase “whosoever will.” That whosoever will is God’s Christmas gift to the world. Any and all may come and accept the water of life as a gift. If you haven’t done so, today that gift is being offered to you. Will you accept it?

© 2011 Robin L. O’Hare. All Rights Reserved. Permission granted for nonprofit and church groups to use this article in its entirety (including this notice). For other uses, please contact servinggodalone@yahoo.com.

Philippians 4:19

“And my God will fully satisfy every need of yours according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” (NRSV)

We just moved. God opened a way for us to finally own our own home again, but as you can imagine, regardless of how much preparation we did prior to closing the sale, as we walked into the house to become acquainted with it, there have been surprises. (It doesn’t matter how much you inspect a home, there are things that you discover once you live in it, even for a short time.)

One of the “surprises” was that the microwave/stove hood fan was missing. The brackets are there, but the unit is gone. It doesn’t matter the legal or ethical particulars of the issue; what we now have—instead of a beautiful black microwave—is a gaping hole.

For the past two days, as I’ve walked past the hole, I’ve thought a lot about it. As a Christian, I have the choice of two responses. The first is that I can be angry with the previous owners for taking something that was clearly a fixture, an attached appliance. I can refuse to forgive and insist—however ugly a situation that might result—that it is our right to have the microwave restored. Or, I can forgive, try to see the situation through their eyes (they had to sell their house in a short sale) and see that gaping hole as a future blessing.

I am choosing to see it as future blessing.

God has promised to fully satisfy my every need and not only in the limited way that I deserve, but according to His riches in glory. This gaping hole is an obvious need. Not only is there an appliance we lack (the stove hood fan), but there is this ugly hole in the wall, brackets glaring. And my Father God has promised that He will supply this need.

My obligation? To forgive and to pray for the family who felt compelled to try to mitigate their loss and sorrow through fraud and deception. Having had to sell our own home two years ago through a short sale, I am fully aware of how painful it is. I understand that they are hurting and are trying to appease that hurt by making their new place as much like this house as possible. I simply can’t be angry with them, but I am praying that the Holy Spirit will touch their hearts and continue to pursue them.

Meanwhile, I’m joyfully waiting to see the miracle that my Father is going to do to fill the gaping hole in the kitchen.

© 2011 Robin L. O’Hare. All Rights Reserved. Permission granted for nonprofit and church groups to use this article in its entirety (including this notice). For other uses, please contact servinggodalone@yahoo.com.

Hebrews 5:11b-6:1a

“We have much to say that is hard to explain, since you have become dull in understanding. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic elements of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food; for everyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is unskilled in the word of righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, for those whose faculties have been trained by practice to distinguish good from evil. Therefore let us go on toward perfection, leaving behind the basic teaching about Christ, and not laying again the foundation.” (NRSV)

How much do I want to grow, to mature in the Lord?

In listening to the litanies of thankfulness this past month from friends—from both believers and non—I have not heard once that someone was thankful for their pastor. I have heard thanks for family and friends, for colleagues and students, for homes and children. But not once have I heard someone be thankful for their pastor.

Now part of that might be because many folks either only attend church irregularly and see their pastor as simply part of the environment of that social situation. Some of it might be that they attend such a large church that they really have no relationship with their pastor except as a Sunday morning speaker. For the vast majority (perhaps for all?), certainly our pastors are no longer our rabbis with us as talmid. These pastors are no longer the ones who personally disciple us, who check on our spiritual growth, who hold our feet to a certain standard of living, who challenge us to be better than we want to be. Many pastors have become spaghetti throwers, throwing some spiritual rhetoric at the wall and seeing if anything sticks, rather than being deliberate, strategic spiritual leaders who demand that we “grow up.” If they made such demands, if our pastors became those who were intimately involved in our lives, pushing us kicking and screaming to the next spiritual level, I think they would be high on the list of those for whom we are grateful.

The author of Hebrews writes: We have much to say that is hard to explain, since you have become dull in understanding. This word actually means more than uninteresting or stupid. It means lazy, languid, slothful (Strong’s G3576). Thus, it is not about ability, but rather about motivation, choice. There is a real sense of becoming dull through a lack of use or participation. The writer goes on to compare this state of dullness with those who are not dulled: those whose faculties have been trained by practice. “Trained by practice.” Spiritual maturity is about exercise, repetition, strategic and deliberate attempts to grow more mature in the Lord.

The other day, I was working on a short medley with one of my more advanced singing groups. These girls, who work with me for more than two hours a week, simply couldn’t get a very brisk part of the medley. Every time we sang it, the majority of them glossed over the words. It was both pathetic and scary as we were facing a major concert in two weeks. When I asked how many actually knew that part only about one third raised their hands. So, in an effort to teach the others, I had the girls who didn’t know the words to align themselves in small groups with a girl who did. Around the room were a number of small circular groups, two or three girls standing very close to one other girl. I then picked up my mic (so everyone could hear) and began to sing the selection a capella. At first I sang it slowly so that all of the girls could more easily follow along with the printed music. But as we repeated that portion of the song over and over, I increased the tempo. We must have sung that selection at least thirty times if not more. Every three or four times, I would stop and ask if any needed more practice. If a hand went up, we sang it again. At the end of about 15 minutes of practice, every girl had the song down.

What principles did I use to move these girls from unskilled to proficient?
● I encouraged them to find someone else who was already proficient and align themselves with that person.
● I provided structured practice at a pace that allowed for learning.
● I increased the pace until they had all reached the required tempo for performance.
● I made them check their own proficiency level, to self-monitor their own progress.
● I didn’t allow them to stop until they “got it.”

Why did these principles work?
● I set a goal and refused to be satisfied until every participant had achieved the goal.
● I required the community (of, in this case, singers) to become responsible for the growth of all members.
● I outlined the reason for the growth so that everyone had buy in to the process.

When we finished with this part of the rehearsal, I brought the girls back together as a larger group and said, “That is how you practice.” For most of them, their idea of practice was to do something once or twice and go onto something else. To really practice was new to many; it was a revelation.

As believers, we can take these same principles—which are alluded to in Hebrews—and use them in our own lives, in our families, and in our churches to push us on to greater maturity in the Lord. Why don’t we? I think that many pastors don’t push their churches because they truly believe that their congregations either aren’t ready for greater spiritual maturity or aren’t interested in growing. Few in their congregations—if any—encourage them as pastors to push ahead into the uncharted areas of the harder things of God, to encourage us as believers to become more sacrificial in our living, more dedicated to the things of God, more committed to reaching past ourselves to minister to a dying world. The writer of Hebrews writes: We have much to say. Therefore, let us go on toward perfection. I’m convinced that these words are not about the perfection that comes in death, in heaven, when we see the Lord face to face, but the perfection about which John Wesley writes:

“The one thus born again not only does not commit sin, while he thus keeps himself, he cannot sin. By sin I here understand outward sin, according to the plain, common acceptation of the word: an actual, voluntary transgression of the law of God—the revealed, written law of God. Sin is the breaking of any commandment of God acknowledged to be such at the time it is transgressed. So long as he believes in God through Christ, and loves Him, and is pouring out his heart before Him, he cannot voluntarily transgress any command of God. Yet if he does not ‘keep himself,’ he may commit all manner of sin with greediness.”

Wesley was convinced that it was possible for believers to so keep themselves in the love and presence of God as to be able to not choose sin. Unfortunately, I think we have so little practice of keeping ourselves in the presence of God—of loving Him as we ought—that we find ourselves full of sin that we don’t even want to admit or face. So we live “as best we can” and refuse to go on toward perfection. We refuse to practice distinguishing good from evil and continually allow our teachers and pastors to re-lay the basic foundations of the faith, being content to stay as little children. If we want to grow up, we need to not only begin to take responsibility for our own faith, we need to encourage our pastors to become challenging teachers who push us further than we thought we could go. We need to give our pastors permission to dig into our lives, to hold us accountable for our actions, to become the Pauls, Peters, and Timothys that we so desperately need to lead us from babyhood to adulthood for the glory of God.

© 2011 Robin L. O’Hare. All Rights Reserved. Permission granted for nonprofit and church groups to use this article in its entirety (including this notice). For other uses, please contact servinggodalone@yahoo.com.

Colossians 3:12-17

Colossians 3:12-17

“As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” (NRSV)

November, traditionally in America, is the month where we turn our thoughts toward being thankful. One of the things I’ve been enjoying on Facebook are the many who are daily listing the things for which they are thankful. In a cynical world, thankfulness silences the critics and raises one’s spirit.

Part of being thankful is being mindful of the blessings that God has given us. Sometimes, particularly in the midst of trials, that can be a very difficult task. But I’m coming to believe that thankfulness is the root of many other characteristics of believers, because when we become truly thankful it becomes easier to trust. And when it is easier to trust God, it becomes easier to allow His Holy Spirit to rule our hearts and minds.

We have the choice to focus on one of two things: we can focus on God and all that He has done and is doing for us, or we can focus on what we want (or think we want) and yet don’t have. James says:

“Those conflicts and disputes among you, where do they come from? Do they not come from your cravings that are at war within you? You want something and do not have it; so you commit murder. And you covet something and cannot obtain it; so you engage in disputes and conflicts. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, in order to spend what you get on your pleasures.” (4:1-4 NRSV).

• You want something and do not have it.
• You covet something and cannot obtain it.
• You do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend on your lusts (or pleasures)

That is the description of looking at life with the glass half empty. That is, in essence, refusing to be thankful (or mindful of blessings). We want, we covet, we ask and do not receive. We often get frustrated or disgruntled and, in essence, become angry with God for ignoring us! And yet, at every turn, He has been providing, giving us His best. At what point did His best become what we didn’t want?

In Colossians, Paul sums up this passage with the words: And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him (v. 17). Thankfulness should begin and end everything we do. And if we are thankful, what should our lives look like?

• We should be clothed (in essence, to put on, to sink into) with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.

Compassion: sympathy, pity, and mercy for others
Kindness: consideration and generosity toward others
Humility: thinking of others as better than ourselves, tending to their needs first
Meekness: being quiet, gentle, and submissive
Patience: tolerating trouble or suffering without becoming angry or upset

All of these characteristics are the opposite of anger and frustration. These characteristics also give no room for despair or withdrawal. When we are compassionate, kind, humble, meek, and patient, we must also be actively engaged in the lives of others, concerned about them and ministering to them. “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others” (Philippians 2:3-4 NRSV).

• We are to bear with one another and forgive each other.

The fact is, as people, we are often simply awful toward each other. We get tired, self-centered, or angry and we ignore, lash out, and make demands upon others. We want what we want when we want and we can feel that if we don’t demand that others submit to our wishes, we will suffer an irreparable loss. Father God knew that we would stumble and fall—often—which is why He commands us to forgive each other. Even as we are forgiven, we must forgive. And this is part of being thankful. If we are thankful for God’s forgiveness, we will willingly forgive others.

• We must put on and sink into love, a love which strives for harmony not only with God but with those around us.

Love in the Western world has become in a distortion of the kind of love to which God calls us. This distorted love demands that perpetrators are victims, that emotions guide decisions, that sin be ignored in favor of personal choice. The love to which we are called as believers is far different for it is defined by God’s character and evidenced only through the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

“Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things” (1 Corinthians 4-7 NRSV).

When we love through the power of the Spirit, we love first and foremost God. We give Him our desires, our passions, our dreams, our wishes, our expectations—laying them at the foot of the Throne—and insist that He reformat our hearts so that we are in unison with His desires, His will, His plans. The perfect harmony must come first between us and Him for without it no harmony exists at all. Then, because we love God, we turn and love those around us: other believers, our neighbors, and the unsaved throughout the earth. We see them as God sees them, through the lense of the Cross, understanding that if Father God was willing to give His only begotten Son for them, there is nothing too great that we also cannot sacrifice if it brings them to accept the gospel message. If the Lord Jesus was willing to be tortured and unjustly executed because of His love for us, then we should be willing to endure what Paul calls “light afflictions” (2 Corinthians 4:17) in order to minister to those around us.

Matthew Henry eloquently writes:

“[Love] can endure evil, injury, and provocation, without being filled with resentment, indignation, or revenge. It makes the mind firm, gives it power over the angry passions, and furnishes it with a persevering patience, that shall rather wait and wish for the reformation of a brother than fly out in resentment of his conduct. It will put up with many slights and neglects from the person it loves, and wait long to see the kindly effects of such patience on him” (Henry, M. 1996, c1991. Matthew Henry's commentary on the whole Bible : Complete and unabridged in one volume (1 Co 13:4). Hendrickson: Peabody).

• We are to allow the peace of Christ rule our hearts. We are called to this peace. It is our purpose in life.

Peace, to the Jew, had nothing to do with the absence of conflict, but was focused solely on the relationship between him and God. The peace of which Paul talks here is the same concept: it is the peace that comes between us and Father God when we accept salvation and understand that now nothing can take us from His hand.

“My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. What my Father has given me is greater than all else, and no one can snatch it out of the Father’s hand” (John 10:27-29 NRSV).

But the impact of that peace on our lives needs to go further than this. If we are kept forever in His hands and He is working all things for our good (Romans 8:28) then what is there to be angry or fearful or fretful about? Surrendering all of our daily worries, concerns, pains, and losses to Him, allowing Him to take care of us and sort it all out is what allowing the peace of Christ to rule our hearts is all about. Our heart attitudes—desires, passions, values, and expectations—determine how we face life. If those attitudes are ruled by the peace of Christ, then the Spirit is solely in control; our only responsibility is to minister to those around us through His leading. He will take care of everything else.

• We are to let God’s Word live in us in abundance so that we are able not only to live according to His will, but also to teach and admonish one another in His wisdom.

Unfortunately, most of us sin. John Wesley believed that it was possible for the believer to live and not sin. Sadly that kind of Christian living isn’t taught these days from our modern pulpits. Consequently, we sin. We expose our minds and thoughts to a myriad of sinful behaviors through television, movies, books, and the Internet. And those behaviors creep into (or are welcomed into) our lives. We are tempted and we succumb. And because we sin, rather than deal with our sin in a biblical manner, we tend to compare ourselves to each other, believing that because our sin isn’t the same in quantity or intensity as another’s, that we are somehow better or better off. The fact is, just as Daniel took responsibility for the sin of his nation (Daniel 9:3-5) and prayed for forgiveness, we need to begin to take responsibility for each other’s sin in the manner in which we are commanded by scripture:

“My friends, if anyone is detected in a transgression, you who have received the Spirit should restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness. Take care that you yourselves are not tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:1-2 NRSV).

Our responsibility isn’t to criticize, gossip about, or condemn, but rather to restore in a spirit of gentleness. If God’s word is living in us in abundance, we are equipped to teach and admonish and to restore in the manner in which the Lord Jesus Himself would. When the woman was brought to Him, found in an adulterous relationship, the Lord Jesus rescued her from stoning, but also admonished her to stop her sinning (John 8:11). Whether she was a lonely wife caught up in an adulterous affair or a single woman, trying to make a living through prostitution, the Lord Jesus was telling her that there was a better way, a life without sin by trusting Father God to care for her, physically and emotionally. As we begin to fill our minds and hearts with the Word of God (rather than the trash of this world), we will become equipped to reach out to the hurting sinners around us with the good news that God is willing to forgive them. We can learn how the Spirit wants us to minister so that we restore in gentleness and thus bear their burdens.

• Learning to live a life fully leaning on the Lord creates in us such a spirit of thanksgiving that we will sing constantly to and about Him. We will find ourselves focused solely on Him because in His light everything else fades to darkness.

There are two ways to live. One is to try to become firmly planted in this life. When one lives this way, the things of this life become all important, including success, rewards, comfort, recreation, and happiness. The other way to live is to understand that the only purpose of this life is to prepare us (and others) for eternity. When we live this way, we understand that to live is Christ and to die is gain, that it is better for others if we stay only because we are actively ministering to them to teach them about Christ.

“For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my labor; yet what I shall choose I cannot tell. For I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. Nevertheless to remain in the flesh is more needful for you” (Philippians 1:21-24 NKJV).

Do we truly desire to be in Heaven with our Savior? If so, then we will be willing to stay here only as long as He determines, to do His way and to be His ambassadors. We will understand that our relationship with Him is all that matters and be so thankful that He died in order to give us that relationship.

As we begin to think about being thankful, we have many, many blessings. But the blessing that is far above all other blessings is the gift of the Savior for without it all other blessings disappear. Without it we cannot even begin to understand what blessings are. Without it, we really have nothing to be thankful for.

© 2011 Robin L. O’Hare. All Rights Reserved. Permission granted for nonprofit and church groups to use this article in its entirety (including this notice). For other uses, please contact servinggodalone@yahoo.com.