Approaching the Line

I was reading Mark 10 today and was humbled to see how similar to the pharisees I am.

At the beginning of the chapter, the pharisees are trying to trap Jesus again with their words. They ask Him about divorce, but they concerned with what is lawful, not what is peasing to God.

[...] “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?”
(Mark 10:2 ESV)

Sometimes there is a distinction between "lawful" and "moral". Something may be permitted by the law, but it isn't God's ideal situation or desire for one's life.

We always hear stories and urban legends of the burglar who breaks into someone's house, and trips on the stairs while robbing the family. The burglar then sues the family for the injuries.  Or the protest group that goes way too far, venting anger and hatred towards innocent people, yet the group is protected by "freedom of speech". Sometimes the law permits things that most agree aren't moral.

In this situation, the pharisees never considered God. They were only concerned with how much they can get away with before they cross a line set by the law. That all-too-dangerous thought of "how far is too far?" Essentially the pharisees, and myself sometimes, are asking "how much bad stuff can we do before it's considered sin?"

But in Mark 10:6, Jesus points them back to God's intention and desire.

But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”
(Mark 10:6-9 ESV)

There's something beautiful about the way the ESV phrases that a man will "hold fast to his wife". It paints the picture of a relationship that he treasures and a person that is precious to him. It implies that he is willing to work and struggle through whatever happens, that he values his wife so much that he is looking for opportunities to strengthen their marriage, not opportunities to end it. This is the picture of marriage that God intended from the beginning.

While the pharisees are right that Moses made it lawful for divorce to happen, Jesus immediately turns their attention to God's heart and intention for marriage. If the pharisees are as close to God as they claim to be, why are they looking for loopholes to justify going against His will. If I love God as much as I say I do, why would I split hairs in hopes of finding an opportunity to break His heart?

Now the question is, "Do you want to please God, or do you want to push to the limit of the law?"
Instead of asking "what can we get away with?" or "how far is too far?" we should be asking "what is God's heart and how can we please Him?"

God, turn my heart towards you!

Quieting Excuses

The story of Moses is filled with excuses. Right from the moment God called Moses to lead Israel, Moses was hard at work trying to talk God out of His decisions. However, one of the most dramatic excuses in the books of Moses didn't come from the prophet himself.

In Numbers 13, we see the story of a group of Israelite scouts checking out the land that God had promised them. It's important to note that long before Israel came close to the promised land, God told them a few things about it. We hear a lot about how fruitful the land is, flowing with milk and honey. But in Genesis 15, God clearly mentions that the land is already occupied. The presence of nations in the promised land didn't catch God off guard, so it would be ridiculous to think that God didn't already have a plan in place for dealing with these people. In fact, God let's His people in on that plan:

I will send my terror before you and will throw into confusion all the people against whom you shall come, and I will make all your enemies turn their backs to you. And I will send hornets before you, which shall drive out the Hivites, the Canaanites, and the Hittites from before you.
(Exodus 23:27-28 ESV)

Despite all this, when the scouts come back to report on what they saw, they make all kinds of excuses. They acknowledge the fruitfulness of the land, saying "It flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit (Numbers 13:27 ESV)", confirming what God had already told them about the land. However, this is the only thing they say about the land. One little sentence. They then follow it up with a rambling string of excuses, describing in exaggerated detail how frightening the nations are. They say that these people are strong, they say that their cities are fortified, they mention how large the cities are, they talk about how they occupy the hill country and are spread along the ocean as well. Essentially, they're saying "yes, the land is good... but we don't stand a chance. Let's go somewhere else."

Then Caleb, one of the spies, start speaking some truth.

But Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, “Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it.”
(Numbers 13:30 ESV)

Caleb remembered the promise of God. He knew that if God promised it, God would deliver it. So what if there are some obstacles standing in the way? Was the Red Sea an obstacle when Israel was fleeing Egypt? Was the lack of food and water in the desert an obstacle? Sure, they might be. But God made a promise and He will always keep that promise. So He parted the Red Sea, and He provided bread from heaven and water from a stone. He overcame those obstacles in the past, so in Caleb's mind, it only makes sense to assume that God will overcome this obstacle as well.

There is no doubt in Caleb's words. He is very confident. He says things like "let us go up at once." He doesn't want to wait. He doesn't see any benefit is sitting around and talking it over, trying to decide whether or not this is a good idea. God has already promised to give them the land, what more is there to talk about or debate? Let's go!

He also says that they are "well able" to defeat their enemies. He doesn't expect a nail biter. Caleb knows that God is with them, it's not even going to be a close fight.

What promises has God spoken into your life that you're afraid to take hold of? Be encouraged that no matter what obstacles you perceive, God has taken them into consideration and He will overcome them. His promises are true. 

The Long Way

Like most people, I've sometimes wondered why God does things that way He does. I'm not necessarily upset by His ways or disagreeing with His plan, but I'm just curios as to why He chose to do things in a certain way.

A passage in Exodus 13 shed some light on this for me:

"When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, though that was shorter. For God said, "If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt." - Exodus 13:17

There have been things happen in my life where I've wondered "wasn't there an easier way to get the same result?" Sometimes I wish I could go back in time a little bit and save myself a lot of trouble by doing things differently. But as this passage points out, God knows our hearts and our fears and He sees the obstacles that we would run into if we take short cuts. Something might seem easier at first, but there could be a piece of the picture that we're missing, and when we run into it, it would be more than we could bear. Like Israel being led out of slavery, we could run into a trial that we can't overcome and decide to turn back, giving up on God's plan for us. Instead, if we follow God, we'll find a path that isn't "beyond what we can bear" (1 Corinthians 10:13).

So in His mercy, God leads us around by taking the long route. He isn't disappointed or forceful with us by saying "suck it up and just plow through the short cut". He's gentle, leading us around the long path, saying "I know your fears and your struggles, and it's okay. We'll take the long way."

Better Than Neutral

A mentality that really bothers me, whether in the Church or in the world, is that goodness is determined by what you don't do. The idea that "if you don't smoke, don't drink, don't watch this show or hang out with those people", then you are somehow made good. What bothers me about this is that the absence of all those things could quite possibly (and often does) result in a person who is still just as inconsequential as one who indulges in all of the above activities. To take an extreme example, a person in a coma would (by the above definition) be the perfect Christian. They wouldn't lie, swear, steal, drink or do anything considered inappropriate.

Call me crazy, but I think God has bigger plans for His people than this. I'm not saying that we should enjoy or encourage inappropriate behavior, because scripture calls us to a pure life. My point is that if a life is not filled with good things to replace the evil we abstain from, is God at all impressed with us?

We could compare it to eating cardboard. Cardboard has zero fat and zero cholesterol. In fact, we wouldn't even get any calories from it since humans don't have an enzyme capable of breaking it down. But no nutritionist in the world would recommend somebody eat cardboard. It lacks the nutrients we need to survive. Somebody who lived entirely on cardboard would die from malnutrition.

I am terrified of living as though I were cardboard. I could be like food claiming to have no unhealthy fats or cholesterol (sin and impurity), but where are the nutrients? Where are the good deeds that magnify that love of God overflowing from one's life? I may do no harm, but if I do no good either, I render myself useless.

When I look at the greatest warriors of God in the Bible—people like David or Paul—I don't see someone who is flawless. They weren't people who had spotless lives who were perfectly abstained from any sin. They messed up—sometimes horribly. Yet they offered their lives so fully to God and the glory of His Name that they were able to make an impact on the world that we still feel today. Despite their mistakes.

Again, I'm not implying that sin is okay or that we should shrug off the things we struggle with. I've just been thinking lately that perhaps the better method for overcoming sin isn't to focus on being neutral (stopping badness) but to actively pursue God and doing everything in our power to glorify Him. I am horrified at the idea of coming to the end of my life, having tried my best to keep myself from sin, only to have to explain to my King that all I have to show for my life was that I watched good wholesome TV and had clean fun on the weekends. Shouldn't God's people do more than that?

Refusing the Food

 

Last night at a bible study we were discussing Daniel 1:8, "But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with with the royal food and wine and asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way."

Daniel was refusing the king's meal because the food was was part of idol worship. Daniel's love of God was more powerful than his desire for good food and put his life in danger for the sake on staying committed to God.

LORD, give me the faith of Daniel to say "no" to the things that lead me away from you!

Do Not Let Me Stray

Psalm 119 is hands down my favorite psalm. I could probably talk for an hour about each verse in that psalm. Don't worry, I won't.

But I will talk about verse 10, because it reveals such a powerful truth about how our good intentions cannot compensate for our weak sinfulness.

I seek you with all my heart; Do not let me stray from your commands. - Psalm 119:10

The first part of the verse sounds like one of those passionate declarations that people make during the worship time of a church service. It's easy to love God and desire Him during times like that: you're surrounded by brothers and sisters, God's Spirit is dancing around the room enjoying the songs about Him, and the enemy is far away cowering from the power of God. In that safe Spirit-filled environment, untwisted by sin, our souls can freely make a declaration like "I seek you with all my heart", because deep down I believe there's nothing humans desire more. It's a great thing to desire and I think most people really intend to pursue it, at least in that moment.

The problem is with the rest of the week. The other six days when we're out in the spiritual battlefield and we might not be as aware of God's presence. This is when we become painfully aware of our own weakness and our inability to seek God under our own strength. Like the other half of verse 10 says, our souls scream out to God, "Do not let me stray from your commands".

Will power cannot enable us to follow God's commands. We are sinful people, living in a sinful world, surrounded by sinful influences, and being constantly lied to by a sinful spirit. We don't stand a chance on our own. Instead of using futile effort to will ourselves to be godly, we need to confess our own weakness and rely on God. Beg Him daily, if not moment-by-moment, "do not let me stray from your commands."

God loves the humble and strengthens the weak. God didn't give us weak will-power so that we would be discouraged when we fail. Our will-power is weak to keep us safe from ourselves—to prevent us from relying on our own strength, from trusting in our own opinions, and from hoping in our own ability. When we come to admit that our strength apart from God is flimsy, our opinions apart from God are tainted, and our ability apart from God is lacking, God will fill us with the power that only His Spirit can provide. He designed it this way so we'll realize we cannot be apart from God, but need Him desperately in order to live a life pleasing to Him. It is faith, not disciplined will-power, that will put a smile on God's face.

And without faith it is impossible to please God... - Hebrews 11:6

Painful Obedience

I'm still trying to work out some kinks in this new blog... so I haven't written anything new. But here's an old post from 2005 in another blog I had:

---

Who of us have always been a perfect Christian? Have you been perfectly obedient? No matter how good of a Christian we this we are , we are still disobedient from time to time. I'm guilty of it. But obedience is something that is greatly appreciated by God, and He'll reward you for it. He's been showing me that lately.

About a week ago, I was with some brothers and a sister, and something amazing happened during prayer. God showed me a verse, Acts 5.38-39, a verse that, since that day, has become very very familiar to me. Although I have read through Acts last summer, I had forgotten what happens in each chapter, so I really didn't know what to expect. A few of the believers that were with me at the time were really struggling with some stuff we were trying to do for God. We knew He wanted us to do something, but didn't know if it would be as good as we were hoping.This is what Acts 5.38-39 said: "therefore in the present case I advise you: leave these men alone! Let them go! If their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men. You will only find yourself fighting against God."

What more can you say when you've just been praying for God to make your work for Him go smoothly, than for God tosay to you through His word, "don't worry about it, nobody can stop you". Wow.

Anyways, I thought that since God was speaking to me through Acts, I figured this would be a good time to go back and study that book. Reading through the various stories and trials the early believers faced, I realized that they went through a similar pattern each time.

First- The believers faced a trial
Acts 5.17Thenthe high priest and all his associates, who were members of the party of the Sadducees, were filled with jealousy. 18Theyarrested the apostles and put them in the public jail.

Second- They were obedient to God
Acts 5.19Butduring the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors... 20"Go, stand in the temple courts," he said...21At daybreak they entered the temple courts, as they had been told..."

Third - God rescued them from the trial
Acts 5.40 They called the apostles ... and let them go.

The apostles learned from this that obeying God would definitely pay off from them, and the result of this experience led to bear more fruit for God. (Acts 5.42Dayafter day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ.)

In Acts 7, there is the story of how Steven, a very faithful man, was put to death, because of his faith. Some may see this as a defeat, but Steven was being led by the Holy Spirit. He was filled with it! He knew how real and powerful God was, and knew that obedience would pay off. He was obedient right to death. We can only imagine what kinds of rewards he must be enjoying now in Heaven!

I'm still studying Acts and reading the remarkable stories about these first disciples and how they risked their lives daily to serve God,knowing that God's rewards were worth it to suffer the pain they recieved.