Acting as if God's words were true

“Very often the only way to get a quality in reality is to start behaving as if you had it already.”  C.S. Lewis, “Mere Christianity”

Everyone believes something.  Their actions betray their true beliefs:  “Actions speak louder than words.”  But what if someone wants to act, but lack the beliefs necessary for that action?  Should they act like they believe something, even if they are struggling to truly believe it?  It depends.  If their belief is true, but they feel doubt, then they should act according to truth until their emotions and beliefs are one.  This is the case when it comes to faith in what the Bible says.  God said things that don’t seem “real” in some people’s experiences.  God cannot lie, however, so what He says must indeed be true.  Therefore, faith means acting as though what God says is indeed true. 

Some think faith alone is enough, without any necessity of corresponding activity.  But the Bible says, “Faith without works is dead,” comparing faith and works to a body and a spirit.  As a body without a spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead.  Here, the body is faith, and the spirit is works.  Works are the energy, and thus the reality of faith.  Yet the book of Hebrews also speaks of “dead works.”  Keeping spirit and body analogy, actions founded upon faithlessness are like ghosts.  Faithless actions lack conviction and the power of God.   Believers must act, and actors must believe.

Actors believe whatever their characters believe.  The best actors convince audiences of this.  Yet they pretend according to an author’s imagination.  God’s believers should “act” according to the “script” of the Supreme Author, whose words are reality and truth.  Believers in Christ are the children of God.  Therefore they should act like a child of God.  Now how is that? 

According to Paul, “as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the children of God.”  So a child of God follows the Spirit of God.  This means God’s children must first believe the Spirit of God is in them, leading them.  Then they must act like they would if they really believed this. 

What would they do if this were true?

They would acknowledge the Spirit’s constant presence. They would seek His continued leadership in all decisions before taking action.  Then they’d experience the Spirit leading them.  But they wouldn’t experience this before acting as though it were true.

Real faith in God is acted upon by God’s children.  This kind of acting is like pretending, but the difference is true pretense.  Though everyone believes something, and acts upon their true beliefs, some pretend they believe things that their actions contradict.  Everyone knows this:  actions speak louder than words.

Unfulfilled Desire

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.”

Everyone needs.  No one lives without desire.  The deepest needs and desires feel illusive at best, impossible to fulfill at worst.  C.S. Lewis explains that heart desires which cannot be met on earth must have their fulfillment in another world—in God’s perfect world.  To experience the perfect world of God, we must embrace the unfulfilled longings we have in this world. 

Some think they can “have their cake and eat it too;” they want the luxuries of this life and the next.  Yet they fail to realize the deceptiveness of riches in the here and now; how they pail in comparison to our eternal destination.  Christ said in heaven, there is no rust or theft.  In other words, what we receive in heaven cannot be lost.  Anything, and everything, that can be lost leads us away from the eternal good, not towards it.

Others think they must embrace the way of pointless pain, as if pain for its own sake makes us more like God.  But pain may lead us to hate God, as pleasure may cause us to ignore him.  And pain could lead people to pray for His mercy, while pleasure leads them to praise Him for His glory.

The Lord said those who seek to gain their lives will lose them, but those who lose their lives for Him and His kingdom will gain their lives, as well as the Lord.  The life they lose is what they most desire, what they feel like they can’t and won’t live without.  Yet how will they know they can’t live without it until they choose to indeed die?  How can they know God as their only fulfillment until God is the only fulfillment they have?

Not that God’s gifts must be rejected, for He loves us through these as well.  Those who know the deepest unfulfilled desire know that there must be another world. 

“Who have I in heaven but you; there is nothing on earth I desire besides you.” 

God shows no favoritism to Israel.

The Prophet Amos said these words: 

Hear this word the Lord has spoken against you, O people of Israel—against the whole family I brought up out of Egypt: “You only have I chosen of all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your sins.  Do two walk together unless they agree?”

This was not the first time God himself was against Israel.  Throughout Israel’s history, God showed them no favoritism.  Even in choosing them from among all nations, it wasn’t because they were special.  Quite the opposite, as shown in Deuteronomy Chapter 9.  Abraham was a nomad with a barren wife. God chose to make Abraham a nation for the salvation of all nations.  God never intended Israel an unconditional place of privilege.  If Israel disagreed with God, God disagreed with Israel. 

I understand God promised that if any were against Israel, God would be against them. (See Genesis 12.)  Yet God conditioned Israel’s promise of protection to Israel’s submission, as seen in Deuteronomy 28. In this chapter God makes clear that if they obey, they will be blessed, and if they disobey, they will be cursed. This is true of Israel and every nation, including our very own nation.

Some misunderstand God’s unconditional promise to Abraham.  They fail to understand that this promise was made about Abraham’s descendant, namely, Christ.   And it was made for all nations, not just Israel.  Through Christ, all nations would be blessed. (See Galatians Chapter 3.)

The prophet Asa said these words to Israel, “The LORD is with you while you are with Him.  If you seek Him, He will allow you to find Him; but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you.”  Again, this is not just true of Israel, but of all people.  As the prophet Amos said, “Do two walk together unless they agree?”

If Israel, as a nation, continues to disagree with who her messiah is, then God is not with her.  Yet if Americans disagree with God’s sovereignty, not realizing that His Kingdom is not a democracy, then he also disagrees with us. God is not against Palestine or for Israel.  God is not against Iraq and for America.  

Notice the words of God to Joshua:

Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, “Are you for us or for our enemies?”

“Neither,” he replied, “but as commander of the army of the Lord I have now come.” Then Joshua fell facedown to the ground in reverence, and asked him, 

“What message does my Lord have for his servant?”

The commander of the Lord’s army replied, “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so.  Joshua 5:13-15

As I have heard Pastor Tony Evans say, “God does not take sides, He takes over.”

Why I sometimes feel sorry for God

How do you feel when you reach out to someone and they reject you?  How do you feel when you go to talk to someone and they don't take their eyes off the computer screen; when they talk on their cell phone the whole time you are together?  How do you feel when the people who should understand you the most understand you least?

This is why I sometimes feel sorry for God.

Who reaches out to people more than Him?

From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.  Acts 17:26-27

God orchestrated our entire lives, our origins and destinations, so that we would seek Him, reach out for Him and find Him, the only one who is not far from each and every one of us.  Who can promise to be literally with us always?  Who has gone through such pains as to desire us to find them?

How do you feel when you are treated as an interruption, as if the one you are coming to is too busy for you?  How often do we treat God like this?  And how does God respond?

He (Samson) awoke from his sleep and thought, “I’ll go out as before and shake myself free.” But he did not know that the Lord had left him. Judges 16:20

When we ignore God, demanding that he leaves us alone, He does.  Yet we are so used to desiring his absence, and acting as though He is absent, that we do not know when the Lord has left us.

I hate that I've done this to God, and to others, because I know that I hate when others do this to me.

I don't ever want to make God, or any one in His likeness, feel like this.

If I've done this to anyone who reads, I'm truly sorry, and I'll never do it again.

Dearest God, I'm sorry for when I've ignored you.

I'll never do it again.

***

The Lord observed the extent of human wickedness on the earth,

and he saw that everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil.

So the Lord was sorry he had ever made them and put them on the earth.

It broke his heart.

And the Lord said,

“I will wipe this human race I have created from the face of the earth.

Yes, and I will destroy every living thing—

all the people, the large animals, the small animals that scurry along the ground,

and even the birds of the sky.

I am sorry I ever made them.”

But Noah found favor with the Lord. 

Genesis 6:5-8 NLT

When it is right to be angry (Part 2)

It is written in the word of God,

"The LORD is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness."

"Be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to become angry."

"Be angry, but do not sin.  Do not let the sun go down on your wrath. Do not give the devil an opportunity."

In part 1 (click here) I discussed an extreme scenario of a man or woman drowning a new born baby.  My main point was that our anger should be like God's anger; God hates evil and punishes evil, thus we should do the same when it is in our power.

Now, to be angry like God is angry, we must not be quickly or easily angered.  More specifically, we must not quickly or easily EXPRESS our anger.  In other words, in the extreme example of a new born being drowned, one should not be "patient."  The child is dying now, and we should be angry right now at the murderer.  Yet most of our experiences are not with murder, but with irritations or aggravations of people speaking or acting inconsiderately.  As American Christians, we seem to fear angry confrontations.  But Jesus never backed away from confronting those who opposed him.  He also gave a way to deal with a person who sins against you:

1. Confront him or her alone, FOR THE PURPOSE OF PEACE.
2. If the person won't apologize, bring two or three who are witnesses to the wrong doing.
3. If the person still won't apologize and change his or her behavior, then they are to be "ignored," or ostracized from the body of believers.  

Jesus' words were in the context of problems among believers.  Yet many problems are among those or with those who don't believe in Christ.  We are often "at war" with people at some point during our day. Though "war" is a strong word, in the book of James this is the word used to describe fights among those who don't get what they want:

What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you?You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. James 4:1-2

Thomas Aquinas gave three criteria for "just wars":

• First, war must occur for a good and just purpose rather than for self-gain (for example, "in the nation's interest" is not just) or as an exercise of power.
• Second, just war must be waged by a properly instituted authority such as the state.
• Third, peace must be a central motive even in the midst of violence.  

  
Though Aquinas spoke of war in the context of nations, I speak of them in the context of individuals in conflict with each other.  After all, nations are made up of individuals.  

Right now, for example, "my passions are at war within me!"  I am at the library.  I "desire and do not have" peace and quiet!  Indeed, I am in the "quiet section" of the library!  Yes, you read right.  Though on earth, we usually assume that THE ENTIRE LIBRARY is quiet, here in Key West, there must be a designated "quiet section."  Now in the "quiet section," AT LEAST, cell phones are to be turned off.  Yet twice a man's cell phone rings and he gets up and talks loudly about his plans for today...plans that are not MY concern.

Now, a "just war" in this situation would be for the just purpose of quiet in the "quiet section" of the library.  It is an assumption that in a public library there should be quiet, at least for sane Americans.  In other words, it's not just my "personal preference," but a rule of the library (an unnecessary rule since it should be assumed, but we've addressed that already.)  Now the "properly instituted authority" in this situation is the librarian (who has said NOTHING), and the deputy sheriff on duty at the library, who would back the librarian IF THE LIBRARIAN ADDRESSED THE TRANSGRESSOR, and if the transgressor refused to stop transgressing!

Finally, peace and quiet are indeed the central motive in the midst of the confrontation that SHOULD HAVE HAPPENED!  In other words, the goal is not the love of confronting, but to RESTORE the peace and quiet that was experienced BEFORE the man answered his cell phone.  

Of course, the librarian may have ignored the man in hopes that he man would silence his phone thereafter.  Maybe the man meant to turn his phone off, or thought he turned it off.  This is where slowness to anger comes in.  Though I felt anger, I didn't know for sure that the man was deliberate in being inconsiderate, or if he was actually being inconsiderate at all!  Again, he may have been considerate by trying to turn off his phone and failing to do so.  

Therefore, slowness to anger would be slowness to make a judgment of the man's motives.  The librarian could have approached the man to make him aware of the rule.  After all, he may not have been aware.  And as I said, if he was aware, he may have made a mistake with his phone.  This fits Jesus' instructions on confrontation.  The librarian could've approached the man in private.  If the man apologized and turned his phone off, peace would have been restored.

But if he continued to let his phone ring, to answer, and talk loudly, then the deputy and the librarian should've addressed him.  If he STILL refused to turn off the phone, the library patrons all bore witness, and the man should have been banished!!

It is right to be angry with evil, whether extreme evil that requires immediate anger, or not so extreme evil in which there should be slowness of angry expression.  The goal is the love of peace and not the love of confrontation.  The degree of anger and way to be angry depends on the act of justice necessary to stop injustice.    We should not sin in our anger, but stop sin with and through our anger.

Be angry, but do not sin.
Peace be with you.

When it is right to be angry (Part 1)

"Anyone can become angry--that is easy.  But to be angry with the right person, to the right degree, at the right time, for the right purpose, and in the right way--this is not easy."  
Aristotle, The Nicomachean Ethics

 I believe American Christians struggle with anger.  We sometimes make it seem that all anger is wrong and should be avoided, which makes God and the Lord Jesus Himself very wrong.  If we who are finite, imperfect, and ultimately powerless are wrong to EVER become OR EXPRESS anger, then how wrong is it for the All Powerful to be angry or express it?  But I left out the fact that God is perfect, and thus His anger is perfect, as Aristotle described it.  Because we are made in the image and likeness of God, our anger should be the image and likeness of God's anger.  Therefore, in order to know when it is right to be angry, we have to know when and how God Himself is angry.

First, when to be angry.  It is written, 

"The fear of the LORD is to hate evil; pride, arrogance, the evil way, and the perverse tongue I hate."  King Solomon

It is right to be angry, or feel hatred, when we encounter evil.  By evil, I mean what we all intuitively understand as pure badness.  If we see a man or woman drowning a new born baby, we rightly should feel hatred and anger TOWARDS THE MAN OR WOMAN!  They would be the "right people" to feel anger towards.  The "right degree" depends on anger's purpose:  JUSTICE!  Justice is to distinguish between good and evil, rewarding good and punishing evil.  So the degree of anger should be enough TO STOP THE MAN OR WOMAN FROM DROWNING THE CHILD.  Now, if the man or woman could be stopped WITHOUT causing permanent physical harm, then this should be done.  In other words, if one could simply yell,"STOP DROWNING THAT BABY!" and the man or woman stops without any harm coming to the child, then all is well. But what if the man or woman ignores the yell and continues.  Then the degree of anger must increase to meet the goal of justice.  If you have to physically remove the hands of the child murderer, this must be done, and you must be angry enough to use all of your might to do it.  If this doesn't work, the degree of anger must increase.  If you have to strike the man or woman repeatedly in the neck in order to save the child from certain death, you need to be angry enough to strike the neck repeatedly.  And if nothing but KILLING the man or woman would stop him or her from KILLING  the baby, then you need to be angry enough to KILL the man or woman in order to save the baby.  This is the issue of anger's degree.

The "right time" in this scenario is NOW!  The right purpose is to save the new born's life.  The right way is to do what will result in removing the hands of the man and woman from around the neck of the new born child. 

This of course is an extreme example.  I'll give a more day to day example in part 2...click here.

The Power of The Peacemakers: The Children of God

"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God."

The Lord Jesus Christ, Prince Of Peace

I believe emotions are infections, received and given.  God's children infect the world with peace, or so they should.  They do this in two ways:  positively and negatively.

Positively, the children of God may establish or maintain peace.  Hear the words of the Lord Jesus that illustrate this:

“When you enter a house, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’ If a man of peace is there, your peace will rest on him; if not, it will return to you. Luke 10:5-6

According to Jesus, his followers had the power of peace, the power to impart peace to those willing to receive it.  The assumption of the Lord is that this peace came from within his followers.  He said "your peace" will rest on "a man of peace" or "it will return to you."  So the peace within the followers of Christ will rest upon those who are receptive.  Therefore, if you are a follower of Christ, the peace of the Lord is in you, as it is written, 

 "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you."  John 14:27

On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.  Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” John 20:19-21

This is the power of the peace maker, the power of the child of God!  This is the powerful positive infection of God's peace.

Now for the "negative."

In the words of St. Augustine, "Peace is the tranquility of order."

In other words, the child of God not only establishes and maintains the peace of God by the Spirit of Peace, but he or she may be called to restore order, to expose and eradicate disorder or chaos, as it is written,

"Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them."  

Ephesians 5:11

Presently, I am a "peace officer," according to scripture, "Gods avenger"--

  

"Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer."  Romans 13:3b-4

As an officer, I have found that I love peace and order, and I hate conflict and disorder.  My goal is not the use of force, but the beauty of peace, the very peace of God, a glimpse of heaven. 

All of God's children can give this glimpse. I believe they may do so by their very presence, and especially by the power of peace imparting words.  The children of God may establish and maintain peace by simply being present, and especially by their peace imparting words.  They may also restore peace by exposing and eradicating the darkness of disorder.  

May all who possess the peace of Christ be peace makers, and thus be rightly called the children of God!

 

A key to strong faith in God

"I am the LORD, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?"

Jeremiah 32:27

 

 

 

One of my daughters kept coming to my wife with  math problems she considered "too hard" to answer quickly, like this one:

 

"If a girl checked out 66 books, then 6 more books, then 10 more books, how many books would she have in all?" 

 

When my wife quickly and effortlessly answered, "82," my daughter responded in utter amazement, "How can you do that!?"

 

To my daughter, math problems like these seemed too hard.  And in her eyes, no math problem seemed too hard for her mother.

 

I told my wife that I'm sure it's like this for God when we bring Him problems in prayer that seem too hard for us. 

 

I believe a key to strong faith is to realize that there are no degrees of difficulty for God in answering our prayers.  It is as easy for God to provide $10,000.00 for a major surgery as it is for him to provide $100.00 for expensive prescriptions, if either of these were our need.  Better yet, it is as easy for him to heal cancer as it is for him to relieve migraine head aches. 

 

Some may think certain prayer requests require stronger faith on behalf of the one praying.  They think that God is limited in his power by the amount of faith we bring to the throne.  There is some truth in this thought.  Though God's power is unlimited, our faith limits how much of His power we experience.  Jesus was unable to perform many miracles in certain places because of a lack of faith.  Often times He said that a person's faith healed him/her or brought about a certain miracle, so there is a connection between the amount of faith expressed in God and the amount of God's power we experience.

Yet Jesus also said that faith as small as the smallest seed could move mountains.  He said this when his followers asked for Him to increase their faith.  So in the Lord's eyes, they didn't need an increase in faith, but to use the faith they had, even if it was very small.  Whatever amount of faith they had would be enough to move mountains!

Furthermore, Paul, the ambassador of Christ to the nations beyond Israel, said that faith comes from hearing the word of God.  In other words, we "increase" our faith by increasing our intake of God's words.  God is the kind of the person that to hear Him is to believe Him.  His character, expressed in words, is so compelling that He inspires faith in those who listen to Him.

We've all experienced this.  We've experienced listening to someone and deeply believing him or her because of the truth, conviction, and integrity of the speaker.  No one is more true, convicting, or honorable than God.

And nothing is too hard for Him!

 



The Spiritual Mind

Mindset:   

A fixed mental attitude or disposition  

that predetermines a person's responses to and interpretations of situations.  

Dictionary.com

What is a spiritual mind, or mindset?  This scripture gives the answer:

 "Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires."  Romans 8:5

 Let's apply the definition from the dictionary to the word of God:

Those who live according to the sinful nature have a fixed mental disposition that predetermines a self centered interpretation and response to situations. The man focused on making money interprets every situation as to whether it will make him money.  If it will, then his response is to engage.  If no money can be made, he refuses to take that course of action.  If a woman is controlled by drug addiction, she interprets every situation and person as to whether they can or cannot give her drugs.

But those who live according to the Spirit fix their minds on what He desires, and interpret every situation as to whether it fulfills the Spirit's desire or not.  If the Spirit is fulfilled by a course of thought or action, the spiritual person will pursue that course of action.

The choice is ours.  We choose our mindset, and thus can know IMMEDIATELY whether we are living at this very moment in agreement with the Holy Spirit.

What IMPRESSION do YOU make?

 "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden."  

Matthew 5:14

 I define an "impression" as an undeniable presence that cannot be ignored.  The most powerful physical impression in all creation is the sun.  Right now, it affects you.  It warms or scorches you.  It gives light to your room, or it's is hidden by curtains.  The earth's revolution may hide the sun, and so it's absence ends your day.  One way or another, the sun affects your life.

Those who believe in Christ are like the Son, like a sunrise, as it is written:

"The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, 

shining ever brighter till the full light of day." 

Proverbs 4:18

Who is not impacted by a sunrise!?  This is your impact if you are a child of God. Whether speaking or silent, if you are true to who God is, you “cannot be hidden.”  Love or hate, acceptance or rejection, as it was with Christ, so will be with you. 

The sun's simple existence brings acceptance or rejection, an open or closed curtain.  

Shine.
Be the light of the world.
Some will open the windows of their lives to you.  Others will close these windows against you, as it is written,

"This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.  Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.  
But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.”  John 3:19-21

By definition light and darkness are in opposition, as it is written,

You are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness."  1 Thessalonians 5:5

What impression do you make?  If you believe in Christ, you reveal the truth of who God is to those who want to know, and to those who don't, you expose their rejection of God.

How?  "Live by the truth," as Jesus said, and let this be plainly seen by all who witness you. For those who live by the truth do so through God, and these have nothing to hide or to be ashamed of.

Make an impression.
Be light.