Jim Wilson's Blog, page 10

The Lord Your God Is with You

“The LORD your God is with you,

He is mighty to save.

He will take great delight in you,

He will quiet you with His love,

He will rejoice over you with singing.”

(Zephaniah 3:17)

 

This is one of the great verses of God’s character expressedtoward us. Most of us know that He is with us, that He saves us, and that Heloves us. But there are two additional expressions which cause me to wonder:

“He will take great delight in you.” That ought to help anyChristian with a “poor self-image.” God delights in me greatly!

“He will rejoice over you with singing.” Most of us love tosing praises to Him with joy. Here it tells us that He also sings withjoy over us.

There is grandeur, wonder, and awe portrayed in Revelation5:11-14 where a hundred million plus angels and every creature everywhere sing“to Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb.” That is wonderful, but it isfar more wonderful that God will sing with joy over me.

This post coordinates with today's reading in the Tothe Word! Bible Reading Challenge. If you are not in a daily reading plan,please join us at TotheWord.com. We would love to have you reading with us.

How To Be Free From Bitterness and other essays on Christian relationships

A Famine of the Word

There is a frightening prophecy in the book of Amos:

“‘The days are coming,’ declares the Sovereign Lord, ‘when Iwill send a famine through the land—not a famine of food or a thirst for water,but a famine of hearing the words of the Lord. Men will stagger from sea to seaand wander from north to east, searching for the word of the Lord, but theywill not find it’” (Amos 8:11-12).

I have no idea whether this prophecy was ever fulfilled in thepast. If not, it is, of necessity, still future. It certainly is not in thepresent. In this world we have places where the Word of God is very accessible.The supply is greater than the demand. There is a famine in the midst of plentybecause people are not reading the Word.

There are places where the Word of God is not available at all.People do not know it is not available. They are in a famine and do not knowthat they are in a famine. There are still other places where there is a famineand people know it. They are eager for Bibles. The demand is much greater thanthe supply.

This post coordinates with tomorrow's reading in the Tothe Word! Bible Reading Challenge. If you are not in a daily reading plan,please join us at TotheWord.com. We would love to have you reading with us.

How To Be Free From Bitterness and other essays on Christian relationships

Therefore

“Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set yourhearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Setyour minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your lifeis now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, thenyou also will appear with him in glory. Put to death, therefore, whateverbelongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desiresand greed, which is idolatry” (Colossians 3:1-5).

“That, however, is not the way of life you learned when youheard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that isin Jesus. You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put offyour old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be madenew in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to belike God in true righteousness and holiness. Therefore each ofyou must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we areall members of one body” (Ephesians 4:20-25).

Colossians 3:5 and Ephesians 4:25 start with the word“therefore” and follow it with a series of commands. These are not optional,and they are not a process. They are based upon us being dead and raised withChrist. Write them down and check them off as you have obeyed them.

How To Be Free From Bitterness and other essays on Christian relationships

Slow to Anger and Abounding in Love

One of the great God’s great self-declarations was given by Himto Moses on his second trip up the mountain in Exodus 34:6-8:

“And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, ‘The Lord,the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding inlove and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgivingwickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; hepunishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to thethird and fourth generation.’”

We see here the truth that upset Jonah:

“But Jonah was greatly displeased and became angry. Heprayed to the Lord, ‘O Lord, is this not what I said when I was still at home?That is why I was so quick to flee to Tarshish. I knew that you are a graciousand compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relentsfrom sending calamity. Now, O Lord, take away my life, for it is better for meto die than to live” (Jonah 4:1-3).

God was not angry. Jonah, however, was angry because God wasnot.

We see the same slowness to anger as a requirement forChristians:

“My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should bequick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man’s anger doesnot bring about the righteous life that God desires” (James 1:19-20).

Normally, anger is not a virtue. It should not be impetuous,must be over by sundown, and must be gotten rid of.

“‘In your anger do not sin’: Do not let the sun go downwhile you are still angry…. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawlingand slander, along with form of malice” (Ephesians 4:26, 31).

This post coordinates with today's reading in the Tothe Word! Bible Reading Challenge. If you are not in a daily reading plan,please join us at TotheWord.com. We would love to have you reading with us.

How To Be Free From Bitterness and other essays on Christian relationships

What the Bible Says About Giving

“Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandmentsand teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom ofheaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called greatin the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousnesssurpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainlynot enter the kingdom of heaven. You have heard that it was said to the peoplelong ago, ‘Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’…Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember thatyour brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of thealtar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer yourgift” (Matthew 5:19-21, 23-24).

“Command those who are rich in this present world not to bearrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to puttheir hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous andwilling to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as afirm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life thatis truly life” (1 Timothy 6:17-19).

The Bible has a lot to say about giving. Please take time toread the following:

1 Corinthians 9:1-23 and 2 Corinthians 8 and 9.

Here are a few short passages on giving:

“The elders who direct the affairs of thechurch well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work ispreaching and teaching. For Scripture says, ‘Do notmuzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain,’ and ‘The worker deserves hiswages’” (1 Timothy 5:17-18).

“[False teachers] have an unhealthyinterest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife,malicious talk, evil suspicions and constant friction between people of corruptmind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a meansto financial gain. But godliness with contentment is great gain. For webrought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if wehave food and clothing, we will be content with that. Those who want to getrich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desiresthat plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a rootof all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from thefaith and pierced themselves with many griefs” (1 Timothy 6:4-10).

“I rejoiced greatly in the Lord that at last you renewedyour concern for me. Indeed, you were concerned, but you had no opportunity toshow it. I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to becontent whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I knowwhat it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in anyand every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or inwant. I can do all this through him who gives me strength. Yet it was good ofyou to share in my troubles. Moreover, as you Philippians know, in the earlydays of your acquaintance with the gospel, when I set out from Macedonia, notone church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except youonly; for even when I was in Thessalonica, you sent me aid more than once whenI was in need. Not that I desire your gifts; what I desire is that more becredited to your account. I have received full payment and have more thanenough. I am amply supplied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus thegifts you sent. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasingto God. And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of hisglory in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:10-19).

“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultlessis this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneselffrom being polluted by the world” (James 1:27).

“But now that there is no more place for me to work in theseregions, and since I have been longing for many years to visit you, I plan todo so when I go to Spain. I hope to see you while passing through and to haveyou assist me on my journey there, after I have enjoyed your company for awhile” (Romans 15:23-24).

How To Be Free From Bitterness and other essays on Christian relationships

Partial Obedience, Partial Repentance, Partial Belief

In recent days,* I have been struck again by the partialrepentance of the kings of Israel and the partial repentance of the kings ofJudah. Here are two examples from many.

Israel:

“Yet Jehu was not careful to keep the law of the LORD, theGod of Israel, with all his heart. He did not turn away from the sins ofJeroboam, which he had caused Israel to commit” (2 Kings 10:31). The lastsentence was said of every king of Israel.

Judah:

“He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, but not ashis father David had done. In everything he followed the example of his fatherJoash. The high places, however, were not removed; the people continued tooffer sacrifices and burn incense there” (2 Kings 14:3-4). This last sentencewas said of Amaziah and his son, his grandson, and his great-grandson. Amaziahwas one of the good kings of Judah.

Hezekiah, his great-great-grandson, turned things around:“He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, just as his father David haddone. He removed the high places, smashed the sacred stones and cut down theAsherah poles. He broke into pieces the bronze snake Moses had made, for up tothat time the Israelites had been burning incense to it. (It was calledNehushtan.)” (2 Kings 18:3-4).

Are we guilty of partial obedience, partial repentance,and belief in a partial Savior who gives partial forgiveness?

*Written November 2006.

This post coordinates with today's and tomorrow's readings in the Tothe Word! Bible Reading Challenge. If you are not in a daily reading plan,please join us at TotheWord.com. We would love to have you reading with us.

How To Be Free From Bitterness and other essays on Christian relationships

Your Dwelling Place

“How lovely is your dwelling place, O LORD Almighty! My soul yearns, evenfaints, for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God” (Psalm 84:1-2).

“One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple” (Psalm 27:4).

“Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations. Before the mountainswere born or you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God” (Psalm 90:1-2).

“Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever” (Psalm 23:6).

“No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and ofthe Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. They will seehis face, and his name will be on their foreheads. There will be no more night.They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the LordGod will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever” (Rev. 22:3-5).

The dwelling place of the Lord is lovely, desired, andeverlasting.

The years fly by. Daily we are closer to being with Himforever. It is the blessed hope, the glad anticipation.

How To Be Free From Bitterness and other essays on Christian relationships

What God Says about Idolatry

I have been overwhelmed this last year* with God’sexpressions of His view of idolatry:

Disobedient: “You shall have no other gods before me.You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven aboveor on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to themor worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing thechildren for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of thosewho hate me” (Deut. 5:7-9).

Stupid: “But their idols are silver and gold, made bythe hands of men. They have mouths, but cannot speak, eyes, but they cannotsee; they have ears, but cannot hear, noses, but they cannot smell; they havehands, but cannot feel, feet, but they cannot walk; nor can they utter a soundwith their throats. Those who make them will be like them, and so will all whotrust in them” (Psalm 115:4-8).

Demonic: “Do I mean then that a sacrifice offered toan idol is anything, or that an idol is anything? No, but the sacrifices ofpagans are offered to demons, not to God, and I do not want you to beparticipants with demons” (1 Cor. 10:19-20).

Definition: “Put to death, therefore, whateverbelongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desiresand greed, which is idolatry” (Colossians 3:5).

Vile: “He behaved in the vilest manner by going afteridols, like the Amorites the LORD drove out before Israel” (1 Kings 21:26). “Hewalked in the ways of the kings of Israel and even sacrificed his son in thefire, following the detestable ways of the nations the LORD had driven outbefore the Israelites” (2 Kings 16:3).

Detestable: “For you have spent enough time in thepast doing what pagans choose to do—living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness,orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry” (1 Peter 4:3).

Worthless: “He walked in all the ways of Jeroboam sonof Nebat and in his sin, which he had caused Israel to commit, so that theyprovoked the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger by their worthless idols” (1Kings 16:26).

Not Saved: “Idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord,jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy;drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those wholive like this will not inherit the kingdom of God” (Galatians 5:20-21).

God has not changed His view. We should not differ with Him.There are billions of idolaters in the world today. God is not tolerant ofidolatry or idols. 

“Dear children, keep yourselves from idols” (1 John5:21). 

“Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry” (1 Cor.10:14). 

“For they themselves report what kind of reception you gaveus. They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and trueGod” (1 Thess. 1:9).

*Written November 2007.

How To Be Free From Bitterness and other essays on Christian relationships

Doers of the Word

 

This post was written by Matt Meyer, CCM board member and director emeritus.

“Those who forsake the law praise the wicked, but those who keep the law plead against them” (Proverbs 28:4).

After a number of weeks of coming for counseling, a youngChinese woman recently* called on God to forgive her sins. For several weeksbefore that, she was sure that God was real and good and that she was a sinner,but she was having a hard time connecting her sin with the death of Christ onthe cross. When she was asked to describe what she meant by “being a sinner,”it was clear that her focus was horizontal instead of vertical. She thought shewas sinning against her husband, her family, and herself. When she finallyunderstood that our sin (or lawlessness as John describes it) is first againstGod, the lights came on. “I’ve broken God’s laws,” she repeated numerous timesas the realization finally hit home.

Do we have the same sense that we are breaking God’s lawswhen we avoid Bible passages that hit too close to home or perhaps are just alittle too inconvenient?

This woman had a number of good questions that followed herprayer of confession. What church should I attend? Do I need to support thechurch now? How do I pray? How often should I pray? I’m such a little baby, andI need to learn so much.

As we worked through the Lord’s teaching on prayer, we alsoturned to 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18:

“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, and in everythinggive thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”

Instead of worrying about everything in the Bible, wesuggested that she start by just practicing these three verses diligently.

“But this is impossible,” she responded. 

We assured her that this was the point. If you really try togive thanks for everything, you will find yourself praying continually—eitherconfessing your sin of thanklessness, or asking God to help you be thankful, orpraising Him with thanks. Then, when you are thankful, rejoicing will surelyfollow.

Like this new believer, we need to be diligent that our joyis not burdened by active disobedience or unconfessed sin.

“Those who forsake the law praise the wicked, but those whokeep the law plead against them” (Proverbs 28:4).

In the Living translation, the second half of this versereads: “those who obey the law fight against evil.” Like much of the Bible,this verse is much more understandable and applicable than we would at firstthink.

Isn’t it enough to have just read or even memorized thepassage? No. James commands us to “become doers of the Word, and nothearers only, deceiving your own selves.”

Matt Meyer

*Written January 2007.

This post coordinates with today's reading in the Tothe Word! Bible Reading Challenge. If you are not in a daily reading plan,please join us at TotheWord.com. We would love to have you reading with us.

How To Be Free From Bitterness and other essays on Christian relationships

A Holy Estate

“‘Haven’t you read,’ he replied, ‘that at the beginning theCreator “made them male and female,” and said, “For this reason a man willleave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will becomeone flesh”? So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joinedtogether, let man not separate’” (Matthew 19:4-6).

The marriage service says that marriage is a “holy estate.” Christianmarriage is more than physical, economic cohabitating and child-bearing andrearing. It is a spiritual fellowship; it is an earthly picture of Christ andHis body, the Church. 

“Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For thehusband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body,of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wivesshould submit to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, justas Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy,cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her tohimself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, butholy and blameless. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives astheir own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself” (Eph. 5:22-28).

In the last two years,* I have seen eight Christianmarriages break up after over twenty years of marriage. I am watching severalmore in the process. Is there an attempt to stop it? Yes! However, there isencouragement for divorce from counselors, attorneys, family members, andChristian friends.

Intruding, teaching, and discipline may be in order, butwhat is really needed is the convicting power of the Holy Spirit. Each of youknow friends of yours who are in this situation. Pray for the heavy hand of Godto be upon them until there is repentance. 

If there is any sign of trouble in your marriage, repent toGod and call for help from the saints. 

In case this all sounds too discouraging, we know of severalmarriages that have been wonderfully saved through prayer.

*Written in 2004.

This post coordinates with today's reading in the Tothe Word! Bible Reading Challenge. If you are not in a daily reading plan,please join us at TotheWord.com. We would love to have you reading with us.

How To Be Free From Bitterness and other essays on Christian relationships