Colin S. Smith's Blog, page 93

Bible Q&A: Did Jesus Fall into Temptation?

Question: How can you say Jesus wasn’t drawn to sin? Hebrew 2:18 says, “For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.”

Answer: We’ve received a number of questions about this. One reason for this is that we can only draw upon our own experience of being tempted. None of us has ever been in Christ’s shoes.

But I think the following analogy from Pastor Colin’s message called “Tempted” gives us a very different and very helpful perspective on Christ’s temptation:

Confronted by the Enemy
For the first time since the Garden, there is a confrontation between the enemy and a man with an unfallen nature. It is the same pattern: the initiative of God and the reaction of the enemy. God always has the initiative; the enemy is always reacting.

The Son of God, who created man in his image, now takes human flesh, joining the glory of God to humanity in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. Notice that it is the Spirit of God that leads Christ out into the wilderness (Luke 4:1). Christ goes stalking the enemy. The first step in his public ministry is to confront the enemy and to triumph where Adam failed.

There are some beautiful contrasts: Satan confronted Adam in a garden where his hunger was satisfied. Christ confronts Satan in a wilderness, after 40 days of fasting, when his body is weak and his hunger is raging. Satan confronted Adam while he enjoyed the company of his wife. Christ confronts Satan utterly alone.

Satan’s Three Strategies
Do you remember the strategies that Satan used in the Garden? The first was confusion: “Did God say…?” The second was presumption: “You will not surely die…!” The third was ambition: “You will be like God…” The strategies were exactly the same in the wilderness.

1. Confusion
“If you are the Son of God…” (Luke 4:3). In effect, Satan says, “Are you sure about that? If God is your Father, he doesn’t seem to be taking very good care of you, leaving you out here in a desert like this. Strikes me you had better take matters into your own hands…turn these stones into bread.”

2. Presumption
The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here” (Luke 4:9). “Okay,” he says, “Let’s say that you are the Son of God…if God is your Father, surely he will take care of you. Can’t you trust him to float you down to the ground?”

3. Ambition
The devil led him up to a high place and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in an instant. And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor…if you worship me it will all be yours” (Luke 4:5). “Obedience to the will of God is going to be incredibly costly. Think of what it will cost you. You can do much better for yourself if you will back off this ‘obedience to the will of God.’”

A Different Outcome
It is the same strategy, but notice an entirely different outcome. Where Adam collapsed in defeat, Christ rose in triumph: When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left Christ until an opportune time (Luke 4:13). He exhausted every strategy he knew, and at the end was left with no alternative but retreat. The enemy launched everything he had in his assault against our Lord Jesus Christ, but he could not break him.

Imagine three airmen who are flying jets over enemy territory during a war. They are shot down, captured, and taken by the enemy for interrogation. One by one they are brought into a darkened room.

The first airman gives his name, rank, and serial number. Then they ask him for the positions of his forces. He knows that he must not give this information, but he knows that the enemy is cruel, and eventually they will break him, so why go through all that? He tells them what he knows.

The second airman is brought in. He gives his name, rank, and serial number, and they pump him for information. He is determined not to tell them, so the cruelty begins. Eventually they break him, and he tells them what they want to know.

Then the third airman comes in. He gives his name, rank, and serial number. “You will not break me,” he says.

“Oh, yes we will. We have broken every man who has ever come into this room. It is only a matter of time.”

The attack begins, but he does not break. It is intensified, and he does not break, so it is intensified again, but he still does not break. Finally there comes a point where they have tried everything they know. “It is no use,” they say, “we will never break him.”

Which of the airmen faced the full force of the enemy?

Tempted, Yet Without Sin
Do not ever think that Christ’s temptations were less than we experience. Only Christ knows the full power of temptation because only Christ has withstood the full force of his assault. Adam capitulated early! Some of the heroes of the Old Testament put up a good fight, but sooner or later all of them broke.

The Bible makes it clear that Christ was “tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin” (Hebrews 4:15).

The difference between the temptations Jesus faced and ours is that we are tempted by our own evil desire: “Each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin…” (James 1:14). Sin already resides in us, but this was not true of Jesus: “He was tempted…yet was without sin.” In his case, temptation came directly from the devil, whom he confronted in the wilderness.

“Because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted” (Hebrews 2:18). Jesus can sympathize with our humanity. In his temptation, Jesus knew the suffering of hunger and thirst, hatred and ridicule, and he endured these things alone. This doesn’t mean that Christ’s temptations were any less than ours; in fact, they were greater. Christ stood against the full force of everything the enemy was able to throw at him, and he triumphed!

I trust that this gives you great hope, knowing that Christ has triumphed over the power of our enemy. The reign of sin and death has been broken, and all who belong to Jesus Christ are set free!

In Christ, Pastor Tim

[Photo Credit: Lightstock]

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Published on August 24, 2017 22:01

20 Practical Ways To Kill Sin Every Day

Sin perplexes us. We love it, and we hate it. We embrace it, and we war against it. We act on it, yet we don’t always understand why. Sin is alluring and confusing, pleasurable and destructive. The redeemed heart has been set free from sin’s power, yet still wars with sin’s presence—and sin distances us from the God who willingly came to rescue us from it.

When I asked friends, “What are some sins and areas of temptation we must fight every day?” the response was overwhelming: jealousy, laziness, discontentment, control, discouragement, pride, a sharp tongue, vanity, slander, inadequacy, anxiety, fear, selfish gain, impatience, anger, disobedience, lust, fear of man, and critical judgment of other Christians.

Which of these resonate with you? Do others come to your mind?

20 Practical Ways to Kill Sin Every Day

No Christian is exempt from the battle with sin, and it’s wise to consider what and how we’re actively fighting each day. But we do not fight alone:

We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. (Romans 6:9-11)

Believer in Christ Jesus, you are dead to sin and alive to God – and your calling is to “consider yourself” in this way. So what does it look like to fight sin on a daily basis, when temptation is all around you and spiritual death is sin’s goal (James 1:15)?

Ponder these 20 practical ways to “consider yourself dead to sin and alive to God” by killing sin today:

1. Pray for the Holy Spirit’s conviction and help.

If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. (Romans 8:11)

2. Practice regular confession.

If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:8-9)

3. Remove the temptation.

And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than with two hands to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. (Mark 9:43)

4. Tell a friend.

Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17)

5. Memorize Scripture.

Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil….take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God… (Ephesians 6:11, 17)

6. Meditate on the cross.

And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. (Colossians 2:13-14)

7. Deal quickly with offense.

“If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.” (Matthew 18:15)

8. Discern your desires.

…put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and…put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. (Ephesians 4:22, 24)

9. Help someone in need.

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. (Philippians 2:3)

10. Praise and thank God.

Put to death therefore what is earthly in you…singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. (Colossians 3:5, 16).

11. Watch your words.

Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. (Ephesians 4:29)

12. Forgive the repentant.

Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him, and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.” (Luke 17:3-4)

13. Know yourself.

Like a dog that returns to his vomit is a fool who repeats his folly. (Proverbs 26:11)

14. Heed your conscience.

But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin. (Romans 14:23)

15. Flee sexual sin.

Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. (1 Corinthians 6:18)

16. Preach the truth to doubt, fear, and unbelief.

We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ… (2 Corinthians 10:5)

17. Deal with your anger.

Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath! Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil. (Psalm 37:8)

18. Aim to please Christ.

So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. (2 Corinthians 5:9-10)

19. Remember God’s work to save you.

Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?…And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. (1 Corinthians 6:9, 11)

20. Follow Jesus.

Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?” (Matthew 16:24-26)

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Published on August 23, 2017 22:01

When Your Opportunities and Influence Fade

I recently spoke with a man who was the chairman of our church 15 years ago. For two years, he was the man to whom I was accountable. At the time, he had his own business and with it, a wide sphere of influence.

Today, his world is smaller. His business has been passed on to others. His hand is no longer on the tiller of the church. Now, he gives himself to caring for his wife who suffers from Alzheimer’s. I am full of admiration for this man who has served the Lord faithfully over many years and now faces the test of loving and trusting the Savior when life is less than it was before.

Finding peace and joy when your opportunities and influence are less isn’t easy. We need models, and one of the best is John the Baptist.

John’s Declining Ministry

John had been used by God to lead a remarkable movement of spiritual renewal. People had come in vast numbers to hear his preaching, and they had responded by confessing their sins and being baptized.

If Time Magazine had been around it those days, I have no doubt that John the Baptist would have been a contender for “Person of the Year.” But John’s calling was to point to Jesus, and so when our Lord began his public ministry, the crowds that had flocked to John left him and followed Jesus instead.

We don’t find joy by going after joy. We find joy by going after Jesus.
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John’s ministry was in decline, and his disciple’s didn’t like it. They came to John and said, “He who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you bore witness—look, he is baptizing, and all are going to him” (John 3:26).

There’s resentment there, and envy too. There’s disappointment, self-pity, and probably a fair bit of anger mixed in as well. But none of these things were true of John. He was at peace, and he tells us why: “A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven” (John 3:27).

Gifts from the Hand of God

Whatever you have at any stage of life is a gift from the hand of God. When John’s influence was more, the opportunities he enjoyed were a gift from the Lord. And when his ministry was less, that too was from the hand of God.

The secret of freedom from resentment, jealousy, and self pity is to see that the influence, opportunities, and success enjoyed by others are given to them by the Lord, and then to accept with gratitude what God has given you.

John had great peace when his ministry was in decline. He also testified to having great joy: “This joy of mine is now complete” (John 3:29). Words like these might be spoken by a mother at the birth of a child, but John said this when his ministry was in decline!

All of us are engaged in a relentless search for happiness, and it would be easy to spend our entire lives chasing after the next thing we think will give us joy.

But we don’t find joy by going after joy. We find joy by going after Jesus.

Absorbed in the Wonder of Jesus

If your joy is in your influence, your success, or your opportunities, your joy will never be complete. There will always be others who have more influence, more opportunities, and more success than you do. But if you become absorbed, as John did, in the glory and wonder of Jesus, your joy will be complete, and no one will ever be able to take it away.

How is it for you when others are doing better than you are? How is it when what is happening for you is less than it was before?

When I spoke yesterday with the brother to whom I had once reported, I thanked him for his example of peace and joy when life is less. With all the things we offer the Lord in active lives of service, I suspect that loving and trusting him when life is less may be what he treasures most, and what others who watch us most need to see.

[This article is adapted from Pastor Colin’s June 2017 column in Mature Living Magazine . ]

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Published on August 22, 2017 22:01

Key Connections (August 23, 2017)

12 Ways Your Phone is Changing You and What We Can Do About It (David C. Smith, The Village Church)

No plan for smartphone use alone will make us worship and desire God over the things of this world. Through prayer, thoughtful reflection and communal accountability, with the help of the Holy Spirit, you can become a smarter smartphone user.

Do You Read the Bible Like a Nonbeliever? (John Piper, Desiring God)

I cannot stress enough how our real spiritual helplessness should be accompanied by the daily cry to God that he would sustain and awaken our desire to read his word. Too many of us are passive when it comes to our spiritual affections. We are practical fatalists.

Mandates of Expository Preaching (Eric Davis, The Cripplegate)

Therefore, expository preaching is that method of preaching which keeps most in step with the way in which the Holy Spirit inspired the word. It seeks full submission to what the Spirit laid down in Scripture.

4 Weighty Attributes of Scripture (Sean Nolan, God Centered Discipleship)

The Scriptures are indispensable for those who would follow Christ, for apart from them we don’t know who he is. They speak with clarity to those who read them in faith with the aid of the Holy Spirit. They are enough to know all that is necessary to be made right with God. Most of all, they are the sole authority God has given to govern his church, the vessel used to dispense his grace in the world.

Expository Preaching – The Antidote to Anemic Worship (Albert Mohler, AlbertMohler.com)

The hymns of the faith convey rich confessional and theological content, and many modern choruses recover a sense of doxology formerly lost in many evangelical churches. But music is not the central act of Christian worship, and neither is evangelism nor even the ordinances. The heart of Christian worship is the authentic preaching of the word of God.

The Two Types of Rest You Need (Nivine Richie, Unlocking the Bible)

I often wonder if my lack of physical rest is a symptom of a deeper problem: a lack of spiritual rest. For those who’ve not yet received the gift of salvation, the spiritual struggle to make ourselves right with God is exhausting and fruitless work. For believers who’ve trusted Christ with their salvation, spiritual pride may prompt us to work as though ministry depends on us rather than the Lord.

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Published on August 22, 2017 22:01

Put Jealousy to Death

It’s in the tightening of your chest, the bile in your throat, and the knot in your stomach. It flashes in lightning fast, infecting whatever happiness or hope you feel. Every child knows it. Every adult knows it. It’s that fierce, familiar green monster –

Jealousy.

We envy someone else: their looks, their job, their family, their vacations, their skills, their money. And it’s something so overwhelmingly common that we tend to overlook it. We minimize its sinfulness and allow it to fester to our soul’s detriment.

We don’t like to put jealousy to death. Instead, we feed it. We tend to it. We give it life.

How to Put Jealousy to Death

But jealousy and envy are soul-enemies, and Scripture warns us against them over and over. We’re told that jealousy is a fruit of the flesh (Galatians 5:21), an antonym of love (1 Corinthians 13:4), a symptom of pride (1 Timothy 6:4), a catalyst for conflict (James 3:16), and a mark of unbelievers (Romans 1:29).

So what does killing jealousy actually look like? Ultimately, it’s identifying it as evil and then attacking it with truth.

Here are four practical ways to do that.

1. Recognize jealousy as deception.

Recognizing jealousy is the hardest part of killing it. Our hearts are often drowning in envy, yet we don’t even realize it.

Begin paying attention to your thoughts and feelings and responses. When you see jealousy rearing its ugly, green head, recognize it as deceptive thinking. Jealousy pretends to be a friend. It wants to sympathetically vindicate your sinful feelings by fostering discontentment and self-pity. It seeks to convince you that someone else has the all-satisfying happiness you crave.

But it’s a lie. The thoughts motivating your envy are false and crippling – that house, money, vacation, job, kid, parent, or number on the scale will not fulfill you. In those moments, grasp for this lifeline of truth: Your hope isn’t found in your circumstances being “better;” it’s in the unchangeable work of Christ (Psalm 42:5).

2. Repent of idolatry.

At its root, jealousy is idolatry. We’re placing our satisfaction in something that’s not God, and we’re saying he’s not sufficient for us. Because of that, the only right response is to repent, turning from the poison of our envy and running to the throne room of grace.

3. Confront jealousy with joy.

The lie of jealousy is, “If only things were like this, I would be happy.” But the truth is, the opposite happens, as jealousy feeds a deep, hungry dissatisfaction. Instead of confronting discontentment with jealousy, confront it with joy. Choose joy. Fight for joy. Instead of measuring your happiness against someone else’s success, root yourself in the incomparable truths of the gospel.

A few days ago, I was on Instagram and stumbled across a picture of a girl the same age as me doing something I would love to do. And I felt it: the stinging seed of jealousy sprouting fast. I want to do that. I wish that was me. Why her?

Counterattack jealousy by cultivating gratitude. Notice and savor the blessings all around you.
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In that moment, I was faced with a choice: to dwell on my discontentment or preach the gospel to myself. I could wallow in dissatisfaction or remind myself of the riches I have in Jesus. I could believe that I knew everything going on in her life or recognize that I was only seeing the curated version she posts on social media. I could boil in envy or embrace the truth that this is God’s will for her life right now – and not for mine.

I could compare my life to hers or rejoice in the blessings God has given me.

We are faced with these choices every day. Will we confront our jealousy with joy?

4. Count your blessings.

Counterattack jealousy by cultivating gratitude. Notice and savor the blessings all around you. The sunshine. Your pets. A delicious ice cream cone. Your church. Flowers. Flip flops. Transportation. God’s Word. Your family. Good books. There are small mercies around us 24/7 – but we need to be willing to pay attention.

And once we notice them, we ought to thank God for them. He is the gift-giver, the fount of all blessings, so we put jealousy to death by thanking him for beauty and goodness.

Jealousy Deserves Death – So Kill It

Like poisonous snakes or roaring fires, jealousy is too deadly to play with. Don’t pretend that jealousy is no big deal, that you need to focus your energy on fighting “bigger” sins. Jealousy is idolatry. It’s sin. Don’t just wound it, bruise it, suppress it, or maim it – kill it.

For jealousy is one of the sins Christ paid for on the cross, which means it deserves death. Jesus died for jealous people, and that’s good news for us because we are jealous people. So there is hope in Christ! Run to him, trust in him, rest in him, pursue satisfaction in him, and – by his Spirit – seek to kill jealousy today.

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Published on August 21, 2017 22:01

Put Jealousy To Death

It’s in the tightening of your chest, the bile in your throat, and the knot in your stomach. It flashes in lightning fast, infecting whatever happiness or hope you feel. Every child knows it. Every adult knows it. It’s that fierce, familiar green monster –

Jealousy.

We envy someone else: their looks, their job, their family, their vacations, their skills, their money. And it’s something so overwhelmingly common that we tend to overlook it. We minimize its sinfulness and allow it to fester to our soul’s detriment.

We don’t like to put jealousy to death. Instead, we feed it. We tend to it. We give it life.

How to Put Jealousy to Death

But jealousy and envy are soul-enemies, and Scripture warns us against them over and over. We’re told that jealousy is a fruit of the flesh (Galatians 5:21), an antonym of love (1 Corinthians 13:4), a symptom of pride (1 Timothy 6:4), a catalyst for conflict (James 3:16), and a mark of unbelievers (Romans 1:29).

So what does killing jealousy actually look like? Ultimately, it’s identifying it as evil and then attacking it with truth.

Here are four practical ways to do that.

1. Recognize jealousy as deception.

Recognizing jealousy is the hardest part of killing it. Our hearts are often drowning in envy, yet we don’t even realize it.

Begin paying attention to your thoughts and feelings and responses. When you see jealousy rearing its ugly, green head, recognize it as deceptive thinking. Jealousy pretends to be a friend. It wants to sympathetically vindicate your sinful feelings by fostering discontentment and self-pity. It seeks to convince you that someone else has the all-satisfying happiness you crave.

But it’s a lie. The thoughts motivating your envy are false and crippling – that house, money, vacation, job, kid, parent, or number on the scale will not fulfill you. In those moments, grasp for this lifeline of truth: Your hope isn’t found in your circumstances being “better;” it’s in the unchangeable work of Christ (Psalm 42:5).

2. Repent of idolatry.

At its root, jealousy is idolatry. We’re placing our satisfaction in something that’s not God, and we’re saying he’s not sufficient for us. Because of that, the only right response is to repent, turning from the poison of our envy and running to the throne room of grace.

3. Confront jealousy with joy.

The lie of jealousy is, “If only things were like this, I would be happy.” But the truth is, the opposite happens, as jealousy feeds a deep, hungry dissatisfaction. Instead of confronting discontentment with jealousy, confront it with joy. Choose joy. Fight for joy. Instead of measuring your happiness against someone else’s success, root yourself in the incomparable truths of the gospel.

A few days ago, I was on Instagram and stumbled across a picture of a girl the same age as me doing something I would love to do. And I felt it: the stinging seed of jealousy sprouting fast. I want to do that. I wish that was me. Why her?

Counterattack jealousy by cultivating gratitude. Notice and savor the blessings all around you.
Click To Tweet

In that moment, I was faced with a choice: to dwell on my discontentment or preach the gospel to myself. I could wallow in dissatisfaction or remind myself of the riches I have in Jesus. I could believe that I knew everything going on in her life or recognize that I was only seeing the curated version she posts on social media. I could boil in envy or embrace the truth that this is God’s will for her life right now – and not for mine.

I could compare my life to hers or rejoice in the blessings God has given me.

We are faced with these choices every day. Will we confront our jealousy with joy?

4. Count your blessings.

Counterattack jealousy by cultivating gratitude. Notice and savor the blessings all around you. The sunshine. Your pets. A delicious ice cream cone. Your church. Flowers. Flip flops. Transportation. God’s Word. Your family. Good books. There are small mercies around us 24/7 – but we need to be willing to pay attention.

And once we notice them, we ought to thank God for them. He is the gift-giver, the fount of all blessings, so we put jealousy to death by thanking him for beauty and goodness.

Jealousy Deserves Death – So Kill It

Like poisonous snakes or roaring fires, jealousy is too deadly to play with. Don’t pretend that jealousy is no big deal, that you need to focus your energy on fighting “bigger” sins. Jealousy is idolatry. It’s sin. Don’t just wound it, bruise it, suppress it, or maim it – kill it.

For jealousy is one of the sins Christ paid for on the cross, which means it deserves death. Jesus died for jealous people, and that’s good news for us because we are jealous people. So there is hope in Christ! Run to him, trust in him, rest in him, pursue satisfaction in him, and – by his Spirit – seek to kill jealousy today.

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Published on August 21, 2017 22:01

Are You Teachable? 10 Questions From Psalm 119

School is starting soon. Students are preparing to hit the books again. Some will study to earn a diploma, but no disciple of Jesus Christ graduates from the school of Christian growth. We are all called to learn from Jesus, so now is a good time to ask ourselves: Am I teachable?

My recent study of Psalm 119 revealed a lot about being teachable. As I read it, I found myself asking, Is my heart is ready learn from the Lord?

1. Does God’s Word motivate me to worship?

I will praise you with an upright heart, when I learn your righteous rules. (Psalm 119:7)

We often have many reasons for studying God’s Word—is worship one of mine? The psalmist says in verse 7 that he wants to learn the Lord’s righteous rules so that he can praise him with an upright heart. He says in verse 12, “Blessed are you, O Lord; teach me your statues!” The blessedness of the Lord has captured his heart and drives him to study, that he might give God the adoration he deserves.

2. Do I admit when I’m wrong?

Put false ways far from me and graciously teach me your law! (Psalm 119:29)

In verse 26 the psalmist says, “When I told of my ways, you answered me” and then says, “Put false ways far from me” (v. 29). He has opened his heart to the Lord, honestly confessing, and now that the Lord has answered him he is looking for correction from what is false within him. I find it hard to admit when I’m wrong, but it is vital to embrace my limited capacity and value what is right and true over what made sense to me in the past.

3. Do I know my limitations?

Your hands have made and fashioned me; give me understanding that I may learn your commandments. (Psalm 119:73)

The psalmist looks to the Lord as teacher because he is his Creator; he knows his dependence is on the Limitless One. While pride seeks knowledge in order to evaluate what is true, a posture of humility asks God for his wisdom and receives understanding with gratitude.

4. Do I believe God can change me?

Teach me, O LORD, the way of your statutes; and I will keep it to the end. (Psalm 119:33)

Sometimes we harden our heart to instruction because we lack faith that God can change our desires to do his will. We forget that God has promised to give us both his instruction and the power to carry it out (Jude 24). The Father purposes that through his teaching we may grow and learn to reflect the glory of his Son Jesus, and his purposes always come to pass.

5. Do I know the love of my Instructor?

The earth, O LORD, is full of your steadfast love; teach me your statutes! (Psalm 119:64)

We will find it a joy to seek and trust the teaching of the one whose love fills the whole earth. Do I believe that God’s love is written all over his good creation? Do I believe that same love comes to me through his Word? When we see and know God’s love intimately, we can say with confidence: “Deal with you servant according to your steadfast love, and teach me your statues.”

We hold up all instruction to the standard of God’s Word, not the other way around.
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6. Do I trust the goodness of my Instructor?

You are good and do good; teach me your statutes. (Psalm 119:68)

The psalmist says to the Lord: “You are good and do good” (v.68). This confidence in the Lord’s goodness helps us navigate the more difficult truths of Scripture, when we may be tempted to stray from them by hardening our hearts. We trust his goodness in trials because we have seen the ultimate display of goodness triumphing in affliction at the cross.

7. Do I value the Word of God as the ultimate source of wisdom?

I have more understanding than all my teachers, for your testimonies are my meditation. (Psalm 119:99)

The psalmist is not boasting in himself, but joyfully boasting that the Lord’s wisdom is superior to all of man’s wisdom. He holds up all other instruction to the standard of the Lord’s teaching, not the other way around.

8. Do I ask God questions?

My eyes long for your promise; I ask, “When will you comfort me?” (Psalm 119:82)

The psalmist trusts the Lord, and yet he asks hard questions like, “When will you comfort me?” (v. 82), “How long must your servant endure?” and “When will you judge those who persecute me?” (v. 84). These questions reveal a longing for fulfillment of the Lord’s promises, as well as an honest wrestling with God’s timing.

The world is a confusing place. I struggle to grasp hold of the eternal. But Jesus made the way for me to have a living, transacting relationship with the Author himself — hard questions included.

9. What have I learned from my previous lessons?

It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes. (Psalm 119:71)

One sign of being teachable is the passing of a test. The good student appreciates tests because he knows they reveal evidence of growth and the need for further growth.

10. Am I a servant?

Deal with your servant according to your steadfast love, and teach me your statutes. (Psalm 119:124)

There is a remarkable tie in Psalm 119 between the psalmist’s desire to be taught and his identity as the Lord’s servant. The sum of the law of God is love — love for God and neighbor — while the ultimate expression of love is death to self for the benefit of someone else. The more we grow in knowledge of the Lord, the more we will seek to serve others, especially our brothers and sisters in Christ. As an apprentice serves alongside the Master as the trade is taught, so we learn by doing, and as servants of Christ we seek to join in the Father’s work.

While I am not the student I long to be, it’s my hope and peace that only Jesus Christ, my Substitute, served his Father perfectly, even taking the time to learn what he surely already knew (Luke 2:46-52). Because of the cross, I have confidence that my sin has been atoned for and the righteousness required by God is mine in Jesus Christ.

He is my help and my salvation, and his Spirit gives me hope that my soul will one day say, “I do not turn aside from your rules, for you have taught me” (Psalm 119:102).

[Photo Credit: Lightstock]

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Published on August 20, 2017 22:01

Texting and Driving Is Not Loving Your Neighbor

Ping! A new text arrives as you drive home from work. You quickly glance down at your phone and shoot off a response before you forget, and BOOM! You slam into a car stopped at the red light in front of you for an easy-to-avoid fender bender.

This type of thing happens every day – but sometimes the results are more devastating.

Deadly Texting

In March of 2017 in central Texas, a 20-year-old driver admitted his texting caused the collision that killed 13 people on the way back from a church retreat. While scrolling my Facebook feed recently, this photo popped up. Greg West, the founder/editor of the apologetics website The Poached Egg, had narrowly escaped an accident likely caused by texting and driving. (His assumption is that the teen girl who hit him ran a red light due to texting.)

Texting and driving is the reason I don’t run along busy roads anymore and am hyper-aware when I run on any road. This may seem overly cautious to you, but I don’t want to put my life into the hands of a person whose hands (and attention) are already full!1

Aggravating Laws

46 of 50 states in the US have already banned texting and driving. This seems like the logical solution, right?—ban something, and you wipe it from existence.

Unfortunately, laws have worsened the problem. Instead of following the law, drivers lower their phones below the sight line of police and other drivers and make the problem worse—they have to look further down for a longer amount of time to read and send texts.2

Savvy phone users might recommend using the Voice-to-Text feature to keep eyes on the road, but the National Safety Council reports that the Voice-to-Text feature is actually “more distracting than typing texts by hand.” Gulp. Similarly, using a Bluetooth device for hands-free phone use isn’t risk-free.

The more you focus on your phone (or the person at the other end of the phone) while driving, the more you risk an accident.

Loving Your Neighbor

Hopefully, the dangers of texting will cause more drivers to put down their devices, but there’s no silver-bullet answer. We must each do our part and focus on the road.

As Christians, putting the phone down and focusing on the road follows the gospel-imperative, given to us by Jesus, to love our neighbor as ourselves (Matthew 22:37-40). Every car on the road is operated by a man or woman created in God’s image who has an eternal destiny (Genesis 1:27).

The following are some practical ways to love your neighbor by minimizing risk behind the wheel. (As you consider them, be sure to know the laws of your state or locality.)

Don’t use your phone in the car – simple as that.
Pull over if you need to text or take an important call.
Tell those you would normally text that you will text them back at your destination.
If you need to use your phone while driving (and it is legal where you live), survey your surroundings to make sure it’s a safe time.
If you glance at your phone, make it quick. Studies show that a driver can safely glance away from the road for only two seconds (!).
Realize that many accidents happen because people think they are smarter/more clever than the statistics.
If you constantly fiddle with your phone while behind the wheel, ask God to take away your desire to drive distracted and for a greater love of other people.

Close Calls

I used to text while driving all the time. I finally stopped after a few close calls that woke me up to the danger my behavior posed to myself and others.

To avoid texting while driving is not only a question of wisdom and personal safety, it’s obeying Jesus’ gospel-command to love your neighbor. And you can’t love your neighbor by putting their lives in danger.

[1] Texting isn’t the only culprit. Distracted driving of any kind (checking emails, switching podcasts, and tweeting) skyrockets your chances of a crash—and thus potentially taking the life of others made in God’s image. See more in 12 Ways Your Phone is Changing You . ( Read my review .) [2] “HLDI Study: Texting Bans don’t Reduce Crashes; Effects are Slight Crash Increases.” Image credit: Flickr.

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Published on August 17, 2017 22:01

“Readers and Writers” Episode 9 with Brett McCracken

I see a pattern of gradual disengagement from the local church that eventually transitions to disengagement from faith altogether. It’s a natural progression. (Brett McCracken)

http://unlockingthebible.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/BrettMcCrackenMixed-1.mp3

Brett McCracken Unlocking the Bible continues to release weekly episodes of Readers and Writers with Colin Smith, a podcast recorded live at The Gospel Coalition’s 2017 National Conference.

Our final guest this season is Brett McCracken, who shares about his writing and new book from Crossway, Uncomfortable: The Awkward and Essential Challenge of Christian Community.

Here’s a summary of the book’s content:

The “seeker-sensitive” movement has had its moment in evangelicalism—attracting people by being cool, comfortable, and convenient. But what if the church truly thrives only when it embraces the more difficult aspects of Christianity?

Uncomfortable makes a compelling case that following Jesus and being in his church are not cool and comfortable, but rather stretch, challenge, and push us. Believers who accept the uncomfortable and even awkward aspects of Christianity in the context of the local church—believing difficult truths, embracing sacrifice, pursuing holiness, and loving the people around them—are the ones who will see the church grow most significantly and the gospel advance most powerfully.

Listen to Pastor Colin’s interview with Brett! (You can also subscribe to the iTunes podcast.)

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Published on August 16, 2017 22:01

Are You Lukewarm?

As a young boy and an adolescent, the word lukewarm haunted me after I first came across it in Scripture. I wondered if my words, actions, and thoughts were betraying and squelching my faith. I lusted after girls at school and church; I cursed my mom under my breath for unfair punishment; and I envied the popular kids who wore designer clothes and nice kicks. I didn’t care for the young man in the mirror; I was forgetting who I was in Christ (James 1:22-24).

Through confession (1 John 1:9), forgiveness (Hebrews 10:17), and repentance (Jeremiah 31:19), I sought God wholeheartedly (Jeremiah 29:13) and discovered that he is immensely close to those who are “crushed in spirit” (Psalm 34:18).

Yet, because of sin’s presence, lukewarmness has a way of lingering, much like toxic pollution contaminating the clean air.

What Does It Mean to Be Lukewarm?

The church in Laodicea knew this truth well as their deeds were lukewarm, neither cold nor hot. God’s consequence, according to the author John, is grotesque: “I am about to spit you out of my mouth” (Revelation 3:16).

Lukewarmness is an indifference to God and “a dying of conviction,” says John Bloom. John Piper says this about these verses in Revelation:

Better to be totally outside the church and clearly, blatantly, un-hypocritically unbelieving than to be a compromised believer who puts on all the pretenses…but inside there is no true commitment to Christ and no sense of need for Jesus at all….The picture of the lukewarm person is a person in church who is self-satisfied…and not desperate….They think they’re just fine.

Self-Satisfied, Wretched, and Poor

Sin’s presence means that all of us are prone to drifting. It’s easy to coast in faith like a car stuck in neutral. This caution should be heeded more so by those who have grown up in the church. We go through the motions, and the intensity lessens. The embers turn to ash. A hot faith can become a lukewarm faith if we do not plead with God for a continuous desperation and passion for him.

In the words of Josh Etter, “The essence of lukewarmness is the statement, ‘I need nothing.’ The lukewarm are spiritually self-satisfied.” Jesus affirms this about the Laodicean church: “For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked” (v. 17). Our natural, spiritual state is one of sinful self-reliance. So what can be done to change this?

Hope for the Lukewarm

Though the Laodiceans were singled out for their lukewarm faith, Jesus approached them from a standpoint of love and hope: “Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent” (v. 19). Like a child who is greeted with the consequences of his or her misbehavior, discipline isn’t pleasant in the moment—no, it is painful. But with time it yields “a harvest of righteousness and peace” (Hebrews 12:11). It is God’s kindness that leads us to repentance (Romans 2:4), which is a turning away from sin and self-satisfaction, and a walking toward our forgiving God.

We can’t fix a lukewarm heart on our own. But Christ intervenes and delights to change us.
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“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me” (v. 20). Jesus calls us to be dependent on him, to leave our self-satisfied, independent spirits. He invites us to abide in his presence, to take up his yoke that is gentle, humble, and full of rest for our souls (Matthew 11:28-30). He beckons us to be satisfied in him.

Thinking we need nothing — lukewarmness — surely precedes a harsh fall (Proverbs 16:18), and we can’t fix a lukewarm heart on our own. But Christ intervenes and delights to change us from the inside out.

Make Me Hot!

What might it look like to “[open] the door” when Jesus speaks to our lukewarm hearts and convicts us of our sinful self-satisfaction? How might we seek him for the help only he can give?

Confession and repentance, intentional time in the Scriptures (Psalm 119:10), and earnest prayer (Psalm 145:18-19) are the kindling that feed a roaring fire. When we confess our indifference and turn from sin, we freshly experience and love God’s mercy and grace (Psalm 51). The Scriptures pierce our souls and remind us of God’s enduring truths and our need. And prayer points us away from ourselves and to our great hope and joy in Christ, who invites lukewarm, self-satisfied sinners to live with him forever in glory.

Jon Bloom summarizes the salve to a lukewarm spirit by way of a moving prayer. Make it yours today:

Merciful Father, make me hot! Whatever it takes, whatever it costs me, give me the Spirit-salve for my heart-eyes (Revelation 3:18) so that I may see what is Real, believe what is True, treasure what is Valuable, and forsake what is worthless.

Restore our fire for you, O Lord.

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Published on August 15, 2017 22:01