Running Away from God

My wife, Kym, and I have four children ranging from 14yrs old to 3yrs old. I dearly love them. There are times when they have attitudes and behaviors that I like and some that I don’t like. For example, I love it when my toddler daughter, Elle, runs to me when she sees me from a distance. I feel very loved in that moment. Also, I love it when she and I are doing the same thing together, like holding hands, walking together, or doing a task together. There are other moments I don’t like so much; like when she runs away from me when I tell her to come here or when she flat out resists me with a stubborn attitude going against my stated directions and commands.

It’s interesting how there are similarities between a child’s relationship with their parent and a person’s relationship with God. All four of the behavioral examples I just mentioned about my daughter toward me occur with people toward God. People run away from God. Some people run to God. Some people run with God. And people run against God. All four of these behavioral themes toward God are found in the book of Jonah in God’s Word, respectively in each of the four chapters.

Many people think that the big news in the book of Jonah is about a whale of a tale, but this book is not so much about a big fish moment. This book is primarily about God; His grace, His mercy, His provision, His sovereignty, His message of repentance; and it’s about a prophet named Jonah who found himself in and out of the will of God which is something that we can relate to today. We are either heading toward God, His will, His ways of righteousness or heading away from God in sin. Which path describes your life lately?

From Jonah chapter one, let’s walk through six stages of Jonah trying to run away from God’s will.

Stage 1) God called Jonah to proclaim repentance to sinners in Nineveh; vss1-2

Jonah 1:1-2 ESV Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, ² “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.”

Jonah was a prophet who received revelation from God and communicated that to other people, usually to Israelites. Here, however, God called, commissioned, commanded His servant Jonah to go to a pagan mission field; specifically to Nineveh, a big city that was involved in much evil. The context here is that God called Jonah to go to these Gentile pagans and rebuke them for their wickedness, preach to them of their need to repent, to turn to God for salvation and live godly lives and if they didn’t, God’s holy just judgment would come upon them.

This would be a very difficult and dangerous mission for Jonah because this was the capital of the Assyrian Empire, which was quickly becoming the most powerful nation in the world. They were steeped in pagan idolatry and were destroying people groups in the region and had a reputation for being very cruel and wicked in how they treated their enemies.

They were a huge threat to the nation of Israel and this was where God was calling Jonah to preach repentance? Wow! Consider a modern day parallel. God calls a Christian preacher from a biblically saturated culture to go to a crowded city in North Korea or Iran to preach repentance in the name of the Son of God, Jesus Christ, the only Savior and Lord. That would be a very dangerous mission.

Stage 2) Jonah disobeyed God and fled on a ship in the other direction; vs3

³ But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the LORD.

I could just imagine Jonah responding to God saying stuff like: “Surely you don’t mean that? The Assyrians? Our worst enemy? Those awful pagans! Wait a minute! You never called other prophets to go preach repentance to our enemy nation. I quit. I’m out of here. Find someone else to do this crazy task.”

Jonah tried to run away from God’s will by fleeing on a ship toward the far west, maybe toward Spain, but there is no escaping the omnipresence of God. Jonah was fleeing the Holy Land where the special divine presence of God was manifested like in the Holy Temple. Jonah was in essence trying to resign from his position of God’s prophet and run away from this divine calling and responsibility. How many times has God called us to be someone and do something and our response was to run in the opposite direction of God’s will?

Why did Jonah disobey? He probably had some Hebrew pride, some national pride. Christians in the United States, do we struggle with a national pride or a Christian pride gloating that we are better than others? Jonah probably lacked faith in God about this dangerous mission. How often has God called us to something and we thought, I can’t, I’m unqualified, that’s too hard, too dangerous, etc…?

Jonah was a faithful prophet as long as God wanted what Jonah wanted. But when God’s marching orders went contrary to Jonah’s comfort zone and desires, the prophet would not do what God told Jonah to do. What about you and me? What is the call to Nineveh in our lives we are saying “no” to God about? When God calls you and me to go communicate His kingdom message to some person, some group, some type of human need, what is our response to God? Is it run to and with God or run away from and against God?

Stage 3) God caused a terrible storm to endanger the ship and its passengers (read vss4-6)

Surprisingly, Jonah is out cold asleep but the captain woke him up and told him to cry out to his god for deliverance from this dangerous storm. It’s a sad thing when a prophet servant of the Lord has to be told by pagans to cry to the Lord for help. Jonah brought trouble to a boat load of sailors because he disobeyed God. Whenever we get out of the will of God there are implications for us and others, some of which we might not learn about until later.

Stage 4) Jonah confessed to the crew he is the reason for the storm & he offered his life for their safety (read vss7-13)

⁹ And he said to them, “I am a Hebrew, and I fear the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.”

¹² He said to them, “Pick me up and hurl me into the sea; then the sea will quiet down for you, for I know it is because of me that this great tempest has come upon you.”

No one’s gods were answering the prayers so the crew decided to cast lots as a way to point guilt to someone who was the cause of this storm. I believe God orchestrated the outcome of the lots for His sovereign purposes. Jonah then confessed a few things and the sailors were even more afraid probably thinking Jonah’s God is angry at all of them. Jonah figured that the only safe solution for those onboard was to get him off the ship. Jonah then advised them to throw him overboard. Some scholars notice a type of Christ in this moment when Jonah offered his life for the deliverance of others.

Stage 5) Jonah is thrown into the sea by the crew (read vs14)

The sailors cried out to the God of the universe, Jonah’s God, because they believed Jonah was the reason for this storm and God was upset at Jonah, and they didn’t want to be held accountable for what they were about to do to Jonah.

vss15-16 So they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging. ¹⁶ Then the men feared the LORD exceedingly, and they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made vows.

So, the crew did what Jonah told them they should do and they did what they thought might save the lives of all those onboard the ship, even though this meant Jonah would likely die in the sea. They threw him overboard. Notice, then right afterwards, the sea became peaceful. This was another wow moment act of God who is sovereignly in control of the skies and the earth and its seas. Upon the calming of the sea, the sailors gave reverential fear to Jonah’s God and sacrificed something to the Lord and made commitments of some sort.

Stage 6) God provided a great fish to swallow Jonah for 3 days & 3 nights; vs17

¹⁷ And the LORD appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

The key point here is not what kind of fish it was or how big it was but that God arranged for this big fish to swallow Jonah and preserve him in there 3 days, 3 nights. We read later that Jonah survived this incredible ordeal, but many people have trouble believing it. Did you know that there have actually been numerous cases reported in more recent times of men who have survived being swallowed by a whale? But that’s beside the point here. We do not need a naturally proven explanation about Jonah surviving in a huge fish. What we need is increased belief and faith in the Lord God Almighty and what He has revealed in Scripture. Amen! You either believe God’s word that God created the Heavens and the earth or you don’t. You either believe God parted the Red Sea and delivered His people from Egypt or you don’t. You either believe that the eternal Son of God became flesh by a virgin birth, became the God-man, died, and then rose in a resurrected body or you don’t. You either believe God used a great fish to swallow up Jonah and preserve his life or you don’t. May the Lord help us have greater belief in God and His Word and may we live accordingly, all to His glory.

From God’s perspective, these circumstances on/in the water and in the big fish for Jonah were an orchestrated series of events drawing Jonah back to God and His will, to an important mission with God to reach a pagan people with God’s message.

Perhaps we know God has called us to a certain place and/or to do a certain work. And we’ve got all the reasons in the world why we think we don’t need or want to obey Him. But running away from God’s will and His Word for us is sin and there will be consequences. May the Lord help us to not disobey Him and instead be faithful obedient believers, knowing God better and better and proclaiming Him better and better to the world. I know from personal experience that running to and with God is not only way better than running away from and against God, it is the best God-honoring God blessed path to be on.

Jonah was on a downward journey in many ways but thankfully the story didn’t end there. God extended Him amazing mercy and grace and provision; and for us today, this is found in Jesus Christ. One of the great evidences of the authenticity of this Jonah story is that Jesus referred to Jonah more than once, using the three days in the belly of a great fish for His own resurrection timeframe. This is exciting! The resurrection of Christ was a key moment in God’s plan of redemption for us; to bring us to God, to be in a right relationship with Him now and forever, by grace through faith in Christ. There is nothing more eternally significant than knowing Jesus personally as your Savior and living for Him as the Lord of your life.

And remember, let’s be consistently running to God and with God! For example, let’s spend quality time in His Word, in prayer, and with His people seeking to understand God’s will and stay in His will consistently engaging in His good works which includes being salt and light in Christ and being the hands, feet, and voice of Christ in this world; being who He wants us to be and doing what He wants us to do; all for His glory! Amen!

I encourage you to prayerfully study the book of Jonah and read ahead. In chapter two you’ll notice Jonah running to God, praising Him, thanking Him. In Chapter three, Jonah’s running with God and a great revival among a large pagan group of people broke out. In chapter four, Jonah is running against God, showing his negative attitude toward God’s mercy toward Ninevah.

May the Lord God Almighty help us consistently run to God and with God and may we point others to the same, all to His glory!

What are your thoughts on Jonah chapter one, this blog, and the issue of running away from God’s will?   

Mike

Roadblock to Recovery, Help, Growth, & a Better Life: Denial

One of my children has become an expert at not taking personal responsibility and not admitting when a personal wrong has been done. Often, when confronted with such inquiries and accusations, this child immediately has a response that points blame elsewhere or declares nothing wrong happened, though the truth is this child was personally responsible for something wrong that took place. This is denial.

When I was a kid, I remember sometimes being the “not me” kid or the ‘I didn’t do that” kid when in fact it was me and I did do that at times. I lied in such situations probably to avoid getting into trouble. This was a form of denial.

The problem of denial is that it’s not just a kid thing or a river flowing in Egypt. Denial is something all of us need to be keenly aware of in our own personal lives because it’s a roadblock to better things like being a better person. 

What if you or I are using denial as some sort of self-protecting defensive mechanism when confronted, or spiritually convicted, about the truth, the reality, regarding something in our personal lives? Is denial a mask I am wearing to suppress or ignore a real issue in my life, to possibly avoid being open, honest, and found out by others?

Denial is not being truthful with yourself, God, and others that there is something wrong in your life. There is something broken. There is something messed up and so you don’t admit there is an issue, a hurt, a habit, and/or a hang-up that is keeping you from being all that God wants you to be. Denial is a false system of personal beliefs that don’t jive with the truth. Denial extends your issues and multiples them.

Can you think of some people in the Holy Bible who were in denial?

How about Adam and Eve (Gen. 3)? God told them not to eat of a certain tree and they disobeyed God after being deceived and tempted to do so by the Satan-influenced serpent. Eve ate it first and then Adam. God confronted them and Adam blamed God and Eve and then Eve blamed the serpent. This is an example of denial.

How about many of the Pharisees in the days of Jesus? It is written (i.e. Matt. 23:2-3, 27-28) that they were hypocrites who knew about scriptural truth and would teach/preach it to others, but would not live it out personally. They appeared righteous on the outside but they were in fact like tombs of dead bones on the inside.

How about King David (2 Sam. 12). He committed adultery with a married woman, Bathsheba, and ordered her husband to go to the front lines in battle which led to the man’s death. God’s prophet, Nathan, came to David and rebuked him for these sins and spoke of divine consequences. David was living in denial, but praise God, after this intervention he confessed and repented.

Denial is like being in a small cramped room with a full grown wild elephant and believing/stating that the elephant is not present or not an issue. Denial is like drinking alcohol regularly to the degree that such behavior is destroying your relationships and eating away at your employability but yet you tell yourself and others that you don’t have a drinking problem. Denial is like thinking it’s okay if I lust about others just in my mind or from looking at porn because this won’t hurt anyone else. Denial is like wearing a t-shirt to church that says, everything is fine, but you, those who live with you, and God know otherwise.

Denial often overlaps with self-deception and deceiving others. The Devil is known as the great deceiver (Rev. 12:9) but we know a thing or two about it as well, don’t we?

Edward George Bulwer-Lytton, “The easiest person to deceive is one's own self.”

Erwin W. Lutzer, “We are experts at deceiving others and ourselves too!”

Note: Quotes above from Draper's Book of Quotations for the Christian World.

If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 1 John 1:8 ESV

For years as an adolescent I compared my anger to another specific person’s anger and I would think to myself that he had a big temper problem. I felt like I never acted out like he did in anger so I don’t have any anger issues. But the truth is, I’ve had several sinful anger episodes in my life. I was in fist fights when I was a kid and adolescent. I’ve been mad and aggressive at times when I was very frustrated or felt threatened. As a parent, I’ve yelled at and tried to intimidate my sons in my anger before. In years past, I was in personal denial about anger in my life. I thought, “I’ve seen others really lose their temper and escalate in rage. That’s not me. They have a problem. I don’t.” That was denial in my life! And if I kept wearing a mask of denial and self-deception that there was no anger issue to address in my life how would I ever get some help and truly change for the better?

Have you ever worn some sort of mask of denial, thinking to yourself you have no issues in your life, telling others you are fine, wanting others to think you are fine but you are not really because there truly are issues in your life? Have you ever been in denial that someone close to you doesn’t really have a problem when in fact they do have a problem?

There is a living hope for those who trust Jesus Christ as personal Savior and Lord and live according to God’s Word for His people today.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴ to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, ⁵ who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 1 Peter 1:3-5 ESV

Denial a key roadblock to personal recovery, receiving help, and growing as the person God desires you to be. This is why Lesson #1 in Celebrate Recovery is about Denial. In order to really have the better life that God wants you and I to have we must acknowledge and move past this denial roadblock in our life before real progress occurs.

If you are struggling with denial, or any hurts, habits, or hang-ups, then give your life fully to Jesus Christ and expect Him to intervene and minister to you through His Word, His people, and circumstances to guide you on the right path. You and I need to take personal responsibility in this spiritual growth/recovery journey and God will help us and bless us and others through us greatly when we do.

                               

John Baker wrote (from Celebrate Recovery Leader’s Guide), “Walking out of denial is not easy. Taking off that mask is hard. Everything about you shouts, “Don’t do it! It’s not safe!” But it is safe.”

It is safe with God and the right and good thing to do. It can also be safe by opening up with a trusted friend or group about the true issues in your life. It can be safe in a ministry like Celebrate Recovery which seeks to promote a safe and confidential environment for open sharing.

What’s holding you back in denial? Do you fear others finding out about your issues? Are you afraid of your past or your future? Are you afraid to change in the present? Are you avoiding personal responsibility? Are you trying to avoid potential consequences?

God is good and He has a plan for His people that is part of His overall plan to work things out according to His good purposes. He wants you to experience joy and peace and comfort from Him. He wants His redeemed to experience the abundant life as well as eternal life in Christ.

Personal denial is a roadblock to God’s good plans for you. Denial keeps you stuck in issues instead of growing in freedom according to God’s gracious will.

John Baker wrote (from Celebrate Recovery Leader’s Guide), “Step out of your denial so you can step into Jesus’ unconditional love and grace and begin your healing journey of recovery.”

..and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. John 8:32 ESV

For more information about stepping out of your denial, check out a ministry like Celebrate Recovery.

What do you think about what I’ve written here about denial being a key roadblock to recovery, help, growth, and a better life?

Mike

Thanking God for Everything

We are to thank God even in difficult times.

Matthew Henry, a famous Bible Scholar of 250 years ago was robbed one day of all his money he had in the world. He wrote this in his diary afterwards, “What reason have I to be thankful to God, that having travelled so much, yet I was never robbed before now.” "Life of the Rev. Matthew Henry", in Christian Biography (1799), p.66

Helen Keller, a blind and deaf Christian, wrote, “I thank God for my handicaps. Through them I have found myself, my work and my God.” The Preacher’s Commentary: Luke; Bruce Larson; Thomas Nelson Publishers

Those are examples of having an God-honoring attitude of gratitude through a difficult experience.

At a minimum level of thanking God we are to do so out of obligation to thank Him as our Creator and the source of blessings.

Ps. 107:1 Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!

Heb. 13:15 Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.

Psalm 150:6 Let everything that has breath praise the LORD! Praise the LORD!

God is worthy and deserving of our praise and thanksgiving.

As we mature in thanking God we thank Him regardless of our circumstances.

1 Thess. 5:18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

At this level, in every situation, we can always find something to be thankful for. We can look away from what is negative or wrong and focus on what’s right and give thanks. When the glass is half empty remember to be thankful for the half full part.

At our most mature level of thanking God we can thank Him for everything.

Ephesians 5:18b, 20 ..be filled with the Spirit, ²⁰ giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,

At this level we are being thankful to God in all things. This is when you trust God knowing that God knows best and He cares about you, loves you, and ultimately provides for His people. What seems bad to you, you still thank God for it, even things you would not chose for yourself to experience like a health crisis, great sorrow, or huge need. We acknowledge to God that this is the very thing right now He is using according to His will even if we don’t understand it all but we know He loves His redeemed and we trust Him and thank Him even for this thing that seems so negative.

We are to have an ongoing attitude of gratitude that honors God. I want to point out three biblical principles related to gratitude based on an encounter Jesus had with ten lepers.

Luke 17:11-14 ESV On the way to Jerusalem he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. ¹² And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance
¹³ and lifted up their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” ¹⁴ When he saw them he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went they were cleansed.

1) Jesus is Merciful and Gracious to People.  

Some lepers noticed Jesus walking by and they cried out to Him for mercy, for compassion toward them, for they were in great need. Jesus saw them and told them to go get checked out by the priests. It was the task of the Jewish Priests to examine people to determine whether they were lepers or not. Infected people were isolated and could not return to normal society unless declared cleansed.

Jesus told these men to go show themselves to the priest and on the way they were healed. I’m not sure about the faith of all these lepers (the faith of one of them is highlighted by Jesus later in this passage) but they did what Jesus told them to do. When they started in the direction of the priests they were physically healed of their skin disease. Wow! They each received an incredible grace gift from God. The healing was not something earned or paid for. Jesus healed them according to His grace.

Luke 17:15-16 Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; ¹⁶ and he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan.

One of the ten healed lepers was pumped up with genuine gratitude toward God, toward Jesus. And notice this man’s humility, returning back to and presenting himself at the feet of Jesus. And this man was a Samaritan, as well. Jews and Samaritans mostly hated each other, yet this foreigner was the one who thanked Jesus, a Jew, in person.

Many people don’t realize that God’s common grace is blessing everyone; things like sunshine, gravity, oxygen, food supplies, a beating heart, etc…And then there are moments like in this passage, when God extends His special grace. We have much to thank God about on a regular basis and we don’t need to wait for some sort of sensational miracle to take place to do so but when such a thing does occur we should give some serious shout out praise and thanks to the Lord God Almighty!

Only when we acknowledge God as the merciful and gracious provider of blessings in our lives, do we begin to comprehend our need for God in a more personal way and begin to express a greater living faith in Him and deeper gratitude toward Him.

Paul basically wrote in Romans 1 that God created the universe and within the heart of every human is a basic awareness of the reality of God and apart from thankfulness awareness of God will be suppressed. In vs21, Paul wrote….they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.

At the heart of those who reject God is a resolute unwillingness to thank Him. May we not reject God and may we not be unthankful to God. We have so much to thank God for. Jesus is merciful and gracious to people.

2) Jesus Notices Ingratitude

Luke 17:17-18 Then Jesus answered, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine?
¹⁸ Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?”

These questions were rhetorical. Jesus knew the answers and He didn’t like the truth that nine of the ten healed men showed no gratitude toward Him. That was outrageous considering Jesus just gave them amazing grace, dramatic healing.

The life of a leper back then was horrible. These lepers were outcasts with painful disease in which the Bible implies was incurable in Bible times without a miracle. You would have expected all ten men to run to Jesus and thank Him for a fresh new start to life, but only one did and he was not even a Jew.

“How grateful the men should have been for the providence of God that brought Jesus into their area, for the love that caused Him to pay attention to them and their need, and for the grace and power of God that brought about their healing.” Warren Wiersbe

The Bible Exposition Commentary; New Testament, Volume 1, Matthew-Galatians; Warren Wiersbe, David C. Cook Publ., p244

These healed men should have jumped up and down and formed an impromptu men’s chorus and sung some Psalms of thanksgiving and praise.

Thanklessness is all too common among people. Ingratitude is the way of sin, the way of the world, but God-honoring gratitude is the way of God’s people.

Before we look down on these ungrateful healed lepers, what about our attitude of gratitude toward God? How often do we take our blessings for granted and fail to thank the Lord? Too often we are content to enjoy the gift but we forget the Giver. We are quick to pray for help but slow to praise the Helper. Let’s not be ungrateful. Let’s thank the Lord.

Jesus is merciful and gracious to people.  Jesus notices ingratitude. And

3) Christ-centered Gratitude Goes Well with Saving Faith

Something additional happened to this one grateful healed man.

Luke 17:19 And he said to him, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.”

All ten lepers were physically healed but only the one who returned to thank Christ had Jesus say “your faith has made you well.” The literal translation here in the Greek is “your faith has saved you.”

He was made well in a deeper way, I believe, a spiritual way. There is more going on here with this man than physical healing. The other nine were declared clean physically by the priest, no doubt, but this one grateful man was declared saved by the Son of God. I don’t believe this was saved from just leprosy suffering or living a shorter life because of leprosy, but saved spiritually.

While it is wonderful to experience the miracle of physical healing, it is even more wonderful to experience the miracle of spiritual healing in Christ. We don’t have all the details in the Bible text, but I believe this grateful man returned to Jesus not just viewing Jesus as the Master physical healer, but also the Master of all Masters, the Master of his salvation, the man’s needed Savior. And so, I think it is worthy to notice here the connection between Christ-centered gratitude and saving faith. Thanking Christ draws us to Him and His people are to thank Him often. Amen!

Having a God-honoring attitude of gratitude is a personal decision you and I have to make moment to moment in life.

Ps. 107:1 Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!

Giving thanks to God is not blind gratitude. There is always much to be thankful for rooted in who He is and what He does. An attitude of gratitude is a life-changing decision. Notice the “Oh” at the beginning of Ps 107:1; something important is to follow. There is passion here. Give thanks to the Lord! Amen!

This grateful healed leper in Luke 17 came back praising God and yet he still had enormous problems. He had been an outcast and he had to integrate back into society, relationships, and routines. He is praising God even in the midst of his unsolved problems. Each of us likely has a problem right now. Let’s think about how we can praise God in that present problem.

Instead of complaining about and worrying about our problems, let’s focus, rather, on the belief that God is bigger than the problem and is present right now in the middle of this difficult thing we’re caught up in. Say, “God, I praise You and thank You. You are bigger than the struggle I’m going through.”

Here are three questions to ask ourselves, to help us develop an attitude of gratitude that is God-honoring.

1) Am I a grateful person, regardless of my circumstances and feelings?

2) Am I seeing the blessings of gratitude in my life? These blessings can be the acknowledgement of and experience of real joy, peace, and contentment in Christ.

3) Am I choosing gratitude over ingratitude and complaining?

Note: I adapted these questions and the three levels of gratitude at the top of the blog from “Lord, Change My Attitude Before It’s Too Late,” James MacDonald; Moody Publ.; Chp2

Let’s ask ourselves these questions now, moment to moment, and day by day. Let’s learn from God’s Word about who God is and what God has done, is doing, and will do and let’s thank Him and praise Him.  Try journaling what you are thanking God for.  Recognize God’s sovereignty in your life and give Him thanks in all circumstances for everything. This is biblical. This is God’s will. This is for the glory of God. Let’s cultivate an attitude of gratitude toward God. It will open our hearts to further blessings and it glorifies and pleases God.

On my office wall is a framed sign that includes the phrase “an attitude of gratitude.” Some Christian friends (the Salvatores) of our family heard me use this phrase so often at church that they thought of me when they came across this sign and wanted me to have it. It is a reminder, to me and others who see it, of the importance of having an attitude of gratitude. What do you have to remind you to have an attitude of gratitude?

And oh, by the way, the greatest thing to be thankful for is salvation in Christ. If you are reading this and you have never given your life over to Christ, there is great news and hope: God loves you with amazing love. He died for your sins to pay the penalty of God’s wrath for your sins to bring you to God. Praise God, the Son of God rose in victory over sin and death and wants you to be in relationship with God now and forever.

Respond to God now from your heart with faith upon Jesus. Give your life over to Jesus as your Savior and keep asking Him daily to help you live for Him as the Lord of your life according to Holy Scripture. If you have never made this life commitment to Christ, then why not right now, right where you are, within your heart, respond to God’s call to you to give your life over to Jesus Christ and live for His glory. Thanks be to God for His amazing gift of salvation in Christ. Here's a summary of the great news of Jesus: http://mikesmorals.blogspot.com/2013/09/great-news-gods-plan-for-true-life.html

And remember, let’s thank God for everything, in Christ, and let’s have an ongoing God-honoring attitude of gratitude.  

What are your thoughts about thanking God for everything and having a consistent God-honoring attitude of gratitude.

Mike

God’s Riches through Christ

Often, the first thing we think about when we come across the word ‘riches’ is ‘lots of money and material things worth lots of money.’ We think of really rich people in this world like Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Mark Zuckerberg, Donald Trump, Lebron James, Oprah Winfrey, and Carrie Underwood. These people have networths in the billions or millions. They certainly have access to a lot of liquid assets, cash, and material blessings. Some of us dream about being rich like this or have goals to be rich like these people. Having a lot of money and valuable resources are thoughts all of us have probably had more than once.

The Lord recently showed me something interesting about ‘riches’ when I was studying in the Bible book of Ephesians during our pastor’s message series. I noticed that the word ‘riches’ or ‘rich’ is a recurring key word in Eph. 1-3. It occurs six times and none of them refer to worldly riches like money and valuable physical resources. Instead, they are about abundant spiritual blessings based on who God is and what God does, especially toward born again redeemed Christ-followers. Here are the six verses.

Eph. 1:7 ESV In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,

The Greek word for ‘riches’ here is ‘ploutos’ and it can mean fullness of wealth, money possessions, or figuratively mean abundance and valuable bestowment; enriched with something that is good. The occurrence here is not about worldly wealth. It’s about spiritual abundance of grace in who God is and what God does. Notice the phrase ‘According to the riches of God’s grace’ not ‘of’ the riches of His grace. If it were of the riches then the amount could be any amount including a very small amount like if Donald Trump only gave a dollar tip or just 15% of the bill at a restaurant. But if Donald Trump tipped according to his riches, the server would be rich with money. God is unbelievably spiritually rich with grace and according to that richness of God’s grace comes forgiveness in Christ. Amen! When you receive/trust Christ as your personal Savior and Lord, by God’s grace through faith you receive His forgiveness for your sins whether your sin is or seems minor or major. Praise God!

Eph. 1:18 ESV having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,

Through the Word of God, the Gospel, we learn that Christ-followers have an eternal inheritance in Christ and they are also an inheritance to the risen and glorified Jesus Christ. They are the Lord’s church here on earth. He is at work in and through them and the time will come, His Second Coming, when Christ returns and claims His inheritance here on earth. The spiritual blessings of eternal life are already underway in and around genuine Christ-followers as the Body of Christ. They experience the blessings. They are to be a blessing to others and they are to be a blessing to God.

Eph. 2:4 ESV But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,

This is the only singular version of ‘rich’ in these 3 chapters and the Greek word here is based on the same one used in the other five occurrences.

How do we distinguish between the Lord’s grace and mercy?

- grace: undeserved favor and blessing

- mercy: compassion/pity or withholding punishment

This combination of God’s grace and mercy are found in the Gospel. We don’t deserve forgiveness and eternal life and He is compassionate on us as sinners and He withholds the ultimate wrath of God from those who are redeemed by Christ. God is abundant in mercy and He displays this through His great love toward us as seen in Christ’s atoning death on the cross for our sin.

Eph. 2:7 ESV so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

Here, Paul refers to God’s grace again; this time describing it as immeasurable riches of God’s grace displayed in kindness toward Christ-followers. Throughout eternity God will display His gracious kindness to His redeemed and they will be a testimony of His amazing grace and kindness toward other redeemed people that while they were still lost in their sin Christ redeemed them. Amen!

Eph. 3:8 ESV To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ,

This grace mentioned here is the Gospel of grace; the Gospel of Christ; the great news of Christ, God’s plan of redemption for us sinners. This grace was given to Paul, who personally experienced it, and Paul proclaimed it to the Gentiles, the Gospel, the unsearchable riches of Christ. In one sense there is a simplicity to the Gospel that a child can trust in but there is also a depth and magnitude to Christ that is more than we can comprehend and find in full understanding at this time but I believe Christ-followers will know much more about Him when they get to Heaven.

Eph. 3:16 ESV that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being,

This is similar to ‘according to the riches of God’s grace’ in 1:7, although here the word ‘glory’ is in place of grace; God’s glory. This is the Greek word ‘doxa’ meaning honor, praise, splendor, greatness, majesty; esteem given. God is glorified in who He is and what He does. He will be glorified. He deserves to be glorified, and we are to give Him glory with our lives and good works. The riches of God’s glory pours out of His nature and works. It is out of this spiritual abundance of God’s glory that Paul prays to God the Father that these Ephesian Christ-followers would be strengthened with power through the Holy Spirit; for what? To know the love of Christ better and better, to experience the fullness of God in your life through Christ.

There you have it. Six occurrences of the word ‘riches’ or ‘rich’ in Eph. 1-3 and they all point to abundant spiritual blessings in who God is and what God does, especially toward Christ-followers. How about you?  Do you believe in these spiritual riches rooted in God through Christ and are you personally being blessed by them?

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor,

so that you by his poverty might become rich.

2 Cor. 8:9 ESV

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, Eph. 1:3 ESV

What are your thoughts on the riches referred to in Eph. 1-3 and what I’ve written about here?

Mike

Living in Grace not Guilt

Let’s say that one day my wife asked me what I am thinking about. I’m tempted to lie to her because I’m embarrassed about what is in my mind at that moment. However, I am reminded by the Holy Spirit that God’s Word teaches that it is wrong to lie and I believe it is wrong to lie. This is spiritual conviction in my heart, the Holy Spirit speaking to and shaping my moral conscience. This is one of the ministries of the Holy Spirit; to convict, convince, or reprove (see John 16:8-14, 14:26).

Even though I am convicted spiritually that lying is wrong, let’s say I lie to my wife. Then, I feel bad about it. I feel guilty. In an objective sense, there is guilt in the eyes of God toward me because according to God’s Word I am guilty of sinning, disobeying God (i.e. thou shall not lie). But I also have feelings/emotions/thoughts of guilt after I lied to my wife. I feel bad that I sinned against God and her. This is subjective or psychological guilt. This type of guilt is different for everyone and it may be beneficial to a degree but it can also be destructive.

There is a time for appropriate guilt feelings that lead to good, to help, to constructive thinking, behavior and reconciliation. For example, during an actual sin and soon afterwards you have feelings of remorseful awareness of having done something wrong (or you omitted something right) and you seek to make things right, to honor God in moving forward. You learn to accept that you fail and make mistakes, grow from it, get right with God and others you sin against, and you live in God’s grace.

There are also inappropriate guilt feelings that some people experience which include uncomfortable feelings and thoughts of guilt that linger on when they are not supposed to linger on; or they are way out of proportion compared to the act. This is destructive to our minds and emotions and attitudes and actions. If we allow this kind of guilt to linger and continue it can become a breeding ground for the work of the spiritual enemies of God and our thoughts and feelings will remain in the flesh instead of in the Spirit of God.

Here’s an example of inappropriate guilt feelings in my lying scenario. Man, I have been a Christian for a long time and I’m even a pastor so, I can’t believe I lied to my wife. I’m such a loser, a failure. What if I do it again and keep doing it? I’m uncomfortable around her now. I feel so lousy about lying. This stinks. I’m never good enough. And I’m supposed to be the spiritual leader in our relationship and set an example to others. Ha! And on and on I over-analyze that I lied and I feel like garbage emotionally. This is self-condemnation, self-loathing. This type of guilt we choose to wallow in is not good, not healthy, not God-honoring, and not of God. It’s focusing on ourselves and our failures.

There’s a better way to process our sin guilt, the right way, God’s way. First, I must genuinely confess (agree with God) the sin to God (and my wife since I sinned against her as well; see James 5:16). Here is God’s promise to Christ-followers; 1 John 1:9 ESV If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. When we confess our sin it must be genuine not saying “I’m sorry” with some sort of disingenuous attitude to avoid punishment or negative consequences.

We must learn to acknowledge that we will fail and make mistakes. We are sinners. We sin. We will sin. 1 John 1:8 ESV If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. So, we must confess our sins.

Confession and forgiveness are tied together in 1 John 1:9. When we genuinely confess our sin to God He forgives us. When we genuinely confess our sin to another person we are not given such a promise that they will forgive us but we should ask for their forgiveness in a loving and respectful way. When my wife forgives me she is not wiping my sin and objective guilt away spiritually like only God can do but her forgiveness does help the relationship I have with my wife to be healthier.

Secondly, when we have godly sorrow, a godly confession, we need to repent of this sinful behavior. Godly sorrow leads to repentance (see 2 Cor. 7:8-10). If our sorrow is not God-honoring then it is of the flesh, it is worldly and this kind of sorrow leads to death. Repent at its core means to turn and to change. Believers’ repentance means to turn away from sin and turn to the way of righteousness in Christ. I believe when a Christ-follower sins after conversion he or she should consciously repent of that sin behavior. 2 Corinthians 12:20-21 is an example of the importance of Believers’ repentance.

Our hope and joy in life is not found in self-inflicted worldly guilt. It’s found in Christ through our proper response to Him with faith and obedience like when we confess our sins to Him and repent of them in a God-honoring way.

Praise God that Jesus died for all of our sin (1 Peter 3:18). For true Christ followers Jesus’s atoning death on the cross satisfied God’s wrath upon our sin (1 John 2:2). We are no longer condemned by God’s wrath because we are in Christ. If I lie to my wife, Jesus paid the penalty for that lie with what He did on the cross. And when I confess my sin and repent from it God removes that sin from being an issue with my fellowship with God. He removes that sin from being a hindrance to my spiritual growth and ministry in God’s name.

Praise God for forgiveness and restoration. This Gospel work of Christ is great news! This is grace. We do not deserve God’s forgiveness and the clearing of our objective guilt and restoration to a right fellowship with Him. His grace is amazing. Christ followers are to live in His grace not in feelings of self-inflicted worldly guilt.

Let’s accept God’s truth about divine forgiveness and move forward with God in His peace and joy and grace. There is no reason to have lingering emotional guilt when we follow God’s plan for getting right with Him. Don’t let the flesh and enemies of God rob you of God-given joy, peace, grace, and freedom in Christ.

I don’t mean to make light of your sin and guilt struggles. I realize that a one-time lie to my wife scenario may seem like small potatoes to the person who continues to struggle with lust and porn, or self-centeredness, or pride, or with a drug addiction, etc... But God’s truth is God’s truth regardless of your guilt struggle. Apply God’s Word to your struggles, failures, guilt, sin problems. Confess your sin in faith with godly sorrow and repent to the way of Christ, depending on Him and His power for real eternally significant deliverance and victory (Gal. 1:3-5, 1 Cor. 15:57).

 “The purpose of being guilty is to bring us to Jesus. Once we are there, then its purpose is finished. If we continue to make ourselves guilty—to blame ourselves—then that is sin in itself.” Corrie ten Boom

 “The ultimate solution to guilt and guilt feelings is to admit our pain, suffering, failures, and guilt; to confess sin to Christ and at times to other human beings; to pray for forgiveness and a sincere desire to repent and change behavior; and then to believe with divine help that we are forgiven and accepted by the God of the universe.” (Christian Counseling, Gary Collins, pg144)

 

It is a personal choice to live in grace or live in guilt. Which are you choosing?

  

Mike