2007-04-06
Good Morning Cherished Ones,
The Holy Spirit leads me to write about that aspect of spiritual maturity with regard to materialism that deals with worrying about personal needs. In His Sermon on the Mount, our Lord Jesus deals with this head-on in MT 6: 25-27, "This is why I tell you: do not be worried about the food and drink you need in order to stay alive, or about clothes for your body. After all, isn't life worth more than food? And isn't the body worth more than clothes? Look at the birds flying around: they do not plant sees, gather a harvest or put it in barns; yet your Father in heaven takes care of them! Aren't you worth much more than birds? Can any of you live another day in your lives by worrying about it?" It is here where the spiritual "rubber hits the road." We've been told to trust in God's promises, but do we really do that? I stand quite convicted by Christ's questions in my own life, after losing 21 years of savings and experiencing a tremendous change of lifestyle forced on me by our circumstances. He decided to test my spiritual maturity on this issue, and the test continues. Am I passing it by having total trust? All I can say is that I'm learning through experience, but I'm a work in progress. The Holy Spirit reminds me of PHIL 1: 6 here. "And so I am sure that God, Who began this good work in you, will carry it on until it is finished on the Day of Christ Jesus."
We kid around about Jews being the ones who have raised worrying to an art form. Sadly, it's true, although Jews don't have a monopoly on worrying. All one has to do is to read the Torah, the first five books of Moses, to see a written history of Jews worrying about their basic needs, grumbling and complaining at their plight. They had fewer excuses for their worrying than we do today, because they were wandering in the desert just getting acquainted with our God and that God had to perform some miracles to provide for their needs [EX 17: 5b-6; EX 20: 1-17, for example]. Today's Jews have a real concern which has caused them at times to engage in behavior disobedient to our God at times, the fear of assimilation by other groups. They worry so much about that because of a 3000 year history of efforts by other groups to extinguish their faith and culture, culminating in the greatest effort of evil of all-the Holocaust. However, despite the disappearance of Jewish enemies like the Moabites, Edomites, etc., they are still worrying. At the foundation of this problem is weak to absent faith in Jehovah Jirah, the God Who Provides. The Psalmist, PS 145: 15-18, did understand that our loving God really does provide for our needs. "All living things look hopefully to you, and You give them food when they need it. You give them enough and satisfy the needs of all. The Lord is righteous in all He does, merciful in all His acts. He is near to those who call to Him, who call to Him in with sincerity."
Have there been times when we felt abandoned by God because of His silence in response to our pleas for provision? Yes, and most of that was due to God's silence being one of the two hard-to-accept answers to our prayers-"no" or "maybe later." The answer, "no," can often be from God's lofty perspective, one that lets Him know that a "yes" answer will lead to disaster or serious problems in the long run. The waiting may be a test of one's faith, necessary due to weakness of faith that God wants to help us expunge. The "maybe later" answer has a lot to do with God using His own inaction to force greater spiritual maturity in us. It can also come from the fact that other things aren't in place yet to make his final "yes" answer work out for our best eternal interests. We must remember His mission statement and that of Christ remain the goals for us [EPH 1: 4-5; JN 6: 39-40]. Maybe we felt abandoned, but we have never been! Instead, God is hard at work trying to teach us to trust in Him. There is also the question of teaching us the difference between wants and needs too. That's what God has been working so hard on me to learn- this I know. Having that kind of discernment has been a hard lesson indeed for me. The nagging questions of why does our own wealthy country still have pockets of material poverty? and why is there so much poverty in third world countries? is still on our minds. These much larger questions will be reserved for a different devotion, but not tabled altogether. I believe the answers to all our questions still lie in lack of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, at least to some large extent. In the meanwhile, the Holy Spirit reminds me to say that it is in our best interests to do some self-examination in this area. We must ask ourselves some tough questions. Do I trust God fully to provide for my material needs? Do I understand God's view of what are wants and what are needs? When I am given this much, do I share it with the materially less well endowed? How courageous am I about sharing my faith in Christ, about witnessing to the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ? Only an individual who seeks God's help, his intervention, can answer these questions for himself.
PRAYER: O Lord, we bow our heads in reverence to You. Our purpose is to acknowledge Your supreme power, wisdom, and presence in our lives. We want to dedicate ourselves to worshipping, praising, and thanking You for all we have and all we can be after You have perfected us. As we are today, we are lacking. Our faith about Your willingness to provide material needs for us is often weak and immature. Our willingness to wait patiently for You to work is less than it should be. PS 42: 1-2, 5 "As a deer longs for a stream of cool water, so I long for You, O God. I thirst for You, the living God. When can I go and worship in Your presence?...Why am I so sad? Why am I so troubled? I will put my hope in God, and once again I will praise Him, my Savior, my God." We know that lack of trust is a sin, but You, O God, are willing and patient with us as we attempt to walk away from it. This is not an easy lesson for us to learn. We are learning that prayer helps to banish worry and fear. PS 64: 1 expresses our plea. "Hear my voice, O God, in my meditation; preserve my life from fear of the enemy." The enemy here is imperfect trust that You will supply all our material needs. We are trying to learn to discern between wants and needs, Dearest Father, and that too, isn't easy for us. We need Your divine direction. David wrote PS 25: 4-5, "Show me Your ways, O Lord; teach me Your paths. Lead me in Your truth and teach me: for You are the God of my salvation; on Your do I wait all the day." He understood our need to be patient for You to act and give advice. We also need to learn how to make godly decisions as to how to acquire our material needs and how to use them. We need to know God's view of the difference between wants and needs. Prayer helps us make these decisions, as well You know. PS 119: 10 is our plea. "With my whole heart have I sought Thee: O let me not wander from Thy commandments." Your answer was given to David in PS 32: 8, "I will instruct thee and tech thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with Mine eye." We ask you to please help us open our minds and our hearts to that promise, so that You can make us more spiritually mature. You deserve our loyalty, honor, praise, worship, and heartfelt thanks for Your mighty presence and loving intervention in our lives. All that You are and all that You do is nothing short of wonderful. In Christ, we pray. Amen.
Next week I'm led to write about the truth that spiritual maturity doesn't focus on material wealth or poverty. Continuing to view Christ's Sermon on the Mount and it's lessons in-depth this way, gives us insight into all the spiritual wealth that is in that sermon. Our Lord loves us so much, that His love can't be measured or duplicated in its entirety by mankind. However, we can learn enough of how to mimic it to help others learn to love as He taught us. God will never abandon those who love Him. Remember this emotional and heartfelt expression of God's love for us. IS 49: 15-16, "...Can a woman forget her own baby and not love the child she bore? Even if a mother should forget her child, I will never forget you. Jerusalem, I can never forget you! I have written your name on the palms of my hands." Surely there is no sign of abandonment in God's words of IS 43: 1b-3, "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are Mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the Lord, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior." PS 9: 10 utters a truth that we must all come to understand. "Those who know You, Lord, will trust You, You do not abandon anyone who comes to You." The Lord Jesus gave His life on the cross, so that as many people as who will listen to the truth and repent of their sins will come to faith in Him. That is the road to eternal life, and JN 14: 6 tells us there is no other. It's the "narrow gate which leads to the hard road" to which Christ refers in MT 7: 13-14. We must walk through that gate hand in hand with each other and with Him.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn Johnson