August 18, 1998
Back in the 80's, a computer wasn’t considered one hundred percent compatible with IBM unless it could run Microsoft’s Flight Simulator. How technology has changed! Computer usage has become far too complex to evaluate with such a simple comparison.
Word usage changes too. “Compatible” once referred to human relationships. When a man and a woman considered themselves compatible, they got married. Today, lack of compatibility is still given as a reason for marital breakdown.
Like two computers, in a compatible relationship two people have similar dispositions or tastes. They get along because they think alike or have learned to understand one another. Sometimes they anticipate one another’s words and finish each other’s sentences.
What couple does not want to be compatible? While some might settle at both cheering for the same football team, wives and husbands want to be understood by a partner who shares their interests and ambitions, yet married couples know this takes effort.
Compatibility of interests is more apt to draw people together, and even without shared hobbies or interests, two people can cultivate at least one mutual interest. Understanding another person’s character and deepest desires takes more work.
If being happily compatible in marriage involves hard work, what about compatibility with God? Is it possible to be involved in a relationship with Him that includes sharing a similar disposition? Can we be interested in the same activities and goals as He is?
Many people try to enter a relationship with God on their terms, supposing He thinks like they do. In their minds, He will wink at their lifestyle, support their ambitions and help them reach their goals. However, we err if we think God’s character is like our own or that His plans and desires are like ours.
The first clue is that the Bible is clear on how to enter a relationship with God. It must be on His terms. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father except through me.” The Apostle Peter adds, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” God tells us how to know Him; we cannot decide this for ourselves.
Secondly, God does not think or act like we do. He says, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways. . . .” Although we were made in His image, He is holy and we are not. Although He took on human flesh and became a man, those who observed Jesus said no man ever spoke or acted like He did. So how can we be compatible with God? We are not like Him in character or the way we behave.
Some say you simply do the things Jesus would do, imitating His actions. Some actions may make us give us an outward appearance of being like Him, but just as compatibility with your spouse involves far more than acting like them, so does being in harmony with God.
Our problem is with both “doing” and “being.” We have trouble doing godlike things because of who we are. It is a matter of the heart. To conform to His character or have the same interests as He does, we need to “be” like Him, think like He does. Who can say they know for sure the thoughts of God? Remember, God said His thoughts are not like ours.
Nearly every married person seeking compatibility has said silently or aloud, “I wish I could get into her (or his) heart—then I would know what she thinks and feels.” We might think if we could get into God’s heart, we would know Him, but we cannot do that.
However, God can get into our hearts, not to understand our thoughts and feelings because He already does, but so we can know His. Oddly enough, that is how to be compatible with God; we need to invite Him in.
Showing posts with label personal relationship with God. Show all posts
Showing posts with label personal relationship with God. Show all posts
Friday, June 30, 2017
Monday, February 9, 2015
Personal Maintenance ................. Parables 233
(August 22, 1990)
We have been in Moose Jaw less than two weeks and already I’ve had eight visits from various repair people: plumbers, electricians and a handy man who can fix anything non-mechanical. We’ve had our refrigerator replaced once --the first one (compliments of the management) had all the inside door racks broken off, and now the newer one seems to need a compressor.
After much experience in first-month-at-a-new-address, this is not unusual. Many items need attention and after everything is put in good working order, it will be up to us to keep it that way. Certainly every home needs a maintenance plan. Without constant upkeep, things start falling apart. Funny how I expect my soul to be different...
Spiritually, I can imagine the fix-it list the Lord made when He first took up residence in me. Broken heart, warped thoughts, crooked speech, corroded values, splintered relationships, and various shreds of this and that all through me. What a mess. But He rolled up His sleeves and set to work.
Now, after twenty years, the more He tinkers and fusses with me, the more I realize how badly damaged my life has been. Sin is like that. It doesn’t matter if He pulls us out of the gutter from life-long bad habits or if He grabs us when we are children, the sin nature of a human being is like acid to fine metal; it will ruin us -- unless He makes us new creatures -- then keeps everything in top-notch working order. But I tend to forget my part in the process. I am supposed to call on the Repairman daily.
Someone once quipped: “If I miss time with God for one day, God notices; if I miss two days, I notice... but if I lapse three days, everyone notices.” Just like a house, if we don’t maintain our relationship with God, something starts falling apart.
Jesus compared our responsibility with building a house: “Whoever hears these sayings of mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man, who built his house upon a rock: and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat on that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. But every one that hears these sayings of mine, and does them not, shall be like a foolish man, who built his house upon the sand: and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat on that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it” (Matthew 7:24-27).
Notice the key to upkeep: hearing His words AND doing them. It isn’t enough to just hear. That is why some professing Christians can go to church each week, hear the Word of God taught and preached, yet their life is in shambles. When trials come and the foundation is sand, nothing stands.
Hearing alone does not equal spiritual strength -- just as reading a home maintenance guide doesn’t get the plumbing fixed; however, knowledge of God’s Word ought to be like a damage inspection. As in a house, sometimes our lives fall apart because we didn’t know we had weak or rusty spots. God holds us responsible to make sure everything is working according to the Book.
As we allow light from the Lord to examine every nook and cranny of our lives and discern our condition, we will find His Word shows us what needs fixing, and also gives instruction as to our part in the repairs, even outlining what kind of tools will be required. Certainly obedience should be the most well-worn item. If it is, some of the others, like confession and repentance, will not be needed as often.
Our condo will be put in shape and stay that way for several weeks, even if we do no maintenance whatsoever -- but my soul is not quite that stable. Without moment by moment cooperation with my Divine Maintenance Man, disobedience and its partner, deterioration, quickly prevail.
We have been in Moose Jaw less than two weeks and already I’ve had eight visits from various repair people: plumbers, electricians and a handy man who can fix anything non-mechanical. We’ve had our refrigerator replaced once --the first one (compliments of the management) had all the inside door racks broken off, and now the newer one seems to need a compressor.
After much experience in first-month-at-a-new-address, this is not unusual. Many items need attention and after everything is put in good working order, it will be up to us to keep it that way. Certainly every home needs a maintenance plan. Without constant upkeep, things start falling apart. Funny how I expect my soul to be different...
Spiritually, I can imagine the fix-it list the Lord made when He first took up residence in me. Broken heart, warped thoughts, crooked speech, corroded values, splintered relationships, and various shreds of this and that all through me. What a mess. But He rolled up His sleeves and set to work.
Now, after twenty years, the more He tinkers and fusses with me, the more I realize how badly damaged my life has been. Sin is like that. It doesn’t matter if He pulls us out of the gutter from life-long bad habits or if He grabs us when we are children, the sin nature of a human being is like acid to fine metal; it will ruin us -- unless He makes us new creatures -- then keeps everything in top-notch working order. But I tend to forget my part in the process. I am supposed to call on the Repairman daily.
Someone once quipped: “If I miss time with God for one day, God notices; if I miss two days, I notice... but if I lapse three days, everyone notices.” Just like a house, if we don’t maintain our relationship with God, something starts falling apart.
Jesus compared our responsibility with building a house: “Whoever hears these sayings of mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man, who built his house upon a rock: and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat on that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. But every one that hears these sayings of mine, and does them not, shall be like a foolish man, who built his house upon the sand: and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat on that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it” (Matthew 7:24-27).
Notice the key to upkeep: hearing His words AND doing them. It isn’t enough to just hear. That is why some professing Christians can go to church each week, hear the Word of God taught and preached, yet their life is in shambles. When trials come and the foundation is sand, nothing stands.
Hearing alone does not equal spiritual strength -- just as reading a home maintenance guide doesn’t get the plumbing fixed; however, knowledge of God’s Word ought to be like a damage inspection. As in a house, sometimes our lives fall apart because we didn’t know we had weak or rusty spots. God holds us responsible to make sure everything is working according to the Book.
As we allow light from the Lord to examine every nook and cranny of our lives and discern our condition, we will find His Word shows us what needs fixing, and also gives instruction as to our part in the repairs, even outlining what kind of tools will be required. Certainly obedience should be the most well-worn item. If it is, some of the others, like confession and repentance, will not be needed as often.
Our condo will be put in shape and stay that way for several weeks, even if we do no maintenance whatsoever -- but my soul is not quite that stable. Without moment by moment cooperation with my Divine Maintenance Man, disobedience and its partner, deterioration, quickly prevail.
Wednesday, May 14, 2014
Self-righteousness does not fly ...................... Parables 117
Johnny was more than a good pilot. He could fly so low over a potato field that angry farmers could thrust a pitchfork into the underside of the wing of his plane!
However, Johnny knew that student pilots don’t make it in the air force by returning to base with pitchforks sticking out their bottoms. So he dipped and rocked the plane. The pitchfork stuck fast. Desperate, he made low passes brushing the tree tops. It was still there. Finally, after several more attempts, Johnny left the evidence of his skill somewhere in a tree. He was in the clear, so he thought. But student pilots do not go back to base with tree branches wrapped around their landing struts either. Johnny’s flying expertise was his undoing.
S.R.P. is also more than good . . . at living. He looks at himself every morning in the mirror and says, “I thank God I am not like other people. I am as honest as the day is long. I am faithful to my wife. I discipline myself. I generously give to every charity that I can.”
S.R.P. has such a clean record that no one can fault him. He is good to his children, works hard, is a member of the local service club, and has a dog and two cats. He never yells at his neighbor and he smiles at the elderly. What more could anyone want? This guy is a moral ace.
If God were pleased with a nice clean life, S.R.P. would have it made. If freedom from stealing, lying, adultery and murder would do it, no problem; his ticket to heaven would be confirmed and God would meet him at the gate with open arms.
Unfortunately, S.R.P. forgot something. He assumes that the criteria by which he lives is the criteria by which God grants eternal life, but he did not check it out with God. He does not realize that God says, “All your righteousness is like filthy rags”; that a ticket to life forever with Him is not written on goodness, morality, or being Mr. Nice Guy. Just like Paul said of the Jews in Romans 10, S.R.P. is ignorant of God’s righteousness. He is writing his own ticket, not submitting himself to the kind of righteousness that comes from God.
S.R.P. (if you haven’t already guessed) stands for Self-Righteous Person. Proverbs warns that there is a way that seems right to a man, but the end of it is death. Surely, this is the way that seems right -- to do as good as possible -- and God will say, “Come on in.” Not so.
Only perfect righteousness can satisfy a perfect God. Perfect righteousness is found only in the perfect person, Jesus Christ. S.R.P. needs Him. Just like Johnny, a life flown high, low, or upside-down is not enough unless Jesus Christ is at the controls, trusted for His goodness instead of “doing it my way,” relying on our own capacity to do good.
Johnny’s air force career was put on suspension and eventually turned another direction. He didn’t make it as a pilot because he was too good. He thought, with his ability, he didn’t need to follow the rules.
Jesus said, “Whoever exalts himself will be humbled.” It could happen in this lifetime . . . like it did with Johnny, or it could happen at heaven’s gate . . . when S.R.P. tries to get in with the wrong ticket.
However, Johnny knew that student pilots don’t make it in the air force by returning to base with pitchforks sticking out their bottoms. So he dipped and rocked the plane. The pitchfork stuck fast. Desperate, he made low passes brushing the tree tops. It was still there. Finally, after several more attempts, Johnny left the evidence of his skill somewhere in a tree. He was in the clear, so he thought. But student pilots do not go back to base with tree branches wrapped around their landing struts either. Johnny’s flying expertise was his undoing.
S.R.P. is also more than good . . . at living. He looks at himself every morning in the mirror and says, “I thank God I am not like other people. I am as honest as the day is long. I am faithful to my wife. I discipline myself. I generously give to every charity that I can.”
S.R.P. has such a clean record that no one can fault him. He is good to his children, works hard, is a member of the local service club, and has a dog and two cats. He never yells at his neighbor and he smiles at the elderly. What more could anyone want? This guy is a moral ace.
If God were pleased with a nice clean life, S.R.P. would have it made. If freedom from stealing, lying, adultery and murder would do it, no problem; his ticket to heaven would be confirmed and God would meet him at the gate with open arms.
Unfortunately, S.R.P. forgot something. He assumes that the criteria by which he lives is the criteria by which God grants eternal life, but he did not check it out with God. He does not realize that God says, “All your righteousness is like filthy rags”; that a ticket to life forever with Him is not written on goodness, morality, or being Mr. Nice Guy. Just like Paul said of the Jews in Romans 10, S.R.P. is ignorant of God’s righteousness. He is writing his own ticket, not submitting himself to the kind of righteousness that comes from God.
S.R.P. (if you haven’t already guessed) stands for Self-Righteous Person. Proverbs warns that there is a way that seems right to a man, but the end of it is death. Surely, this is the way that seems right -- to do as good as possible -- and God will say, “Come on in.” Not so.
Only perfect righteousness can satisfy a perfect God. Perfect righteousness is found only in the perfect person, Jesus Christ. S.R.P. needs Him. Just like Johnny, a life flown high, low, or upside-down is not enough unless Jesus Christ is at the controls, trusted for His goodness instead of “doing it my way,” relying on our own capacity to do good.
Johnny’s air force career was put on suspension and eventually turned another direction. He didn’t make it as a pilot because he was too good. He thought, with his ability, he didn’t need to follow the rules.
Jesus said, “Whoever exalts himself will be humbled.” It could happen in this lifetime . . . like it did with Johnny, or it could happen at heaven’s gate . . . when S.R.P. tries to get in with the wrong ticket.
Thursday, October 17, 2013
What about John 3:16? ................. Parables 031
A man asked, “Why do you, and some others, tell me that my faith is not Biblical faith? After all, I do believe John 3:16, that Jesus came and that he died for the sins of the world.”
“But what about YOUR sins?”
He paused some moments, then soberly replied, “I see what you mean.”
Sad to say, that man was not prepared to acknowledge that his condition was serious enough to warrant the death of the Son of God. Other people were perhaps rotten to the core, but his failures did not need that kind of drastic action. He believed John 3:16, but he didn’t believe John 3:16.
That kind of “faith” could be called “head knowledge,” a verbal acknowledgment of what God says, and a general agreement that it is true, but that truth has never been specifically and personally applied to the total person. That man had an intellectual understanding of the gospel, but he failed to understand that believing it involved a little more than just agreeing that God did send His Son to die for sin.
James 2:19 tells us that “even the devils believe and tremble.” It is inconsistent with all of Scripture to conclude that intellectually agreeing with the Bible is Biblical faith. The legions of Satan know that book is true, but they are not going to share eternity in heaven with God. Their “faith” will not save them.
God speaks of a different kind of believing. It is a faith that not only says, “Yes, I agree that this is true,” but it also says, “Because God is true, I respond to Him, mind, soul, and body, surrendering all that I am and have to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.” When that happens, there are some drastic changes. In fact, if the changes are not there, the Word of God boldly charges that such “faith” is dead, and the person who has it is like a man who looks in a mirror, sees what he looks like, and then walks away and does nothing about it. (James 1) It is a useless and fruitless faith, not affecting anyone’s eternal destiny. It could be compared to the person who is told his house is on fire, and he says, “Oh, I smell the smoke, you’re right,” and then stays inside to be burned. He never really believed it.
Genuine faith cannot assent to verses like John 3:16 and then go on living as if it were not true. If someone truly believes that “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son,” there will be changes, and those changes will testify to the reality of their faith. Those who genuinely know that they “will not perish but have everlasting life” cannot remain the same, because this truth, when applied personally, has the power to transform lives.
“But what about YOUR sins?”
He paused some moments, then soberly replied, “I see what you mean.”
Sad to say, that man was not prepared to acknowledge that his condition was serious enough to warrant the death of the Son of God. Other people were perhaps rotten to the core, but his failures did not need that kind of drastic action. He believed John 3:16, but he didn’t believe John 3:16.
That kind of “faith” could be called “head knowledge,” a verbal acknowledgment of what God says, and a general agreement that it is true, but that truth has never been specifically and personally applied to the total person. That man had an intellectual understanding of the gospel, but he failed to understand that believing it involved a little more than just agreeing that God did send His Son to die for sin.
James 2:19 tells us that “even the devils believe and tremble.” It is inconsistent with all of Scripture to conclude that intellectually agreeing with the Bible is Biblical faith. The legions of Satan know that book is true, but they are not going to share eternity in heaven with God. Their “faith” will not save them.
God speaks of a different kind of believing. It is a faith that not only says, “Yes, I agree that this is true,” but it also says, “Because God is true, I respond to Him, mind, soul, and body, surrendering all that I am and have to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.” When that happens, there are some drastic changes. In fact, if the changes are not there, the Word of God boldly charges that such “faith” is dead, and the person who has it is like a man who looks in a mirror, sees what he looks like, and then walks away and does nothing about it. (James 1) It is a useless and fruitless faith, not affecting anyone’s eternal destiny. It could be compared to the person who is told his house is on fire, and he says, “Oh, I smell the smoke, you’re right,” and then stays inside to be burned. He never really believed it.
Genuine faith cannot assent to verses like John 3:16 and then go on living as if it were not true. If someone truly believes that “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son,” there will be changes, and those changes will testify to the reality of their faith. Those who genuinely know that they “will not perish but have everlasting life” cannot remain the same, because this truth, when applied personally, has the power to transform lives.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)