February 26, 2002
Our friend, a doctor, says he loves working with people who have addictions because “treating them is a game.” He explains that an addict will eventually agree to treatment, but only because he secretly thinks he can get out of it. This doctor likes to “out-manipulate” addicts and “put them in a position of giving up their will.”
Does this treatment succeed? Perhaps some people are freed from addictions, but I’m not sure anyone actually gives up their will. God gave us freedom to make choices and unless physically forced or chemically induced, our will is too strong to easily take from us. Perhaps some would say this doctor is doing a bit of “god-playing” with his treatment. He backs the addict into a corner leaving only one clear option. The patient sees he must choose cooperation and abandon his addiction. Or is “god-playing” an appropriate term? Does God work like that?
In the New Testament book of Romans, the Apostle Paul talks about some who commit gross kinds of sin. He explains in chapter one how “God gave them over to the sinful desires of their hearts” and “to a depraved mind.” He explains how consequences are a “due penalty for their perversion.”
In other words, if a person wants to persist in doing wrong, God will not necessarily interfere. In fact, He might pull back all help and let that person become totally addicted to their sin. This is one opportunity He gives us to change our minds about doing things His way. He lets us find out that our way does not work.
Why would God do let anyone become addicted? The passage gives some answers. First, letting people go into deep sin is a revelation of His wrath. If people reject God and the dangers of sin and “suppresses the truth by their wickedness,” God reveals the results of their rejection: they become slaves to the very thing they wanted the freedom to do.
A second reason is that God makes Himself known to everyone through creation. The passage says, “ . . . what may be known about God is plain to them because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—His eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.”
It goes on to explain that some, “although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.”
Rejection of God’s revelation brings blindness to spiritual truth. In that darkness, people succumb to habits and substances that become their gods. These sins bind them like slaves.
How does God release people from that bondage? In this case, those who are enslaved by an addiction can start loosening their chains by acknowledging God as Creator. As they do, they must also admit that He has a claim on their lives.
Another thing an addict can do is be thankful, not only for life and its good things but also for their problems. Even though they used an addiction to escape from them, these problems can be a driving force in a better direction — to God instead of to their habit.
God does not play mind-games. We cannot accuse Him of manipulation. He knows how to pull desperate people out of the clutches of an addiction. The human side is to recognize and admit helplessness, even admit being out of control and not wanting to stop. Then can call to God for help. God’s part is not backing people into a corner — we get there ourselves. Instead, He hears our cry for help and gladly works in us — making us to not only want His will but also setting us free so we can do it.
Showing posts with label spiritual blindness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label spiritual blindness. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 23, 2018
Monday, August 28, 2017
Praise is classy .......... Parables 633
March 23, 1999
When ABC reported last month’s Grammy Award winners, they noted how much better the ceremonies were than last year. They said, “even the acceptance speeches had class” and went on to describe the responses of Sheryl Crow, Will Smith, Madonna, the Dixie Chicks, Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks. They missed the classiest of them all.
Hip-hop artist and surprised at her wins, Lauryn Hill was named Best New Artist. Her album won Album of the Year. When she received her Grammy, she choose to acknowledge her heavenly Father. Apparently most news services did not consider this as “class.”
Christians are almost always surprised when God is left out of the news. We know the wonderful things He does and the glory of His character. He is worthy of our praise. When reporters omit that praise, it seems they do not hear the words or at least do not realize their significance. They seem blind and deaf to God.
Yet if Christians are surprised by that, it is because we have forgotten an important truth. Apart from the grace of God and His transforming power, we would not ‘see’ or hear Him either.
A religious leader came to see Jesus at night. Perhaps he was afraid of his peers but he was curious. He began with, “We know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him.”
Jesus did not respond to his comments. He could have expounded on His qualifications as a teacher or miracle worker, or that God had sent Him, but instead told the man, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”
Today, those last two words have become a huge turn-off for many people. Some recall television preachers who claimed to be “born again” yet behaved as badly or worse than the sinners they condemned. Others recall the loud claims of celebrities naming the name of Christ but living as if He never existed.
Who can blame people who cringe at the term “born again” when pride-filled people hold it up as a spiritual status symbol: “I am born-again and you are not. You need to be like me.”
Put aside those conceptions and look again at what Jesus is saying. Especially notice the preceding words. He says no one can “see” God’s realm unless their life changes. A few verses later, He adds that no one can “enter” this realm without this same change.
To understand what spiritual birth is, we need to know more about the kingdom of God. One theologian explains it as a parallel reality. God (and what He is doing) is all around us yet unless He opens our eyes we cannot see Him or His activities. We are born spiritually blind.
Think of physically blind people. They know nothing of color. Red and green are foreign to them. They may see some light and shadow but not clearly. In the same way, those who are spiritually blind also see shadows and some light, yet the realm of God (who is Spirit and Light) is closed to them unless God transforms their hearing and vision.
Christians are foolish if we expect everyone to see what we see. Others observe many of the same things; we are aware of the failures of those TV evangelists, just as we are aware of our own failures. However, God has reserved some things for Himself and some for our eyes only. The Bible says, “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us (His people) and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law.”
Rather than being upset or perplexed at the media for not including Hill’s classy speech, we need to remember that those reporters may not have ‘heard’ it. But, if we did hear and join her in praise, we need to thank God for opening our eyes and our ears to the wonder of His kingdom.
When ABC reported last month’s Grammy Award winners, they noted how much better the ceremonies were than last year. They said, “even the acceptance speeches had class” and went on to describe the responses of Sheryl Crow, Will Smith, Madonna, the Dixie Chicks, Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks. They missed the classiest of them all.
Hip-hop artist and surprised at her wins, Lauryn Hill was named Best New Artist. Her album won Album of the Year. When she received her Grammy, she choose to acknowledge her heavenly Father. Apparently most news services did not consider this as “class.”
Christians are almost always surprised when God is left out of the news. We know the wonderful things He does and the glory of His character. He is worthy of our praise. When reporters omit that praise, it seems they do not hear the words or at least do not realize their significance. They seem blind and deaf to God.
Yet if Christians are surprised by that, it is because we have forgotten an important truth. Apart from the grace of God and His transforming power, we would not ‘see’ or hear Him either.
A religious leader came to see Jesus at night. Perhaps he was afraid of his peers but he was curious. He began with, “We know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him.”
Jesus did not respond to his comments. He could have expounded on His qualifications as a teacher or miracle worker, or that God had sent Him, but instead told the man, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”
Today, those last two words have become a huge turn-off for many people. Some recall television preachers who claimed to be “born again” yet behaved as badly or worse than the sinners they condemned. Others recall the loud claims of celebrities naming the name of Christ but living as if He never existed.
Who can blame people who cringe at the term “born again” when pride-filled people hold it up as a spiritual status symbol: “I am born-again and you are not. You need to be like me.”
Put aside those conceptions and look again at what Jesus is saying. Especially notice the preceding words. He says no one can “see” God’s realm unless their life changes. A few verses later, He adds that no one can “enter” this realm without this same change.
To understand what spiritual birth is, we need to know more about the kingdom of God. One theologian explains it as a parallel reality. God (and what He is doing) is all around us yet unless He opens our eyes we cannot see Him or His activities. We are born spiritually blind.
Think of physically blind people. They know nothing of color. Red and green are foreign to them. They may see some light and shadow but not clearly. In the same way, those who are spiritually blind also see shadows and some light, yet the realm of God (who is Spirit and Light) is closed to them unless God transforms their hearing and vision.
Christians are foolish if we expect everyone to see what we see. Others observe many of the same things; we are aware of the failures of those TV evangelists, just as we are aware of our own failures. However, God has reserved some things for Himself and some for our eyes only. The Bible says, “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us (His people) and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law.”
Rather than being upset or perplexed at the media for not including Hill’s classy speech, we need to remember that those reporters may not have ‘heard’ it. But, if we did hear and join her in praise, we need to thank God for opening our eyes and our ears to the wonder of His kingdom.
Wednesday, June 7, 2017
Recognizing God ................ Parables 598
June 2, 1998
Dad “works better” with Mom around. They have been partners for nearly sixty years. Together they are much stronger than they are apart.
This is particularly true in the past few years. My mother has Alzheimers and my Dad has legs that will not work. He has been her mind and she his body. Now, both are struggling. Although they need each other, neither one is much help, either with memory or physical activity.
Since February, Dad has been separated from Mom because he needed nursing care. It is only across the street from her senior’s lodge, but life is frequently confusing for him. His memory plays tricks. Some days he thinks he sees my mother but it is someone else. Does he forget what she looks like? I don’t think so. When she visits, he recognizes her instantly. Whatever goes wrong when she is not there seems to work just fine when she is with him.
Their situation is sad, yet they enjoy small delights and are always thankful. They remind me constantly of things God is teaching me. Like them, I do better with others around, most of all God. He has been a faithful partner, even when my mind and body do not do whatever I want them to do. There are days when I am unsure of His presence, but others when I recognize Him instantly. No matter what goes wrong in my life, I know He is always close, whether I sense it or not. Because of Him, I enjoy small delights and am thankful.
For myself and others who believe in Christ, recognizing God is not a problem, yet it was for people in the first century. When Jesus came to earth, the Bible says, “the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.”
Odd that His own (referring to the Jews) would not know Him. Their relationship with God went back several centuries. Didn’t He act like the God they thought they knew? Didn’t He look familiar? Or were they having problems with their eyesight?
At that time in history, the Jewish people were under the thumb of Rome, humiliated by both military and economic defeat. The Romans tolerated their presence but life was not easy. For years, God had promised a Messiah, a great deliverer. Most people were certain He would come as a man of war.
However, Jesus was anything but that. Besides, He didn’t act like the God of the Old Testament who helped them battle their enemies. How could this Jesus be God? If He showed anger, it was not against Roman oppressors but against self-righteous Jews.
Once He made a whip and drove them from the temple, accusing them of greed and turning His Father’s house into a “den of thieves.” He even accused them of violating the laws of God, pointed out other sins but mainly condemning them for not believing God had sent Him to redeem them. A few realized who He was and followed Him. Those who refused to admit their sin and rejected all that Jesus offered them were the same people who did not recognize Him.
According to Scripture, these rejecters had “eyesight problems.” They were blind to the identity of Jesus because their sin kept them from seeing reality. Their lack of vision was correctable. All they needed to do was acknowledge that Jesus was no ordinary man and seek His true identity. If they admitted they were sinful, God would have cleansed them and opened their eyes. In refusing to do this, they missed their opportunity to know God through Christ.
For all who want to know Him today, the same principle applies. We too must acknowledge our sin, admit our helplessness, and keep our eyes open. God will reveal Himself. He will forgive and cleanse our sin. He will give us a new understanding of reality. And when He does, we will never forget what He looks like.
Dad “works better” with Mom around. They have been partners for nearly sixty years. Together they are much stronger than they are apart.
This is particularly true in the past few years. My mother has Alzheimers and my Dad has legs that will not work. He has been her mind and she his body. Now, both are struggling. Although they need each other, neither one is much help, either with memory or physical activity.
Since February, Dad has been separated from Mom because he needed nursing care. It is only across the street from her senior’s lodge, but life is frequently confusing for him. His memory plays tricks. Some days he thinks he sees my mother but it is someone else. Does he forget what she looks like? I don’t think so. When she visits, he recognizes her instantly. Whatever goes wrong when she is not there seems to work just fine when she is with him.
Their situation is sad, yet they enjoy small delights and are always thankful. They remind me constantly of things God is teaching me. Like them, I do better with others around, most of all God. He has been a faithful partner, even when my mind and body do not do whatever I want them to do. There are days when I am unsure of His presence, but others when I recognize Him instantly. No matter what goes wrong in my life, I know He is always close, whether I sense it or not. Because of Him, I enjoy small delights and am thankful.
For myself and others who believe in Christ, recognizing God is not a problem, yet it was for people in the first century. When Jesus came to earth, the Bible says, “the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.”
Odd that His own (referring to the Jews) would not know Him. Their relationship with God went back several centuries. Didn’t He act like the God they thought they knew? Didn’t He look familiar? Or were they having problems with their eyesight?
At that time in history, the Jewish people were under the thumb of Rome, humiliated by both military and economic defeat. The Romans tolerated their presence but life was not easy. For years, God had promised a Messiah, a great deliverer. Most people were certain He would come as a man of war.
However, Jesus was anything but that. Besides, He didn’t act like the God of the Old Testament who helped them battle their enemies. How could this Jesus be God? If He showed anger, it was not against Roman oppressors but against self-righteous Jews.
Once He made a whip and drove them from the temple, accusing them of greed and turning His Father’s house into a “den of thieves.” He even accused them of violating the laws of God, pointed out other sins but mainly condemning them for not believing God had sent Him to redeem them. A few realized who He was and followed Him. Those who refused to admit their sin and rejected all that Jesus offered them were the same people who did not recognize Him.
According to Scripture, these rejecters had “eyesight problems.” They were blind to the identity of Jesus because their sin kept them from seeing reality. Their lack of vision was correctable. All they needed to do was acknowledge that Jesus was no ordinary man and seek His true identity. If they admitted they were sinful, God would have cleansed them and opened their eyes. In refusing to do this, they missed their opportunity to know God through Christ.
For all who want to know Him today, the same principle applies. We too must acknowledge our sin, admit our helplessness, and keep our eyes open. God will reveal Himself. He will forgive and cleanse our sin. He will give us a new understanding of reality. And when He does, we will never forget what He looks like.
Monday, May 8, 2017
Light in the darkness ................ Parables 585
(uncertain)
This winter’s ice storms in rural Quebec kept thousands in the dark for weeks, even months. After intense effort to restore power, failures again plunged them into darkness. Even after repairs were completed at the main substation at Ste-Cesaire, many local lines remained down leaving people without light.
Power failures are distressing. Blackouts can be dangerous. However, another state of being without light has eternal consequences. The Bible defines the inability to grasp truth about God as spiritual darkness.
Some are in the dark about God’s existence. While they may see beauty in creation and other evidences of goodness, tragedies such as ice storms provoke the conclusion that a good God would never allow that, therefore God does not exist.
Others are in the dark about the way God works. They may observe answered prayer, healing or other unusual events but cannot see God’s hand in these. Part of the reason is that the Bible tells us God’s thoughts are higher than our thoughts and His ways are beyond our understanding. While God knows clearly both past and future, we see history dimly and view the present through our own prejudices. Also, His ways are beyond us. He rules sovereignly yet allows evil and tragedy. We simply cannot understand Him or what He is doing.
Besides our lack of capacity, a deep spiritual darkness inhibits comprehension of spiritual realities. The Bible says sin muddies our understanding. God created us to reflect His image but sin darkens our vision and we cannot see Him clearly.
However, God does not want us in the dark about Him. He revealed what He is like and offers us understand of what He is doing. For us to receive those revelations and that understanding, we must again become image-bearers. This will happen when God forgives and cleanses our sins, when we believe and receive Jesus and are spiritually reborn into His family.
Jesus described how this works. First, He said no one can see or enter the kingdom of God unless he is born again (John 3). Rather than react negatively to the words “born again,” consider what Jesus said — we cannot get into His realm or even see it, without this special change in our lives. This is very important.
Second, He said we need to hear and believe the good news: “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. Whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.”
When we believe, the Spirit of God does an amazing thing—He makes us new creatures and places us in a new family, in intimate relationship with God and with Jesus Christ, and with eyes opened to spiritual truth. The New Testament offers this description of those whom God has changed: “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light.”
Jesus described Himself: “I am the light of the world.” Then He added, “Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but have the light of life.” As forgiven people in relationship with God, we can see Him. We are no longer unaware and in the dark.
Refusing His offer is something like telling Hydro Quebec not to bother hooking up the lines. It is like saying life in the dark, without power or light, is better than living with the lights turned on.
This winter’s ice storms in rural Quebec kept thousands in the dark for weeks, even months. After intense effort to restore power, failures again plunged them into darkness. Even after repairs were completed at the main substation at Ste-Cesaire, many local lines remained down leaving people without light.
Power failures are distressing. Blackouts can be dangerous. However, another state of being without light has eternal consequences. The Bible defines the inability to grasp truth about God as spiritual darkness.
Some are in the dark about God’s existence. While they may see beauty in creation and other evidences of goodness, tragedies such as ice storms provoke the conclusion that a good God would never allow that, therefore God does not exist.
Others are in the dark about the way God works. They may observe answered prayer, healing or other unusual events but cannot see God’s hand in these. Part of the reason is that the Bible tells us God’s thoughts are higher than our thoughts and His ways are beyond our understanding. While God knows clearly both past and future, we see history dimly and view the present through our own prejudices. Also, His ways are beyond us. He rules sovereignly yet allows evil and tragedy. We simply cannot understand Him or what He is doing.
Besides our lack of capacity, a deep spiritual darkness inhibits comprehension of spiritual realities. The Bible says sin muddies our understanding. God created us to reflect His image but sin darkens our vision and we cannot see Him clearly.
However, God does not want us in the dark about Him. He revealed what He is like and offers us understand of what He is doing. For us to receive those revelations and that understanding, we must again become image-bearers. This will happen when God forgives and cleanses our sins, when we believe and receive Jesus and are spiritually reborn into His family.
Jesus described how this works. First, He said no one can see or enter the kingdom of God unless he is born again (John 3). Rather than react negatively to the words “born again,” consider what Jesus said — we cannot get into His realm or even see it, without this special change in our lives. This is very important.
Second, He said we need to hear and believe the good news: “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. Whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.”
When we believe, the Spirit of God does an amazing thing—He makes us new creatures and places us in a new family, in intimate relationship with God and with Jesus Christ, and with eyes opened to spiritual truth. The New Testament offers this description of those whom God has changed: “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light.”
Jesus described Himself: “I am the light of the world.” Then He added, “Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but have the light of life.” As forgiven people in relationship with God, we can see Him. We are no longer unaware and in the dark.
Refusing His offer is something like telling Hydro Quebec not to bother hooking up the lines. It is like saying life in the dark, without power or light, is better than living with the lights turned on.
Wednesday, March 9, 2016
More about spiritual blindness .................. Parables 403
January 11, 1994
A remarkable musician named Clarence can play any piece of music on his accordion after hearing it only once. Clarence had his first music lessons as an adult. It took him three months to learn one number but after that, each one comes instantly.
Clarence is blind. He demonstrates how a person who has lost a particular ability sometimes compensates in other ways. While he cannot see, his hearing is remarkable, as is his memory of what he has heard.
The Bible talks about another kind of blindness, quite different than the inability to see with our eyes. It is a blindness to spiritual realities, invisible even to those with 20/20 vision. Furthermore, they cannot be felt, heard, or tasted either.
This type of blindness is the human inability to understand spiritual matters. Because it is so much a part of our natural state, many people do not realize they are blind in this way. Even those who do may not recognize that the ability to compensate is not a given. There is nothing that can be done with any of our faculties that will counterbalance this handicap.
This condition is caused by sin. Sin is turning from God and going our own way. By taking that turn, we become blind to the realities in His kingdom. However, even though all of us have sinned, not everyone is equally blind. That is, people have varying capacities to grasp the realities of the kingdom of God, depending upon their responses to God’s leading and revelation in their lives.
Others are quite unaware of those realities and quite aware they are spiritually blind. They may realize there is mystery concerning God, and that we should try to please Him but they cannot understand how, so like Clarence, they try to compensate. They do it by conjecture, deciding what He wants then setting about doing what they decided.
Some compensate for their blindness by adopting Christianity on a superficial level. That is, they say they believe in God, that Christ is the Son of God, and that a person should have good morals, go to church, be kind, and take care of the poor, all good things. The wrong in them is that these people tend to count on those things to earn them favor with God. It is in that area that they are blind.
They do not realized that God is holy and utterly perfect and anything we could offer Him is less than His glory deserves. While some behave more morally than others, without Christ we are without the capacity to be holy or to please Him. The Bible puts it this way: “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
Imagine a target on the other side of a great chasm. We use our finest arrows, pull back with all our might, aim carefully, but the arrows fall short, into the chasm. Our best efforts cannot bridge the gap, caused by sin, between ourselves and God. It is too wide and too deep. Everything we try to do falls short.
Spiritual blindness often makes people think their arrows are making it to the other side. They are blind to what God thinks about their efforts and to what He really wants.
Jesus came to open the eyes of the blind. He did that literally, but also offers spiritual sight. It is called “faith.” Through faith, we can see what God wants.
At first, that does not sound like good news. Just as a bowman would be upset if he saw all his best arrows falling into a bottomless pit, so would a sincere, moral person if they saw all their efforts ignored by God. However, that is only part of “seeing.” The other part is that Jesus gives Himself, and with Him, we have the glory we need to please God. He is our bridge across the chasm. He said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man can come to the Father but by me.”
A remarkable musician named Clarence can play any piece of music on his accordion after hearing it only once. Clarence had his first music lessons as an adult. It took him three months to learn one number but after that, each one comes instantly.
Clarence is blind. He demonstrates how a person who has lost a particular ability sometimes compensates in other ways. While he cannot see, his hearing is remarkable, as is his memory of what he has heard.
The Bible talks about another kind of blindness, quite different than the inability to see with our eyes. It is a blindness to spiritual realities, invisible even to those with 20/20 vision. Furthermore, they cannot be felt, heard, or tasted either.
This type of blindness is the human inability to understand spiritual matters. Because it is so much a part of our natural state, many people do not realize they are blind in this way. Even those who do may not recognize that the ability to compensate is not a given. There is nothing that can be done with any of our faculties that will counterbalance this handicap.
This condition is caused by sin. Sin is turning from God and going our own way. By taking that turn, we become blind to the realities in His kingdom. However, even though all of us have sinned, not everyone is equally blind. That is, people have varying capacities to grasp the realities of the kingdom of God, depending upon their responses to God’s leading and revelation in their lives.
Others are quite unaware of those realities and quite aware they are spiritually blind. They may realize there is mystery concerning God, and that we should try to please Him but they cannot understand how, so like Clarence, they try to compensate. They do it by conjecture, deciding what He wants then setting about doing what they decided.
Some compensate for their blindness by adopting Christianity on a superficial level. That is, they say they believe in God, that Christ is the Son of God, and that a person should have good morals, go to church, be kind, and take care of the poor, all good things. The wrong in them is that these people tend to count on those things to earn them favor with God. It is in that area that they are blind.
They do not realized that God is holy and utterly perfect and anything we could offer Him is less than His glory deserves. While some behave more morally than others, without Christ we are without the capacity to be holy or to please Him. The Bible puts it this way: “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
Imagine a target on the other side of a great chasm. We use our finest arrows, pull back with all our might, aim carefully, but the arrows fall short, into the chasm. Our best efforts cannot bridge the gap, caused by sin, between ourselves and God. It is too wide and too deep. Everything we try to do falls short.
Spiritual blindness often makes people think their arrows are making it to the other side. They are blind to what God thinks about their efforts and to what He really wants.
Jesus came to open the eyes of the blind. He did that literally, but also offers spiritual sight. It is called “faith.” Through faith, we can see what God wants.
At first, that does not sound like good news. Just as a bowman would be upset if he saw all his best arrows falling into a bottomless pit, so would a sincere, moral person if they saw all their efforts ignored by God. However, that is only part of “seeing.” The other part is that Jesus gives Himself, and with Him, we have the glory we need to please God. He is our bridge across the chasm. He said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man can come to the Father but by me.”
Monday, March 7, 2016
Spiritual blindness and spiritual light .................. Parables 402
January 4, 1994
People who are blind cannot see where they are going, where they have been, the significance of their surroundings, or what is happening around them. They are unsure what they trip over or bump into (unless they can touch it) and can easily become confused if given several conflicting messages about their environment.
While all that is rather evident to anyone who can see, the parallels to something the Bible calls “spiritual blindness” is not. For instance, a person who is spiritually blind has no idea of their eternal destination. They have difficulty understanding how their choices in the past effect their lifestyle now. They are not usually aware of the impact of the world’s attitudes and ideas on them. When they fail or are frustrated in their efforts to do things, they are not always able to identify the true reasons. If they hear too many conflicting messages about spiritual matters, they usually decide all of them can’t be right so opt for none of them.
Biblical spiritual blindness is more implied than explicit, more described than defined. Many of those who have it cannot see or understand the Kingdom of God. Some are not quite so void of understanding but are not interested or busy building their own kingdoms.
However, it is an affliction that affects everyone because at the root of every person’s inability to follow God or be godly is a spiritual blindness caused by sin. Since God says “ALL have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” every person is, or has been, spiritually blind.
Some are unaware they are blind. Some have never heard how to recover their sight. Some know what must be done to see but prefer to be in the dark. Some have been assigned to permanent blindness. A few have been brought out of darkness into the light.
The Bible has tests for those who presume they are not blind. 1 John 2:11 offers the love test: “Whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness; he does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded him.”
Another is the faith test, or total trust in Christ for eternal life. Those who have spiritual sight have realized they are sinful and have confessed their need of a Savior. A person who is still blind will claim they are without sin, thus deceiving themselves, another aspect of spiritual blindness.
The way out of such darkness is through Christ. He proclaimed: “I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness” (John 12:46). It is through Him, and faith in Him that a person can not only see and accept their spiritual need and be forgiven, but given the power to break free from sin’s bondage.
Those few who can now see have not been given Light because they are anything special. In fact, they see themselves as the Apostle Paul did, helpless and lost, blinded sinners were it not for God’s mercy shown to them through Jesus Christ. Of them, the Bible says: “You were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light” (Ephesians 5:8).
Christians rejoice that God said, “Let light shine out of darkness” and that God made His light shine in our hearts. He gave us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves. It is in Christ that we have redemption and the forgiveness of sins. It is in Christ that we see the significance of where we are going, where we have been, our flops and failures. It is Christ who is the Light of our lives.
People who are blind cannot see where they are going, where they have been, the significance of their surroundings, or what is happening around them. They are unsure what they trip over or bump into (unless they can touch it) and can easily become confused if given several conflicting messages about their environment.
While all that is rather evident to anyone who can see, the parallels to something the Bible calls “spiritual blindness” is not. For instance, a person who is spiritually blind has no idea of their eternal destination. They have difficulty understanding how their choices in the past effect their lifestyle now. They are not usually aware of the impact of the world’s attitudes and ideas on them. When they fail or are frustrated in their efforts to do things, they are not always able to identify the true reasons. If they hear too many conflicting messages about spiritual matters, they usually decide all of them can’t be right so opt for none of them.
Biblical spiritual blindness is more implied than explicit, more described than defined. Many of those who have it cannot see or understand the Kingdom of God. Some are not quite so void of understanding but are not interested or busy building their own kingdoms.
However, it is an affliction that affects everyone because at the root of every person’s inability to follow God or be godly is a spiritual blindness caused by sin. Since God says “ALL have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” every person is, or has been, spiritually blind.
Some are unaware they are blind. Some have never heard how to recover their sight. Some know what must be done to see but prefer to be in the dark. Some have been assigned to permanent blindness. A few have been brought out of darkness into the light.
The Bible has tests for those who presume they are not blind. 1 John 2:11 offers the love test: “Whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness; he does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded him.”
Another is the faith test, or total trust in Christ for eternal life. Those who have spiritual sight have realized they are sinful and have confessed their need of a Savior. A person who is still blind will claim they are without sin, thus deceiving themselves, another aspect of spiritual blindness.
The way out of such darkness is through Christ. He proclaimed: “I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness” (John 12:46). It is through Him, and faith in Him that a person can not only see and accept their spiritual need and be forgiven, but given the power to break free from sin’s bondage.
Those few who can now see have not been given Light because they are anything special. In fact, they see themselves as the Apostle Paul did, helpless and lost, blinded sinners were it not for God’s mercy shown to them through Jesus Christ. Of them, the Bible says: “You were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light” (Ephesians 5:8).
Christians rejoice that God said, “Let light shine out of darkness” and that God made His light shine in our hearts. He gave us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves. It is in Christ that we have redemption and the forgiveness of sins. It is in Christ that we see the significance of where we are going, where we have been, our flops and failures. It is Christ who is the Light of our lives.
Monday, March 30, 2015
The Right Way .............. Parables 254
(February 13, 1991)
The Book of Lists #2 says that a firefly is not a fly, it’s a beetle; a silkworm is not a worm, it’s a caterpillar; an English horn is not English and not a horn, it’s an alto oboe from France; a guinea pig is not from Guinea and is not a pig, it’s from South America and it’s a rodent; and a banana tree is not a tree, it’s a herb. Things are not what they seem!
We don’t need a book of lists to know that. Some days I feel 92 but I’m not (yet). The sunshine outside looks warm and inviting, but the thermometer says it is -40 degrees. The ice on the lake is clear and looks safe, but it is only an inch thick. Our eyes can fool us. So can our hearts.
God says we need to watch out for what seems to be. He says: “There is a way that seems right to a man, but the end thereof is the way of death.”
Deception can destroy a person physically, mentally, emotionally, morally and spiritually. What seems right can lead into poor health or even death, confuse the mind and render rational thought impossible, play on the emotions causing tremendous confusion, or drag an unthinking person into moral and spiritual bankruptcy.
Some biblical examples of deception:
Thank God, there is a way that is right; a way that leads to life not death; a way that can be found, even by those who are most deceived. That way is Jesus Christ. He even called Himself “the way.”
But first, how does a deceived person even begin to know whether or not they are deceived? Or how can they even want to know? For them, the true way, God’s way, will not “seem” right.
The Bible says that on their own, people are spiritually blind. All follow with what seems right to them and haven’t a hope of discovering anything different — unless the Spirit of God moves in to convince us otherwise. In John 16:8 Jesus told the disciples that when He was resurrected and gone to heaven, He would send the Holy Spirit, and “when he is come, he will convince the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment...” Without the Spirit, “There is no one that understands, there is no one that seeks after God” (Romans 3:11). Everyone continues down the path that “seems right.”
When the Spirit came, His task of opening human understanding to the things of God and showing people that God is righteous, hates sin, and will judge it, has turned millions from a deceptive life. Those who respond to Him and call out to God for mercy discover that mercy has already been extended: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
So faith in the One who called Himself “The Way” is the only way out of that other way that only seems to be the right way!
The Book of Lists #2 says that a firefly is not a fly, it’s a beetle; a silkworm is not a worm, it’s a caterpillar; an English horn is not English and not a horn, it’s an alto oboe from France; a guinea pig is not from Guinea and is not a pig, it’s from South America and it’s a rodent; and a banana tree is not a tree, it’s a herb. Things are not what they seem!
We don’t need a book of lists to know that. Some days I feel 92 but I’m not (yet). The sunshine outside looks warm and inviting, but the thermometer says it is -40 degrees. The ice on the lake is clear and looks safe, but it is only an inch thick. Our eyes can fool us. So can our hearts.
God says we need to watch out for what seems to be. He says: “There is a way that seems right to a man, but the end thereof is the way of death.”
Deception can destroy a person physically, mentally, emotionally, morally and spiritually. What seems right can lead into poor health or even death, confuse the mind and render rational thought impossible, play on the emotions causing tremendous confusion, or drag an unthinking person into moral and spiritual bankruptcy.
Some biblical examples of deception:
- A desire to be like God triggered two people made in His image into doing what He said would destroy them... the forbidden fruit only looked good.Murder, adultery or any other sins seem wrong to those not caught in the deception, yet to those who are deceived, they actually seem right, even up until the victim is destroyed or hopelessly scarred by the consequences. Is there no way out for someone caught by lies?
- Confidence in the power of retaliation (it seemed right) led Moses to kill a man rather than rely on God to vindicate His people.
- Lies by the Gibeonites duped the Israelites into making friends with a nation that actually intended their destruction.
- Lust deceived a king into thinking it was okay to take another man’s wife and kill her husband (it felt good).
Thank God, there is a way that is right; a way that leads to life not death; a way that can be found, even by those who are most deceived. That way is Jesus Christ. He even called Himself “the way.”
But first, how does a deceived person even begin to know whether or not they are deceived? Or how can they even want to know? For them, the true way, God’s way, will not “seem” right.
The Bible says that on their own, people are spiritually blind. All follow with what seems right to them and haven’t a hope of discovering anything different — unless the Spirit of God moves in to convince us otherwise. In John 16:8 Jesus told the disciples that when He was resurrected and gone to heaven, He would send the Holy Spirit, and “when he is come, he will convince the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment...” Without the Spirit, “There is no one that understands, there is no one that seeks after God” (Romans 3:11). Everyone continues down the path that “seems right.”
When the Spirit came, His task of opening human understanding to the things of God and showing people that God is righteous, hates sin, and will judge it, has turned millions from a deceptive life. Those who respond to Him and call out to God for mercy discover that mercy has already been extended: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
So faith in the One who called Himself “The Way” is the only way out of that other way that only seems to be the right way!
Wednesday, December 24, 2014
Blind Spots ................. Parables 213
(April 18, 1990)
Leaving fast traffic at highway speed and changing lanes in the process makes the off-ramps of a California freeway nearly as frightening as the on-ramps. I vividly recall exiting to the right from the always-crowded Ventura. I signaled, looked over my shoulder and began moving into the exit lane. Suddenly I felt compelled to look again. There, just at my rear wheel was a man on a motorcycle, in my blind spot. I shudder to think what would have happened without that second look.
We all have our blind spots. Taking a second look often reveals what we didn’t see the first time, although frequently the blind spot isn’t as simple to get around as the back window frame of a car. Instead it can be personal bias, contrary desires, or prejudice that make us miss something important. In fact, all three played a part in bringing tragedy to some travelers along another road centuries ago. They were moving at much slower speed, but became victims of blind spots just the same.
That “freeway” was the road to Jerusalem. A fellow traveler rode a young colt and the rest of the traffic was made up of people who had come from the city to meet Him, shouting “Hosanna, blessed is the king...” They were ecstatic. Here was the one who would deliver them from the dominion of Rome. But they had a blind spot.
Just before the man on the colt reached the city, He began to weep. Through His tears, He said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace -- but now it is hidden from your eyes. The days will come upon you when your enemies will... not leave one stone (of your city) on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.”
Their blindness was soon demonstrated. Within days, that same cheering crowd was demanding “Crucify Him, crucify Him.” They were so determined that He be the king or Messiah who would give them political deliverance, food on their plates and freedom from oppression, that they could not see the obvious. Had they known who He was, they never would have killed Him.
One might wonder how could they miss it? He definitely demonstrated His identity, yet they still couldn’t see. Why not?
Jesus had been asked repeatedly who He was, and at one point He told them He was the Light of the world. When asked again in John 12, His response was, “The light is only with you a little while, walk while you have it, lest darkness comes upon you: for he that walks in darkness doesn’t know where he is going. While you have light, believe in the light, that you may be the children of light...” (John 12:34ff)
But the people didn’t respond. They didn’t like what Light revealed. They simply didn’t want to believe He came to deal with their personal sin and need of a personal Savior. His holy life was beginning to get on their nerves. Blind to who He was, blind to what He was offering them, they decided to destroy Him.
When I couldn’t see the cyclist with the first glance, I had time to look again. Certainly God is patient and gives many opportunities for a second look at Christ. However, there comes an end for those who persist in rejecting what He reveals about Him. The Bible says, “GOD sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie...” (2 Thess.2:10-12).
After Jesus’ rejected invitation in John 12, the rest of verse 36 gives this sad epitaph: “After Jesus spoke these things, He left, and HID HIMSELF FROM THEM.” They didn’t have a chance for a second look around their blind spot... and were forever locked in darkness.
Leaving fast traffic at highway speed and changing lanes in the process makes the off-ramps of a California freeway nearly as frightening as the on-ramps. I vividly recall exiting to the right from the always-crowded Ventura. I signaled, looked over my shoulder and began moving into the exit lane. Suddenly I felt compelled to look again. There, just at my rear wheel was a man on a motorcycle, in my blind spot. I shudder to think what would have happened without that second look.
We all have our blind spots. Taking a second look often reveals what we didn’t see the first time, although frequently the blind spot isn’t as simple to get around as the back window frame of a car. Instead it can be personal bias, contrary desires, or prejudice that make us miss something important. In fact, all three played a part in bringing tragedy to some travelers along another road centuries ago. They were moving at much slower speed, but became victims of blind spots just the same.
That “freeway” was the road to Jerusalem. A fellow traveler rode a young colt and the rest of the traffic was made up of people who had come from the city to meet Him, shouting “Hosanna, blessed is the king...” They were ecstatic. Here was the one who would deliver them from the dominion of Rome. But they had a blind spot.
Just before the man on the colt reached the city, He began to weep. Through His tears, He said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace -- but now it is hidden from your eyes. The days will come upon you when your enemies will... not leave one stone (of your city) on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.”
Their blindness was soon demonstrated. Within days, that same cheering crowd was demanding “Crucify Him, crucify Him.” They were so determined that He be the king or Messiah who would give them political deliverance, food on their plates and freedom from oppression, that they could not see the obvious. Had they known who He was, they never would have killed Him.
One might wonder how could they miss it? He definitely demonstrated His identity, yet they still couldn’t see. Why not?
Jesus had been asked repeatedly who He was, and at one point He told them He was the Light of the world. When asked again in John 12, His response was, “The light is only with you a little while, walk while you have it, lest darkness comes upon you: for he that walks in darkness doesn’t know where he is going. While you have light, believe in the light, that you may be the children of light...” (John 12:34ff)
But the people didn’t respond. They didn’t like what Light revealed. They simply didn’t want to believe He came to deal with their personal sin and need of a personal Savior. His holy life was beginning to get on their nerves. Blind to who He was, blind to what He was offering them, they decided to destroy Him.
When I couldn’t see the cyclist with the first glance, I had time to look again. Certainly God is patient and gives many opportunities for a second look at Christ. However, there comes an end for those who persist in rejecting what He reveals about Him. The Bible says, “GOD sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie...” (2 Thess.2:10-12).
After Jesus’ rejected invitation in John 12, the rest of verse 36 gives this sad epitaph: “After Jesus spoke these things, He left, and HID HIMSELF FROM THEM.” They didn’t have a chance for a second look around their blind spot... and were forever locked in darkness.
Monday, March 3, 2014
Blind eyes can see ....................................... Parables 87
Dot was a mutt of dubious background, white with black spots here and there and a fringe of curly bang hanging over her eyes. She seemed somewhat oblivious to her environment so her owner decided to give her a hair cut. Off came the bangs - and Dot became a new dog. Her eyes almost popped out of her head as she looked around. She could see! The world was a fantastic place, one that she had never perceived before. We laughed at her for days as she walked around with new awareness of an environment that her shaggy mane had prevented her from appreciating.
An eighteen year old girl struggled with things that other people seemed to see but she could not. She strained and squinted but it didn’t really help. Then one day she put on her first pair of glasses. She could see! Like Dot, she looked around with amazed awareness. It was as if her whole world suddenly became real. She knew something had been missing but without some help, never would have found out what it was.
The Bible says that people are spiritually blind because of sin. It is like the curly mane that hung over Dot’s eyes and blocked her vision. Sin prevents people from perceiving the glory of God and seeing the reality of spiritual truth. Sin even makes people blind to the fact that they can not see. In other words, many people don’t know what they are missing.
The Bible also says that even should we be aware of our condition, still our “eye has not seen... the things that God has prepared for those who love Him.” Our spiritual vision is far from 20/20. Not only do we need our “blindfold” removed, we need some lenses.
It was because of our sin-blinded condition that God the Father sent God the Son into the world. Jesus said, “I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not remain in darkness” (John 12:46). Jesus came from God to “take away the sin of the world.” Faith in Him is the response required from us to have the blindfold removed.
But once sin is dealt with, there remains the problem of poor vision. The human eye is not capable of seeing spiritual truth; the human mind is incapable of understanding it.
Again, the Lord is the One who opens the eyes to see and minds to understand.
2 Corinthians 2 says that we cannot see what God has prepared “but God has revealed it to us by His Spirit.... that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God... but the natural man (the one without faith in Jesus Christ) does not receive the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness to him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”
This does not give the spiritual man reason to boast. On the contrary, anyone who has had the Sin-remover do His work and the “lenses” applied to his spiritual eyes knows that he did nothing to merit such mercy. It is “God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness,” and God who “shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (II Corinthians 4).
If I could have cut away my own blinders and fixed my own blindness, I would not have done it. The nature of sin is that I didn’t want to see. Dot didn’t come willingly for her haircut, neither. Nor did the 18 year old didn’t think she could afford glasses. But both were glad that someone else gave them the gift of seeing. So am I.
An eighteen year old girl struggled with things that other people seemed to see but she could not. She strained and squinted but it didn’t really help. Then one day she put on her first pair of glasses. She could see! Like Dot, she looked around with amazed awareness. It was as if her whole world suddenly became real. She knew something had been missing but without some help, never would have found out what it was.
The Bible says that people are spiritually blind because of sin. It is like the curly mane that hung over Dot’s eyes and blocked her vision. Sin prevents people from perceiving the glory of God and seeing the reality of spiritual truth. Sin even makes people blind to the fact that they can not see. In other words, many people don’t know what they are missing.
The Bible also says that even should we be aware of our condition, still our “eye has not seen... the things that God has prepared for those who love Him.” Our spiritual vision is far from 20/20. Not only do we need our “blindfold” removed, we need some lenses.
It was because of our sin-blinded condition that God the Father sent God the Son into the world. Jesus said, “I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not remain in darkness” (John 12:46). Jesus came from God to “take away the sin of the world.” Faith in Him is the response required from us to have the blindfold removed.
But once sin is dealt with, there remains the problem of poor vision. The human eye is not capable of seeing spiritual truth; the human mind is incapable of understanding it.
Again, the Lord is the One who opens the eyes to see and minds to understand.
2 Corinthians 2 says that we cannot see what God has prepared “but God has revealed it to us by His Spirit.... that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God... but the natural man (the one without faith in Jesus Christ) does not receive the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness to him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”
This does not give the spiritual man reason to boast. On the contrary, anyone who has had the Sin-remover do His work and the “lenses” applied to his spiritual eyes knows that he did nothing to merit such mercy. It is “God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness,” and God who “shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (II Corinthians 4).
If I could have cut away my own blinders and fixed my own blindness, I would not have done it. The nature of sin is that I didn’t want to see. Dot didn’t come willingly for her haircut, neither. Nor did the 18 year old didn’t think she could afford glasses. But both were glad that someone else gave them the gift of seeing. So am I.
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