Practical Advice for the Christian Life

Readings for today: Colossians 3-4, Psalms 14

Yesterday I spent time with some young people after worship. They had been deeply touched by the sermon. When I challenged our church family to choose life and not death, good and not evil, and to not give the devil a foothold in their lives, these young people were moved to tears. When I shared that because of the power of the Holy Spirit living inside us we are not at the mercy of our circumstances or trapped by any situation or enslaved to our desires or without hope when it comes to battling anxiety, depression, fear, or any other chronic condition; they felt empowered for the first time in a long time in their lives. We talked about the hope we have in Christ and how He gives us the strength to overcome all life throws our way. We talked about the promise of God not being perfection but being sustained and sanctified in the midst of our imperfection. We talked about how to walk with Christ. Setting our minds and hearts on things above and putting to death that which is earthly in us. We prayed together for the Holy Spirit to fill them with everything they need to meet the challenges they face.

I didn’t come up with this advice on my own. I simply adopted what the Apostle Paul shares with his Colossian friends. Listen again to what he says in Colossians 3, “So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Therefore, put to death what belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desire, and greed, which is idolatry….Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self. You are being renewed in knowledge according to the image of your Creator….Therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and dearly loved, put on compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another if anyone has a grievance against another. Just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you are also to forgive. Above all, put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity.” (Colossians‬ ‭3‬:‭1‬-‭5‬, ‭9‬-‭10‬, ‭12‬-‭14‬ ‭CSB‬‬) Paul understands that growth in the Christian life requires two things. It requires us to cling to that which is life. That which is love. That which is light. And it requires us to reject that which is death. That which is sin. That which is darkness. In Christ, we’ve died. We no longer live. Christ lives in us and so our hearts naturally seek that which is above because they are naturally drawn to where Christ is, seated at God’s right hand. At the same time, our earthly body remains with all its earthly desires. And our earthly body is drawn to things on earth. Things like lust and greed and idolatry. So we get pulled in different directions.

The Christian life requires us to make a choice every single day. From the moment we wake up, our sinful nature is struggling against our spiritual nature. The sinful nature is entirely focused on gratifying Self. This leads to all kinds of lust and greed and selfish living. The spiritual nature is entirely focused on glorifying Christ. This leads to all kinds of love and generosity and selflessness. And God gives us the freedom to choose. Which nature will we feed? Which nature will we satisfy? Which nature will we encourage? As God’s chosen ones, we have been set free from the enslaving power of sin and death so we actually have the power and authority to make this choice. Will we choose to set our minds on things above? Will we choose to put to death our sin nature? Will we choose to put off the old self? Will we choose to put on the new self? Choose Christ that you might live, friends!

Readings for tomorrow: 1 Thessalonians 1-2, Psalms 15

Purification

Readings for today: Malachi 3-4, Psalms 64

As I write, there are several wildfires burning in my part of the country. They threaten homes and other buildings. Tragically, there is at least one person who lost their life. This isn’t uncommon for us. In the heat of summer, the fire danger rises. Hundreds of thousands of acres have burned over the last twenty or so years. Their names are etched in our memories. Hayman. Pine Gulch. Cameron Peak. Waldo Canyon. Marshall. The list goes on. Fire can be devastating and destructive. However, it can also be cleansing and purifying. Some of those fires have been fueled by brush and deadwood that has built up over decades. It creates unhealthy and dangerous conditions in our forest systems that lead to larger and more uncontrollable burns once they start. Fire is a necessary part of the cycle of renewal because of how it clears out the old to usher in the new.

Perhaps this is why the prophet Malachi picks up on this image in our reading today. “For look, the day is coming, burning like a furnace, when all the arrogant and everyone who commits wickedness will become stubble. The coming day will consume them,” says the Lord of Armies, “not leaving them root or branches. But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings, and you will go out and playfully jump like calves from the stall. You will trample the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day I am preparing,” says the Lord of Armies.” (Malachi‬ ‭4‬:‭1‬-‭3‬ ‭CSB‬‬) God looks down on the earth and can see the wickedness of humanity stacking up over the centuries. He sees the injustice. He sees the oppression. He sees the greed. He sees the selfishness. He sees the lust for power. He sees the deceit and violence and hatred. He sees all of it and He knows humanity must be cleansed and purified in order for righteousness to spring up. So He likens His coming to that of a cleansing fire that burns throughout the earth, consuming the wicked. But those who fear the Lord will find refuge from the flames and healing underneath His wings. We will go out in the wake of the fire to renew the land and reign in righteousness over all God has made.

So what then does it mean to be righteous? It means worshipping God in the way He deserves and demands. God doesn’t grade on a curve. He will never be satisfied with leftovers. Never be content to take second place. He will not allow us to take Him for granted or treat Him with disdain. God is a refining fire. A purifying fire. A cleansing fire. Malachi testifies to the fact that when the great Day of the Lord comes and Jesus returns in all His glory, all that is evil and arrogant and corrupt in this world will be burned by fire. All that is sinful and impure and ungodly in our lives will be set ablaze. The gold will be refined. The silver purified. Only that which is of the Lord will endure. It’s a sobering vision. One that should challenge and convict us as it did the people of Israel. We who have been saved by Jesus Christ have seen His glory. The glory of the One and Only Son come from the Father. As such, more is demanded from us. More is expected from us. It doesn’t matter what’s happening in the world around us. It doesn’t matter how difficult life’s circumstance may be. It doesn’t matter what barriers may exist or what trials we have to endure. God wants our heart. God wants our full devotion. He will never rest until He has the highest place in our lives.

Readings for tomorrow: 1 Chronicles 1-10, Psalms 65

Doubling Down

Readings for today: Job 22-24

I remember vividly the last time I gambled at a casino. It was in the late nineties before I became a pastor. I was on a business trip to Las Vegas and a friend of mine and I decided to play craps. We had a good night. When it came time for me to roll, I hit a hot streak. Rolled for almost 40 minutes without hitting a seven. It was crazy. People were cheering. Money was being made hand over fist. Frankly, I’ve never experienced anything quite like it. In the middle of all the chaos, a homeless man shuffled in. The lines in his face told the story of a hard life on the streets. He hadn’t showered in days. His teeth were almost gone. His eyes were blurry and unfocused. He held a crumpled up $20 bill he’d found in the gutter somewhere. He threw it down on the table. I promptly rolled a seven. The board cleared. The run was over. Everyone turned on this man. They cursed him. They jeered him. He just turned and shuffled away, never saying a word.  

I sometimes think about that man when I pray. I wonder where he is? Where life took him? If he ever got any help or if he just continued to barely survive on the streets? Doubling down each chance he got when someone gave him some money? I think about my own life. In so many ways, I am just like him. Doubling down on my own sin in my own heart rather than humbly submitting to God. As I read Eliphaz’s words this morning, I can feel his frustration boiling over. The general theological principle he’s held to his entire life - the righteous prosper, the unrighteous are punished - has failed him. But rather than humbly recognizing the failure and taking a step back, he doubles down. He attacks his dear friend Job. He accuses him of crimes against God. “You’re a first-class moral failure, because there is no end to your sins.” (Job 22:5 MSG) You have robbed your brothers. You have stripped the naked. You have withheld water from the thirsty. You have not fed the hungry. You have treated widows and orphans with disdain. Over and over again, he verbally assaults his friend. Someone once asked me why Satan is not more visible in Job after the first few chapters. My answer was that we encounter him throughout the book in the words of Job’s friends. Remember, satan means “accuser.”

How does Job respond? He doubles down on God. “If I knew where on earth to find Him, I’d go straight to Him. I’d lay out my case before Him face-to-face, give Him all my arguments firsthand. I’d find out exactly what He’s thinking, discover what’s going on in His head. Do you think He’d dismiss me or bully me? No, He’d take me seriously. He’d see a straight-living man standing before Him; my Judge would acquit me for good of all charges.” (Job 23:3-7 MSG) Job is confident in God’s justice and righteousness. Confident God will hear his prayers. Confident God would pay attention to him, unlike his friends who seem so bent on contending with him. 

The problem, of course, is Job can’t seem to find God in the midst of his suffering and pain. Though he’s assailed the heavens, they seem shut up. Though he’s cried out, all he’s received so far is deafening silence. Job has done his best but to no avail. “I travel East looking for Him - I find no one; then West, but not a trace; I go North, but He’s hidden His tracks; then South, not even a glimpse.” (Job 23:8-9 MSG) However, he does not despair. Why? Because he trusts God. “But He knows where I am and what I’ve done. He can cross-examine me all He wants, and I’ll pass the test with honors.” (Job‬ ‭23:10 MSG‬) Though Job can’t seem to find the way to God, God knows the way to him. And at the end of all the trials and all the trauma, Job is confident God will make things right. Job is confident he will emerge better than before.

Admittedly, I am partial to these verses. When things have been at their darkest in my own life or I’ve struggled with uncertainty and doubt and fear or when the trials I’ve faced have taken me to the end of myself and the end of my resources and the end of my plans; Job 23:10 has been my comfort and my hope. I know what it’s like to double down on sin. I know what it’s like to double down on self-destruction. I know what it’s like to double down in my pride and arrogance. And in those moments, God has broken me utterly and completely. Humbled me in so many ways. He has laid me low to teach me about His sufficiency and grace. He has used the trials of my life to refine me. Purify me. Sanctify me. And His work is not done. Not until I reach glory. 

Readings for tomorrow: None