God’s dealings – Page 23 – Broken Believers

Man on Fire

One morning in January 1984 I set myself on fire. I was in my cabin up on the ridge and I was trying to build a fire. Alaska can be a cold place. I had also started a coffee pot and because it was so cold I opened up the oven door a couple of inches to get some heat.

The oven started getting the place warm, and I gratefully backed up my butt to it. That is when it happened. My sweater ignited from the front burner. At first I didn’t realize that I was on fire, but when the flames started spreading over my head I panicked.

I couldn’t put it out! I dropped to the floor and tried to roll. All that seemed to do is embed that burning sweater into my back, and set the carpet on fire. I ran to the bathroom with the idea of getting under the shower. Somehow I knew that was my only hope.

Needless to say I ended up in the local hospital with second and third degree burns on most of my back. It took months to recover and I still have the scars. It was something that changed my life.

Ironically, I had been thinking of a verse in Hebrews just the night before. I wondered what it meant.

“He makes his angels spirits, and his servants flames of fire.”

Hebrews 1:7

As I healed I prayed for understanding. Why did the Lord allow this to me? I was in my third year at a Bible college and had given my life over for the Gospel. Why did this happen to me?

I’ve never gotten a complete answer from the Lord, but it did confirm my call into the ministry. It also made me aware of the precariousness of our lives. It taught me to appreciate life.

The doctor told me that if I had run outside instead of staying inside I could have died. God preserved me for His own purposes. We have no way of knowing “our time.”

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

Romans 8:28

bry-signat-1

cropped-christiangraffiti1 (2)

Caving Into the Presence

“Let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.”

Hebrews 10:22

I have never really understood “caving”. Some consider it a sport, but I guess I really don’t see the athleticism of it. People actually seem to derive some satisfaction and thrill from exploring muddy caves in the dark. I guess I can try to grab the basic idea of it, but to me it’s a whole lot like “parachuting”. Why jump out of a perfectly decent airplane, when you can sit in a Starbucks with a vanilla latte? It doesn’t compute.

But there is a sense about caving that resonates with the hunger in a man’s or woman’s heart. Hebrews tell us that we are to enter the presence of God. The keys will be sincerity and trust. In other words, a honesty, and a trust that will open up the passage. Spiritual spelunkers in a quest for His glor OUCC-Cave-Climbing y.

Sometimes something will block a person. Depression is a barrier for us. Essentially it effects our passion and strength. Our pursuit of God is nullified by the corrosive facets of depression and melancholy. There is no longer any zip or zeal for His presence. The fire of zeal we once had just fizzles out. But to reach our goal, we need to squeeze beyond the blockage. There is a spiritual resistance. Our infernal enemy is working against any progress.

So much involves patience and humility. A person must continue to probe ahead but slowly and patiently, taking their time and monitoring their progress. Humility is necessary. An awareness of self and our dimensions in tight spots. “Am I small enough to squeeze through that hole?”

Our scripture tells us that we have a key to the throne room of God. Our guiltiness and our defiled conscience have both been cleansed or sanitized from anything that would corrupt us. We haven’t done a thing. And we are exhorted to be very bold. Jesus has made us pure. We are clean.

Tricycle Theology, Psalm 106:1-5

A Psalm Study

Psalm 106:1-5, New Living Translation (NLT)

¹Praise the Lord!

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good!
    His faithful love endures forever.
²Who can list the glorious miracles of the Lord?
    Who can ever praise him enough?
³There is joy for those who deal justly with others
    and always do what is right.

4 Remember me, Lord, when you show favor to your people;

     come near and rescue me.

 5 Let me share in the prosperity of your chosen ones.

     Let me rejoice in the joy of your people;

     let me praise you with those who are your heritage.
These five verses cap a “Psalm of Rebellion,” tragically found in part two of this psalm (vv. 6-46.)  This work dates to ‘post-exile’ times, and Daniel is believed to have written it. Nehemiah himself quotes from it as he intercedes for the nation upon Israel’s return from captivity.
But these five verses are very different from the rest of the Psalm. They ably serve as a positive introduction to some pretty depressing stuff. I like these first five, they carry a refreshing quality about them. I read them and I’m happy I did.
V. 1, Thanksgiving is to be a normal part of the believer’s life. Imagine little Johnny. He is celebrating his sixth birthday today. His uncle has brought over a gift—a bright red tricycle, with ribbons out of the handlebars! Johnny is estatic, he can’t believe it. Mom steps in and says to him, “What do you say, Johnny?” Johnny thinks. “Thank you, Uncle Ed. This is what I’ve wanted my whole life.”
If the truth be told, Johnny’s response to his uncle’s perfect gift is much like the believer’s response to God. “What do you say, Johnny?” Johnny’s mom would say— and that is what the little guy did. We are to also give thanks. To do is an easy thing, and perhaps does more for us than our Father in heaven.
V.2, “Who can ever praise him enough?” Excessive displays of affection are ‘nothing to roll your eyes at.’ Some wag defined a fanatic as “someone who loves Jesus more than you do.”
V. 3, is an observation by Daniel about the joy available to us if we will only work-out our issues of obedience. This verse might seem out of place, but I assure you its not. It fits in well with vv. 6-46.
V. 4, “Remember me, Lord,” contains the desire to be included in the grace that will follow. We should let our heavenly Father know that we want to be part of what He is doing.
V. 5, “Let me” is repeated three times. This phrase is critical to the believer’s walk; it is a statement of submission combined with desire. The writer is asking ‘permission’ from God to become part of the aspects of His kingdom. Matthew 7 gives us the principle that God is looking for. So ask.
8 “For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.”
Matthew 7:8

“The Sheep Dip”

“It is not my business to judge those who are not part of the church. God will judge them. But you must judge the people who are part of the church. The Scripture says, “You must get rid of the evil person among you.”

1 Cor. 5:12-13

We live in time of staggering sin. It’s saturating everything and everybody— the world, and the Church . Our rebellion has gone viral. We’ve been so inured and taken by it we find we just can’t imagine thinking apart from its influence. Two generations ago things were astonishingly simple. Todays sin has gotten superbly sophisticated— or has it?

Paul in his note to the Corinth church was compelled to point out a few things. The culture in Corinth was like a communal ‘sheep dip’. Everyone went through it. It saturated everything— it soaked everyone, from head-to-toe.

This extreme atmosphere of sin pushed Paul to take a stand. Most likely he would never had to do this. But, the conditions demanded he respond to the sin that was raging everywhere. And perhaps by doing this publicly, he could see people saved from feeling ‘the flames’.

The Church in 1 Cor. 5 felt that they were doing the right thing by accepting people living in continuous sin. It seems as if their liberal hearts were opened to receive sinners of all varieties. In their thinking, this made themselves as the Corinthian church quite remarkable, maybe even exceptional.

Paul however, will not be manipulated by human logic. He instead presses us with him, to the good and the true. He admits (point blank, mind you) that he has no authority over the lost, the secular, and the world. He has nothing, ‘zilch’ to say about the way the heathen behave. “It’s none of my business’ says Paul. And he turns, and walks away.

We Christians, as believers however, are his business. Paul, like a great ‘lens,’ focuses on you, and on me. As part of the Church we are brought under its oversight and its direction. It dictates to us now what is proper for us– acceptable, and honoring. But the ‘worldling’, he goes free, doing whatever he desires. We however, come into a direct and sure correction of our ways.

What is your sphere of influence, and how far does it extend? For Paul, he recognized his boundries. And we must see ours. The urge to intervene is very strong. We must back off. But even though we detach from our worldly commitments, we are still to be a strong, sure light in their midst. But we are not to be the judges of this world system. But the Church is a whole other matter.

Share this:

Share this:

A Psalm Study

Psalm 106:1-5, New Living Translation (NLT)

Share this:

Share this: