How does He do it?

I am often perplexed at the level of murmuring and complaining that is found coming from the body of Christ.  We are all exposed to the murmurings and complaining of others.  It seems to be the mindset and attitude of the population in general.  Believers are constantly targeted and exposed to complaining as others seek guidance or assurance from them.  The danger in this is that it can be and often is contagious.  It is so much so that we often find this as one of the prominent behavior patterns found amongst the members in the Body of Christ itself.  As believers, we have so much to be thankful for and appreciative of because of the work of Christ in our hearts and life yet they can find that they can easily succumb to the wiles of this sinful behavior.  I know that I should not be too surprised by this since murmuring and complaining was one of the problem traits of the children of Israel.  Pride and selfish dissatisfaction is often the underlying sin that feeds this behavior.  The desire to please self over and above anyone else is a cause that motivates this type of communication.  The fact still remains that it is sadly a very common trait that is found within the family of God.  What makes this extremely disheartening is that this behavior is neither a presentable trait for a believer nor is it ever right to do so.  

A short while back I had the unfortunate opportunity to have to overhear a conversation by two people in ministry as they griped, whined and complained about a third and the third person had no recourse or rebuttal because they weren’t there.  After a couple of minutes or so I had enough and since my only real option was to remove myself, I quietly did so.  I relocated myself to another area but not out of earshot, I could not get far enough away from the sound of their voices and their continuous complaining.  Their constant whining and complaining about this third party is all that I heard for over fifteen minutes.  Nothing I could do would drown out the constant drone coming from their conversation.  Then in a frustrated moment of prayer, a sad resounding truth ran through my heart and my mind.  It was as if God was speaking directly to me and I did not like the words that I heard which were, “I can’t get away from them either and now I hear your complaint as well.” Ouch!  The thought struck me straight through the heart, He not only heard their complaining, but I had subjected God to my complaint as well.  The sad truth is that God hears everybody as they complain.   

Our Heavenly Father has an ear that is tuned in for the call of His children and unfortunately when His children complain and we all do, I am not sure that He tunes that out.  There is no mention in the Word that He does so.  If you do a quick word search, you will find 33 references of murmuring.  If you take a closer look, you will find some 16 passages alone that speak of Israel’s murmuring while they were in their wilderness journey, while they were under God’s direct care.  God cannot remove Himself from the constant murmuring and complaining of all of His children. 

With that said, I am once again perplexed because, I have no idea of how He does it.  How does our loving God who longs to hear the voices of his children in prayer filter through all of the whining, griping and complaining of His children?  I do not know how He does it!  I am further perplexed in thought in that if He does not do so, how does He filter through it all?

Along the same lines I wonder what often compels believers to think that they have the right to whine and complain as they do.  Do they not know that every word spoken against another believer is a word spoken against the body of Christ and thus grieves Holy Spirit?  The Scriptures clearly tell us that our words should edify and lift up to the building up of the body not the tearing down of the body.  “Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.” (Ephesians 4:12) and “Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. (30) And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. (31) Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:” (Ephesians 4:29-31).  As we can see from this Scripture passage above, the Bible clearly warns us against grieving the Holy Spirit; do we not realize that is exactly what is being done when a believer speaks out against another believer in Christ?  Whenever we gripe and complain saying we know better than another believer we are in a sense telling God that He doesn’t know what He is doing.  I find that to be dangerous ground.  “But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him.”  (1 Corinthians 12:18)  I do believe that God places individuals in whatever position they hold and when another believer speaks out against them they are in turn speaking out against God.  Murmuring and complaining about other believers is to do so against the Lord.  We are warned in the Word of God that we are to “… bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10 5b), we also see that Jesus tells in Matthew 12:36, “But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.”  They wonder why they are dissatisfied, perhaps it is because they are at odds with the Father.  They wonder why they are disgruntled, it is because of sin.  They complain that things are not going their way yet they fail to see that the Scriptures clearly teach them that we are to, “Do all things without murmurings and disputings:” (Philippians 2:14).  I am reminded of a quote I read from John Piper which said, “Sin is what we do when we are dissatisfied with God.”  Are we so selfish that we are willing to sin against a Holy God because we want our way and cannot get it?

I am often in awe when I think about all that God does in the lives of His children.  I cannot understand how He does not get frustrated after a few minutes of listening to a believer as they whine and complain about another brother or sister in Christ and yet God does hear every one of us.  I am glad that God does hear us because I rely on the fact that He hears and answers prayer.  But in the mist of all the prayers that are being offered up, intermingled with the pleas for help and the cries for salvation at any given time He also hears bickering, whining, complaining and crying about another brother or sister in Christ.  It must not be so.  When we are close to someone who is doing so, we must help them to curb their complaining by turning it over to Christ not encourage their pity party.  As we noted earlier we are commanded to do all things without murmuring and disputing.  If we are to be true representation of Christ here on earth, then we must do so without complaining.  I'm not talking about criticism, I am referring to complaining especially that which is about another brother or sister.  Our communication should be such that it to be such that is edifying and uplifting the body.  Our conversation should be such that it emphasizes the building up of another believer, not the tearing down.  The Bible says we should grieve not the Holy Spirit and that is exactly what we are doing when we speak against another brother.  We do not have that right and we cannot reserve that right because that alone belongs to Christ.

When Peter denied Christ the third time, the Scriptures says that Jesus turned from the midst of his torment and trial and that He looked upon Peter.  This moment, this look broke the heart of Peter because of his sin.  What would you do, how would you feel if the precise moment of your last sin if you could see Jesus turn from His pain and look upon you?  What if in the midst of your whining and complaining if you could see the hurt in the Savior’s eyes.

The bottom line is this, God can do so because He is God.  Our bottom line is to do our best to not add to the whining that He has to put up with.  I am reminded of a prayer that I once read which said, “Deliver me from the natural Darkness of my own mind, from the corruption of my heart, from the temptations to which I am exposed, from the daily snares that attend me.” ¹

  I add to this, Lord help me to be more like your Son not just another child who adds to the noise.  I ask that my conversations be such that up lift an edify you and make me more aware of every word that comes out of my mouth.

1.      Valley of Vision, God Honoured pg 25

It's not who I am... but what I ‘do’...

In the movie “Batman Begins” the Batman’s nemesis, Henri Ducard aka “Ra's al Ghul” has tricked the police into closing off the Narrows which helps him as he prepares his assault on Gotham City.  Now the Narrows is an island in the middle of the Gotham River, situated between Midtown and Downtown Gotham City.  It is hoe to a poor, decaying and rundown neighborhood, it is also the place in which the infamous Arkham Asylum is located.  Once the island has been isolated from access, Ra's al Ghul and his followers began to release a psychotropic hallucinogen into the air.  This hallucinogen will cause the people in the narrows to act out in a panic-inducing state.  His starting point is the escaping patients of the Arkham Asylum and then the panic will soon overcome the residents of the Narrows as the gas engulfs the town as a fog.

In the midst of all of this is the Batman.  He is there to battle Ra’s al Ghul in an attempt to thwart his evil plan for Gotham City.  In the beginning of the attack Batman rescues Rachel Dawes and a small boy from a surrounding mob, by taking them off the streets and lifting them onto a nearby roof top where they should be safe.  Before the Batman can leave he is confronted by Rachel.  It is here that Rachel calls out, “Wait!  You could die.  At least tell me your name.  After a short pause, the Batman answers her “It's not who I am underneath... but what I ‘do’... that defines me.”  Rachel is noticeably stunned by his answer and calls out, “Bruce?”  Just as the Batman turns and leaps off the roof.

This scene from the movie “Batman Begins” has always been one of my favorites of the Christopher Nolan “Batman” Trilogy because it gives us a glimpse of the Batman that we have not seen before, it gives us Batman’s definition of himself.  I believe that this one line from the movie is a line that we as believers should learn from.  “It's not who I am underneath... but what I ‘do’... that defines me.”  I say this because it somewhat parallels a passage of Scripture in which Jesus taught in Matthew 5:16, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”  It is the good works that we do that glorifies the Father.  It is our good works that we do that should define the relationship with the Lord that we have.  Our good works should outshine all that we are and all that we do.  But this is not so, especially in the common Christian community.  Sadly, all too often it is the selfishness of man “I did this” that over shadows the good works that are done for Christ. 

When it comes to the Christian walk many fail to understand that it is to be a way of life it is to be one that is constantly representing the Lord Jesus here on earth.  While writing his second epistle to the Corinthians, we find that Paul compares his own calling to that of an ambassador.  With that being said, he urges all Believers to consider the fact that they too, are ambassadors for Christ.  Note what he says in 2 Corinthians 5:20, “Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God.”  The apostle was referring to his role of ministry in general but we can see that the application to all is evident.  He is encouraging all believers to do the same.  When we identified our lives with Christ we died to self and were made alive in Him.  As believers our role and responsibility to those around us is to present Christ to them.  We are to do so in both word and deed.  Others should see a difference in both the works that we do and in that which proceeds out of our mouths. 

When we are around others, no matter where we are they should see a difference, not just a veneer that we put on for show but an actual difference that Christ has made within us.  If there is anything that this world teaches us it is that a server of self is opposite of what the Word teaches.  We are called to serve others first (Galatians 5:13-14, “For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.  (14)  For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” NKJV).  One thing that I have observed over the years is that the average church is at best comprised of mostly church attenders.  They are not interested in serving, but they are quite prominent in noticing when they are not properly served.  They have heard that surrendering to Christ is important but are not willing to fully surrender to Him.  It is as if they are always weighing their options if you will.  The truth is that with Jesus it is all or nothing; He is an option that we can take or leave on a whim’s notice. 

Once again the Batman said, “It's not who I am underneath... but what I ‘do’... that defines me.”  And this is what I see as relevant for believers.  It's not who I am underneath (this is the “old” me underneath, it is the old sinful nature that waits for every opportunity to come out.  I do not want others to see that side of me.)  but what I ‘do’ (I want others to see in my actions that I am an ambassador for Christ.  I would like for others to experience that I am a servant of Christ.)  that defines me”  (and this is what should really defines me).  For this to be real in my life there needs to be a change and that change has to be drastic, the same is true of and for all believers.

The most common thread that runs throughout the church today is the thread or theme of selfishness.  The common cry, the drastic plea within the church is for its people to step up and serve other church members.  We are to step up and serve the “church.”  If I were to honestly look at the church in the light of the Batman’s statement I would have to say shame on us all.  For that which is underneath is still defining us if the church does not have enough people to serve.  Nowhere in the Scriptures do we find the commandment that calls us to sit back and be served.  If believers today would grasp a hold of Christ as He has of them life in the church would be radically different.  I am greatly disappointed in the church today as the majority of believers have a “me first,” “serve me” or worse yet, an “I did this” attitude.  This is evident in every church bulletin you find the leadership pleading for more volunteers. 

Serving in the church is not a gift, it is not a call it is a definition of who we are.  Matthew 23:11-12, “But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant. (12) And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.”  If this is true with you then you can clearly say, “It's not who I am underneath... but what I ‘do’... that defines me.” 

New Start for 2016

 

Every once in a while we need to regroup, reorganize and restart our priorities especially when it comes to the personal things in life.  Everyone faces these restarts differently; some do so with question, others with quite reserve and still others with uncertainty and speculation.  One thing is certain and that is, each new day will provide all of us a certain amount of unseen variables.  Every year is different bringing with it a calendar full of challenges and obstacles that will need to be faced and often calls for us to take a look at the priorities that we have put in place in our lives.  Some days you will find that you are up to the challenge and other days you will feel overwhelmed.  The times that we feel that overwhelming feeling is most likely when life interrupts and throws us a curveball our way.  Last year was one of the curveball years.  I started the year having every intention to write and blog more but partway through the year life threw us a curveball.  We were faced with a short and unexpected hospital stay which in turn slowed me down immensely.  We do hope and pray that this year we will be able to pick up where we left off in all areas of ministry especially blogging, and I want to thank those who have asked us to continue with our blog.

We plan to face this restart of blogging with eyes wide open and with the expectation that the Lord will continue prove Himself and to do many great things as He has in the past.  It has at times surprised me in the way that God moves in and out of the pages of our life’s story.  Then, if we will be honest with ourselves, as we reflect on the past we will all find that we were the ones who were weaving in and out of God’s story.  He has continued to step in to help us face each of life’s situations.  I am reminded of the words of the Apostle Paul which says, “And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.  (20) Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us.” (Ephesians 3:19-20)  I know that He is going to be there for me because He is faithful to His Word.  He cannot change nor can He deny Himself but moreso, He is faithful even when we are not.

I would like to post this new blog with a personal twist in that I would like to share our thanks to God for His faithfulness and for His presence in our heart and life.  I thank Him for my wife and family who continue to stand by my side and put up with my many idiosyncrasies.  I thank and praise God for our very close friends who have walked with us these past few years and continue to not only support us but also give us guidance and accountability when needed.  I wish to thank the Lord, and pray for my dad who will be celebrating his 88th birthday this year, for our oldest son who will be getting married in June and for our dog Gabriel, who we rejoiced in his 14th birthday this past February.

I would like it to be known of me that when I speak that I try to use words that are most often fitting, direct and not spoken maliciously.  In the book of Proverbs we are reminded in that, “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver.” Proverbs 25:11 and James 1:19 which says, “...my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath.”  I have tried hard to develop and to practice listening skills to uplift and help others.  This has been especially helpful as I sit across the counseling table from those who come to us for Biblical Counseling.  Far too often we find that we desire to invoke repair thoughts before hearing the whole thought process of those we are talking too.  We find that this characteristic is also covered in the Scriptures, “He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him.” Proverbs 18:13.  I do pray that these words will ring true in the counseling room and in all of life’s situations.

As I start blogging this Year, my desire is that the following words will be a pattern for life, “Lord I hear you and thank you for your ever presence in my life.  I need you to help me to take the first steps when needed and above all please help me to walk the paths that you will be leading me.  Lord Jesus, help me to rid myself of my own sinful and selfish desires and cleanse my heart of my selfish ways so that others can see you and not me.”

As a Biblical counselor I want to show the same compassion that Jesus does in the Gospels, and Paul in his Epistles so carefully and heart fully demonstrated.  I want to express a loving-kindness toward those who are hurting and offer gentle persuasion to help bring them to a full knowledge of the Lord Jesus.  I do believe that compassion has to be more than just a feeling of sympathy and heart-felt sorrow.  It has to be more than simple empathy, it has to be an action that helps others to want to take the appropriate steps that will meet their needs more than just satiny their feelings.  I do believe that this is the direction that the Father wants us to go.  We find that He has given us this example to follow in Psalm 103:13, “As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him.”  Here we find two expressions of the compassion offered us by God the Father first, we see that He “has” compassion on his children but we also see that He “showed” compassion on everyone not just His own but on others as well.

My hope, my desire, my passion this year is to show more of Jesus and less of me.  No matter if it is in my home life, at work in private meetings and especially to all those who we will encounter in the counseling room.  I want to be a reflection of John 3:30, “He must increase, but I must decrease.”

Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, …” Gen. 3:1

We often hear stories of how Satan works in this world and how he tries to undermine the work of God.  There is not a greater collection of these stories than the Word of God.  One of the most interesting stories that can be found in Genesis.  It is here where we are introduced to God, man and Satan.  The above passage from Genesis 3 opens the pages of history past to give us a ringside seat at the first face to face encounter between mankind (Eve) and Satan.  In this encounter we find Eve both out gunned and out classed by the enemy.  There is no doubt that He is as determined as he is subtle.  His directive is to take God down and he is determined to do so, one believer at a time if and as he deems necessary.  One true sign of his subtlety is seen in the way that he presents his case to the believer.  With craftiness of a court room lawyer he gets his opponents themselves to trip themselves up.  He asks his questions deliberately and yet slightly twisting the truth in such a way that he mixes in a little error.  He doesn’t question God, he gets his opponents to do so. Eve balked and faltered because she was unsure of the truth.  She did not hear God tell Adam what to do, she was going on what Adam had said and what of the truth she thought that she heard.

Now this historically specific encounter happened and is recorded for us as an example of the craftiness of our enemy.  I believe that he is as aggressive today as he ever was.   Yet at the same time I do not believe that the plan of the enemy has changed that much over the years.  The main difference is found in his ability to quickly and specifically cater each approach to the individual that he is facing.  If anything has changed it is his tenacity toward those who have called upon the name of Christ. 

 

I saw this picture on the internet the other day and it reminded me of the way that Satan tries to grasp a hold on our minds as he questions the believer in his attempt to get them to question God themselves.  The enemy confronts every believer at one time or another.  Many of whom, like Eve, will face the enemy and be out gunned and out classed because they failed to prepare for the battle.  Eve had no idea that she would one day be in a spiritual battle, once that day took place it found that she was unprepared.

All believers must realize that Jesus is the anchor that holds us fast to the family of God. It is because of this truth, the believer today must come to the understanding that the most important issues in this life will pale in comparison to our relationship with Christ Jesus.

So let me ask you a question: “How much time does it take to have or develop a good relationship?” Before you answer, ask yourself to verify your answer in the light of the statements below.

“How much time does it take to have or develop a good relationship?”

•           Ask a grieving widow as she sits at a bed side of her spouse of 50+ years struggles for each breath

•           Ask the couple who are celebrating their 1st wedding anniversary

•           Ask the parent how much time as they watch their child march off to war

•           Ask a young boy how much time as he holds onto his ailing dog

Time is not just of the essence it is of the most preeminence especially when it comes to our relationship with Jesus.  How much time is needed you ask, and the answer is all that they can get and a little more if possible.  We often find that time spent developing any relationship is never enough.  Erwin Lutzer once said, “The more intimate we are with God, the more we can discern His mind and His heart.”  Intimacy is what is developed over long periods of time as we act and interact within a relationship.  The better the relationship the more intimate it is and the more intimate it is the more liberating it becomes.  Intimacy in any relationship is always in direct correlation of how much time is invested developing the relationship.

Getting back to the opening statement, Eve was unprepared for a Spiritual battle and that largely rested upon the fact that she did not have an intimate relationship with the Lord.  She was relying upon Adam’s relationship and that was not enough, it will never be enough.  If we do not develop our own relationship with Christ we, like Eve will go into Spiritual battle unprepared and destined for failure. 

During World War II Japan had built a Battleship that was called the “Yamato” she and her sister ship the “Musashi” were the heaviest and most powerfully armed battleships ever constructed.  These ships were designed and built to counter the numerically superior battleship fleet of the United States Navy.  They often proved their superiority when matched one on one or against small task fleets but when they were finally matched against the well-armed and battle ready Pacific Fleet they both met their match and were sunk near the end of the war.  Satan is much like the Yamato in that he is well armed, keenly suited for battle and well fitted for the task that as at hand.   When matched against this opponent the believer soon finds that they are no match for him.  This is why we must be aware that even when we are at our strongest we are no match for him and that we must remain in constant contact with our Heavenly Father.  We must get a grip on our relationship with Christ before the enemy gets his grips on us.

Even Jesus Himself when He was confronted one on one by this enemy referred to God the Father and to the Word for His defense.  I say that if this is the battle strategy of the Lord Jesus should it not be ours as well?  I am reminded of the following passages of Scripture, “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.” (Psalm 119:11).  “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” (Psalm 119:105).  We must also note that God said, “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.” Isaiah 26:3.

The truth is that no one born of the flesh is able to overcome this wicked one.

Have you forgotten the importance of the eternal? 

Have you allowed the enemy to steal your joy?

For some, he has replaced our joy with an unsatisfying hunger and drive to that which only Christ Himself can fulfill.  It is no wonder that so many believers live unhappy and bitter lives.  They try to fill a void that only Christ can fill with everything but Christ.  Jesus is all that we need.  We trust Him for salvation then look everywhere else for satisfaction after that.  One of the best tricks of the enemy is to get our eyes off of Jesus and on to a counterfeit Jesus.