The Word of God - First & Foremost

[i][ii]

I listen carefully to what God the Lord is saying, for he speaks peace to his faithful people.  But let them not return to their foolish ways.  Surely his salvation is near to those who fear him, so our land will be filled with his glory.  Unfailing love and truth have met together.  Righteousness and peace have kissed!  Truth springs up from the earth, and righteousness smiles down from heaven.  Psalm 85:8-11

Note that the Psalmist says that he listens carefully to what God the Lord is saying.  When we listen carefully, it isn’t just so we can hear what God is saying, and then do what we please.  That is always a possibility for humans because of free will.  But that would not be serving God with integrity; it amounts to lip service!  A few examples:

·      God rejects murder of the unborn; our Supreme Court didn’t think so…

·      God requires humans to be heterosexual…our Supreme Court didn’t think so…

To listen carefully implies receiving information AND acting in obedience to God’s will; believing means behaving!  The idea is to gain truth and put that truth in relationship with righteousness.  We are to practice the kiss of truth (understanding what is right) and righteousness (doing what is right).  This is the kind of integrity our leaders and citizens must have to be right with God.

The point is simple:  it doesn’t matter what a majority of humans think; God requires obedience.  Man’s Supreme Court has nowhere near the authority of eternity.  When we forget that, or forsake that, we court war with heaven.

Throughout history Scripture has always been foremost in authority. 

Here are six important historical Christian leaders who thought that way:

1.     Peter was fond of saying it is written.

2.     Paul told Timothy[1] that he should study Scripture hard and teach it diligently if if he wanted God’s approval.

3.     Martin Luther (father to our Lutheran brethren) stood on sola Scriptura.

4.     John Calvin (Presbyterian founder) wrote 944 pages of theology that all point to Scripture as authoritative.

5.     Baptist Charles Haddon Spurgeon preached for 57 years an average of 7-8 times weekly.  In his spare time he wrote 150 books.  Every bit of that bends the knee to Scripture.

6.     And for the purist Methodists among us, John Wesley’s “quadrilateral” (Scripture, Tradition, Reason, Experience) takes us to the Bible first and foremost.  If you check out his sermons you cannot find a seminal or stray thought that doesn’t have Scripture as its base.  He quoted Scripture so often in his sermons if you read them (all 40,000 times preached) you get credit in Heaven for reading the Bible twice.  Today Wesley would cringe that his preachers know more of the Book of Discipline than Scripture.

There are all kinds of decisions made about right and wrong, about what’s best for our country, police forces, the law, family, and culture.  It may not be possible to figure out what is best from the arguments that are constantly presented in the news or media, but Scripture, God’s Holy Word doesn’t leave us in doubt.

I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.      Psalm 119:11

Letting truth (understanding what’s right) and righteousness (doing what’s right) have that kiss, because you will listen to God, and then DO things God’s way, will always land you on the right side of history; it’s a perfect kiss!

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit…Amen!

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[1] 2 Timothy 2:15

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[i] All Scripture quoted is from The New Living Translation (unless otherwise stated)  Title Image:  Pixabay.com

[ii] Title Image:  By Jan Adam Kruseman via Wikimedia Commons

Overwhelmed

[i]

Thursday, October 20, 2016

What mighty praise, O God, belongs to you in Zion.  We will fulfill our vows to you, for you answer our prayers.  All of us must come to you.  Though we are overwhelmed by our sins, you forgive them all.  Psalm 65:1-3^(NLT)

Thoughtful, or inward-exploring people, are those who spend much time searching-out their inner life.  It can be a problem.

I know. 

We are labeled introverts, and not incorrectly; our energy is quickly consumed by the outer life of engaging with others.  Most of our re-energizing comes from spending time alone.  Humans are made with rechargeable emotional batteries, but one size does NOT fit all!  Extroverts recharge when in a crowd with opportunities to talk, laugh and kick the party up a notch.  Introverts find an excuse to go home and sit with a book or just scratch the dog’s belly. 

Just like you wouldn’t try to run a 220 volt dryer with a couple of double-A Energizers, you don’t cheer-up an introvert by scheduling a surprise party at his house; that’s where introverted batteries go to die!

I’ve been an introvert long enough to have figured out that I won’t die if I engage with people.  But I can go on life-support if I spend too much time alone.  Of course I’m pointing to the concept of balance which people need in life.  To do the math, extroverts may need a balance of 80% group hugs, and only 20% alone time.  Introverts can wear down quickly if it’s not the other way around.

I am somewhat convinced that King David was an introvert; he wrote of being overwhelmed by our sins.  David’s life was quite public (being a king will tend towards that!), and so were his sins and failures.  The consequences of being an adulterer, and being publicly humiliated by God’s prophet for that, as well as conspiracy to commit murder to cover his reputation, were such that David was driven deep within to search out his heart.  David prayed:

Have mercy on me, O God…blot out the stain of my sins.  Wash me clean from my guilt.  Purify me from my sin.  For I recognize my rebellion; it haunts me day and night.  Psalm 51:1-3

This was the prayer of a man deeply-convicted by sin and guilt; David was overwhelmed and yet he was still called a man after God’s own heart.[ii]  I believe this is so because, though David was up against his own sin, the devil’s accusation and the possibility of losing everything, this introvert knew enough to lay out his case before God and pray for mercy, not justice.

Assured of forgiveness, David went on, warts and all, to serve God for many years.  And God used him to build the kingdom and create many of the beautiful Psalms that help us worship and know God.

I have known quite a few pastors who, like David, engage with people in a public ministry, but when the meeting is over they must run home to recharge, to re-connect with the inner life.  Charles Haddon Spurgeon, legendary preacher at the London Tabernacle, was the most famous of ministers of his day, speaking to thousands each week.  They may not have termed it “introversion” in his day, but it’s clear from some of what he wrote that he battled being an introvert in a world run by extroversion:

I am the subject of depression so fearful that I hope none of you ever get to such extremes of wretchedness as I go to.  But I always get back again by this–I know that I trust Christ.  I have no reliance but in Him, and if He falls, I shall fall with Him.  But if He does not, I shall not.  Because He lives, I shall live also, and I spring to my legs again and fight with my depressions of spirit and get the victory through it.  And so may you do, and so you must, for there is no other way of escaping from it.[iii]

For You Today

Overwhelmed?  Follow David’s tracks to the altar; that’s where the healing begins.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road…have a blessed day!

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NOTES

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[i] Title Images: Carol M. Highsmith [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

[ii] Acts 13:22

[iii] Suffer from Depression?  Spurgeon Did Too