Tag Archives: Living well

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Pride and Humility Part 2

Humility Extolled

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"Only the poor in spirit can be humble. How often the experience, growth, and progress of a Christian become such precious matters to him that he loses his lowliness." Watchman Nee

O Lord, You have heard the desire of the humble; You will strengthen their heart, You will incline Your ear to vindicate the orphan and the oppressed, so that man who is of the earth will no longer cause terror.  Psalm 10:17-18

As I stated in the last post (Pride and Humility Part 1 –  Pride Renounced), we live in a culture that promotes autonomy, independence and self-assuredness.  When controlled, these characteristics are useful tools in life.  However, left unchecked, they will likely lead to pride.  Prideful arrogance impedes a relationship with God, inhibits relationships with others, multiplies guilt, brings dishonor and insures judgement.   Alternatively, humility is often despised by our culture because it appears to be the weaker trait.  However, it is desired by God because it yields rewards in both this life and the one to come.  Following are a few of the benefits.

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Deliberate Pursuit

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Pursue a life well lived with God's passion.

But flee from these things, you man of God, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance and gentleness.  Fight the good fight of faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.  1 Timothy 6:11-12

I’ve watched several people die…it’s not a particularly pleasant experience.  The closer you are to them, the harder it is.  The longer it takes, the more time you have to think.  That time and that pondering offer an opportunity for personal reflection in a way that no other experience does.  As someone you love is on the brink of entering eternity, what is important in life seems to be much clearer than when we are in the daily race meeting deadlines and running errands, etc.   Knowing that a loved one will shortly meet their Lord and God allows the Holy Spirit to speak to us and apply God’s word to our lives in ways that drive home His message with more depth and understanding.  In short, it is a wake-up call to pursue a life well lived…that is, to live intentionally rather than passively.

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Trouble, Anguish and Understanding Pt. 2

Trouble Without

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WE CAN BE CERTAIN THAT GOD WILL GIVE US THE STRENGTH AND RESOURCES WE NEED TO LIVE THROUGH ANY SITUATION IN LIFE THAT HE ORDAINS. THE WILL OF GOD WILL NEVER TAKE US WHERE THE GRACE OF GOD CANNOT SUSTAIN US. BILLY GRAHAM

“Trouble and anguish have come upon me, yet Your commandments are my delight. Your testimonies are righteous forever; give me understanding that I may live.” Psalm 119:143-144

Trouble…it seems like a simple enough word to understand.   However, when looking at definitions from secular sources, those provided were vague and had more to do with how trouble affects our comfort level or convenience rather than anything significant.  In contrast, “Vine’s Bible Dictionary” states it clearly as:  tribulation or affliction.  Trouble comes in many forms.  At times it is the result of a personal attack while at other times it is and “random”/general attack that we’re caught in.  It may be an external threat or an internal one such as mental or physical illness.  The point is that, as those living in a fallen world, we are going to experience trouble throughout our lives from the trivial to the monumental.  We will enjoy a more peaceful existence if we learn to view it as God does and trust that He is ever faithful to care for us.  One of the mental hurdles for us is that from our perspective, God’s care for us appears to be inconsistent.

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Trouble, Anguish and Understanding Pt. 1

Give Me Understanding

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Understanding

“Trouble and anguish have come upon me, yet Your commandments are my delight.  Your testimonies are righteous forever; give me understanding that I may live.”  Psalm 119:143-144

Healthy relationships are built on knowledge, understanding and grace.  Sharing a conversation with a person will, in most cases, allow one to get to know them.   However, that does not necessarily mean that they have any kind of significant relationship…at this point they are, for the most part, acquaintances.    Solid relationships are built when people share their lives.  They celebrate the high points together, comfort at low points and offer aid, wisdom and guidance in the midst of struggles.  Grace covers the gap between knowledge and understanding as well as when there is a need for forgiveness.  Developing a strong relationship takes time and effort but yields a great reward.

Last week I was looking for scripture verses to post on social media and came across Psalm 119:43-44.  Despite having read and sung it many times, this time it struck a nerve.  The natural tendency of any human when faced with trouble that causes anguish is to seek understanding.  The important question is: what kind of understanding?

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Problematic Assumptions

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“But when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened itself on his hand.   When the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they began saying to one another, ‘Undoubtedly this man is a murderer, and though he has been saved from the sea, justice has not allowed him to live.’ However he shook the creature off into the fire and suffered no harm.   But they were expecting that he was about to swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But after they had waited a long time and had seen nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and began to say that he was a god.”  Acts 28:3-6

My wife and I were recently on vacation and decided to stop for dessert after while walking back to our hotel from a craft fair.  The dinner rush had passed, but there were still a few stragglers entering the restaurant for a meal.   After being seated, we waited an unusually long time without being acknowledged by a server…long enough that the couple in the next booth who had been seated after us had already received their drinks.  Slightly irritated at the lack of service, I suggested that if we weren’t acknowledged in the next five minutes, we should just go back to the hotel.  Our waitress finally showed up just before we were ready to leave and seemed less than enthusiastic about serving us.  However, she apologized and explained that a tourist had come out of the ladies’ room and hit our server’s nose with her elbow causing intense pain.  What we had assumed to be poor service was in actuality something entirely different.  Having heard the explanation, our demeanor quickly changed from frustration to concern.  That’s the problem with assumptions, just because we have a little information, doesn’t mean that we know the truth of the matter.

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Love and Grief

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“But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ by grace you have been saved, and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” (Ephesians 2:4-7)

This was not the topic that I originally intended for this week’s post, but given a few divinely inspired events, my plan was changed.  As is my habit, I started the day with the “verse of the day” emails from Bible Gateway and KLove. The one from Bible Gateway was a portion of Psalm 139.  It is a favorite of mine for many reasons; one of those is that it was the last passage my parents read together on the eve of my mother’s death.  That circumstance coupled with the quote that I posted this week beckoned me to consider love and grief.

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Forty Year Stretch

Marriage, Commitment, Love and God

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“Marriage is to be held in honor among all, and the marriage bed is to be undefiled; for fornicators and adulterers God will judge.  Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, ‘I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you,’ so that we confidently say, ‘The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid.  What will man do to me?’  Remember those who led you, who spoke the word of God to you; and considering the result of their conduct, imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”    Hebrews 13:4-7 

This past weekend Marie and I celebrated our 40th wedding anniversary.  While I would like to say that it was an entirely blissful 40 years, that would not be a true statement for two reasons.  We are both fallible humans still in the process of sanctification and there have been trials that have tested our faith in each other and our God.  However, what I am able to declare as true is that those 40 years have been blessed and I would, therefore, like to share a bit of our walk with you.

If you read from the beginning of Hebrews 13, you will see that Paul is asserting a list of essential behaviors for the body of Christ; they are in essence keys to living well.  Honoring marriage is just one of them.  However, if you look beyond the issues themselves, you see a few common denominators that allow for success in these areas. 

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Animal Instincts and Obedience School

Learning Submission

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“Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”  Philippians 2:5-8

Two years ago we put down what we thought would be our last pet.  We had decided that we couldn’t take having to say goodbye to another beloved dog; further, the freedom the lack of pets would afford seemed beneficial.  That plan began to erode when our younger daughter’s family rescued a shih tzu last fall.  I liked the dog so much that our grandsons regularly reminded me that Leo was their dog and he had to go home with them.  As a result we adopted Tiffany in December.  She is mostly a sweet and somewhat timid dog, but as she is part terrier, she has an aggressive side as well.  In fact, her outbursts of aggression are the primary reason that she ended up back at the humane society after roughly seven months with another couple.  While she has historically been fine with all others, she has a tendency to snarl at her owners when she doesn’t want to be disturbed.  This is her greatest weakness and the ultimate manifestation of her animal instincts.  The difference in her owners is that the first family quickly gave up, but we have enrolled her in obedience school and are working with her to make her a good companion.  The goal is to teach her to submit to us in all ways for her safety and well-being as well as to provide more peaceful lifestyle for us all.   While none of us likes to be compared to an animal, the fact remains that as Christians we are all like Tiffany in varying degrees.  We have this sinful nature that urges us to follow our “animal instincts” rather than to humbly submit to God.  Left unchecked, it separates us from God.  Consequently, the process of sanctification is in reality obedience school in which we learn to give up control and submit to our Savior, our Master, our Lord and our God.

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Lesser Things

Living for Eternity

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Brethren, join in following my example, and observe those who walk according to the pattern you have in us. For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things.  Philippians 3:17-19

I love music and listen to it quite a bit.  Sometimes I use it to calm me or rearrange my thoughts, sometimes I listen to get motivated and at other times it’s for the pure enjoyment of it.  My collection is quite varied in both genres and eras as it ranges from the 1930s to the present.  Recently, I was at the gym and the song “Lady Godiva” by Peter and Gordon started playing.  While some may not appreciate the song, I listen to it occasionally as a reminder to not get caught up in “lesser things”.  In case you’re not familiar or haven’t heard the song in the last five decades, the lyrics tell the story of a young and beautiful woman pursues fame and fortune.  In the process, she compromises and forfeits all of the things that made her beautiful, but never achieves the fame that she desires and becomes so poor that she can’t afford her clothes.  God offers us so much, but too often people get off course with respect to godliness and forfeit their faith for lesser things that are useless and meaningless in light of eternity.  Time and time again we are reminded in scripture to pursue God and His truth in various ways and the reasons are clearly explained to us.  However, some reject the concept, some ignore it, while others struggle with it.  Three reasons why it may be difficult are: hope, pride, and fear.

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Renewal

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“And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”  Romans 12:2

My wife and I went to the gym on New Year’s Day to work off some of the holiday calories.  While there, I observed the eclectic mix of people.  There were familiar folks who, like me, are there on a regular basis; there were some who, like my wife, are less regular due to a busy schedule and used the holiday as an opportunity to get in a good workout; and then there were those who were clearly new to the gym, but who have most likely decided to try to exercise more in 2018.  After all, it is that time of year for resolutions.  We see the New Year as a time to start fresh and seek to improve our lifestyle in various ways.  However the success achieved will depend on the driving force behind the desire for change.  As Christians we’re called to daily renewal and transformation so that we live in a manner that is honoring to God and a blessing to us…it is a better way and a way to flourish.  No matter what changes we seek to make in our lives, for us to accomplish our goals or to simply live well, we need to maintain our focus in three areas:  our renewal must be God centered, we must be engaged and we must maintain a proper attitude.

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