Home » Psalm 40:2

Time to Roar

February 4, 2015 by

lion-343387_1920Do I believe everything I read in the paper or see on TV? Do I believe what I read in the Bible? So why do I spend more time reading what I don’t believe than what I do believe? “But the one who peers into the perfect law of liberty and fixes his attention there, and does not become a forgetful listener but one who lives it out – he will be blessed in what he does.” (James 1:25 NET) I want to fill my mind with the word of God.

When negative thoughts outweigh positive thoughts it’s called depression. Where do negative thoughts come from? Most of them come from within my mind: “I’m no good. I’m a failure. I’ll never change.” I talk to myself all the time. I am my own biggest critic.  In addition, I have all of the negative from the world. TV: bad news. Radio: bad news. Talk to your buddies: bad news. Where is the scale tipping? “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:32 NIV) Freedom does not come from my own thoughts or from the world. The truth of God’s Word brings freedom.

A thought is an electrical impulse flowing through my brain.  If I think a thought often enough and it forms a rut in my brain. It is called being stuck in a rut. Romans 12:2 NKJV tells us not to get stuck in the world’s rut but “be transformed by the renewal of your mind.” Psalm 40:2 NLT promises, “He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out of the mud and the mire. He set my feet on solid ground and steadied me as I walked along.” The Lord is with me. God is on my side. He is my rock and my salvation. Right thinking tips the scales from depression to blah and ultimately to joy.

Our life is determined by what is called the Law of Dominant Image. Whatever I focus on attracts and pulls me toward it. When I entered college, I had the image of becoming an engineer, so I took courses in basket weaving. No, engineering! I had the image of being married to this one girl. That image dominated my thinking, my dreams, my actions until I could see that image become a reality. I took her to the movies. I bought her flowers. I wrote letters. (That was before email.) All in pursuit of that dominant image. 49 years later she is still the dominant image in my life.

Race car drivers are trained when approaching a wreck to not focus on the wreck but on where they want their car to go. Why? Where I focus will draw me toward it. I need to change my focus from bad things to good things. I might be trying to resist looking at a pornographic magazine. “I’m not going to pick up that magazine; I’m not going to pick up that magazine. Oooh, isn’t she somethin’.” When I am on a diet I focus on food more than usual and the result is I want to eat.

I am not already as God wants me to be. Who is? Paul puts it this way in Phillipians 3:12 (NLT): “I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me.” I choose not focus on what has happened but rather on what I want to see happen. No matter how long I focus on the past it will not change. To change my thinking I must focus on the future.

“I wish I hadn’t…” That focus keeps me in a rut and stuck in the past. If I am imprisoned by my past, my future is the victim. I must focus my mind on my goal, what I want to achieve. Change doesn’t happen by accident, it is my choice. If I wait around for God to change me, I will just stay the same: the same habits, the same failings, the same consequences. I must cooperate with God in that change.

This is not positive thinking or simple optimism. That can be a denial of reality. Hope acknowledges my situation is bad but still I trust in God. David exemplified this in the 23rd Psalm, verse 4: “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.” (NKJV)

My desire to change must become stronger than my desire to stay where I am. Two things are needed: vision and action. I must see where I want to go and then consciously move toward it. Vision without action is wishful thinking. Action without vision is chaos, going in every direction without purpose or progress.

First let’s look at vision. My life will be pulled not in the direction of my desires or intentions but in the direction of the dominant image I allow in my thoughts. Is the dominant image in my mind one that pulls me back to the past or one that takes me forward into my future? Vision is needed before change. God gave Abraham images of stars of the sky and sand of the seashore show he could visualize his children rather than focusing on his being old and childless.

For many years an island just a half mile from Nassau, Bahamas was called Hog Island, an area limited to wild hogs and a garbage dump for the city. In 1959, investors purchased the island and renamed it Paradise Island. Today it is some of the most expensive real estate in the world with the Atlantis Hotel and other high end resorts. Bottom line: I treat something as I see it. An elephant is 80 times bigger than a lion but what does a lion see when he looks at an elephant – Lunch. Dominant image!

I formed the rut in my thinking by repetition, I will break out of that rut by repetition. If I repeatedly hear negative I will go in that direction. The Israelite army had listened to Goliath for 40 days. David came in and focused on the rewards. If I look at a problem too long it looks insurmountable. I won’t focus on debt but where I want to go. I won’t focus on cigarettes or addiction or pornography or dieting. I can change the image before me.

Our son and his fiancé were driving from North Dakota to Washington State. At 3:00 in the morning on the interstate in Montana he approached a curve and went to past a slow moving truck. He was hit head on by a drunk driver going eastbound in the westbound lanes. No one survived. For many weeks after Paul’s death I battled a stronghold every time I got behind the wheel of a car. I found myself looking way ahead to spot the car coming on the wrong side. If I had to pass a truck, my knuckles went white from the tight grip on the wheel. Driving at night was an ordeal. I had to make the decision to change the thinking, change the vision. I went to Psalm 91: 1-4 (NKJV) to renew my thoughts:

He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High

Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress;

My God, in Him I will trust.”

Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler

And from the perilous pestilence.

He shall cover you with His feathers,

And under His wings you shall take refuge;

His truth shall be your shield and buckler.

If I bring the old thinking into the new opportunity, that stronghold will dominate the conditions, stifle the progress that is possible and ultimately pull me back to the old life. I need to examine the thoughts. Does this help me at my new level or does it pull me back? “I’m a failure.” Get rid of it! “I’m not good enough.” That doesn’t belong to me. “God is on my side.” That’s more like it. “I am victorious.” That’s what I’m takin’ about!

The lion is called the king of the jungle. We go to see him in the zoo. To us it is entertainment. To him it is forced captivity. What does he do? He paces back and forth, back and forth. He senses that he was meant for something greater. Even if he was born in captivity that sense is not squelched. It is time I rise up to the person God has called me to be. Everything in that lion’s life may contradict his kingship but it doesn’t change his true identity. Am I locked in a cage the devil has trapped me in, built bar by bar from the poor choices and sins of my past? Am I going to just make do in the cage? Not me! I am going to rise up with a mighty roar. I will no longer settle for the way my life has been. “Greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.” (1John 4:4 KJV)

I can decide to break out of the cage where the enemy has entrapped me. Blind Bartimaeus threw aside his beggar’s coat (Mark 10:46-52) because he had a new vision. That coat was his license to beg, but he threw it aside because he had a new vision. He did not yet have sight but he had vision. I must throw off that which makes up the bars for the cage of old vision and move toward the freedom of the new vision. Philippians 3:13-14 (NKJV) says, “Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

The devil goes about like a roaring lion to bring fear and intimidation, but there is another lion described in the Bible: the Lion of the tribe of Judah, Jesus who comes to bring life and peace. What is our response to the devil? Submit to God, to the truth and power of His Word. Then we are empowered to resist the enemy, to roar right back even louder. It is time to roar!

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Slippery Slope

March 24, 2014 by

golf-244041_1280I haven’t played golf since I was 18. I didn’t enjoy the game but my dad was a fanatic so, if I wanted to spend time with him it was golf or nothing. I will always remember a Par 3 that turned into a disaster. Only 150 yards but with a water hazard right in front of the green and it was straight into the wind. I hit a beautiful shot straight for the pin and… blonk into the water. I walked up to the edge of the pond and threw my second ball down in disgust. To my horror it hit the hard dirt, bounced once and rolled over the edge toward the pond. Unwilling to lose a second ball I dove for it catching it just before it reached the water. Then disaster struck. I was head down on a slippery slope. I started to slide into the water, up to my knuckles, up to my wrist, up to my forearm. That’s when I yelled, “Dad! Help!” Fortunately he was nearby and dragged me out by my ankles. I’m sure he always had a little chuckle thinking about that incident.

Psalm 40:2 (NIV) promises, “He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; He set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.” If you have ever experienced a slippery slope, that is a good promise to have. Ever been on a water park slide? Now there is a slippery slope! Once on you are committed. No turning back. Every one of us was on a greased pole to hell, helpless and hopeless. Then God reached forth His hand to remove our guilt placing it on Jesus, rescuing us when we could do nothing for ourselves.

Ephesians 6:10-17 (NIV) tells us, “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”

I want to focus on verse 15: “Feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.” In wrestling is being on your back a good thing or a bad thing? In football what if your quarterback is on his back at the end of every play? For a Roman soldier if he was on his back he was in serious trouble. It is essential that a soldier stay on his feet. The movie 300 began the main battle with the massive Persian army pushing against the ranks of the Spartans. They had to stand against a tremendous force.

The Roman soldier had an answer for the slippery slope. The sandals of the Roman soldier had spikes in them to give good traction. His very life depended on them. Those spikes in our sandals are how we have prepared by making the Gospel a part of our soul. If I don’t get it down deep on the inside, when I need it for traction it won’t be there. My sandals will be slick. Does it do any good for me to carry around a pocket full of spikes? No. Just carrying around my Bible is just as useless if I am not working to make it impact the way I live. The devil wants me to fall. 1Peter 5:8 (NLT) warns, “Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.” He is looking for the Christian whose sandals are slick, unable to help him stand.

A classic example of the slippery slope is in 2Samuel 11. David first decides not to lead his army when they go out to war. Maybe this was irresponsibility or neglect of duty or just laziness, but it led to lust when he saw Bathsheba bathing. The slippery slope took him into adultery, deceit when he called Uriah back to cover up Bathsheba’s pregnancy, and finally murder when he ordered Uriah killed.  Jesus said that a man who looks on a woman to lust after her has already committed adultery in his heart (Matt. 5:27, 28). He knew the slippery slope that it could lead to. If we tolerate sin, soon we rationalize the behavior and compromise what we know is right.

Jesus hinted at a slippery slope in the Sermon on the Mount when He said to cut off your right hand or pluck out your eye to avoid sin (Matthew 5:29-30), and Scriptures are filled with admonitions to avoid temptation at all cost.

We may be firm in our purpose and intentions but outside influences start to exercise their impact. 2Kings 11:4 tells us Solomon’s wives turned his heart. Amos 5:14a (NLT) warns, “Do what is good and run from evil — that you may live!” In Hebrews 2:1 (NIV) we further read, “We must pay the most careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.”

In Mark 8-22-26 Jesus healed a blind man. He warns the man not to go back into the village, back into the old environment, the old influences that will suck you right back to old ways of thinking and acting. Will I choose to live by what my Papa taught me, or what Uncle Joe told me? Am I going to live by what Oprah says, or Dr. Phil, or Bart Simpson? “Oh, I may watch The Simpson’s, but that’s just for entertainment. I don’t let it influence the way I live.” If I listen to it, even if I don’t consciously follow what it is saying, it is getting into my subconscious and influencing my choices. Even if I depend on what my Pastor says, all can be shaky ground, a slippery slope. I must live by the Word of God.

What examples of “slippery slope” can you think of?

“Yea, I’m having a beer, but I’ll stop at one.”

“I’m moving in with my girlfriend, but we have agreed that we will not have sex.”

“I’m going to the bar with my friends tonight, but I won’t drink.”

“Sure there will be weed at the party, but I don’t use anymore.”

“My friends at the club like to gossip, but I just don’t listen.”

Watch for the but. B-U-T spells T-R-O-U-B-L-E.

I have the privilege of helping our daughter homeschool our grandkids by teaching science. Recently we were studying friction. We looked at when friction is minimized (Winter Olympics need a slippery slope for bobsled, skiing or snowboarding) and when it is important (braking, steering, even walking). To have spiritual “friction” takes preparation, getting those spikes in our sandals.

Today we’re obsessed with speed, but God is more interested in strength and stability than swiftness. We want the quick fix, the shortcut but that does not produce character. One of my favorite verses is Proverbs 4:18 (NIV): “The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever brighter till the full light of day.” Growth is a process.

Life is a series of seasons: seasons of preparation and seasons of trial. There is seed time and harvest time. There is a time to prepare and a time to stand. Now is the time to prepare. Those that are best prepared will stand. “Champions do not become champions when they win the event, but in the hours, weeks, months and years they spend preparing for it.” – T. Alan Armstrong.

We fear change, even if our old ways are self-destructive because, like a worn out pair of shoes, they are comfortable and familiar. My recliner’s worn mechanism can be rebellious; the upholstery is torn in places but I don’t want to replace it. It’s comfortable. I must let go of old ways in order to experience the new.

We can get very comfortable in church, but when we step out into the world, the going can be very slippery. It’s easy to get complacent. “Oh, it’s so nice and peaceful here. I want to stay here forever.” Well, you can’t. Look at the horizon. The dark clouds are gathering. A storm is coming. It’s time to get ready.

Every time I memorize a Bible verse, every time I meditate on God’s truth, I am adding a spike to my sandals. What are some of those verses?

  • I am the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. (2Corinthians 5:21)
  • Nothing can separate me from the love of God. (Romans 8:39)
  • I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. (Philippians 4:13)
  • There is therefore now no condemnation because I am in Christ. (Romans 8:1)
  • I am a new creation; the old things have passed away. (2Corinthians 5:17)
  • This one thing I do, forgetting what is behind and looking to what is ahead I press toward the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:13-14)

I want us all to become cobblers, shoe makers. I can’t make sandals for you. We can’t go to the store and gat a pair of “made in China” spiritual sandals. Every morning when I put on my shoes I want to ask, “Are my feet shod with the Gospel?” At night when I take off my shoes off I want to ask, “Did I add a spike to my sandals today?”

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Crack in the Foundation

February 10, 2014 by

crackA few years ago we lived in a home where on occasion we would step into the basement family room and feel the squish, squish of water in the carpet. We eventually correlated the problem to times of heavy rain or overwatering the front lawn. In other words, there was a crack in the foundation. We chose to ignore the problem for some time but eventually we had to go to the expense of excavating the foundation, sealing the leak and installing drainage piping to pull the water away from the foundation.

It is so important that we be careful of the foundation upon which we build our lives. Build on the wrong values and we are headed for disaster. The only foundation that will never crack or weaken is Jesus Christ. He is our unchanging God. Hebrews 13:8 promises He is “the same yesterday, today and forever.” I can build my life and my eternal destiny on a foundation that is unshakable and unmovable.

There are times when we feel our foundation beginning to crumble; we know we are on shaky ground. If you have ever experienced an earthquake, it is an unnerving experience. Living in California we experienced a few. The earth that we always think of as stable and unmovable is suddenly rolling and lurching like a ship on the ocean. Pastor Casey Treat of Christian Faith Center in Seattle, Washington says, “If you are ever in an earthquake, stand on your Bible. It is the only thing that is unshakeable.” No other foundation will stand the storms of life. The foundation of Jesus will stand forever. Jesus is our only firm foundation.

1Corinthians 3:11-15 (NKJV) warns, “For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.” Each option that Paul describes becomes less and less stable, less and less durable. Allow me to offer my thoughts on these building materials.

  • Straw – I suggest this describes those that say they are Christian but don’t live by Christian values. They try to find their identity in job or possessions, living for what feels good.
  • Hay – We seek salvation based on works. We hope to earn our way to heaven because we have lost sight of God’s grace. We set our own agenda, and we no longer listen for the voice of the Holy Spirit trying to speak to us.
  • Wood – We begin to compromise and make excuses. “I’m not as bad as so-and-so.” We have lost focus.
  • Precious stones – Here our foundation is no longer “in Christ” but in the trappings of the Christian lifestyle: going to church, wearing a cross, saying “Praise the Lord”, listening to Christian music. We might even pray when we’re in trouble but it is no longer a close personal relationship.
  • Silver – This is where we put our trust in past experience, not a vibrant, living relationship. We have ceased to grow and aggressively pursue God.
  • Gold – At this level we are building with the best. This can be many things. Among them are undivided worship, fervent prayer, consistent Bible meditation, selfless service and unconditional submission.

This reminds me of the story of The Three Little Pigs. Straw and wood could not stand up to the wolf (a picture of the devil). Only brick had the durability. When we rely more on our works to get to heaven than on the grace of God, we have a crack in our foundation. As a Christian gets farther from the Lord as the center of their life, the more they will look for other things to act as the foundation.

A crack in our spiritual foundation can take many forms:

  • Thinking – I am trying to justify my wrong choices. I look for my identity in the values of the world.
  • Character – I am falling down in areas of integrity and compassion. I am compromising what I know is right.
  • Focus – I have moved away from the call on my life, allowing distraction to get my eyes off of moving closer to God.
  • Faith – I lose vision and hope. I spend less and less time in my Bible because it just seems to highlight my failures.
  • And on and on…

If I have a crack in my spiritual foundation, I don’t want to stuff it full of straw. I don’t want to use it as a setting for precious stones. I don’t even want to gold plate it. I want to get the right foundation that is going to hold up through the storms of life. Psalm 40:2 (NKJV) says, “He brought me up also out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay. He set my feet on a rock, and gave me a firm place to stand.”

If I ignore the crack, my life will become a ruinous heap. My life will return to chaos without my constant oversight, just like darkness returns when light is diminished. Isaiah 60:1 “Arise, shine; For your light has come! And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you.” I am called to be a light in a dark world, a crack repairer in a cracked world. How will I repair the crack? How about with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control, in other words the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23)?

Thank God, I can build my life and my eternal destiny upon a foundation that is unshakable and unmovable. If I build on Jesus Christ as the absolute focus of my life, then I can rest assured that I will not fall. The Holy Spirit is helping me to build upon the foundation of Jesus Christ one spiritual lesson at a time. Jesus is the cornerstone. 1Peter 2:5a (NLT) says, “And now God is building you, as living stones, into His spiritual temple.”

I want to accomplish the vision God has for me. The vision of the world for my life is to find fulfillment in a job and in stuff. The vision of the devil for my life is defeat, despair and hopelessness. The vision of God for my life is victory, joy and an eternity with Him. To get there I must keep my eye on the prize, the upward call of God in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:13-14)

Past present and future are all “now” to an eternal God. He will reach into the past to heal the abuse, to heal the abandonment or rejection. When I think of eternity I think of endless days and endless years forever. That’s wrong. Eternity is not endless time. Eternity is where time has no meaning. In eternity there is no future, no past, only now. How can God promise me heaven in my future? Because He is eternal. How can God heal the hurt of my past? Because He is eternal.

The Everlasting God is supreme over the future and the past. By Jesus’ substitutionary sacrifice 2000 years ago, we were bought back, redeemed from slavery to sin, slavery to the kingdom of darkness. Medicines have expiration dates; medical isotopes have half-lives; milk will sour if kept too long. The Blood of Jesus never loses its power.

The cracks don’t happen quickly. They develop slowly, almost imperceptibly. It happens with the choice of compromise: “I forgive everyone who has hurt me except…”, “I surrender every area of my life to God but…”

Matthew 7:24-27 (NIV) warns, “Therefore, everyone who hears what I say and obeys it will be like a wise person who built a house on rock. Rain poured, and floods came. Winds blew and beat against that house. But it did not collapse, because its foundation was on rock. “Everyone who hears what I say but doesn’t obey it will be like a foolish person who built a house on sand. Rain poured, and floods came. Winds blew and struck that house. It collapsed, and the result was a total disaster.” Jesus wasn’t concerned about thunderstorms or flash floods. He was asking how we would stand against financial crisis, legal problems, broken relationships or death of a loved one. Before the storm came, both houses looked identical. It is the storm that reveals the foundation. It’s easier to build on the sand; digging to the rock takes extra effort. It’s easier to just show up at church for an hour a week than to develop deep spiritual roots. Everybody sounds like a believer when times are good. True faith is shown when we must trust Him in the dark, when the storm clouds hang heavy over our lives.

In 1Samuel 17:40, we are told before David confronted Goliath he took up his staff. Now I thought that a little odd since he didn’t use his staff in the fight, but recently it was explained to me that in that time they would carve pictures into their staff to depict past victories perhaps like an Old West gunslinger would put notches on his gun to show his kills. On that staff was David’s reminder of the lion and the bear he had defeated. He had a strong foundation. The staff wasn’t used in the battle but he needed to take his history of past victories into the battle. Don’t have a Godly history? God would say to you, “Start building tomorrow’s history today.”

The people of Jesus’ time would be familiar with the slave markets, the hopelessness and despair. Some of His listeners were likely slaves themselves. Today if you are a slave of anger – God says, “Redeemed!” Slave of bitterness – God says, “Redeemed!” Slave of alcohol – God says, “Redeemed!” Slave of drugs – God says, “Redeemed!” Slave of porn – God says, “Redeemed!” Slave of fear – God says, “Redeemed!” Slave of rejection – God says, “Redeemed!” When the devil comes against us with his lies and deception, we can declare boldly, “My foundation is secure. I am redeemed!”

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