Attitude

It seems so much of life is unraveling. Our economy is in decline; there are new dangers everywhere and so much disappointment. Life is getting harder and anxiety is growing.

The world Paul lived in was a lot like ours today, but his had already gone over the cliff. Persecution had begun and he had the scars to prove it.

So, how could he be so optimistic? In the fourth chapter of II Corinthians, he says things like “We do not lose heart”. In chapter five he says “We are of good courage”.  Was he a liar or was he naïve? No, he had no illusions about this present life. He said, in chapter four, verse eleven, “We are always being given up to death!”

So, how did he do it? Paul saw the current situation very clearly but he also saw Jesus and His work. Paul believed Christ had overcome the world. He calls it a “treasure”. He talks about the “Glory God” and “things that are eternal”.

The world is done for. Our bodies are dying; many are perishing and lies are everywhere. And yet, the Word of God is the truth. This truth is like light shining in our heart and out of our lives. This truth is like a treasure entrusted to us and transcendent power belongs to God. Jesus has conquered death. He has overcome sin and is coming back for us. Look around and it looks bad but life through the eyes of faith looks much different. We are of good courage. I don’t have to win; He already has. I come from God and am going to God. So my problem is like Peter’s problem in the lake. When I take my eyes off of Jesus, the storm looks bad.

Dear God, I praise you for who you are. You created everything. There is no one like you. You have all power. Everything you made works. There is no one like you. You have all wisdom and knowledge. We have sinned greatly and You sent Your only Son to die for our forgiveness. There is no one like you. You are all love. Why am I worried? Why am I afraid? Why don’t I trust you? I have failed again! Please forgive me. Help my unbelief. Thank You for this forgiveness. I love You and praise You. And I pray to You in the name of Your Son, Jesus.   Amen

Paul Shero

San Angelo, Texas

PRAYING the Names of God

A friend of mine was recently served with divorce papers. This is devastating to her and her small

child.  Where does she go for refuge? As recorded in the Psalms one thing David did was he prayed the Names of God. Here are only a few scattered throughout the Psalms: Dwelling place, fortress, shield, refuge, strong tower. When my friend hits a trouble spot in her life she always goes to God first. We discussed this week how praying the names of God invokes the God who has promised to watch over her and keep her safe.  

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress,
my God in whom I trust." (Psalm 91:1-2))

Over and over the promise is made—not just that God will provide a refuge but that he will be a refuge.   The problem is that we forget to run to him. The psalmist encourages us to align our lives with God’s values and yield to his Spirit and trust him to work things out for good even when life seems to be completely going the wrong way.

Take a couple moments to reflect on your life and what you are going through. What has kept you from experiencing God as your fortress? Do you feel like your situation is impossible? Do you simply always rely on yourself? Have you dug a whole so deep you feel nothing can help? Are you angry at God for letting you down? Have you been looking for shelter elsewhere? Tell God today that you are ready to grasp, not just the idea of his faithfulness, but the experience of it. Run to him and you will find shelter.

Promises in Scripture

·   Strong Tower
Remember that God is a strong tower against the foe. (Psalm 61:3)
The name of the LORD is a strong tower;the righteous run to it and are safe. (Proverbs 18:10)

·   Shield
Be confident because God is your shield and great reward. (Genesis 15:1)
Remember that God is a shield and helper against enemies. (Deuteronomy 33:29)
Call on the Lord, who is your strength and your shield. (Psalm 28:7)

·   Dwelling Place
Express your longing to dwell with God. (Psalm 27:4-5)
Envision God as your dwelling place. (Psalm 90:1-2)

·   Refuge
Remember that God cares for those who trust him. (Nahum 1:7)
Believe that the Lord is an ever-present help. (Psalm 46:1)
Know that the eternal God is our refuge. (Deuteronomy 33:27)
Find rest in God. (Psalm 62:5-7)

·   Fortress
Proclaim that the Lord is your fortress and deliverer. (2 Samuel 22:1-3)
Refuse to give in to fear because God is your fortress. (Psalm 46:2-7)
Let your soul find rest in God. (Psalm 62:1-2)

Most High God my Strong Tower, Shield my friend and make a Fortress around her. Be her Refuge and Dwelling place as she goes through this very tough time in her life. In the name of Jesus, Amen.

Terry Smith
Stephenville, TX.

"Gangnam Style" meet "Reality"

Can you name some of the top song/video’s on YouTube?  

Justin Bieber “Baby”; Lady Gaga “Bad Romance”; Eminem and Rihanna “Love the Way you Lie”; Jennifer Lopez “On the Floor.”  These and a few others have over 500 millions hits.

But the number one song/video is by a Korean singer named “Psy.”  “Gangnam Style” is closing in on one billion hits!

What’s it about?

In a nutshell it’s about a guy wooing a girl with a colorful assortment of choreography and sexual innuendo that support the basic message of the song. 

It doesn’t have a meaning.  Not really. There is no deep message.  It is a headlong plunge into the surreal.  The message of the song is as old as dirt.  Someone described it as “getting high in miniature.” Much like the effect of a drug, the beat is everything.  Take the beat away and the song is b-o-r-i-n-g!

The song isn’t indicative of anything special about the artist.  But it is strongly indicative of what is happening in our culture.  Such artists are simply riding the trends driven by the instinctual.  They find a niche and use it to their benefit.  People said the same thing about Elvis.  Elvis started something.  Elvis also revealed something about people…something that has always been there. 

Deep down in the pit of our souls, we love the surreal.  It allows us to be in the moment with little thought of anything beyond the moment.  To be carefree.  To feel what we want to feel.  Its appeal is not in itself.  Not really.  It is brought to life by what is inside human beings.  Gangnam Style is really about what’s in people.

Why is so hard to be a Christian?  You can answer that one from a lot of angles.  I don’t mean Christian in a doctrinal sense or whether we gather in assembly with other believers.  I’m talking about our ability to intersect our “minds” and “spirits” with the Spirit of God.  To live in a consciousness of God.  It’s hard to do.  It’s hard because it transports us away from the surreal and into thought about real things – things that really matter.     

The ESV of Ephesians 5:15-20 reads this way:

¹⁵ Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, ¹⁶ making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. ¹⁷ Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.¹⁸ And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, ¹⁹ addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, ²⁰ giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,

 

The Message says it this way:

¹⁵So watch your step. Use your head. Make the most of every chance you get. These are desperate times!  ¹⁷ Don’t live carelessly, unthinkingly. Make sure you understand what the Master wants.  ^18-20 Don’t drink too much wine. That cheapens your life. Drink the Spirit of God, huge draughts of him. Sing hymns instead of drinking songs! Sing songs from your heart to Christ. Sing praises over everything, any excuse for a song to God the Father in the name of our Master, Jesus Christ.

These words are as current as when they were first written.  More importantly, they strike at the root of our daily challenge to be people who live above the intoxication that comes with the surreal and in the reality that is the Spirit of God and the discovery of His will for our lives.  

·    Look carefully – watch

·    Make the best use of our time.

·    Seek God’s will.

·    Avoid a life of sedation – keep our wits about us.

·    Live in the Spirit through songs that stimulate our minds about the things of God and His kingdom.

This text from Ephesians chapter five probably won’t get many hits on YouTube.  But, it has everything to do with living a life of wisdom that transcends the temporary and deceptive promises that come with the surreal.  In short it helps us be in our moments as we can and should so that we can "make the most of the time."

Father, may our spirits reach out for Your Spirit everyday.  Show us continually the wisdom and blessing that come from keeping our sensed sharpened to the things that really matter.  Amen. 

Randy Daugherty

Stephenville, Texas

Uncle Screwtape

In The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis, Uncle Screwtape, a senior demon, gives advice to Wormwood, a junior demon, on how to tempt his patient and secure the damnation of the young man.   Using the persona of Screwtape, Lewis is able to flip common wisdom upside down and guide his readers to consider the threats to their own relationship to God.

There’s much that Screwtape does not understand about God. Screwtape puzzles over the inexplicable appeal God has to humans and can’t fathom His motives in loving

them. 

But Screwtape is adept at temptation. For example, Screwtape knows that direct assaults on the logic of salvation are not as effective as subtle distractions from worship.  And he recognizes that war (the setting of the piece is WWII) brings many opportunities to secure the damnation of humans but even more opportunities for humans to turn to God and be saved. 

This semester I had my freshman class read The Screwtape Letters. As a writing assignment, I had my students take on the persona of Screwtape to write how to tempt a college freshman.  I wasn’t sure what to expect.  But my students understood both the persona of  Screwtape and  the real  temptations they face. 

In their essays, they talked about how college is a prime time for temptation because they are vulnerable; they are separated from the foundations they grew up with—home, school, and church.  They want to make new friends, to succeed in school, to continue their walk with God, but each of these desires comes with opportunities to fail.

I learned from my students that one way to tempt a young man away from his studies was to distract him during class by having him notice how the young women are dressed.  A way to tempt young women is with the attraction of a male, so that she will trust the words of her date more than the words of her Lord.  Others wrote about parties that put social life ahead of schoolwork until assignments are due and then to tempt the student with ideas about how to cheat. Students wrote about how easy it is to sleep in on Sunday mornings and drift away from a close walk with God. I was proud of my students for their insights and ability to articulate these temptations.

In reflecting on this assignment, I realized that self-awareness is the necessary first armor of protection against temptation. C.S. Lewis was clever to use the character of Screwtape to bring his readers to an awareness of temptation.  If we aren’t aware of our temptations, how can we resist them?

Our second armor of protection comes in the admonition Paul gave to the Corinthians: temptation is real, but God provides the escape.  I Corinthians 10:13 says, “The only temptation that has come to you is that which everyone has. But you can trust God, who will not permit you to be tempted more than you can stand. But when you are tempted, he will also give you a way to escape so that you will be able to stand it” (New Century Version).

Nancy Shankle

Abilene Christian University

Our King

Jehoshaphat bowed face down on the ground. All the people of Judah and Jerusalem bowed down before the LORD and worshiped him. Then some Levites from the Kohathite and Korahite people stood up and praised the LORD, the God of Israel, with very loud voices. 2 Chronicles 20:18-19 NCV

When the sacrifices were completed, King Hezekiah and everyone with him bowed down and worshiped. King Hezekiah and his officers ordered the Levites to praise the LORD, using the words David and Asaph the seer had used. So they praised God with joy and bowed down and worshiped. 2 Chronicles 29:29-30 NCV

The great kings anointed by God who truly followed him led their people to worship the Lord.  Read the stories of David, Solomon, Jehoshaphat, Hezekiah, and Josiah. Their kingdoms were built on their reverence and reliance upon the Lord God.  In their success they knew it was only because of the Lord and they led their people in worship of Him.

As children of God today we must remember what God’s appointed kings understood and lived each day.  They lived and led their people to lives of worship.  It was daily recognition and reliance upon Him.  They looked to him for guidance and wisdom, calling on Him for His will in all things they encountered.  The Lord did incredible and amazing things for his people in response to their worship.  He will for us as well.  We must know and understand to be holy is not defined by what we have or where we live.  It is not comprised of our position or title, not determined by how many committees we serve on or how much good we do. To be holy is about worship, about our position before God. Prostrate, on our knees, in submission and reverence, hands lifted to Him offering everything we have, whatever that might be no matter how great or meager. Not in our rightness but in the offering itself.  God makes it holy, not us. He makes us holy.  He is active. We are only before Him responding to His power and sovereignty, awaiting what His Spirit prompts from us. To worship Him and Him alone is a reflection of our understanding of who God is, of what He has done for us.  It is recognition of our utter helplessness without Him. He seeks us, He pursues us, and He looks for those who are truly seeking Him.  Our search and our success in finding Him begins and ends in our worship of Him.

The LORD searches all the earth for people who have given themselves completely to him. He wants to make them strong.  2 Chronicles 16:9 NCV

The time is coming when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, and that time is here already. You see, the Father too is actively seeking such people to worship him. John 4:23

To worship in this way means we must prepare ourselves, in body, in mind, in spirit.  A true worship experience is something special, it is holy. Take a few moments with me and let us worship the God who saves us.

God Almighty you are Sovereign, you are Holy, you are righteous, and you are just. You do whatever you please, and you know what is best. You are our Master, our Creator, our King, and you reign over us. You cover us with your love, you are gracious and without equal.  You are our salvation, our hope, and our Redeemer.  God in Heaven you rescue us and save us.  Lord you protect us, you heal us, and you watch over us.  Father you are the giver of all good things and every good thing comes from you.  O Lord, we praise you and thank you for your Majesty and power, for your greatness and kindness.  Father we fall before you, at your feet, in honor and submission to your will.  Use us as you wish, in any way you wish.  We yield our will to yours.  We give you everything we have and we hold nothing back from you.  Father yours is the kingdom, and the power, and glory forever.

Scotty Elston
Shallowater, Texas