More silence…

I’m still being confronted with the subject of words and speech. This morning I read the following proverb:

Wisdom rests in the heart of a man of understanding… (Prov. 14:33b) 

Here’s the trend I’m seeing as I read through the book of Proverbs this time around: Wisdom doesn’t say much. It doesn’t have to be heard. And when wisdom does speak, its words reflect the truth and character of the Lord.

Foolishness seems to always have something to say – and speaks much of the time before thinking.

Trusting in the Lord encourages silence. When you trust the Lord, you know He is in control. You don’t need to manipulate circumstances to achieve your own ends because you know that the Lord will provide what You need. You know His ways are infintely better than your own, and therefore you accept His will above your own. You can recognize your need for His help and guidance. You don’t feel the need to vindicate yourself because You know the Lord will reveal all that needs to be seen – including you own sin if necessary.

It is a sign of maturity to be able to hold your tongue – to be wise with your speech. James says that “if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man able to bridle his own body” (3:2). Our mouths can get us in a world of trouble – and I am speaking from experience here, unfortunately. What we say reveals what is in our hearts (Matt. 15:18). And, I’m sad to report, that much of what is in my heart is not very flattering. But, praise be to God – He is working to change my heart. And if He began the work, He will complete it!

No human being can tame the tongue – but with God all things are possible. May wisdom reign and rule in our hearts – and over our mouths! – today.

Grace and peace…

Shhh….

“Silence becomes you.” Sometimes the Lord will use someone to get in your face about something He is dealing with you about. This happened to me recently with these three simple words: Silence becomes you. God has been working on me about my constant and incessant desire to make my thoughts known, to express my opinion, when sometimes silence is the way of wisdom. I know that my use of words  in many instances can be for the sake of gaining control or seeking to move something in my desired direction. But the Lord is seeking to prune me of this controlling spirit - and when I am tempted to move ahead and speak my mind, especially when no one has even asked me what was on my mind, these words pop in my head.

Now, this does not mean that I will never speak again. What it does mean is that I must allow the Lord to examine my heart and purge me of those sinful thought patterns that give rise to my constant babbling. My increasingly judicious use of words will reflect a quiet, gentle sprit, a surrendered heart, and a peaceful soul – an inner life controlled by the Lord, and not my own agenda.

When considering whether we should speak or be silent, we should ask ourselves: What is my motive for speaking into this situation? Am I seeking to control the other person? The outcome? Am I seeking to vindicate myself? Am I seeking to pass judgment on someone or something? Will my use of words in a given situation bring honor and glory to the Lord? Or, will they serve to make myself look good, cast me in a positive light, or the other person in a negative one?

If we stop long enough to answer these questions, we may perhaps choose not to speak at all. A passage that the Lord led me to while thinking about this was Proverbs 10:19, “When words are many, transgression is not lacking; but he who restrains his lips is prudent.”

And here’s a classic: “Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise; when he closes his lips he is deemed intelligent” (Proverbs 17:28). Ouch. Here’s another “ouch”: “A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion” (Proverbs 18:2). How do you gain understanding? You have to be “slow to speak, quick to listen” (James 1:19). Oh, how much trouble I could avoid if I heeded this truth in every circumstance!

Lord, grant me the grace to grow!!

More later…

Grace and peace…

An extended quote

See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.  Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.

In my meditation and study of 1 John 3:1-3, I have read some pretty spectacular and thought provoking things. But what I read last night was so good, I just had to share. D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones is my new favorite author – I have learned so much from my reading of his works. I am currently reading through his book, Life in Christ: Studies in 1John, which is a collection of sermons he gave on the book of 1 John. I highly commend this book to you! You will be richly blessed by your reading.

I wanted to share one extended passage from his sermon on 1 John 3:3. In this sermon, Lloyd-Jones makes clear how the truth of verses 1 and 2 naturally flow to verse 3. If we believe all that has been presented by John about our blessed hope, the natural, reasonable response will be to purify ourselves, because He Himself is pure.

But I will let him speak, because I cannot say it any better than he has:

[W]e can put the teaching like this: If I really believe what the second verse has told me, if I really know that I am a child of God, with all that this means, if I believe and know that I am destined for eternal glory in the presence of God the Father, if I really believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is going to return again, to be ‘manifested’ as John puts it, in this world as King of kings and Lord of lords, if I believe He is coming to judge the world and to destroy everything that is evil and vile out of the universe as a whole, if I believe that I am going to be with Him in glory, if furthermore I believe that I am going to see Him as He is, if I really believe that I am going to be like Him, that my very body shall be glorified and that I shall be faultless and blameless and spend eternity in His holy presence, if I really believe all that, says John, then of necessity, this must follow.

Amen.

Grace and peace…

Another topic switch…

Okay, back to my thoughts on “passionate pursuit”. I have been revisiting my meditation on 1 John 3:1-3, a passage the Lord has had on my heart for quite some time. I just finished reading D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones’ commentary about the first verse of chapter three, and a few thoughts come to mind.

 The first would be the distinction between calling us “children of God” versus “sons of God” in this passage. The term “son” refers more to a legal identity, whereas “child” carries a more familial, organic idea. He says, “We cannot be children of God if we are not like God; the child is like the parent, the offspring proclaims the parentage, and God in that way makes us His children. He puts His own nature into us, and we become His children, and that nature which is in God is in us, and it is acting and manifesting and expressing itself.”

 Our vision of salvation, I think, is too small.

 If our salvation means union with God through Christ, in which the very nature of God indwells us and changes us, we become something wholly different. The new creation that Paul speaks of in 1 Corinthians 5 takes on greater meaning if we truly consider the ramifications of this. What Lloyd-Jones states earlier in this chapter captures this much better than I can: “Let us never again think of the Christian as just someone who is trying to live a good life, trying to be a little better than somebody else, a person with a belief in doing certain things, going through certain forms and ceremonials and keeping certain regulations dictated by the church. Christians do all that, but before all that is this vital fact that they are children of God.”

In other words, what we do comes forth from who we are. Our moral character is not the central point; our union with God in Christ is. This is the basis for everything else – including our character, our behavior, our practices, our deeds. We are like Him because we are born of Him; this is why James advances the idea that faith without works is dead. It is not that my works save me; but my works will show forth to Whom I belong. If I am truly born of God, my life with reflect this new reality. Albeit not perfectly, but the demeanor, the disposition of my heart – and by extension and in increasing measure my actions – will display the reality of this union.

To the extent that this truth becomes reality in my heart and mind, my life will reflect it. To the extent that I see the lavish nature of God’s love toward me, my heart will be melted with love and gratitude in return. We cannot fully understand our salvation until we understand our standing as children before God. And we cannot truly understand the enormity of this reality until we grasp the reality of our sin and the nature we possessed before Christ.

It is at this point where I am acutely aware that my words are too small. No words can capture this in all its richness. I pray the Lord’s help in illuminating my heart and mind that I might see it more clearly so that it will capture my very heart and captivate my soul. It is truly a marvel to consider how deep the Father’s love for us!

More later…

Grace and peace…

The pursuit of happiness…

Okay, here the overarching idea that is flowing through my mind right now: The pursuit of holiness is the ultimate source of happiness in this life. I may tweak the way I word that thesis, but that is the main idea of what I’m working through in my heart right now. Our culture, even in the church, is all about finding what makes us “happy”…and usually it is the pursuit of things. We say to ourselves, “If I only had this”; or “If I could only achieve this goal”. The acquisition of the things we want are what we think will make us happy. But for the most part, even after we have acquired these things, we find that we want more. Whatever it is we are pursuing is never enough. Because it can never be enough.

The quote I shared on Friday from C.S. Lewis is the springboard of this thought. I read through the entire sermon that this quote comes from and his main idea is that we are made for an eternal destiny – we will be with Christ. This is the goal of our lives. To see Christ. All other desires are rivals to this ultimate desire, this ultimate goal to which our entire life should point.

We all want peace and joy in our lives. And the Lord gives us both of these things. But we must be careful to consider the true nature of that peace and joy.  A White Horse Inn program gave me this great insight, something I always knew but somehow forget: The peace given to us is an objective peace. The joy given to us is an objective joy. It is all grounded God’s work on our behalf through Jesus Christ – not something that I feel in my heart. I will not always feel the peace or joy – but it is mine in Christ because it comes from Him and He has given it to me.

The joy and peace that Christ gives us is not in things – it is in Him. He is our joy and our peace. To the extent that we focus on Him, we will see the joy and peace that He provides far surpasses any joy and peace our temporal circumstances can give us. We are changed and transformed – we begin to move toward that for which we were redeemed. To be conformed into His image. If our ultimate destiny as believers is to see Him as He really is, then our pursuit of Him and that holiness without which no one shall see God (Hebrews 12:14) will draw us closer and closer to the one thing that will truly make us “happy”.

Happiness is not in things; it is in a Person. Christ Jesus our Lord. May we dwell on the richness of His grace and find joy and peace in His love this day.

More later…

Grace and peace…