Standing the Test

Tuesday, October 30, 2012, 5:58 a.m. – the Lord woke me with this song in mind:

The Old Rugged Cross / George Bennard

On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross,

The emblem of suff’ring and shame;

And I love that old cross where the dearest and best

For a world of lost sinners was slain.

Oh, that old rugged cross, so despised by the world,

Has a wondrous attraction for me;

For the dear Lamb of God left His glory above

To bear it to dark Calvary.

In that old rugged cross, stained with blood so divine,

A wondrous beauty I see,

For ’twas on that old cross Jesus suffered and died,

To pardon and sanctify me.

To the old rugged cross I will ever be true;

Its shame and reproach gladly bear;

Then He’ll call me some day to my home far away,

Where His glory forever I’ll share.

So I’ll cherish the old rugged cross,

Till my trophies at last I lay down;

I will cling to the old rugged cross,

And exchange it some day for a crown.

Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read James 1:1-18 (NIV 1984):

James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,

To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations:

Greetings.

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.

The brother in humble circumstances ought to take pride in his high position. But the one who is rich should take pride in his low position, because he will pass away like a wild flower. For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich man will fade away even while he goes about his business.

Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.

When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.

Pure Joy

When I read this passage of scripture this morning, I could not help but think of all the people along the east coast of the U.S. who are suffering in the wake of “Hurricane Sandy,” and the havoc she wreaked. That would be a real trial to suffer loss of family members and friends, houses, land, and businesses, etc., and/or the discomfort of being displaced. When we consider the turmoil that many of these people are in right now, it makes many of our daily inconveniences and minor trials pale by comparison, though many people throughout our nation and world are suffering equally as much, or are much worse off even than these who have, and who are weathering this storm and its outcome.

Yet, no matter what kind of trial we may presently be facing, or we may yet face in the near future, we are to consider them joy. That’s a tall order, isn’t it? I think we so easily get disgruntled, impatient, and frustrated with life’s circumstances when things don’t go the way we think they should. We need to be reminded to consider them joy, and to act accordingly. I believe it helps when we can get our circumstances in the appropriate context or perspective. Sometimes we just need to step back and look at how good we really have it, or certainly we need to acknowledge the sovereignty of God in our lives, and in all that comes into our lives, and learn to accept whatever he brings our way, knowing that he will work it all out for good in our lives.

Also, God allows or brings trials into our lives to test and to prove our faith, and to develop perseverance within us, which leads us to spiritual maturity and completeness in Christ. I can attest to that from personal experience over and over again. The more trials I face, the stronger I become in my resolve to obey my Lord Jesus in all ways, and to follow him wherever he leads me. Trials make us or break us. They make us better or bitter. If we respond correctly to our trials, and we fall on our knees before Jesus, seeking his face, calling out to him for answers, and we humble ourselves before God, and we are willing to be taught and to learn what our Lord Jesus wants us to learn through our trials, instead of trying to wiggle our way out of them, then we can mature in Christ and become the people of God who will have a strong testimony and witness for Jesus Christ in this fallen world.

Wisdom

Doubt is the direct opposite of faith. If we waver in unbelief, perhaps going back and forth between trusting God in our circumstances and thinking we have to manage them ourselves, then we will be like the waves of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. This is a pretty vivid picture for us with all the pictures and videos of Hurricane “Superstorm” Sandy playing out before us on TV and the internet right now.

So, if we are praying for wisdom, we should believe that God will give us the wisdom, and we should believe God when he speaks to our hearts and he tells us what to do. If we are going to call on him in prayer, seeking his face, and we are going to ask him what to do in our circumstances or lives in general, then we had better be prepared to step out in faith and to do whatever it is he asks of us, for his glory. So many people ask, but if they don’t like the answer, then they do nothing or they go the opposite direction or they do it the way they want anyway. If we are going to ask for wisdom, we need to be willing and ready to obey.

Temptation

Not only will we face various kinds of trials that test our faith in this life, but we will all be accosted with numerous temptations to sin against God. God may bring trials into our lives, and he may even allow us to go through a period of great temptation, but he is not our tempter. He does not try to trick us into sinning and then give the smack down when we do sin. Satan does that. Yet Satan cannot succeed in getting us to sin if we are not already predisposed to sin. It is our own evil desires within us that lead us into temptation. So, we cannot resist the temptations of Satan if we are entertaining sin in our minds and hearts in any form or fashion. It is amazing to me the many subtle ways in which we are trapped by sin because we didn’t have on our spiritual armor, because we were allowing sinful thoughts and attitudes to slowly and subtly creep into our lives.

I am going to cite for you some examples of what I am talking about here. If you watch some news stations, notice how they seem to focus on stories involving sexual deviant behavior. They will even show nudity or will overplay the situation so that you are constantly being bombarded with sexual images while they act shocked at it all. Or, take commercials for instance. Sexual images or sensuality is central to much of advertising, and much of it is subtle. So, we put up with the commercials in order to see the movie or TV show we want to watch, or the football game or whatever, but we don’t realize the thoughts and images that are daily being planted in our minds. This is one of the reasons my husband and I decided to get rid of our TV now 4 years ago, and we don’t miss it at all.

And, then there are the TV shows and movies, music, video games and internet sites which have sensual or sexual content to them. We know all about justifying the watching of these for the overall benefit of the entertainment value, but it is not worth it, and we are feeding the wrong kinds of messages into our minds that counteract the spiritual armor of God. I have focused this discussion here on sexual or sensual content in our media and entertainment choices, but there are also messages of disobedience to parents, dishonoring and disrespecting of authority or of the elderly, women, children, etc.; lying, cheating, stealing, homosexuality, etc. that are pervasive in our society and in our media, and in our entertainment choices. We will fail to resist the temptations of Satan against us if we fail to remove from our lives all images and input that glorifies, promotes or makes light of sin.

Good Gifts

We are saved by grace, and this not of ourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works lest any man should boast (Eph. 2:8-9). Yet, the scriptures are clear that true grace delivers us out of bondage to sin. Only a false (diluted) grace allows the sinner to go on living a sinful lifestyle after he has made a profession of faith. A false grace invites you to “believe” without really defining Biblically what it means to believe. It invites you to “ask Jesus into your heart,” without explanation of what that entails, either, and it teaches that obedience to Christ is not required and that God is pleased with you no matter what you do.

Yet Jesus’ invitation to follow him is an invitation to death to self and sin and to follow him in obedience, without reservation, and in total abandonment to him and to his will for our lives. This is true grace, because it sets us free! So, do not be deceived by these false teachers who teach you a grace absent of the cross of Christ in your lives. Desire gives birth to sin, and sin gives birth to death (eternal damnation). Jesus Christ, on the other hand, came to set us free from slavery to sin. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, not through a bunch of lies and deceptions of men meant to scratch itching ears.

May we all call on God in truth, in humility of heart and mind, and be willing to submit ourselves to the will of the Father in heaven.

Father God / Jennifer Love Moss / Mark Bradley

Oh, God above,

I’m falling down before you.

There’s something I just

Can’t get off my mind.

It seems so long

Since I’ve come to you.

Do you remember

This child that once adored you?

Can you forgive me

Now that I’ve ignored you?

How can I now come before you?

Will you hear me when I cry?

Father God, hear my prayer.

Father God, I want to know your will.

Help me, Lord, I need you now.

I don’t know what to do.

Show me the way.

Oh, precious Lord,

Do not remain in silence.

I need your help.

There is no other way.

I can’t go on living life for me.

All my decisions

are falling to the ground.

I’m empty handed

And feeling so alone.

I want to be still and know you,

But I feel so far away.

Father God, hear my prayer.

Father God, I want to know your will.

Help me, Lord, I need you now.

I don’t know what to do.

Show me the way.

Oh, God above,

I’m falling down before you.

Song MP3: https://sites.google.com/site/psalmshymnssongs2/home/songs/father-god