In step

[RiverOL]

Come up on this level too

For reading & meditation: Micah 4:6-13

"But they do not know the thoughts of the Lord" (v.12)

Yesterday we ended with the statement: "Ultimately, the problems and difficulties of life are all spiritual." What exactly does this mean? Reflect again on the psalmist's problem. He says to himself: "Why does God allow the ungodly to prosper and the godly to go through great trials and tribulations?" He has trouble as he tries to understand God's ways.

Now there is really only one answer to this problem, and it is found in Isaiah 55:8: " 'My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,' declares the Lord." Whatever we might think about the ways of God, these words give us the ultimate answer - the Almighty acts in ways that are above and beyond our comprehension. It is as if God is saying: "When you look at My ways you must not approach them on a natural level, because if you do you will be baffled and overwhelmed.

I act on a higher level than the natural, and if you want to understand Me, then you must come up on this level too." How often, however, we persist in thinking naturally about life's situations - even those of us who have been in the Christian life for many years. The difference between natural thinking and spiritual thinking is the difference between heaven and earth.

The very first thing we must do when we are baffled by some circumstance in our lives, is say to ourselves: "Am I approaching this on a natural level or a spiritual level? Have I reverted unconsciously to my natural way of thinking about these things." The more we learn to think spiritually about life's problems, the less perplexed we will be.

Prayer:
Father, I need to adopt and practise many spiritual methods, but none is as important as that which aligns me to Your thoughts and purposes. Help me come up higher - to Your level of thinking. In Jesus' Name. Amen.

 

[RiverOL]

One view of things

For reading & meditation: Philippians 2:5-11

"Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus." (v.5, NKJ)

We continue meditating on the importance of learning to think spiritually. It is sometimes interesting to listen to Christians discussing together both earthly and heavenly issues. Take politics, for example. When involved in a discussion on this subject, many Christians seem to put their Christianity on one side and bring out all the prejudices and worldly arguments which they have been accustomed to use over the years.

What does this say to us? It reveals the great need we have to break with the idea that life can be viewed on two levels - the natural and the spiritual. The Christian must learn to view everything from a spiritual viewpoint or otherwise he will fall prey to the same problems that the psalmist had.

The great preacher C.H. Spurgeon once told a group of theological students that after they entered the ministry they should not be surprised to find that people who prayed like angels in a church prayer meeting could act like devils in a church business meeting. Unfortunately the history of the Church proves his statement to be true.

How can this happen? It's because in a prayer meeting people think spiritually, but in a business meeting they revert to their natural thinking, with all its prejudices and worldly assumptions.

They have a party spirit within them and as soon as any one bumps against them - out it comes. Our Lord, as our text for today shows so clearly, saw everything from a spiritual point of view. This is why, in the hour of overwhelming testing, He was able to say: "Not my will, but yours be done" (Luke 22:42).


Prayer:
My Father and my God, forgive me that so often my thinking is based on natural, rather than spiritual, perspectives. I think spiritually about some matters, but not all. Help me, dear Lord. In Jesus' Name. Amen.

 

[RiverOL]

Lop-sided Christians

For reading & meditation: Philippians 4:2-9

"' if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things." (v.8)

We continue to look at the dramatic change in the life of the psalmist when he entered into the sanctuary. It is important to realise that it was not merely the physical act of entering the sanctuary that brought about change. That was important, but something else happened that was even more important. Listen again to how he puts it: "[When] I entered the sanctuary ' then I understood their final destiny" (Psa. 73:17).

The word to note is "understood". In the presence of God the psalmist was given clear understanding. This is an extremely important point and one which cannot be emphasised too strongly: what he found in the sanctuary was not merely a nice feeling but a new understanding.

He was put right in his thinking. He did not merely forget his problem for a little while - he found a solution. The idea that many Christians have of the house of God or Christian fellowship is that it is a good place to go in order to forget one's troubles for a while.

They are soothed by the music and the singing, or perhaps, in some churches, by the beauty of the architecture, and they come away saying, "What a lovely feeling I get whenever I go to church." There is nothing wrong with that as far as it goes, of course, but the real issue is this: has anything happened to their minds?

The psalmist was not changed by the architecture of the Temple; he was changed when his thinking was put right: "Then I understood their final destiny." If the practice of our faith does nothing more than excite our emotions and fails to give us a better understanding of God and His ways, then we will be lop-sided Christians.

Prayer:
O Father, save me from becoming a lop-sided Christian. Give me not only joy to thrill my emotions but understanding to guide my intellect. In Jesus' Name I ask it. Amen.

 

[RiverOL]

Coming Back from Doubt

For reading & meditation - John 20:19-31

"Thomas said to him, 'My Lord and my God!'" (v. 28)

We consider another important place where some Christians are broken - the area of deep and disturbing doubts. Some men and women have received Christ as their Savior and Lord, but yet are afflicted with paralyzing doubts. Some of these people go through deep agony of soul as they wrestle inwardly with doubt, ending up spiritually exhausted.

Someone like this told me that she was a scientist and had serious doubts about certain parts of the Scriptures. "I'm afraid that one day I will wake up," she said, "and discover that science has disproved large chunks of Scripture." I could sympathize with her problem, but really her doubts were quite unfounded. Real science will never disprove Scripture, only confirm it.

Half-baked science may appear to discredit the truth of God's Word, but real science can only validate it. I suppose the classic example of doubt is found in the disciple Thomas. We call him "doubting Thomas" - an unfair label if ever there was one.

It's sad how we pick out a negative in a person and label him for that one thing. Thomas had his moment of doubt, but he came back from that place of weakness to become strong at the broken place. How strong? Let history judge. A well-authenticated tradition has it that Thomas went to India and founded a church there.

Even today there are Christians in India who call themselves by his name - the St. Thomas Christians. They are some of the finest Christians I have ever met. Thomas had his doubts allayed in one glorious moment of illumination - and then he went places. So can you!

Prayer: O my Father, just as You took Thomas and changed him from a doubter to a man of amazing faith and achievement - do the same for me. For Your own dear Name's sake I ask it. Amen.

 

[RiverOL]

Seeing Life Whole

For reading & meditation: 1 Peter 3:13-22

"' Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have '" (v.15)

As Christians we ought never to forget that the message of the Bible is addressed primarily to the understanding; it enables us to understand life. Because of the Bible, we are able to give a reason for the hope that is within us.

The psalmist found the truth of this. In the sanctuary he discovered an explanation for the way that he felt. He was not given a temporary lift that would stay with him for a few hours or a few days - he was given a solution that would stay with him for the rest of his life.

It was this, in fact, that caused him to write the psalm we are focusing upon day by day. The words: "Then I understood their final destiny" (Psa. 73:17) suggest that previously he had not been thinking correctly. He had been seeing things from a partial and incomplete perspective, but now "in the sanctuary" he began to see the whole picture: "Then I understood".

When? Then - when he came into the sanctuary. There is a line in one of Matthew Arnold's writings that goes like this: "Who saw life steadily, and saw it whole." What a delightful phrase this is. Nothing can be more wonderful than to see life steadily and to see it whole.

Much of the inner turmoil we go through in life comes about because we do not see life as a whole. Prejudice has been defined as "seeing only what you want to see". People who are prejudiced say: "I have always seen it that way." That's their problem - their eyes are fixed on just one facet of an issue and they will not allow themselves to look at the other sides.

Prayer:
O Father, help me, for I dont want to be in bondage to prejudice or bigotry - I want to see life whole. We must work this issue out together over these next few days, for apart from You I can do nothing. Help me, Father. Amen.

 

[RiverOL]

Restoring the image

For reading & meditation: 1 Thessalonians 5:12-28

"May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." (v.23)

We continue meditating on the importance of looking at life "steadily and whole". I venture to suggest that people who are not Christians are unable to see life as a whole. How can they, when their thinking takes place only on the level of the natural? Natural thinking is notoriously partial and incomplete. Take, for example, the field of medicine.

A generation ago doctors treated the symptoms that people presented to them, but now, with a clearer understanding of how the mind affects physical health, they have come to see that this approach was partial. One doctor said: "At long last the medical profession has discovered that the patient himself is important."

Medicine is fast moving towards what is described as a "holistic" approach as more and more doctors begin to realise that it is not enough to treat the problem, we must also treat the person. They are still far from seeing that there is also a spiritual element in the person that has to be considered, but perhaps in time that will come.

Christian counselling suffers from the same problem - it does not see the whole picture. I am tired of reading books on Christian counselling that give just one side of the issue and suggest that problems can be resolved by applying one special technique.

Man was created as a whole person and he will never be helped back to wholeness unless every part of his being is treated - spirit, soul and body. God wants to restore His image in us: not in part of us but in the whole.

Prayer:
O Father, forgive us that so often we settle for the half view of things rather than the whole. Quicken my spiritual understanding so that I have Your view on all things - the "whole" view. In Jesus' Name I ask it. Amen.

 

[RiverOL]

No need for dead reckoning

For reading & meditation: Acts 26:1-18

"I too was convinced that I ought to do all that was possible to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth." (v.9)

The place where we can see life as a whole is in the sanctuary of God, or, if you prefer, in the presence of God. There we are reminded of things we have forgotten or ignored. See how the Good News Bible translates Acts 26:9: "I myself thought that I should do everything I could against the cause of Jesus of Nazareth." Here you see the root of Paul's problem: "I myself thought". And is not that the underlying cause of many of our problems too?

We say, "I myself thought '" instead of asking: "What does God think?" Sometimes sailors will attempt to establish the position of their ships by estimating the distance and direction they have travelled, rather than by astronomical observation.

This is called "dead reckoning". It is sometimes necessary in foul weather but it is fraught with peril. One mariner has said: "Undue trust in the dead reckoning has produced more disastrous shipwrecks of seaworthy ships than all other causes put together."

There are people who attempt the voyage of life by dead reckoning, but there is no need. God has charted the map for us with loving care in the Scriptures, and our plain duty is to study the chart so that we might become better acquainted with His purposes and His ways.

For the better we know the Scriptures, the better we will know God. We cannot ignore the facts of history or science - they help - but if our perspective is not drawn from the Scriptures it will lead us astray. We must not rely on dead reckoning but on divine reckoning.

Prayer:
O Father, just as the art of navigation requires definite and fixed points from which to take a bearing, so does my voyage through life. I am grateful, dear Father, that in You I have all the fixed points I need. Amen

 

[RiverOL]

What says the Scripture?

For reading & meditation: Matthew 22:23-33

"Jesus replied, You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God." (v.29)

We spend one more day considering the proposition that apart from a relationship with God and an understanding of the Scriptures, we are unable to see life as a whole. The man or woman who knows and understands the Bible will be acquainted with the facts he or she needs to have in order to come to right and sound conclusions. So immerse yourself in the Scriptures.

Understand that human nature is corrupt and that apart from the grace and power of God men and women are unable to live up to their ideals. Realise that the spiritual is more powerful than the material, and unless the spirit is in control we will be driven by carnal desires.

When people say humanity is getting better and that sin and evil are just the "growing pains" of the human race - what are the facts? You get them from the Scriptures and only from the Scriptures. What does the Bible tell us about evil? It says it is part of the human condition and can never be rooted out except through the power and the grace of God.

So study the facts of Scripture. Read them, memorise them, and meditate upon them. When next you feel dispirited because you cannot make sense of something, ask yourself: What are the facts? Dig into the Scriptures and draw your perspective from what the Bible says.

The root of many of our emotional problems lies in a lack of clear thinking - clear thinking based on Scripture. Think as God thinks about issues and you will feel as God feels about them. For you are not what you think you are, but what you think you are.

Prayer:
Father, I see now why so often my thinking about life is confused - my thinking is not based on the facts. Help me draw my deductions not from what I see in the world but from what I see in the Word. In Jesus' Name. Amen.

 

[RiverOL]

Where does it all end?

For reading & meditation: Matthew 7:13-20

"Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction '" (v.13)

Today we look at the special understanding the psalmist received when he came into the sanctuary of God: "Then I understood their final destiny" (Psa. 73:17). As soon as he considered the final destiny of the ungodly, everything dropped into focus for him. He had looked at the prosperity of the ungodly but he had not looked at their end - he had not taken in all the facts. What are the facts concerning the end of the ungodly?

The passage we read today tells us: the broad road which the ungodly travel leads to destruction; the narrow road which the godly travel leads to life.

It is as simple as that. Though this passage was not available to the psalmist, the truth underlying it was most certainly known to him. Listen to this from Psalm 37: "The transgressors shall be destroyed together; the future of the wicked shall be cut off" (v.38, NKJ).

The writer of that psalm, King David, described the wicked spreading themselves like a green tree, but when the end came they vanished off the face of the earth and no one could find them.

The trouble with us is that so often we dwell too much on the present and fail to consider the future. Do you look at the ungodly, many of whom seem to be having a marvellous time ignoring moral restrictions, and feel envious of them?

Well consider their end. Give some thought to the ultimate outcome. The Bible describes it as "destruction". We ought never to forget that it is not how things are at present that is important; it's how they end that matters.

Prayer:
Father, whenever I am next tempted to compare my life and its circumstances with that of others who do not know You, help me to remind myself of the fact that it is the end that matters, not the beginning. In Jesus' Name. Amen.

 

[RiverOL]

I'm afraid of the dark

For reading & meditation: Proverbs 12:1-8

"Wicked men are overthrown and are no more, but the house of the righteous stands firm." (v.7)

We continue thinking about the fact that as soon as the psalmist considered the end of the ungodly, everything dropped into focus. Their true position became so clear to him that his language in the rest of the psalm indicates that he not only ceased to be envious of the ungodly but began to be sorry for them.

Indeed, the same thing will happen to us too - the more we focus on the ultimate end of the unconverted, the more compassion we will feel for them. How grim and cheerless is the non-Christian view of life, especially as it relates to the end.

Dr Marrett, a rationalist and head of one of the colleges in Oxford, wrote, as he neared the end of his life: "I have nothing to look forward to but chill autumn and still chillier winter and yet I must somehow try not to lose heart." H.G. Wells, who ridiculed and scoffed at Christianity with its doctrine of sin and salvation, said at the end of his life that he was utterly baffled and bewildered.

The title of his last book summed up his view of things: A Mind at the End of its Tether. When he was dying, a noted atheist asked one of his relatives for a lighted candle to be placed in his hand. "Why a lighted candle?" asked the concerned relative. "Because I am afraid to go out into the dark," was the reply.

How foolish to look enviously at the lifestyle of the ungodly, focusing only on their present successes and the marvellous time they seem to be having, without considering their end. We should never forget that no matter how glittering their lifestyle, the death of the ungodly is a terrible thing.

Prayer:
O Father, let this sobering thought not only free me from envy but stimulate within me a deep concern for those who do not know You. May I be used in some way to halt the progress of someone on the road to a lost eternity. In Jesus' Name. Amen.

 

[RiverOL]

It's a dead certainty!

For reading & meditation: 2 Timothy 4:1-8

"Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day '" (v.8)

There can be no doubt that the Bible presents the death of the ungodly as being terrible. How differently, however, does it portray the death of the righteous. Even a hireling prophet like Balaam, bad as he was, recognised that there was something different about the death of the godly.

Listen to his words in Numbers 23:10: "Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my end be like his" (NKJ). The book of Proverbs puts the same thought in this way: "The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever brighter till the full light of day" (4:18).

I heard one preacher say that the happiest woman he had ever seen was a dying woman. She lay on her bed and clapped her hands at the approach of death. Very many people came to look at her bright countenance. "They tell me this is death," she said. "It's not death at all - it's life." People were converted by her bedside, including her son.

A theologian by the name of W. Cosley Bell, when he sensed that he was about to leave this world, sent these words to the staff of the college where he was employed: "Tell the young men that I've grown surer of God every year of my life, and I've never been so sure as I am right now. Why it's all so! It's a fact - a dead certainty. I'm so glad I haven't the least shadow of shrinking or uncertainty.

I've been preaching and teaching these things all my life and I'm so interested to find that all we've been believing and hoping is so." That is the way to die. One of John Wesley's proudest claims for the early Methodists was this: "Our people die well.".

Prayer:
Father, the empty tomb of Jesus makes all our fears lies, and all our hopes truths. That empty tomb is the birthplace of eternal certainty. Because He lives I shall live also. I am eternally grateful. Amen.

 

[RiverOL]

Rougher - but more secure

For reading & meditation: Deuteronomy 32:28-38

"If only they were wise and would understand this and discern what their end will be!" (v.29)

We have been seeing that in the sanctuary the psalmist was reminded of the things he had forgotten, and thus his thinking was straightened out. There can be no real change in our personalities until there is a change in our thinking. Counselling that focuses only on changing behaviour and fails to emphasise the importance of changed thinking is partial and incomplete.

We may experience some change when we change our behaviour, but we experience the greatest change, as our text for today suggests, when we change our thinking. In the sanctuary the psalmist's thinking was put right about the ungodly: "Then I understood their end" (Psa. 73:17, NKJ).

The next verses indicate how his thinking was also put right about God Himself: "Surely you place them on slippery ground; you cast them down to ruin. How suddenly are they destroyed, completely swept away by terrors" (Psa. 73:18-19).

The psalmist's problem, you remember, was not so much that the ungodly prospered, as that God had arranged it that way. Had it happened by mere chance, he might not have had any difficulties, but the fact that the great Designer had planned it like this filled him with perplexity.

Now, however, he sees that the divine hand had purposely placed these men in prosperous and eminent circumstances so that they could fulfil the Creator's purposes: "You" - note the You - "You place them on slippery ground."

Note, too, the phrase "slippery ground": their position was dangerous. Therefore God did not set His loved ones in that place, but chose instead a rougher but more secure standing for their feet.

Prayer:
O God, I am grateful that You have set my feet in a secure place and not on slippery ground. Why I have been chosen to be a recipient of such grace and favour I do not know. Yet it is so. I am deeply, deeply thankful. Amen.

 

[RiverOL]

He never leaves the helm

For reading & meditation: Psalms 76

"Surely your wrath against men brings you praise '" (v.10)

We touched yesterday on the truth that the reason why the ungodly are set in eminent places is because God arranges it. The psalmist goes on to say that not only does God raise up the ungodly, but He also brings them down: "You cast them down to ruin.

How suddenly are they destroyed '" (Psa. 73:18-19). The hand that led them up to the top of the slope is the hand that also casts them down. Why does God act in this strange and mysterious manner? One reason is that God is able to demonstrate how unreliable and insecure are the ways of those who choose not to walk with Him.

This explains why we so frequently read of some prominent godless person, such as a film star whom everyone is acclaiming, being suddenly removed from the face of the earth. The feet of such people were set in slippery places. Some reading these lines will remember how everyone stood in dread of Adolph Hitler. He had the whole world frightened, but now he is gone and almost forgotten.

The psalmist's words "You cast them down ' how suddenly are they destroyed" are really an exclamation of godly wonder at the suddenness and completeness of the sinner's overthrow. God makes a spectacle of those who persist in rejecting His love and grace.

They make a splash for the moment of their lives, but after that they are gone and soon forgotten. Keep that fact before you as you look out upon the world. It may sometimes seem as if God is not in control, but in actual fact His hand is ever upon the helm of human affairs.

Prayer: Gracious and loving Father, my heart bows in silent wonder as I contemplate the awesomeness of Your ways. Open my eyes that I might see that You are at work all around me and that Your face is constantly set against evil. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
For further study:

 

[RiverOL]

Hang him on it!

For reading & meditation: Proverbs 24:15-22

"' for the evil man has no future hope, and the lamp of the wicked will be snuffed out." (v.20)

Today we look at another reason why God allows the ungodly to flourish - to illustrate by contrast the horror of an eternity without God. Spurgeon commented: "Eternal punishment will be all the more terrible in contrast with the former prosperity of those who are ripening for it."

The seeming joy and splendour of the prosperous ungodly actually renders the effect of being cast aside by God more awful, just as vivid lightning does not brighten but intensifies the thick darkness around.

You will no doubt remember the story of Haman, who prepared a gallows for Mordecai but finished up by being hanged upon it himself. The ascent to the gallows was an essential ingredient in the terror of the sentence: "Hang him on it!" (Esth. 7:9). The wicked are raised high so that all might see how great is their fall.

A preacher tells how he read the story of the rich man and Lazarus, in Luke 16, to a group of young people who were hearing it for the first time. He stopped at the part where Lazarus lay at the gate, the dogs licking his sores, while the rich man ate in splendour in his house, and said: "Which would you rather be, the rich man or Lazarus?"

With one voice the young people shouted: "The rich man." He then read on, and after telling the story of how both died and the rich man was in torment while Lazarus was carried to Abraham's side, he asked: "Now which would you rather be?" This time they responded more quietly and soberly "Lazarus." That is the truth the psalmist saw as he sat quietly in the sanctuary of God.

Prayer:
Father, the more I see the whole picture and realise what I have been saved from, the more I feel like flinging myself at Your feet in adoring worship and praise. Thank You for saving me, dear Lord. Words cannot fully express my gratitude. Amen.

 

[RiverOL]

Alexander the Great

For reading & meditation: Isaiah 40:12-17

"Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket '" (v.15)

Now we come to look at a section of the psalm which suggests that the reason why the ungodly continue to prosper as they do is because God is asleep. Listen to the psalmist's exact words: "As a dream when one awakes, so when you arise, O Lord, you will despise them as fantasies" (Psa. 73:20).

The truth is, of course, that God does not sleep, but the psalmist has used a figure of speech which pictures our limited human perception of God's actions. God does not sleep, but at times He appears to do so.

But what happens when God stirs from His apparent sleep? The ungodly man, who has seemed so eminent and prosperous, vanishes as a dream. It is as if he had been a phantom or an illusion.

The passage before us today puts this whole matter in context when it tells us that the nations are but "a drop in a bucket" to the Creator. Now they may look powerful and mighty, with their stockpiles of nuclear weapons, but when God arises they are as "grasshoppers".

Do you remember being told in your history class at school about Alexander the Great? He was one of the greatest generals of all time and conquered almost the entire known world. Did you know that he is referred to in the Bible?

You will not see his name written in the Scriptures, but reference to him can be found in Daniel. Look at what the Bible calls him - a "goat" (Dan. 8:5-8). Walter Luthi puts it like this: "He who to the world is Alexander the Great, is to God nothing more than a he-goat." When God arises, the great become nothing.

Prayer: Father, thank You for reminding me over these past few days of Your greatness and eternal power. I so easily forget that I am linked to a God who is not just powerful but all-powerful. Let the wonder of that fact sink deep into my soul today. Amen.

 

[RiverOL]

Take an inside look

For reading & meditation: 1 Corinthians 11:27-34

"A man ought to examine himself '" (v.28)

From what we have seen over the past few days, it is clear that the psalmist has come to the place where his views have changed. He sees that God is ruling over human affairs and that the ungodly are not in such an enviable situation after all. We come now to see that he was not only put right in his thinking about the ungodly and about God, but he was also put right about himself: "When my heart was grieved and my spirit embittered, I was senseless and ignorant: I was a brute beast before you" (Psa. 73:21-22).

What a different view he has of himself now compared to previously, when he so evidently felt very sorry for himself: "Surely in vain have I kept my heart pure; in vain have I washed my hands in innocence" (v.13). Outside the sanctuary, he felt full of self-pity; inside the sanctuary, he had an entirely different view of himself. This is a moment when the psalmist honestly faces himself - something that is very difficult to do.

Most of us don't mind working our way through our problems, but the moment we get relief, we want to stop right there. We do not go on to face up to what caused us to come to the wrong conclusions in the first place. This is why we keep going through the same problems over and over again - we fail to take an inside look.

A schoolteacher claimed to have twenty-five years of experience, but her head teacher said of her: "She has just one year of experience twenty-five times." She worked long but learned little.

Prayer:
Father, I see why it is that so often I go through the same problems over and over again - I stop short of learning why they happened in the first place. Help me today to think through why it is that I get so tied up. In Jesus' Name I pray. Amen.

 

[RiverOL]

Far too 'healthy' spiritually

For reading & meditation: Psalms 139:17-24

"Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts." (v.23)

We said yesterday that the task of honestly facing ourselves in self-examination is often the hardest thing for us to do. We are all very prone to pass quickly over this point.

We are quite happy to hear how God has set the ungodly in slippery places but we are not happy to be invited to take a look at ourselves and uncover the things within us that cause us to go astray. It must be said, however, that two dangers arise whenever the question of self-examination is considered. One is over-emphasis and the other is under-emphasis.

Some engage in it too much and become unhealthily introspective, while others fail to look at themselves at all and thus live on the surface. The important thing to remember is this - self-examination should always be carried out in the presence of God. If this is not adhered to, then the exercise can become harmful and counter-productive. I meet many Christians who strongly oppose the idea of self- examination.

They say: "the moment you see that you have sinned and then put your sin 'under the blood' you are all right. To stop and think about it is an indication that you are not spiritually healthy and that you lack faith." Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones once said: "The trouble with most of us is that we are far too 'healthy' spiritually."

He meant by that that we are much too glib and much too superficial. Nothing is more characteristic of a true Christian than a willingness to examine himself; not too much, not too little, but in an appropriate and balanced way.

Prayer:
O Father, the reason I am afraid to examine myself is because I might find something I do not like. However, help me be honest no matter what the cost - honest with You and honest with myself. In Jesus' Name I pray. Amen.

 

[RiverOL]

Think, man, think

For reading & meditation: Romans 12:1-8

"' be transformed by the renewing of your mind '" (v.2)

The second thing the psalmist learned about himself as he paused in self-examination was this: "I saw myself so stupid and so ignorant" (Psa. 73:22, TLB). There were things he knew which he had foolishly chosen to forget. He forgot that God was in control. He forgot the temporary nature of success and prosperity.

He forgot the whole purpose of godly living. He forgot that God always has the last word. If you and I react as the psalmist did to trials, then there is only one thing that can be said about us - we are stupid and ignorant.

The third thing the psalmist learned about himself was that he had reacted like an animal - instinctively: "I was a brute beast before you" (Psa. 73:22b). What is the difference between a beast and a human being? A beast lacks the faculty of reason. It is unable to stand outside itself to consider itself and its actions. An animal responds to any stimulus instinctively without any interval for thought.

The psalmist had been doing that - he had failed to put an interval of thought between the stimulus and the response. Once he did stop to think, and put the situation in a different context, his negative feelings immediately dissolved. Is not this the value of the Scriptures? As we read them they reason with us.

They tell us not to react instinctively to things, but to think them through. They give us a new framework for our understanding, a new context in which to reason. The more we draw our understanding from the Scriptures and learn to think God's thoughts after Him, the more secure and the more effective our lives become.

Prayer:
Father, I am grateful that You have made me with the ability to think. My thoughts can lead me astray or they can lead me to You. Help me to draw my thought patterns not from the world but from Your Word. In Jesus' Name I ask it. Amen.

 

[RiverOL]

Emotional reasoning

For reading & meditation: Jeremiah 17:5-13

"The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?" (v.9, NKJ)

We continue focusing on the thought that one of the reasons why we go through the same difficulties and problems year after year is that we never stop to examine ourselves and find out what makes us act the way we do. The psalmist examined himself in the presence of God and discovered that three things had led him astray. First, he saw that he had allowed his heart to rule his head: "When my heart was grieved and my spirit embittered, I was senseless and ignorant" (Psa. 73:21-22). Notice the psychology of this - he put the heart before the head.

Many of our troubles are due to the fact that we are governed by the feelings that arise in our hearts rather than the clear thinking that should be going on in our heads. When the heart gets in control, it bludgeons us into believing things that are not true.

It makes us stupid. The psalmist thought that his feelings about the ungodly were facts, but this was nothing more than what psychologists call "emotional reasoning" - believing that what you feel is the way things really are. The moment the psalmist's feelings were corrected by the facts, the feelings disappeared.

There was no real problem at all. He had "worked himself up", as we say, into a self-induced frenzy. I have done this myself (and so, I am sure, have you) when I have allowed my feelings to dominate me to such an extent that I have begun to believe that molehills were mountains.

The real trouble in the psalmist's life was not what was going on in his outer world, but what was going on in his inner world. In other words, the real source of his trouble was himself.

Prayer:
Father, I see more clearly every day that most of my problems are the ones I make for myself by my wrong thinking and wrong perceptions. Help me keep my heart under control by biblical thinking. In Jesus' Name I ask it. Amen.

 

[RiverOL]

Nevertheless

For reading & meditation: Psalms 31:19-24

"In my alarm I said, 'I am cut off from your sight!' Yet you heard my cry for mercy '" (v.22)

Once the psalmist reached the place of utter abandonment before God there came into his heart an instant reassurance: "Yet I am always with you" (Psa. 73:23). Some translations put it like this: "Nevertheless I am continually with you". Personally I prefer the word "nevertheless" as it conjures up to my mind a movement in the soul of the psalmist that was vital to his spiritual recovery.

He did not stop at the point of self-examination and turn in upon himself - he looked into the face of his heavenly Father and realised that he was accepted and loved. If we end at the point of self-examination and don't remember the next words, "Nevertheless I am continually with you," then we will stay locked into the negative feelings of guilt and self-condemnation.

This is why I said earlier that self-examination must not be undertaken except in the presence of God. Many have spent time examining themselves, and because they have judged themselves to be worthless and useless, they have gone out and committed suicide. Am I talking to someone like that today?

If so, put your foot on this next rung of the ladder and realise that although you may be feeling useless and worthless nevertheless you are still in the presence of God. He still permits you to come into His presence, even though you have forgotten His promises and misunderstood His ways.

God does not cast you away. Let the wonder of this break afresh upon you today. Whatever has gone wrong in your life, confess it to Him and look into His face and say: "Nevertheless I am continually with you."

Prayer:
Father, how can I sufficiently thank You for giving me the right word at the right time? You knew how much I needed this today. It is a lifeline to my spirit. As I hold on to it let it bind me closer to You. In Jesus' Name. Amen.