Tag Archives: Psalm 51:10

Inviting the thief into your house

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imageYou’ve heard about Save the Whales and Save the Rainforests. Perhaps you know a Global Seed Vault exists as a fail safe protection against natural or man-made disasters. The Harvard Art Museum in Cambridge, Massachusetts even houses the world’s rarest pigments to make sure their distinct colors are not lost. Whether it’s Save the Pygmy Frog, Save the Pigment, Save the World, or Save the Child, you’ll find groups of people to rally behind a cause they deem worthy of protection.

Closer to home, we lock our doors to protect our belongings and loved ones. At the same time, how often do we leave the doors wide open for the enemy to come charging into our homes and our lives? We warned our children about the subtlety of movies and books that could influence them in a harmful way.  They would sometimes argue that a little bit of cussing and swearing wouldn’t bother them. They said it just goes in one ear and out the other. It was the same with movie scenes that were unfit for children or adults.

The truth is, what goes in, stays in. Our brains are hard-wired to remember things, especially things that are atracked to emotion. Be it grief or pain, horror or enticement, emotionally laden words and images chemically imprint themselves on our memory. Maybe you know from experience how seemingly impossible it is to “unsee” a gruesome or unwholesome image; how challenging it is to “unhear” coarse talk that works is its way into our vocabulary.  The deeper the emotion, the more firm the imprint and more difficult to erase. Inviting some movies, books, talk, and habits into our lives is like leaving the door unlocked and wide open when we leave on vacation. We might as well put out a sign, “Thieves, help yourself.” Jesus himself warned, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” (John 10:10)

Are you tired of having your joy and peace stolen by the chaos and corruption around you? Are you tired of marriages and families being destroyed by what seems to be the norm in an immoral culture? Have you sometimes found Jesus’ promise of a full, abundant life buried somewhere under an avalanche of pressing forces and influences that run contrary to your deepest values?

Consider the antidote:

Above all else, guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life. Proverbs 4:23

Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. Colossians 3:5

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7

 

Of course, you know all these truths, don’t you? But are you applying them to protect your heart against bitterness, anger, greed, and corrupt thinking? (I’m examining myself as I ask.) Having asked God to make us a “new creation” and purify our heart and set it after his, are we guarding against the very things that threaten our peace and joy, or are we inviting divisive and coarse talk, immoral thinking, wasteful activities,  and greed to establish strongholds within us? It’s one thing to know we should lock our doors against intruders. It’s another thing to actually do it and also guard the doors to our heart.

Perhaps our children thought we were being prudish in protecting them from the horribly bad influences of the world. But protecting your heart is not about being prudish. It’s about being prudent. It’s about protecting what is most valuable. It’s easy to be seduced by the dark side. It happens so subtly. One small indiscretion leads to another and then another, until we find ourselves thinking or doing what would earlier have been unimaginable to us.

If you’re looking for a good cause to support, something worthwhile to protect, then first protect your heart from the thief who threatens to steal your joy.  Ask God, “Search my heart O Lord. Reveal what strongholds need demolished in my life. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.”  Then actively guard your heart by what you let influence it.

 

 

The battle within

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Someone wisely advised: “Be kind. Everyone is facing a tough battle.”

 

My doctor explained “what a colossal war is going on inside” my body: the battle of the body against the cancer and now the effects of chemo against the cancer AND against my body. He says the body is expending an enormous amount of energy at a cellular level, beyond what the anemia accounts for, in what is for the moment, a losing battle for the body. It will not have victory until it first falls. But THEN the victory will come!

 

It reminds me of the other battles we all face daily, sometimes unaware of the nature of our fight.

 

I suppose none of us seeks out the suffering that comes to our door. And when it does come, we are so eager to wish it away. But whether troubles are caused by a medical cancer or the “cancer” of broken relationships, physical pain, intense grief, or destructive attitudes, there are valuable life lessons to be found in suffering – if we listen.

 

God’s Word describes suffering as a refiner’s fire that has to get hot enough for the impurities to flow to the top, leaving only the highest quality purity remaining in your life. Suffering does that by stripping away false pretense in our lives so we can focus on what matters. CS Lewis says our pain demands attention. It draws us away from a wasted idle life of ease and comfort. We know God shows us compassion in our suffering so we can share with others in the lives of others in our path.  Sometimes suffering puts us in situations that actually advance the gospel.

 

But one of the supreme benefits of suffering – if we embrace it – is to draw us closer to God and develop qualities we could never learn or apply without such a hard teacher. Charles Spurgeon compares this to the soldier in the battlefield:

 

“God knows that soldiers can only be made in times of battle and are not developed in times of peace. We may be able to grow the raw materials of which soldiers are made, but turning them into true warriors requires the education brought about by the smell of gun powder and by fighting in the midst of flying bullets and exploding bombs, not by living in pleasant and peaceful times. So dear Christian, could this account for your situation? Is the Lord uncovering your gifts and causing them to grow? Is he developing in you the qualities of a soldier by shoving you into the heat of the battle? Should you not then use every gift and weapon he has given you to be a conqueror? Do you understand that God may take away your comforts and privileges in order to make you a stronger Christian? Do you see why The Lord always trains his soldiers, not by allowing them to lie on beds of ease but by calling them to difficult marches and service?”

 

My sister shared this quote. You know the truth, but I really appreciate the simple statement:

Trials don’t make us or break us.
They simply reveal what’s in our heart.

 

“Create in me a clean heart, O Lord, and renew a right spirit in me!”
Psalm 51:10

 

Whatever battle you are facing, know that you are not alone. Our good God desires you to prosper from it, not succumb to its pressure. Good and faithful friend, ask God to reveal what’s in your heart as you face your battle so you can use this time to draw closer to him and find his rest, his peace, and his strength to be “more than a conqueror” even in the middle of your storm.

 

Confess – Create – Cast

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Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.  James 5:16

 

Create in me a pure heart O God and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Psalm 51:10

 

Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken. Psalm 55:22

 

Confess sins: Two words that seem rather old-fashioned in today’s self-help and self-sufficient world. But these two words should be part of our daily vocabulary. Why? Because they are the secret to right living (righteousness). We cannot live in harmony with each other or with God unless we are reconciled with them. What kind of prayers are powerful and effective? The ones of a righteous person. Righteousness is not being ‘holier-than-thou.’  Righteous means being humble (reconciled) before God and others.

 

Righteousness involves asking God for a pure heart and a steadfast (right) spirit to live in us. It means being loyal, faithful, committed, dependable, trustworthy.  These are the qualities you seek in your closest friends; they are also the same qualities we need to demonstrate in order for us to be friends. It takes more than singing a song to be friends of God. We need to act like a real friend, one with a steadfast heart.

 

When we confess our sins and continually ask God for a clean heart, we finally find the capacity to truly cast our cares upon the Lord. Oh, we try to cast them on Him even when we remain in our sin. But it is a clean heart, a right conscience that allows us to really let them go.  When we hold onto our sins and our anxieties we are never fully at peace. We say ‘Time heals all wounds’ and ‘this too shall pass.’  But time alone is a lousy healer and ‘this too’ sometimes doesn’t pass, at least in this lifetime. Time allows a wound to scar. Forgiveness allows it to be fully healed.

 

Our health can be shaken, our finances decimated. Relationships are sometimes severed and we can be hard pressed in so very many ways. But God promises “He will never let the righteous be shaken.” How can you have this unshakable life? God says:

  • Confess your sins to each other and to God.
  • Ask God to create in you a pure heart.
  • Cast your cares on God and let HIM sustain you.

 

Enjoy the unshakable peace of God today.