Good Luck Charms

 

“Why did the Lord bring defeat on us today before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the Lord’s covenant from Shiloh, so that he may go with us and save us from the hand of our enemies.”

—1 Samuel 4:3

You probably know people who keep an object they hope will bring them good luck: a rabbit’s foot, or a four-leaf clover, or lucky horseshoe, or some memento that they expect to have power in their lives. Some people of particular religious faiths will mount the statue of a saint on the dashboard of their car, or place a religious statue in their flower garden. I even know a couple who admitted that they named their baby “Christian” as a special “nod to God.”

We might feel tempted to look down on such practices with a kind of superior glance, feeling quite smug about our own opinions on such matters. But, hold on! Let’s consider one of the stories of the Old Testament Prophet, Priest, and Judge, Samuel.

Samuel had carefully taught the people of Israel God’s written Word. Later, on the occasion when they gathered to fight against the pagan Philistine army, they were soundly defeated.

In their zeal as the Lord’s people, the Israeli army had reasoned that in their second battle against the Philistines, they needed some “magical” help. So, they sent for the Ark of the Covenant from Shiloh and had it brought to the battlefield.

Upon the arrival of the Ark of the Covenant, according to 1 Samuel 4, there was such shouting that the ground shook! Giving such a powerful response to the presence of this holy object, the army of Israel felt sure that God would go out with them against the Philistines.

Yet, in the end, not only did the Philistines win the battle, but they also stole the “lucky” Ark from Israel. Following this tragic loss, Israel experienced many days of disaster.

We need to consider the error of the people of Israel. We need to ask ourselves: “Do we put our faith in religious things rather than in the living God?” Consider these behaviors:

• Some people join a church with a magnificent building, so that their babies can be baptized there, their daughters married there, and they can be buried there in great pomp.
  
  
• Other individuals, misunderstanding the role of the Sacrament of Baptism, rest in making certain their sons and daughters are baptized as babies as a sort of safe-keeping assurance of their entrance into heaven in the afterlife.
  
  
• In the same way they enroll their children in scouting programs, or athletic teams, still others bring their children to church because they want the cultural and moral training that helps fit those children to grow up and become well-prepared, upstanding citizens.
  
  

The Bible teaches us about the Living God and His standards of righteousness. Consider these excerpts from Acts 17:24-31:

The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else … God did this so that they would seek HIM and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. For in him we live and move and have our being …

Therefore, since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine begin is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by human design and skill. In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice.

Yes, Certificates of Baptism and family religious traditions have a definite place in the lives of followers of Jesus. But, we should never confuse such items and traditions with “good luck charms” that keep us “in good” with God. He does not look on the external trinkets as humans do. He looks at our hearts and wants to see the image of His Son engraved there by His Holy Spirit!

 

 

Multi-Tasking Builders

 

Those who carried materials did their work with one hand and held a weapon in the other, and each of the builders wore his sword at his side as he worked … Neither I nor my brothers nor my men nor the guards with me took off our clothes; each had his weapon, even when he went for water.

—Nehemiah 4:17-18, 23

Nehemiah not only had the passion and the call of God to rebuild the ruined walls of Jerusalem, he had ungodly opposition from ungodly, jealous, and powerful neighbors, who plotted several ways to stop the rebuilding. Their taunts and threats so endangered the workers and the process to which they had been called, that they kept their weapons in one hand and worked with their trowels in the other.

God calls us all to the task of the building of His Kingdom. Never should we doubt that the enemy will come with his traitorous, ugly opposition to our work. We need to stay vigilant and stand prepared to fight the enemy’s poison arrows and his manipulations.

Nehemiah modeled the servant-leader. He prayed about the situation, before and during the construction. He prayed for his workers. He worked humbly alongside them. And, he refused the financial benefits that were offered to him from the king. Because of their vigilance and their sacrifice, they succeeded in their task of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem.

How do we then remain faithful in the work to which we are called and, at the same time, fight against our enemy? We must humbly acknowledge that, in ourselves, we have no power against our foe. But, the Holy Spirit will fight for us. When we pray in the Spirit, we are fighting with the most powerful weapon we have: the two-edged sword of the Spirit, which is the written Word of God (Ephesians 6:17) and (Hebrews 4:12).

In order to accomplish the tasks to which He has called us, only our God can help us work and fight at the same time. The witness to the world of our great God will not fail to attract the attention of those who need to see Him.

I love the results of the work Nehemiah and his crew saw. Nehemiah 6:16 tells us:

When all our enemies heard about this, all the surrounding nations were afraid and lost their self-confidence, because they realized that this work had been done with the help of our God.

Our Lord will accomplish not only His purpose in building up His church. But, He will cause the world around us to acknowledge His glory and His power. We multi-task with His hand upon us!

 

 

Remembered by God

 

After [Martha] had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary aside. “The Teacher is here,” she said, “and is asking for you. ”

—John 11:28

I cannot think of a moment more filled with stress for Mary. Her brother, Lazarus, had died and she and her sister, Martha, just couldn’t believe that their close friend, Jesus, had not come when they called Him. What questions they had. What confusion they tossed about in their minds: Why didn’t He come?

Yet, He did come. And, the moment Mary heard that Jesus was asking for her, she hurried to Him. We learn from the rest of John 11 that Jesus’ exposed His higher purpose by raising Lazarus from the dead. What a glorious remembrance of her and answer to her prayer! In fact, it is very likely that, in this moment, Jesus did something that greatly exceeded what Mary had hoped would happen.

I can think of other instances in Scripture when God remembered His people:

• In Genesis 39 through 40, we read the story of Joseph cast into prison in Egypt on false accusations. In this tortuous, inhumane place he remained for two full years.
  
  Then one day, all of a sudden it seemed, Joseph was called from the prison to stand before the King. Here, God used him to interpret a dream for the King and then elevated Joseph over all other men in that country, except for King Pharaoh himself.
  
  God certainly “remembered” Joseph. What jubilation must have risen in his beaten, abused, seemingly forgotten soul!
  
  
• When we look at the woman Hannah in 1 Samuel 1, we again see someone who felt abandoned and hopeless. Because Hannah could not have children, she spent a tortured life living with the heartbreak of barrenness.
  
  The Bible says this went on “year after year.” Hannah thought she would never have what she wanted from God, until we read in 1 Samuel 1:19 that God “remembered” her! She conceived and bore a son and produced more children after.
  
  

How often do we give up on our persistent prayers because we feel as if we have been waiting much longer than we ever expected to wait, even “year after year”? From these lessons, let us take hope and encouragement that God really has not forgotten us. At last, He will remember us—perhaps not in just the way we dream, but in the way of His good and perfect will for us.

Take hope from these words found in God’s written Word. Please read Lamentations 3:22-26 and bask in the truth of these verses of Scripture:

Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.” The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.

 

 

The Peril of Cruising

 

And do this, understanding the present time. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.

—Romans 13:11-12

I recently read an article by an author who compared the life of the present day Evangelical church to a cruise ship, rather than a battleship. As I’ve pondered this image, I tend to agree that we, who consider ourselves part of the Evangelical branch of Protestant Christianity, do often resemble this luxury conveyance that promises services to excite every fancy.

Cruises promise an enormous list of luxurious activities:

• spa and salon services
  
  
• shore excursions
  
  
• foods from around the world served in casual and formal settings
  
  
• free lessons in a wide range of activities, including even fencing and archery
  
  
• Broadway shows and many other types of entertainment
  
  
• even cool aquatic and other activities for children, in order to keep them occupied while the adults drink, dine, dance, and talk to each other.
  
  

Like the cruise ship, in our Evangelical churches, we try to satisfy the tastes for entertainment and comfort for each person who steps into our church foyer:

• We produce professional materials for children that rival any Disney production
  
  
• we serve food and refreshments in the lobby that will draw even the most picky coffee connoisseur
  
  
• we arrange the seating and an environment that allows those present to observe worship in comfort
  
  
• we provide music, with many elements of a stage production, that offer as much as many entertainment venues, so that drawing outsiders becomes the most important outcome of our efforts.
  
  

Contrast this image of our Evangelical churches to the image if our churches were more like a voyage on a battleship. What a letdown!

• no varieties of grand dining
  
  
• no long, restful spa treatments
  
  
• no Broadway-like entertainment
  
  
• no extra efforts to provide comfortable surroundings
  
  
• no time to lounge around enjoying the efforts of staff to wait on us and provide our every desire
  
  
• no cheerful activities to distract our children.
  
  

Instead, we enter such a battleship and prepare to stand in readiness for war. We eat what the battleship rations supply. Our schedules and work are planned and ordered by those above us. We live on alert at all times.

The ship itself boasts no deck lounges or vast swimming pools. Instead, it carries large-caliber powerful weapons. The hull is lined with heavy ironclad armor plate, able to absorb the damage from enemy fire. Onboard, we see anti-aircraft armament and we rest in the seaworthiness of the ship and the expert preparations of the crew.

The first ship is designed for rest and sleep. The second for tireless work and a sinew-stretching fight against the powerful enemy.

If an Evangelical church takes on the similarity to a battleship, how does it look? What does it have for priorities?

First of all, when the “passengers” come on board, they realize the expectations. Everyone must push against the foe. Everyone looks to the Captain and the “manual” He has prepared for instructions. Feeling entertained no longer even comes up in conversation. Each member no longer looks for his or her favorite pastime. Instead, all members work together for the greater goal—winning against the enemy and pleasing the Captain.

The crew on a battleship gives its attention to the danger of the enemy, the great struggle needed to defeat him, and the training one has received—and must continue to receive—from those in higher rank. The written Word of God must train the Christian in righteousness. 2 Timothy 3:17 tells us the reason for this:

That the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

It is reasonable for those of us who attend Evangelical churches to ask this question: “Do our churches equip their people with thorough battle preparation through the written Word of God?”

In the early Church, the believers knew what it meant to pray with divine power, in order to affect change and to obtain miraculous answers to prayer. In Acts 4:29-31, we read how they prayed:

“Now, Lord, consider their [those conspiring against them] threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.

Within our Evangelical churches, how often do we ask God in prayer to give us boldness in proclaiming the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ? How often do we ask for strength and protection to fight against sin and the persuasive influence of the evil one? Answering those questions may help us determine the answer to yet another question: “Do we serve the Lord on a cruise ship or a battleship?”

In these days of moral decay within our culture and of the increasing struggle of Christians around the world, should we not engage in battle rather than take a luxury vacation?

 

 

Living on Popcorn

 

The Word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: “Call to Me and I will answer you, and tell you [and even show you] great and mighty things, [things which have been confined and hidden], which you do not know and understand and cannot distinguish.”

—Jeremiah 33:3 AMP

As a teen, I remember hearing lessons and sermons in which teachers or pastors referred to short prayers of the “God, please help me now!” variety as “popcorn prayers.” They encouraged our spiritual formation by teaching us that God loves and cares for us, and that in His omniscience—His ever-abiding presence—He listens to every prayer we pray. When we get into confusing or difficult circumstances, we should, first of all, go to Him.

I send up “popcorn prayers” all the time. But, I know from my longtime experience that I can’t base my life on those quick requests for help. Instead, I need to seek out the God of heaven and earth in His holiness and power on those daily occasions when I sit down with Him for a “full meal” of His written Word and, in my inner being, listen to discern His explanation for what I am reading.

Please let me illustrate by relating this account from the first chapter of Nehemiah:

Nehemiah, one of the exiles who lived in Persia, had risen in importance within the government to the place where he served King Artaxerxes as his cupbearer. The king trusted Nehemiah with his very life. In turn, Nehemiah knew that the king expected him to come in good spirits and a friendly heart in order to deliver poison-free refreshment.

One day the king questioned Nehemiah because he looked sad. Now, if we go back in time a bit, we learn that Nehemiah had heard from a fellow Jew, who had traveled to Jerusalem, that the walls of the city had been ruined and torn down.

As a result of hearing this bad news, God gave Nehemiah such a burden for this former vital city of the Jewish nation—a city that Nehemiah had never seen, but a city that was the seat of his ancestry—that Nehemiah wept over this news. Then, Nehemiah fasted and prayed for four months about a solution.

We get a glimpse of the kind of prayer that Nehemiah prayed from reading one of those prayers in this passage of Scripture. Nehemiah worshiped God as the covenant God, reminding Him of the sins of His people, and also reminding Him of the promises given to Moses. By the time Nehemiah finished this prayer, he felt he had heard God calling him to go and serve in Jerusalem.

These events had taken place immediately before this encounter over the wine with Artaxerxes—the very day when Nehemiah went to the king with a sad face, causing the king to ask Nehemiah about his countenance. Perhaps the king thought Nehemiah had tasted something that wouldn’t have been healthy for the king! But no, the conversations went like this, as recorded in Nehemiah 1:2-5. The king said to Nehemiah:

“This must be sadness of heart!”

Nehemiah explains: I was very much afraid, but I said to the king, “May the king live forever!” Why should my face not look sad when the city where my fathers are buried lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?”

The king said to me, “What is it you want?”

Then I prayed to the God of heaven and I answered the king, “If it pleases the king and if your servant has found favor in his sight, let him send me to the city of Judah where my fathers are buried so that I can rebuild it.

As you read this account, did you see it? Nehemiah prayed a “popcorn prayer”! But, we must remember that this prayer came after four months of long, thoughtful, submissive, listening prayer. Of course, God heard and answered Nehemiah’s prayer.

I suggest that “popcorn prayers” shouldn’t make up the totality of our prayer life. We need to have them handy in the moment we come up against a problem. But, only after we have built a relationship and a life of long, extended prayers with our Heavenly Father.

God longs for us to come in quietness to commune with Him. Yes, He listens to all our prayers. But, God also waits for us to come to the place where we have time to listen to Him. At such a time He will tell us great and mighty things which we do not know. We may need them from time to time. But, we can’t live on “popcorn prayers.”

 

 

Tapping Into Power

 

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

—Ephesians 3:20-21

Have you ever tried to use an electric tool or an electric appliance and found that it wouldn’t work? After checking it over and finding nothing awry, did you then notice that you forgot to plug it into the electrical outlet on the wall?

How often have you wondered why you had so little compassion, patience, peace, joy, forgiveness, and so forth, for the people in your life? Have you come to realize that your lack of these important qualities probably has something to do with the fact that you haven’t been “plugged in” to the fullness of the Holy Spirit?

In our human nature, at times we can express those good human traits. But, they hold little power unless fed by that divine Power that accomplishes divine works.

To take the illustration further, we could also compare our powerlessness to the battery running low because we haven’t connected it to the battery charger. Without coming to the Source of our real Power at the beginning of our day, we will not have the divine ability to live in the way we want to for our Lord.

Jesus referred to this connectedness in His vine and branches illustration in John 15. In that passage of Scripture, Jesus was expressing that if His disciples, as the branches, were to bear fruit, they needed to “remain attached” to Him, the Vine.

When we pray, we plug into the Source and can rest in the knowledge that we will be able to do great things by His power. Puritan preacher, George Swinnock, put it this way: ¹

Every saint is God’s temple and may pray anywhere. Every house is a house of prayer. Prayer is pouring out the soul to God in the name of Christ, crying, “Abba, Father!” A prayer in a moment can fly to the highest heavens. It is a sweet savor to God, a terror to the devil, and a shelter to a Christian. Bernard calls it the conqueror of him who is invincible, and Luther says that it is omnipotent. By prayer fire has been quenched, water divided, the mouths of lions stopped, iron gates opened, the windows of heaven opened, the course of nature overturned, diseases removed, health restored, sin subdued, grace bestowed, kingdoms supported, enemies scattered, the blind restored, and devils cast out. Prayer is the midwife to bring mercies to the believer that were conceived in the womb of promise.

______________________

1 From “Works” by George Swinnock, as quoted in Rushing, Richard, editor. Voices from the Past. Carlisle, PA: The Banner of Truth Trust, 2009. p. 315.

 

 

Know Your Foe - Part 3

 

He, [the devil] was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

—John 8:44

As a teacher, I noticed the ability of some students to lie, even in my youngest students. I’m sure that this ability to lie came from practice. They had learned the skills of pseudo-believability and used those skills to their own advantage.

In contrast to the graphic at the beginning of this blog post, you have likely seen a similar picture of a person with the devil on one shoulder whispering in one ear, while an angel sits on the other shoulder whispering in the other ear. In such a situation, the individual seemingly does not know which one to believe. But, of course, that person should know.

We must never forget the clever pseudo-believability of our foe, the devil. Adam and Eve learned the hard way that Satan always tells lies. From the very beginning, in Genesis 3:1-5, we observe the following exchange, with Satan speaking to Eve in what I imagine is his high-pitched, scratchy voice:

“Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?”

And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’”

But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

Satan always begins his manipulations by distorting and maligning God’s truth. In the case of Adam and Eve, God had given very precise and very specific instructions. In Genesis 2:16-17, God actually said:

“You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

Yet, Satan ever-so-cleverly twists and distorts Eve’s thinking about what God actually said that she unknowingly adds to the restriction that God had placed on the one special tree. Then, Satan takes advantage of Eve’s confusion and offers Eve a false promise, saying in Genesis 3:5:

“You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

Throughout Scripture, we read of the devil lying. In Psalm 10:6, speaking about the wicked oppressor of the poor, the Psalmist states that the wicked one says:

“Nothing will shake me; I’ll always be happy and never have trouble.”

This oppressor heard what he wanted to hear. In the same Psalm 10, in verse 11, this same oppressor spouts the lie of Satan, that God is not omniscient, by saying:

“God has forgotten; he covers his face and never sees.”

Continuing to spout Satan’s lies, further on in Psalm 10:13, the same oppressor says about God:

“He won’t call me to account.”

Satan’s manipulation of the truth continues to this very day. We have all heard these kinds of lies coming into one of our ears. Have we believed them? Has all Satan’s trickery worked to undermine God’s truth in our lives? Have we listened to the evil one so long that we have a hard time recognizing God’s voice when we hear it?

Even when Jesus was tempted by the devil in the wilderness, we read in Matthew 4:1-11 that Satan quoted Scripture to Jesus, twisting the meaning of it in order to try to tempt our Lord. Of course, Jesus was not fooled. He knew the truth of what His Father had actually said.

Where does following this kind of false “wisdom” from Satan lead? Why, into sin, of course.

In John 8:44, we read Jesus’ words stating that Satan:

“…was a murderer from the beginning.”

And, Romans 6:23 tells us that:

“For the wages of sin is death…”

Living in such a way as to compromise God’s truth, to deny it, to ignore it, to turn our backs on it will lead to death. Our enemy loves to promise us the “moon” and actually deliver eternal damnation in hell.

In the book, Voices from the Past, Puritan writer Thomas Brooks writes: ¹

One of Satan’s devices to draw the soul into sin is to present the bait, and hide the hook; to present the golden cup, and hide the poison; to present the sweet, and the pleasure, but hide from the soul the wrath and misery that will certainly follow … Satan promises the soul honor, pleasure, and profit, but pays the soul with the greatest contempt, shame, and loss … Sin will usher in the greatest and the saddest losses that can be upon our souls. It will usher in the loss of that divine favor that is better than life, and the loss of the joy that is unspeakable and full of glory, and the loss of the peace that passes understanding.

We do well to fight this evil foe with the truth of Scripture. We need to know and understand the written Word of God and use God’s truth as a sword against the lies of Satan that we hear day after day, as the evil one speaks to us in one sly way after another. After all, we are told in 1 John 4:4:

“You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, [the spirits of false prophets and antichrist], because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.”

May God receive our highest praise!

______________________

1 Brooks, Thomas (author) and Richard Rushing (editor). Voices from the Past: Puritan Devotional Reading. Carlisle, PA: The Banner of Truth Trust, 2009. p. 15.