#51 THE CALL TO OVERCOME: PSALM 91:1-2

     Many years ago, after my husband almost died twice in an eighteen month period, God focused our attention on a Psalm which has become one of the most meaningful passages in our lives. At the time, God had already encouraged us with Deuteronomy 30:15-20 (choosing life and blessings rather than choosing death and cursings); in this Psalm, we found the foundation that gave us the ability to choose life and blessings. Psalm 91 spoke so clearly to me that I copied it down and posted it on our front door. Every time we came into our house, we were reminded of the power of dwelling in the Secret Place of the Most High, so this Psalm remained on our door for a number of years and built our confidence in the absolute love that God has for all of us. It also became the call to overcome in our lives. For, truly, if we have any hope of overcoming the kingdom of evil, it has to begin with our choice of where we live. 

He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust.      (Psalm 91: 1-2)

     When we began our discussions through the first several posts of this blog, we talked about how God was all there was before He started creating and how He created an alternative to Himself before He created any beings (first post, http://is.gd/d56i5). We inferred that, when God removed Himself from a “place,” the Wrath of God came into existence and was completely separate from where God was (aka the Secret Place of the Most High). Then we went on to discuss how Lucifer became Satan and set up his kingdom in the Wrath of God and how God went to the kingdom of evil to create our world. So, in the world we live in, two basic forces (good and evil) exist and God has given us the right to choose which force rules our lives. The trouble is our world is full of deception and misunderstanding because, by finding a way to scam Adam and Eve, Satan was able to construct an impenetrable wall between God and the human race. Satan built such a network of lies that finding truth was neigh to impossible (only Enoch and Elijah were able to get around Satan’s ploy). The Bible tells us how God worked with humans over many years to break through all the roadblocks Satan erected and how He made the way for Christ to be born. After Christ worked on correcting some of the misunderstandings people had about God, he went to the cross where he knocked down that dividing wall and made a way for people to not only find truth, but also for them to choose life and blessings. Christ opened the door to the Secret Place of the Most High for anyone who wants to enter. 

     Way back when I was in college, my Christian friends and I talked a great deal about having quiet times with God–times that we would devote to reading the Bible and praying. In my mind, somehow, this concept of having quiet times equaled visiting with God during regularly scheduled meetings. At that young age, I was challenged not only to find time for my quiet time, but also, to keep my mind centered on reading the Bible and praying while I was meeting with God. However, my concept of relating to God began changing after I graduated from college and moved away from family and friends. Suddenly, I didn’t have anyone but God to rely on, and I transitioned from having quiet time meetings with God to living my life snuggled next to Him on a comfy couch. In other words, I found my place in the Secret Place of the Most High and moved in. In the years since, I have never regretted my decision.

     Have you ever heard a sentiment that says something like God demands our worship and praise for His own sake because He is who He is? I think sometimes the statements we Christians make portray God as being somewhat egoistic. Psalm 91 shows us that God is not all about Himself, but He is all about us. He wants us to live in the place where He is–not for His sake, but for our sakes. Abiding under the shadow of the Almighty gives us a place of safety in a world of evil. As verse 2 encourages us, we can look at the Secret Place of the Most High through the lenses of being a refuge and a fortress. The dictionary defines “refuge” as being shelter or protection from danger or difficulty and “fortress” (fort, fortify) as being a permanent defensive place that is strengthened against attack. If anything is clear in our world, it is the fact that evil is intent on destroying all of us. Through Christ, God has made the way for us to escape that evil and to reach the point where our defense can destroy Satan’s offense. So, God wants us to abide in Him for our good, not for His selfish purposes.

     Psalm 91:2 ends with the words, “…in Him (God) I will trust.” I think we struggle with this word, “trust.” How many times have you trusted someone only to be disappointed or hurt? Yet, practically everywhere we go, we hear the words, “Just trust me (or us)?” I would like to propose a concept that has grown in my life as I have walked with God–I do not trust any human being (including myself), but I do trust God. Trust is defined as the firm confidence in the honesty, integrity, reliability, justice, etc. of another person or thing. As far as I can see, if the Bible is reality, there is only one entity who is worthy of our trust and that is God. Everyone and everything else in our world are subject to variableness. James 1:17 tells us that God does not vary in any way at all–His absolute love never changes. So, through the years, I have learned to put my trust in God and to obey Him by loving myself and my fellow human beings.

     Dwelling in the Secret Place of the Most High is a matter of choice, not of feelings. Listen again to God’s words found in Deuteronomy 30:19-20:

   I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; that you may love the Lord your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling (cleave, KJV) to Him for He is your life and the length of your days; and that you may dwell in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.

Life is found through dwelling in the Secret Place of the Most High, for it is there where we can find the knowledge, understanding, and wisdom we need to overcome the kingdom of evil. Each and every one of us has the right to abide under the shadow of the Almighty. We have a distinct choice in our world, and I’m praying for the day when all of us will understand the power of dwelling in the Secret Place of the Most High.

    All scriptures have been taken from the NKJV.

     ©2009-2010 by Patricia Zell. All rights reserved.

      

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patriciazell, July 20th 2010 | Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in THE CALL TO OVERCOME

#39 THE DOING OF LOVING: FREEDOM

     Long before Hal David and Burt Bacharach wrote the song “What the World Needs Now Is Love,” Christ honed in on the one force that will change our world forever. One day, a lawyer, wanting to test him, asked him what the greatest commandment in the Law was, and Christ centered on this greatest need of our world:

  And (Christ) said to (the lawyer), ” ‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ On these two commandments depend the whole Law and Prophets.”                                                                                            Matthew 22:37-40 (NASB)

Love–such a simple concept, yet so hard to attain. I know I have struggled with the call to love, and I’m fairly sure many others have, too. I’ve found that it’s easy to love God in the middle of a glorious worship service, but what about the times when our prayers seem to hit concrete ceilings and nothing changes when we really need change? In those times of our greatest unmet needs, those little niggling voices inside us whisper, “If God really loves you, He would…” If we’re not careful, those little voices can grow into clanging choruses that push us away from God and from the power of His absolute love.

     To love God with everything we have takes focus and determination. Loving God demands that we know who He is because love implies intimacy. We can’t fully love God on the basis of what other people say–our knowledge of Him has to be up close and personal. In a world of discordant voices, we face a challenge in just finding out who God really is and meeting that challenge can be hard work. (Or, in other words, loving God with everything we have is not a piece of cake.)  However, just because a task is hard doesn’t mean it’s impossible. Christ promised in Matthew 7:7-8 that if we ask, we will receive answers. So, the first step in loving God with everything we have is to find out who He is.

     Just becoming sons of God does not mean we automatically love God. Listen to the words found in Deuteronomy 30:19-20 (NKJV) and see both the requirements and the benefits of loving God with everything we have:

  “I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; that you may love the LORD your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days…

Did you catch the words for He is your life? This is why God worked with the Israelites and why Christ was so insistent on the love relationship between God and humans. By loving God with everything we have, by listening to and doing what He says, and by clinging to Him, we are choosing life and blessings. God gave us the freedom of choice–He does not force us to love Him with everything we have–and He asks us to love Him so we can benefit from that love. Any way we look at it, loving God with everything we have may take time and effort, but the outcomes are well worth what we put into this relationship.

     Now comes the sticky part. Even though we may need to put time and effort into loving God, at least we know He loves us; in fact, He loved us first (I John 4:19). However, the second commandment that Christ referred to as he was answering the lawyer’s question in Matthew 22–loving our neighbors as we love ourselves–doesn’t begin with love being given to us, but with us initiating love to our neighbors. And, the toughest part of loving our neighbors as ourselves is that, when we initiate that love, we have no guarantee that it will be reciprocated. Yet, Christ was firm in encouraging believers to love those around them, and he set the ultimate example for us when he died on the cross.

     Over the years, as I have walked with God, I have worked out a few concepts that have helped me overcome my reluctance to love my neighbors. (I’m going to concentrate on one for the rest of this post and will discuss the others over the final two posts of this series.) One of the biggest hindrances to me loving my neighbors has been the judgments I have made about the people around me. I can see why Christ told his followers not to judge others (Matthew 7:1-5)–those judgments definitely impact my ability to love those around me. God has ministered several things to me that have helped me overcome this common tendency.

     First, one day as I was reading in Romans 1 about the things that signified depraved minds in people, I landed on Romans 2:1 which spoke volumes to me. Listen to what that verse says, “Therefore you have no excuse, everyone of you who passes judgment, for in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things.” I saw God’s point in what He was saying to me, “Listen. Of course, people are acting in ‘horrendous’ ways, but that’s none of your business. If you judge them, then you are in danger of falling into the same traps.” At that point, I began considering a new aspect of why some people have problem behaviors. Overall, with the exception of a few mild dramas, I have lived a relatively pain-free life. Many people who have struggled with the behaviors described in Romans 1 have had traumatic lives–how would I be acting if I had lived their lives? Frankly, I would probably be involved in some of the same behaviors. So, who am I to judge anyone when what our behaviors are often the results of circumstances that most of us have no control over? Once I understood this, I asked God to help me to not judge other people. 

     As God has helped me navigate through the multiple opportunities I have to judge people, He has taught several ways to deal with my tendency to judge. Number one, as I just said, is to realize that I am no “angel” myself–I have enough on my hands just keeping my act straight, much less being concerned about anyone else’s. Number two, I pray for people, not that they will stop “sinning,” but that they will know and understand the depth of God’s absolute love for them as individuals. As people discover the depth and the power of God’s love, they will deal with their own destructive behaviors (we all have them) in their own prayer closets. Finally, when I look at people, I don’t see them as stereotypical people, but as individuals who are loved by God. This reality puts every other person in our world on the same level as me–who am I to judge anyone else?

     By not judging other people, I am giving them the same freedom that I have to choose life or death, blessings or cursings. I do not want to be forced to follow anyone else’s ideas of what my relationship with God should look like: therefore, I am not going to push my expectations on anyone else. Now, I know someone may be thinking “But, what if another person does you wrong? What are your expectations then?” Good question and one that we will discuss in my next post…

     As always, please feel free to comment–just be respectful!

     ©2009-20101 by Patricia Zell. All rights reserved.

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patriciazell, April 18th 2010 | Tags: , , , , , , ,
Posted in THE "DOINGS" OF A SON OF GOD

#23 UNDERSTANDING CHRIST: HIS WALK ON EARTH

     John 21:25 tells us that all the books in the world probably could not contain all that Christ accomplished during the time he spent on earth. The four gospels give us a very small sampling of what happened during his official “ministry.” Think about it–every person who interacted with Christ had a story to tell about the good that came into his or her life through that interaction. As tiny as the Bible’s sampling was, enough was written in the gospels to give us a good overview of Christ’s life as He expressed God’s absolute love to the world. For this post, we are going to, in essence, stand above the recorded action and analyze three of the overriding aspects of Christ’s walk as the Son of Man and the Son of God.

     First, most of us are familiar with the concept of Christ not ever sinning–II Corinthians 5:21 states specifically that he never knew sin. I’m sure we all understand that Christ never lied, never hurt anyone, never stole, etc., but the concept of being sin-free goes much deeper than how Christ acted. You see, the Bible tells us that sin is unbelief (John 16:9) or not holding onto God. Remember what Deuteronomy 30:20 said–cleave  to (or be one with) God for He is our life? And, remember, how Satan was able to pry Adam and Eve away from cleaving to God through a deliberate deception? When Adam and Eve let go of God (i.e. sinned), they let go of life. Now, while Christ was born with the inner man of righteousness and life, he still had to live and walk as a physical human being. Satan knew he had succeeded in causing Adam and Eve to sin, so he went after Christ big time because he was determined to keep the human race away from God. However, until the cross, no matter what Satan threw at him–from outright deceptions to personal attacks–Christ held on to God and did not ever let go! As Hebrews 4:15 says, Christ was tempted in all things, but he never sinned. So, the righteousness and life that was in Christ was greater than any temptation Satan could bring.

    Next, as Christ walked among his fellow human beings, he used the righteousness and life that was in him to overcome the loss, death, and destruction Satan was heaping on those people. What were called miracles were simply the power of righteousness and life over evil. As Christ cleaved to God, he had access to all the knowledge, understanding, and wisdom that God had. Through his connection with his Father, Christ was able to effectively deal with Satan’s ploys to keep people away from God–he was able to open the door to the power of righteousness and life for those with whom he walked.

     Finally, Christ was the beginning of the transition between the Mosiac covenant and the new covenant. Remember, in Psalm 51, when David wrote of his new understanding that God did not delight in sacrifices and burnt offerings, but did delight in a broken and contrite heart? Well, when Jesus arrived on earth, the religious activities of the Hebrews were focused on those sacrifices and burnt offerings. The understanding that David received had escaped the rest of the Hebrews. Christ’s contemporaries were stuck with the concept of God as the Law-giver and Judge and with the understanding that they were responsible to keep the Law in their daily lives, even if it meant choosing against helping someone in need. 

     If we look closely at Christ’s teachings, we can see two patterns emerging. First, Christ was intent on correcting the Hebrew concept of God as the Law-giver and Judge. He repeated and repeated the reality that God is our Father and His  love for the human race is absolute. Christ turned their world upside down with his words–the religious men and women were comfortable with God as the Supreme Judge–how in the world were they suppose to relate to Him as their Father? Likewise, Christ also upset their peace with a second concept that the measure of a person’s faith was not in how he/she kept the minutest detail of the law, but the measure was to be found in how a person treated the people around him/her. Over and over, Christ hammered the point home that man was not made for the law, but the law for man. (Remember, the law was given to limit Satan’s ability to utterly destroy the human race.) To drive these concepts home, Christ even blatantly stated that what God wanted (commanded) the Hebrews and us to do is to first love Him with everything we have and then to love our neighbors as ourselves (Matthew 22:37-40). The Law could never bring this to pass, but the righteousness and life inside Christ could.

     So, through the righteousness and life that was in him, Christ was able to cleave to God and to overcome all the temptations that Satan through against him. Not only that, but Christ also was able to effectively deal with the loss, death, and destruction Satan was heaping on the human race. All the while, he was diligently tackling the misconceptions the Hebrews had about God and the measure of a person’s faith. Yet, with all that going on, Christ’s most important mission was yet to come. In my next two posts, we are going to look at the underlying story behind Christ’s crucifixion and learn just what God’s absolute love brought into being.

 

     As always, please feel free to comment–just be respectful!

 

     ©2009 by Patricia Zell. All rights reserved.

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patriciazell, December 21st 2009 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Jesus Christ

#13 The Book of Job–Act 4

    In Act 3 of the Book of Job, we reached the preliminary climax when Elihu was able to begin to break through the stalemate that Job and his friends had reached. After the young man finished speaking, the four older men remained silent–a good sign that they were beginning to think things through. However,God didn’t leave Job hanging but came upon the scene in order to answer Job’s earlier heartfelt cry, “…behold  my desire is, that the Almighty would answer me…” (Job 31:35). A whirlwind appeared and God spoke to Job out of it. In order to understand the power of God’s words, we need to work through what He said to Job (chapters 38-41).

     Over the years, I have heard a number of people explain God’s statements to Job as being a non-answer to the man’s questions. From their perspective, God seemed to be boasting or telling Job that, because He is who He is, Job just needed to grin and bear. Let me offer you a different point of view–one that gets to the essence of God’s relationship with the human race and to the power of evil against the human race. First, we need to remember Job’s position at the point God spoke to him. The man had suffered the unbelievable loss of his family and possessions, the tormenting physical pain of being covered head to foot with boils, and the unrelenting condemnation from his closest friends. Job’s faith in God had taken a beating and he was struggling to hold on to the One he had faithfully worshipped. As far as Job was concerned, the foundation of everything he believed was crumbling.

     Next, let’s look at Job’s situation from God’s perspective as the Problem-Solver. Before He could explain to Job why the destruction came, God had to secure the man’s faith. The first thing God did was to help Job overcome the mindset of being a victim by telling the man that he did not know what he was talking about and that he needed to stop whining and to start thinking things through. Then God extended His hand to Job and pulled him up onto the rock of Himself. You see, everything that Job had understood about God had come from what other people had told him (Job 42:5)–the minute God started talking about His own character, Job’s theory of God became reality. (The difference between hearing about God and hearing God was like hearing about how good a banana split tastes and actually eating one.) God had a distinct purpose in “boasting” about Himself, and that purpose was to give Job a firm foundation to stand on.

     Now, let me share what may be a new concept for you. After God had secured Job’s faith, He explained to Job just what had caused all his trouble. When God started talking about the behemoth and the levithan (Job 40:15-41:34 NASB), He was talking about Satan. Using figurative language, God explained to Job the power Satan possessed to come against the human race with destruction, and He also explained the inability of humans to overcome Satan through their own efforts. Within God’s words to Job, there are two statements that explain both what happened to Job and what the man could do about it.

     In Job 41:34, God stated, “He (the levithan) looks on everything that is high; He is king over all the sons of pride.” Here was the crux of Job’s trouble. If we look at what Job had said to his friends in Job 29, we can see that Job had based his faith in God on what he did, not on who God is. Unintentionally, because he didn’t understand, Job had fallen into the trap of pride. As a result, he had a great deal of fear operating in his life–remember when we were introduced to Job, he was constantly sacrificing for his sons because he was “afraid” they had cursed God (Job 1:4-5).  Then, in his first speech to his friends, he said that what he had feared had come upon him (Job 3:25). This inadvertent pride and its resulting fear played into Satan’s hand because he takes advantage of what humans don’t understand.

     Now comes the best part of all. Let’s look at Job 40:19 (NKJV)–”He (the behemoth) is the first of the ways of God; Only He who made him can bring near His sword.”–and work through its meaning. First, since the behemoth represents Satan, let’s remember that Satan’s original state of being was Lucifer, the premier angel known as the Day Star. Also, let’s establish that the sword of Satan’s maker, God, is His word (Ephesians 6:17). Put these two concepts together and we have the solution to Job’s and all human suffering. If we want to stop the death, loss, and destruction that Satan brings, then we need to hear God’s word and use it. And, we must remember hearing about God’s word and hearing God’s word are two entirely different things! The first we can get from fellowshipping and listening to other people while the second we can only get from fellowshipping and listening to God Himself. God wants our faith to be grounded on who He is and not on who other people say He is.

     My next post will wrap up Job’s story as we think about his response to God and the result of his renewed faith. We’ll also look at what we can take away from what we have read and discussed in this series of posts. After we finish with Job, we will continue with three Old Testament believers and then go on to Jesus who accomplished much more than what we imagined.

     As always, please feel free to comment–just be respectful of everyone because God loves us all and His love is absolute–perfect, complete, and real!

 

     ©2009 by Patricia Zell. All rights reserved.

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patriciazell, August 7th 2009 | Tags: , , , , , , , ,
Posted in JOB/SUFFERING

#12 THE BOOK OF JOB–ACT 3

    While Job and his three friends were “debating” the cause of all Job’s horrible pain, a young man had been listening carefully to what was being said. Elihu (meaning “God Himself”) had remained silent through the whole discourse, but when he saw that the men had reached a stalemate, he spoke up (Job 32-37  NASB). Elihu’s first words to the men acknowledged their honored position as elders, but then he let them have it. He first told Job’s friends that, with all their accusations, they had not once refuted or answered Job’s words–their comments were totally ineffective. Then, Elihu proceeded to explain to Job just why his concept of God was full of flaws.

     Before we look at the gist of what Elihu said, let’s think about how he had received the knowledge of God that he had. We talked earlier about the wall that Satan had insinuated between the human race and God when he conned Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Remember when I likened the wall to the two-way mirror found in today’s interrogation rooms and talked about the intercom button located on that wall? Well, Elihu must have found the intercom button because much of what he said to Job was later supported by the New Testament writers. Because he had spent time interacting with God, Elihu was able to share what he had learned from Him. And, he spoke  in such clear and concise terms that Job was able to understand what he was explaining.

     As we consider part of what Elihu said, we can find the main thrust of his words in Job 34:10-12 where he states this:

Therefore, listen to me, you men of understanding.

Far be it from God to do any wickedness, and from the Almighty to do wrong.

For He pays a man according to his work, and makes him find it according to his way.

Surely, God will not act wickedly, and the Almighty will not pervert justice.

Elihu was right on with this concept because, in the New Testament, James 1:13-17 tells us that God has nothing to do with evil and that humans are the ones who have the responsibility of choosing good. Listen to how James concluded his line of thought, “Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above…from the Father of lights…no variation or shifting  shadow.” (Do we really hear this? God is not the cause of our problems–God is good and His goodness does not change.) Elihu was right, and by blaming God for his intense trouble, Job showed how wrong he was in how he read his circumstances.

     But, Elihu did not stop with just explaining that God does not cause evil to happen. He went on to answer the question that has dogged the human race since the Garden of Eden: Why do bad things happen to good people? In Job 36:7-12, Elihu lays out the dynamic of evil coming against the righteous. Let’s look at a list of his main points in this excerpt of his speech:

•  God does not withdraw His eyes from the righteous.

•  God has seated the righteous on thrones and exalted them forever.

•  The righteous can be bound in fetters and caught in chords of affliction.

•  If the righteous are bound and caught, God will tell them what caused them to magnify themselves (their works and/or their transgressions).

•  God opens the ears of the righteous and commands them to return from evil.

•  If the righteous hear and serve God, they will be blessed.

• If the righteous refuse to hear God, they will die without knowledge.

There we have it, folks–the righteous suffer either because they have turned away from God (transgressions) or because they have misconceptions of God (works). As Job found out, a believer can eschew evil and do all the “right” things and still be clobbered by destruction. What Job did not understand was that God will talk to the righteous and explain the things they do not understand. As Elihu told him, if the righteous listen, they will overcome the destruction–if they don’t listen, they will continue to be victimized and never know why.

     As much understanding as Elihu had, he still only had part of the picture. Although he was able to explain to Job that God was not the One who caused such horrible things to happen to the older man, Elihu could not explain why the evil had happened. That was going to have to be a matter to be discussed between God and Job which is exactly what happened next and which is what we will discuss in my next post.

     As always, feel free to comment. Comments must be respectful or they will be deleted.

 

     ©2009 by Patricia Zell. All rights reserved.

 

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patriciazell, August 3rd 2009 | Tags: , , , ,
Posted in JOB/SUFFERING
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