the Standard
As I look around I see the remnants of God's standard strewn about. Our belief and our heart’s position towards His standards will reveal so much about the closeness of our relationship with Him.
The enemy comes against us in many ways in order to draw us away from God, but it seems to me that one of the most prevalent ways he is working right now is to minimize the necessity of God’s design and order for this world and for all of us who inhabit it.
If he can get us to despise God's laws and His justice then naturally our minds will either begin to see God as an overbearing, non-relational, performance-oriented father...
Or
We will simply make up our own image of Him based on a smattering of preferred verses, painting this picture of Him as a sort of pansy who just wants everyone to feel loved and taken care of.
There are three ways that we come to this place of trying to change God's standards which I will list below. But understand that it is only a humble heart that will allow us to see if we are off course and what may be the cause.
-As the epidemic of fatherlessness increases we find that many were raised in homes where their father was either forced out of their lives or chose not to take up his God-given role. And so for these ones it will appear impossible to see a father as anything other than a distant thumbs up or thumbs down authority figure, especially when any sort of standard is brought forth.
-Others have been swayed by their own desires into wanting excuses for their sin. I understand far too well our wrestling match with sin and imperfection. It can feel like, ‘will I ever be free of this?’ We can spend all our energy, we can listen to all the sermons and get every sort of prayer in every prayer line seeking to be free from the plague of sin all around us, but the answer isn’t to lower God’s standard; it's to find the amazing truth when God’s mercy reaches down and embraces our humility and repentance. His true mercy exists in the context of our humility and repentance. Not in our arrogance and excuses.
-Still, others have been convinced through crafty arguments that have turned their minds away from truth. ‘All we like sheep have gone astray’. It is so easy to be misled by the deceptions of our souls. We must constantly be on guard humbly asking the right questions, like: ‘Jesus, is this decision or this feeling bent on filling up my flesh OR my spirit?’ ‘Will this situation or relationship keep me open to Your kingdom purpose being fulfilled in my life?’ And simply asking Him to open the doors that you should walk through and to close all the others will open you to His perfect plan for your life.
My desire for the truth of the scriptures has increased so much, simply because of seeing all the deception around us that is constantly looking for a way into our hearts. It has become a safe place and a refuge from the lies that bombard me constantly. And taking the Bible as a whole is essential for not being led astray.
Remember!
We are those who are able to be healed from past wounds, deceptions, and perceptions.
We are those who will not make excuses for our sin, but bring it before the mercy seat of Christ with repentance and humility
and
We are those who will stay our minds on the truth of the scripture holding up God's standard for purity, for holiness, and for truth.
We are the ones who do not simply speak with words, but believe with our actions that this is:
His world, not ours.
It is His kingdom, not ours.
It is His will for my life, not mine.
He showed us this in the very words of Jesus coming here and laying down His life saying ‘Father not My will but Yours be done’. If God Himself, in Jesus, says those exact words before going to the cross for us, we must believe and live in the same manner. There is no other option for those who would call themselves followers of Jesus.
Let all the people who want to follow pieces of Jesus and aspects of God that feel comfortable to them go on their way.
But we must stay the narrow path.
For what is at stake around us and inside of us is of such great value.
And my weeping right now even as I write this is because of the loss of value that we have placed on our lives here on this earth. And it is because we have been blinded to how God sees.
There is little to no value in living for ourselves, living for our souls and our flesh and our comforts and our fears. What do you gain from these?
death and chains.
Oh God, have mercy on us that we would be able to stand before you one day without a ridiculous list of excuses, without our crafted declarations and our foolish lofty spiritual ramblings.
But instead, that we would choose to kneel before you, crying out, ‘Holy are You, Your ways are true, Your standard is beautiful and just, and we are Your servants. Forgive us our sins God, not because we deserve it, but because You are kind and loving and steadfast and merciful and just’.
I would like to challenge you to do something with me. Let’s read Psalm 119 together. For the next 23 days, we’ll read one section each day. There are 8 verses in each section, and each section is named by a letter of the Hebrew alphabet. This link will direct you to my Facebook page where I will post the section of the day. Under that post, feel free to comment on anything the Lord has spoken to you or any questions that you may have.
Be blessed on your journey with all of Jesus, for it is the only journey that is truly Blessed!
stephen