It Takes God to Grow A Man

 Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong. 1Co 16:13  

Watch Ye

Behaving like a man every day is not easy. There are days when it can feel like a cruel joke. Days when it feels like it's over. Days when the soil starts to drift back to the ocean.

 And it is exactly in such moments that the believer is called to be on guard, to watch ye.

It is an encouragement. It is an exhortation.

Watch ye. Take care. Consider.

It is not a call to overthink. Or to worry.

It is a call to cast your cares upon God.

For we cannot be a man (or woman) after God’s heart without him.

 Christ said “Without me ye can do nothing.”

And every day, every morning, and every evening we are invited to be a witness to that truth.

It may be in a faint sigh, or a joint growing stiff, or the silence darkening the room.

 But the amazing thing is that God always proves himself faithful in the end.

Always.

Watch Ye

It is a cooperation.

He gives the word and we act on it.

Watch.

Look.

Remember.

Because the devil prowls about waiting to devour.

To devour means to tear. It is a merciless attack.

And the devil is doing that every day.

He wrests, he twists, he accuses.

Resist him.

But how do we resist a spirit?

He is your enemy.

Call him out.

Remind him who you are, where you are, and how you are.

You are the son and daughter of a living God.

Rejoice always. Count it all joy, wherever, and however you are.

Resist being dragged into despair. Cast out the melancholy face. Overwhelm him with your praises for your God.

Watch Ye

Watch out for distractions.

The devil will distract you.

The world will distract you.

Your own flesh will distract you.

Be circumspect.

Because you are sanctified.

Chosen.

Set apart.

Called to be a saint.

Travel light. Take a walk in eternity.

Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, 

Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. 

For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. Heb 12:1-3  

Stand fast in the faith

Is anything too hard for the Lord?

Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit says the Lord.

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord. 1Co 15:58  

Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. Col 2:6  

If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister. Col 1:23

  

That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive. Eph 4:14  

This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind. Eph 4:17  

Quit you like a man

Yes you are a man.

You are also a child of God.

A man.

But a child.

It is in that synthesis that he makes us men and women after himself.

Be strong.

Be courageous.

Be strong and of a good courage. Jos 1:6 

Only be thou strong and very courageous. Jos 1:7 

He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Isa 40:29  

Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. Isa 41:10  

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us. 

We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; 

Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed. 2Co 4:7-9 

Pain will happen. Let it not distract you.

Suffering is a must on this side of heaven.

That is not strange.

Rather rejoice.

You are not hated but loved.

And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: 

For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. 

If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? 

But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. 

Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? Heb 12:5-9

Now drown that pain with praise!

Watch ye.

Stand fast.

Quit yourself like a man.

Be strong.

 

The Problem of Shame

Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God…

And hope maketh not ashamed. Rom 5:1-5  

Shame is a Condemnation

The answer of shame for the believer rests in the above verses. In the previous chapter of Romans 7 Paul speaks volubly of the indwelling nature of sin.

I know good.

I want to do good.

But a lot of times I fail in my effort to be good.

And part of the reaction I feel is shame.

True there is a time when shame is deserved, and there’s a time when it is misplaced.

Sin and Shame

Shame in its depth is a work of sin.

It is the condemning voice of the devil.

Sin distorts the mind.

Sin is wont to exaggerate things.

Sin shifts the blame.

In Adam I can detect the early awakening of shame. He had loved God, and he had failed God. Sin gives birth to shame. We are left naked. And only the skin of God can cover our sin. A son of God has no shame. There is no shame or fear in love.

Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. 

Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile. Psa 32:1-2  

Shame and Pride

Shame may be the work of pride.

“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?”

It can be a refusal to believe God.

It can be the sin of limiting God.

It is when I feel the urge to measure things by my own standard and not that of God.

It can be born of the temptation to be over righteous. When a man feels God’s salvation work is not quite enough, but that he must add to it by, for example, extreme self-mortification.

I can convince myself that I have failed and I am completely beyond salvation. And the result is the rising millstone of shame.

Be not righteous over much; neither make thyself over wise: why shouldest thou destroy thyself? 

Be not over much wicked, neither be thou foolish: why shouldest thou die before thy time? Ecc 7:16-17 

Other times we feel shame because we feel we did more, or we feel we did less. And the result is always a rollercoaster of warring emotions.

But God has shown us the way to overcome shame. It is in every word he has spoken. It is there in every instruction on how to combat sin.

For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 

He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 

And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 

For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. 

But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God. Joh 3:17-21  

And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him. 

For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things. 

Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God. 1Jn 3:19-21  

Shame and Self-Loathing

I pray that I am not passing judgment here. In writing this piece I may as well have been writing about myself. Personally, there are instances when I feel like an emotional springboard. I feel shame right and left. I feel shame when I am standing up, and I feel shame when I am sitting down.

It is the evil day Paul famously spoke of in Ephesians 6. And there’s no way of winning that battle except through the taking up the whole armour of God.

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. 

Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. 

Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Eph 6:10-13  

Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. 

Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Rom 8:33-34

Shame and Doubt

Shame can easily become chronic if left untreated, and that can impede the development or growth of the whole person. Shame can literally stop life. It will happen if we listen to people, if we worry about people, if we fear people, if we make lies our refuge…

True salvation must involve death. Dying to the world and dying to self. When we fail to do that we open ourselves to the relentless attacks by the devil.

When that happens remember your position in Christ. Remember God in his promises. Cheer up! You are a child of God, and you are of more value than many sparrows.   

 This is Why We Cry

The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field: 

The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the LORD bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass. 

The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever. Isa 40:6-8  

Crying is Good

In one sense we cry every day. But not all tears are from the eyes. On the surface everybody hates lies. Lies sting. We love truth instead, we affirm it, we crave it, we swear by it. Yet it’s not the lies that produce the most tears, but the truth.

Hence every day we juggle with hard facts. The greatest, and sorest, and the bloodiest battles that we fight, are not fought in the open, but they are fought inside us.

Their scars leave a permanent mark.

But we are adept at covering them.

That’s why we laugh, when in truth, what we want is to cry. Then there are days when we act bold and say what is in our mind, and that act we shall remember it from day into night, and again in the day… until the heart is torn from the body, it is lifted, and it is thrown down into the dust.

We juggle, and tremble, because we are not in control. We feel light, whereas what we want is to hold onto something heavy, like a rock.

We want to be steady.

We want stability.

But what we feel is chaos.

God is that rock. Thank God for that rock!

From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I. 

For thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy. 

I will abide in thy tabernacle for ever: I will trust in the covert of thy wings. Selah. 

For thou, O God, hast heard my vows: thou hast given me the heritage of those that fear thy name. Psa 61:2-5  

Life Ought to be Easy

Life is easier when you have someone you know, someone you trust, someone you fear; I mean the fear which is wrapped tightly around the heart, and which the great God calls wisdom.

We are a roller-coaster of contradictions.

And yet we want to be loved as we are.

We want to be taken home, but it is to the house we know, and the house which we have built with our own hands.

But the weather changes. The wind huffs and screams. The dust turns into mud, and the trees are shorn of their leaves. The rivers swell, and the clouds blanket the earth.

So is the weather of the mind. And deep in the subterranean a voice cracks: God!

Now there are two ways of reacting to such a scenario: one, inferring it to a bad dream (or a bad day), and two, uttering “This is from God.”

As when Jacob owned “God has been in this place, and I knew it not.”

God is still here.

For A Times Like This

God is speaking.

He speaks when we are sleeping. He speaks when we are awake. He speaks when we are walking, and he speaks when we are dancing. He speaks when the coffers run dry, and when the auctioneers carry everything. He speaks when the fountain in the house breaks, and he speaks when the sick bed goes silent. God speaks especially when a mold of fresh earth rises from the ground.

God begs to be worshipped in truth and spirit. You remove one from the other and that is when chaos reigns.

But we are here to defeat being overwhelmed.

We are here to be imbued with his joy every day.

We are here to have a foretaste of heaven.

This is our joy.

And no man taketh it from us.

There's no greater love than this.

There's no greater comfort than this.

There's no greater truth than this.

Because he lives, I shall also live.

Therefore whether I live, or whether I die, I am still his.

And this is his word according to his gospel.

Why It is Better to Be Hidden in Him

He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. Psa 91:1  

My Dwelling Place: My Refuge and My Fortress

What is your dwelling place?

For some their favourite dwelling place is their pub.

For others it is their home.

Which is ok.

We dwell where we love. It might be the air, or the breeze.

But for this psalmist his dwelling place was in God.

It is where he sang, prayed and worshipped.

It is where he hid.

And where everything fell into place.

One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple. 

For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock. Psa 27:4-5  

Because this world is passing away.  

Because in him is forgiveness of sins, love, mercy, and the one thing which will never end - eternal life.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever. Psa 23:6  

Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. 

In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 

And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. Joh 14:1-3  

To Dwell and To Be Indwelt

To dwell then is the poetic way of being in a covenant relationship with God.  “For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth” (Deu 7:6). 

But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. Joh 1:12-13  

And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Gal 4:6  

Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. 2Pe 1:4  

Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. 1Jn 3:1  

Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. Joh 14:23  

Therefore, it is through dwelling in God alone that we eventually land on the meaning of life.

Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore. Psa 16:11  

So I was great, and increased more than all that were before me in Jerusalem: also my wisdom remained with me. 

And whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them, I withheld not my heart from any joy; for my heart rejoiced in all my labour: and this was my portion of all my labour. 

Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do: and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun. Ecc 2:9-11 

O give thanks unto the God of heaven: for his mercy endureth for ever. Psa 136:26  

In the Secret Place of the Most High

What is a secret place?

Why a secret place?

The graces of God are freely available to all.

One can imbibe them as much as one can take.

They are many: like the love of God, the mercy of God, the patience of God, the wisdom of God, the kindness of God and the faithfulness of God.

It’s like a sea.

One can swim near the shore or one can launch deep.

The deep place then is what I compare to the secret place of God.

Everybody can get there.

But not everybody is willing.

True, I can dwell anywhere.

My thoughts can be a secret place, right?

Feeding on self?

Ah, but that doesn’t end the restlessness!

That’s why I would rather dwell in the secret place of the Most High.

It may be lonely.

It may be windswept.

But I shall never go hungry or thirsty again.

I Shall Abide Under the Shadow of the Almighty

There are many shadows.

There are many trees.

Where a shadow is cast depends on the length of the tree.

The shorter the tree the shorter the shadow.

But the shadow of man can only be as short or as tall according to his height.

Only the shadow of God can cover the whole earth.

Yes, I would rather dwell under his shadow than anywhere else.

O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me. 

Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off. 

Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. 

For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether. 

Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me. 

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it. Psa 139:1-6  

Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God. Psa 90:1-2

Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God. 

And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. 1Jn 4:15-16  

If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. 

Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. 

For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. 

When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. Col 3:1-4 

Happy dwelling!