This list is of observations I have made while praying or thinking about the things above. I like to think that they are, at least in part, gifts of insight from God Himself. At any rate, they bring me comfort as they occur to me. These observations seem to occur to me with increasing frequency whenever I set my mind upon God in prayer, meditation, or study.
Bob Humphrey
3/11/2013
Jehoshaphat’s Prayer
As I readied myself to look again into the passage of Romans 8:1-14, I read the first couple of verses and sensed that there was something I had been missing in my previous studies. I therefore prayed that God would reveal His mind in me in wisdom, insight, and revelation. I prayed that He would grant me understanding of the verses.
Then I realized that understanding, at least academic understanding, was not all that I needed. I needed, and prayed for, an enlightened heart so that I would know (as Paul prayed for the Ephesians in Eph. Ch. 1), experientially, the truths of this passage.
As I prayed, I found my mind turning to my sons, Gabe and John. I prayed, that they would be granted the same insight and revelation into God’s truth. As I prayed, I found myself thinking about ways I could encourage or admonish them toward that end. As I did, a sense of hopelessness came upon me.
I realized that their situation was utterly, overwhelmingly, hopeless. No amount of encouragement or admonishment from me would change their hearts in the least. It left me with a sense of an impossible burden.
Then I realized that we are all, overwhelmingly without hope. Each one of our situations is dire, and destined to continue as they are, in a downward spiral away from God... unless He intervenes. We are dependent on Him for every need. He is our only hope. But then, we do have hope in every situation, but only in Him! He is our only hope! And, therefore, our first, last, and constant effort should be to pray with that in mind ("pray without ceasing").
My first realization as an unbeliever who was being "awakened" from “sleep” 37 years ago was that I could not believe. The things of the Bible were utter nonsense to me. I realized then that, even if they were true, it didn't matter because I didn't believe them to be true. And how does one change that?
Billy Graham, on TV one night, was telling me “all you have to do is believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved!” All? That’s all? All I have to do is believe? Wonderful (said with sarcasm), and unfortunately impossible.
At that time, I didn't know that there actually was hope, but only in Him. Nonetheless, He heard my cry out from my helpless condition, “I don’t believe! If You’re real, I need help. Because if you’re real, I want to believe!” It was only then, through the miraculous intervention of God, that I was transformed into one of His children.
I’m wondering if this isn't what God means when he says to us, “if we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit." I was made alive (spiritually) only after crying out to Him from an utterly helpless condition. Is it not true that without His intervention, even as Christians we are utterly helpless, and therefore must continue coming to Him with the outstretched hands of the beggar? Is that what it means to “walk by the Spirit”?
God is amazing. As I was writing all of this, Denise came in from her walk and told me how she had been reading the story of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, in 2nd Chronicles 20. There was a great and overwhelming multitude of enemies on their way to destroy Judah. Jehoshaphat immediately realized that the situation was hopeless without God’s intervention, so he proclaimed a fast in which all the people sought God’s help.
Jehoshaphat’s prayer, from verses 5-12, should be the model for our prayers. In it, He acknowledges that God is ruler over all so that none can stand against Him. He acknowledges what God has done in the past in bringing Judah through their many trials. He acknowledges that Judah was powerless against this coming multitude and didn't know what to do, and therefore their eyes were on God.
Is this not our situation in all cases? Am I not powerless to change anything in someone else’s heart? Am I not even powerless to change anything in my own heart? There are "multitudes" coming against us in the form of temptations, weaknesses, shortcomings, and circumstances that we are powerless against and, therefore, our eyes must be on God as our only hope. And none can stand against Him.
He is the all-wise, all-powerful God who knows our needs and knows how and when to meet them. May we be made aware of our needs (yes, we need Him, even for this), and look only to Him as the multitudes assail us.
What a comfort that we are safe and secure in our Strong Father’s hands! He knows our manifold weaknesses, even in trusting Him. Even the multitude of our weaknesses will not stand against Him. He knows how to safely shepherd His blemished sheep, and lose not one. And He has promised to do it! He never fails. Never.
3/13/2013
Our Power Supply
I have always tended to think of myself as a (spiritually) “battery operated tool”, so to speak. I plug in to God at various times through fellowship, taking in His word, or prayer, and then “go out” into the world to live for him. The result has always been an “up and down” experience. The “charge” soon wears off and I’m left living on my own power, a certain recipe for failure.
I recently realized that I’m not battery powered. I’m a plug-in “tool”. I have to stay plugged in to Jesus all the time. I am always in need. I must always keep my beggar’s hands open to receive from Him. Since no one of us has enough to go around, our supply is limited, we don’t like beggars and mooches. But I am a beggar and a mooch with God, and that’s just the way He wants it. He doesn’t mind my mooching off of him because He knows I have no supply apart from His and His supply is unlimited! 1Thess 5:17 “Pray without ceasing”, I.E. stay plugged in.
3/14/2013
The Dilemma of Blindness
Was heading out to play racquetball yesterday. On the way I was praying, “God, help me. Please manifest yourself through me. Manifest your love, your power, your wisdom, and your patience. Allow me to trust in you and your promise that all things work together for good for those who love you and are called according to your purpose.” Then I said, “I’m here with the open hands of a beggar, Lord. I have nothing without you. I can’t even want your will without you overcoming my fleshly will.”
Praying as a beggar made me remember something out of Revelation 3 where Jesus addresses the Laodicean church and calls their lukewarm members “poor and blind and naked”. He advises them to buy from him gold refined by fire that they may become rich, and white garments so that they may be clothed and the shame of their nakedness not be revealed, and ointment for their eyes that they may see.
As I pondered the verses something Jesus said stood out to me. First, He’s addressing people who are poor and blind, BUT THEY DON’T KNOW IT! Because they’re blind, they don’t know that they’re poor, blind, and naked. And yet Jesus is still telling them to buy from Him the things that will cure their condition and give them true riches. So, even in the midst of their lukewarm condition, their ignorance and resultant apathy, Jesus meets them with a hope-filled admonition. It should be noted, though, what He doesn’t tell them. He doesn’t tell them to open their eyes and look at their condition. No, He virtually says “in the midst of your ignorance, in which you don’t know that you’re poor, blind, and naked, buy from Me and become rich”.
This is remarkable to me. I met a young man the other day who told me that he believed everything in the Bible. He believed that he was a sinner, that Jesus is God, and that He died for our sins. He believed it all! And yet he was apathetic. He had no fire for the Lord. He wasn’t sure what he was going to do with this information he apparently believes. What do you say to a guy like him?
Next time I see him I’m going to point him to Revelation 3 and tell him there’s hope, even for him. He needs to come to Jesus and confess that he has been satisfied with life apart from God and ask God to grant him Gold and Clothing and Ointment for his eyes so that he can see himself from God’s perspective. So he can see the true nature of his condition, that he has not been rich, but poor.
As an additional note, I want to focus on the Gold, White Garments, and Ointment. What are these things? What makes us truly rich? What greater riches are there than God Himself? Gold refined by fire. Jesus was refined by fire wasn’t He? What White Garments can clothe us so that the shame of our nakedness would not be revealed in judgement? What greater garment could we be clothed with than the righteousness of Christ Himself? Are we not clothed with Him? And what eye ointment can cure our blindness better than the Holy Spirit Who opens our eyes to the word of God? The riches we have been given freely are so wonderful. These are the only truly priceless treasures to be found anywhere in the universe, and their cost is infinitely high. I remember Ed Moore making the point that the only thing we have to give is our poverty; our poor, blind, naked selves. This is true, but this isn’t the currency that covers the cost of the gift, for even a gift must be paid for by someone. But never by the receiver! When a poor, blind, naked beggar comes to the Great Merchant who is selling His wares of Gold, White Clothing, and Eye Salve he has no money to pay for them. Eternal praise is due Jesus who paid with the currency of His infinitely valuable blood! He gave us the Greatest Gift of all, His life! And then the beggar would truly be able to say, “now I am rich and wealthy and have need of nothing”!
“His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence” 2Peter 1:3
Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe.
3/14/2013
Sin’s Deceitfulness
Hebrews 3:13 says, “But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called ‘Today’, so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.” I am coming to see one aspect of the deceitfulness of sin. I have noticed that I can be “on track” for the Lord and yet, in one moment, be derailed by sin. And then the lie (liar?) comes in and says, “you know, now that you’ve sinned, you’ve relegated yourself to second class citizen. God is decidedly not pleased with you. You stand condemned, and you are filthy. Go to the “cellar” and stay there until you’ve gotten your act together and worked off your debt. Don’t even imagine that you have unfettered access to God now. You gave that up when you made that decision to sin; and you did make the decision didn’t you. Maybe someday, you’ll actually treat God as though He’s really valuable to you; not like it’s hard for you to decide between sin and Him. Until you’re ready to do that, just go. You’re so far from being that person, that you might as well just give up. Heck, you might as well just sin some more. I mean, what’s the difference. A little further away from God is nothing compared to how far you have to go to get back to Him.” (Or some variation thereof)
Last night, I was watching Youtube videos of the amazing things that people do on bicycles, diving boards, trampolines, etc. One of the videos had a portion where a shapely girl was dancing in a bikini. I knew I should have turned it off, but I went ahead and watched it. As is always the case, sin deceived me in (at least) two ways. The first most obvious way was in how it deceived me into thinking that I was gaining from the experience. “Ah, here’s life! Enjoy this little tidbit of forbidden fruit. It will satisfy!” This is a lie, for the eyes of lust are never satisfied. In fact, lust is the opposite of love. Love seeks to please others. Lust seeks to please self. Lust, in fact, wars against love. But the second way it deceived me was as described in the paragraph above. The devil takes every advantage and will exploit every angle! But the lie was exposed! Before I went to bed, I remembered that I had wanted to write down one of my earlier observations (the one about poverty and blindness). As I wrote, I was increasingly encouraged. By the time I went to bed, I was lifting my hands in praise to God for His wonderful provision, and thanking Him that He had made me rich! There was no second class status! No need for the cellar! No debt to pay that wasn’t already paid! Yes, I had turned away. And if I had remained turned away, God would faithfully and lovingly (and sometimes painfully) discipline me for the purpose of bringing me to my senses. But He doesn’t condemn me… ever! All I had done was turn to His word, and His word had had its healing, encouraging effect.
“long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation” 1Peter 2:2
3/14/2013
Philippians 2:5 tells us to have an attitude. It tells us to do nothing motivated by selfishness or empty conceit, not looking out only for our own interests, but the interests of others. In short, it is telling us to be motivated by love.
My beloved racquetball provides me with many life lessons. My attitude has predominantly been one where I am motivated by selfish desires. I want to win. Why? What's behind that motive? What am I thinking happens when I win? All I have to do is explore my imagination to find the answer. I find there a man who attracts the admiring gaze of others as I walk through the racquetball club. There I can read their thoughts and hear their conversations as they say, "Wow, there goes that guy, Humphrey. Did you know he's 58 years old?" Someone answers, "No way! How can someone that old beat all these guys half his age?" I imagine them studying my game so they can improve theirs. I'm at the top of the heap, king of the hill. I'm virtually worshiped. It's all about me.
At the heart of this attitude, there's no thought or desire of compassion for my fellow man. Is he saved? Does he know Jesus? Is being beaten by me good for him? There's only room for a passing thought about being used by Jesus. There's the Spirit quietly reminding me of a much higher purpose that He's interested in. His purpose is as much higher than mine as the heavens are higher than the earth. His purpose is to use me to express Himself; His love, His wisdom, His patience. He wants me to be at peace about any outcome, truly believing that He actually does cause all things to work together for good for those who love Him. The "all things" includes a bad shot, or being beaten by a lesser player.
But how do I adopt this attitude? I have prayed many a time on the way to the club, "Lord, use me today. Please allow me to have your attitude of love", only to revert into selfish and worldly desires for self exaltation, manifested on the court in expressions of anger, frustration, and displeasure.
Is there no hope? There certainly is. Jesus says that apart from Him, we can do nothing. He also says that if we abide in Him, we can do all things. When we do, we will say, like Paul, "I live, yet not, I but Christ who strengthens me. We stay plugged in, not just on the way to the court, or job, or marriage, or fill in the blanks, but while on the court and at the job etc. We must learn what it means to "walk by the Spirit" because, as the word says, when we do, we will not carry out the desires of the flesh.
We need to keep tabs on our attitude. Our flesh is a wild animal, ready to bite at any opportunity. When I fail at the court, instead of giving in and giving up, I need to see that failure as a red flag and a reminder to turn to Jesus. I need to keep turning, seeking His power that is perfected, not in my strength, but in my weakness.
