4SpiritualSecrets

“The Lord is my Shepherd. I shall not want…” (Psalm 23:1)

The shepherd psalm of David is loved by God fearing Jews and all those who follow Jesus Christ whatever denominational labels they may wear. One reason for this is that the opening words of the psalm state a philosophy of life that has been, and is believed, by those who believe in God. David goes on to write that when we can say the opening words of this psalm we can say we have all the blessings he presents metaphorically in this ancient hymn of praise.

The psalm could be paraphrased: “When the Lord is my Shepherd I have green pastures, still waters, the restoration of my soul, the comfort that results from knowing He is guiding me and protecting me, a table of provision in the middle of all my enemies (or problems), and a cup that runs over and never empties.”

Even if you have never thought about it we all have a philosophy of life that determines how we live out our life in this world. David is telling us that the opening words of this psalm are an invincible philosophy of life because they lead to the blessings in life we all seek. This has been my philosophy of life for many decades. If you don’t have this mindset I emphatically recommend it to you.

“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” Psalm 23:6

The reality that God loves us unconditionally is often described in the Bible by one word: “mercy.” This word is found 366 times in the Bible – that’s one for every day of the year, and it even includes leap year – because God knows we need His mercy every day. 280 of these references to the mercy of God are found in the Old Testament.

My favorite is the last verse of the 23rd Psalm where David wrote: “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.” Hebrew scholars tell us that the word “follow” could be translated “pursue.” This means that David believed the unconditional love of God pursued him all the days of his life. What a dynamic truth. God not only loves us unconditionally, He pursues us with His unconditional love all the days of our lives.

Does that mean He loves us when He is cutting us back or chastening us? Absolutely! The author of the book of Hebrews tells us that if He did not chasten us we would be like illegitimate children and not His sons and daughters. Chastening confirms the reality that He loves us.

When we are experiencing one of those cutbacks, rather than thinking that He does not love us anymore – the opposite may be true. He is pursuing us with His unconditional love.

“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.” John 15:5

When Jesus told us that He is the Vine and we are branches, He also told us that when a branch is fruitful His Father cuts it back that it might be more fruitful.

I do not consider my limitations as a bed-fast quadriplegic a setback, but a cutback, because some of the most fruitful and lasting things I’ve ever done never would have been done if I did not have my limitations.

This concept taught by Jesus was not new to those who heard it. When God’s people were not fruitful God often sent them a famine, which cut them back severely, got their attention, and ultimately made them more fruitful.

All indications are that we are entering into a time of cutback as the people of God. Some of my godly friends have already been cut back severely having lost millions in 2008. When you listen to the news these days it always seems to be bad news, and our leaders are preparing us for the reality that it’s going to get worse.

When we put a spiritual perspective on this recession is it possible that what’s happening is not a setback but a cutback?

“…Give us this day our daily bread.” Matthew 6:11

A word that has been on the hearts, minds and lips of millions this week is the word “inauguration.” A synonym for this word is “beginning.” The common usage for this word is something like “a celebration of the beginning.”

Every day we live is the first day of the rest of our life. There is a sense in which we experience an “inauguration” with every new day, week, month and New Year we live. Our Lord’s advice to us is to celebrate the beginning of every new day and accept it from Him as a gift – a clean slate with no marks on it.

We cannot change the marks we put on the slate of yesterday. And He told us not to worry about tomorrow because one day’s trouble is enough for one day. If you think about it, today is the tomorrow we worried about yesterday. He therefore emphasized one day at a time – as in “Give us this day our daily bread.”

I challenge you to celebrate each new day with a private “inauguration” ceremony and ask God to give you the grace and strength to be all you can be for His Glory, one day at a time.

“…If you forgive men when they sin against you, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins…” Matthew 6:14-15

We need forgiveness in three dimensions: when we look up, when we look around, and when we look in.

If we believe the Gospel, the first dimension is a given. The great Bible word for that is “justified.” It literally means to ‘un-sin’ our sin. You can break up the word this way: just-as-if-I’d-never-sinned. Plus, the word means that He declares us righteous. In the 18th chapter of Luke, Jesus pronounced that anyone who prays, “God be merciful to me – a sinner,” is justified. Can you see why I say the first dimension of forgiveness is a given if you believe the Good News?

The second dimension is more complicated. You need a special measure of grace to forgive those who have greatly harmed you. And you can’t control whether or not those you have hurt will forgive you. But Jesus mandated that we have forgiveness in this second dimension. When He taught his disciples how to pray, He literally told them to pray, “Forgive us our sins as we have already forgiven those who have sinned against us.”

At the end of His teaching His disciples how to pray He added a solemn commentary: “If you do not forgive those who have sinned against you, then My Father in heaven will not forgive you your sins. In other words, if you don’t have forgiveness in this second dimension you lose your forgiveness in the first dimension. What a solemn truth!

Those who have sinned grievously will tell you that the third dimension of forgiveness is the toughest one. When devout people fall into sin, they especially have a very difficult time forgiving themselves.

Pray for forgiveness in these three dimensions because the greatest obstacle to inner healing is un-forgiveness.

“In so far as your own responsibility goes, live at peace with everyone.” (Romans 12:18, J.B. Phillips translation)

The Apostle Paul shares a great truth about responsibility in this great verse about reconciliation. There is a place where our responsibility begins and there’s a point at which it ends. God does not hold us responsible for that over which we have no control. We can’t control that person who is alienated from us. But we can control the reality that we are at peace with him or her.

A Christian psychologist wrote that if our serenity depends on what our adolescent children are going to do, or not do, our serenity is very fragile. We experience a great deal of emotional pain because we do not accept the boundaries of our responsibilities.

A former mentor of mine said: “You cannot control the weather or rainy days but you can control the emotional climate that surrounds you. You cannot control the height that your head will be from the sidewalk but you can control the height of the contents of your head.” After sharing several more examples of this, he continued, “Why worry about the things you cannot control? Accept responsibility for the things that do depend on you.”

Your responsibility begins with what you can control; you are at peace with all the people in your life. Your responsibility ends with what you cannot control – like whether or not they are at peace with you. You will have more personal peace when you accept that responsibility boundary.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” (2 Corinthians 5:17)

“Where have you come from and where do you want to go?”

God asked a person who was running away this question. It is my favorite devotional thought as I approach the threshold of a new year. When you have reflected on an old year and been filled with resolute thoughts about a new year have you ever had the thought, “I can’t stand another year, or a decade of years, like the years I’ve been having?”

If you have, this is a good New Years devotional thought for you. This question implies that if we do not have a crisis that changes things, we’re headed for more years like the years we’ve been experiencing. The most important change we actually need is that we be changed ourselves.

The Bible tells us that when the Ethiopian can change the color of his skin and the leopard her spots then we who are accustomed to messing things up are going to start getting it right. The good news is that we can meet certain conditions and then be changed by God.

It is possible for God to give us an experience Jesus called being “born again.” When that happens to us we’re told that we are a new creation. Old things have passed away. All things have become new and all this is done by God – not by us. So we’re not doomed to go where we have come from because we can be born again. The how question is answered in one word; that word is “BELIEVE!”

“ …I have come that they might have life, and have it to the full.”
John 10:10

A great Christmas word is “Incarnation.” (The word literally means “In flesh.”) We’re told in the Bible that on that first Christmas Eve God became flesh and lived among us for thirty-three years. We’re also told that everything we’re capable of understanding about God was revealed in the life and teachings of the Man who was God in human flesh. This includes everything He said, everything He was, and everything He did.

If you want to capture the true meaning of Christmas read the gospel of Matthew – especially chapters five through seven. As you do, every time you see Jesus declare a value, make that value part of your own value system. You will see what a revolutionary Jesus truly was because using the values of Christ for your own values clarification will revolutionize your values and your life.

Jesus said He came that we might have life. One way He gives us that life is by giving us the right values. If your values have been in what you’ve lost this year it may be you’re ready for a new value system. Check out the values of Christ and you’ll find that the greatest statement about values this world has ever heard and seen was when God became flesh and lived among us.

John 8: 31-36 … “if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”

A great Christmas verse is where we’re told they were to call His name Jesus because “He would save His people from their sins.” Many of us seem to apply that verse this way; “He would forgive His people for their sins.” A great Christmas word is Salvation. This word literally means “deliverance.” Jesus came to set us free from our sins. That’s why He could never pass up a person who was not free without setting them free.

An anonymous poet wrote “A famished bear, whose foot was clenched within a murderous trap wrenched about in fright and pain, around the tree that held the chain emitting many a hideous howl. His state was noticed by an owl that perched above him fat and free, philosophized from out of the tree, ‘To what avail this fuss and noise? The thing you need good bear is poise!'”

The poet was making a statement. There are two kinds of people in this world – those who are free and those who are not free. He’s also telling us that those who are free frequently look down with detached apathy on those who are not free. Our great Christmas verse announced that Jesus was no fat owl.

According to David, the worship experience is like having an audience with the greatest Monarch in the world. The protocol that leads us into the presence of that Monarch begins at the gates of thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is a gate that leads us into the presence of God (Psalm 100).

In practical terms this means that when we want to enter into the presence of God in our own private prayer closet, we should begin with thanksgiving. In other words, just start by thanking God for everything we can think of for which we are grateful.

In my own experience I have discovered that no matter how bad things get, the good stuff outweighs the bad stuff. When I, therefore, start thanking God for all the good things, I not only find myself in the presence of God. I confirm the reality that God is good and things are not as bad as I thought they were.

So no matter how bad things may be for you right now, discover the therapy of thanksgiving. Start thanking God for every good thing you can think of for which you are grateful until you discover, in the presence of God, that the good stuff outweighs the bad stuff and things are not as bad as you thought they were.