Mark R. Spencer

I think of all the things the Bible calls me; saint is the hardest to receive.  Wow.  My first response is, “I’m no saint.”  (I know a lot of Christians who respond this way)  But I’ve been rethinking this whole saint idea thanks to Saint Paul. 

Usually when we think of saints we conjure up a person of exceptionally devout character.  We declare, “now they are saints…they’re holy!”  Indeed saints are holy.  But what does that mean?  The phrase “holy” (hagios) means to be “set apart”.  Notice it doesn’t mean “perfect”.  Israel was “holy” to the Lord, because He set them apart from other nations by choosing them.  God’s selection initiated the holiness process.  Israel was picked for a set apart purpose.  These “saints” in Ephesians 1.1 certainly were not all together perfect…they were picked.  Perhaps that’s the key to accepting this idea that we are a “saints”.  We’re picked for a purpose. 

Now consider what “sin” means.  Augustine defined sin as, “to miss the mark”.  He defined it so because God the Designer had definite plans for what His creation should do and not do (creational intention) and when we “miss that mark”…we sin. In other words, we are not in sync with our Maker.  Fold in the notion of what God declares, “you shall be holy, for I am holy” (1 Pe. 1.16) and we may be redefining “sainthood”!  Saints aren’t perfect in it of themselves, but rather being perfected out of their ongoing relationship with God. 

Consider what some “famous saints” have said about themselves:

“I am Patrick, a sinner, most uncultivated and least of all the faithful and despised in the eyes of many.”  Saint Patrick

“Do not lose courage in considering your own imperfections.” Saint Francis

“Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners–of whom I am the worst.” (1 Tim. 1:15) Saint Paul the Apostle

These are not the words of faultless saints, but people who understand they are on the way to being perfected by a loving God.  Such a life flows from a grace-charged understanding that we are His and together He will help us live a life that “hits the mark”.  Live that way and you are indeed a “saint”!     

We’ve been talking about our identity “in” Christ according to the book of Ephesians.  Here’s a list so far…and it’s mind-blowing…so read and re-read (often).  I am hoping to pick up on each piece over the next weeks.

I am a saint- Eph. 1.1

I am blessed- Eph. 1.3

I am chosen- Eph. 1.4

I am His child- Eph. 1.5

I am redeemed- Eph. 1.6

I am forgiven- Eph. 1.6

I am chosen- Eph. 1.11

I am sealed by His Spirit (approved by God)- Eph. 1.13

I am loaded (His inheritance)- Eph. 1.14

I am alive- Eph. 2.5

I am united with Christ- Eph. 2.6

I am God’s masterpiece- Eph. 2.10

I am near to God- Eph. 2.13

I have access to God (anytime/anywhere)- Eph. 2.18

I am a fellow citizen in God’s Kingdom- Eph. 2.19

I am a member of God’s household- Eph. 2.19

I am a dwelling place for God- Eph. 2.22

Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.
                                                                                                                  (Psalm 51:12)

David knew, “if I’m happy in God…sin has little to offer me.”  Think about it.  What would have happened if Adam would have said to Eve, “this guy’s creepy, let’s go hang out with Abba…I always feel better when I’m with Him.”  The temptation hit hardest when they entertained the notion that their greatest happiness had to be discovered apart from God (as if Abba was holding out on them).  Isn’t that our struggle?  We’re tired, disappointed, hurt or confused…along comes the temptation to find some quick “satisfaction” and instead of tapping the joy of the Lord we hit the “joy” of whatever.  (only to discover it saps us more L)

George Mueller is a hero of mine.  He was born on September 27, 1805 and lived almost the entire nineteenth century. He died March 10, 1898 at the age of 92. He saw the great awakening of 1859 which he said “led to the conversion of hundreds of thousands.” He did follow up work for D. L. Moody, preached for Charles Spurgeon, and inspired the missionary faith of Hudson Taylor. He built five large orphan houses and cared for 10,024 orphans in his life. When he started in 1834 there were accommodations for 3,600 orphans in all of England and twice that many children under eight were in prison. One of the great effects of Mueller’s ministry was to inspire others so that “fifty years after Mr. Mueller began his work, at least one hundred thousand orphans were cared for in England alone.” He did all this while he was preaching three times a week from 1830 to 1898-at least 10,000 sermons. And when he turned 70 he fulfilled a life-long dream of missionary work for the next 17 years until he was 87. He traveled to 42 countries, preaching on average of once a day, and addressing some three million people.

George was a busy man huh?  He walked uprightly with God all those years because of the following:
“I saw more clearly than ever, that the first great and primary business to which I ought to attend every day was, to have my soul happy in the Lord. The first thing to be concerned about was not, how much I might serve the Lord, how I might glorify the Lord; but how I might get my soul into a happy state, and how my inner man may be nourished.”  -George Mueller

So my question to you is, “is your soul happy in the Lord today?” 

Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. (Psalm 51:2)

Some years ago I helped a friend clear out a bunch of pine trees.  It was a mess!  Covered in sticky sap, I tried desperately not to contaminate everything I touched.  It didn’t work.  The car shifter and steering wheel were smeared with pine sap.  My home’s front door knob…pine sapped!  No matter how much soap I used, my hands were still sticky.  I tried various chemicals and finally after removing 7 layers of skin my hands were somewhat clean.

David was in a sticky mess.  One bad decision followed another as he tried to “clean up” the error of his ways.  (Read the story in 2 Samuel 11-12)  His every attempt only created bigger “messes”.  So here’s the lesson: when we try to clean ourselves up (apart from God’s grace/presence) we create “messes”.  Messes like shame, guilt, frustration, blame, anger and more.  But when we honestly face the truth of our sin coupled with the anticipation of God’s mercy it moves us to a place where we can come clean.

So how about you…are you stuck?  I know a place where you can get cleaned up…Hebrews 4:16.

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. (Ps. 51:1)

You’ve sinned…and you know it!  In fact this isn’t the first time.  You’ve been through this cycle before…sin…get a moment’s pleasure…then guilt, shame and condemnation.  You ask yourself, “How could I do this?” (we’ll get to that in post #4). You’re stunned.  You’re ashamed.  You’re afraid.  Thoughts race through your mind like:  “do you really think God will forgive you…again?”  In fact, the deadness in your soul seems to confirm that.  Maybe God has cast you aside.  Now read the verse above out loud.  Who needs mercy? You.  Who gives mercy? God.  How does he portion mercy out?  According to His unfailing love and great compassion.  Your ability or inability to make yourself right has nothing to do with it.  Of course this blows our minds.  Nowhere on the planet does such a system operate.  If you are lucky enough to obtain forgiveness from someone you’d better not screw it up or else buddy.  So we naturally transfer that idea over to God.  Surely we can’t expect Him to forgive us for the umpteenth time…can we?  Yes according to this verse (and many others) we can.  Does that mean we should be sin happy and “grace mad”?  Absolutely not.  He is to be feared.  (Read Ro. 6)  What it does mean is STOP trying to earn mercy.  It is meant to be received.  Yes, you don’t deserve it. That’s why it’s mercy.  Get off the treadmill of working your way back to God and run straight into the Holy of Holies (see He. 4:16)

Ask yourself: are you on the treadmill?

Psalm 51- A psalm of David. When the prophet Nathan came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba

I taught on this Psalm last Sunday.  The inscription added here provides some context as to what is motivating the writer.  Quite sobering.  The song slaps you in the face with realities we like to dodge.  Right from the get-go you’re nailed with the news that King David (yes that wonderful shepherd boy/giant killer) has committed adultery.   This is tragic, even in today’s world where we read of generals and politicians having affairs.  I guess we expect that behavior from them, but not from our Bible heroes.  That may be the point here.  All of us…and I mean all of us…have the potential to slide off the way of truth and commit heinous crimes against God.  That may sound judgmental and unkind, but I think it is a life-saving pill of reality that we all have to swallow.  To not concede the potential of such things may in fact invite them.  Furthermore,  David offers us some keys that we need to accept if we are going to walk uprightly.  I’ll be posting these over the next days.

Truth #1: We need truth-tellers in our lives.

If David (the man after God’s heart) needed Nathan, chances are we do too.  Sin (and temptation) can cloud our thinking.  We can rationalize the craziest things and believe me I’ve heard some good ones.  Take a moment and evaluate your current friendships:

• Who can you be completely honest with?
• Who knows when your vulnerable to temptation?
• Who can challenge you…and you will actually listen to?

Those are all important elements to consider in a solid truth-telling friendship.  Do you have at least one in your life?  If not, you are vulnerable.  I’d encourage you to prayerfully pursue at least one person (besides your spouse) to help you walk in the light.

“So do not fear, for I am with you…”  ( Isaiah 41:10a )

Ever been in that situation where you are nervous for an interview, meeting a new person, or trying something out of your comfort zone when a friend says to you, “don’t worry”.  Oh yeah why didn’t I think of that?!  Obviously fear and worry don’t just leave at the word “don’t”, but recently I’ve been learning there is power there.  Some time ago God began to encourage me to “do nothing out of hurry”.  The big idea was whenever I felt rushed to deliberately reset my pace by saying no to hurry.  It helped immensely.  I still needed to get things done, but I would not use “hurry” as my fuel to get there.  Some time after that I heard a new command: “do nothing out of fear”.  Wow I wondered…is that even possible?  Then I recalled Isaiah 41:10 and some related verses.  With new determination I set out to “do nothing out of fear” and boy was I surprised.  I’ve got a lot of fear.  But by recognizing it is there, saying “no you are not going to drive me”; and shifting my attention to where God is leading has made an incredible difference.  It seems to stop fear’s momentum long enough for me to choose a new path.  As a result verses like Isaiah 41:10 stir fresh hope in my battle against fear.  How about you?  What’s driving?

Yesterday I spoke about fear.  I don’t recommend doing that if you don’t have to.  I stood up to begin and fear was in my face like a raging gorilla.  All these thoughts flooded in like: “you have nothing anyone wants to hear” or “this will flop” or best yet “you’re loser sit down”.  Man the wind went out of me.  Then I recalled one of my points, “to beat fear-you must face it”.  As long as fear sees your back turned and fleeing it wins.  So with my best version of David running to Goliath I darted for the pulpit.  I stretched myself and worked as hard as I could, but still felt flat.  Then I realized, “oh fear does it’s best work when its hiding.”  As long it remains unnamed and unspoken fear can play with your mind all it wants.  My fear was rejection.  What if people did not receive what I had to say?  What if what I was doing just didn’t matter to anyone?  So what did I do?  I risked. Fear hates risk.  Its the beginning of the end for fear.  At the close of the second service I played my cards.  I told them how often I struggle with risking because I’m afraid of rejection and failure.  Most of the people visibly moved forward in their chairs.  I’m not kidding.  I had this thought “uh oh their coming to throw me out!”  But instead I was speaking their language.  Honestly I don’t think there was anyone in the room that wasn’t resonating with the fear of risking and the possible rejection we expect when we fail.  Now here’s the problem if we live life with no risk- fear wins.  That, honestly, sucks.  So here is my question to you: “what would you do if fear wasn’t part of the equation?”  What person would you call?  What thing would you do?  What change would you make?  What?  It just might be time to take a risk.

26  If you claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless. 27  Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt  (James 1:26-27)

We’ve been touring the book of James and just wrapped up chapter one.  Wow…the guy doesn’t let up!  This past Sunday we thought about evidences of real, genuine faith.  If we are walking the talk what should it look like?  Everyone graded themselves (in the privacy of their own mind!)

Take a moment and give yourself a grade on each of these (you can give smiley faces/ F thru A/ 1-10…whatever works for you…just take a look in the mirror!)

Mirror #1: Your tongue!  Pure and simple question, “does what comes out of you mouth sound like Jesus?”

Mirror #2: Your compassion.  “Does your compassion move you into action for those who are displaced and misplaced?”

Mirror #3: Your secret life.  As James puts it has the world, “corrupted you”?  In other words “is there something corroding your faith from the inside out?”

If your answers distress you refer quickly to James 1:25.  A long look into the Perfect Law can liberate you by setting back on the path of life.  James doesn’t expect us to be perfect…just brutally honest in our pursuit of Jesus.

Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to sinful desires. (Romans 6:12)

You know the feeling?  You shouldn’t eat that stuff, but you do.  Either you are so hungry it sounds reasonable, or you just have some kind of craving that must be satisfied.  You “drive through”, wolf it down and 5 minutes later your whole system wants to repent! I think you know I’m not talking just McDonald’s cheeseburgers.  It’s that temptation to satisfy a deep soul craving with a hollow, empty, deceitful whatever.  What can you do about it?

1. Be still.  (Ps 46:10).  It is so easy to overlook this primary help.  Sin entices us to make a move.  It stirs desire.  The passion cranks up our body and we think the only way to spell relief is to just go ahead and do it.  Be still…get your body calm…quiet prayer helps slow you down.

2. Look for that way out.  Paul reminds us in 1 Cor. 10:13 to look for the way out of temptation.  As we devote ourselves to being still, we will also notice a “grace space” emerging.  This is that place where we actually can make a decision.  It’s there…now choose wisely.

3. Run.  That sounds weird doesn’t it?  First I’m telling you to be still…now I’m exhorting you to run!  Here’s the deal…if you are still being tempted at stage three…run away like a man on fire!  2 Tim. 2:22 shouts, “flee evil desires…”.  Joseph didn’t hang around to chat with Potiphor’s wife…although he was resisting he knew it was time to get out.  Sometimes we just need to move.  Push away the computer, turn the eyes, close our mouth, and run!

4. Get some exercise.  When our desires flare up there are numerous chemicals dumped in our blood stream.  They stir and stimulate us.  The only way they are quieted is through physical exertion.  I know it sounds weird, but it is physiologically true.  One reason temptation lasts is that we don’t get some physical exercise.  A brisk walk.  Cut some wood.  Mow the lawn quickly.  Do something for about 20-30 minutes.This is why the monks of old (and perhaps still those today) used to do hard physical labor when tempted.

5. Practice…grace.  We are being transformed day by day.  If you perhaps you slide into junk-ville…pick yourself up…dust off…ask God for forgiveness and restart.  The mercy of the Lord is new every morning.  It means if you wake up it is a sure sign you’ve got another chance.  Practice.  One key ally to sin is shame.  It keeps you feeling guilty and starved…a vulnerable target to the junk dealer.  Be free…walk in grace.