Toeing the Line of Sin - Righteous fall but rise, and the wicked stumble.

"for the righteous falls seven times and rises again,
but the wicked stumble in times of calamity" -Proverbs 24:16

What's the difference between the falls of a righteous man who rises, and the wicked who stumbles, in times of calamity? Let me offer this explanation.

Do you ever find yourself toeing the line of sin? Then I suggest you, and I, are like the wicked man. Imagine a chalk white line: on one side is what is sinful, on the other side what is not sinful. Do you make the determination, to merely walk on the sinless side? For safety sake and for what is wise, do you toe the line on the side of what is not sinful, and you feel pretty good about yourself? I find myself doing that, not infrequently...

This is very weak way to live the Christian life. I believe this is the way the wicked man walks, who stumbles in times of calamity.

Living a life devoted to the righteous calling of God, in Christ, doesn't mean we toe the line of sinfulness. We must learn to flee from it, and pursue righteousness. It is not just the choices to not sin, but the choice to pursue righteousness, which leads to a Christ honoring life, filled with the Spirit of God.

What our lives must not look like, is a casual walk on the sinless side of grace, toeing the line of sin. Oh no no, not sinning. Of course that would be wrong. I suggest the wicked man who stumbles in calamity, may make many sinless choices, but toes the line.

"I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” -John 16:33

Eventually, you see, we all fall. When tribulation comes, the righteous will "fall" and rise again, but the wicked will "stumble". He will find himself in the muck of sin, and he will stay down in it for an indefinite period of time (maybe forever). When we do topple, if we are toeing, then that's the danger. Besides that, why would we want to toe the line? Are we so unconvinced of the glory of God? God convince me... that is my prayer.

When we toe the line, we will cross the line. It is inevitable. No matter how committed we thought we were in our casual toeing, sin-little life, we will eventually find ourselves on the other side. Like the wicked man, we will stumble. Not in the context of an avoidable oops, but in the context of an avoidable mistake we made by our own careless walk. When we toe the line, it's just going to happen--realize it, acknowledge it, and do something about it. We all go down from time to time, when calamity comes.

If we stumble like the wicked man, we won't be able to blame mere happenstance and play the victim. At least, God will know better, and so will many others. If we find our hands in the dirt of sin, it's not because we are without fault. We need to not be so arrogant, but humble, making room for our weakness and the calamities of life we know will come everyone's way.

Instead of toeing the line in a casual walk on this side of grace, we must see it and flee from the line. We must instead pursue righteousness and follow God away from the line.

Let us not gauge how walk today by how well we avoided sin, in toeing the line... but DID WE PURSUE GOD TODAY?

God help us...
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2 Timothy 2:22 So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.

Shame and Enmity With God

Do you ever feel shame and fear towards God?

“And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?””
Genesis 3:8-11 ESV

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So much to think about here. It’s very sad, really. The Lord God walking seemed a normal occurrence, because they knew His sound as He came around. Adam and Eve’s fearful attempt to hide; clinging for protection to the cover of trees that God made to provide food, shade, and beauty. Never had the trees been used for this purpose before--they now used them to protect themselves from the approaching gaze of the God Who made them. No doubt it’s the first time they were afraid of Him, but they were afraid. They knew that their sin left them naked; not just a topical-physical problem, but a deep-cancerous, problem. Something in them knew that the goodness of God demanded recourse, and they have heard of this thing called “death” before. They knew their actions meant they had to die, whatever that was.

Shame. Fear. Confusion.

“Where are you”, God called out, though no doubt already aware. “What have you been up to?” Can you sense the heart of God, weeping as Jesus wept for us? “Who told you that you were naked?” Can you sense the sadness in this, rhetorical question? It’s all coming apart now.
But then, a promise they didn’t know about. God would put enmity between the deceiver, and the sinner. Rather than destroy them both together, and leave the enmity for being between God and the sinner, God would instead transfer the enmity to be between these two now natural bedfellows--deceiver and sinner. This holy, perfect, and unquestionably-righteous God would do the inconceivable, and separate them. It seemed that they must go together forever now, but God had other plans. His promise would take the enmity between they and Him, placing it instead between the sinner and his sin.

“I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.””
Genesis 3:15 ESV

So honestly, as you lie in your bed or sit thinking, and consider your sins before God, is there fear and shame? How do you see His judgment going, for you? Is there enmity between you and God? If we aren't in Christ, there should be those things, but it doesn't have to be that way.

If you are ashamed and hiding among the trees, thinking that hiding behind the things God made can save you--know that they cannot save you. You may rightly feel the enmity between you and God right now, but know that Jesus is the hope you have of reconciliation. He walks in the cool of the day and has a promise you never could have achieved on your own. He is your only hope, now. Only God can take that enmity that exists between you and Him, along with your fear and shame. He replaces the fear of certain judgment, and replaces it with the hope (promise) of eternal life.

But there is yet another choice you must make. Will you receive this gift, or will you continue to hide among the trees? God can see right through them and asks, "Where are you?" How we answer that question will determine where that enmity is placed, and where we will be for eternity. The only place we have any hope, is in Christ.

“And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.””
John 3:19-21 ESV
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“Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned— for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come. But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. And the free gift is not like the result of that one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.”
Romans 5:12-17 ESV
http://bible.com/59/rom.5.12-17.esv

Prayer Vigilante

One of the many things I love about Daniel's response to the decree not to pray to God, is that his decision and "method" of prayer was deeply intimate. What I mean is this.

He went to his house to pray. He wasn't hiding, and he wasn't protesting. He was meeting with His father. Daniel saw no reason to voice a protest, or to cease from his prayers. Often overlooked and equally important--he did not become more flamboyant or showy in his prayer. Daniel was just sitting down to pray to His Father, in his house, as He had always done. He wasn't worried about the ignorant decrees that would seek to thwart that.

No protest was organized to stress the need for more prayer in the city and public schools. He knew the futile plans of rebellious hearts were just that. Change of locale to a more central spot to get people's attention, unnecessary. He just went to his private place--his home--where he had to be spied out to be seen by those who knew his routine.

If we ever feel the need to lash out with public protest, and more easily viewed prayer to show people who dispute it how spiritual we are... we might just be demonstrating how spiritual we are not.

“When Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber open toward Jerusalem. He got down on his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he had done previously.”
Daniel 6:10 ESV

Help me, Ronda.

Help me, Ronda.

(What Ronda needs to know, and what Ellen or better fighting can't give her.)

Yahoo! Story, Link

“Once I got in the medical room and I was down in the corner, I was like, ‘What am I anymore if I’m not this?’” a tearful Rousey admitted to host Ellen DeGeneres. “I was literally sitting there and thinking about killing myself, and that exact second I’m like, ‘I’m nothing. What do I do anymore?’ and ‘No one gives a (expletive) about me anymore without this.’”

The primary contributor to suicide is not a lack of self-love, but a lack of love for God (embracing His love for us). In fact, it is self-love that is a primary contributor to suicide, and death.  It is a distinction that needs to be made and understood by the living who may or may not be considering suicide for a real "solution".

Those who put their faith in things that perish such as their own, will feel worthless when those things perish.  They may rise to the height of their field, or sport, but eventually we all weaken or are just outdone.  True strength does not come in recognizing our own strength, but in recognizing our own feeble weakness.  Inevitably when our idols fall, we will lose hope and fall with them.

Their idols are silver and gold,
    the work of human hands.
They have mouths, but do not speak;
    eyes, but do not see.
They have ears, but do not hear;
    noses, but do not smell.
They have hands, but do not feel;
    feet, but do not walk;
    and they do not make a sound in their throat.
Those who make them become like them;
    so do all who trust in them.
(Psalm 115:4-8)

When God commands our worship of Him above all else, it is for our own good and not only because He alone is worthy... though He is.  It is because He alone is worthy that He alone will never leave us disillusioned when we put their faith in Him--unlike everything else.  His strength will never fail.  His rule will always stand, and He will always reign throughout all eternity, regardless of rebellious hearts.  Therefore, it is only those who take refuge in Him, who can ever experience lasting hope.

God's command for you to put your faith and belief in Him only, then, is also the only means that you can have true lasting hope.  God's command for your worship of Him only, is ultimately also His gift to you; true hope, joy, peace, and salvation.  "Worship me. Don't you know all other hope is perishing?"

All the pep-talk in the world, but our strength has limits;our intelligence has limits;  our ability to win has limits.  Someday we will fail, and we will die.  If there was any doubt, there is death.  We cannot defeat the grave.  However, God can, and God has.

“O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 15:55-57)

Even if by some illusion we somehow manage to mask or weakness in supposed strength and subdue the desire for suicide with the deceit of self-importance, self-elevation, self-worth, and self-determination apart from God; prolonging our years so that we reach an otherwise natural death--what will we do in the life to come? How will our strength measure up to the strength of God Whom we should have trusted all along?  Even if a life is spared from suicide by convincing ourselves how important we are of ourselves, the soul that sins will still die in the end.  So then, the false hope that spares from suicide will only prove fatal, in the end.

If we want to have hope that saves from death, and to also give hope, then we must takes God's counsel and worship Him alone above all else.

Now I know that the Lord saves his anointed;
    he will answer him from his holy heaven
    with the saving might of his right hand.
Some trust in chariots and some in horses,
    but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.
They collapse and fall,
    but we rise and stand upright. (Psalm 20:6-8)

Properly Reading Children's Bible Stories Books To Our Children Requires More Than Reading Children's Bible Stories Books To Our Children

We cannot properly read illustrated Bible story books to our children, unless we have read and are familiar with the Bible ourselves.

When it comes to children's Bible stories books, I have found it's really hard to find books that I feel accurately convey the full truth of God's Word. Of course, you could always just read the Bible.  Nevertheless... :) Noah's ark, for example. Is there any more popular story we find told in children's books? With good reason--it holds great significance in Christian doctrine and is a fantastical story that apart from God (who was very much involved in the process), it would have been impossible.  Then of course David and Goliath, along with Adam and Eve

It's important when reading these books, to be prepared to fill in the gaps and correct error in them in order to bring them up to a higher standard of Scripture, I think.  Sometimes, it may require crossing things out and rewriting something (which I have actually done).  These books are made for our children, and generally that means attention spans can be short.  The writers and publishers know this of course, and they are made with this in mind.  I understand the attempt to be brief and summarize Scripture for this purpose, so I don't mean to be overly harsh.  However, it seems crucial details are often omitted, which give the "stories" their real meaning.  What you are left with is a nearly meaningless story of some guys that did some stuff because God told them to and it was neat.  Maybe that's the intention of the books, though.  Maybe they are just meant to start the conversation.  Anyways, I think with Noah's Ark probably more than any other story, important truths are misconstrued and others just outright left out.

On page one it says, "Long ago there was a man named Noah. Noah was a good man who obeyed God.  One day God told Noah to build a huge boat because a huge flood was coming".

So first off, was Noah good?  I think it is a direct contradiction of what we are told, in that there are "none good, no, not one".  And Jesus also confirmed, "Only God is good".  We are only on page one, and not doing so... good.

So a flood is coming and Noah is supposed to build a big boat.  The book never goes on to touch on why the flood was coming.  Again, so maybe that's our part as the adult reader.  But, it's an important part.  As it is the book just says a flood was coming so God told Noah to build a boat and people laughed at Noah because of it.  The reason for the flood is of grave (no pun intended) importance.  It just seems a flood was coming (not really sure why God didn't just stop the flood) so God decided to have Noah build a big (kind of small actually) boat.  Noah was good, so he did it.  Ahem... okay, so, it goes on and I'm just going to skip to the end.

The book concludes as you might expect, with the relatively tiny boat and giant animals exiting under a rainbow.  I'm not really sure this exaggerated illustration of a tiny boat with giant animals sticking their heads out of the roof is helpful.  Is that the image the Bible portrays?  If it is not, then is it the image we should portray to our children?  It only plays on the one of many misconceptions perpetuated among scoffers that there is no way there would be room enough on that tiny boat.

All this is to say that while these children's books aren't totally worthless, without an adult who knows their Bible reading and adding to it, they probably wouldn't be far off from that.  We should use wisdom in purchasing them, and in reading them to our children.  Where they inevitably fall short of Biblical truth, we need to be there to fill in the gaps.  Or, just read the Bible :)

Live By the Sword

Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place. For all who take the sword will perish by the sword. (Matthew 26:52)

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What does "perish by the sword mean"?  For all who take the sword will perish by the sword.  We will call this a "warning" that Jesus gave, as the context makes it to be not a good thing: if you take up the sword you will die by the sword.  I have thought it to mean that if we live this way by the sword, wielding the blade, then we will ultimately suffer a similar fate at the end of a blade (by the sword).  It seems very logical.  Maybe I'm the only one who thought of it like that--though I doubt it.  However, that explanation hasn't always felt totally right to me because if that's what it means, what about the many Christians who died by the sword but did not wield it?  They suffered persecution and death at the end of the blade, though they did not take up the sword to fight with one.  So, what kind of warning would this be if to "perish by the sword" was also meant for those who did not take it up? And, "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints." (Psalm 116:15)

So, consider this alternate meaning.  I don't think this is simply a teaching on pacification.  When you pick up the sword in battle, and you die... you die by it.  That is, your sword.  You fall to the ground by your sword.  You perish by the sword.  That makes more sense because it is offers a scenario whereby a persecuted church may die at the end of a blade, yet not "perish by the sword", as Peter was warned of in a negative light.  The blade we chose to wield in this life will accompany us to the ground (and perhaps beyond) in our death.  I don't think Jesus is merely presenting this as a choice without any moral consequence.  After he told Peter (us) this, He healed the soldier's ear and undid the damage that was done.

Now, I could use this alternate meaning as a defense of, self-defense, because a person may die in doing so as in doing many things, yet in this context not necessarily "perish by the sword".  However, I'm not going to do that, primarily, and that was far from the reason I started to write this.  I believe there are some situations where physical self-defense (of yourself or another) is okay, though I won't get into all that now.  I think the greater point here is, what is the blade you choose to wield?  What is your weapon of choice?  Peter knew the death Jesus was to die, because Jesus told them He was going to do so.  Peter should have been letting the Word of God direct His steps, but here erred here.  Do you want to fall to the ground surrounded by the Word of God welcoming you and ultimately truly impacting the lives of those around you, or by a sharp and bloody piece of cold hard steel?  It's not so much a rebuke of self-defense as it is a rebuke of a life-long pursuit of solving conflict and suffering, in all circumstances and persecution.  Do we combat our suffering and seek to see others saved with logical tit-for-tat, or by the Word of God, through faith?

So, we have an alternate sword we can wield in life.  Not a physical blade, but the Word of God.  The Word of God is also likened to the sword in multiple places in the Bible (Hebrews 4:12; Eph 6:17).  The better alternative, is not a logical and methodical skill of a cold blade, but by the blade of God's Word.

This being said, "the sword" is not restricted to the use of a metal blade, but is analogous of our approach to all suffering--pragmatism in what we can see, or faith through God's Word in what we cannot see.  Like many of the things Jesus said, I believe this something best understood as a parable for a broader truth.  Now, it could very well mean we could find ourselves in a situation like Peter, desiring to pick up the literal sword when we should not.  Yet, I don't believe it is restricted to that specific act in general.  Like I said before, I don't believe the primary teaching here is just pacifism, but rather... what is the sword we choose to live by?  What sword to we draw when trouble comes?  Do we swing violently at our problems, or turn to God for His Word?  Are we pragmatic in solving our own problems with cold hard logic of our own making, or are we people of God's Word who turn to God for His deliverance and direction?

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.(Ephesians 6:12)

We must realize how short and miserable the reach of a cold blade is (our knee-jerk, human reasoning reactions), and how long the reach the sword of God's Word is.  A cold blade may reach a few feet in front of you to meet the heart of a man in order to kill him, but the sword of God's Word can reach down from the height of the heavens and into the heart of man to give him life.

This cold blade should not be our approach to life.  It's very short.  If we want our reach to be far, we must wield the blade that can go the distance.  The blade we choose will ultimately be the one we fall by when we die.  Do not go through life wielding a cold, short, and spiritually inept blade.  Instead when we die, no matter the means, fall to the ground by the warm, ever-reaching sword that brought life.