Be careful of pride

Preamble:  This entry stems from my pondering and commenting on two consecutive blog entries on pride, of Ps Prentis, writing on his blog of “Created to give God Glory”, which I follow most regularly.   

Below are the links to the 2 articles:

1.          Bowing at the Altar of Self

2.   Standing on the backs of others won’tmake you taller (I also encourage you to read my comment on this article; the points are NOT reflected in this article)

Article verse

Hab 2:4 - "See, he is puffed up; his desires are not upright-- but the righteous will live by his faith.

It started with Satan

Satan’s fall from Heaven was due to pride.  Isaiah 14:12-14 gave us the picture:

12 How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations!  13 You said in your heart, "I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain.  14 I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High." 

Ezekiel 28:12-18 is conflated with Satan.  Satan was most beautiful and perfect until Iniquity was found in Him.  Iniquity birthed from pride.  Satan wanted to be like God, be seated at the High Throne, and be worshipped by all.  He probably was below One, and above all others, possibly, was the one who orchestrated worship in Heaven; yet he wanted to equal God, if NOT above God.

Pride reaches its high level when, it matters NOT, to you, what others (including God) think of you; and what matters to you is what you think of yourself.  When it is like that, it is you are placing yourself above everyone else. 

In this regard, the author of Romans, in Romans 12:3, captured it well, warning us NOT to think more highly than we ought, but rather think of ourselves with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of us. 

Think about it, that was what happened to Satan; he stopped bothering with what God thought of him, rather he thought he ought be the one be worshipped by all (equaled God, or even instead of God being worshipped).  When we say we are NOT bothered with what others think of us, it is WRONG (pride), if that “others” included God.  We must have, and have, the highest regard for what God thinks of us. Micah 6:8 said of what is required of us; one of it, is we are to walk humbly before our God.

Replication into Man

Iniquity birthed in Satan from pride; to me, the same was replicated into men, in the Fall.  The snare was the same; Gen 3:4-6 –

4 "You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman.  5 "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."  6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.

See, Satan was hinting to Eve, “You could do without God”.

Fellowship consideration

“Well, in that case, can I be ‘NOT bothered’ with what others think; I just give regards to what God thinks?”  If the others are in alignment with God, you cannot just ignore them either.  Remember, (1 John 1) if we are in the light, we have fellowship with God and with other believers in the light.  The yardstick of measurement has to be God’s words, will and desires, though.  Believers’ expectations of us, which are out of line with the yardstick, we can put aside, after we have weighed against the yardstick, but it is only after exercising sober judgment.

Romans 12 gives a good take of how we are to live it out in a community.  The point is still we are NOT called into isolation, but to live in fellowship in the light.  Life is NOT easy in such context, for where there are people, there is politics, and that is another thorny issue, and wisdom is required. We don’t bow to men, but to God; but it is NOT we bow NOT, to men and we bow NOT to anyone, NOT even God.  We submit to authority placed over us, by God.  Unhappy with leaders, and there is no higher authority?  Take your case to God.

Agreement with God

The straightforward and “easy thing to say” is to “Just do what God wills/desires you, to do; submit, obey, and follow His prescription for you”; in other words, be in agreement with God.  It is the right thing, but it is NOT necessarily easy to practise. 

Hab 2:4 ends with “but the righteous shall live by faith”, but how is it contrary to prideful behavior or living?  I often say, the simple definition of being righteous is being in agreement with God, and so, the righteous are the ones supposedly in agreement with God.  The “in agreement” is about what God wants done, and the timing thereof, too; and it is NOT mental assent, it got to be lived out. 

Why the righteous shall live by faith; it is because we proceed and we are to proceed (to live), from a “right belief”; NOT any belief, but a belief in the words, will and desires of God. It is the norm that it is NOT “robotic”, in that it is NOT all pre-programmed in every single step that we are to take, and it is NOT executed entirely from facts.  And we do NOT have the full mind of Christ, like our mind has been hollowed out and replaced by Christ’s mind!  If you have such a mind, let me know! To be righteous in living, it is by faith. 

I like this, that Ps Prentis said (in his blog entry - “Bowing at the Altar of Self”):

“Listening to God and doing what He desires takes away all pride and all self-worship. It creates a person who loses himself in his work. His work is his worship because God has called him to it. He doesn’t worship the work but worships by working.”

Really, worship is more than we singing songs and praising Him; we worship Him in doing willingly and lovingly the works (including worship of Him) He has us do.  But sad, too often, works has been erroneously treated like leprosy, to stay away from (no thanks to overly grace preachers), with a 10 feet pole, so to speak. 

How is in agreement with God (being righteous), listening to Him and doing from that, by faith, takes away all pride and self-worship? It is because we know we are NOT the source of the whatever that people can be prideful about, God is; we merely follow His lead.

“Listening to God and doing what He desires” is NOT necessarily easy!  But who says, when it is hard, we are NOT to do!  If there is no hardness, from where would come faithfulness and perseverance; and where would come character building. 

The one who is NOT operating from “the righteous shall live by faith”, Habakkuk said, his soul is lifted up, or he is being proud.  And he who is proud, “uprightness” is NOT in him. To live by faith, one listens to God and does what He desires (both listening and doing, call for faith); when we are NOT doing that, we are saying we know better (than God); and this is being proud, is it NOT?!

My check of the Lexicon leads me to believe the right meaning to be assigned (there are several meanings) to the “uprightness” {H3474} is, that which is pleasing, agreeable; and obviously, pleasing and agreeability are from the perspective of God.  So, he who is proud does NOT have that which is pleasing or agreeable to God, or he is NOT pleasing or agreeable to God. 

In other words, Hab 2:4 could read as “Behold, he who is being proud (or prideful) is NOT pleasing or agreeable to God; whereas, the righteous lives by faith or in agreement with God”.

If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that

There is, of course, time and season (Eccl 3); and so, while we must remain faithful in our works for God, it is never we are indispensable (that is pride), or that God cannot retire us off, or rotate us to any other thing or nothing (for a season)!  He is the Potter, we are the clay; He will re-make or re-shape as he wishes (Jer 18:4-5; Rom 9:21).

The Apostle James left us these words (James 4:13-16):

13 Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money."  14 Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.  15 Instead, you ought to say, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that."  16 As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil. 

Anthony Chia, high.expressions

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Issachar Spirit

Gen 49:14-15 -14 Issachar is a strong ass couching down between two burdens: 15 And he saw that rest was good, and the land that it was pleasant; and bowed his shoulder to bear, and became a servant unto tribute.

First of all, Gen 49 was a prophecy by Jacob, including prophecy on his 12 sons, who would form the 12 Tribes of Israel.  Issachar was the 9^th son, and meaning of the name is recompense/reward (H3485). 

Gen 30:18 (KJV) - And Leah said, God hath given me my hire, because I have given my maiden to my husband: and she called his name Issachar (H3485).

The text was a metaphorical prophecy of Issachar, and the Tribe of Issachar.  It does NOT necessary mean the prophecy is “extendable” to us, but there could be good guides or principles we can apply in our lives. 

Issachar men were strong men built for work.  Gen 49:14-15 has been variedly interpreted, and there are people who said Issachar men were lazy, which I disagree.  I am NOT using the word, hardworking, but they were built for work or fit for work; perhaps, they were NOT proactive all the time, but when they took up a work assignment, they worked.  Remember, this was a metaphor, and donkey was a metaphorical object; some translation has it for “strong donkey”, “jawboned donkey”.  In other words, the well-built Issachar, could be men of battle (Scripture has a record of Samson using a jawbone of a donkey for battle, killing a 1,000 men).  Also, 1 Chronicles 7:2 tells us that Issachar men were valiant men of might in their generations. Gen 49:14 said that they were “caught” between two “burdens”; what were those two “burdens” or camps or “sheepfolds”? 

Couching down between two “burdens” there, in my view, was referring to a position of weighing set of two choices, and there could be various different two-choices sets.  I believe Jacob spoke about Issachar or Issachar men as men of astute choice maker.  Now, it is NOT necessary that his mother, Leah, her doing then, of making her choices (for reward), necessary means that Issachar would turn out to be a negative or bad choice maker, like it would be (choice) for material or vain or unrighteous reward; as are presented by some who write on this text.

What Issachar’s mother, Leah did, could be read from Gen 30.  When he was born, Issachar was given that name; the underlying scenario was that Leah weighed her two “burdens”, to be losing out to Rachel, not having children or enough children, or to be having her maidservant be intimate with her husband, Jacob.  Leah considered Issachar as recompense/wages for her, for her letting her maidservant to be intimate with Jacob.  Issachar took on the “trait” of weighing between two “burdens”, but it did mean that he or his descendants would be bad choice maker or bad in weighing of burdens.  In 1 Chronicle 12:32 we read of Issachar “were men that had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do”; and they rallied behind making David, King of Israel.

For verse 15 (Gen 49:15), one may tend to say, there we have it - the two burdens, waging battles, and the other, tilling the ground; meaning they could opt to be men of battles or war, one sheepfold or cluster/camp, or farmers, another sheepfold or cluster/camp.  It may NOT be exactly it, for there was no noting in Scripture of Issachar men turned to be farmers.

The land was metaphorical representation.  There were 2 occasions in Scripture that helped explain this:

Occasion 1 - Judges 5:15 - The princes of Issachar were with Deborah; yes, Issachar was with Barak, sent under his command into the valley.

Deborah (woman Judge, from Ephraim Tribe) and Barak (of Naphtali Tribe) headed one of the greatest last battles of the Israelites over the northern Canaanite armies - the "Battle of Deborah" (12 BC); this completed the conquest of Canaan, tens of years after Joshua first led the Israelites into the Promised Land. Deborah had a problem then - to convince the tribes to send soldiers to the Israelite Army against enemy Jabin, king of Hazor and his commander-in-chief, Sisera.  In the end, only a few of the tribes sent their men into the battle. The Zebulun joined (Barak requested that Deborah will join him in the battle as a condition for his acceptance of the command); and we read in the above Judges 5:15, the Issachar Tribe gave full support and went into the thick of the battle under the command of Barak, a commander of Naphtali, (NOT of Issachar). 

The land in Gen 49:15 was therefore a metaphor for the Promised Land; and it was indeed a pleasant land; this was what was said by the spies when they first explored the Promised Land – Num 13:27 - They gave Moses this account: “We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit. Of the fruit, from Num 13:23, “they cut off a branch bearing a single cluster of grapes. Two of them carried it on a pole between them, along with some pomegranates and figs.”

What about “the rest was good”?  By this time, the Israelites had entered and occupied much of the land, and they had rested, and that was why Deborah had the problem of convincing the Tribes to fight in one of the remaining fierce battles of the Promised Land.  The rest was good, but like we nowadays say it, “it ain’t over!” And the Issachar men knew it, and made the right choice of going into battle, instead of going about their lives, like what was being done by some of the other tribes; they might have searched their hearts, but still they did NOT go to the battle, leaving others to fight.  We are to note that the Issachar men were NOT lazy; they went to work (“bowed his shoulder to bear”); they went into the thick of the battle.  Yes, for what was good and pleasant – the rest and the land.  And they became a servant unto tribute; what was this?  They submitted to the leadership of Barak who was NOT of their tribe, and went to battle as servants of Barak and of the people; and Judge Deborah, we can read from Judges 5 (vv9-12), paid tribute to the volunteers – the Issachar men became servants unto tribute.  For an account of Judges 5, read this article of mine - Judges 5 - Song of Deborah.

Occasion 2: 1 Ch 12:32 - we read of Issachar “were men that had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do”; and they rallied behind making David, King of Israel.  1 Ch 12:23 said these men (inclusive of others), “armed for battle who came to David at Hebron to turn Saul’s kingdom over to him, as the Lord had said:” In 1 Ch 12:38, we read, “All these were fighting men who volunteered to serve in the ranks. They came to Hebron fully determined to make David king over all Israel. …”

David was banished from the presence of (King) Saul (1 Ch 12:1); there were two burdens – Saul or David?  Issachar couched down between Saul and David?  Was the home (land), and therefore, rest, too, good and pleasant?  Was Israel, the Holy Land, good and pleasant?  It was; and still, choice had to be made, shoulders needed to be bowed to bear, and the Issachar men, chose to be servants to bear up David.  Again, Issachar men would NOT be “the” leaders, but would be servants unto tribute, to the Judah head, David.

What we can glean from the above:

1.   Prophecy does come to pass.  And so, we should NOT make the mistake of a writer or two, who brushed away this prophecy; even saying, the life of Issachar (we got to include his descendants) did NOT bear it out!  No, careful study, as above, shows, that prophecy did come to pass.

2.   Like the men of Issachar, we have to believe we are born for such a time as this, and we can be astute choice makers, knowing of the times or have understanding of the times; and we are to recognise “the rest” and the “land”.
 
3.   The Christian life is the rest and the land; we have entered it.  We have entered into the Kingdom of God, albeit the earthly phase of it.  The rest is good and the land is pleasant, but like I have said above, “it ain’t over!”  We still have to make choices, and right ones; and for the choices we make, for the “good rest and pleasant land”, we have to bow our shoulders to bear.  Yes, we have to work when we have made the choice(!); and we are “jawboned donkeys”; and we have what it takes to do the work (And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work – 2 Cor 9:8). We are called into the Servanthood that the Lord, Jesus, had come to re-establish, that we, believers, are servants unto tribute, serving the Almighty God.  Eph 2:10 tells us that we are saved for good works (unto the Lord).

As long as we are still living, we are to continue to be like Issachar, strong ass couching down between two burdens, and we have chosen (NEVER to deny) the Kingdom (as opposed to the world) and because the Kingdom rest is good, and the Kingdom is pleasant; we bow our shoulders to bear, to work for its interest, and continue to be a servant unto tribute, unto our King and God, until the day He brings us to the Kingdom in Heaven, for the most awesome, awesome, and awesome rest and land.

4.   My long distance friend, Ps Prentis, wrote an entry on his blog, touching on retirement issue, quoting this text – Gen 49:14-15.  There is no retirement, there is only we are called home to the Kingdom in Heaven, when God said we have finished.  May we all know the moment, when it is about to come, like Jesus did, in His moment, “It is finished”.  Until then, it ain’t over!  Yah, we should NOT get too comfy, even when we have passed any worldly retirement age, and NOT to forget our Christian “duties”.

 

Lastly, Elieen, if you are reading this, that some prophet prophesied that your husband has the Issachar spirit (you told me some years back; and I remember I said, “It means he needs to work with people, not alone”), it is NOT a negative prophecy; it is a great prophecy.  No, the Issachar spirit does NOT mean your husband will be mundane hireling or simply a man full of burden; it is a great honour to be a man of burden of the Lord; to be a servant unto tribute, to the Almighty God; to arise to the occasion, just at the right time, to step in, and be instrument of God for blessing and breakthrough. Yes, it may mean the one with Issachar spirit may NOT lead in the highest level, but there again, how many highest level leaders are there; must we be the one?!

May God bless the reading of this article.

Anthony Chia, high.expressions - Once a servant (of God), always a servant of God.
Comments are welcome here. Alternatively, email them to me @: high.expressions@gmail.com Or just email me your email address so that I can put you on my blog (new entry) notification list. To go back to blog main page, click here. 

 

Who are the overcomers? - Part IV (What can help you to overcome)

In this final part, Part IV, we will look at the means or ingredients at our disposal, or simply what we are to do, to overcome. 

Again, as in Part III, I will comment on a select of verses from Scripture.

 

Psalm 119:105 - Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.

My comment – “feet” and “path”, these have the connotation of “a walk” or “an on-going life”. 

The Word is the lamp to unto my feet; it means that the God’s words illuminate where I put my next immediate steps; that I do NOT put my feet into a pot-hole, for example; that I do NOT step on a pointed nail (pointing up!); or that I do NOT tread on a brood of vipers!  In other words, the Word can help me to avoid many immediate dangers about me; and that is part of overcoming, in life.  

The Word is a light unto my path; it means that God’s words point to where I would go, like, I, to go to the east or to the west.  For example, the Word can be telling me that the road to the east leads to where I may be attacked or ambushed or to do some important work for the Lord, or that I should stay with a particular path for the season. 

The Word covers the far ground and the near ground.  It is like we are driving a car or navigating a ship, we have to look at the far ground ahead of us, and we also need to pay attention to the near ground ahead of us; and then we can safely arrive at our destination, Heaven, in this case.

Having said this, I am NOT saying that we would be trouble-free {remember we looked at John 16:33}; also 2 Tim 3:12 - In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.

The point is that with the Word, you don’t go where the Lord would NOT want you to go.  There may be trouble at the place the Lord has you go, but if it is His will, you can expect Him to be there with you, to face the trouble. 

No crashing out or shipwrecking possible?  Really?  Scripture does have a verse about shipwrecking! Shipwrecking our faith!  It is found in 1 Tim 1:18-19.

18 Timothy, my son, I give you this instruction in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by following them you may fight the good fight,19 holding on to faith and a good conscience. Some have rejected these and so have shipwrecked their faith. (1 Tim 1:18-19)

The instruction here, in v18, to Timothy, was to oppose heresies (v3), and Timothy was told, in his good fight, to hold unto the faith and a good conscience. 

The Apostle Paul told Timothy, some have rejected the holding unto the faith and a good conscience with devastating result of them shipwrecking their faith.  Shipwreck carries the connotation of destruction, NOT just setback.  Having one’s name blotted out from the Lamb’s Book of Life, that would be destruction, that would be shipwrecking one’s faith! 

We will NOT go at greater length into this (about the importance of the Word), and it suffices to say that one needs to understand the Word well, have it abides in him, to (1) hold unto the faith, and (2) have his conscience always on the guard, so that it will always remain good. The Word is very important to us to continue to be an overcomer in life.

Acts 17:11 - Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.

My comment – Rightly dividing the Word; this verse tells us what we should do with messages we hear; we should examine the Scripture daily to see if what were said are true. 

There are just too much heretic teachings out there; we need to be discerning, or we may end up like the two assistants of the Apostle Paul whom he referred to, who had fallen away (v20), in the 1 Tim 1 text to Timothy; the two became heretics. 

In fact, Timothy himself, we have seen above (1 Tim 1:18-19), was exhorted to be careful, lest he be ensnared by the heretic teachings, even as he was to oppose them.  Many heretic teachings are out to win you over, if you are NOT careful with the purity of your faith.

1 John 2:3-7 - 3 We know {ginosko} that we have come to know {ginosko} him if we obey his commands.4 The man who says, "I know {ginosko} him," but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 5 But if anyone obeys his word, God's love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know {ginosko} we are in him: 6 Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.7 Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command but an old one, which you have had since the beginning. This old command is the message you have heard. 

My comment – 2 things are underscored here:  One, continuing with the above, about the importance of God’s words, if we obey NOT His commands, we know NOT God, and the truth is NOT in us.  I ask us 2 simple questions:  Is God the truth?  If the truth is NOT in you, do you think you will go to Heaven to be where Truth is? 

Two, another angle to what is required: We need to be in Him, in the truth.  How do we know that – that we are in Him? V6 said it – we must walk as Jesus did. 

Is there a patterning after the Lord required, for salvation?  Yes.  What is key in the Lord’s earthly life?  He was sinless, righteous, and He lived and persevered in being sinless, being righteous; He overcame all that the world threw at Him; He overcame the world (John 16:33), and overcame death (Rom 6:9 - For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him). 

So what must we do?  What must we remember? It is we have to walk as Jesus did. What is Jesus’ pattern in regard to overcoming?  He had to live an overcoming life to the end; and so, must we.

Hosea 4:6 - my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge. "Because you have rejected knowledge, I also reject you as my priests; because you have ignored the law of your God, I also will ignore your children.

My comment – Again, this is about the importance of the Word.  Though the setting was in the OT, then the law was the Word of God, and there was a focus on the priests, yet, its principle is still applicable to us, for we, NT believers, are the Lord’s royal priests. 

We can get destroyed from lack of knowledge or from our reject of knowledge; and the knowledge here is more particularly, referring to the knowledge of the Word or God (Hosea 6:6 KJV).  To overcome, one must aim NOT to be destroyed; and for that, we need to address our lack of knowledge of the Word, and we must avoid (us) rejecting the same.

It said there, if we ignore the Word (laws of God), God will even ignore our children.  When we are IN HIM, we have spiritual covering from the Lord; and we, as parents to our children, extends the covering {at least some extent of it} we have, from the Lord, to our children. Now, if we are NOT in Him, we have NOT, the covering from the Lord (that is why we can be destroyed), and if we have NOT the covering of the Lord, we cannot extend what we do NOT have, to our children; here said as “our children get ignored”.

Matthew 10:28 - Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

My comment – Who are the “those”, and who are the “One” in the verse? The “those” refers to Satan and his minions; and the “One”, God.  This is an example of knowledge talked about in Hosea 4:6, that we all must understand and receive in.  Which side do you want to be overcomer, for?

Now, this should be understood: Though Satan cannot directly destroy the soul, for He is NOT the one who would (in the last day) commit your soul to Hell, it is he, Satan, whom you can be counted with, and so, be going to Hell, just as he, Satan, has been destined to go.  It is God who can destroy both soul and body in Hell (the One there, in the verse is NOT Satan).

2 Cor 4:18 - So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

My comment – Again, this is an important knowledge that we should know, so that we persevere and overcome for the right things.  The world and the things in it, they will pass away; don’t persevere and overcome for such; over and above the same, persevere and overcome for the unseen things, the eternal things.  In the Book of Revelation, especially in the messages about the 7 churches, some of the unseen and eternal things have been recorded for us; overcome for those things; these were listed in Part III (of this series).

1 Cor 3:12 - If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw,

My comment – What is the foundation of your living built on?  We must know from the Word, what we are to build the foundation of our life and living, with.  Again this is knowledge (Hosea 4:6), and it is important knowledge, and we must spend time building the right foundation, for if the foundation is NOT strong and built out of the right stuff, when the waters of testing come, it will collapse (Matt 7:24-25; also Luke 6:46-49).

James 1:2-4 - 2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4 Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

My comment - Our faith will be tested.  If there is no testing, there will NOT be question of perseverance, and overcoming to talk about, would there?  This text explains how God sees the trials of many kinds that come your way.  The testing of our faith is in the will of God - 1 Pet 1:6-7 said this: 6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that your faith--of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire--may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.

Only when you have overcome, or perseverance has finished its work, that you may be mature and complete.  Think about the end result, and we can consider it pure joy to have to face trials of all sorts.  Trials can be expected in our salvation journey.  Face each one well, don’t just run away from it, and you will grow or mature as you go along, until the work started in you is brought to completion (Phil 1:6).

James 1:5-7 - 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.6 But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7 That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.  

My comment – to overcome the various troubles, and trials in life, we need godly wisdom.  The text here said we should ask God for it.  But please also pay attention to the conditions given.  One condition given here, is that, you are to believe and NOT doubt.  Another is that you got to have the fear of the Lord, which is that you must hate evil {that which God hates} (Pro 8:13); for the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, said Scripture (Pro 9:10).  Without hating evil and therefore, embracing holiness, one can have no godly wisdom given him!

Phil 4:8 - Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things.

My comment – think no evil, and do no evil, NOT only that, let your mind be occupied with the right thinking; focus on things that were listed in Phil 4:8.  The Christian meditation is NOT focussed on emptiness, but on the right things.

Eph 6:12 - For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Eph 6:11 - Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes.

My comment – Again, this is knowledge, we, believers, must have and NOT reject.  Don’t be like some people, believing there is God, but NOT believing there is also the Devil and his minions.  IN HIM, we can do all things (Phil 4:13), yet we are NOT to underestimate the enemy; for when NOT in Him, we are NOT more powerful than the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.  

NOT in Him, you and I are NOT more powerful than Satan!  Stop kidding yourself.  Scripture said we are created a little lower than the angels.  We are stronger and more powerful than Satan and his minions when we are in Him.  Eph 6:12 explained clearly we are NOT wrestling against flesh and blood, but with evil principalities.  To fight the principalities and to overcome, we are exhorted to put on the full armour of God; Eph 6:14-18 gave us what the full armour comprised.

2 Thess 1:4-10 - 4 Therefore, among God's churches we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring. 5 All this is evidence that God's judgment is right, and as a result you will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are suffering. 6 God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you 7 and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. 8 He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power 10 on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed. This includes you, because you believed our testimony to you.

My comment – 2 understandings here, we should embrace, in line with the need of knowledge as said in Hosea 4:6. 

One, our faith will be and is tested, and so, we have to persevere and overcome, so that we, at the end of day, are counted worthy of the Kingdom of God {so that our faith maybe proved genuine – 1 Pet 1:7}.

Two, don’t harbour the attitude that God is NOT just.  V6 said God is just.  There is no equality, but there is justice with God.  But it may NOT be now or at the time you want.  God judges, and He will judge when the Lord comes back again (2^nd Coming); and punishment according to His justice and righteousness will be meted out; it is entirely up to Him if He would mete out any punishment in the meantime.

Ps 89:14a - Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne.

Ps 97:2 - Clouds and thick darkness surround him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.

Ps 33:5a - The LORD loves righteousness and justice;

My comment – The first 2 verses tells us that the Kingdom of God that we have entered into, albeit, the earthly phase of it, are founded on God’s righteousness and justice.  And so, you and I must embrace the very foundation of the Kingdom – God’s righteousness and justice.  The point is we cannot expect God to be with us in our overcoming if we subscribe NOT to His justice and righteousness – the foundation of His throne and rule.

Matt 6:33 - But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

My comment – This was the Lord Jesus’ exhortation – that we seek first, God’s kingdom and His righteousness; other things can then fall into place.  Now, it does not mean there will NOT be trouble (John 16:33 already said trouble can be expected), still despite all difficulties, seeking first, God’s kingdom and His righteousness must be embraced.  If everything is always swell and well, there is NOT talk of overcoming applicable, is there?! 

We have to stay the course of seeking first, His kingdom and righteousness, and then we can look to His grace flowing out to us, from the head of righteousness.  God’s eyes are on the righteous.  Ps 37:25 said this: I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread.  All who are righteous can take comfort in this.

1 Cor 13:12-13 - 12 Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

My comment – The exhortation: Now, there is no perfect clarity, but at that time to come when we come face to face before God (end time), everything would be clear; for now, always live in FAITH, holding onto the HOPE of eternal life, and practice LOVE (be in the ever cycle of being loved, and be loving).  This is one of the wise prescriptions of the Apostle Paul, for Christian living.

Ps 91:14-16 - 14 "Because he loves me," says the LORD, "I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. 15 He will call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him.16 With long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation."

My comment – Love God always, and with all of you.  This is the secret to a believer’s well-being.  See all the promises of God in the above text for those who love Him – rescue, protection, answer from God, God’s presence in trouble, deliverance, honor, long life, and life eternal.

Matt 28:19-20 –

19Therefore go and make disciples {G3100 – mathēteuō} of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

20 and teaching {G1321 – didaskō} them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

My comment – This is the Great Commission recorded in the Gospel of Matthew. Yes, at that time, it was addressed to the 12 Apostle-disciples (11 actually {v16}), but it is taken as addressing all believers.  The commission given was to make disciples of all nations. 

Some translations use the word, “teach” (all the nations) for verse 19; no, that is incorrect, the Greek word used was G3100 – mathēteuō; and this has the meaning of making disciples, not teaching, simply. 

The Greek word, meaning teaching, simply, is the word, G1321 – didaskō; and it was used in its proper place in verse 20.  The word of Jesus quoted here, by Matthew, was clearly that disciples be made of nations.  What this means is that believers or Christians are disciples of the Lord; it is NOT some believers are disciples and some are NOT intended to be!

Can you claim the last bit of v20; you (and I) sure want to – that Jesus be with you always, to the very end of age?! (There are many other rights and provisions for the disciples, including authority and power {egs. Luke 9:1, Matt 10:1}).  Can you claim? 

Yes, if you are disciples, NOT merely believers, for the text was addressed to disciples (“to make disciples”).  When you are one of the ones made, and are a disciple, as I have explained here, you are also expected to carry out the Great Commission, and if you indeed do so, you are entitled to the “Jesus be with you always”; and when Jesus is with you always, you needn’t fear, do you?

So, if you agree that you are a disciple, live in keeping as one.  In short, how should a disciple live?  A disciple is one who is totally submitted to the teachings of the person who is disciplining him. So, as a disciple of Jesus, we are expected to obey Him, follow Him and serve Him.

Gal 5:16-17 - 16 So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. 17 For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want.

Romans 8:14 - because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.

1 Cor 6:19-20 - 19 Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.

My comment - Be led by the Spirit, NOT by your carnal flesh anymore.  The will and desires of the Spirit and the carnal flesh are conflicting.  Do NOT gratify the desires of the carnal flesh.  Our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in us.

Summary:

What can help us to live an overcoming life?

The Word is very important; (a) we need to understand it; (b) have it abides in us; (c) through the Word, hold unto the faith; and (d) vis-à-vis the Word, guard our conscience, so that our conscience is always good.

The Lord commands that we be “IN HIM”; how? How do we know that – that we are in Him? 1 John 2:6 – we must walk as Jesus did. 

We should also fear God for He can destroy both soul and body in Hell (Matt 10:28).

You need to hate what God hates - evil.  You got to hate evil, and embrace holiness, in order to be given or be possessing of godly wisdom.  And you do need godly wisdom to overcome adversities of life.

Focus on the right things – that which are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent or praiseworthy (Phil 4:8).

Take on the Kingdom (of God)’s value discernment, value the eternal things, the unseen, and NOT the worldly, the transient, the seen.

Consider the foundation of your life and living; build a right and strong foundation.

Understand that there would be trials of many kinds along our journey of life.  Face each one well, don’t just run away from it, and you will grow or mature as you go along, until the work started in you is brought to completion (Phil 1:6).  You grow in your faith, and you DON’T instantly mature upon entry into salvation. Our faith will be tested so that we can be counted worthy of the Kingdom of Heaven, and so that it (our faith) is proved genuine.

Understand that there is a warfare going on, and we have taken side with the Lord; the other side is Satan and his principalities.  So, learn and be equipped for battles.

Don’t be upset with God, there is no equality but there is justice with God.  The timing and how justice comes, we have to leave them to God.  The foundation of God’s throne and therefore His rule, is unmistakably righteousness and justice.  In fact, if we embrace NOT His righteousness and justice, we are failing ourselves and putting ourselves at risk.

There is no perfect clarity in our present earthly life, but at that time to come when we come face to face before God (end time), everything would be clear; for now, always live in faith, holding onto the hope of eternal life, and practice love (1 Cor 13:13).

Love God always, and with all of you.  The protection and much blessings and promises of God are most assuredly, assured for those who love Him (Ps 91:14-16). 

Be a disciple NOT merely a believer.  As a disciple you are expected to obey the Lord, follow Him and serve Him. Live in keeping as a disciple. He promised, when you do so, to be “with you always, to the very end of the age." (Matt 28:20)

Be led by the Spirit, NOT be your carnal flesh anymore.  The will and desires of the Spirit and the carnal flesh are conflicting.  Do NOT gratify the desires of the carnal flesh. Our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit.

There we have it, what would help us in overcoming.  Of course, it has always been, and will always be, Jesus, who is the leader and helper of our lives; are you following Him?

 

Anthony Chia, high.expressions
Comments are welcome here. Alternatively, email them to me @: high.expressions@gmail.com Or just email me your email address so that I can put you on my blog (new entry) notification list. To go back to blog main page, click here. 

Psalm 23:2-3 – The leading of the LORD, my Shepherd

Ps 23:2-3 - 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, 3 he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

Preamble

Psalm 23 is a psalm by King David. 

I have expounded on Ps 23:1 – The Lord is my shepherd,I shall NOT be in want.  In it we talked about if we truly are holding the Lord as our shepherd, we must mean what we declare; we must want to be led by the Shepherd, and NOT go about on our own, as if we got everything that we need to manoeuver through life, outright.

In today’s article, we look at how the Lord leads, as the shepherd of our life, when we follow Him wholeheartedly.

NOT we have arrived, but it is He is still leading, and we follow

This is the foremost thing we must all know and remember, that we are NOT arrived, but it is that we are to follow our Lord, our Shepherd, as he leads, and in the process we are to grow in holiness and godliness. 

All those teachings promoting we are arrived, perfect, not needing to seek righteousness, not needing be taught by another, having the full mind of Christ, cannot sin, having no need to be forgiven again and be cleansed of any unrighteousness from sins which we may commit from time to time, they are heretic.

Be led by the Spirit, the key to holiness and godliness

The metaphor of shepherd-sheep, found in both OT and NT, tells that we need to be led by the Shepherd.  Not only do we NOT be in want, in terms of sustenance, soul restoration, and righteousness guided (vv 2-3), we will find later (in subsequent verses, v4 & ….), that we need to be following after the Lord to be availing ourselves to protection, etc, etc. 

For the NT believer, be led by the Shepherd is the same as be led by the Spirit of God or the Holy Spirit or the Spirit of Christ, for all three, are referring to the same.  In the time of Jesus living on earth, it was as prophesized; Jesus was come, as the Emmanuel – God with us. The Jews then had Jesus living with them, and led them who were willing to follow after Him.  When Jesus went back to the Father God in Heaven on His death and resurrection, He was still with us, even for the present day, through His Spirit being with us; indwelling us, and leading us, if we let Him do so.

What does the Shepherd or the Spirit of Christ lead us to? Remember now, we are still living on earth, we are NOT dead, and so, Ps 23:2-3 is NOT about we have arrived or we had reached the endpoint, Heaven; green pastures, quiet waters, are NOT representing Heaven.  These verses are referring to here and now, as we live, following the Shepherd.  I repeat we have NOT got everything we need, outright, that we can go about, on our own; it is the Shepherd leads (leads by His Spirit), and we follow.

“He (the Lord) makes me lie down in green pastures, leads me besides quiet waters”, said the psalmist King David. Notice the plurals used, green pastures, and quiet waters.  In our life journey, as we continue to live, the Lord, by His Spirit, wants to lead us to green pastures and quiet waters; meaning, He wants to see us get to positions where our needs can be met.  It is NOT one position or place, but positions or places, just like the sheep would be led to different places of pasture and water.  Is it NOT true, for various reasons (weather change, invasion of beasts, etc), the man-shepherd would move the sheep to different pasturelands and waters, from time to time?  The shepherd knows when to direct the sheep to one piece of pasture, say, of young grass, to another, say of different grass specie; or from one place of quiet water that is going to freeze over, to another, that is NOT, for example. 

The point is that the shepherd wants the needs of the sheep met, and he would lead them to where such can be met.  The same too, is the Lord, as our Shepherd, doing, wanting our needs met.  That the Lord knows; it is the role of His, for you to be NOT in want (v1). What are our needs, in the eyes of the Lord?

Our needs, according to Ps 23:2-3

Green pastures and quiet waters.  What do these represent?  What the sheep needs; they are the diet of the sheep, what they need to take in to maintain mortality or physical life.  Putting us in, it means the Spirit leads us to positions of us having our sustenance.  In another psalm of David, Ps 37, he spoke of it this way (Ps 37:25) - I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread.  It would a failure of the Lord, if you truly are righteous (if follow Him absolutely, how can you NOT be righteous), and you have to go hungry and thirsty, for no apparent reason!  (Righteous ones can be persecuted, and he can only be persecuted when God allows it, and God does NOT allow it for no reason; even when we are aware NOT of the reason, or could NOT appreciate it).  In Matt 6:31-32, we read this: 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.

Now, the verses talked about green pastures and quiet waters; the connotation is that the sustenance provided by the Lord is good, NOT lacking, and NOT fearful to be consumed.  Sheep is fearful of rushing waters, and will NOT drink from it; they will drink from quiet waters.

Not to worry; but what if I seem NOT able to sense the leading of the Lord? Do this:  Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition {supplication}, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God (Phil 4:6).

Ps 23:3 said He restores our soul.  In the KJ version, verse 3 is a new sentence, although in the NIV, it is NOT.  I do NOT read the satisfaction of our physical needs, of food and water, as all that is needed for restoration of our soul, although, it does NOT help an already devastated soul, if he is in dire hunger and thirst.  The soul, as the seat of emotion and passion (and is the life-participle), its well-being can be unperturbed by hunger and thirst, even impending physical death, but can be greatly troubled from disagreement with God or from being unrighteous. 

The KJ version puts restoration of soul with the paths of righteousness, and rightly it is to be so.  We read this, as continuation of Matt 6:31-32, which I have already quoted in the preceding paragraph, “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things {what you need} will be given {added} to you as well.” (Matt 6:33)

What is restoration of soul?  To restore something, first of all, has the connotation that, that something was originally of a certain manner or state, and now no longer of the same (manner or state); and to restore is to bring it back to the original state.  What was the original state of the soul?  What had happened to it? 

The original state of the human soul was that it was in agreement with God, and that simply was that the soul was righteous – right on with God, as to what He desired done and when He wanted it done; in short, in tune with God.  From the Fall of Man, in the Garden of Eden, the soul of Man was corrupted; it now needs to be guided in the paths of righteousness. 

The fallen soul needs to be restored, and the primary restoration with Jesus’ coming (first coming), is through we entering into salvation or be converted.  Even so, the soul continues to have the need to be maintained and guided.

There are 2 sets of paths opened to the soul, paths of unrighteousness, even evil, and the paths of righteousness which are the ways of God or of His kingdom.  We are exhorted to seek the paths of righteousness, and the Lord, through His Spirit, leads in such paths; evil leads the other set of paths.

Why does it say that – “for His name sake”? The 2 sets of paths lead to 2 very different endings or places; one, to eternal life in Heaven, to live with God, and the other, to torment in the lake of everlasting burning fire of Hell.  God’s people obviously are to go to Heaven; God’s name is at stake, for we, believers, are called His people, His children.  We as children of His, are to make it back to His heavenly dwelling place, Heaven; He knows (His part) and He is faithful to guides us in those paths of righteousness, that we may reach the desired ending; our failure does NOT reflect good on God.

If we follow the Shepherd, we shall NOT be in want – NOT in want of our sustenance (what we will eat, drink and wear or shelter), NOT in want of restoration of our soul, and NOT in want of the righteousness Guide (for the NT believers, He is the indwelling Spirit of Christ).  There are more, to what we would NOT be in want of, when we next look further down the psalm, in another article to come, on the remaining verses of this psalm.

Know rightly, and have faith

For those who read the 1^st article (The LORD is my shepherd; I shall NOT be in want) of this series, they will realize that I said that those who suggest the OT characters in the like of King David, could be saying and praying like any “half-baked” modern day believers who have NOT the correct understanding of how the ways of God are to work, they are so wrong to quickly jumped to the conclusion that such claims are of no validity.  We have to know what was said, rightly, and then, have faith; and note 3 very important things: one, perseverance is often needed (on our part), and two, God’s thoughts towards those who love Him are always good, and three, He is able. 

On perseverance, Rom 5:4 tells us that perseverance produces in us character, and well-developed character, is with hope in God, always.  On God's thoughts towards us, Jer 29:11 said this - For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.  And on God's ability, in Eph 3:20, we read it said of God this way: “Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think,…”, and in 2 Cor 9:8, we have this: And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.

Up to this point, remember this:

1 The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.  2 He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, 3 he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

And, there is more ….

Anthony Chia, high.expressions

Comments are welcome here. Alternatively, email them to me @: high.expressions@gmail.com Or just email me your email address so that I can put you on my blog (new entry) notification list. To go back to blog main page, click here.