Nothing for me to do

This comes from Watchman Nee, another man of God who has long been gone from this earth, but God is still using. I came across this story in a book called, Sit, Walk, Stand. Enjoy.

"An engineer living in a large city in the West left his homeland for the Far East. He was away for two or three years, and during his absence his wife was unfaithful to him and went off with one of his best friends. On his return home he found he had lost his wife, his two children and his best friend. At the close of a meeting which I was addressing, this grief-stricken man unburdened himself to me. 'Day and night for two solid years my heart has been full of hatred,' he said. 'I am a Christian, and I know I ought to forgive my wife and my friend, but though I try and try to forgive them, I simply cannot. Every day I resolve to love them, and every day I fail. What can I do about it?' 'Do nothing at all,' I replied. 'What do you mean?' he asked, startled. 'Am I to continue to hate them?' So I explained: 'The solution of your problem lies here, that when the Lord Jesus died on the Cross he not only bore your sins away but he bore you away too. When he was crucified, your old man was crucified in him, so that that unforgiving you, who simply cannot love those who have wronged you, has been taken right out of the way in his death. God has dealt with the whole situation in the Cross, and there is nothing left for you to deal with. Just say to him, 'Lord, I cannot love and I give up trying, but I count on thy perfect love. I cannot forgive, but I trust thee to forgive instead of me, and to do so henceforth in me.'

The man sat there amazed and said, 'That's all so new, I feel I must do something about it.' Then a moment later he added again, 'But what can I do?' 'God is waiting till you cease to do,' I said. 'When you cease doing, then God will begin. Have you ever tried to save a drowning man? The trouble is that his fear prevents him trusting himself to you. When that is so, there are just two ways of going about it. Either you must knock him unconscious and then drag him to the shore, or else you must leave him to struggle and shout until his strength gives way before you go to his rescue. If you try to save him while he has any strength left, he will clutch at you in his terror and drag you under, and both he and you will be lost. God is waiting for your store of strength to be utterly exhausted before he can deliver you. Once you have ceased to struggle, he will do everything. God is waiting for you to despair.'

My engineer friend jumped up. 'Brother,' he said, 'I've seen it. Praise God, it's all right now with me! There's nothing for me to do. He has done it all!' And with radiant face he went off rejoicing."

Helped (again) by Spurgeon

It has been a while since my last post and I must explain. It has been a different and difficult few weeks. As you know (from previous posts), I recently had knee surgery. Then on November 16, my wife, Suzanne also had surgery. She has been experiencing pretty major discomfort for quite a while and the doctors determined that her Gall Bladder must come out. So just as I was beginning to walk normally again, she had this procedure. Now I suppose that every person is different, but we did not have a completely accurate picture of what the recovery would be like. There were stories of those who had this surgery and attended a college basketball game that same night, stories of those who went back to work 2-3 days later, stories of those who traveled by car to visit family states away within a few days, and I could go on. The deal is, it was done with a less invasive arthroscope and the incisions were small, but IT WAS STILL SURGERY! This on top of months of feeling bad physically, having very little appetite, and the heavy emotional impact of these first two resulted in a difficult follow up week after her surgery. I am happy to say that she is getting better every day and is returning to "normal." (Her dad would say, "Why be normal?" Ha.) But God is teaching us that during difficult seasons like this, our obedience to His command to "Delight yourself in the Lord" (Psalm 37:4) takes greater effort to obey. It is what John Piper calls "the fight for joy" and it is how we make it through dark times. It seems that right now there are many around me that are going through great difficulty and I want to say, "Hang on to Him. He will lead you through!"

"But now, this is what the Lord says - He who created you, O Jacob, He who formed you, Israel; Do not fear for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name, you are Mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior;" - Isaiah 43:1-3a (TNIV)

It is in times like this that we must remember...remember what God has done in our lives up until now...remember what He has done in those around us...remember what He has done in the lives of people in the past. It is this backward glance at His past work and meditation on the promises of His word that produce faith in us that leads us through. So once again, God has used C. H. Spurgeon to speak encouragement and produce hope in my heart. I shared with the choir last night about his life and how he fought for joy through much adversity. Much of what I shared came through a biographical sermon from Desiring God. As you read of God's amazing work in this man, I pray that you find the joy that only comes in the presence of our overwhelming God.

Jon

http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/Biographies/1469_Charles_Spurgeon_Preaching_Through_Adversity/

Father/Physician...Healer!

Hallelujah! I wanted to give God some glory over my knee. I had a follow up appointment with my surgeon this week and he informed me that not only was the surgery a success, but that there is no arthritis in my knee! Either 3 doctors gave wrong diagnoses or God healed my knee! I prefer to think it was the latter. I just wanted to brag on God for His grace one more time. He is good! Hallelujah!

Spurgeon on Joy in Psalm 68

I have been journeying through Psalm 68 during the last week or so using Charles Spurgeon's Treasury of David as a study help and I really want to share some of his incredible insights. It is amazing how God continues to speak through His servants, even after they have passed from this life into eternity. I pray that you enjoy God as you read. ~Jon


Psalms 68:3 (PSALMS)
EXPOSITION
Ver. 3. But let the righteous be glad. The presence of God on the throne of grace is an overflowing source of delight to the godly; and let them not fail to drink of the streams which are meant to make them glad.

Let them rejoice before God. The courtiers of the happy God should wear the garments of gladness, for in his presence is fullness of joy. That presence, which is the dread and death of the wicked, is the desire and delight of the saints.

Yea, let them exceedingly rejoice. Let them dance with all their might, as David did, for very joy. No bounds should be set to joy in the Lord. "Again, I say, rejoice, "says the apostle, as if he would have us add joy to joy without measure or pause. When God is seen to shine propitious from above the mercy seat in the person of our Immanuel, our hearts must needs leap within us with exultation, if we are indeed among those made righteous in his righteousness, and sanctified by his Spirit. Move on, O army of the living God, with shouts of abounding triumph, for Jesus leads the van.


Psalms 68:4 (PSALMS)
EXPOSITION
Ver. 4. Sing unto God, sing praises to his name. To time and tune, with order and care, celebrate the character and deeds of God, the God of his people. Do it again and again; and let the praise, with resolution of heart, be all directed to him. Sing not for ostentation, but devotion; not to be heard of men, but of the Lord himself. Sing not to the congregation, but "unto God, "

Extol him that rideth upon the heavens by his name JAH. Remember his most great, incomprehensible, and awful name; reflect upon his self existence and absolute dominion, rise to the highest pitch of joyful reverence in adoring him. Heaven beholds him riding on the clouds in storm, and earth has seen him marching over its plains with majesty. The Hebrew seems to be: "Cast up a highway for him who marches through the wilderness, "in allusion to the wanderings of the tribes in the desert. The marches of God were in the waste howling wilderness. His eternal power and Godhead were there displayed in his feeding, ruling, and protecting the vast hosts which he had brought out of Egypt. The ark brought all this to remembrance, and suggested it as a theme for song. The name JAH is an abbreviation of the name Jehovah; it is not a diminution of that name, but an intensified word, containing in it the essence of the longer, august title. It only occurs here in our version of Scripture, except in connection with other words such as Hallelujah.

And rejoice before him. In the presence of him who marched so gloriously at the head of the elect nation, it is most fitting that all his people should display a holy delight. We ought to avoid dullness in our worship. Our songs should be weighty with solemnity, but not heavy with sadness. Angels are nearer the throne than we, but their deepest awe is consonant with the purest bliss; our sense of divine greatness must not minister terror but gladness to our souls; we should rejoice before him. It should be our wish and prayer, that in this wilderness world, a highway may be prepared for the God of grace. "Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God, "is the cry of gospel heralds, and we must all zealously aim at obedience thereto; for where the God of the mercy seat comes, blessings innumerable are given to the sons of men.

Pleasure (Psalm 67)

Vs. 1 - "May God be gracious to us and bless us, Selah" (ESV)

This seems like a pretty self-centered prayer at first blush. Lord, bless me! Then it's followed by Selah. Selah is when the Psalm (which is a song, remember) says something that you just have to stop and revel in. It's that moment in a worship service when a congregation settles into a holy hush that lingers, or spontaneous applause that brings extended celebration, or a little ad lib musical section where spontaneous songs of worship, praise, and thanksgiving come from individuals all at the same time and create a multi layered, beautiful moment of corporate worship. So this seems like, "bless me real good!" But check out the punctuation. It is a comma, not a period. The Selah comes in mid thought. Keep reading...

Vs. 2 - "that Your way may be known on earth, Your saving power among all the nations." (ESV)

"That" is the word that brings this alive. Lord, bless me so people will know how You act. Bless me so Your power will be seen all over the world. But wait, this is about to get even better...

Vs.3-4 - "Let the peoples praise You, O God; let all the peoples praise You! Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for You judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon earth. Selah" (ESV)

I can't help but think that this Selah is more intense than the first. Look at the progression again. Lord, show us Your grace and bless us so we can really know how You interact with people. Then people will take pleasure in Your ways. How do we take pleasure in His ways? Well, when we see that He is just and guides His people, we will praise Him. Why? Because we love Him! We enjoy Him! I think this phrase is not understood much in a lot of churches. We have forgotten how to love God. Here's why I say this. I think it was C.S. Lewis who said that when we love something, the automatic result is praise. Think about it. When you go to a great restaurant, what do you do the next day? You praise it to anyone who will listen because you want them to enjoy it, too. The same goes for anything you enjoy...a movie, a vacation, play, concert, song, etc. When we really enjoy something, we praise it! Then just in case you missed it, the Psalmist picks up the same thought after the Selah.

Vs. 5 - "Let the peoples praise You, O God; let all the peoples praise You!" (ESV)

Vs. 6-7 - "The earth has yielded it's increase; God, our God, shall bless us. God shall bless us; let all the ends of the earth fear Him!" (ESV)

God is faithful. He is dependable. He will always be this. He will keep His promise to provide for His people. He is a trustworthy king. We love Him. We fear Him. Not as cowering subjects afraid for their lives, but kneeling before Him in loyalty and reverence and submission and awe. Awe of an Overwhelming, Mighty, Awesome, Completely Sovereign, Strong, Just, Avenging, and Powerful King who is Good and Loving and Untamable! Again, C.S. Lewis gives us a great picture of this. In The Chronicles of Narnia, Aslan, the great lion king is this type of ruler. When the question is asked, "Is he a tame lion?" The answer comes back, "Tame, no...but He is good." So this fear is enjoyable, because it is how we respond to the most enjoyable reality in the universe, God.

Oh Great and Awesome King! Forgive us for not loving You. We say we do, but our true feelings are shown in what we enjoy most. Lord, open our eyes to see you as You really are and to experience that reality as pleasure! Oh God, let no other thing charm us as You do. May we see you in every legitimate pleasure and not look for other pleasures to take the place of You. Thank You for allowing us to feel pleasure in You. You could have created us as a cold race with no passion. It would have made things a lot less messy. But You didn't. You gave us a desire to enjoy You, even though we have many times not truly done so. Oh Lord, be gracious to us and bless us and teach us to enjoy fearing You! In Jesus Name, Amen.

Father/Physician

1 week ago, this morning, I had surgery to remove some bone/cartilage fragments from my knee. I have a form of arthritis that caused some spots of bone tissue to die and chip away. Therefore, they stopped being bone and started being "artifacts" according to my doc. Anyway, they have been removed, and God has used my week of forced relaxation to speak.

It's interesting to know that when I was 15 (that'd be 20 years ago) I was told by a doctor that I had the beginnings of arthritis, but it was not until now that I had to have anything done about it. Isn't that just like the spiritual realm? Lots of stuff that causes us pain is rooted way back in our past and it takes a loving "doctor" to go in and remove what is dead that causes our pain. God identifies Himself as our Great Physician, but He is also Father. He is not only completely knowledgeable about what ails us, He loves us and knows what we must go through to grow us up into maturity in Him. Hallelujah, He is constantly Fathering us. We can trust His heart, even though His action may make zero sense to us.

Oh Father, keep fathering me. Help me trust that You know what You are doing and that Your agenda is for my good and Your glory. In Jesus Name, Amen.