Most of the time we over-complicate our relation to the absolute (God). Now, over-complicate does not mean that we are making our relationship harder than it needs to be.
Dying to self is a difficult task requiring endurance and perseverance. Over-complicate usually means misalignment; doing things for the wrong reasons.
I have recently engaged in an enlighting task for myself. I applied a tool of my profession, a logic diagram, to the analysis of my spiritual life. I want my “what” to correspond correctly to the appropriate “why”.
A logic diagram flows purpose (why) into actions (how). A well constructed logic diagram readily reveals the reason for every contemplated activity and allows for each activity to be crafted to achieve the true purpose.
My logic diagram resembles an Oreo cookie.
One wafer is to glorify God & enjoy Him / Love God; my purpose. The other wafer is faith; my how. Everything between those cookie wafers is my life.
Not very complicated.
It is very easy to allow our relationship with the world around us to dictate out relationship with God or have no relationship with God. That means we have replaced our wafers and if you’ve got wrong wafers them you’ve got inappropriate relationships.
That is the sweet work of a faithful follower of Christ; getting the sweet filling of life appropriately positioned between the absolutes of God and faith.
All the self-confidence belies the insecurities of a day full of significance. Today, I lead a team readied for a presentation instrumental in winning a five year, $15 million contract.
It is a big deal for a small company. We have been waiting for eight years.
I am embarrassed by my own anxiety. No lives hang in the balance. My employment is not dependent upon the perfect pitch. All today can hold is a hope for a bulwark against tomorrow’s uncertainty, so that I won’t have to worry about where tomorrow’s prosperity will reside.
Oh, foolish man that I am.
In essence, my anxiety reveals an inherent resistance to trusting the One who truly controls the conditions of my future.
God knows what I need and when I need it. He has provided my daily bread my entire life and I know He will provide tomorrow’s.
My anxiety is just a fear; a revelation of an unholy alliance with control.
Are you fearful, like me? Our response to uncertainty is the most revealing test one’s faith can undergo. Testing for fear is not a scare opportunity.
The nature response to uncertainty is fear, whether we recognize it as fear or not. Fear changes us. It effects our behavior. It modifies our attitude. It steals our joy.
Fear is a foe.
So, I repented this morning. I have changed my anxiety to trust. I have done all the work to be prepared for today but God has done more. It has been Him who has sheltered me to this point and it will be Him who shelters me through tomorrow.
Therefore, I can enjoy the opportunity of today. There are not many people who get to do what I have the privilege to do. I will trust, which enables me to enjoy. https://soundfaith.com/logos-media-share/491949
“Then Moses said to Aaron, “Approach the altar and sacrifice your sin offering and your burnt offering, and make atonement for yourself and for the people. And sacrifice the people’s offering and make atonement for them, just as God has commanded.””
The order of things matters. The sequencing of components is critical. The chronology of events is crucial.
There are ingredients in a recipe when removed, ruin the meal.
Change the sequence of your DNA and you become a different person.
Remove critical links in history and our world transforms into something very different.
I struggle with my Bible reading plan, when it comes to Leviticus. Leviticus is about the law. Leviticus is about rules. Also, Leviticus is about the order of things and that the order of things, matters.
The Israelites got to experience the glory of God. They were allowed to witness His power. They were overwhelmed with joy and worshipped.
Leviticus 9:23–24: Then Moses and Aaron entered the tent of assembly. When they came out, they blessed the people, and God’s glory appeared to all the people. Then a fire went out from before God, and it consumed the burnt offering and the fat portions on the altar. And all the people saw it, so they shouted for joy, and they fell on their faces.
Yet, there were instructions, whose fulfillment were necessary, prior to God revealing His glory to His chosen people. Atonement for the sins of the priests and the people was necessary before God came down amongst them, fulfilling their joy and worship.
The order mattered.
I am reminded that the order still matters. Atonement still matters. Atonement is still the critical ingredient for a true relationship with God. We do not dictate the terms of our relationship with God. God determines the order of things.
I fear that many people are seeking well-being, harmony, and a form of joy through a spiritual experience with god, absent atonement. The problem with atonement is that it requires me to acknowledge:
That I am a sinner,
That my sin separates me from God and His glory,
That I need a sacrifice to atone for my sin,
That Jesus Christ was the atoning sacrifice for my sin.
Once again, the ingredients of atonement matter. I cannot know salvation without the belief in all those critical ingredients. Remove any one and Christ’s atoning sacrifice is no longer applicable to me.
We rarely talk about atonement anymore. We rarely talk about sin anymore. I don’t know what other people are experiencing when they describe a spiritual experience while denying the critical ingredients of atonement. Whatever they are experiencing, it is a pale imitation of the true joy predicated on a relationship properly ordered with the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
Let’s not be content with a pale imitation.
Let’s obediently acknowledge the true order of God’s plan, starting with atonement.
If you have any questions on atonement, please send me an email or a comment.
I know some who work in these jobs. They wake every morning and prepare for another day of earning a wage, not considering it might be the last. No one expects to get hurt or killed. Those who work in the most dangerous of jobs have safety plans, safety supervisors, and even a governmental safety agency. All these elements exist to keep those in the most dangerous of jobs safe from the complacency of normal.
We are at most risk when danger becomes normal and no longer feared.
Yet, do you know what is most dangerous for your soul?
We get up most mornings as Believers, oblivious to the dangerous cares that ensare. I think a case can be made for the dollar (for those in the US) as being the most dangerous tool in the Christian’s toolbox. The Bible speaks often to warnings about money. Yet, I fear that we are at most risk because the danger of money has become normal and no longer feared.
Money, in the hands of a Believer, is like a chainsaw in the hands of a logger. You can clear away a lot of brush and branches and fall the tallest of obstacles. Yet, you have the risk in all that good of losing a limb and bleeding out.
Money, in the proximity of a Believer, is like a trench laborer at the bucket end of an excavator. You can get to the depth of core needs and dig through the hardest obstacles. Yet, you have the risk in all that good of being crushed by the power of a misplaced love.
God knows the risks to residing in a world ruled by money. It is dangerous to our soul. Therefore:
We need a safety plan. What are you going to do to make sure you handle money safely? What is your plan?
We need a safety supervisor. Who are you going to be accountable to regarding how you handle money? Do they have permission to make your money their business?
We need a safety agency. What is your authority regarding your money? Does the Bible establish the basis of how you are to value and steward your money? Will you obey it?
In my opinion, these are the essential elements for every Christian engaged in activities, which wield the dangerous tools of money.
My meditation for the day is money as a tool, not a purpose.
“And he said, “Because I am with you, and this will be the sign for you that I myself have sent you: When you bring the people out from Egypt, you will serve God on this mountain.””
This initially seemed a bit out of order for my natural mind. God’s sign that He was with Moses was that Moses would accomplish what God told him to do, after he did it.
In my world as a consulting engineer, I would not be very comfortable with a client who said, “I want you to do this project and this will be the sign that I want you to do this project: when it is complete, I will pay you.”. I would never follow my client’s direction without a legally binding contract. Without a contract, I would be force to accept my client’s direction on…faith. I would have to expend my resources on…faith. I would have to trust the character of my client on…faith.
Too often, I want God to give me a legally binding contract prior to my obedience, so that I don’t have to live by…faith.
That is simply not the order of things in God’s world. God requires everything to start with faith.
A DEVOTED LIFE 