December 12 – Disciplines of the Mind: Faith (Mark 5:35-43)

“Don’t be afraid; just believe.”(Mark 5:36)

IN WORD:
Do we really believe that our fears are based on lies? We must. We have to realize that every threat that comes against us is under God’s watchful eye. We must understand that every concern of our lives is easily within His ability to relieve. While our sinful flesh and an aggressive enemy want to keep us preoccupied — even obsessed — with our security and status, God wants us preoccupied — even obsessed — with Him. If we would invest all of our emotions and thoughts into Him, He would manage our lives. We have such a hard time with that. We try to manage ourselves and give Him what’s left over. But nothing is ever left over. We’re completely spent on other things long before we turn to Him.
Why? Because we believe the threats are real. We believe the future may be dreadful. We believe that the economy may collapse, that the terrorists may win, and that the culture may grow in hospitable. Closer to our hearts, we believe that we may get sick, that we may not be able to pay the phone bill this month, or that our relationships may be easily broken. And as long as we think about these things, we cannot have faith. No one ever gets mountain-moving faith by obsessing about the mountains. They get it by focusing on God.

IN DEED:
This takes discipline. It requires an active management of the thought life that perhaps we’ve never tried. It means that when a bill comes that is too large to pay, we must think about the God who is larger. We cannot lie awake at night wondering how we will pay it. It means that when there is crime in the neighborhood or terror in the world, we cannot obsess about the possible threats. We must think about the God who is Sovereign — our Protector, our Refuge, and our Strength.
We think that we are victims of our fear, but we are wrong. We actually cultivate it. We think about the threats to our well-being, never realizing that the threats are lies and our God is true. Will we suffer harm? Perhaps — but not ultimately, not out of His time, and not without a greater purpose. Faith knows that, and it isn’t afraid.

“Faith tells us of things we have never seen, and cannot come to know by our natural senses.” -John of the Cross-

December 11 – Disciplines of the Mind: Fear (Genesis 3:8-10; Proverbs 1:33)

“I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid.”(Genesis 3:10)

IN WORD:
Ever since one dismal day in the Garden, humanity has lived in fear. Some of us seem to fear it all: We are full of hang-ups, anxious about every next day and every pending disaster. Others of us seem to fear nothing, but boldness and arrogance are usually masks for deeper insecurities. Deep down, all of us are now, or were once, afraid.
What do we do with our fear? Where can we take it? It is so universal that it has ordered much of the world we live in. Most religions are built on it. Most proposed political and social remedies attempt to relieve it. Our economics are founded on it. We stock up wealth because we fear the future. We create huge governments because we fear chaos. We worship idols because we’re afraid there might be no one to take care of us. We don’t want to be some anomaly of life spinning on some random planet with no meaning to it all. Chance scares us. Ever since we severed ourselves from God’s fellowship, we’ve been very, very afraid.
Perhaps our initial fear, this angst that plagues every human who thinks realistically about his or her existence, was entirely legitimate. After all, our sin has offended the one true Sovereign, the Lord of all there is. No wonder Adam was afraid. Where can we relieve our fear when the universe’s greatest power is the One we’re afraid of?

IN DEED:
But God tells us not to be afraid if we’ve come to Him in repentance and faith. Having accepted His salvation, we can rely on this unalterable truth: All our fears are based on lies. Think about that. Our insecurity? He has made us secure. Our future? He has ordained it with blessing. Our enemies? They are weaker than He is. Our chaos? He is a God of order. What is it within us that contradicts these truths? Faith must convince us of them. Discipline your mind to dwell on truth. Replace your fear with faith.

“All fear is bondage.” -Anonymous-

December 10 – Disciplines of the Mind (Colossians 3:1-2)

“A simple man believes anything, but a prudent man gives thought to his steps.”(Proverbs 14:15)

IN WORD:
A surface reading of this proverb will tell us to think through our actions, to avoid rash behavior, and not to be gullible in the directions we pursue. And we need such reminders; the call for spiritual discernment is frequent in Scripture. But there’s more to this proverb than what we find on the surface. If we really think it through, we’ll realize that it has everything to do with the way we discipline our minds to see God, ourselves, and our world. The call for discernment is rarely an ad hoc proposition in which we seek God’s guidance situation by situation. God wants an overhaul in the way we see things. He wants us to have thoughtful lives that will naturally produce prudent steps.
Simple people — those who have little spiritual depth and do not care much about living for God and eternity — will act on whims. They will go with the flow of any current that seems appealing, and they end up tossed around on the waves of passing styles, questionable doctrine, selfish interests, and empty ideologies. They are easily deceived. As the proverb says, they believe anything.
The serious Christian will find his or her thought life to be a critical battlefront, where faith, hope, love, and all their rivals are cultivated. Those of us who want to live for God and eternity can’t just change our steps — we’ll have to change our thinking. Unless we want a constant battle between obedience and our heart’s inclinations, we will seek a fundamental change within. We will train our minds; our thought patterns will be matters of intense concern. We don’t just want to act differently; we want to be different.

IN DEED:
If you try to walk in discipleship with Jesus as a matter of behavior rather than inner transformation, you will find it an arduous, impossible walk. Discipleship begins deep inside, and it is not a quick magic trick. It requires training. Are you able to correct your faulty thinking when God points it out? Do you consciously discipline your mind to think truth? That’s where faithfulness begins.

“Untilled ground, however rich, will bring forth thistles and thorns; so also the mind of man.” -Teresa of Avila-

December 9 – What You Are (1 Corinthians 3:5-9)

“You are God’s field, God’s building.”(1 Corinthians 3:9)

IN WORD:
It’s hard to grasp the illustrations God uses to describe His children. Ephesians 2:10 says we are His workmanship. Jesus told us in John 15 that we are branches on the Vine, drawing our life and bearing our fruit through the life He gives. In 1 Corinthians, the analogies are even more mind-boggling: In 3:9, we are God’s building; 6:19 tells us that He’s not only the architect, but also the inhabitant; and that at an even more personal level, we’re not just His functional building, but His living body (12:27).
We could spend eternity trying to understand all the implications of our identity — we probably will, in fact — but there’s at least one thing we can be sure of now: God has bound Himself inextricably to those who are born of His Spirit by faith in His Son. He is not a detached observer of our affairs; He is not a commander pulling our strings for His purposes; and He is not just waiting for us to fail so He can discipline us. He is more than just someone we relate to, and we are more than His servants or friends. We are born of His own self. For some amazing reason, He has invested Himself in His creation to a degree we can hardly understand. He is united to us in intimate detail.

IN DEED:
If you’ve ever doubted God’s commitment to your welfare, let these truths erase your suspicions. He is as committed to your welfare as He is to His own. And if you’re a believer who has been born of His Spirit and still felt distant from Him at times, you can know that your feelings are lying to you. The experience of fellow-ship may be weak at times, but our spiritual union with Him is constant. It doesn’t change, because God doesn’t change.
Try to think about yourself from God’s perspective, if you can. Imagine having created someone and then literally going to great pains to redeem that person. Imagine giving this person your name, your authority, and your promise. Now, how committed to this person would you be?
Consider your answer well; that’s how much God is committed to you.

“The person you are now, the person you have been, the person you will be — this person God has chosen as beloved.”
-William Countryman-

December 8 – Whose You Are (Galatians 3:26-4:7)

“You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.”
(Galatians 3:26)

IN WORD:
Perhaps we take our identity as God’s children a little too casually. After all, the world uses the term “God’s children” for everyone He created. The Bible affirms that God created everyone and everything; but it reserves the status of a child for those who have been born of His Spirit. We are His children because He has fathered us Himself.
That’s different from being His servant, His disciple, or His follower. Children should obey their fathers, but they aren’t defined by their obedience. Children should accept their father’s values, but they aren’t defined by their behavior. So how are children different? Children are defined by parental genes, and those genes will cause them to resemble their father. They are children because of whom they are born to, not because of whom they can make themselves out to be.
That should be a relaxing thought for those who have in fact been born again. All of our striving for Christlikeness, while admirable and important, doesn’t define us. Neither do our failures. No, we are defined by the Spirit who raised us up and called us God’s own children. Even the faith that completed the transaction was a gift (Ephesians 2:8). We are not self-made Christians. We are God-made children.

IN DEED:
In a culture that defines us by what we do or how we think, it’s easy to fall into the identity trap of believing that we are shaped by our past. But you are not shaped by your history, contrary to what the psychiatrists have preached. You are shaped by your destiny. You are a child of God with an eternal inheritance.
What does that mean in practical terms? It means that we need not strive after false comforts; every meaningful resource of heaven and earth is part of our future inheritance. It means that we need not fill our lives with meaning apart from God; we have all the meaning a person could ever need. And it means that we need not suffer from low self-esteem. Is there any higher esteem than being a child of the highest Being there is?

“God His own doth tend and nourish; in His holy courts they flourish.” -Caroline Sandell-berg-

December 7 – Where You Are (Ephesians 2:1-10)

“God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms.”(Ephesians 2:6)

IN WORD:
Paul is eloquent in Ephesians 1 about the power of God in raising Jesus from the dead. This strong God, high above every authority and every name in every realm — spiritual, physical, or otherwise — has demonstrated His glory in the fullness of the risen, exalted Jesus. The splendor of such descriptions is unimaginable. Words cannot do it justice.
But Paul writes of Jesus’ exaltation not only for us to admire it, but also for us to understand our role in it. We aren’t just passive observers of the divine drama. We’ve been drawn into the drama itself. Not only is Jesus seated in the heavenly places above all rule and dominion, so are we!
Think of that. The first verses of Ephesians 2 are almost insulting in their description of our natural condition. We were dead. Disobedient. Objects of wrath. There is no lower place to be in the created order of beings than our fallen, sinful state. And yet, the rest of the passage is mind-boggling in its promise: God, who is rich in mercy, raised us and seated us where He is — high above all other powers. Why? For a divine demonstration of grace. For any observers of this drama, there can be no more astounding demonstration. The ultimate in mercy has already been done.

IN DEED:
Self-perception deceives us. We get discouraged, think negatively, become pessimists, and wonder if our faith is worth the trouble. The darkness of the world, the distortions of our flesh, and the schemes of the evil one combine to create illusions of despair. Resist them all. God’s truth is remarkably contrary to what our souls perceive.
Remember that principle in your days of discouragement. We don’t fully understand the implications of being seated with Christ, but we know this: It’s an amazing place to be. We are organically united with the ultimate authority in all the universe. We’re not just His friends and not just His servants. We’re grafted into HIM!

“A Christian has a union with Christ more noble, intimate, and perfect than the members of a human body have with their head.” -John Eudes-

December 6 – Who You Are (Matthew 5:13-16)

“You are the salt of the earth. . . . You are the light of the world.”(Matthew 5:13-14)

IN WORD:
Jesus has gathered an odd collection of disciples and other listeners to a place on a hillside. His opening words to them are perhaps a little surprising. The way to blessedness, He has told them, is through poverty, grief, meekness, hunger & thirst, mercy, purity, pacifism, and persecution. These aren’t the standards human beings are prone to strive for. Nevertheless, they are the divine prescription for a fallen character.
His next statements are a little more promising, however. “You are the salt of the earth,” He tells them; and not only that, they are “the light of the world.” That’s a little more affirming, a positive statement that is sure to stroke the self-importance of the listeners. But Jesus’ statements about our identity are more than positive affirmation; they are an indication of our responsibility. Those who follow Him have taken on the weight of influencing the grave situation that this world finds itself in.
The principle is that God’s people are key to the Kingdom of God in this world. That Kingdom is coming, but not apart from the work of its ambassadors. Those who hear Jesus, who have ears to hear truth and act on it, are the vehicles of God’s activity in this world. They are salt & light, preserving, seasoning, illuminating, and pointing to the one true Light. There is something profound and humbling about a God who does His work through a rag-tag collection of redeemed throwaways. The scavenger God has gathered a remnant for an amazing re-genesis through the coming of His Son.

IN DEED:
Our lives are largely shaped by our perceptions of ourselves. Perhaps that’s why Satan has targeted our sense of identity from Eden until now. So Jesus begins His great sermon with words designed to bring our self-perception in line with His truth. We can never come to grips with reality — God’s reality — until we understand His assessment of ourselves and begin to live accordingly: We are called to be His salt and His light in a decaying, dark world.

“According to the New Testament, God wills that the church be a people who show what God is like.” -Stanley J. Grenz-

December 5 – Productivity and Purpose (Colossians 3:23-25)

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart. . . . It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”(Colossians 3:23-24)

IN WORD:
Surveys indicate that more than half of employees are dissatisfied with their work situation. Much of that is human nature: In our eyes, the grass is always greener somewhere else. But the issue goes deeper than a general, natural discontentment. We want to know that our work matters, and many people come to the conclusion that theirs does not.
It is easier to find meaning in some jobs than others, but nearly all have an apparent pointlessness in one or more areas. Whether our work is as predictable as an assembly line, as impressive as a political or economic power trip, or simply as profound as raising children and managing a family, we often have a deep-seated desire to be more, to do more, to see more results. Deep down, we want to be important.
Paul sometimes worked as a tent maker. What do we remember about his tent production? The design? The quality? The quantity? No, we know nothing of it. The work of his hands left no legacy in this world. But we know a lot about the way he conducted and related to others. That legacy is astounding. We’re studying it even today.
Zacchaeus, the wee little man who forsook his deceitful tax-collecting practices when Jesus showed him a better way, is not remembered for his business. The empire that he fed is long gone. The records that he kept do not exist. The projects that his collections funded are now rubble. But the manner in which he did his business after he met Jesus — that’s an eternal testimony in the Word of God.

IN DEED:
Don’t get confused. It’s not your productivity that mattes most. It won’t last. What’s important to God is the way in which you do your work. That can have an eternal impact. We too easily base our sense of fulfillment on the work of our hands. But that job is only the platform that supports us as we live the work of our lives. The gospel is what matters. Live it with all your heart — even at work.

“Work becomes worship when done for the Lord.”
-Anonymous-

December 4 – Necessary Trust (Psalm 31)

“I trust in you, O Lord; I say, ‘You are my God.’ My times are in your hands.”(Psalm 31:14-15)

IN WORD:
David was stressed. Enemies hounded him. People lied about him. Onlookers looked on with contempt. When everything seemed bleak, when he felt ashamed and beaten down, David was able to turn to God. Somewhere between the despair of this psalm’s opening verses and the strength of its closing lines, David took heart in the nature of God. Desperate prayer turned to confident worship. He realized that the refuge he sought was a thoroughly reliable refuge. It sank into the depths of his being: God is good.
We can relate. We get stressed. We feel as if we live in a besieged city (v. 21) — physically, spiritually, financially, socially, mentally. We may go through illness, anger, poverty, or any other evidence of our fallen world, and we begin to feel it will never end. The psychology of being “under siege” begins to affect every area of our lives. We seek God as our refuge, but it is a weak faith at first. We must be reminded constantly of who He is. We must read psalms like this one and hear the witness of others who have been through similar circumstances and have seen His faithfulness. Somewhere in the process — usually when we have no choice but to just give up — God’s power and faithfulness become real. We get a glimpse of who He is. Trust turns our despair into worship.

IN DEED:
Sooner or later, circumstances will overwhelm you. God will let it happen — even ordain it — to force you into a necessary choice. Will you trust Him or not? There is no way to mature as a disciple without having to make that self-surrendering choice in the fires of trial; having once declared your trust is not enough. God will let it be tested, and the only way some of us are able to come to that place of rest in God is first to be absolutely overwhelmed.
Our helplessness will intensify until we realize: We can trust Him, and we must. We have no other reasonable option. We can let go and believe that all of our circumstances are His. We can relax, take a deep breath, and let it sink in that God is utterly trustworthy.

“He rides at ease whom the grace of God carries.”
-Thomas A’ Kempis-

December 3 – Proud Weakness, Humble Strength (Proverbs 3:34)

“The Lord tears down the proud man’s house but he keeps the widow’s boundaries intact.”(Proverbs 15:25)

IN WORD:
The self-improvement section is almost always the hottest corner of the bookstore. Why? Because it is human nature to build ourselves up. We want more security, more education, better skills, more income, stable mental health, stronger relationships, deeper passions, more adventure, and a higher standard of living. And God has even put those basic impulses into our hearts.
We might be surprised then to find out that God always opposes our most natural strategy for growth. We’re into self-improvement, with an emphasis on the “self.” We want to be stronger, better, smarter, and richer — ourselves. And we always try to attain our status with personal strategies and hard work. Does God oppose strategy and work? Hardly. He just hates the pride that those things foster.
There is a remarkable contrast in this proverb. The proud man has a house. It’s likely gorgeous, or at least very sturdy. The walls are thick, the decor is stylish, and the construction is solid. How do we know? Because he is proud; proud people don’t settle for second best. The widow, on the other hand, may not have much of a house. She may not have walls around her property. There’s no security system, no guards, nothing to stop anyone from taking what little she has. The proud man is insulated, but the widow is completely vulnerable. He is the epitome of strength, and she is the epitome of weakness. So which one is more secure? According to the proverb, she is. The proud man’s thick walls will be torn down by God Himself. The widow’s naked boundaries will be guarded by God Himself. Yes, God chooses sides.

IN DEED:
Why, when we’re guaranteed such divine strength in our vulnerability, do we almost always opt for more of our own “strength”? Are we just too proud to be dependent? We can have either our self-sufficiency or God’s sufficiency. Having both is not an option. This is not a difficult question: Which would you prefer?

“Pride alienates man from heaven; humility leads to heaven.”
-Bridget of Sweden-