Spiritual Bankruptcy

The last word in the Old Testament is “curse.” It is fitting that the New Testament should begin with “Blessed.”

Moses, on a mountain some years before, accompanied by lightning and thunder left humankind under a terrifying condemnation. Now Jesus Christ on a mountainside speaks from one of the most effective natural altars on earth so all can hear truths that thrill – – – –

“BLESSED. .BLESSED. .BLESSED. . .”

His message is called the Sermon on the Mount. He spoke of eight qualities leading to happiness. The first was “Blessed are the poor in spirit…” (Matthew 5:3)

I rejoice with those who know and experience the truth of which Christ spoke and who are truly poor in spirit, but rich in the faith. To be poor in spirit means to bring ego under control and enthrone a spirit filled temperament. “Blessed,” “Congratulations,” “Joyous,” “Fulfilled,” “Well-being” is the person in whose heart God dwells.

There has never been a supremely happy egotist. The cavernous capacity of a narcissist for recognition is like a bottomless pit. The consuming lust for self-elevating flattery depletes one’s friends.

Jesus said true happiness is not dependent on externals, but internal values. Faith is superior to circumstances. The rewards for faith are promised to those who are financially rich or poor.

We have our values confused. The world is like a storefront window in which some prankster has changed price tags and put the cheap prices on the wrong things.

We are all poor in spirit whether we acknowledge it and deal with it or not. One must be poor in spirit to be happy, regardless of finances. Those who readily admit it and become reliant on the Lord for spiritual riches are those blessed. To be candid, if you get too big for your britches, you will be exposed in the end.

The poor (PTOCHOS) are beggars of God who can make them blessed (MACARIA). He can give to the poor in spirit all that they require and desire. That is true happiness.

Acknowledgment of spiritual bankruptcy is the beginning of spiritual nobility. This poverty of spirit results in reliance on Christ.

The poor in spirit realize themselves to be conductors of praise on its way to the supreme source — Christ.

In unconditional surrender the assets of the victor, Jesus, become those of the one surrendering, you. 

This is an opportune moment for you to acknowledge your spiritual poverty by humbling yourself before the Lord, begging His forgiveness, and asking His enrichment.

Spiritual Warfare

“For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.” (Romans 7:19)

Do you ever feel that way? Dear God, I’ve done it again. That sin which so easily ensnares me has won again. Why?

Paul admits that “the trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin.” (Romans 7:14)

We live engaged in spiritual warfare. We have been saved and given a new spiritual nature, BUT residually a degree of the old sin nature resides in us.

We have three basic opponents in our spiritual warfare. One, the devil and/or his demonic horde. The devil affects us but minimally. He has demonic agents to do his dirty work. We often give them more credit than they deserve.

The second enemy is the world around us which wars against us. “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.” (I John 5:4)

The third one causing most of our moral and spiritual failures is (drum roll) our old sin nature. We all have an old sin nature which lives in every cell of our body. There is nothing good that can come from the old sin nature.

How are we to combat it? I Peter 1:13 tells us “Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ…”

In Romans 7:14-25 Paul talks about an internal battle with sin, with sin forcing him to act contrary to his desires. And then in Romans 8:5 he says that “Those who live according to the flesh [sin] have their minds set on what the flesh [sin] desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.” You choose.

Roman soldiers wore attractive long tunics. In battle they would have been a liability. Therefore, before going into battle they would gather up the tunic and tuck it into their belt. They were girding up their loins preparing for battle. The instruction is to gather up everything that hinders us in our spiritual warfare and tuck it away. Only you know what personally hinders you in your spiritual warfare. Tuck it away before the battle (temptation). What is it in your life?

Scripture says, “let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.” (Hebrews 12:1)

This means you have one weakness that is greater than any other. Do you know what it is? Satan does.

I have a childish mental picture of this. If you are not going into the house stay off the porch. The Bible says we are to “flee” sin. That means run from the temptation so fast as to kick-up dust.

Then reflect on what Calvary cost, and what it has provided for you. Keep in mental reserve a Scripture or Scriptures you can recall as a defense against any attack. When under attack, immerse your thoughts in Jesus. 

“No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.” (1 Corinthians 10:13)

Your Unexplored Gold Mine

In Queensland, Australia some poor workmen tried to eke out a living on their plot of land. They lived in poverty, not knowing that there on Mount Morgan beneath their feet was one of the largest gold deposits in the world. They lived in bread lines with gold of inestimable value being theirs.

Many Christians live as spiritual paupers because they fail to mine their greatest asset —- prayer.

Trials and tribulations are gold mines from which we get some of life’s greatest treasures.

Often we pray: “Lord, when am I going to get out of this?,” instead of “Lord, what am I going to get out of this?”

Helplessness is rarely seen as a blessing. When it is realized, it often drives us to prayer, which otherwise might have been neglected.

It often appears we are surrounded by unimaginable blessings which come disguised as overwhelming obstacles. Prayer is the means of taking advantage of those unimaginable blessings.

Prayer gives us the ability to face the unfaceable, to bear the unbearable, to pass the breaking point without breaking.

Scripture reminds us, “You have not because you ask not.”

I sometimes pray, “Lord, you taught me to ask, and I am about to do so, leaving the result to you.”

Remember, prayer is not a supernatural credit card, an opiate to tranquilize nervous Christians, a campaign to persuade God to do something, or a magic wand to keep evil away.

Keep in mind respectfully the one to whom you are praying.

Be mindful of in whose name you are praying. To pray in Jesus’ name is to pray what you believe Jesus would pray were He there praying; You are His proxy.

Young Robert Louis Stevenson said to his mother, “You can’t be good without praying.” She asked how he knew. He said, “Because I’ve tried.”

If you are not praying you are staying.

Don’t harbor a secret sympathy for sin.

Now get out there in your spiritual gold mind and start digging — pray.

Bee, Bee Bumble Bee, Don’t Be a Bee

We were having lunch at Mt. Vernon, the former home of George Washington, when I noticed an exhausted bee futilely buzzing against a window. I had read that bees only take enough “fuel” with them to get to where they are going and to get back. If they get trapped in a car or against a window they could die. However, if sugar were dissolved in a spoonful of water and offered, it could sip and be reenergized. I tried it and it worked. He buzzed around and came back and stung me. Ingrate. How like a bee are we? We get depleted, defeated, or discouraged and the Lord renews us. Then we forget to say thank you. Remember, “thanks” is a prayer also.

Are you there now, about out of fuel and needing to be renewed? Are you afraid you just can’t hold out or overcome your problems?

Don’t subscribe to this old axiom, “When in trouble, when in doubt, run in circles, scream and shout.”

Instead rely on the truth in this statement by George MacDonald who wrote,

This is a sane, wholesome, practical, working faith. That it is a person’s business to do the will of God; second, that God Himself takes care of that person; and third, that therefore that person ought never to be afraid of anything.”

In light of that we can say to the Lord, “Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in you.” (Psalm 56:3)

Accept this invitation from the Lord, “Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.” (Psalm 50:15)

That is good news, but notice in the statement by MacDonald “it is a person’s business to do the will of God.” Get involved in doing it and you can be assured He will keep His part of the deal. Then rather than being an ingrate, glorify Him.

God’s Judgment of Nations

This post is offered in answer to the many who have asked whether God judges nations. In search of the answer, the Bible was my source.

In working on a computer there is a background screen enabling a clearer view. Let God’s love be your background screen. 

The primary city on which these thoughts are based is Nineveh in the country of Assyria. The source is the little Old Testament book of Nahum. It opens identifying God’s disposition.

“The Lord is slow to anger and great in power, And will not at all acquit the wicked.” (Nahum 1:3) He is not a capricious God. There is a pattern that precedes His judgment: God warns, God waits, God acts. 

That was the pattern used by three prophets who wrote of cultures God judged: Nahum against Assyria, Obadiah against Edom, and Habakkuk against Babylon. Ezekiel Chapters 25-28 gives a list of nations God had judged to that date. The Philistines are noted as an example: “I will execute great vengeance on them with furious rebukes; and they shall know that I am the Lord, when I lay my vengeance on them.”

This pattern of God’s patience is noted in the New Testament. “The Lord is not slack concerning his promises, as some men count slackness, but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” (II Peter 3:9) This takes into account some will discount and make light of warnings.

Scripture warns of serious consequences that result from disobedience. This is heavy: “If you do not obey the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the commandments of the Lord, then the hand of the Lord will be against you, as it was against your fathers.” (II Samuel 12:15)

Inscribed on the Jefferson Memorial are these words of Jefferson:

God who gave us life gave us liberty. Can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed a conviction that these liberties are a gift of God? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, that His justice cannot sleep forever.”

My conclusion is that God does judge nations, all nations.

I am going to personally take heart in this promise. “If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves, and pray and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” (II Chronicles 7:14)

God is not selfish and overbearing in wanting obedience. He wants us to be obedient for our own sake as well as His. He set the standards for good and evil and knows the consequence of both. It is to our advantage to be obedient because inherent in such conduct are blessings. At variance with this is the fact that disobedience has intrinsic in it the seed of spiritual and moral debilitation and ultimate destruction. Disobedience is not just bad, it is simply bad for us. God desires our best, therefore He appeals for us to be obedient.

My favorite verse in Nahum is 1:7, “The Lord is good, A stronghold in the day of trouble; And He knows those who trust in Him.”

This is perhaps the most serious post I have ever written. It is done with the prayer that it might make the issue clear and be met with a positive response.

There is a grievous aspect to national judgment. Within a population consisting of mostly disobedient people that comprise an ungodly nation are some godly people. Collateral judgment falls on them also. The good are victims of the discipline deserved by the bad. Even then their God loves them and will give them spiritual blessings to sustain them.