Choosing Holiness When It's Hard

I'm a bit peopled-out. This week has been unusual for me, but I'm aware that God has brought me this week in preparation for a lot of weeks to come that will be similar to this one. Let me explain.

He who walks with wise men will be wise,
But the companion of fools will be destroyed. ~Proverbs 13:20, NKJV~

I am an introvert. Introversion or extroversion is the way in which the brain actually functions, not a personality trait, contrary to popular belief. It's not something you train yourself not to be, something wrong that must be fixed. Introversion is a series of pathways in the brain that function differently than the pathways in the brains of the other 75-ish% of the population. Being shy is a personality trait, and it can be changed. Being anti-social is a personality trait, or a habit, and can be changed. Being an introvert is not changeable. Being an introvert isn't an inability to interact with others, but introversion is characterized (in some, more than others) by introspection.

Keep your heart with all diligence,
For out of it spring the issues of life.
Put away from you a deceitful mouth,
And put perverse lips far from you.
Let your eyes look straight ahead,
And your eyelids look right before you.
Ponder the path of your feet,
And let all your ways be established. ~Proverbs 4:23-26, NKJV~

Most introverts don't care much about small-talk, preferring real conversation, and most introverts are observers. Introverts can rapidly observe what's going on and come to conclusions about it, which doesn't necessitate prolonged exposure to certain situations. We already have them figured out. Most introverts draw strength and energy from solitude, and being around people can have a draining effect, to some degree or another. For me, this is particularly evident when I'm around unbridled, immature extroverts. I weary of the incessant chatter that goes nowhere, precisely because it's about nothing and accomplishes nothing.

In all labor there is profit,
But idle chatter leads only to poverty. ~Proverbs 14:23, NKJV~

Not all extroverts weary me. My husband is an extrovert, but he's a very thoughtful one. I draw strength from his presence, not his absence. My best girlfriend can be very extroverted, but she is very willing to go deep in conversation, and she strengthens me in ways I can't even explain. It's not the extroverts themselves, but it is certain actions that tend to come naturally to extroverts, as part of their brain functions, that weary me.

He who has knowledge spares his words,
And a man of understanding is of a calm spirit. 

Even a fool is counted wise when he holds his peace;
When he shuts his lips, he is considered perceptive. ~Proverbs 17: 27-28, NJKV~

I say all this to explain what I mean by being "peopled-out." In an effort to not breech the confidentiality that I've been privileged to share, I won't give details or names.

A week ago, a situation in a family we know came to a head, and tempers were lost. As a result, a member of the family left the home for a few days, and I was drawn into that circumstance. A group of supporters came together to help the family move past the immediate crisis, and again, I was drawn into that. It has become apparent that my minor role in this family's healing process will be ongoing. While I have no wisdom of my own to offer, my husband and I have both been praying for wisdom, and God is gracious to provide it.

Surely I will pour out my spirit on you;
I will make my words known to you. ~Proverbs 1:23, NKJV~

Another family we know is going through some upheaval, and the young lady of the home has been spending time with me, as a result. Apparently, I am an acceptable influence for her, and she is in need of some godly adult encouragement. She has such incredible potential, and I long to help her understand the value of godly womanhood. I pray that God provides me opportunity to guide and help her.

The heart of the wise teaches his mouth,
And adds learning to his lips.

Pleasant words are like a honeycomb,
Sweetness to the soul and health to the bones. ~Proverbs 16:23-24, NKJV~

My darling husband and I have begun building a business as an additional stream of income, beyond employment. Part of that requires me to work with customers and other businesses to procure that income. The business world requires an amount of superficiality that is a bit of a stretch for me. I'd forgotten that, over the past few years of telecommuting/living like a hermit. God has given us the opportunity to work with some people who know the Lord and are more interested in giving their lives in service to others than in being comfortable. We are learning to follow in their footsteps, slowly but surely.

By humility and the fear of the Lord
Are riches and honor and life. ~Proverbs 22:4, NKJV~

In the last week, I have had something every day that is out of the ordinary for me. I have had interactions with many people, which is very unusual for this hermit. I have attended 5 meetings (one of which was more than 4 hours long) and 3 appointments. I had company for a full day, and have had various people drop by the house at least once, every day, for a week, for various reasons. (Ours is not a home where dropping-by happens, nor will it become one. Fortunately, each drop-by included a preliminary call, which is what we expect.) I enjoy my solitude, my study, my continuous conversation with  my Savior, and it's something I miss when I'm required to go out and be among other people.

It is the glory of God to conceal a matter,
But the glory of kings is to search out a matter. ~Proverbs 25:2, NKJV~

Here's the thing, though. God has given me grace this week. He has used this time to help me grow and adjust. He has caused me to seek Him more, for wisdom, for guidance, as I deal with others in ways that aren't common for me. He has allowed me to be fully present in each situation, not wishing I were elsewhere, not distracted by my own internal chatter, not so busy thinking of what I'd say next that I didn't hear what others were saying. He's allowed me to accomplish much, even in the midst of all these distractions and situations. He's given me His spirit of self-control, and His insight to rightly interpret and understand.

Whoever has no rule over his own spirit
Is like a city broken down, without walls. ~Proverbs 25:28, NKJV~

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. ~Galatians 5:22-24, NKJV~

I couldn't have done this week without Him. I'll admit, I'm exhausted. I haven't had a lot of solitude in which to recharge. What time I've been alone, I've been in conversations, via phone, text, or computer, and have been preparing for the next meeting, interaction, or communication. I feel physically drained.

And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. ~2 Corinthians 12:9, NKJV~

In my weakness, in my hermit-ness, in my introversion, God has been strong. This week, I've heard Him speak to me, moment by moment, that He's preparing  my people muscles for something great. He's pointed out to me that when He gives us children, this majority of my current life that I spend in solitude will evaporate into a thin mist. I won't have that luxury. He is using it now to prepare me, but this is a phase of life that is coming to an end. He has told me that if I am going to serve others, it will require my presence. If I'm going to be His hands and feet to people who desperately need Him, people He loves enough to die for them, that I'm going to need to spend time with them. I'm going to have to leave my comfort zone and be with people.

[Wisdom] takes her stand on the top of the high hill,
Beside the way, where the paths meet. ~Proverbs 8:2, NKJV~

I've never been shy. I've never had difficulty talking to people, and I enjoy public speaking. I've known for some years that He would be putting that to use, though in what way I don't yet know. But, it's much easier for me to be alone than it is for me to put myself in the presence of others. Serving God is a simple thing, until you have to deal with people. However, choosing holiness requires us to get messy, to be involved in the lives of others. It would be so much easier to assume that God will provide some extrovert to serve others and leave me to my introspection.

For the Lord gives wisdom;
From His mouth come knowledge and understanding; ~Proverbs 2:6, NKJV~

But, God. God expects me to use what He has taught me in hours of introspection for the benefit of others. He has taught me to seek wisdom. He has taught me discretion. He has taught me understanding. He has taught me to listen, and to actively hear what others say. He has taught me to know His voice, quiet though it often is, and He has given me the ability to respond. Each of these lessons, hard-earned, are required for me to serve Him, else He wouldn't have taught them.

Lord, give me the ability to choose holiness, when it's hard. Help me to see where You're working and move to join You there. 

How is God asking you to choose holiness? Has He moved you into some hard territory lately? Where is He calling you to glorify Him?

Much love,
LL~

Power to Become

¹⁰ He {Jesus} was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. ¹¹ He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. ¹² But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: ¹³ who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. (John 1:10-13, NKJV)

I was lying in bed last night, and this verse was ringing in my ears. "But as many as received him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God..." (Yes, I memorized it in KJV, so that's the wording in my head.) Jesus gives those who receive Him the power to become children of God. It doesn't automatically make us children of God. He gives us the power to make the choice. I've never thought of it that way before: the power to become.

8 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. ² For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. ³ For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, ⁴ that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. ⁵ For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. ⁶ For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. ⁷ Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. ⁸ So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. 

⁹ But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. ¹⁰ And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. ¹¹ But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. (Romans 8:1-11, NKJV)

I've spent a lot of time lately thinking about Romans 8, as I'm memorizing that chapter. One of the things that has hit me, time and time again, is that "there is now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit." The implication there is that walking in the Spirit, and NOT walking in the flesh, is a major determining factor in the no condemnation piece.

One of the major splits among Christians is between the "once saved, always saved" camp and the "you can lose your salvation" camp. It all boils down to semantics. One camp says that you can't lose your salvation but that you may have never been saved to begin with if you go away from God. The other says that you may make a genuine profession of faith, then turn from it and go away from God, abandoning your salvation and all that goes with it. Semantics. A foolish, divisive argument. The focus shouldn't be on the loss of salvation, but on the pursuit of righteousness and holiness. It's pretty safe to say, in either camp, that a person who makes a profession of faith, or "gets saved" and then pursues a life of holiness, righteousness, and nearness to God-- that person is saved.

Instead of trying to draw the line at how far you can get from God and still be "saved," the focus should be on how close we can get to God and His heart and will for us.What I keep seeing in Scripture, because God keeps drawing these verses to my attention, is that God wants us to choose Him, not just once, but in every moment. He wants us to draw close to Him, to be more like Him, to bask in the glory of His holiness, to be perfect as HE is perfect, to live in the power of His Spirit instead of the weakness of sin and death, to love Him and serve Him and draw close to Him so that we can understand Him better. We're made in His image, and we do a pretty poor job of reflecting that image when we don't know or understand Him or it. We can't bring Him the glory and the honor that is due Him without knowing Him.

Don't be mistaken. He will be honored and glorified. We are not so powerful as to deny Him that. We simply are not the "good and faithful servants" that get rewarded when we don't bother to do as we should.

¹⁶ Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? ¹⁷ But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. ¹⁸ And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. ¹⁹ I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness.

²⁰ For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. ²¹ What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. ²² But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life. ²³ For the wages of sinis death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

When we were sinners, not in relationship with the God of the universe, we gave ourselves fully to sin. We lived it up in every way, not caring about a standard that didn't apply to us. As "Christians," we should live just as fully in righteousness and holiness as we did in sin and death. What it comes down to are shades of luke-warm-ness. How shallow, and luke-warm are you willing to be in your righteousness? Do you really want to fight over how sad and pathetic you can be and just barely squeak into eternity? Really? WHY??

To those who receive Jesus, He has given the power to become children of God. He has given us the authority to choose to be adopted and carry His righteous name. He has given us the rights that come with sonship, if only we will take them. What does that entail? Well, throughout the Bible, we see people who choose to draw close to God. We see Abraham, whose faith was imputed to him as righteousness. We see powerful people and weaklings alike stepping close to the heart of God, and righteousness, holiness is the beacon that shines out about these stories. That seems to be clearly the powerful-becoming.

Romans 8:8 says that those who are in the flesh cannot please God. Have you thought about that? Are you able to please God? What does it take to please Him? Do you even want to?

Jesus gives us the power to become children of God. The Holy Spirit comes and lives inside us to empower us to become holy, righteous, and blameless in the sight of God through the blood of Jesus. The Bible makes it clear that our HOLY, righteous God will not tolerate sin, and sin cannot be in His presence, so our empowered righteousness, accomplished through God's power alone, would be the only way we can please Him. Anyone who claims His name, should be seeking constantly to please God.

We've been given the power to become. So, what are you becoming?

Much love,
LL~

You Deserve It

Oh? Do I? Why?

Have you ever stopped to think about those three words? Seriously. "Oh, have that piece of cake. You deserve it." "I'm sure you'll get that raise. You deserve it." "Go ahead and take a break. You deserve it."

(Source)

What a crock. Really. The Bible says that we're sinners. We've all broken the law of God, and what we deserve isn't a doughnut, a nap, or a promotion. What we deserve is death.

⁵ For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. ⁶ For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. (Romans 8:5-6, NKJV)

Jesus didn't deserve death. He was the only one who has ever lived without breaking the law of God. He is the only one who deserves that doughnut. He didn't deserve the death He died, but He gave Himself willingly for it, anyway, because He loved us. He loved us, the undeserving wretches that we are, so much that He stretched Himself out as a bridge for us to be reconciled to God. We didn't deserve that. Far from it. We deserved the death He died.

⁶ For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.⁷ For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. ⁸ But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. ⁹ Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. ¹⁰ For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. (Romans 5: 6-10, NKJV)

The sermon series that we've been going through in church on Ruth defines grace as the idea that anything that can be restored or redeemed should be. It's not about whether it deserves to be restored or redeemed. Grace is about reconciliation, in opposition to what is deserved. Jesus was the only one who could redeem us, restore us to a right relationship with God, and take us off the enemy list. He's the only one who could pay that price, and He did it of His own volition. Willingly.

¹⁸ Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. ¹⁹ For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous. ²⁰ Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, ²¹ so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 5:18-21, NKJV)

We get to be God's children, as a result of His willing sacrifice. We get to be heirs, joint heirs with Jesus Himself. We get to reap the rewards of Jesus' faithfulness. What we don't get is to deserve any of it.

¹⁶ The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, ¹⁷ and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. (Romans 8:16-17, NKJV)

To believe that you are somehow entitled to something is pride. God opposes the proud. Dangerous place to be, in opposition to the Almighty.

 ³ You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. ⁴ Adulterers! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. ⁵ Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, “The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously”? ⁶ But He gives more grace. Therefore He says:

“God resists the proud,
But gives grace to the humble.”^[c]

 ⁷ Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. ⁸ Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. ⁹ Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. ¹⁰ Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.

 ¹⁶ But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. (James 4:3-10, 16, NKJV)

Heavenly Father, protect me from my pride and arrogance, my sense of entitlement, my overdeveloped list of rights, and the destruction that comes with them. Help me to live in Your Son's humility, who didn't think of equality with You as something to be grasped or held onto, but made himself humble, taking on the nature of a servant. 


Help me to avoid being self-promoting, taking things into my own hands, thinking of myself as better than I ought, and demanding better treatment. Remind me, in those shameful moments of pride, that my eternal death is all I deserve and that nothing short of Your grace and mercy covers my sin, including the sin of my pride. By your mercy, teach me humility, not false humility that still seeks its own, but understanding of my depravity and the wealth of grace that has been so lavishly poured out upon this beggar. 

⁵ Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, ⁶ who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, ⁷ but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.⁸ And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. (Philippians 2:5-8, NKJV)

Much love.
LL~

³ Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. ⁴ Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. (Philippians 2:3-4, NKJV)