"I will set nothing wicked before my eyes;
I hate the work of those who fall away;
it shall not cling to me."
Psalm 101:3
Life is all about choices. This is not about salvation, that issue is settled for the believer. It's about investing in one's eternity. The choices one makes will affect his/her future eternity. If a man truly understood this, he would spend his time in this life purifying himself and making choices that will increase his status in the life to come. Oh if only one could be given a glimpse of the day he stands before the Lord! On that day he will understand, on that day he will see the result of his choices. Hopefully he will hear:
"Well done, good and faithful servant;
you were faithful over a few things,
I will make you ruler over many things.
Enter into the joy of your Lord."
Matthew 25:21
Read that whole passage in Matthew 25, starting with verse 14. It's all about what each one has done with what he was given.
On that day there will be the review of what each one has done with the talents, gifts, and abilities given to him. God has made us unique, each one - there is not another like you in all the universe. You are as unique as your fingerprints. He has fitted you with the talents, abilities, gifts, and even the personality appropriate for you to be able to play your part, your unique part, in the walk through this life. Your talents are needed. The expression of your gifts is needed. No one else on earth can do what you alone are fitted to do.
You must never compare yourself with someone else because you are not called to do what anyone else is doing. Do not envy another his gifts or calling, that's a dead end street. Bring YOUR gifts and talents and present yourself before the Lord asking him to show you the role that you alone are to play in this lifetime.
A short testimony: There was a man who had a similar calling to mine. One day I heard him speak to a Bible study class, and he told many stories of how the Lord used him to bring others to salvation. In the stories he told, it was obvious to me that his winsome personality drew people to him, he just had such a way with people. My approach was far different, so I thought to myself, "if only I could be like him, then I'd succeed." I went home that night excited and went into my room, closing the door behind me. I went before the Lord, thankful for the glimpse of HOW to approach people, and I was convinced that if only I could be like this man I would be far more able to win souls to Christ. I stood before the Lord with the intent of asking to be like this man, but I had no sooner gotten the first word out of my mouth, "Father," when the Lord interrupted me sternly and said to me, "Shall the clay say to the potter, 'why have you made me thus?!"
I stood there absolutely dumbfounded, my mouth open, shocked, and I said to the Lord, "you mean you WANT me the way I am???" I could hardly believe it. I had thought I was asking for a good thing, but boy, the Lord was not pleased and he let me know it the very moment I began to speak. I will remember this for the rest of my life.
I've thought of this many times through the years, and I've realized the uniqueness of each one's call. To ask to be something else or to be like someone else is to insult God by suggesting that he made a mistake when he made you. I felt the brunt of his anger that day, and from that day forward I have never again asked him to make me different from the way I am, no, I pray instead for grace to carry out as perfectly as possible the unique part I play. And he has since opened doors to me that I never would have dreamed possible. More, in fact, than those of that man I had envied.
You can see the same results if you wholly dedicate yourself and your life to the Lord and seek from him grace to rise to the call and to carry it out with all your heart. No call is insignificant, and regardless what you think of yourself, your gifts and talents can be put to work to create treasure in heaven for all eternity, because they are God-given.
It's all about choices. Just as you can spend your life acquiring treasure in heaven, so also you can spend your life avoiding your call. It depends on what you choose. One can come to the end of his life and say, "I did it my way" ...and then be shown the paltry results of that, or one can come to the end of his life and say, "I did it HIS way," and be shown the eternal glory in it.
The Lord will never violate the gift of free will which he gives to each one. If you want to choose YOUR way, then you are free to walk that way. He won't violate your free choice. Just remember, the fruit of what you do will affect your eternity forever - not your salvation, but the quality of your eternity.
Set your heart to purity. Set your heart to fulfill your purpose.
"And everyone who has this hope in Him
purifies himself, just as He is pure."
1st John 3:3
Why would anyone choose any different? WHY?
When a person begins down the path of forgiveness, he'll soon find that forgiveness is far easier said than done. In fact, he'll oftentimes find it impossible. There is something built into our fallen human nature that rails against wounds done to us hatefully or unjustly.
Did a co-worker smear you and grab through deceitful means the promotion that should have been yours?
Did your father molest you?
Did someone kidnap your child?
Did you serve time in prison for a crime you did not commit?
Did you discover your spouse's unfaithfulness?
Who, in any of these circumstances, could come up with forgiveness? Why would God demand something that he knows is humanly impossible?
Well let's start with that point - the fact of it being "humanly impossible."
The Humanly Impossible
God is not a tyrant, far from it. On the contrary, the God of the Bible is constantly watching and hoping we will do the right thing so that he can BLESS us. He's given us his Word to show us how to proceed, and it's up to us to choose whether we will accept his Word, or not.
But having accepted his Word, and knowing from his Word that we must maintain a heart free of unforgiveness, how on earth do we achieve that?
The First Step
It has to start with acknowledging our inability to do it. When a believer is troubled over this or any sin, and yes, unforgiveness is sin, and thinks of bringing it to God to confess it, the newer believer will do so with great trepidation of soul. To get to the first step takes an enormous amount of humility and can take years to achieve. Once one does admit his inability to forgive, his innate sinfulness, his rootedness in pride, his self-centeredness, and his corrupt heart, the thought of confessing these awful things to God is wrought with fear and dread. But the response of God comes as a totally unexpected embrace that sweeps over the tortured soul and brings peace. Because, you see, God is very aware of man's inability to keep his laws. And when a person finally breaks down and falls humbly at God's feet admitting his inability, the hand of the Father will reach down and raise that person up with the surprise of love. That's what God really wanted. He wanted the admission of the person's inability. He wanted the broken pride. And in confessing this, the repentant one will find to his great surprise that there is NO condemnation. The rebuke from God does not come. When I first experienced this, the shock of it stayed with me for a long time. I was expecting God to swat me, or at the very least to rebuke me, but he instead drew me close to his heart. He did not, nor will he ever, condone my sin. And he did not, nor will he ever, allow excuses for it. But once admitted on bended knee, the love of God will sweep over the repentant one and bring a peace never before anticipated. Yes, for this sin too, Christ bore the judgment for us, in our place, that we might be set free. That does not suggest cheap grace, for this forgiveness does not come to the scoffer, or the excuser, the self-justifier; it is given to the humble, to the repentant. As it is written, "Do not be deceived, God is not mocked..." How then does it work? I will share my experience with you, but it has to be in the light of it being "rhema" to me, that is, God's grace to me personally, which set me free. Each case will be different. The whole point is to go to God with YOUR inability, and wait for him to give you the word which will be personal to you. My experience can't heal you, nor can yours heal me. The walk with God has to be intimately personal, for only he knows the heart, the past, the factors involved, and the particular uniqueness of each one's makeup. The Story God showed me a picture, a story, a way of explaining life to me. God's plan for my life included being born as an infant in a certain place, time, and set of circumstances. God showed me that his plan for my life was very specific, and that it would take many circumstances to bring me to what he wanted me to be. He showed me the fallenness of the world I was born into; that my parents were people born in a fallen human nature, to their own parents who were people born into a fallen human nature, and into a world hopelessly fallen and unjust. He sensed my anxiety as he told me these things, and held me tight, telling me that it's OK, and that he would hold me close all the way through. He shared with me that before I would come to admit my own fallen human nature, I would make many attempts to deal with my flaws on my own. I would seek to justify why I was the way I was. I would blame others, my parents, my teachers, and hurtful things that would take place intermittently. God showed me that all during that time, he would be waiting patiently for me to come to the end of myself. He showed me the day I would be "born again," but that I would come to him with such limited knowledge and such ingrained deception that it would take many years for him to work things out inside me, and that it would take a lot of pain to bring about the character he intended to build within me. He spoke to me softly, telling me that I must view every situation and every player in the stories through the lens of the knowledge that he was delivering me from myself and transforming me into the image of his Son. It's been many years since the day I was "born again." I've experienced the injustices of life, the hurts, the losses, the horror of my own failures. But later in life, the Lord showed me that without the circumstances HE brought me through, the richness and glory of the "gold refined in the fire" would not have been possible. The Response of an Understanding Heart So if every single thing in my life has been planned toward a goal, how could I possibly not forgive those frail human beings who, in their own fallen natures, failed me, or hurt me, or in any way sinned against me? Would I rather go back and eliminate those stories - and continue to be what I was then - unbroken, filled with pride, self-centered, corrupt of heart, rebellious, self-willed? Of course not. No. I am called to have respect for the stories of my life, as given to me by God himself; for it is in our stories that the fallenness of our condition is exposed and the glory of the light of the Gospel works in us to transform us into what God has in mind for each unique child of his. So rather, I embrace the stories I have lived through. I embrace the poor and fallen human beings who played a role in the "injustices" of my life. They were only the players, the chosen actors in my story. Without them, where would I be today? Can I forgive? Oh yes! And yes! And yes! There's one more very important part of the story. I ask to be forgiven too, for the injustices I have inflicted on others from the fallenness of my own human condition. I just pray that those touched in any negative way by me will be given the perspective I've been given, or their version of it, so that they too can be released from the horribleness and awfulness of bitterness, resentment, and unforgiveness. We're all in this together. But for some of us, for those who would receive it, a glorious end has been planned for us. We're given a glimpse of eternity that lights our every step in every story, making all things we experience here part of the way God brings us to everlasting joy.
"And supper being ended, the devil having already put it
into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him..."
John 13:2
Judas was one of the twelve apostles of Jesus Christ. Satan targeted Judas, and spoke to his heart that he should betray Jesus. It makes you wonder how Judas, having seen the miracles Christ did over more than a three-year period, could possibly be tempted to betray him. So how did it happen?
We know from the Scriptures that Judas had charge over the money bag, and we know that he stole from it. One passage revealed more closely how his mind worked when Mary of Bethany broke a vial of expensive perfume and anointed Jesus's feet with it. Judas said:
“'Why was this fragrant oil not sold
for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?'
This he said, not that he cared for the poor,
but because he was a thief, and had the money bag,
and he used to take what was put in it."
John 12:5-6
He couldn't see the significance of what was done, all he thought about was the money. So Judas had already let sin into his heart, starting with petty theft as he occasionally took from the money bag, and the progression was obvious: first he was tempted to pilfer from the money bag then later, his conscience being weakened, he was a sitting duck for Satan to drop into his heart a plot that would involve him betraying Jesus.
"When Jesus had said these things, he was troubled in spirit,
and testified and said, 'Most assuredly, I say to you,
one of you will betray me.'
Then the disciples looked at one another,
perplexed about whom he spoke."
John 13:21-22
The disciples, shocked, asked who it was.
vs 26-27:
"Jesus answered, 'It is he to whom I shall give a piece of
bread when I have dipped it.'
And having dipped the bread, he gave it
to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon.
Now after the piece of bread, Satan entered him.”
So we see that the progression of sin is gradual. First he accepted the temptation to steal; then having been weakened by sin he accepted the temptation to betray Jesus; and finally, Satan entered him, sealing his fate.
"But each one is tempted when he is drawn away
by his own desires and enticed.
Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin;
and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death."
James 1:14-15
You may have heard that God has a plan for your life. Well Satan has a plan for your life too. He'll begin with tempting you in small ways. Then when you fall, he'll further weaken you as he gradually desensitizes you and tempts you with something greater. As he leads you along, you don't realize what's happening to you, just like the frog in the pot. But know this for sure: Satan's plan is to finally destroy you and he's intent on accomplishing it.
Don't think you're wiser than Satan and can resist him as you play with "small" sin. He knows your weaknesses and oh so cleverly targets you as he continues his plan to destroy you.
So how can you prevent it? By not toying with "small" sin in the first place.
"KEEP YOUR HEART WITH ALL DILIGENCE,
For out of it spring the issues of life."
Proverbs 4:27
