(excerpt from Desperate Dependency by J. Kirk & Melanie D. Lewis)
Perhaps you can recall a little of the turmoil that invaded your teenage years. Engulfed in a multiplicity of struggles, we floundered to establish our identity. We grappled with a variety of fundamental philosophical questions that have plagued human existence: Who am I? Am I lovable? Where am I going? Because I was created to be dependent, I need someone to tell me who I am. I want someone to label me as lovable. I require someone to guide me. Whomever or whatever I allow to validate these issues establishes my identity. The defining force of my life becomes my god. Daily I choose to be desperately dependent on God, or a God substitute.
I (Kirk) remember my first traumatic encounter with my name. By the time I was four years old, I had enough social interaction with my extended family to know I was not being accepted as their equal. One day I stood by the window of our small house, crying. I remember saying over and over, “I hate my name. I hate my name. I hate my name.” Mama, concerned by my actions, came to me and asked, “Kirk, what’s the matter?” I looked at her and then back out the window. “I hate my name. Why did you name me Kirk? Why couldn’t you have given me a good name—a name starting with R like Ronnie, Randy, or Mark? Then everyone would like me.” At this early age I assumed the reason my cousins did not accept me as their equal was because of my name, who I was. This was my simple way of expressing my belief that something was wrong with me. My name must be ugly. That had to be the explanation. Their rejection must be about who I am.
Much to the dismay of my father, my mother wanted to name me Kirk because she was enamored with Kirk Douglas, the movie star. Dad protested and asserted that I would be named after him; thus, John. Mama, in her countermove proclaimed, “His first name will be John and his middle name will be Kirk.” As Dad yielded, Mom added this caveat, emphatically announcing, “But he will be called Kirk.” In spite of the confusion and conflict between my parents, I am astounded that my name perfectly parallels God’s call on my life. John, meaning sent by God, and Kirk meaning church dweller. In the midst of the domestic chaos, God’s sovereign love was at work, continuously attesting, “I love you and I have a plan for you.”
We are incapable of establishing our own identity. Therefore we need someone other than ourselves to validate us. God’s view of life dictates that He is the only one qualified to be our validating source. It is through God’s love for us that we receive His validation, establishing that we are lovable, significant, and secure. This God-centered identity leads to completion and fulfillment in Him.
Within our lives we each possess a sacred “God place”—that place designed by God for God. Only He has the right to occupy this position in our lives. From this God place He rules over our souls and replenishes our hearts with His validating love while establishing our identity. When any other entity occupies this place, we are guilty of idolatry. The Old Testament is replete with warnings and consequences that result when idols invade the lives of God’s chosen people. Although we may dismiss these passages because they are often connected with the pagan gods of Baal or Asherah, these admonitions also apply to modern life where we continuously allow other entities to fill our God place and dictate our lives. Any substitution for God we permit to establish our identity, love, significance, or security is an idol. These counterfeits break the heart of God. He aches as He watches our foolish endeavors to find completion in our lives through empty alternatives.
Recognizing Christ as our only source of abundant living establishes a desperate dependency on Him. He alone supplies unlimited love, because He is love. Nothing can offer greater significance than the identity as a child of God. No other position is more secure than in God’s care, where He states, “Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you; he will neither fail you nor abandon you” (Deut. 31:8 NLT). Living with divine enablement for personal empowerment attains ultimate fulfillment. “Dear children, keep away from anything that might take God’s place in your hearts” (1 John 5:21 NLT). “That’s the whole story. Here now is my final conclusion: Fear God and obey his commands, for this is everyone’s duty” (Eccles. 12:13 NLT).
“For the Kingdom of God is not just a lot of talk; it is living by God’s power” (1 Cor. 4:20 NLT).
What might take God’s place in my heart (1 John 5:21)?
Monday, March 28, 2011
Monday, March 21, 2011
Living in the Truth
(excerpt from Desperate Dependency by J. Kirk & Melanie D. Lewis)
From the very beginning of humanity’s fall into sin, we have been in bondage to the lie that we can live independently of God and thrive by depending on our own abilities and resources. This distorted view of reality perverts everything that is true and righteous into a culture of lies. We will not accept anything we do not believe is true, but what we believe is not really true. With our skewed perception of God, our reality views Him as one who is not invested in our best interests and who deprives us of our rightful pleasures. Or we may even believe God is okay with whatever we want to pursue because He ultimately wants us to be happy, right? To be free from the perversion that results in our bondage, we must live in God’s truth.
Truth is comprised of principles, precepts, and promises of God that empower life with the strength of God. Although God’s law is written in our hearts, we must make the choice to believe God’s truth by accepting His reality as fact. Yet just knowing God’s truth as fact will not change our lives until we believe by faith and appropriate God’s truth in the course of our living. It is not until truth shapes our choices and molds our behavior, sculpting us into the image of Jesus, that we may say we believe. Do we really believe what we say we believe about God so that it permeates our lives and defines our actions?
"For merely listening to the law doesn’t make us right with God. It is obeying the law that makes us right in his sight. Even Gentiles, who do not have God’s written law, show that they know his law when they instinctively obey it, even without having heard it. They demonstrate that God’s law is written in their hearts, for their own conscience and thoughts either accuse them or tell them they are doing right." (Rom. 2:13–15 NLT)
Living in the truth is the process of divine transformation where God changes me. The permeation of God’s truth in my life alters all aspects of my being—what I believe, how I think, what I feel, how I behave, and the choices I make. I am made new. “My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Gal. 2:20 NLT).
“So are you saying all I need to do is read my Bible and everything will be fine?”
Actually, if you personalize God’s truth contained in your Bible, you will be transformed. The relevance of His life-changing truth is all that is needed for life and living. The One who designed us knows exactly what it takes for us to live an abundant life. Why do we think we can come up with a better plan? He had it all figured out before He even created Adam and Eve. It is simply our responsibility to surrender to His design by walking in His way. We accomplish this by believing and acting on God’s truth. His Word is an all-encompassing record of the ways we can trust Him.
Submission, obedience, and death to self are the means through which the Holy Spirit postures our souls to fight the sinfulness of our hearts. Yielding to His transforming work matures us to Christlikeness. Although the trauma of truth may be painful, God calls us with His truth to redeem us from the miseries of life. It is vital that we receive the convicting power of truth and allow this intrusion to accomplish His work, thereby transforming us into His likeness. To turn a deaf ear is to shut out the life-giving opportunities God wishes to undertake. God disrupts our lives so He may redesign our souls. “Through the power of the Holy Spirit who lives within us, carefully guard the precious truth that has been entrusted to you” (2 Tim. 1:14 NLT).
Prayerfully discern: What lies am I believing that keep me from an intimate relationship with Christ?
From the very beginning of humanity’s fall into sin, we have been in bondage to the lie that we can live independently of God and thrive by depending on our own abilities and resources. This distorted view of reality perverts everything that is true and righteous into a culture of lies. We will not accept anything we do not believe is true, but what we believe is not really true. With our skewed perception of God, our reality views Him as one who is not invested in our best interests and who deprives us of our rightful pleasures. Or we may even believe God is okay with whatever we want to pursue because He ultimately wants us to be happy, right? To be free from the perversion that results in our bondage, we must live in God’s truth.
Truth is comprised of principles, precepts, and promises of God that empower life with the strength of God. Although God’s law is written in our hearts, we must make the choice to believe God’s truth by accepting His reality as fact. Yet just knowing God’s truth as fact will not change our lives until we believe by faith and appropriate God’s truth in the course of our living. It is not until truth shapes our choices and molds our behavior, sculpting us into the image of Jesus, that we may say we believe. Do we really believe what we say we believe about God so that it permeates our lives and defines our actions?
"For merely listening to the law doesn’t make us right with God. It is obeying the law that makes us right in his sight. Even Gentiles, who do not have God’s written law, show that they know his law when they instinctively obey it, even without having heard it. They demonstrate that God’s law is written in their hearts, for their own conscience and thoughts either accuse them or tell them they are doing right." (Rom. 2:13–15 NLT)
Living in the truth is the process of divine transformation where God changes me. The permeation of God’s truth in my life alters all aspects of my being—what I believe, how I think, what I feel, how I behave, and the choices I make. I am made new. “My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Gal. 2:20 NLT).
“So are you saying all I need to do is read my Bible and everything will be fine?”
Actually, if you personalize God’s truth contained in your Bible, you will be transformed. The relevance of His life-changing truth is all that is needed for life and living. The One who designed us knows exactly what it takes for us to live an abundant life. Why do we think we can come up with a better plan? He had it all figured out before He even created Adam and Eve. It is simply our responsibility to surrender to His design by walking in His way. We accomplish this by believing and acting on God’s truth. His Word is an all-encompassing record of the ways we can trust Him.
Submission, obedience, and death to self are the means through which the Holy Spirit postures our souls to fight the sinfulness of our hearts. Yielding to His transforming work matures us to Christlikeness. Although the trauma of truth may be painful, God calls us with His truth to redeem us from the miseries of life. It is vital that we receive the convicting power of truth and allow this intrusion to accomplish His work, thereby transforming us into His likeness. To turn a deaf ear is to shut out the life-giving opportunities God wishes to undertake. God disrupts our lives so He may redesign our souls. “Through the power of the Holy Spirit who lives within us, carefully guard the precious truth that has been entrusted to you” (2 Tim. 1:14 NLT).
Prayerfully discern: What lies am I believing that keep me from an intimate relationship with Christ?
Monday, March 14, 2011
What Is My Job?
(excerpt from Desperate Dependency by J. Kirk & Melanie D. Lewis)
Perhaps you have been inundated with all the lists that you need to check off in order to be a good Christian. You want to do right, but you don’t know how. If we allow God to be in control of our lives, what is our job?
Bottom line? It is our job to be in a relationship with Jesus Christ. Sorry, but I can’t give you a checklist on that one, any more than I can give you a checklist that verifies that you are doing a good job as a husband or a wife. Sure, we may have expectations for our relationship with our spouse like, “Tell me you love me at least once a day”; “Take out the trash”; “Have dinner on the table at 6:00”; “Bring home a paycheck that will pay the bills”; and so forth. But if your spouse could place a checkmark by each of those tasks, does that guarantee a close relationship?
In Mark 12 the Sadducees and Pharisees were debating about all the rules, regulations, and requirements of the law. There were 613 commands in the Torah (Genesis–Deuteronomy). One of the teachers of the law asked Jesus, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?” (12:28 NLT). Restated, “Can You please explain what we’re supposed to be doing?”
Jesus answered, “The most important command is this: ‘Listen, people of Israel! The Lord our God, he is the only Lord. Love the Lord your God. Love him with all you heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’ The second most important command is this: ‘Love your neighbor as you love yourself.’ These two commands are the most important commands.” (Mark 12:29–31 ICB)
Paul describes our job from another perspective: “Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Cor. 10:31 NKJV).
When we are desperately dependent, our eager search for truth fosters a looming desire to know the heart and mind of God. “Fear of the LORD is the foundation of wisdom. / Knowledge of the Holy One results in good judgment” (Prov. 9:10 NLT). Prayer, Bible reading, and church attendance are ways to connect to God. But God did not design these disciplines as an obligation to be completed as a part of our daily routine. Prayer, for example, is the avenue whereby we can talk to God and communicate whatever is on our hearts. We don’t need to merely talk to ourselves throughout the day, because we have the privilege of interacting with Him at any given moment for any given reason. “Never stop praying” (1 Thess. 5:17 NLT). With eager anticipation we can embark on each new encounter with Him because it affords us the privilege of maturing into Christlikeness. There is no greater goal in life than receiving from His hand what God intends for us to enjoy.
As we live lives that are desperately dependent on Christ, the resulting connection will magnify the Lord. Realizing that our central focus of life is to make Him look wonderful, the dross of the world falls away. Our unified adventure with God supplies purpose and meaning to life. C. S. Lewis wrote, “But look for Christ and you will find Him, and with Him everything else thrown in.”
How can you apply these verses to your life?
“And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him. Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.
“Don’t let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world, rather than from Christ. For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body. So you also are complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority” (Col. 2:6–10 NLT).
Perhaps you have been inundated with all the lists that you need to check off in order to be a good Christian. You want to do right, but you don’t know how. If we allow God to be in control of our lives, what is our job?
Bottom line? It is our job to be in a relationship with Jesus Christ. Sorry, but I can’t give you a checklist on that one, any more than I can give you a checklist that verifies that you are doing a good job as a husband or a wife. Sure, we may have expectations for our relationship with our spouse like, “Tell me you love me at least once a day”; “Take out the trash”; “Have dinner on the table at 6:00”; “Bring home a paycheck that will pay the bills”; and so forth. But if your spouse could place a checkmark by each of those tasks, does that guarantee a close relationship?
In Mark 12 the Sadducees and Pharisees were debating about all the rules, regulations, and requirements of the law. There were 613 commands in the Torah (Genesis–Deuteronomy). One of the teachers of the law asked Jesus, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?” (12:28 NLT). Restated, “Can You please explain what we’re supposed to be doing?”
Jesus answered, “The most important command is this: ‘Listen, people of Israel! The Lord our God, he is the only Lord. Love the Lord your God. Love him with all you heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’ The second most important command is this: ‘Love your neighbor as you love yourself.’ These two commands are the most important commands.” (Mark 12:29–31 ICB)
Paul describes our job from another perspective: “Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Cor. 10:31 NKJV).
When we are desperately dependent, our eager search for truth fosters a looming desire to know the heart and mind of God. “Fear of the LORD is the foundation of wisdom. / Knowledge of the Holy One results in good judgment” (Prov. 9:10 NLT). Prayer, Bible reading, and church attendance are ways to connect to God. But God did not design these disciplines as an obligation to be completed as a part of our daily routine. Prayer, for example, is the avenue whereby we can talk to God and communicate whatever is on our hearts. We don’t need to merely talk to ourselves throughout the day, because we have the privilege of interacting with Him at any given moment for any given reason. “Never stop praying” (1 Thess. 5:17 NLT). With eager anticipation we can embark on each new encounter with Him because it affords us the privilege of maturing into Christlikeness. There is no greater goal in life than receiving from His hand what God intends for us to enjoy.
As we live lives that are desperately dependent on Christ, the resulting connection will magnify the Lord. Realizing that our central focus of life is to make Him look wonderful, the dross of the world falls away. Our unified adventure with God supplies purpose and meaning to life. C. S. Lewis wrote, “But look for Christ and you will find Him, and with Him everything else thrown in.”
How can you apply these verses to your life?
“And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him. Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.
“Don’t let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world, rather than from Christ. For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body. So you also are complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority” (Col. 2:6–10 NLT).
Monday, March 7, 2011
Resigning the God Job
(excerpt from Desperate Dependency by J. Kirk & Melanie D. Lewis)
It is a tremendous delight to watch children “play house.” A toddler may make the announcement that she will fix dinner for the family and then proceed to her play kitchen. Pulling a pot from the cabinet she lists the ingredients that will be included: ketchup, macaroni, carrots, cereal, cheese, but no peas! In the mixing bowl she plans to add salad, mustard, salt, and hamburgers, of course. But wait! She still has to fix the chicken nuggets! Since the dipping sauce is missing, she broadcasts that she is going to town as she heads out the door with her purse and Mom’s car keys. Mom has been chuckling while watching the preparations, but when the toddler actually opens the door to the family car and inserts the keys into the ignition, terror grips her heart. Making a mad dash to rescue her child from “play,” Mom reminds the toddler that she is not big enough to drive the car. Of course, a temper tantrum ensues because the toddler has big dinner plans that cannot happen if she does not drive to the store to get dipping sauce for the nuggets! Although Mom may offer alternatives, the toddler will insist, “I want to do it myself!” But the wise mother knows her child is not capable of handling everything she desires.
As children “play house,” in our feeble attempts we “play God.” We imagine a multitude of strategies to promote our self-interest in order to feel good about ourselves and avoid pain. Usually we are controlling every situation perceivable. During our playtime we may say things such as, “Show me how to control my situation better”; “Give me more ideas on how to please myself”; “Teach me to be a better god.” We stomp our feet and assert, “I want to do it myself without any help!” Our self-sufficient attitude exudes extreme confidence in our own ability and worth. But an all-wise God knows we are not capable of handling everything we desire.
We perceive that our job description includes the responsibilities of savior, sustainer, and benefactor—but this is God’s job description and we are not capable of handling His job. When others do not fall in line and follow our leadership so we can be their savior, sustainer, and benefactor, we become angry and bitter. With a long list of debts, we attempt to collect on what we believe is owed to us because we have done such an excellent job at ordering our world.
Idolatry is not just an Old Testament sin. Idolatry is evident in modern times, even in America, when we assert control and expect others to acknowledge our authority. Usurping God’s authority results in the violation of the first commandment, which states, “You must not have any other god but me” (Deut. 5:7 NLT). We insist on being idolized when we put ourselves in the place of authority as we attempt to control others and ourselves. Even when we demand that someone “owes” us, we are placing ourselves in the position of gods who maintain that justice is our responsibility.
True forgiveness evidences a relationship that is desperately dependent on God as we let go of our desires to control and give up our rights to seek satisfaction by our own means. As we forgive, we are demonstrating that Christ is trustworthy and that we can rely on Him to resolve our crisis as we relinquish to Him those who have wronged us. When others do not measure up to our expectations, we must realize that it is not our expectations they must live up to, but God’s. As a result, we venture to release our expectations to God’s guidance, allowing Him to be responsible for our lives and to be evident as our Savior, sustainer, and benefactor.
It is vitally important to realize that only God can forgive sins. The forgiveness we are commanded to give is for our benefit, that we may depend upon Him and walk rightly with Him. “And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you” (Eph. 4:32 KJV). We are releasing the offending party from our condemnation, and we are removing ourselves from the burden of seeking satisfaction. In actuality, the forgiveness we are to offer should assert, “You don’t owe me anything.” Our job is to take ourselves out of the role of playing God, and allow God to be responsible to see that justice is administered. The all-powerful God will lift the weight of our anger and bitterness when we forgive in a manner that passes the responsibility for retribution to the only One who is capable of righteously administering justice.
Will you allow the divine collection agency, God, to be responsible for collecting your debts?
It is a tremendous delight to watch children “play house.” A toddler may make the announcement that she will fix dinner for the family and then proceed to her play kitchen. Pulling a pot from the cabinet she lists the ingredients that will be included: ketchup, macaroni, carrots, cereal, cheese, but no peas! In the mixing bowl she plans to add salad, mustard, salt, and hamburgers, of course. But wait! She still has to fix the chicken nuggets! Since the dipping sauce is missing, she broadcasts that she is going to town as she heads out the door with her purse and Mom’s car keys. Mom has been chuckling while watching the preparations, but when the toddler actually opens the door to the family car and inserts the keys into the ignition, terror grips her heart. Making a mad dash to rescue her child from “play,” Mom reminds the toddler that she is not big enough to drive the car. Of course, a temper tantrum ensues because the toddler has big dinner plans that cannot happen if she does not drive to the store to get dipping sauce for the nuggets! Although Mom may offer alternatives, the toddler will insist, “I want to do it myself!” But the wise mother knows her child is not capable of handling everything she desires.
As children “play house,” in our feeble attempts we “play God.” We imagine a multitude of strategies to promote our self-interest in order to feel good about ourselves and avoid pain. Usually we are controlling every situation perceivable. During our playtime we may say things such as, “Show me how to control my situation better”; “Give me more ideas on how to please myself”; “Teach me to be a better god.” We stomp our feet and assert, “I want to do it myself without any help!” Our self-sufficient attitude exudes extreme confidence in our own ability and worth. But an all-wise God knows we are not capable of handling everything we desire.
We perceive that our job description includes the responsibilities of savior, sustainer, and benefactor—but this is God’s job description and we are not capable of handling His job. When others do not fall in line and follow our leadership so we can be their savior, sustainer, and benefactor, we become angry and bitter. With a long list of debts, we attempt to collect on what we believe is owed to us because we have done such an excellent job at ordering our world.
Idolatry is not just an Old Testament sin. Idolatry is evident in modern times, even in America, when we assert control and expect others to acknowledge our authority. Usurping God’s authority results in the violation of the first commandment, which states, “You must not have any other god but me” (Deut. 5:7 NLT). We insist on being idolized when we put ourselves in the place of authority as we attempt to control others and ourselves. Even when we demand that someone “owes” us, we are placing ourselves in the position of gods who maintain that justice is our responsibility.
True forgiveness evidences a relationship that is desperately dependent on God as we let go of our desires to control and give up our rights to seek satisfaction by our own means. As we forgive, we are demonstrating that Christ is trustworthy and that we can rely on Him to resolve our crisis as we relinquish to Him those who have wronged us. When others do not measure up to our expectations, we must realize that it is not our expectations they must live up to, but God’s. As a result, we venture to release our expectations to God’s guidance, allowing Him to be responsible for our lives and to be evident as our Savior, sustainer, and benefactor.
It is vitally important to realize that only God can forgive sins. The forgiveness we are commanded to give is for our benefit, that we may depend upon Him and walk rightly with Him. “And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you” (Eph. 4:32 KJV). We are releasing the offending party from our condemnation, and we are removing ourselves from the burden of seeking satisfaction. In actuality, the forgiveness we are to offer should assert, “You don’t owe me anything.” Our job is to take ourselves out of the role of playing God, and allow God to be responsible to see that justice is administered. The all-powerful God will lift the weight of our anger and bitterness when we forgive in a manner that passes the responsibility for retribution to the only One who is capable of righteously administering justice.
Will you allow the divine collection agency, God, to be responsible for collecting your debts?
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