LIGHT WITHIN--RETURNING TO THE CENTER

Quakers tend to talk, fairly often, of the Light within.  Such a one was Thomas Kelly, a college professor at Haverford College, and a man that died ten years before I was born.  But he had some things to say, to think about, to ponder upon, to meditate upon.  Today, while reading from Kelly in Richard J. Foster's, Devotional Classics, I was challenged again to think, ponder, meditate and return to the Divine Center, the Light within, by Kelly's comments.

John 6:32-35  "Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven.  For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
“Sir,” they said, “always give us this bread.”

Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty."  (NIV) 


Here are some of the comments by Kelly that caused me to ponder today:

"The Inner Light, the Inward Christ, is no mere doctrine, belonging peculiarly to a small religious fellowship, to be accepted or rejected as a mere belief.  It is the living Center of Reference for all Christian souls and Christian groups.

Practice comes first in religion, not theory or dogma.  And Christian practice is not exhausted in outward deeds.  They are the fruits, not the roots.  A practicing Christian must above all be one who practices the perpetual return of the soul into the inner sanctuary, who brings the world in its Light and rejudges it, who brings the Light into the world with all its turmoil and its fitfulness and
re-creates it.

There is a way of ordering our mental life on more than one level at once.  One one level we may be thinking, discussing, seeing, calculating, meeting all the demands of external affairs. But deep within, behind the scenes, at a profounder level, we may also be in prayer and adoration, song and worship and a gentle receptiveness to divine breathings.

Between these two levels is fruitful interplay, but ever the accent must be upon the deeper level, where the soul dwells in the presence of the Holy One, forever bringing all affairs of the first level down into the Light, holding them there in the Presence, reseeing them in a new and more overturning way and responding to them in spontaneous, incisive, and simple ways of love and faith."

(Excerpts from Thomas Kelley, A Testament of Devotion, as quoted in Foster, Devotional Classics, pp. 206-7)

For the believer in Christ, Jesus is to be the Center of life, around which everything else revolves.  Everything in life is to be seen and evaluated in light of Him, His purposes, His ways, His morality.  In order to know what Jesus thinks, expects, purposes, one must continue to return to Him again and again, for "light" and "spiritual bread and drink." 

The Center, Jesus, should make a difference in one's personal life, but also how one relates to the world and other situations and people within it.  We should be part of God's "recreating" it all.

I see in Kelley's statements the idea of what an Old Testament prophet was to do.  He was to bring people to God and God to people.  He was to act as go-between, mid-wife, and mediator between God and others.

But without the attention to the Center, the Bread of Life, the Light Within, there is the tendency to lose ones' way, to get sidetracked to lesser purposes and lesser things.  There is the tendency to "create things in my image" rather than join in recreating them in His image.

And always, personally, (and corporately as well), we need to return to the Light Within, to be uplifted and encouraged as we return also to worship and praise and sing of His goodness.  This reorients life to life as God intended.



RECEIVING YOUR DESIRE

"Delight yourself in the LORD, and He will give you the desires of your heart." (Psalm 37:4)

Sounds great!  Let's do it!

Maybe easier said than done.  Is this a blank check, similar to "ask and it shall be given to you, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened to you"?  That too sounds like a blank check, but is it really?

God is not a god who will be manipulated.  He knows us intimately and thoroughly.  He is all-knowing, therefore, He knows our hearts as well as our outward actions.

Delight yourself in the LORD--what does this mean?  It means to make Him your priority--make Him the most important one in life.  Find joy, find contentment, find peace in Him.  There is a chorus which says, "You are my all in all."  An old love song said, "You are my everything."  That's what God wants us to find in Him.

When you gain delight from someone or something, you spend time with that person to really get to know them or you spend time doing that activity or hobby.  And it gives you happiness--gives you a sense of reward or success.

I find delight in my family and spending time with them.  I find delight in being with friends who love to do things I enjoy doing or in activities that I enjoy.

But most of all, the believer in God is to find delight in Him--being with Him--learning more who He is and what He is like.

The delight we can find with God is limitless, because God is limitless.  He is eternal.  He never sleeps or goes away.  Whenever I am awake, He is awake and available.  When I sleep, He is still there and awake.

Other friends, family and things I enjoy doing are there at times, but also NOT there at other times.  They give delight for the moments when I am with them or the times I'm doing them.  But they are not eternal.  The delight one can have with God extends beyond this earthly life we have into eternal life.  So it can last forever because He lasts forever.

The other part of the verse says,"He will give you the desires of your heart."  What is it you want most?  Will you get that?  Well ...

God knows whether we genuinely find delight in Him, trust in Him, and make Him Lord of life or not.  So if I have a selfish motive, He knows it.  "I will praise Him, find delight in Him SO ..."  In other words, I have an ulterior motive in doing this act.  I am trying to manipulate God into giving me what I want.  My heart isn't truly delighting in Him.  My heart is delighting in what I think He can do for me, so I attempt to get my request from Him.

But when we truly delight in Him, He will give us the desires of our heart.

One thing a person finds is that if you genuinely delight in someone, you really want the best for that person.  You even want the best for them at your expense.  That is what sacrificial love, as the word, "agape'" (Greek word) implies.  That love is a biblical and a godly kind of love.  You don't have a manipulative kind of love, "I do this just to get that."  But instead, you care for the person, regardless.  And this is not a love that is second nature to us.  It is given by God as we get to know Him, experience Him, and receive that love from Him.

So if I truly delight, I want the best for that other one.  Even above my own wants or needs.  I'm still working on that one.  Aren't you too?

Another thing I find also, though, and it is really part of that sacrificial love, is that my desires may change as I truly delight in that one.

My desires, if I really delight in them and care for them, will be what they desire.  Or, in the case of a person, at times what is really best for them, because sometimes their desires are not good for them.

With God, however, when I delight in Him, genuinely, sincerely, then my desires become what He desires.  We come to agreement what is best, and what is best is what He believes is best.  I get on His agenda rather than trying to get Him around to mine.

Human desires sometimes are impure, just as human motives for doing things are sometimes impure.  But God's desires and God's motives are never impure.  God is love--God loves everyone. And God wants the best for all.

When His desires are my desires, then it is easy for Him to give me "the desires of my heart."  As I spend time with Him, my desires change--they come around to His desires for me and what is really best for me.  (God always knows what is best--but I am limited in my knowledge.)

"Delight yourself (sincerely) in the LORD, and He will give you" godly desires, which are His desires for you, and then they can become the "desires of your heart."

So what are some of His desires that He can easily give you?

PREACHERS ARE IDOLATORS

Preachers are idol worshipers!  Strong statement (but remember I am one--so as one finger may point to you, three point back at me).  In fact, people are idolators.

Think with me--years ago it was Barth and Bruner and Bultmann.  Then it was Criswell and Rogers and Stanley.  Now it might be Hagee or Piper or Maxwell or (you fill in the blank).

We might do it as Saddleback or Willow Creek or Brooklyn Tabernacle.  Or it might be done as legacy church or house church or organic church.  Or traditional or contemporary or blended.

It might be Calvinist or Reformed or Baptist or Catholic.  It might be Driscoll or Chan or (you fill in the blank for today).

We live in a world that idolizes experts, successful people (as we deem success) and big.  It might be Tomlin or Blackwood or Moen.  Or it could be Augustine or Edwards or Kierkegaard.  Or it might be (for some of the ladies) Meyer or Moore or Paula White.

Labels--categories--niches--success--but all human--human, just like you and me.  Someone said years ago, "They put their pants on just like you do--one leg at a time."

Or it could be Paul or Apollos or James or Peter or Isaiah or Hosea.  Paul talked about it in his own day in 1 Corinthians 3:1-9, about the factions that came about when people got behind a person or a structure or form.  Paul said they are all God's "servants."  He suggested they get back to Jesus above all.

(By the way, I got this blog idea as I read Neil Cole, Organic Church--[Sam, you're doing it.])

Henry Blackaby said, in Experiencing God [there I go again], in paraphrase, that if you are just reproducing what someone else has done somewhere else, that is not God speaking nor it is God's way.  God reveals Himself and His ways to each of us, if we invest the time to study and listen and wait.  And each message from Him will be unique to our person and situation.

But it's so easy just to do it the way someone else (an expert--because they wrote a book or spoke at the last conference or have the biggest church) did it.  Much easier than waiting on God.  One of my friends recently posted of preacher's need to preach their own sermons, given them by God, rather than just repreaching some other's sermon (whether outline or actual manuscript).  I agree as well.

One thing to remember though is what the writer of Ecclesiastes said, "There is nothing new under the sun."  God can use the writings of others to inspire us and encourage us and give us insight, but we must listen to God above all.

Years ago, I did a study about prayer by T.W. Hunt, Disciple's PrayerLife (there you go again, Sam).  At the beginning of it, Dr. Hunt said when he had just completed his doctoral work, he felt convicted by the Lord that he should for a while, read only Scripture.  He said his life was so immersed during his studies by secularism and humanism that he felt God wanted him only to listen to God through the Bible for a while.  During that time, he memorized and read and reread massive amounts of Scripture.  And he felt it had purified his life.

One of the things that Neil Cole, Organic Church, and Cultivating a Life for God [oops--did it again!] considers crucial in discipling believers is that the guys or gals get into groups of three.  One thing they do is read during the week between 25 and 30 chapters of Scripture.  (They also meet weekly for accountability and prayer for unbelievers.)  That is getting people into the "pure word of God" rather than someone's interpretation or someone's interpretation of someone's interpretation.

Lately, I have felt that maybe I read too many books about the Bible and not enough Bible, taking time to read, study, and listen for God's voice in the Scriptures, for me.  (How many devotional books/blogs/studies do you read each day?)  Some of you who are voracious readers may feel that way too.  (Maybe it's not books, but it is blog posts [like this one] or internet sources.)

Beware!  Let's quit just promoting a church or way of doing that, or a movement or structure.  Let's quit pushing the experts we read and get back to the source--the True Source--Jesus and God and God's Holy Spirit.

In some churches I hear more about the pastor than I do about Jesus.  From some people, I hear more about an expert than I hear about God the Lord.  Could it be WE have also become idolators?

Three fingers at me--I can only speak for me.  But I know where I need to be right now.  Now will I do it?  That's the next question.

GREATER

GREATER 

Easy to get discouraged about life—family—church.  But today a reminder from Scripture to encourage us. 

Matthew 16:13-18; 1 John 4:4 

Jesus questioning disciples—“Who do people say that I am?”  Elijah, Jeremiah, one of prophets 

But really important question is the second—“Who do YOU say that I am?  Each person has to make their own decision—and then live by that decision. 

The Christ (Messiah), the son of the living God—not revealed by men—revealed by God.  Don’t come to it on our own—without God’s help. 

Heart decision—should become center of one’s life. 

Jesus then states He will build His church—His church, not our church. 

“Gates of hell will not prevail against it.”  Satan and his forces. 

Gate—not an offensive weapon—holed up inside—hunkered down—defense—protection. 

Are we as the church holed up inside?  As Christians? 

Different picture here—church/believers on the offense 

Gates of hell shall not prevail against church—cannot defeat the church—they are defending against OUR onslaught—our offensive. 

Is that what we see today in American churches? 

Why is the church not on the offense—but instead holed up inside—allowing satan and his forces to prevail? 

Is Scripture still true today?  How do you read it? 

Remember 1 John 4:4  “Greater is He—Jesus—the Spirit of God in you.” 

Accept Jesus—receive the Spirit of God—H.S.—to live inside.  Molding us—changing us—empowered us—fighting with us—giving us all we need to be on offense. 

Is Satan scared of you?  Probably not.  Is Satan scared of Jesus and God?   

Is Satan scared of you and I when we allow His Spirit to control us—empower us—live through us? 

Greater is He who is in YOU than he who is in the world. 

Satan doesn’t care what I do.  Satan does care what God does—God is all-powerful—not you and me. 

To be on offense we have to rely on the One who is inside of us who is GREATER. 

That’s why we read the Word—study it—pray—obey Him—cooperate with Him.  He makes us stronger—able to quit holing up inside and be on the offense instead against satan’s forces. 

They cannot prevail against us—when?  When we rely on the One who is GREATER. 

But so often we only do what we can do.  Experiencing God—Henry Blackaby--quotation: 

"when the world sees things happening through God's people that cannot be explained except that God Himself has done them, then the world will be drawn to the God they see." 

Years ago, from this study, these questions came to me—need to ask myself from time to time: 

1)     What are you involved in that only God can do?

2)     What are you praying for that only God can do?

3)     What is your church involved in that only God can do?

Christians need to think bigger—churches need to think bigger. 

In our own power?  No. 

Because “greater is HE who is in YOU, than he who is in the world.” 

Do we need to get back to the One who is greater so the “gates of hell shall not be able to prevail against us”? 

GREATEST CHRISTIAN DEVOTIONAL BOOK

Have you read the greatest devotional book of all time?  Actually, it is probably the second greatest devotional book, since the Bible would be the greatest devotional book for Christians and Jews as well.  And many of you have probably never read it in its entirety either.  (Yes, I have in a few different versions, in case you wonder.  Not bragging here--just challenging you to read it through for yourself.)

Thomas a' Kempis is thought to be the author (or editor) of The Imitation of Christ.  It has been read and reread probably by more Christians through the years than all other devotional books except for the Bible.

Today I share quotes from The Imitation of Christ.

In thoughts dealing with temptation and trials, this statement is given (as compiled in Richard Foster, Devotional Classics):

"Finally I want to teach you the way of peace and true liberty.  There are four things you must do.  First, strive to do another's will rather than your own.  Second, choose always to have less than more.  Third, seek the lower places in life, dying to the need to be recognized and important.  Fourth, always and in everything desire that the will of God may be completely fulfilled in you.  The person who tries this will be treading the frontiers of peace and rest."

1. Do another's will--that would be God, not our own or other people.

2. Put away the cravings for more and more that are so prevalent in our world today.  Allow what God provides to be "enough" for you. Paul said, "I have learned to be content in all circumstances." (Philippians 4:11)

3. Exercise humility--be a servant rather than always seeking to be in charge or seeking fame and recognition.  (Jesus taught this, didn't he?)

4. Seek God's will above your own will--desire it, seek it, pursue it and live it.

Good advice for living life?  Good advice, even beyond living through temptations and trials?  I think so.