Save Your Life…And Lose

Thistlebend Quiet eMoment

by Laurie Aker

Focus Scripture: Luke 9:23-27 ESV

23 And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me,
let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.
24 For whoever would save his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.
25 For what does it profit a man
if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?
26 For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words,
of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory
and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.
27 But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who will not
taste death until they see the kingdom of God.”
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I have a dear friend who says that she loves
Jesus but every time she is presented with the choice of
choosing to trust Jesus or holding on to her bad habit
she chooses her bad habit.
She wants what she wants when she wants it.
After all, it is her life.
It’s her day.
It’s her time.
She can do with it what she wants.
Can’t she?

It seems very difficult and traumatic for her.
Day after day, week after week, she lives in inward misery
because she is convinced she will be unhappy
if she has to give up what she enjoys.

Let me make this clear.
Her bad habit isn’t even bad,
except that it represents her unwillingness to deny herself
in order to follow Jesus.

She can’t seem to deny herself
except when she wants to.
Which, as you can see, isn’t denying herself.
She seems controlled by her needs, her wants,
her feelings, and her desires.
At the center of all of this is self.

She continues to serve herself even though
serving herself is hurting her.
The enemy is so deceptive.
And the sinful self is so easily deceived,
like bribing a child with candy.
He makes the thing you need to give up seem
so attractive,
so alluring,
so inflated.

And he rewards you with temporal sweets…
immediate gratification,
the satisfaction,
the comfort,
the ease,
the fix.

TAKING THE TRUTH TO HEART

What is holding you back?

Is it your “love” for food?
Alcohol?
Stuff?
Is it your “desire” for control?
Is it your “need” to look a certain way?
Is it the “way” you do things?

We are commanded to
love the Lord our God with all our heart,
desire Him and Him alone,
and find all of our needs met in Him.

Our selfish idolatrous ways are exactly that — idolatry.
When we choose to continue to put Jesus second to anything,
He will not be first in everything.

When He is not first in everything,
He is not Lord of all.

How do we repent?
How do we let go of the old way?
Confess our unbelief.
Confess our selfishness.
Confess our unwillingness to give up our way of doing things.
Confess our reluctance to give up our self, our life.

Do not be deceived.
Going to church on Sunday,
reading your Bible in the morning,
and saying your prayers
doesn’t really “mess” with your life
or your will or your way all that much.
You can even volunteer several hours a week and still
hold on to your life.

But truly following Jesus does.

Luke 9:24
For whoever would save his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.

AND BRINGING IT TO LIFE

Choose one truth from today and apply it to your heart.
Take it with you throughout the day.

PRAYER

Lord, we can’t do this without you.
We need you.
Have mercy.

In His hands for His glory,
Laurie

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The Lord’s Faithfulness

by Laurie Aker

David writes about the Lord’s faithfulness: “…I remember you upon my bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night; for you have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy” (Ps. 63:6-7). Can you say the same? Do you sing in the shadow of His wings? Is God your hiding place? Do you run to Him for protection? Will you be ready when the attack comes your way? What do you do when you get hit broadside with something unexpected? Are you poised and ready to run to what you know to be true of God, regardless of the circumstances? Is God your God? Do you know Him? Do you love Him? Do you really believe what you think you believe? Do you hold fast to that belief, or do you give into the pressures and doubts? Sometimes unbelief can be very subtle and hard to recognize. This is when seeking after the Lord with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength really pays off. It is in these times that our faith is tested and strengthened. We need to know where to run. “The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous man runs into it and is safe” (Prov. 18:10).

David gives us a powerful and beautiful image of the hope and safety we can have in the Lord. He knows His Lord. He is his strength and his shield. He chooses to hide himself in the shadow of the Almighty. By faith he believes that under God’s wing he will find safety. In times of deep difficulty, in the pit of despair, in the midst of confusion, we, too, can remember God’s past deliverance, His mighty hand, and His tender love towards us.

At the time David is writing these words, he was fleeing from his wicked son, Absalom. What is David’s response? Do we see him wrestling with a myriad of escape scenarios, fretting, or pacing nervously? No, David is focusing his thoughts and his heart on his God. He remembers Him and how He has been his help. David shelters himself in the rich memories of the Lord’s past provision and protection, and strength- ens himself with songs of joy. He knows God is sovereign, he believes that God is in control, and he acts on that belief, despite what he may be feeling. In other words, David walked by faith. Charles Spurgeon, the author of the Christian classic Morning and Evening, gives us a helpful reminder about faith: “Christian, take good care of thy faith; for recollect faith is the only way whereby thou canst obtain blessings. If we want blessings from God, nothing can fetch them down but faith.”

In believing faith, we can hide ourselves in the shadow of His wings and sing—yes sing—songs of praise to our God, knowing that He is good, all the time. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. The joy of the Lord shall be our strength; it shall be the very song we sing amidst the whirlpool of tribulation. “In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Pet. 1:6-7).

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This blog post is an excerpt from the Thistlebend Discipleship Study Falling in Love Again with Your Lord available here.

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Don’t Be Like Candace with Your Spiritual Gifts

by Jonathan Leeman

Hopefully you have not had to deal with a Candace Whitcomb in your church, but my guess is that you’ve known one or two. Her story is funny and pathetic and all too familiar.

Candace Whitcomb is a character in Mary Wilkins Freeman’s 1889 short story “The Village Singer.” It begins with Miss Whitcomb’s dismissal after forty years as the church’s leading soprano. Her voice had begun to crack and those upper notes weren’t as strong as they used to be. So the church officers asked her to go.

As you can predict, Miss Whitcomb was none too pleased.

The following Sunday, a warm May morning in which all the windows of the building stood open, she had her revenge. Her house sat next door to the church, and just as her replacement, the young and delicate Alma Way, began her solo, old Miss Whitcomb, sitting at home, began pounding away on her parlor organ while loudly cawing another hymn to another tune. Poor Alma continued to sing, but Candace’s shrill strains were all anyone could hear.

LET ME DO WHAT I’M GOOD AT!

Like Candace, we often think we know what we’re good at, and that’s how we want to serve the church:

  • “I play the guitar pretty well, you should use me in the band.”
  • “I’m a good teacher, why haven’t you asked me to teach?”
  • “Look, I’m competent with numbers. Put me, not her, in charge of the budget.”

In the meantime, we avoid other areas of service by feigning incompetence.

  • “Oh man, I’d love to help out in the nursery, I’m just no good with kids.”
  • “I’d take them a meal, but I’m sure my cooking would make them even more sick!”

Such attitudes become especially harmful when they are charged with entitlement: “I play the guitar pretty well, and I deserve to play in the band!” (No, we don’t say that, but we think it.)

What’s worse, we employ the Holy Spirit to back us up: “You know, the Holy Spirit gave me the gift of guitar playing. Do you really want to oppose him?!”

SPIRITUAL GIFT TESTS?

Many churches have used spiritual gift tests to help members discern their gifts. Such tests are not necessarily wrong, but they are a bit like the answers at the back of the math book. They might give you the right answer, but using them to avoid working out the solution misses the point of the exercise.

Also, such tests can work like self-fulfilling prophecies. We answer questions according to how we like to view ourselves, not as we really are.

But God has given all Christians spiritual gifts so that we can learn to submit ourselves and our resources to the good the church: “To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good” (1 Cor. 12: 7; see also, 14:12, 46). The Holy Spirit has not gifted Christians for the purposes of self-realization, self-actualization, or self-expression.

If my eyes are instead focused on the good of the body, I will be delighted to employ my gifts if they are required, but I should also be happy to serve in areas where I’m not as gifted—if that’s what the body needs.

Furthermore, it’s through the natural processes of loving and serving the church body (wherever the body needs it) that a person’s gifts will gradually surface. But that means, ironically, the first task is to cultivate a right heart, not to find the best place to employ our hands. The former, after all, is a lot harder than the latter.

HOW TO CULTIVATE RIGHT HEARTS

How do we cultivate right hearts? First, I’d encourage churches to avoid the short-cuts, like spiritual gift tests. Yes, they can help this or that individual, but they often cause people to focus on the wrong things. Also, they might simply reinforce people’s self-conceptions and cause them to miss learning new things about themselves, the kinds of things we can only learn through the rough and tumble of relationships. Which brings us to…

Second, we want to develop relationships where we give one another permission to challenge and encourage each other. Notice, this means changing a culture, and there are no short cuts for that. It can take years. But did you expect Christian growth to work otherwise? Another way to make this second point is to say…

Third, we want to develop a church culture of discipleship and service. Discipleship and service work together. Discipling occurs as older Christians serve with younger ones.

  • If you’re the pastor, invite a young man to review Sunday’s sermon outline with you over lunch.
  • If you’re the deacon of sound, ask someone to help you run the sound system for a couple Sundays in a row.
  • If you’re a homemaker, ask a single woman to help you prepare a meal for the family with a newborn.

When these kinds of invitations characterize a church, people’s gifts will emerge. But more importantly, people will learn to love the church.

Fourth, we should encourage one another to jump in and serve wherever the body needs it. “You’re not good with kids? That’s okay. I’m awful. We can pass the screaming toddler back and forth between the two of us.”

HOW TO HELP THEM DISCOVER THEIR GIFTS

In many ways, teaching people to discover their spiritual gifts is like teaching your children to discover their talents. Will my five year old daughter be gifted at ballet? Piano? Writing? Hospitality? Right now, I know she’s gifted at cuddling and giggling, and that’s about it. But here’s what I want for her: to grow and expand and serve others in all the ways that God intends for her to do. To this end, I have four tasks:

  1. I want to cultivate her character, so that whether she’s working from a place of strength or weakness, she’s working out of love, not out of entitlement.
  2. I want to give her opportunities that let her test her gifts. I will encourage her to try a year of ballet or two years of piano. I’ll especially help her to try those things in which she shows natural interest or proclivity, which means being willing to spend a little extra money in those places.
  3. I want to consider her development and maturity as I encourage her in one direction or another. No doubt, maturity factors into what opportunities are within the realm of possibility. But the ability to assess her maturity and her capabilities depends on knowing her.
  4. I must balance how I spend my resources on her with how I spend them in other areas of family life. Some opportunities might be good ones on the surface, but for the sake of another child or limited resources, I must say no. And whenever I do say “no,” I can trust that there is a good lesson for her in it (going back to the first point).

Church leaders, I think, should view their congregations more like a family, and help members discover and employ their gifts in these four ways.

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© 9Marks. Website: www.9Marks.org. Email: info@9marks.org. Toll Free: (888) 543-1030. This article on the 9Marks’ website may be accessed here.

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