Honesty Is the Best Policy

Proverbs 6:12-15 (ESV)
¹² A worthless person, a wicked man, goes about with crooked speech,
¹³ winks with his eyes, signals with his feet, points with his finger,
¹⁴ with perverted heart devises evil, continually sowing discord;
¹⁵ therefore calamity will come upon him suddenly; in a moment he will be broken beyond healing.

My first reaction to this scripture was: “Is this a description of a politician?”

I know that thought is unfair. There must be some people who go into politics who are honest, trustworthy and the highest character. However, this isn’t what we normally observe. We find that our politicians are always playing politics. They are maneuvering over their opponents. They always sow discord so that they can be perceived as better than others. They expect medals when they solve the problems they caused in the first place.

They are always running for re-election. They seldom selflessly serve the people. They are more concerned with their image what is right. I don’t think that many of them can distinguish between what is right and what makes them look good.

But that can’t be the motivation of a Christian. The Christian must be open and honest. This must be guarded because it being righteous man not be popular. In fact, righteousness is being presented as more and more unpopular. Maybe that’s why we get the politicians we are getting. A righteous unpopular politician can’t be elected. Remember, they call it a “popular” vote.

And that, too, isn’t the concern of the Christian. The Christian must only please one Person. The Christian needs only one popular vote. The Christian serves and pleases the Lord alone.

Around here we have something called “Best of the Beach.” Many of the businesses have a sign out front indicating that their customers voted in the Virginia Pilot (local newspaper) contest for their business as the best in their category. I joke that I am working to get the “Best of the Beach Husband” award. Of course, I only need one vote.

The same is true as a Christian. I only need one vote to be successful. I only serve one Person.  I am always seeking this vote.  There isn’t a time that I am off the clock. I am always trying to please Him.

The Proverb also gives a negative side of this dishonest person. The end is destruction. The end is failure. They will be broken beyond healing. In other words, all that they have had will be taken from them.

It is so easy to see those who are dishonest as profiting but never getting caught. I often look at temporary things and think they are permanent. What is gain for them today is destruction tomorrow. Yes, honesty is the best policy. And when you are honest with the One you will be honest with all. 

Praying Like You Mean It

Most of us have either been asked or have heard of someone needing or asking for prayer. I always tell people that I will pray for them.  However, I rarely know what I should pray. They give me their circumstances and assume that I will pray for provision, healing or some other means of relief. What if God is using this situation to form something in their lives? What if He is using this as a testimony for others to see how a believer is faithful even during hurts?

I wonder if my prayers without any thought actually do any good. Sure, I hear what a people say and almost immediately pray for them to be healed or get a job or see God provide something they need. I don’t even consider the will of God. Am I assuming that my prayers are going to change His will? I don’t think so! Am I assuming my prayers have power to act independently of God? No way! So, why should I mindlessly rattle off impotent prayers which have no concern for what God is doing?

Now, this principle should apply to all prayers. This isn’t just about prayer requests made by others. I should understand that I either join God in what He wants to do or I am spinning my wheels. I should understand that prayer is also about seeking His will rather than trying to change it. I must come to a place where I am so closely aligned with Him that the things in my heart is the same as the things in His heart.

Many times my wife and I go to familiar restaurants. We sometimes arrive separately because of what we are doing at the moment. Naturally, one of us gets there first. Which ever one arrives first gets a table and waits for the other to arrive. Traffic or other complications can make one of us late. It is not unusual for us to have the waiter ready for the order before the other one arrives. One of us calls the other before this happens. We ask what should be ordered. Sure, I might get it right if I ordered without asking but it is much safer to ask.

Why shouldn’t prayer follow this same pattern? Shouldn’t we ask God what we should ask? Shouldn’t we know His heart so that we can ask correctly?

I have heard so many preachers telling people to look at their own desires, find a place where God says He will answer and hold God to what He has already said. They are trying to coerce God into doing something that He may not want to do. They are trying to have faith in something that may not be His will. They are trying to make God their errand boy.

Jesus said that we should so identify with Him and His words should so identify with us that we will ask what God already wants to do. Our will lines up with His will. Our hearts are like His heart.

Thus, my prayers originate in the heart of God because I want nothing other than He wants. His word becomes what I am. Then, I ask with a full understanding that it will happen because it is His will.

So my relationship with God exceeds my own personal desires. I walk in a new faith. I remain Him and His words remain in me.

Please understand that this is radical stuff. I can’t have some superficial walk with God and think I can ask God for anything. I might get it right and see my prayers answered like I have asked but that would simply be random acts of prayer which bring success only because of their number.

I always wrote something for an answer on tests even when I was guessing. I might get it right with a guess but I certainly got it wrong by leaving a blank. This is the philosophy of so many who pray. I admit that this is better than not praying at all but why should we remain in the dark with our prayers when they could reveal light? Why should we randomly pray while hoping to see what we have prayed when we could pray knowing that God will answer?

It is the devoted life that seeks this type of prayer. It is one which stresses the relationship with God rather than the supply God can provide. It is one that changes the seeker. It takes time and it takes commitment.

I wonder if most Christians think this type of prayer is worth it.

John 15:7 (ESV)
⁷ If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

God Is Like a River

There is a river near my hometown.  It is spanned with a mile-long bridge. The bridge starts at the edge of the flood plain and extends until you can see the rather small body of water below. There have been times when it has spilled over its banks and taken the entire flood plain. During droughts the river has shrunk to little more than a creek.

I haven’t  seen this river for a long time but I am sure that it is still there. I am sure there is some amount of water flowing through the banks. I am sure that the river doesn’t appear only when I come to look at it. I am sure that the water that is flowing in it now will be long gone before I see the river again.

Sunday morning God gave me a “vision” of that river. I prayed that He would do some things during the worship service. I asked that He do even more in our church. He said very clearly to me, “Do you not realize that I am working right now?”

You see, I asked God to do some things as if He was waiting to start when I asked. I acted as if my asking activated His work. I acted like He wasn’t there in this need until I arrived. I saw this as that river that runs so near my home town. It is there and flowing even when I am unaware of it. God is there in the middle of each need and acting even when I am unaware of the need.

Now, I know that God doesn’t say, “Oh, I am so glad you told me of this need. I wasn’t aware there was a need there at all.” Yet, I have acted like it. I have acted like God didn’t act until I told Him what the need was. I acted like He didn’t want to do the things I asked Him for.

No, God is like that river in this way. The water that has passed did so without my observing it pass. It represents the continual action of God. He never stops flowing. I can choose to jump in the river but my only real progress comes when I go with its flow rather than trying to “swim upstream.” My prayers jump in the river and go with Him or they will be mute. The river is not changed when I enter it. My location has changed. I am moving with the river.

Yet, the river beckons me to jump in. It is as if the full purpose of its flowing is not met unless it has a passenger. I enter into this in prayer.

Have you ever thought that God is not working until you told Him of the need? That’s silly when you think of it but it is exactly how I was acting. His grace is coming all the time for every need so that His work will succeed.

2 Corinthians 9:8 (ESV)
⁸ And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. 

When Evil Ends

The popular sentiment is that nearly everyone is good. The world wants to believe that everyone is basically good. Therefore, evil comes when evil has affected these good people. In a sense they are right.

In the beginning God created a world without evil. Evil entered the world when Man invited it in. It has caused the world and all that is in it to fall from its original glory. The lingering image of God's glory remains but it is marred like a painting which has been slashed. The painting remains but it is flawed.

It may be hard to understand but damage to one ushered in damage to all. Every person born, every part of this world has fallen from its original glory. Thus, evil things happen even though the original painting can still be seen.

When I say that all of creation no longer holds God's glory, I mean that I am included too. I do evil things-not always because of a new outside evil influence but because I no longer perfectly reflect God's glory. It is not a trait that I lost. I was slashed from my beginning. It was passed on from a fallen world.

How could a fallen world produce an unmarred creation? It would be easier for cavemen to produce precision watches with only their flint knives and metal ore.

Yet, people are surprised when they see evil. They take the point of view that something evil must have happened to make a person do evil. Thus, they absolve all crime when they learn what evil caused people to do what they have done. They do not realize that evil will exist in a person regardless of the circumstances.

Evil exists in me. I cannot explain why I am short with someone I care about or why I will bite the head off of the person checking me out at the grocery store.  I act superior to those I feel are beneath me. I gossip about those whom I detest. I am careless in what I say and how I think. I want revenge for the wrongs which hurt me or others.

There is nothing that justifies my evil. My own evil makes me sick of myself at times. I want to believe that I am God's perfect creation but I cannot look in the mirror of my life and reasonably come to that conclusion.

No, I am only good when the grace of God matches the remnant of God's original glory placed in me. It isn't that evil caused me to act evil. It is that good has caused me to act good. Yes, I have some responsibility. I must allow that remnant to respond to God's grace. I must ask God to cleanse me from my evil. I must confess. I must allow Him to make me clean.

Unfortunately I have not yet been fully saved. I know that I will go to heaven but God's work on me is not complete until I have been restored to the glory God intended. That redemption will come when Christ returns. It is the time when all of creation will be fully returned to His glory.

Each day we hear of evil being done in the world. There is a mass shooting or a bomb kills several people or a con artists cheats a large number of people out of their retirement money or someone hurts another with his words. These things will not make logical sense. They are not created from logic. They come because of the disconnect people have with God. (Yes, even religious people have a disconnect from God!)

This should make us long for the day of Christ's return when all that is wrong can be changed to right. We should be groaning with creation for that day.

Romans 5:12 (ESV) ¹² Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—

Prepared for the Battle?

I admit that I don't want to believe it. I would rather believe in circumstances or fate. I would rather believe in randomness. Yet, I can't escape what the Bible says: We wrestle against the devil and all his demons. These work against us in our efforts to bring God's kingdom to reality here on earth.

Most believers, even mature believers, know very little about the workings of the devil. They would rather believe as I would like to believe. They want to say that these things which have happened are from the inevitable bad things which happen randomly. I want to agree but I can't.

The devil and his demons are active. They work in the evil happenings which seem to be random. They work in the hearts of those who murder, lie, steal, commit adultery, etc. which destroy the society which will enable the church to see God's kingdom come. They work in the tragedies which engulf believers in order to destroy their faith. They work in the apathy of believers which keeps them off of their knees in prayer. They work in the doubt of believers so that they will stay in the wilderness and never reach the Promised Land.

Most believers think they can ignore the devil. They think that they can do the work of God without any interference. They think they can gossip and complain about each other with impunity. They do not see themselves doing the devil's will. They will refuse to work in their apathy while complaining about those who won't work in their hatred. They cover their blackened hearts with "churchy" words. They want others to see them as saints while they are unwittingly in the employ of the devil.

I recently spoke with a fellow pastor whose church has chosen to make his life so hard so that he would resign. He has complied. I am not in his shoes so I can't say whether or not that was the right thing to do. I can say that they way his church treated him fell into the hands of the devil. I believe that many of the church members actually believe they are doing the Lord's work even though they can't point to a word from God in their actions. They acted on their emotions, human reason and public sentiment.

Someone asked me who I listen to in the church/ I said that I listen to those who pray. I covet their wisdom. I share my own struggles with them because I know their hearts are not in the hands of the devil. They go through great struggles themselves. They have been brought to their knees and God is at the center of their lives. They are warriors who have opposed the one who wants their eternal destruction but can't have it. Sure, they are wounded at times. Their families, health and possessions have been attacked.

These prayer warriors choose not to use complaints as a weapon They do not accuse others for their struggles. They do not lash out at the most vulnerable person to vent their frustrations. They attack the devil with truth, righteousness, and God's word. They go into his territory to rescue those who he has claimed by sharing the gospel. They stand on their salvation and faith. They ask for and receive the filling of the Holy Spirit.They oppose him and he flees form them.

Today, I put on my own armor. I will have to face someone more evil than those who set bombs in Boston. I will go against one more evil than those who flew planes in the World Trade towers. I will face someone more evil than those who set the bombs in Oklahoma City. I will face someone more devious than the Son of Sam.

What would happen if believers took this battle seriously? No, I am not saying that they looked for Satan under every rock. I am saying that they genuinely put  on their armor and stood prepared for his attack. Would they recognize that attack and stop reacting in ways which pleased him?

Today, I will oppose him.

Ephesians 6:12 (ESV) ¹² For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

Is Being God's Friend Enough?

Deuteronomy 34:4-5 (ESV) ⁴ And the Lord said to him, “This is the land of which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, ‘I will give it to your offspring.’ I have let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not go over there.” ⁵ So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord,

Moses is an amazing man. However, I am not amazed that he confronted Pharoah, led his people through the wilderness and saw God do miracle after miracle to preserve and make His people. I am amazed at Moses' faithfulness even though he would not reap the fruit of his labor. He led them to a place they would go but would not be allowed into the place himself.

I meet with other pastors on a fairly regular basis. Some of them are so full of themselves. (I can recognize it because I am so full of myself.) They speak in lofty terms of "their vision" and the wonders of God. They stretch the truth when they tell their "testimony" of what is happening at their church. They never seem to wander in the wilderness and even believe that God will let them see earthly success. They see a day in which other pastors will fall at their feet just to hear them tell how they performed miracles. They tell stories of taking their people into the promised land.

Personally, I am tired of listening to them. They chastise other pastors at these meetings. They never point to their own failures.. Very few of them have any true measures of how many disciples have been made. They point to their attendance, their buildings, their budgets and their baptisms. They ignore the number of their longtime members who are getting divorced, having abortions or abandoning the faith. Their success is built upon a huge front door. They are doing fine as long as their churches show greater numbers and their books continue to sell.

Yet, there are those whom I admire. I see some pastors who are in horrible conditions. They have a people who do not wish to listen to God nor do what He wants. They live Sunday to Sunday on their offerings. They take cuts in pay, work constantly and seek God with all their hearts. They have a depth about them that the "celebrity" preachers can't match. Their speech is not rhetoric said to impress the masses who never look beyond the surface. They speak as people who truly know God. They have spoken with Him each day. They have fasted, prayed and sought His face. Yet, they are never praised for their attendance, buildings, budgets or baptisms.

I wonder if Moses felt like a failure when he was shown the Promised Land but was forbidden to enter. He had been faithful. He had taken the people through the toughest of time. Why should his predecessor reap the benefits of his hard work? It didn't matter. Moses had something that I fail to see in many superstar pastors. He had a face-to-face relationship with God. That was enough.

Today I will be around pastors. Some of them are just hanging on in their churches. They want things to happen like the big-time preachers but they have not been so blessed by God and they are unwilling to razzle-dazzle the people into creating a pseudo-work of God. These people will have prayed for God to let them see their Promised Land but they have no promises that He will do so.

Thus, their relationship with God must be enough. If not, they will have nothing but despair.

Exodus 33:11a (ESV) ¹¹ Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend.

After You Have Looked Elsewhere

2 Chronicles 20:11-12 (ESV) ¹¹ behold, they reward us by coming to drive us out of your possession, which you have given us to inherit. ¹² O our God, will you not execute judgment on them? For we are powerless against this great horde that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.”


Jehoshaphat had three armies approaching. The Ammonites, Moabites and the Meunites were coming to drive the Israelites out of their land. There wasn't much hope. There was absolutely no way he had the military strength to defeat them. He had three apparent options. He could surrender. This would almost assuredly mean the destruction of Israel. He could fight them. This would almost assuredly result in the destruction of Israel. He could flee from them. This would mean the destruction of Israel. No option was good. He was forced into his last option: turning if over to the Lord.

Before we give our praises to Jehoshaphat we must remember that most people will not look to the Lord unless they have exhausted all other options. They will seek what they can do. They will call in consultants. They will try everything they know while they focus on the problem. They typically turn to the Lord when there are no other options.

Isn't that the immediate reaction after 9/11? People flocked to the church for a few weeks. Church was suddenly back in vogue. It was the place to be. People were scared because they didn't have any idea where terrorism might strike. They didn't know what to do and ran to the One who did.

But fear doesn't last. It didn't take but a few weeks before people were back where they were. They began to trust in the government for their security. They were willing to trust in someone doing something they could see rather than Someone who could truly act on their behalf doing things behind the scenes.

Thus, people generally look to what they can do themselves, what others can do for them or they wallow in their problems rather than turning to the One who can truly do something. Let's face it: Most people don't think God will do anything on their behalf because they aren't that sure that He exists in the first place. They may talk a good game when around religious people but they forget what they say they believe when they have a problem that cannot be easily solved. They won't turn to the Lord unless there is no other option.

Does it have to be that way? No, absolutely not! We could bring our struggles, our good times and decisions to the Lord. We could place our eyes on Him so that we see His handiwork in helping us manage the good times, working out our bad times and giving us what we need to do all the time.

For some reason that is the last resort. We would rather worry.

Is there any sense in that?