Divine Union

Chapter 18 

This past week has been what seemed like an emotional roller coaster ride for me. Hopefully, I am coming back into the platform and can walk down the ramp to the solid ground alongside the tracks. A few weeks back my doctor prescribed a new medication to help with elevated cholesterol (this is my 6th or 7th attempt at finding an effective drug). Each medication prior to this adversely affected me physically; this one however seems to have wreaked havoc with me emotionally. Finally realizing the connection, I googled the side effects and read, “may cause sadness, anxiety, and irritability.” It listed many more potential side effects, but those three stood out as I was feeling their full weight. Thankfully, after a few days of not taking the medicine, I feel more comfortable in my skin. 

On Sunday I asked the elders to pray over me. As they did, I had a thought: “The pain in your joints were heightened by the medicine. Is it possible that the sadness, anxiety, and anger were present before but were also because of the medicine?”. I confessed to the elders that deep down below the surface, where most people can’t see, I control/manage these emotions. I told them that I would appreciate their prayers in overcoming these areas of struggle in my life. 

What does this have to do with chapter eighteen’s theme of “Divine Union” in Hannah Whitall Smith’s book? Smith shares how “feelings” are not reliable indicators of our true reality with God through Jesus empowered by the Holy Spirit. I can feel happy, secure and peaceful on the surface when I manage my emotions. We can feel all of the positive emotions when life gives us lemon-aid in place of lemons. There will be times in this life when we come face-to-face with the enemy of our soul or when we wallow in the sin of our own life and then experience a deep sadness that is unshakable. We also, like the apostle Paul, can feel the uncomfortableness of a trial and yet tell of the unspeakable joy that overflows our hearts. Point is, feelings are unreliable gauges of our reality in Jesus. In this chapter, Smith warns us to not put too much stock in our feelings but rather focus on the reality of biblical truth and the changed character we experience because of it. 

After reading this chapter last night I shared this tweet: 

“Our feelings influence attitudes that can cause others to question our Christian sincerity. John, through the words of Jesus, encourages us (John 10:37–38) to focus on One’s service as proof of faith. … Would you pray that through our good works Christ would even transform our attitudes and feelings to glorify the Father.” 

My take-away from the chapter and my past week’s trial is: As we are on journey with Christ, make a point of surrendering our will by leaning in and engaging with what we know is the Father’s will—do His good works—and His Spirit will transform our attitudes and feelings to His liking. 

You may find a slightly different take-away as you read the chapter and are led by the Holy Spirit in your personal journey. Find a Christian brother or sister, have a conversation, and share what the Lord is teaching you. 

Thoughts and Questions for Interaction 

• How would you explain Smith’s statement that our “union with Christ is not a matter of emotions, but of character”?

• If we follow the author’s advice, 

“…lay down [your] life that His life may be lived in [you]; have no interests but His interests, to share His riches, to enter into His joys, to partake of His sorrows, to manifest His likeness, to have the same mind as He had, to think and feel and act and walk as He did”,  

what stops our journey from becoming a demonstration of DOING rather than a process of BECOMING who He desires us to be? 

• How does (or should) the belief of the indwelling Holy Spirit impact us to live differently?

The Joy of Obedience

Chapter 17  

Today's post by Karen Spurling.

As I read this chapter I was reminded of one of my favorite verses, Psalms 16:11, “You will make known to me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.” This verse communicates a truth that I have held to over many years and that is true joy cannot be experienced apart from the Father. Hannah Whitall Smith echoes this sentiment and goes even further as she describes the joy found in our obedience to Christ. 

In the chapter, Whitall Smith’s main point is we can experience immeasurable joy if we surrender ourselves completely in obedience to God. However, she noted that many of us shrink from going all in with God. She stated, 

“To be measurably obedient you desire, to be perfectly obedient appalls you.” 

In her opinion, many believers are afraid of completely yielding themselves to God and instead treat the relationship like a casual friendship. Instead of abandoning ourselves to God, we look at those who take a more casual approach to their relationship with Christ and wonder why is it necessary for us to be zealous when they are not? But I love the question she asked, 

“Is it a cause for regret that your soul is brought into such near and intimate relations with your Master that He is able to tell you things which those who are farther of may not know? 

So I suppose the question is, are we satisfied with a casual relationship with the Lord where the relationship is pleasant enough and we aren’t really bothered by the emotional distance or lack of involvement in each other’s lives? Or do we want the kind of relationship where we meet “His measureless devotion for you with a measureless devotion to Him.” This kind of mutual devotion leads to us a place of enthusiastic joy as we delight in Him and “spring out to meet His lovely will with an eager joy.” His commands are not a burden and instead we consider them a privilege because they are an opportunity to showcase our love for and devotion to our Father. 

This “spiritual romance” with the Father is ongoing and it should motivate us to fearlessly and whole heartedly commit ourselves to Him and His will. In so doing, we will experience a precious joy that those who take a more casual approach to their relationship with Christ will sadly never experience…the joy of obedience. 

Thoughts and Questions for Interaction

• Whitall Smith opened the chapter with this saying, “Perfect obedience should be perfect happiness if only we had perfect confidence in the power we were obeying.” According to this saying, why is there often times a disconnect between obedience and happiness in our relationship with Christ? 

• Whitall Smith uses the analogies of a casual friendship and a passionate romance to describe our relationship with the Father. Which relationship better decribes your relationship with the Father? 

• How can our obedience be a joy and not a drudgery?

It's Practical Results in the Daily Walk and Conversation

Chapter 16

Today's excerpt is brought to you by pastor Nick Willke—one of my partners in arms here at Kapahulu Bible Church. Before you read further I'd encourage you to take some time to talk to the Lord. Ask Him to shine the light of His truth as a floodlight onto your life and practice so that He can create a new and clean heart in you today.  

“The standard of practical holy living has been so low among Christians that the least degree of real devotedness of life and walk is looked upon with surprise, and often even with disapproval, by a large portion of the Church. And for the most part the followers of the Lord Jesus Christ are satisfied with a life so conformed to the world, and so like it in almost every respect, that to a casual observer no difference is discernible.” 

“Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul” (1 Peter 2:11).

 
What a powerful statement by our author here. She cites the verse from 1st Peter 2:11 here, I believe she is on to something with this verse and statement. Do our lives look different than our non-believing family, friends, or co-workers? I have to ask myself daily: Is my life satisfied and conformed to the world in the practice of how I live? What is different about my actions since I claim to view life through the lens of Scripture. 

“Have you not begun to feel uneasy with some of your habits of life, and to wish that you could do differently in certain respects? Have not paths of devotedness and of service begun to open out before you, with the longing thought, ‘Oh that I could walk in them!’ All these questions and doubts and this inward yearning are the voice of the Good Shepherd in your heart, seeking to call you out of that which is contrary to His will. Let me entreat of you not to turn away from His gentle pleadings! You little know the sweet paths into which He means to lead you by these very steps, nor the wonderful stores of blessedness that lie at their end, or you would spring forward with an eager joy to yield to every one of His requirements.” 

I believe this is a great question to ask of ourselves, but it requires honesty, not only with ourselves but with God. God is longing for us to examine ourselves, to practice and to evaluate if our lives align with His calling for us as believers. God has the power to help change and transform our lives, He is seeking those who can fully surrender everything to Him, even if it means we change our jobs because it pulls us away from Him, the body, church. It may mean changing our spending habits in order to tithe. It requires sacrifice in order for our lives to look different than the world. 

Thoughts and Questions for Interaction 

• Does your life look different than non-believers around you? 

• What is God asking you to change, even if it's the smallest of details in order for your life to align with his purpose? 

• Do you find God speaking to you daily, day by day? How does this practically impact your life?

Let's Not Get Political

1st Corinthians 3:1–9 

www.mission119.org

I wrote this and sent it out to our elders the day I read the above passage and listened to John Soper's (mission119.org) commentary for my personal devotions (5/16).  

It is important in our cultural context to avoid the arguments (vitriol) that are being promoted within the political scene of our country. It is possible that this was not a problem in the past as it is today; the Christ-follower could have discussed their politics while still maintaining a proper focus (aka HOPE) in our ultimate answers coming from God’s Word and His agenda. But today, I am convinced the average person is unable to do that. 

People struggle separating their political thoughts from God’s plan. We are OK sacrificing our views of a particular sin because there is a “greater” platform agenda point in a particular party that outweighs our concern. It would seem (to me) that people are placing their hope in the government and a political platform’s agenda above God—that is idolatry. 

This passage and John’s teaching was a reminder that we as leaders must keep our focus and priority on Jesus and God’s plan. One of my personal take-aways is we should point our people to God’s solution and help them see that the government of the United States (or anywhere else) is not His ultimate remedy. So, I repeat the text I wrote here for a broader exhortation for the church. 

“This morning I was reading and listening to Mission119 (1st Corinthians 1–3) and was reminded by John Soper that disunity in the Church is a great sin. Our political alignment and promotion (republican or democrat) can cause sinful interactions with others that will stifle honest seekers of God’s grace. 

All disagreement within the church are not necessarily disunity. We don’t have to be in agreement on every point. But we do have to be ONE. The rallying point for our ONENESS is that our minds be found in Christ Jesus—being likeminded in Christ. 

Soper’s commentary reminded me that Paul spoke against a fractured church that breaks into little parties to follow Paul, Peter, or Apollos. “That is Crazy! Don’t be fools,” he said. My thought on that exhortation is we have not been saved to follow Biden, Trump, republicans or democrats. 

I implore you to bring the message back to Christ and the hope we have in Him. Preach Christ crucified. Encourage a conversation that centers on Christ in the believer—the hope of all glory—no matter what the cultural milieu dictates. That is the focus, we as leaders of the church, should be fighting to keep in view. 

This is a sin (disunity on worldly political alignment) that will continue to keep our church stalled and lacking in joy. When the conversations get political and conspiracy-theory-driven remember this study and gently, lovingly remind your brothers and sisters in Christ that our hope lies in Him alone. 

Service

Chapter 15

KBC Ohana serving those in need at River of Life Mission.

The striking relevance of chapter sixteen of this book, written almost one hundred fifty years ago, demonstrates that it falls into the category of a timeless classic. Whereas the language has shifted—I think there is a better choice of words that could be used in place of “idiot asylum”—the topic of service burnout and its applications is unquestionably fitting for today. So, if you have not yet read the chapter, stop now and do so before reading further. 

Whitall explains in the second paragraph that service, which “at the first may have been a joy and a delight, become after a while weary tasks, performed faithfully, perhaps, but with much secret disinclination (that is reluctance), and many confessed or unconfessed wishes that they need not be done at all, or at least that they need not be done so often.” I am certain there would be as many nodding heads or raised hands as there are people reading this blog if I asked who agreed with her sentiment. There was a time or two when I thought to myself “Why didn’t I save myself the hassle and become a pizza delivery guy or a Walmart greeter instead of a pastor?” Thankfully those are not frequent thoughts today (22 years into full-time Christian service), but I would not be truthful to say the thought never crosses my mind. 

What hope does Smith offer the reader in correcting course and returning to the joy that was their first encounter with Christ? Basically, she encourages us to continue where we began by surrendering anew every day. The picture she paints of the mental health facility (isn’t that better?) beautifully illustrates what maintaining our joy should look like. 

One little girl … made perfect movements. Not a jar or a break disturbed the harmony of her exercises. And the reason was, not that she had more strength than the others, but that she had no strength at all. She could not so much as close her hands over the dumbbells, nor lift her arms, and the master had to stand behind her, and do it all. She yielded up her members as instruments to him, and his “strength [was] made perfect” in her weakness.

This is exactly what God wants of us. We grow tired in our “doing” as we seek affirmation and meaning from our activity. Can you picture God’s Holy Spirit off to the side as we struggle to make the Christian life “work” for us? Can you imagine what He would say? I hear Him say, “My child, stop striving and surrender all to me. Let me guide you and be the one who lifts you up and gives you strength.” 

KBC Youth serving with conservationists in cleaning up the beach

In this chapter, the author encourages us to consider how God is ordering our steps and how He has designed us for particular tasks in the life of the Church—not for all the tasks. The service she encourages us towards is Holy Spirit directed and empowered. 

Please take time to read through this chapter and then seek out a brother and/or sister in Christ with whom you can discuss your experiences in serving and encourage one another to walk in the good works the Lord has put in your path to enjoy. 

Thoughts and Questions for Interaction 

• Why do many people find Christian service a heavy burden?

• If you, as a Christ-follower, are in bondage to or burnt out because of your Christian service, what could you do to resolve that?

• How can you find “rest for your soul” even in the midst of what seems to be ceaseless activity?