Difficulties Concerning Doubts

Chapter 9

Moses was on Mount Sinai 40 days and 40 nights. The people already had the law stating THOU SHALT NOT HAVE ANY OTHER GODS BEFORE ME (Exodus 20:3), and yet God informed Moses,

“‘They have quickly turned aside from the way which I commanded them. They have made for themselves a cast metal calf, and have worshiped it and have sacrificed to it and said, ‘This is your god, Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt!’” Exodus 32:8

This week we are in chapter 9 of The Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life. This chapter left me feeling a little uncomfortable; not because it’s not true, but because Hannah Whitall Smith wrote as if she were Moses on his first trip down the mountain with the ten commandments. She left no room for excuses to the person who struggles with doubt. Like the Levites, she took up her sword and shredded anyone who falls short in the faith department (Exodus 32:37). But in her approach, she got her point across. Our modern-day theology graciously indulges those who struggle with doubt while at the same time deals harshly with those who struggle with sins we think are more shameful (e.g. alcoholism, drug addiction, sexual sins, etc.). If we were to categorize sin—and we don’t want to make a habit of doing that because a sin is a sin. But indulge me, which is worse: not believing what God says or struggling with an addictive behavior? Smith shares her thoughts when she writes,

In the sight of God, I verily believe doubting is in some cases as displeasing as lying. It certainly is more dishonoring to Him, for it impugns his truthfulness and defames His character. John says that "he that believeth not God, hath made Him a liar" (1 John 5:10). It seems to me that hardly anything could be worse than thus to fasten on God the character of being a liar!

The sin of doubt is like Israel’s golden calf. It is a creation of the mind looking for a quick fix or explanation for our troubles rather than waiting on the Lord. Doubt is a self-comforting or a self-medicating practice we use to dull the pain of our unbelief.

When we struggle with our identity, that is to say who God says we are in Scripture, are we not on some level denying what God says is true? If one believes they are not worthy after having received Christ, and yet He makes it clear they are worthy, how does one come to terms with that? And how do we respond to the one struggling? 

In this chapter Hannah challenges us to encourage and exhort those who are struggling with doubt. And she gives us a strategy for overcoming those doubts. But you’ll have to read the book to discover her applications. 

By the way, Smith closes her chapter with a heart-felt and tender invitation to the reader. I don’t want to misrepresent Mrs.Whitall Smith as an uncaring person. Her motivation is the reader’s transformation and victory.

Here are some more questions to help you think through the chapter and even have a conversation with a friend.

Thoughts and Questions for Interaction

• “Doubt is a luxury” is a phrase introduced by Whitall Smith in chapter nine (bottom of page 105 in the edition we gifted at Christmas). How is doubt a luxury that requires self-denial as much as an addictive vice?  

• Explain what the author means when she writes, “Your very sinfulness and unworthiness are your chiefest claim upon His love and care.” (HINTS: the sick and the lost sheep). 

• How is Smith’s strategy to overcome NOT like an addict quitting cold turkey? 

• Are there any doubts that are stunting your growth? Could you share this chapter with a trusted friend and ask for their prayers and accountability to overcome? 

Difficulties Concerning Guidance

This morning in staff meeting Karen facilitated a discussion on chapter 8 of The Christian's
Secret to a Happy Life. Thank You Karen!

Chapter 8 

In this chapter, Whitall Smith addresses the challenge that faces every follower of Christ who desires to surrender his own will to the will of God; that is, how do we know what is God’s will for our lives? A desire to obey God’s will can often be derailed by doubt and uncertainty because as Whitall Smith posits, we 

“have not yet learned to know the voice of the Good Shepherd.” 

Based on the conviction that God promises his Divine Guidance (James 10:3,4) and in His knowledge and wisdom, He alone knows which path is best for you, Whitall Smith suggests four means by which God reveals His will to us: 

1. through the Scriptures, 
2. through providential circumstances, 
3. through the convictions of our higher judgment, and 
4. through the inward impressions of the Holy Spirit on our minds. 

First and foremost, God’s guidance comes through His Word. Our first course of action whenever we are seeking God’s guidance is to “search out and obey the Scripture.” Whitall Smith warns,

“Until you have found and obeyed God’s will as it is therefore revealed, you must not ask or expect a separate, direct, personal revelation.” 

However, on those occasions when God’s Word does not provide clear guidance on a specific situation, Whitall suggests we can discern God’s will in the other 3 ways. She explains how God guides us through the conviction of our judgment. This involves the enlightenment of our human judgment, otherwise known as our common sense, by the Spirit of God. We can use our common sense to judge a situation in harmony with the principles of God’s Word. She adds He also leads us through providential circumstances where He goes before us and opens a way for us (John 10:4). And then she finishes describing how He guides us as His Spirit impresses upon the mind “a wish or desire to do or to leave undone certain things.” Whitall Smith warns that since God does not contradict Himself, then all four means will always be in harmony with each other. 

As we actively and doggedly seek the Lord’s guidance and remain steadfast in our faith, we can be sure that God will guide us. If in doubt about a course of action, it is better to wait upon the Lord until He gives more clarity as to what He desires of you. But at the end of the day, it is vitally important that we trust the Lord because “God cannot guide those souls who never trust Him enough to believe that He is doing it.” 

Thoughts and Questions for Interaction 

• Can you recall a time when God revealed his will concerning a situation in your life? 

• Which of the ways mentioned above did God use to guide you in that situation?

Difficulties Concerning the Will

Today's post is brought to you by Pastor Nick Willke. Thank you brother! And CONGRATULATIONS to all the Willke's for the birth of baby Archie… so excited to have a new neighbor. 

Chapter 7 

“But there is nothing here which will not be very easily overcome when the Christian once thoroughly understands the principles of the new life, and has learned how to live in it. The common thought is that this life hid with Christ in God is to be lived in the emotions, and consequently all the attention of the soul is directed toward them, and if they are satisfactory or otherwise, the soul rests or is troubled. Now, the truth is that this life is not to be lived in the emotions at all, but in the will; and therefore, if only the will is kept steadfastly abiding in its center, God's will, the varying states of emotion do not in the least disturb or affect the reality of the life.” 

This is a powerful statement that is not only hard to realize in our lives but hard to let go, and to not let our emotions take over and fully govern our lives, and our relationship to Christ. Especially when living in a culture that says we should do what we feel is right, or trust what our heart and feelings are telling us. Our emotions are important, and it is crucial to understand them and recognize why we feel what we feel. But to allow our emotions to control and decide how we view ourselves, and let that determine how God views us will lead to living a defeated Christian life. 

“The secret lies just here—that our will, which is the spring of all our actions, has been in the past under the control of sin and self, and these have worked in us all their own good pleasure. But now God calls upon us to yield our wills up unto Him, that He may take the control of them, and may work in us to will and to do of His good pleasure. If we will obey this call, and present ourselves to Him as a living sacrifice, He will take possession of our surrendered wills, and will begin at once to work in us "that which is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ," giving us the mind that was in Christ, and transforming us into His image (see Romans 12:1-2).” 

 

The author is right here with this verse from Romans 12, it is so crucial to have our minds transformed and renewed so that we know what God’s will is for our lives. It is a will that is not controlled by our emotions or how we feel, because that will change just like tides ebb and flow.

 

THOUGHTS AND QUESTIONS FOR INTERACTION 

• Do your emotions control you? Do you evaluate the success of your day based upon how you feel moment-to-moment? 

• How are you giving your mind opportunity to transform so that you can understand God’s will for your life? 

• What words or phrases from William Hill’s letter were helpful to you? Why? 

• How can you change your life to allow it to be centered in our will, and through hat will our actions would be dictated by our will and not our emotions?

We All Need A Helper

CHAPTER 6

When Christians are faced with difficulties, temptations, trials (take your pick) Hannah Whitall Smith exhorts and encourages us to stop using phrases that suggest we have no hope. For example when we are struggling with a broken relationship it is easy to think or even say, “I have no hope this will ever turn around.” Smith suggests we teach ourselves to eliminate these thoughts by reconstructing the phrase to say, “I have no faith (or hope or trust) in… God.” She reminds us that Sovereign God is in control and ultimately He would be the one in whom we are losing hope. Even as I wrote that phrase down I felt the weight of self-incrimination; how could we ever blame God? The author is correct when she says the phase will “become so dreadful to you, that you will not dare to continue it.” 

Whereas this practice may serve as a good defibrillation of our soul, the Father does not transform us by using the shock of shame and guilt. Hannah goes on to explain how we must apply God’s truth to grow faith by looking outside ourselves for the Holy Spirit’s help in overcoming all of life’s difficulties. 

It wasn’t until my college years that I finally learned that every struggling student who wants to advance must learn how to communicate their need for help to teachers, to those who are experts in the field of their study, or to their classmates who have recently grasped their own understanding of the subject matter. This lesson was not readily applied in my own personal journey because I did not like the implications. My belief was 1) the help I needed was not available to me, 2) I would be found out not to have all the answers, and 3) I was not convinced that the added uncomfortable work would bring the desired results in the end. 

Some Christ-followers who struggle to mature beyond their initial conversion, may be holding onto similar thoughts when it comes to their faith—I know I did. As a young believer I thought asking God for help would: 1) force me to do something too uncomfortable, unpopular, unnatural, and ultimately unavailable to me, 2) mean having to remind myself constantly of my short-comings, and 3) require me to believe that the alternative to my way of doing things would be better and less work than His way. 

If this is the way you are thinking, I encourage you to read through chapter six, reconsider God’s desire for you, and then trust Him as you cry out for help. 

Act on His truth. Believe what He says. Grow in faith. 

THOUGHTS AND QUESTIONS FOR INTERACTION 

Our greatest problem is resolved by our response to God’s greatest remedy. We all had fallen short of God’s glory because of sin. But then we realized that forgiveness of sin was found by believing in Jesus Christ as Savior (His death on the cross becomes the substitute for our punishment when we believe). Our belief in that is our faith resulting in our salvation. 

• As Christ-followers we believe the above paragraph. Get together with a fellow believer and share how different your future is today because of the truth above. 

• Think about and jot down some current problems you are experiencing. Maybe you are struggling with finances, or broken relationships, or failing health… there are endless possibilities. 

• Now read again from page 74, 

“…remember that ‘though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations’ (1 Peter 1:6), it is only like going through a tunnel. The sun has not ceased shining because the traveller through the tunnel has ceased to see it; and the Sun of righteousness is still shining, although you in your dark tunnel do not see Him”  

and answer this: How does this tunnel illustration help you have faith, hope, and trust in God despite your difficult situation? 

• Pray with your believing friend for the Holy Spirit’s help in the journey of growth He is leaning you in.

Difficulties Concerning Consecration

CHAPTER 5 

Hannah Whitall Smith begins the second section of her book confronting difficulties that can cause us to stumble in the Christian walk. The difficulty introduced in chapter five made me think of a recent phenomenon I have experienced. 

I haven’t been diagnosed as a hypochondriac, however, throughout this pandemic, I have wondered if I would be if I saw a specialist. My wife has told me on more than one occasion that I’m certifiable. So, I wouldn’t be surprised. 

This past month I’ve had friends reach out to tell me they had tested positive for COVID. Prior to them telling me I felt fine. But within an hour or two after their phone call or text message, I began to feel symptomatic. I’ve been tested four times in the past month, each time I have tested negative. It is interesting, as soon as I get the negative result I feel 100% better. Isn’t it strange how a suggestion or a doubt can create a feeling that has no basis in reality? 

Mrs. Smith explains how doubt can create symptoms that present themselves as a weakened or a sick Christian life. She also prescribes the proper point of view and the cure for such attacks. She presented three stimuli that can affect one’s view of their position in Christ—feelings, fact, and faith. The reader is led to think through which came first (feelings, fact, or faith), and then second and which brings up the caboose of the F Train (btw, the F Train is the subway route that connects Queens to Brooklyn in New York City). Once you know where to get on the train, you are ensured to reach the desired destination. 

Enough with the train analogies. The point of Mrs. Smith is, once you know which should come first, you will be equipped to avoid the difficulty of doubt and on your way to the joyful life every follower of Christ is meant to experience. 

If you haven’t read chapter five yet, I encourage you to take some of your free time and spend it thinking through the topic she presents. And then call a Christian friend and talk through the following questions.

Have a blessed week! 

THOUGHTS AND QUESTIONS FOR INTERACTION 

• Hannah Whithall Smith shares these three RESPONSES (Feelings, Fact, and Faith) to our decision to follow Christ. Which response did she say should come first, second and last? Why? 

"Today you have declared the Lord to be your God, and that you will walk in His ways and keep His statutes, His commandments, and His ordinances, and listen to His voice. And the Lord has today declared you to be His people, His personal possession, just as He promised you, and that you are to keep all His commandments; and that He will put you high above all the nations which He has made, for glory, fame, and honor; and that you shall be a consecrated people to the Lord your God, just as He has spoken.” Deuteronomy 26:17–19 

This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him. If anyone sees his brother or sister committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask and God will, for him, give life to those who commit sin not leading to death. There is sin leading to death; I am not saying that he should ask about that. 1st John 5:14–16 

• From the above passages, what is our role, and what does God do? 

        1.                                                         1. 

        2.                                                         2. 

        3.                                                         3. 

        4.                                                         4. 

        5.                                                         5. 

        6.                                                         6. 

• In what personal life situations do the above lists help you understand and advance in a sanctified life?

How To Enter In

CHAPTER 4

Chapter four concludes Part I of “The Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life." It mostly reviews what we’ve already touched on in the first three chapters, which Nick summed up in our staff conversation last week: "Let Go and Let God." In other words, surrender completely and trust God for the results. I appreciated the way Hannah Whitall Smith went deeper to explain this two-step process by focusing on two words 1) Consecration, and 2) Faith. 

Consecrate 

This term means to make holy or to dedicate to a higher purpose. I really like the way that Smith helped the reader understand what this term means in more practical terms by using the illustration of a doctor on rounds. If consecration is the pathway to experience the deeper life with God hidden in Christ—a life characterized by peace and joy—then this is something we all should pursue. But like the patient who wants to experience healing under the care of a world-renowned physician, we must follow all the physician’s prescriptions if we expect him to take our case. Isn’t it true that the American Church (most likely this is a global sickness) has become very adept at picking and choosing the commandments of Christ which are most palatable or comfortable? We love to give and receive a good sermon on grace, love, and peace. But when was the last time we received—with the same good feelings—a clear and detailed message on sexual morality, submission to authority, or giving as a godly discipline? Smith’s point is we must fully abandon or surrender ourselves to the full counsel of God if we want the full and amazing experience of the happy life she is describing. 

Faith 

There is no need for the author to define “faith,” as it is a simple enough concept to understand. The emphasis she makes here is not on our understanding faith but on our difficulty in applying faith post-conversion. We all know what it means to place our faith in Jesus for the forgiveness of our sins. There is nothing that we can do, in and of ourselves, to erase the consequence of our sin—the Father must do that, and He did in Jesus. It is by faith that we enter His kingdom. And yet, when it comes to the deeper life experience post-salvation, we forget or have a hard time carrying the same application forward. Somehow, we have it fixed in our minds that we can do something to better deserve or accomplish the peace and joy we so desire in this life. 

If you haven’t read this chapter, you need to before getting into part two (Difficulties). The chapter's review is the impetus of the Christian’s Secret of happy living.

THOUGHTS AND QUESTIONS FOR INTERACTION

• Whithall Smith mentions within the opening sentences of the chapter, "this blessed life must not be looked upon in any sense as an attainment, but as an obtainment." How does this statement help explain the common encouragement to "let go and let God"? 
  
  
• In the phrase Mrs. Smith shares—"Jesus saves me now"—which word do you struggle with the most? 
  
  
• We are confident in a doctor's help toward healing because of her education, the Hippocratic Oath, and even the amount of money we're paying them. What are the reason(s) that our faith in the Father's healing should be more resolute than that in the doctor's ability? 
  
  
• What personally holds you back from surrendering all effort and control to God so that you can freely receive the peace and joy a life lived in and for Him offers? 

This chapter was an invitation to "Enter In" by following through with the author's two-step encouragement: 1) CONSECRATE yourself and 2) Step into it in FAITH (a.k.a. Let Go and Let God). Consider spending time with the Father in prayer, crying out for His help in whatever area has come to mind in the above questions.

A Life Defined

CHAPTER 3

This morning in our weekly staff meeting Karen shared an overview of chapter 3 in Hannah Whitall Smith's book "The Christian's Secret to a Happy Life." The conversation with Karen, Nick and myself (Oh! And Nick's 3 year old daughter, Ayla!) was such an uplifting part of the beginning of my week. I encourage you—if you received the book—to reach out to another from KBC to talk about what you are reading each week. Below is what Karen shared this morning to get our conversation going: 

In this chapter Whitall Smith declares the chief characteristics of a life “hid with Christ in God” are “an entire surrender to the Lord, and a perfect trust in Him, resulting in victory over sin and inward rest for the soul.” This surrender “causes us to let the Lord carry our burdens and manage our affairs for is instead of trying to do it ourselves.” She identifies these burdens as being temporal and spiritual in nature. 

Our greatest burden is ourselves—our feelings, temperaments, inner and outward experiences. Thus we must hand ourselves over to God and leave it all there.  We must surrender ourselves to him completely and trust that he can work in us and make us into who he would have us be for His purposes.

We are then called upon to lay all the other burdens at his feet as well—your health, your reputation, your family etc. Again we are called upon to surrender these to God and trust that he can manage ALL of them completely.

Whitall Smith stated that it is easier for us to commit our futures to the Lord rather than our present since we recognize we have little control over our futures. Unfortuantely, “most of us have an unconfessed idea that it is a great deal to ask the Lord to carry ourselves, and that we cannot think of asking Him to carry our burdens too.” However we can trust the “Divine Burden Bearer” with ALL our cares, anxieties and circumstances. He invites us in Philippians 4:6,7 to take every care to Him and abandon ourselves in Him and the end result will be His peace and His rest. Just as a child in its parent’s house live with the freedom, carefree trust, and unquestioning confidence their needs will be provided, so too should we live as if we are “a child in the Father’s house.” In so doing our lives (and souls) will be defined by perfect peace as we trust and lean into our Father’s care.

Karen then got us sharing by asking this question:

• Do you find it easier to trust the Lord with your future or your present? And why is that? 

• What are some of your current burdens?

Nick mentioned that the advice to "Let go (of our anxiety) and Let God (take care of what is troubling us)" is easy counsel to give but difficult to receive.

• Considering your current burdens, how might you phrase the advice you need so that you experience life as "a child" filled with carefree, unquestioning freedom in your Father's house?

God's Side and Man's Side

CHAPTER TWO

Hannah Whithall Smith pulled out all the illustrative stops in her second chapter of “The Christian’s Secret to a Happy Life” as she explained a foundational truth that the reader must understand in applying the teachings of this book. Our personal faith journey was explained by focusing in on the complimentary relationship needed between God who works and people who must trust that He works. Smith doubled down on how important this is by referring to the common biblical potter and clay relationship, an apple in June compared to one in October, two women with great potential who ended differently, a mother’s contentment to care for a helpless baby more so than a grown child, and finally a carpenter (God) to a hand-saw (us). She enlisted all of these illustrations because this can be a difficult concept to embrace: To advance in relationship with God, He will do all the work and we must be all about trusting Him.

Like most who are reading this blog, I have been conditioned to believe that if I want good things to happen, I need to take the initiative to make good things happen. I need to pull myself up by the proverbial bootstraps (I don’t even know what a bootstrap is). If we want to catch a worm, we need to rise early from bed. If I want grease, I had better squeak. When the going gets tough, I need to get to going along too. We’ve been conditioned to believe that we live in a cause and effect world. But this simply is not true in a personal relationship with the Father.

Mrs. Smith proposes in chapter two that the only way to advance in our relationship with God is to stop trying and start relying. This week pastor Nick shared one of his most memorable quotes from the chapter with me:

In the divine order, God's working depends upon our co-operation. Of our Lord it was declared that at a certain place He did there no mighty work because of their unbelief. (Matthew 13:58.) It was not that He would not, but He could not. I believe we often think of God that He will not, when the real truth is that He cannot. Just as the potter, however skillful, cannot make a beautiful vessel out of a lump of clay that is never put into his hands, so neither can God make out of me a vessel unto His honor, unless I put myself into His hands.

I highlighted the same quote and then went back and read it more than a few times. If we aren’t able to stop trying to work our wills and surrender to the will of God, we will stall out and come up short in experiencing all that He has for us. We will never know the joy of being molded in His hands, ripened to an October apple, experiencing a perfect outcome, maturing to the stature that is found in Christ, and being the instrument God uses to accomplish feats beyond our ability or imagination.

Along with the author I encourage you to surrender all to Him; allowing Him to work in and for you.

THOUGHTS AND QUESTIONS FOR INTERACTION

• What is something in your life that you have struggled to surrender to God’s control?

• Think of what He could do if you put that something into His hands to mold, ripen, perfect, mature, and accomplish amazing feats. Write down a few possibilities of how He could work.

• The Psalmist says, “Be still and know that I am God.” Another way to say that is, “God wants you to stop striving and allow Him to work in you.” Take time to be still before God. Take a half an hour to sit, to kneel, or maybe even walk with Him alone. Talk to Him about the area you’ve held onto. Tell Him you want to surrender it to Him to work on.

KBC Community Study of "The Christian's Secret to a Happy Life"

Chapter One 

A keen observer once said to me, "You Christians seem to have a religion that makes you miserable. You are like a man with a headache. He does not want to get rid of his head, but it hurts him to keep it. You cannot expect outsiders to seek very earnestly for anything so uncomfortable!" p. 11

Hannah Whitall Smith makes the point from the onset that her book will be more of a study for application rather than a study for increased theological indoctrination. Her concern or motivation for writing was that many in the church of her era were experiencing a Christian life that was characterized more by defeat from sin than victory over it. 

I believe that Smith’s attempt is to encourage those who are in Christ and yet struggle with defeat, discouragement, or depression so that they can see there is a way out to victory, boldness, and joy. Be careful not to hear that “those in Christ can attain a sinless state of perfection”; she does not say that. But she is saying that if a believer is rationalizing sin’s presence in their life they are giving power to the devil to have victory over God and the ability to upend His promises. 

"Would you approve of it if I should tell you that God puts forth His power to do such a thing, but the devil hinders Him? That it is impossible for God to do it, because the devil does not like it? That it is impossible that anyone should be free from sin, because the devil hath got such a power in them that God cannot cast him out? p. 18 

The victorious life in Christ is not something we are promised for tomorrow—it is a present-day gift for followers of Christ. However, Smith proposes that many seemed to be living as if victory was unattainable in the present within the church of her generation. I believe, just as Hannah Smith believed, that this study is just as relevant for us in the church today. So, over the next 5 months, I’d like to invite the KBC faith community on a weekly journey, reading one chapter a week. I’ll send out some thoughts and questions with which we can interact. 

 Join me in this journey toward victory. 

THOUGHTS AND QUESTIONS FOR INTERACTION 

• Look up and read the Scriptures that Smith mentioned in this first chapter. What do they say about the present-day experience of the believer’s victory? 

 1st John 3:1–10, Luke 1:67–79 (especially 74–75), Acts 3:17–26, Ephesians 4:17–24  

* If you want to dig deeper, the author cited more passages in the chapter.

• What are two or three sins or the roots of defeat, discouragement and/or depression in your heart? 

• What has your attitude toward these sins been? 

Passive? Aggressive? Peaceful? Resentment towards God, the church, or others? 

• According to what you’ve read, what does God's Word say specifically about your struggles and sins?

When It Isn't Working

I went to lunch with a friend I hadn't seen in a while. When it came time to order I asked for a salad. My friend encouraged me to get the ribs as this restaurant was famous for their ribs. My rehearsed response was, "I can't. I've got to lose some weight." His reply was, "Dude, you've got to find a better diet. I haven't seen you for a year and you're still eating like that!?"

I know… you know… my friend knows that it's not the diet but rather the dieter. Let's face it, I'm giving Atkins, South Beach, Noom, or any other diet I've tried a bad name. But—we all know—It's not them, it's me. 

In 2nd Peter chapter one we find this truth:

By God's divine power He has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.

If our life as Christ-followers looks like my diet plan—habitually struggling over character flaws that keep us from a holy life—what's the deal with that? Is it the diet or the dieter? Is God's Power failing or is it Our Desire that's winning out? Here's an even tougher and more revealing question: What do we do to the glory of God's name when we give in to our human desires? Yikes and Ouch!

The answer for successful diets and more importantly for God's power in our lives is complete surrender motivated by complete trust.  

Oh, That's What Rest Is!

"The Jesus said, "Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest." —Matthew 11:28 NLT

"In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, O Lord, will keep me safe." —Psalm 4:8 NLT

"You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!" —Isaiah 26:3 NLT

Our best rest happens when we lie down at night as we put our cares to the side and trust the bed to hold us up until morning. Our worst night's sleep occurs when we take life's concern to bed and mull them over in our mind, refusing to let the bed comfort us until morning. 

Hmm!? Now I know what God means when He tells me to enter into His rest. His desire is that I would completely trust Him with all burdens. It's only then that I'll be able to to truly rest and enjoy the life He has given me. 

Listening to the Holy Spirit

For several years after becoming a Christian I was living a life that seemed to fall short of my God-given potential. Sin continued to be present in my life and appeared to be getting the better of me. I tried to be good, I tried to resist sin, but consistently failed. I thought that I was supposed to control myself—I was to choose to be good and do right in my own strength—but that simply was not working. As I tried to avoid sin, I would do well for a while, but ultimately would return to a sin that I thought was behind me. The inconsistency was making me miserable because I was not having the “success” I thought should be the norm for every Christ-follower.

There’s a term I became familiar with that described what I was feeling—CONVICTION. You might call that feeling “GUILT.” Both words are appropriate. We know that when we do something wrong we stand “CONVICTED” or “GUILTY” before God for our sin. It is normal to experience CONVICTION or GUILT when we ignore God's Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ has given us His Holy Spirit. God’s Spirit indwells us—lives within us at the point of Salvation. So when we do something that goes against what He desires for us, HE tells us. And if we ignore His voice the sense of conviction and guilt will grow.

Before I understood how this all works someone once asked me, “What do you think about conviction?" I replied instantly, "I hate it! It makes me so uncomfortable." He followed up by asking, "Why don't you like the Holy Spirit’s communication with you? Isn’t this something you should receive gladly?” That brief lesson helped me see that conviction is not something I should run from, but rather it is God's loving communication directing me away from sin. We are not being punished when the Holy Spirit convicts us, we are being instructed how to respond to a given situation—He is talking to us!

The circles below helped me visualize how this all works. Each circle represents a person's life at three different moments or phases. 

The first circle to the left represents our life before we accept Christ. The chair (or the driver seat, or throne) in the middle is occupied by each of us. It represents the fact that we are in control of our lives. Christ and His Holy Spirit are not in our lives but are on the outside (depicted by the cross in the lower left-hand corner). The “S”s in the circle and out of the circle represent sin. The first circle is our lives before we became Christians.

The second circle represents our lives with Christ (this is the point after we’ve accepted Jesus as our Savior and Lord). Notice, the Holy Spirit is on the throne and we are in submission to His leadership. Also, there is no sin in circle two, but sin has been replaced with Joy, Peace, and Freedom.

The third circle to the far right is our lives when we decide to ignore God's truth and allow temptation to get the better of us. Sin is once again part of our reality. It's important to note that Christ hasn’t left us (He’ll never leave or forsake us, Hebrews 13:5). But we've allowed sin to enter—taking control away from God's Holy Spirit and choosing once again to sit in the driver’s seat.

If you look at the space in between circles two and three (towards the top) you see how temptation tries to persuade us to sin. At the same, the Holy Spirit is counseling us with truth to do what is right. When we choose to listen to temptation over the Holy Spirit’s voice, we give birth to sin in our lives—we move from circle two (where there is peace, joy, and freedom) to circle three where there is heart ache, guilt, and shame. In essence, what we’ve done is taken away the control we gave to the Spirit of God. This is the point in which we stand in conviction—guilty of our sin. The apostle Paul calls giving in to Satan’s temptation and rejecting the Holy Spirit’s voice “grieving the Holy Spirit” (Ephesians 4:30). At this point we feel defeated, guilty and miserable—we have grieved the very person to whom we have committed our lives. We cry out along with the man at the end of Romans chapter 7: “Oh wretched man or woman that I am.”

Something every Christ-follower should understand—for encouragement—is that even the most seasoned Christ-follower will fall into sin. In the apostle John’s letter to the church (1^st John) he wrote in the first chapter that if we deny that we have sin we make God out to be a liar. So, every Christ-follower will at one time or another find themselves in the third circle where the Holy Spirit has been "dethroned," and sitting in the driver’s seat. But, John tells us what we should do to rectify that situation. In 1^st John chapter one verse nine, he writes, 

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

When you look up the word confess in the dictionary you will find something similar to: “admit having done something wrong” or “acknowledge something to be true.” Our confession of sin is admitting we’ve done something wrong, or it is our agreement that the Holy Spirit's conviction is true. In order to experience forgiveness for the sin we’ve committed we need to come to a point where we say: “Heavenly Father, I agree with you, what I did was wrong, forgive me.” or “What You said is wrong is wrong. Forgive me.” And He will forgive our sins and He will purify us from ALL unrighteousness.

When we listen to the Holy Spirit like this, the Christian life becomes joyful, peaceful, free and full of love again. This is because we are returning to circle two where He is on the throne and sin is not affecting us.

My heart breaks for the Christ-followers who live in circle three. I lived there for years—years offending (grieving) the Spirit of God and ripping control of my life away from Him. I was on the throne of my life because I disregarded His guidance and allowed sin to enter into my relationship with Him. There are so many Christ-followers with anger issues, with lust issues, with addiction issues, with bitterness issues (etc.) who are choosing to live in circle three. In the same chapter of 1^st John, he writes in verses five and six that 

“…God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.  If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth" (1st John 1:5–6). 

I was coming close to living a lie—my relationship with Christ was in danger of being a lie. The Holy Spirit was pushed off to a remote corner of my life because I was choosing to control rather than surrendering control to Him.

If you are in a similar position, where you have not understood this dynamic of relationship that you have with Christ, all you need to do is surrender to Him. This is accomplished through confession and repentance. This ministry of the Holy Spirit—SANCTIFICATION—will bring the Christian back to that victorious Christian life they experienced prior to sinning (circle 2). And when we consistently live this way—listening to the Holy Spirit's voice and confessing and repenting when we sin—we will grow because He will cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Sanctification is the continuous work of Jesus that takes place in our lives through His Holy Spirit. Sanctification is the work of being separated from sin for the expressed purpose of serving God.

The founder of the Christian and Missionary Alliance, A.B. Simpson, wrote:

“Men and women who do not press on in their Christian experience to gain the fullness of their inheritance in Him will often become cold and formal. The evil in their own heart will assert itself again and may very likely overcome them, and their work will bring confusion and disaster to the cause of Christ” (Simpson, Fourfold Gospel, 25).

Praise be to God, we don’t have to live there. We can live where He is on the throne in our lives and we are responsive to Him. We can live where we are being used by God to encourage others rather than cause confusion to them. We can live listening to the Holy Spirit.

I hope and pray that you live in the joy, peace, and freedom that is possible in Christ. 

Letters to the 7 Churches

This past weekend we presented the third installment of our Revelation series at Kapahulu Bible Church. We began to look at the letters given to the seven churches. We looked at the first letter to Ephesus in chapter 2, verses 1 through seven. If you have some time, it would be good to read chapters 2 and 3 of Revelation. In these two chapters, you’ll find the seven letters.

As you read, I want to encourage you to look for a structure/pattern that John utilizes in each letter. John writes to: 

 1. A Church, 

 2. Giving credit to Christ, who gives… 

 3. …A Commendation 

 4. …A Correction 

 5. …An Invite to Change 

 6. …Caution the Church 

 7. And ends with a Concluding Promise 

This pattern is generally followed in each letter. There are a few instances where a church leaves out one point of the pattern. But for the most part, the outline is there to find. 

It's interesting to note that the credit given to Christ in each letter is taken from the description we were given in chapter 1, verses 3 through eighteen. 

Don't forget what we learned last week about the number “7,” the first entry in our legend. Seven communicates fullness, wholeness, and completeness. So, whereas these letters were written to specific churches at a specific time (Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Saris, Philadelphia, and Laodicea), they were meant to be shared with the full, whole, and complete Church throughout time and location. 

These letters were meant for us to read/hear and then respond. My prayer as you read in preparation for our study together is that the Lord will open your eyes to His intent desire for you. And I ask that you pray for everyone who is preparing for our Sunday gatherings. Remember, our worship is only as good as we allow Him to make it. Hope to see you soon!