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My purpose is to allow the

invisible Christ to be

made visible.

Ian Thomas

In one of his messages, Ian Thomas related overhearing a discussion in which an individual was very insistent that his way was the right way.  This brought him into sharp contrast with others in the group.  During the discussion, he turned to Ian Thomas and asked “What about you?”, “What is your role in this situation?”  It was then that Ian turned toward him and related his answer as quoted above “My purpose is to allow the invisible Christ to be made visible.”

Terry Taylor, former president of the US Navigators, once commented that people live their lives in either Philippians 1:21 or in Philippians 2:21.  Philippians 1:21 states “For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain.”  Philippians 2:21 relates “For everyone looks out for his own interests, not those of Jesus Christ.”

In Ian Thomas’ message, he described the lack of Christlikeness by reference to the following passage in Romans 7:14-20.  As he quoted the passage, he gave special emphasis to the word which is italicized in the passage.

 

“We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin.

I do not understand what I do.  For what I want to do I do not do, but what I 

hate I do.  And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good.

As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me.  I know that

nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature.  For I have the desire to

do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.  For what I do is not the good I want

to do; no, the evil I do not want to do-this I keep on doing.  Now if I do what I 

do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.”

 

In the above paragraph the problem is referred to no less than twenty one times.  As a Pogo cartoon strip years ago stated, “We have found the enemy, and it is us.”   The apostle Paul, however, conscious of the enemy within, claims in Philippians 1:21 that “For to me to live is Christ.”  Why was Paul able to make this claim?  He refers to the reason in Romans 7:24-25.  “What a wretched man I am!  Who will rescue me from this body of death?  Thanks be to God-through Jesus Christ our Lord!”  He was able to do so by participation in the prerequisite for Christ likeness as defined by Christ and by participation in the provision as supplied by the Holy Spirit.

The prerequisite for Christ being made visible in our lives is found in Luke 9:23.  “Then he said to them all:  ‘If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.’”  The inward, hidden refusal to follow the claims of self is to be followed by an outward, visible involvement in sacrificial surrender to the will of Christ, and manifested by following Him in trust and obedience.  The provision of the life of Christ to be made visible in our lives by the power of the Holy Spirit is seen most clearly in the relationship of Christ with God the Father.  Jesus states in John 5:19, “The Son can do nothing by himself.”  John 6:38 states, “For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.”  He also related in John 8:28, “I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me.”  He again relates his dependence on the Holy Spirit in John 12:49.  “For I did not speak of my own accord, but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and how to say it.”  He also relates in John 14:10, “Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me?  The words I say to you are not just my own.  Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.”  Jesus lived in moment by moment dependence upon the Holy Spirit to manifest the Father by word and deed.  He never departed from absolute trust in the provision of the Holy Spirit to make the Father visible.  Near the completion of His earthly ministry our Lord makes this statement in John 17:18, “As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world.”  The same Holy Spirit that manifested the Father in the life of Christ is given to us in order to manifest Christ in our own lives.  The Holy Spirit is freely given; not dependent upon our background, training, education, or social position.  He delights in using instruments that are made available to Him.

Periodically I meet with a friend of mine for breakfast.  A few weeks go as we met he began to talk about his background of alcoholism and how the Lord had changed his life and given him a heart for people.  As a result of recurrent strokes, he had been in the Veterans Hospital for several weeks, and was very limited in his ability to walk.  Despite this, he went every day to see other veterans at the hospital, sharing his life with them.  He met weekly with another man in a long term care facility with whom he played checkers for several hours, sharing his life with him and helping him recover his ability to speak.  He also related that he travels downtown to the river area, locating five homeless veterans and spending time in the Bible with them.  Several of these men have come to know the Lord and the rest are in the process of knowing Him.  When I asked him how much time this required weekly, he related that it was usually about 35-40 hours!  When I asked him, “What do you do with them?”, he replied “I try to be the best Christ I can be to them.”

My friend’s life reminded me of the passage in John 12:24-26.  “I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed.  But if it dies, it produces many seeds.  The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.  Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be.  My Father will honor the one who serves me.”  My friend had denied self, taken up the cross of identification with Christ in sacrificial service to others, and was dependent upon the Holy Spirit to manifest the life of Christ in his own life.  His example has stirred me to ask myself.  “Am I willing to fall to the ground?”  “Do I love my life?”  “Am I where Christ would be in our community?”  Am I dependent upon the Holy Spirit to manifest the life of Christ in my life moment by moment?  To the measure in which I am able to answer in the affirmative is to say with the apostle Paul, “For to me to live is Christ, to die is gain.”

In Christ,

Richard Spann

I would rather have those who follow me drink

from a running brook than from a stagnant pool.

Howard Hendricks

 

This comment was made by Howard Hendricks in one of his messages at Glen Eyrie.  He related that he first heard this when he had asked one of his professors why he was spending such a long time studying at night.  The professor replied with the above statement, using it in a entirely secular context.  It is a truth, however, that has not only a secular application, but spiritual as well  A running brook is a picture of health.  It entices us to drink and be satisfied.  It has continual access to the source of the water.  It quenches our thirst.  A stagnant pool is not only unattractive to look at, it is unhealthy from which to drink.  Life will not be sustained by drinking from it, on the contrary, it may induce disease.  When we think of our spiritual lives, we need to ask ourselves.  “Are our spiritual lives more similar to a running brook or to a stagnant pool?”

The scriptures do not point to a picture of stagnation.  They do not depict a level of spiritual attainment from which we have no further progression.  In the Old Testament we are instructed to “Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes.” (Isaiah 54:2)  In Philippians 3:12, Paul states “Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.”  When Paul stated “Follow me, as I follow Christ,” he was conscious of the need to be a running brook, and for those who followed him to be a running brook as well, ever ready to dispense new treasure from the Source of their lives, which was Christ.  We also see an example of the need for constant change and growth in the life of the Thessalonians.   In I Thessalonians 4, Paul was not satisfied with the fact that they were living to please God.  They were asked and urged to do so more and more! (I Thessalonians 4:1-2)  “Finally, brothers, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living.  Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more.”  Paul was also not satisfied with the fact that they had been taught by God to love each other, and that they loved all the brothers throughout Macedonia!  (What a blessing it would be to have any church like that today!)  Instead, Paul writes “Yet we urge you, brothers, to do so more and more.” (I Thessalonians 4:9-10)  In John 7:38, our Lord referred to our lives as channels of “streams of living water.”  As these streams,  (representing the Holy Spirit, John 7:39) flow from our lives to nourish and refresh those who follow; do they provide an unpolluted daily freshness of the Spirit, or has the stream become slowed, stale and close to stagnation?

In his book “As Iron Sharpens Iron,” Howard Hendricks points out that the Christian life is a growth process.

“Even Jesus “grew,” we are told, in four areas: in “wisdom,” the intellectual component; in “stature,” the physical component; in “favor with God,” the spiritual component; and in “favor with men,” the social and emotional component (Luke 2:52).  By growing in these various ways, He demonstrated that life is developmental.  We are meant to mature, to increase our God-given capacities-all of them, not just the spiritual ones.”   (page 121)

There is no doubt that all components of our lives affect others, as described above.   For purposes of illustration, however, I will focus on the spiritual realm in which we need to be a running brook rather than a stagnant pool.  Since Christ is the center of our lives, the Author and Perfecter of our faith, our growth in Him and likeness to Him is the most important aspect of our lives.  Do we rest in Him more this year than last?  Are we listening more closely to Him this month than last?  Is our walk with Him closer than last week?  Are we waiting on Him more completely today than yesterday?  Are we spending more time beholding Him as our life progresses?  “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass, the glory of the Lord are changed into the same image, from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” (II Corinthians 3:18)  To be a running brook or to use our Lord’s words, “streams of living water,” we must be in constant contact with the Source of Life.

If I am to be a running brook, then, my life must be that which is described in Proverbs 2:1-5.  “My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding, and if you call out for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God.”  Are we continuing to store up His commands?  Do we treasure them?  Do we seek them?  Are we hungering for a deeper knowledge of our LORD that causes us to call out for understanding?  If so, then we can be assured that our lives are running  brooks from which others may safely drink from His spring of living water.

 

In Christ,

Richard Spann

Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness

 

When our founding fathers drafted the Constitution of the United States of America, they included the above phrase in the document.  We are all familiar with it.  It arose out of a recognition of a need for these three factors.  In many cases, under other governments, these were not permitted to their citizens.  It was for this reason that these three were singled out with the intention that the United States government would  promote and protect these “rights” for its individual citizens.  Although well intentioned, history has shown that no government on earth is able to guarantee these for its people even if that is a clearly stated objective.  As a result, people have looked to themselves to attain life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

In the attempt to find “life,” each succeeding generation seems to be more preoccupied with self.  Phrases such as self help seminars, self enrichment, and self actualization abound.  Our news stands even promote a publication called Self magazine.  We often hear the phrase “You owe it to yourself.”  Self even has its champions such as Frank Sinatra who sings “I did it my way.”  I once met a man who told me that his aunt only wanted just one thing throughout her life and that was to have her own way.  Looking to self as the source, mankind attempts to find and fulfill its description of life.  In the attempt to find life apart from the Source of Life, life as it was intended to be slips through their grasp.  Mark 8:35 says it this way.  “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it.”

Liberty is likewise sought after, often defined as the freedom to do and think as we please.  Those who seek this characterization of freedom are unaware that they are not free, but are slaves to whatever has mastered them.  John 8:34 states  “Jesus replied, ‘I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.’”  The source of liberty is seen in John 8:31-32.  “To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, ‘If you hold to my teaching you are really my disciples.  Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.’”  He, and He alone sets us free, and at liberty to be all that we were designed to be.  A train, for example, is only free to be a train when it remains on the tracks.  A fish is at liberty to be a fish only if it remains in the water.  Similarly, we are only perfectly free when we are under the complete authority of our Lord.

Mankind’s desire to pursue happiness has proved to be a gold mine for every industry under the sun including entertainment, travel, and retail stores of all kinds.  Happiness is also sought after by achieving positions of power, prestige, and popularity, but an examination of the lives of those attaining these goals has proved that the opposite results are often present.  Few people realize that happiness is not a goal in itself that can be achieved.  It is the by product of other goals, such as those stated in the Beatitudes.  Happy are the poor in spirit…happy are they that mourn…happy are the meek… happy are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness.

Jesus Christ states that He is the One who gives life.  John 10:10 states “I have come that they may have life and have it to the full.”  Other translations render this as a full, abundant, rich, meaningful life.  He further states that the life He gives us is His own life.  In Colossians 3:3-4, we read “For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.  When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.”  This life, contrasted with the life of self is characterized in the following passage (Mark 8:35) by the word “it.”  “For whoever wants to save his life (self) will lose it (the full, abundant, rich, meaningful life we share with Christ), but whoever loses his life (self) for me and for the gospel will save it.” (Full, abundant, rich meaningful life with Christ)

There are three enemies which oppose our liberty, and Christ is the only One who has triumphed over them, and the only One through whom we can truly have liberty.  These three are the world, the flesh, and the devil.  In each of these, the triumph was occasioned by the Cross of Christ.  Paul refers to the triumph of the Cross over the world in Galatians 6:14.  “But God forbid that I should glory, save in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world was crucified unto me, and I unto the world.”  The liberty expressing freedom from the power of the flesh is referred to in Romans 6:6.  “For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin.”  His victory over the devil is likewise proclaimed in Colossians 3:15.  “And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.  It is through our identification and union with Christ on His Cross, that we are freed from the power of sin, the power of the world, and the power of the devil.  Therein, and therein only, is liberty to be found.

The Lord, who loves each of us with an infinite love, desires our happiness far more than we do ourselves.  He alone knows the path that will bring us happiness, and in John 13, he has provided the example for us to follow.   Our Lord proceeded to wash His disciples feet, then told them that He had set them an example of how they should care for others.  He then adds in verse 17, “If you know these things, happy are you if you do them.”  The happiness, then, for which we seek is found only in following our Lord.

Mankind’s efforts to obtain life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness by self interest, lack of restraint of self, and self pleasure have failed to the uttermost.  It is only through our Lord that these are attained.  The path to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness are all the result of discipleship to Christ.  Luke 9:23 states “Then he said to them all:  ‘If any one would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.’”  It is in the denial of self (Mark 8:35) “For whoever loses his life for me and the gospel will save it”) that we find life.  It is in taking up our cross in identification with his cross that we have liberty from the world (Galatians 6:14), the flesh (Romans 6:6) and the evil one (Colossians 3:15) It is in following Him that we truly find the happiness for which we were created.

 

In Christ, Richard Spann

THE MAIN THING

is to keep

THE MAIN THING

as

THE MAIN THING

–Jim Morris

 

The above statement, repeated often by Jim, was one of his favorites, and for obvious reasons.  To him, the main thing was the focus of the Lord’s command given to His disciples in Matthew 28:18-20.  “Then Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.  And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”  This command, referred to as the Great Commission, was bracketed by the assurance of His power and His presence.  One might think that with the importance stressed on this command by our Lord, who also reassures us that He will be with us, and His power will accomplish His work, that many followers of Christ would be involved in this-His supreme task left in the hands of His followers.  Sadly, there are few in our parishes, our pews and even in our parsonages who see this as the main thing in their lives.

The world, the flesh, and the devil all conspire to oppose our commitment to making disciples.  Terry Taylor, former U.S. Director of the Navigators once mentioned that many of the devil’s schemes against us all begin with the letter “D.”  In regard to our desire to fulfill the great commission, these include distraction, diversion, delay and discouragement.

Distraction is one of the most commonly used tools of our enemy to prevent active involvement in discipleship.  We see this referred to in Mark 4:19.  “But the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful.”  The worries of this life are unavoidable, and some of the desires for other things may be good in and of themselves, but if they dominate our lives and prevent our ministry, then we have lost our focus on the main thing.  I have seen, for example, the discipleship ministry of couples put on hold for several years due to involvement of the family with little league sports activities.  It consumed their time, often 3-4 hours per day, and occasionally required commitments on weekends.  I have often thought that our enemy does not need great sin in our lives to sideline us.  He can use the “little league.”

Diversion is also a tactic used by our enemy which results in the replacement of a discipleship ministry with something which is good, but not essential.  Our time is directed to other activities in the Christian community and in our churches which do not contribute to making disciples.

Delay in our response to the Lord’s direction in His work with individuals results in missed opportunities.  Colossians 4:5 reminds us to “Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity.”  I myself, regretfully, am able to look back on missed opportunities due to a delayed response on my part.

One of our previous Pastors, Frank Kik, liked to tell a hypothetical story about a conversation between God and the devil, during which God said that He was going to take away all the devil’s powers but one, and asked him which one he wanted to keep.   The devil replied that he wanted to keep the power to bring discouragement. Over the years, I have met with a number of those who were discouraged about discipling others.  Their discouragement was due to a number of factors.  Some stated that it just took too long to see change in the lives of individuals, and that was what discouraged them.  Others related that the effort required was too demanding.  The failures of those that were being discipled also contributed to the discouragement of some individuals.  I think that everyone involved in this ministry goes through times of discouragement.  There was a time in my life about thirty years ago when I was experiencing significant discouragement in discipling others.  I will always remember with thankfulness the four people the Lord brought within an eight hour period of time to give encouragement.  I Corinthians 15:58 reminds us, “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.”

There are at least two basic requirements needed in our lives in order to keep the main thing as the main thing.  The first of these is our relationship with the Lord.  Nothing, even work we do in His name, should take priority over intimacy with our Lord.  Nothing that He does through us is as important as Who He is to us.  Matthew 4:19 states “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”  Our task, ultimately, is simply to follow Him.  It is His task to make us into fishers of men.  It we are a fisher of men, it is because we are following Him.  If we are not a fisher of men, it is because we are not following Him.  Unless our character is transformed by intimacy with Him, we cannot expect the conduct which follows.  We must sit with Him (Ephesians 2:5-6) before we are able to walk (Ephesians 4) and stand (Ephesians 6).  We must “be” before we “do.” We must spend much time with Him as our “root” before we can experience “fruit.”  Years ago, I was helping lead Evangelism Explosion in our church.  A young man had completed the training , was a skilled presenter of the gospel and had been used in the lives of others.  Six months later I visited him in a local restaurant and asked him about his ministry.  He stated that nothing of any spiritual value was going on in his life.  As I asked further questions, he related that his personal daily time with the Lord was no longer a priority for him and only occasional periods of reading and prayer were a part of his life.  He had lost meaningful spiritual contact with the Head of the Body.  He was no longer following to a degree that permitted the Lord to use him in the lives of others.

The second requirement needed in our lives that would help keep the main thing as the main thing is accountability to each other.  The Lord never commissioned us individually.  He sent His disciples out two by two.  The Apostle Paul stated “follow me as I follow Christ”, and “join with others in following my example.”  (Philippians 3:17)  In the Acts of the Apostles, we see a series of teams in various locations with mutual accountability.  Within our Kansas Navigator Teams, accountability to others has been a significant part of our continued effectiveness in fulfilling the Great Commission.

It is by close intimate fellowship with our Lord and being linked together with others for encouragement and accountability that we are able to withstand distractions, diversion, delay and discouragement.  As we continue in these, we are enabled by His Spirit to keep the main thing as the main thing.

In Christ,

Richard Spann

“But what about you?” he asked.

“Who do you say I am?”

Matthew 16:15

Mark 8:29

Luke 9:20

 

Of all the recorded questions of our Lord that were addressed to mankind, there are three that are of particular significance to us in our relationship with Him and with others.  These are found at the beginning, near the midpoint, and at the end of His ministry of thirty three years as the incarnate Son of God.  The first of these questions has been discussed previously and will only be mentioned currently by way of introduction.  In John 1:38 He asks the question “What do you want?”  To extend that question beyond the local setting to our lives gives us an option to choose between the temporal and the eternal.  It should instill a desire to pursue that which will glorify God most perfectly throughout the ages to come.  As we follow hIm, the desire for our lives must be in line with His desires for us.

The second question answered by Peter in the references above is also echoed in a statement given by Martha in John 11:27.  Peter’s answer, simply stated was, “You are the Christ.”  By that word, “Christ,” Peter was referring to Him as the Messiah, the One who would come as both King and Priest.  By this dual role, G. Campbell Morgan describes Him as the One who brings “both government and grace, law and love, light and life, requirement and reconciliation.”  As King, He brings government; as Priest He provides His Grace to meet the demands of government.  As King He gives us the law; as Priest He himself by His love fulfills the law.  As King he abides in perfect light; as Priest His life enables us to live in His light.  As King, He reveals His requirement; as priest His reconciliation meets the demands of that requirement.  It is vital to understand, however, that the actual answer to who we believe He is comes not from an intellectual understanding only, but primarily from what is seen daily in our lives.

Our true appraisal and opinion of who He is is revealed daily by our attitudes, our ambitions, our anxieties, and our actions.  In the deepest part of my life, who I believe Him to be is revealed by my attitudes.  Are these attitudes those by which He governs?   Do they exhibit His grace?  My estimate of who He is is also revealed by my ambitions.  Are my ambitions mastered by His love that would result in obedience to His law?  My anxieties most clearly reflect my belief of His authority as King and His provision as Priest.  To dwell in the presence of His light with the gift of His infinite life, is there still any reason to be anxious?  My actions also reveal my appraisal of who He is.  As King, I must let Him have complete guidance of my actions.  That is His requirement.  As Priest, I look to Him for His reconciliation when my actions have been contrary to His will.

If my belief of who He is is revealed by my attitudes, ambitions, anxieties and actions, it is also realized in how I spend my time, talents, treasure, and where I place my trust.  If I truly have confidence in Him as my King and my Priest, then His life will be manifested in me by the governing of my time, sanctified for His purposes, ministering His Grace to each person I meet daily.  My life will also say who He is by the use of the talents He has given. Does His love reign in the use of them?  Do they express Him in such a way that others are drawn to Him as King?  If I regard Him as Christ, then any treasure He has given will be acknowledged as His.  Is it under the authority of His life and being used to draw mankind into His light?  Finally, the clearest demonstration of who I believe Christ to be is revealed by where I place my trust.  Do I place it in His provision, or in His person?  Psalm 62:1 states “My soul finds rest in God alone,” and again in verse 8, “Trust in Him at all times, O people,” and also in verse 10, “Though your riches increase, do not set your heart on them.”  As Christ, it is His requirement that my trust be fully placed in Him.  That is His Kingly office.  As Priest, however, he continually provides reconciliation for my failure to do so.

In any culture, at any time, it is far easier to answer with the intellect rather than with the heart.  There is a sense in which Christ manifests Himself today in our culture and asks each of us the same question He asked His disciples in the Gospel accounts.  To repeat His words again, “Who do you say I am?” should make us pause and consider whether we are answering with our intellect only, or also with our hearts.  Our Lord is looking for a answer not only from the lips, but also from the life; not only the creed spoken, but the creed observed; not only by the words spoken in the sanctuary, but by the words spoken in the street; not by a life that is conformed to and reflects its surroundings, but by a life that is transformed and changes its surroundings.

 

In Christ,

Richard Spann

I have gone astray like a lost sheep;

seek thy servant;

for I do not forget thy commandments.

Psalm 119:176

When I was ten years of age, I was introduced to scripture memory.  My mother had memorized sections of scripture and no doubt thought it would be beneficial for me.  Rather than starting with the usual John 3:16, I was directed to the 119th Psalm.  To help motivate me in this endeavor (the longest chapter in the BIble, and that for a ten year old!), I was given a dime for every eight verses.  Each eight verses in my Bible were listed under the sequential letters of the Hebrew alphabet, as many of our Bibles are to this day.  I made it through Aleph, Beth, Gimel, Daleth, and He before I ground to a halt after only forty verses.  It seemed like all the verses were continually saying the same thing.  Sixty two years later, as I reflect on her choice of my memory program, I can realize now the value of her choice.

Lorne Sanny once delivered a short message on Psalm 119:176.  In his comments he pointed out that all but a few verses in the Psalm included a reference to God’s word.  It is referred to as commandments, judgments, precepts, laws, statutes and testimonies. Additionally, the vast majority of the verses are prayers; asking for direction, understanding, teaching, mercy, protection, or consisting of praise and worship.  The writer of this Psalm, therefore, was a person with a heart for God, for His word, and a heart that was stedfast in prayer.  The question to be asked, then, is how such an individual could arrive at the position in which they found themselves in verse 176, “I have gone astray like a lost sheep.”

In I John 2:1 we read the following, “My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not.”  The Apostle John has this goal in mind for our lives in regard to sin, namely, not just that we avoid major sins, but that we avoid sin altogether.  Leroy Eims, in speaking about this verse, made the following comparison.  “As a marine in the South Pacific in WW II, my goal was not to have just a minor wound, my goal was not to get hit at all!”  Nevertheless, we are reminded in I Corinthians 10:12 that “Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.”  And again in Romans 12:3 we are warned “not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.”  The world, the flesh and the devil all work in concert to lead us astray at times, even to the point where we may regard ourselves as did the Psalmist, “I have gone astray like a lost sheep.”  It is for this reason that the latter half of I John 2:1 is written.  “And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.”  Jesus Christ is the One who has come to seek, to save, and to restore.

In Psalm 119:176, we see several steps that lead to this restoration.  First is remembrance, “For I do not forget your commandments; the second points to repentance,”I have gone astray like a lost sheep; and the third is restoration, “seek thy servant.”  Many individuals relate how a memory of a praying grandmother, a Sunday School teacher, or a verse of scripture was remembered later in life and used by the Lord to turn that person to Him.  Edith Schaeffer writes that shared experiences of children with godly parents form memories that act as barriers to the child going astray later in life.  The more memories that are built of relationships with godly people, the more experiences of the Lord’s guidance in our lives, the more answered prayers, and the more verses studied and memorized the more quickly we realize that we have gone astray, which should lead to repentance.

Repentance is not merely admitting we are on the wrong course in life and have headed the wrong direction.  Nor is it sorrow for having done so.  It is a change of direction.  If I were to enter the turnpike wanting to go to Kansas City, and instead found myself heading south to Oklahoma City, I may freely admit to myself and others that I was headed the wrong direction.  Still heading south, I may even express sorrow and remorse for having done so.  Neither of the above are repentance.  To repent means to change direction.  As one southern pastor I once heard describes it, we need to take the repentance off ramp, the grace overpass and the restoration on ramp heading in the right direction in our lives.

The act of God in restoration enables us to remember, guides us into repentance and provides restoration.  Our Lord is the Good Shepherd, a specialist, if you will, in restoring sheep that have gone astray.  Psalm 23:3 relates, “He restores (literally turns back) my soul.  He guides me (literally drives me) in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.”  He does this, then, for the sake of His name.  His name, YHWH, means the becoming One who becomes all we need Him to be.  To be true to His name, He will seek, save, and restore.  “For this is what the Sovereign LORD says; I myself will search for my sheep and look after them.  As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep.  I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness. (Ezekiel 34:11-12)  There is no location so remote, no path so treacherous, and no depth so deep that our Shepherd will not find us.  And we can be assured, that once restored by our Shepherd, we can again walk in His ways and be pleasing to Him.

“May the God of peace, who through the blood

of the eternal covenant brought back from the

dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of

the sheep, equip you with everything good for

doing his will, and may he work in us that which

is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to

whom be glory for ever and ever.  Amen.”

Hebrews 13:20-21

In Christ,

Richard Spann

I will hasten and not delay to obey

your commands.

Psalm 119:60

 

It was about twenty five years ago when Lorne Sanny gave a brief talk on how this verse had impacted his life.  We were at Glen Eyrie, and a small group had gathered in the dining hall after breakfast.  He shared examples from his own life of how the Lord had taught him to “hasten and not delay.”  Although I have not remembered any of those specifically, I have remained impressed over the years with the need to hasten to obey the Lord’s commands.

The scriptures list various responses to the Lord’s commands.  One of these is to say no.  The Old Testament is filled with the stories of His people and leaders who refused to walk in the way of His commands.  Even His own prophet Jonah initially said “No” to the Lord’s command to go to Nineveh.

We see a second response to the Lord’s command at one point in the life of Moses.  He initially attempted to negotiate with God concerning His command.  The Lord said to him in Exodus 3:10, “So now go.  I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”  Moses’ initial response was “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” (Exodus 3:11)  In Exodus 4:1 Moses answered “What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘the Lord did not appear to you?’” and again in Exodus 4:10 it relates that “Moses said to the LORD, ‘O Lord, I have never been eloquent; neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant.  I am slow of speech and tongue.’”  Finally in Exodus 4:13 we read “But Moses said, O Lord, please send someone else to do it.”

The third attitude we see in scripture is to delay obeying the Lords commands.  This is seen in Joshua 18:3.  “So Joshua said to the Israelites:  ‘How long will you wait before you begin to take possession of the land that the LORD , the God of your fathers, has given you?’”  Perhaps the clearest example of this is found in Luke 9:59.  “He said to another man, ‘Follow me.’  But the man replied.  ‘Lord first let me go and bury my father.’”   In the middle eastern context, we realize that what he was actually saying was to let him live with his father until his father was a ripe old age, and had passed on, leaving the inheritance to the son.

I have discovered in my own life that the longer I delay responding to the prompting of the Holy Spirit, the less likely I am to obey.  If I say “I’ll do it next week,” when I am able to do it today, that is delay.  Sometimes that delay may extend into a few months.  I recall a young man in our neighborhood who was looking for a small group Bible study to attend.  One was not immediately available and I delayed answering his request for a few months.  When I did visit with him later, he had found another group to meet with, one which was leading him away from the truth of the scriptures.  Delay resulted in a missed opportunity.  Colossians 4:5 states “Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time, for the days are evil.”  Part of walking in wisdom is hastening to do God’s will.  His will may involve simply writing an encouraging note, calling a friend, taking someone to lunch, or visiting a friend in the hospital or care home.  The Holy Spirit may be prompting us to reconcile a relationship, to pray for a need, or to share the gospel with an individual.  I well recall Lorne’s illustration of the time he left a relative’s home, realizing that this person did not know the Lord.  He was prompted by the Holy Spirit to consider two questions in regard to the presentation of the Gospel to this man.  “If not me, then who?  If not now, then when?”  Lorne then promptly returned to his home and shared the gospel with him.  In all of the illustrations given above, I have been prompted by the Holy Spirit.  In some situations, I have hastened.  In other cases where I have not hastened, the opportunity has been lost.

I am challenged by the Scriptural accounts of situations where there has been hastening to obey.  One of these is Abraham’s obedience in Genesis 17.  When told by God that circumcision was to be the sign of the covenant between Abraham and his descendants with God, he did not hesitate.  He did not ask for the opinion of others, and he did not ask for plan B.  It says in verse 23, “ On that very day Abraham took his son Ishmael and all those born in his household……and circumcised them, as God told him.”  We also read in Genesis 22:2 “Then God said, ‘Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah.  Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.’”  What was Abraham’s response?  The next verse continues as follows, “Early the next morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey.”  Even though Abraham did not understand God’s method, he hastened to obey.

We also see hastening to obey to Gods commands in the life of Moses.  In Numbers 1:2 we read that on the first day of the second month of the second year after leaving Egypt, God told him to take a census of the whole Israelite community by their clans and families, listing every man by name, one by one.  I am afraid my response would have been “Are you kidding? Do you know how long that will take?”  Moses’ response, however, was the following.  In verse 18 we read “and they called the whole community together on the first day of the second month.”  He did not delay and began this momentous task that very day.

To hasten in our response to the Holy Spirit’s direction in our lives not only prevents missing opportunities to serve the Lord, it also enables us to draw into closer fellowship with Him.  In hastening, we train our hearts to be attentive to His leading.  Our spirit learns to listen, and to wait.  In our reading, our study, and in our prayer we learn to anticipate the Holy Spirit’s direction in our lives.  As His Spirit speaks to our spirits, then, let us hasten to obey His voice.

 

In Christ,

Richard Spann

Pull the fat end down so that it is twice as long as the skinny end.

Cross the fat end over the skinny end and bring it behind, up,

and through and down the loop at the top, around the back of the

of the opposite side, up through the loop and down, bringing it across

the front of the lower part of the loop around behind, up, through, and

down the front behind the horizontal loop in front.

Leroy Eims

On several occasions I recall Leroy commencing his talk with the above statement.  He would then ask if everyone understood what he said, repeat it, and again ask if anyone would be able to do what he had told them to do. (In case you don’t recognize it, these are the instructions for tying a Windsor knot in a necktie!)  Everyone, myself included, had no clue where to begin.  His point was obvious.  We need not only to tell people what to do, but we need to show them how to do it.  A friend of mine with whom I meet regularly was describing a man he knew who grew up having a poor relationship with his father.  His statement was, “He told me what to do, but he never taught me.”

In the spiritual life it is all too easy to simply tell someone what to do, not realizing that they have no clue how to do it.  One man with whom I started meeting a few weeks ago is a new believer.  He was told to read the Gospel of John, but had no clue how to read the Bible.  He had floundered through the first few chapters with no concept of how to approach the Bible when you read.  No one had mentioned to him the benefit of asking questions such as, “What does this say about God?”, “About myself?”, “About our relationship?”, What are His desires for me?”, or “What are His promises?”  No one had suggested approaching the Bible using the words of Paul in Acts, “Who are you, Lord”, “What do you want me to do?”  There are, of course, many ways to approach reading the Bible, but he had been shown none of them.  Next week we are starting with John chapter one and reading it together.

Another young man with whom I meet had never had an opportunity to learn how to study the Bible on his own.  The simple introduction of approaching the scriptures from the viewpoint of observation (what does it say), interpretation (what does it mean), and application (what does it mean to me) was greatly encouraging to him in his understanding and application of the scriptures to his life.

In his book, Every Man a Warrior, Lonnie Berger relates the reasons that people don’t have quiet times.  The first reason he lists is that “No one ever taught them how to have a quiet time.”  It is a skill that needs to be developed .  Others need to be shown how to have a quiet time.  It requires personal individual attention and accountability.

Perhaps no other area suffers from the lack of instruction as much as that of evangelism.  We are often challenged from the pulpit to be involved with others, but there is seldom any personal demonstration of what this should look like.  It took me some time to realize this personally in my own life.  Having seen the necessity of this demonstration, my wife and I began to be involved with other couples in the area of evangelism.  We began to pray with them for their friends, help them to invite others into their homes and showed them how to open the scriptures to others in a non-threatening environment.  We had learned to teach, not simply tell.

As individuals disciple others, time is spent together in prayer, in the word, and sharing with one another what is happening in their lives.  The Holy Spirit continues to use this example, equipping them to do the same in the lives of others.  They are not simply told to disciple others.  They are doing for others what has been done for them.

Most of us are familiar with the term “show and tell” from its use in Grade School.  The students bring an item of interest to the class and not only “tell” others about the item, but they “show” how it works.  We in our lives need not only to “tell”, but to “show.”

Our lives must be a model of what we want to teach.  We must live up front and personal with those to whom we are “showing” spiritual truths and skills.  The Apostle Paul was a model of how to “show and tell.”  He states in Philippians 4:9 the following, “Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me-put it into practice.  And the God of peace will be with you.”  It is my prayer that our lives would model what we teach in such a way that others may “put it into practice” as well.

In Christ, Richard Spann

Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in

His wonderful face, and the things of

earth will grow strangely dim in the

light of His Glory and Grace.

 

The words of this song, known and sung for many years, are a continual reminder of where our focus needs to be during our earthly pilgrimage.  They remind us of the verse in Hebrews 12:2.  “Looking unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith, who for the  joy set before Him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”  Our spiritual gaze directed always to Him accomplishes in a significant measure the work of God in our lives.  As II Corinthians 3:18 describes, “But we all with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.”  Our enemy, Satan, knows this better than we do, and daily provides opportunities for us to turn our eyes, to look, and to behold that which is destructive to our lives.  Broadly summarized, these are three in number.

The first of these is to turn our eyes in such a way as to look at our circumstances.  When we look at these in such a way as to behold them, one of two things invariably happens.  If they are favorable, and we are satisfied with them, we are in the danger described in Hosea 13:6.  “As they had their pasture, they became satisfied, and being satisfied, their heart became proud and they forgot me.”  If they are unfavorable, our response may be that of Habakkuk in Chapter 1:2-4.  “How long, O LORD, must I call for help, but you do not listen?  Or cry out to you “Violence!”  but you do not save?  Why do you make me look at injustice?  Why do you tolerate wrong?  Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and conflict abounds.  Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice never prevails.  The wicked hem in the righteous, so that justice is perverted.”  To behold unfavorable circumstances and dwell on them leads to discouragement and/or depression.

Similarly, if we turn our eyes on others, we see the same pattern.  Observe the words spoken in Luke18:11.  “The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself; God, I thank you that I am not like other men-robbers, evildoers, adulterers-or even like this tax collector.  I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.”  Because of the pride of his heart, he was not justified before God. (Luke 18:14)  If our eyes are turned to others, we may, in contrast to the above, enter into the experience of Asaph, described for us in Psalm 73.  “But as for me, my feet had almost slipped; I had nearly lost my foot hold.  For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.”  (Verses 2-3)  “This is what the wicked are like-always carefree, they increase in wealth.” (Verse 12)  “When I tried to understand all this, it was oppressive to me.” (Verse 16)  Asaph suffered from discouragement of his spirit because his eyes were turned toward others.

Thirdly, the same results are produced in our lives when we turn to look at ourselves.  Daniel 4:30 records the words of Nebuchadnezzar moments before he was driven from his kingdom to eat the grass of the field.  “He said, Is not this the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence, by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty?”  Looking at ourselves may also have the opposite effect, as recorded in I Kings 19:4.  “He came to a broom tree, sat down under it and prayed that he might die.  I have had enough, LORD, he said.  Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.”  Elijah was physically exhausted, alone, and after contemplating his condition became depressed in his spirit.

If our eyes are turned in such a way as to behold and contemplate our circumstances, others, or ourselves, it can lead only to one of two outcomes; pride or discouragement/depression.  Both are destructive forces which war against our walk with Christ.  It is only with our gaze firmly beholding Him that the things of earth grow strangely dim.  It is only then that we are are able to live in the light of His Glory and His Grace.

In Christ,

Richard Spann

Lord, I am convinced that you are able to take

care of all these problems by yourself, and I will

ask you to do that.  If there is anything you want

me to do, just prompt me and I will do it.

–Lorne Sanny

 

Years ago, when Lorne was the International President of the Navigators, he would sometimes arrive at his desk in the morning and find a stack of problems involving the Navigator ministry across the world which had been placed on his desk.  In his recounting of those times, he would name the countries one by one, and briefly describe the situations.  Many were serious, some involving the health and safety of the Navigator representatives, while others related to the ministry difficulties of various ministry sites.  He related that some were so complex that it was difficult to know where to begin.  It was then that he would pick up the stack, pray a simple prayer as noted above, place it back on the desk, and then go about his daily tasks.

About 15 years ago, I was afforded an opportunity to bring seven other men with me to spend four days with Lorne at Glen Eyrie in Colorado Springs, Colorado.  It consisted of some group sessions, teaching, prayer, as well as each man having individual time with Lorne.  In one of the sessions, we were asked to write down on a sheet of paper everything that was troubling us at the time.  Lorne asked that we examine every care, all the knowns and the unknowns, the fears of today and the uncertainties of tomorrow. We had an hour to do this, and the list grew longer the more we thought about our lives.  When we had finished, he said to write down several verses at the top of the sheet, one of which was characterized by I Peter 5:7, “Cast all your anxiety on him, for he cares for you.”  We then were asked to go through these cares one by one, turn the care over to the Lord and then cross it off our list.  I remember that to this day.  Lorne was leading us to do what he had learned to do daily in his life.

We need to be convinced that the Lord Is able to do for us what needs to be done.  We need to ask based on our knowledge that He is also willing to do what is needed.  Doubt in both of these areas is common to all of us, but I am encouraged by the New Testament examples of those who had these doubts.  In Mark 9, we read the story of a man who was not convinced that Jesus could help.  He said, “But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.” (Mark 9:22)  The second man had doubts about whether Jesus would help.  His statement was as follows, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.” (Mark 1:40)  What I find so encouraging about these men is that they brought their problems to Jesus, even though they had doubts.  Though our faith in His power or willingness may not be complete, it should not prevent us from coming to Him.

Lorne’s simple prayer ends with the remark, “just prompt me and I will do it.”  This implies listening and responding, hearing and doing, waiting and then working.  It is the attitude of Isaiah when in the 6th chapter, he declared, “Here am I, send me.”

Though few of us have international responsibilities, we all have problems and concerns that are placed on the desk of our lives.  These include family, vocational, financial and personal concerns.  Some pass with time, while others seem to grow and never go away.  We never reach a point in life where there are no cares for ourselves or others.  These cares and anxieties are there for a reason; that we learn to take everything to Him.  It is in doing this faithfully that we grow in dependence upon him.  Our independence drives us away from Him.  Our dependence drives us to Him. It is in that act of trust and abandonment to Him that we grow in our knowledge of Him.  We come to know Him as Jehovah-Nissi, the LORD our banner, the One to whom we can look continually in prayer and be triumphant over everything that assails us.  It is in our dependence upon Him to act that we learn that He is Jehovah-Jireh, The LORD will provide, the One who will provide for ourselves and others.  Our life with Him now, and in all eternity will consist of growing in our knowledge of Him.  We are all given opportunities daily to grow in this knowledge of our LORD.

Based on Lorne’s example from his life, then; each care, anxiety, and concern should be brought in dependence to the Lord.  It is this attitude of dependence that pleases Him.  The Lord delights to meet our needs; however, the supreme matter to our lives is not that these issues be resolved.  That is of lesser importance.  The supreme matter is that in so doing, we may see the hand of the Lord; that we may come to know Him more deeply, love Him more completely, and worship Him more perfectly.

In Christ,

Richard Spann