Purity

The thoughts and words written here are taken here explicitly from Disciplines of a Godly Man by R. Kent Hughes. He wrote a beautiful chapter on purity, and I thought it needed to be shared. It applies more to men, but women can take something from this as well, I hope. I took quotes from the chapter and inserted some of my own thoughts to season it up a little bit. Hope you are challenged and encouraged.

We live in a culture that sweats sensuality from its pores. In 1988, Leadership Magazine and Christianity Today polled their readers (likely college-educated church leaders, elders, deacons, Sunday school teachers and directors) and found that 1 of 8 pastors had committed adultery while in the ministry and 1 of 4 non-ministers had committed adultery. I can only imagine what the number is today some 22 years later.

Sensuality is one of the biggest obstacles to godliness in our day (and throughout all of history). David was a man after God’s own heart and was the mighty hero-leader of God’s people, but found himself far from the heart of God for a time in his life. If you do not know the story of David and Bathsheba, check out 2 Samuel 11. Hughes points out a few steps that led to his fall.

Desensitization – David had taken many wives, which was a sin against the commands of God in Deuteronomy 17. David had allowed a progressive desensitization to sin and a consequent inner descent from holiness take root in his life. David’s collection of wives, though it was ‘legal’ and not considered adultery in the culture of the day, was nevertheless sin. King David’s sensual indulgence desensitized him to God’s holy call in his life, as well as to the danger and consequences of falling. David’s embrace of socially permitted sensuality desensitized him to God’s call and made him easy prey for the fatal sin of his life. Men it is the ‘legal’ sensualities, the culturally acceptable indulgences, which will take us down. The long hours of indiscriminate TV watching and the expected male talk filled with double entendre and course humor are lurking culprits of desensitization.

Relaxation – David had taken relaxation from the rigors and discipline which had been apart of his active life. He was at midlife and had military prowess checked off the list. His relaxation extended to his moral life and left him vulnerable. Men, when we do not have a mission or explicit purpose to our lives (and our individual days) then we fall prey to the enemy’s schemes. Just when we think we are the safest, when we feel no need to keep our guard up, to work on our inner integrity, to discipline ourselves for godliness—temptation will come!

Fixation – David found himself in tough spot on the roof of the palace – catching a glance of a beautiful woman bathing. But his glance did not stay a glance, and he allowed himself to linger. He should have retired to his chamber, but he did not. Dietrich Bonhoeffer made the observation that when lust takes control, “At this moment God…loses all reality. …Satan does not fill us with hatred of God, but with forgetfulness of God.” David had allowed God to fade from the bright hues he once saw him in to a blurred image of an old sepia photograph.

Rationalization – When David had taken the next step to wards adultery, one of his servants tried to dissuade him, but David would not be rebuffed. Some massive rationalization took place in David’s mind. The mind controlled by lust has an infinite capacity for rationalization.

Degeneration (Adultery, Lies, Murder) – David’s progressive desensitization, relaxation, fixation, and rationalization set him up for one of the greatest falls in history—and his degeneration. One night led to birth of a child out of wedlock, lies to cover this up, deception, murder and subsequent consequences for generations. Men, we must understand that David would never have given more than a fleeting glance to Bathsheba if he could have seen the shattering results. I believe with all my heart that few, if any, would ever stray from God’s Word if they could see what would follow. The will of God for our lives is purity. Why?

“Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy”     - Leviticus 19:2

The Biblical command on our lives for purity, holiness and righteousness is explicit, necessary, and for our good. Some beautiful Scriptures that deal with this are: 1 Thessalonians 4:3-8, Job 31:1, Proverbs 6:27, Mark 9:42, Ephesians 5:3-7 and 2 Timothy 2:22.

Hughes offers a number of ways to ‘train yourself to be Godly’ (1 Timothy 4:7) and to put out some ‘holy sweat.’ Accountability with other men who understand your sensuality from the inside out, whom you can be completely honest with, and with whom you can be sharpened by. Prayer for the purity of your friends as well as enlisting them to pray for you. Memorization of God’s Word – The psalmist said, “How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word” (119:9). And, “I have hidden Your Word in my heart that I might not sin against You” (119:11). The discipline of the mind is important. Men, it is impossible for you to maintain a pure mind if you are television-watching ‘couch potato.’ Hughes also encourages placing hedges in your life to protect against temptations and attacks.

Hughes ends the chapter by exampling Joseph and Potiphar’s wife. When tempted with her, Joseph was divinely aware of the presence of God. “How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?” –and he fled.

“Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart” (2 Timothy 2:22)

In order not to become part of the negative statistics, and more importantly to honor and please our Father by obedience to His word, will we seek holiness in the area of purity? Will we be willing to put out some disciplined sweat? Are we men enough? Are we men of God?

Waiting

In buying decorations for my apartment, I wanted to have many scriptures on the wall. I bought this beautiful painting of an old dock extending into a smooth-as-glass lake surrounded by some mountains at sunset. The following scripture is inscribed at the top.

“Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for Him.”         - Psalm 37:7

There is a lot of Christian mumbo jumbo that is tossed around out there. Some of these phrases are sprinkled into conversation like Hanny puts salt on chips at Café Del Rio. However, when I really listen to fellow believers talk, I wonder if we really know what we are talking about. One phrase in particular that I have often wondered about is ‘waiting on the Lord’ or ‘resting in the Lord’. I guess in principle I understand what it means, but it has just come up so much recently in my life that I want to know what I mean when I say that.

Even the most casual reader of the Bible has most likely come across this phrase. David and other psalmists refer to waiting on the Lord, or being patient, or entering His rest or being still and waiting. James talks about it in the New Testament as well as Paul. God created a specific day just for resting and waiting on the Lord called the Sabbath, which has little significance in most Christians’ lives today including mine but was the most important day of the week to the Jews and Hebrews. So what is waiting on the Lord? I am not so much writing this to explain this truth, but more to have a chance to study God’s Word and seek wisdom from Him.

This past year I spent about 6 consecutive months reading five chapters from Psalms and one chapter from Proverbs every day, which allowed me to read through the entire books once a month. I was at a time in my life where I was seeking comfort, peace, and wisdom from God. I gravitated to these books because of the wisdom, but also because of the character of David; a man after God’s own heart. Now, truthfully David was as jacked up as the rest of us, if not more. He had many triumphs on the battlefield and in the mind, but also had as many dark valleys and struggles. In the Psalms, he goes from praising the faithfulness and majesty of God in one chapter to outright questioning God asking, “Why have you forsaken me?” I think that is why I love to read the Psalms. I see those quick changes of heart in myself as well. I go from unshakeable to shaken without even realizing it. David reiterated many phrases and words throughout the Psalms and one of those is waiting on the Lord. (Ps. 9:9-10, 25:5, 25:21, 27:14, 31:24, 33:20-22, 37:7, 40:1, 62:1-2, 62:5-8 – these are just a sampling of the ones that I have underlined in my Bible)

What exactly does waiting encompass? What exactly am I supposed to be waiting for? How long do we wait, before we act? What is God’s purpose is making us wait?

Waiting is teaching us that God is ultimately moving and acting for His names sake, not ours. (Psalms 25:11, 79:9) If I truly understood this, then waiting on God would not feel so burdensome. The true Christian also knows that he is utterly helpless and desperately needs God to act, because anything he does without God will fail.

Waiting is teaching us perseverance and discipline. (James 1:2-3, Romans 5:3-5) Waiting happens over a period, and thus has a sense of perseverance and discipline in it. Waiting on the Lord involves patience and trust. People, who wait and rest well, have the right perspective and heart. They know that God, our great Father, is working and moving even when we do not see or feel Him.

Waiting is teaching us that we are small and He is big.

Waiting is not being idle. Waiting has a sense of seeking in it and these two ideas are often paralleled in David’s Psalms. Waiting is not inactivity, but a change in activities. Waiting involves much laboring in prayer and daily laying down our requests before Him. God seems to desire that we learn to submit control completely.

Waiting does not involve anxiety or worry. Waiting encompasses all that it is to trust, just as the birds trust in God for their daily food. Waiting is teaching us to trust in God through the good and the bad.

In many ways, the entire Christian life is waiting; waiting for our Savior to come back for us. The true Christian realizes that this world is not our home, because we are not in a perfect, redeemed relationship with our God as we will be in heaven. (John 17:3) Therefore, we wait with eager expectation for the day that He returns and redeems those whom He loves. Not only should we wait for the big things, but also for the daily bread and aching desires of our hearts.

Waiting is hard for me, especially in our day of instant gratification. I confess I do not know what true perseverance is. I confess that my heart is easily turned away from God, when I feel that He has forgotten me or is not listening. I confess that I quickly abandon Him when I do not understand His purposes instantly. I confess that I really do not like waiting on Him to move. I confess that I like to have control over my situation, and waiting forces me release that false sense of control that I have. I confess that I grow impatient and do not trust God. I confess that I often move without waiting on God.

Father, help me to learn to wait on you as I am strengthened in your Word. Father, help to not move until I know that Your presence is where I’m going. Father, teach me to wait and rest in You.

“And He [God speaking to Moses] said, ‘My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.’ And he [Moses] said to Him [God], ‘If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here.’”          - Exodus 33:14-15

Simplicity

I have been enamored with thoughts about our purpose, specifically mine. I have been consumed with thoughts about what God has for me in the here and now and in the future. I have wondered many days about whether what I am doing is what God desires. I have spent many hours thinking and praying about career, real-life, plans, direction and guidance. Yet how often do I complicate my thoughts and the tendencies of my heart with these hypothetical scenarios and misplaced worries? In this complication, have I missed the simplicity of the gospel?

I have deep within me those same longings that you do for the beautiful world around us. I have had that same emptiness that you have. How often have I filled my life with activities, goals, worldly possessions and other junk? I have experienced enough life (yet nowhere near what most of you have nor what Solomon did) to know that these things I try to fill that emptiness are only a temporary fix. In this filling, have I crowded out the necessities of the Christian life?

I have been reading Knowing God by J.I. Packer and he presents some thoughts on the simplicity of our purpose.

“Once you become aware that the main business that you are here for is to know God, most of life’s problems fall into place of their own accord.

            What makes life worthwhile is having a big enough objective; something, which catches our imagination and lays hold of our allegiance; and this the Christian has in a way that no other person has. For what higher, more exalted, and more compelling goal can there be than to know God?”

I have often felt that a job or career will never be enough for me. I guess I do not want to come to the end of my short life only to look back and see that my life has been about nothing more than surviving, in essence. I want some epic cause or noble purpose to lose myself in, not a safe, comfortable job. I want to go to Africa and start an oil company to give away all of the profits for gospel-centered humanitarian aid. I want to quit my job and head to a remote jungle to tell an unreached people group about our God who has come to save us. I want to go to seminary to become a pastor or a church planter. I want to forsake all worldly purposes to get lost in the big purpose that is spreading the fame of our great God.

God, through Packer’s writings and His Word, has awoken my heart to the fact that there is no higher, or compelling goal than to know God and make Him known. Ultimately, no matter the course of life that I find myself on, my purpose remains the same. Knowing God and making Him known. That simple, yet large purpose needs all the room my heart can muster. I want to stand at the end of my life and be able to say that I have known God.

Packer continues to sketch out simply what it looks like to know God and for Him to know me.

“What, then, does the activity of knowing God involve? Holding together the various elements involved in this relationship, as we have sketched it out, we must say that knowing God involves, first, listening to God’s Word and receiving it as the Holy Spirit interprets it, in application to oneself; second, noting God’s nature and character, as His Word and works reveal it; third, accepting his invitations and doing what He commands; fourth, recognizing and rejoicing in the love that He has shown in thus approaching you and drawing you into this diving fellowship.

            There is, certainly, great cause for humility in the thought that He sees all the twisted things about me that my fellow humans do not see (and I am glad!), and that He sees more corruption in me than that which I see in myself (which, in all conscience, is enough). There is, however, equally great incentive to worship and love God in the thought that, for some unfathomable reason, he wants me as His friend, and desires to be my friend, and has given His Son to die for me in order to realize this purpose.”

Will I give everything I have for this? Will I have the discipline to train myself for godliness (1 Tim. 4:7)? Will I allow the grace of God to train me in righteousness and holiness (Titus 2:11-14)? Will I draw near daily, yea hourly, to this Majestic and Holy God (James 4:8)? Will I be transformed by the renewing of my mind (Romans 12:1)? Will I remove the snares of sin and run with endurance (Hebrews 12:1-2)?

It’s pretty simple. Let’s don’t complicate this.

Forgetfulness

“In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other, so that man may not find out anything that will be after him.”    -  Ecclesiastes 7:14

This verse has been underlined in my Bible for quite a while; however, I am seeing it play out more and more in my life currently.

I know that working out in the oilfield is an incredible opportunity for my career and life. I know that I am truly blessed to have a job and to have a good job at that. I know that I should be extremely thankful and joyful that I get to live in Midland, Texas. I know in my head that God has placed me here for His purposes and my refinement, sanctification and good. I know that God is our great Father and does not give bad gifts as promised in His Word. (James 1:17, Luke 11:11-13, etc.) I know that He has ordained each and every situation that I encounter.

But for some reason today, I found myself pouting about life and where I’m at. “if only I was still in College Station…if only I still had this or that relationship…if only I had more friends here…if only I could advance about 6 months, or 2 years, or 5 years or 10 years…if only I would not have done this or that…if only this was easier or better”

I knew coming out here would not be easy or always enjoyable. I knew that it would be a difficult transition from bountiful, solid community to almost non-existent community. I knew that life would not be the same as it had been. I knew that living alone in a new place would have its challenges.

But I had forgotten those truths of Scripture and allowed Satan to creep in and lie to me. “you’re such a failure…you are not going to be any good at this…you’ll never find friends or a wife…you’ll never get this down pat…you’ll never be good enough”

How short-sighted am I? How short is my memory? How deaf do I get to the truth in Scripture? How fast is my heart emptied of passion? The answer to all of these questions is VERY.

How quickly I forget the truth of Scripture in the midst of a small adversity. Solomon reminds us in the verse that our God made this day, and planned out what would go on. He reminds us that He not only made days for prosperity but also days for adversity to remind us of how small and wretched we are without Him, our Majestic and Creative God!

All through Ecclesiastes, Solomon concludes that there is nothing more to this life than to fear God, keep His commandments, and have joy. How often he commends joy in all circumstances.

“Behold, what I have found to be good and fitting is to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of his life that God has given him, for this is his lot. Everyone also to whom God has given wealth and possessions and power to enjoy them, and to accept his lot and rejoice in his toil—this is the gift of God. For he will not much remember the days of his life because God keeps him occupied with joy in his heart.”     - Ecclesiastes 5:16-20

It is cool to think that this person found enjoyment and satisfaction in God, and not his stuff or circumstances. It did not matter to him what went on in his life or how much he had, because he was occupied with joy in his heart, undoubtedly given from God. I am praying right now to be occupied with joy in my heart, especially when I am not feeling it, like right now.

God I pray for peace that surpasses all understanding. I pray for an unwavering devotion to You to be built up in this time of life. Be my everything!