Fighting for Faith - Pt 3

Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken. (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 ESV).

The second suggestion in the Fight for Faith is to find a friend to remind you of the truth. Depression gets you stuck inside your head. Your brain becomes a swirling mass of half-truths and distorted perceptions. Up seems down; truth seems stranger than fiction. It’s impossible to think straight. It’s like looking upside down in a hall of darkened mirrors. During these times, we need someone to tell us the truth. Not in a corrective way or as an exhortation, but simply as an anchor. We need someone to remind us of the truth. Even when it doesn’t feel true, and it usually doesn’t, we need that friend who simply won’t let go. Even when we feel doomed, we need that special friend who helps know God is with us and He loves us. The world may let go, but God won’t. Did you know that just twenty minutes in the sun can do wonders for the darkened brain and the sunken soul? If you’re depressed, one of your greatest temptations is to shut people out. That’s understandable. It’s really hard to let people into the cage of your life. But you need someone to gently remind you of what’s real; you need a faithful friend to walk through the valley of depression with you. When your friend speaks the truth to you, it gives you something to grab onto. In the moments of darkness, don’t believe what your mind is telling you. Believe the words of your faithful friend. When you are alone then it is hard to see where you are going. You need someone beside you to help you go in the right way. And it is hard to get up when you stumble and fall. Our reading is not just speaking here about marriage. It is true that if you have a good marriage, then your wife, or your husband, should be your best friend. But this applies to everybody. We all need a good friend. This passage applies also to the single people in our midst, and to the widows and the widowers. We all need a good friend who will help us when we are down. The Bible teaches us that the Lord our God is our help. And so that goes without saying as we go through our daily lives. The Lord God is our help in everything. However, as the frightened little boy said in the midst of the thunderstorm, “Dad, I just need God with skin on.” A faithful friend is essential in the fight!

Fighting for Faith - Pt 2

If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,” even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you. (Psalm 139:11-12 ESV).

So, let’s be more specific today. If you’re depressed, how can you fight for faith? How can you believe while also stumbling through the dark? The first suggestion is to distinguish between fact and feeling. One truth I have come to realize is that most of the time in the midst of my depression, my feelings have zero connection to reality. This is a vital key to understand when you’re in the morass of mental illness. This is not to say that depression is not real. The pain and darkness are very real. However, we must recognize that we feel bad because something is seriously wrong with our body. We feel bad because our brain is rebelling, not necessarily because everything is really going to pieces. Reality is outside of our broken brain. It is defined by God’s word. It’s solid. If I try to process my life or circumstances through the dark lens of depression, I will be terrified. Depression turns our brain into a swirling mass of half-truths and distorted perceptions. If you’re depressed, it can be dangerous to evaluate anything in your life. Don’t scrutinize your circumstances or friendships or prospects for marriage. I can assure you that you will misinterpret reality. Instead, let me suggest that you defer those issues or decisions to God by thinking, “I’m leaving that to God for now. I’ll think about it later and trust him to handle it.” God is good. He is faithful. He loves you even though you don’t feel it. He can handle your life even when you can’t. Remember, faith is not a feeling. Faith is believing that God will do what he said, even when it doesn’t feel like it. I can guarantee that when you’re depressed, it won’t feel like God is faithful. But that feeling simply is not true. Don’t believe it. John Calvin, the great reformer was acutely sensitive to the imperfect feeling of our faith. He said that true faith “clings so fast to the inmost parts that, however it seems to be shaken or to bend this way or that, its light is never so extinguished or snuffed out that it does not at least lurk as it were beneath the ashes” (Institutes). Like David prays in our reading today, our faith may often slip away from our sight, but it does not slip away from God who gave it in the first place. Separate your feelings from the truth. You will have taken a large step in applying the spiritual portion of the solution to your depression.

Fighting for Faith - Pt 1

Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. (1 Peter 5:7-10 ESV).

There are those times in our lives when things just look dark. In fact, I have often heard it said that depression is like wearing tinted glasses. It is as if everywhere you look, things look dark, bleak, black, hopeless, and we feel helpless. I want to be very clear at the outset of these next few days of Morning Devotionals. Depression is a physical affliction. Neurons and synapses fail to fire properly, leading to chemical imbalances in the brain. These imbalances cause the depressed person to feel awful, like their entire world is a raw catastrophe hovering over the depths of despair. However, I also want to point to the truth that this emotional disease has a spiritual dimension. Depression is not the result of poor choices. It does not invade our psyche as a result of the consequences of sin or failure on our part. That being true, we should not dismiss the truth that when everything is a catastrophe, it’s easy for our faith to falter and stumble. Depression causes a person to feel only gloom and despair, no matter what they’re thinking. At least a part of the equation for overcoming our depression is found in the application of faith in our lives. That is not to be understood that other treatment, including medication and counseling are not necessary in this fight. They typically are vital as a part of the treatment plan. However, we cannot minimize our faith in the treatment either. Normally, the prescription for faith is somewhat straightforward. We read the promises of God, let them diffuse throughout our hearts, and then embrace them fully. As we embrace these promises, our faith rises. When we have more faith, there is often a physical feeling of encouragement and hope. But with clinical depression (and most other forms of mental illness), things don’t work quite that way. Depression usually causes a person to feel only gloom and despair, no matter what they’re thinking. Filling your mind with God’s promises is necessary, but it doesn’t usually alter the way you feel. It’s like having a migraine. Believing God’s word is essential, but it won’t typically take away the migraine. So, over the next few days I’m going to be pointing to a few things that will strengthen your faith. My hope and prayer is that it will be a vital part of your overcoming depression in any of its forms. I am not going to say, “Just believe God more.” But I am going to help you see how you may begin to “contend” for your faith. Fighting for faith does indeed make a difference. Today, commit yourself again to the fight!

Daily Devotions

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. (Romans 12:1-2 ESV).

I have been writing Morning Devotionals for over twenty years now. I can assure you that I did not wake up one morning and think, “I need to write a devotional for publication every morning.” It began with a simple request from someone about a passage of Scripture they wanted to understand a bit better. I communicated my opinion by email. That email was sent to others by the first person to write to me. They began to send their questions, and soon I found myself writing to several dozen people on a regular basis. That soon became more time consuming than I could afford. As a solution I offered to simply write my personal devotions into a format for them to read each day. Those few people grew into a list that numbered in the thousands all over the world. Today, it is read in nearly every state in America, South America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. I never intended to write for all those folks. I have always just written what I was finding in my devotions. Funny how God does stuff like that. So, that brings me to the reading for today. It is a central passage in my life. Transformative living is the desire of God for each of us. That is accomplished by the renewing of the mind. And, that is done through daily devotions. The discipline of daily meditation and prayer are vital. It is the conduit for the exercise of our soul. We exercise our bodies to increase strength and endurance, promote general health, and keep unnecessary weight off. Devotions are like exercise for our souls. They force our attention off of self-indulgent distractions and pursuits, and on to God’s purposes and promises. If we neglect this exercise, our souls will not be strong and healthy. And, like exercise, it’s okay if there was no special spark in your Bible reading today. In fact, ordinary devotions are a good thing. And, a thorough, repeated soaking in the Bible over the course of years increases our overall biblical knowledge, providing fuel for the fire of worship and increasing our ability to draw from all parts of the Bible in applying God’s wisdom to life. So, my hope and prayer for you today, whether you’ve been with me on this journey from the beginning, or this is your first experience with my personal spiritual workout plan, relish each moment. Cherish the truth that you’ve gotten stronger, even if it doesn’t seem so. God is doing a work in us that ends in eternal perfection!

Now, That's Just Funny!

A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. (Proverbs 17:22 ESV). I must confess to enjoying some of the humorous posts I see on social media. This morning as I was posting the day’s issue of Morning Devotional I scrolled to one particular post from a friend who notoriously regularly posts satirical humor. My response is typically, “Now, that’s just funny!” And, I mean that with much more emphasis than is possible to communicate within the confines of the sterility of a Face Book response. So, I also, posted a response gif of a baby laughing so hard that they fell over (https://tenor.com/view/laugh-laughing-baby-die-laughing-gif-14156799) . I’m sorry y’all; once again, that’s just funny! The Scripture is full of funny stories even though it is not generally regarded as a humorous book. And, if my life is any gauge of the level of God’s humor, He is funny! Maybe that's because humor doesn't always travel well, in time or space. The Bible was finished almost two thousand years ago, in languages and cultures that are strange to us. Therefore it shouldn’t be surprising that we miss some of the cues. And of course, we're conditioned to that “not-a-humorous-book” approach. However, since the Bible itself says, “a merry heart is good medicine” (v. 22a), let me give you some good medicine today. When the writer of the death of King Jeroham recorded his demise, he said, "He passed away, to no one's regret" (2 Chronicles 21:20). I’ve been to a lot of funerals, and I’ve officiated at many more, you would never say that today, even if it were true. That’s funny! And what about David when he pretends to be insane before Achish, king of Gath, to avoid being returned to Saul. Achish says to his servants: "Am I so short of madmen that you have to bring this fellow here?" (1 Samuel 21:15-16). C’mon, that's funny. The prophet, Elijah, is fond of sarcasm, too. His great contest with the prophets of Baal over which God could light his own sacrifice – a pretty comical idea in itself – sees him mocking them (cf. 1 Kings 18:27) with the suggestion that he might be on the lavatory, though politer translations tend to obscure this point. I've always enjoyed Balaam’s conversation with his donkey (Numbers 22: 21-30). I can't believe that the words: "Am I not your own donkey? Have I been in the habit of doing this to you?" were written with a straight face. And then there's Jonah. Not only was he thrown into the sea and sucked up and spit out three days later, the inhabitants of Nineveh wouldn't perish in fire and brimstone after all. They actually repented. The image of the prophet sulking under the shade of a vine because God spared the people is just priceless. Then when "God provided a worm, which chewed the vine so that it withered", the comedy is complete: all this, and sunstroke too! Now, that’s funny! Proverbs is a goldmine of humor, not all of it very politically correct: "Like a gold ring in a pig's snout is a beautiful woman who shows no discretion" (Proverbs 11:22); "Better to live on a corner of the roof than share a house with a quarrelsome wife" (Proverbs 21:9). Oh, there’s lots more. The point is simple today. Live a little, laugh a lot. Laughter is good medicine. And, after all, our end is heaven with our Eternal Father! And, that’s no joke!

Strange Truth

Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.” Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.” When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.” (John 11:38-44 ESV).

Have you ever noticed random references as you scroll through various sites to “Weird Facts from History”? Sometimes they simply tease you into visiting their site with a strange reference to something reported to be true from the past. Well, I decided I’d visit one of those sites as I wrote today’s devotional. I found this picture of a gravestone monument belonging to Russian comic actor and clown, Yuri Vladimirovich Nikulin. He was also the theatrical manager of the old Moscow Circus which is now referred to as Nikulin Circus in his honor. He was also awarded the title of People's Artist of the USSR in 1973 and Hero of Socialist Labor in 1990. He underwent emergency heart surgery in 1997, and unfortunately, did not survive it. He was buried in Novodevichy Cemetery. While that is strange, it certainly is not as strange as our reading today. The portion I’ve selected is from a larger context of the death and burial of Lazarus, the brother of Mary and Martha; and, a good friend of Jesus. Jesus is not far away from Bethany when the news arrives that his friend is very ill, near death. Jesus delays going to Bethany until after he dies; that is strange in itself. And, upon his arrival, four days after Lazarus’ death, He is greeted by the grieving sisters. Martha, being the more dominant of the sisters, is angry. Jesus asks to be taken to the tomb and says, “Take away the stone.” She responds with an explanation that it has been four days and the deterioration of the body would be very unpleasant. Jesus’ response is kind, but insistent. Jesus speaks and Lazarus comes out of the tomb alive! Here’s the strange part. He is still bound by the grave clothes he was buried in! Now, I don’t know if he hopped, shuffled, floated, or stumbled. What I do know is that Jesus made a very important point. While it is possible for Him to raise the dead, that is not the goal. His goal is resurrection! And, that is what He has won for us in the Cross!

A Classic

According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw—each one's work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. (1 Corinthians 3:10-13 ESV).

Well, today is my 70th birthday! The picture I’ve chosen is that of a fully restored 1949 Chevrolet DeLuxe Fleetline 2-Door Sedan. When it first came off the assembly line, it was originally advertised as: “The most Beautiful BUY of all! A wonderful experience awaits you with this wonderful New Chevrolet.” I learned to drive in a ’52 Chevy, though I can’t remember much about the experience! I supposed that’s simply a function of the passage of time. But, the truth is that time marches on. I realized this morning that it has been 20 years since I was invited to join the AARP and to qualify for senior discounts. I remember the first time I went into a fast food restaurant and the server asked, “Would you like our senior citizen menu?” In fact, just a simple look in the mirror tells me all I need to know about how many years have passed since that “auspicious” day in 1949 (wow, that sounds like a long time ago)! Truthfully, it is merely another day. It is a mile-marker of sorts, but it is only one day older than yesterday. There is something important about having mile markers in life. They force us to stop long enough to measure where we are in life and to assess the true significance of what we are devoting our time and attention to. As I have aged I have learned a bit about things of significance. I wanted to minimize my regrets and maximize my opportunities. Things of long-term significance like my family ought to become more important to me. How I used my resources ought to take on a greater sense of significance. Our reading today is a great reminder. Imagine stepping onto the other side and realizing that we have nothing of eternal worth. Think of looking into the face of Jesus and realizing that the only things we have are the “wood, hay, and straw” of earth-side stuff (vv. 14-15). If we don’t let the markers of life remind us of how close heaven is, we may make the mistake of pouring our lives into the bottomless bucket of stuff that doesn’t really make a difference after all. Thank God for birthdays! They remind us that life is short and that heaven is near!