When I am NOT thinking straight...

One good thing about all the mind-emotion exercises I have done before, it gives me a very good sense of when I am not thinking straight. And at such moments I am able to look at myself as an outsider and evaluate my own words and actions.

Very useful!

Right now I am feeling angry, resentful and frustrated. And though it is really tempting to just use all of that as a justification to do some wrong stuff (as Kent Henry once said, "God, just give me 5 minutes in the flesh, just 5 minutes, I'll...") I am working really hard to not let that happen.

Some things that  help keep me from flying off the handle more often:

Colossians 3:1-4 (NIV) - Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 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.

We have to set our hearts and minds on things above in order to live in the reality of the new birth, the new life that is ours in Christ Jesus. Don't expect God to just zap you into the new life, and hope that you will just wake up the next morning with a renewed mind and a pure heart.

Doesn't happen that way!

We have to deliberately set your mind on heavenly matters. One simple and practical way to do that: take time out to read the Scriptures aloud. If you read silently your mind might drift, but when you read the Bible aloud, and take a few times through the same passage, you will end up giving the Word of God some attention. Our fleshly nature rebels against the discipline, but since when did living by the flesh give us spiritual results?

How about the heart? When we set our hearts on things above, that means we surrender the right for our emotions to run rampant. People tend to go into extremes. They either let their emotions run amok and cause them to say and do stupid things, or they are so afraid of their own emotions that they are not able to acknowledge them or face up to them. When we set our hearts on things above, we choose to value heavenly things. And also we find that the things of the earth will lose their hold over our minds and emotions.

Psalm 73: 25-26 (NIV) - Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

How do we get to that point? By entering the sanctuary of God, spending time in his presence (Psalm 73:17).

Colossians 3:5-10 (NIV) - Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.

Many people want to put to death what belongs to the carnal nature. Sin loses its appeal to the child of God over time. But few of them understand that God does not intend for us to start at this. We cannot put to death what belongs to the carnal nature until we first set our hearts and minds on things above. God has a pattern, a divine template for holiness for us to follow. We cannot expect God's kind of results if we do not submit ourselves to doing things his way, right? And even Paul cannot let go of the topic. When he tells us not to lie to each other, it is based on our status as born-again children of God. He cannot drop the topic.

Obviously it must be very important!

Colossians 3:11-14 (NIV) -  Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all. Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

We are God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved. If you have difficulty walking right in the Kingdom of God, that is because you have forgotten this: We are God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved. Take a few minutes right now and really speak it to your soul. Say "God has chosen me, I am holy and dearly loved!" Say it until you actually start to believe it...

Many of us feel a strong resistance to saying that, because of our lives. We know we aren't the sort of people we ought to be, as children of God. We know God is compassionate, but we often aren't. We know God is kind, but we often aren't. We know God is patient, but we often aren't.

But it is okay!

Take those virtues and put them on as clothes. When we begin, they are NOT a part of us. Come on, no one expects you to be your shirt, right? Likewise we need not expect ourselves to be compassionate and kind. We just need to put them on as clothes, something we wear for the sake of spiritual decency and to cover our flesh

Important: all this comes AFTER verse 1-4. We can do all this only AFTER we have set our hearts and minds on things above. Respect the divine order God has set. If we don't do what comes first, we can NOT do what comes after. We may be able to keep it up through sheer will-power, but after months of not getting enough sleep, or yet another crisis or disappointment, your will-power will run out.

That's when the flesh shows!

So if you want to be able to live right even when you can't think straight (like me right now), make the time and effort to set your heart and mind right. Don't wait till crisis hits, usually by then it is too late. Nobody starts building the foundations in the midst of the storm, not wise!

And if you want some accountablity in your Scripture time, do consider joining me at my Faceboook Group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/approved.workmen/ which I also call 2 Tim 2:15. You will see where I am in my Bible-reading plan for this year, as well as any immediate thoughts that are too big for Twitter and too small for a proper blogpost. Commit yourself to posting up what you have read from the Bible, and you will find that you do better at keeping up with it.

OK, that's it for now. I have typed more than usual (because I am too tired to edit properly) but I just want to get it all off my chest. Hope my ranting is of some help to you in some way.

Be blessed!

Like Water in the Morning

I drink a cup (or two) of water every morning, before I take breakfast in any form.

I gulp it down as I wait for the water to boil and I get my kids ready for school. I read in passing that the body is dehydrated and all that water will help to flush out toxins, waste matter and all that. *shrug* Maybe that helps explain my kid-like face after all these years?

Whenever I drink the water, I feel like it’s a clean slate, a fresh start to the day, as if all my dietary transgressions of yesterday have been wiped out. I’ve now got today to eat right. Over the past year or so I’ve grown very careless with my diet. Because I am usually traveling around all day for work, I end up eating fast food, sometimes even up to 5 times a week. It’s not good for me, and I know it. So the morning water is a symbol to me, that maybe, just maybe, today is the day I can start getting things right?

Likewise, sometimes we need spiritual symbols to tell us the same thing, that our sins and failures of yesterday (and last week, last month, last year and so on…) need not hold us back today. Today we have a clean slate, a fresh start with God, so maybe today is the day we can start getting things right?

Lamentations 3:22-24 (NIV) - Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning;  great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.”

Because God himself is faithful to us, we have hope. We can believe that God can rescue us from the pit that we are trapped in, whether it’s bondage to sin, tribulations or other stuff.

Lamentations 3:55-57 (NIV) - I called on your name, O LORD, from the depths of the pit. You heard my plea: “Do not close your ears to my cry for relief.” You came near when I called you, and you said, “Do not fear.”

God’s compassions towards us are renewed every morning. That is true even in the midst of afflictions. But we need to be deliberate in recalling his mercy and his faithfulness. The passage in Lamentations 3, just before the first Scripture we looked at, say:

Lamentations 3:19-21 (NIV) - I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope.

When we are suffering, remembering the suffering is easy. It grips our minds and our souls relentlessly. People can end up addicted to drugs or alcohol during such seasons, because all they want is some temporary relief from remembering the pain. It takes deliberate and disciplined effort (“This I call to mind) to remember the goodness of God. We see this in the Psalms too, where the psalmist has to force himself to hope in God.

Psalm 42:11 (NIV) - Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.

Notice how the psalmist speaks firmly to his soul here? In my personal experience, it is not enough to just think happy thoughts, or even holy thoughts. I had to open my lips and speak to my soul.

What is our reason for hope and courage?

Lamentations 3:24 (NIV) - I say to myself, “The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.”

Say it to your soul right now, “The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.” Say it again. And again, until you really believe it!

What happens when we know the LORD is our portion? We experience his presence and are open to being guided by him. We know we have a glorious destiny in him. Our desires for the temporal things of this world fade and our hearts are strengthened. Consider this:

Psalm 73:23-26 (NIV) - Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand.
You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory.
Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you.
My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

Conclusion:
If you are facing a tough season, whether from external trials or your own internal struggles with sin, may I be the bearer of unpleasant news? You won’t feel better, you won’t get stronger, the problems won’t go away, without YOU rising up and taking charge over them. Your soul, your emotions, will NOT settle down unless you do something about them. And the “something” I am talking about here is NOT numbing your soul with drink, TV or K-pop videos on Youtube. 

I’m talking about speaking the Word of God to your soul, remembering the goodness of God and his faithfulness. If the troubles are heavy, you should even look for regular times during the day when you will habitually remind yourself of God’s compassion and faithfulness. For example, I have tied in certain household chores with my daily confession of Scripture. You can do the same, you just need to find daily events or moments to meditate on the Scripture.

And the good news is, when you take charge over the problems, to shake of the despondency, the guilt and condemnation, the hopelessness and depression, your spirit starts rising up. Your courage and hope starts to seep into your mind and heart. You realize that you can have peace even in the midst of the storm, you can rejoice even during the trials.

Be blessed!

Like Beasts That Perish

I've got a confession to make.

 

This season, I've been quite unbalanced in my Bible consumption. The only passages I am studying this season are from the Psalms (because I want to make sure I stay in the Psalmic flow in my worship ministry) and on the good stuff, like health, wealth and protection.

So you can guess I was quite taken aback when out of nowhere, the words "like beasts that perish" keep ringing in my spirit. When it stayed for more than a couple of days, I flipped over to the Psalm where it came from, Psalm 49. And I found something interesting.

First, this phrase is used to describe all men.

Psalm 49:12 (NIV) - People, despite their wealth, do not endure; they are like the beasts that perish.

Psalm 49:16-20 (NIV) - Do not be overawed when others grow rich, when the splendor of their houses increases; for they will take nothing with them when they die, their splendor will not descend with them. 

Which leads us to the question: who are those who have no understanding?

Psalm 73:21-22 (NIV) - When my heart was grieved and my spirit embittered, I was senseless and ignorant; I was a brute beast before you.

In the New Testament, we see that false teachers too are like the beasts that perish. Why?

2 Peter 2:10-12 (NIV) - This is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desire of the flesh and despise authority. Bold and arrogant, they are not afraid to heap abuse on celestial beings; yet even angels, although they are stronger and more powerful, do not heap abuse on such beings when bringing judgment on them from the Lord. But these people blaspheme in matters they do not understand. They are like unreasoning animals, creatures of instinct, born only to be caught and destroyed, and like animals they too will perish. 

They follow the cravings of their fleshly nature and despise (make light) of authority. The telling sign is that they blaspheme (Strong's #987, Blasphemeo, to rail at, revile, to speak evil of) in matters they do not understand. In other words, they don't hesitate to talk trash even when they don't know the people or the issues involved. 

They are also ill-disciplined, in fact, Peter refers to them as slaves of depravity (2 Peter 2:19) because depravity rules over them. I know it is fully possible for believers to be caught in the entanglement of sin and addiction. That does not automatically mean that they are like the beasts that perish. If they are humble, and are wise enough to hold their peace when they do not understand a matter, that means that they still have hope, because of the wisdom that still remains and is still working within them.

But if their lives are messed up and they are STILL arrogant, we have a problem here!

When Jude talks about people who are like beasts, the words are strikingly similar to Peter's:

Jude 8-10 (NIV) - In the very same way, on the strength of their dreams these ungodly people pollute their own bodies, reject authority and heap abuse on celestial beings. But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not himself dare to condemn him for slander but said, “The Lord rebuke you!” Yet these people slander whatever they do not understand, and the very things they do understand by instinct—as irrational animals do—will destroy them. 

In this day and age, I come across a number of children who are both ill-disciplined (no habit of delayed gratification) and quick to revile, condemn and insult. A few weeks ago, I saw a little girl, who could have been no older than five or six years old, arguing with and insulting her mother in public. That girl even went as far as to actually strike her mother on the arm a few times, at least until she noticed my furious glare from a few metres away.

God is my witness, I was only seconds away from shouting at her hard enough to probably traumatize her for life. It was only the presence of the mother that kept me from exploding, since I knew It would be a horrible loss of face for the mother should I act as if she was incapable of disciplining her daughter and I (a total stranger) have to take over.

(by the way, I was just talking with Jess last night about facing demon-possessed people. He said I was fierce enough to frighten away demons … face-palm moment!)

After a while, the mother noticed me and remarked "Hey, aren't you the keyboardist from [my old] church?" That was more than ten years ago. And that meant that this lady was also a believer. Yet her daughter turned out like that…

Ill-disciplined and blasphemous people are on the rise in today's society. It is therefore the responsibility on us Christians to:

• Pray for our children 
• Model the right behavior (to be self-controlled and respectful) for them

… lest they, like too many I've seen, end up like the beasts that perish. The Bible does hold out hope for them, since we are told to: 

Jude 23 (NIV) - … save others by snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh. 

But won't it be a lot easier to keep them from descending to such depths in the first place? Just some food for thought... 

Psalm 49 ends with this sobering truth:

“People who have wealth but lack understanding are like the beasts that perish.”

It’s not just about them, it’s about us. When we envy wrongly, when we resist discipline, when we rail at what we don’t understand, we live no differently. But God’s call is higher: to walk in wisdom, humility, and understanding. That is what separates a child of God from a beast that perishes. 

Every time we let ourselves be corrected, every time we silence envy, every time we choose restraint instead of impulse, we rise above being beasts and walk in understanding. May God find our hearts and actions befitting his elect people, chosen and delightful in his eyes

Be blessed!

Spiritual Denseness and Dullness

One thing I struggle with this season is this sense of being spiritually dense, as if I am not hearing God as well as I ought to. Because I believe God is still planning good in my life, I'm trying not to let myself get too frustrated over it. But it does make me curious about being spiritually dense. What are some of the reasons people cannot hear clearly from him?

Asaph, one of the psalmists, had a struggle with this too.

Psalm 73:1 - Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart.

Amen, brother! Preach it!

Psalm 73:2-3 - But as for me, my feet had almost slipped; I had nearly lost my foothold. For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

Huh? I don't think I understand…

Psalm 73:4-5 - They have no struggles; their bodies are healthy and strong.
They are free from common human burdens; they are not plagued by human ills.

Are you sure?

Psalm 73:6-12 – Therefore pride is their necklace; they clothe themselves with violence.
From their callous hearts comes iniquity; their evil imaginations have no limits.
They scoff, and speak with malice; with arrogance they threaten oppression.
Their mouths lay claim to heaven, and their tongues take possession of the earth.
Therefore their people turn to them and drink up waters in abundance.
They say, “How would God know? Does the Most High know anything?”
This is what the wicked are like— always free of care, they go on amassing wealth.

Hold it there, Asaph. I'm getting the feeling that you are just generalizing here. You might see a few wicked prospering here and there, no denying that, but you make it sound like they ALL prosper. Are you sure that is what you really mean?

Psalm 73:13-14 - Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure and have washed my hands in innocence. All day long I have been afflicted, and every morning brings new punishments.

What I always thought was that we keep our hearts pure and our hands clean so that we may ascend the mountain of the LORD (Psa 24:4) and be in his presence. What does the prosperity of the wicked have to do with it? Were you thinking that keeping a pure heart and clean hands would ensure the speedy downfall of the wicked? I don't think it works like that!

I can see that you are troubled, Asaph. It looks to me like it's coming more from holding on to your expectations, that the world has to immediately confirm to YOUR idea of justice and reality, rather than what it actually is…

Psalm 73:15-16 - If I had spoken out like that, I would have betrayed your children.
When I tried to understand all this, it troubled me deeply

It's good that you restrain your words in front of the children of Israel, so that you do not stumble them. What I suspect is that you are trying to 'understand' all this based on your perspective, rather than the Word of God. And personally, I sometimes find that even the Word of God doesn't get through my thick skull when my emotions run amok. I think the best thing to do is…

Psalm 73:17 - till I entered the sanctuary of God; then I understood their final destiny.

Oh never mind, Asaph! I see you figured it out yourself.

Psalm 73:18-20 - Surely you place them on slippery ground; you cast them down to ruin.
How suddenly are they destroyed, completely swept away by terrors!
They are like a dream when one awakes; when you arise, Lord, you will despise them as fantasies.

Notice a 180 degree change in perspective after entering the presence of God?

Psalm 73:21-24 - When my heart was grieved and my spirit embittered,
I was senseless and ignorant; I was a brute beast before you.
Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand.
You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory.

This is one of my favourite promises in the Bible. It humbles me and exalts the goodness of God at the same time. It humbles me by reminding me that no matter how spiritual I think I am, I can easily fall back into being a senseless and ignorant beast before God. And yet even then God is still with me, he still holds me and guides me. His faithfulness and patience humbles me, moves my heart and brings me to repentance.

And let's not forget the later glory he has waiting for us!

Psalm 73:25-26 - Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

I've seen people quote this verse and try using it to preach people into desiring and longing for God above the things of this world. But I seldom see them preach it in its context. "Earth has nothing I desire besides you" is NOT a command from God. It’s a statement from Asaph AFTER he has entered the sanctuary of God. In other words, you can fulfil this verse ONLY when you are in the presence of God.

Final Observations:

First, envying the wicked and becoming spiritually dense seem to come together. I discovered this when I recently went through it myself. Which comes first and causes the other? I can't say for sure. But what I CAN say is that if you find yourself envying the wicked, check to see if your spiritual senses are dulled also.

And quickly run into the sanctuary of God before the bitterness that follows (Psa 73:21) has enough time to take root and defile you (Heb 12:15)!

Second, this entire Psalm, coming from someone as spiritually mature as Asaph, is a reminder that I will need to regularly enter the sanctuary of God to restore my vision and sensitivity towards God. Therefore, I have to guard that very jealously. I cannot let condemnation keep me from seeking God when I am by myself, and I cannot let offences with others keep me from seeking God when I am in the congregation of his people. To let being offended (or "disappointed", as the pseudo-spiritual would say) with other people keep me from the presence of God is foolishness and childishness to the highest degree.

Anyway, these are my thoughts and impressions from this Psalm. I hope that something from this would edify you and encourage you in the Lord. Be blessed!

Recognizing Arrogance

This is the question I received via email.

"Should we recruit experienced worship leaders and musicians who would like to join our worship team from another church which we know they possess arrogance and think that they are better than the leaders of our church?"

Looking at the question, I think the answer is simple: No. Have nothing to do with arrogant people, but rather avoid them. Truly arrogant people cause more damage than they are worth. But how would we recognize people who are arrogant?

What I experienced with my life is this: because I am confident in many things (or at least look confident) and can express my viewpoints strongly, insecure people find me threatening. And they therefore accuse me of being arrogant. That's OK, because it's less dangerous to me than the people who feel threatened by me and hide it until one day they just blow up at me out of nowhere.

That used to happen to me often at one of my previous day jobs. Even though I was so low in the company hierarchy that practically anyone else in the staff could get me fired, I intimidated my immediate manager unknowingly, not by arguing or threatening, but just by how I carried myself day-to-day. So my manager didn't give me the immediate feedback I needed to do better, he just held his feelings in check until he finally blew his top…

So, how do you tell if someone is confident or just arrogant? There are 3 signs to look out for.

1) How they talk to other people:

Psalm 73:6-8 (NIV) -Therefore pride is their necklace; they clothe themselves with violence. From their callous hearts comes iniquity; the evil conceits of their minds know no limits. They scoff, and speak with malice; in their arrogance they threaten oppression.

Arrogant people show their true colors in their words. Their words are threatening (as in the above passage) and boastful.

Psalm 75:4 (NIV) - To the arrogant I say, 'Boast no more,' and to the wicked, 'Do not lift up your horns.

The arrogant use their words to attack the righteous (Psalm 31:18) and mock them (Psalm 119:51). They would tell lies (Psalm 119:69) in order to falsely accuse the righteous (Psalm 119:78). In contrast, the confident feel no need to attack other people in order to make themselves look good.

2) How they treat other people:

Exodus 18:10-11 (NIV) - He said, "Praise be to the LORD, who rescued you from the hand of the Egyptians and of Pharaoh, and who rescued the people from the hand of the Egyptians. Now I know that the LORD is greater than all other gods, for he did this to those who had treated Israel arrogantly."

This passage tells us that God sees the way Pharaoh treated the Israelites as arrogance. The Israelites were subjected to forced labour (Exo 1:11) and their newborn sons were mercilessly killed (Exo 1:22). Why were they so harshly abused? Probably because Pharaoh did not think the Israelites had a God that he was angering with his behaviour (Exo 5:2).

Arrogant people see others as resources to exploit or as threats to be neutralized (Exo 1:10-11), rather than people with the same needs and wants as they have. When you see someone treating others only as resources ("he has money to give me, she can help me get my dream job") or as threats ("I better make sure the boss won't give him MY promotion") you know you have an arrogant person right there.

3) How they respond to instruction and correction

Nehemiah 9:16 (NIV) - But they, our forefathers, became arrogant and stiff-necked, and did not obey your commands.

Nehemiah 9:29 (NIV) - You warned them to return to your law, but they became arrogant and disobeyed your commands. They sinned against your ordinances, by which a man will live if he obeys them. Stubbornly they turned their backs on you, became stiff-necked and refused to listen.

Sometimes arrogant people put on a façade to get what they want from others. That's why it can be hard to recognize them at times. Here is one more sign of an arrogant person: he or she does not accept teaching or correction.

Watch how a person behaves when given teaching or correction. If he or she accepts it humbly or expresses any disagreement with you in a peaceable way, you know this person is not arrogant. However, if this person despises your words or suggestions, or totally ignores them, you know you have a problem right there.

Conclusion:

You do not need to have arrogant people in your worship team. In fact, it is better to keep them out. If you truly embrace worship ministry as participation, rather than performance (http://invisibleworshipmusician.com/article01.htm), you'll find that you do not need very musically skilled musicians to serve in your church. In my experience it is possible to prepare adults (with no music background) to play keyboards for church within 3-9 months. That's because worship music that works is not technically difficult.

But if you want to keep them out of your worship team, you'll need to be able to recognize them. You'll also need to make sure you don't reject confident people by mistake! Try these guidelines for recognizing arrogant people and let me know how they work for you?

Be blessed!