“Truth in Focus—Join a Cause?”
Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven,
Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord
When I kept silence, my bones waxed old
For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me:
My moisture is turned into the drought of summer. Selah.
whose sin is covered.
imputeth not iniquity,
And in whose spirit there is no guile.
Through my roaring all the day long.
I acknowledged my sin unto thee,
And mine iniquity have I not hid.
I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord;
And thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah
(Psalm 32:1-5, KJV)
A righteous soul is one who wants a relationship with God and is willing to
forsake whatever actions or beliefs he or she has, so as to pursue God.
Whatever it takes; whatever I have to surrender to be closer to You, I am willing.
Whether it be a false belief or the idol of my soul, create in me a heart that wants
You above all else. Take from me that which You would; whatever thought or
hindrance to our relationship, I surrender to You. You are my Pearl of Great Price
(Worth). I put it all on the table, withholding nothing from You.
How easy it is for us to get the wrong focus. We get behind a cause—from the
whales, to the underprivileged, to the unborn, our cause defines us. It becomes
the reason we get up in the morning. It becomes the air we breathe. Yet, for as
noble a cause that it may be, it is not God’s cause. You say, “How can this noble
cause not be God’s? Does He not care?” And the answer is, “Of course He
cares, but He cares for one thing more—you. He came, He lived, and He died,
not for all these earthly causes, but for you. You are His cause and all of Eternity
is behind it, and He must become your cause as well. Does that mean we can’t
care about injustices or seek to make changes in society? No, but not at the
expense of your relationship to the Lord. There is no greater good or cause than
to be united by faith to God, to be filled by the Holy Spirit, and to lead others in
their own relationship with God. This cause, unlike all the others, is eternal.
When the world has passed, or your life from it, all the energy and all the toil will
be nothing except for the cause that goes into Eternity.
There are many who believe the Bible is old-fashioned; it has been reinterpreted
and is not accurate; or it doesn’t really mean what it is saying. Most, if not all of
these critics, have never really studied the Bible—I have spent my life studying
it—or if they have, it was from another point of view. The easiest one, especially
for young people, is the agenda, “God is going to use me to change the world.”
Feeling a sense of great importance and urgency, they miss the whole point. The
passion of youth, though sincere, is also sincerely wrong. God wants your heart,
and He wants your heart to want Him first and foremost. This is God’s agenda,
and from this point of view were the scriptures written.
To those people who are seeking to justify a lifestyle or a choice they are making
contrary to what the scriptures teach, I say go ahead. Live your life and disregard
the scriptures as being old and not accurate. God Himself will give you an
answer. For His Holy Spirit will not dwell within a temple that has self on the
throne. He will not live in a soul that puts their desires before His, disregarding
His teachings. You will live a life of “pretend righteousness,” keeping that idol or
thought or way of life that you so value, but God will not be in it. This is a
dangerous game to play with your soul. For on one hand, you think that all is well
because you are happy and have what you want, but on the other hand,
especially as time moves forward and the newness of your compromised faith
wears off, you (God willing) will realize that you left God behind, as you insisted
on redefining or ignoring the scriptures.
And aside from this point, what truly baffles me is how we can think any lifestyle
is going to make us happy? People are people. We are all empty vessels. And
whether it is a relationship or a possession, we become deceived into thinking
that this relationship or possession will fulfill us. And it does for a time, as
mentioned, until the newness wears off or until the person has no more to give.
We start looking for something or for someone else to fulfill us—like spiritual
vampires. It is no person’s job to make me happy, because no one can. We
assign to man what only God can do. That is why I say, “Go ahead, do what you
want, and in time the sincerity of your words will be seen. If you remain in a
lifestyle that is contrary to the scriptures, then you do not truly want God as you
say. If you believe that God is love and loves you, then bringing your life into
submission, although difficult, will have purpose and meaning. Just like a child,
he or she must believe that the rules of the parent are because the parent loves
them. And just because we feel a certain way, does that make that way right?
Since when do my feelings dictate faith? Faith leads until my feelings become
aligned or faith leads regardless. Had I yielded to my feelings through the years,
my life would be a mess right now.
People question saying, “Why is this wrong? It feels right.” This comment only
reveals how immature we are. When you raise a child, do they not do things that
feel and seem right to them? However, as the parent, we must instruct them
even if it means conflict with our child. Until they mature and come to a fuller
understanding, the discipline will not make any sense and quite frankly, it doesn’t
matter, because you must lead. There is a right way, a way that prospers you,
and a wrong way, a way that potentially could harm you. It is that way in the
Spirit. There is holiness, God’s way, and then there is my way. If I want God, then
I will obey Him. If I want what I want, obviously I will not go God’s way and the
fruit of those actions will be mine to bear. How I wish this last statement were
true. My family also pays the consequences. So in disregarding the truth, we are
forcing others to have to deal with the consequences. If you cannot see how
your decisions are wrong, then be honest enough to go to God and pray what I
shared in the first paragraph. And then start with obeying God’s Word. Set aside
your personal opinions. The printed page is safer to trust. I have lived my life by it
for 35 years and have obeyed it even when the voice in my head, especially
when I was younger, contradicted it. The times I did not obey, I lived to regret it. I
know obedience is difficult because we feel as though we are surrendering our
freedom, when in reality we are gaining it, because God’s way is freedom. I am
no different than you. I have a sin nature that wants what it wants, but no one or
nothing can ever surpass the love and peace of Christ. I know that, and therefore
I say no to my flesh. There is nothing I want more than to be close to my Lord
and whatever sacrifice I make is well worth the cost.
For what relationship could ever replace the relationship with the Living God? No
man or woman and no house or wealth could ever compare. And if it does, then
you know your heart is not right. For what thing or person could ever be equal to
Him who inhabits Eternity and is the Creator and Giver of Life? The life of family
and friendship is only accentuated when our lives are in harmony with Him.
The truth of your words to know God will be seen in the sacrifices you are willing
to make. So join a cause, bang the drums, and write your essays, but never
forget that the quiet and sure testimony of a joyful and peaceful life, who knows
the love of his or her Lord, is His cause—a cause He ransomed with His life.
Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven,
Whose sin is covered.
Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity,
And in whose spirit there is no guile.”
(Psalm 32:1-2, KJV)
There is a rhythm to life, and it is found by walking in harmony with Christ.
Walking with Him in reverence and meditation is to have all the benefits of faith.
To do this in part because of some reverence for God is to be blessed in part;
however, to actually submit (come under) and follow the Lord completely is to
have it all.
Move Forward in His Grace – Arthur