robwilkerson.net

Life sucks. But God rescues. So all I have is today. And all I have is You, God.

Monday, October 17, 2011

There are some hours...days... weeks... months... years... and perhaps even decades where one may feel that there is just not enough rope left to hang on. Hanging on for wife or husband, for kids, for income, for house and home...pretty much anything... seems so challenging and completely overwhelming that if one more bad or sad thing happens, the rope will break, and you are gone. I know I've had those hours, days, weeks, months, years. I'm still observing whether or not the decade-long part applies yet.

For most people who profess to follow Jesus, there's an insane amount of crap that just seems to happen to us. Life happens to us. And many times, life sucks. It's a no-brainer. And it's all too easy to succumb to the naivete of the "victorious Christian living" seminars, workshops, DVD's, MP3's, and churches where a concept of Christianity is preached and taught, which keeps telling us that everything is gonna be alright, and that we are gonna make it big, or hit it rich one day. Much of it amounts to a self-esteem con. We get pumped about who we are, who we're supposed to be, what we're supposed to be able to do. And then it all flops. We're in trouble. We're in debt. We're in the poor-house. People hate us. We get fired. Our car breaks down. Our kids rebel. The deal doesn't go through. Whatever. You fill in the blank. You know what I'm talking about.

So what do you do when life sucks? What do you do when the victorious Christian living campaign falls through leaving you dumped on? I've come to remember four simple truths that help me make it through the day. Or...at least...make it through most days. I certainly don't "make" it through some days, and I think you know what I mean by that. I'm alive, of course. But making it to bed each and every night so that I feel just super-dooper, great and awesome about my day? Well... that just doesn't happen all the time. So here are four simple truths I've learned after forty years of living, and almost two-thirds of those years trying to follow Jesus.

1. Life sucks. Jesus taught us in Matthew 18:7, "What sorrow awaits the world, because it tempts people to sin. Temptations are inevitable..." In John 16:33, Jesus also taught, "...Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows..." I have learned the simple truth that life is what it is. Life is not always what you make of it. It is often what the world wants to make of it, since Jesus says the world tempts you. And it is also what others make of it, since the world is filled with fallen people bumping and crashing into each other causing conflict, chaos, and crisis. So, while it is a truth as true as any other that "Life Sucks!!!" it is also a truth as true as any other that Jesus has overcome the world. The full context of John 16:33 actually reads this way: "I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world." Peace while living on this planet does not come in this world or the people in it. And that includes you. Peace on this planet comes only in and through Jesus. "That you have have peace in me." Why? Why is it only in Jesus? Because Jesus is the only one who has "overcome the world." You can't do it, because if you could, you'd have already done it. Only Jesus can overcome the world. And only Jesus has already overcome the world. That was what the cross was all about.

2. But God rescues. Do you know why Mary and Joseph named their son, Jesus? Well, of course it was because the angel told them to. But do you know why the angel told Mary and Joseph to name their son, Jesus? Because of what the name Jesus means. In Matthew 1:21, we are told that the angel said, "And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." Jesus' name means salvation from sin. The Hebrew equivalent to Jesus is Joshua, or Yeshua, which essentially means salvation, rescue, and deliverance. Jesus is our rescuer. He is our deliverer. His very name means that. Names meant something back then. And when people called you by your name, it implied something. It said something about who you are, or at least what your parents dreamed you to become. In this case, Jesus' heavenly Father dreamed something real and significant about Him that has come true. Jesus is a rescuer, a savior, and a deliverer. And the only people who need rescuing, saving, and delivering...last time I checked...are people in trouble! The only people who need a Savior, are people who need saving. And the only people who need rescuing, are people in trouble. And the only people who need deliverance are people who are trapped. In short, Jesus rescues only those who know life sucks, and feel the pressures of life upon them.

3. All I have is today. Jesus taught us in Matthew 6:25-34 "That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life--whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn't life more than food, and your body more than clothing? Look at the birds. They don't plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren't you far more valuable to him than they are? Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?...These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs..So don't worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today's trouble is enough for today." I am not promised tomorrow. I have no earthly idea what could happen tomorrow. I am finite. I live trapped in a fixed place in space and time. God does not, however. He lives outside space and time. This means He knows tomorrow. And because He is God, nothing will happen tomorrow that is somehow outside of His plan. So all I have is today. All I have is right now.

4. All I have is You, God. If all I have is today...and all I have is right now, then all I have is God, right? I mean, if He has tomorrow planned...and even today planned...then all I have, and all I need is God. When life sucks, you can say with the Psalmist, "Then I pray to you, O LORD. I say, 'You are my place of refuge. You are all I really want in life'" (142:5). He also said, "The LORD is my rock, my fortress, and my savior; my God is my rock, in whom I find protection. He is my shield, the power that saves me, and my place of safety" (18:2). Then there's this statement, "You are my rock and my fortress. For the honor of your name, lead me out of this danger" (31:3). The Psalms go on and on like that. No doubt, you remember one of the most famous Psalms, "The LORD is my shepherd. I have all that I need." Did you catch that last phrase? "I have all that I need." If you need anything at all, God already knows what you need, and HE is your greatest need. And if you have Him, then you also have promised all the other needs that you have (see also Rom. 8:32).

Life sucks. But God is your rescuer. All you have is today. And all you need is God. Pray that back to God today. Each phrase is biblical...well, sort of. No doubt, it's slang. But, it's true. It's a good modern rendering of the truths you just read in God's Word. So pray them...out loud...back to God...and especially with each other. These are truths which help strengthen, encourage, and build each other up. These simple truths are what the simple kingdom is supposed to be all about.

About the Author: Rob is a church-planter and entrepreneur in Statesboro, GA. He and his wife Sherri have been married for 18 years and together have three sons and a daughter. Rob believes the mission of the gospel is summed up in four simple phrases: know God, obey Jesus, make disciples, and plant churches. This is the pursuit of his life, as well as the point of his blog.

childlike faith

The Gift of Tongues as a Glorious Display of the Gospel (Part 4)

Sunday, June 28, 2009

Part Four: Faith

It wasn't too many years ago that I recall my youngest child, Kirk (now seven), huddled under a homemade blanket fort with his biggest brother, Harrison. There was whispering. And more whispering. But I couldn't quite make out what they were saying, as I tried to do a little parental eavesdropping. Eventually, Kirk emerged, put his hands on his hips, standing there in his underwear with a cape wrapped around his neck, and began to say repeat some strange mantra about being a superhero. It was absolutely hilarious! Sherri and I looked at each other wondering, "where in the world did he hear that?!"

A pattern of very funny, witty, laugh-til-you-cry moments and statements have followed those days that leave my wife and I in the same side-splitting condition, laughing til it hurts. But it didn't take long to figure out that it had a source. Big brother.

Harrison, five months away from being fourteen now, knew the power of comedy in team work. He knew little Kirk had the personality to make us laugh. All it took was the feeding of a few words, phrases, or ideas into his little wired brain, and there was a recipe for an overload of mirth and enjoyment.

Those days are beginning to wane now. We miss them a lot. But the memories serve as a wonderful illustration of the gift of tongues. You see, I believe the gift of tongues requires three things that flow from the gospel and the work it produces in the life of a Christian: the faith of a little child, the absence of inhibitions, and some coaching. Let me try to explain.

Child-Like Faith

Jesus was pretty clear about what kind of mindset you've got to have to follow Him and be a Christian. He told the disciples in Matthew 18:2-6,

Jesus called a little child to him and put the child among them. Then he said, "I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven. So anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven. "And anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf is welcoming me. But if you cause one of these little ones who trusts in me to fall into sin, it would be better for you to have a large millstone tied around your neck and be drowned in the depths of the sea. (NLT)

Mark records another conversation similar to this one.

One day some parents brought their children to Jesus so he could touch and bless them. But the disciples scolded the parents for bothering him. When Jesus saw what was happening, he was angry with his disciples. He said to them, "Let the children come to me. Don't stop them! For the Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children. I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn't receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it." Then he took the children in his arms and placed his hands on their heads and blessed them. (Mark 10:13-16, NLT).

I love these passages! And I think that it is to the detriment of my 21st century, westernized, American mindset of intellectualism that I have lost a sense of what this means. I tend to make things too hard, too complex, too complicated, too difficult...all unintentionally, of course. This spills over into my walk with Jesus. And most believers I've talked to about this subject of child-like faith would say the same as well. Oh, that it would be as easy to follow Jesus as it would have been if I were prepubescent!

There's such a gentle, pliable, moldable mind when as a child. The world is new. The brain is ever learning, putting things together, reasoning, figuring things out. Curiosity is normal and abounds more than the average parent would like (since most of us can't remember that far back so as to have a little more patience, perhaps!). The world is a wonderful, exciting, brilliant place for a kid.

Jesus took children in His arms to bless them and use them as an example of what it mean to come to Him. You see, people were making it hard and complex to follow Jesus even in those days! That's just what the Pharisees and religious leaders of Jesus' day were doing...."They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger" (Matt. 23:4, ESV).

Coming to Jesus as a little child means coming to Him in simple faith and trust, believing what you hear Jesus promise, doing what you hear Jesus say, going where you hear Jesus go, saying what you hear Jesus say. It's all so simple. A child seeks to please his parents, and a child-like Christian seeks to please His Lord. A child seeks to imitate his parents, and a child-like Christian seeks to imitate Christ. We've made it so hard. But the gospel is so easy to grasp, and Jesus' burden is so light to carry. Let the weary come to Jesus just like children come to momma's lap when they are tired. The gospel is simple!

The gift of tongues is part of the package of the gospel. That doesn't necessarily mean that if you're saved you've got the gift. Paul made it clear in 1 Corinthians 12:30 through a rhetorical question that not all speak in tongues. But what about those who do? And what about those who want to?

Well, if the gift of tongues is part of the package of the gospel (as indicated in earlier posts on this subject), then receiving the gift of tongues and practicing it is much like receiving and practicing the gospel. Both are done through child-like faith.

We receive Jesus with a simple faith and trust, and we speak in tongues with a simple faith and trust...speaking what the Spirit utters in us and through us, in some ways like my oldest used to do through my youngest. There's a simple faith and trust that doesn't have to understand or process intellectually what's going on, but just to follow and do as you're told to by the Holy Spirit. I believe that's inherent in a child-like faith which Christians must return to in order to enjoy all the beauties and rest Jesus offers to those with such a mindset, including the gift of tongues

If adults make things hard, they make the gospel hard, and they make tongues hard also. Tongues flows out of the gospel of grace, because it is a grace-gift from the Father to encourage and build up His children. Tongues is rooted in the gospel because it is used by the Spirit to confront unbelievers and in some ways serve to prepare their hearts to come to Jesus. My point is that the gift must be kept simple in our understanding…a gift received and used in child-like faith.

Seriously, I've met some brothers and sisters who want a linguistic analyst present during a tongues speaking moment so they can record what's being said, run it through their audio linguistic library, compare samplings, and determine whether or not what they are hearing is a real language, and if so which language or dialect is it. Then and only then will they be prepared to give their official conclusion as to whether or not the tongue is a real language.

Come on! I realize that there are many, many counterfeits out there, all spawned by Satan at some point to confuse saints. Mix the bad with the good and who can tell the difference when it all sounds similar! And I could cite some interesting facts to balance the scales.

According to Ethnologue, for example, there are currently 6,912 living languages, defined as languages that people speak today. This same catalogue also distinguishes about 39,491 alternate language names and dialects. Interestingly, the part of the world with the highest level of linguistic diversity is Papua New Guinea. The region has approximately 830 languages for around 5.4 million people. That's about one language for every 6,500 residents. Ethnologue also reports a total of 238 languages in the United States, 162 of which are "living."

Isn’t it more than possible…perhaps probable…that a Christian, operating in child-like faith, filled with the Holy Spirit, speaking in tongues, is speaking one of these 6,912 living languages people speak today?

But a child trusts implicitly, doesn't he? Can he be fooled! Of course! But isn't there also an innate sense of what you can trust and what you can't? And when Jesus has captured a child's heart and mind through the Spirit, there's an anointing work that begins to teach a child what is right and wrong, and build supernatural discernment in them (1 John 2:20, 27). A child doesn't care about analyzing linguistic samples. They just want to talk!

And a child-like Christian doesn't worry about that either...they just want to talk in tongues! Why? Because they believe that what they are receiving is from the Holy Spirit. They implicitly trust that what they are saying is from the Holy Spirit.

The Lack of Inhibitions

This leads to the second thing I recall in those humorous encounters with two of my boys a while back. There's this inherent lack of inhibition operating in their minds. My little Kirk wasn't scared at all to jump out from that blanket fort in his superhero underwear. (Incidently, when I asked my oldest years ago why he used to do the same thing, I'll never forget his response..."Dad, all superheroes wear their underwear on the outside of their pants!") Zero inhibition! Even running around outside....in the underwear...wearing dish washing gloves...and swimming goggles to serve as a mask to hide the secret identity. It's all rooted in a lack of inhibition. They were just having fun and that was all it was about.

Too many Christians have too many inhibitions. They are built slowly over time, almost always out of fear, gathered in our journeying through our various cultures and backgrounds. People are scared, mostly of what others will think of them. Or they're scared they might get something wrong...or that they'll make somebody mad. Inhibitions seems to be rooted in the fear of man.

I believe that many inhibitions are also rooted in a lack of understanding who we are in Jesus Christ. He is our measuring stick....not someone else....not even the most incredible super-Christian we've ever met or seen or heard. What the Father thinks about us is all we need to worry about. He sees us like Jesus. And as sons and daughters of Jesus, we're more than conquerors! We are invincible ultimately! We are spiritual superheroes and heroines!

The Christian who knows beyond a shadow of a doubt who they really are in Jesus cannot be held back. They do things that other people think are crazy, laughable, stupid, ridiculous, unwise, shameful, ignorant, and foolish. But that doesn't stop them. Oh for child-like faith! It knows no inhibitions!

As Christians we're gonna have to work a little harder at finding and getting rid of our inhibitions. Start by drinking deeply at the well of Scripture, reading who God says you are in Jesus, what you've been given in Jesus, what will happen to you because you are in Jesus, what God has promised to do for you in Jesus. Then, start shedding the inhibitions you notice that seem to hold you back from being who you really want to be. When this happens, not only will speaking in tongues be no problem for you, but nothing else will be too.

Oh sure, you'll appear to be foolish...much like the pompous adult who looks down their nose at the silly little child. "Oh, my! They’re so cute and silly. Now shoo! Go away little child and play!" she snorts. Sort of like the disciples shooing away the children from Jesus, eh?

But Jesus welcomes the child, picks her up, blesses her, and uses her as an example. Of what? Of a lack of inhibition in coming to Jesus regardless of what others think! They see Jesus and know instinctively that He's a good God who loves them and wants to bless them. So they run toward Him.

I'm advocating here that this mindset, when it controls us, will free us from all that prevents us from speaking in tongues, where God has so gifted. We will see Jesus and Jesus alone, and in an overwhelming desire to glorify Him and see Him more, our hearts will surrender our minds to the control of the Spirit in such a way that He begins speaking to us and through us in languages and sounds and words and phrases and concepts that are all very confusing to Him...but are very upbuilding for the saints around.

A Little Coaching

Finally, my memories of earlier years remind me also of the coaching that went on. My oldest, coaching my youngest, bringing him back into the blanket fort to tell him other things to do that would make Sherri and I laugh. On and on it went in order to please us and humor us!

The Spirit operates in this way, it seems, in the gift of tongues. He's already living within us. He's already guiding us into all truth, teaching us and reminding us of what we learn from Jesus in the Scriptures. He's interceding for us, praying for us when we don't know how to pray as we should (typical of most children, right?). And He speaks through us with tongues of men (and angels?).

I know for me personally, when I was baptized in the Holy Spirit, I was praying with my eyes closed. And there was this sort of marquee that ran along the bottom of whatever I was seeing, with English letters spelling things I didn’t understand...but I spoke them anyway! God knows what they are!

It still happens pretty much the same way for me today. It will just sort of trigger sometimes, usually while I’m praying, and sometimes then when I’m in corporate praise and worship on Sunday mornings. Though some would accuse me of being too childish in these things, I'm child-like enough in my faith that I truly believe the Spirit is doing that in me and to me, and that He wants me to speak what I see, saying it out loud, for all to hear, fearing no man, speaking things mysterious to me...because I trust Jesus.

That’s how the Spirit coaches me personally in the gift of tongues. He does it differently in Christians, some who speak in tongues only once…and some who can speak at will. I don’t claim to understand it all, cause I can’t! But the Spirit is there…seemingly coaching me and other believers, to speak the praises of Jesus Christ…much like He coaches me in remembering the Scripture I’ve memorized and meditated over (John 14:26)…much like He coaches me through guiding me into all truth (John 16:13)…much like He coaches me in praying on all occasions (Eph. 6:18).

Conclusion

The child-like faith required to come to Jesus is a gospel-driven, child-like faith. It simply believes in a simple message. That simple belief in a simple message produces more simple faith to speak what we believe we are being told to speak. And the simple message produces simple faith to believe what the Father has said about me and who I am in Jesus, so that it doesn't matter what people think about me. I'm secure in His love, and therefore secure in His working...especially through the gift of tongues.

Life sucks. But God rescues. So all I have is today. And all I have is You, God.

The Gift of Tongues as a Glorious Display of the Gospel (Part 4)

Translate

Search This Blog

Background

Charismatic Issues

Gospel Series

Other Series

My Best Reads

Blog Archive

Labels