How to Be

As I previously shared on this blog a few months ago, on August 28, my husband had a stroke, quite out of the blue.

A close friend, who has been walking through the trial of lung cancer with his girlfriend, visited my husband and me in the hospital. As we three sat and reflected on how quickly our health can change, and thus, life itself can change, and on how we try to navigate it the best we can, our friend sat back and pretty much summed it up with, 

“You don’t know how to be.” 

And he’s right: as the person who must care for and support my husband, and still take care of myself, I didn’t know how to be in this new curve ball life just threw at me. 

And my husband didn’t know how to be as he experienced emotions and limitations he has never before experienced.

The three of us agreed that we learn “how to be” as we go, and even then, the circumstances can change, and so the learning is a constant. 

This morning it occurred to me, as I ponder Christmas and Jesus’ coming to earth, that one of the blessings of Jesus’ coming is that He teaches us “how to be;” not just in crisis, but every day, all the time, in all circumstances. 

And the beauty of a crisis is that, if we haven’t learned it from Him already, we get to learn how to be when the rug is pulled out from underneath us. 

Now some might say they prefer to be ignorant in this. But most would agree that, at minimum, “people learn from their mistakes.” And that, generally, is perceived as a good thing.

The question is, what  do we learn? And if not from Christ, then from who, or what? 

The secular humanist mantra of picking one’s self up by one's boot straps: does that also inform on how to be before one is able to pick themselves up by their boot straps? And what if a person cannot? What if a person cannot pick themselves up?

For many years, I could “learn from my mistakes” by merely being young enough to recover from them! I wouldn’t say I “learned” all that much from my mistakes, which is why I often made the same mistake over and over again. Youth is quite forgiving in and of itself.

And then, as life got on, the mistakes finally caught up with me. And I began to slowly realize that I, in fact, did not know how to be, or how to pull myself up. And that is the best place to be because that has the potential to be the end of the self-perpetuated dead-end road.

If we harken to God’s call, God--who is the One who stands waiting for us at the end of that dead-end road--can walk us into a completely new direction. 

Some people will say that they got over all kinds of things without God. Or that they know people who got over all kinds of things without God. And I believe this is true. 

But again, this begs the question: how did they get over these things? In a functional, life-transforming way, or in a dysfunctional, life-staying-pretty-much the same or even becoming worse, way?

There are all sorts of worldly ways to “recover” from things (the most common being to delude ourselves and others that recovery has actually taken place!). 

And then there are God’s ways. 

And the people I know who were honestly transparent about their situation without losing hope, and who were transformed permanently by it, and who grew in grace after having experienced it, did it on the foundation of Christ and their God-given faith in Him. 

Sure, there are folks who put on a strong face and a stiff upper lip, a “can-do,” “positive” attitude, believing that the best example and help to themselves and the world is to be a pillar of feel-good affirmations. 

Or, there are those who shuffle through by being overtly depressed, down, and morose, relying heavily on the sympathies of others, rejecting all and any encouragement and hope.

And then there is the way Jesus’ provides for us, on a daily basis, within the normal ups and downs of life, and specifically, in a crisis: those times that throw us for a loop and we discover that, in this situation, we don’t really know how to be. So we don’t rely on and trust in our self, or worldly logic and advice, or cultural and psychological “shoulds."

Jesus says, 

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly” (John 10:10).

The thief comes to steal our health, to kill and destroy our joy, and to basically make life miserable in any way that he can. 

Jesus comes that we may have life, not only in spite of the thief, but in answer to and victory over the thief. 

I believe it is John MacArthur who said that if a person lives long enough, they will experience suffering. It is a given. 

Jesus, in His Word of Life and Spirit, informs as to how to be when suffering shows up on our doorstep, as it has, and it does, and it surely will. 

That is why He came. To be in us what we cannot know to be without Him, so that we may have life—even in sickness, even in tragedy, even in despair, even in turmoil, even in loneliness, even in death. 

He came that we—whether alive with Him or with Him in death—have life, and have “it to the full.”

Copyright Barb Harwood

He Came That We May Have Life

In the next couple of weeks, I'll be sharing some thoughts and quotes from other writings on the point and purpose of Jesus' coming to earth--making his entrance as a newborn baby on a night that was very much like any other night, to a people going about life very much like they always have.

The following is quoted from an essay written by Ajith Fernando titled, The Uniqueness of Jesus Christ, published in the book, Telling the Truth, edited by D.A. Carson:

     "The Bible has a fully developed and deeply meaningful understanding of spirituality. Much of it is given in the Old Testament, which was the Bible of the early church and therefore did not need to be reemphasized in the New Testament. Because many Christians do not assign sufficient significance to the Old Testament, they may not have fully grasped this emphasis. Essentially, biblical spirituality is founded on a personal relationship with God, who is both loving and holy. Deepening this relationship gives life's most fulfilling experience. David said, 'You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand' (Ps. 16:11). We believe that our relationship with God is most fulfilling because God is the creator of human spirituality and Jesus is God's answer to human need. Jesus himself said, 'I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full' (John 10:10). Ajith Fernando, teaching director of Youth for Christ, Sri Lanka

Religion and Centrally Planned Socialism

The following quote provides an excellent assessment of Communism (and historical insight still relevant for us throughout the world today), bringing to my mind the words of the apostle Peter who warns of men who are "springs without water and mists driven by a storm...For they mouth empty, boastful words...They promise (people) freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity--for a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him" (2 Peter 2:17;18; 19).


     "Perhaps the greatest example of an organized political system of intolerance that both religious and secular societies have had to endure was that of centrally planned socialism, but this should not surprise us. It is consistent for a regime which believes it can plan the entire economy, which means to dictate the economic decisions of every citizen, to find little room in society for religious freedom. By attempting to own and control private property and to suppress religious and political expression and the freedom of association, the totalitarian rulers of Central and Eastern Europe in the late 20th century hoped to produce a society sanitized of any reference to God, or at least a God which transcended the pronouncements of the political ruler. 
     Certainly, many factors went into the astounding and rapid demise of Communism, but it would be an oversight to neglect the role of religion--Catholic, Protestant, and Jewish--in finally undermining the illegitimate authority the state had claimed for itself. It would also be an oversight to neglect the role of religion in providing a secure moral foundation for freedom so that liberty may be used and defended in moral terms. The contributions of religion to the development of the free society and the further implications for our future understanding of political liberty have only begun to be explored."
Robert A. Sirico, in his essay, The Moral Basis for Economic Liberty, in the book, Rediscovering Political Economy

The Truth by its Own Truth

"The truth cannot impose itself except by virtue of its own truth, as it makes its entrance into the mind at once quietly and with power." 
From Dignitatis Humanae, the Vatican II document on religious liberty, as quoted in the essay, The Moral Basis for Economic Liberty by Robert A. Sirico



"Nicodemus said to Him, 'How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born, can he?' Jesus answered, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I said to you, 'You must be born again.' The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.'" John 3:4-8


"Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.'" John 14:6


"I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you." John 14:16-17


"Therefore Pilate said to Him, 'So You are a King?' Jesus answered, 'You say correctly that I am a king. For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.'" John 18:37


"For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." 1 Corinthians 1:18

Political and Economic Liberty

The following quote is from Robert A. Sirico, writing in his essay, The Moral Basis for Economic Liberty, which appears in an anthology of essays titled Rediscovering Political Economy:

"Political and economic liberty is misunderstood...if it is seen as resulting in a completely secularized and libertine society or if it entails the notion that citizens animated by religious ideals may not be permitted to have an impact on their communities. Political liberty does not demand theological or moral relativism. It merely guarantees that moral and religious ends are not achieved by political means: that is, that they are not coerced by the state." Robert A. Sirico

How Not to be Swept Away in Conversations

Have you ever found yourself saying something that, as soon as you said it, realized it went against your walk with Christ?

The book of James is the place to go for refueling:

“If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless” (James 1:26).

Wow. Pretty motivating, isn’t it, to clean up our conversational act?

But how do we do that? More pertinently, how do we do that, in the moment, in the actual real-time throes of a conversation? In other words, how do we prevent ourselves from getting swept along by the current of conversation around us?

First of all, we agree with God that any conversation containing or instigating gossip, self-promotion, cursing, bitterness, pejorative joking, whining, maligning, falsities and exaggeration are sin.

And then we live out that agreement with God by being watchful and attuned so that the minute untoward statements are made by others (or by ourselves), we immediately hear the Holy Spirit’s pricking of our conscience to stop and don’t go there! 

Think of Gene Wilder’s Willy Wonka as he calmly and quietly warns the little boy with “Stop. Don’t. Come back.”  

Or think of the slogan, “Stranger Danger.” For us, it is “Slander Danger: damage is about to take place with the tongue, either mine, or someone else’s!” 

Or think of the advice we give young people: “Decide before you go to the party what you will do if drugs and alcohol are being used: know that you will not participate before you go to the party.”

We can do these same things with ourselves regarding our tongue: Know what constitutes sinful conversation; agree that it is sinful; live out our agreement by being “sober minded and alert” (1 Peter 5:8); pray before social activities that we will not sin with our mouth or engage in the sinful talk of others; and make a commitment to God that we will not “go there” in conversations.

In this way, we can, indeed, keep a  “tight rein on our tongue.” 

But alas, it is a battle. And battles are ugly. And take time. And so it is with us. 

“We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check” (Jame 3:2).

“…no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison” (James 3:8).

We often fail with our tongues because we do not see our failure as losing a spiritual battle:

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm” (Ephesians 6:10-13).

Once we realize that the reason we can’t put a rein on our tongue is because we have been trying to do it in our own power, then half the battle is already won!

But God is the one who girds us for victory in the battle, not us. 

“No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it” (1 Corinthians 10:13).

Notice this verse says that to fight off temptation is to endure. Endure the temptation by relying on the Spirit’s resisting it within us; don’t indulge the temptation!

But what we so often do is cave in: because—let’s be totally honest—it is easier from a human perspective, and feels better--to give in, or to not see conversation as a temptation to sin in the first place! 

But as we grow in Christ, if we are truly growing in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus as the Bible commands us (2 Peter 3:18), we will become increasingly sensitive to all sin, including the sin of the tongue.

And so we must sit there, in a room full of conversationalists, chomping at the bit to contribute our two cents worth to a sinful conversation, and not do it; not contribute. 

We must endure, not indulge, the temptation. 

And we can endure, and we will, because God says, right there in 1 Corinthians 10:13, that He will provide the way of escape. 

Okay, so the question then is, “Will we take it? Will we take the way of escape He gives?” 

If we say “No, I won’t,” then we will sin with our tongue.

If we say, “Yes, I will,” then we won’t sin with our tongue.

And saying “yes” means putting on the “full armor of God” that we just read about in Ephesians 6:10-13.

What is that armor that causes us to stand firm against sin?

God’s truth, the breastplate of His righteousness, His Gospel of peace, and the “shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (the full verse is found in Ephesians 6:10-17). 

In this, we can “be on the alert with all perseverance and petition” in the Spirit (Ephesians 6:18).

This is our life preserver; our paddle to hold firmly against the current of unwholesome talk. This is God’s navigation of us to His “quiet waters;” His “paths of righteousness for His name’s sake” (Psalm 23).

Because, in the end, isn’t that what we’re all about: God’s name? God’s glory? His sake?

If we understand that nothing is any longer about us, and everything is only about God in Christ, then it will be a privilege to not sully His name with our unfit-for-His-kingdom conversation. 

Copyright Barb Harwood

That Place of Confidence in Christ Alone

This morning I sat with my coffee, and quite out of the blue, the quiet, strong confidence of Christ welled up and consumed me. It settled in and emanated a joy so quiet—and yet loud; restorative—and yet jubilant. 

This confidence is ironic in that, in it, I abhor any thought of self-boast about it (wondering, even, if I can put into words the conveyance of its being completely unbidden by me, uncreated in any way by me, and solely the gifting of the indwelling Spirit, supplying what I acknowledge I have lacked). 

I describe it as the meeting of a dire need, a supernatural imparting of an unequivocal knowing that this confidence of Christ is where I want—-need—-to be, but haven’t consistently been, and where I desire to stay and live out the rest of my days.

In this confidence, the world—and all that swirls in it—along with my own human feelings and discombobulations, including the struggles of the hour, don’t matter in the sense that any reliance upon the state of their circumstances is moot: any rassling I would attempt in these matters only morphs them into enormous illusions and undue heaviness, taking me farther adrift from Christ. 

This is why I cannot boast. Because too many times, I have resisted this confidence. 

Today, it arrives as a surprise visit from a dearly beloved.

Jesus said, in Mark 2:17 and Luke 5:31:  

“It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”  

Jesus is including all of us here. And we make ourselves more diseased by ingesting—insanely at times—the placebo of worldliness, inner feelings, pride and discouragement. 

Even on a good day, we have a pre-existing condition of being sick and in need of a Savior, and the absolute crazy truth is that Jesus “doctors” us in His comfort, teaching, correction, guidance, and His hearing and enduring reassurance—every minute, hour and day.

Christ is confidence and thus imparts confidence because He only does and speaks what His Father in heaven tells Him.

In John 5:19b-23 Jesus says, 

“Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, and he will show him even greater works than these, so that you will be amazed. For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it. Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent Him.”

Jesus goes on to say,

“By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me” (John 5:30).

“For I did not speak on my own, but the Father who sent me commanded me to say all that I have spoken. I know that his command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say” (John 12:49-50).

And now, at this time, Jesus is advocating for us at the right hand of our Father, God. Advocating, I say! Nobody does that for us on a 24-hour basis! No earthy advocate even comes near to Christ’s perfect advocacy. 

“But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. ‘Look,’ he said, ‘I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God’” (Acts 7:55-56).

“Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us” (Romans 8:34).

“I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way” (Ephesians 1:18-23).

“Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your heart on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God” (Colossians 3:1).

Even when we fail, even when we try to wrest the reigns of our life away from Christ, rejecting the help of His Spirit in us, Christ is right here with us up there next to God. 

“In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God” (Romans 8:26-27).

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written:

     ‘For your sake we face death all day long; 

      we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.’

No, in all these things we are conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:35-39).

That is where this place of confidence arrived from this morning as I sat, with my coffee, in my own little corner of the world. It came from Christ alone, as He advocates at the right hand of our Father God in heaven. 

Amen.

Copyright Barb Harwood