Faithful Come Home

We’ve all seen it - a handful of men and women of God consistently living a life that is biblically faithful, mature, and an example to all believers; people who are models of what it means to be a Christian. From iconic servants such as Billy Graham and Martin Luther King, to martyrs in hostile countries who are only known by a few, their identity is intertwined with their Christian walk in a way that serves as a lesson to us all. Inevitably, as with everyone on this earth, they pass away. And for those of us who looked up to these modern day saints; those of us who want to live a life similar to theirs, feel a tremendous loss when they leave this earth to be with the Father. But did you know that it affects our God as well? They were faithful servants on this earth and as Psalms proclaims, as they return home, they are considered precious in God’s sight. It says in Psalms, chapter 116, verse 15: 

“Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his faithful servants.” 

There are several believers who’ve sown into my life while they lived and have since gone to heaven. But there are only a few who’ve made a major impact, living as if they had life all figured out. They knew what it looked like to live a life that was pleasing to God, and they seemed to never waver. I realize they were subject to sin just like you and me. Even still, I wasn’t able to see any crack in their armor. They were true followers of Christ, loving their fellow man and faithful servants to God. Fortunately, there are still a few that I know who are still alive. But I also know that one day they too will go on to be with the Lord. When they do, I’m sure I’ll remember Psalm 116:5; “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his faithful servants.” Knowing this truth will hopefully give me peace. If you know a faithful servant of God who passed away, I hope this verse gives you peace as well.

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We will all die one day. No matter if you are young or old, your days are numbered. Are you one of God’s faithful servants? I’m sure there are several Christians who truly believe in the salvation that Christ provides, Christians who faithfully attend church on Sunday, and pay their tithe faithfully. But are they one of God’s faithful servants as referenced in Psalm 116? Maybe. A different NIV version uses the word “saints” instead of “faithful servants”. And when I think of saints, I conjure in my mind someone who serves Christ with abandon; someone who makes it their mission to be about the work of the Lord, and loves the Lord their God with all of their heart, mind, soul and strength; someone whose mind is on what pleases God over what pleases themself; a true reflection of God’s son. No one is perfect. Even still, Jesus calls us to be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect. That is the goal. That is the bar. And some have done such a good job of pursuing it that even God feels it when they die. May we all seek to attain that level of favor with God.

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No Vile Thing

The fruits of evil can be enticing. That is why our struggle, as believers, is widely referred to as temptation. If it weren’t enticing, it would be easy for us to be holy and blameless all of the time. But we aren’t a sinless species. Sometimes we fall. Sometimes we give into the temptation and allow vile things to enter our eyes, ears, hearts and lives. God wants us to avoid such things. In fact, if we are to be like him, we should hate them. We should treat them like an icky slime that once tossed on us makes us want to rush to the sink and wash it off so that it no longer clings to us. But it begins with a decision by us to watch what we set our eyes upon. It says in Psalm, chapter one hundred one, verse 3: 

“I will set before my eyes no vile thing. The deeds of faithless men I hate; they will not cling to me.” 

It shouldn’t take long for you and me to identify what tempts us. It should be obvious what causes us to stumble. When you hear this verse, what comes to your mind? What is it that you shouldn’t set before your eyes, or your heart? I encourage you to determine in your heart and your mind that you “will set before your eyes no vile thing”, as this psalm by David challenges. It goes on to say the the deeds of faithless men he hates; that they will not cling to him. What is clinging to you today? I encourage you to think like David. If there is any sin, or any vile thing that clings to you today, come before the Lord and ask him to wash you clean; to scrape off what is vile that you may walk in right relationship with him once more. Practically speaking, when we are dirty, nothing will make us feel as good as a hot shower to make us clean again. Spiritually speaking, I would suggest the same remedy is required. Nothing will make you feel as good as a repentant and recommitted heart cleansed by the Holy Spirit to make you clean again.

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Are you familiar with teflon? If you enjoy cooking you might be. It is a synthetic resin used to coat cooking utensils so that food doesn’t stick on them. Let our countenance be like teflon. As Psalms 101 says, let us hate the deeds of faithless men. Let us proclaim that like teflon, they will not cling to us. I understand that it may be more easily said than done for most of us. But with the Holy Spirit, it can be done. So I encourage you to have the heart of David. I encourage you to proclaim that you will set before your eyes no vile thing; that you will learn to hate the deeds of faithless men; and that they will not cling to you. If you are currently winning the sin battle, great. But if you are struggling to make this verse real in your life, I encourage you to pray with all sincerity to the Holy Spirit, that he will help to change your heart.

Many Good Days

My uncle once told me that more than desiring a long life, his desire was to have a good quality of life. In other words, his primary desire was to be healthy in his old age, to be able to travel and do whatever he wanted without being hindered by any ailments or disabilities. To him, living without any physical or mental limitations was more important than living a long life. But I say, “why can’t we have both”? Why can’t we love life and see many good days? Psalm chapter 34, verses 11 through 14 shows us one way that we can have our cake and eat it too if we are willing to seek and pursue it. Its says:  

“Come, my children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord. Whoever of you loves life and desires to see many good days, keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking lies. Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.”

I agree with my uncle. My desire isn’t really to have “many days” of life. I’d much rather see many good days as outlined in this Psalm. To do this, it says that we need to keep our tongue from evil and from speaking lies; that we are to turn from evil and do good; that we are to seek peace and pursue it. If you think about it, if we are able to do these things, what we are actually doing is managing our stress. If we guard what we say by speaking life with words that uplift; if we avoid divisive speech and telling lies, we will inherently have less stress. It takes work to keep up a lie. As you construct more details about your lies, it will become more difficult to keep things straight and to make sure there are no holes in your story. But if you tell the truth, there is no stress. If you are able to come clean and allow the burden of your secret to be lifted from you, there are no lies to maintain and no added worry from being found out. Evil talk also contributes to stress. Confrontation can heighten your blood pressure and can make you say or do things that you may later regret. By having a calm and peaceful spirit, we can avoid fraying relationships. If you struggle with telling the truth or lashing out in anger with evil or divisive words, I encourage you to diligently appeal to the Holy Spirit. Ask him to change your attitude and your perspective. Allow him to give you a newer purer heart that is less confrontational and less prone to lie. In doing so you may be unwittingly paving the way to seeing many good days in your future. 

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The tongue is talked about a lot in the Bible. One reason is because once we say something we can’t take it back. But if we are able to keep our tongue from speaking evil and our lips from telling lies, we will find that with that comes less stress, and with less stress comes many good days of life. Change isn’t something that comes easily to most, but sometimes change is exactly what we need. This Psalm encourages us to turn from evil and do good; to seek peace and pursue it. This isn’t just a good biblical principle to live by, it could mean the difference between living a hard life filled with stress and regret or living a good life filled with many good days.

Drawn to Evil

I was listening to a podcast recently about the dark web. The “dark web” is place on the internet where anyone can operate with complete anonymity. It is almost as if those who surf the dark web are invisible because they can do anything without being identified. They can operate in the dark. What I learned from that show was more about the human condition than the dangers of the dark web. When we think there are no consequences to our actions; when we think no one can see what we are doing, our hearts often go to a dark and evil place. We may find ourselves doing things that, if we were operating in the light, we wouldn’t even think of doing. That is why believers need to continually be on guard. We need to continually pray that our hearts are not drawn to what is evil. Because if left to our own devices, I’m convinced that it is in our nature to desire it. Instead, we should pray Psalm 141, verse 4, which says:     

“Let not my heart be drawn to what is evil, to take part in wicked deeds with men who are evildoers; let me not eat of their delicacies.”

Sin can be enticing. We can often be tempted to do what we know is disobedience to God. That is why we need to be on guard. We all go through our highs and lows. There are times when we are close to God and there are times we are far from him. There are times when we are high in the clouds or in the promised land so to speak, and there are times when we find ourselves in the valley or in the desert. Anyone can fall to sin. And most of us have no idea how far we can fall. So I encourage you to pray this prayer from Psalm 141: “Let not my heart be drawn to what is evil, to take part in wicked deeds with men who are evildoers; let me not eat of their delicacies.” To think that any of us are mature and righteous enough that we can resist any temptation is arrogant and dangerous. David, a man after God’s heart, committed adultery. Moses, the chosen deliverer of the Israelites, murdered someone. Peter, upon whom Jesus said he’d build his church, denied Christ three times. And Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, turned to worshipping other gods. We can also fall. So I encourage you to pray that the Holy Spirit help you to stand firm.

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Denying our flesh is a daily battle. That is why Jesus tells us to take up our cross daily and follow him. We can’t succeed on our own. We need the power of the Holy Spirit to help us. We need to continually guard our heart. In Ephesians, Paul talks about the “breastplate of righteousness”. The breastplate guards the heart if its wearer. How is your heart today? Are you allowing it to be drawn to what is evil? Are you taking part in wicked deeds? Are you indulging in the delicacies of sin? Any of us are subject to finding ourselves in that place. So I encourage you to “put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.”

Glory Redirected

It is human nature to want to be praised, honored, liked, adored, and highly thought of. We love to be recognized for our achievements, seated among the elite, and glorified among the masses. But the Bible teaches us that believers need to suppress this desire. We need to remain humble in the sight of man, but more importantly, in the sight of God. True believers know that every good thing comes from God. It is to him, and for his name, that all glory should be placed, because in Psalm, chapter 115, verse 1, we find these words:

“Not to us, O Lord, not to us but to your name be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness.”

The author of this Psalm wisely, and humbly, redirected any glory back to where it belongs. Only God deserves the glory, and only God deserves our praise. The wisdom behind this Psalm, when applied, can remind us of our place in relation to the creator of the universe. For us, God is everything. All of our love, our adoration, and our heart, soul, mind and strength should be upon the glorification of God. It would do all of us well, to brand this verse upon our heart. When we reflect upon it, it should suppress our pride. “Not to us, O Lord, not to us but to your name be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness.”

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It goes against our nature to want to redirect any glory that we receive back to God. When someone exalts us, we want to bask in it. When someone congratulates us, we want to take credit for it. When someone honors us, we want to think we deserve it. And when we are glorified, we don’t want to share it. But in all cases, humility is the right path. True believers know this because the Bible teaches it. This Psalm is only one example of this principle, but it is evident throughout the scriptures. So I encourage you, with your mouth and with your heart, to redirect any glory that is poured upon you back to where it belongs. After all, every good thing comes from him, and the Bible attests that he will not share his glory with anyone.