It has been said that having nothing to carry is life’s heaviest burden; having nothing to do is life’s hardest work; and having nothing to look forward to is life’s darkest picture.  To all of that emptiness the words of the Psalmist offers a fulfilling response.  Finding ourselves able to say, “This is the day that the Lord has made, we will rejoice and be glad in it”, lifts us out of bleakness into a state of hope and encouragement.  It give us a reason for looking upward and beyond our concerns.

What does it mean to be able to say, “This is the day that the Lord has made?”

It means, look for the blessing.  Each day look for the particular blessing God is waiting to give.  The words suggest very strongly that unique things are in store if we are alert to them.  If we rejoice and delight in the day at hand we shall discover at least one blessing, and probably many more.  God is in the midst of the minutes and hours opening before us.  Problems and even crisis may arise, but our affirmation through these words is that God is there and God’s blessings will ultimately prevail.

How do we look for the blessing?

Jesus spoke about looking. He said, “seek and ye shall find, ask and it shall be given you, knock and the door will be opened for you.” Jesus seems to be saying that perseverance in looking for the blessing of each new day will be honored.  The Scriptures remind us from the Lamentations of Jeremiah such blessings are “new every morning; great is thy faithfulness.” The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, “his compassions they fail not.” The Lord’s blessings and mercies never come to an end, “they are new every morning.”

If we speak the words of the Psalmist “This is the day that the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it” as our first waking thought, we give ourselves a framework in which to place all of the day’s activities.   We create order out of the mixture of experiences which come our way. We reverse the question that sometimes confronts us, the question about “why did this have to happen?” to  “what am I going to do about this so that it will become a creative experience instead of a disabling experience?”

We cannot repeat the verse, however, without being aware of it’s inclusiveness.  Notice the Psalmist says, “Let us rejoice and be glad in the day the Lord has given us.” Using the plural pronoun “us” instead of  the singular pronoun “me” suggests two things.

It first suggests that God bestows blessings freely and widely, not exclusively and privately. Jesus made this point by His comment that God makes the sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. Blessings are to be found in abundance, and in actuality we are to help each other find them.  “Let us rejoice” said the Psalmist, enlarging the area of perception and not limiting it to just my vision or yours.

It secondly suggests that we can be a blessing ourselves.  Not only are we to assist one another in recognizing the gifts of God in each new day, we can offer ourselves to the people around us, giving gifts of friendship and caring, encouragement and help.  The old gospel song says “Make me a blessing to someone today.” We not only have the privilege and opportunity to look for a blessing each day, but also have the privilege and opportunity of helping others and rejoicing in it.

At the beginning of each day, the words of the Psalmist should be committed to our memory and should become our guide.  There is the emphasis upon God’s jurisdiction over each day, followed by each believer’s enthusiastic response.  Each day we are to claim God’s gifts.  Moreover, we are to point others to them and to share them.  At the end of the day we are to review the blessings we have received.  Having looked for blessings and finding them, we can appreciate their power to displace hurt and negativity.  It is at once evident that God’s grace if more than sufficient.

Each morning we need to take this simple counsel, “Look for the blessing.” Such blessing will soon be found when each and every day is received from God as a product of divine handiwork, a gift worthy of glad acceptance.

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Don’t these people sound happy?  Are they not a happy group?  No, these people are just the opposite. They are complaining miserably.  They are crying, “who is going to give us to eat?”  These people had just left Mount Sinai after receiving God’s travel instructions through Moses.  God had been very good to them. Every morning the Israelites were able to draw back their tent doors and witness a miracle of white round flakes of manna covering the ground.  It was food from heaven!  But now God’s goodness and mercy was not enough for them.

Why had these people become so disatisfied?  It was because their attention shifted from what God had given them to what they didn’t have.  They were no longer noticing what God was doing for them. They were not seeing that God was setting them free.  They were not seeing that God was making them a nation and giving them a new land.  They were no longer noticing these things because they were so wrapped up in what God wasn’t doing for them. They could only think of the delicious Egyptian food they had left behind. They were beginning to feel that God wasn’t doing enough for them and felt they had the right to ask for more.  They began to demand meat and stopped trusting God to care for them, “who is going to give us to eat?”  Somehow they had forgotten the cost of the food they had left behind, that it was at the expense of the brutal whip of Egyptian slavery.

These people were becoming terrible.  Before we think about how awful these people had become and judge them, we may want to think about what occupies our attention most of the time.  Are we grateful to God for what he has given us, or are we always thinking about what we would like to have? We should not allow our unfulfilled desires to cause us to forget God’s gifts of life; food, health, family, friends, work.

How do we change our attitude of disappointment and unthankfulness to an attitude of being thankful and happy? Do we become thankful just because we get the things from God that we ask for?  When we ask God for something, He might grant our request, but if we approach Him with a sinful attitude, getting what we want may prove to be costly.  When we have become so unthankful God might put us through an experience more costly than we want, to bring us back into a state of thankfulness.  The Israelites got the meat they demanded, but they paid dearly for it later when a plague struck their camp.

Isn’t it odd how it works? The more God gives us the more unsatisfied and disappointed we become.  Zaccheus is a man of the New Testament that we can relate to this type of situation.  Zaccheus could buy about anything he wanted, but the way he got his money made him so unpopular that no one would have anything to do with him.  Zaccheus could afford to have his clothes all tailor made, but his lack of height made him feel inconsequential and insecure. His business of collecting taxes forced him into the public eye, but the fact that everyone knew that the way he made so much money was by over taxing the people made it uncomfortable for him to move around town. Zaccheus was a man for who everything he had ( his career, his possessions, his status in the government) brought him no satisfaction.

If Zaccheus was at peace and satisfied with himself because of his career, possessions, and status, why would he go to such lengths to see Jesus?  Idle curiousity would not account for a grown man to act like a little kid, climbing a tree and clinging desparately to a branch. Here was a man who recognized that life was not all that it could be, and that the answer to his disatisfaction was to be found in something other than his possessions.  Zaccheus was a man who had to find out if Jesus was the answer.  Sometimes we are like Zaccheus and have to go through the fire of searching out happiness by gathering all the world has to offer us, and then finding out that true happiness is not there.  Zaccheus, like many today, cannot be thankful for what they have, because they are so dissatisfied and unhappy.

Thank God, Zaccheus did find peace and happiness in his life when he found Jesus.  He found happiness when he looked beyond himself and the things of the world.

Zaccheus not only gives us a lesson in how to find happiness, but he also teaches us how to say thank you. Zaccheus knew that his gratitude to Jesus would not be expressed simply by saying how grateful he was that he had all of the things he had. His gratitude would best be expressed by using those things he had to help others.  Zaccheus didn’t promise to give back what he had taken and to give the other half of everything he owned to the poor in order to get Jesus to like him or to approve of him. Zaccheus did it because of what Jesus had already done for him by just coming into his life.  This is the best way to say thank you Lord for what you have given me, to give up some of the good things that you have.

We need to ask ourselves, do we have an attitude of thankfulness or do we have an attitude of dissatisfaction and unhappiness?  If we are unhappy is it because we have stopped noticing what God has given us?

Remember, if you are not satisfied and demand more, God may give it to you but it may come with a price higher than you want to pay.  But if you are happy and have peace and want to thank God, think of what you can give up that will help others or will help the Church.

Let us always remember to be thankful for what God has given us, that we don’t demand more from Him and have to pay the cost.

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1. There are those who abuse or persecute the Church and Christians.

2. Christians find themselves in seemingly hopeless conditions.

3. A Christian must keep his faith in helpless conditions.

4. God sends help in times of trouble.

5. One of the main duties of the Church is to pray for one another.

6. Sometimes we actually are surprised when our prayers are answered.

The Church and Christians today face and experience the same problems and situations today. We can look at some of the high points of this story and see how they actually relate to us today.

Let us first look at Peter’s imprisonment.  Peter was put into prison because King Herod was persecuting the Church, vs 1-4.  King Herod was persecuting and abusing the Church because he saw how it pleased the Jews, vs 3.  Herod had killed James and when he saw how it pleased the Jews he set out to kill Peter.  When Peter was apprehended it was during the Jewish passover, so Herod had Peter imprisoned until the passover was finished. One great thing to note here is that seeking pleasure from others as King Herod was doing is what keeps people continuing in their sins.  This is just what Jesus warned others not to do.

What does it mean to  be imprisoned? It means to be confined. It means to be in a hopeless and helpless condition.  Peter was in this perilous condition.  He was held in prison guarded by 16 soldiers with the sentence of death hanging over him.  Christians also find themselves in hopeless and helpless situations.  They confine themselves to things of the world. Christians confine their time to other things. Christians give their time to things they want to do and give their left over time to service within the Church. The problem and helpless condition here is that before they realize it there is no time left for the Church.  The world will always be robbing Christians of  time to give the Church is they allow it to.

We also become helpless because of our apathy, our lack of feeling.  One of the greatest enemies of the Church today is the “I don’t care” feeling of people.  Let us put this in perspective of imprisonment. Prison is to be a deterrent to crime, but it is not so for many people today. Being confined and losing one’s freedom is not the worst thing for some people today, because they are already in a worse condition. They are homeless, hungry, and lonely. They are missing  the basic human needs that rank for more important than being confined.  In prison they find these things so they don’t care if they go to prison.

Being confined should be a deterrent for Christians. When the Christian is confined by things of the world he cannot do the things he needs to be doing for the Lord.  When Christians are confined they miss the joy that is found in serving the Lord. But the problem is the same as we have already mentioned. When Christians give themselves to service of the Church and to God, they give up a little of their opportunity to make a little more money, or to have a little more of the world’s pleasures. Somehow Christians have gotten their ideas and priorities mixed up. They have lost the joy in serving the Lord; therefore, to find joy Christians confine themselves to seeking it from the world.  As they become more and more confined to finding joy from the world the same apathetic feeling comes to them just as it does to many who are in prison, “why should I care anymore?”

God sent help to Peter when he was confined and in his hopeless situation.  In Peter’s case God sends an angel, vs 7.  God sends help at the right time. The angel came when the guards were sleeping.  The angel came just before the day Peter was to be delivered for execution.  God sends the type of help that will be sufficient to overcome our confinement. The angel was sufficient to free Peter from his chains.  The angel woke Peter by hitting him on his side and gave him directions to follow.  Peter was told to “arise quickly”. When he was obedient the chains fell from his hands.  Peter was told to gird himself, to put on his clothes and his sandals and follow the messenger of God. When Peter was obedient he found himself led out into the street.  There a couple of things to note here: (1) when Christians receive help from God in times of trouble they are expected to follow His leading in total and immediate obedience. (2) When God begins to lead Christians and they are obedient to follow, God makes the way easy.   When the angel came to Peter, a light also shined in the prison.  When Christians follow God’s leading, they are led out of the darkness into the light.

God sends help because Christians ask for it.  Jesus said, “Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them”, Mark 11:24.  Peter was surely praying for his release all the time he was in prison. It seems that Peter’s faith was strong. He was able to sleep between two guards, and was able to sleep even though he knew he was facing death. How many Christians today have that kind of faith?

The Church was also praying for Peter’s release. Vs 5, “Prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him”. They prayed without ceasing. They prayed when they were congregated together; they prayed when they were alone; and they prayed along their way.  Christians today take a short time in worship service to make their prayer requests known and to pray for these requests, but how much further do they take these requests? Do they make it a matter of continual prayer?

The reaction of Christians and the Church to God’s help is not always what is expected.  Peter’s reaction was that he thought he as dreaming, vs 9.  He had to be led all the way out into the street and be totally free before he could believe what had really happened. Sometimes it takes Christians a while to realize that the help they have received during helpless times had really come from God.  The Church’s reaction to God’s help was one of surprise. When Peter was released he went to Mary’s house where the Church was gathered together and praying.  When God does something great for us, we should do the same thing. We should take it to the Church as a testimony and tell others what God has done for us, that they may be strengthened as well.  When Peter knocked on Mary’s door, Rhoda came to answer. She was so happy to see Peter that she did not open the door, but ran to tell the others that Peter was free and standing before the gate.  When the Church people heard what Rhoda had said, they said to her, “Thou art mad”.  They were praying for Peter’s release, yet would not believe it had happened when they were told Peter was released.  How many times do Christians pray for something, and yet fail to believe it happens as a result of their prayers?

Since the beginning of the Church, the Church has always faced her problems. Some of the problems the Church has faced include:

1. Getting the Gospel to the outsiders.

2. Securing spiritual results from the Church’s ministry.

3. Finding the right leaders for various ministries.

4. Having a lack of love and unity.

5. Disciplining new converts.

These problems are serious but not the most crucial. The critical problem that leads to a fatal condition is the prayer life of the Church. The strength of any Church will be directly proportionate with it’s prayer life. The greater the prayer life of it’s membership, the greater the strength of the Church.  Prayer will supersede all problems that the Church will encounter.  It will release the Church from the bondage and confinement she finds herself.  Prayer will keep the Church in a loving and united condition. But it takes continual prayer, not just spontaneous prayer. Prayer without ceasing for others in the answer to keep Christians from falling into confinement of the world, and to keep them free to serve the Lord, and to receive the joy promised.

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Luke 1:26-38 tells the story of Mary being unexpectedly confronted by a messenger from heaven.  Whatever Mary was doing that day, suddenly the angel Gabriel appeared to her.  I am sure Gabriel’s sudden appearance bothered her somewhat, but what bothered her the most was his message. According to Luke, it was something on the order of “Congratulations! The Lord is very pleased with you.”

Mary knew her own national history well enough to know that being the object of God’s favor could be a rather uncertain honor from the human point of view.  In fact, as Scripture describes it, having God’s favor is never a guarantee of sailing smoothly through life.  In fact having God’s favor most often guarantees just the opposite.  Following are some examples:

Noah was judged to be nothing more than a crazy man by his neighbors.  They heckled him as he built the great boat God had instructed him to build, and especially when he gathered his family and all the animals.

Moses found favor with God and it got him a forty year assignment of leading a group of complaining people through the desert.

Jeremiah, the prophet, was another of God’s favored people. He was hated and rejected by his own people. He was despised so much that the people put him into an abandoned well just to get him out their sight.

Apparently, Mary had good reason to be troubled and uncertain at Gabriel’s unexpected announcement.  Several lessons become clear in Mary’s situation.

1. Our lives are often reshaped by the unexpected intervention of God. The Bible is quite literally the story of how God unexpectedly breaks in to the lives of His people.  Isn”t that also the wonder of our Christian experience?  Unexpectedly, sins are forgiven and guilt is removed.  God comes suddenly, and whole new prospects are opened. Dreams are reshaped, lives are recreated, hope is renewed, and faith is filled with live and energy.  New opportunities, new directions, and new goals are presented.

2. God uses ordinary people to do extraordinary things.  Almost exclusively in the Bible, God used ordinary people to do tasks that were extraordinary.  Mary appears to be as ordinary as any person you can find in the Bible. We somehow have the notion that when God speaks, His speaking is always accompanied by loud claps of thunder, rushing wind, or bright flashes of lightning. We are always looking for God in the dramatic occurrences of life. But in Mary’s encounter, there were no warnings. There were no bright lights, rushing wind, or thunder. The earth didn’t tremble or open up underneath Mary’s feet.  She was just going about her daily affairs when God came to her.

For us, that means that every day there is the possibility that we may be confronted by an angel who has an announcement directly from heaven.  What God says may seem impossible or a little crazy. If a messenger appears to us it will likely happen in the midst of our ordinary events of life.

3.  God never forces His will upon us.  God always asks for our cooperation. Even though God is all powerful, and in Him is concentrated all the power of the universe, God never forces Himself upon us. He always asks.  This element of the story of Mary is not seen until the last verse of the text. Until that point, it almost seems that everything is already set and predetermined when Gabriel appears to Mary.  Verse 35 says, “the Holy Spirit will come upon you…the power of the Most High will overshadow you.” The message all seems pretty definite and certain. It doesn’t appear Mary has much to say at all in it, but to interpret the story that way misses the whole point of the text. The point is, Mary did not have to say “yes”. All that God proposed and the angel announced were conditional upon Mary’s response.  Would she say “yes” or “no”?  Would she cooperate in God’s plan, or would she tell him to find someone else?  Her response was not coerced. It was purely, simply, and wonderfully voluntary:  “Here I am, Lord. May it be done to me as you have said.”

God calls us all. He gives each of us an opportunity to be a part of He is doing in our world.  We may not be called as Mary was called, to bring the Savior into the world.  Yet, in another sense, that is precisely what God has called us to do. He asks each of us to bring Jesus into our own personal world. We are called to bring Jesus into the place in which we live and move and find our existence. Like Mary, we can either say “yes” or “no”.  God won’t make us do something that we don’t want to do.

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The Psalmist is giving an account of his unhappiness which is effecting him deep in his soul.  He seems to be speaking directly to his soul, the deepest part of his being, and questioning why he is so cast down and unhappy.  The Psalmist tells us one reason he was so discouraged in verses 4, 5.  He was exiled to a place far from Jerusalem and could not worship in the temple.  But not only that, he was being attacked by certain enemies.

These same things can discourage and depress us today. When we are kept away from worship with others for what ever reason, it surely causes our soul to be cast down.  When others are attacking us, not just our enemies, but especially when other Christians attack us it hurts to the depths of our soul. It is interesting to notice how often this particular theme is dealt with in the Scriptures.  Because it is dealt with so often, the conclusion drawn is the fact that discouragement and despair is a very common condition.  It seems to be a condition that has afflicted God’s people from the beginning.

The thing we should be interested in today is not the fact that the Psalmist was so down cast, but instead how he faces the situation and the way in which he deals with himself.  We want to learn from the Psalmist the causes of “Spiritual Depression” and the ways in which it should be treated.  This lesson is important today because there are large numbers of Christian people who give the impression of being unhappy. They are cast down, their souls are ‘disquieted within them’.

Let us look now at some of the general causes:

One of the causes is temperament.  There are certain types of people. Although temperament does not make the slightest difference in the matter of salvation, and we are all Christians together, we are yet all different.  The problems and difficulties we are likely to meet are in a large measure determined by the difference of temperament and of type.  When dealing with “Spiritual Depression” it is futile to act on the assumption that all Christians are identical in every respect.  There is a type of person who is particularly prone to “Spiritual Depression”.  He is the person classified as an introvert.  He is the person who tends to be always analyzing himself, looking inward. He analyzes everything he does, and worries about the possible effects of his actions, always full of vain regrets.  He cannot undo what has been done, but he still spends his time analyzing and judging, and blaming himself.  We all should agree that we need to examine ourselves, but we should not cross the line and make self-examination the main end in our life.  If we are always examining ourselves, we are putting our soul on a plate and dissecting it.  Here, then, is the place we must always start. We must know ourselves and our particular dangers. The Bible warns us to be careful about our strengths and weaknesses.

A second cause is physical conditions. You cannot isolate the spiritual from the physical for we are body, mind and spirit. The greatest and best Christians are more prone to an attack of “Spiritual Depression” when they are physically weak.  Again we must know ourselves. If you recognize that the physical may be partly responsible for your spiritual condition and make allowances for that, you will be better able to deal with the spiritual.

A third cause is what we can describe as a reaction.  This is a reaction following a great blessing or unusual and exceptional experience.  Remember the case of Elijah under the juniper tree. Elijah had just witnessed two great spiritual victories; the defeat of the prophets of Baal, and the answered prayer for rain. But now Elijah was alone in the wilderness experiencing the depths of fatigue and discouragement.

A fourth cause is the devil.  He is the adversary of our souls.  He can use our temperaments and our physical condition. He so deals with us that we allow our temperament to control us. There is no end to the ways in which the devil produces “Spiritual Depression”, and we must always keep this in mind. The devil’s one object is to depress God’s people to the point that he can go to any man of the world and say, “there is one of God’s people. Do you want to be like that?”

A fifth cause is unbelief.  If it were not for unbelief even the devil could do nothing. It is because we listen to the devil instead of listening to God that we fall to his attacks.  That is why the Psalmist keeps saying to himself, “hope thou in God for I shall yet praise Him…” The Psalmist reminds himself of God, because he was depressed and had forgotten God, so that his faith in God and His power were not what they ought to be.

Now let us look at some of the general treatments:

We must take ourselves in hand. The Psalmist took himself in hand by talking to himself. He turns to himself and says, “Why art thou cast down O my soul, why art thou disquieted within me?” He talks to himself instead of listening to himself. We must realize that most of our unhappiness  is due to the fact that we listen to ourselves. We listen as we remind ourselves how we have been hurt, or why we feel so down-trodden. We listen to ourselves as we tell ourselves how miserable we are and how we have made mistakes and have been ill-treated.

We must know how to handle ourselves. This is the main art of spiritual living.  You have to address yourself, preach to yourself, and question yourself.  You must say to your soul, “Why art thou cast down and what business have you to be disquieted?”  You must turn on yourself, condemn yourself, exhort yourself, and say to yourself, “Hope thou in God”.  You must go on to remind yourself of God, Who God is, and what God is and what God has done. Then you must defy yourself and other people, defy the devil and the whole world and say, “I shall yet praise Him for the help of His countenance, who is also the health of my countenance and my God”.

Spiritual Depression is one of the common emotional ailments for Christians. One antidote is to meditate on the record of God’s goodness to His people. This will take your mind off your present situation and give you hope that it will improve. It will focus your thoughts on God’s ability to help you instead of your ability to help yourself.

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Realizing that our heart is what drives us and operates as our “control center”, we must understand that it is vitally important to keep the heart in the right condition.  In Proverbs 4:23 the wise Solomon tells us to, “watch over (keep) your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the issues of life.” Since it is our heart that drives us and from it flows the issues of our life, it is correct to say that the choices we make create our own personal troubles and disasters. A carefully cultivated and maintained heart, assisted by God’s wonderful grace, will foresee or transform most of the painful situations that enter our lives.  We must therefore see that the greatest need we have both individually and collectively is the renewal of our heart.

We begin developing the character of our spirit, our spiritual dimension, from choices and actions in a world separated from God. Scripture tells us that all of us have been born into sin; therefore, the only hope for humanity lies in the fact that  just as our spiritual dimension has been formed, it can also be transformed.  The greatest question then becomes, what in our spirit needs to be changed and how can this change be brought about?  The answer to these two points can be found in the relevance of Jesus Christ to human life.

Over 2,000 years ago, Jesus came to earth, gathered His small group of friends and disciples, trained them and then sent them out to “teach all nations”. Jesus’ purpose was to bring all human life under the direction of His wisdom, goodness, and power. In sending out His disciples he began a perpetual world revolution. This revolution is still in process and will continue until God’s will is done on earth. As this revolution culminates, the forces of evil will be defeated and the grace of God will be seen, accepted, and joyfully conformed to every aspect of human life.  This revolution is a continuous revolution of  “the human heart”.  Jesus’ revolution is a revolution of the character of the human spirit by changing people from the inside through an ongoing relationship with Jesus.  It is a revolution that changes a person’s beliefs, ideas, feelings, habits, and social relations.  It is a revolution that penetrates to the deepest part of the human spirit.

Through the presence of Jesus’ kingdom, we find the answers to the deepest needs of human personality for righteousness, provision, and purpose.  If we set Jesus aside, we face the questions of what makes our lives go as they do?, and what could make them go as they should?  Inability to find the answers to these questions leaves a person at the mercy of whatever forces and ideas come upon them.  This basically is the human experience, which can be seen day by day all around us. Thoughtful people through the years have attempted to answer these questions and have found that what matters most for how life goes and should go for us is what we are on the “inside”.  This “inside” is the arena of “spiritual formation” and later “transformation”.  Inside us are our thoughts, feeling, and intentions along with their deepest sources.  What is in our “heart” matters more than anything else for who we are as a person, and what becomes of us (what makes our lives go as they do?).

The author Oscar Wilde once remarked that by the age of forty everyone has the face they deserve.  This statement is truly a profound and painful truth.  It applies to the “spirit within us” that is expressed by the face.  Right on the observable surface of our “spirit within” lie some of our thoughts, feeling, and intentions. These are the ones we are aware of, and are fairly obvious to others as well. These surface aspects are also a good indication of the general nature of the “spiritual depth” within.  But these aspects we become aware of are only a small part of the spiritual aspects that are hidden deep within us. The hidden character of our spirit is not visible to others. It is also not fully grasped by ourselves. Only God knows our spiritual depths, who we are, and what we would do.  This is why the Psalmist David cries out for God’s help in dealing with himself…“Search me O God, Let the meditations of my heart be acceptable to you. Renew in me a new heart”. The “spiritual side” of us, although it is not perceivable by our senses and we cannot fully grasp it, is still never entirely out of our mind. It is always at the margin of our conscience, if not in the center of it.

Because we cannot fully grasp and understand our “spiritual depths” we need God’s help.  Every human heart and spirit longs for something. Spiritual formation is often misunderstood as entirely human matters. The thought is that we have a human dimension or power that, if managed correctly, will transform our life into a divine life, or at least deliver us from the chaos and brokenness of human existence. It is fortunate, but rare, there are those who are able to find a path of life that will form their spirit and “inner being” in a way that is truly strong and good and directed Godward.

Christian “spiritual formation” is focused entirely on Jesus Christ. Spiritual formation depends upon obedience and conformity to Jesus that arises out of an inner transformation accomplished through purposive interaction with the grace of God in Christ.  Obedience is the outcome of Christian spiritual formation.  Christian spiritual formation therefore involves more than human efforts and actions which are under our control. Well-informed human effort is certainly positive, but Christlikeness of the inner being is not a human attainment. It is a gift of grace.

The resources for spiritual formation extend far beyond the human. They come from the interactive presence of the Holy Spirit in the lives of those who place faith in God. They also come from the spiritual treasures; people, events,traditions, and teachings, which are stored in the body of Christ’s people.

If we are the people of Christ we need to enter Christ’s way of the heart. We then will find a sure path toward becoming the people we were meant to be; Godly people thoroughly purged of arrogance, insensitivity, and self-sufficiency.  Spiritual formation, and renewal of the heart, is something we human beings can and must do continually. We must do it as individuals in fellowship with other Christians.  If we truly keep our heart with all diligence, we will continually ask God as the Psalmist did, “Search our Hearts” daily. If we keep our heart in a continuous state of renewal we will be able to love others as Christ loved us and the world will definitely see Jesus in us.

Watch Renewing Your Heart    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RpbYuo9WYM

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A person that serves is described as:

1. A person that is devoted to helping those who are weaker.

Romans 15:1, “We then who are strong ought to bear with the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves. This is a large challenge.  Paul addresses this challenge to “us”, who he considers strong.  He is addressing those who have a solid grounding in the Scriptures; those who have emerged victorious from crises in their own lives because of their strong faith; and those who are strong because of their maturity in Christian living.

Paul says it is our duty to help those who are weak. The strong “ought” to bear the infirmities of the weak.  It is the duty of the stronger Christian to consider and lower themselves to the weakest. We must consider them by realizing they are weaker and not trample over them. We must encourage them by bearing their infirmities.  Those strong in the faith should bear the doubts of the weak, because a weaker Christian in the faith will decrease his faith with each doubt he has.  When the weaker brother can be shown his doubts are invalid, his faith is restored.

Paul also says those stronger in the faith ought to “bear” the infirmities of the weak.  To bear means “to carry”;  not just put up with or tolerate. We cannot begin to “bear” someone’s burdens until we have sympathy for them and are concerned. Strong Christians have a duty to bear the burdens of the weak, and the weak Christians should be able to expect help from stronger Christians when they have doubts and experience failures.  Weaker Christians should not try to bear their own infirmities if they feel their infirmities are pushing them down and destroying their faith. They should ask for help from someone stronger and expect them to provide the needed help.

2. A person that must not please themselves.

Romans 15:1, “We then who are strong ought to bear with the infirmities of  the weak, and not to please ourselves”. As a servant it is not our business to gratify all the little appetites and desires of our own heart.  This is the key – A Christian servant should not be self-centered, but should be concerned about the spiritual welfare of others.  The first lesson we must learn to be a servant of Christ is to deny ourselves.  Matthew 16:24, “Then said Jesus unto His disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me.”

3. A person that pleases his neighbor for his own good.

Romans 15:2,  “Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, leading to edification.” Pleasing our neighbor is not just an end in itself, (not just that they will be happy), but for his edification. When a servant pleases his neighbor in this way it builds them up in Christian graces.  We are not to please our neighbor in everything, but for his good; especially the good of his soul.  This is the example Jesus Christ left for us. Even He did not please Himself,  but “He came to do the will of the Father that sent Him.” Jesus had no place to lay His head.  He lived upon alms.  He would not be made a king. He washed His disciples feet. He emptied Himself and made no reputation for Himself.  All Christ die was for out sake, for our good, to bring righteousness for us and to set an example.  Christ was our perfect example of One challenged to serve others.

How do we learn to be one that serves?

1.  Through the example of Christ.

We must bear the infirmities of the weak, for Christ bore the reproaches of those that reproached God.  He bore the guilt of sin and the curse for it. We are only called to bear a little of the trouble of sin.  He bore the sins of the world. We are only called to bear the infirmities of the weak.

2. Through the Scriptures.

Romans 15:4, “For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.” The Scriptures are left for a standing rule to us. They are written that they might remain for our use and benefit; for our learning. There are many things to be learned in the Scriptures, but to learn how to be a servant is one of the most important.  The example of Christ, in what He said and did, is recorded for our emulation.

3. Through the example of others.

As we have stronger Christians minister to us in our need, and help us to bear our infirmities, we can learn from their example how to minister to others who are weaker.

What are the results of being a servant to others?

1. Romans 15:4, “That we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope“.

The result of being a servant is that we achieve endurance through patience and develop the ability to remain steadfast in the face of adversities.  Patience works experience and experience works hope. The more patience we exercise under troubles, the more hopeful we may look through our troubles.

As we study the Scriptures for the examples given to us, they serve to give us encouragement that we might have hope.  As Christians learn from the past they are motivated to endure and be comforted in the present, looking ahead in hope to the future. The steadfast endurance and encouragement a Christian receives from the Scriptures come ultimately from God, the author of the Scriptures. The study of Scripture gives patience under human persecution and Satan’s opposition.  The study of Scripture also gives patience as we bear one another’s burdens, and in waiting for divine promises to be fulfilled.

The study of Scripture gives us comfort. It is the comfort that springs from the Word of God and bids us to rise above our fears.  It is the comfort that urges us to dwell little on fleeting things and commands us to find our joy in God.

2. That we have a Spirit of Unity.

Romans 15:5,6, “Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be like-minded  toward one another according to Christ Jesus; that ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” This Spirit of Unity includes being of one-mind; to be able to think the same,  and one heart; to be able to love the same, and one mouth; to be able to speak the same.  The foundation of Christian love and peace is laid in like-mindedness. This like-mindedness must be according to the pattern and example of Jesus Christ.  Like-mindedness that is patterned after Jesus Christ means we will have a right mind, a  sound mind, a  pure mind, a spiritual mind, and a renewed mind.  The mind controls our conversation with God;  the mouth controls our conversation with others.  A spirit of unity is an essential element in a relationship of service.

It is desirable that Christians should agree in everything that they might glorify God.  One mouth in confessing the truths of God.  One mouth in praising the name of God.  One mouth in common conversation, not jarring, biting, or devouring one another.

3. That we might receive one another.

Romans 15:7, “that we might receive one another as Christ also received us to the glory of God”. Paul had encouraged the strong to receive the weak because sometimes the prejudices of the weak Christian make him shy away from the strong, as much as the pride of the strong Christian makes him shay away from the weak.  Neither should be. There should be mutual embracing among Christians.  Those that have received Christ by faith must receive all Christians by brotherly love.

Jesus Christ has received us into the nearest and dearest relations to Himself. He has received us into His fold, into His family, into the adoption of sons, into a marriage-covenant with Him. The end of our reception by Christ is that we might glorify God in this world, and will be glorified with Him in that to come.

Watch Loving God by Serving Others.  Click link below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyttR8SWQFA

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For Israel, Mount Sinai was God’s address. It was where the people of Israel could find God. The cloud which had symbolized God’s presence and protection during their exodus hovered over the mountain top. Occasionally they even heard God’s voice behind the cloud. But the mountain was not God’s permanent home.  During their final months at Mount Sinai, the Israelites built the first Church – the tabernacle. It was God’s home on earth and the place of personal encounter where worshipers could meet with God.  It was filled with God’s glory, the overpowering sense of His presence.  “Then the cloud covered the tabernacle of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.” Exodus 40:34.  From this point forward,  God would live with His people wherever they could be found.

So why does God sometimes seem so far away? There are four good reasons:

1. A part of the reason God seems far removed from our circumstances and hurts is because of who He is.   He said, “My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways” (Isaiah 55:8).  In other words, God is much larger than our concepts and our understanding of doctrine and righteousness. He is bigger than our church or denomination.

2. At other times, God seems absent because of who we are.  We are rebellious, selfish, and contrary. There are periods when our prayers, even our churches and  our worship, are so full of ourselves we display our wants and feelings, and leave  no room for God.

3. God often seems absent because of our affluence, apathy, and comfort. We become so comfortable we simply don’t need God as much as those who are suffering or those enduring persecution or oppression.

4. God often seems absent to us because there are frankly some places God will not go. This can be illustrated from God’s Word. The tabernacle was always placed in the center of the camp. Inside the tabernacle the Ark of the Covenant was kept in the inner sanctum, the Holy of Holies.  The Ark had an incredible power associated with it. In fact, it was generally assumed that Israel was invulnerable in military battles because of the Ark’s presence. At one time something bad happened. Eli was the high priest and his two sons were to assume his priestly duties when he became unable to function as high priest. The two sons, however; had lost personal touch with God and ignored the standards of holiness imposed upon the priests. Israel was at war with the Philistines and Eli’s sons carried the Ark of the Covenant onto the battle ground. The two sons were killed, Israel was defeated, and the Ark was taken by the enemy. Eli himself dropped dead from the news. The whole tragic thing occasioned the naming of a baby with on of the most horrible names ever given to a child: Ichabod.  For Israel, the glory of the Lord was his presence, symbolized by the Ark of the Covenant. The truth is that God’s glory,  had temporarily departed when the Ark was removed from the tabernacle. His presence didn’t leave because the Ark had been taken, but because of the sin of His  people.  It is important to know that the absent glory did not reveal an absent God. Even when the sin of His people rendered them spiritual empty, God was never absent. He never abandons His people!

God was and is still ready to display His power.  He is simply searching for those who will meet His conditions. Those conditions are that worship must be placed in the center of all that we do. Our worship, and our praise must be a joyful experience because the glory of the Lord is here among us.

There is something we need to understand about joy.  You don’t just decide to be joyful, rather it is a fitting response to the actions of someone else.  Joy is as spontaneous as the “Ah!” that comes from our lips when we see a rocket explode during a fireworks display. Joy is as sudden as the stillness that comes over us when we stand on the mountain summit and look across a valley.  Joy is as unexpected as the tears that come to our eyes when we hold our child for the first time.

Are you experiencing the presence of God in your life and enjoying His glory?  Don’t miss His presence because of who He is, or because of who you are, or because you feel too comfortable to need Him, or because of sin in your life.  To be in God’s presence is to put ourselves where joy, real spontaneous joy, is possible.

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In the New Testament John records a miracle story of Jesus healing a sick  man that had been sick for thirty eight years at the pool of  Bethesda.  (John 5:1-9).  The point of this healing miracle is that Jesus does heal the wounds that time will not heal.  When we read this story we quickly think this poor man’s illness was of the physical variety, not a wounded spirit.  We may first think there is not much to learn from this story to help us with our emotional wounds.  Well, we shouldn’t be too quick! The man had been ill for many years and he had been brought to this pool beside the Sheep Gate, on the northern side of the Jerusalem temple, where he, with so many others waited to be healed.  The man had been placed close to the edge of the pool by the others that had transported him there, but he was never able to be the first one into the pool after the angelic stirring of the waters. But he still came there regularly, hoping that someone would help into the water allowing him to be healed.

The man was known as an invalid making his physical wounds clearly apparent, but could others detect any emotional wounds by looking at his face? If they would have looked more closely they would have seen evidence of emotional wounds. The real truth is that the physical impairment wasn’t nearly as crippling after all these years as his emotional wounds.  If a close look was made at the man you would see his sense of helplessness; his feelings of abandonment; and his feelings of worthlessness and shame.

This man, whose name we are never told, has all kinds of wounds. Thirty eight year old wounds both inside and out; and Jesus walks up to him and asks, “Do you want to be made well?” Jesus asks again, “Do you want to be made well?” This question must have seemed as useless as asking a shepherd if he knows what a sheep is, but Jesus did not ask the question for His information.  The question was for the sick man.  The man needed to consider the question to prove he was serious about being healed.  Jesus knew that old wounds are tender to touch, and sometimes we would rather pretend to be well, denying our infirmities, than to have them handled even by a healer.

The invalid man answered, but not the question Jesus asked. He responded by explaining his plight which, as with many of us, is a rationalization for why we have not sought healing for ourselves, and that often means finding someone else to blame. The man said to Jesus, “Mister, I don’t have anyone to get me into the pool after the angel stirs up the water. Somebody else always beats me there. Only the first one is healed you know.”  Jesus asks each of us if we want to be made well, and we often miss the chance for wholeness by trying to shield ourselves from His concern. We shield ourselves from His loving acceptance of us that feels almost unbearable to souls not warmed by love, or even a memory of love.

Attending church for worship may be like visiting the pool of Bethesda for some of us.  We go there just as we are, and for many of us that means we go with our wounds. Sometimes, these wounds are in the forefront; they are the basis on which we relate to others. We are more comfortable with our old wounds than we are without them, so we come to church sometimes with a half- hearted hope for some kind of healing. Some of us have found the healing we seek while others have not. Some have never been healed, even though they have been coming to church faithfully for years. There are still those old wounds deep down inside us which not been healed. We haven’t given up hope because we still keep coming, but we’ve become at least a little skeptical about the honest prospects for healing.  We watch as others seem to reap the benefits from angelic stirrings in worship. We see those who actually move toward wholeness during worship and become envious of them. We wonder when and if we will ever be able to connect somehow with the invisible presence of the Divine.

To the invalid at Bethesda, Jesus said, “Stand up, take your mat and walk”. At once the man was made well, and the man obeyed Jesus, taking up his mat and began to walk.  WOW, what powerful stuff!

Jesus doesn’t ignore our pain although He may have little patience with our excuses, especially when we become more preoccupied with our limitations that we are with Him. After thirty eight years of feeling helpless and dependent on others, embarrassed and abused, feeling worthless and frustrated, the man in a moment’s time, stood up and walked away from Bethesda. His physical condition was cured, and no doubt the wounds of his soul began to heal that day.  This incidence of healing was not simply a matter of making the man believe that he could be better. His healing came about because, at some level, he obviously wanted to be well, and because of the power of Jesus’ words spoken forcefully and yet in love.

We can know wholeness we had thought almost inconceivable for us. The key is to start believing that the healing of your old wounds is possible.  Even the deep, painful  ones that you have had for many years. Beyond believing, listen to the voice of Jesus speaking to you.  In the power of His word all wounds, physical and emotional, new and old, can be healed when you are ready to believe.

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Two thoughts are prominent in the definition of sanctification:  (1) separation from evil, and (2) dedication unto God and His service. The Hebrew root word has two basic meanings. It can mean ’set apart for exclusive use’, ’separated’, ‘regarded as sacred in contrast to profane’, or it can mean ‘brightness’, an idea related to purification.

The noun “sanctification” is found several times in the New Testament. The verb “to sanctify” has at least three meanings:

1. To render or acknowledge to be venerable, or to hallow.

Venerable means to command respect because of great age or impressive dignity.  I Peter 3:15, “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason for the hope that is in you with meekness and fear”. Luke 11:2, “And he said unto them, ‘when ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed by thy name…’ “.

2. To separate from things profane and dedicate to God, or to consecrate.

Matthew 23:17, “Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold.” John 17:19, “And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.” 2 Timothy 2:21, “If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work.”

3. To purify.

Ephesians 5:26, “that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word”. I Thessalonians 5:23, “And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ”. Hebrews 9:13, “For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh:”

To broadly define sanctification we may say that sanctification is a separation to God, an imputation of Christ as our holiness, purification from moral evil, and conformation to the image of Christ.

Separation to God presupposes separation from defilement. Usually we have the positive idea of separation or dedication to God. In this sense, the tabernacle and the temple were sanctified with all their furniture and vessels. (Exodus 40:10, Numbers 7:1, II Chronicles 7:16).  Other objects such as garments, fields, and people could be sanctified in the sense of being set apart for God’s use. This sanctification could be simply external and ritual, and was not always accompanied by the deeper inner reality.

Imputation of Christ as our holiness accompanies the imputation of Christ as our righteousness. He is made unto us both righteousness and sanctification,                      (I Corinthians 1:30).  Paul says believers “have been sanctified in Christ Jesus”, (I Corinthians 1:2).  This holiness is obtained by faith in Christ, (Acts 26:18).  The believer is thus reckoned holy as well as righteous, because he is clothed with the holiness of Christ.  In this sense, all believers are called “saints”, irrespective of their spiritual attainments.

Purification from moral evil is another form of separation. The priests were asked to sanctify themselves before drawing near to God, and the believer today is asked to separate himself from the ungodly in general, (II Corinthians 6:17), from false teachers and doctrines, (II Timothy 2:21,  II John 9), and from his own evil nature, (Romans 6:11; Ephesians 4:25-32; Colossians 3:5-9; I Thessalonians 4:3, 7).  It should be noted, however, that some passages treat sanctification as a single act, and in others it is treated as a continuous process; and that in some passages the purification is more of an outward nature, while in others it is essentially inward. In all of these, it is considered as an act of man and not an act of God. God has already set apart to Himself everyone who believes in Christ; now the believer sets himself apart to God for God’s use.

Conformation to the image of Christ is the positive aspect of sanctification, as purification is the negative, and separation and imputation of Christ’s holiness are positional.  Paul writes in Romans 8:29, “For whom he foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the first-born among many brethern”. John writes in I John 3:2, “Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we shall be. We know that, when He appears, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him just as He is”.

The extent of sanctification in Christian experience has been disputed. Some see it as a crisis experience subsequent to conversion in which the root of sin in our lives is pulled up or the principle of sin is rubbed out. Others regard it as a process of growth, but even they are divided. Some maintain that perfection at least of loving motives, if not of conduct, is possible after this life. Others suggest that God requires conformity to His law only to the extent that our abilities allow, and hence that ‘perfection’ is possible. Many suggest that full perfection is not possible until Christ returns. In this discussion we will view sanctification as both an act and a process which may be viewed as instantaneous, progressive, and complete.

Instantaneous sanctification is also called “positional” sanctification.  By the death of Jesus Christ the sanctification of the believer takes place instantaneously. The Scriptures teach that the very moment a man believes in Christ he is sanctified. In the first sense, the believer is separated from sin and separated unto God. This is clear from the fact that believers are called saints in the New Testament irrespective of their spiritual attainments.  Paul says of the Corinthians that they “were sanctified” (I Corinthians 6:11), though he also declared that they were “still fleshly” (I Corinthians 3:3).  In Thessalonians, Paul affirms that his readers are already sanctified, (II Thessalonians 2:13), though he also prays for their sanctification, (I Thessalonians 5:23). The believer grows in sanctification, rather than into sanctification. By a simple act of faith in Christ the believer is at once put into a state of sanctification. Every Christian is a sanctified person. He/she stands before God, Christlike, (Romans 8:29). In positional sanctification there is no second work of grace, no progress, and no growth.

Progressive sanctification continues throughout life. On the basis of what the believer has done at conversion, he is admonished to do the same actually in his own experience.  As believers, we are being transformed from one degree of character or glory to another. It is because sanctification is progressive, that we are exhorted to “to increase and abound”, (I Thessalonians 3:12), and to “abound more and more” in the graces of the Christian life. When the believer is wholly dedicated to God, progress in sanctification is assured. Then the Holy Spirit will put to death the deeds of the body (Romans 8:13), work in him obedience to the Word (I Peter 1:22), produce the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22), and use him in God’s service.  Then he will “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (II Peter 3:18), “increase and abound in love” (I Thessalonians 3:12), and cleanse himself “from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of  God (II Corinthians 3:18; Ephesians  4:11-16).  God’s gift of pastors and teachers to the church is for the purpose of perfecting the saints in the likeness of Christ until, at last, they attain unto the fullness of the divine standard, even Jesus Christ. (Ephesians 4:11-15).

Complete and final sanctification awaits the return of Christ. No matter how much progress we may have made  in the life of holiness, entire conformity to Christ will only be realized when “the perfect” comes and “the partial will be done away” (I Corinthians 13:10). We have been saved from the guilt and the penalty of sin, we are being saved from the power of sin, and we will ultimately be saved from the very presence of sin. Our salvation from the presence of sin will take place when we shall see the Lord, either at death, or at His coming. The body of the believer will then be glorified, and become a perfect instrument of obedience to God.

The agencies and means of sanctification are both divine and human:  Both God and man contributing and cooperating towards this desired end.  It is not, however, God the Father only, but the triune God that has a part in the work.

God the Father sanctifies the believer in that He reckons the holiness of Christ to him (I Corinthians 1:30),  works in him that which is well-pleasing in His sight (Hebrews 13:21), and disciplines him (Hebrews 12:9;  I Peter 4:17;  5:10).  We cannot purify ourselves, but we can yield to God and then the purity will come.

Jesus Christ the Son sanctifies the believer by laying down His life for him (Hebrews 10:10; 13:12), and by producing holiness in him by the Spirit (Romans 8:13;  Hebrews 2:11).  The death of Jesus Christ separates the believer from sin and the world, and sets him apart as redeemed and dedicated to the the service of God.

The Holy Spirit sanctifies the believer in that He frees him from the carnal nature (Romans 8:2),  strives against the manifestation of it (Galatians 5:17),  puts to death the old nature as the believer yields it to Him for crucifixion (Romans 8:13),  and produces the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22). The Holy Spirit seals, attests, and confirms the work of grace in the soul by producing the fruits of righteousness therein.  He is called the Holy Spirit, not only because He is absolutely holy, but also because He produces that quality of soul-character in the believer.

Man, in himself, can do nothing to achieve sanctification.  Even in the believer, God must take the initiative.  Paul says, “It is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure”, Phillippians 2:13.  There are definite means, however, that man may employ in his sanctification. Here, as elsewhere, faith in Christ is the first step for man to take. He who believes in Christ is sanctified positionally, for Christ is at that moment made unto his sanctification (I Corinthians 1:30).  Next must come the pursuit of holiness. This pursuit of holiness should lead one to study the Scriptures, for they disclose the state of the heart and point out the remedy for failure (John 17:17, 19; Ephesians 5:26;  I Timothy 4:5;  James 1:25).  The definite surrender of the life to God constitutes the supreme condition of practical sanctification (Romans 6:13, 19-21;  II Timothy 2:21). Since God must make man holy, man must yield himself to God that He may accomplish this work in him.

Christ prayed that God will guard us while we live in the world’s hostile environment (John 17: 11-19). His prayer was not that God would take us out of the world, but that God would protect us from the evil one. Christ asked that we be sanctified by God’s truth; that we will be set apart to a holy way of life, and then “sent into the world”.  We are to not only witness to, but we are to personally experience Christ’s joy as we become more and more like Him. We have Jesus’ added promise that He consecrates Himself to aid our growth in godliness. The prospect of complete conformation to the image of Christ should compel us to put away now all unholy things from our lives.

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