Should I Fight or be Still?

You have commanded your precepts to be kept diligently. Oh that my ways may be steadfast in keeping your statutes! (Psalms 119:4)

Do you often find yourself confused, unsure of how to best live according to God’s will? This is a struggle for me. Should I speak or stay silent? Will this action offend or edify? Is this a time for action or inaction? Should I fight? Or should I stay still?

Though every situation is different and every person unique, the Bible paints both stillness and action as pleasing to the LORD, depending on the variables at hand.

One example is when the Israelites were fleeing from Pharaoh and the Egyptians. The LORD had fought for them in Egypt by displaying horrors and miracles through Aaron and Moses. Finally their oppressors relented and the Israelites were free – but not for long. Pharaoh changed his mind, and Exodus tells the account of their suspenseful chase after the newly freed slaves. “What have you done to us?” the people cried to Moses (Exodus 14:11). They knew there was nothing they could do to protect themselves from the mighty King of Egypt.

But then God made his will known through Moses. No, the Israelites would not be able to defeat Pharaoh.

But the LORD did not ask them to.

“The LORD will fight for you,” Moses proclaimed. “You need only to be still.”

But there are other times, are there not? Times when we have the choice to stretch out our hands to either right or wrong, and there is no in-between.  Paul writes to Timothy,

“But you, man of God…pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith” (1 Timothy 6:11-12).

Sometimes we must fight. And make no mistake; this is not a direct call to fist-fights or military service. It is a direct command to use the Ephesians 6:10. We must fight to keep righteousness in our own lives, refusing choices which lead to sin and death. We must fight for love, which means making really hard choices and overcoming our natural selfish inclinations. We must fight for endurance, keeping promises, covenants, and our integrity in a way worthy of Christ Jesus.

Sometimes God calls us to fight, and sometimes he tells us to be still. How can we decipher it?

Sometimes it will be hard. But from these passages, I would risk saying that God knows when we are facing a foe that’s too big for us. Sometimes we ache and long to fight, but we know the battle is beyond us, out of our hands. It is those times we must remember that God is a God of the weak, the poor, and the broken. The LORD will fight for you. You need only to be still.

Other times we can and must fight. When we are faced with injustice, and we have some measure of control, we must fight for the small ones. When we are faced with personal crises, we must fight for our children, parents, marriages, relationships, churches – not against them. We must use every weapon in our spiritual arsenals to build the Kingdom of God and protect it from the ever-watchful forces of darkness. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance. Fight the good fight.

Intersecting Faith and Life: What are you struggling with now in your life, or your walk with the LORD? Spend some time in prayer to see whether God wants you to fight, or lay down your weapons and give the battle to him.

Futher Reading:

Ephesians 6:10

Exodus 14:1

Hebrews 12:3

by Debbie Holloway, Crosswalk

http://www.crosswalk.com/devotionals/crosswalk-devo/

The Dross Purged

"And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The Lord is my God." Zech. 13:9

Grace transmutes us into precious metal, and then the fire and the furnace follow as a necessary consequence. Do we start at this? Would we sooner be accounted worthless, that we might enjoy repose, like the stones of the field? This would be to choose the viler part: like Esau, to take the pottage, and give up the covenant portion. No, Lord; we will gladly be cast into the furnace rather than be cast out from thy presence!

The fire only refines, it does not destroy. We are to be brought through the fire, not left in it. The Lord values His people as silver, and therefore He is at pains to purge away their dross. If we are wise, we shall rather welcome the refining process than decline it. Our prayer will be that our alloy may be taken from us rather than that we should be withdrawn from the crucible.

O Lord, thou triest us indeed! We are ready to melt under the fierceness of the flame. Still, this is thy way, and thy way is the best. Sustain us under the trial and complete the process of our purifying, and we will be thine for ever and ever.
—Faith's Checkbook

Return From Backsliding

"If thou return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up Job 22:23

Eliphaz, in this utterance, spoke a great truth, which is the summary of many an inspired Scripture. Reader, has sin pulled you down? Have you become like a ruin? Has the hand of the Lord gone out against you, so that in estate you are impoverished, and in Spirit you are broken down? Was it your own folly which brought upon you all this dilapidation? Then the first thing to be done is to return to the Lord. With deep repentance and sincere faith find your way back from your backsliding. It is your duty, for you have turned away from Him whom you professed to serve. It is your wisdom, for you cannot strive against Him and prosper. It is your immediate necessity, for what He has done is nothing compared to what He may do in the way of chastisement, since He is Almighty to punish.

See what a promise invites you! You shall be "built up." None but the Almighty can set up the fallen pillars, and restore the tottering walls of your condition; but He can and He will do it if you return to Him. Do not delay. Your crushed mind may quite fail you if you go on to rebel; but hearty confession will ease you, and humble faith will console you. Do this, and all will be well.

How Are You Going About The Work Of God?

By:

• Hurried busy activity?
• Inner striving for perfection?
• Fastidious attention to standards of performance?

This is not God's way:

"DON'T BE [MORBIDLY EXACTING AND EXTERNALLY] RIGHTEOUS OVERMUCH, neither strive to make yourself [pretentiously appear] overwise – why should you [get puffed up and] destroy yourself [with presumptuous self-sufficiency]?" (Ecclesiastes 7:16 – Amplified)

Someone has said, "Woe to the nervous activity of those of little faith."

Jesus' life was characterized by restful determination in accomplishing the work of God. Never in a hurry, He was poised, natural… purposeful.

And so it should be with us: "There remains… a… rest for the people of God." (Hebrews 4:9)

The real work of God is done behind the scenes during private times of reflection upon His Word, worship, intercession, and pondering His eternal purposes. Then, sensing and moving with the inner prompting of the Spirit.

Gutzon Borglum commented, "When I carve a statue, it is very simple. I merely cut away the pieces that don't belong there and the statue itself presently comes into view. It was there all the time."

The life of Jesus Christ waits within us to find full expression through us in accomplishing His work. We can nervously hammer away at getting Him out… or we can rest as He cuts "away the pieces that don't belong there."

"For it is God who is at work within you, giving you the will and the power to achieve His purpose." (Philippians 2:13 – Phillips Translation)

"When I see the blood, I will pass over you

"When I see the blood, I will pass over you." Exod. 12:13

My own sight of the precious blood is for my comfort; but it is the Lord's sight of it which secures my safety. Even when I am unable to behold it, the Lord looks at it, and passes over me because of it. If I am not so much at ease as I ought to be, because my faith is dim, yet I am equally safe, because the Lord's eye is not dim, and He sees the blood of the great Sacrifice with steady gaze. What a joy is this!

The Lord sees the deep inner meaning, the infinite fullness of all that is meant by the death of His dear Son. He sees it with restful memory of justice satisfied, and all His matchless attributes glorified. He beheld creation in its progress, and said, "It is very good"; but what does He say of redemption in its completeness? What does He say of the obedience even unto death of His Well-beloved Son? None can tell His delight in Jesus, His rest in the sweet savor which Jesus presented when He offered Himself without spot unto God.

Now rest we in calm security. We have God's Sacrifice and God's Word to create in us a sense of perfect security. He will, He must, pass over us, because He spared not our glorious Substitute. Justice joins hands with love to provide everlasting salvation for all the blood-besprinkled ones.

Search me, O God, and know my heart

Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.—Psalm 139:23, 24.

Save us from the evil tongue,

From the heart that thinketh wrong,

From the sins, whate'er they be,

That divide the soul from Thee.

ANON.

Such as are thy habitual thoughts, such also will be the character of thy mind; for the soul is dyed by the thoughts. Dye it then with a continuous series of such thoughts as these: for instance, that where a man can live, there he can also live well. But he must live in a palace: well, then, he can also live well in a palace.

MARCUS ANTONINUS.

Who is there that sets himself to the task of steadily watching his thoughts for the space of one hour, with the view of preserving his mind in a simple, humble, healthful condition, but will speedily discern in the multiform, self-reflecting, self-admiring emotions, which, like locusts, are ready to "eat up every green thing in his land," a state as much opposed to simplicity and humility as night is to day?

M. A. KELTY.

Blessed Are the Meek

 Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
(Mat 5:5 KJ2000)


J. Paul Getty had a rejoinder to this.  "The meek shall inherit the earth," he said, "but not the mineral rights."  Without knowing it, he has given us the key to understanding this passage. 

Getty was once asked how much money was "enough."  His answer was simply, "More."  In this attitude we see the world's view of "who wins."  The winners are the powerful, the strong, those who can take what they want.  The purpose of life is to accumulate more and more possessions.  But then what?

Our Lord gives us a very different view.  He says the meek shall inherit the earth.  But just who are the meek?

The word can also be translated "gentle."  So at the very least these are not those who are the pushy and aggressive so favored by our modern thought.

The word is sometimes rendered "humble."  Remember that the Bible tells us that Moses was a humble man, so humility is not the opposite of greatness.

Humility starts with an honest evaluation of yourself—by the standards of God.  Things look different from that viewpoint.

Because pride does not cloud their view, the meek can discern what is good, and what is evil—and choose wisely.

Meekness carries with it the ability to withstand evil—not with the weapons of the world, but with patient endurance.  The storm may lash the rock, but it remains a rock when the storm is gone.
The meek are those whose actions are governed by a love of God, and their fellow men. 
At the very least these are the kind of people who will enjoy this earth much more while they are here—for they are not concerned with scraping more of it into their back pockets.  Getty was a man who was owned by his mineral rights.

The key to this passage is in the verb—"inherit."  You do not earn an inheritance, it is given to you.  So if you go out to conquer the earth, you cannot inherit it.  But if you remain among the meek, our Lord promises that you shall inherit it.  The day of the New Heaven and New Earth will see new owners evidently—the meek shall then inherit.  It is good to know that they will enjoy this planet much more while they're waiting for it, as well.

Those Who Mourn

Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
(Mat 5:4 KJ2000)


Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.  It sounds like one of the paradoxes of the Bible.  How can mourning be a blessing?

Perhaps it depends upon what you are mourning for:

Most of the scholars of the Bible will quickly point out to you that Christians are commanded to mourn—to have "godly sorrow" - for their sins.  This is a step in the process of repentance.  It is to recognize that you have done wrong, and feel genuinely sorry that you did.  All of us are familiar with the "I'm sorry" of a small child, who is usually sorry that he got caught.  This is the sorrow of one who means it.  It is an art that needs practice!  But consider what happens when you do it.  God, the Almighty, the Just Judge, hears your advocate in heaven, Jesus the Christ, and agrees with his plea for mercy toward you.  Think about it this way:  how do you feel when the traffic cop says, "I'm going to let you off with a warning this time?"  God's comfort is even greater.  In Him you are completely forgiven.

Sometimes we mourn for our circumstances.  We consider our lot in life and say, "Poor me!"  So often when this happens it drives us to our knees in prayer and back to God.  But this is good!  If I could sell you a magic potion that would bring you closer to God, it would be worth a fortune.  But it seems that your troubles already are doing this, at no charge.  Take those troubles to him in prayer, and receive the sweet comfort only God can give.

The word "mourning" is often associated with death.  We say that someone is "in mourning" for the loss of a loved one.  But even here there is comfort from God.  If this loved one trusted the Lord Jesus Christ, you have the sure and certain hope of the resurrection of the dead—and what a grand and glorious day that will be!

Mourning has the virtue that it drives out all other emotions, and keeps us from much that is sinful.  It is the starting point of self-denial.  It is also a method of getting clear touch with reality.  As often as we deceive ourselves about sin, circumstance and death, mourning is our friend to bring us back to a clear view of the truth.  To this our Lord adds the blessing of God, that you might know that he works all things together for the good of his children.