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timewithgod.blog-city.com — April 2007
Ephesians 4:17-32 Dangers of Intellectual Futility
it happened to me
The effects of sinning are devastating. Both unbelievers and believers who have backslidden fail to notice the subtle ways in which sin alters our minds. This intellectual futility includes:
1) our thoughts becoming worthless
2) failure to understand the simplest things about leading a Christian life
3) evaporation of our knowledge -- what we knew seems to just vanish
4) we begin to refuse to listen
5) we lose all feelings of shame.
Alarm bells should be going off if we can point to any of this currently in our lives.
Once Satan has our thoughts where he wants them, he then can begin to work on our actions -- the outpouring of our thoughts.
When we accept Christ, we know instinctively that we are to leave our old selves. We are to stop living the evil way we lived before. Our old self doesn't like being denied. To regain control, it attempts to re-attract us with further enticements. That's also one of the powerful things about sin. It prompts us to get bored quickly with it, and the same old temptations just won't do it for us anymore (particularly true with sexual sins) and we soon discover that to get the same thrill, we must allow ourselves to be pulled deeper and deeper into sin.
Paul offers a way out. We have to stop telling lies and be honest with ourselves. We also have to stop being angry and lever let the sun go down on our anger, because when we do, we are opening up a chink in our spiritual armor that Satan can exploit. Why help our enemy???
I think all of this proves the point that even as Christians, we will struggle with our sinful human nature, and it becomes a battle of the will to see who will win out. It will be a struggle every day, but a struggle worth winning, and we can't ever give up or give ground. This kind of victory is not won in our own strength, but instead in God's alone.
Father, help me daily, minute by minute, to choose to fight back and beat down my old self, and to call on Your strength to do it. Help me to know that it is always worth it. I've known the futility of thinking which Paul describes, and I don't ever want to go back there again!
Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford
Gary Ford
Ephesians 5:1-20 Our focus
finding out what God's will is for me each day
I have a hard time trying to do anything other than quoting some of the verses here -- almost as though God is saying that He said it well enough already: "You are God's children whom He loves, so try to be like Him .... Those things are not right for God's holy people .... These things are not right for you. Instead, you should be giving thanks to God .... Try to learn what pleases the Lord.....Be very careful how you live .... Use every chance you have for doing good.....Learn what the Lord wants you to do..... Be filled with the Spirit....Always give thanks to God the Father for everything."
There was a lot of discussion about what not to do in between those dots. But I felt that God knows what footnote and fin-print readers we can be, and He knows how we'll search for a loophole. Perhaps that's why He seemed to direct me to the positive aspects of what He said through Paul here, so we wouldn't be tempted to "major on the minors".
Father, please keep me ever mindful of what is right for me, what I shouldn't think about or discuss, and what You want me to do. Foster in me an attitude of gratitude for everything You bring my way, no matter whether I first perceive it as good or not. I know I can trust what You bring me to grow me in You. The important thing is to find out what Your will is for me each day.
Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford
Gary Ford
Ephesians 5:21-33 Great revulsion today against what is taught here
Wives submitting to husbands
I agree with my commentary that there is great revulsion today against what is taught in these verses. And that is so very strange to imagine happening about God's word without knowing the content! "Wives, submit to your husbands, as you do to the Lord."
Perhaps it's an outgrowth of the moves toward personal freedom .... I don't know, but no one seems to like being made to submit to anyone or anything today. It almost implies weakness.
But my commentary explained that the context of the submission was what made it so attractive rather than repugnant: "Nothing could more exalt the role of the wife than comparing it to the role of the church as the Bride of Christ.... and that's the pattern to be followed."
It also pointed out that this isn't a one-sided proposition either. "But notice the beautiful balance of truth in the Scriptures, and the corresponding standard they require of the husbands. Husbands are not told to keep their wives in subjection; they are told to love their wives just as Christ also loved the church." That's a tall order to fill for husbands!
God had to have given Paul the words about a man loving his wife as he loves his own body, for he chose what men probably think the most about and cherish about themselves. I just hope that it's in God's will for me to someday get to love a wife in that way.
Father, please help women to see the great value to their marriage of yielding to their husbands as You described here. And hold all men who become husbands to the very high standards You've set here for us in loving the woman You give to us as a wife. As my commentary said, "There is nothing more attractive than a woman fulfilling the role which You assigned to her," and how beautiful she will be if that role is to be my wife!
Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford
Gary Ford
Ephesians 6:1-9 Advice on being a dad, right on time
thanks for helping me remember it yesterday, Father
As always, God, You're timing is impeccable! Yesterday I went to school to get Josh and he wanted to walk home from school, as usual, and told me he'd need to study to retake a science test today. We both agreed to meet at 5pm to start.
He didn't show on time, and after 15 minutes, I began calling and driving, trying to locate him. By 6:15, I was frantic, because he knew I had to be at youth at 6pm. When I finally located him at a friend's house he'd never been to before, I know that he knew he should have checked in and was in trouble (plus the fact that we'd missed study time and I'd missed youth by then). Trying to temper my anger with relief that he was alright, I reminded him of his promise to be thee (which he didn't remember making, allegedly) and his duty to call and let me know where he was (which he forgot to do as well). After the usual, "You're the meanest dad!" commentary, I really think he was expecting the worst and it was killing him that he wasn't getting it yet. But I knew that studying for science wasn't going to happen if he got what he deserved.
Through a lot of the study time, he kept trying to egg me into a confrontation (I really think he felt he deserved it), and how I kept praying that God would help me not to buy into it. It was then that I noticed him drawing closer ... an arm touching mine, then a leg. He was wanting physical closeness and a relationship restored. There were no complaints about supper (he even asked for more) and he even voluntarily hopped into the shower, rather than being forced to stop playing to take it. All was well as I tucked him in.
Father, I imagine there have been a lot of times when You've probably felt the same way about me -- so mad You couldn't stand it, yet wanting me back. Thank You for giving me Your mercy and grace. And thanks for putting these words on my heart yesterday: "Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger." I pray that he learned more yesterday about being a dad than about being a son.
Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford
Gary Ford
Ephesians 6:10-24 Preparations for Battle
suit up
When we used to play paintball, there wasn't as much satisfaction in "killing" someone on the other team who was clearly clueless about the game. The real thrill was in overcoming the best of the best -- the last soldiers standing.
And it's apparent that Satan feels the same way. My commentary said, "The more effective a believer is for the Lord, the more he will experience the savage attacks of the enemy: the devil does not waste his ammunition on nominal Christians."
So, almost like special forces soldiers, we can simply expect that when we are in God's will, we will be a target. "God's best soldiers are those who are conscious of their own weakness and ineffectiveness, and who rely solely on Him." It's when a soldier gets too proud and cocky that he sets himself up for failure.
My commentary also listed stratagems the devil uses against the best soldiers, so we ought to be on high alert for them: discouragement, frustration, confusion, moral failure, and doctrinal error. "He knows our weakest point and aims for it."
Paul "suits us up" with God's spiritual armor, and then mentions prayer: "It is the atmosphere in which the soldier must live and breathe. It is the spirit in which he must don the armor and face the foe. Prayer should be continual, not sporadic .... There must be vigilance in prayer .... We must watch against drowsiness, mind wandering, and preoccupation with other things. Prayer requires spiritual keenness, alertness, and concentration", in the same way that we would expect a professional soldier to exhibit them.
Father, help us to remember that this is a battlefield and not a spa. We are targets. Keep us ever alert, with all of our armor on, ready for anything!
Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford
Gary Ford
Song of Solomon 1 & 2 -- Turned completely upside down
what a different interpretation I've found
A very strange morning .... I'm starting the 4th time through this Bible this morning, and it looks like the book I started with last time through was this one. I really didn't want to read it now for some reason, but when I got to my commentary, I found a completely different interpretation than I'd ever seen or read before. I'd always heard that the entire book was about 2 people madly in love with each other, but my commentary noted this:
"This book may be a protest against marital infidelity. Solomon, with all his many wives, seeks to woo a young maiden. But she has a shepherd lover to whom she is faithful and true. She does not yield to the blandishments of Solomon. Every time he flatters her, she begins to speak about her own lover. At the close of the book, she is united with her shepherd-lover and resting in his love. Those who accept this interpretation point out that most references to Solomon have the city and palace as background whereas references to the shepherd picture him appropriately in a rural setting. This sharp contrast between the city and the country reinforces the idea that there are two male characters in this drama, not just one. This interpretation is not popular because it puts Solomon in an unfavorable light. However, it is true that he was a polygamist, whereas God's order for His people was monogamy. The nation of Israel, of course, had been unfaithful to Jehovah, running after other lovers. In this song, they read of the beauty of faithful love."
Wow, what a contrast! Here's how it says it all plays out in the first two chapters:
1:2-8 She's in the palace and thinking of her absent shepherd-lover and tells the court ladies about him and about herself.
1:9-2:6 Solomon woos her but she is deaf to his flattery
2:7 The keynote of the book, it says. "There is a time for love. It should not be aroused by carnal means (as the king was trying to do) .... Love is not a thing to be bought or forced or pretended, but a thing to come spontaneously, to be given freely and sincerely. If Israel had followed this simple rule, it would not have been unfaithful to Jehovah."
2:8-17 She reminisces about a visit from her shepherd-lover, interrupted by orders from her brothers to get to work.
I am just blown away by this. Such an entirely different meaning from the last time I'd read it. Of course, when I heard "shepherd" I thought of Jesus. I don't yet know where the commentary is taking this, but what an apt way of showing our first love for Christ and the attempts of Satan to woo us away from Him by materialism and carnal desires!
Father, I don't know where this is headed, but there's nothing like a mystery to keep me reading! Help me to see how this applies to my own life as it unfolds.
Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford
Gary Ford
Song of Solomon 3:1-5:1 Part 2 of a very different version of the story
she resists Solomon, not caving in to him
What a huge difference this 3-person viewpoint makes to the story! In what I've traditionally heard, the woman dreams of Solomon, then goes and finds him in the night. Then seemingly on another day, she watches as his procession enters the city, and he woos her with compliments, leading her to agree to a night of intimacy with him as his betrothed.
However, in the 3-person view, the Shulamite maiden dreams of her shepherd-lover, finally finding him in her dreams and taking him to her home.
"The arrival of Solomon's procession implies the question, 'Who could resist the romantic overtures of such a glorious king?'....The implied answer, of course, in 'The Shulamite woman can!' She is faithful to her own lover and deaf to all other voices," my commentary adds.
Then in the first five verses of chapter 4, "Solomon again seeks to win the maiden, but she is impervious to his charms," it says. And in verse 6, "The Shulamite interrupts to let Solomon know that she is impervious to his flattery, and that she is looking forward to reunion with her beloved."
In this version, "The young shepherd now arrives and urges his fiancée to leave Jerusalem for the home they have planned in the country. He likens her to a well-watered garden, bearing the choicest fruits. In poetic language, she tells him to com to the garden and claim it as his own. The Shepherd responds (in 5:1) to her invitation, saying that he is coming to the garden to "gather his spices, to eat honeycomb, and to drink wine and milk."
This version still includes the beautiful descriptions of love between a couple. Yet it also praises the woman's pledge of monogamy with the one she loves, despite the advances of one who by even modern-day standards would be hard to resist, given our materialistic society.
Father, I'm reminded here of Your words to Samuel as he looked at each of Jesse's older sons, trying to find the next king of Israel -- that You aren't concerned with external appearances -- instead You look at the heart. Help me to do the same, when and if You have it in Your plan for me to marry.
Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford
Gary Ford
Song of Solomon 5-6 Temptations include self-esteem
Self-esteem issues signal a pride problem
From my commentary, first the maiden dreams of missing her shepherd-lover because of her hesitation to get out of bed and invite him in (maybe a nod to her chastity?). Then after hearing her many descriptions of him, the other court ladies wonder just what there is about this mere shepherd that could enable anyone to refuse the love of Solomon.
She describes first his physical attractiveness, then adds the most important part -- "He's my lover and my friend." Their relationship was not just based on the physical. There was deep friendship.
Now the court ladies want to meet him, but "she is purposefully vague and evasive ... Why should she tell them? She belongs to him, he belongs to her, and that's the way she intends it to remain," my commentary says.
In this version, Solomon appears again and once again tries to woo her with no success.
If this really is the case, it reminds me that Satan never gives up the chase, and his temptations even attempt to build up my personal esteem. I cannot let pride cause me to buy into his temptations and lead me to sin.
Father, as unlovely and undeserving as I am, still You chased after me, even in my sin, to bring me to You. I am undeserving of such love, and of the highest price You paid to have me. Thank You for such love, and lead me to always remember that it is the basis for my worth, and nothing can top that.
Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford
Gary Ford
Song of Solomon 7-8 The Rest of The Story
what an ending
My commentary says that Solomon tries one more time in verses 1-9 to win her over, sensually describing her from head to toe, "comparing her to famous places in his far-flung realm." But in verse 9, "the maiden finishes the sentence by letting him know that her wine is not for him but for her beloved. She belongs to her lover and not to the king."
"Her shepherd-lover then arrives in Jerusalem and she is free to go to the field and villages with him .... In that rural setting, she will give him her love .... In her home village (8:5), the local people see her returning from Jerusalem and ask who it is, coming up from the wilderness, leaning upon her beloved ...the shepherd points out familiar places. She suggests renewing their vows (6-7) .... she affirms that there is no rival for her love. It is as strong as death, unquenchable, and beyond price."
The commentary sees 8:8-9 as a remembrance that years ago, her brothers, when planning her future, had promised a silver dowry if she had remained chaste and pure. But if she was promiscuous and accessible as a door, they would hide her away in seclusion. Both she and her love know that she has been steadfast as a wall. "She tells of Solomon trying to show off with his vineyards, but she wasn't interested. She had her own vineyard -- her shepherd-lover. Solomon could keep his wealth as far as she was concerned.... the shepherd asks her to commit herself to him now in marriage, and she tells her beloved to make haste to claim her as his own."
W. Twyman Williams, writing in Moody Monthly, said that Song of Solomon has been called "the Old Testament's endorsement of monogamy in the face of the most glaring example of polygamy to be found in the Scriptures. It is a powerful plea to Israel of Solomon's day to return to the God-given ideal of love and marriage."
Wow, God! What a remarkable way to view this book. When I think of how wise Solomon started out being, and how he'd been warned not to take too many wives, especially foreign wives, and how he ended up, it certainly fits. I also think again about the image of the shepherd coming to get his bride, and the great love he had for her, and I'm again reminded of Your Son's great love for me. Let me keep my relationship with You and with Him as strong and loyal as this woman did. And if someday I should have a wife, enable me to guard that relationship and protect it from any and all attempts by Satan to destroy it.
Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford
Gary Ford
Mark 1 and my quiet times
Some reminders from God this morning
Of all the territory Mark covered in this chapter, God seems to be pointing out verses 35-45 most of all this morning. Jesus' QT was discussed in my commentary: "The Servant of Jehovah opened His ear each morning to receive instructions for the day from God the Father." It referred me to Isaiah 50:4-5, which spoke of Jesus: "Every morning [the Lord God] wakes Me. He teaches Me to listen like a student. The Lord God helps me learn...."
The commentary continued: "If the Lord Jesus felt the need for this early morning quiet time, how much more so should we? Notice too that He prayed when it cost Him something; He rose and went out a long time before daylight. Prayer should not be a matter of personal convenience but of self-discipline and sacrifice."
And speaking of prayer, it noted this about the seven words the leper prayed: "His prayer was earnest and desperate (imploring Him); it was reverent (kneeling down to Him); it was humble and submissive (if You are willing); it was believing (You can); it acknowledged need (make me clean); it was specific (not "bless me" but "make me clean"); it was personal (make me clean); it was brief (5 words in the original).
Father, help me to never doubt the importance of our early morning time together. Thank You for what You show me each time we meet. Yet help me more with my prayer time. I know that this shows clearly that specific, brief prayers can be incredibly powerful, but I just need conversation time with You, and I need more power from the Holy Spirit too see it through.
Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford
Gary Ford
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