Focus

“The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great [is] that darkness!” (Mt 6:22-23 AV)

Very interesting passage.  Information comes by our senses.  We learn by what we experience.  We smell, touch, hear, taste, and see.  The most influential of all senses is sight.  We learn more by what we see than any other sense.  In fact, what we hear, smell, touch and taste is defined by what we see.  More than one sense is involved in order to comprehend what has just been experienced.  Sort of like triangulating.  In order to come to a fuller understanding, there needs to be more than one point of reference.  Therefore, when the LORD tells us that sight is the light of the body, He is being far more scientific and accurate that we might at first realize.  Having said all this, the implications of what we observe matters much.  The LORD is preaching a singularity of observation and focus.  This does not mean we cannot scan or take in more points of view.  Rather, what we observe must be seen through a single lens.  That lens is the Biblical world view which Jesus is trying to show those assembled for his sermon.

I grew up with photography as a hobby.  I graduated from a single focus lens in 110mm to an SLR using 35mm.  Digital photography had just dawned by the time I put my camera aside.  The thrill of an SLR is a single point of focus.  The single focus lens took the picture we a single depth of field.  Everything was in focus, regardless of how far the subject was to the lens.  Something miles away was just as focused as the person in the foreground.  When SLR came out, the photographer could focus on his subject, which caused foreground and background to blur.  What a revolution!  This opened a world of photography that had not existed before.  Now, we could take all the information available but focus on that which drew our attention. The subject became the primary concern and all other information was secondary or complimentary.  With the advancement of digital photography, 3D is not available.  This enhanced depth of field takes SLR focus to a new level.  Now, the subject is even more in focus.  All other information may or may not be pertinent.  It may enhance or detract from the subject depending on the photographer’s intent.  Secondary information is often unavoidable.  It can be edited out later, but at the time of the photo, it is there nonetheless.  One thing is for certain.  When the photographer is taking his or her picture, he or she has in mind what is the center of the photo and what is unimportant.

This is the point of the passage above.  We cannot control everything we see.  One trip to the grocery store will verify that.  One cannot avoid immodesty.  Not completely.  Unless we live in a remote area with no other human beings, we will see things that are unfortunate.  What we can do is define what we see with the single lens of God’s holiness.  If we see wickedness, we can interpret these unfortunate sights by the lens of God’s justice and mercy.  We can use our eyes to complement the point of God’s righteousness, or we can consume what we see upon our own lusts.  The choice is ours.  Jesus is not saying we need to close our eyes and only open them when we are guaranteed nothing will offend.  Rather, Jesus is telling us to put on the single lens of purity, righteousness, virtue, or praise.  How we chose to observe the world is just as important as what we choose to observe.

Complete Repentance Requires Help

"Forsake me not, O LORD: O my God, be not far from me. Make haste to help me, O Lord my salvation.” (Ps 38:21-22 AV)

These words were uttered by David at a time of sinful failure.  At least, that is how he felt.  We don’t know exactly what the occurrence was.  In reality, it doesn’t matter.  The fact David feared God’s abandonment over his sin is what matters.  We have all been there.  God has promised never to leave nor forsake us.  And He won’t.  But that doesn’t mean our relationship will be intimate.  God doesn’t abandon as much as He can become distant.  I don’t blame Him.  We hear His word and then do the opposite.  Why wouldn’t He be a bit distant?  This might be proven by that second phrase, “be not far from me”.  God doesn’t leave.  He simply retires to a distance.  What is important here is the conclusion of David’s prayer.  He seeks help.  Earlier in the psalm, David confesses his faults.  Rather than confess and forsake, leaving it at that, he seeks God’s help to overcome whatever ails him.  It is not enough to confess and forsake.  If we are serious with God, then we must seek His help to overcome the sin that has estranged us.

To be able to rely on someone whom we have failed to overcome is something special.  Most would reject such a request.  If I am injured by another, helping them to overcome their habit of injuring me might not be something I would be willing to do.  There is a common tragedy that plays out in many of the addicted.  They seek help from their loves ones to overcome their addiction, but many times, it is manipulation for more resources so they can continue in their addiction.  Those addicted lie and steal to feed their addiction.  When loved ones do try to help, more times than not, they are used and discarded at the hands of the one whom they are trying to help.  Often, the only answer is to let someone like that hit the wall.  They have to come to the end of themselves before any escape can be had.  I have counseled many families who have an addict in their lives.  Resentment and anger are often the result.  Abandonment is not too far off.  They simply do not want anything to do with an addict, even if they fully recover.  Their patience is limited.  Their love has constraints.  They give and give, but there comes a time when there is nothing left to give.  They become emotionally distant and unreconcilable.  It is rather sad.

God is the ultimate victim of addiction.  His creation is addicted to sin.  We do as we please and then seek forgiveness afterward.  We use Him when we need Him, but if the flesh is greater, then we abandon Him.  David is seeking help.  He knows he has offended God.  He knows he doesn’t deserve God’s love.  He knows he has injured God.  He knows God is offended.  But he has the sense to know God is his only help.  He is seeking the LORD’s help, not that he might cease for his own sake.  Rather, he seeks God’s help because he has offended God.  He wants liberty from sin for God’s glory.  Seeking the help of God is a big step in overcoming sin.  Knowing we cannot do so ourselves, seeking the LORD’s help is both wise and humble.  David is showing us the way, here.  He is teaching us that if we are to live for the LORD, we can only do so with His help.  So, repentance is more than confession and forsaking.  It is concluded in seeking and gaining the LORD’s help to overcome.

Salvation Is Active

“But the salvation of the righteous [is] of the LORD: [he is] their strength in the time of trouble.” (Ps 37:39 AV)

Not ‘in the LORD’ or ‘by the LORD’.  Our salvation is of the LORD.  This makes the tense present.  Salvation is not something that only happened in the past.  Nor is salvation reserved for the future.  The salvation of the LORD is an ongoing state of being.  The salvation of the LORD is active.  It has never failed and remains in force.  The saint is in the constant state of being saved.  That begs a question.  From what are we being saved?  The list is long.  We are being saved from trouble.  According to the verse above, our lives would be far worse if the LORD was not in the process of saving us from trouble.  Some of that trouble is sin.  Some of the trouble is persecutions.  Some of that trouble is doubt, fear, anxiety, etc.  In short, the salvation of our LORD is always a part of our lives and no matter how deep the waters might feel, they could be immensely deeper.

As young parents, we were very involved in the lives of our children.  We were always there, no matter the event of life.  Either together, or separately, my wife and I were part of our children’s lives.  Sometimes, they were completely unaware.  My sons attended a Christian school.  This school had issues.  It opened its doors to the lost world as outreach.  I don’t recommend that.  The pastor was a man who felt it was his calling to humiliate strong-willed boys without the consent or participation of the parents.  To keep our sons safe, both my wife and I taught in that school.  We could keep an eye on things.  Sometimes directly.  Sometimes from a distance.  Even when they were not aware, we saw everything.  Several times, what we saw was a problem, and we had to speak to the principal and pastor.  On one such occasion, one of my sons was a target of a forward girl.  She was lost and didn’t understand proper behavior.  My son was oblivious to the potential hazard.  Rather than embarrass our son, we informed the high school principal of what was going on.  My son’s salvation was ongoing.  There was always an eye out for my boys, whether it was me, my wife, or other teachers we had recruited.

Salvation is constant.  We are saved from hell.  Praise the LORD for the offering of Christ!  We are also saved from the old man.  This is a process.  Over the length of our lives, we are learning to crucify the flesh with the lusts thereof.  We are saved from persecution that could be and only suffer that which God knows we can handle.  When it comes to trials of faith, we will not be tempted above what we are able.  We are saved from adversity that is too much to bear.  We are saved from doubts and fears as we study the word of God and choose to believe it.  We are saved from the Adversary because if we resist him, he will flee from us.  We are saved from far more than we will ever realize.  Perhaps eternity will reveal some of that which God saved us from.  This is a great encouragement.  Knowing life could be infinitely more overwhelming or trying means, whether I can see it or not, I live on victory’s ground.  Currently, as we type or read, you and I are winning more battles than we are losing.  We simply cannot see all that God does.  But His salvation IS.  Not will be or was.  His salvation IS FROM Him!  Praise the LORD!

Individual Soul Liberty

“Consider what I say; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things.” (2Ti 2:7 AV)

A great verse for individual soul liberty.  For those unfamiliar, individual soul liberty is one of those tenets that separates Baptists from most other denominations.  Individual soul liberty states the individual has the right and responsibility to search the scriptures and discover truth for themselves.  Truth is truth.  There is no such thing as relative truth.  However, as the saints of God, we have no authority to force someone to believe anything.  Each soul is responsible before God to find the truth and live by it.  All we can do as preachers and churches is to be honest with the word of God and teach it as the Spirit leads.  The individual is the one who is responsible for gaining understanding.  They are to consider what it taught and then, as the Bereans, they are to go home and see if these things are so.  In this liberty is an implied responsibility.  This is what Paul is sharing with Timothy.  Timothy has the liberty to gain understanding in all things as he considers what Paul has said.  But he also has the responsibility.

Ignorance is no defense.  ‘I didn’t know’ will not fly.  Many years ago, I got a speeding ticket that wasn’t fair.  LOL My wife and I were visiting her parents at a lakeside hotel.  This hotel was located in a state park.  The road leading out of the part was about a mile long.  There were no speed limit signs on the way into the park until you got almost to the hotel.  On the way out, there was none when departing the hotel parking lot until you drove about a hundred yards toward the exit.  The speed limit was 15 mph.  Fair enough.  But the first speed limit sign was obscured by a tree.  This tress was right in front of the sign.  There was no way for me to see it.  The officer knew this because he was right in the path of a clear line of sight of anyone and everyone who did not see that sign.  When the police officer pulled me over, I stated I did not see a sign.  He pointed back at it and then I told him it was obscured.  That did not stop him from writing me the ticket.  The sign was posted.  I should have known.  My failure to take proper caution and drive slower until I found a sign was my fault.  It was my responsibility to know what the speed limit was.

Individual soul liberty is not a license to determine truth which we prefer.  Trust does not bend.  Truth does not change to accommodate one preference over another.  Paul is encouraging Timothy to exercise that liberty.  Consider what your mentor is teaching you, but may the LORD give you understanding in all things.  This is also a reminder of proper authority.  Paul, although he has apostolic authority, does not claim the right to not be examined or questioned.  God is the final authority, not man.  God is the one who teaches truth.  Truth and God are inseparably tied.  God is truth and truth is God.  Therefore, it is right and proper to say to the young preacher that he is to consider what his mentor teaches him, but the determiner of truth is the LORD.  Go to Him for understanding.  Seek His truth first and foremost.  Praise the LORD!

You Can't Like Him if you Don't Try Him

“O taste and see that the LORD [is] good: blessed [is] the man [that] trusteth in him.” (Ps 34:8 AV)

Our experiences determine our knowledge.  The more we are exposed, the more we know.  The same is true with relationships.  Especially where God is concerned.  Those disillusioned with God have never taken the time to get to know Him.  There are misconceptions that sully one’s perception of God.  It is interesting how many believe that if God is love, there would be no hardship in life.  All crime, sickness, and natural disasters would not exist.  Others believe that if God loved them, He would solve all their problems.  Still, others believe if God is real, there would be no injustice.  At least those perpetrated towards them.  The underlying problem in all of this is a lack of taste.  A misperception from ignorance.  Knowing God and how He has organized His creation is the key to seeing that God is good.  The key is tasting.  Trying it out.  Studying the God of the Bible, giving Him the benefit of the doubt.  Tasting is the key.

Growing up, the only sea food I had the pleasure (or displeasure) of tasting was tuna fish, frozen fish sticks, and salmon patties (gross).  I used to say that I don’t eat anything that swims in its own toilet.  I owned a fish tank, and those fish were not that discerning.  It was rather disturbing what they sucked into their mouths.  When I got married, one of the wonders my wife introduced me to was different foods.  It was with her that I first tasted Chinese food.  Awesome.  But it was with her that I found out sea food is rather scrumptious.  It was years later, and we took missionary friends out to eat.  We went to a place that is now closed.  It was called The Whaler’s Catch.  Their sea food was fresh.  Some of it caught right from the Ohio, Mississippi, Tennessee, or Cumberland rivers.  Other fish came in daily from the gulf.  For the first time, I decided to try a seafood dish.  I ordered stuffed orange roughy.  My wife makes this wonderful stuffed chicken breast stuffed with crabmeat, but that is all fake.  This was the genuine article.  I figured it was half safe.  I have eaten fake crab meat, and it was pretty tasteless.  The dish came in a small oval bowl type dish.  It was heaven on earth.  All the misconceptions I had of seafood melted away with that orange roughy.  Since then, a whole new world of seafood has opened up to me!  Even salmon is amazing if prepared correctly.

Most of us have a passing knowledge of God.  We do not study the scriptures and then observe the LORD’s hand in the context of the truth of His word.  We do not have a biblical worldview.  Like any tasting, it is a free will choice.  Going to a buffet, one is not forced to taste what one does not want.  If I don’t care artichoke, I don’t have to taste it.  If I am not in the mood for crab Rangoon, I can pass on it.  No one is forcing me to try anything.  The same is true of the LORD.  We can take Him or leave Him.  We are not forced to know Him.  It is our choice.  The implication above, however, is if we get to know Him, we will discover how good our God is.  So, the choice is yours.  What will you do with God?  Will you learn of Him?  Will you interact with Him?  Will you discover new wonders of our God?  If you try Him out, in time, you might discover how completely wonderful our Creator God truly is.

Use It or Lose It

“Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart:” (Pr 3:3 AV)

That little word ‘forsake’ has me intrigued.  Coupled with the word ‘let’, this verse gets even more interesting.  The picture here is allowing mercy and truth to purposely depart.  The answer is to cling to them.  Solomon uses the picture of a scarf or shawl bound around one’s neck.  The idea here is mercy and truth, seeing no profit in its presence, slips away.  This suggests a very important and applicable truth here.  Mercy and truth are not inactive.  They are active.  They are not benign.  Mercy and truth seek a purpose.  If the purpose for which they seek is unprofitable, they depart.  Applying mercy and truth is the way to keep them active.  Rejecting mercy and truth results in them departing.  Being neglected or underappreciated also may cause mercy and truth to depart.  Remember, mercy and truth are attributes of our benevolent God.  Mercy and truth are the extension of His interest in whom He has created.  He desires to teach truth that we might be blessed by it.  He extends His mercy when we fail to live by that truth.  Allowing the attributes of mercy and truth to sit unused means God forsakes us in the exercise of this mercy and truth.

Several years back, my blood work came back as dangerously deficient in vitamin D3.  Vitamin D3 is essential for fighting sickness, among other things.  So, the doctor wrote me a script for 50,000 units per week.  He explained to me that vitamin D3 works a bit different from other vitamins.  This vitamin builds up in the fatty tissue of the body.  Once there is a surplus, then it shows up in other parts of the body, including the blood.  Therefore, as he explained it, it could take three to six months of a faithful administration of this vitamin for it to show up as an increase in my blood work.  He also mentioned that as I lost weight, vitamin D3 would be released into my bloodstream.  It would spike until I leveled out to my manageable weight.  However, if I neglected to build up reserves of vitamin D3 because of failure to take my medication, then the benefits of this supplement would be lost.  There had to be a discipline of taking the supplements and then maintaining them or I would not receive the benefits of what this vitamin could provide.

God gives mercy and truth freely and plentifully.  He gives as much as we desire and need.  There is no holding back.  The only factor to the supply of mercy and truth is how we use them.  Do we apply the truth God has given?  Do we strive to live according to the truth He has supplied?  Do we examine our hearts in the light of the truth He has already given?  When we fail, do we seek the mercy of God?  When He grants that mercy, do we walk in humble gratitude, recommitting to living in His truth?  Do we seek the mercy of God presumptuously?  Do we seek His mercy, knowing full well we will not forsake that condition of our hearts that demands that mercy?  Truth and mercy are like those mittens that are sewn together with a string.  If we do not tend to them, the string will wear away and we will lose one or both.  If we do not pay attention, something might snag on and pull the whole unit out of our coat.  If we feel mocked because we have to have mittens sewn together and put them aside, we will lose them forever.  Mercy and truth require profitable application.  If we use them not, they will forsake us in the direst of circumstances.

Learning Contentment Is a Lifetime Lesson

“Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, [therewith] to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.” (Php 4:11-12 AV)

Although I am not one to praise the original languages over the English, knowing the tense of some verbs above helps in the application.  In the English, we would read the word ‘learned’ as a past tense and completed action.  Paul learned contentment and is not content.  However, the tense is active.  This means it began in the past and is continuing in the present.  The English supports this in the use of the phrase ‘am instructed’.  This phrase is an ongoing action.  The original languages and the English support this idea.  Which brings me to our consideration.  This is an amazing passage of scripture.  What Paul has learned and is continuing to learn is contentment, separate and apart from his circumstances.  Whether he abounds or suffers need, he is learned to control his emotions.  He is not circumstantially driving.  Paul understands life has ebbs and flows.  There are times of plenty.  There are times of dearth.  There are times when we can share our abundance.  There are times we are seeking assistance.  The character development here is consistent and permanent contentment.  Paul makes no distinction here.  He has and is learning that times of want and times of surplus are no different.  He is and has learned to be content.

This whole idea of contentment is deeper than mere resolution or surrender.  Receiving a life altering diagnosis has a way of teaching things that you would never otherwise learn.  In our journey with cancer, we are learning this whole contentment thing.  There are good days and there are bad days.  There are days we forget cancer is a part of our lives.  There are other days when one cannot get away from it.  This month is filled with tests and appointments.  Our health care team is trying to fit in all the tests and appointments they can before the end of the year.  This means for the month of December; we cannot get away from the abasement this disease brings.  This is a work in progress.  My wife and I are trying to learn the whole idea of contentment.  Her cancer has a wonderful internet support presence.  One of the sites we visit frequently is NETRF.  That stands for neuroendocrine tumor research foundation.  NETRF is a great resource for treatment ideas, maintenance suggestions, counseling, and support.  Every Thursday, they have a segment called Thrivership Thursday.  The host offers tips and ideas to ease the stress brought on by our fight with this cancer.  Most of her ideas are rather good ones.  My wife has taken from her counsel to compartmentalize her cancer.  There are cancer days and there are non-cancer days.  Days of appointments and tests are cancer days.  She thinks about her cancer.  There are days her symptoms flair up.  Those are cancer days.  Interspersed are days of not test, appointments, and subsiding symptoms.  Those are non-cancer days.  The suggestion that stuck with me was a balanced approach to circumstances.  If I worry or complain, I must follow up with a positive.  It is unfortunate my wife is ill and in unabating pain.  Fortunately, we have insurance and a great care team who takes initiative.  “Unfortunately/fortunately” is the exercise.  These and other tips like them are nothing more than teaching us contentment.  This is different than surrendering or resolving to live with something.  That is neutral or negative.  To be content means to function.

Paul’s statement is more than a mere challenge.  It is a lifetime commitment.  It is a challenge that has no end date.  Just about the time we learn to be content in unfortunate circumstances, along comes something more trying.  Just when we think we have a handle on things, life throws us a curve.  By the way, in times of prosperity, discontentment can be an equally tough challenge.  What do we do with the surplus?  It’s like finding a hundred-dollar bill on the sidewalk.  What do we do with it?  When we go to the stores, suddenly we realize $100 isn’t as much as we thought it was.  We become discontent because we see things we want that are double the price.  We feel saddened that we found only $100.  Contentment means we not only accept events as sent from God, but we see purpose and plan in them.  We trust the LORD implicitly.  We realize regardless of the situation, there are things that God has given for us to do.  We still have a life to live.  There is still meaning and purpose.  To be content is an ongoing classroom.  The lessons never cease.  But learn it, we must.