Gorging On Excess

" Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, 'Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.' So we say with confidence, 'The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?'” Hebrews 13:5,6

Over the Christmas holiday I was thinking about how excess keeps us from truly appreciating what we have and from experiencing God. A shorter word for excessive consumption is gluttony. Gluttony of gifts or food. Gluttony of certain experiences.

Think about it. The first cookie tastes delicious, but by the fifth one, we've lost our appreciation for it. More than a few toys and a child throws the rest aside playing only with those that capture her imagination.

We can gorge on the internet or television or food or relationships or sex or clothes or work or hobbies or success--or even books. Yet as we all know...instead of being filled full we remain dissatisfied. So we start the gorging-dissatisfaction cycle all over again.

Money, prestige, success, power and relationships will not fulfill us. We hear that all of the time. But do we believe this? It's not that any of those things are bad in themselves. It's when they are used illicitly that destruction overtakes us and the world. They become evil when we misuse them and turn them into idols.

What can be done? Detachment from these things through prayer and fasting. For some it'll require a life-long detachment. For others frequent detachment.

When we fast from these things...the things we gorge on...we'll go through detox. We'll suffer all sorts of maladies and delusions--just like an addict going through detox. As we fast we'll see just how attached we are. We'll see what power these things have over us. They've become false gods.

But the truth is that a simpler life, a less excessive life, is hospitable to God and his ways. Remember how Jesus said we can't serve two masters?

What Is Choking The Jesus Life Within?

Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop—some thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times what was sown.”  Mark 4:15-20

Every now and then it hits me: there are thorns growing in the garden of my life. Thorns that threaten to choke out gospel life, the life of Jesus within. St. Mark tells us that some of these thorns are the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for things other than Jesus and his life.

Worries of this life. These can be terrifying days with wars, rumors of war,  hate, sickness, family problems, unemployment, and lack of money to make ends meet. We are tempted to allow these concerns to consume us, to become idols that control us. Worry (the cares of this life) feeds our fears and if we don't cut it off, it becomes a powerful force that chokes off God's life in us. It chokes out the gospel. We start to believe our worries are accurate reflections of reality and we bow to them instead of to God. Our eyes become paralyzed. They become laser-focused on our trials and can't move instead focusing on Jesus the author and finisher of our faith. Like Peter, we sink.

This is when we need to turn to Scripture and prayer and to the community of believers so that they can speak truth to us. However, let me not limit truth telling to these avenues. Reading all sorts of literature including stories of saints who have overcome trials can encourage us. But let us cling to God and his word so that our minds will be transformed--because his word cuts deep into us and sets things right (Hebrews 4:12).

When I feel especially overwhelmed, when I worry there is no way out, I think about the Israelites with their backs up against the wall. Pharaoh's army is behind them and the Red Sea in front of them. At that time God did the unimaginable, the unthinkable. He made a way through the sea back then and he does the same for us today. Can you remember a time when God rescued you from a difficult situation even if it was internal?

When I feel trapped, my mind turns to the question God asks in Jeremiah 32:27, "I am the God of all flesh, is there anything too hard for me?" I know he is directing that question to me. I have to answer. Eventually, I have to say, "No, Lord there is nothing that is too hard for you, not even this situation." And so again, I place my trust in the goodness of God (note: placing my trust in God doesn't always happen in an instant. It can be a struggle, but these are things I think about when I am in a difficult situation.)

The Deceitfulness of Riches. We are all tempted to find our security in money instead of God. Jesus said we must choose whether or not we will serve God or money. "If I just have all my school loans paid off and am debt free, I will have peace." "If I just had a better job and got paid more money, I would have no need for anything else." We are deceived into thinking money will provide security. Think of the rich celebrities in our culture; many are tormented even though they are swimming in money. Allowing money or the lack of it to become an idol leads to self-deception and to the gospel being choked out in our lives. We must learn that we cannot find our security in money and instead trust in God who provides what we need.

(Proverbs 30:8-9)

give me neither poverty nor riches,
but give me only my daily bread.
Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you
and say, ‘Who is the LORD?’
Or I may become poor and steal,
and so dishonor the name of my God.

You can be poor with money as an idol or rich with money as an idol. But let us remember what Jesus says to us in Matthew 6:32, "Your heavenly Father knows what you  have need of."

The Desire For Other Things. As I alluded to in other posts, our desires for other things can choke out the gospel. We become selfish and self-centered. For example, we're in ministry and it starts becoming about us instead of God. Somehow in the process, we've lost our first love. We are more focused on our own notoriety and the largeness of our ministry rather than God. Somehow we kid ourselves into thinking we are living for God when really we are living to promote ourselves or to get a nice paycheck. We chase success (spiritual even) instead of God. We enthrone educational degrees, relationships, or a perfect body. These desires for other things choke out the gospel. But what does God say? To love him with all our hearts, souls, and minds, and of course, to love our neighbors as ourselves.

What is choking the Jesus Life in us?

A Contemporary Testimony

All spheres of life --
family and friendship,
work and worship,
school and state,
play and art --
bear the wounds of our rebellion.

Sin is present everywhere--
in pride of race,
arrogance of nations,
abuse of the weak and helpless,
disregard for water, air, and soil,
destruction of living creatures,
slavery, murder, terror, war,
worship of false gods,
the  mistreatment of our bodies,
and our frantic efforts to escape reality.

We become victims of our own sin.

In all our striving to excuse ourselves,

we stand condemned

before the God of truth.

But our world,

broken and scarred,

still belongs to God,

who holds it together and gives us hope.

Contemporary Testimony from the Christian Reformed Church 16,17

The Faith of Friends...

So many gathered that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. Some men came, bringing to him a paralytic, carried by four of them. Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus and, after digging through it, lowered the mat the paralyzed man was lying on. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven." Mark 2:2-5

Who were these four men? Were they family members? The paralytic's friends? Or compassionate passersbys, good Samaritans? Scripture doesn't tell us. But this is one of my favorite mental images for praying on behalf of others or for seeking prayer on my own behalf. Whenever someone else is in desperate need of prayer, in desperate need of God's action or God's calming stillness in their lives, I picture myself as one of the people lowering them through the roof into the presence of Jesus.

I even tell the Lord, "I am lowering so-and-so through the roof right into the midst of your presence." And when people pray for me, when they cry out on my behalf, I think, "I am being lowered through the roof." It's like Hebrews 4 talks about...going boldly to the throne of grace.  What is interesting about this passage are the words, "When Jesus saw their faith." Whose faith? The faith of the four men, or the faith of the five (including the paralytic's)? 

Whatever the reference, the faith of the four is included. Isn't it true that sometimes, we are so weary, so full of despair, and so disoriented that we can barely utter a prayer? We are paralyzed by the enemy's posionous and fiery darts, even though we've tried to stand our ground with the full armor of  God on. Maybe we've missed something, overlooked a sin. Or maybe we're just being attacked--suffering because of the problem of evil. Like Job, we suffer not because of our own sins.

It is in moments like these that we need to summon our friends or acquaintences. We need to summon the prayers of the Church so that we may be lowered through the roof. There is something about the faith of friends, or the faith of the compassionate passerby or acquaintence that  God notices. This passage tells us so.

So if you feel battered and hopeless, if you feel like the darkness is consuming you, or if you feel battle weary, let some people know. Let them pray for you, let them lower you through the roof. God notices.

Many times the prayer of friends and family, and even the prayers of those I am not aware of have saved my life.  I am not overstating the case.

God's Shalom to you brothers and sisters. Pass the peace.

Marlena

George Mueller - A Person of Prayer and Faith and a Model For All of Us

George Mueller of Bristol is one of my favorite saints. He lived in the 1800's and was full of faith in God. His desire was to provide for the orphans around him. But how would he do it since the need was great and he didn't have money? He'd do it through prayer, not asking anyone for a penny in order to show that God provides and is completely trustworthy. He'd depend on God to nudge people. So through prayer, without ever asking for help or a handout, he provided food, shelter, and education for 10,000 orphans. God is powerful and good and works through his children. God hears our intercessions. May we be like George Mueller and seek God on behalf of those that have spiritual and physical needs so that he might provide and give us his power and wisdom to bring in as much of Christ's kingdom as we can. It is his doing not ours; we are simply vessels, like George Mueller.

Below I am going to include a little story about him from Streams in the Desert  (August 17 for those who have this devotional classic) by L.B. Cowman and edited by James Reiman. I am encouraged every time I read it. I hope you are too!

I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me (Acts 27:25).

A number of years ago I went to America with a steamship captain who was a very devoted Christian. When we were off the coast of Newfoundland, he said to me, "The last time I sailed here, which was five weeks ago, something happened that revolutionized my Christian life. I had been on the bridge for twenty-four straight hours when George Mueller of Bristol, England, who was a passenger on board, came to me and said, 'Captian, I need to tell you that I must be in Quebec on Saturday afternoon.' 'That is impossible' I replied. 'Very well,' Mueller responded, 'if your ship cannot take me, God will find some other way, for I have never missed an engagement in fifty-seven years. Let's go down to the chartroom to pray.' "I looked at this man of God and thought to myself, 'What lunatic asylum did he escape from?' I had never encountered someone like this. 'Mr. Mueller,' I said, 'do you realize how dense the fog is?" 'No,' he replied. 'My eye is not on the dense fog but on the living God, who controls every circumstance in my life.'

"He then knelt down and prayed one of the most simple prayers I've ever heard. When he had finished, I started to pray, but he put his hand on my shoulder and told me not to pray. He said, 'First, you do not believe God will answer, and second, I BELIEVE HE HAS. Consequently, there is no need whatsoever for you to pray about it.'

"As I looked at him, he said, 'Captain, I have known my Lord fifty-seven  years, and there has never been a single day that I have failed to get an audience with the King. Get up, Captain, and open the door, and you will see that the fog is gone.' I got up, and indeed the fog was gone. And on Saturday afternoon George Mueller was in Quebec for his meeting."

Thank you O LORD for a strong reminder of your goodness and power. You are at work. Amen.