Friday slowdown

The 51st Psalm always makes me remember the old hymn, "Whiter than Snow." As I looked for a song to place here today, I found this uplifting music from a wonderful Jamaican artist. I hope it blesses your heart as it did mine.

Blessed be the fountain of blood
To a world of sinners revealed
Blessed be the dear Son of God
Only by His stripes we are healed
Tho I've wandered far from His fold
Bringing to my heart pain and woe
Wash me in the blood of the Lamb
And I shall be whiter than snow

Chorus:
Whiter than the snow
Whiter than the snow
Wash me in the blood of the Lamb
And I shall be whiter than snow


Thorny was the crown that He wore
And the cross His body o'ercame
Grievous were the sorrows He bore
But He suffered Thus not in vain
May I to that fountain be led
Made to cleanse my sins here below
Wash me in the blood that He shed
And I shall be whiter than snow




Father, I have wandered from Thee
Often has my heart gone astray
Crimson do my sins seem to me
Water cannot wash them away
Jesus, to the fountain of Thine
Leaning on Thy promise, I go
Cleanse me by Thy washing divine
And I shall be whiter than snow

Staying out of the dirt, conclusion

So far this week, we've seen that Ruth and Boaz modeled moral and sexual purity in their relationship in the book of Ruth. We've also discussed how purity has more to do with honoring God, than it does with obeying a long list of rules. And we touched on being able to move forward, in spite of our past, if it includes some things we're not proud of . . .

Many believers waste a lot of time worrying about their past. Boy, is that a waste of time! We can't change anything back there. We can, however, do something about the future. By accepting God's grace, we can be clean from this day forward. No more fear, or guilt about the things that were. We can get out of the dirt, and stay out, with His help!

Are we, as believers, struggling with guilt and sin? It's a characteristic of Christians that though we fall, and although we may stumble, we rely on God and keep walking toward the light. If we focus on our feelings (which is how we got into the dirt anyway), we will be misled. What matters is that we choose to confess to Him and rise to walk again. And as we mentioned yesterday, be prepared -- the devil is 100% opposed to your efforts and will put us to the test. This is just my opinion, but I think that after we have made a genuine decision for the Lord, He may allow us to be tested and tempted. Why? So that we can prove to ourselves the sincerity and genuineness of our love for Him. (Notice I did NOT say to prove it to Him. He wants us to prove it to ourselves, for then we are emboldened and encouraged!)

When we look into our spiritual mirrors, do we like what we see? Do we need to pray, as David did:

Have mercy on me, O God,    according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion    blot out my transgressions.2 Wash away all my iniquity    and cleanse me from my sin. (Psalm 51:1-2)

God loves us too much to leave us in the dirt. He is going to do whatever it takes to make us holy.

Are we willing to do whatever it takes to stay out of the dirt?

Whether we are talking about sexual purity, evil talk, greed, pride, or any other sin, there are strategies that we can use.

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is your life,appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature:sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. (Colossians 3:1-5)

Can we be honest here?
Good.
I think we can all agree that self-discipline is necessary, but it's not enough. But there is help:

So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. (Galatians 5:16)

If we are in fellowship with Him, and worshiping Him, we will be able to overcome the lusts of our flesh; sexual sins, greed, spiteful and hateful words will be under His control.

Whether we are trying to control our tongues, out thoughts, or our sexual desires, we can employ some common sense strategies:

1. Keep ourselves accountable to a trusted friend or group of godly friends.
2. Pour our energies into serving others, or working with others for a common good.
3. Be sure to have open and honest sharing with our trusted friends.
4. Be determined to stay in close fellowship with God; don't skimp on prayer or study times.
5. Avoid situations that cause us to fall - if we can't avoid them, prepare with more prayer!
6. If we do fall, ask for God's forgiveness and start again.

I'm so glad for a loving Father who included in His Word both bad and good examples for us to learn from! Truly, Boaz and Ruth teach us that we can stay out of the dirt!

Staying out of the dirt, continued

Our studies this week are our final studies from Ruth (although I bet there's more here that we haven't yet tapped!) and they are focused on moral and sexual purity. Last time we were talking about several verses that got our heads going in the right direction . . . you can scroll down there to refresh your memory if you like. (Grin) I'm not the only one with a memory like a sieve, am I?

Anyway, we said then that purity was not simply a long set of rules, of what is OK and not OK, and what we should or shouldn't say, etc. Purity is about God -- it's about glorifying Him.

Purity in our morals and in our sexuality is a personal decision to glorify God with all that we are: body, soul, and spirit. Yes, it's true that so many times when a speaker chooses this subject, we hear it put in terms of "dos" and "don'ts" . . . let's see, can I go here or not? Is it OK to see this movie? Is this swimsuit (substitute any other article of clothing here, blouse, skirt, whatever) too revealing? Do I really want to read this book? Should I date this person?

All of these are legitimate questions. But they are actually secondary to the real issue. God has a stake in our moral purity. He has called us to it, and He is glorified when we walk in purity.

Perhaps the better question to ask is "Will this choice honor God?" Then the questions become: will it honor God for me to read this? Will God be glorified if I date this person? Does reading this book dishonor my holy Lord? Will I reflect badly on Him, if I wear this?

When our questions are addressing the real issue, we realize that purity is not about us or our desires. It's about living so that God's reputation is enhanced by our choices.

How important is this actually to God? Seriously.
Let's go back to the Old Testament and talk about a subject that most people spend very little time thinking about, OK? And hang in there, with me.
Way back in Genesis, Abraham did it. Then Moses made sure that all the men of the children of Israel did it. Paul and some of the leaders of the church had an argument about it.
What is it?
Circumcision.
Circumcision was a God-ordained sign of His covenant for the patriarchs and for the Jewish men from then on. It meant they were part of His covenant family, and that they lived under His law. Circumcision was something that opened the door for everything else: temple worship, sacrifices, the priesthood. But why did God choose that particular sign? After all, it is painful for the little boy babies, right? Yes, it is. And it's so personal, and private. No one else but a man (and his wife) would even know. I mean, come on, from the outside, no one knows which men are circumcised and which ones are not.
Maybe God should have chosen some other sign. Maybe a mark on the body. Maybe a pierced ear, or a mark on the hand.
Praise God for commentaries, right? When we study we can find nuggets that open our eyes.
I read recently, and I believe it to be true, that God chose this mark in a man's most private parts, so that in the most intimate moments of life, he would remember that he belonged to God. If he chose to sin with a woman, especially with a "foreign" (outside of the Hebrew nation) woman, he would have to do it with a reminder that he had been set apart for God. He belonged to God, body, soul, and spirit, and even what went on behind closed doors must belong to God, too.

We went down that little rabbit trail in order to say this: we can see that purity matters because all of our lives matter to our Father. Nothing is hidden from the Lord, even the things that we may try with all our might to hide. And we can't talk about outward purity unless we are inwardly pure -- the New Testament calls that having our hearts "circumcised." That setting aside to Him still matters; it's the state of our hearts that He really cares about.

The Lord your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live.  (Deuteronomy 30:6)

Our hearts.
Do we have pure hearts?
Many Christians will admit that they feel far from God. They long for the closeness that we sing of, in hymns and songs. One strategy is to be determined to pursue purity in every part of our lives. As long as we allow impure thoughts, words, or even deeds, to be part of our lives, we can't get closer to Him. If we continue to cover up the truth, and hide our "secrets" (which He already knows) we can't possibly get nearer to Him.

Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper,    but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy. (Proverbs 28:13)

Oh, for courage to confess our sins to Him, to bring those secrets out into the open. We can be healed, cleansed, and forgiven! But heed this warning . . . the devil will fight us every step of the way! Especially in the area of moral and sexual sins. It's not just the lust or the pride that he uses as tools against us. Even worse is the shame and guilt for what we've done, or said, or thought. We can't shake that guilt until we decide we're ready to do whatever it takes to be pure before Him.

We can't get clean until we decide to wash off that dirt. And then we can stay out of the dirt. That doesn't mean we won't fail, that we won't ever fall back down in the dirt. Nope.
We're going to have to wrestle with the world, and with our own flesh, and with the devil until we go to heaven! But with God's grace, we can get up, and wash off, and walk again.

Perhaps we are feeling defeated. Perhaps we've messed up so badly in the past that sometimes we wonder -- the devil loves to make us do this -- if He can really forgive us. Past sins and moral failures can haunt us. Are we actually dirty and stained with sin for life?
No way!
Sin does have its consequences. But Jesus tells us to "rise and walk."
And He tells us to "go and sin no more."

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. (I John 1:9)

But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. (I John 1:7)

 Tomorrow we'll look at some helpful thoughts for us as we strive to "stay out of the dirt."

What are we listening to?

We're talking about purity this week, and so a "what are we listening to?" post seems appropriate.

One way that we can maintain our purity is with our music. Making the right choices there can influence our whole day!

If we want our thoughts to be on the things of verse 8 in chapter four of Philippians:

 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. (Philippians 4:8)

Then we must follow the instructions of the Psalms:

How can a young man keep his way pure?
    By guarding it according to your word.
10 With my whole heart I seek you;
    let me not wander from your commandments!
11 I have stored up your word in my heart,
    that I might not sin against you.
12 Blessed are you, O Lord;
    teach me your statutes!
13 With my lips I declare
    all the rules of your mouth.
14 In the way of your testimonies I delight
    as much as in all riches.
15 I will meditate on your precepts
    and fix my eyes on your ways.
16 I will delight in your statutes;
    I will not forget your word. (Psalm 119:9-16)

Hymns and praise songs are wonderful ways to guide our thoughts and allow the Spirit to infuse us with His peace!
What are we listening to, today?
I have been listening to some songs that get me anticipating the Thanksgiving season. Like this one:

Staying out of the dirt

We're lingering in the book of Ruth for one more week . . . did the title of this post catch your eye? I don't mean to be trivial, for our subject of study this week is pretty important.
Married or single, young or not-as-young-as-we-used-to-be, we have a responsibility as believers to remain morally and sexually pure. The characters in our focus passage modeled this for us, and I was struck by the opportunity to discuss something that is truly needed in our world, today.

First of all, let's look back at when Boaz first became aware of the presence of Ruth in his harvest fields.  He cautioned the young men to be kind to her, and to "behave like gentlemen" in verse 9:

Watch the field where the men are harvesting, and follow along after the women. I have told the men not to lay a hand on you. And whenever you are thirsty, go and get a drink from the water jars the men have filled. (Ruth 2:9)

Boaz told Ruth that his young men would not stop her from harvesting, nor would they approach her. One has to imagine that in the harvest fields, a lovely young woman would attract attention, and he had cautioned his men "not to lay a hand on" her. Some scholars say it was just to allow her to glean there in the field, and others say that it was to make certain that she was not flirted with, or more. Maybe it was a little of both?

Boaz also gives us another example of purity when he discovers Ruth at his feet during the night. When he tries to turn over in his sleep on the threshing floor, he awakes to see her there. Ruth, beautifully clothed, smelling lovely, and probably looking radiant, reveals to him the kinsman relationship that Naomi has told her about. His response is mature, and he works to preserve her good reputation:

The Lord bless you, my daughter,” he replied. “This kindness is greater than that which you showed earlier: You have not run after the younger men, whether rich or poor. 11 And now, my daughter, don’t be afraid. I will do for you all you ask. All the people of my town know that you are a woman of noble character. 12 Although it is true that I am a guardian-redeemer of our family, there is another who is more closely related than I. 13 Stay here for the night, and in the morning if he wants to do his duty as your guardian-redeemer, good; let him redeem you. But if he is not willing, as surely as the Lord lives I will do it. Lie here until morning.”14 So she lay at his feet until morning, but got up before anyone could be recognized; and he said, “No one must know that a woman came to the threshing floor.” (Ruth 3:10-14)

He takes no liberties with the young woman, and remarks that he is honored she sought him out, instead of running after a younger man. And he has her leave before daylight, so that no one can sully her reputation.
Oh, what a difference!
If this were a story or movie of today, there'd be more than sleep happening at that threshing floor!

All joking aside, Boaz and Ruth showed restraint and purity in their relationship. They knew that God intended for sexual intimacy to happen in the loving relationship of marriage.

Why is this so foreign to people today? Why is this considered "quaint" or old-fashioned?

What are young people bombarded with, in today's world? Why is this such a difficult challenge, this idea of purity?
Well, let us count the ways . . .
Pornography has come out of the dark closet and is paraded on Main Street.
The internet makes absolutely vile things available to the very young.
Homosexuality is seen as an acceptable alternative lifestyle, even something to emulate.
The television brings things into our living rooms that would have made us blush before -- now they don't seem to surprise or shock us anymore. Television shows routinely showcase adultery, premarital sex, quick abortions, lesbianism, abuse of both children and adults . . . the list seems to go on forever. It should not surprise us that young people and older folks alike have difficulty with the concept of sexual purity.
But as believers, we see a lot in the Bible about it!
Moral purity:

Blessed are the pure in heart,    for they will see God. (Matthew 5:8)

Sexual purity:

It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; 4 that each of you should learn to control your own body in a way that is holy and honorable, 5 not in passionate lust like the pagans, who do not know God; 6 and that in this matter no one should wrong or take advantage of a brother or sister. The Lord will punish all those who commit such sins, as we told you and warned you before. 7 For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. (I Thessalonians 4:3-7)

 Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body.19 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies. (I Corinthians 6:18-20)

Should we notice something in these verses?
See God . . . This is the will of God . . . .God called us . . . . glorify God.
Purity is not only about sex.
It's definitely not just about rules for what we can or can't do.
Purity is not just about what we watch, or what we read, or even what we say.
It's much, much more.
Purity is all about God!

We'll continue our study next time. I hope you'll join me . . . we need to remember to stay out of the dirt!

Friday slowdown

I am resolved no longer to linger,

Charmed by the world’s delight,

Things that are higher, things that are nobler,

These have allured my sight.

Refrain:

I will hasten to Him, hasten so glad and free;

Jesus, greatest, highest, I will come to Thee.

I will hasten, hasten to Him, hasten so glad and free;

Jesus, Jesus, greatest, highest, I will come to Thee.

I am resolved to go to the Savior,

Leaving my sin and strife;

He is the true One, He is the just One,

He hath the words of life.

I am resolved to follow the Savior,

Faithful and true each day;

Heed what He sayeth, do what He willeth,

He is the living Way.

I am resolved to enter the kingdom

Leaving the paths of sin;

Friends may oppose me, foes may beset me,

Still will I enter in.

Be like a cocklebur, conclusion

When we began this week's study, we mentioned two things -- cockleburs and beggar lice. Here is a photo of cockleburs:

And here are beggar lice:

I wanted to end this week with that comparison. Cockleburs are equipped to hang on tight. Beggar lice? Not so much. They are a nuisance to have to pick off of clothing and shoes, but they don't hurt when they come off!

We are equipped by the Holy Spirit to hang on tight to our Lord. It's almost as if we have those prickles that you see up there, so that we can stay close to the Father, in spite of Satan, sin, and circumstances. And just like cockleburs, if we are pried loose, there is pain -- both to Christ and to the believer. If we allow sin to cause a separation in our relationship with Him, there's pain and sadness.

The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. 6 The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled. (Genesis 6:5-6)

And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God,with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. 32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. (Ephesians 4:30-32)

Our story the past two weeks is a story of God's faithfulness, and how clinging like a cocklebur to her new faith (and family) made a huge difference in the life of Ruth.  Her story can encourage us that God is faithful still, and will work on our behalf, no matter what the trial may be.

I'm so glad that we have these precious promises to encourage us!

 Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God,keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments. (Deuteronomy 7:9)

God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. (I Corinthians 1:9)       

But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one. (II Thessalonians 3:3)

Let's be determined to be cockleburs like Ruth. Let's cling to the relationship we have with Jesus Christ, and watch as He is faithfully working in our lives. We may be experiencing trials and troubles, but He will walk with us, and He will comfort and care for us.

We may look at our lives in despair. We long for sunshine-filled, carefree days, but He takes us by the hand and leads us straight into the darkest of valleys. He doesn't do it to hurt us; it's never, ever to harm us; it is only to bring greater trust, strength, and nearness to Him. His desire is to make us more like Him, and to have a relationship with us, so He is not going to leave us alone in dark days. He will walk along with us, and we will come out of the valley changed, strengthened, and with renewed purpose.

Cockleburs cling tightly.
I think I'd rather be a cocklebur than a beggar lice!