Journal for Christ: Our true happiness and self-fulfillment

January 22, 2017

Worship: Ever Be, by Kalley Heiligenthal - Bethel Music

Your love is devoted like a ring of solid gold

Like a vow that is tested like a covenant of old

Your love is enduring through the winter rain

And beyond the horizon with mercy for today

Faithful You have been and faithful you will be

You pledge yourself to me, and it's why I sing

Your praise will ever be on my lips, ever be on my lips

You Father the orphan

Your kindness makes us whole

And you shoulder our weakness

And your strength becomes our own

Now you're making me like you

Clothing me in white

Bringing beauty from ashes

For You will have Your bride

Free of all her guilt and rid of all her shame

And known by her true name and it's why I sing

Your praise will ever be on my lips, ever be on my lips

You will be praised You will be praised

With angels and saints, we sing worthy are You, Lord

You will be praised You will be praised

With angels and saints, we sing worthy are You, Lord

And it's why I sing

Your praise will ever be on my lips, ever be on my lips

Video: https://youtu.be/BhasSpSBdEE?list=RDBhasSpSBdEE

Witness:

My soul is vexed within me. Happiness and self-fulfillment are celebrated as the highest goal even amongst Christians. I was going to type “followers, ” but that seemed incongruous with the words that began the sentence. At least without the clarification that follows below.

I was in a gathering of believers, and a person said that they were at a loss right now. They didn’t know what they wanted next in their life. Their life was at a standstill. They usually knew what they wanted and if they prayed and waited patiently God would give them that desire. However, they were in the midst of taking care of their father, and for once they didn’t know what they desired to do next. Now to me, the word of God is clear. Honor your father and take care of him. That should be the desire of one’s heart. It would seem here that there is a misapplication of Psalm 37:4 which says:

Delight yourself in the LORD

and he will give you the desires of your heart.

NIV

The key here is “delighting” in the LORD, not our “desires.” When we delight in Him, our desires conform to His desires. Our desires should always be focused outward. We must ask ourselves, does this desire glorify God? Is this desire in keeping with Philippians 2:3-4?

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.

NIV

Another person in the group asked for prayer because they decided to give up their job as the head of a parts department and go back full time with the insurance company they were working only part-time with at the moment. They were leaving the stability of a steady paycheck to go back into full-time commissions sales. He was leaving the job because he could not stand the politics of “corporate America.” This may sound all fine and good. However, I can still remember when he got this job and how his wife rejoiced in a steady paycheck coming in. Now he was going back to what brought stress to his wife. He was not leaving because he believed God was calling him to do so. He was leaving so that he could leave that which was distasteful to him for something he liked doing (though he admitted at one time he wasn’t as successful at it because he believed in selling only what was truly needed and not what made him the most commission). Perhaps she was okay with this, but I could sense from her body language and her cryptic prayer request about having to deal with certain attitudes she was dealing with that this might not be the case.

Tonight, at Church I met up with a young man I had spoken to several weeks ago. His wife had left him. She had an affair with another man and got pregnant by him. She had, it seems, done everything possible to bring hurt to her husband. The deed that led to her pregnancy was done on Valentine’s Day. She announced her pregnancy on Facebook a day before his birthday. Finally, she had actually come to church with this child and this man during the service that he attended. When I had talked to him before he was all for giving up and finding a new wife. I had counseled him not to take the easy road but to pray for her, seek reconciliation, and pray for her spiritual welfare. When I saw him today, he said he was attending a Divorce recovery class which also helped those who were not yet divorced but thinking of divorcing or in the midst of a divorce. Some of the things he was learning may have been helping him with the pain, but I felt that much of what he was learning was self-help oriented. Holding on to the desire to stay married was deemed unloving. They seemed to follow the old axiom, “If you love something, set it free. If it comes back, it is yours. If it doesn’t, it never was.” When he asked for prayer that he and his wife may be reconciled he was told by an older woman in the group that she could not do that because his wife wasn’t willing and God couldn’t do anything when her heart was in such a state. I cannot hold to these views. To love someone is to desire the highest good for them. To hold on to love and hope for that person and one’s marriage is in keeping with God’s will revealed in Mt 19: 6 and Mark 10:9. To say God cannot do anything while a person is unwilling to reconcile is to limit the God with whom all things are possible (Mt. 19:26; Mark 10:27). If we concede to such a limiting on God and our prayers, then we should stop praying for our unsaved loved one, a wayward child, or peace in the midst of strife since all these involve hearts that are at the moment unresponsive to God’s word or our acts of love.

As I write this, I am cognizant of the fact that I may be judging my brothers and sisters. However, I do not believe I am. I am reacting to their actions which are in keeping with the values that I spoke of at the beginning of this essay (i.e. happiness and self-fulfillment). I also may be misjudging their underlying motives. I am aware of that possibility and leave those motives which are hidden to me in the hands of our God. Yet, this in no way takes away from my response to these attitudes. God asks us to take the road less traveled. A road marked by pain and suffering. One by which He sanctifies us and prepares us, for the weight of glory He has promised to those who seek their happiness and self-fulfillment in God Himself (Dt. 8:3/ Mt. 4:4; Mt. 6:33; 2 Cor. 4:17; 1 Peter 1:6-7).

Now I have come full circle. Back to happiness and self-fulfillment. These are not sinful desires in themselves. It is how we attain them that may be sinful. God wants us to be happy and satisfied. However, the standard we use to gauge our happiness and satisfaction is often found in what our fleshly desires dictate than in what we are to truly treasure which is God Himself. Paul sets the example for us to follow.

For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, so that through my being with you again your joy in Christ Jesus will overflow on account of me.

Phil 1:21-26 NIV

Paul desired to be with Christ whom he treasured above all. Yet he also sought to form this happiness (joy) in the lives of the Philippians. He also knew that to live for Christ meant suffering but oh the joy he knew was in store for him.

It is not wrong to seek the pleasure of happiness but how we attain it is the key. John Piper has played an important part in my life in letting me see how this should look. It is impossible to love someone without receiving pleasure in loving them. Piper says:

Why does God want us to want pleasure? Because it is a crucial indicator. Pleasure is the meter in your heart that measures how valuable, how precious someone or something is to you. Pleasure is the measure of your treasure. Your treasure is what you love. Your greatest treasure is what you love the most. “For where your treasure is, there your heart [your love] will be also” (Matthew 6:21). You glorify your treasure by the fact that it’s the object of your pleasure. And that’s why God is not indifferent about your joy. It’s a big deal to him. Your pleasure in God is the measure of how much of a treasure he is to you.http://www.desiringgod.org/articles/why-your-happiness-is-so-important-to-god

So, even though the path may be difficult – taking care of family instead of our personal wants, staying in a job we don’t enjoy for the comfort of our wife, or seeking reconciliation and the spiritual good of an erring spouse even if it takes all our life ̶ the reward is worth it all.

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us… And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.
Rom 8:18; Rom 8:28-30 ESV

WORD:

Ps 26:1-8

Vindicate me, O Lord,

for I have led a blameless life;

I have trusted in the Lord

without wavering.

2 Test me, O Lord, and try me,

examine my heart and my mind;

3 for your love is ever before me,

and I walk continually in your truth.

Ps 26:1-8

1 Declare me innocent, O Lord,

for I have acted with integrity;

I have trusted in the Lord without wavering.

2 Put me on trial, Lord, and cross-examine me.

Test my motives and my heart.

3 For I am always aware of your unfailing love,

and I have lived according to your truth.

Ps 26:1-3

Judge me, O Lord; for I have walked in mine integrity: I have trusted also in the Lord; therefore I shall not slide.

2 Examine me, O Lord, and prove me; try my reins and my heart.

3 For thy lovingkindness is before mine eyes: and I have walked in thy truth.

KJV

Ps 26:1-3

Vindicate me, O Lord,

for I have walked in my integrity,

and I have trusted in the Lord without wavering.

2 Prove me, O Lord, and try me;

test my heart and my mind.

3 For your steadfast love is before my eyes,

and I walk in your faithfulness.

ESV

I have had a hard time beginning my study of Psalm 26. For one thing, I have felt convicted by this passage. I do not feel I could ever claim that I have lived a blameless life. In fact, knowing David’s later life (with the Bathsheba incident as well as the time he took a census of his army which was against God’s law), I struggled to see how David could claim such a thing. However, I have come to a conclusion that:

1. The translation “blameless life” must not be understood as being perfect. Only Jesus, our Lord, could claim this (John 8:7; cf. also 2 Cor. 5:21; Heb. 4:15,7:26; 1 Peter 2:22). Rather it should be descriptive of a life characterized by honesty, integrity, and righteousness.

The revised edition of ISBE is helpful here:

INTEGRITY [Hebr. ‎tœm‎]
The basic meaning of "integrity" in the OT is "soundness of character and adherence to moral principle," i.e., uprightness and honesty, whether referring to Abraham (Gen 20:5), David (1 Kings 9:4), Job (Job 2:3,9; 4:6; 27:5; 31:6), or the psalmist (Ps 7:8; 25:21; 26:1,11; 41:12; 101:2). A common expression is "to walk in integrity," indicating an habitual manner of life. In Proverbs integrity is seen as an essential characteristic of the upright life: Yahweh will protect those who walk in it (2:7); their security is assured (2:21; 10:9; 20:7; 28:18); it is a trustworthy guide for living (11:3), and better than wealth (19:1; 28:6).(from International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, revised edition, Copyright © 1979 by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. All rights reserved.)

2. It is clear from other passages that David knows he is not perfect and yet speaks of his integrity none the less (Ps 25:18,21; Psalm 41:4,12).

3. A follower of Christ can claim to walk blamelessly before the Lord not because he is sinless but because his sins have been forgiven at the cross (Eph. 1:7; Col. 2:13-15) and have also confessed his forgiven sins that have followed his conversion (1 John 1:9).

4. I also believe and concur with many commentators that David is speaking about a particular situation in his life in which he is claiming he is innocent of the charges being brought against him - that he is fraternizing with people identified as, among other things, hypocrites (v. 4)

With these thoughts in mind, I believe I will be able to move forward in my study of this Psalm.

Blessed is he

whose transgressions are forgiven,

whose sins are covered.

Blessed is the man

whose sin the Lord does not count against him

and in whose spirit is no deceit.

Ps 32:1-2 NIV

Journal for Christ

Thursday, July 13, 2017

Our true happiness and self-fulfillment

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