Philippians 4:4-7, “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
This is a fairly familiar passage to most people that have been around Christianity for a while. It’s only a few verses ahead of Philippians 4:13, which just about everyone knows, even the casual observers. I might do a study on 4:13, and understanding it in context in another study, but not on this blog post!
In this passage, there are several things. We are instructed to “Rejoice”… it’s so important I say it again, “Rejoice!”. We are told to “not be anxious about anything”. Our marching orders are to use “prayer and petition”, while also showing “thanksgiving”. If and when we do that, God’s peace, which we don’t fully understand will guard us.
Sounds easy right? Hardly! I guess it’s not that big a deal if the “every situation” is a good thing, or even a mundane thing. But, what about the really horrible times? What about the tragedies? What about the unexpected news? What about the death of a loved one, the dreaded late night call from the hospital, the news of cancer? What about the failing marriage, the loss of a job? What about wayward children or a spouse that is cheating? Are we really instructed to rejoice in every situation? Are we truly supposed to do this with thanksgiving? Let me play this out for you. “Dear Lord, thank you so much that my spouse is cheating on me. Today I rejoice in this situation.” Kind of absurd right?
So, how do we deal with this passage? I think the key to this whole passage is nestled right in the middle. Four simple words: “The Lord is near.” That’s the key. We don’t manufacture some pseudo joyful emotion and thankfulness when we pray to God about our situations. The joy, or lack of joy isn’t based on the situation at all. It’s all about “The Lord is Near”. This is faith. We know that the book of Hebrews defines faith as “being confident of what we hope for”. Our hope and our joy is not based on the situation, it’s based on our faith that “the Lord is near”.
We pray with confidence that God is in control. Our sorrow turns to joy. I believe the key to the whole passage is making the shift from “every situation” to “the Lord is near”. When we pray, we might be anxious, we might not be rejoicing, and we may not even have peace, but “the Lord is near”. Then, unexpectedly, we don’t even understand it, but God’s peace comes, and he guards our hearts and minds. My interpretation of that is: he changes our thoughts and feelings. He heals our emotions and pain.
Whenever you face a trial in life, you likely won’t be able to rejoice immediately, at least not in the situation. But, lean on your faith. Lean on the knowledge that “the Lord is near”. Pray and listen. God may not change the situation, but He will change your heart and mind. You’ll be shocked at the joy and thanksgiving that will return. The Lord is near … always!
This is the first in a multi-part blog series on characters in the Bible. While these are stories of old, they are still strong examples of leadership for us today. What does a leader look like? What traits are most important? I might not do one every week, but over time, I plan on writing on many of the Bible heroes. We’ve heard the names, we know the stories, but do we really know the person. What made these characters a hero? After all, they’re not some superhero “Bible guy”. These are real people with real lives and real problems. The were ordinary people that God used.
Hebrews 11:7:
By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith.
This New Testament verse is written in what has become known as the “Hall of Faith”. It’s a tribute to the great faith characters in the Bible. It’s an example to New Testament followers using an Old Testament character. This story is remembered by this one verse in Hebrews, but points toward the detailed story in Genesis chapters 6-9.
We get a little insight into the character of Noah in Genesis 6:9:
This is the account of Noah and his family. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God.
What kind of person was Noah? For our purposes, what type of leader does God use? I see three things:
Noah was righteous – righteousness is living to please God
Noah was blameless – while righteousness is about the Godly relationship, blamelessness is about integrity with others.
Noah walked with God – how was Noah righteous and blameless? He walked with God. This means he was “on the same page with God”.
Now, it needs to be understood, that Noah wasn’t perfect. Whew, that’s a relief. If you read the rest of Noah’s life and story, he made some pretty large mistakes. Oddly, that’s good news. We don’t have to be perfect to be used by God. We don’t even have to be perfect to be considered righteous. But, we do have to “walk with God”.
What was the world like in the time of Noah? Genesis 6:5 gives us a glimpse:
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.
Yikes, “only evil all the time”. Basically, all of the world had turned it’s back on God. Man was living for self. The underlying current was self-absorbed. In essence, “if it makes me feel good, I’ll do it”. It was a truly wicked culture. By the way, the Bible warns us that Jesus will return to earth when things are “as they were in the days of Noah”. It’s not a threat, it’s a warning. It took Noah 120 years to build the ark. The whole time Noah was preaching of the coming destruction. It was likely a very short sermon: “It’s going to rain”. No one heeded the warning. The warning is the same today. Destruction is coming. It’s not a threat, it’s a warning. There’s still time to get on the boat!
Back to the character of Noah. What leadership do we see in him.
Hebrews 11:7 gives us more insight:
By faith Noah when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith.
“when warned”– God gave Noah the warning, and Noah heard it. How and why did he hear it? Because he was close to God. God does speak today, but there has to be a proximity and closeness to Him in order to hear His voice. Closeness to God brings thoughts you haven’t thought, perspectives you’ve haven’t had, and feelings you’ve never felt. How sad it is that many Christians, and even Christian leaders don’t hear from God. The way to hear: Get closer to Him.
“things not yet seen” – this part is awesome. Up until the flood, it hadn’t rained on the earth. God is warning about something that’s completely unknown. Noah lives 100 miles from a body of water and he’s building a massive boat (about 1 and a half football fields long and 4 stories tall). And, it’s taking 120 years. He’s asking Noah to do something over a LONG period of time, to prepare for something that was unknown and never seen before. Leaders follow instructions even when it doesn’t make sense. Genesis 6:22 tells us that Noah did EVERYTHING just as God commanded. Godly leaders are obedient, even when it doesn’t make sense. I’ll take it a step further. The weirder the assignment, the potentially bigger the thing is that’s coming. When God gets “weird”, get ready for something really BIG!
“in holy fear” – Godly leaders need an “awe” of God. There needs to be an attitude and lifestyle of worship. How did Noah get through 120 years on manual labor all while being mocked? Worship! Can you imagine the mental anguish of being doubted for that long, and also having to do the amount of hard labor for all that time? It wasn’t like there was a chainsaw to cut down all of those Cypress trees. I imagine with every chop there was a “I praise you God”, thrown in with some “I give you glory”. Then, to keep it real, “I don’t see water or rain or floods, I don’t even know what that is, but I choose to trust You God”. Noah chose to bless God’s name even in the hard days. By the way, so did Moses, so did David, so did Joseph, so did Daniel. See a trend? Leaders have an awe, a reverence, and a faith, even when it doesn’t make sense.
“to save his family” – could Noah have saved the whole world? Well, yes, if they had listened to his short sermon: “It’s going to rain”. But, he did save his family. Leaders save those closest to them. A leader takes care of the flock. Noah couldn’t convince the world to get on that ark, but his family made it. Why? Because that is what a Godly leader does. We can bemoan the faults in our world. We can be upset about the downfall of society. We can do our part to make changes. But, first and foremost, our calling is to guard the flock. For a church leader, that’s the one God has entrusted to them.
“By his faith he condemned the world” – Noah condemned the world because he followed through. It took 120 years of work and worship, but one day it finally came. God’s judgement arrived. Can you imagine that very first rain drop the very first time? “Uh, what was that?” “Why is water falling from the sky?” “Uh oh, maybe that crazy loon Noah has been telling the truth this whole time”. Noah looks at his family and says, “it’s time”. Mr. and Mrs. Kangaroo start their hopping journey. Mr. and Mrs. Bird give a little “tweedle dee, tweedle doo” and start making their flight. Noah had been given instructions without knowing how any of it would play out. He built a boat on dry land 100 miles from water with no idea how animals were going to arrive. No details other than how to build the boat were given. Yet, Noah did it. Once again for 120 years! And, his faith condemned the rest of the world. He was faithful when no one else was. This is a key principle of leadership. A Godly leader will do the right thing even when no one else understands. This can be hard. To be crystal clear here: One man was right, and all of civilization was wrong. What does that look like in our context? Just because all of society is screaming one message, it doesn’t make it right. We desperately need Godly leaders that listen and obey, even when it is completely counter-culture. Our faith should never be defined by public opinion or discourse. It’s always a matter of “what does God say?”. That’s all that matters. Godly leaders stand on God’s Word, no matter what may come!
“became heir” – Noah became the beneficiary of the inheritance because he believed and obeyed. There were so many days of ridicule and mocking. There were so many days that Noah was doubted. I believe (can’t prove this though), that in Noah’s humanity, there were days he even doubted himself. I mean 120 years of obedience with no sign of the promise is a LONG time. But, Noah endured. Noah did EVERYTHING that God commanded. And, in the end, Noah was rewarded. Complete faith is always rewarded. It may not seem like it in the hard seasons. It may seem that God is absent or forgotten you. But, faithfulness and obedience are always rewarded. It does and will come! Godly leaders dig in and focus on the coming blessing, while waiting. If God has said it, stick to it. Hold onto the promise. Then wait. Wait for God to show up, because He always does.
Noah is my first stop on this look at Godly leadership. There is so much we can learn by looking at these heroes. But, let’s never forget that even Noah was “just a man”. He had faults and failures like me and you. But, he made it into the “Hall of Faith”. Noah was a man that followed through. We need those Godly leaders today, that will stand up and do the right thing even when no one else understands. Godly leadership is most concerned about God’s opinion, because that is all that really truly matters!
“I Got Saved” by Selah is one of my new favorites. I love this song. I love the simplicity of the message. I found this video of some of the back story of the song, as well as a challenge video. Enjoy!
“One of the great deterrents to revival and awakening is that we do not hold ourselves accountable. We read the Word of God but do not hold ourselves accountable to see it implemented in our lives. This Scripture says that if we meet the conditions of holiness in our lives, He will bless us.”
Henry Blackaby
This quote is taken from “Holiness: God’s Plan for Fullness of Life” by Henry Blackaby. Could it be that we read God’s Word too often for “what we can get out of it’? We read it for encouragement. We read it to help us get through life. Nothing wrong with either of those. I have many times leaned on God’s Word to get me through dark and difficult days. However, how often do we read it for rebuke? For correction? For discipline? And even when we do, and we sense God speaking to the deepest parts of our spirit, how often do we let it end there? James said it this way, “
22Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.25 But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.” (James 1:22-25).
God desires Holiness no doubt. We fight against it (at least our flesh does). But, don’t miss that nugget from James …. “the perfect law gives freedom” and “they will be blessed”. Holiness brings blessing. Why? It’s not necessarily a reward system where we get the gold stars when we do good (anyone remember those?). No, it’s a natural consequence. Basically, do it our way there are consequences. Do it God’s way, there are consequences.
Paul says it this way in Galatians 6:
7 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.8 Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. (Galatians 6:7-9)
We go through life and at times it seems unfair. It seems as those the unrighteous are rewarded, while the righteous suffer. I can assure you there have been multiple times in my life where I’ve had to choose to do “the right thing”, and it was misunderstood or misinterpreted. In the short term, I suffered. But, in the long term I’m rewarded. Now, I’m not giving my self the ultimate saint card here. On the other side, I’ve had numerous times where I’ve done the wrong thing. I definitely have had times where I’ve done what I wanted to do, but not the right thing. And, to be honest, sometimes it worked out in the short term. I got what I wanted in that moment. Maybe it was an argument that “I won”. Maybe it was just me getting my way. But, and here’s the big catch: You always reap what you sow. If we make unholy choices, we will have consequences. If we make holy choices, we will have consequences. It’s not always immediate, but the results will always manifest themselves.
We live in a culture where instant gratification is celebrated and pursued. Make no mistake though, God and His Word have not changed. The standard has not and will not change. There is only one authority that we have and that is God Himself, and He has revealed Himself to us in His Word. The Bible alone is the standard of holiness for me and you. Culture is not the authority. No pastor is the authority. No teacher is the authority. Only God’s Word is the authority. If you return to the only authority, you will be blessed. If the church will return to the only authority, she will be blessed.
It’s a little after midnight as I type this blog post. In today’s local news, the Gulf of Mexico claimed another drown victim. Down here in the Panhandle of Florida, we’ve had somewhere near 20 drownings in the past two weeks. It does make the news, and it is reported, but the casualties continue to pile up. It’s almost a daily occurrence now. The culprit? a rip current. A rip current is: “a fast, narrow moving channels of water that will pull you out away from the shore. The speeds rip currents move can be up to eight feet per second.” What’s really dangerous about rip currents is they are almost undetectable. There are things to watch for, but for the average beach-goer or vacationer, they are virtually invisible. Once caught in the current, it’s force is too strong. While the current can move someone 8 feet per second, the average Olympic swimmer moves at about 4 feet per second. Fighting against the power of the water is a losing battle.
Before you quit reading, I’m headed somewhere with this posting. The comparisons of our current culture in the church and in society have flooded my mind tonight (not sure “flooded” is the best word choice, but you get what I mean). To be clear the rip current is deadly. It has taken around 20 lives in two weeks around here. But, day after day, people continue to defy the red flag warning system that is in place. They “wink at” the danger. They think “it couldn’t happen to me or my family”, or “I’m a strong swimmer”, or “it doesn’t look that bad”. But, the silent assassin sits just below the water level, waiting for the next victim.
Could it be that we have rip currents pervading our society and even the church? Could it be that the rip current is taking people out one at a time? All the while, we “wink at” the danger. We think it can’t happen to me. I’m here to raise the double red flag (that’s the system for those non-beach people … double red, means DON’T GET IN THE WATER). We have a rip current that is taking out the church. I know many are already thinking this is yet another blog post about the evils in the world. And yes, there are evils in the world. Drugs, sex, perversion, pornography, and on and on. We live in evil times. But, this blog post isn’t about the “big bad evils in the world”. This is more about the hidden current in the church. What do I mean?
I believe Satan has many schemes, but two in my opinion are prominent. First, it’s the oldest of them all, deception and a fear of missing out. Way back in the beginning, in the Garden of Eden, the first lie was “Did God really say?”. For Adam and Eve there was a fear of missing out. They had everything, yet, they were deceived to believe that God was holding out on them. It’s nothing new, but I believe the current is stronger today then it’s ever been. For many Christians, there is a feeling of “am I missing out”. There’s a fear of giving control to God. To do that, means potentially missing out on all the things this world offers. As a reminder, Adam and Eve HAD EVERYTHING …. EVERYTHING. They were in paradise walking with God. We have the same, we have EVERYTHING. Yet, the current tries to pull us out. The second strong current used by Satan is “divide and conquer”. In my lifetime, I’m not sure I have ever seen the church as divided as it is now. Of course we live in a society that is offended by everything, and that has now crept into the church. How did we get to the place we are in? Why is everyone so upset and hurt and offended … EVEN IN THE CHURCH? To be clear there are stands we must take. There are things we cannot allow, and we cannot compromise on. But, there is so much we can agree on. I have friends that are more reformed then John Calvin himself. I have friends that are the “hair on fire jump the pews Pentecostals”. I know quite a few mainline Baptist, Methodist, and Presbyterians. I’ve even got Catholic friends that love Jesus with all their heart. But then there is this rip current of division that just keeps coming back. It’s taking Christians out one by one. Fighting, grumbling, murmuring, and gossiping. It’s killing us! I mean even as I’m typing this my blood pressure is rising. IT IS KILLING US!! I for one have had enough of both of the currents. Jesus is all we need. There isn’t a fear of missing something else. This sounds like old school preaching, but if you have Jesus, you really do have everything. And second, this bickering within the body has to stop. I promise I’m going to do my part.
Alright, back to the rip current. It is deadly. It’s claimed many people that didn’t see it coming. But, it’s survivable. The way to survived a rip current is to not fight it. The key is to swim not back against the current, because you’ll lose. The secret is to swim parallel to the shore just enough to get out of the current, then you can safely get back to shore. Here’s my take: we can’t fight against the deception and gossip. We don’t push back, we avoid. We get out of there as quickly as possible. Oh boy, this is just a free flow type session here, but I’m hearing it now …. Let me be clear: If we are fighting back the deception we are losing. If we are participating in the gossip, we are losing. Get away, don’t be a part of it. You want the life that God has for you? Don’t stay in the rip current and fight. NO! Get out. Flee!
This blog post was truly free flow of thoughts (as many are). I don’t check for spelling and grammar (which might be obvious 🙂 … The rip current is in the church. It’s unseen, but it’s deadly. If you find yourself in the currents of deception or gossip, it’s time to quit “winking at” the problem.
