Temptation. I've been pondering the pull of feelings and things this morning.
"By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin." - Hebrews 11:24-25 ESV
Moses knew the feeling of being respected and saw what it was like to be disrespected. One was a good feeling and one was bad.
An APPEAL TO EMOTION is when someone invokes an emotion in the midst of an argument and asks people to make a decision based on that emotion and not purely based on the facts.
If Moses was going to be drawn away it would have been based on a false rational that had emotional appeal. Couldn't he make more of a difference as a respected person? Then he would enjoy himself also. Maybe he could have the best of both worlds?
If he did that then an APPEAL TO AUTHORITY would be open to him as an option. That fallacy says that one person's opinion is better than another based upon their position, accomplishments or position. It is good logic to listen to an expert witness because they have proven knowledge on a subject but it is bad logic to think that because a person is successful, has a title or has been given a position that their opinion is better than anyone else's opinion.
Surely as a son of Pharaoh's daughter he could work within the system to affect change? But Moses was flawed and when He tried to act as a Savior to his people his own passion got the best of him.
We have noted cosmologists and comedians who are outspoken atheists but do their opinions stand up to a historic crucifixion and resurrection? No. They really don't. I'd trust a man who rose from the grave whole and full of love over anyone with a suit and tie or a quick wit. Only one man has authority that can impart hope and that is Jesus. Everyone stands on even ground at the foot of the cross. There is only one name lifted up there. The name of the man who says 'forgive them Father they know not what they do.'
That brings us to the last fallacy of the day... APPEAL TO NATURE. This thinking blames our makeup for our decisions and rules out our will. It uses partial truth to come to conclusions and says things like 'Well you're only human. You couldn't help it.'
"Jesus answered him, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God. ... That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.' The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.' " - John 3:3, 6-8 ESV
The phrase 'born again used her twice is the Greek phrase Gennao (Strong's G1080) Anothen (G509) and it means to be born anew or to be begotten from above. God must give man a new nature because the old nature has limitations. Each soul in accountable in the midst of those limitations so nature can't take the full blame.
"The spirit of man is the lamp of the LORD, searching all his innermost parts." - Proverbs 20:27 ESV
Our soul is like a dark room without a light to reveal it's shape and terrain.
Moses was born again at the burning bush. God gave him a new life and a new mission because his spirit was ignited with the fire that he saw that sent him back to Egypt. Now he carried God's words and authority not his own. Now he had something to give that had substance and was not based on appearance.
So, When things try and draw us away we can hold on to the rope God has throw to us and not be drawn away.
"I led them with cords of kindness, with the bands of love, and I became to them as one who eases the yoke on their jaws, and I bent down to them and fed them." - Hosea 11:4 ESV
Yes. Grace thinking becomes that will lead us in life. It isn't just another person's opinion and it does rely on good feeling as a basis. We are free in grace because God removes bit from our mouth there and feeds us.
--
Wednesday, December 9, 2015
Tuesday, December 8, 2015
Logical Fallacies - Part 4
"You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions." - James 4:3 ESV
While looking at my list of logical fallacies I'm scanning the questions it lists and marveling at how wrong we can be. We think our answers are the issue but it goes deeper. Our questions are often wrong and so there is no answer from God for what we are asking.
"Why will you still be struck down? Why will you continue to rebel? The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint." - Isaiah 1:5 ESV
A LOADED QUESTION as something that has an assumption already built into it. When we are BEGGING THE QUESTION we have an answer already embedded in the request.
'Why don't you love me God?' or 'Why won't you help me God?' are just such questions. They are based on a wrong premise and God must work around us because He can't work with us until we are on the same page.
"Do two walk together, unless they have agreed to meet?" - Amos 3:3 ESV
or in the KJV
"Can two walk together, except they be agreed?" - Amos 3:3 KJV
No. They can't. If they do meet it will just be an encounter and there will be no lengthy discourse because those conversations take time.
"Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool." - Isaiah 1:18 ESV
What a great verse! Many times the red to white part is emphasized because it talks of cleansing but I also like the 'shall become like wool' part... the natural color and texture is restored.
Our questions can be caked and stained with condemnation and judgement but then we reason with God and the first thing He points us to is redemption. The cross kills my wrong questions and gives me new ones. God reveals the natural weave of our being and can impart something real to us because we walk with Him in agreement about that which is most fundamental.
Now we say things like, 'Since You love me so much will You guide me in this situation? I know You will. You didn't bring me this far to leave me now.'
"... for he has said, 'I will never leave you nor forsake you.' " - Hebrews 13:5b ESV
Scripture arms us with good facts to ask good questions and life is full of good questions to ask as we walk together with God.
--
While looking at my list of logical fallacies I'm scanning the questions it lists and marveling at how wrong we can be. We think our answers are the issue but it goes deeper. Our questions are often wrong and so there is no answer from God for what we are asking.
"Why will you still be struck down? Why will you continue to rebel? The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint." - Isaiah 1:5 ESV
A LOADED QUESTION as something that has an assumption already built into it. When we are BEGGING THE QUESTION we have an answer already embedded in the request.
'Why don't you love me God?' or 'Why won't you help me God?' are just such questions. They are based on a wrong premise and God must work around us because He can't work with us until we are on the same page.
"Do two walk together, unless they have agreed to meet?" - Amos 3:3 ESV
or in the KJV
"Can two walk together, except they be agreed?" - Amos 3:3 KJV
No. They can't. If they do meet it will just be an encounter and there will be no lengthy discourse because those conversations take time.
"Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool." - Isaiah 1:18 ESV
What a great verse! Many times the red to white part is emphasized because it talks of cleansing but I also like the 'shall become like wool' part... the natural color and texture is restored.
Our questions can be caked and stained with condemnation and judgement but then we reason with God and the first thing He points us to is redemption. The cross kills my wrong questions and gives me new ones. God reveals the natural weave of our being and can impart something real to us because we walk with Him in agreement about that which is most fundamental.
Now we say things like, 'Since You love me so much will You guide me in this situation? I know You will. You didn't bring me this far to leave me now.'
"... for he has said, 'I will never leave you nor forsake you.' " - Hebrews 13:5b ESV
Scripture arms us with good facts to ask good questions and life is full of good questions to ask as we walk together with God.
--
Monday, December 7, 2015
A Thought For Discouraging Times
There are times when I am discouraged and I just don't tell anyone but God.
I have learned that God has a way of quickening us. He really does.
"And when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, 'Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?' which means, 'My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?' And some of the bystanders hearing it said, 'Behold, he is calling Elijah.' And someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink, saying, 'Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down.' And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom." - Mark 15:33-38 ESV
I always thought it was interesting that Jesus cried out to God and it was like He was speaking another language. The bystanders heard Him but misunderstood Him. Still... even though they misunderstood what He said it filled them with expectation to see a miracle.
We aren't Jesus. We aren't saving the world with our sacrificial death. That work has already been done by the only one who could ever do it.
"Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church, of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me." - Colossians 1:24-29 ESV
Wow. Somehow we live in the cycle of death, burial, resurrection and session (being seated in Heaven with Christ) now here on the Earth and it is a source of encouragement to the bystander who sees our circumstances.
I sat next to a couple last night and they peacefully worshiped God together but I know a little bit about their hardships. They are many and varied. Perhaps in their own heart language they were saying, 'Oh, God why have you forsaken me?' but what I saw was two people with upturned eyes gazing at Heaven in circumstances where that is not natural. I saw powerful miraculous possibilities because I was in the midst of a group of people that live in this upward spiral. Some of them are tasting the bitterness of death or are in the waiting period of burial and others are enjoying the uplifting sensation of ascension and the peaceful glory of session. In two years the table may turn entirely and the people suffering today will be in a peaceful settled place and those who are experiencing victorious living may face great hardship. That is how it works.
We fill up this moment of history as Christ's representative on the Earth. God makes us ministers of reconciliation in time as He sits at the right hand of the Father in Heaven. His affliction was more than enough to save all of mankind. We are filled with a taste of His range of experience so that we can communicate the hope of His glory.
The night of Jesus death he dealt with politics, pain and betrayal. He was tried unjustly and bribes were given to people to testify against Him. He had little sleep and little companionship. All these things can discourage us also. If we dwell on secular matters without rest we will get discouraged.
"Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults. Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me! Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer." - Psalm 19:12-14 ESV
Yes.
So we speak to God voicing our feelings but it doesn't end there. In death and burial we speak of resurrection, ascension and session. Then in victory we will not be forgetful of death and burial.
It is good to talk to people sometimes. We seek wise counsel and it makes all the difference because there may be logistical issues that we need wisdom to deal with. We may need someone to remind us that God is still God and that He has a plan.
God is the One who we can pour out our heart to and He understands completely. Jesus is our wonderful counselor.
--
I have learned that God has a way of quickening us. He really does.
"And when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, 'Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?' which means, 'My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?' And some of the bystanders hearing it said, 'Behold, he is calling Elijah.' And someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink, saying, 'Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down.' And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom." - Mark 15:33-38 ESV
I always thought it was interesting that Jesus cried out to God and it was like He was speaking another language. The bystanders heard Him but misunderstood Him. Still... even though they misunderstood what He said it filled them with expectation to see a miracle.
We aren't Jesus. We aren't saving the world with our sacrificial death. That work has already been done by the only one who could ever do it.
"Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church, of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me." - Colossians 1:24-29 ESV
Wow. Somehow we live in the cycle of death, burial, resurrection and session (being seated in Heaven with Christ) now here on the Earth and it is a source of encouragement to the bystander who sees our circumstances.
I sat next to a couple last night and they peacefully worshiped God together but I know a little bit about their hardships. They are many and varied. Perhaps in their own heart language they were saying, 'Oh, God why have you forsaken me?' but what I saw was two people with upturned eyes gazing at Heaven in circumstances where that is not natural. I saw powerful miraculous possibilities because I was in the midst of a group of people that live in this upward spiral. Some of them are tasting the bitterness of death or are in the waiting period of burial and others are enjoying the uplifting sensation of ascension and the peaceful glory of session. In two years the table may turn entirely and the people suffering today will be in a peaceful settled place and those who are experiencing victorious living may face great hardship. That is how it works.
We fill up this moment of history as Christ's representative on the Earth. God makes us ministers of reconciliation in time as He sits at the right hand of the Father in Heaven. His affliction was more than enough to save all of mankind. We are filled with a taste of His range of experience so that we can communicate the hope of His glory.
The night of Jesus death he dealt with politics, pain and betrayal. He was tried unjustly and bribes were given to people to testify against Him. He had little sleep and little companionship. All these things can discourage us also. If we dwell on secular matters without rest we will get discouraged.
"Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults. Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me! Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer." - Psalm 19:12-14 ESV
Yes.
So we speak to God voicing our feelings but it doesn't end there. In death and burial we speak of resurrection, ascension and session. Then in victory we will not be forgetful of death and burial.
It is good to talk to people sometimes. We seek wise counsel and it makes all the difference because there may be logistical issues that we need wisdom to deal with. We may need someone to remind us that God is still God and that He has a plan.
God is the One who we can pour out our heart to and He understands completely. Jesus is our wonderful counselor.
--
Friday, December 4, 2015
Whisper His Name
"I know your works. Behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut. I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name." - Revelation 3:8 ESV
Wow. This comforts me this morning. Some mornings we seem to have such little strength but God sees us and what we do with the little we seem to have.
I often think it is what we do with little strength that counts most. We use our little strength to review what God says and what God has done. God's name is His character and we can't do much at times but we can live not denying His name.
I have never been imprisoned for my faith. I imagine that if you have been in that place for awhile you think things like this, 'God I have little strength but I'm not going to deny You today.'
Changing the world is a lofty goal. Impacting our community is an amazing undertaking. Being salt and light in our family is honorable....
Who becomes a person who does these things?
I think Heaven's records will unveil names we never heard of before. We will see weak people who kept God's word close to them and in key circumstances refused to deny His name.
"To the present hour we hunger and thirst, we are poorly dressed and buffeted and homeless, and we labor, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we entreat. We have become, and are still, like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things. I do not write these things to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children." - 1 Corinthians 4:11-14 ESV
Yes.
Be encouraged and whisper the name of Jesus. All you have may be a whisper but His Name is enough to move mountains. He has done all the heavy lifting... We just lift up His name.
--
Wow. This comforts me this morning. Some mornings we seem to have such little strength but God sees us and what we do with the little we seem to have.
I often think it is what we do with little strength that counts most. We use our little strength to review what God says and what God has done. God's name is His character and we can't do much at times but we can live not denying His name.
I have never been imprisoned for my faith. I imagine that if you have been in that place for awhile you think things like this, 'God I have little strength but I'm not going to deny You today.'
Changing the world is a lofty goal. Impacting our community is an amazing undertaking. Being salt and light in our family is honorable....
Who becomes a person who does these things?
I think Heaven's records will unveil names we never heard of before. We will see weak people who kept God's word close to them and in key circumstances refused to deny His name.
"To the present hour we hunger and thirst, we are poorly dressed and buffeted and homeless, and we labor, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we entreat. We have become, and are still, like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things. I do not write these things to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children." - 1 Corinthians 4:11-14 ESV
Yes.
Be encouraged and whisper the name of Jesus. All you have may be a whisper but His Name is enough to move mountains. He has done all the heavy lifting... We just lift up His name.
--
Thursday, December 3, 2015
Water Opens Passageways
If you are lost in the wilderness one good way to find civilization again is to follow a water source and see where the water is going. People often build structures near water.
"Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. The wild beasts will honor me, the jackals and the ostriches, for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people, the people whom I formed for myself that they might declare my praise." - Isaiah 43:19-21 ESV
I had an interesting thought about dead ends yesterday. In urban centers they are often created by a need for aesthetics or security. Alleys that go nowhere are often dirty places because things build up there. They are places to put storage or for garbage collection.
"Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word," - Ephesians 5:25-26 ESV
The word waters, washes and cuts a path in the wilderness.
" Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:" - Philippians 2:5 KJV
Grace thinking nourishes a marriage and creates a flow and not a stagnant dead end.
People attend Churches and they ask, 'What missionaries do we support?' and the answer is, 'We don't do that because it's not in our budget.' They have reached a dead end.
A couple is dating and one day the concept of marriage comes up and a person says, 'I never want to get married.' the other sighs and realizes they have entered an alley with no exit. It's time to turn around or be trapped.
Jobs turn into dead ends. Many things do.
God's kingdom has no dead ends.
"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."" - Matthew 28:19-20 ESV
There are always people to win and places to go. God wants to join with us and show us reproduction in the world. New friends. New adventure. A way in the wilderness.
"No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it." - 1 Corinthians 10:13 ESV
God will give us a way when there seems to be no way.
"Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." - John 14:6a ESV
Yes. Jesus is our way to the Father and we become people formed by God to declare His praise. The words that come from the Book and our mouths open passages for people so that they can escape what is killing them and enter into the place where they are accepted and loved.
--
"Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. The wild beasts will honor me, the jackals and the ostriches, for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people, the people whom I formed for myself that they might declare my praise." - Isaiah 43:19-21 ESV
I had an interesting thought about dead ends yesterday. In urban centers they are often created by a need for aesthetics or security. Alleys that go nowhere are often dirty places because things build up there. They are places to put storage or for garbage collection.
"Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word," - Ephesians 5:25-26 ESV
The word waters, washes and cuts a path in the wilderness.
" Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:" - Philippians 2:5 KJV
Grace thinking nourishes a marriage and creates a flow and not a stagnant dead end.
People attend Churches and they ask, 'What missionaries do we support?' and the answer is, 'We don't do that because it's not in our budget.' They have reached a dead end.
A couple is dating and one day the concept of marriage comes up and a person says, 'I never want to get married.' the other sighs and realizes they have entered an alley with no exit. It's time to turn around or be trapped.
Jobs turn into dead ends. Many things do.
God's kingdom has no dead ends.
"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."" - Matthew 28:19-20 ESV
There are always people to win and places to go. God wants to join with us and show us reproduction in the world. New friends. New adventure. A way in the wilderness.
"No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it." - 1 Corinthians 10:13 ESV
God will give us a way when there seems to be no way.
"Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." - John 14:6a ESV
Yes. Jesus is our way to the Father and we become people formed by God to declare His praise. The words that come from the Book and our mouths open passages for people so that they can escape what is killing them and enter into the place where they are accepted and loved.
--
Wednesday, December 2, 2015
Logical Fallacies - Part 3
"Answer me quickly, O LORD! My spirit fails! Hide not your face from me, lest I be like those who go down to the pit. Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love, for in you I trust. Make me know the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul." - Psalm 143:7-8 ESV
I love this passage so much. As I read this Psalm it made me think of homelessness and the fear of homelessness. This Psalmist (the Psalm is attributed to King David) expresses a fear of misdirection into a set location that will mean death and isolation. He is asking for direction. He want to know how to think and plan.
He is sure that love will direct him because He is sure that God will not abandon Him... yet there is still the possibility that by going down the wrong path he will end up trapped in a situation that he can't get out of himself.
As I review the list of fallacies and copy them over into my notes with personalized explanations I think of how each one of them could potentially lead someone astray, convict an innocent party or cause a person or group to discard something precious and accept something worthless instead.
CIRCULAR LOGIC is when a person begins where they started to prove a point but the place where they started is theoretical in nature. People make the claim that Bible believing Christians (or Jews who believe in the inerrancy of the Hebrew scriptures) think and use circular reasoning because they settle arguments with a return to Biblical principles. It is understandable if you see the scriptures as theoretical or even fictional to think that way.
Those who have embraced the scripture as proven and not theoretical share the Psalmists hope of being lead into steadfast truth because that leading is no longer subjective. God isn't just an unknowable force. His mind is recorded in a reliable record and that record reveals love, holiness, honor and justice that surpasses human thinking.
I don't read much fiction anymore but I did before I became a believer. I am convinced that no one could pen the scriptures but God Himself. It is far to complex and interwoven of a work.
"NUN.
Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. I have sworn, and I will perform it, that I will keep thy righteous judgments. I am afflicted very much: quicken me, O LORD, according unto thy word. Accept, I beseech thee, the freewill offerings of my mouth, O LORD, and teach me thy judgments. My soul is continually in my hand: yet do I not forget thy law. The wicked have laid a snare for me: yet I erred not from thy precepts. Thy testimonies have I taken as an heritage for ever: for they are the rejoicing of my heart. I have inclined mine heart to perform thy statutes alway, even unto the end." - Psalm 119:105-112 KJV
Yes.
"My soul is continually in my hand: yet do I not forget thy law." - Psalm 119:109 KJV
The word translated law there is Strong's torah (Strong's H8451). It is God's sure, logically expressed and authoritative mind. If we have it then our soul is in our hand and we don't ever need to fear going down into the pit because even if that is where we end up we are sure that God will extend His nail scarred hand to lift us out again.
--
I love this passage so much. As I read this Psalm it made me think of homelessness and the fear of homelessness. This Psalmist (the Psalm is attributed to King David) expresses a fear of misdirection into a set location that will mean death and isolation. He is asking for direction. He want to know how to think and plan.
He is sure that love will direct him because He is sure that God will not abandon Him... yet there is still the possibility that by going down the wrong path he will end up trapped in a situation that he can't get out of himself.
As I review the list of fallacies and copy them over into my notes with personalized explanations I think of how each one of them could potentially lead someone astray, convict an innocent party or cause a person or group to discard something precious and accept something worthless instead.
CIRCULAR LOGIC is when a person begins where they started to prove a point but the place where they started is theoretical in nature. People make the claim that Bible believing Christians (or Jews who believe in the inerrancy of the Hebrew scriptures) think and use circular reasoning because they settle arguments with a return to Biblical principles. It is understandable if you see the scriptures as theoretical or even fictional to think that way.
Those who have embraced the scripture as proven and not theoretical share the Psalmists hope of being lead into steadfast truth because that leading is no longer subjective. God isn't just an unknowable force. His mind is recorded in a reliable record and that record reveals love, holiness, honor and justice that surpasses human thinking.
I don't read much fiction anymore but I did before I became a believer. I am convinced that no one could pen the scriptures but God Himself. It is far to complex and interwoven of a work.
"NUN.
Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. I have sworn, and I will perform it, that I will keep thy righteous judgments. I am afflicted very much: quicken me, O LORD, according unto thy word. Accept, I beseech thee, the freewill offerings of my mouth, O LORD, and teach me thy judgments. My soul is continually in my hand: yet do I not forget thy law. The wicked have laid a snare for me: yet I erred not from thy precepts. Thy testimonies have I taken as an heritage for ever: for they are the rejoicing of my heart. I have inclined mine heart to perform thy statutes alway, even unto the end." - Psalm 119:105-112 KJV
Yes.
"My soul is continually in my hand: yet do I not forget thy law." - Psalm 119:109 KJV
The word translated law there is Strong's torah (Strong's H8451). It is God's sure, logically expressed and authoritative mind. If we have it then our soul is in our hand and we don't ever need to fear going down into the pit because even if that is where we end up we are sure that God will extend His nail scarred hand to lift us out again.
--
Tuesday, December 1, 2015
Logical Fallacies - Part 2
"But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil. For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison," - 1 Peter 3:14-19 ESV
As I go through the list of fallacies this morning it strikes me that God is so aware of our bad thinking.
"For he was crucified in weakness, but lives by the power of God. For we also are weak in him, but in dealing with you we will live with him by the power of God. Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? - unless indeed you fail to meet the test! I hope you will find out that we have not failed the test. But we pray to God that you may not do wrong - not that we may appear to have met the test, but that you may do what is right, though we may seem to have failed. For we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth. For we are glad when we are weak and you are strong. Your restoration is what we pray for." - 2 Corinthians 13:4-9 ESV
I think of the man proclaiming the gospel from a bar stool. He is ashamed to tell his friends when he is sober but he talks about love once he has a few drinks in him. Then people use AD HOMINEM thinking to attack the message. They undermine the messengers character to try and disprove the message but the message is real. Forgiveness is real. The test spoken of in the passage in 2 Corinthians is the 'appearance' test. People look for fruit and make conclusions of fruit production but that is a wrong way to think. Many of God's promises to the believer, if you look at them, are based on relationship and security. God does not guarantee a full transformation before death as matter of fact He promises the opposite and makes provisions for failure because He knows we will fail and that we and others will jump to wrong conclusions based on that failure. The believer is asking, 'Am I in The Faith?' and not, 'How am I doing? because The Faith has an answer. Jesus is holy and His work is holy. Trust in the finished work of the cross is far superior to anything we can see or evaluate performance wise.
"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us." - 1 John 1:9-10 ESV
If we confess (and we will need to) again and again that we sin because we still have a nature that sins God will cleanse us again and again because in truth He has already cleansed us.
"Jesus said to him, 'The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not every one of you.' " - John 13:10 ESV
THE FALSE CAUSE FALLACY is another interesting one because it jumps to conclusions based on circumstantial evidence instead of using truth as a goalpost. It looks by sight at circumstances and settles on a cause by natural reasoning or emotional bias.
"The salvation of the righteous is from the LORD; he is their stronghold in the time of trouble." - Psalm 37:39 ESV
Jesus makes men 'stand upright' and be able to look straight ahead and up instead of down and back. That is a fact. We might not always do it but the ability has been given none the less.
"And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved." - Acts 4:12 ESV
I don't recommend bar stool preaching. There is great value in letting grace do a work of transformation in us. It is the 'no condemnation' principle working in us and on us that takes us out of addictions and into freedom. That principle also cleanses our thinking because we no longer rationalize away our weakness.
I often look at the cross and see God's victory in the midst of my failure and it heals me. I know that God has made promises and that the victory of the resurrection has been placed on my account in spite of me.
Others might not think that way but it is how God thinks that really matters anyway isn't it?
--
As I go through the list of fallacies this morning it strikes me that God is so aware of our bad thinking.
"For he was crucified in weakness, but lives by the power of God. For we also are weak in him, but in dealing with you we will live with him by the power of God. Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? - unless indeed you fail to meet the test! I hope you will find out that we have not failed the test. But we pray to God that you may not do wrong - not that we may appear to have met the test, but that you may do what is right, though we may seem to have failed. For we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth. For we are glad when we are weak and you are strong. Your restoration is what we pray for." - 2 Corinthians 13:4-9 ESV
I think of the man proclaiming the gospel from a bar stool. He is ashamed to tell his friends when he is sober but he talks about love once he has a few drinks in him. Then people use AD HOMINEM thinking to attack the message. They undermine the messengers character to try and disprove the message but the message is real. Forgiveness is real. The test spoken of in the passage in 2 Corinthians is the 'appearance' test. People look for fruit and make conclusions of fruit production but that is a wrong way to think. Many of God's promises to the believer, if you look at them, are based on relationship and security. God does not guarantee a full transformation before death as matter of fact He promises the opposite and makes provisions for failure because He knows we will fail and that we and others will jump to wrong conclusions based on that failure. The believer is asking, 'Am I in The Faith?' and not, 'How am I doing? because The Faith has an answer. Jesus is holy and His work is holy. Trust in the finished work of the cross is far superior to anything we can see or evaluate performance wise.
"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us." - 1 John 1:9-10 ESV
If we confess (and we will need to) again and again that we sin because we still have a nature that sins God will cleanse us again and again because in truth He has already cleansed us.
"Jesus said to him, 'The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not every one of you.' " - John 13:10 ESV
THE FALSE CAUSE FALLACY is another interesting one because it jumps to conclusions based on circumstantial evidence instead of using truth as a goalpost. It looks by sight at circumstances and settles on a cause by natural reasoning or emotional bias.
"The salvation of the righteous is from the LORD; he is their stronghold in the time of trouble." - Psalm 37:39 ESV
Jesus makes men 'stand upright' and be able to look straight ahead and up instead of down and back. That is a fact. We might not always do it but the ability has been given none the less.
"And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved." - Acts 4:12 ESV
I don't recommend bar stool preaching. There is great value in letting grace do a work of transformation in us. It is the 'no condemnation' principle working in us and on us that takes us out of addictions and into freedom. That principle also cleanses our thinking because we no longer rationalize away our weakness.
I often look at the cross and see God's victory in the midst of my failure and it heals me. I know that God has made promises and that the victory of the resurrection has been placed on my account in spite of me.
Others might not think that way but it is how God thinks that really matters anyway isn't it?
--
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