Blessed

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/scott-dannemiller/christians-should-stop-saying_b_4868963.html

The above is a post that is going around Facebook. There is a lot of good stuff in it, but I take issue with his conclusion, and I'd like to lay it out with a little more detail than I feel is appropriate for a Facebook comment.

First, I want to state absolutely that I am in complete agreement with this writer about the horrendous thing that is called prosperity "gospel" which is really not good news at all. It is a lie, and Americans in particular need to get away from this idea. Stuff is not an indicator of the levels of our faith.

Second, if his point is that we need to focus on spiritual things instead of on material things, again, I completely agree. Focus on what God has done in changing you spiritually, not in what you have or don't have materially. Absolutely. Colossians 3:1-2

Unfortunately, that's not what I read. What I read is "material stuff is not a blessing; it's a trial." After just quoting the Lord Jesus when He said, (paraphrasing, here) "Blessed are you when men hate you" this writer claims that trials are suddenly not blessings.

Honestly, this writer seems very confused about what a blessing is. And part of the reason for that is that he's using as his definition a passage where Jesus is not defining anything. Jesus does not say, "You are ONLY blessed when...." He says that these groups of people are blessed. He doesn't say they are the only ones who are blessed, or that these listed blessings are the ONLY blessings. He is NOT defining blessing here. He is laying out principles.

So let's use the rest of what the Holy Spirit wrote, instead of just one passage, and see if we can broaden our understanding. I call your attention to the book of James. 1:17 - Every good gift comes from the Father. And then 4:13-17. What is the point of these? That God is in control of everything we do or don't receive.

Let's bring Romans 8:28 into this too though, because it's extremely important. Everything that happens or doesn't happen to a Christian is for their good.

And now we are armed for the climax. What is a blessing? A blessing is a good thing that happens to me; therefore, it is a gift from God. Everything that happens to a Christian is a good thing because it ultimately brings us closer to Him. Therefore, whether I get the job, or don't get the job, I am blessed. Whether I get the car or don't get the car, I am blessed. And I don't mean generally, and I don't mean just spiritually. I don't mean that I, as a person, am blessed in Christ (though I am). I mean not getting the job IS a blessing, and getting the car IS a blessing.

Let me flesh this out for you. My husband lost his job when we'd been married for about 6 weeks. It was a blessing. It was for our good both materially and spiritually. It was one of the biggest blessings we've had. It completely changed our outlook for the start of our new life.

Recently, we were able to purchase a second car. That was also a blessing from God. Without my husband getting a new job, without the health to work hard (which is a gift every day from the LORD), without so many things that God has done for us, we would not have been able to afford that car. And I would be missing most church services these days, because my husband has to go straight from work. If I didn't have a car of my own, I would not be able to get to church most weeks.

We have been blessed. Materially. With things being taken away and with things being granted. The great danger of not seeing material things as God's gifts, is that suddenly, you have no one to praise for them, except yourself.

The writer ends by saying that he's grateful. Grateful to who? For what? If he hasn't been given anything, then he has nothing to be grateful for. Think about this: How many unfaithed people (by that, I mean people who either don't practice their "faith" or don't believe in a deity) who will say they are blessed? They might be grateful, but ultimately, they're grateful to their boss for the raise, or their spouse for their hard work, or circumstances. They aren't grateful to God.

Saying, "I am blessed" automatically indicates, by the simple grammar of the word, that there is a Blesser. And generally, everyone knows that ultimately, you're talking about a deity.

The other danger of this is Gnosticism. If you follow this train of thinking far enough, you will come to the conclusion that material things are not only not good, they are bad. ONLY spiritual things are good. ONLY spiritual things are praiseworthy. This is heresy. God created EVERYTHING, the soul and the body. He created the world, and everything He created was good. We ruined our souls, but we still believe the spiritual is good. God's creation is full of good things, things that we need and enjoy. He made it for our benefit, and it is beautiful. If you say that a car or a house is not a blessing, then I say, neither is the Grand Canyon, neither is sleep.

Sleep is one of the best blessings I have experienced. And only God can give you good sleep. What we need to do is not stop saying we are blessed, we need to realize how much we are blessed. How many people take sleep for granted? A lot. I did right up until I had a baby and it finally hit me that I do not DESERVE a good night's sleep. I can't earn it. I can't make it happen. I can't make myself be rested in the morning. Even if I drug myself, it's a small chance that I'll wake up refreshed. Sleep is a gift from God. It's a blessing. And many of us take it for granted. Let's not stop telling how much God has blessed us. Let's start to realize how many things we never said were blessings from the Lord, and let's tell everyone about them. The times when He gave, and the times when He took away. We are blessed people.

Fear the LORD

A few days (okay, maybe a week or two) ago, there was a discussion on Facebook that basically boiled down to whether or not unregenerate sinners SHOULD fear the Lord. At least, that was my side of the argument, and people were arguing with me, so I think that's what it was about. I suppose there could have been misunderstandings, but I'm not sure where they would have come from.

I honestly don't think that you can make any kind of logical argument against the idea that unregenerate sinners shouldn't fear the holy Creator of everything. So, for the most part, this is going to be about Christians.

First, I want to ask: Why are Christians against the idea that God should be feared? Because God is loving? The argument that God shouldn't be feared because He is love, is self-defeating. If God is only love, then His love is not powerful. The "power of love" is seen (Disney even understands this) when it OVERCOMES something. What is God's love overcoming if God is only love?

If you reduce (or remove) God's wrath, you destroy the wondrous depths of God's love.

So let's go to Scripture to see what the Holy Spirit says about the fear of the LORD.

A quick word search (Bible Gateway is my friend) told me that the phrase "fear the LORD" is used 32 times in the Bible, and "fear of the LORD" is used 30. Sixty-two word for word references about a thing (and, by the way, it is NEVER used negatively) is kind of prevalent.

When the "fear of the Lord falls" on people (I Sam.11:7, Acts 9:31), it means they're about to respond properly in light of Who God is. When people act "in the fear of the Lord," they are doing what is morally right. Why? What is the fear of the Lord? Here are a few.

It's wisdom (Job 28:28; Ps. 111:10).
It's clean (Ps. 19:9).
It's worth teaching (Ps. 34:11).
It's the beginning of knowledge (Prov. 1:7, 29).

How does it affect us? What does it change in us?

When we fear the Lord we: hate evil (Prov. 8:13), have long life (Prov. 10:27, 14:27), enjoy confidence (Prov. 14:26), repent of sin (Prov. 16:6), are blessed (Ps. 115:13) and honored by God (Ps. 15:4). etc. etc. etc. Even when speaking about evil nations (II Chr. 17:10), when people fear the LORD, they act properly toward Him and His people.

What's more? This is a command. This is not a question. This is not debatable. Here are seven references that command it, and there are more. Deut. 6:13,24; 10:12, 20; I Sam. 12:24; Ps. 33:8; Prov. 23:17 ".... be thou in the fear of the LORD ALL THE DAY LONG." (Emphasis added.) Fear God. When? ALL THE TIME! Why? Because God is God, and we are not.

This is not something that is going to go away either. Hosea 3:5 says, "Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the LORD their God, and David their king; and shall fear the LORD and His goodness in the latter days." This hasn't happened yet. David was dead when Hosea was writing and he's not coming back yet. The fear of the LORD started with Adam and Eve and it's going all the way through until time ends.

Now, when talking about the fear of God, I think you have to reference I John 4 - because if you don't, people are going to feel that the supposed question isn't properly answered. Specifically verse 18 which says perfect love casts out fear, but you have to read a bit to get the context. I think the whole thing hinges on verse 17, "Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world."

The argument that John is making is that the fear of God's WRATH does not belong in a Christian. Christians do not need to fear God's judgment. We who have been "made perfect in love" (made as He is) do not need to fear punishment from God. Perfect love, that is, love which has been perfected in us, casts out fear of punishment. There is therefore now no condemnation....

Fearing punishment (wrath, judgment, etc.) and fearing God are two very different things. Sinners - John makes this argument perfectly right here - have EVERY reason to fear judgment and God's wrath. It is common sense for them to fear the wrath of God, for them to be very terrified sinners in the hands of a very angry God. However, we know from many other Scriptures that Christians fear the LORD. (In fact, they are the ones who are usually fearing the Lord, so this is not fear of judgment on our part.)

Fearing God is not fearing consequences. It's fearing GOD. For as long as my parents were in authority over me, I feared them. Why? Not because of the consequences. If it were only consequences that I feared, I would have only feared when I'd done wrong. I feared them because I loved them, because I didn't want to disappoint them, because they were my authority, and I understood that I am flawed and cannot perfectly please them. I feared what my lack of perfection would do to our relationship.

That doesn't mean I walked around cowering. It does mean that, for instance, when I considered what to spend my allowance on, I seriously considered whether or not they would approve, whether or not it would make them happy if I spent the money that they gave me on something like that. Why? Because I feared them. This kind of fear is inseparable from love. They are joined ankle, hip, and shoulder, so that it can be very difficult to even attempt to see them separately.

Do you fear disappointing your spouse, your kids, your family, your in-laws? Why? Because you love them and you want a solid, good, open relationship; but knowing fallen humanity, you know that you will fail them.

Fearing God is about walking with Him, making every decision with the understanding that He is living in your heart. He knows what you're doing and why you're doing it, and you are grossly underestimating the depths of God's emotions if you think that He doesn't feel when we turn from Him, when we insist we know better, when we brazenly - or apathetically - worship something else (usually ourselves).

It makes everything about my relationship with Him. It takes the nebulous feeling out of it, and that makes it potent. And, now that I think about it, that's probably why Christians don't like it either - it removes the ability to coast. And many Christians these days LOVE to coast.