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Sunday 31 July 2011

It is of the Lord's mercies..

Though we fall, though we fail, the Lord God upholds our spirits. No matter how dim upon our faces the reflection of Christ's glory is, the Lord stays faithful to His promises. This is a word of encouragement.

Proverbs 18:14  The spirit of a man will sustain his infirmity; but a wounded spirit who can bear?

Note (by Matthew Henry),

1. Outward grievances are tolerable as long as the mind enjoys itself and is at ease. Many infirmities, many calamities, we are liable to in this world, in body, name, and estate, which a man may bear, and bear up under, if he have but good conduct and courage, and be able to act with reason and resolution, especially if he have a good conscience, and the testimony of that be for him; and, if the spirit of a man will sustain the infirmity, much more will the spirit of a Christian, or rather the Spirit of God witnessing and working with our spirits in a day of trouble.

2. The grievances of the spirit are of all others most heavy, and hardly to be borne; these make sore the shoulders which should sustain the other infirmities. If the spirit be wounded by the disturbance of the reason, dejection under the trouble, whatever it is, and despair of relief, if the spirit be wounded by the amazing apprehensions of God's wrath for sin, and the fearful expectations of judgment and fiery indignation, who can bear this? Wounded spirits cannot help themselves, nor do others know how to help them. It is therefore wisdom to keep conscience void of offence.


Let's conclude this post with a bit of Hebrew poetry from Psalm 43 : )


Judge me, O God,
     and plead my cause against an ungodly nation:
O deliver me
     from the deceitful and unjust man.


For thou art the God of my strength:
     why dost thou cast me off?
Why go I mourning
     because of the oppression of the enemy?
 

O send out thy light and thy truth:
     let them lead me;
Let them bring me unto thy holy hill,
     and to thy tabernacles.
 

Then will I go unto the altar of God,
     unto God my exceeding joy:
Yea, upon the harp will I praise thee,
     O God my God.
 

Why art thou cast down, O my soul?
     and why art thou disquieted within me?
Hope in God: for I shall yet praise him,
     who is the health of my countenance, and my God!

Friday 1 July 2011

The Paradox of Happiness

I believe that the desire to be happy is in all of us; after all, is there anything wrong in being happy? Well, I'm not too sure about the answer to that, but I can be sure that sometimes the ways in which we try to get happiness can indeed be wrong.


We live in a world which tells us to live for ourselves, to live for the moment. Much of what people around us are doing is for pleasure. Look at how many people fill the malls, the LAN gaming centers, arcade centers, cinemas, etc. "Deeper" people will tell you that happiness is doing what you like, so follow your heart. But the root is still the same; it springs from pride, a pride which tells us that we are worthy of all this pleasure and enjoyment. Pride caused our First Parents to fall, and continues to perpetuate itself throughout the human race. In Psalm 82:6, the psalmist writes "Ye are gods", expressing how the wicked men of his time had set themselves up. The chief rulers in Jesus' time loved the praise of men (John 12:43). Pride, I feel, is very much linked to a love for the world; "For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life..." - 1 John 2:16. This world offers us so many ways to feed our pride and increase our "self-worth".

The children of this world are living consistently with their belief system. Since they do not believe that they have to stand before God in judgment once their time on earth is done, since they do not believe that there is a life to come, this life is all they have, and all that matters. So they live for this life and try to get as much happiness as they can from it. However, we know that this is utterly futile at the very end. Children of God can have happiness while in this life too. We being in the world but not of the world, should possess a different kind of happiness.


Jesus said in Matthew 5:4: "Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted." The word "Blessedness" indicates happiness; and not a simple carnal pleasure, but a genuine heavenly joy. This is a wonderful paradox. They that mourn are happy? Surely there is a logical disconnect here. The word of God often contradicts what the world thinks. Here, mourning refers to mourning over sin, mourning over the miserable, wretched state we are in, mourning over the fact that without God, we can do absolutely no good. James wrote in James 4:9-10:  "9Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. 10Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up." This admonition goes against our natural inclinations. The world would tell us "No, stop thinking about sin, sin is depressing! Don't dwell on the negative, think positive! Tell yourself that you are a good person!". This is a monstrous lie. Scripture makes it clear that happiness never comes directly, but indirectly.


What does it mean to mourn? It means, for a start, to totally dispose of what the world calls "self-esteem". When we realise the extent of our sins, the blackness of our hearts, the stubbornness of our nature, we have no excuse to exalt ourselves. An article from the Banner of Truth website describes this mourning to be "...like an alcoholic who finally realizes that he and he alone is responsible for the heartache he has brought his loved ones, that he can no longer blame anyone else for his behaviour. This misery begins deep in the soul and begins to work its way to the surface of our lives. To mourn means to grieve over sin which eventually brings repentance. It is not merely feeling bad about getting caught. To weep over sin is a heartfelt, outward expression of sorrow due to the recognition of a great loss. We see this with Peter when he looks into the eyes of Jesus after denying him three times (Luke 22:60-62). Luke tells us that Peter wept bitterly. To turn laughter to sorrow and joy to gloom is like a gregarious father who has been neglecting his ten year old son due to his work schedule, who begins to notice rebellion and other ungodly attitudes in his son, who then realizes that his neglect is a major contributor. This is like David after Nathan says to him, 'Thou art the man!' and David repents with weeping, acknowledging that it is against God alone that he has sinned (Psa. 51:3). And to humble one’s self before God is to bow down low before him, confessing that he is God and we are not, that we have drifted from him, that we have rebelled against him."  This description is as far from happiness as it can possibly get.

Like mentioned before, happiness never comes directly. We therefore do not seek it directly. The beautiful paradox presented in Scripture shows us what true happiness is, and how God would grant it to us. We must weep over sin, and mourn in our hearts. But we do not look inward all the time, or we fall into despair. Look upward to Christ, and recognize that He is the one True Savior, Who alone is able and willing to help us. To look anywhere else brings no hope. He is the one who promised us, "28Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 30For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." (Matthew 11:28) Our souls, weary with the burdens of guilt from our sins, and laden with the misery of our iniquities, can find rest in Him. Look to His finished work on the cross, and flee to Him, for He will certainly not cast us out. (John 6:37) Then we shall know happiness, a happiness this world cannot offer, but yet again this true happiness is not what we directly seek, but what we receive when we turn to Christ in true faith and repentance.


"Nothing in my hand I bring,
Simply to Thy cross I cling.
Naked, come to Thee for dress,
Helpless, look to Thee for grace.
Foul, I to the fountain fly,
Wash me, Savior, or I die."