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Stuck in the Mud

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Jonah 2:6 But you, Lord my God, brought my life up from the pit. What pit was Jonah referring? The belly of the great fish or the spiritual condition that led to the belly of the fish? Jonah 2:6 echoes Psalm 40:2. Psalm 40:2 states: He drew me up out of a horrible pit [a pit of tumult and of destruction], out of the miry clay (froth and slime), and set my feet upon a rock, steadying my steps and establishing my goings. What is miry clay? muddy, boggy or swampy soil conditions; deep, wet, sticky earth that is difficult to move through; damp, and squishy earth; wet spongy earth that is difficult to navigate or escape.

Once Jackie and I were spending time with some good friends, Mark and Valerie Nelson, on an island in the Chesapeake Bay. Valeries Dad took us out in his boat to check on his crab pots near some of the marshy areas in the bay. Unfortunately we became stuck in the shallows and there was only one solution to getting unstuck. Get out of the boat and push it into deeper water. Thankfully Mark had the presence of mind to recommend we remove our flip flops before plunging over the side of the boat. Why was that a good thing? When we jumped out of the boat we sunk knee deep in slimy, squishy, stinky mud. The flip flops would have become a permanent possession of what the Psalmist referred to as miry clay. If you’ve ever had the pleasure of experiencing miry clay you know that it is difficult to walk and navigate through. (As the Nelsons and the Shaws soon discovered). For you see we had to lift our knees near our chests to simply get them unstuck from the muck (and oh, how delightful we smelled). Each step required considerable effort and after several steps we dislodged the boat.

Why do we need to seek God? Life’s circumstances quickly lead us to being swallowed up in its’ grip causing our lives to begin to stink with the miry clay of this world system. Like Jonah, the big fish of life begins swallowing us whole, digesting, and reducing our lives to a living waste.

Initially, it seemed strange to discover that at the height of Jewish repentance their go-to book in the Bible was, and still is, Jonah. It was strange until I began meditating realizing that I too had been swallowed by a great fish. That I too had become stuck in a pit, and in the miry clay of the Babylonian, Jezebel world system. It had taken its toll. The awareness of my spiritual plight grew as I prayed Jonah’s prayer. As I prayed my mind protested, How does this apply to me? I’m not like Jonah. I haven’t run from what God commanded me to do. I’ve not jumped ship, gone AWOL, or UA from my responsibilities. I’m not derelict in my duty, nor have I deserted my post. All of that sounded good till the Lord broke through my protest asking, What are you standing on Robert? Are you standing in humility, and obedience? Are you fighting the good fight of faith? Is your life marked by a constant changing of your thoughts to conform to My Word and the Spirit? Has your love for the lost and prodigals become like Jonah’s? If you love Me why don’t you obey Me without question? (For obedience is Jesus’ love language) When was the last time prayer wasn’t a chore or labor?

After the smoke cleared from the fires of my conviction I realized that the book of Jonah was indeed a great guide for leading us to repentance. Yesterday’s blog asked, How do we go about seeking the Lord? Today revealed part of the answer. Humble yourself. Humble yourself admitting you have need of Jesus and you have not arrived in all that you have ascertained of Him.

Open the Door and Make Room for the Great Physician

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Mark 2:17, 22: And when Jesus heard it, He said to them, Those who are strong and well have no need of a physician, but those who are weak and sick; I came not to call the righteous ones to repentance, but sinners (the erring ones and all those not free from sin). 22 And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; if he does, the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost and the bottles destroyed; but new wine is to be put in new (fresh) wineskins.

Guy Richard, Ligonier Website wrote: Jesus is not talking about “sinners” generally or universally. All people are sinners in this general or universal sense, as Paul tells us quite clearly. Jesus is talking about a specific group of sinners, namely, those who acknowledge their sin and long to be healed and to turn away from their sin. We know that, because in the context of Mark 2, Jesus is responding to the Pharisees, who “grumbled” that He and His disciples were eating and drinking with “tax collectors and sinners” (v. 30) instead of associating with more respectable kinds of people (like themselves). Their question (and their grumbling) indicates that they did not consider themselves to be sinners. They were “righteous.” Even though they were sinners every bit as much as were the “tax collectors and sinners” and needed the healing of the Great Physician every bit as much as those other sinners did, the Pharisees did not believe it. They were uninterested in healing and repentance precisely because they saw no need for them. And Jesus’ point is that He did not come to call this kind of “righteous” person. He came to call those “sinners” who know that they are sick and need to be healed by the doctor.

The Self-Righteous have a Do-It-Yourself Righteousness, a Substitute Righteousness – that displaces being Rightly Related to God. Self-Righteousness keeps you from hungering, thirsting and desiring more of God – because it’s so FULL of its SELF. Substitute Righteousness never allows you to see this because that would require humility, teachability, and meekness. The Wine of the Holy Spirit only inhabits the new wineskins of those who know they are sick and need a physician. Insert the Holy Spirit into a self-religious, self-righteous person and He will explode their faulty mental scaffolding. But sinners in need of Grace discover that not only does He fill, He expands into the farthest recesses of their life and living. They heed the call of the Rejected Jesus Who stands outside the door of His own church knocking – and they open the DOOR to Jesus, not religious repetition, and routine. They make room for His gold of faith refined in fires of testing – opening the door to fire, filled faith. They make room for being rightly related to Him, and others, so their nakedness can be covered with His Robes of Righteousness. They open the door to His Righteousness. They make room to see through applying His medicine to their blindness. They open the door for spiritual sight. Those in these categories have no confusion about Jesus’ verdict on their lives: poor, naked, blind and wretched. Some people get confused when you state such things. They want to live in the denial of self-righteousness. They forget that Jesus addressed His letter to Christians who prayed the sinners prayer, gathered for church, prayed, took communion, read the word, gave their offerings, sang their songs, and possibly even witnessed. But their love for Jesus was only lukewarm, and Jesus called them wretched. Wretched means they are in a pitiable, spiritual condition. Unfortunately for the Laodiceans, it appears they had been attending the same “church” as the Pharisees – failing to realize Jesus keeps company with the very ones that recognize their need.

So, if Jesus came knocking on the door of our church, what diagnosis would He pronounce? If He came knocking on the door to your life what diagnosis would He pronounce?

Double Down!

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When I woke up this morning I was dreading hearing the news regarding our country’s election results. (I did not stay up late to watch the election returns for each state). But then I read Brad McClendon’s facebook post. It was titled the “Season of America Today.” Brad quoted Luke 13:6-9 And He told them this parable: A certain man had a fig tree, planted in his vineyard, and he came looking for fruit on it, but did not find [any].7 So he said to the vinedresser, See here! For these three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree and I find none. Cut it down! Why should it continue also to use up the ground [to deplete the soil, intercept the sun, and take up room]?8 But he replied to him, Leave it alone, sir, [just] this one more year, till I dig around it and put manure [on the soil]. 9 Then perhaps it will bear fruit after this; but if not, you can cut it down and out.

Brad went on to say, “We have been given a chance to turn back to the Lord, and to bring forth His righteousness in our lives through the leading of the Holy Spirit. However, we must allow the Spirit of Truth to dig deep within our souls, to bring forth fruit of repentance to walk the path of Jesus, and completely leaving what our carnal desires want. We have been given time to turn, even in this era of great conflict with our country. I pray that the Holy Spirit be poured out again to allow America to turn back to Jesus Christ. It starts with us individually. Let’s walk with Jesus, not ourselves. God bless America.”

After reading his devotional the phrase double down crossed my mind. I knew this phrase was from the Lord because I don’t use this terminology. Not being exactly sure of what the term meant I “googled” it discovering two dictionary articles: to double one’s original stake after having looked at one’s cards and before receiving an additional card (Cambridge Dictionary); to make a stronger commitment to a strategy or course of action, especially one that may be dangerous, or risky(Oxford Learner’s Dictionary). God has given true followers of Jesus a narrow window of time to repent (be transformed in your thinking and living) and pursue Him to make Him known. Our country is in the condition it’s in because the Church, and its attenders, have chosen to be passive, judgmental, and critical of governmental policies and practices we do not agree with while remaining luke warm in our obedience to and pursuit of Jesus. The question is, Have you taken as much time in prayer for the very things you have criticized and judged? Have you taken as much time in submitting to Jesus – His Word, and Spirit – as you have in avoiding what Jesus has clearly commanded? For example, Jesus has clearly commanded that our relationship with Him should be shared with the world. What would happen in this nation if every true, follower of Jesus took the time to share their walk with Jesus – in some way, every day? Doubling down would mean, making a stronger commitment to a strategy or course of action which may be dangerous or risky. What would happen in this nation if every true, follower of Jesus took the time to pray for our governmental leaders – in some way, every day? What would happen in this nation if every true, follower of Jesus took the time to pray for the lost and “prodigals” you know to become true followers of Jesus? Doubling down would mean, making a stronger commitment to a strategy or course of action which may be costly. (Can you name the lost and prodigals you have tried to share Jesus with?)