When God sings over me

I was going through a difficult time that lasted for several months in the early part of 2008. I had faith in God, but as you know, enduring the trial/waiting on God is many times the 'real' test of that faith. And the whole outcome hangs on it.

I was at the church I then attended one Sunday...I remember the pastor wasn't there and there was no regular service (with sermon) but just before being dismissed, the pastor's wife came up front and sang this song.



To others, it was just a nicely done song. I later came to find out it is a popular oldie that has been song many times over in the past 40 years.
I had never heard it before. What I do know is that the song was God's word to me that day.
I was overwhelmed. It was like God was having it sung to ME. Well, I'm pretty sure He was.

I got home and that song replayed in my heart for about two weeks. I looked it up on the web just to find the lyrics so I could learn the song and hold on to it myself, singing along with what I remembered. The song itself didn't make the issues go away but I remember investing even more time in seeking out God's word and confessing it and praying it and thanking Him for it. He even rewarded me with a wonderful revelation on one of the Psalms during that time, which completely changed my attitude toward the situation and brought me over and out of the test.

Well, more than two years have passed now and I still don't purposefully listen to anything in this genre, but this song can still make me cry when I recall the goodness and faithfulness of God. We really can feed on His faithfulness as Psalm 37 says - or as one translation explains, 'befriend' (His) faithfulness.

Thoughts on chastening

I wasn't always 'straight' with God about sin. There had been too many times that I asked Him for His will, went against it when He revealed it to me because it really was not what I had hoped, and for a while managed to keep doing my own thing and justify my actions and decisions. (Of course sins are never actually 'justified', but that also serves to illustrate how great our state of delusion becomes when we keep shutting God's ways and words out of our conscience and heart). If we confess our sins, God will always be found faithful and willing to forgive us, and to remove the residue that sin leaves (see 1 John1:9). But this cleansing from unrighteousness does not mean that the consequences of sin are made null and void.
I have also often pleaded that God would spare me the chastening that I deserved and feared. God has at times held back the full harvest that most definitely always occurs as a result of sin, but I have had to face the fact that when we sow to the flesh - unequivocally - we, of the flesh, will reap corruption. There is just no getting around it. (see Galatians 6:7,8). This brings the much dreaded concept of 'chastening' into the picture.

First, we have to be sure that we understand that "God delights in mercy", absolutely.

Therefore the Lord will wait, that He may be gracious to you;
And therefore He will be exalted that He may have mercy on you.
Isaiah 30:18


And this is not to say that He waits for us to fall into sin just so that He can show His mercy. When we sin we grieve the Spirit of the Holy God that dwells within us. God does not enjoy any instance of this process.

For He does not afflict willingly,

Nor grieve the children of men.

Lamentations 3:33

Oh, that you had heeded My commandments!
Then your peace would have been like a river,
And your righteousness like the waves of the sea.
Isaiah 48:18


But God understands that if anything can teach us a lesson about the perils to our soul of sin and disobedience, it would be chastening. And if anyone disagrees they must present a more successful alternative and one has never been found, [ i.e. not short of the Lord Himself doing a mighty transforming work in us with one sweep of His hand by His very able Spirit].
Additionally, even chastening is often resisted by us many times before we ever humble ourselves to learn the lesson, or else we straighten up for the immediate period but fall right back to the sin after its sting has worn off. We need only to read the historical accounts of the journey of the Israelites out of Egypt towards the promised land to gain many many examples of this.

Chastening doesn't always have to be some separate event of discipline that the Lord designs after we have sinned for often we find that the consequence of our sin is left for us to endure and face - although He does pour out His Spirit and grace to sustain, refine, and purify us in the midst of it.

Neither is His chastening as whimsical as some of the methods of discipline that many parents use with their children for whether we perceive it or not, God's chastening targets the thing that stains us - much like many laundry detergents claim to do - often going deep beneath the surface to the thing in our heart that nurtures our willingness to sin and our desire for the sin.

[At this point I want to leave a reminder that there will be seasons in which a Christian finds himself/herself experiencing a great trial or ordeal which has nothing to do with chastening for sin. Rather, this cutting process is something the Lord has sent or allowed for the greater purpose of sanctification and His glorification. This is best described as a process of pruning, not chastening. Similarly however, if we are determined to endure we will find His grace is more than sufficient and will bring us out far better and stronger than we went in].

Chastening occurs only because it is needed.

If we knew the depths of sin and truly understood its consequences to our soul, we would embrace chastening.
It is not possible to enjoy chastening of course, but certainly we need to cooperate with the Lord by submitting to Him and resisting the flesh and the devil, by learning His ways, and by obeying His word. Furthermore, our hearts should easily be able to pour out gratitude and praise to God for His faithfulness and mercy, as we praise and worship Him with the understanding of who He is,what He has accomplished for us, and what He yet works to accomplish in us.

Scripture is replete with direct and indirect references as to what God uses chastening to achieve in our character. Below are a few examples that speak clearly without requiring any commentary:

If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten?...Shall we not more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness.

Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

Hebrews 12:7,9-11

Indeed it was for my own peace

That I had great bitterness;

But You have lovingly delivered my soul from the pit of corruption,

For You have cast all my sins behind Your back.

Isaiah 39:17

Before I was afflicted I went astray,

But now I keep Your word.

Psalm 119:67

It is good for me that I have been afflicted,

That I may learn Your statutes.

Psalm 119:71

For You, O God, have tested us;

You have refined us as silver is refined.

You brought us into the net;

You laid affliction on our backs.

You have caused men to ride over our heads;

We went through fire and water;

But You brought us out to rich fulfillment.

Psalm 66:10-12

Chastening is a painful process that brings us face to face with the character of the God we serve. God's work is always completed. He does all things well and leaves nothing undone - even if what exists seems attractive and acceptable to us, His standard is set by Himself. He is holy.

"We are chastened by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world". [1 Corinthians 11:32].
"He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love....that in the dispensation of the fullness of times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and on earth - in Him...in whom we are also being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit" [excerpts from Eph.1 and 2].

The persons who have this understanding want to be refined by God, and chastened if needed. They pray that indeed God will crucify their flesh with its lusts, and they long to live, walk, and move in the power of the Holy Spirit. They fear any wane in the process of refinement more than the pain of it, and choose to submit themselves under God's hand, holding to His promises and confident of His mercies.


I know O Lord that Your judgements are right,

And that in faithfulness You have afflicted me.

Psalm 119:75

For the Lord will not cast off forever.

Though He causes grief,

Yet He will show compassion 
According to the multitude of His mercies.

For He does not afflict willingly,

Nor grieve the children of men.

Lamentations 3:31-33

A holy God will have nothing less than a holy people. Not an in-between, not a mostly-good, not a near-perfect, people, but one holy as He is holy. It is His intention that our "whole spirit, soul, and body is preserved blameless at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ." [1 Thess 5:23]. Our submission to the work of chastening may make the difference in our personal life as to whether or not we will be so found by Him at His appearing.

"As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent."

Revelation 3:19

N.B. All emphasis on scripture added by author

Guard your eyes and your heart. Your life depends on it.

I subscribe to a lot of blogs covering a variety of topics. This week my feed turned up two articles that stood out in a disturbing way by highlighting the blatant increase of twisted sexual content on television.

The Los Angeles Times published an article about the growing demand and supply of 'soft-core porn' by cable TV channels and no longer just at late night hours.

Erotic entertainment "is a staple of [Cinemax's] brand, it's in our DNA, we're not running away from it" [Susan Ennis, executive vice-president of program planning for HBO Networks, which owns Cinemax]

I think it's a very strong statement when someone can coolly say that immoral, ensnaring entertainment is in the 'DNA' of a thing. 

That content is particularly conspicuous now on VOD, which has unshackled soft-core from the boundaries of late-night.

Then, at the Focus on the Family's Plugged In blog, Adam Holz reported another horrifying and in-your-face downward slide that is going to have an effect on the young girls and boys in our households - as well as men and women who are already struggling because of the sexual compromise that has already invaded their life. Here's a clip:

"...the Miss USA pageant has decided to add a lingerie segment to the competition. Specifically, each contestant has to pose for photos in a hotel room wearing skimpy underwear and sporting sultry, suggestive expressions. A couple of contestants even opted to go with braless outfits, wearing only open shirts and panties.

The resulting images look like they'd be more at home in a Victoria's Secret catalog than in a beauty pageant.

Pageant owner Donald Trump has been unapologetic. "Whether we like it or not, beautiful women will always attract ratings," he said. Trump also recognizes that the images push the envelope, but in the end he thinks they're acceptable for broadcast television (the pageant will air May 16 on NBC). "I think they've maybe gone a little over the top this year," he said. "These pictures are a little wild. [But] the girls are incredible. … They go about as far as you can go on network television, which is pretty far."" [Read more]

We are in a time where the lusts of the world will be offered openly and in increasing variety. Still, God requires holiness from those who are His. And only the holy will inherit eternal life and walk the streets of His Kingdom in the age that is to come. Holiness means being set apart for God and away from sinful lifestyles. Walking in holiness does not happen by accident. No one can arrive there nonchalantly given the temptations that abound. Everyone is susceptible. We need to be intentional about obeying God and following close after Him.

Do you have walls and hedges and gates and bolts in the right places in your life?

Up and Down

Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray.
Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms.
James 5:13

I was thinking about God's prescriptions for the circumstances in which we find ourselves. There is an instruction that will help us draw closer to Him for anything that we face. The verse above from the book of James is concise, potent and too easily overlooked.

Since this came to my attention in this fresh way during the past two weeks, I have been performing spot checks on my circumstances and my emotions. If I find even a twinge of 'feeling blue' I say a prayer to God and turn my eyes upward in that sense. If I find myself bubbly, and happy I want to translate it into vocal and specific praise and gratitude to God. It really makes a difference by not allowing sadness to turn into depression or incapacitating feelings, and by fostering communion with the LORD even during the good times, when no special request needs to be made of Him.

Money, money, money

I used to attend a church where the pastor loved to emphasize giving to the church activities, to him, or to his family. He would use the example of the widow at Zarepath and the prophet Elijah found in 1 Kings 17. He would say that as long as we gave to the 'man of God' first, God would be sure to take care of our own needs. The word of God was not presented in a way that was rightly divided of course, so whatever truth is in that statement was twisted to take advantage of the young members who were themselves trying to finish school, looking for jobs, mostly working class with very little material assets of their own and many were downright struggling to make ends meet. Meanwhile, he lived in an upscale neighborhood, he bragged about the brand names that he wore (and warned everyone not to buy him 'cheap' gifts), and had recently re-furnished an already nice home with luxurious trappings just for the extra 'look.'' I write as a matter of personal knowledge and not hearsay.

There were more shocking things that occurred where money was concerned and one of the very worst took place on the last day I ever attended: the pastor told the congregation to 'sow into the anointing' that was present towards whatever they needed - job, own business, education etc....not to miss out...that if they didn't come with enough money, they could go to the ATM after the service ended that afternoon, make a cash withdrawal and then drop the money off for him...yes, that there was still enough time in the day.

This vile behavior must make God indignant and I'm thankful that He opened my eyes and rescued me out of there with a lot of first-hand lessons of what NOT to do, tolerate and be deceived by in the future. The bible has a lot to say about money. Everything we could ever need to know in fact. Here is a just a sampler of guidelines for our giving from a few verses in 2 Corinthians:

2 Corinthians 8:12-15 (ESV) 12 For if the readiness is there, it is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have. 13 For I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened, but that as a matter of fairness 14 your abundance at the present time should supply their need, so that their abundance may supply your need, that there may be fairness. 15 As it is written, "Whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack."

We all ought to let that verse soak in. Take it apart slowly and consider each line. Much of what is being touted from church pulpits is different. We are told that God loves a cheerful giver, and that we will reap according to how we sow. That's true.  But we are not told that in God's eyes, 'how much' is not so much a matter of quantity, rather it is a matter of quantity relative to our ability. That's why the widow who Jesus observed putting in her mite was regarded as putting in more than all the wealthy persons who gave their large offerings.

Giving generously and cheerfully will bring great pleasure to God. Here's some things that God loves about our giving from 2 Corinthians 9:

• Giving supplies the needs of the saints
• Giving causes thanksgiving to overflow towards a deserving God
• Giving glorifies God because of the evidence of our submission to what we profess
• Giving stirs up prayer among the saints for one another and healthy care and affection

I encourage you to do a personal examination of your heart as well as the teachings you believe where giving is concerned. It's not good enough to simply give 'for the glory of the Lord' where the receptacle is not in fact going to glorify God with what you've given!