Turn Your Eyes – Sovereign Grace Music
Author: Victor Scott
I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, husband, father, and author. I am an avid Cubs fan and a lover of Chicago-style Deep Dish pizza.
Personal Responsibility
6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.
8 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” 10 And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” 11 He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” 12 The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” 13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
Genesis 3:6-13
Introduction
The story of the Fall of humanity in the Garden of Eden is the opening scene in the story of God’s work of redemption. That may seem an odd way of saying it. But, if you stop and think about it, it’s true. If God had decided that he was going to start again, we would not have the story!
The fact we do have this retelling of what happened is evidence that God had a greater purpose in mind. He was not dismayed or discouraged by what happened. I would even say God was prepared for it.
In light of God’s grace to continue working with the human race, we can ask some questions about what does it look like to be held responsible for our mistakes? In particular, I wonder how we make sense of what God said and did when he confronted the first couple?
As we consider these questions, I am sure others will come up. And as they do, feel free to write them down and let me know. I would be interested in considering them as well.
The subject of personal responsibility can be difficult to address. Not because we don’t all have an instinctive sense of what should happen. It is difficult because we are not always eager to apply the same standard to ourselves!
If we are ever going to mature as people; to grow in wisdom we have to do our best to not pass off the consequences of our choices to others. We have to accept that our actions were the catalyst for what ended up happening.
With this in mind, I think the story of the Fall provides us with an excellent backdrop for a conversation about Personal Responsibility.
I. Who was responsible for what happened in the Garden of Eden?
- Who is the one that is most often blamed for what happened in the garden?
- The one responsible was Adam.
- It was to Adam to whom God had given the authority to care and tend for the garden and everything in it. This responsibility included Eve, his wife.
- This story is less about who is to blame and more about what happens when we as individuals fail to take our responsibilities seriously.
- The story of the fall has to do with fulfilling the responsibility or responsibilities God has given to each one of us.
II. What is responsibility?
- In short, it is the ability to respond to what is presented to me.
- Example 1: If I see a car approaching someone who does not see it, I have a responsibility to warn the person in danger.
- Example 2: If I see a car approaching someone who does not see it, but I am at home and don’t see the car, then I can’t be responsible for warning the person in danger. I don’t have the ability to respond to a danger I am not aware of.
- We should begin to look around at the different areas of our lives to see where I have the ability to respond, and then take the necessary steps to change what needs to be changed.
- When we assume responsibility for something completely out of our control, we also feel guilt for something we had no power to change, or even influence.
III. Most of what we get ourselves into is our fault.
- Take more initiative in ordering your life by God’s ways and commands rather than your own. (Ps. 37:23-24)
- The first place to look when something begins to go in a way we didn’t want or plan is to look at ourselves. We must then decide if we are following the will of God in it or not.
- Until we make this assessment, we will do our own thing, and the blame God for it.
Originally Delivered on Sunday, January 14, 2007. It has been edited and expanded.
“Redeemed” – Jeharna South and One Sound Music
Such a beautiful rendition of this hymn.
Verse 1
Redeemed—how I love to proclaim it!
Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb;
Redeemed through His infinite mercy,
His child, and forever, I am.
Chorus
Redeemed, redeemed,
Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb;
Redeemed, redeemed,
His child, and forever, I am.
Verse 2
Redeemed and so happy in Jesus,
No language my rapture can tell;
I know that the light of His presence
With me doth continually dwell.
Verse 3
I think of my blessed Redeemer,
I think of Him all the day long;
I sing, for I cannot be silent;
His love is the theme of my song.
Verse 4
I know I shall see in His beauty
The King in whose way I delight;
Who lovingly guardeth my footsteps,
And giveth me songs in the night.
Sometimes what you need…
Sometimes what you need is for someone who loves you to show up. To hold you up when all you want to do is crash.
Sometimes what you need is for someone who loves you to show up. To hold you up when all you want to do is crash. Allowing you to finish what you started, even when the “best” thing would be for you to stop.
There are few story’s that can really capture the power of love and the grit of courageous determination. The Derek Redmond story is one of them.
Many are familiar with this almost mythical tale. But for those who are not it goes like this.
Sometimes what you need is for someone who loves you to show up. To hold you up when all you want to do is crash.
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Derek Redmond was an olympic sprinter from Great Britain. In 1988 his hopes of olympic glory were dashed due to an injury to his achilles tendon. For the next four year he trained for another opportunity to compete on the olympic stage. In that time he also had several surgeries due to injury.
When the 1992 Olympics came around, Derek did well enough to qualify for the olympic team. In the semi-final of the 400 meter sprint, he looked like he would do well enough to go on to the finals. But with about half of the distance left to finish, Derek’s hamstring tore, taking him to the ground.
In what can only be described as shear determination, he got up and tried to hobble his way to the finish line. With each step the pain in his leg increased. With each step his will to finish growing weaker.
Then, from out of stands, an older man is seen coming onto the track. Ignoring security, pushing them aside, the man made his way to Redmond.
That man was Derek Redmond’s father, Jim.
While fighting back tears and enduring the pain of a torn muscle Derek and his father made their way to the finish line.
All those years of training and whatever aspirations of olympic glory there may have been, they ended that day. On that track.
But a different story was written. One that inspired countless millions since that fateful day and became a living testimony to the power of love.
We all want to believe that we can do it on our own. That we can make it in this world without the help of others.
But every now and then, when the world in which we live sends us what feel like insurmountable obstacles, someone steps in and gives us the helping hand we need to finish.
The story of Derek Redmond is great, not because he finished first and won the gold.
The story of Derek Redmond is great because he endured to the end of the race. Fighting back tears, suffering through pain, and with a little help from his dad.
Glorious – Sovereign Grace Music
No shortcuts to a deeper relationship with God
I subscribe to a website that shows you when e-books get discounted. One day, one of the books on sale was related to discipleship and being able to increase the depth of discipleship in a short amount of time. While on the surface this does not appear to be a problem. I found that the more I thought about it, the less I liked what it was saying about the discipleship process.
What do I mean? It makes me uncomfortable to think people are trying to short-circuit the discipleship process in their lives.
The reason for this is there is no shortcut to a deeper level of discipleship. There is no quick way of growing in intimacy with God. And to think that there is we put ourselves on a path toward self-deception. A path that leads to spiritual harm and weakness. Discipleship is a journey. It is a journey that takes time and endurance in order to achieve the ultimate goal.
This raises an interesting question: What is the ultimate goal of discipleship?
I believe the ultimate goal of discipleship is a deep and abiding relationship with God. That’s it. That’s the whole of it.
That relationship with God cannot be achieved by taking shortcuts. Now, I know that the book and other books like it are not trying to necessarily give the reader the impression it is possible to have a deep relationship with God in a short amount of time. However, that was the effect it had on me. And I have been maturing in my understanding of discipleship for over 20 years.
The fact that we struggle in our discipleship journey does not mean there is not some redemptive purpose in it. None of us likes to struggle. None of us likes to think there is a measure of suffering we all must endure. But life does not always come wrapped in a tight little bow.
Sometimes life is messy. In other times it can be downright vicious. But in spite of whatever comes at us in this life, we will do all we can to look towards what God has promised and not merely what we hope for him to fulfill at our request.
In my own life discipleship has often been costly. The reason for the cost of true and lasting discipleship is it requires us to sacrifice something we would normally never consider we could sacrifice. And what is that? We are called to sacrifice our very lives.
The reason for the cost of true and lasting discipleship is it requires us to sacrifice something we would normally never consider we could sacrifice.
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This is the very thing Jesus does in his own example to us. Jesus enters into the world and he lives a life among people who do not understand who he truly is. He lives among people who only see someone who can bring them out of their own suffering and into what they believe is a life of abundance. But not the spiritual kind of abundance God desires to give. But the kind of abundance that says we are supposed to be rich in the world’s treasures. But Jesus says he has come to give us life and that life to the fullest.
I think what troubled me the most about books that promise to give us special insights and a quicker route to a deeper relationship with God is it offers something that not even God has promised to us. God calls us into a deeper relationship with him through his son Jesus Christ and invites us to live all eternity with him. Too often we find this invitation to be too far off. And so what we do, we look for ways to help God give us what we desire. But it’s not something we desire according to God’s purposes. It is what we desire according to our own.
I think one of the great challenges of the Christian faith is trusting in God’s timing. Learning to rely upon God to bring us to those moments and places he has determined are for our greatest good.
And so we need to learn to be patient. We need to learn to be more trusting. We need to learn to be more content with what God is giving us rather than looking for a “get holy quick scheme.”
“O Come to the Altar” Cover – Bailey Stowers and David Taafua
This is an amazing cover of the song.
Regaining Focus in an unclear World
Then Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved following; which also leaned on his breast at supper, and said, Lord, which is he that betrayeth thee? Peter seeing him saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do? Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou me. Then went this saying abroad among the brethren, that that disciple should not die: yet Jesus said not unto him, He shall not die; but, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?
John 21:20-23 KJV
Introduction
At the start of every year whether people follow through with it or not it has become accustomed to setting out resolutions what we will accomplish in the new year. One of the greater challenges of following through with these resolutions is that oftentimes we pick things that will require greater changes than we are really prepared to do. We have not really learned that smaller changes over a longer period of time can provide lasting changes for the rest of our lives.
One of the struggles that we will have as we strive to leave a mark in this year is to seek a renewed focus for our lives. If we are not deliberate in our actions we can run the risk of missing what God has in store for us. Today I want to talk with you about regaining focus in an unclear world.
There are so many mixed messages being sent by the world in which we live. We have to do a better job of figuring out how to live our lives in a Christ-like way in a world that doesn’t want to have any part in that. How do we regain focus? How do we get our lives back on a road that will bring us closer to God?
Obey what Jesus has said
The first commitment we should make is Christians in this new year is to obey what Jesus said. I will grant it is not always easy to do what Jesus says. It isn’t easy because doing what Jesus says requires that we acknowledge that He has spoken. We are all on a journey to find meaning and significance. We all are looking for ways of making our lives count. So we make friends and we start families. We get involved in the community and we look for careers that will be fulfilling. We tell ourselves that if we do these things we will find happiness.
But no matter what we do doubt will linger in our minds. “Is this enough?” It is so hard to see what we need to do most of the time, but God desires to be a part of that process. God is looking for you and me to turn to Him and say, “God, I want to have a life filled with meaning and purpose. But I need you if I’m going to get there.” And do you know what He did? He sent Jesus.
Jesus was and is God’s way of saying I want to be a part of your life if you will let me. I find myself rededicating my life to Christ on a regular basis. Why? I do it because I make mistakes. I let people down. I let myself down. I’m not perfect. And it is only when I turn my life over to Him that I know I will be all right? Do you need to give your life to him today? Do you need to recommit your life to Jesus today?
When I look at the story here at the end of John I am reminded that we have to obey what Jesus says. We can’t go and do what we think that Jesus has said. If we do what we think He said we will get hurt and we will hurt others in the process. Our good intentions go wrong when we don’t follow the instructions. Peter had not been restored to fellowship long before he was concerned about somebody else’s status with God. When we fail to obey what Jesus has said we go and do foolish things. This is not something new. It’s something that has been going on from the very first moment that God breathed life into Adam.
Don’t underestimate your own struggles
The second commitment we should make is that we should not underestimate our own struggles. If we want to regain focus we have to be willing to admit that we have struggles. I don’t like to admit it, but if I want to have a chance at enjoying my life I can’t go and stick my head in the sand. Life is hard. We have to account for other people, what they say, what they do, what they mean. I have to account for my actions and how I will react in those situations when I deal with other people.
We have mortgages to pay, jobs to deal with, bosses to please, families to maintain, cars to fix, recitals to go to, students to teach, children to rear, and churches to build. Life is complicated. Because of this, we can’t afford to underestimate our struggles, because any wrench could bring the whole thing to a halt.
I don’t know about you, but some days are a real struggle. Trying to make the right choices, trying to live a good life. I really don’t have the time to be focusing my energy and effort on making sure other people are doing what they are supposed to be doing. If I were to spend my time trying to do this I would go insane.
Not everyone sees things the way that I do. Not everyone is interested in what I am interested in. Not everyone that I come in contact with on a daily basis holds the same things dear that I do. This is all part of the struggle that I must deal with. And yet I find myself in the same situation as Peter. I start looking around wondering, “What about Him?” I have to seek to do the best that I can with what God has given me. And I should do this with the sincere prayer that God would use what I give for His glory.
The comparison game is such a dangerous way to live our lives. God does not compare us to anyone else except Jesus. And that the standard is difficult enough on its own.
Compare yourself to Christ, Not to “John”
The third commitment we should make is to compare ourselves to Jesus and not to “John”. One of the most harmful decisions you can make is to try and compare yourself to someone else. When we compare ourselves to those around us we make assumptions about the other person that may not be true. But the assumptions that could be the most troublesome are the ones that you make about yourself. It doesn’t matter whether the comparison is positive or negative. Whether we are making ourselves better or worse. Do you know what the biggest problem with comparing ourselves to “John” is? We are comparing ourselves to the wrong person.
We too often get caught up in what is going on in other people’s lives at the expense of what is happening in our own. Peter wanted to know what was going to happen to John because he did not want to get any less than what John was getting. We are not here to compete with one another. We are not here to best one another and try to see who can do more for the church than the person next to us.
I think that this boils down to the way that we are taught about success. We are taught and told that success is competition. We have to do better than the person next to us if we want to get that promotion. We have to work harder if we want to get ahead. And what ends up happening is that we all have to maintain where we are just so we don’t fall behind. If we try to keep up with those that are around we will lose sight of something much more important, keeping up with Jesus.
There is a chorus that helps me to put aside that tendency to want to look across the aisle to see how I’m doing against so and so. The chorus says, “Turn your eyes upon Jesus, Look full in His wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the life of His glory and grace.”
Commitment:
If you need to give your life to Jesus for the first time or if you need to give your life again do it today. You can pray something like this:
Jesus, I am not perfect. I need you to come into my life and help me to regain the right focus in my life. Help me to obey your word, help me to identify the areas of my life where I struggle, and let me look to you to see how I’m doing. In Jesus name I pray, AMEN.
Originally Delivered in 2004. It has been edited and expanded.
Blessed Assurance – Tommy Walker
Who’s Driving Your Emotions?
When others use our emotions either against us or for their own goals, they are not trustworthy sources of counsel.
God gave us emotions to serve as brakes. Not the gas pedal. But there seems to be a growing epidemic of emotional pedal confusion1 in our world. Then, unironically, people are surprised by the carnage and chaos that results.
Watch out for those who are constantly pressing the gas on your emotions. They are not trying to help you. They are using you. Controlling you. And you should ask yourself why you let them.
What’s worse is those people are doing you a disservice and spiritual harm. When others use our emotions either against us or for their own goals, they are not trustworthy sources of counsel. I will grant that not all people who do this may have malicious or nefarious objectives, but the end will be the same. We have to become more discerning in who we allow that kind of influence in our lives.
This happens in the church. At your workplace. On the news. In your family. And especially on social media. It’s going to happen anywhere two people interact.
But, learning to be a steward of your own heart is the key to becoming free from these tactics. It can be challenging to set up healthy barriers. But doing is so is an essential part of growing emotionally and spiritually.
One of the most important disciplines we can cultivate is reflection. Taking the time to think about what is happening in and around your life. Slowing down long enough to make sure you are going where you planned and doing those things that are healthy and good.
When we reflect on those moments and events that caused us emotional frustration, we begin to discern how we respond to different stimuli. This is how we grow.
It’s one thing to be passionate. But it’s quite another to have your passions enslaved. And even more dangerous when our passions are used for the purposes of another’s agenda. We can be so passionate about something we can’t actually change we lose sight of who we are in the process. This is a recipe for being deceived and misled.
It’s one thing to be committed to a cause. But it’s quite another to give blind allegiance to anything. Particularly anything that does not provide a path toward forgiveness and reconciliation.
Too many people can no longer tell the difference. Why? Because they have invested too much of themselves into what they are promoting. And no one wants to admit they are wrong. That they may have been misled. Or even manipulated.
When our identity is subsumed into another’s or into a cause, no matter how noble its purported aims, we will become cogs in someone else’s machine. This is not how we are to live our lives. We should not surrender our personhood to anyone or anything. Who we are is a gift from God. To give ourselves in a way that only rightly belongs to God to anyone or anything earthly is a form of idolatry.
Good intentions are not good enough. Good intentions are the internal reasons for why we act. And it’s important to have them. I will not deny that. Wanting positive results can be and is commendable.
The challenge is recognizing whether or not those intentions actually produce the intended results. If they don’t, and we continue to do those things that are inflicting obvious harm, then we have become the very thing we were trying to oppose. Our intentions have to be evaluated by the results they produce. Otherwise, we will give ourselves, and others, a pass on their actions when the results are negative.
Judas had good intentions. But he ended up betraying the Son of God. And Peter had good intentions, but when confronted with his association with Jesus he denied Him three times. One could not forgive himself, the other found forgiveness he didn’t deserve.
Our intentions should not be the metric we use to evaluate what we do. What results from our actions should be. And the results must be under constant evaluation.
Steps for Reflection
Because learning how to reflect on our lives and our responses is so important, I’ve asked my friend and contributor to this site to provide us with a simple pattern we can use. There is also an example below. When you find yourself feeling like you are not clear about a reaction you had to an event or situation go through the following steps.
1. What emotion do I feel the strongest right now?
(If you’re having trouble identifying it, use a feelings wheel – you can find one fairly easily on Google)
*Express your emotion to God, be specific about why you feel that way.
2. What might God want to say to me in the midst of that emotion?
(It can be helpful to use the Psalms in this case – Google the emotion you feel and the word “Psalm” and see if you find one that you identify with)
*Pray, listening to what God might say about that emotion to you.
3. What is a healthy way to express that emotion to those around me?
(This might be the step that requires you to talk with a trusted mentor in the faith – despite a culture that wants you to react immediately)
*Act on the emotion in a Christlike way that displays empathy and humility.
Example:
Someone shares an example of injustice in the world that is horrible.
1. What emotion do I feel the strongest right now?
Anger. Specifically frustrated and infuriated.
*God, I am angry about this injustice. Why would such a thing be allowed?! Do something!
2. What might God want to say to me in the midst of that emotion?
I see examples of anger about injustice in several Psalms, so I read those Psalms.
*It seems like God is saying it’s okay to be angry over such things, to trust Him that He will enact justice, and to seek Him on how to participate in His justice.
3. What is a healthy way to express that emotion to those around me?
I think about a humble and empathetic way to respond in my context. I seek the advice of trusted mentors.
*I commit myself to on-going prayer and periodic fasting concerning this injustice. I decide to start a petition to change the laws and I contact lawyers and politicians to begin making changes.
Footnotes:
1 Pedal confusion is the phrase used to describe when a driver presses the wrong pedal while driving. Usually leading to an accident.