The Way Out

Are you a fan of A. A. Milne's books about Christopher Robin and his stuffed animal friends? If so, you will enjoy the new Winnie the Pooh movie. A subplot of the story (I won't give away the main plot) has Winnie the Pooh helping to dig a pit to trap a fearsome (imaginary) animal. As one might expect, Pooh and all his friends fall into it themselves.  However--as one might also expect--by the end of the story, they escape from the pit, their other problems are beautifully solved, and they seem poised to live happily ever after.

Can you and I escape as easily from the deep pits we might be in? Probably not. But Pooh and his companions did something that anyone in a pit should do. They looked up a lot . . . not down. The one thing we can't afford to do is focus on our problems and our feelings. Of course, we need to consider the situation carefully and make a plan for fixing it. However, once we've made that plan, we'd better get on with life, as much as possible. 

Dwelling continually on fixing your problems or healing your heart will not make it happen any faster. In fact, the more you focus on them, the more miserable and hopeless you’ll become. Focus on where you want to go, not the place you want to leave. Focus on the things you were created to focus on—God and others. As you put your trust in God and follow him, you will find your pit getting shallower and shallower.

 ⁵ Trust in the LORD with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
⁶ in all your ways submit to him,
and he will make your paths straight (Prov. 3:5-6).

 ¹⁸ The path of the righteous is like the morning sun,
shining ever brighter till the full light of day (Prov. 4:18).

Losing and finding

Even a cursory reading of Revelations is an eye-opener. The whole tone of it is different from what is commonly heard or even thought of in 21st-century America. The prevalent concept of overcoming, which is very popular in some Christians circles, quotes Rev. 12:11a as a mainstay:

They overcame him
by the blood of the Lamb
and by the word of their testimony (Rev. 12:11a).

The last part of the verse is usually omitted. It is one of those ideas that just doesn’t compute with most of us (in the US). Here is the verse in its entirety:

They overcame him
by the blood of the Lamb
and by the word of their testimony;
they did not love their lives so much
as to shrink from death (Rev. 12:11).

This is downright puzzling to Christians who have been led to believe that the main reason for believing on Christ is so that life will become better for them. It seems like failure—not overcoming—to believers who are convinced if one has faith, calamity cannot happen to them—or at least not for long.

It seems to me that the dividing point between the popular conception of what an overcoming life is, and the Bible’s portrayal of the overcoming life, is this: What is it that Christians are expected to and equipped to overcome?

· Popular Christianity says that Christians are to overcome all sickness, poverty, unhappiness, discomfort, and the like.
· Biblical Christianity is about overcoming sin, heresy, hardships, and persecution.

· Popular Christianity wants to overcome anything that stands in the way of personal happiness and blessing.
· Biblical Christianity strives to overcome anything that stands in the way of the advancement of the Lord’s kingdom purposes.

Big difference!

In partnering with the Holy Spirit to spread the gospel, the apostle Paul had many unpleasant experiences:

Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn? (2 Cor. 11:24-29).

Wow! Inconceivable, perhaps, to you or me, but—how about Paul? Did he find that following Jesus was not so cool? Not what he had expected? Actually, what he thought was:

What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord . . . I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. (Phil. 3:8, 10-11).

Paul thought that following Christ—including the “suffering” and “death”—was so wonderful that he considered everything else worthless.

Perhaps we have—to some degree—lost our way as Christians. We have tuned out Christ’s clear message:

For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it (Mark 8:35).

We want to keep our lives the way we want them to be, instead of spending our lives for Christ’s sake. Don’t say “But I’m just an ordinary person. I want to be a light to a few people, but I don’t aspire to be a hero of the faith. I’m not that courageous or self-sacrificing. I’m just not made of the same kind of stuff as Paul.” The early churches weren’t made of it, either. That's why Revelations was written. Those who heeded its message and appropriated God's grace, rose to the occasion—and in the process, they found LIFE and infected others with a hunger to know it as well.

I Can

The best-known definition of “grace” is undeserved favor. This thought opens the mind's eyes to the oceans of love, mercy, and kindness that have been expressed by God toward mankind. It is the door by which we may enter into a saving relationship with him. But this grace is much more than a willingness to receive us and to pay for our salvation. It is also the divine influence upon the heart to enable one to do the will of God. This is the kind of grace that is spoken of in the greeting or closing of 18 out of 22 epistles to the early churches. "Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ." These people needed the enabling power of grace to walk out their new-found faith in the face of hostility from their ungodly cultures.

An encouraging glimpse of the power of grace is seen in Voyage of the Exiles by Patricia Hickman, the first in a series of novels based on the deportation of English prisoners to Australia to found the first English colony there. Subtly, a story of grace unfolds in the lives of the principle characters. One of the convicts, George Prentice had been arrested as a pickpocket. He had resorted to that lifestyle when the bottom had dropped out of his livelihood. In the extremity of life on a prison ship, and intensely longing to be reunited with his wife and daughter, George tentatively turned to God. When—to his wonderment—his prayers were met with a sense of God’s presence and peace, he continued to speak to God and began to take delight in reading the Bible. Humbly grateful for God’s love and help, George desired to be a better man than he had been—to be strong enough to do what was right even when the odds seemed to be stacked against him. A series of encounters with ruthless elements on board the ship was the crucible in which George grew to be a man of integrity, courage, and forgiveness.

Rachel, a young woman whose life had been marked by misfortune and degradation, was cast into a holding cell in one of the prison ships with Becky, a political prisoner who believed in God. Over time, Rachel became convinced there was something to her companion’s faith and became a believer as well. As the influence of the Word and the Spirit of God grew in her heart, her character and perspectives on life changed. A moment of truth in her new life came during a violent storm. As her cell mates in the bowels of the ship wailed and screamed for God’s help, Rachel’s heart overflowed with thankfulness and joy as she recognized the absence of fear and sense of well-being that God had worked in her.*

By the enablement of the grace of God, George, Rachel, and others on the voyage were becoming heroes of the faith. Perhaps it was the horror of their lives that caused them to avoid the trap of becoming “bless me” babies.** They did not think that their new relationship with God entitled them to nothing but blessings. Instead, they responded humbly to his call upon their hearts to please him and to bless others.

Perhaps experiences such as theirs are what prompted James to make the stunning statement

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything” (James :2-4).

Apparently, it is not being shielded from trouble that brings the greatest joy to the Christian. It is the developing of one’s faith and character to the point of becoming able to meet whatever life brings with love, confidence, and joy.

I want to be like them. I want to “take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me” (Phil. 3:12). And I CAN, regardless of who I used to be—because GRACE enables me.
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*Patricia Hickman, Voyage of the Exiles (Minneapolis: Bethany House Publishers, 1995). To learn more, visit http://www.patriciahickman.com/.

**We could not live--or thrive--physically or spiritually without God's blessings. Confidently expecting our Father to abundantly care for us is one of the foundations of our walk with God. It is perhaps part of what Jesus meant when he said that one must be like a little child in order to enter the kingdom of heaven. However, only a spiritual infant believes that main focus of their relationship with God is "me" or "blessings."

Twigs or oaks?

Isaiah 61:1-4

1 The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,
because the LORD has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners,

2 to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor
and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,

3 and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness
instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
a planting of the LORD
for the display of his splendor.

4 They will rebuild the ancient ruins
and restore the places long devastated;
they will renew the ruined cities
that have been devastated for generations.

About 20 years ago I became acquainted with a group of Christians who were overcomers. Before that, I had known only a few who seemed to live above sin and doubt, to radiant peace and joy, and whose actions and words took one into the presence of the Lord.

There were several things that made my new acquaintances overcomers. They expected to see "the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living" (Psa. 27:13 KJV)—not just someday in the sweet by and by. They believed God’s promises; instead of reading them and saying, “Well, I hope so.” They obeyed the requirements and admonitions of Scripture, not rationalizing most of it away with statements such as “The Lord knows we’re only human.”

I saw unstable people become sound in mind and strong in spirit. I saw chronic sadness and self-doubt lift off of others. I saw an army of individuals who lived so much in the Word and in worship, that life-changing words came out of their mouths regularly, whether speaking with a fellow church member, a relative, or the person ahead of them in the check-out lane. I saw such a confidence in Jesus Christ that they laid hands on sick people and they recovered. They shared the word of God with people in broken relationships and desperate circumstances until miracles of restoration occurred.

Is this not why Christ came? To take broken people and make them “oaks of righteousness.” To make them advancers of his kingdom. To make them OVERCOMERS.

Succumbers or overcomers?

As I have studied Revelations recently, I have been reminded of something that readily escapes middle-class Americans--life can brutal. I have also been reminded that Christians throughout the centuries who have experienced the greatest hardships and persecutions seem to be the least inclined to think it unfair that a child of God should have to go through these things. They discover the glory of the overcoming Christ in their lives. I've got to believe that we can become overcomers, as well. In the next few posts I want to explore that.

To begin with I want to share an excerpt from my father's book Overcoming with Christ: God's Message to the Church from the Book of Revelation.

So God’s message to the Church through the visions of the Apocalypse is:

1. Take a realistic view of life, past, present and future. Recognize that faithful Christian living involves persistence in both good times and bad.
2. Do not fall asleep! Be alert! Be faithful! Only those who overcome whatever conditions they face will be rewarded.
3. Live by faith undergirded with hope. Consider the promises of God—they are all for you. You can and will overcome all the wiles of the enemy.
4. You do not have to face life alone. God has abundant resources at your command. Rely on him, use the armor he provides, and by so doing develop those traits of character—reverence, obedience, faith, honesty, patience, faithfulness—that will help you be an overcomer.
5. The final message is the key to the whole book—Christ overcame! We can overcome with Christ. OVERCOMING WITH CHRIST—that is God’s message to the Church through the book of Revelation!

It would be interesting to know the timing of events at the close of the present age and when Christ will return, but God has not chosen to reveal these details to us. In fact we cannot know the times and seasons God has placed in his own power. The Second Coming of Christ will be sudden and unexpected, like a thief in the night.

The central theme of the book of Revelation is OVERCOMING. It is the golden thread woven throughout history. He wrote to a persecuted Church to assure them that with Christ they too could overcome all the power of the enemy by drawing on the resources God has provided. He dramatically illustrated the final downfall of Satan and his followers, the triumph of Christ and the eternal blessedness of his faithful followers. Even those who give their lives in the struggle against evil will share in the final triumph.

So when you study the book of Revelation, don’t think so much about the antichrist as of the triumphant Christ.

Don’t read about the scarlet woman, but the woman clothed in light.

Don’t be frightened by the Beast and the False Prophet, but look to the Lamb without spot and without blemish.

Don’t worry about the mark of the Beast, but seek for the seal of the Holy Spirit on your life. . . .
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Excerpt from Overcoming with Christ by F. Burleigh Willard Sr. (Xulon Press, 2008), 120-121.
http://www.wlmlbooks.com/id14.html