Tag: Spiritual health

How do we Survive and even Thrive in the face of Tyranny or Persecution?

Lisa M. PriceLeave a comment

 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong- 2nd Corinthians 12:11 NIV 

Daniel chapter three opens with a exhibition of unbridled narcissism.  After hearing how awesome he was (Daniel 2:37-38). King Nebuchadnezzar decided to declare himself a god and have a massive statue created in his image (Romans 1:25). When his project was complete he threw a dedication party and commanded all the leaders in Babylon attend.  (Daniel 3:1-3).  The attendees were instructed to bow down and worship the statue anytime the music played. 

In classic Nebuchadnezzar fashion he informed the crowd that if anyone, for any reason, failed to worship the monument to his own awesomeness he would have them thrown into a blazing hot furnace (Daniel 3:4-6). Posthaste. Three Jews, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego stubbornly refused to get on board. It didn’t take long for one of the court sycophants to take notice and rat them out to the king. 

Nebuchadnezzar was not accustomed to being told “no”. Their refusal enraged him. He had the three men be brought before him and gave them one more chance to submit or face the consequences. 

They chose the consequences. 

But not before, making perhaps, the most beautiful statements of faith found anywhere in all the Bible (Daniel 3:16-18). Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego flatly refused to submit to an idolatrous act, defend themselves, or beg for mercy. Rather, they calmly informed the king they believed their God did indeed have the power to save them. They also conceded God might choose NOT to save them. Either way there was zero chance they were going to be bowing down to his silly statue. Period.  

God did save them.  

Spectacularly.  

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were bound with ropes and thrown into a furnace so blazing hot it killed the men tasked with executing them. When Nebuchadnezzar looked in on the men, not only were they alive and well, there was also a fourth man walking in the furnace with them. It is commonly believed the fourth man in the fire was the pre-incarnate Jesus. The God of the universe was so pleased with their loyalty and obedience He got into the fire with them. They walked out of hell without so much as the smell of smoke on them. 

Dang. 

In the face of the worst kind of pressure these three young Hebrews retained their composure, fidelity to God and faith in God’s goodness. 

It’s a great story.

However, it’s more than a story. It’s also a bit of a sneak peek into future events. (Revelation 13:1-8, Matthew 24:15).  The Bible predicts that as the end of this age approaches, society and the people in it, will become scarier, less open to truth, more immoral and much more lawless (2nd Timothy 4:3, 2nd Timothy 3:1-5, 2nd Thessalonians 2:1-7, Matthew 24:1-25). All that will result in tyranny and intense persecution of anyone who refuses to worship the gods of this world. 

Christians are told to watch for signs of these times (Mark 13:34, 1st Peter 4:7). 

Our world is becoming more lawless and corrupt all the time. Barring a massive revival life will only get tougher for God’s people as the world continues to wind down (Daniel 7:21-22, Daniel 12:1, Matthew 24:9-13).  Christians should always be ready for persecution and trouble.  Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were prepared for spiritually challenging times. Each was able to maintain their loyalty to God in the midst of the worst kind of oppression and cruelty because they did four essential things:

They knew God intimately and were familiar with His word-

The law (Bible) was their true north (Psalm 119). Their understanding of the law gave them knowledge about God that fueled their love for God. Knowing God, His word and how fiercely they were loved by God (Isaiah 49:15-16) kept them spiritually resilient in literally the toughest of situations. 

They were intentional about forming community-

From day one Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego and Daniel resolutely pursued community and the accountability community provides (Daniel 2:17-18). The strength they derived from their little community empowered them to resist the pressure to adapt to the Babylonian way of life. When the going got tough they had each other and that was often enough to keep them from caving to the enormous pressure to take the easy way out of a hard set of circumstances (Daniel 3). 

They decided ahead of time where the lines would be drawn-

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego knew the time to prepare for persecution is not when it starts. We prepare for persecution by building our spiritual strength slowly over time. Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego committed from day to saying “no” to the worldly temptations that would normalize sin that were so prevalent in Babylon (Daniel 1:6-21, Colossians 2:8, 1st Peter 4:12. 1st John 13:13, Titus 2:11-12). Because they went into their situation expecting persecution they were not spiritually disillusioned or confused about where God was in their situation.

And finally. 

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, believed with all their hearts that losing their lives (dying) would gain them something infinitely better. None of them were hung up on hanging onto the things of this world (Matthew 10:39). Their theology of heaven empowered them to walk through hell here on earth. 

We are no different from Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.

 We have everything we need to survive and thrive even the worst the world throws at us when we choose intimacy with the Father, Christian community, obedience and belief in a better future with Jesus.

How do we “Fear the Lord”?

Lisa M. Price3 Comments

His pleasure is not in the strength of the horse, nor his delight in the legs of the warrior; the Lord delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love- Psalm 147:10-11 NIV

There was a time in the not so distant past when all Christians and even most non-Christians agreed God was so unique, superior and different from humans that He should be honored, respected and regarded with a healthy dose of trepidation.  As a result, most Christians did their level best to do what the Bible said. Some were so intent on obeying God’s commands they wandered into legalism and created a whole bunch of crazy-town rules around God’s commands to ensure no one broke a single one of God’s directives. 

  That is called legalism.  

Legalism is terrible. Legalism inevitably leads to a cranky judgmental attitude, mean-spiritedness and pride.  Legalism has never in the history of forever made anyone more like Jesus.

Period. 

Okay, so, the only good thing that can be said about legalism is at its core legalism understands we can and do offend God with our spiritual flippancy and lack of attention to the things of God (Hebrews 2:1-3).

All that being said.

Legalism is not the biggest problem in the church today. These days, most people (even many serious Christians) tend to see God as just a slightly better, smarter and more evolved version of themselves. They believe God just really digs them no matter what they do or don’t do. This mindset causes people to view God as a non-judgy buddy or a benevolent gift-giver rather than as a holy, perfect, sinless being, who is entirely unlike us. A being who literally dwells in unapproachable light (1st Timothy 6:15-16, 1st Samuel 2:2, Psalm 99:9, Daniel 2:21-22, Revelation 4:8)

Fear of the Lord has become kind of old school and obsolete.  

This is a problem because when Christians lose their fear of the Lord they become dismissive about holiness and complacent in their faith. Spiritual complacency eventually metastasizes into a cancer that negatively impacts every aspect of our lives. It impacts how we handle sin and how we treat people. It affects how we witness and the way we approach God (Proverbs 1:7, Deuteronomy 10:12, Ecclesiastes 5:1-7, Revelation 14:7, Revelation 19:5). 

Our view of God colors our view of everything.  

When someone sees God as a friendly Santa Claus in the sky, sin just doesn’t seem like that big a deal (Genesis 6:5-6, 1st John 3:8). A soft stance on sin starts us down a moral spiral.  All of a sudden taking advantage of others and treating people made in the image of God with contempt doesn’t seem like a problem (Leviticus 19:13-15, Leviticus 25:17). When our view of God is gets off-center men can start to believe it’s okay to mistreat their wives, pornography feels like a perfectly reasonable way to meet legitimate sexual needs and adultery becomes accepted. When the problems with sin are minimized exploitation becomes the new normal and gender becomes a choice we get to make rather than the will of God for our lives (1st Timothy 3:1-5, 1st Thessalonians 4:3-8, Malachi 2:14-16, Genesis 1:27). When Christians lose their fear of God telling others about Jesus feels pointless because God’s warnings concerning hell are tough to take seriously (Matthew 5:22-28, Luke 12:25, 2nd Peter 4:4-22). When our view of God is skewed greed feels like sound financial planning and church attendance becomes about having our needs met rather than giving glory to the one who made us. None of this is good or life-giving. 

So.

It’s mission-critical Christians get the whole fearing the Lord thing one-hundred-percent right. Truth-be-told, for Christians the fear of the Lord is not a cowering, panicky, menacing terror that prevents us from approaching God and having a loving relationship with Him. 

This was once true. 

Prior to the death and resurrection of Jesus the thought of approaching God was fearsome and scary and rightly so.  Things tended to fall apart anytime sinful humans approached God in a flippant or haphazard kind of a way (Exodus 19, 1st Samuel 6:19, 1st Kings 19:13, Hebrews 12:18-21). People literally died. It was terrifying. 

However. 

All that has changed.  Thanks to Jesus’ sacrificial death on the cross, when God sees a Christian He sees the holiness and perfection of Jesus rather than the individual’s intrinsic sinfulness. Practically speaking, this means followers of Jesus can approach God with boldness and expect to experience love, grace, forgiveness, comfort and even relationship in His presence (Psalm 25:14, Hebrews 4:16, 1st John 3:2)

Fear of the Lord is less about being fearful of God and more about an accurate perspective on the greatness, holiness and majesty of God. When we fear God we understand what our relationship is to God (Psalm 96:4, 1stChronicles 29:11, Ezekiel 36:23, Isaiah 55:9). When we get all that right fear of displeasing God causes us to go out of our way to obey God. Fearing God means believing two things with all our heart: 

  1. God is who He says He is.  
  2. God will do what He says he will do. 

People who fear God believe God sees everything. They read what God says about Himself in the Bible and believe those things are true and to be taken very literally. They know deep in their hearts that nothing in this world—including the inner workings of the human heart are hidden from God’s sight (Hebrews 4:13). They understand that God is merciful and they know He richly blesses every act of obedience and faith. They also understand God punishes deliberate disobedience. Fearing the Lord is understanding God is compassionate, merciful and good but in the words of C.S. Lewis—He is not safe.

How do we Become Healthier more Self-Aware Christians?

Lisa M. PriceLeave a comment


Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test? 2nd Corinthians 13:5 NIV

Christianity is not a faith based on a bunch of rules we follow in order to get God to like us (Matthew 22:37-40). 

Consequently,

There are grey areas in Christianity.

Although, the term “grey area” is not found anywhere in the Bible. Instead, the apostle Paul tells us that all things are permissible (meaning things not forbidden in Scripture). Nonetheless, many of those “permissible” things are not beneficial to our souls or supportive to our growth (1st Corinthians 10:23-33, 1stCorinthians 6:12). 

This basically means there are things Christians can do that we should be really careful about doing (if we do them at all). A classic example would be alcohol use. It is not sinful to use alcohol. However, there are numerous warnings concerning alcohol that should cause all Christians who use alcohol to put some serious guardrails around its use (Proverbs 23:21, Proverbs 20:1, Romans 13:13, Ephesians 5:18) 

Conversely.

There are a lot of things Christians don’t have to do—things not commanded in Scripture that we ought to at least consider making a regular practice of doing, simply because those things help us grow.  

Handling the grey areas of the faith well is all about practicing wisdom. It’s about having the foresight to seek the Lord for direction and going above and beyond to do life His way (Proverbs 3:5-6). We don’t do these things in a legalistic attempt to earn God’s love. We cannot earn something that’s already been freely given (John 3:16). Instead, we choose to live honorably as a way of saying “thank you” for what we have graciously been given (Ephesians 4:1).

One thing Christians are not commanded to do, that we should probably consider doing is what I call a “personal self-check”. The apostle Paul calls self-checks: self-examination (2nd Corinthians 13:5). 

Self-checks are one of the “what’s” of the faith. 

God wants us to do self-checks because frequent self-checks lead to self-awareness. Self-awareness protects us from falling into patterns of behavior that eventually lead to sin. Without frequent self-checks we run the risk of having “a Nebuchadnezzar moment” where we are warned about our sin but refuse to see our sin or refuse to own our sin despite God’s warning and ample time to repent. Anytime we willfully choose the Nebuchadnezzar route, we receive all the possible consequences of our sin rather than God’s mercy (Romans 1:24-32). The full penalty is always a world of hurt for us and the people closest to us (Daniel 4:4-24).

Sigh. 

A self-check is just a series of questions we ask are ourselves on a regular basis. My personal self-check questions are all designed to keep me on the straight and narrow by forcing me to think about my life holistically rather than in just pieces and parts.  

They are as follows:

Am I in the faith?

Being in the faith is about more than praying a sinner’s prayer “once a upon a time”. It’s also about more than church attendance. One can attend church and even lead a church and still be very much outside the faith (Matthew 7:22-24). When we are “in the faith” we seek God on a daily basis, we actively seek to disentangle ourselves from sinful attitudes and behaviors. Being in the faith means going out of our way to shore up the weak areas in our spiritual lives. Lastly, those in the faith make church and friendships with other believers a priority (Hebrews 10:25, James 5:16, 1st John 1:7, 2nd John 1:5). 

What do my relationships look like?  

The state of our closest relationships is oftentimes an indicator of our spiritual health. If our life is strewn with relationships that have been damaged or broken due to our willful sin, selfishness, rudeness or lying. We have a problem that needs immediate attention or our Nebuchadnezzar moment may be right around the corner (Proverbs 11:3, Hebrews 12:14, 1st Peter 2:17, Ephesians 5:21-22, Ephesians 5:25-28, Ephesians 6:4).

Am I walking in integrity? 

The best and most basic definition of integrity is being the same person all the time. People with integrity are not chameleons who adapt to fit into whatever situation they happen find themselves in (Proverbs 10:9). Integrity is closely linked to fear of the Lord (Proverbs 1:7). If we truly believe God is who He says He is and will do what He says He will do. Then we will do our level best to stay within the lines He has drawn for us. If we don’t we won’t.  

Is there any area of my life I’m hiding from God or other people?  

If there is a part of our life we feel we need to keep on the down-low we most definitely have a problem that requires our immediate attention. Openness and honesty are the hallmarks of a holy, God-fearing people (Romans 13:12). 

What does my thought life look like? 

Our thoughts determine our actions and our actions determine the course of our life (Matthew 15:18-20, Mark 7:20-22, Ephesians 2:3, Hebrews 3:1). Therefore, every Christian ought to pay attention to what types of thoughts routinely flit through their head. If we frequently think mean, lustful, judgy, angry or greedy thoughts we need to spend some time asking the Lord what’s at the root of these attitudes. Then we need ask God to reorder our thoughts and give us the mind of Christ (1st Corinthians 2:16, Romans 15:5-6).

The “what” of daily spiritual self-checks are absolutely critical to our spiritual health in our broken sin-sick world. Self-checks keep our hearts soft towards God, our relationships with other people healthy and our lives free from the spiritual and moral drift that does us in (Hebrews 2:1)

What Does it Really Mean to Surrender Something or Someone to God?

Lisa M. PriceLeave a comment

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight- Proverbs 3:5-6 NIV

Surrender.

One definition for surrender would be:

 The act of giving something up completely or letting go of control of an outcome. 

Some synonyms for surrender include: submission, relinquish, capitulation, yield and forfeit. 

For the record: surrender is not on the list of my favorite words. 

Seriously.

Surrender sucks.

Surrendering ourselves, our desires, our behaviors, our dreams, our loved ones or the outcome of situations to God is one of the hardest things God asks us to do as Christians (James 4:1-7, Luke 11:28). 

There is typically some confusion around the differences between making a commitment and surrendering.  Both are agreements we make with God but they are entirely different in their nature. When we make a commitment to something we naturally assume we will have some control over the process. We also assume we will able to take personal pride in a positive outcome.  In surrender we relinquish complete control of the process to God and He gets all the glory for a good outcome (Psalm 32:8-10). Commitments always have an exit strategy if the process becomes too painful or the personal difficulties become too much to bear. 

Surrendering our sin or someone we love to God means we concede we have reached the end of our ability to fix, manage or deal with the problem on our own. In surrender we get real and acknowledge we cannot change anything or anyone in our own power— no matter how desperately we might want to. We recognize the hard (and painful) truth we simply cannot make anyone do anything. We need God to do whatever needs to be done in us or our loved one or it’s just not happening.

Sigh. 

Because we are all gifted with freewill—and sinful to the core (Joshua 24:15, 1st Peter 4:3, Ephesians 2:1, 1st John 1:9-10, Psalm 32:5, Psalm 51:5) surrender is always painful and hard— regardless of how long we have known and walked with the Lord. Additionally, because, we are by nature a bunch of control freaks, surrender is rarely a one and done. Typically, we have to take the habit, person, situation or sin to God over and over again until the battle is won.

Surrender looks different in different situations.

For some it might mean letting God work in the life of a loved one without running in and lecturing, making excuses for their behavior or enabling their sinful lifestyle. For others surrender means choosing to do something God’s way even when God’s way literally makes no sense (Judges 7, Joshua 6, Matthew 6:25-34, Acts 9:1-17).  For others it means finally being willing to let go of a life controlling habit or sinful coping mechanism even when we don’t know how we will survive without the comfort it provides.  

Surrender is always about trust and trust is universally hard for humans. This makes the choice to surrender our wants, needs, habits and loved ones to God painful and tough. Really tough (Hebrews 12:4, 1st Corinthians 10:13). All that being said, surrender comes with benefits and blessings we literally cannot get any other way.  Some of those benefits include:

Surrender forms deep connection with God- 

It is totally possible for a person to attend church, read the Bible regularly and live the life of a Christian without ever really connecting with God on an intimate level. People do it all the time. Surrender forces us to acknowledge there are simply some things we cannot do without God’s help. This naturally makes us more dependent on God, but it does more than just that. When we surrender we come face-to-face with how weak and frail we really are (2nd Corinthians 12:9). This knowledge drives us to pray about everything and prayer is the ONLY way to build authentic connection and real intimacy with God (Genesis 5:24, James 2:23). The joy, peace and wellbeing we derive from intimacy with God is alone worth the pain of surrender. 

When we surrender we are given a super natural source of wisdom- 

Surrender means we give up and hand control over to God. This act forces us to seek God for wisdom and understanding into our problems instead of leaning on our own limited understanding to problem solve (Proverbs 3:5-6). When we ask God for wisdom rather than simply asking Him to bless whatever plans and ideas we worked out on our own He blesses us with the inside scoop on how to deal with people appropriately and problem solve seemingly unsolvable problems (Matthew 7:7-8, James 1:5). The wisdom we gain in surrender gives us power to live every part of our lives victoriously.

We (eventually) get the joy that comes with victory over our flesh-

Giving up control is profoundly unpleasant.  Nobody likes giving up or giving in and essentially admitting failure. Nonetheless, it is the only way to overcome certain sins, bad habits and life-controlling behaviors. There are simply some things we can never do on our own. That said, the joy we experience when it finally dawns on us that we no longer feel any desire or compulsion to indulge in the garbage that was ruining our lives is totally worth the cost to our pride. 

And finally:

In surrender we gain real freedom. Surrender frees us from the need to do whatever needs to be done ourselves and it frees us from our fleshly desires, our control freak tendencies and our pride. When we are free of those things we are free indeed. 

Why Don’t we Hear From God?

Lisa M. Price3 Comments

The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law- Deuteronomy 29:29 NIV 

Okay. I’m going to get really real for just a minute and say the quiet part out loud.

Sometimes God feels distant. Really distant.

Like radio silence distant.

This sensation can get emotionally and spiritually messy really quickly because we derive comfort, peace and security from knowing God sees our needs and hears our cries (Psalm 61:1-3, Psalm 28:2). Whether it’s through answered prayer, a Bible passage that speaks to our situation or a still small voice that guides us through the complexities of life, anyone who really loves God wants to hear from God (Psalm 63:1, John 10:27).

This is even more true when the going gets tough and life gets challenging, uncertain or just plain hard and sucky.  Radio silence in these moments is beyond discouraging. It can challenge our belief God is good. (Psalm 13:1-6, Psalm 42:9, Psalm 43:2, Psalm 22:1).  It just gets worse when we feel like we are doing our level best to keep the lines of communication open and still—nothing, zero, nada. That still small voice that guides and directs our steps is painfully quiet. 

Sigh. 

Nothing is gained and much is lost anytime we give into the very human temptation to give up our faith, get angry or place all of the blame on God in these moments, nor should we turn to sin or worldly ways of coping to fill our empty places, dull our pain or relieve our frustration in these seasons.  The best thing we can do when we feel God is far away is to keep our hearts open and use our situation as the jumping off place for some self-examination and perhaps a change of approach. There are a whole bunch of really good reasons why we don’t feel the presence of God or hear His still small voice, some of those are: 

We don’t want to- 

Sometimes we think we want to hear from God but we don’t. Not really—mostly because deep down in our heart-of-hearts we have a niggling little hunch God might just have something to say to us we have zero interest in hearing.  Most of us have been guilty at some point of desperately wanting to hear from God in one area of our lives while we entertain some ugly sin in another area of our lives. Truth-be-told God usually addresses the sin that’s holding back our spiritual growth before He blesses us with a clear direction or a deep sense of spiritual peace (Hebrews 12:1-2). It’s critical we remember no sin is worth stunting our spiritual growth over or shutting down communication with the God of the universe (Matthew 5:30, 1st Corinthians 15:34). It’s just not.   

We do and we don’t like what he says- 

Alas, we are all human, and sadly, one aspect of being human is an inclination towards moments of stupidity, willful blindness and obstinacy. Sometimes we do hear from God and we don’t like what He has to say so we ignore Him (Hebrews 12:25). Typically, what happens in these situations is God wants us to forgive someone we don’t want to forgive (Matthew 6:15, Ephesians 4:31, Hebrews 12:15), or He wants us to repair a relationship that would be personally embarrassing for us to deal with. Other times God wants us to look at our own actions in a situation where we have chosen to lay the blame on the actions or attitude of the other guy. Whatever the case may be, it is always in our best interests to ask God if there is something we’re just not seeing when He feels far off.

We’re just too dang busy-

Okay, so this is a big one, because we have made busyness into badge of honor, an indication of righteousness and a weird little idol in our Christian culture. Busyness in none of those things. The Bible is clear, we are least likely to connect with God when we are spinning around in a flurry of over activity. Conversely, we are most likely to connect with Him when we slow down and seek Him in a spirit of quiet trust (Isaiah 30:15, Psalm 37:7, Psalm 46:10, Hebrews 4:1). Sometimes all we have to do to reconnect with God is take a day off from our striving and make Him our priority (Jeremiah 29:12-14).

We want to be in charge of how he communicates-

Most of the time God speaks through His word (the Bible) or in a still small voice that leaves an impression on our spirit that we should do or not do something (2nd Peter 1:3., 1st Kings 19:12). God rarely communicates verbally and when He speaks through other people it’s usually just them talking in a wise way that hits home with our situation (Matthew 10:20). It’s fairly rare for a person to get a bold prophetic proclamation that clears up all their confusion concerning a matter. As a general rule we should always look to the “normal ways” God communicates rather than expecting Him to be dramatic in His communication.

All that being said: 

 God is always with us even when we don’t feel His presence, hear His voice or understand what exactly is going on (Joshua 1:5, Psalm 91:3-4, Hebrews 13:5).  He never leaves us or forsakes us. God is always moving us towards the end goal of being more like Jesus and sometimes the road to that end is a bumpy one where we feel alone even when we’re not (1st Corinthians 15:49, 2nd Corinthians 3:18, Colossians 3:10). In those times must remind ourselves that God’s love never fails and He never walks away. 

Even when He’s quiet. 

The Seven Churches Series- Laodicea the Church that Gives us Hope (Seriously)

Lisa M. PriceLeave a comment

Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord- Acts 3:19 NIV

If one had to live in the ancient world Laodicea was the place to be. 

Those lucky enough to live in Laodicea were affluent, healthy and proud for all sorts of really good reasons. 

Laodicea had it all.

It was a major financial center and home to a medical school that trained some of finest medical professionals in the ancient world. The region was famous for its exports, which included an expensive fabric made from a rare and much sought-after black wool and an eye powder renowned for its healing properties. The city was so affluent that when it was leveled by a major earthquake in A.D. 60 the city leaders refused to take any financial assistance at all from Rome. They didn’t need to.

The Laodiceans were a pull themselves up from their own bootstraps’ kind of a people.

The church in Laodicea had taken on the characteristics of the city of Laodicea. The people in the church were wealthy, sophisticated and self-sufficient. They were also far from God and uninterested in an authentic relationship with Him. The first century church in Laodicea did their level best to avoid hard teaching and controversy and as a result they suffered zero oppression or persecution.  They managed this feat despite living in a city that had all the factors that typically created a lot of problems for Christians (a large and powerful Jewish population, active trade unions and an abundance of pagan temples).

 Jesus begins by comparing the churches spirituality to the water supply in Laodicea.

This was by no means a complimentary comparison. 

For all its resources and natural beauty, the one thing Laodicea lacked was a tasty water supply. There was more than enough water available. However, it all came from a hot-spring located several miles up a hill outside the city. The water had to be piped in and as a result, it had an incredibly unpleasant taste and smell (think sulfur or rotten eggs) as well a warmish temperature, no matter the time of year. Jesus starts out by letting the Christians in Laodicea know that their deeds and lack of zeal is so gross to Him that He wants to spit the whole lot of them out of His mouth. 

Yikes. 

Jesus was fully aware of what was going on in their hearts and none of it was good or life-giving. The Christians in Laodicea were conceited and ungrateful for their many gifts. On top of that they lacked any kind of self-awareness at all. The Christians in Laodicea were snooty and smug regarding their earthly riches, physical well-being and abundance of resources. Jesus was categorically unimpressed with their worldly success.

 The text is clear.

 Jesus loved the Christians in Laodicea but was disgusted with their complete absence of good deeds and lack of humility. The church felt good about themselves, their resources and what they had accomplished in life but in all the ways that really mattered, they were shameful, visionless and adrift.   Jesus urges the Christians in Laodicea to repent in the some of the strongest and scariest language in all of the Bible (Revelation 3:18-19) 

Here’s the thing though:  

Laodicea is a spiritual success story.

Apparently, the church took Jesus’ words to heart. The best evidence strongly suggests the Christians in Laodicea heeded the words of Jesus, got their spiritual act together, repented their faces off and went on to make a spiritual difference in their world. 

 In April of 2021 My husband and I visited Laodicea. Our tour guide pointed out there is ample evidence indicating the church went completely underground by early in the second century (hidden churches, secret symbols, etc.).  The church would have had little reason to hide unless they had started to take their faith seriously and, in the process, became offensive to the pagan culture.  Moreover, one of the earliest church councils took place in Laodicea. It is highly unlikely Laodicea would have been chosen as a location for an early church council if the church in Laodicea still had a reputation for being spiritually weak, lukewarm and proud of their sin. 

The Christians in Laodicea took Jesus up on His offer to enter into intimate fellowship with Him (Revelation 3:20).

This makes the final letter to the Seven Churches the most hopeful and encouraging of all the letters to all the churches. The outcome of the most messed up of all the churches tells us that no one is ever too lost to be found and even the most worldly of Christians can hear the voice of the Holy Spirit, respond to God’s prompting and become something beautiful and life-giving.  It’s critical we understand not all churches fared as well as Laodicea. Some ended in a sad fizzle.   

This letter teaches us that our deeds and attitudes matter every bit as much as our beliefs (James 2:14-20, Ephesians 2:1-3).

  Jesus cares about what we believe. Doctrine matters (1st Timothy 4:16, Titus 2:1) Every Christian should strive to understand the Bible and every church should teach it with clarity.  That being said, ultimately, Christians prove their faith by what they do and how they live. If we say we believe in God and live like unsaved people do we probably don’t believe at all.  The key to a thriving faith is to listen to the Holy Spirit and then DO what God tells us to do. 

It’s what keeps us spiritually alive and relevant to the world we live in.

The Four Spiritual Causes of Depression-

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Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Psalm 42:11a NIV

Depression is real and it really sucks.  

Seriously.

Anyone who has battled depression or knows someone who has battled depression knows this is one-hundred-percent true.

It is estimated two-hundred-sixty-three-million people worldwide suffer from depression. Many psalms record David’s struggle with what we would call clinical depression today (Psalm 42, Psalm 113:1-6, Psalm 22:1-2, Psalm 6).  Until very recently scientists believed depression was caused entirely by a chemical imbalance in the brain brought on by a shortage of the neurotransmitter, serotonin.  Recent studies have disproved that long-held theory and left doctors scrambling to figure out the cause or causes of depression.   

It is now thought depression is brought on by a host of factors. Including but not limited to a genetic predisposition, chronic stress, prior trauma, and a tendency to brood over past mistakes (perfectionism).

I do not doubt all those factors contribute to depression. 

Genetics are real. Stress is real. Trauma is real.  Focusing deeply on an issue that cannot be controlled or solved will make anyone feel depressed. All that being said, I also know there is a strong spiritual component to depression. That does not mean a person is an especially bad sinner if they get depressed. Nor does it mean I think every case of depression has a purely spiritual cause. That being said, sometimes people behave or think in ways that create spiritual problems in their lives. Those spiritual problems create fertile soil for depression to take root. Some of the spiritual causes of depression are:

Moral Passivity-

Passivity is the sin of letting sin go unchecked. Anytime a Christian chooses to ignore a moral wrong or sidesteps dealing with sin in their life or the life of someone they love rather than dealing with the sin appropriately (Acts 3:19, Ephesians 4:15, Matthew 18:15-16), one of two things inevitably happens. The believer either becomes hardened to sin (and more likely to become entrenched in sin) or they become depressed. Willfully ignoring a wrong makes the passive observer of the sin complicit in the sin (Psalm 1:1, Psalm 32:5) and sin separates us from God (Micah 3:4, Isaiah 59:2). Human beings were made to be in relationship with God. When we live outside the design we were created for depression is the natural result. The key to digging out of depression caused by moral passivity is to reverse course and begin proactively repenting of our own sin and confronting any sin we have been willfully overlooking in those we love (Galatians 6:1, 1st Timothy 5:20, James 5:19-20, Luke 17:3).

Deferred Hope–  

Wanting something that never materializes is demoralizing (Proverbs 13:12). For Christians who obey the Bible it’s even more demoralizing. This is because serious Christians pray and commit their plans to the Lord and then they expect God to establish those plans, because that’s what the Bible says He will do (Proverbs 16:3). When we don’t get something pray for the disappointment can lead to spiritual doubt. Spiritual doubt is a fast track to depression and anxiety. Here’s the thing we have to remember: God is not liar. This means that if a hope we have has been deferred (delayed) there’s a reason for it. It might be we are hoping for something God knows is not best for us. It might mean God is still working on it. It might mean there’s some growth and maturity that needs to take place in us so we steward the blessing well when we do get it.  In order to deal with this type of depression we must pray, trust and do our part. We should pray God will work in us so that our desires will be in alignment with His will for our lives (Proverbs 3:6). Then we have to trust God to accomplish His will in His timing. We also need to do our part. Our part, is actively seeking to grow, learn, and break any bad habits we have in preparation for “the next thing” God has for us.

Loss of Connection with the Head (Jesus) or the Rest of the Body (the Church)-

Humans were designed to live life in relationship. It’s part of what it means to “be made in the image of God” (Genesis 1:26). God is relational and we were made to be like Him. Anytime we lose healthy connection with other Christians or with Jesus (Colossians 2:18-19) depression is a likely outcome. Getting back into healthy relationship with God and/or other Christians will goes long way in healing the depression caused by a broken relationship with Jesus or His body.

An Absence of Self-reflection-

Humans are capable of a of an absurd level of self-deception (Jeremiah 17:9). It is possible to be knee-deep in sinful attitudes and not even be the teeniest bit aware of it. In fact, we are so prone to self-deception we can even convince ourselves our sinful attitudes are somehow good and healthy. Sigh. Anytime we feel plagued by depression that has no apparent cause we need to examine our lives and ask God to show us if there is anything we don’t want to see in ourselves.

And finally, because Christians are a new creation in Christ (2nd Corinthians 5:17) holding on to the stuff of our old life is a fast-track to a life of sadness, frustration and defeat. Letting go of the old stuff Jesus saved us from is the first step and most important step in living a life of emotional and spiritual flourishing.  

How we Survive a Season of Personal Injustice or Unfairness-

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 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account– Hebrews 4:13 NIV 

Fairness, justice, equity are more than just woke talking points. 

They are a big stinking deal.

They are a big deal in a global sense. Every human being, no matter who they are or where they live wants the world to be fair and just. Civilized people want evil to be punished and good rewarded. No decent person wants anyone to be denied a fair shot at life. All people want the same rules to apply to everyone regardless of gender, race or social status (Proverbs 21:15). It’s simply how humans are wired (Genesis 1:27). 

Fairness, justice and equity are also a big deal in a personal sense.

We all want to know when someone harms us or treats us unfairly some authority somewhere will see to it the wrong is righted and the wrongdoer is punished. We all want to be treated equally and fairly. We want to be judged by the content of our character rather than by our age, the color of our skin, our gender, marital status or job title.

For Christians the longing for fairness, justice and equity goes beyond the global or even the personal. These issues can be so deeply spiritual they impact our view of God as just and fair. We all know we serve a God who is both the architect and the ultimate champion of equity, justice and fairness (Psalm 11:7, Psalm 50:6, Psalm 103:6, Psalm 67:4). As God’s people it is important to know God sees us in a personal way. We want to know He is aware of the wrongs committed against us. Whether we are honest enough to admit we all want God to care enough about us personally to punish those who have sinned against us or caused us harm in some way (Deuteronomy 32:43).  

It’s called being human.

Christians rarely talk much about it, but most go through a season where they struggle to see and experience the goodness of God in a personal way. Due to painful circumstances these folks can’t help but wonder if God really does see them and if He really does care about what they are experiencing. 

Doubt isn’t always simply due to lack of faith. 

Sometimes our doubt is due to what feels like a tardy response from God (2nd Peter 3:8). Times of doubt tend to occur when we really feel the NEED to know God is attentive to our situation and cares about the details of our pain, loss or the oppression we are dealing with. I call these times “seasons of silence”. A season of silence is a time when God feels far away. Because God feels far away our pain or loss feels utterly unbearable.  In order to survive a season of silence a Christian has to have a theology of pain. We have to understand what the Bible says about God so we are not left to rely on our feelings without the guidance of His word (Proverbs 3:5-6, Psalm 119:105).  

Anytime God feels distant and uninterested in our problems it’s critical we remember first and foremost, we are not the only people who have felt the way we feel. Some of God’s best and brightest, including David, Elijah, Daniel, Moses, Mary Magdalene and even Jesus went through an experience or season where they felt God was far away, uninterested in their situation, hadn’t heard their prayers or was simply inattentive at the point of their deepest need (Psalm 22:1, Matthew 27:46, Daniel 10:1-18, Exodus 5:1-19, John 20:11).  We are fortunate to see those stories in the rear-view so we know God has never actually abandoned anyone in their greatest need.  

We also need to remember we live in a world broken by sin (Romans 5:12, Romans 3:23, Ephesians 2:1). On a practical level this means evil, unjust and unfair things happen all the time.  People lie, take advantage of others, oppress people and cover-up their own sin at the expense of others (2nd Timothy 3:1-4). Sometimes it appears God has chosen to overlook the sin of those who willfully do wrong. 

Here’s the thing though:

Justice delayed does not mean justice will be denied indefinitely. God promises there will come a day when every wrong will be righted and every sin punished (Hebrews 12:23, Exodus 32:34, Leviticus 26:27-29, Isaiah 13:11, 1st Thessalonians 4:6). God is so not okay with sin, evil and disobedience He punished the Israelites for their idolatry and sexual sin by sending them into servitude and exile for seventy years in Babylon. God later punished Babylon for the sins committed against Israel while they were in exile (Jeremiah 25:12). Babylon was a very short-lived super-power entirely because God cannot bear to see injustice go unpunished. It is wisdom to remember there is nothing in all of creation that goes unnoticed or undealt with by God (Hebrews 4:13). 

 God sometimes defers justice to wrongdoers simply because He is merciful and good (Genesis 15:16, Exodus 34:6, Nahum 1:3, 2nd Peter 3:9 and he doesn’t want anyone to perish in their sin). Therefore God graciously gives even the worst of the worst time to get their heart right and repent before the consequences train comes rolling into town (Matthew 10:26, Hebrews 4:13).

Our responsibility during a season of silence is to remember the goodness of God, to be merciful like God is merciful and to pray for those who have sinned against us as we wait on God to do what he promises to do (Matthew 5:44). God has a way of rewarding that kind of faith and the reward is always worth the pain. 

How Should Christians Live in this Cultural Moment?

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 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms– Ephesians 6:12 NIV

Unprecedented. 

It’s a big word that gets bandied about quite a lot these days. 

Sadly, it is also a word that works for the times we live in. 

Over the course of the last two years or so the world has collectively faced all sorts of unprecedented events including wars, rumors of wars, weird diseases, inflation, social upheaval, tyrannical shutdowns, food shortages and political chaos.

Meanwhile in America.   

Our own unique brand of unprecedented lunacy has included (but is not limited to) militant transgender activists. Increasing tension between races. A president in rapid decline. Increased political division. Appallingly graphic sex-education.  Disintegrating families. A weaponized IRS. Vicious Crime.  A weaponized DOJ. Aggressive abortion enthusiasts and conservative parents labeled “domestic terrorists” for showing concern about the state of public education. The social fabric that holds our culture together and our system of government is disintegrating before our very eyes. 

Okay so, what is a Christian to do? 

Well. 

I can tell you what Christians should not do. We should not stick our heads in the sand and tell ourselves what goes on in the world is irrelevant. We cannot pretend the church is a safe space the lunacy will never touch. We can’t sit back and convince ourselves politics will never affect how Christians do church or raise our kids. 

Satan clearly has the advantage right now. Anti-God, anti-anything wholesome, anti-Christian sentiment is growing at an off-the-charts pace right now (2nd Timothy 3:1-3). Government, entertainment, public education and the news media are all strongholds of the enemy.  It’s time to wake up and be realistic about the situation at hand. 

Here’s what we can do:

We can accept the reality we are in an unprecedented spiritual war.  The disturbing things we see every day (war, violence, social turmoil, hate, anti-God sentiment) give us a glimpse into an even bigger, nastier war taking place in the spiritual realm (Ephesians 6:12). We must protect ourselves and our children from becoming casualties of this war (1st Peter 5:18). 

Here’s the thing about Satan:

Satan cares a whole lot less about getting the whole world to openly worship him than he does about corrupting people in subtle ways that do not appear on the surface to be obviously evil. His strategy is to distract people, including Christian people, from God. He wants to muddle our thinking with junk philosophies so biblical truth feels wrongheaded, potentially harmful, and hopelessly outdated (Isaiah 5:20).  He uses garbage entertainment (secular books, movies, television, games), the news media and the public-schools to take minds captive to worldly philosophies that inevitably lead to godless thinking and evil behavior. (Colossians 2:8).

 It’s a seriously brilliant strategy. 

Once a person’s thinking is aligned with the world their hearts are inescapably far from God. In order to be even marginally successful in this epic battle we must be willing to cut educational systems and entertainment out of our lives and our kids’ lives that does not promote discernment and aid in wise thinking. 

Period. 

No one will be safe in this battle if they are not making prayer a priority, hiding God’s word in their heart and living the way God calls Christians to live (Romans 12, Titus 3:14, 1st Peter 1:14, 1st Peter 2:16, 1st John 1:6, Colossians 3:1-21, Ephesians 4:17-28). 

Living the way God calls us to live means actively choosing to do good things with the time we have been given. Christians are literally saved from their sin for the sole purpose of doing good things with their lives and helping people find God (Ephesians 2:10). Doing good works is a form of spiritual warfare. Good works remind us who we belong to and they give us credibility with unsaved people (Titus 3:8). Credibility leads to opportunities to share the gospel (Matthew 5:16) That being said, all the good works in the world are a pointless waste of time if we don’t let go of behaviors, attitudes and pursuits that do not lead to more holiness and righteousness in our lives. In other words, we have align our lives with God.

No more playing around on the moral edges.

 We are the light of the world and the salt of the earth. We have to live like it. Christians everywhere must become a present and active force for good in their local communities (Matthew 5:13-16). We must do the work necessary to learn to think biblically about political and social issues and then work to get decent people elected to all levels of political office, from school boards to the presidency. In a fallen world there is no such thing as a truly righteous politician, but it is our job to find the best people we can and support them with our time, money and votes.  

Finally. 

We cannot give in to despair. No matter how bad it gets. We cannot give up or give in. We cannot stop believing and praying and worshiping and fighting for the good in this world. Faith is the key to survival in these unprecedented times.

A How-to on Surviving, Thriving and Persevering through the the Worst Stuff of Life-

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The testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing- James 1:3-4 NASB

God loves it when His people make the hard choice to persevere through the tough stuff of life.

Persevering through hardship, difficulty and injustice is incredibly unpleasant but it automatically causes good things happen in people. Enduring through the hurt of life builds emotional strength and develops grit in us. It causes us to lean on the Lord which causes us grow spiritually, makes us wiser and transforms us into the kind of people other people can learn from (Romans 5:3-5, James 1:2-5). It’s all good.

But.

These things are also really hard, because none of the experiences a person might have to persevere through are easy or fun (that’s why it’s called perseverance, sigh). Some of the hard things a person might have to endure are what I call “life in a fallen world” kinds of things, painful but random events we all experience at some point in our lives. Things like cancer, the death of a spouse, friend or child, accidents or financial calamities. Unfortunately, most of us will also have deal with what I call “people are crappy” sorts of experiences like religious persecution, being cheated on, being lied to or about, or being treated indifferently or with disdain by people who should care about our feelings.

Sigh.

Hard things naturally (and understandably) cause people to doubt the goodness, faithfulness and sometimes even the very existence of God. It is true that pain and difficulty can drive us towards God but hurt and struggle can also drive us away as well. The effect suffering has on us depends entirely on how we choose to respond to the crummy circumstances of life (1st Peter 15-6).  The good new is that there are actions we can take and attitudes we can adopt in the midst of our pain that will ensure pain, grief, trials, and difficulty make us better and more godly as opposed to bitter and more miserable.

Following are four of them:

Don’t blame God for the actions of people-

By far, the worst and most excruciating pain in life comes when we’re victimized or mistreated by people.  The pain of personal betrayal is compounded a million times over if the person who harmed us is a Christian. Sadly, it’s impossible to avoid being hurt by people because people, even Christian people, are at their core sinful and broken. For whatever reason, most of us lay the blame squarely on God when people hurt us. This is a huge tactical error. It is critical we understand that humans have free will and can do whatever they choose to do with their free will. They can even be horrible, sinful, disgusting people if they want to. It doesn’t mean God approves of their actions or that there won’t be a price to be paid for their choices. It just means God will not force anyone to be nice, honest, or decent. That being said, the biggest problem with blaming God for the actions of people is that we deny ourselves access to the only one who can give us comfort, peace and the power to persevere through whatever horrible thing we are dealing with (Psalm 23:4, Psalm 86:17, 2nd Corinthians 1:3). Sigh. 

Take the long view-

The apostle Paul lived most of his Christian life in what most of us would consider absolutely unacceptable conditions (2nd Corinthians 11:21-29).  Literally, everyone hated him. The Jews hated him. The Romans hated him. The Greeks hated him. Sometimes even other Christians hated him (Galatians 4:16-18).  Paul went hungry, spent time in prison, was beaten, stoned and betrayed by people who pretended to be his friends (2nd Timothy 4:14). Nevertheless, none of this injustice appears to have bothered him because he was able to view all of these situations as temporary problems that would be righted by God at some point in the future. He believed with all his heart his trials were actually preparing him for future ministry and making him more fit to spend eternity with God (2ndCorinthians 4:17, 1st Thessalonians 3:2-3). One “key” to persevering and enduring through pain is to make the choice to believe pain that is stewarded well will make us better, wiser, more insightful and more like Jesus. 

Know that Jesus gets “it”- 

He does. Whatever “it” is. Jesus gets it. I promise. Jesus experienced the same types of things we experience. He knows exactly what temptation, betrayal, loss, loneliness, hurt feelings and personal pain feels like (Hebrews 4:15). This makes Jesus the perfect one to run to anytime the heaviness of life becomes too much too bear (2ndCorinthians 1:5). 

Don’t let yourself get hung up on the issue of fairness- 

Getting hung up on what’s fair or unfair in this life will literally drive a Christian insane. Life, at least, in the present, is not fair. People “get away” with crappy stuff all the time. If we choose to focus on what kind of punishment people are getting right now, in this life we will lose our faith and our minds in that order. Instead of worrying about what’s fair and unfair, God wants us to believe in Him and trust that He will make things right and just in His good time. Anytime we’re hurt we have to remember the Bible is clear: NOTHING is in all of creation hidden from God and there is nothing that will not be publicly disclosed (Matthew 10:26, Hebrews 4:13). Sin that is unrepented of will be made public and punished in time. Period. 

Ultimately, choosing to persevere through the pain of life means clinging to our faith and choosing to tenaciously love God no matter what goes wrong or who hurts us. Faithful endurance through hurt, loss or persecution is the hard route but God promises rich rewards for those who choose it.