Before, not within

God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him. And remember, when you are being tempted, do not say, “God is tempting me.” God is never tempted to do wrong, and he never tempts anyone else. Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away. These desires give birth to sinful actions. And when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death. (James 1:12-15)

It should not catch any of us by surprise that God doesn't say "IF" testing or temptation comes your way, but rather that if "WILL" come your way. The 'patient endurance' thing may have more than a few of us concerned because we are less than patient when crazy stuff messes with our life! If we ALL face trials and temptations, testing our faith and bringing freshness into our walk with Jesus, maybe we'd do well to learn how to deal with them BEFORE we need to face them. We cannot control when they will come, nor even what they will be, but we can prepare our minds, emotions, and spirit to be ready to endure them as they do.

Perseverance is harder than some might think. We have this crazy idea that if we are tough enough, or 'studied up' enough, we will be able to endure these tests and resist the temptations. Truth be told, no amount of 'self-directed' resistance will help us to endure the test or resist the temptation. In order to 'bear up under' a trial or test, we need something built up within our character that helps us turn to God quickly and not lean into our own strength or 'earthly wisdom'. If we are facing these crazy things in our own strength, we are surely not going to 'bear up under them'!

Whenever we attempt to face the craziness in our own strength, we will be tempted to give up. Why? Doubt begins to enter in, fear takes root, and soon we find our 'flesh' winning over our spirit. We weren't as 'prepared' as we thought we were. The discipline to endure the trial today is built into us BEFORE the trial ever begins. We press into God now in order to face what comes tomorrow. When it comes tomorrow, we lean into God a bit more and then we listen to what he is telling us in that moment. We hear his voice clearer in the midst of the craziness of the test because we have learned his voice when there was no craziness messing with our heads!

When we lean a little less on our own strength and a little more on the strength Jesus brings, we find that although we may not face the test or temptation 'perfectly', we have come out the other side unscathed and stronger than when we began to face it. While we may not want to hear it, trials and temptations actually help us to rid ourselves of our 'false trust' in our natural ability and strength. We learn there is a greater power that we can lean into when the craziness of life places demands upon us that we are really not strong enough to persevere through anyway. Just sayin!

Steer us right

For merely listening to the law doesn’t make us right with God. It is obeying the law that makes us right in his sight. Even Gentiles, who do not have God’s written law, show that they know his law when they instinctively obey it, even without having heard it. They demonstrate that God’s law is written in their hearts, for their own conscience and thoughts either accuse them or tell them they are doing right. (Romans 2:13-15)

"Through pride we are ever deceiving ourselves. But deep down below the surface of the average conscience a still, small voice says to us, something is out of tune." (Carl Jung) That is the power of the conscience - it warns us something is out of 'tune'. When we begin to 'tune into' God's Word and his still small voice, our conscience will begin to alert when we are about to do or say something that is not in keeping with his will. It is learning to listen to that 'alert' and 'heed' its warning that gives us all that frustration!

Listening isn't heeding. Heeding is the condition in which one actually gives careful attention to what is being said or warned. It is more than a casual observation that something is not right. It is actually putting into application what one is warned about. When that 'niggling' comes deep within our conscience, it is like God is saying, "Listen up!". He is asking for us to exert some 'carefulness' with each step we are about to take. It isn't a moment for deliberation - it is a moment for determination.

So much of what we encounter in the way of compromise or sin in our lives is because we knew what was right to do, then deliberated way too long on 'if' the choice was good or bad. We let the appeal of the temptation overtake our reason. It is possible we argue a bit too much about what is right or wrong for us rather than just listening to our conscience confirm that it is wrong. The more we begin to ask God for his will, the more he will show us that will. The longer we dwell on the 'is this your will' question, the harder it can actually become to know it because we allow all kinds of confusing thoughts into our minds that cloud the clarity proclaimed by our conscience.

Knowing the will of God is important, but listening when our conscience tells us not to do something, or to forge full speed ahead is also a 'tool' God gives us in living upright and consistent lives. We may not have the Word of God right there when the choice stands before us, but we do have our conscience to guide us. If we commit our thoughts to God and fill our minds with his Word, it is possible our conscience might just 'steer us right' instead of wrong. Just sayin!

Sweetness just beneath the surface

By this time the crowd, unwieldy and stepping on each other’s toes, numbered into the thousands. But Jesus’ primary concern was his disciples. He said to them, “Watch yourselves carefully so you don’t get contaminated with Pharisee yeast, Pharisee phoniness. You can’t keep your true self hidden forever; before long you’ll be exposed. You can’t hide behind a religious mask forever; sooner or later the mask will slip and your true face will be known. You can’t whisper one thing in private and preach the opposite in public; the day’s coming when those whispers will be repeated all over town. (Luke 12:1-3)

Give people enough to "gawk" at and they will congregate quicker than ants on honey. I fondly refer to them as "looky-loos" - they are there for the "show", not really for much else. They come interested in what they might get, not in what they might give away. What draws a crowd? Isn't it the spectacular, the unexpected, and the unusual? Jesus was all of these things. Spectacular - dramatically daring as he went against the Pharisees and dared to challenge their "religiosity". Unexpected - surprising those who least expected his touch or care with the deepest expressions of his love. Unusual - shocking them with the extraordinary and the uncommon display of power, grace, and wisdom. He was a crowd "gatherer", but he was also a crowd "divider". The same things drawing many to him also set many against him. These spectacular, unexpected, and unusual things Jesus said and did got the dander of the Pharisees up. His disciples may have been drawn in by the same things, but in time, they came to understand him as those in the crowd did not and this was Jesus' greatest joy - someone looking past the spectacular, unexpected and unusual to connect with his heart.

Although the Pharisees were ever-present in the crowd, their intent was not to find the truth in what Jesus was saying, or to support the work he was doing. Their intent was to discredit, taking the attention away from the "good" he was doing and bringing some type of dishonor to him. Their main concern was the amount of attention he was getting and the little bit of attention they themselves were now attracting. To this end, Jesus calls the attention of his disciples to their actions - not so much because they were a real hindrance to his work, but because he wanted to protect the disciples from the "phoniness" of the Pharisees. They saw themselves as so spiritually mature - above the crowd in their pursuit of all things holy - educated above the rest, but really not all that wise. Jesus knew the shallowness of their "holiness" and his point in calling attention to them on this day was to simply point out the foolishness of trying to "appear" mature when you really are anything but mature.

I guess we could all kind of admit we have done this on occasion - trying to make ourselves look a little more "all together" and "spiritually mature" than we really are on the inside. It has been a common practice of putting forward some type of "rule-keeping" facade to make oneself look 'holy' and 'spiritually mature'. This type of "religious phoniness" is not going to get us anywhere in God's kingdom. I think this is why Jesus had such great concern for his disciples recognizing this up front. It would have been easy for them to get a little confused - seeing the example of the Pharisees as the "ultimate" experience when it comes to religion. It may be the ultimate experience when it comes to "religion", but not as it applies to relationship. Jesus' primary concern was, and always will be, for our relationship with him and his heavenly Father.

Look closely at some church-goers today and we might just find there are those who actually practice as modern day "Pharisees" - their lives are pretty shallow under the facades of the religion they sport with such pride. You can watch hours and hours of every teacher and preacher on the Christian television stations, but still be shallow. You can read author after author, ingesting all kinds of spiritual self-help books, but be devoid of any real learning. You can speak with all kinds of eloquence and still say nothing. The image is there, but the heart vault is empty. Relationship is the only thing which fills the heart vault! 

The warning to us is against the preoccupation with title, regulations, rules, and rituals. Sometimes we "sport" the title of "Christian" as though it gives us some special privilege or "import" to the world around us, all the while with empty "heart vaults". The heart vault is only filled through deep, lasting, and intimate relationship with the one who helps us move beyond the rules, focusing less on the rituals and more on the genuine sharing of our heart with him. You have probably heard the term "legalism" used in modern day churches. If so, what is being described is the modern day practice of Phariseeism. The pursuit of all the rules, but the lack of focus on the heart. The crowds are always drawn by the "show". The Pharisee delights in putting on the "show". The disciple delights in the "connection" created when you get past the "show". 

Jesus warns against being more concerned with the "show" and what you "know" - being aware of what you "experience" while nuzzled right up to his heart. Our heart vault is only filled when we nuzzle! You know what it means to "nuzzle"? Animals "nuzzle" while rooting for food. They have to push through a whole lot of inedible stuff before they get to the sweetness of what lies just beneath the surface. I think Jesus had this in mind when he was speaking with his disciples - getting past the stuff that hides the sweetness he desires for us to experience. I am thinking I'd rather engage in a little nuzzling to find the sweetness he has prepared than spend a whole lot of time protecting the image I could "prepare" for the world. I am in pursuit of that which fills the vault of my heart. Maybe we'd all do a little better if we "nuzzled" more and "masked" less. Just sayin!