Cloyce Sutton Online

Reflections on spiritual themes (and a few other things).

Category: IP Devotional (Page 8 of 11)

Full or Cluttered?

August 31, 2022 / / 0 Comments

“Some people think their lives are full, when really they’re just cluttered.” (Anonymous)

In an affluent society, it’s easy to confuse clutter with substance. 

  • That certain thing I just had to have six months ago is now buried in the recesses of a closet full of other buried treasures. 
  • That event I couldn’t decline is now just one more thing to do in a long list of to-dos. 
  • That article I needed to read two weeks ago is now bookmarked in my browser along with 250 other bookmarked articles I haven’t read. 
  • That badly needed bathroom repair has grown on me: yes, it’s hanging crooked, but it hasn’t fallen off, and nobody’s been injured. 
  • That to-die-for recipe from that cooking show will have to wait until I try that to-die-for recipe from my cooking magazine which replaced that to-die-for recipe from the new cookbook that I bought six months ago. 

Sound familiar?

I’ve just described a cluttered life. It’s a life centered on things, busyness, unrealistic goals and timelines, and endless, unfulfilling activity.

A full life is different. It’s a life centered on relationships, values, priorities, meaning, and joy. The full life puts people above things. The full life bases its priorities on a value system that’s rooted in eternal principles. The full life finds meaning in a relationship with God. The full life is full of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

It’s easy to confuse clutter and fullness, but it’s also easy to confuse how we eliminate the one and find the other. De-cluttering your life isn’t primarily about closet space, organizational systems, or planners. It’s ultimately about prioritizing your relationships: your relationship to God; your relationship to family; your relationship to friends; your relationship to work; your relationship to possessions; and your relationship to time and money. When those things are in place, the clutter in life has a way of just evaporating.

Jesus once told a parable about a successful farmer who ran out of storage space for his crops (Luke 12.13-21). He decided to tear down his barns and build bigger ones. He put his trust in his prosperity and not in God. The story ends with him dying that very night. Jesus began the parable by saying “Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions.” 

That’s the takeaway for us. Every day we should ask if our lives are full, or just cluttered?

Planning

August 31, 2022 / / 0 Comments

Author Jim Rohn said, “I find it fascinating that most people plan their vacation with better care than they do their lives. Perhaps that is because escape is easier than change.”

I’m second to none in my zeal for vacations. When my wife and I take trips, we make plans. We consider the destination, the mode of travel, the route, the accommodations, the meals, the activities, the budget, the weather, and the souvenirs. All those things are elements of a successful trip, and they deserve at least a little bit of consideration before leaving. 

But after vacation comes the return to normalcy and the resumption of ordinary life. What are your plans for your life? 

Growing up I heard a lot of preachers say, “Heaven is a prepared place for a prepared people.” That sentiment is based on Jesus’ statement in John 14.1-3: “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.” (ESV)

There’s a lot about that text I don’t understand. Jesus doesn’t tell us what preparations he’s making. He doesn’t describe the rooms or dwelling places we’ll inhabit. He doesn’t tell us exactly when he’s returning to gather us. But I do understand that he hasn’t forgotten about his followers, and that being in the Father’s house eternally will be a special thing.

But there’s an important implication. If Jesus is preparing a place for us to stay, what plans are we making to be with him? We don’t take vacations without making plans and decisions beforehand. Do we honestly think that the most important destination of all deserves any less?

We prepare for things we think are important. If heaven isn’t at the top of our list, we need a reassessment of what’s important. The most important thing of all is our spiritual wellbeing. Jesus said, “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matthew 16.26, NASB)

The point is simple: We’re all preparing right now for our eternal dwelling place. The question is whether we’re preparing to be with Jesus in our Father’s house. 

The Value of Scripture

August 31, 2022 / / 0 Comments

How much do you treasure your Bible? How much is it worth to you? Not simply how much did it cost you to purchase; rather, among all your earthly possession how would you rank it? 

Two comments by the psalmist provide some perspective: 

  • Psalm 119.72 – The law of Your mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver pieces.
  • Psalm 119.127 – Therefore I love Your commandments above gold, yes, above fine gold.

Almost 500 years, on October 6, 1536, a man named William Tyndale was executed under Roman Catholic authority. His crime? He wanted to translate the Bible into English, so that anybody could read it. 

In about 1522, he heard a Roman Catholic priest say that men would be better off with the Pope’s laws rather than God’s laws. Tyndale responded, “I defy the Pope, and all his laws; and if God spares my life, before too many years, I will cause the boy that drives the plow to know more of the Scriptures than you do!” The rest of his life was dedicated to that purpose.

Tyndale was Oxford educated and was fluent in English, Hebrew, Greek, Latin, French, German, and Spanish. He had a remarkable grasp of the English language and an amazing ability to translate fluently, readably, and memorably. By the time of his death, he had translated the whole New Testament and at least half of the Old Testament. 

Tyndale’s translation was the first English Bible to draw directly from Hebrew and Greek texts; the first English Bible to take advantage of the printing press; among the earliest Reformation era English Bibles; and the first English translation to use “Jehovah” as God’s Old Testament name. His influence on the English Bible was so great that recent computer analysis shows that the King James Bible (published in 1611, 75 years after his death) used 83% of Tyndale’s words in the New Testament, and 76% in the Old Testament. 

How valuable was the Bible to Tyndale? So valuable that he spent the final years of his life translating it. So valuable that he traveled all over Europe to find places where his work would be unhindered. So valuable that he was executed for trying to make the Bible accessible to commoners. As he was executed, his final words were, “Lord, open the eyes of the King of England!” Four years later, English translations of the Bible were published and distributed in England by Henry VIII’s order. They were based on Tyndale’s work. His prayer was answered.

Bibles today are plentiful and cheap. Most of us have multiple print copies. Most of us have Bible apps on our tablets, phones, and computers. But it’s valuable only if we read it and use it. 

How valuable is the Bible to you?

What Good is Suffering?

August 31, 2022 / / 0 Comments

What is suffering? Suffering is pain or discomfort that may be experienced physically, emotionally, or spiritually. It’s associated with adversity, misery, hardship, or affliction.

Physical suffering includes the pain of scrapes, cuts, burns, broken bones, strained muscles, surgery, toothaches, headaches, backaches, or stomach aches. Emotional suffering includes embarrassment, shame, loneliness, depression, abuse, neglect, addiction, emptiness, or stress. Spiritual suffering includes persecution, loss of faith, feeling abandoned by God, questioning one’s beliefs, struggles with temptation and sin.

In other words, suffering comes in all shapes and sizes.

For Christians, the more important question is this: What’s the purpose of suffering? The purpose of suffering is to draw us to God. 

Even when we experience what we might call minor suffering, believers should still turn toward God. I may have a head cold, and my atheist neighbor may also have a head cold. Spiritually speaking, my head cold is no less or no more significant than my atheist neighbor’s head cold. The difference, however, is that while I have a head cold, I pray to God and ask for his help, strength, and comfort. When I’m healed, I thank God for what he did. My atheist neighbor simply blows his nose.

The psalmist said, “It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I may learn your statutes.” 
(Psalm 119.71, NASB)

The psalmist was simply acknowledging the power of suffering to move us in a Godward direction. Suffering is God’s version of Post-It Notes — reminders everywhere that he’s still there, awaiting our reply.

We all suffer, and we all suffer in different ways and in different degrees. But we all suffer. It could be chronic pain or a terminal illness. It could be a broken marriage, or children who’ve broken our hearts. It could be financial catastrophe or a ruined career. It could be depression, despair, uncertainty, loneliness, frustration, abuse, neglect, or a hundred other things. But it’s still suffering, and for God’s people it’s an opportunity to draw near to him.

As you go through your day, don’t grumble and grouse about affliction and suffering. Be thankful that our God has arranged our world so that even in distress, we have constant reminders of him, and constant invitations to return to him.

Seasons

August 24, 2022 / / 0 Comments

Someone has wisely observed that the only constant in life is change.

From the day we’re born until the day we die we change. Our bodies change, our brains change, our relationships change, our jobs change, our families change, our finances change, our beliefs change, our pleasures change, and our pains change. Change isn’t the problem. The problem is our reluctance or inability to adapt to these changes.

In Ecclesiastes 3.1-8, Solomon said: For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace. (ESV)

Solomon is describing life. He’s describing the different circumstances and changes that comprise life under the sun. All of us are affected by these changes, none of us are exempt. So, if this is what life looks like, how do we adapt to these constant changes? 

First, we need to accept them. Life changes, often subtly, and sometimes dramatically. It’s completely unrealistic to think that we’re immune to these changes. They’re simply part of human existence. 

Second, we need to understand that the different seasons of life are appointed by God. Verse ten of this chapter says, “I have seen the business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with.” Just as the weather cycles between spring, summer, fall, and winter, our lives cycle back and forth between joy and sorrow, pleasure and pain, fullness and emptiness, and purpose and confusion. This isn’t by chance, but by divine decree.

Third, we need to realize that God uses these changing circumstances to lead us to him. He uses time and circumstance to point us to eternity. Verse eleven in the text says, “He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.” He wants us to look beyond ourselves and our circumstances to him. Human philosophy says, “Look within yourself.” God says, “Look beyond yourself.” 

Change can be hard and disconcerting. It can even be painful. But once we see in these changes the handiwork and purposes of God, it puts things into their proper perspective, and allows us to not only endure these changes, but also to embrace them.

Seeking & Serving

August 10, 2022 / / 0 Comments

“Two men please God – who serves him with all his heart because he knows him; who seeks him with all his heart because he knows him not.” (Nikita Ivanovich Panin; 18th century Russian statesman, advisor to Catherine the Great). 

Whenever I’m pondering something, I like to think in categories. What I like about this insightful quotation is that it describes man’s relationship to God in terms of four categories: Knowing God, seeking God, serving God, and pleasing God. 

In the first category, you either know God or you don’t. To know God is NOT simply acquiring information about him. It IS knowing him relationally, knowing him intimately. The Bible wasn’t written simply to give us information ABOUT God, but to show us HOW to enter a close relationship with him.

In the second category, if you don’t know God, you should seek him. To seek him means to look for him intentionally and intensely. We need God the way we need air, and when we want God as badly as we want to breathe, we’ll have no trouble finding him. God reveals himself to seekers.

In the third category, if you’ve found God, you should serve him. Service to God proceeds from gratitude. We serve God because we’re thankful for what he’s done for us. Obedience to God is our way of saying “Thank You” to the one who has saved and transformed us.

Finally, in the fourth category, when we seek and serve God, we please him. An old hymn says to “trust and obey.” I would suggest that constantly seeking and serving God are how we express those two things.

Hopefully most readers have reached the fourth category. We know God and because of who and what he is, we want to serve whole-heartedly. But sometimes it’s hard to maintain complete devotion. At times, our efforts seem anything but whole-hearted. But as Panin’s quotation suggests, we continue in seeking and serving and knowing. 

Panin’s dictum reminds me of David’s final words to his son Solomon, the future king of Israel. David said, “As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve Him with a whole heart and a willing mind; for the LORD searches all hearts, and understands every intent of the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will let you find Him; but if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever”
(1 Chronicles 28.9).

Lowering the Goal

August 3, 2022 / / 1 Comment

You may find this hard to believe, but when I was in ninth grade, I could dunk a basketball. One-handed, two-handed, tomahawk, gorilla – you name it I could do it. 

You see, my friend Monty had a basketball goal in his back yard with a rim that was six feet off the ground. That’s right, six feet. I could dunk the ball standing flat footed. It made for a lot of fun and was enormously ego-building. 

The problem was that on a real basketball court I wasn’t an especially good player. With my astounding twelve-inch vertical leap, I could barely touch the bottom of the backboard. Against real competition, with real equipment, real referees, and real rules, I couldn’t dunk. I stunk. Lowering the goal didn’t help me play better basketball, and in many ways, it probably made me an even worse player. 

Goals exist for a reason. Whether in basketball, life, career, or relationships, goals represent a standard or an ideal. They represent something we strive to attain, something that stretches us, challenges us, and promotes growth. Whenever we “lower the goal” we’re simply cheating ourselves out of reaching our potential.

Christians are challenged to, in the words of Oswald Chambers, to give “their utmost for his highest.” Jesus said it best: “Therefore you are to be perfect, even as your heavenly father is perfect” (Matthew 5.48). You can’t set the rim any higher. 

When we read passages like that, we shake our heads and think, “Surely Jesus didn’t mean that.” But God the Father says, “Thus you shall be holy, for I am holy” (Leviticus 11.45b). God doesn’t lower the goal. 

What all of this means is that God himself is the standard of what he expects his people to be. Our holiness must resemble his holiness. Our righteousness must resemble his righteousness. Our love must resemble his love. Our forgiveness must resemble his forgiveness. Our mercy must resemble his mercy. 

Whenever we lower the goal, we flip the script. We become the standard, not God. We think that by lowering the goal it makes the standard more attainable. What it really does is make the standard less meaningful and less desirable. Holiness mixed with sin isn’t holiness. Love tainted by hate isn’t love. Forgiveness mingled with resentment and bitterness isn’t forgiveness. Mercy shaded with prejudice isn’t mercy.

Ultimately, lowering the goal is simply a form of idolatry, a way of putting something ahead of God. We don’t need any more idols in this world. We need the clear, unchanging, and lofty standards that reflect the holiness of God himself. 

Two Ways of Getting What You Want

August 3, 2022 / / 0 Comments

What do you want in life, and how do you plan to get it? Proverbs 11.16 says,

A gracious woman attains honor, And ruthless men attain riches.

In this proverb Solomon makes three contrasts that address what we want and how we get it.

Contrast #1 is the difference between men and women. Solomon assumed his readers would see that. Men think the solution to anything is a bigger hammer. Men don’t use maps. Men will square off at the drop of a hat. Women, however, are usually humble enough to ask for help. They tend to be more patient. They seldom resort to force.

Contrast #2 is the difference between methods of acquisition. Solomon observes that women obtain by graciousness, kindness, and gentleness. Men obtain men by brute force, aggressiveness, and ruthlessness.

Contrast #3 is the difference between what they obtain. Women acquire honor, respect, and esteem as the outcome of their graciousness. Men get money or power or position or prestige.

By using these three contrasts, Solomon invites us to think about how we get what we want.

It’s worth noting that the Book of Proverbs doesn’t have a problem with riches, per se. Proverbs 22.4 says, “The reward of humility and the fear of the Lord are riches, honor, and life.” The important thing, however, is the motivation and the method. A person who’s motivated by his relationship to God, and who does things honorably, will be blessed.

One side point: Critics of the Bible often complain that the Bible is sexist and misogynistic. This proverb demonstrates otherwise. It recognizes the woman as being superior to the male, in what she seeks, in how she seeks it, and in her overall character. There’s no sexism here.

Every day, we make decisions about what we want and how to get it. This proverb reminds us that the best things in life aren’t always monetary, and that the best ways of getting things aren’t always related to raw ambition.

So then, what do you really want in life, and how do you plan to get it? Choose wisely.

Run to Win!

August 3, 2022 / / 0 Comments

At the most recent Summer Olympics (Tokyo in 2021), some 12,000 athletes competed for about 1,000 medals. Just 10% of the competitors took home medals.

One award that isn’t given is a Participation Medal. An award for just showing up. Every athlete I know would rather quit their sport than take home a participation trophy.

David McCullough said, “If everyone is special, then no one is. If everyone gets a trophy, trophies become meaningless.”

Athletes compete to win. Anything short of winning is a consolation prize.

Christians are exhorted to compete like Olympians (see Hebrews 12.1; 1 Corinthians 9.24-27; Philippians 2.16; 3.14; Galatians 2.2; 5.7; 2 Timothy 4.7). One passage even refers to ancient Olympic-style games. 1 Corinthians 9.24-27 says, “Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.”

The apostle is taking about running a spiritual race, and he gives us four things to remember about running the race.

  1. PLAN TO WIN. You won’t win a gold medal by accident, and you won’t get to heaven by accident. Be deliberate. Have a sense of purpose. Know the objective.
  2. DEVELOP SELF-CONTROL. Sometimes, self-control is the ability to tell yourself no. For athletes, it means saying no to an unhealthy diet. For Christians, it means saying no to distraction, temptation, and sin. Sometimes, self-control is the ability to develop good habits. For athletes it means getting up early and having a rigorous training routine. For Christians, it means a routine of prayer, Bible study, worship, and service to others.
  3. WE PLAY BY THE RULES. Paul warns against being disqualified. It’s one thing for an athlete to be defeated by a better athlete. It’s another thing when an athlete beats himself by breaking the rules, or by not preparing adequately. For Christians, it’s why we have the Bible: we can know the rules; we can know what to do and what not to do in our lives.
  4. WE’RE PROMISED A PRIZE. Paul contrasted perishable and imperishable wreaths. In the ancient Olympic games, the winner received a crown woven from olive branches or evergreen or oak leaves. Over time, they would dry out and decay. Christians are competing for the crown of life: eternal life in the presence of an eternal God.

I’m not an athlete, but I am a child of God. I’ll never win a gold medal, but I’ve been promised a crown of life. I need to run, and I need to run hard. So do you. Run to win!

Pray Without Ceasing

August 3, 2022 / / 0 Comments

How often should we pray?

The apostle Paul’s answer was, “Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5.16-18). The phrase “without ceasing” refers to a settled habit or an unvarying practice or a regular routine.

But even in the best of circumstances, that can be a challenge. One woman said, “…since I started managing a job, three young children, and a husband who works evenings, if anything my prayer life had gone downhill. I pray for a few moments in the morning; I pray when I first get to my desk at the office for a few minutes as I wait for the electric kettle to boil water for tea; I pray in snatches while driving or stirring supper on the stove or waiting for programs to load on the computer; and sometimes on a good day, I pray for a few brief moments before I crawl into bed.” (Debra Rienstra, in Philip Yancy, Prayer, 167)

Sound familiar?

It would be helpful to remember that the Bible doesn’t give a set pattern for prayer.

  • The psalmist said, “Seven times a day I praise you” (Psalm 119.164).
  • Daniel prayed three times daily in the direction of Jerusalem (Daniel 6.10).
  • Nehemiah prayed silently and briefly as he made a request of the king (Nehemiah 2.4).
  • Jesus resorted to prayer often (Luke 5.16), sometimes even all night (Luke 6.12).
  • At Gethsemane, Jesus prayed a fervent, but apparently short prayer, interrupted by the snores of his companions and the noise of the betrayer (Matthew 26.36-47).

But there’s still the issue of praying without ceasing. What does that mean?

First, it means we must be willing to pray. Some think that God won’t hear them, orthat their issues are too trivial, or that they’ll figure it out on their own. But Peter saidwe’re to cast all our anxieties on him because he cares for us (1 Peter 5.7).

Second, it means we believe that prayer works. Some think that prayer doesn’t work,or it doesn’t matter, or it just doesn’t change anything. But James said, “the effective,fervent prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much” (James 5.16b).

Third, it means that we look for and create opportunities to pray. We seize everyopportunity, whether short or long, noisy or quiet, focused or distracted. We pray between tasks. We pray in transit. We pray in the moment. We pray in our heads. We pray as soon we see the Facebook request. We pray at our desks, in our cars, on the couch, in the shower, in bed. We pray while we’re dressing, while we’re gardening, while we’re cooking, while we’re walking, and while we’re relaxing.

In other words, we pray without ceasing.

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