Jim Wilson's Blog

This post is an excerpt from The Loveliness of Christ by Samuel Rutherford.

If your Lord call you to suffering, be not dismayed; thereshall be a new allowance of the King for you when ye come to it. One of thesoftest pillows Christ hath is laid under His witnesses’ head, though oftenthey must set down their bare feet among thorns.

God hath called you to Christ’s side, and the wind is now inChrist’s face in this land; and seeing ye are with Him, ye cannot expect thelee-side or the sunny side of the brae.

He delighteth to take up fallen bairns and to mend brokenbrows: binding up of wounds is His office.

Wants are my best riches, for I have these supplied byChrist.

I think the sense of our wants, when withal we have arestlessness and a sort of spiritual impatience under them, and can make a din,because we want Him whom our soul loveth, is that which maketh an open door toChrist: and when we think we are going backward, because we feel deadness, weare going forward; for the more sense the more life, and no sense argueth nolife.

There is no sweeter fellowship with Christ than to bring ourwounds and our sores to Him.

There is as much in our Lord’s pantry as will satisfy allHis bairns, and as much wine in His cellar as will quench all their thirst.Hunger on; for there is meat in hunger for Christ: go never from Him, but fashHim (who yet is pleased with the importunity of hungry souls) with a dishful ofhungry desires, till He fill you; and if He delay yet come not ye away, albeitye should fall a-swoon at His feet.

I find it most true that the greatest temptation out of hellis to live without temptations; if my waters should stand, they would rot.Faith is the better of the free air, and of the sharp winter storm in its face.Grace withereth without adversity. The devil is but God’s master fencer, to teachus to handle our weapons.

How To Be Free From Bitterness and other essays on Christian relationships

Recently, I have been meditating on Colossians 2:20-3:3.                 

“Therefore if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world,why, as though living in the world do you subject yourselves to regulations—‘donot touch, do not taste, do not handle,’ which all concern things which perishwith the using—according to the commandments and doctrines of men? These thingsindeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religions, false humility,and neglect of the body, but are of no value against indulgence of the flesh.If then you were raised withChrist, seek those things whichare above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind onthings above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hiddenwith Christ in God.”

If you are dead with Christ and dead to the world, act like it.Do not conform to the world. If you are risen with Christ, act like it. Letyour hearts and minds be on Heaven; that is where you are going.

This post coordinates with today's reading in the Tothe Word! Bible Reading Challenge. If you are not in a daily reading plan,please join us at TotheWord.com. We would love to have you reading with us.

How To Be Free From Bitterness and other essays on Christian relationships

This post is an excerpt from Living at the Mercy Seat by R.C. Chapman.

It is Christ’s hold upon us that enables us, by faith, tolay hold on and to keep hold of Him. “Not as though I had already attained,either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend thatfor which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3:12).

They who seem the most tried are not always those that havethe sharpest warfare.

Sometimes things appear to us so difficult that we aredaunted; at other times so easy that we think we are equal to them; and thus ineither case we fail.

He that is running a race looks not at witnesses admiring,but only at the mark.

We need to “discern the Lord’s body,” i.e., Christ havingbeen crucified (1 Cor. 11:29) for steadfastness of communion with God, no lessthan to trust in His blood to obtain salvation from wrath to come (John 6:54,56).

The fulfilling of God’s promises depends not upon thecreature’s strength, and cannot be prevented by the creature’s weakness.

We need a close walk with God, a having respect to all Hiscommandments, if we would obtain of Him whatsoever we ask.

True persevering diligence in spiritual things always beginsin self-abasement.

It is one mark of growth in spirituality to be moreafflicted by the pleasing—than by the distressing—temptations of Satan.

We should always take great trials and great temptations asthe forerunners of great blessings and growth of fellowship with God.

The obedience of grace obtains for us the profitable knowl­edgeof truth, and teaches us to prize it more than much fine gold. Mere knowledgepuffeth up, and the talk of the lips tendeth only to penury (Prov. 14:23).

Deep spirituality of mind is only obtained by a thoroughcrucifixion of self: self-denial is discipline for life—the work of every hour.

To make a good soldier, put him in front of the battle; agood seaman, let him brave the storm: so with the Christian.

True readiness to confess sin, and joy in self-abasement,mark a growth in grace and knowledge of the character of God.

I know of no one who, with so little promise in hisbeginnings of faith, had a sunset so glorious as had Jacob (Gen. 48, 49).

It is the constant crucifying the flesh in little thingsthat makes a giant in the Christian warfare. But true self-crucifix­ion is athing impossible, save by grace; and to have the needful supplies of that gracewe must be in perpetual communion with God: it is only thus we shall overcomein little things.

It is a great salvation wrought for us, if the soul beresolved to suffer the will of God, cost what it may.

Do you desire a humble mind, a soft heart, an obedientspirit? Ask and receive, that your joy may be full. But remember, “The soul ofthe sluggard desireth, and hath nothing” (Prov. 13:4). Be the clean vessel thatGod delights to fill and use.

Not God’s answering prayer in respect of earthly things andearthly gifts, but growth of the new man, is the true proof that we please God.

We are commanded to lay aside every weight, and the sin thatdoes so easily beset us: if we contend not against the latter—that isunbelief—how shall we rightly deal with the former? We have every one inhimself his own peculiar hindrances—weights which, if not laid aside, will clogthe soul in her race. 

How shall I run my race and not stumble? How shall I haveChrist’s approval in the day of His appearing? are questions to be daily put byevery child of God to his own soul.

How To Be Free From Bitterness and other essays on Christian relationships

Many years ago, I received the following question: “Lately, Ihaven’t had trouble staying away from sin, and I want it to stay that way.Usually when I hit a high point like this, I get lazy and screw up again. Itoften seems that sin will creep up behind me, and then there I am having todeal with it and try to get back to where I left off. Could you give me adviceto avoid falling into that pattern again?”

Regarding prospective sin, keep your mind and heart on Christ,not on the temptation or weakness.

“Since, then, you have been raised withChrist, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the righthand of God. Set your minds on things above, not onearthly things. For you died, and your life is nowhidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is yourlife, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory” (Col. 3:14).

For more advice on this topic, read my Howto Be a Strong Christian: Walking in the Light blog post series.

How To Be Free From Bitterness and other essays on Christian relationships

Dear Friends,

I have been carrying your letter around for a few weeksanticipating answering it concerning your friend. Whether it is demonpossession or whether it is mental illness of some sort of physical variety, Ithink praying is more important than horizontal communication unless thehorizontal communication is much love given to him.

If he is a Christian, I don’t think it is possible for himto be demon-possessed. The Scripture is very clear that He who is in you isgreater than he who is in the world. We have no examples in Scripture ofdemon possession in believers. On the other hand, if he never came to Christ,it could well be that he is demon-possessed. In any case, the power of God, thepower of the name of Jesus, the power of the cross, is what will set him free.

In His Love,

Jim

How To Be Free From Bitterness and other essays on Christian relationships

Dear Susie,

In your letter, you say you do not have peace because youwant to get into a certain summer program for next year, and you need to havegood grades, but you cannot get them good enough fast enough because of the wayyou acted in study in the early part of the semester.

Now, sometimes God is gracious and allows you to have whatyou want anyhow; however, along with forgiveness, there are permanentconsequences of sin that we have to live with. So you can have peacewhether you get good grades or not.

You should study hard in accordance with Colossians 3:23 andColossians 3:17.

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as workingfor the Lord, not for human masters” (Col. 3:23).

“And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all inthe name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him” (Col.3:17).

God will give you peace whether you get what you wish or donot get what you wish. Consider Philippians 4:4-7.

“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Letyour gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious aboutanything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving,present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends allunderstanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Your peace should not be dependent upon the grades you getor the program you get. Your peace should be dependent upon your walking in thelight, and you can have that kind of peace.

In His love,

Jim Wilson

How To Be Free From Bitterness and other essays on Christian relationships

The last aspect of walking in the light thatI will mention here is being thankful.This will help with many areas ofyour life. Start by recognizing that God is the creator of all things. Look atall the trees, all the flowers, all the clouds, stars, sun, and moon. ThankGod. Then thank God for all of your family. Thank Him for all wildlife: fish,animals, and birds.

“Givethanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1Thess. 5:18). 

“Donot be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition,with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. Andthe peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your heartsand your minds in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:6-7).

Giving thanks is God’s will for you. Itresults in peace that passes all comprehension.

“Ihave not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers” (Eph.1:16). 

“Ithank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, Ialways pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the firstday until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in youwill carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus” (Phil. 1:3-6).

Being thankful is an exercise of thewill in obeying God’s command to be thankful in everything. The Scripture doesnot say, “Be thankful foreverything.” Be thankful ineverything. I am not thankful forbeing sick, but I can be thankful inbeing sick. When I am thankful in everything, then I can rejoice always.  When I make my petitions to God withthankfulness, I end up with peace.

One of the signs of walking in the lightis singing. This is not a way to walkin the light, but a result of it. When you walk in the light, you may end upsinging to the Lord, even if you don’t know any great hymns.

I knew one young woman who had been “converted” several timesand still wasn’t saved. She had read every book in the Christian bookstore andgone to every counselor in town. She went to multiple people for counseling, attended ourschool of practical Christianity, and read several books. I met with them botha couple times and with her more times. She knew all the answers but did notseem able to put them into effect in her life.

One day she showed up at our front door. Bessie met her and told her togo sit in one of the chairs under the apple tree in the backyard while she wentto find me.

At that moment, I was reading a book by Watchman Nee, and I had justread a paragraph where Nee said (to paraphrase), “Two men can hear the sametext preached at the same time. ‘I am the way the truth and the life, no mancometh to the Father but by me.’ One person will hear that text and say,‘Oh, that’s wonderful!’ and will come to the Father through Jesus Christ.Another person will say, ‘Oh, what a wonderful doctrine!’ and come to thedoctrine.”

Having just read that paragraph, I quoted it to the young woman underthe apple tree. She asked me, “What is the difference between the two?” 

I said, “The first has love, joy, and peace, and the other has a plaqueon the wall.”

The next day she called to tell me that she was not a Christian. Ireplied that I did not think she was, either. She got upset with me because Iagreed with her.

I told her that I would not tell her how to become a Christian. Her headwas filled with the gospel already. If I told her, she would go through themotions and not be any more saved afterwards. I said, “I’m not going totell you how to become a Christian, because you are a doer, and you’d just goplug the formula. You’ve plugged it several times already, and nothing’shappened. If I tell you how to come to the Father, you won’t understand it.Grace, love, faith: all these terms you know by heart are empty words to you.There are certain things you need to find out for yourself first. You have tofind out that God is holy. You have to find out how awfully sinful you are. Youhave to find out how great the love of God is. After you have some glimmer of theholiness of God, and after you have some small understanding of how sinful youare in the light of that holiness, and after you begin to see how much love Godhas for you in your sinfulness, then I will tell you the good news.”

I did not hear from her for several weeks. Then she called and asked,“How could the Father love the Son and send Him to the cross?” She was startingto understand.

“Oh!” I replied. “It didn’t say He lovedthe Son. It says, ‘For God so loved the worldthat He gave His only-begotten Son.’ That tells us not how much He loves the Son, buthow much He loves the world.”

I realized that she probably had enoughunderstanding for me to tell her the gospel. However, I wanted to speakto her heart. Her head was already filled with truth, but it had not sunk in. Idecided to give her the gospel in song and poetry. Over the phone, I sang herhymns like The Love of God, The Deep, Deep Love of Jesus, and At Calvary.

Sometime later, she was working a job cleaningapartments. As she ran the vacuum, she was singing, “He is Lord, He is Lord, Hehas risen from the dead, and He is Lord,” and she was saved in themiddle of the chorus. She was looking up to God, and her conversion was real.

After we are saved by grace throughfaith, walking in the light is a grace/faith event. There is no other way.Colossians 2:6 says, “Therefore, as you received Christ Jesusthe Lord, so walk in Him” (ESV). How did you receive Christ Jesus theLord? By effort? By trying? No. You quit trying when you received Christ Jesusthe Lord, and you trusted. When you quit trying and trusted grace, the Lordchanged your life.

“Therefore, as youreceived Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him.” The same procedure bywhich I was saved is the way I live the Christian life. When I became aChristian, I quit trying—and having become one, I still quit trying. Living theChristian life is like being born again every instant. It’s grace and faith.You didn’t try to get in, and you don’t try to live.

You say, “Yes, I do.”

Well, I want to know this: do yousucceed?

People come to me and say, “Jim, I don’tknow why I failed. I tried to livethe Christian life.”

“Oh,” I say, “that’s why. You fellbecause you tried to live the Christian life.”

We are not to try to live the Christianlife. Walking in the light is grace, faith, grace, faith. As soon as we getsaved, we are tempted to revert to trying. We are not to do that. The entirebook of Galatians was written against that. Paul said, “Oh foolish Galatians!”(Gal. 3:1). You idiots! Tell me how you got into this kingdom. “Did you receivethe Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are you sofoolish? Having been made alive by the Spirit, are you now made perfect by theflesh?” (Gal. 6:2-3).

Look up to God and reject trying. This is what the New Testament teaches. We read it and hearsomething else. We try to reinterpret everything into something we can do. Donot read this Scripture and go back to trying.

“If I don’t try, I’ll fall.”

If you do try, you’ll fall.

A multitude of groupstoday are out there teaching the secret way to the “deeper life,” and seekersflock to them by the thousands. Those ways don’t work. This is true, and it works,but people aren’t flocking to it—because they don’t want to walk in the light.They want a quick fix that doesn’t require so much cleaning of their hearts.They would rather try, or they would rather have a periodic cleansing.

Christians today do notwalk in complete joy, nor are they whiter than snow. They are living subnormalChristian lives. However, it is possible to walk in the light as He is in thelight. That way, you do not have to keep confessing so many of the same sins over and over, because you will not commit them.    

I used to be a“tryer” and a charger, and the Lord spared me. I am “doing” more with lesseffort now than I used to do with effort. This is so contrary to our normalmode of thinking that it may not make sense to you. Ask God to help it makesense so that you can reject trying and trust Him. Booksthat have helped me walk in the light include The Calvary Road, We WouldSee Jesus, and Broken People,Transforming Grace: The Gospel’s Message of Saving Love by Roy Hession and Continuous Revival and The Key to Everything by Norman Grubb.

For more on living by gracethrough faith, read my book Dead andAlive: Obedience and the New Man, available at Amazon.com and ccmbooks.org.

How To Be Free From Bitterness and other essays on Christian relationships

“Letthe words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Thysight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer” (v. 14). Many people, even Christians,don’t particularly care what they say in public or to whom they say it. Some ofus care very much. We think that if we pass the public approval on what we say,we’re ok.

Davidwasn’t satisfied with that. He said, “Let the words of my mouth and themeditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O God.” When we askthe Lord to make what we think about in our hearts and say with our mouthsacceptable in His sight, not just in other people’s sight, we don’t haveto worry about any great transgression.

Wecan pass this to our children as well. We are used to laying out rules for themto make their actions acceptable in our sight. Suppose we could teach ourchildren so that the meditation of their hearts would be acceptable in thesight of God? If our children were like that, how many rules would we have to laydown? Not many. Not many at all.

Hereis how you can teach your children to meditate on the Lord and have theirmeditation be acceptable in His sight. First, keep your meditationacceptable in God’s sight and the words of your mouth acceptable in Hissight. How do you speak to your children? Is that how you speak to everyoneelse? The Scripture says, “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks”(Matt. 12:34). When I take care of the mediation of my heart, I have alreadytaken care of what I’m going to say. What you say is the result of what you’remeditating on. If you are not mediating rightly, what you say will not be righteither in content or in manner. Your children will pick it up and meditateright back to you that way.

James3 says that out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing, and that shouldnot be. Ask God to make the meditation of your heart acceptable in His sight. Thatis the solution for holy, godly contact. That is where to start. I start with yourheart, your motivation. Then you can go on to your children’s hearts, yourchildren’s motivations.

Goback to dealing with secret sins. Go back to presumptuous sins. Go back to thewords of your mouth and the meditations of your heart. When you get thosethings acceptable in God’s sight, you won’t have to worry about falling overany cliffs.

Itis easy to fixate on big sins and let anything less than them pass for ok. Youare doing something little that is not right, and someone says, “What’s wrongwith that?” That’s what wrong with it—you saying, “What’s wrong withit.” What’s wrong is wanting to say that anything less than a big sin is ok.

Welive as if sin was the same as crime. If it’s not violating the law, then it’s alright.If it’s not literally violating the Ten Commandments, it’s ok. But Jesussaid, “Whoever looks at a woman to lust after her has committedadultery” (Matt. 5:28). God is after the meditation of your heart. The personwho solves the problem there doesn’t have to worry about the act of adultery.The person who solves the problem of hatred never has to worry about murder.The person who solves the problem of coveting never has to worry aboutstealing. Go after the basic things. Go after the heart sins underneath.

Whatif you are already guilty of the basic things? God forgives those like Heforgives great transgressions. But you have to admit it first. You have to callit sin. You may have a good reputation with your friends and family, but youare miserable in your heart. If so, start asking God to search your heart.

RecentlyI reread a letter I received in the 1970s from the wife of a navy captain ofthe Naval Academy Class of ’53. Her husband had just told her that that as soonas the seniors of the class of 1950 graduated at the end of his plebe year, theplebes (the freshmen) went through all the seniors’ rooms to see if they hadleft anything behind.

Thisman was not a Christian. He was searching through the dorms, and he came to myroom. He pulled open the locker door, and on the inside panel was pasted Psalm139:9: “If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts ofthe sea, even there Thy hand shall lead me, and Thy right hand shall hold me.” Thatstruck him. He became a Christian shortly thereafter, and twenty-six yearslater, I found out that that verse of Scripture pasted up in my locker door hadhelped bring him to the Lord.

Psalm139 is the greatest cure there is for secret sins. It is the story of a mantrying to run away from God and not succeeding. Verse 23 says, “Search me, OGod, and know my heart. Try me and know my thoughts, and see if there be anywicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” If you don’t know whatthe problem is, ask God to search you. Then in prevention of future sin, ask Himto cause the meditation of your heart to be acceptable in His sight.

Lookback at Psalm 19. David’s great desire and delight came from the Word of God.The Word of God is light; the Word of God is a joy. If you do not know how tomeditate in an acceptable way, dwell in the Scriptures, and you will come to findthem like gold, like much fine gold. Your heart will change directlyproportional to how much time you spend in the Word of God.

(To be continued November 5...)

How To Be Free From Bitterness and other essays on Christian relationships

Next, spend time in the Word. “The Bible will keep you from sin, or sinwill keep you from the Bible.”

“The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul;
The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple;
The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart;
The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes;
The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever;
The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.
More to be desired are they than gold,
Yea, than much fine gold;
Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.

Moreover by them Your servant is warned,
And in keeping them there is great reward. 

“Who can understand his errors?
Cleanse me from secret faults.
Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins;
Let them not have dominion over me.
Then I shall be blameless,
And I shall be innocent of great transgression. 

“Let the words of my mouth and the meditationof my heart
Be acceptable in Your sight,
O Lord, mystrength and my Redeemer” (Psalm 19:7-14 NKJV).

The law of the Lord is perfect, and itconverts the soul. God’s revelation revives, awakens, and changes men. His Word makes us wise, it rejoices, it enlightens, it endures.

When you read the Word,do you have a sense that you are immersed in something that is perfect, right,sure, clean, and righteous altogether? Are you enraptured by it? The Psalmist was.“More to be desired are theythan gold, yea, than much fine gold” (v. 10). Hedesired God’s Word for wealth—perfect wealth, fine gold. “Sweeter also thanhoney and the honeycomb” (v. 10). He desired it for taste—a pleasure he genuinelyenjoyed.

Do you desire the Wordof God like you desire wealth? Do you desire it like you desire honey? Does ittaste sweet to you? We should have a great desire for the Word of God.

There have been timesin my life when I would read the Word, and it seemed rather dead—and othertimes when I just couldn’t get enough of it in quantity or in quality. I wouldbe so wrapped up in it that I wouldn’t know whether to go on to the next passageor go back and repeat. I wanted more, and I also didn’t want to lose what I’djust gotten, because it was so precious, so sweet, so wonderful. It reallyrevives the soul, it really makes wise the simple, it really rejoices theheart, it really enlightens the eyes.

What else does God’srevelation do? “Moreover by them Your servant is warned” (v. 11). It warns us. “And in keeping them thereis great reward” (v. 11). When we obey these testimonies from God, thereis great reward.

“Who can understand his errors? Cleanseme from secret faults” (v. 12). Formost of my life, I assumed that “secret faults” were sins that I wasn’t awareof, and that we are to use this as a prayer of general confession after we haveconfessed the sins we know. Then I was spending time in The Treasury ofDavid (Spurgeon’s commentary on the Psalms), and I found that very fewpeople thought that. They said it meant, “Keep me from hiding my sins,” the wayDavid tried to hide his. Of course, there is no sense in trying to hide thesins we do openly—everyone knows about them already. Certain sins we doprivately: things we think, things we say. Those are harder to confess—just thefact that we hid them in the first place means we don’t want to acknowledgethem, because that would require bringing them out into the open before God.The Psalmist asks God to expose the things he is hiding. That had happened tohim. When David thought he had hidden his sin of adultery and murder, it tookthe prophet Nathan to tell him a parable and bring it out into the open.

Hiding sin is deadly. We might think nobody knows about it, andnobody’s going to know. We end up deceiving ourselves. There was a poem writtenin the 1800s about a man who murdered someone and buried him in a deep, darkstream. He went back the next day and found that the stream bed had gone dry,and there lay the corpse out in the open. He covered the corpse with leaves,and the wind blew them away. He realized that even if he buried the body 10,000fathoms deep, he wasn’t going to get away with the murder.   

Down went the corse with hollow plunge   

  Andvanish’d in the pool;  

Anon I cleans’d my bloody hands,  

  Andwash’d my forehead cool,

And sat among the urchins young,  

  Thatevening in the school…

 

Heavily I rose up, as soon   

  Aslight was in the sky,     

And sought the black accursed pool

  Witha wild misgiving eye:           

And I saw the Dead in the river bed,           

  Forthe faithless stream was dry…

 

With breathless speed, like a soul in chase,

  Itook him up and ran;       

There was no time to dig a grave    

 Before the day began:       

In a lonesome wood, with heaps of leaves, 

  Ihid the murder’d man.

 

And all that day I read in school,    

  Butmy thought was other where; 

As soon as the mid-day task was done,       

  Insecret I was there;         

And a mighty wind had swept the leaves,           

  Andstill the corse was bare!         

         

Then down I cast me on my face,   

  Andfirst began to weep,   

For I knew my secret then was one 

  Thatearth refus’d to keep:

Or land or sea, though he should be

  Tenthousand fathoms deep.          

         

So wills the fierce avenging Sprite,

  Tillblood for blood atones!          

Aye, though he ’s buried in a cave,         

  Andtrodden down with stones,     

And years have rotted off his flesh,—        

  Theworld shall see his bones.   

Lord, cleanse Thou me from the things I am hiding.

“Who can understand his errors?” (v. 12). We may not understand our ownsin because of our remarkable ability to self-deceive. The Word of God revealsour errors.

“Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins” (v. 13). Apresumptuous sin is something that you have not deceived yourself about.You knew it was wrong, but you had the audacity to do it anyway. By man’svaluation, it may not be a very big sin, but it is deliberate—for instance, awhite lie. We dare to lie, and God tells us that He has prepared a lake of firefor all liars. We dare to lie, and the Word says God hates liars. We don’t hidepresumptuous sins; we pull them off because everyone else is doing them, too.David asks God to keep him away from such sin.

“Let them not have dominion over me” (v. 13). I do it, I know it iswrong, and I do it again, and again, and again. Pretty soon, this sin has me ina vice. It has power over me, and I cannot keep from doing it. It may be an“acceptable” sin because everyone else is presuming it, too. But unless I amkept back from it, I end up as its slave. Let them not have dominion over me.

“ThenI shall be blameless, and I shall be innocent of great transgression” (v. 13).I counsel many people who have committed great transgressions. They confess thesin, and God forgives them—and they turn right around and do it again. Theyconfess it again, and they do it again. One man came to me for help with this.He would commit the sin, confess it, be forgiven, and immediately he would beright back in temptation. He would fall over the cliff again, confess, and findhimself tottering on the edge once more. He asked me, “Why do I keep doing thiswhen I have confessed it each time?”

Ifhe would take care of his other sins, he would be far away from the edge. Thereason people keep doing big sins over and over is that they have not beendelivered from the presumptuous sins and the secret sins that led up to them.The man who keeps falling is confessing his great sins, but he isn’t confessinghis little ones.

Whenpeople file for divorce, generally the situation is so bad and they hate eachother so much that it seems like there is no way to correct it. They did notanticipate this when they got married. If they had been kept from secret sinsand presumptuous sins, the divorce would never have happened.

Theway to stay away from big sins is to stay away from little ones. Don’t put upwith any sin in yourself. Keep your little sins confessed so that theycannot get dominion over you. I don’t have to worry about ever committing agreat transgression if I am kept from minor ones. If I am constantly confessingthe secret sins and the presumptuous sins, the devil can’t get close to me on abig one. He won’t even try.

Peoplehave often asked me why I never have any big sin problems and why my familyisn’t messed up like many other families. Simple. We take care of the secret sinsand the presumptuous ones. It’s not that we’re favored. We aren’t. The devilsimply knows that he can’t trip us up with great temptations, so he works on uswith little ones (or he keeps trying to, anyway). He knows he cannot get usinto the 8th grade in sin until we pass the 1st grade. Aslong as I keep flunking the devil’s 1st grade, I get held back, andI don’t make it to his advanced courses. Make sure you are flunking the devil’s1st grade.

(To be continued November 3...)

D.L. Moody

The Dream of Eugene Aram. Hood,Thomas. 1895. Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908).  AVictorian Anthology, 1837–1895.

How To Be Free From Bitterness and other essays on Christian relationships

Another aspect of walking in the lightis spending time with the Lord everysingle day, in the Word and in prayer. We will look at prayer first.

Get into the habit of praying. I am nota very good prayer when it comes to setting aside time and praying for an hourstraight. I am much better at praying all the time. If I’m walking, running, orsitting, if I’m driving, if I’m thinking, I talk to God. Mostly I talk aboutpeople. I don’t talk to God about myself much, unless I’m in trouble. Yearsago, InterVarsity staff member Bill Steeper said, “It was a wonderful thingwhen I got myself off my own hands.” He turned himself over to God. Corrie tenBoom said the same thing to me. She was riding in the back of a car one nighton a dangerous road. The driver was going way too fast, and she was terrified.She decided to spend the time interceding for other people. When she prayed forothers, her fear disappeared.

“Andso it was, after the Lord had spoken these words to Job, that the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite, ‘Mywrath is aroused against you and your two friends, for you have not spoken ofMe what is right, as My servant Job has. Now therefore, takefor yourselves seven bulls and seven rams, go to My servant Job, andoffer up for yourselves a burnt offering; and My servant Job shall pray foryou. For I will accept him, lest I deal with you according to your folly;because you have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job has.’ So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar theNaamathite went and did as the Lord commanded them; for the Lord had accepted Job. And the Lord restored Job’s losses when heprayed for his friends. Indeed the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before” (Job 42:7-10).

Job had repented, and the Lord hadaccepted him, but it was when Job interceded for his friends that the Lordacted to restore his fortunes. Make it a habit to intercede for others everyday. No family is without problems. My family has had our share of them. Whathas helped us most is not letting ourselves get wrapped up in the problems.When we keep interceding for and being concerned about others, we don’t havetime to be too concerned about ourselves.

One of the first times I spoke on thissubject was after the birth and death of our little granddaughter Alexa. Mydaughter-in-law Meredith was two weeks overdue. Alexa was 9 lbs. 10 oz., thelabor was long, and she was born not breathing. Two of the nurses were intears. Meredith was comforting one nurse, and my son Gordon was comforting theother. That’s the way it was for the next fifteen months until Alexa died. Whenyou give yourself to other people, God gives you extra grace for your owntroubles.

You need to make a choice. Choose toalways turn up to God; don’t ever turn inward. Turning inward is a downhillspiral.

“Doubtless,” said I, “whatit utters is its only stock and store

Caught from someunhappy master whom unmerciful Disaster

Followed fast andfollowed faster till his songs one burden bore—

Till the dirges of hisHope that melancholy burden bore

Of ‘Never –nevermore.’”

Do not turn in! Turn up to the light andturn out to others.

When you look up instead of in, you will become aware of your sin, but once youare aware of it, it can be taken care of right away. You will be back in thejoy of the Lord quickly. When you look out, you will be concerned about others,for their benefit.

(To be continued October 31...)

Poe, Edgar Allan. The Raven.

How To Be Free From Bitterness and other essays on Christian relationships