Richard Foster on the Discipline of Service

From 'Celebration of Discipline':

"Radical self-denial gives the feel of adventure. If we forsake all, we even have the chance of glorious martyrdom. But in service we must experience the many little deaths of going beyond ourselves. Service banishes us to the mundane, the ordinary, the trivial."
p158

"Of all the classical Spiritual Disciplines, service is the most conductive to the growth of humility ... Nothing disciplines the inordinate desires of the flesh like service, and nothing transforms the desires of the flesh like serving in hiddenness. The flesh whines against service but screams against hidden service. It strains and pulls for honour and recognition."
p161

"True service rests contented in hiddenness. It does not fear the lights and blare of attention, but it does not seek them either. Since it is living out of a new Centre of reference, the divine nod of approval is completely sufficient."
p160

One reality must be clearly understood in the life of service. The very fact that we are finite means that to say 'yes' to one task of necessity means saying 'no' to other tasks.
p172

D.L. Moody & Early Public Speaking

Some encouraging words from the biography of D.L. Moody. We may very well be weak, imperfect, under-experienced and aware of all our shortcomings. But to be used by God in all of it... awesome!

"While still retaining a reluctance to engage in public speaking, he, nevertheless, did engage in it, and his efforts were owned of God. He made mistakes; stumbled through his periods and perpetrated innumerable grammatical blunders. Yet he grew to ignore these shortcomings, almost as though they were non-existent. His chief, his only concern was to deliver a message of cheer, hope and salvation. None was more conscious of the imperfect character of his public utterances than he himself. But this consciousness did not deter him, and great spiritual blessing accrued."
D.L. Moody - Soul Winner, Cheshire Mann, p33

"It is an open question [he said in later years], whether, at any time during my public ministry, was the thing I tried to do more signally owned of God, than in the days when I faltered and blundered in my efforts to reach the lost. This I can say, without any sense of misgiving. God knew my heart. He realized how I yearned to bring men to His feet. And He supplied in rich abundance all, and everything I lacked. It was His work and He richly fulfilled His promise. His work not returned unto Him void."
D.L. Moody - Soul Winner, Cheshire Mann, p33-4

Notes on Proverbs 3

"Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
   and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him,
   and he will make straight your paths.
Be not wise in your own eyes;
   fear the LORD, and turn away from evil.
It will be healing to your flesh
   and refreshment to your bones.

Honor the LORD with your wealth
   and with the firstfruits of all your produce;
   then your barns will be filled with plenty,
   and your vats will be bursting with wine.

My son, do not despise the LORD's discipline
   or be weary of his reproof,
   for the LORD reproves him whom he loves,
   as a father the son in whom he delights."
Proverbs 3: 5-12

Absolutely packed full of goodness! So much there. Here are my own thoughts on this passage of Scripure:

"Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding."

It says to trust with you heart. Interesting that it says 'heart' and not 'head'. If we trusted with our head, our trust would be based on knowledge, rationality and understanding. But we are denied all three. Instead, we are commanded not to lean on our own understanding, which is another way of saying we may have no clue what's going on.

Quite liberating in a way, because we're not then limited by our own IQ, but rather God's, which is infinite.

I would describe the heart as your innermost convictions, beliefs and desires that underpins your entire person. In this your heart is much deeper that your head. It's the 'wellspring of life' (Prov 4:23). If this heart is set trusting in the Lord, you are anchored well.

"In all your ways acknowledge him" - it's a deliberate act. It takes a decison. We can acknowledge him in some of our ways, that's easy. We give the easiest things over to Christ's headship. Things we don't really mind, that we don't feel the cost of handing over control. But the more precious things, these we can hold onto in a fashion that's "off-limits" for Jesus.

"and he will make straight your paths." - what an awesome promise. The Lord will draw a line in front of you and show you the way. We will know where we're going. Our path will be a simple one. But simple doesn't mean easy. We could have many battles along the way. Perhaps our biggest battle is faith in God when it really counts.

"Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD, and turn away from evil."

Three specific commands that will safeguard our soul through life. All three require a conscious effort, and the reason they're listed must be because we have a natural inclination to do the opposite. Holiness will not happen on it's own, our flesh will not take care of itself. We have to walk humbly and make war on sin.

In the next verse we are given a serious incentive:

"It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones"

Love it! Who wouldn't want that? Having your bones refreshed - who else can give you that level of refreshment? Only Jesus!

"Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce"

Giving to God is honour to God. It's so easy to forget! We can fall into thinking that it's just something we're supposed to do. But no! It's personal, a display of love and service to our illustrious Master. Honouring God extends to the whole of our wealth, it's not just our giving. It's all of our expenditure executed as an act of worship.

"Firstfruits" - give to God before anything else. Slip the giving in there before the rent, the electricity bill, the weekly food shop. In this God is the number one priority. Other things can fall by the wayside. And this is one of the ways we acknowledge him.

A brilliant guide to giving is found in 2 Corinthians 9:6-7

"The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver."

We are under no law as to what we give, but simply to decide in our heart. We should be lead by the Spirit and prayerfully submit it to God. We can give as much or as little as we want, in the knowledge that we will reap what we sow. Generosity is the issue, rather than a hardline legalistic percentage of your income.

Our giving should be a joy to us. Your heart, your desires and your passions need to be aligned with the Kingdom of God. Faith needs to override fear when money's tight. If giving is painful and a chore, we should get time to check our hearts, our faith in God, our true desires.

"then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine."

We see the same promises in the Old and New Testaments. And they're pretty amazing. It's the whole idea that you can't out-give God.

"My son, do not despise the LORD's discipline or be weary of his reproof, for the LORD reproves him whom he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights."

The beginning of Proverbs is like a father instructing a son. It's done in love. We all need discipline and correction from time to time. The question is, are we prepared to walk in humble repentance?

Proverbs 9:8-9 says

"Do not reprove a scoffer, or he will hate you;
   reprove a wise man, and he will love you.
Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be still wiser;
   teach a righteous man, and he will increase in learning."

It's not easy to be a wise man. Sometimes a rebuke is like a slap in the face. Your gut feeling is to strike back, especially if they've touched on an area that's very sensitive. It takes a lot of self-control and humility to simply take the hit, and then thank the person.

The conviction of the Holy Spirit is similar. It pin-points the sore spots, like a surgeon with a scalpel. It's very sharp and is delivered with pin-point accuracy. Our natural reaction can be to wince, curl up in a ball and sulk.

Too shy, too awkward

Joel Virgo, CCK Preaching Course:

"Awkwardness may have more to do with a fear of man than a fear of God."

Ouch! Standing up in front of people and speaking is always a struggle for me. Maybe I'm just too self-aware, too conscious of the thoughts of others when really my fear of God should be much greater. It should drown everything else out.

Fear of God should result in confidence before man. God is awesome. If He's called us to a task, He will equip. And His resources are infinite.

"Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows."
Matthew 10:28-31

Personality hang-ups

We all have hang-ups about our personality traits – "I'm too shy, too quiet, not particularly articulate". I love this paragraph from Joel Virgo's CCK Preaching Course about finding your voice as a preacher, recognising that God has made you a certain way for a reason:

"We probably don't like our voice much. Now this is not because we have a poor self-image or a hurting inner-child – it is because our pride is so scandalously blatant that we dare say to God why did you make me like this? I would have done a better job. I would have made me to be just like _________ [your favourite preacher's name here]. I cannot trust you God. I will not be me...' So don't get all self-help paperback on me... It's plain old-fashioned sin to want to be someone else all the time. Put it to death."

Awesome! I love it.

Humility is Masculine (Part 2)

I've been pondering on the whole idea of humility, and how it is a very masculine trait. Instead of making you 'meek and mild' it frees you up for greater and bolder works. It enables you to roll with the punches, absorb jabs, brushing them off unscathed.

To grasp your own insignificance is a good thing. The vastness of the universe is mind blowing*. And to think that God measures the heavens with the span of his hand nearly makes my head explode (see Isaiah 40:12). God is big, we are small.

To be less conscious and worried about self is the opposite of pride (which is the original sin committed by Satan, and seems to be every persons default position). Humility, I think, is when your focus shifts from looking at yourself to looking at God. The less mindful you are about self, the less worried you'll be about the opinions of others. In turn, this frees you up for attempting greater and bolder works.

So what if you fail miserably? So what if you experience a bit of embarrassment or criticism? When you grasp how small you are, the less worried you'll be about it.

Ironically, this could produce the sort of man that the world celebrates: a risk taker, bold acts, unfazed by pain and hardships and the weight of other people's opinions. The difference being that you're not self-assured, but engulfed in the hugeness of God.

----- -----

*Interestingly, I recently learnt that the universe is the precise size that it needs to be in order to support carbon-based life forms. Any smaller, and human beings would not exist.

Humility is Masculine (Part 1)

Another quick thought (and one which I'll expand on later) is that humility and repentance are both very masculine traits when you think about it. They're the mark of a true Christian. As Luther said, 'all of life is repentance'.

They're also very difficult to achieve. They're the opposite of human nature. To achieve them requires strength, perseverance, endurance, boldness, courage and faith. There's nothing easy about that, but the more you think about it, the more these traits fit in with true masculinity.