How to be proper, pleasing and perfect

 "Do not be conformed to this world, but continuously be transformed by the renewing of your minds so that you may be able to determine what God's will is--what is proper, pleasing, and perfect." --Romans 12:2

Last week we talked about what the Bible says about finding and doing God's will.  Today I want to follow the three criteria listed in Romans 12:2 for knowing whether something is in fact God's will.  I want to find Scriptures about what is Proper (or Good), Pleasing, and Perfect.

Proper
People who come from a High Church tradition will immediately think of 1 Corinthians 14:40, where Paul was instructing the church to limit activities that might cause unbelievers to stay away from church services, or even make fun of them.  He specifically mentioned prophecy and tongues, saying in verse 39 that they are both good things for a Christian to do, but don't go crazy with it. "But everything (in a worship service) must be done in a proper and orderly way."

Okay.  But I want to go a different direction with this.  I want to look at the word in the context of receiving God's blessing.  Look at Psalm 104, and we see God's divine plan for all of creation:

The moon marks off the seasons, and the sun knows when to go down.  You bring darkness, it becomes night, and all the beasts of the forest prowl.  The lions roar for their prey and see their food from God.  The sun rises, and they steal away; they return and lie down in their dens.  Then man goes out to his work, to his labor until evening.  How many are your works, O Lord! In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.  There is the sea, vast and spacious, teeming with creatures beyond number--living things both large and small.  There the ships go to and fro, and the leviathan, which you formed to frolic there. These all look to you to give them their food at the proper time. When you give it to them, they gather it up; when you open your hand, they are satisfied with good things. --Psalm 104:19-28

Several scriptures come to mind--for everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven (Ecclesiastes 3:2).  God's timing is impeccable!  But his ways are not our ways.  We may want it now, but "they who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not faint." (Isaiah 40:31).  And if it seems like God will never answer your prayers, look at a similar passage in Psalm 145:

The Lord is faithful to all his promises and loving toward all he has made.  The Lord upholds all those who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down.  The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food at the proper time, You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing. --Psalm 145:14-16

God takes care of his own.  Psalm 37:25 says, "I have not seen the righteous forsaken, or his children begging bread."  Most often, God uses his people to meet the needs of other people.  Jesus said, "Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time?  It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns." (Matthew 24:45-46).  Paul said, "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.  Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers." (Galatians 6:9-10).

So we see it is proper for us to trust God for our provision, and to provide for others when we have opportunity.  "Give, and it shall be given to you--a good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap.  For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." (Luke 6:38)

Pleasing
If I want to find God's will for my life, I don't simply want to avoid things that displease him; I want to find out what is pleasing to him. "May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer." (Psalm 19:14).  Remember last week, one of the verses we read was 1 Thessalonians 5:17-18: "Pray continuously; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."  Well, we find this command throughout the Bible.  Psalm 104:34 says, "May my meditation be pleasing to him, as I rejoice in the Lord."

When Paul was writing to the church in Rome, some of the young Christians there had participated in sacrifices made to pagan gods.  When the sacrifice was done, the meat from the animals that had been presented on the altar was sold in the open market there.  People knew that it was the best meat, because they chose the best animals to sacrifice to their gods.  Anyway, it became a controversy in the church whether Christians should buy meat in the market without asking whether it had been used in pagan worship.  Many mature Christians knew that the idols were not real, so it didn't matter to them--they could eat it in good conscience, whether it had been used in idol worship or not.  But others made it a point to ask where the meat came from, so they would not be guilty of being associated with pagan practices.  Those who abstained started judging those who ate, and those who ate were calling them names.  None of this was pleasing to God.  So Paul instructed them in Romans 14:17, "For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit, because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men."

Paul was a missionary.  Sure, he was a tent-maker by trade, but the more he traveled to share Christ with the Gentiles, the less time he had to support himself.  Some of the churches that he had helped to start would take up offerings to send to him.  The church at Philippi took up such an offering, and sent it with a man named Epaphroditus, a member of the church, to give to Paul.  Philippians 4:18-19 says, "I have received full payment and even more; I am amply supplied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent.  They are a fragrant offering, and acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God.  And my God will supply all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus."  In the same way, it pleases God for us to give to those in his service, to pastors and teachers and missionaries.

To summarize, good words, good works, good gifts are all pleasing to God.  Being full of the Holy Spirit and being righteous, peaceful and joyful is pleasing to God.  An evidence that God is pleased with us is when all of our own needs are met, after we have met the needs of others.  And isn't that how Jesus taught us to pray when he said, "Pray like this....give us this day our daily bread..."?

Perfect
Jesus said, "Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly father is perfect." (Matthew 5:48).  But how can that be?  We're humans, after all, with a sin nature.  How in the world can we be made perfect?  The answer is found in 2 Corinthians 12:9, where Jesus spoke to Paul and said, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in your weakness."

Remember that God's work is most often done through imperfect people.  It is all part of God's perfect plan.  "O Lord, you are my God; I will exalt and praise your name, for in perfect faithfulness you have done marvelous things, things planned long ago." (Isaiah 25:1).  In context, this verse is part of an exclamation Isaiah made when he saw that the enemies of God had been defeated in battle by the Israeli army.  If anything is imperfect, it is an army!  But God is faithful to his purpose, and can use you in whatever circumstance you are in to bring about his perfect will.  We don't have to worry about it.  "You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is staid on You, because he trusts in You." (Isaiah 26:3)

When we recognize our imperfections, we should study the scriptures together regularly.  There should be a leader or pastor whom we follow, one who is mature in Christ and can say with Paul, "We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone in all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me." (Colossians 1:28-29).

To summarize, then, we should try to be perfect, and to be faithful even when we are not perfect.  We should study the scriptures together to encourage one another to be like Christ, who is the perfect one of God.  Evidence of his perfection in us is faithfulness and peace.

 

Somewhere between passing and perfection

                                                                        

I graduated college 30 years ago this month.  I must confess that as a freshman, I was more concerned with my GPA than I was at the end of my senior year.  I started out trying hard to reach perfection--I didn't reach it, but I was this close, and I felt good about it.  I ended up just doing enough to get out--my rationale was "even the person who graduates last in medical school is still called doctor."

It is clear that I did not take to heart the truth in 2 Timothy 2:15: "Study to show yourself approved to God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."

Now I am older, and have two kids who have graduated college.  What advice to I give them?  The same advice found in Romans 12:2. "Do not be conformed to this world, but continuously be transformed by the renewing of your minds so that you may be able to determine what God's will is--what is proper, pleasing, and perfect."

Technology is advancing.  It is important to keep up your knowledge and skills, so that your career does not pass you by.  I have learned something about my profession this week that I have not known or done well since I began 24 years ago.  But it was a case of learn the new process, or start looking for another line of work.  It is amazing what your mind can do, given the proper motivation.

It is the same way spiritually.  We must follow hard after God, lest He leaves us behind.  I'm not talking about losing your salvation here--I believe that once I have given my life to Christ, I am kept by the Spirit, as a child of God, who will never leave me nor forsake me.  No, what I mean is that His perfect will is going to be accomplished, and we can either be in the vanguard, the forefront, or we will be in the rear guard.  In other words, we can step out in faith and be God's hero for our times, or we can be dragged behind, kicking and screaming.

By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family....By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even thought he did not know where he was going....By faith Abraham, even though he was past age--and Sarah herself was barren-- was enabled to become a father because he considered him faithful who had made the promise....By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh's daughter.  He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time.  He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, not fearing the king's anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible. --Hebrews 11:7a, 8, 11, 24-27

You may be saying, Wait.  These Old Testament heroes, they heard God's voice.  God audibly spoke to them, so they knew exactly what He wanted them to do.  I don't know about you, but God has never spoken audibly to me.  So how do I know what His perfect will is for me? How can I know what is proper and pleasing in His eyes?

I'm glad you asked.  If you want to know God completely, study what He said in His word.  "How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping it according to your word.  I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you." (Psalm 119:9,11)

If you want to be called a friend of God, one with whom He speaks, be aware of some simple principles:

• Be thankful.  "In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." (1 Thessalonians 5:8)
• Be humble.  "He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.  And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly before your God." (Micah 6:8)
• Be submissive.  "Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right.  For it is God's will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men." (1 Peter 2:13-15)
• Be hopeful.  "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm  you, plans to give you a hope and a future." (Jeremiah 29:11)
• Be sold out to God.  "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 direct your paths." (Proverbs 3:5-6)

In today's parlance, you hang out with your friends.  The friends of God hang out with him, and by doing so they become more like Him.  But when we don't spend time with Him, don't talk to him every day, don't read his word so He can talk to us--that's when all our works will be burned up as with fire.  "If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames." (1 Corinthians 3:15).

That, my friends, is the difference between passing and perfection.  As for me, I still don't have a perfect score in God's grade-book.  But I am running the race as one who will grasp the prize (cf 1 Corinthians 9:24).

Give me one pure and holy passion.
Give me one magnificent obsession.
Jesus, give me one glorious ambition for my life:
To know and follow hard after You.
To know and follow hard after You,
To grow as Your disciple in the Truth,
This world is empty, pale, and poor
Compared to knowing You my Lord.
Lead me on, and I will run after You.

 

 

Heads up!

Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.  See, I am doing a new thing!  Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?  I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland. --Isaiah 43:18,19

Are you a prisoner of your past?  Do the former things paralyze you with fear?  May it never be!  The past can be constructive, in that we can build on it.  The past can be instructive, as we can learn from it.  But the past should never be destructive of our present or of our future.

Yes, some of the decisions we make have long-lasting consequences.  We may hate ourselves for making them.  Yet through God in Christ we can replace our self-hate with his love.  "Behold what manner of love the Father has given unto us that we should be called the sons of God." (1 John 3:1).  His love can take a wrecked relationship and make it new.  "The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end.  They are new every morning.  Great is Thy faithfulness!" (Lamentations 3:22,23).

Two Sundays ago, our pastor made an interesting distinction.  Many times in the Bible we read the promise, "I will remember your sins no more."  We tend to mis-read that, because our minds are trained in opposites.  The opposite of "remember" is "forget".  So we think that God forgets our sin.  That is not true.  It is not God's nature to forget, for he is all-knowing.  The promise that he will remember our sins no more indicates a conscious decision on God's part--he chooses not to recall our sins.  How wonderful our human relationships would be if we would follow God's example in this fashion.  Many of us say, "I'll forgive, but I can't forget."  That means we choose to recall the trespass.  It sits in the back of our minds and marinates.  If we let it stew long enough, but keep it bottled up, any little thing might make us explode.  "Honey, would you please pick up the dry cleaning on your way home.  Try to remember; write it down.  I don't want you to forget, like YOU FORGOT THAT YOU LOVED ME AT THE BEACH THAT SUMMER WHEN YOU WERE EYEING THAT BLOND IN THE RED BIKINI!!!" 

Do not dwell in the past.  The Hebrews in the Old Testament were traditionalists.  They always remembered being rescued from slavery in Egypt.  But when they were carried off into exile by their neighbors from the north, God told them to keep hope fresh and alive, not because of what God had done in the past, but because of what he was doing in the present.  Jeremiah 16:14-15 says, "However, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when men will no longer say, 'As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the Israelites up out of Egypt,' but they will say, 'As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the Israelites out of the land of the north and out of the countries where he had banished them.' For I will restore them to the land I gave their forefathers."  He wants us to look up to Him for His provision, not over our shoulders for lessons from the past.

Jesus came to foment a sea-change in our relationship with God.  The Jews would not believe it, for they were stuck in their old ways.  "But if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things are passed away, behold the new has come." (2 Corinthians 5:17).  Embrace the new.  Do not be tied to tradition.

The graphic at the beginning of this piece references Revelation 21:5, "He who was seated on the throne said, 'I am making everything new!'  Then he said, 'Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.' "  Acts 2:17 promises that "In the last days, God says, I will pour out my spirit on all people.  Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams."  Traditionalists will point back to Advent, the first time that the Holy Spirit came upon multiple people at one time.  This is described later in Acts chapter two, and was evidenced by them speaking in languages that all present could understand.  Some, however, see this prophesy coming true in our own time.  It is true that we are closer now to the coming of our Lord to establish His kingdom on Earth, closer than we have ever been before.  Who is to say that the Spirit is not moving in a fresh way among us?  

In the parable of the ten virgins in Matthew 25, Jesus told of two different groups--The five who were unprepared had their lamps, but their oil had run out and their wicks were burned down.  They were living in the past, hoping that the lamps would not need trimming.  The five who were prepared had oil set aside, for they were looking to the future.  All slept, but maybe those who had no oil were dreaming of things past; perhaps those who were prepared were dreaming of the future.  When the bridegroom arrived, the forward-looking girls were included in the wedding feast.

Do not miss the marriage-supper of the Lamb by being imprisoned by the past, or by being tied to traditions.

Lift up your heads, O you gates; be lifted up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in.  Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O you gates; lift them up you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in.  Who is he, this King of Glory? The Lord Almighty--he is the King of glory. --Psalm 24:7-10

Birds got to fly, fish got to swim

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Question: Do fish know they're wet? Do bees know that the honeycomb is sweet? Do songbirds know that their voices are beautiful?  And to the same point, if you'll pardon the anthropomorphism--do wheels know that they are round?

I think the answer to all these questions is "no".  

Each of these things is only doing what they were designed and created to do.  Fish were made to swim. That is their nature.  The bees build their hives to make honeycomb.  That is their job.  Birds use their voices to communicate, just like we do.  But each of them, in their own way, are useful to humans.  I believe they were all created by God's good pleasure for us to enjoy--for entertainment or for food; to warn us of danger or for use in medicine.  All of nature has a purpose.  (Even the mosquito.  But that's another story.)

And just like the wheel, man has invented machines and tools to help us accomplish greater and greater things.  Each simple machine (e.g. the wheel, the lever, the inclined plane) can be used to make more complex machines (e.g. pulleys, scales, wedges), and so on.  Each part has its own function, its own reason for being, to contribute to the work that the entire machine performs.  Each machine, each part of each machine, was designed for a specific purpose.  The same goes for the animals.

So what about us?  What are we designed for?  Biologists say we are like the animals, and we are designed chiefly to procreate.  Taken to the extreme, there is an entire industry devoted to procreation, and it has devolved into the "adult entertainment" sub-culture.  Moralists say we are here to help each other.  Where one has a need, another has a surplus.  We may give of our surplus to meet the others' needs.  Or we may devise a system of barter or trade (economics) to buy and sell goods and services, so that where there is a surplus, a price can be negotiated with the one who has the need.  Taken to the extreme, people become greedy, and look out more for themselves than for others, which can lead to riches or to hoarding, depending on your circumstances.

What does God say we were made for?  After all, He was the designer and chief architect.  The Westminster Catechism says, "The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever."  What would happen if, before we did anything, we asked ourselves how our action--our going, doing, or speaking--would glorify God?  We might lose some bad habits pretty quickly.  But before long, we would get used to godliness, and not spend time thinking about it.

St. Augustine wrote, "You have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in You."  All of the stuff we do on our own, for our own purposes, will not be remembered long.  All the things we make with our hands will be burned, unless we make it for God's purpose and to His glory.

Genesis 1:27 says we were all made in God's image.  All of us: male and female, black and white, short and tall, thin and the rest of us.  Everybody.  If we all looked in the mirror and saw the Creator rather than our own image, we might be more prone to produce the fruit of the Spirit--love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control (Galatians 5:22).

If we all thought more about who made us than what we want to make of ourselves, if we all thought more about what He purposes in His heart for us to do rather than what we in our flesh want to do, if we all spent more time talking to Him rather than talking to other people, reading about God instead of reading newspapers or magazines, listening to Him instead of listening to radio, TV or other devices--if we did all of that, His Spirit would dwell in us so deeply that we would glorify Him without even thinking about it.

Many of us can think of people we know that are truly Christ-like.  If we asked them about it, they might not realize that what they are doing is out of the ordinary.  They are just doing what God asks them to do, day in and day out fulfilling the reason that they were created in the first place.

But we should be careful comparing ourselves to other people.  While the Bible clearly admonishes us to develop relationships with other Christians, and to engage in corporate worship, we want to be careful to avoid unfair comparisons.  If we gaze too long at the creation, we will forget to set our eyes on the Creator.  We might begin to covet their spiritual gifts, or their riches, or their possessions.  And that is sin.  Or we might start to be prideful of our position, or of our riches, or of our gifts.  That, too, is sin.

"Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of God.  Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart." (Hebrews 12:2-3)

Many times, married couples start to take up each other's mannerisms--the way they smile, or cock their heads, or raise their eyebrows.  As time goes on, they actually many times begin to resemble each other. In the same way, some people are attracted to their pets because of familiar physical traits.  Some may even groom their pets (or themselves) to play up the favorable comparison (see photos above). Friends, let us be so attracted to God that we recognize His image in us.  Let us spend so much time with Jesus that we begin to resemble Him in our walk and in our words.  Let us be so controlled by the Spirit that when people look at us, they see Him.  That is what we were made for.