Your Foundation in Christ (Victory Series Book #3): Live By the Power of the Spirit (3 page)

Lamentations 3:1–24

Key Point

If what we believe does not reflect truth, then what we feel does not match reality.

Key Verse

For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.

Proverbs 23:7
NKJV

W
hen truth enters our heart, it immediately stimulates an emotional response. Only in the heart do our mind, emotion, and will come together in holistic unity. We have little or no direct control over our emotions. We cannot willfully change how we feel, but we do have control over what we think and what we choose to believe. Our emotions are primarily a product of our thoughts. How we think and what we choose to believe affect how we feel.

Suppose your company is laying off personnel. You have been a faithful employee for years and believe the current downsizing won’t affect you.
On Monday, your boss says he wants to see you Friday morning at 10:30. At first you may assume that you will be laid off and become angry. Then your mind goes back and forth about other possibilities. You feel anxious because you don’t know the truth, and now you are speculating. By Thursday you have become convinced in your own mind that you will be laid off tomorrow, and now you are depressed because you feel hopeless and helpless. In four days you have felt angry, anxious, and helpless, and none of those feelings have any basis in reality. They are all a product of your own thoughts.

Friday finally arrives. As you enter the office, you are greeted with applause by the management team, who inform you that you have been promoted to vice president. How would you feel now after hearing the truth? If what you believe or think does not reflect truth, then what you feel does not match reality.

Notice how the writer of Lamentations feels as he mentally recalls negative circumstances: “I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me” (3:19–20). He believes that God has driven him from light to darkness (see verses 1–6). He feels trapped and doesn’t believe God hears his cry for help (see verses 7–8). Not only that, God has led him astray, pounced on him like a wild beast, and pierced his heart with an arrow (see verses 9–13). He has become a laughingstock among his peers (see verse 14). All these negative circumstances and perceptions have left him bitter and without peace (see verses 15–18). His soul has become downcast because he mentally entertains all these dismal thoughts.

Suddenly, his whole countenance changes: “Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the L
ORD
’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness” (verses 21–23). There has been no change in his external circumstances; what has changed is his mental process. He has recalled the truth about God. It would have done no good for someone to say he shouldn’t feel that way about God, because he couldn’t really have changed how he felt. He could, however, change how he has been thinking—and he did. When he chose to believe the truth about God, his emotions conformed to reality.

It isn’t others or the environment that determines how we feel. We are emotionally impacted by how we mentally evaluate the circumstances of life and by what we have chosen to think and believe.

What is the connection between faith and feelings?

In Lamentations 3:1–14, how does the writer express his feelings to God? How do his perceptions leave him bitter and without peace?

What does the writer realize in verses 21–23? How does this change his emotional state and his outlook on life?

What are some times that your feelings toward others didn’t match reality because what you believed about them wasn’t true?

How should the truth impact you emotionally as you meditate on God’s Word?

Anyone who is searching for consolation outwardly in the things of the world is not capable of being reformed inwardly by the favor of divine consolation. Whoever yearns after lowly delight cannot receive the Spirit of truth. The Spirit of truth flees from a heart it discerns is subject to vanity and restores by the light of His coming only those it beholds carrying out the commandments of truth out of love.

Bede (AD 673–735)

Hosea 4:1–6

Key Point

People are not in bondage to past traumas—they are in bondage to the lies they believed as a result of the trauma.

Key Verse

My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge.

Hosea 4:6

T
he nation of Israel was apostate. Even the land suffered from the immorality of the people (see Hosea 4:3). God warned the priests not to blame the people, as they too were guilty of sinning and also guilty of not teaching the truth. “My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also reject you as my priests; because you have ignored the law of your God” (verse 6). Ignorance
of the law is not an acceptable excuse, and people will remain in bondage to their sins if they don’t know the truth.

Paul raises a similar issue concerning salvation in Romans 10:14–15: “How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent?” This is why the Church has been commissioned—to preach the gospel to the ends of the earth (see Matthew 28:19). We are saved by faith, but if we don’t know what it is that we are to believe, then how can we be saved? If we don’t know the truth, how can the truth set us free?

If a department store had a 50-percent-off sale on all its merchandise, you couldn’t take advantage of it if you never heard about it. Merchants have to get the word out if they are going to stay in business, and so does the Church. The Church is “the pillar and foundation of the truth” (1 Timothy 3:15). Being members of the Body of Christ, we are called to speak the truth in love (see Ephesians 4:15, 25) and to share our faith with those who have never heard the good news. Ignorance is not bliss; it is defeat.

Even if we have heard the good news so as to believe unto salvation, we must still have an increasing knowledge of the truth to live liberated lives. People are in bondage to lies or to falsehoods they have chosen to believe in the past. If truth sets people free, then lies will keep them in bondage. Many Christians are not experiencing their freedom in Christ because of past traumatic experiences. It is not the trauma experiences themselves that are keeping believers in bondage; rather, they are in bondage to the lies they have believed as a result of the trauma.

Consider children who have been abused by their father. They could choose to believe that they are no good, or that God doesn’t love them, or that they deserved the abuse. Such children develop a negative perception of themselves and a negative concept of God the Father. Unless such beliefs are replaced with truth, they will remain in bondage to false beliefs.

There are also spiritual forces in this world that seek to deceive us into believing lies. Satan, the father of lies, “leads the whole world astray” (Revelation 12:9). We have been warned “that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons”
(1 Timothy 4:1). A lie is a lie no matter where it comes from, and it is our responsibility to choose the truth that will set us free.

In Hosea 4:1–6, why did God hold the priests accountable for the people’s sin? What had the priests failed to do that kept the people in bondage?

Why is it so important for believers to speak the truth in love?

Why are many believers not experiencing the freedom they have received in Christ?

What past experiences have distorted your beliefs about yourself and God?

How can you choose to embrace God’s truth so that you will not be “destroyed from lack of knowledge”?

Since we have been “created in truth and righteousness” and have been reborn in baptism, in order to remain in it we are instructed to put away lying altogether. Hold fast to truth. Do not cheat your brother in any way. Being members of one body, support one another’s causes in turn.

Ambrosiaster (written c. AD 366–384)

Living Under Authority

Under the Old Covenant, God intended to establish His people in the Promised Land. The Mosaic Law was both civil and ceremonial. The prophet, priest, and king roughly represented the legislative, judicial, and executive branches of government. Each branch had certain restrictions to ensure proper check and balance. The king could not use his executive powers for personal gain (see Deuteronomy 17:14–20). The priests avoided any conflict of interest by having no portion of the land (see 18:1–8). The prophets could not speak presumptuously (see 18:20–22). The system broke down when Solomon violated every one of his restrictions (compare 1 Kings 10:14–11:8 with Deuteronomy 17:14–20).

Under the New Covenant, Christians have dual citizenship. First, “our citizenship is in heaven” (Philippians 3:20) because of our new birth in Christ. Second, we have a citizenship in our respective countries because
of our natural birth or naturalization processes. The Word of God governs the Church, but the state has its own constitution. How, then, do we relate to these two governing authorities? Paul said, “Let everyone be subject to the governing [higher] authorities, for there is no authority except that which God established” (Romans 13:1). The primary reason we are to submit to higher authorities is because “there is no authority except that which God has established.” If we rebel against any higher authority, we are rebelling against God (see verse 3), and we bring civil and/or divine judgment on ourselves.

The Church as a whole is never charged with the responsibility of governing the state. The Church is the conscience of the state. Individual members of the Church are citizens of the state who may be called to civil service. Civil authorities are God’s servants who are instruments of justice in the land (see verse 4). Government forces, when properly used, prevent tyranny, ensure social order, and execute justice. We should not fear the rulers of the state if we are submissive and living a righteous life (see verses 3–4).

The Church should never stand in opposition to another authority that God has established. We are urged to pray for “kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness” (1 Timothy 2:2).

P
istol Pete had enough water in his canteen to make it halfway across the desert. His trusty map said there was a pool of water at the halfway mark. He chose to trust the map and proceed by faith across the desert.

When Pete arrived at the pool it was dry, but there was a pump. He pumped the handle, but it only burped up dry sand. Then Pete noticed a sign on the pump with instructions. It said there was a bottle of water buried a foot below the surface just two feet south of the pump. He quickly dug up the bottle of water and was relieved to find it was full. The sign said he was to use the water to prime the pump. If he followed the instructions, he could have all the water he wanted.

The sign instructed that once he had his fill of water, he was to refill the bottle and bury it again two feet below the surface so the next traveler would have all the water he or she wanted. However, if Pete kept the bottle, there just might be enough water in it to get him across the desert without dying of thirst. If you were Pistol Pete, would you drink the water from the bottle or would you believe the sign and use the little bit of water in the bottle to prime the pump? If the sign was true, you would have your fill of
water, and so would the next person who was faced with the decision to follow the map and believe the sign.

Daily Readings