james bruce mcnaughton

Practice what I preach?

The Pharisees, religious and political leaders of Jesus time, failed to recognize Jesus as the Messiah their beloved Moses talked about. This was because they did not believe or obey the Scripture they had memorized and talked about each Sabbath. They were, as Jesus pointed out to them, hypocrites.

What does that mean for me? It is easier to write about Jesus than it is to actually follow Him. I get convicted while I type the words to some of these posts. How much time do I spend in meaningful conversation each day with my wife? with each of my sons? Do I give my best at church? at work?

I realize that I need to let Jesus order my world, let Him set the priorities and manage my schedule. And I do that by obeying Him when He nudges me to set the computer aside and listen to my family. Jesus will give me the time to write, that is not the problem. The problem is that I not use my family’s time as writing time and crowd out what is more important. My family, my church, and my work come first. In that order.

I believe this struggle of priorities will be ongoing. I also believe that by putting into practice what I already know to be true from the Bible, the way will get clearer, if not easier. And by relying on the Holy Spirit, to guide and empower me, the end result will be the balance that God is looking for from me.

Please feel free to hold me accountable to this.

Nobody’s perfect

Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me. Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts, And in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom.
Psalm 51:5-6 NKJV

Being truthful in my head is very hard. I decide what I want because I want it. Then I pretend I really want it for another reason, a “good”, acceptable reason, a “righteous” reason. I deceive myself, but almost no one else. God wants me to tell the truth to myself. If I read the Bible and see all the “good guys” as me and all the “bad guys” as someone else, I’m missing everything. The Bible is a mirror to show me who I really am.

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.
James 1:22-25 NKJV

Most of the Bible heroes were flawed! Abraham lied and let another man take his wife to save his skin. David got another man’s wife pregnant and then killed the man to cover it up. Jacob’s name meant deceiver and he lived up to it. Noah got drunk and exposed himself. Moses was a murderer. Peter, the “rock” of faith, denied Jesus and called down curses on himself to keep himself from suffering Jesus’ fate. Paul ruthlessly murdered men, women and children who would not betray Jesus.

If God can work with a crowd like that, and turn them into role models for us, do you think He can work with someone like me? or you? Well, not if I lie to myself and tell myself I’m really not so bad, and nobody’s perfect, and my good outweighs my bad, and who are you to talk and… and… and….

Jesus “redefined” sin so that no one would feel left out:

“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’ But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’ shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of hell fire….“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” – Jesus, Matthew 5:21- 22, 27-28 NKJV

God desires truth in the inner parts. Before Jesus can cleanse me of my sin I have to admit I have sin for Him to cleanse. If I deny the true motives for my actions and cover it up with “righteous lies” Jesus can’t help me. I have to be ruthlessly honest within myself.

Okay, so if I’m honest with myself, humble myself and agree with God that I have rebelled against Him, what do I get?

Peace with God. And peace within myself. And the ability to see and treat others differently. More compassion, less judgement, less demands. Jesus grants us forgiveness and grace (i.e. kindness we don’t deserve) and we can pass it along to those who hurt us. We absorb the sting of their attacks, and we offer them kindness and understanding in return. This isn’t natural, it’s supernatural. It’s the work of the Holy Spirit who works through you as you allow Him to work through you. This fulfills the second half of the verse: And in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom.

To help with the process of confession you may want to ask someone you trust if you can tell them your sins as you confess them to God. This takes guts and I haven’t done it much. I will report back to you after I have talked with my accountability partner.

Pastor Dr. Charles F. Stanley observes, “Obedience always brings blessing”. And Jesus said, “The truth will set you free”. May God grant me and you the grace to always confess our sins, so that we can reap the blessings and freedom Jesus always wants to give us.

Can God turn our failure into success?

Psalm 51 NIV84

1 For the director of music. A psalm of David. When the prophet Nathan came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba.
1 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions.
…
10 Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.
13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will turn back to you.
14 Save me from bloodguilt, O God, the God who saves me, and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.
15 O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.
16 You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

I love Psalm 51:17. I mess up regularly. And when I have messed up bad, and the excuses don’t mean a thing, I have this cry of David to give me the comfort I am desperately looking for. If I “own” my evil action, and wish I had never done it, and I am committed to never doing it again, Our Father in Heaven will “blot out my transgressions”. Why would He do that? Because of all the good things I’ve done? or all the good things I promise to do?

No.

He forgives me because He is my Father and He loves me. (And He loves you just as much). And He has the right to forgive us because He suffered and died to pay the price for our sins.

But what does Our Father do when I have been forgiven and commit the exact same sin again, and again, and again?! Matthew records Jesus:

Then Peter came to [Jesus] and said, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?”
Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.

Matthew 18:21-22 NKJV

If God tells us to forgive others that many times, how will He treat us? Our Father has limitless compassion on us His children. If He endured torture and death for us when we were His enemies, what will He withhold now that we are His friends? Or, as the Apostle Paul wrote:

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.

Romans 5:8-11 NKJV

If you genuinely turn away from sin each time, each time God will forgive you. A word of warning however. Forgiveness does not mean that there are no consequences to sin. I rejected God when I was nearly twenty years old. And I continued to reject Him for the next ten years.

And at 54 years old, though forgiven, I still have the mental illness that was the consequence of that first decision to reject God.

But God will make even the consequences of our sin work together for our good. The Apostle Paul writes:

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.

Romans 8:28 NKJV

In my case, my consequence of mental illness has given me insight and credibility to help others who are experiencing mental illness and/or to help their loved ones understand what mental illness is like. Whatever mistakes you have made, if you turn from it, God can use it for good. And He can make using that mistake an opportunity to help others… And a joy!

Why don’t you ask Him to do that for you right now?

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