Sometimes we speak about the need for teaching as if we should learn something brand new every time we open the Bible. We will learn new things, of course – I don’t deny that for a moment. But what is much more common is that we are reminded of what we know already.
Being reminded is essential. We have this horrible ability to leak truth. Having got something clear in our minds, warm in our hearts and affecting our wills, so that we know it, feel it and start to live it – that truth then gradually seeps out of us. We need to be reminded.
— Graham Beynon, Last Things First, p136
Tag: talking to yourself
Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. (Colossians 3:1-4)
Christians are those who are united to Christ. This is true in the past, present and future.
Past: “For you died”. Christians have died with Christ. In him, we have passed through the death we rightly deserve. Our sin has been dealt with once for all. “You have been raised”. Dead to ourselves, alive in Christ. New birth, new life.
Present: “Hidden with Christ”. When God looks at you, what does he see? His beloved child. “Seated at the right hand of God”. Christ is seated on the throne of the universe, and we’re there with him!
Future: “Will appear with him”. When Christ returns, we will be with him, and it will be glorious.
It’s no surprise that Paul calls us to “set [our] hearts and minds on things above”. These are amazing realities to be celebrated, rejoiced in, dwelt on, sung about. What joy to spend time warming our hearts with such wonderful truths!
However… we forget. We’re leaky. These things seep out of our minds as this world preaches an alternative message. “This life is all there is – so live for the moment. Do what feels good. Make the most of it.” This world seems so solid, its pleasures so tangible, and God begins to feel distant. “Heavenly realities? More like away with the fairies.”
With all these lies ringing in our ears, we need others to help us lift our sights to see what is real. Those of deep, strong faith to give courage to the struggling. Preachers who present Christ again, that our hearts might be captured afresh. Soaking ourselves in Scripture, individually and corporately. The world is constantly fighting for our attention; let’s help each other fight back.
So Paul writes later in Colossians:
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, with gratitude in your hearts to God. (Colossians 3:16)
The word of Christ: the good news of Jesus. His death and resurrection, and our union with him.
Dwelling richly: always going deeper. Taking truths to heart, not filing them away. Longing to know more of Jesus.
Teach and admonish: lovingly speaking good news to each other, letting God’s word convict, correct and encourage.
Singing: both expressing and exciting our emotions of gratitude through singing Scriptural certainties to each other and to the Lord.
Tomorrow, as millions gather across the globe with brothers and sisters in Christ, let’s point each other to these heavenly realities. We died with him. We were raised with him. We will appear with him. Glory!
I am a child of God. God is my Father; heaven is my home; every day is one day nearer. My Saviour is my brother; every Christian is my brother too. Say it over and over to yourself first thing in the morning, last thing at night, as you wait for the bus, any time your mind is free, and ask that you may be enabled to live as one who knows it is all utterly and completely true.
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Have you realised that most of your unhappiness in life is due to the fact that you are listening to yourself instead of talking to yourself? Take those thoughts that come to you the moment you wake up in the morning. You have not originated them, but they start talking to you, they bring back the problems of yesterday, etc. Somebody is talking. Who is talking to you? Your self is talking to you….
You must say to your soul: ‘Why are you cast down?’ – what business have you to be disquieted? You must turn on yourself, upbraid yourself, condemn yourself, exhort yourself, and say to yourself: ‘Put your hope in God’ – instead of muttering in this depressed, unhappy way. And then you must go on to remind yourself of God, who God is, and what God is and what God has done, and what God has pledged himself to do. Then having done that, end on this great note: defy yourself, and defy other people, and defy the devil and the whole world, and say with this man: ‘I shall yet praise him, my Saviour and my God.’
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Every morning, I face a spiritual battle. Who am I going to believe today?
- Jesus promises that his word brings life; my flesh tells me that it’s boring and irrelevant.
- The Spirit assures me that I am an adopted child of God; my flesh says “Really? After the day you had yesterday?”
- Jesus promises to take my prayers before his Father, who loves to listen; my flesh tells me that God is aloof and distant.
- The Spirit reminds me of all the spiritual blessings I have in Christ, freely given; my flesh tells me that I’m owed an easy life and shows me all the ways my life is a disappointment.
- Jesus tells me that he is the bread of life; my flesh says “but what you really need is a girlfriend”.
- Jesus says to work as if I were working for him; my flesh tells me that my job is pointless, and I should do as little as possible.
As I emerge from sleep, it’s so easy to listen to the devil’s lies. Lying there in bed, my flesh can be very persuasive. I might succeed in dragging myself downstairs and opening the Bible, but even then these thoughts can crowd in: “You don’t really believe this, do you? It makes no sense. Wouldn’t you rather watch TV?” “Why pray for her? It’s not going to change anything.”
So many of my problems come from listening to myself. Instead, I need to talk to myself. In Psalm 103, David does just that:
Praise the Lord, my soul;
all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
Praise the Lord, my soul,
and forget not all his benefits –
who forgives all your sins
and heals all your diseases,
who redeems your life from the pit
and crowns you with love and compassion,
who satisfies your desires with good things
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
David talks to himself, telling his soul not to forget all the Lord has done for him. When my flesh is telling me to doubt God’s promises, I can talk back. “Self: you say that God is uninterested and far away; but I tell you, he is my Father, and loves to listen. You say I’ll never get recognition at work and should give up; but I tell you that my Father sees what is done in secret and will reward me. You say that I’ll never fit in, that I’ll always be lonely; but I tell you that I am adopted into the family of God. You say that God wants to spoil our fun; but I tell you, in his words are life to the full.”
Each morning, rather than dwelling on all the mess inside my head, I can tell myself of the one who has blessed me immeasurably. The more I do it, the less persuasive the voices sound.
As a wise man once said, “Talking to yourself isn’t the first sign of madness – it’s the first sign of wisdom.”