Perils of Isolationism

"A man who isolates himself seeks his own desire; He rages against all wise judgment.

A fool has no delight in understanding, But in expressing his own heart." (Prov 18:1-2)

Our heart - we are told by society to "follow our hearts". It is a common theme. Even Christians sometimes rationalize decisions as a "burning of the heart".

The Lord is really illuminating the wisdom of Jer 17:9, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?". This verse really struck me because the world and even the church at times asks us to follow our heart and our desires.

The verses in Proverbs however, shows the foolish effects of doing exactly that type of thing. When a man pulls back from the body and isolates themselves they are primarily stewing in their own intellect and their own ideas of the world. God's Word becomes less and less meaningful and is supplanted by that man's sin nature because unless we work to maintain our faith, our faith will atrophy and backslide. Left unchecked, it will lead to apostasy.

Sin is sometimes (but not necessarily) a key part of this trend. One of my favorite Christian singer-songwriters abruptly left the industry several years ago to my great dismay. I loved her voice, her music and her songs. After effectively disappearing, she has recently resurfaced with a brand new non-Christian album. The reason for this is because she has been in a same sex relationship and has been living isolated from the church. Essentially, she didn't want to follow the scriptures against homosexuality and ceased fighting against this sin. She mentioned that life is better now because she no longer considers homosexuality a sin to be struggled against. She no longer sings most of her old songs - songs which were about Jesus and redemption. In her case, the desires of her heart were more important than following scripture and she has isolated herself from the church and from any contrary advice to her personal opinion.

That is precisely why we need to have the body of Christ. The Word of God is not convenient. It isn't something that is easy to follow and that is precisely why Jesus said that "narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it" (Mt 7:14) Our sin nature rails against the Word. Speaking personally as a man, left unchecked my own desire to fornicate would run rampant. As men, we are tasked to rein in our physical desires by the power of the Holy Spirit. It is not impossible because men do it everyday.

The job of Scripture is to convict us. It is supposed to hurt. Hebrews 4:12 likens Scripture to surgery - it is living and active, sharper than any doubled edged sword it penetrates to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow, it judges the attitudes and thoughts of the heart. The Word judges us and helps us to see our areas of improvement. It humbles us, but at the same time it strengthens us to become better, living a life of goodness.

We are not to run away from the conviction of God. Yes, we might feel bad and it might be difficult to overcome the specific sin that we are prone to commit, but if we isolate ourselves we are only headed down the path of ultimate destruction. We may feel good that the weight of the struggle is done, but we are no longer walking with the Lord. We will turn to find that we are only walking with ourselves - the voices of wisdom from the Lord have been shut out.

There is one perspective shift that is necessary to make however, and personally I realize that it is quite useful. Traditionally, it has been the church's position that we need to focus on the fight against sin, but I think that makes it a negative thought process. It makes it seems as if we are missing out on something. Instead - I believe we are called to walk in God's path. We must choose to forego sin and to follow Him. We are no longer losing the chance to sin, but we are replacing those actions with righteous behavior and the goodness of the Lord's ways. We have not lost, but we have replaced.

Lord Jesus, I never really knew how twisted our thinking is in our modern world. We stand in direct opposition to You because we desire the easy route where we no longer fight our sin natures, but instead cave in to our personal desires. Sometimes it is a struggle, but let us not consume ourselves with our sins, but instead choose to walk in obedience to You. Let us fill our minds with thoughts of goodness and righteousness and let our behaviors match that intention. Help me to replace any sinful desires with Your good ways. In Jesus' name, AMEN.

Who Is God?

"God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, even though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea" (Ps 46:1-2)

"Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!" (Ps 46:10)


We live in troubled times. That is something that my generation has not known a whole lot of. Yes, we faced recessions, but they reversed course fairly soon only to push our prosperity to higher heights. Now, we may be faced with a time of declining fortunes and prospects, and the resultant shifts that are part of these upheavals create unsettling fears.

In Psalm 46, God is described first as a "very present" help in times of trouble. He is not an absentee God who only looks upon us with disengaged interest, but instead He is near to us in the times of our struggle and trial. Even if the world were to fall apart around us (and sometimes it can feel that way), He is near to us.

Because we face desperate moments, our temptation is to run around doing this or doing that. We want to remedy our situations as quickly as possible, and if we aren't in control of the solution to our problems, we'll busy ourselves with deep states of worry. Paralyzed, we sit contemplating all the terrible possibilities, our brains running 100 mph, while our bodies are unable to move.

It is at those times that God most wants us to remember who He is. Instead of worrying about the things we cannot control, He would like us to recall what we know of Him. He is God of the universe, who spoke every quark and atom into existence. He spoke and out of nothing came everything we know. He knit us lovingly together in our mother's womb, and declared that we are fearfully and wonderfully made. He thinks constantly about us, with thoughts for us that outnumber the grains of sand on the seashore. He knows the plans He has for us, plans for welfare and not calamity to give us a future and a hope. He orders the steps of a righteous man. He works all things for the good for those who love Him and have been called according to His purposes. He makes all things new and His mercies are new every morning. Great is His faithfulness. He will never leave us nor forsake us. The Earth is the Lord's and all it contains.

The God who is all these things can do anything and has a good plan for our lives. If we are His, then these promises are not exempt from us, but rather they were spoken specifically for us! If He is for us, who can be against us? Nothing in all creation can separate us from His love. If we are going through struggles, He will make our paths straight.


Lord Jesus, forgive me when I grow discouraged and when I forget who You are and what You've promised to us. I know You are faithful even when I feel like I'm in the bottom of a pit of miry clay. I do not need to worry because Your plans are good for my life, even if my life never comes out the way that I've imagined it would be. Regardless of how it all flows, me and my house will serve You, Lord God.

The Simple Overriding Command - "Worship God"

"But again he said, "No don't worship me (an angel). I am a servant of God, just like you and your brothers the prophets, as well as all who obey what is written in this scroll. Worship God!" (Rev. 22:9 NLT)

I often forget that Christianity is supposed to be simple. As a Christian, I have chosen to surrender my life to God to do with as He wishes. In this politically charged and turmoil filled atmosphere, it is hard for me to stop from complicating my identity in Christ, and having it stray away from a simple love of God and obedience to Him. It's probably due to the fact that I often don't exactly know what He wishes of me and I spin around trying to figure it all out.

Right now is a case in point as I'm waiting on Him to determine my future employment. Yes, I realize that I will be job searching, but I want to be in the workplace He desires of me. I want to be faithful to Him. That has some consternation for me as I'm striving to please God. But, in the end, I have to trust our relationship. He won't be angry with me because I'll know in my heart what to do when I simplify my life and have a sincere and genuine worship of Him. In worship, the proper doors and opportunities will open up and even if it doesn't, the patience to wait will be given to me.

Lord Jesus, it is true that I'm waiting on You in faith. From time to time, I have felt guilty because I have thought that somehow I've done something wrong to have caused You to withhold a job from me at this time. But, I need to realize that You have Your own plans and timing, and I don't always know what's best for me. You do. Please help me to instead re-focus myself away from what I lack and instead rejoice in the fact that You are my Lord and Savior. My life is yours to do with as You will. Let Thy will be done. In Jesus' name, Amen.