where do we get the strength for self denial?

Where do we get the strength ¹to deny ourselves? To do things well for ²others - i.e. to love our neighbor as we love ourselves - requires extraordinary strength.

Why? Instead of focusing on our own needs and indulging in ³self-affirming and self-comforting behavior, our focus is on the ⁴needs of another. This clearly is not easy. On our own, without outside aid, it is not possible long term and difficult at best short term.

Denying ¹ourselves can only occur when we look to God for strength through increasing trust and dependence on Him.

What is it exactly we are asked to believe/trust in and how does this give us strength?

We must recognize/believe in our worth, significance, value to God, etc. i.e. we see ourselves as valuable because we know/believe God sees and feels this way about us. Our sense of value is not based on our own estimation, our circumstances, how we feel, or how others treat us but on how God views us i.e. as his infinitely beloved child. The evidence of His love is sending Christ to do all that we necessary to fully restore us back to Him. It is by believing this is God's view and posture towards us that we draw strength. Therefore, God himself and His disposition of infinite love toward us, is the source of our strength.

The essence of the strength necessary to deny ourselves is believing we are significant, loved, important, etc to God. When we really and truly “buy-in” to this, we no longer need to affirm ourselves by doing things to gain approval-acceptance. We know we are already affirmed. Now we do things because we already have affirmation, not in order to gain it. And not just a limited and temporary affirmation but an infinite and permanent affirmation by God Himself, who is the only infinitely and eternally valuable being in the universe. There is no greater affirmation then that which comes from the infinitely valuable i.e. God himself.

What exactly is the nature of this strength? In a word, it is simply knowing I am valuable to the God of infinite worth. When we fully grasp and believe this, nothing else matters. Or to say it as Paul does, if God is for us, who can be against us.

We are called to abide -- firmly remain standing -- in this belief and awareness of God's love/value for us. We are told by Christ himself to never lose sight of our being cherished and precious to him.

"As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide -- continually remain -- in my love." John 15:9

How can we be certain God feels this way about us? He not only tells us but demonstrated it by actions. Looking intently into what He and His Son put themselves through and denied themselves of to restore us back to them in their infinite love is our proof and reminder. This is why we do communion regularly, to remember the actions that Christ took on our behalf.

For a further discussion on why the value of the one who values us matters click here. 

For a discussion on why God loves the unlovely, click here. 
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¹we - self - still need to be nourished if you will, emotionally and spiritually, but not through self effort but in and through God.

Denying our self and death to self are tied together. There is no death to self without denying our self and to deny our self results in death of self. Death to self is not literal or absolute i.e. we –self– don't die but we die to self loving, self comfort and self-sustaining behavior/actions.

Nor is death to self, devaluing ourselves, it is knowing our true value is in Christ and loving others out of the infinite fountain of God's love for us and others.

This is a life-long process and the essence of our spiritual maturity i.e. our day-to-day sanctification.

²God, our neighbor, and other brothers and sisters in Christ.

The closer and harder we look the more of his love we discover.

³Self affirming activities are endless. It’s simply any activity we engage in to make ourselves feel good. This can be done through drugs, sex, achievement, entertainment, recreation; being better or different from others to make ourselves stand out - i.e. look more significant than others to gain praise and on we can go. Fill in the blank. It’s important to understand none of these things in themselves are necessarily wrong or bad. All things are created by God for His glory and our joy when used properly. Why - to what end - we seek them is the problem.

⁴This does not mean we find no joy in helping others, but that joy is in the others' joy, not in the joy itself.

Keeping COVID-19 aka Corona virus in perspective

Posted March 25, 2020 when shut downs were just beginning.

Be sure to watch this powerful interview after reading the below. 

There are two primary factors we must know to accurately assess the significance of any virus.

1. How deadly is it?

2. How contagious is it?

These are very different aspects that must be considered separately.

If a virus is both highly contagious and deadly, we have a significant problem.

If it's highly deadly but not very contagious, that means few will get it but those who do have a high risk of dying.

If it's highly contagious but not very deadly, many will get it, but very few will die from it. Certainly unpleasant, but not very life-threatening. Not unlike the flu. 

The bottom line is both must be true for a virus to be of epic proportions and justify drastic measures.

As the numbers come in it is becoming clearer Corona is in the latter group. Though it's still uncertain how *contagious it is - it may turn out to be less contagious than originally thought - one thing is becoming clear, it's not very deadly at all. They are even saying many will get it and not even know they had it or they will display virtually no if any symptoms i.e. asymptomatic - which unfortunately is being played up to create more fear i.e. how do we know who has it?!

Death is no good for any reason, but the vast majority - not all - of deaths from this virus are the elderly (75 and older on average) who have a significant preexisting illness. This is statistically, a very small segment of society. This is exactly why the number of deaths compared to other viruses is low. If this spread as far as it could go, it would still be to a small - though certainly not unimportant - segment of the population. As of this post (3/25/20), we are around 1000 deaths compared to well over 20,000 (next to last bullet point in the blue box of the CDC site) for other flu-like viruses to date. Regular flu appears just as deadly. Curiously, this is rarely a part of the conversation in most reporting. When it is, those who raise it are often ridiculed by mainstream media.

So why all the fear and caution around Covid? The media overall - which has a history of biased reporting - is doing very little balanced reporting, raising considerable and unnecessary fear. They play up the scary parts - potentially highly contagious - and are quiet about the reassuring parts - low death rate to a small and feeble segment of the population (btw this isn't a derogatory statement but an observation. I happen to almost be in this age group). When this latter point is mentioned it is only in passing and rarely focused on. We constantly hear about the rising number of deaths and infections, but we rarely hear the significance of who is dying and under what conditions. 

Also, what proportion are those deaths compared to the number infected? Just on the reported infections, we are not that far from the percentages of the regular flu. The number infected is larger than reported - possibly much larger - which would make the ratio of those dying to those infected much lower i.e. making COVID-19 even less deadly than regular flu. These ratios are very significant but rarely mentioned.

Also, like past virus scares, COVID-19 is new so there is virtually no immunity built up. However, as more low-risk segments are exposed, it actually helps build our collective **(herd) immune system as a society, helping prevent future outbreaks - the very strategy behind vaccines - yet MSM wrings their hands over it resurrecting when cold weather returns. Since the death rate is low and among a small segment, "social distancing" - which isn't social at all, it's physical distancing - may actually be counterproductive - though it's certainly wise to quarantine those with symptoms as with any flu or flu-like virus. I am more than willing to self-quarantine if it allows the low-risk population to resume regular activities. Just like we do with any other bug.

I think there are also political reasons for the hype and worth exploring, but not the focus of this piece. If you wish to know my opinion, feel free to leave a comment.

There are still some unknowns about this virus, so the media (and we, along with the various governmental bodies) assume the worst. At a minimum, the points raised in this piece should have an equal part of the discussion instead of being minimized or ridiculed. This would go a long way in increasing understanding and reducing fear. 

The fact that the media is not addressing these, undermines their credibility at best. But what we know is important and encouraging. As the actual data comes in, hopefully, it will be disseminated. There will then be a declining concern and the solutions to address it must be modified to fit the latest data.

There are also some very good reports coming in on the effectiveness of the malaria drug HCQ (go to the 2:21 mark of this video) combined with other medicines. Unfortunately, this too is being quieted, downplayed, ridiculed, or outright misrepresented by the media.

The biggest outbreak is a virus, but a virus of fear. Due in great part to the sensationalist media. What is needed is facts, not fear.  Making decisions based primarily on fear never results in the best outcome. We must also engage our reason.

Fear is the enemy of truth and also the friend of deception. Lies ride on the coattails of fear. 

The bottom line... based on the facts there is much more room for optimism than originally thought. I predict this will be a none story by the end of May if all the facts are considered. 

For an update on the total number of deaths projected click here. 

If interested the following articles address some of the above points as well:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8076395/Leading-doctor-claims-coronavirus-isnt-deadly-feared-death-rate-1.html

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/is-the-coronavirus-as-deadly-as-they-say-professors-claim-more-data-needed-to-know-mortality-rate

https://www.wsj.com/articles/is-the-coronavirus-as-deadly-as-they-say-11585088464

**For an interesting article on herd immunity, click here. 

If you are wondering why I have a less than charitable view of the main stream media click here. 

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*I am doing a personal experiment on how contagious this virus is - don't worry, I am the only person at risk. I'll explain later. I am only 3 days in (assuming a 14-day incubation period. Some are now saying the average incubation time is 5 to 6 days) and will give a report in 11 more days. If interested, I'll come back then with the results.

Update as of April 1st, day 8:  No symptoms whatsoever.

Update as of April 8th, day 15: Symptom-free with one day past the guesstimated 14 day incubation period.

So what was my test? I went shopping at the grocery store and did what I normally do. I took no extra precautions. Opened the store door, grabbed a cart, bought some trail mix (using the "public" scoops), and ate some once I got in the car, with no precautions i.e. no gloves, no hand washing etc. Some might think I am crazy but I have done enough research to believe otherwise - not to mention I taught high school Biology and my best grade in college was Biology. My "experiment" began on March 23. Granted, one person's experience may not be worth much scientifically, but it helps confirm for me what I already believe is the case. The whole covid scare is more hype than science. I also helped my friends (March 28) who work with the homeless. They have a trailer that houses portable showers/ laundry units and take them to a camp here for the homeless. So we went and helped 30 folks get spruced up a bit with a warm shower and clean their laundry. I took no precautions than I would any other day.  Again, this is not likely to convince anyone of anything. btw feeling fine but a bit tired after being on my feet from 9 to 5. Pretty good for a 66-year-old dude, I suspect.

Update: as of Oct 2021 I have not experienced sickness of any kind and have not taken any precautions since my experiment e.g. I do not "social distance" or wear a mask... ever.

the incarnation - God became one of us

Some of the following thoughts are more implied than explicitly stated in scripture. I feel however it is worthwhile to consider these things as long as we understand we can not hold on to things too firmly unless they are clearly supported by scripture and aid us in better knowing, loving, and trusting God. Possibly by offering the below thoughts, others can bring forth more direct support from scripture for or against the things I discuss and whether they are in line with the overall message of scripture. 

Now to the topic at hand.

Prior to the actual event, the incarnation was only a thought in the mind of God (Father, Son, and Spirit) from all eternity past, which had not and did ¹not take place until the actual event occurred i.e. though settled from eternity past in the mind of God, it had not occurred in actual time and space prior to then. Time is real because created things are real and time matters... at least in this present existence. 

The incarnation - and all related events - occurred in real time (even though scripture says Christ was slain before the foundation of the world. Scripture indicates the decision of Christs' dying to restore mankind back to His Father was a settled matter from all eternity past before the ²actual event occurred). The ³timeless God had in some mysterious manner entered into and participated in time on an intimate and personal level. God, out of His infinite love, for the first and only time, had inextricably bound himself to his creation through an observable, measurable act of sacrificial giving of his very being in and through Christ. 

Because all of this involved creation, we - as creatures - could (and can) relate to it. Which is exactly why God did it by His own choosing. He desired to connect with us on a level we could relate to. As one of our pastors once said, "in some actual way, God bound up his own happiness with ours." 

The creation and the rebellion of man was also the means by which Christ put His love for His Father on display in a way He had not and - I would argue - could not if not given the opportunity to act in actual time and space before a watching world or if the Son had not acted upon that opportunity - i.e. had failed to complete the task/mission given by the Father. 

This also displayed a love for us in a way we would not have fully known and could not have appreciated in the same way if we ⁴had not rebelled. 

The creation, our rebellion, the incarnation of Christ, and restoration of man were all an opportunity for the Son to more fully demonstrate His love of and for the Father; and demonstrate the Father and Son's love for us, His image-bearers. 

Christ willingly and obediently took on the suffering of entering this broken world as a man and took on the cross to honor his Father. This allowed him to act on the love he always had from all eternity past for and with the Father in a new way. Not because the Father needed proof of His Son's love but so the Son could put on display, by direct and personal action, how great his love for his Father was; which also demonstrated how Great His Father was. 

In turn, this says to us, if Christ's love for the Father was great enough to give up everything for it, how great the Father must be and worthy of this same love from us. 

All of this was, in fact, a way for the Son and Father to act out their love for each other in a new and fuller way. Not to prove their love for each other but to demonstrate it to us more fully through circumstances that had not occurred prior to creation i.e. through ⁴man's rebellion, Christ's incarnation, and the restoration of mankind taking place. 

The love of the Son for the Father was so great that Christ gave up full communion with the Father, for a time, not just to demonstrate his love to the Father but so others might also see and take part in it. He was so moved by his Fathers love he longed for others to partake of it as He did. 

The "others" piece of this is evidence that this act was an overflow of the love between the Father and Son for others - not to get something from creation that God lacked but by and through creation, experience something of Himself He had not yet experienced. 

God acts out of the fullness of who he is, not out of lack or need. He, who is the source of life, love, and all things, needs nothing. He has always had Himself. Everything apart from Him depends on Him for existence. But could we say the creation, rebellion, and redemption of mankind allowed God to more fully take part in who He is through the incarnation of Christ? It is an interesting question we likely will not get the answer to fully until eternity? 

Christ's love for us was so significant He gave up, in some unfathomable way,  something of the preciousness of his communion with his Father and of his ⁵status - or at least the dynamics of the relationship changed - so he might bring others into that same communion with the Father he knew from all eternity past. 

And maybe he, in some incomprehensible way,  gained something more (different) of and from the Father, and gave something more to the Father, by bringing others into that union between the Father, Son and Spirit.

None of this came about because of anything lacking in God but out of the fullness of who He is and his desire to share Himself with others so they too might know the joy of the union and fellowship between Father, Son, and Spirit.

Christ now knows the joy of seeing the love received and rejoiced in by those He gives it to; the Father first and those the Father gave to the Son. A love only possible because of his actions, i.e. Christ - at least for a time - gave up something of the most precious, full and unlimited union and communion with his Father so others might also have it for all eternity (2 Cor 8:9, John 15:11; 17:13; Matthew 25:23). And in giving and sharing it, he finds great joy (Hebrews 12:2)

  

Showing our love by our actions is the most complete way of expressing our love. Words and thoughts are important, but actions provide the opportunity to give evidence of the love we feel and speak of (or in the case of the Son and Father, had felt and spoken of to each other from all eternity past). We are this way because God is this way. We are in his image.

For a fuller discussion on God taking part in time click here. 
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¹This also means the reason Christ died - our sin - was also determined from eternity past i.e. God knew from all eternity past that mankind would rebel from their original design.

Some argue since time is not a part of God's existence but a part of the created order, God knows and sees all things as equally present. So the events of Christ's incarnation, life, death, and resurrection as a man did not occur in sequence to God as they do for us, who exist in time. Yet because of Christs incarnation = his becoming part of creation - they did. Though we may not find specific passages in scripture that state this explicitly, these are conclusions we can draw implicitly from other things about God we know from scripture, such as his omniscience, omnipresence, and omnipotence. 

²Then again since everything is present to God he possibly has already experienced everything in some sense on some level already. A mystery of the Infinite eternal God who stepped into time as a man?

³when we understand that God, prior to creation, had not taken part in or been "restrained" by time, we understand the extent to which God in and through Christ "limited" himself for our sake. 

⁴I think this in part explains why the angels are so intrigued by our redemption. They can't relate to it because it is alien to them. Possibly they are fascinated by God's pursuit of us in love - the extent of it - even when we don't fully love Him in return. Because of our redemption and also being in the image of God, we will experience the glory of God in a way the angels will not, which in part, might explain why we are higher than angels and the highest of all God's creatures. 

⁵maybe for eternity as Christ is still a man - and God - whereas before he was not confined to a local body but was everywhere present along with the Father - though the various theophanies may indicate Christ was localized before the incarnation, certainly at least for brief periods of time. We are uncertain if these were only specific manifestations at the time or the ongoing state of His existence prior to His incarnation. Christ's birth seems to indicate these prior manifestations were temporary, not His state from eternity past. 

What is interesting is even though God appeared as a man in these theophanies, those who experienced them had an obvious sense they were not dealing with a mere man. There was something about these appearances that clued them they were dealing with more. But we are not given an explanation of exactly what that was.

Abraham: Then the Lord appeared to him by the terebinth trees of Mamre, as he was sitting in the tent door in the heat of the day. So he lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, three men were standing by him; and when he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them, and bowed himself to the ground, and said, “My Lord, if I have now found favor in Your sight, do not pass on by Your servant.” (Genesis 18:1–3)

Jacob: Then Jacob was left alone; and a Man wrestled with him until the breaking of day. Now when He saw that He did not prevail against him, He touched the socket of his hip; and the socket of Jacob’s hip was out of joint as He wrestled with him. . . . And He said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed.”

Then Jacob asked, saying, “Tell me Your name, I pray.”

And He said, “Why is it that you ask about My name?” And He blessed him there. So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: “For I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.” (Genesis 32:24–25, 28–30)

condemnation removed - righteousness assigned

We have two subtle and deeply embedded needs. We need relief from guilt, shame, and a sense of failure. We also need to know we are valuable, significant, worthwhile. The former removes something bad from us, and the latter asserts or gains something good for us. 

Though these are separate needs, they are connected. The former (guilt/shame/failure) eats away and diminishes our sense of the latter (value/significant/worth). To fail at a task is to feel worthless; a loser as they say. *Guilt and a sense of worthlessness are directly tied together. 

When we speak of Christ's work for us, we usually focus on the former - God's removal of the just condemnation for our **rebellion. Our greater awareness of this need, more than the need for a sense of value, maybe due to our constant and deeply embedded feelings of guilt and shame. Being ***relieved of pain (shame) can feel more urgent than gaining something we strongly desire (importance) e.g. We are not going to be concerned about our appearance or achievements right after dropping a large rock on our toe. 

For this reason, the need for being valued and significant is not often thought about when we consider all that Christ offers us but is at least equal to, if not more important when it comes to our long-term faithfulness to God. 

Christ lived a life of perfect faithfulness (obedience) to His Father - never-failing and always succeeding - to the point of feeling abandoned by His Father and enduring the most shameful death. This perfect life of faithful obedience is now fully assigned-credited to us as if we lived His life of perfect faithfulness if we accept his offer. When we do we are viewed by God as perfect in our faithfulness - even though we are far from it. 

We are now equally admirable and loved by the Father as Jesus is. This isn't a feeling, it's an objective reality. It is how God sees us if we are in Christ. 

John 15:9 as the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love.

How would we describe the Father's love for His Son? Whatever way we describe it, it is the same love the Son has for us. This kind of love is not possible unless we are perfect in God's eyes. A perfection lived out by Christ and fully assigned-credited to us. Just as Christ was treated as the rebels we are - wholly condemned - we are now seen as a perfect and complete success the same way Christ is - wholly accepted and approved of. 

For an extended discussion of our guilt and shame, click here and here.

For a further discussion on being hard-wired for greatness, click here. 

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*Depression is the result of a deep sense of failure and guilt, leading to a feeling of worthlessness. If this is left unaddressed, it can lead to suicide.

**i.e. Our rebellious distrust of God. Distrust leads to unfaithfulness in giving God his rightful and due recognition as the one and only all-glorious God worthy of all thanks.

***The most successful people in business I have known over the years said they were driven far more by fear of loss than a desire for gain.