Inner Narrative Series

May 13 2021

Day 16

Inner Narrative Pleasing God

A Repentance Paradigm

We’ve been working with a repentance paradigm found in Ephesians 4. It is a standard description of the process of true repentance.

He who steals must steal no longer; but rather he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with one who has need. (Ephesians 4:28)

Note, this verse immediately precedes the verses we’ve concentrated on. It exemplifies the pattern we find therein. So we might follow this together, here it is:

The one who steals must steal no longer, but instead must labor, working with his own hands what is good, so that he may have something to share with the one who has need.

²⁹No rotten word must proceed_⌋ from your mouth, but only something good for the building up of the need, in order that it may give grace to those who hear, ³⁰and do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

³¹All bitterness, and rage, and wrath, and clamor, and abusive speech, must be removed from you, together with all wickedness. ³²Become kind toward one another, compassionate, forgiving one another, just as also God in [the Messiah] has forgiven you. (Ephesians 4:28–32 Lexham English Bible)

Paul wrote, “Stop doing that. Start doing this, instead.” Look at the pattern.

Repent from stealing. Work and share, instead.

Repent from rotten words. Edify others, instead.

Repent from bitterness, rage, wrath, clamor and abusive speech. Become kind, instead.

The same model holds true in our instruction about inner-speech.

Here is the repentance paradigm applied to our inner-narratives.

Do not allow any rotten inner-conversation proceed from your heart about yourself to yourself.

Instead, concentrate upon what is wholesome and strategically strengthen your soul according to your immediate need.

Make it your ambition to please God with your meditations and impart grace to your inner-being

And don’t make God sad.

All bitterness, and rage, and wrath, and clamor, and abusive speech (towards yourself), must be removed from you “

The pattern we find is, “Stop that. Change direction. Start this.”

Well, with what might we replace self-directed “bitterness, and rage, and wrath, and clamor, and abusive speech…”? What is the positive replacement? What should we do, instead? What is the apostle’s counsel?

This:

Become kind toward one another, compassionate, forgiving one another, just as also God in [the Messiah] has forgiven you. (Ephesians 4:32 Lexham English Bible)

In this verse the believing community is called to turn from ungodly interactions and develop holy attitudes.

Let’s reflect upon and apply this exhortation (Ephesians 4:32) in line with what we considered regarding our inner-narrative.

Become kind towards yourself,

Become compassionate towards yourself,

Become forgiving and favorable towards yourself

Talk to yourself in the way God in the Messiah has forgiven and been favorable towards you.

Let’s begin to examine some of these words. It is time for a brief excursion into Greek.

Become kind (χρηστός, – chrēstos) to one another,

compassionate (εὔσπλαγχνος, – eusplanchnos),

forgiving (χαρίζομαι – charizomai – be favorable towards) each other, just as also God in [the] Messiah has forgiven (χαρίζομαι – charizomai – been favorable towards) you.

The three words we’re looking at are chrēstos, eusplanchnos, and charizomai. We’ll examine the first two, today.

Here we go.

Become Kind

This word, chrēstos, describes Jesus’ gentle, mild, easy, kind yoke.

“For My yoke is easy (chrēstos) and My burden is light.” (Matthew 11:30)

Paul, telling them to become kind, instructed his disciples to not put heavy burdens on one another. We can be kind and release people from the burdens of our personal expectations.

Along with that, take a look at this use of chrēstos pertaining to your Father:

“But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind (χρηστός, – chrēstos) to ungrateful and evil men. (Luke 6:35)

Jesus described kindness as loving, and doing good to, our enemies. This includes helping them economically and not expecting them to repay. When I read this I realize that kindness releases people from even our reasonable expectations.

Here is something that surprised me. Paul wrote that our morals, our ethics, should be good, or, kind.

Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good (χρηστός, – chrēstos) morals.” (1 Corinthians 15:33)

Ethics that do not produce kindness, but promote proud judgment, are not good. Sometimes we may need to think about how our self-directed expectations need to be transformed into that which serves our kind God.

Let’s become kind. Let’s express kindness to ourselves in our inner-narratives.

You may need to release yourself from reasonable and unreasonable expectations and embrace a way of viewing life that causes you to be kind to yourself.

You need to become compassionate towards yourself, instead.

Become … Compassionate:

In Ephesians 4:32 the Greek word translated compassionate, or tenderhearted, is eusplanchnos. When I looked at it I saw that it could be crudely translated “good guts.” So, I knew there had to be a better definition.

Louw-Nida is a standard Greek English Lexicon. Every word in the New Testament, every nuance of each word, is catalogued therein. When I looked up eusplanchnos there I saw it defined along these lines: “pertaining to being affectionate and compassionate.” Paul is calling for the believers to be affectionate towards each other.

This is an emotion. It is viscerally felt.

Peter used this word, too. He wrote:

To sum up, all of you be harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kindhearted (εὔσπλαγχνος, – eusplanchnos),, and humble in spirit; (1 Peter 3:8)

A healthy inner-narrative follows the same pattern.

Instead

Instead of being self-embittered, or angry at ourselves, we are to transform our inner dialogue to a consecrated self-communication of kind affection. We consecrate the meditations of our heart to give God’s presence pleasure.

We are actually called to be generous in our interpretations of our motives and actions. This flies in the face of our culture of self-examination and self-recrimination. Before the throne of God, who dwells within your heart, partner with the great High Priest, and become your own advocate.

Our next post will concentrate on the last part of this exhortation. Meanwhile, please consider the call to become kind and affectionate towards your self. Your inner-being lives in the presence of the holy God who loves you. Let’s give His presence pleasure.

My hope is that everyone who reads this will become sensitive to the human tendency to be one’s own adversary. Let’s not partner with the adversary. Let’s align ourselves with our Advocate.

Along the lines of Ephesians 4:32, please…

Become kind towards yourself,

Become compassionate towards yourself,

Become forgiving and favorable towards yourself

Talk to yourself in the way God in the Messiah has forgiven and been favorable towards you.

Purchase God’s True Love

Or on Kindle

Also, David wrote a book about God’s love for the Jewish People called, For the Sake of the Fathers

And a book on Leadership

Check out David’s new worship album, Looking for a City

May 6 2021

Day 15

You are not alone.

God hears your thoughts.

Part of being created as the image of God is that we get to direct our meditations. Our thoughts are intended to be under our control. The ways we view our lives are to be deliberately yielded to God. They can be guided by our Creator’s Spirit through the Scriptures He inspired.

Our motive is to please the Lord. We can learn to do this. Each of us can embrace this process.

for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light (for the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth), trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. (Ephesians 5:8–10)

Look at verse 10: “… trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord.” We are on a steep learning curve, but we are empowered by His presence.

Pleasing God is something we get to learn.

Paul informed us that we were once darkness. We lived in the midst of cultural darkness that both infected and reflected the condition of our souls. We blended in. Part of this sphere of spiritual darkness is the war waged within and over our souls.

Pertaining to our inner-narrative, the accuser’s armies seek to enslave us. It is as if there is an unseen throng ceaselessly shouting insults and slander at each person and about each person. We may not be consciously aware of these accusations and mockery, but the spiritual atmosphere is saturated with it. Our souls have been trained by this wicked spiritual realm. Paul wrote:

And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. (Ephesians 2:1–2)

But now, those who are born from above are children of light. We partake of a heavenly atmosphere in the midst of the darkness. We are being retrained as God’s beloved children who have received the Spirit of adoption (Romans 8:15).

Let’s reexamine a God ordained motivation for growing in godly meditations. Why should we cultivate an inner-narrative that honors our Creator? Answer: to please the Lord.

Jesus said that on the deepest level of reality, human life has specific, permanent priorities. They are revealed in the great commandments of the Law. An expert in religious law (New English Translation) tested Jesus and got more than he bargained for. The lawyer basically asked, “What one thing does God want the most?” Jesus gave him two.

One of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?”

And He said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ “This is the great and foremost commandment. “The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ “On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 22:35–40)

Every disciple agrees. We know we are commanded to love and honor God in the deepest part of our beings. Our fundamental thoughts, attitudes, and emotions are addressed in the words “all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.”

Along these lines, Jesus said,

… it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.’ ” (Matthew 4:10b)

We are called to worship God because we love Him.

What of the other priority? Since we love God we take the second command seriously.

Jesus stressed that we are called to serve Him (Matthew 4:10b). In the light of that let’s stress that we can think about and act towards others in a way that honors and serves their Creator.

We express agape (love) for God through loving our neighbor as ourselves.

We live in a time when various forms of worship have been emphasized. Yet, there is an underemphasized foundation of our expressions of worship. It is loving those He loves. The regenerated soul wants to worship the Redeemer. Neighbor-oriented-agape is preparation for these acceptable acts of worship.

The Messiah said, “Therefore if you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering.^” (Matthew 5:23–24).

We all agree with the following: Jesus confirmed the importance of the second command. As we are to be aware of our actions towards our neighbors, so we are to bring this to mind: the way we think about others is part of the hidden foundation of love we express to our neighbors. Also, it is part of the way we worship God through our grateful obedience to this command.

What we generally do not hear emphasized is that our thought-patterns pertaining to ourselves can be part of honoring God. Our habitual inner-narrative can be conformed to a pattern that pleases God.

Each of us has an inner-narrative. Our recent meditations have focused upon this principle: We are to speak to ourselves, about ourselves, in a way that would please God. We are to respect ourselves in the meditations of our heart in the same way we seek to honor others when we think of them.

Are we learning to please the Lord (Ephesians 5:10)? How might we know if we’re on the right track? We can be aware of our progress because we can understand aspects of the goal we are stressing. The goal is that our inner narrative should be of the same quality and motive as would please God if we were speaking to someone else about them, or speaking to them about another person.

To illustrate, here are a couple of questions.

Would we speak with a friend and slander someone we have in common who is not present?

If so, we should repent. If that is how we speak about ourselves in the quiet of our hearts we should also repent. If we would not malign others, we should follow the same pattern in our inner-narrative. We ought not speak of ourselves, to ourselves, in a mean, accusing manner.

Would we speak in a way that reinforces a negative caricature about one friend to another? Most of us would rise to a friend’s defense. We should follow the same pattern and deconstruct false malignant narratives we might take for granted about ourselves.

If our friend was demoralized would we pile on? Would we deliberately discourage our friend? No, we would try to encourage them with a truthful, faith-filled perspective.

Although it may be difficult, we need to learn to consistently do the same for our own souls as an expression of worship. We are called to honor the LORD in the way we view ourselves. It is in the light of God’s compassion for us that we learn to surrender ourselves to Him as a spiritual sacrifice. It is reasonable that we should respond to God’s redemptive mercy. As a result of loving God, we worship Him in spirit and truth.

“God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:24)

We are called to practically express our love for Him. There are some verses in Romans 12 that speak to this reality.

Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith. (Romans 12:1–3)

Just like we are called to dedicate our bodies to God, so we are to offer our inner-narratives. We begin by recognizing the importance of our thought-lives. So much of our self-communications are thought-lies. We are summoned to embrace truth and surrender the way we see ourselves, and the way we speak to ourselves, in the presence of God.

Here’s a foundational verse about this that is worth reiterating:

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my rock and my Redeemer. (Psalm 19:14)

Let’s learn to do this. Our inner-narratives can be an expression of our worship. May God give us enabling favor to take this seriously. Here’s a good prayer:

So teach us to number our days, That we may present to You a heart of wisdom. (Psalm 90:12)

Let’s add this to our prayer:

Amen, Lord.

Teach us to think of ourselves in a way that gives You joy.

Help us offer the meditations of our heart as an act of worship.

Purchase God’s True Love

Or on Kindle

Also, David wrote a book about God’s love for the Jewish People called, For the Sake of the Fathers

And a book on Leadership

Check out David’s new worship album, Looking for a City

April 29 2021

Day 14

This is the conclusion of a second cycle of seven posts. Today I want to present a review of a few thoughts from the prior six entries and then offer some new material. Any Scriptures I cite but don’t share are listed at the bottom.

Let’s review.

A Brief Review

We emphasized Ephesians 4:29-30a as a template upon which we based this exhortation:

Do not allow any rotten inner-conversation proceed from your heart about yourself to yourself.

Instead, concentrate upon what is wholesome and strategically strengthen your soul according to your immediate need.

Make it your ambition to please God with your meditations and impart grace to your inner-being.

And don’t make God sad.

All bitterness, and rage, and wrath, and clamor, and abusive speech (towards yourself), must be removed from you.

What we say to others, that which we think and speak about others, can please or grieve God. The same is true about how we view and speak about ourselves. We have an opportunity to construct an inner narrative which blesses God. This will help us relate to Him, ourselves, and others. Incidentally, this will be good for us.

God is pleased when our meditations and words about ourselves are loving. He does not want us to treat our inner-being in a way He forbids when we interact with others. We must guard our hearts (Proverbs 4:23) because the entirety of our souls can become diseased if we put up with spiritually compromised strongholds comprised of rotten inner-narratives.

We are called to be merciful people (Matthew 5:7). Should we show mercy to others and not to ourselves? God wants us to be considerate, gentle and peaceable in our hearts towards our own souls. That will give His presence pleasure.

The Spirit of God is affected by what we say and how we say it. He cares about our motives. He fills us with the fruit which comes from Him: His character and personality.

Here are two questions: Is there a standard of holiness for how we speak to others? Does the living God care about what we say regarding them? Here are two clear answers: Yes, and, yes.

This applies to how we speak about ourselves in our souls. The goals God has for any corporate expression of the Messiah’s life holds true for our inner being’s manifestation of Jesus’ life. A grace imparting inner-narrative will delight the Messiah who is present in your inner being.

Through the Spirit’s enabling-favor we can relate to ourselves in a way that pleases our Creator. The fruit of the Spirit is not just for the corporate life of a congregation. They are also imparted that we might interact with our souls.

A good word that would edify you and give grace to your soul (Ephesians 4:29) would be a thought that imparts confidence in God’s favor. This reality can be righteously embraced. It is true and honors the Redeemer who gave Himself to bring you into a state of favor.

Here is an example of an exercise that puts this principle into practice:

Speak to your soul as if you were addressing a friend.

(Feel free to insert your name:) “God is for you (insert name here).”

Through a sanctified inner-narrative we have an opportunity to bless the holy One who is enthroned within and is devoted to us. The same courtesy we would show a friend, the same forbearance we would offer an adversary, is the same kindness we should offer ourselves in His presence.

Forgive yourself like you would forgive others and please remove every obstacle that hinders your relationship with God.

Today’s Encouragement: A Whole New Way in the Inner Being

Some motives are great, some are not so good. It takes the Holy Spirit’s intervention to have a true sense of conviction. Otherwise we are left to our conscience’s devices. The human conscience is frail and unreliable. Sometimes we excuse what we ought to censor and condemn when we should release (Romans 2:15–16).

We all have secrets, thoughts that only we know. We have hidden motives. We have self-evaluations that are hidden. God is aware of them and we should be aware that He is focused upon that which affects Him. Peter wrote of, “… the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God (1 Peter 3:4).”

The word hidden (1 Peter 3:4 TLV) is a good translation of kryptō (Greek: κρύπτω, Hebrew: sātar סָתַר). So, also, is secret. For example, a) our Father is in secret and b) sees what is done in secret (Matthew 6:6); c) our giving is to be done in secret and Father takes notice (Matthew 6:4 TLV).

God also experiences what we think in secret. There is a hidden (secret) person of the heart (1 Peter 3:4). Our Father sees and hears what goes on there and you can give your Father pleasure through your secret words and meditations.

God can guide us in these matters through His Spirit interacting with us through the Scriptures and our intuitive Spirit-bequeathed relationship with the living God. In fact, we need the Holy Spirit’s communication about what is pleasing to Him and what grieves Him (1 Corinthians 4:5).

Our motives count. Father weighs the motivations of our hearts. He ponders and evaluates each one (Proverbs 16:2). The LORD examines the heart of each person (1 Thessalonians 2:4b) and may make decisions about individual’s destinies based upon the state of their hearts (1 Samuel 16:7).

One thing He experiences when He examines our hearts is the way we speak of ourselves to ourselves. A premise of these brief essays is that our inner-narrative is an aspect of the content of our hearts’ meditations. That narrative has potential to give Him joy. I’ve reiterated that I find Psalm 19:14 to be helpful in clarifying this reality.

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my rock and my Redeemer. (Psalm 19:14)

A Whole New Way

I have become convinced that we are to dedicate our secret inner-narratives to God in the same way we are commanded to dedicate our bodies to holy action (Romans 6:13; 12:1). If we begin to do this it will make a difference. For me, this has provided a whole new way of approaching the way I speak within myself, about myself, towards my self.

Your inner-narrative can delight God. In addition, you can know that the meditations of your heart about yourself give God’s presence pleasure.

Here’s an example of an inner-narrative that is Scripture based and helpful. Let’s briefly examine the role of our unfeigned faith in giving God’s presence pleasure.

It is written that Enoch “obtained the witness that before his being taken up he was pleasing to God (Hebrews 11:5).” Likewise, your foundational trust in God pleases the God you trust. Is that part of your inner narrative? It can be. It is written:

And without faith it is impossible to please Him (Hebrews 11:6a)

Without faith we can’t please Him. With faith we do please Him. Can you look at yourself and appreciate that your faith is something about you that is precious to God?

What about weak faith?

Weak genuine faith is effectual. It affects the environment and it pleases God.

… if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you. (Matthew 17:20b)

We may have a tendency to bemoan our small faith. We may lament, “When, Oh, when shall I even have faith the size of a mustard seed?” Here’s some good news: Jesus did not share this truth to discourage us. True faith is not just out of reach. In fact, the faith you already have is precious to God. In particular, the saving faith you maintain gives Him pleasure.

Your faith in God is valued by Him in the way people value gold. Especially faith that is tested by fire.

so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus [the Messiah] (1 Peter 1:7)

If you boil it down and find that your refined faith is genuine then recognize, in the presence of God, that your faith pleases your Father.

Your foundational faith in God

is something you possess

that gives God pleasure.

Is this part of your inner-narrative?

It can be.

Make it so.

We are called to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord (Colossians 1:10a). This extends to our inner-narrative. We can think of ourselves in a way that is worthy of our Creator and pleases Him.

Please pray:

Oh! For a gentle and quiet spirit… (1 Peter 3:4).

Abba, let the words I speak and my heart’s deepest thoughts give Your presence pleasure. (paraphrase of Psalm 19:14a)

Cited Scriptures:

No rotten word must proceed_⌋ from your mouth, but only something good for the building up of the need, in order that it may give grace to those who hear, ³⁰and do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. ³¹All bitterness, and rage, and wrath, and clamor, and abusive speech, must be removed from you, together with all wickedness. ³²Become kind toward one another, compassionate, forgiving one another, just as also God in [the Messiah] has forgiven you. (Ephesians 4:29–32 Lexham English Bible)

Watch over your heart with all diligence, For from it flow the springs of life. (Proverbs 4:23)

“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. (Matthew 5:7)

in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them, on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of men through [the Messiah] Jesus. (Romans 2:15–16)

so that your giving will be in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. “When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. “But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. (Matthew 6:4–6)

Therefore do not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men’s hearts; and then each man’s praise will come to him from God. (1 Corinthians 4:5)

All the ways of a man are clean in his own sight, But the Lord weighs the motives. (Proverbs 16:2)

we speak, not as pleasing men, but God who examines our hearts. (1 Thessalonians 2:4b)

But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7)

and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. (Romans 6:13)

Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. (Romans 12:1)

Purchase God’s True Love

Or on Kindle

Also, David wrote a book about God’s love for the Jewish People called, For the Sake of the Fathers

And a book on Leadership

Check out David’s new worship album, Looking for a City

April 22 2021

Day 13

Inner Narrative Pleasing God

Through a sanctified inner-narrative we have an opportunity to bless the utterly aware, emotionally holy One who is enthroned within us. To do this we may need to reorient ourselves.

A way to ensure an inner-narrative that consistently delights God’s presence is to recognize and remove what hinders His pleasure. Sometimes, to prepare for something good we need to clear out what is bad. Prophetically, a call to repentance is often sounded before a promised blessing may be fulfilled.

These are classic verses from Isaiah.

A voice is calling, “Clear the way for the Lord in the wilderness; Make smooth in the desert a highway for our God. “Let every valley be lifted up, And every mountain and hill be made low; And let the rough ground become a plain, And the rugged terrain a broad valley; Then the glory of the Lord will be revealed, And all flesh will see it together; For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” (Isaiah 40:3–5)

What obstacles require removal? What needs to be brought down? What needs to be raised up or straightened out?

We know we are called to edify others. The same call is appropriate to ourselves. How might we build ourselves up? How might our inner-narratives need to change?

Before we begin, let me address something that you are probably not guilty of: apathy.

Apathy

A lack of knowledge and experience of God often leads to a nonchalant attitude towards our goal of pleasing Him. A false belief that His standards are so high that it is impossible to please Him can cause one to remain passive.

However, we are told to make it our goal to please Him.

Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him. (2 Corinthians 5:9)

We are assured that we can learn to do this.

trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. (Ephesians 5:10)

Surprisingly, even little acts of love can please the Lord. Along these lines, bring this to mind: cups of water can bless the Lord. Jesus said:

“And whoever in the name of a disciple gives to one of these little ones even a cup of cold water to drink, truly I say to you, he shall not lose his reward.” (Matthew 10:42)

This is true about our motives and actions. It holds true for our inner-narratives as well. We can please the Lord with how we meditate and speak about ourselves. To do so we may need to remove some things and reinforce others. Let’s look at what we may need to get out of the way.

Holy Spirit Sorrow

In Ephesians 4:29–32 we find that Paul instructed his disciples how to speak to each other. He prohibited rotten verbal interactions and he encouraged wholesome communication.

He directed and warned:

He forbade rotten emotions and words that grieve the Holy Spirit of God:

³¹All bitterness, and rage, and wrath, and clamor, and abusive speech, must be removed from you, together with all wickedness.

On the other hand, he encouraged what was good for the purpose of edifying fellow disciples:

³²Become kind toward one another, compassionate, forgiving one another, just as also God in [the Messiah] has forgiven you. (Ephesians 4:29–32 Lexham English Bible)

The warnings are given in the light of this: We can cause God to experience sorrow by the way we interact with others. Consider that and think about this: we can cause Him sorrow by the way we relate to ourselves. There are pollutants that poison our inner lives, but take heart, our meditations can be purified and give God’s presence pleasure.

The prohibitions are strong words. I’m certain not all of them would apply to our normal inner narratives. However, through them we can conclude that we’re not to relate to ourselves in a way God forbids us to relate to others. We are not called to be pollyannish in our self-evaluations (everything is not beautiful), but we are definitely not called to be our own prosecutors.

Bitterness, Rage, Wrath, Clamor, Abusive speech

To one degree or another we tend to indulge a rotten inner narrative. We can use Paul’s prohibitions to identify what we need to clear away. Let us examine this catalogue of unwholesome interactions beginning with what led Paul’s list: bitterness.

When bitterness seasons our speech we damage those we speak about and those who listen to us. If we speak to those against whom we are bitter we will hurt them, too. In many ways, bitterness is the foundation of the rest of these sin-filled emotions and actions.

In addition, and to our point, if we’re holding a grudge against ourselves we need to let it go.

Talk to God about it.

In the same way that we forgive others we need to forgive ourselves. Bitterness is unhealthy and produces all sorts of problems. Look to Calvary and recall that the Messiah took all the blame. Dare we despise what He did and take the blame back? God wanted our sins to be crucified. Jesus made that possible.

Let’s look at the remaining four. Rage (θυμός thumos) is a notorious motivator for unfiltered unwholesome speech. It’s partner, wrath (ὀργή orgē) is closely connected, but rage is out of control.

Human wrath tends to self-righteously believe that it is principled and may become the motivator of merciless evaluations and actions.

Inner, self-directed wrath is like a settled guilty verdict pronounced on one’s self. It is legalistic and convinced by the equivalent of a prosecutor’s evidence. This is when you’ve evaluated yourself and are convinced that you are unworthy of love and acceptance. It is different than holding a grudge against a specific outrage. This is more as if your entire being is the subject of just condemnation and you’re carrying out the resultant judgment.

The word clamor (κραυγή kraugē) basically means “shouting, or clamor” (Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament). Clamor is LOUD.

Some thought patterns seem louder than others. Bitterness, rage, wrath, and anger tend to drown out mercy. We have to learn to not allow these sinful thought patterns – directed towards ourselves – to drown out the edifying inner-narrative God wants us to have.

Many believe they are justified in being embittered towards themselves. They refuse to forgive themselves as a matter of righteousness. They refuse to relent.

Look at Jesus’ example and apply it to your inner-narrative.

But Jesus was saying, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” (Luke 23:34a)

Why not talk to yourself along these lines?

Have we mentioned abusive speech? The Greek word, blasphēmia, is the origin of our word, blasphemy. Nowadays, its meaning is narrowly applied to sacrilege. When this was written it just meant slander, or abusive speech. Recognize and remove it.

Summation

There may be aspects of your inner-narrative that contain some of these patterns. They are prohibited and can be replaced by meditations that give God’s presence pleasure.

God Incarnate reinforced the command that we should love our neighbors as ourselves.

My request is that we would consider loving ourselves like we love our neighbors.

What?

Yes.

The same courtesy we would show a friend, the same forbearance we would offer an adversary, is the same kindness we should offer to ourselves. We can apply the same attitude towards ourselves when we remember our pasts, or are currently at our worst. Forgive yourself like you would forgive others and please remove any obstacle that hinders your relationship with God.

Please consider this exhortation based on Ephesians 4:29-30a:

Do not allow any rotten inner-conversation to proceed from your heart about yourself to yourself. Instead, concentrate upon what is wholesome. Strategically strengthen your soul according to your immediate need. Make it your ambition to please God with your meditations and impart grace to your inner-being

And don’t make God sad.

All bitterness, and rage, and wrath, and clamor, and abusive speech (towards yourself), must be removed from you

Please pray:

Abba, let the words I speak and my heart’s deepest thoughts give Your presence pleasure. (paraphrase of Psalm 19:14a)

Purchase God’s True Love

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Also, David wrote a book about God’s love for the Jewish People called, For the Sake of the Fathers

And a book on Leadership

Check out David’s new worship album, Looking for a City

April 14 2021

Day 12

Inner Narrative Pleasing God

We love God. You wouldn’t be reading this if you didn’t. Today’s devotional is going to further reveal the reality of God’s emotions. This is true: He reacts to how we relate to ourselves. We’re going to begin to concentrate on Paul’s warning against grieving the Holy Spirit. That is a window into God’s nature and His love for us.

Before we begin I encourage you to continue to pray along the lines of Psalm 19:14a. Please pray with me:

Abba, let the words I speak, and my heart’s deepest thoughts, give Your presence pleasure. (paraphrase of Psalm 19:14a)

We are often conscious of our actions and thoughts as they affect others. However, what we’re concentrating on is developing an ambition to please God through the words and thoughts we speak about ourselves. This is an underemphasized goal and we’re seeking to stress it.

I’ve isolated a passage in Ephesians that may help us become aware of our meditations and how they might be channels of blessing to the indwelling Spirit. Please slow down and read the section of Scripture we’re considering together:

No rotten word must proceed from your mouth, but only something good for the building up of the need, in order that it may give grace to those who hear and do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. All bitterness, and rage, and wrath, and clamor, and abusive speech, must be removed from you, together with all wickedness. Become kind toward one another, compassionate, forgiving one another, just as also God in Christ has forgiven you. (Ephesians 4:29–32 Lexham English Bible)

Through reading this and applying it to our inner-narrative we find that we can strengthen our souls through our meditations. If we can give grace to others who hear good edifying words, then we can give grace to ourselves through our heart’s deepest thoughts.

I’m reminded of the time when King David was about to come into the first stages of being recognized as Israel’s king. Right before that happened he suffered the most disheartening defeat of his military career. As a result, his men were in rebellion. His family (and theirs), along with all their possessions, were captured by malicious marauders. It seemed hopeless. David led the lament:

Then David and the people who were with him lifted their voices and wept until there was no strength in them to weep. (1 Samuel 30:4)

Imagine the confusion. How could God have let this happen? As they wept, David’s cadre began to fix the blame on him.

Moreover David was greatly distressed because the people spoke of stoning him, for all the people were embittered, each one because of his sons and his daughters. (1 Samuel 30:6a)

He was all alone.

I can imagine him crying out to the God who had chosen him, “What did I do wrong? Have you forsaken me? Everyone around me believes You have. They are aware of my faults and blame me for their misfortune… Are they right? Is this all my fault? Are You finished with me? Will the promises I embraced never come to pass? Was I deceived?”

His back was against the wall. What did David do? He overcame.

But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God. (1 Samuel 30:6b)

Somehow he spoke to himself and found grace to help in his time of need. Please note: he did not utilize his newfound inner strength to pursue his own agenda. Despite his deep desire, David immediately sought the LORD for direction. The outcome of this story is that God enabled this company of champions to recover everything that had been lost.

So David recovered all that the Amalekites had taken, and rescued his two wives. (1 Samuel 30:18)

This is a worthwhile pattern for our daily lives. Speak to our own souls, and receive strength. Seek the Lord, and receive direction. Follow through and find victory.

Paul wrote, that we can “give grace to those who hear.” If to others, than to ourselves, too.

What type of grace is this? Enabling, strengthening, favor.

This energizing grace must be received. Just like when we speak to someone else the words must be respected and seen as both reliable and reality based. Good, supportive words can be offered, but unless they are received with faith they will not do the hearer any good.

We can hear God’s words and make them our own. We can agree with them. We can meditate upon them. They then become part of our stewardship. These words are like seed. We can sow them in our own heart. The Messiah Yeshua said,

“Other seed fell into the good soil, and grew up, and produced a crop a hundred times as great.” As He said these things, He would call out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” (Luke 8:8)

We can cultivate “ears to hear.” We can be good soil for an encouraging inner-narrative. It will bear good fruit. In this case the fruit we’re after is to give God’s presence pleasure.

Our text reads

I’ve chosen a translation that emphasizes the connective word, “and” rather than a full stop and the beginning of a new sentence. Why? Because the connective is there in the Greek. It is still one thought. The inference is that there is some speech that can grieve God’s Spirit. Friends, if there is speech that grieves, there is speech that blesses.

Although not in this passage, God is pleased when we speak and give grace to those who hear. He loves it when we love one another. The way we speak can be an avenue for conveying that love.

God’s indwelling presence can also be grieved.

Here is the only other time the Bible specifically reveals that the Holy Spirit can be grieved.

But they rebelled And grieved His Holy Spirit; Therefore He turned Himself to become their enemy, He fought against them. (Isaiah 63:10)

Paul uses a Greek word that more closely follows the Hebrew than the Septuagint. The Septuagint uses a word that has to do with giving provocation to anger. That is more of a paraphrase than a good translation. As in most cases, context determines the nuance of the definition of the Hebrew word, עָצַב (ʿāṣab). Although this word (ʿāṣab) can mean physical pain, that is not the case here. In this context עָצַב (ʿāṣab) conveys the emotion of sorrow as the result of having one’s feelings hurt.

The Greek is λυπέω (lypeō) and according to the Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament it means to cause pain, or give offense. This is right in line with the prophetic lament in Isaiah.

What this might mean is that Paul is actually referencing the section in Isaiah. Here is Isaiah 63:10 in its immediate setting:

For He said, “Surely, they are My people, Sons who will not deal falsely.” So He became their Savior.

In all their affliction He was afflicted, And the angel of His presence saved them; In His love and in His mercy He redeemed them, And He lifted them and carried them all the days of old.

But they rebelled And grieved His Holy Spirit; Therefore He turned Himself to become their enemy, He fought against them. (Isaiah 63:8–10)

First, we find that God had affection for, and confidence in, His people. With high hopes He saved them. God identified with their suffering, delivered them, and because of His love and mercy acted like a kinsman-redeemer. They had no strength, but He became their strength. And then, then(!), they rebelled. The result of their rebellion was that the Holy Spirit was deeply grieved and, as a result of their callous, unthinking, unwise, rebellion, God was turned against them. He became hostile to them.

Our next entry will isolate and examine some of the ways our inner-narratives may need to be changed. It is possible to bless God by our thoughts and words about ourselves. It is possible to grieve the Spirit who abides in us and is utterly committed to our wellbeing.

Let’s continue to apply Paul’s exhortation to the Ephesians to our own souls. So that you don’t have to look it up, here is a more pointed paraphrase of Ephesians 4:29:

Do not allow any rotten inner-conversation to proceed from your heart about yourself to yourself.

Instead, concentrate upon what is wholesome.

Strategically strengthen your soul, according to your immediate need.

Embrace the goal to please God with your meditations and impart grace to your inner-being in your time of need (a paraphrased application of Ephesians 4:29)

Let’s pray again:

Abba, let the words I speak and my heart’s deepest thoughts give Your presence pleasure. (paraphrase of Psalm 19:14a)

Purchase God’s True Love

Or on Kindle

Also, David wrote a book about God’s love for the Jewish People called, For the Sake of the Fathers

And a book on Leadership

Check out David’s new worship album, Looking for a City