The Trial of Your Faith, Part 1

As I was praying this morning, my mind was going over several of the burdens that the people under my ministry are bearing. Other than the stresses that are common to everyday living, and the aches and limitations that come with aging, my personal life is going well beyond anything I deserve. But quite a number of the people under my ministry are going through some very sore trials. I endeavour with the help of God to be a pastor to these people after the pattern of the apostle Paul, who wrote this to the church at Thessalonica:

1 Thessalonians 2:7  But we were gentle among you, even as a nurse cherisheth her children:

8  So being affectionately desirous of you, we were willing to have imparted unto you, not the gospel of God only, but also our own souls, because ye were dear unto us.

Being like a nurse to these people and holding them dear to my heart, their burdens become my burdens. What nurse is worth her salt that does not feel burdened for the sufferings of those she cares for? Not that I bear the burdens of my people to the same extent as they, but I do bear great concern, a concern I bring before God in my prayers for them.

As I consider these things, I sometimes wonder why it is that there is so much trouble among the people I serve and strive to bless. I search my own heart and wonder if there is something wrong with me or something lacking in my ministry. Am I being punished? And then I see others who claim to be ministers of Christ with prospering ministries when I know they are promoting glaring errors. I wonder why it is thus? Have I missed something? But as I was praying today, it came to my mind that the Lord is letting all this happen as a trial of my faith. And, it follows, that the faith of my people whom I serve is also being tried. This all took me to this passage that I have preached on several times before, but that I need to be continually reminded of:

1 Peter 1:6  Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations:

7  That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ….

The believers to whom Peter was writing were “in heaviness through manifold temptations.” Manifold temptations are varied or different kinds of temptations. That is what I see throughout the church I serve. I see all kinds of troubles that the folks are going through. And those are the ones I know of! What must it be were I to add on those I know nothing of?

Now a temptation arises from being tempted. The word tempt as defined in a dictionary and as used in the Bible can refer to a trouble that tries or tests a person, or it can refer to an attraction to do something evil. A temptation might be a sickness, a personal loss, or a persecution. But it might also be some strong attraction to evil. For a Christian, being strongly attracted to something sinful can be an affliction. Let’s face it, unfulfilled desire is vexing and that is exactly what we experience when we are strongly attracted to something sinful that we know we must not give into. And such a temptation also becomes a test. Will we stay true to God and do what is right, or will be forsake the Lord and fulfill our lust? And every trouble you go through, even if the trouble itself is not an allurement to sin, can lead to sinning if you use it as an excuse to forsake the Lord and do your own thing.

Also notice that these manifold temptations were causing these believers to be in heaviness, which suggests that these temptations were a source of pressure or stress. These were hard tests. They were not easy to get through or resist. Some of the troubles my folks are going through are pressing them heavily. They are sore temptations. And inasmuch as I care for my people like a nurse, I am in heaviness as well.

So what is the effect of being “in heaviness through manifold temptations”? The effect is called “the trial of your faith.” Now let’s define the word trial.

Trial - The action of testing or putting to the proof the fitness, truth, strength, or other quality of anything; test, probation.

“The trial of your faith” is a putting of your faith to the test to prove it. “The trial of your faith” will prove whether your faith is true or false. Do you really believe God and what He says in His word? Do you really believe the King James Bible is the pure, preserved word of God? Do you really believe you are in a true church sitting under a true man of God, and is he really telling you the truth? Your trials are going to prove if you really believe what you say you do. For, you see, it would be easy to answer “yes” to all of these questions if everything was going smoothly, if you and all your family were enjoying robust health and plenty of money, and all getting along well. But will you trust God and hold to what you believe is the truth when things are going against you, and you are in heaviness through all kinds of troubles? If you can hold fast your faith in such circumstances, then “yes,” you really do believe all those things. For your trials will prove whether faith is real or feigned. In 1Timothy 1:5, Paul mentions a “faith unfeigned.” That is a faith that is not pretended, that is genuine. It is a faith that runs deep, rather than some superficial believing that might arise over hearing something new. Temptations will prove that superficial faith to be the fake that it is.

Luke 8:13  They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away.

According to the verse we are considering in 1Peter, the trying of your faith works like the trying of gold with fire. The fire purges out the impurities in the gold and makes better stuff of it. So your trial will reveal whatever is defective in your faith. Perhaps you are putting too much trust in the creature comforts God is giving you. In that case, all the Lord has to do is remove those comforts and then it will be seen if your faith rests in Him or in the comforts He gives. The following passage set forth this particular purpose for trials.

Deuteronomy 8:2  And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no.

3  And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.

The Lord is going to test you to see if you truly believe His word and will obey it even in the face of loss. He will test you to see if you are living by His word, or by what you put in your belly, or what makes you comfortable.

And, furthermore, “the trial of your faith” will test the strength of your faith. If adversity causes your faith to falter, then your faith is weak.

Proverbs 24:10  If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small.

We should all want a faith like Abraham of whom it is written:

Romans 4:19  And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sara's womb:

20  He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God;

21  And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.

Abraham believed God even when his circumstances were screaming that what God had promised couldn’t possibly be. If you find your faith caving in under the pressure of your manifold temptations, then let me suggest you pray this simple prayer of the disciples of Christ:

Luke 17:5  And the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith.

I can see now that this meditation is expanding. So I’ll have more to say about this in another installment. In the meantime, suffice it to say that if you are “in heaviness through manifold temptations,” God is working something in your life that will turn out wonderful in the end. Stay tuned for more.

Possibility Thinking, Part 3

In our last meditation we pointed out that if we really believe the Lord is able to do something to improve a difficult situation we are in, we will demonstrate that faith by asking, seeking, and knocking with importunity, that is, with persistence. We considered the teaching of our Lord on this subject as He taught His disciples to pray in Luke 11:1-13. Today let’s consider this thought further by noting the parable of the unjust judge as given us by our Lord.

Luke 18:1  And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;

2  Saying, There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man:

3  And there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary.

4  And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man;

5  Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.

6  And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith.

7  And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them?

8  I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?

Now the widow in this parable obviously believed the judge was able to do something to give her relief from her adversary. And she believed that enough to cause her to come to the judge continually. She was persistent. Finally, she received what she asked for and sought. And our Lord used this story to teach “that men ought always to pray, and not to faint.” So if you desire something that is not forbidden in God’s word, and you desire it so that you might serve and honour the Lord with it, then don’t give up. Ask, seek, and knock persistently! At some point, you will get an answer. It may not be exactly what you want, but it will be an answer that will help you and bring you peace.

But never forget what Jesus said when the blind men confessed that they believed He was able to heal them: “According to your faith be it unto you.” If you do not believe the Lord is able to do something to improve your situation, it will likely not happen. Hear what our Lord said:

Mark 9:23  Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.

When you come to God in prayer, you must come with the faith that “all things are possible” with God. If you don’t have this faith, then you cannot pray a prayer that will please God.

Hebrews 11:6  But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

God does not receive prayers that are not mixed with faith. This is evident from the following passage:

James 1:5  If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

6  But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.

7  For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.

If you are asking God for something and yet doubting His power to grant it, then you are wavering. You are acting like you believe God is able to grant what you pray for; after all, that is the reason you are praying. But at the same time you are doubting. Hence, you are wavering. In that case, you can put it down that you will not “receive any thing of the Lord.” When you doubt God’s ability to do what you ask, you are in effect limiting “the Holy One of Israel,” something which both provokes and grieves the Lord.

Psalms 78:40  How oft did they provoke him in the wilderness, and grieve him in the desert!

41  Yea, they turned back and tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel.

42  They remembered not his hand, nor the day when he delivered them from the enemy.

So it comes back to this: “Believe ye that I am able to do this?” “According to your faith be it unto you.” And this is where your personal battles will be fought. Do I believe or do I not? Do I trust the Lord or do I not? This is why our Christian warfare is called “the good fight of faith” (1Timothy 6:12). If you doubt that all things are possible with God, you are losing the battle and Satan has gained the advantage over you. Because, you see, Satan is resisted when we are “stedfast in the faith.”

1 Peter 5:8  Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

9  Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.

It is with “the shield of faith” that we are “able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked” (Ephesians 6:16).

And if you are struggling with nagging unbelief, then there is this prayer that a man prayed when the Lord told him that “all things are possible to him that believeth.”

Mark 9:24  And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.

You see, God can help your unbelief. That is one of the endless number of things that is possible with God. I suggest you pray this prayer and do so with importunity until you begin to see your faith increasing and your unbelief diminishing. And if you are asking the Lord to increase your faith, you are obviously asking for something that pleases Him. In this case, you will receive what you ask for.

1 John 5:14  And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:

15  And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.

It is my prayer that this series of meditations will spur my readers to more possibility thinking as it pertains to what the Lord is able to do. Nothing but nothing that you need is impossible for God to provide. God can do anything you ask and much more. When you dare to believe and act on that faith, you may be surprised at what the Lord will do, even beyond what you imagined He might do. To be sure, He may not do just exactly what you asked. He may do something that in the outcome will be far and away better for you and others. In conclusion, let me challenge you to answer the call of this passage:

Jeremiah 33:1  Moreover the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah the second time, while he was yet shut up in the court of the prison, saying,

2  Thus saith the LORD the maker thereof, the LORD that formed it, to establish it; the LORD is his name;

3  Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.

Possibility Thinking, Part 2

In our last meditation we considered that the Lord is able to do far and away beyond anything we can verbalize or even imagine. And we saw examples of people in Scripture who believed God could do something about their adverse circumstances, yea, they believed enough to ask God to do something about them. These people practiced what I call possibility thinking. Then we closed challenging you with this question: do you believe the Lord is able to do anything to improve your situation?

This brings me now to the passage that I consider the crux of this meditation. It is the story of Jesus’ healing of two blind men. Pay close attention as you read this passage.

Matthew 9:27  And when Jesus departed thence, two blind men followed him, crying, and saying, Thou Son of David, have mercy on us.

28  And when he was come into the house, the blind men came to him: and Jesus saith unto them, Believe ye that I am able to do this? They said unto him, Yea, Lord.

29  Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you.

30  And their eyes were opened; and Jesus straitly charged them, saying, See that no man know it.

31  But they, when they were departed, spread abroad his fame in all that country.

Notice that Jesus did not ask these blind men if they believed He would heal them. He simply asked them if they believed He was able to heal them. After affirming their faith in His ability to heal, he said to them: “According to your faith be it unto you.” So if you are involved in some kind of situation that you long to see improved, do you believe the Lord is able to improve it? Do you believe He can heal you? Do you believe He can overpower the person with whom you are having a problem and bring peace in some way or another? Do you believe that your job situation can improve or that God can give you a better job? Do you believe the Lord can make a way for you to move closer to a church? Do you believe God can still open doors and hearts to the gospel of Jesus Christ? Again, I am not asking if you believe God will do these things. I am asking you the same thing the Lord asked those blind men: “Believe ye that I am able to do this?” And do you believe it enough to ask for it? After all, if you don’t ask, you will not receive the desired blessing.

James 4:2  Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.

3  Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.

As our Lord Jesus said: “Ask, and it shall be given you” (Luke 11:9). Now I am not encouraging you to ask for things simply to satisfy the lusts of your flesh. I am not teaching the modern “name it, claim it” doctrine which affirms you can have pretty much anything you want if you believe God will give it to you for the asking. When our Lord taught us to pray He taught us to put God’s honour and His will in the forefront of our requests.

Luke 11:1  And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.

2  And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.

3  Give us day by day our daily bread.

4  And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.

In teaching us to pray Christ taught us to put the hallowing of God's name, the coming of His kingdom, and the doing of His will ahead of asking for our personal needs.  When you ask for something so that you might better serve and honour the Lord, you are seeking to please the Lord rather than yourself. In this case, you are much more likely to receive what you ask for. I once counseled a cancer patient in my congregation on how to bargain with God for his life. I instructed him to tell the Lord that if He would let him live, he would go up to His house to offer the sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving the remainder of his days.

Psalms 116:17  I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the LORD.

18  I will pay my vows unto the LORD now in the presence of all his people,

19  In the courts of the LORD'S house, in the midst of thee, O Jerusalem. Praise ye the LORD.

This bargaining chip carries a lot more weight with the Lord than asking Him to let you to live to pay off the house, or to see more of the world, or to see your grandchildren grow up.

But if we truly believe the Lord is able to do something to improve our situation, then we need to go beyond just asking. Let’s read further what the Lord had to say in teaching His disciples to pray.

Luke 11:5  And he said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves;

6  For a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him?

7  And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee.

8  I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth.

9  And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.

10  For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

11  If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent?

12  Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?

13  If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?

Notice in the example our Lord gave of a friend asking his friend for three loaves of bread at midnight, that the petitioner would not be put off. He persisted until he his friend gave him the needed bread. Jesus said his friend gave him what he asked for “because of his importunity,” that is, because he was persistent and pressing in his solicitation. So you asked the Lord to do something about your troubling situation. Did you only ask once and then give up when you didn’t get what you asked for? Does that sound like importunity? Does that sound like persistence? Do you believe God is able to help you to the extent that you will keep asking Him?

Notice that our Lord not only taught us to ask of our Father, but He also taught us to seek: “seek, and ye shall find.” To seek for something is to go in search of it; to try to find it; to look for it. You see, prayer demands actions that are in harmony with its desires. Therefore, if you are asking for health with which to serve the Lord, seek those things that promote health. If you are sick, seek the appropriate remedies. If you are having a relationship problem, do what you can to rectify whatever you may have done to hurt the relationship. If you are seeking a better job situation, then look for other employment opportunities if there is nothing more to be done where you are working. If you want to move closer to the church, look for jobs in the area where the church is located. And don’t just look once and give up. That is not importunity! Keep looking. Be persistent.

But you say, “I have asked and searched but I have only met with a closed door.” Then knock on the door if you want it to be opened to you: “knock, and it shall be opened unto you.” The Lord may just be testing you to see how persistent you will be. You see, it all comes down to this: do you believe the Lord is able to improve your situation? And do you believe it enough to ask, seek, and knock with persistence? Remember what Jesus said: “According to your faith be it unto you.” More on this next time.

Possibility Thinking, Part 1

The subject I take up today is of extreme importance to believers in God. It is important that they not only believe in what God does, but that they believe in what God can do, in what is possible with God. Hence, the title of today’s meditation is Possibility Thinking.

Let’s begin by defining the word possible.

Possible – That may be (i.e. is capable of being); that may or can exist, be done or happen (in general, or in given or assumed conditions or circumstances); that is in one’s own power, that one can do, exert, use, etc.

In Jeremiah 32, we find Jeremiah shut up in prison. He was imprisoned for prophesying the defeat and captivity of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans who were then besieging the city. It was at this very time when Jerusalem was besieged and Jeremiah was in prison that the Lord instructed Jeremiah to buy a piece of land from his cousin Hanameel, because the right of redemption was Jeremiah’s to buy it. Now Jeremiah knew full well that he would not be able to take possession of the land because the Chaldeans would occupy it. Yet Jeremiah was told to buy it anyway, because God promised that a time would come when the Jews would return out of captivity to their land, and property would be bought and owned again. This was the promise:

Jeremiah 32:42  For thus saith the LORD; Like as I have brought all this great evil upon this people, so will I bring upon them all the good that I have promised them.

43  And fields shall be bought in this land, whereof ye say, It is desolate without man or beast; it is given into the hand of the Chaldeans.

44  Men shall buy fields for money, and subscribe evidences, and seal them, and take witnesses in the land of Benjamin, and in the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, and in the cities of the mountains, and in the cities of the valley, and in the cities of the south: for I will cause their captivity to return, saith the LORD.

At the time the Lord instructed Jeremiah to redeem his cousin’s property, the political and economic future of the Jews was bleak indeed. It looked highly unlikely that property would ever be possessed by Jews in their land again. Nevertheless, Jeremiah was told to act in expectation that it would happen. Jeremiah acted in the confidence that nothing is too hard for the Lord.

Jeremiah 32:17  Ah Lord GOD! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee….

Jeremiah 32:26  Then came the word of the LORD unto Jeremiah, saying,

27  Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me?

So from this story we have an example of what I call possibility thinking. Jeremiah did not just focus on the immediate circumstances. The Lord called him to look beyond that to what is possible, to what the Lord can do.

As far as what the Lord can do, consider this passage:

Ephesians 3:20  Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,

21  Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.

Think of the greatest thing you can ask of the Lord. Not only is the Lord able to do what you ask, He is able to do above what you ask. In fact, He is able to do above all that you ask. But not only that, He can do above all that you can even think. Think the greatest thought you can think and you still have not extended your thoughts to the full extent of God’s ability. But God is not only able to do above all that you can ask or think, He is abundantly (overflowingly, exceedingly) able to do above all that you ask or think. God’s power extends far more than just a step beyond the furthest reaches of your imagination. And there’s more. God is exceeding (extremely) abundantly able to do above all that you ask or think. God can not only do overflowingly and exceedingly beyond everything you ask or think, He can do so extremely overflowingly and exceedingly. God’s power extends extremely beyond the extremes of anything we can verbalize or imagine. All this being true, it is no wonder that He said to the virgin Mary after He announced that she would bear a son:

Luke 1:37  For with God nothing shall be impossible.

Now let’s connect this fact of God’s unfathomable ability to your faith. I bring faith into the picture here because your faith will be according to what you think God is able to do. If you do not think God can do great things beyond your asking or even imagining, you will not believe He is able to do them. Consider this passage that relates the healing of a leper by our Lord Jesus:

Mark 1:40  And there came a leper to him, beseeching him, and kneeling down to him, and saying unto him, If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.

41  And Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him, and saith unto him, I will; be thou clean.

42  And as soon as he had spoken, immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he was cleansed.

Observe in this passage that that leper did not say the Lord would heal him. He rather said the Lord could heal him, if He so willed. Here was an expression of faith in the Lord’s ability to do what the leper wanted. It was not a matter of ability on the part of the Lord to heal the leper; it was a matter of His willingness to do so. The leper believed Jesus was able to do what he asked. In fact, he was so convinced that Jesus could cleanse him of his leprosy, that he came “beseeching (begging) him.” And Jesus responded to this expression of faith and cleansed him of his leprosy. This is a clear example of possibility thinking.

Jesus expressed similar faith in the garden of Gethsemane when He prayed:

Mark 14:36  And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt.

Again, it was not a matter of what was possible unto God; it was a matter of His willingness.

I am not done with this meditation. But for now, look at your life. Are you struggling with a physical or mental health issue that you wish would get better? Are you struggling with a troubled relationship that you long to see improved? Is your job interfering with your church life? Are you removed from the church by great distance and wish you lived closer so you could be more active in the church? Are you frustrated in your attempts to witness to others of the truth of the gospel? Now I ask you:  Do you think, do you believe the Lord is able to do anything to improve your situation at this time?  Notice I did not ask if you believe the Lord will do something to improve it at this time. Do you believe the Lord can, if He will? And do you believe it enough to at least ask Him to do something about it to make it better, if He will? To be sure, you may not have a specific promise like Jeremiah did that God will change your situation in this life. But you do have verses that teach that it is possible with God as I have shown you. So again – and I will leave you with this for now – do you believe the Lord is able to do anything to improve your situation?

Textese

We are living in the age of texting as a principle means of communication. Although I do not have an iPhone, I do have an iPad and, yes, I text. Tending to be the talker that I am, I find it expedient at times to text a brief message rather than phone and run the risk of an extended and unnecessary conversation. But nowadays, for convenience’ sake, many if not most resort to the use of acronyms instead of spelling out the words when they text. Examples of this are FYI (for your information), IMO (in my opinion), BTW (by the way), BZ (busy), L8 (late), 4 (for), U (you), R (are), 6Y (sexy), OMG (Oh my God), BIF (before I forget), and on the list goes. I have had people text me in acronyms that I have had to inquire about what they meant as I am not into a lot of that kind of communication. This type of language, if it is even proper to call it a language, is called Textese.

Well, a poor brother in my congregation caught it today. I had extended a kindness to him in a text. He texted back his appreciation by simply typing TY, which means Thank You. This did not sit well with me at all. Perhaps I am thin-skinned. Perhaps I am a weaker brother who would not be offended by this were I stronger. If that is your opinion of me, then pray for me. But hear me out before you finalize that judgment. I shot a text back to the brother and said: “What is this TY crap!!! Don’t tell me you are capitulating to the dumbing down of Textese.” There was an element of levity in the response, but I was also serious. In fact, after I dashed off that reply I discovered I was really more serious than I think I at first realized. He had struck a nerve. The brother obviously detected the element of levity – I am glad he did – because he replied with a humourous comment. I then went on to explain why I did not like his use of Textese. Now in this brother’s defense, I know he meant no harm and I told him so. It is just that to express thanks with TY smacks to me of hurriedness and/or laziness. It does not strike me as much of an expression of gratitude. If you do not appreciate something I do enough to type out the words thank you, then please do not even bother expressing your appreciation. And I mean that in earnestness! I further clarified to the brother my reasons for not liking the Textese. This dear brother responded this way: “Agree. And THANK YOU for that admonition.” Notice that he not only typed out the words thank you, but he put them all in caps. People who respond to admonitions like that make my day! God bless that brother!

This exchange set me to thinking about this whole thing of Textese. As I meditated on it, I became more and more outraged. So here I am venting my spleen. And if this is raising your defenses, then please think this through with me. Imagine this scenario. You text me of a blessing. It might read something like this: “The doctor says it is not cancerous.” “I got the job.” “They accepted our offer on the house.” Now how would it strike you if I replied with this: “TG” for “Thank God”? Would you pick up from that my relief and excitement over your blessing? Does TG do justice as an expression of praise to God?

In the book The Digital Invasion, the authors Drs. Archibald D. Hart and Sylvia Hart Frejd had this to say about Textese:

“We are already abbreviating deep emotional terms in our texting, to the extent that they no longer communicate our deeper feelings. This could be detrimental to healthy attachment and relationship building. As an example, our texting uses digital acronyms, saying things like LOL (laughing out loud), IMY (I miss you) and WYWH (wish you were here). Sorry, but we just don’t get the same emotional response from such abbreviations as we do when someone says them face-to-face. It feels like the sender doesn’t have the time, or courage, to speak the real words of deep feelings. This stunts emotional and social development.”

I couldn’t agree more. That was just the way that TY made me feel.

Our beloved apostle Paul would close out all of his epistles with expressions like this: “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.” (2Thessalonians 3:18) or “Grace be with you. Amen.” (Colossians 4:18). Can you imagine the beloved apostle closing out his missives with GBWY (grace be with you)? Or imagine him ending his epistles with A to save time writing out “Amen”? Or imagine the apostle John closing out his third epistle with PBTT (peace be to thee)? You are probably chuckling at the very suggestion as it is so utterly ridiculous. Come on, people! Wake up! Do you get where I am going? These blessed apostles wrote out these expressions of goodwill spelling out the words fully on paper with ink by hand. And all of that under the inspiration of the Spirit of God! Would to God there were more of that type of communication today! I will go to my grave with the conviction that there is no substitute for handwritten communication.

When I speak of “the dumbing down of Textese,” I mean what I say. It is a fact that languages degenerate with the passage of time. This is certainly the case with our English language. Just listen to people talk. And I don’t just mean high school dropouts. I mean people with college degrees, even advanced degrees. This is about what you will hear: “I mean it is like really sad the way people like talk nowadays and stuff. It is like amaaaazing. Ya know what I’m sayin? It’s like people are really like dumb. Know what I mean? It’s like seriously? Dude?” You think I’m exaggerating? If I am, it is not by much! Let me challenge each of my readers to start paying attention to how often you use the word like in your speech. And just how much do you think Textese is going to help our young people to know how to write out words in complete sentences with correct spelling, to say nothing of correct grammar? I fear we will see a generation that will use FYI (for your information) so much that they will not even know how to spell information.

Now I am 66 years old. I come from the old school where we learned to spell out words and compose complete sentences on paper with pencils and pens. Because I have those skills in place, as you can see from reading this blog, I could probably get by with Textese so long as I keep my language skills in practice. But what about the younger generation that are spending hours upon hours on their digital devices communicating in Textese? As I was expressing my concerns about Textese to the brother mentioned above, I wrote this: “But I know you meant no harm. However, I do think that Textese is a dumbing down process that I want to stand against. Think of the impact of this on our grandchildren. We have an example to set. Convenient is not always the best way.”

Convenience is the lure of this digital technology. We get so drawn in by the convenience that we overlook what we are sacrificing to have it. Everything but everything, convenience included, comes at a cost. But are you in such a rush that you never stop to consider what that cost might be? Or are you blinded to that cost by the convenience? Yes, it may be more convenient to just look something up on Google on my iPad. But I judge it best at times to lift my lazy behind out of my chair, walk over to a shelf, take down a book, and look it up. There is just something so rewarding about doing it that way. You might consider trying it sometime. Blessed be God that I am a disciple of the One Who did not choose the path of convenience, but rather went through the horrible inconvenience of the cross for the honour of His Father and the salvation of my soul. I speak of our blessed Lord Jesus Christ. Yes, I said the Lord Jesus Christ, not the LJC!!! Said He in the garden as He entered into His sorrows:

Matthew 26:53  Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?

54  But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be?

Where would we be if he had chosen convenience over the cross?

I am a polyglot. I have studied several different languages in my lifetime. Textese is one language I do not care to master. I was only able to list as many examples of Textese as I did because I looked them up in a book. In fact, I do not think that Textese even deserves to be called a language. It would better be called the demise of a language.

Now I do not want to swing to an opposite extreme. Abbreviations have long had their place in our language. And it would not be fair to make a brother an offender for an acronym. I have even responded with an LOL when someone has sent me a joke. I do not think a joke warrants the kind of reply that an expression of gratitude warrants. But I am sure the recipient probably feels better for having sent it to me if I reply with “hardy har har,” as I have often done. However, Textese is abbreviations on steroids. The English language is the language our God chose in which to translate His word by inspiration for these last days. Should our beautiful and majestic English language be sacrificed on the altar of Textese? Should the language of Chaucer, Shakespeare, and the King James Bible be chopped to bits with abbreviations? Is it not worth the time to write it out with complete spelling of its words in complete sentences? I ask again, is it not worth the time? Are we in that much of a hurry? Have we become that lazy?

Consider that if your text is not important enough to use complete spelling of its words, it might not be important enough to even send it. Why not save your fingers and your time? I fear we waste far too much time texting anyway.

And while I am on this texting thing, I might as well dump it all. We have never had more telephones accessible to us than we do now. Yet try to get someone to answer the phone. If you don’t text with them, you don’t communicate with them by phone. I feel sorry for parents who seldom ever receive a visit or a phone call from their grown children. They have to settle for quick little texts much of which is in Textese. Is this the way to show your parents what they mean to you? When our God described His communication with Moses He put it this way:

Numbers 12:8  With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches; and the similitude of the LORD shall he behold: wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?

In Deuteronomy 34:10 the Lord said he knew Moses “face to face.” Let your parents behold your face by paying them a visit. Or at least let them see you on Facetime or Skype. And how about just phoning them and speaking with them mouth to mouth? Let them hear your voice. While texting can be an expedient way to communicate at times, it is no substitute for face to face, and voice to voice.

If I sound angry in this missive, I am! I am jealous for my beautiful mother tongue as I watch it going up in digital flames. I feel like Elihu when he was angry at the exchanges between Job and his three friends. Elihu finally had enough. Job 32-37 is Elihu venting his spleen. Said he:

Job 32:20  I will speak, that I may be refreshed: I will open my lips and answer.

You see, sometimes it just helps to get something off your chest. It refreshes you. Well, there you have it. Whew! I feel so much better now! It’s off of me and now it’s on you.

2 Timothy 2:7  Consider what I say; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things.