Comfort for the Contrite (or broken hearted)

A contrite heart - what does this mean?


As I sat having my quiet time this morning, I began reading out of the Old Testament book of Isaiah and found this:


Isaiah 57:15 says this,
 "For this is what the high and exalted One says—
   he who lives forever, whose name is holy:
“I live in a high and holy place,
   but also with the one who is contrite and lowly in spirit,
to revive the spirit of the lowly
   and to revive the heart of the contrite."


So what does that mean?


The transliteration for contrite comes from the Hebrew word "daka" or "dakka", which means "crushed, broken, dust."


God tells us in verse 15 that he "also lives with the one who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite."


God lives with those who are broken about the decisions they have made or the circumstances they find themselves in and with those who have a humble heart and are repentant about their mistakes. In Isaiah 57, we find a qualification for receiving spiritual healing. This condition was required of physical Israel before God would heal the nation. It is also required of spiritual Israel (that is, the Church) for spiritual damage to be healed.


Although God is all-powerful and unlimited in His existence and perfection, He is the most involved and loving of all beings. In reviving the spirit of the humble, He 'makes them alive' as it translates literally. The sense here is that He provides spiritual life and comfort. Spiritually, God is to the contrite what refreshing rains, the warm sun and cool dew are, physically, to a drooping plant. It revives us when we are in that condition.


Are you feeling physically dry? What about spiritually dry? God is there for us, he wants to revive us, He's just waiting on us to be repentant and allow Him the opportunity to come in and give us the spiritual watering we need.


Look at Job, he was crushed, battered, bruised and weary. 


[ In Job 5, Eliphaz, Job's friend describes the difficulty of the fool's devastated children and how the fool is the cause of their crushed state.

Job 5:1-7, "Call now, if there be any that will answer you; and to which of the saints will you turn? For wrath kills the foolish man, and envy slays the silly one. I have seen the foolish taking root, but suddenly I cursed his habitation. His children are far from safety, and they are crushed in the gate, neither is there any to deliver them. His harvest the hungry eats up and takes it even out of the thorns, and the robber swallows up their substance. Although affliction comes not forth of the dust, neither does trouble spring out of the ground; yet man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward.",

"The crushing here refers to their being made powerless to prevent their own tragedy. Negatively speaking, the contrite are bruised and injured. This is positive, as it is their pride that gets irreversibly crushed. However, the crushing events of life do not automatically make us contrite. It is possible for the result to be either of two extremes—bitterness or genuine contrition. That is the critical point when a person is struck with an injury or a sickness or whatever it may be. What direction will that person take?


Some allow bitterness, resentment and anger to be the result in their broken state. Anger can very easily become sinful when it is causeless, excessive, or prolonged. In contrast, genuine contrition does not leave a humble person immobilized, hardened or embittered.


Some of the biblical synonyms used for "contrite" are: penitent, regretful, remorseful, repentant, sorry, apologetic, and ashamed. We can get a more thorough understanding of contrition by looking at four of these synonyms. These very similar terms help provide a clearer picture of the attitude involved here.

Penitence is sorrow for sins or faults. It implies sad and humble realization of, and regret for, one's misdeeds. The feeling that no sin is beyond forgiveness if it is followed by true penitence.

Regret implies a painful sting of conscience, especially for contemplated wrongdoing. It is the feeling of being sharply bothered by one's own action accompanied with a sense of guilt.

Remorse suggests prolonged and insistent self-reproach and mental anguish for past wrongs, and especially for those whose consequences cannot be remedied. It is the feeling of walking on thorns. 

Repentance adds the implication of a resolve to change. It bears good fruit.

In this light, contrition stresses the sorrowful regret that constitutes true penitence. It is the feeling of remorse that brings tears to the eyes and leads to repentance.


That is the heart in which God says he lives in. God lives with us, in us, when our hearts are full of contrition and repentance."] - Martin Collins


What do you need to repent for? What is God calling you to lay down at His feet and give over to Him? What troubles do you have?


We often feel overcome by our troubles, but we do not have to feel this way. God is fully aware of our limitations as we walk before Him. We see here that the righteous do not always escape trouble. Walking with God in the way of wisdom assures us that God is present, even when we suffer often and severely.


God promises that if we trust Him and call on Him, He will see us through our troubles and make them a blessing to us and through us to others. He is also able to help us with our emotions of despair and depression.


Psalms 34:18, "The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit"


God assures us that He is near us when our hearts are broken and our spirits are crushed, whether we feel like it or not. This is not a promise with conditions attached to it; it is just a simple and eternal fact.


Take the time today to give God your broken heart, to humble yourself before the Maker of heaven and earth.


1 John 3:9 , "The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance."


How beautiful is God? He is patient and does not want anyone to perish.... thank you, Lord!

Forgiveness and pride

Forgiveness. It's such a simple word, yet it's such a tricky subject. In a hard lesson, God worked on this topic of forgiveness with me over the weekend. Then it was driven home by the sad news of a friend's marriage breaking up over the weekend.


Why is forgiveness so hard on big topics? Sure, it's easy to forgive when someone bumps into you or forgets to do something they were supposed to, but why is it so hard to forgive the absent parent, or the affair your spouse had, or the repeated wrongs that don't seem to get any better with time? Has God given us a passage on these bigger issues? What about hurtful words? Forgetfulness or absentmindedness? 

And, what if the person has said sorry? What do we do then?


In Luke 17:3-4, Jesus tells us this,

"So watch yourselves.“If your brother or sister sins against you, rebuke them; and if they repent, forgive them. Even if they sin against you seven times in a day and seven times come back to you saying ‘I repent,’ you must forgive them.”

We must forgive them. So if we know this, why is it so hard?  I think this is a question so many Christians find themselves asking God. "Why God, if I love this person, if this person is my friend, my spouse, my child, my neighbor, my co-worker, then why is it so hard to forgive them? Why, if I know what I ought to do, is it so hard to forgive those that have hurt me or wronged me?" 


Matthew 26:41 says it beautifully, "The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak."


It's as if you can see and hear the angel on one shoulder and the devil on the other. The war rages on inside of you when you feel wronged. You know you should forgive and you know forgiveness is a command from God, but pride, hurt, anger, and resentment linger. 

It is exactly what Paul is talking about in Romans. This passage is confusing to read through, but if you read through it carefully, you will see that Paul, through the Holy Spirit, spoke of the same "war" inside of us. 

Read Romans 7:14-24,

 ¹⁴ We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. ¹⁵ I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. ¹⁶ And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. ¹⁷ As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. ¹⁸ For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. ¹⁹ For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. ²⁰ Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.
 ²¹ So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. ²² For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; ²³ but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. ²⁴ What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? ²⁵ Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!

Again I ask, why, then, is it so hard? Paul made it pretty clear. It's the sin in us. 


Galations 5:17 says is again, 


"For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want."

But there is hope. Our hope is found in God!



Psalm 130:4 tells us this,

But with you there is forgiveness, so that we can, with reverence, serve you.

And, like the end of Romans 7 tells us, "Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord." 

This is a tough topic for me because I am still doing a lot of growing myself in this area. Apologizing and offering forgiveness were not strong suits in my house when I was growing up. I saw the opposite often times (but praise God, His works are new in each of us and both of my parents are now believers and are both also working on this, as well) and now, as an adult, I am going through a lot of growing pains in this area.


It is hard to let go of the pride, the hurt, and the anger when I feel wronged - but there is hope AND freedom in Jesus.... in letting go of those emotions and forgiving. Not simply uttering the words, but truly giving the burden to God and allowing Him to fill your heart with forgiveness and love. 


"Never does the soul appear so strong and noble as when it forgoes revenge and dares to forgive injury." 
~Edwin Hubbel Chapin

Complacency

As I studied the book of Zephaniah this morning, I was struck by chapter 1, verse 12. 

"At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps and punish those who are complacent, who are like wine left on its dregs, who think, ‘The LORD will do nothing, either good or bad."


Again, Amos 6:1 and 7 says this, "1 Woe to you who are complacent in Zion, and to you who feel secure on Mount Samaria, you notable men of the foremost nation, to whom the people of Israel come!... 7 Therefore you will be among the first to go into exile; your feasting and lounging will end."


Is God okay with complacency? Is God okay with the the believer who mentally says, "I go to church on Sunday. I checked that box. I am all set for the next week." What about to those who would say, "I live a good life. I am kind. I donate a can of soup when the post office does their 'Stamp Out Hunger' drive." What if you don't even mentally say those things to yourself, but you are just complacent in your life, in your walk and relationship with the living God - are you okay with status quo?


Zephaniah 1:12 is pretty clear how God felt about complacency. He didn't like, at all. He was willing to punish the people of Judah for their complacency.


The burden I feel for the American church is that we have lost our true sense and true purpose - that we have become complacent and "okay" with the status quo. Why have we chosen to serve the living God by giving our hearts to Him and getting baptised, but then unconsciously or consciously stop serving Him. What happens between choosing to LIVE for Him and unconsciously living for ourselves, while simultaneously thinking we are living for Him?


A little further on in Zephaniah, we see that the Word of the Lord to Zephaniah says this: (Zeph 2:3)

³ "Seek the LORD, all you humble of the land, you who do what he commands. Seek righteousness, seek humility; perhaps you will be sheltered on the day of the LORD’s anger." 


God tells us exactly what we need to do... SEEK HIM! God sent His Son for so much more than our salvation and our happiness, but He does care about us and He gives us very clear and precise instructions on how to avoid His wrath. 

In the book of Zechariah, this was the word of the Lord - Zechariah 3:7, " This is what the Lord Almighty says, 'If you will walk in my ways and keep my requirements then you will govern my house and have charge over my courts, and I will give you a place among those standing here."


Jeremiah 29:13 has become my new favorite single verse, "You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart." 


There is nothing in that verse that speaks of complacency. There first is an action on our part then, there is an unfailing God who will show Himself to us when we seek Him with ALL of our heart!


My heart feels so heavy for the apathy that has gripped our nation, our churches, and the lives of the very people who call themselves Christians and yet they sit idly by, living out their "busy" lives. We have to be willing to die to ourselves and make Him our daily focus, waking up and asking ourselves, "Lord, how can I best serve you today? How can you use me to bring glory to Your Name and make Your Name known among ALL nations?"

David Platt, in Radical, says this, "Jesus said to His followers, "Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." Jesus clearly acknowledged that following him invloves risking the safety, security, and satisfaction we have found in this world. But in the end, Jesus said, following him leads to a radical reward that this world cannot offer. This begs the question from each of us: do we believe the reward found in Jesus is worth the risk of following him?"


Want to start somewhere? Here are two great possibilities:


1. Start with some one on one time with God, the Creator of heaven and earth. Journal. Tell Him how much you love Him... how much you need Him. 

If you are not even sure if you believe in Him, start by asking Him to make Himself known to you, ask Him to forgive you for the past, then make a commitment to Him to serve Him with ALL of your heart. Make Him known to you - I can PROMISE you, He's been making Himself known to you your whole life! If you would like help with this, please, let me know. I would love to talk with you, walk you through this. 

If you are a believer and you have found yourself complacent, it's not too late to change that. Pupose in your heart to make a difference, starting with your OWN walk, then move on to helping the poor, the widowed, the orphaned, etc....


2. Meet my family and I as we serve the poor on Saturday mornings. We will meet up at John F. Kennedy Stadium in Manchester, NH, serving food to the Manchester area families that are in need of assistance. We meet up at 9:30am, get our "post" from the NH Food Bank, then we begin the priveledge of serving at 10am. 


Acts 20:24, "Yet, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me - the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace."


Acts 20:28, "Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood."


and finally in Acts 20:32-38 Pauls ends with this, ³² “Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified. ³³ I have not coveted anyone’s silver or gold or clothing. ³⁴ You yourselves know that these hands of mine have supplied my own needs and the needs of my companions. ³⁵ In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ” 

 ³⁶ When Paul had finished speaking, he knelt down with all of them and prayed. ³⁷ They all wept as they embraced him and kissed him. ³⁸ What grieved them most was his statement that they would never see his face again. Then they accompanied him to the ship."

Jesus... and Paul (not on the same level as Jesus) did not live a life of contentment and apathy. We have committed our hearts to God - now it's time to commit our lives to God!


Blessings!