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Can I Get an “Aman”?

11 Nov

I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord In the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; Be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the Lord. (Psalm 27:13-14)

In Psalm 27, David extols God’s attributes, His heart for His children, and His great salvation. Then David makes this stunning declaration in verses 13 and 14. He was on the verge of despair because of his enemies, but instead he chose to BELIEVE God. The word here is the Hebrew word “aman”. It means “to stand firm, to trust, to be certain” (Strong’s Concordance). This is the same word that is used in Genesis 15:6 of Abraham where it is said that he “believed in the Lord; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.”

This belief is not just a mental assent about God or what He said. That sort of belief does no good for us before our Heavenly Father. Mental assent will not save a person. The kind of belief displayed by Abraham and David is the Hebrews 11:6 kind that trusts and affirms that God is Who He says He is and will do what He says He will do. God looks at that kind of belief, this “aman”, and declares one righteous – in right standing with Him, secure in relationship with Him. This kind of righteousness leads to right living, significant and firm in purpose to bring glory to Him.

It is this kind of belief in Christ and His work on the cross that brings salvation and God’s righteousness to one’s life. It is this kind of belief that causes one to “wait on the Lord”, to look eagerly for Him to act, to be confident in Him. It is this kind of belief that utters the “amen” in prayer – the “so be it” of absolute trust and confidence in God. This aman/amen belief can wait and be strong and courageous because of relationship with Him. So…

Can I get an “amen”?

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Let It Go – Part 1

23 Mar

When I was a young girl, my grandmother had a handheld mirror that I admired. Now, mind you, this mirror was not beautifully crafted. It didn’t have jewels all over it. In fact, it was quite plain. Just a unique oval shape, gold in color.  Nothing more.

I remember asking my grandmother how old the mirror was. Her reply was that it was from the Civil War. That did it for me. I was smitten and wanted to have that mirror as my own someday.

Just a side note: This is the same grandmother who, when asked her age, would tell you she was 104, though she was nowhere near that old.

Though I knew the age thing was a joke, somehow I did not connect her teasing with the Civil War declaration. I took her at her word on the age of this unique mirror, no documentation of authenticity necessary. She said it. I believed it.

MirrorI went on to inherit the mirror after my grandmother passed away. I proudly proclaimed the Civil War age of the mirror until the day I dropped it, and the handle broke revealing that the frame was made of none other than plastic! (Go ahead. Call me gullible, naïve, dense in the head. It’s true.) I had believed a “lie” about this mirror for years and acted on that belief when I declared to others its origin. Even a crack in the frame prior to the handle breaking did not deter me.

I dropped this mirror again the other day, and a piece of the frame around the mirror chipped off. (Two drops, and the mirror itself has never broken! Just the frame.) I was reminded of my steadfast belief about its history and had to laugh at how long I held on to that as fact.

It made me think of how often I have listened to the lies of Satan – lies about the Lord, His character, and His Word; lies about who I am in Christ, and so much more. It made me realize that I can still hold on to those thoughts, even when confronted with the truth. I think the Bible calls that sort of thing a stronghold. I need to let go of those thoughts through the power of the Holy Spirit, bringing them in line with God’s Word, not with what my circumstances or emotions say to me. His Word, not my experience, must be my standard for truth.

Satan does not joke or tease at the expense of a gullible, impressionable young girl. He means business when he tells us a lie, when he brings into question our beliefs, when he accuses us. He is out “to steal, kill and destroy” (John 10:10a). He wants those “Civil War” beliefs to be a fortress in our minds.

So it begs the question – Are you holding onto a “Civil War” belief? Is it keeping you from seeing God for who He is and all He has for you in Christ? Let it go. Stockpile your mind with God’s Word, and keep doing so until what He says is what you believe and how you act.

Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you. (Romans 12:2 The Message)

 

The world is unprincipled. It’s dog-eat-dog out there! The world doesn’t fight fair. But we don’t live or fight our battles that way—never have and never will. The tools of our trade aren’t for marketing or manipulation, but they are for demolishing that entire massively corrupt culture. We use our powerful God-tools for smashing warped philosophies, tearing down barriers erected against the truth of God, fitting every loose thought and emotion and impulse into the structure of life shaped by Christ. Our tools are ready at hand for clearing the ground of every obstruction and building lives of obedience into maturity. (2 Corinthians 10:3-6 The Message)