“Grab your water wings and start swimming!”
There they were. Before them, a giant body of water waiting to engulf them. Behind them, a giant body of people waiting to engulf them. I can only imagine the anger and frustration. I can only imagine the comments and one liners that were being said. They followed God and this is what they get. Egypt’s army was closing in on them, they had reached the edge of the Red Sea, what in the world was God doing, and more, what wasn’t He doing!
We have all been there, or we are going there, and some of us are there right now. This is God’s normal way of dealing with His people. The Bible, from cover to cover, shows us that God brings His people to hopeless situations. What do I mean by hopeless? I mean, no visible, material possibility of positive outcome that we can comprehend. Hopeless, without hope, but not without God.
Abraham was promised a son but it wasn’t till he and Sarah were of an age that child bearing was an impossibility that they became pregnant.
Israel was promised deliverance from Egypt and slavery but it wasn’t till they were caught between a sea and an army that God delivered them once and for all.
David was promised to be king but it wasn’t till after he had been hunted by Saul that his kingship could begin.
We have been promised life in Jesus but it isn’t till we die that we live that life. Now, I don’t mean that life in Christ doesn’t start till our earthly, physical death. And I am not placing conditions on salvation: works. I am simply saying what Jesus said, “If any man would come after me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.” Death is the condition of the promise, but we seem to forget this almost immediately and regularly.
We like to follow God only so far as we understand God, or more, only so far as we understand how we can make something work. If I can use a couple illustrations. We are the kid on the bike (God) with training wheels, one training wheel is perhaps money and the other job security. Or we are the tight rope walker with his long balancing rod and as long as we have a firm grip on that rod of back up plans we are ok on the tight rope of God. We never only want to have God as the option. We like to have God and our back up plan. But, that’s not really having God at all. And if you are God’s child, He wont leave you there. I’m not talking about salvation, I’m talking about sanctification.
Abraham against hope in hope believed. We try to avoid situations like that at all costs and when we near them or see them approaching we panic and start making plans to avoid them. But we need them. We need to see that God is our only hope, our only provider, and God is gracious enough to teach us this. We like to kid ourselves and believe that we can trust God absolutely even with a healthy bank account and a prosperous secure job, but when those things start dwindling and disappearing we start seeing just how much we trusted in those things instead. It is easy to trust God when we have everything figured out, but then, are we really trusting God. We are much more wicked than we like to admit and our sin is much more dominating than we realize, because of our sin we will cling to everything material before we cling to God.
Jobs and money and things and security are not inherently bad, they are not bad at all, they are not the problem, and at times we may have those things in abundance, those things are not the problem. We are. We have the opposite problem of King Midas, everything he touched turned to gold, everything we touch turns to sin. We pervert the good and make idols out of blessings. We are wicked. God is gracious to empty our hands of what we cling to, it feels mean and wrong to us, we gripe and complain and doubt and wonder how God could do this to us, and we question His love. We are like little children playing with knives or putting plastic bags on our heads and then complaining when our parents take away our new found play thing.
God brings us to hopeless situations that we can hope only in Him, this is not mean but reality. The truth is that God is our only hope. God provides for us everyday, everything we need. We think our jobs provide but it is God that provides through our jobs. We place hope and faith in everything before God, this is idolatry at its roots. We trust what we see and understand before we trust God.
God likes impossible odds for His children. Look at the history of deliverance in the Bible. Look at Joshua and Jericho. Gideon and his 300 men. David and Goliath. Daniel and the lions. Jesus and the cross. He brought Jesus to a giant wooden instrument of death and nailed Him to it and left Him in the grave three days, and then rose Him from the dead. Look at man kind lost in sin with no hope, no ability to change, nothing to offer God, what does God do? He promises a Savior born of a virgin. He offers Himself. He offers a Savior nailed to a cross for your sin. He offers a Savior risen from the grave for your justification. He says, “you are without hope, hope in Jesus.” Do not hope in morality. Do not hope in change. Do not hope in religion. Hope in Jesus. And God is still teaching us this lesson today because He loves us.
We define love as being made much of, God defines love rightly as making much of Him in us. I do not want to make light of your burden or act as if difficulty is easy. It isn’t, it hurts. I want you to trust God against all odds. This is not a self determination to get on with life or a stoic indifference. It is simple submission and trust. As God’s child by faith in Jesus Christ you can know with certainty that God has brought you to this situation and kept you in this situation.
It is when you have been delivered against all odds that we see God most clearly, when we cannot contribute our deliverance to money or man or chance or self, then we know God has delivered us. I am reminded of Abraham not accepting any money for fear that it would lessen the glory of God in His life by making God (apparently) share his deliverance (Gen 14:23). This should be our attitude as well. That the world would look in at out lives and know that there is no explanation but God, but sadly, we will avoid that circumstance at all cost, not because we want to dishonor God, but because we want to make sure we honor ourselves first. God can have His great glory in delivering us as long as we share the honor and glory.
What we need to see is this. God has brought you to this exact situation and this exact trial that you can learn to trust Him. God has already delivered you when you had no hope nor were even aware that you were without hope. God has in Jesus shown you that you can trust Him when the odds seem impossible. There was a day when the only Savior and hope for the world hung on a cross and everything seemed to be without hope or reason. There were three days that the Savior and Hope of the world lay in the grave and everything seemed to be without hope or reason. But on the third day God revealed His power and glory by raising Christ, not only alive, but victorious. So it is with us as we trust Christ, we come to situations of hopelessness and despair but it is there that Jesus moves most mightily and powerfully. It is there in the darkness of despair and frustration that Jesus meets our greatest needs. Don’t lose hope but against hope in hope believe (Rom 4:18). Jesus loves you.
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Epaphroditus
How is the Lord merciful in sustaining life when the next life, the life to come is far superior to this life. If heaven is our true home (which it is) and Christ is more desirable then life (which He is) then how is Jesus merciful in leaving us here and not taking us to be with Him in heaven? What got me started thinking about this is Epaphroditus. Paul says in Philippians 2:27, that the Lord was merciful in sustaining Epaphroditus’s life in the face of illness. How is this merciful? Paul had just said a chapter earlier that to depart and be with Christ is “far better” then being here, but now he says that the Lord was merciful in leaving Epaphroditus here. How can this be?
I think that a couple of things are obvious right away. We know that the Lord’s plan has always been for us to be here for a time. Read John 17 and listen to how many times Jesus prays for us in this world, even asking that we not be removed from this world(17:15). We know that the great commission could not be fulfilled if we were not here. We know that the Church would cease to exist on earth without believers. These are fairly obvious but as I have thought about this verse I have had another thought.
God is merciful in sustaining all life all the time. He didn’t break routine by keeping Epaphroditus alive. The reality of life is that each moment, moment to moment, we are kept by God. Our heart beats at His command. The oxygen fills our lungs as He orders. I do not believe in any natural order of life. Sadly, most Christians are mildly deistic in their thinking. We may pay lip service to sovereignty but in our thinking (and acting) we attribute life to “chance” or “fate.” We like the thought that God can control and intervene but we tend to think most of the time He doesn’t. We think the sun rises by its power and the earth spins in orbit held steadfast by gravity, never attributing the power of God to these things. In our thinking God has made the sun and moon and stars and earth and you and me but then He stepped back having put everything in motion and watches it spin perfectly in order. This is not the picture the bible paints. That is deism, maybe mild deism because it allows God to intervene, but deism none the less.
God is in absolute control of everything. The sun rises each morning at His command. The earth continues to spin in orbit at His command. That is no other power apart from the power of God. He, and He alone, is the only self existent being giving and sustaining life. Our heart beats each moment as He commands our heart to beat, our heart has no natural strength to beat of its own. We can no more cause our heart to beat then we can cause it to stop beating. As our lungs fill with oxygen it is at His command. Life was created by God, it did not just naturally exist, and life is sustained by God, it does not just naturally sustain. All life, moment to moment, is kept by God, all of creation is kept by His continuing power and will, in Him all things consist (Col 1:17).
In His mercy He sustains all life. The purpose of that mercy may be different as Romans 9:22-24 tells us. Sometimes that mercy prepares for glory other times that mercy prepares for destruction but it is His mercy none the less that keeps life alive. So why was the mercy of God pointed out in sustaining the life of Epaphroditus? I think for a very simple reason and one that we can all learn from.
We are all mildly deistic in our natural thinking. We tend to exclude God even after salvation. We are like children born into the lap of luxury, never having to work for a dime. Every desire we have will be met and it will be met by someone else. We have been adopted into the family of God, we have been purchased by the blood of Christ, we have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ (Eph 1:4). We do not have to work for our salvation or earn our way to acceptance with God. This is all good in and of itself. The problem is our sin. We turn blessing into curses. We take the good God gives us and create idols. We are like children born into the lap of luxury only to have that luxury spoil us. We easily forget all that we have and often take it for granted. We become spoiled. But, just as sometimes happens with rich children in this life, we are reminded and taught that life is not just what we please. That we are not in control. Our grip has to be loosened.
Think of Epaphroditus, sick possibly dying. Death has a great way of making us take inventory of our lives. I think that Epaphroditus was a godly man, more concerned with others then himself, an example. He was sick and dying (for Christ sake) and yet still serving the Church. But, even Epaphroditus was a man and therefore sinful. The nearness of the throne of God would have impacted Him, just as it does us. When death seems imminent we live differently, we pray differently, we evangelize differently. We don’t know what happens to Epaphroditus. He is never mentioned again. But I’ve learned something from him.
It could be said at this very moment, as I write, and as you read, that God had mercy on us and sustained our lives. You who know Jesus understand this better then any. You know what God’s mercy is in sending His Son to die for your sins and then to call you to His salvation. You have tasted God’s mercy and live with a remembrance of your own salvation. But have you thought about how God has sustained you today. Your heart is still beating. Your lungs still fill with air. Even when you can offer nothing to God He keeps you not only alive but in His grace and love. Rejoice that today you were given yet another opportunity to live in Jesus and share in His glorious glory. And know, as Epaphroditus knew, you are closer to the throne then you know, live accordingly. Jesus is all there is and He has called you to Himself in love, let that drive you to live for Him.
And you who do not know Jesus, who do not believe in Him and His work, the mercy of God sustains you today also. Your heart beats at His command, your lungs fill at His word. He sustains you and gives you life. But His mercy is not forever. There will come a day that you will have to give an account of how you used His mercy or more how you neglected His mercy. He tells us in His word that His mercy and kindness should lead us to repentance but because of the hardness of our hearts we treasure up His wrath for the day of judgment. In not responding to mercy you reject mercy and scorn the goodness of God. Repent friend and turn to Jesus, that the mercy of God would cover you forever.
I want to wrap this up by saying what I intended to say. God’s mercy in sustaining our lives here and now and not taking us home to be with Jesus is merciful because it more enables us to live by the power of God for the glory of God, when that mercy is rightly understood. I will live differently when I am aware that God is sustaining me so that I can live differently for His glory. Life is not just happening naturally, life is unfolding according to the perfect plan of God for my life to His glory and in His mercy He keeps me here to more fully realize His power and glory. See that you are here and now only by the merciful sustaining hand of Jesus and live in that knowledge.
I think that a couple of things are obvious right away. We know that the Lord’s plan has always been for us to be here for a time. Read John 17 and listen to how many times Jesus prays for us in this world, even asking that we not be removed from this world(17:15). We know that the great commission could not be fulfilled if we were not here. We know that the Church would cease to exist on earth without believers. These are fairly obvious but as I have thought about this verse I have had another thought.
God is merciful in sustaining all life all the time. He didn’t break routine by keeping Epaphroditus alive. The reality of life is that each moment, moment to moment, we are kept by God. Our heart beats at His command. The oxygen fills our lungs as He orders. I do not believe in any natural order of life. Sadly, most Christians are mildly deistic in their thinking. We may pay lip service to sovereignty but in our thinking (and acting) we attribute life to “chance” or “fate.” We like the thought that God can control and intervene but we tend to think most of the time He doesn’t. We think the sun rises by its power and the earth spins in orbit held steadfast by gravity, never attributing the power of God to these things. In our thinking God has made the sun and moon and stars and earth and you and me but then He stepped back having put everything in motion and watches it spin perfectly in order. This is not the picture the bible paints. That is deism, maybe mild deism because it allows God to intervene, but deism none the less.
God is in absolute control of everything. The sun rises each morning at His command. The earth continues to spin in orbit at His command. That is no other power apart from the power of God. He, and He alone, is the only self existent being giving and sustaining life. Our heart beats each moment as He commands our heart to beat, our heart has no natural strength to beat of its own. We can no more cause our heart to beat then we can cause it to stop beating. As our lungs fill with oxygen it is at His command. Life was created by God, it did not just naturally exist, and life is sustained by God, it does not just naturally sustain. All life, moment to moment, is kept by God, all of creation is kept by His continuing power and will, in Him all things consist (Col 1:17).
In His mercy He sustains all life. The purpose of that mercy may be different as Romans 9:22-24 tells us. Sometimes that mercy prepares for glory other times that mercy prepares for destruction but it is His mercy none the less that keeps life alive. So why was the mercy of God pointed out in sustaining the life of Epaphroditus? I think for a very simple reason and one that we can all learn from.
We are all mildly deistic in our natural thinking. We tend to exclude God even after salvation. We are like children born into the lap of luxury, never having to work for a dime. Every desire we have will be met and it will be met by someone else. We have been adopted into the family of God, we have been purchased by the blood of Christ, we have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ (Eph 1:4). We do not have to work for our salvation or earn our way to acceptance with God. This is all good in and of itself. The problem is our sin. We turn blessing into curses. We take the good God gives us and create idols. We are like children born into the lap of luxury only to have that luxury spoil us. We easily forget all that we have and often take it for granted. We become spoiled. But, just as sometimes happens with rich children in this life, we are reminded and taught that life is not just what we please. That we are not in control. Our grip has to be loosened.
Think of Epaphroditus, sick possibly dying. Death has a great way of making us take inventory of our lives. I think that Epaphroditus was a godly man, more concerned with others then himself, an example. He was sick and dying (for Christ sake) and yet still serving the Church. But, even Epaphroditus was a man and therefore sinful. The nearness of the throne of God would have impacted Him, just as it does us. When death seems imminent we live differently, we pray differently, we evangelize differently. We don’t know what happens to Epaphroditus. He is never mentioned again. But I’ve learned something from him.
It could be said at this very moment, as I write, and as you read, that God had mercy on us and sustained our lives. You who know Jesus understand this better then any. You know what God’s mercy is in sending His Son to die for your sins and then to call you to His salvation. You have tasted God’s mercy and live with a remembrance of your own salvation. But have you thought about how God has sustained you today. Your heart is still beating. Your lungs still fill with air. Even when you can offer nothing to God He keeps you not only alive but in His grace and love. Rejoice that today you were given yet another opportunity to live in Jesus and share in His glorious glory. And know, as Epaphroditus knew, you are closer to the throne then you know, live accordingly. Jesus is all there is and He has called you to Himself in love, let that drive you to live for Him.
And you who do not know Jesus, who do not believe in Him and His work, the mercy of God sustains you today also. Your heart beats at His command, your lungs fill at His word. He sustains you and gives you life. But His mercy is not forever. There will come a day that you will have to give an account of how you used His mercy or more how you neglected His mercy. He tells us in His word that His mercy and kindness should lead us to repentance but because of the hardness of our hearts we treasure up His wrath for the day of judgment. In not responding to mercy you reject mercy and scorn the goodness of God. Repent friend and turn to Jesus, that the mercy of God would cover you forever.
I want to wrap this up by saying what I intended to say. God’s mercy in sustaining our lives here and now and not taking us home to be with Jesus is merciful because it more enables us to live by the power of God for the glory of God, when that mercy is rightly understood. I will live differently when I am aware that God is sustaining me so that I can live differently for His glory. Life is not just happening naturally, life is unfolding according to the perfect plan of God for my life to His glory and in His mercy He keeps me here to more fully realize His power and glory. See that you are here and now only by the merciful sustaining hand of Jesus and live in that knowledge.
Friday, December 18, 2009
Glory + Love = rejoicing
I don’t expect this to be of any length but at the same time the thought was so wonderful that I thought I should share it even in brief.
God’s highest reason, motive, for doing and willing all that is done is His glory. All that is transpiring in your life right now, good or bad, easy or hard, joy or sorrow is for His glory. What we see unfolding around the world, the events taking place, even the most heinous and wicked, even the most wonderful and beautiful are to His glory. This is hard for us.
We don’t understand God’s glory in poverty and hunger, even starvation. We don’t understand God’s glory in the dark and lonely hours of our lives. We don’t understand God’s glory when we can’t pay our bills and next months rent is already due. We don’t understand God’s glory when our children are sick, or dying. We don’t understand God’s glory when our marriages are falling apart. But we don’t really understand God’s glory even when all is well. We may enjoy the thought of the glory of God when life is good and rejoicing and happiness are easier but is it really God’s glory that we are enjoying or just the comfort and ease of life. I tend to think the latter.
All that is unfolding around us is for the glory of God, the reason the “good” things in life seem to glorify Him more and the “bad” things in life tend to glorify Him less is just because of our inability to see and understand His glory now. This will change, I have thought about this in other posts (happy? and memories).
But this is not all there is for us. Though all of God’s ways are for His glory, glory is not the only motive of God. All of God’s dealings with us, His children, those born again by faith in Jesus Christ, are in love. We understand this. We do not plum the depths of it or fully understand His love, but we understand love better then we understand glory.
Whatever is taking place in your life, believer, is in love from God. This is the Gospel of Jesus Christ, that there is no more condemnation from God for His condemnation was completely satisfied in Jesus on the cross for you, in your place. This is the Gospel of Jesus Christ, that God looks at you (even in your sin and weakness and inconsistency) and loves you even as He loves Jesus. All of God’s ways are in love towards you. Now we may not understand the depths of how this is but we can grasp it if we will look to the cross of Jesus and His sacrificial life and death in your place.
You look at Jesus and you see the love of God for you even when you were an enemy lost in sin, and there, in Jesus, on that cross, you see the guarantee that God loves you. God loved you when you were an enemy but now He calls you son. His ways are love towards you always. He does not ever look at you apart from His Son, or He never looks at you without looking through the lenses of Jesus.
God might bring great hardship and difficulty and pain into your life but it is in His love for you that He does, and it is to His glory to do so, which is what I really want to say and for you to hear. God glorifies His name in loving you. I can hardly say that calmly without holding back tears because of the joy that erupts within me. God glorifies His name in loving you! Think of this but for a moment, God seeks to glorify His name mightily and He always achieves what He seeks and He has chosen to mightily glorify His name by loving you. He works to love you mightily that His glory would increase in your life. This seems to be one of the greatest things I have understood and only pray that it might penetrate your heart as well. How do I word this that you may see as I see, feel it as I feel it…
I am more confident of God’s love over me because I understand His love will glorify His name if His love is lavished on me immeasurably. He has already shown how amazing His love is by sending Jesus to live and die and rise in my place when I was an enemy and that glorifies His name, but now, oh the joy, I am His son accepted and looked upon even as Jesus is looked upon and now too, He will love me to the increase of His glory. I know that God’s love upon me is to glorify His name mightily and that He always succeeds. I may not understand every circumstance or every trial but I know that God will not fail to glorify His name in pouring out His love upon me in Jesus. I hope you see this, that God’s glory is seen in loving you in Jesus lavishly.
I feel that my words have failed me in expressing this to you but I pray you would consider what has been said and rejoice that God’s glory is in loving you.
God’s highest reason, motive, for doing and willing all that is done is His glory. All that is transpiring in your life right now, good or bad, easy or hard, joy or sorrow is for His glory. What we see unfolding around the world, the events taking place, even the most heinous and wicked, even the most wonderful and beautiful are to His glory. This is hard for us.
We don’t understand God’s glory in poverty and hunger, even starvation. We don’t understand God’s glory in the dark and lonely hours of our lives. We don’t understand God’s glory when we can’t pay our bills and next months rent is already due. We don’t understand God’s glory when our children are sick, or dying. We don’t understand God’s glory when our marriages are falling apart. But we don’t really understand God’s glory even when all is well. We may enjoy the thought of the glory of God when life is good and rejoicing and happiness are easier but is it really God’s glory that we are enjoying or just the comfort and ease of life. I tend to think the latter.
All that is unfolding around us is for the glory of God, the reason the “good” things in life seem to glorify Him more and the “bad” things in life tend to glorify Him less is just because of our inability to see and understand His glory now. This will change, I have thought about this in other posts (happy? and memories).
But this is not all there is for us. Though all of God’s ways are for His glory, glory is not the only motive of God. All of God’s dealings with us, His children, those born again by faith in Jesus Christ, are in love. We understand this. We do not plum the depths of it or fully understand His love, but we understand love better then we understand glory.
Whatever is taking place in your life, believer, is in love from God. This is the Gospel of Jesus Christ, that there is no more condemnation from God for His condemnation was completely satisfied in Jesus on the cross for you, in your place. This is the Gospel of Jesus Christ, that God looks at you (even in your sin and weakness and inconsistency) and loves you even as He loves Jesus. All of God’s ways are in love towards you. Now we may not understand the depths of how this is but we can grasp it if we will look to the cross of Jesus and His sacrificial life and death in your place.
You look at Jesus and you see the love of God for you even when you were an enemy lost in sin, and there, in Jesus, on that cross, you see the guarantee that God loves you. God loved you when you were an enemy but now He calls you son. His ways are love towards you always. He does not ever look at you apart from His Son, or He never looks at you without looking through the lenses of Jesus.
God might bring great hardship and difficulty and pain into your life but it is in His love for you that He does, and it is to His glory to do so, which is what I really want to say and for you to hear. God glorifies His name in loving you. I can hardly say that calmly without holding back tears because of the joy that erupts within me. God glorifies His name in loving you! Think of this but for a moment, God seeks to glorify His name mightily and He always achieves what He seeks and He has chosen to mightily glorify His name by loving you. He works to love you mightily that His glory would increase in your life. This seems to be one of the greatest things I have understood and only pray that it might penetrate your heart as well. How do I word this that you may see as I see, feel it as I feel it…
I am more confident of God’s love over me because I understand His love will glorify His name if His love is lavished on me immeasurably. He has already shown how amazing His love is by sending Jesus to live and die and rise in my place when I was an enemy and that glorifies His name, but now, oh the joy, I am His son accepted and looked upon even as Jesus is looked upon and now too, He will love me to the increase of His glory. I know that God’s love upon me is to glorify His name mightily and that He always succeeds. I may not understand every circumstance or every trial but I know that God will not fail to glorify His name in pouring out His love upon me in Jesus. I hope you see this, that God’s glory is seen in loving you in Jesus lavishly.
I feel that my words have failed me in expressing this to you but I pray you would consider what has been said and rejoice that God’s glory is in loving you.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
happy?
Jesus is happy. Infinitely happy. Unwaveringly happy. His happiness knows no end. That might sound a little funny, maybe even trite but the reality is God is happy. He is deeply and unshakably happy. To quote Piper, “…the glory and the grace of Jesus is that he is, and always will be, indestructibly happy.”
That carries a lot of questions doesn’t it. How can God look down at His creation and be happy with the way things are going? How can God look down at life that is so destructive and remain happy? How can God be happy with His creation that is so unhappy? Not going to answer those questions though I think there are excellent answers to those questions. What I want to do is think about the comfort we have in an always happy God.
My first comfort is this, if God is happy then He is not worried. Jesus is in control despite all of our feelings and assumptions and thoughts to the contrary. If there is one thing that the scriptures make abundantly clear it is that God is in perfect control of everything.
My second comfort is this, the God that is happy and not worried is with me. I have come to understand that God with me is the same as God for me. God is not worried about my circumstances, He is happy with them. God is not against me in my circumstances but for me. If God is not worried and He is for me then I have no need to worry either.
My third comfort is this, if God (knowing everything) is happy and not worried and for me, then everything must be going according to His plan. He is not thwart-able in His will. If His will were in jeopardy then worry would loom on the horizon, but His will is perfectly accomplished even by His enemies.
It is easy to find yourself in a mess of your own making and feel that you have blown it, but the reality is, you are in a mess of your own making and you did blow it but that this God is still for you and not worried and if you will trust Him you need not to worry or be unhappy either.
Bad marriages are from God as are disobedient children and accidental death and tsunamis and foreclosure and everything that we encounter and these things make us unhappy, but they do not trouble God or take away from His happiness and they need not take away from ours. If we would just look up into His face and into His eyes, we would see our Father reassuring us and comforting us. Saying to us, “I am not worried, I am happy, and I am for you, trust me, you need not worry and I want you to be happy.”
Do you believe that, “God wants you to be happy?” I am convinced He does, He is conforming us to the image of His Son, and His Son, Jesus, is infinitely happy. We can be happy, not falsely so, not stoically so, but genuinely so. In the face of life and death and everything in between we can be happy because we can know the One that is happy.
That carries a lot of questions doesn’t it. How can God look down at His creation and be happy with the way things are going? How can God look down at life that is so destructive and remain happy? How can God be happy with His creation that is so unhappy? Not going to answer those questions though I think there are excellent answers to those questions. What I want to do is think about the comfort we have in an always happy God.
My first comfort is this, if God is happy then He is not worried. Jesus is in control despite all of our feelings and assumptions and thoughts to the contrary. If there is one thing that the scriptures make abundantly clear it is that God is in perfect control of everything.
My second comfort is this, the God that is happy and not worried is with me. I have come to understand that God with me is the same as God for me. God is not worried about my circumstances, He is happy with them. God is not against me in my circumstances but for me. If God is not worried and He is for me then I have no need to worry either.
My third comfort is this, if God (knowing everything) is happy and not worried and for me, then everything must be going according to His plan. He is not thwart-able in His will. If His will were in jeopardy then worry would loom on the horizon, but His will is perfectly accomplished even by His enemies.
It is easy to find yourself in a mess of your own making and feel that you have blown it, but the reality is, you are in a mess of your own making and you did blow it but that this God is still for you and not worried and if you will trust Him you need not to worry or be unhappy either.
Bad marriages are from God as are disobedient children and accidental death and tsunamis and foreclosure and everything that we encounter and these things make us unhappy, but they do not trouble God or take away from His happiness and they need not take away from ours. If we would just look up into His face and into His eyes, we would see our Father reassuring us and comforting us. Saying to us, “I am not worried, I am happy, and I am for you, trust me, you need not worry and I want you to be happy.”
Do you believe that, “God wants you to be happy?” I am convinced He does, He is conforming us to the image of His Son, and His Son, Jesus, is infinitely happy. We can be happy, not falsely so, not stoically so, but genuinely so. In the face of life and death and everything in between we can be happy because we can know the One that is happy.
memories
I have been reading a book that deals with heaven and one of the points that is made is that we will have memories in heaven of this present, earthly life. This was a little surprising to me. I hadn’t really thought about it before or read anything about it before this time, but it still surprised me. I had just assumed that this current life would have no place in heaven, how could it and heaven still be heaven. There is so much pain and death and suffering here on earth. Our days are filled with trial and work and frustration and taxes and everything else that makes Monday through Friday so burdensome. It seemed to me that Heaven must be void of these memories for it to be Heaven. It is kind of like taking a vacation but all you can think about is all the work waiting for you after vacation, just the knowledge can be a stress. Just imagine if for eternity you had to endure a memory that was only pain and anguish. It would seem to take away from the bliss of Heaven. But, my thinking is changed now, or not changed but more enlightened. As I said, I really hadn’t studied or thought about the matter much till now so it is not like I had a firm grasp on anything. My thinking now is grounded scripturally, and because of it I am persuaded that we will have our memories in Heaven and not only will we have them but they will all be glorious.
I am not going to go into all the reasons and scriptures supporting this. I will give one scripture and one reason. The scripture: Rev 5:9-10, this is the song of the redeemed. The reason: For the redeemed to sing of their redemption would be to remember that they were redeemed. If we were blank slates in heaven then everything that transpired, namely the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, would hold no real value. There are more reasons based off scripture but those two are enough.
They will be glorious memories. When I think about memories I don’t think of my own, I think of our foster children. I have no horrible memories, some sad or disappointing or painful but nothing traumatic. These children have experienced violence and pain and abuse and atrocities beyond words. They have the memories and the scars. They have the physical and mental damage evidencing to them everyday what they went through. They may want to forget but not be able to, but in Heaven, they will not want to forget. That is not easy to say, and I do not say it lightly. It is heavy and hard and difficult to fathom but I am convinced it is true; and that it is good. How?
Every moment of our lives, from conception through death is governed by the sovereign hand of God. How we were born, when we were born, to whom we were born. We did not create ourselves or choose where to be, but we were placed by God and for a glorious reason.
Everyone in Heaven has been redeemed by Jesus. That is the only people that will be in Heaven, those who have trusted Jesus as their Savior. Only those that repent of sin and turn to Jesus will inherit eternal life. And all that trust Jesus in this life have the promises of Jesus fulfilled for them, including the promise that everything works together for good to those that love God and have been called according to His purpose.
We have a hard time seeing how everything will work for good, but an all-wise, all-knowing, all-seeing, all-powerful God doesn’t. We may not be able to see the good that it has worked in this life but we will in the next and we will for all of eternity.
“And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” If we will have memories, which I am convinced we will and there will be no more pain, then the two must be reconciled and the reconciliation I see is glorious. Think, a day is coming when that which was intolerable and painful will appear good and right and worthy to be rejoiced in. Think, a day is coming when your greatest pain will be exposed for the glory working experience it was. Think, a day is coming when what seems so heavy and hard now will appear in its final state of good. Think of a day, when you can look back over your life, redeemed by Christ, and rejoice at His…sovereign; yes, sovereign, but loving hand guiding you into everything that you encountered, and in that day, it is seen for what it was, a stepping stone to good and a momentary affliction working for you are far greater weight of glory. For I do not consider our present circumstances and trials worthy to be compared to the glory that shall be revealed to us and in us.
That rejoices my soul and steadies my life upon Jesus. Now, in the midst of your pain, you can rejoice to know that in Jesus, you will see the good and glory of even your greatest tragedy. You may not understand it now but you will be able to rejoice in it for eternity. Lord, open our eyes to see as you see, and to recognize a loving sovereign hand.
I am not going to go into all the reasons and scriptures supporting this. I will give one scripture and one reason. The scripture: Rev 5:9-10, this is the song of the redeemed. The reason: For the redeemed to sing of their redemption would be to remember that they were redeemed. If we were blank slates in heaven then everything that transpired, namely the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, would hold no real value. There are more reasons based off scripture but those two are enough.
They will be glorious memories. When I think about memories I don’t think of my own, I think of our foster children. I have no horrible memories, some sad or disappointing or painful but nothing traumatic. These children have experienced violence and pain and abuse and atrocities beyond words. They have the memories and the scars. They have the physical and mental damage evidencing to them everyday what they went through. They may want to forget but not be able to, but in Heaven, they will not want to forget. That is not easy to say, and I do not say it lightly. It is heavy and hard and difficult to fathom but I am convinced it is true; and that it is good. How?
Every moment of our lives, from conception through death is governed by the sovereign hand of God. How we were born, when we were born, to whom we were born. We did not create ourselves or choose where to be, but we were placed by God and for a glorious reason.
Everyone in Heaven has been redeemed by Jesus. That is the only people that will be in Heaven, those who have trusted Jesus as their Savior. Only those that repent of sin and turn to Jesus will inherit eternal life. And all that trust Jesus in this life have the promises of Jesus fulfilled for them, including the promise that everything works together for good to those that love God and have been called according to His purpose.
We have a hard time seeing how everything will work for good, but an all-wise, all-knowing, all-seeing, all-powerful God doesn’t. We may not be able to see the good that it has worked in this life but we will in the next and we will for all of eternity.
“And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” If we will have memories, which I am convinced we will and there will be no more pain, then the two must be reconciled and the reconciliation I see is glorious. Think, a day is coming when that which was intolerable and painful will appear good and right and worthy to be rejoiced in. Think, a day is coming when your greatest pain will be exposed for the glory working experience it was. Think, a day is coming when what seems so heavy and hard now will appear in its final state of good. Think of a day, when you can look back over your life, redeemed by Christ, and rejoice at His…sovereign; yes, sovereign, but loving hand guiding you into everything that you encountered, and in that day, it is seen for what it was, a stepping stone to good and a momentary affliction working for you are far greater weight of glory. For I do not consider our present circumstances and trials worthy to be compared to the glory that shall be revealed to us and in us.
That rejoices my soul and steadies my life upon Jesus. Now, in the midst of your pain, you can rejoice to know that in Jesus, you will see the good and glory of even your greatest tragedy. You may not understand it now but you will be able to rejoice in it for eternity. Lord, open our eyes to see as you see, and to recognize a loving sovereign hand.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Why I Believe Part II
So how did I get from God to Jesus? That is what I want to try and answer here. The last thing that I said in part one was that I knew God was real but I didn’t know who God was or even what God was but I knew that He was and I knew because of my experience that the Bible held some “power” or influence. I began telling everyone that God was real and looking for opportunity to share what had happened and to share this new revelation in my life. But I only spoke of God in the most generic vague sense because that is all that I had. What I knew was that God had delivered me in a mighty way and that He had given testimony to creation and the Bible by using those things in my deliverance.
\ What do I mean by deliverance? Within one week, actually 5 days, I had been freed from addiction. Addiction to everything. My language changed. The actual words that I spoke with changed. I stopped cursing and swearing and being profane, nobody told me to, I just knew that it was right. It wasn’t hard to stop cursing, I wasn’t even mindful of it, I just stopped because it was as if God said stop, not in an asking way but authoritatively and commanding way. It was as if He said stop, and there was nothing I could do but stop. I stopped using drugs. Not just illegal drugs but all drugs: Tylenol, Sudafed, caffeine, even cigarettes. The last is probably the most amazing. I had been smoking since 7th grade and was now smoking a pack a day for two years. On the fifth morning I sat down to smoke my first cigarette of the day. I lit it, took the first drag, and coughed. I coughed like the first time I had ever smoked. I heard that still small voice say to me, you no longer smoke. Again, the voice was not asking or suggesting, but commanding as if making a statement. I put the cigarette out, threw the rest of the pack away (even threw the rest of the carton away) and never smoked again. No cravings, no withdrawals. Just stopped. It wasn’t as if I quit smoking but more like God quit for me. His voice was definitive and irresistible. I was delivered from addiction including the need for acceptance. I now knew what I knew and knew it more certainly than I had ever known anything. I was at peace.
I was at peace. I had been summoned by God. I had been called to His revelation. I knew what life was all about and why everything else had failed. I had a message to share and that message was “God is real!” It didn’t matter now what other people thought of me. I understood why I existed and without having to be told, I understood what I was created for; namely, God.
I talked about God all the time but when Jesus would come up my answer was always the same, “I know God but I’m not sure about Jesus.” What changed. I started reading the Bible and attending a church. This is when the Lord began confirming and explaining things to me. Again, as before, people at church were talking to me but I wasn’t hearing them, I was hearing their voice and their words, but they were impacting the depths of me, their words were not their own, but the Lord’s speaking through them. I began growing in my understanding of God and Jesus but I was still not sure why I needed this Jesus.
I joined a discipleship group with two other people. This group was designed to get us into the Bible and allowed for more personal discussion. Every week I would attend and listen, but in the back of my mind I always felt like I had the inside track. I felt that I was a little closer to God, a little more special because of the way that He had called me to Himself. These other people needed Jesus to get them to God, I didn’t, God by-passed Jesus and had gotten me Himself, or so I thought.
I felt so special, there were very few people that had my kind of experience that alters life so radically and drastically, I must be very special indeed. One night, while sitting in our group, the Lord began to impress something upon, something that I had yet to grasp. He began impressing upon me the knowledge that if all I had was my experience then I had nothing. He began showing me my need of a savior. That I had been truly delivered from drugs and addiction but that I still had a bigger issue, an eternal issue. Just because I was now free from what had been my sin doesn’t mean that I hadn’t still sinned and that a consequence, a punishment, wasn’t still right. I began to see, sitting there on that sofa, that I was doomed, or better, damned. I had sinned in abundant and gross ways, I had blasphemed God and rejected Him for years, nearly all my years, and worse, I was still sinning. What was I going to do with my sin, again, I needed deliverance, but this time not earthly and physical but spiritual and eternal. I needed God to forgive me for my life not just free me from addiction. Addiction was merely a symptom of a larger problem: sin. I needed a Savior: Jesus.
That was the night that I remember embracing Jesus as my only hope. I remember sitting there in almost disbelief, dumbfounded. I have no idea what we were talking about because I wasn’t listening. I understood now Who delivered me from addiction and Who would deliver me from sin: Jesus.
I understood that Jesus was God, that He had been the one that had set me free. I understood that as important and as good as my physical deliverance had been it paled in comparison to what had actually taken place. Jesus forgave me my sins. He was the only way to God. Jesus had come two thousand years ago and lived as a man in my place, keeping the law that I could not keep. After living a perfect life in my place, He died a perfect death in my place. How was His death perfect? He, being holy and righteous, without sin, sacrificed Himself in my place. I justly and rightly had merited wrath and judgment but Jesus took that wrath and judgment upon Himself in my place. The Perfect dying for the imperfect. The Holy and Righteous dying for the wicked and depraved. His death was perfect, the perfect sacrifice. I could never pay for my sin, there is nothing I could ever do to justify or excuse my sin. I had sinned not against man, or a great man or even a ruler or country but against God. Hell is just because sin against an Eternal Holy God deserves an eternal consequence. Sin is much more wicked then we imagine and a far greater offense to God then we admit. It is cosmic treason of the worse degree. I could never pay for my sin, no one could, for all men are just like me, but a perfect Man, a Holy Man, a God Man, could, and only He could. The Perfect in the place of the imperfect. I was shaken to my core, again.
I could have trusted in my experience and my thoughts of uniqueness and still perished. I could have lived the rest of my life proclaiming the reality of God and gone straight to hell. I was no better than anybody else, in fact, I was worse. I actually in my wickedness looked down upon those who trusted Christ, who trusted the True God to save them. I now knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt why Christ had come and what it was that He had accomplished. He was my Savior and my God. He was my Deliverer and my Refuge and my Ever Present Help. He was my Hope, my only Hope, and as I have grown as a Christian, He has grown as my Savior. My need for forgiveness and grace are as great as they have ever been and it is only in His sacrifice upon the cross, in my place, that I have peace and reconciliation with God, with the One True God, Jesus Christ.
And how do I know what Jesus did upon that cross accomplished what I believe that it did? Jesus was resurrected from the dead. Three days after his crucifixion He rose. He rose because His sacrifice had been accepted. If He had stayed in the grave He would be no different then any other religious figure or idea. Mohammed, Buddha, Smith, they are all dead, there is no testimony to their lives. They came and taught and died. Jesus came and taught and lives. He is God and has shown and proved beyond any doubt that He is who He taught Himself to be. The resurrection is the hope and confidence that Jesus is God.
And I cannot leave this section without inviting you to know Him also. Not an idea or way of thinking or a belief code to live by, but a Person. Real, personal and knowable. Jesus lives and Jesus saves and Jesus offers His salvation to any that will trust in Him and His work upon the cross. The Gospel is simple: God in His grace sent Jesus to live and die in the place of sinners and He freely offers His salvation to any that repent of their sin and trust Him. He forgives our sins upon the basis of Jesus’ work and sacrifice, and in Jesus we have reconciliation with God. Jesus taught that He was the Way, the Truth, and the Life. To the lost, He is the Way to God. To the deceived, He is the Truth of God. And to the dead, He is eternal life with God. And we are all, all three.
I hope that answers “why Jesus?” I called this section “my hope,” because I wanted you to see why I hope in Jesus and not in anything else. The third section is “my rock,” and I will be writing about the confirmations of God in my life that have grounded me and assured me of truth. Thanks for reading, I have prayed for you as I have written.
\ What do I mean by deliverance? Within one week, actually 5 days, I had been freed from addiction. Addiction to everything. My language changed. The actual words that I spoke with changed. I stopped cursing and swearing and being profane, nobody told me to, I just knew that it was right. It wasn’t hard to stop cursing, I wasn’t even mindful of it, I just stopped because it was as if God said stop, not in an asking way but authoritatively and commanding way. It was as if He said stop, and there was nothing I could do but stop. I stopped using drugs. Not just illegal drugs but all drugs: Tylenol, Sudafed, caffeine, even cigarettes. The last is probably the most amazing. I had been smoking since 7th grade and was now smoking a pack a day for two years. On the fifth morning I sat down to smoke my first cigarette of the day. I lit it, took the first drag, and coughed. I coughed like the first time I had ever smoked. I heard that still small voice say to me, you no longer smoke. Again, the voice was not asking or suggesting, but commanding as if making a statement. I put the cigarette out, threw the rest of the pack away (even threw the rest of the carton away) and never smoked again. No cravings, no withdrawals. Just stopped. It wasn’t as if I quit smoking but more like God quit for me. His voice was definitive and irresistible. I was delivered from addiction including the need for acceptance. I now knew what I knew and knew it more certainly than I had ever known anything. I was at peace.
I was at peace. I had been summoned by God. I had been called to His revelation. I knew what life was all about and why everything else had failed. I had a message to share and that message was “God is real!” It didn’t matter now what other people thought of me. I understood why I existed and without having to be told, I understood what I was created for; namely, God.
I talked about God all the time but when Jesus would come up my answer was always the same, “I know God but I’m not sure about Jesus.” What changed. I started reading the Bible and attending a church. This is when the Lord began confirming and explaining things to me. Again, as before, people at church were talking to me but I wasn’t hearing them, I was hearing their voice and their words, but they were impacting the depths of me, their words were not their own, but the Lord’s speaking through them. I began growing in my understanding of God and Jesus but I was still not sure why I needed this Jesus.
I joined a discipleship group with two other people. This group was designed to get us into the Bible and allowed for more personal discussion. Every week I would attend and listen, but in the back of my mind I always felt like I had the inside track. I felt that I was a little closer to God, a little more special because of the way that He had called me to Himself. These other people needed Jesus to get them to God, I didn’t, God by-passed Jesus and had gotten me Himself, or so I thought.
I felt so special, there were very few people that had my kind of experience that alters life so radically and drastically, I must be very special indeed. One night, while sitting in our group, the Lord began to impress something upon, something that I had yet to grasp. He began impressing upon me the knowledge that if all I had was my experience then I had nothing. He began showing me my need of a savior. That I had been truly delivered from drugs and addiction but that I still had a bigger issue, an eternal issue. Just because I was now free from what had been my sin doesn’t mean that I hadn’t still sinned and that a consequence, a punishment, wasn’t still right. I began to see, sitting there on that sofa, that I was doomed, or better, damned. I had sinned in abundant and gross ways, I had blasphemed God and rejected Him for years, nearly all my years, and worse, I was still sinning. What was I going to do with my sin, again, I needed deliverance, but this time not earthly and physical but spiritual and eternal. I needed God to forgive me for my life not just free me from addiction. Addiction was merely a symptom of a larger problem: sin. I needed a Savior: Jesus.
That was the night that I remember embracing Jesus as my only hope. I remember sitting there in almost disbelief, dumbfounded. I have no idea what we were talking about because I wasn’t listening. I understood now Who delivered me from addiction and Who would deliver me from sin: Jesus.
I understood that Jesus was God, that He had been the one that had set me free. I understood that as important and as good as my physical deliverance had been it paled in comparison to what had actually taken place. Jesus forgave me my sins. He was the only way to God. Jesus had come two thousand years ago and lived as a man in my place, keeping the law that I could not keep. After living a perfect life in my place, He died a perfect death in my place. How was His death perfect? He, being holy and righteous, without sin, sacrificed Himself in my place. I justly and rightly had merited wrath and judgment but Jesus took that wrath and judgment upon Himself in my place. The Perfect dying for the imperfect. The Holy and Righteous dying for the wicked and depraved. His death was perfect, the perfect sacrifice. I could never pay for my sin, there is nothing I could ever do to justify or excuse my sin. I had sinned not against man, or a great man or even a ruler or country but against God. Hell is just because sin against an Eternal Holy God deserves an eternal consequence. Sin is much more wicked then we imagine and a far greater offense to God then we admit. It is cosmic treason of the worse degree. I could never pay for my sin, no one could, for all men are just like me, but a perfect Man, a Holy Man, a God Man, could, and only He could. The Perfect in the place of the imperfect. I was shaken to my core, again.
I could have trusted in my experience and my thoughts of uniqueness and still perished. I could have lived the rest of my life proclaiming the reality of God and gone straight to hell. I was no better than anybody else, in fact, I was worse. I actually in my wickedness looked down upon those who trusted Christ, who trusted the True God to save them. I now knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt why Christ had come and what it was that He had accomplished. He was my Savior and my God. He was my Deliverer and my Refuge and my Ever Present Help. He was my Hope, my only Hope, and as I have grown as a Christian, He has grown as my Savior. My need for forgiveness and grace are as great as they have ever been and it is only in His sacrifice upon the cross, in my place, that I have peace and reconciliation with God, with the One True God, Jesus Christ.
And how do I know what Jesus did upon that cross accomplished what I believe that it did? Jesus was resurrected from the dead. Three days after his crucifixion He rose. He rose because His sacrifice had been accepted. If He had stayed in the grave He would be no different then any other religious figure or idea. Mohammed, Buddha, Smith, they are all dead, there is no testimony to their lives. They came and taught and died. Jesus came and taught and lives. He is God and has shown and proved beyond any doubt that He is who He taught Himself to be. The resurrection is the hope and confidence that Jesus is God.
And I cannot leave this section without inviting you to know Him also. Not an idea or way of thinking or a belief code to live by, but a Person. Real, personal and knowable. Jesus lives and Jesus saves and Jesus offers His salvation to any that will trust in Him and His work upon the cross. The Gospel is simple: God in His grace sent Jesus to live and die in the place of sinners and He freely offers His salvation to any that repent of their sin and trust Him. He forgives our sins upon the basis of Jesus’ work and sacrifice, and in Jesus we have reconciliation with God. Jesus taught that He was the Way, the Truth, and the Life. To the lost, He is the Way to God. To the deceived, He is the Truth of God. And to the dead, He is eternal life with God. And we are all, all three.
I hope that answers “why Jesus?” I called this section “my hope,” because I wanted you to see why I hope in Jesus and not in anything else. The third section is “my rock,” and I will be writing about the confirmations of God in my life that have grounded me and assured me of truth. Thanks for reading, I have prayed for you as I have written.
Why I Believe Part I
Why do I believe what I believe? This seems like it will be the much more difficult of the two to write. I have decided to break this into three sections, more for my self than any other reason. First, I will share my experience. Second, I will share, what I am calling, “my hope.” Third will be “my rock.” These sections will compliment each other and overlap some I am sure, but each is rather distinct I think.
First, my experience. I will try to stay away from all the details as they are less than important and stick to the general outline of how I first came to faith.
I was a drug addict; by that I mean, I found my purpose and identity in drugs. Didn’t matter what drug just so long as I was using something. I truly thought that using drugs gave me purpose, friends, identity, value and reputation. Drugs were everything to me, they were my god, my idol to whom I surrendered myself and to whom I worshipped. I sacrificed everything for drugs: education, friends, jobs, money, time, health, possessions, family, I’m sure the list could go on. Simply put, I worshipped drugs, they gave me life and really, the first time I felt like somebody was when I was high. I was told once not to glorify drugs or I would be a junkie, that is what I did, I glorified drugs. In 1999/2000 my drugs “turned” on me. They were all I really had and I could no longer use anything. I was faced with a very simple dilemma, keep using drugs and slowly die from it or turn my life around. I could either continue on the same path I was on and end up dead or I could go back to school, get a degree, find a wife, have a family, get a dog, 2.5 kids, a 3 bedroom 2 bath all brick house with a picket fence and still die.
Neither option appealed to me. Either way I was going to die and I didn’t have the desire to do either. They both were hopeless. I don’t think that I was depressed, I didn’t have depression symptoms, I was working and hanging with my friends and in a band and having fun, I think that the reality of life just set in. No matter what happens, no matter what you do, you die. In the end, death wins 100% of the time. The rules to life didn’t seem fair and I didn’t want to play anymore.
I decided to commit suicide. I stole a bottle of heart medication and got a six pack of beer and decided to drink and take pills till I died. I was tired, the alcohol kicked in first and I fell asleep. I remember crying when I was going to kill myself, not because I was sad but because this terror settled on me, a terror I had never really considered before: what if there was something on the other side of death? I was never a spiritual person or religious person, I really didn’t have a religious upbringing, God had never really been a thought in my head. I had spent much more time thinking of Satan, not that he was necessarily real just that the thought of him was appealing to me. But suddenly as I wanted to kill myself I became terribly aware of my lack of knowledge of what was to come, after all, I really never considered what was after life.
I began hearing God “talk” to me. At first, I didn’t think that it was God, more that it was just my own mind or conscience, but the thoughts weren’t my thoughts or at least not thoughts that I had ever had before. The music that I listened to began speaking to me about life, love, reality, purpose. Even my friends when they would speak would sound like somebody other than themselves, their voices weren’t different but the impact of their words upon me were different, it was like they were speaking to the thoughts of my heart or mind. It seemed as if music and my friends could read my mind and then answer what I was going through.
I know that this all sounds crazy, I would think the same thing but it happened to me and I am in good company (but I will get to that in the section: “my rock.”)
One night I very much now felt like God, whoever that was, was speaking to me about drugs and I vowed never to use drugs again. I don’t know why. I just did. The next day I sat with some friends and somebody passed a pipe around the room and as soon as I used it something bad happened. Things got dark and scary and uncomfortable, a couple people left the room (I think because of what was happening) and I left too, I was scared, something was wrong, very wrong, but I wasn’t sure what. I stepped outside on the balcony of the apartment and asked two of my friends what was going on, as if they would know, and one of them looked at me and said, “you aren’t suppose to forget that easily.” What? Oh my gosh, I knew what I had forgotten, I had vowed never to use again and I had. (You know, I have since asked that friend why he said that and he has no idea.)
I left there as fast as I could and started driving for home, which happened to be with a friend in Billings. I have no idea why I was going home but I was. The drive home was terrible, I can only describe it as if I was coming undone, like I was having a complete and total physical and mental break down. By the time I got home I felt as if I was dying, I could barely walk and was tearing my shirt off, my room mate helped me inside to a sofa and laid me down.
Now this room mate was certainly not a spiritual or religious person either, but they seemed to know exactly what to do. They brought me a glass of water and as I drank it it was the best thing I had ever drank, it was as if the Lord was saying to me as I drank it, “I made this for you that’s why its good for you.” Suddenly, consciously, I was aware of God, I knew that God was the only thing that could help me so I asked Carmen for a Bible. Why a Bible, I have no idea, but that is what I asked for and she found my bible that had been given to me when I was a little boy. As I grasped the bible it was as if light radiated up my arms and through my body. Still reading? It sounds crazy to me too.
Now I still have no idea what is going on, though I think that at this point I am realizing that God is real, really real. I’m going to skip some details as they are still obscure and confusing to me and I am not sure how to relay them without lots of explanation and history. At any rate, when the ordeal was done, which included something leaving me, I was rolling around on the floor clutching a bible to my chest and all I could say was, “God is real! God is real!”
I was sent home from work the next day because all I could say was “God is real, God is real.” The world suddenly made sense. Everything made sense. I understood who I was, what I was here for, what I was suppose to be doing and all of reality looked physically brighter. I was in love with life for the first time because for the first time life made sense. No one had told me about God, no one had coached me or explained anything to me, God had just revealed Himself to me and not just to my understanding but to my being. I knew what I knew more certainly then I knew anything else and suddenly nothing else mattered. I began to tell my friends that God was real and I expected only warmth and embrace from them, but instead I was met only with disapproval and indifference. That was hard, I had been brought to know the greatest thing imaginable and I was deeply happy.
I think that is about the whole of the “why: my experience.” I will start the next two soon.
First, my experience. I will try to stay away from all the details as they are less than important and stick to the general outline of how I first came to faith.
I was a drug addict; by that I mean, I found my purpose and identity in drugs. Didn’t matter what drug just so long as I was using something. I truly thought that using drugs gave me purpose, friends, identity, value and reputation. Drugs were everything to me, they were my god, my idol to whom I surrendered myself and to whom I worshipped. I sacrificed everything for drugs: education, friends, jobs, money, time, health, possessions, family, I’m sure the list could go on. Simply put, I worshipped drugs, they gave me life and really, the first time I felt like somebody was when I was high. I was told once not to glorify drugs or I would be a junkie, that is what I did, I glorified drugs. In 1999/2000 my drugs “turned” on me. They were all I really had and I could no longer use anything. I was faced with a very simple dilemma, keep using drugs and slowly die from it or turn my life around. I could either continue on the same path I was on and end up dead or I could go back to school, get a degree, find a wife, have a family, get a dog, 2.5 kids, a 3 bedroom 2 bath all brick house with a picket fence and still die.
Neither option appealed to me. Either way I was going to die and I didn’t have the desire to do either. They both were hopeless. I don’t think that I was depressed, I didn’t have depression symptoms, I was working and hanging with my friends and in a band and having fun, I think that the reality of life just set in. No matter what happens, no matter what you do, you die. In the end, death wins 100% of the time. The rules to life didn’t seem fair and I didn’t want to play anymore.
I decided to commit suicide. I stole a bottle of heart medication and got a six pack of beer and decided to drink and take pills till I died. I was tired, the alcohol kicked in first and I fell asleep. I remember crying when I was going to kill myself, not because I was sad but because this terror settled on me, a terror I had never really considered before: what if there was something on the other side of death? I was never a spiritual person or religious person, I really didn’t have a religious upbringing, God had never really been a thought in my head. I had spent much more time thinking of Satan, not that he was necessarily real just that the thought of him was appealing to me. But suddenly as I wanted to kill myself I became terribly aware of my lack of knowledge of what was to come, after all, I really never considered what was after life.
I began hearing God “talk” to me. At first, I didn’t think that it was God, more that it was just my own mind or conscience, but the thoughts weren’t my thoughts or at least not thoughts that I had ever had before. The music that I listened to began speaking to me about life, love, reality, purpose. Even my friends when they would speak would sound like somebody other than themselves, their voices weren’t different but the impact of their words upon me were different, it was like they were speaking to the thoughts of my heart or mind. It seemed as if music and my friends could read my mind and then answer what I was going through.
I know that this all sounds crazy, I would think the same thing but it happened to me and I am in good company (but I will get to that in the section: “my rock.”)
One night I very much now felt like God, whoever that was, was speaking to me about drugs and I vowed never to use drugs again. I don’t know why. I just did. The next day I sat with some friends and somebody passed a pipe around the room and as soon as I used it something bad happened. Things got dark and scary and uncomfortable, a couple people left the room (I think because of what was happening) and I left too, I was scared, something was wrong, very wrong, but I wasn’t sure what. I stepped outside on the balcony of the apartment and asked two of my friends what was going on, as if they would know, and one of them looked at me and said, “you aren’t suppose to forget that easily.” What? Oh my gosh, I knew what I had forgotten, I had vowed never to use again and I had. (You know, I have since asked that friend why he said that and he has no idea.)
I left there as fast as I could and started driving for home, which happened to be with a friend in Billings. I have no idea why I was going home but I was. The drive home was terrible, I can only describe it as if I was coming undone, like I was having a complete and total physical and mental break down. By the time I got home I felt as if I was dying, I could barely walk and was tearing my shirt off, my room mate helped me inside to a sofa and laid me down.
Now this room mate was certainly not a spiritual or religious person either, but they seemed to know exactly what to do. They brought me a glass of water and as I drank it it was the best thing I had ever drank, it was as if the Lord was saying to me as I drank it, “I made this for you that’s why its good for you.” Suddenly, consciously, I was aware of God, I knew that God was the only thing that could help me so I asked Carmen for a Bible. Why a Bible, I have no idea, but that is what I asked for and she found my bible that had been given to me when I was a little boy. As I grasped the bible it was as if light radiated up my arms and through my body. Still reading? It sounds crazy to me too.
Now I still have no idea what is going on, though I think that at this point I am realizing that God is real, really real. I’m going to skip some details as they are still obscure and confusing to me and I am not sure how to relay them without lots of explanation and history. At any rate, when the ordeal was done, which included something leaving me, I was rolling around on the floor clutching a bible to my chest and all I could say was, “God is real! God is real!”
I was sent home from work the next day because all I could say was “God is real, God is real.” The world suddenly made sense. Everything made sense. I understood who I was, what I was here for, what I was suppose to be doing and all of reality looked physically brighter. I was in love with life for the first time because for the first time life made sense. No one had told me about God, no one had coached me or explained anything to me, God had just revealed Himself to me and not just to my understanding but to my being. I knew what I knew more certainly then I knew anything else and suddenly nothing else mattered. I began to tell my friends that God was real and I expected only warmth and embrace from them, but instead I was met only with disapproval and indifference. That was hard, I had been brought to know the greatest thing imaginable and I was deeply happy.
I think that is about the whole of the “why: my experience.” I will start the next two soon.
What I Believe
What do I believe and why do I believe it? Lets start with the “what.”
I believe that Jesus Christ is God. What does that mean? It means that before anything existed Jesus was. He always has been God, perfect, immutable, everlasting. He, Jesus, is perfectly just, righteous, loving, merciful, wise, gracious, and wrathful. He is all powerful, all knowing, all seeing. He is not only Creator but Governor and Sovereign in all things. All His ways are perfect and right. He is without spot or blemish, without imperfection. He is the Only Holy Lord of All.
I believe that Jesus Christ created man without sin. Man was created without sin but with the ability to sin. Man was created with a will that was directed towards God. I believe that the first man, Adam, was created as a head of all mankind, a representative. When Adam disobeyed God, he not only brought sin upon himself but upon all men. All man is now born with a nature that is compelled and ruled by sin. When Adam was first created he was able to not sin, because of Adam’s sin, man is no longer able to not sin.
Sin is not only action but inaction. Too often we think of sin as something we do but sin is much deeper than that, sin is why we do everything that we do. Sin is not only the product of action but the producer of action. Sin dominates man, we are ruled by sin, there is nothing that man can now do that is not the direct effect of sin. Sin not only created an inability in man to do nothing good but also rendered man hostile to God. Man can not be indifferent to God. The way man(kind) is born now is with a nature that is opposed to God, unable and unwilling to honor God even though this honor is most right. Sin has blinded man to all truth, hardened his heart from receiving the truth and created a love for error and deception. Because sin reigns in the heart of man every way seems right to man except for the way that is right, namely, Jesus.
Jesus Christ became man about 2000 years ago. He did not cease to be God. He was fully God and fully man. He lived His earthly life in perfect obedience to the Law of God, keeping every point perfectly, He was without sin. He was hated by men because of sin, as I said above, sin creates hostility towards God. Jesus lived a perfect life in the place of sinners, just as Adam was a federal head for all of man, so Jesus was a representative for man also. Jesus was a substitute in His life of obedience keeping the Law of God perfectly in the place of sinners whom could never, nor would ever.
Jesus was crucified and died for sinners. Jesus lived the life you could never live and then died the death (at the wrath of God) that you deserved. Sin accrues the wrath of God. Sin brings great displeasure and anger (wrath) from God. Jesus, in the place of sinners, satisfied the wrath of God. Jesus was a sacrifice in the place of sinners. Just as Jesus lived in the place of sinners satisfying the demands of the Law, so Jesus died in the place of sinners satisfying the wrath that they rightly deserved for their sins.
Jesus did not stay dead but on the third day He rose from the dead. He showed Himself to many people and in overcoming the grave and death showed Himself to be God. He forever proofed that Who He claimed to be is Who He was and is, God. In raising from the dead He showed that His life and death had been accepted by God as an offering. In raising from the dead and overcoming death He set Himself apart forever from all other historical and religious figures, for no one else has ever done what He did. His life in my place is hope. His death in my place is hope. And His resurrection is hope for all of eternity.
I believe that Jesus calls to all people and freely offers the salvation that He forever accomplished. His offering in our place is by grace. We can do nothing to merit, earn, buy, or accomplish salvation. Jesus, on the grounds of grace, offers this salvation freely to any that would simply trust Him, that is believe in Who He is and what He has done. This salvation is by grace through faith. The good news (the gospel) is that Jesus has paid the full price to redeem you and that there is nothing left to pay. The good news is that you are accepted by God, reconciled, on behalf of Jesus, if you will trust Him. The good news is that when there was no way back to God, nor any desire, Jesus came and lived and died and rose that you could have eternal life. Jesus does not call the religious or the moral or upright or the conservative or the right or the left or the immoral or the liberal or the irreligious but He calls all men unto Himself not on the basis of who they are or what they have done or could do, but solely on the merit of His life and death and resurrection. He calls us to stop trusting our wisdom and understanding and the ways and methods that seem so right to us and simply trust Him.
In turning from our understandings we repent, this is essential to faith, no repentance means no faith. We must turn from all of our false gods (idols) and turn to the true God, Jesus Christ. We all worship the wrong things, for some it is money or fame or success or possessions or relationships or false religions. We cannot serve two masters, we must choose whom we will serve; either the true God whose promises are true and lasting or the false gods whom promise much but, ultimately, can do nothing. Faith and salvation must include repentance of sin.
I believe that there is no salvation to be had anywhere accept in Jesus and that the one thing everybody needs (truly needs) is salvation. Sin has blinded men to the truth and created hatred towards truth. Man longs for everything accept the truth, that is why there is a great movement towards tolerance of everything except Jesus. Every view is valid and accepted as long as it is not Jesus.
I believe that the Bible is the only true, inspired, infallible word of God perfect for revealing all that we need to know of God and salvation.
I believe that God has left us here so that we may make the Gospel of Jesus Christ known to as many people as possible in the hope that God will save His people.
I believe that followers of Jesus are indwelt by the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is our teacher, guide, helper, strength, wisdom, and power. We are not sufficient for the purposes of God apart from His Spirit.
I believe in the Trinity as taught in the Bible. Father, Son, Holy Spirit, one God in three persons, not three gods, but one. The Father is God. The Son, Jesus Christ, is God. The Holy Spirit is God.
I believe that the only true life is the life Christ offers and that before we accept this life we are dead. What appears to be life is really empty and vain, Jesus gives true life, abundant life, life of joy and hope and peace overflowing. Come, taste and see.
I believe that the Church is the body of Christ and His Bride. Upon faith in Jesus one is in-grafted into the Church and consequently into a church, a local body of believers.
I believe more than this but I have tried to hit some of the essentials of the faith. My why is to follow. Hope to see yours soon.
I believe that Jesus Christ is God. What does that mean? It means that before anything existed Jesus was. He always has been God, perfect, immutable, everlasting. He, Jesus, is perfectly just, righteous, loving, merciful, wise, gracious, and wrathful. He is all powerful, all knowing, all seeing. He is not only Creator but Governor and Sovereign in all things. All His ways are perfect and right. He is without spot or blemish, without imperfection. He is the Only Holy Lord of All.
I believe that Jesus Christ created man without sin. Man was created without sin but with the ability to sin. Man was created with a will that was directed towards God. I believe that the first man, Adam, was created as a head of all mankind, a representative. When Adam disobeyed God, he not only brought sin upon himself but upon all men. All man is now born with a nature that is compelled and ruled by sin. When Adam was first created he was able to not sin, because of Adam’s sin, man is no longer able to not sin.
Sin is not only action but inaction. Too often we think of sin as something we do but sin is much deeper than that, sin is why we do everything that we do. Sin is not only the product of action but the producer of action. Sin dominates man, we are ruled by sin, there is nothing that man can now do that is not the direct effect of sin. Sin not only created an inability in man to do nothing good but also rendered man hostile to God. Man can not be indifferent to God. The way man(kind) is born now is with a nature that is opposed to God, unable and unwilling to honor God even though this honor is most right. Sin has blinded man to all truth, hardened his heart from receiving the truth and created a love for error and deception. Because sin reigns in the heart of man every way seems right to man except for the way that is right, namely, Jesus.
Jesus Christ became man about 2000 years ago. He did not cease to be God. He was fully God and fully man. He lived His earthly life in perfect obedience to the Law of God, keeping every point perfectly, He was without sin. He was hated by men because of sin, as I said above, sin creates hostility towards God. Jesus lived a perfect life in the place of sinners, just as Adam was a federal head for all of man, so Jesus was a representative for man also. Jesus was a substitute in His life of obedience keeping the Law of God perfectly in the place of sinners whom could never, nor would ever.
Jesus was crucified and died for sinners. Jesus lived the life you could never live and then died the death (at the wrath of God) that you deserved. Sin accrues the wrath of God. Sin brings great displeasure and anger (wrath) from God. Jesus, in the place of sinners, satisfied the wrath of God. Jesus was a sacrifice in the place of sinners. Just as Jesus lived in the place of sinners satisfying the demands of the Law, so Jesus died in the place of sinners satisfying the wrath that they rightly deserved for their sins.
Jesus did not stay dead but on the third day He rose from the dead. He showed Himself to many people and in overcoming the grave and death showed Himself to be God. He forever proofed that Who He claimed to be is Who He was and is, God. In raising from the dead He showed that His life and death had been accepted by God as an offering. In raising from the dead and overcoming death He set Himself apart forever from all other historical and religious figures, for no one else has ever done what He did. His life in my place is hope. His death in my place is hope. And His resurrection is hope for all of eternity.
I believe that Jesus calls to all people and freely offers the salvation that He forever accomplished. His offering in our place is by grace. We can do nothing to merit, earn, buy, or accomplish salvation. Jesus, on the grounds of grace, offers this salvation freely to any that would simply trust Him, that is believe in Who He is and what He has done. This salvation is by grace through faith. The good news (the gospel) is that Jesus has paid the full price to redeem you and that there is nothing left to pay. The good news is that you are accepted by God, reconciled, on behalf of Jesus, if you will trust Him. The good news is that when there was no way back to God, nor any desire, Jesus came and lived and died and rose that you could have eternal life. Jesus does not call the religious or the moral or upright or the conservative or the right or the left or the immoral or the liberal or the irreligious but He calls all men unto Himself not on the basis of who they are or what they have done or could do, but solely on the merit of His life and death and resurrection. He calls us to stop trusting our wisdom and understanding and the ways and methods that seem so right to us and simply trust Him.
In turning from our understandings we repent, this is essential to faith, no repentance means no faith. We must turn from all of our false gods (idols) and turn to the true God, Jesus Christ. We all worship the wrong things, for some it is money or fame or success or possessions or relationships or false religions. We cannot serve two masters, we must choose whom we will serve; either the true God whose promises are true and lasting or the false gods whom promise much but, ultimately, can do nothing. Faith and salvation must include repentance of sin.
I believe that there is no salvation to be had anywhere accept in Jesus and that the one thing everybody needs (truly needs) is salvation. Sin has blinded men to the truth and created hatred towards truth. Man longs for everything accept the truth, that is why there is a great movement towards tolerance of everything except Jesus. Every view is valid and accepted as long as it is not Jesus.
I believe that the Bible is the only true, inspired, infallible word of God perfect for revealing all that we need to know of God and salvation.
I believe that God has left us here so that we may make the Gospel of Jesus Christ known to as many people as possible in the hope that God will save His people.
I believe that followers of Jesus are indwelt by the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is our teacher, guide, helper, strength, wisdom, and power. We are not sufficient for the purposes of God apart from His Spirit.
I believe in the Trinity as taught in the Bible. Father, Son, Holy Spirit, one God in three persons, not three gods, but one. The Father is God. The Son, Jesus Christ, is God. The Holy Spirit is God.
I believe that the only true life is the life Christ offers and that before we accept this life we are dead. What appears to be life is really empty and vain, Jesus gives true life, abundant life, life of joy and hope and peace overflowing. Come, taste and see.
I believe that the Church is the body of Christ and His Bride. Upon faith in Jesus one is in-grafted into the Church and consequently into a church, a local body of believers.
I believe more than this but I have tried to hit some of the essentials of the faith. My why is to follow. Hope to see yours soon.
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Two Builders
The Builders (Matt 7:24-27)
As we saw that there are two paths so we will see that there are two builder. Both builders, we are told, “Hear(s) these sayings of mine,” says Christ. So we can assume safely that both people are being exposed to the truth, perhaps through church or maybe through the culture in which they live, but never the less they are hearing the teachings of Christ. We are also told that they are both building houses, structures: spiritual lives. The only difference that we know about these people is the foundation, the one thing unseen and the first thing laid. When you look at a house it may look identical to another house. Same shutters, shingles, doors, carpet, identical. You could inspect the inside of the house and find that much is the same there too. So it is with people. You could meet two people that go to church with you, both carry their bibles, both pray, worship in song, participate in activities; they may even head a ministry. You could get to know these people, spend time with them, build a relationship with them and feel that you really know them. But people are a lot like houses. The foundation is hidden. Even foundations can be deceiving, if the concrete wasn’t mixed right, it could look hard and last a while and then begin to crumble. Unfortunately, home foundations are easier to check then people’s foundations.
People can be very deceiving and very convincing. A lot of us have known someone that seemed to be “born again”, and then fell away. We have all heard of some famous preacher or teacher that later rejected Christ. I think that the clearest story of this I know is of Charles Templeton. Charles Templeton was a preacher along side Billy Graham, they preached together all over Europe. Charles Templeton was by every external measurement a man of God. And yet, he would reject his faith, reject Christianity and accept an agnostic view of life. If any of us had known this man we would have been convinced of his conversion.
I Cor 3:9-15, we are told by Paul that it is the foundation that matters, “let each one take heed how he build on it (the foundation).” We are told that know matter how you build on this foundation, whether “gold, silver precious stone, wood, hay, straw…” that it will be the foundation that gets us to heaven. What we build on that foundation may be lost but the foundation will stand. Have you ever driven by a house that has burned and all that is left a concrete slab where the house once stood? So it is with us.
“If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.” Isn’t it wonderful to know that once the foundation has been laid that even if we don’t build right upon it, yet, if the foundation is Christ, we will be saved. Of course this doesn’t give us license to do whatever we like, to be careless in our building, for the point that Paul is making is that we need to “take heed how” we build for we are the temple of God.
Back to the builders is Matthew. Both of these builders are building. They have heard what the foundation is to be and now they progress in their building. It is my assumption that both of these men knew they needed a strong foundation (after all they were building a house) and also that they each believed they had that strong foundation that they needed to build. They certainly didn’t set out to build a house that wouldn’t stand or that wouldn’t be safe. They set out to build houses for the same reason that most people build houses: to live in. These builders progress in their building confident that what they were doing would last. Certainly, any person that knew they didn’t have a foundation would never build. But to know you have a foundation and to think that you have a foundation are very different.
Our builders have finished their houses and like all people they must admire their work. They have invested themselves in these houses, both financially and physically. And now the test, “the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house”. The first house, built on Christ’s words, the sure foundation, stands. The second house, though hearing the word has not built upon it and it fell, and not only fell but “great was its fall.” The destruction of the house was great. Nothing is left of this house but a pile of ruble, a sad reminder of what was and could have been.
How are we building? Or more importantly on what? For as we have seen, you can build a life that is nearly identical to what the Bible prescribes and yet be completely off the mark. You can hear the words of Christ, think that you are on them, build a life on what you think is a laid foundation and yet, when the storm comes, destruction. How can we know when we are building on the true foundation and how can we know when we are building on a foundation that hasn’t been laid by Christ? Paul tells us how, when writing again to the Corinthians, he admonishes them to “examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves” (II Cor 13:5)
I know that many people don’t like being challenged in their faith and that the people that come along and cast doubt upon them are not appreciated but a philosophy that I have adopted is that I would rather see 100 Christians examine themselves and receive a greater assurance of their salvation then to allow one lost person believing they are saved, to perish without ever being challenged to really examine themselves. Though my intention is not to cause uncertainty but examination, if these words of Christ do cause uneasiness then maybe examination is just what we need. And often, the more resistant we are to examine, the more danger we are in. This was the problem with the Pharisees. They couldn’t nor wouldn’t except that they were blind, no matter how much Christ told them, instead they just got more and more angry and indignant. Their pride, their certainty, kept them from repentance! (Matt 23).
As we saw that there are two paths so we will see that there are two builder. Both builders, we are told, “Hear(s) these sayings of mine,” says Christ. So we can assume safely that both people are being exposed to the truth, perhaps through church or maybe through the culture in which they live, but never the less they are hearing the teachings of Christ. We are also told that they are both building houses, structures: spiritual lives. The only difference that we know about these people is the foundation, the one thing unseen and the first thing laid. When you look at a house it may look identical to another house. Same shutters, shingles, doors, carpet, identical. You could inspect the inside of the house and find that much is the same there too. So it is with people. You could meet two people that go to church with you, both carry their bibles, both pray, worship in song, participate in activities; they may even head a ministry. You could get to know these people, spend time with them, build a relationship with them and feel that you really know them. But people are a lot like houses. The foundation is hidden. Even foundations can be deceiving, if the concrete wasn’t mixed right, it could look hard and last a while and then begin to crumble. Unfortunately, home foundations are easier to check then people’s foundations.
People can be very deceiving and very convincing. A lot of us have known someone that seemed to be “born again”, and then fell away. We have all heard of some famous preacher or teacher that later rejected Christ. I think that the clearest story of this I know is of Charles Templeton. Charles Templeton was a preacher along side Billy Graham, they preached together all over Europe. Charles Templeton was by every external measurement a man of God. And yet, he would reject his faith, reject Christianity and accept an agnostic view of life. If any of us had known this man we would have been convinced of his conversion.
I Cor 3:9-15, we are told by Paul that it is the foundation that matters, “let each one take heed how he build on it (the foundation).” We are told that know matter how you build on this foundation, whether “gold, silver precious stone, wood, hay, straw…” that it will be the foundation that gets us to heaven. What we build on that foundation may be lost but the foundation will stand. Have you ever driven by a house that has burned and all that is left a concrete slab where the house once stood? So it is with us.
“If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.” Isn’t it wonderful to know that once the foundation has been laid that even if we don’t build right upon it, yet, if the foundation is Christ, we will be saved. Of course this doesn’t give us license to do whatever we like, to be careless in our building, for the point that Paul is making is that we need to “take heed how” we build for we are the temple of God.
Back to the builders is Matthew. Both of these builders are building. They have heard what the foundation is to be and now they progress in their building. It is my assumption that both of these men knew they needed a strong foundation (after all they were building a house) and also that they each believed they had that strong foundation that they needed to build. They certainly didn’t set out to build a house that wouldn’t stand or that wouldn’t be safe. They set out to build houses for the same reason that most people build houses: to live in. These builders progress in their building confident that what they were doing would last. Certainly, any person that knew they didn’t have a foundation would never build. But to know you have a foundation and to think that you have a foundation are very different.
Our builders have finished their houses and like all people they must admire their work. They have invested themselves in these houses, both financially and physically. And now the test, “the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house”. The first house, built on Christ’s words, the sure foundation, stands. The second house, though hearing the word has not built upon it and it fell, and not only fell but “great was its fall.” The destruction of the house was great. Nothing is left of this house but a pile of ruble, a sad reminder of what was and could have been.
How are we building? Or more importantly on what? For as we have seen, you can build a life that is nearly identical to what the Bible prescribes and yet be completely off the mark. You can hear the words of Christ, think that you are on them, build a life on what you think is a laid foundation and yet, when the storm comes, destruction. How can we know when we are building on the true foundation and how can we know when we are building on a foundation that hasn’t been laid by Christ? Paul tells us how, when writing again to the Corinthians, he admonishes them to “examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves” (II Cor 13:5)
I know that many people don’t like being challenged in their faith and that the people that come along and cast doubt upon them are not appreciated but a philosophy that I have adopted is that I would rather see 100 Christians examine themselves and receive a greater assurance of their salvation then to allow one lost person believing they are saved, to perish without ever being challenged to really examine themselves. Though my intention is not to cause uncertainty but examination, if these words of Christ do cause uneasiness then maybe examination is just what we need. And often, the more resistant we are to examine, the more danger we are in. This was the problem with the Pharisees. They couldn’t nor wouldn’t except that they were blind, no matter how much Christ told them, instead they just got more and more angry and indignant. Their pride, their certainty, kept them from repentance! (Matt 23).
Saturday, October 31, 2009
life quiz
Life is a highway, I want to drive it all night long…or so the song goes.
Life is an adventure…
Life is a game…
Life is pointless…
Life is doing your best…
Life is believing in yourself…
Life is purely material…
Life is just chance…
Life is unpredictable…
Life is hard…
Life is carpe diem…
Life is embracing nature…
Life is family…
Life is love…
Life is humanitarian work…
Life is advancing…
Life is an evolutionary process…
Life is knowing who you are…
Life is confidence…
Life is accumulating wealth…
Life is a bucket list…
Life is eating, drinking and being merry…
Life is leisure…
Life is a journey…
Life is having fun…
Life is a beach so go buy yourself a ball…
Life is like a box of chocolate…
Life is a mystery…
Life is living it up…
Life is a trip…
Life is sweet…
Life is rather like a tin of sardines - we're all of us looking for the key.
Life is a process of becoming, a combination of states we have to go through. Where people fail is that they wish to elect a state and remain in it. This is a kind of death.
Life is a process. We are a process. The universe is a process.
Life is like an onion: You peel it off one layer at a time, and sometimes you weep.
Life is so constructed that an event does not, cannot, will not, match the expectation.
Life is a succession of moments. To live each one is to succeed.
Life is a quest and love a quarrel ...
Life is something to do when you can't get to sleep.
Life is relationships; the rest is just details.
Life is not a spectacle or a feast; it is a predicament.
Life is short and we have never too much time for gladdening the hearts of those who are traveling the dark journey with us. Oh be swift to love, make haste to be kind.
Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans.
Life is to be lived, not controlled, and humanity is won by continuing to play in face of certain defeat.
Life is a train of moods like a string of beads; and as we pass through them they prove to be many colored lenses, which paint the world their own hue, and each shows us only what lies in its own focus.
Life is a succession of lessons, which must be lived to be understood.
Life is a progress, and not a station.
Life is "trying things to see if they work."
Life is like a sewer. What you get out of it depends on what you put into it.
Life is the flower for which love is the honey.
Quiz Time
Which of the above are true?
A) All of the above
B) Some of the above
C) None of the above
D) Life is Christ
Life is an adventure…
Life is a game…
Life is pointless…
Life is doing your best…
Life is believing in yourself…
Life is purely material…
Life is just chance…
Life is unpredictable…
Life is hard…
Life is carpe diem…
Life is embracing nature…
Life is family…
Life is love…
Life is humanitarian work…
Life is advancing…
Life is an evolutionary process…
Life is knowing who you are…
Life is confidence…
Life is accumulating wealth…
Life is a bucket list…
Life is eating, drinking and being merry…
Life is leisure…
Life is a journey…
Life is having fun…
Life is a beach so go buy yourself a ball…
Life is like a box of chocolate…
Life is a mystery…
Life is living it up…
Life is a trip…
Life is sweet…
Life is rather like a tin of sardines - we're all of us looking for the key.
Life is a process of becoming, a combination of states we have to go through. Where people fail is that they wish to elect a state and remain in it. This is a kind of death.
Life is a process. We are a process. The universe is a process.
Life is like an onion: You peel it off one layer at a time, and sometimes you weep.
Life is so constructed that an event does not, cannot, will not, match the expectation.
Life is a succession of moments. To live each one is to succeed.
Life is a quest and love a quarrel ...
Life is something to do when you can't get to sleep.
Life is relationships; the rest is just details.
Life is not a spectacle or a feast; it is a predicament.
Life is short and we have never too much time for gladdening the hearts of those who are traveling the dark journey with us. Oh be swift to love, make haste to be kind.
Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans.
Life is to be lived, not controlled, and humanity is won by continuing to play in face of certain defeat.
Life is a train of moods like a string of beads; and as we pass through them they prove to be many colored lenses, which paint the world their own hue, and each shows us only what lies in its own focus.
Life is a succession of lessons, which must be lived to be understood.
Life is a progress, and not a station.
Life is "trying things to see if they work."
Life is like a sewer. What you get out of it depends on what you put into it.
Life is the flower for which love is the honey.
Quiz Time
Which of the above are true?
A) All of the above
B) Some of the above
C) None of the above
D) Life is Christ
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Gospel for Life by Jerry Bridges addition (who do I think that I am?)
Bridges is correct in pointing out that the riches of Christ are most clearly seen upon the back drop of our sin, just as a diamond is most beautiful upon a black cloth, but I feel that he left out an important aspect of our sin, perhaps even more important than what he pointed out. He told us how we are born with sin natures which make us guilty from conception, and how these natures pollute even our best and most noble deeds, but it seems to me that he left out another point of our sin that needs to be considered first, before even beginning the book; namely that sin blinds us and makes us ignorant. Blindness and ignorance are both referring to the same thing but the words paint different pictures. Blindness is obviously not physical and ignorance is not in reference to intelligence but both are in relation to spiritual things. Why do I think that these points are more important than the points he made? Mainly because blindness and ignorance will keep you from seeing and understanding the points that Bridges has made.
“Amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me, I once was lost but now am found, was blind but now I see…”we all sing the song but do we understand what it was that John Newton was saying. Do we understand that implications of this blindness and ignorance partially removed in salvation. The bible calls this blindness many things, perhaps the most familiar verse would be, “the heart is deceitful about all things.” It is a deceitful blindness. Eph 4:17 says that all gentiles (i.e.: lost people) walk in the futility of their minds, have darkened understandings, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart…
Sin makes us blind and ignorant to Truth and God. We have no understanding of how things really are. “But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them for they are spiritually discerned (I Cor 2:14). Sin makes us think we are wise when if we saw our selves in the light of the knowledge and wisdom of God we would realize our own complete inadequacy and insufficiency. The wise of our day have agreed that there is no god, yet, we know that only the fool says there is no god.
What must be understood is that because of our sin we are ignorant, not seeing things the way they are, even after salvation we are only mildly cured. We remain weak and fallible and even our greatest wisdom is finite. We do not know what tomorrow brings, nor can we know. Even our best deduction and reasoning is limited by our very being of dust. Any wisdom and sight we may have is only from God (I cor 4:7) and even this is quickly tainted by our sin.
Why is this so important to understand? Because until we really start not trusting our selves we exalt ourselves over and against God. We doubt His way and His word when we do not distrust self at every turn. As long as we trust self even a little we set ourselves up to fall. For it is pride that thinks more of self than is written. The wisest thing we can do is trust the scripture that we are blind and ignorant for when we start here we start where God begins. With truth.
Jerry Bridges wants us to see what we posses in Christ, but the biggest obstacle is our blindness and ignorance. We can only be told but not forced to believe, but where does our disbelief lie except in our “wisdom.” We don’t really believe these things or we would live in light of them. We will hear nothing new in this book. He even says his book is 101. Yet, if we believe just the 101, our lives will be radically impacted for Jesus. We would never live vainly or in futility if we thought that God, the Creator and Sustainer of all things, had come as man and lived a perfect life in subjection to law, died a perfect death in obedience to law, and had done it specifically for you. But we don’t fully believe because we are still partially blind and still partially ignorant. But if we start here, with our known ignorance and seeable blindness, if we truly except scripture above our understanding, then we may see what it is that we have been given in Christ. Then we may know what we have been given in Christ.
“Amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me, I once was lost but now am found, was blind but now I see…”we all sing the song but do we understand what it was that John Newton was saying. Do we understand that implications of this blindness and ignorance partially removed in salvation. The bible calls this blindness many things, perhaps the most familiar verse would be, “the heart is deceitful about all things.” It is a deceitful blindness. Eph 4:17 says that all gentiles (i.e.: lost people) walk in the futility of their minds, have darkened understandings, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart…
Sin makes us blind and ignorant to Truth and God. We have no understanding of how things really are. “But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them for they are spiritually discerned (I Cor 2:14). Sin makes us think we are wise when if we saw our selves in the light of the knowledge and wisdom of God we would realize our own complete inadequacy and insufficiency. The wise of our day have agreed that there is no god, yet, we know that only the fool says there is no god.
What must be understood is that because of our sin we are ignorant, not seeing things the way they are, even after salvation we are only mildly cured. We remain weak and fallible and even our greatest wisdom is finite. We do not know what tomorrow brings, nor can we know. Even our best deduction and reasoning is limited by our very being of dust. Any wisdom and sight we may have is only from God (I cor 4:7) and even this is quickly tainted by our sin.
Why is this so important to understand? Because until we really start not trusting our selves we exalt ourselves over and against God. We doubt His way and His word when we do not distrust self at every turn. As long as we trust self even a little we set ourselves up to fall. For it is pride that thinks more of self than is written. The wisest thing we can do is trust the scripture that we are blind and ignorant for when we start here we start where God begins. With truth.
Jerry Bridges wants us to see what we posses in Christ, but the biggest obstacle is our blindness and ignorance. We can only be told but not forced to believe, but where does our disbelief lie except in our “wisdom.” We don’t really believe these things or we would live in light of them. We will hear nothing new in this book. He even says his book is 101. Yet, if we believe just the 101, our lives will be radically impacted for Jesus. We would never live vainly or in futility if we thought that God, the Creator and Sustainer of all things, had come as man and lived a perfect life in subjection to law, died a perfect death in obedience to law, and had done it specifically for you. But we don’t fully believe because we are still partially blind and still partially ignorant. But if we start here, with our known ignorance and seeable blindness, if we truly except scripture above our understanding, then we may see what it is that we have been given in Christ. Then we may know what we have been given in Christ.
To spank or not to spank, that is the question
The sky seemed so blue from the top of the mountain. The wind and the birds seem to sing a song of similar refrain, almost an overly peaceful song considering the circumstances, but of course the birds weren’t aware of what was going on. The clouds seemed to stand still as if waiting for the next moment. It just didn’t make sense, the wood, the knife, the fire, but how did this happen?
The wood was sharp and rough against his skin and the rope was tighter than seemed necessary, he hadn’t fought or argued or even protested, just trusted his father. Yet, though he trusted his father, how had he ended up bound upon a pile of wood. He had asked on the way up the mountain, and he knew what his father had told him, even reassured him, that everything was going to be ok. But he never imagined that this was going to be the outcome.
The three day journey had been filled with much talking and learning and he remembered that his father promised they would come back…but, perhaps something had changed, what if his dad was wrong? what if dad misheard? or worse what if this had always been the plan? It didn’t really matter now, the birds were singing, the wind was blowing, the clouds were passing overhead. His father raised the knife…everything seemed to stand still, everything went silent, he closed his eyes…
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We spank our children. Sometimes it feels that we spank all day long. We spank because the Word of God tells us to spank our children.
The world of modern medicine and psychology tells us that spanking is bad for our children. Our doctor told us that we will lower our children’s IQ and cause them to become violent criminals if we continue to spank; we still spank.
We had to choose whom to believe. Do we believe our doctor or do we believe God? There is an unending opposition between this world and God. We must choose where our allegiance lies.
Where does your trust ultimately rest? Is it in the wisdom of men or the wisdom of God? Does the final and ultimate authority finally end in God or is man the final authority in all things?
We must decide whom we are going to trust. Man or God.
If God calls you and your family to the mission of the Gospel in a country that persecutes Christians you must decide whom you will trust. Will you listen to this world and not go because of the “well-being” of your family, or will you listen to God knowing that He knows not only perfectly but governs perfectly? Where does your allegiance rest?
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The knife hovered in the air, gripped by a determined hand…“Abraham, Abraham! Do not lay your hand on the child, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.”
Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son. And Abraham called the place, The-Lord-Will-Provide; as it is said to this day, “In the Mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”
By Myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have not withheld your son, your only son--blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall posses the gate of their enemies. In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.
The wood was sharp and rough against his skin and the rope was tighter than seemed necessary, he hadn’t fought or argued or even protested, just trusted his father. Yet, though he trusted his father, how had he ended up bound upon a pile of wood. He had asked on the way up the mountain, and he knew what his father had told him, even reassured him, that everything was going to be ok. But he never imagined that this was going to be the outcome.
The three day journey had been filled with much talking and learning and he remembered that his father promised they would come back…but, perhaps something had changed, what if his dad was wrong? what if dad misheard? or worse what if this had always been the plan? It didn’t really matter now, the birds were singing, the wind was blowing, the clouds were passing overhead. His father raised the knife…everything seemed to stand still, everything went silent, he closed his eyes…
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
We spank our children. Sometimes it feels that we spank all day long. We spank because the Word of God tells us to spank our children.
The world of modern medicine and psychology tells us that spanking is bad for our children. Our doctor told us that we will lower our children’s IQ and cause them to become violent criminals if we continue to spank; we still spank.
We had to choose whom to believe. Do we believe our doctor or do we believe God? There is an unending opposition between this world and God. We must choose where our allegiance lies.
Where does your trust ultimately rest? Is it in the wisdom of men or the wisdom of God? Does the final and ultimate authority finally end in God or is man the final authority in all things?
We must decide whom we are going to trust. Man or God.
If God calls you and your family to the mission of the Gospel in a country that persecutes Christians you must decide whom you will trust. Will you listen to this world and not go because of the “well-being” of your family, or will you listen to God knowing that He knows not only perfectly but governs perfectly? Where does your allegiance rest?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The knife hovered in the air, gripped by a determined hand…“Abraham, Abraham! Do not lay your hand on the child, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.”
Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son. And Abraham called the place, The-Lord-Will-Provide; as it is said to this day, “In the Mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”
By Myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have not withheld your son, your only son--blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall posses the gate of their enemies. In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.
Friday, October 9, 2009
the narrow way (short thought 2)
The Narrow Way. (Matt 7:13-14)
There are two paths in this life: narrow and wide. That is not a lot of options, and not choosing is the same as choosing the wide (Matt 12:30). Christ tells us to enter by the narrow gate. First, what are the “gates”? The gates are the entrances (assumed) to lead to heaven. People have many theories as to these “gates”, what they are, and how many there are, and how to access them? We know that our modern times tell us all roads and paths lead to heaven, that sincerity and effort are what matter. We have all heard somebody say that Jesus is Buddha is Muhammad is God. I think that it is safe to say that the majority of people that I know believe that all roads lead to god, sincerity and effort matter most and that when we get to heaven we will all be surprised by how many people will be there that we never expected, everybody from Muslims to Buddhists to well meaning philanthropists. I tend to agree that we will be very surprised, for this verse tells us the very opposite is true.
Our times tell us most people go to heaven; Jesus tells us “few” go to heaven and that “many” are on the road to destruction. How ever many “few” is we are not told but we can be certain that it is less than “many”. Again, our times tell us there are many ways paved with sincerity to heaven. Christ tells us there is a (one) way, one narrow, difficult way. Far from being many easily accessed ways, there is one difficult way that is hard to find and hard to enter by. In fact so hard to enter by that Jesus tells us that “many will seek to enter and will not be able,” (Lk 13:24).
We are told that if we want to go to heaven we must find the narrow gate and the difficult way and then we must strive to enter by it. This is not the gospel that you or I am familiar with and yet the words are unmistakably clear. So what is the gate and way that we need to be striving to find and enter by? Christ Jesus. Not a thing but a person, not an event but a person, not us but Him. Jesus tells us that He is the way (Jn 14:6) and he is the gate or door (Jn 10:7-9). So if we are to go to heaven then we must go to Jesus.
Jesus is the narrow difficult confined way, and it has to be His way. This is not selfish, nor unreasonable. It is simply right. It seems so unfair and maybe even harsh but that is nothing more than our sinful natures rearing their ugly heads. We hate that it is God’s way or no way and the bible has plenty to say about this. This has been man’s problem since man fell. We see it in Adam and Eve eating the one thing God said don’t eat. We see it with Cain, when God warns him of sin waiting for him and he ignores God and kills his brother. We see it in everybody that wants to have it their way and not God’s. We think that our way is more just, kinder, and loving. We scoff at Christ for even offering a single way. But why do we think that we know better than God, why is it that we think our way is the better way? Because of our natures, we are so selfish and arrogant as to think that we could ever know better than the One that created us. But if you look around our world, what do you see? Religions and Cults and sects and philosophies, everything saying they are right, or that everyone is right.
Proverbs 16:25 tells us that there is a way that seems right unto man but the end is death. It is interesting because the way seems right. It does not seem wrong, man is not on this path because he is willfully intentionally seeking to be destroyed. The way seems right, this should let us know that we can not trust our hearts (Jer 11:8, 16:12, 17:9). The way that appears right is good intention and sincerity. The problem is that good intention and sincerity are nothing but works. It is relying on your own merit to get you to heaven. You have not yet come to the place of utter hopelessness and desperation, your are not poor in spirit(Matt 5:3) You have not realized that this way that appears right only appears right because you are spiritually blind (Matt 15:14, notice that both the leaders and the ones being led are blind; Jn 9:39-41). We will notice this pattern in each group of people we examine. They are trusting in the wrong thing. They are trusting in their sincerity in following Christ, they are trusting in their good intention towards Christ, rather than trusting in Christ himself. As Spurgeon said, “Never make a Christ out of your faith.”
The way is narrow, confined, tight. There is no room for anything extra. If we are trying to bring anything with us through the narrow way we will not fit. When we come to the narrow way we most be emptied of everything. There is no room for works, there is no room for pride, there is no room for good intention. To enter by the narrow way we can not do in our own strength. I think of the apostles asking Christ, “who then can be saved?” and Christ response, “With men this is impossible but with God all things are possible” (Matt19:25-26). It is only by Christ, in Christ, that we can enter. And this is not easy. It is difficult, it is striving. “How does one do it,” is a good question? And the answer may be a little confusing. For the answer is, “by not doing”. For Jesus has done it all.
Entering by the narrow gate is only possible when we cry out to Jesus, but the crying is not what does it. It is not repeating a prayer, or saying your own prayer, though it could be, it is in realizing that Jesus must save you and that he is not obligated to do so. Today we often think Christ is obligated to save us, we see this as justice. But truly, justice would be wrath. Salvation is mercy and grace. And we should be careful not to presume upon either, for we are not entitled to either! Again, let me say, it is not the crying out for salvation that saves us, that is works; it is the mercy and grace that applies the blood of Jesus that saves us. It is not faith in faith that saves (!); but faith in Christ, which is better understood: not so much that faith saves but that Christ saves through faith. (which is my paraphrase of B.B. Warfield.)
There are two paths in this life: narrow and wide. That is not a lot of options, and not choosing is the same as choosing the wide (Matt 12:30). Christ tells us to enter by the narrow gate. First, what are the “gates”? The gates are the entrances (assumed) to lead to heaven. People have many theories as to these “gates”, what they are, and how many there are, and how to access them? We know that our modern times tell us all roads and paths lead to heaven, that sincerity and effort are what matter. We have all heard somebody say that Jesus is Buddha is Muhammad is God. I think that it is safe to say that the majority of people that I know believe that all roads lead to god, sincerity and effort matter most and that when we get to heaven we will all be surprised by how many people will be there that we never expected, everybody from Muslims to Buddhists to well meaning philanthropists. I tend to agree that we will be very surprised, for this verse tells us the very opposite is true.
Our times tell us most people go to heaven; Jesus tells us “few” go to heaven and that “many” are on the road to destruction. How ever many “few” is we are not told but we can be certain that it is less than “many”. Again, our times tell us there are many ways paved with sincerity to heaven. Christ tells us there is a (one) way, one narrow, difficult way. Far from being many easily accessed ways, there is one difficult way that is hard to find and hard to enter by. In fact so hard to enter by that Jesus tells us that “many will seek to enter and will not be able,” (Lk 13:24).
We are told that if we want to go to heaven we must find the narrow gate and the difficult way and then we must strive to enter by it. This is not the gospel that you or I am familiar with and yet the words are unmistakably clear. So what is the gate and way that we need to be striving to find and enter by? Christ Jesus. Not a thing but a person, not an event but a person, not us but Him. Jesus tells us that He is the way (Jn 14:6) and he is the gate or door (Jn 10:7-9). So if we are to go to heaven then we must go to Jesus.
Jesus is the narrow difficult confined way, and it has to be His way. This is not selfish, nor unreasonable. It is simply right. It seems so unfair and maybe even harsh but that is nothing more than our sinful natures rearing their ugly heads. We hate that it is God’s way or no way and the bible has plenty to say about this. This has been man’s problem since man fell. We see it in Adam and Eve eating the one thing God said don’t eat. We see it with Cain, when God warns him of sin waiting for him and he ignores God and kills his brother. We see it in everybody that wants to have it their way and not God’s. We think that our way is more just, kinder, and loving. We scoff at Christ for even offering a single way. But why do we think that we know better than God, why is it that we think our way is the better way? Because of our natures, we are so selfish and arrogant as to think that we could ever know better than the One that created us. But if you look around our world, what do you see? Religions and Cults and sects and philosophies, everything saying they are right, or that everyone is right.
Proverbs 16:25 tells us that there is a way that seems right unto man but the end is death. It is interesting because the way seems right. It does not seem wrong, man is not on this path because he is willfully intentionally seeking to be destroyed. The way seems right, this should let us know that we can not trust our hearts (Jer 11:8, 16:12, 17:9). The way that appears right is good intention and sincerity. The problem is that good intention and sincerity are nothing but works. It is relying on your own merit to get you to heaven. You have not yet come to the place of utter hopelessness and desperation, your are not poor in spirit(Matt 5:3) You have not realized that this way that appears right only appears right because you are spiritually blind (Matt 15:14, notice that both the leaders and the ones being led are blind; Jn 9:39-41). We will notice this pattern in each group of people we examine. They are trusting in the wrong thing. They are trusting in their sincerity in following Christ, they are trusting in their good intention towards Christ, rather than trusting in Christ himself. As Spurgeon said, “Never make a Christ out of your faith.”
The way is narrow, confined, tight. There is no room for anything extra. If we are trying to bring anything with us through the narrow way we will not fit. When we come to the narrow way we most be emptied of everything. There is no room for works, there is no room for pride, there is no room for good intention. To enter by the narrow way we can not do in our own strength. I think of the apostles asking Christ, “who then can be saved?” and Christ response, “With men this is impossible but with God all things are possible” (Matt19:25-26). It is only by Christ, in Christ, that we can enter. And this is not easy. It is difficult, it is striving. “How does one do it,” is a good question? And the answer may be a little confusing. For the answer is, “by not doing”. For Jesus has done it all.
Entering by the narrow gate is only possible when we cry out to Jesus, but the crying is not what does it. It is not repeating a prayer, or saying your own prayer, though it could be, it is in realizing that Jesus must save you and that he is not obligated to do so. Today we often think Christ is obligated to save us, we see this as justice. But truly, justice would be wrath. Salvation is mercy and grace. And we should be careful not to presume upon either, for we are not entitled to either! Again, let me say, it is not the crying out for salvation that saves us, that is works; it is the mercy and grace that applies the blood of Jesus that saves us. It is not faith in faith that saves (!); but faith in Christ, which is better understood: not so much that faith saves but that Christ saves through faith. (which is my paraphrase of B.B. Warfield.)
a right faith (short thought)
A right understanding of faith is essential to every Christian. In times past, the church gave great emphasis to teaching on the character of genuine faith, but in our modern world, we tend to shy away from casting doubt upon some one else’s supposed faith. We live in a time of relativism. We see it in how the bible is studied (everyone is allowed their own interpretation), we see it on our stance on sin (who are we to judge another), and we see it in our acceptance of every profession (I can’t know his heart). We ignore the black and white lines that the bible draws, and we tend to just want to keep everybody happy. Don’t rock the boat!
This attitude is horrifying. False conversion has always been a real threat and Jesus spoke so much on it (Matt 7:13-27; Matt 13:1-9, 18-50; etc) because the possibility is real. We must open our eyes to what is happening around us, the righteousness of God is revealed to faith: genuine faith not just a said faith. It is not enough to say “I am a Christian,” it is not enough to believe that you are saved. Conversion is not about doing something or saying something; that is works, and oh how many people trust in their works to get them to heaven. It is not in getting baptized, it is not in saying a prayer, it is not in joining a church. It is in trusting Jesus Christ to save you, and this is truly, truly, an amazing thing.
We take for granted faith in Christ because we don’t understand what it really is. Faith in Jesus Christ presupposes that we understand our sinfulness and God’s holiness and righteousness, faith presupposes that we understand that we are rightly deserving of eternal damnation, faith in Christ accepts that there is nothing that we can do to save ourselves. And then, faced with despair and hopelessness, faith looks to that Holy Righteous Judge and asks Him to save us. This is madness. We are saying that we are not going to trust in anything else, not even a little, but only in the work of Jesus to save us from eternal torment. We will not look to our intentions, our best efforts, our good deeds, we will do nothing to aid in salvation, just hope and trust that this Judge will pardon us on behalf of His son. And when we are tempted to trust, just a little, in how good we are now, how much we love God now, how well we keep His commandments now, how we long to serve Him now, we will shun those thoughts as the sinfulness that they are. We know that we can never, ever, be obedient enough, good enough, love enough to get us to heaven. True faith knows that there is no hope but Jesus and true faith will seek Christ as its only hope. True faith will always produce a godly repentance and a godly way of life. True faith is what Paul looks like, a man deeply humble and deeply grateful, serving out of gratitude and love, despairing of ever living for himself again, longing to be with Jesus and to worship Him forever! We would do very well to heed Paul’s warning/advice in II Corinthians 13:5, “Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves.” And think often on the words of Jesus, “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able.” And also Peter, “be even more diligent to make you call and election sure…(II Peter 1:10).”
This attitude is horrifying. False conversion has always been a real threat and Jesus spoke so much on it (Matt 7:13-27; Matt 13:1-9, 18-50; etc) because the possibility is real. We must open our eyes to what is happening around us, the righteousness of God is revealed to faith: genuine faith not just a said faith. It is not enough to say “I am a Christian,” it is not enough to believe that you are saved. Conversion is not about doing something or saying something; that is works, and oh how many people trust in their works to get them to heaven. It is not in getting baptized, it is not in saying a prayer, it is not in joining a church. It is in trusting Jesus Christ to save you, and this is truly, truly, an amazing thing.
We take for granted faith in Christ because we don’t understand what it really is. Faith in Jesus Christ presupposes that we understand our sinfulness and God’s holiness and righteousness, faith presupposes that we understand that we are rightly deserving of eternal damnation, faith in Christ accepts that there is nothing that we can do to save ourselves. And then, faced with despair and hopelessness, faith looks to that Holy Righteous Judge and asks Him to save us. This is madness. We are saying that we are not going to trust in anything else, not even a little, but only in the work of Jesus to save us from eternal torment. We will not look to our intentions, our best efforts, our good deeds, we will do nothing to aid in salvation, just hope and trust that this Judge will pardon us on behalf of His son. And when we are tempted to trust, just a little, in how good we are now, how much we love God now, how well we keep His commandments now, how we long to serve Him now, we will shun those thoughts as the sinfulness that they are. We know that we can never, ever, be obedient enough, good enough, love enough to get us to heaven. True faith knows that there is no hope but Jesus and true faith will seek Christ as its only hope. True faith will always produce a godly repentance and a godly way of life. True faith is what Paul looks like, a man deeply humble and deeply grateful, serving out of gratitude and love, despairing of ever living for himself again, longing to be with Jesus and to worship Him forever! We would do very well to heed Paul’s warning/advice in II Corinthians 13:5, “Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves.” And think often on the words of Jesus, “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able.” And also Peter, “be even more diligent to make you call and election sure…(II Peter 1:10).”
Saturday, October 3, 2009
heaven
Have you ever wondered about the next life, the afterlife, the forever here after? Have you wondered what you will think about for all of eternity? I am certain of the positive answer. I want to explore the negative answer or what you won’t think about. You won’t think about the color of your living room. You won’t think about wood verses tile floors. You won’t think about trim and doors. You won’t think about television, HD, DVR. You won’t think about You tube, Myspace, Facebook, or blogs. You won’t think about the market or commerce. You won’t think about stocks, bonds, investments and portfolios. You won’t think about debt. You won’t think about savings, checkings, or taxes. You won’t think about soccer practice. You won’t think about band practice. You won’t think about clothes. You won’t think about politics. You won’t think about appearance. You won’t think about leisure. You won’t think about books. You won’t think about fashion, style, in or out. You won’t think about tomorrow or yesterday. You won’t think about cars, trucks, SUVs, or motorcycles. You won’t think about new computers, Macs or PC. You won’t think about high school, college, or beyond. You won’t think about food. You won’t think about work. You won’t think about positive self image. You won’t think about drugs or alcohol. You won’t think about dessert. You won’t think about bills. You won’t think about money. You won’t think about that new guitar, drums or keyboard. You won’t think about technology. You won’t think about vacations. You won’t think about success. You won’t think about planning. You won’t think about concerts. You won’t think about coffee. You won’t think about laundry, mowing the lawn, raking the leaves or cleaning the gutters. You won’t think about the economy. You won’t think about retirement. You won’t think about disease. You won’t think about sickness. You won’t think about gas prices. You won’t think about appliances. You won’t think about warranties. You won’t think about mortgages, second mortgages, ARMs, or balloons. You won’t think about pets. You won’t think about travel. You won’t think about landscaping. You won’t think about Blackberries, Iphones, Ipods, or I anything. You won’t think about movies, music, shows. You won’t think about exercise, yoga, or pilates. You won’t think about long walks, fast runs or jogging. You won’t think about hiking. You won’t think about boats, canoes, or yachts. You won’t think about organizing. You won’t think about business. You won’t think about playing catch up. You won’t think about so much of what seems so very important and pressing and urgent. You will think about Jesus. For all of eternity, Jesus. Heaven or Hell, Jesus. Don’t you think you should start thinking about Jesus today? If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things that are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on things on the earth. Colossians 3:1-2
money
Everything takes money.
Good objectives and well as bad objectives take money. It takes money to flush your toilet, to take a drink, or turn on a light. It takes money to start your car and keep it running. It takes money to eat. It takes money to have a roof over your head. It takes money to get an education. It takes money to raise children, start a family, provide for a wife, and take care of your parents when they are old. It takes money to pay bills and taxes and taxes and taxes. It takes money to have clothes. It takes money to be clean and smell good. It takes money to run business. It takes money to run governments. It takes money to watch TV, movies, or plays. It takes money. It takes money to buy illegal drugs. It takes money to buy guns. It takes money to get a prostitute. It takes money to go to strip clubs and bars. It takes money to run crime.
Prostitutes prostitute for money. Pimps pimp for money. Drug dealers are making money. Celebrities are making money. Politicians are making money. Thieves are looking for money. If you work at Wal-Mart or McDonalds it is for money. If you work it is for money. Products make money. Commercials make money. Governments make money. You make money. I make money. Our children will make money. Our great great grandparents made money.
This world runs on money, poor third world countries run on money, large industrial nations run on money. Every organization, for profit or not, runs on money.
It would seem that money runs this world. Yet it doesn’t. It would seem the one thing necessary is money, yet it isn’t. It appears money meets every need, scratches every itch and satisfies every longing. It doesn’t. Money calls out to us, “serve me! I will make everything alright! I will fix every problem! With me there is nothing you cannot do! Me! Money! I can make you happy! I can lift your burdens! Think of the freedom I give, just serve me! Bow before me and surrender your life and I will bless you”
How money seems to be what we need, the answer we long for, yet, its promise is empty. For we were not made for money, but money was made for us. We were made, created, for one purpose, and that is God and His glory. And in this purpose we have failed. And though this world tells us the one thing necessary is money, the truth is the one thing necessary isn’t a thing, but a Person, Jesus Christ. He alone can restore man to His Creator. Jesus alone can heal the broken hearted, proclaim liberty to the captives, recovery of sight to the blind, set at liberty those that are oppressed. Your greatest need is not money, it is Jesus. Your greatest need is not food, shelter, or water. Your greatest need is forgiveness from God and reconciliation with God. Money cannot do this. Money can do nothing. Jesus, offering Himself as a sacrifice in the place of sinners, is everything. We cannot have two masters, and woe is us if we neglect so great a salvation and so great a Savior.
Good objectives and well as bad objectives take money. It takes money to flush your toilet, to take a drink, or turn on a light. It takes money to start your car and keep it running. It takes money to eat. It takes money to have a roof over your head. It takes money to get an education. It takes money to raise children, start a family, provide for a wife, and take care of your parents when they are old. It takes money to pay bills and taxes and taxes and taxes. It takes money to have clothes. It takes money to be clean and smell good. It takes money to run business. It takes money to run governments. It takes money to watch TV, movies, or plays. It takes money. It takes money to buy illegal drugs. It takes money to buy guns. It takes money to get a prostitute. It takes money to go to strip clubs and bars. It takes money to run crime.
Prostitutes prostitute for money. Pimps pimp for money. Drug dealers are making money. Celebrities are making money. Politicians are making money. Thieves are looking for money. If you work at Wal-Mart or McDonalds it is for money. If you work it is for money. Products make money. Commercials make money. Governments make money. You make money. I make money. Our children will make money. Our great great grandparents made money.
This world runs on money, poor third world countries run on money, large industrial nations run on money. Every organization, for profit or not, runs on money.
It would seem that money runs this world. Yet it doesn’t. It would seem the one thing necessary is money, yet it isn’t. It appears money meets every need, scratches every itch and satisfies every longing. It doesn’t. Money calls out to us, “serve me! I will make everything alright! I will fix every problem! With me there is nothing you cannot do! Me! Money! I can make you happy! I can lift your burdens! Think of the freedom I give, just serve me! Bow before me and surrender your life and I will bless you”
How money seems to be what we need, the answer we long for, yet, its promise is empty. For we were not made for money, but money was made for us. We were made, created, for one purpose, and that is God and His glory. And in this purpose we have failed. And though this world tells us the one thing necessary is money, the truth is the one thing necessary isn’t a thing, but a Person, Jesus Christ. He alone can restore man to His Creator. Jesus alone can heal the broken hearted, proclaim liberty to the captives, recovery of sight to the blind, set at liberty those that are oppressed. Your greatest need is not money, it is Jesus. Your greatest need is not food, shelter, or water. Your greatest need is forgiveness from God and reconciliation with God. Money cannot do this. Money can do nothing. Jesus, offering Himself as a sacrifice in the place of sinners, is everything. We cannot have two masters, and woe is us if we neglect so great a salvation and so great a Savior.
Friday, October 2, 2009
slaves
Romans 1:1, Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ or a bond-servant (NKJV; NASB)
Nearly all of the Apostles and thereby authors of the Epistles identified themselves as servants: John (Rev 1:1); Jude (Jude 1:1); Peter (II Peter 1:1); James (James 1:1); and Paul’s young minister friend Timothy (Phil 1:1). The greatest men in the history of Christianity, the men God most used to spread His gospel and establish His Church were men that were servants (Matt 23:11). These men saw themselves for what they were, slaves to Christ, servants to the Most High God. These were men that knew that they had been slaves of unrighteousness and now had been bought with the blood of Christ and had a new master (I Peter 1:18; Rom 6:22; a theme that Paul will develop quit fully later in Romans). The Christian life is always to be defined by that of self-denying service. We are to set ourselves a side (die to self) that we may serve: First, Christ; and Secondly, man.
First, we are to serve God, and we serve God by keeping His commandments, and His commandment is to love (Matt 22:37; Rom 13:10). And when we love God we keep His commandments (see I Jn, especially chpt 5). Service to God is love to God, love to God is keeping the commandments; anyone that says they love God and does not keep the commandments “is a liar and the truth is not in him” (I Jn 2:3-4).
Second, we are to serve all men. This is keeping the commandment of God (Matt 22:39-40). To not love man is to not love God (I Jn 4:20-21). Love to man flows from our love to Christ (ie; obedience). He washed their feet (Jn 13:14-16) and commanded them (and us) to do the same. As Paul would later say in II Cor 4:5, we are your bondservants for Jesus sake!
The Christian life is the most free life and the most indebted life or to quote Luther, “A Christian man is the most free lord of all, and subject to none; a Christian man is the most dutiful servant of all, and subject to every one.” John 8:32-36 teaches us that Christ came to give us freedom, and that when He sets free we are free indeed! And yet; Christ, the most free God, the one that holds the “key of Hades and death” (Rev 1:18), the one that spoke and it was (Gen 1), the one true God, sovereign and omnipotent, the only one deserving of all service and servitude, (Phil 2:5-11), did not come to be served(!) but to serve (Matt 20:28, Mk 10:45)!! He has left us the ultimate example. He has set a standard that we are to strive after (I Jn 2:6). If our Lord and Savior and Creator and God has stooped so low as to enter our finite world, how much more humbled and obedient should we be to His call of servanthood. We are to submit to all men, see I Peter 2:13-3:6, especially 2:15. (I Cor 9:19-23)
The servants of God are not burdened with service but rejoice in service. It is not out of obligation that we serve but out of gratitude. And though we may go through difficult times in serving, Jesus’ “yoke is easy and (His) burden light.”(Matt 11:30) Paul did not start his letters with this title of servant as something that should be shamed but as some thing that should be rejoiced in. I think it quite interesting that “servant of Jesus Christ” proceeds “apostle,” in his title. Though none of us would consider Paul prideful, I think we can safely say that he had deep joy and satisfaction (at the very least) in this title.
I think the question for us would be: Do we understand the servant hood that we all have been called to? Are we ready to serve? Anywhere? Anytime? Anyone? Will we humble ourselves and wash feet? Remember the words of our Lord, “A servant is not greater than His master…If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.” See also Matt 25:31-46, great illustration!
Nearly all of the Apostles and thereby authors of the Epistles identified themselves as servants: John (Rev 1:1); Jude (Jude 1:1); Peter (II Peter 1:1); James (James 1:1); and Paul’s young minister friend Timothy (Phil 1:1). The greatest men in the history of Christianity, the men God most used to spread His gospel and establish His Church were men that were servants (Matt 23:11). These men saw themselves for what they were, slaves to Christ, servants to the Most High God. These were men that knew that they had been slaves of unrighteousness and now had been bought with the blood of Christ and had a new master (I Peter 1:18; Rom 6:22; a theme that Paul will develop quit fully later in Romans). The Christian life is always to be defined by that of self-denying service. We are to set ourselves a side (die to self) that we may serve: First, Christ; and Secondly, man.
First, we are to serve God, and we serve God by keeping His commandments, and His commandment is to love (Matt 22:37; Rom 13:10). And when we love God we keep His commandments (see I Jn, especially chpt 5). Service to God is love to God, love to God is keeping the commandments; anyone that says they love God and does not keep the commandments “is a liar and the truth is not in him” (I Jn 2:3-4).
Second, we are to serve all men. This is keeping the commandment of God (Matt 22:39-40). To not love man is to not love God (I Jn 4:20-21). Love to man flows from our love to Christ (ie; obedience). He washed their feet (Jn 13:14-16) and commanded them (and us) to do the same. As Paul would later say in II Cor 4:5, we are your bondservants for Jesus sake!
The Christian life is the most free life and the most indebted life or to quote Luther, “A Christian man is the most free lord of all, and subject to none; a Christian man is the most dutiful servant of all, and subject to every one.” John 8:32-36 teaches us that Christ came to give us freedom, and that when He sets free we are free indeed! And yet; Christ, the most free God, the one that holds the “key of Hades and death” (Rev 1:18), the one that spoke and it was (Gen 1), the one true God, sovereign and omnipotent, the only one deserving of all service and servitude, (Phil 2:5-11), did not come to be served(!) but to serve (Matt 20:28, Mk 10:45)!! He has left us the ultimate example. He has set a standard that we are to strive after (I Jn 2:6). If our Lord and Savior and Creator and God has stooped so low as to enter our finite world, how much more humbled and obedient should we be to His call of servanthood. We are to submit to all men, see I Peter 2:13-3:6, especially 2:15. (I Cor 9:19-23)
The servants of God are not burdened with service but rejoice in service. It is not out of obligation that we serve but out of gratitude. And though we may go through difficult times in serving, Jesus’ “yoke is easy and (His) burden light.”(Matt 11:30) Paul did not start his letters with this title of servant as something that should be shamed but as some thing that should be rejoiced in. I think it quite interesting that “servant of Jesus Christ” proceeds “apostle,” in his title. Though none of us would consider Paul prideful, I think we can safely say that he had deep joy and satisfaction (at the very least) in this title.
I think the question for us would be: Do we understand the servant hood that we all have been called to? Are we ready to serve? Anywhere? Anytime? Anyone? Will we humble ourselves and wash feet? Remember the words of our Lord, “A servant is not greater than His master…If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.” See also Matt 25:31-46, great illustration!
pilgrims
I Peter 1:1 “Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the pilgrims of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,”
Martin Luther in writing about meditation says, “But I cannot worthily and fully set forth the gracious meaning and force of the word; for this “meditating” consists first in an intent observing of the words of the law, and then a comparing of the different Scriptures; which is a certain delightful hunting, nay, rather a playing with stags in a forest, where the Lord furnishes us with the stags, and opens to us their secret coverts.” Though the imagery might be dated, for I do not know any that enjoy hunting or playing with stags, the intent is perfect. As we begin studying a verse, the very thing that Martin Luther wrote about happens. The verse comes alive and leads us on an adventure through the scriptures.
This is what has happened as I began my study of I Peter. My intent was only to lightly refresh my mind with the content of the book, but off one word my study has centered. The word is “pilgrim,” and it simply has taken control of my thinking for the last week. I have chased the word through books and chapters and have become nearly mesmerized by the image the word paints for us. When studying Romans, the word “bond-slave” grabbed a hold of me and seemed to spell out the greatest definition of Christianity in one word, but now, “pilgrim” seems to contain such a fullness that if I were to be asked to give a brief summary of Christian living it would be “pilgrim.”
The perspective of a pilgrim seems to be of utmost importance in living a victorious Christian life, for how we see ourselves will directly effect how we live. Right believing always produces right living. Webster defines pilgrim, “one who journeys in foreign lands,” and that is the crux of the matter. Do we know that we are in a foreign land, that this is not our home? Some other versions of the Bible use the similar words, “exile, sojourner, strangers” all that carry the same meaning, this is not our home. We are merely passing through. A little later in the first chapter of Peter, he tells us to conduct ourselves in fear throughout the time of our stay here. Isn’t that beautiful language? “Our stay here,” because we are only temporarily here, we are just passing through, we are wayfaring strangers.
The Bible speaks so highly of those that knew this about themselves; that knew they were merely pilgrims heading home. David writes in I Chron 29: 15, “For we are aliens and pilgrims before You, as were all our fathers; Our days on earth are as a shadow, and without hope.” Abraham, Isaac and Jacob also carry this testimony. In Hebrews 11:8-10, 13-16, we read, “8By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. 9By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: 10For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God…13These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. 14For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. 15And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned. 16But now they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly country: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.” Did you hear verse 14, “they that say such things (what things? Confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth!) declare plainly that they seek a homeland.” Why are they seeking a homeland, because they have no home upon the earth. And what is it that they were seeking? They were seeking a heavenly country. These men made no provision for this life, they did not store up treasures, they were merely passing through.
Oh that we would desire to be like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and David, men that carry the testimony of God, men of whom God is not ashamed to be called their God!
Jesus tells us so plainly that we are of another world, that this is not our home in John 15, saying, “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.” And again in John 17, that great priestly prayer, Jesus stands believers in contrast, as those not of the world; praying, “I have manifested Your name to the men whom you have given me out of the world…I pray for them. I do not pray for the world, but for those whom You have given Me, they are Yours…I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world…they are not of the world, just as I am not the world…as You sent me into the world, I also have sent them into the world…”
Do you hear the words of Christ, we are no longer of this world because he has chosen us out of the world, we have been adopted into God’s family and our true home, our eternal home is with Him, is that not what Christ prayed? “Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with me where I am…(John 17:24). Oh how this knowledge can set us free from so much sin, so many burdens, so many troubles and tribulations. This was Peter’s original point in writing to the pilgrims, he was writing to remind them and encourage them and help them through a trial, and their hope began with this word, pilgrim! How that word carries such temporariness, we are just passing through! How this world tries to get its hooks into us, how our flesh fights against our spirits, how our sinfulness strives against our new natures, is it any wonder that in order to be His disciples we must deny our selves and take up our crosses and follow Him, Him our example, the One that was not of this world!
Martin Luther in writing about meditation says, “But I cannot worthily and fully set forth the gracious meaning and force of the word; for this “meditating” consists first in an intent observing of the words of the law, and then a comparing of the different Scriptures; which is a certain delightful hunting, nay, rather a playing with stags in a forest, where the Lord furnishes us with the stags, and opens to us their secret coverts.” Though the imagery might be dated, for I do not know any that enjoy hunting or playing with stags, the intent is perfect. As we begin studying a verse, the very thing that Martin Luther wrote about happens. The verse comes alive and leads us on an adventure through the scriptures.
This is what has happened as I began my study of I Peter. My intent was only to lightly refresh my mind with the content of the book, but off one word my study has centered. The word is “pilgrim,” and it simply has taken control of my thinking for the last week. I have chased the word through books and chapters and have become nearly mesmerized by the image the word paints for us. When studying Romans, the word “bond-slave” grabbed a hold of me and seemed to spell out the greatest definition of Christianity in one word, but now, “pilgrim” seems to contain such a fullness that if I were to be asked to give a brief summary of Christian living it would be “pilgrim.”
The perspective of a pilgrim seems to be of utmost importance in living a victorious Christian life, for how we see ourselves will directly effect how we live. Right believing always produces right living. Webster defines pilgrim, “one who journeys in foreign lands,” and that is the crux of the matter. Do we know that we are in a foreign land, that this is not our home? Some other versions of the Bible use the similar words, “exile, sojourner, strangers” all that carry the same meaning, this is not our home. We are merely passing through. A little later in the first chapter of Peter, he tells us to conduct ourselves in fear throughout the time of our stay here. Isn’t that beautiful language? “Our stay here,” because we are only temporarily here, we are just passing through, we are wayfaring strangers.
The Bible speaks so highly of those that knew this about themselves; that knew they were merely pilgrims heading home. David writes in I Chron 29: 15, “For we are aliens and pilgrims before You, as were all our fathers; Our days on earth are as a shadow, and without hope.” Abraham, Isaac and Jacob also carry this testimony. In Hebrews 11:8-10, 13-16, we read, “8By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. 9By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: 10For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God…13These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. 14For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. 15And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned. 16But now they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly country: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.” Did you hear verse 14, “they that say such things (what things? Confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth!) declare plainly that they seek a homeland.” Why are they seeking a homeland, because they have no home upon the earth. And what is it that they were seeking? They were seeking a heavenly country. These men made no provision for this life, they did not store up treasures, they were merely passing through.
Oh that we would desire to be like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and David, men that carry the testimony of God, men of whom God is not ashamed to be called their God!
Jesus tells us so plainly that we are of another world, that this is not our home in John 15, saying, “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.” And again in John 17, that great priestly prayer, Jesus stands believers in contrast, as those not of the world; praying, “I have manifested Your name to the men whom you have given me out of the world…I pray for them. I do not pray for the world, but for those whom You have given Me, they are Yours…I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world…they are not of the world, just as I am not the world…as You sent me into the world, I also have sent them into the world…”
Do you hear the words of Christ, we are no longer of this world because he has chosen us out of the world, we have been adopted into God’s family and our true home, our eternal home is with Him, is that not what Christ prayed? “Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with me where I am…(John 17:24). Oh how this knowledge can set us free from so much sin, so many burdens, so many troubles and tribulations. This was Peter’s original point in writing to the pilgrims, he was writing to remind them and encourage them and help them through a trial, and their hope began with this word, pilgrim! How that word carries such temporariness, we are just passing through! How this world tries to get its hooks into us, how our flesh fights against our spirits, how our sinfulness strives against our new natures, is it any wonder that in order to be His disciples we must deny our selves and take up our crosses and follow Him, Him our example, the One that was not of this world!
health care reform
Health care reform is everywhere. TV, radio, internet, every medium is streaming the ongoing debate. So the last thing you want is to hear more about it. So I don’t want to offer my opinion on the subject, instead I want to look at the issue from a different perspective, not considering the opposing sides or even other’s ideas, instead I want to think about the importance of the issue of health care reform as a whole.
In the Bible there is a parable from Jesus about a rich man and a poor man named Lazarus. The rich man lived in luxury, wearing purple and fine linen, one translation says he “fared sumptuously.” The poor man was very poor, he was a beggar, he ate what fell from the table, he was covered in sores which were licked by dogs.
This is a good point to start talking about the right of everyone to health care, but I don’t want to, that is beside the point. The story continues that both men died, this is the wonderful part of the story because we can all relate to it, poor or rich, republican or democrat, liberal or conservative; death comes for us all, we are all united on this plain. After death we are told that the poor man went to Heaven and the rich man went to Hades. What I want us to see follows next. The rich man could see Lazarus in the heaven and begged that he might be sent to him to relieve his torment but he was told this was not possible. Since nothing could be done for the rich man he begged that Lazarus might be sent to his brothers that were still living, that Lazarus might warn them of what was to come, this to was not a possibility.
What does this have to do with health care reform, well, nothing really, like I said, I want to look at the issue from a different perspective. What was it that the rich man wanted Lazarus to tell his brothers, was it that they should take better care of the poor or renounce their riches or live more socially aware, was it that one political party was superior to another? No, the rich man wanted one thing and that was to warn his brothers of what was to come.
Living in the technological age, the information age, we are bombarded by a constant barrage of everything; entertainment, news, sports, twitter, we are connected 24/7. Everything is vying for our attention and our focus, we are consumed by so much, and yet, by so very little. The things that consume our lives are empty pointless things in the face of death. No one will wish they watched more TV or read more tweets or surfed the web more or even fought harder for a political party or social reform, no, in the face of death that which really matters becomes quite evident.
The rich man wanted one thing, to warn his family of what is to come. The last words from the rich man in this story, referring to his brothers, is that if one came from the dead to warn them of the reality of eternity they would repent. And that is the last word to us also. If we would be ready for eternity it is not is social reform (though that is good), it is not in party affiliation (though that can be good) but it is in repenting. Simply put, it is turning from ourselves and to Jesus.
So as I said, I want to consider the importance of health care reform as a whole, and my consideration is this: as important as the issue may be, it pales in comparison to the significance of your soul. For what does it gain a man to win the whole world and lose his soul?
In the Bible there is a parable from Jesus about a rich man and a poor man named Lazarus. The rich man lived in luxury, wearing purple and fine linen, one translation says he “fared sumptuously.” The poor man was very poor, he was a beggar, he ate what fell from the table, he was covered in sores which were licked by dogs.
This is a good point to start talking about the right of everyone to health care, but I don’t want to, that is beside the point. The story continues that both men died, this is the wonderful part of the story because we can all relate to it, poor or rich, republican or democrat, liberal or conservative; death comes for us all, we are all united on this plain. After death we are told that the poor man went to Heaven and the rich man went to Hades. What I want us to see follows next. The rich man could see Lazarus in the heaven and begged that he might be sent to him to relieve his torment but he was told this was not possible. Since nothing could be done for the rich man he begged that Lazarus might be sent to his brothers that were still living, that Lazarus might warn them of what was to come, this to was not a possibility.
What does this have to do with health care reform, well, nothing really, like I said, I want to look at the issue from a different perspective. What was it that the rich man wanted Lazarus to tell his brothers, was it that they should take better care of the poor or renounce their riches or live more socially aware, was it that one political party was superior to another? No, the rich man wanted one thing and that was to warn his brothers of what was to come.
Living in the technological age, the information age, we are bombarded by a constant barrage of everything; entertainment, news, sports, twitter, we are connected 24/7. Everything is vying for our attention and our focus, we are consumed by so much, and yet, by so very little. The things that consume our lives are empty pointless things in the face of death. No one will wish they watched more TV or read more tweets or surfed the web more or even fought harder for a political party or social reform, no, in the face of death that which really matters becomes quite evident.
The rich man wanted one thing, to warn his family of what is to come. The last words from the rich man in this story, referring to his brothers, is that if one came from the dead to warn them of the reality of eternity they would repent. And that is the last word to us also. If we would be ready for eternity it is not is social reform (though that is good), it is not in party affiliation (though that can be good) but it is in repenting. Simply put, it is turning from ourselves and to Jesus.
So as I said, I want to consider the importance of health care reform as a whole, and my consideration is this: as important as the issue may be, it pales in comparison to the significance of your soul. For what does it gain a man to win the whole world and lose his soul?
higher education
Education is very important. I don’t think that anyone would deny that. I fight for all our foster girls to go to college. They are given an opportunity that very few people are given. They are given the option to attend a private four year college for free, no loans, no debt. This is amazing. Yet, most of our kids have been uncertain about college, I was. Looking back, I would love the opportunity to go to college for free, I wouldn’t have appreciated it then, but now, the worth of that education is huge. I push and encourage our girls to go even if they are uncertain, because, even if they don’t want to be there initially, I do not think that when they are thirty they will regret having been given a free college education. I know many people who regret not going to college, I can’t think of any that regret going.
An education will provide for you and your family. In this culture, education is everything. We will always hear of underdog stories, of businesses built by unschooled men, of the high school dropout that later invented something that amassed him a fortune, and we like those stories, they give us hope. But the reality is that those stories are great because they aren’t the norm. They make great movies because they are atypical. If that was the experience of the common person, colleges would be obsolete. And the stories we would be fascinated by would be about the guy that stayed in school and worked hard and got the job he was working hard to get. No, in our culture, those that work hard and get a good education are more likely to “succeed” in our culture, and really, in every culture around the world. This is why I fight for our girls to go to college.
An education will improve your “quality” of life. No doubt about it. Are there formerly successful CEOs living on the streets? Sure, especially in the current economic crisis. Are there highly educated people looking for jobs with out success? Yes. But the other side of the story is that there are high school dropouts looking for jobs and high school dropouts living on the streets, and without doing any research, I doubt the ratio is 1:1. Again, we hear the story of the successful lawyer or politician that has lost it all and we enjoy hearing it, mainly because it makes us feel better about ourselves. Those movies are entertaining because they level the playing field and give us hope. But the reality is that when someone with an education is applying for a job against someone without an education, who do you think will get the job? An education definitely has the very real potential to improve your quality of life.
An education will most likely make you more money. Not guaranteed but likely. There is an add running on the radio for a university in my area that states over a lifetime people with a college education will make almost a quarter million more dollars. That is a lot of money. Again, are there those that defy that, sure.
An education is very important. I don’t have to tell you that. I urge all our girls to go to college.
Yet, an education by itself is useless. Perhaps it is worst than useless. Perhaps, like Leo Tolstoy, an education will only make you wiser to what life is. Tolstoy of coarse wrote “War and Peace” and “Anna Karenina,” he was brilliant. But his brilliance led him to understand what most of us don’t understand today, namely, that life (without God) is pointless and vain and worthless. He attempted suicide several times and removed his children from school to save them the despair of having to understand the pointlessness of life. He thought that if he could keep his children from learning and education they would never realize what it was that he realized, life was futile. But that is not the end of his story.
Leo Tolstoy became a Christian. The thinking man, the brilliant man, the author of one of the most famous volumes ever, became a Christian. He put his children back in school. He understood now the value of an education. He was still brilliant and thinking and fully convinced of Christ.
An education is important but an education not to the glory of God is pointless. You see a great education in the perspective of eternity is of no value apart from Jesus. It may serve you well here but it can never give you right standing before God. An education can never deal with your sins. Only Jesus, dying in your place, to cover your sins, can prepare for eternity.
I urge all our girls to go to college, if not here somewhere, but go. I also urge, with greater stress and importance, to trust Jesus. Because an education \may serve you well in this life, but without Jesus, there is no hope for this life… or the next.
An education will provide for you and your family. In this culture, education is everything. We will always hear of underdog stories, of businesses built by unschooled men, of the high school dropout that later invented something that amassed him a fortune, and we like those stories, they give us hope. But the reality is that those stories are great because they aren’t the norm. They make great movies because they are atypical. If that was the experience of the common person, colleges would be obsolete. And the stories we would be fascinated by would be about the guy that stayed in school and worked hard and got the job he was working hard to get. No, in our culture, those that work hard and get a good education are more likely to “succeed” in our culture, and really, in every culture around the world. This is why I fight for our girls to go to college.
An education will improve your “quality” of life. No doubt about it. Are there formerly successful CEOs living on the streets? Sure, especially in the current economic crisis. Are there highly educated people looking for jobs with out success? Yes. But the other side of the story is that there are high school dropouts looking for jobs and high school dropouts living on the streets, and without doing any research, I doubt the ratio is 1:1. Again, we hear the story of the successful lawyer or politician that has lost it all and we enjoy hearing it, mainly because it makes us feel better about ourselves. Those movies are entertaining because they level the playing field and give us hope. But the reality is that when someone with an education is applying for a job against someone without an education, who do you think will get the job? An education definitely has the very real potential to improve your quality of life.
An education will most likely make you more money. Not guaranteed but likely. There is an add running on the radio for a university in my area that states over a lifetime people with a college education will make almost a quarter million more dollars. That is a lot of money. Again, are there those that defy that, sure.
An education is very important. I don’t have to tell you that. I urge all our girls to go to college.
Yet, an education by itself is useless. Perhaps it is worst than useless. Perhaps, like Leo Tolstoy, an education will only make you wiser to what life is. Tolstoy of coarse wrote “War and Peace” and “Anna Karenina,” he was brilliant. But his brilliance led him to understand what most of us don’t understand today, namely, that life (without God) is pointless and vain and worthless. He attempted suicide several times and removed his children from school to save them the despair of having to understand the pointlessness of life. He thought that if he could keep his children from learning and education they would never realize what it was that he realized, life was futile. But that is not the end of his story.
Leo Tolstoy became a Christian. The thinking man, the brilliant man, the author of one of the most famous volumes ever, became a Christian. He put his children back in school. He understood now the value of an education. He was still brilliant and thinking and fully convinced of Christ.
An education is important but an education not to the glory of God is pointless. You see a great education in the perspective of eternity is of no value apart from Jesus. It may serve you well here but it can never give you right standing before God. An education can never deal with your sins. Only Jesus, dying in your place, to cover your sins, can prepare for eternity.
I urge all our girls to go to college, if not here somewhere, but go. I also urge, with greater stress and importance, to trust Jesus. Because an education \may serve you well in this life, but without Jesus, there is no hope for this life… or the next.
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