Manna and the Lord's Provision

This morning I was reading in Numbers 11 and saw something I am sure I read before, but hadn't registered fully.  Here are the verses - Numbers 11:4-9 NIV:

[4] "The rabble with them began to crave other food, and again the Israelites started wailing and said, “If only we had meat to eat! [5] We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost---also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic. [6] But now we have lost our appetite; we never see anything but this manna! ” 

[7] The manna was like coriander seed and looked like resin. [8] The people went around gathering it, and then ground it in a hand mill or crushed it in a mortar. They cooked it in a pot or made it into loaves. And it tasted like something made with olive oil. [9] When the dew settled on the camp at night, the manna also came down."

I always imagined that Manna was like flakes, almost like corn-flakes but white.  This image came from Ex 16:13-15.  This morning as I was reading these verses, what is described is like clear, amber colored seed. Resin is a hard substance usually made from tree sap that has hardened, and usually translucent.  The coriander seed is small and round.  It says that the manna came down when the dew settled (came down).  I had always imagined that the manna had appeared when the dew evaporated in the morning (again see Ex 16), but now it seems like maybe it fell sort of like a light hail, falling lightly all around them.  They would go out in the morning and collect baskets of the stuff, and apparently would process it into bread. 

Now I could get all worried and concerned about these two different descriptions of manna, but instead I wonder if this is describing a change in the form of manna, from the first experience to the ensuing years.  We know that they ate manna for 40 years (Ex 16:35) and I wonder if the Lord brought about change in the form of manna over that time?  I find that Lord's provision for me often takes on different forms and comes in different ways, why would this not be possible in His provision of manna?

I am reminded of one chunk of time in my early walk with the Lord where He was teaching me about his ability to provide for me, and His intimate concerns and  care.  He told me to trust Him for dinner, just praying and waiting. I took Him at His word and prayed for dinner and not 2 minutes later a friend called me and invited me to dinner, as he was grilling steaks and had an extra!  Needless to say I was blown away at the Lord's immediate provision.  The next week, He again told me trust Him for dinner.  This time I was understanding and expecting a similar response.  I prayed and waited and no one called.  I had a meeting that evening at about 6pm, and decided to go early.  I was sitting in the lobby when another of my friends walked in with a take-away box from a restaurant.  She worked at a restaurant nearby and they had sent her home with extra food, but she had already eaten.  As soon as she saw me, she asked if I would like the food she had and of course I said yes!  

I learned much from this time, and one of the things I did learn is that the Lord is creative in how He provides!  He has met my need many times throughout the years, and rarely does it come in the exact same form or method as before.  I think part of this is to make sure that I never get into a pattern relationally, where I expect Him to always do the exact same thing.  We find a similar creativeness in the way Jesus healed.  Sometimes He commanded healing with a word, sometimes it was touch, other times He wasn't even present in the same location.  Sometimes He commented on the person's faith, other times, He healed without a single mention of faith, yet He healed.

This morning I am encouraged that the Lord is Lord, and creative always.  He is fully capable of moving in our lives, and we need to learn to trust Him to do so in the manner that He chooses, not in the manner we want or have seen before.  We can create expectations, and become confused or even offended when the Lord doesn't work the way we think He should, or even the way He has in the past.  Sometimes, I think we can even miss His provision because we are only looking for Him to move one way, and He is moving another way.  Going back  to my experience with the Lord providing dinner, I could have sat by the phone all evening long that second week, and I don't know for sure, but I suspect that no one would have called.  The Lord was teaching me about hearing His voice, as well as trusting in His faithfulness.

My prayer this morning is that we would learn to trust in Him, be open to change, be ready to witness His provision and blessing, and be ok with the Lord moving in new and unusual ways! 

May the Lord bless your 2023!

Amen!

Open Love's Door

This morning I felt led to read from John's first letter.  His writing was meant to help the church combat a wave of gnostic and heretical teachings that were popping up.  It is interesting how John's encouragement was to double-down on loving one another.  Here are the verses for reflection - 1 John 4:7-21 NIV:

[7] "Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. [8] Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. [9] This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. [10] This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. [11] Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. [12] No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. 

[13] This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. [14] And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. [15] If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. [16] And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. 

God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. [17] This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. [18] There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. 

[19] We love because he first loved us. [20] Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. [21] And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister."

I so appreciate John's focus on love, and how he encouraged the people love one another, over and over again.  This is the one command that Jesus gave us, and as such it should be our primary motivation and action.  

I had an interesting dream this morning where I was working with an evangelistic ministry and they were complaining on how their programs were not very successful in seeing people's live changed.  They were doing things like sponsoring nights for certain types of workers, but the focus was always on salvation.  They were more worried about the success of their programs than they were about the people they were inviting.  I encouraged them to maybe try to actually get to know the people, to develop real relationships, to learn about their lives and invite them into their own lives.  I encouraged them to take the humble approach of love rather than the judgmental approach of "you are sinners and need to repent" and constantly focusing on numbers rather than real people, and loving them.

As I started reading the verses above, I saw a parallel between what John was saying and the theme of my dream, that of loving one another.  A John clearly points out, our love is closely related to our experience of God.  He said "God is Love. Whoever lives in love lives in God."  That really is an amazing statement!  I believe that the most important thing in the Kingdom of God is relationships, and here John equates our loving relationships with living in God, and God living in us (vs 15 & 16)!  According to John, we know this is true by our experience of the Holy Spirit (vs 13), and the Spirit testifies about the truth of Jesus and the Glory of the Father.  

In the face of opposition, false teaching, false prophets and confusion, John encourages his brothers an sisters to press into love and loving one another.  I am reminded of something Pater wrote - 1 Peter 4:7-8 NIV: "The end of all things is near. Therefore be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray. [8] Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins."  In looking at the original Greek, while the word kalupto means to cover over and conceal, in this context it is not referring to some sort of enablement but rather a procuring of pardon from God (according to Thayers Greek Lexicon).  

In my view this basically means our love of one another, in spite of our sin, can provide that assurance God Loves us and forgives us. I know that is stretching the definition a bit, but if our love for one another is a major way we experience God, then it makes sense to me that our understanding of God is impacted by our experience of love from one another.  Taking this one step further, many people struggle with Christianity and the reality of God, because of their experience with "Christians" behaving badly!  

Oh that the world would experience the Love of God through the Church, rather than judgment!

Oh that we would learn to walk in Love, to express the Love of God for one another, to love deeply!  Let us press into this loving expression, and experience God's love for ourselves!  Let us open the door of God's love for one another!

Lord, help us to love one another as You commanded!

Amen and Amen!

God's Choice - Mercy

 

This early morning I am reflecting on some very interesting verses from Paul's letter to the Romans 9:14-25 NIV:

[14] "What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! [15] For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”

[16] It does not, therefore, depend on human desire or effort, but on God's mercy. [17] For Scripture says to Pharaoh: “I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” [18] Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden.

[19] One of you will say to me: “Then why does God still blame us? For who is able to resist his will?” [20] But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God? “Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, 'Why did you make me like this?' ” [21] Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use?"

[22] "What if God, although choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath---prepared for destruction? [23] What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory--- [24] even us, whom he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles?

[25] As he says in Hosea: “I will call them 'my people' who are not my people; and I will call her 'my loved one' who is not my loved one,”

I was thinking that these verses must be foundational to the Calvinist line of thought concerning salvation, and effectively the lack of free-will.  However, that perspective seems to me to be approaching these verses from the opposite side of where Paul started, which was talking about the fact that so many Jews, the people of the promise, did not recognize Jesus as their Messiah.  He was taking that understanding and making a way for the Gentile believers to be included in the promise of salvation.  So the question is whether the equation flows both ways, like a math equation? 

If we step back and make a few foundational statements and then develop proofs from there, I think we can come to a more Arminian understanding.  Better yet - I decided to look up online some of the Arminian thought about Romans 9.  Here is what I found - ( https://wesleyanarminian.wordpress.com/2014/09/19/arminian-principles-for-interpreting-romans-9/)

"Romans 9 is often the “go to” text for Calvinists. They hold that it is about individual election to salvation – that God unconditionally chooses to save certain individuals, and that he unconditionally rejects and hardens others. John Piper writes that the Calvinist interpretation of Romans 9:11-12 was the watershed event that caused him to become a Calvinist.(1)

Arminians come to a different conclusion about Romans 9. We hold that it’s about the election of the nation Israel to serve God’s greater purposes.  Specifically, it’s about how God is just in how he has treated Israel.  And it’s about how he has kept his word in the way that he has treated them.  It is not about Calvinistic individual election. Paul is asking if the nation of Israel can be saved, and if God is fair in the way he goes about treating them as a group.  Are Jews saved by their genealogy? Or must Jews believe in Jesus in order to be saved? Paul argues that even though Jews are descendants of Jacob and Abraham, they don’t get a free ticket because of their ancestry (Romans 9:8). Israel has been blessed as a people group, because salvation comes from the Jews. However, individual Jews are saved the same way that Gentiles are – by having faith in Jesus (Romans 9:31, Romans 10:11-13).

Now on to the Arminian principals for interpreting Romans 9.

1) To understand Romans 9, read all of Romans 9 along with Romans 10 and 11. Better yet, read the the entire book. The larger context is key to understanding the passage. Calvinists prefer to quote only Romans 9:10-24, because that’s the portion that seems most Calvinistic when read by itself. But Romans 9:10-24 shouldn’t be read without an understanding of the surrounding context and the question that Paul is addressing. Here’s the background: Israel was depending on their ethnicity as descendants of Abraham. They thought that being physical children of Abraham saved them by default. Paul uses Jacob (Israel) and Esau (Edom) to show how ethnicity is not a guarantee of  a blessing. Paul illustrates that both Issac and Jacob were chosen to be blessed over Ishmael and Esau, even though all were sons of Abraham and this even though Ishmael and Esau were the oldest sons. Despite the blessing of being descendants of Jacob, individual Jews are saved the same way Gentiles are – by faith in Jesus. Even though Jews are physical descendants of Abraham (as were Ishmael and Esau), they still must believe in Jesus in order to be saved (Romans 10:11-13). This is Paul’s argument.

Paul states that he is speaking about the nation of Israel in the opening of Chapter 9 (bold mine):

Romans 9:1-5: I speak the truth in Christ—I am not lying, my conscience confirms it through the Holy Spirit— I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my people, those of my own race, the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption to sonship; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises. Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of the Messiah, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen.

Paul reminds us again that he is writing about the nation of Israel in the close of Chapter 9 (bold mine):

Romans 9:30-32 What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith; but the people of Israel, who pursued the law as the way of righteousness, have not attained their goal. Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works.

The nation of Israel is always in scope in Romans 9, 10, and 11. It’s never about Calvinistic individual election. That’s why it’s so important to read all of Romans.

2) When reading the portion of Romans 9 that sounds Calvinistic, refer to the Old Testament passages that Paul uses for his argumentation. They show that Paul is still on the topic of the nation of Israel, and he’s addressing God’s right to use Israel as he prefers. The verses seem to refer to individuals with a casual reading (Jacob and Esau and Pharaoh).  However, the Old Testament references show that the individuals are actually corporate heads of their nations.

For example (bold mine):

Genesis 25:23: The Lord said to her, “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other,and the older will serve the younger.” (quoted in Romans 9:11-12)

Malachi 1:1-5: A prophecy: The word of the Lord to Israel through Malachi. “I have loved you,” says the Lord.“But you ask, ‘How have you loved us?’ “Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares the Lord. “Yet I have loved Jacob, but Esau I have hated, and I have turned his hill country into a wasteland and left his inheritance to the desert jackals.” Edom may say, “Though we have been crushed, we will rebuild the ruins.” But this is what the Lord Almighty says: “They may build, but I will demolish. They will be called the Wicked Land, a people always under the wrath of the Lord. You will see it with your own eyes and say, ‘Great is the Lord—even beyond the borders of Israel!’ (quoted in Romans 9:13)

Jeremiah 18:1-10: This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: “Go down to the potter’s house, and there I will give you my message.” So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel. But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.  Then the word of the Lord came to me. He said, “Can I not do with you, Israel, as this potter does?” declares the Lord. “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, Israel. If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned.  And if at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built up and planted,  and if it does evil in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider the good I had intended to do for it. (referenced in Romans 9:21)

Especially of note in the Jeremiah passage is that God (the Potter) does not decree what the nation does, but rather he first sees what the nation does, and then forms something out that nation afterwards as a result of their corporate behavior.  This is the opposite of “unconditional individual election”.  God changes his mind on how to treat a nation based on whether or not the nation follows him.  This is particularly relevant to Paul’s argument in Romans 9.  Israel was not following God as revealed in Christ, and as a result, God (the Potter) is going to treat them accordingly.

One more thing to be aware is the Hebraic idiom of “hate” (as used in Romans 9:13 and Malachi 1:3 – “I love Jacob, but I hate Esau…”)  This idiom means to love someone less in comparison to someone else. Just as we have idioms (For example: “It’s raining cats and dogs.”), so did the Hebrews. This idiom doesn’t mean that God unconditionally despised and damned Esau and all of his descendants. It meant that he preferred Jacob’s nation over Esau’s nation, and chose Jacob’s children for the special honor of being the line in which the Messiah came. Jesus uses this very same idiom when he says “Anyone who follows me must hate his Father and Mother (Luke 14:26).” He’s not saying you should actually despise your parents, that would be breaking a commandment! He’s saying that in comparison to our love for God, our love for our parents ought to be much less. The same thing is going on with Jacob and Esau. God loved both of them and their descendants. However, he had a special affection for Jacob and his descendants, and chose Jacob’s descendants over Esau’s for the purpose of saving the world.

In the case of Pharaoh, Paul uses him as an analogy as to how God can fairly treat the nation of Israel, even if he has to “harden” them in the process.  Just as God hardened Pharaoh for his purposes (after a great deal of evil behavior by Pharaoh), he has the right harden the nation of Israel for his purposes.   And we see from the Jeremiah passage that this hardening comes about as God’s response, it’s not God’s first preference.  Importantly, it wasn’t God’s first preference to eternally damn Pharaoh.  God treated Pharaoh fairly, and wanted him to be saved.  For more on that topic, see this post: The Hardening of Pharaoh’s Heart.

3) Whatever Romans 9 means, it can’t mean that God is a liar, and it can’t contradict the plain meaning of other scripture passages.  If God is love (1 John 4:8 ), we can’t use Romans 9 to prove that God is hate.  This was a point made by John Wesley. Of course, Calvinists don’t claim that God hates or lies, but their line of reasoning in our view leads to this. Typically when you question a Calvinist about the goodness of God in Romans 9, they either equivocate or they equate a rejection of their interpretation of Romans 9 as “talking back to God” (Romans 9:20).  Here’s what Wesley wrote on this:

This is the blasphemy clearly contained in the horrible decree of predestination! And here I fix my foot. On this I join issue with every assertor of it. You represent God as worse than the devil; more false, more cruel, more unjust. But you say you will prove it by scripture. Hold! What will you prove by Scripture, that God is worse than the devil? It cannot be. Whatever that Scripture proves, it never can prove this; whatever its true meaning be. This cannot be its true meaning. Do you ask, “What is its true meaning then” If I say, ” I know not,” you have gained nothing; for there are many scriptures the true sense whereof neither you nor I shall know till death is swallowed up in victory. But this I know, better it were to say it had no sense, than to say it had such a sense as this. It cannot mean, whatever it mean besides, that the God of truth is a liar. Let it mean what it will. It cannot mean that the Judge of all the world is unjust. No scripture can mean that God is not love, or that his mercy is not over all his works; that is, whatever it prove beside, no scripture can prove predestination.(2)

Wesley is right.  Whatever Romans 9 states, it can’t state that the God of truth is a liar."

================================

In summary, I am glad that I went to the resources available, as they were very helpful in understanding a complex subject.  I am grateful for the learned indivduals who have laid foundations for those of us who are challenged in our seeking after the truth.

Lord, help me to live as one who understands I am under Your mercy because of Your love, and salvation is Your gift to me.  Thank you for loving me.

Amen and Amen!

An Ultra-Marathon of Pursuit

This morning I felt led to read from Nehemiah, chapter twelve.  It is always interesting to read form the Old Testament, and reading it in light of the revelation of Christ.  This morning I am focusing on a few verses at the end of the chapter - Nehemiah 12:44-47 NIV:

[44] "At that time men were appointed to be in charge of the storerooms for the contributions, firstfruits and tithes. From the fields around the towns they were to bring into the storerooms the portions required by the Law for the priests and the Levites, for Judah was pleased with the ministering priests and Levites. [45] They performed the service of their God and the service of purification, as did also the musicians and gatekeepers, according to the commands of David and his son Solomon. [46] For long ago, in the days of David and Asaph, there had been directors for the musicians and for the songs of praise and thanksgiving to God. [47] So in the days of Zerubbabel and of Nehemiah, all Israel contributed the daily portions for the musicians and the gatekeepers. They also set aside the portion for the other Levites, and the Levites set aside the portion for the descendants of Aaron."

While I could spend time looking at the tithes, and contributions, what caught my attention this morning was the statement that begins verse 46, "For long ago in the days of David and Asaph", and I immediately started wondering how long there was between David's rule and the book of Nehemiah.  According to one source ( https://www.biblestudy.org/beginner/timelineot.html) there are 540 years from the end of David's reign until the writing of Nehemiah.  Which is a really long time if you think about it.  If we consider 20 years per generation, that is 27 generations.  If we just did a simple subtraction from this year, that would be 1482, or 10 years before Christopher Columbus discovered America.

Sometimes I think it is important for us to grasp these types of comparisons, to help us understand the long-range perspective of God, and the amazing stickiness of the things God instituted.  Here we have a people committed to pursuing a pattern of life and worship that had been established five centuries earlier, and one that had been passed down from generation to generation with rarely ever being actually put into affect.  Josiah's reforms happened in the 620s, and that is 200 years (10 generations) before this restoration under Nehemiah, and they were following the same pattern of life established by David. I guess we could say that certain parts of that worship, that way of life is still being practiced by the Jews today.  

In a similar way, as Christians we draw our way of life and worship somewhat from what was established 2000 years ago. I say somewhat, for the worship and way of life of most of us does not look much like the life of the early Church as described in the New Testament, but the beliefs and foundations are the same.    

So why does this matter?  In my opinion, it matters because it is on the heart of God!  He established patterns of life that are meant to guide us in our life and pursuit of Him.  The patterns of worship established under David, were meant to provide a pattern of life that was a precursor to the revelation of Christ.  In the same way our life in the New Testament church is meant to be an example of the coming final Kingdom of God.  The pattern of life described in both the old testament and new testament of sacrificial giving, of loving one another, of being part of a nation or people with an identity that supersedes our earthly identity, is important for us to grasp for these are foundational truths in His Kingdom.  We are meant to be part of the family of God, and to have concern for each other as brothers and sisters.  We are destined for an eternal life that this earthly pattern is just a shadow of, according to Paul (Col 2:17) and the author of the Letter to the Hebrews (Heb 8:5; 10:1).  We can easily lose sight of this in our own daily lives, and thus it is  important to continue to press forward in ways that remind us of the greater truths.

Earlier this morning, I was thinking about my daily prayer, and journalling.  I was thinking that its probably not necessary to be so consistent, but as I reflected I realized that for me consistency is important in the embracing and maintaining of these truths in my life.  I am too quick to lose momentum and focus.  I have been journalling consistently for 41 years, and while I could say I don't need to do so anymore, I know myself, and I would quickly lose focus, motivation and finally would choose the easier path.  In chapter 13 of Nehemiah, he goes back and visits after one year and already the people have abandoned much of what was established, so I guess I am not that unusual.  

In summary, this morning I am encouraged to continue pressing onward in pursuing a life-style that cultivates and encourages me in my pursuit of the Lord!  I am encouraged to press on, to continue to keep these truths alive in my heart and mind!  I desire to follow the Lord's command to love one another to the best of my ability!  I desire to be known as a follower of Him, because of my love.

Lord help me to continue pressing onward, to continue to pursue a life focused on and founded on You and Your word!  Help me to take on an ultra-marathon mindset, that this pursuit will continue until the end of my life!

Amen and Amen!

Do I Resemble Him?

This morning I was reflecting on some of my favorite verses from John 14, and I felt like there was an important question for me to consider.  Here are the verses - John 14:6-14 NIV:

[6] Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. [7] If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.” 

[8] Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”

[9] "Jesus answered: “Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'? [10] Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. [11] Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves. [12] Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. [13] And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. [14] You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it."

I was thinking about Jesus' clear statement here, that if we have seen Him, we have seen the Father (vs 9).  He had previously said, "If you really know me, you will know my Father" (John 14:7) and these two statements got me wondering if I could say the same thing?  

If someone knows me, and sees me, do they also know and see Him (the Lord)?  In other words, am I representing Him in daily life?  

Do I look like Him in how I act?  Do I have some of the same mannerisms?

In the natural I look quite a bit like my Dad, and when people see me, and see pictures of him, they definitely see the resemblance.  In some of my mannerisms, I find myself acting very similar to him, and I think these are  a small example of what Jesus is saying here.  However, Jesus represented His Father perfectly (Heb. 1:3).  Every spoken word, every action was from the Father, and initiated by the Father, not like a robot, but because Jesus chose again and again and again to do exactly what the Father showed Him, for to be fully man, He must have had free-will.

As I am reflecting further on this, I must assume that Jesus had a clear choice in front of Him all the time, the Father's way or some other words, or some other actions.  He perfectly followed the Father's way, always, and thus became the exact representation of the Father (Heb 1:3).  

I am just thinking about the level of listening and seeing that must have been required to perfectly follow the Father!  If we are meant to follow Christ, then we must have these same abilities, yet how often do I hear the Lord?  My inability to hear the Lord has nothing to do with the Lord's ability to speak, it must therefore be a limitation in me.

I am the first to say that I am easily distracted.  I know my thoughts are often far from the Lord, and if my thoughts are my eyes and ears are far form Him as well.  If I make a concerted effort to stay focused on Him, I might last an hour or two (with multiple micro-interruptions), but that is only true if I have nothing else to do, like work, eat, talk, or just about anything.  I can lose my train of thought faster than bullet train in Japan. :-)  It takes me significant effort and focus to maintain my attention on the Lord.  I wish I could say I am getting better at it, but I think that might be untrue.

Additionally, I find that my ability to discern the Lord's voice is suspect.  I constantly doubt that I have heard Him, as His words are often spoken quietly to me, and if I am not paying attention I miss them. Even if I do hear them, sometimes I struggle with knowing exactly what He means.  I have a whole list of times where I thought I knew what He said and meant and what He actually meant were different.

In summary, I am far from being able to say, 'if you see me or know me you see and know the Lord', but I am believing that I am able to get better and He is able and willing to help me!  I need to be more sensitive, more attentive and less distracted.   I need to learn to control my thoughts, to keep them aimed at Him, so that  am not far off when He speaks or shows me something.  

My goal is look like Him, and resemble Him in my mannerisms, words and actions!

Amen and Amen!

Persecution and God's Perspective

This morning I turned to Acts 12, and this chapter primarily is about the rescue of Peter from prison, but the chapter begins with the capture and death of James.  In his description of James, Luke calls him the brother of John, which is a flipping of significance from the verses I was reflecting upon yesterday, found in Matt 17.  Anyway, it was just a funny reminder that in the Lord, our position, title, and significance are never set, except by Him.  

Reading on in the chapter, I was thinking about the fact that the Church was under serious attack here, and that the Lord protected them, although James was put to death. Here are the verses - Acts 12:1-4 NIV:

[1] "It was about this time that King Herod arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to persecute them. [2] He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword. [3] When he saw that this met with approval among the Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter also. This happened during the Festival of Unleavened Bread. [4] After arresting him, he put him in prison, handing him over to be guarded by four squads of four soldiers each. Herod intended to bring him out for public trial after the Passover."

I was thinking about the blow this must have been to the Church.  In Acts 7, Stephen is stoned, and in Acts 8 a persecution of the Church had begun, and many had fled, but the leaders of the Church, has mostly stayed in and around Jerusalem, except for a few short mission trips to places like Samaria.  Anyway, the church had weathered the initial persecution and seemed to be back to somewhat normal life. It had been 8-10 years since Stephen's death, and Saul had been converted, so some of the driving force behind the persecution had waned. The church was starting to grow and Peter had recently had his experience with Gentile's becoming saved and baptised by the Holy Spirit, and presented his case to the rest of the Apostles in Jerusalem (Acts 11).  Into this scenario, suddenly Herod decides to persecute the church and arrests some from the church.  We don't know for sure who all got arrested, but James was part of that group, and later Peter is added. 

Going back to the state of the church, there was definitely still some concern about Gentiles vs. Jew (See acts 11: 2).  The church must also have been a sore spot for the Jews living in Jerusalem, for it appeared they knew who the leaders of the Church were, and they were pleased at the death of James, so much so, that Herod was emboldened to arrest Peter.  The Church was definitely seen, and known, and though not officially sanctioned it was a part of Jerusalem, but probably not a welcomed part.  

If there wasn't an official persecution, there was a certainly a dislike for the church among the Jews.  The political power of the Jews had remained and Herod was probably trying to get in good with the Jewish leaders and his persecution of the church was likely at their behest.  It seems to me that there is a certain similarity to our present political climate in the US.  

Anyway, within this background, we find a very interesting situation, James, one of the leaders of the Church, is killed, while Peter, another of the leaders, is miraculously rescued.  One would think this caused some serious questions of faith and belief.  That God could and would protect them is obvious, but James had died.  Had the church not prayed and fasted enough?  Had the Lord abandoned James in his hour of need?  Had the Lord judged James and Peter and found one lacking faith, while the other was faithful?  Was the Lord too slow in answering their prayers?  I bring these questions up because they represent some of the questions we often raise when God does something, or allows something we don't understand or agree with Him on.

I appreciate that Luke didn't digress into these types of questions, but I am sure they existed and were challenging to walk through as a church.   People always have their own perspective, and questioning is natural when something doesn't make sense.  They were apparently a close-knit group of believers, and the loss of James must have shook them, for He was one of the Apostles, the first of the 12 to die.  All the rest, except John, would suffer martyrs deaths, according to church tradition, but at this early stage, I am sure there was an expectation about their roles, their authority, and their protection, especially after the Lord set the Apostles free (Recorded in Acts 5) from jail the last time.  

I think it is important to step back and look at the bigger picture here.  As people with earthly perspective, we can sometimes focus on the wrong things, in this case the Apostles.  The reality was that the Holy Spirit was leading the church, not the Apostles. They clearly had significant influence, but the Holy Spirit was clearly guiding, directing and enacting change in the Church, as seen in Acts 9 & 10, where He directed and orchestrated Peter's experience with Gentiles, and the church's recognition that the Holy Spirit's seal of approval trumped their concerns.  Thus, while the leadership team had been struck, the leader (Holy Spirit)  was still firmly in charge.

So, as we look at these events, we must consider that God had a different perspective. As humans, we don't like suffering, persecution or martyrdom, but within the Kingdom of God, there is allowance and purpose for all.  One of the early church fathers, Tertullian coined a phrase, "the blood of martyrs is the seed of the church"and this was based, in part, on observation that every time the church was persecuted the church grew!  That certainly does not fit into our human logic, we think the exact opposite should occur.  History is full of rebellions dying after being crushed with force, and yet time and time again the church flourishes under persecution and even executions.  At present the church is growing fastest in places where it is being persecuted the most severely, places like Iran and China. 

So, in light of this how did the church respond to James' death? Luke writes in Acts 12:24 NIV:  "But the word of God continued to spread and flourish."  In fact in Acts 13, Paul and Barnabas begin their evangelistic journeys, and the Church continued to spread throughout the whole region!  The response was not to hide, but rather to spread the Word of God far and wide!  We find the church empowered and encouraged to press further into her call and mission to spread the Gospel to all the nations (Matt 28:18-20).

Oh Lord, we don't understand Your ways, but we certainly can observe them! Help us to be strengthened in our resolve, even as the enemy, through national leaders, politics and power plays, tries to crush Your Church, and silence her voice!  Help us to press into relationship with You in prayer, dedication to Your Word, and in our following Holy Spirit, who still leads Your Church today!

Amen and Amen!

No Tag-Alongs!

This morning I was reading from Matthew 17, and saw something interesting in how Matthew described the people involved on the Mount of Transfiguration.  To start with, here are a few verses where the twelve disciples are listed - Matthew 10:2-4 NIV:

[2] "These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon (who is called Peter) and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; [3] Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; [4] Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him."

Here is the way Matthew describes Jesus' companions on His trip up the mountain- Matthew 17:1 NIV:  "After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves."

It really isn't a big deal, and probably just related to some clarification that might be needed, but the way Matthew described John as the brother of James made me think that he was the least important of the three companions.  In Matthew's gospel, we see consistently that James is given precedence and listed first, and my guess is that he is the elder brother, and that was likely a sign of respect.  However this time, a point of clarification really didn't seem necessary, there were two James's not two John's in the twelve disciples, so if we needed clarification as to which person James son of Zebedee or James son of Alpheus, that would have made sense.  Instead we see John listed, and described as the "brother of James".

Maybe its my sensitivity at being a second born and being compared to my older brother, or maybe its just a projection from my own mind, but it seems that John, son of Zebedee, was often the "tag-along", or in this case the "fourth-wheel".  We think, based on tradition that he was the youngest of the Apostles, and that fact alone would have been one of the reasons that he was listed later, as their society was very aware of birth-order and such.  

As I was writing this, I wondered if there was a possible parallel between the Parable of the Prodigal and James and John?  Peter and Andrew never seem to have any real relational comparisons, and one wonders if some of the issues with John were related to his history?  Again this is all conjecture and pure speculation, but what I am tracking this morning is the how we sometimes judge or label others based on their history, their age, their position, and we never reevaluate our decision (judgement or label).  Sometimes we only relate to someone through another, never directly, and in those cases we would refer to them in a similar fashion to Matthew's listing of John as the bother of James, as if he really didn't matter that much, and that was his only significance.

What really is in focus this morning, is how we think about our self, and how we relate to the Lord?  In John's Gospel, he several times included notes that indicated his significance to Jesus, his intimacy, his closeness and the depth of his relationship.  Whether He wrote those to help dissuade other opinions of him gathered from reading the other gospels, we don't know.  What we do know if that he felt that he had a very special relationship with Jesus, and called himself "the disciple who Jesus loved" (John 13:23).

It is my experience that the Lord wants each and every one of us to have this same perspective.  We are all invited to have a direct relationship with Him, where we are the center of His attention and affection!  Sometimes, we can compare ourselves to others, or even relate to the Lord through others, or through events, but I KNOW that He desires direct relationship where we intimately know of His love for us! 

I am reminded of my dad's most significant faith experience when one day he heard the Lord tell him that He loved him.  It affected the remaining course of his life (50 or so years) and this was his last journal entry  - "It's beyond my understanding as to how you know, care for, love and help each one who accepts that love - to me individually, an intimate relationship.  You love me, Gene Hall, and care for me as much as I let you - a one to one relationship, and because you are God - you are able to do that with each individual - Wow!  Thank you God for loving me - Gene Hall - here and now..."

I love the fact that my Dad knew He was loved uniquely by the Lord!  

I, in my own way, share this same knowledge and similar experience.

It is my belief that the Lord wants each of us to have this perspective, to know His intimate and personal love!  

There are no second class citizens in the Kingdom and family of God.  We all have the opportunity and availability of a one on one, personal relationship with Him, that is unique to us!  We are not just somebody's brother or sister, or some person who will only ever be on the fringes of relationship, nor too sinful, too broken, too hurt, too wounded, too far-gone, too whatever!!!  He is desirous of direct relationship.

As Jesus said, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them." ( John 14:23 NIV).  I like the King James version of this translation - "and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him."  

If you want to experience intimacy with someone and know someone completely, live with them, and that is clearly the Lord's intention!  

So this is my reflection today!  We are each encouraged to pursue intimate relationship with the Lord! He doesn't have any second-class followers!  None of us are relegated to the "only-through-somebody-else" or tag-along level of relationship!  He loves and knows each of us uniquely!  He desires to come and make His abode, His dwelling place, His home with us.  He wants us to know that we are loved just as we are!  

Thank you for loving me Lord, just as I am, one to one, here and now!

Amen!

Are Forgiveness and Judgment Conditional?

Verses for this morning - Matthew 7:1-6 NIV:

[1] “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. [2] For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. 

[3] “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? [4] How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? [5] You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye. 

[6] “Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces."

Verse two caught my attention this morning, as it is certainly worth thinking about - for apparently, like forgiveness, judgment is also conditional.  Earlier in Jesus' sermon on the mount, He had said the following, "For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.  But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins." ( Matthew 6:14-15 NIV).

I find it interesting that our attitude towards others in both judgment and forgiveness affect God's attitude towards us. IN verse 2 above Jesus does not specifically say "The Father" (At least in the NIV) but judgment by one who will judge is clearly implied, and there is only one ultimate and eternal judge.

This morning I find my curiosity rising as I reflect on these statements by Jesus.  I am reminded of one more statement Jesus made, found in Matt 10:8b "Freely you have received; freely give."  While Jesus was talking about Kingdom authority to heal, cleanse and raise the dead in that instance I believe that these two statements about judgment and forgiveness are directly related to the Gospel of grace, and Kingdom realities.  We have received forgiveness freely, and have not been judged because of that forgiveness, and as representatives of His Gospel  and Kingdom, we are called to do the same.  

Jesus tells another parable later about the unforgiving debtor, and rather than adding that here, lets just say it is related and proves this line of thinking.  It is found at Matt 18:21-35 if you want to review it. 

Anyway, back to these two statements, about apparently conditional forgiveness and judgment in the Kingdom.  Some have called Jesus' sermon on the mount the constitution of the Kingdom, and it is clear He is speaking about a new paradigm, and included in that Kingdom paradigm are important perspectives on forgiveness and judgment. That these do not affect our overall forgiveness and judgment as related to our salvation must be clearly understood.  We can't lose our salvation by judging someone else, or by our unforgiveness, for that would mean that Jesus didn't die for all our sins, or pay the price required.  However, there must be a relational context that is impacted by our judgment and unforgiveness of others.  

My question is how do judgment and unforgiveness impact my relationship with God?  I think that first and foremost that what is being addressed is attitude, and understanding of our own judgment and forgiveness.  

Looking at forgiveness first, If we have been forgiven for every sin, and yet we will not forgive others, we clearly don't understand the gift we have received.  Our unforgiveness is essentially a form of unbelief, and shows we are living with an attitude towards God.  We believe that somehow we know better than Him, that our perspective is more true, or that even though He has paid for this other person's sin, we demand additional payment.  As I wrote that, I realized how absolutely ugly that attitude was, and can't imagine  holding onto that attitude in the face of God who has graciously forgiven every one of our sins, paying the price,  We are telling Him it wasn't enough!  Yikes!  

This idea and attitude will poison our own thinking and experience of our own forgiveness, and this is the enemies plan!  He wants us to live in the place of unforgiveness, wants us to believe that we haven't really been forgiven, and have to earn or pay for our own sins, and so should everyone else!  This is a completely false narrative, but if we hold onto it, it will poison our thoughts, our relationships, even our experience of God's grace and mercy, for we won't believe it is true.  While God doesn't view us this way, we think He does, and we apply our thoughts to our own lives and live under the weight of unforgiveness.  

The Greek word that is translated forgive (Matt 6:15 above) is the word aphiémi:

Definition: to send away, leave alone, permit

Usage: (a) I send away, (b) I let go, release, permit to depart, (c) I remit, forgive, (d) I permit, suffer.

If we think of the Father's response to our unforgiveness towards others, He is essentially allowing our sin to stay with us, and not sending it away, or releasing us from it, which is what Jesus says.  I think that is exactly what I described in the paragraph above, we end up living under our own misconceptions and beliefs, rather than experiencing the freedom that is actually available to us.  This is part of our free-will, the Father won't force us to forgive someone else, and when we don't, we end up living in our own poisoned mind-set.  Wow!  Why would anyone choose to live in this way?  

In the same way, judgment is a false perspective, based on a wrong idea of our own relationship to the Lord.  As I said before, there is only one eternal judge, and it is not us.  When we take on judgment, we are essentially putting ourselves in God's place.  Again, we are wrongly thinking about the Gospel of grace, and we think that our judgment is required, for clearly God has not appropriately judged this person, who we have encountered. We think we know better than God!  Judgment isn't hearing an argument and making a well-balanced decision, it is our taking the place of judge, jury and punisher, after a very uninformed review!  God is the only one who knows every thought, every experience, every wounding, every sorrow, every pain experienced by the other that we are judging.  He is the only one that can judge fairly. Once again, we are saying we don't trust His judgment, or don't agree with His judgment and demand our own sentencing, and punishment.

In the same way that our unforgiveness of others can poison our own experience of God's forgiveness and mercy, our judgmentalness can affect our view of God's attitude towards us.  If we believe that God is misjudging others, He clearly can't have gotten His judgment about us correct either.  With this attitude, we will clearly live under condemnation that is not from God!  We will think that we are too sinful, too broken, too far-gone and think we must live under a sentence of punishment that is not from God.  Again, the enemy works overtime to try and get us to think wrongly about God, and as individuals with free-will, God won't force us to change.  When we think wrongly about God, our experience of His mercy, compassion and love becomes tainted, for we don't really believe the Gospel.

Bringing this all back to the Kingdom paradigm, if we don't learn how to forgive and live as non-judgmental people, others will only receive  a tainted Gospel reality from our witness.  I hate to say it, but I think that I am seeing the very fruit of that in our culture and church today!  

In summary, our forgiveness and judgment are not conditional from God's perspective, but they are experienced as such when we operate in that mindset.

Oh Lord, help me to forgive others, to stop judging, to allow Your Gospel of Grace, and offer of salvation to flow freely from my life!  Help us to be true witnesses to Your great and glorious Gospel!  Help us to step free of our own unbelief and misunderstanding, refusing to hold onto anything other than what You say about us!  

We are Your sons and daughters, greatly loved, and You have paid for every sin, and forgiven us of every one!  Help us to live under this great and freeing reality!

Amen and Amen! 

Love, Compassion & Action

This morning as I sat down to pray, I was reminded of a couple of verses that I read yesterday morning from 1 John 3:16-18 (NIV):

[16] “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. [17] If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? [18] Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.”

Early on we decided to try and make these verses foundational in our life as a couple, in our pursuit of the Lord.  We have tried to live as if our money was the Lord’s money, trying to follow His direction in our giving and blessing of others, and other financial decisions.  In addition to sharing of our money, we have shared our home, our time, our things and tried to meet needs where we saw them. 

I will say that it sounds really great, even a bit romantic, until you actually have to do it.  It is amazing how the enemy and flesh work overtime to stop this type of self-less behavior.  Every time I am ready to bless someone with a gift, I immediately start thinking about what I could use the money to buy for me or my family, or the need to save for retirement.  When we have opened our house to guests, the whisper campaign of the enemy begins, accusations and temptations abound, all to try to get me to change or harden my heart, or to try and cause division between me and my honey.

While we try to be a blessing to others, the real work is always on our own hearts. It is similar to the opportunity to bless a pan-handler standing at an intersection.  Almost always, my immediate response is to  try and ignore them, or hope the light turns green quickly so I don’t have to give.   My judgment is always first to strike, and I begin to think about them as likely scamming the system, probably living well, even driving a decent vehicle, but just trying to ply on people sympathy to make a quick buck.

What if this is actually an opportunity to hear from the Lord, and to speak blessing instead of judgment? What if the Lord is working on my heart trying to get it to the point of compassion and empathy?  What if the person is really a fellow brother or sister in Christ in need, really desperate and I have the means to help them, and I don’t?  This is just one simple example.

Thinking about the body of believers that I belong to at present, how many times have I been aware of need and prayed for them, but never thought about pulling out the check-book? 

It’s funny how when I ignore someone in need and I feel a bit guilty, and it seems to arise from the pit of my stomach.  The word that was translated pity, in the NIV translation I quoted above is actually the Greek word splagchnon and it would be defined as follows:

1. bowels, intestines, (the heart, lungs, liver, etc.)
1. bowels
2. the bowels were regarded as the seat of the more violent passions, such as anger and love; but by the Hebrews as the seat of the tenderer affections, esp. kindness, benevolence, compassion; hence our heart (tender mercies, affections, etc.)
3. a heart in which mercy resides

It seems that the pit of my stomach is something I should listen to more often!  Many times in scripture, it says that Jesus was moved with compassion and the Greek word that is used is almost always a variant of the word above.  Jesus was moved, in other words He took action!  Oh that I would learn to do the same, rather than passing judgment.

Recently we had a corporate fast at our church and while the encouragement was to fast food, the Lord led me to Isaiah 58, and His definition of fasting found there.  Here are the verses – Isaiah 58:6-7 (NIV):

[6] “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:

to loose the chains of injustice

    and untie the cords of the yoke,

to set the oppressed free

    and break every yoke?

[7] Is it not to share your food with the hungry

    and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—

when you see the naked, to clothe them,

    and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?”

Over the last few weeks, we have made conscious decisions to do what was described here in Isaiah.  We were conscious of the food we ate, but more so we worked on our hearts and made sure that we blessed others, that we gave of our resources, effectively sharing our “food”, giving away clothes to charity, and even making sure to spend time with our family, loving them and blessing them.

While it might not seem like much, I know my heart is different, softer and more willing to love than it was a few weeks ago.  It seems, at least to me, that this is what Lord is after, this is what John was referring to in his writing, encouraging us to love in action and truth, laying down our life for others.  It is, more often than not, just a bit of our life that we are called to share, but we are changed when we do so, allowing compassion and mercy to well up in our hearts.

Oh that I would lean into this word, and allow my heart to soften!  I want to get to the point where my first response is one of mercy and compassion, not judgment.  Lord, I want to be moved by compassion, not bound up in judgment.  Help me to see what You are doing and press into that which is on Your heart.

Amen!