God and Nineveh

This morning I decided to read the book of the Prophet Nahum.  It is interesting that this whole book, as well as the book of the Prophet Jonah are concerned with the city of Nineveh.  Nineveh was the capital of Assyria, and considered an evil city, and at one point the Assyrians defeated Israel and took its leaders into exile. So the question in my mind this morning was why the Lord dedicated 2 books (even though they are small) to this city, which was effectively the enemy of His people?

For me the answer lies in the book of Jonah, where we see God's heart best portrayed for the people of Nineveh.  God sent Jonah to warm them so He didn't have to bring judgement upon them (Jonah 1:1-2).  Nahum spoke long about the wickedness of Nineveh, and the anger of God towards that city, yet we find God specifically sending a prophet to the city to cause them to repent.  Much to Jonah's chagrin, the city from least to the greatest, even the King, repent and change their ways (Jonah 3:5-10).  God relents and Jonah gets angry that God relents and does not bring judgment upon these people.  Here is what Jonah says to God - Jonah 4:2 NIV: "He prayed to the Lord, “Isn't this what I said, Lord, when I was still at home? That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity."

I believe that God speaks about Nineveh to help us understand His heart towards those who are lost, those who are reviled, those who seem evil and caught up in their own ways, ways that are offensive. Here is God's response to Jonah - Jonah 4:11 NIV: "And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left---and also many animals?”

God was concerned about the lost, even about the animals and it was not His desire to bring about judgment.  Nahum paints the picture of God being an angry God, (it is important to note that is due to Nineveh's treatment of Judah) but in Jonah, towards the very same people, we see God being gracious, compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in Love.  When we look at both books through the revelation of Jesus - we see that the Story of Jonah is a more accurate portrayal of the heart of God, who desires to have mercy and compassion on us all. We see in the story of Jonah, a somewhat prophetic picture of what Jesus did for us.  God sent Jesus to earth to bring salvation and forgiveness to all, and Jesus through His perfect obedience (where Jonah as far from obedient) obtained forgiveness for all our sins, and allowed us to have a chance to repent and seek the Father.

So for me the application of this today would be correctly understanding God's heart towards those who seem far away, even hostile towards God.  We have many voices in the church who call out judgment, or prophesy judgment on "evil" cities, regions or people groups. It seems to me that they are adopting a Nahum heart or unrepentant Jonah heart towards these people.  The purpose of God is always to bring about repentance and extend forgiveness where possible, and like the people of Nineveh, we all have the opportunity to repent.  God is a just, but He is first of all gracious, compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love (Jonah 4:2).

Pressing Past Religion to the Person Jesus

This morning I am meditating on some verses from John's Gospel - John 5:36-40 NIV:

[36] “I have testimony weightier than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to finish---the very works that I am doing---testify that the Father has sent me. [37] And the Father who sent me has himself testified concerning me. You have never heard his voice nor seen his form, [38] nor does his word dwell in you, for you do not believe the one he sent. [39] You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, [40] yet you refuse to come to me to have life."

These verses come from a section where Jesus was being attacked for doing miraculous works on the Sabbath, and He is responding to His critics.  It is sometimes amazing to me how clearly Jesus describes who He is, and yet they completely miss it.  Here Jesus is saying that God sent Him to do great works, that God is His Father, that the scriptures speak about Him, that the miracles He works are a testimony that everything else He is saying is true, and they still don't believe He could possibly be the Messiah.

It seems that the Jewish leaders, who were criticizing Jesus, were more concerned about the rules than they were with people's well-being, with relationship with God, or anything.  They were OK with Jesus if He stayed within the boundaries they set, or held themselves to, but anytime Jesus destroyed their expectations or trampled on their rules, they wanted to kill Him, or at least stop His ministry. It is amazing to me how quickly we, as humans, want to control God and limit Him to our rules.

Back to the verses, to me one of the main points that I see over and over again is the fact that "the very works that I am doing" (He had just healed a man who was an invalid for 38 years) are supposed to testify that God the Father sent Jesus.  Said another way, the miracles validate His message, and identity.  Just like in our society, when asked to prove our identity, we provide a drivers license or similar form of identification, when Jesus says He is from the Father, the id card He possesses is miracles, and other works.  This was the primary purpose of the miracles (testifying to who Jesus was and bringing Glory to the Father), and I believe it should be the same today.

In my mind, I can't conceive of how we have gotten to a place where we think just spoken words, good programs, and moving music is doing the Father's work!  The healing and miracles were often the result of Jesus' compassion in scripture, and here Jesus says that they were directed by the Father.  Are we saying that God no longer has compassion for the sick, diseased or wounded, when we think God no longer does miracles or healings? Do we believe that God changed in His affections or the ways in which He worked?

It is interesting that the next point Jesus makes is that those Jewish leaders and teachers who study the scriptures, (those that consider themselves thinkers and educated) are missing the point completely.  The scriptures don't contain eternal life, but they point to the one who does - Jesus!  I think sometimes that we can settle for head knowledge about Jesus, knowing His teachings, knowing the tenets of our faith, understanding theology and miss the whole point - relationship with Jesus!

This goes back to the previous point I was making that Jesus seems to be confronting man's religion or thoughts about religion and is saying they are not enough!  We must turn to Him, engage Him, have relationship with Him, for He is the source of life!   When we press in past the clean religious rules and expectations and meet the person who is Jesus, the person who is the Holy Spirit, and the person who is the Father, and we enter into a real relationship with them, then we are really encountering life.  Jesus says later in John's Gospel that He is the Way, the Truth and the Life (John 14:6) so it only makes sense that we encounter Him when we pursue life.  As we encounter Him, we will find that our clean and simple rules and expectations will be shattered, for He is a person, not a black & white rule book, and He is God, and His ways are not our ways!

So this morning I am encouraged to look at my life, to look at my beliefs, to look at my level of satisfaction regarding my church, my faith and experience. I am encouraged to look at these things and see if they are aligned more with the rule and practices of man's religion, or more the result of relationship with Jesus?  Am I willing to settle for less than God desires me to experience and know?  Am I believing that God still has compassion on the poor, the sick, the needy? Am I willing to be His representative, at work doing the works He shows me to do?

Prayer and Heaven's Response

This morning I felt directed to read from the Book of Daniel.  Here are the verses that caught my eye - Daniel 9:1-3, 20-23 NIV:

[1] "In the first year of Darius son of Xerxes (a Mede by descent), who was made ruler over the Babylonian kingdom--- [2] in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood from the Scriptures, according to the word of the Lord given to Jeremiah the prophet, that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years. [3] So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes."

[20] "While I was speaking and praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel and making my request to the Lord my God for his holy hill--- [21] while I was still in prayer, Gabriel, the man I had seen in the earlier vision, came to me in swift flight about the time of the evening sacrifice. [22] He instructed me and said to me, “Daniel, I have now come to give you insight and understanding. [23] As soon as you began to pray, a word went out, which I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed. Therefore, consider the word and understand the vision:"

I really love the book of Daniel, for it gives us good insight into the heart of the Lord, and the way His promises are appropriated.  The background is that Daniel is reading from Jeremiah 29:4-14 and realized that the 70 years decreed by God was about up and that it was time for Him to fulfill His promise. The direct result of Daniel's prayer and God fulfilling His promise was the restoration of the Jews to Jerusalem as described in the books of Nehemiah and Ezra!  So we see a prophecy given by Jeremiah, 70 years later Daniel praying over this prophecy and then the prophecy completed in Nehemiah and Ezra.  This certainly helps me to see and believe that God's word is real and for us!

The second thing I like about these verses is the immediate response to Daniel's prayer as described by Gabriel.  We don't often receive insight into the Heavenly realm, but that is exactly what Gabriel provides here.  It is important to note that this all happened prior to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, so things operate a bit differently today, but this gives us a sense of the workings of Heaven.  In verse 23, Gabriel that it was "as soon as you began to pray, a word went out".  It wasn't after Daniel had prayed and fasted for a length of time, it wasn't a slow, meandering response, it was immediate and it was directive!  The Hebrew word could be translated command or directive, and that was the response in the Heavenly realm to Daniel's beginning to pray.  On a side note - Jesus is described as the Word of God by John, so I believe Gabriel is describing Jesus' immediate response to Daniel's prayer. Anyway, the word was sent immediately and it was delivered to Daniel!  Sometimes I wonder if my prayers have any response from God, and this describes an immediate and I think loving response, for Gabriel adds that Daniel is highly esteemed.  That same thing can be said for each and everyone of us!  I like what Mike Bickle says, "I am God's favorite", and that is true about each of us!

Again, this is such a great example of the reality of what God desires our relationship to be like - He lays a foundation in His word, that should cause us to turn to Him and when we do, His response is immediate and intimate because He loves us.  He speaks directly to us (Daniel in this case) and then provides understanding.  This is an Old Testament example of what could be our daily prayer reality.  There are times I think it would be cool to have an angel appear in my living room, but I have the Holy Spirit dwelling in me, so I have a direct connection with God without the need for a messenger.  There are many times when I pray that I receive and perceive God's immediate response.  There are other times when I pray and nothing seems to happen, but I believe that in Heavenly realms the response is exactly the same, it is my perception that is lacking, not God's response.

I think that some times we hear the stories Jesus told about the persistent widow (Luke 18), and asking the neighbor for bread (Luke 11) that the key to receiving answers to our prayers is long prayer, persistence and just wearing God down until He gives us what we want. Nothing could be further from the truth, in both cases Jesus used those examples to say that is what it is like with an unloving, lazy, or unjust individual, but that the Father is nothing like that.  Here is what Jesus says about the Father:

Luke 11:9-13 NIV:

[9] “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. [10] For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened."

[11] “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? [12] Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? [13] If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

- and -

Luke 18:7-8 NIV
[7] "And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? [8] I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”

He says that the Father will act quickly (Luke 18:8), that He will give if we ask, open the door if we knock, and be found if we seek!  He uses the examples to say that God the Father is so much better, that if we get an answer from dogged persistence with evil men, we will assuredly get our answers quickly from the Father, because He is good and loves us!

Back to the story in Daniel, the last point I think worth considering, is the impact of one person's prayer on a nation!  Our history is full of people whose prayers changed things for their nation and for the church.  The great New Hebrides revival was seen as the result of the prayers of two old women, who prayed in a little cottage (unknown and unseen - http://www.evanwiggs.com/revival/history/hebpray.html ).  The Azusa street outpouring and revival was in large part birthed through the prayers of a couple of relatively unknown people, certainly not seen as spiritual heavy weights.  There had been a rising sense of God wanting to move for 5 years, before the actual outpouring, and at least 3 months of personal prayer by William Seymour, a little known preacher ( http://www.revival-library.org/pensketches/am_pentecostals/seymourazusa.html).  So, whether we are young or old, known or unknown, our prayers can affect the nations!

This morning I am particularly encouraged that God does hear my prayers, even if I can't perceive it, and He desires to move mightily!  Oh, that we all might press into the Lord, in loving and intimate relationship!  He desires to engage us, communicate with us, help us understand Him and change the world through us!

Amen!

A Proper Foundation

This morning I was reading in the Gospel of Matthew 7:21-23 NIV:

[21] “Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. [22] Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?' [23] Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'

When I read these verses yesterday and again this morning two things stood out to me as the most critical in our walk.  In verse 21 it is clear that it is not our words, but rather our actions and obedience that are key.  In verse 23, it is clear that relationship is the other critical component.

I believe that our relationship with God is the foundation for all else.  It is because we know Him that we would even care what He says.  It is because we know Him and love Him that we desire to do what He says.  If our relationship with God is the most important thing, than basically Jesus is saying here that our relationship with Him will impact our actions, and should be the reason for our actions.  We can't just say we have a relationship with Him (verses 21) and we can't think our good works without relationship with Him will suffice either.  It must be a combination of both, real relationship first, then actions and not just words.

This is really pretty simple, but it is amazing how often we just focus on or hear one part.  The whole concept of a living relationship with God, like a relationship with another person, seems to be missing in many people's faith experience.  The idea of being a "Christian" is associated with being good, as in doing good things, or having a good heart, but the core of being a Christian is having a relationship with Christ and following Him.

It seems to me that there may be many "Christians" who label themselves as such, but who don't grasp this whole relationship concept.  To them God is wonderful and good, but far off and not really involved in their everyday life.  Thus, it is both easy and desired to distill down the Word of God into a list of things to do and not do, which separates us from the need to actually have a relationship with Him.  In doing so, we are missing the whole point!  God wants relationship with us, and the Holy Spirit, the Son and The Father all want to dwell with us and within us!

Jesus is addressing this very thing in verse 23.  He says that even if we are doing all sorts of good things, even miracles, in His name ("Christian"), but He doesn't know us (have relationship with us) that we will not be invited to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.  That might sound harsh, but Jesus was talking to the Jews whose only understanding of relationship with God came through following rules, and no real relationship component.  He was trying to cause them to shift paradigms, to lay the ground work for the New Covenant, which is completely based on relationship with Him, and through Him the Father and Holy Spirit.

So back to verse 21, one wonders how we know about the will of the Father?  Can we discern the will of the Father by aligning ourselves with a set of rules?  The Greek word which is translated will is Thelema which is a prolonged version of the word Thelo whose definition is as follows:

1) to will, have in mind, intend
    a) to be resolved or determined, to purpose
    b) to desire, to wish
    c) to love
       1) to like to do a thing, be fond of doing
    d) to take delight in, have pleasure

So back to the question can I know this (Definition above) about the Father without relationship and just through a set of rules?  As I wrote that sentence I was reminded of a verse from Psalm 51:16-17 NIV:

[16] "You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. [17] My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise."

- and again in Isaiah a similar theme is recorded -

Isaiah 1:11 NIV:

“The multitude of your sacrifices---what are they to me?” says the Lord. “I have more than enough of burnt offerings, of rams and the fat of fattened animals; I have no pleasure in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats."

In Isaiah, God goes on to invite them to do things that are actually on His heart, things that He really desires - Isaiah 1:16-17, 19 NIV:

[16] "Wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight; stop doing wrong. [17] Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow. [19] If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the good things of the land;"

God is effectively correcting a misperception of the people.  They thought He liked the burnt offerings and blood (because of the rules), and had no idea He really was after their hearts and minds being aligned with His, through relationship.  David is called a man after God''s own heart, and this is not because of his works and perfect following of the rules, but rather because he had a relationship with God that was personal and intimate.

In  summary, we are called and invited to pursue the Lord in relationship, and through relationship to know His will (heart and desires) and to act upon it.  This is supposed to be the foundation of everything.  Lord help us to walk in this way!

Understanding That Which Defiles

This morning I am reading an interesting section from Mark's Gospel - where Jesus is speaking about what makes us unclean. Here are the verses - Mark 7:1-2, 5, 14-15, 17-23 NIV:

[1] "The Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus [2] and saw some of his disciples eating food with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed."

[5] "So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, “Why don't your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with defiled hands?”

[14] "Again Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen to me, everyone, and understand this. [15] Nothing outside a person can defile them by going into them. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles them.”

[17] "After he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about this parable. [18] “Are you so dull?” he asked. “Don't you see that nothing that enters a person from the outside can defile them? [19] For it doesn't go into their heart but into their stomach, and then out of the body.” (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean.) [20] He went on: “What comes out of a person is what defiles them. [21] For it is from within, out of a person's heart, that evil thoughts come---sexual immorality, theft, murder, [22] adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. [23] All these evils come from inside and defile a person.”

The focus of these verses is being defiled, so the first thing I did was go to the original Greek to see what word is used, and how it is defined.  The word is Koinoo and it is defined as follows:

1) to make common
    a) to make (Levitically) unclean, render unhallowed, defile, profane
    b) to declare or count unclean

It seems to me that this word has a wide range of definitions, for to make common sounds pretty ordinary, while defile and profane are pretty serious words.  the Jews had a very strong concern about being "unclean" and these verses stem from that concern.  In this type of case, where there is clearly more weight on a word than seems to make sense, just from the definition, I like to go back to what is called the "first-mention" which is where the topic is first covered in Scripture.  Often times the "first-mention" provides some valuable insight into the meaning and importance of the word or concept.  With this word, we could look into the whole concept of being set apart (holy) which would be the opposite of being common (unclean).  In the book of Leviticus, this very topic is discussed - Leviticus 10:10 NIV: "so that you can distinguish between the holy and the common, between the unclean and the clean"

The root of this whole concept is founded on the idea of a people set apart (made holy) by God.  He gave them specific rule and laws and they were different than what was practiced by the people around them, and were meant to be a sign of who they were (reminded them of their identity as God's chosen people).  The laws and rules were very specific, and being clean or unclean became a significant concept for the Jews.  The word unclean is mentioned 105 times in the Book of Leviticus, and 168 times in the Old Testament (NIV).

It seems to me that which God meant to help remind them of their identity as His chosen people, became instead a concept that became disconnected from the original purpose.  Uncleanliness could cause you to miss out on celebrations, fellowship, pretty much everything that was important to their lives.  Clearly much of this comes from the Law, and they were just trying their best to follow the guidelines.  When they didn't succeed, they were treated as common (unclean), and were not able to participate in those things that were considered holy (clean). The ordinances were to help them distinguish those that were clean vs. unclean.  Again, it seems to me that whole purpose was to remind them and others, who they were (God's Chosen People), and was thus more about identity than anything else.  Instead it became an obsession and focus, a ritual that was practiced without a solid connection to the original purpose, a way to judge other people.

I am going to switch gears here. As I was thinking about this whole concept of being set apart (made holy) I was reminded of what the distinguishing characteristic of Christ's followers is supposed to be, as described by Jesus in John 13:34-35 NIV: “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. [35] By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

In the Old Testament and old covenant, the commands that were given were to make you clean (externally) and remind you of your identity.  In the new covenant, the new command is to love one another!  This is what is supposed to set us apart (make us holy) from everyone else. It is supposed to based on our identity as a follower of Christ (the core of which is a relationship with Him), and is the outward reminder to ourselves and others that we have been chosen by Him, forgiven, redeemed and saved.  No longer should we be concerned with the Law and its myriad of practices, but instead we should be concerned about our heart and the attitudes therein.  That is exactly Jesus' teaching in these verses in Mark.  It is not that which comes from without, but rather that which is within us, in our heart, that should be our focus.  It is totally possible to have a perfect external alignment with the law or religious rules, but at the same time have no connection to Jesus, nor relationship with Him.

Jesus actually mentions this exact issue in Matthew 7:22-23 NIV: "Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?' [23] Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'"

Clearly, relationship with Jesus is the cornerstone of all this.  It is because we are His followers, His disciples that we are called to love one another.  This is very much like the Jews in the Old Covenant, it was because of their relationship with God, as His chosen people, that they were called to keep these commands to remain clean.

Going back the original verses, if we look closely at the list of things that Jesus says defile us, they are almost all directly against His new command to love one another as He loved us.  He says the following, "sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly.  All these evils come from inside and defile a person."

So today, I am reminded again that love for others and relationship with Him are the two most important things in my life!  My love for Him, and my relationship with Him is the foundation for my love for everyone else.  As I grow in relationship with Him, I am empowered to love others, and experience and know more about His love (see my meditation from yesterday).  As I grow in my Love for Him and others, it becomes more and more apparent that I am His follower.

Amen!

The Power to Lay Hold of His Love

This morning I am continuing to read from Paul's letter to the church in Ephesus.  These next verses are so full - Ephesians 3:16-21 NIV:

[16] "I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, [17] so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, [18] may have power, together with all the Lord's holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, [19] and to know this love that surpasses knowledge---that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God."

[20] "Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, [21] to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen."

The first thing that stands out to me is that Paul's desire for the church is to understand the love of Christ, "this love that surpasses knowledge".  We tend to think we understand love from our own experience of love, but what Paul writes here makes me think that we don't really have a clue about the love of Christ.  Paul prays that they may have the power to grasp how wide, long, high and deep is His love.  The power he is speaking about comes from the Holy Spirit, and needs to strengthen their inner being, allowing them to be rooted and grounded in love first, then enabling them to understand and grasp how wide, long, high and deep is His love.

As I imagine this I see that Paul is describing something like a mighty tree, first being rooted and established (a foundation laid) in love, but then expanding wide, long, high and deep.  The wider, longer, higher the tree grows the deeper and stronger needs to be the root and trunk.  When viewed with this analogy, it makes sense that power is required, for there is great strength and power in the mighty limbs of a tree, that enable it to withstand the forces of the wind.

One wonders why we would need power to grow in this knowledge of Christ's love?  Paul writes that this power is so that your may grasp or lay hold of how wide, long, high and deep is His love for us.  The Greek word, here translated grasp, is Katalambano and it means to lay hold of something and make it your own.  This word seems to denote that it takes effort on our part, and a willingness to change.  Isn't that interesting?  Not just grasping, but allowing ourselves to be changed by that which we lay hold of, in Christ.

When I think about this, it must mean that their is some level of Christ's love that requires that I must be willing to be changed to fully comprehend.  As I write this, I am reminded of the story of Mother Theresa, and her willingness to love the unlovable, the wretched, the outcasts, the poor and needy in such a way that was completely selfless.  Love like this takes incredible strength and compassion.  She was willing to be changed, to allow her own circumstances to be changed that she might better love these most needy people.

Jesus in His challenging words from Matthew's Gospel, speaks about loving the least - Matthew 25:40 NIV: “The King will reply, 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.'"

Taking this further, it would appear that Christ's love is for a larger group of people (wider) than we would normally comprehend.  He would encourage us to love the least or maybe those farthest from Him, thus the need to understand how wide is His love. We are not called to just love the righteous, but the least, those who do not know God at all.  Back to Mother Theresa, she drew no distinction between Hindu, Muslim or Christian, but looked at all as her bother and sister, children of God who need to know His love.  She was also not interested in just a single act of love, but would bring these people back to her care facilities so that she might love the individual over a long time.  Wow, that indeed requires strength!

Jumping to Paul's next thoughts - God is able to do immeasurably more than we could ask or imagine though His power at work in us.  If this power is enabling us to lay hold of and understand His love for all, especially the least, then I start to understand what He is talking about.

So today, I am encouraged to pray for myself this same prayer.  That I might be strengthened with the power of the Holy Spirit to grow in my knowledge and ability to lay hold of the width, length, height and depth of God's love, and how He wants it expressed through me.

Amen!

We Are a New Humanity

This morning I am reflecting on several verses from Paul's letter to the Ephesians.  It is interesting the last two reflections I had were on the New Covenant, established by Jesus, and the Precious Blood of Jesus.  These verses from Paul bring those two reflections together.

Ephesians 2:12-22 NIV:

[12] "...remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. [13] But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ."

[14] "For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, [15] by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, [16] and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. [17] He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. [18] For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit."

[19] "Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God's people and also members of his household, [20] built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. [21] In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. [22] And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit."

Paul was writing to the church in Ephesus, and in that church the majority of people were originally Gentiles.  Paul starts by reminding them that in their former state they had no part in the covenant of the promise, that they were separate from God's chosen people, the Jews.  Paul continues by bringing to mind the blood of Jesus, which cleanses us all, Jew and Gentile alike.  The truth is that in Christ, we (Gentiles) are joined to them (God's people) to become one new people, members of His household, citizens of His Kingdom.  This is made possible because Christ Jesus established a new covenant and caused the old covenant of the law to be set aside (vs 15).  The word Paul used, here translated as setting aside, is Katargeo whose definition is as follows:

1) to render idle, unemployed, inactivate, inoperative
    a) to cause a person or thing to have no further efficiency
    b) to deprive of force, influence, power
    c)to cause to cease, put an end to, do away with, annul, abolish
2) to cease, to pass away, be done away
    a) to be severed from, separated from, discharged from, loosed from any one
    b) to terminate all intercourse with one

This was not set aside, to be used again later, but the end of the law and its regulations. Because it was the end of the old, we now have a new covenant, and in this covenant, there is no difference any more, we are all the same, one new humanity, one new body.  There is now no more division, no separation, we are one!

I daresay, that this is true of all Christian denominations, whether we think so or not.   If in Christ Jesus we were made into one new humanity, with our fellow members, those who were previously God's chosen people, how is is possible that disagreements of men would cause us to be separated out from this new humanity, this awesome work of God?  Whether we want to accept it or not, we are all members of God's household, fellow citizens with each other.  We are all being built into a single building, "a dwelling in which God lives by His Spirit", no one congregation or denomination more so than any other.  We are all members of this new humanity.  The original Greek words are Kainos Anthropos - literally a new type of human never seen before.

To put this in genetic language, we all have the same core DNA, we are all members of the same family genetically.  We have this new man in us, and as the centuries have passed some of our appearances have changed, along family (denominational) lines, but our base genetic makeup all traces back to Christ Jesus, who created in Himself this one new man, never seen before.  Whether Catholic, Lutheran, Baptist, Methodist, Non-denominational, Pentecostal, Evangelical, Foursquare, etc. we are all genetically members of this family, for we all trace our lineage back to this new humanity created in and through Christ.  There has been no newer covenant that replaces this one that Jesus established, through His Body and Blood.

My encouragement today, is to allow this word to settle in my heart, to bring peace to any hostility that might exist towards any denomination or other members of the Body of Christ.  Let us all press forward together toward our Father through the Holy Spirit, and be built up into the dwelling in which He lives.

Amen!

The Blood of Jesus

This morning I am thinking about the Blood of Jesus. I know this is not your common reflection, but I was reading through Leviticus this morning and the subject of blood, and the command about not eating the blood was given and explained.  As we know, this ordinance is still practiced today by those that follow Kosher regulations.  Here are the verses from Leviticus 17:10-12 NIV:

[10] “ 'I will set my face against any Israelite or any foreigner residing among them who eats blood, and I will cut them off from the people. [11] For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one's life. [12] Therefore I say to the Israelites, “None of you may eat blood, nor may any foreigner residing among you eat blood.”

The Lord is very clear about this law, and the people seem to have embraced this directive.  In contrast, I was thinking this morning how shocking it must have been when Jesus spoke about drinking His blood at the Last supper. Here is Matthew's version - Matthew 26:26-28 NIV:

[26] "While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.”

[27] Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. [28] This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins."

We see the direct parallel, between the sacrifice described in Leviticus and Jesus' statement here. His blood is His life, and He poured it out for the atonement/forgiveness of all our sins, every one of us.  Wow. Putting the two statements (Lev and Matt) together we get the following: The Blood of Jesus has been given (poured out) to you to make atonement for yourselves! This is the Blood of Jesus, the blood of the Son of God, the Word made flesh, that has been poured out!  This really is incomprehensible.

Here is a quote from Frederick Faber's book, "The Precious Blood; or the Price of Our Salvation" where he talks just briefly about the Precious Blood of Jesus:

"It is also a revelation to us of the character of God. Nothing on earth tells us so much of him, or tells it so plainly and so endearingly. How adorable must be the exactness of his justice, how unattainable the standard of his sanctity, how absorbing the blissful gulfs of his uncreated purity, if the Precious Blood is to be the sole fitting ransom for the sins of men, the one divinely-chosen satisfaction to his outraged Majesty! Yet what a strange wisdom in such an astonishing invention, what an unintelligible condescension, what a mysterious fondness of creative love! The more we meditate upon the Precious Blood, the more strange does it appear as a device of infinite love. While we are really getting to understand it more, our understanding of it appears to grow less. When we see a divine work at a distance, its dimensions do not seem so colossal as we find them to be in reality when we come nearer. The Precious Blood is such a wonderful revelation of God that it partakes in a measure of his incomprehensibility."

Faber goes on to write 362 pages just on the Precious Blood of Jesus. Each page is full of deep thought and causes one to stop and reflect.  We really have such a small understanding and appreciation for this great gift, and it would be wise to cultivate a deeper understanding.  Most of the time when I hear it mentioned it is an old hymn being sung like "Nothing but the Blood of Jesus".  I pray that we would oce again uncover and restore a proper understnading and appreciation for His Precious Blood.

Oh Lord, help us to rightly understand the great gift that You made to us in Your Precious Blood.

Amen!

The New Covenant Obsoletes the Old

Yesterday and again today I was reflecting on some verses from the Letter to the Hebrews 8:6-13 NIV:

[6] "But in fact the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, since the new covenant is established on better promises. [7] For if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for another. [8] But God found fault with the people and said :

“The days are coming, declares the Lord,
when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah.
[9] It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt,
because they did not remain faithful to my covenant, and I turned away from them, declares the Lord.
[10] This is the covenant I will establish with the people of Israel after that time, declares the Lord.
I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.
[11] No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another,
'Know the Lord,' because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest.
[12] For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more. ”

[13] By calling this covenant “new,” he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear."

The larger chunk of the verses above come from the Book of Jeremiah, and are a promise spoken by God to establish a "new covenant".  The author of the letter is tying this promise to the "new covenant" Jesus spoke about in Luke 22:20, at the Last Supper.  The point is that Jesus was instituting a new covenant, one whose primary characteristics were to be relationship (verse 11 above) and forgiveness (verse 12 above).

What I find so interesting is the next statement, that God's plan was to make the old covenant obsolete. Remember that the author is writing this to the Hebrews, so this talk of the covenant is particularly sensitive and is core to the understanding of who they are, for they are the children of the promise (based on the Covenant God made with Abraham). He established the covenant of the Law with them after rescuing them from Egypt.  By using the word (here translated obsolete), the author was saying the old testament is old, worn out and no longer beneficial, and will soon disappear.

So the primary questions in my mind relates to what happens to the substance of the old covenant? Does the new covenant effectively cancel the old out, and all its requirements?  Does the new covenant build upon the old, and thus reuse much of the rules and regulations?  What parts of the old covenant are meant to be carried forward, if any?  Are the Gentiles expected to embrace the old covenant requirements when they come to the Lord?

These are actually the same questions that were discussed during the first years of the early church, after the Lord revealed to the church that Gentiles were to be saved as well (See Acts 10 & 11).  Those that were Jewish believers wanted to hold onto the requirements of the law, and Paul, who became the apostle to the Gentiles, argued strongly against this perspective (See Acts 15).  At the end of chapter 15 in Acts, we find a very significant letter to the Gentile churches, written by the Apostles and church leaders.  Here is how they answered the questions from above:

Acts 15:23-29 NIV:
[23]With them they sent the following letter:

"The apostles and elders, your brothers,

To the Gentile believers in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia:

Greetings. [24] We have heard that some went out from us without our authorization and disturbed you, troubling your minds by what they said. [25] So we all agreed to choose some men and send them to you with our dear friends Barnabas and Paul--- [26] men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. [27] Therefore we are sending Judas and Silas to confirm by word of mouth what we are writing. [28] It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements: [29] You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things.

Farewell."

That is the summary of the all the requirements of the old covenant that were passed to the new Gentile believers.  Later in Paul's letter to the Corinthians, chapter 8, Paul makes it quite clear that food sacrificed to idols is actually fine to eat as well. Later Paul writes the following: “I have the right to do anything,” you say---but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”---but not everything is constructive. [24] No one should seek their own good, but the good of others. [25] Eat anything sold in the meat market without raising questions of conscience, [26] for, “The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it.” (1 Cor 10:23-26 NIV) So in summary, the requirements of the old testament are boiled down to abstaining from sexual immorality.

This really is pretty amazing when you think about the whole list of things they could have passed on to the new Gentile believers, this was their one concern.  Later Paul and the other authors of the epistles do provide lists of things to avoid and flee from, but here we see the totality of the old covenant requirements boiled down.  As the author of the Hebrews wrote, the old is obsolete and soon to disappear.

So why am I focusing on this?  The reason is simple, in many of our understandings of our faith, we would list parts of the old covenant as requirements for living a righteous life.  If we really take this to its base foundation, even the Ten Commandments were given as a part of the covenant of the law.  Jesus gave us a new commandment, to love one another as He loved us (John 13:34-35).  One could say that Jesus gave us a new commandment along with the new covenant, and as I mentioned before - it is all about relationship and forgiveness.  We are to love God (relationship) and one another (relationship & forgiveness) as He loved us.  All the rest of the guidelines and lists provided by Paul and others were just expansions of these two basic commands.

So often we want to just know the rules so we can follow them, but Jesus' constant invitation is to relationship.  He doesn't want rule followers, He wants friends and family members (adopted).  It is always in the context of relationship first, that any of the guidance and encouragements found in the Epistles are given.  As the church, we often want to pass on the rules first, so that people can get there lives "cleaned up" prior to them joining the church. The problem is  this is just not in line with the example provided in scripture, nor modeled by Jesus.

Righteousness by works is from the old covenant, and according to the author of Hebrews, obsolete, so why do we continue to teach this way?  The truth of the  Good News is that we receive Christ's righteousness through relationship (and faith) with Him, and that is the only way!  Apart from connection (relationship) with Jesus, we will never bear eternally good fruit, no matter how hard we work. Paul writes about this in his famous verse from his first letter to the church in Corinth (1 Cor 13:1-3).

Finally,  I go back to the verses from Hebrews, the New Covenant is superior to the old covenant, and based on better promises (Heb 8:6).  Why would I ever want to embrace that which is old, obsolete and inferior?

So, my encouragement today is to continue to focus on relationship with the Lord, and others.  We are called to love, first and foremost, and to forgiveness. Let us not burden ourselves or others with requirements that were never added by the Lord! Let us pursue Him and follow Him and be identified as His followers by our love for one another, not by our rigid alignment with the rules.

Amen!

Piles of Water

Yesterday afternoon I was reading from the Book of Joshua 3:7-8, 13-17 NIV:

[7] "And the Lord said to Joshua, “Today I will begin to exalt you in the eyes of all Israel, so they may know that I am with you as I was with Moses. [8] Tell the priests who carry the ark of the covenant: 'When you reach the edge of the Jordan's waters, go and stand in the river.' ”

[13] "And as soon as the priests who carry the ark of the Lord---the Lord of all the earth---set foot in the Jordan, its waters flowing downstream will be cut off and stand up in a heap. ”

[14] "So when the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priests carrying the ark of the covenant went ahead of them. [15] Now the Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest. Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water's edge, [16] the water from upstream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away, at a town called Adam in the vicinity of Zarethan, while the water flowing down to the Sea of the Arabah (that is, the Dead Sea ) was completely cut off. So the people crossed over opposite Jericho. [17] The priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord stopped in the middle of the Jordan and stood on dry ground, while all Israel passed by until the whole nation had completed the crossing on dry ground."

I had a couple of thoughts as I read these verses.  First, God cares about His people and His anointed leaders and what they think about Him.  God wanted the people to know for sure that He was with them.  Even though they had an awesome history of the Lord leading and guiding them the last 40 years in the desert, the people still had doubts about God's faithfulness and ability to guide them and lead them, so once again God did something so astounding that none could doubt!  God has never finished, never done so much that He won't or can't do more!

Second, God wants His people to know that He is with them during this time of transition, this time of entering into a new season!  He called them and directed them and wanted them confident in stepping into this new season.  So rather than call them to move across the Jordan during the dry season, when it would have been an easy crossing, God calls them to move when the river was in flood stage!  In other words God doesn't always move when logic says to do something, rather God moves when His actions are seen in their fullest sense.  In causing them to follow Him when it made the least amount of logical sense, He caused the people to trust in Him and not circumstances.

Third, God cared what the people thought about Joshua as a leader.  He wanted to make sure that they didn't doubt him, even though he wasn't Moses.  Imagine if you were called to step into the leadership role that Moses had vacated!  That would be a very imposing situation, but because God loved Joshua, and wanted the people to follow his leadership and guidance, He allowed Joshua to be exalted in the people's eyes.  It is important to note that this was God's idea, not Joshua's.

Fourth, God understands our fears, so He leads the way!  He realizes that we struggle with fear, trust and belief, so when necessary, He will open the way for us!  Also, He won't just open the door, but it will remain open as long as necessary!  I kind of imagine this like God opening the door, like a fine gentleman, and holds it open as long as it was needed to be opened.  Once the last of the people crossed, He let the river flow back into its normal banks.

Lastly, I was thinking about the fact that God often uses water when He is showing a sign to His people.  He walks on water (Matt 14:22-29), He causes water to flow into the dry desert all at once (2 Kings 3:20), He parts the water (Exodus 14:1-31), He piles the water up  (Josh 3:16), He makes water flow from the rock (Exodus 17:6), He changes water to wine (John 2:1-10).  I think that part of the reason, is that water is malleable, able to be changed and formed.  I know I want to be willing to change so much that the Lord chooses to work through my life!

So today, I am encouraged that the Lord knows me, knows my need to trust and belief, knows I need encouragement to enter into new seasons of life while following His direction and leading!  He is so good, he provides exactly what we need!  Finally I am encouraged to be changeable, that the Lord might find me readily willing to change, that He might move in and through my life!

Amen!

Progressive Revelation

This morning I was reading through Paul's letter to the Colossians.  I had an interesting thought concerning Paul's writings, having to deal with the cultures and paradigms of the day.  Here are the verses I was reading - Colossians 3:18-25 & 4:1NIV:

[18] "Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.
[19] Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them.
[20] Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.
[21] Fathers (Parents), do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged."

[22] "Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to curry their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. [23] Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, [24] since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. [25] Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for their wrongs, and there is no favoritism."

Colossians 4:1 NIV:
"Masters, provide your slaves with what is right and fair, because you know that you also have a Master in heaven."

My attention was initially drawn to 4:1, and Paul's comments concerning slaves.  I found myself wondering if Paul had a sense of God's ultimate desire for all men to be free? There are many mentions of servants and slaves in scripture, including these verses by Paul, and yet we have no problem with believing that it God's will for all men to be free.  This is a great example of progressive revelation and how God draws us forward in our understanding, and has mercy on us as He is doing so.  Glancing back over the world history of abolition, we see that anti-slavery movements began as early as the 1200's and gradually spread through the Christian nations of Europe.  ( https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abolition_of_slavery_timeline) I don't think you would find any Christian denomination that promotes slavery as being biblical today, yet for over 1000 years, slavery was a norm in the church. Paul, even uses slavery images to refer to our relationship with our "master" in heaven.  Paul, was clearly writing to a church and people that assumed that slavery was normal, and although Paul encourages fairness and right treatment, he never promotes abolition of slavery.

As I said before this is a great example of progressive revelation, and why we don't limit ourselves to only the revelation provided in Scripture. Jesus did make several strong statements about freedom, and Paul does as well, but they were generally referring to the Law, and it's requirements. The belief that God desires all men to be free, is clearly post-scriptural, yet widely held and believed, so we must have the ability to recognize and agree with new revelation.  The question really becomes how we do this, both personally and corporately.  Although at times much maligned, the Catholic Church has rich history of rigorous thought and discussion, and set-up what a teaching and truth wing called the Magesterium whose duty it is to identify and support the truth, and additional revelation ( https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magisterium).  This was established to help bring discipline to the church's long battle with heretical teaching and thought. The foundation of all new revelation must be found in scripture, but the actual teaching or belief may not actually be discussed or even found in scripture, and the abolition of slavery is a good example, as would the abolition of abortion.

Another area of discussion which could be found in these verses is the subject of women and wives.  Paul tells wives to be hupotasso (Greek) to their husbands.  We see here that this is translated 'submit'.  The term was used in non-military context and it meant "a voluntary attitude of giving in, cooperating, assuming responsibility, and carrying a burden". Paul mentions that this attitude is fitting (or correct) in the Lord.  In other places (1 Cor 11 and following) Paul writes that women must have their heads covered when praying together with the whole church, as a way to honor her head, namely her husband.  Paul also writes (1 Cor 14) that women must be silent during corporate gatherings.  Here we find another area where scriptures are clear, yet our modern understanding is that this is not God's final will, which means we have accepted (at least some of us) that there was additional revelation to be understood and accepted.

Why is this important?  It is critical that we understand that Scripture is a record of progressive revelation of God and His character.  Starting with Abraham, and over 1000+ years, God revealed Himself to His people and they slowly came to understand who He was and what He was like.  However, His perfect expression (Heb 1:2-3) and representation is seen and found in Jesus, and anything prior to Him would be part of the progressive revelation.  The understanding of God's emotions, His character described by the writers and prophets of the Old Testament are always subject to final interpretation by the life and words of Jesus.  In other words, Jesus must always be the refining view through which we read and understand all of scripture.  This is to help us to balance the need for interpretation of scripture passages that are confusing and or seem to be contradictory.  Jesus was consistent in His teaching and attitudes, and said that every word He spoke and everything He did was directed by the Father.  Thus, if an old testament prophet ascribed a certain attitude or emotion to God about a particular subject area, but Jesus' response was different, then we must defer to Jesus' example.

Going back to the subject of women, Jesus interacted with women and had conversation with them regularly.  He did not seem to hold them as second-class citizens, nor require that women only speak to Him through their husbands.  Nor did He require them to have their head's covered before conversing with them or ministering to them (I am thinking about the woman at the well, Mary and Martha as I write this).  Thus, when we look at Jesus example, we understand  that Paul's writing to a church that understood a women's role differently is subject to refinement.  We see Paul actually working with Priscilla and Aquila, (Acts, Romans,1 Cor and 1 Timothy)  and they are recorded as teaching Apollos the greater truth of the way of the Lord (Acts 18), so clearly Paul didn't have an issue with a co-worker who was a woman, but his writings seem inconsistent.  Thus we look back to Jesus, see His response and follow His example as we approach this topic.

Anyway, this is such an interesting topic and one that has been very helpful to me in understanding the Old Testament writers, and applying the truth contained in those books without becoming caught up in emotions and motives ascribed to God, that apparently aren't a perfect representation of Him.  This is also one area that we should regularly approach the Holy Spirit, as one of His tasks is to lead us to all truth (John 16:13).

Finally, I find it very encouraging that God speaks to us, as we can understand Him.  he has no problem with progressive revelation, no problem helping us refine our understanding of Him and His actions.  He knows me so well, He knows exactly how I think and how He can approach me about certain subjects and guide me further into His truth.  I am so grateful for His patience, compassion, mercy and forgiveness!

God Can Use Leaders Who Don't Know Him

This morning I am reading from Isaiah, chapter 45.  This is such an interesting set of verses, for they provide a very accurate prophecy concerning a man God would call to help His people.  I thought this very helpful and hopeful as we approach the time of choosing new leadership for our country.  God gave this prophecy to Isaiah 200 years before it was fulfilled, and it was about a leader of another nation.

Clearly God has a plan for all nations, ours included, and especially those that affect the lives of His people, and every bit as much those who make up the Body of Christ, namely the Church.  We should take hope in the fact that God has a plan, and it is a good plan, even if we can't see Him moving, or understand His actions.  We can be confident that God is not affected in His ability to work, move or affect change, even in our modern day. I am encouraged that God's plan will come to fruition, regardless of who is chosen as President of the United States.

Here is the commentary of David Guzik, who does a much better job of providing insight into these verses, and their fulfillment, than I could ever present. Here is a link to the original text: http://classic.studylight.org/com/guz/view.cgi?book=isa&chapter=45&verse=1#Isa45_1

A. Looking to the God who chose Cyrus.

1. (1-3) God's calling and mission for Cyrus.

Thus says the LORD to His anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have held; to subdue nations before him and loose the armor of kings, to open before him the double doors, so that the gates will not be shut: "I will go before you and make the crooked places straight; I will break in pieces the gates of bronze and cut the bars of iron. I will give you the treasures of darkness and hidden riches of secret places, that you may know that I, the LORD, who call you by your name, am the God of Israel."

a. Thus says the LORD to His anointed, to Cyrus: Isaiah carries on this remarkable prophecy from the previous chapter. In it, God announces - by name - the deliverer for His people from a coming captivity, and He does it 200 years before the man Cyrus is born. (I should note this is also 130 years before Israel goes into captivity in Babylon - Sam)

i. His anointed means that Cyrus had a particular anointing from God for his work. God poured out His Spirit on a pagan king, because God wanted to use that man to bless and deliver His people.

ii. "There is precedent for the divine anointing of a non-Israelite king, though in one passage only (1 Kings 19:15-16). Although the living God normally employed Israelites for such purposes, he is sovereign and may use whom he will." (Grogan)

iii. Thus says the LORD to His anointed means that this word was particularly directed to Cyrus. This was God's message to him, and Cyrus apparently listened. "These things Cyrus knew from reading the book of prophecy which Isaiah had left behind two hundred and ten years earlier." (Josephus, AntiquitiesXI, 5 [i.2], cited in Grogan)

b. Whose right hand I have held: Like many of us, Cyrus could look back on his life and career and see how the LORD held his hand the entire time. To subdue nations before him and loose the armor of kings: Cyrus had a remarkable military career.

i. "To his appointed and enabled one, to subdue many nations. Xenophon, in his first book . . . gives us a list of them. Cyrus subdued, saith he, the Syrians, Assyrians, Arabians, Cappodcians, Phrygians, the Lydians, Carians, Phoenicians, Babylonians, the Bactrians, Indians, Cilicians, Sacians, Paphloagonians, Maryandines, and many other nations. He also had a dominion over the Asiatics, Greeks, Cyprians, Egyptians . . . He vanquished, saith Herodotus, whatever country soever he invaded." (Trapp)

c. To open before him the double doors, so that the gates will not be shut . . . I will break in pieces the gates of bronze: The armies of the Medes and Persians, under Cyrus, conquered the city of Babylon in a remarkable raid described in Daniel 5. According to the ancient historian Herodotus, while King Belshazzar of Babylon held a reckless party, Cyrus conquered the city by diverting the flow of the Euphrates into a nearby swamp; thus lowering the level of the river so his troops could march through the water and under the river-gates. But they still would not have been able to enter, had not the bronze gates of the inner walls been left inexplicably unlocked.God opened the gates of the city of Babylon for Cyrus, and put it in writing 200 years before it happened!

i. "In October 539 BC, Cyrus advanced into lower Mesopotamia and, leaving Babylon till last, conquered and occupied the surrounding territory. Seeing which way the wind was blowing, Nabonidus of Babylon deserted his city, leaving it in the charge of his son Belshazzar . . . the taking of Babylon was as bloodless and effortless as Daniel 6 implies." (Motyer)

d. I will give you the treasures of darkness and hidden riches of secret places: The night they conquered the city, Cyrus and his armies took all the staggering treasures of Babylon - and it was important the Cyrus know that the LORD had given it to him.

i. On the night Babylon fell, Cyrus probably had no great sense of the LORD's guidance or presence. He probably thought himself both brilliant and lucky. Often we succeed in something only by the blessing and pleasure of God, and never see the miraculous hand of God behind it all.

ii. God certainly gave Cyrus treasures. Clarke cites Pliny: "When Cyrus conquered Asia, he found thirty-four thousand pounds weight of gold, besides golden vessels and articles in gold."

e. That you may know that I, the LORD, who call you by your name, am the God of Israel: God announced all this 200 years before its fulfillment, so that Cyrus would know and glorify the LORD. But the LORD also did it so Cyrus would show kindness to the people of God, granting them permission to return to the Promised Land from the captivity imposed on them by the Babylonians.

i. The royal proclamations of Cyrus fulfilling this prophecy are found in Ezra 1:2 and 2 Chronicles 36:23.

2. (4-7) The purpose behind God's calling and mission for Cyrus.

For Jacob My servant's sake, and Israel My elect, I have even called you by your name; I have named you, though you have not known Me. I am the LORD, and there is no other; there is no God besides Me. I will gird you, though you have not known Me, that they may know from the rising of the sun to its setting that there is none besides Me. I am the LORD, and there is no other; I form the light and create darkness, I make peace and create calamity; I, the LORD, do all these things.

a. For Jacob My servant's sake: Cyrus would like to think that God picked him because he was the smartest or most talented or strongest man available. Really, God's focus was on His people. It wasn't Cyrus that moved God to act, but the condition and cry of His people. It was for their sake.

i. "That all these victories were for the sake of little Israel is one of the ironies of God's control of history." (Grogan)

ii. "Cyrus is preferred in order that Israel might be released. Cyrus shall have a kingdom, but only in order that God's people may have their liberty. The Lord raises up one, and He puts down another. Behind all the drama of human events today there is a God who is planning for His church - through affliction and persecution, chastening and tribulation - to be perfected and prepared to inherit the Kingdom of God." (Redpath)

b. I have named you, though you have not known Me . . . I will gird you, though you have not known Me: Cyrus didn't even know the LORD, yet God could anoint him, guide him, bless him, and use him. How much more should God be able to do through those who have at least a mustard seed's worth of faith in Him!

i. Proverbs 21:2 says, The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD, like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes. God can work in and through others in very unexpected ways.

c. That they may know from the rising of the sun to its setting that there is none besides Me: This was wonderfully fulfilled in Ezra 1:1-3. That passage shows how when Cyrus made his proclamation allowing the people of God to return to the Promised Land, that he acknowledged to the whole world the greatness and uniqueness of the LORD God of Israel.

i. Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying, "Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: All the kingdoms of the earth the LORD God of heaven has given me. And He has commanded me to build Him a house at Jerusalem which is in Judah. Who is among you of all His people? May his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem which is in Judah, and build the house of the LORD God of Israel (He is God), which is in Jerusalem."

d. I form the light and create darkness, I make peace and create calamity; I, the LORD, do all these things: Simply put, Isaiah knows, Cyrus would know and declare to the whole world, and we should know today, that God is in control. Since this prophecy was given long before God's people went into the captivity Isaiah now announces deliverance from, they could be comforted through the captivity by knowing God is in control.

i. Isaiah's point is that there are not two gods or forces in heaven, one good and one bad, as in a dualistic "yin and yang" sense. "Cyrus was a Persian, and Persian had a dualistic concept of God and th world. Their good god they called Ahura-mazda and the evil god Angra-mainya. The former had created the light, the second the darkness." (Bultema)

ii. But God has no opposite. Satan is not and has never been God's opposite. There is one God. He is not the author of evil; evil is never "original," but always a perversion of an existing good. Yet God is the allower of evil, and He uses it to accomplish His eternal purpose of bringing together all things in Jesus (Ephesians 3:8-11 and 1:9-10). If God could further His eternal purpose by allowing His Son to die a wicked, unjust death on a cross, then He knows how to use what He allows for His eternal purpose.

iii. "Undoubtedly the Lord is no representative of evil as such, but He does make use of evil so that it may bring forth good." (Calvin, cited in Butlema)

iv. When God does great, miraculous things, it is easy to believe that He is in control. When times are hard and the trials heavy, we need to believe it all the more.

A Case for Fasting

Yesterday I was reading from Mark, Chapter Nine, and in that chapter Jesus cures a deaf and mute child, who suffers seizures as well, by casting out a demon/spirit.  The disciples had been unable to heal the child and asked why and Jesus provided the following answer - Mark 9:29 NIV: "He replied, “This kind can come out only by prayer (and fasting). ”

As I was thinking about all the other things yesterday, I had a helpful analogy concerning fasting pop into my mind.  Recently we replaced the carpet in most of our house, and in doing so, uncovered a couple of issues that required repair.  One of them was a section where the floor had some rot.  I was thinking about the fact that if we hadn't replaced the carpet in that room, effectively stripping away the covering for the floor, we would not have seen this problem area.  Upon further inspection and cutting back the affected floor area, I realized that the problem also affected the nearby wall.  I was able to repair both, but it was only upon removing that which protected or covered those areas, that the problem was identified.

As I was thinking about the purpose of fasting, I felt like the Lord showed me that it can have basically the same purpose as removing the carpet.  Fasting involves removing things from our life so we can see what is really underneath and often unnoticed. Think of it as a self-selected pressure test of our life.

Usually in our life experience, when times of pressure and stress occur, that is when our underlying character is revealed.  Fasting is a way to self-test prior to real life pressure.  Personally I don't like tests, but the real reason for tests is to find out what we know, and what we don't know.  Areas of our life that need our attention sometimes are covered up by our daily activity and attention to other things, and thus unknown.  Fasting has a way of allowing us to uncover those areas.

Note, that it was reported that Jesus said both prayer and fasting was required.  We don't want to fast without the prayer, for we want the interaction with the Lord to guide us and direct us during our fasting.  Prayer is all about relationship with the Lord, and in this analogy we could think of Him as the master builder.  When we see things or uncover areas in our life, during fasting, we want to take them to the Lord to understand how to fix them.

In the case of my rotted floor and wall, I had to cut away the rotten areas and even some of the good areas so I could rebuild the sections with the correct support and strength.  In our lives, the Lord is constantly at work building us up and strengthening us so that when pressure comes we can stand.  I am reminded of a famous verse from Paul's letter to the  Ephesians 6:13 NIV:  "Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand."

The original Greek word, translated 'day of evil' is poneros and it is defined as follows:

1)  full of labours, annoyances, hardships
    a) pressed and harassed by labours
    b) bringing toils, annoyances, perils; of a time full of peril to Christian faith and steadfastness; causing pain and trouble

That sounds pretty much like pressure and stress!  We want to be strong, standing firmly on our faith, with no areas of weakness when we confront difficult times, and fasting is one of the tools the Lord provides us to enable this in our lives.

Finally, there is a question as to why this was Jesus' answer in reply to a question about a lack of authority?  Jesus simply points the way to grow in authority and strength, intimacy with the Father through prayer, and strengthening ourselves through fasting.  The stronger our relationship with the Lord, and the less problem areas we have, the more weight that we can bear, and the more the Lord can entrust to us, the more authority He gives us.  The Lord doesn't want us fighting battles against bigger and stronger opponents, and this demon was one of those, and so He encouraged the disciples to press into the Father through prayer and fasting.

So this morning I am encouraged to look at my life for areas of weakness and to make fasting something I embrace, for my own good. I am also further encouraged to press into relationship with the Lord through prayer, so that I might grow in intimacy and be trustworthy for greater authority.

Amen!

Jesus' Authority in the Spiritual Realm

This morning I am reflecting on some verses from the Gospel of Mark 9:14-29 NIV;

[14] "When they came to the other disciples, they saw a large crowd around them and the teachers of the law arguing with them. [15] As soon as all the people saw Jesus, they were overwhelmed with wonder and ran to greet him.

[16] “What are you arguing with them about?” he asked.

[17] A man in the crowd answered, “Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech. [18] Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not.”

[19] “You unbelieving generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy to me.”

[20] So they brought him. When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth.

[21] Jesus asked the boy's father, “How long has he been like this?”

“From childhood,” he answered. [22] “It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.”

[23] “ 'If you can'?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes.”

[24] Immediately the boy's father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”

[25] When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, he rebuked the impure spirit. “You deaf and mute spirit,” he said, “I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.”

[26] The spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently and came out. The boy looked so much like a corpse that many said, “He's dead.” [27] But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him to his feet, and he stood up.

[28] After Jesus had gone indoors, his disciples asked him privately, “Why couldn't we drive it out?”

[29] He replied, “This kind can come out only by prayer. ”

I really like this particular set of verses, because I can pretty much imagine the interchange, and believe that this is pretty close to an eye-witness account.  Now this series of events immediately follows the Transfiguration of Jesus, but most of the people, as well as the disciples left below would not have understood what had just happened up on the mountain.  That being said, it is definitely possible that in the spiritual realm, an awareness of what had transpired, even among the demons.

Without getting too much into the spiritual side of these events, I do want to focus on two things - the authority of Jesus and His calm demeanor in the face of spiritual manifestations.

First, there is a significant difference between the authority that Jesus operated in, and that in which the disciples operated.  The man brought the child to the disciples and even thought they tried to cast out the demon, they were unsuccessful.  This seems to be one of the few times that the Gospel writers bring up someone's failure.  That was not the real issue here, but more of a comparison to Jesus' effectiveness and authority.  As soon as the spirit saw Jesus it immediately manifested, causing the child to go into what sounds much like the grand mal seizure of an epileptic.  There was no mention of the demon manifesting when confronted by the disciples.  I believe this is because of the authority of Jesus, and the level of the demonic power.

Imagine if you will, a wrestling match where there is a huge heavyweight wrestler in the ring and his opponents are a bunch of smaller individuals who are unsure of their abilities.  The heavyweight would be pretty much unconcerned, and may even be unmovable by the lighter opponents.  However when a new opponent steps into the ring, who is unbeaten, bigger and stronger, and the world champion, the formerly unconcerned heavyweight will become very concerned and desperate.  I think that is a good description of what occurred in the spiritual realm.

Secondly, Jesus appears to be totally unconcerned by the manifesting spirit in front of him, even though the child is writhing about.  He turns to the father, while this is happening, and starts to interview him concerning the child's condition.  This is another good indication of His authority and understanding of the spiritual realm.  He is unconcerned and unflustered, and going back to the wrestling analogy, unchallenged.  What is also interesting, and possible to miss is that when Jesus addresses the spirit, He calls it a deaf and mute spirit.  There was no mention previously of the boy suffering from deafness, so this must have been shared by the father of the child during the interview with Jesus, though its not listed here, or possibly understood by Jesus through the guidance of the Holy Spirit.  Whatever the case, the authority of Jesus is unquestionable, and spirit comes out when commanded to by Jesus.

A few other things I noticed, Jesus didn't have to work anything up.  He didn't have to get things going by shouting at the demon, winding up His own level of faith, etc.  He seemed to me to be totally at peace with His authority, and understanding His dominance of the demonic.  Secondly, He didn't want to draw attention and so acted quickly - which I think shows His sensitivity to the child and father.  I have known a few people  who are epileptic and they are all concerned by the attention that their seizures cause.  Jesus understands and immediately acts before the crowd can gather.  He is so aware of our personal situations and is sensitive to our need for self-esteem.  He frees the child and father from this demonic influence in their lives!

This morning I am encouraged by the authority and sensitivity of Jesus.  He knows He has authority, but at the same time is sensitive to our personal situations.  He does desire to set us free from those things that are damaging and destroying of our self, and self esteem.  Thank You Lord for loving us well!

Amen!

God Desires to be Merciful!

Yesterday morning I was reading through Paul's letter to the Romans 11:32-36 NIV:

[32] "For God has bound everyone over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all."

[33] "Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!
[34] “Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?”
[35] “Who has ever given to God, that God should repay them?”
[36] For from him and through him and for him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen."

What caught my attention was verse 32.  Paul was writing about Israel and how they will all be saved, and was discussing how we have been grafted into their promise through faith.  Paul's conclusion was that God's plan was that we (Gentiles) and Israel (children on God's promise) were all bound or more accurately, grouped together in the same net of disobedience to God's will, not so He could punish us all, but rather that He could have mercy of everyone equally!

On Saturday, I was helping a great group of people walk through some conflict they had experienced, and we were talking about how important it is to understand people's motivations.  Oftentimes we mis-judge people's motivations, and then judge their words or actions according to our misunderstanding of their motives.  I feel like this is exactly the point Paul is making here.  God is often maligned as being hard, judgmental, punishing, etc.  People think that His whole goal is to punish those that break His law, or those that are outside of His will, basically sinners. Paul tells us that God actually has the opposite motivation.  His goal and prime motivation was, and still is, to have mercy on all of us!

This is so important to grasp, for how we think about God and His motivation completely colors our perception of God's actions (or non-actions).  If we think that God is primarily looking to punish people, then anytime something bad happens, we think it is God's punishment.  If we see natural disasters, we perceive God punishing whole regions for their disobedience!  This is ascribing the wrong motivation to God.  He desires to show us all mercy, which means He would rather forgive us than punish us!

In Exodus 34 we have a record of how God describes Himself.  Moses wanted to see God, and so God allowed him to see just His back, but when He did this HE revealed to Moses His character as well.  Here is the text - Exodus 34:5-7 NIV:

[5] "Then the Lord came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the Lord. [6] And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, [7] maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin..."

When we read the verses above, the picture is quite clear - these are God's primary motivations and character.  He is compassionate, gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin!  That doesn't sound like an angry, waiting to punish you type of God, but the exact opposite!

Now the interesting thing is that God continues on with the following statement, which is also part of verse 7:  "Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.”

In typical human fashion, most of us remember the last thing they heard better than the things said before them.  We tend to identify God with His last statement.  When I run into verses like these, where they seem to conflict with the words spoken immediately before them, I like to go back to the original language and see if I can figure out what was being said.  I am not a language expert, or even remotely educated in that regard, so I am just trying to make sense of this for myself. In the first part of verse 7, God says that He is forgiving of wickedness, rebellion and sin, which fits with what He just said about Himself.  Then He continues, "yet He does not leave the guilty unpunished..."  which seems like the opposite of forgiving.

I should say that when I read this sentence the thing that comes to mind is the God is just and fair.  However, I went back to the original Hebrew here, and it is a bit confusing.  The word translates punishing is the word "Naqah" which is usually translated: to be empty, be clear, be pure, be free, be innocent, be desolate, be cut off.  It seems that God is saying He won't call the guilty innocent.

I want to bring in the NASB translation here which is closer to the original Hebrew (from what I can tell).  Here is how the NASB translates the end of verse 7: ..."guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations."  It says that God visits the iniquity of the fathers on the children.  The word translated iniquity, actually can be translated perversion, and the root of that word means twisted (twisted understanding, or actions).  In other words, He allows up to 3 or 4 generations to be affected by the twisted logic or actions of the individual.  This makes sense to me to say that He allows up to three and four generations to be affected by the consequences of misunderstanding God's will and purpose.

I should note that in the book of Ezekiel, God walks this back a bit and says He will only punish a man for His sins, but won't punish the son (Ezk:18:20).  Also, God has already defined in Exodus 20:6 that thousands is referencing a thousand generations.

Putting everything together, we have described here a God who is first of all compassionate, gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to 1000 generations, and who is just.  He is also a God who will not avert His eyes from unrighteousness, twisted thinking and actions, but who is forgiving of rebellion, wickedness and sin.  He will allow the consequences of a man's actions to visit him, but His primary motivation towards us all is mercy!

Finally, I love that Paul was so overcome by this reality that it is like he breaks into song about how amazing God is!  He is clearly affected by, or bringing to our mind, God's unsearchable and unknowable mind and thoughts, for God does not act like us!  As God says in Isaiah 55:8-9 NIV: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. [9] “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."  Paul is in total agreement!

What a loving and merciful God we have, one who desires to extend mercy to us all!

Amen