This morning I was wanting to just spend some time reflecting on Jesus' words, so I turned to John's Gospel which seems to me to give us the best example of Jesus' thoughts and motivation. I opened up to the 14th chapter and immediately saw these verses - John 14:9-14 NIV:
[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."
This perspective, this understanding is so important for me to grasp. Jesus was representing the Father, and when we look at Him, we see the Father. It is said by many that I look like my Dad and have several mannerisms that remind them of my Dad, and we consider that very natural. Jesus is saying that is the same for Him, but even to a greater extent, He was saying and doing only what His Father would do. I am much like my Dad, but in several areas quite different, this is not so with Jesus. He was faithfully representing His Father in everything.
This is so helpful to me. When I look at how Jesus welcomed people, that is how the Father would welcome them. When Jesus interacted with 'sinners' that is exactly how the Father would react. When Jesus healed the sick, and freed people from demonic oppression, that is exactly how the Father would act. Every word He spoke, every little action, every nuance was orchestrated by an awareness of faithfully representing the Father. Jesus even said that it was the Father living in Him that was doing the work (See verse 10 above).
Like Phillip in verse 8, if our desire is to see the Father, to encounter the Father, we can just look to Jesus and we will see Him. We can meditate on Jesus' words and actions and recognize that this is a perfect or exact representation of the Father (Heb. 1:3). We can be confident when we approach the Father, because Jesus has showed us exactly what He is like! He really is a good Father, desiring our salvation and redemption, and relationship!
I am so thankful that we have such a great example of love, mercy and compassion in Jesus. His actions towards people like me gives me hope that the Father is exactly like Him, and I am unafraid as I approach Him, desirous of relationship.
Sunday, April 30, 2017
Friday, April 28, 2017
Our Motivation - Religion or Relationship?
This morning, and for the past several mornings, I have been reflecting on the following verses from Matthew 12:1-14 NIV:
[1] "At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them. [2] When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.”
[3] He answered, “Haven't you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? [4] He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread---which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests. [5] Or haven't you read in the Law that the priests on Sabbath duty in the temple desecrate the Sabbath and yet are innocent? [6] I tell you that something greater than the temple is here. [7] If you had known what these words mean, 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the innocent. [8] For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”
[9] Going on from that place, he went into their synagogue, [10] and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Looking for a reason to bring charges against Jesus, they asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”
[11] He said to them, “If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out? [12] How much more valuable is a person than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”
[13] Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out and it was completely restored, just as sound as the other. [14] But the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus."
In my mind, these two stories seem to illustrate the conflict Jesus had with the religious spirit that afflicted most of the Pharisees at that time. Basically religion always wants to replace worship with works, relationship with rules, and mercy and compassion with judgment. Jesus was specifically addressing the issue of religion in both stories repeated in these verses.
We see that both situations involved the definition of what was allowable on the sabbath, gathering grain or harvesting in the first, and healing in the second. The basic rule was that no work could be done on the Sabbath, and specifically no work that resembled creating, for God rested on the seventh day from creating. The Law, and the commentary on the Law (Talmud), was pretty specific in what was allowed and what wasn't but it also set the guidelines for applying it to one's life.
In both of these cases the religious observance was taking priority over the greater good (feeding the hungry and healing the lame) and this was one of the things that Jesus was correcting. The sabbath was meant as a time to rest and be aware of God's provision and blessing and interaction with them as a people. Instead, the people were focused on what they couldn't do, rather than focusing on God's goodness. If they had been focused on God's goodness, they would have recognized that the Messiah, the promised anointed one, was standing right in front of them, but instead they were focused on the letter of the Law.
It is interesting how we in general, as humans, respond to rules and regulations, or in this case, the Covenant of the Law. We tend to quickly forget about the real reason things are put in place, and focus on the keeping of the rule, regulation or the law. In doing so, we quickly lose our ability to embrace the underlying spirit or mentality that was meant to be the outcome or purpose in the first place. In the case of the Covenant of the Law, the whole of it can be wrapped into two simple statements or commands according to Jesus - 'Love God and Love your neighbors' (Matt 22:37-40). In fact Jesus said, "All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Mt 22:40), Both of these situations, from the verses above, are not that hard to understand and accept if your focus is on the positive relational purpose of Loving God and neighbor, but when focused on the minutiae of the specific laws, the purpose gets lost. The old saying, 'you can't see the forest, because of the trees' is directly applicable here.
Thus, in addition to showing people the Father, revealing His heart and words, Jesus was also working to bring people back to the original purposes of the Law and Covenants. Jesus was challenging their thinking and their actions, desiring true repentance for them. He was wanting them to be become aware of their need to change the way they thought and acted, but apparently most of the Pharisees were disinclined to change, instead focusing their belief that He was breaking the Covenant of the Law.
I can see the judgment of religion at work here. Judgment is so easy to embrace, especially when coupled with pride, especially spiritual pride. As one whose sole focus is keeping the letter of the law, anyone who doesn't do things the way your think they should is immediately judged wrong, or even a sinner! Once that judgment is made, all of their other motivations and actions are suspect, and they are assigned the lesser position of sinner and law-breaker, and thus not really worthy of your attention, or relationship. It is an ugly thing.
In summary, Jesus is putting His finger on something that is important for me to consider, my motivation. Am I motivated by love and desire for relationship? Am I focused on loving God and Loving my neighbor, or am I focused on keeping the rules? Do I go to church because of my relationship with God, or out of duty? Is my underlying motive to check off a list of tasks and rules of am I desirous of a real and personal relationship with the Lord? Am I quick to judge people, comparing them to my own idea of how they should act?
Lord, I pray that You will help me to see the grander purpose and embrace it! Help me to focus on loving You and my neighbors! Help me to recognize any area I need to change, so that I might effectively grow and mature.
[1] "At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them. [2] When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.”
[3] He answered, “Haven't you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? [4] He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread---which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests. [5] Or haven't you read in the Law that the priests on Sabbath duty in the temple desecrate the Sabbath and yet are innocent? [6] I tell you that something greater than the temple is here. [7] If you had known what these words mean, 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the innocent. [8] For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”
[9] Going on from that place, he went into their synagogue, [10] and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Looking for a reason to bring charges against Jesus, they asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”
[11] He said to them, “If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out? [12] How much more valuable is a person than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”
[13] Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out and it was completely restored, just as sound as the other. [14] But the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus."
In my mind, these two stories seem to illustrate the conflict Jesus had with the religious spirit that afflicted most of the Pharisees at that time. Basically religion always wants to replace worship with works, relationship with rules, and mercy and compassion with judgment. Jesus was specifically addressing the issue of religion in both stories repeated in these verses.
We see that both situations involved the definition of what was allowable on the sabbath, gathering grain or harvesting in the first, and healing in the second. The basic rule was that no work could be done on the Sabbath, and specifically no work that resembled creating, for God rested on the seventh day from creating. The Law, and the commentary on the Law (Talmud), was pretty specific in what was allowed and what wasn't but it also set the guidelines for applying it to one's life.
In both of these cases the religious observance was taking priority over the greater good (feeding the hungry and healing the lame) and this was one of the things that Jesus was correcting. The sabbath was meant as a time to rest and be aware of God's provision and blessing and interaction with them as a people. Instead, the people were focused on what they couldn't do, rather than focusing on God's goodness. If they had been focused on God's goodness, they would have recognized that the Messiah, the promised anointed one, was standing right in front of them, but instead they were focused on the letter of the Law.
It is interesting how we in general, as humans, respond to rules and regulations, or in this case, the Covenant of the Law. We tend to quickly forget about the real reason things are put in place, and focus on the keeping of the rule, regulation or the law. In doing so, we quickly lose our ability to embrace the underlying spirit or mentality that was meant to be the outcome or purpose in the first place. In the case of the Covenant of the Law, the whole of it can be wrapped into two simple statements or commands according to Jesus - 'Love God and Love your neighbors' (Matt 22:37-40). In fact Jesus said, "All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Mt 22:40), Both of these situations, from the verses above, are not that hard to understand and accept if your focus is on the positive relational purpose of Loving God and neighbor, but when focused on the minutiae of the specific laws, the purpose gets lost. The old saying, 'you can't see the forest, because of the trees' is directly applicable here.
Thus, in addition to showing people the Father, revealing His heart and words, Jesus was also working to bring people back to the original purposes of the Law and Covenants. Jesus was challenging their thinking and their actions, desiring true repentance for them. He was wanting them to be become aware of their need to change the way they thought and acted, but apparently most of the Pharisees were disinclined to change, instead focusing their belief that He was breaking the Covenant of the Law.
I can see the judgment of religion at work here. Judgment is so easy to embrace, especially when coupled with pride, especially spiritual pride. As one whose sole focus is keeping the letter of the law, anyone who doesn't do things the way your think they should is immediately judged wrong, or even a sinner! Once that judgment is made, all of their other motivations and actions are suspect, and they are assigned the lesser position of sinner and law-breaker, and thus not really worthy of your attention, or relationship. It is an ugly thing.
In summary, Jesus is putting His finger on something that is important for me to consider, my motivation. Am I motivated by love and desire for relationship? Am I focused on loving God and Loving my neighbor, or am I focused on keeping the rules? Do I go to church because of my relationship with God, or out of duty? Is my underlying motive to check off a list of tasks and rules of am I desirous of a real and personal relationship with the Lord? Am I quick to judge people, comparing them to my own idea of how they should act?
Lord, I pray that You will help me to see the grander purpose and embrace it! Help me to focus on loving You and my neighbors! Help me to recognize any area I need to change, so that I might effectively grow and mature.
Sunday, April 23, 2017
Progressing In Our Understanding and Pursuit
This morning I spent some time reading through several chapters of Paul's letter to the Romans. It is always good to be able to read large swaths of scripture and let the grander flow of thoughts and perspective be revealed. So often I just read a few verses and reflect on them, but I find it very helpful to read either the whole letter, or several chapters. Anyway, after reading several chapters the following verses caught my attention, and will be my reflection point today - Romans 15:17-21 NIV:
[17] Therefore I glory in Christ Jesus in my service to God. [18] I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done--- [19] by the power of signs and wonders, through the power of the Spirit of God. So from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ. [20] It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else's foundation. [21] Rather, as it is written: “Those who were not told about him will see, and those who have not heard will understand.”
My most recent blog reflection had to do with Paul's statements about proclaiming the Gospel with Power and the Holy Spirit, and again that seems to be my reflection point this morning. Paul, is very quick to point to the fact that it is not him, but Christ working through him, and the power of the Holy Spirit that enables him to be effective. It is through the power of signs and wonders and the Holy Spirit, that he has fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ.
I love how Paul has a strong sense of what he is called to do in service to God. In the previous chapters he was reflecting on how the stubbornness of the Jews opened the door for the Gospel to be preached to the gentiles, and that was his specific call, to the gentiles. It is interesting to note that this was not his original focus or thought, but rather something that was developed over time (See Act 18), and confirmed in several instances (Acts 22:19-21). It is helpful to me to know that Paul's mission and service to the Lord developed and matured.
I believe the Lord works with us in the realm of our understanding, and that His revelation to us is constantly calling us forward in understanding and clarity. In other words, our understanding of God's purpose and plan for our life gains clarity the longer we walk with Him. He speaks to us and gives us understanding as we can grasp it. It is like being taught mathematics in school - we don't start with differential equations and calculus, but rather learn the basics and then each following revelation is built on the previous. In this way, our walk with the Lord could be described as progressive revelation, as we progress He reveals more.
Finally, I like how Paul had ambition in his following after the Lord. He says here it was always his ambition to preach where the Gospel had not yet been heard (verse 20). However, we also know from the record in Acts that Paul always submitted his ambition to the direction of the Holy Spirit (Acts 16:6-10). It is good to dream and purpose things in the Kingdom, but these are not always in line with God's purposes, so we must allow for direction and guidance, and constant tweaking of our vision, knowing that what we think and understand will change as we grow in the Lord.
There are several times in my life where I heard something from the Lord and thought I knew what He was saying. As I continued to follow Him, I found that what I thought I knew was actually only part of the fullness of what God meant. In fact, pretty much every time I hear something I try to understand it within my present context, and I am always wrong in what I think it meant and what it actually meant. This doesn't discourage me, rather it creates in me a desire to know God more, to see and hear Him more clearly. It creates in me a constant checking of course and purpose and looking to Him for additional clarity. This might seem counter-productive, but I find it is much more efficient than me thinking I know what the Lord means, doing something, finding out its wrong, having to undo, and then rework things. I guess you could say that ambition must be coupled with humility to be successful, in the Kingdom of God.
In summary, I am encouraged to continue to pursue the Lord, to look to the working of the Holy Spirit, to be open to signs and wonders, and ultimately to seek the Lord's direction, guidance and clarification.
Amen!
[17] Therefore I glory in Christ Jesus in my service to God. [18] I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done--- [19] by the power of signs and wonders, through the power of the Spirit of God. So from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ. [20] It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else's foundation. [21] Rather, as it is written: “Those who were not told about him will see, and those who have not heard will understand.”
My most recent blog reflection had to do with Paul's statements about proclaiming the Gospel with Power and the Holy Spirit, and again that seems to be my reflection point this morning. Paul, is very quick to point to the fact that it is not him, but Christ working through him, and the power of the Holy Spirit that enables him to be effective. It is through the power of signs and wonders and the Holy Spirit, that he has fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ.
I love how Paul has a strong sense of what he is called to do in service to God. In the previous chapters he was reflecting on how the stubbornness of the Jews opened the door for the Gospel to be preached to the gentiles, and that was his specific call, to the gentiles. It is interesting to note that this was not his original focus or thought, but rather something that was developed over time (See Act 18), and confirmed in several instances (Acts 22:19-21). It is helpful to me to know that Paul's mission and service to the Lord developed and matured.
I believe the Lord works with us in the realm of our understanding, and that His revelation to us is constantly calling us forward in understanding and clarity. In other words, our understanding of God's purpose and plan for our life gains clarity the longer we walk with Him. He speaks to us and gives us understanding as we can grasp it. It is like being taught mathematics in school - we don't start with differential equations and calculus, but rather learn the basics and then each following revelation is built on the previous. In this way, our walk with the Lord could be described as progressive revelation, as we progress He reveals more.
Finally, I like how Paul had ambition in his following after the Lord. He says here it was always his ambition to preach where the Gospel had not yet been heard (verse 20). However, we also know from the record in Acts that Paul always submitted his ambition to the direction of the Holy Spirit (Acts 16:6-10). It is good to dream and purpose things in the Kingdom, but these are not always in line with God's purposes, so we must allow for direction and guidance, and constant tweaking of our vision, knowing that what we think and understand will change as we grow in the Lord.
There are several times in my life where I heard something from the Lord and thought I knew what He was saying. As I continued to follow Him, I found that what I thought I knew was actually only part of the fullness of what God meant. In fact, pretty much every time I hear something I try to understand it within my present context, and I am always wrong in what I think it meant and what it actually meant. This doesn't discourage me, rather it creates in me a desire to know God more, to see and hear Him more clearly. It creates in me a constant checking of course and purpose and looking to Him for additional clarity. This might seem counter-productive, but I find it is much more efficient than me thinking I know what the Lord means, doing something, finding out its wrong, having to undo, and then rework things. I guess you could say that ambition must be coupled with humility to be successful, in the Kingdom of God.
In summary, I am encouraged to continue to pursue the Lord, to look to the working of the Holy Spirit, to be open to signs and wonders, and ultimately to seek the Lord's direction, guidance and clarification.
Amen!
Monday, April 17, 2017
The Gospel Proclaimed With Power, With The Holy Spirit
This morning I felt like reading from Paul's letter to the Church in Thessalonica, and was specifically interested in his opening statements - as follows:
1 Thessalonians 1:2-5 NIV:
[2] "We always thank God for all of you and continually mention you in our prayers. [3] We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ."
[4] "For we know, brothers and sisters loved by God, that he has chosen you, [5] because our gospel came to you not simply with words but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake."
The sections I am considering is Paul's statement about the Gospel coming to them, "not simply with words but also with power, with the Holy Spirit". When I read through the account of Paul's visit to Thessalonica, which is recorded in Acts 17, I didn't see any significant occurrence that sounds like what Paul described here. Here are the verses from Acts 17:1-4 NIV:
[1] "When Paul and his companions had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. [2] As was his custom, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, [3] explaining and proving that the Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead. “This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Messiah,” he said. [4] Some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a large number of God-fearing Greeks and quite a few prominent women."
I am struck by the understatement of their time in Thessalonica, as described by Luke, the Author of Acts. Later in Acts 20, we find that Aristarchus and Secundus from Thessalonica had joined themselves to Paul's entourage (Acts 20:4) and were His traveling companions, and Aristarchus was his fellow prisoner while in Rome (Col 4:10). Little more is known about him, although Church history has that he was beheaded in Rome and a martyr for the faith. At a minimum we can conclude that Aristarchus's life was changed during what appeared to be a very short visit by Paul to his city.
So, back to Paul's note about the Gospel coming with "power, with the Holy Spirit." I believe that we can gain a better understanding by what Paul was describing by looking at his visit to Iconium and Lystra as recorded in Acts 14. Here we see Luke providing a bit more description of what they experienced when they were proclaiming the Gospel.
Acts 14:1,3,8-11 NIV:
[1] "At Iconium Paul and Barnabas went as usual into the Jewish synagogue. There they spoke so effectively that a great number of Jews and Greeks believed.
[3] "So Paul and Barnabas spent considerable time there, speaking boldly for the Lord, who confirmed the message of his grace by enabling them to perform signs and wonders."
[8] "In Lystra there sat a man who was lame. He had been that way from birth and had never walked. [9] He listened to Paul as he was speaking. Paul looked directly at him, saw that he had faith to be healed [10] and called out, “Stand up on your feet!” At that, the man jumped up and began to walk."
[11] "When the crowd saw what Paul had done, they shouted in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have come down to us in human form!”
I believe that these are great examples of the Gospel being delivered with power, with the Holy Spirit! This Gospel, a definite departure from the traditional "Messianic" message the Jews would have normally heard, was dependent on more than just scriptural logic. Paul was basically laying the foundation of His message by recalling to their minds the Messianic prophecies, but then through the power of the Holy Spirit, he and Barnabas were able to perform convincing signs and wonders, that provided the supernatural proof of His message's truth. The people in Lystra were so convinced that they had seen godly power demonstrated that they proclaimed that Barnabas and Paul were Zeus and Hermes (Act 14:12).
Thus, I am led back to a common theme of my reflection, the Gospel as it is preached today, vs. the Gospel as preached and demonstrated in Paul's ministry. I see significant differences in the basic Gospel message proclamation, and certainly in its effect on people. I am grateful that there are so many who are convinced of the truth of the Gospel despite the relative lack of signs and wonders seen in the daily experience of the Western church. Granted we are in a very different time historically, and the foundation of Christian thought is relatively pervasive in the majority of people living in what would previously have been labeled Christian nations.
I think it is safe to say that although there were Jews living in Thessalonica, Lystra, and Iconium, that the culture and theological mindset of the gentiles who lived in those cities were not aligned with Jewish thought. They were Gentiles and the culture was either Roman or Greek thought, depending on the depth of influence of the Roman rule. These were cultures and theological frameworks built around mythological stories and multiple gods and demi-gods. They believed in supernatural beings, but their experience was one of story and legend, not actual live demonstration of Godly power.
I believe it was the regular, live demonstration of signs and wonders that Paul experienced that set his proclamation of the Gospel apart from all the other religious devotees clamoring for followers. We see similar experiences with Peter when He was preaching the Gospel to the first gentiles, as recorded in a few excerpts from Acts 10:34-36,42-47 NIV:
[34] "Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism [35] but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right. [36] You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, announcing the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all." ...[42] "He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead. [43] All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”
[44] "While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. [45] The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on Gentiles. [46] For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God. Then Peter said, [47] “Surely no one can stand in the way of their being baptized with water. They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have.”
Here we see the confirmation of Peter's message accompanied by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, as evidence both of the truth of Peter's words, but also as evidence to Peter and his companions that the Gospel had been accepted by these Gentiles! It is important to note that the church or followers of "The Way" were being persecuted during these times, and to Peter and his companions, understanding that this was a God-inspired and approved occurrence, and not some trap, and was critical to their thoughts of ever doing this again (at least in my opinion).
Wrapping this all up, I am continued to be encouraged to pursue for the sake of the effectiveness of the Gospel proclamation, the reliance and expectation that the Gospel should be accompanied by power, signs and wonders, and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. I am encouraged to pursue this, in spite of my own inability to make anything supernatural occur, for such was the same for Peter, Paul and Barnabas. All of them ministered through the power of the Holy Spirit, and so can we. I am encouraged by those ministries that are pursuing God, are proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and are seeing miracles, signs and wonders. I am encouraged that these ministries are seeing results both in the US, as well as around the world. I am encouraged that this proclamation of the Gospel, will effectively demonstrate the truth of the minister's words. I am encouraged that for me, this is also a call and desire, for I cannot settle for less than the complete Gospel.
Lord, I pray that You would pour forth upon Your Church, a refreshing wind of signs and wonders, power and visitation of the Holy Spirit! I pray that hearts and minds might be affected and forever changed, even as Aristarchus was changed when confronted by the Gospel that day in Thessalonica. I pray that I might become a trusted representative of the Gospel to all that I meet.
1 Thessalonians 1:2-5 NIV:
[2] "We always thank God for all of you and continually mention you in our prayers. [3] We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ."
[4] "For we know, brothers and sisters loved by God, that he has chosen you, [5] because our gospel came to you not simply with words but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake."
The sections I am considering is Paul's statement about the Gospel coming to them, "not simply with words but also with power, with the Holy Spirit". When I read through the account of Paul's visit to Thessalonica, which is recorded in Acts 17, I didn't see any significant occurrence that sounds like what Paul described here. Here are the verses from Acts 17:1-4 NIV:
[1] "When Paul and his companions had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. [2] As was his custom, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, [3] explaining and proving that the Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead. “This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Messiah,” he said. [4] Some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a large number of God-fearing Greeks and quite a few prominent women."
I am struck by the understatement of their time in Thessalonica, as described by Luke, the Author of Acts. Later in Acts 20, we find that Aristarchus and Secundus from Thessalonica had joined themselves to Paul's entourage (Acts 20:4) and were His traveling companions, and Aristarchus was his fellow prisoner while in Rome (Col 4:10). Little more is known about him, although Church history has that he was beheaded in Rome and a martyr for the faith. At a minimum we can conclude that Aristarchus's life was changed during what appeared to be a very short visit by Paul to his city.
So, back to Paul's note about the Gospel coming with "power, with the Holy Spirit." I believe that we can gain a better understanding by what Paul was describing by looking at his visit to Iconium and Lystra as recorded in Acts 14. Here we see Luke providing a bit more description of what they experienced when they were proclaiming the Gospel.
Acts 14:1,3,8-11 NIV:
[1] "At Iconium Paul and Barnabas went as usual into the Jewish synagogue. There they spoke so effectively that a great number of Jews and Greeks believed.
[3] "So Paul and Barnabas spent considerable time there, speaking boldly for the Lord, who confirmed the message of his grace by enabling them to perform signs and wonders."
[8] "In Lystra there sat a man who was lame. He had been that way from birth and had never walked. [9] He listened to Paul as he was speaking. Paul looked directly at him, saw that he had faith to be healed [10] and called out, “Stand up on your feet!” At that, the man jumped up and began to walk."
[11] "When the crowd saw what Paul had done, they shouted in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have come down to us in human form!”
I believe that these are great examples of the Gospel being delivered with power, with the Holy Spirit! This Gospel, a definite departure from the traditional "Messianic" message the Jews would have normally heard, was dependent on more than just scriptural logic. Paul was basically laying the foundation of His message by recalling to their minds the Messianic prophecies, but then through the power of the Holy Spirit, he and Barnabas were able to perform convincing signs and wonders, that provided the supernatural proof of His message's truth. The people in Lystra were so convinced that they had seen godly power demonstrated that they proclaimed that Barnabas and Paul were Zeus and Hermes (Act 14:12).
Thus, I am led back to a common theme of my reflection, the Gospel as it is preached today, vs. the Gospel as preached and demonstrated in Paul's ministry. I see significant differences in the basic Gospel message proclamation, and certainly in its effect on people. I am grateful that there are so many who are convinced of the truth of the Gospel despite the relative lack of signs and wonders seen in the daily experience of the Western church. Granted we are in a very different time historically, and the foundation of Christian thought is relatively pervasive in the majority of people living in what would previously have been labeled Christian nations.
I think it is safe to say that although there were Jews living in Thessalonica, Lystra, and Iconium, that the culture and theological mindset of the gentiles who lived in those cities were not aligned with Jewish thought. They were Gentiles and the culture was either Roman or Greek thought, depending on the depth of influence of the Roman rule. These were cultures and theological frameworks built around mythological stories and multiple gods and demi-gods. They believed in supernatural beings, but their experience was one of story and legend, not actual live demonstration of Godly power.
I believe it was the regular, live demonstration of signs and wonders that Paul experienced that set his proclamation of the Gospel apart from all the other religious devotees clamoring for followers. We see similar experiences with Peter when He was preaching the Gospel to the first gentiles, as recorded in a few excerpts from Acts 10:34-36,42-47 NIV:
[34] "Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism [35] but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right. [36] You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, announcing the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all." ...[42] "He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead. [43] All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”
[44] "While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. [45] The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on Gentiles. [46] For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God. Then Peter said, [47] “Surely no one can stand in the way of their being baptized with water. They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have.”
Here we see the confirmation of Peter's message accompanied by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, as evidence both of the truth of Peter's words, but also as evidence to Peter and his companions that the Gospel had been accepted by these Gentiles! It is important to note that the church or followers of "The Way" were being persecuted during these times, and to Peter and his companions, understanding that this was a God-inspired and approved occurrence, and not some trap, and was critical to their thoughts of ever doing this again (at least in my opinion).
Wrapping this all up, I am continued to be encouraged to pursue for the sake of the effectiveness of the Gospel proclamation, the reliance and expectation that the Gospel should be accompanied by power, signs and wonders, and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. I am encouraged to pursue this, in spite of my own inability to make anything supernatural occur, for such was the same for Peter, Paul and Barnabas. All of them ministered through the power of the Holy Spirit, and so can we. I am encouraged by those ministries that are pursuing God, are proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and are seeing miracles, signs and wonders. I am encouraged that these ministries are seeing results both in the US, as well as around the world. I am encouraged that this proclamation of the Gospel, will effectively demonstrate the truth of the minister's words. I am encouraged that for me, this is also a call and desire, for I cannot settle for less than the complete Gospel.
Lord, I pray that You would pour forth upon Your Church, a refreshing wind of signs and wonders, power and visitation of the Holy Spirit! I pray that hearts and minds might be affected and forever changed, even as Aristarchus was changed when confronted by the Gospel that day in Thessalonica. I pray that I might become a trusted representative of the Gospel to all that I meet.
Saturday, April 15, 2017
The Darkest Day- A Holy Saturday Reflection
This morning , I thought it would be interesting to meditate
on the Sabbath day following Jesus’ death on the cross. This is a day that we know nothing about, as
it begins shortly after Jesus’ burial, with the Jewish Sabbath starting at
Sunset, and proceeding to the following sunset.
In Matthew’s Gospel, we actually have some verses pertaining to this day, but nothing that talks about the followers of Jesus. Matthew 27:62-66 describes the fact that the Chief Priests and Pharisees went to Pilate and asked him to have a guard stationed at the tomb, to make sure that Jesus’ followers didn’t steal His body to try and fake the resurrection. In Mark’s Gospel this day is found between the last verse of chapter 15 and the first verse of chapter 16, “When the Sabbath was over”. In Luke, we are told specifically that His followers, especially the “women who had come with Jesus from Galilee” (Luke 23:55-56) had rested on the Sabbath day, in accordance with the commandment. Luke then moves right to the beginning of the first day of the week, following the Sabbath, and again, other than the fact that they rested, we know nothing. Finally John’s Gospel, as well, is silent about this day.
In Matthew’s Gospel, we actually have some verses pertaining to this day, but nothing that talks about the followers of Jesus. Matthew 27:62-66 describes the fact that the Chief Priests and Pharisees went to Pilate and asked him to have a guard stationed at the tomb, to make sure that Jesus’ followers didn’t steal His body to try and fake the resurrection. In Mark’s Gospel this day is found between the last verse of chapter 15 and the first verse of chapter 16, “When the Sabbath was over”. In Luke, we are told specifically that His followers, especially the “women who had come with Jesus from Galilee” (Luke 23:55-56) had rested on the Sabbath day, in accordance with the commandment. Luke then moves right to the beginning of the first day of the week, following the Sabbath, and again, other than the fact that they rested, we know nothing. Finally John’s Gospel, as well, is silent about this day.
So, why my meditation?
I personally think that the silence of God in certain situations reveals
much to us about our own situation and beliefs.
It is in the silence of God, that our faith and trust is tested. In my life, there have been times of
transition, times of change, times of difficulty and what I want more than
anything in those times is a sense of purpose, direction and a ‘word from the
Lord’. The thing that I have found, is
more often than not, God is quiet in these times. I don’t believe it is some cruel streak in
God, where He holds back the very thing I think I need more than anything. Instead I have learned that His love and
faithfulness are every bit as active in those quiet moments as any other times.
In retrospect, He has always been at work in the background,
and that I was too unaware to realize it.
God is a perfect, and so is His timing.
What I want is advanced notice, what God wants is for me to trust in His
faithfulness. My tendency is to slide
immediately into unbelief, He wants me to learn to have faith, and stand (Eph
6:13-16). Thus, I have opportunity to
grow.
When I think about the disciples and Apostles of Jesus,
resting on the Sabbath following His death and burial, I imagine it was the
darkest of days for them. Just earlier
in the previous week, Jesus had arrived in Jerusalem, being heralded as the
coming King, riding along on the back of a donkey, and now he was dead and
buried, and all of their ideas of their future at His side were shattered. It is clear from the Gospel’s that despite
Jesus repeatedly warning them of His impending death that they just didn’t get
it. They continued to believe that as
the Messiah He was going to be seated on David’s former throne and restore
Israel as God’s people, complete with their national pride, freedom and
identity restored.
It is my belief that Instead of glory, they were experiencing
the depths of despair. They were likely
gathered together, as would have been their custom on the Sabbath, and they
were probably all just shell-shocked from the last 2 days. I am sure there were tears, and sorrow, real grieving
for the loss of the most important person in their lives. They had committed somewhere in the neighborhood
of 3 years of their life to Jesus, following Him everywhere, living together
and always His was the direction they followed, and now there was only silence,
dead silence.
I think that they might have been racking their brains,
trying to remember what Jesus had told them concerning His death and rising from
the dead. I think they probably bounced back in forth from wild hope in
remembered words, to stunning silence and despair as they remembered his beaten
and bloody body. I think they were probably all dealing with His death
individually as we all do when a loved one passes. I am sure everything they said or did
reminded them of Him, and that would just revisit the pain of their loss.
I think this was one of the darkest days of all time, for
the Light of the World had come, and was lost.
The long awaited Messiah had been revealed, and now He was dead. Their hope for restoration and revival, God’s
blessing and visitation was lying dead in a tomb. We like to say “its Friday, but Sunday is
coming” as a reminder that the joy of His resurrection is following close on
the heels of the loss of His death, but the Apostles and disciples didn’t know
this, didn’t understand it, and didn’t believe it. The Gospels recount several times where Jesus
told them exactly what was going to happen, and in every one of those times,
the writers make a very specific note that His followers didn’t understand what
He meant. I believe this is indicative
of the fact that they were all remembering that dark day, that day of shattered
dreams and ideas.
So for us, what can we gain from meditating on this dark
day? I think for me the important thing
is to look to God, to His word, to His character, to His promises regardless of
the circumstances. I believe that His
desire for me is to learn to entrust myself to Him, taking His guidance and
direction, and trusting that He has a bigger perspective that I am not
seeing.
I am learning to trust in Him, regardless of how difficult
and confusing the circumstances are at present.
I am learning that He knows my circumstances, my weaknesses, my
struggles, and He has made a way in spite of them all. I am learning that He tries to prepare me, although most of the time I don’t understand
Him, or mis-interpret what He means. He
loves me, desires the best for me, and knows the exact time, the exact place
and the exact reason for each and every encounter and experience.
Like His followers, I can choose to move forward, even as
the Ladies did the next morning. They
weren’t expecting His miraculous resurrection, but they were taking the next
logical steps which put them right in the Lord’s path, and into the glory of
His resurrection. Sometimes, all we need
to do is to just get through the day, look to Him, and trust that tomorrow will
be a better day, and one that we will encounter Him!
I know it is somewhat of a cliché, but there is truth in the
saying, ‘Friday might be here, but Sunday is coming’! God’s provision and purpose are true, and He
is faithful! Let us trust in Him, press
through this dark day, and believe that we will encounter Him anew, and fresh!
Amen and Amen! Come
Lord Jesus!
Friday, April 14, 2017
A Personal Reflection on Purpose and Passion
This morning, as I was just thinking about our friends, I realized that for the vast majority our relationships require effort to get together. Without a regularly scheduled gathering like we had at our home over the last 3-4 years, our connectedness to others gets lost in the busyness. I was thinking about how its almost like bumper cars, we have to keep trying to bump into them, through the walls of our respective schedules and into our daily lives. It requires effort and intent. Our lives seem like we are all just buzzing around, and without a specific plan to connect or get together, at best we just bump into each other, or with great effort, get something on the calendar.
Lord, as I think about this, I realize that what we are missing is the missional mindset enflamed by the Power of Your Holy Spirit. Our independent and here and now focused lives can slide by without any real connections or significant impact. We are missing that which unites, that which captures our attention and passion. You have a plan for our purpose in our own lives and the lives of those we share spheres of life with, and yet most of us are unaware, or disengaged. The question is if we saw and understood our true calling, would we choose to lay down that which we are engaged with, for that which is better? If we were given the opportunity to connect with passion to You and our true identities, would we? What position does Your plan for our life take in our list of priorities?
I know for each of us, we must understand our individual paths, and that we cannot look at our call and project that call upon others. We cannot look at what the Lord is doing in us, and judge His activity in other's lives as lacking. We must join ourselves to Him, and let Him join us to others of similar call and purpose, drive and passion. We must challenge our status quo in our lives and evaluate if we are actively and intently engaged in pursuit of Him and His call. We must look at our lives to see if we have slid into a life of convenience and minimal engagement. We must evaluate our lives and see if we have become caught up in the frenetic pace and busyness that consumes our energy, time and focus. We must open our eyes, our minds and our hearts and ask if we are pressing forward to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of us (Phil 3:12).
Maybe it is just me, but it seems that my zeal for the Kingdom Life has been whitewashed with busyness and other concerns. Maybe we are just transitioning into a different season, and focus? Maybe I just feel disconnected from the greater flow of the Body of Christ, as we have yet to really feel called and connected in this new season of life? Maybe my focus is supposed to be our family and the few friends we are staying connected with on a regular basis? Lord, I know there is more than I am seeing and understanding, and I look to You for revelation and direction! I want to live my life with purpose and focus.
As I reflect back on Your 30 years of hiddenness, I know You understand my situation completely and then some. You are the Light of the World, yet at the Father's request you kept the light hidden. You are the very Word of God, yet for 30 years You kept silent. You are our healer, yet for 30 years You watched people suffer sickness, disease, suffer and die. You are the Lord of everything, and yet for 30 years You were a humble man, living in a small village, subject to Roman rule, religious leaders and the laws of nature. You are the Creator of all things, and yet You lived hidden in Your creation for 30 years.
I also know that at the perfect time, You were released by the Father, sent out by the Father to reveal Yourself and His nature to this world and in 3 years the world was changed forever! I know that the culmination of that purpose was fulfilled on the Cross, and through the Resurrection, and then the release of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost! I know that all is possible, and all is perfect in the plan and purpose of the Father and our call is to obedience and patience with purpose.
Lord, help me to see and understand, to recognize the flow of Your movement, the current of the Holy Spirit, that I might immerse myself in what You are doing. I just want to be where You are, doing what You are doing!
Amen!
Lord, as I think about this, I realize that what we are missing is the missional mindset enflamed by the Power of Your Holy Spirit. Our independent and here and now focused lives can slide by without any real connections or significant impact. We are missing that which unites, that which captures our attention and passion. You have a plan for our purpose in our own lives and the lives of those we share spheres of life with, and yet most of us are unaware, or disengaged. The question is if we saw and understood our true calling, would we choose to lay down that which we are engaged with, for that which is better? If we were given the opportunity to connect with passion to You and our true identities, would we? What position does Your plan for our life take in our list of priorities?
I know for each of us, we must understand our individual paths, and that we cannot look at our call and project that call upon others. We cannot look at what the Lord is doing in us, and judge His activity in other's lives as lacking. We must join ourselves to Him, and let Him join us to others of similar call and purpose, drive and passion. We must challenge our status quo in our lives and evaluate if we are actively and intently engaged in pursuit of Him and His call. We must look at our lives to see if we have slid into a life of convenience and minimal engagement. We must evaluate our lives and see if we have become caught up in the frenetic pace and busyness that consumes our energy, time and focus. We must open our eyes, our minds and our hearts and ask if we are pressing forward to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of us (Phil 3:12).
Maybe it is just me, but it seems that my zeal for the Kingdom Life has been whitewashed with busyness and other concerns. Maybe we are just transitioning into a different season, and focus? Maybe I just feel disconnected from the greater flow of the Body of Christ, as we have yet to really feel called and connected in this new season of life? Maybe my focus is supposed to be our family and the few friends we are staying connected with on a regular basis? Lord, I know there is more than I am seeing and understanding, and I look to You for revelation and direction! I want to live my life with purpose and focus.
As I reflect back on Your 30 years of hiddenness, I know You understand my situation completely and then some. You are the Light of the World, yet at the Father's request you kept the light hidden. You are the very Word of God, yet for 30 years You kept silent. You are our healer, yet for 30 years You watched people suffer sickness, disease, suffer and die. You are the Lord of everything, and yet for 30 years You were a humble man, living in a small village, subject to Roman rule, religious leaders and the laws of nature. You are the Creator of all things, and yet You lived hidden in Your creation for 30 years.
I also know that at the perfect time, You were released by the Father, sent out by the Father to reveal Yourself and His nature to this world and in 3 years the world was changed forever! I know that the culmination of that purpose was fulfilled on the Cross, and through the Resurrection, and then the release of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost! I know that all is possible, and all is perfect in the plan and purpose of the Father and our call is to obedience and patience with purpose.
Lord, help me to see and understand, to recognize the flow of Your movement, the current of the Holy Spirit, that I might immerse myself in what You are doing. I just want to be where You are, doing what You are doing!
Amen!
Thursday, April 13, 2017
God's Abounding Love
Today as I continue my Holy Week meditation theme on the Character of God, I am thinking about God's abounding love, or as the NASB translates it, "lovingkindness". Again, this is one of the descriptions God uses of himself when He reveals Himself to Moses - Exodus 34:6-7 NIV:
[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...."
The original Hebrew here translated abounding love, is 'rab checed'. The word rab is an adjective that describes something as much, many, great, abounding in, more numerous than, abundant, strong, greater than. The word checed is defined as goodness, kindness, faithfulness and is often translated mercy. So we could say that God reveals himself as abounding in, having more than enough goodness, kindness, faithfulness and mercy.
This is good news, because He is saying He doesn't run out, doesn't come to an end of His goodness, His kindness, His faithfulness and His mercy. In other words He will never lack these attributes, especially as He deals with us and our human inadequacy and weakness. This is definitely one area where I appreciate God's non-humanness. We try to understand God, and so we tend to apply what we observe in man and apply it to God, taking our observed characteristics and somehow mapping these to an infinite God. It gives us helpful insight, but to think that we have complete understanding would be fallacious.
One of my favorite authors, A.W. Tozer describes God's infinite characteristics in his book, "The Knowledge of The Holy", and He walks through each of the main characteristics or attributes and meditates on each, building a foundation of thought that is so important. As He says in in his introduction to the topic, "All the problems of heaven and earth, though they were to confront us together and at once, would be nothing compared with the overwhelming problem of God: That He is; what He is like; and what we as moral beings must do about Him." (Tozer, page 2) He goes on to say the following about God's infinitude, as a precursor to his discussion of His attributes:
"The reason for our dilemma has been suggested before. We are trying to envision a mode of being altogether foreign to us, and wholly unlike anything we have known in our familiar world of matter, space, and time.
"Here, and in all our meditations upon the qualities and content of God," writes Novatian, "we pass beyond our power of fit conception, nor can human eloquence put forth a power commensurate with His greatness. At the contemplation and utterance of His majesty all eloquence is rightly dumb, all mental effort is feeble. For God is greater than mind itself. His greatness cannot be conceived. Nay, could we conceive of His greatness He would be less than the human mind which could form the conception. He is greater than all language, and no statement can express Him. Indeed, if any statement could express Him, He would be less than human speech which could by such statement comprehend and gather up all that He is. All our thoughts about Him will be less than He, and our loftiest utterances will be trivialities in comparison with Him." (Tozer, pg 45)
Continuing on he adds:
"He is above all this, outside of it, beyond it. Our concepts of measurement embrace mountains and men, atoms and stars, gravity, energy, numbers, speed, but never God. We cannot speak of measure or amount or size or weight and at the same time be speaking of God, for these tell of degrees and there are no degrees in God. All that He is He is without growth or addition or development. Nothing in God is less or more, or large or small. He is what He is in Himself, without qualifying thought or word. He is simply God." (Tozer, page 45)
All of this, plus much more is from Tozer's reflection just on God and His infinitude. If we take this and then apply our minds to His faithfulness, kindness, goodness and mercy, we realize that we cannot possibly fully comprehend God's word's about Himself. We can define the words from our human experience, but we can't define the fullness of what is meant by God in His statements. His understanding of Himself is perfect, and His words about Himself, limited as they are to our human understanding of language, are still but a shadow of understanding. This is a shadow of what God means when He says abounding, something beyond our ability to understand, grasp or communicate,and at the same time more than our best understanding.
Reflecting on God's Lovingkindness, Tozer writes the following, after a brief discussion of John's statement that God is love (1 John 4:7-8).
"The words "God is love" mean that love is an essential attribute of God. Love is something true of God but it is not God. It expresses the way God is in His unitary being, as do the words holiness, justice, faithfulness and truth.
Because God is immutable He always acts like Himself, and because He is a unity He never suspends one of His attributes in order to exercise another. From God's other known attributes we may learn much about His love. We can know, for instance, that because God is self-existent, His love had no beginning; because He is eternal, His love can have no end; because He is infinite, it has no limit; because He is holy, it is the quintessence of all spotless purity; because He is immense, His love is an incomprehensibly vast, bottomless, shoreless sea before which we kneel in joyful silence and from which the loftiest eloquence retreats confused and abashed." (Tozer, pg 98).
He goes onto discuss God's love as follows:
"We do not know, and we may never know, what love is, but we can know how it manifests itself, and that is enough for us here. First we see it showing itself as good will. Love wills the good of all and never wills harm or evil to any." (Tozer, 98).
"Love is also an emotional identification. It considers nothing its own but gives all freely to the object of its affection." (Tozer, page 100)
"It is a strange and beautiful eccentricity of the free God that He has allowed His heart to be emotionally identified with men. Self-sufficient as He is, He wants our love and will not be satisfied till He gets it. Free as He is, He has let His heart be bound to us forever." (Tozer, page 100)
- and -
"Another characteristic of love is that it takes pleasure in its object. God enjoys His creation. The apostle John says frankly that God's purpose in creation was His own pleasure. God is happy in His love for all that He has made." (Tozer, page 100)
Finally, Jesus defined His love, and invited us to do the same - John 15:12-13 NIV: "My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. [13] Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends." We celebrate Him doing exactly that this Holy Week, and we can gaze from this distance of understanding that God loves us that much, and gave His own life for us. We can understand that action to the best of our ability, and yet never fully grasp God's statement that He is abounding in lovingkindness. What He ultimately means, we will one day understand, and that will be a fantastic day.
In the meantime I am grateful for His revelation. He loves me! His love, kindness, goodness and faithfulness towards me will never end,
Amen!
[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...."
The original Hebrew here translated abounding love, is 'rab checed'. The word rab is an adjective that describes something as much, many, great, abounding in, more numerous than, abundant, strong, greater than. The word checed is defined as goodness, kindness, faithfulness and is often translated mercy. So we could say that God reveals himself as abounding in, having more than enough goodness, kindness, faithfulness and mercy.
This is good news, because He is saying He doesn't run out, doesn't come to an end of His goodness, His kindness, His faithfulness and His mercy. In other words He will never lack these attributes, especially as He deals with us and our human inadequacy and weakness. This is definitely one area where I appreciate God's non-humanness. We try to understand God, and so we tend to apply what we observe in man and apply it to God, taking our observed characteristics and somehow mapping these to an infinite God. It gives us helpful insight, but to think that we have complete understanding would be fallacious.
One of my favorite authors, A.W. Tozer describes God's infinite characteristics in his book, "The Knowledge of The Holy", and He walks through each of the main characteristics or attributes and meditates on each, building a foundation of thought that is so important. As He says in in his introduction to the topic, "All the problems of heaven and earth, though they were to confront us together and at once, would be nothing compared with the overwhelming problem of God: That He is; what He is like; and what we as moral beings must do about Him." (Tozer, page 2) He goes on to say the following about God's infinitude, as a precursor to his discussion of His attributes:
"The reason for our dilemma has been suggested before. We are trying to envision a mode of being altogether foreign to us, and wholly unlike anything we have known in our familiar world of matter, space, and time.
"Here, and in all our meditations upon the qualities and content of God," writes Novatian, "we pass beyond our power of fit conception, nor can human eloquence put forth a power commensurate with His greatness. At the contemplation and utterance of His majesty all eloquence is rightly dumb, all mental effort is feeble. For God is greater than mind itself. His greatness cannot be conceived. Nay, could we conceive of His greatness He would be less than the human mind which could form the conception. He is greater than all language, and no statement can express Him. Indeed, if any statement could express Him, He would be less than human speech which could by such statement comprehend and gather up all that He is. All our thoughts about Him will be less than He, and our loftiest utterances will be trivialities in comparison with Him." (Tozer, pg 45)
Continuing on he adds:
"He is above all this, outside of it, beyond it. Our concepts of measurement embrace mountains and men, atoms and stars, gravity, energy, numbers, speed, but never God. We cannot speak of measure or amount or size or weight and at the same time be speaking of God, for these tell of degrees and there are no degrees in God. All that He is He is without growth or addition or development. Nothing in God is less or more, or large or small. He is what He is in Himself, without qualifying thought or word. He is simply God." (Tozer, page 45)
All of this, plus much more is from Tozer's reflection just on God and His infinitude. If we take this and then apply our minds to His faithfulness, kindness, goodness and mercy, we realize that we cannot possibly fully comprehend God's word's about Himself. We can define the words from our human experience, but we can't define the fullness of what is meant by God in His statements. His understanding of Himself is perfect, and His words about Himself, limited as they are to our human understanding of language, are still but a shadow of understanding. This is a shadow of what God means when He says abounding, something beyond our ability to understand, grasp or communicate,and at the same time more than our best understanding.
Reflecting on God's Lovingkindness, Tozer writes the following, after a brief discussion of John's statement that God is love (1 John 4:7-8).
"The words "God is love" mean that love is an essential attribute of God. Love is something true of God but it is not God. It expresses the way God is in His unitary being, as do the words holiness, justice, faithfulness and truth.
Because God is immutable He always acts like Himself, and because He is a unity He never suspends one of His attributes in order to exercise another. From God's other known attributes we may learn much about His love. We can know, for instance, that because God is self-existent, His love had no beginning; because He is eternal, His love can have no end; because He is infinite, it has no limit; because He is holy, it is the quintessence of all spotless purity; because He is immense, His love is an incomprehensibly vast, bottomless, shoreless sea before which we kneel in joyful silence and from which the loftiest eloquence retreats confused and abashed." (Tozer, pg 98).
He goes onto discuss God's love as follows:
"We do not know, and we may never know, what love is, but we can know how it manifests itself, and that is enough for us here. First we see it showing itself as good will. Love wills the good of all and never wills harm or evil to any." (Tozer, 98).
"Love is also an emotional identification. It considers nothing its own but gives all freely to the object of its affection." (Tozer, page 100)
"It is a strange and beautiful eccentricity of the free God that He has allowed His heart to be emotionally identified with men. Self-sufficient as He is, He wants our love and will not be satisfied till He gets it. Free as He is, He has let His heart be bound to us forever." (Tozer, page 100)
- and -
"Another characteristic of love is that it takes pleasure in its object. God enjoys His creation. The apostle John says frankly that God's purpose in creation was His own pleasure. God is happy in His love for all that He has made." (Tozer, page 100)
Finally, Jesus defined His love, and invited us to do the same - John 15:12-13 NIV: "My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. [13] Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends." We celebrate Him doing exactly that this Holy Week, and we can gaze from this distance of understanding that God loves us that much, and gave His own life for us. We can understand that action to the best of our ability, and yet never fully grasp God's statement that He is abounding in lovingkindness. What He ultimately means, we will one day understand, and that will be a fantastic day.
In the meantime I am grateful for His revelation. He loves me! His love, kindness, goodness and faithfulness towards me will never end,
Amen!
Wednesday, April 12, 2017
Forgiveness and the Character of God
This morning I was thinking about another characteristic of God, His willingness to forgive. Again this is one of the things God reveals about Himself when He shows Moses His Glory. Here are the verses - Exodus 34:6-7 NIV:
[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..."
He describes Himself as forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin, and it is clearly a result of His mercy, compassion, love and faithfulness. He is a God who understands us, and cares for us and has mercy on us, in spite of our nature and weakness. The root word for forgive and its variants is the Hebrew word 'nasa' and it means the following:
1) to lift, bear up, carry, take
a) (Qal)
1) to lift, lift up
2) to bear, carry, support, sustain, endure
3) to take, take away, carry off, forgive
b) (Niphal)
1) to be lifted up, be exalted
2) to lift oneself up, rise up
3) to be borne, be carried
4) to be taken away, be carried off, be swept away
As we can see this is a simple word, yet used in many different contexts. In this case the use is meaning to take away, or carry off, or removing the debt of wickedness, rebellion and sin. There is a sense of a burden being lifted and removed, and for me that is such a helpful understanding of forgiveness, for the enemy is constantly trying to get us to carry the burden of our past sins and history.
Moving onto some reflection verses, here are some interesting verses from David's Psalm 86:1-6,15-17 NIV:
[1] "Hear me, Lord, and answer me, for I am poor and needy.
[2] Guard my life, for I am faithful to you; save your servant who trusts in you. You are my God;
[3] have mercy on me, Lord, for I call to you all day long.
[4] Bring joy to your servant, Lord, for I put my trust in you.
[5] You, Lord, are forgiving and good, abounding in love to all who call to you.
[6] Hear my prayer, Lord; listen to my cry for mercy."
[15] "But you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.
[16] Turn to me and have mercy on me; show your strength in behalf of your servant; save me, because I serve you just as my mother did.
[17] Give me a sign of your goodness, that my enemies may see it and be put to shame, for you, Lord, have helped me and comforted me."
As I was reading through these, it seemed that David was almost reminding the Lord of what He said in Exodus 34. He is bringing to mind all of the key attributes and character of God, and depending upon them. It is really a good exercise for us to do the same. One of my favorite authors, A.W. Tozer believes that reflecting on and thinking about the character of God is one of the most important things that we can do, and I humbly agree.
In line with the theme of today, David calls the Lord "forgiving and good, abounding in love" (verse 5). It is interesting that the NASB translates verse 5 as "ready to forgive" and the original Hebrew word means exacflty that. God is ready to forgive, and willing to forgive and has paid the price for all our sin, but the application of this is applied when we ask. Thus, as we reflect on God's nature, we see that He is forgiving (Ex 34:7) and willing to forgive (Ps 86:5), covering our past, present and future with forgiveness. I like the sound of that!
Finally, one note I hadn't seen before was that David credits his mother with leading him to his relationship and service before the Lord (ver 16). He refers to this again in Psalm 116:16 NASB: "O LORD, surely I am Your servant, I am Your servant, the son of Your handmaid, You have loosed my bonds." I used the NASB translation, as it refers to his mother's role as a handmaiden of the Lord. David learned from her and entered into one of the most beautiful and transparent relationships with the Lord we see in scripture, because of what she showed him. I am so grateful for the witness of my family in my life of faith, and while my relationship with the Lord is my own, it was definitely influenced by the testimony of my parents.
So this Holy week, I am choosing to reflect on the character of God, and how His character is revealed in and through the Passion of Christ Jesus. I am filled with awe as I reflect on His mercy, His compassion, His love, His faithfulness and His forgiveness! And I am grateful for the witness of family in my life of faith.
Amen and Amen!
[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..."
He describes Himself as forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin, and it is clearly a result of His mercy, compassion, love and faithfulness. He is a God who understands us, and cares for us and has mercy on us, in spite of our nature and weakness. The root word for forgive and its variants is the Hebrew word 'nasa' and it means the following:
1) to lift, bear up, carry, take
a) (Qal)
1) to lift, lift up
2) to bear, carry, support, sustain, endure
3) to take, take away, carry off, forgive
b) (Niphal)
1) to be lifted up, be exalted
2) to lift oneself up, rise up
3) to be borne, be carried
4) to be taken away, be carried off, be swept away
As we can see this is a simple word, yet used in many different contexts. In this case the use is meaning to take away, or carry off, or removing the debt of wickedness, rebellion and sin. There is a sense of a burden being lifted and removed, and for me that is such a helpful understanding of forgiveness, for the enemy is constantly trying to get us to carry the burden of our past sins and history.
Moving onto some reflection verses, here are some interesting verses from David's Psalm 86:1-6,15-17 NIV:
[1] "Hear me, Lord, and answer me, for I am poor and needy.
[2] Guard my life, for I am faithful to you; save your servant who trusts in you. You are my God;
[3] have mercy on me, Lord, for I call to you all day long.
[4] Bring joy to your servant, Lord, for I put my trust in you.
[5] You, Lord, are forgiving and good, abounding in love to all who call to you.
[6] Hear my prayer, Lord; listen to my cry for mercy."
[15] "But you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.
[16] Turn to me and have mercy on me; show your strength in behalf of your servant; save me, because I serve you just as my mother did.
[17] Give me a sign of your goodness, that my enemies may see it and be put to shame, for you, Lord, have helped me and comforted me."
As I was reading through these, it seemed that David was almost reminding the Lord of what He said in Exodus 34. He is bringing to mind all of the key attributes and character of God, and depending upon them. It is really a good exercise for us to do the same. One of my favorite authors, A.W. Tozer believes that reflecting on and thinking about the character of God is one of the most important things that we can do, and I humbly agree.
In line with the theme of today, David calls the Lord "forgiving and good, abounding in love" (verse 5). It is interesting that the NASB translates verse 5 as "ready to forgive" and the original Hebrew word means exacflty that. God is ready to forgive, and willing to forgive and has paid the price for all our sin, but the application of this is applied when we ask. Thus, as we reflect on God's nature, we see that He is forgiving (Ex 34:7) and willing to forgive (Ps 86:5), covering our past, present and future with forgiveness. I like the sound of that!
Finally, one note I hadn't seen before was that David credits his mother with leading him to his relationship and service before the Lord (ver 16). He refers to this again in Psalm 116:16 NASB: "O LORD, surely I am Your servant, I am Your servant, the son of Your handmaid, You have loosed my bonds." I used the NASB translation, as it refers to his mother's role as a handmaiden of the Lord. David learned from her and entered into one of the most beautiful and transparent relationships with the Lord we see in scripture, because of what she showed him. I am so grateful for the witness of my family in my life of faith, and while my relationship with the Lord is my own, it was definitely influenced by the testimony of my parents.
So this Holy week, I am choosing to reflect on the character of God, and how His character is revealed in and through the Passion of Christ Jesus. I am filled with awe as I reflect on His mercy, His compassion, His love, His faithfulness and His forgiveness! And I am grateful for the witness of family in my life of faith.
Amen and Amen!
Tuesday, April 11, 2017
God's Mercy and Graciousness
This morning I was drawn to the topic of mercy. I guess that it makes sense, as I have been reflecting on compassion and love, and mercy is closely related. I am going back to the first time the Lord mentions His mercy to moses as my initial meditation verse. This is found in Exodus 33:18-19 NIV:
[18] "Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.”
[19] And the Lord said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion."
And again as He actually showed Moses His Glory - Exodus 34:6-7 NIV:
[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. 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.”
The original Hebrew word translated as 'mercy' in Ex 33:19 and the root of the word translated 'gracious' in Ex 34:6 is the same word 'Chanan'. This word is defined as follows by Strong's:
1) to be gracious, show favour, pity
a) (Qal) to show favour, be gracious
b) (Niphal) to be pitied
c) (Piel) to make gracious, make favourable, be gracious
d) (Poel) to direct favour to, have mercy on
e) (Hophal) to be shown favour, be shown consideration
f) (Hithpael) to seek favour, implore favour
Webster's dictionary defines mercy as follows:
1 a : compassion or forbearance shown especially to an offender or to one subject to one's power; also : lenient or compassionate treatment
b : imprisonment rather than death imposed as penalty for first-degree murder
2 a : a blessing that is an act of divine favor or compassion
b : a fortunate circumstance
3 : compassionate treatment of those in distress
Webster's defines gracious as follows:
1 a obsolete : godly
b archaic : pleasing, acceptable
2 a : marked by kindness and courtesy
b : graceful
c : marked by tact and delicacy : urbane
d : characterized by charm, good taste, generosity of spirit, and the tasteful leisure of wealth and good breeding
3 : merciful, compassionate — used conventionally of royalty and high nobility
Sorry for all the definitions, but I thought if this is one of the key attributes of God that He reveals to Moses, it is important that we understand exactly what God is trying to tell us about Himself.
In my mind, and with reference to the definitions above, the words mercy and gracious combined speak of having favour, extending kindness and pity, and specifically targeting those who may not normally expect this treatment of be worthy of this treatment. I think this is a very accurate description of the Lord.
I also find the statement the Lord makes concerning mercy, that He will have mercy on who He has mercy, very significant. It is His call, His motivation, His determination that rains mercy, not some act, some state or some religious observance that causes Him to be merciful. It is His nature that causes Him to be merciful and gracious! We don't deserve mercy, we receive mercy!
As with compassion, this is the result of God understanding our situation, our circumstances and extending to us something that comes from His very core, from His nature. He knows we are sinners, He knows our human proclivities and problems, He understands how we think and act, and in spite of all of this, chooses to have mercy and be gracious.
Last night my honey and I were talking about God's love and mercy, and so thankful that He does not disown us for our wrong decisions and actions. His choice is that He extends mercy to us, forgiveness for our sins, and does not treat us as we deserve. David pleaded for God's mercy, after He was confronted about His sin with Bathsheba, and his plea is found in Psalm 51:1-2 NIV: "Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. [2] Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin."
God does not disown us, does not cut us off, but rather extends mercy! As we celebrate this Holy Week, let us be reminded that it is all because of God's mercy and His love for sinners. Jesus said it most clearly in John 3:16-17 NIV:
[16] "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. [17] For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him."
Paul reiterates this in His letter to the Colossians 2:13-15 NIV:
[13] "When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, [14] having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. [15] And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross."
Lord, I am so thankful this morning for Your mercy and graciousness towards me! I know I certainly don't deserve Your kindness, You favour, Your pity and especially Your blood poured out for me. I am so grateful that You look upon me and Your heart is moved with compassion and You choose to have mercy and extend graciousness, not because of something I have done, but because of who You are!
Thank You Lord!
[18] "Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.”
[19] And the Lord said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion."
And again as He actually showed Moses His Glory - Exodus 34:6-7 NIV:
[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. 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.”
The original Hebrew word translated as 'mercy' in Ex 33:19 and the root of the word translated 'gracious' in Ex 34:6 is the same word 'Chanan'. This word is defined as follows by Strong's:
1) to be gracious, show favour, pity
a) (Qal) to show favour, be gracious
b) (Niphal) to be pitied
c) (Piel) to make gracious, make favourable, be gracious
d) (Poel) to direct favour to, have mercy on
e) (Hophal) to be shown favour, be shown consideration
f) (Hithpael) to seek favour, implore favour
Webster's dictionary defines mercy as follows:
1 a : compassion or forbearance shown especially to an offender or to one subject to one's power; also : lenient or compassionate treatment
b : imprisonment rather than death imposed as penalty for first-degree murder
2 a : a blessing that is an act of divine favor or compassion
b : a fortunate circumstance
3 : compassionate treatment of those in distress
Webster's defines gracious as follows:
1 a obsolete : godly
b archaic : pleasing, acceptable
2 a : marked by kindness and courtesy
b : graceful
c : marked by tact and delicacy : urbane
d : characterized by charm, good taste, generosity of spirit, and the tasteful leisure of wealth and good breeding
3 : merciful, compassionate — used conventionally of royalty and high nobility
Sorry for all the definitions, but I thought if this is one of the key attributes of God that He reveals to Moses, it is important that we understand exactly what God is trying to tell us about Himself.
In my mind, and with reference to the definitions above, the words mercy and gracious combined speak of having favour, extending kindness and pity, and specifically targeting those who may not normally expect this treatment of be worthy of this treatment. I think this is a very accurate description of the Lord.
I also find the statement the Lord makes concerning mercy, that He will have mercy on who He has mercy, very significant. It is His call, His motivation, His determination that rains mercy, not some act, some state or some religious observance that causes Him to be merciful. It is His nature that causes Him to be merciful and gracious! We don't deserve mercy, we receive mercy!
As with compassion, this is the result of God understanding our situation, our circumstances and extending to us something that comes from His very core, from His nature. He knows we are sinners, He knows our human proclivities and problems, He understands how we think and act, and in spite of all of this, chooses to have mercy and be gracious.
Last night my honey and I were talking about God's love and mercy, and so thankful that He does not disown us for our wrong decisions and actions. His choice is that He extends mercy to us, forgiveness for our sins, and does not treat us as we deserve. David pleaded for God's mercy, after He was confronted about His sin with Bathsheba, and his plea is found in Psalm 51:1-2 NIV: "Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. [2] Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin."
God does not disown us, does not cut us off, but rather extends mercy! As we celebrate this Holy Week, let us be reminded that it is all because of God's mercy and His love for sinners. Jesus said it most clearly in John 3:16-17 NIV:
[16] "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. [17] For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him."
Paul reiterates this in His letter to the Colossians 2:13-15 NIV:
[13] "When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, [14] having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. [15] And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross."
Lord, I am so thankful this morning for Your mercy and graciousness towards me! I know I certainly don't deserve Your kindness, You favour, Your pity and especially Your blood poured out for me. I am so grateful that You look upon me and Your heart is moved with compassion and You choose to have mercy and extend graciousness, not because of something I have done, but because of who You are!
Thank You Lord!
Monday, April 10, 2017
Basking In, and Reflecting God's Love
This morning I just felt like basking in the glow of God's love. I thought an apt reflection in this light (no pun intended) would be Paul's famous discourse on Love from 1 Corinthians 13:4-8,13 NIV:
[4] "Love is patient,
love is kind.
It does not envy,
it does not boast,
it is not proud.
[5] It does not dishonor others,
it is not self-seeking,
it is not easily angered,
it keeps no record of wrongs.
[6] Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
[7] It always protects,
always trusts,
always hopes,
always perseveres.
[8] Love never fails"....
[13] "And now these three remain: faith, hope and love.
But the greatest of these is love."
As I read through this list, I was aware of two things. First, God is love (1 John 4:8). Anything that is true of love is true of God, so I could reread that list and replace the word 'love' with God and it would still be true. Second, as followers of God, and representing Him, we are called to be able to say the same about ourselves. We should be able to replace the word 'love' with our name. Thus, for me I could create a nice reminder list that starts, 'Sam is patient, Sam is kind, etc. What a great list!
Now the most important thing, is making these actionable and reality in my life. I can have great intentions, but it is in the working out and actual actions of our life that the truth of what we really believe will be seen. James spends some good time working through this idea as it applies to faith in his letter, as does John concerning love earlier in his first letter.
John says it this way - 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."
James say it this way - James 2:14-18,26 NIV:
[14] "What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? [15] Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. [16] If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? [17] In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead."
[18] "But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.”
Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds."
[26] "As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead."
Thus, it is by our deeds and by our actions that the truth of what we believe, of what we hold to in our heart and mind is seen. Words without actions means we have intentions and thoughts, but apparently don't believe these things enough to live our lives accordingly.
So, this morning I am reminded of God's great love for me, shown to me in His actions! I am encouraged to do the same! I am encouraged to love in action and deed, to put practical action behind my good intentions. Lord, help me to live accordingly! Help me to reflect Your love to all I meet. Help me to be patient, kind, not envious, not boasting, not proud, not dishonoring, not self-seeking, not easily angered, keeping no record of hurts and slights, not delighting in evil, but instead rejoicing in truth. Help me protect, trust, hope and persevere!
Amen and Amen!
[4] "Love is patient,
love is kind.
It does not envy,
it does not boast,
it is not proud.
[5] It does not dishonor others,
it is not self-seeking,
it is not easily angered,
it keeps no record of wrongs.
[6] Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
[7] It always protects,
always trusts,
always hopes,
always perseveres.
[8] Love never fails"....
[13] "And now these three remain: faith, hope and love.
But the greatest of these is love."
As I read through this list, I was aware of two things. First, God is love (1 John 4:8). Anything that is true of love is true of God, so I could reread that list and replace the word 'love' with God and it would still be true. Second, as followers of God, and representing Him, we are called to be able to say the same about ourselves. We should be able to replace the word 'love' with our name. Thus, for me I could create a nice reminder list that starts, 'Sam is patient, Sam is kind, etc. What a great list!
Now the most important thing, is making these actionable and reality in my life. I can have great intentions, but it is in the working out and actual actions of our life that the truth of what we really believe will be seen. James spends some good time working through this idea as it applies to faith in his letter, as does John concerning love earlier in his first letter.
John says it this way - 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."
James say it this way - James 2:14-18,26 NIV:
[14] "What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? [15] Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. [16] If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? [17] In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead."
[18] "But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.”
Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds."
[26] "As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead."
Thus, it is by our deeds and by our actions that the truth of what we believe, of what we hold to in our heart and mind is seen. Words without actions means we have intentions and thoughts, but apparently don't believe these things enough to live our lives accordingly.
So, this morning I am reminded of God's great love for me, shown to me in His actions! I am encouraged to do the same! I am encouraged to love in action and deed, to put practical action behind my good intentions. Lord, help me to live accordingly! Help me to reflect Your love to all I meet. Help me to be patient, kind, not envious, not boasting, not proud, not dishonoring, not self-seeking, not easily angered, keeping no record of hurts and slights, not delighting in evil, but instead rejoicing in truth. Help me protect, trust, hope and persevere!
Amen and Amen!
Sunday, April 9, 2017
Compassion: The Core of God's Character
This morning I was thinking about compassion, and the critical need we have for it in the church. I was doing a first mention study of compassion, and came across these verses from Exodus 33:18-19 NIV:
[18] Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.”
[19] And the Lord said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion."
- and again in the next Chapter- Exodus 34:6-7 NIV:
[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. 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.”
As I am reading these verses, I am reminded of the fact that God's compassion is part of all of His goodness, that He caused to pass in front of Moses. This is part of the glory of God, for that is what Moses asked to see. Compassion is one of the core attributes of God, and we must understand this and represent this in our following of Him.
The word in Hebrew is Racham, and it is a primitive root, and means the following:
1) to love, love deeply, have mercy, be compassionate, have tender affection, have compassion
a) (Qal) to love
b) (Piel)to have compassion, be compassionate
c) of God, man
d) (Pual) to be shown compassion, be compassionate
Websters Dictionary defines compassion as follows: sympathetic consciousness of others' distress together with a desire to alleviate it
I am reminded of Jesus' compassion in seeing the people of his time, as recorded in Matthew 9:35-38 NIV:
[35] "Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. [36] When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. [37] Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. [38] Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”
In this passage, originally given to us in Greek, the word translated compassion is the original Greek word Splagchnizomai. This is defined as: to be moved as to one's bowels, hence to be moved with compassion, have compassion (for the bowels were thought to be the seat of love and pity).
So we see Jesus deeply moved out of love and pity, showing compassion to the people, reflecting the heart of the Father in this, for the Father is compassionate, gracious and merciful (as He described himself in Exodus). You cannot separate compassion from Him, for this is one of His chief characteristics, one of His primary motivations. Jesus described this in the famous passage from John 3:16-17 NIV:
[16] "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. [17] For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him."
His ministry, in coming to earth and while on earth, was to extend God's compassion to us all! It is His compassion, His seeing us in our distress and being moved to action on our behalf, out of His deep love, that is the root of our salvation! This is a love motivated action! Hence they call it the passion of Christ!
So let us celebrate the love and compassion of God! Let us celebrate and understand God's motivation in becoming our salvation, in providing our redemption. As I go into this Holy week I am reminded that Jesus did all of this, suffered through all of this because of His love and compassion, His mercy and graciousness.
I am reminded of the fact that for me to be a Christian, I am to reflect the glory of God, which is compassion, mercy and love. I am to allow His love for others to shine through me, to be reflected in my actions. As such, I must be willing to look past peoples sinfulness, to see them and understand the state of their souls. I cannot judge, I cannot reject, for the Lord did not do that to me! I must allow myself to have a sympathetic consciousness of their condition and desire to see it alleviated. I must be moved to action, motivated by God's love resident in me.
Amen Lord! Help me to better represent You to all that I meet!
[18] Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.”
[19] And the Lord said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion."
- and again in the next Chapter- Exodus 34:6-7 NIV:
[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. 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.”
As I am reading these verses, I am reminded of the fact that God's compassion is part of all of His goodness, that He caused to pass in front of Moses. This is part of the glory of God, for that is what Moses asked to see. Compassion is one of the core attributes of God, and we must understand this and represent this in our following of Him.
The word in Hebrew is Racham, and it is a primitive root, and means the following:
1) to love, love deeply, have mercy, be compassionate, have tender affection, have compassion
a) (Qal) to love
b) (Piel)to have compassion, be compassionate
c) of God, man
d) (Pual) to be shown compassion, be compassionate
Websters Dictionary defines compassion as follows: sympathetic consciousness of others' distress together with a desire to alleviate it
I am reminded of Jesus' compassion in seeing the people of his time, as recorded in Matthew 9:35-38 NIV:
[35] "Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. [36] When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. [37] Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. [38] Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”
In this passage, originally given to us in Greek, the word translated compassion is the original Greek word Splagchnizomai. This is defined as: to be moved as to one's bowels, hence to be moved with compassion, have compassion (for the bowels were thought to be the seat of love and pity).
So we see Jesus deeply moved out of love and pity, showing compassion to the people, reflecting the heart of the Father in this, for the Father is compassionate, gracious and merciful (as He described himself in Exodus). You cannot separate compassion from Him, for this is one of His chief characteristics, one of His primary motivations. Jesus described this in the famous passage from John 3:16-17 NIV:
[16] "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. [17] For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him."
His ministry, in coming to earth and while on earth, was to extend God's compassion to us all! It is His compassion, His seeing us in our distress and being moved to action on our behalf, out of His deep love, that is the root of our salvation! This is a love motivated action! Hence they call it the passion of Christ!
So let us celebrate the love and compassion of God! Let us celebrate and understand God's motivation in becoming our salvation, in providing our redemption. As I go into this Holy week I am reminded that Jesus did all of this, suffered through all of this because of His love and compassion, His mercy and graciousness.
I am reminded of the fact that for me to be a Christian, I am to reflect the glory of God, which is compassion, mercy and love. I am to allow His love for others to shine through me, to be reflected in my actions. As such, I must be willing to look past peoples sinfulness, to see them and understand the state of their souls. I cannot judge, I cannot reject, for the Lord did not do that to me! I must allow myself to have a sympathetic consciousness of their condition and desire to see it alleviated. I must be moved to action, motivated by God's love resident in me.
Amen Lord! Help me to better represent You to all that I meet!
Saturday, April 8, 2017
The Danger of Riches and Comfort
This morning I am reading out of Luke's Gospel and seem to be continuing to follow a theme related to the spirit of the world. This morning I was reading Luke's version of the sermon on the mount. He adds a few comments (verses 24-26) that would certainly not resonate well in the majority of American churches, for they speak of woes for the rich, comfortable, well fed and well accepted. As I mentioned previously the Gospel is counter-cultural, and it is resisted by the spirit of the world. Here are the verses, with some introductory context for the setting of the stage in which these comments were delivered.
Luke 6:17-26 NIV:
[17] He went down with them and stood on a level place. A large crowd of his disciples was there and a great number of people from all over Judea, from Jerusalem, and from the coastal region around Tyre and Sidon, [18] who had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. Those troubled by impure spirits were cured, [19] and the people all tried to touch him, because power was coming from him and healing them all.
[20] Looking at his disciples, he said:
“Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.
[21] Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.
[22] Blessed are you when people hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man.
[23] Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their ancestors treated the prophets."
[24] “But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort.
[25] Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep.
[26] Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you, for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets."
Here are the comments on verses 24-26 of Matthew Henry, who wrote his commentary in the late 1600's. I find his comments every bit as applicable today as in those days, albeit the language is a bit dated ( http://classic.studylight.org/com/mhc-com/view.cgi?book=lu&chapter=6&verse=24#Lu6_24). I find that his meditations are helpful to me in differentiating the good from the bad in wealth, comfort, cheer and a good reputation.
"II. Woes denounced against prospering sinners as miserable people, though the world envies them. These we had not in Matthew. It should seem, the best exposition of these woes,compared with the foregoing blessings, is the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. Lazarus had the blessedness of those that are poor, and hunger, and weep, now, for in Abraham's bosom all the promises made to them who did so were made good to him; but the rich man had the woesthat follow here, as he had the character of those on whom these woes are entailed.
1. Here is a woe to them that are rich, that is, that trust in riches, that have abundance of this world's wealth, and, instead of serving God with it, serve their lusts with it; woe to them, for they have received their consolation, that which they placed their happiness in, and were willing to take up with for a portion, Luke 6:24. They in their life-time received their good things, which, in their account, were the best things, and all the good things they are ever likely to receive from God. "You that are rich are in temptation to set your hearts upon a smiling world, and to say, Soul, take thine ease in the embraces of it, This is my rest for ever, here will I dwell; and then woe unto you." (1.) It is the folly of carnal worldlings that they make the things of this world their consolation, which were intended only for their convenience. They please themselves with them, pride themselves in them, and make them their heaven upon earth; and to them the consolations of God are small, and of no account. (2.) It is their misery that they are put off with them as their consolation. Let them know it, to their terror, when they are parted from these things, there is an end of all their comfort, a final end of it, and nothing remains to them but everlasting misery and torment.
2. Here is a woe to them that are full (Luke 6:25), that are fed to the full, and have more than heart could wish (Psalms 73:7), that have their bellies filled with the hid treasures of this world(Psalms 17:14), that, when they have abundance of these, are full, and think they have enough, they need no more, they desire no more, Revelation 3:17. Now ye are full, now ye are rich,1 Corinthians 4:8. They are full of themselves, without God and Christ. Woe to such, for they shall hunger, they shall shortly be stripped and emptied of all the things they are so proud of; and, when they shall have left behind them in the world all those things which are their fulness, they shall carry away with them such appetites and desires as the world they remove to will afford them no gratifications of; for all the delights of sense, which they are now so full of, will in hell be denied, and in heaven superseded.
3. Here is a woe to them that laugh now, that have always a disposition to be merry, and always something to make merry with; that know no other joy than that which is carnal and sensual, and know no other use of this world's good than purely to indulge that carnal sensual joy that banishes sorrow, even godly sorrow, from their minds, and are always entertaining themselves with the laughter of the fool. Woe unto such, for it is but now, for a little time, that they laugh; they shall mourn and weep shortly, shall mourn and weep eternally, in a world where there is nothing but weeping and wailing, endless, easeless, and remediless sorrow.
4. Here is a woe to them whom all men speak well of, that is, who make it their great and only care to gain the praise and applause of men, who value themselves upon that more than upon the favour of God and his acceptance (Luke 6:26): "Woe unto you; that is, it would be a bad sign that you were not faithful to your trust, and to the souls of men, if you preached so as that nobody would be disgusted; for your business is to tell people of their faults, and, if you do that as you ought, you will get that ill will which never speaks well. The false prophets indeed, that flattered your father in their wicked ways, that prophesied smooth things to them, were caressed and spoken well of; and, if you be in like manner cried up, you will be justly suspected to deal deceitfully as they did." We should desire to have the approbation of those that are wise and good, and not be indifferent to what people say of us; but, as we should despise the reproaches, so we should also despise the praises, of the fools in Israel."
In summary, I need to evaluate my heart and my pursuits in this life to make sure that I am focused on the Lord and not the things of this world. This past Sunday our pastor was saying that the biggest issue that shuts down revival and reduces reliance on the Lord and acceptance of the Gospel is prosperity. We must make sure that we are not allowing the spirit of the world and its focus on material things to distract us from our life in God. Lord, help us all!
Luke 6:17-26 NIV:
[17] He went down with them and stood on a level place. A large crowd of his disciples was there and a great number of people from all over Judea, from Jerusalem, and from the coastal region around Tyre and Sidon, [18] who had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. Those troubled by impure spirits were cured, [19] and the people all tried to touch him, because power was coming from him and healing them all.
[20] Looking at his disciples, he said:
“Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.
[21] Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.
[22] Blessed are you when people hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man.
[23] Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their ancestors treated the prophets."
[24] “But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort.
[25] Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep.
[26] Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you, for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets."
Here are the comments on verses 24-26 of Matthew Henry, who wrote his commentary in the late 1600's. I find his comments every bit as applicable today as in those days, albeit the language is a bit dated ( http://classic.studylight.org/com/mhc-com/view.cgi?book=lu&chapter=6&verse=24#Lu6_24). I find that his meditations are helpful to me in differentiating the good from the bad in wealth, comfort, cheer and a good reputation.
"II. Woes denounced against prospering sinners as miserable people, though the world envies them. These we had not in Matthew. It should seem, the best exposition of these woes,compared with the foregoing blessings, is the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. Lazarus had the blessedness of those that are poor, and hunger, and weep, now, for in Abraham's bosom all the promises made to them who did so were made good to him; but the rich man had the woesthat follow here, as he had the character of those on whom these woes are entailed.
1. Here is a woe to them that are rich, that is, that trust in riches, that have abundance of this world's wealth, and, instead of serving God with it, serve their lusts with it; woe to them, for they have received their consolation, that which they placed their happiness in, and were willing to take up with for a portion, Luke 6:24. They in their life-time received their good things, which, in their account, were the best things, and all the good things they are ever likely to receive from God. "You that are rich are in temptation to set your hearts upon a smiling world, and to say, Soul, take thine ease in the embraces of it, This is my rest for ever, here will I dwell; and then woe unto you." (1.) It is the folly of carnal worldlings that they make the things of this world their consolation, which were intended only for their convenience. They please themselves with them, pride themselves in them, and make them their heaven upon earth; and to them the consolations of God are small, and of no account. (2.) It is their misery that they are put off with them as their consolation. Let them know it, to their terror, when they are parted from these things, there is an end of all their comfort, a final end of it, and nothing remains to them but everlasting misery and torment.
2. Here is a woe to them that are full (Luke 6:25), that are fed to the full, and have more than heart could wish (Psalms 73:7), that have their bellies filled with the hid treasures of this world(Psalms 17:14), that, when they have abundance of these, are full, and think they have enough, they need no more, they desire no more, Revelation 3:17. Now ye are full, now ye are rich,1 Corinthians 4:8. They are full of themselves, without God and Christ. Woe to such, for they shall hunger, they shall shortly be stripped and emptied of all the things they are so proud of; and, when they shall have left behind them in the world all those things which are their fulness, they shall carry away with them such appetites and desires as the world they remove to will afford them no gratifications of; for all the delights of sense, which they are now so full of, will in hell be denied, and in heaven superseded.
3. Here is a woe to them that laugh now, that have always a disposition to be merry, and always something to make merry with; that know no other joy than that which is carnal and sensual, and know no other use of this world's good than purely to indulge that carnal sensual joy that banishes sorrow, even godly sorrow, from their minds, and are always entertaining themselves with the laughter of the fool. Woe unto such, for it is but now, for a little time, that they laugh; they shall mourn and weep shortly, shall mourn and weep eternally, in a world where there is nothing but weeping and wailing, endless, easeless, and remediless sorrow.
4. Here is a woe to them whom all men speak well of, that is, who make it their great and only care to gain the praise and applause of men, who value themselves upon that more than upon the favour of God and his acceptance (Luke 6:26): "Woe unto you; that is, it would be a bad sign that you were not faithful to your trust, and to the souls of men, if you preached so as that nobody would be disgusted; for your business is to tell people of their faults, and, if you do that as you ought, you will get that ill will which never speaks well. The false prophets indeed, that flattered your father in their wicked ways, that prophesied smooth things to them, were caressed and spoken well of; and, if you be in like manner cried up, you will be justly suspected to deal deceitfully as they did." We should desire to have the approbation of those that are wise and good, and not be indifferent to what people say of us; but, as we should despise the reproaches, so we should also despise the praises, of the fools in Israel."
In summary, I need to evaluate my heart and my pursuits in this life to make sure that I am focused on the Lord and not the things of this world. This past Sunday our pastor was saying that the biggest issue that shuts down revival and reduces reliance on the Lord and acceptance of the Gospel is prosperity. We must make sure that we are not allowing the spirit of the world and its focus on material things to distract us from our life in God. Lord, help us all!
Friday, April 7, 2017
A Prayer for Our Nation
I found myself praying for our country this morning, not that this is unusual, but it was a theme that just continued to be present in my mind. I was thinking about the amazingly complex issues we face as a nation, the many conflicting interests, the massive bureaucracy, the taxation, the defense and infrastructure, education and human welfare, stewardship of our natural resources, regulations versus freedom and liberty, free speech and the like. We have a very complex web of interconnected issues and there seems to be no clear path forward to reducing the complexity and creating a more peaceful and agreeable solution that is better for everyone, increasing freedom, liberty, quality of life and peace for all. There are many smart people, may passionate people, many who have answers, but I daresay no one has the perfect solution, and certainly no one has a plan that everyone will support and like.
So how do we pray, and how do we act in times like these? As I described a few days ago, I believe I must start with my own life, and then work to influence the sphere around me. I can have all the great ideas in the world, good intentions to boot, but if I am not willing to live them out, then my witness and my words are not consistent, and one could say I have limited integrity. So my first goal is to align my life and beliefs, my thoughts and my actions.
Secondly, I am reminded of some advice, namely that we need to pick our battles because we can't fight them all. Our battles need to based out of our priorities and purpose. In other words, we need to decide what are the most important things, and then invest our time and energies in them. I care about many things, but I can only really be engaged and make a difference in a few. At least that is my present situation. So for me the question is what do I care most about, and where am I called to make a difference?
Third, while I have many thoughts and ideas, opinions and strong feelings, my goal is not to fling them out, as if that was making a difference. Instead I am choosing to work on and support those areas that I have chosen, and allow my actions to speak for me. I think maybe we have too many words and opinions flying around (and I recognize that is an opinion), and I find that I prefer to control my tongue and my words. It just makes life easier. I like the following statements from Proverbs 18:2-8 NIV
[2] "Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions.
[3] When wickedness comes, so does contempt, and with shame comes reproach.
[4] The words of the mouth are deep waters, but the fountain of wisdom is a rushing stream.
[5] It is not good to be partial to the wicked and so deprive the innocent of justice.
[6] The lips of fools bring them strife, and their mouths invite a beating.
[7] The mouths of fools are their undoing, and their lips are a snare to their very lives.
[8] The words of a gossip are like choice morsels; they go down to the inmost parts."
Finally, I am feeling more encouraged to pray for all those that are trying to steer this mighty nation, to affect change, to guide and direct and decide. Not for a second do I believe that I understand all the impacts and issues, and I must trust that God has a plan. I also know that for true change to occur, we all must be willing to compromise, and be willing to give ground in some areas, and that includes me.
It seems that we have lost any respect for good old conversation that leads to compromise. By this I mean a two way communication where each side respects the other side, respects their right to have an opinion, presents their case, listens to the other and then mutually work their way to a compromise where each side gives some ground to come to an agreement and move forward. If I look at verse 2 above, it seems a somewhat accurate description of our present state, we are being foolish. So that is what I am praying for our nation and for our state and local governments. I am praying that our leaders will be slow to speak, slow to spout their opinions, and quick to listen and seek understanding, and that the spirit of respect and peace will reign.
I am trying to live my life by these words from 1 Peter 2:12-17 NASB:
[12] "Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation."
[13] "Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, [14] or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right. [15] For such is the will of God that by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men. [16] Act as free men, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but use it as bondslaves of God. [17] Honor all people, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king."
I keep coming back to Jesus' command for us to love one another as He loved us (John 13:34). For me, that is ground zero. Is my life a life of love, of care, of compassion, of mercy, of forgiveness and of laying down my life for others?
Amen.
So how do we pray, and how do we act in times like these? As I described a few days ago, I believe I must start with my own life, and then work to influence the sphere around me. I can have all the great ideas in the world, good intentions to boot, but if I am not willing to live them out, then my witness and my words are not consistent, and one could say I have limited integrity. So my first goal is to align my life and beliefs, my thoughts and my actions.
Secondly, I am reminded of some advice, namely that we need to pick our battles because we can't fight them all. Our battles need to based out of our priorities and purpose. In other words, we need to decide what are the most important things, and then invest our time and energies in them. I care about many things, but I can only really be engaged and make a difference in a few. At least that is my present situation. So for me the question is what do I care most about, and where am I called to make a difference?
Third, while I have many thoughts and ideas, opinions and strong feelings, my goal is not to fling them out, as if that was making a difference. Instead I am choosing to work on and support those areas that I have chosen, and allow my actions to speak for me. I think maybe we have too many words and opinions flying around (and I recognize that is an opinion), and I find that I prefer to control my tongue and my words. It just makes life easier. I like the following statements from Proverbs 18:2-8 NIV
[2] "Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions.
[3] When wickedness comes, so does contempt, and with shame comes reproach.
[4] The words of the mouth are deep waters, but the fountain of wisdom is a rushing stream.
[5] It is not good to be partial to the wicked and so deprive the innocent of justice.
[6] The lips of fools bring them strife, and their mouths invite a beating.
[7] The mouths of fools are their undoing, and their lips are a snare to their very lives.
[8] The words of a gossip are like choice morsels; they go down to the inmost parts."
Finally, I am feeling more encouraged to pray for all those that are trying to steer this mighty nation, to affect change, to guide and direct and decide. Not for a second do I believe that I understand all the impacts and issues, and I must trust that God has a plan. I also know that for true change to occur, we all must be willing to compromise, and be willing to give ground in some areas, and that includes me.
It seems that we have lost any respect for good old conversation that leads to compromise. By this I mean a two way communication where each side respects the other side, respects their right to have an opinion, presents their case, listens to the other and then mutually work their way to a compromise where each side gives some ground to come to an agreement and move forward. If I look at verse 2 above, it seems a somewhat accurate description of our present state, we are being foolish. So that is what I am praying for our nation and for our state and local governments. I am praying that our leaders will be slow to speak, slow to spout their opinions, and quick to listen and seek understanding, and that the spirit of respect and peace will reign.
I am trying to live my life by these words from 1 Peter 2:12-17 NASB:
[12] "Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation."
[13] "Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, [14] or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right. [15] For such is the will of God that by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men. [16] Act as free men, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but use it as bondslaves of God. [17] Honor all people, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king."
I keep coming back to Jesus' command for us to love one another as He loved us (John 13:34). For me, that is ground zero. Is my life a life of love, of care, of compassion, of mercy, of forgiveness and of laying down my life for others?
Amen.
Thursday, April 6, 2017
Of Taxes and Identity
This morning I felt like reading a bit from Matthew's Gospel, and turned to chapter seventeen. That chapter starts with the Transfiguration of Jesus, then moves on to Jesus healing a demon-possessed boy, both of which I have spent many prayer times reflecting upon. This morning though, I was drawn to the discussion of taxation found at the end of the chapter. Here are the verses I am considering this morning - Matthew 17:24-27 NIV:
[24] "After Jesus and his disciples arrived in Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma temple tax came to Peter and asked, “Doesn't your teacher pay the temple tax?”
[25] “Yes, he does,” he replied.
When Peter came into the house, Jesus was the first to speak. “What do you think, Simon?” he asked. “From whom do the kings of the earth collect duty and taxes---from their own children or from others?”
[26] “From others,” Peter answered.
“Then the children are exempt,” Jesus said to him. [27] “But so that we may not cause offense, go to the lake and throw out your line. Take the first fish you catch; open its mouth and you will find a four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for my tax and yours.”
I guess it is appropriate that I am reflecting on taxation this morning as we quickly approach tax day here in the US. I am not one to wait, and filed my taxes back in Feb., so I don't think the Lord is providing me instruction in that regard. The statement Jesus made when asking Peter the question about who the kings of the earth tax is the one that caught my eye this morning.
I decided to do a bit of research, as the two drachma temple tax is not mentioned elsewhere in scripture. Here is what Matthew Henry writes in his commentary:
"The tribute demanded was not any civil payment to the Roman powers, that was strictly exacted by the publicans, but the church-duties, the half shekel, about fifteen pence, which were required from every person or the service of the temple, and the defraying of the expenses of the worship there; it is called a ransom for the soul, (Exodus 30:12). This was not so strictly exacted now as sometimes it had been, especially not in Galilee." ( http://classic.studylight.org/com/mhc-com/view.cgi?book=mt&chapter=17&verse=24#Mt17_24)
He continues on with the following discussion about Jesus' statement and actions, which I found helpful:
"Now, 1. He appeals to the way of the kings of the earth, which is, to take tribute of strangers, of the subjects of their kingdom, or foreigners that deal with them, but not of their own children that are of their families; there is such a community of goods between parents and children, and a joint-interest in what they have, that it would be absurd for the parents to levy taxes upon the children, or demand any thing from them; it is like one hand taxing the other."
2." He applies this to himself; Then are the children free. Christ is the Son of God, and Heir of all things; the temple is his temple (Malachi 3:1), his Father's house (John 2:16), in it he is faithful as a Son in his own house (Hebrews 3:6), and therefore not obliged to pay this tax for the service of the temple. Thus Christ asserts his right, lest his paying this tribute should be misimproved to the weakening of his title as the Son of God, and the King of Israel, and should have looked like a disowning of it himself"...
The key to me in all of this is the relational component that Jesus is pointing to in His explanation. He is God's son, (and actually a King as well) and as such He is not subject to the tax. The same can actually be said of all of us, who are co-heirs in Christ (Rom 8:17), adopted sons and daughters (Rom 8:15; Gal 4:5, Eph 1:5). Paul writes in his letter to the Romans 8:29 NIV: "For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters."
Thus, the same thing is true for each of us, we are sons and daughters of the King and, as Matthew Henry points out, there is a "community of goods between parents and children, and a joint interest in what they have". Jesus was demonstrating this exact thing, and rather than reaching into the Father's pocket, had Peter reach into a fishes mouth to retrieve the tax for both of them, so as not to cause offense.
This "community of goods" between our Father and us, is one of the key issues I believe the Lord wants us to grasp! This is not a prosperity gospel type of approach, but an issue of our identity. We are His sons and daughters, and as such everything He has is available to us! In other words, if healing power is in the Lord's pocket, then we can expect to be able to have access to that healing power as well. He is not so much about making His children rich in earthly riches, but rather in helping them understand they are already in possession of heavenly riches.
Lord, I pray that You will help me to grasp this understanding and teach me to have faith in Your provision of all things! I want to walk in my identity as your adopted-son!
Amen!
Wednesday, April 5, 2017
Being Counter-Cultural
This morning I am reading from Paul's second letter to Timothy, and the verses are quite depressing. They are depressing because Paul is writing about the state of the world in the last days, and as I read the verses I see the reality of his words all around me. Here are the verses - 2 Timothy 3:1-5 NIV:
[1] "But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. [2] People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, [3] without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, [4] treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God--- [5] having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people."
I was reading some of the commentators' discussion of these verses, and they go into great detail, writing pages of examples on how these charges are visible all around us in today's culture. I don't need to review their writing to see the truth of their observations for myself. The question in reading this list is not so much whether they are true, but whether I see any of these in my own life, any of these present in me? It is easy to read across this list and judge this to be true of those bad people out there, but the deal is that I need to look truthfully into my own heart and see if I have allowed the spirit (culture) of this age and the focus on my self to take root.
As I look at this list, I can pretty easily create a list of what would be the opposite type of behavior. I can't do much to change overall societal attitudes and thinking, but I can change mine. So this morning I am encouraged to be loving towards others, generous, honest, humble, gentle, honoring my parents, thankful, holy, loving, forgiving, speaking only the truth in love, full of self control, kind, loving of good, trustworthy, patient, seeing good in others, desiring God above all else and being filled with the power of God! Now that is a much better list, and what I should aspire to in my life.
Lord, I pray that You might help me to live a life that embraces the second list, and not the first. I pray that as Christians, we can embody a counter-cultural movement that brings the second list back to the forefront of societal thought and respect. Help us to stand for the truth and make a difference through the way we live.
Amen!
[1] "But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. [2] People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, [3] without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, [4] treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God--- [5] having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people."
I was reading some of the commentators' discussion of these verses, and they go into great detail, writing pages of examples on how these charges are visible all around us in today's culture. I don't need to review their writing to see the truth of their observations for myself. The question in reading this list is not so much whether they are true, but whether I see any of these in my own life, any of these present in me? It is easy to read across this list and judge this to be true of those bad people out there, but the deal is that I need to look truthfully into my own heart and see if I have allowed the spirit (culture) of this age and the focus on my self to take root.
As I look at this list, I can pretty easily create a list of what would be the opposite type of behavior. I can't do much to change overall societal attitudes and thinking, but I can change mine. So this morning I am encouraged to be loving towards others, generous, honest, humble, gentle, honoring my parents, thankful, holy, loving, forgiving, speaking only the truth in love, full of self control, kind, loving of good, trustworthy, patient, seeing good in others, desiring God above all else and being filled with the power of God! Now that is a much better list, and what I should aspire to in my life.
Lord, I pray that You might help me to live a life that embraces the second list, and not the first. I pray that as Christians, we can embody a counter-cultural movement that brings the second list back to the forefront of societal thought and respect. Help us to stand for the truth and make a difference through the way we live.
Amen!
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