Breathing Water

02.29.12

Psalm 119.1 1 How blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the LORD. NASB

There is a way life that is completely unknown to the natural man: it was forfeited in the garden. Every person since Adam’s fall is born apart from this way. It is the way of God and it is only granted to the one to whom God gives it. How that happens I don’t know, but I do know it isn’t because of who we are, or what we’ve done; or who our parents are, or how we look. God grants the way to those whom He pleases.

Once one has received the way, there is a dynamic that comes into play whereby that person is introduced to the way, and begins to learn to live in it. It would be very much like trying to breathe water. It isn’t actually breathing water, but that’s a good comparison to what it is like. Breathing water is totally unnatural to human beings. Living in the way of God is totally unnatural; fortunately living in God’s way doesn’t include learning to breathe water…

Living the way of God is living in total dependency upon Him. That’s sometimes difficult for us because we are so used to fending for ourselves. We feed and clothe ourselves and get ourselves about each day depending on what it is that our day is made up of. Obviously we’re excluding the infirm from such things because they are infirm. We are also excluding the very young who are dependent upon their parents or guardian to care for them. But a normal, natural adult is about the business of living, and for sake of argument, that’s who we’re talking about.

Living the way of God is living in total dependency upon Him for all of the things we do for ourselves normally and naturally. Living in the way of God is living apart from the things we seem to take for granted in this world. It is inviting the Almighty to come into our lives in such a way as He becomes a part of every single thing we do all day every day. That means that living in the way of God means making room for Him to participate in all that we do. It’s unnatural. And at times it may even be uncomfortable. But it is vitally necessary for what is to come.

Psalm 119 is all about living in the way of God; it’s about living according to the law of the Lord. Now, lest I become fooled into legalism, it isn’t about living according to the rules – it’s living according to rule: God’s rule in my life. God is King and I am His servant and I live according to His rule, not His rules. So, when the psalmist (whoever it was) wrote this song under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he wasn’t referring to living under the Mosaic Law; he was referring to living in the way of God and abiding by His laws for living; that is, living according to the way of God by submitting to His rule (His presence) in every facet of my life.

As uncomfortable as the Mosaic Law was with its do’s and don’ts, the way of God is uncomfortable with its will’s and won’ts. Either I will learn to walk in God’s way or I won’t. Either I will accept His rule or I won’t. The assertion of this psalm is the one who will, is blessed; and the one who won’t is not. I want to live the blessed way even if it means doing something as uncomfortable as trying to breathe water…

“Be with me Lord Jesus I ask Thee to stay; close by me forever and help me I pray. Bless all the dear children in Thy tender care; and fit us for heaven to live with Thee there.”

The Journey with Jesus

02.22.12

Numbers 11.4-6 4 The rabble who were among them had greedy desires; and also the sons of Israel wept again and said, “Who will give us meat to eat? 5 We remember the fish which we used to eat free in Egypt, the cucumbers and the melons and the leeks and the onions and the garlic, 6 but now our appetite is gone. There is nothing at all to look at except this manna.” NASB

Journeying with Jesus is a risky endeavor: He might take us to places we don’t want to go, or give us things we may not want to hold. The other thing He will do is take away things that we love but that are not good for us. How we take or leave these things is up to us. But we must be careful, because the Lord never leads us to a bad place, nor does He give us bad things. Journeying with Him requires a commitment to trust Him because He will indeed lead us to places where we’ll for sure learn, but they’ll initially look more like dead-end streets.

It says “the rabble who were among them”. There are always those who won’t buy what the Lord has to offer. There are always those who will question what the Lord is doing. There is a small but powerful place inside of us that wants to go back to where we felt safe – because journeying with Jesus is sometimes fearful…it just depends on how we take it.

What’s at stake is learning how to trust the Lord when all we have is nothing but ocean in front of us, and an attacking army behind us: Lord how can we survive this!? What’s at stake is learning to accept the Lord’s provision for now and forgetting about the things we had in the past. Sometimes in my current position I have whined and pined for the good old days when all I had to do was show up for work and do what someone told me to do: simple – stress-free – brainless.

You know, we are all designed for far more than simple, stress-free, and brainless; we are God’s creation, created in Him to do great things. Sometimes however, we just don’t want to go to that level of effort. And so, in hindsight, the good old days begin to look pretty good. That kind of hindsight insults the Lord. That kind of whining and opining betrays a heart that says His way cannot be trusted. Listen: garlic, leeks, onions, melons, and fish in oppression are horrible compared to manna with the Lord. Manna with the Lord is designed to get us to trust in Him. Having our own way is just a slap in His face. They whined and moaned because they couldn’t see the adventure or trust in His leadership.

How about us? Is what we are doing now an adventure or drudgery? Is miraculous, mysterious manna beginning to look pretty pale in comparison to melons, leeks, and garlic? How do we view the adventure? Are we eager or feeling meager? Do we anticipate the conclusion of the journey with Jesus or are we just digging in our heels days after day feeling like He is dragging us to our death? How we view what is going on here and now makes a huge difference on how we’ll do with the, ‘there and then.’

I’m not sure if this is the appropriate way to end this or not, but a friend of mine used to quote someone somewhere back then, way down the line: Be careful how you pray: Sometimes God answers with a ‘yes’; sometimes it’s a ‘no’. Sometimes, it’s a ‘wait’; and sometimes it’s a, “if you insist.” The people insisted and the Lord responded…it wasn’t pretty. Let’s embrace the journey with Jesus and learn to trust Him every step of the way…amen?

Born Again

02.18.12

Acts 25.26-28 26 Yet I have nothing definite about him to write to my lord. Therefore I have brought him before you all and especially before you, King Agrippa, so that after the investigation has taken place, I may have something to write. 27 For it seems absurd to me in sending a prisoner, not to indicate also the charges against him.” NASB

Festus’ lord was Caesar – Paul’s was Jesus Christ. Festus was at a loss because he neither knew nor understood Jesus Christ – all he knew was Caesar. Jesus once said to a man name Nicodemus: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (John 3.3) Festus had not been born again and so the things of the Kingdom were hidden from him and appeared foolish. Festus didn’t have any room in his heart for Jesus.

And so Festus was in a spot, he wanted to send Paul to Caesar to defend himself against these Jews as a Roman citizen, but Festus didn’t have anything to say about it – he was at a loss at how to explain to Nero just exactly why Paul had been sent to him. He had to find something. But all Festus had to rely on was human experience and reasoning. All he could do was try to find something that made sense so that when Paul arrived in Rome he wouldn’t look foolish for sending him to Caesar in the first place.

But the things of the Spirit are discerned by the Spirit. Or the things of the Spirit are discerned by the spirit when the spirit is awakened by the Spirit in order for these things to be discerned… Festus needed to be born again.

There are many who misuse the term Born Again to describe a new experience or perspective. Experience and perspective fall short of what really happens when one becomes a new creation in Christ – it’s not just a new experience, it’s a completely different life because of what happens when one is born again. Being born again means becoming something completely different because with new birth comes new life and the old life has no capacity for the new. It isn’t just new thoughts – it’s a whole new life and the old life begins to decay and fade.

So for Festus to try to explain to his lord (small “l” Caesar) what was going on, it was as if a still-born baby was trying to explain what it means to be alive. Festus was indeed at a loss.

Of course he eventually came up with some plausible excuse and Paul went to see Caesar. Paul explained to Caesar what was going on and it went from there: Caesar decided to start persecuting and killing anyone who believed such nonsense. (Btw,Caesar wasn’t born again either…)

When we attempt to explain the Gospel we must be aware that apart from the ministry of the Holy Spirit, there is no born again; there is no understanding – because the things of the Spirit are only discerned by the spirit that’s been enlivened by the Spirit: no Jesus, no peace; know Jesus, know peace. I must be filled with the Spirit to speak the things of the Spirit and beseech God that the hearers of what I say may be helped by the Spirit to understand what the Spirit is saying to them. Anything else is just like an attempt by one dead person to tell another dead person what life is all about…

The Truth is Pesky

02.17.12

Acts 24.5 5 For we have found this man a real pest and a fellow who stirs up dissension among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes. NASB

A pest, Tertullus, that’s the best you can come up with!? Advice to elders: never have an attorney say for you what you ought to say for yourself. Of course Paul was a pest: he was testifying to the truth and the truth was messing up their scam. But the truth always messes up the scams: that’s what the truth is for. What’s at issue in this account is not Paul, not the Jews, not Felix, not even Israel or Rome: it was relationship between the Creator and His creation. And the best Tertullus could come up with was that it was a nuisance. Sheesh, what a dolt!

The Jews claimed faith in Christ to be too easy – they held that man had to impress God by working hard – following the Law – to garner God’s favor. The Romans didn’t like much of anything the Jews came up with and this whole Jesus thing was total foolishness to them. To impress their gods, they had to be smart enough to figure them out and once they did, then appeasing them was easy… just throw in a human sacrifice once in a while to make sure all the bases were covered.

Yes, Tertullus, Paul was indeed a pest because the truth is pesky. And man tries to work hard and figure God out so he can stay ahead of the game. But the truth is God desires so much more from His creatures than mind games. We don’t like mind games in relationships – God doesn’t either.

If my faith in Jesus Christ isn’t rubbing someone the wrong way, then it’s not working. The message of God, the message of Christ, and all of redemption is divinely designed to rub men the wrong way; it is designed to get them to do something. When your foot itches, you tend to scratch it. When our conscience itches, we tend to ignore it. The truth is designed to wear down our denial of God until we do something about Him: either accept Him, or reject Him.

I am called by God to be a pest. In our nation today the government has decided that some religions are pesky and need to be controlled – sigh – same old story. As God’s children we are called to be pesky by walking in love with Him and doing what He instructs us to do. We are to take our marching orders from the Almighty; not the Department of Health and Human Services. Here’s a human service for you: go to church this weekend and participate with all of your heart. Read your Bible this week and every week following and set your mind to do what the Spirit directs. Strengthen yourself in that pesky Christian worldview.

Do this until your “freedom” to do so is taken away by the scammers and then begin to secretly meet in homes and empty warehouses; and in the woods and in caves because you’d rather be a pest and rub folks the wrong way, than perish in cowardliness and unbelief. Yes Tertullus, Paul was a pest; and he gave his life for the planet because God told him to, and he didn’t listen to lawyers …

Holly Days

02.03.12

Exodus 35.2 2 “For six days work may be done, but on the seventh day you shall have a holy day, a sabbath of complete rest to the LORD; whoever does any work on it shall be put to death. NASB

When we take a mandated day off, we call it a holiday: and we pronounce it “holly-day.” In our culture we don’t take holy days because we mostly are not holy people. That doesn’t mean we aren’t Christians, it just means we don’t celebrate that many holy days and when we do they aren’t set apart as days to focus on the Lord. To us, they are holly-days, as in deck the halls with bows of…

God mandated from the get-go that the Jews would take a day off a week to celebrate Him. It was a day to cease from work and to focus their attention on their spiritual lives. They weren’t even supposed to kindle a fire on those days. Those holy days were to be faithfully and regularly observed, and the people were to do no work on those days. The holy days were to be part of their culture and normal routine. And they were mandatory with severe consequences for the one(s) who chose not to obey.

When is the last time you took a holy day; a day set apart for the Lord? It is so foreign to my thinking that I don’t think I really ever have. Most of my days off are decked with bows of whatever-in-the-heck-I-want-to-do. Sure, I have some around the house kinds of things to do, but those are really more like catch-up days that I have to get caught up on all the things I’ve let slide all week. On our days off, my wife and I like to make a list of to-do’s and get them done. We feel good when our to-do’s are to-done. But set aside a whole day to focus on nothing but the Lord? Where’s the holly?

I’d probably be better off, in my mind and heart, if I took time to be holy; if I set aside time to focus on the Lord, and not let the worries of this world creep in and use up my energies and my efforts. My work and weekly routine might be better if I allowed the Lord to direct it and if I took time to get quiet and listen for Him. Heck, I’d probably be better off if I ate unsalted corn chips on those days and just drank water.

Maybe it’s time to do that. Maybe it’s time to initiate some holy-time and maybe work to stretch it into holy-days. Maybe it’s time to schedule some quiet time in a quiet place to listen for God and share with Him my trust in all He does just by being silent, or repeating the words, thank You, every time a need or a concern comes to mind rather than asking Him for His help to provide for something He’s already promised to provide.

I know we modern believers don’t live under the Jewish Law but it looks to me like we don’t live under much of any law… except the law that says, my time is my time to do whatever in the heck I want to do…when I want to do it! I’m not seeing the God-honoring aspect of that…

Yes, today I am convicted to do something about holy-time that can turn into, with regularity and schedule, holy days. It’s time to act.