Pablo's Perspectives

Born Again

2012-02-18T08:31:00.001-08:00

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

2012-02-17T06:01:00.000-08:00

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

2012-02-03T06:32:00.001-08:00

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.

Let It Rip

2012-01-31T06:38:00.000-08:00

01.31.12

Acts 7.2 2 And he said, “Hear me, brethren and fathers! The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran... NASB

In Luke, Jesus told His disciples, “But before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and will persecute you, delivering you to the synagogues and prisons, bringing you before kings and governors for My name’s sake. It will lead to an opportunity for your testimony. So make up your minds not to prepare beforehand to defend yourselves; for I will give you utterance and wisdom which none of your opponents will be able to resist or refute.” (Luke 21.12-15 NASB) Now here, in Acts 7, Stephen, one of the seven appointed in Acts 6, has been dragged before the Jewish Council to bear witness to the truth of God’s word.

In Acts 7, I don’t think Stephen had time to rehearse his speech. When the High Priest demanded an answer (v. 1) Stephen just opened his mouth and let it rip. His point was that Israel, despite the mercy and grace of God to befriend them down through the centuries since Abraham, had always resisted the grace of God and gone their own way. Man does not – in his nature – want to be ruled by a God. And Stephen made his point.

The outcome was that Stephen was stoned to death. I can’t imagine stoning except to think that it must hurt; and the hurt must magnify to the point where you cannot defend yourself and thus succumb to the ‘beating’ of the rocks being thrown at you. How can you defend yourself from an enraged mob of men whose sole goal is to pound you into bloody pulp by pummeling you with stones? Had they had God Himself on the ground they would have attempted to pummel Him into a bloody mass as well. Such is the anger of men against God.

The question is will we speak? This world (i.e. all that is opposed to God) cannot handle the truth because they are afraid of it. They are afraid because their lives center on punishment in that they recognize the wrongs of sin (either outwardly or inwardly) and they are afraid of its consequences: somehow, some way, someone must pay for the wrongs – and it might just be them. That’s why men go to such lengths to factor God out of the equation. If God is gone then so is responsibility and accountability.

And so, God confronts us with the truth. God is not cruel or mean-spirited; He simply would like to show us the way out of this mess through fearless love where punishment is gone…taken by Someone else so we don’t have to go through it. But the fear of fear is just too great for some to overcome; and then here come the rocks.

We will all find ourselves at some point where we will have to defend the truth we hold to if we hold to the truth. But Jesus tells us, don’t think about that beforehand. Just trust Me when it comes; I’ll tell you what to say that will be appropriate for the moment. Jesus’ advice to us is walk with Him and when the time comes just open your mouth and let it rip. He doesn’t say it won’t come without pain, but it will evoke a response. And He will be our Guide.

The Thornier Issues

2012-01-29T07:11:00.000-08:00

01.29.12

Acts 5.41 41 So they went on their way from the presence of the Council, rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for His name. NASB

Apparently these zealous nuisances didn’t get the message the first time. Apparently it was going to take more than a verbal threat to get them to shut up. So this time they got a threat and a flogging. The flogging hurt; it was meant to! They needed something to help them to get it that speaking out in that Name was not going to be tolerated…

Yesterday, a friend of mine posed this thought: Have you ever had a context in which you could be completely honest about scripture and spirituality questions, large and small, without having your foundational faith questioned or without danger of causing someone to stumble? I do love God's Book, but I have some suggestions he might want to consider if he does another one! He posed this in reference to this thought: “If a man beats his male or female slave with a club and the slave dies as a result, the owner must be punished. 21 But if the slave recovers within a day or two, then the owner shall not be punished, since the slave is his property.” (Exodus 21:20-21 NLT)

An e-discussion of sorts has ensued with others offering their opinions regarding some of the thornier issues of Scripture and whether we’re to take them literally or figuratively (e.g. Noah’s ark); or whether there are legitimate overstatements in Scripture that are questionable, inaccurate, or flatly impossible. Did the ancients embellish then as we tend to do now? Were their fishing stories then, like ours now?

Here’s one more thorn to add to the mix: So they went on their way from the presence of the Council, rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for His name. (Acts 5.41 NASB) I’m not sure which is harder to believe: the account of Noah’s ark, or the disciples leaving the Council, rejoicing (in their pain, brutal, and bloody bodily injury) that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for [Christ’s] name. What happened to these men that they would react this way?

The Bible is probably one of the most enigmatic books on the planet. Most people (I believe) gloss over the thornier issues of Scripture by either ignoring the obvious, or concocting some kind of cover that makes the hard stuff easier to swallow. The bottom line is, with the Bible – warts and all – are we able to get to know God in a way that our very lives are changed and transformed into something of use for God? Does reading the Bible draw us closer to the Almighty or drive us away? Does it change our lives in such a manner as we would endure 39 lashes (or whatever modern equivalent) from an oppressive civil authority and walk away rejoicing that we had been found worthy to suffer such treatment for the sake of Christ and our speaking out on His behalf? What then has our belief done to us?

If we choose to compare everything in Holy Writ to our experience (or culture) today then we may bump into some difficulties in making all the ends meet squarely. But if we can, without making excuses for the things we can’t mentally reconcile, draw closer to God through His word as it is presented to us (i.e. without our input or approval) then what is important in life will truly become clear to us: that God has made us specifically and specially for the purpose of our becoming His friends and allowing our lives to be transformed into something of remarkable beauty because of that relationship.

The Presence of Power

2012-01-28T07:41:00.000-08:00

01.28.12

Acts 4.16-18 16 ...saying, “What shall we do with these men? For the fact that a noteworthy miracle has taken place through them is apparent to all who live in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it. 17 But so that it will not spread any further among the people, let us warn them to speak no longer to any man in this name.” 18 And when they had summoned them, they commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. NASB

This passage of Acts is rich with all kinds of historical evidence of the reality of Jesus, the perception of the Sadducees, the mindset of the times, and the presence of the power of God in a miracle that took place in the life of a lame beggar.

As to the reality of Jesus Christ, we don’t walk by historical evidence, we walk by faith. But it is interesting to note that the Sadducees recognized Peter and John as being followers (disciples) of Christ. They said that! There are historical facts surrounding the earthly life of Jesus that are undeniable. Whether or not they are believed is another story. There is the evidence of the power of God in a miracle that is undeniable. Whether it is believed or not is another story.

The mindset of the times was that people believed in the presence (or possibility) of miracles; the unexplainable. We have those things in our day, that when they take place, are written off as unexplainable events, and categorized as miracles. There are those among us today who would simply affirm these events as the presence of God – like the Sadducees did. What is interesting is the Sadducees didn’t believe in the power of God; they believed in the power of politics. So for them to affirm something as a miracle was in itself, a miracle. Their only other choice was to deny the cripple had ever been crippled and the whole thing was staged. There was simply too much evidence to the contrary, he was standing right in front of them!

So, the Sadducees ordered Peter and John to shut-up about Jesus. (That in itself is lame!) They recognized the presence of a Power and though they couldn’t explain it, they realized that even talking about Jesus did something to people, and they demanded the disciples to cease speaking about the Lord. Peter’s response is classic: “Whether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge; for we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.” (Acts 4.19b-20a NASB) Way to go Peter! All the Sadducees had was their political threats… compare those to the power and presence of God!

So we are faced with the same thing today: there are those people who will acknowledge a miracle and yet won’t believe. There are those who believe in the power of politics. And there are those who think by political threats they can squelch faith in Christ. These tactics are centuries old and yet seem to have failed time after time.

What doesn’t fail today however, is watered-down faith. That’s why there is such a move to explain the unexplainable, and to paint Believers as just normal folks with quirky beliefs who like to meet together once a week or so to make themselves feel better. Church in America is not a threat as long as it stays in its kennel and out of the marketplace. The world today needs people like Peter and John to upset the societal apple cart and display the obvious: that they have been with Jesus, and noteworthy miracles happen when they publicly talk about Jesus. Whatcha say guys, are we in?

The God Exam

2012-01-27T06:10:00.001-08:00

01.27.12

Exodus 17.2 2 Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water that we may drink.” And Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the LORD?” NASB

It is one thing for the Lord to put us to the test – it is quite another to put Him to the test. Putting the Lord to the test is unbelief. Asking the Lord for a sign is unbelief. Questioning His presence or His methods is unbelief. As I said yesterday, the Lord expects from us complete obedience and a fully trusting heart. The surest indicator that we are failing God’s test is to try to test Him.

I know the people were just learning how to walk in faith and for most of them it was a struggle. They hadn’t been used to walking in much faith while they were in Egypt under their taskmasters. But it was the cruel oppression of the Egyptians that awoke in them a desire for deliverance. And they cried out to the Lord. And God responded. But they found that crying out for deliverance was one thing and for it to actually happen was another. They began to realize that part of crying out to the Lord meant their walking in faith to His response. They were being asked to trust God. Sometimes that is really a struggle for us. I know it is for me.

Testing the Lord is my asking for Him to prove Himself. The Lord doesn’t need to prove Himself. I need to be proven faithful, but God never does – He is always only faithful. So my response to the things in my life that don’t go my way needs simply to be: may the Lord’s will be done. He is testing me, and will use whatever means necessary to accomplish the test. I must accept that. But I also must accept that only He gets to do the testing, not me. It’s a hard lesson to learn but it is the only lesson I’m allowed: He is God and I am not.

And Moses was being tested as well. Whatever is good for those being led, is also good for those leading. Moses, we’ll note, was also given explicit instructions of what to do and how to do it. We’re the ones who need tested.

I am guilty of asking the Lord to prove Himself. I have actually prayed – when in difficult times – Lord, You brought me here! In other words, why are You treating me this way since You brought me to this!? It’s usually more accusatory than that. My arrogance reaches fever pitch when I go through tough stuff and then accuse the Lord of mistreating me. I know that sounds harsh, but it’s true. In the current test, I am learning to stop doing that and to stop asking for the Lord to give me a sign – I don’t need signs, I need faith. We all need to learn that lesson at some point and to some degree.

Moses, to whom I look to as an example, not to equate my life with his, spent nearly forty years wandering around in a desert ignoring God. And then one day the Lord showed up and asked Moses to be the leader of His people and to bring them out of Egypt. That was a big ask. Moses needed to unlearn some stuff and so do we when God shows up in our lives and asks us to do something bigger than we can accept: like walk with Him and do His will. The last thing we should do is ask Him to prove Himself. The last thing we should do is to put Him to the test. We are called to be faithful and that is exactly what the Lord is perfecting in each of us…

The Test

2012-01-26T06:15:00.000-08:00

01.26.12

Exodus 16.4 4 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, that I may test them, whether or not they will walk in My instruction. NASB

What if we filtered all of our life’s events through this one statement: “Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, that I may test them, whether or not they will walk in My instruction.”? What if everything that happens to us every day was a test from the Lord as to whether or not we will walk in His instruction? It sure makes life look different if it is.

The test seemed simple enough: the Lord would provide this ‘bread’ and they would go out and gather what they needed every day except for the day before the seventh day. They would then go out and gather twice as much. If they tried to gather more than they needed on any other day it would be rotten by morning except for what was gathered on the sixth day and help over to the seventh. By the way, there would be none to be gathered on the seventh day.

It all seemed simple enough – except – they didn’t all obey. Some gathered and tried to hold it over until the next day only to find it putrid and full of worms. Some gathered what they needed for each day but didn’t gather enough to hold them over from the sixth through the seventh day. Some were just failing the test.

The Lord expects a certain response out of us. He expects complete obedience and a fully trusting heart. That’s why He tested them and, I believe, why He tests us. And the testing is so that we gain – not Him. God doesn’t gain anything by our obeying or disobeying; the reward or consequence is all on us. That’s why our pitiful attempts to manipulate Him are so pathetic and weak. All they show is that we still haven’t got it. And if God could be insulted by us, our attempts to manipulate Him would be very insulting. But that’s why the tests: He is looking into our souls to see if we get it. And when we don’t, another test comes to see if we do.

God, it seems, is in the business of making us into something we cannot yet believe He would do; and it appears it will take an eternity to do it. When the Scripture says: “For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you,’ declares the LORD, ‘and I will restore your fortunes and will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you,’ declares the LORD, ‘and I will bring you back to the place from where I sent you into exile.’” (Jeremiah 29.11-14 NASB) it means it.

It also means that whatever His plans for us are, they are infinitely beyond what we can hope or imagine, but by His hand, and for however long it takes, He will, and thereby we will, succeed. Our existence however painful and pitiful it may be at the moment, is only just the beginning of what our God has in store for us. But we must be prepared for what awaits us. And so we must be tested to see if any of what God is doing in us is making a difference in us. What lies ahead is worth the wait and worth the testing. And our Father never gives up.

Motor Honey Theology

2012-01-25T07:01:00.000-08:00

01.25.12

Acts 1.7-8 7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; 8 but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.” NASB

Years ago, when I was much younger, weighed less, and had less of a receding hairline, there was an automotive product called motor honey. It was this thick, gooey, amber-colored viscous substance that one poured into the oil of an older motor. I think it was designed to glue older motors together to make them last a few more miles before they leaked all of their oil out and seized up in the old age of too many miles on them. I’m not sure it worked all that well but the gas stations where I worked sure sold a ton of it… I actually used some myself.

The thing I remember about motor honey was how it stuck to your hands and how nearly impossible it was to remove. It was not only thick and gooey, but also really sticky. It is surprising that it didn’t seize up the motor! So cleaning it off usually meant using some kind of solvent to cut it and leaving the remainder wear off. Sticky stuff.

It seems in Acts 1, the issue of God restoring the kingdom of Israel was still on the minds of the disciples who’d seen the Lord crucified, killed, buried, and now standing before them resurrected. They still expected Jesus to pull some last minute coup out of a hat and bring back the grandeur of a kingdom long, long ago. The disciples were caught up in the amber threads of motor honey theology. What they believed and had been taught since they were very young had stuck with them and it was going to take something greater than the resurrection (if that wasn’t enough) to get them to get free of their thinking and expectations. Enter: the Holy Spirit.

One of the things we wrestle with is our incessant wishful thinking that God is somehow going to direct our ship to come in and we will live out the remainder of our days healthy, wealthy, and free from the drag of this world on our lives. I don’t know too many people (if any at all) who would refuse to win the MegaBux Lottery. Most everybody I know is looking for, either inwardly or outwardly, a ship to come in… I think the disciples of old were too.

And Jesus said, “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.” In other words, “Boys, the kingdom you are looking for doesn’t compare with the One I am ushering in! What you really want to see is what I am bringing, not for your non-existent ship to come in!”

What they needed was the Holy Spirit to free them from their motor honey theology. And when that happened on Pentecost, their lives changed forever. What do you need to free you from wishful thinking and sticky, gooey old untruths in your mind that just won’t go away? The men of Galilee waited for the Holy Spirit – for us, I’d say that’s a great place to start… The presence of God will do for us infinitely beyond what our wishful fantasies can never do: His power and presence will bring out of us the things He’s put in us to change the world around us. We just need to focus on that and wait patiently for it – He’ll come through every time!

For Truth to Become Believable

2012-01-24T06:32:00.001-08:00

01.24.12

Luke 24.11 11 But these words appeared to them as nonsense, and they would not believe them. NASB

It is my firm conviction that spiritual truths are often accepted as nonsense by unbelievers. Unbelief retards the capacity of the human heart to accept truth. This is why the ministry of the Holy Spirit is non-negotiable and essential to the sharing of the truth with those to whom the Lord sends us.

The ministry of the Holy Spirit is mysterious in that we can’t explain how He enables the heart of one in darkness and death to receive light and life. How it happens is mysterious – that it happens is marvelous.

But further, unbelief also happens in the life of those who say they believe. Many who believe do not read the Scripture because it appears as nonsense to them. They try, with human understanding, to apply truth to their minds that only the Spirit of God can illumine. That’s why the prayerful invitation for the ministry of the Holy Spirit is so important when we sit down to read the Bible: Lord, help me to understand what You are teaching me that I may follow Your instruction.

Now, in the verse above, Peter and the other disciples were clueless as to what the women were saying when they returned from the tomb to excitedly tell the men what they had heard and seen. Obviously these women were overjoyed and in their excitement the words may have been less that orderly but Peter and the gang were too bummed out to be encouraged by a bunch of hysterical women.

Again, that’s why in verse 45 it says, “Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures...” It takes the power of God to make our minds understand. We cannot, in our pitiful human reasoning, even begin to roll away death and darkness in our own lives let alone in the lives of others. Only death can be conquered by life and then at the hand of the Spirit of God.

So when we pray for our children, our loved ones, our friends and neighbors – or even that guy at work who bugs the crap out of us – we must pray for the ministry of the Holy Spirit in their lives to illumine the darkness that is in them and to ask that He help them see how dark that darkness is.

Now, we must realize that when we do, we must accept that in many cases this illumination will be less than comfortable for them and that at some point it may even take a full-blown life crisis for them to get it. But we must also accept that even a full-blown life crisis, at the hand of God, is done in love and will accomplish in them infinitely more that we can hope for or imagine. We must pray for the ministry of the Holy Spirit. It’s what it took for us to believe, and it is the only thing that it will take in their lives as well. For truth to become believable the presence of God is necessary.

Multiplication

2012-01-23T06:17:00.000-08:00

01.23.12

Exodus 5.3-4 3 But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart that I may multiply My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt. 4 When Pharaoh does not listen to you, then I will lay My hand on Egypt and bring out My hosts, My people the sons of Israel, from the land of Egypt by great judgments. NASB

Math is different with God: He multiplies rather than adds. Surely He could have said, “I will harden Pharaoh’s heart that I may add My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt…” And surely God could have – but He didn’t: He multiplied; the judgments got logarithmically bigger. The difference between a byte and a megabyte is a thousand. God multiplied the woes on Egypt because one king tried to stand in the way of God and His will.

God’s judgments are designed to get men’s attention but men are often stubborn and slow to learn. Pharaoh is just one in a long line of the stubborn and slow. Each judgment got worse than the previous but Pharaoh didn’t want to learn; he only wanted the judgments to stop. But most folks don’t get it that when God is judging and we only give Him lip-service or pretend repentance, the judgments only escalate to the level that they get our attention. God knows just what it takes.

We will read that the judgments finally get to the point that Pharaoh caves and relents and lets Moses take the people out. But even then, he tries to go after them to destroy them in the wilderness. His problem was he saw himself as a god and couldn’t stand the competition from Israel’s God. The difficulty was he only thought he was a god and couldn’t compete with the Real Deal. Men are such fools at times.

When we find ourselves in difficult and trying times it is sometimes hard to accept that our difficulties might be coming from the hand of the Lord. We might have to swallow really hard to admit that God is judging us. The safe bet is that whatever is going on around us is from the hand of the Lord and we can rest assured that if it’s from Him, it is served in love. We tend to want to think that because we are God’s children that we are somehow exempt from His discipline… we couldn’t be more wrong. To His own God multiplies judgment and discipline because of what He’s doing in us and through us. His goal and desire is that we seek Him with all of our hearts. His judgments in our lives cause us to seek hard after Him… or when we refuse to learn, whine hard over ourselves…

Whatever the case, God multiplies His love and His judgments because He is seeking from us more than we believe is there. And what is there, is what He’s put there; and He desires that what He’s put there is to come out for the benefit of the world around us. Such is the magnitude of the work of God in our lives.

Today, I submit myself to Him and His ways because in them I will find His multiplied grace to see me through. I accept that just as he worked in Pharaoh of old to get his attention, He is working in me to get mine. My hope is that I sit up and pay attention in class today and that His way and will in me is there for His glory to be displayed…

The Truth Unleavened

2012-01-22T08:29:00.000-08:00

01.22.12

Luke 22.3 3 And Satan entered into Judas who was called Iscariot, belonging to the number of the twelve. NASB

The Feast of Unleavened Bread was the first feast the people of Israel celebrated on the night they departed from Egypt. The people were instructed to kill an unblemished lamb, roast it over fire, and eat it. What was left was to be burned before morning. The bread they were to eat with the roasted lamb was to be bread without yeast in it. Yeast causes bread dough to rise and become fluffy as the dough bakes. Yeast is symbolic of sin in the life of a person.

In Exodus 12, the instructions are given to Moses and Aaron regarding the Passover. The Exodus was the coming out of Israel from Egypt. Egypt symbolizes all that is other than God. The meal that was to be eaten was a meal that was other than what they were used to: it was to be eaten at night, in a hurry, and nothing was to be left over by morning. They were to be fully clothed and ready to leave. The blood of the lamb was to be spread onto the doorposts.

But the main thing to me however, was that this was the feast that was to remind them annually of their coming out of the kingdom of Pharaoh (the kingdom of the world), and into the Promised Land, the symbolic Kingdom of God.

In Luke 22 Jesus and His men were going to celebrate the Passover, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, together. It says in verse 3, that Satan entered into Judas. Judas became leavened with all that is opposed to God in that moment. Judas, apparently, had had enough. That is just what the enemy looks for: and like water dripping on stone for a long, long time, eventually it wears through. Judas was worn through. Jesus’ men were to be ready for action; He tried to get them to see what was happening and all they could see was how to kill someone with their swords.

Leaven makes bread dough less than what is originally is. A little bit of leaven goes a long way because leaven feeds off of the dough. In Judas it started small and finally wore through to the point that Satan had access and he took full advantage of that!

Today, I think about the wearing out of my own life – my vocation, my routine, the things I accept mindlessly and take for granted that constantly grind away on me and my perspective. You know, that is a foolish way to live: mindlessly and taking things for granted. I am to live an unleavened life. Like leaven in bread that makes the dough fluffy, sin in my life makes me less than who I am in Him; and so does living mindlessly and taking things for granted.

It doesn’t take much and unless I avail myself regularly and routinely to the unleavened truth of the word, my life can (and will) wear out against the tactics of an enemy who likes to lure me into the easy way, the leavened way. Judas was a fool who allowed the leaven of life make him into less than he was, and when it came time to act all he had was less of himself than he expected – it’s no wonder he went down the path that he did…

The Government of God

2012-01-21T07:54:00.000-08:00

1.21.2012

Exodus 1.22 22 Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, “Every son who is born you are to cast into the Nile, and every daughter you are to keep alive.”

Governments often fear size in some respects. Governments usually don’t know or celebrate the provision of God and fear running out of stuff like food, soldiers, supplies; and the list goes on and on. Some governments resort to rationing. Most governments only see people as things and do things like give orders to kill baby boys or baby girls in order to keep the population under control so they don’t run out of stuff.

Human governments tend to be pragmatic at the expense of human life; the very young, the elderly, the sick and frail, and the poor all tend to become expendable. Instead of looking for ways to preserve life they tend to look for ways to reduce the masses because masses are a drain on resources. Historically, governments have an excellent track record of putting things over people – that’s just the way they do things.

In China today, it is girls who are the targets. Girls are targeted because girls get pregnant and have babies and when your job is to manage a country of one point something billion people, you need to control how many girls have babies and how many babies those girls have. The Chinese government supports forced sterilization. The Chinese see limits to their resources and many in China cannot handle the thought of an infinite God with infinite resources. There are many others on the earth today who see the global population as a problem and something to be rigidly controlled.

So Pharaoh’s population control efforts were put into place and yet the Israelites continued to have babies. So rather than fight the problem head-on, Pharaoh decided to turn the Israeli’s into machines – if you won’t control your urges and energies, the I will make you use them to build my infrastructure. As long as there have been governments, they have viewed the common population as resources to be used, rather than people to be valued.

In Isaiah 9 is this: For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; and the government will rest on His shoulders; and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness from then on and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this. (Vv. 6-7 NASB) Thank God!

Only God has the wherewithal to care for every person in every nation; and give all of us all we need, all the time. And the government will rest on His shoulders and He will care for all for He will value all as priceless and indispensable. And what we need is Him, and He’s more than enough for everyone forever.

The Fuel of Dysfunction

2012-01-20T07:50:00.000-08:00

01.20.12

Genesis 50.15 15 When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “What if Joseph bears a grudge against us and pays us back in full for all the wrong which we did to him!” NASB

You know, there were twelve different brothers by four different mothers. If you carefully read the blessings spoken over them by Jacob before he dies, you see that they are as different as night and day. I’m not sure how they thought of each other but it is very evident to me that they revered (or hated) Joseph as someone special. Such was the dysfunction of such a family.

Every family on earth bears the marks of dysfunction. We are all sinners, what would we expect? And really, blended families have one kind of dysfunction and intact families another. One of the greatest miracles of salvation in Christ is what His presence and love does to dysfunction. But not everyone sees and not everyone believes; and sometimes the baggage of the earlier days weighs tremendously on the present days. That’s why Joseph’s brothers would say: “What if Joseph bears a grudge against us and pays us back in full for all the wrong which we did to him!”

In my line of work I have about five minutes to earn credibility. I really only have about 30 seconds. But I need to say what I need to say in such a short period of time or else I have lost my effectiveness. What I say, I believe, is important. But how I present it is important as well and I need to present it well or I lose credibility.

In family life, friendships, marriages, we usually have more time to develop credibility; we tend to become predictable. But when you factor in fear, credibility goes out the window. When you factor in fear, everything usually goes out the window in relationships. Fear makes us cling to statements like: What if (so and so) bears a grudge – then what!? Fear destroys relationships and fuels the dysfunction of dysfunctional families. Fear is what fueled the mentality of Joseph’s brothers, who now that Jacob had died, saw Joseph as a threat.

Perfect love casts out fear. In 1 John we find these words: God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love. (1 John 4.16b-18 NASB) Joseph’s brothers never got it that there was such a thing as love and that love would, and could, cover over the wrongs of an entire lifetime.

Listen: whenever we are afraid we show exactly where we are abiding. Abiding in God, no matter who you are, what you’ve done, or who your relatives, friends, or spouse is, is how love is perfected in us. And when love is perfected dysfunction ceases to function. That’s the miracle of Jesus and abiding in Him! That is the remedy for dysfunction! That is what is so needed in our lives, our jobs, and our relationships today: perfect love. And the only way to get there is to hang out with God.

Joseph’s brothers hurt him by fearing him. He responded in love by saying: “Do not be afraid, for am I in God’s place? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive. So therefore, do not be afraid; I will provide for you and your little ones.” So he comforted them and spoke kindly to them. (Genesis 50.19-21 NASB) Joseph was perfected in love – let’s be the same!

Inference

2012-01-19T06:23:00.000-08:00

01.19.12

Genesis 48.19-20 19 But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know; he also will become a people and he also will be great. However, his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his descendants shall become a multitude of nations.” 20 He blessed them that day, saying, “By you Israel will pronounce blessing, saying, ‘May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh!’” Thus he put Ephraim before Manasseh. NASB

Scripture speaks when It must, and is silent when appropriate. We learn a lot about Jacob in these final chapters of Genesis. We learn he was a both a shepherd and a warrior. (See Genesis 48.22) We learn that he considered Ephraim and Manasseh his children (See Genesis 48.5). And we learn that he thought a lot about Joseph’s sons see Genesis 48.14ff. We also learn that Jacob still favored Joseph over his brothers (Genesis 48.21,22).

What gets my attention is that God is involved in the making of nations and in laying out the societal foundations of the nations. God is the One who chose Ephraim over Manasseh. God is the One who chose Joseph over Reuben. And God is the One who chose that Messiah would come from Judah. God is in charge of these things and not men. And where men run afoul is when they take attempt to take charge of things. But even then God’s purposes are perfectly accomplished because God can use even the worst decisions of men (or the best) to accomplish His purposes.

When I think about the trail of my own life, I have to remember Who is in charge of the paths I’ve taken, and has used the decisions I’ve made, whether good or bad, to accomplish His purposes in my life. There is, at any given point, more going right than wrong in the life of a Christian. That’s because God is in charge (control) of our lives and His purposes for us go way beyond what we feel or see or think.

We might see things from east to west or from left to right, but we cannot put those same perspectives on God for He sees them differently than we do. When culture says the eldest is the first blessed it shouldn’t surprise us that God has chosen the younger over the older. God sees things differently than we do. God looks at the heart and God knows and see things that we can’t. I don’t know how Jacob saw those things in Joseph’s sons; all I know is he did. So I’m left to infer some things.

I’m left to infer that God’s involvement in Jacob’s life was more than what Scripture shares. I’m left to infer that Jacob’s thoughts about the future were molded by God’s input into his mind. I’m left to infer that when one is chosen by God, God does what God does in the life of that person despite what flaws or shortcomings that person may have. And I am left to infer that God’s will and purpose will be accomplished no matter how things appear to me.

What all this does is build my trust and my confidence in God that no matter how weird or painful things appear to me, God is doing what He is doing, and it is perfect and right and loving and good. Sometimes the older will serve the younger…

Keep Praying

2012-01-18T06:10:00.000-08:00

01.18.12

Luke 18.1 1 Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart... NASB

The word steadfast comes to mind. We are to be steadfast in prayer. We are to be persistent in prayer. Jesus was telling His men, and us, to pray without ceasing. At all times we are to pray and not lose heart.

Several months back I took up a job with a sales organization. I had never done cold-calls before so I was in for something new. I have to admit I was intimidated by the job because I was convinced I had to create the sales. And so each day I went out wondering how I was going to do since I thought I had to create the sales for that day. I prayed a lot. My prayer was something like, “Lord, put me in front of the people You know that I need to talk to who will buy what I am selling.” It was the wrong prayer. But God was gracious to me and I seemed to find people each week to talk to and to convince that what I am selling was for their good. I don’t pray that prayer any more.

I do pray for God’s blessing as I go and I do pray for His presence as I go, but I trust Him that the people I need to find are there but I must be out there to find them. And I thank Him for the sales I make. My job is to be out there trusting God. I am not to lose heart in His provision but to praise Him and thank Him for the job, and the means to do it.

There are times when my heart gets weak. There are times when I look around and can’t seem to find my heart. That’s when I pray to Him for courage, and when I praise Him for what He’s provided in the past. God is in charge of all things: even the things in our puny little individual lives. Our job is to be out there where He sends. Someone once said, the key to a successful sales career is to talk to lots of people: the good news is, there are lots of people. I believe that. and I believe it is that kind of thinking that helps me in what I do. God expects me to pray about that and to thank Him for the means to do what I do.

Sometimes I marvel at the provision of God in the situations I find myself. For instance, I have no control over people. I have no control over their schedules or their lives or their minds. Sometimes I show up at their places and they aren’t there. Sometimes I’m driving up just to watch them drive away (that happened to me last Friday). But sometimes I show up to talk to one person and end up selling to him and the person he’s with – only God is in charge of opportunities like that. I have come to believe that the way to succeed at this job is to be out there where the people are and leave the results to God. You know what? It works!

What are you praying for that at times your heart seems to be absent? What do you need from God that seems to be eluding you? Keep praying and thanking God for what He’s doing and remember what He’s done – He is with you. Your situation is precious to God for He is working in it to build your trust in Him. Our prayers are not just evidence that our needs are being met but further, that our trust in Him is growing. Maturity looks something like this: facing the impossible; praying the impossible; growing in faith; and watching the impossible happen. I hope we all are maturing…

Where We Need to Be

2012-01-17T19:28:00.001-08:00

01.17.12

Genesis 42.1-2 1 Now Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt, and Jacob said to his sons, “Why are you staring at one another?” 2 He said, “Behold, I have heard that there is grain in Egypt; go down there and buy some for us from that place, so that we may live and not die.” NASB

Jacob, the patriarch of his clan, was the leader as well. It was not only his familial responsibility, but also his cultural obligation to lead. However, it was also his obligation to teach motivation and to motivate. Leaders motivate and teach motivation. Jacob motivated but he didn’t do such a good job at teaching.

Jacob’s sons seemed to be kinda waiting around for someone (Jacob) to spell out the next move. Jacob said, “What’re you boys doing – you look like bumps on a log! Get down to Egypt and buy us some food!” So they loaded up the donkeys and made their move. The boys knew they were running out of food; they just didn’t seem to be too motivated to do anything about – at least until the old man said so.

Joseph on the other hand seemed to have it in hand: he was now the Prime Minister of Egypt and was doing quite well ordering around the citizens of Egypt. My question is, why didn’t he escape back to Canaan? Why didn’t he just chuck it all and go back home? I guess it’s because he knew what his brothers failed to do the first time, they might succeed at the second time. The other thing is Joseph seemed to know that where he was, was where he was supposed to be. He seemed fine with that. Maybe God was making him into a leader as well.

The difference between Joseph and his brothers was they seemed to be focused on their father and he seemed to be focused on God. Now, granted, life in Egypt wasn’t so bad as the number 2 dude in the country with two sons, a trophy wife, a Samoyed, and a Volvo. And Joseph was doing what God had guided him to do. The big factor though, was his reverence for God in all he did. The brothers revered the old man but in my estimation, not necessarily God.

So what about us – are we doing what God has guided us to do or are we focusing our attention on the boss, the job, the trophy wife, yada, yada, yada? Proverbs 3 says this: Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths. (Vv. 5,6 NKJV) Joseph was doing just that. He could’ve cut out for Canaan but Joseph caught wind of the bigger picture and seemed accept that he was where he needed to be. That’s a leader: self-directed and self-motivated.

Life really is what we make of it. I know I use phrases like that all the time but it’s true. But life gains a whole new perspective when we allow ourselves to be directed by God because we purpose to trust in Him. Joseph trusted in the Lord in spite of his treatment and God guided him to the place of (small ‘s’) savior. The rest of the story includes not only food for the family but ultimately protection, shelter, and one day, a (capital ‘S’) Savior. The ripple effect of our lives is guided by God as we trust Him, and He puts us where we need to be…

The Acceptable Gift

2012-01-02T06:29:00.000-08:00

01.02.12

Genesis 3.4-5 4 Abel, on his part also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions. And the LORD had regard for Abel and for his offering; 5 but for Cain and for his offering He had no regard. So Cain became very angry and his countenance fell. NASB

Apparently the people of that time could see what happened to their sacrifices: “And the Lord had regard for Abel and for his offering…” Something must’ve happened for Abel to be able to know his offering was regarded (respected, honored, favored) by the Lord. Possibly, fire came down from Heaven as in the days of Elijah and Ahab and the prophets of Baal. Possibly the offering was burnt and the aroma of the burnt offering was pleasing to smell. Whatever it was, it was clear that God was pleased with Abel’s sacrifice. And He wasn’t with Cain’s.

The other thing just might be that Cain knew what was acceptable and just decided to do something different. Maybe it was the custom of those days for men to approve or disapprove the offerings like the priests did with Moses. Maybe the ‘priests’ of the day disregarded Cain’s gift and that was the catalyst for Cain’s revenge. Maybe it was such a big deal to offer the right thing, and when Cain showed up with bell-peppers, tomatoes and carrots everyone was horrifies that it was the wrong thing. Whatever the case, it was crystal clear to Cain that what he brought was substandard and unacceptable. Maybe this was as simple a test as to not eat fruit from a certain tree and Cain failed the test. It must’ve been something really big to motivate him to kill Abel to assuage his guilt and shame...

What kinds of offerings are acceptable to the Lord? What kinds of gifts does God accept from men? First and foremost are those that are given from the heart. God loves a cheerful giver (2 Corinthians 8). The heart has to be involved with the gift and God knows the heart. God doesn’t seem to care as much about the kind of the gift as as He does about the attitude of the giver. Gifts given in pride or under compulsion are really not gifts freely given. Guilt gifts are bad too. (That’s one reason why this gift-giving thing at Christmastime is often so lame…)

And second, acceptable gifts are those that are given that cost something, and there ain’t nothing more costly than a life. Paul said we are to offer our bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to the Lord because it is our spiritual act of worship (Romans 12.1). Giving our lives to God for His use will cost us something and once we give it we cannot take it back. Gifts to God are His once they are given.

And third, acceptable gifts given to God must be an act of worship. The gift must be given with a pure heart, cost us something, and be done in worship. Worship isn’t just singing songs. Worship isn’t just showing up in church. Worship is the act of reverencing, adoring, and bowing before God in dependency. Worship proclaims His Name as Holy. Worship proclaims His being as worthy. Worship is our feeble and humble attempt at trying to honor God for who He is and what He’s done. It is of the heart. Anything less than that is Cain-ic. Anything else is just going through the motions and maybe that’s what Cain did: he just went through the motions.

I must be careful and considerate, worshipful and humble so that my gifts don’t do the same…

Lost Love

2012-01-01T08:07:00.000-08:00

01.01.12

Luke 1.6 6 Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly. NIV

Zechariah and Elizabeth were true Jews – they were considered righteous in the sight of God and they followed the Lord’s commands and decrees to the best of their ability. They were good people. They were probably generous, kind, and hospitable; and lived their lives humbly. They always kept their eyes on the Lord in custom and practice. If you were looking for poster-children for the cause of Jewishness, Zechariah and Elizabeth would’ve been noble candidates. Relationship with the Lord is not difficult: it roughly follows the pattern above. There are accompanying hallmarks that should be obvious. But overall a follower of Jesus should be an imitator of Jesus in custom and practice.

In John’s first epistle, we find these words: God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. (1 John 4.16-18 NIV)

Jesus was called by God to live as a human being full of love for God. Thus, the Lord lived fearlessly because He was filled with love for God. Whenever and wherever He walked, love for God slopped out of Him because He was so full (continuously) of love for God. In Jesus was the truest model of no fear.

Now, as Zechariah and Elizabeth lived, they too were lovers of God, because God considered them righteous and blameless. They simply loved their God despite all of the madness of the culture around them: punitive Pharisaism, secular Sadduceeism, wild-eyed zealous Zealots, and oppressive Roman occupation. In the midst of all this, they could’ve lost sight of God. But in the midst of it all, they kept the right focus and kept their eyes locked on the Lord; and thus, they were rewarded by God.

Last night I read 1 John and thought about the passage above. I thought about fear and I thought about love. I realized love has to be present for relationship with God to be complete. Zechariah and Elizabeth had to be lovers of God. Jesus set the supreme example of love and I too, as a child of God must be deeply, madly in love with God and for His cause in the earth. And where and when fear is present, love is lost.

Each of us has our own unique battle to fight: we cannot overlook or disregard that fact. God is working in each of our lives in some way to drive out fear and to increase love. It’s not that love isn’t there; it’s that love may be lost because of how we view the battle and its effect on us. Some have battles that are more intense perhaps, or more difficult (we think). But the fact is God is bringing about change in our lives and will stop at nothing to see that change take place. Whatever it takes, He will use: so great is His love for us. The victory in our battle is our love for Him. And our love for Him is the launching pad for our love for others… To tell whether love is working in me or not is easy: when I focus on the Lord, I’m winning the battle. When I focus on the battle, I’m losing love for the Lord – it’s that simple.

And One Do

2011-12-31T09:02:00.000-08:00

12.31.11

Revelation 22.8-9 8 I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I had heard and seen them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who had been showing them to me. 9 But he said to me, “Don’t do that! I am a fellow servant with you and with your fellow prophets and with all who keep the words of this scroll. Worship God!” NIV

Twice now, John admits to falling down to worshiping at the feet of an angel (Cf. Rev. 19.10 and 22.8-9). Twice he is emphatically admonished, “Don’t do that!”. I think we could put it this way: DON’T DO THAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! There are certain things that shouldn’t be done and John is guilty of doing the same thing twice. I mean you can hardly blame him – he was blown away by what he was seeing and hearing. He did what came naturally when he bumped into something more grand and great than he’d ever experienced in his life – he was so caught up by it all. But the angels on both occasions said, Don’t do that!

Today I’m thinking about my past week at work and I can tell you, as a traveling salesman, it was a rough week. I am caught in a very strange place in my life of knowing confidently that God is doing something in me, and fearing terribly what He is doing. Don’t do that! I am trying to shed a belief that suffering is for someone else and I will get a lighter sentence. Don’t do that! Worship God!

I got to the place of despair yesterday where all I could do was moan – and so that’s what I did: before God I moaned. I moaned believing that: Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. (Romans 8.23 NIV) Except, I moaned outwardly. The reality is God is calling us to something so vast our tiny little pea-brains can’t handle it. God is transforming our lowly bodies into something so glorious our visions of the future can’t take it all in – now we do indeed see through a glass darkly (1 Cor. 13).

But maybe yesterday was the birth of hope. Maybe the pain of such a week (I’m 100% commission, do the math: small production = small commission) was taking me to that place where I can truly say, He gives and takes away, may the Name of the Lord be blessed! There are things in us that have to go and God will use whatever means to move them. We are indeed being fitted for heaven where our being will be so vastly different than earth that we will implode and worship angels unless we’re prepared otherwise. So, there are some Don’t Do That’s along the way.

Don’t doubt. A friend of mine says her New Year’s resolution is simply: “I LOVE resolutions, but this year I can't seem to come up with anything more than "hang on and trust hard." (Thanks Bo!) Maybe that's okay.” Hang on and trust hard even when hard trusting proves hard.

Don’t defer. Trust now. Praise now. Repent now. Worship God now. Now is the acceptable time and if anyone is going to pull us through whatever it is we’re facing, it is only God. Trust Him now!

Don’t do that! Whatever our conscience is nagging us about now ought to be something we pay attention to now. Whatever our reaction to our circumstances, if it is anything other that praise, worship and thanksgiving to God: don’t do that! We are being fitted and sometimes fitting is through severe trial and testing. The desired result is praise from a willing and trusting heart. Anything else is as unacceptable as worshiping an angel.

And one do: Worship God – the end is worth (infinitely so) the means…

Wrath Revisited

2011-12-30T19:26:00.000-08:00

12.30.11

Revelation 15.1 1 Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, “Go, pour out the seven bowls of God’s wrath on the earth.” NIV

In the ancient account of Israel’s exodus from Egypt there were ten plagues of increasing intensity that the Lord sent upon Egypt to convince her king to let His people go. Finally after the tenth plague, the plague of the death of the firstborn, Egypt’s king, Pharaoh, relented and released the Israelites. (Then in bitterness and anger he changed his mind and pursued them to his death… sometimes guys just don’t get it.)

In Revelation 15 there are seven plagues released upon the earth. These are called the Seven Bowls of God’s Wrath. Wrath is a mysterious thing to me and it is not to be trifled with. Wrath is the result of God’s unchanging mind in judgment. And once He has crossed that line in His mind, there is no reversing it: God doesn’t change His mind. He may delay His wrath, but He never changes His mind.

For what it’s worth to you, seven is the number of completion (or perfection). That’s why the voice from the Temple (verse 17) says, “It is done!” The sad reality is that men in their rebellious stubbornness [curse] God on account of the plague of hail, because the plague was so terrible. They refuse to repent. Pharaoh refused to repent. People refuse to repent.

You see, life really is what it is; it’s full of whatever it brings; and it never changes until it’s over. Life has its ups and downs but life is what it is. The only thing that makes life, or breaks life, is the presence or absence of God in a person’s life. And God is in hot pursuit of every person on earth so that they can experience His presence. Some will buy and some will refuse. The ones who refuse, lose. It’s that simple.

God’s wrath is not vindictive. God doesn’t inflict wrath capriciously. He doesn’t blow His top. His wrath is just and righteous. His wrath is the faultless response of His righteous indignation against people who refuse His love. That may sound selfish, but only to the mind that holds that God is only just some greater version of us…Man 3.1. How lame! God is as perfect in His wrath as He is in His love. His wrath is ridiculed by men because they try to use His expression of His wrath as an accusation that He doesn’t really love: if You have to resort to wrath, they reason then You don’t really love. The madness of men!

It appears God’s wrath is given in stages and not all at once. It appears God’s wrath is revealed in nature and in our environment. It appears God’s wrath has the intention of showing man the devastation that occurs in his soul for refusing God’s righteousness. It appears that God’s wrath is intended to point toward repentance and mercy for those who experience it. It appears God’s wrath is the end of the road for those who refuse God’s love.

In John 3, is this verse: Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them. (v 36) It appears there are only two places for a human being to find himself: saved from God’s wrath… or under God’s wrath. And belief in Him is the only remedy for salvation from His wrath. Where do we stand today?

Sweet and Sour

2011-12-29T06:10:00.000-08:00

12.29.11

Revelation 10.10-11 10 I took the little scroll from the angel’s hand and ate it. It tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it, my stomach turned sour. 11 Then I was told, “You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages and kings.” NIV

The Gospel is that of good news and bad news. The Good News is good news. But there is plenty of bad news out there too. The good news is: there is good news. And despite all the bad news abounding, there is, in fact, good news. The problem is the bad news. At least the problem is the bad news needs to be dealt with and cannot (at least indefinitely) be ignored.

The scroll that John was given and instructed to eat was good news in that it tasted as sweet as honey in his mouth. But after he’d eaten it, his stomach turned sour. I don’t like a sour stomach. I don’t even like the term: sour stomach. The sweet was the good news and the sour was the bad news.

Part of me wants to say, the good news is: you’ve won a million dollars. The other part of me wants to say, the bad news is: you’ve won a million dollars. I know someone who has just been awarded a seventy-five thousand dollar settlement. Right now, today at this moment, seventy-five grand sounds like a lot of money. But at the end of the day, seventy-five k doesn’t seem to go a long way. Heck, with the price of bread at the store, seventy-five thousand ain’t really that much at all. Good news is good news but it must be taken in the light of the bad news.

John was told he was to “…prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages, and kings." In other words, he had good news to tell them but they would probably receive it as bad news. The effect of good news on bad souls is sometimes shocking – to the point of discomfort. Maybe even radical discomfort. But bad souls need good news to become good souls. And once a bad soul becomes regenerated into a good soul, there often is the fallout of the residue of the bad soul. Sometimes there can be restitution – sometimes you just gotta live with the consequences of what you’ve done.

I was up at 3:44 this morning taking care of the amount of water I’d had last night before I went to bed. As I tended to water-closet duties, I heard a voice and realized it was my son, in his room, talking to someone via the X-Box and I quickly and abruptly dispatched him to bed. I then went back to bed and began to wonder who he was talking to and then every bad thought about every bad soul began to flood my mind. I then began to think about my present employment and its demands on my time. I then began to think about my son and his needs and every bad soul out there, and finally as I prayed, I cried out: LORD, HELP ME!!

You see, we (you and I and everyone else (bad souls included)) need the Lord. We cannot live our lives effectively without Him. That is both good and bad news. That is both sweet and bitter. That is both hurtful and healing. Coming to the Lord for rescue is like being pulled through a knot-hole backwards: there’s only room for you and it’s gonna hurt like heck! John, what you’re about to do is going to hurt and help people. They’re just gonna have to get past the hurt and you’re just gonna have to be tough in administering the good news. So today, my question is: do I have the stomach for what life is going to serve me and can I (will I) cling to the Lord to pull me through?

The Full Measure

2011-12-28T06:33:00.000-08:00

Revelation 6.11 11 Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the full number of their fellow servants, their brothers and sisters, were killed just as they had been. NIV

You know, the plain truth is, some are going to be killed for their faith and that is just the way it’s going to be. And the plain truth is their deaths, at the hands of men, for their faith, has been ordained since before the world was formed – nothing will stop it. And to me, the funny (in the weird sort of funny, not the haha) is that their deaths must occur before the end of all things comes. Future events hinge on their deaths. And what God says will happen will happen; His plan will not be thwarted or altered. It also captures my attention that there is a full number of those who will be martyred for their faith.

How I am to die is something I cannot control: it is already taken care of. Dying an earthly death is something that millions upon millions have already experienced and millions upon millions more will ultimately experience.

But to those in the verse above, they are reassured that their deaths were not in vain and others must experience martyrdom before the end comes. Sure, they ask: “How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?” (v 10) But they are assured that vengeance will come and the full measure of those who are to be martyred will be reached. Their martyrdom is necessary and foreordained.

Again, how I am to die is already established and I’m not to worry about that. What happens to me when I die is something I can influence by how I live in these days leading up to my death. Paul said, For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. (Philippians 1.21 NIV) And so to live in a manner worthy of my calling is to live for the sake of the Lord Jesus, and when I die it is only to gain all of what and Who heaven has for me. Death is only the means by which I arrive there.

Think today about the dead in Christ and about those who died for their faith. Think about what their lives meant on earth and what their deaths mean in heaven. As I wrote this morning I thought about the famous speech that was given on a battlefield in Pennsylvania where hundreds and thousands of men fought and died for a cause that was greater than the sum of all their lives. I thought about the cause and Kingdom of Christ and how your life and mine are a part of those realities. I thought about what our lives mean on earth as we live for that cause and what our deaths in heaven will mean as a result of our living. Read the following in that light:

“But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of [Jesus Christ], shall not perish from the earth.”