Seeking God's Face...

"The light of the glory of God is given us in the face of Jesus Christ," whom to see is to see the Father's face in spirit (cf. 2 Cor. 4:6). NB:  Jonathan Edwards said that the main business of the Christian life is seeking God!  We are told to seek His face ("My heart says this about You, "You are to seek My face,"  LORD, I will seek Your face.  Do not hide Your face from me..." (Psalm 27:8-9, HCSB).  God is not hiding or playing some game of cosmic hide and seek, He's waiting to be found and will reveal and authenticate Himself to all sincere seekers, but not triflers. God hides Himself that we may earnestly seek Him. ("If only I knew where I might find Him" per Job 23:3)  God's whereabouts are as near as the mention of His name! 

This search for God never ends but begins at salvation and will end at the beatific vision in glory when we do see His face.  We don't know Christ after the flesh but should recognize His Spirit at work and moving in the body, as it bears witness with our spirit (cf. Romans 8:16).  God as the Hound of Heaven seeks us who are the lost sheep:  "I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me; I was found by those who did not seek me" (Isaiah 65:1, NIV).

When Christians say, "I found it!" what they really mean is that God found them and revealed Himself to them as the hymn Amazing Grace goes, "I was lost but now am found."  Pascal also mused:  "I would not have found God had He not first sought out me."  God wants to make His face shine upon us in blessing us, and  this is His commitment to us as believers. Blessing and seeing God's face are correlated. 

The inauguration of Christ's ministry (the official initiation ceremony) at His baptism included the Father's stamp of approval and official blessing, and He knew His mission and that God was with Him--that's His name:  God is with us!  You could say Jesus was coming of age and His rite of passage.  "... [I]f only I may finish my course and the ministry I received from the Lord Jesus..." (Acts 20:24, ESV).   We are to embark on our mission with God's blessing also and know that God is with us too.  We are blessed in the Beloved by association.  Having this ministry from God or ordination to His service we've also been commissioned), we can anticipate the continual blessing and prosperity of God in whatever we do to His glory and in His name. 

As we get to know Christ, we grow in likeness, for we are all works in progress and Christ wants to show Himself in our witness.  Remember, God isn't finished with us yet and always finishes what He starts (cf. Phil. 1:6).  You might think of us as a slab of marble that the divine Sculptor is attempting to make into a statue of Christ, and what he does is take away everything that doesn't resemble Christ!  We all have some rough edges to get smoothed out and that's why we are put through the crucible because our faith is more precious than silver or gold and must be tested for our sake.

To receive God's blessing, we must have faith and make the commitment to go on in self-denial to "follow Him [in lordship to salvation] more nearly, ]getting] to know Him more clearly, and to love Him more dearly,"  as quoted from Richard of Chichester.  Moses came to know God face to face, like a friend and his face, was hid with a veil to hide the glory. There is something about a person having spent time in fellowship with the Lord.  It was obvious the disciples had been with the Lord after the resurrection appearances.

Receiving God's blessing gives us a new outlook on life and new hope, purpose, and meaning in life.  With God we have dignity!  Without God, the question of life's purpose is meaningless, according to atheist Bertrand Russell.  The more we are assured of His blessing and approval of us, the more confident we get to attempt more in God's name and to venture out in even greater things expecting even greater blessings.   It is true that the greater blesses the lesser, and also that we also ought to bless one another!

But we are saved to be a blessing (cf. Zech. 8:13).   God wants our cups to run over!  One function of the body of Christ is to be a blessing to the community in mission (cf. Jer. 29:7) and to bless the members of the body in ministry to one another. We all can bless each other with our spiritual gifts and teach one another in discipleship or mentoring.   May we pray God's blessings on each other.

The more we become like Christ, the more blessings we receive in Him to share.  We are blessed to pass it on.  "But He gives more grace..." (cf. James 4:6)!  There is more to salvation than being forgiven:  to seek the Lord's sanction and blessing in all our labors. We should see God at work in us.  And we are to ever seek God's blessings in our work for temporal as well as spiritual things.  He blesses us with every spiritual blessing in Christ (cf. Eph. 1:3) and the promises to Abraham that God will bless those who bless us is ours to claim, for all who have faith in Christ are children of Abraham (cf. Gal. 3:7,29) and we are joint-heirs of Christ.

In prayer, we can access or gain entree into the throne room of God for prayer in boldness (cf. Heb. 4:16), as Moses spoke to God face to face as to a friend, and to whom no prophet ever did again.  What unrealized, untapped potential there is in prayer there is when we have faith in Jesus' name. 

The antithesis of seeking God's face is to be hiding from God or the truth.  Sooner or later we may meet our "burning bush" and confront God and have a moment of truth with Him.  Then we are sanctified by the truth (cf. John 17:17) and realize its power over us.   We are to "contend for the faith" or the truth delivered to the saints.  The polar opposite of truth is apostasy and this is not the final lot of the believer.

If God were to withhold His grace from us for any length of time, we'd be without hope and God in the world, just as George Whitefield said of a man going to the gallows: "There but for the grace of God go I."  God can harden the heart of a person who rejects Him in judgment much like He did to Pharaoh when he didn't believe the miracles Moses performed with the "finger of God."  For God hardens whom He will and has mercy on whom He will (cf. Romans 9:18); it's His prerogative to do as He reserves the right to do with His ultimate free will.     Soli Deo Gloria!

The Place Of The Everlasting God

"God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in time of trouble" (Psalm 46:1, NIV).
"GOD IS our refuge and strength, a very help in times of trouble" (cf. Psalm 46:1, KJV).
"You are my hiding place..." (Psalm 32:7, NKJV).  
"You are my hiding place and my shield..." (Psalm 119:114, NKJV).
"Am I a God near at hand, says the LORD, 'And not a God afar off?  Can anyone hide himself in secret places, So I shall not see him?' says the LORD; 'Do I not fill heaven and earth? says the LORD."  (cf. Jer. 23:23-24).  
"The eternal God is your dwelling place [refuge], and underneath are the everlasting arms" (Deut. 33:27, ESV). 
"He is there, and He is not silent."  --Francis A. Schaeffer

Abraham sure found out that God is never AWOL, or even MIA, but always the "God who is there," to borrow from one of Francis Schaeffer's books.   He is the God "who was, who is, and who is to be": the everlasting God--El Olam.   We can be assured that God is not some state of being (Is-ness), but a living Being (Is-ing) that is alive forevermore.  Jesus was dead and is alive and is the eternal Son of the Father---He didn't become the Son upon birth.  

God's nature is permanent--we can sure count on God--and God is always in character--never capricious, arbitrary, or whimsical like we are; He is predictable in the sense that He is the Great Promise Keeper and can be counted on to live up to His Word, which He exalts above all His name (cf. Psalm 138:2).  "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever" (Heb. 13:8, NIV); this should give us comfort that He will never change His mind concerning us and our status in Him, though our state of fellowship may vary--we're still family to Him. 

Abraham found out that God was still God no matter where He went and that He wasn't just some local deity that ruled Canaan.  We cannot escape His sovereignty or power!  God transcends time because He created it!   The time-space continuum is relative to us and doesn't relate to God at all, for He is neither defined, confined, controlled, limited, nor improved by time itself.   What is time but a corollary of space and matter, and if neither of these existed, neither would time!  In our conception, things only go in succession--forward as they progress.

Therefore, we conclude that everything in the time-space continuum had a beginning or origin, even the universe--God is not in that continuum and therefore had no beginning.  Scientists even speculate that time began at the big bang; Scripture references the inauguration of time in 2 Tim. 1:9 and in Titus 1:2.  So theologians knew this before scientists "discovered time."  Now, the concept to be understood, is that if God created or invented time, He cannot be subject to it nor controlled by it as its slave--God is totally free and self-existent, slave to nothing.  God is outside time as it were and is able to manipulate it to His will--one year is as a thousand!

We can be assured of God's providence and guidance because He controls the future and also is able to know it by virtue of His sovereignty over time.  Everything seems like NOW to God!  He dwells in eternity and we live as the slaves of time.   But what happened at the incarnation of Jesus, but that God the Son entered our dimension of time and lived in subordination to the Father, emptying Himself, known as the kenosis, of the independent usage of His divine nature. 

This fact of the eternity of God may have been novel.  Had it dawned on him that God is still God everywhere and isn't territorial or local?  It was also in vogue to think that the more gods, the better! But having knowledge of the one true God was enough for him to feel secure and safe from his enemies.  Abimelech told Abraham that God was "obviously" with him "in everything [he does]." The testimony of the eternal God is apparent even to the outsider as we witness to them.

It is the preaching of the Word that can brings conviction, not our brilliance or arguments (cf. 1 Thess. 1:5); 2:13)--Abraham kept his faith in God and it showed.  Thanks be to God that we can count on Him always being in character and never out of harmony and sync with His plan (we can be on the same page of His will)--for He's not subject to moods, maudlin sentimentality, nor any human vulnerability.      Soli Deo Gloria!

Wherefore Art Thou, My God?

"There is no one who understands; no one who seeks God" (Romans 3:11, HCSB).
"'Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it'" (Gen. 28:16, HCSB).
"... [W]hile my enemies continually taunt me, saying, 'Where is this God of yours?'" (Psalm 42:3, NIV).  
"Why let the nations say, 'Where is their God?'" (Psalm 115:2, NIV).  

NB:  WHEN ASKED, "WHERE IS GOD?"  WE OUGHT TO REPLY, "WHERE ISN'T HE?"  

Job wondered of the whereabouts of God and sought Him wholeheartedly, only to be finally rewarded by His visitation.  Remember: God didn't move, we did!   "If only I knew how to find Him so that I could go to His throne" (Job 23:3, HCSB).  If Job can wonder, so can we; not that He's deserted or left us alone, but that we sense His presence and feel in His will and at peace with Him. The Lord promises to be found by all sincere searchers, but His pet peeve or main complaint against man is that he doesn't seek God (cf. Rom. 3:11).

"... But from there, you will search for the LORD your God, and you will find Him when you seek Him with all your heart and all your soul."  (Deut. 4:29, HCSB).  Jesus reiterated that if we seek, we shall find; God is no man's debtor and will authenticate Himself.  But Isaiah even recognized that God is is making Himself known to triflers and the merely curious or disobedient, in that he said, "Yes, You are a God who hides Himself..." (Isa. 45:15, HCSB).  Jeremiah also noticed that if we seek we will surely find God, "You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.  I will be found by you..." (Jer. 29:13-14, HCSB).

Our God is the God who is there (Jehovah Shammah) and He is here even when we don't know it, for He's always as close as the mention of His name.  Some people think they have found God, but He found them first: Pascal said, "I wouldn't have found God, had He not first found me."  Jesus is the great Hound of Heaven in search of lost sheep and He will find them.  This is verified in Scripture, Isaiah 65:1, HCSB, as follows:  "'I was sought by those who did not ask; I was found by those who did not seek Me...."  There used to be a bumper sticker that proclaimed, "I found it!" but they obviously didn't realize what Amazing Grace says, "I was lost, but now am found."  (Then they changed their rallying cry to "He found me!"  He found them!  God wasn't lost!  And God is not called it!

Francis Schaeffer wrote a book about God's presence saying "He is there, and He is not silent."  He said that Christianity is about the God who is there! Many who search for Jesus have just missed the boat on fellowship and have unconfessed sin or spiritual skeletons in their closets, and forget that He's as close as confessing all known sin, (call it as it is without cover up) for God indwells each believer and sometimes we quench the Spirit's fire and even insult the Spirit of grace, which grieves Him.   Let us always live up to the calling we have received in a worthy manner (cf. Eph. 4:1).

Now God has no galactic address or physical place of residence, for His everywhere-ness is apparent in His Providence and dealings with man.  For God is spirit!  If we approach Him in prayer and get entree to the throne room of grace and mercy, it's like entering another dimension and the presence of God.  For it has been postulated that God is invisible because He's in another dimension!  But we are not capable of seeing the invisible and the spirit world.

So where is God?  "'Am I a God who is only near'--this is the LORD's declaration--'and not a God who is far away?  Can a man hide himself in secret places and where I cannot see him?'--the LORD's declaration..  'Do I not fill the heavens and all the earth?' --the LORD's declaration"  (Jer. 23:23-24, HCSB).  Thus we are not capable of comprehending His presence:  "The finite cannot penetrate (grasp, or contain) the infinite" (old axiom).

In sum, after Adam had rebelled and fell in the Garden he hid out of shame and guilt and possibly wondered where God was or even wasn't, only to find out that God didn't hide, he did--and to discover you cannot hide from God!     Soli Deo Gloria! 

What's The Answer?

"If a man is not made for God, why is he happy only in God?  If man is made for God, why is he opposed to God?" --Blaise Pascal 
"People live lives of quiet desperation." --Henry David Thoreau
"We have found all the questions, now let's find the answers." --G. K. Chesterton
"Reproach hath broken my heart, and I am full of heaviness: and I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none" (Psalm 69:20, KJV, italics added).
"Without the way, there is no going; without the truth, there is no knowing; and without the life, there is no living." --Thomas a Kempis

According to the Rev. Billy Graham, man is pursuing a "Great Quest" that has him searching for answers and meaning in life. Man is empty with a vacuum only God can fill according to Blaise Pascal.  Billy Graham says also that "we grasp at every passing straw and even as we clutch, it disappears." The world has little to offer by way of the reason for living, or what makes life worthwhile.  All religions and worldviews do attempt to answer man's dilemma, but they all fall short except Christianity.  Christ is not the best way, nor one of many ways, but the only way according to A. W. Tozer.  

So how does man seek fulfillment? He may think the answer is in higher education, a better standard of living, or in political power and freedom.  But note that the Germans, during the Nazi era, had this and still developed into a depraved society bent on evil such as has never been seen by any nation in modern history.  The devil will sow evil wherever his seed can take root in empty souls.

It is commonplace today for many to find crutches to lean on: humanism or self-help such as pop psychology; cynicism or an attitude of negativism; supernaturalism or into the occult; and even escapism or using drugs and artificial means to evade reality altogether.  We all have a crutch, but the Christian has a reliable and trustworthy one in the Word of God, which has stood the test of time and is relative to everyone. In the final analysis, it's good to feel so bad, empty and needy, even hurt, for then we might realize our bankruptcy before God and seek His face in salvation, who is our only Answer and Peace.

But there is hope to this lost world where the blind lead the blind:  Jesus is the Answer and the Answerer and those who follow Him see the light!  We don't need to know everything or all the answers to believe and to be content!  We know to whom to go for consolation and comfort in our time of need.  Jesus solves every dilemma of man and has a balm for every sore, a balsam for every wound.  In Christ, we can be content in any circumstance and rejoice in the Lord regardless!  The joy of the Lord is our strength in times of crisis and trial.  

If you just want to go somewhere and don't much care where, it matters not who you follow or what direction you go, eventually you'll get somewhere!  But with Christ, our past is forgiven, our present given meaning and our future and destiny assured and certain, and we have an eternal home to anticipate while we live in light of eternity.  We must attempt great things for God and expect great things from God, according to William Carey, father of modern missions.  They say, "If you aim at nothing, you'll get nowhere!"

The devil and the world have a lot to offer to get us off track from the spiritual dimension and take away from our thirst for the Word and God.  We must realize our enemy is threefold: the world, the flesh, and the devil; however, we are our own worst enemy.  We live in an enemy-occupied territory or Satan's turf and must engage in angelic warfare with God's armor.  But be of good cheer:  the battle is the Lord's!  Note that when we become believers that the battle has just begun and we get on Satan's hit list.  And so there is not a yin/yang struggle of good and evil, for evil is only a parasite and deprivation of good and cannot exist in itself apart from it.   We must grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ and learn to discern good and evil in order to fight the good fight and keep the faith.

In conclusion, the answer to life's dilemmas of sin, sorrow, and death is an on-going relationship with Jesus, not a code of conduct to follow, a creed to adhere to, or catalog of religious ideas or meditations to escape reality; for Plato was right to the point:  to know how to live in reality we must know what God is really like; and we can take comfort in the fact that God is like Jesus, whom to know is eternal life (cf. John 17:3).   In the final analysis, you'll never know all the answers and shouldn't just study to try to learn them all, but learn to grow dependent on the Great Answerer Himself in faith!         Soli Deo Gloria!

The Great Quest Of Man

"... But if you search for him with all your heart and soul, you will find him"  (Deut. 4:29, NLT).

You cannot deny the fact that you have been looking for something all your life to find some sort of satisfaction or fulfillment.  People are looking for love in all the wrong places!  Even Solomon tried money, pleasure, knowledge, wisdom, peace of mind or with others, work and ambition, and whatever the world had to offer, including women, but all to no avail!  The wiser and educated we become, the more emptiness we are capable of, and the vacuum inside grows.  Nature abhors vacuums and this is the worst state we can be in, to have no meaning and purpose in life.  Today people cannot even entertain themselves, they're so empty (famed Christian psychiatrist and student of Freud, Carl Gustav Jung, said that the "central neurosis of our time is emptiness"), and this void makes them feel blase even about modern-day achievements like the space shuttle or HST (Hubble space telescope).

The point is that, though people sometimes won't admit it, they're on some kind of frantic search for happiness, fulfillment, or meaning, or even find the answers to life's problems.  Augustine rightly pegged man as having an inward desire only God can satisfy ("we are restless till find our rest in God"), and Pascal agreed that man has a "God-shaped vacuum" in his soul.

We promote the American Way, as it were, and this is highly imperialistic and is known as American exceptionalism, in that we think we've got the market cornered on the good life.  Actually, Americans are no more happy than other developed nations.  Americans seek to impose their way of life on the world as superlative and exemplary:  better education, political freedom, and high standards of living.  Yet we still suffer high crime and citizens with no reason to go on living, with rising suicide rates even higher than homicide rates.  People are looking for something, indeed, but not for God, though they think they are:  they're really searching for meaning in life, the answer, or relief from anxiety or depression.  In other words, man does not seek God, the Benefactor, but the benefits (cf. Rom. 3:11).

There are fringe benefits to knowing God, and He does bless His children, but we must seek Him and find Him: this endeavor begins at the point of salvation, and the Christian life's business is pursuing God and His face.  Philip asked Jesus to show them the Father, and it would suffice; however, Jesus said that we see Him and that is the equivalent.  The writer of Hebrews (2:9) explains this Beautific Vision as:  "But we do see Jesus..."  The eyes of our hearts have been opened and anyone born of the Spirit can see the kingdom of God at work.

In man's desperation, he grasps at every passing straw, and as he reaches for it, it slips away.  Many are filled with boredom because of their emptiness and lonely despair, which can only be cured by knowing Christ and following Him.

In the final analysis, man has an intrinsic and natural duty to obey God, rewarded or not, simply because He's our Creator.  Our purpose for living is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever (cf. Isa. 43:7).  Without God life is nonsensical.  Whatever we do, ought to be to God's glory (1 Cor. 10:31), and find enjoyment, for this is the gift of God--our labor to show the image of God.  Never be discouraged doing the work of the Lord (slackness in it is cursed in Jer. 48:10), "knowing that your labor in the Lord is not in vain" (1 Cor. 15:58, HCSB).  Rick Warren says that the consequences or your job won't last forever [but for your purposes, mission, and ministry will].  William James says we ought to spend our life on something that will outlast it--indeed every day we strike a chord that will vibrate for eternity in the symphony of heaven.
Soli Deo Gloria! 

My God, Wherefore Art Thou?

Pascal mused:  "What can be seen on earth indicates neither the total absence of God nor his manifest presence, but rather the presence of a hidden God;" and "I would not have searched for Thee if Thou hadst not found me."  The spiritual have dry periods when they had to search for God and wonder about His presence too:  "... How long will You hide Your face from me?"  (Psalm 13:1, NASB).  It's all about seeking God--being found--"I was lost, but now am found!"  We don't find Him: Isaiah 65:1 (NASB):  "I permitted Myself to be sought by those who did not ask for Me; I permitted Myself to be found by those who did not seek Me...."  He was abandoned on the cross and knows what separation from God feels like.  There is no temptation we can face that He hasn't been victorious over and can deliver us from.  Feeling alone?  God sometimes removes Himself to see what's on our heart, as He did to Hezekiah (cf. 2 Chronicles 32:21).

Francis Schaeffer wrote a book about God and declared: He is there and He is not silent.  God doesn't cater to triflers (cf. Heb. 11:6), but only those who sincerely and diligently seek Him with their whole heart and are willing to do His will.  We need to listen with the ears of our spirit and see with our hearts, as God opens up our deaf ears to hear Him.  "What we do see is Jesus" (cf. Heb. 2:9, NLT):  "The eyes of [our] understanding being enlightened" (Ephesians 1:18, KJV).  We need God to open the eyes of our hearts and see with our spirits (cf. Psalm 119:18).  When Jesus came He couldn't convince the skeptics and cynics no matter what sign He performed, they didn't want to believe (cf. John 12:37)!

You must want to believe or you won't, God doesn't make you do something you don't want to do, though He can change your mind and make you willing--this is a divine paradox of His sovereignty and providence.  People who know God see Him manifest everywhere, while the natural man or unbeliever doesn't see God even if He were right in front of his face.  The fact is that God's fingerprints and impact are everywhere and all we have to do is look.

Job felt abandoned by God and rightly so, he was undergoing a test of faith from God being administered through the hand of Satan.  Elihu wondered why no one asks, "Where is God, my Maker, who gives songs in the night?"  (cf. Job 35:10).  There does come a time when it is fitting and proper to wonder whether we are walking in the Spirit and or with the Lord.  We are to walk by faith, not by sight (cf. 2 Cor. 5:7), but we are to examine ourselves on a regular basis (especially during the Lord's Supper) and see whether Christ is living through us.  When we see Christ living in us and we have an exchanged life, not just a changed life, we have the ultimate proof of God's presence. Romans 8:16 says, "The Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God."

When we are saved, it doesn't mean we have found God--the spiritual journey has just begun.  Seeing God's face is the main business of the Christian pilgrimage.  We initiate our search as believers, for the Bible clearly says that no one seeks God (no unbeliever, cf. Rom. 3:11).  When people "seek" God, they're looking for the benefits, not the Benefactor: peace of mind, the answer, prosperity, deliverance, fulfillment, or purpose--they don't want God!  Christians don't see with their physical eyes, but with their souls.  When we are saved, we don't just gain the Benefactor, but blessings as fringe benefits.  They want what they can get, or what He can do for them.   God has a blessing in mind for us, which we cannot pay back, don't deserve, and can't earn or ingratiate ourselves for.  It's a blessing to serve Him (cf. Psalm 103:2; 116:12; Rom. 11:35). Elihu declares the despair of Job:  "For he has said, 'It profits a man nothing that he should take delight in God" (Job 34:9, ESV).

Some may ask the believer, "Where is this God of yours?"  We are His hands, feet, voice, heart, and mind on earth and are to do His bidding and work for the lost--He lives in our hearts!   When God seems far, we may doubt Him, but it's only so that we can learn to seek Him.  David asked in Psalm 10:1 (NASB):  "Why do You stand afar off, O LORD?  Why do You hide Yourself in times of trouble?"  The psalmist goes on to say the wicked are too proud to seek God, they seem to think He's dead and there is no God.  What's is appalling today, is that many professing believers say they believe in God, but live like there is no God--they are so-called practical atheists!  Our job as believers who know the Lord is to make Him known and seen through us!  The world will not deny God is with us when they see God in us!

Isaiah proclaims in Isaiah 45:15 (NASB):  "Truly, You are a God who hides Himself...."  God doesn't force Himself on anyone and will only reveal Himself to those who seek Him:  "But from there you will seek the LORD our God, and You will find Him if you search for Him with all your heart and all your soul"  (Deut. 4:19, NASB; cf. Jer. 29:13; Isa. 55:6;). There is a window of opportunity when God opens the door, so to speak, and we must "seek Him while He may be found" (cf. Isa. 55:6).  "Call upon Him while He is near: (cf. Isa. 55:6).  Job was in despair and came to doubt God's presence, though he was a godly man:  "Oh that I knew where I might find Him, That I might come to His seat!"  (Job 23:3, NASB).  We're in good company if we have searched for God because even Job did!

God is no man's debtor and no respecter of persons:  All who seek Him will find Him without any iffy reservations.  Psalm 9:10 (HCSB): "... You have not abandoned those who seek You, Yahweh."   But He demands sincerity, heart, and soul.  Where is God?  He is here, never yo forsake us; finding Him makes us realize:  He was there all the time!  God is never MIA (missing in action)--never doubt the whereabouts of God the LORD Shammah (cf. Ezek. 48:35),  "the One who is there."  When they say, "...Where is your God" (Psalm 42:3, NASB), we are to reply, "Where isn't He?  Christianity is about the God who is here and about the God who is in us.

Don't forget Jesus' name: "God is with us" (Immanuel).  The point of salvation is the restoration of our relationship with Him, and to put God in us (cf. 1 Cor. 3:16; Col. 1:27; Eph. 4:6)!  Cognizance is our responsibility and fault--grieving Him and not acknowledging His presence.  Point to ponder: Guess who moved?  God asked Adam where he was!  Hint to heed: Practicing/exercising of your spiritual gift will kindle the fire of the Spirit within!

A word to the wise is sufficient: Wise men still seek Him!  "Be still and know that I am God" (cf. Ps. 46:10).  Soli Deo Gloria!

Going Rogue

 "I was ready to be sought by those who did not ask for me; I was ready to be found by those who did not seek me..."  (Isaiah 65:1, ESV).  

There comes a time in our spiritual journey that we leave the bosom of the family and go on to maturity and search things out for ourselves, whether they are true and even work.  Our pilgrimage commences at this point of venturing out in faith as Abraham did to his call from God from Ur of the Chaldeans.  Children ultimately grow up and launch out into the world at large to fend for themselves voluntarily and gratefully, if not expectantly; likewise, we all need to test our wings and go on to find our ourselves spiritually speaking.  Just why are we here?  Where are we going?  What difference do I make?  What is my impact and do I matter?

These types of queries cannot be addressed when one is in a place of security without, but needs a bit of a challenge or push to find faith--if we never take this leap of faith, we will never find Christ as our personal Savior.  The church and family can do a lot to prepare us, but life is bigger than this, and to venture out on the day of independence; but woe is us if we are unprepared and find ourselves alone fighting the Anfectung or onslaught of Satan, who has targeted us in order to neutralize our faith--i.e., exposure to secular philosophy in academia.

There's nothing wrong with a bit of rebellion if one never loses track of who is ultimately in charge.  Keep your eyes on Jesus and wherever you go you will not be alone.  We are to question authority but recognize and respect it too. "When you pass through the rivers, I will be with you," says Isaiah 43:2.  We all need to fight our own battles or at least be prepared to and know that it comes with the territory.  When we are sure of our salvation, and this is a command, not just to satisfy idle curiosity, we can dare to be different, and most of all, dare to make a difference.  This implies we have a thick skin and know who we are, having strong faith that is not dependent on what others tell us, good or bad.  The strongest faith is in the Word of God and knowing our spiritual birth certificate, or favorite verse of assurance will keep us adrift or afloat during the flood.

The strong faith of the church father Athanasius was that, if the whole world was for Pelagius, he'd be contra mundum, or against the world!  We cannot base our assurance on what the people say and especially what our friends say, but must rely solely upon the Word as sola Scriptura or (the Scripture alone--one of the battle cries of the Reformation). Don't take anyone's word for it, but God's!  There comes a time when we are called to be a Daniel and stand alone, or take notice of the authorities and establishment and seek to reform it--there's always room for improvement, and even the church is meant to be semper reformanda or always in reformation.

No believer can survive alone without the aid of the church body--sheep need a shepherd, and some believers seem to forsake the assembly together of themselves (cf. Heb. 10:25) and go astray as a result.  We all need regular spiritual checkups and must get our spiritual batteries charged too by the body working and meeting together.  Our gifts are for the well being of the body, not just for our selfish or personal use.

Some believers are really out on a limb, so to speak, and know they are on dangerous or doubtful territory and need to be brought back into the fold--believers acting or living like goats jeopardize their testimony and this is not God's design.  They need to get connected and stay focused on Jesus, so as not to go their own way and do their own thing.  "All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned every one to his own way,..." says Isaiah 53:6, ESV. Christians are not meant to just look out for number one, but to meet the needs of the body--each others' needs.  We don't want to be like the Israelites in Judges 21:25, who had no king, and everyone "did what right in his own eyes."

The lesson is to get connected, to find your niche or spiritual gift, to strike some chord that will last to eternity, to invest your life in some divine mission that will outlast it, to resonate with those in your circle of friends or sphere of influence.  Church, as Christ's institution, is the vehicle and M.O. to propel to maturity and to exercise your gift, and this is where we get the motivation, fellowship, an opportunity to serve and to do its mission:  The Great Commission.  No one going rogue can do this, for this is a group activity and effort, and one must be in tune with the body and accountable to those within.

In the final analysis, don't ever go it alone without a contact person or group to stay in tune with.  Keep in touch, as if with your own flesh and blood, and remember, your church family is meant to be as close as a real family and to give you spiritual as well as family ties! There's no place for spiritual Lone Rangers or lone wolves in God's plan--get with the program, as they say! In sum, the safest place to be is UNDER AUTHORITY!   Soli Deo Gloria! 

GODISNOWHERE!

"I permitted Myself to be sought by those who did not ask for Me; I permitted Myself to be found by those who did not seek Me..." (Isaiah 65:1, NASB)
"Sow with a view to righteousness, Reap in accordance with kindness; Break up your fallow ground, For it is time to seek the LORD Until He comes to rain righteousness on you" (Hosea 10:12, NASB).  
"What can be seen on earth indicates neither the total absence of God nor his manifest presence, but rather the presence of a hidden God."  (Blaise Pascal, French mathematician/philosopher).


Reread that title and realize it can be deciphered two ways:  God is now here; God is nowhere. Probably you may preconceive your own interpretation due to prejudice! The query shouldn't be, "Where is God?" but, "Where isn't God?"  The truth is that God is everywhere, even in Hades (though not in His compassion, but only justice).  When we are looking for God, it is not He who moved, but we moved!  We cannot escape the presence of God, as David prays in Psalm 139.

We are commanded to look for God and to search Him out at His invitation:  "You will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart" (Jer. 29:13, NASB).  We are to seek Him while He may be found in Isaiah 55:6 and to find Him while He is near!  When you find God, you realize He was there all the time!  Mention His name and have a sincere, expectant, and obedient heart.

"Truly, You are a God who hides Himself,..." (Isaiah 45:15, NASB).  Job had reason to wonder: "Oh that I knew where I might find Him,..." (Job 23:2, NASB). Sometimes God seems MIA or missing in action, but He is there, and it's likely our sins have built a chasm from fellowship or a breach of our relationship due to the cleavage from our unconfessed sin.  Psalm 66:18, NASB says it eloquently: "If I regard wickedness in my heart, The Lord will not hear." Sometimes God is playing a low profile and doesn't want to be so obvious:  "How long, O LORD?  Will You hide Yourself forever? ..." (Psalm 89:46, NASB).

Yes, the whereabouts of God isn't meant to be a mystery, but He is available to all who call upon His name in penitent, sincere, obedient faith.  Sometimes it seems to others that God has forsaken us, but Jesus promised He never would do that even to the end of the age He would be with us--don't let it get to you if they taunt you saying, "Where is this God of yours?" Because we know He is always here, they are just blind and are turning a deaf ear; only the saved see the kingdom of God and if they want their eyes opened they must repent and believe in Jesus.

God doesn't deal in triflers, and His pet peeve is that people aren't seeking (cf. Rom. 3:11). God is more ready to authenticate Himself to you than you are prepared to meet Him!  "Prepare to meet thy God," He says in Amos 4:12.  Pascal said he wouldn't have found God, had He not searched for him. Everyone has their chance, you might say, and the world has never been without witness (cf. Acts 14:17).  As Christians, we have it better than the Old Testament saints because the Lord dwells within us and whenever two or three are gathered together in His name, there is a special blessing of His divine presence.

Finding God isn't so much as to go where God is, like to church expecting He'd have to be there; it's an individual thing, and if you know the Lord you will indeed find Him.  But the Hound of Heaven pursues us and like a Good Shepherd is constantly seeking out the lost sheep (the believer who has lost his way).  Because of God's transcendence, He fills the cosmos, and because of His immanence, He is also nearby to aid us in our troubles and bless us.  "'Am I a God who is near,' declares the LORD, 'And not a God far off? ... Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?' declares the LORD"  (Jer. 23:23-24, NASB).  God is irrespective of the time/space continuum and location is no object to Him because He is Spirit and not material like us who have bodies to limit us--Jesus is both Spirit and body in His incarnation.  Some believers will be known by saying regretfully, "He was there all the time, and I knew it not!"

Jesus' name is called Immanuel and that is to mean that God is with us and when we have the resident Spirit of Christ indwelling us we never have to lose track of where God is--He will never leave us nor forsake us and will abide with us in a personal sense. We have all the tools necessary to find God, the Word, the Church, the abiding Spirit; so we have no excuse not to be filled with His Spirit and to know Him privately and personally.  Only in our faith do we claim the potential to know God and that God is personal.  "Acquaint now thyself with him and be at peace..." (Job 22:21, KJV); "Yield now and be at peace with Him; Thereby good will come to you" (Job 22:21, NASB).

To level with you, most believers are not moved by the Holy Spirit, nor have the discernment to awaken to His presence, simply because they have too much of the world's spirit within them and God cannot fill a space already full!  Before filling, in God's economy, comes emptying!   In sum, it is a boggling affair to know the Lord and to put things into that perspective.  Soli Deo Gloria!

The Whereabouts Of God

"... While they say to me continually, 'Where is your God?'"  (Psalm 42:10, ESV).
"And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart"  (Jer. 29:13, KJV).  
"Seek the LORD while He may be found; 
Call upon Him while He is near"  (Isaiah 55:6, NASB).  
"... Why should they say among the peoples, 'Where is their God?'"  (Joel 2:17, NIV).
"... Why my enemies continually taunt me, saying, 'Where is this God of yours?'"  (Ps. 42:3, NLT). 

Have you ever felt abandoned by God like Job?  He wondered that, too:  "Oh, that I knew where I might find him, that I might come even to his seat!" (Job 23:3, ESV).  Job was desperate and was confident it wasn't his fault or that he deserved it, but God was MIA to his reckoning.  Sometimes God withdraws from us to see what is in our heart!  Our faith is more precious than gold and must be tested, to see if we are going by feeling or faith; faith is what pleases God, not feelings or sentiment! We must learn to walk by faith and not by sight (cf. 2 Cor. 5:17).

 Sin separates us from God (Psalm 66:18 says, "If I regard iniquity in my heart the LORD will not hear me"), and God is not the one who moved, you did!   Even Job didn't realize that his sin was self-righteousness if you look at his boasting in Job 31.  In the end, he found repentance at the revelation of God's greatness and it humbled him.

The fact of the matter is that "he is actually not far from each one of us"  (cf. Acts 17:27, ESV).  God is never further than the mention of His name, but even some believers don't know Him by name--His name isn't "God!"  People often mock believers because it seems like their God has abandoned them, but the fact is that He will never leave us nor forsake us (cf. Heb. 13:8).   Jesus said in the Great Commission:  "...I am with you always...." Jesus name is, in fact, Emmanuel, and that is interpreted as meaning that "God is with us"!  That God is nearby is called the immanence of God as per Isaiah 57:15, which says, "This is the high and lofty One [re the transcendence of God] says--he who lives forever, whose name is holy:  'I live in a high and holy place, but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.'" In short, God is above and beyond, yet approachable! 

People often sarcastically inquire where God was in a disaster like 9/11, but people who were there will testify that Jesus was there all the time.  When they ask you where God is, simply ask them where He isn't!  Where was the church?  We don't need a mirror to see that we are walking miracles and, since everything is caused by God, miracles are only unusual events caused by Him, or they'd be called "regulars." There is a God-shaped blank or vacuum in our souls that only God can fill according to Blaise Pascal, and when God lives in our hearts we can communicate and fellowship with Him--that's why we are created in the image of God!  (We alone have the will to obey, the heart to love, and the mind to know God.) Animals never wonder about the whereabouts of God, nor ask, since they are oblivious to the spiritual world and knowledge.

Pascal said that in nature we don't see the manifest presence of God, nor the complete absence of God, but the presence of a hidden God. God wants us to find Him and doesn't show Himself to triflers, but those who seek with their whole heart (cf. Jer. 29:13; Isa. 55:6).  Isaiah announced, "Truly, you are a God who hides yourself..."  (Isa. 45:15, ESV).   It is not a matter of God hiding, but of whether we are looking for Him and seeking His face (as Jesus said in Matt. 7:7, "...[Seek] and you shall find...")! Take comfort in Jesus' promise that whenever two or three are gathered together in His name, there He is among them (cf. Matt. 18:20)!  Sometimes you may honestly wonder where God, is but then you might be finding out where the devil is!

If you think that they had it good in Jesus' day when He was with them, or that some people are more blessed by having had visions, we have it better than they did because we have the resident Holy Spirit and the complete canon of Holy Writ to guide us and for God to speak to us through.  You can find God's presence:  "I permitted Myself to be sought by those who did not ask for Me; I permitted Myself to be found by those who did not seek Me, I said, 'Here am I, here am I,'...." (Isaiah 65:1, NASB).  Christianity is not belief there is a God, but believing in the God who is there!  As Francis Schaeffer said, "He is there and He is not silent!"  In sum, ponder the song:  "Surely the presence of the Lord is in this place...." (cf. Gen. 28:16).    Soli Deo Gloria!

Answering Prayer...

"For God may speak in one way, or in another, Yet man does not perceive it.  In a dream, in a vision of the night, When deep sleep falls upon men, While slumbering on their beds"  (Job 33:14-15, NKJV).  "I love the LORD, because He has heard My voice and my supplications. Because He has inclined His ear to me, Therefore I will call upon Him as long as I live"  (Psalm 116:1-2, NKJV).  "He is there and He is not silent."  (Francis A. Schaeffer, philosophical apologist)

Our problem is being spiritually hard of hearing and turning a deaf ear to God, failing to listen to what He does say to us, not that He doesn't speak clearly enough!  Prayer works and Satan laughs at our wisdom, mocks at our toil, but trembles when he sees the weakest saint upon his knees (source unknown).  Lincoln is said to have said that he often went to his knees because he simply had nowhere else to go.  It isn't our posture, but our attitude and we are to work as if everything depends on us but pray as if everything depends on God.  We all have an innate potential, and, though our attempts may be feeble and anemic, they are not ineffectual.

Whenever you can't stand life, kneel, they say!  You really don't need a theology of prayer or another lecture on the subject, but just need to apply what you do know and just pray!  Don't ever get an inferiority complex or feel you are out of your league, God honors the humblest efforts, even from children.  Prayer is a muscle to exercise and the skill atrophies without constant and daily use.  The difficulties and trials of life are only meant to keep us on our knees!

A skeptic might wonder how God can hear everyone's prayer at once and possibly answer them simultaneously.  The reason we believe in prayer is not that we became convinced by argument or someone's testimony, as if second-hand; no, it's because God answers prayer and prayer works!  Billy Graham was asked how he knew God was alive:  "Yes, I'm sure because I talked to Him this morning."  This kind of postulation baffles the unbeliever who is skeptical about such mystical talk, that could be defined as a gut feeling, to a burning in the bosom, to hearing "a voice."  We don't necessarily assert that God is audible, visible, nor tangible to us, but He has revealed Himself in the person of Jesus Christ and God's pet peeve is that we don't seek Him out--He is overjoyed to reveal Himself to those who diligently seek Him (cf. Heb. 11:6).

On the other hand, just because God has put His Word into a book and revealed all we need to know, this doesn't preclude Him from speaking through any means He desires, even visions and dreams, which haven't been retired despite having the Bible--but this isn't normative and we are commanded to find God's will and the answers in the Word, because He has promised He will use that and has elevated and magnified the Word, which will not come back void (cf. Isa. 55:11), above all His name, fame, or reputation (cf. Psalm 138:2).


God's best gift to man is the Bible and He expects us to use it and depend on it, not just read it once and put it back on the shelf!  The Bible is a lifelong journey with God and has all we need to know for a fulfilling, abundant life in Christ.  In it, God speaks to us in sixty-five books, and we speak to God in one book (Psalms)!  Prayer is two-way and that means we must be prepared to listen to what God is saying and have the right mental attitude.  We need a thirsty soul, needy heart, willing spirit, an open mind; we must also be teachable, humble, and obedient to God!  It's not a matter of training or education that brings effective prayer and Bible reading (you don't have to know how to be a good reader, for example), but you must be in the right frame of mind and ready and expectant to hear from God--it is written clear enough that a child can understand its main message and get something out of it.  We are only responsible for what we do understand, so take that by faith and God will cause growth so you can understand the deeper truths later.  Mark Twain said that it's not the parts of the Bible that he doesn't understand that bother him, but those that he does understand!

God can hear prayer universally and simultaneously because He is miraculous and time is not of the essence for Him, who created the time-space continuum.  Time is merely a corollary of space and matter and if those two didn't exist, there would be no time.  Time stops in a black hole, by the way. God is outside time and can use it or manipulate it to conform to His will and desires.  He has all the time in the world to hear everyone's prayer, just like they are the only one praying at that time.  With God there is no such thing as time, which is irrelevant, He existed before time began or in eternity past.  God sees history as one episode a view, not in sequence as we do.  God had no beginning and will have no end because He is timeless and in another dimension, besides the four we live in (length, width, height, and time).  God never tells us to take our turn and never is too busy for us--He's always there, and Christianity is "about the God who is there" according to Francis Schaeffer.

Prayer can be explained away if one is so inclined, and you can always find some excuse not to believe; however, it becomes increasingly incredible to explain away countless prayers as coincidence.  The problem is not that our prayers don't get heard, but that we are not praying His will and also that we don't pray at all or even ask for what we want.  ("You have not because you ask not.")  God wants faith and will not force anyone to believe in prayer, but there is evidence if one is willing to believe, and prayer is only for the believer who has faith in Jesus name, not for some experiment to see if God is out there somewhere--we are not to test God!  (Hebrews 11:6, ESV, says, "..[For] whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.")  God doesn't have to prove Himself to anyone, but He is not anyone's debtor and will reward sincere seekers--He wants to hear from us more than we desire to fellowship with Him.

In summation, if we feel estranged from God and He seems MIA, it is not God who moved, but us--we are to be blamed for the alienation: "Behold, the LORD's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or his ear dull, that it cannot hear, but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear"  (Isaiah 59:1-2, ESV). However, if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive and cleanse us (cf. 1 John 1:9).  Don't feel alone if God seems distant; even Job pondered:  "Oh, that I knew where I might find him, that I might come even to his seat!" (Job 23:3, ESV).   Soli Deo Gloria!

Jesus Incognito

"[To] reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles.." (Galatians 1:16, NIV, emphasis added).
"Whatever you did, for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me"  (Matthew 25:40, NIV, emphasis mine).
Jesus interposed His Father's will over His:  "Didn't you know I had to be in my Father's house [about my Father's business]?" (Cf. Luke 2:49, NIV).
"... A prophet is not without honor, except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own household"  (Mark 6:4, ESV).

According to English legend, King Arthur would sneak among the common people, without his regalia, just to find out what they really thought and to get on the same page with empathy--Jesus did far more than that in humbling Himself to the point of death on a cross (cf. Philippians 2:7ff).  We are to have this same mind in us, as was in Christ (cf. v. 5)!  We should be aware of the fact that Jesus is loose and at large in our midst invisibly via the Holy Spirit residing in believers:

Jesus "came unto His own and His own received Him not," according to John 1:11; He was a man on a mission to seek and to save that which was lost (cf. Luke 19:10)--the lost sheep of the house of Israel, who had gone astray--He saw them as sheep without a shepherd. He didn't promote or advertise the fact that He was the Son of David or the Messiah, but He never denied it either.  He was known to use figures of speech when preaching, so as to confuse the religious leaders, especially the party of the Pharisees.

They had to ask Him bluntly:  "Are You the Messiah, or are we to look for another?"  He didn't always beat around the bush, but spoke plainly, and not in parables to keep the secrets of the kingdom known only to the sheep, but many were not willing to accept Him for who He was.  They called Him the son of Joseph, the prophet from Galilee, the carpenter, or as a snide remark: Mary's son, the Nazarene, even just the carpenter, or the teacher (rabbi).

Only once did He openly proclaim His rightful place as Messiah, and that was during the triumphal entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, as we call it now.  It had been written that Israel would not see their messiah until they shouted, "Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD."  The Pharisees were getting nervous about His popularity and were worried that if He were left alone, that the whole world would go after Him.  They were worried about Job One, which was protecting their turf and influence over the people as their teachers and guides, but they did it out of jealousy and a jaundiced eye, which even Pilate saw at Jesus trial before him.

Jesus had foretold many times of His crucifixion and resurrection, but the disciples were dense and were clueless as to His real identity until they actually witnessed it on Easter morning.  Peter had confessed Him to be the Son of the living God, but this was more of a theoretical interpretation than actual application, though they had worshiped Him on occasion, their basic attitude was, "What manner of man is this?"  He gave signs, according to John's record, that He was God in the flesh, and His miracles were not helter-skelter, nor for personal gain, selfish motive, nor showy.  To prove His identity beyond doubt, there was no biggie miracle that couldn't be denied, and even King Herod thought he'd get a show from Him like He was a clown or magician--but Jesus never did miracles on demand.

The Christian is likewise called to be Christ incognito:  We are His mind to think Christlike thoughts; His heart to love others through; His voice to speak His message of love; His hands through which He can help others.  As St. Teresa of Calcutta (Mother Teresa) has said, "He has no hands but our hands, and no feet but our feet" to help others.  Note that some Christians are known to take this to the extreme and get a messianic complex, which can border on mental illness or delusion. People often pray for Jesus to help them and don't realize that He uses believers to answer prayers and to fill in for Him incognito.

When you've done it for the least of these His brethren, you've done it for Christ; for He said, "I was in prison and you visited Me, I was hungry and you fed me."  We don't want to go to the other extreme and deny that Christ is at work through our brothers and sisters in the Lord, either.  On the one hand people will want to know the gospel according to us, and on the other hand, we don't want to deny that the Lord Himself is at work through His children as vessels of honor: Just as Isaiah 26:12 (NIV) says:  "... [All] that we have accomplished you have done for us." The King James Version renders it:  "[For] thou hast wrought all our works in us."

The point is that not only are we Christ incognito, but we are to serve Christ as if He were incognito and undercover and at large!    We are being renewed in the image of Christ, who is the replica, icon, or express image of God Himself.  Christ is God with skin on, you might say, and we can put the gospel in shoe leather by living it out and making it real to others:  Only when you love the gospel, long to make it known, and desire to live it out, do you actually believe it--it's not a matter of pure acquiescence, intellectual assent, or agreement.  Those who have bowed to Christ are the ones He can use for vessels of honor and complete His mission, whose marching orders are given in the Great Commission--our raison d'etre or reason for being!

Our testimony must be for real, and not a masquerade, sham, nor facade; that is, we cannot be nominal Christians or believers in name only who have a bogus profession and no reality to back it up--there is a contrast between the reality of faith and the profession of faith and viva la difference! We represent Christ in our daily walk and people observe us and judge Him by our testimony and witness.  We are Christ's ambassadors who have authority to speak in His name! "... We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God"  (2 Cor. 5:20, ESV).   When they see Christ in us, it has an impact on the unbeliever, because Christ becomes real to them lived out through us as a testimony that cannot be denied.

We can make Christ real by living up to our testimony and that means walking the walk, not just talking the talk.  When they realize we are Christians they will watch our every step and judge our testimony to see if they are more righteous than us.  But be glad that we have God's stamp of approval and He promises to use us for His glory as vessels of honor and "He leads us in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake."  Remember the words of Paul in Colossians 1:27 saying, "Christ in you, the hope of glory." Finally, Paul says in 2 Cor. 13:5 (ESV, emphasis mine) a word of caution: "Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith.  Test yourselves,.  Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?--unless indeed you fail to meet the test!

As believers, we know that Christ said He'd never leave us nor forsake us and that He'd be with us always, even to the end of the age (cf. Matt. 28:20).  There is the promise that wherever two or three are gathered together in His name, that Christ is present incognito (cf. Matt. 18:20)!  Our spiritual eyes are opened and we see Jesus as present in Spirit.  The eyes of our heart are opened and we are to keep our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith (cf. Hebrews 12:2).   "But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels..."  (Heb. 2:9, ESV, emphasis mine).
Soli Deo Gloria!

The Pursuit Of God

"If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them"  (John 13:17).
"You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain..." (John 15:16). "I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing"  (John 15:5).

Of course, I realize that my title was also the title of a famous book by A. W. Tozer, but I must borrow it to make my point right off the bat.  Is knowledge about God a requisite for knowing Him? Can we afford to be ignorant but good people?  What good does it do to know a lot "about God?" You must turn this knowledge about God into a personal knowledge of God.  Because to know Him is to love Him!  If you really study Psalm 119 (probably written by the Bible scholar Ezra), you will come to the realization that the psalmist loved the Scriptures and they were his meditation all the day long.  But loving the Bible does no good if we are not applying our knowledge. When God opens our eyes and enlightens us we are responsible to share our insights or pass them on if we want more, and thus be good stewards and faithful witnesses to His light.

This is not an attack on learning or the thirst for knowledge per se, which has its own reward and we should thank God for our enjoyment of it.  If one studies law, he should pray God turns it into His glory in some ministry so that all that study is not wasted.  The pursuit of knowledge and the pursuit of God are two separate goals unless the knowledge is to the glory of God. We are not just to be philosophers or lovers of knowledge, but lovers of God.  "Whether you eat or whether you drink, do all to the glory of God" (1 Cor. 10:31).  This is being purpose-oriented.   We may enjoy history, for example, but unless it is to the glory of God and put into practice it is bunk as far as the kingdom of God is concerned.

The reward of knowledge is in the putting it into practice ("...knowledge puffs up, but love edifies" and "to whom much is given, much is required"), like the ultimate reward of studying medicine is in the healing of people not getting educated.  We enjoy a lot of things in life, and we should thank God for them, but we are not rewarded just because we enjoy them (e.g., eating, drinking, reading, sports, politics, and even sex). God blesses us all with common grace to enjoy and have a capacity for life--"...who gives us richly all things to enjoy"  (1 Tim. 6:17). The subject of this post is the pursuit of God and being rewarded at the Bema by Christ, not how much we enjoy the blessings of life.

To delineate the problem with many believers, what they are guilty of is balking at the deeper things of God while leaving the so-called doctrine or dogma to the theologians or clergy. Erasmus said that doctrine is the bugbear of the Church and many believers today have followed suit--thinking it is just philosophy.  Actually, theology is the Queen of the Sciences!  They have come full circle from the Reformation, in that they blindly follow the clerics and don't become like Bereans, who search out matters for themselves and study their Bibles.  An understanding of sound doctrine is necessary for a sound life; one cannot live a sound life apart from sound doctrine.  On the other hand, you can know all the doctrine and get a degree in it, or great kudos, and not have a sound life to be practicing what you preach or know.  You could say that doctrine is necessary, but not sufficient (you have to use it as a means to an end, not as an end per se) because there is more than just knowing or being familiar with doctrine.

We are all theologians in that we come to our own basic understanding, interpretation, or viewpoint of Scripture.  The question is, is how good of a theologian are we and do we subscribe to false doctrine.  What we believe has a definite impact on our behavior (orthodoxy or right doctrine influences orthopraxy or right ethics).  We cannot ignore basic and sound doctrine because that is not an option for the believer who wants to walk close to Christ.  We make so many mistakes simply because of our ignorance and Paul repeatedly says he would rather not have us ignorant.  Now it does say in 1 Timothy 2:9 that an elder must hold to the deep things of God with a clear conscience--he is obliged to have the lowdown on doctrine and be able to correct those who contradict it.

The believer must be cognizant that he has decided to be a disciple or "learner" while being enrolled in the school of Christ and dedicated to His curriculum all his life--the search for God and truth never ends and one should never be complacent and think he knows it all, but always positive and receptive to learning more and never even getting tired with the milk of the Word, even when we crave the meat or solid food and have been weaned from our spiritual infancy. "As the newborn baby desires the pure milk of the Word" so are we to never get bored with Scripture or be blase and apathetic, which Christ calls lukewarm and is odious to Him in Revelation 3:19.

Our knowledge of God does no good remaining just "theory" or knowledge that isn't applied.  In other words, we don't pursue knowledge as an end in itself or, you could say, for its own sake.  Yes, it is a sign of spiritual health to be interested in spiritual matters, and in the 17th century it was the hobby of a gentleman to be conversant with theology or "God-talk;" however, one can get spiritual "intoxicated" with the deeper truths and become unbalanced and losing focus of the basics of our faith, especially the marching orders of Christ, the Great Commission

But knowledge about God should ultimately lead to knowledge of God and a closer relationship with Him, because "knowledge puffs up [making us feel superior and important, as it were]"  according to 1 Cor. 8:1.  I  have it said by friends that they want to take a college course on the Bible to learn it in more detail.  I have to ask them "Why?"  Do they feel led by the Spirit to do this or do they just have a desire to be "informed" or in the know about spiritual matters?  If they have been called to teach it may be necessary to prepare for a life-long study of the Scriptures, but to do do it for its own sake, as an end in itself, if vain in God's eyes and will accomplish nothing.

I'm not for ignorance, but I am against knowledge without purpose and end in mind, (knowledge is the means to an end).  You can be so preoccupied with the Word, actually doing nothing but reading it all day like a monastic monk and not apply it:  "Be ye doers of the Word, and not hearers only." We must not only intake but have output to be healthy.  Just like inhaling and exhaling for our bodies. The proof of the pudding is in the eating they say; what kind of believer we are depends upon our attitude toward Scripture.

You must contemplate why you are pursuing knowledge and you must also distinguish knowledge of God from mere knowledge about God.  You can literally know a lot about someone and not really know them at all on a personal level, too, as an analogy.  The goal is a relationship with Christ and a closer walk with Him.   According to Colossians 1:10 we are:  "Bearing fruit in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God."  See how they correlate?  Putting our knowledge into action reinforces it and cements it into our spirit and makes it good for something--not just theory or philosophy.  Two extremes to avoid are having Bible fatigue on the one hand whereas we get bored and it has lost its zing and being engrossed in the Bible in an academic approach on the other hand, like just having the desire to know all the answers.

One doesn't have to be privy to some secret, arcane, or academic knowledge to know the Lord (in fact you may know very little and know the Lord quite well), and make the same mistakes as the Gnostikoi in the Apostolic age who claimed that knowledge was the secret of salvation and they were "in the know" (gnosis means to know).  We are responsible for what we know or had the opportunity to know (no one can claim ignorance--there is no excuse for not knowing God) and God distributes gifts according to our abilities and His purposes, not ours.  Some may have the gift of knowledge, for instance, and God may entrust them with much knowledge, wisdom and understanding.  Much knowledge is a byproduct of a productive life, not the goal itself.  Just like one may acquire a knowledge of trivia unconsciously and know more than he realizes.

Knowledge per se is not the measure of a believer's productiveness, because we are rewarded according to what we sow, not what we know!  Just imagine someone saying he wants to study medicine but has no plans to practice medicine, or one who go to law school for the heck of it and doesn't want to practice law!  We must be practicing theologians putting our faith into action!  They say that if you can't do, you must teach;  that is one option and that is probably why we have preachers professors, and even scholars who are heavy on the learning and light on the application.
  Soli Deo Gloria!

God Reaching Down to Us

Christianity may be summed up in grace or God reaching down to us (condescending) and acting on our behalf in doing for us what we didn't deserve--this is unique in Christianity.  All other religions are based on works because man is incurably addicted to doing something for his salvation (cf. John 6:28-29) and are summed up in man's effort to gain the approbation or approval of God by his good deeds, rituals, morality, etc.   You might say man's vain effort in reaching out to please God.

The Christian life is about seeking God and His presence and face in our daily walk.  But this does not take place apart from grace:  we didn't find Him; He found us.  Pascal said that he would not have sought God, had He first found Him.  Paul said that "there is none that seeks God" in Rom. 3.  God's chief quarrel with man, says John Stott, is that he doesn't seek.  God is no man's debtor and if we seek we will find. 

The miracle is that He is found by those who were not looking:  "I was ready to be sought by those who did not ask for me; I was ready to be found by those who did not seek me" (Isa. 65:1). Many people are looking for the benefits, not the Benefactor.   Actually, according to R. C. Sproul, the search for God begins at conversion, it doesn't end there. Jonathan Edwards said that seeking God is the main business of the Christian.   When we say we found God, we really mean He found us.  We begin our search for God at salvation because only in the Spirit can we know Him and be aware of Him.   Soli Deo Gloria!

Seeking God?

God's Word promises that all who do indeed seek God "earnestly" will find Him. "Ask, and it will be given to you, seek, and you will find, knock, and it will be opened to you" (Matt. 7:7). "And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart" (Jeremiah 29:13). However, it also says, "Seek the Lord while He may be found..." (Isaiah 55:6a). "He that comes to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who diligently seek Him" (Hebrews 11:6). So God does promise to reward the sincere seeker and not the mere trifler.

Some say that they are glad so many people are "seeking God" as they read the best-seller The Shack, but the Word says, "There is none who seeks God" ( Rom. 3:11b). Martin Luther says, "To say: man does not seek God is to say: man cannot seek God." They are seeking the benefits, not the Benefactor. They are in reality running away from God and hiding from Him like Adam in the garden. Isaiah 65:1b says, "I was found by those who didn't seek Me." "The search for God begins at salvation, it doesn't end at salvation," according to R. C. Sproul. Seeking God is the main business of the Christian's life, says Jonathan Edwards.

The reward is not money, fame, fortune, prosperity, or anything material, but God Himself--He is the reward. "I am thy great and precious reward," said God to Abraham (cf. Ps. 73:26). Some people think that sincerity impresses God and that He rewards all who are sincere in their religiosity. God is no man's debtor and seeks out those whom He wills and chose in eternity past. We get none of the glory or credit, not even the bragging rights to say we sought God-we cannot pat ourselves on the back at all. You have to be sincere, but that in itself does not obligate God. Many a Muslim is sincere and fanatical to boot. God owes no man and is obliged to save no man, but all is grace. Soli Deo Gloria!