In heaven, "blessing and honor and glory and dominion" will belong to the One seated on the throne and the Lamb forever! It will be our final destination to "enter into the joy of the Lord" when we enter the presence of the Lord in glory. But blessing is a difficult and troublesome word to translate from the Hebrew or Greek. We might think of it as "happiness," but also one of fulfillment and inner joy. Mother, now canonized, Teresa said, "True holiness consists in doing the will of God with a smile." C. S. Lewis said, "Joy is the serious business of heaven," and we will all find our joy there and be blessed beyond measure.
Our blessings come from the ultimate source of blessing and all good things (cf. James 1:17)--God. Man is on a frantic search for happiness or fulfillment in this life and will substitute anything but God's provision to bring him momentary thrills or an escape. "There is no peace for the wicked." (cf. Isaiah 48:22; 57:21). Materialism, wisdom, success, knowledge, sex, fame, power, and riches all fail to satisfy the soul according to Solomon, who tried them all.
The purpose of saying we are blessed instead of lucky or fortunate is that we attribute our welfare to God and are thanking Him. How God measures blessing or happiness in His economy differs from the norms of this world. The Beatitudes show the way to true blessing and this is in contradistinction to the ways of the world. Christianity is countercultural! The truly blessed people are those who have found God, know Him, and let Him use them to be a channel of blessing to others. Those who bless others are the most blessed! Let us not so seek to be blessed as to bless! John the Baptist is the epitome of success in God's economy; he realized that the way up is down! that pride comes before a fall and that humility comes before promotion: "He must increase, but I must decrease" (John 3:30, HCSB, emphasis added),
Happiness is not the chasing of pots at ends of mythical rainbows, but something granted by the Spirit for our obedience and submission to His will; "But none of these things move me" (cf. Acts 20:24). It is not some will-o'-the-wisp either. The whole world is on a made quest for happiness but it eludes them without knowing God. Only Jesus can give us the "abundant life" He promised; "These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full" (John 15:11, KJV). We are to first seek God and His righteousness, then it will be added (cf. Matt. 6:33).
What are we really looking for then? Not some religious high or some momentary experience we can ride the rest of our lives, but to find purpose, meaning, and fulfillment in life. The question should be: Are we getting what we want and expect out of our lives? Are we satisfied and content? Paul said that he had learned the secret of contentment in all situations (cf. Phil. 4:13) and that is something we can all relate to (he was under arrest when he wrote that). We will have Happiness with a capital H when we learn to abide in Christ. This is one of the great commands of salvation: come to Me; follow Me; abide in Me; know Me. love Me. We must abide in Christ and show much fruit to glorify God, that's the secret right there: living for something bigger than ourselves and that will outlast us, our calling from God to let Him use us for His glory.
Most people equate happiness with happenings or circumstances (this is superficial and depends on outward stimuli). They don't realize they can be blessed or have inner joy through the trials and tribulations and all manner of adversity--they just bring new opportunities to learn about God and ourselves. We can rise above circumstances and live above the humdrum. God's answer to happenstance is Providence and when we realize He's in control and fully orchestrates all details in our lives, we are at ease and can rest assured and be content wherever the chips may fall and whenever they are down; i.e., we are down on our "luck" so to speak (though this is an overused misnomer), because we will know that God is with us through it all. ("And behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go," Gen. 28:15, RSV; cf. Isaiah 41:10).
In summation, Pascal said that our souls are like vacuums that only God can fill, and St. Augustine of Hippo said likewise that we are restless till we find our rest in God--we are made for Him and no substitute will do. We are called to walk by faith (cf. 2 Cor. 5:7) but this is not some perpetual, religious high nor remembering some existential encounter or experience, but growing in our relationship and fellowship as we become intimate with God. In closing, I'll quote the Christian student of Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung: "Emptiness is the primary problem of man." Soli Deo Gloria!
To bridge the gap between so-called theologians and regular "students" of the Word and make polemics palatable. Contact me @ bloggerbro@outlook.com To search title keywords: title:example or label as label:example; or enter a keyword in search engine ATTN: SITE USING COOKIES!
About Me
- Karl Broberg
- I am a born-again Christian, who is Reformed, but also charismatic, spiritually speaking. (I do not speak in tongues, but I believe glossalalia is a bona fide gift not given to all, and not as great as prophecy, for example.) I have several years of college education but only completed a two-year degree. I was raised Lutheran and confirmed, but I didn't "find Christ" until I was in the Army and responded to a Billy Graham crusade in 1973. I was mentored or discipled by the Navigators in the army and upon discharge joined several evangelical, Bible-teaching churches. I was baptized as an infant, but believe in believer baptism, of which I was a partaker after my conversion experience. I believe in the "5 Onlys" of the reformation: sola fide (faith alone); sola Scriptura (Scripture alone); soli Christo (Christ alone), sola gratia (grace alone), and soli Deo gloria (to God alone be the glory). I affirm TULIP as defended in the Reformation.. I affirm most of The Westminster Confession of Faith, especially pertaining to Providence.
Sunday, October 27, 2019
Saturday, October 26, 2019
Going One On One In Discipleship
"... Now teach these truths to other trustworthy people who will be able to pass the on to others" (2 Tim. 2:2, NLT).
What is the chief function of the gospel but it to spread to all the world? (When it is preached to all the world, then the end shall come according to Matt. 24:14.) We all must do our part in exercising our specialized gift in the organism of the local church as it corporately fulfills the Great Commission (the chief function of the church and believer), as well as the fact that we have individual responsibilities due to our gifting. If we want to keep our faith, we must let it shine and be willing to make it known to others. Billy Graham says we must "give it away!" NB: In God's economy we keep it by giving it away! We must be people on a mission! Some sow, some water, some reap; but God gives the increase. We must be ever aware of the fact that it's God working in us and through us and we are just vessels or tools of honor doing God's good pleasure and will, to which we are the called according to His purpose (per Romans 8:28).
Before service comes prep. The key to discipleship is discipline and experience or on the job training in the trench warfare of real-life--Reality 101, the divine curriculum. Only battle-tested warriors for Christ can defeat Satan in the angelic conflict because they know the full armor of God and are not ignorant of the schemes of the devil. His chief strategy is to divide and conquer and that's where party-politics can divide a church if not done according to the Christian worldview. "They do not reckon God in their worldview"(cf. Romans 10:4). Literally, "there is no fear of God before their eyes" (cf. Psalm 36:1; Rom. 3:18, NIV). Example: the principles of the rule of law, and the concept of liberty and justice for all are paramount (the church has a duty to teach these core values as taught in Scripture).
NB: the Bible endorses no political party or type of government just so that the rule of law is observed and people's God-given rights protected. By the rule of law we must agree that no one is above the law and we are not governed by the arbitrary whims of men, but of duly passed legislation and consent of the people. This was first delineated in 1644 by the Rev. Samuel Rutherford in Lex Rex, which means "the law is the king," [the king is not the law]. And so, true and ready discipleship includes familiarity with the Christian worldview. There should be unity concerning what the Bible does teach and note that God isn't partisan and that means we shouldn't be either (He is no respecter of persons and shows no partiality).
Paul taught the one-on-one principle or that we should invest ourselves individually into the life of someone and teach them what the Lord has taught us. There are no shortcuts or easy formulas, just hard work, faithfulness, and discipline. We must be gung-ho for the Lord--spiritual lukewarmness will not do. We must follow the Lord wholeheartedly and single-minded so as not to be distracted by the world's temptations and what the devil has to offer--"Love not the world." So, this means a full commitment or surrender is necessary without reservation, full relinquishment and I say this because most believers haven't really had their wills tested yet to see just how far they are willing to go with the Lord or how close to walk with Him. It may turn out that we may have no friends but the Lord, and we must know how to cope spiritually with that relationship intact.
If the above principle were actually practiced, the world would be evangelized in one generation; all it takes is for everyone to commit to someone and then that person returning the favor to the Lord by doing likewise. In discipleship, one thing is important: keep it simple and put into practice what you learn realizing what you are or are not good at--don't get in over your head but be patient with the small responsibility God has granted you by grace. Remember, the goal is to spread the gospel and that entails knowing the gospel (and most believers don't) and how to present it should someone ask them how to be saved.
If they don't know how to help someone else to salvation or show the way, how can they be assured themselves? If they do get saved, we must never offer false assurance for it's not our job to grant it, but God's; we only offer reassurance. Assurance comes solely by the Word of God coupled with the testimony of the Holy Spirit per Romans 8:16 ("The Spirit of God bears witness with our spirit that we are sons of God.") and this is done by searching one's heart and examining one's fruit. This is vital to know because the believer's assurance is a key to his witness and if he has any doubts it will stifle, cripple, paralyze, or disable his witness or it may even jeopardize or compromise his testimony and he will be neutralized as a witness and paralyzed in growth. "Our lives are known and read by all men," (cf. 2 Cor. 3:2, NKJV)."
Confidence breeds confidence! Love begets love; faith, faith! Faith is not conjecture but certitude and confidence about our salvation and we need not be stunted by doubts. Doubt is an element of faith, not its opposite! No one has perfect faith; the best we can have is sincere, honest faith (cf. 1 Tim. 1:5; 2 Tim. 1:5). But being honest with them takes fortitude and courage and one step to growing in faith is to admit them and not repress them. It's our duty to be assured and this is not a sin of presumption (it's commanded in 2 Pet. 1:10), it's faith! We all live on the doubt-faith continuum and must overcome our fears and questions as we grow in the faith; little faith is still faith! We are to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ (cf. 2 Pet. 3:18). We go from "faith to faith in a continuum (cf. Rom. 1:17). Doubt is an element of faith, not the opposite of it, and must be dealt with. So, the chief duty of the mentor is to build this confidence in their gift and salvation itself and prepare them to pass the baton or carry on this work of spreading the Word.
The main error of evangelism is lack of follow-up (too many evangelists count heads and end there). One must realize that it takes commitment and faithfulness to the person wherever needed. We can accomplish little without a firm foundation in the Lord and this begins with the boldness to confess Christ before men, not to be ashamed of our Lord but to look for opportunities as He opens or shuts doors. Timothy was taught that he does the addition and God the multiplication (2 Tim. 2:2). Remember, investment will pay dividends.
But don't forget that the word disciple means learner and that means we are all learners and matriculated in the school of Christ and never stop learning, also that we only need be a step ahead of the learner to teach or mentor. Anyone can do it; availability, not ability is the key, for the filling of the Spirit is what's needed and one's dependence on God for guidance, not human wisdom or fancy gimmicks to teach. When we have been discipled, we owe a debt of gratitude to that person and are eager to pass it on and share what we have come to experience in Christ--to know the love of Christ which surpasses all knowledge. Our mission doesn't end with making disciples, but to contend for the faith, defending it in the open marketplace of ideas in the public square. This entails the ideals of 1 Peter 3:15 and 2 Tim. 2:25: being prepared to defend our faith and making an effort to know the Scriptures via study or other means available
CAVEATS: DO NOT TEACH OVER SOMEONE'S HEAD, FASTER THAN THEY CAN LEARN, OR ASSUME TOO MUCH KNOWLEDGE OR BACKGROUND INFO, BUT DON'T INSULT THEIR INTELLIGENCE EITHER. KEEP IT SIMPLE AS POSSIBLE, BUT NOT MORE SO! DON'T GET AHEAD OF YOUR STUDENTS BUT KNOW WHERE THEY ARE SPIRITUALLY AND INTELLECTUALLY. WE DARE NOT GO IT ALONE AS A SPIRITUAL LONE RANGER OR LONE WOLF, BUT MUST GO ONE ONE ONE AND BE ACCOUNTABLE SUBMITTING TO AUTHORITY. TOO MANY OF US BELIEVE OUR DOUBTS AND DOUBT OUR FAITH; WE SHOULD DOUBT OUR DOUBTS AND BELIEVE OUR FAITH! FINALLY, KNOW, RESPECT, AND SET PERSONAL BOUNDARIES. Soli Deo Gloria!
What is the chief function of the gospel but it to spread to all the world? (When it is preached to all the world, then the end shall come according to Matt. 24:14.) We all must do our part in exercising our specialized gift in the organism of the local church as it corporately fulfills the Great Commission (the chief function of the church and believer), as well as the fact that we have individual responsibilities due to our gifting. If we want to keep our faith, we must let it shine and be willing to make it known to others. Billy Graham says we must "give it away!" NB: In God's economy we keep it by giving it away! We must be people on a mission! Some sow, some water, some reap; but God gives the increase. We must be ever aware of the fact that it's God working in us and through us and we are just vessels or tools of honor doing God's good pleasure and will, to which we are the called according to His purpose (per Romans 8:28).
Before service comes prep. The key to discipleship is discipline and experience or on the job training in the trench warfare of real-life--Reality 101, the divine curriculum. Only battle-tested warriors for Christ can defeat Satan in the angelic conflict because they know the full armor of God and are not ignorant of the schemes of the devil. His chief strategy is to divide and conquer and that's where party-politics can divide a church if not done according to the Christian worldview. "They do not reckon God in their worldview"(cf. Romans 10:4). Literally, "there is no fear of God before their eyes" (cf. Psalm 36:1; Rom. 3:18, NIV). Example: the principles of the rule of law, and the concept of liberty and justice for all are paramount (the church has a duty to teach these core values as taught in Scripture).
NB: the Bible endorses no political party or type of government just so that the rule of law is observed and people's God-given rights protected. By the rule of law we must agree that no one is above the law and we are not governed by the arbitrary whims of men, but of duly passed legislation and consent of the people. This was first delineated in 1644 by the Rev. Samuel Rutherford in Lex Rex, which means "the law is the king," [the king is not the law]. And so, true and ready discipleship includes familiarity with the Christian worldview. There should be unity concerning what the Bible does teach and note that God isn't partisan and that means we shouldn't be either (He is no respecter of persons and shows no partiality).
Paul taught the one-on-one principle or that we should invest ourselves individually into the life of someone and teach them what the Lord has taught us. There are no shortcuts or easy formulas, just hard work, faithfulness, and discipline. We must be gung-ho for the Lord--spiritual lukewarmness will not do. We must follow the Lord wholeheartedly and single-minded so as not to be distracted by the world's temptations and what the devil has to offer--"Love not the world." So, this means a full commitment or surrender is necessary without reservation, full relinquishment and I say this because most believers haven't really had their wills tested yet to see just how far they are willing to go with the Lord or how close to walk with Him. It may turn out that we may have no friends but the Lord, and we must know how to cope spiritually with that relationship intact.
If the above principle were actually practiced, the world would be evangelized in one generation; all it takes is for everyone to commit to someone and then that person returning the favor to the Lord by doing likewise. In discipleship, one thing is important: keep it simple and put into practice what you learn realizing what you are or are not good at--don't get in over your head but be patient with the small responsibility God has granted you by grace. Remember, the goal is to spread the gospel and that entails knowing the gospel (and most believers don't) and how to present it should someone ask them how to be saved.
If they don't know how to help someone else to salvation or show the way, how can they be assured themselves? If they do get saved, we must never offer false assurance for it's not our job to grant it, but God's; we only offer reassurance. Assurance comes solely by the Word of God coupled with the testimony of the Holy Spirit per Romans 8:16 ("The Spirit of God bears witness with our spirit that we are sons of God.") and this is done by searching one's heart and examining one's fruit. This is vital to know because the believer's assurance is a key to his witness and if he has any doubts it will stifle, cripple, paralyze, or disable his witness or it may even jeopardize or compromise his testimony and he will be neutralized as a witness and paralyzed in growth. "Our lives are known and read by all men," (cf. 2 Cor. 3:2, NKJV)."
Confidence breeds confidence! Love begets love; faith, faith! Faith is not conjecture but certitude and confidence about our salvation and we need not be stunted by doubts. Doubt is an element of faith, not its opposite! No one has perfect faith; the best we can have is sincere, honest faith (cf. 1 Tim. 1:5; 2 Tim. 1:5). But being honest with them takes fortitude and courage and one step to growing in faith is to admit them and not repress them. It's our duty to be assured and this is not a sin of presumption (it's commanded in 2 Pet. 1:10), it's faith! We all live on the doubt-faith continuum and must overcome our fears and questions as we grow in the faith; little faith is still faith! We are to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ (cf. 2 Pet. 3:18). We go from "faith to faith in a continuum (cf. Rom. 1:17). Doubt is an element of faith, not the opposite of it, and must be dealt with. So, the chief duty of the mentor is to build this confidence in their gift and salvation itself and prepare them to pass the baton or carry on this work of spreading the Word.
The main error of evangelism is lack of follow-up (too many evangelists count heads and end there). One must realize that it takes commitment and faithfulness to the person wherever needed. We can accomplish little without a firm foundation in the Lord and this begins with the boldness to confess Christ before men, not to be ashamed of our Lord but to look for opportunities as He opens or shuts doors. Timothy was taught that he does the addition and God the multiplication (2 Tim. 2:2). Remember, investment will pay dividends.
But don't forget that the word disciple means learner and that means we are all learners and matriculated in the school of Christ and never stop learning, also that we only need be a step ahead of the learner to teach or mentor. Anyone can do it; availability, not ability is the key, for the filling of the Spirit is what's needed and one's dependence on God for guidance, not human wisdom or fancy gimmicks to teach. When we have been discipled, we owe a debt of gratitude to that person and are eager to pass it on and share what we have come to experience in Christ--to know the love of Christ which surpasses all knowledge. Our mission doesn't end with making disciples, but to contend for the faith, defending it in the open marketplace of ideas in the public square. This entails the ideals of 1 Peter 3:15 and 2 Tim. 2:25: being prepared to defend our faith and making an effort to know the Scriptures via study or other means available
CAVEATS: DO NOT TEACH OVER SOMEONE'S HEAD, FASTER THAN THEY CAN LEARN, OR ASSUME TOO MUCH KNOWLEDGE OR BACKGROUND INFO, BUT DON'T INSULT THEIR INTELLIGENCE EITHER. KEEP IT SIMPLE AS POSSIBLE, BUT NOT MORE SO! DON'T GET AHEAD OF YOUR STUDENTS BUT KNOW WHERE THEY ARE SPIRITUALLY AND INTELLECTUALLY. WE DARE NOT GO IT ALONE AS A SPIRITUAL LONE RANGER OR LONE WOLF, BUT MUST GO ONE ONE ONE AND BE ACCOUNTABLE SUBMITTING TO AUTHORITY. TOO MANY OF US BELIEVE OUR DOUBTS AND DOUBT OUR FAITH; WE SHOULD DOUBT OUR DOUBTS AND BELIEVE OUR FAITH! FINALLY, KNOW, RESPECT, AND SET PERSONAL BOUNDARIES. Soli Deo Gloria!
Sunday, October 13, 2019
Marching To A Different Drum
"Come to terms with God and be at peace; in this way good will come to you" (Job 22:21, HCSB).
"Agree with God and be at peace..." (Job 22:21, ESV)
"Acquaint now thyself with him and be at peace..." (Job 22:21, KJV).
"Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace" (Eph. 4:3, NIV).
"The true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world" (John 1:9, HCSB).
"Christ is the centre of Christianity; all else is circumference." --John R. W. Stott, theologian
"The world is relative to Christ." --Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Lutheran theologian, and martyr of Nazism
"God weeps with us so that someday we may laugh with him." --Jurgen Moltmann, German theologian (This is how he sums up human history.)
NB: THE ENTIRETY OF THE CHRISTIAN MESSAGE CAN BE SUMMED UP: GOD WAS IN CHRIST RECONCILING THE WORLD TO HIMSELF AS THE GOD OF LOVE IN THE FLESH.
Do you march to the beat of a different drum or don't keep pace with your companions? Maybe you hear a different drummer, according to Henry David Thoreau. The only way for two people to be on the same wavelength is for them to be tuned to the same pitch--harmonizing. We ought to be able to make music together as in a choir, striking a common chord that will vibrate throughout eternity. Appealing to the same authority. That's fellowship in essence: two fellows in the same ship. Paul warns against being "unequally yoked" and "fellowship with demons" (cf. 2 Cor. 6:14-15) and "bad company corrupts good morals" (cf. 1 Cor. 15:33). "Agree with God," (cf. Job 22:21)! "Can two walk together unless they be agreed on a direction?" (cf. Amos 3:3). But we can quench or even grieve the Spirit with a divisive spirit or attitude.
We are honored and privileged to be Christ's ambassadors in His name (cf. 2 Cor. 5:20) having His authority in prayer; namely, authorized to do His will (cf. John 14:14). Sometimes even Christians don't agree on disputable or doubtful matters though (cf. Rom. 14:1; cf. Amos 3:3), and room for conscience-sake must be granted. But remember the maxim of St. Augustine: "In essentials, unity; in nonessentials, liberty; in all things, charity." Some doctrines are not only nonnegotiable but worth standing up for and defending with polemics in this truth war, but we must know where to stop being dogmatic.
There comes a time in every believer's life to get off the fence and decide for good or evil, right or wrong, good or bad, and that usually determines where they stand and what they think is worth fighting for; believe me, some arguments and disputes are not worth the adrenaline and generate more heat than light! We all must be willing though to show where we stand and not on the sidelines letting the brave believers take stands for us. One of God's names is Jehovah Nissi, or "the LORD Is Our Banner," and we ought to take up His cause and fight for what's right before it's too late--light a candle, say a prayer, vote, spread the word, donate time or money, anything but let others do it for you--knowing He's on our side!
Jesus never feared controversy and Paul said to stay away from godless controversy, not godly, meaningful, controversy. If there was never controversy, then how could we arrive at truth and the doctrines or dogma of the church? Heretics and apostates must be rooted out and challenged, not tolerated in the name of love or goodwill. John Stott wrote a book titled Christ the Controversalist to point this very fact out and show us the value of sticking to our guns and believing in something; Stott points out that it's obvious that Jesus faced a storm of controversy and didn't shy away from it, no matter the cost (come what may; let the chips fall where they may!). He was known for upsetting the religious apple cart.
Now the contemporary problem is that so-called Christians are re-thinking, re-marketing, re-tooling, re-defining, re-imagining, or even re-imaging Jesus to suit their own whims, self-interest, or issues. We are made in God's image, He isn't to be made in ours! It is self-righteous to claim that the Jesus "we know" is the reality star so to speak, and not the biblical, traditional model. Paul warned against preaching "another Jesus" (cf. 2 Cor. 11:4) and this is predominant in today's culture of moral relativism whereas people commonly make up their own values as they go along and think anything is okay as long as they can justify themselves or that their motives are right. "O, but I meant well!" is a common reason they claim, but this is no excuse for doing evil; morality is only defined as doing the right thing, the right way, with the right motives (and we will all give account to God per Romans 14:12). The end, no matter how noble, doesn't justify the means!
There is even a Postmodern revolt in the church that denies the fact that we can even know the truth or that we have gotten the gospel right yet. They want to start from square one doctrinally! And scholars today are still searching for the so-called "historical Jesus," thinking that the gospel writers may have gotten it all wrong, though they were eyewitnesses and more objective. They rely on second and third-century sources thinking they're more trustworthy than contemporaries of Jesus. That's why many today actually have a contempt for the real Jesus who stood up against evil in His day and believe that God is love and that's the end of the story, the whole equation; but God is also just and holy and must do something about sin and evil to remain God and to maintain holiness, His attribute of attributes that regulates all the others.
We are not only to fight for the right, and I even mean social justice as well as justice in the courts, all being equal under the rule of law not the rule of men and their whims; "The only way for evil to win is for good men to do nothing," according to Edmund Burke. We must propagate, (even preach) i.e., the real Jesus as He is, the exclusive personification of Truth with a capital T and the only way to heaven, because all religions don't say the same thing as the Baha'i faith posits; note that A. W. Tozer said that Christ is "not one of many ways, nor the best way, but the only way!
The leaders thought they knew the real Jesus in the day but only had contempt and familiarity for this reason; they refused to believe despite the evidence (cf. John 12:37; Psalm 78:32)! Jesus responded (cf. Mark 6:4) that a prophet has no honor in his own hometown and family--rejection was prophesied and par for the course. As the axiom goes, familiarity breeds contempt; then, how does one explain that the disciples were all convinced of Christ's sinlessness, holiness, and deity? Even Jesus' brothers didn't even believe in Him till after the resurrection (cf. Mark 3:21). But you'd think the disciples would end up His arch critics of all people. But Paul said that he preached Jesus (cf 1 Cor. 2:2) not himself. What a real McCoy and role model!
CAVEAT: TODAY WE SEE GOSPEL REVISIONISTS TRYING TO REWRITE HISTORY AND PORTRAY JESUS AS JUST ANOTHER MARTYR FOR A GOOD CAUSE, A GREAT TEACHER AND MORAL LEADER, OR A MISUNDERSTOOD MAN WHO WAS LATER DEIFIED BY ZEALOUS FOLLOWERS, SOME HAVE EVEN BOUGHT INTO NIETZSCHE'S IDEA "THAT RIGHTLY UNDERSTOOD JESUS IS NOT A GATEWAY TO ANOTHER LIFE BUT A ROLE MODEL FOR THIS ONE"
EVEN THE JEWS OF HIS DAY WERE LOOKING FOR SOMEONE, BUT HE WAS NOT THE MILITARY MESSIAH OF CONVENTIONAL WISDOM TO RESTORE ISRAEL TO IS FORMER GLORY--TO THEM, JESUS SEEMED ANTIESTABLISHMENTARIAN, WHILE THE PHARISEES SAW HIM AS A THREAT TO THEIR SPHERE OF INFLUENCE. WE MUST REJECT ANY REINTERPRETATION AND PREACH JESUS AS HE REVEALED HIMSELF TO BE--THE ONE AND ONLY BEGOTTEN SON OF GOD WHO CAME TO SAVE US AS THE LORD OF LORDS, FOR HE HAS LEFT US NO OTHER OPTION TO CONSIDER--WE CAN KNOW NO OTHER JESUS!
In short, the essence of knowing Jesus and the good life in Him is to take up the cross to follow Him, no matter the cost, wherever it may lead. "Now that you know these things, blessed are you if you do them" (cf John 13:17). Soli Deo Gloria!
"Agree with God and be at peace..." (Job 22:21, ESV)
"Acquaint now thyself with him and be at peace..." (Job 22:21, KJV).
"Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace" (Eph. 4:3, NIV).
"The true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world" (John 1:9, HCSB).
"Christ is the centre of Christianity; all else is circumference." --John R. W. Stott, theologian
"The world is relative to Christ." --Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Lutheran theologian, and martyr of Nazism
"God weeps with us so that someday we may laugh with him." --Jurgen Moltmann, German theologian (This is how he sums up human history.)
NB: THE ENTIRETY OF THE CHRISTIAN MESSAGE CAN BE SUMMED UP: GOD WAS IN CHRIST RECONCILING THE WORLD TO HIMSELF AS THE GOD OF LOVE IN THE FLESH.
Do you march to the beat of a different drum or don't keep pace with your companions? Maybe you hear a different drummer, according to Henry David Thoreau. The only way for two people to be on the same wavelength is for them to be tuned to the same pitch--harmonizing. We ought to be able to make music together as in a choir, striking a common chord that will vibrate throughout eternity. Appealing to the same authority. That's fellowship in essence: two fellows in the same ship. Paul warns against being "unequally yoked" and "fellowship with demons" (cf. 2 Cor. 6:14-15) and "bad company corrupts good morals" (cf. 1 Cor. 15:33). "Agree with God," (cf. Job 22:21)! "Can two walk together unless they be agreed on a direction?" (cf. Amos 3:3). But we can quench or even grieve the Spirit with a divisive spirit or attitude.
We are honored and privileged to be Christ's ambassadors in His name (cf. 2 Cor. 5:20) having His authority in prayer; namely, authorized to do His will (cf. John 14:14). Sometimes even Christians don't agree on disputable or doubtful matters though (cf. Rom. 14:1; cf. Amos 3:3), and room for conscience-sake must be granted. But remember the maxim of St. Augustine: "In essentials, unity; in nonessentials, liberty; in all things, charity." Some doctrines are not only nonnegotiable but worth standing up for and defending with polemics in this truth war, but we must know where to stop being dogmatic.
There comes a time in every believer's life to get off the fence and decide for good or evil, right or wrong, good or bad, and that usually determines where they stand and what they think is worth fighting for; believe me, some arguments and disputes are not worth the adrenaline and generate more heat than light! We all must be willing though to show where we stand and not on the sidelines letting the brave believers take stands for us. One of God's names is Jehovah Nissi, or "the LORD Is Our Banner," and we ought to take up His cause and fight for what's right before it's too late--light a candle, say a prayer, vote, spread the word, donate time or money, anything but let others do it for you--knowing He's on our side!
Jesus never feared controversy and Paul said to stay away from godless controversy, not godly, meaningful, controversy. If there was never controversy, then how could we arrive at truth and the doctrines or dogma of the church? Heretics and apostates must be rooted out and challenged, not tolerated in the name of love or goodwill. John Stott wrote a book titled Christ the Controversalist to point this very fact out and show us the value of sticking to our guns and believing in something; Stott points out that it's obvious that Jesus faced a storm of controversy and didn't shy away from it, no matter the cost (come what may; let the chips fall where they may!). He was known for upsetting the religious apple cart.
Now the contemporary problem is that so-called Christians are re-thinking, re-marketing, re-tooling, re-defining, re-imagining, or even re-imaging Jesus to suit their own whims, self-interest, or issues. We are made in God's image, He isn't to be made in ours! It is self-righteous to claim that the Jesus "we know" is the reality star so to speak, and not the biblical, traditional model. Paul warned against preaching "another Jesus" (cf. 2 Cor. 11:4) and this is predominant in today's culture of moral relativism whereas people commonly make up their own values as they go along and think anything is okay as long as they can justify themselves or that their motives are right. "O, but I meant well!" is a common reason they claim, but this is no excuse for doing evil; morality is only defined as doing the right thing, the right way, with the right motives (and we will all give account to God per Romans 14:12). The end, no matter how noble, doesn't justify the means!
There is even a Postmodern revolt in the church that denies the fact that we can even know the truth or that we have gotten the gospel right yet. They want to start from square one doctrinally! And scholars today are still searching for the so-called "historical Jesus," thinking that the gospel writers may have gotten it all wrong, though they were eyewitnesses and more objective. They rely on second and third-century sources thinking they're more trustworthy than contemporaries of Jesus. That's why many today actually have a contempt for the real Jesus who stood up against evil in His day and believe that God is love and that's the end of the story, the whole equation; but God is also just and holy and must do something about sin and evil to remain God and to maintain holiness, His attribute of attributes that regulates all the others.
We are not only to fight for the right, and I even mean social justice as well as justice in the courts, all being equal under the rule of law not the rule of men and their whims; "The only way for evil to win is for good men to do nothing," according to Edmund Burke. We must propagate, (even preach) i.e., the real Jesus as He is, the exclusive personification of Truth with a capital T and the only way to heaven, because all religions don't say the same thing as the Baha'i faith posits; note that A. W. Tozer said that Christ is "not one of many ways, nor the best way, but the only way!
The leaders thought they knew the real Jesus in the day but only had contempt and familiarity for this reason; they refused to believe despite the evidence (cf. John 12:37; Psalm 78:32)! Jesus responded (cf. Mark 6:4) that a prophet has no honor in his own hometown and family--rejection was prophesied and par for the course. As the axiom goes, familiarity breeds contempt; then, how does one explain that the disciples were all convinced of Christ's sinlessness, holiness, and deity? Even Jesus' brothers didn't even believe in Him till after the resurrection (cf. Mark 3:21). But you'd think the disciples would end up His arch critics of all people. But Paul said that he preached Jesus (cf 1 Cor. 2:2) not himself. What a real McCoy and role model!
CAVEAT: TODAY WE SEE GOSPEL REVISIONISTS TRYING TO REWRITE HISTORY AND PORTRAY JESUS AS JUST ANOTHER MARTYR FOR A GOOD CAUSE, A GREAT TEACHER AND MORAL LEADER, OR A MISUNDERSTOOD MAN WHO WAS LATER DEIFIED BY ZEALOUS FOLLOWERS, SOME HAVE EVEN BOUGHT INTO NIETZSCHE'S IDEA "THAT RIGHTLY UNDERSTOOD JESUS IS NOT A GATEWAY TO ANOTHER LIFE BUT A ROLE MODEL FOR THIS ONE"
EVEN THE JEWS OF HIS DAY WERE LOOKING FOR SOMEONE, BUT HE WAS NOT THE MILITARY MESSIAH OF CONVENTIONAL WISDOM TO RESTORE ISRAEL TO IS FORMER GLORY--TO THEM, JESUS SEEMED ANTIESTABLISHMENTARIAN, WHILE THE PHARISEES SAW HIM AS A THREAT TO THEIR SPHERE OF INFLUENCE. WE MUST REJECT ANY REINTERPRETATION AND PREACH JESUS AS HE REVEALED HIMSELF TO BE--THE ONE AND ONLY BEGOTTEN SON OF GOD WHO CAME TO SAVE US AS THE LORD OF LORDS, FOR HE HAS LEFT US NO OTHER OPTION TO CONSIDER--WE CAN KNOW NO OTHER JESUS!
In short, the essence of knowing Jesus and the good life in Him is to take up the cross to follow Him, no matter the cost, wherever it may lead. "Now that you know these things, blessed are you if you do them" (cf John 13:17). Soli Deo Gloria!
Tuesday, October 8, 2019
God's Miracle Worker
"... 'This man certainly performs many miraculous signs. If we allow him to go on like this, soon everyone will believe in him...'" (John 11:47-48, NLT).
BY DEFINITION: A MIRACLE IS AN EVENT NOT PRODUCIBLE BY THE NORMAL FORCES AND CAUSES ACTING IN THE TIME AND PLACE THE EVENT OCCURS AND SUPERNATURAL, BUT UNEXPLAINED BY NATURAL SCIENCE OR NATURE LAWS.
The story of Helen Keller was portrayed in the movie, The Miracle Worker, and this only proves that miracles happen if our eyes are open to them. Most people that have heard of Christ know that He's famous for turning "water into wine" or even "walking on water." They also ridicule these "signs" as ludicrous examples of Christian "myth." Paradoxically, Jesus never intended to be known as a miracle worker, for He came first to be our Savior and He didn't want to get off message.
After raising the daughter of Jairus, Jesus admonished the people not to tell anyone, for He knew that such an event, if publicly known, would merely attract the wrong element or crowd. He didn't just have talking points about salvation but came with the purpose of dying--He was a man on a mission par excellence!
Jesus could've attracted crowds and masses of disciples had He not warned of the cost of discipleship and that one must die to self and take up your cross in following Him--a cost no other religion requires. Jesus did miracles not for selfish reasons, but out of compassion and to be "signs" of authenticity to His deity as John's gospel portrays.
It should be pointed out that miracles don't make a person believe against their will but bolster and support a faith that is already there. Faith doesn't come from miracles, but miracles from faith. It is a fact that, even though Jesus had done many miracles, the Pharisees "would not believe" (cf. John 12:32; Ps. 78:18) in Him, not could not. No miracle will convince a person who doesn't want to believe, but miracles will strengthen the faith of the willing. A MAN CONVINCED AGAINST HIS WILL IS OF THE SAME OPINION STILL, SAYS THE PROVERB.
Jesus told His disciples that they shall do "greater things." We are told we can "move mountains" and "walk on water" by faith and that it only takes the faith of a mustard seed to accomplish. We must realize that miracles are just unusual events caused by God--all things are caused by God in a sense and if miracles happened all the time, they'd be called "regulars." Jesus did not oblige the skeptics with miracles on-demand or with some biggie miracle that would make it impossible to deny, but His signs always took faith to accept. The church can get sidetracked by losing focus of God's priorities and turning stones into bread instead of fulfilling the Great Commission, to keep the main thing the main thing. When Jesus performed miracles, the skeptics weren't convinced--for miracles only give the desire or appetite for more miracles.
In sum, if you want to see a miracle, look in the mirror! and realize that you, too, can be God's miracle worker: "Expect great things from God; attempt great things for God" (William Carey). "He does great things too marvelous to understand. A miracle is by nature "fixed." Look at the sunrise--It's fixed! He performs countless miracles" (Job 9:10, NLT). The Bible is a miracle in itself, being God-breathed and accurately portrays many miracles, signs, and wonders of God to bolster faith. Soli Deo Gloria!
BY DEFINITION: A MIRACLE IS AN EVENT NOT PRODUCIBLE BY THE NORMAL FORCES AND CAUSES ACTING IN THE TIME AND PLACE THE EVENT OCCURS AND SUPERNATURAL, BUT UNEXPLAINED BY NATURAL SCIENCE OR NATURE LAWS.
The story of Helen Keller was portrayed in the movie, The Miracle Worker, and this only proves that miracles happen if our eyes are open to them. Most people that have heard of Christ know that He's famous for turning "water into wine" or even "walking on water." They also ridicule these "signs" as ludicrous examples of Christian "myth." Paradoxically, Jesus never intended to be known as a miracle worker, for He came first to be our Savior and He didn't want to get off message.
After raising the daughter of Jairus, Jesus admonished the people not to tell anyone, for He knew that such an event, if publicly known, would merely attract the wrong element or crowd. He didn't just have talking points about salvation but came with the purpose of dying--He was a man on a mission par excellence!
Jesus could've attracted crowds and masses of disciples had He not warned of the cost of discipleship and that one must die to self and take up your cross in following Him--a cost no other religion requires. Jesus did miracles not for selfish reasons, but out of compassion and to be "signs" of authenticity to His deity as John's gospel portrays.
It should be pointed out that miracles don't make a person believe against their will but bolster and support a faith that is already there. Faith doesn't come from miracles, but miracles from faith. It is a fact that, even though Jesus had done many miracles, the Pharisees "would not believe" (cf. John 12:32; Ps. 78:18) in Him, not could not. No miracle will convince a person who doesn't want to believe, but miracles will strengthen the faith of the willing. A MAN CONVINCED AGAINST HIS WILL IS OF THE SAME OPINION STILL, SAYS THE PROVERB.
Jesus told His disciples that they shall do "greater things." We are told we can "move mountains" and "walk on water" by faith and that it only takes the faith of a mustard seed to accomplish. We must realize that miracles are just unusual events caused by God--all things are caused by God in a sense and if miracles happened all the time, they'd be called "regulars." Jesus did not oblige the skeptics with miracles on-demand or with some biggie miracle that would make it impossible to deny, but His signs always took faith to accept. The church can get sidetracked by losing focus of God's priorities and turning stones into bread instead of fulfilling the Great Commission, to keep the main thing the main thing. When Jesus performed miracles, the skeptics weren't convinced--for miracles only give the desire or appetite for more miracles.
In sum, if you want to see a miracle, look in the mirror! and realize that you, too, can be God's miracle worker: "Expect great things from God; attempt great things for God" (William Carey). "He does great things too marvelous to understand. A miracle is by nature "fixed." Look at the sunrise--It's fixed! He performs countless miracles" (Job 9:10, NLT). The Bible is a miracle in itself, being God-breathed and accurately portrays many miracles, signs, and wonders of God to bolster faith. Soli Deo Gloria!
Monday, October 7, 2019
Staying On Track With God
"... If you do not stand firm in your faith, then you will not stand at all" (Is. 7:9, HCSB).
Psalm 31:15 says that our times our in God's hands or our future is in His hands. This is good to know because our lives have been written out like a novel even before we were born (cf. Psalm 139:16). God will fulfill His purpose for us with or without our cooperation because we are called according to the purpose of His will and all things will work out for the good in the end (cf. Psalm 138:8; 57:2; Rom. 8:28). When David had fulfilled God's purpose (plan) God took him (cf. Acts 13:36). God does have a purpose for everyone and everything, even the wicked for the day of evil (cf. Prov. 16:4). But as believers God has a special plan of good for us, to prosper us in our endeavors and to use us as His vessels of honor. (cf. Jeremiah 29:11).
We don't have "to reason why, but to do and die" (as The Charge of the Light Brigade by Alfred, Lord Tennyson penned). Those who hear the beat of a different drum cannot keep in step. Only two people tuned to the same instrument are in tune with each other! When our lives are surrendered to His will and we relinquish ownership of our soul, He guides us according to His will and purpose. The providence of God assures that He is in control of all events, circumstances, things, animals, plants, and people--even all thrones, powers, and dominions to bring Him glory (cf. Ephesians 1:11; Is. 43:7).
Now, it is apparent that we don't always walk in the Spirit doing God's will (whenever we sin we must confess it immediately), for we all fall short of God's glorious ideal and despite the fact that perfection is the standard, the direction is the test. We are to keep in step with the Spirit and to walk with God even as Noah did. This can only be accomplished by keeping short accounts with God, confession-of-sin-wise. What happens is that we reckon our schedules to be more important than God's and our priorities already to be aligned with His, when they may be out of step with the Spirit unawares. Jesus walked as close to God as can be imagined and yet never saw an urgent need as an interruption. Now, you can say that He knows all and foresaw what God's plan was or the ultimate results would be, but Jesus walked on this earth with the limitations of a man, not knowing anything but what the Father told Him--for knowing the future isn't consistent with human weakness and humiliation.
In the story of Jesus raising the daughter of Jairus in Mark 5, Jesus stopped to heal a woman with a blood-flow issue of twelve years before going on to heal her. He knew that it is impossible to get off track from God's timetable if one walks in the Spirit and does what is right; namely, heal the woman in her need. We must also trust God's triage and priorities instead of limiting our vision to our perspective. Jesus did that when He heard of Lazarus and didn't hurry on to get to Bethany to heal him, but lingered. Jesus wasn't one to be rushed!
It is a serious blunder to do your own thing (cf. Isa. 53:6; Judges 17:6; 21:25), to set your own agenda, to go your own way, to be in a hurry to do God's will (ironic!) and not to trust in the Lord's timing to keep the main thing the main thing and to keep your eyes on Jesus as the focus, not yourself. If you are engaged in the business of the Lord, God will see to it that it is done right and in time--He will not linger nor delay to do His will. There is proper etiquette: Back to God's house, back to God's Word, back to God's will, back to God's work, and back to God's Spirit. As Habakkuk 2:3, NLT says "... If it seems slow in coming, wait patiently, for it will surely take place. It will not be delayed [tarry]."
God's eternal perspective of time (the vantage point of eternity) in seeing the big picture from beginning to end gives Him the ability to guide our lives and we should not "lean unto our own understanding" (cf. Prov. 3:5), but we should entrust everything to Providence--God is in control and we cannot alter His plan--He has and needs no Plan B. As humans, we tend to hate being interrupted because we take issue with something being more important than the issue at hand or what we're engaged in, but this is all part of our pride in not letting God be God or having control over our circumstances--we must assume that God has allowed this interruption to readjust our timing (like missing a light in traffic to make us late, because God thought we were going too fast--how do we know whether God wasn't preventing an accident down the road?).
In sum, there is no such thing as an interruption with Jesus--He's never too busy for us and nothing is too trivial to be a bother or nuisance. Soli Deo Gloria!
Psalm 31:15 says that our times our in God's hands or our future is in His hands. This is good to know because our lives have been written out like a novel even before we were born (cf. Psalm 139:16). God will fulfill His purpose for us with or without our cooperation because we are called according to the purpose of His will and all things will work out for the good in the end (cf. Psalm 138:8; 57:2; Rom. 8:28). When David had fulfilled God's purpose (plan) God took him (cf. Acts 13:36). God does have a purpose for everyone and everything, even the wicked for the day of evil (cf. Prov. 16:4). But as believers God has a special plan of good for us, to prosper us in our endeavors and to use us as His vessels of honor. (cf. Jeremiah 29:11).
We don't have "to reason why, but to do and die" (as The Charge of the Light Brigade by Alfred, Lord Tennyson penned). Those who hear the beat of a different drum cannot keep in step. Only two people tuned to the same instrument are in tune with each other! When our lives are surrendered to His will and we relinquish ownership of our soul, He guides us according to His will and purpose. The providence of God assures that He is in control of all events, circumstances, things, animals, plants, and people--even all thrones, powers, and dominions to bring Him glory (cf. Ephesians 1:11; Is. 43:7).
Now, it is apparent that we don't always walk in the Spirit doing God's will (whenever we sin we must confess it immediately), for we all fall short of God's glorious ideal and despite the fact that perfection is the standard, the direction is the test. We are to keep in step with the Spirit and to walk with God even as Noah did. This can only be accomplished by keeping short accounts with God, confession-of-sin-wise. What happens is that we reckon our schedules to be more important than God's and our priorities already to be aligned with His, when they may be out of step with the Spirit unawares. Jesus walked as close to God as can be imagined and yet never saw an urgent need as an interruption. Now, you can say that He knows all and foresaw what God's plan was or the ultimate results would be, but Jesus walked on this earth with the limitations of a man, not knowing anything but what the Father told Him--for knowing the future isn't consistent with human weakness and humiliation.
In the story of Jesus raising the daughter of Jairus in Mark 5, Jesus stopped to heal a woman with a blood-flow issue of twelve years before going on to heal her. He knew that it is impossible to get off track from God's timetable if one walks in the Spirit and does what is right; namely, heal the woman in her need. We must also trust God's triage and priorities instead of limiting our vision to our perspective. Jesus did that when He heard of Lazarus and didn't hurry on to get to Bethany to heal him, but lingered. Jesus wasn't one to be rushed!
It is a serious blunder to do your own thing (cf. Isa. 53:6; Judges 17:6; 21:25), to set your own agenda, to go your own way, to be in a hurry to do God's will (ironic!) and not to trust in the Lord's timing to keep the main thing the main thing and to keep your eyes on Jesus as the focus, not yourself. If you are engaged in the business of the Lord, God will see to it that it is done right and in time--He will not linger nor delay to do His will. There is proper etiquette: Back to God's house, back to God's Word, back to God's will, back to God's work, and back to God's Spirit. As Habakkuk 2:3, NLT says "... If it seems slow in coming, wait patiently, for it will surely take place. It will not be delayed [tarry]."
God's eternal perspective of time (the vantage point of eternity) in seeing the big picture from beginning to end gives Him the ability to guide our lives and we should not "lean unto our own understanding" (cf. Prov. 3:5), but we should entrust everything to Providence--God is in control and we cannot alter His plan--He has and needs no Plan B. As humans, we tend to hate being interrupted because we take issue with something being more important than the issue at hand or what we're engaged in, but this is all part of our pride in not letting God be God or having control over our circumstances--we must assume that God has allowed this interruption to readjust our timing (like missing a light in traffic to make us late, because God thought we were going too fast--how do we know whether God wasn't preventing an accident down the road?).
In sum, there is no such thing as an interruption with Jesus--He's never too busy for us and nothing is too trivial to be a bother or nuisance. Soli Deo Gloria!
Monday, September 30, 2019
Don't Put God In Your Box Of Convenience!
"... 'I live in a high and holy place, and with the oppressed and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and revive the heart of the oppressed'" (Is. 57:14, HCSB).
".., 'Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it' ... 'This is the gate of heaven'" (Gen. 28:16, HCSB).
We all tend to limit God naturally because we are limited in our perspective of reality. But God cannot fit into our boxes or definitions. He is beyond analysis and description! To define God to your specs is to make Him one-dimensional and that cannot be, for He is infinite and that means we cannot fathom His limits. No adequate definition of God has ever been penned, we cannot define Him nor describe Him fully or exhaustively, but we can know Him truly! The first Greek ancient philosopher, Thales, the father of Western philosophy, was asked to describe God and he couldn't. The Bible doesn't attempt to describe God either, but to make Him known.
The ancients could only conclude that God must be eternal, infinite, and immutable as well as immaterial to be God at all! The Latins said that the finite cannot contain or fathom the infinite! God doesn't measure up to your personal specs in your calculus! But the infinite can penetrate the finite and that's what happened, so we can know Him; this is why the Bible never attempts to fully describe God, but only to make Him known and knowable. '
There are many ways we put God in boxes: when we just see God as our Savior, or our Lord, simply as our Father without being our Provider, or without Him being our Judge or Maker to be accountable to. People who know little doctrine may see Him as the "man upstairs" or "the Great Spirit in the sky" or even the "Sentimental Grandfather, or Father Time." Seeing Him as our Santa Claus or Genie is also going down the wrong road, and many prayer warriors make this mistake in their prayers (the purpose of prayer is prayer and getting God's will done, not in making petitions like giving God a wish list--it changes us, not God.
God is the Creator of the time-space continuum, which means He is outside His creation and has all-mighty power over it as the Creator, not an enslaved creature like us as part of creation! With Him, time is not of the essence and is no factor. God's immensity refers to the fact that He cannot be limited by space--He is fully everywhere all the time, which is interpreted as necessitating that He is just as much in one part of the cosmos as another and not any less so--as Christians, we believe in the God who is there and also the God who is in us! What a wonderful truth: as big as God is, He can come to live in our hearts so that we can experience His eternal, divine, unconditional love!
God is also eternal and outside the time limits that we find ourselves limited and defined by. He doesn't think in terms of time like we do because it's always "now" with God--eternity past and eternity future are the same--but He is able to act and function in time for our benefit so that we can know Him. Jesus made the leap into the time-space continuum with His incarnation and became limited with our constraints in His humiliation and kenosis or the emptying of the independent usage of His Deity. Yes, God is "not far from any one of us" (per Acts 17:27) and He also dwells in the heavens and "inhabits eternity" (cf. Isaiah 57:15)! He is there, and He is not silent, according to Dr. Francis A. Schaeffer!
We must never ask ourselves or others, "Where's God?" but "Where isn't God?" And more appropriately: "Where's the church?" We must always tell ourselves that God did something about evil--He made us! It was wisely said, "What's wrong with the world? I am. Sincerely yours, G. K. Chesterton." God chooses to live through us as He inhabits our hearts: His heart to love others through, His voice to spread the good news; His ears to listen to those in need; His hands to lend a helping hand to the needy and destitute--anyone in our orbit who needs our aid is our neighbor and we are to be Good Samaritans. "The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing," it has been wisely said by Edmund Burke.
We must attribute three seminal traits to God for our salvation though: His love that cared about our plight and condition; His holiness that necessitated Him to accomplish it; and His justice that had to be satisfied in Christ on our behalf--all three must act in accord and unison for our redemption.
God is big! In fact, so big He holds the universe in His hands as the hymn goes: "He's got the whole world in His hands..." He is able to roll up the heavens like a curtain and to create a new heaven and earth at will! God is so big, in fact, that everything, by contrast, is small and trivial; all our petitions and requests are as nothing to His infinity and magnitude. Caveat: It's not how big our faith is but how big our God is--faith must be aimed high! Let's not just attempt great things for God, but expect them! (cf. Willliam Carey's sermon).
Luther accused Erasmus of having thoughts of God that are too human! We tend to see things from man's perspective: How big is your church? Or, how big is your ministry? God sees potential even in the small matters! We never worry that our concerns are too trivial when we realize how big God is because it's all the same to Him! Nothing too big for His omnipotence; nothing too trivial for His love to escape His concern for us. Soli Deo Gloria!
".., 'Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it' ... 'This is the gate of heaven'" (Gen. 28:16, HCSB).
We all tend to limit God naturally because we are limited in our perspective of reality. But God cannot fit into our boxes or definitions. He is beyond analysis and description! To define God to your specs is to make Him one-dimensional and that cannot be, for He is infinite and that means we cannot fathom His limits. No adequate definition of God has ever been penned, we cannot define Him nor describe Him fully or exhaustively, but we can know Him truly! The first Greek ancient philosopher, Thales, the father of Western philosophy, was asked to describe God and he couldn't. The Bible doesn't attempt to describe God either, but to make Him known.
The ancients could only conclude that God must be eternal, infinite, and immutable as well as immaterial to be God at all! The Latins said that the finite cannot contain or fathom the infinite! God doesn't measure up to your personal specs in your calculus! But the infinite can penetrate the finite and that's what happened, so we can know Him; this is why the Bible never attempts to fully describe God, but only to make Him known and knowable. '
There are many ways we put God in boxes: when we just see God as our Savior, or our Lord, simply as our Father without being our Provider, or without Him being our Judge or Maker to be accountable to. People who know little doctrine may see Him as the "man upstairs" or "the Great Spirit in the sky" or even the "Sentimental Grandfather, or Father Time." Seeing Him as our Santa Claus or Genie is also going down the wrong road, and many prayer warriors make this mistake in their prayers (the purpose of prayer is prayer and getting God's will done, not in making petitions like giving God a wish list--it changes us, not God.
God is the Creator of the time-space continuum, which means He is outside His creation and has all-mighty power over it as the Creator, not an enslaved creature like us as part of creation! With Him, time is not of the essence and is no factor. God's immensity refers to the fact that He cannot be limited by space--He is fully everywhere all the time, which is interpreted as necessitating that He is just as much in one part of the cosmos as another and not any less so--as Christians, we believe in the God who is there and also the God who is in us! What a wonderful truth: as big as God is, He can come to live in our hearts so that we can experience His eternal, divine, unconditional love!
God is also eternal and outside the time limits that we find ourselves limited and defined by. He doesn't think in terms of time like we do because it's always "now" with God--eternity past and eternity future are the same--but He is able to act and function in time for our benefit so that we can know Him. Jesus made the leap into the time-space continuum with His incarnation and became limited with our constraints in His humiliation and kenosis or the emptying of the independent usage of His Deity. Yes, God is "not far from any one of us" (per Acts 17:27) and He also dwells in the heavens and "inhabits eternity" (cf. Isaiah 57:15)! He is there, and He is not silent, according to Dr. Francis A. Schaeffer!
We must never ask ourselves or others, "Where's God?" but "Where isn't God?" And more appropriately: "Where's the church?" We must always tell ourselves that God did something about evil--He made us! It was wisely said, "What's wrong with the world? I am. Sincerely yours, G. K. Chesterton." God chooses to live through us as He inhabits our hearts: His heart to love others through, His voice to spread the good news; His ears to listen to those in need; His hands to lend a helping hand to the needy and destitute--anyone in our orbit who needs our aid is our neighbor and we are to be Good Samaritans. "The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing," it has been wisely said by Edmund Burke.
We must attribute three seminal traits to God for our salvation though: His love that cared about our plight and condition; His holiness that necessitated Him to accomplish it; and His justice that had to be satisfied in Christ on our behalf--all three must act in accord and unison for our redemption.
God is big! In fact, so big He holds the universe in His hands as the hymn goes: "He's got the whole world in His hands..." He is able to roll up the heavens like a curtain and to create a new heaven and earth at will! God is so big, in fact, that everything, by contrast, is small and trivial; all our petitions and requests are as nothing to His infinity and magnitude. Caveat: It's not how big our faith is but how big our God is--faith must be aimed high! Let's not just attempt great things for God, but expect them! (cf. Willliam Carey's sermon).
Luther accused Erasmus of having thoughts of God that are too human! We tend to see things from man's perspective: How big is your church? Or, how big is your ministry? God sees potential even in the small matters! We never worry that our concerns are too trivial when we realize how big God is because it's all the same to Him! Nothing too big for His omnipotence; nothing too trivial for His love to escape His concern for us. Soli Deo Gloria!
Sunday, September 29, 2019
God's Answer To Superstition
In antiquity, the Jews held physicians in low esteem as a rule, despite the Hippocratic oath because they resorted to the superstitious nature of man. Superstition is a form of unbelief and is an attempt to attribute the work of God to something mechanical like fate or happenstance. God is the God of Providence, fully in control of the situation at hand bringing all to His glory (cf. Rom. 11:36; Eph. 1:11).
Usually, when people were desperate they went to the physicians for some cure, if they could afford it, and it was expensive because sometimes they used herbs and spices that were rare to come by. Lepers were considered ceremonially unclean according to Rabbinic Law, but Jesus was willing to become Mr. Unclean personified for our sake to identify with our disease of sin and heal us, as well as forgive us--giving us power over it, so we aren't its slave anymore.
Jesus didn't want to be primarily known as just a divine healer or worker of miracles, but as the Savior, the Christ! Myrrh, for instance, was like the snake oil of antiquity, or the cure-all and panacea, pedaled for almost any ailment and this is one superstition that the charlatans were known for--but Jesus was for real and worthy of our faith, for He bore our illness and with His stripes, we are healed (cf. Is. 53).
There are Christians today who don't pray, except as last resort, and even pagans will pray in superstition or for "good luck." But luck, chance, and fortune have no place in the Christian faith. God is in control of all, even the throw of the die (cf. Prov. 16:33). What's so hypocritical, is that even when unbelievers pray and their prayers are answered, they find some reason to chalk it up to luck or chance and not give God the glory for answering the prayer. We blame God for all tragedies and give ourselves all the credit for our fortune (cf. Prov. 19:3).
The woman with the hemorrhage was also "unclean" and when she "touched" Jesus, He became ceremonially unclean, but Jesus wasn't concerned with Himself, but with her frame of mind, faith and salvation and in Mark 5:21ff had become broke because of the expense of paying the physicians to heal her, but no avail. As a last resort, she must have heard of Jesus' healing powers and sought Him out and "touched" Him in faith thinking that would heal her. Jesus made it clear to her after the fact that it wasn't superstition that healed her, but her faith in Him. He is the healer.
If superstition was the answer, anyone who touched Jesus would be healed, even without faith. It is said that athletes are the most superstitious of people and even their fans can be, thinking that wearing team logos brings their favorite team good fortune or "luck." They don't want to "jinx" their team--Go, Twins! Knock on wood (saying this tongue-in-cheek)! To have the Christian worldview, we ought to say that we are blessed and not lucky!
But Ecclesiastes says that luck and chance happen to all, it's part of our reality, how we interpret things, not how God sees them. We ought to get over the notion that God deliberately takes sides in a game though or that winning is everything, and it's not a matter of skill and sportsmanship--blessings are showered on all, for God is good to everyone! (cf. Psalm 145:9).
This aforementioned woman's healing shows us that we all need to confess our faith to make it confirmed and not to be ashamed of our Lord and that He is part of us and lives in us. We must not keep our faith or healing privatized! She reached out in faith the best she knew and this is all God asks: take that leap of faith toward Jesus as personal Lord and Savior, don't just be glad He heals others--make the healing yours! We are all unclean before salvation and need to come to Jesus for our healing and reinstatement.
The woman found out that she didn't "interrupt" Jesus but He mattered to her (we all do!)--He is never too busy for us (a good lesson on priorities for us all!). There are no distractions to Jesus' agenda and in God's economy, we all matter the same, since God doesn't show favoritism or partiality--He's no respecter of persons (cf. Rom. 2:11; Acts 10:34). Jesus always has time for us and is never in a hurry (neither late nor early but always on His timetable) so much that He would feel an interruption like the disciples thought. They were the ones who needed their priorities altered, realigned, and readjusted to God's timetable and agenda: Guess who needs an attitude check!
We all need to come to Jesus in faith to be made clean and healed of our sin, realizing we matter to God as individuals and expect a miracle in faith, in effect making contact with Jesus and touching Him or connecting to Him. Jesus is never too busy! He is ready to give us His undivided attention! People are too ready to superstitiously attribute their salvation to"walking the aisle" or "raising their hand" or "coming to the altar," but we must realize that it's faith in Christ saves, not faith in faith, faith doesn't save, Christ saves!
In conclusion, when you have a strong faith you're less likely to "knock on wood" or worry about "black cats," or anything superstitious like the "full moon" or "Friday the thirteenth!" Salvation is a form of freedom from the tyranny of ourselves to have our full faith in God. Soli Deo Gloria!
Usually, when people were desperate they went to the physicians for some cure, if they could afford it, and it was expensive because sometimes they used herbs and spices that were rare to come by. Lepers were considered ceremonially unclean according to Rabbinic Law, but Jesus was willing to become Mr. Unclean personified for our sake to identify with our disease of sin and heal us, as well as forgive us--giving us power over it, so we aren't its slave anymore.
Jesus didn't want to be primarily known as just a divine healer or worker of miracles, but as the Savior, the Christ! Myrrh, for instance, was like the snake oil of antiquity, or the cure-all and panacea, pedaled for almost any ailment and this is one superstition that the charlatans were known for--but Jesus was for real and worthy of our faith, for He bore our illness and with His stripes, we are healed (cf. Is. 53).
There are Christians today who don't pray, except as last resort, and even pagans will pray in superstition or for "good luck." But luck, chance, and fortune have no place in the Christian faith. God is in control of all, even the throw of the die (cf. Prov. 16:33). What's so hypocritical, is that even when unbelievers pray and their prayers are answered, they find some reason to chalk it up to luck or chance and not give God the glory for answering the prayer. We blame God for all tragedies and give ourselves all the credit for our fortune (cf. Prov. 19:3).
The woman with the hemorrhage was also "unclean" and when she "touched" Jesus, He became ceremonially unclean, but Jesus wasn't concerned with Himself, but with her frame of mind, faith and salvation and in Mark 5:21ff had become broke because of the expense of paying the physicians to heal her, but no avail. As a last resort, she must have heard of Jesus' healing powers and sought Him out and "touched" Him in faith thinking that would heal her. Jesus made it clear to her after the fact that it wasn't superstition that healed her, but her faith in Him. He is the healer.
If superstition was the answer, anyone who touched Jesus would be healed, even without faith. It is said that athletes are the most superstitious of people and even their fans can be, thinking that wearing team logos brings their favorite team good fortune or "luck." They don't want to "jinx" their team--Go, Twins! Knock on wood (saying this tongue-in-cheek)! To have the Christian worldview, we ought to say that we are blessed and not lucky!
But Ecclesiastes says that luck and chance happen to all, it's part of our reality, how we interpret things, not how God sees them. We ought to get over the notion that God deliberately takes sides in a game though or that winning is everything, and it's not a matter of skill and sportsmanship--blessings are showered on all, for God is good to everyone! (cf. Psalm 145:9).
This aforementioned woman's healing shows us that we all need to confess our faith to make it confirmed and not to be ashamed of our Lord and that He is part of us and lives in us. We must not keep our faith or healing privatized! She reached out in faith the best she knew and this is all God asks: take that leap of faith toward Jesus as personal Lord and Savior, don't just be glad He heals others--make the healing yours! We are all unclean before salvation and need to come to Jesus for our healing and reinstatement.
The woman found out that she didn't "interrupt" Jesus but He mattered to her (we all do!)--He is never too busy for us (a good lesson on priorities for us all!). There are no distractions to Jesus' agenda and in God's economy, we all matter the same, since God doesn't show favoritism or partiality--He's no respecter of persons (cf. Rom. 2:11; Acts 10:34). Jesus always has time for us and is never in a hurry (neither late nor early but always on His timetable) so much that He would feel an interruption like the disciples thought. They were the ones who needed their priorities altered, realigned, and readjusted to God's timetable and agenda: Guess who needs an attitude check!
We all need to come to Jesus in faith to be made clean and healed of our sin, realizing we matter to God as individuals and expect a miracle in faith, in effect making contact with Jesus and touching Him or connecting to Him. Jesus is never too busy! He is ready to give us His undivided attention! People are too ready to superstitiously attribute their salvation to"walking the aisle" or "raising their hand" or "coming to the altar," but we must realize that it's faith in Christ saves, not faith in faith, faith doesn't save, Christ saves!
In conclusion, when you have a strong faith you're less likely to "knock on wood" or worry about "black cats," or anything superstitious like the "full moon" or "Friday the thirteenth!" Salvation is a form of freedom from the tyranny of ourselves to have our full faith in God. Soli Deo Gloria!
Sunday, September 15, 2019
The Joyful Call To Worship
"Blessed are the people who know the festal shout..." (Psalm 89:15, ESV)
"... You are ever on their lips, but far from their conscience" (Jer. 12:2, HCSB).
"... Because these people approach Me with their mouths to honor Me with lip-service--yet their hearts are far from Me, and their worship consists of man-made rules learned by rote" (Isaiah 29:13, HCSB).
"I was glad when they said unto me, let us go into the house of the LORD" (Psalm 122:1, KJV).
God pours out blessings on those who hear the call to worship, who prepare their hearts, and tune in to meditate on His nature and work. The essence of this is making a "connection" with God as we make "contact" as it were into His dimension and throne room. Worship is "worth-ship," and we give God His dues respect (render to God what is God's and to Caesar what is Caesar's ). Worship is an attitude we can take with us beyond the sanctuary to the workplace, doing all, whatever we do, to the glory of God as one theologian espoused (cf. 1 Cor. 10:31). Work is a form of prayer which is a form of worship, when done to the glory of God, as Augustine of Hippo said, "To work is to pray." All work can be done to the glory of God (i.e., worship).
But we should especially rejoice corporately with the body of Christ: "I was glad when they said unto me, 'Let us go into the house of the LORD.'" (Psalm 122:1, KJV). We can get into a celestial or worship fix by not letting it become perfunctory or routine, or just memorizing the Dance of the Pious, and going through the motions--any lackadaisical spirit can be avoided and changed by adequate preparation--you cannot just expect to walk into the house of the Lord and expect a miracle at the door!
The point is to spread the cheer: "Once you've experienced it, you want to pass it on!" Church is a spiritual checkup when we take inventory of our soul's needs and condition, but we must learn that it's not about us! We must learn to focus on God; getting our eyes off ourselves and our problems long enough to realize the divine. Some may need to get into the mood so to speak, realizing that worship is not passive nor vicarious--we don't admire someone else worshiping!
The call to worship involves both thanking God for what He's done and praising Him for who He is! When we do this we realize the inherent power of praise, for God inhabits the praises of His people (cf. Psalm 22:3). This will help us to cultivate a heart of praise and worship as we learn to have the right attitude that no one can take away. The real key to worship is the measure of our surrender, not the amount of the Spirit we have, but how much of the us the Spirit has. We rightly submit to God's ownership of our soul. We don't want to be like those who are the nod to God crowd on Sunday and go about their regular routine on Monday--we want the experience to last and to grow in us. Some merely offer lip service to God and don't have their hearts in the right place! But we must realize that there is no "one-size-fits-all" manner or style of worship, we are all built differently and find fulfillment in different ways.
But one thing is sure: we are hard-wired and designed for worshiping God and won't be fulfilled without doing it. Dostoevsky said that if we don't worship God, we'll worship something or someone else. Woe to him who strives with his Maker (cf. Isa. 45:9). Worship should be seen as a privilege and honor and we can say, "I get to worship!" For this reason, worship ought not ever to become blase! Church is more than a social event and worship more than an existential encounter (it must be put into action as we turn our convictions and creeds into deeds). The whole purpose is to get our batteries recharged and to get right with God, back into His service, and to learn more to seek His face and make course corrections in our life.
Malachi was written to those in Israel whose worship had become a sham, mockery, and travesty--and they were not taking it seriously--but their worship had become an insult to the grace of God all because their hearts were not right with Him and they didn't give Him His rightful place, playing church and he exposed the formalism of the worshiping--they were in a worship rut and this is what the doctor ordered: a spiritual workout! God frowns upon mere lip service and the memorizing of the Dance of the Pious (cf. above: Jer. 12:2; Isaiah 29:13). Soli Deo Gloria!
"... You are ever on their lips, but far from their conscience" (Jer. 12:2, HCSB).
"... Because these people approach Me with their mouths to honor Me with lip-service--yet their hearts are far from Me, and their worship consists of man-made rules learned by rote" (Isaiah 29:13, HCSB).
"I was glad when they said unto me, let us go into the house of the LORD" (Psalm 122:1, KJV).
God pours out blessings on those who hear the call to worship, who prepare their hearts, and tune in to meditate on His nature and work. The essence of this is making a "connection" with God as we make "contact" as it were into His dimension and throne room. Worship is "worth-ship," and we give God His dues respect (render to God what is God's and to Caesar what is Caesar's ). Worship is an attitude we can take with us beyond the sanctuary to the workplace, doing all, whatever we do, to the glory of God as one theologian espoused (cf. 1 Cor. 10:31). Work is a form of prayer which is a form of worship, when done to the glory of God, as Augustine of Hippo said, "To work is to pray." All work can be done to the glory of God (i.e., worship).
But we should especially rejoice corporately with the body of Christ: "I was glad when they said unto me, 'Let us go into the house of the LORD.'" (Psalm 122:1, KJV). We can get into a celestial or worship fix by not letting it become perfunctory or routine, or just memorizing the Dance of the Pious, and going through the motions--any lackadaisical spirit can be avoided and changed by adequate preparation--you cannot just expect to walk into the house of the Lord and expect a miracle at the door!
The point is to spread the cheer: "Once you've experienced it, you want to pass it on!" Church is a spiritual checkup when we take inventory of our soul's needs and condition, but we must learn that it's not about us! We must learn to focus on God; getting our eyes off ourselves and our problems long enough to realize the divine. Some may need to get into the mood so to speak, realizing that worship is not passive nor vicarious--we don't admire someone else worshiping!
The call to worship involves both thanking God for what He's done and praising Him for who He is! When we do this we realize the inherent power of praise, for God inhabits the praises of His people (cf. Psalm 22:3). This will help us to cultivate a heart of praise and worship as we learn to have the right attitude that no one can take away. The real key to worship is the measure of our surrender, not the amount of the Spirit we have, but how much of the us the Spirit has. We rightly submit to God's ownership of our soul. We don't want to be like those who are the nod to God crowd on Sunday and go about their regular routine on Monday--we want the experience to last and to grow in us. Some merely offer lip service to God and don't have their hearts in the right place! But we must realize that there is no "one-size-fits-all" manner or style of worship, we are all built differently and find fulfillment in different ways.
But one thing is sure: we are hard-wired and designed for worshiping God and won't be fulfilled without doing it. Dostoevsky said that if we don't worship God, we'll worship something or someone else. Woe to him who strives with his Maker (cf. Isa. 45:9). Worship should be seen as a privilege and honor and we can say, "I get to worship!" For this reason, worship ought not ever to become blase! Church is more than a social event and worship more than an existential encounter (it must be put into action as we turn our convictions and creeds into deeds). The whole purpose is to get our batteries recharged and to get right with God, back into His service, and to learn more to seek His face and make course corrections in our life.
Malachi was written to those in Israel whose worship had become a sham, mockery, and travesty--and they were not taking it seriously--but their worship had become an insult to the grace of God all because their hearts were not right with Him and they didn't give Him His rightful place, playing church and he exposed the formalism of the worshiping--they were in a worship rut and this is what the doctor ordered: a spiritual workout! God frowns upon mere lip service and the memorizing of the Dance of the Pious (cf. above: Jer. 12:2; Isaiah 29:13). Soli Deo Gloria!
God's Vindication In Our Adversities
"I cry out to God Most High, to God who will fulfill his purpose for me" (Psalm 57:2, NLT).
"The LORD will work out his plans for my life..." (Psalm 138:8, NLT).
"So he will do to me whatever he has planned. He controls my destiny" (Job 23:14, NLT).
"But he knows where I am going. And when he tests me, I will come out as pure as gold" (Job 23:10, NLT)
"This is not a reference to David, for after David had done the will of God in his own generation, he died as was buried" (Acts 13:36, NLT).
When David was in the cave of Adullam he sought the Lord Most High for his vindication because he knew he was the future king and that king Saul unlawfully sought him. Saul didn't see him, even when David cut off his robe (what faith!), but David knew that God saw him and he couldn't hide from Him--who always knows where we are. But David may have had his doubts and confusion, and he knew where to go for aid and comfort! He also knew how big God was and that God could meet his every need.
He may even have thought of what Jacob said upon awakening from his dream; "Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it" (cf. Gen. 28:16, HCSB). As David prayed in Psalm 32:7, "For you are my hiding place." He never doubted the whereabouts of his God! And what the Lord told Joshua: "... Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go" (Josh. 1:9, HCSB). He knew that God was on his side (cf. Ps. 118:6), that God believed in him and was with him in essence.
It was time to believe God for a miracle and God came through. As it is written in 1 Sam. 30:6, NLT, "... But David found strength in the LORD his God." He also found out that he had a faith worth dying for, not just one he could live with. Then he left the cave! And David kept the faith that God would fulfill His purpose for him (cf. Psalm 57:2, NLT) and that he was willing to wait on the Lord and His timing. God will never let us down but is the great Promise Keeper and that we can always count on. I'm sure he kept his mind on his mission and calling like Paul: "But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus..." (Acts 20:24). David considered that God was offering a way through the crisis, not a way out!
God has no Plan B as it were and we can be assured His will is done, with or without cooperation. "...[F]or he chose us in advance, and he makes everything work out according to His plan" (Eph. 1:11, HCSB). To the seasoned believer, being part of God's plan and seeing God at work through him is a satisfaction. We ought always to seek God's will on earth and realize we are just vessels of honor that have the privilege of being used for His glory: "The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever" (The Westminster Shorter Catechism, cf. Isaiah 43:7). We will all realize in the glory that we were only actors in a play directed by God who appears front and center as the theme. When David was seeking vindication, he was really seeking the Lord's vindication and that God would make good on the anointing he had received from Samuel.
We all have a limited perspective on life, but when God opens our spiritual eyes we see the big picture and can live with a higher purpose. The scope of the unbeliever is merely mundane and God is not in the picture. David had a sense of purpose because he knew God was in control--there was a reason for everything (cf. Prov. 16:4)--no flukes in history. Once we've experienced God, nothing else satisfies. Zeal for God involves a zeal for the Word and a desire to uphold its integrity. That's why God frowns upon ignorant zeal or not according to knowledge (cf. Rom. 10:2). But when David had completed God's will he departed this life (cf. Acts 13:36).
David's faith withstood the loneliness, confusion, and doubt of the cave of Adullam, but faith must be tried as if by fire in the crucible of life's adversities to be proven genuine because it's more valuable than silver or gold and we all should know that nothing in life that's worth it is easy to come by; likewise, if faith weren't difficult and tried and true, even with a stiff upper lip at times, it wouldn't be worth much! ["... For he gets their attention through adversity" (cf. Job 36:15, NLT)]. David's faith wasn't a "do-it-yourself" proposition nor did he believe in just lifting himself up by his bootstraps or that God just helps those who help themselves, but he had faith in a BIG God that was able to come to his rescue for all his needs and fears.
The point is that it doesn't matter how big your faith it, but how big your God is--big faith in a little God isn't adequate. NOTHING EASY TO DO IS WORTH MUCH! Soli Deo Gloria!
"The LORD will work out his plans for my life..." (Psalm 138:8, NLT).
"So he will do to me whatever he has planned. He controls my destiny" (Job 23:14, NLT).
"But he knows where I am going. And when he tests me, I will come out as pure as gold" (Job 23:10, NLT)
"This is not a reference to David, for after David had done the will of God in his own generation, he died as was buried" (Acts 13:36, NLT).
When David was in the cave of Adullam he sought the Lord Most High for his vindication because he knew he was the future king and that king Saul unlawfully sought him. Saul didn't see him, even when David cut off his robe (what faith!), but David knew that God saw him and he couldn't hide from Him--who always knows where we are. But David may have had his doubts and confusion, and he knew where to go for aid and comfort! He also knew how big God was and that God could meet his every need.
He may even have thought of what Jacob said upon awakening from his dream; "Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it" (cf. Gen. 28:16, HCSB). As David prayed in Psalm 32:7, "For you are my hiding place." He never doubted the whereabouts of his God! And what the Lord told Joshua: "... Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go" (Josh. 1:9, HCSB). He knew that God was on his side (cf. Ps. 118:6), that God believed in him and was with him in essence.
It was time to believe God for a miracle and God came through. As it is written in 1 Sam. 30:6, NLT, "... But David found strength in the LORD his God." He also found out that he had a faith worth dying for, not just one he could live with. Then he left the cave! And David kept the faith that God would fulfill His purpose for him (cf. Psalm 57:2, NLT) and that he was willing to wait on the Lord and His timing. God will never let us down but is the great Promise Keeper and that we can always count on. I'm sure he kept his mind on his mission and calling like Paul: "But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus..." (Acts 20:24). David considered that God was offering a way through the crisis, not a way out!
God has no Plan B as it were and we can be assured His will is done, with or without cooperation. "...[F]or he chose us in advance, and he makes everything work out according to His plan" (Eph. 1:11, HCSB). To the seasoned believer, being part of God's plan and seeing God at work through him is a satisfaction. We ought always to seek God's will on earth and realize we are just vessels of honor that have the privilege of being used for His glory: "The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever" (The Westminster Shorter Catechism, cf. Isaiah 43:7). We will all realize in the glory that we were only actors in a play directed by God who appears front and center as the theme. When David was seeking vindication, he was really seeking the Lord's vindication and that God would make good on the anointing he had received from Samuel.
We all have a limited perspective on life, but when God opens our spiritual eyes we see the big picture and can live with a higher purpose. The scope of the unbeliever is merely mundane and God is not in the picture. David had a sense of purpose because he knew God was in control--there was a reason for everything (cf. Prov. 16:4)--no flukes in history. Once we've experienced God, nothing else satisfies. Zeal for God involves a zeal for the Word and a desire to uphold its integrity. That's why God frowns upon ignorant zeal or not according to knowledge (cf. Rom. 10:2). But when David had completed God's will he departed this life (cf. Acts 13:36).
David's faith withstood the loneliness, confusion, and doubt of the cave of Adullam, but faith must be tried as if by fire in the crucible of life's adversities to be proven genuine because it's more valuable than silver or gold and we all should know that nothing in life that's worth it is easy to come by; likewise, if faith weren't difficult and tried and true, even with a stiff upper lip at times, it wouldn't be worth much! ["... For he gets their attention through adversity" (cf. Job 36:15, NLT)]. David's faith wasn't a "do-it-yourself" proposition nor did he believe in just lifting himself up by his bootstraps or that God just helps those who help themselves, but he had faith in a BIG God that was able to come to his rescue for all his needs and fears.
The point is that it doesn't matter how big your faith it, but how big your God is--big faith in a little God isn't adequate. NOTHING EASY TO DO IS WORTH MUCH! Soli Deo Gloria!
Saturday, September 14, 2019
The Peace That Surpasses All Understanding
"Your words were found, and I ate them. Your words became a delight to me and the joy of my heart..." (Jeremiah 15:16, HCSB).
"I rejoice at Your promise, like one who finds great treasure," (Psalm 119:162, HCSB).
"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope," (Rom. 15:13, ESV).
"Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ," (Rom. 5:5, ESV).
God promises peace to all whose hearts are fixed on Him (cf. Isaiah 26:3). Heb. 3:1; 12:1 also emphasizes this only more specifically focused on Jesus. Corrie ten Boom said that if we look at the world we are distressed, if we look at ourselves we are depressed, but if we look at Christ we are at rest! We must heed biblical admonition and fix our thoughts on Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith, to get the "perfect peace" promised, Phil. 4:6-7 takes it from another angle: avoiding anxiety is as simple as letting our requests be made known unto God with a grateful heart and we shall have this peace (the formula is that we worry about nothing, pray about anything, and thank about everything!). As David said in Psalm 19:14, "Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in thy sight O LORD," we are to bring every thought into the captivity of Christ (cf. 2 Cor. 10:5) to enjoy His peace.
Many believers seek peace through some comforting or favorite Bible passage or verse, as I have been asked to cite a good verse for someone depressed. The answer is that what elevates and lifts my spirits may not work for that person, and besides, they're just getting into the habit of spiritual dependency instead of maturity. We must learn to feed ourselves sooner or later and not be spoon-fed by our spiritual leaders.
"I rejoice at Your promise, like one who finds great treasure," (Psalm 119:162, HCSB).
"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope," (Rom. 15:13, ESV).
"Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ," (Rom. 5:5, ESV).
God promises peace to all whose hearts are fixed on Him (cf. Isaiah 26:3). Heb. 3:1; 12:1 also emphasizes this only more specifically focused on Jesus. Corrie ten Boom said that if we look at the world we are distressed, if we look at ourselves we are depressed, but if we look at Christ we are at rest! We must heed biblical admonition and fix our thoughts on Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith, to get the "perfect peace" promised, Phil. 4:6-7 takes it from another angle: avoiding anxiety is as simple as letting our requests be made known unto God with a grateful heart and we shall have this peace (the formula is that we worry about nothing, pray about anything, and thank about everything!). As David said in Psalm 19:14, "Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in thy sight O LORD," we are to bring every thought into the captivity of Christ (cf. 2 Cor. 10:5) to enjoy His peace.
Many believers seek peace through some comforting or favorite Bible passage or verse, as I have been asked to cite a good verse for someone depressed. The answer is that what elevates and lifts my spirits may not work for that person, and besides, they're just getting into the habit of spiritual dependency instead of maturity. We must learn to feed ourselves sooner or later and not be spoon-fed by our spiritual leaders.
If I tell you some fantastic verse that could lift your mood and get you out of a funk or the doldrums, it would only be a temporary fix, and then later you would need another verse from me or another spiritual leader. We can search our Facebook posts from our friends for something uplifting or read and like someone's post or re-post, but this isn't maturity.
The psalmist of Psalm 119:162 said that he treasured the Word of God as bounty and treasure--the joy is in finding it and letting God open your eyes to something in the Word. Job 23:12 says that he treasured the Word of God more than his necessary food! As is also said in Psalm 119:18, "Open my eyes that I may contemplate wonderful things in Your instruction,"(HCSB). The joy of a treasure hunter is in the discovery, the proclamation of eureka, or "I found it!" Then we won't need the crutch of some website to inspire us and give us verses to lift our spirits.
So there is no single verse that's going to lift someone from their depressed funk or downcast spirit of discouragement, but the answer is in knowing how to find one of your own tailored to your needs at the moment--suited just for the situation you are in. I would tell that person who is an earnest seeker that God rewards those who sincerely seek Him and His face and that they simply should open the Bible and start reading and let God do His work and perform a miracle on their soul.
The main reason we get moods is that God intends us to know how to manage them and what to do to overcome our natural inclination to be negative--that is to say, we all are subject to the blues now and then! But how we handle them is the challenge and we must learn to do something therapeutic for our spiritual health, not harmful to our attitude, for we all need an attitude check too, now and then. Soli Deo Gloria!
The psalmist of Psalm 119:162 said that he treasured the Word of God as bounty and treasure--the joy is in finding it and letting God open your eyes to something in the Word. Job 23:12 says that he treasured the Word of God more than his necessary food! As is also said in Psalm 119:18, "Open my eyes that I may contemplate wonderful things in Your instruction,"(HCSB). The joy of a treasure hunter is in the discovery, the proclamation of eureka, or "I found it!" Then we won't need the crutch of some website to inspire us and give us verses to lift our spirits.
So there is no single verse that's going to lift someone from their depressed funk or downcast spirit of discouragement, but the answer is in knowing how to find one of your own tailored to your needs at the moment--suited just for the situation you are in. I would tell that person who is an earnest seeker that God rewards those who sincerely seek Him and His face and that they simply should open the Bible and start reading and let God do His work and perform a miracle on their soul.
The main reason we get moods is that God intends us to know how to manage them and what to do to overcome our natural inclination to be negative--that is to say, we all are subject to the blues now and then! But how we handle them is the challenge and we must learn to do something therapeutic for our spiritual health, not harmful to our attitude, for we all need an attitude check too, now and then. Soli Deo Gloria!
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