Thinking today about drawing things 'in perspective'. If you have tried to draw buildings or cityscapes of some kind you know that it is best to set down some perspective lines early or else shadows and angles that are 'out of perspective' will become evident to the viewer. The way you determine these lines is to set points in the distance (often off the page) and have those lines radiating from those points in space and intersecting in the artwork.
If we bring that concept into our thought life how do we draw those lines? Is it possible to have 'eternal perspective'?
The points would have to be far off the page of our life and out in eternity somewhere.
"I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty." - Revelation 1:8 KJV
This is Jesus speaking.
Jesus creates the lines of eternal thought. He is every point beyond my experience that gets manifested in my experience. The Bible describes Him. The scripture exists so we can find Him and the Spirit can then give us linear thinking that isn't misshapen or exaggerated.
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Showing posts with label Perspective. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Perspective. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 21, 2019
Wednesday, February 21, 2018
The Special Ingredient
"You have heard that it was said... But I say to you..." - Matthew 5:43a-44a ESV
Jesus uses this construction several times in the Gospels and it is interesting to me this morning. It kind of reminds me of a cooking show where the chef is cooking for the audience and he is going to present a new spin on an old dish.
The chef is white outfit says to the studio audience, 'How many of you have had french toast before? Raise your hand.' He is beating eggs quickly with a wisk as he asks and the audience is filled with people raising their hands. 'Well. I am about to make you some french toast with a special ingredient. Orange zest!' The audience explodes with applause. 'These are special oranges I grow in my orchard down in Warm-and-Beautiful, FL' The video shifts to a shot of a camera following the chef through his orchard in Florida but you can still hear him whisking the eggs now in time and space.
Jesus has a special ingredient. He has a special perspective. He brings something to the Earthly table that comes from a Heavenly garden.
"And he said to them, 'Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house, who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.' " - Matthew 13:52 ESV
Only a person who Is seated above can do this. The scribe is the student. Grace and mercy are Heavenly ingredients that put a new spin on an old concept that people are familiar with. Grace is always fresh.
As Jesus is speaking we get a glimpse of His home and the culture of His home. A 'scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven' brings that culture everywhere they go like an ambassador.
I want to be the person who says, 'You have heard it said... But this is what Jesus says... here is his secret ingredient. He wants you to have it and use it. He wants you to come with Him to Warm-and-Beautiful, FL. It is a real place. You can wander the groves and eat the sweet oranges you pick from His trees.'
--
Jesus uses this construction several times in the Gospels and it is interesting to me this morning. It kind of reminds me of a cooking show where the chef is cooking for the audience and he is going to present a new spin on an old dish.
The chef is white outfit says to the studio audience, 'How many of you have had french toast before? Raise your hand.' He is beating eggs quickly with a wisk as he asks and the audience is filled with people raising their hands. 'Well. I am about to make you some french toast with a special ingredient. Orange zest!' The audience explodes with applause. 'These are special oranges I grow in my orchard down in Warm-and-Beautiful, FL' The video shifts to a shot of a camera following the chef through his orchard in Florida but you can still hear him whisking the eggs now in time and space.
Jesus has a special ingredient. He has a special perspective. He brings something to the Earthly table that comes from a Heavenly garden.
"And he said to them, 'Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house, who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.' " - Matthew 13:52 ESV
Only a person who Is seated above can do this. The scribe is the student. Grace and mercy are Heavenly ingredients that put a new spin on an old concept that people are familiar with. Grace is always fresh.
As Jesus is speaking we get a glimpse of His home and the culture of His home. A 'scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven' brings that culture everywhere they go like an ambassador.
I want to be the person who says, 'You have heard it said... But this is what Jesus says... here is his secret ingredient. He wants you to have it and use it. He wants you to come with Him to Warm-and-Beautiful, FL. It is a real place. You can wander the groves and eat the sweet oranges you pick from His trees.'
--
Friday, January 19, 2018
The Glow From The Armor
It's very much a 'thankfulness morning' for me today.
"The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light." - Romans 13:12 KJV
We can 'put it on' like it is garment handing on a hook nearby. This armour illuminates things and circumstances so we see them as God sees them. If we see them in pale moonlight we see one aspect. In bright sunshine we see another but in divine light we have every reason to be thankful.
Thankfulness is a light others see on us also. It is grace on display. Did we forge this armour or weave a robe of righteousness? No. Never. We couldn't. It has been given to us by God because we are citizens and special guests.
If we look at the world without this light it will look different. Paler. Darker.
"(For we walk by faith, not by sight:)" - 2 Corinthians 5:7 KJV
"We put no obstacle in anyone's way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love; by truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; through honor and dishonor, through slander and praise. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything." - 2 Corinthians 6:3-10 ESV
"Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints" - Ephesians 6:10-18 NKJV
Heaven sees the glow. So does the accuser. Darkness has no power to penetrate the armour of Heaven. Find it. If you have believed in Jesus you own a garment of praise and righteousness. The armour is the doctrine that your local assembly should teach. Read Ephesians 6 again and again. Learn it. Know it. Wear it. Raise a hand and vocalize the thankfulness you feel when you see the world according to God's glow.
I believe that is how the martyrs of old died a good death and that is how we live a good (Agathos - Useful) life.
--
"The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light." - Romans 13:12 KJV
We can 'put it on' like it is garment handing on a hook nearby. This armour illuminates things and circumstances so we see them as God sees them. If we see them in pale moonlight we see one aspect. In bright sunshine we see another but in divine light we have every reason to be thankful.
Thankfulness is a light others see on us also. It is grace on display. Did we forge this armour or weave a robe of righteousness? No. Never. We couldn't. It has been given to us by God because we are citizens and special guests.
If we look at the world without this light it will look different. Paler. Darker.
"(For we walk by faith, not by sight:)" - 2 Corinthians 5:7 KJV
"We put no obstacle in anyone's way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love; by truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; through honor and dishonor, through slander and praise. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything." - 2 Corinthians 6:3-10 ESV
"Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints" - Ephesians 6:10-18 NKJV
Heaven sees the glow. So does the accuser. Darkness has no power to penetrate the armour of Heaven. Find it. If you have believed in Jesus you own a garment of praise and righteousness. The armour is the doctrine that your local assembly should teach. Read Ephesians 6 again and again. Learn it. Know it. Wear it. Raise a hand and vocalize the thankfulness you feel when you see the world according to God's glow.
I believe that is how the martyrs of old died a good death and that is how we live a good (Agathos - Useful) life.
--
Monday, April 24, 2017
Detective Stories
Detective stories amuse us because they make us feel smart. Clues are fed to us by writers and we get to think we 'discovered' the truth. It is a thing that rarely happens in real life for most of us. Life isn't that cut and dry.
If we spend our life looking to uncover a plot and identify a villain we will be taking a real detour and we may inadvertently sabotage our relationships with people.
The Gospel is the true story of a hero. That hero isn't us. It is Jesus. Once we come to the right conclusion about Him... a conclusion we would never arrive at ourselves it changes our life and perspective. We start looking for the Hero in each situation, not the villain.
I plan to find my Hero again today. He has already gone before me. He Is the one who saves lives and cleanses minds.
He has taken this villain's blame upon Himself.
If we spend our life looking to uncover a plot and identify a villain we will be taking a real detour and we may inadvertently sabotage our relationships with people.
The Gospel is the true story of a hero. That hero isn't us. It is Jesus. Once we come to the right conclusion about Him... a conclusion we would never arrive at ourselves it changes our life and perspective. We start looking for the Hero in each situation, not the villain.
I plan to find my Hero again today. He has already gone before me. He Is the one who saves lives and cleanses minds.
He has taken this villain's blame upon Himself.
Friday, April 21, 2017
Low To High
This morning I'm thinking of perspective and leadership because of this passage...
"Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.) And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:" - Ephesians 4:8-12 KJV
In a way, this concept is beyond us but Jesus 'fills all things' because He has experienced the lowest position and now occupies the highest position. Why would that be so? He was and is God. Still, This is what the Bible declares.
I find it interesting that God uses this concept to transition into talking about leadership. God's power structure for His Church isn't based on power or resources it is based on knowledge and perspective.
Jesus dove deep into humanity and after His death into Hell itself. He went where we are and then down to where the souls that died were and experienced what they experienced firsthand.
Now He has chosen leaders like that. He has men who came from the lowest places and commissioned them to talk about the highest loftiest truths. These people are gifts from a King who is seated on a throne.
"For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not." - Isaiah 53:2-3 ESV
Jesus didn't look like a King when He was on Earth and let's face it the men He sends often don't look like leaders. They are proclaimers, gatherers and teachers. The leadership is shepherd leadership. Instruction is the gift and it isn't always valued.
Jesus fills all things now. His experience spans the length and breadth of human experience and the gifts He gives are based on that experience.
The world is full of leaders. Every area has it's local and regional politics. People also claim spiritual leadership roles. Many who do aren't what they seem to be.
If I find a person winning souls I mark them as a leader. If a person gathers when everyone else is scattering... if words of wisdom point me to God and present Him as better than I thought He was and use the Bible as their text as pointing to Jesus as the reason they do what they do... if that is what is happening then there is the sense that those people are gifts from God.
If the One who fills all things is doing a work in the world I want to recognise and support that work. It may look like 'a root out of dry ground' but it is more than it appears to be.
--
"Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.) And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:" - Ephesians 4:8-12 KJV
In a way, this concept is beyond us but Jesus 'fills all things' because He has experienced the lowest position and now occupies the highest position. Why would that be so? He was and is God. Still, This is what the Bible declares.
I find it interesting that God uses this concept to transition into talking about leadership. God's power structure for His Church isn't based on power or resources it is based on knowledge and perspective.
Jesus dove deep into humanity and after His death into Hell itself. He went where we are and then down to where the souls that died were and experienced what they experienced firsthand.
Now He has chosen leaders like that. He has men who came from the lowest places and commissioned them to talk about the highest loftiest truths. These people are gifts from a King who is seated on a throne.
"For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not." - Isaiah 53:2-3 ESV
Jesus didn't look like a King when He was on Earth and let's face it the men He sends often don't look like leaders. They are proclaimers, gatherers and teachers. The leadership is shepherd leadership. Instruction is the gift and it isn't always valued.
Jesus fills all things now. His experience spans the length and breadth of human experience and the gifts He gives are based on that experience.
The world is full of leaders. Every area has it's local and regional politics. People also claim spiritual leadership roles. Many who do aren't what they seem to be.
If I find a person winning souls I mark them as a leader. If a person gathers when everyone else is scattering... if words of wisdom point me to God and present Him as better than I thought He was and use the Bible as their text as pointing to Jesus as the reason they do what they do... if that is what is happening then there is the sense that those people are gifts from God.
If the One who fills all things is doing a work in the world I want to recognise and support that work. It may look like 'a root out of dry ground' but it is more than it appears to be.
--
Monday, August 15, 2016
He Is Our Abba
"For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, "Abba! Father!" The Spirit Himself bears witness that we are children of God" Romans 8:15-16 ESV
You see a special side of a man when you see them with their young children. He speaks in simplicity and kindness. If he has a softer side that is when it is seen.
The Spirit shows us this side of God. He is our, 'Abba'
Today is Monday but you are no slave. The Spirit will say something different. God is your, 'Abba' today. Children with an affectionate compassionate father are blessed children... We are blessed children.
--
You see a special side of a man when you see them with their young children. He speaks in simplicity and kindness. If he has a softer side that is when it is seen.
The Spirit shows us this side of God. He is our, 'Abba'
Today is Monday but you are no slave. The Spirit will say something different. God is your, 'Abba' today. Children with an affectionate compassionate father are blessed children... We are blessed children.
--
Saturday, July 9, 2016
Pearls Before Swine
I'm going on outreach today but I had a quick thought I've been meditating on as I think and pray about talking to people today.
Have you ever been frustrated or perplexed about something and spoken to someone only to find yourself more frustrated and perplexed afterwards? I have. Perhaps the person you spoke to wanted to help but it was just the wrong time to talk or the person had a frame of reference that was not helpful.
If someone comes to me and they need to talk I want to be ready.
"Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you. Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened." - Matthew 7:6-8 ESV
I guess what I am saying is that I don't want to be a swine when someone is sharing things that matter to them. I need to go to God first and cast my care on Him and get his mind on something... anything He wants to give me. Whatever crumbs He wants to give are more than good enough. If I knock and have a thought from Heaven to chew on then I can be in the flow for all the things He has ever given me to rise to the surface of my mind. Then when I run into someone who is at a crossroads the door into eternal perspective will already be clearly in sight by faith.
"Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.' " - John 14:6 ESV
Yes. The maker of all things also has a resolution for all perplexities. Will we be dogs or grace and mercy people who carry seed that will produce an eternal harvest?
--
Have you ever been frustrated or perplexed about something and spoken to someone only to find yourself more frustrated and perplexed afterwards? I have. Perhaps the person you spoke to wanted to help but it was just the wrong time to talk or the person had a frame of reference that was not helpful.
If someone comes to me and they need to talk I want to be ready.
"Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you. Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened." - Matthew 7:6-8 ESV
I guess what I am saying is that I don't want to be a swine when someone is sharing things that matter to them. I need to go to God first and cast my care on Him and get his mind on something... anything He wants to give me. Whatever crumbs He wants to give are more than good enough. If I knock and have a thought from Heaven to chew on then I can be in the flow for all the things He has ever given me to rise to the surface of my mind. Then when I run into someone who is at a crossroads the door into eternal perspective will already be clearly in sight by faith.
"Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.' " - John 14:6 ESV
Yes. The maker of all things also has a resolution for all perplexities. Will we be dogs or grace and mercy people who carry seed that will produce an eternal harvest?
--
Thursday, May 19, 2016
The Wisdom Of Eternal Perspective
I visited the neighborhood where I grew up recently. Don't go very often. I was struck this time by how old the buildings look. I'm not talking about the buildings that were there when I grew up. I expect those to be old. The newer building are old. The buildings that used to be open spaces when I was a boy are old now. How many people remember what I remember?
I read recently that there may only be one person left who was alive in the 1800s. It makes sense. It is 2016 after all. Does that person every remember what it was like they were just a baby then.
Can we fathom eternal life? Eternal perspective.
"But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you; how much less this house that I have built!" - 1 Kings 8:27 ESV
"The LORD is high above all nations, and his glory above the heavens! Who is like the LORD our God, who is seated on high, who looks far down on the heavens and the earth?" - Psalm 113:4-6 ESV
"Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me. If I say, 'Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,' even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you. For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb." - Psalm 139:7-13 ESV
"Am I a God at hand, declares the LORD, and not a God far away? Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the LORD. Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the LORD. I have heard what the prophets have said who prophesy lies in my name, saying, 'I have dreamed, I have dreamed!' How long shall there be lies in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies, and who prophesy the deceit of their own heart, who think to make my people forget my name by their dreams that they tell one another, even as their fathers forgot my name for Baal?" - Jeremiah 23:23-27 ESV
Imagine us describing the world to God? Isn't it folly to disagree with Him? He sees it all. He was there when everything has happened.
"...declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, 'My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,' " - Isaiah 46:10 ESV
Our God is a God who inhabits the past, present and future all at the same time. A lie must be the most horrible thing for him. He can't lie and nothing is hidden.
If He speaks I want to hear what He says. If He has a recommendation or a commentary a want to hear it and make it more important then my own thought on the matter.
He Is God and His methods are gracious.
I just want to worship Him. I understand why someone would want to use a person with this much knowledge. How can I even have such an agenda? He sees my heart. I am naked before Him. Worship is the right thing to do considering the fact that a person so lofty would function so kindly in our individual lives.
Imagine if I spoke to a boy living in my old neighborhood and said, 'I remember when that building was just a field. I used to run and play ball there.' and he said, 'You crazy old man. That building has always been there.'
God's perspective is eternal. It has value. If He is talking then I am listening. I can only imagine what He has seen. His words matter. They will last forever.
--
I read recently that there may only be one person left who was alive in the 1800s. It makes sense. It is 2016 after all. Does that person every remember what it was like they were just a baby then.
Can we fathom eternal life? Eternal perspective.
"But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you; how much less this house that I have built!" - 1 Kings 8:27 ESV
"The LORD is high above all nations, and his glory above the heavens! Who is like the LORD our God, who is seated on high, who looks far down on the heavens and the earth?" - Psalm 113:4-6 ESV
"Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me. If I say, 'Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,' even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you. For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb." - Psalm 139:7-13 ESV
"Am I a God at hand, declares the LORD, and not a God far away? Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the LORD. Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the LORD. I have heard what the prophets have said who prophesy lies in my name, saying, 'I have dreamed, I have dreamed!' How long shall there be lies in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies, and who prophesy the deceit of their own heart, who think to make my people forget my name by their dreams that they tell one another, even as their fathers forgot my name for Baal?" - Jeremiah 23:23-27 ESV
Imagine us describing the world to God? Isn't it folly to disagree with Him? He sees it all. He was there when everything has happened.
"...declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, 'My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,' " - Isaiah 46:10 ESV
Our God is a God who inhabits the past, present and future all at the same time. A lie must be the most horrible thing for him. He can't lie and nothing is hidden.
If He speaks I want to hear what He says. If He has a recommendation or a commentary a want to hear it and make it more important then my own thought on the matter.
He Is God and His methods are gracious.
I just want to worship Him. I understand why someone would want to use a person with this much knowledge. How can I even have such an agenda? He sees my heart. I am naked before Him. Worship is the right thing to do considering the fact that a person so lofty would function so kindly in our individual lives.
Imagine if I spoke to a boy living in my old neighborhood and said, 'I remember when that building was just a field. I used to run and play ball there.' and he said, 'You crazy old man. That building has always been there.'
God's perspective is eternal. It has value. If He is talking then I am listening. I can only imagine what He has seen. His words matter. They will last forever.
--
Tuesday, April 5, 2016
Rising In The Ranks
"Better was a poor and wise youth than an old and foolish king who no longer knew how to take advice. For he went from prison to the throne, though in his own kingdom he had been born poor. I saw all the living who move about under the sun, along with that youth who was to stand in the king's place. There was no end of all the people, all of whom he led. Yet those who come later will not rejoice in him. Surely this also is vanity and a striving after wind." - Ecclesiastes 4:13-16 ESV
Hidden in the book of Ecclesiastes is a passage where Solomon honors the memory of his father David. David was the wise Shepard boy who rose from humble beginnings to be king. Solomon could see the memory of his Father's reign fading from public consciousness and it troubled him.
Ecclesiastes is written from a backslidden man's perspective. Solomon was wise and he saw his father as wise. But we know David didn't get to be king because of his wisdom. Samuel anointed David to be king.
"Then Samuel said to Jesse, 'Are all your sons here?' And he said, 'There remains yet the youngest, but behold, he is keeping the sheep.' And Samuel said to Jesse, 'Send and get him, for we will not sit down till he comes here.' And he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy and had beautiful eyes and was handsome. And the LORD said, 'Arise, anoint him, for this is he.' Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. And the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon David from that day forward." - 1 Samuel 16:11-13a ESV
Solomon is a man who has lost something. He is wise but not discerning. He has a redemptive history but he misses the redeemer that is in his history. He is right about the fickle public and their short memory but he is wrong also.
David's time isn't over.
"I will rescue my flock; they shall no longer be a prey. And I will judge between sheep and sheep. And I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them: he shall feed them and be their shepherd. And I, the LORD, will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them. I am the LORD; I have spoken." - Ezekiel 34:22-24 ESV
Ezekiel is written long after the reigns of David and Solomon. David has a future that is still in humanities future. The word prince there is the Hebrew word Nasiy (Strong's H5387) and it means a leader who is rising in the ranks.
If we look at ministry through tired eyes we see the short memory of people but if God gives us eagle eyes we see the rising in the ranks of grace. Burial always comes before resurrection.
When I think of those who have come before me I honor their memory knowing that not many others will but their ministry isn't over nor was it executed by some natural power or quality that they possessed themselves alone. They did what they did because of God's grace. Let's do what we do by God's grace also.
"The saying is trustworthy, for: If we have died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us; if we are faithless, he remains faithful - for he cannot deny himself." - 2 Timothy 2:11-13 ESV
I don't want to be wise like Solomon was in the book of Ecclesiastes. I see that book as one that points out the traps of intellect divorced momentarily from divine perspective. I want to have the mind of Christ. He is the Alpha and Omega. He sees every moment based of the beginning and the end of time.
God give us your mind today. Let us not judge by what we see and hear only. Give us righteous gracious judgement that sees redemption as finished on the cross and sees our fellows based on what You have done and not what they have accomplished or where they have failed. Thank You God. Thank You for not leaving us stranded in time. Thank You for saving us from the trap of natural thinking. Thank You God.
--
Hidden in the book of Ecclesiastes is a passage where Solomon honors the memory of his father David. David was the wise Shepard boy who rose from humble beginnings to be king. Solomon could see the memory of his Father's reign fading from public consciousness and it troubled him.
Ecclesiastes is written from a backslidden man's perspective. Solomon was wise and he saw his father as wise. But we know David didn't get to be king because of his wisdom. Samuel anointed David to be king.
"Then Samuel said to Jesse, 'Are all your sons here?' And he said, 'There remains yet the youngest, but behold, he is keeping the sheep.' And Samuel said to Jesse, 'Send and get him, for we will not sit down till he comes here.' And he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy and had beautiful eyes and was handsome. And the LORD said, 'Arise, anoint him, for this is he.' Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. And the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon David from that day forward." - 1 Samuel 16:11-13a ESV
Solomon is a man who has lost something. He is wise but not discerning. He has a redemptive history but he misses the redeemer that is in his history. He is right about the fickle public and their short memory but he is wrong also.
David's time isn't over.
"I will rescue my flock; they shall no longer be a prey. And I will judge between sheep and sheep. And I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them: he shall feed them and be their shepherd. And I, the LORD, will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them. I am the LORD; I have spoken." - Ezekiel 34:22-24 ESV
Ezekiel is written long after the reigns of David and Solomon. David has a future that is still in humanities future. The word prince there is the Hebrew word Nasiy (Strong's H5387) and it means a leader who is rising in the ranks.
If we look at ministry through tired eyes we see the short memory of people but if God gives us eagle eyes we see the rising in the ranks of grace. Burial always comes before resurrection.
When I think of those who have come before me I honor their memory knowing that not many others will but their ministry isn't over nor was it executed by some natural power or quality that they possessed themselves alone. They did what they did because of God's grace. Let's do what we do by God's grace also.
"The saying is trustworthy, for: If we have died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us; if we are faithless, he remains faithful - for he cannot deny himself." - 2 Timothy 2:11-13 ESV
I don't want to be wise like Solomon was in the book of Ecclesiastes. I see that book as one that points out the traps of intellect divorced momentarily from divine perspective. I want to have the mind of Christ. He is the Alpha and Omega. He sees every moment based of the beginning and the end of time.
God give us your mind today. Let us not judge by what we see and hear only. Give us righteous gracious judgement that sees redemption as finished on the cross and sees our fellows based on what You have done and not what they have accomplished or where they have failed. Thank You God. Thank You for not leaving us stranded in time. Thank You for saving us from the trap of natural thinking. Thank You God.
--
Tuesday, March 15, 2016
Endure Hardship
"You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier. Also if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not win the prize unless he competes according to the rules. The hard-working farmer ought to be the first to receive his share of the crops. Consider what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything." - 2 Timothy 2:1-7 NASB
We are not soldiers, athletes or farmers for God. Our goals are different but those vocations have qualities that we bring to our cause and our cause is clear. We entrust grace thinking to faithful people.
Soldiers share in hardship together. What is expressed here is the team aspect of our calling.
Athletes must have an internal mindset to push themselves and compete within certain boundaries so they are not disqualified. This isn't team. This is singular determination and commitment. This is learning to run inside the lines so that our effort is not disqualified.
A farmer lives on what he or she is doing. He doesn't plant to please others. The carrots his family doesn't eat are for sale and He makes sure there are a lot of carrots.
"By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love. We love, because He first loved us." - 1 John 4:17-19 NASB
A disciple studies under a master to make what the master makes. That ancient disciples swept the floors, cooked the food and did menial tasks for the master to be close to him so that they could learn.
If Jesus is our Lord we have taken on a love apprenticeship. When we follow Him we learn to love and learn the doctrines of love. Hardship, sweat and tears go hand in hand with the joy, learning and laughter.
Faithful witnesses of the cross say, 'It is finished. He is risen. Cease from striving. God has loved you with a perfect love.'
If this is true and can be a provision for every suffering person on the planet then comfort must take a backseat. Our liberty is real and becomes focused. We plant so that there will be more than we ourselves can eat.
This love will cast out all fear.
--
We are not soldiers, athletes or farmers for God. Our goals are different but those vocations have qualities that we bring to our cause and our cause is clear. We entrust grace thinking to faithful people.
Soldiers share in hardship together. What is expressed here is the team aspect of our calling.
Athletes must have an internal mindset to push themselves and compete within certain boundaries so they are not disqualified. This isn't team. This is singular determination and commitment. This is learning to run inside the lines so that our effort is not disqualified.
A farmer lives on what he or she is doing. He doesn't plant to please others. The carrots his family doesn't eat are for sale and He makes sure there are a lot of carrots.
"By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love. We love, because He first loved us." - 1 John 4:17-19 NASB
A disciple studies under a master to make what the master makes. That ancient disciples swept the floors, cooked the food and did menial tasks for the master to be close to him so that they could learn.
If Jesus is our Lord we have taken on a love apprenticeship. When we follow Him we learn to love and learn the doctrines of love. Hardship, sweat and tears go hand in hand with the joy, learning and laughter.
Faithful witnesses of the cross say, 'It is finished. He is risen. Cease from striving. God has loved you with a perfect love.'
If this is true and can be a provision for every suffering person on the planet then comfort must take a backseat. Our liberty is real and becomes focused. We plant so that there will be more than we ourselves can eat.
This love will cast out all fear.
--
Wednesday, March 9, 2016
The Dream State And The Cross
I had an interesting night with some very fun unique dreams I can't remember having before. I wrote down a few sentences of what they were about on a piece of paper knowing that what I was writing might not make sense to me later. Dreams are like that. They make sense to the sleeping mind but not the wakeful one.
It makes me think of this portion of scripture.
"Now about eight days after these sayings he took with him Peter and John and James and went up on the mountain to pray. And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered, and his clothing became dazzling white. And behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and SPOKE OF HIS DEPARTURE, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. Now Peter and those who were with him were heavy with sleep, but when they became fully awake they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. And as the men were parting from him, Peter said to Jesus, 'Master, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah' - not knowing what he said. As he was saying these things, a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, 'This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!' And when the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and told no one in those days anything of what they had seen. On the next day, when they had come down from the mountain, a great crowd met him. And behold, a man from the crowd cried out, 'Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, for he is my only child. And behold, a spirit seizes him, and he suddenly cries out. It convulses him so that he foams at the mouth, and shatters him, and will hardly leave him. And I begged your disciples to cast it out, but they could not.' Jesus answered, 'O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you and bear with you? Bring your son here.' While he was coming, the demon threw him to the ground and convulsed him. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit and healed the boy, and gave him back to his father. And all were astonished at the majesty of God. But while they were all marveling at everything he was doing, Jesus said to his disciples, 'Let these words sink into your ears: The Son of Man is ABOUT TO BE DELIVERED INTO THE HANDS OF MEN.' But they did not understand this saying, and it was concealed from them, so that they might not perceive it. And they were afraid to ask him about this saying." - Luke 9:28-45 ESV
The mountain must have seemed like dream to them and the valley was very much a reality. It was almost as if Peter spoke from the contents of his heart that was still in bondage and the dream state was broken.
I capitalized a couple of statements in the narrative above because they speak to me this morning. The content of what Jesus said to Moses and Elijah was the same as what he spoke to Peter and His disciples. The difference was that Moses and Elijah were in a different place and had a different vantage point. Jesus could have a real conversation with them about the cross but the conversation he had with them just made the disciples sleepy. Then when He talked to Peter and the rest of the disciples later they still did not understand and avoided the subject.
Knowledge of the cross was concealed from them like the dream is concealed from the mind that is awake to the pressures and harsh realities of life.
"But Jesus called them to him, saying, 'Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.' " - Luke 18:16-17 ESV
Jesus is innocent. He isn't naive. He is wise and deals with the harshest of realities in innocence.
Peter was an adult and spoke like an adult. He wanted something to do so that he could frame his identity by his actions and all it did was pull him out of Heaven's conversation.
Heaven's conversation involves the cross. He spoke on the mountain as if it was behind him. It was His point of departure. We can say that also if we have believed. We have passed from death into life because of it. We have traveled through it with Christ.
For those who haven't believed the cross is in front of them. Maybe it puts them to sleep or maybe they avoid it because it is a conversation they would rather postpone.
Either way... It must be our message.
"For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." - 1 Corinthians 1:17-18 ESV
One day we will be on Moses and Elijah's side of life. We will see Jesus aflame in all His glory and we won't want to take a nap. We won't need to sleep. We will live the waking dream of heroes and kings.
Thank you God. We have hope for a good awakening someday. Please let our mind reflect that glory now in the details of life we all have to face. You are so good to us.
--
It makes me think of this portion of scripture.
"Now about eight days after these sayings he took with him Peter and John and James and went up on the mountain to pray. And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered, and his clothing became dazzling white. And behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and SPOKE OF HIS DEPARTURE, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. Now Peter and those who were with him were heavy with sleep, but when they became fully awake they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. And as the men were parting from him, Peter said to Jesus, 'Master, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah' - not knowing what he said. As he was saying these things, a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, 'This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!' And when the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and told no one in those days anything of what they had seen. On the next day, when they had come down from the mountain, a great crowd met him. And behold, a man from the crowd cried out, 'Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, for he is my only child. And behold, a spirit seizes him, and he suddenly cries out. It convulses him so that he foams at the mouth, and shatters him, and will hardly leave him. And I begged your disciples to cast it out, but they could not.' Jesus answered, 'O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you and bear with you? Bring your son here.' While he was coming, the demon threw him to the ground and convulsed him. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit and healed the boy, and gave him back to his father. And all were astonished at the majesty of God. But while they were all marveling at everything he was doing, Jesus said to his disciples, 'Let these words sink into your ears: The Son of Man is ABOUT TO BE DELIVERED INTO THE HANDS OF MEN.' But they did not understand this saying, and it was concealed from them, so that they might not perceive it. And they were afraid to ask him about this saying." - Luke 9:28-45 ESV
The mountain must have seemed like dream to them and the valley was very much a reality. It was almost as if Peter spoke from the contents of his heart that was still in bondage and the dream state was broken.
I capitalized a couple of statements in the narrative above because they speak to me this morning. The content of what Jesus said to Moses and Elijah was the same as what he spoke to Peter and His disciples. The difference was that Moses and Elijah were in a different place and had a different vantage point. Jesus could have a real conversation with them about the cross but the conversation he had with them just made the disciples sleepy. Then when He talked to Peter and the rest of the disciples later they still did not understand and avoided the subject.
Knowledge of the cross was concealed from them like the dream is concealed from the mind that is awake to the pressures and harsh realities of life.
"But Jesus called them to him, saying, 'Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.' " - Luke 18:16-17 ESV
Jesus is innocent. He isn't naive. He is wise and deals with the harshest of realities in innocence.
Peter was an adult and spoke like an adult. He wanted something to do so that he could frame his identity by his actions and all it did was pull him out of Heaven's conversation.
Heaven's conversation involves the cross. He spoke on the mountain as if it was behind him. It was His point of departure. We can say that also if we have believed. We have passed from death into life because of it. We have traveled through it with Christ.
For those who haven't believed the cross is in front of them. Maybe it puts them to sleep or maybe they avoid it because it is a conversation they would rather postpone.
Either way... It must be our message.
"For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." - 1 Corinthians 1:17-18 ESV
One day we will be on Moses and Elijah's side of life. We will see Jesus aflame in all His glory and we won't want to take a nap. We won't need to sleep. We will live the waking dream of heroes and kings.
Thank you God. We have hope for a good awakening someday. Please let our mind reflect that glory now in the details of life we all have to face. You are so good to us.
--
Tuesday, March 1, 2016
The Single Eye
"The light of the body is the eye: therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light; but when thine eye is evil, thy body also is full of darkness." - Luke 11:34 KJV
Having a single eye.
The Greek word there is haplous (Strong's G573) and it is best translated in the KJV. Other translations say healthy or something like it but we have two eyes don't we? Each eye is only healthy when it is in focus with the other eye. It can be healthy on it's own but we can only see clearly if it is single.
This speaks to me of eternal perspective. Eternal perspective sees with God. The world is truly in focus. Is our eye the left one or the right one? Both are His and both are ours. It is the focus that matters
"But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." - Matthew 6:33 ESV
I don't know about you but I get annoyed when I walk by a security desk and they don't seem to see me. That is a the largest part of their job. They need to see everything. That is the contribution that they are bringing to the well being of the place they are guarding.
The single eyed person is not looking for sin. They are looking with God. God has eyes of grace. Sin is paid for. They can pray because they see things. They spot evil and act accordingly. They seek God's kingdom. They are looking for what will last forever and focusing their energy on those things that replenish life.
Perhaps yesterday our eye was unhealthy because we saw situations or circumstances and made judgments by sight. But what about today? Can we look with God? Can we look seeing the cross behind us. Can we see Heaven and Hell before us? Everyone we are dealing with is going one place or the other and God desires that none would perish.
God give us a single eye. Add an eternal dimension to our sight so that our eye is filled with light. Thank You God. Thank You for having a pace that is quick enough for us to move forward but just right for us to join You and follow You at any moment. We want to see what You see. We want a single eye.
--
Having a single eye.
The Greek word there is haplous (Strong's G573) and it is best translated in the KJV. Other translations say healthy or something like it but we have two eyes don't we? Each eye is only healthy when it is in focus with the other eye. It can be healthy on it's own but we can only see clearly if it is single.
This speaks to me of eternal perspective. Eternal perspective sees with God. The world is truly in focus. Is our eye the left one or the right one? Both are His and both are ours. It is the focus that matters
"But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." - Matthew 6:33 ESV
I don't know about you but I get annoyed when I walk by a security desk and they don't seem to see me. That is a the largest part of their job. They need to see everything. That is the contribution that they are bringing to the well being of the place they are guarding.
The single eyed person is not looking for sin. They are looking with God. God has eyes of grace. Sin is paid for. They can pray because they see things. They spot evil and act accordingly. They seek God's kingdom. They are looking for what will last forever and focusing their energy on those things that replenish life.
Perhaps yesterday our eye was unhealthy because we saw situations or circumstances and made judgments by sight. But what about today? Can we look with God? Can we look seeing the cross behind us. Can we see Heaven and Hell before us? Everyone we are dealing with is going one place or the other and God desires that none would perish.
God give us a single eye. Add an eternal dimension to our sight so that our eye is filled with light. Thank You God. Thank You for having a pace that is quick enough for us to move forward but just right for us to join You and follow You at any moment. We want to see what You see. We want a single eye.
--
Tuesday, February 23, 2016
Justified By Faith
"Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness," - Romans 4:4-5 ESV
This is a cornerstone principle. Trust is the foundation of any relationship. God is basically saying, 'Trust in Me and I will justify you.'
If our relationship with God is based on us and what we bring to the table there is no justification but if it is about who Jesus Is and what He has brought to the table then we are justified. The cross has that power like nothing else does.
If I found out a friend cheated me or betrayed my trust in some way it might damage my relationship with them but if instead I learned that a friend was speaking kindly of me to others and was helping me in ways I was not even aware of it would affect me in a much different way. God has been loving us behind our backs all along and the moment we trust Him we become connected to Him by that love.
Grace must have this element.
"And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him." - Hebrews 11:6 ESV
The world is a hard place sometimes but is God good? Yes.
Does God care about us? Yes. He sent His Son as proof that He cares and His Son healed the rift between divinity and humanity.
Unconditional favor is not possible without this understanding. God Is holy. He does not compromise with sin. God has a method that applies favor apart from sin because the transgressions have been blotted out by Christ's blood.
Now I can look at another person and say, 'They are justified because of what Jesus has done.' Their actions are not justified but they are. It isn't what they bring to the table. It is what Jesus brought to the table.
If we think this way we can give grace because this is how the God of all grace is thinking about us.
--
This is a cornerstone principle. Trust is the foundation of any relationship. God is basically saying, 'Trust in Me and I will justify you.'
If our relationship with God is based on us and what we bring to the table there is no justification but if it is about who Jesus Is and what He has brought to the table then we are justified. The cross has that power like nothing else does.
If I found out a friend cheated me or betrayed my trust in some way it might damage my relationship with them but if instead I learned that a friend was speaking kindly of me to others and was helping me in ways I was not even aware of it would affect me in a much different way. God has been loving us behind our backs all along and the moment we trust Him we become connected to Him by that love.
Grace must have this element.
"And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him." - Hebrews 11:6 ESV
The world is a hard place sometimes but is God good? Yes.
Does God care about us? Yes. He sent His Son as proof that He cares and His Son healed the rift between divinity and humanity.
Unconditional favor is not possible without this understanding. God Is holy. He does not compromise with sin. God has a method that applies favor apart from sin because the transgressions have been blotted out by Christ's blood.
Now I can look at another person and say, 'They are justified because of what Jesus has done.' Their actions are not justified but they are. It isn't what they bring to the table. It is what Jesus brought to the table.
If we think this way we can give grace because this is how the God of all grace is thinking about us.
--
Friday, February 12, 2016
Fellowship That Is Eternal In Ephesians Chapter Five
"Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil." - Ephesians 5:15-16 ESV
Are the days evil? Are they? In a comparative way they are.
"Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ." - Ephesians 5:17-21 ESV
Ephesians chapter five is about marriage and partnership. Chapter four was about individual integrity and living in the position that God has given us in Christ. Chapter six is about family and the corporate (group) dynamic.
Time works against us in partnerships. We must understand that God's will is eternal as well as temporal. Each moment is eternal. Wine can be a substitute for spiritual songs, hymns and thanksgiving in our hearts for the work Christ has finished.
Fellowship is the best use of our time. Fellowship is a Christ centered thing and not a wine splashing in a cup kind of thing.
"But others mocking said, 'They are filled with new wine.'
But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them: 'Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel: 'And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy. And I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke; the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day. And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.'" - Acts 2:13-21 ESV
People thought that these believers were drunk but they weren't. These people weren't drinking to escape. They had escaped and they were living in the joy that freedom brings.
Time can be a prison for relationships. Married people can have a marriage that is outside of time. We can have friendships outside of time. We can use time instead of it using us when we practice God's presence and live in a mission instead of drifting from party to party.
I see grandparents with their grandchildren and they treasure each moment they have with them. Maybe they wish time would freeze.
Let's fellowship and live in a mission. The days are like waves. They will keep coming but if we know the eternal One we can live in eternity right now.
--
Are the days evil? Are they? In a comparative way they are.
"Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ." - Ephesians 5:17-21 ESV
Ephesians chapter five is about marriage and partnership. Chapter four was about individual integrity and living in the position that God has given us in Christ. Chapter six is about family and the corporate (group) dynamic.
Time works against us in partnerships. We must understand that God's will is eternal as well as temporal. Each moment is eternal. Wine can be a substitute for spiritual songs, hymns and thanksgiving in our hearts for the work Christ has finished.
Fellowship is the best use of our time. Fellowship is a Christ centered thing and not a wine splashing in a cup kind of thing.
"But others mocking said, 'They are filled with new wine.'
But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them: 'Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel: 'And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy. And I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke; the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day. And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.'" - Acts 2:13-21 ESV
People thought that these believers were drunk but they weren't. These people weren't drinking to escape. They had escaped and they were living in the joy that freedom brings.
Time can be a prison for relationships. Married people can have a marriage that is outside of time. We can have friendships outside of time. We can use time instead of it using us when we practice God's presence and live in a mission instead of drifting from party to party.
I see grandparents with their grandchildren and they treasure each moment they have with them. Maybe they wish time would freeze.
Let's fellowship and live in a mission. The days are like waves. They will keep coming but if we know the eternal One we can live in eternity right now.
--
Thursday, January 7, 2016
Recipes Of Faith
I can't tell you how many times I have bought fresh vegetables only to have them go bad in my refrigerator. I have two lemons on my counter right now that if a don't use soon I will have to throw them in the trash.
"But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." - Matthew 6:33 ESV
This verse is given in the context of worry and supply but this morning I think about abundance and use.
Opportunity is like that lettuce waiting to be used. If I don't plan a recipe that uses lettuce then it may just end up in the trash. I could make a salad or a sandwich. There are a dozen ways that the lettuce could be used and a dozen way that it will remain unused.
"For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw - each one's work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire." - 1 Corinthians 3:11-15 ESV
A tree takes a lifetime to grow. Hay comes up in a season and stubble is what is left over from a harvest.
There are a dozen recipes that include Jesus today. There are also a dozen that don't include Him. Gold is His character of royalty and divinity. Silver is his purity. It is what remains when silver ore is heated and the dross rises to the top and gets skimmed off. Precious stones are individuals born in fire and carved out as friends.
"'They shall be Mine,' says the LORD of hosts, 'On the day that I make them My jewels. And I will spare them As a man spares his own son who serves him.' " - Malachi 3:17 NKJV
"...among whom you shine as lights in the world," - Philippians 2:15b ESV
My faith is in my cupboard but will I use it this week. Mercy is new this morning. It is like manna that has come down from Heaven.
"When the people of Israel saw it, they said to one another, 'What is it?' For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, 'It is the bread that the LORD has given you to eat. This is what the LORD has commanded: 'Gather of it, each one of you, as much as he can eat. You shall each take an omer, according to the number of the persons that each of you has in his tent.'... Morning by morning they gathered it, each as much as he could eat; but when the sun grew hot, it melted." - Exodus 16:15-16, 21 ESV
The manna came with the dew. It didn't float down like snow. It formed like dew forms on leaves from the mist of morning.
Just as some of us rarely see the dew in the morning some rarely see God's mercy because they aren't up early enough to gather it.
I'm not going to strive but I do have some recipes planned for the ingredients I have been given. Not everything can go in the freezer after all.
--
"But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." - Matthew 6:33 ESV
This verse is given in the context of worry and supply but this morning I think about abundance and use.
Opportunity is like that lettuce waiting to be used. If I don't plan a recipe that uses lettuce then it may just end up in the trash. I could make a salad or a sandwich. There are a dozen ways that the lettuce could be used and a dozen way that it will remain unused.
"For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw - each one's work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire." - 1 Corinthians 3:11-15 ESV
A tree takes a lifetime to grow. Hay comes up in a season and stubble is what is left over from a harvest.
There are a dozen recipes that include Jesus today. There are also a dozen that don't include Him. Gold is His character of royalty and divinity. Silver is his purity. It is what remains when silver ore is heated and the dross rises to the top and gets skimmed off. Precious stones are individuals born in fire and carved out as friends.
"'They shall be Mine,' says the LORD of hosts, 'On the day that I make them My jewels. And I will spare them As a man spares his own son who serves him.' " - Malachi 3:17 NKJV
"...among whom you shine as lights in the world," - Philippians 2:15b ESV
My faith is in my cupboard but will I use it this week. Mercy is new this morning. It is like manna that has come down from Heaven.
"When the people of Israel saw it, they said to one another, 'What is it?' For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, 'It is the bread that the LORD has given you to eat. This is what the LORD has commanded: 'Gather of it, each one of you, as much as he can eat. You shall each take an omer, according to the number of the persons that each of you has in his tent.'... Morning by morning they gathered it, each as much as he could eat; but when the sun grew hot, it melted." - Exodus 16:15-16, 21 ESV
The manna came with the dew. It didn't float down like snow. It formed like dew forms on leaves from the mist of morning.
Just as some of us rarely see the dew in the morning some rarely see God's mercy because they aren't up early enough to gather it.
I'm not going to strive but I do have some recipes planned for the ingredients I have been given. Not everything can go in the freezer after all.
--
Wednesday, December 30, 2015
Meeting Him Or Missing Him In 2016
It's funny that if you read an autobiography and then a biography of the same person how different the accounts can be. Usually biographers interview people and have some special interest in telling a person's story. The may have an axe to grind with the person. They may idolize them. Perhaps it is a combination of both.
This time of year can make us retrospective. What really happened this year? No doubt God's account is different from our account but in what ways? What are His plans for this next year.
I want my vision for the future and my perception of the past to align with what God would say if I could sit and have a conversation with Him.
"And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified." - 1 Corinthians 2:1-2 ESV
"I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose." - Galatians 2:20-21 ESV
"But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world." - Galatians 6:14 ESV
Perhaps these verses sound like religious mumbo jumbo to you. Perhaps this focus on Christ and His cross seem morbid and disconnected but they are keys to understanding God's mind and view of our lives. We are not the main characters in our life story. Jesus Is. Our God Is holy and Jesus was sent into the world to include us in God's narrative.
"Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned - every one - to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth." - Isaiah 53:4-7 ESV
"Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors." - Isaiah 53:11-12 ESV
Meeting Jesus or missing Him will be the focus of God's account of this past year. It will also be the focus of the coming year. If any of you have spent a year with Christ as the focus you know what a relief that is. Years that are filled with Him are amazing years.
We know that when God talks about 2015 He will be gracious. He will reveal the mind of holiness. We can't know all the details. If we know Him now I'm sure He will reveal a great deal to us later about what actually transpired.
I have expectations for 2016. I also have reservations. As I'm sitting here writing and thinking my fervent hope is that I'll be on the same page with God and not at odds with His purposes.
--
This time of year can make us retrospective. What really happened this year? No doubt God's account is different from our account but in what ways? What are His plans for this next year.
I want my vision for the future and my perception of the past to align with what God would say if I could sit and have a conversation with Him.
"And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified." - 1 Corinthians 2:1-2 ESV
"I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose." - Galatians 2:20-21 ESV
"But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world." - Galatians 6:14 ESV
Perhaps these verses sound like religious mumbo jumbo to you. Perhaps this focus on Christ and His cross seem morbid and disconnected but they are keys to understanding God's mind and view of our lives. We are not the main characters in our life story. Jesus Is. Our God Is holy and Jesus was sent into the world to include us in God's narrative.
"Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned - every one - to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth." - Isaiah 53:4-7 ESV
"Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors." - Isaiah 53:11-12 ESV
Meeting Jesus or missing Him will be the focus of God's account of this past year. It will also be the focus of the coming year. If any of you have spent a year with Christ as the focus you know what a relief that is. Years that are filled with Him are amazing years.
We know that when God talks about 2015 He will be gracious. He will reveal the mind of holiness. We can't know all the details. If we know Him now I'm sure He will reveal a great deal to us later about what actually transpired.
I have expectations for 2016. I also have reservations. As I'm sitting here writing and thinking my fervent hope is that I'll be on the same page with God and not at odds with His purposes.
--
Sunday, December 13, 2015
Lot's Yes And Amen Moment
Some verses from one of the Hanukkah messages last night...
"For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among you, Silvanus and Timothy and I, was not Yes and No, but in him it is always Yes. For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory." - 2 Corinthians 1:19-20 ESV
"As morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, 'Up! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be swept away in the punishment of the city.' But he lingered. So the men seized him and his wife and his two daughters by the hand, the LORD being merciful to him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city. And as they brought them out, one said, 'Escape for your life. Do not look back or stop anywhere in the valley. Escape to the hills, lest you be swept away.' And Lot said to them, 'Oh, no, my lords. Behold, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have shown me great kindness in saving my life. But I cannot escape to the hills, lest the disaster overtake me and I die. Behold, this city is near enough to flee to, and it is a little one. Let me escape there--is it not a little one?--and my life will be saved!' He said to him, 'Behold, I grant you this favor also, that I will not overthrow the city of which you have spoken. Escape there quickly, for I can do nothing till you arrive there.' Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar. The sun had risen on the earth when Lot came to Zoar... But Lot's wife, behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt." - Genesis 19:15-23, 26 ESV
Lot found his Yes and Amen moment while leaving Sodom. Even in his vexed and stubborn state he recognized God's love, mercy and grace and didn't look back. His wife lived a natural life of weighing Yes and No and had to look back.
"...if by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; and if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked" - 2 Peter 2:6-7 ESV
Lot caused trouble before and after that moment but the NT scripture calls him righteous Lot. That moment alone is how God remembers and knows him. How valuable are the Yes and Amen moments when Christ is revealed?
They have eternal value.
--
"For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among you, Silvanus and Timothy and I, was not Yes and No, but in him it is always Yes. For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory." - 2 Corinthians 1:19-20 ESV
"As morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, 'Up! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be swept away in the punishment of the city.' But he lingered. So the men seized him and his wife and his two daughters by the hand, the LORD being merciful to him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city. And as they brought them out, one said, 'Escape for your life. Do not look back or stop anywhere in the valley. Escape to the hills, lest you be swept away.' And Lot said to them, 'Oh, no, my lords. Behold, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have shown me great kindness in saving my life. But I cannot escape to the hills, lest the disaster overtake me and I die. Behold, this city is near enough to flee to, and it is a little one. Let me escape there--is it not a little one?--and my life will be saved!' He said to him, 'Behold, I grant you this favor also, that I will not overthrow the city of which you have spoken. Escape there quickly, for I can do nothing till you arrive there.' Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar. The sun had risen on the earth when Lot came to Zoar... But Lot's wife, behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt." - Genesis 19:15-23, 26 ESV
Lot found his Yes and Amen moment while leaving Sodom. Even in his vexed and stubborn state he recognized God's love, mercy and grace and didn't look back. His wife lived a natural life of weighing Yes and No and had to look back.
"...if by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; and if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked" - 2 Peter 2:6-7 ESV
Lot caused trouble before and after that moment but the NT scripture calls him righteous Lot. That moment alone is how God remembers and knows him. How valuable are the Yes and Amen moments when Christ is revealed?
They have eternal value.
--
Tuesday, October 27, 2015
A Trap Or A Stepping Stone?
Here is a great quote from the booklet I'm reading...
"Today, whatever state you are in, never separate your condition from God's compassion nor your pain from God's Holy Spirit. Do not let the pain destroy the amazing thing that God wants to do for you." - The Compassion of Christ
Are circumstances a trap or a stepping stone along the way?
If you look at the Gospel of John it is a series of encounters that Jesus has with people. Many of those people are trapped in some way but then they meet Christ and He frees them or heals them.
"Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst they said to him, 'Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?' This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, 'Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.' And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus stood up and said to her, 'Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?' She said, 'No one, Lord.' And Jesus said, 'Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.' " - John 8:2-11 ESV
Jesus gave this woman the same freedom that He had. He turned an end into a beginning.
God isn't going to leave us in our circumstances. He Is never going to leave us. At the same time He does not plan on staying anywhere for too long either. He Is on the move. His compassion is moving Him.
We don't have to leave where we are to go with God. We can remain true to our commitments and still walk with Him.
"Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil." - Ephesians 5:15-16 ESV
Life isn't a trap when we walk with God.
--
"Today, whatever state you are in, never separate your condition from God's compassion nor your pain from God's Holy Spirit. Do not let the pain destroy the amazing thing that God wants to do for you." - The Compassion of Christ
Are circumstances a trap or a stepping stone along the way?
If you look at the Gospel of John it is a series of encounters that Jesus has with people. Many of those people are trapped in some way but then they meet Christ and He frees them or heals them.
"Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst they said to him, 'Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?' This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, 'Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.' And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus stood up and said to her, 'Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?' She said, 'No one, Lord.' And Jesus said, 'Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.' " - John 8:2-11 ESV
Jesus gave this woman the same freedom that He had. He turned an end into a beginning.
God isn't going to leave us in our circumstances. He Is never going to leave us. At the same time He does not plan on staying anywhere for too long either. He Is on the move. His compassion is moving Him.
We don't have to leave where we are to go with God. We can remain true to our commitments and still walk with Him.
"Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil." - Ephesians 5:15-16 ESV
Life isn't a trap when we walk with God.
--
Friday, July 24, 2015
The Close Call
"And say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof; And have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me! I was almost in all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly." - Proverbs 5:12-14 KJV
I am looking at the Hebrew here in this verse and a good translation could be, 'I was a small distance away from losing everything in the assembled group.'
I could just quote the whole chapter. Proverbs chapter 5 is so good. But the idea of being close to utter ruin is what is impressed upon me this morning.
"For my father and my mother have forsaken me, but the LORD will take me in. Teach me your way, O LORD, and lead me on a level path because of my enemies. Give me not up to the will of my adversaries; for false witnesses have risen against me, and they breathe out violence. I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living! Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD!" - Psalm 27:10-14 ESV
We need a level path or we might just go off the road.
I don't think being close to losing everything is a bad thing. Sometimes being reduced down to just life itself is the best thing that can happen to a person.
"Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, 'I will never leave you nor forsake you.' " - Hebrews 13:5 ESV
"A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother." - Proverbs 18:24 ESV
"The LORD has appeared of old to me, saying: 'Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.' " - Jeremiah 31:3 NKJV
It is there in that place that God shows Himself to be real. We may have hated the instruction we got before but now we look at what was given to us with a value system that has been transformed by reduction.
I think people get bad instruction and the hate the instruction they received in the 'assembled group' because it was stern and impersonal. There was no grace (or little grace). Maybe the people giving the instruction were to much of a contradiction to be believed. Then there are others that get great instruction from humble loving people. They are told that God's favor is freely given. They are loved and nurtured but they just won't receive what is being served up and seem to need to go away before they can come back.
Grace teaches us that once we have God we can't lose Him. Jesus is the only reason we have Him. The conditions of unconditional love were met in the person of Jesus Christ. We can't mess that up. We can mess a lot of things up so that we are left within inches of complete ruin... but not that.
"The eternal God is your dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms." - Deuteronomy 33:27a ESV
When you know God there is every possibility that what we think is the end is only the beginning. God wants to use our close call to propel us higher than we have ever been before.
Isn't it God who gets the glory when that happens! Yes. Ultimately it is.
--
I am looking at the Hebrew here in this verse and a good translation could be, 'I was a small distance away from losing everything in the assembled group.'
I could just quote the whole chapter. Proverbs chapter 5 is so good. But the idea of being close to utter ruin is what is impressed upon me this morning.
"For my father and my mother have forsaken me, but the LORD will take me in. Teach me your way, O LORD, and lead me on a level path because of my enemies. Give me not up to the will of my adversaries; for false witnesses have risen against me, and they breathe out violence. I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living! Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD!" - Psalm 27:10-14 ESV
We need a level path or we might just go off the road.
I don't think being close to losing everything is a bad thing. Sometimes being reduced down to just life itself is the best thing that can happen to a person.
"Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, 'I will never leave you nor forsake you.' " - Hebrews 13:5 ESV
"A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother." - Proverbs 18:24 ESV
"The LORD has appeared of old to me, saying: 'Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.' " - Jeremiah 31:3 NKJV
It is there in that place that God shows Himself to be real. We may have hated the instruction we got before but now we look at what was given to us with a value system that has been transformed by reduction.
I think people get bad instruction and the hate the instruction they received in the 'assembled group' because it was stern and impersonal. There was no grace (or little grace). Maybe the people giving the instruction were to much of a contradiction to be believed. Then there are others that get great instruction from humble loving people. They are told that God's favor is freely given. They are loved and nurtured but they just won't receive what is being served up and seem to need to go away before they can come back.
Grace teaches us that once we have God we can't lose Him. Jesus is the only reason we have Him. The conditions of unconditional love were met in the person of Jesus Christ. We can't mess that up. We can mess a lot of things up so that we are left within inches of complete ruin... but not that.
"The eternal God is your dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms." - Deuteronomy 33:27a ESV
When you know God there is every possibility that what we think is the end is only the beginning. God wants to use our close call to propel us higher than we have ever been before.
Isn't it God who gets the glory when that happens! Yes. Ultimately it is.
--
Wednesday, July 1, 2015
Spectators And Participants
I was thinking last night about being a spectator as apposed to being a participant.
"But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ - by grace you have been saved - and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." - Ephesians 2:4-10 ESV
We are spectators to salvation but participants in faith.
Believing is not a work. It is an orientation. Faith is the result of a paradigm shift in our thinking that gives us a viewpoint different than what we had before naturally. 'Paradigm Shift' is fancy term describing a simple idea. It is the change in thinking that happens when a person walks in someone else's shoes and sees things from a viewpoint that was closed to them before. The 'shift' part is what happens to them because of that new comprehension. They are moved and can't go back to what they thought before without the new viewpoint added to the mix.
Good theology declares correctly the things we should watch and the things we should participate in. The boundaries become clear to us. An ambassador must know the authority and responsibility her or she has. They are present in a foreign land for a defined purpose.
Wrong participation has different names. Interference. Meddling. Judging. Vanity.
By grace we now participate in God's love and enter into worship. We make righteous judgments as spectators of the cross. God participated in humanity to accomplish something wondrous.
We look on in awe of what He has done. It prompts us to raise our voices and assemble our instruments. We see that it is finished and that shifts us to a new place. It is not our power that brings us there. We see from God's perspective because He has moved us and shown us love in action.
--
"But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ - by grace you have been saved - and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." - Ephesians 2:4-10 ESV
We are spectators to salvation but participants in faith.
Believing is not a work. It is an orientation. Faith is the result of a paradigm shift in our thinking that gives us a viewpoint different than what we had before naturally. 'Paradigm Shift' is fancy term describing a simple idea. It is the change in thinking that happens when a person walks in someone else's shoes and sees things from a viewpoint that was closed to them before. The 'shift' part is what happens to them because of that new comprehension. They are moved and can't go back to what they thought before without the new viewpoint added to the mix.
Good theology declares correctly the things we should watch and the things we should participate in. The boundaries become clear to us. An ambassador must know the authority and responsibility her or she has. They are present in a foreign land for a defined purpose.
Wrong participation has different names. Interference. Meddling. Judging. Vanity.
By grace we now participate in God's love and enter into worship. We make righteous judgments as spectators of the cross. God participated in humanity to accomplish something wondrous.
We look on in awe of what He has done. It prompts us to raise our voices and assemble our instruments. We see that it is finished and that shifts us to a new place. It is not our power that brings us there. We see from God's perspective because He has moved us and shown us love in action.
--
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