The Mark of Love

"Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm: for love is strong as death" - Song of Songs 8:6a KJV

"They made the plate of the holy crown of pure gold, and wrote on it an inscription, like the engraving of a signet, 'Holy to the LORD.' And they tied to it a cord of blue to fasten it on the turban above, as the LORD had commanded Moses. Thus all the work of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting was finished, and the people of Israel did according to all that the LORD had commanded Moses; so they did." - Exodus 39:30-32 ESV

The engraving of permanence in the crown and the attachment of a cord of blue to the head dress was the last step. After that the tabernacle was finished.

Also, The engraving of a signet ring must not only be clear to the person inspecting the ring (this ring was like a credit card for families in ancient days)... it's imprint in wax had to be clear since that is what would be read on the contract after the one bearing the ring had left the room and traveled on.

We want the image of God's love to be on us and Him to set us on His heart (affections and thinking) and upon his arm (His power and working in the world).

Love is as strong as death. Death is the most permanent thing we know in this life. Even Christ who was raised from the dead (the one exception to the rule as yet) bears the marks of his death forever. Death remains on His record. It is a notch in His belt. The death He bore was our death and the life we now have is His life. Amazing.

His love has marked us with an image that can be traced back to Him alone. A trained eye sees the mark that only God's ring leaves imprinted in our lives. A permanent mark.

At the moment of the engraving and connecting of His cord this tabernacle was completed. Worship can now take place here. This body was made for worship that bears the stamp of Love.

The clear mark gives us access into the Holy place.

The Way of Escape

"Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, 'You shall be holy, for I am holy.' " 1 Peter 1:13-16 ESV

"Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry." 1 Corinthians 10:12-14 ESV

Will we stand by our own power or have we set our hope fully on the grace that will be brought by God when Christ is revealed?

One is a power that is presently in our possession... the other a power that will be present when needed.

When the situations of life come we need a real provision. If we rely solely on our wits, strength, intelligence or political connections we are living in a form of idolatry. All those things will fail because they are made from wood.

True hope comes in grace. The hope of a Heavenly gift that is wrapped and waiting with our names on it.

Christ will be unveiled at the moment of our death and we will see Him face to face. If we see the invisible by faith now..all will eventually be made visible then.

Christ is also unveiled in circumstances. As people set apart by God we act with that fact in mind and with that hope alive in us.

Christ Himself becomes our way of escape and what He has done is our way to move forward.

Waves and Causes

"For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?" Luke 9:24-25 ESV

This is a profound truth. A secret.

Life come at us in waves doesn't it? Sometime the waves are gentle and lap our toes and other times they pound our shores in a never ceasing rhythm.

We need a method of coping.

Like grieving people who have suffered great tragedy take up a cause as a way to go forward in their lives we need a cause also.

People unconsciously take up causes not understanding their motivations. A boy may see the primary male figure in his life and spend all kinds of energy seeking to become that man or excel that man in the areas that were lacking.

Christ had a cause. The cross was His method of achieving it. He truly did succeed in 'filling up what was lacking' where every other man had failed.

His cause has become the cause of the Church.

"But if I, brothers, still preach circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been removed... For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another." - Galatians 5:11 & 13 ESV

The cross is offensive not only because it demands a loss of life but because it is done on someone else's terms.

If we do not lose our lives our freedom will become an 'occasion to the flesh' because the waves will just keep on coming and we will begin to seek refuge from them somewhere else. Somewhere comfortable and familiar.

"The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous man runs into it and is safe. A rich man's wealth is his strong city, and like a high wall in his imagination." Proverbs 18:10-11 ESV

"From the end of the earth I call to you when my heart is faint. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I, for you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the enemy. Let me dwell in your tent forever! Let me take refuge under the shelter of your wings!
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Selah
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For you, O God, have heard my vows; you have given me the heritage of those who fear your name. Prolong the life of the king; may his years endure to all generations! May he be enthroned forever before God; appoint steadfast love and faithfulness to watch over him! So will I ever sing praises to your name, as I perform my vows day after day." - Psalms 61:2-8 ESV

The cause we take up will preserve us through the storm. It is the eternal cause of a laid down life. It is not political or social though it will have expressions in those realms. We serve the King of Kings and loss our lives for the sake of those He loves.

A Formula for Sanity

I was thinking the better part of the day yesterday about sanity and came up with a little equation:

Grace = Sanity

Simplistic I know... but profound. You and I may know many people know are sane who know nothing about God or His grace... please stick with me for a moment or two.

Here one Biblical example:

"And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, Who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind him, no, not with chains: Because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces: neither could any man tame him. And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones." Mark 5:2-5 KJV

Here is the end of an account of that man.

"Then people went out to see what had happened, and they came to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had gone, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. And those who had seen it told them how the demon-possessed man had been healed. Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gerasenes asked him to depart from them, for they were seized with great fear. So he got into the boat and returned. The man from whom the demons had gone begged that he might be with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, 'Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.' And he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city how much Jesus had done for him." Luke 8:35-39 ESV

He was it his right mind. Before Jesus came no man could bind this man but he was trapped in his mind and as an outsider. No more.

"I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture." John 10:9 KJV

You might say that sanity is the ability, wherewithal and awareness to go 'in and out' of concepts, situations and social circles.

Without God people can make it in to things but may never find their way out. Maybe it is the reverse... they go out but can't come back in. Direction can be lost. People no longer see a way in or a way out and retreat into destruction or irrational cycles.

Grace gives a way in and a way out for eternal things and not just temporal ones.

"Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. The wild beasts will honor me, the jackals and the ostriches, for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people, the people whom I formed for myself that they might declare my praise." Isaiah 43:18-21 ESV

There is no way into the past to change it. But we can be free in our minds anyway.

I want to be sensitive and clear. Our bodies may betray us because of the effects of the fall and because of that our emotions can be slow to respond. Mental illness is a complex issue and takes many forms. Still, Sanity is within our grasp if we hold grace close to our bosom.

There are pastures on our path that will nourish us as we travel with God from the present into the future and there are no situations that we will go into alone and none that we will not come out of again because of God's care.

He will ultimately bring us out alive. Even death can not hold us.

The Sending of the Seventy

"And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name." Luke 10:17 KJV

This is a great verse. Perhaps we happily look at this and say, 'See God gave them authority then and we have that authority now.' It give us a sense of joy and relief even though we are not facing down demons on a day-to-day basis... maybe not at all.

If we look at the verses before we see that that authority didn't start or end with the demonic. It was a certain mindset the seventy were to have with people and provision.

They needed a kind of faith bravado that only a person sent by authority can have.

"Whatever house you enter, first say, 'Peace be to this house!' And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him. But if not, it will return to you. And remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for the laborer deserves his wages. Do not go from house to house. Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you. Heal the sick in it and say to them, 'The kingdom of God has come near to you.' But whenever you enter a town and they do not receive you, go into its streets and say, 'Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near.' " Luke 10:5-11 ESV

Notice that the message was one of peace. It was the grace message but the messenger was not picky about their provision and the people in the house had to disregard the look of the messenger.

A person that hears the grace message and receives it from whoever God sends is a child of that message.

" 'He who hears you hears Me, he who rejects you rejects Me, and he who rejects Me rejects Him who sent Me.' Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, 'Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.' " Luke 10:16-17 NKJV

They are hearing a sound that comes because a messenger is present but did not originate in the messenger.

The bravado of faith and victory had made the seventy giddy with joy.

"And he said to them, 'I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.' " Luke 10:18-20 ESV

Jesus lived in finished work victory. To Him Satan was (is) already defeated. It is the gathering of people that gives Him joy. It is seeing the grace message of peace settle into someones inner man and make a home there that is a cause for celebration.

Which names were written in Heaven? Surely it was the seventy he sent but it was also all those whose houses the disciples had eaten in... all those that received the message of peace.

I want to live boasting of the healing power in the message I bring. Some boast in themselves and the clean look they present to the world but that has no value... and no power.

I want to eat at the first house that opens it's door and lets me in. There may seem to be more comfortable accommodation down the street but the house that receives the message has a child of the message in it. That child has their name written in a book in Heaven.

Lastly, I want to loudly and dramatically shake off the dust if that is what the situation calls for. Quietness is not meekness it is cowardice in those situations. If grace is not welcome neither are we.

Then we will have joy... not lukewarm comfort. We will have joy with heat and new fellowship.

More Than Conquerors

"No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us." Romans 8:37 ESV

Negate any despairing thought! Our victory is not based on ourselves. The one with the keys to death and Hell loves us.

"For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8:38-39 ESV

If this King conquered death... what can stand in His way? He already took the hit for our sins. He willingly stepped in-between us and certain judgement. It did not change Him. His heroic love is unchanging.

We don't look at Jesus and say, 'I can win because He won. What I great example He is. I will do what He did.' Negate that thought! It is as wrong as, 'Look at what a loser I am because of what I have done.'

We can say, 'I have won because of His victory!'

Believers are winners because they abide in the conquest of another.

Lost in the Potato Chip Aisle

Up early reading the book of Titus again and again and thinking about manhood and our calling.

Paul opens the book talking about Christ and history from a redemptive perspective. He then talks about his relationship with Titus... who Titus is... then in verse five he says, 'this is why I left you in Crete.'

What is God's plan? Who am I? How do I relate to the people around me? Lastly, Why am I here right now? These are questions we all need answers tor or else we will drift. It is possible that I can go to the store because I need butter for a recipe and come back with a lot of different things but forget the butter.

The recipe of the Church is to put what remains in order and appoint elders in every city... edification, missions and Church planting. That is why we are here and not in Heaven already.

Reading the Bible helps me not get lost in the potato chip aisle. When Paul speaks to Titus... I find that God speaks to me.