Touching On Support Systems

This morning I'm thinking about time and support systems. We all need people. Some of us have great support systems and some of us don't. There seems to be a myriad of reasons why that is. Having people who care around in hard times is a real gift.

"Peter began to say to him, 'See, we have left everything and followed you.' Jesus said, 'Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first.'" - Mark 10:28-31 ESV

"Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. 'Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.' " - Matthew 6:31-34 ESV

The things in these passages have spoken to me in the last week or so. They are support system items, aren't they?

Then there is time...

"But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says, 'Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.' 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 5:13-16 ESV

One of the things I see about Church is that if it is done with God's  heart it becomes a hot house for support systems to be nurtured and created. Missions, family and people who have little in common on a natural level form into an interconnecting root system of support and it is amazing.

Time. How will we use it? I want to use it to strengthen and create new branches of support. I see the value of it not only for the needy but the young and strong also get a great benefit from being involved.

My prayer is that God would give us creativity and insight. That He would strength the weak areas and give wisdom involving the pitfalls of interconnectedness. His Kingdom and His righteousness will form eternal bonds of supply. That is so amazing to me.

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Now Meets Later

"Surely there is a future, and your hope will not be cut off." - Proverbs 23:18 ESV

Sometimes 'now' is awesome. Sometimes it is lonely. Sometimes there is pain.

Later can be forgotten or focused on so intently that now is forgotten or minimized.

God links now and later. God lives in both places and we can have hope in both places at the same time and that is amazing.

"And he said to me, "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment." - Revelation 21:6 ESV

Eternal life isn't just 'not dying'. It is living now and later at the same time because of hope.

Now may not be much fun. It may make it seem like later won't be either but that is a self-perpetuating illusion. In time the two never really meet and mix.

In eternity they will mix and hope will not be needed. Hell's pain will be perpetual and Heaven's joy will be unending.

I look forward to meeting Jesus in my moments today. That may sound corny but it is true. It is like meeting my best friend who has come home from war. He brings my future joy into my present life and that means the day has a kind of bright unpredictability to it. Mine does at least.

I hope yours does also. He Is the same Jesus. If you know Him (or get to know Him) the same hope that enabled the martyrs to face death with expectation can be yours no matter what your 'now' looks like.

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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.

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Wise Leisure Time

It is Saturday. Like many it is my first day off. I don't go to work and earn. Instead I can do what I choose to do.

"Whoever brings blessing will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered. The people curse him who holds back grain, but a blessing is on the head of him who sells it. Whoever diligently seeks good seeks favor, but evil comes to him who searches for it. Whoever trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous will flourish like a green leaf. Whoever troubles his own household will inherit the wind, and the fool will be servant to the wise of heart. The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and whoever captures souls is wise." - Proverbs 11:25-30 ESV

This is a great 'day off' passage because Today is a day when I can trust in riches for myself. Leisure is a rich mans pleasure after all.

There is nothing wrong with relaxing. We all need it.

I see people who live their lives giving back and they are blessed people. They find joy in 'watering'. Souls are what is important to them.

I am going to go on evangelism today. I'm not going to make God happy or as a duty of some kind. Jesus has already done that on my behalf. I just see it as a wise way to spend my time.

"And he said to them, 'Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.' Immediately they left their nets and followed him." - Matthew 4:19-20 ESV

These men became 'waterers' they were no long seeking to gather only for themselves. Instead they found joy in laboring so that other could have and be blessed.

Don't get me wrong. It is going to be a fun day. I am going to eat nice food and laugh a lot in the midst of these activities. Just as I want to be wise in my work I also want to be wise in my play. I don't want to use this day off as an escape. What are we running from anyway? I want to use it to enter in to things. I want to use it to enter into people's lives near and far and give them what has been given to me.

I think the baseball coach who works a job and coaches kids doesn't regret living that way. He invests in a dozen young lives a season involved in a game he loves and it is a good way to live... the doctor who volunteers at a clinic... the family that visits a nursing home long after the grandmother who was staying there has passed on.

It is never to late to make a shift to a different lifestyle.

Investment is wise. Loving is good for our souls. It a a good fun way to spend our time.

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It Is A Good Thing That The Time Is Short

How much time do we have? Not much...

"This is what I mean, brothers: the appointed time has grown very short..." - 1 Corinthians 7:29 ESV

What does this mean? Is it talking about end times prophecy or about attitude? I believe that it speaks about both. Just a few verses later it says this.

"I want you to be free from anxieties. The unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to please the Lord. But the married man is anxious about worldly things, how to please his wife, and his interests are divided. And the unmarried or betrothed woman is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to be holy in body and spirit. But the married woman is anxious about worldly things, how to please her husband." - 1 Corinthians 7:32-34 ESV

This statement is in the context of getting married but the two ideas are linked. If we know the time is short we will be free from anxieties. You might think it is the opposite but we worry because we wonder if we will regret later what we are doing now. That is the root of anxiety. We don't want to get stuck for a long time with something.

So...

How much time do we have this Christmas? Not much...

The Gospel says salvation is 'of the Lord' and Jesus has already come once to accomplish it. It is finished. In just a little time He is coming back.

We can live in grace and liberty knowing we don't have much time. We can marry or not marry (see 1 Corinthians 7:36 and the verses following). We are free in Christ from the bondage of pleasing people. In hindsight we will marvel that we lived in anxiety about things that passed in the blink of an eye.

When there is not much time each moment is precious. When there is not much time we are more likely to act on what is important. We tell people we love them when we know there isn't much time.

This Christmas may not be all we hoped for or it may be everything we ever wanted... either way it might be our last on Earth. Let's make every moment count because the time is short.

"The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, And he who wins souls is wise." - Proverbs 11:30 NKJV

Yes. We need to know the time is short in order to focus our strength in wise ways.

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Traveling In Time And Space

In a way knowing the finished work makes us time travelers. Strangers trapped in time and space with knowledge of the far future and the distant past. Grace is the attitude we adopt when we see things from eternal perspective.

If we walk only by what we see or by how we feel, we will never understand life. Life is given by God and it is a puzzle that is missing pieces if it experienced by the senses alone.

"Let them alone; they are blind guides. And if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit." - Matthew 15:14 ESV

Someone must see beyond the situation. A grace person is visionary. They look for something that only God sees and receiving something from God that only God gives.

"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," - Ephesians 2:4-6 ESV

"For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?" - Romans 8:29-31 ESV

Jesus, Eternal God, was born as a baby and had to learn who He was. We are born again and have to learn who we are. Just as it is heresy to say Jesus was not human in every way it is error to say believers are somehow more but a spiritual sense that was dead is made alive when we first believed. Our spirit responds when we hear grace and our spirit prompted by the Holy Spirit sees with eyes of grace in situations that add an element that the five senses could never pick up.

"Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power." - Colossians 2:8-10 NKJV

"The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. 'For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?' But we have the mind of Christ." - 1 Corinthians 2:14-16 ESV

We all know people who are very good at puzzles. They can do a lot with the pieces they have to survive and come to complicated conclusions. By predicting human nature they can forecast outcomes with degrees of accuracy. But faithless forecasting is spiritually blind and provides blind leadership.

Grace is the missing puzzle piece. It is what makes sense of human history. It is what makes sense of our personal life.

"And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth." - John 1:14 ESV

"Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails." - 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a NKJV

How can love be this way? It can be this way because it understands beyond the five senses. It originates outside of time and space but is manifested in the moment.

"so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith - that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us," - Ephesians 3:17-20 ESV

The cross was a defining event in history. It changed the potential course of every human life. The broad road leads to destruction but this road paved by the cross is narrow but it leads to eternal life. If we know Jesus it is because we took the road less traveled and have an awareness of that alternate road.

Today is another day to walk as called out ones thinking and dealing with people and issues as if we have read the last page of the book. Our senses can rule us but if we are stirred up in the truth we can also live another way and function in the grace and mercy that will outshine time.

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Thinking That Predates Time

Pondering the power of a finished work thought.

"Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:" - Matthew 25:34 KJV

"Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world." - John 17:24 KJV

"According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:" - Ephesians 1:4 KJV

"For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world." - Hebrews 4:3 KJV

"...the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." - Revelation 13:8b KJV

God is a planner. Grace flows from this thinking.

Men seek answers for power. Even those that seem to seek God don't want Him they just want closure of some kind. The want an explanation.

God has had all the answers from before the beginning. That is how for back we must go. Before the foundation of the world we find intimacy not nothingness. We find a God who Is planning redemption and everything that comes after has that as a foundation.

What is finished work thinking? It is when we come to conclusions based on what God was thinking before time started ticking.

It is also making decisions with His mind before the situation happens.

A faith that pleases God sees God as He really Is. It is a snapshot of the big picture brought into a moment and then conclusions are drawn based on that reality. A finished work thought is based on God's pre-creation planning.

What will I do when someone hurts me? I pre-plan to forgive them.

What will I do with my next pay check? I pre-plan that redemption will come off the top and not the leftovers.

I start the day with God. In a way this time is before the beginning of my day. Jesus prayed all night. I start. He never started. Jesus is forever.

What Jesus did in time on the cross and what He was thinking before the world began give us an eternal thought process. We burn but we are not consumed. We have no problem being low because are thought are from above the sky.

What lies in front of us is lit from behind us when we think in the finished work. Even if it looks dark... It won't always be dark. The light from behind us will illuminate it in due season if we think in the finished work.

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To Busy For Grace

"And again Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying, "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son, and sent his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding feast, but they would not come. Again he sent other servants, saying, 'Tell those who are invited, "See, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast."' But they paid no attention and went off, one to his farm, another to his business, while the rest seized his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them." - Matthew 22:1-6 ESV

Two interesting reactions to the already prepared feast this King has made. One group is negative but the other just doesn't want to make the time in their schedule.

It is shocking but people go to Hell because they don't have time for Heaven. Amazing.

One writer brought this out in his devotional this morning and it really hit home with me. Time in this day and age is so hard to find. It seems that the more prosperous a culture is the busier it is. In an expensive place free things can seem optional can't they?

God's grace is so free that we don't take it. It is so guilt free and no strings attached that we don't free pressure to receive it so we don't... we work instead.

This parable is about the 'kingdom of Heaven'. Heaven is gentle. Grace doesn't 'leverage' us.

"Then he said to his servants, 'The wedding feast is ready, but those invited were not worthy. Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find.' And those servants went out into the roads and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good. So the wedding hall was filled with guests." - Matthew 22:8-10 ESV

Don't worry the feast will be full... full of hungry people... full of people who can not afford expensive meals.

Us.

"But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment. And he said to him, 'Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?' And he was speechless. Then the king said to the attendants, 'Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.' For many are called, but few are chosen."" - Matthew 22:11-14 ESV

Four categories of person in all. Who will I be today? The worker, the crusader, the guy who just wants to do his own thing... or the beggar eager for a free meal at God's table.

Like Mephibosheth (2 Samuel 9) my legs are lame but no one will see my lameness as I eat at the king's table.

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Increments Of Faith

I spent the night thinking about time increments in our life:

A LIFETIME - One human life is like grass. We are born naked and die naked bringing nothing out of this world that can be counted by worldly possessions.

"For a thousand years in your sight are but as yesterday when it is past, or as a watch in the night. You sweep them away as with a flood; they are like a dream, like grass that is renewed in the morning: in the morning it flourishes and is renewed; in the evening it fades and withers." - Psalms 90:4-6 ESV

AN ACT. 40 years... Moses had three of these: Egypt, the desert and as deliverer

"And Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah to wife, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Padanaram, the sister to Laban the Syrian." - Genesis 25:20 KJV

"And Esau was forty years old when he took to wife Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Bashemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite:" - Genesis 26:34 KJV

"And the children of Israel did eat manna forty years, until they came to a land inhabited; they did eat manna, until they came unto the borders of the land of Canaan." - Exodus 16:35 KJV

"For the LORD thy God hath blessed thee in all the works of thy hand: he knoweth thy walking through this great wilderness: these forty years the LORD thy God[hath been with thee; thou hast lacked nothing." - Deuteronomy 2:7 KJV

A DECADE. We move and life changes so much over time. Work. Perhaps were we live. Fashions. Music. Culture.

"So, after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Sarai, Abram's wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her servant, and gave her to Abram her husband as a wife." - Genesis 16:3 ESV

A YEAR. The full cycle of going around the sun. Perhaps the clearest cycle we see in nature

"The LORD said, "I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife shall have a son." And Sarah was listening at the tent door behind him." - Genesis 18:10 ESV

A SEASON. Like Spring, Summer, Winter and Fall we have emotional seasons. They pass but leave an impact on our lives. Like picture albums filled with tan happ people on one page and then bundled up and building snow men on another.

"Woe is me! For I have become as when the summer fruit has been gathered, as when the grapes have been gleaned: there is no cluster to eat, no first-ripe fig that my soul desires." - Micah 7:1 ESV

"for behold, the winter is past; the rain is over and gone." - Song of Songs 2:11 ESV

A WEEK. God created the world and rested in one week. Our week is a microcosm of the world we create with our decisions. I want to live each week like it is my whole life. Work. Rest. Play. Evangelize. Worship. Read. Create. Love.

"Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy." - Exodus 20:8 ESV

"Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, which is a Sabbath, there will be none." - Exodus 16:26 ESV

A DAY. Sun up and Sun down.

"Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble." - Matthew 6:34 ESV

A MOMENT. Now is what we have. It is where we live. It is our vantage piont. The thief on the cross had his moment but just that moment echos into eternity captured forever in the scriptures.

Time ripples away from us like circles. Each moment of faith is a stone cast in a clear pond. The circles reach beyond us.

"And Moses said to the people, "Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again." - Exodus 14:13 ESV

"Sing to the LORD, all the earth! Tell of his salvation from day to day." - 1 Chronicles 16:23 ESV

"Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation." - 1 Peter 2:12 ESV

Now is the moment to believe. Grace has removed every obstacle. It will even move us out of our own way if we let it and receive.

"As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, he saith unto the ruler of the synagogue, Be not afraid, only believe." - Mark 5:36 KJV

That is what we can do right in this moment. Only believe. Look at Christ and only believe. That moment of faith ripples backward and forward in time. Changing our future and erasing our past from our experience. The moment of faith ripples outward also and impacts the people around us.

The faith of a mustard seed is the faith of a moment where we trust in Jesus and the Father He has reconciled us to. Let's have the faith a of mustard seed.

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It Is Finished - Part 2

The Finished Work starts before the beginning and never ends because Jesus had no beginning and no end.

"I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last." Revelation 22:13 KJV

"John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne" Revelation 1:4 KJV

He was a lamb before the world began and He remains a wounded bloodless lamb far into the future.

"And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth... Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing." Revelation 5:6, 12 KJV

What He did on the cross is marvelous. It revealed who God was and is and is to come. Jesus is complete and His work would be complete.

"Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know - this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it." Acts 2:22-24 ESV

God knew. God had a predetermined plan to reveal Himself in a certain way.

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God." John 3:16-18 ESV

Jesus was 'foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you' (see 1 Peter 1:20). God revealed His grace by and through His Son. God was always gracious and will always be gracious. God used time as a canvas and left none of it blank. All of time is painted with His love.

Jesus is the lamb and in the Lamb's book names are written. Those wounds are fresh and lasting so are those names written forever in that book. The Book of life is another book. It is like a ledger. Names are written in it and taken out again. People live and then they die. The lamb's book is forever and the names there are never erased. One book chronicles human history and the other chronicles Jesus' history.

The Lamb died and received power, riches, wisdom, strength, honor, glory, and blessing. Those He won are trophies of His grace. Believers are the spoils of war. His victory is a complete victory.

The scope of the work spans all of time. The cross and consequential resurrection are points in time where that plan is revealed.

"But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory." 1 Corinthians 2:7-8 ESV

The cross was a surprise to the onlooker. It would reveal what could only be revealed from the depth of a forever love. It revealed a love with no beginning and no end that covered everything a man could ever do. It was a complete covering. It is a finished work.

It Is Finished - Part 1

This week I want to spend some time talking about the doctrine of the finished work of Christ. A clear understanding of this truth shapes our understanding of every other truth in the scriptures.

It is a key to understanding Soteriology (the doctrine of salvation) and touches every other doctrine the scriptures teach because it frames how God views mankind. It's scope spans the length and breadth of creation. If we understand the finished work we can better see the angelic contest for what is and therefore fight a good fight in spiritual warfare. Our view of history changes and we see God's dealings with mankind and Israel in a new light.

I believe this is a key doctrine. One that if understood will change a life forever.

The beginning is a good place to start. Many see the cross as the beginning of this understanding but actually I want to start much farther back... before creation itself.

"But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you" 1 Peter 1:19-20 KJV

Jesus was the lamb before any lambs were spoken into existence. God had a blueprint in His mind for the design of creation and not the slightest detail escaped Him. He did not only make space... He made time and history also. By creating people as free will agents he designed a system where both 'yes' and 'no' were possible. That in itself boggles the mind. He knew that system needed a victim. Christ would be that victim. Jesus would be the bloodied perfect lamb that made free will possible.

"And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. If any man have an ear, let him hear." Revelation 13:8-9 KJV

Here it speaks of a book. The book of Revelation came through John but was inspired by God (2 Tim 3:16) but it speaks of a much older book where names are written. That book is older than the world itself and even it's title speaks of the finished work.

In God's mind Jesus died before the World was made. It was not an afterthought or some sort of last resort emergency plan. God was planning all along to forgive mankind.

The Elasticity of Time Because of Love

"But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance." 2 Peter 3:8-9 ESV

What a fascinating set of verses. They say so much about God and who he is. A thousand years is far beyond any one man's or woman's lifetime. More happens in a thousand years time then any person could hope to really know. It displays the grandness of God's scope of perception.

At the same time it shows God's ability to 'stretch out' time or 'compress it' it is linked to His priority system because the next verse explains God's heart of redemption. A day is a long time because God wants to save and a thousand years is a short time because God wants to save.

People have used verse eight to try and rewrite the creation account in Genesis and stretch it out. That never sat well with me. The Bible is a literal book unless it is clearly figurative. If you compare line upon line that becomes abundantly clear.

I think a verse like this speaks directly to our lives in a different way. We have all had to wait or endure a season of some kind. We have all had days that seemed to stretch on forever and seasons that seemed to pass in a blink of an eye.

Memory, endurance, patience and desire are all connected.

"Jacob loved Rachel. And he said, 'I will serve you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel.'... So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed to him but a few days because of the love he had for her." Genesis 29:18, 20 ESV

Lust can't wait but love can. Jacob loved Rachael and served the years he needed to and then doubled that time again to be with the one he loved. His love gave him elasticity in perception. That is what love does.

"I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained." Philippians 3:14-16 ESV

If we set our eyes on redemption... our personal need for it and attainment of it in Christ... today we can see the redemption that has happened in eternity past and on a cross two thousand years ago personally... we are dead and done and yet saved and safe because of Christ... and then set our eyes on what is outside of us and see events through redemption's eyes. If we do that time is no rigid thing. It does not tick by in an endless march. Eternity comes into time and gives us a new way to see things. Time stretches and compresses.

How long is the wait to see a loved one that has gone before us? It is like a thousand years and it is also like a day. How long can we wait for the person who has a hardened heart to come around? A steady dripping of Gospel soaked love will erode even the hardest stone if given time. Love has that time.

It may take a decade to build a church in a city. What is decade to love? It is a happy moment.

Then we have today. Is it important? The little decisions we make... do they have weight? To God today is a historical era of great complexity and length. Redemptive perception can buy back this day. What we could not earn in a thousand years God wants to give us in just one day of believing. Gold. silver and precious stones are riding on our disposition today.

I am going to set my face on Christ today. I'll let the Spirit stretch my perception of space and put me right there at His throne beholding Him with the eye of my imagination.

"Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith" Hebrews 12:2a KJV

"I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect." Romans 12:1-2 ESV

"Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit." 2 Corinthians 3:17-18 ESV

Gazing into the face of freedom we are made free.

Until We Meet Again

"I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread." Psalms 37:25 KJV

It takes time to see the scope of God's care.

There are many people we know and perhaps we are not deeply involved in their lives but over time we find ourselves running into them again and again sometimes it is a a span of years before the next encounter. That is how it is with some relationships. Life rarely goes as planned. Maybe you get a season or more than one to really know a person and form a relationship. Once formed the relationship is forever but time is like a river... It keeps on flowing and bringing us to different ports of call.

The thing that shocks me when I suddenly see a person after years and years and realize God has been with them all along and cared for them. It should not shock me I know... but it does. Maybe because our perception revolves around us and our five little senses. We live our lives in a ten foot radius. Everything outside of that is theoretical. Things and people that pass out of reach may never return... we don't know. It's good if we don't take for granted the seasons we have. They will end and another will begin soon enough.

"As cold waters to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country." Proverbs 25:25 KJV

News from a far away place and good news that blankets a span of missing years is so welcome. It is a witness to us of God's faithfulness. God's work is so large and vast. It is sure and lasting.

Grace means so much. To understand it and embrace it.

"The LORD by wisdom founded the earth; By understanding He established the heavens; By His knowledge the depths were broken up, And clouds drop down the dew. My son, let them not depart from your eyes - Keep sound wisdom and discretion; So they will be life to your soul And grace to your neck. Then you will walk safely in your way, And your foot will not stumble. When you lie down, you will not be afraid; Yes, you will lie down and your sleep will be sweet. Do not be afraid of sudden terror, Nor of trouble from the wicked when it comes; For the LORD will be your confidence, And will keep your foot from being caught." Proverbs 3:19-26 NKJV

Today I'll be praying for some friends who are far away. Some are far by distance and others are far by years.

I am confident that God will keep their feet from being caught and will hold them close to Himself.

Redeeming Isolated Time

"See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil." Ephesians 5:15-16 NKJV

The dominoes of the fall are still knocking one isolated moment into another in a stream... cause and effect... cause and effect... cause and effect... faith interrupts that cycle and redeems time moment by moment. It reveals God's presence. Faith unveils eternity like an island in the stream of time.

Days without faith are evil because they cause ruts in a person's thinking. Innocence is lost and cause and effect begins to seem normal. Wonder is discounted as childlike and foreign.

Some people turn to magic as a pale substitute for wonder. Magic exalts the possible. Fiction is interwoven with magic... lives and lands created by fallen men for fallen men. Wonder begins with God and returns to Him. That awe is the beginning of wisdom. Christ is the Alpha and Omega of all wonder. Everything made begins and ends with Him. Unbelief gives us no choice but to settle for second or third best substitutes.

"If any woman has a husband who is an unbeliever, and he consents to live with her, she should not divorce him. For the unbelieving husband is made holy because of his wife, and the unbelieving wife is made holy because of her husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy." 1 Corinthians 7:13-14 ESV

A home that has a believer has a witness of Christ's presence in it's midst. A believing spouse sanctifies that household. That person is redeeming time within a certain social space. Evangelizing speech gives people an entrance into their first eternal moments. Edifying speech builds a capacity to stay in eternal perspective and live there.

Quiet believing gives a witness of the eternal. Communicating the Gospel of Grace gives an entrance into the eternal.

The world is filled with people who are being buried by time. Cause and effect is slowly killing them. Christ is God's finger reaching in through the veil of forever to save us from isolated faithless moments. People need a way in.

"But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. And have mercy on those who doubt; save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh. Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen." Jude 1:20-25 ESV

The Gospel has been given to us to connect us and remove the illusion of disconnection.

Lord, Fill us with Your Spirit and by love let us live eternity in every moment so that we function in wholeness. Make our lives a light on a hill and open our mouths to communicate an entrance into our Hope.

The Pace of Learning and Healing

I was thinking yesterday about the time it takes for things to happen in a person's life... healing... growth. Like making tea or soup all the ingredients can be there but time allows for steeping and stirring.

While exhortation to faith is good and necessary... at times we only have a capacity for exposure to faith. Things need to be slowly extracted like sun tea on the back porch.

Healing can be slow. Is that alright with us? It has to be or we will re-aggravate the wound. When things are healing everything is not all neat and tidy as we would like it. Things have been pushed out of place and they need to fall back into place. Not all on their own... there are bandages, and braces and medicine to prevent infection. Things or people can be there so support and help but some things can't be rushed.

Learning can be slow. On piece at a time. We struggle through concepts and misconceptions. Bad habits need to be unlearned along the way. We put things down for time out of necessity and then must begin again and relearn the basics. They return to us faster when we learn it the second time... or the third time.

One of the Biblical examples that came to me was Moses. He had three 40 year blocks of time in his life. 40 years! That is a long time for a tea bag to steep in the water. But, That is what it took to take an angry man and make him into the meekest man on the face of the Earth.

"Now the man Moses was very humble, more than all men who were on the face of the earth." Numbers 12:3 NKJV

It was direct exposure and time that made him this way.

"And he said, 'Hear my words: If there is a prophet among you, I the LORD make myself known to him in a vision; I speak with him in a dream. Not so with my servant Moses. He is faithful in all my house. With him I speak mouth to mouth, clearly, and not in riddles, and he beholds the form of the LORD. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?' And the anger of the LORD was kindled against them, and he departed. When the cloud removed from over the tent, behold, Miriam was leprous, like snow. And Aaron turned toward Miriam, and behold, she was leprous. And Aaron said to Moses, 'Oh, my lord, do not punish us because we have done foolishly and have sinned. Let her not be as one dead, whose flesh is half eaten away when he comes out of his mother's womb.' And Moses cried to the LORD, 'O God, please heal her - please.' But the LORD said to Moses, 'If her father had but spit in her face, should she not be shamed seven days? Let her be shut outside the camp seven days, and after that she may be brought in again.' So Miriam was shut outside the camp seven days, and the people did not set out on the march till Miriam was brought in again." Numbers 12:6-15 ESV

This whole passage is very interesting. Miriam is not made leprous until after God departs. Aaron the priest instinctively acts as the priest. That is what he is and has been made to be. But, God speaks to Moses and makes Miriam wait a time. She is healed but it is process and takes awhile. All of Israel waits and will not march until she is restored.

Can we live in faith and give people grace? Can we be patient with ourselves and give ourselves grace?

I have heard men preach about this and believed it when I heard it but maybe it's because I have been doing this for a while that it is beginning to sink in. I've been quick to judge a person or situation thinking I was wise but really I was not.

"For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it." Isaiah 55:10-11 ESV

Amen to that! God will mature His 'Moses's and heal His 'Miriam's. Will there be anyone to intercede?