Dawn in a Chapter

This morning I read 2 Corinthians chapter 5 once because a verse in Spurgeon's devotional caught my eye and gleemed with light. I find myself reading the whole chapter again and again... captivated by it like a man standing watching a sunrise. One sunrise on one unchanging horizon but what beauty as moment by moment it changes 'from glory to glory.'

What a chapter! I love it more now than ever. What freedom we have... what love... what purpose... this taste of Heaven has left us wanting to be clothed in the perfection we are promised. The promise of future perfection given to all those who have just once put on Christ.

We can stand half awake with sand in our eyes as we watch the sunrise. Soon we will rush off to a job we like, or half like, because it will give us money to live. But in this moment we do something miraculous... we enter into faith. We would rather walk on golden shores but we lace our boots or grab our briefcase while love embraces us.

There is a Bema seat after all... and there also is a final White throne judgement. In verse 11 that knowledge carries a 'terror of the Lord' or 'fearful responsibility' (Phobos in the Greek G5401). It is not the fear that somehow God will judge our behavior. Our sin was paid for on the cross. In fact, if men judged our behavior they would deem to be out of our minds. Love constrains us and because of that we have a sound or sober mind (Sōphroneō G4993) even if it is only for the sake of those that do not know our hope. This cross that kills my old man, buries him, and then raises me and seats me in Heavenly places in Christ has world wide scope. I am cut off from the world and it's systems but the cross applies to every man and woman walking or breathing. It is the key... the answer to the cry of every heart!

I have a candle in my hand and it is lit. Oh, how I love it's light. But wait everyone has a candle and many are not lit. They suffer in the darkness like I did. My candle can light theirs. Can I not rush into the darkness? Love constrains me to go.

The lit candle transforms the whole person. The candle lights and a dark garment stained and tattered is gone and suddenly one white and whole appears for old things are passed away and all things are made new. The sunrise reminds me of who I really am. I am one once dead but now I am glowing with life.

Christ's mind is humble. He has made His journey and now He sits forevermore resting from His work. He only rises now to receive those who come to Him not because there is more to be done.

There is an inward dynamic that works because of the action of the cross. It can't be for the sake of duty only or for me to please myself it must be Jesus and a life lived in the upward spiral of ascension.

Death --> Burial --> Resurrection --> Session

Spinning us into an upward life that moves us to desire to reconcile others to this same reality even as we enjoy it ourselves. Because we know Jesus we have life and when we stand before God the Father He will be happy to see us. Many don't have that assurance.

"Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God. For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." 2 Cor 5:20f NKJV

...and so that chapter ends but the beginning and middle wait to be read again. The colors of the sunrise change and I am changed as I behold them. As I pick up my suitcase to go to work it is not drudgery... it is mission. The bills still need to be paid but I go into the world outside my door in love... as one with a blazing candle.

The Sound in the Trees

"Then the Philistines went up once again and deployed themselves in the Valley of Rephaim. Therefore David inquired of the LORD, and He said, 'You shall not go up; circle around behind them, and come upon them in front of the mulberry trees. And it shall be, when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the mulberry trees, then you shall advance quickly. For then the LORD will go out before you to strike the camp of the Philistines.' And David did so, as the LORD commanded him; and he drove back the Philistines from Geba as far as Gezer." 2 Sam 5:22-25 NKJV

A great strategy... flank the enemy and attack when the rustling of the trees will cover the sound of your approach and heighten the confusion of the battle.

In 2 Sam 5:19 David had inquired of the Lord and He had said, 'Go up' and with a full frontal assault David's army broke through the enemy ranks like 'water breaking through a dam'.

Two different approaches at two different times... both specifically given by God and both the result of prayer and inquiry.

Some things require a direct approach and others need to be 'flanked' in a creative way. It is not the position of the trees that will tell us which is which. Inquiry with God is what will reveal it.

A Spirit filled person is like the wind... led by God and the pattern is not naturally discernible.

I want to understand tactics but be unpracticed in devising them myself in the flesh. The natural man has a secret agenda... one that may be a secret even to himself. That agenda will blind a person to what God would want done in a situation. God's aim is love and reconciliation making our conflict a war of restoration and healing. Like medics rushing to the battle to bind up the wounded there are hearts that need to be bound and arms that hang down and need to be put back in joint.

Even when Paul led by the Spirit spoke words to Elymas the sorcerer (see Acts 13:8f) and God blinded the man. What was done was the same thing that happened to Paul and led to his conversion. It was a kindness and not a cruelty.

The Next Stop

"And when the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the children of Israel went onward in all their journeys: But if the cloud were not taken up, then they journeyed not till the day that it was taken up. For the cloud of the LORD was upon the tabernacle by day, and fire was on it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel, throughout all their journeys." Ex 40:36-38

Do you think it was a happy occasion when the cloud rolled up and it was time to move. It must have a majestic sight. Most trips we take are planned in some way. We buy our tickets in advance. We plan where we will stop to sleep and approximately how long our car trips will be. How do you do that following a cloud? You can't.

"He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young." Is 40:11

I am sure that they found God to be a good Shepard. One sensitive to the needs of millions at once. There were many trials during this time in the wilderness... many died... a whole old generation passed while a new generation was born. That new one only knew the leading of the cloud and the bondage of Eygpt was a history recounted to them.

"But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ." 1 Cor 2:14-16

To the new man bondage and stationary life is a story that must be told to it because the he is a cloud follower. The new man is lead down pathways it never planned. There is much room to roam in the wide open spaces of each destination but travel is done in tribal formation and at the cues of One who is not letting anyone in on each rest stop beforehand.

Here is a great quote:

'Can you imagine functioning in the letter while the Spirit has moved forward in the plan of God? We lose our understanding in the light when we are persuaded to be stationary and stagnant in our own plan. People actually stay behind God when God has moved on... Those who stay in their place never can determine what God is doing in His place. The flesh separates them from the eternal mind of God. They choose to live in the unexpected end of time instead of the unexpectedness of a plan that expects only God.' -Dr Carl Stevens

There is such freedom in God's grace. There is also fire by night to see by and be warmed by... a clear landmark of a cloud that is present in every changing destination. If our life of faith were a photo album then the cloud would be present in every picture.

Our freedom is structured by God's leading but not regulated by law. We have light as we travel with Him. Our hearts burns within us as we learn the finished work on the road (see Luke 24:32) as we see Jesus in every book from Genesis to Revelation.

Freedom isn't freedom apart from holiness. The cloud is the landmark that reminds me that I am on a faith journey going somewhere special. My old man will never make it to that place but the new man that is my new identity will find a home there.

Divine Mathematics

"You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked; but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen." 2 Pet 3:17-18

Growing in grace and knowledge is functioning in resurrection life!

We don't outgrow our issues they are just swallowed up in a new kind of life. A new life that we are growing in. If doesn't take reasoning per say... it requires seeing Jesus Christ.

Forgiveness is math not reasoning... One Situation + One Cross = Forgiveness

Our life is one of addition, multiplication and growth.

"But he said, Then bring meal. And he cast it into the pot; and he said, Pour out for the people, that they may eat. And there was no harm in the pot." 2 Kings 4:41

We add doctrine to the situation. Meal is broken wheat.

"Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue" 2 Pet 1:2-3

Then we find that God is really behind the scenes multiplying something amazing. There may seem to be good reason to be bitter about something but the new man is not bitter. He or she is thankful... for the provision... and one day for the situation itself. Not because the old man has 'outgrown' it but because the new one is raised from the dead.

I never have to be stagnant and stuck in reasoning. As long as there are lost hurting people there is much to do. As long as my Bible has pages I have much to learn. Let yesterday be swallowed up in the newness of an ever living Savior.

"Death is swallowed up in victory." 1 Cor 15:54b

I Need Specifics

"I will worship toward Your holy temple, And praise Your name For Your lovingkindness and Your truth; For You have magnified Your word above all Your name." Ps 138:2 NKJV

'It is finished' is better than 'God is good'. One is specific understanding about what God has done in His love and the other is general understanding about who God is and what He is like.

Some other translations use 'exalted' instead of 'magnified' the Hebrew word is Gadal (H1431) with means to promote or grow. Like when one sibling grows much taller than the others brothers and sisters or if one of the laborers on a job site is promoted and made the foreman.

"In the day when I cried out, You answered me, And made me bold with strength in my soul. All the kings of the earth shall praise You, O LORD, When they hear the words of Your mouth." Ps 138:3-4 NKJV

God promotes His written Word (Imrah H565) and the writer praises God for the instruction (Emeth H571) he has received by it and through it because of the strength it gave to the structure of His soul. Those with responsibility, power and influence will praise God when they hear the specifics of truth because it gives practical definition that is needed for what they must do.

The Spirit of God will make the written Word alive and give us Rhema (G4487)

"But Mary kept all these things (RHEHMA), and pondered them in her heart." Luke 2:19

"It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words (RHEHMA) that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life." John 6:63

"Go , stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words (RHEHMA) of this life." Acts 5:20

That is why God can take a mouse and turn him into a real man. The book reveals royalty and depravity. It spans the length of wisdom to foolishness; from the beginning of all thing to the end of time itself. There are specifics waiting in that book today... mercy lives there... a call takes shape on it's pages... a life outside the box. Even if we memorize it all we don't know it like we should or could.... or will. God will unfold it's mysteries over the length of a live lived by faith.

'Think of it carefully; study it prayerfully; deep in thy heart let its oracles dwell. Ponder its mystery; slight not its history; none can e'er love it too fondly or well. (atributed to Dr. Franklin Logsdon)

God holds the Bible up and so will I. I'll hold it up even if my arm grows tired and the muscles in it burn. I'll hold up the arms of others that do also. Men's lives hang in the balance. Let it be exalted over my character... may it grow bigger than my ego until it overshadows me entirely.

Airfare Included

When you go out to eat part of the pleasure of it is that someone else does all the preparation and clean up and you just get to sit back and enjoy the meal. Others even clear the plates and bring you coffee.

When God paid for our salvation meals and a airfare were all included in the ticket. We have unlimited minutes inside our family plan.

But, Cleaning something up requires work. Relationships require ongoing attention.

Our provisions are free but who does the work in life?

"And when the day was now far spent, his disciples came unto him, and said, This is a desert place, and now the time is far passed: Send them away, that they may go into the country round about, and into the villages, and buy themselves bread: for they have nothing to eat. He answered and said unto them, Give ye them to eat. And they say unto him, Shall we go and buy two hundred pennyworth of bread, and give them to eat? He saith unto them, How many loaves have ye? go and see. And when they knew, they say, Five, and two fishes. And he commanded them to make all sit down by companies upon the green grass. And they sat down in ranks, by hundreds, and by fifties. And when he had taken the five loaves and the two fishes, he looked up to heaven, and blessed, and brake the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before them; and the two fishes divided he among them all. And they did all eat, and were filled. And they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments, and of the fishes. And they that did eat of the loaves were about five thousand men." Mark 6:35-44

Thank God for the people who clean up the dishes in the sink. The ones who walk the dog, put gas in the car and mow the lawn.

Thank you God for those who open the church and practice in the band and make phone call after phone call to make sure people know they are loved.

'Would you like a piece of bread?' they say... 'It was broken and blessed by the Master.'

Into the crowd they go. Wading through the ocean of humanity with the supply of bread and fish. Little humanity framed by fire but we are not consumed in it.

We can perform that same action and get used up. There is always another mess to clean up. But there is another way... a secret way. When we walk in something finished the supply is not cut off. We are not burning up a limited quantity of humanity. We live as sent ones and our shoes don't wear out.

We rest when the day is done but find a table set again when we awake. The journey is a long one... rest and eat.

Glorify God

"For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's." 1 Cor 6:20

This phrase 'glorify God' is an interesting one. You often hear it spoken and get the impression that some sort of performance is involved... an effort to preserve a testimony. That could not be farther from the truth.

I so much want to glorify God today and it will only happen absent of my effort.

We can think of glory in the Hebrew scriptures in terms of the Shekinah or 'brightness of His prescence' but many more times the word that is translated glory is Kabad (H3513) or Kavowd (H3519) which speaks about honour, dignity or reputation.

The Greek mirrors this in the word Doxa (G1391) or Doxazō (G1392) which is to render something or someone excellent. It carries with it a revealing, acknowledging and expressing of a viewpoint that is accurate.

Here is something Jesus said,

"Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and glorify him at once." John 13:31b-32 ESV

What honour and oneness... The cross would be a place where the Father turned His back on His Son for our sakes but in it there would be a revealing and a resurrection. The Father would 'glorify him at once' in that Christ would not be long in the grave and His body would not see corruption but would be raised incorruptible forever.

Peter got a glimpse of Christ's brightness on the mount of transfiguration and later said,"but were eyewitnesses of his majesty." (in 2 Pet 1:16) and John said "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life." (in 1 John 1:1)

Oh! My soul shouts and sings! The Son reveals the Father and the Father reveals the Son. What glory are we witnesses of?

"They lift up their voices, they sing for joy; over the majesty of the LORD they shout from the west (from the sea). Therefore in the east (in the realm of light) give glory to the LORD; in the coastlands of the sea, give glory to the name of the LORD, the God of Israel. From the ends of the earth we hear songs of praise, of glory to the Righteous One. " Isaiah 24:15-16a ESV

Glorifying God can't be what I do. It is always what Christ has done. The honour due His name is like a sunrise in the East that shines out over the oceans of humanity and shines a light that is life giving.

"Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name." 1 Pet 4:16 ESV

What is our report? We can look to the East in our suffering and let the sun bath us in light. If it is still dark we wait facing that way knowing joy will come in the morning.

Perhaps our 'testimony' deals more with our hope... with the light of a sunrise that others see reflected on our face as they are walking in the opposite direction.

Just like the Father glorified the Son 'at once'... all those that know Christ will soon be glorified...

When all this over our glory will be revealed. Our true state will be known. It will have a brightness and truth will not be hidden anymore.