Think long, drink deeply, rejoice!

Paul prays “that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, would give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him.  I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the glorious riches of His inheritance among the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power to us who believe, according to the working of His vast strength.  He demonstrated this power in raising Christ from the dead and seating Him at His right hand in the heavens far above every ruler and authority and power and dominion, and every title given not only in this age but also in the one to come.  And He put everything under His feet and appointed Him as head over everything for the church which is His body the fullness of the One who fills all things in every way.” (HCSB)

Paul here unlocks the key to one of the greatest needs in the Church of our day…and really of any age.  We need to know the grace of God better.  He just finished exhorting the believers to praise the God of our Lord Jesus Christ because of all of the spiritual blessings that He has bestowed on those whom He chose from before the foundations of the world.  Praise Him!  Rejoice in Him!  Praise the glory of His grace!

Often our praise is dull and lifeless.  It is ordinary, feigned, lip-service to our God and benefactor.   Why?  How does our praise become dull and lifeless?  How is it possible that a Christian could engage in empty praise, vain worship? Paul answers in the prayer that he offers up on our behalf.  “That God would grant us a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him so that our hearts may be enlightened to know the hope of His calling, the glorious riches of His inheritance…and the surpassing greatness of His power toward us”…which is the same power that He used in raising Christ to His exalted position above all created things.

My exhortation is very simple.  Pray that God would grant that the eyes of your heart be enlightened to know the glories of His grace and power within you.  If you are a Christian, this is true of you.  God has given you immeasurable grace, has and continues to work His immeasurable power in your life to conform you to the image of His Son and to bring you to glory.

May He fill our hearts with joy in reflecting upon His grace.  May He fill our hearts with wonder at the vast chasm that once separated us from Him and the bridge of His love and grace that now exists because of Christ.   May He fill our hearts with peace and rest as we ponder how He is continually working His great power in us, how great that power truly is – that He also working in raising Christ from the dead and exalting Him.  Think long, drink deeply, rejoice!

May He be glorified as we are not only satisfied but overflowing with joy in rejoicing over His abundant grace to us!  Happy rejoicing today dear brothers and sisters

Successful Christian Service

Titus 1:1-3

“Paul, a bond-servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the faith of those chosen of God and the knowledge of the truth which is according to godliness,  2 in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised long ages ago,  3 but at the proper time manifested, even His word, in the proclamation with which I was entrusted according to the commandment of God our Savior,”

Paul saw himself as a “bond servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the faith of those chosen of God…”  Part of what made Paul successful in Christian service (which I might add is not success as the World sees it  in terms of riches, fame, fortune, a life of ease – but I’ll save that for another post) is the understanding that he was made a bond servant not for his own sake but for the sake of others.

“For the sake of those chosen of God.”  God set Paul apart for the sake of those chosen.  He was set apart for other believers.  In other words, he saw his Christian life, the gifts that he was given as “for” someone/thing other than himself.  He saw these things as given to him for others. Thus it did not matter how difficult ministry became, it did not matter how inconvenient ministry was, it did not matter if he fulfilled all of his earthly dreams and wishes in this life, because his life was not for himself.  It was for others.

What would the Church look like if we all saw our calling, our gifts, our lives as being for one another and not for ourselves alone?  It might completely revolutionize the way that Church was done.  It wouldn’t be about what we looked like, how people saw us, if serving fit into our schedule, if we had enough left over to give financially, etc.  Serving would not be an option for us.  We couldn’t go a day, much less a moment without serving the body of Christ.  All of our daily schedule, the plans that we had for life would be centered around serving one another in the body of Christ.   We would give up all that we had in service for one another.  We would be willing to die for the sake of those who had not heard so that they could have their share in the family of God beside us.  We would see every non-believing person as a possibly “elect of God” and make every effort to ensure that they heard so that they could believe.

How different would life be for our children?  What a difference would it make if they saw the Church as our greatest priority and not the family name?  What difference would it be if they saw the Word of God, the glory of Christ and His return as our greatest hope and the basis for our encouragement of one another in the body?  What if they saw us praying fervently for one another in the body of Christ, giving to one another of our own resources and serving one another with every free moment that we had?  What if they saw the body of Christ as their “family” more than their physical earthly family?  What difference would those things make for them in painting a realistic, livable, honest, godly picture of Christianity?

What about for unbelievers?   How might unbelievers view Christianity if they saw a community instead of a religious group?  What if they saw a loving, inseparable organism instead of a program based, organizational, glorified frat?  What if they saw people fervent in love for one another in the midst of adversity?  What if they saw people unfettered by worldly standards of beauty, class, financial status or race?  What if they saw “the household of God, the pillar and support of the truth” as Paul envisioned to Timothy in another letter?

How about you?  What difference does your calling in Christ make in your life?  What difference does the fact that you were called into a body of other believers who have need of your service or else they will not grow make to you?  How have you so set your life to be used as greatly as possible for the Church of Jesus Christ?  How have you made His Church your priority?

I believe.

1 Corinthians 15:1-8

Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand,  by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain.  For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,  and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,  and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.  After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep; then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles; and last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also.”

This is the testimony of the Apostle Paul to the Corinthian Church.  This is what he believed.  This is what he taught.  I am no different than him, who spoke nearly 2000 years ago concerning the fact of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection attested by the Scriptures and the other Apostles.

I have written previously concerning certain thoughts that I had around Easter.  Somehow I feel that this Easter has crept up on me.  It is certainly one of the most important celebrations in the Christian faith.  Much of what Paul mentions in the rest of I Corinthians 15 has to do with the literal, bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.  His point in a nutshell is that if Jesus didn’t rise from the dead then our whole faith is in vain.  Thus Easter is greatly celebrated among those who believe.  It is a time to reflect upon the sacrifice that Jesus made on our behalf, the heinousness of our own sin that drove Him to the cross, the great love that kept Him there in the midst of such hostility and mockery at the hand of sinners like you and I, and His victory over sin, death and the grave when He rose triumphantly just three days later.  Appropriate words fail me now to describe the joy that I ought to feel as I reflect upon my own weakness, tendency to rebel against my Wonderful, Merciful Savior.

There ought to be much jubilation.  There ought to be great celebration.  Sadly many who believe approach Easter as if its just any old holiday.  Perhaps there is dressing up, perhaps there is the purposeful endurance of hours in a hot church before a dispassionate preacher droning on about the significance of how many Angels were at the tomb or that women received the message of the resurrection first (among other things).  And once they’ve made it to church on Easter, they check this spot off their list and return to their usual sporadic church attendance.

My point here is not to down anyone.  My point here, as I check my own heart, is to remember that at the heart of my faith is a set of truths.  It is not the celebration of a “holiday” or a the warm and fuzzy feeling associated with the spectacle that many make of Easter (bunny rabbits, chocolate and such).  It is the recognition and heart affirmation of a set of truths that all who claim to be a part of my faith ought to hold to.  And those same set of truths dictate (some more directly than others) how we approach these holy days,  who we ought to be toward one another and toward all men.  And more than that, these set of truths point to a Man.  The only Man in whom there is true life.  And the only Man under heaven of whom it may be said that believing in His name leads to salvation.

Paul said it first and best here in the above passage “the gospel which I preached to you, which you also believed, in which you stand, by which you are saved…[is] that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures and that He appeared to [many].”

I am a Christian.  As a Christian I affirm that…

I believe that Jesus Christ of Nazareth is a real person.

I believe all of the Bible to be fully trustworthy, authentic and truly the Word of God to man.  As the Word of Creator God, it is fully capable and does predict the future and accurately record historic events.

I believe that Jesus died for my sins according to the Scriptures (the Old Testament in the Bible).

I believe that Jesus was buried in a tomb because He was genuinely dead.

I believe that Jesus rose again on the third day according to those same Scriptures.

I believe that Jesus appeared to over 500 people including the Apostles ( who walked with Him during His life, and would have known Him intimately), and that they accurately recorded their testimony about Him in the New Testament of the Scriptures.

And I believe that my faith in Jesus Christ of Nazareth will not be in vain because He has risen from the dead and will literally return to the Earth, as sure as He came the first time, and that He will finally make me fit for His Glorious Kingdom.

There is much more that I could say.  For now I will conclude with this.  I believe because He lives.  Had He not risen from the dead, there would be no hope in Christianity.  There would be no power to change us from being dead in sin to have life before God, thus saving us from His Wrath.  And there would be no confidence in the Word of God to accurately predict the future on the basis of God’s Almighty control of all things.  But again, because He lives, all of these things are yes and Amen.

Romans 10:9-11

“if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;  for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.  For the Scripture says, “WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.” “

I have put my complete faith in this man, the LORD Jesus Christ.  I invite you to do the same.

Even so, Come LORD Jesus!

Blessed be the Name of the LORD!

Why do we always ask “why” when difficulty strikes?  I’m not talking about after we’ve had time to think about it, pray about it, and have others comfort and encourage us through it.  I’m talking about the initial gut response.  When something difficult happens our first thought, more often than not is “why?”  Why me, why now, why this?  Strange it seems, particularly once you’ve gone through the trial that you even asked why to begin with.  Then again, I guess sometimes all you’re left with is why with no further response from the Lord.  Some things, we’ll never know and were never meant to know.  Somethings He makes clear to us knowing that we are flesh, weaklings.

But where does that gut response of “why” come from?  Most likely it comes from the expectation that we deserve only good in life.  Certainly for the unbeliever there is often that expectation.  That they are inherently good and that they deserve only good to come.  Even that god, their god, is a god of only good things and that disaster and calamity should never befall them.  But that is not the God of the Bible.  That is certainly not the Father of Jesus Christ nor the Father of His Church.

So what about believers?  When disaster and calamity strikes and we respond with “why” what are we saying?  I think that we too are saying “why me, why this, why now?”  And I think that we are often responding with that thinking that we too deserve only good things.  Is that wrong of us to assume?  We are children of the King.  Children in the Beloved.  We are the Lord’s and we expect that He will work out everything for our good and His glory in the end…right?  And what about those who are more charismatic among us who assert that there aren’t really any difficulties that should befall us and that we shouldn’t even be physically sick (I recently had someone who was of the charismatic persuasion say to me – with reference to Isaiah 53 – that Jesus’ bore our sicknesses and that through His death we are healed and so my wife’s physical distress would be healed if we believed that and claimed it).  What about that?  There is certainly much to be said for their faith, though their interpretation of scripture is somewhat lacking.  And there is much to be said about their fervency for prayer and trusting that God would move because they pray in faith.

But what else are they saying?  In a sense, and I don’t believe that everyone of them is saying this nor do I believe that every other believer thinks this way but for the most part it is probably true, in a sense they are saying that God should give us what we ask for no matter what it is and that we shouldn’t ever experience physical or any other distress because God never meant it to be that way for us.  That is so close to the truth its almost difficult to combat.  Certainly God created us “good” and for “good.”  However things did not remain that way.  And there is really no promise in scripture that now things ought to be completely good and at ease for us as believers.  Quite the opposite.  I’ve been reading through I Peter and he assumes that difficulty will arise and that this difficulty is a part of what it means to walk in Christ’s footsteps.  Certainly Paul’s life – who was a man of faith and a man of prayer – was full of difficulty.  Are we to assume that he was in some sort of sin or that he didn’t have enough faith or that he didn’t pray earnestly enough and that this is why his life was marked with difficulty both physical and otherwise?  Certainly not.  And ultimately we have Jesus who said “in this life you will have tribulation but to be of good cheer because I have overcome the world.”  And His life, what was it if not marked by “grief and sorrow.”  Are we, His disciples, to live a life greater than He, our Master?

I guess in the final analysis we have to conclude that what is “our good” that God is working all things toward, is ultimately not up to us.  In other words we can’t and won’t know what the “good” is that God is working all things toward.  We don’t really know what good thing we need and we don’t really know how best to work out situations and circumstances in our lives in order to reach that good.  But we can rest in knowing that God knows.  And we can rest in knowing that God is the One who is and always will be in control and that He is at work to work all things together for our good, whether they are “good” or “bad” according to our perspective.

In the end, we must assert with Job that it would be foolish to only be willing to accept good from God and not adversity.  Accepting the good and adversity in this respect is more of an attitude adjustment.  There is not really anything that we can do to accept or reject adversity from God.  But the acceptance, as we saw – at least from the first and last couple of chapters of  Job – has more to do with an attitude that doesn’t question God’s motives but which accepts that He is in control, that His plans and purposes are higher than we can conceive and that whether He gives or takes, He is and always shall be blessed.

Psalm 16 – 150 Days of Purposeful Meditation (Day 16)

God is faithful.

This Psalm is considered by many, myself included, a Messianic Psalm.  The reason why for this, in part, is the NT interpretation that it’s reference is not David – its author – but in fact Christ the Messiah.

The Psalm itself drips with an overwhelming confidence in the faithfulness of God towards His people.  David calls the Lord “my Lord” and says that he has “no good besides [Him].” That is the height of confidence and trust.  No only to declare the LORD, “my Lord” – my master, my sovereign King, but also to declare that there is no other good on earth or in heaven besides Him.

What other confidence do we have really?  What other thing is there that one might place their confidence and trust in?  When you look around at the things of this world, what is there that is completely trustworthy?  What thing is there that will not rust, spoil or fail?  After all, why would you put your confidence in something that is bound to fail you?

Furthermore what man can you look to who will not ultimately fail you?  If not for their lack of faithfulness, lack of strength, or for their lack of ability to preserve their own life will sooner or later fail you?  Who do you have as your confidence and trust?  David’s confidence and trust was none other than the Lord.  To trust in anything else, to him, was foolish.

He called the LORD “the portion of [his] inheritance and [his] cup.” Not only is there none in the present who may satisfy, there will be none in the future to sustain him but the LORD. And indeed, he has seen the fruit of trust and confidence in the Lord already for he says “the lines have fallen to me in pleasant places, indeed my heritage is beautiful to me.”

He says further “I will bless the Lord who has counseled me, indeed my mind instructs me at night.  I have set the LORD continually before me; because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.” What confidence, what trust, what hope do we hear in this description of David’s Lord.

This, however, is where David’s voice ceases…this is the extent of the Psalm which can rightly be ascribed to David.   The interesting question in many of these “Messianic Psalms” is how much or at what point does the Psalm cease to be about David and start to be about the Messiah?  Is there a single intended reference or can it be with reference to both David and the Messiah?  In many of these such Psalms, some have sought to figure out what danger or issue David may have had in mind when he penned this Psalm in order to make it fit both him and the Messiah.  For the New Testament writers, however that is not an issue.  For them it was clear.

Both Peter and Paul ascribed this Psalm to Christ.

Peter says in Acts 2:25-32 “For David says of Him, ‘I was always beholding the Lord in my presence; for He is at my right hand that I may not be shaken.  Therefore my heart was glad and my tongue exulted; moreover my flesh also will abide in hope; because thou will not abandon my soul to Hades, nor allow thy holy One to undergo decay.  Thou has made known to me the ways of life; though will make me full of gladness with thy presence.’  Brethren, I may confidently say to you regarding the patriarch David that he both died and was buried and his tomb is with us to this day.  And so because he was a prophet, and knew that God had sworn to him with an oath to seat one of his descendants upon his throne, he looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that He was neighter abandoned to Hades, nor did His flesh suffer decay.  This Jesus God raised up again to which we are all witnesses.”

And Paul Acts 13:32-37 “And we preach to you the good news of the promise made to the fathers, that God has fulfilled this promise to our children in that He raised up Jesus as it is also written in the second Psalm ‘thou are my Son; today I have begotten thee’ and as for the fact that He raised Him up from the dead, no more to return to decay, He has spoken in this way ‘I will give you the holy and sure blessings of David’ Therefore He also says in another Psalm ‘though will not allow thy holy One to undergo decay.’  For David after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation fell asleep and was laid among his fathers and underwent decay; but He whom God raised did not undergo decay.”

According to both Peter and Paul, David could not be the reference to these final verses because David’s body has undergone decay.  However Christ, having been raised from the dead on the third day, did not undergo decay.  He, having been raised, has brought fulfillment to God’s promise (establishing God’s faithfulness to His people and to David) and also signifies, by His resurrection, the future fulfillment of God’s judgment and reign over all the earth (Acts 17).

God is faithful.  He is faithful to Himself, in fulfilling His purposes.  He is faithful to His Holy One, both to David and to Christ.  And He is faithful to His people, in meeting their greatest need by sending His Son Jesus, to redeem us from our sins and to rescue us from the wrath which is to come.

If He has thus proven Himself faithful in these great things…what reason will we ever have to worry?

Too heavenly minded…

I’ve been on a roll the past few days. I think that this is the most that I’ve blogged straight in a few months. I always have thoughts of blogging but don’t seem to find the time to get here to write them down.

Anyway, I was getting dressed this morning, and as I often do, thought to myself…”this could be the last outfit that I put on.” Now to some that might be incredibly morbid or negative. But in my mind, its reality. Death is real. Death can strike at any moment. There is no age, there is no socio-economic status, there is no stage of life nor level of health that can stay death. It comes to all because all sin, and that is the wages of sin.

As a believer I recognize that death is not something to fear. Death does not have mastery over me, no more than it has over my Lord and Master Jesus Christ who overpowered death on the third day after he died on the cross. And so I don’t have to be apprehensive about death. Death will serve to usher me in the presence of my Lord and God sooner than any victory or pleasure that this world could afford. I certainly don’t look forward to the process of dying or to whatever possible means there are of dying. I don’t need to fear dying either but the prospect of dying some horrible death is certainly not appealing to me. Whether it is death or dying, though, I know that I will soon be in the presence of my Lord.

Knowing that, I began thinking again…perhaps I should rather say to myself “this is the outfit that I could be wearing when I go to meet my Lord.” That is a much more encouraging thought. And as I was thinking of it, I was thinking through the remainder of my day. And why it is that I would only have such a thought as I was getting dressed.

Have you ever thought to yourself, in the midst of your day…”this is what I could be wearing when I go to meet my Lord.” Or else “this is what I could be thinking, saying, feeling or watching when I go to meet my Lord.” That is really where the rubber meets the road. That is what Moses prayed, that the Lord would “teach us to number our days.”

It seems that there is much wisdom to be gained by going into the house of mourning. I am reminded of a conversation with a brother just yesterday about the same subject. What difference should it make in our day to day, moment to moment lives to know that at any moment we could be face to face with our Lord and Creator to give an account for what we have done. What difference in our day to day lives should it make to think to ourselves “this is the last word that could roll from my tongue before I stand before the Judge of the Universe, the Holy One.”

Some would say that thinking about spiritual things too much can make you “too heavenly minded to be any earthly good.” I would say that in order for you to be or do any earthly good, you must be heavenly minded. For it is only in recognizing the brevity of your earthly life, the reality of heaven and the Lord of heaven, that you can truly accomplish anything of value not only for this life, but also for that to come. And further it is only in rightly apprehending the spiritual reality of God and eternity that you can live in such a way that you will not be ashamed at His coming or at your going.