A humbling reminder…

I had a bad attitude today…a sinful attitude.  Its easy to justify a sinful response to someone, particularly when you feel that you have rightly discerned their heart and motive in the matter.  But that justification is just as wrong as any justification that they might render concerning their own behavior; furthermore my discernment is not infallible.  So what makes the difference between them and I?  As far as I know, from their behavior they are not a follower of Christ.  And yet based solely on my own heart response (even if I suppressed foolish behavior) some might wonder if I were a follower of Christ.  So what makes the difference?

I guess the difference comes in what I do with that sinful response.  For the one who follows Christ sin must be dealt with.  Really there are two issues involved in a situation like this.  First is what do you do with a person who has sinned against you?  How do you respond to such a thing.  Second is – if you haven’t responded well – what do you do with your sinful attitude.  Really the other person has probably gone on about their business for the day, they aren’t even thinking about you but you are still fuming.  I’m trying to be real with this because I struggled with it for quite a bit this afternoon.

Concerning the first issue, what do you do when a person sins against you.  My first response today was to become agitated.  Part of the issue is that I was already a bit agitated from something that happened yesterday (both of these issues transpired around work…).  So I should have dealt with it yesterday before the LORD but I did not.  BIG PROBLEM.  When you let a sinful response fester in your heart it is bound to take root and grow into something worse.  So when someone sins against you deal with it immediately.  If you are not in the place to where you can address the person as a believer, and they won’t respond otherwise, then you may need to simply right it off.  I was thinking on a passage in Psalm 37 about not fretting because of evildoers…ceasing from anger and forsaking wrath because it will only lead to evildoing.  In other words, when you become angry about an evildoers actions and respond in anger that response is itself evildoing and leads to further evildoing.  Furthermore we are to follow the lead of Christ who when reviled did not respond in anger but kept entrusting Himself to the One who judges rightly (I Peter 2:23).  This is the example that we have, thus we ought to follow it in all of our doing.

One further thing, when we are sinned against by someone else, our first response is often characterized by a preoccupation with ourselves and how we feel that we have been wronged.   Its not necessarily about justice, though we may say that it is.  Its often about retribution and/or seeking to be recompensed for some right of ours that we feel has been violated.

Sin is a violation against the LORD.  And the LORD is gracious.  He has been gracious to us in Christ, thus we ought to seek to be gracious to all others, regardless of what offense they make.

Titus says

Remind them to be subject to rulers, to authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good deed,  2 to malign no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing every consideration for all men.  3 For we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another.  4 But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared,  5 He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit,  6 whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior,  7 so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.  (3:1-7)

We are to show every consideration for all men, we are to be kind, to malign no one, to be peaceable and gentle to all, because we were all once foolish…and because God showed us His kindness and love by sending Christ to die for us, not because of our good deeds, but because of His mercy.  If God has done this for us in Christ, we must do no less.

Furthermore God is the One who exacts vengeance, who brings justice.

Romans 12:19-21

19 Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY,” says the Lord.  20 “BUT IF YOUR ENEMY IS HUNGRY, FEED HIM, AND IF HE IS THIRSTY, GIVE HIM A DRINK; FOR IN SO DOING YOU WILL HEAP BURNING COALS ON HIS HEAD.”  21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Thus we must leave room for God to bring justice, because His justice is righteous.  Ours is often selfish.  And it is His alone to give as He is the Judge of all things.

Concerning the second issue, if you haven’t responded well, what do you do with your sinful response?  My sinful response was in the heart.  Thus I had to deal with it before the LORD first.  I had to realize that it was sinful.  When I thought a little longer about it and reflected upon some passages of scripture that I had been praying through recently, I was convicted.   Thus I had to seek Him for forgiveness because ultimately any offense is an offense against the LORD who Himself is righteous and expects righteousness from all.  Because some cannot, and we all do not live up to His standard does not require that He lower the standard.  He has provided Christ to help us to be acceptable to God because of Christ and not ourselves.  Thanks be to God!  Seeking the Word was crucial in that step because the Word of God is that which brings conviction to the heart and correction.  It also gives wisdom to know how to respond in the future.

The next step would have been to seek forgiveness from this other person because of your sinful attitude toward them.  Regardless of whether or not they were privy to your sinful attitude.  Especially if it is a believer.  Seeking forgiveness from them for your sinful attitude towards them helps to restore your relationship with them.  If you are not able to seek forgiveness because they are separate from you geographically or otherwise then you must entrust that situation to the LORD.  But be humble and seek the forgiveness.  In my case, the individuals against whom I sinned I will not likely see again.  That is sad because I fear that I may have left a negative view of myself behind for them.  Of course this is not for my sake alone but for the sake of the name of the LORD by whom I am called.  We often (myself included) forget this.  We don’t merely represent ourselves, thus we don’t always have to be right or to “save face” in a given situation.  If we know the LORD, if we follow Christ; then it is His glory that we ought to seek to preserve.  And often the best way to do that is not by retaliation or an angry sinful response, but by humility, being “quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to anger” as James says, and by entrusting ourselves to the LORD, the Righteous Judge.

 

I pray that this confession and exhortation would be a blessing to you today.  Until He comes…

 

Psalm 37:1-11

Do not fret because of evildoers, Be not envious toward wrongdoers.  2 For they will wither quickly like the grass And fade like the green herb.  3 Trust in the LORD and do good; Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness.  4 Delight yourself in the LORD; And He will give you the desires of your heart.  5 Commit your way to the LORD, Trust also in Him, and He will do it.  6 He will bring forth your righteousness as the light And your judgment as the noonday.  7 Rest in the LORD and wait patiently for Him; Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, Because of the man who carries out wicked schemes.  8 Cease from anger and forsake wrath; Do not fret; it leads only to evildoing.  9 For evildoers will be cut off, But those who wait for the LORD, they will inherit the land.  10 Yet a little while and the wicked man will be no more; And you will look carefully for his place and he will not be there.  11 But the humble will inherit the land And will delight themselves in abundant prosperity.

James 1:19-20

19 This you know, my beloved brethren. But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger;  20 for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God.

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!

Psalm 17 – 150 Days of Purposeful Meditation (Day 17) Part 1

God is Just. Why should we cry out to the Lord in our distress?  Because God is a God of justice.  His eyes are upon the righteous and righteousness.  And His ears attend to their cry.  God desires justice from His creation because He is just.  Justness is a  part of His essential character.  There is no falsehood with God.  There is no partiality.  There is no turning of the eye to oppression.  God is just.  And because He is essentially just in His character the righteous have great reason to come to Him for justice.  This is in fact the great confidence that the righteous have, that their righteousness has not fallen on deaf ears and blind eyes.  That in the end they will be repaid for their righteousness even as the wicked are repaid for their wickedness.  Of course the righteousness of the righteous is not their own for they would have no reason to cry out to God for vindication.  But it is His righteous standard that they uphold.  It cannot be their own righteousness for why would God then fight on their behalf?  Where then would be His glory?  What then would be His praise?  He would be nothing more than a body guard.  One whose job is to protect the glory of another.  Neigh but the righteousness by which the righteous is called is God’s righteousness.  It is His name, it is His glory.  And that is also their confidence and their hope.  that His righteousness shall be in the end vindicated.  That He will pursue the vindication of His own righteous standard.

God’s justness shall prevail and His righteousness shall be vindicated.  This He has made clear in many other ways.  The glory of His name and His holiness is His great passion.  Thus to pursue His glory in our own lives is the wisest course of action.  And it is an action which again will yield great reward.  The righteous may unashamedly pursue God’s righteous standard because He will vindicate it Himself.  And in vindicating His righteous standard, they will be vindicated.

The folly of the wicked is in assuming that their own glory is necessary.  It is assuming that their own standard of righteousness is enough.  However their own standard of righteousness is as transient as their own lives.  It will in the end be cast aside.  God will bring it to nothing.  It cannot stand in comparison to His own holy and righteous Word.  They may have their “portion in this life” but in the next their portion will be to drink the cup of God’s wrath and indignation against those who have scorned His righteousness and His righteous ones.  Thus the wicked are short sighted.  They fail to see past the reality of the moment to the reality of the next.  Consequence has become an illusion to the wicked.  It has dropped out of their vocabulary along with absolute and even God.  For them there is only the moment of pleasure without the thought of consequence.  If there were no consequence, the righteous might fail in heart however the righteousness of God reminds us that it is only His great mercy which has thus with held the flood of His wrath upon this earth.  It is His mercy which has stayed His hand this long in the condemnation of the wicked.  It is not for their glory.  It is not for their cunning or wisdom which has wrought them success.  It is the merciful hand of their creator which ought to lead them to repentance, but which because of their hard hearts has led many to both mock His very existence – by whose mercy they stand – and to mock His holy and righteous ones.

What then is the final hope of the righteous?  The punishment of evildoers?  No.  It is our expectation but it is not our hope that they should meet what demise they are sure to who mock the Almighty.  Do we seek the vindication of our own name or righteousness?  No.  Before God, there are none who have reason to boast in any righteousness of their own doing because before His standard we are all guilty.  What then is our final hope?  Our final hope is that the pursuit of God’s righteousness in this life will not be for naught.  Our final hope is that because of His righteousness, “we shall see His face…[and] we shall be satisfied when we awake in His likeness.”

Do you have your Easter outfit?

Why has Easter been relegated to an opportunity to get a new outfit?  Christmas is probably one of the most celebrated seasons…perhaps just in our society…I don’t know.  Whatever the case, it seems as if Christmas has been greatly commercialized and glamorized by so many and even in Christian circles; while poor Easter has be largely forgotten.  I mean, when was the last time we counted down the 12 days of Easter.  Perhaps the Catholics have something on us with Lent.

I guess the real problem is that Easter is largely forgotten until the week of Good Friday and Easter Sunday.  Sure, we know its coming, but we don’t give gifts to each other, we don’t decorate our homes, we don’t have Easter parties for our friends and families…though many do enjoy Easter dinners.  But why?  Why is Christmas seemingly more important?

Certainly…without a doubt, the birth of our Lord into this world, the Almighty God and ruler over all Creation being born into this world in the flesh is something to celebrate.  But His birth into the world would have no lasting effect if it were not for Easter.  If it were not for His death and resurrection (crucial aspects of salvation) we would really have no reason to celebrate.  We would have no conception of the import of His birth into the world if it were not for the message that He gave, His death and subsequent resurrection after three days.

“Surely our sickness He lifted and our sorrows He bore…He was pierced for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities, the chastening of our peace was upon Him and by His stripes we are healed…He was delivered over because of our transgressions but raised because of our justification…He has caused us to be born again to a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (Isaiah 53:4-5; Romans 4:25; I Peter 1:3).

I guess Easter is really about  a new wardrobe…but not one that covers the shame of our sinful flesh.  God originally clothed the first family Adam and Eve, after they had sinned.  He clothed them to cover their shame…nakedness had no significance before sin…and even now thousands of years later, nakedness is a source of shame and immorality for many.  To combat that shame, many cover their nakedness with costly garments, jewelry and make-up.  Even those who wear very little, do so ultimately because their conscience has too long been seared for them to realize that it is truly shameful to bear their nakedness before others so openly.  Whatever the case may be we seek the best clothes, even on Easter, to dress up the shame of this sinful flesh.

But God has provided something so much better for us in Christ.  He has provided the promise better garments.  He has provided us, because of Christ’s death and resurrection, a heart of flesh, a new heart on which is written the law of God, a new mind which is being transformed daily by the word of God, the promise of a new body when Christ returns for us at the end of this life, and a new and eternal life which is undefiled by sin and in which we may stand before our Holy Creator God for ever.

Easter is more than just a new wardrobe…to cover this shameful, wretched flesh.  It is about being clothed with the righteousness of Christ.  Consider the picture of our salvation in the restoration of Joshua the High Priest:

Zechariah 3:1-5

Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him.  2 The LORD said to Satan, “The LORD rebuke you, Satan! Indeed, the LORD who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is this not a brand plucked from the fire?”  3 Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments and standing before the angel.  4 He spoke and said to those who were standing before him, saying, “Remove the filthy garments from him.” Again he said to him, “See, I have taken your iniquity away from you and will clothe you with festal robes.”  5 Then I said, “Let them put a clean turban on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him with garments, while the angel of the LORD was standing by.

And again, He says to Joshua:  “Now listen Joshua the high priest…I am going to bring My servant the Branch…and I will remove the iniquity of the land in one day.” Zechariah 3:8-9

The Lord’s dealing with Joshua the high priest is similar to His dealing with all who are humble before Him.  Though we are accused – and rightly so because we have all gone astray, seeking our own way apart from the Lord – in that day the Lord rebuked Satan, the accuser, and according to His grace has “chosen” us, plucking us from the fire of His wrath, and after having made provision for our sins, has cleansed us and given us clean garments from head to foot.  In one day, He has removed the iniquity of our hearts.  In one Man (called the Branch in this text of Zechariah) He has reconciled all men to Himself.  And in one act, He has forever clothed us in His righteousness and granted us the immeasurable riches of His grace for all eternity!

Praise be to God for His indescribable gift!  Rejoice you who have been give eyes to see, ears to hear and hearts to attest to the goodness of the Lord in Christ. If you have been purchased by His blood and clothed with His righteousness, Easter ought to be the most celebrated season!  In that day He has become our substitute and our source of new life!  He has completely erased…not just covered…our shame before our Holy and Almighty God forever.

Fear, you who have not yet been clothed with His righteousness, for soon another day will come.  And in that day there will be no more room for mercy nor grace.   And even the garments which you have coveted all of your life and from which you have attempted to hide your shame shall be burned along with you as you pay for your transgressions and iniquity in eternal torment.

For as vast and unmeasured is the grace of God to those who are clothed with Christ, so is His wrath fierce and unquenchable to those who are still naked.

Psalm 14 – 150 Days of Purposeful Meditation (Day 14)

God is true…and every man is a liar.  Not only is every man a liar…every man…but every man has rejected God in his heart.  Not only has every man foolishly rejected God in his heart, but every man has gone after his own way and has become completely useless to God.  “They are corrupt, they have committed abominable deeds.  There is no one who does good…they have all turned aside, together they have become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.”

You may think of yourself as “religious.”  You may attend church regularly…or at least on the big holidays.  You may occasionally dust the cover of your Bible off and set it on the coffee table for visitors to see.  Or perhaps you find your way to the floor to utter a prayer once in a while for God’s protection or help in your time of distress.  But you have not genuinely and truly sought after God in your heart.  God is “with the righteous generation.” God is a “refuge” for the afflicted.  Have you made God your refuge?  Does He walk with you…or do you merely visit Him when its convenient for you?

“The fool says in his heart, there is no God.” You may consider yourself quite wise according to the worlds standards.  But if you have ever uttered those words “there is no God;” then you are a fool in God’s eyes.  Furthermore, the utterance of those words may be at a volume such that no other human being ever hears…it may be the meditation of your heart…but the Lord knows.  He knows that you have not truly sought after Him.  He knows that you do not accept nor regard His standard.  He knows that you truly are a stranger.  He knows that you have made money, sex, food, self-image, and/or power and the esteem of men your refuge.  They are your hope.  Those things are what you seek after in life, and not Him.

God is not fooled with your external piety nor more than He was fooled by the nation which had been called by His name…Israel.  So He judged them for their false religiousness…so He sentenced them to shame and captivity in a land which was not their own.  And so He will abandon you to your shame, the mystery of your sin and your way, should you continue to seek refuge in the comforts of this world.  He will abandon you to your shame in this life and in the life to come, He will abandon you to the consequence of your shame, which is eternal torment and judgment away from His presence.

“Oh that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion!” As the Lord continues to look down upon the hearts of the children of men, what will He find?  Will He find you continuing to reject Him in your heart?  Will He see you continuing to ignore His Holy standard?  Will He see you continuing to do life your way?  Or will He find you seeking refuge from the coming storm of His wrath and indignation in the forgiving arms and cleansing blood of His Son?

Turn “to God from idols to serve a living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come.” I Thessalonians 1:9-10

Psalm 11 – 150 Days of Purposeful Meditation (Day 11)

God loves righteousness.  For the Psalmist says “The Lord is in His holy temple; the Lord’s throne is in heaven; His eyes behold, His eyelids test the sons of men.  The Lord test the righteous and the wicked, And the one who loves violence His soul hates.   Upon the wicked He will rain snares; Fire and brimstone and burning wind will be the portion of their cup.  For the Lord is righteous, He loves righteousness; the upright will behold His face.”

There are so many themes that repeat throughout the greater part of the Psalms.  None are more striking to me than that of God’s love for righteousness and hatred of wickedness.

What are we to say about these things?  For there are many who would claim God’s unconditional love without condition.  God’s love is not unconditionally unconditional.  His love does cost a great deal.  For He has not spilled His own Son’s blood for naught.  He has not slain His only Son without reason.  The condition of God’s love is the blood of His own Son to bring effect to His love.

After all, His love would not be known without His sending of His Son.  And the sending of His Son would have no effect if His Son did not first shed His blood.  And the blood of His Son is necessary because of His perfect love for righteousness.  Because He loves righteousness, anything that is not righteous cannot abide, it cannot remain.

His love for righteousness compels Him to act decisively against unrighteousness and wickedness.  Since unrighteousness and wickedness are not entities of themselves, but acts of rebellion from His creation; God must punish the wicked and unrighteous for every act of disobedience that does not align with the righteous standard of His Son.  The life of His Son is the standard for judging unrighteousness, the payment for its penalty and the basis for new life granted to those who believe.  Were the life of His Son not lived and given as the penalty for wickedness, we would have no concept nor understanding of God’s love.

God’s love for us is not as our love for each other.  [In that sense, certainly it is without condition; for God lacks nothing and even if He did (which is a ridiculous statement), there would be nothing that we could give Him that would benefit Him because the least of what He has is infinitely greater than the greatest that we could give.  We being sinners and Him being perfect in every respect and without want or blemish.]  We love each other, often, for what we feel we will receive.  We are benevolent toward each other for the good that we feel in ourselves or for some praise that others give us on its account.  We rarely love without strings attached.

God’s love was costly.  His love cost Him a great deal more than it could have cost us.  Namely because we were already starting in the red.  We already had a great debt toward Him.  But He overlooked that debt and granted us not only pardon from the debt but also grace upon that grace, the inheritance of a relationship with His Son, to rule with Him, to receive an inheritance with Him when His Son returns to reclaim His kingdom on this earth.

We dare not say that God’s love is totally free.  It is unconditional, but it was costly.  To those who are without God in this life…those who do not know His love…those who do not obey His Son; all you may expect is His wrath.  If you do not meet the righteous standard of His righteous Son, who obeyed Him perfectly at all time; then you must only expect the wages of unrighteousness.  You must expect “snares to rain; fire and brimstone and burning wind [as your] portion…[for] the Lord hates those who love violence.”

But you who meet the righteous standard of His Son, knowing that you meet it only because it has been granted to you from God, that He has united you with His Son and that His Son’s blood has paid the penalty for your unrighteousness; you may take refuge in the Son.  You may rest in His grace…for He has promised that “the upright will behold His face [for] the Lord loves righteousness…”

In a little while, little children, His anger will be kindled against the unrighteousness and wicked of this world.  How will He find you?  Dare you mock the righteous for their trust in Him?  Dare you mock the faithful for their confidence in Him and in His Son?  Tremble in your hearts, let your laughter be turned to weeping and your joy to gloom.  For in a little while His anger will burn against you and you will not be able to stand.  You are standing at the precipice of His Almighty and insatiable Wrath and there is nothing to keep you from falling but His temporary Grace.

Don’t be a fool.  God is not mocked.

Psalm 2 – 150 Days of Purposeful Meditation (Day 2)

God is laughing hysterically about the state of our election process.  Why?  Our election process is for the purpose of electing someone to govern us.  We assume that this person will be able to govern us well and even that he (or she) will be capable of leading us (back) to a position of prosperity and prominence in the world.  We want him to lead us, to guide us in this life.  We want him to tell us how we ought to live…the very implication of governance.  However; this notion is foolish and laughable to God.  The Psalmist says it is a “vain thing.”

The Kings of Psa 2 “take their stand together against the Lord and His anointed…[so that they may] tear [the Lord's] fetters…and cast away [His] chords from them.”  Really what they are saying is that they want the rights to rule and govern themselves apart from God, their creator.  They want to make their own decisions about right and wrong.  They want to make their own standards of law and morality.  They want to write their own commandments to live by.  They do not want the Lord or His anointed sticking their noses into their business.

Regardless of how you slice it, or what spin you put on the political process; we are looking to elect a leader.  We (the collective that is the United States of America…and humanity for that matter) as a whole, do not want God’s governance over us.  We do not want His “chords” to entangle us.  We do not want His rules, His ways, His commands, slowing us down.  So we elect officials from our own ranks in hopes that this one will lead us in the right way.  What is the right way?  Our own prosperity and power.  Our national pride.  Our national identity.  Our way is the way of tolerance.  It is the way of sycretism.  Our way is the way of man’s right to choose and to determine his own destiny.  Our way is the right to free speech, even if that means slandering the very God who made us.  Our way is the disregard for God’s life for our choice.  Our way is the disregard of God’s design for our preference.  Our way is the disregard God’s boundaries for our pleasure.

But God has determined His ruler.  God has determined His Lord.  He has determined the One that He desires to rule over the nations.  And His decision is final.  After all, He is the One who “sits (enthroned) in the Heavens.”  His word shall endure.  And that One whom to whom He has given authority shall “break [the nations] with a rod of iron…and shatter them like earthenware.”  He will rule over them with a rod of iron until they are broken in subjection to His Lordship.  God will not allow us to rebel against Him forever.

Hear the warning “O kings.”  Take heed “O judges of the earth.”  Listen, o man, woman, child.  Do not put your trust in man. “Kiss the Son.”  Bow before the Son.  Worship the Son.  Obey and submit to the Son…”that He not become angry, and you perish in the way, for His wrath may soon be kindled.”

But you, who do obey the Son, you who submit to the Son and who await His return.  Rejoice!  Be of good cheer.  Rest in knowing Him, who holds all authority both in Heaven and on Earth; who Himself is returning soon to claim His rightful throne as Lord over all.  For “blessed are all who take refuge in Him!”

Anger…huh, what is it good for…absolutely nothing!

I caught myself saying today “this is making me angry.”  I said that because of some boneheaded errors that I had apparently made at work.  On my way home, I had some time to think about it.  But instead of wallowing in self abasement – which is good for nothing – I thought about the statement “this is making me angry.”

It seems to me that we – I, obviously included – make an art out of passing the buck.  We are extremely skillful, yeah even crafty, at placing the blame for sinful tendencies totally outside of ourselves.  Can anyone really make you angry?  You’d say “yes.”  But think about that.  To say that someone has made you angry is to say that someone has reached inside of you and touched that little red button that is marked “angry” so as to cause the emotion of anger to rise up in you.  I tried to say that in as unrealistic a way as I could possibly think of in my post-work tire.  I say that it is unrealistic because of course no one reaches inside of you to do that.  Anger is an emotion that comes from within.  There may be some injustice that takes place outside of you, or perhaps someone does something that is disagreeable to you in someway, but you choose to respond in anger.  There is a myriad of other emotional responses that you have, but you choose to respond in that way in that particular moment. There is not really any way around that fact.

Now, why that particular thing evokes a response of anger from you can be for a variety of reasons.  Perhaps someone did that to you a lot when you were a child and you have terrible memories of it.  Perhaps your parents chided you for doing it yourself and so you built up an aversion for it so as to not get into any further trouble.  Perhaps you love to do it yourself and get angry when someone else beats you to it.  And maybe its just plain old annoying in and of itself (a universally acceptable annoying think like scratching your fingers across a chalkboard).  Whatever it is, you choose to be angry about it.

So what?  Well, for one thing, I realize that I must work on adapting new terminology.  And much more than that, I must work on my responses to things that are either inside/outside of my control.  I never really need to respond in anger to anything.  What about righteous anger?  Holy indignation?  What about those things that pertain to God’s Holiness and upholding it at all costs?  Well, the proportion of things that I am actually angry about in a righteous, God honoring anger, in the big scheme of all that I ever get angry about, is probably down to the hundred thousandth of the percent.  Maybe a bit of an exaggeration, maybe not.  But most of the time when I’m angry its either at myself or its at someone else.  Neither is ever really justifiable (unless it falls into that small percentage of seeking-for-the-glory-of-God-Holy-indignation moments).

And secondly, I’ll work on owning my sin.  And not casting the blame of it upon some thing other than my own wicked tendencies which tell me the lie that things must go perfectly my way at all times.