God’s greatest conditional promise: “IF you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.” ~ John 15:7-8,NKJV
This verse starts with a two letter word – “if.” If is a conjunction that ties one thing to another. In this verse, “if” is in conjunction with the verb “abide.” To abide is a choice “to remain, to continue, to stay constantly connected, to dwell on with expectation and patience.”
As we abide – as we remain connected to our Creator – something supernatural happens: the desires of our hearts change. It is in His dwelling place that our deepest thoughts and desires are revealed. As we grow in our relationship with Him, our worldly worldview perspective begins to dissipate. It is replaced with the mindset of our Heavenly Father.
Things that were hidden become illuminated by His Light. We receive clarity in the things He desires for us. We not only receive wisdom from above, but discernment – an understanding of what is right in His eyes. We hear His voice in the stillness of abiding. He speaks and we answer. He calls and we follow. He reveals and we trust. We abide and He gives us the desires of our hearts.
Our desires are no longer contaminated with impurities. They have been replaced with the longing to be more like HIM…to live a life in step with our Master.
It is when we connect the “if” with the “abide” that it all begins to make perfect sense. It is then that we find our sweet, secret dwelling place with our Papa God. It is then – and only then – that we can rest and trust. No matter the force of the storms that rage on the outside, they cannot penetrate the sanctuary of our soul…our resting place with Him. It is there that I rest in perfect peace. Being still…..
“Papa God, give us eyes to see! Give us courage to remain connected to Your heavenly guiding hand! Give us patience to stay the course no matter how strong the storms may rage. Quicken Your Spirit within us and let your sanctuary be a fortress so strong that nothing this world throws at us can penetrate or shake us loose from your mighty grip. Protect us from the unnecessary and disrupt us when we slumber. Your will be done, in and through us…In JESUS’ name”.
In HIS STRONG LOVE,
Rose
Tuesday, December 27, 2016
A Crash Course in Joy
Some of the most successful people I know have discovered that failure is an inevitable part of success. The only way you’re ever going to get from where you are to where you want to be is to leave where you’ve always been. And leaving the “familiar” is scary. Our fear of failure keeps us stuck. The sooner we get over our embarrassment of failure, the sooner we’ll be able to get on with life transformation.
You may remember the first time you got on a bicycle – without training wheels, of course – how scary it was. Everything felt so awkward. You got on, you rode a ways, and you fell. You got back on, you rode a ways, and you fell. But you didn’t quit. You stayed with it. Soon you were able to ride like the wind.
Failure didn’t stop us when we were kids. Why do we allow failure to stop us now?
“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” ~ James 1.2-4
I don’t know of anyone who lives this out in their day to day lives better than my friends Jerry and Gina. They’ve been through one of the most devastating things a couple can go through. They watched their business that had once been vibrant and profitable dwindle down to a trickle. For seven years they tried everything they knew to keep it afloat. They buried themselves in debt trying to keep their employees on the payroll. Nothing worked. They eventually filed bankruptcy.
Today Jerry & Gina are two of the most positive people I know. They’re at peace with their lives – and they’re at peace with God. Today they’ll tell you their lives have never been better. Things didn’t go at all the way they had hoped. But they’ve accepted the way things are. And they trust God in the trials.
And Jerry and Gina have learned one of the most powerful lessons on earth: God loves us and cares for us in ways we can never truly grasp as long as things are comfortable in our lives.
“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, when you face trials of many kinds” – knowing that God’s got it. Get up. Keep going. We can embrace the trials – and failures – in life when we know that ultimately God is the One who’s going to take us from where we are to where he wants us to be.
You may remember the first time you got on a bicycle – without training wheels, of course – how scary it was. Everything felt so awkward. You got on, you rode a ways, and you fell. You got back on, you rode a ways, and you fell. But you didn’t quit. You stayed with it. Soon you were able to ride like the wind.
Failure didn’t stop us when we were kids. Why do we allow failure to stop us now?
“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” ~ James 1.2-4
I don’t know of anyone who lives this out in their day to day lives better than my friends Jerry and Gina. They’ve been through one of the most devastating things a couple can go through. They watched their business that had once been vibrant and profitable dwindle down to a trickle. For seven years they tried everything they knew to keep it afloat. They buried themselves in debt trying to keep their employees on the payroll. Nothing worked. They eventually filed bankruptcy.
Today Jerry & Gina are two of the most positive people I know. They’re at peace with their lives – and they’re at peace with God. Today they’ll tell you their lives have never been better. Things didn’t go at all the way they had hoped. But they’ve accepted the way things are. And they trust God in the trials.
And Jerry and Gina have learned one of the most powerful lessons on earth: God loves us and cares for us in ways we can never truly grasp as long as things are comfortable in our lives.
“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, when you face trials of many kinds” – knowing that God’s got it. Get up. Keep going. We can embrace the trials – and failures – in life when we know that ultimately God is the One who’s going to take us from where we are to where he wants us to be.
Tuesday, December 20, 2016
Has God's Grace and Love Really Run A-Muck
Grace and Love condemning condemners herald the accusation that graceful loving people have gone over the balance line when it comes to God grace and love. However, when it comes to God's grace and love there is no balance line, grace and love stands firm, you cannot go too far to the left or too far to the right because no matter how far you go God's GRACE is already there and His LOVE has already covered the multitude of wrongs.
Grace and Love as taught by "grace buting, love limiters" has reduced God's Amazing Grace and Unconditional Love to a means of being a fire escape from hell...if grace has run-a-muck...it is the muck-pile that the grace-condemners and love-limiters created by discrediting God's Grace and love. Grace that is reduced to being just a fire escape is a false gospel muck-pile of hog-wash and deception that renders God LOVELESS.
God's Grace and Love is clearly a transformative Gospel that goes far beyond being a fire escape from hell, according to Titus 2:11-14: For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ; Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.
The slingers of the phrases "Grace is the lazy man's Gospel" and "people are better lovers than God" are so uninformed about Grace and Love that their ignorance far overrides the deception they are in. Their idea that "being under grace" and "not under law" is that we are free from moral obligation and can sin without any consequences, but no problem because God is love so there is nothing to worry about. The charge that grace people teach that you do not have to obey the law because we have gotten out of balance is indicative of their deceptional illusion...for not obeying the teachings of Jesus is not due to too much grace and love, rather, it shows a lack of grace and love living, because to nullify God's commands means we have not understood His Grace or His Love. Grace and love is not only the means of forgiveness, it is also is the POWER for our OBEDIENCE...in fact, without the power of grace and love it is impossible to obey God's commands righteously. Doing it by self-effort is a result of self-righteousness in trying keep the Law as the measurement of obedience is a stench in the nostrils of God!
To preach the Law Keeping Gospel as a means of determining where we are spiritual is utter nonsense. A person cannot keep the Law of God without the Grace and Love of God. It is grace and love that sets you free to "walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit." The Spirit is not given by Law Keeping but to be graceful loving in living. Self-effort never produces righteousness no matter how well meaning it may be.
Live grace and love, speak grace and love, speak it correctly and the people who accept it will receive grace's love and power to live godly lives and fulfill its righteous requirements as they live the truth of what Grace and Love is in that their sin, past...present.and future is forgiven.
To be graceful loving costs me nothing and requires nothing of me. That’s the scandalous part that the law keepers can't get around it is an affront to "religious narrow-mindedness." Does that mean grace loving people have the right to continue to sin? Romans 6:1-2 is the answer; What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
This idea idea of ‘balance’ by the law keepers gives them the ability to keep God's people in the bondage of legalism.
God's grace and love does not need to be balanced with the Law, it needs to be experienced and lived for what it is! The true ‘Good News Gospel’ will not explain away morality and to live the moral commands, but enable their joyful and effortless fulfillment.
God created you and He loves you and because of His love for people He sent His Son to redeem you. God chose you because He loves you, He did not not choose you to damn you to an eternity of suffering! Don't take the condemnation and damnation of law-keepers as being from God, they are speaking out of ignorance and in need of your prayers for freedom from deception's deception.
Grace and Love as taught by "grace buting, love limiters" has reduced God's Amazing Grace and Unconditional Love to a means of being a fire escape from hell...if grace has run-a-muck...it is the muck-pile that the grace-condemners and love-limiters created by discrediting God's Grace and love. Grace that is reduced to being just a fire escape is a false gospel muck-pile of hog-wash and deception that renders God LOVELESS.
God's Grace and Love is clearly a transformative Gospel that goes far beyond being a fire escape from hell, according to Titus 2:11-14: For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ; Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.
The slingers of the phrases "Grace is the lazy man's Gospel" and "people are better lovers than God" are so uninformed about Grace and Love that their ignorance far overrides the deception they are in. Their idea that "being under grace" and "not under law" is that we are free from moral obligation and can sin without any consequences, but no problem because God is love so there is nothing to worry about. The charge that grace people teach that you do not have to obey the law because we have gotten out of balance is indicative of their deceptional illusion...for not obeying the teachings of Jesus is not due to too much grace and love, rather, it shows a lack of grace and love living, because to nullify God's commands means we have not understood His Grace or His Love. Grace and love is not only the means of forgiveness, it is also is the POWER for our OBEDIENCE...in fact, without the power of grace and love it is impossible to obey God's commands righteously. Doing it by self-effort is a result of self-righteousness in trying keep the Law as the measurement of obedience is a stench in the nostrils of God!
To preach the Law Keeping Gospel as a means of determining where we are spiritual is utter nonsense. A person cannot keep the Law of God without the Grace and Love of God. It is grace and love that sets you free to "walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit." The Spirit is not given by Law Keeping but to be graceful loving in living. Self-effort never produces righteousness no matter how well meaning it may be.
Live grace and love, speak grace and love, speak it correctly and the people who accept it will receive grace's love and power to live godly lives and fulfill its righteous requirements as they live the truth of what Grace and Love is in that their sin, past...present.and future is forgiven.
To be graceful loving costs me nothing and requires nothing of me. That’s the scandalous part that the law keepers can't get around it is an affront to "religious narrow-mindedness." Does that mean grace loving people have the right to continue to sin? Romans 6:1-2 is the answer; What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
This idea idea of ‘balance’ by the law keepers gives them the ability to keep God's people in the bondage of legalism.
God's grace and love does not need to be balanced with the Law, it needs to be experienced and lived for what it is! The true ‘Good News Gospel’ will not explain away morality and to live the moral commands, but enable their joyful and effortless fulfillment.
God created you and He loves you and because of His love for people He sent His Son to redeem you. God chose you because He loves you, He did not not choose you to damn you to an eternity of suffering! Don't take the condemnation and damnation of law-keepers as being from God, they are speaking out of ignorance and in need of your prayers for freedom from deception's deception.
Living Incarnationally
The Christian faith is centered on the belief that in Jesus Christ God became a human being. This is commonly referred to as the doctrine of the incarnation. It means that in Jesus, God became embodied. God left the blessed domain of heaven, was born in Bethlehem, and took on our humanity that we might share in the blessedness of heaven. He took on our sin so that we might share in his righteousness. He entered the domain of Satan’s oppressive reign to free us and transform the world into a domain of his loving reign. Jesus is God’s loving embodiment in the world.
As the embodiment of God, Jesus perfectly manifested what God is like. This is why the New Testament authors refer to Jesus as the Word of God (John 1:1), the image of God (Col 1:15), and the perfect expression of God’s very essence (Heb 1:3). It’s why Jesus could say, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). Because Jesus is the embodiment of God, all of our thinking about God must be centered upon him.
But the earliest Christians understood that the incarnation wasn’t just about what God did once upon a time in Jesus. Because Jesus reveals who God really is, the incarnation tells us something about what God is always doing. It’s also about the incarnation of God today. While there’s only one incarnate Son of God, God is always embodying himself in the world. He does this primarily by identifying with those who submit their lives to him.
This is why Jesus followers are collectively referred to as “the Body of Christ.” We are, in a very real sense, an extension of Jesus’ earthly body. We are God’s hands, feet, and mouth in the world.
This is illustrated by the two volumes written by Luke. The gospel of Luke is about the ministry of Jesus, and Acts is about the early church. Luke opens Acts by noting that in his “former book” he wrote about “all that Jesus began to do and to teach” (Acts 1:1). The second book then is about all that Jesus continues to do and to teach. The Gospel was about what God did through Jesus’ incarnate body, while Acts is about what God continues to do through Jesus’ second, corporate body.
The followers of Jesus are called to imitate God in all things (Eph 5:1-2). This includes imitating his incarnational love in the ways we fully enter into the life of others. We are called to live incarnationally. Jesus reveals that God is a God who is willing to set aside the blessedness of his own domain and become fully present to others. So too, we are called to be a people who are willing to set aside the comforts and conveniences of our own lives and become fully present to others. This is part of what it means to “be imitators of God” and “live in love as Christ loved us and gave his life for us” (Eph 5:1-2). As we live incarnationally, God himself is continuing to be embodied in the world.
—Adapted from Present Perfect, pages 118-120
As the embodiment of God, Jesus perfectly manifested what God is like. This is why the New Testament authors refer to Jesus as the Word of God (John 1:1), the image of God (Col 1:15), and the perfect expression of God’s very essence (Heb 1:3). It’s why Jesus could say, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). Because Jesus is the embodiment of God, all of our thinking about God must be centered upon him.
But the earliest Christians understood that the incarnation wasn’t just about what God did once upon a time in Jesus. Because Jesus reveals who God really is, the incarnation tells us something about what God is always doing. It’s also about the incarnation of God today. While there’s only one incarnate Son of God, God is always embodying himself in the world. He does this primarily by identifying with those who submit their lives to him.
This is why Jesus followers are collectively referred to as “the Body of Christ.” We are, in a very real sense, an extension of Jesus’ earthly body. We are God’s hands, feet, and mouth in the world.
This is illustrated by the two volumes written by Luke. The gospel of Luke is about the ministry of Jesus, and Acts is about the early church. Luke opens Acts by noting that in his “former book” he wrote about “all that Jesus began to do and to teach” (Acts 1:1). The second book then is about all that Jesus continues to do and to teach. The Gospel was about what God did through Jesus’ incarnate body, while Acts is about what God continues to do through Jesus’ second, corporate body.
The followers of Jesus are called to imitate God in all things (Eph 5:1-2). This includes imitating his incarnational love in the ways we fully enter into the life of others. We are called to live incarnationally. Jesus reveals that God is a God who is willing to set aside the blessedness of his own domain and become fully present to others. So too, we are called to be a people who are willing to set aside the comforts and conveniences of our own lives and become fully present to others. This is part of what it means to “be imitators of God” and “live in love as Christ loved us and gave his life for us” (Eph 5:1-2). As we live incarnationally, God himself is continuing to be embodied in the world.
—Adapted from Present Perfect, pages 118-120
Your Not Your Own
'Do you not know that...you are not your own?'
1 Corinthians 6:19
'The first thing God does is get us grounded on
strong reality and truth. Why shouldn't we
experience heartbreak? Through those doorways
God is opening up ways of fellowship with His
Son. If God can accomplish His purposes in this
world through a broken heart, then why not
thank Him for breaking yours?'
(OC)
1 Corinthians 6:19
'The first thing God does is get us grounded on
strong reality and truth. Why shouldn't we
experience heartbreak? Through those doorways
God is opening up ways of fellowship with His
Son. If God can accomplish His purposes in this
world through a broken heart, then why not
thank Him for breaking yours?'
(OC)
Friday, December 16, 2016
Trial of Faith
'If you have faith as a mustard seed...
nothing will be impossible for you.'
Matthew 17:20
'Never confuse the trial of faith with the ordinary
discipline of life, because a great deal of what
we call the trial of faith is the inevitable result
of being alive. Faith, as the Bible teaches it, is
faith in God coming against everything that
contradicts Him--a faith that says, 'I will remain
true to God's character whatever He may do.'
(OC)
AMEN! So be it, Lord.
nothing will be impossible for you.'
Matthew 17:20
'Never confuse the trial of faith with the ordinary
discipline of life, because a great deal of what
we call the trial of faith is the inevitable result
of being alive. Faith, as the Bible teaches it, is
faith in God coming against everything that
contradicts Him--a faith that says, 'I will remain
true to God's character whatever He may do.'
(OC)
AMEN! So be it, Lord.
Did God Create Satan? Sin?
There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job; and that man was blameless, upright, fearing God, and turning away from evil. –Job 1:1
It is helpful to understand that pride comes before sin. Pride misuses the natural, as mentioned above, and sin is the result. Pride would dominate with no regard for that which it controls. This is where Satan reveals himself to be pure, unadulterated, unrefined pride. God did not create Satan; He created a heavenly being that chose pride, and this resulted in something called Satan.He is like the locust that devours without ever looking back and then moves on to the next living thing. The enemy has no regard for human life or things created above in the heavens or below on the earth. He destroys and takes no responsibility for it. Satan sought to totally destroy Job, and for what? For nothing! For his pride alone does Satan destroy! If Satan is destroying your family, know this: it is for nothing!
Sin is not a created thing, but something that comes as a result. Created things are formed from nothing and exist as though they always were. Sin is the result of two created things being misused. For example, men and women have a natural sex desire; that is not sin. But then pride comes bringing chaos with no consideration, and the two natural desires interact in an unnatural act--sex without marriage--and sin occurs. Sin is therefore a result of pride.
The mule--the outcome of the mating of a horse and a donkey that cannot reproduce itself--can be an example of something that is not a created being but is a result. Because the mule is a resultbeing, to be rid of it we would have to attack that from which it springs, its source; all mules would naturally disappear if every horse or donkey were killed. Sin is a result of two natural things doing the unnatural. Sin is the result of the inner and outer life of man saying no in pride to the Creator. Sin is a parasite on the back of creation, the unnatural living on the natural. This is why God did not attack the result (sin), but allowed the inner life (Adam life) to be killed on the cross with Christ, and thus sin’s source (Adam Life) was destroyed. The new inner life we receive, Christ's life, never agrees with the unnatural and brings the outer life under its subjection. Every person who becomes a believer brings a deathblow to sin and death. “For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please” (Galatians 5:17).
God’s Word has ample warning of two things man falls captive to over and over again: pride, then wrong choices. Michael gives us 6 powerful statements to meditate on and ponder over and over…
1. pride comes before sin
2. even a heavenly being chose pride…who do we think we are?
3. sin is the result of the inner and outer life of man saying “no” in pride to the Creator.
4. but God did not attack the result (sin), but allowed the inner life (Adam life) to be killed on the cross with Christ…sin’s source in all Believers has been destroyed.
5. the new inner life (Christ’s life) all Believers have received never agrees with the unnatural and brings the outer life under its subjection.
6. every Believer has brought a deathblow to sin and death.
It is helpful to understand that pride comes before sin. Pride misuses the natural, as mentioned above, and sin is the result. Pride would dominate with no regard for that which it controls. This is where Satan reveals himself to be pure, unadulterated, unrefined pride. God did not create Satan; He created a heavenly being that chose pride, and this resulted in something called Satan.He is like the locust that devours without ever looking back and then moves on to the next living thing. The enemy has no regard for human life or things created above in the heavens or below on the earth. He destroys and takes no responsibility for it. Satan sought to totally destroy Job, and for what? For nothing! For his pride alone does Satan destroy! If Satan is destroying your family, know this: it is for nothing!
Sin is not a created thing, but something that comes as a result. Created things are formed from nothing and exist as though they always were. Sin is the result of two created things being misused. For example, men and women have a natural sex desire; that is not sin. But then pride comes bringing chaos with no consideration, and the two natural desires interact in an unnatural act--sex without marriage--and sin occurs. Sin is therefore a result of pride.
The mule--the outcome of the mating of a horse and a donkey that cannot reproduce itself--can be an example of something that is not a created being but is a result. Because the mule is a resultbeing, to be rid of it we would have to attack that from which it springs, its source; all mules would naturally disappear if every horse or donkey were killed. Sin is a result of two natural things doing the unnatural. Sin is the result of the inner and outer life of man saying no in pride to the Creator. Sin is a parasite on the back of creation, the unnatural living on the natural. This is why God did not attack the result (sin), but allowed the inner life (Adam life) to be killed on the cross with Christ, and thus sin’s source (Adam Life) was destroyed. The new inner life we receive, Christ's life, never agrees with the unnatural and brings the outer life under its subjection. Every person who becomes a believer brings a deathblow to sin and death. “For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please” (Galatians 5:17).
God’s Word has ample warning of two things man falls captive to over and over again: pride, then wrong choices. Michael gives us 6 powerful statements to meditate on and ponder over and over…
1. pride comes before sin
2. even a heavenly being chose pride…who do we think we are?
3. sin is the result of the inner and outer life of man saying “no” in pride to the Creator.
4. but God did not attack the result (sin), but allowed the inner life (Adam life) to be killed on the cross with Christ…sin’s source in all Believers has been destroyed.
5. the new inner life (Christ’s life) all Believers have received never agrees with the unnatural and brings the outer life under its subjection.
6. every Believer has brought a deathblow to sin and death.
Monday, December 12, 2016
God Made Visible
During Advent, we celebrate and bring to the forefront of our imagination the God who was made visible. The Gospel of John sums up the advent of God with one sentence: “And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth” (Jn 1:14).
“The Word” refers to God’s thinking and his self-expression. When God thinks, it is Jesus. When God expresses himself, it is Jesus. Notice the singularity of the claim. Jesus is not one Word among others, as though God had more than one mind and more than one mouth. Rather, wherever and whenever God thinks and expresses himself, it is Jesus Christ.
Moreover, it has been this way throughout eternity. The Word is not created. He was “in the beginning with God” and is himself God (Jn 1:2). He has been fellowshipping with the Father from all eternity (Jn 17:5, 24). This means that in knowing Jesus, we are not knowing someone “one step removed” from God. In knowing Jesus we are knowing God himself, God in his eternal essence. In seeing Jesus, we are seeing the very heart of God.
In fact, far from being created, the Word is actually the Creator. John tells us that everything was made by the Word, through the Word, and for the Word (Jn 1:1-3). Creation exists, in other words, as an expression of God and for the purpose of people knowing God. Creation’s purpose is found in Jesus Christ.
The Word is the life and the light of all people (Jn 1:4). God wants people to know him and share in his life (Jn 17:3). Whenever and wherever people experience true life and true light, it is Jesus Christ, whether they know it or not (Jn 1:4, 9). Whereas the enemy covered up the true God in a veil of deceptive darkness that brought death, Jesus turns the light on so we can see who God really is. In doing this, Jesus gives life.
In Christ, we see the glory, the beauty, the fullness, the truth of God. Even though no one previously had ever seen God’s eternal, transcendent nature, now in the Word of Jesus Christ God is made known (Jn 1:18). The invisible God is made visible. In Christ, the previously concealed God has been unambiguously revealed.
—Adapted from Is God to Blame? pages 26-28
“The Word” refers to God’s thinking and his self-expression. When God thinks, it is Jesus. When God expresses himself, it is Jesus. Notice the singularity of the claim. Jesus is not one Word among others, as though God had more than one mind and more than one mouth. Rather, wherever and whenever God thinks and expresses himself, it is Jesus Christ.
Moreover, it has been this way throughout eternity. The Word is not created. He was “in the beginning with God” and is himself God (Jn 1:2). He has been fellowshipping with the Father from all eternity (Jn 17:5, 24). This means that in knowing Jesus, we are not knowing someone “one step removed” from God. In knowing Jesus we are knowing God himself, God in his eternal essence. In seeing Jesus, we are seeing the very heart of God.
In fact, far from being created, the Word is actually the Creator. John tells us that everything was made by the Word, through the Word, and for the Word (Jn 1:1-3). Creation exists, in other words, as an expression of God and for the purpose of people knowing God. Creation’s purpose is found in Jesus Christ.
The Word is the life and the light of all people (Jn 1:4). God wants people to know him and share in his life (Jn 17:3). Whenever and wherever people experience true life and true light, it is Jesus Christ, whether they know it or not (Jn 1:4, 9). Whereas the enemy covered up the true God in a veil of deceptive darkness that brought death, Jesus turns the light on so we can see who God really is. In doing this, Jesus gives life.
In Christ, we see the glory, the beauty, the fullness, the truth of God. Even though no one previously had ever seen God’s eternal, transcendent nature, now in the Word of Jesus Christ God is made known (Jn 1:18). The invisible God is made visible. In Christ, the previously concealed God has been unambiguously revealed.
—Adapted from Is God to Blame? pages 26-28
Desire
'If I find in myself a desire which no experience in the world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world. If none of my earthly pleasures satisfy it, that does not prove that the universe is a fraud. Probably earthly pleasures were never meant to satisfy it, but only to arouse it, to suggest the real thing. If that be so, I must take care, on the one hand, never to despise, or to be unthankful for, these earthly blessings, on the other hand, never to mistake them for
something else of which they are only a kind of copy, or echo, or vestige. I must keep alive in myself the desire for my true country, which I shall not find till after death; I must never let it get snowed under or turned aside: I must make it the main focus of life to pass on to that country and to help others do the same.'
(CS Lewis Mere Christianity)
something else of which they are only a kind of copy, or echo, or vestige. I must keep alive in myself the desire for my true country, which I shall not find till after death; I must never let it get snowed under or turned aside: I must make it the main focus of life to pass on to that country and to help others do the same.'
(CS Lewis Mere Christianity)
God's Love
Did you know you can cut short the time it takes for you to develop in the love of God? It's entirely possible. You can bypass all the ineffective, natural avenues people use to try to make themselves more loving. Instead, you can go after the love of God with the kind of tenacity that never gives up, even when it hurts! That's what the Apostle Paul is talking about in First Corinthians 12:31 when he says, But covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way.
Paul goes on to say in First Corinthians 13:1, Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity [love], I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. What he is saying here is that a person can have the capacity to speak in tongues and yet still be a divider, a hater, or an envious person who causes a lot of trouble. What Paul is not saying is that a person who establishes a strong prayer life of edification by consistently praying in tongues can remain a sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal!
You see, when you consistently pray in tongues for your personal edification, God will purge the old brass out of you and give you gold. He will show you a more excellent and much quicker way to develop in love.
Now, it is admittedly very difficult to die to the flesh in order to walk in this kind of love. I've certainly learned that in my own personal experience. At times it seemed like my decisions not to defend myself against the criticism of others was really hard on my pride. But that's all right--I'm never going to stop pursuing love, and my roots will continue to grow big and deep. I can only imagine what the full-grown tree will look like! I'm determined that when I go home to be with the Lord, large, healthy fruit will be hanging off a bunch of large, healthy limbs!
That should be your goal as well. Sure, it is difficult to tell your emotions to be quiet. It's never easy to let other people rant and rave while you keep your mouth shut. Nevertheless, each time you choose to do the right thing, a death process goes into operation on your behalf and nothing is stronger than the power of love, for God's love operates according to His Spirit and His Word. So the "more excellent way" that is referred to in First Corinthians 12:31 is to go after the love of God with the same tenacity you go after the gifts of the Spirit. You are supposed to pursue the manifestation of God's love in your life as much and as hard as you go after anything else God has provided for you.
According to Paul, choosing the path of love is what qualifies you to partake of the meat of the Word, whereas those who choose to remain carnal, envious, and full of strife can only bear the milk of the Word (First Corinthians 3:1-3).
As I fall more and more in love with God, it becomes increasingly clear to me that we have to reach a certain place in His love before we can begin to walk in higher levels of His peace. That is why when we hold onto things in our lives that have the capacity to hurt others, peace is still a long way from us. Whatever we hold onto in us that has a capacity to hurt people is what will keep us from living in the peace of God. The love of God cannot pour through our lives as long as we remain carnal and full of strife, stuck on the milk of the Word.
I've said this many times before, but covet love, forgiveness, and peace with the same fervency and tenacity you would covet the thought of God using you in His gifts and power. Why? Because the more you choose to walk in God's love, the more you put into operation the authority you have been given over all the power of the enemy who wants to dominate your circumstances and your life.
What are we really fighting for when we choose to walk in the love of God? We are contending for a high level of operation within the measure of our part in the Body of Christ. We are fighting for the increase of that measure so we can come into the fullness of our calling in obedience to Christ.
Knowing this truth makes it a little easier to die to self and pursue love, doesn't it? It helps to know you are fighting for an increase of your measure in the Body. With every decision you make to walk in love, you bring increase to the Body for the edifying of itself in love!
So when someone says something ugly or offensive to you, stop for a moment and let the anointing of the Holy Spirit clear your head and quiet your heart. I know it's hard to hold your tongue, but you can do it. God will help you every time you let Him.
Let the Lord take that soul of yours and submit it to His work of edification as you faithfully pray in tongues every day. Let Him help you see people in a new light when they do things to hurt or offend. Spend time thanking Him and praising Him continually for His love that He pours out liberally, and never stop coveting earnestly a life that is lived according to His love.
Especially this Christmas season and with a brand new year coming up, I encourage you to draw on God's strength like never before and to pursue the love that Jesus came to earth to bring. Choose to forgive others their offenses against you--the Holy Spirit will help make you willing to be mortified through His power--and then get ready to experience the pleasure of walking in a whole new level of God's peace and love!
Merry Christmas to you and to those around you whose lives you touch.
Love and blessings,
Dave Roberson
Paul goes on to say in First Corinthians 13:1, Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity [love], I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. What he is saying here is that a person can have the capacity to speak in tongues and yet still be a divider, a hater, or an envious person who causes a lot of trouble. What Paul is not saying is that a person who establishes a strong prayer life of edification by consistently praying in tongues can remain a sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal!
You see, when you consistently pray in tongues for your personal edification, God will purge the old brass out of you and give you gold. He will show you a more excellent and much quicker way to develop in love.
Now, it is admittedly very difficult to die to the flesh in order to walk in this kind of love. I've certainly learned that in my own personal experience. At times it seemed like my decisions not to defend myself against the criticism of others was really hard on my pride. But that's all right--I'm never going to stop pursuing love, and my roots will continue to grow big and deep. I can only imagine what the full-grown tree will look like! I'm determined that when I go home to be with the Lord, large, healthy fruit will be hanging off a bunch of large, healthy limbs!
That should be your goal as well. Sure, it is difficult to tell your emotions to be quiet. It's never easy to let other people rant and rave while you keep your mouth shut. Nevertheless, each time you choose to do the right thing, a death process goes into operation on your behalf and nothing is stronger than the power of love, for God's love operates according to His Spirit and His Word. So the "more excellent way" that is referred to in First Corinthians 12:31 is to go after the love of God with the same tenacity you go after the gifts of the Spirit. You are supposed to pursue the manifestation of God's love in your life as much and as hard as you go after anything else God has provided for you.
According to Paul, choosing the path of love is what qualifies you to partake of the meat of the Word, whereas those who choose to remain carnal, envious, and full of strife can only bear the milk of the Word (First Corinthians 3:1-3).
As I fall more and more in love with God, it becomes increasingly clear to me that we have to reach a certain place in His love before we can begin to walk in higher levels of His peace. That is why when we hold onto things in our lives that have the capacity to hurt others, peace is still a long way from us. Whatever we hold onto in us that has a capacity to hurt people is what will keep us from living in the peace of God. The love of God cannot pour through our lives as long as we remain carnal and full of strife, stuck on the milk of the Word.
I've said this many times before, but covet love, forgiveness, and peace with the same fervency and tenacity you would covet the thought of God using you in His gifts and power. Why? Because the more you choose to walk in God's love, the more you put into operation the authority you have been given over all the power of the enemy who wants to dominate your circumstances and your life.
What are we really fighting for when we choose to walk in the love of God? We are contending for a high level of operation within the measure of our part in the Body of Christ. We are fighting for the increase of that measure so we can come into the fullness of our calling in obedience to Christ.
Knowing this truth makes it a little easier to die to self and pursue love, doesn't it? It helps to know you are fighting for an increase of your measure in the Body. With every decision you make to walk in love, you bring increase to the Body for the edifying of itself in love!
So when someone says something ugly or offensive to you, stop for a moment and let the anointing of the Holy Spirit clear your head and quiet your heart. I know it's hard to hold your tongue, but you can do it. God will help you every time you let Him.
Let the Lord take that soul of yours and submit it to His work of edification as you faithfully pray in tongues every day. Let Him help you see people in a new light when they do things to hurt or offend. Spend time thanking Him and praising Him continually for His love that He pours out liberally, and never stop coveting earnestly a life that is lived according to His love.
Especially this Christmas season and with a brand new year coming up, I encourage you to draw on God's strength like never before and to pursue the love that Jesus came to earth to bring. Choose to forgive others their offenses against you--the Holy Spirit will help make you willing to be mortified through His power--and then get ready to experience the pleasure of walking in a whole new level of God's peace and love!
Merry Christmas to you and to those around you whose lives you touch.
Love and blessings,
Dave Roberson
Friday, December 9, 2016
Substitution
'He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for
us, so that we might become the righteousness
of God. (II Corinthians 5:21)
'Through identification with His death I can
be freed from sin, and have His very
righteousness imparted as a gift to me. The
teaching is not Christ for me unless I am
determined to have Christ formed in me.'
(OC)
us, so that we might become the righteousness
of God. (II Corinthians 5:21)
'Through identification with His death I can
be freed from sin, and have His very
righteousness imparted as a gift to me. The
teaching is not Christ for me unless I am
determined to have Christ formed in me.'
(OC)
Pleasing to Him
'Without faith it is impossible to please Him.
(Hebrews 11:6)
'Faith must be tested and tried before it becomes a
reality in your life so that no matter what happens,
the transforming power of God's providence
transforms perfect faith into reality. Faith is the
entire person in the right relationship with God
through the power of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.'
(OC)
(Hebrews 11:6)
'Faith must be tested and tried before it becomes a
reality in your life so that no matter what happens,
the transforming power of God's providence
transforms perfect faith into reality. Faith is the
entire person in the right relationship with God
through the power of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.'
(OC)
How God is Glorified
Peter wrote, “[God] has given us … his precious and very great promises, so that through them … [we] may become participants of the divine nature” (2 Pet 1:4). With the coming of Christ, God has made a way for us to participate in the triune love that is the “divine nature.”
We see this fleshed out when Jesus prayed that his disciples
…may be one. As you Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us. … I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. … I made your name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them. (John 17:21, 23, 26)
What a fantastic prayer! When we place our trust in Christ, we are made one with Christ and thereby participate in the loving union of the Father and Son. (Other passages make it clear that the Spirit is also included in this loving union). This is our participation “in the divine nature,” and it includes the fact that the Father loves us with the very same love with which he loves Jesus. In fact, because we are “in Christ,” the Father loves us in the same process of loving the Christ. As the author of Ephesians put it, we are loved by God “in the Beloved” (Eph1:6). We are, in short, loved with the same love that unites the three Persons of the Trinity! (see post).
Jesus’ prayer is that our participation in God’s love would result in his followers glorifying God by reflecting the love of the Triune God in the way we are united with one another. Jesus says to the Father, “[t]he glory which you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one” (Jn 17:22, emphasis added). Now, I’ve read and heard some people associate God’s glory with his control over everything. I will confess that I have never understood what is so glorious about someone exercising a power that they innately possess. By virtue of being an able-bodied human, for example, I have total control over how I move my little finger. But I seriously doubt anyone would call me “glorious” for this reason! So too, of course God could control every aspect of his creation if he wanted to. He’s God! He innately possesses that power. But what would be glorious if he decided to exercise that power?
Not only this, but if God’s glory was him exercising control over everything, he obviously could never share his glory with others. Yet, Jesus’ prayer makes it perfectly clear that God’s glory can be given away, for his glory is simply the radiance of his love. So, Jesus gives us the same glory he had been given when we empowers us to be united with one another in love, just as he and the Father are united in love. And what makes this glory truly glorious is that, far from being displayed in God’s control over things, this glory was most perfectly displayed when Christ gave up his innate power in order to lay his life down for us (see Jn 12:27-33).
So folks, know that you are, every moment, one with Christ and “loved in the Beloved.” And let this love empower you to glorify God by loving all others with this same, other-oriented, self-sacrificial love.
We see this fleshed out when Jesus prayed that his disciples
…may be one. As you Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us. … I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. … I made your name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them. (John 17:21, 23, 26)
What a fantastic prayer! When we place our trust in Christ, we are made one with Christ and thereby participate in the loving union of the Father and Son. (Other passages make it clear that the Spirit is also included in this loving union). This is our participation “in the divine nature,” and it includes the fact that the Father loves us with the very same love with which he loves Jesus. In fact, because we are “in Christ,” the Father loves us in the same process of loving the Christ. As the author of Ephesians put it, we are loved by God “in the Beloved” (Eph1:6). We are, in short, loved with the same love that unites the three Persons of the Trinity! (see post).
Jesus’ prayer is that our participation in God’s love would result in his followers glorifying God by reflecting the love of the Triune God in the way we are united with one another. Jesus says to the Father, “[t]he glory which you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one” (Jn 17:22, emphasis added). Now, I’ve read and heard some people associate God’s glory with his control over everything. I will confess that I have never understood what is so glorious about someone exercising a power that they innately possess. By virtue of being an able-bodied human, for example, I have total control over how I move my little finger. But I seriously doubt anyone would call me “glorious” for this reason! So too, of course God could control every aspect of his creation if he wanted to. He’s God! He innately possesses that power. But what would be glorious if he decided to exercise that power?
Not only this, but if God’s glory was him exercising control over everything, he obviously could never share his glory with others. Yet, Jesus’ prayer makes it perfectly clear that God’s glory can be given away, for his glory is simply the radiance of his love. So, Jesus gives us the same glory he had been given when we empowers us to be united with one another in love, just as he and the Father are united in love. And what makes this glory truly glorious is that, far from being displayed in God’s control over things, this glory was most perfectly displayed when Christ gave up his innate power in order to lay his life down for us (see Jn 12:27-33).
So folks, know that you are, every moment, one with Christ and “loved in the Beloved.” And let this love empower you to glorify God by loving all others with this same, other-oriented, self-sacrificial love.
Monday, December 5, 2016
Q. Isn't the teaching, "once saved, always saved," arrogant?
A. At first glance, it may appear as though someone being totally assured of his or her salvation is prideful and arrogant. On the other hand, never knowing for sure whether you are saved seems humble and pious. But this is a deception.
A snippet from Philippians 1:6 of the Apostolic Bible Polyglot: Being persuaded in this same thing, that the one commencing in you a good work, will complete it as far as the day of Jesus Christ.
This Scripture teaches that it is God who works the perseverance of each saint.
"Once saved, always saved" is a way of expressing the doctrine of grace usually called the perseverance of the saints. The perseverance of the saints is the teaching that God is saving His people through His Son, and He will make sure they persevere or abide in that salvation to the end. Believing this doctrine is the opposite of arrogance. It teaches that there is nothing we can do to save ourselves; no matter what we do, we are sinful and unworthy of salvation. Our salvation, then, must be entirely the work of God. He saved us from start to finish. Nothing we do contributes to our salvation.
When we believers say our salvation is secure, we are not arrogantly saying that we are better than anyone else. We're saying that we're miserable sinners incapable of meriting even part of our salvation, but that we're resting entirely on God to save us. We believe that by dying on the Cross, Jesus died for our sins. If Jesus' atoning work has earned our salvation, how can we fail? If our salvation is entirely in God's hands, how can we lose it? There is nothing arrogant about that. It is an attitude of trusting in God instead of ourselves.
Notice Romans 8:29-30: "For whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. Whom he predestined, those he also called. Whom he called, those he also justified. Whom he justified, those he also glorified." From God's predestining us to His glorifying us, our salvation is all His work and absolutely sure to happen. There is nothing here about our sins possibly getting in the way. In fact, it is impossible for our sins to prevent our salvation because God has justified us from all sins. "Who could bring a charge against God's chosen ones? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, yes rather, who was raised from the dead, who is at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us" (Romans 8:33-34).
Notice how clearly Jesus taught the same thing: "Most certainly I tell you, he who hears my word, and believes him who sent me, has eternal life, and doesn’t come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life" (John 5:24). Notice that the believer now has eternal life, will not be judged, has already passed from death to life, and is thus completely safe. He or she is saved and will remain so.
Although they likely don't realize it, those who reject "once saved, always saved" are very far from expressing true humility. They are implying that their salvation is ultimately up to what they do. They either make the grade by being good or they don't. Those who are saved are saved, not entirely by the grace of God, but because they are better than those who are not saved. Isn't that arrogance? Isn't that a cause for boasting? But the Bible says, "Where then is the boasting? It is excluded. By what manner of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith. We maintain therefore that a man is justified by faith apart from the works of the law" (Romans 3:27-28).
The teaching of "once saved, always saved," or the perseverance of the saints, isn't arrogant. It is the acknowledgment that we can't save ourselves and the recognition that, since our salvation is in God's hands, he who has begun a good work in us will complete it (see Philippians 1:6). It cannot be arrogant to express our trust in God's ability to save us.
A snippet from Philippians 1:6 of the Apostolic Bible Polyglot: Being persuaded in this same thing, that the one commencing in you a good work, will complete it as far as the day of Jesus Christ.
This Scripture teaches that it is God who works the perseverance of each saint.
"Once saved, always saved" is a way of expressing the doctrine of grace usually called the perseverance of the saints. The perseverance of the saints is the teaching that God is saving His people through His Son, and He will make sure they persevere or abide in that salvation to the end. Believing this doctrine is the opposite of arrogance. It teaches that there is nothing we can do to save ourselves; no matter what we do, we are sinful and unworthy of salvation. Our salvation, then, must be entirely the work of God. He saved us from start to finish. Nothing we do contributes to our salvation.
When we believers say our salvation is secure, we are not arrogantly saying that we are better than anyone else. We're saying that we're miserable sinners incapable of meriting even part of our salvation, but that we're resting entirely on God to save us. We believe that by dying on the Cross, Jesus died for our sins. If Jesus' atoning work has earned our salvation, how can we fail? If our salvation is entirely in God's hands, how can we lose it? There is nothing arrogant about that. It is an attitude of trusting in God instead of ourselves.
Notice Romans 8:29-30: "For whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. Whom he predestined, those he also called. Whom he called, those he also justified. Whom he justified, those he also glorified." From God's predestining us to His glorifying us, our salvation is all His work and absolutely sure to happen. There is nothing here about our sins possibly getting in the way. In fact, it is impossible for our sins to prevent our salvation because God has justified us from all sins. "Who could bring a charge against God's chosen ones? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, yes rather, who was raised from the dead, who is at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us" (Romans 8:33-34).
Notice how clearly Jesus taught the same thing: "Most certainly I tell you, he who hears my word, and believes him who sent me, has eternal life, and doesn’t come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life" (John 5:24). Notice that the believer now has eternal life, will not be judged, has already passed from death to life, and is thus completely safe. He or she is saved and will remain so.
Although they likely don't realize it, those who reject "once saved, always saved" are very far from expressing true humility. They are implying that their salvation is ultimately up to what they do. They either make the grade by being good or they don't. Those who are saved are saved, not entirely by the grace of God, but because they are better than those who are not saved. Isn't that arrogance? Isn't that a cause for boasting? But the Bible says, "Where then is the boasting? It is excluded. By what manner of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith. We maintain therefore that a man is justified by faith apart from the works of the law" (Romans 3:27-28).
The teaching of "once saved, always saved," or the perseverance of the saints, isn't arrogant. It is the acknowledgment that we can't save ourselves and the recognition that, since our salvation is in God's hands, he who has begun a good work in us will complete it (see Philippians 1:6). It cannot be arrogant to express our trust in God's ability to save us.
Saturday, December 3, 2016
Great Exchanges
by Greg Albrecht
Your first thought at this time of the year might be those frenzied crowds in shopping malls and department stores on the days immediately following Christmas. People exchanging and returning gifts they received that were the wrong size, wrong color—or just plain wrong!
But there's another exchange we need to keep in mind. This great exchange is the reality of the cross of Christ. Jesus Christ took our sin and died for it, paying the debt that we could not pay. In exchange, God, because of his grace, gives us eternal life. Our sin for eternal life! The great spiritual exchange.
Great exchanges characterize the month of December for Christians —as gifts, greeting cards, worship, meals and social visits are exchanged and experienced in celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. And while the cross was a great exchange, so was the manger in Bethlehem.
The miracle, mystery and majesty of Christmas is found in Immanuel, God with us (Matthew 1:23). God with us means that God is not distant, detached or disconnected. He didn't consider himself immune from our suffering and pain. God, in the person of Jesus, came to be one of us that he might save us. The Creator of the cosmos became a creature of his creation in order to set right all that has gone wrong on our tiny little planet.
Not only did God, in the person of Jesus, come to be one of us, he did so in a way that we would never have imagined or planned, had he asked our advice. He didn't arrive from the glory of eternity and heaven as a full grown adult. Even though the Bible calls him the second Adam, the King of kings started his earthly journey by being born as a baby. And not just any baby—but born to a virgin. And not just any place, but in a barnyard, as opposed to a palace more befitting the King of kings. The circumstances of his entrance on the world stage included a working class family, a young mother (a teenager who was unmarried when she conceived), an enslaved nation under military occupation and a small, out of the way place called Bethlehem.
In the play "Green Pastures," the angel Gabriel is depicted as approaching God while God is deep in thought. God is concerned that the people on earth do not seem to be listening to the prophets and messengers he sends. Gabriel becomes angry and offers to blow the final trumpet at once, ending human history as we know it. But God takes the trumpet away from Gabriel. Gabriel protests that humans never listen to the messengers God sends. God responds, "I am not going to send anybody this time. I am going myself." It was a great exchange.
Christmas is designed to worship, celebrate and proclaim this great event—this great exchange. Christmas is a time that should be Christ-centered. You may choose to put up lights, hang stockings, decorate a tree, wear red and green, send Christmas cards, attend a concert, have a party, spend time with your family and observe special family traditions. But all of those events are simply icing on the cake. The reason and the foundation of Christmas is Christ.
Don't forget what Christmas is all about. Frosty the Snowman, Santa Claus, shopping expeditions, wrapping presents, yule logs and sleigh rides can easily take our focus off the sacred and direct it to the secular. Christmas is all about God doing for us what we can never do for ourselves. Christmas is all about God's love for us. Don't get so caught up in physically oriented exchanges that you miss the great spiritual exchange.
Your first thought at this time of the year might be those frenzied crowds in shopping malls and department stores on the days immediately following Christmas. People exchanging and returning gifts they received that were the wrong size, wrong color—or just plain wrong!
But there's another exchange we need to keep in mind. This great exchange is the reality of the cross of Christ. Jesus Christ took our sin and died for it, paying the debt that we could not pay. In exchange, God, because of his grace, gives us eternal life. Our sin for eternal life! The great spiritual exchange.
Great exchanges characterize the month of December for Christians —as gifts, greeting cards, worship, meals and social visits are exchanged and experienced in celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. And while the cross was a great exchange, so was the manger in Bethlehem.
The miracle, mystery and majesty of Christmas is found in Immanuel, God with us (Matthew 1:23). God with us means that God is not distant, detached or disconnected. He didn't consider himself immune from our suffering and pain. God, in the person of Jesus, came to be one of us that he might save us. The Creator of the cosmos became a creature of his creation in order to set right all that has gone wrong on our tiny little planet.
Not only did God, in the person of Jesus, come to be one of us, he did so in a way that we would never have imagined or planned, had he asked our advice. He didn't arrive from the glory of eternity and heaven as a full grown adult. Even though the Bible calls him the second Adam, the King of kings started his earthly journey by being born as a baby. And not just any baby—but born to a virgin. And not just any place, but in a barnyard, as opposed to a palace more befitting the King of kings. The circumstances of his entrance on the world stage included a working class family, a young mother (a teenager who was unmarried when she conceived), an enslaved nation under military occupation and a small, out of the way place called Bethlehem.
In the play "Green Pastures," the angel Gabriel is depicted as approaching God while God is deep in thought. God is concerned that the people on earth do not seem to be listening to the prophets and messengers he sends. Gabriel becomes angry and offers to blow the final trumpet at once, ending human history as we know it. But God takes the trumpet away from Gabriel. Gabriel protests that humans never listen to the messengers God sends. God responds, "I am not going to send anybody this time. I am going myself." It was a great exchange.
Christmas is designed to worship, celebrate and proclaim this great event—this great exchange. Christmas is a time that should be Christ-centered. You may choose to put up lights, hang stockings, decorate a tree, wear red and green, send Christmas cards, attend a concert, have a party, spend time with your family and observe special family traditions. But all of those events are simply icing on the cake. The reason and the foundation of Christmas is Christ.
Don't forget what Christmas is all about. Frosty the Snowman, Santa Claus, shopping expeditions, wrapping presents, yule logs and sleigh rides can easily take our focus off the sacred and direct it to the secular. Christmas is all about God doing for us what we can never do for ourselves. Christmas is all about God's love for us. Don't get so caught up in physically oriented exchanges that you miss the great spiritual exchange.
A Christ-Centered Time Out - Brennan Manning h/t Greg Albrecht
In the midst of the hateful accusations of the now concluded election and all of its campaign rhetoric, and the violence and anger that has followed – in the midst of new and deep divides between family and friends, we can find healing in the gospel of Jesus Christ. It’s time for a time out! We can find peace and assurance – the Lord our Shepherd will lead us to green pastures and quiet waters, preparing a table for us so that we might dwell in his house forever.
With our deep need of being still and waiting for God in mind, I was re-reading the introduction to Brennan Manning’s “The Relentless Tenderness of Jesus.” His words are relevant and timely, almost as if they were written in the midst of the turmoil that rages around our world today. May Brennan Manning’s word that follow, from “A Word Before” – on pages 11-12, combine with Paul’s encouragement to each of us, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God” (Colossians 3:16). May these words help lift us out of the gutter of politics that we may focus on Jesus – Greg Albrecht
“On the eve of his death, Jesus prayed to the Father: ‘that you love them as you loved me… so that your love for me may live in them” (John 17:23,26 NAB). The same verses in The Message read: “that you’ve sent me and loved them in the same way you’ve loved me… so that your love for me might be in them exactly as I am.”
This conjoined passage bends the mind, stuns the heart and beggars speech. It is the cause of ecstatic utterance among the saints, the source of spiritual intoxication among the mystics and, along with the incarnation, the most extraordinary demand ever made on Christian faith. It simply seems incredible.
God loves you just as much as he loves His Son, Jesus Christ.
This is what Scripture says without nuance and with utter precision. Of course, the radical leftists and the right-wing extremists, with their one-note agendas, vociferously protest, because neither can live with biblical clarity. On the right, words without nuance terrify; on the left, there must be nuance for nitpicking. The mavens of the media on both sides are apoplectic, hurling accusations of fundamentalism from the left and lunatic liberalism from the right.
Neither side knows the God revealed by and in Jesus Christ. The divide between human beings and God is nowhere more apparent than here. You may like your spouse 90 percent, a colleague at work 50 percent and your attorney 20 percent. If you assume that God divides his affection with 100 percent for Jesus, 70 percent for Mother Teresa and 2 percent for you, you are thinking not of God but of yourself. As Peter von Breeman notes, “We have love, but God is love.” Love is not one of many activities that God pursues. It is his entire being.
The psalmist writes, “Pause awhile, and know that I am God” (26:10 JB). I favor the Jerusalem Bible translation because it takes time for me to be still, to come to that place of inner quiet. Stillness is more than silence and it is beyond solitude. Interior stillness is too deep for words.
Unhampered by self-consciousness, our attention is focused entirely on God and his love. In this sacred now, we immediately understand that God cannot measure his love, giving 100 percent to Jesus and a tiny fraction to us. When Catherine of Siena, a dynamic contemplative in action, was asked to describe the God of her personal experience, she cried, “He is pazzo d’amore, ebro d’amore” – crazed with love, drunk with love. Yet her words are feeble and inadequate, because Mystery is spoiled by a word.
“Concepts create idols,” wrote Gregory of Nyssa. “Only wonder understands anything.” The eminent German theologian Karl Rahner, who died in 1985, wrote: “Some things are understood not by grasping but by allowing oneself to be grasped.” As you read these pages, I pray that you allow yourself to be grasped, and that you “pause awhile” and let yourself be loved in your brokenness.
– Brennan Manning
With our deep need of being still and waiting for God in mind, I was re-reading the introduction to Brennan Manning’s “The Relentless Tenderness of Jesus.” His words are relevant and timely, almost as if they were written in the midst of the turmoil that rages around our world today. May Brennan Manning’s word that follow, from “A Word Before” – on pages 11-12, combine with Paul’s encouragement to each of us, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God” (Colossians 3:16). May these words help lift us out of the gutter of politics that we may focus on Jesus – Greg Albrecht
“On the eve of his death, Jesus prayed to the Father: ‘that you love them as you loved me… so that your love for me may live in them” (John 17:23,26 NAB). The same verses in The Message read: “that you’ve sent me and loved them in the same way you’ve loved me… so that your love for me might be in them exactly as I am.”
This conjoined passage bends the mind, stuns the heart and beggars speech. It is the cause of ecstatic utterance among the saints, the source of spiritual intoxication among the mystics and, along with the incarnation, the most extraordinary demand ever made on Christian faith. It simply seems incredible.
God loves you just as much as he loves His Son, Jesus Christ.
This is what Scripture says without nuance and with utter precision. Of course, the radical leftists and the right-wing extremists, with their one-note agendas, vociferously protest, because neither can live with biblical clarity. On the right, words without nuance terrify; on the left, there must be nuance for nitpicking. The mavens of the media on both sides are apoplectic, hurling accusations of fundamentalism from the left and lunatic liberalism from the right.
Neither side knows the God revealed by and in Jesus Christ. The divide between human beings and God is nowhere more apparent than here. You may like your spouse 90 percent, a colleague at work 50 percent and your attorney 20 percent. If you assume that God divides his affection with 100 percent for Jesus, 70 percent for Mother Teresa and 2 percent for you, you are thinking not of God but of yourself. As Peter von Breeman notes, “We have love, but God is love.” Love is not one of many activities that God pursues. It is his entire being.
The psalmist writes, “Pause awhile, and know that I am God” (26:10 JB). I favor the Jerusalem Bible translation because it takes time for me to be still, to come to that place of inner quiet. Stillness is more than silence and it is beyond solitude. Interior stillness is too deep for words.
Unhampered by self-consciousness, our attention is focused entirely on God and his love. In this sacred now, we immediately understand that God cannot measure his love, giving 100 percent to Jesus and a tiny fraction to us. When Catherine of Siena, a dynamic contemplative in action, was asked to describe the God of her personal experience, she cried, “He is pazzo d’amore, ebro d’amore” – crazed with love, drunk with love. Yet her words are feeble and inadequate, because Mystery is spoiled by a word.
“Concepts create idols,” wrote Gregory of Nyssa. “Only wonder understands anything.” The eminent German theologian Karl Rahner, who died in 1985, wrote: “Some things are understood not by grasping but by allowing oneself to be grasped.” As you read these pages, I pray that you allow yourself to be grasped, and that you “pause awhile” and let yourself be loved in your brokenness.
– Brennan Manning
Grace Quote
For some the temptation is to do nothing; for others the temptation is to pull the levers and make things happen. But you were born for greater things. The God who made you righteous and planted righteous desires within you has set you up for success. He has lined up the resources of heaven in anticipation of blessing all the work of your hands.
This isn’t about divining the Lord’s will in advance. This is about knowing and trusting the One who made you the way you are, who even now orders your steps and who swells your heart with God-sized dreams.
What are you waiting for? Be convinced of your righteousness, fan the gift of God into flame and go for it. Live deeply in Christ, and be the person he made you to be.
This isn’t about divining the Lord’s will in advance. This is about knowing and trusting the One who made you the way you are, who even now orders your steps and who swells your heart with God-sized dreams.
What are you waiting for? Be convinced of your righteousness, fan the gift of God into flame and go for it. Live deeply in Christ, and be the person he made you to be.
Shadows of Secrets Past
“Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity,
and in whose spirit there is no deceit”
Psalm 32:2
A lie is a secret hidden behind a story. The story could be words, a shrug, an outburst, a lifestyle, or silence. It is the clothing we wear (or don’t), the product we hold in pride, the reaction we have when criticized, or the silent refusal of stepping out when called upon. Lying can both be proactive and reactive: we sell a bag of goods we are not or protect the real bag of goods from being seen. Lying can be both visible and hidden; we take some action (talking, acting, anger, distraction, behaving, mannerism, etc.) or we avoid some action (withdrawal, shutting off, ignoring, avoidance, etc). A lie is always meant to conceal, distract, or defend. Whatever it takes, the truth can not be seen.
Truthfully, we know we can never get away with a completely original untruth (no human is that creative) so we weigh and predict which bits of truth are worth exposing in order to protect the rest, like sacrificing a bishop to protect our queen. Over the years, we… I have become a master in this chess game. But even that is a lie. This game is unwinnable. It is not that the game is rigged but rather the goal is unachievable. Play after play, layer after layer, we keep constructing an imbalanced edifice behind which we hide. Each new addition supports and protects the layer before it. However, each new addition can’t support its own weight. Thus it requires its own additional layer of support. Eventually, the game will collapse in on itself, leaving the player scrambling to pick up his or her pieces as quickly as possible and find a new board to reconstruct a newly flawed game.
Lie Believing
Our true-self demands to live. We long for it. But to live means to be in the world. To be in the world means to be in the presence of people. The world itself is fine; it is the people that make it dangerous. We have two alternatives: embody a safe facade or completely withdrawal into nothingness. Some simply choose non-existence. Most embody the lie. Thus, we construct vales, vacuds, walls, and disguises. These then become the new us and around these we must construct a supporting narrative. This deception ultimately undermines our identity; we reject the true self in return for the assumed safe-self. This is the real destructive power of the lie – we start to confuse ourselves with the lie we have been telling. Of course, this is not what it means to be alive. This is death and death is what sin produces.
I have come to believe that one of the most practical ways of understanding sin is that of an reaction to a lie. To sin is believe a lie. To sin is to lie. To sin is to hide. For example, Adam and Eve are told a lie, they believe it, then they eat the fruit. They then hide. Another example: I believe that I am not good enough so I have to pretend to be something else other than what I am. This, of course, leads to me hiding my weaknesses and struggles because if people see those then I may not be accepted. This then becomes a feedback loop – a never ending and ever increasing set of deceits I become lost in.
One would hope that the Church would be the place that people could learn the truth and that the truth would set them free (John 8:32). One would hope… the painful and ugly truth is that it is not. What normally happens at a church is that there is this expectation of “holiness” (what we really mean is perfection) to which we compare each other against. If someone does not measure up well enough, it is time for an ultimatum. This fosters a run-away reaction where we compare ourselves against each other to make sure that we are the least likely to be disapproved of. If we are in the lucky half to be considered on the “right” side, we might be tempted into proving ourselves slightly better than most. If not, we might be tempted to maintain the status quo and squeak by without any criticism (or any attention).
Church
Churches are efficient in creating a culture of shame. In the church world, there is this expectation of measuring up. We speak of sin in such a way that when someone sins or is struggling with sin, there is no way they would willingly admit it. Sin is not “normal.” In fact, it is scandalous. We preach it as if it is normal, but we act as if it’s not. There’s this tongue-in-cheek way in which we publicly admit sin in general but never are willing to discuss it in particular. We find solidarity in all of us “acknowledging” our general imperfections but also in never discussing our specific messes. “Sin” becomes this commonality of us all being imperfect while our actual sins becomes a cacophony of scarlet letters. The shame of the act is not what scares us the most, it is the public labeling and silent gossip. It is the not-measuring-up and not-being-good-enough. We are worried about becoming second, or third, class citizens of the church community. Or worse, being pushed to the outside where my voice and my person no longer matter.
Church often becomes a place to maintain appearances and societal norms. It becomes simply a place to get our weekly fix of emotional significance without risking personal vulnerability. It becomes a delicately balanced system where we get just enough “vulnerability” and “acceptance” while not really being exposed to true vulnerability and acceptance. So, anyone who might threaten this is the scapegoat of all of our collective shame. This is a further extension of deceit where we protect ourselves by taking away from others. Such a culture is a culture where sin is not dealt with. Sin produces shame. If we shame, we reinforce (and one could say protect) sin. The only remedy is truth. The lie seems small and insignificant but is malicious.
Walk in Truth
A lie is often only identified when words are employed. It is the deceit that employs continual acting and avoidance that really sabatoge one’s life. We like to think that we are all the true version of ourselves, but we’re not. We lie because we must hide something, something we fear. This lying becomes so frequent that it blurs the line between us and our lies. Humanity is often at its most creative when there is something to hide. To truly experience true life rather than the fake veneer requires someone to risk all of the fake comforts they have built and go against the flow. It requires me being truthful.
The hardest part in this process is not being deceitful but in living truthfully. The shadows of secrets past weigh heavy on us, telling us to live in the falsehood rather than in the truth we now walk. We had become so good at walking in the dark that to walk in the light is overwhelming and terrifying. The littlest of moments beckon us to retort against truth. To walk in the light means to refuse to hide. And to hide is perhaps the greatest of temptations.
The Lion or the Lamb
By Andy Knight
I remember a story told by Dwight Edwards in his book Revolution Within. He said to imagine that you are at the zoo in the farm animal pavilion. You reach over to pet a soft wooly lamb, and it looks up at you and licks your hand. “Oh how nice,” you think.
As you leave, though, you walk down the path, and you hear someone frantically scream, “Look Out!” What you soon discover is the largest, most terrifying lion you have ever seen has just escaped. Not only that, but he’s coming your way. You see him getting closer, and you soon realize that you’re his next meal. You try to run for it, but there is no escape. With one bounding leap he lands on your back, drags you to the ground, opens his fierce jaws displaying his razor sharp teeth … and licks you.
Which lick would mean more? The lion or the lamb? The answer is obvious. Those who have felt the terror of standing on death row can attest to the overwhelming flood of freedom and release they felt when their pardon was granted. God’s grace is that profound. Our Father has the capacity and right to rip us apart for our rebellion and independent living, but He tenderly heals and forgives. The death sentence we justly deserved was carried out on his Son instead.
It is important to see the lamb-like qualities of our Father. Yet those who dance most freely at the thought of His grace, are those who never forget the trembling they felt while standing before a holy God owing an impossible debt.
I remember a story told by Dwight Edwards in his book Revolution Within. He said to imagine that you are at the zoo in the farm animal pavilion. You reach over to pet a soft wooly lamb, and it looks up at you and licks your hand. “Oh how nice,” you think.
As you leave, though, you walk down the path, and you hear someone frantically scream, “Look Out!” What you soon discover is the largest, most terrifying lion you have ever seen has just escaped. Not only that, but he’s coming your way. You see him getting closer, and you soon realize that you’re his next meal. You try to run for it, but there is no escape. With one bounding leap he lands on your back, drags you to the ground, opens his fierce jaws displaying his razor sharp teeth … and licks you.
Which lick would mean more? The lion or the lamb? The answer is obvious. Those who have felt the terror of standing on death row can attest to the overwhelming flood of freedom and release they felt when their pardon was granted. God’s grace is that profound. Our Father has the capacity and right to rip us apart for our rebellion and independent living, but He tenderly heals and forgives. The death sentence we justly deserved was carried out on his Son instead.
It is important to see the lamb-like qualities of our Father. Yet those who dance most freely at the thought of His grace, are those who never forget the trembling they felt while standing before a holy God owing an impossible debt.
Settle Down in Christ
By Donna Downs
“Cease striving and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” – Psalms 46:10 NASB
I don’t know about you, but I can easily become overwhelmed with the burdens of life, the various responsibilities on my plate, and the sheer volume of activity on my schedule. I suspect everyone at one point or another struggles with similar feelings.
One cold January afternoon earlier this year, my mind was swirling with a flurry of demands, responsibilities, questions, pressures and doubts. In a moment of desperation, I decided to create a running list of everything weighing on my mind. I feverishly wrote it all out – everything from my annual business plan, an expensive medical situation, and upcoming client interviews to a poorly-timed overseas trip. There it all was in black and white. I had a complete catalog of all my worries, fears, questions and doubts, and now I had a choice to make. Would I continue to carry this on my own, or would I choose to lay these burdens at the feet of my heavenly father?
This crossroads is familiar territory. Will we carry our load in our own strength, or will we surrender our own efforts for a more excellent way? Thankfully that afternoon, I chose to remember and act on what I’ve learned about my heavenly father, and I sat quietly with him in sweet surrender.
Later that week, I came across the Message translation of a familiar scripture. “Your salvation requires you to turn back to me and stop your silly efforts to save yourselves. Your strength will come from settling down in complete dependence on me— The very thing you’ve been unwilling to do.” (Isaiah 30:15-18 MSG). I had never read that version of the passage and was blown away by how accurately it described my situation. Too often I rely on my own silly efforts to save myself, and only when I settle down and acknowledge my complete dependence on Christ, am I able to experience his saving grace in the midst of my earthly experience.
Just the other day, I went back to the list of worries in my journal. It was interesting to see how 99% of the items had been resolved – resolved without any effort or issue. It boosted my faith to review the tangible evidence of Christ’s life flowing through me as well as God’s faithfulness.
Funny thing is there was a handful of unresolved items on my list, but I decided to check them off with a footnote that says, “I don’t know, but God…” It’s such a sweet relief to live settled down in complete dependence on him! Come join me, won’t you?
“Cease striving and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” – Psalms 46:10 NASB
I don’t know about you, but I can easily become overwhelmed with the burdens of life, the various responsibilities on my plate, and the sheer volume of activity on my schedule. I suspect everyone at one point or another struggles with similar feelings.
One cold January afternoon earlier this year, my mind was swirling with a flurry of demands, responsibilities, questions, pressures and doubts. In a moment of desperation, I decided to create a running list of everything weighing on my mind. I feverishly wrote it all out – everything from my annual business plan, an expensive medical situation, and upcoming client interviews to a poorly-timed overseas trip. There it all was in black and white. I had a complete catalog of all my worries, fears, questions and doubts, and now I had a choice to make. Would I continue to carry this on my own, or would I choose to lay these burdens at the feet of my heavenly father?
This crossroads is familiar territory. Will we carry our load in our own strength, or will we surrender our own efforts for a more excellent way? Thankfully that afternoon, I chose to remember and act on what I’ve learned about my heavenly father, and I sat quietly with him in sweet surrender.
Later that week, I came across the Message translation of a familiar scripture. “Your salvation requires you to turn back to me and stop your silly efforts to save yourselves. Your strength will come from settling down in complete dependence on me— The very thing you’ve been unwilling to do.” (Isaiah 30:15-18 MSG). I had never read that version of the passage and was blown away by how accurately it described my situation. Too often I rely on my own silly efforts to save myself, and only when I settle down and acknowledge my complete dependence on Christ, am I able to experience his saving grace in the midst of my earthly experience.
Just the other day, I went back to the list of worries in my journal. It was interesting to see how 99% of the items had been resolved – resolved without any effort or issue. It boosted my faith to review the tangible evidence of Christ’s life flowing through me as well as God’s faithfulness.
Funny thing is there was a handful of unresolved items on my list, but I decided to check them off with a footnote that says, “I don’t know, but God…” It’s such a sweet relief to live settled down in complete dependence on him! Come join me, won’t you?
The Proper Perspective
"Thanks be to God who always
leads us in triumph in Christ."
(2 Cor 2:14)
'The proper perspective to maintain is that
we are here for only one purpose--to be
captives marching in the procession of
Christ's triumphs. We are encompassed
with the sweet aroma of Jesus, and where-
ever we go we are a wonderful refreshment
to God.' (Oswald Chambers)
leads us in triumph in Christ."
(2 Cor 2:14)
'The proper perspective to maintain is that
we are here for only one purpose--to be
captives marching in the procession of
Christ's triumphs. We are encompassed
with the sweet aroma of Jesus, and where-
ever we go we are a wonderful refreshment
to God.' (Oswald Chambers)
Death!
For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of {the} archangel, and with the trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first. --I Thessalonians 4:16
I find it interesting that when humanism competes with any religion, it self-proclaims its superiority. It cannot compete with Jesus,who was, to say the least, unique and not of the world; He brought us the wisdom of heaven and teaching not heard in any religion. He is higher than all the man-inspired philosophies, systems, compassion, or love. The humanists are working hard to make Christianity out to be a hate religion. We know that true hate is to see a man being destroyed and to say nothing. If only for this reason, the humanists prove themselves to be full of hate, which does not exclude them from being wickedly wise. Since the believer has the hope of heaven, death on earth is not paramount in our thinking. It is here that the humanists believe they have found the chink in our armor. They are all about life on earth and want to appear to be very compassionate. They constantly cry, “See the suffering children, see how many have died from disease, see how easy it would be to alleviate suffering, and see how we have the answer?” The humanist has made death out to be the worst thing possible; it reveals his heart, for to him it will be the worst thing possible.However, we are not to be deceived into his way of thinking. Death is not the worst thing that can happen to a person, whose life on this earth was never meant to last forever. Christians are a unique group that does not fear death. Yet more and more believers are sacrificing integrity and effort to support the cause of doing anything and everything to see life on earth continue. Matthew 10:28, “And do not fear those who kill the body, but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”
I love this verse! Almost every opportunity I have of presiding at graveside services, I read this verse and then state: “I think the two best places to be when Christ comes again would be, (1) with someone who has just placed their trust in the Lord Jesus Christ to be their very own personal Savior, or (2) at the graveside when the trumpet sounds, and the dead IN CHRIST rise first…” Can you imagine what either would be like!?!
Michael unequivocally states the TRUTH…Humanism (or any religion) cannot compete with JESUS. Period. “He brought us the wisdom of heaven and teaching not heard in any religion. He is higher than all the man-inspired philosophies, systems, compassion, or love.” Well, amen.
Michael also gives us a tremendous life lesson: “True hate is to see a man being destroyed and to say nothing.” Michael’s surrounding statements show us what we DO is relative to what is IN us: “The humanists are working hard to make Christianity out to be a hate religion…If only for this reason, the humanists prove themselves to be full of hate.”
Finally, Michael states the inevitable with timeless encouragement, then closes with Jesus’ comforting words: Matthew 10:28, “And do not fear those who kill the body, but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”
And as one who is now seeing His Savior face to face, Michael is experiencing the One which nothing can compete with! And we can all hear Michael saying, “Well, amen!”
Try thinking of all this the next time you are at the graveside of a loved one, or close acquaintance…
- Mike Wells
I find it interesting that when humanism competes with any religion, it self-proclaims its superiority. It cannot compete with Jesus,who was, to say the least, unique and not of the world; He brought us the wisdom of heaven and teaching not heard in any religion. He is higher than all the man-inspired philosophies, systems, compassion, or love. The humanists are working hard to make Christianity out to be a hate religion. We know that true hate is to see a man being destroyed and to say nothing. If only for this reason, the humanists prove themselves to be full of hate, which does not exclude them from being wickedly wise. Since the believer has the hope of heaven, death on earth is not paramount in our thinking. It is here that the humanists believe they have found the chink in our armor. They are all about life on earth and want to appear to be very compassionate. They constantly cry, “See the suffering children, see how many have died from disease, see how easy it would be to alleviate suffering, and see how we have the answer?” The humanist has made death out to be the worst thing possible; it reveals his heart, for to him it will be the worst thing possible.However, we are not to be deceived into his way of thinking. Death is not the worst thing that can happen to a person, whose life on this earth was never meant to last forever. Christians are a unique group that does not fear death. Yet more and more believers are sacrificing integrity and effort to support the cause of doing anything and everything to see life on earth continue. Matthew 10:28, “And do not fear those who kill the body, but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”
I love this verse! Almost every opportunity I have of presiding at graveside services, I read this verse and then state: “I think the two best places to be when Christ comes again would be, (1) with someone who has just placed their trust in the Lord Jesus Christ to be their very own personal Savior, or (2) at the graveside when the trumpet sounds, and the dead IN CHRIST rise first…” Can you imagine what either would be like!?!
Michael unequivocally states the TRUTH…Humanism (or any religion) cannot compete with JESUS. Period. “He brought us the wisdom of heaven and teaching not heard in any religion. He is higher than all the man-inspired philosophies, systems, compassion, or love.” Well, amen.
Michael also gives us a tremendous life lesson: “True hate is to see a man being destroyed and to say nothing.” Michael’s surrounding statements show us what we DO is relative to what is IN us: “The humanists are working hard to make Christianity out to be a hate religion…If only for this reason, the humanists prove themselves to be full of hate.”
Finally, Michael states the inevitable with timeless encouragement, then closes with Jesus’ comforting words: Matthew 10:28, “And do not fear those who kill the body, but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”
And as one who is now seeing His Savior face to face, Michael is experiencing the One which nothing can compete with! And we can all hear Michael saying, “Well, amen!”
Try thinking of all this the next time you are at the graveside of a loved one, or close acquaintance…
- Mike Wells
Thursday, December 1, 2016
All Things Become New
A couple of days ago I went through eight scriptures
about the 'New YOU.' That was just the tip of the
iceberg...
Your old self was killed (crucified)
'We know that our old self was crucified with him
in order that the body of sin might be brought to
nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved
to sin.' (Rom 6:6)
You are a new creation (even if you don't feel it
is so--or act like it)
'Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new
creation.' (2 Cor 5:17)
You are justified and redeemed (already)
'And you are justified by his grace as a gift,
through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.'
(Rom 3:24)
You are accepted. (Have you not fought for this
all your life?)
'Therefore welcome one another as Christ has
welcomed you, for the glory of God.' (Rom 15:7)
You are a son and an heir.
'So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if
a son, then an heir through God' (Gal 4:7)
You are chosen, holy, blameless before God.
'Even as he chose us before the foundation of
the world, that we should be holy and blameless
before him.' (Eph 1:4)
about the 'New YOU.' That was just the tip of the
iceberg...
Your old self was killed (crucified)
'We know that our old self was crucified with him
in order that the body of sin might be brought to
nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved
to sin.' (Rom 6:6)
You are a new creation (even if you don't feel it
is so--or act like it)
'Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new
creation.' (2 Cor 5:17)
You are justified and redeemed (already)
'And you are justified by his grace as a gift,
through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.'
(Rom 3:24)
You are accepted. (Have you not fought for this
all your life?)
'Therefore welcome one another as Christ has
welcomed you, for the glory of God.' (Rom 15:7)
You are a son and an heir.
'So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if
a son, then an heir through God' (Gal 4:7)
You are chosen, holy, blameless before God.
'Even as he chose us before the foundation of
the world, that we should be holy and blameless
before him.' (Eph 1:4)
Wednesday, November 30, 2016
Why Won’t He Change Me Faster?
I get the frustrated email all the time. “Wayne, it doesn’t seem like anything is happening in me.” People who go on a journey to learn to live in the love of the Father get impatient when change doesn’t come as fast as they hope for. I understand. Many are used to intellectual change. I hear something. I believe it. And then I should be able to apply it to my life.
But transformation doesn’t work that way. We may know God loves us, but letting him win us into the reality of that love takes time. It may even seem as if nothing is happening and we begin to doubt either God’s love or the process. I’ve watched over many years as people write me frustrated that they don’t seem to be “getting it.” In fact Brad and I recently did a podcast on what may be the scientific reason Why Transformation Takes Time. If you missed it, you might want to give it a listen.)
I try to tell people to relax in the Father’s affection and to relax in the process of how he changes us. I know it isn’t easy. We want quick-fixes and be in control. But we can’t rush it. It isn’t ours to do. All we can do is just lean into him each day as much as we are able and set our affections on him. Yes, we’ll make mistakes. Certainly we’ll fee trapped by habit patterns and ways of thinking that don’t seem to change. But what we miss is what’s going on deep down in the core of our lives, beneath the level of us simply trying to act better.
That’s why I tell people to let it unfold the way God wants, even if it takes two or three years to see progress. I know that’s hard, but one day you’ll begin to see that things have been shifting in your life and now you are able to transit circumstances with more freedom that we’ve had before. That’s when you’ll know God is doing the work not you. Like Paul, you’ll end up with nothing to boast about except him and his work in you.
I got this email earlier this week from someone I’ve been in touch with over the past few frustrated years. Look at what God has done:
I (am now experiencing) what I have been seeking for years. I can only describe it as heavy warm feeling on my chest that leaves me feeling peaceful and I am left with an excited expectation for what is next to come in my life and that all is well. I found out I have grown into Fathers reality a lot more than I ever dreamed because when the chips were down and I came to the end of me, grief lost its power, fear had no effect and I was left with a simple faith knowing he is in control. That’s the only way I know how to explain it. I was growing up all along and didn’t even know it.
I love that. Changing by our own strength is much quicker, but it doesn’t last long and we soon slip back in our old patterns. Transformation works more deeply, helping us think differently from the inside, so that we live differently on the outside. I hope this email encourages those of you for whom change seems to be moving too slowly. He is at work in you. You’ll see it one day and then you’ll overflow with thanksgiving.
- Wayne Jacobsen
But transformation doesn’t work that way. We may know God loves us, but letting him win us into the reality of that love takes time. It may even seem as if nothing is happening and we begin to doubt either God’s love or the process. I’ve watched over many years as people write me frustrated that they don’t seem to be “getting it.” In fact Brad and I recently did a podcast on what may be the scientific reason Why Transformation Takes Time. If you missed it, you might want to give it a listen.)
I try to tell people to relax in the Father’s affection and to relax in the process of how he changes us. I know it isn’t easy. We want quick-fixes and be in control. But we can’t rush it. It isn’t ours to do. All we can do is just lean into him each day as much as we are able and set our affections on him. Yes, we’ll make mistakes. Certainly we’ll fee trapped by habit patterns and ways of thinking that don’t seem to change. But what we miss is what’s going on deep down in the core of our lives, beneath the level of us simply trying to act better.
That’s why I tell people to let it unfold the way God wants, even if it takes two or three years to see progress. I know that’s hard, but one day you’ll begin to see that things have been shifting in your life and now you are able to transit circumstances with more freedom that we’ve had before. That’s when you’ll know God is doing the work not you. Like Paul, you’ll end up with nothing to boast about except him and his work in you.
I got this email earlier this week from someone I’ve been in touch with over the past few frustrated years. Look at what God has done:
I (am now experiencing) what I have been seeking for years. I can only describe it as heavy warm feeling on my chest that leaves me feeling peaceful and I am left with an excited expectation for what is next to come in my life and that all is well. I found out I have grown into Fathers reality a lot more than I ever dreamed because when the chips were down and I came to the end of me, grief lost its power, fear had no effect and I was left with a simple faith knowing he is in control. That’s the only way I know how to explain it. I was growing up all along and didn’t even know it.
I love that. Changing by our own strength is much quicker, but it doesn’t last long and we soon slip back in our old patterns. Transformation works more deeply, helping us think differently from the inside, so that we live differently on the outside. I hope this email encourages those of you for whom change seems to be moving too slowly. He is at work in you. You’ll see it one day and then you’ll overflow with thanksgiving.
- Wayne Jacobsen
Until You Learn Powerlessness
Anyone who has not gone on journeys of powerlessness will invariably abuse power.
A good friend sent me a recent devotional from Richard Rohr, thinking I would love it! I did! In fact I share it with Brad on tomorrow’s podcast at The God Journey, but I wanted to highlight some of it here and give you a chance to read it before. I love the whole thing and how most ancient initiation rites led men into feelings of powerlessness so that he would not abuse that power, especially in male-dominated societies.
He goes on (emphases mine):
Jesus clearly taught the twelve disciples about surrender, the necessity of suffering, humility, servant leadership, and nonviolence. They resisted him every time, and so he finally had to make the journey himself and tell them, “Follow me!” But Christians have preferred to hear something Jesus never said: “Worship me.” Worship of Jesus is rather harmless and risk-free; following Jesus changes everything.
… I have often thought that this “non-preaching” of the Gospel was like a secret social contract between clergy and laity, as we shake hands across the sanctuary. We agree not to tell you anything that would make you uncomfortable, and you will keep coming to our services. It is a nice deal, because once the Gospel is preached, I doubt if the churches would be filled. Rather, we might be out on the streets living the message. The discernment and the call to a life of service, to a life that gives itself away instead of simply protecting and procuring for itself in the name of Jesus, is what church should be about. Right now, so much church is the clergy teaching the people how to be co-dependent with them. It becomes job security instead of true spiritual empowerment. Remember, anyone—male or female—who has not gone on journeys of powerlessness will invariably abuse power.
You can read the whole thing here. Maybe you’ll love it too. It may be more difficult for women to read, especially those that have been harmed by the abuse of power in our male-entrenched cultures, but the message is so powerful for all of us.
- Wayne Jacobsen
A good friend sent me a recent devotional from Richard Rohr, thinking I would love it! I did! In fact I share it with Brad on tomorrow’s podcast at The God Journey, but I wanted to highlight some of it here and give you a chance to read it before. I love the whole thing and how most ancient initiation rites led men into feelings of powerlessness so that he would not abuse that power, especially in male-dominated societies.
He goes on (emphases mine):
Jesus clearly taught the twelve disciples about surrender, the necessity of suffering, humility, servant leadership, and nonviolence. They resisted him every time, and so he finally had to make the journey himself and tell them, “Follow me!” But Christians have preferred to hear something Jesus never said: “Worship me.” Worship of Jesus is rather harmless and risk-free; following Jesus changes everything.
… I have often thought that this “non-preaching” of the Gospel was like a secret social contract between clergy and laity, as we shake hands across the sanctuary. We agree not to tell you anything that would make you uncomfortable, and you will keep coming to our services. It is a nice deal, because once the Gospel is preached, I doubt if the churches would be filled. Rather, we might be out on the streets living the message. The discernment and the call to a life of service, to a life that gives itself away instead of simply protecting and procuring for itself in the name of Jesus, is what church should be about. Right now, so much church is the clergy teaching the people how to be co-dependent with them. It becomes job security instead of true spiritual empowerment. Remember, anyone—male or female—who has not gone on journeys of powerlessness will invariably abuse power.
You can read the whole thing here. Maybe you’ll love it too. It may be more difficult for women to read, especially those that have been harmed by the abuse of power in our male-entrenched cultures, but the message is so powerful for all of us.
- Wayne Jacobsen
What Love Transforms
When three different people send you a copy of the same book in the same week, you take note. About a month ago Sara and I were able to start reading Love Does by Bob Goff. We have found it a delightful read as Bob shares his adventures in learning to live inside of love, both for himself and for others around him.
This one paragraph really caught my eye, because I think it is the essence of transformative love. You cannot know God’s kind of love without it changing you from the inside and finding yourself a freer, kinder person in the world, not because you have to but because you’re free to be the person Jesus made you to be:
“The cool thing about taking Jesus up on His offer is that whatever controls you doesn’t anymore. People who used to be obsessed about becoming famous no longer care whether anybody knows their name. People who used to want power are willing to serve. People who used to chase money freely give it away. People who used to beg others for acceptance are now strong enough to give love.”
That’s what love does. It reshapes us from the inside. You don’t learn to love by trying to change the way you feel about these things. Instead learning to live inside the love of God changes your value systems, often while you’re least aware it is going on. I am so enjoying the things that love is reshaping in me and I’m excited to see what it will yet change as I find myself valuing more what God values.
Someone also sent the this quote from the NPR show On Being by Omid Safi about busyness:
“This disease of being ‘busy’ (and let’s call it what it is, the dis-ease of being busy, when we are never at ease) is spiritually destructive to our health and wellbeing. It saps our ability to be fully present with those we love the most in our families, and keeps us from forming the kind of community that we all so desperately crave.”
It speaks into that same space. We’re not busy because the world demands it of us, we’re busy to run from ourselves and those around us as a retreat from the insecurities in our own heart. As those insecurities are cleansed by his love, you’ll find yourself far less busy. There’s no reason to be anymore and having time for the people in your life will allow you to experience the richness of real community, not just another meeting to rush off to or another responsibility to check off your list.
(Health update: For those concerned about my recovery from open-heart surgery, all continues as well as can be expected, which is a bit too slow for me. 🙂 I’m now three weeks from surgery in some pain and discomfort at times, but mostly just allowing the trauma to heal and my strength to recover. I’m walking about 4 miles per day now and will begin cardio therapy in a week or so. This has been quite a process, but filled with some lovely things God has done in the midst of it all. I’ll share those some day too. My family has been an incredible source of care and courage to get through this. For now, it is back to sleep, which seems to sneak up on me without notice and without my permission!)
This one paragraph really caught my eye, because I think it is the essence of transformative love. You cannot know God’s kind of love without it changing you from the inside and finding yourself a freer, kinder person in the world, not because you have to but because you’re free to be the person Jesus made you to be:
“The cool thing about taking Jesus up on His offer is that whatever controls you doesn’t anymore. People who used to be obsessed about becoming famous no longer care whether anybody knows their name. People who used to want power are willing to serve. People who used to chase money freely give it away. People who used to beg others for acceptance are now strong enough to give love.”
That’s what love does. It reshapes us from the inside. You don’t learn to love by trying to change the way you feel about these things. Instead learning to live inside the love of God changes your value systems, often while you’re least aware it is going on. I am so enjoying the things that love is reshaping in me and I’m excited to see what it will yet change as I find myself valuing more what God values.
Someone also sent the this quote from the NPR show On Being by Omid Safi about busyness:
“This disease of being ‘busy’ (and let’s call it what it is, the dis-ease of being busy, when we are never at ease) is spiritually destructive to our health and wellbeing. It saps our ability to be fully present with those we love the most in our families, and keeps us from forming the kind of community that we all so desperately crave.”
It speaks into that same space. We’re not busy because the world demands it of us, we’re busy to run from ourselves and those around us as a retreat from the insecurities in our own heart. As those insecurities are cleansed by his love, you’ll find yourself far less busy. There’s no reason to be anymore and having time for the people in your life will allow you to experience the richness of real community, not just another meeting to rush off to or another responsibility to check off your list.
(Health update: For those concerned about my recovery from open-heart surgery, all continues as well as can be expected, which is a bit too slow for me. 🙂 I’m now three weeks from surgery in some pain and discomfort at times, but mostly just allowing the trauma to heal and my strength to recover. I’m walking about 4 miles per day now and will begin cardio therapy in a week or so. This has been quite a process, but filled with some lovely things God has done in the midst of it all. I’ll share those some day too. My family has been an incredible source of care and courage to get through this. For now, it is back to sleep, which seems to sneak up on me without notice and without my permission!)
The Paper; The Book
Romans 5 introduces us to contrast, that of being
in Adam or being in Christ.
"As through one man's (Adam) disobedience, the
many were made sinners, even so, through the
obedience of one (Jesus) shall many be made
righteous. (Romans 5: 19)
In Adam we receive everything that is in Adam;
in Christ we receive everything that is in Christ.
When He was crucified we were crucified there
with Him, because we had been placed in Him.
Nee gives an illustration of a piece of paper that is
separate from a book. He puts the paper into a
book and then sends the book to a friend. He sent
the book, not the paper, but because the paper was
in the book the paper went with the book. The paper
has to go where the book goes. It is not separate
from the destiny of the book.
In 1 Corinthians 15:45,47, Jesus is spoken of as
being the Last Adam and the Second Man. As the
last Adam, Christ is the total sum of humanity;
as the Second Man He is the head of a new race.
As the Last Adam His union with the human race
began in Bethlehem and ends at the Cross and the
Tomb--where He took judgement and death. Our
union with Him as the Second Man begins in
resurrection and ends in never ending Eternity. He
rose again as Head of a new race of men, in whom
that purpose will eventually be fully realized. As
Adam He wiped out the old race; as the Second
Man, He brings in the new race.
"For if we have been planted together in the
likeness of his death, we shall be also in the
likeness of his resurrection. (Romans 6:5)
We died in Him as the last Adam; we live in Him
as the Second Man. The cross is the mighty act
of God which translates us from Adam to Christ.
(Watchman Nee; The Normal Christian Life)
in Adam or being in Christ.
"As through one man's (Adam) disobedience, the
many were made sinners, even so, through the
obedience of one (Jesus) shall many be made
righteous. (Romans 5: 19)
In Adam we receive everything that is in Adam;
in Christ we receive everything that is in Christ.
When He was crucified we were crucified there
with Him, because we had been placed in Him.
Nee gives an illustration of a piece of paper that is
separate from a book. He puts the paper into a
book and then sends the book to a friend. He sent
the book, not the paper, but because the paper was
in the book the paper went with the book. The paper
has to go where the book goes. It is not separate
from the destiny of the book.
In 1 Corinthians 15:45,47, Jesus is spoken of as
being the Last Adam and the Second Man. As the
last Adam, Christ is the total sum of humanity;
as the Second Man He is the head of a new race.
As the Last Adam His union with the human race
began in Bethlehem and ends at the Cross and the
Tomb--where He took judgement and death. Our
union with Him as the Second Man begins in
resurrection and ends in never ending Eternity. He
rose again as Head of a new race of men, in whom
that purpose will eventually be fully realized. As
Adam He wiped out the old race; as the Second
Man, He brings in the new race.
"For if we have been planted together in the
likeness of his death, we shall be also in the
likeness of his resurrection. (Romans 6:5)
We died in Him as the last Adam; we live in Him
as the Second Man. The cross is the mighty act
of God which translates us from Adam to Christ.
(Watchman Nee; The Normal Christian Life)
A New Creation
Our old history ends with the Cross; our new history
begins with the resurrection.
"If any man is in Christ, he is a new creature:
the old things are passed away; behold they are
become new. (2 Corinthians 5:17)
The cross terminates the first creation, and out of
death there is brought a new creation in Christ, the
Second Man.
If we are in 'Adam' all that is in Adam necessarily
devolves upon us; it becomes ours involuntarily, for
we have to do nothing to get it. There is no need to
make up or minds to lose our temper or to commit
some other sin; sin comes to us naturally and despite
how much we try to be good. In a similar manner if
we are 'in Christ' all that is in Christ comes to us by
free grace, without effort on our part. It is on the
ground of simple faith.
It is a four step process.
1 Knowing
2 Reckoning
3 Presenting ourselves to God,
4 Walking in the Spirit. (Watchman Nee)
Does this sound a bit complicated?
How does it work out in life?
Above all, does scripture back it up?
begins with the resurrection.
"If any man is in Christ, he is a new creature:
the old things are passed away; behold they are
become new. (2 Corinthians 5:17)
The cross terminates the first creation, and out of
death there is brought a new creation in Christ, the
Second Man.
If we are in 'Adam' all that is in Adam necessarily
devolves upon us; it becomes ours involuntarily, for
we have to do nothing to get it. There is no need to
make up or minds to lose our temper or to commit
some other sin; sin comes to us naturally and despite
how much we try to be good. In a similar manner if
we are 'in Christ' all that is in Christ comes to us by
free grace, without effort on our part. It is on the
ground of simple faith.
It is a four step process.
1 Knowing
2 Reckoning
3 Presenting ourselves to God,
4 Walking in the Spirit. (Watchman Nee)
Does this sound a bit complicated?
How does it work out in life?
Above all, does scripture back it up?
Consecrated to Him
For the past nine blogs I have been sharing
The Normal Christian Life by Watchman Nee.
If you have missed any, go back because
each one builds on previous blogs.
The study has now brought us to the point where
we will discover the true nature of consecration.
"Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal
body, that ye should obey the lusts thereof:
neither present your members unto sin as
instruments of unrighteousness; but present
yourselves unto God, as alive from the dead,
and your members as instruments of
righteousness unto God.
(Rom 6: 12,13 KJV)
The operative word here is 'present' which occurs
five times in verses 13,16,19. Paul is not speaking
of the 'Old Nature' with its instincts, resources,
natural wisdom, or strength given to the Lord for
His use. No, he says, 'present yourselves unto
God, as alive from the dead.' For what is here
refers not to the consecration of anything
belonging to the old creation, but only that which
has passed through death to resurrection. When
I really KNOW I am crucified with Him, then
spontaneously I reckon myself dead (verses 6,11);
and when I KNOW that I am raised with Him from
the dead, then likewise I reckon myself 'alive unto
God in Christ Jesus. (verses 9,11)
Death has cut off all that cannot be consecrated to
Him, and resurrection alone has made consecration
possible. Presenting myself to God means that
henceforth I consider my whole life as belonging to
God. (Watchman Nee, The Normal Christian Life)
The Normal Christian Life by Watchman Nee.
If you have missed any, go back because
each one builds on previous blogs.
The study has now brought us to the point where
we will discover the true nature of consecration.
"Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal
body, that ye should obey the lusts thereof:
neither present your members unto sin as
instruments of unrighteousness; but present
yourselves unto God, as alive from the dead,
and your members as instruments of
righteousness unto God.
(Rom 6: 12,13 KJV)
The operative word here is 'present' which occurs
five times in verses 13,16,19. Paul is not speaking
of the 'Old Nature' with its instincts, resources,
natural wisdom, or strength given to the Lord for
His use. No, he says, 'present yourselves unto
God, as alive from the dead.' For what is here
refers not to the consecration of anything
belonging to the old creation, but only that which
has passed through death to resurrection. When
I really KNOW I am crucified with Him, then
spontaneously I reckon myself dead (verses 6,11);
and when I KNOW that I am raised with Him from
the dead, then likewise I reckon myself 'alive unto
God in Christ Jesus. (verses 9,11)
Death has cut off all that cannot be consecrated to
Him, and resurrection alone has made consecration
possible. Presenting myself to God means that
henceforth I consider my whole life as belonging to
God. (Watchman Nee, The Normal Christian Life)
The New You
What does God say about you as a believer?
You are not condemned!
'There is therefore no condemnation for those
who are in Christ Jesus.' (Rom 8:1)
You are free from the law of sin and death
'For the law of the Spirit of Life has set you
free from the law of sin and death.'
(Rom 8:2)
You are Sanctified (holy and set apart)
'To the church that is in Corinth, to those
sanctified in Christ, called to be saints...'
(1Cor 1:2)
(Notice that Paul is addressing a church whose
performance left much to be desired.)
You are the righteousness of God
'For our sake he made him to be sin who
knew no sin so that in him we might become
the righteousness of God.' (2Cor 5:21)
You were created for good performance (and I
can let Christ live in me to perform it.)
'For we are his workmanship, created in
Christ Jesus for good works, which God
prepared beforehand, that we should walk
in them.' (Eph 2:10
You are complete (perfect)
'For in Him the whole fullness of deity dwells
bodily, and you have been filled in him.'
(Col 2:9,10)
You are raised up with Him
'If then you have been raised up with Christ,
seek the things above...'(Col 3:1)
Your life is hidden with Christ in God
'For you have died, and your life is hidden with
Christ in God. (Col 3:3)
You are not condemned!
'There is therefore no condemnation for those
who are in Christ Jesus.' (Rom 8:1)
You are free from the law of sin and death
'For the law of the Spirit of Life has set you
free from the law of sin and death.'
(Rom 8:2)
You are Sanctified (holy and set apart)
'To the church that is in Corinth, to those
sanctified in Christ, called to be saints...'
(1Cor 1:2)
(Notice that Paul is addressing a church whose
performance left much to be desired.)
You are the righteousness of God
'For our sake he made him to be sin who
knew no sin so that in him we might become
the righteousness of God.' (2Cor 5:21)
You were created for good performance (and I
can let Christ live in me to perform it.)
'For we are his workmanship, created in
Christ Jesus for good works, which God
prepared beforehand, that we should walk
in them.' (Eph 2:10
You are complete (perfect)
'For in Him the whole fullness of deity dwells
bodily, and you have been filled in him.'
(Col 2:9,10)
You are raised up with Him
'If then you have been raised up with Christ,
seek the things above...'(Col 3:1)
Your life is hidden with Christ in God
'For you have died, and your life is hidden with
Christ in God. (Col 3:3)
The Old Life--Gone
"If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation;
old things have passed away; all things have
become new." (2 Corinthians 5:17)
'God pays no respect to anything we bring to
Him. There is only one thing God wants of us,
and that is our unconditional surrender.'
(Oswald Chambers)
old things have passed away; all things have
become new." (2 Corinthians 5:17)
'God pays no respect to anything we bring to
Him. There is only one thing God wants of us,
and that is our unconditional surrender.'
(Oswald Chambers)
Friday, November 25, 2016
Waiting for God to Act
Jeremiah lamenting the destruction of Jerusalem
Advent is for waiting. As we tell the story of redemption through the church calendar we begin our telling of the sacred story, not with doing, not with celebrating, but with waiting — waiting for God to act.
Yet most of us — children of a high-tech, high-speed, instantaneous age — are not very good at waiting. It feels too much like doing nothing, and we are the driven ones who take pride in being busy. Waiting is not really our thing.
Or worse yet, waiting feels too much like lamenting, which is closer to the truth. With the loss of a strong sense of the Christian calendar we have conflated Advent and Christmas into a single “holiday season.” But the truth is that Advent is quite different from Christmas as it carries its strong theme of prophetic lament. The world has gone wrong, justice lies fallen in the streets, and it seems that God is nowhere to be found. That’s when the lamentation of waiting arises in our soul: “O Lord, how long?” From Isaiah to Malachi there is a consistent theme of waiting in lament for God to act. All of the Hebrew prophets, each in their own way, composed their prophetic poems around this recurring theme: The Lord is coming, God is about to act, but for now…we wait.
And yet the waiting is essential. For it’s in the waiting that our soul grows quiet and contemplative and cultivates a capacity for awareness by which we can discern what God is doing when he does act.
We have been seduced by an idolatry that deceives us into thinking that God is mostly found in the big and loud, when in fact, God is almost never found in the big and loud. The ways of God are predominantly small and quiet. The ways of God are about as loud as seed falling on the ground or bread rising in an oven. The ways of God are almost never found in the shouts of the crowd; the ways of God are more often found in trickling tears and whispered prayers. We want God to do a big thing, while God is planning to do a small thing. We are impressed by the big and loud. God is not. We are in a hurry. God is not. We want God to act fast, but Godspeed is almost always slow.
So we are waiting for God to act, but I would suggest that we are not so much waiting for God to act as we are waiting to become contemplative enough to discern what God is doing. God is always acting, because God is always loving his creation. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are always inviting us into their house of love. But when we are consumed by anger, harried by anxiety, and driven by impatience, we are blind and deaf to what God is actually doing in the present moment.
When God broke into history decisively through the Incarnation, who discerned it? Not the Pharisees whose religious movement was loudly predicting that God was about to act. Not the scribes and priests who were the professional experts in prophetic scripture. Instead it was pagan stargazers and peasant shepherds who discerned what God was doing. They were not the experts and they were not the reactionaries at the loud center of religious noise; they were quiet people on the silent edges of contemplative thought.
Gazing at stars and keeping watch by night are profound metaphors for the contemplative life. To most people it would appear that the Magi and the shepherds were doing nothing of significance in their long nighttime vigils, but they were the ones who were able to discern what God was doing. It was contemplative stargazers and shepherds, having learned how to wait in silence, who found their way to Bethlehem. They were the ones who discerned what God was doing in the seemingly ordinary event of a young woman giving birth in an out of the way place.
Waiting for God to act only seems like waiting for God to act. God is always acting because God is always loving the world and always giving birth to something. Waiting for God to act is actually waiting for your soul to become quiet enough and contemplative enough to discern what God is doing in the obscure and forgotten corners, far from the corridors of power or wherever you think the action is.
We want God to act in the imperial capital of Rome, but God first acts in a stable on the edge of Bethlehem.
We want God to act in Washington D.C., but God first acts in the quiet corner of your own living room.
So let me say this to you quite confidently: God is about to act. God is about to act in your life and in our world. But if you want to discern the actions of God you must learn to first wait in quiet contemplation. Before you can become an activist, you must first become a contemplative; otherwise you’ll just be a re-activist. And re-activists merely recycle anger and keep the world an angry place. Jesus was a contemplative activist, but never a re-activist.
So learn to gaze at the stars. Learn to keep vigil in the fields. Learn to sit with Jesus. Learn to be quiet. Learn to wait. Then, and only then, will you begin to discern what God is doing.
May this Advent help prepare you to discern what God is about to do in your life and in our world.
Advent is for waiting. As we tell the story of redemption through the church calendar we begin our telling of the sacred story, not with doing, not with celebrating, but with waiting — waiting for God to act.
Yet most of us — children of a high-tech, high-speed, instantaneous age — are not very good at waiting. It feels too much like doing nothing, and we are the driven ones who take pride in being busy. Waiting is not really our thing.
Or worse yet, waiting feels too much like lamenting, which is closer to the truth. With the loss of a strong sense of the Christian calendar we have conflated Advent and Christmas into a single “holiday season.” But the truth is that Advent is quite different from Christmas as it carries its strong theme of prophetic lament. The world has gone wrong, justice lies fallen in the streets, and it seems that God is nowhere to be found. That’s when the lamentation of waiting arises in our soul: “O Lord, how long?” From Isaiah to Malachi there is a consistent theme of waiting in lament for God to act. All of the Hebrew prophets, each in their own way, composed their prophetic poems around this recurring theme: The Lord is coming, God is about to act, but for now…we wait.
And yet the waiting is essential. For it’s in the waiting that our soul grows quiet and contemplative and cultivates a capacity for awareness by which we can discern what God is doing when he does act.
We have been seduced by an idolatry that deceives us into thinking that God is mostly found in the big and loud, when in fact, God is almost never found in the big and loud. The ways of God are predominantly small and quiet. The ways of God are about as loud as seed falling on the ground or bread rising in an oven. The ways of God are almost never found in the shouts of the crowd; the ways of God are more often found in trickling tears and whispered prayers. We want God to do a big thing, while God is planning to do a small thing. We are impressed by the big and loud. God is not. We are in a hurry. God is not. We want God to act fast, but Godspeed is almost always slow.
So we are waiting for God to act, but I would suggest that we are not so much waiting for God to act as we are waiting to become contemplative enough to discern what God is doing. God is always acting, because God is always loving his creation. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are always inviting us into their house of love. But when we are consumed by anger, harried by anxiety, and driven by impatience, we are blind and deaf to what God is actually doing in the present moment.
When God broke into history decisively through the Incarnation, who discerned it? Not the Pharisees whose religious movement was loudly predicting that God was about to act. Not the scribes and priests who were the professional experts in prophetic scripture. Instead it was pagan stargazers and peasant shepherds who discerned what God was doing. They were not the experts and they were not the reactionaries at the loud center of religious noise; they were quiet people on the silent edges of contemplative thought.
Gazing at stars and keeping watch by night are profound metaphors for the contemplative life. To most people it would appear that the Magi and the shepherds were doing nothing of significance in their long nighttime vigils, but they were the ones who were able to discern what God was doing. It was contemplative stargazers and shepherds, having learned how to wait in silence, who found their way to Bethlehem. They were the ones who discerned what God was doing in the seemingly ordinary event of a young woman giving birth in an out of the way place.
Waiting for God to act only seems like waiting for God to act. God is always acting because God is always loving the world and always giving birth to something. Waiting for God to act is actually waiting for your soul to become quiet enough and contemplative enough to discern what God is doing in the obscure and forgotten corners, far from the corridors of power or wherever you think the action is.
We want God to act in the imperial capital of Rome, but God first acts in a stable on the edge of Bethlehem.
We want God to act in Washington D.C., but God first acts in the quiet corner of your own living room.
So let me say this to you quite confidently: God is about to act. God is about to act in your life and in our world. But if you want to discern the actions of God you must learn to first wait in quiet contemplation. Before you can become an activist, you must first become a contemplative; otherwise you’ll just be a re-activist. And re-activists merely recycle anger and keep the world an angry place. Jesus was a contemplative activist, but never a re-activist.
So learn to gaze at the stars. Learn to keep vigil in the fields. Learn to sit with Jesus. Learn to be quiet. Learn to wait. Then, and only then, will you begin to discern what God is doing.
May this Advent help prepare you to discern what God is about to do in your life and in our world.
Waiting for God to Act
Brian Zahnd
Brian Zahnd
Thursday, November 24, 2016
That Problem You’re Facing Right Now
The Lord will not always rescue you when you want Him to. And He certainly will not act according to your timetable every time.
In fact, sometimes He will let you die (metaphorically speaking). He may even wait until you’re quadruply dead and stinking in your tomb before He does anything (think Lazarus).
So when things become black in your life, and there seems to be no way out, your situation has the fingerprints of Jesus Christ all over it.
Chisel it in stone: you can’t have a resurrection without a death. Resurrection is God’s act alone. And that’s why it always brings glory to Him.
Two things to remember during your trial: 1) the Lord is seeking to show you something new about Himself and 2) the lesson you learn is not just for yourself. It’s given to you to help others.
So lean hard on your Lord. Trust Him, yielding, waiting, and seeking, expecting your resurrection. And in time, it will surely come.
In fact, sometimes He will let you die (metaphorically speaking). He may even wait until you’re quadruply dead and stinking in your tomb before He does anything (think Lazarus).
So when things become black in your life, and there seems to be no way out, your situation has the fingerprints of Jesus Christ all over it.
Chisel it in stone: you can’t have a resurrection without a death. Resurrection is God’s act alone. And that’s why it always brings glory to Him.
Two things to remember during your trial: 1) the Lord is seeking to show you something new about Himself and 2) the lesson you learn is not just for yourself. It’s given to you to help others.
So lean hard on your Lord. Trust Him, yielding, waiting, and seeking, expecting your resurrection. And in time, it will surely come.
A Tremendous Truth
In the death of Christ, we died. True?
Just as we cannot have salvation if we do not see that
He bore our sins on the Cross, so we cannot have
sanctification if we have not seen Him bearing us on
the Cross.
How did you receive forgiveness? You realized that
the Lord Jesus died as your substitute and that He
bore your sins away. Do you not praise and thank
Him for saving you? In the same way that we
received salvation, we receive sanctification--by
faith. Thus there is no need to pray, "I am a very
wicked person. Lord, please crucify me! That is all
wrong. Just as your sins were dealt with by His
blood, you were dealt with by His Cross. It is an
accomplished fact. All that is left for you to do is to
praise the Lord that when He died, you died also.
Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)
Our old man was crucified with Him (Romans 6:6)
We died with Christ. (Romans 6:8)
What died with Christ? Our old man died.
When Christ died, YOU died. You are done with.
You are ruled out. The self you loathe is on the
Cross in Christ. And, 'he that is dead is freed
from sin. (Rom 6:7) This is the Gospel for the
Christian!
Man's way is to try to suppress sin by seeking to
overcome it; God's way is to remove the sinner.
If we are preoccupied with the power of sin and
with our inability to overcome it, then we
naturally conclude that to gain victory over sin,
we must have more power. So we plead with God
to strengthen us that we may have more self-control.
But this is not Christianity. God's means of setting
us free from sin, is to make us weaker. God set us
free from the dominion of sin, not by strengthening
the old man, by by crucifying him. The discovery
of your helplessness and His victory will bring an
end to human striving, self hate and self-effort.
(Watchman Nee, The Normal Christian Life)
Just as we cannot have salvation if we do not see that
He bore our sins on the Cross, so we cannot have
sanctification if we have not seen Him bearing us on
the Cross.
How did you receive forgiveness? You realized that
the Lord Jesus died as your substitute and that He
bore your sins away. Do you not praise and thank
Him for saving you? In the same way that we
received salvation, we receive sanctification--by
faith. Thus there is no need to pray, "I am a very
wicked person. Lord, please crucify me! That is all
wrong. Just as your sins were dealt with by His
blood, you were dealt with by His Cross. It is an
accomplished fact. All that is left for you to do is to
praise the Lord that when He died, you died also.
Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)
Our old man was crucified with Him (Romans 6:6)
We died with Christ. (Romans 6:8)
What died with Christ? Our old man died.
When Christ died, YOU died. You are done with.
You are ruled out. The self you loathe is on the
Cross in Christ. And, 'he that is dead is freed
from sin. (Rom 6:7) This is the Gospel for the
Christian!
Man's way is to try to suppress sin by seeking to
overcome it; God's way is to remove the sinner.
If we are preoccupied with the power of sin and
with our inability to overcome it, then we
naturally conclude that to gain victory over sin,
we must have more power. So we plead with God
to strengthen us that we may have more self-control.
But this is not Christianity. God's means of setting
us free from sin, is to make us weaker. God set us
free from the dominion of sin, not by strengthening
the old man, by by crucifying him. The discovery
of your helplessness and His victory will bring an
end to human striving, self hate and self-effort.
(Watchman Nee, The Normal Christian Life)
Saturday, November 19, 2016
Problem Solved
This is probably one of the most significant posts
you will read on this site. It was taught by the
clergy in the 19th and 20th centuries, but I have
not come across it much in more recent years.
"For as by one man's disobedience the many
were made sinners, so by the one man's
obedience, the many will be made righteous.
(Romans 5:19)
Our despair is in Adam; our hope is in Christ.
But, here is the problem. Seeing that we were born
in Adam, how can we get out of Adam? The blood
doesn't cut it. There is only one way. Since we
came into Adam by birth, we must go out of Adam
by death. To do away with our sinfulness we must
do away with our life. What? Yes! Bondage to sin
came by birth; deliverance from sin comes by death--
His death. God has dealt with us in Christ. If this is
so, how do we get into Christ? Good question. God
has put us into Christ. I Corinthians 1:30 states
this very clearly:
"Of Him (that is of God) are ye in Christ."
We are in so we don't have to try to get in.
The Lord God Himself put us into Christ
Our destiny is bound up in His destiny
What He has gone through, we have also.
When Christ was crucified we were crucified
When Christ was buried we were buried
When Christ rose from the dead, we rose too.
(See Romans 6)
All references to crucifixion in the NT are in the
Greek aorist tense. "the eternally past tense, the
once for all tense'
"We know that our old man was crucified
with him in order that the body of sin might
be brought to nothing, so that we would no
longer be enslaved to sin.
' (Romans 6:6)
"I have been crucified with Christ. It is no
longer I who live, but Christ who lives in
me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live
by the faith of the Son of God, who loved
me and gave himself for me."
(Galatians 2:20)
"But far be it from me to boast except in the
cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which
the world has been crucified to me, and I to
the World." (Galatians 6:14)
you will read on this site. It was taught by the
clergy in the 19th and 20th centuries, but I have
not come across it much in more recent years.
"For as by one man's disobedience the many
were made sinners, so by the one man's
obedience, the many will be made righteous.
(Romans 5:19)
Our despair is in Adam; our hope is in Christ.
But, here is the problem. Seeing that we were born
in Adam, how can we get out of Adam? The blood
doesn't cut it. There is only one way. Since we
came into Adam by birth, we must go out of Adam
by death. To do away with our sinfulness we must
do away with our life. What? Yes! Bondage to sin
came by birth; deliverance from sin comes by death--
His death. God has dealt with us in Christ. If this is
so, how do we get into Christ? Good question. God
has put us into Christ. I Corinthians 1:30 states
this very clearly:
"Of Him (that is of God) are ye in Christ."
We are in so we don't have to try to get in.
The Lord God Himself put us into Christ
Our destiny is bound up in His destiny
What He has gone through, we have also.
When Christ was crucified we were crucified
When Christ was buried we were buried
When Christ rose from the dead, we rose too.
(See Romans 6)
All references to crucifixion in the NT are in the
Greek aorist tense. "the eternally past tense, the
once for all tense'
"We know that our old man was crucified
with him in order that the body of sin might
be brought to nothing, so that we would no
longer be enslaved to sin.
' (Romans 6:6)
"I have been crucified with Christ. It is no
longer I who live, but Christ who lives in
me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live
by the faith of the Son of God, who loved
me and gave himself for me."
(Galatians 2:20)
"But far be it from me to boast except in the
cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which
the world has been crucified to me, and I to
the World." (Galatians 6:14)
Friday, November 18, 2016
NOT Our Behaviour
"What has nothing to do with my behavior? When
we know the precious truth of justification by faith,
we still know only half the story. We have only
solved the problem of our standing before God.
How can we live the normal Christian life? How
do we enter into it? We not only need to be right
with God but we also need peace with God. The
Blood can wash away my sins, but it cannot wash
away my 'old man.' The 'old nature' needs
crucifixion. The Blood deals with the sins but the
cross must deal with the sinner. Paul lays it out in
Romans five: 'A sinner is said to be a sinner
because he is born a sinner; not because he com-
mits sins.' Why am I a born a sinner? Because
Adam sinned and we are all descended from
Adam.
'Sin came into the world through one man so
death spread to all men...through one man's
trespass, death reigned through that one man.'
(Romans 5)
If your great grandfather had died at the age of
three, where would you be today? Well, you
would not be here because you would have died
in him. In the same way we are bound to Adam.
We are all involved in Adam's sin, because we
are all from him. When Adam sinned we received
from him all that he became as a result of his sin--
that is to say, the Adam-nature, the nature of a
sinner. Our trouble is in what we have inherited,
not our behavior. Unless we change our heritage
there is no room for deliverance for us."
Watchman Nee paraphrase
Reader, I am going to leave you half baked, so to
speak. I am on the edge of a wonderful break-
through but it is so much to grasp all at once,
especially if it is new to you. Know that you have
been reconciled with God through the Blood of
Jesus, but that there is so much more to salvation--
there is also deliverance!
we know the precious truth of justification by faith,
we still know only half the story. We have only
solved the problem of our standing before God.
How can we live the normal Christian life? How
do we enter into it? We not only need to be right
with God but we also need peace with God. The
Blood can wash away my sins, but it cannot wash
away my 'old man.' The 'old nature' needs
crucifixion. The Blood deals with the sins but the
cross must deal with the sinner. Paul lays it out in
Romans five: 'A sinner is said to be a sinner
because he is born a sinner; not because he com-
mits sins.' Why am I a born a sinner? Because
Adam sinned and we are all descended from
Adam.
'Sin came into the world through one man so
death spread to all men...through one man's
trespass, death reigned through that one man.'
(Romans 5)
If your great grandfather had died at the age of
three, where would you be today? Well, you
would not be here because you would have died
in him. In the same way we are bound to Adam.
We are all involved in Adam's sin, because we
are all from him. When Adam sinned we received
from him all that he became as a result of his sin--
that is to say, the Adam-nature, the nature of a
sinner. Our trouble is in what we have inherited,
not our behavior. Unless we change our heritage
there is no room for deliverance for us."
Watchman Nee paraphrase
Reader, I am going to leave you half baked, so to
speak. I am on the edge of a wonderful break-
through but it is so much to grasp all at once,
especially if it is new to you. Know that you have
been reconciled with God through the Blood of
Jesus, but that there is so much more to salvation--
there is also deliverance!
Thursday, November 17, 2016
Communicating Feelings
Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. --Psalm 139: 23, 24
Very few couples ever learn to communicate on the important level of how they feel.Most people live out of feelings, which should be communicated even if they are not based on fact.However, when beginning to describe how they feel, people often get bombarded with facts from their spouses intended to discredit what was said. It is interesting to watch the confrontation of a carnal person. First, he tries denial: "I did not do it!" Second, there is the rationalization of his/her behavior: "I had to do it." Then comes the accusation: "You made me do it," or, "You have done the same thing yourself." None of this makes for great conversation that goes anywhere. The spiritual man does none of the above when confronted, neither immediately accepting (unless conviction from God previously existed) nor immediately rejecting the claims, but laying his heart before God and letting God probe. If what was said is true, then there is repentance.
Let others tell you how they feel. You may be hearing only false feelings, but a spiritual response from you will help reveal this. Get in the other person’s shoes and understand the feelings and why they might be occurring, without responding in a manner calculated to defend yourself. This will help both of you move past those feelings to the Truth, Christ.
Psalm 139:23-24 are a testimony of the great King David’s understanding of himself versus God’s knowledge of him. And one thing that shows is that O.T. Believers did not possess the Holy Spirit’s indwelling…therefore the “uh-huh” and “unh-uh” He gives today’s Believers were not available to David. So David would wisely ask God to reveal and lead him as needed. Today, we have HIM inside us to do such, most often whether we ask or not, although it is never “bad” to ask God for His wisdom, His insights, His awareness of any of our “offensive ways,” and His leadership.
Michael shows us this translates to the disaster of carnal Christians not being able to (or, not wanting to) communicate their feelings when a sensitivity to the Holy Spirit’s nudging (and desire to walk with His involvement) could lead to less tension and better communication.
Interestingly, the Greek word for “communicate” in the New Testament is koinoneo, meaning “share with.” Exactly what Michael is saying here! Share with each other our feelings, not just facts. And especially not arguments!
Very few couples ever learn to communicate on the important level of how they feel.Most people live out of feelings, which should be communicated even if they are not based on fact.However, when beginning to describe how they feel, people often get bombarded with facts from their spouses intended to discredit what was said. It is interesting to watch the confrontation of a carnal person. First, he tries denial: "I did not do it!" Second, there is the rationalization of his/her behavior: "I had to do it." Then comes the accusation: "You made me do it," or, "You have done the same thing yourself." None of this makes for great conversation that goes anywhere. The spiritual man does none of the above when confronted, neither immediately accepting (unless conviction from God previously existed) nor immediately rejecting the claims, but laying his heart before God and letting God probe. If what was said is true, then there is repentance.
Let others tell you how they feel. You may be hearing only false feelings, but a spiritual response from you will help reveal this. Get in the other person’s shoes and understand the feelings and why they might be occurring, without responding in a manner calculated to defend yourself. This will help both of you move past those feelings to the Truth, Christ.
Psalm 139:23-24 are a testimony of the great King David’s understanding of himself versus God’s knowledge of him. And one thing that shows is that O.T. Believers did not possess the Holy Spirit’s indwelling…therefore the “uh-huh” and “unh-uh” He gives today’s Believers were not available to David. So David would wisely ask God to reveal and lead him as needed. Today, we have HIM inside us to do such, most often whether we ask or not, although it is never “bad” to ask God for His wisdom, His insights, His awareness of any of our “offensive ways,” and His leadership.
Michael shows us this translates to the disaster of carnal Christians not being able to (or, not wanting to) communicate their feelings when a sensitivity to the Holy Spirit’s nudging (and desire to walk with His involvement) could lead to less tension and better communication.
Interestingly, the Greek word for “communicate” in the New Testament is koinoneo, meaning “share with.” Exactly what Michael is saying here! Share with each other our feelings, not just facts. And especially not arguments!
Our Dual Problem
Our dual problem: SINS AND SIN
'The first eight chapters of Romans form a self-
contained unit. Chapters one to chapter 5:11 form
the first half, chapters 5:12 to 8:19 lays out the
second half. In the first section we find that Paul
uses the plural form and refers to sins. In the
second section, however, this is changed, for
while the word 'sins' hardly occurs once, the
singular word 'sin' is used again and again. Why?'
'It is because in the first section it is a question
of the many sins I have committed before God,
whereas in the second it is a question of sin as a
principle working within. It is this sin-principle
that leads to our sinning. I need forgiveness for
my sins, but I need also deliverance from the
power of sin. The former touches my conscience,
the latter, my life...Once I have received
forgiveness of sins I make a new discovery,
namely the discovery of 'sin'--something is still
wrong within...'
'We shall see that the Blood deals with what we
have done, whereas the Cross deals with what
we are. The Blood disposes of our sins, while the
Cross strikes at the root of our capacity for sin.'
(Watchman Nee, somewhat paraphrased)
Reader, the words above were what began my
journey to living in greater victory. If you can
grasp the difference between sins and sin, you
are on your way to freedom in Christ! I will
expand on this in the coming days.
'The first eight chapters of Romans form a self-
contained unit. Chapters one to chapter 5:11 form
the first half, chapters 5:12 to 8:19 lays out the
second half. In the first section we find that Paul
uses the plural form and refers to sins. In the
second section, however, this is changed, for
while the word 'sins' hardly occurs once, the
singular word 'sin' is used again and again. Why?'
'It is because in the first section it is a question
of the many sins I have committed before God,
whereas in the second it is a question of sin as a
principle working within. It is this sin-principle
that leads to our sinning. I need forgiveness for
my sins, but I need also deliverance from the
power of sin. The former touches my conscience,
the latter, my life...Once I have received
forgiveness of sins I make a new discovery,
namely the discovery of 'sin'--something is still
wrong within...'
'We shall see that the Blood deals with what we
have done, whereas the Cross deals with what
we are. The Blood disposes of our sins, while the
Cross strikes at the root of our capacity for sin.'
(Watchman Nee, somewhat paraphrased)
Reader, the words above were what began my
journey to living in greater victory. If you can
grasp the difference between sins and sin, you
are on your way to freedom in Christ! I will
expand on this in the coming days.
Overcoming the Accuser
The greatest daily battle against our enemy is all in
our heads. And, he attacks us continually in such a
way that we tend to agree with him. Yuk!
"...which accused them before God day and night"
(Rev 12:10)
When Adam fell he instantly sided with Satan and
against God. When Jesus came He became our
High Priest. Check out Hebrews 9:11-14. Jesus is a
High Priest who shed his own blood on our behalf,
so man is now back on the side of God. The blood
restored man to God and God to man. Because of
this, when we are accused before God by Satan,
the Lord confronts Satan on our behalf.
"The blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from
every sin." (Darby 1John 1:9)
Every sin? Yes. The worst of sins? Yes. We are
tempted by the enemy to think there are sins that
are unforgivable, but scripture says,
'the blood of Jesus cleanses us from every sin!'
Now the reason why we so readily accept the
accusations of Satan as truth, is that we are still
hoping to have some righteousness of our own!
However, if we have learned to put no confidence
in the flesh, we shall not be surprised if we sin,
because the very nature of flesh is to sin. Never
should we try to answer Satan with our good
conduct but always by the blood. Our faith is in
the precious blood and our refusal to move from
that position alone silences Satan's charges and
puts him to flight. (Romans 8:33, 34)'
(Watchman Nee paraphrased)
Reader, I had forgotten how much the blood
of Jesus has accomplished for me. It surely is
by revelation that we are able to stand against
the accusations of the accuser, our vile foe!
our heads. And, he attacks us continually in such a
way that we tend to agree with him. Yuk!
"...which accused them before God day and night"
(Rev 12:10)
When Adam fell he instantly sided with Satan and
against God. When Jesus came He became our
High Priest. Check out Hebrews 9:11-14. Jesus is a
High Priest who shed his own blood on our behalf,
so man is now back on the side of God. The blood
restored man to God and God to man. Because of
this, when we are accused before God by Satan,
the Lord confronts Satan on our behalf.
"The blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from
every sin." (Darby 1John 1:9)
Every sin? Yes. The worst of sins? Yes. We are
tempted by the enemy to think there are sins that
are unforgivable, but scripture says,
'the blood of Jesus cleanses us from every sin!'
Now the reason why we so readily accept the
accusations of Satan as truth, is that we are still
hoping to have some righteousness of our own!
However, if we have learned to put no confidence
in the flesh, we shall not be surprised if we sin,
because the very nature of flesh is to sin. Never
should we try to answer Satan with our good
conduct but always by the blood. Our faith is in
the precious blood and our refusal to move from
that position alone silences Satan's charges and
puts him to flight. (Romans 8:33, 34)'
(Watchman Nee paraphrased)
Reader, I had forgotten how much the blood
of Jesus has accomplished for me. It surely is
by revelation that we are able to stand against
the accusations of the accuser, our vile foe!
Love Conquers All
Paul prayed in this way for the church at Ephesus:
I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, [God] may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. —Ephesians 3:16:17
Christ resides in us, and we reside in Christ by our trust that what God says about himself and us in the person of Jesus Christ is true. By faith we participate in the triune love of God. Paul’s prayer is for this divine participation to be increasingly experienced as we are increasingly “rooted and grounded in love.”
Through the work of the Spirit in our lives and through the discipline of our minds, the roots of our lives must become firmly planted in the reality of God’s love as revealed in Christ. Like the ground from which a tree’s roots are nourished, God’s love is the one source from which we are to drink and derive nourishment.
When we are empty, we are to drink the fullness of God’s love.
When we face temptation, we are to drink the strength of God’s love.
When we catch ourselves feeling superior, we are to drink in the mercy of God’s love, remembering that we ourselves are forgiven sinners.
When we feel condemned, we are to drink the forgiveness of God’s love.
When we feel despair, we are to drink the hope of God’s love.
When we feel lifeless, we are to drink the abundant life that is God’s love.
When we feel hate, we are to drink in the love that led Christ to give up his life for those who hated him.
It is all there in Christ. He is the truth and he is the life (John 14:6). We must be rooted in him and in him alone. Love conquers all.
God’s love, as revealed in Christ, is also the source of our grounding, our stability in life. Trees with deep roots bend when strong winds come, but they are not uprooted like trees with shallow roots. So too, our stability in life depends on our being firmly grounded in the reality of God’s love as it is revealed in Christ. If our lives are grounded in idols from which we try to get life, we are building our house on sinking sand. But if our lives are grounded in Christ as “the source of [our] life” (1 Cor 1:30), our house is built upon an immovable rock (Matt 7:24-27).
We live in a world under the influence of the Accuser, who roams about as a lion seeking to devour us (1 Pet 5:8). He is continually accusing God before us, just as he is perpetually accusing us before God, just as he is perpetually accusing us before God, ourselves, and each other. If we are not rooted and grounded in God’s love, we will invariably find ourselves unconsciously or consciously judging and accusing God, and then ourselves and each other. We will live in judgment, and the flow of love from God to us and through us will be suppressed.
May Christ dwell in your hearts through faith, being rooted and grounded in love.
I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, [God] may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. —Ephesians 3:16:17
Christ resides in us, and we reside in Christ by our trust that what God says about himself and us in the person of Jesus Christ is true. By faith we participate in the triune love of God. Paul’s prayer is for this divine participation to be increasingly experienced as we are increasingly “rooted and grounded in love.”
Through the work of the Spirit in our lives and through the discipline of our minds, the roots of our lives must become firmly planted in the reality of God’s love as revealed in Christ. Like the ground from which a tree’s roots are nourished, God’s love is the one source from which we are to drink and derive nourishment.
When we are empty, we are to drink the fullness of God’s love.
When we face temptation, we are to drink the strength of God’s love.
When we catch ourselves feeling superior, we are to drink in the mercy of God’s love, remembering that we ourselves are forgiven sinners.
When we feel condemned, we are to drink the forgiveness of God’s love.
When we feel despair, we are to drink the hope of God’s love.
When we feel lifeless, we are to drink the abundant life that is God’s love.
When we feel hate, we are to drink in the love that led Christ to give up his life for those who hated him.
It is all there in Christ. He is the truth and he is the life (John 14:6). We must be rooted in him and in him alone. Love conquers all.
God’s love, as revealed in Christ, is also the source of our grounding, our stability in life. Trees with deep roots bend when strong winds come, but they are not uprooted like trees with shallow roots. So too, our stability in life depends on our being firmly grounded in the reality of God’s love as it is revealed in Christ. If our lives are grounded in idols from which we try to get life, we are building our house on sinking sand. But if our lives are grounded in Christ as “the source of [our] life” (1 Cor 1:30), our house is built upon an immovable rock (Matt 7:24-27).
We live in a world under the influence of the Accuser, who roams about as a lion seeking to devour us (1 Pet 5:8). He is continually accusing God before us, just as he is perpetually accusing us before God, just as he is perpetually accusing us before God, ourselves, and each other. If we are not rooted and grounded in God’s love, we will invariably find ourselves unconsciously or consciously judging and accusing God, and then ourselves and each other. We will live in judgment, and the flow of love from God to us and through us will be suppressed.
May Christ dwell in your hearts through faith, being rooted and grounded in love.
Thursday, November 10, 2016
Christ's Gain
In bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering. --Hebrews 2:10
On a recent international trip I was sitting on the front pew waiting to preach. During the song service I looked on the wall at a picture of Mary holding Jesus. God becoming a man! I have always thought of the great loss Jesus experienced in having to leave heaven to become a man. I had never before thought there was gain for Him, but there are two areas of gain that I see. First, though I know little about Him, I know He is the lover of my soul. God created man like a fine automobile, but a car cannot drive on its own. I have seen in the bottom of a ferryboat a tangled and beaten-up heap of cars after a storm at sea. Those lost cars had no drivers. Jesus stepped in to become the driver in man and to make the creation perform perfectly. He comes to dwell in each of us, to drive, so to speak.
Second,when spirit dwells in flesh, the spirit will either be perfected or destroyed. In heaven, without hindrances, spirit never really sees its limitations. This is partially the problem that Satan had, thinking he was equal to God. Putting spirit in flesh is redeeming for the spirit as the short course in revealing weakness. Once spirit has lived in flesh and found that it is conquered by flesh (spirit is willing but the flesh is weak), spirit enters into humility. Clinging to and empowered by God, spirit perceives something it never would have if not presented with that new level of need: a deeper experience of the glory of God as He meets the need. Spirit as it lives and is being perfected in flesh reveals the glory of God. Having descended and ascended, does Jesus see the Father differently? If so, is it gain? Jesus was made perfect through suffering. What does this mean for me? Jesus put Himself in a place of great need, but God did more than meet the need. So maybe God the Father will never seem the same for Jesus. Has the Father gotten even more wondrous and beautiful to Jesus? Maybe for the first time in my life, I am happy that I began as a man. Having God help me in my weakness gives me a view and experience of God that no angel will ever have. We are spirits trapped in flesh; in our weakness He becomes our strength.
Fears and Fleeting Faith
The disciples were afraid. Terrified, even. The wind was howling, the waves pounding. Several of them were fishermen by trade and they knew this water, they knew of colleagues who had been swept away and lost in these sudden, vicious squalls. They knew the situation was fast becoming perilous. Yet Jesus slept, resting contentedly at the bottom of the boat. How could he be so callous? Didn’t he know the danger? Didn’t he care?
Finally they could take it no longer. “Master, Master, we are perishing!” Get up! What’s wrong with you! Jesus awoke. Jesus spoke. Jesus rebuked the storm, told it to get lost, to go away. And like an ant before an elephant, that great storm dissipated and retreated. It was beaten, licked, replaced by a dead calm.
Jesus turned to the disciples and asked a question, just four short words: “Where is your faith?” Where, indeed.
The disciples had the right idea, of course. In their troubles they fled to Jesus. In their uncertainty they cried out to their master. But they came to him in fear and doubt, not in faith. Jesus’s words to them were a rebuke, a gentle scolding. Kent Hughes points out the irony: The great storm had not awoken Jesus. No, it took doubting little men to wake him from his rest. Their fear had led them to doubt his goodness, his kindness, his care for them. After all they had seen, all they had witnessed, all they had experienced, how could they be so silly? How could they remain so naive?
The disciples had assumed that their experience of the storm was the same as his experience of the storm. They had assumed the storm was happening to Jesus in the same way it was happening to them. But that wasn’t the case at all, because he was not one of them. Even while he was in the storm, he was above the storm. Even while he was caught up in it, he was controlling it. Even while it happened to him, it happened by and through him (Hebrews 1:3). The great storm was always in the hand of this great God. Every wind blew only at his command, every wave rose only by his hand, every raindrop fell only with his knowledge, his assent, his approval, his delight.
We marvel at the disciples for their lack of faith. They had seen miracle after miracle, had experience after experience. They had walked with him and been taught by him as his dearest friends, his closest allies. Yet in one moment of uncertainty they forgot it all. We marvel, but we shouldn’t. If we are honest with ourselves we know we have done the very same thing. As Hughes says, “Fear comes, and all the reasons for trust depart—all our past experience, all the knowledge God has given us.”
Our faith is shockingly shallow on the day of uncertainty. Our fears quickly overwhelm our fleeting faith. Yet this story tells us, reminds us, assures us that there is no situation beyond God’s knowledge, no condition beyond God’s control, no circumstance beyond God’s power. The one who holds us in the storm is the very same one who holds the storm. I give the final words to Charles Spurgeon:
There is no attribute more comforting to His children than that of God’s sovereignty. Under the most adverse circumstances, in the most severe trials, they believe that sovereignty has ordained their afflictions, that sovereignty overrules them, and that sovereignty will sanctify them all. There is nothing for which the children ought to more earnestly contend to than the doctrine of their Master over all creation – the Kingship of God over all the works of His own hands – the Throne of God and His right to sit upon that throne…for it is God upon the Throne whom we trust.
Finally they could take it no longer. “Master, Master, we are perishing!” Get up! What’s wrong with you! Jesus awoke. Jesus spoke. Jesus rebuked the storm, told it to get lost, to go away. And like an ant before an elephant, that great storm dissipated and retreated. It was beaten, licked, replaced by a dead calm.
Jesus turned to the disciples and asked a question, just four short words: “Where is your faith?” Where, indeed.
The disciples had the right idea, of course. In their troubles they fled to Jesus. In their uncertainty they cried out to their master. But they came to him in fear and doubt, not in faith. Jesus’s words to them were a rebuke, a gentle scolding. Kent Hughes points out the irony: The great storm had not awoken Jesus. No, it took doubting little men to wake him from his rest. Their fear had led them to doubt his goodness, his kindness, his care for them. After all they had seen, all they had witnessed, all they had experienced, how could they be so silly? How could they remain so naive?
The disciples had assumed that their experience of the storm was the same as his experience of the storm. They had assumed the storm was happening to Jesus in the same way it was happening to them. But that wasn’t the case at all, because he was not one of them. Even while he was in the storm, he was above the storm. Even while he was caught up in it, he was controlling it. Even while it happened to him, it happened by and through him (Hebrews 1:3). The great storm was always in the hand of this great God. Every wind blew only at his command, every wave rose only by his hand, every raindrop fell only with his knowledge, his assent, his approval, his delight.
We marvel at the disciples for their lack of faith. They had seen miracle after miracle, had experience after experience. They had walked with him and been taught by him as his dearest friends, his closest allies. Yet in one moment of uncertainty they forgot it all. We marvel, but we shouldn’t. If we are honest with ourselves we know we have done the very same thing. As Hughes says, “Fear comes, and all the reasons for trust depart—all our past experience, all the knowledge God has given us.”
Our faith is shockingly shallow on the day of uncertainty. Our fears quickly overwhelm our fleeting faith. Yet this story tells us, reminds us, assures us that there is no situation beyond God’s knowledge, no condition beyond God’s control, no circumstance beyond God’s power. The one who holds us in the storm is the very same one who holds the storm. I give the final words to Charles Spurgeon:
There is no attribute more comforting to His children than that of God’s sovereignty. Under the most adverse circumstances, in the most severe trials, they believe that sovereignty has ordained their afflictions, that sovereignty overrules them, and that sovereignty will sanctify them all. There is nothing for which the children ought to more earnestly contend to than the doctrine of their Master over all creation – the Kingship of God over all the works of His own hands – the Throne of God and His right to sit upon that throne…for it is God upon the Throne whom we trust.
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