Joseph and His Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Days

Posted on January 14, 2021 by Pete

It’s easy, especially when it comes to well known stories we’ve heard since Sunday School, to read them again with the end in mind. To skim over details until we get to “the lesson.” To rush through the “back story” in anticipation of the “main event.” Thinking this might be true when we encounter Joseph’s story for the umpteenth time. But what if we tried to read it again as if for the first time?

As I pause this morning at the end of Genesis 40, it occurs to me that, while God’s been with Joseph, and though I know how things eventually turn out — what others meant for evil God uses for good (Gen. 50:20) — at this point in the story things haven’t been going all that well for Joseph. While we are often quick to pull out the flannel graph to recount the story of Joseph and the Coat of Many Colors, or the story of Joseph the Ruler in Egypt, I don’t know that very often we’ve seen the felt put on the board to convey the tale of Joseph and His Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Days. (Thanx Judith Voist for almost 50 years of “Alexander”, one the best kids books ever).

Think about it, one day Joseph gets up and is told by his dad to go see how his brothers are doing tending the flocks. And this guy in his late teens, favored by his father though despised by his older brothers, heads out thinking that’s what the day(s) hold for him. (Cue the theme from Gilligan’s Island). And what begins as a “three hour tour” turns into a shipwreck.

Threatened with murder. Stripped of his daddy’s coat. Thrown in a pit. Sold as slave. Taken to Egypt. Bought as a housekeeper.

Even when things take a turn for the better and he’s promoted to house manager, he then gets hit on by the boss’s wife and, though he refuses her, still gets thrown in jail. Sure, he’s promoted again, this time to top of the food chain as the jail keeper, but he’s still incarcerated. And when his hopes are raised after connecting with some influencers in Pharaoh’s house who say they’ll plead his case, they get out of jail and forget about him for the next two years.

So stop there and noodle on that. How’s it going for Joseph? Tell me that, despite some encouraging bright spots along the way, this hasn’t been some terrible, horrible, no good, very bad days. Tell me Joseph wasn’t confused by the why of it all. Tell me he wasn’t overwhelmed with weariness at times.

So why is Moses (the author of Genesis) spending so much time detailing the events of this favored son of the patriarch, Jacob, to a people who have been delivered from bondage but have a ways to go before seeing the promised land? I think it’s so they might remember in the midst of their inevitable terrible, horrible, no good, very bad days, that God would be with them, just as He was with Joseph.

But the LORD was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love . . .

(Genesis 39:21a ESV)

That’s the echo which reverberates through Genesis 39. The Spirit moving Moses to remind a sojourning people that just as “the LORD was with Joseph”, so He would be with them. That’s the take away for these favored people of God when they encounter their terrible, horrible, no good, very bad days — and they’d have a few. It’s the take away for me as a favored son of the Father — by grace alone — when my “days” don’t go as I would like. The take away for the people of God as we try and make sense of unanticipated, unwanted, less than stellar circumstances.

“Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the LORD your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.”

(Deuteronomy 31:6 ESV)

Looking forward to the “happy ending” of Genesis 50. But right now, I’m encouraged by the “terrible days” of Genesis 39 and 40.

. . . the LORD was with him . . .

By God’s grace. For God’s glory.

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Of Purpose and Prospect

Posted on January 13, 2021 by Pete

The context of David’s prayer in Psalm 17 is a plea for deliverance from his enemies. What I’m chewing on this morning, though, is the contrast between their over-arching purpose in life and the psalmist’s over-riding prospect.

Arise, O LORD! Confront him, subdue him! Deliver my soul from the wicked by Your sword, from men by Your hand, O LORD, from men of the world whose portion is in this life. You fill their womb with treasure; they are satisfied with children, and they leave their abundance to their infants.

As for me, I shall behold Your face in righteousness; when I awake, I shall be satisfied with Your likeness.

(Psalm 17:13-15 ESV)

Men of the world whose portion is in this life. Men who look to this world for their reward (NLT). Flat-earth people who can’t think beyond today (MSG).

David says it’s what drove those who closed “their hearts to pity” and compelled their mouths to “speak arrogantly” (v.10). It’s what sourced “the ways of the violent” (v.4b), fueling within them the spirit of “a lion eager to tear”, priming the instinct of “a young lion lurking in ambush” (v.12). And for what purpose? To get their portion in this life. To get what they can while they can.

Whether treasure seeking, pleasure seeking, or attention seeking, when the heart is convinced that this life is its one shot to get what it deserves, then beware the behaviors potentially spawned from such a view of life’s purpose.

But when life is lived with the prospect of beholding the face of God in righteousness, when the day is begun waking with the expectation of being fully satisfied by experiencing His presence, then life’s purpose is not tied to this world but a world yet to come. The prize that compels us to run well the race before us today shifts — less about something actualized in this life, all about something anticipated in life after this life.

If our treasures are being stored up in heaven, then our hearts will be set on heavenly things (Matt. 6:21). If our greatest joy is the prospect of beholding the face of God, then our pleasures will be realized through that which nurtures the righteousness God has credited to our accounts by faith (Matt. 5:6, Rom. 14:17). If we expect that our sufficiency will only be found in the One who created us in His likeness (Gen 1:26), then to bear His likeness (Rom. 8:29), even as we anticipate a day when we will be face to face with His likeness (1Cor. 13:12), will satisfy every longing and need.

Thinking this morning that our purpose is tied to our prospect. That because one day we will awake to behold His face, that this morning we can awake to be satisfied with His likeness.

By His grace. For His glory.

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My Right Hand, His Right Hand

Posted on January 12, 2021 by Pete

We know it’s a Messianic psalm, a song about the Christ. Though words were put to music by David at a certain time for a specific reason, God breathed out the lyrics, conceived before the foundation of the earth, through the moving of the Spirit so that He might point to the Son. The psalmist becoming a prophet.

We know it because Peter says so when he quotes from the song in Acts 2 (Acts 2:25-31). So, to read Psalm 16 as the words of Jesus is appropriate. And a blessing. The mind of Christ in the words of this ancient song.

But it’s not just a song for the blessed Son of God, it is a song also sung by the perfect Son of Man, thus, by extension, for all the sons, and daughters, of men who would seek to follow in His footsteps. Messiah’s experience a model for those who would aspire to His example of how to walk on earth while a citizen of heaven. And what captures my thoughts this morning is the “right hand.”

I have set the LORD always before me; because He is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken. . . .

You make known to me the path of life; in Your presence there is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

(Psalm 16:8, 11 ESV)

My take away? Doing life here is only possible now as He is at my right hand. Entering into fullness of life there will be my reality then because I will be at His right hand.

I’m pretty familiar with the concept of His right hand. It is the place of glory, honor and power. The place where the Lord Jesus, even now, is seated (Heb. 1:3, 10:12, 12:2). Seated at “the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens” (Heb. 8:1) until that time when God makes all His enemies His footstool (Heb. 1:13). And from this morning’s reading, His right hand is also the destination for the path of life the Father has made known to me. The way of the cross that leads into His very presence. The road of redemption bringing me one day before His throne. At His right hand, the place where I will experience pleasures forevermore.

But dare I think that now He would condescend to be at my right hand? Not that it’s a place of honor and glory — far from it. But that my right hand is a place of need and dependence. A place requiring the enabling power and steadfast strength of Another. Just as the Son experienced when He faced the cross, calling upon the Father to be His refuge (Ps. 16:1). Just as the Christ, knowing that God held His lot (Ps. 16:5b), sought counsel from above and submitted to heavenly instruction (Ps. 16:7). Knowing the hostility of earth, even Jesus set Himself before the LORD of heaven. Thus, unshakeable. Confident His God would not leave Him or forsake Him. And that, because “He is at my right hand.” Yeah, I dare to think.

As I head out today I set the LORD before me. Confident He is at my right hand, strong in the power of His might. Not because of who I am, but because of who He is.

But one day, I will be at His right hand. In that place where there is fullness of joy and pleasures forevermore. Not because of what I’ve done, but because of what He’s promised to do.

All by His grace. Only for His glory.

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In the Tent

Posted on January 11, 2021 by Pete

Sometimes I have to smile at Peterson’s casual, conversational, colloquial way of translating the Scriptures. If, as some of the introductions to The Message Bible state, his purpose was to “engage and intrigue us right where we are”, for me it delivers. Case in point? The opening question of Psalm 15.

God, who gets invited to dinner at Your place?

(Psalm 15:1a MSG)

While I was arrested by the more literal translation of the song as I read in my ESV, comparing it to Peterson’s paraphrase only deepens the sense of wonder and awe.

O LORD, who shall sojourn in Your tent?

(Psalm 15:1a ESV)

Who gets to sojourn in the tent? Who gets to “turn aside from the road for lodging and hospitality” and find a place in the Holy Place? Who gets to walk past the altar of sacrifice, wash their hands in the laver of cleansing, and enter the place where the light always shines and the bread is always on the table? Who gets to approach the altar of incense as it shadows the place where the glory of God dwells, above the mercy seat, beneath the wings of the cherubim (Heb. 9:1-5)? What’s more, who would even dare to think that they might enter the Most Holy Place and actually abide in the presence of Holy, Holy, Holy God Himself? Who?

That such a place exists isn’t the jaw-dropper. For those who believe in a holy God, such a holy place just makes sense. But that one might sojourn there? That it is available for abiding? That invitations have been sent out and the way prepared for the creation to come and fellowship around the table with the Creator? How amazing is that? Pretty amazing!

As I read on in David’s psalm and process the qualifications for “who”, they aren’t all that surprising. Who gets to dine with Deity? Who finds a seat at the table with the Sovereign? Who can live in the midst of unapproachable Light? Short answer: the righteous.

Pragmatically, David describes them this way: They walk blamelessly and speak truth from the heart. They don’t slander others, or wrong their neighbor, or turn on their friends. They can’t stand the sight of evil, and honor those who fear the LORD. They’ll “keep their word even when it costs” (MSG). When they loan someone money, they don’t expect any interest payment in return. And, they’d never even consider taking a bribe to stand against the innocent. (Ps. 15:2-5)

But, while righteous works will accompany righteous people, the gospel reminds us our righteousness comes not from good works but by faith for good works. That’s the power of the gospel — our faith!

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”

(Romans 1:16-17 ESV)

Righteousness credited to our account because we believe “in Him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification” (Rom. 4:24-25).

So, the righteous have a place in the tent. The faithful are invited to feast at His table. Those who are wholly His, through trusting in the finished work of the cross, can turn aside from the wearying road and find rest in the Holy Place.

O LORD, who shall sojourn in Your tent?

God, who gets invited to dinner at Your place?

Hmmm . . . I like chewing on good questions. Reminds me of a great God. Renews wonder. Evokes worship.

A place at the table, by God’s grace. Sojourning in the tent, for God’s glory.

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I See You

Posted on January 8, 2021 by Pete

Hovering over the opening section of Matthew 6 this morning. A warning about doing the right stuff for the wrong reasons “as the hypocrites do” — a warning about “practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them” (Matt. 6:1).

The hypocrites Jesus is talking about are those “in the synagogues” (6:2) who make a big deal of their acts of charity. The Pharisees who intentionally showcase their giving to the needy, their dedication to prayer, and their self-imposed hardship through fasting. They do these things, Jesus says, to be seen by others (6:5), their motive being the praise of others (6:2). And that, says Jesus, will be their reward — the accolades of men. So what?, He implies, when there is a greater, more lasting, eternally significant reward — to be seen by “the Father who sees in secret” and to receive His reward.

And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

(Matthew 6:4b, 6b, 18b ESV)

If the sins of the Pharisees are an “either/or” proposition, then perhaps it’s easy to distance ourselves from people like them. If we’re not doing what they did for the reasons they did it, then we must be okay. But what if it’s less about an “either/or” and it’s more like a continuum? That while our heart may not be exactly like their heart, our actions can still reflect a heart that needs to be checked.

Honestly, who doesn’t want to be seen by someone? Who doesn’t want someone to know they’ve done good? Not that they desire a stage, not that they seek the applause of a crowd, they’re not looking for a following — they just want someone to notice. They want someone who’s connected closely enough, and deeply enough, that even the things that are “done in secret” can be shared. They just want to know they’re seen.

Most, I’d venture to say, either know, or have known, that kind of relationship. Familiar with the dynamics of a close enough relationship where there’s someone who sees them. A marriage relationship, a family relationship, a close friend relationship, or even an accountability relationship — an intimate relationship where you are known and where you are seen.

But what if that relationship doesn’t exist? What if it’s not what it once was? What if the only one who sees is, in fact, “your Father who sees in secret?” Would it be enough to satisfy that longing to be seen, that desire to be known? If not, though not like the Pharisee who is driven to be seen by adoring crowds, in a sense aren’t we also in danger of doing our good works to be seen by others, even if that other is only one other, a very close other?

Hmmm . . . maybe this opening section of Matthew 6 is more targeted to me than I’d like to think.

To be satisfied in secret. To give to the needy without the left hand knowing what the right is doing. To pray in my closet with no one else the wiser. To fast without ever mentioning it. Knowing and believing that I’m still seen. That Someone still knows.

As if to punctuate these thoughts stimulated by Matthew 6, I then encountered the following in my reading in the Psalms:

The LORD looks down from heaven on the children of man, to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God.

(Psalm 14:2 ESV)

Oh, that the Father’s knowledge of who we are and what we do would be enough. That we really would be satisfied by an Audience of One.

Not that we shouldn’t have someone “on the inside” who celebrates our triumphs, rebukes our wrongdoings, and encourages us to keep on keepin’ on. After all, the Creator who created man put this “warning label” on the package, “It is not good that man should be alone” (Gen. 2:18).

But, should we find ourselves in an “it is not good” circumstance and we are alone, knowing that the Father sees will be sufficient. Knowing that Jesus is present will satisfy. Abiding through His Spirit, will be enough. Mindful that our recognition rewards are coming from the Father who sees in secret. Able to hear that still small voice whispering in our ear, “I see you.”

By His grace. For His glory.

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The Fear

Posted on January 7, 2021 by Pete

Brings to mind my Sesame Street days. Well, not my Sesame Street days — I kind of predate Bert and Ernie as my TV teachers of the ABC’s, my era was more Miss Margaret and Romper Room. But my kids spent some time being tutored by the Muppets and thus, by extension, me too. One of my favorite teaching techniques? “One of these things is not like the other.” That’s what I encountered this morning as I continued reading in Genesis.

“If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not been on my side, surely now you would have sent me away empty-handed. God saw my affliction and the labor of my hands and rebuked you last night.” ~ Jacob to Laban

(Genesis 31:42 ESV)

Then Laban said to Jacob . . . “The God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us.” So Jacob swore by the Fear of his father Isaac, and Jacob offered a sacrifice in the hill country and called his kinsmen to eat bread. They ate bread and spent the night in the hill country.

(Genesis 31:51a, 53-54 ESV)

In each of those passages one of these things is not like the other. Did you see it?

Jacob says that the God of his father, the God of Abraham, is the Fear of Isaac. When Laban uses the “God of” language in making his pact with his nephew, then again the Holy Spirit moves Moses to record that Jacob enters into the agreement “by the Fear of his father Isaac.” The God of . . . The God of . . . The Fear of. One of these things is not like the other. How come?

Let’s be honest, when did “The Fear” last make your top 10 list of the names of God? How often do we call Him “my Fear”? When’s the last time we encouraged someone by reminding them that our God is Jehovah-Jireh (The LORD my Provider), Jehovah-Nissi (The LORD my Banner), Jehovah-Tsidkenu (The LORD my Righteousness), and Jehovah-Pachad (God my Fear)? Like never!

So how come? How come the God-breathed, Holy Spirit directed writings of Moses twice refer to Jacob’s God as the Fear of Isaac?

I don’t know. But I am chewing on an explanation from one of my online commentaries.

“He calls him not Isaac’s God, but his fear, because Isaac was yet alive, and in the state of probation, and served God with fear and trembling . . . The Jews observe, that God is not called the God of any particular person, as of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, till after their death.” — Matthew Poole’s Commentary

Hmmm. “The God of” is for recounting the faith of the dead. “The Fear of” is for the living.

It’s designation a reminder that He is awesome God and we are not. That while He loves us with a steadfast love He is still the LORD of hosts and that to behold even the garment of His majesty is to instinctively go facedown with trembling. That though He is the God of abundant grace, He is still the Great God who will judge and will one day hold all people to account — unbelievers for every word they’ve spoken (Matt. 12:36-37) and according to all they have done (Rev. 20:12), believers for how they have built on the foundation of the forgiveness they’ve received for those words and deeds through the finished work of the cross (1Cor. 3:11-15). While God the Son calls us friends (Jn. 15:15), and brothers and sisters (Heb. 2:11), He is still God to be feared (Ps. 34:9).

If the ancient Jews, as Poole maintains, viewed that God is to be our Fear while we are alive, would it be too much for us to believe that to really live, to live life to the full, only happens when we live in the fear of the Lord? That we are doing life to the max when we walk in a productive sense of dread, never taking His awesome nature for granted? That we are in right relationship when He is not just our pal, or our genie in a bottle, but the glorious God of heaven and earth? When He’s the Fear of Betty Believer, the Fear of Sam the Saint,? When He’s the Fear of the guy in this chair?

I’m thinkin’ . . .

The fear of God — it too is a gift of grace. The fear of God — how it can prime the pump for living for His glory.

Amen?

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A Tenth and Too Many Gods

Posted on January 6, 2021 by Pete

So, not quite sure how this is going to come together, but there’s a couple of thoughts racing around my head as I sit back after my readings and reflect. A couple of thoughts that I’m thinking might actually tie together and explain to some degree the exhaustion, and emotional and spiritual bankruptcy, so many are feeling. A relationship between a tenth and too many gods.

First observation? The connection between worship and a tenth.

Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, so that I come again to my father’s house in peace, then the LORD shall be my God, and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God’s house. And of all that You give me I will give a full tenth to You.”

(Genesis 28:20-22 ESV)

Jacob’s just fled from angry, murderous brother Esau. Something to do with a sold out birthright and a stolen blessing. And he has a dream and a vision of a ladder between heaven and earth. And the promise God made to his dad, and his dad’s dad — a promise of land, offspring, and blessing — is given to him as well. And Jacob’s response? If the LORD’s promise is true, then “the LORD shall be my God.”

And what would be the evidence of God being his God? “I will give a full tenth to You.” It would cost. There would be a sacrifice, a giving up of something as an act of acknowledging God as everything. Isn’t that the essence of worship? Worship is giving of something to God. Worship is sacrifice. That’s why praise is called “a sacrifice to God, the fruit of lips that acknowledge His name” (Heb. 13:15). It’s why Paul would say that a believers “spiritual worship” is to “present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God” (Rom. 12:1 ESV). Worship, one could say, is a tenth.

Fast forward to my reading in Acts and my second observation. The connection between worship and spiritual bankruptcy.

Context? Stephen’s speech before the high priest and council. A recap of their history and a pointed reminder of their father’s propensity to rebel against God’s deliverers. Just as the men who accused Stephen of blasphemy had rejected Jesus, Stephen connects the dots to the patriarch’s jealousy and rejection of Joseph (7:9) and their father’s refusal to obey and follow Moses (7:39). And when you reject God’s provision, you end up looking for it somewhere else.

“And they made a calf in those days, and offered a sacrifice to the idol and were rejoicing in the works of their hands. But God turned away and gave them over to worship the host of heaven . . . “

(Acts 7:41-42 ESV)

God’s judgment for their determination to sacrifice to one idol? He releases them to their heart’s insatiable appetite for many idols, “to worship the host of heaven.”

Okay, a “host” is a lot! More than just one or two more idols. Literally, it’s an army or a troop of fake, man-made gods. That’s a lot of idols to worship.

And if worship costs, if it takes a tenth, then it’s gotta become pretty exhausting to service all those gods. Ultimately, you only have so many tenths to give. Eventually the well’s gonna run dry. The cupboards are gonna be bare. And the decision to sacrifice to the works of our own hands, and not worship the one true God, and Him alone, has to eventually lead to worship fatigue and ultimately to spiritual bankruptcy. Doesn’t it?

What started with refusing to the give our tenth to the one true God, the only God worthy of our tenth; what begins with investing our tenth in things made by men, gives way to the quenchless quest to give away our tenths to a host of counterfeit gods with the futile hope that we’ll receive something that satisfies in return. And people, we only have so many tenths to give. Eventually we run out. Eventually our gods fail to provide any meaningful, lasting return. They can’t satisfy. And we end up done.

Our tenth is for God and God alone. Let us have no gods before Him. May we allow no idol to supplant Him. For He alone is worthy of sacrificial worship.

And, should we realize that we been investing more tenths than we really have in worship of that which has no real benefit, let us find our way again to Calvary. The blood of Christ sufficient to pay idolatry’s exorbitant price. The finished work of the cross able to break the flesh’s desire for that made by its own hands. The risen Jesus able to again abundantly source fresh treasures from which we can offer the Father alone our tenth — by the Son, through the Spirit.

All because of grace. All for His glory.

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Living in a Now/Not Yet Reality

Posted on January 5, 2021 by Pete

Our Wednesday night men’s group is starting a new study this week on the Sermon on the Mount. Looking forward to it for a number of reasons. Sensing that the timing of it is no accident. Expecting it to connect and bring clarity in the context of this current season (the Word of God has a way of doing that, you know?).

As has been our practice for the past few years, our men’s study is going to be leveraging the “Christ-Centered Exposition” series to guide us. “Exalting Jesus in The Sermon on the Mount” will be our common prep each week and will provide the structure for our discussions during our Zoom gathering. And something in its intro comes to mind as I read in Matthew 5 this morning.

” . . . there is a now/not yet reality to our citizenship: we are kingdom citizens now, but we await the full manifestation of that kingdom when Jesus returns.”

— Akin, Danny; Holman Reference Staff. Exalting Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount (Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary) (p. 14). B&H Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

There is a “now/not yet reality” to the kingdom. The kingdom is at hand now. We are citizens now of a heavenly economy. But we await the fullness of it, and that, when Jesus comes again. That’s the filter through which I’m processing the Beatitudes this morning.

Eight blessings.

Eight attributes of kingdom people. They are poor in spirit. They mourn. They are meek. They hunger and thirst after righteousness. They are merciful. They are pure in heart. They are peacemakers. They are persecuted for righteousness’ sake.

Eight promises. Theirs is the kingdom of heaven. They shall be comforted. They shall inherit the earth. They shall be satisfied. They shall receive mercy. They shall see God. They shall be called sons of God. For theirs is the kingdom of God.

Note the bookends of the promises, theirs is the kingdom. Makes me think that the other six promises are just synonyms for the kingdom. That being comforted, satisfied, and receiving mercy are kingdom of heaven realities. That inheriting the earth, seeing God, and being clearly recognized as His children are actualized as part of being in the kingdom of God. And all of it within the dynamic of a now/not yet reality. Now in part. One day yet, to fully be.

Is that why Jesus concludes these eight blessings with . . .

Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven . . .

(Matthew 5:12a ESV)

Isn’t that what each of these blessings are, a reward? The recompense promised for those who toil for the kingdom? That fruit that results naturally, or more accurately supernaturally, from the seed that is sown? Realized, to some extent, in the now, but not fully known, and “great”, until the not yet. We sample and taste of the blessing even now, but great will be the reward in heaven.

So, isn’t that the key to seeking first the kingdom (Matt. 6:33)? Not necessarily expecting the fullness of the reward in the now, but living in full anticipation of the literal fulfillment of the promises in the not yet? Would that be what was behind Paul’s exhortation to the Colossians?

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.

(Colossians 3:1-2 ESV)

Our reward is great in heaven — seek the things that are above. For ours is the kingdom of God — set your minds on things that are above. Live in the now. Focus on the not yet.

Sing the wondrous love of Jesus
Sing His mercy and His grace
In the mansions bright and blessed
He’ll prepare for us a place

While we walk the pilgrim pathway
Clouds will overspread the sky
But when travelling days are over
Not a shadow not a sigh

Let us then be true and faithful
Trusting serving every day
Just one glimpse of Him in glory
Will the toils of life repay

Onward to the prize before us
Soon His beauty we’ll behold
Soon the pearly gates will open
We shall tread the streets of gold

When we all get to heaven
What a day of rejoicing that will be
When we all see Jesus
We’ll sing and shout the victory

— Sing the Wondrous Love of Jesus, Eliza Edmunds Stites Hewitt, 1898
Public Domain

Rejoice and be glad.

In the now. In anticipation of the not yet.

By His grace. For His glory.

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At Hand

Posted on January 4, 2021 by Pete

Nope! Didn’t happen. The clock didn’t strike midnight and everything cleared. No switch was thrown, no corner was turned. In fact, 2021 began much like 2020 ended. Still a pandemic raging. Still an economy suffering. Still so many people reeling. Racial tensions and powder keg protests still happening. Oh yeah, and an election still being contested . . . seriously!?! Heavy sigh!

But actually, I’m not trying to be a “Debbie Downer.” It’s just the dark backdrop against which the light shines. The very real context in which seven words spoken by Jesus pop off the page this morning.

From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

(Matthew 4::17 ESV)

At hand. Drawing near. Coming nigh. Or, for me the most intriguing of my lexicon’s definitions, “joining one thing to another.”

2,000 years ago Jesus began to preach that the kingdom of heaven is at hand. That the way things should be, and the way God has promised they will be, is here and getting closer all the time. Joining the one thing of His heavenly rule with the other thing of our earthly reality. Come on, people . . . that’s good news!

Even with all the uncertainty that lingers with the coming of this new year, one thing we know, the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

We know who reigns. We know how to abide in His presence. We know we are on mission as ambassadors. We know the enabling of His Spirit — the power of God joining with the frailty of men and women, compelling us to live in His now but not yet, earth-transcending kingdom.

Terrestrial people who are citizens of a near and ever nearing celestial land. Occupying addresses on streets of pavement yet “seeking a homeland” (Heb. 11:14) with streets of gold (Rev. 21:21). Desiring “a better country, that is, a heavenly one”, “looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God” (Heb. 11:10, 16).

And all this is at hand. Drawing near. Coming nigh. Joining one thing to another.

And if that was true two millennia ago, what sense of anticipation should grip us as we bring in a new year?

Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed.

(Romans 13:11 ESV)

Nearer to us now than when we first believed. Not that we hunker down and await His soon coming, but we lean into the year to come, having under our belt another year’s experience (and what a year!) with living in the reality of the kingdom at hand. 2020 a year of experientially knowing the tangible reality of God’s promises, God’s presence, and God’s power. The kingdom of heaven more real to us today than it was when we blissfully entered 2020. If nothing else, we enter 2021 awake.

Awake to His Sovereignty. Awake to His steadfast love to us. Awake to His strength in us. Awake to the surety of a kingdom at hand — that heavenly surety joining itself to our present reality, whatever it may be.

Amen?

All by His grace. Only for His glory.

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What I Do Know

Posted on December 31, 2020 by Pete

Goodbye 2020! Who could have imagined a year ago what you would bring? But, while I’m really hoping that 2021 is a little kinder, not gonna lie, I think I may have benefited somewhat from your crucible. Not just survived but actually thrived a bit. Not in an I-had-it-all-together-and-was-victorious sense, but in a growth sense, in a sanctification sense, in a being-a-little-more-conformed-to-the-likeness-of-Jesus sense, I hope. Not because of my resilience, but because of my Shepherd’s faithfulness. Not through my own strength or power, but by the sustaining enabling of the Spirit in me. Not because of my grittiness, but by the Sovereign’s grace. But still, 2020, not all that sad to see you leave.

But while there’s a sense of being glad this year will soon be behind us, reality is that we have no idea what the next year in this decade will bring. For everything we think we might have learned about pandemics, politics, the public square, and our personal participation, if we take just a moment of sober reflection we also quickly realize all that is simply unknown when it comes to what’s next. We can calculate, we can speculate, we can even pontificate, but bottom line is, we just don’t know.

Maybe that’s why the songwriter’s simple statement of surety popped off the page this morning.

But know that the LORD has set apart the godly for Himself;
the LORD hears when I call to Him.

(Psalm 4:3 ESV)

Lot of stuff I don’t know, but this I do know: the LORD has set apart the godly for Himself. Not the self-proclaimed godly who clothe themselves in their own self-righteousness, but the blood-bought godly who bear the robe of Christ’s righteousness.

Reminded this morning that those He has saved He has separated. Though still in the flesh, set apart to walk by the Spirit. To be sure, still in the world, but marked as citizens of a transcendent kingdom. Like everyone else, trying to navigate the here and now, but doing so with an eye, and our hearts, recalibrated for the there and then. Sharing the common experience of not knowing what the next year may bring, but set apart with a calming assurance, knowing with certainty, they we have been claimed for the LORD God Himself.

Sure, could stew this morning on what I don’t know. But for now, I’ll chew on what I do know.

By His grace. For His glory.

Hovering over this brought to mind the following hymn:

Loved with everlasting love,
Led by grace that love to know;
Gracious Spirit from above,
Thou hast taught me it is so!
Oh, this full and perfect peace!
Oh, this transport all divine!
In a love which cannot cease,
I am His, and He is mine;
In a love which cannot cease,
I am His, and He is mine.

Things that once were wild alarms
Cannot now disturb my rest,
Closed in everlasting arms,
Pillowed on His loving breast;
Oh, to lie forever here,
Doubt and care and self resign,
While He whispers in my ear
I am His, and He is mine;
While He whispers in my ear
I am His, and He is mine.

His forever, only His;
Who the Lord and me shall part?
Ah, with what a rest of bliss
Christ can fill the loving heart!
Heav’n and earth may fade and flee,
Firstborn light in gloom decline,
But while God and I shall be,
I am His, and He is mine;
But while God and I shall be,
I am His, and He is mine.

— I Am His, and He Is Mine | George W. Robinson © Public Domain

Posted in Psalms | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment