A Place of Abundance

Posted on March 18, 2020 by Pete

Hovering over Psalm 66 this morning. Funny how the psalms have a particular connection in stressful times. Funny, too, how encountering a reference to testing seems to be a beacon that, in this current season, seems to say, “Listen up, here!”

For You, O God, have tested us; You have tried us as silver is tried. You brought us into the net; You laid a crushing burden on our backs; You let men ride over our heads; we went through fire and through water . . .

(Psalm 66:10-12a ESV)

Pretty descriptive. Kind of paints a picture. Brought into a net. A crushing burden on their backs. Men riding over their heads. Trying to endure the flames of fire only to then try and keep their heads above water. Ouch!

And who has allowed all this? Where does the buck stop for bad things happening to God’s people or, as the case might be, to all people? God, You have permitted this, says the songwriter, You have tested us. Passing us “like silver through refining fires” (MSG).

But here’s the thing about this song, Psalm 66 isn’t a song of lament. It’s actually a song of praise.

Shout for joy to God, all the earth; sing the glory of His name; give to Him glorious praise! . . . Come and see what God has done: He is awesome in His deeds toward the children of man.

(Psalm 66:1-2, 5 ESV)

While we might be tempted, at times, to want to retreat into a corner, cover our ears and close our eyes, now’s the time to “come and see” what God’s doing. Time to tune in. It’s in the context of testing, and refining, and exposing flimsy foundations, where God shows Himself always true, unshakably reliable, and the firmest of all foundations.

And, while not wanting to be trite or appearing to minimize the gravity of the current situation, isn’t the principle at play that, after a wilderness wandering, there’s inevitably a promised land (or, at the least, you’re getting closer and more ready for the promised land)? And that, my friends, is reason to rejoice. That’s why the songwriter calls God’s people to praise. Because, after the desert, there’s a place of abundance.

You let men ride over our heads; we went through fire and through water; yet You have brought us out to a place of abundance.

(Psalm 66:12 ESV)

I’ve got enough to deal with for today, but thinking it’s worth pausing to remember that there’s hope for tomorrow. To take a deep breath, be still, and know afresh there’s a place of abundance.

Right here, right now, because our God in heaven is near, our flesh on earth can dwell secure (Ps. 16:8-9). That is a place of abundance.

Increasingly feeling confined to our homes (not just feeling), yet mindful that, our ability to abide in Him, and abide with Him, is unaffected. That’s also a place of abundance.

Knowing that this temporary time of wilderness wandering is only beginning, we call to mind the unceasing, steadfast love of the Lord as the source for the daily sustaining realities of a faithful God whose mercies are new every morning (Lam. 3:21-23). Abundance . . . even in this place. Right here, right now.

And, not to forget, the place promised to me on that Day, “and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing” (2Tim. 4:8). That place where being absent from the body is to be present with the Lord (2Cor. 5:4-8). An eternal place of abundance!

A song of praise on our lips, though we bear burdens on our backs, because we know there is right now, and there always will be, a place of abundance.

And because of that, it is well with my soul. And that, my friends, is an awesome deed, indeed!

Come and hear, all you who fear God, and I will tell what He has done for my soul.

(Psalm 66:16 ESV)

Reason to rejoice. Power for praise. Worthy of our worship.

By His grace. For His glory.

Amen?

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Humbled for Testing

Posted on March 17, 2020 by Pete

Couldn’t imagine such a little text having such a potentially big impact. Someone I met with Sunday afternoon texted me Monday morning with, “Pete, I am running a low fever today.” Not words you want to hear at this current time in this current situation. So whaddya do?

Stayed home. Canceled commitments. Got myself a Zoom account for a meeting planned that night. Thought lots. Prayed lots. (Oh yeah, and I got my taxes done . . . praise God!).

Not to overuse an overused word, but this really is an unprecedented time. And, as pandemics have a way of doing, I can say, without exaggeration, it’s an unprecedented time for all of us!

So here’s what grabbed me as I was reading this morning:

And you shall remember the whole way that the LORD your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that He might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not.

(Deuteronomy 8:2 ESV)

Not too likely this is going to be a “40 years in the wilderness” experience, but it’s certainly going to be at least 40 days in uncharted territory. In Deuteronomy Moses points out what God was doing to that generation which was just emerging from doing laps around Sinai. Wondering if we might be wise to heed their “lessons learned” as we walk into a season of doing laps around our homes.

God wants to humble us. Uh, mission accomplished. For all the self-determined power we think we might have, all the self-directed freedom we think we’ve created through our own wisdom and works, it’s kind of jaw-dropping what a combo of a few letters and couple of numbers (think COVID-19) can do to turn our world literally upside down. Kind of humbling.

Do you not know? Do you not hear? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is [God] who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them like a tent to dwell in; who brings princes to nothing, and makes the rulers of the earth as emptiness.

(Isaiah 40:21-23)

Grasshoppers! Good grief! Who’s gonna name their elite sports team “The Grasshoppers” or their league the GFL? Who’s gonna dedicate their million dollar science and research building to someone named “Grasshopper”? Who’s gonna build a workout facility and call it “Grasshoppers’ Gym”? Unless we specialize in entomology, most of us never think about grasshoppers except maybe, as Boomers, when we think Jiminy Cricket, or, as a back-to-the-basics foodies, we’re eating them.

God has a way of allowing things to come into our lives, in this case our collective lives, to humble us. Why? To test us. To know what’s in our heart. To shine a spotlight. To do some housecleaning, if necessary.

Pride, be gone. Self-sufficiency, take a hike. Confidence in my material accumulations, don’t look at what’s happening in the market. Instead, look up, look way up. Behold our God!

And He led the children of deliverance into the wilderness to see “whether you would keep His commandments or not.” And as we head into this season of trying to navigate this uncharted territory some of the commandments that might come to mind immediately are: “Fear not . . .” (Isa. 41:10); “Trust in the Lord with all your heart . . . ” (Prov. 3:5-6); “Love one another . . . ” (Jn 13:34); “As we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone . . . ” (Gal. 6:10); “Be ready with an answer . . .” (1Pet. 3:15).

Unprecedented (there’s that word again) days. Unchanging God. Unfaltering faithfulness. Unfailing hope. Inexhaustible grace.

Humbled so that our hearts might be tested.

Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!

(Psalm 139:23-24 ESV)

Humbled so that He might be known through our obedience.

“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.” ~ Jesus

(John 10:27 ESV)

Humbled so that we might stand fast.

Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time He may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on Him, because He cares for you.

(1Peter 5:6-7 ESV)

By His grace. For His glory.

p.s. Texted my friend before turning in last night. Fever false alarm. Whew!

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Lead Me to the Rock

Posted on March 13, 2020 by Pete

It’s a little after 4:30 a.m. and I have been awake for way too long, already. Trouble sleeping. Because of all that’s going on? Or, because of that burger I shouldn’t have eaten? Not sure. But for the past hour or so I have been reading a number of articles on COVID-19 and counsel on avoiding panic while being prudent in light of our governor’s direction to curtail the assembling of ourselves together.

Easy to read “a number of articles” because, on the Internet, every article is linked to another. The net has built itself on rabbit trails. Everyone with a computer, regardless of where they reside geographically, can post and share their insights and experience, and then, provide a link to their source or someone else with good stuff to share. Wisdom required to sort through the ton of world-wide information at hand and apply it to the local situation at hand. Too easy to spend too much time clicking on too many urls. Every click leading down a different path. Maybe that’s why the songwriter’s plea resonates so deeply this morning.

Hear my cry, O God, listen to my prayer;
from the end of the earth I call to You when my heart is faint.
Lead me to the rock that is higher than I,
for You have been my refuge, a strong tower against the enemy.

(Psalm 61:1-3 ESV)

That’s where I need to end up this morning, the Rock that is higher than I.

I can follow all the hyperlinks I want but, at some point, I need to click and reconnect with things above. With the One above. With the Rock that is higher than I. The One who is a firm foundation, a resolute refuge, and a strong tower.

To be sure, I need to be informed and wise. Much to consider in how to submit to those in authority, honor the weak among us, and love the community about us. Principles to be applied. Decisions to be made.

But when all is said and done, “Lord, lead me to the Rock that is higher than I.”

To the King who is seated upon His throne, sovereign over all the earth. To the great High Priest in heaven, even now interceding for His people. To the risen Conqueror over sin and death, remembering that if God is for us, who can be against us.

I need to be diligent and prudent. I can also be assured and at peace.

COVID-19 is rocking the world: the world at large; my world and its microcosm. But greater is the Rock in me than the rocks of the world (1Jn. 4:4).

A Rock higher than I. A refuge in the storm. A strong tower against the enemy of sin, sickness, and death. Thus, I will fear no evil, for He is with me; His rod and His staff, they comfort me (Ps. 23:4).

Been led to a lot of web pages this morning. Now it’s time to be led to the Rock.

To refocus on the Rock. To rejoice in the Rock. To rest in the Rock.

By His grace. For His glory.

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Free To Be a Debtor

Posted on March 12, 2020 by Pete

Lots of terms come to mind to describe the believer like . . . well, like believer. Or saint. Or brother or sister. Child of God. Disciple. Redeemed. New creation. You get the idea. And I’m sure we could add to the list if we noodled on it a bit.

But this morning I encountered a synonym for the believer in Romans 8 that I don’t really consider often, as in, very rarely. Certainly not a term I’m quick to use. But one worth chewing on, I think.

If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh.

(Romans 8:11-12 ESV)

So then, brothers (and you too, sisters), we are debtors. Hmmm . . .

In Romans 8, Paul masterfully paints a magnificent picture of the potential of the life that can be lived in Christ through the Spirit. A life of freedom (8:1). A life of peace (8:6). A life of adoption (8:15). A life of power (8:26). A life of promise (8:28). And all this life, through the Spirit who “dwells in you” (8:11).

Sure, we have the option, and the ever present opportunity, to take all this new potential and saddle it with old pursuits, continuing to live according to the old ways. We can still set our mind on the things of the flesh. We can still pursue that which ultimately results in death. But Paul says we no longer have to. We have no enduring obligation to the old nature. No duty to the old ways limited by the old man.

But now, in Christ, we can walk in the Spirit. And to that end, I’m reminded this morning, I have an obligation. To that, I am duty bound. I owe it to the One who has freely given me new life, with new promise, and new power, to walk in that new life, that new promise, and that new power. I owe it to Him!

I am a debtor to the potential within me. Not a potential of my own making, but His. Not for my boasting, but for His glory.

So, how do I repay this debt? How do I live as a debtor to the Spirit? First, by just wanting to realize this new potential and live life according to the Spirit (8:4). And then, by taking steps that regularly help me set my mind on things of the Spirit (8:5). By determining, with as much as lies within me, to submit my will to His will, wanting to walk according to His leading (8:14). Along the way trusting in the Spirit to help in times of weakness and to intercede in times of uncertainty and confusion (8:26-27).

There really is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (8:1). Praise God! And that, because the Spirit of life has set me free (8:2).

Free to be a debtor.

By His grace. For His glory.

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No Inheritance

Posted on March 11, 2020 by Pete

They were already part of a misfit nation. A people within a people that was trying to find a place among other people who didn’t want them in their midst.

To just be an Israelite was to paddle upstream against the flow, to stand out in the crowd of the nations who occupied the land. But to be a Levite? That was to do it without an oar (or, at least, without any land) and, with a big “L” stamped on your forehead (“L” for Levite, of course).

Thinking about the Levites this morning as I read the census of the generation of wilderness wanderers ready to enter the promised land (Num. 26).

All the congregation of Israel was counted on the basis of every male who was twenty years old and upward, “who are able to go to war” (26:2). They were to be counted so that they knew how much “promise land” they should receive — each tribe’s inheritance to be allotted in proportion to each tribe’s size (26:52-56). And though Levi was the third born of the twelve sons fathered by Jacob, you get through the census — twelve tribes counted, almost 602,000 twenty+ males numbered — and there’s no mention of the Levites. (Joseph, the favored son of Jacob, the saving son who once ruled in Egypt, taking two spots through his sons Manasseh and Ephraim).

How come?

This was the list of the Levites according to their clans: of Gershon, the clan of the Gershonites; of Kohath, the clan of the Kohathites; of Merari, the clan of the Merarites. . . . And those listed were 23,000, every male from a month old and upward. For they were not listed among the people of Israel, because there was no inheritance given to them among the people of Israel.

(Numbers 26:57, 62 ESV)

They were of the line of a son of Jacob, just like the rest. But there was no inheritance given to them among the people of Israel.

Four hundred years in Egyptian bondage, just like everyone else. But no inheritance. Forty years of walking in circles in the wilderness, just like the other people of God. But no inheritance. Ready to fight to take the land God had promised them. But no inheritance.

So, if you’re a Levite, how ya’ feelin’?

Among a people set apart for God, they were specially set apart.

“Behold, I have taken the Levites from among the people of Israel instead of every firstborn who opens the womb among the people of Israel. The Levites shall be mine.

(Numbers 3:13 ESV)

They were to be the nation’s offering to the God who was worthy of all firstfruits.

Set apart among a set apart people, they were to be God’s elite army of worship warriors. Ministering in the tent of meeting. Serving in the tabernacle. Setting a guard around the holy place of God when the camp was still. Bearing the tabernacle and it’s furnishings on their shoulders when Israel was on the move. All with no hope of possessing any land to call their own. Just a life of being set apart, called as God’s own.

If that’s you, how ya’ feelin’? That’s what I’m chewing on this morning.

Feeling special or especially swindled? Chosen or cheated? Euphoric or used?

If they had had their hearts set on settling down on 40 acres they could call their own, like everyone else, they were in for disappointment and frustration. But if they had set their hearts on the God of their calling, the God who they would be serving, the God into whose presence they could draw nearer to than anyone else, maybe they’d see each day more as a blessing than a burden.

I’m no Levite, but I wonder how I’d feel about it if I were. Not much of a story to tell in terms of the things of earth, but a legacy to leave of serving the God of heaven. Content with what I had, though less than those around me, because I knew I had been consecrated for service to the Most High God. Not much of an inheritance to look forward to here and now, at least nothing that lasted, but sure of an inheritance to be realized there and then, one “that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you” (1Pet. 1:4).

No inheritance. Just an eternity. No earthly legacy, but life everlasting. No place to leave my mark, but content that my name is written in the Book.

So how am I feelin’? Pretty good, actually. Pretty blessed.

Because of grace. For His glory.

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The Steadfast Heart, An Anchor for the Soul

Posted on March 10, 2020 by Pete

Chewing on Psalm 57 this morning.

First thing that grabbed my attention was the seeming incongruity between the songwriter’s wretched circumstance and the songwriter’s worshipful response.

My soul is in the midst of lions; I lie down amid fiery beasts — the children of man, whose teeth are spears and arrows, whose tongues are sharp swords. . . .
I will sing and make melody! Awake, my glory! Awake, O harp and lyre! I will awake the dawn! I will give thanks to You, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing praises to You among the nations.

(Psalm 57:4, 7b-9 ESV)

In the midst of lions, yet waking the dawn with a two-piece band and songs of thanksgiving. From lying down with fiery beasts to getting up with songs of praise. Huh? How do you get there from here?

I get how the song starts: “Be merciful to me, O God.” Desperation 101. Help! When you’re in quicksand you need a rope.

But from there to “Be exalted, O God”? How’s that possible?

Short answer: A steadfast heart.

My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast! I will sing and make melody!

(Psalm 57:7 ESV)

A steadfast heart. That’s the anchor for the soul, tethering the soul to the One who can provide refuge for the soul (57:1).

A heart fixed on the sovereignty of God. Dealing with tragedy by crying out to God Most High. Maintaining focus on the God who can be counted on to fulfill His purpose for us (57:2).

A heart set firmly on the nature of God. The God whose steadfast love is “great to the heavens”, whose faithfulness stretches to the clouds (57:10).

A steadfast heart. That’s the secret sauce that allows the soul bowed down in suffering to turn their face heavenward and sing of a Savior. The secure foundation that exchanges hurt for a harp and loss for a lyre. The unwavering conviction that settles all conflict.

If God is for us, who can be against us?

(Romans 8:31b ESV)

To be sure, there is a place for the song of lament in the midst of deep trials. But, through a steadfast heart, there is also the place for praise, thanksgiving, and the exalting, and the exalting again, of the Name that is — and always has been, and always will be — the Name that is above all names.

Be exalted, O God, above the heavens! Let Your glory be over all the earth! . . .
Be exalted, O God, above the heavens! Let Your glory be over all the earth!

(Psalm 57:5 , 11)

A steadfast heart, that’s our anchor for the soul.

By His grace. For His glory.

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Working the Muscle

Posted on March 6, 2020 by Pete

Finishing up Romans 6 this morning. Chewing on Paul’s pressing exhortation to stop presenting our “members as slaves to impurity” but instead, presenting them “as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification” (Rom. 6:19). To which I whisper to myself, “Yes and amen! Let’s do it!”

But I also know what’s coming up in Romans 7. You know, that “wretched man that I am” (7:24) passage? The one that talks about doing what you know you shouldn’t do and not doing what you know you want to do (7:15-20)? The one about “delighting in the law” in my inner being while my outer being wages war against what I delight in, making me captive to “the law of sin that dwells in my members” (7:23).

So, what’s a guy to do? Though my spirit is willing to try and present my body to righteousness, I know, and the Scripture attests to, that my flesh is weak (Mt. 26:41). So why bother?

We bother because, by faith, according to God’s word, we believe what the Word says — that we have the muscle to obey.

But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.

(Romans 6:17-18 ESV)

Obedient from the heart. That’s what we’ve become as believers in Christ through His finished work.

We have the muscle to obey. We just need to, by His grace and through His power in us, keep working it.

When it comes to the old nature, we might cede individual battles, but we need to be reminded that He has won the overall war, so that, in Him, we really are no longer slaves to sin. Instead, we are now under a new Master, having become slaves of righteousness. Under new management with new power and new muscle for living in a new way, the way of holiness. New creations (2Cor 5:17), with a new heart (Ezek. 36:26), a heart capable of obedience. New muscle for obedience. We just have to be determined to keep working it.

And what if, I mean, when we fail from time to time? That’s what the cross is about.

If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

(1John 1:8-9 ESV)

We fail, He forgives. We confess, He cleanses. We falter again, He is faithful still. The shed blood of Christ sufficient to cover all our sins. The risen life of Christ power enough to become who He has redeemed us to be. The wondrous work of Christ manifest in the new muscle to live for Christ — obedient from the heart.

Not to be discouraged at this on-going battle against the flesh, at finding ourselves, from time to time, doing what we don’t want to do and not doing what we want to do. But to remember the we have the tools for righteousness. Not our own tools, but His. Having become obedient from the heart through the regenerating work of the Christ who lives in us.

We just need to keep working the muscle.

Amen?

By His grace. For His glory.

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A Resurrection Like His

Posted on March 5, 2020 by Pete

I think about heaven. I’m guessing most Christians do. I think about seeing Jesus, singing with the saints, reconnecting with loved ones, and being done with a world full of sin, corruption, and death. But I don’t know that I often set my mind on thinking past heaven.

Sounds kind of weird to say, “Past heaven.” That’s probably because I tend to think of heaven as eternity, thus, how do you think past eternity? But this morning, reading in Romans, I’m reminded that, beyond experiencing the reality of heaven, there’s the promise of a resurrection like His.

For if we have been united with Him in a death like His, we shall certainly be united with Him in a resurrection like His.

(Romans 6:5 ESV)

In Romans 6, Paul’s making the case that it’s foolish to even consider that continuing in sin is somehow good for the cause of grace. That though it’s true that “where sin increased, grace abounded all the more” (Rom. 5:20), it’s also true that sin no longer has dominion over the believer because they now live according to grace (Rom. 6:14). And grace reigns through righteousness (Rom. 5:21). The righteousness that is credited to us through the death, burial, and resurrection of the Son of God. The righteousness that is operational in us through the indwelling, active agency of the Spirit of God (Rom. 8:9-10).

So, while it’s true we were buried with Christ by baptism into His death, it also true that “Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father” so that we might walk in newness of life like His resurrected life (Rom. 6:4). Live like living people, says Paul, not dead ones.

And to press home the point, Paul reminds his Roman brothers and sisters that they will certainly be united with Christ in a resurrection like His.

So, what was His resurrection like? So, what will our resurrection be like? It’s worth noodling on, I think.

He rose bodily. If we will too, then we can count on being reunited with our physical bodies in some new form after death, and after that period of time when we are “away from the body and at home with the Lord” (2Cor. 5:8).

He was recognizable, I’m guessing we will be, as well.

He walked. He talked. He ate. He drank. He even did stuff, like cooking breakfast (Jn. 21:8-14). Us also? (Maybe not cooking breakfast, but I’m guessing we’ll be active).

And, though Jesus rose in bodily form, He wasn’t restricted by that body. He showed up in rooms without walking through doors. He appeared in one place, and then in another. He even arose in that body as He ascended into heaven. That body seated in heaven, today, at the right hand of the Father.

What will it be like for us in our resurrected bodies when we experience a resurrection like His?

So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. . . Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the Man of heaven.

(1Corinthians 15:42-44, 49 ESV)

A resurrection like His. Reunited with our physical bodies in a new supernatural way. Imperishable, in glory, in power, a spiritual body, bearing the image of the Man of heaven. What will that be like?

Thinking about heaven is comforting. Thinking past heaven? I can only imagine.

A resurrection like His. That’s what awaits us. May we live into that reality even now.

By His grace. For His glory.

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Let Grace Reign

Posted on March 4, 2020 by Pete

Finishing up in Romans 5 this morning. Contrasting the sin and death brought into the world by Adam’s transgression with the justification and life made available through Jesus Christ our Lord and His finished work on the cross. The disastrous effect of the first man’s trespass contrasted with the unimaginable potential through the Son of God’s free gift. The condemnation of death through the law contrasted with the eternal life made possible by the abundance of grace.

But isn’t there still something in us, at least sometimes, which intuitively says that if the desired outcome, whether by law or grace, is that God’s people would be holy for He is holy, that the law might give you a better shot at it? That prescribing behavior might be more helpful and certain than providing freedom? That expectations written in stone might work better than relying on promptings from the Spirit? That expecting someone to do what’s on the “to do” list might have an advantage over counting on someone to respond appropriately to a free gift?

So, what’s the secret sauce that makes grace superior? What X-factor does the free gift possess?

Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

(Romans 5:20-21 ESV)

Grace reigns through righteousness. That’s the secret sauce. Sow the seeds of righteousness and you reap the crop of holiness.

But we’re not talking about our righteousness. No, it’s the gift of righteousness — the righteousness of Christ.

For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.

(Romans 5:17 ESV)

Righteousness. That’s the free gift. That’s what’s received through God’s abundance of grace. Righteousness, for many men and women, through the one man Jesus Christ.

The free gift’s advantage over the law is that it imparts righteousness before demanding righteousness.

Our justification comes through another Man’s perfection.

Our ability to obey made possible because of another Man’s obedience.

And so grace reigns through righteousness, the righteousness of Christ credited to our accounts.

That’s the power to obey. That’s the divine reality which compels us to respond with heart-changed humility.

Grace reigning through righteousness, the wonderful work that evokes within us soul-sourced worship.

O might we be in awe of the power of grace to produce the fruit of righteousness because it is sourced in the righteousness of Christ gifted to us.

Let grace reign!

By His grace. For His glory.

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Faith (A 2008 Rerun)

Posted on March 3, 2020 by Pete

An early morning airport run cramps the time I have to chew on what I’ve read this morning, so I dip back into the archives for a “pre-packaged meal.”

The verse that caught me as I was reading was in Numbers 14:

But they presumed to go up to the heights of the hill country, although neither the ark of the covenant of the LORD nor Moses departed out of the camp.

(Numbers 14:44 ESV)

But they presumed . . .

Swelled up with their own boldness, they determined to pursue their own wisdom, all based on their own will and understanding, and were heedless to the instruction of God. They came up with their own Plan B when they didn’t think God’s Plan A was appropriate. They leaned on their own corrupt understanding rather than heeding God’s perfect determined will. They balked rather than believed.

But without faith it is impossible to please God (Heb. 11:6). And, without faith, it is impossible to walk with God.

Here’s some thoughts about faith from 2008 . . .

So it hits me again this morning . . . faith is the “secret sauce” to figuring out how to walk this Christian life. Maybe some would say, “Duh! . . . everyone knows that!” but as I read this morning I am again convinced that so often we try and make this Christian life more complicated than it needs to be . . . when really, it comes down to the basics . . . to the “pat answers” . . . to just believing that what God has said, He will do.

Psalm 53 this morning reminds that “the fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God.’ ” All creation which encompasses us screams, “God!!” . . . looking at my face as I shave in the morning and being reminded of the wondrous construction of the human body (which prevents me from slitting my throat on a consistent basis when shaving) screams, “God!” And yet the fool refuses to believe . . . and says, “No God!!”

Then I read Numbers 14 and what chaos!!! All the congregation of Israel is lifting up their voices and crying and weeping all night. They are on the edge of the promised land . . . and the spies have come back . . . and 10 have said, “No way can we take that land . . . it will eat us up . . . it is inhabited by giants. And 2 have said, “No problem . . . let’s do it!! . . . If the Lord delights in us, then He will bring us into the land and give it to us (v.8)” But the people don’t believe it and so they turn on Moses and Aaron, “If only we had died in the land of Egypt! Or if only we had died in the wilderness!” (v.2) . . . and they determine to elect new leaders who will take them back to Egypt. Back to slavery and bondage!! That’s what they choose to do rather than believe in the God who led them out of Egypt . . . the God who appeared on the mount . . . the God who revealed Himself as the cloud over the tabernacle by day and the fire by night . . . and led them to the land He promised. And it all comes down to this, “How long will these people reject Me? And how long will they not believe me, with all the signs which I have performed among them?” (v.11) God says, “I don’t get it. When will they believe in Me? . . . when will they exercise some faith?!!”

And then the oasis in this desert of all this faithlessness . . . my reading takes me to Romans 5 and the spring of living water in this tapestry of foolish unbelief . . . “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Rom. 5:1) Romans 4 demonstrates how Abraham was justified by faith . . . Abraham believed God . . . his faith was accounted for righteousness . . . he is the father of all who believe . . . and of those who walk in the steps of faith . . . therefore it is of faith . . . just as Abraham “did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform.” (4:20-21) There it is . . . fully convinced that God is able to do what He has promised — that’s faith.

That’s the faith that would have allowed a generation of Israelites to enjoy the “land of milk and honey” rather than wander for 40 years on its outskirts and then perish in the desert. That’s the faith I exercised when I trusted in God’s Son for the salvation of my soul — the faith that resulted in my justification and peace with God. And, that’s the faith I need to exercise as I try to walk this Christian pilgrimage. I have access by faith into God’s sustaining, empowering grace and it is what keeps me keeping on as I rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. (Rom. 5:2) I just need to believe it . . . and act on it.
And, I hear Jesus words in Mark 9:23-24 this morning saying to me, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.” . . . and I respond, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”

By His grace. For His glory.

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