A Threefold Cord

Posted on June 17, 2020 by Pete

That they are linked together in Scripture seems clear to me. An inseparable trio. Comprising a threefold cord which is not quickly broken. To have one should be to have the other two. I encountered these three amigos this morning in the opening verses of Colossians.

Paul was the consummate “follow up” guy. He didn’t plant a church without keeping tabs on that church. Didn’t birth disciples of Christ without asking, from time to time, if they were growing in Christ. While knowing that it was Christ who would build His church, part of Paul’s call was to check in on how the building was going. And what Paul heard about the church at Colossae primed the pump of thanksgiving. Whatever else was going on in Colossae, whatever doctrinal issues needed to be addressed, he gave God thanks because the threefold cord was in place. The three amigos were alive and well.

We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven.

(Colossians 1:3-5a ESV)

When instructing the Corinthians on what it meant to be the church (1Cor. 12-14), at the center of it all, Paul said, were faith, hope, and love. And that seems to have been true of the church at Colossae.

Faith in Christ begets hope in heaven and is manifest by love for the saints. To have trusted in the finished work of the cross once past, is to have a confident expectation concerning a glorious future yet to come, which is made evident by an authentic affection for those of likemind in the present.

“By this all people will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” ~ Jesus

(John 13:35 ESV)

How important is gospel community to the overall mission? I’m thinking, pretty important.

Faith in Christ, and hope in heaven, without love for the saints is a weakened cord. Two-thirds of a full-meal deal. Conveying only a partial message. Resulting in a less than abundant “abundant life” which Jesus came to give (Jn. 10:10).

I sometimes fear that the cultural values which seem to emphasize the individual over the collective, and the personal over the corporate, water down the church’s effectiveness. That while we might declare to a lost world that we are Christians by faith alone in Christ alone, and that our hope for a better world is not in this world, we may be less aware of the need to show a lost world that we are Christians by our love for one another.

So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

(1Corinthians 13:13 ESV)

Oh, that the church’s threefold cord would be entact and enduring.

Lord, fuel our faith, affirm our hope, ignite our affection.

By Your grace. For Your glory.

Posted in Colossians | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Our Investment Portfolios

Posted on June 16, 2020 by Pete

I have often been intrigued by the idea of laying up “treasures in heaven.” Of being mindful that there is stuff we do in the here and now that results in the accumulation and deposit of valuable collectibles in the there and then. Investments made on earth that impact the dividends realized in heaven.

Jesus told each of His disciples to invest their own HRA (Heaven-bound Retirement Account). For not only would it pay off in the future through the realization of a spiritual treasury “where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal”, but it would also pay benefits in the present, having the very practical effect of keeping their hearts aligned towards their true home, heaven, the place where this eternal repository is being established (Matt. 6:19-21).

Paul picks up on the theme in one of his letters, as well. He tells Timothy to “charge” those “rich in this present age” not to set their hopes on “the uncertainty of riches.” Instead, Timothy was to encourage these well-off saints to be “rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share.” And for the same reasons. That they would store up “treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future” and, in so doing, “take hold of that which is truly life” (1Tim. 6:17-19 ESV).

So I can’t help but think that future returns are to be a motivating factor in present investments — of our treasures, our talents, and our time. As such, we need to be mindful of our investment portfolios.

And I’m thinking it’s this filter, activated by my resident Illuminator, that serves up the following verse to chew on this morning.

Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that increases to your credit.

(Philippians 4:17 ESV)

As Paul wraps up his letter to the church in Philippi, he acknowledges their faithful, financial partnering from the “beginning” when he shared the gospel with them and then “left Macedonia” to share it with others. No other church had “entered into partnership” with him. But they were giving Paul their money, and Paul was receiving it in order to preach the gospel (Php. 4:14-16).

But while Paul appreciated the funds, he didn’t “seek the gift.” Instead he intensely desired that it was being credited to their account. His immediate financial benefit was their future spiritual blessing. His need being met today was their heavenly storehouses being filled with”fruit that increases to your credit” for tomorrow.

And while most Christians I know are “invested” in foreign missions and missionaries to a greater or lesser extent, the thought occurs to me of how much we may limit our “portfolio” of heavenly investments as we’ve adopted a more individualized view of our faith. As we focus on our “personal relationship” with God, do we sometimes lose sight that the relationship with a heavenly Father comes in the context of having been adopted into an earthly family? That as we’ve followed the lead of our culture, which sees church as a “service” to consume on a Sunday morning (if we choose), we’re missing opportunities by forgetting it is also “the household of faith” (Gal. 6:10) in which we are abe to invest in 24/7. And those investments, I’m thinking, also bear fruit that increases to our credit.

I’m not just talking tithing on Sunday mornings. But I’m also talking investing in people throughout the week. Generous with brothers and sisters in Christ. Generous, not just with our treasure and talents, but with our time as well. Seeing these valuable resources invested in others as truly part of storing up treasure in heaven for ourselves.

Maybe it’s worth reviewing my heavenly portfolio, making sure it’s balanced and that I’m maximizing my investments.

Because of His grace. Ultimately for His glory.

Posted in Philippians | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

A Kept Man

Posted on June 15, 2020 by Pete

For those of us who have viewed these past 3 months through the eyeglasses of “this is much to do about nothing”, emerging from “shelter in place” probably comes with very little anxiety. About time, they might say. But for those of us who land on the side of the continuum more towards “these have been extreme, but prudent pre-cautions”, I’m guessing that expanding our bubbles can come with a certain amount of angst. To leave our homes is to venture into the world of unseen droplets. To have people in our homes is to want to know that they’ve come to us directly from 14 days of self-quarantine. More than angst, it’s enough to make one paranoid which, as a friend pointed out to me years ago, is just smart thinking when everything’s against you.

But this morning I’m reminded by the songwriter that I am a kept man.

I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come?
My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber.
Behold, He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
The LORD is your keeper; the LORD is your shade on your right hand.
The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night.
The LORD will keep you from all evil; He will keep your life.
The LORD will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.

(Psalm 121:1-8 ESV)

Jehovah is a keeper of life. What’s more, says the psalmist, He is your keeper.

The Maker of heaven and earth is ultimately where our help comes from. He is our greatest safety protocol.

For He is a protector. One who will not let even our foot be moved apart from His sovereign purposes. He is our shade, not allowing sunbeam, nor moonbeam to touch the surface of our skin apart from first being given His permission. Our Father keeps watch over His children.

And He does so 24/7. In season and out of season. In times of peace and times of pandemic. He who keeps you will not slumber.

And whether we are going out, or allowing others to come in, the songwriter sings that we can rest in the promise that He keeps watch over both. Aware of all movements, determining the paths of mundane, daily life even as He observes the paths of marauding, infectious droplets.

Not that we should be reckless and test the Lord our God with thoughtless, post-quarantine behaviors, but we should be confident that outside our homes He is still our keeper. That ultimately all the safety measures and precautions in the world cannot substitute for the One who has said He will keep your life.

And so we venture out. We expand our bubbles. We release a level of self-preservation because of the fresh remembrance of divine promise. No guarantees that we won’t contract something, but every confidence that, even then, He is still the keeper of our lives.

Heading out into the world again today. Careful, but not fearful. Thoughtful, but not paranoid. Confident, but not in my own power to protect.

Heading out today because my God is a faithful and able Keeper. And I am a kept man.

By His grace. For His glory.

Posted in Psalms | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Holding On While Pressing On

Posted on June 12, 2020 by Pete

The apostle Paul thought it was the grown up way to think. To count all things loss for the sake of Christ. And not just reckon them as lost, but to actually lose all things in order to “gain Christ” (Php. 3:8). To be driven by a desire to know the reality of the power of Christ’s resurrection, even if it meant sharing in His sufferings and becoming like Him in His death (Php. 3:10). Paul believed it was the adult way of internalizing core Christian motivation. So it compelled him to keep on pressing on. To strain forward with eyes fixed on the prize. To relentlessly pursue “the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Php. 3:14).

Such a view is what drove Paul to have what I referred to yesterday as a divine discontentment. And, it would seem, Paul believed that to have such a view was to have the right view.

But what grabs me this morning as I continue in Philippians is what God says through the driven apostle about those who don’t yet see it the same way.

Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained.

(Philippians 3:15-16 ESV)

What hits me first is that while we can teach truth, and though we are told to encourage, exhort, and even rebuke one another in truth, when all is said and done, it is God who reveals truth.

That’s one of the dynamics of the active agency of the Spirit within us, to lead believers into truth (Jn. 16:13). But more than just a theological statement to assert concerning the Third Person of the Trinity, it must be a way of the kingdom I actually believe. It’s a faith statement. To believe, really believe, that it is only God who can, and will, reveal truth to His children. I can be a spokesman. I can advertise truth. I can lead a horse to water, as it were. But it is God the Spirit who will sanctify the hearer by leading them to drink deep. To buy in. To make advertised truth their own.

I can exhort strongly. I can seek to teach persistently. I can even argue my Biblical case passionately. But, to quote a wise songwriter, “unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain” (Ps. 127:1). Said another way, I can teach, others can affirm, but when all is said and done, it is God, through His Spirit, who gives the increase (1Cor. 3:6) — who causes believers to grow up and mature in the faith.

But what I’m hovering over this morning is that, in contrast to his exhortation to press on, Paul also exhorts his readers to hold on.

Only let us hold true to what we have attained.

While Paul is pressing his children in the faith to take two steps forward, he is also careful to exhort them not to take one step back. That while there was more light to be seen, they should live according to the light they had already received. That though the implications of the cross were yet to be fully realized, they should obey whatever degree of truth they had already attained.

Kind of the “faithful with little, faithful with much” principle at play (Mt. 25:21). I can’t walk, neither can I expect others to walk, in the light of what I haven’t yet seen. But the light I have received — what I do know to be true of the way of the cross, and the way of the kingdom, and the calling of my King — is the light I’m to hold true to and walk in.

I am to hold on even as I press on. Walking in the light I have while pursuing the light I still need to receive.

Confident God will reveal that to me also.

By His grace. For His glory.

Posted in Philippians | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Divine Discontentment

Posted on June 11, 2020 by Pete

Thomas Edison once said, “Discontent is the first necessity of progress.” Said differently the great inventor knew that “satisfaction is the grave of progress.” With a view of what could be, Edison seems to have refused being content with what was. I’m thinking the apostle Paul shared some of that perspective.

Now, I’m not talking about discontentment with what one has. Not promoting an insatiable drive to have more, or to live in greater ease. No, to be content in “whatever situation”, whether it was “how to be brought low” or “how to abound”, was something Paul would extol (Php. 4:11-13). Such is divine contentment. But to be discontent with who one was, in light of their calling in Christ, seems to have also been a driving force of the apostle. Such is divine discontentment.

Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me His own.

(Philippians 3:12 ESV)

I press on to make it my own. That’s what I’m chewing on this morning.

Paul would “make every effort to take hold” (CSB) of the perfection God sought to manifest in his life. Though Paul was convinced that the work begun by God in his life would be brought to completion by God (Php. 1:6) — the work of conforming Paul into the likeness of His Son (Rom. 8:29) — Paul was equally convinced that he was to take hold of that which God offered in Christ. Though he had been born again, he wasn’t content with being a babe. Instead, he wanted to attain “to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Eph. 4:13). And so, he would press on to make it his own.

Not content with just being saved, he also counted everything loss for “the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” (Php. 3:8). Not ready to rest on the laurels of all that he had already accomplished for the kingdom, he would “press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Php. 3:14). He knew, regardless of how far he had come, that he wasn’t there yet. There was a divine discontentment. And so Paul pressed on to make it his own.

But the other part of this divine drive to make it his own, was that it was fueled by Paul’s ever awareness that Christ Jesus had already claimed Paul as His own.

He had been bought with a price (1Cor. 6:19-20). He no longer held the title to his life. He had been made a new creation (1Cor. 5:17). Life was no longer about the same old, same old. With a new heart and a new mind came a new set of goals, the prize of the upward call.

No longer a slave to sin, Paul was indwelt with the Holy Spirit so that it was no longer he who lived, but Christ who lived in him (Gal. 2:20). New power had been provided for pressing on to lay hold of the perfection that had already been credited to him in Christ. As such, Paul desired more and more of that perfection to be manifested through him for Christ.

Oh, to know divine discontentment. Not that it would disturb my rest in Christ, but that it would provide fertile soil which would bear much fruit. That my every effort would be used of the Spirit to realize the full potential of His finished work. Making it my own because He has made me His own.

By His grace. For His glory.

Posted in Philippians | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

His Word, His Steadfast Love

Posted on June 10, 2020 by Pete

“Oops!” I think to myself, “colored that wrong.” Working my way through another stanza of Psalm 119 this morning which means I’m picking up my orange colored pencil (orange pencil crayon for my Canadian brothers and sisters) frequently as I underline references to God’s word. There’s a lot of orange underlining in Psalm 119. But before I erase it I notice something that makes me re-think my first think, “Or did I?”

I notice the repetition I highlighted in yellow, three times the songwriter asks the LORD, “Give me life.” Then I notice the corresponding “according to”. Parallel thoughts, I’m thinking, but one of these things is not like the other. Or is it?

Plead my cause and redeem me; give me life according to Your promise!

Great is Your mercy, O LORD; give me life according to Your rules.

Consider how I love Your precepts! Give me life according to Your steadfast love.

(Psalm 119:154, 156, 159 ESV)

The cry echoes three times, “Give me life!” Some translations portray the idea of preserving life. Most though seem to lean towards the idea of reviving, refreshing, or restoring to life. The eight verses beginning with the Hebrew letter Resh comprise another stanza, like yesterday, where the songwriter is seeking to persevere amidst “persecutors and adversaries” (v. 157). And he does so by doubling down on his hope in God’s law, commands, precepts, and testimonies. But, I imagine, while he holds on his strength ebbs and so, he cries out to the LORD three times, “Revive me!”

Revive me according to Your promise. Underline “Your promise” with orange. Revive me according to Your rules. Underline “Your rules” with orange. Revive me according to Your steadfast love. Underline “Your steadfast love” with orange. Oops, colored that wrong. Or did I?

If x=a, and x=b, and x=c, then doesn’t a=b=c? I’m thinkin . . .

So, doesn’t God’s promise = God’s rules = God’s steadfast love? I’m thinkin’ that too . . .

I’ve been reading this love letter to God’s word, Psalm 119, for the past 20 mornings and it hits me afresh this morning how much this letter, as is the whole of Scripture, a love letter to me.

Steadfast love is an attribute of God (should have underlined it in blue). Faithful love (CSB), unfailing love (NLT), lovingkindness (NKJV) is at the heart of the God who is Himself the definition and source of love (1Jn. 4:8, 16). So, wouldn’t the Word given to His children also be considered His steadfast love? I’m thinking so one more time.

I sing with the songwriter this morning, “How I love Your precepts!” And I’m sensing a sweet song from the Spirit echoing back, And God’s word is His steadfast love for you.

Revive us, Lord, according to Your Word . . . according to Your steadfast love.

By Your grace. For Your glory.

Posted in Psalms | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Pressures, Prayer, Promises, and Presence

Posted on June 9, 2020 by Pete

For me, Psalm 119 is the psalm of psalms. Fearfully and wonderfully made. Like all of Scripture, knit together through the pen of the songwriter by the inspiration of the Spirit. Yet, this song is different. While, overall it has one grand theme, God’s word, it is divided into twenty-two sections, one for each letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Each section having eight verses. And every verse in every section beginning with the corresponding Hebrew letter. For example, in the stanza I’m reading this morning, each verse begins with Qoph. In tomorrow’s reading, Lord willing, I will encounter eight verses beginning with Resh. Spurgeon called Psalm 119 The Golden Alphabet.

And while no two verses in this 176 verse psalm say exactly the same thing, it’s not always clear to me on what a theme might be for a particular stanza. Some seem more Proverbs like with seemingly disassociated considerations brought together. But this morning, as I read the 19th stanza in the 119th psalm, a theme seems clear. Here the songwriter sings of the connection between problems, prayer, promises and God’s presence.

Repetition tells me it’s about prayer.

With my whole heart I cry; answer me, O LORD! I will keep Your statutes.
I call to You; save me, that I may observe Your testimonies.
I rise before dawn and cry for help; I hope in Your words.
My eyes are awake before the watches of the night, that I may meditate on Your promise.
Hear my voice according to Your steadfast love; O LORD, according to Your justice give me life.

(Psalm 119:145-149 ESV)

A whole-hearted cry. A cry for help. 911, rescue needed! Sleepless nights. Up before dawn. Desperately appealing to God on the basis of who He is, and how He operates, as the compelling reason to “hear my voice.”

The cause of such prayer is clear.

They draw near who persecute me with evil purpose; they are far from Your law.

(Psalm 119:150 ESV)

Don’t know who they is, but know that they is in the songwriter’s face, and that they is up to no good. They are devising wicked schemes (NIV). Pursuing evil plans (CSB). Following the path of wickedness, they are coming closer and closer (MSG). The battle is real. The difficulty difficult. The pressure pressing. And so, the songwriter prays.

Now, praying in light of life’s pressures might be pretty intuitive. Crying out for help when you need help, kind of a no-brainer. But what grabs me is that, even as the psalmist cries out for salvation, he is ready to engage in the battle himself with the sword of the Spirit, “which is the word of God” (Eph. 6:17).

Answer me O God, so that I might continue to obey Your statutes. Save me, so that I can keep on keepin’ on according to Your way. I pray in the wee hours of the morning because I have hope in Your words. Even when I can’t sleep, my meditation is on Your promises. So, hear my voice, O LORD.

The Word isn’t only to be read as some spiritual discipline, it is a lifeline. We don’t do devo’s just because, “if I don’t, my day doesn’t go very well.” The Bible isn’t some rabbits foot we make sure to rub every morning for good luck. It is our bold access into dynamic relationship with the living God of creation. The Bible on my desk a reminder of His presence in my life. The living and active word of God before me, the catalyst for the living and active Spirit of God to work in me. Not just some verses to check off my reading plan, but the words of life desperately needed as I face the world.

The songwriter prays when he is under pressure. And his prayer is fueled by God’s promises. From which He knows God’s presence.

But You are near, O LORD, and all Your commandments are true.
Long have I known from Your testimonies that You have founded them forever.

(Psalm 119:151-152 ESV)

More evidence of God’s abundant grace. More reason to give God everlasting glory.

Amen?

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

The Righteous Word

Posted on June 8, 2020 by Pete

Been involved in a number of conversations over the past several days on what’s happening in our land. And I don’t think they’re fueled just by media coverage and news cycles. I do think there’s a stirring in our hearts which is sourced from outside of our hearts.

I have talked with people who think there’s a systemic problem and with those who don’t. Have tried to listen more to those who have a perspective different than mine and have nodded my head more than once with those with whom I agree. What’s not in debate in my circles is that, as a value, justice for all people is a good thing and that the basis for an “all people” view is the Imago Dei — that every human being is an image bearer of God (Genesis 1:26-27). What’s also not in debate is that this world is not as it should be.

I’m thinking that may be why the following caused me to pause and reflect this morning.

Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life . . .

(Philippians 2:14-16a ESV)

A crooked and twisted generation. That’s what captures me initially. Paul’s talking to a people who live in a world that’s gone off the rails and has distorted and turned aside from what is true. And he points that out, not so the people of God might withdraw from such a “squalid and polluted society” (MSG), but that they might be motivated to be the children of God they were called to be, blameless and innocent, and shine as lights in such a world. The church needs to be the church, without grumbling and disputing, in order to be light in a world which has twisted justice and is either unaware of, or in denial of, the Imago Dei.

That’s what hooks me. But what I’m chewing on is how, at least in part, this happens.

. . . holding fast to the word of life . . .

To have a grip on. To observe. To attend to. To apply. That’s what the children of God must do with the word of God in order to be the light of God among a crooked and twisted generation. To believe that the Word really is the word of life, and believing that, to hold it fast.

Chewing on that for a bit then set me up for my reading in Psalm 119.

Righteous are You, O LORD, and right are Your rules.
You have appointed Your testimonies in righteousness and in all faithfulness.
My zeal consumes me, because my foes forget Your words.
Your promise is well tried, and Your servant loves it.
I am small and despised, yet I do not forget Your precepts.
Your righteousness is righteous forever, and Your law is true.
Trouble and anguish have found me out, but Your commandments are my delight.
Your testimonies are righteous forever; give me understanding that I may live.

(Psalm 119:137-144 ESV)

In a book I’ve started reading, the author makes the case that righteousness is more than just an attribute of God, it is also a dynamic, “God’s powerful activity of making right what is wrong in the world” (Eric Mason in Woke Church quoting The Crucifixion: Understanding the Death of Jesus Christ by Fleming Rutledge). Justice flows from righteousness. And in this stanza from the psalmist’s love song for the word of God, the integral link between God’s righteous character and His righteous testimonies adds fuel to Paul’s thought of holding fast to the word of life if we are going to shine as lights in a wayward world.

To be sure we need to be doers and not hearers only (James 1:22-25), but there is no doing without first hearing. No making a difference without first holding fast.

How we need to be people of the word, the righteous word — the life transforming gospel and the redemptive story of God’s restoration of the Imago Dei. And from that righteous word, willing to be agents of God. Used of God to impact our world, even if it’s just our little piece of the world.

But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

(Amos 5:24ESV)

Only by God’s grace. Only for God’s glory.

Posted in Philippians, Psalms | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Far Better

Posted on June 5, 2020 by Pete

Though we have both known quarantine, I know there’s no comparing my season of life today with that of the apostle Paul’s when he wrote to the Philippians.

I’ve been sheltering in place in a wonderful house, free to leave as I like, go where I want, and pretty much keep working as normal. But the work is harder work. The spiritual battle seems a little more intense. The emotional toll seems to be a bit more emotional. And this somewhat solitary way of doing the day to day is getting somewhat old. What’s more, though I’ve dutifully managed my “bubble”, I continue to monitor the social carnage around me from things outside of my control. From new things that have been with us for just a few months, like COVID, and from old things that have been with us for way too long, like systemic racism. And it results in a heaviness and a weariness. And, I realize this morning, a certain identification with Paul.

But, like I said, no comparison, really. Paul’s quarantine wasn’t self-imposed, unless you consider that Paul knew his appeal to have his case heard before Caesar came with certain probable consequences. Self-imposed or not, while Paul could see how his “imprisonment for Christ” was really serving to “advance the gospel” (Php 1:12-13), you sense it’s getting old for him too. Multiple missionary journeys. Intense persecution. Spiritual battles. Physical beatings. His desire for God’s people, emotionally draining. And so, even as he encourages the saints at Philippi to stand firm in the faith, and strive side by side for the gospel (1:27), because that’s what he intends to do, he can’t help but desire that time when things will be far better.

For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account.

(Philippians 1:21-24 ESV)

Far better vs. more necessary. Paul was hard pressed by his desire for the one and his duty to the other. Felt the internal tug-of-war of wanting to move on and be with Christ, while knowing that staying put would benefit his brothers and sisters. And I’m wondering if it’s because of the far better that Paul was able to hang in there and keep on keepin’ on attending to the more necessary.

To live is Christ. Ah, but to die is gain. To depart and be with Christ is better to the nth degree. Far better!

Thinking that taking time to meditate on the far better can help with mustering again the effort needed to get up and get at ‘er with the more necessary. That, in fact, to be heavenly minded can do so much for earthly good. That to keep our heads in the clouds, as it were, really can be useful in keeping our head in the game and our feet on the ground.

It’s the prize we press on for. The ultimate rest we work for. That day when faith gives way to sight. When we depart and are with our Savior. And that really will be far better.

. . . let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

(Hebrews 12:1b-2 ESV)

The Founder and Perfecter of our faith also knew quarantine (think “My God, my God, why have You forsaken Me?”). And for what purpose? For the joy that was set before Him. The far better. Jesus despised the shame and the difficulty of the more necessary, enduring the cross, that He might prepare the way, and promise the day, when those bought through His blood, when those grown by His grace, would stand before the throne where He is seated at the right hand of God Almighty.

And that, my friends, will be far better!

I can only imagine!

Because of grace. For His glory.

Posted in Philippians | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Wholly Dependent

Posted on June 4, 2020 by Pete

The double-minded. This morning that’s the hook that keeps me hovering over my reading in Psalm 119. The songwriter hated the double-minded.

Hate. We taught our kids that was a dangerous word. A word not to be used lightly or thoughtlessly. But that’s the word used here. All the translations translate it the same, even Peterson in The Message. One of my lexicons qualifies it “to hate personally” as you would an enemy or foe. No getting around it, the songwriter hated the double-minded.

Literally, “the divided.” The half-hearted. The ambivalent. Those who, when it came to God’s word, took an I-can-go-this-way-or-I-can-go-that-way sort of approach.

And the songwriter’s visceral opposition to the double-minded is shared throughout Scripture.

“Choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”

(Joshua 24:15b ESV)

And Elijah came near to all the people and said, “How long will you go limping between two different opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him; but if Baal, then follow him.”

(1Kings 18:21a ESV)

But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

(James 1:6-7 ESV)

Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

(James 4:8 ESV)

Just as He did with Joshua, Elijah, and James, the Spirit of God moves the songwriter to declare, You gotta pick a side. And the songwriter does.

I love Your law . . .
I hope in Your word . . .
That I may keep the commandments of my God

(Psalm 119:113b, 114b, 115b ESV)

But while it’s the declaration of the psalmist concerning the double-minded that hooks me, and his commitment to God’s word that inspires me, it’s the twice repeated prayer of the psalmist that teaches me.

Uphold me according to Your promise, that I may live, and let me not be put to shame in my hope! Hold me up, that I may be safe and have regard for Your statutes continually!

(Psalm 119:16-17 ESV)

I’ve made my decision. I’ve staked my claim. I’ve chosen this day. I’ve landed firmly on one opinion. I’m no longer doubting. I’ve repented of any double-mindedness. Now my God, “Uphold me.” Or, to say it differently (but not too differently), “Hold me up.”

Rather than boast in his resolve to love, hope in, and follow the word of God, twice the songwriter calls out to God to sustain him in his determination. To support him should his legs weary from standing for God’s word.

As You’ve promised, he prays, have my back, that I may live. As I’ve chosen to trust in You, he pleads, carry me when needed, that I may be safe.

With great determination, it seems, comes the need for great dependency. Taking a side comes with inviting opposition. A willing spirit acknowledges the weakness of the flesh. I can love the word . . . hope in the word . . . even determine with a holy determination to keep the word, but in so doing, I must also cry out to the Word to uphold me according to His promise.

Not double-minded. By God’s grace.

But wholly dependent. For God’s glory.

Posted in Psalms | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment