As He Had Said . . . As He Had Promised

Posted on January 6, 2020 by Pete

Chewing on a pretty straight forward statement of fact in Genesis from long ago which, it seems to me, has some pretty far reaching implications for doing life here today.

The LORD visited Sarah as He had said, and the LORD did to Sarah as He had promised. And Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the time of which God had spoken to him.

(Genesis 21:1-2 ESV)

As He had said. As He had promised.

Behold our God! That’s how He rolls.

The “Canaan or bust” faith journey of a 75 year old Abraham (Gen. 12:4) and his 65 year old wife, Sarah, was ambitious by any stretch of the imagination. Not typically the season of life when folks are looking for a major change. Much less one that involves going without knowing (Heb. 11:8).

But go they did. To a new land. With a new hope. Told they would have a new family. But with bodies that were anything but new.

Abraham’s 75 became, way too quickly, the burning of 99 candles on the birthday cake. And Sarah’s 65 year old womb, which had been unable to bear children thus far, wasn’t any more likely to cooperate after another 24 hard years of aging upon it. The Scriptures stating explicitly, “The way of women had ceased to be with Sarah” (Gen. 18:11). No wonder that, when God reiterated His promise that Sarah would give birth to a son, that both old man and old wife laughed to themselves at the absurdity of continuing to hold on to such hope (17:17, 18:12).

But conceive Sarah did. As God had said. As God had promised.

“Is anything too hard for the LORD?” (Genesis 18:14 ESV)

Nope! Not then. Not now.

And Sarah’s experience is my encouragement. What God has said, what God has promised, God will do.

So, I gotta know what God says and what God promises. Thank you, Lord, for Your Word and for the Spirit in me Who illuminates, revelates, and habituates Your truth within me. Keep me coming back to it.

And, I gotta believe what God says and what God promises. I do believe, help my unbelief. Nurture faith. Forgive doubt. Take my mustard seeds of faith and allow them to grow into mighty refuges of trust.

And, I gotta walk in anticipation of the fulfillment of what God says and what God promises. Keepin’ on keepin’ on, because He is faithful and nothing is to hard for our God.

In hope [Abraham] believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.” He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what He had promised.

(Romans 4:18-21 ESV)

Fully convinced that God is able to do.

As He said. As He promised.

By His grace. For His glory.

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One From Beyond

Posted on January 3, 2020 by Pete

Law of first mention kicked in this morning. Something I was taught early on as a Christian. Take note of the first mention of things in the Bible, as it might be instructive. And, to my recollection, I don’t think I’ve every really taken note of the first mention of the term Hebrew.

They also took Lot, the son of Abram’s brother, who was dwelling in Sodom, and his possessions, and went their way. Then one who had escaped came and told Abram the Hebrew, who was living by the oaks of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and of Aner. These were allies of Abram.

(Genesis 14:12-13 ESV)

Don’t think I’ve ever noticed that the term Hebrew is used even before there was a nation of Israel. Next time it’s used in Genesis, it’s used to refer to Joseph the Hebrew (Gen. 39:14), one of the sons of Jacob, a founding pillar of Israel, the Hebrew nation. I think I’ve always assumed that Hebrew was always just another word for Israelite. But here Abram is being called a Hebrew before there was even a lineage defined as being of Israel.

That’s what caught my attention this morning. Don’t know why. (Though I kinda do . . . encounters of the divine kind are prone to happen when the Spirit of revelation is illuminating Scripture and leading us into all truth).

So what’s the deal?

I pull up my handy dandy online lexicon and I find out that the word Hebrew comes from Eber, who was an ancestor of Abram (Gen. 11:14-16). But more importantly, I look up its literal meaning and I’m thinking, maybe I’m a Hebrew too!

Literally, Eber means “the region beyond.” Thus, a Hebrew, literally, is “one from beyond.”

Abram was known as the one from beyond. Sure, Abram was living in Canaan, but he wasn’t from these parts. He lived nextdoor to Mamre the Amorite, but he was different than his neighbor. Talked different, walked different, worshiped different. He was Abram, the one from beyond.

And I’m thinking, me too! In the world, but not of the world. I’m also one from beyond.

Once beyond hope, “alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world” (Eph. 2:12).

Beyond justification. My transgressions against a holy God far greater than anything I could do to make them right or atone for. The wages of sin having bankrupted me. My nature so corrupted, that even if past sins were paid for, I had nothing in me to live forward in holiness and righteousness.

Even, at one time, beyond any desire, in and of myself, to be with God, to cross over the divide of alienation and enter, if even it were possible, the land of reconciliation. Content in my blind rebellion to be an enemy of God.

But while we were yet sinners, seemingly beyond rescue, God showed His love for us. Christ having died for us (Rom. 5:8).

Despite being too weak, beyond strength in our own desires, merit, or effort to cross over from death to life, “at the right time Christ died for the ungodly” (Rom. 5:6).

Though beyond peace with God because we were at war with God, yet God does the work to reconcile us to Himself by the death of His Son (Rom. 5:10).

And by faith in the finished work of the cross, and the risen life of Christ, we crossed over. Were transferred from “the domain of darkness” to “the kingdom of His beloved Son” (Col. 1:13). Thus becoming one from beyond.

Once lost, now found. Once far away, now with boldness drawing near. Once a sinner, now a saint. Living in a foreign land as a promised people.

A Hebrew, in a sense.

One from beyond.

By His grace. For His glory.

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God of My Righteousness (A 2014 Remix)

Posted on January 2, 2020 by Pete

You sense that David was getting some bad press. Not just some people gossiping about his flaws, but enemies spreading out and out lies targeted at his integrity and reputation. They sought to turn his honor into shame. They made up things to make him look bad. And while it caused David some distress (who wouldn’t be distressed?), at the end of the day, he knew relief from the Lord. A joy in his heart. A peace that allowed him to sleep well at night. All because he never forgot that the Lord was the “God of my righteousness.”

Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness!
You have given me relief when I was in distress.
Be gracious to me and hear my prayer!

(Psalm 4:1 ESV)

If David had to rely on his own righteousness in order to defend himself, if it truly was about his own track record, then even this man after God’s own heart was done. He’d have more than enough reason to fret and be discouraged. And his enemies would have more than enough ammunition to accuse him with. But David, before the gospel was even called the gospel, knew the good news that God was, as Spurgeon says, “the Author, the Witness, the Maintainer, the Judge, and the Rewarder of my righteousness.”

David’s righteousness was found in God alone. Only by God’s grace. Only through the future provision of David’s descendant, Jesus, could David confidently claim a righteousness not His own–a righteousness from God, . . . the righteousness of God.

For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.

(2Corinthians 5:21 ESV)

Having then this assurance of God’s unmerited cloak of righteousness upon him, David could rest despite his accusers’ claims. He could rest because God would be the Maintainer of his righteousness. Through abiding communion, by means of God’s sanctifying Spirit, David’s boast would continue to be solely in the gracious work of God in his life. By whatever manner his heart was stirred to seek the Lord, to whatever degree he understood the things of God, he would remember that it was only due to the favor shown him by the One who called him out of the sheep’s pasture. Only in the power of the One who enabled him to slay a giant. Due only to the Him who, in Sovereign grace, sets apart the godly for Himself (v.3).

And so, David would know joy and peace (v.7-8) as he remembered that the God of his righteousness is the righteous God, Himself. The God who judges with perfect judgment. The God who rewards with just rewards.

So I’m chewing on the implications of the “God of my righteousness” this morning.

Praise God!

I’m not aware of anyone slandering me today, though there is this persistent, repetitive whisper of an accuser in my ear quick to point out my flaws and failures — very real flaws and failures, I might add. But I also hear another voice. The voice of God’s Spirit, through the truth of God’s word, reminding me that He is my assurance, that He is my defense, that He really is “the Author, the Witness, the Maintainer, the Judge, and the Rewarder of my righteousness.” A righteousness found through Him and in Him alone.

By His grace. For His glory.

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Not the How, but the Who

Posted on January 1, 2020 by Pete

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. . . And God saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was very good.

(Genesis 1:1, 31a ESV)

I’m in the camp of those who remind us that if we’re reading Genesis 1 in order to know how everything was created we’re missing the main point. It’s not about the how. It’s all about the Who!

I underlined God a lot this morning in Genesis 1. Twenty-nine times I underlined it. Blue colored-pencil marking up twenty-six of thirty-one verses.

Don’t talk to me about how long a day is or what laws of physics could have factored into something coming out of nothing. Talk to me about the Who. Talk to me about God.

The God who was in the beginning. The God who created the heavens, the earth, and everything in them. The God who said and it was. The God who looked at something He made and then called it by a noun which, by the way, we’ve used ever since as it’s handle.

The God who made. And, who gave everything He made a place and/or a function — a place and/or function that we still benefit from today.

The living God who made living things. And one of those things, us, made in His image.

Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness.”

(Genesis 1:26a ESV)

Made in the likeness of God. The “Us” likeness of God. The “Our image” of God. Made for relationship with a God who has ever been in relationship — the Father having loved the Son since before the foundation of the world (Jn. 17:24) with the Spirit (Gen. 1:2).

The God who saw all that He created and said it was good. Not once, not twice, but seven times. The seventh time exclaiming, “Behold, this is very good!”

That’s how our God rolls.

The Creator of all things. Of all things old, and all things new. His best new creations found in men, women, boys, and girls redeemed through the finished work of the Son on the cross, by the life-giving work of the Spirit taking up residence in those redeemed souls. The fullness of the new creation yet to be fully revealed when the kingdom of heaven, now active by faith, will be the kingdom of heaven on earth . . . a new earth . . . a forever earth.

And that too, my friends, will be very good. Created by our “in the beginning” God. Don’t know exactly when He’s gonna do it or how He’s gonna do it, but praise Him that I know that He’s the One who will do it.

Don’t know what 2020, or this next decade (or, for that matter, tomorrow), has in store. But I know Who is creating, making all things new, and in control according to His steadfast love and His sovereign purposes.

By His grace. For His glory.

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Put Me to the Test

Posted on December 31, 2019 by Pete

I don’t know if I have ever actually finished my annual reading plan on the last day of the year (after all, my reading plan says I should have finished it five days ago). But Christmas and end of year activities have pretty much disrupted routine for the past week or so.

Thus, here I sit, on the last day of the year, on the last day of the decade, and hover over the last readings of 2019.

Revelation 22 providing me a glimpse of the hope that is ours through the provision and promise of God.

He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!

(Revelation 22:20 ESV)

John’s gospel asking me, three times, if I love the Lord Jesus. And then reminding me that beyond the confession of my love, the Master asks me to demonstrate that love by walking in the way He has chosen for me, doing what He’s asked me to do, regardless of the path, or tasks, He has chosen for anyone else.

When Peter saw [John], he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about this man?” Jesus said to him, “If it is My will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!”

(John 21:21-22 ESV)

And then, there’s Malachi. The last of the prophets. The last word for centuries to sustain a people awaiting Messiah and struggling to live faithfully in light of His coming. (Sound familiar?) And, for me, it brings together the promise of Revelation 22 and the pleading of John 21 with a prodding in Malachi 3.

“Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house. And thereby put Me to the test, says the LORD of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.”

(Malachi 3:10 ESV)

“Put Me to the test,” says the LORD of hosts.

They were back in the land. But they were still playing in the world.

They were again going to the temple. But, at best, only half-heartedly. Not regularly. Not purposefully. Not offering the fullness of their firstfruits or the best of their sacrifices. Not really worried that history might somehow repeat itself if they persisted in on-going disobedience.

Though they were living in the reality of the fulfillment of God’s promises made in the past, and hoping in His promises for the future, they just couldn’t muster it up to trust Him wholeheartedly by believing His promises concerning their present.

And so, God says to them, “Put Me to the test.”

See if the abundant life really isn’t found in honoring Me first. See if ain’t so that, when you seek first the kingdom of God, everything you need will be provided (Matt. 6:33). Prove it true, that I really will show Myself faithful to those who are faithful (2Sam 22:26 CSB); that My grace really is sufficient (2Cor. 12:9); and that, in Me, you really are more than conquerors (Rom. 8:37). And test the gospel and know that it truly is the power of God for salvation–past, present, and future–to everyone who believes because the righteous really can live by faith (Rom 1:16-17).

I’m coming soon. You follow Me.

So try me in this, that in following Me you will know, even now, the windows of heaven opened up and blessings poured down . . . regardless of what’s going on in your world. Because I have overcome the world (Jn. 16:33).

Not a bad thing to be chewing on as we wrap up another year and anticipate yet a new one. As we look back on a decade, of which some life events couldn’t have been imagined ten years ago, and look towards the next ten years knowing that, despite our best plans, we really don’t know what’s in front of us.

Except that we have a sure promise. “Surely I am coming soon!”

Except that we have His steady pleading, “You follow Me!”

And that, if we quiet ourselves and listen, we can hear His soft prodding, “Put Me to the test! Go ahead! See if living for Me, in light of My imminent return, isn’t, in fact, the best way to do life, and life to the full.”

Yes, Lord.

By Your grace. For Your glory.

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Always the Lamb

Posted on December 24, 2019 by Pete

I think I’ve always had a bit of resistance to leaving baby Jesus in the manger at Christmas. That, for some reason, I’ve needed to remind myself that the idyllic scene I love to imagine through the various nativity displays which are put out at Christmas is but a precursor to the darkness that hung over the cross when the Author of Life was put to death for the sin of the world. That by not lingering too long over that silent night, remembering that He was born to die, I somehow protect myself from ever remaining fixed at Bethlehem and not moving on to Calvary.

But I wonder if I shouldn’t hover more often, and for longer periods of time, on the wonder of Immanuel, God with Us.

If I shouldn’t gaze more intently at the Babe in the manger, in awe that this is He through whom God created the world. That in Mary’s Child, the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily, the exact imprint of God’s nature. That even on the night of His birth He was upholding the universe by the word of His power, even while He was yet able to form a word. That He is the radiance of God’s glory, though He emptied Himself of that glory in order to take on the likeness of man and be found in human form. Stepping away from His place over heaven so that He might take on the form of a servant on earth. (Col. 2:9, Heb. 1:1-3, Php. 2:6-8)

And what’s got me thinking about being more okay with lingering longer over the Christ child is my reading in Revelation 21 this morning where, when all is said and done–when the final battle has been fought, when the enemy is forever cast down, when sin is finally judged, when the new heavens and new earth are a reality–Jesus is always the Lamb.

And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb.

(Revelation 21:22-23 ESV)

Twenty-seven times in Revelation (only twice in the rest of the NT) the Son of God, the Second Person of the Trinity, the King of kings and the Lord of lords, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, is seen as the Lamb. Literally as the lamb-kin, the little Lamb.

His humility in coming in flesh forever on display in heaven. His lowliness and meekness eternally portrayed as He is beheld as the Lamb that was slain from the foundation of the world (Rev. 5:9, 5:12, 13:8).

Those in relationship to Him for eternity, are there in relationship with the Lamb. There because their names are written in the Lamb’s book of life. Their robes made white, the victory theirs, because of the blood of the Lamb. To be known forever as the bride of the Lamb. Singing forever the song of the Lamb . . . in the temple of the Lamb . . . lit by the light of the glory of the Lamb.

So, I’m thinking to myself, “Self, if the humility of the Son of God come to be the Lamb of God will be worth considering for eternity, then maybe, just maybe, spending some extended time in quiet, un-rushed awe, over the Son of God come as the son of Mary, might be appropriate for a season.

Always the Lamb.

Praise God for the Child!

O come let us adore Him!

Because of grace. For His glory.

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Praise God for the Other Book

Posted on December 20, 2019 by Pete

There’s always been a lot of debate on how the end times play out. Smart people on multiple sides of a debate on what in Scripture is to be taken literally and what should be understood figuratively. Views on where we are in the historical timeline painted in the Bible and of how we are to understand the coming of God’s kingdom on earth as it is in heaven.

So, as I read through Revelation 20 this morning I am, at first, preoccupied with the “thousand years.” As I encounter the “thousand years” six times at the beginning of the chapter, I find myself asking myself, “Self, literal or figurative? Has come? Is come? Or, yet to come?” (Maybe instead of asking myself I should be asking my Teacher, the Spirit who illuminates such mysteries).

But then the “thousand years” are supplanted by two sets of books. And it’s on these that I really start to chew down.

And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

(Revelation 20:12-15 ESV)

I just got a Facebook notice that I have been so-and-so’s friend for 11 years and up flashes a brief montage of stuff FB had on file for how we had interacted. Eleven years! . . . and they can bring up and put on display, in a moment, stuff I had forgotten long ago. If technology and social media tells us anything it’s that the divine books that exist which have recorded all that we’ve done, aren’t that too far fetched. But more importantly, it reminds us, who wants to be judged according to what they’ve done? Who wants to stand before a holy, holy, holy God and air the dirty laundry we all know exists? Sure, might be some “good” stuff, but who can’t recall some of the stuff you never want to see the light of day?

Two-thirds of my threescore+ years have been lived as a believer. You’d think that maybe that might skew the what-I’ve-done scales enough to be favorably considered before the throne. Uh . . . no! Not the way it works. Any defilement, is too much defilement when it comes to heaven’s holiness. Besides, if I’m honest, there’s more than enough in my redeemed life which has required repentance and fresh forgiveness to disqualify me from God’s perfect presence, if my good works on earth were the basis for my right standing in heaven. So, no thank you . . . don’t wanna rely on that first set of books for my eternal destination.

But the other book — the book of life — that’s my hope.

For the other book is founded on the story of Another’s good works. Jesus, the Son of God, having come to earth as a baby that He might live on earth to die as the once for all atoning sacrifice for all the stuff recorded in the first set of books. His finished work on the cross, the only work I can boast in.

And in that other book is my name. The name of a sinner saved by grace. The name of a righteous person because I was declared righteous through faith. The name of a child of God, adopted on the merit of the One who was ready, willing, and able to call me brother. My name written in the book of life, making the first set of books a moot point. For, stamped over whatever is recorded of my life in those books, are the words: Paid in Full; Redeemed; Reconciled; Adopted; A New Creation!

Praise God for the other book! The book of life. The book with my name written in it. Not because of any merit on my part, but because of Sovereign grace on His. Not because of what I’ve done, but only because of what He has done. Not for my glory, but for His glory, and His alone.

Thank you, Lord!

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Some Thoughts from the Past on Losing Focus

Posted on December 19, 2019 by Pete

It’s the fourth year in a row where what I’ve read in Job on this day in my reading plan has been the thing that’s lingered afterward. The taste from my samplings in both the Old Testament and New Testament that has been the food for thought that I find myself chewing on.

I know this because often when I meditate on a passage I do a search through my online journal and see what thoughts have come to mind before. And there they were. Last year in 2018, and in 2017, and in 2016. But there is also one that goes way back to 2008. In many ways to a time when life was being done in a very different context. Very little experience back then, honestly, that connected with Job’s experience.

But as I read through this 2008 entry, I’m reminded how important it is to store up divine life principles before you really need them. Of what an act of grace it is for the Spirit to lead you into truth before you’re going to need to draw on that truth in a way you couldn’t have imagined. How what I learned back in 2008 has actually been lived out over the past few years.

So, you’re welcome to read my posts on this passage from 2016, 2017, or 2018, if you like, but I thought I’d rerun the one from 2008 if, perhaps, it might be of some encouragement to you as it was to me this morning.

I think when all was said and done, Job just simply lost focus on who God is. This man, who God declares is “a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil (Job 1:1,1:8,2:3), finds himself on the wrong end of a Divine reaming out. “Prepare yourself like a man!” God demands, “Answer me! You who would correct Me and rebuke Me . . . Let’s get a thing or two straight . . . and let’s start with Me reminding you of who I AM!”

These last chapters of Job really are quite amazing as you think about the sensory overload that Job must have gone through as he was addressed directly by the Almighty and was given a lesson in creation and divine power like none other ever given. And how did he end up at the end of such a stern lecture? Again, I think he just lost focus on who God is.

Now, I’m not blaming him. You’d think that a man as devout as Job kind of deserved better. By God’s own words he is singled out as a remarkable example of faithful and “set apart” living. And then to have experienced the disaster and tragedy that befell him so suddenly . . . who wouldn’t have been a bit confused . . . a bit bitter . . . a bit arrogant in demanding a one-on-one with God so that he could get things set straight? You can’t blame him . . . but you can sure learn from him . . .

In his unbelievable tragic circumstances . . . in his pain . . . in his frustration . . . Job loses sight of who he’s addressing in the heavens . . . focusing on himself, he chooses to neglect what he knows to be true about His God. And so, God, in a not so gentle manner, reminds him. In a whirlwind (Job 38:1) He presents Himself in all His power and glory as He recounts the wondrous evidence of that power in creation . . . and says, “Job . . . answer Me . . . where’s Your hand in all of this? Where do I see your power in creation . . . show me where your wisdom is displayed in the intricate workings of the natural world.” And then, in my reading this morning, Job 40, God gets to the point,

“Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him? Let him who accuses God answer him!”

(Job 40:2 NKJV)

There’s the line, Job . . . and you crossed it. No one can minimize the pain and suffering you’ve gone through . . . but remember who you’re talking to . . . do you really want to contend with the Almighty . . . do you really want to find fault with the Maker of all things . . . do you really think you’re in a position to rebuke and reprove God? What are you thinking?

The answer — he wasn’t. Caught up in trying to justify himself before his accusatory comforters, he goes too far . . . in his anguish and pain, his tongue gets too loose . . . overwhelmed by life’s unfairness, his brain goes on auto-pilot . . . and he loses sight of who His God is. Be warned, Pete.

Now I haven’t been through anything like what Job experienced . . . and I’m not looking to . . . however, I confess times where I have addressed God . . . or spoken of Him . . . in ways that reflect a loss of focus. Far too casual with the Almighty . . . way to chummy with the Maker . . . bordering on irreverent concerning Holy, Holy, Holy God. I fear it is easier than I suspect to become so “comfortable” with God that I can lose focus on who He is . . . and who I am . . . and speak to Him, or of Him, in ways that are inappropriate . . . in ways that serve to make me seem “bigger” than I am . . . and serve to make Him “smaller” than He really is.

O God, keep me from such mindlessness. Through Your Word and through Your indwelling Holy Spirit help me to maintain a healthy, ever-present “awe and fear” factor. Forgive me for irreverence . . . keep me from speaking of things I know very little about. Instead Lord, in all circumstances help me to be still and know that You are God . . . and nothing less . . . and that I am a man . . . and nothing more . . . for Your glory alone . . . amen!

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Consider Your Ways

Posted on December 18, 2019 by Pete

We can do so much of what we do thoughtlessly. So easy for us to go on autopilot — doing what we do because we’ve always done it. And often it’s because we allow ourselves to be driven by what is pragmatic more than what should be priority. Or by what brings immediate pleasure rather than a future prize. While we might be working that which is good, we might also be neglecting that which is best.

That’s why it’s so helpful to have Haggai in your annual reading plan. At least once a year you’re going to be encouraged to take some time and consider your ways.

“Thus says the LORD of hosts: These people say the time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the LORD.” Then the word of the LORD came by the hand of Haggai the prophet, “Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins? Now, therefore, thus says the LORD of hosts: Consider your ways.”

(Haggai 1:2-5 ESV)

They were a people once marked by exile but now returned to the land of their fathers. A people once in subjection to an enemy, but now liberated to pursue their God. And their God had called them to return to the land and rebuild His house. But they got distracted.

They had their own homes to re-establish. After 70 years of inattention, their fields were a mess. And besides, not only was rebuilding the temple hard work, it wasn’t popular work with those outsiders who still had influence over the land.

So, it’s not too hard to understand how their focus might shift. How working on that which is easier might take time away from working on that which was harder. How attending to that which would benefit themselves in the short term might supplant spending time on that which would honor their God over the long haul. How spending their discretionary time on getting their own homes remodeled might seem more important than making the time to ensure God’s house was being rebuilt.

But God says through His prophet, repeatedly, “Consider your ways” (Hagai 1:5, 1:7, 2:15, 2:18).

“Think carefully” (CSB) about what you’re doing. “Take a good, hard look at your life” (MSG). “Give careful thought to your ways” (NIV).

Recognize how you’ve let pragmatics dictate your priorities. After all, a roof over your head and food on the table is pretty important. See how you’ve allowed pleasures to consume your free time. Because what’s the point of living again in the land of the free if you’re not free to live how you want? Think carefully about how you’ve allowed your own good to supplant God’s glory.

Consider your ways.

End of year is a great time to pause and ponder. To sit back, look around, and take inventory.

To review our calendars. To reflect on our goals. To recalibrate our measures of success.

To look beyond all that we do which is good and consider if, perhaps, there isn’t something our God calls us to which is better.

“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” ~ Jesus

(Matthew 6:33 ESV)

“Consider your ways,” says the LORD of hosts.

Because of grace. For His glory.

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Anticipating a Duet

Posted on December 17, 2019 by Pete

Hovering over the latter part of Zephaniah 3 this morning where Zephaniah speaks of the promise of a future day. A day when all peoples from all nations shall call upon the name of the LORD and serve Him with one accord (3:9).

And, in the midst of this world-wide community of worshipers, there will be a people of particular note (3:11-15).

A people whose shame for their deeds of rebellion has been removed. A people marked by humility and lowliness. A people who seek refuge in the name of the LORD. A people whose hearts and mouths have been cleaned up and made pure so that there is no injustice, no lies, no deceit. A people who are at rest, who eat and feed in safety, “and none shall make them afraid.”

And they are a singing people. People who voice their song with shouting. Who rejoice and exult with all their heart because their judgments have been taken away and their enemies have been defeated. A people who never again fear evil because their King, the LORD, is in their midst.

And while I think that this prophecy is yet to be fulfilled in it’s fullness at a future (but perhaps not too future) day, I can’t help but chew on this vision of divinely purposed transformation, and earthly experienced restoration, and see us, the church.

I think we’re the trailer for this epic spectacle yet to be fully played out on the world’s stage. That we’re the prototype, in all our imperfections, for this jaw-dropping reality. Or said perhaps a bit more biblically, that we’re the firstfruits for this promised harvest.

And if that’s true . . . and I’m thinking it is . . . then let our imaginations run wild as we consider the next words of the prophet’s promise?

On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem: “Fear not, O Zion; let not your hands grow weak. The LORD your God is in your midst, a Mighty One who will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness; He will quiet you by His love; He will exult over you with loud singing.”

(Zephaniah 3:16-17 ESV)

If we’re the firstfruits of a yet to be known future reality, then are these words not for us?

We are not to fear. We are to strengthen our hands. Because we know the truth that the LORD our God is in our midst.

At this time of year, in particular, we’re reminded that Jesus walked among us as Immanuel, God with Us. That the Christ embodied the image of the invisible God, in whom all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell. And that, though presented as meek and lowly, He came as the Mighty One to save.

And He has never left us. Promising that though He would depart bodily for a time, He would send the Spirit, also fully God, to indwell us so that we might abide in Him and He might abide with us.

O saint rejoice! Sing aloud. Rejoice and exult in Him with all your heart. The LORD our God is in our midst!

If that’s true, know too that He rejoices, as well. That, as amazing as it is to try and conceive, the God of creation also exults over us, even as we exult in Him. What’s more . . . get ready for this . . . know too that the God of our salvation is–perhaps at this very moment–even singing over us.

Do you get that? Not only do we sing to Him, but He sings over us. It’s a duet! An unfathomable, how-can-this-be-happening-to-me, duet.

Our God’s a rejoicing God. Our God’s an exulting God. Our God is a singing God.

How great is our God?

What will it be, in that day when faith gives way to sight and we are in the midst of the One who has redeemed us, to pause for a moment from our worship and in that moment of silence hear a melody sourced in divine pleasure coming from the throne? Quieted by His love, we will bask in the song He sings over us.

What will that be like? I don’t know. I can only imagine.

But it will be, in some sense, a wondrous duet.

I’m going to keep practicing my part now.

By His grace. For His glory.

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