What A Story!

Posted on November 1, 2019 by Pete

Ezekiel 16 has got to be one of the most amazing passages in all of Scripture. Not just because of the story told, but because it reveals that God is a Storyteller. His tale of a city, Jerusalem, waxes poetic while being explicitly descriptive.

The Storyteller relates the story of her orphaned condition at birth, “your cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water to cleanse you, . . . you were cast out on the open field, for you were abhorred” (16:4-5). No one to care for her. No one willing to claim her. And yet the Storyteller, when He passes by and sees her wallowing in her blood, says to her, “Live!”

And she does. And she grows up. Matures in form. No longer a child but now “at the age of love.” And the One who rescued her now brings her into covenant relationship with Himself, declaring, “You are mine” (16:8). And He clothes her with the finest clothing. He adorns her with expensive jewelry. And crowns her with unmatched royalty. And she models for the nations around her what a rags to riches story looks like when the LORD is your rescuer.

“And your renown went forth among the nations because of your beauty, for it was perfect through the splendor that I had bestowed on you, declares the Lord GOD.”

(Ezekiel 16:14 ESV)

But then there’s there a but. There’s more to the story–tragically more.

“But you trusted in your beauty and played the whore because of your renown and lavished your whorings on any passerby; your beauty became his.”

(Ezekiel 16:15 ESV)

And you almost want to turn your eyes away and avoid watching the train wreck happen. Stop reading and not spoil the perfection and splendor of this beautiful bride with the details of her wretched unfaithfulness. As she takes her fine garments, with some of them making a tent, with others laying them down as bedding, and on them plays the whore. As she takes her beautiful jewels of gold and silver, fashioning them into an idol, “and with them played the whore.” As she takes the children she had borne for her Rescuer through their covenant relationship, and offers them to her inanimate lovers. As she forgets the days of her youth, when she was naked and bare, wallowing in her blood (16:16-22).

And it doesn’t stop there. Her insatiable lust leads to adulterous relationships with her “lustful neighbors” around her. So she multiplies her whorings with the Egyptians, the Assyrians, and the Chaldeans. But unlike other prostitutes who give themselves for payment, she pays her illicit lovers with gifts, bribing them to come to her from every side. The Storyteller drawing this conclusion, “How sick is your heart!” (16:26-34).

Therefore, God says, “I will judge you” (4:38).

So will I satisfy my wrath on you, and My jealousy shall depart from you. I will be calm and will no more be angry.

(Ezekiel 16:42 ESV)

Thus she also models for the nations around her a riches to rags story as a warning for those who are unfaithful to their God.

But the steadfast love of the Lord never fails. The abounding grace of God really is abounding. His precious promises truly are promises. And so, the story’s not done. The Storyteller has yet more to tell.

“. . . yet I will remember my covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish for you an everlasting covenant. . . . I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall know that I am the LORD, that you may remember and be confounded, and never open your mouth again because of your shame, when I atone for you for all that you have done, declares the Lord GOD.”

(Ezekiel 14:60, 62-63 ESV)

Because of His promise, He will atone for her. And she will be rescued again.

Though her mouth will be closed with contrition, and her heart humbled as she remembers her ways, she shall be brought to her senses.

. . . and you shall know that I am the LORD.

What a story!

Praise be to the Storyteller!

Because you can’t help but find your story in His story. Once orphaned. But then betrothed. Robed in the garments of a bride. Adorned with treasures from heaven’s storehouse. Perfect in His splendor. But then forgetful. And then unfaithful. Thinking somehow the beauty was our beauty. Thinking, somehow, that our ways, and the world’s ways, had something more to offer.

Yet, never not a child of promise. All our sin atoned for through the finished work of Christ. Drawn back to our first love, though His loving discipline. Still the bride. Our beauty intact in Him. Only because of the Storyteller. Only through the Storyteller’s Son.

What a story!

By the Storyteller’s grace. For the Storyteller’s glory.

Amen?

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Bad Truth (A 2010 Rerun)

Posted on October 31, 2019 by Pete

Reposting, as is, some thoughts I put together back in 2010. Reading Job 4 this morning, as I was then. Pondering over some interesting verses, as I was then. But today it’s in the context of a prolonged period of awareness of doing battle “not with flesh and blood” (Eph. 6:12). A reminder that one of the enemies tactics is to distort truth. Reposting for your consideration.

So, I came across something that felt kind of creepy as I was reading in Job this morning. To be honest, I don’t think I ever really noticed it before . . . or paused to reflect on it . . . and, not even sure I really understand it. So why am I writing about it? Maybe just to work it over in my mind a bit.

So here’s the deal . . . the conversation has started. Job’s at the center of a cosmic struggle between God and Satan (actually . . . not really a struggle . . . God wins . . . Satan’s only power is that which God had allowed). Job is God’s divine object lesson modeling a man of integrity who, despite great personal loss and tragedy, remains faithful . . . still blesses the Lord . . . refuses to sin with his lips and curse God. But, Job is just a man. And so, as he suffers he laments the day he was born (ch. 3) . . . gives word to his crushed spirit and brokenness . . . can’t help but articulate that he doesn’t think what’s happened to him makes any sense . . . or is “fair”. And with him are three friends (sorta’) . . . who have come to comfort him (not so much) . . . but instead challenge and debate him.

I’m reading Job 4 . . . the response of one of these friends, Eliphaz, to Job’s lament . . . and essentially he says to Job, “Obviously you’re suffering because you have sinned.” Some comforter, huh? Thanks bud for those “pick me up” words. Kick a guy when he’s down . . . as if my heart isn’t crushed enough . . . tell me I deserve it . . . convince me that if I had been a better guy that my kids would still be alive today . . . that if I were more faithful to God . . . if I was more blameless . . . more upright . . . feared God more . . . shunned evil more . . then my flesh wouldn’t be rotting off my bones right now.

The words of a friend? Or of an enemy? . . . THE ENEMY . . . the enemy of God . . . of men’s souls . . . the destroyer? Here’s the creepy part . . .

Eliphaz relates a reason for his confidence in speaking these words of “wisdom” . . . it was a vision he had . . . a “word secretly brought” to him (4:12-21). His ear “received a whisper” . . . “disquieting thoughts” from visions in the night . . . fear coming upon him, causing him to tremble and his bones to shake . . . a spirit passing before his face . . . the hair standing on end. This fear-invoking spirit of his dreams in the darkness of night stands before him silently . . . he’s unable to discern its appearance . . . and then the spirit speaks, “Can a mortal be more righteous than God? Can a man be more pure than his Maker? If He puts no trust in His servants, if He charges His angels with error, how much more those who dwell in houses of clay . . .” (Job. 4:17-19).

Kinda eerie, huh?

At first the words seem to sound like truth . . . of course a mortal can’t be more righteous than God . . . there’s none righteous, no, not one (Rom. 3:10) . . . no brainer that the creation cannot be more pure than the Creator. But, though the words sound somewhat familiar . . . there’s a hiss behind them . . . a sense of twisting and distorting . . . by this masked spirit of the night that brings fear. Does God really not trust His servants? And what angles did He charge with error, save those who rebelled? Is there a tone of a personal root of bitterness detected here within this spirit? And is the conclusion of suffering really that because God dealt such with the angels how much more will He be the destroyer of those who are merely houses of clay? Sounds like bad “truth” to me.

I don’t know if I’m being clear, but as I pause over this passage I think I’m seeing something of the subtle deception and influence of the enemy’s forces. Bad truth makes for a bad comforter. Did Satan’s attacks upon Job conclude with the destroying of his wealth, the killing of his children, and the destroying of his flesh? . . . or, does he continue with the mind games? I’m thinkin’ . . .

We are not unaware of the enemy’s desires to devour us (1Peter 5:7) . . . not ignorant of his devices (2Cor. 2:11). He is a distorter of truth . . . the father of lies (John 8:44) . . . the accuser of the brethren (Rev. 12:10) . . . the destroyer (Rev. 9:11). Oh, that, through the Spirit indwelling us, we would be discerners of his lying “words of wisdom” . . . standing fast in grace . . . by the authority of our King . . . resisting the enemy, such that he flees from us (James 4:7) . . . knowing that greater is He who is in us, then he who is in the world (1John 4:4) . . . for the glory of God, our power and strength . . . amen!

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There!

Posted on October 30, 2019 by Pete

Seven days. For seven days and seven nights Job’s friends sat with him on the ground, “and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his suffering was very great” (Job 2:13).

Suffering. Silence. For seven days. Because what do you say when you don’t know what to say? How do you make sense of something that doesn’t make sense?

Talk about your riches to rags story. Your blessed to battered journey. From having everything to having nothing, not even your health.

His friends thought they’d go to “show him sympathy and comfort him.” But when they saw him, they could barely recognize the shadow of their former friend and they, themselves, were broken. They raised their voices in weeping. They tore their clothes in mourning. And they sat with him in his suffering. Silent. For seven days.

So who’s gonna blame Job when he finally breaks the silence with his broken cry, “Why?”

“Why did I not die at birth, come out from the womb and expire? . . . Or why was I not as a hidden stillborn child, as infants who never see the light? . . . Why is light given to him who is in misery, and life to the bitter in soul? . . . Why is light given to a man whose way is hidden, whom God has hedged in?”

(Job 3:11, 16, 20, 23 ESV)

Honestly, reading Job’s a lot easier when you’ve read it a few times and you know how it ends. Not just because the LORD restores the fortunes of Job and ends up blessing the latter days of Job more than his beginning (42:10, 12) — not because it’s a happy ever after ending. But because you discover that there may not be an answer for the “why” question, but there is always the opportunity in the “why” to know more deeply the Who (42:2).

But the distance between what the mind can know and what the heart feels it can endure is often a great expanse. Knowing that “all things work together for good” (Rom. 8:28), and feeling that everything’s going to be ok, are often miles apart. That’s why, when the silence was broken–after seven days–Job laments.

“I am not at ease, nor am I quiet; I have no rest, but trouble comes.”

(Job 3:26 ESV)

That’s why he imagines that being stillborn would have provided the repose and quietness of soul he so longed for.

“There the wicked cease from troubling, and there the weary are at rest.”

(Job 3:17 ESV)

The turmoil gone. The weary at rest. Who, at some point in their lives, hasn’t wanted that place? Who hasn’t wanted to be there?

But we know that there is not found in never having been, but in having been drawn closer to our God through our suffering. That there is realized in testing our faith when our strength fades. That there is seen when our heads are lifted up though our souls were cast down. That there is found in 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. Consider Him who endured from sinners such hostility against Himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.

(Hebrews 12:2-3 ESV)

In Jesus the wicked cease from their troubling. In Jesus the weary are at rest. Today, by faith. In a day not far off, then face to face.

That’s where I want to be. There!

By His grace. For His glory.

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Faith Supplements

Posted on October 29, 2019 by Pete

Peter calls it confirming your call and election. Being eager to prove that it’s the real thing in our lives. That our salvation is sure. That the new man, the new woman, is really, in fact, new. That the power is truly present.

And Peter says it will require diligence. That it will take effort. That we’ll need to work hard to prove that what’s true is really true.

And then he lays out there this audacious promise . . . you will never fall.

Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall.

(2Peter 1:10 ESV)

Read it again. Chew on it a bit. You will never fall. Is that a promise to claim, or what!?!?

And it’s a promise of faith that we claim by what we pursue. A divine determination appropriated through diligent doing.

. . . if you practice these qualities you will never fall.

And what are these qualities we are to practice? These things we are to be eager to work at?

For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.

(2Peter 1:5-7 ESV)

There’s seven of them (not surprised). Virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, love.

Seven qualities we are to make every effort to practice. Seven qualities that confirm our calling and election. Seven qualities that, when pursued, realize an audacious promise–you will never fall. And these seven qualities are faith supplements.

But these supplements shouldn’t be thought of simply as works-based add-ons. But as effort-required furnishings for our foundation of faith. As meaningful business which ministers to, and adds to our belief. As steps taken which, when realized, will strengthen trust.

Peter knew that faith can atrophy without fuel. And so, as he anticipates his days coming to a close on earth, he wanted to remind his beloved brother and sisters of these qualities and to stir them up with a reminder to keep on pursuing them (1:12-15).

But go back over the “to do” list and, who’s able to get it “to be done”? Uh, we are!

That’s what Peter’s saying when, before telling us to work at pursuing these faith supplements, he reminds us of what God has already provided. That “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness.” That through “His precious and very great promises” He has supplied all we need to “become partakers of the divine nature” (1:3-4).

We have the power to supplement our faith. Not because of who we are. Not because of what we are capable of doing. But because of Who lives in us, and through us, and what He is capable of doing. He is the Source of faith supplements. And He is the great Yes and Amen of the promise that if we practice these seven qualities we will never fall.

Never fall? Yes, never fall.

Faith required? Absolutely.

Faith supplements required, too? Absolutely, again.

By His grace. For His glory.

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The True Grace of God

Posted on October 25, 2019 by Pete

Wrapped up 1Peter this morning. What a great letter! A letter for all those who are suffering. Maybe not in the same way these first century saints suffered for their faith, but applicable, I think, for anyone who is under the prolonged burden of some trial. Peter not only want’s them to keep on keepin’ on, but to flourish in doing so. And, ultimately, to do so for the glory of the God who called them, promised to preserve them, and will surely present them to Himself in gospel victory.

If Peter’s letter is the pattern, then those who suffer need to be reminded of what they possess through this great salvation, “things which angels long to look.” They need to know again their call to be holy, even as God is holy. And they need to know they have the power to actually be holy as they consider afresh their identity in Christ as living stones, a spiritual house, a people for God’s own possession.

And knowing all this to be true, they need walk in a manner worthy of who they are, despite suffering’s pressure to let go and cave to the ways of the old nature. They are to suffer as Christ suffered. With righteous suffering enabled through the power of God, the indwelling Holy Spirit. And they need to hang together. Community being key to conquering. The family of believers necessary for carrying the burden.

All this, as they hold tight, by faith, to the promise:

And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To Him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

(1Peter 5:10-11 ESV)

This is the true grace of God. That’s Peter’s summary statement for everything he’s encouraged these worn out pilgrims with.

By Silvanus, a faithful brother as I regard him, I have written briefly to you, exhorting and declaring that this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it.

(1Peter 5:12 ESV)

The true grace of God. Not cheap grace. Not wishful-thinking grace. Not just-for-some-and-not-for-others grace. But true grace. Real grace. Available to all grace.

We really have been born again through imperishable seed through the living and abiding word of God (1:23). There really is an inheritance kept in heaven for us (1:4). Though we may feel like weary, dusty sojourners and exiles, we, in fact, are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation (2:9).

And Christ really has left us an example through His suffering for us (2:21). And not just an example we’re left to try and feebly replicate on our own. But an example with commensurate power. The Holy Spirit’s empowering. Enabling us to suffer in such a way that, defying human tendencies, we can still think about others, honor others, and love others (2:17).

And this, because we really have “ceased from sin” and can live for the “will of God” (4:1-2). Sin no longer having dominion over us. It’s power broken. It’s shame claim nailed to the cross. For we really are no longer people subject to the flesh. We are children of the Spirit. And so we live differently and we suffer differently. Because this is the true grace of God.

And thus, Peter leaves me with one final command to obey.

Stand firm in it.

Both feet . . . firmly established . . . immovable . . . unshakable in the true grace of God.

Grace which really is abounding (Rom 5:15, 2Cor. 9:8). Grace which is truly sufficient (2Cor. 12:9).

Amazing grace. Marvelous grace. Wondrous grace. The true grace of God.

Stand firm in it.

And that too, by His grace.

To Him be the glory.

Amen?

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Anxiety Pride

Posted on October 24, 2019 by Pete

Ask most of us what the opposite of humility is and we’d come up with pride.

Ask us how pride manifests itself and the things that probably come to mind are: boasting; self exaltation; arrogance; thinking of myself more highly than I should; esteeming myself above others; and so on. But add worrying to that list and it causes me to pause. Include being anxious as an indicator of a prideful heart and I start to scratch my head a bit. But, if this morning I am, in fact, picking up what Peter’s laying down, then I’m thinking I need to expand my list of prideful behaviors to include the propensity to hold on to, and wallow in, my worries. That I need to beware of anxiety pride.

“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)

Now, I’d consider myself pretty familiar with these two verses. But that might be the problem–that I most often process this one sentence as two verses, and thus, as two unconnected thoughts. Humbling myself before God. Casting all my cares upon God. Two actions to take. Two commands to obey.

But what if humbling myself IS casting my cares? Said differently, what if pride is prominent when I persistently taking charge of my problems?

The people Peter wrote to had a lot to be anxious about. Life was hard and every indicator was that it was going to get harder still. And, when the going get’s tough, sometimes you entertain thoughts of getting out. So, Peter reminds them of who they are in Christ. That they are not just a dispersed people, but also a special people. A people of God’s choosing, a holy nation, called out of darkness into marvelous light in order to proclaim the excellencies of Christ (2:9).

But, the other natural reaction when the heat is turned up, is to turn on others. And so, Peter also exhorts them to resist the temptation to take an “every man for himself” or, an “eat or be eaten,” approach to dealing with the pressures of the life God had permitted to be in their lives. Instead, they were to keep loving one another (4:8); to show hospitality to one another (4:9); to serve one another (4:10); and, to clothe themselves with humility toward one another (5:5). And showing humility to others would first require that they humble themselves before God. Which, in turn, would require that they cast all their anxieties on God.

Anxiety pride would affect family relationships. Determination to deal with the pressures of life on their own would be problematic in their attempts to do life as a community. Humbling themselves before God and casting their cares upon Him would be essential to clothing themselves with humility towards one another.

So, it seems, refusing to freely give my worries to God can be, in a very real sense, a pretty powerful indicator of pride. Exposing, perhaps, an arrogance of thinking in which I believe I can power through my problems on my own and apart from God’s help. Or, bringing to light a self-absorbed attitude which prefers “woe is me” rather than “greater is He!”

It’s when I insist that my anxieties really are my anxieties that there might be an indication of a pride induced dynamic at play within my heart.

But, when I humble myself, and cast all my cares upon Him, I acknowledge that God’s hand is mighty to save in all situations. When I’m humble of heart then I can submit to God’s perfect and permitted will in my circumstance and suffering. Trusting in His sovereign purposes.

And when that humility is known before God, it’s going to enable my ability, by His empowering Spirit, to clothe myself in humility toward my brothers and sisters. Humility towards God spawning a harmony with one another.

Oh, that I would be protected from anxiety pride. That I would humble myself and truly cast all my cares upon Him.

For my sake. For the sake of others.

By His grace. For His glory.

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What He Has Purposed

Posted on October 23, 2019 by Pete

Honestly, I can’t imagine what Jerusalem looked like after the Babylonians had ransacked her. After they had entered her and burned down “every great house,” including “the house of the LORD” (Jer. 52:13). After they broke in pieces the massive pillars and other metal structures she had once protected that her God might be worshiped (52:17, 20-21). After she gave up the vessels used for temple service (52:18-20)–hauled away to join the plunder from other nations. After they had broken down the walls that surrounded her (52:14) and destroyed the gates that protected her. After they had emptied her of those who once freely walked her streets (52:15). I can’t imagine what it was like to stand amidst her ruins.

But, as I plod through Lamentations, I do get an inkling of how the devastation which so crushed Jerusalem also crushed the souls of those who were left to live in her ruins and behold her emaciated condition. Their eyes spent with weeping. Their stomachs tied in knots with an inner wringing of hands and torment. Their hearts so gripped by grief that their reflex response was to throw up. And all this because of “the destruction of the daughter” of God’s people (Lam. 2:11).

Heavy sigh!

And amidst the description of destruction, within the wailing of lament, something spoken about the Creator that causes me to pause and reflect.

The LORD has done what He purposed; He has carried out His word, which He commanded long ago . . .

(Lamentations 2:17a ESV)

God does what God says He’s going to do. His promises will come to pass. His pronouncements are past dispute. What He has commanded will be incontrovertible. His word will be the way.

That is the nature of God. That is the overall, presiding way of this world. Whether men choose to recognize it or not.

And it is this truth which is the hope of those who believe. This assurance, which motivates men and women, in this running with the devil world, to choose to walk with God (thanx Zach Williams for those lyrics).

But it should also be this truth which is the dread of those who refuse the kindness and grace of God. Who presume on His patience. Who, in effect, think so highly of themselves that they are willing to call His bluff.

The LORD will do what He has purposed. He will carry out His word.

Great comfort for those who trust in His word.

Great concern for those who ignore it.

. . . and on the day of the anger of the LORD no one escaped or survived . . .

(Lamentations 2:22b ESV)

How this world needs the good news of God’s rescue and redemption through the finished work of Christ on the cross.

And how we, as God’s people, need to be stewards and ambassadors of that good news.

For the LORD will do what He has purposed.

Showing grace. For His glory.

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Armed with Smart Thinking

Posted on October 22, 2019 by Pete

Back in the day, I’d always laugh when a co-worker would remind me that “paranoia is just smart thinking when everybody’s against you.” This morning, I’m reminded of another kind of smart thinking as I read in 1Peter.

Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God.

(1Peter 4:1-2 ESV)

Arm yourselves with the same way of thinking. It’s a command to obey. And it’s what I’m chewing on this morning.

Peter is writing to those who are taking it in the teeth. Encouraging Christians you are on the run because of persecution. Writing to believers whose lives are really, really hard just because they believe. To families who are walking through the flames simply because of their faith. To moms and dads whose kids are being put through the ringer just because mom and dad won’t recant.

You gotta think that at least some of them are thinking, at least some of the time, there must be an easier way. Wondering if, with a little bit of compromise, there might not also be a little more comfort. That by putting themselves first it might provide a bit more safety. That by not being so overt about their allegiance to the kingdom of heaven, and trying to fit in a bit more with the world around them, it might ease their suffering for Jesus.

So Peter writes to these “elect exiles” (1Pet. 1:1) to encourage them to keep on keepin’ on. To hang in there. To remain faithful. To press on for the prize. To fight the good fight. And in fighting that fight, to arm themselves with smart thinking.

Apparently the original word used for arm is only used here in the New Testament. Literally a verb meaning to equip with a weapon. Weaponize yourself. Grab the utensil needed for the job. And the instrument of choice when tempted to try and ease suffering for the will of God by yielding to human passions? The same way of thinking that Christ demonstrated when He suffered in the flesh. Following the example that Christ left for those who would suffer after Him (2:19-24). Suffering for doing good, “if that should be God’s will” (3:17). Not being surprised, not becoming discouraged to the point of tapping out, but, in fact, rejoicing.

And how’s that possible? By arming themselves with smart thinking, the same way of thinking that Christ had when He suffered for righteousness sake.

How did Christ think about His suffering? He endured the cross and despised the shame for the joy set that was before Him (Heb. 12:2). He considered the long game. Put His here and now in the context of the glorious there and then. That’s the mind of Christ. That’s being armed with smart thinking.

Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when His glory is revealed.

(1Peter 4:12-13 ESV)

We can rejoice now in our “various trials” (1:6) because of that coming day when His glory is revealed. We can tough it out today because we bring every thought captive and think about an out-of-this-world (literally) tomorrow. We look over the shoulder of the trials confronting us at this moment and we see Jesus who could come again at any moment.

Thus enduring. Maybe even rejoicing. And all because we’re armed with smart thinking.

By His grace. For His glory.

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A Rebuke and An Encouragement

Posted on October 18, 2019 by Pete

Truth be known, when the going get’s tough, I tend to get tough, too. When the heat is on, I have a propensity to harden. When I’m being tested, often I get testy. When I feel the seemingly relentless pressure of bad vibes, too frequently I get bad-tempered. And, to be clear, that’s not good. Not the way of Christ. Not the fruit of the Spirit. But an ugly, emerging-way-too-often remnant of the old man. And I’m thinking that’s why Peter’s exhortation hits so hard, this morning.

Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind.

(1Peter 3:8 ESV)

Peter writes to a people who were on the run (1:1). Persecuted for their faith, reviled for their beliefs, being grieved “by various trials” (1:6). And while Peter reminds them of who they are in Christ, and the future they possess through the resurrection of Jesus (1:3-5), he knows too–or at least the Spirit who moves Peter to write knows too–the ways of the flesh, and the default reactions of the old nature, when it comes to being in the fire. The tendency to fight back. The tendency to lash out. The tendency towards callousness. And not just towards one’s enemies, but towards one’s family and friends, as well.

That’s why, for the sake of their testimony for Christ, Peter exhorts these brothers and sisters in Christ, who are taking it in the teeth, to “put away all malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy and slander” (2:1). Why he commands them to “be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution” (2:13).

And, because he knows that getting hammered from the enemy can often make us turn on our family, why he tells them to guard their relationships as believers. For servants to continue to serve well their masters (2:18). For wives to continue to follow the lead of their husbands (3:1). And, for husbands to not stop loving their wives just as they are (3:7).

And then he says, “Finally.” Not because he’s wrapping up his letter, but as in “Finally, here’s a word for you all.” Because, as a community of believers, they needed to hang together.

So, Peter says, despite the outward bombardment that tends to spawn inward bickering, they were to have unity of mind. Not a uniformity of thinking, but a desire for a harmony even amidst the heat they were feeling. What’s more, they were to be sympathetic toward — not suspicious of — one another. Suffering with one another, even as they suffered together.

They were to love as brothers and sisters for that, in truth, is what they were — family. All children of God. All unconditionally received, through the finished work of Christ, as sons and daughters, to be co-heirs with the Son.

And, in order to love one another as they should love, it would require their hearts to function as the new hearts of flesh they had been given (Ezek. 36:26), sensitive to the needs and feelings of others. Not functioning as the old heart of stone with it’s tendency to be cold, callous, and cynical. A heart made tender and supple through a humble mind. A mind not focused and concerned with self, but willing to speak and show grace to others because it put others first.

High expectations! Especially in the heated seasons of life. Heavy sigh!

Who is sufficient for such a walk? Not this guy (see my opening paragraph). Who’s failed, again and again? Uh, that would be me.

But that would also be why Jesus came. To provide a justified forgiveness for the failures of sinners like me. To pay the wages for sin I could never pay. And, just as importantly, to provide the power to overcome such sin, and to walk in a manner worthy of who I am in Christ. A power and ability to walk that I could never muster up on my own.

And so I chew on Peter’s commands this morning–both as a rebuke and, as an encouragement. Both confessing my tendency to be testy, and believing in the Spirit’s promised power to overcome such tendencies. Sorry for having fallen short, but wanting so much to live as I should.

Only by His grace. Only for His glory.

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A Lion

Posted on October 17, 2019 by Pete

Again, it’s repetition in Jeremiah that’s caused me to pause and reflect this morning. Something said of God’s judgment of Babylon in this morning’s reading that was also declared concerning His judgment of Edom in yesterday’s reading. And it’s got me thinking about a lion.

“Behold, like a lion coming up from the thicket of the Jordan against a perennial pasture, I will suddenly make them run away from her, and I will appoint over her whomever I choose. For who is like Me? Who will summon Me? What shepherd can stand before Me? Therefore hear the plan that the LORD has made against Babylon, and the purposes that He has formed against the land of the Chaldeans . . . ”

(Jeremiah 50:44-45a ESV)

Check out Jeremiah 49:19-20 and you’ll find pretty much the same declaration, word for word, directed towards the Edomites.

At first, what grabbed me is the rhetorical challenge of the LORD of hosts. Who is like Me? Who’s going to set a time for Me to appear before them and defend Myself? What protector of any flock is going to hold their ground against Me? Short answers to these three questions? No one. No one. And . . . no one. For God appoints over every nation and every peoples whom He will. Either to rule them or to chastise them.

“Who is like you, O LORD, among the gods?” (Exodus 15:11 ESV)

No one.

But then, it was the shepherd reference that caught my attention. Why refer to the leaders of Edom and Babylon as shepherds? Why not king or ruler? Why use that word picture? And it seems to me it’s because one of the shepherd’s jobs is to protect the flock. To ward off ravenous beasts who would harm and disperse the flock. At least that was a big part of David’s resume (1Sam. 17:34-37).

So, noodling on the shepherd motif it led me to meditate on what these impotent, unable to stand, shepherds were up against in trying to withstand the Sovereign LORD’s determination. They were up against a lion.

“Behold, like a lion coming up from the thicket of the Jordan against a perennial pasture, I will suddenly make them run away from her . . . “

Our God is like a lion. Earlier in his prophetic declarations, Jeremiah said that, in the day of God’s wrath, the “lords of the flock” would cry out and would fall and shatter “like a fragile vessel.” That their pastures would be laid wasted and their “peaceful folds devastated.” And all this “because of the fierce anger of the LORD” who “like a lion, has left His lair” (Jer. 25:34-38).

Chew on that imagery for bit. Our God is not only a consuming fire (Deut. 4:24, Heb. 12:29), He is also an unquenchable fire. A lion that cannot be opposed.

Who is like our God? No one! He is a Lion.

Yes He is! And one day He will again leave His lair. When this day of patient forbearance closes, when this age of grace has seen the harvest of every soul readied to respond to the gospel by faith, then again the Lion will leave His lair.

And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it, and I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it. And one of the elders said to me, “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that He can open the scroll and its seven seals.” And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, . . . And He went and took the scroll from the right hand of Him who was seated on the throne.

(Revelation 5:3-7 ESV)

The Lamb is the Lion. On that day when God will again judge the nations–those who refused the offer of His free salvation through the judgment already born for them by Christ on the cross–it will be the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the risen ruling Christ, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who will come forth in justice.

And who then will summon Him to give an account? Which shepherd will be able to stand before Him? No one!

Who is like Him? No one!

All praise and honor be to the Lion of the tribe of Judah. To the Lamb that slain.

Because of grace. For His glory.

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