A Well-Known Friend

Posted on September 10, 2018 by Pete

Sometimes it’s stumbling upon something “new” or something I hadn’t really thought of before that serves up something to chew on. A phrase that catches my attention, a word picture that I’d never really considered before, or just some unexpected light shed on a well known truth.

But then, there are the times when during my morning reading I revisit a well known friend. I hover over something that I have hovered over many times before. I drink deep from a fountain that has refreshed me often in the past. A familiar oasis meeting the need of my soul as I’m reminded of something I need to be reminded of again. Such is the case this morning.

I woke up overwhelmed this morning. Terrible way to wake up. To come to and then start thinking about all that’s on the schedule for this week and wondering how it got it there . . . and how you’re going to get ‘er done. Burdened not only by things to do, but by things you need to be praying for. Your head spinning, your heart pounding, and you haven’t even got out of bed yet!!! Ugh!

So I prayed. Determined at least my next step. Got out of bed. Made myself a coffee. And opened the Word and started in on my reading plan for the day.

And the Lord spoke:

Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; His understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might He increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

(Isaiah 40:28-31 ESV)

Like I said, an old, familiar friend. Truth I have heard many times before. Truth I have sung often (thought not as much these days). Truth I have appropriated more than once in the past. Truth that those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength. A promise to claim.

While spoken in a much grander context, this morning it serves as a reminder that before focusing on my schedule I need to look to my Scheduler. That while I didn’t see this week coming together as it has, He did. While I might have thought I was planning these next days out, He was in fact determining my steps. And that, while I might not be sure how it all gets done, my God is the everlasting God who does not faint or grow weary.

What’s more, from His endless repository of creation wielding energy, He gives power to those who are prone to faint and will, at some point or another, grow weary. For those whose strength is sapped even before getting up in the morning, He multiplies their strength. For those who wait for the LORD, for those who look to Him, for those who collect themselves as they patiently call on Him, He WILL renew their strength. And they WILL mount up to meet the demands of the day. And they WILL run, sustained by a power not of themselves.

Check out all the times the word faint is used. Our God does not faint. In fact He is ready, willing, and able to give power to the faint. And while, at some time or another we all will faint (for even young men faint eventually–and I ain’t no young man anymore), those who wait on the Lord, shall not faint.

Not to be trite . . . knowing I’m at risk of being accused of using simplistic “Christian-ese” . . . but, to be honest, sometimes I just need to quietly reassure myself, “God said it. I believe it. That settles it.”

How I thank God for His promises. How I thank Him for His providence in placing these old friends in my path when I really need to make their acquaintance again. How I thank Him for His power. Power sufficient for my fainting, sufficient for my weariness, sufficient too for those mornings when I wake up overwhelmed.

Ok. Let’s get on with the week. Run saint run . . . and not be weary. Walk in the paths He has allowed . . . and not faint.

By His grace. For His glory.

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What If He Had Spoken Their Names?

Posted on September 7, 2018 by Pete

When we think of the crucifixion we tend to think of the “main event”–the hours that Jesus hung upon the cross. That’s more than enough to make us cringe, more than sufficient to bow our heads at the injustice. And more than enough to wonder afresh at the depths of love that compelled Him, by whom all things were made, to bear the shame and suffering my sin deserved.

But before the main event, there were the prelims. Encounters and incidents, from the time of His arrest in the garden to the time the nails were driven in His hands, that also evoke a sense of wonder. I’m hovering over one of those this morning.

Now the men who were holding Jesus in custody were mocking Him as they beat Him. They also blindfolded Him and kept asking Him, “Prophesy! Who is it that struck you?” And they said many other things against him, blaspheming Him.

(Luke 22:63-65 ESV)

Before there was ever an official accusation, before the sham trial even began, before a Roman inquisition was sought, before the day had even begun, Jesus was mocked and beaten by a bunch of no names.

What personal gripe His custodians had against Him is anybody’s guess. Perhaps these servants of the high priest just thought, “Any enemy of my boss, is an any of mine.” Or perhaps the same enemy who had entered Judas had entered them (Lk. 22:3).

But here’s what’s got me thinking. What if Jesus had spoken their names?

What if, after they had blindfolded Him, beat Him, and arrogantly berated Him, what if, after they had mockingly taunted, “Who is that struck you?” He told them? What if He had identified them?

What if their Creator had called them out? What if the Son of God, still omniscient in nature though His omnipotent glory had been shrouded, let them know that He knew?

At first I thought, “That would make a difference? That would straighten them up?” But would it have? It’s not like Jesus hadn’t spoken amazing words before? Not like unexplainable signs hadn’t already testified repeatedly to His divine nature and the truth of His claims. Outing them may not have made any difference at all. They didn’t need another sign, they needed a new start, they needed a new heart.

And so Jesus quietly let them run amok in their sin for He knew that soon He would make way for that new start and that He would make provision for a new heart. And that the time would soon come when He would speak their names and verbally identity them before heaven and earth:

And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

(Luke 23:34 ESV)

Oh, the corruption of sin. Oh, the darkness of man’s heart. Oh, the depths of the Savior’s suffering.

I was the mocker. I was the abuser. I was the arrogant earthen vessel shaking my fist at Almighty God.

But oh, the wonder of the cross.

How deep the Father’s love for us!

The love of God is greater far than tongue or pen could ever tell . . .

What amazing grace! To Him be all the glory!

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Our Arm Every Morning

Posted on September 5, 2018 by Pete

Some thoughts about today’s reading in Isaiah from 2011 . . . shortly after everything had suddenly turned upside down around here. An encouragement to me this morning. Hoping for you as well.

—————————–

Sometimes you just need to call out. You’ve done all you can do . . . but you know that ultimately it’s out of your control. You’ve tried to still your soul . . . but your mind keeps racing. You’re prepared to trust in the Lord with all your heart . . . but deep down you wish it would be for something other than what you know the day holds in store for you. And so . . . you call out . . . just like Isaiah did . . .

“O LORD, be gracious to us; we wait for You. Be our arm every morning, our salvation in the time of trouble.”

(Isaiah 33:2 ESV)

There’s an old southern gospel song that asks, “Where could I go but to the Lord?” Don’t know that Isaiah would have been much of a southern gospel fan, but I kind of think he’d pick up on the sentiment. When you kind of realize that there is no other place to turn, you turn to the Lord. And so he cries out, “Be gracious to me . . . be my strength as I head into the day . . . be my deliverance and my victory when things are getting kind of scary.”

He is “our arm every morning”. He is our strength . . . our power. He can flex muscle . . . He can lift up . . . He can hold secure . . . He can do what we cannot. And, He can do it everyday . . . His mercies are new every morning . . . with each sunrise He is ready, willing, and able to draw alongside as needed.

And so, I call out. Not presuming . . . not demanding . . . but, knowing the Shepherd’s voice and His heart, appropriating the all sufficient grace He has promised.

Humbly requesting that I might sense afresh the abiding power of the King of Kings, He who is Victor over all things. Feebly crawling up on the lap, as it were, of Abba Father as His beloved child of adoption, asking that I might know His abiding presence through the day.

And so “I wait for You.” Looking eagerly upward . . . setting my mind on things above . . . seeking to navigate the realities of the day in light of the realities of the Kingdom. Planning’s done . . . strivings cease . . . and I’ll look up . . . waaayyy up! . . .

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.     (Psalm 121:1-2 ESV)

The LORD is my arm . . . my every morning strength.

The maker of heaven and earth is the designer of today’s circumstance.

He who upholds all things by the word of His power (Heb. 1:3) holds also the details of the day.

And so I’ll call out . . . and I’ll wait . . .

Where could I go . . . but to the Lord?

Amen?

—————————————-

Able through His abounding grace. Always for His everlasting glory.

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Just Like Jesus

Posted on September 4, 2018 by Pete

Encountered in Genesis. Part of a prophetic utterance in the Psalms. Explained in Hebrews. That’s Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God. And bottom line for me this morning, he’s just like Jesus.

He is first, by translation of his name, king of righteousness, and then he is also king of Salem, that is, king of peace. He is without father or mother or genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God he continues a priest forever.

(Hebrews 7:2b-3 ESV)

Four things highlighted by divine inspiration concerning this ancient figure. 1) By name, he is the “king of righteousness”; 2) because of his position, he ruled as king of peace; 3) with no record of his beginning or end, he is mysteriously without days; 4) and, as he was a priest of the Most High God (Gen. 14:18; 7:1), he thus is considered a priest forever. And all this, points out the writer, resembles the Son of God. He’s just like Jesus.

Maybe not appropriate to do so, but I can’t help but imagine a creative grin on the Father’s face, an all-knowing smile on the Son’s face, and the nodding assent of the Spirit, as the triune God, who knows the end from beginning, created Melchizedek, purposing a “chance encounter” between him and Abraham, so that it might serve as an eternal object lesson concerning the nature and work of the Son of God throughout the ages.

The LORD says to my Lord: “Sit at My right hand, until I make Your enemies Your footstool.” . . . The LORD has sworn and will not change His mind, “You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.”

(Psalm 110:1, 4 ESV)

Concerning the One who would come in the line of David to rule in power, concerning this King, it was foretold that Messiah would be not only a king, but a priest as well. A priest forever. A priest after the order of Melchizedek.

Messiah would be marked by righteousness. He would bring peace. He would minister forever. And while He would be after the order of Melchizedek, Melchizedek was made resembling Him.

What a story Mel has (can we call him Mel?). His life patterned after the Son of God. The details that remain in history of that life reflecting the nature of the person and work of the promised Anointed One. Mel’s story and glory written so that it might shine light on Jesus’ story and His glory.

Not that we’re any Melchizedeks or anything. But haven’t we been created and redeemed for the same purpose? Isn’t our story intended to reflect something of His glory? Though we have a long way to go, isn’t it true that, because of His sanctifying work in us, we too resemble in some measure the Son of God? Aren’t we also being made just like Jesus?

For those whom He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, in order that He might be the firstborn among many brothers.

(Romans 8:29 ESV)

We who have had an encounter of the divine kind with the King of Righteousness have been declared righteous, and are being made righteous, in Him (2Cor. 5:21, Php. 3:9). We who abide in the shadow of the King of Peace know and can show a peace that passes all understanding (Php. 4:7). And, through the finished work of the Great High Priest, who once for all offered Himself as the sacrifice for sin (Heb. 7:27) and now is at the right hand of God every making intercession for us (Heb. 7:24-25), we have been made a holy priesthood (1Pet. 2:5,9).

Melchizedek? Just like Jesus. And us too. Becoming more and more like Jesus.

By His grace. For His glory.

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Better Things

Posted on September 3, 2018 by Pete

The writer to the Hebrews wanted to move on. Though he fought for the faith of these wavering Jewish believers, he wasn’t content to let them keep spinning their wheels on the basics. Kind of akin to Elijah, in essence he exhorts them, If you believe that Jesus is better–the better revelation; the better minister; the better builder; the better rest; the better high priest;–then, by His enabling power, according to His unfailing promises, move on and, with holy determination, follow Him.

Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity . . .

(Hebrews 6:1a ESV)

Go on to maturity. That’s the goal. That’s the end game. Grow up. Because there are things that belong to salvation. Better things.

Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things–things that belong to salvation.

(Hebrews 6:9 ESV)

The urgency of the charge was not intended to condemn but to spur on. Not meant as a judgment but intended to be a catalyst. Convinced that God would complete the work He had begun in them through regeneration (Php. 1:6), even though the going was tough, he earnestly urged the tough, through Christ, to get going. Because there are things that accompany salvation–better things.

That’s what I’m chewing on this morning. The better things.

How sad for those who are born again to view their salvation as a one-and-done past event and now theirs is to just sit and wait and struggle through life until they go to heaven. Though they’ve tasted and seen the Lord is good, they have little expectation of knowing any of that goodness until after the grave. And so they spin their wheels. Processing life through their own filters. Wandering about life in a context apart from who they are in Christ. Doing life in their own power.

Instead, I’m reminded this morning, there are things that belong to salvation. Things that let us go on to maturity.

Simple things. Things like pursuing His word. Because transformation comes through the renewing of our minds (Rom. 12:2). Because we want to grow in faith and “faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” (Rom. 10:17). Word of God speak!

Simple things like praying. Communing with God. Believing He hears. Knowing He cares. Trusting His sovereign ways.

Simple things like Christian community. Not just going to church, but truly, authentically, relentlessly being the church. Engaged in the one another’s. Believing that we have been fit together for the purpose of serving each other as part of the body of Christ. Trusting God’s design and dynamic for sanctification, each doing their part “until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes” (Eph. 4:13-14).

Simple things like being a part of the work of making disciples. Reaching them. Teaching them. Being examples for them. Loving them.

And that just scratches the surface of the things that belong to salvation. Just some of the better things that are ours to lay hold of.

Oh, that we would desire the better things. That we would, by faith, pursue the better things. That we would, through His Spirit, experience the better things.

All these things just a foretaste of the even better things to come.

Because of grace. For His glory.

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Bounty Is In the Eye of the Beholder

Posted on August 31, 2018 by Pete

Cruising through Solomon’s one-liners in Proverbs this morning and there’s one that kind of stops me in my tracks. A phrase in it catching my attention and then immediately stirring my thoughts. And if I were to summarize what I’m thinking, it’s that bounty is in the eye of the beholder.

Whoever has a bountiful eye will be blessed,
  for he shares his bread with the poor.

(Proverbs 22:9 ESV)

That this is an encouragement towards generosity is obvious. Other versions of the bible, taking a less literal approach, equate a bountiful eye with a generous man (NIV) or a generous eye (NKJV). So he who is generous (NASB) will be blessed.

The Hebrew word for bountiful is most often translated as good. So it’s the good eye that is the bountiful eye that is the generous eye.

But what strikes me is it’s not the good person, or even the one who is has lots, who is generous. But the person with a bountiful eye.

So what if the bountiful eye isn’t so much the equivalent of being generous, but rather the catalyst behind the dynamic of generosity? That it’s not so much an eye which looks around for objects to do good unto, but the eye that views whatever it has as an unmerited bounty to be stewarded? Less about a person with a benevolent disposition and more about a person who is somewhat in awe that they’ve been entrusted with any material possessions, at all?

What if the bountiful eye is the one that looks upon whatever they have as God’s gracious provision and blessing and thus, just as they have freely received, they’re motivated to freely give?

To be honest, I don’t quite understand the miserly mindset. Never been locked into saving for savings sake. Sure, I get that there is a wise stewardship required in planning for tomorrow while trusting God for today. But I also think that there shouldn’t be any people more generous than God’s people.

After all, of anyone, we who have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places (Eph. 1:3) should appreciate that whatever is in our earthly bank accounts, whether much or not so much, is also God’s gracious provision. And, while we can’t share what we don’t have, we certainly can share out of what we do have. I’m reminded that Jesus held up as an example a widow who gave only two pennies as being more generous than others who were giving more because “they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty” (Mk. 12:41-44).

Do I look at my possessions, whether many or few, as being my possessions, or as God’s gracious provision? Do I view my bank account, whether much or not so much, as what I have worked for and therefore is mine, or as evidence of God’s good hand upon my harvest and therefore really His? If, regardless of how much it is, I see it as bountiful because it is God’s bounty toward me, then might not it motivate me to share my “bread” with the others? I’m thinkin’ . . .

Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.

(Hebrews 13:16 ESV)

Sure, sharing what you have, especially if you don’t have much, might be a sacrifice, but it’s a sacrifice pleasing to God.

Oh, that God would give us the eye that sees whatever we have as His bountifulness to us. And that we would share freely of those treasures as unto Him.

Bounty is in the eye of the beholder.

And that, says wisdom, will be blessed.

Because of His bountiful grace. All for His bountiful glory.

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Able to Sympathize

Posted on August 30, 2018 by Pete

God is able. No surprise there. It’s what we believe. It’s what we declare. In a sense, it’s what we would expect of a God who is truly God.

He is able to speak creation into being (regardless of the mechanics). Able to direct the affairs of men, women, and nations. Able to heal, and even raise from the dead. After all, He is God.

He is able to know the thoughts and intents of the heart. Able to bring into light everything done in darkness. Able, when He determines the time, to bring justice to bear over all the earth. And yes, we believe, He is also able to make atonement for sin, fully and eternally, offering Himself in His Son as a once for all sacrifice on a Roman cross. Able to secure names in a Book of Life that will stand for eternity.

As God’s people we know it–God is able.

But what’s catalyzing the awe factor for me this morning, is chewing on the fact that He is also able to sympathize.

Since then we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

(Hebrews 4:14-16 ESV)

Continuing Hebrew’s theme of Jesus being better, not only is Jesus the better prophet, able to speak to the hearts of men and women; better than the angels, able to minister to humans because He became human; and greater than Moses, the servant of the house, because He is the builder of the house; but the Son of God is also the better high priest. Better because He is able. Able to sympathize with our weaknesses.

Able to suffer and feel what we suffer and feel. As the old King James says, to be “touched with the feeling of our infirmities.” Not just theoretically understanding our frailties because He’s aware of the fundamental properties of dust, but in touch with our realities because He experienced them in every respect, except for sin.

He was tempted, that is, He was tried, He was assayed, He entered the crucible of all that human experience encompasses. Not that He would be purified by knowing the heat of being human, but that He would be able to know at the deepest levels what we feel, and suffer, as if His own suffering, what we suffer, thus having a compassion founded on the most intimate of experience.

A better High Priest to advocate, mediate, and minister on our behalf . . . because He is able to sympathize with our weaknesses.

And because He is able, we can with confidence draw near to His throne of grace. We can with surety know that there we will receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. And so, we’re exhorted, we can keep on keepin’ on–holding fast to our confession of faith . . . holding firmly to what we believe (NLT).

He is able to sympathize. Understands our weakness. Gets the suffering of our trials . . . the frustration of the flesh . . . the emptiness of our loss. Having experienced it all–all but the sin (MSG).

As I chewed on such inner-man-renewing truth this morning, an old hymn came to mind:

Does Jesus care when my heart is pained
Too deeply for mirth or song,
As the burdens press, and the cares distress,
And the way grows weary and long?

Does Jesus care when my way is dark
With a nameless dread and fear?
As the daylight fades into deep night shades,
Does He care enough to be near?

Does Jesus care when I’ve tried and failed
To resist some temptation strong;
When for my deep grief there is no relief,
Though my tears flow all the night long?

Does Jesus care when I’ve said “goodbye”
To the dearest on earth to me,
And my sad heart aches till it nearly breaks—
Is it aught to Him? Does He see?

Oh, yes, He cares, I know He cares,
His heart is touched with my grief;
When the days are weary, the long nights dreary,
I know my Savior cares.

~ Frank E. Graeff (1901)

Oh, yes, He cares! Because He is able. Able to sympathize.

More evidence of His unfathomable grace. More reason to ascribe to Him indescribable glory.

Amen?

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Strive to Rest

Posted on August 29, 2018 by Pete

They were in danger of repeating the folly of their fathers. Just as their ancestors had journeyed to the edge of the promised land, yet refused to enter because it didn’t make sense to them to try and take on giants (Numbers 13 & 14), many were being tempted to harden their hearts and turn their back on God’s provision for them. Though they had tasted and seen the Lord is good, because of unbelief, they didn’t think it was really all that good.

But it was there for them. The promise of entering God’s rest still stood. A Sabbath rest for the people of God. But they had to strive to enter that rest.

So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from His.

Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience.

(Hebrews 4:9-11 ESV)

Strive to enter rest. That’s the phrase that’s got me thinking this morning.

Give all diligence. Interest one’s self most earnestly. Make haste and get at it. Or, to use a term that’s being used a lot lately in my circles, be intentional. That’s the type of effort exhorted here.

And for what purpose? To enter rest. To settle down. To colonize or take the land. To calm the winds and find an haven in still waters amid a safe harbor.

At first, it strikes me as funny (funny, weird . . . not funny, ha ha) that in talking about finding rest the charge is to make every effort. But the more I chew on it, the more it makes sense.

I don’t think we’re talking about heavenly rest here. Heaven’s eternal rest has been secured through the finished work of the cross. Guaranteed by the Spirit (Eph. 1:14) and assured by Jesus who promised that He would take us to Himself, that where He is we may be also (Jn. 14:3). We will enter that rest. Count on it!

Instead, I think the writer to the Hebrews is appealing to those who are wavering through unbelief to labor to enter the gospel’s rest. A rest for the people of God. God’s rest. A Sabbath rest. Resting from our works as God did from His.

And this requires that we strive to rest.

That we faithfully seek to abide in Christ as we feed on the word, labor in prayer, forsake not fellowship with His body, and seek to obey His commands. That we keep leaning in through difficulties and discouragements, resisting the temptation to go it on our own. That we continue to trust in the Lord with all our hearts, “for we who have believed enter that rest” (4:3a).

There remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. A promised land to possess even today. And ours is not to waver through unbelief, but to make haste to enter into it. Every day. In every circumstance. By faith. Through His power.

We have been delivered from the wilderness. No need to wander back into it. We have been given wells of salvation from which we can draw living water–why would we seek other cisterns that offer drink that can’t satisfy our thirst? There is a peace that passes understanding, why pursue pressures beyond withstanding? He offers us the shadow of His wings, let’s not seek the shelters of this world.

“Come to me,” Jesus says still, even to those who are already His, “and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28).

Strive to enter rest.

By His grace. For His glory.

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Wells of Salvation

Posted on August 28, 2018 by Pete

For far too many, I fear salvation is viewed solely as an event. “When were you saved?” one might ask. “Oh, I was saved when I was . . . ” might come the answer. And, while it’s true that there was a moment when, by faith, we were delivered from the “domain of darkness” and transferred “to the kingdom of His beloved Son” (Col. 1:13), we sell our salvation short if we view it as a “one and done” deal–I believed . . . I received . . . that’s taken care of . . . now let’s get on with life.

Continuing to read in Isaiah this morning. All kinds of prophecies about “that day.” Sometimes that day is clearly referring to the impending judgment of Israel. Sometimes it seems to point to the unavoidable, impending judgment of the world. And sometimes it talks of the day of Messiah’s glorious return and reign.

Isaiah saw a day when “there shall come forth a Shoot from the stump of Jesse,” a Branch from his roots (Isa. 11:1). Marked by the power of God’s multi-faceted Spirit upon Him, He will rule with supernatural insight and on the basis of His own perfect righteousness. So pervasive is His presence that, on that day, “the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD”, so much so that it alters even the predatory dynamics of the animal kingdom (11:6-9). And, just as His been His practice since the foundation of the world, the root of Jesse will gather to Himself His people, extending His hand “yet a second time to recover the remnant” (11:11).

And I’ll let the theologians debate exactly when and how all this plays out on that day, but I see something from that day which reminds me of some truths about today.

You will say in that day:
   “I will give thanks to You, O LORD,
    for though You were angry with me,
   Your anger turned away,
   that You might comfort me.
   Behold, God is my salvation;
   I will trust, and will not be afraid;
   for the LORD GOD is my strength and my song,
  and He has become my salvation.”
With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.

(Isaiah 12:1-3 ESV)

I too was once far away. But He extended His hand and drew me near. Once deservedly an object of God’s wrath, He turned that wrath upon His Son that He might justly turn His anger way from me. Instead of His condemnation, I am, this day, a recipient of His comfort. Behold, God is my salvation too!

He is my strength. He is my song. And with joy, I can draw water from the wells of salvation.

Far from being a one and done event, salvation is a source. Deep wells of living water. Eternal springs that never run dry. A faithful fountain available 24/7, quenching my thirst, restoring my strength, and fueling my worship.

It’s what the Branch offered the woman of Samaria:

” . . . whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”    ~ Jesus

(John 4:14 ESV)

If salvation is viewed solely as an event, then it’s a thing of the past which we hope pays out benefits in the future. But if salvation is a well, then it is a vital source for doing life in the present. An unfailing anchor for enduring the storm. An ever-available rest for the weary soul. A gushing river of eternal hope. An unending repository of songs for praise.

Behold God–the living, active, ever-present God–is my salvation. And with joy I will this day, by His promised enabling, draw from the waters of His awesome provision.

Because of grace. For His glory.

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Not Ashamed

Posted on August 27, 2018 by Pete

Chewing on the last nine verses of Hebrews 2 this morning. Almost too much to take in. Multiple meals here.

I could feast on a God, “for whom and by whom all things exist.” Or savor His gracious determination to bring prodigal men and women “to glory” as His forever sons and daughters.

Or I could taste and know afresh the Lord is good as I consider the Author of such a great deliverance–the Founder of my salvation, who was made “perfect through suffering.” Sharing in flesh and blood in order to redeem the children of flesh and blood. Enduring death that “He might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil.” Made like us “in every respect” so that, as a merciful and faithful High Priest in the service of God, He might “make propitiation for the sins of the people.” Not only offering the once for all sacrifice, but Himself becoming that once for all sacrifice–bearing the wrath and punishment due my sin so that I wouldn’t have to.

What an awesome God! What an amazing Deliverer! More than can be really taken in. More than can be fully digested.

But here’s the morsel that keeps being worked over, again and again, in my head and in my heart this morning. He is not ashamed.

For He who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one origin. That is why He is not ashamed to call them brothers.

(Hebrews 2:11 ESV)

Not ashamed.

Not embarrassed to utter in a loud voice, “Here are my brothers.” Not dishonored to cry aloud, “These are my sisters!” Not ashamed.

And that, not because of who we are or how well we perform. But because He who sets apart as holy, and those who have been set apart as holy, all have a common origin.

He being in very nature God. We having been created in the image of God.

We having been made flesh and blood from the dust of the earth through the creating power of the Maker of all things. He entering our world, fully embodying flesh and blood, so that He might redeem a sin-marred, death-enslaved creation, and re-birth a new creation for the glory of the Maker.

Both of one origin. All of One. Having the same Father. Of the same family. Therefore He is not ashamed.

Oh, to really believe that. That despite my increasing awareness of my weakness, He is not ashamed. Even through my frustrating failure, He still cries aloud, “My kin!”

To believe and rest in the reality that the love of God does, in fact, transcend the fickleness of His children. That the blood of Christ truly is able to cleanse from ALL sin. That our righteousness, far from being dependent on our performance, really is by faith alone. That our sanctification, while dependent on our holy determination and persevering cooperation, is, in actuality, His work alone.

So much so, that when it comes to declaring to the heavenlies, “Hey, these are My people!” . . . He is not ashamed.

Overwhelming thought.

These words penned by Charles Wesley and sung at a graveside service last Friday come to mind . . .

And can it be that I should gain
An interest in the Savior’s blood?
Died He for me, who caused His pain–
For me, who Him to death pursued?
Amazing love! How can it be?
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me
Amazing love! How can it be?
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me

He left His Father’s throne above,
So free so infinite His grace.
Emptied Himself of all but love,
And bled for Adam’s helpless race.
‘Tis mercy all, immense and free
For O, my God, it found out me
‘Tis mercy all, immense and free
For O, my God, it found out me

Long my imprisoned spirit lay
Fast bound in sin and nature’s night.
Thine eye diffused a quickening ray
I woke, the dungeon flamed with light.
My chains fell off; my heart was free!
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.
My chains fell off; my heart was free!
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.

No condemnation now I dread;
Jesus, and all in Him, is mine.
Alive in Him, my living Head;
And clothed in righteousness divine.
Bold I approach th’eternal throne
And claim the crown, through Christ my own
Bold I approach th’eternal throne
And claim the crown, through Christ my own

Such abounding grace.

To Him be all the glory.

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