Sometimes, It Is About Us (2009 Rerun)

Posted on April 11, 2018 by Pete

Hovering over Psalm 85 this morning. And while the mind is spinning, the fingers aren’t getting much traction. Finding it hard to put thought into sentences, impressions into paragraphs.

What grabbed me is the songwriters’ plea for restoration and revival. For knowing return and being re-energized. And the songwriters’ confidence, by faith, that the God who has been “favorable” in the past; who has already forgiven iniquity and covered sin; who has before withdrawn His wrath and turned away His anger, is the God of who will do it again.

And that’s where I kind of stall out . . .

So went back into my journal. Here’s how I thought about it one morning back in 2009 . . . unedited . . .

———————————–

So . . . it’s Psalm 85 that I’m chewing on this morning. There’s always a danger about jumping to application too quickly . . . but hey, I think “devotional reading” is not so much about gaining some knowledge for the day as it is about picking up some practical tips or receiving some encouragement for navigating what’s ahead in the next 24 hours. And the middle section of Psalm 85 seems to provide some fuel for the fire as I head out for the day . . .

Ok . . . the big picture . . . I don’t know exactly what the nation of Israel or the Psalmist are enduring at the time this Psalm is written but it seems to be some pretty tough stuff . . . stuff that has made God seem somewhat distant . . . as if He’s angry with them. Based on my readings in Judges, it feels like the kind of position they might be in when they have turned from God toward idols, when God has judged them through other nations, and, as a result, their hearts are being turned back to their God and they’re seeking His deliverance. And the Psalm seems to have 3 main parts: 1) God, You have been our deliverer in the past . . . You are mighty to save . . . You have covered sin and forgiven our iniquity; 2) Do it again God; 3) I’ll rest in confidence that You will answer my prayer and act . . . I will know God’s intervention . . . I will hear His voice . . . mercy and truth will meet . . . righteousness and peace will kiss . . . my God is so faithful, it’s a done deal! And it’s that “do it again God” portion of the Psalm that’s got me thinking.

As I read verses 4 through 7 over and over they really seem to be about “us” . . . literally . . . “Restore us” . . . “Revive us” . . . “Show us Your mercy” . . . “Grant us Your salvation”. Sometimes . . . it is about us . . .

Now while the Psalmist’s exact situation may not be something I’ve known, there are times when I feel like I’ve been de-railed . . . my focus shifted from my home in heaven and consumed with the circumstances of my pilgrimage . . . times when God doesn’t seem “as close” . . . and I know it’s not that He’s moved, it’s me . . . and at some point while in this “distant land,” I realize a thirst for the way things were . . . when God and I were really enjoying communion and fellowship . . . and in that place, it seems to me that it would be appropriate to take the Psalmists queue and make it about us . . .

Restore us, Lord . . . bring us back to that place, my God . . . return me to the intimacy I have known with You . . . that’s my desire . . . I look to Your gracious work. Revive us, Lord . . . give back some life . . . stoke the fire . . . refresh the weary . . . jazz the un-jazzed . . . that my thirst would become full out pursuit . . . that my pilot light would fan into a rip, roaring flame . . . again, Your gracious work. Show us mercy, Lord . . . let me know again Your goodness . . . Your kindness . . . Your faithfulness . . . remind my repenting heart that the blood of Jesus cleanses from all sin . . . let me see again the cross and it’s all sufficiency to cover all my transgressions . . . open my eyes afresh to Your mercy and grace, that I might be encouraged. And, finally, grant us Your salvation, Lord . . . deliver me from current uncertainty . . . let me know victory — not necessarily over my particular circumstance — but over the sense of separation I have from You . . . victory from the doubts . . . victory from the depression . . . victory from the distance. God . . . make it about us . . .

Oh, that I would have the Psalmist’s heart . . . that when the going gets tough, that I would getting going to my God . . . and prevail upon His grace . . . and seek His face . . . that He would restore . . . that He would revive . . . that He would show mercy . . . that He would grant salvation. That I would do so with confidence knowing that He will respond and speak peace to His people and to His saints (85:8) . . . that His salvation is near and that His glory will dwell in the land (85:9).

Father, thank You that sometimes it is about us . . . and our need for You to draw us again to Yourself . . . Revive us again, that Your people may rejoice in You (85:6) . . . for our blessing and benefit . . . and for Your glory . . . amen!!!

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The 300

Posted on April 10, 2018 by Pete

We know it’s not about us . . . but maybe, just maybe, we like to think it is a bit. We know it’s not about who we are or what we’ve done . . . but I wonder if deep, deep, down, sometimes we like to think it could be, if even only a little.

Reading again in Judges this morning. And I’m chewing on the 300.

In Judges 6 the Angel of the Lord (another pre-incarnate visit by the Second Person of the Trinity?) tells Gideon that he has been called and is being sent to “go in this might of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian” (6:14). But Gideon is kind of aware of how un-mighty “this might of yours” is. His clan is the weakest in Manasseh and he is the “least” in his father’s house (6:15).

And he’s not kidding. He’s not just being humble. He really isn’t all that mighty.

When God asks him to tear down the altar of Baal his father has built, while he obeys, “because he was too afraid of his family and the men of the town to do it by day, he did it by night” (6:27). And then, he tries to avoid graduating from tearing down altars to inanimate objects to facing an army that has horribly oppressed Israel for seven years by testing God’s resolve with a fleece (6:36-40).

Now don’t get me wrong. I’m not criticizing Gideon. By Judges 7 he’s ready to go into battle. I’m just saying he may not be your stereotypical mighty man material.

It gets really interesting in Judges 7 when Gideon’s call for men to follow him into battle ends up with 32,000 fighting men responding. Ok, now I might be feeling a bit better about this whole kick-some-Midian-butt thing. But God says, too many men for me to give the Midians into your hand–pare it down “lest Israel boast over Me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me'” (7:3). So 22,000 men are sent home. Only 10,000 left. If it’s me, sweat is forming on my brow.

But God says, “Still too many.” And He gives Gideon the next level of filter.

So [Gideon] brought the people down to the water. And the LORD said to Gideon, “Every one who laps the water with his tongue, as a dog laps, you shall set by himself. Likewise, every one who kneels down to drink.” And the number of those who lapped, putting their hands to their mouths, was 300 men, but all the rest of the people knelt down to drink water. And the LORD said to Gideon, “With the 300 men who lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hand, and let all the others go every man to his home.”

(Judges 7:5-7 ESV)

I have a picture of me at those waters from a trip to the Holy Land back in ’97. And guess what?  I’m not kneeling, I’m putting my hand to my mouth. (What was I thinking!?! Really? I want to be one of those 300 guys going against that enemy hoard? Give your head a shake, Corak!)

Anyway, I posed for the picture that way because our tour’s Bible teacher said God picked the 300 who put their hands to their mouth because it showed they were alert and ready for battle. That they wouldn’t go to both knees because that was a compromising position and not very soldier like. That those who took time to get down on their knees for a drink were eliminated while those who quickly lapped like a dog and were ready to move on were kept. (Now that I think about it, sounds like a reason for boasting to me.)

But what if wasn’t about these guys being the elite of the elite? What if it was simply about the number 300?

What if the guys who lapped their water did so because they had bad knees? What if they didn’t get down because they weren’t sure they could get up? What if they were so nervous that they weren’t sure they could keep the water down and so just took a little sip? What if it wasn’t about them at all? What if it wasn’t about who they were or what they had done? What if it was simply about God wanting only 300? And those 300 would do?

I’m not saying that my Israel tour Bible teacher was wrong or that I have any new revelation. I’m must noodling on the fact that God wanted to make sure there was no doubt in anybody’s mind as to who defeated the Midianites. That God wanted the smallest, and therefore weakest, army possible. That it wasn’t that God needed a few good men, but that He wanted a few men of faith. Men willing to go into battle because God had called them to and they believed Him when He promised that He would go before them.

What if it was just about the 300?

Then it would show the amazing grace of God, alone.

Then it would be to the eternal praise and glory of God, alone.

And it really wouldn’t be about us.

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In the Battle

Posted on April 9, 2018 by Pete

Noodling on the story of Deborah and Barak in Judges 4 and 5 this morning. And to be honest, the danger in familiar stories is that the lessons are familiar, too. In this case, before I even start reading I’m thinking about Barak’s unwillingness to go into battle unless Deborah goes with him. And so, when I get to her response, where the prophetess Judge of Israel says, “I will surely go with you. Nevertheless, the road on which you are going will not lead to your glory, for the LORD will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman” (Judges 4:9), I’m thinking, yup, Barak blew it.

Failure because of a lack of faith, I’m thinking. Came in second place because he settled for second best, I’m thinking. Poor Barak, I’m thinking.

But then, something I read in the celebratory song penned by Deborah and Barak after Sisera and his army of chariots are defeated, has me rethinking things a bit.

Then sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam on that day:
   “That the leaders took the lead in Israel,
    that the people offered themselves willingly,
    bless the LORD!”

(Judges 5:1-2 ESV)

The leaders led. The people offered themselves willingly. Bless the LORD!

Barak’s story might not permit him to take on the super-hero status I would have liked, but bottom line? . . . He was in the battle.  He led as he should have.  To God be the glory.

As I chew on it, who am I to sit in judgment of this commander of Israel’s army? He had lived through the 20 years of cruel oppression under Sisera and his boss, King Jabin (4:1-3). Though Deborah was known as a prophetess and had been a faithful judge in civil matters, her “thus sayeth the LORD” that now was the time for an army of infantrymen to take on an army of chariots may have come from out of left field a bit. Probably no better way to test how certain the prophetess was that she had heard the voice of the LORD then to say, “Ok then, how about you go with me?”

Regardless of what Barak was thinking, how much he battled the fear factor, or to what degree he sported feet of clay, bottom line is that he went. He was in the battle.

The leaders led. And when they did, the people offered themselves willingly. Bless the LORD!

Barak was man of faith. How do I know that? Because he was in the battle. And, because the Scriptures says so . . .

And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets–who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.

(Hebrews 11:32-34 ESV)

Barak would never have the selfie of him standing over a defeated Sisera, that honor would be given to a pilgrim’s wife who knew how to work a hammer and tent peg (4:21). But Barak had led his army of foot soldiers against an army of horses and chariots, with Deborah at his side, believing that God would go out before him. And the LORD did route Sisera “and all his chariots and all his army” and He did it by the edge of Barak’s sword (4:15).

The leader’s led, by faith. The people offered themselves willingly, by faith.

A prophetess Judge was found trustworthy, a pilgrim’s wife was found courageous, and a commander of the army was found faithful, being where he should have been, in the battle.

And this too, by faith.

Bless the Lord!

For His grace. For His glory.

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Drive Them Out . . . Again (a 2013 rerun)

Posted on April 6, 2018 by Pete

Looking back through my journal, it’s been a reading that I’ve spent extra time “chewing on” seven of the past ten years. The opening chapters of Judges have repeatedly served as a fresh warning against the propensity to compromise. The Israelites failure to drive out the inhabitants of the land an ominous reminder of what happens when we get comfortable with the sin in our lives, or try to buddy up with the world around us.

They thought they were strong enough to live over their enemies and were confident that they would continue to submit them to forced labor–their arrogance blinding them to the real danger of their enemies’ gods gaining the upper hand and having dominion over them. Thorns that festered in their sides, snares that would eventually entrap them, that’s what they would become (Judges 2:1-3).

If for no other reason then the a regular reminder of these types of ageless warnings, having a plan to read repeatedly through the whole Bible on a regular basis has been of great value for me.

This morning, I’m rerunning some thoughts from 2013 that I remixed from some thoughts in 2008. The message unchanging, Drive Them Out!

————————–

“This town ain’t big enough for the both of us!” So goes the old western movie cliche. So sets up the confrontation at high noon. If one ain’t leavin’ peaceably-like, then the other’s gonna make him git! So what’s got me thinking of old western re-runs? (Or was it a Bugs Bunny cartoon? . . . whatever.)  It’s the opening chapter of Judges and the ominous foreshadowing of a phrase repeated nine times. The land wasn’t big enough for the Israelites and the Canaanites . . . but the Israelites did not “drive them out.”

Through Moses, God had made the game plan clear. He was going to give them the land He had promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  They were to go up in the power of His might and possess the land.  And they were to rid the land of its previous inhabitants . . . completely!  The warning had been clear:

But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then those of them whom you let remain shall be as barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they shall trouble you in the land where you dwell.

(Numbers 33:55 ESV)

Any Canaanite remnant would tempt the Israelites away from their God.  Their worship would contaminate true worship.  Their world-view would obscure heaven’s view. And so the charge was unambiguous, “Drive them out!”

Looking at the original word, it looks like it has the idea of possessing or inheriting by the means of dispossessing or impoverishing. Moving into the promised land of God was dependent on completely evicting the previous owners.

But they did not completely drive out the inhabitants of the land.  They allowed them to live among them or they pressed them into forced labor. Bottom line is that God said they needed to be gone, and the people settled for “mostly gone” or “kinda’ gone”.

And Judges 2 says that within just a few decades the result was disastrous. Within a generation, “the people did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals” (Judges 2:11).

These pagan nations left to live among them became a snare to them in subsequent generations. In particular, their gods and pagan religions became an alluring trap. The people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, but, as the next generation grew up, those who didn’t have this first hand knowledge started being attracted to other gods. And our God, who is a jealous God and will not share His glory with another, dealt with this infidelity quickly and harshly.

Thus the vicious cycle of Judges: the people serve other gods . . . God judges them by allowing the nations around them to oppress them . . . the people cry out to God for deliverance . . . God raises up a judge to deliver the people . . . there’s a time of peace . . . and then the people slip back into serving other gods . . . and so it goes.

And so the warning is pretty clear to me . . . Drive them out!

By the abiding grace of God and the indwelling power of His Spirit, I need to put away that which is temptation and can become a snare. I need to renounce that which is of the world and would fester as a thorn. As much as lies in me, I need to leave no fuel to feed the old nature’s fire. I need to dispossess the things of the old man and the old way, that I might fully possess that which God has promised for the believer.

Drive them out!

By His grace . . . for His glory . . .

This town ain’t big enough for the both of us!

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Listen to Me

Posted on April 5, 2018 by Pete

Was awake earlier than I had hoped this morning. So, did a “double portion” of my reading plan. And reading Psalm 80 and Psalm 81 back-to-back provided context for a conversation between God and His people that I would have missed otherwise.

Psalm 80 begins with the poet of God’s people desperately crying out to God, “Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel.”

Though they had been a vine brought out of Egypt and planted in a land of promise, things had gone south. Though they had once taken deep root and born much fruit, as the songwriter looks around, the walls are broken down, all who pass by pluck the fruit, and the wild beast of the forest ravages the vineyard at will.

The people had given God their back. God had responded by feeding them with “the bread of tears.”

And so, the psalmist pleads again and again . . .

Restore us, O God;
   let Your face shine, that we may be saved!

(Psalm 80:3 ESV)

Three times this petition is found in the song.

Cause us to return, Lord. Turn us back. That we might know again Your face. That we might walk again in Your light. That we might be delivered again. Liberated again into the freedom You intended when You first redeemed us from Egypt’s cruel bondage. Restore us, O LORD. Let Your face shine. That we may be saved!

Then we shall not turn back from You;
   give us life, and we will call upon Your name!

(Psalm 80:18 ESV)

And then I read Psalm 81. And again notice a lyric repeated. But this time it is the response of the Great Shepherd:

Hear, O My people, while I admonish you!
   O Israel, if you would but listen to Me! . . .
Oh, that My people would listen to Me,
   that Israel would walk in My ways!

(Psalm 81:8, 13 ESV)

Listen to Me. Cease with Your vain calls to worship. Don’t think for a moment that mindless, rote celebrations of My works is the way to favor. I don’t need to hear again the praise and trumpets of people who “honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.” Rather, you need to hear Me. To listen to My voice. To follow My counsel and not the leading of your stubborn hearts. To walk in My ways. To be still and know again that I am God. Oh, that My people would listen to Me.

Perhaps when we sense a silence from heaven it’s not because God has ceased to speak, but we have ceased to listen. We’re not in His Word. We’re not really interested in His way. We just want things to be easier and know His favor.

And so we cry, “Restore us, O God!” To which God may be responding, “Listen to Me, My people!”

I am the LORD your God,
    who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.
Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.

(Psalm 81:10 ESV)

What a promise! How often is the cause of a sense of His failure to shine on us the result of us having turned our back on Him. We don’t have His face, because we have not given Him ours.  But when we give Him our face, when we open wide our mouth, He will fill it.

When we seek Him wholeheartedly, He will be found. When we ask Him sincerely, He will respond. When we knock at His door earnestly, we will find that, all the while, He has been waiting at our door patiently, ready to come in and dine with us, and open the doors of heaven to us.  Our hearts burning again within us as we hear again His voice speaking to us.

Listen, My people!

Yes, Lord!

By Your grace. For Your glory.

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His Promises Never Fail

Posted on April 4, 2018 by Pete

The verses gave pause as I read them this morning. A reminder of the goodness and faithfulness of God, yet a reminder of my inclination to not fully enter into that goodness and faithfulness. A reminder that while there is victory in the Lord, I still need to engage the enemy. A reminder that while God has done the work, mine is still to enter fully into His rest. A reminder that while I may fail to fully appropriate His promises, His promises never fail.

Thus the LORD gave to Israel all the land that He swore to give to their fathers. And they took possession of it, and they settled there. And the LORD gave them rest on every side just as He had sworn to their fathers. Not one of all their enemies had withstood them, for the LORD had given all their enemies into their hands. Not one word of all the good promises that the LORD had made to the house of Israel had failed; all came to pass.

(Joshua 21:43-45 ESV)

And so the “Take the Promised Land” campaign concludes. Kings defeated. Enemies devoted to destruction. Land allotted. Cities divvied up. Well . . . mostly.

As I read these verses I remembered that, at least on a couple of occasions, enemies were not removed (13:13, 16:10). That some cities were yet to be occupied (15:63). That clean up still needed to occur. So how could it be said that “all the land” was given and that “all their enemies” had been given into their hands?

Because they were in the promised land. Though they were yet to possess it all, the LORD had already given it all. Just as promised. Through they were yet to have fully moved in, possession had been fully determined and rest on every side had been provided. Just as God had sworn to their fathers. Though there were still enemies in their midst, God had already given them all into their hands. They just needed to engage the enemy.

There is no sense that God had failed in anyway to deliver on His promises, only a recognition that the people were yet to fully appropriate them. The land was theirs. The cities were theirs. The rest was theirs.

God’s good promises were fulfilled. All came to pass. The work was finished. And theirs was to continue to fully enter into that finished work.

Any sense of shortcoming was not a failure to fulfill the promise but a failure to fully enter into the promise. Not a matter of God’s inability to deliver, but of man’s need to pursue and appropriate.

The divine record stands:

Not one word of all the good promises that the LORD had made to the house of Israel had failed; all came to pass.

Any perceived deficiency concerning the promise is our issue not, for God is faithful and His word is sure.

Let God be true though every one were a liar.   (Romans 3:4 ESV)

The work is finished. Jesus said so (Jn. 19:30) . . . and it is impossible for God to lie (Heb. 6:18). What’s more, the promises are fulfilled in Him–“Yes and Amen” (2Cor. 1:20).

Mine is to, by faith, pursue all that has been promised in Christ, through Christ. Faithfully entering into the land He has promised. Courageously doing battle with the enemies He has defeated. Confidently entering into the rest He has provided.

Knowing with assurance that His promises never fail.

By His amazing grace. For His all-deserved glory.

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Abide Always in the Shadow of the Cross

Posted on April 3, 2018 by Pete

The message of Asaph’s parable seems clear: if we will not remember, then we are bound to rebel. If we will not reflect often on our history, inevitably we will revert back to our folly. To fail to focus continually on God’s mighty deeds is to fallback repeatedly to relying on our own wisdom and power. And so he begins his song with this lyric:

Give ear, O my people, to my teaching;
   incline your ears to the words of my mouth!
I will open my mouth in a parable;
   I will utter dark sayings from of old,
things that we have heard and known,
   that our fathers have told us. (Psalm 78:1-3 ESV)

Asaph would have God’s people reflect on “things we have heard and known.”

Psalm 78 is a retelling, and a re-retelling, of Israel’s story of great deliverance, their grievous grumbling, their undeserved restoration, and their repeated rebellion. Three times Asaph declares this indictment against them: “They tested God in their heart” (78:18). Again and again they sought to prove whether or not God was a God to be bowed to “and provoked the Holy One of Israel” (78:41). Though they had known great deliverance, “yet they tested and rebelled against the Most High God and did not keep his testimonies” (78:56).

Despite the mighty works done in Egypt by “the Most High God their redeemer”; despite His great provision of water and “the bread of angels” in the desert; despite His continued compassion as He “atoned for their iniquity” and “restrained His anger often”; they tested God again and again.

How come? Because they failed to remember. Busy with the present, they forgot the past. Though abundantly blessed, they wouldn’t make time to bow. Consumed by satisfying their own sensual desires, they neglected pursuing their high and holy calling. Enamored with the world, they lost sight of the way. Settling for being people of the flesh, they became less and less a people of faith.

. . . because they did not believe in God
   and did not trust His saving power. (Psalm 78:22 ESV)

And far from judging these ancient people of God, I know I am looking in a mirror.

“Prone to wander, Lord I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love. . . ”

(Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing, Robert Robinson)

How I need to remind myself often of my deliverance. How I need to rehearse frequently the love of God shown on the cross, and the power of God displayed through the empty tomb. How I need to recall, again and again, that though I was once dead in trespass and sin and separated from Christ and a stranger to the promises, God, being rich in mercy, made me alive together with Christ (this would be a good time to read Ephesians 2).

He opened my ears to the Word. He opened my eyes to the cross. He opened my heart to receive conviction of sin. And He opened the way of faith–to know a righteousness declared and imparted, which I could never deserve nor manufacture.

If Asaph’s parable says anything, it says, “Remember!”

Remember purposefully, remember deeply, remember often. Lest you wander . . .

How I need to be in His word continually. How I need to be with His people regularly. How I need to take of His table thoughtfully.

How I need to abide always in the shadow of the cross.

. . . but tell to the coming generation
   the glorious deeds of the LORD, and His might,
   and the wonders that He has done. (Psalm 78:4 ESV)

By His grace. For His glory.

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No Footprints

Posted on April 2, 2018 by Pete

There were no footprints in the sand. None as they looked at the impossible path before them. None evident as, by faith, they trekked amid walls of water around them. None as they looked back and saw only water where once there had been enemies behind them. No footprints. But abundant evidence of God’s presence.

I’m hovering over Psalm 77 this morning. Whatever the “day of trouble” the songwriter is experiencing, it has the psalmist crying aloud to God. Seeking Him earnestly. Stretching out his hands, he groans towards heaven. His soul refusing to be comforted until connection is made. Meditating on his only hope of rescue until his spirit faints.

But, it would seem, . . . crickets. Silence. No relief in sight. Nada.

And so his soul “made a diligent search.” In order to get through his current situation he would purpose to remember God’s past deliverance. As a means of enduring misery and weakness he would ponder again God’s mighty deeds and works.

Your way, O God, is holy.
   What god is great like our God?
You are the God who works wonders;
   You have made known Your might among the peoples.
You with Your arm redeemed Your people,
   the children of Jacob and Joseph. Selah (Psalm 77:13-15 ESV)

In his day of present trouble, the songwriter recalls the day of past redemption. When the going got tough, the knowing got renewed. The God who had delivered from bondage, was the same God who could and would deliver from bad days. And this too, without footprints.

Your way was through the sea,
   Your path through the great waters;
   yet Your footprints were unseen.
You led Your people like a flock
   by the hand of Moses and Aaron. (Psalm 77:19-20 ESV)

No footprints. That’s what jumped out at me this morning as I read this song of desperation and the battle to bring every thought into captivity so that hope might not be lost.

When the waters of the great sea saw God, they were afraid, “indeed, the deep trembled” and drew back. And though the “skies gave forth thunder” and “lightnings lighted up the world” and “the earth trembled and shook,” yet there were no footprints. As Pharaoh and his day of trouble descended upon them, theirs was to walk “the path through the great waters” and follow “the way through the sea” though, beyond Moses and Aaron, there was no tangible evidence of God’s leading.

A reminder to me this morning that sometimes there are no footprints in the sand.

Yet, to remember our deliverance in the past–that which we have done this glorious resurrection weekend–is to recognize anew His unfailing presence in our current circumstance.

We are not people of footprints, we are people of faith. Not a blind faith. But a faith founded and fortified by the revelation of an unseen God through His Word and the reality of the many intangible evidences of His merciful and powerful hand in season after season throughout our lives.

No footprints? No problem.

I will remember the deeds of the LORD;
   yes, I will remember Your wonders of old.
I will ponder all Your work,
   and meditate on Your mighty deeds. (Psalm 77:11-12 ESV)

By His grace. For His glory.

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Found Faithful

Posted on March 30, 2018 by Pete

Ours is a celebrity culture. In the world, and in the church, we have a way of gravitating toward those we perceive to be something special. We want to be part of a following. We love being in a parade with our favorite leader at the front. True today, true back in the first century.

Case in point, the church at Corinth. And their celebrity crushes were causing tension and division in the church.

I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment. For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there is quarreling among you, my brothers. What I mean is that each one of you says, “I follow Paul,” or ” follow Apollos,” or ” follow Cephas,” or “I follow Christ.”

(1Corinthians 1:10-12 ESV)

They all had their t-shirts: Paul’s People . . . Apollos’s Apologists . . . Cephas’s Seekers. The real spiritual ones sported “In Christ Alone.” If Facebook had been a thing back then, someone would have set up a page for people to “Like.” If tweeting had been around, each would have had their own following . . . quotable quotes running rampant throughout the Roman world. Camps being created. Tribes being carved out. All with their respective celebrity leader.

Good for follower-ship. Not so good for fellowship. Great for raising up heroes. Pretty hard, though, on maintaining harmony. Helpful for creating champions, not so helpful for building up the church.

So, with all the pressing issues Paul has to address with this body of believer, he starts there.

And, as I continue my reading in 1Corinthians this morning, I notice what I think might be a helpful clue on how to avoid some of our celebrity tendencies. It’s starts with a proper perspective.

This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful.

(1Corinthians 4:1-2 ESV)

This is how we should be regarded, says Paul, how we should be seen, how we should be considered, “don’t imagine us to be something we aren’t” (MSG) . . . but see us for what we really are–servants and stewards.

To be sure, we are called to be leaders in the church, but don’t put us out in front or your parade. We are not here to conduct the symphony, but to use that which God has entrusted to us, even if it’s playing second fiddle. We are not here to lord it over anyone but to serve Christ. Not here to amass a great following, but to dispense the gospel of grace. Don’t divide over us, but imitate us. Be servants. Be stewards. Be found faithful.

Be found faithful. That’s what I’m chewing on this morning.

It’s not about the followers. Not about being noticed. Not even about having something to show for your efforts.

What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor.

(1Corinthians 3:5-8 ESV)

The planter’s seed is buried, not much to look at or gloat over. The waterer’s water is absorbed, not much to show for his efforts. But that which is faithfully sown, that which is diligently nurtured, God takes and turns into a harvest of His own determination. And so, the Father gets the credit. His Son, the true celebrity.

And the servant? He rests in his labor knowing that God will reward Him justly in a coming day. The steward? His prize realized when he hears his Master say to him, “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master” (Mt 25:21).

Our celebrity divisions fade as we realize we’re all just servants and stewards.

Our need to justify a following, or seek recognition, ceases when we desire only to be found faithful.

Found faithful. That’s enough.

By His grace. For His glory.

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Infants in Christ

Posted on March 29, 2018 by Pete

As I hover over my reading this morning, honestly, I don’t know how much patience I might have had with them. For all they knew, it seemed to make relatively little difference. For all the time Paul had spent with them teaching the word of God to them (18 months according to Acts 18:11), they didn’t seem to get it. So why bother? I might have been prone to think, “Enough effort spent here . . . let’s move on!”

Paul wasn’t blind to the spiritual condition of the believers at Corinth. Three times in my reading this morning he refers to them as people “of the flesh” (1Cor. 3:1-3). Under the control of their instinctive appetites. Dominated by their surrender to the desires of their sensual nature, as what they could see, hear, touch, taste, or smell acted as the predominant influencers in their lives. People of the temporal, seemingly disengaged from the eternal–almost solely motivated by trying to maximize their here and now with almost no thought of their there and then. Driven more by what would make them feel good than what they knew to be true.

As such, Paul says, though they were his brothers and sisters, he could not address them as “spiritual people.” As people of the flesh, they were infants in Christ. Able only, at best, to digest milk and pabulum. Unable to process solid food. Marked by jealousy and strife, and that being perhaps the least of the issues of this highly dysfunctional family of believers, Paul has no problem discerning, nor any hesitation asserting, that they were “behaving only in a human way.”

If I had been Paul, with all that I had poured into them, and with all they knew of the foundations of the faith, I’d have been frustrated. In fact–true confession time–I found myself frustrated as I noodled on these Corinthian ninnies.

And maybe Paul was a bit exasperated. However, as is evidenced by the fact a 1Corinthians exists, Paul did not give up contending for them. Though they were infants, he would encourage them to grow up. Though they were slaves to their sensual nature, he would remind them of how to be free in the Spirit. Though they lived as people of the flesh, they were still his brothers and sisters in Christ.

Honestly again, my first inclination was to post something decrying people of the flesh and the need to get our act together. But something . . . or perhaps Someone . . . brought to mind what Paul had penned earlier concerning these people of the flesh.

I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, that in every way you were enriched in Him in all speech and all knowledge–even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you–so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

(1Corinthians 1:4-9 ESV)

And I guess what grabs me is that, while these believers had a long way to go and should have been further down the path already, it didn’t change the fact that they were in Christ Jesus. That they were recipients of grace. That even though they abused and misused the riches and gifting they possessed in Him, He would still sustain them to the end, guiltless in that day. That while they may have been flakey, their God is faithful. That though they lived for themselves, He had still called them into fellowship with His Son. That while they may have lived as people of the flesh, they never ceased being forever loved in Christ.

Not to excuse their behavior. Not to neglect addressing the many issues they were dealing with as a congregation. Not even to, perhaps, apologize for being a little frustrated. But always remembering that though they acted like babies, they were still infants in Christ.

And as such, they were to be contended for. To be patiently taught and encouraged so that God, in His kindness and commitment to them, might lead them to repentance. To be rebuked–not in order to judge or condemn, but that they would be restored and mature.

Though they were people of the flesh they were still God’s field and God’s building (1Cor 3:9). Though they were babies, they were still God’s temple, holy, and indwelt by God’s Spirit (1Cor. 3:16).

Paul knew that. He wanted them to know it to.

Because of God’s grace. For God’s glory.

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