The Way of Life

Posted on July 31, 2017 by Pete

She must have been a beauty. Her allure bordering on irresistible. ‘Cause the father keeps warning his son about her, again and again, in these opening chapters of Proverbs. With the batting of her eyelashes, she captures the unsuspecting’s attention (6:25). With her seductive flattery, she draws him near (7:21). Her lips dripping with honey, her speech “smoother than oil” (5:3), she draws him closer and closer to her door, eventually inviting him into her house.

“Keep your way far from her,” warns Wisdom (5:8). For to even give her a second glance is to run the risk of becoming addicted to her intoxicating ways. And it won’t turn out well.

Can a man carry fire next to his chest and his clothes not be burned? Or can one walk on hot coals and his feet not be scorched?

(Proverbs 6:27-28 ESV)

Who doesn’t know that? Play with fire, you’re gonna get burned. The problem is recognizing the fire. The trick is being on guard against the subtle, disguised call of infidelity. Believing that she’s out there. If not in a person, in the ways of a world which compete for those betrothed to Another, subtly calling them to ways of unfaithfulness.

So how do we recognize her voice? How do see the deception–and eventual destruction–that is hers?

My son, keep your fathers commandment, and forsake not your mothers teaching. Bind them on your heart always; tie them around your neck. When you walk, they will lead you; when you lie down, they will watch over you; and when you awake, they will talk with you. For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching a light, and the reproofs of discipline are the way of life, to preserve you from the evil woman, from the smooth tongue of the adulteress.

(Proverbs 6:20-24 ESV)

We need to heed instruction. To bind the Father’s words on our hearts and tie them around our necks. Not literally, as did the Pharisees with their ostentatious phylacteries tied about their heads and arms, but enveloping our minds and souls with His teaching such that it lead us, watches over us, and speaks to us. So internalizing His commandments that they truly become a lamp and light, preserving us from the seductive calls of darkness.

Makes sense doesn’t it? But why is it so hard to do? Here’s what hit me this morning . . . the last part of verse 23 . . .

. . . and the reproofs of discipline are the way of life . . .

Who likes reproof? Uh, not me.

I might say I value “constructive criticism” and that I won’t become defensive, but not gonna lie, my natural reaction is to bristle at rebuke. As humble as I think I might try to be, something about being chastised that wakes up the pride monster within me (probably because he’s not in that deep of sleep anyhow).

But if I’m gonna stay away from the fire, if I’m serious about avoiding hot coals in my lap, if I really believe that the seductress is really as seductive as the Father says she is, then I’m gonna need to envelope myself with the Word of God and brace myself for it’s reproving work in my life.

And when my failure is exposed, I need to apply again the blood of Christ shed for all my failure. When my fickleness is made evident, I need to put on again the Son of God who Himself is ever faithful. When the flesh’s temptation to heed the seductress’s voice is made manifest, I need to, by the power of the Spirit indwelling me, crucify the flesh which has already died with Christ.

Reproof. It’s the way of life.

It’s the practical path to realizing the fullness promised through the gospel. The nuts and bolts for remaining true to Him who has betrothed me as His own.

The way made possible because of His grace. The way made possible for His glory.

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The Ultimate Personal Assistant

Posted on July 28, 2017 by Pete

All in all, she’s pretty helpful. She’s full of useful information. She tells me how to get places. She takes dictation and sends messages to my girls when I ask her to. She even willingly takes on the task of waking me up in the morning. She really wants to serve. In fact, if she’s able to, she’ll do anything I ask her to do. (It always bugged Sue that I didn’t thank her more often). She is the virtual personal assistant on my phone–and phone is the modern code word for the computer in my shirt pocket.

I know I risk sounding like an old person, but today’s technology really is kind of mind-boggling if you just pause and think about it for a minute. Couldn’t have imagined years ago that I would be talking into thin air, speaking into an empty room, “Hey Siri . . . wake me up at 5:00 a.m.” Much less that my phone would immediately respond, “Your 5:00 a.m. alarm is on. Don’t worry, I won’t forget.” (with an Australian accent, no less).

This morning I’m noodling on another personal assistant. Another lady who wants to help. But this isn’t some new technology. She is an ancient, heaven-sent provision. And her name is Wisdom.

Get wisdom; get insight; . . . Do not forsake her, and she will keep you; love her, and she will guard you. . . . Prize her highly, and she will exalt you; she will honor you if you embrace her. She will place on your head a graceful garland; she will bestow on you a beautiful crown.

(Proverbs 4:5-9 ESV)

She will keep you. She will guard you. She will exalt you. She will honor you. She will crown you with a glorious wreath of grace. Ok, who doesn’t want to get to know her?

And that’s the father’s plea to his son, the plea he heard from his father(4:3-4a). Get her! Get wisdom!

Don’t neglect her, don’t let her go. But love her. Esteem her greatly–put her at the top of your priority list. Throw your arms around her and hold on to her for dear life. For she is the ultimate personal assistant.

And she’s not sourced in some micro-circuitry. No, she is found in and through the living God. Not available only to those who can pay the price for such technology, but available to all without cost because the price was paid 2,000 years ago on a Roman cross. Found not in a little black box that fits in your pocket or purse, instead, flowing from within regenerated hearts and minds through the living Spirit of God who imparts the heart and mind of Christ.

Available 24/7. Seeking only to help us know practically the life abundant promised eternally. Wanting to keep us, guard us, exalt and honor us. Ready to adorn us with the beauty of grace.

If we don’t forsake her. If we love and prize her. If we embrace her.

Oh the riches that are available to us through the wisdom, insight, and understanding that are ours in Christ, by His Spirit, and through God’s word.

Makes my Australian helper pale in comparison.

Oh that I would call upon Her who is from above more than I would talk to her who sits on my desk.

‘Cause that’s where the grace is experienced. That’s where the glory is known.

Amen?

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Put God On, Put God In

Posted on July 27, 2017 by Pete

Bind it around your neck. Adorn yourself with it. Let yourself be confined by it. Let it tie you up and fence you in. Be marked by it. Put it on.

What’s more, write it on your heart. Etch it on your soul. Engrave it within your very being. Let it define you. Put it in.

That’s what’s grabbed me this morning as the pro-wisdom father continues his appeal to his still very malleable son.

And what does he want his son to put on? What is it, of such great value and worth, that he wants him to put in? I’m thinking it’s God Himself.

Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you; bind them around your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart. So you will find favor and good success in the sight of God and man.

(Proverbs 3:3-4 ESV)

Steadfast love and faithfulness. Don’t let them go, says the fatherly counselor. Don’t allow them to escape. Beware of letting them slip away through inattention or neglect. Don’t release your grasp on them. Never seek to be loosed of them. For when they are upon you, and within you, you have put on, and put in, God Himself.

The LORD descended in the cloud and stood with [Moses] there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness . . . And Moses quickly bowed his head toward the earth and worshiped.

(Exodus 34:5-6 ESV)

Moses wanted to see the glory of God (Ex. 33:18). He wanted the full experience of His presence. And so God descended and showed Himself a glimpse of Himself–His glory manifest in His person. The light emitted through His nature. And part of that glory? An eternal abundance of steadfast love and faithfulness.

Steadfast love and faithfulness. That’s what the deliverer of Israel saw. That’s what the father of Proverbs wants his son never to lose hold of. That’s what we possess in Christ. That’s what we put on when we put on Christ. That’s what have within when Christ lives within us.

And so the exhortation, put on God, put in God.

It’s not about doing, it’s about being. Not a fidelity to religious observance, but a transformation through the living Spirit.

We put Him on when we pursue being imitators of God with all our heart (Eph 5:1). We put Him in when we partake of His word and are transformed by the renewing of our minds (Rom. 12:2). Over time, the attributes of God Himself, steadfast love and faithfulness, are woven into our spiritual DNA. The likeness of the Father, manifest through the Son, are more and more apparent in His children, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit.

And ours is to not let go. To not stop running the race. To not tap out in the struggle.

But to bind Him on our neck. Write Him on our heart. To not forsake God’s steadfast love and faithfulness.

Put God on. Put God in.

By His grace. For His glory.

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Seek Wisdom

Posted on July 26, 2017 by Pete

The writer of Proverbs hears voices. The voices from “men of perverted speech” who delight in evil, on one hand, and the voice of “the adulteress with her smooth words” mocking covenant and commitment on the other. Their voices invite the unsuspecting down the ways of darkness. Her voice, down the paths of death. They delight in the perverseness of evil. She finds pleasure in tempting the unsuspecting with forbidden fruit.

You sense these aren’t insignificant voices. They are loud and proud. But nor are they obvious calls to destruction. Having found their place in the world, they are subtle and insidious. Presenting their words as truth, they can be quite convincing–luring many to darkness and destruction.

And so, with this awareness of such voices, the writer or Proverbs pleads with his son, “Make your ear attentive to wisdom, incline your heart to understanding.”

. . . yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God.

(Proverbs 2:3-5 ESV)

Therein lies the key to recognizing the invitations into darkness and refusing the allure of infidelity. Understanding the fear of the LORD. Finding the knowledge of God. But it doesn’t come about apart from intentional effort. Apart from seeking wisdom.

Do nothing, and the voices prevail. Go with the flow and you’ll find yourself before the men’s pulpit and the adulteress’s door.

But the promise is that, if we will seek wisdom, we’ll find the fear of the Lord. That if we ask for the knowledge of God, we will be given the tools to discern the true from the false and navigate through the darkness and deception. That if we knock on heaven’s door, it will be opened.

For the LORD gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding; He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk in integrity, guarding the paths of justice and watching over the way of His saints.

(Proverbs 2:6-8 ESV)

The voices are exposed. Protection is promised. The power to walk in ways of justice and integrity is provided. If we will seek wisdom.

If we will intentionally receive the word of God. If we will purposefully treasure up His commands and be attentive to His counsel. If we will open our Bibles daily and turn our ears and hearts to receive God’s breathed out revelation. Do that, and

. . . wisdom will come into your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul; discretion will watch over you, understanding will guard you, delivering you from the way of evil . . .

(Proverbs 2:10b-12a ESV)

Do nothing and the voices will prevail. Settle for the default, and you’re settling for destruction. Consider His Word an option, and the perverted speech of evil men will start sounding like smart thinking. Make everything else a priority, don’t be surprised if you find yourself at the lustful lady’s door.

But seek wisdom and the promise is sure.

So you will walk in the way of the good and keep to the paths of the righteous.

(Proverbs 2:20 ESV)

By God’s unfailing grace. For God’s everlasting glory.

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Don’t Ambush Your Soul

Posted on July 25, 2017 by Pete

It sounds really bad to say, but I wonder if often the first verses of Proverbs haven’t been a bit of a “throw away” for me in the past. Not the verse that says “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge”, verse 7, but the next section, verses 8 through 19, that warn about being recruited by a street gang. Not much there that I can relate to . . . until this morning.

Easy to skim over this section because I’ve never been recruited by a gang. Can’t even imagine being tempted to join up with a bunch of hoods and commit armed robbery. Never come near to even associating with the type of guys that are excited by the thought of jumping people in a dark alley, killing them if necessary, in order to grab whatever money and valuables they may be carrying. So when the father warns, “My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent,” it’s really no big deal for me to say, “Of course not! No worries! Let’s move on!”

But not so quick, says the Spirit this morning. Look at the heart behind the recruiting and maybe there’s a great warning to heed. A warning to beware of ambushing your own soul.

. . . these men lie in wait for their own blood; they set an ambush for their own lives. Such are the ways of everyone who is greedy for unjust gain; it takes away the life of its possessors.

(Proverbs 1:18-19 ESV)

While this fictitious gang thinks they can hide in the shadows, lying in wait for some pour unsuspecting sap so that they can realize some illicit gain, in reality it is they who are being mugged, they who are being ambushed. And the culprit is greed.

Sure, in this case, it’s greed to nth degree. Greed that compels them to step way over the line. But I’m thinking this morning there’s a warning here to everyone about all the ways in which greed might manifest itself. That beyond just the type of greed that results in violent crime, wisdom cries out against all manner of covetousness. Warning that any great desire for possessions will take away the life of the possessors. That it will ambush the soul.

Don’t ambush your soul. Sounds like, “Don’t shoot yourself in the foot” or, “Don’t become your own worst enemy.” Here it means, don’t be greedy, resist the temptation to covet.

What a warning for those of us who have live in neighborhoods of plenty. For those whose dictionaries have dropped the word “greed” and replaced it with “the American Dream” (or “Canadian Dream” if you like). For those who view the accumulation of wealth simply as fulfilling their potential. Who believe that getting more stuff is just the way to happiness.

That’s the insidious enticement here. Not some punk gang member, but our own heart’s greed. Not the thrill of violence, but the siren’s call from a culture of covetousness. Not the desire to shed blood, but the desire to get rich quick.

In a land of plenty, there are plenty of voices beckoning us to want more. In our pursuit of happiness, many signs that say it is found in the amount of treasure we possess. And when we heed those voices and follow those signs, when our hearts are driven by greed and covetousness, then we ambush our souls. And we lose our way, even our lives, while we try to find them in our stuff.

. . . my son, do not walk in the way with them; hold back your foot from their paths . . .

(Proverbs 1:15 ESV)

And so Wisdom cries in the street. And I would do well to heed the warning.

Because of the grace He has shown . . . that His glory would be known.

Amen?

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Come As You Are

Posted on July 21, 2017 by Pete

Throwback Friday (probably not a thing . . . whatever). Was working my way through the same set of readings on a Friday back in July 2014. Same thing caught my eye as I continued reading of revival under Hezekiah. So I thought I’d share the same thoughts that came to mind then. It also brought to mind a Crowder song. Spent a few minutes hovering over it, as well. If you have time, click here and bask in the wonder and joy that you can always come as you are.

For all intents and purposes, it was unprecedented. Not since Solomon had there been such a call to come and worship the Lord . . . and that was when the kingdom was united. The invitation had gone out to all Israel under King Hezekiah to come to Jerusalem and to observe the Passover. Couriers went from city to city with the call for God’s people to return to God’s temple that they might remember God’s mighty works of deliverance and worship God, who alone is God! Some RSVP’d with laughter and scorn and mocking . . . but others, moved by the hand of God . . . responding to a reviving of soul sparked by the Spirit of God . . . others, many others, came (2Chron. 30). And what’s moved my soul this morning is that they came just as they were.

For there were many in the assembly who had not consecrated themselves . . . For a majority of the people, many of them from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves, yet they ate the Passover otherwise than as prescribed. For Hezekiah had prayed for them, saying, “May the good LORD pardon everyone who sets his heart to seek God, the LORD, the God of his fathers, even though not according to the sanctuary’s rules of cleanness.” And the LORD heard Hezekiah and healed the people.

(2Chronicles 30:17a, 18-20 ESV)

They weren’t clean. Ya’ think? For two hundred years . . . literally, for generations . . . these northern kingdom dwellers had been up to their eyeballs in idolatry and pagan practices. Their lack of “consecration” . . . their “uncleansed” state went way beyond the “sanctuary’s rules of cleanness.” They were a mess.

And those of the southern kingdom, Judah, weren’t in any better condition. Though they had preserved the temple . . . their whoredom (ESV lingo) . . . their unfaithfulness to the LORD God had grown with increasing abandon of the word of God. But Hezekiah had put out the call . . . the hand of God had moved the hearts . . . and they came just as they were.

It’s not that Hezekiah wasn’t aware of God’s holy standard . . . but that he interceded on behalf of a less than holy people. He appealed to “the good LORD” (only time the phrase is found in the Bible) to pardon everyone . . . NKJV says to “provide atonement for everyone” . . . the idea is to cover everyone. The “price of admission” wasn’t their cleanness, it was their hearts set after seeking God. It wasn’t the state in which they came . . . but that they wanted to come. And, having set their hearts toward the place where God dwells, the covering grace of God would provide access . . . and the healing grace of God would wash away the uncleanness and accept the offering.

Come just as you are!

Less about my state than about my heeding the call. So not about the degree to which I have my act together and all about the degree to which His grace abounds and His covering is sufficient.

And, you know, it’s interesting. The chronicler says that after they came . . . and were received in their less then fully consecrated condition . . . and had worshiped the God of their covering . . . that afterward,

. . . when all this was finished, all Israel who were present went out to the cities of Judah and broke in pieces the pillars and cut down the Asherim and broke down the high places and the altars throughout all Judah and Benjamin, and in Ephraim and Manasseh, until they had destroyed them all.

(2Chronicles 31:1 ESV)

They came just they were . . . they were received by God’s grace as they were . . . they worshiped as they were . . . and then they left different . . . and went and cleaned house. Revival begot return which led to repentance.

Come just as you are! Oh, how the sinner still apart from God needs to hear the call. Oh, how the stumbling sinner saved by grace needs to heed the call.

Our God is a gracious God. He invites hearts to seek Him . . . he invites wayward souls to return to Him . . . and has made provision through the work of His Son on the cross to provide a covering sufficient for all the grime . . . that men and women might come just as they are.

How great is our God? Pretty!!!

Because of grace. For His glory.

 

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Temple Revival

Posted on July 20, 2017 by Pete

Two thoughts as I hover over the account of revival in Judah under King Hezekiah . . .

First, revival happens where God’s house is attended to.

After 16 years of disastrous leadership under King Ahaz, things turn around under the twenty-something King Hezekiah. Under Ahaz idolatry ran rampant. Wooden idols of Asherah were “upgraded” to metal monuments to Baal. Animal sacrifices to the God of heaven were replaced with human sacrifices to the gods of hell. And the price for such flagrant disobedience was steep. In one battle alone, 120,000 Judean men of valor lost their lives “because they had forsaken the LORD” (2Chron. 28:6).

But Ahaz didn’t get it. And the deeper in he got, the more he turned to the non-gods of the pagans around him. And the more he did that, the less and less regard he had for the temple of God–the place where the glory longed to dwell–desecrating the vessels of the house of God and even shutting the doors to it all together (28:24). Talk about one of your low-points in Judah’s history.

Enter the twenty-five year old, Hezekiah. And in the first year of his young and youthful reign he re-opens the doors of the house of the LORD (29:1). And orders that the filth that had been allowed to accumulate in the temple be cleaned out. And that the honor and attention that was due God’s dwelling place be re-established through intentional acts of consecration. Thus, reversing the years of neglect when God’s people had “turned away their faces from the habitation of the LORD and turned their backs” (29:6), he re-ignites (literally) temple worship.

And when he does, the praise returns, as does the Presence.

So, isn’t there something instructive here about the church? If God’s holy temple today is made of living stones joined and “built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit” (Eph. 2:21-22, 1Pet. 2:5), then isn’t there a warning from 2Chronicles of the dangers of neglecting the temple of God, the church? A cause-and-effect that says, when we place the things of the world above the house of God, then we risk, at the least, distancing ourselves from the presence and power of God. That, if we want revival, then maybe it starts with attending to the temple? When the people of God become again our priority, then the praise of God, the presence of God, and the power of God are going to be known by the grace of God. I’m thinkin’ . . .

But here’s the second thought that came to mind as I’m chewing on such revival. Because I’ve read ahead, I know that it’s gonna be short-lived. That in a sense, this is Judah’s last gasp at life before it chooses death and is dispersed. And it reminds me that while a man of influence, such a king of Judah, can edict behavior that resembles revival, only the Man of Eternity, can change hearts so that the behavior is born out of new life and a response of love. And, when that happens, then revival lasts.

It’s not just about going through the motions of doing church, of doing temple maintenance, it’s about the good news that old ways can be made new. The gospel reminding us that cleansing has already been accomplished on the cross. That the once for all sacrifice offered on our behalf has already been fully accepted as evidenced by the empty tomb. That the power to participate in the divine things of God has already been provided through the promised Spirit.

Only in that truth, and out of a grace-enabled response to that reality, can we tend to the temple. Can we turn our faces back to God by renewing our commitment to the house of God.

Though they aren’t a perfect lot, we again, by faith, seek to be with the people of God because we believe that’s where the praise, presence, and power of God can be known.

And when the burnt offering began, the song to the LORD began also, and the trumpets, accompanied by the instruments of David king of Israel. The whole assembly worshiped, and the singers sang and the trumpeters sounded. All this continued until the burnt offering was finished. When the offering was finished, the king and all who were present with him bowed themselves and worshiped. . . . And Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced because God had prepared for the people, for the thing came about suddenly.

(2Chronicles 29:27b-29, 36 ESV)

I think revival may just be tied to the temple. And we are that temple.

Because of grace. For His glory.

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Rich Toward God

Posted on July 19, 2017 by Pete

While they may not be mutually exclusive, if we are honest with ourselves, they frequently are in competition. Pursuing possessions on earth often has a way of cutting into laying up treasures in heaven. Reminded of that this morning as I was listening to Jesus’ tell a story.

A rich man had a ton of stuff. So much, in fact, that he had to build more storage units. Sounds familiar. I’ve seen two large storage unit complexes go up in my immediate area in the last year. Must be a business case for these possession palaces. Someone’s done the market research and knows that too many people have too much stuff to store in their own “barns” and so they are building bigger ones for them to lease.

You pause to consider that storing stuff is a thriving business and you wonder how it aligns with Jesus’ warning.

“Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for ones life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”   ~ Jesus

(Luke 12:15 ESV)

Anyway, this rich man builds his bigger barns, he banks all his grain and goods in them, and then he boasts of his accomplishment, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, and be merry” (Luke 12:19).

Problem is, his many years aren’t. No sooner does he move his stuff in, then he discovers it’s time for his soul to move on. His soul, Jesus says, is required by its Creator. Demanded back. Called home and asked to report and give an accounting to His Master.

And the possessions he accumulated on earth stay there. Non-transferable. Filled storage units on earth are left to others. They are of no value in heaven.

And the rich man, thinking himself to have accomplished so much, is called a fool. Senseless. Without reason. Without reflection or intelligence. So much potential to invest, but so little return to show for it . . . though he had storage units of stuff.

“So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”   ~ Jesus

(Luke 12:21 ESV)

And there it is! The investment strategy that’s doomed to failure–laying up treasure for ourselves. That’s what sets earthly possessions at odds with heavenly riches, when our possessions are primarily for our pleasure and void of any kingdom context. When our wealth is viewed only as the fruit of our work and worth and not of God’s gracious provision. When we live as though our barns are full of our stuff for our purposes rather than containing our Master’s talents to be stewarded on His behalf.

Not down on possessions. I have a few. But heeding the warning this morning. Goods have a way of priming the pump of greed and of distracting us from making the first things first.

In the world we live, how much stuff we have is often the measure of how successful we’ve been. How well a life is being lived, often gauged by the toys to be enjoyed. But that’s not the life Jesus came to give.

The abundant life is one founded on a great debt paid, with an abundant provision promised, so that heavenly storehouses might be filled with riches that last.

As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.

(1Timothy 6:17-19 ESV)

O that we might rich toward God.

Because of His grace. Only for His glory.

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Yet . . .

Posted on July 18, 2017 by Pete

As I looked back over my journal entries tied to today’s reading, for the past several years it’s been the reading in 2Chronicles that’s caused me to pause and reflect. And invariably it’s been on the same theme–voices. The voices we listen to, the influences we succumb to.

Joash the kid king did great while he listened to the godly counsel and exhortations of Jehoiada the priest. Great reforms in Judah during that part of his reign. But then Jehoiada dies, and a new set of voices catch the king’s ear–the princes of Judah butter up the fickle king and he listens to them as they steer him towards idol worship.

And so I note, be careful of the company you keep, of the voices you listen to, and “do not be deceived: ‘Bad company ruins good morals'” (1Cor. 15:33).

But this morning, as I hover over 2Chronicles 24 again, it’s another aspect of the story that captures my attention. Another set of voices. And a reminder that where there is great guilt and going astray, there is a God of great grace calling sinners to repentance.

Now after the death of Jehoiada the princes of Judah came and paid homage to the king. Then the king listened to them. And they abandoned the house of the LORD, the God of their fathers, and served the Asherim and the idols. And wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this guilt of theirs. Yet He sent prophets among them to bring them back to the LORD.

(2Chronicles 24:17-19a ESV)

Yet . . . that’s the word that I’m chewing on this morning. The fickle king has a new bunch of friends, a new peer group to impress, and so they desert the house of God. They forsake the living glory of heaven and, instead, pursue some wooden goddess of supposed happiness. And they begin to reap what they’ve sown. The wages for their sin starts to be required. Yet, God sends them another set of voices, the voices of prophets, to call them back to Himself.

Had God written off the regime, He would have been fully justified. Had He destroyed the wooden idols and those who bowed down to them with the fire of judgment, there would have been no grounds for argument. Yet, in forbearance and grace, He calls them to repent and return. How come? For our God is patient, “not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance” (2Pet. 3:9).

The Father sent John the Baptizer to call a people hardened by religious tradition to repentance. He sent His Son to the sinner, not to the saint, to preach repentance unto life, and life abundantly. Stories were told of the greater joy in heaven experienced over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine who needed no repentance.

Yet is code for “kindness.” For it’s God’s kindness that leads to repentance, the riches of His forbearance and patience (Rom. 2:4). God desiring a turning away from the things of the flesh, and the enticements of the world, towards a knowledge of the truth. A repentance that does an about face from the ways of darkness and death and, through the power of new life in Christ, pursues the way of light and life everlasting.

Yet He sent prophets among them to bring them back to the LORD.

O, praise God for His glorious acts of yet. Even as we falter, even as the alluring voices of the world try and turn our hearts toward the pleasures of sin for a season, yet His voice is every present through the Word before us and the Spirit inside us. Calling us back through the blood of the Christ who died for us.

Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with Me.

(Revelation 3:19-20 ESV)

Yet He is patient. Yet He is overflowing with kindness. Yet He desires to be let in, again, and abide in intimate communion. Mine is to hear the voice and heed the call to return.

What amazing grace! To Him be everlasting glory!

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A King’s Prayer

Posted on July 17, 2017 by Pete

Reading about King Jehoshaphat this morning in 2Chronicles. This guy intrigues me. Talk about a leader who was firing on 7 out of 8 cylinders. Walked in the ways of David, rejected the ways of the Baals, obeyed the LORD (17:3-4). Made sure his people knew the Book (17:7-9), all the while setting his own heart to seek God (19:3). The misfiring cylinder? His Achilles heel? Unholy alliances. Just couldn’t keep himself from tethering himself to the household of Ahab, king of Israel (18:1).

God’s grace covered the Israel thing. But what inspires this morning is the king’s response to trouble . . . BIG TROUBLE!

Jehoshaphat describes it as a “great horde.” Not one, not two, but three nations rising up together to come against Jehoshaphat for battle (20:1). A great multitude making a great effort with the intent of inflicting some great damage upon Judah and its king. And what does the king whose heart is set on seeking the LORD do? He prays. And it’s the nature of his prayer that I’m chewing on this morning.

First, he acknowledges afresh, and reminds himself anew, of God’s power.

“O LORD, God of our fathers, are You not God in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. In Your hand are power and might, so that none is able to withstand You.”

(2Chronicles 20:6 ESV)

He puts His current situation in the context of God’s strength. Nothing on earth too hard for the God of heaven. Not even a great horde. God is sovereign. His rule is over all nations and over every circumstance. In His hand is power. Nothing able to withstand the might of our God. So, if God is for us, then who can be against us? And speaking of being for us . . .

Jehoshaphat then, before getting to the need at hand, replays God’s promise.

“Did You not, our God, drive out the inhabitants of this land before Your people Israel, and give it forever to the descendants of Abraham Your friend?”

(2Chronicles 20:7 ESV)

It’s not like Jehoshaphat’s trouble was born from being outside the will of God–but was a direct result of being exactly where God wanted him. The land the horde were seeking to overrun was the land God had promised to Abraham. The land God had cleared before Joshua and those who had come through the wilderness. The land where the temple had been built and His glory had descended. These nations weren’t just rallying themselves against any old people, but they were rising up against the people of God, the people of promise.

And so, having grounded himself in the truth of God’s power and the surety of God’s promise, he now brings before heaven his trouble and declares it to be God’s problem.

“And now behold, the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir, whom You would not let Israel invade when they came from the land of Egypt, and whom they avoided and did not destroy–behold, they reward us by coming to drive us out of Your possession, which You have given us to inherit. O our God, will You not execute judgment on them? For we are powerless against this great horde that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on You.”

(2Chronicles 20:10-12 ESV)

We are powerless. We don’t know what to do. But our eyes are on You. More than I can handle, Lord. Taps out my creativity or ability. Thus, I look to You, and You alone. O God of power and promise, I have no choice but to make this Your problem.

That’s a model for prayer, I’m thinking.

And God’s response? The Spirit, by way of a prophet, declares:

“Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed at this great horde, for the battle is not yours but Gods.”

(2Chronicles 20:14-15 ESV)

Not our battle, says the Spirit. God is faithful to His promise, He’ll take this on as His problem. Oh, and by the way, not a problem for the God who is all-powerful.

And Jehoshaphat and the people bow their heads and go facedown and worship the Lord (20:18-19). Even before their deliverance they declare God’s praise.

They believe that who God says He is, He is. That what God has promised to fulfill, He will. And that, when God fights our battles, He wins.

A king’s prayer. A prayer to a King.

By His grace. For His glory.

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