The Devil Left

Posted on January 6, 2017 by Pete

What a week! Monday started out with great plans for the day which were never realized. And now it’s Friday already and I feel like maybe our feet are somewhat back underneath us. Forty-eight hours in the hospital with very little sleep followed by twenty-four hours of mostly sleep and trying to reclaim our “normal” even if it might be a “new normal.” That’s been our week so far. I’m guessing that’s why my reading in Matthew 4 this morning resonates.

Not comparing our situation with the Lord Jesus’ temptation. No fasting for forty days before being led into a desert. No face-to-face confrontation with the enemy. No direct temptation to seize the crown while avoiding the cross. Instead, my connection with the passage this morning is with the respite Jesus knew when, after having stood fast in the assault, the devil left.

Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to Him, “All these I will give You, if You will fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve.'” Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to Him.

(Matthew 4:8-11 ESV)

He’d be back. Satan wasn’t done taking his best shot at the Son of Man. But for now, Jesus having withstood the temptation, the devil left. And heaven’s restraint was removed as angels came and took care of God’s beloved Son in whom He is well pleased (Matt. 3:17).

And I’m thinking that’s part of God’s all-sufficient grace in the trial. Intermissions. Time outs. Precious pauses in the fray. Cease fires in the conflict for renewal and restoration. Times of respite when the devil leaves.

It’s the ability to get back to your morning readings and be fed again by the bread from heaven, “every word that comes from the mouth of God.” Some quiet time to drink of the Living Water poured out into our hearts, God’s precious Holy Spirit (John 7:38-39). The opportunity to reconnect with those who, though out of sight for a time, have never stopped lifting you up in prayer. Not quite angels . . . but ministering to you nonetheless with words of compassion and encouragement.

Submit yourselves therefore to God.  Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

(James 4:7 ESV)

Our battle, ultimately, is never with just flesh and blood. But arrayed against us, as the people of God, is the enemy of God and his “spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Eph. 6:12). And while the assault can take many forms, though the desert can be experienced in many places, though the temptation can come through many circumstances, if we, by the grace and power of God, stand firm and resist him, he will flee. Oh, he’ll be back. But having stood fast, we will know too the reality of renewal that Jesus did.

The devil left.

Mine is not to win the ultimate war, that victory has already been ensured by Christ’s work on the cross–“It is finished!” But in the battle, mine is to persevere. In the skirmish, to stand firm, putting on the full armor He has provided and to “be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might” (Eph. 6:10, 13). Knowing that He will provide times of refreshing.  Confident that “in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us” (Rom. 8:37).

The devil left. Yes, he has.

Because of God’s grace. All for God’s glory.

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Dealing with the Impurities

Posted on January 2, 2017 by Pete

There’s nothing like some trial and tribulation to expose the impurities in one’s life. When the silver is put to the fire the dross rises to the surface. When the sand is sifted the debris becomes evident. When the going gets tough it can bring to the surface stuff you never knew was there, or stuff that you thought you had dealt with and been “delivered” of. Needless to say, on top of the trial itself, what the trial exposes can be its own disheartening experience.

But it seems to me that something I read in Psalm Four this morning provides some perspective, comfort, and encouragement in dealing with the impurities.

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

(Psalm 4:1 ESV)

It’s not just that David prayed to the LORD in his time of testing which caught my attention, but it’s how he addresses the Father. That the salve for the sting of impure stuff revealed in an already hard situation is found in the reminder of who God is. He is the God of my righteousness.

This is the only time God is referred to this way in the Scriptures. And it’s a reminder that God is the Author and the Perfecter of my righteousness.

I have no righteousness, nor have I ever been righteous, apart from the imputed righteousness of God’s own Son, Jesus Christ. A righteousness credited to my account when I was incapable of making any deposits myself. A righteousness in standing, because of Another. A positional righteousness granted by grace through faith in the finished work of the cross.

And while in God’s wondrous design of salvation this positional righteousness, through the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit, is intended to become increasingly a practical righteousness evidenced by an increasing holiness, the work will not be complete until we are fully delivered from the weakness of the flesh–whether through death or the return of Christ.

In the meantime, the Author of my righteousness also acts as the Perfecter of my righteousness, and that often through the fiery heat of testing and trials.

But not only is He the Author and Perfecter, He is also the Maintainer of my righteousness . . . and of all those who God has rescued from the bondage of sin.

David, a man after God’s own heart, transgressed against the LORD he loved and cried out, “Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin!” (Ps. 51:2). And through the prophet Jeremiah God promised He would do just that, “I will cleanse them from all the guilt of their sin against Me, and I will forgive all the guilt of their sin and rebellion against Me” (Jer. 33:8). John identified the Source of this cleansing, “the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin” (1Jn 1:7), and then explained how to access such cleansing, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1John 1:9 ESV).

No one likes finding the impurities. But isn’t it part of the process? It’s what prevents us from living in some make-believe world of self-righteousness. It’s what keeps us from the temptation to think we can live independent of abiding in Christ. It is our continual reminder that our righteousness is only found in the Son and only becomes a practical reality through the Spirit. The ever surfacing dross reminds us afresh that it is God’s grace that has brought us safe thus far and only grace that will lead us home.

And thus, we can be encouraged as we remember that it is the God of my righteousness who began a good work in me and the God of my righteousness who has promised to complete that work at the day of Jesus Christ (Php. 1:6).

Don’t like discovering, and all to often rediscovering, the junk that’s still in me. But praise be to God for His provision in dealing with the impurities.

In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for You alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety.

(Psalm 4:8 ESV)

By His grace. For His glory.

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Fig Leaves and Loincloths

Posted on December 30, 2016 by Pete

You sense it was an “Oh, what have we’ve done?” moment. She had engaged in the conversation and was deceived. But he was with her and knew exactly what they were doing, thus he acted willfully. And it seems that immediately the radiance of the garden turned grey as shame and fear entered their world. Shame as they became aware of their nakedness. Fear as they contemplated the potential implications of their rebellion and disobedience And they looked at one another and said, “Oh, what have we’ve done?”

God was still in the midst but everything had changed. They heard Him walking in the garden as they had many times before, but now He had intuitively become Someone to avoid, Someone to hide from. They knew His presence as they had before but now it brought fear. And this, despite their fig leaves and loincloths.

So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.

(Genesis 3:6-7 ESV)

Fig leaves and loincloths. It was the best they could come up with. But their self-made coverings did nothing to undo what had been done against God. These designer wraps were useless in removing the shame. They had no power to ease the fear. Fig leaves and loincloths were but man’s best efforts at covering up the awareness of their sin. But even they knew deep down it wasn’t enough. For when they heard God, they hid.

And isn’t that the meta-narrative of religion? Man’s best efforts but still a desire to avoid up-close-and-personal encounters with God. Good works without any certainty that they’re good enough. Seeking to deal with the problem by covering up the problem. Avoiding further exposure of our true selves by hiding from God. If we do enough, deny enough, and hide enough, perhaps it will all work out on the day God calls out, “Where are you?”

But thank God that He has not left us to our own devices to deal with our own shame. Praise the Almighty that we are not left to assuage our own fear. That He waits not for the day of judgment to call out to us, “Where are you?” but even now seeks after those in hiding. Calling to them that they might acknowledge now their guilt. Convicting them of their sin that they might now see the folly of their self-made solutions and instead receive the covering of His making.

And the LORD God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.

(Genesis 3:21 ESV)

Garments made of animal skins. Blood shed for sinners to be clothed. Blood shed by the hand of God. A covering fashioned by the design of the Maker. Foreshadowing an eternal solution to man’s eternal problem.

God Himself providing the once-for-all atoning sacrifice for our rebellion. Jesus, the Lamb of God, without spot or blemish, come to take away the sin of the world.

The wages of sin having been paid for by His death, His righteousness then fashioned into a garment for our covering. Shame erased. Fear of judgment removed.

Fig leaves and loincloths, man’s effort at dealing with his sin problem, can never suffice. Only the robe provided at God’s hand can deal with our “what have I done?” failings. Only by receiving the blood shed on our behalf, only by putting on the Righteousness of Another can we again know the communion God desires with those made in His image.

You can have your fig leaves and loincloths. Give me Jesus.

By His grace. For His glory.

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A Lineage of Grace

Posted on December 29, 2016 by Pete

I don’t know how many years I’ve been doing it, but it occurs to me this morning that I’ve been doing it wrong . . . or, at the least, not completely right.

Started in on my reading plan for 2017 this morning. Genesis, Matthew, Acts, and Psalms. A great set of beginnings. And as I’ve done for a number of years now, there are four names in Matthew’s genealogy of the Christ that I shade over with my brown pencil crayon or, as my American friends say, my brown colored pencil. Because brown shading is what I use for grace.

Matthew begins his gospel by establishing the royal line from Abraham to David to Jesus, the promised King of kings. A heritage passed down through the male, by who fathered who. But four times mothers are mentioned. In a list predominated by men four women stand out.

The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, . . . and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of David the king. And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah . . .

(Matthew 1:1-6 ESV)

Tamar, Rahab,  Ruth, and “the wife of Uriah.” They jump off the page. They don’t fit. And it’s not like they are included because they illustrate the best of the best of Christ’s lineage. Tamar was Judah’s widowed daughter-in-law who, disguising herself as a prostitute, sells herself to her father-in-law in order to have children (Genesis 38). And one of those kids was Perez, an ancestor of Jesus. Rahab too was harlot, but one who gave birth to a son who would father a royal line . . . by the grace of God.

Then consider Solomon. Though the son of David, his mom isn’t even mentioned by name. Instead, she is included as the wife of another man. Matthew being led by the Holy Spirit to highlight that fact she was a mother in the royal line through adultery and murder . . . and because of the grace of God.

And while the parents of Obed, another ancestor of the Messiah, were noble in character, his mom wasn’t even Jewish. Ruth was a Moabite. But one who, by faith, left her people determining that Israel’s people would be her people, and their God her God. And so she became the great-grandmother of Israel’s most noted king, the one through whom Messiah would come. This too proclaiming the grace of God.

And so, I get why I pull out the brown pencil crayon every year and shade over these ladies’ names.

But what hit me this morning as I hovered over Christ’s genealogy is that those aren’t the only names meriting some “grace shading.”

Think of the dysfunction in the homes of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Or of the kingdom divided because Rehoboam was such a doofus. Jehoshaphat wasn’t a bad king but he had a tendency towards some pretty unholy alliances. And what about Manasseh? If anybody signed for the ticket to Babylon, it was him.

And what about mentioning that in the genealogy, the deportation to Babylon? Wouldn’t necessarily think that the Son of God would come out of a people which in it’s entirety was deserving of a 70 year timeout.

Shouldn’t I be shading the entire passage? Isn’t Christ’s entire lineage a testament of God’s unmerited favor? I’m thinkin’ . . .

But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.

(Galatians 4:4-5 ESV)

His ancestors, a lineage of grace. His first coming, a demonstration of grace.  His children, trophies of grace. His coming again, the culmination of grace.

All for the glory of God.

Amen?

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Knowing the End from the Beginning

Posted on December 24, 2016 by Pete

Years and years ago I heeded the advice that if you have kids in the house and you want time to be alone, you need to be awake when they are asleep. That’s been hard to do this week with a two-year-old in the midst who has inherited the “morning gene” that runs in the Corak family. But a bit of insomnia this morning has afforded some extended quiet time and an opportunity to wrap up my reading plan AND put a few thoughts down.

It doesn’t always happen, but I like finishing up my reading plan before Christmas–and Christmas Eve seems especially appropriate. The eve of our celebration of a new beginning seems a good time to be reminded of how things end.

Christmas focuses us on the beginning. The birth of a child. The first glimpse of Deity incarnate. The introduction of a Savior. The fresh reminder of the breadth and length and height and depth of God’s love–that He would send His only Son to redeem us and reconcile us to Himself.

And with this new birth beginning on the horizon, I reflect on how my readings have concluded.

First, Job is vindicated before his friends while being humbled before his God. Though he may have spoken what was right about God (Job 42:8), he learned a thing or two about how one must speak to God. He had rashly “uttered what I did not understand” and pontificated on “things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.” And while God in His grace restores the fortunes of Job, it is not before Job humbles himself and repents (Job 42:3-6).

For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.

(1Corinthians 13:12 ESV)

Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.

(James 4:10 ESV)

And thus, a reminder to humble myself. I can read the Bible, I can think I know a thing or two about God and His program, but when all is said and done what I know is but a shadow of who God is and what is to come.

Then, through Malachi, the LORD asks the tough questions. He calls out vain acts of worship which fail to acknowledge the holiness of the One being worshiped. And so, God promises a Messenger who will come as a “refiner and purifier of silver, and He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the LORD” (Mal. 3:3). And their names will be found in a book and they will be gathered to Himself.

Then those who feared the LORD spoke with one another. The LORD paid attention and heard them, and a book of remembrance was written before Him of those who feared the LORD and esteemed His name. “They shall be Mine, says the LORD of hosts, in the day when I make up My treasured possession, . . . For behold, the day is coming . . .”

(Malachi 3:16-17a, 4:1a ESV)

A reminder to be real. To beware of worshiping my God with my lips while my heart is far from Him. To worship in Spirit and truth.

Next, John concludes his gospel with Jesus revealing Himself again to His disciples. Manifesting again His power as He directs them to a great catch of fish. Demonstrating again His desire to abide with them as He makes breakfast and breaks bread with them around a morning fire (and “they knew it was the Lord”). And then, through His conversation with Peter, calling His disciples again to give themselves fully to serving their Master.

He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to Him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.” . . . And after saying this He said to him, “Follow me.”

(John 21:17, 19b ESV)

A reminder, in light of His great love, and by His grace and power, to faithfully keep on keepin’ on in the calling He’s given me.

Finally this morning, as I read Revelation 21 and 22, I beheld the Bride, the wife of the Lamb. That glorious city comprised of those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life. And God is in their midst, dwelling among them. Thus, no need for a temple, “for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb.” And, no need for a sun nor a moon to shine on them, “for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb.”

What’s more, “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His servants will worship Him. They will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads.

(Revelation 22:3-4 ESV)

We will see His face. And we will worship Him. That’s how it ends . . . though it never ends.

And so we know the end from the beginning.  We know the end because of the beginning.  Confident in what will be because of what has been. His second coming anticipated with assurance because His first coming was realized by faith.

Our Savior has come. O come let us adore Him!

Our King will return. Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!

Merry Christmas!

Because of His grace. For His glory.

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The Faultfinder

Posted on December 21, 2016 by Pete

Spent the last couple of days driving down to California to do Christmas with the family at the Scott River Lodge, the retreat center managed by my son-in-law and daughter. Although the lodge is more than big enough to accommodate all of us, communal living does have a way of disrupting routine. So, while I’ll continue to work my way through the last few entries in my reading plan, finding computer time to put down some thoughts could be kind of challenging. Likely to be hit and miss.

But this morning, for right now, I’m alone and chewing on something I read in Job.

I can’t imagine the fear factor experienced by Job when God decides to answer him “out of the whirlwind” (38:1, 40:6). Whatever storm Job may have thought he had been enduring through his suffering, it paled when compared to the tempest experienced when the Almighty Creator determines to enter the debate. For most of this book Job’s comforters have been answering Job’s complaint and Job has, in turn, been answering back at their answers. Now it is the Almighty’s turn to answer. And when He speaks it’s like being in the middle of a hurricane.

But, though the sensory overload due to God’s manifested presence must have driven Job to his knees, I think hearing God’s accusation against him is what really humbled and mortified this man of whom God Himself had said “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?” (1:8, 2:3).

And the LORD said to Job: “Shall a faultfinder contend with the Almighty? He who argues with God, let him answer it.” . . . the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind and said: “Dress for action like a man; I will question you, and you make it known to Me. Will you even put Me in the wrong? Will you condemn Me that you may be in the right?

(Job 40:1-2, 6-8 ESV)

I think Job was shocked when He heard God’s summary of his arguments. While Job had certainly been defending his own record against his accusers, I mean comforters, I don’t think this man who feared God and sought to bless the name of the LORD in all circumstance (1:21) ever intended to find fault with God . . . or assert that God could be wrong . . . or seek to put God down that Job might lift himself up.

But, in a nutshell, that’s pretty much what Job had done.

And so I’m thinking, how does a godly man like Job end up getting on the wrong side of his God? Short answer: he allows his world to revolve around him rather than around his God.

He becomes so consumed with his own story that He forgets it’s but a subplot in a much greater narrative. He starts to believe that the ways he has planned, and the goals he has set, must somehow dictate the steps God should ordain for him. He develops a self-centered arrogance which, at least implicitly, asserts that his sense of right and wrong should define God’s sense of justice and purpose.

I don’t think Job consciously determined to find fault with his faultless God. I don’t think he said to himself, “Self, God must be in the wrong if I am to be in the right. Jehovah needs to be corrected so that I can be justified.” Rather, as Job allowed himself to increase, his view of God was forced to decrease. As his circumstance became the paramount circumstance, God needed to find an orbit around his planet. And before he knew it, Job had become a faultfinder.

O’ that I might learn a lesson from this man of God. Might I not cease to be ever humbled before an all-knowing, all-powerful God. By His grace, might I always see my circumstance in the greater context of His sovereignty. Trusting in His promised presence. Resting in His steadfast love.

Quick always to say, “Nevertheless, not my will, but Yours be done.”

That above all things He might be given all the glory.

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Questions

Posted on December 16, 2016 by Pete

Re-worked / re-posting some thoughts from 2008 on one of my favorite verses in Scripture . . .

————————-

So, I read Job 37 this morning, the last words of counsel from Elihu. And as I finished up I thought about what’s coming tomorrow in my reading. I glanced at the first few words of Job 38, “Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind”, knowing that God is about to unleash on Job.

You know, you can’t blame Job for being a bit confused about the turn of events in his life. You can’t blame him for asking, “Why?” But you do sense that maybe he could have asked the “why” question a little differently. Less arrogantly, perhaps. Not so demanding. With more reverence, more humility. Maybe God’s response would have been different had Job asked his questions more like Habakkuk.

I really do like this guy, Habakkuk. There is a spirit about him that inspires me. And he too asked God questions.

The first chapter is all about him asking questions. Questions about God’s tolerance of the wickedness within Israel and God’s apparent silence as injustice increased in the land. “How long shall I cry for help? . . . Why do You make me see iniquity?” (1:2-3). And God answers his questions, “Good observations, Hab! And I am going to do something about it. Something that will utterly amaze you. Something you’d never see coming. I’m going to raise up the Chaldeans to judge my people.”

Ok, that isn’t the answer Habakkuk’s expecting. Israel at large may have been bad, but the Chaldeans? Compared to them, Israel looked like a bunch of choir boys. And so the questions come again, “O LORD, You have ordained them as a judgment? . . . O Rock, You have established them for reproof? . . . Why are You silent when the wicked swallows up the man more righteous than he?” (1:12-13).

And, in chapter 2, God answers Habakkuk again. But instead of blasting Habakkuk (like God’s about to do in Job 38) for persisting with his questions, the LORD instead enlightens the prophet and leads him to a place of greater trust and faith.

So what’s the difference between Job and Habakkuk? Why does Job ask, “Why?” and get rebuked for his questioning, while Habakkuk asks, “Why?” and gets answers? The difference, I think, is found in Habakkuk’s attitude.

I will take my stand at my watchpost and station myself on the tower, and look out to see what He will say to me, and what I will answer concerning my complaint.

(Habakkuk 2:1 ESV)

Habakkuk asked his questions in humility. He didn’t understand why God allowed Israel to continue to sin and so he asked God, “Why?” He really couldn’t understand how God could use such a wicked nation as the Chaldeans to judge Israel and so he asked God, “Why?” But when He was done asking His questions he says in essence, “Ok, now I’ll wait for God’s answer. And I’m fully expecting that I may be corrected in my limited view. That I will find that my understanding of the situation is incomplete. For God knows a lot more than I do. His ways are higher than my ways. His thoughts are higher than my thoughts. And so, I’ll watch and I’ll wait and listen for what God might say to me.”

Far from demanding an audience with God that he might question Him, you sense that Habakkuk is just sincerely confused, and so, he takes his confusion to His God. And then he quiets himself and waits for God. Ready, should God in His purposes determine to graciously provide insight and wisdom, to receive whatever answers, or not, God might give.

I don’t think God minds us asking questions. I do think there is a right way and a wrong way to ask them, though. Our questions should not be such that they question God. Nor should we arrogantly demand an answer from the Almighty. But ours is take our questions and our confusions to the Lord in humble submission to His sovereign purposes. To present our “whys?” before Him knowing that He is Righteousness and Just. And to wait on Him to graciously help us work through the confusion if He chooses.

I don’t think Habakkuk really ended up with full reconciliation in his mind of how God could “partner” with the Chaldeans to judge Israel. Yeah, he was told that God would eventually judge the Chaldeans too, but I gotta think that Habakkuk still had a nagging, “Them Lord? Really??” in the back of his mind. But Habakkuk had asked his questions and God has provided His answer. And that would be sufficient.

Questions? It’s ok to ask them. Our God? It’s imperative that we trust Him.

Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD; I will take joy in the God of my salvation.

GOD, the Lord, is my strength; He makes my feet like the deers; He makes me tread on my high places.

(Habakkuk 3:17-19 ESV)

By His grace. For His glory.

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Stop

Posted on December 15, 2016 by Pete

It might be the best advice given yet. After thirty-five chapters of listening to their unproductive debate, the young upstart, having held his tongue as long as he could, may have been the most in tune with Job’s greatest need. And perhaps his valuable insight is something that I might do well to heed myself.

Job has grown increasingly agitated over the course of receiving his “comforter’s” pathetic attempts at comfort. Job has no clue as to the why of what has befallen him. How could he? Who would have imagined the debate in heaven between his God and his adversary which started it all? His suffering not tied to some great mysterious cause-and-effect of his own making. Instead, what has befallen him has been according to Divine permission for God’s sovereign purposes–purposes, for the most part, known only in the heavenly realm.

And so, what started with, “I wish I had never been born” has escalated to “I want to hash this out with the Almighty . . . face to face . . . man to God!”

All the while, his comforters bristle at his apparent self-righteousness and thus seek to “sooth” his torment with, “Admit it Job. God punishes sin. Obviously you are being punished. Therefore, based on how great this punishment, time to confess how great your sin.”

And back and forth they go. Job repeatedly defending his righteousness and demanding an audience before heaven. His friends. again and again, shutting him down condemning his out-of-touch-with-reality arrogance.

Enter Elihu. Enter into the debate perhaps the best advice yet. Stop!

“Hear this, O Job; stop and consider the wondrous works of God.”

(Job 37:14 ESV)

Stop! Stand still, say other translations. Take a breath. Cease and desist. Be still.

Job was so wrapped around the axle with demanding a reason for the “why” of his suffering that he was losing perspective (and a measure of reverence) concerning Who presided over his situation. Time, says Elihu, to stop. To stop and consider.

“Behold, God is exalted in His power; who is a teacher like Him? . . . Behold, God is great, and we know Him not; the number of His years is unsearchable. . . . God thunders wondrously with His voice; He does great things that we cannot comprehend. . . . stop and consider the wondrous works of God.”

(Job 36:22, 26; 37:5, 14 ESV)

Sometimes we just need to put it in park and look around. And then look up . . . look way up. Take time to think. Take time to meditate. Take time to be still . . . and know that He is God (Ps. 46:10).

The “wondrous works” Elihu gives as examples aren’t the extraordinary things. He doesn’t appeal to the miraculous or that which is apart from the common course of nature. Nothing like parted seas, water from rocks, or food from heaven (yet to happen, by the way). Instead, the wondrous works Elihu points to for Job’s consideration are the snow God tells to fall on the earth and the downpour God commands at His will. Everyday indicators of Majesty on High such as scattering winds, moisture bloated clouds sending forth lightning, and bodies of water frozen fast by cold temperatures. The often overlooked things like beasts who know enough to shelter in their lairs when the weather turns bad.

Stand still. Ponder the everyday operation of the natural world around you. Behold the wondrous works of God.

And then, as the awe-o-meter rises through the contemplation of the mundane and ordinary, know that the God who ordains and maintains the taken-for-granted mechanics of the world around you, is the same God who is well aware of your circumstance . . . of your suffering . . . of your searching for understanding. And that, though He has not produced an explanation for the affairs of the day, He has promised to never leave us nor forsake us (Deut. 31:8, Heb. 13:5). And He has invited us to boldly draw near to His throne of grace, “that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Heb. 4:16). And He has assured us that His grace is sufficient, “for My power is made perfect in weakness” (2Cor. 12:9).

We can know this. We can rest in this. We can be revived in this. We just need to stop. To stop and consider.

To stop and know again that He is God. Mighty in deed. Every day declaring His wondrous works and unfathomable power.

To stand still and to be reminded that God is love. Having so loved us, He gave His Son to redeem us . . . His Spirit to seal us . . . His word to guide us . . . His promises to encourage us.

Stop. Pretty good advice I think.

That we might know afresh His grace. That we might determine anew to live for His glory.

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Behold Your King!

Posted on December 14, 2016 by Pete

I like gazing upon a Nativity scene. I can overlook the historical inaccuracies of shepherds and magi and angels gathered all together under a bright star to surround a new mom and a proud dad gazing down into a straw-filled manger. ‘Cause it’s not really about them. And it’s not the bleating sheep or lowing cattle that primes the pump of imagination. No, it’s not the cast of beholders that grabs my attention, but the One who is being beheld.

“. . . you shall call His name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to Him the throne of His father David, and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.”

(Luke 1:31b-33 ESV)

. . . behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, Where is He who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw His star when it rose and have come to worship Him.”

(Matthew 2:1b-2 ESV)

Behold your King!

The Nativity commands it. Consider afresh God’s own Son, the Messiah, come in flesh to establish a kingdom. “Of the increase of His government and of peace there will be no end” (Isa. 9:7).

Immanuel. God with Us. No wonder angels shouted and sang with great joy. No wonder that we picture heaven and earth gathering together all at one time in one place to gaze upon Him declared to be born a king.

That’s the contrasting thought that runs through my mind as I read in John 19 another scene focused on the King.

No longer a baby carefully set in a manger, but a Man bloodied by a Roman flogging. No longer wrapped in swaddling clothes, but clothed in a mocking robe of purple wearing a crown of thorns twisted together and pressed down upon His brow. No longer the subject of heaven’s praise, “Glory to God in the highest.” Instead, the object of earth’s derision, the chorus about Him now chanting, “Crucify Him, Crucify Him!”

So when Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judgment seat at a place call the Stone Pavement, and in Aramaic Gabbatha.  Now it was the day of Preparation of the Passover.  It was about the sixth hour.  He said to the Jews, “Behold your King!” 

(John 19:13-14 ESV)

Behold your King!

Born to die. The serene Child in the manger come to be the sacrificial Lamb upon a cross. God in flesh “so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone. For it was fitting that He, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering” (Heb. 2:9-10).

There’s a reason we don’t put up “crucifixion scenes” preceding Easter. Not the sort of scene that invites you to turn down the lights, grab a cup of coffee, and gaze upon it as Mary might have, who “treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart” (Luke 2:19).

Yet, Behold your King!

Gaze upon the nativity, wonder at God’s great gift. And then remember that the manger lies in the shadow of a cross. That, while a glorious throne awaits, it was achieved through a nondescript tomb. That, though the King will be highly exalted and every knee will bow and confess Jesus Christ is Lord, first He would humble Himself . . . becoming obedient to the point of death . . . even death on a cross (Php. 2:8-11).

Behold your King!

Remember God’s grace. Proclaim God’s glory!

 

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A God of Nuance

Posted on December 13, 2016 by Pete

I don’t know if this is going to come out right or not, but as I read Job 35 this morning the wonder I’m experiencing is that our God is a God of nuance.

Nuance. I think that’s a good word. What I mean is that on most continuums our God does not simply reside at one end or the other. Except for continuums like that of good and evil, our God is not bound to only one side. Rather, He is the continuum. He is the Alpha and the Omega.

For example, on the continuum defined by mercy on one end and judgment on the other, our God operates throughout the continuum. Merciful and yet rendering judgment. Mercifully judging and judging mercifully. Sometimes showing mercy followed by judgment, other times rendering judgment and then mercy. Different shades based on His purposes.

A God impossible to be defined, in many aspects, as an “either / or” God. A God who doesn’t easily fit into a box. A God of nuance.

It’s something that Ellihu says to Job that triggered the wonder . . .

“Look at the heavens, and see; and behold the clouds, which are higher than you. If you have sinned, what do you accomplish against Him? And if your transgressions are multiplied, what do you do to Him? If you are righteous, what do you give to Him? Or what does He receive from your hand?”

(Job 35:5-7 ESV)

If I’m picking up what Elihu’s laying down with this argument, it’s something like, “Job, you have been incessantly claiming to act more righteously than God. You say that righteousness, your righteousness, obviously does not pay and therefore God is unjust? But really Job, does what you do make any difference at all to what God does? Man’s sin doesn’t harm a sovereign God, neither does man’s righteousness benefit a holy God. In the end, God is God and what you do, or don’t do, really doesn’t impact Him.”

And if God were a God of only one end of the continuum or the other there’d be some merit in Elihu’s assertion. But our God has not attached Himself to some well-defined, never to be altered continuum. Instead He has purposed to bind Himself, in a sense, to those He determined to create in His own image. To love them as He is love. To commune with them as He has ever known communion within Himself. To link His glory with their lives. And in order to do that God works along the continuum. Different shades for different circumstances. Different manifestations of the character of God according to His divine purposes.

So, does our sin affect God? Yeah. It grieves the Holy Spirit of a good God. It commands the deserved wrath of a holy God. And it so moves the hand of a loving God that He acts by sending His Son to die on a cross to pay the wages for our sin. An “either / or” God either has to judge all sin because it is sin or ignore all sin in order to spare His people. But a God of nuance is able to be both just and the justifier.

. . . for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by His blood, to be received by faith. This was to show Gods righteousness, because in His divine forbearance He had passed over former sins. It was to show His righteousness at the present time, so that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

(Romans 3:23-26 ESV)

God’s righteousness shaded with divine forbearance because of an atoning sacrifice of His doing, and His alone. Yeah, our sin has impacted the Almighty God.

What about our righteousness? Does He care about that? After all, no matter how holy we might become, what is that to the One who is Holiness?

I will greatly rejoice in the LORD; my soul shall exult in my God, for He has clothed me with the garments of salvation; He has covered me with the robe of righteousness . . .

You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the LORD, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God. You shall no more be termed Forsaken, and your land shall no more be termed Desolate, but you shall be called My Delight Is in Her, and your land Married; for the LORD delights in you, and your land shall be married.

(Isaiah 61:10a, 62:3-4 ESV)

Our righteousness matters. Christ not only having died to take away our sin, but having lived to impute to us His righteousness as our eternal covering. To credit to our account His holiness. Our righteousness mattering so much to our God that He provides it through His Son and imparts it through His Spirit. And thus, we bear His beauty. And thus, He delights in us.

Our is not a God who sits on one end of the scale and says, “Work your way to Me.” But ours is a God who has ventured out. One who has entered our world as Emmanuel. Seeking the lost. Binding up the wounded. Carrying home the lame.

A God who operates on the continuum. A God of nuance.

Known through His abundant grace. Worthy of infinite glory.

Amen?

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