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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The Love of God

Posted on December 12, 2016 by Pete

While I think I pretty well get it, I’m sure I pretty much do not fully grasp it.

Finished up John 17 as part of my morning readings. “Christ’s High Priestly Prayer” is how it’s summarized in my Bible. Jesus’ final discourse. Directed this time not to those around Him but to Him who had sent Him.

And I get to eavesdrop. I’m the proverbial fly on the wall as Jesus lifts His eyes to heaven and talks with the Father.

“Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son that the Son may glorify You” ~ Jesus

(John 17:1b ESV)

What’s at stake is the glory of God. His divine glory made manifest through “the hour.” The hour of Jesus’ death for the sin of mankind. The hour of His once for all atoning sacrifice. The hour when He bears the wrath for our transgressions. The hour when, with His last breath, He declares, “It is finished.” The hour of His burial.

And then, on the third day, the hour of His triumphant resurrection from the dead. Exhibiting, for all who have eyes to see and ears to hear, that He has conquered sin and has vanquished death. Glorify Your Son, Father . . . that the Son may glorify You!

Wonder of wonders!

But then, get this, the glory is linked to a people. First, tied to those who were with Jesus, those to whom He directly manifested the Father’s name. Those the Father had given Him. And, as I continue to eavesdrop, not to them alone.

Jesus then also prays for those who would believe in His name through their witness and word. And that would be me. That would be us. All who have come to faith in Christ. Believing the truth of that hour. Receiving the forgiveness offered through the finished work of the cross. And Jesus great supplication for us? That we be woven into the tapestry declaring the glory of God.

“The glory that You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one even as We are one, I in them and You in Me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that You sent Me and loved them even as You loved Me.” ~ Jesus

(John 17:22-23 ESV)

I get it, I think. But do I fully grasp it? I’m guessin’ not.

Those redeemed by the Son, bearing, in some manner, the glory of the Son as they are brought into relationship with one another. A unity which Paul says is through the Spirit (1Cor. 12:13, Eph. 4:3). A unity which reflects the essence of the Triune God, “one even as We are one.” And a unity which actively binds not only believer with believer, but believer with the God of their belief–Jesus in us, the Father in Him. Perfectly one.

And, here’s the beyond fathoming part for me this morning, “So that the world may know that You sent Me and loved them even as You love Me.”

Loved of the Father as the Father has loved the Son. What is that?!?

We have been brought into an eternal Triune love. The same love the Father has had for the Son since before the foundation of the world (17:24b). Divine love. Eternal love. Perfect love. The love of God.

And Jesus, before going to the cross, looks to heaven and intercedes for His people, Father, let’s show them that love . . . let’s love them with that love . . . let’s bring them into such love. That they might share in Our glory. That they might bear Our glory.

Loved with the love of God. I get it. But I don’t fully grasp it.

Oh, that through the Spirit’s illuminating work I might, more and more, know the power “to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge” (Eph. 3:18-19).

To know that which surpasses knowledge. To not only understand the fact that great love has been shown to us. . . . but to grasp the essence, nature, and implications of His divine love. And then, to live in the light of being enveloped in such love.

Loved with everlasting love,
Led by grace that love to know;
Spirit, breathing from above,
Thou hast taught me it is so.
Oh, this full and perfect peace!
Oh, this transport all divine!
In a love which cannot cease,
I am His, and He is mine.

His forever, only His:
Who the Lord and me shall part?
Ah, with what a rest of bliss
Christ can fill the loving heart.
Heaven and earth may fade and flee,
Firstborn light in gloom decline;
But, while God and I shall be,
I am His, and He is mine.

– George Wade Robinson (1838-1877)

Because of grace. For His glory.

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Heaven’s Shelter and Shepherd

Posted on December 8, 2016 by Pete

Hovering over the latter part of Revelation 7 this morning. What an awesome sight John beholds. A great multitude. Literally beyond numbering. A diverse gathering. From every nation. Representatives from all tribes and peoples and languages. Diverse, yet all wearing the same thing. White robes. All the robes made white by the same purifying and cleansing agent. The blood of the Lamb. And this massive multitude is gathered to one place. Before the throne and the Lamb in the midst. And this massive multitude is gathered for one purpose. To worship!

“Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”

(Revelation 7:10b ESV)

What a sight. How does John take it in? Myriads and myriads of shining white robes as far as the eye can see. Did John have to shield his eyes? And the sound of this great throng crying out in unison with a loud voice? Did he have to cover his ears? Yet, despite the sensory overload, this great gathering pales in comparison to the great God they stand before. The One sitting on the throne still commanding all attention. The Lamb in the midst never ceasing to be preeminent.

But what really grabs me this morning is that while the multitudes worship, the Father and Son still minister. Though the many people may sing, the Triune God still serves. They are His servants, He is their Shelter and Shepherd.

“Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple; and He who sits on the throne will shelter them with His presence. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and He will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

(Revelation 7:15-17 ESV)

A Shelter and a Shepherd. Protection and provision. Shielded from hunger and thirst. Guided to springs of living water. Such is the on-going ministry of the God who loves His people . . . and loves them to the uttermost.

And I can’t help but think that what will be experienced then face to face we now see, though dimly. Though we are yet to fully know what it is like to be under the protective shelter of God’s presence, by faith we enter our day knowing He has promised never to leave us nor forsake. His presence provided through His Spirit. His shelter experienced as He guards our hearts and minds with a peace that passes understanding.

Moreover, though we long to see the Great Shepherd and have Him welcome us to that place He is preparing for us, we rise knowing the Good Shepherd who laid down His life for the sheep. And by faith we hear and known His voice through the Helper He has left with us. Though, at times, we may feel dry and depleted, out of our hearts flow rivers of living water through His all-sufficient provision.

And so, even now we get a foretaste of what it will be for the hunger to be satisfied, the thirst to be quenched, and the tears to be wiped away. And by faith we await that time when we will know, up close and so very personal, heaven’s Shelter and Shepherd.

By His grace. For His glory.

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The Whole Promise

Posted on December 7, 2016 by Pete

If I’m honest, there are some promises in Scripture that I’d just as soon not claim as my own. Some, I’d rather not even be reminded of. I came across one of those in John 16 this morning where Jesus tells His disciples, “In the world you will have tribulation.”

Who wants to spend a lot of time noodling on that? Whether it’s something as big as the world economy, or something as personal as a struggling relationship; whether it’s society’s tendency towards, in the name of tolerance, becoming less and less tolerant of those who follow the Way, or something much more personal involving failing health, in this world, Jesus assures His own, we will have tribulation. Pressure . . . affliction . . . distress. It’s gonna be ours at some point. Count on it.

But I’m only focusing on a piece of what Jesus is telling His disciples. If I stop there, I’m going to miss the whole promise.

Sometimes we do that. Sometimes that’s exactly what the enemy would have us do–focus on a just a piece of the puzzle. And it can kill the “joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart” if I focus just on the tribulation and trials. It can distract from the faithful walk if I’m crushed and discouraged by the hard things of life. It has the potential to hamstring the “abundant life” if I’m consumed by how tough or how unfair things seem.

I think about Paul and if anyone knew that in this world there would be tribulation it was him. Yet what does he say? “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; . . . we do not lose heart. Though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day” (2Cor. 4:8,9,16 ESV).

So how could Paul write this? How did he live it out in day-to-day life? Paul remembered the whole promise.

“I have said these things to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”  ~ Jesus

(John 16:33 ESV)

Yes, in this world we will have tribulation. Troubles, trials and sorrows are going to come. But take heart, says the Risen Savior. Be encouraged. Know also that I have overcome the world. And in Me, regardless of the nature of the storm, there is a great shalom to be known.

I was also reading in Revelation 6 this morning. And it is so obvious that the Lamb who has stepped forward as the One worthy to take the scroll is calling the shots concerning what happens on earth. As He opens seal after seal there is no doubt who is in control. No question as to who has overcome this world. And so, when the souls of those who had been martyred for the word of God ask Him, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth,” the Sovereign Savior says to them, “Rest a little longer.” And to the soul in this chair He says, as well, “Rest. Take heart. In Me you have peace!”

No promise of answers, necessarily. No guarantee that we’ll understand all that’s going on. No assurance of the resolution of our choosing. Just the whole promise that though we will have tribulation in this world, He has overcome the world. And thus, in Him, we can have peace.

Not ours to understand fully, but ours to appropriate by faith. A peace that passes understanding. A deep abiding sense of security and safety, because He has overcome.

Hard-pressed? Maybe, but not crushed. Perplexed? Sometimes, but not in despair. Feeling like we’re in the fire, like we may be going down for the count? Could be, but also knowing that we are not forsaken and will not be destroyed. Because He has overcome.

Tribulation in the world? Yup, gonna happen. But that’s only part of it.

Peace in the inner man? Just as sure. For He has overcome the world.

That’s the whole promise.

By His all sufficient grace. For His everlasting glory.

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Crown Casters

Posted on December 6, 2016 by Pete

Whoever they are, they are obviously very important. While there are different views as to who the twenty-four elders are who sit on the twenty-four thrones around THE throne of heaven, though there are different interpretations of who and what exactly they represent, at face-value you got to know they are kind of a big deal.

A big deal if only by the fact that they are so few in number in a place occupied by myriads and myriads of those redeemed throughout time. If only because they are those clothed in garments of white next to Him who lives in unapproachable light. Those who wear crowns of gold, indicating a kingly order, in the midst of Him who is Sovereign over all. If only by the nature of where their thrones are located–up close and personal, VIP circle seats, before the One of whom the angels unceasingly declare, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!”

But it’s not trying to figure out who they are that grabs me this morning. Who exactly these big kahunas of heaven are, whatever they are ultimately intended to represent or symbolize, when it comes to what was written for our learning, I’m thinking that what’s significant is what they do. I’m chewing on the fact that whoever they are, they are crown casters.

And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before Him who is seated on the throne and worship Him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying, “Worthy are You, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for You created all things, and by Your will they existed and were created.”

(Revelation 4:9-11 ESV)

They were seated on thrones, but they fell to their faces. They were twenty-four in number, and they all bowed before the One. They had been given crowns of gold to wear, but instead removed them and cast them before Him who alone is worthy to receive glory and honor and power.

Crown casters. That’s what they do. And isn’t that what God is calling us to be as well?

Graced abundantly by God. Redeemed eternally by the blood of the Lamb. Robed too in garments of white, garments of righteousness gifted to us by the Son. Elevated by God; raised up with Christ and seated with Him in the heavenly places. Those once far off now brought near to His holy throne. Built up as His spiritual house, made to be a holy and royal priesthood.

And all wearing crowns.

For those who obeyed the call to shepherd His people, an unfading crown of glory (1Peter 5:4). For those who love His appearing, a crown of righteousness given (2Tim. 4:8). And for all those who remain steadfast through trial and testing, faithful even unto death, the crown of life presented by the Author of Life Himself, Jesus the Risen One (James 1:12, Rev. 2:10).

And on that day, when we stand before the throne with those from every tribe and language and people and nation, and we hear the sound of the four living creatures declare above the throne and Him who sits on it, “Holy, holy, holy,” we will race those twenty-four elders to be facedown before they even start to bend the knee. And we will without hesitation cast our crowns before the feet of Him who alone is worthy of honor and praise.

Wherever we are permitted to stand in relationship to the Father’s throne, only because of the finished work of the Son. Anything we are in heaven, only because of His great love. Any position we hold in the kingdom, due solely to His merit. Whatever manner of glory which may be ours, only because of the abundant grace that has always been His.

Crown casters. Won’t that be something to behold? Won’t that be something to be part of?

I’m thinkin’ . . .

All by His amazing grace. All for His eternal glory.

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Buy from Me

Posted on December 2, 2016 by Pete

‘Tis the season. When everyone wants us to buy something. When there are more opportunities to spend our money than perhaps we ever realized. For those of us south of the border, we’ve been through Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Giving Tuesday (where did that come from?). Our mailboxes, both real and electronic, fill up with promotions beckoning us to take advantage of these once a year deals. Maybe that’s why when I saw the word “buy” in one of my readings this morning I paused to reflect on what was being sold.

“I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see.” ~ Jesus

(Revelation 3:18 ESV)

Jesus, “the Amen, the faithful and true witness” tells it like it is to the church of Laodicea. “I know your works,” He says. “Lukewarm, neither hot nor cold,” He says. Hard to stomach, He says.

They were going through the motions. Devotions in the morning, distracted disobedience through the rest of the day. Doing church on Sunday, living for the world the rest of the week.

They thought they were doing pretty well tracking for the kingdom. Not so, says the King. They saw themselves as rich and having it all when, in fact, they were “wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked”–having nothing. And to those in such a state, to those Jesus loves even though in such a state, He makes the offer, “Buy from Me.”

Buy from Me gold. Genuine, 24 carat faith. Don’t avoid the fire of the world’s animosity towards Christ and His kingdom by pretending to be of the world. And don’t cave under the pressure of various trials that will inevitably come your way. Instead, stand fast, take it on the chin for Jesus, feel the heat of a hostile world. Take it on the chin with Jesus and endure the crucible through all manner of adversity. For in this, “the tested genuineness of your faith–more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire–may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1Peter 1:7).

And buy from Me white garments. Clothes that you could never make for yourself. Be covered with garments of salvation, envelope yourself in robes of righteousness. The righteousness of Another. His spotless life credited to your account. His holy nature infused with yours. Stop trying to sew such garments for yourself–it’ll never happen. Buy them from Me.

And buy from Me salve for your eyes. Receive the anointing of my Holy Spirit and He will reveal things as they truly are. Gain true spiritual vision through His enlightenment. He will show sin for what it is and will remind you afresh of the once for all atoning sacrifice for sin. He will keep it real. And He will keep the cross in focus.

Buy from Me! Not ’cause it’s cheap at this time of year. Nothing inexpensive about it. Gold, garments, and salve available only because a great price was paid.

Yet free to us. Ours for the asking. And what’s more, He delivers it Himself to our door.

“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.” ~ Jesus

(Revelation 3:20 ESV)

Talk about your Prime delivery! Jesus Himself. At the door. With the gold. With the garments. With the salve.

Purchased in full. Ours to appropriate with but sincere desire and heartfelt repentance (3:19).

No gimmicks. No qualifying credit score needed. No minimum down with a convenient payment plan to follow. Just Jesus, Himself. Beckoning the lukewarm, pleading with those He loves, “Buy from Me.”

Because of grace. For His glory.

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Friended

Posted on December 1, 2016 by Pete

Friended.  It’s a word . . . at least in the Urban dictionary. As in a verb “to friend.” As in, “Hey dude, friended you last night on Facebook. Did you see it?” Crazy.

For years I’ve thought that Facebook has redefined what friendship is . . . and not for the better. I appreciate the connected-ness it facilitates and, to be sure, it has enabled people to maintain a breadth of relationships that simply could not be matched by letter-writing, phone-calling, or e-mailing. But can you really have hundreds and hundreds of friends? Real friends? People who you know inside and out. People who know you through and through. People that you’ve shared real life with, not just virtual life. People you’d go to the mat for . . . and are pretty sure would do the same for you. It matters how we define friends. Because it makes a world of difference when Jesus says, “You are My friends . . . I have called you friends.”

Thinking about Jesus “friending” me this morning. Came across something I wrote back in 2010. Thought I’d update it a bit, clean it up a bit, and re-share it. So thankful this morning that Jesus has friended me.

According to Facebook, I have 263 “friends.” I know that in the Facebook world that’s not a lot of “friends.” And I’m only mentioning it ’cause that’s what Facebook says.

I’m not a really engaged “Facebook-er.” I don’t post except to post a link to my devo. I’ll send messages occasionally. Every so often I might even “Like” something. But mostly I just leverage Facebook to keep tabs on “my friends” . . . 263 of them.

Really? Maintain 263 “friendships?” Is that even possible? And, like I said, my list, from what I gather, is relatively small. I guess there are “friends” and then there are “friends.” But I wonder if, in the world of Facebook, we haven’t cheapened a bit what it means to be “a friend.”

“No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you.” ~ Jesus

(John 15:15 ESV)

Now there’s a “friend request” you don’t want to decline. Friended by Jesus. How amazing is that?

He was their Teacher. He was their Master. They increasingly recognized that He was the Son of God and so they called Him Lord. And now, as He instructs them for the last time before heading to the cross, He calls the disciples His friends.

And what made them friends? They knew what Jesus was doing. They were be being let in on what Jesus was thinking. They were brought into the inner circle of what Jesus had heard from the Father. They were being schooled in the things of the kingdom of heaven. And, as such, Jesus called them friends.

What a thought . . . that I might also be considered a friend by the risen, glorious, reigning Christ. Invited to commune and abide with Him. Told that He desires to commune and abide with me.

It’s not just that every so often He’ll post something on “my wall” . . . or comment on something I’ve shared. No, instead it is about intimacy. About getting really real. About imparting to us His mind through the Spirit via the Word. About knowing us from the inside out–our thoughts, out motivations, our highs, our lows. It’s not played out on some public forum for all our other “friends” to follow along with. Instead, mostly it’s played out in the quite times . . . when we’re one on One with Him.

That Jesus would call me His friend should cause me to pause and reflect in awe and wonder. Me . . . once dead in trespasses and sins . . . once an enemy of God . . . now a friend of Jesus. Not because of who I am . . . not because of what I’ve done (actually despite what I’ve done). But only because of who He is and because of what He’s done to make possible and enable such relationship. All through the finished work of the cross. All by His unfathomable and immeasurable grace.

We don’t “friend” Jesus, He “friends” us (John 15:16). It’s not His privilege to be added to our list, but our eternal blessing that our names should be written in His Book.

I draw near as I would to a friend, and He draws near to me. I confide in Him as to a friend, and He comforts and gives a peace that passes understanding. I, heeding His invitation, boldly approach His throne as would a friend, and the King of kings welcomes me into His presence.

He calls me friend. I bow before Him as Savior and Lord.

What a friend we have in Jesus.

By His grace. For His glory!

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The Morning Star

Posted on November 30, 2016 by Pete

Four churches down, three to go. I’ve been reading in the second chapter of Revelation over the past couple of mornings and, so far, have sought to have “ears to hear” what the Spirit says to the churches at Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, and Thyatira.

I’m a pattern guy and the color on the page of my Bible indicates there’s a pattern in these short exhortations from the One who stands in the midst of the seven churches. He addresses the angel of the church and then He gives a short bio concerning Himself. He then declares He “knows their works.” Where commendation is due, commendation is then given. And where rebuke or reproof is appropriate He calls them also to repent and return to their first love and first works. And then, then there’s the promise. Not gonna lie, that’s kind of my favorite part.

To “the one who conquers” (ESV) . . to him who overcomes (all other translations) . . . to such a one there is reward to be anticipated. For the person who holds fast their faith, . . . for the one who victoriously responds to the Masters call to remain clean and remain focused, . . . to those who, by God’s grace and the Spirit’s power, obediently keep on keepin’ on . . . there is reward promised.

So far it has entailed a promise of eating of the tree of life in paradise (2:7); of receiving a crown of life (2:10); of a white stone with a new name written on it (2:17); and, the one that has me noodling this morning, of being presented with the Risen, Glorious, Christ Himself.

“The one who conquers and who keeps My works until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron, as when earthen pots are broken in pieces, even as I Myself have received authority from my Father. And I will give him the Morning Star. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” ~ Jesus

(Revelation 2:26-29 ESV)

Written to the church at Thyatira, but written for us.

Written for our instruction. What does the Head of the church value in His people? Love, faith, service, patient endurance, and works that continually bear greater and greater fruit (2:19). Written for our correction. What grieves our risen Head? Members of His body who tolerate the spirit and influence of “that woman Jezebel”–who practice sexual immorality and participate in idolatrous activity (2:20-23). And what does He promise those who conquer such temptation and remain faithful, holding fast until He comes? Himself!

Sure, He also promises that there are those who will rule the nations under His authority. And as cool as the thought of that might be, its part two of the promise that I’m chewin’ on.

And I will give him the Morning Star.

The Morning Star. That’s how Jesus describes Himself later in the revelation:

“I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. I am the Root and the Descendant of David, the Bright Morning Star.

(Revelation 22:16 ESV)

And to him who conquers, to her who overcomes, He will give them the Morning Star. He will give them Himself.

The Bridegroom will finally take His Bride, presenting “the church to Himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish” (Eph. 5:27). And the Bride will forever behold her Bridegroom whispering to herself, as foreshadowed by the Shulammite, “I am my Beloveds and my Beloved is mine” (Song of Solomon 6:3).

What will it be to be given the Morning Star? What manner of relationship will be ours when we are absent from the body and present with the LORD? How will heaven, in it’s eternal vastness, still accommodate intimate communion when He gathers us to His banqueting table for the marriage supper of the Lamb?

He is the bedrock foundation of our faith, the Rock upon which we stand. He is also the height of heights of our aspiration, the Morning Star who has promised to give even more fully of Himself. He is our foundation and He is our future. He is the First and the Last. He is the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. And to him who overcomes, says the eternal Christ, I will give the Morning Star. I will give Myself.

Now that’s awesome! That’s beyond comprehension. But that’s the promise. (Did I mention the promise is kinda’ my favorite part?)

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!.

Abiding by grace. Awaiting His glory.

Amen?

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