Well Tried

Posted on June 15, 2016 by Pete

We often talk of our less than ideal circumstances as divinely appointed or allowed crucibles. Situations where the heat is turned up so that the impurities might be burned off. Times that test our faith and in so doing expose thoughts, attitudes, and actions unbecoming those who name Christ as Lord. Where, beyond reacting to the latest curve ball thrown at us, we are also repenting of the latest less than godly “swing and a miss” at dealing with that curve ball. Where our jar-of-clay-ness is once again made evident and we find ourselves falling before the throne of grace in need of His forgiveness and His fortification. Experiences endured that God might continue to form within us the image and nature of His Son.

And from time to time, if but for a brief respite, we walk out of the fiery furnace of our trial and realize that it’s working. While we’re not there yet, we’re not where we were. Certainly not perfect, but evidence that shows we really are a work that’s making progress. Nothing to boast in, no merit to claim, but signs that our holy determination to try to walk in the Spirit, and be led by the Spirit, and live by the Spirit is, in fact, bearing something of the fruit of the Spirit. Our lives are tried, and He is glorified.

But this morning, and I may not be reading this exactly as intended, the Spirit illumines the fact that the Word of God is also tried.

Your promise is well tried, and Your servant loves it. 

(Psalm 119:140 ESV)

The promises of God are also smelted or refined. They are also subject to the intense heat of trial and testing. They are no stranger to the crucible, not unfamiliar with the fiery furnace. But not for the purposes of cleaning them up or driving out any flaws or impurities. Instead, the promises of God are subjected to the heat that they might be tested and proved to be pure. That they might be shown to be that which, far from being burned up, withstands the heat of all life’s troubles and afflictions.

The Word of God is not intended to sit on the shelf.  Most of us know that. But nor is it only intended to be pulled out for morning devo’s or mid-week Bible studies or Sunday sermons. Rather, His testimonies, His statutes, His commandments, and His promises are intended to accompany the child of God into the crucibles of real life. They can stand the heat. And only as we purposefully include the Word as part of our “survival kits” during calamity, only as we cling to it as an anchor during the storm, only as we apply it as a balm for our wounds, do we try and test the promises of God and find that they are gold–that they are true and endure.

I never really would have known experimentally the peace that passes all understanding, if I hadn’t believed the Word when it said such peace could be experienced. Wouldn’t have confirmed the veracity that His grace is sufficient, or that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me, or that He won’t allow us to be tempted or tested beyond what we’re able, if I hadn’t continued to “taste and see that the Lord is good” during my temptation and testing.

The songwriter-servant could proclaim, “I love Your promises” not only because by nature they were without blemish, but also because in everyday life they had been tested in the context of his testing and were found to pure and as resilient as gold.

The Word of God . . . not just a book for the shelf, or for the morning closet, or for the Sunday pew. But a book to be taken with us into the fire. A book to be well tried.

Promises for the present. A living and active Word for those who are living and active.

Reminding of His grace. With us in our testing for His glory.

Amen?

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Turn to Me and Be Gracious

Posted on June 14, 2016 by Pete

For me, it is one of my favorite stories told about Jesus in the gospels. If I had a “top ten”, this would be on the list. The picture that is painted of Jesus teaching in a house when all of a sudden the roof starts to cave in. The perseverance that is portrayed as a band of friends start to lower their paralyzed buddy on his bed down through the roof in front of Jesus. And the power that is pronounced when Jesus declares, “Man your sins are forgiven you. . . . But that you may know the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins, I say to you, rise, pick up your bed and go home,” . . . and the man does!

And when I read the story I tend to respond as those who were eye-witnesses to the man coming down with his bed and the glory of God coming down from heaven.

. . . amazement seized them all, and they glorified God and were filled with awe, . . .

(Luke 5:26 ESV)

And within that story that so captures my imagination there is a phrase that always jumps off the page. Beyond the spectacle they created, looking past the dust in the air and the pieces of roof scattered over the floor, Jesus turned toward the paralyzed man before Him and evoked the power of heaven, and the eventual finished work of His cross, to heal the man–both spiritually and physically–because, Luke writes, “He saw their faith” (5:20a).

He didn’t have to read their minds. No need to search their hearts. Their faith was laid before Him . . . literally! Their actions spoke louder than any creed. Their boldness evidence of their deep belief. And seeing their faith, Jesus wiped clean a sin-stained heart and restored the strength of lifeless limbs.

Did I mention I love this story. Amazed! Filled with awe! All glory to God!

But this morning, after reading this account, there was an “encore.” Something I read in the songwriter’s love song to the word of God in Psalm 119 which brought a finishing touch to the story I had just read in Luke 5.

Turn to me and be gracious to me, as is Your way with those who love Your name.

(Psalm 119:132 ESV)

In the seventeenth stanza of this twenty-two stanza song, the writer continues to sing of God’s wonderful testimonies, of their ability to give light and impart understanding. He declares again his longing for the Almighty’s commandments, that he might be taught them, that he might walk in obedience to them, that, according to God’s promise, his feet would be steady in walking in their ways.

And in the midst of this stanza, he looks beyond the word revealed to the Revealer of the word. As if he is lying on the floor, trusting in the Word before him but knowing he is helpless to help himself, he calls out to the Giver of the word, “Turn to me and be gracious to me.”

The NKJV translates it, “Look upon me and be merciful to me.” See me, Lord, and show unmerited favor because that’s just what you do with those who love Your name. It’s how You have said You would respond to those who desire with great affection nothing more than to know You and Your holy character. It’s just what You have said You will do for those who seek You believing that if they seek, they will find. When you see their faith, turn to them, look upon them, show abundant grace to them. Forgive their sin, heal their disease.

Turn to me and be gracious. It’s the plea of faith. It is the precursor of heaven come down. And, praise God, when He “sees” such faith, He responds with great power.

Because of His amazing grace. All for His everlasting glory!

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Our Gain

Posted on June 13, 2016 by Pete

My media world exploded with death over the past couple of days. A Facebook “friend” who lost a husband, a Voice contestant who we followed a few years ago, a nightclub full of people we have no connection with other than through the news cycle. The husband who passed did so of natural causes. The others, of heart-wrenching, head-shaking, anything-but-natural causes. Our FB connection’s husband went home to be with the LORD, He was promoted into glory. The others, we don’t know.

Paul says that when someone who has placed their faith in Christ’s finished work on the cross “falls asleep”, those with like faith should “not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep” (1Thess. 4:13-14 ESV).

But death confronts us with mortality. And the death of others acts a reminder of our own mortality. So maybe that’s why something I read in Philippians this morning jumped off the page. Paul reminds me that for the believer who is confronted with death, and their own mortality, that when they think about falling asleep it should ignite their imagination to an awakening beyond imagining.

For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.   (Philippians 1:21 ESV)

Nothing pretty about death. Nothing easy for those left behind to mourn and figure out how to move forward. But for those who have trusted in Jesus for life beyond life, to die is gain. Having turned to the cross, they anticipate one day standing before a heavenly throne. Having recognized that Jesus came to die for their sin of rebellion against God in their old lives, they also know that Jesus came to provide a spiritual re-birth into a new life which will extend far beyond the confines of this world and time and space.

They know that to be absent from the body is to be present with Lord (2Cor. 5:6-8). And in that there is great hope, even among unfathomable tragedy.

That is good news. That is the message of light so needed in a dark world.

O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

(1Corinthians 15:55-57 ESV)

Because of grace. For His glory.

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Let’s Be Old Fashioned

Posted on June 10, 2016 by Pete

Understanding. That’s the word for the morning. It’s the one that jumped off the page. The word that appears three times in the portion of Psalm 119 I was reading. Interesting though . . . unlike the ESV most often, the ESV translators used “understanding” for two different words in the original. The first has the idea of being prudent or circumspect. The second, the idea of being discerning or insightful.

Prudent, circumspect, discerning. As I chew on those words they seem to be words that many would consider to be old fashioned. You know, the kind of words you’d find in a movie set in the early 1800’s. Words that you recognize as part of the English language, but not part of the everyday, modern day English language. Words perhaps not used as much any more because they are not valued much any more.

But being prudent, circumspect, and discerning are the way of wisdom (perhaps another old fashioned word). Wisdom being a much valued treasure in the economy of the kingdom of heaven (check out the early chapters of Proverbs). For, as said so well by Chuck Swindoll, wisdom is looking at life from God’s point of view, it is the art of skillful living. And wisdom, along with prudence, circumspection, and discernment, are to be found in God’s word.

I have more understanding than all my teachers,
for Your testimonies are my meditation.
I understand more than the aged,
for I keep Your precepts. . . .
Through Your precepts I get understanding;
therefore I hate every false way.

(Psalm 119:99, 100, 104 ESV)

The songwriter sings of meditating on the word of God, and of keeping the word of God as he made it a life habit to take in the word of God. Not that it’s about formulas, but this is probably a pretty good start at how to see life from God’s point of view and of building up muscle in the art of skillful living.

His discernment surpassed the academics. His prudence exceeded those who relied solely on experience. His ability to distinguish right from wrong was fine-tuned.

Wisdom is not dependent solely on how smart we are, but on how supple we are. Not just about how much we know of the Word, but how much the Word knows of us–“piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Heb. 4:12).

The art of skillful living is not simply gained by doing life and gaining experience for “there is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death” (Prov. 14:12). Rather it’s developed as, by faith, we step out and walk in the way God says we should walk and find that, in fact, it is the way of life everlasting. It’s as we taste and see that the LORD is good.

Yeah. I think that too many in our culture consider that being prudent, circumspect, and discerning are Victorian-era virtues not really relevant for today. They’re probably the same people who also believe the word of God is kind of out of date, as well. May that not be the case among the people of God.

For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.

(Hebrews 5:12-14 ESV)

Let’s be those who chew on solid food. Let’s continue to work out the Word in our lives and thus have our powers of discernment fine-tuned. Let’s continue to make His word our meditation, our way of action, and our source of wisdom.

And if that’s being old fashioned, then let’s be old fashioned.

By His grace. For His glory.

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The Hush of Grace

Posted on June 9, 2016 by Pete

I’m hovering over the first part of 1Kings 19 this morning. And you can’t help but notice the stark contrast between the two mounts Elijah stands upon. The first, Mount Carmel, was a mount of victory (1Kings 18:20-40). The place where Elijah stood firm footed though out-numbered 850 to 1. The mount where he called upon the God of heaven to reign fire down from heaven. And God did. As the water-soaked altar burns, the prophet stands tall. And as the sacrifice smolders, he executes judgment on the enemies of God.

The second mount, Mount Nebo, is a mount of despair (19:8). No longer the dynamic prophet, Elijah now is the defeated prophet. No longer surrounded by the crowds, he now sits alone in a cave. No longer calling the people to repentance and faithful obedience, now all he wants to do is to die and be done.

And the valley that joins these two caves? It’s the valley of fear.

Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So may the gods do to me and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by this time tomorrow.” Then he was afraid, and he arose and ran for his life . . .

(1Kings 19:2-3a ESV)

Oh the impact of fear on faithfulness. The debilitating effect of anxiety on action. The way that the disquieted soul can distract from determined service. The man who once went face to face with an army of prophets now runs for his life from a lone woman. All because of fear.

Not judging Elijah. Rather, relating. The fear of the known . . . the fear of the unknown . . . the fear of man . . . I can relate to all such fears and think of how they have either sent me fleeing . . . caused me to doubt . . . and sometimes, caused great despair. So, this post isn’t about bashing the beaten up prophet. Rather, its about the restoration brought about by the sound of a low whisper.

Elijah’s in his cave of despair and the LORD comes to him, “What are you doing here?” (19:9). Get that! The LORD comes to him. The God who is busy holding the entire universe together visits a cave on Mt. Horeb and interrupts a pity party asking, What’s goin’ on?

So Elijah dumps. He tells his tale of woe to the Almighty. And God tells Elijah to get back on his feet and to walk out of the cave, “Go out and stand on the mount before the LORD” (19:11).

But it seems that Elijah isn’t so willing to listen. He doesn’t stand up. He doesn’t move. And so God further condescends to minister to this once faithful but now faltering saint. Instead of just letting Elijah hear His voice, the LORD God determines to provide Elijah with His presence and so, He passes by him. And there’s a great wind that shatters rocks. And there’s a great earthquake that uproots trees. And there’s a great fire which lights the entrance of the cave. But, so records the Spirit of God, the LORD wasn’t in the great wind. Nor was He in the earthquake. Nor the fire. Though He could have been–think Exodus and Moses before the burning bush and the people before trembling Mt. Sinai–in this instance, for this scenario, with this paralyzed prophet . . .

And after the fire the sound of a low whisper. And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave.

(1Kings 19:12b-13 ESV)

A low whisper. A thin silence. A gentle blowing. A still small voice. That’s how the LORD manifested Himself and ministered to this bruised reed . . . that’s how He would fan into flame this faintly burning wick (Isa. 42:3). And when Elijah heard the voice, he stood up and walked out of the cave.

And I’m in wonder at how God deals with Elijah’s fear. Though the error of Elijah’s self-absorbed, woe is me I’m-the-only-one-left view was dealt with firmly by the Almighty, it was also dealt with in a still small voice. The voice of intimate communion. The almost imperceptible sound whispered in one’s ear. It is the tender talk of a mother comforting their child as she holds them in her arms. It is the low whisper of perfect love which casts out fear (1Jn. 4:-18).

It is the hush of grace.

And it is a balm for the beat up servant. And it is for the glory of our God who has promised never to leave us or forsake us.

Praise Him for the hush of grace.

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Don’t Need Fire From Heaven

Posted on June 8, 2016 by Pete

A longer than normal post this morning. Re-working some thoughts from 2009 on today’s readings . . .

Talk about your high drama and suspense! They had been at it for hours. The 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah had tried everything. They had called on Baal for hours. They had jumped around, they had screamed at the top of their lungs, they had even cut themselves until their blood was freely flowing. But nothing, nada, not a single spark so much as appeared anywhere near the sacrifice. Elijah’s challenge rang in their ears, “Call upon the name of your god, and I will call upon the name of the LORD, and the God who answers by fire, he is God.” But nothing, not so much as a puff of smoke. And then, it was Elijah’s turn.

“Come near to me,” he says to the people. They draw near and watch carefully. Elijah takes twelve stones and builds his altar. He digs a trench around it–a moat for water. He places the wood on the altar and then slices and dices the sacrifice and arranges it over the wood. And then he gets some in the crowd to pour four large containers of water over the would be bonfire. And then has them do it a second time . . . and then a third time. Everything is soaked, everything is dripping with water. The flesh of sacrifice, the wood intended to fuel the fire, the altar of rocks, and everything around it . . . soaked!

And Elijah calls out to his God. And the crowd takes a breath. And the response is dramatic.

“Answer me, O LORD, answer me, that this people may know that You, O LORD, are God, and that You have turned their hearts back.” Then the fire of the LORD fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.

(1Kings 18:37-38 ESV)

Man, wouldn’t that have been something to see?

So what was the point of it all? It was an attention getter. Ya’ think?  And the intention of getting their attention was that they would get off the fence.

How long will you go limping between two different opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.

(1Kings 18:21 ESV)

Pretty simple, pretty straight up. Quit limping along on two uneven paths. Pick a side and get in the game. That’s what it was all about. When Elijah prayed to the Lord his objective was pretty clear, “Let it be known this day that You are God in Israel” (v.36). That’s what the showdown was about. Proving Baal nothing more than a chunk of wood was secondary, the primary purpose was to get the people off the fence, to turn their hearts back to the Lord, to remind them who is God.

And I guess sometimes we as God’s people need those wake up calls. Need to get reminded . . . need to get refocused . . . need to get revived. I experienced a little bit of that this morning after reading 1Kings 18. It came as I read in Ephesians 5.

No great showdown in Paul’s letter. No fire from heaven. But something just as dramatic, just as attention grabbing, just as revival invoking, just as much a demonstration of the power of God, just as convincing that He is Lord!!! Paul called it a great mystery!

“Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.

(Ephesians 5:31-32 ESV)

More than just two becoming one flesh, marriage is a divine mystery and a divine reminder. An over the top object lesson of the oneness made possible between the Savior and the sinner. Beyond the fact that He is the Savior of the body (5:23) . . . that He loved the church and gave Himself for her (5:25) . . . that He will sanctify her, cleanse her, and present to Himself a glorious church holy and without blemish (5:26-27) . . . that He nourishes and cares for the church (5:29), beyond all this is the mystery that we are as His own flesh and bone. Members of His body. Shouldn’t that send us facedown?

I don’t need fire from heaven consuming some water-drenched altar to be reminded He is God. Rather, behold the mystery!

No need for some cosmic showdown with principalities to turn my heart back toward devotion to Christ. Just a few minutes considering again the wonder of the relationship I’ve been brought into should get me off any fence upon which I’m sitting. Should be enough to correct the limping and restore me to walking.

Oh, the wonder of the mystery of life in Christ. Oh, the love of God which has betrothed His Son to the church and the church to His Son. Oh, the power of God to redeem, resurrect, reconcile, and bring into relationship those who were once dead in sin. How can I not respond, as did the people before Elijah’s burned up altar, by falling on my face, and with a heart turned towards Him alone, declare, “The LORD, He is God! The LORD, He is God!”

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

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With the Spirit, To the Father, In the Name of the Son

Posted on June 7, 2016 by Pete

It’s a command to be obeyed manifesting itself in four outcomes. It’s not a check-off-the-box, once-and-done command. While it begins with a once-for-all experience, the nature of the command is such that it “must continue thereafter as a moment-by-moment process” (WM). While the command is obeyed through a number of different actions, or spiritual disciplines, it is more of a continuing dynamic to be engaged than it is a recipe to be followed. And this morning, as I hover over Paul’s exhortation to the Ephesians, it’s the integral nature of the Trinity within this command that captures my thoughts. For it is with the Spirit, to the Father, in the name of the Son.

. . . be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with all your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.

(Ephesians 5:18b-21 ESV)

Be being filled. That’s the literal translation of this command. Continually cause to abound. Constantly make full. Without ceasing do what needs to be done to ensure a liberal supply.

And the water for the jar? The air for the balloon? The fuel for the tank? It’s the living Spirit of God. Though, when we first believed, we were baptized by the Spirit (1Cor. 12:13), indwelt by the Spirit (John 14:16), anointed by the Spirit (1John 2:27), and sealed by the Spirit (Eph. 1:13-14), we are to do our part that we might know His continual filling–the full potential of His active agency in our lives on a day by day, moment by moment basis.

How we do that is a subject for another post, but suffice to say, “It ain’t rocket science.” Think the fundamentals of walking the walk and you’re doing what needs to be done to fill the cistern afresh with living water.

And while the outcome of being filled specifically leads to speaking in song, singing in your heart, giving thanks for everything, and submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ, at the macro-level what impresses me is that being continually filled with the Spirit is evidenced in a perpetual dynamic of worship directed to the Father all occurring by the authority of the Son.

Want to interact with the Triune God? Want to participate in a heavenly occupation while here on earth? Then take serious this command. Do what needs to be done to foster the unrestricted access of the Spirit in our lives. And then let Him open our mouths to sing to one another in old songs and new, the instrumentation sourced ultimately in our own hearts without need for any other band. And regardless of the circumstance, He will bring to mind that bounty for which we can be thankful in all situations. Let that flow through us and let us give thanks for everything.

And it will be received of the Father as it delivered according to the will of the Son.

He who is holy, holy, holy–He who dwells in unapproachable light– will set His throne among the praise of His people (Ps. 22:3). And His people will know anew that the curtain has been torn from top to bottom and access has been provided into His holy presence as we again boldly approach His throne of grace.

Reminded afresh that this access has been secured by the finished work of the cross. That it has been assured through the empty tomb. That the blood have been applied once for all for our sin by a faithful High Priest and is sufficient to warrant free access into the courts of the Almighty. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, worship and praise and thanksgiving that is sourced in the Spirit and offered to the Father echoes in heaven. And the angels rejoice in it. And the Father delights in it.

O that we might be people who worship not only in truth but also with the Spirit. Fueled by a fresh filling on a regular basis . . . gathering together as He has asked us to do . . . singing to one another while seeking to serve one another . . . offering the sacrifice of our lips, the fruit of praise and thanksgiving . . .

. . . with the Spirit, to the Father, in the name of the Son.

All through the grace of our Triune God . . . all for the glory of our Triune God.

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Misery Loves Company

Posted on June 6, 2016 by Pete

Prayed with a friend after second service yesterday. She updated Sue and I on the latest details concerning a trial her and her husband have been undergoing for some time now. And it’s not like encountering this trial has been some unique experience for them. Over the past several years, almost for as long as we have known them, it seems they have transitioned from one fiery furnace to another. But what has been so encouraging is that these furnaces have proven again and again to be crucibles where their faith has been refined and “the gold” of trust and joy has been evident even amidst the pressure toward giving up and despair. This friend came to mind as a I was reading this morning.

Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep Your word. . . .
It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn Your statutes.
The law of Your mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver pieces.

(Psalm 119:67, 71-72 ESV)

To be afflicted. To be troubled. To suffer. To be bowed down under great pressure. Nobody’s going to sign up for that. But how many have testified of the songwriter’s experience? That out of such trouble came a connection with the God of heaven that might never have been known in any other way.

When you’re pushed to the ground there’s no place to look but up. When you’ve exhausted all your resources you find yourself turning to the Source of inexhaustible resource. When you’ve reached your limit your ready to cry out to Him who is without limit. When you’re weary and heavy laden you’re primed to seek refuge in the One who said, “Come to Me and I will give you rest.”

Even as she shared how a bad situation was getting worse, even as she related some of the mental games the enemy is playing with her, this friend of ours also spoke of how God’s word is speaking to her. Of how God’s Spirit is moving in her to release everything to “not my will but Thine be done.” Of God’s promises shoring up within her the hope which is found beyond how a particular situation plays out. In this umpteenth trial of theirs over these past few years, we continue to see God’s perfecting work in her life as fruit is born through God’s power for God’s glory.

Not that the trial in and of itself is good. But that our God, in and of Himself, is good.

You are good and do good; teach me Your statutes.

(Psalm 119:68 ESV)

Trials aren’t unique to this friend of ours. In fact, many in our group of friends are undergoing one or more hard things, either personally or within their families. But as we pray together and wait on God together we are encouraged by one another. We see the peace that passes understanding envelope people in trials which naturally would want to make you scream. We see the Spirit directing eyes and minds on things above, putting the hardships of here and now in the greater eternal context of there and then. We see joy where naturally there should only be sorrow. We hear singing where one might expect wailing.

As I think about it, in a way misery loves company.

Not that we wallow in sorrow and self-pity together, but that we are encouraged as we see in others real faith playing out on the stage of real life. As we see supernatural responses in one another amidst our natural disasters. As we draw upon the written word of God and encounter the living Word of God in ways we probably wouldn’t have otherwise. As we know together the reality of the psalmist’s declaration, “It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn Your statutes.”

Misery loves company. Loves the company of others as we encourage each other and behold God’s working in each other. Loves the company of Him who has promised never to leave us nor forsake us. Loves the company of Him who has sealed us and lives in us to empower us. Loves the company of Him who lives His life through us, intercedes ever for us, and is, even now, preparing a place in which to receive us.

All through God’s abundant grace. All for God’s everlasting glory.

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Turn My Feet to Your Testimonies

Posted on June 3, 2016 by Pete

It wasn’t that he listened to some bad advice. Instead, the new king Rehoboam shopped around until he found some counselors who told him what he wanted to hear. He looked for some outside confirmation of the folly he had already inwardly determined to follow. Dumb move on Solomon’s son’s part. But this was “a turn of affairs brought about by the LORD that He might fulfill his word” (1Kings 12:15).

Rehoboam went first to the counselors of his father, the wisest man the world had ever known. You’d think they’d know something of the affairs of government and how to apply sound judgment from the throne. Ease up, they told the young king, “If you will be a servant to this people today and serve them . . . then they will be your servants forever” (12:7). But the rookie king rejected their counsel. He left it on the table. Walked away from sound advice. It didn’t align with his vision of what it meant to rule, nor his ambition of trying to “one up” his dad. And so we went to others who thought like he did. And they said, “Pour it on!” And Rehoboam told the people he would. And the people replied to Rehoboam, “We’re done with you!” And the kingdom was divided.

So goes the ways of the hardened heart. Selfish in nature, blinding men to the truth. True of Rehoboam, true also of the new king of the northern tribes of Israel.

Jeroboam is given a kingdom by God just as God had told him He would (1Kings 11:31-33). But after taking the throne of this divinely promised and established kingdom, this new king also listens to his own heart rather than believe the promises of God. “And Jeroboam said in his heart, ‘Now the kingdom will turn back to the house of David, if this people go up to offer sacrifices in the temple of the LORD at Jerusalem . . .'” (12:26-27). His solution to the perceived issue? His good idea to secure his rule? Make new gods, saying they had been the gods that led the people out of Egypt. And establish new sacrifices in a new place with new priests. So operates the calloused heart, the heart not turned toward the Lord.

They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. But that is not the way you learned Christ!

(Ephesians 4:18-20 ESV)

All my readings this morning conspired to focus my thoughts on matters of the heart.

The foolishness of these early kings contrasted with the heart of the Boy one day to be revealed as King of kings. The boy Jesus who sat among the teachers, “listening to them and asking questions”, increasing “in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man” (Luke 2:46, 51). That is how I’ve learned Christ!

Then, Paul’s exhortation to those who have believed in Jesus to walk worthy of the new hearts given them in Christ. Having learned the way of Christ, to put off the old self with it’s darkened and hardened heart and, being “renewed in the spirit of your minds”, put on the new self “created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness” (Eph. 4:22-24).

The heart of folly is still kicking around, but I need not listen to its counsel. The old man still contends for control but I need not concede it any power. And thus this encouragement from the songwriter in my last reading this morning.

I entreat Your favor with all my heart;
be gracious to me according to Your promise.
When I think on my ways, I turn my feet to Your testimonies.

(Psalm 119:58-59 ESV)

The heart’s GPS set toward living in the favor God offers. Seeking the grace available to those who believe the promise. And so, when I think on my ways, when I need to make a decision, when I need some direction and counsel, I determine to look for the path that aligns with His Word. With the mind of Christ available to me through the Spirit who lives in me, I purpose to align my thoughts concerning my ways with His revelation of how to walk in His way.

It’s the advantage of the new heart. It’s the path and promise of sound counsel. It’s the way of wisdom.

Turn my feet to Your testimonies.

By Your grace. For Your glory.

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To Be Faithful Amidst the Fullness

Posted on June 2, 2016 by Pete

It kills me to read 1Kings 11. Maybe, if he had had a lot less money, he could have afforded a lot less wives. Perhaps if he had a little less to possess he wouldn’t have become so bored with what he owned. Had he used up all the wood, and all the gold, and all the silver in building the temple to His God he wouldn’t have been able to undertake so many building projects for other gods. Or maybe it had less to do with his wealth and more to do with how he was wired.

All Solomon had asked God for was wisdom to rule well. God in His sovereign purposes determined to also give Solomon what he had not asked for, “both riches and honor, so that no other king shall compare with you, all your days” (1Kings 3:13). Did the God who knows the end from the beginning not know what His king would do with the abundance afforded him? Pretty sure He did. And yet, God still provided David’s son his own Eden like opulence. How come?

Certainly it reveals something about the sin nature and the flesh’s desire to venture where God says we shouldn’t go. The Lord had told His people not to marry foreign women, “for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods” (11:2). Yet, what had started with just the daughter of Egypt, grew to the king loving many “strange women” (AV). He bonded himself to them with an affection that out-weighed his love for the God who had given every good gift from above such that it turned his heart away from his First Love.

It also reveals something about God’s willingness to let men be men. Having removed the practical barrier of affordability, Solomon instead had opportunity to honor God with his integrity. God is not a tempter (James 1:13). And though He may orchestrate and allow circumstance which test the sincerity of a heart, “He will also provide the way of escape” from the lure of temptation (1Cor. 10:13). So it’s not like Solomon was destined to fail. But neither were his affections for members of the opposite sex cauterized by divine intervention. No, Solomon, blessed of God, was free to choose how to steward his blessings. He could act in faithfulness or he could venture toward failure.

Finally, when all is said and done, I can’t help but think that God so graced Solomon with riches and peace and wisdom ultimately for God’s own glory.

Had that come through Solomon’s wisdom translating into wise choices during His life, it would have been to God’s glory. Should it come through Solomon’s bad decisions and eventual despairing waywardness, that too would be for God’s glory. Though Solomon would eventually lose the kingdom, God would maintain a remnant in faithfulness to His promise. Though Solomon would know less victory and see everything as vanity, his life lessons and learnings would be preserved through the millennia in order to be illuminated by the Spirit to teach many the secrets of the Way.

I can get caught up in Solomon’s tragic downfall, or I can fixate on God’s glorious patience and perseverance towards fulfilling His promise.

And, I can be warned.

Guard your heart. Obey your God. And let now His abundant blessings become a source of unfaithful distraction.

And when the LORD Your God brings you into the land that He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you–with great and good cities that you did not build, and houses full of all good things that you did not fill, and cisterns that you did not dig, and vineyards and olive trees that you did not plant–and when you eat and are full, then take care lest you forget the LORD, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. It is the LORD Your God you shall fear. Him you shall serve and by His name you shall swear.

(Deuteronomy 6:10-13a ESV)

O to be faithful amidst the fullness.

By His grace. For His glory.

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