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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A Wide Place

Posted on June 1, 2016 by Pete

It’s the reaction of the old man which sees obedience as restrictive. Paul says that it’s the flesh’s natural reflex to balk at the commands of God. It’s the dynamic of the old heart which when it hears, “Do not covet”, naturally responds with covetousness (Rom. 7:7-8). It’s why when God said to earth’s first inhabitants, “Don’t eat. It will be for your own good,” that they ate. Not eating sounded like an absence of freedom when, in fact, it was the way to unimagined liberation.

I’m thinking about the freedom gained through obedience as I read in Psalm 119 this morning.

I will keep Your law continually, forever and ever,
and I shall walk in a wide place, for I have sought Your precepts.

(Psalm 119:44-45 ESV)

I shall walk in a wide place.

This morning I’m typing this as I look out upon a vast ocean without seaming end. If I were to describe what a “wide place” is, my view from our balcony would be it. Nothing restrictive about it. In fact, everything about it speaks of freedom. Nothing, even when it’s stormy, that causes me to resist its allure. Everything about it that seems so inviting. If I could walk on water, this is what I’d imagine walking in a “wide place” to be. And the living Word of God says, follow Me and you shall walk in such a place.

So why do I entertain the old nature’s reflex? Why entertain thoughts that following God’s “rules” will somehow detract from life rather than fuel the abundant life He intended for us? As with all matters that involve embracing the new life in Christ we have been graced with, I’m thinking it comes down to faith, or lack thereof. Of not really believing what I say I really believe.

Not really believing that it is “for freedom Christ has set us free” (Gal. 5:1), and so being wishy-washy about standing firm in the ways of the cross in order to lay hold of my freedom in Christ. Wavering between fully committing to the wisdom of the Word and entertaining the wisdom of the world, not fully convinced that Jesus is really the way, the TRUTH, and the life and that the TRUTH will really set me free (John 14:6, 8:32). Buying into the serpent’s insidious doubt-seeding question, “Isn’t obedience just old fashioned legalistic religion?”

Instead, by faith I need to be seeking His precepts and keeping His law with holy determination and Holy Spirit enabling. Trusting that it is the only way to walk in the wide place intended for me.

The way of holiness is not a track for slaves, but the King’s highway for freemen, who are joyfully journeying from the Egypt of bondage to the Canaan of rest.   ~ Spurgeon

The wide place. Broad, large, roomy in every direction. The way which leads to true freedom. The path, stretching from eternity to eternity, which makes known the liberty for which He redeemed us at great cost. That is the way of obedience.

I believe, help my unbelief!    (Mark 9:24 ESV)

By Your grace. For Your glory!

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He Hears In Heaven!

Posted on May 31, 2016 by Pete

Lot of praying going on. Talking to the Lord every day about what’s going on in our lives. Interceding for babies to be born healthy. Asking for wisdom in matters of direction for the body of Christ. Petitioning on behalf of a colleague in dire need of another liver transplant after complications from his first transplant but a few weeks ago. And the list goes on. And this morning I am reminded why we pray. Because He hears in heaven.

Reading in 1Kings this morning. Construction has been completed on the magnificent structure Solomon has spared no expense to build as a house for God. The ark is brought in and the glory comes down. The wings of the twin cherub cover the ark in the most holy place and a cloud from heaven covers everything else. No space inside as the presence of God presides (1Kings 8:1-11).

And Solomon blesses the LORD for promises realized. He extols the covenant keeping, steadfast love showing, LORD, God of Israel. There is no God like his God, not in heaven above or on earth beneath (8:22-24).

And while the glory is apparent, though the cloud envelopes the temple, Solomon knows that this is but a small manifestation of a greater glory and a much larger presence than could ever be contained in any structure or any place on earth.

“But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain You; how much less this house that I have built! Yet have regard to the prayer of Your servant and to his plea, O LORD my God, listening to the cry and to the prayer that Your servant prays before you this day”

~ Solomon (1Kings 8:27-28 ESV)

Though His glory is seen, earth cannot contain Him. Though His presence is felt, He dwells above the highest heaven. And so, as Solomon lays before the LORD scenario after scenario of failure, confession, repentance, and pleading, he knows that ultimately he needs God to hear in heaven.

Eight times in this eighth chapter of 1King, Solomon asks the LORD, “Hear in heaven.” Listen from Your dwelling place. Give attention to our prayers and pleas from a place we have never seen in a realm we can barely imagine.

With all that must be going in that place where eternity is manifest, what is it that Solomon, or anyone else, could think that God would be attentive to an individual’s prayer? That He would not so be distracted by things concerning the universe that supplications from the third planet from the sun would be all but drowned out?

But that is exactly what our God does. For our God is God. The omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient eternal Creator of all things. Power beyond imagination. Everywhere at all times. Knowing everything about everyone, even to the number of hairs on our head.

As such, our God is able to hear the prayers of individuals. And He can listen to the supplications of those gathered in assembly as the body of Christ. And He even has ears to hear those banded together by a Facebook page taking every update and turning it heavenward in earnest intercession.

Such is our God. He hears in heaven because we are His people.

“Let Your eyes be open to the plea of Your servant and to the plea of Your people Israel, giving ear to them whenever they call to You. For You separated them from among all the peoples of the earth to be Your heritage . . . ”

(1Kings 8:52-53 ESV)

It’s not just a cacophony of voices God hears from this place, but they are the voices of His inheritance. The prayers of those He has called to be His own. The petitions of those He has purchased with great price that they might be translated into His kingdom. The supplications of those He promises to love to the uttermost.

When we pray He hears in heaven.

Because of grace. For His glory.

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A Divine Partnership?

Posted on May 30, 2016 by Pete

To call it a “divine partnership” almost seems presumptuous. After all, what can a mortal man offer that an eternal God doesn’t already have? What yoking could there possibly be between the Almighty Creator and His dust of the earth creation? Partnership somehow doesn’t seem like the right word. Yet, as I’m reading in Psalm 119:25-32, I’m noting what the songwriter says he can bring to the table and what he says must come from the LORD.

First, says the psalmist, I will tell you of my ways. When I’m struggling, when I’m out of gas, when sorrow overwhelms me, I will recount to You what You already know as the omniscient God. I will fill-in for You the details of my circumstance–circumstance which has only come to me as it has already passed through Your hands. I will relate believing You will respond.

I will also meditate on your wondrous works. Pause and reflect on what Your hand has already accomplished. Be still and know that You are God.

What’s more, I will determine to take the road of faithfulness. Having set Your precepts before me as my map, I’ll determine not to lose my grip on them nor, as much as lies within me, waver from where they lead. That’s what I can contribute to this journey. But it won’t be enough.

Give me life according to Your promises . . . train me in Your statutes . . . make me understand Your ways . . . strengthen me according to Your word . . . graciously teach me Your law! My sincere desire and best effort will only bear fruit as it is watered with Your divine provision. As “I grasp and cling to whatever You tell me; GOD, don’t let me down!” (v. 31 MSG)

Presumptuous to call it a partnership? Sounds that way when you think of the nature of the two partners involved. But if the songwriter’s inspired portrait of the dynamic involved in God’s word becoming our way is to be believed–and it is–then partnership seems to an appropriate way to look at it.

Not that we earn a response from God because of our effort. Not that He owes us anything because we’ve gutted it out. Instead, He graciously illuminates His word for us when we desire to know Him and His ways. He condescends to open our understanding when we strain our brains to grasp the high and lofty things of the kingdom of heaven. He lovingly, patiently leads us as we seek to follow Him. We bring what we can to the game by faith so that He might lead us forth in victory by His power.

I will run in the way of Your commandments
  when You enlarge my heart!     (Psalm 119:32 ESV)

I will run when You enlarge. I will sojourn if You’ll provide the direction. I will press on as You enable. I will move my feet if You will work in my heart. I will delight in Your ways if You will arouse my affections.

A divine partnership? I’m thinkin’. But even what I bring, He’s supplied.

All through His overflowing grace. All for His everlasting glory.

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Fruit of the Womb

Posted on May 28, 2016 by Pete

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus . . . there’s just something about that Name. So goes the Gaither chorus . . . and it never grows old or cold. There is something about the Name above all names that stirs the soul. Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Son of God, Servant of God, Lamb of God. Son of Man, Immanuel, God with Us. Alpha, Omega, Beginning and the End. King of kings, Lord of lords. And the list goes on. Jesus, there’s just something about that Name!

But this morning in my reading I came across another reference to the Second Person of the Holy Trinity. One that kind of caught me off guard at first, and then filled me with a fresh sense of awe.

Spoken by one woman who had no right being pregnant because of her age and lifelong barrenness to a another woman who had no right being pregnant because she was still a teen and not even married, this “name” evokes wonder at the depths to which our God would go that we might one day become His trophies of grace.

And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me?”

(Luke 1:41-42 ESV)

“Blessed is the fruit of your womb!”

Ask me to start rattling off the names of Christ, ask me to do a brain dump of all the different ways the Messiah is referred to, and no matter how long you give me, I’m not sure I’d add “fruit of the womb” to the list. But that’s exactly how Elizabeth refers to the Promised King . . . and under the direct influence of the Holy Spirit nonetheless.

The Word who was in the beginning, Who was with God and was God (John 1:1-2) . . . He who is before all things, Who holds all things together, in Whom all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell (Col. 1:17, 19) . . . this same eternal Word became the fruit of the womb. It is one thing to try and grasp the Son of God robed in human flesh, but it is another to consider Him prenatal . . . to behold Him, as Elizabeth did, as the fruit of the womb.

During the season of singing hymns of incarnation we ask, “What Child is this? . . . why lies He in such mean estate where ox and ass are feeding?” But the stable was five star accommodation compared to where the Lord Jesus Christ spent the first 9 months of His life. A lesser known verse of O Come All Ye Faithful declares, “God of God, Light of Light, Lo! He abhors not the Virgins womb, Very God begotten not created . . . O come let us adore Him, Christ the Lord!”

Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise partook of the same things, . . .

(Hebrews 2:14 ESV)

O the depths of the humiliation endured by our Savior in order to rescue and redeem us! Not enough that He should be made human in order to know death. But that He should partake of the full “flesh and blood” experience, including the womb, in order to deliver His rebellious creation from lifelong slavery.

Though He was “the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature” (Heb. 1:3) He did not consider His equality with God a thing to be grasped but made Himself nothing (Php 2:6-7) . . . so much nothing that He became for a time the fruit of the womb.

Blessed be the Name of the Lord! Even that name which identifies Him as the fruit of the womb!

What wondrous, jaw-dropping grace! To Him be glory forevermore!

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