Embracing the Thorns

Posted on May 10, 2016 by Pete

I don’t really like operating from a position of weakness. There’s something about feeling like you’re in control which helps reduce stress. Something about engaging a situation for which you believe you are equipped that helps maintain a sense of equilibrium. I really try to avoid getting in over my head because I know I can get really frustrated when I’m doing something — or something’s doing me — for which I really haven’t the ability to handle. Welcome to Paul’s world!

So to keep me from being too elated by the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from being too elated. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me.

(2Corinthians 12:7-8 ESV)

Paul was a pretty capable guy. Well educated, a pretty good thinker, and an extremely disciplined and hard worker. Oh yeah, and He had also met the risen Christ face to face. What’s more he had been “caught up to the third heaven” and tutored one-on-one by the Son of God at Paradise U (12:2-4). To say Paul had all the tools he needed would be an understatement.

But, and it’s a big but, he was constantly working from a position of weakness.

Whatever that thorn in the flesh was, it was such a tormenter that Paul pleaded repeatedly for the Lord to remove it from him. The NKJV translates it as a messenger of Satan sent to “buffet” him–literally to strike with the fist, to treat with violence, insolence, and insulting language. Whatever Paul’s thorn in the flesh, it was abusive. Always seeking to set Paul back on his heels. Relentlessly determined to push Paul’s head underwater. And yet, apart from this passage in what is Paul’s most personal letter in the New Testament, we’d never have guessed that, in addition to all the overt persecution that Paul suffered, he had to contend with this inner demon as well.

How come?

But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

(2Corinthians 12:9-10 ESV)

I often glory in the amazing grace that saves, but what of the sufficient grace that sustains? Do I recognize that operating from a position of weakness is often exactly where God wants me in order “to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us (2Cor. 4:7)?

I say that I want to know the filling and enabling and empowering of the Holy Spirit. Maybe I need to remember that you only can fill up that which is already empty. That you enable that which is first disabled. That you empower that which is without power.

Paul got it. He wasn’t a masochist. His wasn’t a “bring it on” attitude. In fact, he pleaded three time for the henchman of Satan to be removed. But when God said, “No,” Paul looked to receive the grace and power of God needed to sustain and enable the man of God. He saw it as an opportunity for God to increase and for Paul to decrease. Paul knew that it would demonstrate that the power in his life clearly belonged to the One he sought to magnify and not to himself.

Honestly, I’m not looking to get any weaker than I am. Sufficient is the frailty of this man for God to manifest His power. But perhaps I need to embrace my “thorns in the flesh” more as they afford God’s strength to be made perfect in my weakness. That the amazing grace which saved me might also be known to be the sufficient grace which sustains me.

For when I am weak, then I am strong . . . because the power of Christ rests on me.

All by His sustaining grace . . . all for His everlasting glory

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A Lesson from the Cave

Posted on May 6, 2016 by Pete

Kind of crazy times in the world around us. Too much stuff that makes so little sense. And too much temptation to get spooked and take matters into our own hands.

Cue my reading this morning in 1Samuel 24. What an illustration of submission and faith. What an example of doing it “God’s way” even when we feel there is more than enough justification for doing it “my way.” It’s a reminder that while we might want to take matters into our own hands, we can trust the hand of God. It’s a lesson from the cave.

Here’s the scene . . . Saul and 3,000 elite fighting men from his army have received a tip on where David is hiding and they’ve gone after David and his band of 600 misfit followers. Saul is intent on destroying David. He is driven by jealousy, ego, and just a lousy overall disposition. Saul is almost out of his mind with fear and paranoia and he’s definitely out of the will of God. In short, Saul’s mostly out of control.

Anyway, Saul needs to “relieve himself” and so he steps into a cave to do his business. Guess what? David and his men have been hiding in the recesses of the cave. Saul is a sitting duck (no pun intended). David can do with him as he wishes. David’s men are certain that this must be the doing of the Lord and that David has the green light from God to take Saul out.

This is David’s chance to end the running . . . to take the throne which God has already promised him . . . to give Saul what he deserves. But, he passes on the opportunity. Instead he cuts off a corner of Saul’s robe as evidence of what could have been . . . and then let’s Saul do his thing and leave . . . un-touched!

Why??? Surely God has orchestrated these circumstances. Who wouldn’t have thought David justified to stop Saul’s crazy, murderous obsession to kill David? Killing Saul would have been an act of justifiable self defense. But David didn’t harm Saul. In fact, he regretted even cutting the corner of his robe. So, why?

He said to his men, “The LORD forbid that I should do this thing to my lord, the LORDs anointed, to put out my hand against him, seeing he is the LORDs anointed.”

(1Samuel 24:6 ESV)

David did not have the freedom to step outside the lines of authority established by God. For better or worse, Saul was David’s king. Chosen by God . . . anointed by God . . . given the throne by God. David would not raise his hand against the Lord’s anointed. Instead he would entrust himself to the Sovereign God.

“May the LORD judge between me and you, may the LORD avenge me against you, but my hand shall not be against you . . . May the LORD therefore be judge . . .

(1Samuel 24:12, 15a  ESV)

Let the LORD be judge. What faith! What confidence! What a submissive and trusting heart!

I’m not unlike David’s men that day. I can come up with a dozen arguments of why David would have been justified to take matters into his own hands. But that’s what it would have been — taking matters into his own hands. And this man after God’s own heart knew that the reason for this “chance encounter” in the cave wasn’t about Saul, it was about David.

It was a situation ordained to test his faith, to secure his trust in the One who is forever trustworthy.

Oh, what a lesson in letting God be God–even when it might be easier or quicker or apparently safer to take matters into our own hands. A reminder to rest on the word and the promises of God. To acknowledge Him as active and present in our lives, and in the world around us, even when it seems we are stuck in a dark cave. To believe that He works all things together for good for those who love Him and called according to His purpose (Rom. 8:28), even when those “things” make no sense.

Submitting isn’t always easy. Waiting can be even harder. Being dealt with unjustly, no fun. Watching circumstances unfold that that make no sense . . . that can be almost unbearable.

But when I remember, and when I believe that the God who called me is Sovereign and works all things according to His will . . .

. . . then I can wait, because of His all sufficient grace, . . . and I can let God be God . . . for His all deserving glory.

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If You Believe That, You’ll Believe Everything!

Posted on May 5, 2016 by Pete

I’ve read or have heard messages on the conversation dozens of times at least. But this morning the conversation in Mark 12 between the scribe and the Savior strikes me as a bit odd. Jesus is ushering in a new covenant yet the conversation is about the old. Jesus is the catalyst for the age of grace but speaks about the requirements for living under the law. And, when the two exhibit a like mindedness on the writings of Moses, Jesus tells the man he is “not far from the kingdom of God” (12:34). It’s like Jesus is saying to this inquiring scribe, if you believe that, you’ll believe everything!

And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that He answered them well, asked Him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” And the scribe said to Him, You are right, Teacher.”

(Mark 12:28-32a ESV)

Odd, at first, that Jesus would connect agreement concerning the commandments with alignment concerning the kingdom. But maybe not.

If without faith it is impossible to please God and if saving grace comes only by faith then perhaps it’s not so remarkable that someone who has sincerely believed what God has spoken in the past “to the fathers” is ready to receive what He has spoken in “these last days” by His Son.

For the sincere seeker of God, believing that he or she is called to love God with all their being and to love others as themselves should cause great turmoil. To believe that’s the call of man yet to honestly acknowledge the inability to respond to such a call should be devastating.

The debt of sins already committed against God, the weakness of the flesh, the deceitfulness of the heart, the allure of the world, if one is honest, frustrates loving God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength. So to believe that is what God wants puts the sincere seeker in a position of looking for a fix. A remedy that pays the debt, crucifies the flesh, provides a new heart, and sets one’s affections upon another world.

And so, the faith that believes we are to love God with every ounce of our fiber and then to love others as ourselves is the same faith needed to receive the gospel.

Those who argued with Jesus and were far from the kingdom of God were those who in their arrogance and pride redefined what loving God and loving others should look like. While they may not have created a god after the own likeness, they twisted God’s law to accommodate their own sinful weakness and desires. They didn’t believe the word written by Moses the man of God, and so, they wouldn’t believe the word as revealed by Jesus, the Son of God.

Ours is to love the Lord our God with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our mind and with all our strength. Second to that is to love our neighbor as ourself. If we truly believe that, then we will also believe that in ourselves we are incapable of obedience apart from divine intervention. And when we confess our need we are ready to receive His abundant and free provision . . . and we draw nigh to the kingdom of God.

If you believe that, you’ll believe everything.

Because of grace . . . for His glory . . .

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The Glory of Christ

Posted on May 4, 2016 by Pete

I’m thinking that sometimes when reading the Scriptures you need to go with your first impressions and trust they are divine impressions. That’s the case for me this morning as a phrase jumped off the page while reading in 2Corinthians. At first read it seemed clear to me what the apostle was referring to. But after going back and hovering over it a bit, it’s evident that another understanding is possible. But, for now, I’m going with my initial impression. A fresh sense of awe as I meditate on the church being the glory of Christ.

As for Titus, he is my partner and fellow worker for your benefit. And as for our brothers, they are messengers of the churches, the glory of Christ.

(2Corinthians 8:23 ESV)

“The glory of Christ.” Referring to “the churches” or to “the messengers”? That’s the interpretive question here. Some translations make it clear they believe the descriptor should be attached to the messengers by adding the word “and”, as in ” they are representatives of the churches and an honor to Christ” (NIV). But when I read it I was stirred as I understood Paul to be saying that the church is the glory of Christ. ‘Cause it is!

She is His Bride. Christ having so loved the church that He gave Himself up for her. That He has determined to sanctify her, intending one day to present her to Himself “in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish” (Eph. 5:25b-27).

She is the fruit of His finished work. A composite of men and women, boys and girls, who have been redeemed by the shed blood of the Lamb of God who came to take away the sin of the world. Souls rescued from judgment because He bore their judgment. Slaves of the flesh emancipated from their bondage through a new nature, the very righteousness of Christ, gifted to them by grace alone. Those who lived in the shadow of the fear of death having been set free from fear as, through the cross and by the resurrection, they have been given life . . . life eternal . . . life to the full.

She is His Body. Each member attached to the Head through the mysterious dynamic of the Spirit of God. Called and endowed with a Spirit empowered gifting to fulfill a role as part of the whole. And when each part is working properly the Body grows, building itself up in love (Eph. 4:15-16). Increasingly reflecting the nature of Christ as it makes itself available to be His physical presence in a world that so needs the touch of God.

She is His Temple–the temple of the living God (2Cor. 6:16). Living stones built into a spiritual house (1Pet. 2:5). God determining that He would dwell among, and walk in the midst of, this people owned as His own. That it would be a living and growing structure, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone. A holy temple in the Lord, a dwelling place for God by the Spirit (Eph. 2:19-22).

She is the place where His glory is to be found. The radiance of who He is. The earthly expression of His heavenly being.

I believe the church, in all her flesh-bound imperfection, is the glory of Christ.

May His glory shine!

Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

(Ephesians 3:20-21 ESV)

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The Living God

Posted on May 3, 2016 by Pete

The danger in a passage like 1Samuel 17 is that it becomes “skim material”. Bible accounts so familiar that we just breeze through them because we think we know them so well. Stories told and retold so many times and in so many ways that we remember the flannel graph or the object lesson rather than focus on the Word of God. We read the passage and before we’re done we’re re-applying the applications that we’ve heard so many times before. But when we do that with a portion of Scripture, such as the story of David and Goliath, we run the risk of not allowing the living and active word of God to engage our souls. It’s the reason I do my morning readings with colored pencils at the ready to mark what I see before noodling on what it means and what difference it should make.

This morning my blue pencil crayon was at work as I read through 1Samuel 17. Amidst what is written concerning David and Goliath, I’m also noticing what’s revealed concerning my God. And the phrase “the living God” catches my eye.

The phrase is found twice as David shows disdain toward Goliath, the uncircumcised Philistine, because of the giant’s defiance of “the armies of the living God” (17:26, 36). And it’s not that David is wanting to protect the reputation of Israel’s soldiers. No, it’s a much broader, more earth transcending perspective David operates under. His God is THE God, and his God is the LIVING God. It is not Israel Goliath mocks, it is “the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied” (17:45).

Oh, how right theology and internalized theology affects our actions. How it creates a perspective, a filter, through which life is understood and circumstances are encountered.

David’s God is the living God. He is not some invention of the religious mind. He is not merely a concept. He is not some world view. Our God is the living God.

My reading in Psalm 102 this morning further reveals to me something of the living God. He looks down from “His holy height” (Ps. 102:19). From heaven the LORD shows regard and pays attention to what’s happening on the earth. God is not some distant God. He is not unaware. He is not dormant. Rather, God is the living God . . . the God who is engaged in the affairs of man . . . the God who is engaged in the affairs of this man in this chair this morning.

When I get that, then I too can boldly face the enemy’s opposition. I can look to the heavens in the time of distress. I can remember that the battle is His. I can cry to Him knowing that He has promised that He will never leave me nor forsake me.

And so David goes forward. With Saul’s armor lying on the ground . . . with a sling in his hand . . . with five smooth stones in his pouch . . . and with a ton of confidence–not in himself, but in the living God. The Psalmist too, though facing his own giants and distress, goes forward. Knowing that the LORD will build up Zion . . . sure that He will appear in His glory . . . believing that He will respond to the prayer of the destitute . . . confident that He will not reject the psalmist’s plea (Ps. 102:16-17).

And what will be the result of the psalmist’s victory? What is the legacy of David’s triumph?

Let this be recorded for a generation to come,
so that a people yet to be created may praise the LORD

(Psalm 102:18 ESV)

I’m that generation to come. Thousands of years removed from the shepherd boy, David, on the battlefield with the giant. Centuries and centuries after the heart wrenching cry of the psalmist to His God. I’m that people, yet to be created, now reading what was written so long ago–inspired and preserved by God–that I might praise the LORD.

That I might grasp afresh that my God is the living God. That I might be reminded that the Creator of heaven and earth is the re-Creator of this man in this chair–by grace alone–through the blood of Christ and the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit. That I might know with assurance that He is living and He is high and He is holy and He alone is worthy of all glory.

Our God is an awesome God!

Amen?

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It’s Not Me . . . It’s You!

Posted on May 2, 2016 by Pete

There was a drift happening. Once they had been very tight, now, not so much. Once they had fully trusted in his authority, his words, and his motives. Now they weren’t so sure. The bro-mance (as in brothers and sisters in Christ) wasn’t what it used to be. Something was coming between Paul and the Corinthian church. And in Paul’s estimation, “It not me . . . it’s you!”

We have spoken freely to you, Corinthians; our heart is wide open. You are not restricted by us, but you are restricted in your own affections. In return (I speak as to children) widen your hearts also.

(2Corinthians 6:11-13 ESV)

2 Corinthians is as personal and passionate a letter as any of Paul’s letters.

There were those who had come into Corinth seeking to discredit Paul’s apostleship, his authority, and his authenticity. They sowed seeds of doubt as to his character and his motives. They cast a shadow over his professed love of them. And so Paul writes a letter of defense as he contends for the believers at Corinth. Not that he might be something, but that Christ might be everything. Not that he might find favor, but that the Corinthians wouldn’t turn their back on the favor of God’s full and gracious provision in Christ.

And Paul doesn’t pull any punches. The problem, he says, isn’t me, it’s you. It’s not our openness, it’s yours. It’s not a matter of our affection, but of your hesitation. It’s not because of our hearts, it’s because of yours. Widen your hearts!

Make broad the seat of your affection. Throw open the door of your devotion. Trust me again. Know that the words I have spoken have been words sourced in heaven and spoken in sincerity. That I contend for you not for the sake of my ego but for the sake of your eternity!

And as I hover over Paul’s impassioned plea I hear the Savior echo his words, “Widen your hearts to Me also! Open them up!”

If we’re drifting in our relationship with the Lord, if things are cooling off between Him and us, “It’s not Me,” Jesus could say, “it’s you!”

Something has caused us to withhold our affection from Him who has loved us without restriction . . . loving us unto death, even death on a cross. It’s not as if His heart is not open wide to us . . . for if the Father “did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him graciously give us all things?” (Rom. 8:32)

No, it’s us. It’s me. My faith has wavered. I’m holding back for some reason. I’m listening to the wrong voices–whether they are the voices of the world beckoning me to “broaden my horizons and gain more balance in my life” or, the voice of the accuser trying to convince me that His grace isn’t really as amazing as it needs to be for a wretch like me. Instead I need to hear my Good Shepherd’s voice as He calls out with heart wide open, “Widen your hearts also!”

Yes, Lord!

By Your grace . . . for Your glory!

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Jars of Clay

Posted on April 29, 2016 by Pete

Every year when I encounter the fourth chapter of Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians as part of my reading plan it always carries a special weight in my post-reading meditation. Love this chapter. So encouraged by this chapter. Particularly by the seventh verse. This morning I thought I’d update and replay some thoughts I put together back in 2009 . . .

==================================

I’m not going to lie to you . . . “jars of clay” has got to be one of my favorite phrases. The phrase evokes a ton of implications, imaginations, and emotions within me.

In 2Corinthians 4, Paul’s theme is “we do not lose heart” (4:1, 16). Paul’s ministry was a glorious one (see chapter 3) but it was also a hard one. The price paid to bear the good news of the gospel was significant for Paul. He was “afflicted in every way . . . perplexed . . . persecuted . . . struck down . . . carrying in the body the death of Jesus.” Hard work . . . wearing work . . . often very unappreciated work. Yet, Paul says, “we do not lose heart!”

So, what’s the secret? Well, I know enough to know that it doesn’t boil down to a formula. Not as simple as some “3 Steps to Maintaining Your Spiritual Vitality.” But I also don’t think it’s really complicated–at the very least it begins with a realistic assessment of what I am. Cue “jars of clay.”

But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.

(2Corinthians 4:7 ESV)

A jar of clay, but the treasure it contains is grand. It is “the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (4:6).

Oh, that mortal man should possess such knowledge, the knowledge of the glory of God! That he or she would be made so spiritually alive as to see, by faith, the face of Jesus Christ and, in so doing, begin to grasp something of the awe-invoking, jaw-dropping nature of God. (As an aside, I read in Psalm 99 this morning that the Lord reigns . . . that He dwells between the cherubim . . . that He is holy . . . holy . . . holy . . . and that the appropriate response is to praise His great and awesome name . . . to exalt the LORD our God . . . to worship at His footstool).

And what has God determined to do with such a treasure? To do with such light? To do with such magnificent experiential knowledge? He has chosen to place it within jars of clay. He has determined to commit it to fragile earthen vessels.

Why would such treasure be placed in such iffy vehicles? Paul asks the question a little differently, “And who is sufficient for these things?” (2:16)

Short answer: Not me!!! Saved? Yup, that’s me! Sanctified? You bet, declared so and being made so? Sufficient? No way! Just a jar of clay.

What a great perspective to own. Chipped . . . cracked . . . worn . . . brittle at times . . . only an earthen vessel. But it’s not about the vessel, it’s about what’s inside. Take an empty pop can (I think that may be soda can down here) and you can easily crush it with one hand. But fill it up and seal it and not so easy. So Paul could 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

(2Corinthians 4:8-9 ESV)

It wasn’t about the jar of clay it was about the treasure inside. The treasure is a sustaining treasure. In fact, a little bit of brokenness, a crack here or there, it all serves to enhance the treasure. Through the cracks the light shines out and the power is evident. It’s the treasure, the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, that gives the power. It’s of God and not of us.

So we do not lose heart. Though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison . . .

(2Corinthians 4:16-17 ESV)

We do not lose heart! Despite how fragile we get sometimes . . . despite how cracked and broken we may feel . . . despite the incredible pressure we sometimes experience . . . we do not lose heart because we are just jars of clay shored up by the glorious treasure we carry anticipating a future glory beyond imagination. It’s not about the strength of the vessel but about the glory of its contents. “Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God” (3:5).

Just a jar of clay. But the transport of an eternal treasure. Therefore, do not lose heart.

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

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Giving God the “Write Away!”

Posted on April 28, 2016 by Pete

Paul found himself having to defend his credentials and his ministry in 1Corinthians 3. In so doing, he pointed to the same thing as both the evidence of God’s calling on His life and as the validation of the message he proclaimed. He pointed to the Corinthians themselves. “You yourselves,” wrote Paul, “are our letter of recommendation” (3:2).

That there was even a gathering of believers in Corinth validated that Paul had been “commissioned by God” to “speak in Christ” (2:17). That these human epistles weren’t the same people as they were before hearing Paul’s proclamation of the gospel, was proof that it wasn’t Paul’s good news but Another’s. Though the message might have come from Paul, it’s impact was from God. Paul may have spoken the words, but it was Another who scribed the letter.

And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.

(2Corinthians 3:3 ESV)

A letter from Christ. Written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God. Written not on tablets of stone, as was the old covenant, but on tablets of human hearts, as promised in the new covenant (Jer. 31:33). That’s the lot of every believer. That’s the dynamic at play for all who have responded in faith to the message of the cross. And if God in His sovereign grace and determination has purposed to write a letter on my heart, then I say, “Write Away!”

The truth of the gospel isn’t found just in how well it is articulated. Nor is it true just because many have believed it. There are many religions, philosophies, and systems of man which are presented by compelling orators and received by myriads of sincere men and women. Rather, the proof of the power of the good news that Jesus came to die for sinners is found in their lives. The overwhelming preponderance of evidence not found in what believers recite but in the spiritual dynamic they reflect. The weight of testimony not found in what they know but in who they have become. Not in their autobiography but in the story imprinted by the Spirit of God on their very souls.

And though our hearts may be God’s chosen writing surface, and while it may be His heaven-sent ink alone, there is a very real sense in which we are co-authors as we submit our lives to His divine authorship. There is a sense in which we must give God the “write away!”

We acknowledge that our spiritual rebirth is a work begun by Him and for Him — for His purpose, His honor, His glory. We understand that they are no longer our lives to live, but that we have been bought with a price and now belong to the Master. We consciously cooperate with the Divine as we refuse to offer any longer our members to sin but, by His power given us, seek only to offer them to righteousness. We are aware of the battle within, the war between the old nature and the Spirit, and so we seek to walk in the Spirit, be led by the Spirit, and live according to the Spirit. And all the while, He is writing His letter. He is imprinting Himself on our very nature.

His is to write the story, mine is to give God the “Write Away!”

Write away, Lord!

By Your grace . . . for Your glory!

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Loving Them By Letting Them Leave

Posted on April 27, 2016 by Pete

Do not murder. Check. Do not commit adultery. Check that one too. Do not steal, do not bear false witness, do not defraud. Check, check, and check again! Honor your father and mother. Bam! Check one more. Six for six! The young man of some means was feeling pretty could about how this Q & A session with the Good Teacher was going (Mark 10:17-20).

That he was a sincere man seems evident . . . he ran to Jesus to ask about eternal life. That he was a humble man also seems clear . . . he knelt before Jesus and asked what he must do. And, if but for a few moments, it seems he might have also been a hopeful man as Jesus talked about keeping the commandments of Moses. The man was batting 100. Not two-thirds, not even eighty-three-and-a-third percent. But every command Jesus had mentioned he could honestly say he had kept. Everything he shouldn’t have done, he hadn’t. What he should have done, he did. Hello eternal life!

But then, Mark records, Jesus loved him.

And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”

(Mark 10:21 ESV)

Jesus moved from the external to the internal. Jesus shifts the focus from what to do and what not to do to what to worship. Jesus plays the “do not covet” commandment . . . a commandment focused on not just the hands but on the heart. One thing you lack, says the Source of abundant provision, sell it all for the sake of true wealth, heavenly wealth, and come follow Me.

That’s how Jesus loved him. Probably violates any number of principles implicit in so many of our modern approaches to “building bridges” and making people comfortable in order to hear the gospel. Might even be considered a “fail tactic” based on the nature of the man’s response and “number of salvations” not counted that day.

Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

(Mark 10:22 ESV)

“The man’s face clouded over. This was the last thing he expected to hear, and he walked off with a heavy heart. He was holding on tight to a lot of things, and not about to let go” (MSG).

Jesus loved him . . . and let him leave.

Jesus loved the man too much to let him think the road was wider than it actually was. Loved this one, who was so close, too much to reduce the good news to simply a checklist. Loved him too much to not direct his eyes toward his heart. “How difficult,” Jesus would tell His disciples, “it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God” (10:23). Difficult. In fact, with man impossible. But not for God. “For all things are possible with God” (10:27). Jesus wouldn’t have loved the man if He had arbitrarily made it about what he could do and not require that it be about what he worshiped and what God must do.

So Jesus loved him so much that he let him leave. Rather than dimming the light, Jesus shone it on the man’s sin darkened heart. Instead of watering down truth, He applied it knowing that it would be the truth that would set this man free. Instead of leaving the Word of God out of the discussion, Jesus drew His sword and trusted in the living and active two-edged sword of the Word of God to pierce “to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow”, and discern “the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Heb. 4:12). And having wounded him, Jesus allowed him to leave. Because Jesus loved him.

I like to think that the young man eventually cashed in his worldly wealth for eternal investments. I want to believe that a sincere and humble man who is seeking truth will respond to it when it is found. That the kindness, forbearance, and patience of God in allowing this man to walk away eventually led this man to repentance (Rom. 2:4).

Our is to love ’em. Ours is to speak truth. His is to deal with the heart . . . to deal with what they lack. For all things are possible with God.

All by grace. All for His glory.

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A Warning In An Unexpected Place

Posted on April 22, 2016 by Pete

The verse pops off the page for two reasons. First, I recognize the verse . . . it’s familiar . . . I remember it. Second, but not from here. If you quoted the verse to me and asked where it was found I’d say it is found in Hebrews, and I’d be right. But this morning I encountered it in Psalms . . . not where I’d normally expect to find it. Not looking for it in the Psalms, not thinking of it as an Old Testament exhortation, certainly not thinking of it in the context in which the songwriter is prompted to include the verse.

Might be interesting to do a study on how many warnings are found in both the Old and New Testament. To take note of those things the Spirit tells the people of God to beware of regardless of which covenant they reside under. This unexpected verse in Psalms is one of them.

Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts . . .

(Psalm 95:7b-8a ESV)

It is an exhortation to respond. Not think about responding, but to respond . . . today.

If, says the psalmist (and the writer to the Hebrews) God is speaking to the core of who you are, if your conscience is stirred, if your mind is active, and you believe it is the Spirit of God doing the stirring and the activating, then do not shutdown. Refuse to stonewall. Determine not to be unresponsive. Avoid ignoring the promptings. Resolve not to be dull to the commandment. Said another way, if you hear His voice, do what He’s saying.

And what’s causing me to hover over this familiar verse in this unexpected place is the drastically different context it is found in. In Hebrews 3 it’s a warning about unbelief and refusing the rest available to people through the cross. A warning to not harden your heart to the testimony of the Spirit as to the person and work of Jesus. And I get it. To refuse to believe that Christ is God’s anointed and that through His death all that must be done has been done for people to enter into relationship with the living God, is to foolishly continue to pursue His holiness through our best efforts. Efforts which can never be enough. Works that are unable to change the core of who we are. And thus a never ending striving after that which can never be achieved by our labor. Thus, no rest when rest has been made available.

But in Psalm 95, the exhortation to not harden our hearts is in the context of an invitation to worship.

Oh come, let us sing to the LORD; let us make a joyful noise to the Rock of our salvation! Let us come into His presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to Him with songs of praise! . . . Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker!

(Psalm 95:1, 2, 6 ESV)

Three times the people of God are beckoned to come. To respond to who God is and for what God has done. To acknowledge that “He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture” (95:70). And after this thrice repeated invitation the songwriter says, “Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts.”

And it’s got me thinking, so what’s the connection between songless saints and their hearts? What danger is involved in making ourselves dull to the prompting to open our mouths to declare the praise of Him who has saved our souls? What damage are we doing when we’re at best ambivalent and at worst obstinate when it comes to offering the sacrifice of the fruit of our lips? Is being bored in the midst of congregational worship a big deal? Is refusing to participate when the saints gather to declare His praise harmful? I’m thinkin’ . . .

Wasn’t expecting this verse in this song. But if today I’m hearing His voice . . . better not harden my heart.

Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker!

Because of His abundant grace. All for His eternal glory.

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