From Sighing to Singing

Posted on January 11, 2016 by Pete

Re-running some thoughts from 2012 . . .

You don’t have to read very far into Psalm 13 before you not only sense the desperation, but also find some connection in which you relate to the despair. Anyone who’s ever gone through an extended time of testing or trial finds themselves, I think, saying, “Been there.”

Four times the psalmist cries out to heaven, “How long?” You’ve forgotten me, Lord . . . how long? You’re hiding Your face from me . . . how long? I’m consumed by sorrow . . . how long? My enemy is winning . . . how long, O Lord, how long!?! Deep sigh! But you keep reading and the sighing turns to singing.

Not exactly sure what’s happening in David’s life as he writes this. Perhaps it’s that season when he’s on the run from King Saul. Crazy King Saul, set on destroying David, relentlessly pursues him. Not only does David not really have the resources to repel the king and his army, but David is also constrained by his loyalty to “God’s anointed” and to the anointed’s God. Even on those occasions when David had opportunity to do Saul in, he refuses to harm the one set on the throne by God. And so, it goes on and on and on . . . day in, day out . . . same trial, new twist and turn . . . a roller-coaster ride . . . a ringer he’s being run through. How long, O Lord, how long?

“Consider me,” David cries, “Answer me . . . Light up my eyes . . . or I’m done . . . and my enemies win.” David just needs to know that God’s got him on heaven’s radar. He wants some indicator that God’s engaged in his situation . . . he needs something to restore his physical strength, something to restore his inner strength.

And so he asks. He lifts his eyes towards God’s throne . . . He looks above while everything is coming apart below . . . and he simply asks. He engages the God of the universe in his struggle on earth. And, in that simple encounter, a mind-blowing dynamic kicks in . . . the sighing turns to singing.

“But I have trusted in Your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in Your salvation. I will sing to the LORD, because He has dealt bountifully with me.”

(Psalm 13:5-6 ESV)

Though it might be yet a little while before God deals with the Saul thing, in that moment of supplication, the Spirit of God intercedes with the spirit of David and David’s “how long” morphs into “how amazing!” The Spirit shores up David’s soul as He assures him afresh that the faithfulness of God’s steadfast love, which David has known in the past, is the same steadfast love David can trust in for the future. The Comforter reminds David that the salvation David has already known is just a deposit on the salvation that God says is yet to come. That the work begun will be completed. That the call placed on his life, will be fulfilled.

And so amidst his “how long” despair, a pilot light is lit in David’s heart. In the presence of God, his heart starts to rejoice at every recollection of the faithfulness of God known in the past. The Spirit floods David’s mind with every blessing he has received and David is reminded that a bountiful past is a deposit on a beyond imagination future. And the pilot light of remembrance and encouragement becomes a flame of praise and worship. And David finds himself singing to the Lord.

Been there. Others have too. Sighing that turns to singing.

Not because of anything that has immediately changed as a result of prayer’s pleas, but because in that moment of quiet despair . . . in the time of being still, and knowing that He is God . . . just in the privilege of being able to “dump” before God in the holy of holies and ask repeatedly “how long” and plead with Him for some help . . . just in that encounter, God so often responds with an inner calm.

And the still, small voice of the Spirit applies the balm of remembrance and of reassurance. And the promise that God is present, and that God knows, speaks into the soul that the “how long” will not be forever. And in that encounter there is a joy . . . a rejoicing . . . and, yes, sometimes there’s even singing.

I will sing to the LORD!

By His grace . . . for His glory.

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A Bit Standoffish

Posted on January 8, 2016 by Pete

Perhaps part of the wide-felt connection to the Psalms is that sometimes the songwriter often says what we are afraid of saying. That his divinely inspired lyrics often put into words what we find ourselves thinking but not comfortable openly articulating. Such is the case, for me at least, as I read the tenth Psalm this morning.

Why, O LORD, do You stand afar off?
    Why do You hide Yourself in times of trouble?

(Psalm 10:1 ESV)

Times of trouble. Experiences of distress. Occasions of feeling in dire straits. Why, O LORD, pens the songwriter, why do You seem to conceal Yourself in those times? Why, when I’m thinking I need You the most, do You seem so distant? Where are You, when I need You?!?

And the psalmist looks beyond whatever his particular “time of trouble” and observes that, in general, God’s absence is also perceived when one focuses on the extent of prevailing wickedness that goes seemingly unchecked in the world.

Arrogant people hotly pursuing the poor (v.2). Greedy people wickedly boasting of their gain as they curse and renounce God (v.3). Defiant before heaven, they prey on the helpless of the earth as they mock the Almighty in their heart saying, “God has forgotten, He has hidden His face, He will never see it” (vv. 6-11). In their pride, so many have no desire to even entertain God’s existence, “all his thoughts are, ‘There is no God'” (v. 4).

Where are you LORD? Why do you veil Your eyes at what’s going on in this world? What’s more, where are You when I need You?

The questions resonate. They have a familiar ring to them. I’m pickin’ up what the psalmist is laying down!

But the other connection with the psalms is that they also articulate what we know to be true despite what we may feel.

But You do see, for You note mischief and vexation, that You may take it into Your hands; to You the helpless commits himself; You have been the helper of the fatherless. . . . The LORD is king forever and ever; the nations perish from His land. O LORD, You hear the desire of the afflicted; You will strengthen their heart; You will incline Your ear . . .

(Psalm 10:14, 16-17 ESV)

Though God may seem to have turned a blind eye, He hasn’t. He does see.

Though it may feel like God is content to remain behind a curtain in the wings, His ear is inclined to the drama that plays out on life’s stage. He hears the cry. He is intimately familiar with the circumstance. And He is actively engaged, though often in ways we are unaware of.

He is the King and one day He will reign on earth and bring justice to the fatherless and oppressed “so that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more” (v. 18).

Until then, He patiently and graciously woos and waits for men and women, dead in their trespass and sin, to respond to the good news that Jesus is ready, willing, and able to save. And for those who have trusted in Him, He establishes His rule and reign in their hearts. Though  He may seem far off, He reminds us of His abiding presence and strengthens the heart of the afflicted.

While at times He may seem to be a bit standoffish . . . though it may feel like He’s playing hide-and-seek with us . . . His Spirit testifies with our Spirit, sometimes through songs like this song, that we have a faithful High Priest who hears our cry and leads us to “approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need” (Heb. 4:15-16).

To Him be all blessing and honor and glory forever and ever!

Amen?

 

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Heart Speak

Posted on January 7, 2016 by Pete

To our way of thinking, Abraham’s approach to finding a wife for his son was, to say the least, unconventional. Isaac is ready to get hitched. But not to anyone on “this side of the Jordan.” Abraham has discerned the perils of Isaac taking a wife “from the daughters of the Canaanites” and has determined that Isaac’s bride needs to be from his own family line.

But he’s also resolved that his son is not to leave the land God has promised them. And so, Abraham sends a trusted servant back to Abraham’s homeland to find a young maiden from Abraham’s family line and convince her, and her family, that she should go with some random stranger to a foreign land to marry a man they’ve never met. Not quite ChristianMingle.com, but it’s a plan.

And what’s grabbed me in reading this account in Genesis 24 is the absence of the supernatural–at least overtly. Though its evident that God’s hands are all over this, and though Abraham tells his servant that the God who promised Abraham to give this land to his offspring will “send His angel before you”, there’s no angel.

Unlike other encounters of the divine kind in Genesis, there’s no apparent visitation from heaven-dwellers. No divine manifestation taking counsel with the servant on a game plan. No taking hold of the servants hand by one of God’s heavenly servants and leading him to just the right place at just the right time. Rather, there’s just a no-name servant trekking to a foreign land to find a women whose identity is unknown so that he can ask her to go back with him to marry a man she’s never seen or met. There’s no angel.

But there’s heart speak.

Abraham’s servant arrives at his destination and prays,

And he said, “O LORD, God of my master Abraham, please grant me success today and show steadfast love to my master Abraham.”

(Genesis 24:12 ESV)

And the servant lays out before the Lord his plan for identifying Isaac’s bride-to-be. And the Genesis account then states,

Before he had finished speaking, behold, Rebekah, who was born to Bethuel the son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abrahams brother, came out with her water jar on her shoulder.

(Genesis 24:15 ESV)

And later in the account, when the servant is telling his story to Rebekah’s family, the servant puts it this way,

“Before I had finished speaking in my heart, behold, Rebekah came out with her water jar on her shoulder, and she went down to the spring and drew water. I said to her, ‘Please let me drink.'”

(Genesis 24:45 ESV)

Speaking in my heart. That’s it. That’s the extent of the supernatural in this account.

Though God is moving mightily . . . imparting divine wisdom to Abraham . . . moving Abraham’s servant to faithful obedience . . . prompting the girl at the well to respond to the servant’s request for water by offering to water his camels as well . . . leading Laban to believe the servant’s story and release his sister to him . . . assuring Rebekah in her heart that not only is it ok to leave her family for some unknown suitor, but that it’s God’s will . . . Though God is moving mightily, no angels, just heart speak.

Talk about the power of prayer. Talk about how speaking in the heart ties a person to the purposes and dynamics of heaven. Talk about God’s attentiveness to what we say to Him in the inner man that prompts Him to act in the outside world even before we’re finished speaking . . . even before we know ourselves what we should ask.

Talk about the supernatural impact of heart speak.

All by God’s grace. All for God’s glory.

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As He Said . . . As He Promised

Posted on January 6, 2016 by Pete

Genesis is foundational. It introduces God, introduces mankind, and explains what happened in the past that so messes with our present. In it we learn that God has always been, that this earth was created, and that man, because of willful rebellion, is fallen from God’s intended state and is beset with sin’s abiding consequences.

But it also introduces God’s plan of redemption. It’s hinted at as early as Genesis 3 where God speaks of the enmity that will exist between the serpent and the woman’s offspring (Gen. 3:15) and foreshadowed in the shedding of the blood of animals so that God could cover man’s shame (3:21).

And the foundation for God’s blueprint of rescue and reconciliation continues to get laid throughout the Genesis narrative through the promises of God. In particular, the promises he makes Abraham.

Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your fathers house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

(Genesis 12:1-3 ESV)

A great nation, a great blessing. That was God’s promise to Abraham. And that promise will be repeated and further detailed throughout the Genesis account and the rest of the Old Testament as God reveals to Abraham the location of the land, the innumerable number of his offspring, the far-reaching impact of the blessing. And so, as I’m reading the Genesis story I’m on the lookout for these foundational promises.

But this morning I’m reminded that, ultimately, our hope concerning God’s plan of salvation lies not just in the fact that He is a Promise Maker but, more importantly, in the evidence that He is a Promise Keeper. And that reminder came from the account of the birth of a son to a very, very old and barren woman.

The LORD visited Sarah as He had said, and the LORD did to Sarah as He had promised. And Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the time of which God had spoken to him.

(Genesis 21:1 ESV)

God promised Abraham that he would father a great nation and that it would start with fathering a son. A son born by his wife, Sarah — despite her barren womb and her advancing age. A son they would name Isaac. A son with whom God would also establish His covenant (Gen. 17:15-21).

And the LORD graciously visited Sarah, AS HE HAD SAID. And the LORD did to Sarah, allowing her to give birth to a son, AS HE HAD PROMISED.

As He said . . . As He Promised . . . so my God does.

Genesis lays the foundation of God not only as the giver of promise and the author of covenant, but also establishes our God as both able and faithful to keep His promises and establish His covenants.

And as those who walk by faith, we rely on the promises of God. Promises that the work He’s begun in us, He will complete (Php. 1:6) . . . promises that He will never leave us nor forsake us (Heb. 13:5) . . . promises that Jesus has gone to prepare a place for us that we might one day be with Him (John 14:1-3) . . . promises that He is coming again and God’s plan of redemption will be fully realized with a new heaven and a new earth (Rev. 21-22).

These and many more. All great promises. All hope-infusing and faith-sustaining promises. Because they are promises made by the God who is the great keeper of what he has promised.

As He said . . . As He promised . . . so He will do.

All because of over-flowing grace. All for His eternal glory.

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A Holy Hand-off Into Unholy Hands

Posted on January 5, 2016 by Pete

It seems that before Jesus could go public with His ministry, His Father had arranged two meetings in preparation. The first was with John the Baptist in the Jordan (Matt. 3:13-17). In order to “fulfill all righteousness” Jesus, though without sin, identified with all mankind in their need for “a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins” (Mark 1:4). And in so doing, when He came up out of the water, the heavens were opened above Him, the Spirit descended upon Him, and His Father declared His love and pleasure concerning Him.

But it’s the second divinely arranged appointment that’s captured my imagination. This morning I’m noodling on the temptation of Jesus as recorded in Matthew 4:1-11). No small undertaking for the Son of Man. Though the account is somewhat understated when it says that after fasting for forty days and forty night Jesus was hungry (4;2), the toll the temptation took on Him in the flesh is evident as at the end of it, “angels came and were ministering to Him” (4:11). So, this was not an insignificant experience for the One who “had to be made like His brothers in every respect, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God” so that, “because He himself has suffered when tempted, He is able to help those who are being tempted” (Heb. 2:17:18).

But what’s particularly grabbed me this morning is the manner in which Jesus is “handled.” And what I’m noodling on is the holy hand-off into unholy hands.

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.  

(Matthew 4:1 ESV)

Jesus was led by the Spirit. Through inner promptings, by divine urgings, Jesus walks in the Spirit and is led by the Spirit into the wilderness. That’s God’s will for His Son? A desert? That’s the Spirit’s role in resting upon Jesus as Jesus comes out of the waters of obedience? To lead Him into a barren place?

How out of sync is that with popular notions of being in the will of God? That God might, on the way to green pastures and still waters, determine that we should do some desert time is so not in line with our thinking. Instead, we are prone to view any barren spot as a clear indication we have somehow strayed from divine favor. But here Jesus is led by the Spirit into a lonely place.

But more than just being “dropped off” in the desert, there is a hand-off. The holy hands of the Spirit having led Him to the wilderness are then replaced with the unholy hands of the enemy as he takes Him from there.

Then the devil took Him to the holy city and set Him on the pinnacle of the temple . . . Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 

(Matthew 4:5, 8 ESV)

I can’t imagine the nature of the supernatural dynamics that enabled the devil to “take” the Son of God. But the thought that Satan could in any way lay his hands upon Jesus in order to transport Him to the holy city, or to a high mountain . . . that the devil could have been given any permission to, in any way, direct the LORD of Heaven . . . the thought is mind-boggling. It just doesn’t seem right.

Would God really lead Jesus by His Spirit into a barren place only then to, in a sense, hand him over to Satan? Apparently so. Has a bit of Job ring to it (Job 1:6-12), doesn’t it?

What does it say about what we might expect as God continues His work of forming His Son in us? Might our desert places be ordained of God so that we might learn to stand as Jesus stood? Might the enemy’s attacks be permitted so that we too could experience the victory of living “by every word that comes from the mouth of God” (4:4) . . . and knowing the resolve to “not put the Lord your God to the test” (4:7) . . . and choosing to “worship the Lord your God and Him only” (4:10). Could be.

What’s more, what does this holy hand-off into unholy hands say about the depths of Jesus’ love for us? That He would subject Himself to the enemies best shot in order to become our merciful and faithful High Priest? And this wouldn’t be the only set of unholy hands that would be permitted to lay hold of Jesus.

Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves know–this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. 

(Acts 2:22-23 ESV)

Led by the Spirit that He might be tempted by the enemy. Delivered up according to the plan of God that He might be killed at the hands of men.

O what a Savior!

To Him be all glory!

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Found in the Midst of Our Mess

Posted on January 4, 2016 by Pete

To be honest . . . not that I ever seek to be dishonest . . . but, to be honest, I most often associate Hagar with a badly devised and tragically executed “Plan B.” That is, until this morning.

Hagar, female Egyptian servant to Sarai. Sarai, the wife of Abram. Abram, the recipient of God’s unconditional promise that, could Abram number the stars in the heaven, then he’d have some idea of the number of descendants that would come from his offspring (Gen. 15:5-6). But he was Abram, the old, married to Sarai, the barren. So how was God going to give them children? Did I mention Hagar, the “Plan B?”

Thus, though according to the custom of the land but counter to the will of God, Sarai convinces Abram to lay with Hagar as “it may be that I shall obtain children by her” (Gen. 16:2). And a child is conceived. And family dysfunction springs forth like weeds (16:4-6).

The mom to be, Hagar, looks upon the old woman, Sarai, with disdain and treats her with contempt. Sarai blames Abram for Hagar’s contemptuous attitude. Abram washes his hands of the whole mess and tells Sarai to deal with it. And she does. Sarai is so abusive towards Hagar, that Hagar flees and finds herself alone in the wilderness. In the wilderness literally . . . in the wilderness figuratively.

Ill-conceived idea (pun intended). Tragically executed “Plan B.” Lots to be warned about — as in, resist the temptation to take matters into your own hands when God’s promises seem beyond realization. That’s usually where I end up as I noodle on Genesis 16. A strong warning but not much redeeming. But this morning I’m drawn to something else.

And the angel of the LORD said to her, “Behold, you are pregnant and shall bear a son. You shall call his name Ishmael, because the LORD has listened to your affliction. . . . So she called the name of the LORD who spoke to her, “You are a God of seeing,” for she said, “Truly here I have seen Him who looks after me.” 

(Genesis 16:11, 13 ESV)

Amidst the rubble of a classic example of man’s best efforts falling way short of God’s best way, we see the heart of God . . . and the ears of God . . . and the eyes of God.

“You shall call His name Ishmael.” Yishma-el. Literally “God will hear.” God didn’t stop listening when Sarai and Abram started scheming. God didn’t plug His ears as the Egyptian slave woman taunted her mistress’s barren womb. God wasn’t unresponsive to the pregnant, homeless, helpless maid who found herself in the wilderness as a result of so many people’s bad choices. But God says, “I am the God who hears. Know this about Me. Name your son after Me.”

And this Egyptian slave woman, without so much a standing as to refuse to become a surrogate for her master, encounters the God of the universe, the God of grace, the God of promise, the God who hears, and comes to know Him as El-roi, the God who sees.  Outside the covenant . . . a nobody in the house . . . for all intents and purposes on her own . . . and God speaks to her. The Almighty reveals something of Himself to her.

And heaven meets earth like an unforeseen kiss.

(Lyric from “How He Loves” by John Mark McMillan)

Beyond the revelation that God hears what happens on earth . . . beyond the realization that God sees those things that we feel are unseen by anybody . . . something else is revealed about God’s love and grace through this encounter.  This “Plan B”, this side story, has been preserved through millennia that we might know that, not only does God hear, not only does God see, but God also bows down, He gets involved, and He makes Himself known. He reaches into the aftermath of our clever plans. And, despite our mess, He can be found in the midst of our mess.

God hears. God sees. God makes Himself known. Might we be comforted and encouraged.

Might He receive all the glory.

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Lifter of My Head

Posted on December 31, 2015 by Pete

It’s a song written when he was in dire straights. A lament penned at the bottom of the cycle. Minor key chords composed from a valley experience. A Psalm of David, when he fled from Absalom his son.

David is on the lam. He has fled town to escape the fury of his insurgent offspring. David’s rule is in ruin. His family’s a mess. And his life is in danger. Can it get any worse? Yup. Because, at the root of it all there’s plenty of just cause for self-blame.

So many things he could have handled better within his family. He could have responded with a stronger hand after the rape of his daughter by his step-son, Amnon (2Sam. 13:14). But who was he to judge such lustful impulse? Every time he looked at Bathsheba, or remembered Uriah, or visited his newborn sons grave, he knew of his own moral failure (2Sam. 11, 12). Thus, he was paralyzed from dealing with sin in his house as he should have. And so, dealing with the situation was picked up by another son, hot-headed Absalom.

After two years of inaction on his dad’s part, Absalom murders Amnon. More family dysfunction. And David could have handled that better, too. He wavers again in dealing with a son . . . again for years. Sort of judges his son’s sin, but sort of doesn’t. He wants reconciliation with his son but imposes upon him a sort of in-house exile. Torn between dealing with Absalom’s murderous treachery and wanting relationship with him, David fuels the fires of revenge and ambition within his son. And the result is Absalom’s power play for the throne. Now, having suffered great loss, haunted by humiliating shame, and in grave danger, David is on the run.

And out of that experience he writes a song. And from the depths of this valley he looks up, way up, to the Lifter of My Head.

O LORD, how many are my foes! Many are rising against me; many are saying of my soul, there is no salvation for him in God. Selah But You, O LORD, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head.   (Psalm 3:1-3 ESV)

In the midst of an out-of-control situation, with the voice of self-accusation ringing in his ear, over-whelmed, perhaps, by thoughts of “if I’d only . . . “, David cries out to the LORD (v.4). Confident that, even in current circumstances, God has his back . . . and his front . . . and his sides . . . that God is a all encompassing shield about him. What’s more, David firmly believes that the God who promised him the throne is a faithful God. That even now, the LORD hears from His holy hill and will, in His time and in His way, bring a future glory, though all David can see now is the present shame.

And from where does this confidence come? From knowing the God of heaven and earth as the Lifter of My Head.

Though David needs to be constantly looking over his shoulder, in those times when he stills himself before heaven’s throne, his eyes are directed upward. Though his outer man is bowed over with the weight of oppressive circumstance, his inner man is prompted by the Spirit to raise up his chin and, by faith, gaze into the face of Him who has promised never to leave him, nor forsake him. Though he knows the reality of the weeping which lasts for the night, his soul is lifted up as he knows that “joy comes with the morning” (Ps. 30:5b).

Apart from dire straights, if there were no bottom of the cycle or valley experience, we wouldn’t know the truth, and we couldn’t know the touch, of the God who reaches down to be the Lifter of My Head.

What wondrous love. What amazing grace. To Him be eternal glory.

Amen?

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Where Are You?

Posted on December 30, 2015 by Pete

It’s not the first use of the word “but” in the Bible. Nor is it the first time I’ve encountered the word combo “but God.” But it is the first occurrence of “but God” in the sense of God making a grace decision. The first occurrence of man’s rebellious action warranting one kind of just response from a holy God, “but God” extending another type of response. A response of grace. The grace of God asks, “Where are you?”

And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?”   (Genesis 3:8-9 ESV)

God had said, “Eat of it and you shall surely die.” The serpent countered with a seed of doubt, “Did God actually say?” The woman coveted the fruit that was “a delight to the eye” and wanted to believe the lie that she could “be like God.” The man did too. And so they ate, and so they were ashamed. And so they sought to hide from the presence of God.

The creation “experiment” seemed to have gone so, so wrong. Garden walks in the cool of the day had been short-lived and now there existed a chasm of sin between holy God and rebellious man. But God called to the man, “Where are you?”

As I think about it, there are other responses that might have been more fitting. How about start over? Like an etch-a-sketch give the heavens and earth a big shake, erase it all and begin again. This time maybe not so quick with the tree in the garden thing . . . or the temptation thing . . . or the free will thing. Or there could have been the “you made your bed now sleep in it” approach. They had rejected God’s word, they had settled for flimsy fig-leaf loin clothes, they had thought that hiding from God was sustainable.  Fine, let them hide. They had turned their backs on Him, there was no obligation that He should give them His face.

But God called to the man, “Where are you?”

Isn’t that amazing grace? Isn’t that wondrous love?

The spurned God of heaven seeks out sin-stained mortals of earth because they are those who God created to know His love. And love them He would. He would call their names. He would reveal His will and His ways. He would provide a covering for their nakedness. And He would so love them that He would provide the costly payment needed to restore the communion that had been shattered in the garden.

Where are you? The holy God, enthroned in majesty and dwelling in unapproachable light, stoops to enter sinful man’s domain when He could have instead destroyed it with righteous judgment. The all-knowing God who has shaped and formed all things in creation, asks a question when He could have instead justly washed His hands of those who had chosen the way that seems right to a man.

Our God seeks the lost. He calls out to the confused. And He loves those He created to know His love . . . while they were yet sinners (Rom. 5:8).

Hear the voice of God.  “Where are you?”

That truly is amazing grace! That of a certainty is wondrous love!

To Him be all glory and praise.

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An Either / Or Thing

Posted on December 29, 2015 by Pete

I don’t recall hearing them as often. Those pithy sayings from the pulpit. Those succinct and powerful statements of divine truth that penetrate and literally stick with you throughout a lifetime. Perhaps it’s because I don’t get around as much as I used to. It’s been years since I’ve been in the spring conference scene or the summer camp scene. Might be that, since I’m a little older in the faith, the super impressionable clay of those early days is a little more set and fewer of those forceful expressions are having a lasting impact. Or, maybe it’s because, being older, I’m not a sharp as I once was in the cataloging and retrieving of such memorable quotes.

But though I may not encounter them as much now for whatever reason, one of those powerful targeted observations, that I probably first heard decades ago, came to mind this morning:

“The Bible will keep you from sin, or sin will keep you from the Bible.”

The quote is attributed to D.L. Moody. But apparently John Bunyan, who lived centuries before Moody, is reported to have written something similar in the cover of his bible: “Either this book will keep you from sin, or sin will keep you from this book.” Either way, I didn’t hear it from those stalwarts of the faith. Rather, somewhere along the way it came from the lips of some faithful preacher and the Spirit firmly implanted it in my heart and mind. And it was brought to mind this morning as I read the first Psalm.

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on His law he meditates day and night.    (Psalm 1:1-2  ESV)

Who wouldn’t want to head into the new year with the prospect of blessing in their lives. Apparently the original is a “plural noun” . . . the benefits promised here are manifold. And the promise of blessing pivots upon where we walk, upon what we stand, and upon where we sit.

True happiness will not be found in the advice and wisdom of those hostile towards God. It cannot come from joining the ranks of those who determine to pursue that which is contrary to holiness. Blessing, that is real blessing, will evade those who align themselves with the mocking of “sophisticated, learned men” who “who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ” (Jude 1:4).

To walk in their counsel, to prefer to hang with them in their surroundings, to join with them in their mocking of that which is not seen, is not the means to the gracious blessing God desires for His people.

But . . . and here’s the “either or” of David’s assertion, the pivot point of the songwriter’s assertion . . . But, delight in the law of the Lord and you will know blessing.  Desire it . . . long for it . . . find good pleasure in it . . . and the fountain of heaven’s favor is opened up. Then meditate on the Word of God . . . chew on it . . . think about it . . . noodle on it . . . let it ignite your imagination . . . and a joy and contentment that transcends anything this world has to offer will be realized.

Drinking deep from God’s revelation of Himself will so satisfy our thirst that we won’t want to look anywhere else. Desiring and ingesting the word will keep us from listening to the wrong people, giving allegiance to the wrong crowds, or joining in with the wrong intellects.

But, to be sure, listen to the ungodly voice of this world and it will keep you from the life-giving Voice of heaven.

It’s kind of an either / or thing. Either living in the way of sinners, or delighting in the law of the Lord. Either meditating on God’s word or embracing the world’s ways.

Oh that 2016 would bring renewed vigor for the Word of God. Not that we might simply gain increased knowledge. Instead, that we might know more of the blessing promised those who heed His counsel . . . and stand in His way . . . and seat themselves at His table. That the word of God would abide in us so that we might continually abide in Him.

By His grace. For His glory.

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Water from the Throne

Posted on December 24, 2015 by Pete

Wrapped up my reading plan for the year. And as I close the year, on the eve of the celebration of the birth of the Christ, I’m thinking about a river. The river of the water of life (Rev. 22:1-2). Bright as crystal. Flowing freely and abundantly. Running unrestricted through the middle of the street of the New Jerusalem. A river that brings life and brings healing.

A river flowed through Eden when the earth was created (Gen. 2:10). And a river will flow through the city of God when all things are re-created.

And it is a river available to all who need a drink of water.

And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.   (Revelation 22:17 ESV)

Water . . . offered to all who are thirsty . . . offered without cost. And all that’s required is that we come.

Come and receive water that can make people dead in trespass and sin alive to the things of righteousness and holiness. Come and receive water that can take a dry and barren existence and turn it into a purposeful and fruitful life. Come and receive water sufficient to bring strength through the weariness brought on by testing and trial. It is life giving water. It is available water. And it is water without cost.

But what’s particularly grabbed my attention this morning is the source of this life-giving flow. It springs not from a deep underground well. Nor is it the accumulative offering of snow packed mountain tops. But it is sourced “from the throne of God and of the Lamb” (22:1).

This water flows from the seat of God’s sovereign determination over all things. And this water is able to meet every need because of the Lamb.

“Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”

~ John the Baptist (John 1:29 ESV)

“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!”  

~ All of Heaven (Revelation 5:12 ESV)

The Lamb has come. He is the one proclaimed by angels to shepherds in the field. He is Immanuel, God with us. The One born to die, that He might be the Savior for all who believe.

And by His death on a cross He removed once for all the dam of sin and transgression so that nothing might stem the flow of heaven’s river. As such, He is the fountain of life giving water for all who are thirsty, for all who will come.

And this Lamb is coming again. And the life giving flow we receive through faith today we will one day, perhaps one day soon, realize face to face.

Even so, come Lord Jesus!

Until then, the river flows . . . and the water is abundant . . . and His grace is sufficient to satisfy every thirst.

To Him be all glory!

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