Am I Blushing

Posted on September 28, 2015 by Pete

Blush is only found 4 times in the ESV text. In my reading this morning in Jeremiah, I encountered it twice. And it’s got me thinking. Am I blushing?

I was also reading in James this morning where he says that reading the word of God is “like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror” (James 1:23). And he warns the believer of walking away from that mirror too quickly lest he “at once forgets what he was like” (James 1:24). And so I need to linger in front of the mirror, not be too hasty to move on to the next reading. And in looking at the face ask myself, “Do I still know how to blush?”

Were they ashamed when they committed abomination? No, they were not at all ashamed; they did not know how to blush.     (Jeremiah 6:15a ESV)

Were they ashamed when they committed abomination? No, they were not at all ashamed; they did not know how to blush.     (Jeremiah 8:12a ESV)

God’s ancient people have come to the end of God’s longsuffering rope. Jeremiah is one of the last voices before God’s judgment on a “perpetually backsliding” people (Jer. 8:5). The time for interceding for this wicked nation has passed. No more prayers on their behalf, God tells Jeremiah, “for I will not hear you” (Jer. 7:16). And as God, through Jeremiah, declares His indictment of these “uncircumcised in heart” (Jer. 9:26), these who have forsaken the law, not obeyed His voice, and have stubbornly followed their own hearts and the nations’ gods, the phrase that hits me . . . twice! . . . is that “they did not now how to blush.”

Nothing brought shame. Nothing they did brought humiliation. Nothing they said, or read, or watched, or worshiped, or played at, regardless of how dark it was, caused embarrassment. Nothing made their faces go red. They didn’t know how to blush.

And it’s got me thinking about our age and how few things make us blush anymore. I’ve been around long enough to think of things that were once considered inappropriate for polite conversation which are now the themes of entire entertainment genres. I think about not giving second thought to topics discussed on TV commercials that were once considered off base for “mixed company.” And I’m not trying to be a prude . . . not wanting to be out of touch . . . not wanting to say it was so much better way back when . . . but the fact of the matter is, I think overall we don’t blush as much as we once did. And I think there’s a warning there. A caution about being desensitized concerning that which God calls evil.

I think I should be blushing more. Not to feel shame, or to feel dirty . . . Jesus came to remove the shame, He shed His blood to cleanse us from the dirt. And I certainly don’t need to blush more so that I might judge others who aren’t blushing enough. But if I forget how to blush . . . if nothing makes me uncomfortable or seems inappropriate . . . then have I lost the blessing promised to those who hunger and thirst for righteousness (Matt. 5:6)? And, if I no longer blush because I recognize that which defiles an image-bearer of God, then what motivation do I have to share the way of restoration? If, along with a world that increasingly does not know how to blush, I stop blushing, then what kind of light am I in the darkness . . . what kind of salt am I amongst the decay?

O’ that God, by His grace and through His Spirit residing in me, would prevent me from forgetting how to blush.

For His glory . . .

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The Crown of Life

Posted on September 25, 2015 by Pete

Keep your eye on the prize. I’m guessing if you’ve been in Christian circles for any length of time you’ve heard something like that before . . . maybe so often that it’s lost its punch. One of those “pat answers” that causes some people to roll their eyes. One of those encouragements that is sometimes met with, “Get real . . . it’s not that easy!” But, as I’m hovering over something I’ve read in James, the problem with that little exhortation isn’t with the exhortation . . . frankly, its with us . . . and how “sophisticated” we think we might be . . . or how different we think our trial might be. But that doesn’t deter no-nonsense James. Keep your eye on the prize, he says . . . don’t lose sight of the crown of life.

Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love Him. (James 1:12 ESV)

In verse twelve James returns to a theme he introduced in verse two. There he says to the brothers (and me thinks to the sisters, as well) to count it all joy when they meet different kinds of trials. That joy being based on knowing that the testing of their faith has the potential to produce steadfastness. And that steadfastness advances the work of Christ in us . . . perfecting and completing us. And so, blessed is the man (and me thinks the woman) who remains steadfast under trial.

But let’s be honest . . . most of us can only handle so much perfecting and completing. At some point the testing has to give way to arriving. Exactly! That’s the promise. That’s the crown of life that awaits those who love Him

It all comes down to the promise . . . and our trust in the Promise-Giver.

The promise is that, in Christ, we have been given eternal life . . . abundant life . . . life to the full . . . life beyond any living we’ve done or can imagine. The problem, in a sense, is that some of that eternal life — a really, really tiny slice of eternal life in comparison to the whole — is being lived in this world marred by sin and death. That some of this abundant life is being lived with a battle waging inside us between the old nature of our birth and the Holy Spirit of our rebirth. The result? Trials . . . testings . . . frustration . . . depression . . . failure . . . temptations to give in and give up and go with “plan B.”

But keep your eye on the prize. There awaits the crown of life for those who love Him.

And that love is manifest in trusting Him. Trusting that, although our worlds seem out of control or enveloped in darkness, He is “the Father of Lights with Whom there is no variation or shadow due to change” (James 1:17). And so, if He promises the crown of life, it’s coming. If He’s promised that He will never leave us or forsake us, He won’t. If he’s promised that His grace is sufficient, it will be. Ours is to believe Him. Ours is to love Him.

To love Him more than the escape we seek from our testing. To love Him more than the outcome we desire from our trial. To be content with Him and Him alone. For in Him is life. And through Him, soon and very soon, we will receive the crown of life. So keep your eye on the prize weary saint. It’s gonna be worth it all.

Sound like a pat answer? Maybe. Is it the word of God? I’m thnkin’! Is it worth keepin’ on keepin’ on? Absolutely!

All by His all-sufficient grace . . . All for His all-deserving glory!

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In the Bosom of the Father

Posted on September 24, 2015 by Pete

Words paint pictures in our minds. That’s what they’re intended to do. Sometimes the “painting” is very precise, the author using a lot of words to detail exactly what he wants to convey and to ensure that everybody sees the same picture — the picture he intends. Sometimes though, fewer words are used and it’s left to the reader’s imagination to paint the picture. In that case, you need to pick your words carefully. Different words can paint somewhat different pictures.

Case in point, something I read in John 1 this morning . . . the picture changing significantly, at least for me, depending on which words are used.

No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Fathers side, He has made Him known.      (John 1:18 ESV)

No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.     (John 1:18 NASB)

You read the opening verses to John’s gospel (1:1-18) and they are jaw-dropping. John writes his account so that “you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name” (John 20:31). And he wastes no time in establishing the deity of Christ. In the beginning the Word was with God and the Word was God. The Word created all things. Who is The Word? Jesus Christ, the Word that became flesh and dwelt among us. He is the Light of the world and in Him is life. And for all who believe in Him, He gives the right to become children of God, born again of God. Like I said, jaw-dropping.

But what stopped me in my tracks this morning was the concluding verse of John’s prologue . . . and the difference words can make in the picture that is formed in the mind.

In verse 18, John concludes his prologue by again referring to two different persons as God. Just as in verse 1, the Word was with God and was God, so too, in verse 18, no one has seen God except for the only God who is at His side. And that’s where the imagination kicks in.

At His side . . . the only God who is at the Father’s side makes Him known. And when I think of Him being at His side I think of a dynamic duo. I think of two standing together, shoulder to shoulder, arms crossed ready to save the world . . . literally. The relationship between Father and Son is a working relationship . . . a missional relationship . . . a partnering to accomplish a purpose.

But, from I what I can explore from the original, it’s not that the Son is side by side with the Father, but that He is in the Father’s bosom. Not shoulder to shoulder, but enveloped in the front of the body between the arms. The Son drawn near to the Father’s chest, cradled within the hollow of His bosom. And the picture switches from that of a dynamic duo to that of a loving Father and His beloved Son. From that of a working relationship to that of an intimate relationship. Being not just about the mission and more about the motivation. Having experienced love, Father and Son seek to share that love.

God is love (1John 4:16). And the Father has loved the Son long before there ever was a world. Jesus lets us in on this through His prayer to the Father in John 17, “You loved me before the foundation of the world” (17:24). So we weren’t created that God would have something to love. Rather, God has always loved within the community of His triune being and desires to share the dynamic of His love. And that dynamic is shared through His Son . . . the only God who is in the bosom of the Father . . . the One who makes the Father, and His love, known.

In the bosom of the Father. O wondrous love of God . . . as shown with the Son . . . as made known through the Son.

All because of grace . . . all for His glory.

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Gospel Meat

Posted on September 23, 2015 by Pete

The writer to the Hebrews is wrapping up his treatise on the superiority of Christ. He is penning his last words to those who are struggling to fully know the freedom they have in Christ, being told by those still in bondage that to follow Messiah means following the ceremonial law. That their salvation must be tied to their merit . . . that they need to double down on following the old ordinances in the old way . . . somehow without the old results. And so, as he closes his letter, he warns them again about being led away by fanciful speculations of men as to how the old and the new must be married together. And he says it comes down to the meat you eat.

Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, which have not benefited those devoted to them. We have an altar from which those who serve the tent have no right to eat.
(Hebrews 13:9-10 ESV)

The meat available from the sacrifices offered on the altar by those who “serve the tent” was a continual reminder that more sacrifice was necessary. Same old meat, served up in the same old way because they had offer the same old sacrifices for their same old sin. While the blood offered in the tent could provide for interim atonement, it couldn’t release from the bondage of sin. And so, when it came right down to it, the food of the OT sacrifice really didn’t benefit those devoted to it.

But we have a better altar under the new covenant. We have a place where an atoning sacrifice was offered once for all for sin. A place where those who have confessed Christ as Savior and Lord have the right to eat. And what’s being served up on that altar? Gospel meat . . . Grace!

Far from the grace of the good news being only for the saving of souls it is to be feasted upon for the strengthening of hearts. While we needed grace to be brought from darkness to light . . . from being far way to drawing near . . . from being enemies to being counted as children, we also need to feed on this gospel meat on a daily basis in order to live as people of light . . . and boldly approach the throne of grace, despite our latest failure . . . and walk as befits sons and daughters of a holy God.

Having begun our Christian lives by tasting the food of the Spirit, do we now think we are going to rely on the sustenance of our best efforts to grow in our calling? I’m thinkin’ not.

Instead, grace, gospel meat, is what’s needed for our hearts to be established (NKJV) . . . what’s needed for our Christian lives to be the abundant life Christ promised (John 10:10). Feasting daily on the altar of the finished work of the cross . . . our daily nourishment built on a main course of gospel meat . . . the abundant, always sufficient grace of God being our life-sustaining food.

Anybody up for seconds?

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Photobombing a Prophecy

Posted on September 22, 2015 by Pete

I read these latter chapters of Isaiah and I can’t help but be stirred with anticipation for Israel. I believe the prophesied promises of redemption and restoration among the tribes of Jacob are to be understood literally. I also believe that God has made Himself known as the Keeper of His Promises. Thus, I believe there will be a day when Messiah returns to reign, when the nations shall see Zion’s righteousness and all the kings of the earth will behold her glory (62:2). But beyond reading the promises and knowing the Promise Keeper, the anticipation stirred within me is due to a special connection I have with the ancient people of promise. It’s a connection that comes from having tasted what they will one day experience.

You shall no more be termed Forsaken, and your land shall no more be termed Desolate, but you shall be called My Delight Is in Her, and your land Married; for the LORD delights in you, and your land shall be married. For as a young man marries a young woman, so shall your sons marry you, and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you.     (Isaiah 62:4-5 ESV)

Isaiah speaks of a day when the land of Israel will be called Beulah, or Married. A day when the sons of Israel will embrace the land not simply because of heritage, tradition, or national pride, but because it is the place of the throne of their Bridegroom. Having themselves been clothed by Him with the garments of salvation, covered by Him with robes of righteousness, like a bride adorned with jewels (61:1), they will consecrate themselves to the land of the One who has called them to Himself.

The land shall be married, says Isaiah, and God’s people will be God’s joy . . . as a bridegroom rejoices over the bride.

And that’s the connection.

. . . Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her, that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that He might present the church to Himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.     (Ephesians 5:25-27 ESV)

Just as Israel is a bride in waiting, though that is largely hidden from her today, so too am I as part of the church. Having experienced, when I was yet in darkness, the Bridegroom’s call, I’ve known something of the redemption that awaits the sons and daughters of Jacob. Having heard His voice, and then gifted with faith to receive His word, I was brought into relationship with the Father and betrothed to His Son. I have come to know the life changing reality, by His grace alone, of putting on garments of salvation and robes of righteousness. I have become more and more confident that the day of consummation will come, perhaps sooner than I expect, when I will know by sight what I know currently by faith, the Bridegroom rejoicing over the bride.  God rejoicing over me. God delighting in me.

I read God’s promises to Israel and I can’t help but see those promises as mine. I think of what awaits that remnant and I can’ help but worship the Redeemer for the rescue I’ve already known. I imagine what it looks like for God to delight over His people of promise, what it looks like for God to rejoice over those He views as His bride, and I can’t help but photobomb the picture. There I am. I’m in the midst of this prophecy concerning Israel. There by God’s grace alone. There with all those called to be the Bride of Christ.  There awaiting that day.

Let us rejoice and exult and give Him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His Bride has made herself ready . . .     (Revelation 19:7 ESV)

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Divine Location Services

Posted on September 21, 2015 by Pete

It’s taken me awhile to get used to my phone (don’t know why I still call this mini computer in my pocket a phone) continually wanting to know where I am. It seems that almost every app asks me, “Enable Location Services?” While for some of these apps, like my maps, it’s because they want to know how to direct me, for others I suspect it’s because they want to know how to sell me. Either way, locations services have become a pretty big deal in the mobile world.

Realized this morning, while reading in Hebrews, that location services can be a pretty big deal when it comes to spiritual things as well.

But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
(Hebrews 12:22-24 ESV)

Better . . . that’s the underlying theme throughout Hebrews. Better revelation . . . better covenant . . . better Priest . . . better sacrifice. And this morning I read about a better hill.

The old hill couldn’t be touched . . . literally, no touching it! No living thing was to touch the holy hill. If they did, man or beast, they were to be put to death. A blazing fire, darkness, gloom, and a tempest enveloped it as the holiness of God descended upon it.  The sight of it was so terrifying that even Moses, the man who talked with God face to face (Ex. 33:11), said of it, “I tremble with fear” (12:18-21).

But . . there it is again, that glorious word, “But!” . . . but that isn’t the hill we’ve come to. Allow your divine GPS, God’s Perfect Spirit, to enable your heavenly location services and you’re reminded of the better place to which you have been called.

The hill’s known as Mount Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem. Far from cowering in fear beneath its shadow, we’re invited to draw near in full assurance of faith. And there, instead of darkness and gloom, is a joyful gathering of countless thousands of angels. There we find our people, the church of the firstborn . . . those who have been registered in heaven . . . their names written in the book . . . their table reserved for the wedding supper of the Lamb.

Rather than being prohibited from touching the hill because His holiness abides there, we are beckoned to boldly approach God’s throne of grace. Not in fear of the One who is the judge of all, but confident that our judgment has been born in full forever by His all-sufficient provision — the offering of His Son for our sin. And thus we join the spirits of the righteous made perfect. Made perfect not because of who we are or what we’ve done, but only because of who His Son is and what He has done — Jesus, the mediator of new promise. Jesus the One who offered a blood sacrifice so superior to anything offered under the old covenant that sins are forgotten, put away as far as the east is from the west (Ps. 103:12).

Saint, are your divine location services enabled? No matter where you are this morning, no matter what your starting point, this is the hill we are invited to come to. This is our destination. Sure, there might be some wrong turns along the way . . . some slow traffic . . . some heavy hauling . . . some “recomputing,” but this is where we are going . . . where we to come to, even now. A better hill based on a better promise because of a better sacrifice through an eternal loving Savior.

Sometimes, you need to refocus on where you’re going in order to know where you currently are. Praise God for His word . . . and for His divine location services.

All because of His abundant grace . . . all for His eternal glory.

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Where God Lives

Posted on September 18, 2015 by Pete

An inverted triangle. An immense inverted triangle. That’s the picture that forms in my mind’s eye as I hover over a verse in Isaiah this morning. The base of the triangle is above the earth . . . way above the earth . . . like, really, really high above the earth . . . so high it eclipses even the universe. What’s more, the base of the triangle is long . . . as in, so long I can’t see the ends of it from my vantage point. I don’t know where the line starts and it goes on forever. And from that base, from the ends which I can’t see and from the height which I can’t fathom, two lines are drawn to the earth, descending way down to connect at a point. And at that point, me. And as I imagine that simple picture I’m in awe. Because that’s where God lives.

For thus says the One Who is high and lifted up, Who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.”    (Isaiah 57:15 ESV)

The Spirit through Isaiah provides three coordinates that triangulate where God lives.

First He inhabits eternity. His timeline is without start and has no finish. In fact, He is beyond time . . . time being something He created. Thus, He is the Alpha and the Omega . . . the first and the last . . . the beginning and the end (Rev. 22:13). From everlasting to everlasting is where our God abides. Immortality within Himself. Beyond comprehension. That’s the line that defines the base of the triangle that reaches from horizon to horizon above me.

Second, He is the high and lifted up One. Want to see God, look up . . . look way up. With the eyes of faith enter the heavenlies where He is seated on His throne. He is above the earth. Higher than its rulers and powers. Transcending the confines of this orb. Exalted above all creation. Beyond anything we’ve been able to see. That line which marks the habitation of eternity is beyond the reach of mere mortals. But, as I’m being reminded this morning, it’s not beyond our knowledge of it.

And that’s what makes this third coordinate all the them more amazing. While God inhabits eternity . . . while He is high and lifted up . . . He has also purposed to live “with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit.”

He who dwells outside of time has decided to enter time and space. He whose throne is above the earth, has determined to set foot on terra firma.

He did it 2,000 years ago when He came born of virgin to die as the Lamb of God. When He who created all things and sustains all things, entered into that creation so that, through His perfect life and substitutionary sacrifice, He might make way for its redemption. Shedding His visible glory. Becoming man, confined by time and walking this earth, so that He might become our faithful High Priest . . . risen, ascended, and even now, at the right hand of the Father making intercession for us.

But He does it now too. He enters our time and descends into our space through the mysterious working of His Holy Spirit. The high and lifted up, eternity dwelling God graciously takes up residence with those who have humbled themselves before Him.

That’s where God lives.

By His grace . . . and for His glory.

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The LORD Who Has Compassion

Posted on September 17, 2015 by Pete

Compassion captured my attention this morning. Not so much acts of compassion but the word compassion and the promise of compassion and the God of compassion.

I’m continuing to read in that portion of Isaiah which has moved beyond Israel’s judgment and looks forward to her restoration. That portion that speaks of God’s remedy for her sin and of the redemption He has planned from her slavery. And at the heart of God’s determination for wayward Israel is His compassion.

“For a brief moment I deserted you, but with great compassion I will gather you. In overflowing anger for a moment I hid My face from you, but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you,” says the LORD, your Redeemer. . . . “For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but My steadfast love shall not depart from you, and My covenant of peace shall not be removed,” says the LORD, who has compassion on you.     (Isaiah 54:7, 8, 10 ESV)

That’s my God . . . the LORD who has compassion.

The LORD who, despite Israel’s hard hearts and stiff necks . . . despite their rejection and rebellion . . . despite their folly with idols and their failure with fidelity . . . shows mercy to a nation many would consider beyond mercy. A God who loves on a people who have forfeited any right to being loved on. A God who remains faithful to the family He has called not because they deserve it, but because of who He is. By His very nature, God is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love (Ex. 34:6).

Because of His great compassion, He will gather His people . .. He will again show them His face . . . and His covenant of peace they will fully know.

Praise God that His purposes and His promises are not dependent on His people’s performance but that they rest upon His very unchanging nature. To be sure there may be “a brief moment” when our sin has quenched His presence . . . times of self-determination where He responds by hiding His face . . . but even those are used of a God abounding in love to shape and secure His children.

“My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by Him. For the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and chastises every son whom He receives. . . . that we may share His holiness.”    (Hebrews 12:5-6, 10b ESV)

God reveals His nature that we might know His nature and respond in light of His nature. He reminds us of His steadfast love that we might hope in that love. He reveals Himself as compassionate so that, in times when we feel like we should flee and hide, we in fact draw near and abide.

Though our repeated failures cause frustration. Though our repeated confessions of sin seem feeble. Yet, by faith, we are confident that He is the LORD who has compassion.

Praise God for the all sufficient work of the cross . . . and for His abundant grace . . . and for His unceasing compassion.

All for His glory!

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Consider the Promise, Provision, & Prize

Posted on September 16, 2015 by Pete

Continuing to read in Hebrews 11 this morning. And a word jumps off the page. A word which I had read before in this chapter. A word that I would read again. Repeated three times, it caused me to pause and reflect.

That word? Considered. And so, I’m considering . . .

By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered Him faithful who had promised. . . .

[Abraham] considered that God was able even to raise [Isaac] from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back. . . .

[Moses] considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward. . . .           (Hebrews 11:11, 19, 26 ESV)

I’m reminded that while faith is the substance of things hoped for (11:1 NKJV), what we deem to be true about God is the substance of faith. What we glean concerning the Creator from creation . . . what we experience of His presence by interacting with His Spirit . . . what we learn concerning His thoughts and His ways from the Scriptures . . . all of that fuels the fires of faith. And what we consider to be true about God will influence and direct how we live our lives.

Because Sarah believed that God was faithful to His promise, she conceived when her body was naturally beyond conceiving. Yeah, I know that Sarah was impatient waiting for the promise and that she made some desperate decisions because she didn’t know how the promise was going to be fulfilled (Gen. 16). But at the end of the day, God opened her womb not because of what she did or didn’t do, but because of what she believed about God. That what God said would happen, would happen. Sarah considered God faithful and received the promise.

Abraham considered God able and saw the provision. Asked by God to sacrifice the son that Sarah had born, Abraham obeys against all reasonable thinking. Made no sense to take the life of the son through whom Abraham’s line was determined . . . no sense to cut off the miracle child whose distant descendant would become the means of blessing for all nations (Gen. 12:3). But Abraham considered that God was able to raise the dead. And so, by faith, he prepared to offer his son believing he would witness his son’s resurrection. And in a way, says the Hebrews writer, he did as God halted Abraham’s hand and
provided a substitutionary sacrifice . . . Abraham calling that place, “The LORD will provide” (Gen. 22:11-14).

Finally, while Sarah received the promise of a child and Abraham saw the provision of substitutionary sacrifice, Moses would know the prize of forsaking this world. The reward of bearing what the writer calls “the reproach of Christ,” though Christ would be born thousands of years after Moses. Moses, by faith, chose the disdain and persecution directed to those who live for another kingdom. The misunderstanding and derision directed to those who follow the law of a heavenly land. The rejection felt by those who are counter-culture and swim against the current of what the world calls normal.

Moses could of had it all . . . the treasures of Egypt . . . wealth, power, and influence in his world. But instead, he chose the reproach of Christ. Why? Because of what fueled his faith. He considered that following Jesus would lead to a better prize.

Sarah considered God faithful. Abraham considered God able. Moses considered God worth it. Sarah received the promise. Abraham witnessed the provision. Moses went home with the prize.

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

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A Better Country

Posted on September 15, 2015 by Pete

Rarely, I think, have I entered the Hall of Faith without a sense of a holy hush as I again consider the “by faith” exhibits. “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). Without faith it is impossible to please God . . . for only those who believe He exists and that He rewards those who diligently seek Him will press on to draw near to God (11:6). Want some examples of what faith looks like? Read on. Walk through the hallowed halls of faith. Consider afresh every vignette portrayed on the walls.

This morning I went from staring at the universe to considering an old man married to an old woman with a young baby. Tent dwellers living in a foreign land. They weren’t exactly “living the dream” but they were pursuing the promise. The promise of a better country.

If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared for them a city.    (Hebrews 11:15-16 ESV)

They had left the familiar. They had abandoned the status quo. As good as their hometown was, they set out in pursuit of a land of promise. Even though they didn’t have a GPS . . . or even a location to punch into a GPS . . . they went out not knowing where they were going (11:8) . . . “considering Him faithful who had promised” (11:11). And the promise became, in fact, a pilgrimage. The land, at the end of it all, was but a plot. If they had compared where they had been only to where they were at, they’d be scratching their heads wondering if it was worth it. But, with faith as the assurance of things hoped for, they died knowing that they were heirs of a better country.

They were looking forward to “the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God” (11:10). A place prepared for them . . . a heavenly place . . . a better country.

And isn’t that the secret to pilgrimage? Isn’t that the fuel for the fire of faith? Isn’t that what keeps us keepin’ on? A better country? I’m thinkin’ . . .

If the goal is to be reached here on earth, then we’re setting ourselves up for disappointment and frustration. If the prize is in the material things of what this world offers, then, at best, it’s fleeting. Why bother? But if it’s all about a better country . . . a city built by God . . . a promise given by Him who is faithful . . . then onward Christian soldier! Let’s do it.

Isn’t that why Paul exhorts us to “seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God” and to “Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth” (Col. 3:1-2)? Don’t look down at the ground you are now holding, says Paul. Don’t even look at the horizon to the ground you might be able to gain in the future. But look up . . . look WAY up! . . . and see the city . . . and focus on that better country.

It’s the pilgrim’s motivation. It’s the tent-dweller’s sense of permanency. It’s the thirsty traveler’s energy restoring water. It’s faith that results in conviction and pleases God.

There IS a better country. He who has promised IS faithful. Those who are faithful WILL KNOW the promise.

We’re not home yet . . . but we will be . . . count on it!

Because of grace . . . and for His glory.

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