Ransomed from Futility

Posted on October 9, 2013 by Pete

There are a lot of things to live for. Some live for the weekend . . . some live for the thrill . . . some live for the victory. We can live for our children . . . or we can live for our retirement. We can live for health . . . we can live for wealth . . . we can live for stealth (don’t know exactly what that last one means, but it rhymes). Some live for sport . . . some live for the arts . . . some live for academic pursuit. Some live for others . . . others live for themselves. Some live for tradition . . . and some live to be constantly “outside the box.” You get the idea . . . no end to what one can live for.

But, as I’ve been reminded repeatedly over the past several mornings by the Preacher, Solomon, if it’s “under the sun” it’s vanity or, as the NIV renders it, meaningless. That despite how focused we may become on our goals . . . or on pursuing our passions . . . that the reality is that “under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to those with knowledge, but time and chance happen to them all” (Eccl. 9:11). What a trap . . . to live for that which ultimately has no profit . . . to expend ourselves for that which returns no lasting meaning . . . to spend our lives apart from a context which redeems our pursuits through a higher calling. But this morning, I’ve been reminded that we have been ransomed from futility.

And if you call on Him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.    (1Peter 1:17-19 ESV)

Peter’s audience were living in exile. I guess, for them, they lived to survive. But, even in that most basic of pursuits, Peter called upon his brothers and sisters in Christ to order their lives in light of a Father who judges impartially . . . in light of the God who created them for His glory. Even in being fish out of water . . . even in light of perhaps soon being “fried fish” . . . there was a context for living which transcended their situation. A context which gave a meaning and purpose to their “here and now” which would be fully realized in the “there and then.” A context purchased through the precious blood of Christ. A context beyond the vanity of living under the sun . . . available to those ransomed from futility.

A ransom has been paid that liberates people from the futile . . . a price tendered which releases our identities from that which ultimately has no gain or profit . . . a payment made by the sinless, spotless, risen Son of God that provides people on earth a faith and hope which are founded in the God of heaven.

I’m not saying that, as believers, we shouldn’t look forward to the weekend . . . or enjoy our kids . . . or plan for retirement . . . or give ourselves to the many other interests and desires which God has given man to enjoy under the sun. But when they become the prize . . . and they, like thorns, start to choke out the good seed (Luke 8:7, 14) and distract us from running the good race . . . and avert our hearts from things above . . . and compete for time spent abiding in Christ, and with His Word, and with His people . . . then, we’ve stepped back into the market place of futility from which Jesus ransomed us.

O’ that God’s people might live in the light of God’s purposes. That those “born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God” (1Peter 1:23) might, in all things, ultimately live for Him.

By His grace . . . for His glory . . .

Posted in 1Peter | Leave a comment

The Grace to Come

Posted on October 8, 2013 by Pete

Some have said that one can be so heavenly minded that they are no earthly good. I disagree. It is the great purifier . . . it is the great motivator . . . it’s the reason to fight the good fight . . . and to run the good race. It is the culmination of the salvation the prophets inquired of and which the angels long to look into. Peter says it is the reality we are to set our hope fully upon . . . that it is the grace to come.

Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”   (1Peter 1:13-16 ESV)

There’s much that goes into the call to be holy as God is holy. It starts with a rebirth . . . the receiving of a new heart . . . the realization of a new nature . . . the regeneration of a spiritually dead person into a spiritually alive person. It’s dependent upon a Father who has purposed to conform His own into the image of His Son . . . a work begun of the Father, enabled by the Spirit, to reflect the reality of Christ in me.

But, there are some dynamics in this holy living equation that involve me. It certainly requires some determination on my part to see the work of God realized in me . . . an act of the will to desire to walk in a manner worthy of the calling . . . a decision, as much as lies within me, to be obedient. But at the essence of that determination, desire, and decision, is a focal point. And that, Peter says, is the hope of the “the grace that will brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” It is focusing on the grace to come.

Historically, when the church has recaptured the reality of the imminent return of Christ . . . when they have lived with an “eye to the sky” . . . when they have had ears listening for the trumpet . . .when they have risen with each sunrise with the thought that “Perhaps Today!” . . . then there has been great revival. Lives lived unashamedly for Christ . . . trials endured with all joy . . . light evident in a darkness . . . salt infused in the world through obedient children of God . . . reflecting something of the Son of God within a world so loved by God.

As much grace as the redeemed of the Lord have known there is yet a grace to be realized at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Take the abounding, abundant favor we have received and imagine it multiplied exponentially and that is what awaits us when we are promoted from living by faith to being face-to-face. And that reality is something we should set our minds on . . . that glory is something that we should purposefully program our internal GPS towards . . . the grace to come.

Setting our minds on things above . . . attaching our affections to that not yet fully realized . . . being focused on what lies ahead and the One who will be there . . . that’s the driving motivation for wanting to be holy now . . . that’s what renews the inner man and keeps us keepin’ on . . . that’s what convinces us that “the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Rom. 8:18). That’s the heavenly mindedness which bears the fruit of earthly good.

O’ that I might set my hope fully on that grace to come.

By His grace . . . for His glory . . .

Posted in 1Peter | Leave a comment

Joy, Unspeakable Joy!

Posted on October 7, 2013 by Pete

As I worked my way through my reading plan this morning, I was pretty aware of how distracted I was. A number of concerns . . . over a wide range of areas . . . that filled my mind and weighed down my heart. As I’m reading the written word, there’s kind of an on-going conversation happening with the Living Word. And then I get to 1Peter and start in on this letter. And Peter quickly encourages his readers that their various trials are, in fact, a testing ground . . . circumstance which proves the genuineness of their faith. A faith which loves Him whom we have not seen. Though we don’t see Him now, a faith which believes in Him still and, what’s more, produces joy, unspeakable joy.

In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith–more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire–may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen Him, you love Him. Though you do not now see Him, you believe in Him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.     (1Peter 1:6-9 ESV)

It’s that phrase, you “rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory,” that grabs me. And it occurs to me that it might be a bit dumb to try and write on something that is inexpressible . . . to put a few thoughts down on something that is unspeakable . . . to try and communicate about something that is better felt than tell’t. But, let’s give it a try anyway . . .

That we can be grieved by various trials isn’t a surprise to anyone. No one is exempt . . . not even people of great faith. Yesterday the sermon pointed out that the first mention of tears shed in the Bible is by the great man of faith, Abraham, when he wept over the death of his beloved Sarah. In our Sunday School class we spent some time considering John the Baptist . . . cousin of Jesus . . . preparer of the way of the Lord . . . of those born of woman among the greatest (Matt 11:11) . . . and yet, he languished alone in Herod’s prison. No one is exempt from trials.

And maybe that’s why the joy that Peter talks about is inexpressible. Because, apart from faith, it makes no sense . . . because it comes from a place which is unseen, a place untethered to our circumstance . . . because its source is not found in the state of affairs around us, but in the Spirit of God who lives in us. When our trials cause us to run to the Rock . . . when our worries compel us to quiet ourselves before the Sovereign . . . there, at His feet, we marvel anew at such access . . . and are reminded of the price paid, the love shown, and the grace poured out to make open such access . . . and our concerns are trumped by our love for Him who first loved us . . . though now, we do not see Him. And in that faith fueled love there is a joy, an unspeakable joy.

It is a joy filled with glory. The glory of the living hope we have been born again into . . . that of “an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you” (1:3-4). It is the glory of interacting with the power of God guarding us through faith . . . the inner workings of our spirit with God’s abiding Spirit in our lives. It is the glory spilling into our lives through the abiding presence of the King of Glory . . . a glory which helps us put our here-and-now in the context of His promised there-and-then. It is an intangible glory . . . producing an unspeakable joy.

Praise God in the distractions . . . bless Him in our concerns . . . believe in Him . . . love Him . . . rejoice in Him . . . with joy, unspeakable joy.

Amen?

Posted in 1Peter | Leave a comment

Living Water

Posted on October 4, 2013 by Pete

Reading Jeremiah 29 this morning tuned me into noticing promises from God. What a stirring chapter. God has the prophet write a letter to those who are in Babylon . . . those who have been taken into captivity after seeing Jerusalem razed, the temple destroyed . . . those who have lived through Judah being laid waste. And in this letter, the Lord tells the people that after 70 years ( . . . get that? . . . 70 years . . . that’s a lifetime!!!) . . . that He would visit them, fulfill His promise, and bring them back to Jerusalem. “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for wholeness and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” (Jer. 29:11). No quick fix here . . . 70 years in exile . . . in a foreign land . . . a stranger . . . swimming upstream . . . yet a lifetime during which they would learn to seek the Lord . . . a lifetime, He promised, during which He would be found (Jer. 29:12-14). And that set me up for Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman in John 4 . . . and my encounter with another promise of God.

If you know the story, you know she was in her own form of exile . . . her own captivity. Not only was she was part of a despised ethnic minority, she had also been abandoned by love and had settled for sin. Having had 5 husbands . . . and now living with a sixth man who was not her husband . . . how lonely must she have been. Hadn’t found her groove . . . wasn’t exactly living “the dream” . . . same old, same old, . . . take the abuse at home and then head out for her daily trip to draw water. But this day was to be different . . . she was to encounter the Living Word of God . . . and, she was to encounter a living promise of God!

. . . whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty forever. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.    (John 4:14 ESV)

Read it again . . . and tell me why that isn’t a promise for all of us. Whoever . . . that’s what Jesus says . . . no restrictions . . . no class distinction . . . not about gender . . . not about race . . . not about socio-economic standing . . . not about how good we are . . . not about how churched we are . . . whoever . . . even me . . . a sinner-saved-by-grace who’s been trying to walk the talk for a few years now . . . Jesus is speaking to me.

And the promise is pretty simple . . . drink of the water I give and you will never thirst . . . receive the spiritual infusion I offer and a spring-fed well will gush within you . . . and you’ll know everlasting life . . . even now. Jesus offered this woman something that would take away emptiness . . . something that would satisfy the longing to be secure in a solid relationship . . . something that would take the drudgery of the day and turn it into something of eternal worth . . . something that would allow her to see her “here and now” in light of a “there and then.”

And Jesus wasn’t offering a one shot power boost . . . this wasn’t about a can of energy drink that might get you revved up for awhile only to eventually crash. Jesus offered day-in-and-day-out life infusing water. Not some momentary spiritual high, but a consistent, reliable renewing of the soul.

Living water not coming from a “great time of worship” . . . nor from a “really cool speaker” . . . nor from a “real fun” gathering . . . but found by simply going to Jesus and receiving the water He offers. And it’s when we’re drinking in what He’s serving up that the worship becomes so amazing . . . and the speaker seems to be speaking the very words of God . . . and the time with God’s people just can’t seem to be any more intimate and refreshing.

How many places do we go for the water hoping it will bring us to Jesus . . . rather than going to Jesus and receiving the water?

Jesus offers living water . . . a spiritual refreshment that will take away the thirst . . . that creates from within a flow of the Spirit which is not just life sustaining, but is life energizing. Yeah, we’re in a foreign land . . . waiting for the return of the King . . . waiting to go to that city He’s prepared for us . . . waiting to go home and get out of this stream that we seem to be constantly swimming against the flow of. But while we’re here . . . and doing life . . . let’s not stop going to the One who offers this living water.

By His grace . . . for His glory!

Posted in John | Leave a comment

Jehovah-Tsidkenu

Posted on October 3, 2013 by Pete

As I continue to read in Jeremiah it’s clear that Judah had come apart at the spiritual seams. Her kings led her into deeper and deeper apostasy . . . her shepherds had lost all affection and care for the flock and were leading her to feed in rotten pastures of idol worship . . . and her prophets had determined to no longer seek the voice of God but to ad lib, passing off their own hollow words of, “It will be OK” as “thus says the LORD.” Dark . . . ominous . . . judgment is sure. But this morning I encountered a ray of light . . . some hope for the hopeless . . . a safe harbor for those in the storm . . .

Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and He shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which He will be called: “The LORD Is Our Righteousness.”    (Jeremiah 23:5-6 ESV)

Even as the God of Israel is about to lay waste the land and send an adulteress people into captivity, He promises that He will gather a remnant of His flock out of the countries where He drives them . . . that they shall, one day, again be fruitful and multiply . . . that He will set shepherds over them who will care for them (23:3-4). And at the center of this promise is the Branch.

He will be a sprout or shoot from the Davidic tree . . . His will be of the line of royalty . . . His will be the right to rule . . . and He will be righteous. Unlike the wayward kings Israel had known . . . juxtaposed to the self-seeking shepherds of the day . . . in contrast to the false prophets and their bogus words . . . He will be the King who rules with a scepter of righteousness . . . He will be the Shepherd willing to give His life for the sheep and able to lead them to green pastures . . . He will be the very Word of God, truth personified.

And what grabs me this morning is that this righteous Branch will be called Jehovah-Tsidkenu . . . that is, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.

That is the “secret sauce” of our salvation. That He is our righteousness.

This morning I’m reminded that the only ground I stand upon before a holy God is the ground secured by His Righteous Branch. This Branch who is Jehovah . . . God, very God . . . Himself the radiance of God’s glory, the exact imprint of God’s nature . . . the Creator and Sustainer of all things . . . worthy alone to be seated at the right hand of the Majesty on high (Heb. 1:2-3).

This Branch who is Tsidkenu . . . our Righteousness . . . having Himself made purification for sins . . . having become the once for all sacrifice of my sin . . . pierced for my transgressions, crushed for my iniquities, His chastisement bringing me peace, the Lord having laid on Him the iniquity of us all (Isa. 53:5-6). The righteousness which affords me access into the Most Holy Place is the righteousness of the Christ . . . a righteousness that I put on by faith.

For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.    (2Corinthians 5:21 ESV)

I’m a bit overwhelmed at the depths of love and grace shown through THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS! O’ what a name! O’ what a Savior!

Amen?

Posted in Jeremiah | Leave a comment

My Spirit Heritage

Posted on October 2, 2013 by Pete

Unlike some, I’m not all that interested in my genealogy. Sure, I really appreciate those in my family who are . . . glad to have some insight as to my roots . . . but for the most part, I’m pretty much occupied with the here and now . . . not all that concerned with happened back there and then. But as I read John 3 this morning, I realize that I need to be careful about losing sight of my spiritual heritage . . . that there’s a danger in distancing myself from where I came from as a child of God. It’s the danger of thinking that somehow I managed to figure out what others haven’t . . . the fallacy that who I am is because of what I’ve made myself . . . the deception that because I tried to pursue the Way, that God had to receive me. Nope! If I look at my spiritual roots, if I go back to the very beginning of where I came from, I’m reminded that who I am is related directly to the reality that I was born of the Spirit . . . that my spiritual roots are found in my Spirit heritage.

Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God . . . Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”   (John 3:3-6 ESV)

Born again . . . not really a phrase that’s in vogue . . . either in the world . . . or in the church, I fear. “I received Christ” . . . “I came to faith” . . . “I accepted the Lord, as my Savior” . . . all are probably more common ways we describe our salvation. We tend to recall what we did . . . and to be sure, we needed to believe in order to have eternal life . . . though, even the saving faith we exercised, was a gift of God (Eph. 2:8). But, if I consider my spiritual roots . . . if I go back to what started this pilgrim walk . . . it was the fact that I was born again . . . and that, was the work of the Spirit of God.

Any interest I have in the things of God . . . any desire I have to more deeply know my Creator . . . any sense I have of a better city to come . . . it’s all because of my heritage . . . that I was born of water and the Spirit. I was born again . . . made a new creation (2Cor. 5:17) . . . my spiritual DNA regenerated. Though I was dead in sin, I was made alive in Christ. Though I was at war with God, I was reconciled. Though I set myself as His enemy, He redeemed me to be a son. To pursue the kingdom is hard-wired in me through the regenerating and sanctifying work of the Spirit of God.

No boasting . . . no credit to be claimed. Instead, all of God’s over-flowing grace . . . all due to Christ’s all sufficient work on the cross . . . all through the Spirit’s active agency in the lives of men and women.

It’s kind of humbling . . . and, it’s kind of amazing!

And so, I sit back from the Scriptures I love . . . and thank the Spirit who wired me with a hunger and thirst for them. I pause from the pursuit . . . and I purpose to offer praise. I take a moment from the concerns of making sure I walk the worthy walk . . . and I bow my head, and lift my heart, to worship the one and only God worthy of worship. And I do it because it’s in my “bloodline” . . . I have been born of the Spirit.

Thanks be to God for His inexpressible gift!    (2Corinthians 9:15 ESV)

Thanks be to God for my Spirit heritage.

Posted in John | Leave a comment

Remembering

Posted on October 1, 2013 by Pete

I think, when it comes to information, I do a better of job of storing it than retrieving it. I’m pretty sure that I have far more packed into in my brain than I seem to be able to access. I might know that I know something . . . but just can’t seem to recall what that something was. And, it’s not getting any better! The recesses of my mind seem to be getting more inaccessible with time. Maybe that’s why the repetition of a simple three word phrased jumped off the page at me this morning . . . or, maybe it was something, or Someone, else . . .

And He told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; do not make my Father’s house a house of trade.” His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.” . . . Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” But He was speaking about the temple of His body. When therefore He was raised from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.   (John 2:16-17, 19-22 ESV)

There, repeated twice, is the phrase “His disciples remembered.” As I read it the first time, the thought flashed through my head, how could these unlearned men have recalled an obscure verse from an ancient song of David (Ps. 69:9) and applied it to the Master they had only recently started to follow? . . . is this the Spirit? And then I read on a few more verses and encounter the phrase again . . . and I think to myself, Self, this is the work of the Spirit! And then I think about my thinking and, I think, that it too is a realtime Spirit dynamic at work.

It’s what He does. The Holy Spirit takes the word of God and brings it to mind in the child of God. His delight is it take that which is written concerning the Son and illuminate it for those whose desire is to seek the Son. He takes the Bible readings read . . . the Sunday School stories heard . . . the memory verses memorized . . . the sermon notes written . . . all the Bible knowledge stored . . . and He retrieves it . . . bringing it to mind. And not in some divine “Trivial Pursuit” sense . . . but rather, along with the Word retrieved, He sheds light as to how it speaks of the Savior and of His great salvation. He gives understanding that we might be, more and more, children of the truth . . .

But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you . . . when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, He will bear witness about He . . . When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth . . . He will glorify me, for He will take what is Mine and declare it to you.    (John 14:26, 15:26, 16:13-14 ESV)

How often do I “rob” the Spirit when I think it’s my intellect, or my attention to detail, which is allowing me to observe such things as a repeated phrase . . . or, to recall and apply some Scripture in particular situation . . . when, in fact, it really is a God thing? How often do I miss recognizing encounters of the divine kind because I fail to acknowledge the Spirit of truth as the one enabling me to remember?

Praise God for Spirit powered remembrance.

I’m guessing that, naturally speaking, over time my “retrieval system” is going to get a little rustier. But my God never changes . . . Jesus is the same, yesterday, today, and forever . . . and the blessed Holy Spirit’s work of enabling the “mind of Christ” will continue without fail.

Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God.   (1Corinthians 2:12 ESV)

Remembering . . . remember, it’s a God thing.

Posted in John | Leave a comment

Don’t Let Me Miss the Glory

Posted on September 30, 2013 by Pete

For most at that wedding, they never knew what happened. The honored couple had no idea . . . the guests had no idea . . . not even the “wedding planner,” though he recognized something unusual, knew what had happened. Except for a few conscripted servants, and a few called disciples, it went unnoticed. The glory of Messiah had been manifest . . . and most never knew what happened. Oh, don’t let me miss the glory!

In John 2, we read that Jesus, along with His disciples, was invited to a wedding. And, as was the ancient Jewish custom, this would have been a days long affair. The celebration extending beyond just a 45 minute ceremony, a dinner, and perhaps a few hours of celebration. This wedding which Jesus attended went on and on. And eventually supplies started running low . . . including the wine.

And Jesus, though His hour had not yet come to “go public” (2:4), determines to intervene in the most practical of ways.

Now, as Creator (John 1:3, Col. 1:16, Heb 1:2), Jesus had, in a sense, invented wine-making. The turning of water into wine through the agricultural and fermentation processes was of His design. But at this time and in this place the Word made flesh, God incarnate, chose to bypass the natural process. It was the “first of His signs” (2:11) . . . the first of many miracles which would attest to Jesus as the Christ, the Messiah . . . the first demonstration of His divinity . . . the first illustration of Him as the Author of Life . . . the first indication of Him as the Source of Joy . . . the first application of His grace and compassion for those He came to save. And, in turning the water into wine, John writes, Jesus “manifested His glory” (2:11).

Yet most were unaware of it.

To be fair, it was by design. Jesus purposefully worked behind the scenes. Far from making a major production of it, He had the servants fill the six twenty-gallon stone jars with water . . . and then had those same servants draw the wine out of those same jars. The master of the feast didn’t know where this fine wine had come from . . . the bridegroom was just as surprised as the master of the feast that somehow this “good wine” had surfaced towards the end of the feast. The guests could certainly care less . . . as long as there was more liquid joy to be consumed. But the servants had seen what had happened . . . as did Jesus disciples.  And they, for me, are “the hook.” Given that I am also a follower of Christ, they connect me to the story. And they saw the glory!

This, the first of His signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested His glory. And His disciples believed in Him.   (John 2:11 ESV)

The servants knew what happened that day because of their responsibility to “do whatever He tells you” (2:5). The disciples, my people, witnessed the miracle that day because of their relationship with Him who had said to them, “Follow Me.” They attended the wedding with Jesus . . . they stuck close to Him throughout the festivities . . . I’m guessing they were privy to the conversation between the Son of God and the mother of Jesus . . . they heard His instructions to the servants . . . they saw the great jars filled with water . . . they witnessed the fine wine poured from those same jars . . . they heard the testimony of the wine taster . . . they caught a glimpse of the care and compassion of their Master for a people oblivious to His provision . . . they saw the glory revealed. And, it says, they believed in Him. Their faith grew.  Though they didn’t understand all of what they had witnessed, their understanding of Him went deeper . . . their decision to follow Him was confirmed . . . their conviction that He was the Light of the Word was strengthened. Because they were with Jesus, they beheld the manifestation of His glory.

Oh, don’t let me miss the glory! I too have been called into relationship the Christ . . . just like the disciples I have been invited into close communion with the Son . . . and, from that vantage point, I too will have opportunity to see the manifest power of the Master. Mine is to abide with the Savior . . . to be in close relationship . . . to not be snoozin’ at the wheel . . . so that I too might see the glory.

Amen?

Posted in John | Leave a comment

The Good Ol’ Ways

Posted on September 26, 2013 by Pete

Ok . . . so I’m a sucker for nostalgic songs . . . especially if it’s a country song . . . especially, especially if The Isaacs are performing it. Something about guitars, tight harmonies, and singing “Grandpa, tell me ’bout the good old days” that draws me in . . . and mellows me out. To think about a wise and seasoned man rocking on the front porch talking to his grandkids . . . telling them of a day when lovers really fell in love to stay . . . when a promise was really something people kept . . . and families bowed their heads to pray . . . has a way of stirring up the sentimental side of me . . . and wondering what happened to those good old days. The song flooded into my head as I was read something in Jeremiah this morning.

In the midst of some of the most condemning “thus says the LORD” prophecies . . . surrounded by indictments of a people who had so rejected their God, and so played the harlot, that they were beyond feeling shame, and didn’t even know how to blush (Jer. 6:15), . . . in the dark clouds of the warning of impending judgment . . . the LORD offers this plea to any who might still have ears to hear . . .

Thus says the LORD: “Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls. . . . “ (Jeremiah 6:16 ESV)

There is something about pausing for a moment and looking to the roads before us. They are the crossroads of the narrow way of following Christ and the ever broadening super highway of the world. Roads frequently set before us . . . though often we don’t even take the foot off the gas long enough to recognize the choices. But the Father’s encouragement is to stand by the roads and to look . . . to take notice . . . to perceive . . . to inspect. Another prophet, Haggai, put it this way, “Consider your ways.” Though the world’s current is strong, and perhaps it’s easier to just go with the flow, there is something to be said for standing still for a moment and thinking about the choices before us . . . and then asking for the ancient paths.

The ancient paths . . . not the good old days per se . . . not just the traditions of bygone eras . . . but the paths of the Ancient One . . . the “Plan A” of the One who created us . . . the paths of righteousness, holiness, and communion. The path, though conceived before the foundation of the earth, declared to be a new and living way opened up to us through the work of Christ on the cross . . . a path that leads us to confidently enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus (Heb. 10:19-20). The path where the good way is . . .

Not a way of our making . . . not a way of our sustaining . . . not a way that, in and of ourselves, we can navigate. But through His finished work . . . through His abiding Spirit . . . and with His all-sufficient grace . . . a way that we can walk in . . . the path in which we can find rest for our souls.

O’ tell me ’bout the good old ways. Good because He is good . . . good because He is the Way (John 14:6).

I’m a sucker for a nostalgic song . . . can get kind of sentimental and teary eyed. But I’m also a sinner in need of the reminder of a saving Son. A pilgrim in need of recalibration, from time to time, as to the journey . . . a child of God called to walk in a manner worthy of my calling. Mine is stand by the roads . . . behold and consider the diverging paths . . . and ask for the way of Him who is the same yesterday, today, and forever . . . and then walk in it . . . and find rest for my soul.

By His grace . . . for His glory . . .

Posted in Jeremiah, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Getting Above “Under the Sun”

Posted on September 25, 2013 by Pete

So, I’m thinking that King Solomon might have been a little too smart for his own good. He may have over thought things a tad. I’m suspecting this guy was a bit “type A” . . . a little anal-retentive. I’ve entered the world of Ecclesiastes and it really isn’t the memoirs you’d expect from the guy who built the great temple . . . or from the writer of Proverbs. What happened to this guy? You sense he was a powerhouse in his youth, but in these twilight years you’re kind of sensing a bit of a shell of man. Maybe the clue has to do with something I read in James this morning . . .

But let’s start with my Ecclesiastes 2 reading. “I hated life,” says Solomon (Eccl. 2:17). What? This guy had it all . . . had done it all . . . in fact, he owned it all. Check out the first part of Ecclesiastes 2 . . . he constructed great works . . . built fabulous houses . . . planted amazing vineyards. He not only planted magnificent gardens and fruit orchards but also constructed massive water pools in order to keep them irrigated. And possessions . . . did he have possessions or what? Servants . . . . lots of servants . . . and herds . . . and flocks . . . and silver . . . and gold . . . and special treasures . . . and choirs of singers . . . and musical instruments of all kinds. Anything and everything that could bring pleasure to the senses he had title to. It seems that his was almost a manic pursuit of happiness . . . “And whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I kept my heart from no pleasure, for my heart found pleasure in all my toil, and this was my reward for all my toil.” (2:10). Been there . . . done that . . . got the T-shirt. But his frustration just oozes from the page . . . “Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had expended in doing it, and behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun.” (2:11).

Grasping for the wind . . . that might be kind fun for a little while . . . but if you’re really trying to catch it . . . good luck! Can you imagine being obsessed with capturing the wind . . . with boxing it up . . . with being able to contain it and say, “Here it is!” Crazy man . . . literally. But that’s what it sounds like Solomon’s life experience had become. So what’s the deal? What happened?

Here’s a clue, I think. I did a quick computer count of the number of times the word “I” or “my” is used in these first seventeen verses of Ecclesiastes 2 in my ESV. Check this out! The word “I” is found in every verse except for one . . . 16 times Solomon talks about what “I did”. And his “my” obsession isn’t a lot better . . . found only in 7 verses . . . but, it’s there 15 times. I, I, I, . . . my, my, my . . . wise man . . . blessed man . . . self-centered man . . . frustrated man. Cue James . . .

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. (James 1:17).

Solomon was way bent out of shape because he saw all his good works as just that, HIS good works. And thus, they were vanity, because time would consume them all eventually. What was the purpose of building his legacy . . . someone else would own it . . . and eventually time would destroy it. It was all under the sun . . . and, as such, was all meaningless. But, if I’m catching what James says, our pleasures . . . our blessings . . . our possessions . . . the pursuit of our dreams . . . far from being just “under the sun” can, in and of themselves, be a connection to heaven itself and the One who is enthroned there.

When we view every nice thing we own as being from the Giver of every good and perfect gift . . . when we consider every accomplishment we may have achieved as being from the hand of Him who never changes . . . when we pursue every desire acknowledging that desire’s root is from the Father of Lights with whom there is no shadow of turning . . . then it all becomes a foretaste of heaven . .. and it all takes on intense meaning and purpose. Far from being about me, it’s all about Him. Far from being vanity, it is a veritable connection with the One who created me, redeemed me by His grace, and has determined to fulfill His perfect will in my life.

Oh, to shift my gaze from “under the sun” to the “Father of lights!” To stop keeping score of my accomplishments and possessions but to count His many blessings. It’s the difference between the frustration with that which is passing and the worship of Him who is eternal. All glory be to the Father of Lights!

Posted in Ecclesiastes, James | Leave a comment