No Help At All!

Posted on October 16, 2013 by Pete

They were only words . . . but they had created a huge stumbling block. Ideas and concepts that were serving to cause some to say, “Whoa! Too weird! I’m outta’ here!” And at the heart of it, I think, was the fact that He was talking to them of things that were literally out of this world . . . things beyond physical realities . . . things concerning spiritual dynamics.

Many in this crowd had eaten the bread and the fish of His miraculous feeding of the 5,000. And so, they signed up . . . they’d follow Him . . . even crossing over the sea in pursuit of Him. But then Jesus started talking about another kind of food . . . food that endured to eternal life . . . a bread from heaven unlike anything ever mentioned by Moses. Jesus saying that He, Himself, was that bread from heaven, the Bread of Life. And, at that, some of the religious elite in the crowd could no longer contain themselves, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” (John 6:52).

You think Jesus might have backed off a bit at that point . . . and if not, at least sought to qualify His statements in some manner . . . but nope!

Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him.  – Jesus     (John 6:53-56 ESV)

Only words . . . but words unlike anything they had heard any rabbi or teacher speak . . . words beyond their comprehension . . . words that caused many of those who followed Him to say, “This is a hard saying: who can listen to it?” (6:60) . . . meaning, “This is rough . . . this is offensive . . . this is intolerable . . . who can deal with it?” They couldn’t. And so, they didn’t . . . and “many of His disciples turned back and no longer walked with Him” (6:66). But for the Twelve, though they too were stretched by this flesh eating, blood drinking teaching, they continued to affirm their belief in Him as “the Holy One of God”, the One who had “the words of eternal life” (6:68-69). So what made the difference between those who left and those who stayed? Glad you asked . . .

It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. 
– Jesus     (John 6:63 ESV)

The difference? The secret sauce? The X-Factor? The Holy Spirit of God . . . the flesh is no help at all.

Apart from an awakening work of the Spirit . . . without hearts softened and ears unstopped by the wind-like moving of the Third Person of the Holy Trinity . . . Jesus’ words concerning a dynamic, of which spiritually dead people have no means of connecting with, becomes just too hard to deal with. And the flesh . . . my intellect . . . my logical reasoning . . . my powers of assimilating facts and data . . . are of no help at all. Spiritual truths are imparted by spiritual means through the illuminating work of the Spirit Himself. The flesh is no help at all.

What begun through the Spirit will be completed through the Spirit. I was born again of the Spirit (John 3:5-8) . . . and it would be foolish to think that what was begun by the Spirit could, somehow, be perfected in the flesh (Gal. 3:3). It is the Spirit who gives life . . . the Spirit who is a deposit and guarantor sustaining life . . . the Spirit who intercedes with my spirit allowing me to continually feed on the Son . . . and to abide in Him and with Him. My discipline . . . my effort . . . my will . . . my flesh are no help at all. My pride, my self-sufficient nature, might not like that reality . . . O’ death be to my pride!

Some stumble at His words . . . others find in them the words of eternal life. The difference . . . the Spirit . . . and spirits that are yielded to Him through faith.

To God be the glory . . .

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The God of Recompense

Posted on October 15, 2013 by Pete

Reminded this morning of one of those lesser spoken of characteristics of God. God is love . . . God is grace . . . God is mercy. But mercy and grace come into play because of this other attribute of God stated so clearly in Jeremiah’s prophecy . . .

For the LORD is laying Babylon waste and stilling her mighty voice. Their waves roar like many waters; the noise of their voice is raised, for a destroyer has come upon her, upon Babylon; her warriors are taken; their bows are broken in pieces, for the LORD is a God of recompense; He will surely repay.   (Jeremiah 51:55-56 ESV)

The LORD is a God of recompense . . . He will surely repay.

Babylon has been permitted to rise in power and strength . . . this “bitter and hasty nation” . . . who scoff at kings and laugh at rulers . . . whose “justice and dignity go forth from themselves” . . . whose “own might is their god” . . . whose driving purpose is violence and conquest (Hab. 1:6-11). And, in His sovereign purposes, God has determined to leverage this out-of-control nation of marauders to judge the sin of His people. In order to purify His called out tribe . . . in order to bring them to their senses . . . in order to turn their adulteress hearts away from idols and back to the God of their fathers . . . God allows His enemies to do His bidding in order to refine His people. But my God is a God of recompense . . . and His enemies, He will surely repay.

And as I linger over this attribute of God . . . that He is a God of retribution . . . that He is a God who repays . . . that He will deal with those who have determined to oppose Him . . . that a just reward awaits those just want to defy Him, . . . I can’t help but recall that once, I too was an enemy of God . . . that once, I was on the path to knowing the God of recompense.

While I acknowledged that there must be a God, I refused to believe that He had any claim or desire to be my God. Though I did not hesitate to use His name in vain . . . in ways that make me shudder to recall . . . I refused to call upon that Name or recognize any allegiance to that Name. Though I might have intuitively thought that if God is God He would have a purpose and will for me life (if I had spent time thinking of God at all), instead, I was more interested in leading my own life . . . my own will and abilities being god enough for me. Walking as a enemy of God . . . not even considering that there might be a day of reckoning . . . with no thought or fear of the God of recompense.

But God saves enemies . . . God reconciles those who, otherwise, He would demand recompense . . .

Since, therefore, we have now been justified by His blood, much more shall we be saved by Him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by His life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.     (Romans 8:9-11 ESV)

As I meditate on the God of recompense this morning . . . I am mesmerized by the One who is also the God of reconciliation. As I think on the wages that were mine to pay as a result of my sin, I marvel afresh that not only has my debt been canceled through the finished work of the cross, but that I have also been made a joint heir with Christ awaiting an inheritance “that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you” (1Peter 1:4). Just recompense having given way to abundant grace.

The God of recompense . . . the God of reconciliation . . . the God to whom is due all glory! Amen?

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Seeking Jesus

Posted on October 14, 2013 by Pete

It says that they went to Capernaum, seeking Jesus (John 6:24b). It was the morning after the day before . . . the day when Jesus had fed thousands with five barley loaves and two fish (6:1-14). As the food had been doled out that day, so too the word spread among the people that the hand of the Teacher was multiplying the meager offering of a young boy . . . that they were, literally, eating because of a miracle. There was wonder . . . there was awe. But on the morning after the day before, there was also hunger again . . . and so, it says, they went to Capernaum, seeking Jesus.

Jesus knew their motives for getting into their boats and crossing over the sea to pursue Him. It wasn’t because they desired to follow Him . . . it wasn’t even because they were in pursuit of more signs . . . it was because they had eaten their fill yesterday, and they were looking to see if there might not be a “miracle meal – part II” (6:26). They were driven by the most base of motivations . . . to satisfy a growling stomach. But Jesus said, There’s more . . .

Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on Him God the Father has set His seal. . . I am the bread of life; whoever comes to Me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in Me shall never thirst.    (John 6:27, 35 ESV)

They ate the food, but failed to see the banqueting table . . . they were glad to receive from His hand, but couldn’t imagine more . . . He was the means to an end, but He wanted them to see that He was the end, itself. That He was not just the Giver of bread from heaven . . . but that He was, in fact, the Bread from heaven . . . the very Bread which gives life to the world (6:33).

And I can’t help but think how often I might seek Jesus solely to satisfy temporary needs . . . how often I might be content to engage Him on the lowest of levels. Not to say that Jesus isn’t interested in my day-to-day needs. or my day-to-day trials and struggles . . . just to say that there’s more.

Jesus invites us to come to Him anticipating that He can address our deepest hunger and is able to satisfy our most longing thirst. That, far beyond receiving from His hand our daily bread, we can receive through Him that which meets our eternal need.

For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in Him should have eternal life, and I will raise Him up on the last day.   (John 6:40 ESV)

And it’s not a “one and done” offer. Not like we come . . . believe . . . say the prayer . . . receive the gift . . . and then we’re on our own until we meet one day in the sky or in the sweet by and by. But the same Bread from heaven which gives eternal life, also fuels eternal life. Communion with the Savior continuing to satisfy the hunger and thirst of the sinner saved by grace.

Jesus’ invitation to “come to Me” is a continual invitation. Jesus’ call to believe in the One the Father sent from heaven is an ongoing call. Mine is to seek Jesus. Yes, for the needs of the day . . . but also to seek Jesus believing there’s more . . . seeking Jesus because He is  Jesus . . . the Bread of Life.

So let me seek . . . by His grace . . . for His glory . . .

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The Moabites’ Sin and Neutralizing the Scriptures

Posted on October 11, 2013 by Pete

A couple of my readings came together in a way I hadn’t expected this morning. An interesting blend of the Old Testament and the New. Jeremiah and John dove-tailing to serve as a bit of a warning for those who might go through the right actions but for the wrong reasons. A heads up as to how a mis-tuned heart corrupts the pure water of the word. This morning I’m thinking about the Moabites’ sin and how it can neutralize the Scriptures.

Jeremiah 48 records the prophet’s word of judgment against the nation of Moab. Moab, the nation born of Lot’s oldest daughter, conceived when she and her sister got their father drunk and lay with him in order that they might have children after their husbands were destroyed in God’s judgment of Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen. 19:30-38). Moab, the nation perpetually opposed to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob . . . whose king retained Balaam, prophet for hire, to curse the descendants of Jacob and denounce Israel (Numbers 22).

And as I’m reading Jeremiah’s “thus says the Lord” of judgment against Moab I come across a twice repeated phrase that, I think, hits at the core of their sin . . . “he magnified himself against the Lord” (48:26, 42) . . . which is further expanded upon in verse 29 . . .

We have heard of the pride of Moab–he is very proud–of his loftiness, his pride, and his arrogance, and the haughtiness of his heart.   (Jeremiah 48:29 ESV)

Bottom line . . . this nation, born out of the self-seeking, self-preserving, desires of a girl who would drug and sleep with her father in order to have a child, continued to be all about itself . . . growing to systemically oppose the things of God in order to preserve itself. End result . . . God wins . . . they lose.

Fast forward to John’s gospel . . . Jesus is speaking to Jews seeking to kill him, “because not only was He breaking the Sabbath, but He was even calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God” (John 5:18). Now, get this indictment . . . this “thus says the Lord” from the incarnate Word of God . . .

You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about Me, yet you refuse to come to Me that you may have life. . . I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him. How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?   (John 5:39-44 ESV)

BAM! . . . how can you believe when you are seeking glory for yourself, or, as Jeremiah says, when you are about magnifying yourself?  They were searching the Scriptures . . . good deal! They were wanting to find eternal life . . . yeah, press on! But, at the center of it all, was their glory . . . their greatness . . . they wanted to magnify themselves, even if it meant opposing the Lord.

And I can’t help but think there’s a warning here. If we read the Scriptures with ourselves at its center . . . if it’s about what it means for me . . . if we seek to understand and apply the Word in order to magnify ourselves . . . then we neutralize the Scriptures. But when God is the central theme . . . when it’s about Him . . . when we desire to know His glory through His revealed Word . . . then, we find eternal life . . . we find abundant life . . . we find life to full. When the glory we seek is God’s glory . . . then we see Jesus . . . then we come to Jesus . . . then we are conformed to the image of Jesus. When it’s about Him . . . He will do His work in us . . . that it might be for His glory.

Makes sense?

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To Know the Taste

Posted on October 10, 2013 by Pete

“Betcha can’t eat just one!” Remember that ad? I think it was a Frito Lay advertisement for their potato chips. But I can think of any number of foods which, for me, it’s hard just to have one. You get that first bite . . . or finish that first piece . . . and the taste buds have come alive . . . and the pleasure sensors are screaming, “More! More!” So what’s this got to do with my morning readings? Well . . . in a way . . . Peter says the same thing . . .

Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up to salvation–if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.   (1Peter 2:2-3 ESV)

Far from being a chore . . . or a discipline . . . pursuing the things of Christ should be a craving . . . a craving driven by having tasted of the Lord’s goodness. If we’ve tasted of the Lord, then . . . betcha’ can’t eat just one. You will crave more of Him . . . and He will provide all you’re able to consume . . . and much, much more. His table is full . . . the feast is eternal . . . all that’s required is we come with bibs tucked under our chin ready to “chow down!”

So why is it a chore sometimes? Why can there be periods where we never go to the table . . . or, if we do, it feels like so much work? I think because, at times, we’ve lost the taste.

That taste we had when we were first saved . . . or, that taste we sampled when we saw God’s hand on our lives through an answered prayer . . . or, that bit of flavor we experienced when God graced us with an unexpected blessing . . . or, that savor on our lips from that portion of God’s Word that seemed to just burn in our hearts . . . or, that indescribable sensation when we actually knew we had heard the Holy Spirit’s voice or were keenly aware of Him prompting our spirits.

All believers can think back to those times when they experienced “the flavor” of the living Lord . . . those times when they encountered God . . . when they partook of His presence . . . when they enjoyed sweet communion inside the veil with the gracious God of eternity. That’s the taste . . . the flavor . . . the reality . . . which propels us to seek Him more. Those are the experiences that constitute that “first bite” and so drives us to heaven’s door with our dishes in our hands crying, “Please Sir, can I have some more!”

But sometimes we lose the taste. The flavor becomes bland as we go through the routine . . . as we do the Christian thing just because that’s what we do. We open our Bibles . . . stare at them . . . maybe quickly read our devotional reading for the day . . . but we don’t really savor the food . . . we don’t linger over it to catch it’s subtle aroma . . . to taste the nuances that are detected only through the teaching ministry of the Spirit inside of us. Or, we go to church . . . we don’t go to meet with THE Church, the body of Christ, we just go to church. We walk in . . . take a seat . . . watch the show . . . maybe struggle with the worship team’s song selection or delivery of the songs . . . maybe critique the sermon . . . throw in a couple of bucks . . . eat a cookie . . . and walk out. We really have no expectation of encountering the One who said that He would be in the presence of His people and amid their praises. We’re not looking to “love on” one another . . . or for that fact, to be “loved on” by anyone else. No expectation that we’ll hear the voice of God from the pulpit. So . . . we don’t taste . . . and the craving subsides.

Oh, how we need to continually taste that the Lord is good. How we need to be still and know that He is God. How we need to count our every blessings, count them one by one. How we need to savor our salvation. And when we do . . . betcha’ can’t eat just one!

We will crave the things of God just like a newborn craves milk. Recapturing a little bit of the taste will result in a whole lot of desire for the the things of God — “Word of God speak!!!” Sampling again that flavor of heaven will ignite our spiritual senses to earnestly hunger and thirst after the things of His righteousness. No drive-thru, fast food meals here. Instead, it’s a lifetime of eating and savoring and digesting and growing . . . all the time tasting that the Lord is good . . . and then craving for more.

O’ to know the taste! To feed on Him deeply! To grow up into our salvation! By His grace . . . for His glory!

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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 . . .

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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 . . .

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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?

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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!

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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?

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