Confession

Posted on August 6, 2012 by Pete

What had begun as a rebuilding program . . . and had transformed into a national reform program . . . eventually budded into a full blown revival program. Overall, reading Nehemiah is pretty inspiring. I get especially jazzed when Ezra the scribe hits the scene with the Book of the Law (ch. 8). The people are hungry for the Word of God . . . “the ears of the all the people were attentive to the Book of the Law” (8:3b). And Ezra reads . . . and the word of God is taught . . . and there is understanding . . . and there is worship . . . and there is a desire for more. And I get to Nehemiah 9 and the people are back for more of the Word.

But this time, the crowd isn’t dressed in their “Sunday best” . . . instead they are “assembled with fasting and in sackcloth, and with earth on their heads”. This time, rather than taking in the Word of God, they are responding to the Word of God . . . “and they confessed their sins and the iniquities of the their fathers” (9:2). After three hours of standing and hearing the Word of God, they continue standing for another three hours and “they made confession and worshiped the LORD their God” (9:3).

And I’ll be honest with you, my first inclination was to skim over the confession part. Give me the grounding of the Word . . . let me soar as I imagine the glorious wonder of the worship . . . but three hours of confession? Really? Yeah . . . that’s what they did. They declared the greatness of their God (aka worship) . . . and, against that holy backdrop, they openly acknowledged the blackness of their sin and they declared the stiff-necked history of their ancestors.

And I find myself wondering why I want to skim over the confession part. Maybe it’s because I have a hard time relating to such an ardent expression of contrition and repentance. Sure, I have confessed sin . . . I have asked for forgiveness for transgression against the God of my salvation . . . but I don’t know that I have even come close to such an “over the top” response to the light of the Word. While I have been “convicted” of my sin, I am seized with wonder at the degree to which these exiles had been so exposed by the light of the Word that they would so physically and so publicly and so extensively respond with confession.

Or maybe I have this natural tendency to skim over it because of a fear of admitting failure before a God I so want to please . . . a fear, that if I think about it, is rooted in some weird view that it’s somehow more about my performance than it is about God’s grace. But these confessors of Nehemiah’s day were also worshipers . . . the reality of their sin was acknowledged within the context of the equal reality of God’s mercy and grace . . . while their sin was great, their God was greater . . .

But You are a God ready to forgive, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and did not forsake them. . . . Nevertheless, in Your great mercies You did not make an end of them or forsake them, for You are a gracious and merciful God.   (Nehemiah 9:17b, 31 ESV)

Perhaps that’s the barrier to real, heart-wrenching, lay it all on the table before God confession . . . being so focused on the failure that I lose sight of the Father . . . wanting to avoid facing the reality of coming up short rather than running to and falling at the throne of grace and availing myself fully of the finished work of the cross. Rather than skimming over confession, perhaps I need to be relying instead on the sufficiency of Christ.

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.   (1John 1:9 ESV)

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Do Your Best

Posted on August 3, 2012 by Pete

A blast from my past . . . As part of this morning’s reading in 2Timothy I came across a verse which has been foundational in my Christian walk. A verse that was put on my radar as a young believer and I think has shaped me ever since.

In the old “Authorized Version” . . . which is how I was first introduced to it . . . it reads:

Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. (2Timothy 2:15 KJV)

The emphasis was on “study” . . . study the Word of God, study it hard, and rightly divide the word of truth. My foundational years as a Christian were marked by men and preaching that placed an emphasis on “mining” the truths of the Word of God for myself. Preaching, they said, was “truth advertised”, but you needed to “buy truth” for yourself and that was only done by spending time in the Word . . . and in books explaining the Word.

The modern translations suggest that the AV translators may have been a bit over zealous in translating that first word as “study”. Instead they suggest that the idea is more general as in, “Be diligent” . . . or “Endeavor” . . . or “Exert yourself” . . . to present yourself approved to God. But I think the meaning doesn’t change a lot. The context is “rightly dividing the word of God” — and that’s where we need to be diligent.

The ESV translation of the verse kind of resonates with me . . . not because I necessarily think it is more accurate (because, really, what do I know) . . but because it includes another “blast from my past” — a little phrase of encouragement that I used to say to my girls when they were little (and sometimes still now) . . . “Do your best”.

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. (2Timothy 2:15 ESV)

That’s what we “bring to the table” . . . doing our best. Mine is to put forth my best effort to present myself as one “tried and determined authentic” before God.

My sanctification is not something that I can create or make happen . . . but it won’t happen without me doing my best. Holiness is a work of grace through the indwelling Spirit in my life . . . but it won’t get off the ground if I don’t do my best. And I really believe it starts with the Word of God. I need to read the Word . . . I need to meditate on the Word . . . I need to study the Word. That’s how I will be “transformed by the renewal of my mind” (Rom. 12:2).

I’m not the brightest, I’m not the most learned, but that’s not what God’s asking. He’s simply asking that “I do my best” (to which I must confess, there’s lots of room for improvement there).

I don’t want to be ashamed when I stand before Him, having to acknowledge that I didn’t consider His revealed Word a priority and really don’t know much about it. Instead, I want to, to some degree, be marked as a “workman of the Word” . . . having done my best . . . by His grace . . . through the enabling and illumination of the Holy Spirit . . . and for His glory.

Amen?

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The Church of the Living God

Posted on July 27, 2012 by Pete

I was saved into a tradition where we never went to church. Oh, we came together for the breaking of bread . . . we assembled on the Lord’s day . . . we went to meeting on Sunday (morning and evening) . . . but we were pretty choosy about our words . . . and so, we never went to church. Church wasn’t some place to go to . . . it was us people. Church wasn’t about a program or a set of activities . . . it was about a power and an anticipated dynamic. And, while I know that it’s way too easy to major on minors, I sometimes do think that we believers would be better off if we chose carefully our words. It was a phrase that jumped off the page at me in 1Timothy that brought this to mind . . .

I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these things to you so that, if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of truth.   (1Timothy 3:14-15 ESV)

The church of the living God. Talk about taking the common place and elevating it to the sacred. Actually, I fear we have made “church” commonplace . . . it has always been a sacred. Oh, that we would recapture something of the awe of the holy church of the living God.

It is a household . . . an inhabited place . . . a dwelling place . . . constructed that someone might move in. And that Someone is the living God . . . and that “place” is His people. Those He has redeemed . . . those with reconstituted spiritual DNA who are now alive to God . . . those He has quarried into living stones “being built up as a spiritual house . . . to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ . . . that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light” (1Peter 2:5, 9).

The house of God is not four walls, a sanctuary, some classrooms, and a fellowship hall. Oh, that we would look not at the building but in the mirror and gaze at the house of God. That the awe-o-meter would go off the scale as we consider that we are the church of the living God! That a holy sense of grace-dependent responsibility would take hold of our hearts as we come to grips with the fact that His intent is that “through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be known to the rulers and authorities in heavenly places” (Eph. 3:10). That His people would not “go to church” but instead anticipate “coming together” realizing that He has joined us together as a spiritual structure growing “into a holy temple in the Lord. In Him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit” (Eph. 2:21-22).

A dwelling place for God . . . the church of the living God!

If that isn’t a high enough and holy enough calling how about the fact that we are to be “a pillar and buttress of truth”?!? What’s a buttress? It’s a support . . . the NIV says “foundation”. The church of the living God (aka us) have been tasked with being the support and the pillars holding up the truth. How’s that for a job description? “Uh, what’s your job?” “Oh, to be a dwelling place for God . . . and to be the foundation for truth.” Really!?! Yeah, really! How we dumb it down when we say, “I’m going to church.”

Again, I don’t want to major or minors . . . and it’s not about whether or not we say we “go to church” or “go to meeting”. But let not the people of God lose sight of the reality that they are the household of God . . . let the redeemed not forget that they have been called out as dwelling place for the living God. Let’s not dumb it down . . . let’s always be mindful of how high and holy is our calling as the church.

Who is sufficient for these things? . . . Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God . . .   (2Corinthians 2:16b, 3:5 ESV)

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

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The Enemy’s Playbook

Posted on July 26, 2012 by Pete

While we have an enemy, we also have the power to resist him. While he is a deceptive snake, he is not particularly unpredictable. His methods to oppose God and God’s people have been exposed . . . his tactics have been revealed in Scripture. And as I read Ezra 4 this morning it seems to provide some great insight into the enemy’s “playbook” . . .

Context . . . after 70 years in Babylonian captivity, God’s people end up under “new management” — the king of Babylon is defeated by the king of Persia, Cyrus. The Lord stirs up Cyrus’ heart to allow the Israelites to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple (Ezra 1). And so, 42,360 men, with their wives and kids, gather up their belongings, load up the treasures donated by those staying behind, and head back to Jerusalem to rebuild it. And they start work immediately on restoring the temple . . . the place of sacrifice . . . the place of worship . . . the place to which they beckon the presence of God.

And things are off to a good start (Ezra 3). Then in Ezra 4 some new players are introduced to the scene . . . they are identified as “the adversaries” (ESV) or “the enemies” (NIV). . . they are those who oppose the work of God. A reminder that whenever God’s people are doing God’s work they can expect to be opposed by God’s enemies. Check out their escalating tactics . . .

First, they try to infiltrate. “Let us build with you, for we worship your God as you do” (Ezra 4:2). They try to compromise the effort by joining it . . . to slow down and derail the work from the inside . . . to entice the people into an unholy union with the enemies of God as they portray themselves as friends of God. If they succeed here, it’s mission accomplished. This is the strategy the enemy deploys first and I fear it is far too often way too successful. If the enemy can convince God’s people to let him in and “help out” he gains a huge victory . . . compromising not only the work, but God’s people themselves. Oh, how we need to be on guard against our adversary and stand fast on his “undercover advances” to let him in . . . to convince us to partner with the world in the work of God. It’s a trick!!! Don’t buy it!!! Back to Ezra . . .

When that doesn’t work it says, “Then the people of the land discouraged the people of Judah and made them afraid to build and bribed counselors against them to frustrate their purpose . . . ” (4:4-5a). Can’t get inside? . . . then the enemy will seek to discourage, and trouble, and frustrate God’s people. Still nothing too overt as King Cyrus is still around and supports the work . . . so they just whisper in their ears . . . and hire professional learned counselors to tell them they’ll never make it . . . like a river eroding the banks they subtly throw up barriers and speak words of discouragement. The enemy tries to convince God’s people to give up . . . forget the work . . . forget the pursuit of God . . . it won’t really make a difference anyhow. But Ezra and the people resist and keep on keepin’ on.

But then a new king comes on the scene . . . the air cover is gone . . . and the enemy becomes a little more open as “they wrote an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem” and sent it to the new king (4:6). They work the political process to stop God’s people from doing God’s work . . . writing a letter to the king telling him that he had better stop the work as these Jews are just trouble makers. They take partial truths and fabricate a threat that doesn’t exist. And then, when the king orders the work on the temple to stop, these enemies show their full colors, “they went in haste to the Jews at Jerusalem and by force and power made them cease” (4:23). Open opposition . . . stopping the work by force.

What insight to our enemy and his strategies . . . join ’em and compromise ’em . . . if that doesn’t work, trouble ’em and discourage ’em . . . if that doesn’t work, accuse ’em . . . if that doesn’t work, physically oppress ’em. That’s what God’s people doing God’s work can expect.

Paul says, that as believers, we should be on to how the enemy works, “that we would not be outwitted by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his designs” (2Cor. 2:11). Paul also reminds us that God has provided us with a complete, sufficient, and effective set of armor that we might “stand against the schemes of the devil” (Eph. 6:11). How often we concede the battle on the first tactic rather than resisting the enemies advances in the power of the Spirit.

God wants us to stand firm and set our hearts completely on doing the work He’s given us . . . knowing there will be opposition . . . but knowing too that in Him we are more than conquerors (Rom. 8:37) . . . by His grace . . . and for His glory. Amen?

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If / Then Logic

Posted on July 25, 2012 by Pete

She cries aloud in the street . . . in the markets she raises her voice. Hers is a plea . . . “How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple?” . . . why are you settling for uninformed naivete? . . . why would you embrace foolishness? It’s the call of Wisdom (Proverbs 1:20-22). These opening chapters of Proverbs are among my favorite oases to visit in Scripture. They are consistently a place of renewal . . . a place of recommitting myself to the “fear of God which is the beginning of knowledge” (1:7) . . . a place of refreshing my desire to pursue the word of God that I might, by His grace and through the illumination of His Spirit, have in some measure the wisdom of God. And what grabs me this morning is a pretty simple, and evident, cause and effect relationship in Proverbs 2.

My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you, making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding; yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God . . . Then you will understand righteousness and justice and equity, every good path . . . So you will be delivered from the forbidden woman . . . So you will walk in the way of the good and keep to the paths of the righteous . . . “   (Proverbs 2:1-5, 9, 16, 20 ESV)

If / Then logic. Not too hard to grasp. If you do this, then that will happen. It’s a conditional promise . . . a result assured based on a action . . . an outcome that will occur because of some input.

For those who pursue the word of God . . . for those who receive it . . . who treasure it . . . who seek it like precious metal . . . who search for it like hidden treasure . . . and cry out for understanding concerning it . . . there is a promise. Seek and you will find . . . search and you will understand. And we’re not talking about ending up with some high-minded theoretical understanding of doctrine here, we’re talking about that much needed day to day wisdom . . . that insight needed for skillful living . . . that filter which reveals the “good path” . . . which delivers from the smooth words of this seductive world (2:16) . . . which establishes a solid footing on “the paths of righteousness.”

Spending time in the Word is not just a good Christian habit . . . doing morning devotions isn’t just a priority because “if I don’t I’ll have a lousy day” . . . faithfully following a reading plan isn’t just about the accomplishment of reading through the Bible in one year . . . while a good habit, a good start to the day, and a good goal are all . . . well, good . . . passionately pursing the Word of God will result in the Wisdom of God . . . and that’s amazing!!!

Knowledge of the King and His Kingdom will result in a practical know-how as we navigate through this world as pilgrims on our way home. Correctly dividing the word of God will result in accurately discerning between right and wrong . . . and deciding between good, better, and best. Having our minds exercised by the God-breathed Scriptures will result in an ever present, biblically informed, mindset that directs us as we seek to “walk in a manner worthy of our calling.”

Paul says we have the mind of Christ . . . the born again ability to have the things of God revealed to us through the Spirit . . . the spiritual DNA to comprehend something of the thoughts of God through the Teacher who indwells us . . . to be taught by the Spirit that we might understand the things freely given us by God (1Cor. 2:10-16). Proverbs reminds me that mine is to give the Spirit something to work with . . . a seeking heart taking in the Word of God.

If I pursue the Word of God, then I will start to think in a way that is consistent with my calling as a child of God. If I pursue His wisdom, then I will walk in a way that brings me blessing . . . and Him glory. Amen?

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Time Out

Posted on July 24, 2012 by Pete

Came to the end of 2Chronicles this morning. What a roller coaster ride it has been hanging out with these kings of Judah . . . mostly steep drops . . . a few gut-turning curves thrown in . . . very few climbs . . . and, as I think about it, no progress made . . . kind of like an endless 360 loop . . . where you eventually run out of momentum and finally fall to the ground . . . and crash and burn. The ingredients for success ending in abject failure. God’s chosen people . . . the forever promised royal line of David . . . and now, the city in ruins . . . the house of the Lord smoldering . . . dead bodies everywhere . . . and, of the rest, many of them taken captive by the Chaldeans . . . relocated to Babylon. And God says, “Time out!”

And they burned the house of God and broke down the wall of Jerusalem and burned all its palaces with fire and destroyed all its precious vessels. He took into exile in Babylon those who had escaped from the sword, and they became servants to him and to his sons until the establishment of the kingdom of Persia, to fulfill the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed its Sabbaths. All the days that it lay desolate it kept Sabbath, to fulfill seventy years.   (2Chronicles 36:19-21 ESV)

The land needed rest. For over 400 years it had been the stage for the “let us have a king to reign over us like the nations around us” experiment. Saul, David, Solomon, . . . then the split . . . the 10 northern kingdoms immediately create a “new way” and, for all intents and purpose, they abandon seeking God . . . and the southern kingdom, Judah, while still home to the house of the LORD were determined to dabble in the “God plus” program . . . God plus idols . . . God plus pagan practices . . . God plus whatever seemed right in the eyes of the kings. Sure, there were a few who “did what was right in the sight of the LORD” . . . but for the most part their reforms were external only . . . and, I don’t think, ever lasted more than one reign. And so, after some 400 years, God says, “Time out. I’m suspending this program until the land has enjoyed its Sabbaths . . . 70 years of Sabbaths. The land needs a rest . . . and my people need some think time.”

Kind of sad really . . . but in another way, kind of encouraging. It doesn’t say that God was done with the program . . . that He was finished with His people . . . that He was “out a here!” The LORD doesn’t forsake His people. But instead, our God of redemption . . . our God of restoration . . . takes extreme action that He might bring about extreme results. It was to be ONLY 70 years of Sabbaths . . . it was ONLY until the kingdom of Persia was established as the reigning world power . . . and you just know Whose hand is continuing to work behind the scenes . . .

Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing: “Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, ‘The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever is among you of all his people, may the LORD his God be with him. Let him go up.'”   (2Chronicles 36:22-23 ESV)

And I’m reminded that my God is a faithful God . . . never leaving or forsaking those whom He has called to be His own. I’m reminded that my God is a loving God, and that “the Lord disciplines the one He loves” that it might yield “the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it” (Heb. 12:7-11). I’m reminded, as well, that my God is a determined God . . . determined to complete the work He has begun . . . bringing to be the plans He has made . . . creating and re-creating that which He has set apart for His glory. That’s my God!

Maybe part of why this “time out” resonates so deeply is the degree to which I identify with the roller-coaster ride. And while, by God’s grace, I haven’t known the drastic discipline needed for the children of Israel, I have known those times where God seems to be saying . . .Take a rest . . . Get your feet back under you . . . Time for some re-orientation.

God disciplines those He loves . . . those He owns as His children. And after the time out, His people are never the same . . .

. . . for their benefit . . . for their blessing . . . and for His glory.

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Dancing on the Inside

Posted on July 23, 2012 by Pete

I was saved into a pretty conservative, pretty low key, church system. While the praise was heartfelt, it was also very bodily still. Voices were raised with gusto, but hands stayed by the side. And dancing? Wasn’t even in the vocabulary. I remember when one of my daughters was young responding to her request that we enroll her in dance lessons by saying, “Why? You can’t use that for the Lord.” Then we enrolled our girls in a Christian school . . . led by those of a different ecclesiastical practice than we were used to. The first school assembly of the year began with worship (that’s what we wanted from the Christian school) . . . and part of that worship were some “interpretive dancers” (that’s what we didn’t expect from the Christian school) . . . and my daughter returned home that day from school saying, “Dad . . . remember you said you couldn’t use dancing for the Lord? Wrong!!!” (that’s what I love about my girls).

Praise the LORD! Sing to the LORD a new song, His praise in the assembly of the godly! Let Israel be glad in his Maker; let the children of Zion rejoice in their King! Let them praise His name with dancing, making melody to Him with tambourine and lyre!   (Psalm 149:1-3 ESV)

Praise the LORD? I’m in! Sing out the new song He’s given me? Absolutely! Assemble with His saints . . . be glad in the Maker . . . rejoice in the King . . . make melody to Him with instruments of praise? You bet! . . . I’m there! Praise His name with dancing . . . uh, can I just tap my toe?

Now don’t worry . . . I don’t think I’m being called this morning to embrace a ministry of dancing. But there is something in hovering over this verse this morning that speaks of times when the wonder of God propels you to be all in when it comes to offering up the sacrifice of praise . . . that says there are times when the soul’s desire to worship God will result in the body’s response.

I get that there times when the worship is manifest in the “be still and know that I am God” mode . . . and facedown, still before God praise needs to experienced more, as well. But too often I fear that our “be still” praise is more like “play possum” praise. Lifeless. Unresponsive. And I’m not talking that there needs to be dancing . . . but in this possum approach to praise there’s nothing . . . no connection with the God of heaven . . . no response to our God in the midst.

Shouldn’t there be some manner of emotional expression when “the godly exult in glory” (149:5) . . . when the “high praises of God be in their throats” (149:6) . . . I’m thinkin’ . . .

I get that we’re not all going to be comfortable raising our hands . . . or moving our feet . . . but shouldn’t at least our eyes be dancing? How do we sing to the Lord a new song . . . how do we praise Him in the assembly of the godly . . . without some expression of joy . . . and, regardless, of what that expression is, how can it not be seen in the eyes?

When we come before the God who takes pleasure in His people . . . when we gather to sing together to Him adorns us with salvation . . . how can we not, at least sometimes, end up dancing . . . if but only on the inside?

God is worthy of our praise . . . He delights in and inhabits our worship . . . oh that He might set our feet to dancing . . . or at least our toes to tapping . . . or at least our eyes to smiling . . .

For our joy . . . for His glory . . .

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Unsustainable

Posted on July 20, 2012 by Pete

He was 7 years old when he began to reign. Joash . . . the kid king. When he just one year old he was rescued from his grandmother’s slaughter of his siblings . . . hidden away by the wife of Jehoiada the priest . . . reared as a small child in the house of true seekers of God . . . protected that he might one day return the house of David to the throne. And then, at the age of 7, taken and placed on the throne by his faithful rescuer, mentor, and now counselor, Jehoiada. And the kid king would do “what was right in the eyes of the LORD all the days of Jehoiada the priest” (2Chron. 22:10 – 24:3).

He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord . . . all the days of Jehoiada the priest. Sounds kind of ominous . . . doesn’t it? What happened after God-fearing, wise, faithful Jehoiada died . . . you don’t want to know.

Talk about a fresh start . . . about beginning with a “clean sheet of paper.” Seven years old . . . brought up in the house of a god-fearing priest . . . home schooled . . . the Scriptures likely being his only textbook . . . sheltered life . . . literally, ’cause if he wasn’t, crazy ol’ grandma would take him out. Then, when he is placed on the throne he is literally surrounded by servants of God . . . they’re pulling double duty . . . ministering before God in the things of God . . . and being a troop of bodyguards to protect the young sovereign. And the kid comes out of the gate strong . . . doing it by the book . . . literally . . . in 2Kings 12:2 it says he “did what was right in the eyes of the LORD all his days, because Jehoiada the priest instructed him.”

But then Jehoiada dies . . . and the kid king, who is now the man king, crashes and burns. How come? Because, I think, it was just done by the book . . . all the right actions . . . all the right motions to honor the God of Israel . . . the temple repaired and fortified . . . but a heart that was never made new. Doing it by the book . . . without the book doing it to you . . . is just unsustainable.

That’s the message of the law . . . that “by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight” (Rom. 3:20). Although there was a “revival” in Judah under Joash with idol worshiping high places being torn down and the house of the LORD being revitalized, apart from a heart transplant, it wouldn’t . . . it couldn’t . . . last. Take away the one guy who had the ear of the king . . . and a heart set on God . . . and the reforms stop . . . the revival sizzles . . . a new set of counselors come in and the “righteous” king abandons the house of the LORD and becomes the “idol serving” king (2Chron. 24:17-18).

Sure faith without works is dead . . . but works without faith . . . unsustainable.

Enter the power of the gospel . . . bring on the good news of new creations in Christ . . . rejoice in hearts of stone being made hearts of flesh . . . praise God for the righteousness of God which “has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it — the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe” (Romans 3:21-22). Now that kind of righteousness is sustainable.

A righteousness begotten of God by grace through faith . . . a work He has begun and will finish . . . dependent not on the counsel of a an aging high priest . . . but infused by the eternal Counselor sent from God to indwell, illuminate, and empower . . . led by the great High Priest who ever lives to make intercession for us . . . a revival wrought within our very souls that is intended to grow in intensity for all eternity.

The gospel is the power of God towards sustainability . . . the power for lives that far from fizzling out, end strong . . . amazing grace becoming more and more amazing as we experience it . . . the pursuit for the prize increasing as the finish line draws nearer. Woe to those who depart from grace and rely on works . . . ain’t gonna happen.

Oh that I might live in the sustaining reality of the gospel . . . His sufficiency alone . . . His power alone . . . for His glory alone . . . amen?

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Be Glorified In Me

Posted on July 19, 2012 by Pete

Reading 2Thessalonians 1 this morning. Suffering saints . . . suffering for the kingdom of God . . . afflicted for their love of the Father . . . persecuted for their allegiance to the Son. And how does Paul encourage these hurting brothers and sisters in the Lord? Look to the sky, he says. Relief will be granted . . . justice will prevail . . . “when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels” (1:7) . . . “when He comes on that day to be glorified in His saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed” (1:10). Marvel when we see Him? Yeah, I get that. Jesus glorified in us . . . really? Yeah, says Paul, really . . .

To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of His calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by His power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.   
                                                                        (2Thessalonians 1:11-12 ESV)

Talk about your mind-stretching truth . . . talk about your high and holy calling. Sinners saved by grace glorifying the risen Christ . . . believers walking the pilgrim walk by God’s grace glorifying the King of Kings . . . children of God seeking, through the enabling power of the Spirit, to consistently live out our “family values” . . . how come . . . that the name of our Lord Jesus may be gloried in you.

No taking credit for what we’ve done. Because any degree to which we live up to His calling is due to the power of the gospel. Just as He declared the work of the cross finished, He has also promised to complete the work He has begun in us (Php. 1:6). It’s His work . . . our willing. It’s His salvation . . . our submission.

When Jesus comes and we behold Him, we will marvel. I can kind of imagine that . . . kind of get a sense of the facedown awe that will be ours when we see Him face to face.

But that when Jesus comes He will be glorified in me . . . harder to get . . . tougher to imagine . . . oh, but that it may so. That the depths of His love and grace and power would be known through this jar of clay . . . once just a lump of clay until that day I was redeemed . . . and the Potter took me in His hand . . . and began the work of forming a “vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work” (2Tim. 2:21b).

For His glory . . . may those be more than just words at the end of a devo . . . may they be the heart’s deepest desire. That all things might be subject to the One thing of realizing the returning Christ glorified in me. Not that I’m anything . . . but that I am a “new thing” in Christ. Not that I have the “natural material” to meet this goal . . . but that He has enveloped me in a supernatural reality and has desired to make the image of Jesus somehow shine out of me. Not that I should boast . . . but that I should marvel . . . and that He should receive all the glory.

Even so, Lord Jesus, be glorified in me . . .

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What’s He Thinking?

Posted on July 18, 2012 by Pete

Ok . . . so I don’t think it’s intended to be funny . . . but I gotta say, that there’s some pretty crazy stuff going on when King Jehoshaphat of Judah teams up with King Ahab of Israel. That’s Jehoshaphat , as in good king . . . as in the king whose “heart was courageous in the ways of the LORD” (2Chron. 17:6) . . . as in the king who prospered under God’s favor and built up a huge military force . . . as in the naïve king, and perhaps not so discerning king, as he enters into a “marriage alliance” with Ahab (18:1). That’s Ahab, as in really, really bad king . . . as in “the son of Omri” who “did evil in the sight of the LORD, more than all who were before him” (1Kings 16:30) . . . as in the king bewitched by his wife and possessed by the forces of hell as he walks constantly in ways opposed to God. Kind of a goofy partnering . . . and some goofy stuff happens . . . don’t quite know what Jehoshaphat’s thinking . . .

First, Jehoshaphat heads down to Samaria to visit with Ahab. There Ahab “induces” or “persuades” Jehoshaphat to join him in picking a fight with Ramoth-gilead. Ahab’s pitch to Jehoshaphat? . . . “I am as you are, my people as your people.” Really? Ahab & Co. are unabashed idol worshipers . . . open pagan god followers . . . and Jehoshaphat has been taking down the high places established for idol worship and sending out his officers and officials to conduct Bible studies throughout Judah (17:6-9). Ahab gets up every morning and puts on his “Wail for Baal” t-shirt . . . Jehoshaphat starts the day by putting on prayer as he “sought the God of his father and walked in his commandments, and not according to the practices of Israel” (17:4).

What’s Jehoshaphat thinking?

Then, Jehoshaphat says to Ahab, “Before going into battle, shouldn’t we first inquire of the LORD.” Ahab’s response? . . . gathers 400 pagan prophets set on tickling the king’s itching ears . . . “Yeah . . . go for it, king! . . . you got this one in the bag . . . no sweat . . . God’s going to do for it you.” Jehoshaphat isn’t convinced and asks if there isn’t a prophet who follows God who might weigh in on this. Ahab says there is one, but that “he never prophesies good concerning me, but always evil” (18:7) . . . ya’ think!!! Anyway, God’s prophet says that they’ll go into battle and get their keesters kicked because Ahab is listening to a lying spirit in the mouths of his prophets . . . and Jehoshaphat is listening to Ahab . . . what’s he thinking?

And then it really gets crazy! Before going into battle “the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, ‘I will disguise myself and go into battle, but you wear your robes.’ And the king of Israel disguised himself, and they went into battle” (18:29). Here, says Ahab, you wear the bulls eye on your chest and back and I’ll just put on these bushes. Makes me chuckle . . . how nuts is that!?! What is Jehoshaphat thinking?

Now I don’t want to be too hard on ol’ Jehoshaphat . . . ’cause I’m suspecting this has been God-breathed for me . . . that “these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come” (1Cor. 10:11).

What crazy alliances can we children of light enter into with the dominion of darkness . . . what unholy partnerships can we naively enter into with those who hate our God and pursue other gods which are no gods at all . . . what unequal yokings can we take upon ourselves where we might as well pin “kick me” signs on our backs.

Oh, to be discerning. To walk in this world, but not be taken in by it. To have a Spirit activated biblical mindset through which we filter the world’s messages . . . and it’s invitations . . . and it’s suggestions about who to go into battle with.

Again, not trashing poor Jehoshaphat . . . hopefully, by God’s grace, learning from some of the “funny” stuff in his life . . .

For my protection . . . for God’s glory . . .

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