A Common Experience

Posted on June 13, 2011 by Pete

That Paul desired unity among believers is evident in a number of his letters. In Paul’s view, salvation was about so much more than just securing “fire insurance” . . . it was the launching pad for a life with potential to bring glory to the Savior and to the Father. And while some of this potential might be realized on an individual level, I’m thinking that it really happens on the corporate level . . . at the “body of Christ” level. If I think back to Ephesians, when Paul says to walk in a manner worthy of our calling in Christ, the first thing he launches into is how to live as a body of believers in order to “maintain the unity of the faith” (Eph. 4:1-3). Reading in Philippians this morning, he again speaks of letting “your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ” as you “stand firm . . . striving side by side for the faith” (Php. 1:27). And as I read Philippians 2 it’s clear that this “corporate challenge” is made in light of a common experience.

“So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.” (Philippians 2:1-2)

The word “if” here is best understood as “since.” These are not attributes which are in question, but realities which are being experienced. They knew the encouragement of being in Christ . . . they had encountered the love of God and the warmth and comfort it brings . . . they could point to times when they sensed the intense desire and mercy of the Father, and . . . this one really caught my eye . . . they had known “participation in the Spirit.”

Other translations render it “fellowship of the Spirit.” The Greek word is koinonia . . . i.e. fellowship, association, community, communion, interaction, intimacy, joint participation. Because these believers shared in the common experience of the Holy Spirit, they were to make every effort to live in such community with one another that the community, in and of itself, would testify to the truth, power, and reality of the gospel.

And I think about “participation” or “fellowship” in the Spirit and I’m reminded of the privileged dynamic afforded the believer in terms of the depths to which we can interact with God as Jesus lives through us by the Holy Spirit, and the bond created among believers that makes us “instant family” in the Spirit.

My “participation” is with heaven itself through the agency of the Spirit of God. I have been made alive to the things of the kingdom of God and, as I learn more to hear the Spirit’s voice and seek to walk in and be led by the Spirit, I experience the realities of communion with the Father . . . I know more the mind and heart of Christ . . . I leverage increasingly the power of the resurrection. Not that I have “arrived” . . . but that I am gaining more and more a “real life” understanding of that “participation in the Spirit.”

In addition, this “fellowship in the Spirit” is about the community I’ve come to know with other believers. It’s about the kinship and responsibility I sense towards other “sinners saved by grace.” It’s about more than shaking hands on a Sunday morning, but it’s the privilege of being drawn into pathways of other pilgrims working their way home. It’s that bond that connects us as living stones being built into a holy temple, a dwelling place for God through the Spirit (Eph. 2:21-22). It sensing the reality of being a body part in the body of Christ . . . have a role . . . being part of the “building itself up in love” dynamic He has designed (Eph. 4:16). And it’s because of the reality of this common experience in the Spirit that I’m called to humbly count my brothers and sisters “more significant” than myself . . . that I’m to look out for their interests and not just consider my own (Php. 2:3-4).

A common experience . . . a divine participation . . . for the glory of God.

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Life’s Great Umbrella

Posted on June 10, 2011 by Pete

Paul was less worried about the destination and more concerned with the journey . . . he seems to have cared more about the process than the outcome . . . focused more on how he did life than on how life treated him. I’m reading in Philippians this morning and am again impressed and inspired by the apostle’s singular focus applied to what’s going down in his life at the time.

He’s in prison . . . but, he says, “My imprisonment is for Christ” (Php. 1:13). His “field of ministry” has been restricted to just the palace guard but he rejoices that “most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear” (1:14). There are those on the outside who are taking advantage of Paul’s imprisonment to increase their own ministry . . . trying to “out preach” the apostle . . . to build themselves up by putting him down while he’s out of the way . . . and to this Paul’s response is, “What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice” (1:18).

What’s with the guy? Is he just little Mr. Sunshine? Are the only glasses he has rose-colored? Is he just a lemonade maker? Does he just try and escape from reality by continually going to his own little happy place? No, not really. What he is, is focused. What he has is a filter . . . a way of looking at all that happens in his life . . . the good, the bad, and the ugly . . . through a single lens . . . evaluating how it aligns with his overriding life’s “mission statement.”

“. . . it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death.” (Philippians 1:20 ESV)

I’m in prison? . . . may Christ be honored in my body. I can only preach to a few Roman soldiers? . . . may Christ be “magnified” (NKJV) in my body. There are doofuses out their preaching the gospel out of rivalry and envy? . . . may Christ be “exalted” (NASB, NIV) in how I respond. I might die in this prison? . . . may it happen in such a way as “to make Christ more accurately known” (MSG). Don’t you get jazzed by Paul’s singular, overriding desire for his life? I do. Bringing honor to Jesus should be life’s great umbrella.

Oh, to be so sold out to Christ that everything . . . absolutely everything . . . is brought under the over-arching desire to honor Him. That all of life’s blessings would be received and then leveraged in such a way as to exalt Him. That life’s trials, persecutions, imprisonments, and even death would all be brought into subjection to the grand purpose of magnifying the Savior. That even the mundane, day-in-day-out stuff, would be influenced with the desire to walk in manner worthy of, and consistent with, the Christ being formed in me by the Spirit’s sanctifying work.

Paul’s greatest fear was that through the trials of his imprisonment he might do something of which he would be ashamed . . . literally, something that would “disfigure.” He dreaded the thought of reacting in some manner, or saying some word, that would bring shame upon him and would distort and dishonor the One he desired to proclaim in his body. And what was true for Paul in the trials and testings of Roman confinement should be true for me in whatever state I find myself in. That I would be guarded and directed by an intense inner dread of doing anything that reflects poorly on the One who died for me . . . the One who is, one day soon, coming again for me.

That Christ would be honored in my body . . . that He would be exalted . . . that He would be magnified . . . in all things . . . through all circumstance . . . so that He might receive all glory. Not a bad umbrella to get under. Amen?

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My Inheritance

Posted on June 9, 2011 by Pete

The psalmist says that it can be “songs in the house of my sojourning” . . . that it is better “than thousands of gold and silver pieces” . . . that it is sweet to the taste, “sweeter than honey to my mouth” . . . that it “is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Ps. 119:54, 72, 103, 105). Oh how I love encountering these metaphors . . . these different word pictures ascribed to the word of God. Each reveals another dimension of this multi-dimensioned “Holy Book” that sits on my desk . . . causing me to reflect anew on some aspect of God’s word . . . to consider afresh a perspective that I should own concerning the whole canon of God-breathed revelation before me. And I encountered another this morning that puts a bit of smile on my lips . . .

“Your testimonies are my heritage forever, for they are the joy of my heart.” (Psalm 119:111 ESV)

While some people might, I don’t think a lot about inheritance . . . whether it’s about getting one or about leaving one . . . at least not about a monetary or material inheritance. Certainly, by God’s grace I would love to leave behind some measure of a spiritual heritage and inheritance, but beyond that, it isn’t something that is much on my radar.

But to consider this morning the word of God as my heritage . . . my inheritance . . . my forever possession provided freely from heaven itself . . . now that’s worth mulling over. To consider its value . . . to consider its longevity (forever is long . . . ) . . . to consider that I have it now . . . to think that I can, in some measure, partner with God to pass it on . . . how can it not be a source of joy to the heart?

It’s not an inheritance in the sense of some heirloom that sits on a shelf to be admired . . . or some sentimental keepsake handed down to be admired from afar. Instead it is living and active . . . relevant yesterday, today and forever . . . to be used just as earnestly now as it has been through out the centuries by those who have also received this inheritance. In it the mind of God is revealed . . . the character of God is known . . . the love of God is declared. It is truth. Truth, not just in some abstract sense, but “rubber-meets-the road” truth . . . life-changing, sanctifying truth (John 17:17). And, I’m reminded by the psalmist, it is mine . . . my heritage . . . my inheritance . . . forever.

Oh what joy to consider God’s gracious provision in conveying the wonders of the kingdom of heaven to those bound by earth. What delight to be reminded that, with the help of the Holy Spirit who will lead me into all truth, I can “partake of the divine nature” through the revelation of His “precious and very great promises” (2Peter 1:3-4).

Mine is a rich heritage . . . mine is an enduring heritage. My heritage is a storeroom of inheritance that can be explored through the entirety of this life and drawn from in the life to come . . . a forever inheritance.

Rejoice O’ heart . . . glory in the riches of God’s word! Let it work it’s perfect work in you as it transforms you through renewal (Rom. 12:2) . . . as it conforms you after the purposes of the Father (Rom. 8:29) . . . as it reveals to you the blessed Source of living water (John 7:38) . . . as it provokes in you a desire to praise and to worship the Author, and Him alone . . . . for His glory . . . amen!

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And You Shall Know That I Am the LORD

Posted on June 7, 2011 by Pete

It’s overshadowed by Mt. Carmel. While the events I read of this morning were intended so that “you shall know that I am the Lord”, it’s not something that comes to mind as does the showdown between Elijah and the prophets of Baal (1Kings 18). Elijah’s 1-on-450 encounter was big . . . and flashy . . . and designed for a large audience who needed to stop “limping between two opinions” and needed to get off the fence, “If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, then follow him.” (18:20 ESV) When Elijah stood on that mount and called down fire from heaven upon his water drenched sacrifice he pleaded, “Answer me, O LORD, answer me, that this people may know that You, O LORD, are God and that you have turned their hearts back.” (18:37) But God was not done in trying to turn hearts back.

I’m reading 1Kings 20 this morning and Ben-hadad, the king of Syria, has amassed a great army against Ahab, king of Israel . . . yeah, Ahab, the Baal worshiping, prophet persecuting king of Israel. And God sends a prophet to Ahab as the king stares down a massive enemy army and says to him, “Thus says the LORD, Have you seen all this great multitude? Behold, I will give it into your hand this day, and you shall know that I am the LORD.” (20:13).

“You shall know that I am the LORD” . . . You! . . . you demon-led, degenerate Ahab . . . I want you to know that I am the LORD . . . I want to turn your heart back to me . . . I haven’t given up on . . . I will move the heart of a Syrian king and the feet of a Syrian army in order to provide you the opportunity to know anew that I am the LORD.

And it’s not like God does it just once. After Israel sends the Syrian forces running for their lives, the Syrians regroup, rethink their strategy, and return for round two . . . this time in the valley, not the mountain, for Israel’s “gods are gods of the hills, and so they were stronger than we. But let us fight against them in the plain, and surely we shall be stronger than they.” (20:23-25).

And as the people of Israel muster before the formidable Syrian army again it says that they were “like two little flocks of goats, but the Syrians filled the country” (20:27). Out numbered . . . again! . . . like a few feeble goats. And again a man of God draws near to King Ahab and says, “Thus says the LORD, ‘Because the Syrians have said, “The LORD is a god of the hills but he is not a god of the valleys,” therefore I will give all this great multitude into your hand, and you shall know that I am the LORD.'” (20:28)

There it is again . . . “and you shall know that I am the LORD” . . . 127,000 Syrian soldiers would perish in that battle in order that one, hard-hearted king of God’s people might return to the living God and abandon idols of wood and stone. And while I get that God had other reasons for judging the Syrians, I am amazed at the lengths that He goes to in an attempt to get Ahab to wake up, repent, and return . . . at the lengths to which His grace compels Him in order to redeem not just a nation, but one wayward king. Sadly, Ahab never did return but lived out his life in rebellion to the One who wanted His heart so badly.

And as I noodle on it . . . while I might be amazed at the lengths God went to reveal Himself to Ahab, I shouldn’t be surprised. How far did God go in order to redeem me? . . . He sent His Son to die on my behalf. How persistent was God in seeking me and drawing my heart to Him? . . . pretty! What circumstances, that seemed to be about others, were orchestrated that I might know that He is the LORD? . . . I’m guessing a few.

How good is my God! How great His power! How amazing His grace!

Thank you Father for revealing Yourself to me . . . for showing me that You are the LORD . . . that my heart might be turned to You . . . that Your grace should be poured out on me. For Your glory alone, Lord!

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Taking On Flesh . . .Taking On the Devil

Posted on June 6, 2011 by Pete

This wasn’t the first time He had encountered the enemy. Not the first time that the one who opposed Him was before Him. But before, the lines had been clearly drawn. He inhabited the throne with the Father, the enemy could only approach so close. He was the high and exalted King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and his opposition was a defeated rebel on borrowed time. But, reading Luke 4 this morning, this encounter was different . . . very, very different . . . this time Satan was in His face!

“And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And He ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, He was hungry. The devil said to Him, ‘If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.'” (Luke 4:1-3 ESV)

The “playing field” had changed. It was their first encounter outside the heavenly realms . . . the arena was the desert . . . the field was a wilderness on a small planet in the universe. But more importantly, the Creator and Sustainer of all things (Col. 1:16-17) entered this one-on-one battle with skin on. He had released His equality with God in order to be born in the likeness of men . . . to take on human form (Php. 2:6-8). He who was Omnipotent chose to clothe Himself with the weakness of the flesh. And in that state, He entered hand-to-hand combat with the Adversary . . . the devil . . . the enemy of our souls.

And as I’m hovering over this passage this morning, I can’t help but imagine what it was like for the Son of God to experience Satan’s opposition as the Son of Man. Divested of His heavenly glory . . . fully entering into the human experience . . . physically weakened by 40 days in the wilderness without food . . . and then face-to-face with the one who “prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1Pet. 5:8). And Satan gives it his best shot . . .

“If You are the Son of God, command these stone to become bread . . . feed Yourself. If You are the Son of God and if this world is eventually to be Your kingdom anyway, worship me and I’ll give it to you right now . . . exalt Yourself. If You are the Son of God then why go through all this? Cast Yourself off the top of the pinnacle and let God send His angels to guard You . . . prove Yourself.”

What was it like for the Son of God to have endured such taunting and temptation? He was Immanuel . . . God in flesh . . . and as such He experienced the attack of the enemy in the context of the weakness of the flesh. Oh, what humiliation He endured! And why would He, who had command of 10,000 angels, allow Himself to be drawn onto enemy territory in such a “compromised” state? It was that He might, “in every respect,” be tempted as we are . . . “yet without sin.” That He would be able to enter into and sympathize with our weaknesses in order to advocate effectively on our behalf as high priest (Heb. 4:15). “For because He himself has suffered when tempted, He is able to help those who are being tempted.” (Heb. 2:18)

And so, with skin on, taking up only the resources available to man — the filling of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God — He stood firm before the enemy. Jesus fully submitted Himself to the Father, resisted the devil, and the devil departed (James 4:7).

And as I meditate on Jesus’ “wrestling match” . . . not against “flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Eph. 6:12) . . . and consider His willingness to endure such humiliation that He might model for me how to endure . . . and wonder at the depths to which He would descend that I might be lifted out of the mire and seated in heavenly realms . . . I can’t help but respond with gratitude and praise. To say, “Thank You Jesus” . . . for taking on flesh that You might lead me to life in the Spirit . . . for taking on the devil that I might see how to stand fast in the evil day. To You be all glory, Lord! Amen.

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No Provocation

Posted on June 3, 2011 by Pete

I’m continuing to work my way through the list of Judah’s and Israel’s rulers in 1Kings. Kind of a depressing pattern actually. The people of Israel had asked for a king, “that we also may be like all the nations” (1Sam. 8:20) . . . and that’s exactly what happened . . . they became like the nations around them . . . running after every Tom, Dick, and Baal god they could find or fashion in their own mind. And as I read of ruler after ruler who continues in the sin of the ruler before them, leading the people astray and into idolatrous sin, what hits me, over and over again, is something I learn about God.

“Moreover, the word of the LORD came . . . against Baasha and his house, . . . because of all the evil that he did in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him to anger with the work of his hands . . . Thus Zimri destroyed all the house of Baasha, according to the word of the LORD for all the sins of Baasha and the sins of Elah his son, which they sinned and which they made Israel to sin, provoking the LORD God of Israel to anger with their idols. . . . Omri did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and did more evil than all who were before him. For he walked in all the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and in the sins that he made Israel to sin, provoking the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger by their idols.”   (1Kings 16:7, 12-13, 25-26 ESV)

Man can provoke God to anger. What a sobering thought. Yes, God is a God of love . . . yes, He desires and delights to show grace . . . yes, He has finished the work that He might call us into relationship with Himself . . . but know too that our God can be provoked to anger. He can be vexed . . . the actions of men can grieve Him to the point of holy rage . . . His sorrow over disobedience, at some point, becomes, “Enough!”

And the root cause by which God’s people provoke God to anger seems to be idolatry . . . the seeking after gods which are the work of men’s hands . . . the turning of the heart away from that Him who is living and true to that which is inanimate and false. After the kingdom split, one of the first things that Jeroboam, the king of the northern tribes, did was to make two golden calves and lead his followers to sacrifice to them declaring, “You have gone up to Jerusalem long enough. Behold your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt” (12:28). Precedent setting . . . the pattern for kings to come . . . and it repeatedly provoked the LORD to anger.

In Judah, the southern kingdom, it wasn’t as blatant . . . rather than “flipping the switch” to pagan worship, they “added idols” to their worship . . . they built high places for idol worship alongside Jerusalem . . . they tried to have it both ways, worship God while doing “according to all the abominations of the nations that the LORD drove out before the people of Israel” (14:21) . . . their hearts not “wholly true to the LORD” (15:3) . . . the result being that “they provoked Him to jealousy with their sins” (14:22).

Provoking God . . . who wants to do that? Not me!

Idol free . . . obedient rich . . . heart set on serving and pleasing Him . . . that, by the grace of God and the power of the Spirit in me, is where I want to be. And not just because I fear the anger of God, but because I so value the love of God . . . because I am so grateful for the grace of God . . . because I so want to please the One who has called me into His marvelous light.

Oh, that there might be no provocation from this saint . . . that my heart my be wholly set on Him . . . that the world’s idols and icons might have no lure for me . . . that I might please my God rather than provoke my God . . . for my blessing . . . and for His glory . . . amen.

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Learning Through Trials

Posted on June 2, 2011 by Pete

I had lunch with a buddy yesterday . . . a buddy who’s going through the ringer . . . he’s just been getting hammered . . . and has been for quite some time. My on-going prayer for him has been that he wouldn’t lose heart . . . that he’d keep on keepin’ on . . . that though heaven seems silent at times, he’d know that God is faithful . . . and that he would, in turn, be faithful . . . that “Though He slay me, I will hope in Him” (Job 13:15 ESV).

I had arrived at lunch prepared to offer counsel. He had sent me an e-mail a week or so earlier with a number of soul searching questions . . . and I arrived at lunch with a few answers. And here’s the thing . . . he had already found the answers. And guess where. The Word of God. Through everything he’s been through He has not stopped seeking for answers to his questions in the place where God has determined to provide answers — the Bible. And guess how. God, through the illuminating ministry of the Spirit, had revealed something of His perspective on the situation to my buddy. It’s called being “transformed by the renewal of your mind” (Rom. 12:2). And sometimes it happens in the crucible of trials and adversity. The psalmist knew it . . .

“It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn Your statutes. The law of Your mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver pieces.”
(Psalm 119:71-72 ESV)

This buddy of mine isn’t my first “close encounter” with this dynamic between trials and the Word. I have seen the same thing in others’ lives. The going gets tough, and they keep going to the Word of God. And in some cases, that’s the only lifeline they have . . . it’s the only thing that sustains them . . . and invariably they come out of the trial wiser to the mind of God and more in love than ever with the Word of God. To some degree, a much lesser degree, I can look back on my “times of afflictions” and see too that dynamic at play. There’s something about getting beat up that softens the soil of the heart . . . making it “good soil.” And if we’ll seed it with the Word of God, it will eventually result in “bearing fruit with patience” (Luke 8:15).

The psalmist too could look back (praise God for perspective) and say that it was “good” . . . that it was valuable . . . that he had in fact prospered . . . because of the affliction. Not necessarily because he won in the end . . . not necessarily because God had restored ten-fold that which had been lost . . . but because he had learned . . . he had been taught . . . he had been trained . . . in the ways of God . . . and concerning the Person of God. He learned things in the grinder that he could not have learned anywhere else. He had gained firsthand experience how “living and powerful” the Word can really be (Heb. 4:12) . . . how, given the right condition of heart, His Word not only reveals the mind of God but the condition of our soul. Rather than the psalmist becoming bitter, he had become better.

And not only was the psalmist refined like gold or silver in fire, but his love for, and valuing of, the Word also became purer. The Word of God had increased in value to the trial-worn warrior . . . he esteemed it better than gold or silver. Invaluable . . . priceless . . . such is the estimation of those who have intimately interacted with God’s revealed mind during times of intense struggle.

I left lunch pretty encouraged. Trial’s not over for my buddy . . . but he’s going to the right place for answers. He’s asking . . . and seeking . . . and knocking. And God is faithful and, in His time, will answer . . . and will be found . . . and will open the door (Matt. 7:7). And my buddy will be better. Farther along he will look back and may even say it was “good” because of what he learned in the fire. For now, God gets the glory . . . another reminder that He is faithful . . . that His grace is sufficient . . . and that His Word is a light that guides through the darkness.

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The Favor of God

Posted on June 1, 2011 by Pete

Pretty consistently, when Sue I pray for our evening meal together, I find us giving thanks for God’s favor upon our lives and the lives of our girls. If I were to really “count your many blessings” during these prayer times our food would grow cold. But as I come across a phrase in Psalm 119 this morning I’m thinking that I may be “selling short” the favor of God if I think just in terms of His blessings in our lives.

“The LORD is my portion; I promise to keep Your words. I entreat Your favor with all my heart; be gracious to me according to Your promise.” (Psalm 119:57-58 ESV)

It’s that sentiment in verse 58, “I entreat Your favor with all my heart” that has me thinking this morning. And as I look at the original language I don’t think the idea of “favor” is as much “receiving blessings” or “having prayers answered” as it is fully entering into what I already possess.

The Lord is my portion. He is sufficient to be my all in all . . . He can fill the cup . . . He can overflow the heart . . . He can become the full measure of the vision . . . nothing else is needed to know “the abundant life.” But what I need . . . what the psalmist begged for with all his heart and inmost being . . . was to encounter God’s favor . . . literally, to know His face. The NIV probably is the clearest of the translations, “I have sought Your face with all my heart.”

The psalmist’s prayer is taking the step beyond recognizing Him as “my portion” and desiring to know His presence.

Seeking the face of God . . . passionately hungering for His presence . . . knowing “Christ in the midst” . . . isn’t that the greatest favor I could be shown? When I putting together my prayer list, shouldn’t that be at the top?

James said, “You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions . . .” (James 4:2-3). And I’m trying to think of the last time I pleaded for His face . . . that I asked for nothing other than His presence. It’s so easy to walk with God and never really know He’s there (our problem, not His). So easy to assume the default position . . . as in “He’s promised to never leave me, therefore He must be around somewhere” . . . rather than ask Him to allow me to know His presence . . . to enliven my spirit that it might interact with His Holy Spirit within me . . . that I would, from time to time, know afresh His grace and encounter anew His glory.

It seems to me this simple passionate prayer of the psalmist is a great antidote for complacency . . . some smelling salts for waking me from the stupor of just going through the motions . . . a great little “trick” for “keeping it real.” Oh, that my heart’s desire might be set more on knowing His face.

To know the face of God . . . to know the light of His countenance . . . now that truly would be knowing the favor God.

Amen?

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Grey-Haired Danger

Posted on May 31, 2011 by Pete

I came across a bit of a frightening statement this morning. One which seemed directed to those of us who have been on the pilgrim path for a few years now . . . to us who, by the grace of God, have been pretty consistent in pursuing the faith and seeking the kingdom. As the hair starts to grey and the miles behind us are becoming more than miles in front of us, I can understand a tendency to coast . . . to stop pedaling so hard, thinking that we deserve an easier ride because of our past diligence. But then I read of another “grey head” who perhaps was lulled into thinking the same thing and how his “coasting” ended up in a dead stop, and it gives me cause to pause and reflect. It’s a warning of grey-haired danger.

“For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not wholly true to the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father. . . So Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and did not wholly follow the LORD, as David his father had done . . . And the LORD was angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned away from the LORD, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice.” (1Kings 11:4, 6, 9 ESV)

It’s that phrase, “when Solomon was old” that arrested me. Solomon crashed and burned not at the beginning of the race but at the end. In fact, he started well . . . really well . . . as he asked nothing more from God than wisdom. Midway through the race he’s absolutely flying . . . world renown . . . bringing prosperity to Israel . . . and building a magnificent dwelling place for the glory of God. But when he was old . . . when he’d “been there, done that” . . . when, perhaps, he was getting a bit bored with it all . . . or maybe was getting a bit tired . . . or started figuring that after so many years of running hard it was time to coast . . . that, after so many years of putting out, he deserved to cater to himself . . . whatever it was, when he was old (aka grey-haired) he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord . . . he did not wholly follow the Lord . . . and, the Lord was angry with him. Ugh!

After a lifetime of running well, . . . when he was old . . . it was then that his heart “turned away.” That phrase, “turned away,” is kind of interesting. “To turn” is actually the least common translation of the original word — literally it means “to stretch out . . . to spread out” and then “to turn, incline, influence.” That’s what Solomon had, a stretched out heart. Spread too thin. The attractions and the distractions were many . . . the affections were multi-focused . . . and at the end of the day, his heart was turned away from the One he had once sought to serve and to please. A lifetime of accumulating experiences and stuff . . . a lifetime focused on making life easier . . . a lifetime of setting and achieving goals . . . had left him vulnerable to stretching his heart too thin and being led down a path he shouldn’t have gone.

What a warning! It’s a warning for those who have run well, to not grow slack, but to press forward for the goal before us. It’s a warning that, even for those who have decades of faithful service to the Lord behind them, we’re not home yet . . . the old man still simmers . . . the enemy will step up his attack . . . and the lies of the world, and the distractions of that which we’ve accumulated can all come together to knock us off course.

We can sit back and let others in the church serve, after all, it’s their turn. We can skim the Word rather than continue to seek to plumb its depths because we’ve read it and studied it so many times. We can claim more of our “free time” for ourselves because that’s what we are told we deserve when we “retire.” We assume the Spirit’s presence, becoming complacent concerning our relationship with the Lord . . . slowly drifting from an intimate fellowship and desire for the Lord towards a “I told you I loved you on the day I was saved and if anything changes I’ll let you know” approach. And it can all lead to a divided heart . . . inappropriate actions and behaviors . . . and an angry God. Ouch! And I wanna say, by the grace of God, “No way!”

“Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way . . .” (Philippians 3:13-15a ESV)

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Over the Top!

Posted on May 30, 2011 by Pete

I confess that I just skimmed over it the first time I read it. Unbelievable. A reminder of how easy it is for familiarity to lead to density . . . to the ability to encounter jaw-dropping truths with barely a first thought, much less a second thought. But as I went back and re-read it . . . and read it in a few different versions . . . and looked up a couple of words in the original . . . and skimmed over what a couple of commentators had to say about it . . . the awe-o-meter started to register . . . the needle started moving from left to right . . . as the denseness gave way to a measure of Spirit sourced clarity . . . as amazement started to set in . . . as wonder started to form . . .

” . . . that you may be filled with the fullness of God . . . (Ephesians 3:19b ESV)

It’s the last petition in Paul’s second prayer for the Ephesians. And it’s big . . . way big. Think about it . . . Paul asks the Father to strengthen the believers’ “inner being” with power through His Spirit . . . that He would do so according to the riches of His glory . . . that He would do so, so that, among other outcomes, believers would be filled with the fullness of God (3:14-19). What does it mean to be filled with the fullness of God? And whatever it means . . . how big is that? Even not getting what it fully means, I get that it is “over the top!”

And maybe that’s all I need to take in at this point. Instead of scratching my head and trying to figure out what exactly it means to be filled with the fullness of God, maybe I just need to know that, whatever it is, it will be His fullness. I’m guessing it’s not measurable . . . not something you can put on a scale and say, “Yup, your full!” I’m thinking it’s probably multi-dimensional in nature . . . a combination of attributes, wisdom, heaven-infused power, and other stuff. But, regardless, isn’t there enough to chew on just with the thought of God, in His grace, and by His power, granting such a petition that sinners-saved-by-grace would be jam-packed with the all that God sets forth to let dwell within them? I’m thinkin’ . . .

And you can ask the question, “Really? Filled with the fullness of God? Sounds impossible to me.” Yeah . . . it does . . . but Paul covers that . . .

“Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” (Ephesians 3:20-21 ESV)

Ask it? And God’s able to do more than what we ask . . . way more! Think it? Not thinking big enough, God can do more abundantly than anything our brains can come up with. And it’s all according to the power at work within us . . . yes, within us . . . even to filling us with His fullness! (Awe-o-meter just hit 10!)

And, His fullness in me isn’t so much about me as it is about His glory. What He does in me, whatever filling with the fullness practically looks like, it is ultimately about the appreciation and praise and worship it produces within me. It’s about the “credit” God gets from those who witness His work in and through me. To God be the glory!

And so, rather than noodling on what it exactly means to be filled with the fullness of God this morning, I’m content to know that it’s His desire for me. And it causes me to renew my desire to have His will done in my life . . . and determine afresh to walk in a manner which, by His grace, allows His work to be accomplished in me so that His power might rest on me.

It’s kind of over the top . . . may it be so . . . for His glory . . . amen?

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