Write Away!

Posted on April 26, 2024 by Pete

Found myself hovering over 2Corinthians 3:3 this morning and eventually thinking, “Write away!” Then I looked back through my journal and found that same thinking put into words back in 2016.

And as I think back over the past 8 years, God has faithfully responded to that desire. But I also realize that the Spirit has not constrained Himself to only using a supernatural pen to write on my heart, but often has employed a supernatural chisel. Being not only a divine Scribe restricting Himself to the use of cursive letters applied gently with divine ink, but willing to also to be a divine Sculptor, ready to let painful sparks fly as He takes chisel in hand to engrave a new story on a heart still too often hardened by self.

Here’s are those thoughts from 2016.

Paul found himself having to defend his credentials and his ministry in 1Corinthians 3. In so doing, he pointed to the same thing as both the evidence of God’s calling on His life and as the validation of the message he proclaimed. He pointed to the Corinthians themselves. “You yourselves,” wrote Paul, “are our letter of recommendation” (3:2).

That there was even a gathering of believers in Corinth validated that Paul had been “commissioned by God” to “speak in Christ” (2:17). That these human epistles weren’t the same people as they were before hearing Paul’s proclamation of the gospel, was proof that it wasn’t Paul’s good news but Another’s. Though the message might have come from Paul, it’s impact was from God. Paul may have spoken the words, but it was Another who scribed the letter.

And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.

(2Corinthians 3:3 ESV)

You are a letter . . .

Written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God. Written not on tablets of stone, as was the old covenant, but on tablets of human hearts, as promised in the new covenant (Jer. 31:33). That’s the lot of every believer. That’s the dynamic at play for all who have responded in faith to the message of the cross. And if God in His sovereign grace and determination has purposed to write a letter on my heart, then I say, “Write Away!”

The truth of the gospel isn’t found just in how well it is articulated. Nor is it true just because many have believed it. There are many religions, philosophies, and systems of man which are presented by compelling orators and received by myriads of sincere men and women. Rather, the proof of the power of the good news that Jesus came to die for sinners is found in their lives. The overwhelming preponderance of evidence not found in what believers recite but in the spiritual dynamic they reflect. The weight of testimony not found in what they know but in who they have become. Not in their autobiography but in the story imprinted by the Spirit of God on their very souls.

And though our hearts may be God’s chosen writing surface, and while it may be His heaven-sent ink alone, there is a very real sense in which we are co-authors as we submit our lives to His divine authorship. There is a sense in which we must give God the “write away!”

We acknowledge that our spiritual rebirth is a work begun by Him and for Him — for His purpose, His honor, His glory. We understand that they are no longer our lives to live, but that we have been bought with a price and now belong to the Master. We consciously cooperate with the Divine as we refuse to offer any longer our members to sin but, by His power given us, seek only to offer them to righteousness. We are aware of the battle within, the war between the old nature and the Spirit, and so we seek to walk in the Spirit, be led by the Spirit, and live according to the Spirit. And all the while, He is writing His letter. He is imprinting Himself on our very nature.

His is to write the story, mine is to give God the “Write Away!”

Write away, Lord!

By Your grace . . . for Your glory!

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Astonished and Amazed and Afraid, Oh My!

Posted on April 25, 2024 by Pete

On the road again. That’s where Jesus and his disciples were, on the road again “going up to Jerusalem” (Mark 10:32). Jerusalem, the city which was remembered for the best of times — those days past when they made the trek to worship and to offer sacrifices. But also the city which increasingly threatened the worst of times, as the hostility toward their leader by those who ran the city increased. What was it to be on the road again with Jesus?

As I’m hovering over my reading in Mark this morning, to follow Jesus was to be astonished, amazed, and afraid.

Jesus said to them again, “Children, how difficult it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” And they were exceedingly astonished, and said to him, “Then who can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.”

(Mark 10:24-27ESV)

And they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them. And they were amazed, and those who followed were afraid. And taking the twelve again, He began to tell them what was to happen to Him, saying, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn Him to death and deliver Him over to the Gentiles. And they will mock Him and spit on Him, and flog Him and kill Him. And after three days He will rise.”

(Mark 10:32-34 ESV)

Those who followed were afraid . . . That’s what first caught my attention this morning. They were going to Jerusalem, and they were afraid. They were following Jesus, and they were fearful. And with good reason. Though one day we would reign in Jerusalem, today was not that day. Instead, in Jerusalem, He would soon be delivered, condemned, mocked, spit upon, flogged, and killed. Jesus knew it. He wanted His disciples to know it. And, apparently, they were starting to get it. For they were afraid.

So why follow? Why sojourn towards such certain suffering? Because they were amazed. Amazed at Jesus’ readiness to enter the city. Astounded by how determined He was to enter Jerusalem’s gates when others would understandably flee. Amazed because, as Luke puts it, Jesus “set His face” to go to Jerusalem (Lk. 9:51). The destination had been punched into His divine GPS and there was no re-routing to be considered. They were amazed because the One who they increasingly believed truly possessed “the words of eternal life” (Jn. 6:68) had resolutely set His course towards certain death.

So why follow? Because they were exceedingly astonished. The more they were picking up what Jesus was laying down, the more they were compelled to follow where Jesus led. Difficult to enter Jerusalem? Yeah. More difficult to enter the kingdom? Apparently. Impossible even? Could be. But not with God. For all things are possible with God. That’s why they followed. The God who makes all things possible makes even walking into Jerusalem plausible.

Astonished and amazed and afraid, oh my!

On the road again. Going up to Jerusalem. Or, wherever He leads.

By His grace. For His glory.

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The LORD Came and Stood

Posted on April 24, 2024 by Pete

That God did the calling is apparent. The extent to which God determined to go in order for Samuel to hear that calling is amazing.

1Samuel 3 this morning . . .

We’re still in the chaotic, corrupt era of the judges, a time when “the word of the LORD was rare in those days” and “there was no frequent vision” (1Sam. 3:1b). Every man doing what was right in their own eyes (Jug. 21:25), no man really listening for God.

Sure, religious activity continued, but the priests were corrupt, and you get the sense that the people were just going through the motions. But then God determines to move a barren woman to pray, so that He might answer her prayer and take her up on her pledge to dedicate her boy to God for “all the days of his life” (1Sam. 1:10-11). And so, as a young boy, Samuel “is lent to the LORD” for as long as he lives (1Sam. 1:25-28).

Okay, now things are happening. Samuel, miraculously conceived, has been dedicated to serving the LORD. Just one problem, Samuel “did not yet know the LORD, and the word of the LORD had not yet been revealed to him” (1Sam. 3:7). He was growing “in both stature and favor with the LORD” (1Sam. 2:26), he was ministering to the LORD (1Sam. 3:1a), but he didn’t know the LORD. Cue the LORD.

Samuel was lying down in the temple of the LORD, where the ark of God was.

Then the LORD called Samuel, and he said, “Here I am!” and ran to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call; lie down again.” So he went and lay down.

(1Samuel 3:2b-5 ESV)

Can’t blame the kid for not picking up on what God was laying down. The word of the LORD was rare in those days. Visions were even rarer. But God persists. Two more times He calls. Two more times Samuel goes to Eli and says, “What do you want?” And then the old man figures it out.

Then Eli perceived that the LORD was calling the boy. Therefore Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down, and if He calls you, you shall say, ‘Speak, LORD, for your servant hears.'”

(1Samuel 3:8b-9 ESV)

And it does happen again. But not quite the way it happened the prior three times.

And the LORD came and stood, calling as at other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant hears.”

(1Samuel 3:10 ESV)

The LORD came and stood . . .

He entered Samuel’s world in order to utter Samuel’s name. This time He wasn’t just a mere voice, but He was present as a Living Word. In fact, you might say the Word effectively somehow became flesh. Sound familiar? I’m thinking . . . (John 1:14).

The LORD called not just from a distance, but He came, and He called. He stood and He spoke. He arrived and He announced. He was present and He proclaimed.

Oh, the condescending grace of God! Towards Samuel and towards us.

While God could have determined to call us only from a distance through the testimony of His created world (Rom. 1:19-20), instead, through His Son, He entered creation — emptying Himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men (Php. 2:7) — so that He might come and stand and call to all those with hears to hear, “Follow Me!”

The LORD came and stood in order to call. How can I not but bend and bow in response.

Worshiping again because of His amazing grace.

Responding afresh, “Speak, for your servant hears”, only for His glory.

Amen?

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Making Him “Weighty”

Posted on April 22, 2024 by Pete

Started in on 1Samuel this morning and I’m hovering over the tragic figure of Eli the priest. A high priest before God in Shiloh, a long-reigning judge over the people in Israel (1Sam. 4:18). His position and his work having all the makings of one who should have been highly esteemed, of one who should have been honored. And yet, by God he was “lightly esteemed”, or as some translations put it, “despised” or held in disdain. His failing? At least in part, it was the weight he placed on things other than God.

Eli’s sons were “worthless men” (1Sam. 2:12). Though they were priests of the Most High God they acted in the lowest of all conceivable manner. To satisfy the lust of their flesh, they used and abused — they used the office of priest, and they abused the people they were to serve. Rather than allowing the best of the sacrifices to actually be sacrificed to God they skimmed the best off the top for themselves, eating the fat (2Sam. 2:15-16) even though the fat belonged to the LORD (Lev. 3:14-16). Their sin was a great sin in the sight of the LORD, for they “treated the offering of the LORD with contempt” (2Sam. 2:17).

And Eli, their father, knew what his sons were doing. And, though Eli did speak up, he also ate up. His sons refused to listen to his correction (2Sam. 2:25) and he chose to participate in their derision. And God calls him on it.

“Why then do you scorn My sacrifices and My offerings that I commanded for My dwelling, and honor your sons above Me by fattening yourselves on the choicest parts of every offering of my people Israel? Therefore the LORD, the God of Israel, declares: ‘I promised that your house and the house of your father should go in and out before me forever,’ but now the LORD declares: ‘Far be it from Me, for those who honor Me I will honor, and those who despise Me shall be lightly esteemed.'”

(1Samuel 2:29-30 ESV)

Honor. Literally, to be heavy, or to make weighty. When it came to weighty matters, Eli’s family carried the greater weight. Eli’s food carried the greater weight. And so, while he may have rebuked his boys, he didn’t correct his boys. And while they stole what belonged to the LORD, Eli still chose to eat with his boys. Thus he honored his sons, and his own appetite, above the LORD.

The words of Jesus ring out in my mind . . .

“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”

(Matthew 6:24 ESV)

You can’t do it, you can’t serve two masters. Though you may have many responsibilities, though you may have shared affections, though there may be multiple priorities, there needs to be a prime responsibility, an affection above all other affections, and a priority that ranks as the one and only, non-negotiable, top priority. There can only be one Master.

. . . for those who honor Me I will honor . . .

O, that our Master, Jesus, would in everything be regarded as preeminent. That we would make Him “weighty” above all things and that all things would fall in line with a desire to honor Him.

By His grace. For His glory.

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A Shelter and A Shadow

Posted on April 19, 2024 by Pete

The opening verse of Psalm 91 catches my attention this morning. At first read, it seems to be talking about me and what I can do and the results which are a “no-brainer” and an “of course” sort of outcome. But chew on it a bit and, it seems to me, it really is about what God has graciously consented to be and of a promise which makes all the difference in how I enter my day.

It’s about dwelling and abiding. About deciding where to sit and then knowing with confidence where you’ll be situated. About choosing where you’ll remain and then resting in where you’ll be found. It’s about a shelter and a shadow.

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.

(Psalm 91:1 ESV)

Dwell in the shelter . . . abide in the shadow. That’s what I’m chewing on.

Like I said earlier, at first it seems like kind of an “well, yeah!” sort of redundancy. That it only makes sense that if you place yourself under cover that you’ll be covered. That if you set yourself under something, then that something will be over you. No brainer. Unless, of course, that “something” is the Most High. Unless that covering is Shaddai, the Almighty. Now you’ve got something to noodle on.

I can seek all I want, but if God has determined not to be found then so what? I can ask, but if He’s not listening, talk on. I can knock all day long, but if no ones answering then it’s a fruitless effort.

Likewise, while I might want to dwell in His shelter, while I might position myself to be found in the “secret place” (literal rendering), if He’s not prepared to be present and cast His shadow, then what’s the point? If He’s not unchanging and unmovable so that His shade is unfleeting, then what might be here today could be gone tomorrow.

But the promise is that for those who dwell in the shelter of the Most High, they WILL abide in the shadow of the Almighty.

If we seek to hide ourselves in His hiding place, then we will remain in the shade of Shaddai.

Not that’s a promise to claim!

That’s the place to be found.

Amen?

A shelter accessed by His grace. A shadow enjoyed for His glory.

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Secret Sins

Posted on April 18, 2024 by Pete

My bible says Psalm 90 is a prayer of Moses. And as you read it, you gotta think that this a poem written while he led them in laps around the wilderness. A time when all were keenly aware that God “returns a man to dust” (90:2), as each day over those 40 years more bodies were left behind in the desert of that generation which had refused to enter the land. Mindful that while every day brought new mercies (known at the least by the daily provision of manna); that though they were renewed each morning, they were renewed “like grass” only to fade and wither by evening (90:5-6). While they were a people under the Almighty’s care, they were still a people whose days passed away under His wrath (90:9). So, says Moses, “teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom” (90:12) — a redemptive purpose even amidst a chastening period.

“Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction . . . ” (1Cor. 10:11).

And this morning, I’m picking up on something being laid down concerning secret sins.

You have set our iniquities before You, our secret sins in the light of Your presence.

(Psalm 90:8 ESV)

Our secret sins . . . Our hidden things. Things about ourselves, things about our actions, that only we know about. Concealed. Tucked away out of sight. Securely stashed away in a safe place. Nobody else’s business but our own. Nobody needing to know. In fact, better if I can forget about them as well.

Not talking the big stuff here. Not like bodies stuffed away in a closet somewhere. Not like an offshore, undetectable bank account filled with ill-gotten gain. Instead, we’re talking the small stuff — that stuff we’re told not to sweat. Anger that simmered but never got to the boiling point. Little white lies that remained undetected and never really harmed anyone. Pride allowed to percolate while never manifested itself by blowing off steam. You know, hidden stuff. Iniquities nobody knows about but us. Secret sins.

Yet, though secret in our wishful thinking, iniquities set before an all-knowing God. Secret sins exposed in the light of His presence.

Those wilderness wanderers weren’t dropping in the desert only because of their one big, blatant sin of rebellion at the border of Canaan. No, there were more than enough daily secret sins since then to justify the wages of death apart from some amazing grace and some atoning intervention. Secret sins exposed in the light of God’s presence.

“Written for our instruction . . . ” Hmm . . .

Thank God for amazing grace and atoning intervention. Thank God for a Savior who was ready, willing, and able to deal with our sins — even our secret sins. Thank God that our confidence in the gospel and the finished work of the cross is such that, even if we could hide our inner transgressions from an all-knowing God (and we can’t), that we don’t need to try and keep our sin secret. For “if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1Jn. 1:9).

Our sins, all our sins, even our secret sins, atoned for at the cross of Calvary. That which we don’t want to admit, even to ourselves, laid bare before the eyes of a God who has promised never to leave us or forsake, and covered by the blood of His Son who has promised to live in us.

Thank God we don’t need to try and keep secret sins.

Search me, O God, and know my heart!
Try me and know my thoughts!
And see if there be any grievous way in me (aka secret sins?),
and lead me in the way everlasting!

(Psalm 139:23-24 ESV)

Trusting in the abundance of His grace. Wanting, in some measure, to live only for His glory.

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Fully Known (2017 Rerun)

Posted on April 17, 2024 by Pete

Too late a night last night . . . not early enough a morning this morning. Opted for reading over writing. So went back into my archives. Encouraged by these thoughts from 7 years ago.

Opening up 1Corinthians 13 usually evokes two streams of consciousness. The first encompasses Paul’s inspired definition of love, and thus of the Savior. For if love is patient, kind, without envy nor boast, and not arrogant or rude. If it is not self-serving, nor irritable or resentful. If it shuns wrongdoing but rejoices in the truth, bearing all things, believing all things, hoping all things, enduring all things. Then, if God is love (and He is, 1Jn. 4:8) , and if Jesus is God (and He is, Jn. 10:30), then Jesus is the embodiment of the greatest of all virtues, love. And there is enough in that alone to feed one’s soul.

The other area of awe and wonder that is evoked from reading this portion of Scripture comes from trying to fathom what it will be to see “face to face.” The reminder that, though we were once blind but now we see, we still only see in a mirror dimly. “We’re squinting in a fog, peering through a mist” (MSG). But a day is coming when the fog of faith will clear and we will be in His presence, and then we will see more clearly than we ever could have imagined. Meal number two served up.

But this morning, something else grabbed me as I hovered over 1Corinthians 13. Not necessarily a new thought, but one that’s been brought to mind from a new place. The reminder that I am fully known.

For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.

(1Corinthians 13:12 ESV)

Whatever I imagine it to be when I see Him face to face and to “know fully”, that is how He knows me, even now. Though I wait for the day when faith will give way to sight, when my somewhat cloudy mirror will become a clear and transparent glass, the Father sees me today with perfect 20/20 vision. His Son, the Great Shepherd, knows this sheep, fully and perfectly, nothing hidden.

Fully known. Thoroughly acquainted with. Accurately aware.

As I head into this day, I’m reminded that He is aware of my thoughts and feelings, of my triumphs and failures, of my tendencies toward temptation and my desire to be faithful. As I have thought before, while it can be somewhat intimidating to consider that I am fully known by a Holy, Holy, Holy God, there is also something incredibly comforting, and even empowering, that comes from the fresh realization that I am fully known by a Good, Good Father.

He fully knows all our anxieties, and still calls us to cast them upon Him (1Pet. 5:7). It’s with full awareness of our weariness and burdens (both external and self-imposed) that He continues to invite us to come to Him and find rest for our soul (Matt. 11:28-29). Thoroughly acquainted with every thorn in the flesh, He assures us, “My grace is sufficient. See My power made perfect in your weakness” (2Cor. 12:9).

While we now see in a mirror dimly, He doesn’t. Though we wait for face-to-face, He knows us through-and-through. Whatever we can imagine it is to “fully know”, even now, we are fully known.

O LORD, You have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You discern my thoughts from afar . . . and are acquainted with all my ways. . . . Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it. . . . How precious to me are Your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them!

(Psalm 139:1-3, 6, 17 ESV)

Then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.

Because of grace. For His glory.

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Avenge My Eyes? Really?

Posted on April 16, 2024 by Pete

I’m a sucker for happy endings. Don’t really care much for movies that end without the guy getting the girl, without the wrongs being made right, without good triumphing over evil. So, while I’d like to think that Samson “got it” at the end, I’m not sure he did.

Reading in Judges 16 it seems that Samson had finally found “true love” with the woman he was with. While the others were women who caught his eye (Judges 14:3,7; 16:1) — relationships that might be thought of more as “true lust” — this was a gal who had captured his heart (Judges 16:15, 17). Had she been “the one” maybe there might have been a happier ending. But she wasn’t. For her eyes were on the gold — well, actually the silver (Judges 16:5) — and her heart was far from him. So, Samson gives away his heart, she cuts away his hair, and the Philistines gouge out his eyes (Judges 16:17-21). Heavy sigh!

But wait, the final credits haven’t run yet. Maybe there’s still time for a great turnaround to come in this epic tale of Samson’s life. Perhaps a reason to walk out of the theater with a bounce in your step.

Keep reading and a packed house of Philistine revelers have gathered “to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god.” Impetuously, they call for the blinded Samson to be their halftime entertainment. And Samson does something that we’ve not seen Samson yet do — he prays.

Then Samson called to the LORD and said, “O Lord GOD, please remember me and please strengthen me only this once, O God, that I may be avenged on the Philistines for my two eyes.”

(Judges 16:28 ESV)

That Samson prayed? Good, really good. What Samson prayed? I don’t know. Avenge my eyes? Really?

No sense of mission. No sense of contrition. Just an apparent desire for retaliation, to be avenged for my two eyes. Wanting revenge for the two eyes that had got him into so much trouble throughout his life. Eyes that had repeatedly directed him in what seemed right to them, blind to the God who had set Samson apart for Himself. Eyes not cast on things above. Eyes which, using Jesus’ language, were “bad.” And thus, according to Jesus, as the eyes are the “lamp of the body”, caused Samson’s entire being to be “full of darkness” (Mt. 6:22-23). The physical darkness he now lived in was but a type of the spiritual darkness he had walked in since being set part for God. But Samson prayed for his eyes. Those bad eyes, those lustful eyes, those straying eyes. That those eyes would be avenged. Really?

Yet, God answers Samson’s prayer. He remembers Samson as Samson asked to be remembered. He strengthens Samson as Samson asked to be strengthened. But to avenge Samson’s loss? I don’t think so. For while Samson may have still been trying to do what was right in his own eyes this prayer too “was from the LORD, for He was seeking an opportunity against the Philistines” (Judges 14:4). God graciously responds to Samson’s faith — though but a mustard seed and perhaps a bit misplaced — in order for God to accomplish what He had determined to accomplish.

Another morning where I’m chewing on the story of Samson. Another morning where it’s impressed upon me that God’s grace has nothing to do with my goodness. That God’s grace is independent of how much I “get it.” But that God’s willingness to answer even my most feeble prayer is ultimately for God’s final purposes. That God’s unmerited provision always comes in the context of God’s unfailing promises. That while His grace is certainly for our good, it is ultimately for His glory.

So, maybe this is a happy ending after all. Samson’s fickle faith over-matched by God’s amazing grace.

Really!

To God be the glory!

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An Unequal Yoking

Posted on April 15, 2024 by Pete

Hovering over Judges 14 and 15 this morning. Talk about your unequal yoking! But then again, 2Corinthians 6:14 specifically defines being unequal yoked as a partnership with unbelievers. And though you could argue Samson was a bad believer, he had been set apart from birth (Judges 13). Thus, I guess the unequal yoking I’m chewing on just may be another example of unparalleled grace. Because who’s Samson yoked to? The Spirit of the LORD.

Samson went down to Timnah, and at Timnah he saw one of the daughters of the Philistines. Then he came up and told his father and mother, “I saw one of the daughters of the Philistines at Timnah. Now get her for me as my wife.” But his father and mother said to him, “Is there not a woman among the daughters of your relatives, or among all our people, that you must go to take a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?” But Samson said to his father, “Get her for me, for she is right in my eyes.”

(Judges 14:1-3 ESV)

Right in my eyes . . . That rung a bell. A bell of foreboding. For later in Judges, the author of the book will summarize the depths of Israel’s depravity during this era as those days when “everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 21:25).

Samson sees one of the daughters of his oppressors, the Philistines (Judges 13:1) and wants her to be his. Never mind that she’s of the people who have their foot on the necks of Israel. Never mind that God had specifically commanded Israel not to intermarry with the idol-serving nations around them. Never mind all of that. Because having this girl is what he wanted. For she is right in my eyes.

But wait. There’s more!

His father and mother did not know that it was from the LORD, for He was seeking an opportunity against the Philistines. At that time the Philistines ruled over Israel.

(Judges 14:4 ESV)

It was from the LORD. What?!? God was gonna use Samson’s crummy character, his rebellious nature, and his uncontrollable libido to accomplish His purposes? Apparently. Sounds like an unequal yoking to me.

But wait, it gets worse (or maybe better, depending how you look at it). It’s not like God somehow uses Samson at an arms length. But God intimately intertwines Himself with this ingrate.

When Samson comes across a lion on his way to woo the woman who would be his wife . . .

Then the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon him, and although he had nothing in his hand, he tore the lion in pieces as one tears a young goat. But he did not tell his father or his mother what he had done.

(Judges 14:6 ESV)

And when he decides to settle his wedding feast bet with the Philistines with the lives of Philistines . . .

The Spirit of the LORD rushed upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon and struck down thirty men of the town and took their spoil and gave the garments to those who had told the riddle. In hot anger he went back to his father’s house.

(Judges 14:19 ESV)

And then — so as to establish a matter by three witnesses and not just two — it’s made clear how Samon is able to take out 1,000 Philistines by himself with but the jawbone of a donkey in hand.

When he came to Lehi, the Philistines came shouting to meet him. Then the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon him, and the ropes that were on his arms became as flax that has caught fire, and his bonds melted off his hands. And he found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, and put out his hand and took it, and with it he struck 1,000 men.

(Judges 15:14-15 ESV)

Three times! Three times it’s made clear that the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon him.

The Spirit of the LORD. The Holy Spirit. The Third Person of the Triune God who dwells in unapproachable light (1Tim. 6:16). He comes powerfully upon Samson. The sinful Samson. The first person of the only person who in his own eyes really matters, one who walks about in darkness and will only come to really see the light after the Philistines physically blind him. That Spirit of the LORD partners with that Samson.

Hmm . . . See why it seems to me to be an unequally yoking? But also see why it cries out of unfathomable grace?

Grace is not due to our goodness. Grace is not dependent on our potential. What makes grace grace is our undeservedness (is that a word?). And what makes grace so irresistible is that it is bound up with God’s purposes and promises, independent of our propensity to want to live according to what seems right in our eyes. And so, by such unimaginable grace, Jesus, the Second Person of the Triune God, is also willing to be in a seemingly mismatched partnership as He offers not just to rush on me but to live through me.

“Take My yoke upon you. ” ~ Jesus

(Matthew 11:29a ESV)

An unequal yoking.

By His grace. For His glory.

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Heart Highways

Posted on April 12, 2024 by Pete

When we moved to the U.S. over twenty years ago, we adopted a new bible. Not one that replaced the one we took to church, but one which was added and referenced almost always when we got into the car. Not one that was meant to point us to God and help us make our way in the world, but one that pointed us to our next destination and helped us navigate the road. Not the Kings James Version but The Thomas Guide.

Anyone remember those? You were in an area you weren’t familiar with and yet you had to find your way around, and so, you bought The Thomas Guide for that region? Talk about your distracted driving as you kept one eye on the road and the other eye on that behemoth book.

What a gift our modern GPS, aka phones, are. While I may not like being told what to do, I’ll take that lady’s voice saying “Turn left in 2 miles” if it’s going to get me to where I want to go without having to have a book (or one of those multi-folded, you can never get it back the way you bought it maps) in front of my face while I try and navigate unfamiliar streets.

So, what’s got me flashing back to The Thomas Guide days of living in the greater Seattle area? What’s primed the pump of thought about the blessing of now having Google Maps on my dashboard? Something the songwriter refers to as heart highways.

How lovely is Your dwelling place,
O LORD of hosts!
My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the LORD;
my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God.
Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest for herself,
where she may lay her young, at Your altars, O LORD of hosts, my King and my God.
Blessed are those who dwell in Your house,
ever singing Your praise! Selah
Blessed are those whose strength is in You,
in whose heart are the highways to Zion.

(Psalm 84:1-5 ESV)

Psalm 84 has got to be among my top 10 — if only because of the emotion it stirs, the intense longing it promotes to be where the presence of God dwells. A day in His courts really is better than a thousand elsewhere (84:10a)! Amen? And so, says the songwriter, “Blessed are those . . . in whose heart are the highways to Zion.“

Well, actually . . . technically . . . it doesn’t. That’s how the ESV translators have rendered the two Hebrew words found here. That’s the idea they believe we should be picking up from what the psalmist is laying down. Other translations render it a little differently: “Blessed are those . . . whose hearts are set on pilgrimage” (CSB, NIV). But literally, the lyrics of the song here say that blessed is the one with heart highways.

Blessed are those internally wired with the path to God’s presence. A deep and abiding happiness is the fruit to be realized by those programmed deep within for holy ground, that place being the halls of worship of the living God, the altar of the LORD of hosts, the One we bow before as my King and my God.

That wiring, that internal GPS, those heart highways are ours from re-birth. Baptized and sealed with the Holy Spirit when we first believed (1Cor. 12:13, Eph. 1:13, 4:30), our inner man, our inner woman, was programmed for such a pilgrimage. “God’s Dwelling Place or Bust!” is the sign that was hung within our souls.

So, the map is present, the GPS address has been entered. Ours is but to desire, with great desire, the destination. The way, whether easy or hard, whether by a fairly straight path or a sometimes frustrating circuitous route, is set. Ours is to want to be where God wants us to be — with Him, abiding in Him, worshiping only Him.

Blessed are those with heart highways.

There for our good. There for His glory. There only by His grace.

Yes?

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