Divine Plagiarism

Posted on October 21, 2010 by Pete

When Jesus spoke, people were blown away. From the beginnings of His public ministry, when He taught in the Capernaum synagogue on the Sabbath, those who heard Him “were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes” (Mark 1:22). One time, when He preached in His home “church” in Nazareth, those who listened were astonished at His words and said, “Where did this Man get this wisdom and these mighty works? Is this not the carpenter’s son? Is not His mother called Mary? And His brothers James, Joses, Simon, and Judas? And His sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did this Man get all these things?” (Matt 13:56) And this morning, I’m reading that when Jesus taught at the temple during the Feast of Tabernacles the Jews marveled, saying, “How does this Man know so much, given that He’s never been formally trained or educated?” (John 7:15)
The question on the minds of those who heard Jesus was simply, “Where does He come up with this stuff?”

Isn’t that the question of the ages? And Jesus’ answer is simple, “My teaching is not mine, but His who sent me” (John 7:16 ESV).

Jesus spoke not as a man, but as the Son of Man . . . the promised Messiah . . . the One of whom Isaiah would prophesy, “The Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon Him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD.” (Isa. 11:2). He didn’t need to “make it up as went”, the teaching was sourced from heaven itself . . . from the Father . . . through the Spirit . . . spoken by the Son . . . marveled at by the people.

The complexities of the Trinity . . . the interwoven dynamics of Immanuel, God in flesh . . . both come into play here . . . not sure that my mind can really wrap itself around it. But, what I do know is that Jesus spoke the way He spoke . . . taught the way He taught . . . impacted people the way He impacted people . . . because of divine plagiarism. The material didn’t originate with the man Jesus, but had been drafted from before the foundations of the earth by the Three-in-One God of eternity. His words weren’t original to Him, in a sense . . . but they were the very words of God Himself. Jesus didn’t speak on His own, but spoke the words taught to Him by the Father (John 8:28) . . . the Father directed the Son on what to say and how to say it (John 12:49). No wonder it blew people away . . . His was the voice of God itself . . . speaking a word that was, quite literally, from out of this world.

Oh, what would it have been like to hear Him teach? Talk about your powerful sermon! When Jesus spoke no one was falling asleep in the back row . . . when Jesus taught the impact was tangible, even if their understanding was yet clouded. His was always a powerful message . . . the delivery always a Spirit empowered delivery . . . when Jesus opened the Scriptures it ignited the hearts of those who had ears to hear (Luke 24:32) . . . “No man every spoke like this Man.” (John 7:46)

But, there is a dynamic by which I can hear Him. No, there isn’t a podcast I can download . . . and I can’t go pull a video off of His website . . . but I have the God-breathed Scriptures before me . . . and the God-placed Spirit inside me . . . and with that combo, His words . . . those divinely penned and placed words of the Father . . . can be as fresh and powerful as when they were first delivered. They can set my heart to burning . . . they can stir my inner man . . . they can evoke within me the same awe and wonder. And Jesus’ promise to the crowd that day in temple is a promise to me too, “Anyone who wants to do the will of God will know whether my teaching is from God or is merely my own.” (John 7:17 NLT).

Speak Lord, for your servant is listening . . . (my own plagiarism . . . 1Samuel 3:9)

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Family Feud

Posted on October 20, 2010 by Pete

Home should be a safe place . . . a place of refuge . . . a place of acceptance and understanding . . . a place, when all other places are hostile, of peace and protection. Alas, for way too many people, home is anything but such a place. That the enemy has launched an all out assault on the home is evident . . . that for so many, family is a part of the problem rather than part of the solution, is way too common. Instead of being allies in the struggles of life, family, for many, is the struggle . . . is the opposition. And I’m reminded this morning, from my reading in the first part of John 7, that Jesus knew this experience too.

You’d think that if anybody would “get it” concerning Jesus it would have been those who grew up in the same household He did. That Jesus had siblings is evident . . . that after His virgin birth, Mary and Joseph together had other children is clear . . . and it doesn’t take a lot of imagination to think of what life must have been like in the Joseph and Mary home as the kids grew up together. That Jesus was unique and stood out, I think, would have been evident. Can you imagine growing up in a home with a brother or sister who is literally and in reality the perfect child? Talk about pressure to try and “be like your brother” . . . impossible! Maybe some jealousy . . . maybe some resentment . . . but, you’d think that over time, witnessing a perfect human being grow up from a perfect child to a perfect teen to a perfect adult might convince Jesus’ brothers and sisters that He was very special and was someone to be listened to.

But such is not the case with the sons of Adam (or the other sons of Mary) . . . those conceived in sin (Ps. 51:5) . . . those born spiritually dead (Eph. 2:1) . . . you can put a son of Adam in the same house with the Son of God for half a lifetime and, apart from a work of revelation of the Spirit, it just won’t register. Such is evident from the conversation I read this morning . . .

The time is approaching for the Feast of Tabernacles . . . the time when people travel to Jerusalem to celebrate the harvest and to remember and celebrate their deliverance from Egypt and the time in their history when they lived in tents or booths or tabernacles en route to the promised land. And Jesus’ brothers taunt Him, “Hey, why do you keep hanging around here doing your miracles in front of the nobodies? . . . head down to Judea to the Feast and show Your stuff there so that those who say You are worth following can see Your works. Why do this stuff in the relative secrecy of Galilee when the thought leadership of religion is down south? After all, You seem to be seeking a following for Yourself . . . looking for some fame . . . so, show yourself to the world.” (John 7:1-4, Pete’s Paraphrase) John then records, “For even His brothers did not believe in Him.” (John 7:5 NKJV)

Ouch! Opposition at home . . . no safe place here . . . no acceptance or understanding . . . in fact, a bit of sarcastic hostility . . . darkness instead of light . . . dead to sin, not yet alive to God . . . and Jesus knew firsthand the struggle and personal pain of an unsupportive family. He knew what it was to be misunderstood by those with whom He had shared a home for years . . . He experienced the rejection of those who should have been His greatest fans . . . in the place where He should have been able to recharge his batteries, there too He had to fight the fight.

And it reminds me that we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our life situations . . . One who was tempted and tried just as we are, yet without sin . . . One who had to be made just like us so that He might be a merciful and faithful advocate for us before the Father . . . “Since He Himself has gone through suffering and testing, He is able to help us when we are being tested.” (Heb. 4:15, 2:17-18).

For way too many home isn’t where the heart is . . . home isn’t sweet home. The family that should be sticking together too often turns into a family feud. But this, my Savior knows firsthand . . . and is able to draw along side in understanding support . . . reminding us that we have been brought into His family . . . renewing us in the inner man through the indwelling Spirit of adoption . . . requesting us to set our hearts on the place He is preparing for us and the banquet table He is setting for us, even now. Soon, we’ll be home . . . around the throne of God with the family . . . for our blessing . . . for His glory . . . amen!

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A Dispenser of Grace

Posted on October 19, 2010 by Pete

“The manifold grace of God” . . . now there’s a phrase to chew on. Some translations say “God’s grace in its various forms” or “God’s varied grace” . . . but I got to say that I like the wording in my NKJV — it just seems to resonate so deeply. The grace of God . . . manifest in various ways . . . dispensed without measure but not dispensed in uniformity . . . variegated (I like that word) aka multi-colored . . . same grace, different shades . . . same source of all grace, but dispensed individually and uniquely . . . intended to gift and equip believers just as the Giver of all grace determines. Peter reminds me this morning that, while I am a trophy of His grace, I am also a recipient of a some specific “flavor” of His manifold grace, and, in that, I am to be a dispenser of grace.

Peter says to the believers he’s writing to that each one has received a gift. For example, he says, it could be a gift of speaking or a gifting of a heart that zones in on serving others (1Peter 4:11a). Paul talks of the same “gracing” in his letters where he refers to the “manifestation of the Spirit which is given to each for the profit of all” — that manifestation finding shape in the gift of wisdom or knowledge or faith or healings . . . different gifts . . . the same Spirit distributing to each one individually as He wills (1Cor. 12:7-11). In Romans, Paul speaks again of differing gifts according to the grace given us . . . gifts of teaching, exhorting, sharing with others, leading, and mercy (Romans 12:6-8) . . . all different . . . all given as God determines . . . all the manifold grace of God.

And while God “fills the cup” of this believer with these Spirit powered abilities and passions of His choosing, mine is to be a faithful steward (1Peter 4:10) . . . a wise manager . . . a willing dispenser . . . of the multi-colored, varied manifestation, of the grace of God. Talk about your high and lofty calling.
As much “fun” as it is to mediate on God’s awesome creativity in the way He dishes out from the treasures of His storehouse of grace, I also need to understand the responsibility that’s mine as a recipient of some this manifestation of the Spirit. To think I don’t have a gift . . . or that whatever I do have really isn’t intended to “go public” and be used, is to call God a liar. To not accept that God has made me a piece of His grace filled patchwork quilt, is to miss out on such a key aspect of my salvation. To not take up the charge to be a steward of that piece of grace I’ve received . . . to not seek to diligently share that which He has given me to share . . . is to be disobedient to this part of my calling.

Recipients of grace? You bet! Stewards of grace! You bet too!

What a privilege . . . what a responsibility . . . what a high and lofty calling. To be a channel of the manifold grace of God . . . dispensing the grace He supplies. And I am to do so “that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen” (1Peter 4:11b). It’s not my gifting . . . not my abilities . . . not my manifold grace . . . it is His . . . and, as such, my stewardship of that gifting is but for His glory.

The manifold grace of God . . . a phrase worth chewing on . . . a stewardship worth accepting . . . that the grace of God might be dispensed by the people of God for the glory of God. Let’s do it!

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Always Ready

Posted on October 18, 2010 by Pete

That we as Christians are to “do life” differently is pretty evident in Scripture. Not that it’s about being different for the sake of being different . . . not that we seek to stand out . . . not that we purpose to “go left” just because everyone else decides to “go right.” But we are to align ourselves to the “true north” of heaven . . . to set our minds on things above . . . to conduct our lives in a manner that is consistent with our calling as the people of God. And when we do so . . . at some point . . . someone . . . somewhere . . . will notice and ask, “How come?” And that is why, Peter says, “Always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear.” (1Peter 3:15)

The context for Peter’s charge is encouragement written to a band of Christians who are being increasingly persecuted for their faith. And as the heat gets turned up Peter points to Jesus as the example of how to endure unjust treatment and suffering, “Who committed no sin, nor was deceit found in His mouth; who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously.” (1Peter 2:22-23). Not exactly popular opinion on how to deal with unfair treatment . . . not the way of the world on how to stand up for oneself . . . not the stuff that assertiveness training is made of . . . not much there concerning knowing your rights and fighting for them. But it’s a different approach . . . an approach modeled after Christ . . . an approach designed by the will of God to put to silence the ignorance of foolish men by doing good (1Peter 2:15). And Peter says, live as Christ lived . . . respond as Christ would respond . . . and there will come a point when someone asks why . . . and then, be ready to give an answer.

And the reason we, as believers, are willing to swim upstream in a downstream world is because of the hope that we possess. Our actions now are shaped by our view of the future that awaits us. The reality of heaven’s glory shapes our response to earth’s trials. The value system of eternity is the determining factor of our investment strategy here and now. Our hope shapes our thinking . . . our decision making . . . our living. And so, when the question is asked . . . and it will be asked . . . Peter says we need to be ready to give a defense for the reason that hope so shapes our lives.

I’m challenged to be thoughtful about what and I do and why I do it . . . to bring it all under the authority of the One I claim as Lord and King of my life. It’s not about separating my “spiritual life” from my “everyday normal life” but about integrating all that I am in Christ . . . all that I believe . . . all that I have hope in . . . bringing it all into play in how I walk my walk. And then being ready to explain why I do what I do . . . or don’t do what I don’t do . . . or value what the world doesn’t value . . . or take a pass on what the world says is so important.

Always ready to give a defense . . . prepared with an argument (not to argue) . . . ready to articulate to others why I have counted the cost . . . and have weighed the reward . . . and decided to follow Jesus.

Living for Jesus will provide opportunity to testify for Jesus. Aligning myself toward heaven will open doors to point others to heaven. And mine, by the grace of God, and for the glory of God, is to be always ready. Amen?

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Routine Bread

Posted on October 15, 2010 by Pete

I like routine . . . especially my morning routine. From the time I get up to the time I arrive at work, pretty much the same boxes are checked and the same motions are gone through. Over the past several weeks I’ve added a new piece to the routine . . . I take two pieces of toast with me in the car and eat them on the way to work. And it’s not your everyday sliced white bread . . . no, it’s a couple of freshly cut slabs from a good, solid multi-grain loaf . . . with just the right amount of fake butter on it and covered from edge to edge with some strawberry jam. I smile just anticipating it later this morning. It’s just the right amount of breakfast, crammed into the right part of the schedule, to get my day and my metabolism kicked off. Great bread . . . satisfying . . . part of my routine. But this morning I’m reminded of another bread . . . the bread of God . . . the bread of heaven itself . . . the bread of life . . .

“Then Jesus said to them, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.’ Then they said to Him, ‘Lord, give us this bread always.’ And Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.’ ” (John 6:32-35)

They had followed Jesus across the sea of Galilee to Capernaum. The day before they had been there when Jesus took a few fish and couple of loaves and fed more than 5,000. Just as Jesus had created “the good wine” at the wedding in Cana (John 2:10), I’m guessing that what they had eaten at that divinely enhanced fish fry not only was plentiful but it was delicious . . . so good they were determined to follow Jesus . . . even across a body of water . . . in order to see if He would serve up some more.

Jesus knew why they followed Him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled” (John 6:26). Oh, how driven man is by his belly . . . I can relate! I love my toast in the morning! But Jesus says, take that taste you anticipate . . . channel that hunger that you have . . . focus the thirst you experience . . . on “the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you.” (6:27)

Enter the “true bread from heaven” . . . behold the bread of God come from heaven to give life . . . eat of the bread of life and never hunger or thirst . . . sit at the table of Jesus . . . take of His fare . . . partake of heaven itself . . . and know an abiding satisfaction that is literally out of this world.

Strictly speaking, the context in John 6 is salvation. The people were urged to take of the bread of heaven by faith. To believe in Jesus as the One sent by the Father is to eat the bread that gives everlasting life. To come to Him is to satisfy the spiritual hunger created within man for the God who formed him. To eat of that bread is to receive a promise . . . a promise of not being cast out (6:37) . . . of not being lost or left behind (6:39) . . . of being raised up to be with Jesus at the last day (6:40). Oh, thank God that, by His grace and through His Spirit, he opened my deaf ears and blind eyes to see and believe in heaven’s Holy Bread.

But the meal goes on! His mercies are new every morning (Lam. 3:22-23) . . . He desires to come and dine with me on a continuing basis (Rev. 3:20) . . . there is new food to be eaten every day . . . through His word . . . through abiding communion with Him . . . through the inner renewal of the Spirit. The taste of heaven is available each morning and throughout the day, if I’ll just take some time and partake. Oh, that I would seek more the Bread of Heaven . . . that I would know continually its flavor on my tongue . . . its soul satisfying plenty within my inner man . . . its routine presence in my daily diet.

Jesus is true manna . . . praise God for the daily availability of heaven’s Bread . . . that by His grace it would be a continuing part of my daily routine.

Did I mention that I like routine?

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Without A Word

Posted on October 14, 2010 by Pete

My youngest daughter is enrolled in a ministry internship program at a local church. In addition to living in dorms at the church, working with the church, and attending accredited Bible classes at the church, they are discipled by a vibrant, dedicated set of leaders from the church. She told me one evening at dinner, that one of those leaders takes issue with a quote attributed to St. Francis of Assisi, “Preach the gospel always: When necessary, use words.” His objection, understandably, is that gospel is to be preached . . . with words. Jesus said that He had come to preach the gospel (Luke 4:18), and told His disciples to preach the gospel (Mark 16:15), and, if you look at Paul and the early church, that’s what they did – preach the gospel . . . with words. The concern with the quote then, is to take a view that the church can be silent and somehow proclaim the good news.

And while I agree with the concern . . . and understand the danger of taking an unbalanced view of the role of only “walking the talk” and never “talking the talk” . . . I read in 1Peter 3 of a scenario where someone is won by watching someone else’s life . . . where the gospel is preached without a word.

The general context is Peter’s encouragement to a group of believers to “Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.” (1Peter 2:12 ESV) The specific context concerns a believing wife who is called to submit to an unbelieving husband . . . “so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives.” (1Peter 3:1 ESV)

Won over by conduct . . . that’s the spiritual dynamic described here. Not to say a word was never spoken. The husband would know his wife was a follower of Christ . . . she would have proclaimed the good news and have been ready to give a defense as to the source of her hope and conduct (1Peter 3:15) . . . she would have talked the talk . . . but, in this situation, Peter says, in effect, “Preach without a word.” And I can’t help but wonder if there is an application for me in this . . . an application beyond a saved wife and her un-saved husband. I’m thinking so.

That a person can be won to Christ through the conduct of a believer is evident here. And I note the characteristics of that conduct. The NKJV says it’s “chaste conduct accompanied by fear” . . . the ESV, “respectful and pure conduct” . . . the NIV & NLT, “pure and reverent lives”. It’s a life that is lived in reverent awe and fear of God and respectful of others . . . conduct that is undefiled by the world and characterized by a personal purity (3:2).

It’s a life attractive not because of designer clothes, or a “cute haircut”, or well-applied makeup or jewelry . . . it’s not attractive because someone looks cool or rad or whatever today’s term is. Instead, it’s a life that is attractive because of the “hidden person of the heart” and “incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit” (3:3-4). There’s something about authenticity that draws people to the Lord . . . something about emulating the nature of the “meek and lowly Jesus” . . . something about an inner beauty that doesn’t fade with age . . . doesn’t wrinkle . . . but, if anything, radiates increasingly as a believer grows in grace through the transforming work of the Spirit. And that “something” can be the very thing that Jesus uses to draw someone to Himself.

As I think back, God used a powerful combination of a friend who preached the word and his family who lived “beautiful lives” from the inside-out to woo me to Himself. It was the written Word in combination with the “without a word” testimony that was used to bring this sinner to the Living Word.

I agree with my daughter’s mentor . . . the gospel is to preached verbally . . . audibly . . . fervently. But I also think we need to “study up” on the “without a word” approach . . . to continue to submit to the Spirit’s work of conforming us into the likeness of Christ . . . to cultivate pure and reverent lives . . . to be focused on the inner beauty of the heart . . . the outer reality of a gentle and quiet spirit . . . the authentic representation of following Jesus . . . that, as He would determine, some might be won without a word. For His glory . . .

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Identifying

Posted on October 13, 2010 by Pete

So, I’m thinking it is wired into man to want to be part of something . . . to be identified with something. Around us it finds it’s manifestation in everything from bumper stickers to brand name clothes . . . from baseball caps to sports team jerseys . . . from the flag of our country hanging outside our door to the flag of our football team hanging outside our door . . . from colored wristbands to logo’d up t-shirts . . . all of it, a way of identifying with something. And as I continue reading in 1Peter . . . a letter to a people whose experience I have little connection with . . . I identify with them . . . not in their suffering so much . . . but in their calling and their identity in Christ . . .

“But you are a CHOSEN GENERATION, a ROYAL PRIESTHOOD, a HOLY NATION, His own SPECIAL PEOPLE that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now THE PEOPLE OF GOD, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy. Beloved, I beg you as SOJOURNERS and PILGRIMS, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul . . . as free, yet not using liberty as a cloak for vice, but as BONDSERVANTS OF GOD.” (1Peter 2:9-11, 16)

I look at that list of capitalized words . . . that catalog of descriptors . . . that inventory of “tags” . . . and I think any one of them would make a great logo on a t-shirt or a baseball cap. Each of them, for the believer, would be a badge of honor to wear . . . a life’s mission statement to try and live up to. Talk about identifying with something . . . talk about being part of something bigger than yourself.

And while they all really grab me, one kind of stands out above the rest this morning. It probably isn’t the one that lends itself to the most creative t-shirt design or most witty tag line . . . but it so describes where my identify lies . . . it so clearly states the “something” that I am part of . . . I was not a people, but now I am THE PEOPLE OF GOD.

How’s that for an identity? A people-group of God’s own choosing and creating and re-creating. Common ancestry . . . born of God through the Spirit. Common language . . . the Word of God. Common anthem . . . the song of the redeemed. Common currency . . . treasure in heaven. Common mission statement . . . live for glory of God. Part of a people that transcends any earth-defined culture . . . brothers and sisters scattered throughout the world all claiming the same identity . . . the people of God. David wrote, “I am a companion of all who fear You, and of those who keep Your precepts.” (Ps. 119:63)

The People of God. It’s an exclusive club . . . but it’s open to all who would enter. It’s free to join, the price already having been paid in full . . . but membership will cost you your life. There’s a rewards program . . . investment in it now, pays huge dividends in the future — an eternal future. But there’s no boasting in this identity, save for boasting in the cross . . . no place for pride or self-promotion for all members are but sinners saved by grace.

Oh, what privilege to be counted as the people of God.

And it’s not a t-shirt or ball cap or rubber band or bumper sticker that identifies and seals us. No, it’s the living Spirit of God which has been given to us as a seal of His ownership . . . an indicator of our authenticity as His people . . . a deposit guaranteeing that the best is yet to come (Eph. 1:14). That’s the “God wear” that I am to put on . . . that’s the evidence I am to display . . . the living Spirit of God showing forth . . . identifying me as part of the people.

Oh, that it would be more than just an identity . . . that it would be reality . . . by His grace . . . through His Spirit . . . and for His glory . . . amen?

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As Living Stones

Posted on October 12, 2010 by Pete

That God is in the midst of a building program is clear in Scripture. He is the architect . . . the developer . . . the sub-contractor . . . the tradesman . . . and, He even supplies all the material. It’s re-cycled material . . . all of it, at one point, soiled . . . all if it, apart from the re-cycling program, damaged goods . . . but all redeemed and renewed such that it is now suitable for God’s design and purposes. Material which cost the Father dearly to secure . . . but which He delighted to purchase for this one of kind eternal structure. Material which is laid in the context of a Foundation which is perfect . . . a chief cornerstone, elect, precious . . . a Living Stone chosen by God. Material which has been reconstituted to take on the properties of the Foundation . . . to be like the Foundation . . . to be, just as He is, living stones.

This picture in 1Peter 2 always grabs me . . .

“Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” (1Peter 1:4-5)

Man! What a building program . . . what a high and lofty structure . . . a living, breathing sanctuary . . . a people-building designed to function as a God separated priesthood given the sacred occupation of offering up spiritual sacrifices to the Father through His Son. In Ephesians it say that this structure has been architected such that each member is fit together perfectly so that it grows into a holy temple . . . being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit (Eph2:20-22). And the materials? 100% re-cycled.

I, along with every believer through the ages, am a living stone. Purchased at great cost. Having no “textile” quality of myself but given new “properties” suitable for building with when I was made a new creation in Christ. I’m a living stone just like THE LIVING STONE . . . redeemed into the likeness of Christ for the purpose of being conformed to the image of Christ . . . to be incorporated as part of the building whose foundation is Christ.

A living stone being built into a spiritual house. I’m a piece of the puzzle . . . a small piece of colored glass in the mosaic . . . a measure in the opus . . . a face on a multi-faceted diamond. A living stone shaped, as He has determined . . . placed exactly where He wants . . . incorporated into an eternal design for the purpose of offering up spiritual sacrifices to the One who alone is worthy to receive honor . . . put together for the glory of God.

What a privilege . . . what an undeserved, grace wrought privilege. To be counted a living stone fit for His sanctuary . . . to be recruited into a holy priesthood with such a high and holy calling . . . to be cemented eternally with His Son to form a house of eternal praise . . . it really is a bit overwhelming. And who’s up to the task? Not me in my own power . . . not me in my own strength and determination. But the life I now live as a living stone, I live by faith in the Son of God — THE LIVING STONE — who loved me and gave Himself for me (Gal 2:20). And the textile strength I possess as fitting for such a unearthly structure is that of the indwelling Spirit of God — the power of the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead (Rom. 8:11). And the “right” I have to consider myself suited for such a grandiose building program is the right I have as a child adopted by the Father (Gal. 4:4-7).

A living stone . . . who woulda’ thought? God . . . the God who is in the midst of a building program . . .

Thank You Father!

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Don’t Ask If You Already Know the Answer

Posted on October 11, 2010 by Pete

It’s one of those stories that just makes you cringe. You read the account and you know this is not going to turn out well. One of those cases where it would have been better if they had never said a thing rather than stand up and speak up in some pious manner. But they did . . . and I cringe . . . and it’s a warning to me . . . don’t ask if you already know the answer.

So here’s the deal . . . Jerusalem has fallen to the Babylonians. They have destroyed it . . . a lot of people have died . . . many more have been taken captive back to Babylon . . . a remnant of the poor have been left in Judah and given land to tend . . . and a governor has been put in place to watch things for the king of Babylon. There’s been a coup where the governor has been overthrown . . . and a counter coup re-establishing some level of stability in Judah. But they are still under Babylonian control . . . and the leaders think it’s time to take things into their own hands and head to Egypt for protection.

Queue the question . . . “Then all the guerrilla leaders, . . . and all the people, from the least to the greatest, approached Jeremiah the prophet. They said, ‘Please pray to the LORD your God for us. As you can see, we are only a tiny remnant compared to what we were before. Pray that the LORD your God will show us what to do and where to go.’ ” (Jeremiah 42:1-3 NLT)

Fair enough . . . sounds good . . . desperate uncertain times call for divine wisdom and guidance. Jeremiah comes back and says, “Ok, but know that whatever the LORD answers you, I will declare it to you. I will keep nothing back from you.” (42:4) And the people’s response is, “You bet. Bring it on. Whatever He says we will do . . . wherever He directs we will go . . . that it may be well with us when we obey the voice of the Lord our God.” (42:5-6)

God, through Jeremiah says, “Stay in the land under Babylonian rule and it will go well with you.” The people say, “No way! Are you kidding me? That’s not what we were expecting or wanting to hear? That makes no sense. Jeremiah, you’re not speaking God’s word . . . you’re speaking falsely. We’re going to Egypt! That’s what makes sense to us . . . that’s what God really wants us to do.” (43:2-4) They didn’t like the answer . . . it didn’t line up with their thinking . . . it didn’t suit their view of what God’s will had to be . . . they asked the question . . . but they already knew the answer.

And the problem is diagnosed by Jeremiah, “For you were hypocrites in your hearts when you sent me to the LORD your God, saying, ‘Pray for us to the LORD our God, and according to all that the LORD your God says, so declare to us and we will do it.’ ” (42:20)

They were playing the God game . . . they were going through the motions hoping the answer they wanted would be the answer God would give them. They weren’t being honest with Jeremiah . . . or God . . . or themselves. The were leaning to their own understanding and were hoping that God would endorse it . . . that they would find a verse in the Bible to support it . . . that they could do their own thing with God’s blessing. And God, through the prophet, calls them on it.

And so I cringe. It would have been better to have just done their own thing than to have tried to act under a pretense of “desiring God’s will for me life.”

He knows the answer . . . I need to ask the question . . .and, in asking the question, sincerely want God’s voice . . . and His mind . . . and His answer . . . even when it’s not what I would have thought the answer to be. How I need to have a true heart that desires my “Plan A” to be His plan . . . for my well being . . . and for His glory . . .

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Rechabites Among Us

Posted on October 8, 2010 by Pete

Jeremiah 35 records an interesting object lesson. It was a lesson for the people of the time . . . it is a lesson for the people of this time. And what grabs me about it, is a promise that God makes to a group of men at the time of Judah’s demise which is having an impact on some family, somewhere, today. If I’m reading it right, there are Rechabites among us . . .

The story’s pretty simple. God tells Jeremiah to go to the house of the Rechabites, and invite them over to the temple and then give them some wine to drink. Jeremiah extends the invitation . . . they RSVP in the affirmative . . . they show up . . . he serves up . . . and they close up . . .

“Then I (Jeremiah) set before the sons of the house of the Rechabites bowls full of wine, and cups; and I said to them, ‘Drink wine.’ But they said, ‘We will drink no wine, for Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, commanded us, saying, ‘You shall drink no wine, you nor your sons, forever. You shall not build a house, sow seed, plant a vineyard, nor have any of these; but all your days you shall dwell in tents, that you may live many days in the land where you are sojourners.’ Thus we have obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, in all that he charged us, to drink no wine all our days, we, our wives, our sons, or our daughters, nor to build ourselves houses to dwell in; nor do we have vineyard, field, or seed. But we have dwelt in tents, and have obeyed and done according to all that Jonadab our father commanded us.’ ” (Jeremiah 35:5-10)

And these boys, and their families, become God’s example to a rebellious nation of what He desires. They had been instructed by their dad on how they were to live . . . and they listened . . . and they obeyed . . . and even when sitting in the temple of God, before a prophet of God, and told to drink, they said, “Uh, no. We have determined to do what our father asked of us.” And the Lord, through Jeremiah, says to the people of Judah, “Will you not receive instruction to obey my words like the sons of the Rechabite, Jonadab?” (35:13-14)

In their simple, unpretentious, “as for me and my house” willingness to follow the instruction of their father, these boys and their families are held up as a divine object lesson of the obedience the Father of the family of believers desires. An object lesson for Judah . . . an object lesson for me . . . the Father requests obedience. He wants His people to incline their ears to His word . . . to prepare their hearts for it to be planted . . . to steel their wills with holy determination to follow . . . to know the blessing of the enabling power of the Spirit . . . and to experience the joy of abiding in the will of the Savior of their souls. God desires obedience among His people.

And what’s captured my imagination is a promise God makes through Jeremiah to this family of tent dwelling teetotalers, “Because you have obeyed the commandment of Jonadab your father, and kept all his precepts and done according to all that he commanded you, therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not lack a man to stand before Me forever.'” (35:19)

There are, therefore, Rechabites among us . . .

Generation after generation . . . through the millennia . . . God has placed a special protection on the line of this family . . . all because of their willingness and desire to obey. And I can’t help but be challenged by the importance the Father places on obedience from His children . . . the joy it gives Him when I say, “Yes Lord” . . . “Thy will be done Lord” . . . “By Your strength Lord” . . . “Because I love you Lord.”

These Rechabites . . . they walk among us . . . oh, that by God’s grace we might walk as one of them . . . for His glory . . . amen?

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