Rich Toward God

Posted on July 19, 2010 by Pete

“Liar” . . . “Fool” . . . two pretty strong words . . . two words used by the Lord Jesus this morning . . . one implicitly . . . the other explicitly . . . both there as a warning for all who live in affluent cultures. Uh, that would be us . . .

As I read this passage in Luke 12 (vv. 13-21), it amazes me again the sorts of things that people brought to Jesus. The reason they came to Him, in the first place, is because they had heard that He taught with an unprecedented authority — like He had written the Scriptures and not just read them (Mark 1:22) . . . they had heard He acted with unprecedented authority as He delivered people from demonic influence and possession (Mark 1:27) . . . that He healed the sick and raised the dead. And so, you’d think that when someone had the opportunity to engage Him face-to-face . . . one-on-one . . . having the opportunity to ask that one pressing question, that they’d do a lot better than, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” (Luke 12:13).

What a missed opportunity. You get a shot at asking one question of Messiah and you use it on a family dispute over money. Yet, our Lord is so good at taking the lemons and making lemonade . . . at taking the trite and using it to seed the significant . . . at exposing the way of this world in order to teach on the way of the kingdom. And it’s in responding to this question that Jesus calls the world a liar and the spirit of this world a fool.

“Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.” – Jesus, Luke 12:15

Don’t you just hear Jesus crying, “Liar! He who dies with the most toys, DOESN’T WIN!” Maybe not quite a temple cleansing thing, but can you imagine Jesus walking through our mall parking lots tearing that silly bumper sticker off every car that bears it. Life is not defined by what you own . . . significance is not measured by how much you possess . . . success is not determined by the size of the bank account or, as is more likely the case, the size of your credit card balance.

Jesus then goes onto tell a story of man whose barns could not contain all his crops and all his goods. The man’s solution? Tear down the old barns . . . build bigger barns and storage facilities . . . accumulate and store . . . and say to yourself, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.” (12:19) To which God responds, “Fool! . . . So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.” (12:20-21).

It’s not just that the man in the story died leaving all his stuff to someone else, it’s that he died with earthly storehouses packed with goods and yet was poor towards God . . . nothing deposited in his heavenly bank account . . . no investments made in the kingdom . . . destitute in the economy of eternity. And the Father is left with no other option to call it like it is, “Fool!” Such is the person who is not “rich toward God.”

Now let last phrase churn a bit . . . “rich toward God.” How’s that for a bumper sticker? How’s that for a concept . . . that we can be rich toward God. Isn’t that why Jesus died to redeem us? “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich” (2Cor. 9:9). He provided the “investment capital” that we might build on the foundation and lay up treasures in heaven (Matt 6:20) and be rich toward God. Not contending for all that we think we’re “owed” here and now but, by His grace, adding what we can to the inheritance that awaits us in His presence . . . an inheritance that is “incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you” (1Peter 1:4).

Oh, that we might take heed and not get sucked into the lies of this “toy accumulating” world system we live in. That we might not be fools, but wise, investing in the things of eternity . . . working, as much as lies in us, and by His all-enabling grace, to be rich toward God . . . for His glory . . . amen.

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Put On A Blessed Face

Posted on July 16, 2010 by Pete

Can you be blessed by God and not happy? That’s the question that’s kind of floating through my mind this morning. I guess I kind of think of being blessed as a state I receive and being happy is more of an emotion I feel. I guess too that my experience would say that I know a number of people that I would consider to be blessed but don’t seem to be very happy. But a verse in my reading in Psalm 146 this morning has put the question on my radar, “Can you be blessed and not happy?”

“Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the LORD his God.” – Psalm 146:5

As I read Psalm 146 this morning the word “happy” jumps off the page at me. Now, you won’t see it if you’re reading the NIV or ESV or NASB . . . instead, in those versions you’ll see “blessed”. How come? With the help of my handy-dandy Online Bible I discover that the Hebrew word being translated here is the word esher . . . it’s used 45 times in the Old Testament . . . and for the King James translators, 27 times they render it “blessed” and on the other 18 occurrences they translate it “happy”. And, from near as I can tell, even in the NIV, while “blessed” is used way more frequently than “happy”, there too you’ll find esher sometimes translated as “blessed” and sometimes “happy”. Not sure how these translators decided when to use “blessed” and when to use “happy”, but I’m kind of pickin’ up that maybe these words are somewhat interchangeable.

So, that’s why I’m asking, “Can you be blessed by God and not happy?”

Based on a lot of Christians I’ve met . . . and based on my own disposition sometimes . . . the “experience-tells-me-answer” would seem to be “Yes.” But as I recognize the multi purposed esher and noodle a bit on Psalm 146, I’m wondering if the answer really is “No.” A blessed person should be a happy person. If they’re not, then someone or something is robbing them of happiness or blessedness that comes having the God of Jacob as our help and our hope established in the LORD God.

Check out the Psalmist’s inventory describing the God who is our help and hope: He made heaven and earth . . . He keeps truth forever . . . He executes justice . . . He gives food to the hungry . . . He gives freedom to the prisoner . . . He opens the eyes of the blind . . . He raises those who are bowed down . . . He loves the righteous . . . He watches over strangers . . . He relieves the fatherless and widow . . . and, last but not list, He shall reign forever. Isn’t the person whose help and hope are founded in Him blessed? Yeah!!! Shouldn’t that person be happy? I’m thinkin’!!!

Now I don’t consider myself some super-emotional type, but come on, shouldn’t being so blessed result in a bit of emotion? The blessing isn’t in the circumstance, it’s in the God who has redeemed me, called me into relationship with Himself, and has burned upon my heart the reality of eternity with Him. Shouldn’t that put a smile on my face . . . shouldn’t that create a “warm fuzzy” on the inside? Yeah! Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help. There should be an underlying happiness and joy emitted from the child of God . . . from those who know the God of Creation as their help and hope.

Maybe I should start taking an esher approach and start swapping these two words a bit more . . . “Happy assurance, Jesus is mine oh what a foretaste of glory divine . . . ” No longer should I see that yellow round-headed grin as a “happy face” but view it instead as a “blessed face.”

Praise God for His presence and faithfulness . . . for the hope that is ours in Him. Be happy in the Lord . . . put on a blessed face . . . for His glory . . . amen.

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Stand Still, See, and Sing!

Posted on July 15, 2010 by Pete

Ok, so I’m guessing when it comes to “Unorthodox Battle Plans for 200, Alex” that we’re probably all queued up with “Who is Joshua?” or “What is Jericho?” or “What is a Great Shout?” as answers. Face it, that’s probably where we are most likely to go when we think of “over the top” battle plans that clearly demonstrate that God is the source of our victories. How come? ‘Cause we learned it in Sunday School from the time we were old enough to go to Sunday School . . . and because it’s much easier for little kids to say Joshua than it is to say Jehoshaphat.

Joshua was told to march around a city wall daily and then, on the seventh day, shout with a great shout . . . “and the walls came a tumblin’ down.” But Jehoshaphat was told to walk onto the battle field . . . stand still . . . and see the salvation of the Lord (2Chronicles 20:17). And, because He believed God, Jehoshaphat innovated a bit. Not only would he stand still and see . . . but he, and his people, they would sing, as well.

Unlike his father, Asa, who “strengthened himself” when he was threatened and purchased some “foreign muscle” to deal with his enemies, when Jehoshaphat is threatened by a “great multitude coming against him” (20:2), in his fear he “sets himself to seek the LORD” (20:3). He calls together all of Judah to “seek the LORD” (20:4). And he prays, “”O LORD God of our fathers, are You not God in heaven, and do You not rule over all the kingdoms of the nations, and in Your hand is there not power and might, so that no one is able to withstand You? . . . we have no power against this great multitude that is coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are upon You.” (20:6, 12)

That’s what you do when you don’t know what to do. That’s where you go when you don’t know where to go. You set your eyes upon God . . . you acknowledge His glorious Person and Power . . . and you seek Him with all your heart. And you remember that “the battle is not yours, but God’s” (20:15b). It’s an act of faith . . . it’s really believing what you say you really believe.

God responds to Jehoshaphat, “You will not need to fight this battle. Position yourselves, stand still and see the salvation of the LORD, who is with you . . . do no fear . . . for the LORD is with you” (20:17). Some battles we need to fight, others we need help . . . sometimes lots of help . . . we need God to intervene and say, “Stand still and see.”

And Jehoshaphat believes the word of the LORD. Immediately he’s facedown worshiping the LORD. Then they’re standing up praising the LORD God of Israel with voices loud and high (20:18-19). Nothing’s happened at this point . . . nothing’s changed . . . no enemy yet defeated . . . but the response is such that having God’s assurance is enough to calm the heart, raise the spirit, and loose the tongue in praise and worship to a faithful, trustworthy God.

And so, the next morning, they leave their swords at home and pick up their lawn chairs and head off to the battle field . . . Jehoshaphat encouraging them, “Believe in the LORD your God, and you shall be established” (20:20). And then the king innovates and improvises . . . “he appointed those who should sing to the LORD, and who should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army and were saying: ‘Praise the LORD, For His mercy endures forever.'” (20:21)

God said, “The battle is mine” . . . they believed it. God said, “Stand still and see” . . . and they did it And then they began to sing and to praise the beauty of holiness . . . the glory of heaven. And they witnessed the power of God and experienced the thrill of “victory in Jesus!” . . . for His glory . . . for their blessing.

“I’ll take ‘Unorthodox Battle Plans’ for 500, Alex” . . . “Who is Jehoshaphat?” . . . “What is the battle is the LORD’s?” . . . “What is stand still, see, and sing to the beauty of holiness?” . . . amen!

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Eyes on the Loyal Heart

Posted on July 14, 2010 by Pete

It’s one of those “head scratcher” sorts of stories. One of those accounts of someone who started out so well and finished so poorly. If the summary of King Asa’s life had only been 2Chronicles 14 and 15, you’d finish reading it saying, “Right on! Good on you King Asa! Way to seek the Lord. Way to lead your people!” Unfortunately, the story goes on to 2Chronicles 16 and the words spoken to Asa by Azariah, son of Obed, through the Holy Spirit ring so true, “Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin. The LORD is with you while you are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you” (2Chron. 15:2).

In 2Chronicles 14 Asa finds himself confronted by the army of Ethiopia, one million men strong. Asa is outnumbered two to one. What does he do? Asa cried out to the LORD his God, and said, “LORD, it is nothing for You to help, whether with many or with those who have no power; help us, O LORD our God, for we rest on You . . . ” (2Chron. 14:11). Fast forward about 25 years, and this time, when he and his nation are laid siege by another enemy, Asa decides to go it alone . . . to rely on his own resources and resourcefulness. Rather than cry out to the Lord, he uses his own accumulated wealth to buy his way out of trouble. It works, the danger is removed, the problem is solved . . . right? . . . not so right. God then sends a prophet to Asa to rebuke him, ” . . . you have relied on the king of Syria, and have not relied on the LORD your God” (16:7).

And the prophet’s admonition continues, “For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those who heart is loyal to Him.” (16:9)

Now that’s a truth that transcends time and circumstance.

My God is a proactive God. He is locked and loaded on those whose hearts are loyal to Him and He is scanning earth’s goings on, looking for opportunity to show Himself strong on His people’s behalf. How amazing is that?

Ours is not some passive, detached God . . . One who we have to “wake up” with much shouting . . . not One whose interest we need to try to capture through feeble works that we hope will merit His attention. No, ours is to seek Him with a loyal heart. The promise is that for those who long to be with Him, He will be with them. The assurance is that if we will seek, He will be found. The warning though is that when we forsake Him, when we start relying on ourselves or others, He will respect our wishes and remove Himself and let us go it on our own.

Oh, to think of God hunched over heaven’s balcony . . . keenly observing the affairs of men . . . eyes scanning north and south, east and west . . . actively tracking those whose hearts are totally His . . . looking for opportunity to show Himself . . . to make known His presence . . . to reveal something of His grace and power . . . such thoughts are really beyond fully comprehending. Beyond comprehension perhaps, but not beyond believing. That’s my God!

Mine is to, as much as lies within me, seek to have such a heart. A heart totally committed to Him. A heart which owns Him as not only Savior but Lord. A heart set on pilgrimage . . . a heart set on a lifelong journey of growing in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ . . . of seeking first the kingdom of God . . . of walking in a manner worthy of His calling. And then to know that God’s eyes are scanning the earth, tracking those with such a heart, that He might reveal Himself to them from time to time . . . that they might know the strong God of heaven . . . that they might witness His intervention and leading in their lives . . . that they might then lift their eyes to heaven and praise Him and give all glory to Him.

What a great God!

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Things To Do Today

Posted on July 13, 2010 by Pete

I’ve said it before, I like “bottom-line” statements. Oh, I know there’s a danger, perhaps, in trying to over-simplify life . . . a risk of being accused of using “pat answers.” But, I also think that some things really aren’t too complicated . . . that, when you boil them down, it really does end up at some foundational, easy to understand principle or “law” of life . . . some “bottom-line” view of how to walk-the-talk that, if heeded, can serve you pretty well. This morning, the three chapters I read in 2Chronicles did just that . . . they came down to one verse . . . one simple lesson . . . a refresher lesson that I’d do well to cling to.

“And he [King Rehoboam] did evil, because he did not prepare his heart to seek the Lord.” — 2Chronicles 12:14

There it is . . . you want the essence of Rehoboam’s failing in life boiled down to 10 words? . . . there it is . . . “he did not prepare his heart to seek the Lord.”

Yeah, I know that there was a lot going on behind the scenes . . . that, behind the scenes, God was fulfilling His own sovereign purposes. I get that the sudden crumbling of the nation of Israel with its division into a 10 tribe northern kingdom and the 2 tribe smaller southern kingdom was all part of God’s plan and required some sort of event to start the wheels in motion . . . that “the turn of events was from God, that the LORD might fulfill His world” (2Chron. 10:15). But at the same time, it came down to the actions of a man . . . a man who should have known better . . . who could have listened better to wise counsel . . . who could have decided better to serve his people. And he was a man who thought “might was right” . . . who, when he “had established the kingdom and had strengthened himself, forsook the law of the Lord” (2Chron. 12:2). He strengthened himself and, in that self-sufficiency, he saw no need to seek the Lord. And the bottom line is . . . you do evil when you don’t prepare your heart to seek the Lord. Simple? Yes. True? I’m thinkin’ so . . .

You know, we could approach avoiding doing evil things by starting a long list. At the top of the list is the heading “Things Not To Do Today.” And under that heading start writing down all the “bad things” we shouldn’t do. It could be quite a long list . . . we’d agree on a lot of them . . . we’d disagree on some of them . . . and, in our own strength and our own self-sufficiency, we’d do a miserable job of trying to accomplish this “Not To Do” list.

Or, we could take a relatively small piece of paper and head it up with “Things To Do Today” and then write down just one thing, “Set my heart on seeking the God of my salvation.” Now, it would take us awhile to check off that “to do” . . . like a lifetime . . . but, as long as we were working on it, I’m thinking the “Not To Do List” would kind of look after itself. I live in the light and it dispels the darkness . . . I fill my life with the pursuit of the kingdom and the ways of the world have little to feed on . . . I continually renew my allegiance to Jesus alone as King and other masters find it hard to get a foothold.

You know I’m not talking about never failing . . . it’s not about never working off the wrong list . . . but, bottom line, Rehoboam did evil because he did not prepare his heart to seek God and so, the converse reality is that when one does set their heart on seeking the Lord, then evil has little room to work.

Mine is to, by His grace and through the power of His Son living in me, set my heart each day to seek Him . . . to know Him through His word . . . to hear Him through His indwelling Spirit . . . to heed and obey Him when He directs. I’m not saying it’s necessarily easy . . . but I am thinking it’s amazingly simple.

Time to pull out my “Things To Do Today” list and get going on it . . . for His glory . . .

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The Routine and The Return

Posted on July 12, 2010 by Pete

My reading plan this morning has verses 11 through 18 of 1Thessalonians 4 bundled together as a reading . . . and it strikes me as presenting an interesting contrast. It begins with “aspire to lead a quiet life” (v. 11a) and ends with “thus we shall always be with the Lord” (v.17b). Practical, basic commands for doing life day in, day out (v. 11-12) give way to high and lofty considerations of Jesus descending with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, with the trumpet of God (v. 16). It starts with practical, basic commands for living and then jumps to what our perspective should be on dying. Paul tells these believers how to walk the talk while on earth but reminds them of a soon coming day when those who are alive at His coming will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord (v. 17).

And I guess, as I start out another week of “the routine”, I need to be reminded of “the return.”

That Paul, moved by the Spirit of God, should command these believers on doing the routine to the glory of God shouldn’t be lost on me. The routine counts. The basics need to be done. I need to aspire to lead a quiet life, to mind my own business, to work with my hands (I’m guessing using a computer keyboard counts) in order to “walk properly toward those who are outside. It is in these “mundane” activities where the bulk of my witness is found on most days. There is a way to do life for God and there’s a way to do life for me and/or for the world. There’s a way to walk and work that’s “proper” and a way that’s improper for those who take the name of Jesus. Good to remember from time to time.

And while Paul shifts the conversation in verse 13 as a means of providing comfort to these new believers as they work through the implications of death and their faith, these words of comfort also provide a context for the routine. Whether by death or by flight, the day is coming when we will be with the Lord . . . perhaps sooner than any of us really imagines. Whether by “crossing Jordan” or being “called into the clouds”, as believers our hope is grounded in the glorious day when faith gives ways to sight . . . when looking into a mirror dimly gives way to face-to-face. And so, shouldn’t I begin each day of routine with the recognition that “perhaps today” I will see Jesus. Kind of feels like it would have an impact on how I go about the routine, doesn’t it.

I’ve heard it referred to as living in the light of the imminent return of the Lord. I believe the claim that never has the church been more alive or more effective that when it has been gripped with the reality of the Lord’s “any moment now” return. Whether it’s on the frontline of foreign missions or working one’s “day job” to the glory of God, living in the reality of the “there and then” can have a huge impact on doing life in the “here and now.”

There’s coming a time when “we shall always be with the Lord” . . . until then, shouldn’t we always be living for the Lord . . . even in the routine? I’m thinking so.

Time to shower . . . time to shave . . . time to get ready for the day . . . time to do life in light of THE DAY . . . by His grace . . . and for His glory . . . amen?

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Written in Heaven . . . Written in Red

Posted on July 9, 2010 by Pete

They came back pretty pumped. Luke writes that “the seventy returned with joy” (Luke 10:17). Jesus had sent them out two by two as reconnaissance teams, that they should go “into every city and place where He Himself was about to go” (10:1). They were to go in the power of Name of Jesus and they were to proclaim that the kingdom of God was near (10:9). And when they returned, they were on such a high.

“Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name,” was their report. How cool was that? They knew it wasn’t their own power or own doing, it was the authority possessed by the Name of the Son of God . . . but they were hands on conduits of that power and authority and they saw, and did, and experienced some amazing things. And they came back beaming . . . high-fiving . . . each with stories to tell . . . what a rush . . . what joy. Did it get any better than this? Yup!

Jesus responded to them that, indeed, Satan was fighting a losing battle . . . that certainly, they had been given authority to do mind-boggling signs and wonders in order to validate the message of the coming kingdom . . . “Nevertheless,” said Jesus, “do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.”

How’s that for a bit of perspective? How’s that for a bottom-line view of where true joy is sourced from? It is from the knowledge, that by the grace of God, and the atoning sacrifice of His Son, and the convincing work of the Holy Spirit, mixed with the exercise of faith, my name is written in heaven. Isn’t everything else just a bonus? Now, I’m not trying to minimize at all the joy I’ve known, and continue to know, through the blessings of God . . . but, if I’m picking up what Jesus is putting down, the well of joy is not found in what I’ve received or what, by God’s favor, I have done. For those things can change tomorrow (remember Job?). As great as it might be to cast out demons, the bedrock of joy comes in the grasping of the realities and implications of my salvation.

My name is written in heaven. How amazing is that? There’s a reservation card with my name on it placed on the table which has been set for the marriage supper of the Lamb (Rev. 19:7-9). There’s a name tag written and waiting for me — written on a white stone . . . the name only known at this time by the One who died to redeem me and now lives again . . . the name one day to be shared with me as a special gift from my Savior (Rev. 2:17). My name is written in a Book of Life, granting me entrance one day into His glorious presence (Php. 4:3, Rev. 21:27) where, face to face, it won’t be about what I’ve done or the blessings I’ve received, but about who He is and what He’s done and the gratitude and joy I’ll try to express in appreciation for the fact that my name is written in heaven.

And as I think about this, I think about a song that speaks to the nature of the ink that is used to write my name in the Book of Life, and to write up my reservation card, to pen my name tag . . . the ink used by God to express the depths of His love for me. The song writers says that it’s “written in red” . . . written with the blood of Christ. That blood shed on Calvary’s cruel cross for my sin . . . that blood serving as the once for all atoning sacrifice for my transgression . . . that blood capable of cleansing and redeeming and restoring. It’s the ink used to describe the depths of the love of God for a lost creation. It’s the ink used to show the way to the Father. It’s the ink that inscribes my name in heaven. “Rejoice,” says Jesus, “because your names are written in heaven.” Amen.

Got 5 minutes time to check out “Written in Red” sung by Janet Paschal?   Click here

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A Song About Not Singing

Posted on July 8, 2010 by Pete

Kind of hovering over Psalm 137 this morning. A psalm written in exile. A psalm written with a broken heart. A psalm written with tears and a remembrance of better days and of things gone terribly wrong. And it strikes me that this is a song about not singing.

Ecclesiastes says that there is “A time to weep, And a time to laugh; A time to mourn, And a time to dance;” (Eccl. 3:4) and, I’m thinking, a time to sing and a time not so much. Sitting by the rivers of Babylon (137:1), remembering Zion, was one of those times “not so much.” But they were singers . . . they were musicians . . . where they went, their instruments went . . . harps in hand they went down to the rivers of this foreign land that held them captive . . . but the songs of Zion didn’t seem appropriate so they hung their harps on the willows (137:2), they put them on the shelf.

Their captives wanted to be entertained. “Sing us one of those happy Hebrew religious songs,” they’d ask, or perhaps, mock (137:3). And the Psalmist, in the lyrics of this song asks the question, “How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land?” (137:4)

And it’s that question that’s got me thinking this morning.

First, it’s a little ironic, I think, that in a song there’s a question about the appropriateness of singing . . . hence a song about not singing. But beyond that, it seems to me there’s a couple of ways to think about the psalmist’s somewhat gloomy question.

First, songs of Zion, aka songs of Jerusalem, were hard to sing when you knew that Jerusalem lay in ruin . . . when you recalled that, because of generations of sin and rejecting God’s ways, the glory of God had departed . . . and that judgment for spiritual idolatry and moral bankruptcy had been extracted with such overwhelming destruction. The songs intended to be song in God’s place by God’s people extolling God’s glory didn’t seem appropriate as they remembered the time when they rejected God’s will. Hard to sing when you know you’ve sinned . . . and you’re living with the consequences.

But the Psalmist also talks of it being inappropriate to sing songs of praise when the Subject of Praise has been forgotten. Something about mindless worship, i.e. forgetting Jerusalem (137:5-6), that should be rejected. The songs of Zion were more than just another genre on i-Tunes. They were to be declarations of God’s mighty works and faithfulness. They were a vehicle to join well thought out words with well played music and present it as an offering, a sacrifice of praise, an intentional heaven-bound oblation, designed and presented to bring pleasure to the God who alone is worthy of praise. To do it at the world’s beckoning, for the world’s pleasure, without thought or remembrance of the meaning of the words, just didn’t seem right.

“How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land?” (137:4) Good question.

Hard to sing when the hearts heavy because of conviction of sin . . . but God is faithful and just to forgive sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness when we come to Him in confession of sin (1John 1:9) and He restores the song. Useless to sing when the song’s Subject is “outta sight, outta mind.” No delight in heaven over mindless, thoughtless melodies of worship. Ours, instead, should be to engage the mind, fan the heart’s fire into flame, and sing from the inner depths of the soul, and with all our might, the songs of Zion, the songs exalting the Redeemer. And, I think, it’s just wrong to sing God’s praise if I’m happily laying by the world’s rivers, with no desire for the things of God or the God of the song.

But, for the soul that’s known forgiveness of sin . . . for the mind that is fixed on Jehovah . . . for the heart that yearns for home . . . there is a song to be sung. Sung in church . . . sung in the shower . . . sung on the way to work . . . sung, even through difficult times. There’s a song that replaces sorrow with joy . . . despair with hope . . . the things of earth with the glories of heaven. It’s the song of the redeemed . . . and it’s a song to be sung. Amen?

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Investing

Posted on July 7, 2010 by Pete

Yesterday, as I started in on 1Thessalonians, I was reminded that Paul had three Sabbaths to share the gospel before he was run out of town. I was again impressed at the manner in which “the Way” had found such root among the believers there after such a short period of time. And, while three weeks is certainly not a very long time, as I read the first part of chapter two this morning, it was evident that Paul and his friends “preached” the gospel well beyond Sabbath morning sermons in the synagogue . . . they invested themselves in these people.

” . . . we were bold in our God to speak to you (2:2) . . . we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel (2:4) . . . we were gentle among you, just as a nursing mother cherishes her own children (2:7) . . . we were well pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God, but our own lives (2:8) . . . we preached to you the gospel (2:9) . . . devoutly and justly and blamelessly we behaved ourselves among you . . . we exhorted, and comforted, and charged every one of you, as a father does his own children (2:11) . . .”

Paul preached the word . . . no doubt, he preached. But he did more than just “scatter the seed”, he worked it into the ground, tended it carefully, cultivated it purposefully, worked it diligently, and it took . . . by the grace and Spirit of God, the seed set down strong roots and bore magnificent fruit . . . because Paul invested in people.

Sure, God is able to take scattered seed and turn it into fruit bearing trees . . . he has set in place men like Billy Graham who can fish with big nets (though even in a crusade it’s the follow up and getting linked with other believers that’s credited with establishing strong believers) . . . but for must of us, God gives us a pole to fish with . . . places us in a particular “patch of ground” where he want us to plant and cultivate and invest in the seed we have to sow.

Paul, the orator, preached on the Sabbath, but during the week he was Paul “the nursing mother”. Gently he cared for those with a new found faith . . . nurtured baby believers with the care a mother would give to her own. He knew it was about more than just “giving them the word”, he gave them himself . . . I’m thinking he held nothing back for those three weeks he was with them . . . those born into the family needed to be nurtured to maturity. And while he’d care for them as a tender mother, he’d also put on the “dad hat” and tell them what was expected . . . exhorting and charging them to walk in a manner worthy of the God who had called them into His own kingdom and glory (2:12). Not harsh, but firm . . . and comforting . . . as they struggled to figure out this new way.

And, he and his companions invested through their example, as well. The “behaved” themselves in a way that modeled the character of those who follow Christ, not in word only, but in truth and works, as well. None of this “do as I say, not as I do” stuff . . . no it was “listen to what I say, and see what a difference it makes in how I live.” He preached from the Scriptures and he taught from his grace-enabled, Spirit-empowered, “work in progress”, living example, authentic life in Christ.

Now, considering this doesn’t lessen how amazing it is that God established such a strong work in such a pagan city in such a short time. But it does remind me that investing is most often a big, big part of the deal when it comes to sharing Christ. The willingness to get involved in people’s lives . . . to love on them as a mom . . . to sometimes give a sanctified kick-in-the pants as a dad . . . to always, as much as lies with me, seek to model the real deal — failures and all . . . it’s all part of planting the seed and nurturing the growth.

Investing . . . takes times . . . can be risky . . . able only by the grace of God . . . all for the glory of God . . . amen.

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To Serve and To Wait

Posted on July 6, 2010 by Pete

Started in on Paul’s first letter to the church of the Thessalonians this morning. It would seem from Acts 17:1-10 that Paul was only in the city of Thessalonica for 3 weeks preaching the gospel before he had to leave town because of persecution. For three Sabbaths he reasoned with them from the Scriptures concerning Jesus . . . that He was the Christ . . . that He had suffered and risen again from the dead . . . and it took . . . “And some of them were persuaded; and a great multitude of the devout Greeks, and not a few of the leading women, joined Paul and Silas” (17:4). And from the very onset of this letter to the Thessalonians, you get the sense that they were a pretty amazing group of believers.

Three weeks to plant the seed . . . to see some shoots spring forth . . . to set the foundation for a group of believers who “became examples to all in Macedonia and Achaia who believe” (1:7). Theirs was not just a quick conversion but a solid conversion . . . it really took . . . evidence that the gospel did not come to them in “word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit” (1Thess. 1:5). It was clear that they had been chosen of God (1:4) to bear light in a remarkable way.

They were marked by their “work of faith, labor of love, and patience of hope” (1:3) . . . their reputation preceded them . . . their faith toward God had gone out (1:8). It was evident to all, says Paul, that they had “turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven, who He raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come” (1:9-10). And that, in a nutshell, is what I think the “secret sauce” was for the Thessalonians’ amazing impact on the world around them. Through the preaching of the word and the power of the Spirit, salvation “took” and they realized that they were to serve and to wait.

The turned from the old ways . . . they set their backs to the world and the value system they had embraced for their entire lives . . . and they set their face toward the God who had provided their salvation through His Son . . . they determined to serve the living and true God. They would yield obedience . . . they would do service . . . they would align their desires and priorities . . . to the God who had revealed Himself to them. Not some idol, but the living God . . . not one “flavor” of truth, but THE true God. Salvation being more than just “receiving a gift” but also an act of the will to submit to the God who had called them into marvelous light. These believers knew it was theirs to serve.

And, they were to wait for His Son. Not go pitch tents on a some mountain and gaze toward the eastern sky, but to put all of life’s happenings in the context of God’s soon returning Son. The persecution that had driven Paul out of town after only three Sabbaths of preaching was their day in, day out, atmosphere for “doing life.” It cost them to name Christ as Messiah . . . to declare the living God as the only God . . . to assert that there was only one way to peace with God. They were constantly swimming against the tide. How do you do that day after day? You keep one eye on heaven . . . you constantly remind yourself that this earthbound life isn’t the main event . . . you start each morning with, “Perhaps today?” . . . you wait for His Son.

To Serve and To Wait.

Not to be overly simplistic, but these “bottom line” summaries of the Christian life can be really helpful for me. I know it’s about a lot more than a simple catch phrase . . . but sometimes it’s those “bumper sticker” reminders that help to put things into perspective . . . that provide that additional ounce of encouragement when any encouragement is welcomed . . . that provide that bit of strength when your own strength seems to be ebbing.

At it’s essence isn’t the call of the believer? . . . to serve and to wait? . . . for the glory of God? . . . I’m thinking so . . .

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