Peace and Quiet Confidence

Posted on September 8, 2023 by Pete

A tucked away gem in Isaiah has me thinking this morning. It’s a verse out of context but it’s a truth for eternity. And, while I’ve yet to experience it to its undiluted fullness, I’ve tasted it enough of it so as to long to know it more and more.

The result of righteousness will be peace;
the effect of righteousness
will be quiet confidence forever.

(Isaiah 32:17 CSB)

Peace and quiet confidence. Who doesn’t want some of that? Well, it’s the result of righteousness, it’s the effect of righteousness. Righteousness brings with it peace and quiet confidence.

The prophet is talking of a day when “a king will reign righteously” (32:1) in Israel. A day when “the Spirit from on high is poured out on us” (32:15a). And in that day, the land which God had planted to be His vineyard — the one He had tended and caused to flourish, the one which rebelled and was then abandoned by God and became a wasteland (Isa. 5:1-7)– that land will again “become an orchard” (32:15b), or as the ESV puts it, it will again be “a fruitful field.” And on that day, “righteousness will dwell in the orchard” (32:16b).

And the result of righteousness? Its effect? Peace and quiet confidence.

For believers, today is that day even as we wait for that day to be fully known. Followers of Jesus are fruitful fields (Jn. 15:5). Thus, we are dwelling places for righteousness.

Not our own (though we would hope there would be more of our own righteousness apparent as the Spirit’s sanctifying work has its way with us). But the righteousness that dwells in these fruitful fields is the righteousness of Another. It is the righteousness of Christ — a righteousness imputed to, or credited to the account of, all who believe.

God made Jesus “to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God” (2Cor. 5:21). If we are in Jesus, then we are righteous — “not having a righteousness of [our] own . . . but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith” (Php. 3:9). Our trust in the finished work of the cross and in the power of an empty tomb places us “in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption” (1Cor. 1:30). Our faith in Jesus “is counted as righteousness” (Rom. 4:5).

And the result of righteousness — Jesus’ righteousness imputed to me? Well, at the end of the day (or at the beginning) even though I may find my own righteousness wanting . . .

The result of Jesus’ righteousness will be peace;
the effect of Jesus’ righteousness
will be quiet confidence forever.

Gonna take a few moments this morning just to chew on that. To believe that. To experientially know that. To rejoice in that. To praise God for that.

Only by His grace. Only for His glory.

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Rahab Who Just Sits

Posted on September 6, 2023 by Pete

When the going get’s tough, the tough are going to get going. True statement, I think. Perseverers are going to persevere. They’ll find a way. While they may not know exactly the path towards relief, they’re going to pick a path and figure it out as they go. The question becomes them, which path you gonna start down?

Reading in Isaiah this morning and this “woe” caught my eye.

Woe to the rebellious children!
This is the LORD’s declaration.
They carry out a plan, but not Mine;
they make an alliance,
but against My will,
piling sin on top of sin.
Without asking my advice
they set out to go down to Egypt
in order to seek shelter.

(Isaiah 30:1-2a CSB)

“So you wanna go back to Egypt?” is more than just a cute ’80’s song by Keith Green. It is too often the propensity of a people’s heart who are on pilgrimage to a promised land and, in the “in between space” from deliverance to final delight, find it hard at times. Like, really hard.

Egypt is commonly recognized as a type of the world. A picture of the system from which we were saved, and yet an alluring alternative when storms are encountered. She seems to provide the resources we think we need if we’re gonna make it. She makes promises we’d like to believe could come true. Offers ease when things just don’t seem easy. Again and again, the children of Israel, even after they left the wilderness and entered the promised land — like centuries after — found themselves looking to Egypt for relief when things got out of control. And the LORD declares, “Woe!” (And, I would think, “Whoa!”)

And not just because they picked what’s behind Door Number 2 when they should have picked what was behind Door Number 1. But because Egypt, while perhaps seeming to provide relief and reward for a season, just wasn’t gonna give God’s people what God’s people needed. Cue the prophet again . . .

Egypt’s help is completely worthless;
therefore, I call her:
Rahab Who Just Sits.

(Isaiah 30:7 CSB)

Rahab Who Just Sits. That’s what I’m chewing on this morning. Egypt, the world, is completely worthless, cause she’s a Rahab Who Just Sits.

First occurrence of Rahab in the bible is in Joshua 2:1 where the spies sent by Joshua to scout out the land before “Operation Occupy” come to the house of a prostitute whose name is Rahab. So, Egypt is likened to a harlot. The world is seen as a seductress. And this is what I also read this morning about a Rahab in Proverbs:

For a prostitute is a deep pit,
and a wayward woman is a narrow well;
indeed, she sets an ambush like a robber
and increases the number of unfaithful people.

(Proverbs 23:27-28 CSB)

So you wanna go go back to Egypt? It’s an ambush. It’s a trap. It’s the path of unfaithfulness.

Praise God that Jesus’ saves those from Egypt. The gospel is able to rescue even Rahabs through faith (check out Joshua 6 and Heb. 11:31 and James 2:25). And not just rescue, but redeem and re-life, so much so that a Rahab the prostitute can become Rahab the mother of Boaz, whose son was Obed, who fathered Jesse, who fathered David, who provided the lineage from which Messiah would come (Mt. 1:5). Rahab can be redeemed. But Rahab redeemed is no longer a Rahab of the world.

If we turn to Egypt, if when the going gets tough we’re tempted to find refuge in the world, then we’ve been deceived to think we’re gonna find something from a Rahab who has nothing of any eternal substance to give — she just sits. While she might look good, might boast of possessing the resources we think we need, she’s but an impotent lump. We need to beware of the temptation to make an alliance with Egypt, to turn to her for what only God can do — and delights to do — when we’re walking the wilderness.

Only by God’s grace. Only for God’s glory.

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A Holy, Holy, Holy Hope

Posted on September 5, 2023 by Pete

Hebrews 6 sure knows how to take you on a bit of a roller-coaster ride. From the unsettling uncertainties of “falling away” (6:4-6) to the absolute assuredness of being “heirs of the promise” because of God’s “unchangeable purpose” (6:17). That’s our hope, says the writer to the Hebrews, a hope based on the promise given to all the faith-children of Abraham by an unchanging, unfailing God. Not only did God say it, He also swore an oath to it by Himself. So, if like Abraham we will wait patiently and confidently on the promise, we too will obtain the promise (6:13-15). That’s our hope. “Seize it,” says the writer (6:18b).

And when we do, the hope will have a stabilizing affect.

We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.

(Hebrews 6:19a CSB)

An anchor. That’s the metaphor we’re to apply to an eternal hope based on an eternal promise made by the eternal God. Hope is our mainstay. It’s our fastener, our footing, and unfailing hook to that which is yet to be. It’s our mooring in the mess. It’s our safeguard through the storm. It’s our hold when things seem to become too helter-skelter. And this anchor is firm and secure because of where it has been placed.

It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain.

(Hebrews 6:19b CSB)

Follow the lifeline of our hope, as you might a rainbow looking for a prize at the end of it, and, unlike a mythical pot of gold, you’ll find an actual anchor for the soul firmly entrenched in the inner sanctuary behind the curtain.

Our hope enters the Holy of Holies. Our confidence is not in some shifting sand, but firmly planted where the glory of God dwells. Our assurance is entrenched in the bedrock of His character. The anchor is grounded in the presence of God Himself. Our hope is found in the midst of the One who is high and lifted up and whose train fills the temple, the One before whom angels declare without ceasing, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord God Almighty” (Isa. 6:3, Rev. 4:8). Thus, couldn’t we say that ours is a holy, holy, holy hope? I’m thinkin’ . . .

Our anchor is firm and secure because of where it is found. But it is even more firm and secure because of who placed it there. And who’s that? You know the Sunday School answer . . . Jesus!

Jesus has entered there on our behalf as a forerunner, because He has become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.

(Hebrews 6:20 CSB)

A forerunner. Only time you’ll find this particular word in the original. A runner ahead. One who goes in advance to a place where there rest are to follow. That’s my Redeemer!

Entering the Holy of Holies by His own blood, the once-for-all and last-forever sacrifice for my sin. And having entered the inner sanctuary, He placed my hope there. Having entered behind the curtain He’s gone to prepare a place for us.Having entered and being seated where God is enthroned, He beckons us, “Come to Me. And I will give you rest.”

We have an anchor for the soul. A holy, holy, holy hope. Firm and secure because it’s has been grounded in the presence of a holy, holy, holy God. And that, by the Person, and through the finished work, of a holy, holy, holy Savior.

Oh, what grace! To God be the glory!

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Those Who Have Fallen Away

Posted on September 4, 2023 by Pete

Okay, this is one of those thoughts that I’m going to begin but I suspect I don’t where it’ll land. May not even land this morning.

I’m hovering over this troublesome passage in Hebrews 6.

For it is impossible to renew to repentance those who were once enlightened, who tasted the heavenly gift, who shared in the Holy Spirit, who tasted God’s good word and the powers of the coming age, and who have fallen away. This is because, to their own harm, they are recrucifying the Son of God and holding him up to contempt. For the ground that drinks the rain that often falls on it and that produces vegetation useful to those for whom it is cultivated receives a blessing from God. But if it produces thorns and thistles, it is worthless and about to be cursed, and at the end will be burned.

(Hebrews 6:4-8 CSB)

You know this passage? The one that makes it sound like a believer can become an unbeliever. The one which, apart from the rest of Scriptures teaching on the eternal dynamics of being born again, might make you wonder if you can be “un-born again.” But I’m not chewing on it this morning because of that. For I’m confident that the bible teaches that those within whom God has begun the good work of salvation, God will complete the good work of salvation (Php. 1:6). That those whom the Son has come to give life, He has, in fact, given life and life to the full (Jn. 10:10). That those who have become children of God by faith through the Spirit will, each one, be those who mature as children of God by faith through the Spirit (Gal. 3:3). The fruit of God’s work in us being, at least in part, the fruit of faith and perseverance.

So, if I’m not chewing on it for that reason, then why? ‘Cause, as I read about those who have fallen away it sounds a lot like those who we seem to often refer to today as “deconstructing.”

They once seemed to walk according to light, had tasted something of grace, experienced in some manner the Spirit and received to some degree the Word. For a while, they even seemed to be living here and now in the reality of their hope in a there and then. But then, they fell away.

A few decades ago, the term used to describe such people was apostate. And we talked about the sin of apostasy. Now, we seem to talk about deconstructing. Hmm . . .

First, let me say that I think there’s a place for “deconstructing” if by that we mean taking things apart in order to put them back together, and if those things have to do with how we practice biblical, Christian faith and not biblical, Christian faith itself. Let’s examine our behaviors as the church and prune where pruning is needed — much to be repented of, I think. But when it comes down to our beliefs as the church: “What then? If some were unfaithful, will their unfaithfulness nullify God’s faithfulness? Absolutely not! Let God be true, even though everyone is a liar” (Romans 3:3-4a CSB).

So, I guess I’m just feeling cautious this morning that we’ve started a conversation using language other than biblical language. Is our talk about “deconstructing” really about “examining ourselves to see if we are in the faith” (2Cor. 13:15), or are we really talking about apostasy in light of the warning that before Christ returns “the falling way comes first” (2Th. 2:3 NKJV)? The ESV and NIV call it “the rebellion.” Peterson calls it for what the original word say it is “The Apostasy” (MSG).

We should be talking about “deconstructing.” But we should do so, I think, with biblical language. We should address it as the writer to the Hebrews addresses it, with the warning that if “if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts.”

Watch out, brothers and sisters, so that there won’t be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage each other daily, while it is still called today, so that none of you is hardened by sin’s deception. For we have become participants in Christ if we hold firmly until the end the reality that we had at the start. As it is said:

Today, if you hear His voice,
do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.

(Hebrews 3:12-15 CSB)

Participate in the deconstruction conversation? Yeah, I think we should. But “watch out” that being real about the church (Jesus’s bride, a work in progress, being prepared for glory) doesn’t lead to being hard-hearted about the faith. So let’s do so even as we “encourage each other daily.”

We don’t know a person’s heart, whether it’s apostate or not. But we can be on guard against the spirit of apostasy and contend for the faith in an age marked increasingly by rebellion.

Gonna stop here. Don’t know if I’ve made sense. More to chew on I think.

By His grace. For His glory.

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Not a Condition, A Crime

Posted on September 1, 2023 by Pete

This morning, one of those “encounters” with the CSB that I knew would happen when I started using the translation for my morning readings this year but didn’t know from where. Reading a familiar passage in Hebrews and then, BAM!, an unfamiliar nuance is highlighted. And I think it’s saying that an inability to understand Scripture is less about a condition and more about a crime.

The writer to the Hebrews has been writing about the superiority of Jesus for those who are questioning whether walking in the new way of Jesus is really worth all the difficulty they’ve encountered since choosing to no longer be in bondage to the old way of law and Jewish tradition. He’s making the case that it’s worth it because it’s better. And it’s better because Jesus is better. Better than the prophets. Better than the angels. Better even than Moses. And then he starts to breakdown how Jesus is better (like, way better) than the priesthood. And it’s as he gets ready to dive deep into Jesus’ superiority as a high priest that the writer pauses.

About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing.

(Hebrews 5:11 ESV)

That’s how I’ve always read that verse. But here’s how I read it this morning:

We have a great deal to say about this, and it is difficult to explain, since you have become too lazy to understand.

(Hebrews 5:11 CSB)

Hmm . . . dull of hearing vs. too lazy to understand. At first, they sound pretty different to me. But noodle on it a bit and it isn’t hard to see how similar the two phrases are. How does one become dull of hearing? They’ve become too lazy to understand.

While the writer to the Hebrews is getting into some meaty stuff, his concern about his readers’ understanding isn’t that the material will be too difficult to comprehend. It’s not that it’s too “academic.” Not that it’ll be a 301 class for 101 people. It’s that they were dull. And the reason they were dull is that they were lazy. And, while dull might be a state, lazy is a sin.

They had become dull of hearing, had become too lazy to understand. They didn’t start that way. When receiving the gospel it sounds like they were eating up the gospel. When the dots were first connected as to how Moses and the prophets pointed to Jesus, their hearts were alive to the truth. But then, they became — became dull because they had become lazy.

Don’t know why. Too hard to follow Jesus? Too tempting to follow the world? Too easy to follow the flesh?

Lot of reasons to not to read our bibles. But that we can’t understand our bibles, isn’t one of them. After all, along with the Holy Scriptures we’ve been promised the indwelling Holy Spirit to illuminate them and make them known. The Spirit of truth, who has been given to us forever and will remain in us (Jn. 14:16-17), is the Spirit of truth who ultimately reveals to us truth in the scriptures (Jn. 16:13-14). But that we have the Spirit doesn’t mean it isn’t going to require a little work on our part.

Ours is to not be lazy. Ours is to resist the propensity to be content with being dull. Ours is to read, to study, and to meditate. We are to be workers (that’s a “not lazy” word) “who don’t need to be ashamed, correctly teaching the word of truth” (2Tim. 2:15). And, while we may not all be called to teach a class, there is a divine expectation that, over time, we all “ought to be teachers” (Heb. 5:12). Only then will we become mature. Only then will we be able to digest “solid food.” Only then will we be able to “distinguish between good and evil.” (Heb. 5:13-14).

Let’s not settle for the condition of being dull of hearing. Rather, let’s respond to God’s kindness as He calls us to repent of the crime of being too lazy to understand.

Only by His grace. Always for His glory.

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Saddle Up!

Posted on August 31, 2023 by Pete

Apparently it’s a quote from a movie 20 years ago, but it’s a quote that comes to mind this morning as I hover some wise words of wisdom. While it’s important to put the emphaSIS on the right syllaBLE, when it comes to Proverbs 21:31, I’m not sure you really can put the wrong emPHAsis on the wrong sylLABle.

A horse is prepared for the day of battle,
but victory comes from the LORD.

(Proverbs 21:31 CSB)

Likely a familiar proverb for those familiar with the proverbs. Also likely that not too much noodling is required to get the point, i.e., when all is said and done, what God has said will be done. When the going gets tough, deliverance is ultimately dependent on the LORD’s purposes and not our preparation. The first part of the proverb sets up the main point of the proverb; victory comes from the LORD. That’s the right emphasis.

But what if we chew on the “wrong” emphasis for a bit. Isn’t it true that the horse should in fact be prepared for the day of battle (in those days at least)? If we’re being real about trials and temptations, isn’t it wise to also be ready for trials and temptations? I’m thinkin’ . . .

While we trust in the LORD and His power to save, we are not to test the LORD through our presumption (Mt. 4:6-7). While we look to the LORD alone for our rescue, I don’t think that it means when it comes to being ready to be rescued, we are to be reckless. If we’re gonna be serious about “fighting the good fight” (1Tim. 6:12), if we really want to be a “good soldier” (2Tim. 2:3-4), and if horses are the way the fight is fought, then I’m thinking horses need to be prepared.

WE PUT ON the whole armor of God so that WE CAN STAND against the schemes of the devil (Eph. 6:11). But who enables us to stand? Cue the Sunday School 101 answer: God, “the Lord is able to make him stand” (Rom. 14:4b). WE MAKE EVERY EFFORT to add to our faith so that we won’t become “ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2Pet. 1:5-8). But where does the fruit come from? Cue it again: Jesus. He’s the Vine, we’re the branches and only as we abide in Him do we “bear much fruit.” “For,” says Jesus, “Apart from Me you can do nothing” (Jn. 15:5).

Yes, the battle is the LORD’s, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t prepare the horse for the day of battle. In fact, doesn’t it kind of presuppose it?

While it’s not by might, nor by strength, but by My Spirit, says the LORD (Zec. 4:6), shouldn’t we be mindful of wanting to give the Spirit something to work with? I think about Jesus telling His disciples that on the day they stand before accusers and persecutors to give an account for their faith that they should not “be anxious about how you should defend yourself or what you should say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say” (Lk. 12:11-12). But wasn’t Jesus also constantly pulling them aside to teach them and then exhorting them to have “ears to hear”? Yeah, He was. He was preparing them for the day of battle. And in that day, the Spirit would give them the words that were needed because they had taken in the word when it was available. The victory would come from the LORD, but the horse was still to be prepared for the day of battle.

Sure, the right emphaSIS here is that only the LORD wields the power for salvation. But’s it’s not a wrong emPHAsis to also recognize we need to be prepared to work out our salvation (Php. 2:12).

So, let’s saddle up!

By His grace. For His glory.

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The LORD of Hosts Has Purposed (A 2020 Rerun)

Posted on August 30, 2023 by Pete

I finish my readings this morning and sit back to digest. I flip the pages of my bible back through my readings and try and hear from the Spirit what I should chew on. Nothing’s coming. So, as I often do in these situations, I start flipping back in my online journal. I look at last year, 5 years ago, 10 years ago and at few years ago in between those. More often than not, I decided to meditate on the verses I’ve read in Hebrews 4 and the implications for entering the rest God has promised to the people of God. It’s a rest that we can fall short of (4:1). A rest that we need to believe in (4:3). A rest that God modeled (4:4). A rest that we can miss (4:5-7). A rest that, paradoxically, requires great effort on our part to rest in (4:11).

But then I scroll back to 2020, the year of reading Scripture through a pandemic filter, and that year I noodled on Isaiah 14 during my morning devo’s. And as I read that post again this morning, I’m reminded that Isaiah too has something to say about entering rest. God’s rest is found in knowing that God is sovereign.

Having rerun that post through my head a couple of times, I’m rerunning it here as well.

Before we take on another book of the Bible in September, we’re doing a mini-series at church, “Lessons Learned During Shelter in Place.” We’re two weeks into considering four lessons learned: Change is Hard; The Flesh is Real; Unity is Work; and God is Sovereign.

Pandemics have a way of forcing one out of one’s normal routine. Of learning new skills one never thought they needed to learn. Of adopting practices that are uncomfortable and dropping habits that for so long have defined stability. Change is Hard. But, as the Scriptures remind us, hard is used of God to train us “that we may share His holiness” (Heb. 12:10b). And, while it may be painful for the moment, hard has the potential to yield “the peaceful fruit of righteousness” (Heb. 12:11b).

But the process of purification brought by hard, first reveals the dross, the impurities, the stuff we’d just as soon stayed hidden. These past several months have revealed that enduring, stubborn reality of the flesh — the sin nature still resident which wars against the Spirit. Put people in a pressure cooker and stuff starts coming to the surface. And I don’t need to look beyond myself in order to see the stuff and realize why sanctification is a thing. A very necessary thing. A sometimes slow, work-in-progress thing.

And when I’m dealing with my stuff and you’re dealing with your stuff and we see stuff differently, then we realize afresh that we really do need to “make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit” (Eph. 4:3a NIV). With our world turned upside down, and with very different views of how to deal with such a world and walk in such a world, we no longer have the luxury of relying on superficial, non-confrontational relationship as a facade for unity. Can’t just talk about sports when we “fellowship” — because, for a long time, there was no sports. Instead, we’re being forced to interact on other simple, straight forward things (not), like assessing appropriate COVID responses, determining how to deal with degrees of systemic injustice, and how to think about such things as peaceful protest which, so often, isn’t. Those topics of discussion will spark some animation around the dining room table.

It’s in light of those three lessons learned, those three operative realities, that the fourth lesson learned becomes so imperative. God is Sovereign. Reminded of that this morning in Isaiah.

The LORD of hosts has sworn: “As I have planned, so shall it be, and as I have purposed, so shall it stand . . . “For the LORD of hosts has purposed, and who will annul it? His hand is stretched out, and who will turn it back?

(Isaiah 14:24, 27 ESV)

Isn’t so much of the stress of this season related to areas where we feel powerless and out of control? I’m thinkin’. Things that we once did without a second thought are now almost impossible (small example . . . think crossing the border into Canada without an acceptable plan on how to quarantine for 14 days . . . been there, done that), and that can be frustrating. And we have no idea how long we’ll have to surrender control over these no-brainers. That adds a couple of points to the stress chart. And that’s just one small example. We all have enough of those kind of things adding up points on our stress charts.

But I’m reminded this morning as a I read in Isaiah (and it primes the pump of thinking through our mini-series in lessons learned), that our loss of control really is an opportunity for faith. That our piles of plans dumped on the trash heap can point us to the One whose plans never fail. That dealing daily with a lack of normalcy, is another day to thank God that what He has purposed will stand, and that nothing stands unless He has purposed it.

“For the LORD of hosts has purposed, and who will annul it?

It’s the bottom line for coping, isn’t it? The bottom line for hoping. The bottom line that keeps us trusting. The fuel that keeps us going. God is Sovereign.

For God is the King of all the earth; sing praises with a psalm!
God reigns over the nations; God sits on His holy throne.

(Psalm 47:7-8 ESV)

Our God reigns!

The Lord of hosts has purposed. And it shall stand. And we can rest.

By His grace. For His glory.

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The LORD’s Lamp

Posted on August 29, 2023 by Pete

This morning, a proverb brings to mind a couple of psalms.

I think the proverb may have jumped off the page this morning because I don’t recall encountering it before when reading Proverbs. Turns out, I haven’t . . . at least not since I last read out of the NIV translation back in the ’90’s. Read the verse in the NKJV, NASB, or ESV and it looks pretty different. But this morning, I’m reading in the CSB and so, I’ll go with the CSB.

Here’s the proverb:

The LORD’s lamp sheds light on a person’s life,
searching the innermost parts.

(Proverbs 20:27 CSB)

Here are the lines from the psalms which were brought to mind:

Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

(Psalm 119:105 AV)

Search me, God, and know my heart;
test me and know my concerns.
See if there is any offensive way in me;
lead me in the everlasting way.

(Psalms 139:23-24 CSB)

Not sure who wrote Psalm 119:105, but even though it’s been almost 40 years since the song came out, I still hear Amy Grant singing it. The word of God is a lamp. It is a light. Profitable for direction. Profitable too for protection. But as I’m reminded by this proverb, profitable also for detection.

Often, I think I’m tempted to open my bible as I would a textbook or a guidebook. But shouldn’t it also be interacted with as I would a mirror or, perhaps more accurately, a magnifying glass? If the word of God truly is “living and active”, if it really is “sharper than any double-edged sword, penetrating as far as the separation of soul and spirit, joints and marrow, . . . able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Heb. 4:12) then shouldn’t this lamp also give light as to what’s really happening within? I’m thinkin . . . So too, apparently, is the proverb writer.

I’m thinking that we shouldn’t be surprised to experience a little (or maybe a lot of) discomfort during our devotions? Maybe not every day, but we shouldn’t be surprised if it happens on some days . . . maybe even most days. The LORD’s lamp sheds light on a person’s life.

And not so that we would wallow in discomfort, nor be overwhelmed by deficiency. Instead, that we might be directed afresh to the One who has dealt once-for-all with what is found when searching the innermost parts.

Jesus wants to present the church (aka us) to Himself “in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or anything like that, but holy and blameless.” And He’s chosen to do that by loving the church and giving Himself for the church to make her holy. And part of that process of being made holy involves Jesus “cleansing [the church] with the washing of water by the word” (Eph. 5:25b-26).

The word, the LORD’s lamp. Shedding light on a persons life. Revealing stuff on the inside we don’t even know is on the inside. A lamp to our feet, a light to our path, but also a litmus test for our hearts.

That we would know afresh His overflowing grace. That we would want anew to give Him all-deserving glory.

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The Zeal of the LORD

Posted on August 28, 2023 by Pete

“He is jealous for me.” So begins John Mark McMillan’s 2005 song, “How He Loves.” Well known. Heart stirring. But true? I’m thinkin’ . . .

Reading in Isaiah again this morning. And I encounter the well-known “for unto us a Child is born” passage. So, I pull out my colored pencils and dutifully mark what this inspired text tells me about the Father, the Son, and the kingdom which already is and is yet to come. But it’s the promise at the end, the one I have to pull out my orange-colored pencil for, that captures my attention. So, this morning, I’m noodling on the zeal of the LORD.

For a Child will be born for us,
a Son will be given to us,
and the government will be on His shoulders.
He will be named
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.
The dominion will be vast,
and its prosperity will never end.
He will reign on the throne of David
and over his kingdom,
to establish and sustain it
with justice and righteousness from now on and forever.
The zeal of the LORD of Armies will accomplish this.

(Isaiah 9:6-7 CSB)

That last sentence is a promise, isn’t it? The zeal of the LORD of Armies WILL accomplish this.

Zeal. That’s what catches my attention. That’s what I’m chewing on. The LORD of heaven and all its hosts is a LORD of zeal. Our God is a zealous God.

Far from any view of a stoic, dispassionate, uninterested deity, God chooses to let us know in language which gives us some understanding (though not full comprehension) that He is a God who is passionate about certain things. To use a word not used much these days, He is ardent. Interested, active, desirous with burning desire. Our God is intense. He feels intensely, He loves intensely. He is intensely eager and enthusiastic. Did I mention that our God is a zealous God?

And looking at my handy-dandy, online lexicon, the root of the word used here has the idea of being envious or jealous, hence zealous. So, is our God a jealous God? Yeah, He is! Check out Exodus 20:5 and Exodus 34:14.

So, what’s God jealous about? What will the zeal of the LORD of Armies accomplish? This. The zeal of the LORD of Armies will accomplish this.

This is the kingdom promised to David, a kingdom established and sustained with justice and righteousness forever. The zeal, the jealousy, of the LORD will accomplish this.

This is raising up the King of the kingdom. A Child born to us, a Son given. One who will forever be the ruling authority. Mighty God Himself. Eternal Father in undiminished essence. One not only with God the Father but also with God the Spirit, the Wonderful Counselor. Himself the Prince of Peace, the Author of Reconciliation. The zeal, the jealousy, of the LORD will accomplish this.

But go back to the beginning of Isaiah 9 and this is also me. Not me as in just me, only me, the individual me — but me as part of we.

The people walking in darkness
have seen a great light;
a light has dawned
on those living in the land of darkness. . . .
For You have shattered their oppressive yoke . . .

(Isaiah 9:2-4a CSB)

While God is zealous for His kingdom, while the Father is zealous for the Son to rule over the kingdom, God is also zealous for those who will comprise the kingdom. Those who once walked in darkness but now have seen a great light. That’s us!

Those rescued from the oppressive yoke of the domain of darkness and transferred into the kingdom of the Son (Col. 1:13). Those who were called out of darkness into His marvelous light (1Peter 2:9). Those who at one time were darkness but now are light in the Lord (Eph. 5:8). This is who we are. This is who we are becoming. This is who we will be.

And this is what the zeal of the LORD will accomplish. This work He has begun in us He will complete in us with ardent determination. This is the work He is zealous for. This is the work He is jealous for. And, if “me” is a part of “us” (and it is), then yes, John Mark, He is jealous for me.

Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Only by God’s amazing grace. Only for God’s awe-invoking glory.

Amen?

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Ruin and Recruitment

Posted on August 25, 2023 by Pete

A lament within the church for as long as I’ve been a believer has been that far too many of us in the family aren’t really in the game. That though we praise God for the benefits of new life, some of us seem to have taken a pass on dying to the old life. Rather than taking up our cross for the kingdom, we seem fixated on putting down our roots in this world.

This isn’t something new to our generation. Jesus recognized this propensity when He taught about laying up treasures in heaven rather amassing wealth on earth (Mt. 6:19-21). Or, when He pointed out that those who believe that the Master is coming soon will be marked as those who are busy with the Master’s work now (Lk. 19:12-26). Getting in the game has always been a thing, it seems, for the people of God.

So, what’s the secret sauce for those who heed the call? Based on my reading this morning in Isaiah 6, maybe, at least in part, it takes a little bit of ruin to respond to a little bit of recruiting.

Isaiah sees the LORD. The God who made all things is beheld by the prophet and He is seated on a throne, exalted above all things. And yet, this high and lofty God remains in touch with this humbled and lowly world, even as His robe fills the temple.

Isaiah hears the angels. They call to one another, “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of Armies; His glory fills the whole earth.” And at the sound of their declaration, the ground shakes as the glory fills the room.

Isaiah then reacts to what He has seen and heard.

“Woe is me for I am ruined
because I am a man of unclean lips
and live among a people of unclean lips,
and because my eyes have seen the King,
the LORD of Armies.”

(Isaiah 6:5 CSB)

Ruined. Undone is how I learned it in my early days. To feel as though he should be cut off as he processes the chasm between God’s goodness and glory and his own shamefulness and sin. Coming face to face with the King results in falling on his own face with conviction and confession of sin. Isaiah’s ruined.

But that’s not the end of the story. Isaiah’s then recruited.

Then one of the seraphim flew to me, and in his hand was a glowing coal that he had taken from the altar with tongs. He touched my mouth with it and said:
Now that this has touched your lips,
your iniquity is removed
and your sin is atoned for.

Then I heard the voice of the Lord asking:
Who will I send?
Who will go for us?

I said:
Here I am. Send me.

(Isaiah 6:6-8 CSB)

Isaiah goes from “I am undone” to “Send me.” From “I’m as good as dead” (MSG), to I want to live for You. How come?

He has an encounter with the altar. Confession and conviction result in cleansing as he appropriates personally the coals of atoning sacrifice. His iniquity is removed. His ruined-ness is restored. And now he’s ready to hear and heed the call to get in the game.

And it makes me wonder if we struggle to really follow Jesus because we so rarely come to terms with our ongoing failure. If we don’t follow as we should because we’re so infrequently touched by the cleansing embers of Jesus’ sacrifice. That thinking ourselves better than we are we miss out on seeing God for how great He truly is and thus fail to know afresh the depths of His forgiveness and the abundance of His grace.

As I chew on it, I wonder if maybe a little more ruin would result in a little more recruitment.

Something to noodle on, I think.

By His grace. For His glory.

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