Keep It Cool

Posted on February 7, 2023 by Pete

Up until this morning, I would have said it was one of my favorite psalms. But a light goes on as I hover over David’s song and I realize that it’s more like a psalm that contains some of my favorite verses.

Trust in the Lord and do what is good;
dwell in the land and live securely.
Take delight in the Lord,
and He will give you your heart’s desires.
Commit your way to the Lord;
trust in Him, and He will act . . .
Be silent before the Lord 
and wait expectantly for Him . . .
Wait for the Lord and keep His way,
and He will exalt you to inherit the land.

(Psalm 37:3-5, 7a, 34a CSB)

Trust, delight, commit, be silent, and wait. A set of verses that have been familiar since they were first brought before me in a sermon I heard decades ago as a young man. Favorite verses. Yet, as I realize this morning, most often plucked out of context and applied as needed (especially the “delight yourself” one).

So what turned the light on this morning? Again, a rendering of the original unique to the CSB. A thrice-repeated command that I think I have usually overlooked in the past. Whereas previously I might have skimmed past “fret”, this morning I’m arrested by “agitated.”

Do not be agitated by evildoers
do not envy those who do wrong. . .
do not be agitated by one
who prospers in his way . . .
Refrain from anger and give up your rage:
do not be agitated — it can only bring harm.

(Psalm 37:1, 7b, 8 CSB)

Agitated. Seems more intense than “fret”, the rendering in the ESV, NASB, NIV, and NKJV. Literally, “don’t get yourself all heated up.” Don’t “glow”, don’t “burn”, don’t be vexed unto anger. Or, perhaps putting it another way, do the opposite, keep it cool.

A command to obey. Repeated three times — that’s like shouting in Scripture. So obey it. Don’t be agitated. Keep it cool.

The context? That’s what makes the difference between favorite verses and a most helpful psalm, the context. And the context is instruction on how to respond to an injustice. Not the sort of injustice that finds you getting the short end of the stick, but the kind of injustice when someone pokes you in the eye with the stick. You’ve been wronged with a grievous wrong. Slandered with reckless slander. Disgraced at large with disinformation. So, what are you gonna do?

Well, start first with what you’re not gonna do. Do not be agitated. Do not fret. Do not get all worked up and, if you do, don’t stay all worked up. And how are you not gonna do that? Keep it cool. And just how you supposed to do that? Cue my favorite verses.

Trust in the Lord. Delight yourself in the Lord. Commit your way to the Lord. Be silent (or still) before the Lord. Wait for the Lord. These, it seems to me, are the “to do’s” when you’ve been wronged. Your focus rather than brooding over the injustice. Your conscious actions instead of thinking you can somehow bring about justice.

Keeping it cool happens when I trust, delight, commit, be still and wait for the One who ensures justice to bring about justice. In His time, even when it’s not fast enough for me. And, in His way, even if that way involves the pouring out of grace and love where grace and love aren’t deserved. (Thank God, for grace and love being poured out on those who don’t deserve it . . . of whom I am chief).

Hmm . . . Do not be agitated. Perhaps easier said than done. But I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me (Php. 4:13). Yes?

Keep it cool.

By His grace. For His glory.

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Cripple-Con

Posted on February 6, 2023 by Pete

Not much to look at, really. Nothing much to behold — unless it was because of some morbid fascination — just the lame, the blind, the crippled, along with those unable to speak. Cripple-Con, a gathering of the needy, the marginalized, those voted least to succeed at anything. And at the center of their gathering? Jesus.

They put them at His feet, and He healed them. So the crowd was amazed when they saw those unable to speak talking, the crippled restored, the lame walking, and the blind seeing, and they gave glory to the God of Israel.

(Matthew 15:30b-31 CSB)

A large crowd came to Jesus. A diverse set of people, yet a common desire. To see their children, their parents, their friends, and loved ones healed by the hand of Jesus.

And see it they did. Mute people talking. Lame people walking. Blind people seeing. Crippled people made sound in body. And what did they do besides talking, walking, seeing, and trying out their newly restored faculties? They gave glory to the God of Israel.

Being made whole has a way of doing that to you, it seems. Remember the response of the man who was lame from birth after his encounter with Peter and John in Acts 3?

But Peter said, “I don’t have silver or gold, but what I do have, I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, get up and walk!” Then, taking him by the right hand he raised him up, and at once his feet and ankles became strong.  So he jumped up and started to walk, and he entered the temple with them—walking, leaping, and praising God.

(Acts 3:6-8 CSB)

I too go regularly to my own kind of Cripple-Con. A Sunday morning assembly of those who themselves were once blind, deaf, mute, and crippled in heart and spirit. Blind people seeing the Word as it is displayed on the screen. Deaf people hearing the Word as it is proclaimed from the pulpit. People once unable to utter the language of the kingdom calling out to the God of heaven knowing He hears their voice. Those who were once darkness, crippled to their core by sin, now people of light, born again of sound soul, spirit, and mind. And, along with everything else, at this Cripple-Con they come together to give glory to God.

If for no other reason than as a reminder of whence we came, the people of God should frequently jump up and use once lame legs to enter the temple of God to be with those who have also known the healing touch of Jesus. We should gather, if no other reason than to be reminded through the preaching of the word and the proclamation of the gospel that we too were once deaf but now we hear, were once blind but now we see. If no other reason — though can there be any better reason? — than to give glory to God and praise His wonderful name, we should raise our once muted voices together in worship and praise His name.

Those who gather little I fear may have come to appreciate little the privilege of being made whole through the finished work of the cross. May have come to take for granted eyes that now see, ears that now hear, and a voice that now speaks. May have become discouraged by others who, like them, are still a work in progress, being made fully whole when faith in Jesus gives way to being face-to-face with Jesus.

Cripple-Con. For the blind who see and are yet to see perfectly. For the deaf who hear and will one day hear perfectly. For the lame who walk and will soon and very soon walk perfectly.

For sinners made whole only His by grace. Who come together longing foremost only to give Him glory.

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Account Settled

Posted on February 3, 2023 by Pete

They had “acted corruptly” (v.7), had “turned away” from the way the LORD God had commanded them (v.8). They had bowed down to a golden idol of their own making and declared it to be the god who had delivered them from Egypt (v.8). The LORD indicts them as “stiff-necked” people (v.9), Aaron confesses they are a people “intent on evil” (v.22), and Moses three times calls out their behavior for what it is, “a grave sin” (v. 21, 30, 31). Bottom line? When Moses came down off the mount they were “out of control” (v.25).

Chew on Exodus 32 for a bit and it sends shivers down your back. Only 40 days earlier, at the base of Sinai, they had declared, “We will do and obey all that the LORD has commanded” (Ex. 24:7). Forty days later they danced around a “god besides Me” that God had commanded them not to have. They partied before an idol they were commanded not to make for themselves, for the LORD their God was “a jealous God” (Ex. 20:3-4).

But the shivers running down your back turn icy cold as you come to the end of the chapter and read about “the day”.

The Lord replied to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against Me I will erase from My book. Now go, lead the people to the place I told you about; see, My angel will go before you. But on the day I settle accounts, I will hold them accountable for their sin.”

(Exodus 32:33-34 CSB)

The latter part of verse 34 pops, partly because the CSB wording is different than the ESV I’m accustomed to. The ESV says it’s the day “when I visit.” A little more subtle than the day “I settle accounts.” In the ESV, on that day God will “visit their sin upon them” as, according to the CSB, He holds them accountable for their sin.

Settling accounts. That’s what I’m chewing on. Every person accountable for every action. A day when God visits and says let’s talk about your life and how you lived it in light of what you knew about your Creator. (Did I mention shivers down the spine?)

Moses knew their only hope was if he could perhaps atone for their sin (v.30). If he could find a way that a just and holy God could in holiness and justice declare their transgression paid for in full by someone other than themselves. If it was left to themselves to settle accounts, it wasn’t going to turn out well. Their debt was more than they could pay.

So, I meditate on the stiff necks and hard hearts at the core of a people making and worshiping a golden calf; and I linger in the shivers of imagining out of control, grave sin; and I dread the thought of anyone standing before God on a day when the accounts are settled. Not to wallow in the woe they deserve, but to wonder afresh in the reality that, while I have been more like them than perhaps I’d care to admit, my account has been settled.

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus, because the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death.  For what the law could not do since it was weakened by the flesh, God did. He condemned sin in the flesh by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh as a sin offering, in order that the law’s requirement would be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 

(Romans 8:1-4 CSB)

No condemnation. God intervening to do what the law, because of the weakness of my flesh, could not. The Father sending the Son as my once forever sin offering, and not just for me but for all who believe. My accountability eternally dealt with. The law’s requirement forever met. Account settled.

Hallelujah! What a Savior.

Only by His amazing grace. Only for His all-deserving glory.

Amen?

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Our Personal Purpose Statement

Posted on February 2, 2023 by Pete

He was on his way to Jerusalem. How come? He was compelled by the Spirit. That’s a good thing, yes? Hmm . . . depends how you wanna define good.

While he knew that he was bound by the Spirit to go to Jerusalem, he didn’t know what he would encounter there. Okay, so at least that’s a benign thing . . . a 50/50, could be good or bad thing . . . an it-might-work-out-okay thing? Hmm . . . probably not.

Because what the Spirit had also made clear to Paul was that “in every town . . . chains and afflictions are waiting for me” (Acts 20:22-23). Okay . . . now that’s definitely NOT a good thing, right? Hmm . . . not necessarily. Depends, apparently, on your purpose.

“But I consider my life of no value to myself; my purpose is to finish my course and the ministry I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of God’s grace.”

(Acts 20:24 CSB)

This morning, I’m chewing on Paul’s personal “purpose statement.” Wanna know how Paul viewed his life’s mission? Want insight as to how Paul defined success? Want a bit of inspiration through some divine illumination? Want a bit of conviction on the sort of scales one should be using to measure what’s ultimately good or bad in life? Acts 20:24 probably isn’t a bad spot over which to hover and meditate.

In an age where our culture says our goal in life should be to find ourselves and express ourselves in order to fully realize ourselves, Paul — whose been known to be counter-cultural at times — would indicate that our life’s mission might best be found in losing ourselves in being faithful stewards of what the Lord Jesus has given us to do. Even if it means going to Jerusalem knowing that what awaits us are chains and afflictions.

Could it be that flourishing in life really is found by forsaking our lives? Yeah, could be . . . if you believe Jesus.

“Those who love their life in this world will lose it. Those who care nothing for their life in this world will keep it for eternity.” ~ Jesus

(John 12:25 NLT)

Paul valued his life, after all he was an image-bearer of God. But the value was not in how it was ultimately invested in himself, but in how it was stewarded in the context of the ministry Jesus had given him. His mission was not to fully cater to himself, but to faithfully consecrate himself to Jesus.

Sure, we don’t all have the same Damascus Road experience that Paul did, clearly defining the course (and consequences) Jesus had purposed for him (Acts 9:1-15), but we do all have a course. Each of us has a ministry from the Lord Jesus. It’s found as we give ourselves to the Scriptures instruction. It’s formed as we yield ourselves to the Spirit’s leading. It’s realized as, by faith and through His enabling, we too aspire to a personal purpose statement to finish the course we’ve received from the Lord Jesus.

Only by His grace. Only for His glory.

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Clothes Make the Man

Posted on February 1, 2023 by Pete

According to a blog I came across, its origins go back to the 1500’s. Apparently a theologian, Catholic priest was the first to note, “vestis virum facit” meaning “clothes make the man.” Mark Twain would expand on it some 400 years later in his short story, The Czar’s Soliloquy: “[One] realizes that without his clothes a man would be nothing at all; that the clothes do not merely make the man, the clothes are the man; that without them he is a cipher, a vacancy, a nobody, a nothing . . . There is no power without clothes.”

There is no power without clothes. True, apparently, according to Twain who was known towards the end of his career for his white suits, but true also according to Moses who was known during the latter part of his life for speaking for God.

“Make holy garments for your brother Aaron, for glory and beauty. You are to instruct all the skilled artisans, whom I have filled with a spirit of wisdom, to make Aaron’s garments for consecrating him to serve me as priest. These are the garments that they must make: a breastpiece, an ephod, a robe, a specially woven tunic, a turban, and a sash. They are to make holy garments for your brother Aaron and his sons so that they may serve Me as priests.”

(Exodus 28:2-24 CSB)

The priesthood was going to be a pretty big deal for post-exilic Israel. When it came to representing God to the people and bringing the people before God, it was not something that just anyone could do, nor was it a role that could be fulfilled in just any way. What’s more, it certainly couldn’t be done with just any old clothes on. For Aaron and those who would follow in his footsteps, they could only serve as priests on earth before God in heaven if they were clothed in holy garments. In a sense, they too had no power without the right clothes.

This morning, I’m chewing on what the LORD had Moses record concerning priestly garments. And I’m doing so through the filter that I too am a member of a holy priesthood foreshadowed by Aaron & Sons (1Peter 2:5). So, if they needed special garments in order to enter where they were to enter and do what they were to do, and that without dying (Ex. 28:35), then I’m reminded that I too need to be clothed with holy garments in order to access my privilege and fulfill my calling. Reminded that for me too, the clothes make the man.

Not clothes I can manufacture. Not garments that I merit. Nevertheless, gifted with holy garments for glory and beauty.

I rejoice greatly in the Lord,
I exult in my God;
for He has clothed me with the garments of salvation
and wrapped me in a robe of righteousness,
as a groom wears a turban
and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

(Isaiah 61:10 CSB)

Garments of salvation and a robe of righteousness provided by the Father Himself through the finished work of His Son. The glory and beauty of Christ covering my redeemed, yet still being renewed self. Clothes fitting for a new man in Christ which I can put on each day even as I battle to put off the filthy rags of the flesh clinging to the old man. The holiness of Christ credited to my account, draped upon my shoulders, adorning me so that I might too enter the holy of holies and fulfill my calling as part of the priesthood of believers.

Worthy of such clothes? Nope. But am I wearing the right clothes? Do I have the clothes needed to make this man? You bet!

Only by His grace. Only for His glory.

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The Course of My Life is in Your Power

Posted on January 31, 2023 by Pete

The words jump off the page because they are so very familiar, indicating that Psalm 31 is a Messianic psalm.

Into Your hand I entrust my spirit . . .

(Psalm 31:5a CSB)

Jesus spoke such words from the cross (Lk. 23:46). Whatever practical circumstance prompted David to write the song, the Spirit prompted him to also foreshadow the Christ. Thus, you can read the psalm extrapolating the inner thoughts of David as the inner thoughts of the promised Son of David — “a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief” (Isa. 53:3), “tested in every way as we are, yet without sin (Heb. 4:15). And once you’ve applied the song to the Savior, it seems to me you can then apply the Savior to your sorrow.

Jesus knew what it was to be disgraced and put to shame (v.1, 17). He knew what it was to have a “troubled soul”, to be “consumed with grief” to the point where His strength had failed (v.8, 10). He experienced what it was to be ridiculed not only by His enemies, but also by those who should have known Him well, his neighbors. So much had the gossip spread, He was even dreaded by those who barely knew Him (v.11, 13). Not only were His “eyes worn out” from the frustration of accusation, His “whole being” was as well. Sapped of strength inside and out.

So, does Jesus know something of what we might endure in our times of disgrace? I’m thinkin’ . . .

So, does Jesus as the perfect man have something to say to us as to how we might endure our seasons of shame? I’m thinkin’ again . . .

But I trust in You, Lord;
I say, “You are my God.”
The course of my life is in Your power; . . .
Make Your face shine on Your servant;
save me by Your faithful love.

Love the Lord, all His faithful ones.
The Lord protects the loyal . . .
Be strong, and let your heart be courageous,
all you who put your hope in the Lord.

(Psalm 31:14-16, 23-24 CSB)

Trust in the Lord. Double-down in declaring He alone is Your God. Know that the course of your life is in His power. Seek afresh the shining countenance of His gracious face, confident in His faithful love.

Love the Lord. As much as lies within you, purpose and persist to continue to walk in faithfulness with Him as your ever-abiding “rock of refuge” and “mighty fortress” confident that He will lead you and guide You for His name’s sake (v.1-3). Be strong, be courageous, put your hope in the Lord.

Somehow an encouragement that the Son of God needed as He walked as the perfect Son of Man through all that surrounded Calvary. Though our cross not comparing with His cross, somehow an encouragement to us in whatever season of distress we might endure as those who know also that “the course of my life is in Your power.”

By His grace. For His glory.

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Questions Worth Pondering

Posted on January 26, 2023 by Pete

Rhetorical questions asked in the afterglow of victory. Answers unnecessary because, being on the other side of the sea, they’re obvious. Faith afire because the wonder of deliverance is fresh. But walking between walls of water will soon be a thing in the past. In only a few days, before the chapter is even done, they’ll be walking in an arid land with no water to drink. The songs of praise but a short time ago give way to the grumblings of complaint as the next challenge is faced. Seems to me, that’s when asking the questions again might make sense.

Lord, who is like You among the gods?
Who is like You, glorious in holiness,
revered with praises, performing wonders?

(Exodus 15:11 CSB)

Easy to ask such questions when the answers are obvious because the power has been experienced and your circumstance is favorable. But more needful perhaps to ask the questions when there are no answers, heaven seems silent, and you’re parched and panting for something to quench the thirst.

Even when it’s dry, there is no God like the God who is in our midst. Especially when the next challenge overshadows the last victory, we need to chew on the reality that our God alone is glorious in holiness. When everything in you wants to throw a pity-party and murmur about how much you’re having to put up with, that’s the time to know again that He is always worthy of being revered with praises because He is unchanging in nature, steadfast in love, true to His promises, and more than able to still perform wonders.

Questions for the mountain top? For sure. Questions for the valley? Even more so, I’m thinkin’.

Questions worth pondering? Always!

By His grace. For His glory.

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A Distinguishing Mark

Posted on January 25, 2023 by Pete

Okay, I don’t know why the CSB translators break ranks with every other translation, but they do. And for me this morning, as I read in Exodus, it pops because it connects two important dots.

Dot number one? The LORD makes a distinction.

There will be a great cry of anguish through all the land of Egypt such as never was before or ever will be again.  But against all the Israelites, whether people or animals, not even a dog will snarl, so that you may know that the Lord makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel.

(Exodus 11:6-7 CSB)

Nine plagues down, one to go. Through Moses, God has repeatedly commanded Pharaoh to let His people go and Pharaoh has repeatedly refused. Time for talking is done. Time for deliverance draws nigh. The final display of the LORD God’s might? The Giver of Life will take the lives of the firstborn. And when He does, all of Egypt will wail as no nation has ever wailed before. And yet, next door, in the land occupied by the Israelites, not a peep. Not a whimper. How come? Not a death. So that all would know that the Lord makes a distinction.

But on what basis? Nationality? Ethnicity? Geography? Nope. Cue dot number two.

“I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night and strike every firstborn male in the land of Egypt, both people and animals. I am the Lord; I will execute judgments against all the gods of Egypt. The blood on the houses where you are staying will be a distinguishing mark for you; when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No plague will be among you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.”

(Exodus 12:12-13 CSB)

The blood. That’s dot two. The Israelites were to, by faith, trust the lives of their firstborn to a self-applied ritual. Take a lamb, a year-old male without blemish, slaughter it at twilight, apply its blood to the doorposts and the lintel of the house, roast it and eat it, and then stay put under the protection of that blood-covered home. Because, as every other translation puts it, the blood on the house would be a sign. Because, as the CSB renders it, the blood would be a distinguishing mark.

The applied blood of a spotless lamb, the distinguishing mark upon which the Lord makes a distinction between His people and the world. Not their nationality. Not their ethnicity. Not their geography. Not even their piety. But only the blood of a lamb on their house.

I sit here this morning confident in my eternal future. Not because of who I am or where I live or what I’ve done, but because I too am under a distinguishing mark. Because I am covered by the blood of the Lamb — Jesus, the perfect Son of God, without spot or fault, who came to take away the sins of the world (Jn. 1:29) and to give His life as a ransom for many (Mark 10:45). My sins atoned for, I fear not judgment. My Savior risen, I know death’s bondage has been broken.

I sit here confident this morning because I have, by faith, personally applied the blood. The blood of the Lamb being the sole distinguishing mark assuring my deliverance. The blood of the Lamb the only basis upon which the Lord makes a distinction.

And that, only by His grace. And that, only for His glory.

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Vindication and Trusting

Posted on January 24, 2023 by Pete

It was certainly a prayer of David’s back then. Is it to be a prayer for today? Chewing on it.

Read between the lines in Psalm 26 (vv. 4-5), and it sounds like the accusations were flying against David. He hangs out with “the worthless”, they said, his buddies are those marked by emptiness, vanity, and falsehood — no substance in them or him. What’s more, he pals around with hypocrites — find those who are playing games and living secret lives, and you’ll find David. Wanna know where he abides when no ones looking? Find the wicked and you’ll find him.

The word was out. The shadow of suspicion cast. No taking it back. No corralling it to minimize the compounding, collateral damage of questioning his character. For, while the original accusers may have only “shared the truth” with one or two, those one or two, in turn, passed it on to one or two. Reputation in ruins.

So, what’s a guy to do? Commence prayer . . .

Vindicate me, LORD,
because I have lived with integrity
and have trusted in the LORD without wavering.
Test me, LORD, and try me;
examine my heart and mind.
For Your faithful love guides me,
and I live by Your truth.

(Psalm 26:1-3 CSB)

Vindicate me. Set the record straight. Clear my name. How come? Because I have lived with integrity.

David wasn’t claiming perfection, he knew better. But, as much as he knew his own heart, he tried to lived in sincerity. And what he didn’t know about his heart, he invited God to reveal to him. Walking in integrity equaled walking in truth.

So, he prays, Vindicate me.

A prayer for here and now? I’m thinking. To be realized in the here and now and just how we want it to be realized? Not necessarily. That’s why David knew that the way of vindication was the way of trusting in the LORD without wavering. That having the record set straight could be left with the One who had promised to guide David with faithful love. True of David and true too of the Greater David.

For you were called to this, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in His steps. . . . when He was insulted, He did not insult in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten but entrusted Himself to the one who judges justly.

(1Peter 2:21, 23 CSB)

Mine, it seems to me, is to seek to live with integrity. His is to assess it. Mine is to entrust myself to Him.

But I live with integrity;
redeem me and be gracious to me.
My foot stands on level ground;
I will bless the Lord in the assemblies.

(Psalm 26:11-12 CSB)

By His grace. For His glory.

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Four Friends

Posted on January 20, 2023 by Pete

A bit out of context. Probably more me-focused than the “Thee-focused” they deserve. But this morning some old, familiar friends from Exodus 2 are who I needed to hear from this morning.

After a long time, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned because of their difficult labor, they cried out, and their cry for help because of the difficult labor ascended to God. God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. God saw the Israelites, and God knew.

(Exodus 2:23-25 CSB)

God heard . . . God remembered . . . God saw . . . God knew. And I sit back and whisper to myself, “Self, God hears, God remembers, God sees, God knows.” Yes and amen.

Sometimes you just gotta know again that God knows forever. And know that He knows not only in an encyclopedic, data storage type of omniscience, but with an engaged, empathetic, ready, willing, and able to get involved type of omniscience. And that what He knows, and how He engages, is in the context of what He has promised.

So, while these four friends — Hears, Remembers, Sees, and Knows — are really about exalting Him, I can’t help but inviting them to minister to me.

By His grace. For His glory.

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