An Entrance into the Hiding Place

Posted on February 3, 2022 by Pete

The picture is that of a covering or shelter. A secret place for protection. A place where those who find refuge there are watched over, guarded, and kept close. A place of refuge from an enemy.

You are a hiding place for me;
You preserve me from trouble;
You surround me with shouts of deliverance. Selah

(Psalm 32:7 ESV)\

It’s not an uncommon image in the psalms, that of the LORD being “a stronghold in times of trouble” (Ps. 9:9) or a “shelter in the day of trouble” (Ps. 27:5). That God is a rock of refuge for those who would flee to Him from their enemies is a common lyric among the songwriters.

But here’s the thing about this psalm. The enemy here is unconfessed sin.

David’s song is testimony of one who tried to conceal his sin. One who kept silent and tried to ignore it. One who refused to recognize his sin and attempted to cover his iniquity. But one who “wasted away” on the inside because of the shame and guilt that comes with sin.

Though on the outside he portrayed a king in control as he went about daily, kingly business, inside he was a mess. Inwardly he was “groaning all day long.” And night was no better, for He felt God’s heavy hand of conviction as he tossed and turned awake in bed. No rest, no peace. Eventually his “strength was dried up as by the heat of summer.”

But that all changed when he acknowledged his sin to God. When he stopped covering it up. When he confessed his transgressions to the LORD. For then, pens David, “You forgave the iniquity of my sin” (Ps. 32:5b). And so the forgiven king could sing:

Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.

(Psalm 32:1-2 ESV)

Sin is the enemy, in this psalm, for which God is the refuge. Transgression is the trouble He will preserve us from. Deliverance is the wall of protection with which we can be surrounded. The entrance into this hiding place? Confession.

Therefore let everyone who is godly offer prayer to You at a time when You may be found; surely in the rush of great waters, they shall not reach him.

(Psalm 32:6 ESV)

The NLT rendering resonates with me:

Therefore, let all the godly pray to You while there is still time, that they may not drown in the floodwaters of judgment.

(Psalm 32:6 NLT)

The urgency is not that God will at some point up and leave so that He can’t be found, but that unconfessed sin will eventually harden the heart and corrupt the internal GPS which seeks release from shame and guilt. The floodwaters of judgment found not in a withdrawing of grace but in the downward, destructive spiral of being given over to minds which “suppress the truth” (Rom. 1:18). God giving the unrepentant up “in the lusts of their hearts to impurity” (Rom. 1:24).

Though, as the godly, we have been delivered from the penalty of sin, let’s not kid ourselves about the need for on-going deliverance from the presence and power of sin. Sin is still an enemy. To not recognize that is to walk unarmed into a battle. To not deal with it after we’ve been tripped up or have failed, is to allow the enemy to eat us from the inside out with unresolved guilt and nowhere-to-go shame.

But to confess our sin, to make a beeline to the foot of the cross, to offer a prayer at a time when God has promised to be found, is to disarm the enemy. The blood of Christ sufficient to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1Jn. 1:9). The shame removed because there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Rom. 8:1).

In Christ Jesus is our hiding place from our enemy, sin. He will preserve us from trouble. He will surround us with shouts of deliverance, again and again.

Shouts of “It is finished!” The work of redemption complete. The power of the enemy broken.

Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.

Because of His abundant grace. For His all-deserved glory.

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A Far-Off Fear and A Draw Near Fear

Posted on February 1, 2022 by Pete

Hovering over a few verses in Exodus 20 this morning. Thinking that, for me at least, I may be so fixated on making sure I take note again of the Ten Commandments that I lose sight of what was a pretty tense situation.

Mt. Sinai is lit up. The LORD has come down from heaven and the tip of His toe touches the earth with “thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain and a very loud trumpet” (Ex. 19:16). The top of the mountain is “wrapped in smoke because the LORD had descended on it in fire” (19:18b). And while the LORD tells Moses to invite His delivered people to the base of the mountain, no matter how much Moses is told to consecrate the people and prepare them, they aren’t prepared. Sure, their garments are clean, but they don’t know how to process what is seen.

Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.” Moses said to the people, “Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of Him may be before you, that you may not sin.” The people stood far off, while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was.

(Exodus 20:18-21 ESV)

Noodling on the holy tension between Moses’ encouragement to the people to “fear not” and the expectation of God that “the fear of Him may be before you.” Chewing on the fear which causes the people to stand “far off” and a fear which prompts Moses to “draw near”.

It’s not like the people had never seen mighty signs and wonders from God before. Actually, they’d encountered them recently in Egypt. But there, they were terrifying. Destruction and death accompanied them. But fear not, Moses reminds them, amidst those was your deliverance. God having another purpose for them — that they would be Jehovah’s “treasured possession among all peoples . . . a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Ex. 19:5-6).

Fear not the punishment of God for, by the blood of your lamb, judgment and wrath passed over you. Fear not the bondage of death, for He has delivered you. Delivering you from a fear which would cause you to stand far off.

Instead, the signs and wonders of Sinai were intended to “test them” that the “fear of Him” would be before them so that they might not sin. Rather than the fear of wrath and judgment, they would know the fear of an awesome God who had descended from heaven to be in their midst. One unlike them in any way. A holy God. A majestic God. A God of infinite greatness and glory. A God to be revered. A God to be taken seriously. And, in that sense, a God to be feared. Fear that would act as a restraint to faithlessness. A fear that would fuel a desire to obey His commandments. A fear that would, counter intuitively perhaps, beckon them to draw near.

Holy, reverent, jaw-dropping fear of God is a fear that prompts us to draw near to God.

A God who has come down calls us to bow down at His feet. A God who shows Himself glorious in our midst is a God who invites us to draw near into His presence.

Because we’ve been saved from the just wrath of a holy God, we have been released from the fear that keeps us far off.

Because we’ve been saved through the steadfast love of a holy, holy, holy God, we know a reverent fear which compels us to draw near.

Only by His grace. Only for His glory.

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Something Greater

Posted on January 31, 2022 by Pete

Finishing up Matthew 12 this morning. And again, repetition is the Spirit’s megaphone.

“The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.” ~ Jesus

(Matthew 12:41-42 ESV)

The scribes and the Pharisees wanted a sign from Jesus (12:38). Something more than the signs they had already seen. For after all, they tried to convince themselves, who knows if the authority and power Jesus obviously possessed to cast out demons wasn’t because He was Beelzebul, the prince of demons (12:24).

Jesus refutes their inane reasoning (12:25-32) and exposes their evil hearts (12:34). But, because of the hardness of their hearts, they persist to press Him. “Show us a sign, another sign. A better sign. A bigger sign.”

And Jesus, in essence, responds by saying, give your heads a shake. Your problem isn’t needing to see in order to believe, your problem is believing what you’re seeing.

Even the men of Nineveh believed Jonah was the prophet of God he claimed to be as he spoke the word of the Lord, and they repented at his preaching. What’s more, the pagan Queen of Sheba was willing to entertain that Solomon was a source of great wisdom and power and so she moved heaven and earth to get to know him. And behold, something greater than either Jonah or Solomon is here. And you want another sign?

Something greater. That’s what I’m chewing on this morning.

Jesus is something greater. Greater than Jonah, greater than Solomon. The writer to the Hebrews takes up that theme: greater than the prophets, greater than angels, greater than Moses, greater than any high priest who ever interceded for God’s people, greater than any sacrifice ever offered for sin.

Go ahead, pick something, and isn’t Jesus greater? Greater than creation for He is the Creator. Greater than earthly wealth for He is the heir of eternal riches. Greater than life itself for He is the Author of Life.

Sure, Jesus is a friend of sinners. But He is not just like any other friend. He is something greater than a friend. He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords who has conquered sin and death in order to redeem a people He condescends to call His friends.

Pick anything, and Jesus is still greater. Greater than my fear. Greater than my failure. Greater than all my sin.

As Barrett quotes Anslem in his book None Greater, as God incarnate Jesus is “something-than-which-nothing-greater-can-be thought.” He is “Someone than whom none greater can be conceived.”

The Pharisees had become way too comfortable around deity. “We wish to see a sign from You,” they said. Jesus, jump through some hoops for us. Prove yourself. Convince us Your worthy of our worship.

Such arrogance! For they failed to see, they refused to believe, that something greater is here.

Oh, that I would never fail to know Jesus as something greater.

By His grace. For His glory.

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Jehovah Shimmur

Posted on January 28, 2022 by Pete

This morning I’m chewing on a nine-word phrase which caught my eye as I was reading in Exodus 12. Nine words which I underlined in navy blue because it’s an observation about God. An observation that He is Jehovah Shimmur. A reminder that my God is a watching God.

A lot happening in Exodus 12. A recounting of the plan for protection from the destroyer of death — a lamb without blemish, a sacrifice of blood, a preparing of the lintels and doorways so that “when I see the blood, I will pass over you” (12:13). There’s also the establishing of an annual remembrance (12:14-20), a memorial feast to be kept throughout the generations commemorating and reminding a delivered people of their great exodus. And then, of course, there’s the deliverance. Six hundred thousand men on foot, besides women and children, who pack up quickly, plunder their oppressors greatly, and march out of Egypt in their entirety (12:33-39). But not with anonymity.

The time that the people of Israel lived in Egypt was 430 years. At the end of 430 years, on that very day, all the hosts of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt. It was a night of watching by the LORD, to bring them out of the land of Egypt; so this same night is a night of watching kept to the LORD by all the people of Israel throughout their generations.

(Exodus 12:42 ESV)

It was a night of sacrifice, of blood, or death, and of deliverance. But it was also a night of watching by the LORD.

You’re not gonna get that observation if you’re reading in the CSB, the NASB, or NKJV. For those translators, it seems, they understand the original to emphasize through repetition the fact that it was to be a night for “a solemn observance” to the LORD (NKJV), or a night of “vigil in honor” of the LORD. The first part of the verse saying the same thing as the latter part.

But the ESV, the NIV, the YLT, and even Peterson’s MSG, convey the idea that “GOD kept watch all night” (MSG). That the catalyst for an annual night of commemoration, or of watching kept to the LORD was the fact that on the night they walked out of Egypt it was a night of watching by the LORD.

So, I’m gonna chew on the morsel served up by the translation I’m reading.

Our God is not some God who sets things in motion and then moves onto some other thing. He is not a God who is unaware. Not a God who says, “I’ve given you the promise and the power, now you go do something with it.” No, our God is a God who watches. A God who keeps vigil over His people as they walk the path of deliverance. A God who takes heed and who guards. A God who, beyond promising and empowering, preserves and protects.

We were reminded of this last night as we kicked off our mid-week study in 1 Peter.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to His great mercy, He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

(1Peter 1:3-5 ESV)

Born again. Delivered, like the Israelites, from bondage — the bondage of sin and death. Called, like the Israelites, to walk away from a world which refuses to humble itself before God and to journey to a land of promise, an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading. And, like the Israelites, watched — guarded through faith by God’s power. Never alone. Never off the radar. Never without resource.

It was a night of watching by the LORD. A gloomy night considering the death and suffering around them. Yet, a glorious night because of the God in their midst. A God who keeps watch. A God who, in the Hebrew, shimmur’s.

Jehovah Shimmur.

Such is the nature of God’s abundant and abiding grace. For which we will forever give Him all the glory.

Amen?

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Drawing Near to What We Worship

Posted on January 27, 2022 by Pete

As I sometimes do, I did a search through my online journal to see what thoughts I was thinking in the past about a passage I read today. Hovering over Psalm 26 this morning, about walking in integrity particularly, but my soul was stirred a bit by a 2014 post on drawing near to what we worship.

At first the post grabbed me because of the “buddy” it brings to remembrance. A dear friend who’s about to move out of the area. One of those guys who, while we don’t connect on a frequent basis, we are just connected — kind of kindred spirits with a season of shared experience that’s created what feels like a bond for a lifetime.

But then the post strikes a chord about how we think about the “main event” on a Sunday by Sunday basis. Today, for too many I think, drawing near to the place where the glory dwells is equated with drawing near to a screen. That God’s house has become confused with our house. That we think the place where the glory dwells is where we dwell and not in the place where the body of Christ gathers (Eph. 2:21-22).

Don’t get me wrong, not saying there aren’t legitimate reasons to avoid crowds and take precautions. But for too many, I fear, it’s less about safety protocols and more about a risk / reward perception. Every time we leave the house to do anything in a public place we are making a risk / reward determination. So, when we decide to “gather virtually”, it’s a determination that the risk of gathering as the church is greater than the perceived reward of being the church. But if the gathering of the saints really is the place where the glory of God dwells, then what risk is worth such reward? Again, not wanting to judge anyone and their determination before God to meet with the people of God — but would be lying if I said I didn’t suspect some are being more motivated by convenience than caution.

Anyway, 8 years ago my thoughts were around how gathering for Sunday Meeting should stack up against gathering for Sunday’s Super Bowl. That we’ll want to draw near to what we worship. Think it’s as true today as it was then. And worth noodling on, I think.

By His grace. For His glory.

Here’s the 2014 post . . .

Had lunch with a buddy yesterday . . . he wore his Denver Broncos gear . . . punk! Talk about drawing some attention! A guy who was leaving the restaurant and opened the door for us, the one wearing a Seahawks jersey, spit out in disbelief, “Broncos!?!” . . . the girl who seated us, wearing her Seahawks t-shirt, did a double take when she saw my buddy’s jacket. And then, I thought our waiter was ready to pay for our food himself as he went on about how he’s been a die-hard Raiders fan his whole life and thinks that Seahawks fans are fair weather fans . . .so go Broncos! Brother!

That sparked a conversation between my buddy and I as we waited for our lunch. Something like . . . how, for many people, the game has given way to becoming a god. The players are revered . . . the 12th man flag has become a banner under which people find their identify . . . the logo has become a coat of arms to which men and women pledge allegiance. And the stadiums . . . well they are the temples. My buddy mentioned the lengths to which some will go, and the price they will pay, in order to travel across the country to be there this weekend, because “I need to be with my team.” Brother, again!

Don’t get me wrong. I am more than intrigued by the big game this weekend. There will be a gathering at our home Sunday afternoon to enter into the madness a bit. I think it would be great if the home town team should win the game. But, it is just a game.

So, why am I going on about this? Reading in the Psalms this morning, I reminded that I shouldn’t be surprised by some of the over-the-top behaviors of some fans because what we worship we draw near to.

O LORD, I love the habitation of Your house
and the place where Your glory dwells.

(Psalm 26:8 ESV)

David loved going to the temple. The place where the LORD’s glory dwelt was the place He wanted to draw near to. God’s presence should draw God’s people. Where He is found in the midst, is where we should want to be found as part of the gathering. We draw near to that which we worship. The “main event” on Sunday isn’t the “big game.”

There’s a much bigger deal happening this Sunday than the Super Bowl. Should the Lord not come before then, the people of God will be assembling under the banner of God, to know the presence of God, through their worship of God. The holy temple formed by living stones “being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit” (Eph. 2:22) will come together . . . and the sacrifice of the fruit of our lips, praise, will ascend as a sweet smelling aroma to heaven’s throne room . . . the word of God will be proclaimed and the Spirit of God will lead us into truth . . . and the glory of God will descend. No price of admission to be paid . . . our entrance secured through the blood of the Lamb. Ours is but to come . . . ours is to draw near. O’ how I love the habitation of Your house, Your living house, the place where Your glory dwells, O’ Lord.

I’m all for watching the game . . . but it’s just a game . . . and its gods are no gods.

So pumped by the anticipation of drawing near again to the glory . . . of gathering with the redeemed . . . for our God is God alone.

Doesn’t really matter what logo we bear on our clothes . . . but that the people of God would bear the stamp of His kingdom on our lives . . . and that we would love the habitation of His house . . . and pursue the place . . . no, that we would pursue the people where His glory dwells. That what we worship would be known by what we draw near to.

Amen?

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The Battle of the I Am’s

Posted on January 26, 2022 by Pete

Moses’ first deliverance excursion didn’t go particularly well. He and Aaron have gone to Pharaoh as the LORD had commanded them to go. They have asked of Pharaoh what the LORD commanded them to ask. If ever there was a duo in the will of God, it’s these guys. And yet, disaster. Not only does Pharaoh refuse them but he retaliates against their people. Not only does he not release the Israelites from forced labor, he makes the labor harder. By any scorecard, this first attempt at freeing his people was a failure. No wonder Moses turns to the LORD shaking his head and asks, “Why did You ever send me?” (Ex. 5:22).

It sets up an interesting conversation in Exodus 6. An instructive conversation, I think. A conversation about who’s the deliverer and who’s the vessel of deliverance. About who’s the rescuer and who’s the messenger. It strikes me this morning as a battle of the I am’s.

Repeatedly in this chapter, the God who has enlisted Moses reminds Moses, “I am the LORD.” Five times He identifies Himself as Jehovah, the existing One. The one true God. The One without beginning or end. The Creator. The Sovereign.

I am the LORD who appeared to Abraham and gave him a promise (6:2-3). I am the LORD who has purposed to redeem Israel “with an outstretched arm” (6:6). I am the LORD who has determined to take Israel as My people, and I will be their God (6:7). I am the LORD who will bring you into the land of promise (6:8).

Moses’ counter?

On the day when the LORD spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt, the LORD said to Moses, “I am the LORD; tell Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I say to you.” But Moses said to the LORD, “Behold, I am of uncircumcised lips. How will Pharaoh listen to me?”

(Exodus 6:28-30 ESV)

Jehovah’s promise. Jehovah’s plan. Jehovah’s power. And Moses responds with a “but.” Hey all-knowing God, there’s something You may have overlooked to factor into Operation Exodus. It all sounds like a good plan on paper, but did You know?

In case as Creator You didn’t notice, I was created with a speech impediment. Though You are the Word, I have a problem with words. I am not eloquent, never have been. In fact, don’t You remember that I’ve already let You know that “I am slow of speech and of tongue” (Ex. 4:10)? I don’t talk so good. Sure, I believe You are the LORD, BUT I also know that I am of uncircumcised lips.

Uncircumcised lips. Less than perfect speech. Far from free-flowing rhetoric. A stammer perhaps. A stutter that compromised the weightiness of the request. A pretty minor tweak of the tongue was all that was needed — a simple task for the One who had fearfully and wonderfully made Moses. And yet, God sends Moses to Pharaoh uncircumcised lips and all. As if to say, Yes Moses, you are of uncircumcised lips, BUT I am the LORD.

“Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh. Is anything too hard for Me?”

(Jeremiah 32:27 ESV)

Nope! In a battle of the I ams, Jehovah wins. Every time. Hands down.

Whatever our “I am” might be, it pales in comparison to His unchanging I AM. In fact, He delights in His I AM trumping ours. His power manifest through our weakness. His sufficiency more than sufficient regardless of whatever thorn in the flesh we think might define us.

In a battle of the I am’s, the I AM always wins. And I am so glad He does.

Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

(2Corinthians 12:9 ESV)

In His grace. For His glory.

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How to Be Barefoot Before God

Posted on January 25, 2022 by Pete

The what, I think, is intuitive. It’s the how that trips people up.

Believer of not, if you are willing to entertain the idea of there being a God, I’m guessing you’re willing to concede He is not approached like your run of the mill mere mortal would be. If creation is enough to convince you there’s a Creator, and you’re willing to entertain the idea that this Creator wants to interact with His creation, then asking yourself what’s required to know a God in your midst is probably a good question to ask. That’s kind of where the songwriter lands this morning.

The earth is the LORD’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein, for He has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers. Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD? And who shall stand in His holy place?

(Psalm 24:1-3 ESV)

Who’s going to stand before God? For a God who is truly God must be holy. He must have a “set-apartness” from His creation. Intuitively, it’s what defines something, or Someone, as sacred. So, asks the psalmist, who can draw near to divine apartness? What’s required to stand in His holy place?

I also read in Exodus this morning. There Moses was told what to do to stand in the presence of God.

When the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” Then He said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.”

(Exodus 3:4-5 ESV)

So, if I connect Moses’ shoe-lessness with the songwriter’s song, I’m thinking that barefoot before God is a picture of impeccability, purity, fidelity, and integrity.

Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD? And who shall stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully.

(Psalm 24:3-4 ESV)

There it is. That’s the what. Clean hands. Pure heart. No idol worship. No treachery in what is promised.

Impeccable before God, without stain, cleansed of defilement. Pure before God, sincere in spirit, clear of contaminants.

Faithful to God. A one-God man, a one-God woman. Exalting none other than the Exalted One. Serving none other than the LORD of all. Transparent before God. Their “yes” being “yes”, their “no” being “no.” What you see, what you hear, is what they are.

Impeccability. Purity. Fidelity. Integrity. That’s the what, the bare feet of someone who is able to stand before a holy God on holy ground.

The question left then is how do you get there? Because, if we’re honest with ourselves, we don’t have in ourselves what it takes to be barefoot before God.

He will receive blessing from the LORD and righteousness from the God of his salvation. Such is the generation of those who seek Him, who seek the face of the God of Jacob. Selah

(Psalm 24:5-6 ESV)

Righteousness is received from the God of salvation by those who seek the God of salvation. Seek His face, and He looks after your feet.

He makes hands clean and hearts pure. He so enraptures the soul that it finds no interest in what is false. He makes known the way of truth and light so that it dispels the darkness of deceit. He gifts righteousness and then transforms people into the righteousness they’ve been gifted. And all this through the person of His beloved Son and the finished work of Calvary’s cruel cross.

His blood cleanses us from all sin. His redeeming power has given us new hearts. His grace captures our soul. His truth becomes the light of those once blinded by sin.

Being barefoot before God is standing in the perfection of Another, Jesus the Son of God. His impeccability and His purity. His fidelity and integrity.

Such is the generation of those who seek Him, who seek the face of the God of Jacob. Selah

What wondrous grace. To God be the glory.

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Give and Take

Posted on January 24, 2022 by Pete

Salvation is a gift. Yessir! Absolutely. We are saved through faith, not of our own doing, it is the gift of God. Not a result of works, so that no one can boast. Drop the mic.

But this morning, as I read in Acts 15, I’m reminded that in the giving of this gift there is also a taking.

Context: a dispute within an increasingly diverse church about the need for saved Gentiles to be circumcised in order to be “fully saved.” And so, Paul and Barnabas, along with a few others, head to Jerusalem to meet with the apostles and the elders of the church there to resolve the matter.

At the meeting, Peter speaks against circumcision as “putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear” (15:10). Paul and Barnabas then speak, testifying again as to the reality of the conversion experience of the Gentiles as evidenced by “signs and wonders” (15:12). And then James speaks — an old testament, by the book sort of guy, if ever there was one, with a reputation for “show me your faith by your works.”

After they finished speaking, James replied, “Brothers, listen to me. Simeon has related how God first visited the Gentiles, to take from them a people for His name. And with this the words of the prophets agree . . .”

(Acts 15:13-15 ESV)

To take. That’s what popped from the page of Holy Scripture this morning. While we so often think of salvation as being a one-sided transaction of giving eternal life, I’m reminded that the other side of the transaction is the taking of a people for His name. Salvation is a give and take thing.

While it’s true that we have been given the Holy Spirit who is “is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of His glory” (Eph. 1;14), it’s equally true that we are “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His own possession” (1Pet. 2:9). We will possess eternal riches as the gift of salvation, but He possesses us, a special people as the take of salvation.

We know that. It’s embedded, I dare to say, in almost every metaphor for the church. His body. His flock. His bride. His family. His own possession. But do we always remember that?

We are so wired to be individuals — wired by a fleshly nature, enforced by a fallen culture — that we can so easily forget that it is not about us. That even the gift we’ve been given is not about us. In fact, what can so be awe-evoking about what we’ve been given lies in the fact that He, in His grace and mercy, has taken us as a people for His name. Not that God gets the privilege of being our God, but that we are blessed beyond blessing to be His people.

Yeah, salvation is for sure a great give. But isn’t it even a greater take? I’m thinkin’ . . .

I have been taken. I am not my own. I was bought with a price. Redeemed from the bondage of sin, yet redeemed for a life of service to the Redeemer.

It’s a give and take.

Taken by grace. Taken for His glory.

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Who Came Up with that Plan?

Posted on January 21, 2022 by Pete

There’s no way Abraham could have predicted the path when he received the promise. No way he could have imagined how God’s promise of land, seed, and blessing (Gen. 12:1-3) would be realized. It wasn’t to be realized in his lifetime. It wasn’t to be realized by simply making one move from here to there. It wasn’t to be realized by some simple, clean storyline where family obeyed, family relocated, family grew, and family was blessed. Nope. No way Abraham, or Isaac, of Jacob could have seen how the promise of becoming a great people, in a great land, who would become a great blessing would play out.

That’s what hits home this morning from this little conversation between God and Jacob.

So Israel took his journey with all that he had and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. And God spoke to Israel in visions of the night and said, “Jacob, Jacob.” And he said, “Here I am.” Then He said, “I am God, the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for there I will make you into a great nation.”

(Genesis 46:1-3 ESV)

Back story? Joseph, favored son of Jacob, betrayed by his brothers. Joseph enslaved in Egypt. Joseph rises from prison to pinnacle. Famine hits. Family re-acquainted. People of promise in the land of promise are forced to go back to Egypt in order to realize the promise.

What????

For there I will make you a great nation???

Who woulda’ thunk? Who came up with that plan? Cue Sunday School answer 101: “God!”

It’s not like Jacob and Co. had a lot to show for the promises of God, so far. Sure, they were in the land, but they didn’t possess much of the land — just a burial spot here and there. And, when it came to the annual census of those of the bloodline of Abraham, there was only Jacob and “sixty-six persons in all”, a total of seventy if you included Joseph and the sons born to him in Egypt (Gen. 48:26-27) — not quite yet the promised many “as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude” (Gen. 32:12). But hey, at least they were in the land. At least there was terra firma firmly under Jacob’s feet. At least he had something to show for pursuing the promise. Progress, if even slow progress, was being made. So, go to Egypt now? Huh?

. . . for there I will make you into a great nation.

I’m already picking up from Genesis that God uses pretty dysfunctional people to accomplish His pretty amazing plan of redemption. Also reminded this morning that He often does it in pretty unpredictable ways.

He would incubate a chosen people in a crucible of bondage and oppression. For centuries He would multiply a people of promise to become His own through a great deliverance. Eventually, far beyond what Abraham, Isaac, or Jacob could have imagined, the offspring of Abraham would, in fact, be a great nation in a great land and the source of great blessing for all the world. But in the moment, as Jacob packed everything up and left the land of promise, there’s no way he could have connected the dots. No way of seeing how moving to Egypt would result in a multitude of people possessing the land of milk and honey. Other than by faith in a faithful God and the sure hope that He would somehow, at some point, bring about some sort of exodus.

And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

(Hebrews 6:11-12 ESV)

Trust and obey. For there’s no other way. To realize the promise, but to trust and obey.

By God’s grace. For God’s glory.

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Fear Not

Posted on January 20, 2022 by Pete

I don’t know that I’ve ever underlined these two words in Genesis 42 with my black colored pencil before (my marking for sin), but this morning it was almost a reflexive action. I don’t think these words are always sinful, but sometimes I think they can be. Sometimes I think they are the smoke on the outside which indicates some increasing friction on the inside. The fraught fruit of a faltering faith. And, for Jacob at least, prompting one more scheme from the schemer. One more attempt to manipulate the situation. One last attempt to play God.

When Jacob learned that there was grain for sale in Egypt, he said to his sons, “Why do you look at one another?” And he said, “Behold, I have heard that there is grain for sale in Egypt. Go down and buy grain for us there, that we may live and not die.” So ten of Joseph’s brothers went down to buy grain in Egypt. But Jacob did not send Benjamin, Joseph’s brother, with his brothers, for he feared that harm might happen to him.

(Genesis 42:1-4 ESV)

Not sure if Jacob’s fear was the result of a lack of faith or if his anxiety compromised his faith. Either way, he feared and thus he came up with a plan to send ten but keep back one, because he wasn’t sure he could trust God to protect the one. Not saying that Jacob thought the others were expendable, just that while he may have had “faith” to entrust the older boys to God’s care, there was a limit. Ten, but not eleven. Leah’s boys, Zilpah’s boys, Bilhah’s boys, but not Rachel’s boy. Too much wrapped up in Benjamin the youngest, the only son left of the woman he loved the most.

So, Jacob the supplanter tries one last time to supplant the God of his fathers. Jacob, the child of promise, takes matters into his own hands one more time to make sure he secures the promise. Jacob, the limper, isn’t prepared to wrestle with God again and risk having another hip put out of joint, and so he takes control of the chess board, sends out ten and relies on his wisdom and strategies to protect the one.

Honestly, I’m not judging Jacob. No “Tsk, tsk, how could he?” here. I think I get it . . . uncomfortably get it. But what a mess succumbing to fear caused. How taking matters into his own hands again complicated matters so much.

Fear can cloud the thinking. Fear can prompt an “I’ve got to take control of the situation” reaction, provoking an irrational, “Jesus, let me take the wheel” response.

Fear, it seems to me, may not rise from a lack of faith, but, I’m thinking, fear will almost always test our faith. And when fear wins, when fear is the motivating dynamic, when fear fosters a yielding to our sovereignty rather than God’s, it also seems to me, it’s sin. Pull out the black colored pencil.

Thus, I hear the Lord say this morning, “Fear not.”

“And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried. For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, seek His kingdom, and these things will be added to you. Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” ~ Jesus

(Luke 12:29-30 ESV)

People of eternal promise in pursuit of a heavenly kingdom by the power of a faithful Father. Fear not.

Trust and obey. For there’s no other way.

By His grace. For His glory.

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