A Drama in the Desert

Posted on March 12, 2021 by Pete

A dry and weary land where there is no water. The soul thirsting. The flesh fainting. The weary wilderness wanderer earnestly seeking. Part of the normative landscape for the God-follower? Evidently. That is, if Psalm 63 was written for the God-follower. Thinking it was.

The songwriter had had better days. Days when, instead of being enveloped by the grey, overcast of the wilderness, he stood amidst the power and glory of God in the sanctuary. Days when the steadfast love of God actually felt like steadfast love and so David’s lips could not be restrained from blessing the LORD. Days when, far from being thirsty and faint, his soul felt “satisfied as with fat and rich food.” Instead of his head being cast down, his hands were lifted up. Instead of panting for water, he praised with wonder.

And so, in his thirst, faintness, and earnest seeking of God, he resolved to remember the Almighty upon his bed and recall past mountaintop encounters of the divine kind. He determined, in the watches of the night, to meditate on His God — the promises spoken, the purposes determined, the power to fulfill every promise and purpose. He positioned himself in the shadow of heavenly wings, the throne of God a very present refuge to help in time of need. And, he held on for dear life, his soul clinging to his God.

Thus, even in that dire desert, despite the arid conditions, amidst the weary wilderness, he could sing for joy because of a faithful God who upheld him with His right hand.

I chew on this drama in the desert and connect with the struggle when streams of living water seem to be running dry. When the confidence to be able to hold on wavers because of the weariness which sets in.

But something else caught my attention in particular this morning. Something I’ve probably tended to gloss over in the past. But continue to engage with the text after verse eight, and there’s a diabolical adversary tending the desert. A wily enemy fueling the wilderness. A liar who seeks to perpetuate the languishing.

But those who seek to destroy my life shall go down into the depths of the earth; they shall be given over to the power of the sword; they shall be a portion for jackals. But the King shall rejoice in God; all who swear by Him shall exult, for the mouths of liars will be stopped.

(Psalm 63:9-11 ESV)

It wasn’t just an arid land that sapped the songwriter’s soul, but an active adversary. Not just a random feeling of failure, but a full-on assault by a calculating foe. The sense of barrenness actually the evidence of an on-going battle. Revealing one who would seek to bring shame, create doubt, and remove joy. An accuser of the brothers (Rev. 12:10). A destroyer (Rev. 9:11). A liar and the father of lies (Jn. 8:44). It helps, I think, to recognize there’s an enemy in the desert seeking to destroy.

But our hope is in a King who, while suffering reproach during His first advent, will be established in glory and power and rejoice in God during His second. And the promise is that all who own allegiance to this King will be victorious. More than conquerors through Him who loved us (Rom. 8:37). Exulting in His victory. Boasting in His beauty. Glorying in His goodness. Singing praises with joyful lips, and blessing the God who has faithfully kept them.

For the mouths of liars will be stopped.

Yes, and amen!

By God’s grace. For God’s glory.

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An Ordinary Utensil, A Chosen Instrument

Posted on March 11, 2021 by Pete

“Vessels of mercy.” That’s the blip that shone brightest on my radar after this morning’s readings. A vessel. Literally a household utensil. Ordinary, domestic gear. Nothing special. Nothing that’s going to set you apart. Just stuff.

But when that vessel is a metaphor for a body, and when that body has been chosen to be an instrument, and when the Chooser is the God of Creation, though still a jar of clay, that ordinary vessel is elevated with an extraordinary value. A value and worth not found in and of itself, but possessing the quality and character of Another — the perfect Son of God. Made something because of divine determination and kindness. Useful because of a transcendent providential purpose. It’s earthly value founded in a heavenly economy. Thus, the vessel has no cause for boasting, save that it is a vessel of mercy.

Went back in my archives and found that I’ve only once before written about being a vessel of mercy. Allowed that past meal to satisfy this morning’s meditation. Sharing it again . . .

This morning I’m chewing on the sovereignty of God. That God’s will is accomplished not because we comply, necessarily, but simply because it’s His will. That what He determines is done. What He promises He performs. Kind of a mind stretching concept. The implications raising all kinds of questions.

Seems to me, that when it comes to the Divine determination, ours isn’t to try and fully comprehend how it works (we can’t), but to acknowledge that’s how things work and to be in awe and wonder that we are part of it.

I was reading in Deuteronomy 2 this morning. And what hit me was the realization that not only had God decided where Israel would hang their hats, but He had also reserved land for others. Three times I notice that God had told the people of Israel who NOT to contend with as they approached the promised land. They were not to encroach on the territory around Mount Seir because God had “given Mount Seir to Esau as a possession” (Deut 2:5). What’s more, the Israelites were not to harass Moab, their land was also off bounds, because God had given it to Lot “for a possession” (2:9). Same with the people of Ammon, none of the land was up for grabs because God had already determined it for another people (2:19). Though these ancient people may have thought they had laid claim to the land for themselves, the God of all the earth had determined their addresses in advance and for His purpose. Though they may not have acknowledged Him as God, nevertheless He is Landlord over all.

And then, it got real personal as I read Romans 9, Paul’s explanation of God’s sovereign choice of a people. People not of a particular bloodline, but a people purchased through a blood-stained cross. Not natural descendants by birth, but supernaturally determined children through faith. Not those who could claim they had worked their way to God, but those who’s sole testimony was that they were wooed to Christ. Not because of self-determination but only because of Sovereign delight.

Paul calls us “children of promise” (9:8), “sons and daughters of the living God” (9:26). But what’s evoking awe, wonder, and worship this morning, is the reminder that we are “vessels of mercy.”

What if God, desiring to show His wrath and to make known His power, has endured with much vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known the riches of His glory for vessels of mercy, which He has prepared beforehand for glory–even us whom He has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles?

(Romans 9:22-24 ESV)

Honestly, I find it hard to connect the dots between “vessels of wrath prepared for destruction” and a God who is “longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2Pet. 3:9). But God is God and nothing less. And I am but a man, nothing more. And “who are you, o man, to answer back to God?” (Rom. 9:20)

But what I do get — God’s Spirit bearing witness with my spirit — is that I am a vessel of mercy. A sinner called to respond to God’s great love shown for all sinners in the giving of His only Son to pay the wages of their sin. A lost soul who was invited by divine invitation to be found. Someone given ears to hear, and new heart to respond. A broken jar of clay called into service to carry the light of the gospel “to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us” (2Cor. 4:7). And this, for no other reason, than that He is God.

Why me, Lord? Because You are Sovereign.

A vessel of mercy saved by grace alone, to make known the riches of Your glory alone.

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An Unfailing Word

Posted on March 10, 2021 by Pete

Entered into Romans 9 this morning. While very familiar, like Romans 8, I’ve never felt like I’ve got my arms around it like I think I do with Romans 8. Perhaps because, unlike Romans 8 which unpacks the supernatural working of God in the life of a believer through the active agency of the Spirit, Romans 9 is centered around questions about the mysterious ways of God working throughout history in the lives of nations in fulfillment of His promises.

While trying to figure out how all the pieces through history fit together, you’re also trying to process the revelation of how a God who transcends time is working behind the scenes. How His promises and His power interact. How His will and man’s choice mesh. How what He’s determined, and how it’s playing out, come together. At the heart of it all is how God works. And that, my friend, shouldn’t be something you feel like you can get your arms around. If we could, then wouldn’t God be a pretty small God? I’m thinkin’.

Paul shifts suddenly from the mountaintop of “we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us” (Rom. 8:37) to the valley of “great sorrow and unceasing anguish” for his “kinsmen according to the flesh”, his fellow Israelites (9:2-3), who have rejected the Savior. To quote the popular song, “They could have had it all.” Having been given “the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises”, they should not have been on the outside looking in (9:4). Given the fact that the promised Messiah, God over all, had come from their race, “according to the flesh”, they should have profited from some of that insider knowledge (9:5). But alas, not so much. So, what’s happening?!?

Over the next three chapters Paul tries to explain it. And, at the heart of it, are the behind the scenes workings of a God whose judgments are “unsearchable,” and whose ways are “inscrutable” (Rom. 11:33-35). Perhaps that’s why I have a tough time getting my arms around this?

But here’s my take away this morning. My reminder. My anchor. The stake in the ground to which all that is hard to understand is tethered to. The filter through which all my questions must be answered.

But it is not as though the word of God has failed.

(Romans 9:6a ESV)

It’s not as though the logos, the uttered decrees of God, have fallen to the ground to no avail. Not as if heavenly mandates have come up short of being played out in earthly realities. Not as though the divine narrative has somehow become of no effect. That’s just not how our God rolls. From the beginning, literally the beginning, God has established the power of His word. Read Genesis 1 and, again and again, you’ll read that “God said” and “there was.” God said, “and it was so.”

The word of God does not fail. His promises do not come up short. His purposes are not prevented. Regardless of how things look at any given moment in time, they are playing out according to the One who inhabits eternity. Despite the questions that finite minds come up with when trying to process infinite might, we can be confident that the Creator’s purposes continue.

Standing on the foundation of God’s word has a way of helping you reset the world when it seemingly gets turned upside done. Being tethered to His eternal truth has way of helping you weather the storm waves of confusing circumstance threatening to cast you against the rocks of uncertainty and unbelief.

Let Your steadfast love come to me, O LORD, Your salvation according to Your promise; then shall I have an answer for him who taunts me, for I trust in Your word.

(Psalm 119:41-42 ESV)

An unfailing word. A firm foundation. An anchor for the soul.

By His grace. For His glory.

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He Should Have Gone Home

Posted on March 9, 2021 by Pete

He didn’t go home. Said he was. Said he was done trying to frustrate the purposes of God. Said he would no longer try and curse what God had determined to bless. Said that the money which had enticed him in the first place to become Balak’s mercenary prophet against Israel wasn’t enough for him to defy the God of creation who had spoken to him numerous times (once through a dumb animal). Three strikes and Balaam said he was out. That’s kind of the story of Numbers 22 to 24. Concludes with Balaam rising and going “back to his place.” Except he didn’t.

He should have gone home.

The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Avenge the people of Israel on the Midianites. Afterward you shall be gathered to your people.” So Moses spoke to the people, saying, “Arm men from among you for the war, that they may go against Midian to execute the LORD’s vengeance on Midian. . . .” And Moses sent them to the war, a thousand from each tribe, together with Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, with the vessels of the sanctuary and the trumpets for the alarm in his hand. They warred against Midian, as the LORD commanded Moses, and killed every male. . . . They killed the kings of Midian with the rest of their slain . . . And they also killed Balaam the son of Beor with the sword.

(Numbers 31:1-4, 6-7, 8b ESV)

Honestly, these aren’t the sort of passages I like to hover over. Given my reading plan this morning, I’d far rather noodle on “Well done good and faithful servant” (Matt. 25:21, 23); or, “we are more than conquerors . . . nothing will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 8:37-39); or even, the psalmist’s desperate cry, “lead me to the Rock that is higher than I” (Ps. 61:2).

But it’s Numbers 31 that primes the pump for meditation this morning. Particularly, seeing Balaam’s name pop from the page twice. Once as part of the roll of those who died under God’s hand of vengeance, the second mention as part of the reason why.

Behold, these, on Balaam’s advice, caused the people of Israel to act treacherously against the LORD in the incident of Peor, and so the plague came among the congregation of the LORD.

(Numbers 31:16 ESV)

Balaam said he was going home at the end of Numbers 24. Evidently, he didn’t, or else he wouldn’t have been on the casualty list in Numbers 31. Evidently, when God forbade him three times from opposing Israel verbally, he couldn’t walk away from the bounty he had been offered and so came up with a plan to do it stealthily. While he was prevented from turning God against His people, he came up with a plan by which the king of Moab could evoke the anger of God towards His people. A plan which saw the daughters of Moab and Midian infiltrate Israel’s ranks and entice them to worship their gods (Num. 25:1-9, Rev. 2:14). Twenty-four thousand from the tribes of Israel perishing as a result of a plague sent by God. Mission accomplished. Send the check in the mail.

What strikes me is the hardness of heart exhibited by the greedy prophet-for-pay. How someone could encounter the living God, again and again, and still set himself against Him. Balaam wasn’t some atheist who refused to believe, but a opportunist who couldn’t resist a payout. And God’s longsuffering was refused. His kindness spurned. Repentance wasn’t even a consideration. Blinded by the almighty buck, he bucked the Almighty.

Forsaking the right way, [false prophets among the people of God] have gone astray. They have followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved gain from wrongdoing.

(2Peter 2:15 ESV)

And it was fueled, as well as financed, by Midian’s hatred of God’s people, and by their wanton arrogance in seeking to manipulate the people’s God. Thus, they purposefully drew Israel into pagan practices to evoke the curse of God upon them. Eventually, crossing the line. Eventually, incurring the just wrath of the God they had sought to use for their own wicked purposes.

Says something about how deep sin can run. How far rebellion can go. How blind arrogance and greed can render a person.

Also says something about how feared our God should be. How, in His justice, the wages for all wrongs will eventually be paid. The only question is whether those wages are paid for at the cross of Christ or at the judgment seat of God.

Says something, then, about grace, as well. Doesn’t it? And that, for God’s glory.

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Frustrated, Comforted, Exhilarated

Posted on March 8, 2021 by Pete

Honestly, as I read this familiar passage again, I wish I could say it is reflective of my distant past rather than all too descriptive of my frustrating present. Again I nod my head, able to relate far more than I want to with Paul’s keen self-awareness that, “I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out” (Rom. 7:18b). Again, I shake my head, perplexed along with Paul that “I do not understand my own actions” (Rom. 7:15).

Sure, by God’s grace the “actions” we’re talking about are not the same “actions” of years past. There’s been a measure of progress. Some evidence of the fruit of sanctification. I think there’s a bit more of the reflection of the reality of Christ in me. But man, there’s still stuff — albeit different stuff — that reveals how much sin continues to dwell in me (Rom. 7:20b). Too much stuff, it seems to me, in light of my call to be holy as He is holy (1Pet. 1:15-16). “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” (Rom. 7:24).

But there’s something about being gripped afresh with your need that magnifies afresh the remedy. Or, as Paul put it earlier, “where sin increased, grace abounded all the more” (Rom. 5:20b). That’s why the uncomfortable reality of that Romans 7 dynamic sets me up for the unfathomable reality of this Romans 8 declaration.

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

(Romans 8:1-4 ESV)

Something about confessing sin that causes you to cast yourself again before the cross. Something about admitting the reality of your ongoing failure that invokes the eye of faith to focus on the Father’s jaw-dropping provision. Something about acknowledging the reality of the struggle that reminds you of the need to walk in the Spirit.

No condemnation in Christ Jesus. That’s my judicial standing before God. Guilt and shame be nailed to the cross. The righteous requirement of the law has been fulfilled through the finished work of the Son, sent by the Father, to pay in full the wages demanded by my sin.

Set free in Christ Jesus. That’s my experiential state by the Spirit who indwells me. Freedom from sin and death, the underlying dynamic at play as I aspire to increasingly be in reality what I am already fully positionally. As I continue to figure out how to walk according to the Spirit and not according to the flesh. As I seek to more fully surrender to the One who has loved me to the fullest extent possible with an everlasting love.

Sure, there’s something frustrating about seeing myself, again, in Romans 7. But there’s also something comforting about walking again the path to the foot of the cross, confessing my sin, and knowing again there is no condemnation. And even something exhilarating in remembering that as I continue to work out my salvation with fear and trembling (Php. 2:12), I do so under the banner of God’s promise that He will complete the work begun in me (Php. 1:6), and through the power of the Spirit He has freely given to me.

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

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Obedient from the Heart

Posted on March 4, 2021 by Pete

I think most of the guys in our mid-week bible study are starting to get a crick in their neck. Not from staring into their webcams during our Zoom gathering but from looking up at the bar being set by the Lord Jesus as we study together the Sermon on the Mount. As we’ve gone through Matthew 5 over the past several weeks, I don’t know how many times I’ve heard one of our guys remark, “Radical! Counter-cultural! Impossible! Can’t do this in our own power!”

True enough. As Jesus contrasts the Pharisees’ various formulas for righteous living, Jesus focuses on the fountain of righteousness — the heart. They say don’t do this, Jesus says don’t even think that. They’re focused on actions, Jesus calls out attitude. They’re concerned with what’s on the outside, Jesus cracks open the inside. Why’s Jesus doing this?

“For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

(Matthew 5:20 ESV)

High, high bar. Sore, sore neck. “Who is sufficient for these things?” (2Cor. 2:16).

Spoiler alert! We are. Something I read in Romans this mornings reminds me of that.

But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed.

(Romans 6:17 ESV)

Jesus saved us so that He might commit us to a standard of teaching. We were entrusted to the gospel of the kingdom of heaven and all the divine dynamics which come with the kingdom of heaven. We were delivered from sin’s destructive playbook and unto a set of life-giving principles which are literally out of this world. A high standard of teaching. A really high standard — like heavenly high. So high we’re not gonna do it in our own power, by our own effort, or through our own sheer willpower.

It only happens as we become obedient from the heart.

Obedient from the heart, that’s the literal rendering of the original, that’s what the ESV has gone with. The CSB and NKJV render it in a similar manner, “obeyed from the heart.” The NIV and NLT translate it a little differently, wholeheartedly obeyed.

There’s a couple of flavors there, I think. Wholehearted obedience speaks more to the sincerity and fullness of obedience — which makes sense in the context of contrasting it to how we were once slaves of sin. But the flavor I’m savoring this morning, as I chew on having become obedient from the heart, is more the source of obedience.

To seek to follow after the standard of teaching committed to us, is only possible and attainable for us, as it originates in new hearts placed within us. Apart from a supernatural heart transplant the kingdom’s standard of teaching is beyond us. In order to be obedient with a whole heart we first need to be obedient from a new heart (Jer. 24:7).

What God calls us to do, He enables us to. And He has. He has given us new hearts.

Ours is to desire to walk in obedience. To accept the standard of teaching, and then, by faith, believe He has provided the power to live up to that standard. Able to jump the high bar set by God the Son because God the Father has re-wired us for obedience from the heart through God the Spirit.

All by His grace. All for His glory.

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I Will Sustain You

Posted on March 3, 2021 by Pete

As I make my way through the four readings in my reading plan, I am mindful that, when I’m done, I hope to put down a few thoughts about something I’ve encountered. Sometimes I’ll read something and pause immediately to chew on it before continuing. Other times, it’s more like I’m picking up things along the way and then go back and see which I feel led to hover over for a bit more. This morning’s experience was shaping up to be more the latter than the former — until I got to the second to last verse in my last reading.

As I read the first part of Numbers 20, I noted again how God told Moses to “tell the rock” to yield water, but Moses, frustrated and yielding to grand-standing temptation, instead yelled at the people and then struck the rock. Oh, the water still came out, God was determined to “show Himself holy” (20:13). But Moses, because of that incident, was disqualified from entering the promised land. My take away? God’s going to do what God’s going to do for His glory, despite the clay feet of even His most faithful servants.

Then from Moses to the “scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!” of Matthew 23. And it’s how Jesus concludes His warnings and woes that grabs me. He addresses Jerusalem, O Jerusalem, the city known for murdering its prophets. And if I were to pen something concerning this outpouring of the broken heart of Messiah over the rejection of His people, it would be the God language He uses in referring to Himself. How He longed to gather the children of Jerusalem “together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings” (23:37). Echoes of Psalm 36:7, Ruth 2:12, and Isaiah 31:5.

Next, cue Paul and the first part of Romans 6, and there’s a ton of stuff there you can noodle on. Possible title for a musing here? Living with Christ. Because of our union with Christ — through death, burial, and resurrection — death and sin no longer have dominion over the believer and so we are free to live, really live! For, “if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with Him” (6:8). We are alive to God in Christ Jesus. Our union with Him the source of our power through Him.

Any one of those passages provides more than enough to prime the pump allowing the fingers to flow over the keyboard.

But then my last reading, Psalm 55. And the second to last verse stops me in my tracks.

Cast your burden on the LORD, and He will sustain you; He will never permit the righteous to be moved.

(Psalm 55:22 ESV)

I read this and realized how distracted I had been throughout my previous readings. Often having to restart paragraphs multiple times because of a multitude of things running through my head. A heaviness having enveloped me even as I tried to hear God speak through His word. A weight even as I tried to weigh what I was reading. But then this verse, and God’s whisper becomes a shout.

Throw it on Me, Pete. For a few moments shed the lot you’ve been given to carry, pass on the stuff that’s been put on your plate to be concerned about. Not that I’ll take it away. Not that it will even become any lighter. But cast it My way, and I will sustain you. I will contain the burden, and I will support you. I will restrain the overwhelming tide, even as I nourish you. I will maintain it, and you will endure. So, Pete, cast your burden on the LORD.

Hmm. Kind of closed the door on everything else I was thinking. A promise to claim. A good place to camp. A familiar oasis much needed in an arid space.

Spoken by the God who is more than able to show His glory despite His servant’s frailty. Revealing again the heart of God who desires to take His own under His wing. A reminder of the power of God to keep on walking in newness of life because of our union with Christ. A sustaining power.

So, cast your burden on the LORD.

His grace all sufficient. His glory everlasting.

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Don’t Get It . . . But Get It

Posted on March 2, 2021 by Pete

In one sense, I just I don’t get it. But in another sense, I do — and that scares me.

This morning, I read of the rebellion of Korah in Numbers 16 and I couldn’t help but whisper to myself, “What were they thinking?” And yet, the more I chew on it and get in touch with my “inner flesh”, if I’m totally honest with myself, I probably know exactly what they were thinking.

First thing that hits me is that it’s kind of a repeat story. I read something like this yesterday morning. Not 250 chiefs of the congregation standing up to and challenging Moses, but two members of his own family. Back in Numbers 12, Miriam and Aaron challenge their little brother, “Has the LORD indeed spoken only through Moses? Has he not spoken through us also?” (12:2). They wanted in on more of the leadership recognition. They got recognized, all right. The LORD came down in a pillar of cloud and recognized them directly. And what Miriam had to show for it was a really bad skin condition for a week (Num. 12:5-16).

Okay, so that didn’t go so well. And the story of what happened must have got around the camp if for no other reason than people must have been asking why the seven day delay before setting out again. But how quickly do people forget? Apparently, pretty quickly.

Numbers 16, and this time, what had been a challenge by two who were near to Moses personally, has morphed into a challenge by 250 who are near to Moses professionally.

They assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron and said to them, “You have gone too far! For all in the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the LORD?”

When Moses heard it, he fell on his face, and he said to Korah and all his company, “. . . You have gone too far, sons of Levi! . . . Hear now, you sons of Levi: is it too small a thing for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to Himself, to do service in the tabernacle of the LORD and to stand before the congregation to minister to them, and that He has brought you near Him, and all your brothers the sons of Levi with you? And would you seek the priesthood also? Therefore it is against the LORD that you and all your company have gathered together. What is Aaron that you grumble against him?”

(Numbers 16:3-4, 7b, 8-10 ESV)

For Korah & Co., they were already in the inner circle. As sons of Levi they were the chosen tribe from among God’s chosen people. While others had to work for a living, they got to serve the Lord full-time in the things of the tabernacle, the tent of meeting, and the holy place where God resided in the midst. But just like Moses’ brother and sister, they wanted in on more — or at least wanted to be exalted more.

So, in a sense, I don’t get it. They were as close as you can get to the holy of holies without actually entering the holy of holies. Already distinguished from the rank and file and entrusted with ministering to those who could enter the holy of holies. And, to boot, did they not remember what had gone down with Miriam’s and Aaron’s challenge to God’s divine and determined chain of command? Give your head a shake, guys!

But then, a chill runs down my spine — ’cause I do get it. Self has a way of wanting to be supreme. The flesh wants others to see it as being foremost. Contentment can so easily give way to resentment. Having already been made much of by grace, how prone am I to wanting to be made more of by grumbling? Knowing what’s right, but finding within myself this propensity to pursue what’s wrong.

Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?

(Romans 7:24 ESV)

But then, within this text, a glimpse of the Savior.

When Moses heard it, he fell on his face . . .

Three times in this chapter Moses goes face down (v.4, 22, 45). Interceding for the people, that God wouldn’t completely destroy them for their rebellious hearts, of which Korah & Co. were just the tip of the iceberg. And it brings to mind another Intercessor. Who on the cross cried, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Lk. 23:34). Who knew firsthand, yet without sin (Heb. 4:15), the frailty of the flesh and the never ending demands of the ego, and so, sent His Spirit that we might walk in a new way (Jn. 16:7). And He continues to make intercession (Heb. 7:25) through His shed blood for those times when we don’t.

Don’t get it, but get it.

Grateful for grace. Wanting to live more for His glory.

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Do As They Say, Not As They Do

Posted on March 1, 2021 by Pete

They sat on Moses’ seat, but were not of Moses’ style. They had his chair but not his character. His rank as interpreters of the law, but not his reality as keepers of the law. They were the scribes and Pharisees. And Jesus told those who followed Him to do as they say and not as they do.

Then Jesus said to the crowds and to His disciples, “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat, so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice.”

(Matthew 23:1-3 ESV)

They preach, but do not practice. Is there any greater indictment of one who purports to be of God? Anything more tragic of one who claims to follow Jesus? At this moment, as I hover over this text, I’m thinking not.

They had the knowledge. They had the platform to spread the knowledge. But they didn’t practice what they preached. And so, Jesus says, because of their authority you should listen, but because of their actions you should pick a different way.

They made the law more burdensome than was ever intended, and yet, were unwilling to lift a finger to help others bear the burden (23:4). What they did do, they did to be seen by others. Wearing their overstated religious attire, they loved being at the head table at feasts, and taking the best seats in the synagogues, and being given a spot at the front of the line in the marketplace (23:5-7). While they taught the law in the name of Moses, they took advantage of the law to promote their own names.

So how come? At least part of the answer lies, I think, in the following contrast that popped off the pages this morning as I read in Numbers as well as Matthew.

They do all their deeds to be seen by others. . . and they love the place of honor . . .

(Matthew 23:5a, 6a ESV)

Now the man Moses was very meek, more than all people who were on the face of the earth.

(Numbers 12:3 ESV)

Moses, the original, was very meek. Those who sat in Moses’ seat generations later, loved the place of honor. Moses was humble, lowly, always afflicted by the knowledge of his inadequacy for the calling God had put on his life. The scribes and Pharisees were marked by hubris, lavishness, and a belief that they were better than everyone else and deserved their place at the head of the table. Moses, to use a Jesus term, was “poor in spirit” (Mt. 5:3). The scribes and Pharisees? Well, not so much. And it made all the difference concerning which teacher heaven was going to endorse.

A reminder this morning that being very meek is more in line with the ways of the kingdom of heaven than is thinking myself very much. That humility marks the man, or woman, of God, not a high-view of oneself. That the real impact of a teacher of God, one who desires to instruct others to follow God, is not only in what they teach but in how they live out what they teach. Such that Jesus would say of them, Do as they say AND do as they do.

Starts with the heart. Not a function of perfection, but of contrition. In fact, their teaching is enhanced by frequent confession, no confidence in the flesh, ready to repent of it’s failings — the blood of Christ reapplied, able to “forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1Jn. 1:9). The best teachers not being the ones who hang out at the front of the line but at the foot of the cross. Not the ones who seek attention in the marketplace but seek to make much of Jesus in everyday life. Not the ones who promote themselves, but those who point to the Savior.

By His grace. For His glory.

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Faith and Righteousness

Posted on February 26, 2021 by Pete

There’s a whole lot of counting going on in Romans 4, if you’re reading the ESV. A whole lot of crediting, if it’s the NIV open in front of you. Reckoning and imputing, if you have an affinity for old English and the King James Version. However the original word is translated, regardless of the version you’re reading, you can’t help but pick up on how often it is reiterated.

And what gets counted for what? What’s credited due to what? What’s reckoned for something demonstrated? What’s imputed when something is indicated?

For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness.

(Romans 4:3-5 ESV)

Faith is counted as righteousness. Where faith is apparent, righteousness is credited. Where faith is operative, righteousness is reckoned. Where faith is functional, righteousness is imputed.

I know this is Christianity 101 stuff, but it’s rolling over me afresh this morning. The awe-o-meter spikes as I meditate on the reality. Righteous . . . me . . . because I believe.

Oh, I am so aware of my propensity toward pride, the self-centeredness of self, and the failings of the flesh. Not perfect. Not me. No way. But righteous? You bet! By faith.

Just bathing in it this morning. My account credited with righteousness. And not some arbitrary, mystical, undefinable righteousness of the imagination’s own making. But the righteousness of the only truly righteous One, the Son of God, Jesus Christ my Lord and Savior. Not imputed because of my perfect imitation of Him. Not reckoned because I’m really trying hard. But counted as a gift, a gift given in response to my feeble faith, my sincere desire to believe.

Let it sink in, weary saint. Rest in the reminder that our righteous standing before the God who justifies is not a result of our on-going work for Him, but solely on the grounds of His finished work for us. Be refreshed as you remember that our holy standing before the Father does not depend on our best effort but is realized solely through faith in His beloved Son.

Faith counted as righteousness. Amazing! Refreshing! Worship invoking!

By grace alone. That He might receive the glory alone.

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