We Still Need It

To me, the Bible is one long love song from God to us. The recurring theme is that of unrequited love and the passionate need for restoration. This is spelled out clearly in 1 Peter 3:18a;

"For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God." (emphasis mine)

God created the entire universe so that He could be "with us." He wants a deep, intimate and abiding relationship with each and every one of us. I don't mean He just wants to add you to His Facebook account as a friend. I mean that He wants a real-life, in your face, share everything at all hours of the day and night, completely dependent, never-ending, "I Am Your Father" kind of relationship.

God loves us so much that He sent His only Son, Jesus, so that anyone that has a relationship with Jesus will live forever in paradise with God. That's what Christmas (and Advent) is all about and that is the central truth of The Bible. Of course, God said it much better than I in John 3:16.

As I wrote yesterday, my observation of the times is that we need to be restored to God and the pursuit of His kingdom; as a person, as a people and as a nation. We need to sing this song;

Psalm 80:1-7 (NIV)

1 Hear us, O Shepherd of Israel,
you who lead Joseph like a flock;
you who sit enthroned between the cherubim, shine forth

2 before Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh.
Awaken your might;
come and save us.

3 Restore us, O God;
make your face shine upon us,
that we may be saved.

4 O Lord God Almighty,
how long will your anger smolder
against the prayers of your people?

5 You have fed them with the bread of tears;
you have made them drink tears by the bowlful.

6 You have made us a source of contention to our neighbors,
and our enemies mock us.

7 Restore us, O God Almighty;
make your face shine upon us,
that we may be saved.

[1] The Holy Bible : New International Version. electronic ed. Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 1996, c1984

Will you join me today in meditation on this passage? Will you make this your heart's cry today?

Singing heart,
Carl

Merciful Father

The Creator of the Universe, God, wants to be with us. From the beginning of human time, God has placed himself into our lives. In the very garden He walked and talked with his creation. Could there be any other reason that He would step down and tarry with mankind except that it was his desire?

And though it is obviously His desire to be in an intimate relationship with us, since the fall man has continually and repeatedly shunned God. We have tried to replace the irreplaceable. Even though it is within His power to prevent such a travesty, He does not. He allows man the undeserved freedom to draw away and separate from God. He allows man the undeserved freedom to sin and to reap the consequences of his sin. I believe that He grieves for each person who makes such a choice. I believe that is the very nature of a good father that he allows his children their freedom yet weeps over their consequential suffering.

My study today continues in Isaiah 64:1-9. My focus comes to bear upon v7-9 (NIV) today where it is written;

7 No one calls on your name
or strives to lay hold of you;
for you have hidden your face from us
and made us waste away because of our sins.
8 Yet, O Lord, you are our Father.
We are the clay, you are the potter;
we are all the work of your hand.
9 Do not be angry beyond measure, O Lord;
do not remember our sins forever.
Oh, look upon us, we pray,
for we are all your people.

[1] The Holy Bible : New International Version. electronic ed. Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 1996, c1984

In V7, the prophet acknowledges that the people, the nation no longer call upon the powerful and potent name of God. They have laid aside their most powerful weapon against the forces of darkness and embraced their sinful natures. They no longer seek His face or to have any understanding of Him at all. What a desolate despair they must have felt to have willingly and willfully laid aside all hope and to eschew the source of all love.

The prophet acknowledges that God has turned aside His face. I believe that He could not bear to look upon their sinfulness. Though He did not leave nor forsake them, He remained in His place steadfastly, He had to avert His eyes. And in their freedom, the unrepentant reaped the consequences of their sin and wasted away.

This pattern is repeated throughout all of history and with every repetition, the results are always the same.

V8 is a reminder that through it all, despite their wickedness, despite OUR wickedness, The Lord is ever still our Father and Creator. In His skillful hands, we are but clay; incapable of making ourselves into anything useful. But if we allow Him to apply His craft to the raw material that is our muddy selves, a true work will emerge. In Ephesians 2:10 we read "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." So it was in the beginning, so it is now, so shall it be forevermore.

V9 is a cry for mercy to The Lord. I am quite certain that each of us in our own way have made similar utterances. When we find ourselves overwhelmed by the consequences of our choices, we cry out to Him. When we find ourselves defeated by circumstance beyond our own control, we turn to Him and cry 'mercy!' So too it is with the prophet. He cries to The Lord not to allow His anger to become immeasurable for that would spell the destruction of us all. He cries out to The Father to purposefully forget our sinfulness. For despite our stupidity, despite our sinfulness, despite our nature, despite everything we are YOUR people. Please God, look our way and intervene.

My body trembles and my soul quakes as I read these passages. I cannot help but draw parallels between our current situation as people and as a nation to the people and nation in this passage. I cannot help but be amazed that despite our 'modern' advances we are yet in the midst of making the same mistake Israil made. God has turned His face away from us in our prideful sinfulness.

So to the lamentation of Jeremiah and to the lamentations of Isaiah, I add my own. O Lord that you would come down and make your name known to your enemies and cause the nation to quake before you! The remnant of your people sees the coming destruction and we are powerless before it. We need you O God to fix this mess.

Your Adopted Son,
Carl

From Then to Now

In observance of the Advent Season, I continue this morning with my study of Isaiah 64:1-9. Having previously written on Isaiah 64:1-3, today I turn my attention to V4-6. Consider the wisdom of this passage:

Isaiah 64:4-6 (NIV)


4 Since ancient times no one has heard,
no ear has perceived,
no eye has seen any God besides you,
who acts on behalf of those who wait for him.

5 You come to the help of those who gladly do right,
who remember your ways.
But when we continued to sin against them,
you were angry.
How then can we be saved?

6 All of us have become like one who is unclean,
and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags;
we all shrivel up like a leaf,
and like the wind our sins sweep us away.

[1] The Holy Bible : New International Version. electronic ed. Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 1996, c1984

"There is none like You." As I read V4, the lines from that song come back to me and help me to meditate on just how unique our God is. The words from that song help me to appreciate this scripture all the more. Even so, there are three points that raise up through my meditation.

First is the spirit nature of God. Our bodily senses (taste, touch, sight, hearing, smell) are incapable of grasping a visage of God. They can only offer glimpses and reflections of His glory. Were we to be exposed to His full glory, our senses would be overwhelmed and even if not, we would be totally incapable of articulating our perceptions to any real extent.

Secondly is the unique nature of God. For the prophet to state "no eye has seen any God besides you" is to state the obvious. There are no other Gods (big 'G' gods) other than the One. True enough that we promote 'things' (money, power, sports, sex, success, food, leisure) to god-hood which obscure our vision of God and this all too easily. But they are just idols and impostors; nothing but gods (little 'g' gods). Even if our senses could perceive God, they could not perceive any other God for there are none to be perceived!

Thirdly is the patient and faithful nature of God. The prophet records here that there is no other God 'who acts on behalf of those who wait for him.' It is a paradox to me that as we serve Him, He serves us; that He came down from Glory not to be served but to serve. Surely, there is no 'god' of any kind, big or little, that can, will or desires to do such a thing for us. Yesterday in my Sunday School class, I shared the truth of this verse (V4) with respect to how God shows up during my morning devotional times. I come to my desk, pray for His presence, wisdom, insight and guidance and wait. HE SHOWS UP! He answers my prayer. He acts on my behalf, for my betterment, for my growth, for my sanctification, for my benefit as I wait for him. It is so utterly preposterous that it is incalculably beautiful! THE GOD OF THE UNIVERSE LOVES ME!

Continuing with this thought I turn to V5 which states the steadfastness of the Lord and the hopelessness of the unrepentant. God comes to the aid of those who are obedient and not just obedient but gladly obedient. In John 14:21, Christ himself stated that "He who has my commands AND obeys them, he is the one who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by the Father and I too will love him and reveal myself to him." We know too from the numerous examples put before us in Scripture and from 1 John 5:12 that the unrepentant heart is punished. "He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life." V5 closes with the greatest question of all time "How then can we be saved?"

The next verse V6 builds upon this question and states the obvious that all of us are sinful which we are reminded in Romans 3:23 "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Not only are we sinful but our best efforts at righteousness, our "righteous acts" are utterly contemptible. The exact words are "filthy rags" but study reveals that this is a reference to used menstrual rags. The term 'unclean' is far too kind to reflect the nature of our best attempts at righteousness. The passage closes with the acknowledgment that the godless person is powerless in the face of temptation. They are reduced to a husk and swept away by their sinfulness.

This seems a 'mean' place to leave for the day yet it is appropriate that as we consider the coming of Christ we dwell upon, remember and meditate upon our need for his redemptive power. Were it not for His coming 'then' we would be totally hopeless 'now.' So from this point 'now' till the coming of Christ 'then' let us consider the depths of our depravity that can only be erased by the blood of His sacrifice.

There is no other. He is perfect and just. We are needful and foolish. It is after all, a match made in Heaven.

Checking the sky,
Carl

Seasonal Considerations

I use some software (Logos) to help me with my study of God's Holy Word. One of the many features in this application is the daily presentation of a lectionary-based reading plan. For my edification I read according to The Revised Common Lectionary.

Not knowing much about lectionaries, I notice that this particular resource is divided into different 'times' and that the 'time' we are about to begin is called 'advent'; tomorrow is the first Sunday in 'advent.' My dictionary defines 'advent' as "the period beginning four Sundays before Christmas and observed by some Christians as a season of prayer and fasting" and secondarily as "the coming of Christ at the Incarnation" or "second coming."

Now I must admit that I am fascinated by the concept that there are 'times' when we are to consider the coming of Christ. The thought of setting aside essentially a month as a "season of prayer and fasting" in anticipation of the return of Christ seems like a rather compartmentalized approach to His imminent return. I'm of the opinion that we should be in a perpetual state of prayer and fasting in anticipation of the coming of the Lord.

Nevertheless, there is some part of me which respects tradition and ritual so I read the lectionary as a means of guiding my study of God's Word through the Christmas season. So it is today that I begin a month-long study based on the directed readings from my lectionary.

As we pause to consider (or perhaps accelerate into) the Christmas season, it's attendent joyful celebrations, intentional feasting and the sacrificial giving of gifts, it is fitting and appropriate that my study begins with Isaiah. The recommended reading is Isaish 64:1-9 but today I will focus on V1-3.

Isaiah 64:1-3 (NIV)
1 Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains would tremble before you! 2 As when fire sets twigs ablaze and causes water to boil, come down to make your name known to your enemies and cause the nations to quake before you! 3 For when you did awesome things that we did not expect, you came down, and the mountains trembled before you.

[1]
[1] The Holy Bible : New International Version. electronic ed. Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 1996, c1984

Many people that I speak with are always looking for signs of God's presence and express a desire to experience a 'feeling' of His presence. While I feel it is right that we look for signs of God's presence, it's not as if we aren't surrounded by them. I often think it is more a matter of noticing the signs in front of our face than it is discovering some sort of hidden indication of God's manifest presence in our lives. In V1 of this passage, the prophet cries out for the 'coming of The Lord' even with the understanding that upon His arrival, the very mountains themselves, the foundations of the Earth will tremble.

Now I've experienced a few Earth tremors and by my best recollection they are moments of shear terror. In those times, we realize just how little (none) control we actually have over the ground we walk on and we are confronted with the fact that when that which we stand on gives way, we are utterly lost. As a concept then, calling for The Lord to come down is very much asking for something which will reduce us to scared and quivering creatures huddled on the floor with our eyes tightly shut and our arms wrapped around us for protection. Yet, the 'coming down' of The Lord is exactly what was needed and is needed still. In this passage, the prophet is looking ahead to the coming of The Son of Man and the utter salvation of the faithful. And indeed, in the face of salvation, the mountains of the Earth are as nothing by comparison. Whether you think of mountains as beautiful, big or challenging, on all three counts Salvation exceeds our wildest imaginations.

In V2, the prophet reduces the coming of The Lord metaphorically to something we can grasp. We know that when tender is ignited, it leads to a fire. We know that a fire is a powerful thing that can reduce ice to water and raise water to steam. The prophet likens the coming of The Lord to that fire; a fire which consumes, warms and improves our lives. And in this there is a two-fold purpose to His 'coming down.' There is the immediate benefit to us (the believers, God's chosen people) and also a benefit in that by His coming, His name will be lifted up by His enemies. I find it interesting that even the enemies of God may bring glory to His name. No shock there since 'every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus if Lord.' And lest we forget, Satan himself knows that Jesus is Lord of all. Anyway, at the coming of The Lord, His enemies, those nations which reject Him or repress His people, like the mountains they too shall quake when confronted by His Glory.

Now V3, references the historical fact of how God has manifested His power. This is something that every person reading this should be able to testify; the power of God in their own lives. In my men's group, I encourage each man to have his testimony ready to give upon a moment's notice. Afterall, as a believer we have our own personal story in which we are the sole expert that can be used to edify, encourage or exhort the non-believer to whom it is presented. And one important aspect of these testimonies speaks to V3 or rather V3 speaks to this in us. Namely that God did awesome things in our lives that we did not expect. Can any believer deny that this is true? While I believe that God is faithful, I do not take that to mean that He is predictable!

So as we celebrate the 'coming down' of Jesus during the season of His birth, let our hearts tremble, let us recall the earth-shaking power of God and let us recount the many awesome things He has done in our lives.

I close today by asking your indulgence. This just popped into my head... perhaps you will recognize the tune... "oh, the sin is me is frightful but His blood is so delightful... and since He came down to show... let us go, let us show, that they will know!"

High-er,
Carl

It's Easy to Miss

This morning I found myself read the Book of Mark. At the very end of this book, Mark 16:19 to be precise, I read;

"After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God."

While this seems pretty straight-forward, there is one little concept that I wanted to bring to your attention.

We all know that Christ came down from heaven and was born into the body of a man. The Son of God became the Son of Man. Of course, there is much discussion over the concepts of 'fully God and fully Man' but for our purposes here, we know that he was a man. And we further know that as a man, he died upon the cross, was entombed and on the third day, He rose again. Hallelujah for that!

In this passage though we are reminded that after He had finished His "post resurrection" work, "he was taken up into heaven..." What occurs to me is that He did not give up His human body but instead was completely taken into Heaven 'as is.' And we also know from this verse that 'he sat at the right hand of God.'

Now sitting at the right hand of The King is no small measure of significance. By his being placed at the right hand, a message that was 'loud and clear' was sent to everyone who could grasp it that God approved of the work of His Son, was fully satisfied in the work of His Son and that His Son was being rewarded, exalted to a place of power, honor and glory. But let's not forget that Christ came from this same spot.

The difference however is that originally, Christ sat in the place of power in his spirit state. After his resurrection, he was seated in the place of power in his glorified human state. I believe that means that among all the heavenly host and angelic beings, He is unique in this regard. Thus to see a 'human' seated at the right hand of God must have created quite a stir!

A thought that comes to me is that now, there is 'one of us' in Heaven at the right hand of God. In this manner, he represents all man and can be our effective advocate before God.

I just find it interesting that Christ the Spirit became flesh and that He never shed His flesh to return to His previous state. I had just never thought of that before because my mind keeps playing this trick on me; our spirit separates from our body at death. Some day I'll understand that fully but for now, I accept that Jesus in glorified human form is already in the throne room.

That reminds me of a question that a friend asked me once; "Is there anything man-made in heaven?" My reply "no, nothing." He replied "oh yes my friend, there is... there are the scars."

Thankful,
Carl

If It Were Easy

If it were easy, everyone would do it. Isn't that the very nature of this walk called sanctification that we're on? If being a Christian were easy, people would be lined up at the doors and our churches would be filled to overflowing. But the fact is, being a Christian, more specifically being a disciple is hard work. It is fraught with frustration and teeming with trials. Going to church every Sunday is nothing compared to picking up your cross daily. Saying 'grace' over a meal is child's play compared to having a conversation with God. And then there's that whole love your neighbor thing! Some neighbors are just harder to love than others. And I've heard that if you don't know which of your neighbors are hard to love... it's you!

Anyway, it's hard and I admit that. The Bible does not mislead us in any way with respect to how we are to work at being disciples of Christ. My verse today is Romans 14:19 which states;
"Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification."

"Make every effort." Definitely not "try your best" or "if it's possible" but instead, pour everything you've got, put every ounce of energy you have into what leads to peace. It's more than just 'getting along.' It's far more than 'tolerance.'

Sometimes what leads to peace is painful. Consider that you may have insulted someone, hurt their feelings, sinned against them. What leads to peace is confession and asking for forgiveness. It's easy to ask God's forgiveness, you know the answer in advance. But to look your neighbor in the eye, admit to them your weakness, confess to them your sin and then to ask for their forgiveness? That's certainly not easy. If we were to just 'get along' we could just pretend that it never happened. No effort required. Fleshy is easy. But this verse exhorts us to action, to effort, to work even that we may live at peace with one another.

And even more, we are called to mutual edification. This means that we are to help one another to grow and learn. We are to use encouraging words to lift one another up towards greater knowledge, understanding and wisdom. Many times, when someone has a need, it's easier to just do it for them. But again, we're not called to take the easy path. Sure, we are to help them and maybe that means that we sometime do it for them. But while we're doing it, we should be building them up. That means that we have to control our tongue and say "let me show you how to do that" instead of "get out of the way and let me do it." It means that we are to complete on another wherever there is a deficit and to do it with mercy and grace.

That's how God treats us. That's how we're called to treat one another. If it were easy, it would be called nature. But it's not so instead it's called love.

Gripped,
Carl

If You Could See What Jesus Sees

When I pause to consider the things I've seen I am overwhelmed. I've seen galaxies and stars across the vast reaches of space. I've seen my children born. I've seen tears shed over the beauty of a song and I've seen tears shed over the loss of a loved one. I've seen great forests ablaze and I've seen torrential rain and tornadoes. I've seen plants come forth from bare ground. I've seen love in the eyes of man and I've seen hate. I've seen the power of God to change a man's life and I've seen the power of Satan to destroy a man's marriage. All these things and more I've seen, you've seen, we've seen.

Yet all the things that we've seen combined are but as a thimble-full in the ocean when compared to what Christ our Lord has seen. The fact is that He has seen it all, literally all. He was there in the beginning, before time, before matter, before space, before creation. He witnessed the birth of all that is, was or will ever be. He's seen the ignition of stars, the forming of planets, the parting of the seas, the appearance of animal, vegetable and mineral. He's been at the birth of millions of people, witnessed their lives, shared their tears and their joys and been present when their spirits leave their bodies. He has seen God the Father. He has seen The Spirit and He has seen The Spirit change lives. He has seen Satan and He witnessed the fall of man.

But more than this, He has already seen the future. Having done this, He can rejoice at a level that we cannot even imagine! In Luke 10, the story is recounted of the 72 who went forth in the name of Christ. When they returned to Jesus, they were jubilant and remarked that "Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name." (V17) This, of course, was no surprise to Christ. And Jesus shared with them, in V18, the extent to which demons submit to the name of Christ.

Consider Luke 10:18
He replied, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven."

In reading this, I do not get the sense that Jesus is referring to the manner in which Satan came to exert his power in the earthly realms. The sense I get is one of both present and future tense. I believe that Jesus is either referring to the manner in which Satan's grip over man is broken by the power of Christ Immanuel's name in the present time or else the final victory that is Christ Jesus' in the age to come.

The difference betwixt these is of no matter to me. What is important to me is that Christ has seen the victory that was, is and ever shall be. Yet His joy is not in the destruction of Satan but rather in the redemption of those Satan would consume. The power of His name to destroy our vilest enemy is of no consequence to Him when He considers you or me or every other individual.

This week in 4th grade Sunday School, I taught on Romans 12:10 which reads;
"Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves."

Christ exemplifies this love and honors us, honors you above himself. To my mind, that is staggering.

My prayer today comes from a song that is enjoying popularity today by Brandon Heath. He sings and I pray "give me your eyes for just one second, give me your eyes that I can see, everything that I keep missing, give me your love for humanity." Amen.

Seeing Through His Eyes,
Carl