That Hurts

The Word is first...

Revelation 2:29

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996 (electronic ed.). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.

In considering this verse I am reminded of the numerous times that Jesus said "let he who has ears, hear." I always thought of that in terms of an admonishment to 'pay attention.' But today, I have a totally different thought.

Most of us have ears and are capable of hearing; yet we often choose not to listen. In the same way most everyone can read The Bible but there are many that are incapable of understanding it. What is it that makes the difference?

Circumcision. I am not talking about a gender-specific surgical procedure but rather a spiritual process. Specifically, it is the spiritual cutting away of the flesh that makes the difference. The eyes are uncovered, the ears are cleared, the veil that separates us from God is torn asunder.

For those that can read The Bible and not understand, it is the flesh that hinders them. The same is true for those that hear the truth and choose not to listen. Only the spiritually-circumcised ear is capable of listening and obeying the Word of God.

In this passage then, it is the believers, those that have been spiritually circumcised that are being addressed. It is the believers that are being reminded to listen! To pay attention to what the Spirit says to the churches.

Do you hear? Are you listening?

Peace,
Carl

Eyes of Faith

The Word is first...

Galatians 1:11-12

I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel I preached is not something that man made up. 12 I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.
The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996 (electronic ed.). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.

Many people think of 'revelations' as some sort of wispy vision, dreams, appearances in the air or apparitions in the living room. It may be true that in some circumstances God does indeed choose to 'reveal' to people in this manner. But when I consider Jesus and the extraordinary manner in which he dealt with ordinary people, I believe that the vast majority of such 'revelations' are of a more common nature. By that I mean the 'revelation' is the revelation of Christ by the Spirit and the opening of the eyes of faith that we may see The Christ Jesus for whom He truly is.

As much as I long to gaze upon the face of the God-man who loved me so sincerely, as much as I long to linger upon his radiance, I am profoundly satisfied that I see Him clearly using my eyes of faith. And though my physical eyes ever search without seeing Him, I feel Him in my heart and know His power, presence, grace and glory. It is that revelation that brings about transformation, renewal and repentance.

So the story to which I testify is not one of folklore and fable, it shall not be found in the fiction section. Rather I shall live it out for it is my biography penned by The Spirit.

Peace,
Carl

And In Summary....

In Matthew 7:12 Jesus sums up the whole of the law and the prophets when he says "So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets."

Sounds easy enough, doesn't it? Just treat others the way you want to be treated and we will fulfill the law. Yet even with such a simple sounding maxim, we are incapable of doing this. Consider the pizza. You and your family sit down to a piping hot pepperoni pie. Do you take the first piece? Do you scope out which piece is best and go for that one? Or do you wait until everyone else has chosen and then you choose from what remains? Do you do that cheerfully or begrudgingly? And if we can be tripped up by something so innocuous as a pizza, what do we do when it is something really important?

But it's not about how easy or how hard doing the right thing is, it's about the right thing. Jesus teaches us to place others needs ahead of our own, to give more than asked, to be lavish in our generosity; even as He is lavish in his generosity. He calls us to the higher standard of treating others as we would like to be treated.

I want God's forgiveness, I must forgive all others.
I want God's love, I must love all others.
I want God's blessings, I must bless all others.
I want God's family, I must be God's family to all others.

It's easy to want those things and to just skip past our own obligations, that's the "wide gate" of the world. But where I want to go is at the end of the narrow path and beyond the "narrow gate".

Let's not fall in with the crowd today as they jam through the wide gate. Let's humbly and gently take someone by the elbow and lead them to the narrow path. And let's be sure to set our own feet securely onto that path ourselves.

Peace,
Carl

Setting the Standard

In Matthew 4 we read of how Jesus began his ministry by setting the standard to which we can all aspire. Immediately after being baptized, Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert for the purpose of being tempted by the devil himself.

Now normally, I'm praying to God that he 'lead me not into temptation' but here we clearly see that sometimes God's will is that we be tempted. From this we can understand that temptation itself is a part of God's plan not just for Jesus but for us also. It was in the crucible of the desert that we learn a valuable lesson, from Jesus, as to how we are to respond to Satan and his schemes. The standard that Jesus set was to use the very words of God as a weapon to rebuke and rebuff Satan. In so doing, we see that the words of God are powerful and effective as our first response to temptation. And we learn too that Satan will withdraw from the battle. In this one short passage we learn two important lessons from Jesus' example.

The first is a willingness to be led by the Spirit. Jesus could have commanded the Spirit or simply exercised his own will to avoid the desert and its' attendant temptations. Instead Jesus was led as a willing participant. This sets the standard of how we are to yield to the leading of the Holy Spirit in our own lives.

The second is the ability to wield the sword of God's Word. I do not believe that Jesus was born knowing all the scriptures but rather that as a child he studied and committed to memory all the same teachings that all other Hebrew children were presented. In this he sets the standard for hiding God's word in his heart.

If we apply these two lessons to ourselves, if we follow the example of Jesus then our lives will be profoundly different.

Peace,
Carl

To Fulfill All Righteousness

In reading the Gospels I cannot help but notice how consumed Jesus was with accomplishing God's will. It seems that every decision, every action, every word was carefully chosen so as to advance the accomplishment of God's will. What an example to me of how I am to live my life today. I should be, as He was, a man of prayer and a man who is wholly committed to God. A man where every decision, action, thought, word and deed is carefully evaluated to determine whether it is of God or of me.

In Matthew 3, we read the account of John the Baptist preaching the coming King and also of how Jesus was baptized by John. By human reasoning, the baptism of Jesus by John would seem to not make sense. Afterall, John was right when he said in v14 that "I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?" John recognized the authority of Jesus and was subservient to it. But Jesus, having all authority did not exercise it but rather submitted himself to God's will.

The words of Jesus in v15 "Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness." reveals exactly what was important to Jesus. Jesus did everything according to God's instructions and in order to not provide material for arguments from the religious leaders, he too had to be baptized.

The last bit of v15 is important to me. "Then John consented." Jesus wanted to do things God's way and John submitted himself to the authority and example of Jesus. Fully aware of his own shortcomings, John felt unworthy to baptize Jesus but in order to fulfill the righteousness set down by God, he submitted.

I too am keenly aware of my own sinfulness. I too feel unworthy to call myself a follower of Christ. I look in the Bible and see Jesus and like John, I must choose to submit myself to the will of God and I must commit myself to fulfill all righteousness.

Peace,
Carl

And So Was Fulfilled

In Matthew 2 there are two prominent stories and one underlying theme. The two stories are the arrival of the Magi to worship the new-born King and the escape to Egypt of Jesus and his fmaily.

With respect to the Magi (wise-men) we see a group of men that were willing to saddle up their camels, put together a caravan and travel great distances bearing gifts that they may come before the king in the proper manner. They came to worship. "We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him." This is a story that continues to this day. Those that are paying attention see the sign of his coming. No, it's not a star in the East, it is the changed life right next to them. It is the rebirth and new life of every believer that testifies to his coming. To those that see the sign and understand it, they too want to come before the king and to worship. Every believer lives out this pattern in their own way.

The escape to Egypt reflects the extent to which those who fear The Lord will go to oppose His will. Herod was willing to kill off babies in an effort to thwart God's plans. This story reveals the depths of depravity of the human heart and the willingness of man to stop at nothing to 'protect their territory.' Yet this story also reflects how God's will cannot be thwarted and to oppose God is to guarantee defeat.

The underlying theme is the certainty with which the words of God, as revealed by his prophets, come to pass. In Matthew 2:5, Herod receives the counsel of his advisers who directly quote the prophet when they inform Herod that the new King will be born in Bethlehem. And indeed, Christ was born in Bethlehem and so was fulfilled the prophecy.

In Matthew 2:13-15 we see how the angel tells Joseph to take his family and flee to Egypt that they may escape the coming slaughter. "And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: 'Out of Egypt I called my son.'"

In Matthew 2:16 we see Herod's slaughter of the boy-children of Bethlehem and it's surrounding area. As despicable as it was, it nevertheless underscores the certainty of God's words. For in v17 we read "Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:" and this was a reference to the weeping and great mourning of the mothers over their slain children.

In Matthew 2:19-23 we read of the return of Jesus' family from Egypt and how Joseph, again warned in a dream, takes his family to Nazareth rather than to their traditional home. "So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets: 'He will be called a Nazarene.'"

As I read this passage today, I am reminded of the omniscient nature of God and of how His word does not return void. If God said it, we can depend on it. It will be fulfilled. We should take heed of his words and bring our own lives into alignment with Him for we know what is coming. The day will come when people will say "and so was fulfilled" God's word concerning the return of His Son.

We better get ready.

Peace,
Carl

So We Would Know

Our Senior Pastor has challenged the congregation to read through the New Testament in a year, this year. While that doesn't seem like a extraordinary request, I know from previous experience that it will get tough. Nevertheless, today I join hundreds or thousands of others in rising to this challenge by opening my Bible and reading.

Today, we start with Matthew 1 which opens with the genealogy of Jesus. I must admit that I was more interested in this genealogy than I've ever been before. Typically, I just skip through the genealogies to get to the 'good stuff.' But today, somehow, this IS the good stuff.

Giving consideration to why God found it necessary to present us with the genealogy of Jesus, I have three theories;

The first is to demonstrate God's Grand Design, specifically that Jesus (the man) was not an after-thought but had been intended from the beginning of time. In this way, we can more plainly see the thread of God's plan for salvation that winds its way through the Old Testament, the New Testament and into our lives today. This too reveals how the old covenant (Abrahmic) and the new covenant are not separate and unrelated promises but they are inextricably linked together across time and generations.

The second has to do with God's nature of perfect justness or more plainly, the legal ramifications. It is necessary for Jesus to be in the lineage of Abraham, et al so as to plainly establish his authority, his sovreignty and his 'right' to claim the throne. Jesus is no pretender to the throne nor is he some long-lost overlooked branch on the family tree. The blood of Abraham flows in the veins of Jesus and Jesus is the personification of 'the seed of Abraham' which God promised. Thus to establish the unbroken line from Abraham to Jesus clearly established the 'legal' authority for Jesus to ascend to the throne.

The third has to do with God's nature of perfect redemption, this is a spiritual dimension to the genealogy. In the genealogy of Christ we see a variety of men, women and personalities. With only a passing familiarity of the people in this list we can immediately identify prostitutes and adulterers. If God can so use those people in the realization of His divine plan, how then can anyone be outside the scope of being used by God? This is a great relief to a sinner such as I!

So, in considering the genealogy of Jesus, let us look behind the list of ancient names to understand the ancient story of God. A story which now includes the likes of you and me.

Peace,
Carl


Spiritual ramification