Saturday, February 28, 2015

"Grace Works" Part 5



    "There are two religions in the world, grace and works.  But only grace works!"
   
    Grace works in changing how we view people.  "Receive you one another, as Christ also received us to the glory of God… Walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us" (Romans 15:7: Ephesians 5:2).

    We cannot rightly think of the grace we have freely received without realizing our calling to freely give the same to others.  Our sins against God are many and grievous when compared with the sins of others against us.  Our Lord's parable of the indebted servants would suggest that our debt must be viewed in the millions, while the debts of others comprise a comparative pittance (Matthew 18:21-35).  This is a hard truth of grace, perhaps the hard truth of God's freely and undeservedly given favor in Christ.  Our Heavenly Father bestows grace upon us so that it may assimilate within us, changing our hearts into His loving image, and then flowing from our hearts in beneficence to others.  "Freely ye have received, freely give" (Matthew 10:8).  

    The first martyr of the Christian church, Stephen, displayed this grace received, grace bestowed reality of salvation even as he was stoned to death.  Our brother sought the forgiveness of the Rock of ages for the very ones who cast the rocks that took his life.  "He kneeled down and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge" (Acts 7:60).  We rightly admire Stephen for such gracious bestowal of mercy.  However, if we could speak to him, Stephen would quickly declare that the love of Christ motivated and enabled such sacrifice.  Moreover, our brother of old would confess that his sins against God were of much greater measure and magnitude than those who stoned him to death.  "How could I not have prayed for mercy," Stephen would say, "when my Lord had died for the mercy He far more graciously bestowed upon me?"

    Grace works.  It works to change our hearts from venues of vengeance into gardens of grace.  Mercy received becomes mercy bestowed as the character of the Lord Jesus forms and reforms our attitudes, aspirations, and actions.  The Savior receives all the glory, but we experience the joy whereby we discover His heart of grace even more in the self sacrificial giving of such goodness to others than in the receiving of it for ourselves.  From His cross, the Lord Jesus prayed for His tormentors not only that they might receive forgiveness, but so that they might become like Him.  This is salvation and the grace that works in conforming us to the image of the glorious and gracious Christ of our salvation.

"Be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you."
(Ephesians 4:32)

Weekly Memory Verse
    The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
(John 10:10)
  

Thursday, February 26, 2015

“Grace Works!” Part 4


    "There are two religions in the world, grace and works.  But only grace works!"

   
    The grace that enables born again believers in the Lord Jesus Christ to trust and obey God is the same grace that provides a powerful restorative when we fail to do so.

    "If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanest us from all sin" (I John 1:7).

    Unbelief and disobedience result from failure to walk in the light of God's grace and truth in the Lord Jesus.  Restoration occurs when we return to the light, reestablishing fellowship with our Heavenly Father as the Holy Spirit applies the power of Christ's atoning work of grace to our conscience.  "If we confess our sin, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sin, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (I John 1:9).  Our Savior died not only to bring us to God, but to keep us with Him.  While never inevitable or excusable, sin happens.  Grace, however, happens even more as our Heavenly Father beckons us by His Spirit to arise from our fall by looking to Calvary, the empty tomb, and the occupied Heavenly throne where the Lord Jesus "ever liveth to make intercession for us" (Hebrews 7:25).  

   The Lord who "delighteth in mercy" desires to forgive and cleanse His trusting children in times of failure far more than we desire such blessed restoration (Micah 7:18).  The grace that began our relationship with God abides with us to ensure that when we fall down, we do not stay down.  Indeed, if we could audibly hear the voice of the Holy Spirit, "Get up!" would sound and resound every time we wander from the light of grace into the darkness of sin and unbelief.  Grace works, first and foremost by enabling faith and faithfulness.  However, in those times when we fail to avail ourselves of our Lord's freely give presence and power, grace works to restore our journey on the path of righteousness...

"Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow."
(Psalm 51:7)
"If when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life."
(Romans 5:10)

Weekly Memory Verse
    The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
(John 10:10)
   

"Grace Works!" Part 3

 

    "There are two religions in the world, grace and works.  But only grace works!"

   
    Grace works because it is God-originated, God-centered, and God empowered.  "Grace to you and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ" (Romans 1:7).  God's freely given favor in the Lord Jesus means that we live from Him in order that we might live for and to Him.  Or, as we often suggest, the dynamic enabling of the Gospel means that the Spirit of Christ lives in us so that we may live through Him (I John 4:9).

    All other religious propositions begin with human attempts to experience or attain unto Divine reality and standards.  The law of Moses, for example, called Israel to an if-then contingency relationship with God (for the purpose of exposing sin in the human heart and the impossibility of our successfully participating in such a bond with Him).  "Now therefore, if ye will obey My voice indeed, and keep My covenant, then shall ye be a peculiar treasure unto Me above all people" (Exodus 19:5).   Israel arrogantly responded, "All that the Lord hath spoken, we will do" - and then immediately proceeded to forge idols of gold, in direct contradiction to the will of God (Exodus 20:23; 32:1).  Human beings possess no capability of a quid pro quo relationship with God wherein we simply barter services with one another as if we were equal parties.  We are not.  God is God.  We are His dependent creatures, and life must be lived in the ongoing recognition that the Lord Jesus spoke truly when He declared, "Without Me, ye can do nothing" (John 15:5).

   We play a role in our relationship with God, of course.  "The just shall live by faith" (Romans 1:17).  Our Heavenly Father built into our humanity the capacity for responding to His truth by belief and dependence.  "The word is nigh thee, even in thy heart and in thy mouth, that is, the word of faith which we preach, that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved" (Romans 10:8-9).  Again, we live from God, that is, we ever seek to know who He is, what He has done, is doing, and promises to do for us.  Upon this basis of grace as received through faith, our hearts are motivated, encouraged, and enabled to "work the works of God" as the fruit of His dynamic activity on our behalf (John 6:28).  As mentioned in a previous message, the Lord Jesus Himself lived in this manner - "My Father worketh hitherto, and I work."  Scripture calls us to the same dynamic response to God - "Walk, even as He walked" (John 5:17; I John 2:6).  

    Problems with works in the Christian life always reveal problems with grace.  We either don't know God's freely given provision in Christ well enough, or we choose to not avail ourselves of such freely given favor.  Our hope and solution lies in growth in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus (II Peter 3:18).  Thereby our hearts and minds are changed as the power Source of our life and being enables us to more consistently walk in the light of reality.  The writer of Hebrews succinctly proclaims such blessed truth in his affirmation that grace works

"Let us have grace, that we may serve God acceptably, with reverence and godly fear."
(Hebrews 12:28)

Weekly Memory Verse
    The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
(John 10:10)
  

Wednesday, February 25, 2015

"Grace Works" Part 2


    "There are two religions in the world, grace and works.  But only grace works!"

   My friend's quote speaks of God's undeserved and unexpected favor - grace - bearing the pragmatic effect of adequately justifying the sinner, while authentically motivating and empowering the saint.

    The latter point raises the question: how does God's grace in the Lord Jesus Christ lead to genuine godliness in the lives of born again believers?  The answer lies in the heart, God's heart.  The Lord created the human race in His image, and thus with the capacity to receive and express love.  "God is love" declared the Apostle John, and our primary calling in life, expressed in the two great commands, involves loving God and loving people (I John 4:8; Mark 12:30-31).  Moreover, love begets love.  "We love Him because He first loved us" (I John 4:19).  The more we discover this elemental quality of our Lord's character, nature, and way, the more motivated and empowered we are to respond in kind.  "Beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, we are changed into the same image, from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord" (II Corinthians 3:18).  Grace unveils such transforming glory, the glory of God's loving heart, as expressed in the Apostle Paul's Corinthian benediction: "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all" (II Corinthians 13:14).

   The more we discover the Biblical teaching of grace, the more we discover the wondrous love of the God who so freely redeems those who trust the Lord Jesus.  This fosters real love in us, and thus a pure motivation and powerful enabling whereby we "do the will of the God from the heart" (Ephesians 6:6).  Love alone serves as the acceptable reason for doing that which we do (I Corinthians 13).  Grace alone leads to the unselfish devotion in our hearts that originates in our Lord's heart.  Grace works.  It first redeems us from the penalties of sin, and then redeems us to the purity of love whereby we genuinely relate to God and people in the only motivation pleasing to our Heavenly Father…

"Walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given Himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savor."
(Ephesians 5:2)

Weekly Memory Verse
    The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
(John 10:10)
   

Tuesday, February 24, 2015

"Grace Works!"


    "Let us have grace, that we may serve God acceptably, with reverence and godly fear" (Hebrews 12:28).

    Only the undeserved and unexpected favor of God - grace - can lead us to a life acceptable to Him.  Grace alone changes the heart by enlivening and filling the heart with the Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ.  "Now our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us and hath give us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish you in every good word and work" (II Thessalonians 2:16-17).

    A good friend often says, "There are two religions in the world, grace and works. But only grace works!"  By this he means that God's salvation provided freely in Christ leads to the motivation and enabling whereby what we do proceeds from what our Lord has done, is doing, and promises to do forevermore.  As the Lord Jesus declared of His faithfulness, "My Father worketh hitherto, and I work" (John 5:17).  Any other means of seeking to consistently trust and obey God leads to frustration and failure.  "Without Me, ye can do nothing" declared our Savior (John 15:5).  Through Him, conversely, the Apostle Paul exulted, "I can do all things" (Philippians 4:13).  Grace works, first in justifying the sinner, and then in sanctifying the saint unto a life of sincere motivation and faithful devotion to the glory and will of God.  "By the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace was not bestowed upon me in vain.  For I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me" (I Corinthians 15:10).

    Thus we do well seek ever greater awareness and understanding of God's freely and wondrously given favor in Christ - "Grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" (II Peter 3:18).  The more deeply we descend into the soil of grace, the higher we ascend unto a life that heavenly life that is actually the life of Christ revealed in our trusting hearts….

"The remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall yet again take root downward and bear fruit upward."
(II Kings 19:30)
"And now, brethren, I commend you to His grace, which is able to build you up."
(Acts 20:32)

Weekly Memory Verse
    The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
(John 10:10)
  

Monday, February 23, 2015

"Something More"


    The first miracle performed by the Lord Jesus Christ took place at a wedding, where He changed water into wine (John 2:1-12).

    John does not record the names of the couple whose joyous event included this revelation of the power of God, as manifested through the Son of God.  He actually tells us nothing at all about the new husband and wife.  When reading the narrative, however, I often wonder about the impact of the Lord's gracious transformation of the ordinary and everyday into the extraordinary and eternal.  The marriage began with a miracle, an overt display of the involvement of Divine reality in a human relationship.  Water became wine.  This must have greatly affected the couple, and we can only surmise that God's involvement at the outset of their relationship infused their bond with a profound sense of wonder, significance, and the awareness that the Lord had great purposes for their life together.

    In every relationship God gives to us, whether family, friendship, professional association, or seemingly casual acquaintance, we do well to request and expect the figurative transformation of water into wine.  We must seek His involvement in our human associations, or rather, we must seek His enabling to recognize and respond to His already-existing presence and working.  No God-given relationship in our lives exists as merely a human-human affiliation.  We rather relate to family, friend, colleague, and acquaintance in the scope and context of the Divine presence and enabling.  By faith, we open our eyes to see and choose in our hearts to receive the wine of the Divine where our natural tendency involves partaking only of water. 

    "Heavenly Father, I believe You to be present and involved in this relationship for the glory of the Lord Jesus, the fulfillment of Your will, and the furtherance of Your eternal purpose in Christ.  In this holy context and purpose, I trust that You purpose to bless us with Your love, grace, and the infusing of our bond with a goodness that can only be explained by the transforming presence and power of Your Son.  Lead us accordingly, in the recognition of Your involvement in this relationship for the glory of the Lord Jesus, in whose name I pray, Amen."

    We do well to see the bonds of our lives in this holy light.  Our Father has sent the Lord Jesus to transform water into wine.  Recognition of such truth prepares us to experience and partake of something more, something better, and something greater than merely the human in relationships God purposes to grace with the Divine.

"Let us walk in the light of the Lord."
(Isaiah 2:5)

Weekly Memory Verse
    The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
(John 10:10)
  

Friday, February 20, 2015

"To Blossom"


    Rather than narrow our perspective and experience, the determination of believers to affirm the Lord Jesus Christ as our life - "to live is Christ" - greatly broadens our perspective, opening our hearts to truth and reality in all things (Philippians 1:21).

   "He giveth to all life and breath and all things" (Acts 17:25).
   "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights" (James 1:17).

   If God comprises the environment of our being, as it were, and if "life, breath, and all things" proceed from Him, we never completely experience anything in life apart from the realization of His reality.  We will live no moment in either time or eternity that is not saturated by our Lord's presence and involvement.  "In Him we live and move and have our being" (Acts 17:28).  Thus, we do well to embrace the belief and conviction that causes our hearts to blossom as flowers opening to the rising of the morning sun, making possible the absorbing of light, warmth, and the glory we were made to know and reflect.

    This does not mean, of course, that we directly and consciously think of God in every waking moment.  A mind stayed on Him does not require such continual focus.  Our brains do not presently possess the capacity for dual concentration.  I personally would not want the Christian architect to dwell on profound Biblical issues as he draws the blueprints for a one hundred story skyscraper.  I would suggest to him, as would his Lord, "Keep your mind on the task at hand, buddy!"  Genuine godliness does not require constant mental attention to God and His truth.  We do, however, seek to consistently and increasingly avail ourselves of opportunities that properly present themselves to our needy hearts.  Praise and thanksgiving perhaps lead the way, as our Heavenly Father's boundless generosity continually graces our lives with blessing, provision, protection, and the surpassing grace of the Lord Jesus.  We also seek and avail ourselves of opportunities to make requests, intercede for others, ask for wisdom, and apply the truth of God's Word to relationships, circumstances, conditions, and events.  Thereby we open our hearts and minds to the consistent rather than constant focus on our Lord for which He presently equips us.  And thereby the opening of our being to Light enhances our awareness, quickens our understanding, heightens our senses, invigorates our appreciation, and intensifies our experience of life as it is.  We grope in the shadows apart from such devotion to life as experienced in the wonder of God.  We "walk in the light as He is in the light" as such devotion opens our hearts and minds to the truth and surpassing wonder of the Reality in which we live (I John 1:7).

    Someone graces the somethings of our lives - "The whole earth is full of His glory!" (Isaiah 6:3).  He graces ourselves if we have believed in the Lord Jesus - "Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:27).  We miss much if we do not realize the fullness and hope of such glory.  We miss much even if we do realize the gift of life as lived by, through, and in our blessed Lord!  Today, however, and in this moment, we can open our hearts by faith to the truth and reality our Heavenly Father so fearfully and wonderfully made us to realize.  We can blossom by turning to the Light we believe to be the very essence of our life and being…

"They looked unto Him, and were lightened."
(Psalm 34:5)

Weekly Memory Verse
   That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
(John 3:6)

Thursday, February 19, 2015

"Only, Always, Forever"


  "What is your life?"

    James asked the question rhetorically, with temporal, physical matters in mind - "What is your life?  It is even a vapor, which appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away" (James 4:14).  However, an answer that more addresses the substance and essence of our being involves Moses' and Paul's joint affirmation of one fundamental definition of life:

    "He is thy life" (Deuteronomy 30:20).
    "To live is Christ" (Philippians 1:21).

    Had Adam and Eve partaken of the tree of life in the midst of Eden's garden (literally, the tree of eternal life - Genesis 3:22) rather than the forbidden tree of knowledge of good and evil, they would have entered into a forever in which they would have known the true Source of life.  "This is life eternal, that they might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent" (John 17:3).  Instead, they blinded themselves to truth and reality, and set forth on the futile search for life by their own devices.  Thereafter, to live became a matter of biology, survival, happiness, contentment, people, vocation, possession, place, and freedom.  We hear it all the time.  "My family is my life… My job is my life… my hobby is my life… Fun is my life… Freedom is my life," and so on.   Such imposters all disappoint, if not now, then some day all too soon.  Indeed, if we perceive or believe anything other than the Lord Jesus as our life, we set ourselves up for inevitable disappointment and heart-rending disillusionment.

   Salvation through Christ institutes and constitutes the newness of life that births the Spirit of the Lord Jesus in the manger, as it were, of our own spirits.  Just as no one else could rightly have graced the holy crib of Bethlehem so long ago, so can no one other than the Savior dwell within us as life.  "He is thy life" declared Moses.  "To live is Christ" echoed Paul.  Most importantly, the Lord Jesus Himself proclaimed, "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly… I am the life" (John 10:10; 14:6).  All the imposters must go, that is, anything or anyone else we view as the Life of our lives must be sacrificed upon the altar we build within our hearts.  That which remains?  Christ only, Christ always, Christ forever!  Nothing more.  Nothing less.  Nothing else.

"This is the record, that God hath given unto us eternal life, and this life is in His Son."
(I John 5:11)

Weekly Memory Verse
   That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
(John 3:6)

    



















4365
"Only, Always, Forever!"


  "What is your life?"

    James asked the question rhetorically, with temporal, physical matters in mind - "What is your life?  It is even a vapor, which appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away" (James 4:14).  However, an answer that more addresses the substance and essence of our being involves Moses' and Paul's joint affirmation of one fundamental definition of life:

    "He is thy life" (Deuteronomy 30:20).
    "To live is Christ" (Philippians 1:21).

    Had Adam and Eve partaken of the tree of life in the midst of Eden's garden (literally, the tree of eternal life - Genesis 3:22) rather than the forbidden tree of knowledge of good and evil, they would have entered into a forever in which they would have known the true Source of life.  "This is life eternal, that they might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent" (John 17:3).  Instead, they blinded themselves to truth and reality, and set forth on the futile search for life by their own devices.  Thereafter, to live became a matter of biology, survival, happiness, contentment, people, vocation, possession, place, and freedom.  We hear it all the time.  "My family is my life… My job is my life… my hobby is my life… Fun is my life… Freedom is my life," and so on.   Such imposters all disappoint, if not now, then some day all too soon.  Indeed, if we perceive or believe that anything other than the Lord Jesus as our life, we set ourselves up for inevitable disappointment and heart-rending disillusionment.

   Salvation through Christ institutes and constitutes the newness of life that births the Spirit of the Lord Jesus in the manger, as it were, of our own spirits.  Just as no one else could rightly have graced the holy crib of Bethlehem so long ago, so can no one other than the Savior dwell within us as life.  "He is thy life" declared Moses.  "To live is Christ" echoed Paul.  Most importantly, the Lord Jesus Himself proclaimed, "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly" (John 10:10).  All the imposters must go, that is, anything or anyone else we view as the Life of our lives must be sacrificed upon the altar we build within our hearts.  That which remains?  Christ only, Christ always, Christ forever!  Nothing more.  Nothing less.  Nothing else.

"This is the record, that God hath given unto us eternal life, and this life is in His Son."
(I John 5:11)

Weekly Memory Verse
   That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
(John 3:6)

  

Wednesday, February 18, 2015

"To Hide and To Keep"


"I will delight myself in Thy statutes.  I will not forget Thy Word."
(Psalm 119:16)


    Along with the reading of Scripture, I enjoy listening to the audio narration of God's Word.  I particularly like Alexander Scouby's version, and in the last three decades have been blessed by his eloquent and reverent reading during thousands of hours of listening.  Being more an audio than visual learner, this has served me well in my knowledge of the Bible.  I began with cassette tapes, proceeded to CDs, moved on to MP3 players, and just recently downloaded the entire Bible onto my smartphone.  It has become so easy to listen, and in days when the world has so many means by which to expose our minds to its darkness, I rejoice in (and recommend) this means of filling our hearts with the Light that prepares and enables us to faithfully walk with God.  "Thy Word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against Thee" (Psalm 119:11).

    The Lord Jesus Christ called us to "Keep My commandments" (John 14:15).  This means something different than we often consider, hearkening to the Psalmist's hiding of God's Word.  "Keep" ("tereo" in the original Greek) means to guard and protect the Lord's commands, as opposed to the common notion of obeying them.  Certainly other passages of Scripture address the matter of obedience, but "keep" in our Savior's mandate references our determination to receive God's words, and then to exercise much care in preserving their powerful and necessary place in our hearts.  Our native tendency, however, tempts us to forget and neglect rather than hide and protect.  Indeed, the Lord does not refer to us as sheep for nothing!  In matters of the Spirit, we learn slowly and we require ongoing reminder and reaffirmation of God's Truth - "I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though ye know them, and be established in the present truth" (II Peter 1:12).

    I literally cannot imagine what my life would have been like apart from the blessing of listening to the narration of Scripture.  This may not be what best enables you to hide and to keep.  Traditional reading may serve as your spiritual cup of tea.  Whatever the case, we must find our Lord's way to consistently and thoroughly saturate our interior being with His Word.  Our Heavenly Father calls us to "live by faith," and He proclaims that "faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God" (Romans 1:17; 10:17).  The matter thus involves our spiritual survival.  Born again believers will not truly live in the Life that indwells us apart from consistently exposing ourselves to "the words of this life" (Acts 5:20).  We cannot believe promises or obey commands if we do not know they exist, or if through neglect, we let them slip away into forgotteness.  Most importantly, our Lord's heart awaits us in His Word, gracing us with the personal fellowship that elicits the knowledge of His love for us, and empowers our reciprocal love for Him.  The prophet closes our consideration with the attitude of heart that must characterize all who name the name of the Lord Jesus…

"Thy words were found and I did eat them, and Thy Word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of my heart!  For I am called by Thy name, o Lord God of hosts!"
(Jeremiah 15:16)

Weekly Memory Verse
   That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
(John 3:6)

 

Tuesday, February 17, 2015

"Ain't Happenin!"


    During a hurried visit to our local superstore yesterday, things seemed to go from bad to worse.  Several encounters with rude employees, items not in stock, and finally, the self service checkout scanner apparently having taken the day off led to a sense of frustration.  I walked away from the checkout with a sense of relief to finally leave the store.  As I proceeded to the exit, I looked down into my grocery cart and noticed a bar of cooking chocolate I had not scanned.  As I glanced at it, the movement of the cart caused the bar to fall into one of the bags with the other items I had purchased.

    Immediately the thought came to mind: "You know, considering the rudeness, the products I couldn't find, and the malfunctioning scanner, I think the couple of bucks for that chocolate bar I forgot to scan is the least the store owes me for its incompetence and inconsideration!"  I pondered such rationalization and compromise for a moment, only to look up and see several checkout stands open and with no customers.  "Ain't happenin, Glen!"  The thought came to mind as I smiled in the realization of what I knew I needed to do, and what I really wanted to do.  "I forgot to scan this chocolate bar" I said as I walked up to the young man at the nearest register. "Wouldn't want you folks to have me arrested!"  He smiled, took my money, and I walked out of the store in the peace and joy of not having distrusted and disobeyed the Lord.

    Sin often results from rationalization, particularly regarding the perceived failures of other people.  Adam implicitly blamed Eve when confronted by the Lord for partaking of the forbidden tree of knowledge of good and evil - "The woman Thou gavest Me, she gave me of the tree and I did eat" (a tacit blaming of God Himself can also be heard in Adam's excusing of sin - Genesis 3:12).  Of course, Adam's rationalizing took place after his disobedience, but our spiritual enemies may also tempt us to vindicate ourselves before we actually distrust and disobey our Heavenly Father.  The perceived sins of others against ourselves can become a false basis for our potential sin against God.  This won't do in His mind, and we must allow no place for such deception in our own.

    By the Lord's faithful involvement and leading, thoughts of rationalizing sin became opportunity to walk in the spirit and truth of the Lord Jesus' nature, character, and way.  A different thought - "Ain't happenin', Glen!" - resulted in the heart delight of God-enabled faithfulness.  He gets all the glory, I was blessed by His enabling, and I rejoice in sharing with you that the chocolate in the cake we baked yesterday was not obtained by ill-gotten means (the cake was delicious, by the way!).

"Awake to righteousness and sin not."
(I Corinthians 15:34)

Weekly Memory Verse
   That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
(John 3:6)

 

Monday, February 16, 2015

"The Proper Study"


    The poet Alexander Pope wrote, "Know then thyself, presume not God to scan.  The proper study of mankind is man."

    In stark contrast, the Lord Jesus Christ declared that the "scan" and "study" of God constitutes the very essence of our existence: "This is eternal, that they might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent" (John 17:3).  

    Our hearts exist for the habitation of God.  Our minds exist for the contemplation of God.  Only in His presence and light do we discover the Life of our lives, namely, to know God.  "To live is Christ" declared the Apostle Paul, proclaiming the Savior as the Source, Supply, and Significance of our existence (Philippians 1:21).  A beating heart, firing neurons in the brain, and flowing blood in our veins and arteries may comprise biological being for humanity.  However, Christ alone is life, as defined by God, within the hearts of those who trust Him.  Thereby we know the Father and the Son, as revealed by the Holy Spirit.  This comprises the  "study" whereby we genuinely live in the present and in the forevermore. 

    A Bible awaits us so filled with Light that a thousand lifetimes would provide but a beginning in the discovery of its Truth.  The Holy Spirit's eternal heart and mind accompanies the Scriptures for trusting believers who seek God in His Word.  The proper study of mankind is God, again, the knowledge of the Father and the Son, as revealed by the Holy Spirit.  Life begins in the new birth when we respond to the Spirit'revelation of the Lord Jesus as the Son sent by the Father for the purpose of our redemption from sin.  It continues as we discover the life given by such grace - "God… hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" (II Corinthians 4:6).  Such vitality will never end as our infinite Lord forever displays new aspects of His glory and wonder.  This is the "scan" for this day.  This is "the proper study."  This is "life eternal."  Nothing more.  Nothing less.  Nothing else.

"He is thy life."
(Deuteronomy 30:20)

Weekly Memory Verse
   That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
(John 3:6)

   

Friday, February 13, 2015

"Through Him



    We think of the Apostle Paul as incredibly bold and fearless in his proclamation of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Certainly he was, but just as certainly, the motivation and strength for such loving courage did not originate in himself.

    "Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; and for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak" (Ephesians 6:18-20).

    Had boldness been Paul's natural disposition, he would not have asked for prayer regarding the matter.  His request therefore indicates need for grace, and just as importantly, the Apostle's awareness of such need.  "Without Me ye can do nothing" declared the Lord Jesus, and the wondrous life of Paul actually shines forth the light of the glorious life of Christ.  Moreover, our Savior Himself lived such a life of dependence during His earthly lifetime.  "I can of Mine own self do nothing… the Father that dwelleth in Me, He doeth the works… I live by the Father" (John 15:5; 5:30; 14:10; 6:57).  Just as those who saw Paul actually saw the enabling presence and power of Christ in Paul, so did the Lord Jesus testify of His Enabler, "He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father" (John 14:9).

   Humanity, including even our Lord's humanity, exists to be inhabited and empowered by the Divine.  When Adam and Eve succumbed to the temptation to "be as gods," they turned away from the very nature and essence of their being (Genesis 3:5).  They sought independence rather than dependence, desiring to be the Deity that inhabits the temple rather than serving as the temple.  Death and disaster ensued, a plight remedied in Christ when He reconstitutes our being by leading us to a salvation that could only be given by grace and received by faith.  Indeed, in the very first twinkling moment of the new birth, we begin to live in reality, the reality of "Without Me, ye can do nothing… I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me" (John 15:5; Philippians 4:13).  This was Paul, for whom boldness did not come naturally, but rather supernaturally.  And this is you and me, for whom the life to which God calls us must be the life with which He provides to us.  Without Him, "nothing."  Through Him, "all things."

"In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him."
(I John 4:9)

Weekly Memory Verse
    Come ye and let us walk in the light of the Lord.
(Isaiah 2:5)
    

Thursday, February 12, 2015

"Lingering Pains"


    Some pains linger in our hearts and minds, similar to physical wounds that cause ongoing discomfort.  We trust the Lord, submit to Him, and seek to heed the encouragement of the Apostle Peter: "Casting all your cares upon Him, for He careth for you" (I Peter 5:7).  Peace in the heart ensues, but remnants of the challenge remain, leading us to require the ongoing seeking of our loving Heavenly Father's comfort.  

    Some might suggest that we haven't cast our cares well enough.  This may be the case, and we do well to seek the Lord's searching to be sure we are genuinely committing our hearts to Him in the matters that trouble us.  Sin may also be involved.  If some matter of unresolved distrust or disobedience lingers, our disquiet may signal the need for honest and humble discourse with God in order to experience His promised forgiveness through faith and repentant contrition.  Moreover, we may also have unsettled issues with people that hinder our experience of peace with the Lord.  Loving Him involves loving people, and peace of the heart requires peace with other human hearts when at all possible (Isaiah 26:3; Psalm 51:1-8; Matthew 5:23-24; Romans 12:18).

   Still sometimes the pains persist, despite our doing all we know to do with God and with people.  Why might this be?  The answer lies in our shared humanity with fellow travelers in a fallen and often difficult world.  Without our own pain, the sufferings of others would not capture the attention of our hearts.  Our Lord thus allows portions of some internal challenges to linger, at least to the degree that sympathy and empathy grace our hearts in the love of Christ.  Indeed, our Savior experienced such a lifetime as "the Man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief" (Isaiah 53:3).  He identified with those He came to save, and remains our merciful and faith High Priest who is "touched with the feeling of our infirmities" (Hebrews 4:15).  As He lives in us, we will know this identification of love whereby our own discomforts prepare us to minister balm to others.  

    A primary aspect of such ministry involves praying for people who hurt like we hurt.  Such intercession calls us from the black hole of self-centeredness to come forth as a shining sun of light bestowed upon others.  When we feel the need for ongoing comfort, we can be sure that multitudes of others feel the same.  We likely won't know the effect of our prayers for fellow travelers along rugged paths, but we can be sure our merciful Heavenly Father readily responds when we use our own sorrows as opportunity to prayerfully administer His comfort to others.  Upon this basis, our hearts are made ready for other ministries of the others-focused love of Christ.

    Our faith began in this identification of love.  The sorrows of One became the consolation of many.  Let us therefore expect the same in our lives as lingering pains make possible loving persistence in seeking the blessing of those who hurt like we hurt.  The Lord Jesus will be greatly glorified, His balm will be administered in ways beyond our imagining, and our own hearts will know the peace of His devotion to the Father and to people.

"Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ."
(II Corinthians 1:3-5)

Weekly Memory Verse
    Come ye and let us walk in the light of the Lord.
(Isaiah 2:5)