"Strangely Garbed"

With God, we must always expect the unexpected. Just as the Lord Jesus Christ came to Israel as a suffering rather than a conquering Messiah, so our Savior comes to us in ways, means and forms we would never anticipate.

Blessings are often enrobed in difficulties. Comfort sometimes accompanies rather than alleviates pain. Joy and sorrow exist concurrently in our hearts. Strength is "made perfect" in weakness. The greatest peace abides in the greatest turmoil, and the broken heart often discovers the wonder of the nail-scarred Heart in a measure unknown in any other way.

We must expect this seemingly counterintuitive way of God in our lives, and in this day. The Lord Jesus will come to us so quietly and unobtrusively that we will not see Him unless we are expecting the unexpected. Or He may come to us in the bloody way of nails and thorns that discomfits our flesh to the degree that, like Israel, we may feel as if we don't want who and what He is. Both challenging ways call us to the faith that opens our eyes to see, and our hearts to trust.

The time will come when we will instantly see and rejoice in how our Lord works in our lives. This is not that time. Presently, "we see through a glass darkly," and presently we must overcome the challenges to faith presented by the world, the flesh and the devil (I Corinthians 13:12). Our enemies ever seek to distract and discourage. We would all confess that too often we have failed to overcome their challenges. Our merciful Heavenly Father nevertheless calls us to the triumph of this moment, the triumph of the risen Christ present in every arena and along every avenue of our lives. Wherever we are, He is, and however we are, He promises to be whatever we need Him to be. Never has the Lord Jesus disappointed anyone who has trusted Him, and never will He. May we thus open our eyes to see, and direct our hearts to expect the unexpected ways, means and forms whereby the risen Christ comes to us in strangely garbed, but glorious power.

"He shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: He hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him."

(Isaiah 53:2)

"Small Fish, Small Ponds"

I'm afraid I have made the mistake of overexposure to the news in recent days. In times of increasing wickedness and insanity, this is a huge mistake.

Of course, I don't mean to suggest that we remain ignorant to the goings on of the world around us. Certainly not. However, too much focus on world, national, state and even local affairs about which we can do nothing may distract us from the immediate responsibilities to which God calls us to attend ourselves with great care and devotion. Indeed, the things I can do in service to God and those for whom He has given me responsibility are the primary issues of life. I believe in being a small fish in a small pond, and in being sure by God's grace to swim effectively in the waters wherein He places us.

Long ago, the Apostle Paul told us that "evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived" (II Timothy 3:13). They are, and they will until our Lord returns for His church, and then later establishes His kingdom on earth. Indeed, the world as we presently know it will not continue forever, thank God. "The fashion of this world passeth away" (I Corinthians 7:31). Expecting too much in such a realm is ill-advised, although our Lord does provide, preserve, protect and bless in accordance with His eternal purpose in Christ Jesus. We thank God for his present involvement, and do what we can in society as it presently exists. However, born again believers join Abraham and "look for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God" (Hebrews 11:10). As Paul commanded, "Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God" (Colossians 3:2).

My pond and yours require attention in this day. We therefore do well to glance at the world around us in order to maintain necessary awareness and whatever involvement our Lord may lead us to have. However, our gaze is on Him, and on the matters at hand He privileges us to perform for His glory. Great fulfillment, peace and joy await us by attending to the pond wherein the things we can do are easily known and doable. Most importantly, we shall find our Lord there, revealing the magnitude of His glory by His small fish in their small ponds.

"God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:that no flesh should glory in His presence."

(I Corinthians 27:29)

"No More a Servant"

(A repeat from last year)

"And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ" (Galatians 4:6-7).

"Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ" (Romans 1:1).

The Apostle Paul tells the Galatians that faith in the Lord Jesus Christ birthed them into family relationship with God, as opposed to mere servitude to a master. Nevertheless he refers to himself as "a servant of Jesus Christ."

The Lordship of Jesus must be understood in the context of our being "dear children" as the basis of our service to God (Ephesians 5:1). "Ye serve the Lord Christ" declared Paul, whose servanthood originated and proceeded from family relationship with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Certainly the perception of ourselves as servants is a Biblically valid understanding (Colossians 3:24). However, sonship must be established in our minds if servanthood to God is to be known and experienced according to the loving relationship for which the Lord Jesus suffered and died. Under the law, primarily slaves. Under grace and truth, primarily "no more a servant, but a son." The distinction is vital.

The obedience of the Christian is the obedience of genuine love, as opposed to the mere fulfillment of duty. Our Heavenly Father has no interest whatsoever in a heartless submission that belies the heart-filled reality of the Lord Jesus dwelling in us by His Spirit. Long ago, Israel was severely chastened because "because thou servedst not the LORD thy God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart" (Deuteronomy 28:47). How much more must the born again believer, spiritually birthed by the Holy Spirit into being "a habitation of God," serve as a glad, grateful, and affectionate member of "the whole family in heaven and earth" rather than the cold and sterile discipline of a slave? (Ephesians 2:22; 3:15).

This truth, received and nurtured within our hearts and minds, will change our lives. We serve from sonship. We serve from being loved as cherished children who love in joyful response. We serve because there is genuine desire in us for the will of God, wrought in us by the Spirit of His Son dwelling in us. We serve in a devotion and sincerity that can only proceed from the shared interest of family involvement and relationship. And we serve with the understanding that "doing the will of God from the heart" is the only obedience in which our Heavenly Father has any interest (Ephesians 6:6). The Lord Jesus makes such genuine devotion possible, and the more we realize how near He has drawn us to our Father in Heaven, the more we will join Paul in the glad service of dear sons and daughters.

A final thought, and perhaps the most important. The Lord Jesus died in lonely and forsaken agony to birth sons and daughters rather than to merely purchase slaves. Too much was sacrificed on the cross of Calvary to minimize the wondrous effect of the grace that flows from our Savior's tortured death. Recognizing and embracing the glory of kinship to God made possible by the presence of the Spirit of Christ in us leads to a "from the heart" devotion that blesses our Heavenly Father's heart even as it fulfills our own. Nothing else will suffice as the basis of the servanthood that proceeds from the Son who gave so much to draw us into the very family of God.

"But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name: which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God."

(John 1:12-13)