We versus Me

 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life– the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us……and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. 

 

And these things we write to you that your  [fn] joy may be full.  (1 John 1:1-5 NKJV)

 

   I want full joy. Why be unhappy? Dave Guzik thinks this verse expresses the importance of relationship over accumulation of worldly possessions–  Most people understand that the important things in life are not things at all – they are the relationships we have. God has put a desire for relationship in every one of us, a desire He intended to be met with relationships with other people, but most of all, to be met by a relationship with Him. In this remarkable letter, John tells us the truth about relationships – and shows us how to have relationships that are real, for both now and eternity.

   John, the writer of these verses, knew Jesus intimately. Most scholars agree that John was a teenager when he began to walk in Jesus’ dust every day. Teen years are extremely important formative years. Things we learn and accept as truth in those years influence who we are and how we act as adults. If we spend those years learning and practicing the wrong things, we will at best spend years unlearning them or at worst have our lives destroyed or badly misled by what we learned. But John learned the Lord form the Lord. He had countless hours walking the roads of Israel with Christ. He refers to himself as “the disciple Jesus loved”. He had a wonderful relationship with the Lord and knew it. In these verses and all of chapter 1, John is exhorting us to a full relationship with Christ. When our relationship with Jesus is properly established, good relationships with others naturally result.

 

   John says, I heard Him, I saw Him, I touched Him! Jesus was not mystical or theoretical to John. He was the guy he and his friends spent three and a half years with. He was the guy who over time revealed Himself as God in the flesh. He was the guy who confirmed His claim with miracles, but more importantly with intimate personal relationship. John knew and loved Jesus, and he is pleading with us to do the same.

 

   Why is this so important to Him? John says — Jesus is the eternal word of life, and that relationship with faith in Him will transport any person from temporal life to eternal life, and that once that exchange is transacted, your joy may be full. Ever hear anyone long for a ten percent joyous life? How about a half joyous life? Neither have I.

 

   If the landscape of your life is littered with broken relationships, or if you are struggling with one major broken relationship, it might be wisdom to take another look at your primary relationship with Christ for help. Have you heard Him like John? Seen Him like John? Has He touched your heart like He touched John’s? As Jesus walked with John, He is willing to walk with us today — but He won’t chase us down our own rambling path. We have to hear His voice, see Him, then walk as John did in Jesus’ dust — down Jesus’ path.

 

   Want full Joy? Follow Jesus.

     And these things we write to you that your  [fn] joy may be full.

Copyright 2013 Mission of the Master Ministries, Inc. May be quoted in part or in whole without prior written permission if a link is provided to http://wordworkswednesday.blogspot.com

Singing David’s Song……

King David in prayer....

 But you who held fast to the LORD your God are alive today, every one of you.  (Deuteronomy 4:4 NKJV)

In difficult times, it is easy to fall to one of the best strategies the devil has ever devised — bringing to mind past failures to make us fear the challenges before us. Through the great prophet Moses, God reminded the Israelites then and us now  that He is still God. He is still powerful. He can control His creation, it cannot control Him.

David wrote a song that included this lyric — He also brought me up out of a horrible pit, Out of the miry clay, And set my feet upon a rock, And established my steps. (Psalm 40:2 NKJV) What God has done before He can and will do again. David continued – (Vs 3,4) He has put a new song in my mouth– Praise to our God; Many will see it and fear, And will trust in the LORD. Blessed is that man who makes the LORD his trust, And does not respect the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies. Grumbling about trouble is not a new song. Most of us have done plenty of that! Although our quiet complaints may not seem to be directed at God, He hears them clearly. Earlier He told the Israelites – you were complaining in your tents…(Deuteronomy 1:27) God even hears our secret complaints.

Praising God for what He has done both in our lives and the lives of those around us – and the lives described in His Word establishes the new song David mentions. It is a song of praise. Praising God can dramatically change the spiritual atmosphere. It drives the Devil crazy. Purposeful praise dissolves negativity and restores God’s peace.

Have you ever attacked a problem with the spiritual weaponry of praise? Satan attempts to get us to forget the things we should remember and remember the things we should forget. He throws reminders of past forgiven sin in our path to tempt us and bring us shame, but his attack will wither under even a whispered word of praise to God for the forgiveness and mercy we’ve received.

Today’s verse seems written just for me. I am alive today because of God’s mercy and grace. My gratitude to God cannot repay Him, yet by expressing that gratitude in the form
of continuous praise — Many will see it and fear, And will trust in
the LORD…

   Hold fast to God. Trust Him in everything. —  Blessed is that man who makes the LORD his trust… Rest in the peace of His Mighty Grip.

Slogging through Leviticus….

I’m reading Leviticus, and some days it is tough slogging. I recognize that God’s Word is wisdom and even in details of ritual sacrifice that have been long replaced by Grace in the final sacrifice of Jesus, there are many relevant applications. Today I read this verse and it made me pause and ponder —

Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ²“Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: “I am the LORD your God. ³According to the doings of the land of Egypt, where you dwelt, you shall not do; and according to the doings of the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you, you shall not do; nor shall you walk in their ordinances. ⁴You shall observe My judgments and keep My ordinances, to walk in them: I am the LORD your God. ⁵You shall therefore keep My statutes and My judgments, which if a man does, he shall live by them: I am the LORD.

This passage introduces Chapter 18 which proceeds to specifically identify forbidden sexual immorality, but could be synopsized as the Lord saying —

Be captured by My culture, not the prevailing culture.

I should remind myself of this admonition daily. Our culture has long abandoned a biblical worldview and elevates the self. Fame, accumulation and personal pleasure are advertised as solutions to self fulfillment, but their pursuit always falls short of their advertised satisfaction. I have often tried to seek one of these plus God, only to find find myself attempting to walk two diverging paths. As my stride is stretched, I eventually have to choose one over the other.

Jesus reminded us that His is a narrow path, a singular path, a challenging path, and a path requiring a sharp focus, and I often feel like I’m stumbling instead of striding along it. My bible is the staff that steadies  me…….

Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path. (Psalm 119:105 NKJV)

The simple practice of spending minutes a day reading the Word re-enters the correct destination address in my spiritual GPS. Quiet prayer strengthens me for the walk. Every day in His Word reveals or confirms Truth in my life (even when I am slogging through Leviticus). Chapter 18 says :

I am the LORD your God. ⁵You shall therefore keep My statutes and My judgments, which if a man does, he shall live by them: I am the LORD.

I can’t know what I haven’t even read, so again today I’m reading…. slowly slogging through Leviticus….. (He is the Lord)

 

 

 

Searching for My Terebinth Tree

Image via Wikipedia

It is amazing how easily I can read over without noticing important things in the bible. In my daily “washing in the Word” I’m simply re-reading the bible beginning to end.

As I read through Genesis, I noticed in my NKJV that I kept coming across the term terebinth tree. I know a lot about trees but I’ve never heard of a terebinth. After some Googling and Binging I came across this photo. I also learned that a slight translation quarrel exist. Some think the Hebrew translated as terebinth might be better translated as the Palestinian oak. Regardless, God’s Word identifies particular trees as markers.

In Genesis 12, Abraham traveled until he came to “the terebinth tree of Morah” at Schechem. years later his grandson Jacob (Gen 35:4) buried captured idols under the same tree where his grandfather had once rested and met the Lord’s messengers. A few chapters later, Jacob laid to rest one of the mothers of his children beneath a terebinth tree.

These massive trees stand for centuries. Some measure 30 feet in circumference. They put down deep roots and aren’t disrupted by every passing drought. When cut down to a stump, they push shoots skyward. Maybe Isaiah was thinking of them when he wrote   (61:3b)…The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; That they may be called trees of righteousness, The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.”

David stunned and then beheaded Goliath in the valley of the terebinths. (Hebrew, elah), and his real purpose and calling as King was initiated. The oil of Samuel anointed and informed David of his calling, but the blood of Goliath fifteen years later was the turning point toward his destiny – in the shadow of the terebinths.

Like these great men of God, I have often found myself traveling God’s designated path, but  lacking destinational clarity. I’m willing to move forward in simple faith, but I am desperately seeking the next terebinth tree on the path of the Lord. I want to rest in its shadows and sink my roots with its deeper into the Living Waters of Christ. A place where like Jacob I can bury what has passed and move on. A place where God has led me closer to Himself. A place where like Abraham the Lord will meet me face to face. I am seeing the next marker in my life. I am a willing traveler for the Lord, but I want to be bound for something or someplace identified and found, not just wandering and wondering.

Lord, hear my prayer. Let the branches of the next terebinth tree come quickly into view.  Meet me there. Refresh me there. Prune me there, then send me….again.

A Troubled Heart….

These things I have spoken to you while being present with
you.  But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My
name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not
as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither
let it be afraid.

Today I experienced a troubled heart.  Not for trouble I am personally experiencing,
but because someone I love is troubled. Often it seems easier to endure my own
difficulty that to watch someone else walk through it.

After the initial impact, I prayed and I turned to scripture. Jesus words in John
14:27 often comfort me – My peace I give to you; not as the world
gives do I give to you…… Some days the world can pile us so high with
trouble that our knees threaten to buckle under the burden, then a strange
strength arrives unannounced and we stand. Wisdom and discernment begin to flow
and eventually the Lord’s peace governs our heart below the burden. All of this
is the work of the Holy Spirit, our constant companion. When we can’t tell
truth from lies, the Spirit of Truth will discern. When our path is clear but
looks too steep or rocky, the Holy Spirit encourages us forward. When we feel exhausted
and alone, we remember David’s words – Where can I go from your Spirit? –
And find ourselves in the company of three – the Father, the Son and the Holy
Spirit. We are among holy friends, holy counselors, holy wisdom, holy healing
and holy power from the throne of God in the form of the Holy Spirit.
Fellowship in the Spirit can sustain us through what otherwise would seem
impossible.

Do you need help today? The Helper is already present. He is with you and is reaching to help. He has been sent by the Father in the Name of Jesus. What could have more
power? He has proceeded from the Father and the Son and remains in constant
contact with all who have simple faith the life, death and resurrection of the
Lord.

Do not let your heart be troubled. Neither let it be afraid. God is with you.

Pax vobiscum.

Why Are We Battling Over Books and Buildings?

Image via Wikipedia

In the last few weeks I’ve suddenly been besieged with two pressing questions. 1) Was I for or against the location of a mosque at Ground Zero? 2) Should Pastor Terry Jones in Florida burn a pile of Qurans. No person demanded an answer from me, but an opinion seemed necessary. Talk radio, cable news, Drudge and the Internet all had opinions. Many of my friends hold strong opinions. Facebook postings on both were plentiful. It just seemed necessary to have and offer an opinion too. Both issues are complicated and I was not at all certain what I thought. so I spent time with the Lord in prayer asking for guidance.

   I am a Christian man of God. These issues both carry political and religious implications. Should every child of God have an opinion (and express it) on all God related matters? I think not.  I have a sense that neither the Imam in New York nor the Pastor in Florida saw the size of the charge at the end of the fuses they were lighting. Each has been identified with their separate religions as if solitary spokesmen, but neither speak for me.

   But avoid foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they generate strife.  And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth… (2 Titus 2:23-25a NKJV)

   I am for God. That means I trust Jesus Christ as Savior and believe what He tells me. I trust the bible as His expressed will and word. I am for what He is for and against what He is against. My personal struggle is not so grand as to be played out on TV screens around the world. I simply want to be more like Christ and to share Him with someone every day. Even as a mature Christian, sometimes weeks pass where I carry out neither. 

    Let’s reverse our perspective and look back in church history. In 638 A.D.. Caliph Omar led a battle weary but victorious Islāmic army through the gates of Jerusalem where he promptly built a mosque that is the predecessor to the current Dome of the Rock mosque. At the same time he destroyed far more than a few holy books. He destroyed every remnant of Christianity and Judaism he could detect, including thousands of Followers, yet neither faith was destroyed – just as the bible promised. More than a millennia has passed since that battle, and during that time the Lord has continued His work of Grace, including saving me.  Today’s issues are minor passing controversies that will not change God’s plans in any way.

     I’ve decided not to be distracted by these current religo/political controversies. That would be a misuse of the Grace that I have found in Christ. I am sufficiently challenged by the Holy Spirit’s ongoing sanctification of my flesh and the burden my heart has for those who have yet to hear the Gospel. 

    But, by the way, I have read the Quran.  As a bible believing Christian I found it to be distorted nonsense. It is no holy book to me. I already have one – the bible. The Quran has no power or effect on what I believe will be God’s final disposition of humanity. That has already been clearly defined in the bible. These controversies have no effect on my faith or on God’s final outcome. Muslims and others have destroyed many bibles and built many mosques, yet the work of Christ continues, and I feel no urge to ignite a Quran bonfire.

    I won’t be defined by what I am against, but rather by Who I am for.  I stand for Christ.

    Wanna battle Islam? Share the Gospel with a Muslim friend.  If they reject the Gospel, fair enough – they have that right. The war isn’t over books or buildings – it is a battle for souls.  Live your faith.

The World’s Oldest Family Feud….

Then one who had escaped came and told Abram the Hebrew, for he dwelt by the terebinth trees of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and brother of Aner; and they were allies with Abram. (Genesis 14;13 NKJV)

   Genesis 14:13 is the first biblical mention of the designation, Hebrew. It literally means to cross over, or sojourner. Remember that biblical names carry two important meanings – they designate identity and authority. The Hebrews, beginning with Abraham, were sojourners who would do both, sojourn and cross over at the specific instruction (authority) of God.   

   This week there are once again meetings at the White house and the State Department to attempt to broker peace between Israel and the PLO. Similar negotiations have been attempted for most of my adult life. Many plans have emerged for peace in the middle east, and they have all largely failed. Last night I saw clips from a joint news conference attended by Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu and the PLO leader Abbas. In Netanyahu’s remarks, he cited scripture as a source for the hope for peace. It reminded me that many of the State Department’s bright young minds look to law, philosophy and international experience for inspiration about how to broker peace, but think of the bible as fantasy, while they are negotiating with two men who believe Genesis as a historical account of their ancient father Abraham’s life.

    So can any common ground be found? I usually think of Ishmael as having been totally separated from Issac and Abraham when he was driven off along with his mother Hagar into the desert, presumably to die. But there is a passage that cites a sad reunion years later — Then Abraham breathed his last and died in a good old age, an old man and full of years, and was gathered to his people. 9 And his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah, which is before Mamre, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite,  the field which Abraham purchased from the sons of Heth. There Abraham was buried, and Sarah his wife.

  It is not uncommon for broken families to reunite in a time of grief like the death or mortal sickness of a beloved family member. Often that new-found unity prospers in the grief only to be destroyed again when the will is read.

   Ironically Abraham is buried at Hebron, which means binding friendship. The name refers to the friendship Abraham found there with the Ammorites, but hasn’t applied to the momentary unity Ishmael and Isaac had at their father’s funeral 4,000 years ago. Instead, the greatest family feud of all time began with two people and continues today with two peoples. One brother’s family has sworn to kill the other.

   Fights over mosques are nothing new in this broken family, but God is still in charge. The authority He ceded to Joshua to take the Promised Land still exists. Only He can enforce it and only He can protect Israel. Want to do something constructive to help? David wrote in Psalm 122 –Pray for the peace of Jerusalem…..

Listening to the Branches…..

And if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them became a partaker of the root and fatness of the olive tree, 18 do not boast against the branches. But if you do boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you. 19 You will say then, “Branches were broken off that I might be grafted in.” 20 Well said. Because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear. 21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either. (Romans 11:17-21 NKJV)

   According to church researchers most Christians have an ambiguous theology. We kind of know generally what denominations we disagree with, but we are unable to articulate the particulars of the disagreement.

   The Holy Spirit instructed me years ago to “die to denominationalism”. Over time I have concluded that every born again Christian is my brother or sister in Christ. This has made me realize that I am coupled at the root with believers with whom I have sharp theological disagreement. My sense is that God is focused on unity while our flesh, wanting to be right, distinguishes the differences. Reluctantly, I have tilted in favor of unity. It is amazing how my interaction has changed when I have abandoned  the need to explain to others the failings perceived in their theology. I now consciously resist letting the theological anger of another lead to mine in return.

   Paul’s words to the church in Rome remind of to re-center my focus on Christ — But if you do boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you. This may seem to be an odd comment coming from a man who has written about the bible and the Lord for years, but I wonder if the root of our disagreement isn’t fed from our habit of spending more time reading the uninspired words written my mortals about the God than we spend simply reading the Word and praying. It seems we’ve become as a church a little obsessed with the next cool explanation. In other words, we boast about the man who has written about the Root rather than boasting about the Root he is writing about.

   John Wesley called himself a man with a one book library. His method of bible study was simple. Read a verse and pray. If he still lacked understanding he next read every other verse about the same subject or that contained the same word and prayed more. Then he’d ask a trusted Christian friend to do the same and he’d discuss their understanding. (By the way, this included his dear friend George Whitefield who had a very different theological view). As a last resort he’d look to the church fathers and what they’d written. First the Root, then the branches.

   Are you a student of the Word, or of what has been written about it by its branches?

Gutenberg’s Soul….

   For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. (Romans 10:2 NKJV)

   Today is a day unmarked by Christian celebration although it represents the greatest turning point in church history since the release of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. On this day in 1456, Gutenberg actually completed the first of many copies of his bible, and the Word became commonly available.

  Gutenberg came from a wealthy family who supplied metals and machinery for the minting of coins. He became obsessed with the concept of the printing press and poured into its development every penny he possessed along with the wealth of several major investors.

   Gutenberg had a zeal for scripture and he painstakingly created each character of his movable type with an awe for what it would print which rivaled the ancient Hebrew scribes. He strove for and achieved a technological breakthrough which changed history, advanced civilization and made him a fortune…. Well, not exactly. It seems those investors were kinda hard to deal with, and they pressed for a return that exceeded his ability to repay them, so they confiscated his printing business and operated it for years at great profit.

What happened to Gutenberg? When the material gain of the world left him wanting, he saw through its veil and recognized the greater thing, his lacking spiritual life. He devoted himself to Christ and became a lay member of a group of itinerate friars who spent their days in prayer, scripture study (probably eventually in a bible his press had printed), and ministry for Christ to the poor.

   August 25, 1456 was a re-release of the Holy Spirit into the lives of millions through exposure to the written Word of God. It fostered a revolution we call The Reformation. It led to the rise to prominence of Martin Luther, of whom we would know nothing if Gutenberg’s press hadn’t printed thousands of copies of his 95 Thesis for distribution. God used Gutenberg powerfully to grow and change His church, but more importantly to change and save his soul. On the day He set the type to print Matthew 16:26 — For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?, he had no idea of its coming application in his life.

   Gutenberg’s printing press changed the world, cost him years of his life and everything he owned, and left him penniless but at peace with God. Let’s honor his life today. Let’s not leave our zeal for God unfueled by the knowledge we can only find in our bibles.

   So did poverty lead to Gutenberg’s spiritual transformation? I think not. In order to print the bible he had to read and proof read every single word. Printing the bible made him famous. Reading the bible transformed his life and saved his soul. Spend time today in God’s Holy Word.

How Much Should You Pay for a Prostitute?

Go, take yourself a wife of harlotry… (Hosea 1:2a NKJV) 

    The call of God is a difficult thing, but Hosea got a particularly tough assignment. I often hear the argument for sin – God wants me to be happy. Hosea was not headed for happiness when he went to the whorehouse to find a wife.  While her name, Gomer, today sounds strange to our western ears, it actually means – complete. God’s plan for marriage is a completion. He has taken from the side of Adam, woman, whom he concealed within Adam when H created him from the dust, and it is His divine plan that what was removed by God to create woman will voluntarily return and stay. It was not so for Hosea. Gomer came, but she did not stay.

  As years passed, Gomer’s third child arrived and God instructed Hosea– (vs9) Call his name Lo-Ammi, For you are not My people, And I will not be your God. Guzik sums up the effect of this —

    Since Gomer did not give up her prostitution, there may have been a cruel irony in the name Lo-Ammi. Perhaps this son really was not the son of Hosea, but of another man. Perhaps the appearance of the child made this evident. The message God had to deliver to Israel through Hosea was hard enough, but God also made Hosea have to live it.

   So this was a marriage in the bible, but not a biblical marriage as God intended in the Garden. It must have been difficult for everyone in the family. It seems that Gomer continued as a working prostitute. Then God, after many years of requiring Hosea to live in this brazenness issued an even more severe command about Gomer– (3:1) Go again, love a woman who is loved by a lover and is committing adultery. We most often view romantic love as something that overtakes us. It is not an act of our will as much as the master of our will. But Hosea’s love for Gomer is instead simply obedience. God commanded him to love her, so he did. By this time years have passed. Men who once pursued a beautiful young Gomer the whore, wife of the man of God, now ignore her and she’s been sold into slavery for whatever use as a laborer she can offer. Slavery was an accepted norm and markets sold humans like wine or cloth. 

   Hosea obeyed God, went to the market, and bought a broken down woman. There were certainly not many bidders and her lot in life hadn’t left her with much market value, but our bibles tell us — So I bought her for myself for fifteen shekels of silver, and one and one-half homers of barley. Imagine that! As the aging, unwanted prostitute stood on the block for sale, her value, as a result of her own choices, was little or nothing… Then Hosea’s voice from the crowd shouted a bid equal to the price of the most highly valued slaves, and Hosea bought her, and immediately loved her as God commanded.

    When I read this story, it reminds me that I once was Gomer – unfaithful to God in nearly every possible way. But God is good and His mercy endureth forever. He bought me back for an immeasurable price, and loved me anyway. Hallelujah!