Whose Will?

                                                              

                                                                     Whose Will?

Jesus' prayer in the Garden was "Not My will, but Thine, be done."

Most often I would rather pray, "Let my will be done."

And that gets me into trouble! The sin in my life, and probably in yours, can be traced back to pursuing our own wills, goals and desires, rather than His -- the will of our heavenly Father who made us, knows everything and plans our best in all things all the time.

So when we pray we should ask  God to reshape our will, to realign it with His Will through the Word of God.

Our hearts are inclined toward sin, rebellion and walking out of step with God.

But God, in His infinite mercy and grace, has given us His Spirit and His Word to  reshape our will and recalibrate the desires of our hearts to bring us back into step with Him!

He always give us what we need to obey and glorify Him!

 What a great and loving Father we have!

The Promise and the Oath - part 2

The LORD promised Abraham (Genesis 15):

"I am the LORD, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to take possession of it."

But Abram said, "O LORD God, how am I to know that I am to possess it?"


How can I know for sure?


Abraham, in spite of what God had already done for him, still harbored some degree of un-faith.

In the verses before this, when God promised him numerous, countless descendants, Abraham, the text says, "believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness."

But now when it comes to the promise of the land, Abraham does not speak with such faith.

"How can I know for sure?" he asks.

This is even more telling when we notice that Abraham addresses God with His Yahweh/Covenant personal title - LORD. The Name above all Names that was synonymous with Faithfulness.

"Even though I know You are faithful and true to Your Covenant, I still need more proof," he seems to be saying.

This display of lack of faith might have made an earthly parent angry.

But God patiently and lovingly gives him a further act to assure him.

"So the LORD said to him, 'Bring me a heifer, a goat and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon.'

"Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite each other; the birds, however, he did not cut in half....

"As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him....

"When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces. On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram and said, 'To your descendants I give this land ...'"


The Oath

God told Abraham to prepare a sacrifice.

When men made a legal contract in Abraham's day,
this is the ceremony they held.

Today we write out the contract, take it to a notary
and get the signatures verified. Or take it to the court house to be filed. Or to an attorney for processing.

In those days they held this ceremony described here in Genesis (and referred to later in Jeremiah 34).

The sacrificial animals would be divided and the two pieces placed opposite each other on the ground.
(The small birds were not divided, but placed whole on opposite sides.)

Suppose one man was buying property, or live stock, from another man.

The one initiating the contract would quote the terms, the men  would join hands, and walk between the sacrificial pieces.

When they were finished the deal was done.

Both men participated in the ceremony. Both brought
something to the table - property to sell or funds to buy it.


But this ceremony was different.

Jehovah's contract with Abraham was unconditional.
He was chosen by God for His mission and blessing.

Abraham had nothing to bring to the table.

God was promising, making an oath, to Abraham.
Abraham's role was simply to believe.

So God performed the ceremony with Himself, and Abraham slept in darkness.

Hundreds of years later, there was another ceremony
at Calvary.

God gave us His unconditional oath to save us and bring us into His family, through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

There is nothing we can do to fulfill that oath. It's all in God's hands.

Abraham slept in a "thick and dreadful darkness" as God performed the ceremonial oath.

At the cross as Jesus, the Perfect Passover Sacrifice,
died, "there was darkness over the whole land...while the sun's light failed" (Luke 23:44-45).


Like Abraham, we have nothing to bring to the table.



 

What is more than a simple promise? - Part 1

When God made His promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for Him to swear by, He swore by Himself, saying "I will surely bless you and give you many descendants."

And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised.

Men swear by someone greater than themselves, and the oath confirms what is said and puts an end to all argument.

Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of His purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, He confirmed it with an oath.

God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us, may be greatly encouraged.
(Hebrews 6:16-18)


Notes:

1. There is no One greater for God to swear by. We go to court and swear to "tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth."

That's our promise.

And then we add, "So help me God." That's our
oath. Two elements: a promise and an oath.

2. Those are the two unchangeable (immutable) statements in which it is impossible for God to lie: His promise and His oath.

3. Why both? Why a promise and an oath? God doesn't need to give us both. His promise is all we need.

Because He wanted to make the unchanging nature of His promise clear to the heirs of His promise(everyone since Abraham, including us) and so that we may be greatly encouraged.

Two reasons: to make sure we understand clearly what God is doing and to encourage us in our walk with God.

I notice here how patiently loving and kind God is.

He anticipated how doubt would creep in and distract us. How unbelief would blind us from seeing God's work. How fear would cause us to take our eyes of God's promises.

He remembers who we are.....


Remember Abraham?


God promises him:

 Look up at the heavens and count the stars -- if indeed you can count them...so shall your offspring be.

Abram believed the LORD and he credited it to him as righteousness....

I am the LORD who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to take possession of. (Genesis 15:5-7)


But Abraham, who followed God from his homeland in Ur all the way to Palestine, had a moment of doubt.

He said,

O Sovereign LORD, how can I know that I will gain possession of it? (Genesis 15:8)


What other words in God's promise would convince him? What wasn't clear? What more could God do the reassure him?

I am so comforted the see that God didn't condemn Abraham for His response.

God didn't answer in anger and tell Abraham to just forget the whole thing - go back where you used to belong and I will get someone else to work with, He could have said.

Or, I will punish you for not believing Me! Just for your sin of unbelief I will not use you to further my Kingdom, to rescue my people. You are toast, Abraham, I can't count on you! Why don't you listen to Me?

No, God did not say anything like that. But what He did do was provide a way for Abraham to witness God's confirming oath.

By that oath Abraham could understand more clearly and be greatly encouraged that His faithful God was indeed going to fulfill His promises.

He had the promise - now he gets the oath!


The Oath - see part 2

Man - Doesn't Need Improvement - C S Lewis

Fallen man is not simply an imperfect creature who needs improvement: he is a rebel who must lay down his arms.


Laying down your arms, surrendering, saying you are sorry, realising that you have been on the wrong track and getting ready to start life over again from the ground floor -- that is the only way out of our 'hole.'


This process of surrender -- this movement full speed astern --is what Christians call repentance.


Remember, this repentance, this willing submission to humiliation and a kind of death, is not something God demands of you before He will take you back and which He could get you out of if He chose: it is simply a description of what going back to Him is like.


If you ask God to take you back without it you are really asking Him to let you go back without going back. It cannot happen.

 -- From Mere Christianity by C S Lewis

David's Audience of One

 

                                                       David's Audience of One

When David brought the Ark of the Covenant into Jerusalem -- what a celebration!

"David, wearing a linen ephod, danced before the LORD with all his might, while he and the entire house of Israel brought up the Ark of the LORD with shouts and the sounds of trumpets...Michal, daughter of Saul, watched from a window. And when she saw King David leaping and dancing before the LORD, she despised him in her heart. She came out to meet him and said, 'How the King of Israel has distinguished himself today disrobing in the sight of the slave girls of his savants as any vulgar fellow would!'

And David said to Michal, 'It was before the LORD, who chose me rather than your father when He appointed me ruler over the LORD's people Israel - I will celebrate before the LORD.'"

David remembered who he was celebrating and who was his real audience  -- 

              The Audience of One! The only Audience that really matters!

We need to remember every day that our only important Audience is our Audience of One! No one else matters!

US: How to Welcome the French

In June of 1778 the British troops evacuated Philadelphia, and the colonial leaders came back to their capital city. The French had brought aid -- and there were 16 ships with 4,000 troops on the coast ready to come in and join the American forces in defeating the British.

As Congress re-convened they concentrated on how to welcome the French leader, Mons. Gerard.

Samuel Adams and Richard Henry Lee were appointed to "report to Congress on the time and manner of the public reception of Mons. Gerard, minister plenipotentiary Majesty of his most Christian majesty, the King of France." (plenipotentiary means that this ambassador represented the king and had been granted his full royal power and authority--the highest rank for an ambassador.)

There were several days of debate (remember the colonies were still at war but the importance of proper protocol for the "monarch" took their full attention!)

Finally the elaborate ritual was developed.

The French diplomat would bring his credentials to the President of Congress. Then he would wait for a formal audience with Congress. Two members of Congress would come, in a coach, belonging to the United States, to escort him to Congress. And then they...

shall return with the minister plenipotentiary, one Congressman giving the minister the right hand, and placing himself on his left, with the other Congressman on the front seat.

When the minister plenipotentiary is arrived at the door of the Congress hall, he shall be introduced to his chair by the two members who will stand at his left hand. Then the member first named shall present and announce him to the President and the house; whereupon he shall bow to the house and to the Congress, and they to him.

He and the President shall then again bow unto each other, and be seated, after which the house itself will sit down. Having spoken and being answered, the minister and the President shall bow to each other, at which time the house should bow, and then he shall be conducted home in the manner in which he was brought to the house.

(This congressional audience would make a good 'pop-up book').



*****************************************


I'm just thinking about how we approach God, remembering John's reaction in Revelation 1 and Isaiah's in Isaiah 6.....we should be struck with awe and a fearful awareness of His power and glory. But there is another attitude also:

Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so they we may receive receive mercy and find grace to help in our time of need.    Hebrews 4:16

Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. Christ Jesus; because through Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. Romans 8:1

The Throne of Grace......This is how we approach our God...

Man-made or heavenly - Hebrews 9

For Christ did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one; He entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God's presence.

Nor did He enter heaven to offer Himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own.

Then He would have to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But now He has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of Himself.

Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment,
so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people;
and He will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for Him.
                             -- Hebrews 9:24-28


Before Christ came, the Jews had to depend on a human high priest who annually visited the Holy of Holies in a man-made sanctuary.

He would enter the Holy of Holies and sprinkle the blood of the sacrificed animal on the Mercy Seat cover of the Ark.

This critical rite was designed and ordained by God to cover the sins of His people.

But now we depend on our heavenly High Priest, Jesus Himself, who has entered once and for all into the heavenly sanctuary, with His own blood, to take away our sin.

There He represents us before God, and He always will.

We must not rely on anything in our spiritual life that is "made with hands." It cannot do the eternal work God wants to do in our lives.

The early Jews had a tabernacle, a tent, that temporarily housed the Ark of the Covenant and in  which the people worshipped and the priests offered sacrifices.

This tabernacle accompanied them in their wilderness journey and was their center of worship in the early days in Israel.

It was then replaced by Solomon's Temple, which was destroyed by the Babylonians.

When the Jews returned from their Babylonian exile, they rebuilt the temple, though on a humble scale. 

Later Herod rebuilt and embellished the Temple and it stood in architectural splendor in Jerusalem to bring awe and majesty to the Name of God.

But the Romans destroyed that temple about 40 years after Christ was crucified and it has never been rebuilt.



Things that are "made with hands," the author of Hebrews is telling us, are perishable, but the things "not made with hands" are eternal.

We must not entrust our salvation and our obedience to God to temporary, "made with hands" symbols, philosophies, and institutions around us.

Our salvation is based on the atoning work of Jesus Christ, who has entered the heavenly, eternal realm and appears right now and forever before God as our Advocate.

And we await His return as rightful King of His Creation!

Trying to be Good - C S Lewis

 

                                    Trying to be Good  -  Thoughts from C S Lewis

A Christian is in a different position from other people who are trying to be good.

They hope, by being good, to please God, if there is one, or -- if there is not -- at least they hope to deserve approval from good men.

But the Christian thinks any good he does comes from the Christ-life inside him.

He does not think God will love us because we are good, but that God will make us good because He loves us, just as the roof of a greenhouse does not attract the sun because it is bright, but becomes bright because the sun shines on it.

Where Did the Scientist Find the Theologian?

 

                  Where Did the Scientist Find the Theologian?

Robert Jastrow was a well-known and influential astronomer and physicist. He was the founder and director of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, and a self-described agnostic. He died in 2008. Before he died he wrote this:

     "For the scientist who has lived by his faith in the power of reason,

     the story ends like a bad dream. He has scaled the mountain of

     ignorance; he is about to conquer the highest peak; as he pulls

     himself over the final rock, he is greeted by a band of theologians who

     have been sitting there for centuries."

 

How amazing is that?

The Greatest Saint in the World - William Law

From A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life, by William Law.

Who is the greatest saint in the world?

Would you know who is the greatest saint in the world? It is not he who gives the most alms, or is most noteworthy for temperance, chastity or justice.

It is he who is always thankful to God, wills everything that God wills, receives everything as an instance of God's goodness, and has a heart always ready to praise God for it.

All prayer and devotion, fasting and repentance, meditation, sacraments and ordinances are only ways to make the soul fit and conformable to the will of God--and to fill it with thankfulness and praise for everything that comes from God.
This is the perfection of all virtues....

You need not wonder, therefore, that I lay so much stress upon singing a psalm at all your devotions, since you see its purpose is to bring your spirit to a constant state of joy and thankfulness to God, which is the highest perfection of a holy life.

If anyone would tell you the shortest and surest way to all happiness and perfection, he must tell you to make a rule to yourself to thank and praise God for everything that happens to you. For it is certain that whatever apparent calamity happens to you, if you thank and praise God for it, you turn it into a blessing.

If you could work miracles, you could not do more for yourself than by this thankful spirit, for it heals without speaking a word, and turns all that it touches into happiness.

And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28

Jesus' Close Friend - Andrew - Part 2

From Part 1...


So we have seen that the New Testament only gives us 3 personal pictures of Andrew. And we see from these 3 incidents that he was a man who brought others to Christ, including his famous brother, Simon Peter.

Notes

1. Andrew's first mission field was his family. "We have found the Messiah!" he proclaimed to his brother.

Not, "we might have..", "we think we have..." "we want your opinion..."

No, he declared as clearly as a gold miner might cry out: "Eureka! I found it!"

WE HAVE FOUND THE MESSIAH!

The long-expected and longed-for Messiah, the Son of God, the Anointed of God to redeem His people had arrived!

There was no doubt in Andrew's mind.


It was true then, and it is true now, that most people who come to Christ, come because of a testimony of another family member. The biggest mission field in the world is right at our own doorstep.


2. Andrew was sure of his message because he had spent many hours with Christ. From 4 PM until the following morning he had experienced being in the presence of God. We don't know what they discussed, likely much like Jesus' words to the disciples on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24) when they reported, "were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?"

Andrew did not go into great explanation to Simon. He did not argue. He did not "set up" the conversation with questions and thought-provoking
scenarios. Just a statement: "We have found the Messiah!"

When we have spent time with Jesus, our hearts will "burn within us" and we will feel compelled to go to our family and friends, with fervor and confidence.


"Come and you will see," Jesus had told them. And they did.


3. What happened to Andrew? According to tradition, Andrew was crucified during the reign of Nero, about 60 AD, in Patrae, Greece. We are told he "embraced" his cross and welcomed the opportunity to suffer as Christ suffered.

A more recent legend (14th century or so) tell us that he was given (or requested) an X-shaped cross, like we see today on his icons for his position as Patron Saint of both Scotland and Russia, as well as various
old manuscript illustrations and tapestries and paintings.

Questions

1. When Andrew brought his brother to Jesus, do you think he knew he would himself take a smaller role in the group of followers around Jesus?  Did he anticipate that his brother would eclipse him in position and influence?

(Andrew is always listed in the group of disciples as one of the first four - along with Peter, James and John.)

2. Why do you think Andrew told Jesus about the young boy with a few loaves and fishes in John 6 at the Feeding of the Five Thousand event?

3. What do you admire most in Andrew's life?  What would you wish to imitate?

4. When the Greek came to Philip and asked to meet Christ, why do you think Philip went to Andrew first? Why did the Greeks approach Philip?


Philip was a Greek name, meaning, "lover of horses" and was a popular name among Greeks, probably because of Alexander the Great's famous father, Philip of Macedon, who lived in the 4th century BC.

Did Philip perhaps speak Greek? (Andrew was also a Greek name.)

AfterThoughts

Hardly anyone remembers the name of Mr. Edward Kimball. But he was a very influential man and his dedication to Christ's mission changed the lives of thousands about a hundred years ago, just as Andrew's testimony to his brother Peter changed history two thousand years ago.

Mr. Kimball was a Sunday School teacher at Mount Vernon Church (Boston) where one of his young students (age 16) was Dwight L. Moody.

On young Moody's first Sunday in class, Mr. Kimball handed him a closed Bible and told him the lesson was in John. Moody fingered the Bible, opened it and began looking for the text.

Other young boys began to react to his ignorance, making fun of him as he attempted to locate the proper place in scripture.

Mr. Kimball realized what was happening and gave him his own Bible which was already opened to the text. Moody recalled that kind act years later.

But just teaching Sunday School class was not Mr.  Kimball's full mission. He also visited with his young students and sought every opportunity to explain the full gospel message to them.

He decided to visit Moody at his work (Moody was a shoe salesman at Holston's shoe store). Kimball relates later:



    I started down to Holston's. When I was nearly
    there, I began to wonder whether I ought to go
    just then, during business hours. And I thought
    maybe my mission might embarrass the boy, that
    when I went away the other clerks might ask who
    I was and when they learned they might taunt
    Moody and ask if I was trying to make a good
    boy out of him.

    While I was pondering over it all, I passed the
    store without noticing it. Then when I found I
    had passed the door, I determined to make a
    dash for it and have it over at once.

    I found Moody in the back part of the store
    wrapping up shoes in paper and putting them
    on shelves.

    I went up to him and out my hand on his shoulder,
    and as I leaned over I made my plea, and I feel
    it was a very weak one. I don't know what words I
    used...I simply told him of Christ's love for him
    and the love Christ wanted in return. That was all
    there was to it.

    I think Mr. Moody said later that there were
    tears in my eyes. It seemed the young man was
    just ready for the light that then broke over him,
    for there in the back of that shoe store in Boston
    the future great evangelist gave himself and his
    life to Christ.


Later Mr. Moody recalled, "....here is a man who
never saw me until lately, and he is weeping over
my sins and I never shed a tear about them.

"But I understand it now, and know what it is to
have a passion for men's souls and weep over
their sins. I don't remember what he said, but I
can feel the power of that man's hand on my
shoulder here to-night."


                                  ~~~~~

Historical Marker

Historical Plaque commemorating the place where Dwight Moody was converted in 1855:

D. L. Moody
Christian Evangelist
Friend of Man
Founder of the
Northfield Schools
Was Converted to God
In a Shoe Store On
This Site
April 21, 1855

~~~~~

[Note: Notice Kimball's hesitation and second thoughts before he actually came to Moody and spoke with him. Ever feel that way?]



Jesus' Close Friend -- Andrew - Part 1

Jesus' Close Friend - Andrew

Setting the scene....

The River Jordan, where John the Baptizer is with two of his disciples (Andrew and the unnamed disciple - probably John, the brother of James, who later became the famous disciple of Jesus).

Jesus, returning from his 40 days in the wilderness,
had seen the Baptizer the day before and had requested that he himself be baptized. John reluctantly agreed and received the heavenly sign that Jesus was indeed the promised Messiah.

Now Jesus approaches the area again.


     The next day John was there again with two of
     his disciples. When he saw Jesus passing by, he
     said, "Look, the Lamb of God!"

     When the two disciples heard him say this, they
     followed Jesus.

     Turning around, Jesus saw them following and
     asked, "What do you want?"

     They said, "Rabbi" (which means Teacher),
     "Where are you staying?"

     "Come," he replied, "and you will see."

     So they went and saw where he was staying
     and spent that day with him. It was about the
     tenth hour.

     Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, was one of the
     two who heard what John had said and who had
     followed Jesus.

     The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother
     Simon, and tell him, "We have found the
     Messiah" (that is, the Christ). And he brought him
     to Jesus.
                        --John 1:35-42



Scripture does not tell us a lot about Andrew. Certainly far less than of his famous brother, Simon Peter.

But we do know that Andrew is the one who first recognized the Messiah and the one who brought Peter to that same knowledge.

Mostly we refer to Andrew today as "The brother of Simon Peter."

What do we know about Andrew?

There are only three pictures of Andrew himself given us in the New Testament.

One is this glimpse here of Andrew's eagerness to share his great news -- We have found the Messiah -- with his prominent brother.


The second story is in John 6 when a multitude of spiritually hungry folks are listening to Christ's message (after all, He is the "Bread of Life") and it comes time for physical food to feed them.

Jesus asks his disciples, "Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?" (They were on the far side of the Sea of Galilee.)

Philip quickly answers, "Eight months' wages would not buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!"

But Andrew, appearing before Jesus with a young boy, says, "Here is a boy with five small barley loaves, and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?"

This story still amazes me. Why would Andrew even mention the boy with his small lunch? Did the other disciples roll their eyes in scorn?

"Andrew, for Pete's sake (pardon the pun), why are you bothering Jesus with that information?"

Was Andrew expecting something miraculous? We know from the early verses in John 6 that the crowds had been seeing the miraculous signs Jesus performed with the sick. Was Andrew looking for another miracle? Well, that's what he got! We call this event in  Christ's ministry The Feeding of the 5000.

If I had been there, would I have brought the boy over to Jesus and offered that small meal? Or would I have reacted like Philip -- looking for an earthly, human solution to a crisis?

But Andrew expressed some kind of positive trust and hope in his statement -- "What are they among so many?"


In the third picture of Andrew's life (recorded for us in John 12), some Greeks, in Israel to "worship", came to Philip and said they wanted to be introduced to Christ.

The text says they were "Greeks," not Hellenistic Jews. So they must have been Gentiles, perhaps hearing about the Passover Feast, in curiosity, traveling to Jerusalem to be part of what was going on.

Or maybe they had family in the Jewish faith and took this opportunity to visit them.

Or maybe they were "seekers" who were drawn to the Holy City who truly wanted to find and worship the One Holy God. 

This was Passover Week, the last week of Christ's ministry. Their famous request was, "We would like to see Jesus!"

So Philip went to Andrew and then both men went to Jesus and told him about the request from the Greeks.

Andrew Brings Others

So in these three brief glimpses of Andrew (from the beginning of Christ's ministry to the end) we see that he is someone to comes to Christ and who brings others.

As soon as he identified Christ he brought his brother. He brought the young boy with his meager lunch to Jesus. And then he comes with Philip to share the request of the Greeks visitors, who said they wanted to see Jesus.

Andrew does not rush off on his own (as perhaps his brother might) but he relies on his closeness to Jesus for his answers.

Notice in John 1 when Andrew and John (the other disciple referred to) meet Jesus they spent "the day" with him. Hours of listening to the Master, to the Teacher.

It was not until after these hours of sitting at the feet of Jesus that Andrew went to find his brother. Is there a lesson here for us?

AfterWords

When Things Happened

1. John the Baptizer baptized Jesus.

2. Jesus led by the Spirit into the wilderness for 40 days.

3. John the Baptizer pointed out Jesus to Andrew and John (John 1:35: "Look, the Lamb of God!") and they followed Jesus to where He was staying.

4. Andrew finds his brother, Simon Peter, and tells him, "We have found the Messiah!" Andrew brings him to Jesus.

5. John the Baptizer sent to prison by Herod for speaking out against his marriage to Herodias

6. Jesus begins His ministry in Galilee and calls His first official disciples: Peter and Andrew and James and John.

     After John was put in prison, Jesus went into

     Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God.

     "The time has come," he said. "The kingdom

     of God is near. Repent and  believe the good

     news!"  -- Mark 1:15


[Note: The Herod who arrested John the Baptizer was Herod Antipas, the son of Herod the Great (who, thirty years earlier, had the babies killed in the vicinity of Bethlehem at the time of Jesus' birth, to destroy the new-born 'King of the Jews'. He was also, like his father, a cruel client king of Rome. He ruled an area smaller than his father's for about 40 years, and died a few years after Christ's crucifixion (39 AD).]

   

He Loves Me...He Loves Me Not...

Remember that silly game? What  a trivial way to assess someone's love for another!
And to measure another's love on nothing more substantial than the number of petals on a garden flower...or the random throwing of dice....

Talk about missing the point. Talk about trivializing a truth of great importance....well, that was
me and my friends when we were growing up (back in the dark ages).

I started thinking about a reunion we hosted recently, a re-gathering of the church members of the small inter-denominational church I grew up in -- folks we had known 40 years ago and had not, in most cases, even seen since.

Everyone brought pictures of their families, their homes and pets and awards, all brought out of their
purses or pockets with "bragging rights."

"And this is our granddaughter. She is 16 now. We are so proud of her! She's in the honor society!"
"Here's a picture of my grandson in his baseball uniform. He loves baseball and leads his team in scoring!"
"Oh, here's a picture of my son -- he's a doctor, you know -- and a professor at UT Medical."

On and on. "Bragging rights."

It is easy to notice that each person comments only on the good things about his child or grandchild.
Maybe there is also real concern and maybe heartbreak in the picture, too. Maybe that young girl's
friendships are leading her down a slippery path into drugs. But that story is not told.

Maybe that young boy is often disobedient and disrespectful to his parents. Maybe there was a loud and angry family row just as they were leaving to come to the reunion.

We don't know -- because, of course, deep down every person displaying their photos are exercising their "bragging rights" and they are proud and loving of their children.

They are not remembering their grievances and disappointments. Like a fine painting, their loved ones are being displayed in the best possible light.
Now that I am older I see that much of my life I have labored under the misconception that God is, if not angry, then disappointed in me. That He looks at me, not with pride, but with my faults on His mind.

I see it differently now. God is not filling His mind with petty thoughts about my failures. He is not
keeping a list (we are told in I Corinthians 13 that a loving person does not do that, and God, is, above all, a loving God).

He loves us (me). Really, really loves us (me). He's proud of us (me).

He is gracious, seeing all those evidences of His grace in my life. He truly loves me.

Now I think I understand Job 1:8 when God challenges Satan: "Have you considered my servant Job?"
God was exercising His "bragging rights."

And Zephaniah 3:17:

The LORD your God is with you. He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you.  He will quiet you with His love. He will rejoice over you with singing.

The picture is perfect: a mother quieting her baby with a soft lullaby.  Expressions of delight and love
cover her face. (Even if he has a dirty diaper!)

That's God. He loves us. He really really loves us. He is not filling His mind with our failures. He
delights in us just as He delights in His Son.

Now that I think about it -- what about Hebrews 11 -- that list of faithful God-honoring people that God calls to our attention. They were, none of them, perfect. Many were very far from perfect.

But God is relating their faithfulness and the things He brought out, produced, in their lives. The righteousness of His Son -- shining through their sinful, selfish lives.

                His desire is to lavish His love on us (I John 3:1)
                He is our Father and loves us even as He loves His Son. (John 17:23)
                His plans for our future has always been filled with hope (Jeremiah 29:11)

Have you considered My servant, Job?

              God's bragging rights include me!

WOW!