“I have this against you…”

What does Scripture have to say to the Bible zealot--that one who lives to know and defend Scripture?  [I’m not talking about the  “Pharisee!” accusation; it is so overused and misapplied that it deserves a post all its own.]  What will keep the eager Bible student from being either slack or heartless in his application of truth?  What can go wrong in using Scripture as a litmus test of every fad and teaching that comes along?

I concluded last week's blog with these thoughts:

“Could the ardent Bible scholar use some prompting to make sure his/her head knowledge translates into real live discipleship? Absolutely. Are there cautions for him/her in the Word of God as well? Certainly. More on that next time (hopefully).”

Toward that end I've been reading Paul's letters to Timothy, his young protégé and 'child in the faith'. And I've been thinking about the Church at Ephesus, which is where Timothy served.…

In his letters Paul exhorts Timothy to hold onto solid teaching, to be a careful student of the Word and to preach it unapologetically. He spurs Timothy on to train himself in godliness and to be on guard for things that precipitate falling away from faith. He repeatedly warns Timothy about false teachers and how to recognize them.

Interestingly, in Paul's last face-to-face meeting with the elders of the church at Ephesus he had warned them of similar things:

"I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish every one with tears." (Acts 20:29-31 ESV)

So the church at Ephesus was well warned and well-armed, with the likes of Timothy and these solid elders. And we know they excelled at this business of detecting false teaching because years down the road they are addressed in John's Revelation and commended for their unwearied zeal in refusing to tolerate evil and in rooting out false apostles! (Rev. 2:1-3) But something had been lost along the way…

They had lost sight of the motive behind their vigilance. Oh, they were great watchdogs. They hated the works God hates (He commended them for this--Rev.2:6) but they had forgotten love: "I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first." (Rev. 2:4ESV) Love no longer motivated and controlled their zeal.

It hadn't always been this way. Paul had instructed Timothy to keep love front and central in his teaching: "The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith." I Tim.1:5 He had made sure Timothy understood that his role as the Lord's servant was not merely to contend for truth but to do so in a way that was kind, patient, and gentle so that those in error could be rescued from 'the snare of the devil' and actually turn to embrace truth. (II Tim.2:24-26). The point of holding forth truth is after all not to damn the hearer but to save him! (I Tim. 4:16) 

The Ephesian church had in fact been known at one time not only for their faith but for their love. Paul's letter to the Ephesians mentions this even as he goes on to pray that they will comprehend the extent of Christ's love for them so they 'may be filled with all the fullness of God.' (Eph.1:15; 3:17-19)

Considering the Ephesians' need to contend with false teaching, I suppose it is no coincidence that the book of Ephesians is saturated with teaching on love:

• In love God predestined us for adoption 1:4,5
• I have heard of your faith and love 1:15
• Because of God's great love He made us alive with Christ 2:5
• You are rooted and grounded in love 3:17
• May you know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge 3:19
• Bear with one another in love 4:2
• Speak the truth in love 4:15
• The Body builds itself up in love under Christ's headship 4:16
• Walk in love as Christ loved us sacrificially 5:2
• Husbands, love your wives as yourself 5:25,28,33
• Peace be to you and love with faith 6:23
• Grace be with all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with love incorruptible. 6:24

If they were to be a church known for their discernment of truth and error it was imperative that they hang onto the motive of love. Without love, truth can be odious.  No amount of knowledge or spiritual gifting can make up for its absence. "If I have all knowledge,…but have not love, I am nothing." (I Cor.13:2)

Herein lies the caution for the Bible student zealous for truth and bent on confronting error wherever he finds it. Be sure your zeal is driven and delivered with love. Or in God's own words to the Church at Ephesus:

I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name's sake, and you have not grown weary. But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. (Rev 2:3-5 ESV)

Let me stop here a moment and clarify how I am coming to understand this passage. It has long puzzled me how it can be understood as a call to 'fall in love' again--to somehow return to the immature first blush of passionate love we had as pre-marrieds. Even if we could by wishing return to this stage, how would this be helpful, given that being 'in love' is more about hormone-driven lust than genuine love? Did we not then mostly love the way we made each other feel? That early 'love' had not been tested over the long-haul of babies, jobs, moves and intermittent crises. It knew little of dying to self or 'bearing all things'—both the ho-hum and high-test. Certainly it isn't to this state of 'love' that we are being called to return in this passage?! If not, then what is being commanded?

As I understand it, what had been abandoned was not merely a passionate emotion. They had lost the sense of being constrained to obedience by the love of Christ. (Cf.II Cor.5:14,15) Their works had once been driven by faith working through love (Cf. Gal.5:6). Now their service had become a robotic duty, fulfilled to the letter but with none of the constraints of love. They were doing, but not loving.

This is a significant temptation for the lover of truth, the one with a gift for discerning truth from error, the eager Bible student… Pride can wiggle in and Love is lost as the motive and means of serving the Body. When we confront error do we do it from a heart that longs for truth to prevail-- not for the sake of saying 'I told you so', but for the sake of the one(s) being misled, for the sake of the Body, for Christ's sake? Do we genuinely desire the ultimate success and blessing of those we disagree with? Or are we ready to gloat when they fail?

It is all too easy when exercising our gifts in the Body to lose sight of the purpose for which they were given--for 'building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ' . This too was addressed to the Ephesians (4:12,13). This is love—seeking another's good with what I have to offer, and this is the purpose for my gifts and yours.

When we lose sight of love, exercising our gifts and pursuing our individual callings can fill us with self-satisfied conceit. Instead of building others up we may find we are only provoking and engendering envy (Gal.5:26).

I confess I am preaching to myself today, as I hope you have guessed by now! As a truth-talker who sometimes blasts others without a view to building them up, I needed this message. It's one thing to know the truth, but quite another to "not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth"…2Ti 2:24-25 NASB

I have found it helps to remember that we are on the same team--members of the same body. We are placed in that body and given gifts for its completion, not our own distinction. We are in this thing together for the glory of God, not our own glory, and for the building up of His church, not our own following. Bringing His bride to perfection is ultimately God's job; the part He calls us to play will have to be done in love if it is to be effective. That's the way He made the Body to grow! (Eph.4:15,16). Without love our best efforts are worthless (I Cor.13).

On a practical note, one sure way I've found to check and purify my motives is prayer. I may perceive errors, bad doctrine, questionable teaching. It may or may not be my job to set a person straight, but I can always pray. I can always ask God to reveal truth to all parties involved, including myself! And when I pray my heart is softened, any hostile intent exposed, and hopefully I come closer to understanding God's heart toward the issue or person at hand. I become more concerned about His purposes prevailing than about being 'right'.  And that’s the best starting point for any disciple!

Thanks for listening in on my lesson this week.  What are you learning about your part in the Body?  I’d love to hear.  Do send along a comment or an email.

--LS

Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling." I Jn2:10

Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leas, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness." Rom.12:6-8

May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God. Rom.15:5-7

The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Rom.16:20

A pointed parable

It’s one we’re all very familiar with.  It’s the best of its kind for motivating random acts of kindness and/or inducing random fits of guilt!  But I would suggest, it’s misused for these purposes.  And mostly, we’ve missed the point.

The story I refer to is of course, The Good Samaritan (Luke 10). This parable is held over the heads of Christian and non-Christian alike as an example of ultimate good neighborliness.   As if this is how we ought to act, so let’s get at it--find someone in need and help them!  Countless ministries have adopted this Samaritan as their mascot, at least in name. But have we missed the actual point of this well-known parable? 

Of course, the title we give it is entirely tradition. Nowhere in the text is this roadside rescuer called a ‘Good Samaritan’.   In his day (had he existed) I suppose many a Jew would have sat up and taken notice at the oxymoron of the thing.  Was there such a thing as a good Samaritan?  They were the hated half-breeds, shunned by every ‘good’ Jew…  Ironic that Jesus specifies that this angel of mercy was in fact a Samaritan,  while the Jewish actors in the story were the ‘bad guys’.  His audience must have squirmed. 

Which brings me to my point—the lawyer-- the one for whom this story was composed.  We will miss the real point of it without starting at the beginning, before the story unfolded, with the conversation that preceded it.  This lawyer stood up to challenge Jesus with a tough question. “What shall I do to inherit eternal life?”  Jesus answered with this man’s profession in mind:  “What is written in the Law?  How do you read it?”  And this expert answers perfectly (though I paraphrase): Love God with all that you are…and Love your neighbor like you do yourself.  He got an A+ for that one!  Good answer.  So Jesus proceeds to answer his question.  What must he do to inherit eternal life? You know the law, now “do this, and you will live.”  (Lk.10:28)

Sounds simple, but…who has ever lived up to this kind of love? It was, of course, an impossible bit of doing. “For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight.” Rom.3:20 If the lawyer were honest, or at least humble, he would have admitted he was ‘toast’, not eligible for eternal life.  But no, he goes on ‘desiring to justify himself’ pursuing a legal loophole to sneak through, and asks: “Who is my neighbor?”

And this is the context for the parable that Jesus unpacks.  This is not a story about how we should live, or how to be a good neighbor.  It’s a story exposing the impossibility of ever meriting eternal life!  And it is custom-made for the lawyer.  For though this lawyer may know the law-- what is fair, what is deserved, what is required.  He is about to come up short in another department.  Religious training and dedication may make a person ‘pretty good’ but not good enough to qualify in the good neighbor category Jesus sets out here. Nope, the priest and the Levite weren’t even up to it. 

Possibly, the lawyer figured he’d be able to extend some sort of token ‘love’ to a finite set of persons who reside in his vicinity, but Jesus opens the category of ‘neighbors’ to include life-long enemies, underserving scoundrels, helpless victims who will never be able to pay back anything, and he shows love to be costly, over-and-above what is minimally required.  Interruption, expense, inconvenience, and all of these in a  prolonged way, this is the character of the neighborly love called for.  This is mercy, and it’s exactly what the lawyer’s good training had not prepared him for.

And once again Jesus has taken a trick question and gone right to the heart of the interrogator, showing him what he is lacking, and what he is in need of.  What do lawyers specialize in? [No, this is not a joke] The law, right? They are sticklers for justice—meting out what is deserved. But loving one’s neighbor requires something more—it demands mercy.

And when it comes to mercy, this lawyer may as well be the roadside victim himself.  Despite appearances, he is in fact beaten, helpless, and bound to die unless Someone stops to show compassion.  No amount of self-justification will do, this man is in need of mercy.

And of course, this is exactly what Jesus has done, for all of us. He is the truly good Samaritan.  While we were yet enemies, He came upon us in our trouble and gave of Himself to save our lives.  And it’s only going to be through Him living out His life in us that we will ever qualify as ‘good neighbors’.  I am not naturally merciful, nor generous, nor gracious.  I tend to carry guilt for all the possible kind things I could do but don’t.  I am not a great neighbor in many respects. But this is where I stake my claim on the Gospel. It is for sinners that Jesus died and it is for such as I that He lives to infuse His kind of life through me.  And little by little God’s making of me all he intends.  I’m His project and the results are guaranteed:

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good,  for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. Rom.8:29

Or as Spurgeon has put it:
“Let it never be forgotten that what the law demands of us the gospel really produces in us.”

He’s not  asking me to go out and determine to do ‘good’. But he is wanting me to see how much mercy I’ve been shown.  And I suspect that reflecting on how good He’s been to me will produce a more merciful heart in me.  And that beats any amount of motivation guilt can ever muster!  Mercy begets mercy. 

--LS

For one will scarcely die for a righteous person--though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die-- but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Rom.5:8

“…yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.” Gal.2:16

For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. Rom.5:10

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P.S. I must add one more thing!  Have you read the Old Testament equivalent of the Good Samaritan parable?  I came upon it this morning in my Ezekiel reading.  God is the Good Samaritan. The people of Israel the helpless ones in the ditch:

“And when I passed by you and saw you wallowing in your blood, I said to you in your blood, ‘Live!’  I made you flourish like a plant of the field…” Ez.16:6

Nowhere will you find a more poignant story of the love of God for the helpless than here.  It is beautiful, and heartbreaking, a reminder never to forget from whence we’ve come, and to whom we owe all that we are.  Don’t miss it.

For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen. Rom.11:36

Such Love

I sat sobbing as the credits rolled, overwhelmed by the story I had just seen, the love of a devoted wife that had stuck with her man through thick and thin, through insanity and paranoia—true genius gone amuck. She was beautiful and committed, her man’s salvation. And here was her reward--as he stood at the podium in his latter years receiving the Nobel Prize for his accomplishments long years before—he attributed his success to the woman who had stuck with him through it all. I wept.

I don’t think the kids quite knew why Mom was crying…maybe they haven’t lived long enough to appreciate such rare love. The movie was a tribute to true love’s redemptive effect; I cried because I too have known such love. Why me? Why should I be beneficiary to the love of a good man devoted unrelentingly to my success, let alone the God of the universe pledged to bless me now and forever. Such love.

I wept too for the thought of such loneliness, such isolation as diseases of the mind create. I thought of my own father in advanced stages of Alzheimer’s disease, unable to know or be known by those he loves most, alone in a labyrinth of confusion…but for God, this God who loves still, this God from whose love nothing can separate us, not life, not death, nor any of the things in between…

And admittedly, I wept a little for fear of such aloneness coming to me. Life is lonely at its core even in the best of times. We are known and loved in such a limited way by flesh and blood. Noone knows us as we wish to be known—and should disease impair our minds, what then? And yet, there is no fear in love--this genuine all-surpassing kind of Love that we are lavished with in Christ. We are fully known and fully loved. This too is awesome. And with credits rolling and soundtrack playing ,  (“All Love Can Be” –Charlotte Church*) I sobbed in wonder of it all… The mental illness had not vanished but love had triumphed.

Is this not a picture of life as we know it? Even as believers, as ‘called out’ ones, as ‘holy and beloved’ ones, we suffer—bound to the hope of things yet to come. Redeemed and yet waiting for redemption. And it is only God’s love poured into our hearts that holds us together in the meantime (Rom.5:3-5).  Despite trouble, trial, heartbreak, disappointment, tragedy… we are declared to be “more than conquerors through Him who loved us!” (Rom.8:37)

The movie we had watched was “A Beautiful Mind”. It is roughly based on the true story of a man named John Forbes Nash, a mathematical genius whose theories would impact such diverse fields of knowledge as economics, biology, accounting, and politics. He was portrayed as not only brilliant but arrogant in his student days. The diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia began a long painful process by which he was forced to face his weaknesses and learn to live dependent on others to confirm what is real and what is not. Through the love and commitment of wife and colleagues he eventually returns to the academic world a far humbler and wiser man. The movie was exceptional.  (and to think that he studied and still lives very near my own hometown…)

As is so often the case in movies, this one was too good to be entirely true. I am something of a tortured romantic. I watch the occasional movie to live for just a bit in a world that is better than real life. But I can’t seem to leave off the analysis afterward—was that true? And generally, I am disappointed. So, the morning after the movie I did a bit of research… Yes, these people were quite human. Their good points were exaggerated. Their bad points minimized. Their love imperfect. Sigh. But having pushed past the initial disappointment, still I am inspired by the story, for it smacks of one that is true. Real love does redeem and ennoble and transform. And that’s for real. Those who know how well-loved they are, give witness by their lives to love’s redemptive glory. Those who haven’t realized the extent of God’s love for them have a good thing coming… Me? I’m somewhere in between. But I like what I see!

To know the reaches of God’s love which lie beyond our ability to fathom, (Eph.3:16-18) this is a worthy pursuit for a lifetime. To reflect that love (“Love one another as I have loved you” -- Jn.15:12) is a daunting calling! Who is sufficient for these things?! But every time we see glimmers of the real thing happening, whether in movies, or in real-life, there’s reason to call attention to it and stand in awe of the God who is the author of such love. The subject is inexhaustible! I guess that’s why there are SO many songs extolling love’s virtues. The first that comes to mind is this one, found scribbled on the wall of an insane asylum when the inmate died:

“Could we with ink the ocean fill,
And were the skies of parchment made,
Were every stalk on earth a quill,
And every man a scribe by trade,
To write the love of God above,
Would drain the ocean dry.
Nor could the scroll contain the whole,
Though stretched from sky to sky.”

They say these words were not original but derived from an ancient Hebrew poem which was later amended with two additional verses (Frederich M. Lehman--1917) to comprise the hymn we know today as “The Love of God”.

One blogger has fittingly called its opening lines his “Blogger’s Acknowledgment”: The love of God is greater far than tongue or pen can ever tell. He explains:

“In this kingdom of the blog world we have a seemingly unlimited sky of parchment on which to write and everyone does appear to be a scribe by trade. Each keyboard is certainly the stalk and quill utilized by every scribe and according to the "Google Blogger" we will not even come close to draining dry their hard drive….So whether with ink, quill and parchment or keyboard, mouse and cyberspace [these] words… express the inexhaustible and ineffable nature of God’s love towards His people. I’ve called our inadequacy to exhaust the expressions of His love through writing: ‘This Blogger’s Acknowledgment’” (Dave Van).

As for my blogger’s tribute, I will leave you a little collection of better words than mine, on this great love...

“O Love that wilt not let me go,
I rest my weary soul in Thee;
I give Thee back the life I owe,
That in Thine ocean depths its flow
May richer, fuller be.”

--George Matheson 1842-1906

“O the deep, deep love of Jesus, vast, unmeasured, boundless, free!
Rolling as a mighty ocean in its fullness over me!
Underneath me, all around me, is the current of Thy love
Leading onward, leading homeward to Thy glorious rest above!

O the deep, deep love of Jesus, spread His praise from shore to shore!
How He loveth, ever loveth, changeth never, nevermore!
How He watches o’er His loved ones, died to call them all His own;
How for them He intercedeth, watcheth o’er them from the throne!

O the deep, deep love of Jesus, love of every love the best!
’Tis an ocean full of blessing, ’tis a haven giving rest!
O the deep, deep love of Jesus, ’tis a heaven of heavens to me;
And it lifts me up to glory, for it lifts me up to Thee!”

--Samuel T. Francis 1834-1925

 

And lastly, my confession, taken from Laura Story’s lyrics in “Faithful God”

All I am and all I’ll ever be, is all because [God] loves so faithfully…Ahhh… such love.

--LS

“More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,  and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”  Rom.5:3-5

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* James Horner is the composer and conductor of “The Beautiful Mind” soundtrack.

The lyrics of the closing song to this soundtrack are as follows. They hold a more profound meaning when viewed from the vantage point of one loved by God…

All that Love Can Be

I will watch you in the darkness,
Show you love will see you through.
When the bad dreams wake you crying,
I'll show you all love can do -
All love can do.
I will watch through the night,
Hold you in my arms,
Give you dreams where love will be.
I will watch through the dark
Till the morning comes
All the light I'll take you
Through the night to see -
Our light, showing us all love can be.
I will guard you with my bright wings,
Stay till your heart learns to see
All love can be.

--Will Jennings

Did you enjoy the fajita?

Arguing with my heart today…I read a sweet little book this past while—an allegory written to show the heart of God for his little orphans.  A line stood out to me, made my heart jump in eagerness for it to be true.  The character representing Jesus had just shared little Willie Juan’s lunch with him, consuming it with obvious relish and attention even though it was but a humble home-made fajita.  The line was this:

“When you get to heaven, Little Friend, which is where I live, Abba will not ask you how many prayers you said or how many souls you saved. No, he’ll ask, ‘Did you enjoy the fajita?’ He wants you to live with passion, in the beauty of the moment, accepting and enjoying his gifts.” (Patched Together—Manning,60)

I like that.

But that’s not the sole criteria for accepting such a statement as true.  What of the ‘judgment seat of Christ’?  the giving an account for every idle word? the “What have you done with your few minas—how did you invest them?”

This sort of welcoming Father’s heart that just sweeps me up in arms and enjoys what I have to share is SO much more inviting than my own imagined version of a reserved conditional sort of welcome…or a rewards ceremony where I sit it out in the bleachers just glad to have made it to the event!

Can it be supported in Scripture? 

I waver between basking in God’s pleasure despite my shortcomings and taking serious stock of my situation and wondering if I’m fooling myself to assume He’s entirely pleased.  I don’t really want to think about it, but if my love of God is shown in love for my neighbors… well, these are concrete persons living beside me.  This is a measurable sort of love.  Do I love my neighbors in the same quality and quantity as I love myself?  (grimace)  And if not, hmmm…Will I just get a sympathetic  pat on the head and a ‘nevermind what I asked of you.’  What’s that verse about ‘trembling at His Word’? But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word. (Is.66:2) 

Oh, I’m eager to listen for His voice, but honestly, I want to hear good stuff—something congratulatory, comforting… Instruction too is ok if it’s not anything too challenging, too scary, too far from my comfort zone. 

And what of this business of reveling in blessings but being loathe to pass them on?  Enjoying ‘the fajita’, so to speak, but not wanting to share it for fear it will all get eaten and I’ll go hungry, or for fear the sharee won’t like it...  Is this why gratitude seems hardly a sufficient response to so much goodness dished out on my behalf?  I’m pretty good at receiving, not nearly so good at generosity…

‘Between the time a gift comes to us and the time we pass it along, we suffer gratitude.’—Lewis Hyde

And so goes my heart-to-mind talk with myself. Ha!  I was reading this morning in a little book on spiritual practices for the modern pilgrim.*  The author referred to “the athlete view of spiritual life” as opposed to a more receptive, less ‘disciplined’ view, where my job is to make space, to be receptive for the Spirit to work.  Interesting concept.  I obviously tend to be the ‘athlete’, at least in my mind!  Try a little harder, pen more lists, spend more time…But it does seem that when I get all through with my mental strivings, or maybe smack dab in the middle of them, when I least expect it, God speaks to my heart precisely what I most need to hear.

It was like that this morning.  I was digging into a  couple phrases that caught my attention from II Samuel 13.  The passage reads like a soap opera.  David’s reigning as king now but on the domestic front things are a mess!  It seems his own sins have come to nest in his children’s lives. David’s firstborn rapes his own half-sister.  Then after scheming for two years her own blood brother avenges her shame (and sets himself up to be heir to the throne?)  by murdering David’s first-born.  And twice in this passage you read the words: “Don’t take it to heart.”  Once addressed to the sister who’s just been violated and will now hide in shame for the duration of her life.  Once addressed to David whose beloved son has just murdered his firstborn son!  “Don’t take it to heart” !!! How does that work?

Oh, and the beautiful girl whose life is left in shambles is told to ‘hold your peace’.  Really?  This hardly seems like an appropriate response.  So I went looking at these two phrases throughout Scripture. [Incidentally, blueletterbible.org is a SUPER resource for such studies.  Try it out sometime!]   There are things that should and things that should not be ‘taken to heart’.  As the source of the ‘springs of life’ the heart has got to be guarded with discrimination. (Prov.4:23) 

For instance, Moses warns the Israelites to remember who their God is so they don’t go chasing idols: “Know therefore today, and take it to your heart, that the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other.” (Deut.4:39)

But Pharaoh, when he should take to heart the plagues as signs of the one true God, refuses to do so and instead hardens his heart. (Ex.7:23)

I won’t take your through all my rich gleanings... but what are the things I take to heart when in fact only what God says deserves to hold sway there?  Reminds me of something Brennan Manning said in that sweet little book I mentioned earlier:

“Live like the beloved of Abba…Your courage in living as Abba’s beloved can give others the strength to do the same. For in the end only one thing remains—Abba’s love… Define yourself as one beloved by God.” (124)

Which brings us back to my mind and my heart arguing…ah, and that other word study: “Hold your peace.” Now this was interesting.  Definitely a range of reasons to hold your peace and definite occasions not to!  Queen Esther on the one hand was brought to her position for ‘just such a time as this’ and strongly encouraged not to ‘hold her peace’ lest she and her family be destroyed (Esther 4:14).  But there are times when the fight is the Lord’s and our job is to ‘hold your peace’. (Ex.14:14)

Okay, so I’m buzzing along through all these references to  charash, the Hebrew verb meaning: hold your peace, be silent, be dumb, be speechless, be deaf…keep quiet, and I’m loving it. ( I love words in their settings and all the nuances of written language! And when their God’s words, it’s even better!) And then I come to God’s answer for my restless debate between heart and mind.  For there is a verse that refers to God holding His peace, God choosing silence as the best expression of His love.  I have read it many times before,  (Oh that reading were believing!) and various translations render it in different ways. 

But Zephaniah 3:17 describes God as resting (being silent, speechless, quiet) in His love for His beloved.  First He is described as being ‘mighty in your midst’ and as One who saves.  Yes, He’s a powerful God and Saviour.  He’s described as ‘rejoicing over thee with joy’.  Yes, there is an exuberance too.  And He’s even said to sing over His beloved.  But in the middle is this resting, this silent love. “He will rest in his love.”  He isn’t hung up with all the objections that hold me back from believing His love could cover my multitude of sins.  He just loves.  This is a silent joy in ‘the possession of the object of one’s love, too great for words to express’.  (J,F, & B commentary).  It is perhaps like the rest of silent satisfaction after the six days of creation, when God looked and ‘behold it was very good’.

As Matthew Henry puts it, “The great God not only loves his saints, but he loves to love them."  Song of Solomon, if we can take it as a figure of Christ and the Church, implies that we captivate God’s heart. “You have captivated my heart, my sister, my bride; you have captivated my heart with one glance of your eyes…” (SofS 4:9) 

As heirs with Israel of God’s grace we are destined to be “a crown of beauty in the hand of the LORD, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God…and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you.” (Is.62:3,5)  There is not a lot of room for argument here.  We are objects of an incredible and very personal love.  And I suspect that as we come to live in our true identity as ones well loved, the obedience that seems so scary will begin to flow quite naturally from our well-nourished hearts, constrained by such a great love, to do anything desired by the Lover.

I give thanks, O LORD, with my whole heart; before the gods I sing your praise…for your steadfast love and your faithfulness, for you have exalted above all things your name and your word. (Ps.138:1,2)

So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.
(I Jn.4:16)

Whew! If you got to the end of that you’re a wonder.  Bless you and be sure to enjoy the fajita!

--LS

“The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O LORD, endures forever.  Do not forsake the work of your hands.” –Ps.138:8

P.S. A brief review of Patched Together by Brennan Manning is posted at: thestackofdawn.blogspot.com

-----------------------------

*God in the Yard: Spiritual Practice for the rest of us--Barkat, p.41ff

Hit Between the Eyes

 
What do you do when faced with a lifetime built on the wrong paradigm?

Thanks to the conspiracy of the Holy Spirit and the books that have dropped into my life this week, I’ve been reminded of a paradigm shift that is incomplete in my life--one of those belief systems that dies hard and must be weeded out root by root… Mine has been the upbringing of a self-righteous Pharisee. No blame intended, it’s just what I latched onto as a means to satisfy my need to please…

Little by little the Spirit shows me what he sees and what I need to confess and reject. I’m still trying to frame clearly in words this insidious belief system that sabotages my heart. It’s something to the effect of believing that doing the right thing, avoiding mistakes, treading cautiously so as not to slip and fall, living wary of potential failure… all these things are indispensable to maintaining a ‘right-eousness’ that will not only qualify me for the Kingdom but guarantee me an A+ standing. Yep, I got Jesus ‘on board’ at an early age too, as that was clearly the ‘right’ thing to do in my religious community, and I might need His help along the way…. Cultivating a relationship with Him was clearly requisite to maintaining my ‘righteousness’ (and bolstering my insecurities). So I did, as much as a self-righteous sinner can. But I’ve always been goaded by stories that depict great love and adoration, great mercy, forgiveness and compassion. The self-righteous generally are.

Consider, for instance, the publican and the Pharisee going up to pray. Who gets a hearing? Not the “I thank thee that I am not like that lout of a man”, but the miserable repentant sinner who pleads: “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!”(Luke 18).

And what’s this with the prostitute kneeling at Jesus’ feet weeping and washing His feet with her tears, trusting His compassionate heart to forgive: “Her sins, which are many, have been forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little, loves little." (Lk.7:47) I have long secretly envied her heart-felt extravagance.

“Little love” is not enough to empower a life of self-forgetful service and whole-hearted sacrifice! Anything short of my life a ‘living sacrifice’ is insufficient worship to offer. But giving up my fabricated ‘righteousness’ and dogged self-preservation feels like a life-sentence. Hmm… ‘death to self’ could it be? What would that look like?

I’m reading a book I borrowed from my dad-in-law entitled: Living Sacrifice (Roseveare). It’s been one of those times in my life when books conspire to nail me between the eyes with my condition. Whether Owen Meany* (see last week’s blog) and his sense of destiny to give his life to save others, or Helen Roseveare’s reflections on lessons learned as a missionary in the Congo/Zaire, or the book I have yet to mention that came in the mail this week for me to review…All point to a love that is not only willing but glad to surrender its life for another. If these are not enough hints, there’s Paul’s joyful letter to the Philippians, in which he extols the privilege of suffering for Christ’s sake. It has been granted to us that ‘for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in Him but also suffer for his sake…’ (Phil.1:29).


Paul himself experienced the rigorous life of the true Pharisee with its confidence, zeal, and blamelessness and declared it all a net loss, garbage in comparison to the worth of knowing Christ, sharing His righteousness, His resurrection power and His sufferings. It was the goal of Paul’s life to be like Christ, humbly obedient to the point of death. Where does that kind of self-forgetful zeal come from?

My guess is, love. And Paul’s own words in his letter to the Corinthians confirm it: “For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again. II Cor. 5:14,15

This kind of self-sacrificing love is unfamiliar territory for the self-righteous—wise in their own sight, self-sufficient, not cognizant of the grace in which they live and breathe. Thinking they have little to be forgiven, they love little. I wonder if you saw “The Passion of the Christ” (Gibson, 2004) when it came out? I watched alone those moments of Christ’s trial when the pious Pharisees and chief priests in all their regalia were standing smugly by and I was struck with my own culpability. But then with awe I realized that this repugnantly self-righteous lot were among those for whom Christ came to die. His piercing words to them throughout His ministry--calling them ‘white-washed sepulchers’, blind guides, children of the devil—were not meant to condemn but to confront them with their sinful selves so they could repent and be saved.

And even still Christ calls to self-righteous me, to relinquish my rubbish and rely on His righteousness alone. And again, by faith, I trade in my bankrupt agenda for His and trust Him to put His great love in my heart. I can’t serve Him without it.

It’s got to be by faith. Everything else reeks of self and sin. “Whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.” Rom.14:23 I do want to ‘get it right’ but my motives are so skewed. Jesus is not only the founder of my faith, but its perfecter (Heb.12:2) It’s not about the perfection of what I do but of my faith—resting my whole case on Christ from beginning to end. “As you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him.” (Col.2:6) It doesn’t just start with believing I’m a hopeless sinner and He’s my Saviour. It continues that way. He saves me from myself every day by passing day, and my only hope of walking worthy of my calling is by faith, that He is able…thus the fear and trembling of ‘working out my own salvation’ (Phil.2:12) for it is this awesome, holy, perfect, almighty God that is in the process of redeeming my life and making it an instrument of redemption…

Larry Crabb goes so far as to state: “Without an ongoing consciousness of sin, any sense of nearness to [God] is counterfeit. But with consciousness of sin, the fire of purifying holiness will sustain your faith.”(God’s Love Letters to You,44) I’m still chewing on this one.

Helen Roseveare’s stories viewed apart from such a work of God only make me squirm. Such self-sacrificial service was her response to Jesus’ love and death for her, ‘a way to express to God [my] great love for Him.’ When she speaks of this ‘insistent demand in our heart to express to Him our love’ I hesitate in self-examination. But the last enigmatic straw is this willingness to suffer, the costliness of such a love. She speaks of it as the ‘privileged opportunity of sharing in His love’, of ‘jointly demonstrating’ it to others…

Am I willing to give my whole heart, soul, mind and strength for His purposes—the loan of all I am, for His glory, without advance notice of the implications, and without life-time guarantees? This is going to have to be a process He works out in me too, by faith. When I glance through the Hebrews 11 crowd, that great cloud of witnesses to the life of faith, I am stretched.

• choosing mistreatment with God’s people rather than ‘the fleeting pleasures of sin’
  
• considering ‘the reproach of Christ’ greater wealth than Egypt’s treasures because of the reward in view…
  
• enduring ‘as seeing Him who is invisible’
  
• refusing release ‘so that they might rise again to a better life’
  
• ‘of whom the world was not worthy’
  
• ‘for the joy set before Him’ enduring the cross
  
  All of them were looking ahead to another reality—an unshakeable Kingdom, which made their present losses of no account. Not living under persecution or great hardships it is easy to get lulled into clinging to present comforts and shunning discomfort. I’m challenged by the perspective Larry Crabb champions in his recent book God’s Love Letters to You (Thomas Nelson, 2010) These devotional excerpts certainly don’t read like conventional ‘love letters’. They continuously point to a greater hope than the present, a bigger purpose than present ‘blessings’--God’s sort of ‘tough love’--designed to prepare us for Kingdom living. For instance:

“The greatest danger My people face today is prosperity, blessings that reinforce the false hope that nothing serious will ever go wrong in their lives if they just keep believing, expecting, trusting, and smiling….When every expectation of how your life should turn out is shattered; when I seem to you like an indifferent, cold sovereign, a promise breaker, a useless God, an abandoning parent, rejoice! You are ready for the unveiling, to meet Me as I am.” (47)

“When your life hits a bump that I could smooth but don’t, will you continue to think I should surrender My wisdom to yours and do what you think best?”(50)

“My people in Judges never repented. They remained in love with their own sense of well-being, with no understanding that love, real love, the love that defines Me, involves suffering the loss of well-being for the sake of another….You…are inclined to depend on Me for the good life of blessings and to mistake that dependence for love. You’re more afraid of losing the good life than of losing (or never gaining) a close relationship with Me. You do not yet see that being with Me is your greatest blessing, no matter what else may be happening in you life.”(20)

“Know this: those who live by faith will struggle in ways that those who live to make their lives work will never know. It is that struggle, to believe despite desperate pain and confusion that a good plan is unfolding, that will open your eyes to see Me more clearly. Is that what you want? Will you pay the price?

“The price is this: you will tremble in agony as you live in a sinful, self-prioritizing world. You will learn to wait in emptiness and frustrated desire for My plan of love to reveal itself…”(53)

And so, God loves, and we believe, as we bank on His righteousness being sufficient. And we wait for our full redemption, ‘prisoners of hope’, confident that God is working in us to make us like His Son and love the world through us in the meantime.

“Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe” (Heb.12:28)



God be merciful to me, a sinner,

LS


*My book review of: A Prayer for Owen Meany is at: http://thestackofdawn.blogspot.com/2011/07/prayer-for-owen-meany.html

WATCHDOGS!

I woke to the dog barking the other night… not his ‘bear bark’ (the bears aren’t up yet from their long winter’s nap) just a non-committal, think-I-might-see-something-in-the-moonlight-and-I’m-not-sleeping-so-well-anyway, kind of bark… annoying!  And useless, and worse than useless; it was keeping me from my beauty-sleep.

A watchdog is a valuable entity when there is incipient danger.  But a watchdog that barks to hear himself, or, worse yet, is fierce with family--is a hazard waiting to happen.

I’ve been thinking of this lately in terms of the Body of Christ, and that balance between watching out for wolves in sheep’s clothing, and recognizing a brother caught in an error and gently restoring such a one.

In this internet age, there’s easy access to gossip and questionable ‘facts’ that make it all too easy to become a barking watchdog that prevents us all from getting our beauty sleeps and worse, that puts us in defense mode against those who share this great Body of Christ with us, and toward whom our calling is to protect ‘the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.’  Are we barking at wolves?  or kin? 

It’s important to distinguish the difference.  One is a brother we are called to restore in a spirit of gentleness --not barking!-- and not to shun or slander… “Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.” Gal.6:1  Even when a brother has wandered from the truth, the calling is not to throw stones, but to bring him back! “Whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins”(James 5:19,20).  

Why is it so much easier to point and say ‘Aha! I knew it—he’s not to be trusted; did you hear what he said?!’  Isn’t this called ‘rejoicing in wrongdoing’ (I Cor.13:6)?  It is akin to envy I think.  Just consider who we are most likely to critique in this fashion—the obscure and seemingly insignificant teacher or the highly successful prominent one?  My guess is you could ‘google’ just about any outstanding pastor or Bible teacher and readily find someone who has something slanderous to report about them.  And I’m not talking about unbelievers, but believing ‘watchdogs’. 

I get the impression that in some instances, believers have made it their ‘ministry’ to point out what’s wrong with everyone but themselves in the name of warning the Body of heresy, but that they’ve lost sight of the point.  Speaking the truth in love means that my objective must be the building up of the Body of Christ ‘until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ! (Eph.4:13)-- not the tearing down of another’s credibility in the sight of others.

I have to be careful here because this quickly turns into me casting stones at fellow-believers who have a calling to discern error in the Body.  This is not my intention at all.  I am at heart a watchdog but have recognized in myself this tendency to bark at others to gratify myself.  There’s something in our sinful natures that delights to find fault with others, especially the talented and successful.  We can get so confident in our knowledge of the truth that we exclude just about everyone from our ‘club’.

We had friends years ago who grabbed this ‘speaking the truth’ concept and ran with it till they had shunned all their Bible School education, separated themselves from local believers, and set up their own exclusive clique, all based on ‘speaking the truth’—their brand of truth.  They had become smugly self-righteous and stubbornly exclusive.  What a shock to bump into them after years apart and find our source of unity in question.  Is it your truth or my truth that we should encamp on?  Or did we fail to read the rest of the verse, and for that matter, the context!

“Speaking the truth IN LOVE, we are to grow up in every way into Him who is the Head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.” (Eph.4:15,16) Rachel and I are working to memorize this whole passage as it seems so key to understanding how spiritual growth works.  I’m a lone ranger by nature.  I figure I can do this growing stuff on my own pretty much—consistent quiet times, learning to pray and to be thankful, and ingesting good teaching that encourages my faith—and voila! Spiritual growth.  But the Bible always points to me being only a part of a bigger picture, a joint in a greater body. 

I can appreciate the part of the Body that from afar encourages me with their writings—life stories, sound Bible teaching and the like…(i.e. good books!)  But what of this Body around me, these real-life people that I don’t always see eye to eye with?  Can we grow together, pray together, trust God for great things in our lives together and still disagree about doctrinal details?  I’m challenged by this.  And yet, in the struggle, with Ephesians 4 stamped in the forefront of my mind, I’m confident that this is the way of love.  We really do need each other.  We have not only a common Head but a common foe and a common purpose. 

Perhaps if we kept our mission in mind we would be less of a stench to each other, and more of a blessing to the world—kinda’ like manure.  Heap it in a pile and it gives off a stench.  Spread it around and it makes things grow!  Are we too comfortable in our composting piles?  The world looks on with puzzlement and disgust at our divisiveness.  It’s not at all obvious to them that we have any truth in common worth believing.  Our love for one another is supposed to be the signal that we are genuine disciples of Jesus (John 13:35). Instead they see indistinguishable religion of all sorts and lump it into one messy ball to disdain.

So what’s to be done?  There are lots of legitimate reasons for differing denominations.  Different kinds of people migrating to the emphasis of different truths.  Different personalities expressing worship and life with Christ in tangibly different  styles.  Different emphases.  Different callings.  But sometimes we forget that we have more in common than we do at odds.  For a start, we have a common calling to ‘maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace’. This is a calling to remember there is really only one Body of Christ, (despite its fractured appearance in any given neighborhood and around the world),  only one Holy Spirit that resides in every true believer, only one hope of eternal life, only one Lord Jesus Christ, only one saving faith, one baptism by the Spirit into the Body of Christ, one God who is the Father of all of us and is over all, through all and in all.  These are things we have in common! 

Our individual giftings are another thing.  They make us both unique and essential to other members of the Body.  Nobody’s got them all.  I even wonder whether any given denomination can lay claim to them all?  Could it be that the Body of Christ worldwide needs to have a closer look at how we can contribute to each other’s growth?  Could it be we are made to need each other?  The North Korean brother under life-crushing persecution, the Japanese believer isolated by a godless culture, and the church down the street from our own that makes us raise our eyebrows or furrow  a figurative brow as we drive past (or that we simply ignore) without a thought to what God’s doing among them… these are all joints in the Body designed to contribute to our mutual growth into the beautiful Bride that will welcome Christ’s return.

OK, so where am I going with this? I’m putting it out there as a call to remember who we are, corporately, you and me and all the rest of the believers in your town, country and world (and on the Internet!).  We are members one of another called to unity by our common love for God.  We're in this thing together!  Critiquing is easier than commending for some of us.  Envy, easier than love.  Insisting I’m right is easier than protecting the unity of the Spirit.  Some intellectual controversies will never be settled this side of eternity but love never fails.  In his book, Love Covers, Paul Billheimer reminds us to consider that God has not broken fellowship with each of us over our opinions on non-essentials, why then should we think these things worthy cause to break fellowship with each other? “Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.” (Rom.15:7)


Yep, there are dangers within and without the church to watch out for; I don’t mean to minimize these.  False doctrine abounds and is bound to spread as we get closer to Christ’s coming.  But let’s have the heart of Jesus, as reflected in these parting words of Paul as we do our watch-dogging.

Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.  For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.  Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears.  And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified. Acts 20:28-32


Let’s determine not to bark at family and to reserve our bite for the bears and the wolves.  In the case of family, maybe hanging out together and listening for the opportunity to speak a word of truth in love would be more effective.  And have you seen a golden retriever’s perpetual smile and wag?  Now there’s a commendable attitude!

“May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give [us] a spirit of unity among [ourselves] as [we] follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth [we] may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Rom.15:5,6)


If I can speak in all manner of languages…have prophetic powers and understand just about everything!…have faith that moves mountains…and live in sacrificial abandon but don’t live a life of love, I am a zero and have accomplished nothing.

Love is patient, kind, not envious or boastful, not arrogant or rude, not insistent on its own point of view, not irritable or resentful, not happy when others fall but only rejoicing when truth prevails.
  
Love bears all, believes all, hopes always and endures to the end.  It never fails.  Prophecy will. Tongues will. Braininess will.  We only see a piece of the big picture and it’s going to pass too. One day we’ll see each other as God sees us.  In the meantime, let’s hang on to faith, hope and most of all LOVE!
(free paraphrase from I Cor.13 by LS)

--LS

( I welcome your feedback. How do you see things where you are? Lend me your eyes, please.)




EXTRAS from Billheimer's book, Love Covers:A Viable Platform for Christian Unity


"While no nonessential within itself needs to be divisive, practically all divisions in the true Church have arisen from doctrines that are not essential to salvation." (87)


"Is it possible to be right theoretically and theologically while at the same time being wrong in spirit?" (88)


"If God will not break fellowship with us over opinions on non-essentials, why should we break fellowship with one another." (88)


"Love for God 'must exceed my love for my own opinion and judgment." (90)


"Everyone that loves Him who begot, loves him that is begotten." I Jn.5:1




.

Let's Pretend...

We’re having a winter get-away in the land of let’s pretend…where darkness is better than light, where life begins at nightfall, where spending is gaining and when the lights go on it’s closing time…In the excesses of this artificial world are a thousand chances to pretend, some more innocent than others.  Is pretending all that bad?  and why do we like such illusions when we know they aren’t for real?

Take for instance our cheap hotel—Let’s pretend we’re at the beach.  Surfboards are at the ready.  Wet footprints in the elevators.  Palm trees and orange décor fill every room in the Ocean Tower but… where’s the surf?!

Tired of the beach, let’s go to Venice.  Serenaded by the gondolier plying his craft down the canal under the quaint footbridges we wander through quaint side streets under a stunningly realistic painted blue sky studded with fluffy clouds.  We are stuck in a sort of ambient twilight zone that makes the mind unwind and the soul dream.  It’s a surreal world of glitzy shops and picturesque cafes and pastry shops, of ‘sidewalk’ restaurants with very unreal prices that must be paid with real money while the world goes peacefully by in virtual happiness…

I have always wanted to visit Venice so was captivated to discover this little ‘world’ within the world of Las Vegas.  As we sat relishing a picture-perfect and delicious fruit tart and breakfast croissant in the early morning quiet of our little wonder-land I got to reflecting on what it is about such unreality that makes it so endearing.

Las Vegas is the epitome of ‘the lust of the eyes’.  What you see is however, not what you get.  It’s pretend.  You can pretend for instance, that “I love you” and “You are mine”, but the morning light will prove it not to be so… Is this why the lighting is such that it is always fading day or darkest night?

The land of pretend is flawless.  The canals do not smell dank.  The tenement housing of New York, New York is quaint and picturesque, not sordid.  The cobblestone streets of Rome are polished and its dictators benign statues.  No coliseum for torturing saints here. It’s magnificent. It’s opulent. It’s decadent.  But, this land of ‘let’s pretend’ is transient.  It represents the worlds we long to live in but never quite find.  Our hearts are drawn to love these things, illusions of the true, better than the real in some ways—this is a land of sanitized miniatures and flawless facades.  Paradise is not here.  Nor is love.  It is these we were made for.  As I sat in that Venetian pastry shop sipping and nibbling I recognized this longing for a beautiful reality that never fades, a lasting love that never tires—things that outlast the night—that befit endless day.

We are made for the real thing, a city that has no need of light for the Son is there.  A city where it is never night but always there is life.  A land of endless day and rapturous love.  On this I choose to set my heart.  The rest is imitation.  Fun to visit, in spots.   And great for kindling dreams of greater things…

“And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ, He is the true God and eternal life.  Little children, keep yourselves from idols.” I Jn. 5:20,21


--LS

He's FOR US (an addendum)

Before I move on to the promised post on what it means to exist FOR GOD,  I have to sort out some observations on what it does and does not mean to say that God is 'for us'.  Drawn from my understanding of Scripture here are my thoughts:

What it does not mean…
    --God has my happiness at the top of His agenda.
    --God will never let me suffer or face deep disappointment or failure.
    --God wants me always healthy, financially secure and relationally satisfied (and He guarantees my children the same!)

What it does mean…
    --God has my best interest in view and arranges every circumstance to work for my good.
    --God is committed to making me like Christ and will see this project through to the finish.
    --God’s love for me will never falter, fade, or fail no matter what circumstances I find myself in.

These are things I know from Scripture, but they still sound very me oriented… I’m reading an author this week who calls this the ‘infatuated’ stage of my relationship with Jesus.  It is largely self-centered and tends to be all about me—my victories over sin, my joy, my growth—in short, all the good things Christianity has done for me.  "I love you for how you make me feel" is classic infatuation.  It’s a beginning but we’re called to more…

The honeymoon is over but the best is yet to come!

To be continued in Friday's post...

Just the Way You Are...

There's something about a love song that grabs a girl's heart. It's not just the tune, though that can be the winsome agent that sets your heart singing. A good love song says things my very soul longs to hear and believe. [My kids tell me I'm silly to always be listening for lyrics and rejecting a song if it's got unacceptable ones...After all, if the tune grabs you why let a few words get in the way! But ahhh it's a sweet song that delivers both.]

So what does my soul want to hear? That I am loved, as I am, forever and always, no chance of losing favor, no matter what I do (or don't)... That someone I love is crazy about me... That he likes me just the way I am! That someone I love wants to talk to me and listen to what's on my mind... That he loves my company...

Well, yes, I guess that's what my soul wants to hear. And I believe that's because I was created for such a love. Secular artists may not know their Source but when they write lyrics and sing tunes that resonate with a love like this, they echo faintly a Love beyond human comparison. I found a song like that. When I listen as if it were written for me, expressing God's own heart, it makes my soul sing and my face reflect the pleasure.

Try it and see ( :

Billy Joel sings "Just the Way You Are"

Don't go changing, to try and please me
You never let me down before
Don't imagine you're too familiar
And I don't see you anymore
I wouldn't leave you in times of trouble
We never could have come this far
I took the good times, I'll take the bad times
I'll take you just the way you are
Don't go trying some new fashion
Don't change the color of your hair
You always have my unspoken passion
Although I might not seem to care
I don't want clever conversation
I never want to work that hard
I just want someone that I can talk to
I want you just the way you are.
I need to know that you will always be
The same old someone that I knew
What will it take till you believe in me
The way that I believe in you.
I said I love you and that's forever
And this I promise from the heart
I could not love you any better
I love you just the way you are.

And that was Joel (Billy). Here's how Zephaniah* puts it:

"Sing aloud... shout! Rejoice and exult with all your heart,...the LORD has taken away the judgments against you... The King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst; you shall never again fear evil...He will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by HIs love; He will exult over you with loud singing!"

Now that's a love song worth taking to heart!

*(Zephaniah 3:14-17)

He Loves Me!

I must add a note to the Peter Story. I've just been reading a new book called "He Loves Me" and came upon this quote:

The doorway into the Father’s love begins at the cross. Seeing what Father and Son accomplished together in that climactic moment defines love in a way that you can only experience in him. This is the love that will allow you to feel perfectly safe in the Father’s presence. It frees you to be exactly who you are, weaknesses and all, and never again have to pretend before him.
Then you will discover that life in God rises out of your security in his love, not your insecurity that you don’t love him enough. That’s the lesson Jesus wanted to teach Peter that morning by Galilee’s shore. Though Peter could not answer that he loved Jesus to the depth that Jesus asked, he had more to learn of the power of the cross . He had a fear of his own failures that had not been swallowed up by God’s love.

Just had to share it; it goes to the heart of what I am needing to learn( : I find it's one thing to hear profound truth with my head, but quite another to know it in my heart and live out of it.

Incidentally, the whole book is available to read on-line or download as a PDF file. It's good reading! and can be found at:

http://www.lifestream.org/helovesme/index.html

Just click on the link that reads: 'Download 1st Edition as a PDF File'

Blessings on you as you follow Him...

Peter's Story...and mine?

I've been doing a lot of thinking lately about Love, not the mushy romantic stuff of movies and trash fiction but the God-kind. The kind that goes on despite the unlovely object. My thinking started with a sermon taken from John 13-15 focusing on our obligation to love each other as hard evidence that we in fact love God... It's easy to present the case:

1) Jesus said, 'If you love me you will keep my commandments.'

2) Jesus said, 'This is my commandment: that you love one another (as I have loved you!!)'

The rational conclusion: if you don't love each other, you don't love God. Simple. Case closed.

To be fair, that was only a part of what was said. There was more, about forgiveness and fellowship... and vines and sticks! Who wants to be a stick, thrown in the 'burn pile', useless?! Not I. And yet, I could think of more than one person I find it difficult to think fondly of, let alone love like Jesus does. I should have seen a red flag right there and started waving my white one! Do I love anybody like Jesus does?! I give up. To admit it then and there would have saved me an afternoon of unrest and soulsearching. I should have just said, "Yes, you're right, I don't love people like God does and yet, I know in my heart that I do love God. " But how is this apparent contradiction to be explained?

I got alone with the Good Shepherd in a quiet place later in the afternoon and it has made all the difference in my understanding. When I asked Him how I was to make sense of this passage my eyes fell on Peter's words in John 13:37. Jesus had just announced His upcoming Crucifixion indirectly, saying He was going away and that his disciples would not be able to follow Him right then... and Peter blurted out: "Lord, why can't I follow you now? I'll lay down my life for you!".
My attention was arrested because I know Peter's story. I know he had great intentions of demonstrating his love for Jesus with the ultimate test of laying down his life. He meant what he said. But Jesus had to contradict him: "Will you? In fact, you'll deny me 3 times..."

Ahha! so here was another would-be lover of Jesus that had no hard evidence of his love, and in fact was about to fail the test. But what I loved as I sat there in that quiet place being led through the story, was Jesus' response. He went right on after this disclosure of Peter's upcoming failure, to say: 'Don't let it trouble you. You believe in God, believe in me too. I'm going to get a place ready for you to spend eternity with me'* There was no rejection, no scolding, no shame, just encouragement to hang in there and keep believing. I love that! It was what I so needed to hear.

But the story went on, picking up beside the Sea, after Jesus had come back to life and gone to find His discouraged disciples. They'd thrown in the towel and taken up fishing again, something they were good at, comfortable with. Maybe it would help them make sense of things...
Next thing you know they're on the shore having a breakfast barbecue with Jesus. Once again Jesus breaks the bread and hands it to them. Once again Peter smells the scent of a charcoal fire in the early morning and remembers the fateful day he denied His Lord. So does Jesus. And after everybody's filled up, Jesus gets right to the point: 'Peter, do you love me more than these?' Do you have that unconditional, self-sacrificing, lasting kind of love for me, that has nothing to do with your own feelings... Peter's answer is a qualified 'yes'. "Yes, you know that I have a brotherly affection for you."

But Jesus doesn't seem to mind. Without missing a beat He gives Peter a job feeding His precious lambs. Then He asks Peter again if he loves Him with that agape kind of 'God-love'. Peter's answer does not change. His love is still below the level of God's love and he knows it. Furthermore, he knows that Jesus knows it. But still Jesus gives him a role in the Kingdom: 'Take care of my sheep'.

Then a final time the question is posed, "Peter, do you love me?" But this time, Jesus uses Peter's word for love, brotherly love, a love based on common affection, shared interests... Do you have that kind of love for me, Peter? Peter's only defense is "Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you." And again Jesus entrusts Peter with the task of feeding His sheep.

I was so into the story at this point that it had become my story. 'You know that I love you, Lord' even if my love is not like yours. And I heard those words from that other passage in John, "You did not choose me. I chose you, that you should go and bear fruit, fruit that will last..." and I knew it wasn't about me and my paltry efforts to love, or my productive efforts, but about Him working in me to accomplish His purposes.

And do you know what He said next? On the surface it doesn't sound like a reassuring point. But Jesus proceeded to tell Peter that one day he would be taken where he would not want to go, that he would indeed lay down his life for His Lord! Why did He have to tell him that right now? Because He was telling Peter that his love would grow and his life would bring God great glory! Peter's desire to love with that God-like love (that sacrifices everything for the worth of its object) was going to be fulfilled. God would yet perfect Peter's love. And in the meantime, his calling was: "Follow me."

It all made sense. No, my love is not perfect, not even close. But it is not something to hyper-focus on and lose heart about. My calling is to follow Him, to believe that what God has called me to, He will accomplish in me. He is not shaming me. He is for me, pursuing me, teaching me, with me....

And now I turned to Peter's first letter, to see what Peter's thoughts were as an older man thinking back over the years, writing to the 'sheep' entrusted to His care. Given the backdrop of Peter's life, the testing of his faith and love for Jesus, the sense of destiny he came to know, the passage was profound to read. It was as though it was being read in my ears... "To those... who are chosen...according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, that you may obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood: May grace and peace be yours in fullest measure....and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls."

My soul was at peace again. I could go home rejoicing. My Good Shepherd had stooped to help his distraught little sheep, had picked me up and put me back on my feet. And now, He was going on ahead inviting me to follow Him.

Isn't He good?!

*Some quotes are approximate free versions of the text.