Of the Glorious Renovations underway in us

Where do I begin?  Momentous themes have been rolling around in my mind this week—SIN, Glory!, Desire, Faith.  The new nature. The ‘old man’.  And  the Holy Spirit’s role in all of these.

Let me start with sin, but don’t worry I won’t end here! I promise.  I’ve been thinking a lot lately about sin and what to do about it (likely due to the book I’m studying). The Bible clearly teaches that we have a practical role to play in sin’s demise in our lives.  It’s power has been broken by Jesus’ once-for-all-time death on the Cross.  And by faith in Christ’s death and resurrection on our behalf we are freed from its damning penalty.  We are made alive in our spirits, made to share the very life of Christ.  But while we inhabit these earth-bound bodies we are subject to sin’s temptation.  We no longer have to sin.  We aren’t its slaves.  We have a new Master. But we can still choose to sin.  Here’s where ‘our part’ comes in. 

Desires rage within us.  Paul depicted it perfectly: “For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.” (Rom.7:19) There’s clearly a draw to sin that didn’t move out when the New Man moved in. I’m reminded of the renovations that have been in the backdrop of my week.  We’re mostly done now.  Clearing, cleaning, painting, replacing, upgrading, and organizing anew is a little like the process of Sanctification.  There’s a new owner.  The rooms of my heart are being re-purposed to suit His desires.  Everything’s being made fresh and new to serve His purposes.  But there’s still a bunch of clutter that has to go, some scrubbing and sanding, some rearranging. It’s the ‘putting off of the old man with its practices, and the putting on of the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator’ Col.3:9,10

Seasons of renovation can be uncomfortable. They’re messy. We want the process to end.  But the ‘sin which clings so closely’ (Heb. 12:1) is not always easily discerned or dislodged.  After all, we’ve lived with it for a long time.  It feels like a part of us.  And all the decisions—this is the hardest part for me.  Envisioning what would be best is where I get stuck. It’s hard for me to know what I want until I’ve seen it in place. My desires are conflicted.  I’m not a designer. And I guess I don’t have a very good imagination. I get frustrated and tired of the project dragging on demanding more of me than I can give.

But here’s where the analogy inspires me!  The best part about the renovations going on in my Heart is that I’m not in charge!  I get to participate: ‘Haul that carpet out’.  ‘Paint that wall with this’.  ‘Throw out that box.’  ‘Stand back and have a look at this picture.’  But the One Masterminding the operation has an eye for design and He’s fitting me (us, His people) for a glory beyond our greatest imaginings. For we are His Inheritance.  He’s bound and determined to perfect this make-over.  This is wonderful to be the object of such care.  Why then is the process so uncomfortable?

Sometimes  I doubt that He knows best.  After all, I do have desires; there are things I’d like to keep, colors I’d like to try on the walls, ways of doing things I have in mind.  On the one hand I’m glad not to be in charge of this project.  On the other, I want some control!  This is the struggle of sin vs. faith, of flesh vs. Spirit.  It will be with us till we die.  But I have wearied this week of thinking about sin. As a friend said:

“Sin is overwhelming. Thinking about sin and the havoc it causes…makes me feel like falling on my face and giving up.”

I agree.(Paul apparently did too: “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” (Rom.7:24) Sin is not something we were made to dwell on,  but to acknowledge,  to agree with God about  and to turn from. We don’t overcome sin by focusing on it but by fixing our eyes on Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith (Heb.12:2).  His designs for us go infinitely beyond the most dazzling designs of sin.

I’ve been reading C.S. Lewis’ essay “The Weight of Glory” this week. In it he talks about our desires and the glory God has prepared us for.  He suggests that our desires are not too strong, but too weak.  We haven’t got a clue what we really want.

“We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”

We are creatures of earth invited to share the very glory of God which necessitates our being holy (Heb.12:14).  But we get side-tracked with such paltry desires. Among Jesus’ last expressed desires are: “I want them to be with me so they can see my glory”. Jn.17:24  Meanwhile, we  want Him  to be with us to enhance our own glory in the here and now.

Paul quotes from the prophets: “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him…”  (I Cor.2:10)
And irrespective of the context, our imaginations roam to wedding feasts, mansions, streets of gold and all things material.

We are such earthlings were it not for the Spirit of God who lives in us to renew our hearts and minds to imagine the glory we are designed for. [ Have a look at the whole passage some time.  Paul has updated the Old Testament quote to include the revelation of God’s heart that we have in the Gospel, namely that His Spirit has come to live in us and reveal to us the very mind of God! This is beyond anything we could imagine]

The Spirit makes all the difference. He it is who conducts the renovations we must undergo—and gives joy in the process!  He empowers us to say ‘no’ to sin and ‘yes’ to God’s designs for us.  All His virtues parade through the verses of Romans eight dragging me away from my fixation on Sin and What to Do About It, and making me see this Power that works in me to enable me to ‘put to death the misdeeds of the body’ (Rom.8:13),  to lead me to cry ‘Daddy! to my heavenly Father, to reveal to me the inheritance that is mine as an heir of God! and to enable me to endure suffering by the power of hope in what is just beyond it.  Romans eight is replete with the glorious reality of what the Spirit is up to in us.  We are truly more than conquerors through Him who loved us and gave His Spirit as the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire full possession of it!

And so I’ve gone from thinking about sin to thinking about the glory that will be revealed in us through the energies of God’s Spirit at work in us to will and to work for His good pleasure.  Whew.

I’ll close with these thoughts on what glory will be, from C.S.Lewis’
The Weight of Glory:

In the end that Face which is the delight or the terror of the universe must be turned upon each of us either with one expression or with the other, either conferring glory inexpressible or inflicting shame that can never be cured or disguised…

It is written that we shall “stand before” Him, shall appear, shall be
inspected. The promise of glory is the promise, almost incredible and only possible by the work of Christ, that some of us, that any of us who really chooses, shall actually survive that examination, shall find approval, shall please God. To please God...to be a real ingredient in the divine happiness...to be loved by God, not merely pitied, but delighted in as an artist delights in his work or a father in a son—it seems impossible, a weight or burden of glory which our thoughts can hardly sustain. But so it is.

 [Better yet, read the whole thing here!]

And as I wrap this up, the words of It is Well with my Soul echo in my mind:

“My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!” 

and the preceding verse as well,

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul

And that seems a good note to end on!
Thanks for joining me here. 

--LS

“…to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.” Rom.8:6

May the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places… Eph.1:17-20

(And if you’ve been just a little curious, here are some before and after pics from our entryway renovations…)

 

 

 

 

“For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.  When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.”(Col.3:4)

From Fisherman to Follower

Home now from Texas, reflecting on our time there (visiting Rachel and attending a conference at Capernwray’s His Hill school), collecting my thoughts…catching my breath for the “Christmas season”. 

It will be a very different one this year.  The familiar tunes playing in my ear this afternoon have a melancholy pull—reminding me of Christmases past when so much of what I did to ‘get ready’ for Christmas was about the kids under my roof…This year everyone will not be coming home for the holidays.  I will need sustaining joy not bound to circumstances!

Isn’t this the Christmas story in a nutshell?

I bring you good tidings of great joy!  Unto you is born this day a Saviour— Christ the Lord—Jesus, my joy.*  The life I now live I live by faith in this One who died for me so that He could live in me… This was the theme of the conference really—Jesus, our life—who calls us to Himself so that He can be our life.

We were reminded that in Jesus we have everything needed to live the Christian life.  The call to follow Him is a call to that will ultimately transform us into His likeness as He lives out His life in us. Through the life of Peter we looked at the process by which this transformation takes place.  How did Peter get from being a mere fisherman to being a committed follower of Christ--one of those who turned the world upside down wherever he went?

The first message in the series** was taken from the calling of the first disciples in Luke 5.  We looked at six stages that characterize hearing God’s call to  transformation.

It begins with being in the place of wanting to hear it.  When the temporary satisfaction that distractions give is removed our ears are opened to hear what Jesus is saying. This is a good place to be.  The crowd was ‘pressing in on him to hear the word of God…’

Secondly, we will hear the call of God when we realize it’s about Him and not primarily about what He does for me.  “There is a profound danger of being more impressed with the activity of God than the person of Christ.”  God calls us not primarily for what we will do or what He will do through us, but in order that we might know Him.  Our calling is first and foremost to know Him.

Next, Jesus got right into Peter’s boat. If we are to be transformed by God’s call on our lives we must let him enter into our world, our very identity, all that matters most to us.  It is here that we most need Him to make Himself at home.

At this point, our own bankruptcy becomes evident:  “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing!” (Lk.5:5)  We must come to the realization that without Him we can do nothing of consequence.  And we must submit ourselves to His direction, not our own best notions.

At this point in Peter’s story, he obediently lets down his nets into deep water and a net-breaking catch results.  Peter is overwhelmed by Christ’s greatness and broken before Him.  "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord” is Peter’s response.  He is convicted of his own unworthiness to have Jesus in his boat.  Until we come to the point of seeing how good we are NOT, we will not know the dependence on God necessary to transformation.  Not until we take our hands off ourselves and our abilities and put all we are and have at God’s disposal will we know the transformation to which we are called.

And finally, as the boats come to land, Peter and his fishing partners, James and John, leave everything to follow Jesus.  The call of God to transformation is more than the passion of a moment of revelation.  It requires a day-by day commitment to put all we are at His disposal and follow Him wherever He leads us.  These fishermen have turned their backs on all they claimed their own.  They have become followers of Christ and are being transformed into fishers of men. They will never be the same.  They have responded to God’s call.  This is the path of great joy!

Unto us is born this day a Savior—He is Christ the Lord!  Let us be among those who leave our nets and follow this One who came to be our very life!

--LS

For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. (Col. 3:3-4 KJV)

May I add this link to a whimsical, fresh and ultimately exhilarating rendition of what the angels announced.  It’s The Piano Guys latest.  Enjoy!(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n543eKIdbUI&feature=em-subs_digest)

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*And speaking of Jesus, the Joy of the world, I discovered Jerry Benjamin this morning in his excellent message entitled: “Christ is Our Joy”.   I commend  it to you no matter what your circumstances this advent season ( ;

**These notes are taken from Peter Thomas’ first message in the series: “From Fisherman to Follower”, presented at the His Hill Thanksgiving Conference, 2013 in Comfort, TX. 

Peter is the son of Ian Thomas, founder of Capernwray Missionary Fellowship of Torchbearers.  Through Bible schools and conference centers worldwide its mission is to:  “proclaim the transforming presence of Jesus Christ through Biblical teaching and practical training, equipping men and women for service in His Church worldwide." 

Its various schools worldwide (one of which is His Hill, where our daughter is attending this year!) provide practical Christian education to develop personal spiritual growth, prepare people for an effective church life, and teach a working knowledge of the Bible.

Beyond Personality—Who I am, was and will be…

--some thoughts on 'self' for children of the King—

In an era shaped by much ado about self, the Christian ideal of 'death to self' sounds harshly inappropriate if not wrong! What could it mean? Are we not made in the image of God, creatures with great creative potential, dearly loved and desired? Of course we know there was 'the Fall' marring that Grand Design but then there was also the Cross whereby a way of redemption was bought and now all those who have been 'united with Christ in His death' (Rom.6:5,6) are said to be new creations, alive to God, and empowered by His Spirit to walk in the good deeds prepared for them in the foreknowledge of the Creator… So what to think of 'self'? If my destiny is to be Christlike, do I still get to be 'me'? Is 'self' something to shun or to celebrate?

On the one hand there are many things that could be affirmed to be true of me as a new creation in Christ. There are lists of such affirmations, mostly beginning with "I am…"  I am accepted. I am secure. I am significant. I am free. And under each of these is an array of Scriptures to prove their validity. (This has been done in a lovely Calligraphic form here.)

But as a friend pointed out, shouldn't we be a little wary of the emphasis? Is it so important who I am? Shouldn't my focus be on who He is, i.e. the Great I AM! All these things may be true of me, but only because of Him. Apart from Him I am in fact unacceptable, insecure, insignificant and in bondage to sin, even if self-help programs buoy me up to believe otherwise! Is it me I need to celebrate or Him?

Another friend rightly comes to the defense of self as the essence of all that makes me unique, the very gift of God to me, not the enemy, but the canvas on which God paints His glory! She rejoices in God's design, trusting Christ to do the alterations as needed, celebrating life in the meantime. What do I say to that? Am I so wary of 'self' getting a foothold on my affections that I cast a wary eye at all my comforts and little joys rather than enjoying them with gratitude? Can I celebrate the 'me' I am on the way to becoming the 'me' I shall be when I see my Saviour face to face? Do I dare?

These are thoughts I've been casting about in my mind this week. I don't have all the answers. I suspect it is a matter in part of defining what one means by 'self'. Am I called to despise all that makes me uniquely me, the 'fearfully and wonderfully made' creation knit together in my mother's womb and then shaped by training, circumstance, and destiny under the guidance of God's sovereign Hand. I think not. Who is the clay to say to the Potter, 'why have you made me this way'?! (Rom.9:20) Am I called to submit all that I am-- the 'good', the 'bad' and the 'maybe someday', to God for His pleasure and pruning. Yes, that too.

I've been lapping up C.S. Lewis lucid thinking in "Beyond Personality" (Part IV of Mere Christianity). In a chapter titled: "Is Christianity Hard or Easy?" He differentiates between the 'natural self' and the person we become in giving over our whole selves with all their wishes and precautions to Christ for Him to fill and transform. Lewis says it will do no good to insist on being 'ourselves', intent on our personal happiness on the one hand while striving to be 'good' on the other. We are called to perfection and only Christ can do that in us as we lay aside self's insistence on its own thoughts and listen for His. There is at once the seeming hardship of 'Take up your Cross and follow Me' and the promised ease: 'My yoke is easy, and my burden light.'

Lewis pictures it this way. Trying to be good while yet 'ourselves' is like an egg trying to fly! "It may be hard for an egg to turn into a bird: it would be a jolly sight harder for it to learn to fly while remaining an egg. [Ha! Can you picture it?!] We are like eggs at present. And you cannot go on indefinitely being just an ordinary, decent egg. We must be hatched or go bad….this is the whole of Christianity." (169) He comments elsewhere: Christ came not 'to torment your natural self but to KILL IT!' (167)

Now I realize Lewis is primarily speaking here of the self before we have surrendered to Christ, but I do wonder whether there is relevance still to us as believers. Do we not tend to lapse back into 'trying to be good', striving to do 'good works', working hard to 'be pleasing' in our own steam? Unwittingly appealing to the energy of our old self in an effort to be new selves! I know I do. The Galatians did too: "Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?" (Gal.3:3) It seems to me 'self' is always at the ready to step up to the plate and try for a 'home run' that will redirect God's glory to self. Even as I am 'in Christ' I find my 'natural self' is not silent. I need these reminders to surrender everything I am and am not to Christ. So I continue with Lewis' thoughts on self:

'The more we get what we call 'ourselves' out of the way and let Him take us over, the more truly ourselves we become.' (189)

He says that all we are intended to be is 'waiting for us in Him'. And we need never fear a boring uniformity of personality in being 'like Christ' anymore than Light makes all thing appear identical or Salt makes all foods taste alike! (188-89) Lewis brings out the idea that no matter how many 'little Christs' (as he calls the believer being conformed to Christ's image) there may be, it will still be too few to express Christ fully. (189) I like this idea. It reminds me of the Body imagery of Ephesians 4. Each of us is an integral part, necessarily unique, to the completion of the Body of Christ. In this respect the proper functioning of each 'self' is crucial to the whole. Seeing myself in relation to the Body also draws me away from hyper-focusing on 'who I am'. I can't determine this in isolation anymore than a Nose put away in a box can determine its worth or role in life. It is needed by the Body and only connected with it will it become all it is meant to be!

The alternative is to try to 'be myself' without Jesus. Ironically, as C.S. Lewis suggests, 'The more I resist Him and try to live on my own, the more I become dominated by my own heredity and upbringing and surroundings and natural desires. In fact what I so proudly call "Myself" becomes merely the meeting place for trains of events which I never started and which I cannot stop. What I call "My wishes" become merely the desires thrown up by my physical organism or pumped into me by other men's thoughts or even suggested to me by devils…I am not, in my natural state, nearly so much of a person as I like to believe: most of what I call 'me' can be very easily explained. It is when I turn to Christ, when I give myself up to His Personality, that I first begin to have a real personality of my own.' (189)

So perhaps this is the place to get out the party hats, call together our friends and celebrate what Christ has done in each of us!

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But, if you don't mind, before the party I offer this overview of my understanding of the Bible's teaching on:
WHO I AM, WHO I WAS, and WHO I WILL BE…

By Design
I'm created in the image of God—designed for fellowship with Him! This makes me distinct from the animals, possessing not only a body but a spirit and soul designed for communication with others and with God. Because of this design I have ability to create, not from nothing as God did, but from the grist of God's creation—inspired by its beauty, supplied with its materials…Because of this design, I have inherent value apart from anything I am able or not able to accomplish. This 'fearful and wonderful' design (Ps.139) is what makes the unborn child, the demented adult and the severely incapacitated individual of equal value with the most beautiful, intelligent, or otherwise capable person. Our value is inherent, not earned. [Contrary to popular cultural thought and practice]

By the Fall
The image of God in man was marred. The spirit was pronounced dead and the body doomed to join it. I was made the enemy of God. Fellowship was severed and impossible to fix without intervention by Someone other than myself. How did it happen? The most beautiful and talented angel wanted to usurp God's position. He was not content to be a creature, but insisted on being recognized, glorified and worshiped. His fall precipitated our own when he tempted our ancestors to trust their own instincts instead of God's words, with the lie being that they too could be like God, running their own lives. I was born a rebel intent on being the center of my universe.

By Redemption
The Father still seeks worshipers, still wants fellowship, still has our best interests on His heart. So He gave us Jesus to take on our human form—to sample our situation and taste of our estrangement and ultimately to suffer the death we rightfully had coming so that we could be restored to fellowship with the Father. He invites us to know His ways and do life His way. In fact He offers to be our life. By His Spirit I am made alive to God, a new creation. The fellowship is restored and the image of Christ in me is being recreated by His Spirit as I behold Jesus. C.S. Lewis refers to our transformation this way: "This world is a great sculptor's shop. We are the statues and there is a rumour going round the shop that some of us are some day going to come to life." (140)  In one way redemption is a done deal. I have been redeemed and given a new nature, my sins forgiven, my pardon signed. And yet I still live in a body bound for the grave. My complete redemption is yet future…

By Resurrection/Adoption
I am one who has been bought with a price and called therefore to 'glorify God in my body' (I Cor.6:20) This I do imperfectly for my body houses a nature at odds with my 'new man'. Though rendered powerless it cries out to be served. But one day my body too will die and with it this old self. I will be fitted with a new resurrection body untainted by sin. When this mortal puts on immortality I will not only be with the Lord forever but will perfectly reflect His image. This is my great hope and the hope toward which all creation looks—the revealing of the 'sons of God' (Rom. 8:21) and the summing up of all things in Christ (Eph.1:10) That will be glory!

Let the party begin!

--LS 

‘Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.’ I Jn.3:2

For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. Eph.2:10NLT

In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory... Eph.1:11,12

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Quotations taken from Mere Christianity by C.S.Lewis. MacMillan Publ, 1960, 190pp.

What’s to Eat?

A timely book came to my doorstep this week (How I love when those little brown parcels arrive!) which has offered a refreshing reminder of how transformation into Christ-likeness works. This is a practical book, no formulas, no elite ‘spiritual’ exercises. In fact the bulk of it is built around the premise that it will be in really seeing Jesus that we will be transformed. He is the one after all that invites us to come to Him, find our hungers and thirsts quenched in him, rest in Him, and follow Him. He didn’t talk like we do about a ‘plan of salvation”. He said, “I AM the Way, the Truth and the Life” (Jn.14:6)….’Come to Me that you may have life’… ‘I AM the Bread of Life’ (John 6,7) ‘Eat Me, drink Me, Abide in Me’… It will be in knowing Him intimately that we will be changed.

So I was taking a closer look at Jesus in the boat with his disciples. They’re fretting about not having enough bread with them. Now, mind you, this was very shortly after the feeding of the thousands with just a few loaves. Jesus is grooming these men to advance the Kingdom of God and they are hung up on ‘what’s for lunch?’. Nonplussed he uses the teaching moment to warn them about the bad ‘yeast’ of the Pharisees but goes on to ask them if they really didn’t get the point of the miracle of the loaves and fishes…

Now, I can sympathize with those disciples. Have you ever been stuck on a boat with no food? Good food is an essential element of a good sailing trip for me. Last weekend was our first overnight sailing trip of the season. The captain being an eager sailor was glad to take the clothes on his back and set sail but I was not fully ‘ready’ to embark till I’d made a quick trip to the grocery store for ‘provisions’. Not that we wouldn’t have had enough to survive otherwise—canned things and emergency snack food, but there’s an improved morale for me in a trip that includes a fresh, crusty-but-soft loaf of French bread… and some chops to grill… and maybe some fruit and chips…OK, so all the disciples wanted was bread; but they too knew it’s no fun being stuck on a boat without food. So they were pre-occupied. Jesus says, ‘Don’t be, this is just stuff. I’ve got you covered.’ He was disturbed that they hadn’t gotten that lesson when they’d collected the TWELVE BASKETS of broken pieces leftover from the breaking of the five loaves for the five thousand. Twelve baskets was enough for one basket each for the disciples… plenty to eat and to share! When Jesus is with you, there is no want. When Jesus breaks the bread there is always enough and plenty to spare.
He is the one who broke the bread at that last supper they shared and handed it to His disciples saying: “This is my body, which is given for you. Take. Eat.” (Mt.26:26; Lk.22:19) What more could He give? What more could we need?


Paul spells it out in Colossians when he says: “in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, and in Him you have been made complete.” This word ‘complete’ means filled up to the brim so that nothing shall be wanting, complete in every particular, rendered perfect. It is the same word used of a fulfilled prophesy, of something realized or accomplished. This is us, in Christ. So what is the obvious necessity for growth or service or any other aspect of fulfilling my calling as a believer? It must be in cultivating this connection with Jesus.


Which brings me back to that book I mentioned….Subtitled, Experiments in Christlikeness, it’s all about weaving simple disciplines into the ‘ordinary fabric’ of our days for this very purpose. From the start this clarification of motive jumped out at me. The point of doing any ‘spiritual’ exercise, for instance daily Bible reading, is not ‘to be a better Christian or to be holy’. It isn’t? (I had to read that one over again.) What then is the point? I am to discipline myself to read or to pray or to spend time in quiet… for the purpose of connecting with God, of learning to abide in Christ, to hear His voice, to share my heart and know His… A simple discipline is only a tool toward the cultivation of relationship. And it will be in the cultivation of that relationship that I will be transformed into Christ’s likeness. This transformation will be a product of abiding in the Vine. Now that does make sense. But how easily I can forget the point and think that my ‘doing’ is making me ‘holy’

“The distinction of where to put the effort is crucial: not in trying to be good (or do what Jesus did) but in connecting with Jesus himself….You do the connecting (with God), and God does the perfecting (in your behavior).” (Johnson,21,22) I find this thought tremendously freeing. I have long recognized myself to be a ‘pleaser’ with a strong desire to come across as ‘nice’ regardless of what is beneath the surface. I was the model child they say—‘good little Lindy’, an “A” student, quiet, an ‘easy’ child…but little known. My few best friends knew I wasn’t so quiet (and not so ‘nice’ all the time perhaps?) Unfortunately, growing up in a sub-culture that valued a ‘holiness’ that was easily mistaken for outward conformity to multiple “do’s” and especially “don’ts”, I learned to believe I was truly ‘nice’, even before God. I had better be--sinlessness was the goal! Covering sin up or denying it was the practical outcome. Relationship was really not emphasized as much as behavior. So, I toed the line and took my ‘nice’ disposition and circumspect behavior as being ‘holy’.


How woefully wrong was I. It’s not about being ‘nice’ anyway; it’s about being perfect—“brought to its end, finished, wanting nothing necessary to completeness”. This is no self-study program! Divine intervention required. Have you ever squirmed in reading, "Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matt.5:48) ? I was intrigued to find this same word used when Jesus instructed the rich young ruler in what he must do to inherit eternal life. After a quick review of the commandments Jesus said, "If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me." There was something keeping this man from treasuring the Kingdom above all else, and that something kept him from following Jesus. I think this is the point. It’s not so much about what he needed to DO as it was about exposing his heart and its treasure. If I will cultivate a heart that treasures Jesus, that ‘feeds on’ Him above everything else, the doing (and the being) will fall into place. Everything ‘necessary to completeness’ was accomplished at the Cross when Jesus declared: “It is finished (perfect)” (Jn.19:30) That’s enough for even me. Let’s eat!

"If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me." (Rev.3:20)

“Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.” (I Thess. 5:23,24)


--LS


I always enjoy Twila Paris. Here’s a reminder to “Hold On” to the real treasure and let the rest go.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZwelxYavVY (Never mind the Hungarian (?) subtitles. Her words are clear.)

“Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, loving the LORD your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days…” Deut.30:19,20

Of Silver Bullets and Zombies

Not sure whether it’s the new riflery hobby that’s invaded our house with its retinue of bullets or what, but I’m back on the topic of the fight of faith today with some mental imagery—namely vampires and zombies.

I may have avoided writing about it last week but it seems I can’t avoid the fight of faith.  All week I’ve been pestered by this persistent struggle against my propensity to feel both responsible and powerless in the face of circumstances I can’t control but which have the potential for evil (besides destroying my hopes and dreams!)

Some mornings it’s been a matter of not feeling up-to-snuff physically and just needing grace for everything!  Monday mornings are often like that.  For no particular reason the mundane things of my life seem suddenly daunting and I sit and ask for grace, mentally marching out in review the cares on my mind in hopes that faith will rally.  And a still small voice reminds: ‘only one thing is needful’.  I open to the day’s Bible reading and there it is again: “you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary”(Lk 10:41,42) and Mary has chosen it, namely to sit at my feet and listen to what I have to say, undistracted by the pressures of service.  So He gives me my daily bread and forgives me my sins and another day commences. 

Looking back now I realize Sunday’s sermon should have sufficed, had I held onto it. How soon I had forgotten the encouragement:

“…’You are my servant, I have chosen you and not cast you off;’fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand” (Is.41:10). 

It had been a message about being in the grip of His grace—the One who is able to do abundantly more than all we could ask or even think through His church for His own glory.  I had even made myself a note to copy this verse out and stick it somewhere…

Well, the fight is on.  The victory that overcomes the world is our faith. So of course it’s the target of all the zombies and vampires of the unseen realm.  And they obviously know my vulnerabilities, namely my tendency to feel responsible to control things I cannot and my wimpy tendency to conclude there’s nothing I can do that will make a difference.  So of course guilt and fear have a hey day.  The zombies go for the brain they say—terrifying specters bent on destroying my ability to think rightly.  And the vampires want to drain my blood—my life blood, the life of joy and purpose I am designed for.  The whole world may lie in the power of the evil one (I Jn. 5:19) but not I!  Where are my silver bullets?!


I was airing my ‘woes’ and worries yesterday to my resident counselor and best friend (the flesh and blood one who is the best thing that’s happened to me since salvation)…and he summarized with “boy, you’re sure impatient.”  Ding!  Well of course that’s a key point.  I want my hopes, my dreams, my goals in every arena of responsibility to be fulfilled NOW. I want to see the fruit of my labors (and the ‘abundantly beyond’ bonuses of God’s favor that will go way beyond these).  I want to see the fairytale endings.  It’s hard to keep praying, to keep believing, to keep hoping, to keep resisting fear and doubt…if I could just see answers today, I could relax.  Hmmm…. I guess that’s pretty much a case of impatience isn’t it?

Not that I haven’t heard this admonition before, mind you.  Waiting is no fun.  It’s a battle for me.  I need the constant ammunition of the Word, like this verse above my kitchen sink which reads in part:

“Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord.  See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and late rains.  You also, be patient.  Establish your hearts." (James 5:7,8)

And this one I distinctly remember being spoken to me in a quiet moment plopped on a log in the middle of a scraggly clear-cut:

 “Do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of god you may receive what is promised.” (Heb.10:35,36)

For good reason Abraham is one of my heroes: “No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.”(Rom.4:20,21)  Of course he had a little detour of trying to work things out on his own steam which had disastrous consequences that have rocked the world to the present day—but even these will ultimately bow to the sovereign purpose of God and bring Him glory.

All these verses help in the fight to hold onto faith but another joined the arsenal this morning—I’m calling it my silver bullet.  I woke recognizing it’s what I’ve failed to put to use and what I desperately need.  Paul spoke often of this surefire safeguard.  He didn’t worry about repeating himself when urging his trainees to put it into use. Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, REJOICE.  He said it was worth repeating because for them it was a safeguard—a sure, firm, reliable strategy.  A silver bullet!

Not having much knowledge of ‘zombies’  or vampires myself (or of silver bullets) I had to research this a bit—“The silver bullet is a common form of Depleted Phlebotinum Shells. It's often called for when supernatural creatures are around for whom silver is an Achilles Heel”.  ( :  I figure if the enemy knows my weaknesses, I should certainly know his.  This word describing how ‘safe’ rejoicing is for me, is a Greek word defined by what it is not.  It will not fail, totter, fall or cheat me.  I like that! A silver bullet against the zombie hordes, those fearmongering supernatural foes that are loathe to acknowledge who I am in Christ, who taunt and terrorize me with imagined woes and scandalous ‘what if’s.  They cannot withstand me when I’m rejoicing in the Lord.

• He is my Redeemer--the Lord Almighty is His name!
• He is the One who is strong when I am weak.
• He is the One who grants me authority to go as a lamb among wolves with the message of forgiveness and redemption.
• He is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning of my story and its ending point.
• He is the One who works all things after the counsel of His will—determined that we should be to the praise of His glory. (Eph.1:11)
• He is the One who intercedes for me, that my faith fail not.

This is someone to rejoice in!


And with that silver bullet this song came to my mind.  I haven’t heard it sung in ages but it’s a winner!  When it first sang through my head I wrongly substituted the words ‘Rejoice in the Lord, and be of good courage…’ for the opening line.  But really, this is the point of it either way.  When I rejoice in Him, I am strong!

Be strong in the Lord, and be of good courage;
Your mighty Defender is always the same.
Mount up with wings, as the eagle ascending;
Victory is sure when you call on his name.


Refrain:
Be strong, be strong, be strong in the Lord,
and be of good courage for he is your guide.
Be strong, be strong, be strong in the Lord,
and rejoice for the victory is yours.


So put on the armor the Lord has provided,
And place your defense in his unfailing care.
Trust him for he will be with you in battle,
Lighting your path to avoid every snare. [Refrain]


Be strong in the Lord, and be of good courage,
Your mighty Commander will vanquish the foe.
Fear not the battle for the victory is always his;
He will protect you where ever you go. [Refrain]

--Linda Lee Johnson, 1947-


A stirring classic rendition is available at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbIvlYjfnD4

And now I’m inspired to post lyrics above my sink and sing my way into the battle.  This is incidentally quite scriptural.  But that’s a story for another day.  For today my freshly re-discovered silver bullet supply needs polishing…

--LS

“And though this world with devils filled, should threaten to undo us, we will not fear, for God hath willed His truth to triumph through us.” –Martin Luther


Disclaimer This advice is not to be construed as applying to literal zombies.  I'm told silver bullets only work for vampires...Decapitation is preferred for zombies...

Taking Darshan

 

One of the lovely things about summer is the long uncharted days when duty doesn’t call so loudly and it’s possible to slip away to a sunny spot with a good book.   I am particularly interested in biographies and find writer’s own autobiographies to be a real treat, because they are so well written!  A British author, Rumer Godden, caught my attention earlier this year when I read her London based story, An Episode of Sparrows, aloud  with Rachel.  I went on to thoroughly enjoy her short somewhat autobiographical fiction, The River. It is set in India where she grew up, the child of British parents.  Rumer’s evident love for the natural beauty of India and her respect for its people gave me a whole new appreciation for this place I mostly think of as squalid, wicked and needy.  It also peeked my interest in the autobiography of her childhood and early years of motherhood there—A Time to Dance, No Time to Weep, which became one of my summer reading projects.  I’ve been ruminating on a tidbit from this book lately, a remark about the Hindu practice of ‘darshan’.  See if it reminds you of something as it did me ( :

‘Indians have a custom of taking ‘darshan’’ of significant holy places or revered people or even a renowned view such as the Himalayan snow peaks which means ‘they will travel miles, make pilgrimages simply to take ‘darshan’ of that person or place, not trying to make contact or speak—certainly not taking photographs as we do—but, simply by looking, to let a little of the personality, sainthood, holiness or beauty, come into their souls. They go away, usually without speaking and so keep it for the rest of their lives.’ (p.100)

Is it just me, or do you hear Paul echoing:
“And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another”(2Cor.3:18).
I love this concept-- transformed from who I seem to be to who He is—from glory to glory—till He is seen in me. (My family could get excited about this too I think!).

One catch in this gazing with reverence though… the object of our awe is Himself invisible!  Not like a mountain or a Ghandi or a molten image, but invisible.  Where do I look?!  Now, to a point there is something of God to be seen in His creation.  I can sit quietly beside Powell Lake for instance hearing the lap of rippling water, looking and listening to know and be known… Last week I could be found nestled on a mossy seat up  the side of Scout Mountain looking out to the horizon through sinuous arbutus branches and fir boughs feeling the

Fresh breeze of fall
Intoxicating rush
A Lover’s gift
Wrapped round with Son…

God was there, this custom gift of a beautiful moment clearly communicated to my soul through His creation.  Is this what it means to behold His glory?  How do we ‘fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith?’

I ran into a couple tourism ads lately, one of which is now stuck to the front of my new Teacher Notebook.  It depicts a serene lakeside view stretching off to a horizon strung with clouds of sunset hue and in the center of the picture the words:   " Come as YOU ARE
                   LEAVE a changed person. "

Oh, so even our culture recognizes the virtue of solitude and silence in the midst of God’s creation…

Or how about this one:

   ‘In UTAH you will discover…a part of yourself you never knew existed.
    Your life is Changed.
    You are Elevated!’

Wow, so maybe we have this concept of ‘darshan’ too?

But there’s got to be more to it.  There are rumblings in the Church nowadays to go back to some neglected practices—things like solitude and silence—and I’ve been hearing some anxious feedback that this stuff could be dangerous…So when are these practices ‘safe’ and even productive for the genuine God-follower?  What would a Christian version of ‘darshan’—a gazing with awe and being transformed in the process—look like?

This transformation is clearly our destiny:
“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.  And those whom He predestined He also called…justified…(and) glorified!” Romans 8:29

And the process is clearly His work, even if it will not be perfected until we see Him at His coming:
“When He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.” I Jn.3:2

“For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face…” I Cor.13:12

So in the meantime?  What’s our stance to be?

I guess it starts with looking UP—setting our minds on things above, where Christ is (Col.3:1).  No mention here of navel-gazing to see if I’m measuring up. Hmm… this is a hurdle for me.

It’s also about learning to set our hope on what is unseen, ‘waiting for it with patience’, rather than all the stuff we can see (Rom.8:25).  Next time I say, “I sure hope…” maybe I better listen in on my heart and get it in for a Tune-up!

Gazing in awe at the Unseen One has everything to do with walking by faith, not sight, keeping step with the Spirit—listening for His prompts, walking with my mind set on His business (Rom.8:5). 

For me that’ll include lots of quiet times in God’s creation with His Word at hand ‘cause that’s how I hear His whispers best.   In these moments I learn to tune into things above and let go of my preoccupation with external cares and internal woes. 

But somehow it’s also got to mean keeping an eye God-ward in the nitty-gritty of my day:
--believing God’s at work in every little thing and refusing to be discouraged.
--praying without ceasing when groaning seems more natural.
--and smiling a whole lot more, as if God truly were a very present help and His joy my strength!

Every day can be full of ‘darshan’ moments as I gaze at what’s before me through His eyes—a holy thing meant for my transformation. And could it be God gazes back with a Father’s delight in His eyes at the prospect of what this eager bumbling child is becoming, all because of His love?  I hope so ( :

Thanks for ruminating along with me. I’d love to hear your thoughts…

--Linda