A Spiritual 'Byte'

The next time you go to get your hair ‘did’ or done, and/or cut, shampooed or whatever, remember Matthew 10:30: “And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered,” and Luke 12:7 “And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don't be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows.” Our all-knowing God, who knows better than our hair-care professionals the number of hairs on our heads, and which hairs will fall out, turn gray, or welcome new growth, is all-wise enough to know everything we need and what is best for our individual lives. Don’t worry, the price for this intimacy has already been paid! But don’t let the offer expire!

From Psalm 139: “O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me. You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my thoughts even when I’m far away. You see me when I travel and when I rest at home. You know everything I do. You know what I am going to say even before I say it, Lord…You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed… Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.”

Metro Area Rattles and Rolls - A look back one year later

August 23, 2011 -- A Chit-Chat with God

What about that earthquake? Wow! Can you remember what you were doing when it struck? Did you feel like “weebles” – you know, “weebles wobble but they don’t fall down”? Did you thank God for the chit chat?

Looking at the Richter scale level of 5.8, and looking at the damage caused by such intensity, prayer was so called for. The fall to your knees kind of prayer, as many of us did, in deep gratitude that where we live we were not more seriously impacted. Earlier this year, an earthquake rated at 5.8 shook a part of China; 14 were reported dead. Three points higher – at 6.1, also earlier this year, reported by the Central American Adventist University in Costa Rica – initial indications were that dozens of people were missing, and life resources were challenged. The National Cathedral was damaged – the tops of the pillars on the tower falling down and cracks in several places. The Washington Monument did not fall, but it suffered major serious cracks. We can be thankful that, generally speaking and comparatively, there was no life-threatening injury report, even though some inconveniences and property damage, and that the damage was not as excessive and broad a scope as in those other locations.

We can also be thankful for the jolt.

Students of the Bible know that God will use whatever means necessary to capture the attention of people. He has declared in no uncertain terms that He does not desire for any to die because of failure to know Him and become saved (John 3:16-18). As I was meandering through the human congestion on the sidewalks and in the streets caused by all of the office buildings being evacuated shortly after the major shaking ended, I spoke to a couple of people who were so bewildered and clearly shaken spiritually – i.e., beyond the physical experience, and some spoke to it being God’s wake up call. It was a similar discussion I had with a supermarket cashier some days earlier – God keeps pursuing us, seeking to get our attention. Because we in the Western Hemisphere value very highly the security of our comforts that we pay dearly for with our credit cards and crazy work schedules, God often jars us where we feel the most secure. And yesterday was no exception.

The thing is, though, if you’ve been paying attention, you will realize that God has been trying to get our attention for a long time. The subtle approach captured the attention of some. God is faithful – He’ll use less subtle means (e.g., earthquakes and severe weather) if necessary to get our attention so that we can make a choice. Jesus declared that we living in the last days would experience these geophysical and atmospheric disruptions (and also with some spiritual applications) on an increasingly frequent and broadening scale, not only to signal what time it is but also to alert us and get our attention. (Matthew 24 and 25, Joel 2; Isaiah 13:13; Amos 9:1; Haggai 2:6-7; Luke 21:26) So, like, how is it working for you?

At last night’s Bible study, we reviewed again God’s words in Paul’s inspired message to the church at Philippi, found in chapter 4. If one is a believer who has experienced the saving grace of God, who has been born again, i.e., baptized by and indwelt by God’s Holy Spirit and brought into the family of God, then every breath and action is one of praise and thanksgiving. We can rejoice, and must become persons who rejoice in the Lord because of what He has saved us out of and has saved us from moment by moment. Because of who He is. The expression “but for the Grace of God” takes on sober meaning to such persons who live knowing that they are in the presence of God with each breath we take. Believers know the truth of God’s promise in Romans 8:28 (which is one of the summary statements of the previous verses in that passage about who we are in Christ) that God will cause everything to work out to our good for those who love God and who are called according to His purpose – even when we can’t see past the moment, God has seen our future. We can thank God that He has not lost interest in us, but at each and every turn, He reminds us who He is so that we can know who we are. He will use any means necessary to get our attention. Thanks be to God!

In fact, we can be reassured that once we have been saved by God and brought into His spiritual family, that He will not allow His love for us to be canceled out or absented from us due to external or even internal circumstances (see Romans 8:35-39). The psalmist acknowledged that even though he walked through the valley of the shadow of death, he could be assured that he would not be destroyed by evil, but that God will continue to be with him. (Psalm 23) God taught Habakkuk not to complain about how He worked out His saving grace and plan for salvation. (Book of Habakkuk) As the Most High Almighty God, His thoughts are higher than our thoughts and His plans and ways more sure than ours could ever be. God’s lesson to Habakkuk, and subsequently to us, is to learn to trust our Heavenly Father even if everything around us falls or fails. The apostle Paul cited his many trials and near death experiences on account of the Gospel of Christ, learning through those crises who God is and what His grace does on behalf of believers. (see 2 Corinthians 4:7, 8; 12:1-10)

God has fully revealed Himself to us so that we know what we need to know about Him to trust him, to believe, and to respond, and like that, see our life and times from His perspective (see 2 Peter 1:2-4), and He implores us to become reconciled to Him - that is His greatest cause for us, cautioning that this invitation has an expiration date. (2 Corinthians 5:14-21; 2 Corinthians 6:1-2; Mark 13:19-21; 2 Peter 3:8-10)

As like with many other occasions, whether or not we were paying attention, God reached out to us yesterday. He sought to get our attention. He invited us to “chit chat”, to respond to His seeking. Some of us have responded to a gentle call, like Jesus at the sea calling out to the fishermen who would be His disciples. Some of us have required more stern communication, a la Job or Jonah, or even Saul of Tarsus. He will shake up our norm, our comforts and security; He will rock our world to its very core, if that is what it takes. No one will be able to say on that Day - the apocalyptic Day of the Lord that is coming - that they did not know! Has anyone recently asked you to pray for them? God has gotten their attention. Keep praying for them. Has anyone said they need to study the Bible? God has gotten their attention. Invite them and/or bring them to a Bible study. Has someone become aware of a need to worship? God has gotten their attention. Show them how. And rejoice, again I say rejoice, for the privilege to honor God and give thanks for every jolt we receive that keeps us focused on God.

God’s favor be with all of you. Thanks be to God!

Fear and Trembling

I wonder why we - both believers and nonbelievers - are asked to have an attitude of fear and trembling before Almighty God?

How fast has the Church held to this attitude? A couple of pastors I respect continually say that the Church must look and act more like Christ and not like the world; they grieve because too often it is hard to differentiate between the two. Many within the Body of Christ have set about to 'blend' with the world, assuming that the more we blend the more amenable and favorable people will be towards things churchy. Yet - if the Gospel of Christ, which holds and engenders the power of salvation from God, is not preached nor taught, nor reflected in those who fearlessly call themselves 'Christian', then what becomes the foundation standard within the church? It's not a coincidence that a (for lack of a better word) 'liberal' Gospel - one that purports to speak of God yet is deceivingly anti-God, is being offered by many church leaders who promote a God and gospel of convenience and feel-good comfort. It is a watered-down theology of empty promises and hyperbole. The Holy, Almighty God, Eternal Heavenly Father, maker of heaven and earth and Savior of the Bible - His Word - is diminshed to a customized made to order deity who deals out 'love' and favors, takes no notice of 'sin' nor holds any accountable. An easy-rider god doling out  >Peace! dude at every encounter.

Yet, look at what happened when Jesus met the young rich ruler as recorded in Matthew 19, Mark 10, and Luke 18. It is the only encounter where a person seeking Jesus goes away sad. Still, the Bible says, Jesus loved him with the same sacrificial love He would show for all of mankind. Jesus - God's instrument of His love for mankind -  throughout the gospel records demonstrates over and over what Godly love of mankind is. That was one of the reasons He came to earth. Look, too, at the woman at the well in John 4 (one of my favorites). In both of these encounters, Jesus in His love touches on those attitudes, practices, lifestyles that go contrary to God's moral will for their lives - attitudes that will be detrimental to their happiness and peace. Sore spots that left unchecked will take their lives. Jesus lovingly and caringly shows them Himself so that they can see their need for Him, and their need to be saved from the authority that their sin has over them.

His response to their circumstances could have been to overlook their error and accept the young man's idol worship, and the woman's adultery with a word of 'love' and let them continue on their way in sins that would destroy their lives. He could have given them a feel-good speech, and maybe the young man would not have gone away sad, and the woman not have been embarrassed or disgraced. But He would not. To do so would be against His character and His Father's character. It would be a deception to appear to approve of behavior that runs counter to everything He has ever said in His Word about worship and morality, and His desire for the best in their lives. Rather, in His unconditional love and in his unmerited grace and inestimable mercy, he conveys his conditional acceptance.

Jesus told Nicodemus that God sent His only-begotten Son to be a propitiatory sacrifice because He loved the world; but Jesus' words did not end with God loves the world. He adds, "so that those who believe in him (trust, obey him) would not perish but have everlasting life." His love is unconditional - He created us, gave us life; the Bible says that God makes it rain on the 'wicked' and the righteous. He laid down His life so that humans throughout the world and time could be restored to a right relationship with God. However, to receive salvation a person would need to believe that Jesus is Christ, Savior, and Lord of his or her life. That is called a 'condition.' God did not say, 'first you must clean up your life, do penance, this that or the other, then if you believe, you can be saved.' No; by God's grace, a person believes in Jesus no matter what circumstance God finds him or her in, and by an act of faith, authored by God's grace, a person may be saved. After God's saving act by the cleansing blood of Christ, He begins the sanctification process - the transformation and restoration process within believers' lives to grow them to be more and more like Christ.. (1 Corinthians 6:9-11, 14-20)

To fully grasp the underlying message - if salvation was based on unconditional acceptance, then there was no need for Christ to die the horrific sacrificial death that he died. Why would He die for sins if they were acceptable to God to begin with? There would have been no need for a chosen people - Israel - through whom God would execute a plan of salvation, no Moses, no 10 commandments to show humankind its sin. The God of the Bible would not be Holy, because there would not be a delineation between holiness and unrighteousness. Adam and Eve should not have died, then, for their choice to reject God if there is unconditional acceptance. Why would have God bothered with a flaming sword in the Garden of Eden? Why all those Bible verses about destruction of Baal worship or false worship, or of places like Sodom and Gomorrah, if idolatry and immorality were acceptable to God? What about thieving and larcenous hearts in the wilderness experience of Israel and throughout that great nation's history - why would God have called for its destruction if He unconditionally accepts rejection? Why would God have bothered to denounce satan the devil if He is a God of unconditional acceptance? Why would God have carefully preserved His Word these many thousands of years, which has told the story of God's plan of salvation, His desire to see mankind saved and restored in relationship with Him - if there was nothing to be saved from?

Yet, it is this message, this gospel of unconditional acceptance of sin that too many loud voices in the Church are teaching (in fact, they dumb down the concept of sin and redefine it to support the lifestyles and behaviors of the world). It is a message that is well received by too many, by those who need their ears tickled. To feel good about themselves. To promote a pick'n'choose theology that fits one's lifestyle and then call it 'contemporary Christianity.' To bitterly abhor those parts of the Bible where God delineates his moral will for mankind and label them hate messages. To continue cocooned in the veil that the ruler of this world system has imposed to blind the minds of the unbelievers. He disguises himself as a beacon of enlightenment and leads many astray. He even desires to deceive those who would call themselves followers of Christ into this false theology about God and His character. He has done this from the beginning - with Eve he told her God knows that when you eat of the fruit you will become like Him, so why would He forbid this and withold this from you? With 21st century worshipers he uses the same deception - telling them God's love means He accepts and condones wrongdoing and blesses persons, lifestyles and behaviors in rebellion against Him.

It doesn't take a lot of looking around to see that this is true - some church groups have made this their new mantra, believing this contemporary world view will bring people back to church. (what would be the purpose, I wonder???) Just as he did in the Garden of Eden, the god of this system deceives and misrepresents the truth. He knows his fate of eternal destruction awaits and has been striving to pull away and destroy the future of those who could believe and fear the God who created the universe just by speaking it into being, who knows the end from the beginning, and who desires that all should seek him and live forever. Yet, this deceiver, this slanderer, this rebel, liar, and murderer - even he and his demons know to tremble before this Almighty, Omnipotent God. (James 2:19) Because despite their lies and deceptions, they know the truth about who God truly is.

Who do you think God is? Is He really a God of unconditional love and unconditional acceptance? (an oxymoron if ever there was one) Are we humans so stubborn, blind, arrogant - or, too ignorant to recognize who God truly is and come before Him with fear and trembling? Do we not know who it is we are thumbing our nose at? (grammar intentional) Are you willing to stake your life on what you believe? One way or the other, we all are. And we will all see the results of our choices. Please choose to fear God and follow His will for your life.

The preceding will be said to be not politically correct, old-fashioned, antiquated (as one news commentator recently stated), narrow-minded, hateful, and might even get labeled by some one at some point as uncivil and anti-whatever. And, you know, they will be right! The God who has the right to not only demand our worship but to also define how He wants to be worshiped is of old - from eternity to eternity; He is above all politics and political authorities; He has established eternal, universal principles that are against all things that would destroy and defile His highest creation - mankind. He has declared that the way to life is a narrow road. As for hatred, well, God abhors sin; as Holy, Almighty God He alone can define what sin is or is not, and has done so in His Word the Bible. (Romans 1; Job 34:10-11, 21-27, 33; Matthew 7:13; John 8:24; 1 John 4:10; Revelation 21:7-8)

Living the Abundant Life

Jesus came so that we could have real life, and have it more abundantly (John 10:10), so that with the psalmist we can say "my cup runneth over." 

Persons called by God to be his children and joint heirs with Christ – the elect - are privileged to be able to quote that verse without hesitation. (Psalm 23)  As children of the Most High, Almighty God, and heirs with Christ why shouldn’t our ‘cups’ be running over? We who now are indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God, and who thus are in the bosom of God are in a better place than we’ve ever been in this life! What can we need but that God in His marvelous riches cannot fulfill? (Ephesians 1:3, 18-20; 1 John 3:1) Those persons walking in His will are assured by God and Christ that we can approach the throne with all boldness and be heard (Hebrews 4:14-16), and that whatever we ask in His will He will grant. (1 John 5:13-14) Our cups runneth over – what else can we need? Each breath we take and each beat of our heart comes through the goodness of God. Even in times of great distress, pain, agony, and mourning our cups runneth over because the God of all creation is there as we walk in the valley of the shadow – He’s promised that! (also John 16:33; 14:18) We need to remind ourselves of that truth and Godly promise. When our enemies encamp about us, whom shall we fear? Do we really understand how extraordinary this is? (Isaiah 41:12,13)

And this is how God feels about us and cares for us - recall John 10 where Christ is identified as our Shepherd who laid down His own life for His sheep—us! (Also John 14:1-4). Because we know that as those called by God for His purpose and who love Him, that God will transform and use every circumstance of our lives and the power of His Holy Spirit to bless us for good and to bring us into the likeness of His Son. (Romans 8:9-11, 14-18, 26-30) His greatest desire for our lives is a loving relationship with Him, and a yielding heart to His will for us as He makes us like the Son. Being transformed by the power of this Gospel, and living a transformed life, we can be like Christ to one another and to the world. If our cups runneth over now, in this life, can you imagine what it will be like in glory???

God’s eternal blessings be yours,

"I have set the LORD always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.."   Psalm 16:8