How Are You?

 Who knew that an honest answer could elicit a tongue lashing? One that leaves the recipient stunned?

Attending an event to which church leaders were invited, I met a number of pastors and ministers from around the region. Some I only knew by 'face', and others whose name I knew but not the face. I like meeting new people - especially persons who attend churches different from mine (as well as those God brings me to). Yet, that day, I was introduced to a minister I had seen various times and was encouraged to know that she had received 'clergy' status and was the lead minister of a church of the denomination to which I belonged. 

She asked me, "How are you?" I responded with my usual concise, "I'm well enough! And you?" Instead of sharing her present state of being, she lashed out at me because I said I'm well enough. She expressed that such an answer was a slur on God, who has given me life, who has been my God and Father, and on and on and on. To be honest, my first thought was that she missed an important class in seminary on listening to the heart and not just the words. But then I felt bad for her for she was clearly holding on to something deep inside. As she self-righteously stomped off after 'putting me in my place' and has kind of snubbed or treated me as if I were less than or semi-antichrist or something whenever we pass each other at events, I have not been able to actually get a moment with her to help her understand why I answered as I did. She is in a hurry. She's never asked me for an explanation. Hmmm. So I pray for her.

But, if she had, or if she could stop long enough for me to share with her, she might comprehend why I responded to her "How are you?" as I did. I was not slurring God nor misrepresenting Him. In truth, I was without her realizing it, giving God the glory. To the indiscernible my simple "well enough" apparently requires some further explanation. Apparently.

I have lived through many episodes and years where I was not well physically in a number of ways (that is still the case), one-half inch close to a full-on nervous breakdown. I was in a place where I harbored murderous thoughts (before Jesus called me), in a time when I was spiritually in a coma, and many other awful things that would shock in their revelation. Following the world as I was, I thought I could deliver myself through the latest panaceas going around. 

Until, like Balaam, the donkey stopped. 

Despite my own self-deception, I could not save myself from those situations, and many a day I did not even want to try. But God! In His time and Providence, He called me from the ashes, He lifted me up and raised me to life in Christ! Even after living more than half my life in a spiritually deeply comatose condition, God called me in the dawn of my senior years. He claimed me. I was made anew spiritually and will probably still endure that struggle with the agony of the flesh as long as I live in this earthly body. I know from whence my help comes. Even when my G.I. and/or neural disorders are at their peak and I want to scream in pain or writhe in agony, I know He walks with me. I am well enough because I know this is not forever, but each day God makes me well enough to serve Him in some way, and to do His will even in a broken body and scarred heart, mind and psyche. He makes me well enough so that even in searing pain, and weak moments of sliding into self-pity, He gives me grace to 'stand' and do His will. He makes me well enough to have His joy and love in my life. He makes me well enough to walk and move - even if it is a struggle. He makes me well enough so that I can thank Him in all things because I know this is not my future. He makes me well enough to remember how Jesus brutally suffered so that He could bring me to His Father. So, I am well enough because my God gives me power and the strength of His grace while I live with the thorn 'embedded in my side.' I can do all things because God lives in me. I am well enough because He has given me more love, more mercy, and more grace than I ever deserved. I have never forgotten when 'well', let alone 'well enough' would not have been the truth about who I was and what I was and where I was. And, yes, like with Paul and with David, God will allow those whom He loves to experience times, maybe even seasons, of pain and fear. Not because He hates us or is oblivious, but because He knows us better than we know ourselves. He allows the pain because with each prick, jab, and lightning bolt, I draw closer to Him and praise Him with words and song because He inhabits the praise of His people and I keep praising Him, and ask for forgiveness when I feel myself starting to open my mouth in complaint. Paul calls it a "temporary affliction" and rightly so. And I immediately impress those words on myself over and over again - especially when the Excedrin or other pain killer will not work, nor the anointed oil. God just wants me as I am in my rawness so that He can comfort me, He can ease the pain, He can put the smile on my face while the tears roll down my cheeks. So that He can give me glimpses of heaven as He holds me close. 

I am well enough because of Him! Only because of Him.

Because He loves me beyond what I can hope, think or imagine, I am well enough. No longer condemned. No longer ashamed. No longer a captive to the effects of sin in and on my body. I am well enough by His grace. Someday, when I transition to the glorious body that awaits me, I will transition to the promise of a perfect body and perfect heart. O what a Savior who holds me in my brokenness, and will someday soon (comparatively) hold my hand and lead me to the perfect place He has planned for me from before the foundation of the world! Lord, I have seen thy salvation!  

So, when I answer with a politely concise, "I am well enough," please stop long enough and ask me what do I mean. I will then share the Gospel with you as I explain why I am now well enough. Praise God from whom all blessings flow! Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!

Ten Questions to Diagnose Your Spiritual Health, Questions 8 & 10

“Ten Questions to Diagnose Your Spiritual Health,” Donald S. Whitney. 2001. NavPress*
Questions 8 & 10:  Do You Still Grieve Over Sin? & Do You Yearn for Heaven and to Be with Jesus? (excerpts and highlights from Chapters 8 & 10, with references to “Respectable Sins – Confronting the Sins We Tolerate,” Jerry Bridges, NavPress. 2007.) 

In this paper I have reflected on both Questions 8 and 10, as they complement each other. 

Do You Still Grieve Over Sin?

God Hates Sin. Put that on a street sign, and I guarantee you that each reader will come up with their own definition of sin. We readily do so because we have a warped view of sin; we often compare our righteousness as favorable over another’s. We find it hard to see ourselves as sinners. We are good people who do good things. We characterize sinners as persons who commit wicked and evil acts against people – especially children. We take offense at being called a sinner; a person, when a Bible teacher quoted to the group Psalm 51:5, “we are all born in sin” -- she defensively responded, “I wasn’t! my mother and father were married!” The apostle Paul, the one hand-picked by Christ to be sent to the Gentiles with the good news and to whom was given much power and grace, who was also given a glimpse of heaven, even he admits to his own sin estate, which makes his Spirit-led writings on sin more compelling.

What does God call sin? Lawbreaking. Any just law, but especially God's law. When Adam and Eve broke the law in the Garden of Eden, going against God’s command not to eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, acting on pride and desire to be equal to God, sin was imprinted on and inside humankind. We all inherited Adam’s “sin DNA” so that every human born carries that “DNA”. We all are sinners, born to die, since Adam’s sin carried a death penalty. Therefore, everyone born, regardless of their character and conduct, are reckoned by God as sinners even in the womb. 

God grieves over sin. He hates it. He sees the damage and destruction it causes in those who were created in His image. It separates us from Him. Inherited sin causes spiritual darkness and results in spiritual death. Sin mars God’s image in us; the character of God, the mind of Christ – all parts of that image were once in Adam and Eve. Their descendants’ God-image reflects something like a mirror into our souls that has been smeared over with a liquid haze in which a very faint and distorted reflection of God is seen. Sadly, there are some mirrors into souls that have shadowed and dark imperceptible reflections – more akin to the impact of the prince of darkness on such souls. 

We often think of the impact of the sin DNA as affecting our conduct and behaviors. However, the impact of man’s sin on humankind has been devastating to the human body. Over the thousands of years, the human body has broken down from total perfection to a flesh and blood frame in which diseases and conditions of many kinds inhabit - some curable and many uncurable. This is a universal consequence of the inherited sin condition from Adam. Sin’s effects have caused every generation since Adam and Eve to suffer with divers degenerations: e.g., the number of births of children with deformed body parts, missing chromosomes or other gene-related issues, born intersex, blind, deaf, unable to speak, with predispositions to cancers, juvenile diabetes, and the list goes on. These traits of inherited sin continue to increase despite medical and scientific breakthroughs. 

In addition to its impact on humankind physically, mentally, and spiritually, all of creation has suffered from the influence of humankind’s fall due to intentional sin - going against the law of God. When Adam was placed in the Garden, to be joined by Eve, they were given dominion over creation as God’s appointed stewards; they were co-regents of the earthly kingdom; they were the 'earthly management' placed by God to steward His earthly creation - everything with life on the earth, even the earth itself. Both humans and animals – “everything that has the breath of life” – were created to be plant and vegetation eaters. That was God’s original plan for a world of peaceful coexistence between man and beast. But when sin came, this peace was damaged, and within time humans and animals became carnivores.

 Dr. Whitney shares an experience where he once “heard seminary professor John Hannah say, ‘The closer one comes to Christ, in one sense the more miserable he becomes.’ Those who have a Holy Spirit implanted love for holy truth, holy things, and [for] the Holy One, can’t help but feel miserable when they are reminded of that which is unholy within them.” The closer we grow to Christ through the work of the Spirit in us, the more sensitive we become, seeing the “red flags” of potential sin more quickly.

 How should we grieve our sin? A young child – maybe 2 or 3 years old –has learned what to say to their parent to avoid chastisement. “Jimmy, did you hit your sister?” Jimmy weighs the question, then spurts, “She hit me first!” Mother: “Jimmy and Jenny, say I’m sorry.” Jenny, still playing with her doll, says a quick “I’m sorry.” Jimmy mimics her apology “I’m sorry.” And ten minutes later they are back at it! Well, older youth and adults do the same thing. To avoid whatever embarrassment or punishment that could result, we are quick to blame someone else, and/or offer our apologies which are so hollow the words come out like words shaped with outlines only. Like Adam and Eve did when God called them out of hiding. The Genesis account does not record an apology from either. We grieve because we get caught, we grieve at the consequences of being found out. But are we truly sorry? Do we see our error as a sin against God? Dr. Whitney notes that the Bible passage at 2 Corinthians 7:8-11 juxtaposes godly grief or sorrow with worldly grief focused on the punishment. True godly grief or sorrow is more than admitting our transgressions. Considering against whom we have committed the sin, should a child of God feel more than a perfunctory “I’m sorry” that is momentary to get him/herself off the hook? Does our “sorry” lead to sorrow? 

Jesus, in His Sermon on the Mount, delivered a set of beatitudes to the listening crowd. One of them is: “Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted.”  We more often than not feel this beatitude at a time of loss, during a funeral service, or when mourning over the death of a loved one. The Lord My Shepherd who comforts Jesus' listeners knew, but Jesus wanted His hearers to understand the deeper meaning of the mourning He spoke about. He wanted them to know that the legal standards of the Mosaic Law were more than just laws; they were a bridge to relationship with God, an opportunity to reflect His character and holiness and grow in intimacy with Him. The people felt righteous because they obeyed the laws, and saw that as a bridge to blessings from God. The righteous teachers took pride in exacting strict adherence to law. Jesus notes in His Sermon, however, that it is a merciful heart that yearns for God – that is what God desires. Jesus, on the mount, would further clarify the foundation of the Law, that even in our so-called righteousness from obeying the law, we are still sinners in our thoughts, desires, in our DNA. We are still lawbreakers. Thus, His message exhorts us to mourn over such sins – feeling deepest sorrow that we have grieved our Heavenly Father. Genesis 6, linked to above, plainly states that our sin grieves God. Knowing that, we ought to feel a sorrow that leads to a change of heart, a repentance – a sorrow that seeks and gives forgiveness. To return to a right standing before God. Do we really mourn our sinful thoughts and actions? 

In his book, “Respectable Sins – Confronting the Sins We Tolerate,” Dr. Jerry Bridges asks that while we mourn or are grieved about the “big sins” – sexual sins and idol worship within the Church, “why do we not also mourn over our selfishness, our critical spirit, our impatience, and our anger? It is easy to let ourselves off the hook by saying that these sins are not as bad as the flagrant ones of society. But God has not given us authority to establish values for different sins. Instead, He says through James, ‘Whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for [is guilty of] all of it.’…When a person commits murder, he breaks God’s law. When a Christian lets corrupting speech (that is, speech which tends to tear down another person) come out of his/her mouth (Ephesians 4:29), he/she breaks God’s law.” All sin is lawlessness.  He further notes that “In our human values of civil laws, we draw a huge distinction between an otherwise ‘law-abiding citizen’ who gets an occasional traffic ticket and a person who lives a ‘lawless’ life in contempt and utter disregard for all laws. But the Bible does not seem to make that distinction. It simply says sin – that is, all sin without distinction – is lawlessness.” “Sin is sin.” Dr. Bridges continues, “even those sins I call ‘the acceptable sins of the saints,’ those sins we tolerate in our lives – are serious in God’s eyes. Our religious pride, our critical attitudes, our unkind speech about others, our impatience and anger, even our anxiety; all of these are serious in the sight of God.” In his book, Dr. Bridges exposits on other so-called ‘respectable’ sins: ungodliness, anxiety and frustration, discontentment, unthankfulness, pride, selfishness, lack of self-control, impatience and irritability, anger, judgmentalism, envy, jealousy, and related sins, sins of the tongue, and worldliness.  

As we enter our journey of transformation and sanctification through the Holy Spirit, Dr. Bridges reminds us that in collaboration with God’s Spirit, we are to put to death the various expressions of sin in our lives. (Romans 8:13; Colossians 3:5) In chapter six, he offers seven general directions for dealing with sins. Not enough space to fully explain here, but I will list them.

 

First – we should always address our sin in the context of the gospel; our sins are forgiven and we are accepted as righteous by God because of both the sinless life and sin-bearing death of our Lord Jesus Christ – both together are the greatest motivations.

 

Second – we must learn to rely on the enabling power of the Holy Spirit. We can never get beyond our need for the Spirit, and should cultivate an attitude of continual dependence.

 

Third – while depending on the Holy Spirit, we must also recognize our responsibility to diligently pursue all practical steps for dealing with our sins. This is the meaning of Philippians 2:12-13.

 

Fourth – identify specific areas of ‘acceptable’ sins. (covered in the book’s chapters on specific sins) As we read each chapter, humbly ask the Holy Spirit to help us see if there is a pattern of that sin in our life, which will enable us to better put it to death.

 

Fifth – find specific applicable Scriptures to each of our subtle sins, (use concordance) memorizing them, reflecting on them, applying and praying over them as we ask God to use those God-breathed words to help us deal with those sins.

 

Sixth – cultivate the practice of prayer over the sins we tolerate. Prayer is one of our major directions for dealing with sin; through prayer we consciously acknowledge our need of the Holy Spirit for dealing with our sin and stay aware of the presence of them.

 

Seventh – we should involve one or two other believers with us in our struggles against our subtle sins in a mutual relationship as we seek to exhort, encourage, and pray for one another.

 

…The biggest motivator in our spiritual battles against sin is in Chapter 10 of Mr. Whitney’s book: Do You Yearn For Heaven And To Be With Jesus?

Mr. Whitney states that “those who have been on a long pilgrimage increasingly desire to reach their destination, especially one as glorious and excellent as Heaven. Those who have spent decades loving and living for Jesus naturally long to see Him.” That is the message of Romans 8:22-23. Paul makes a similar statement in 2 Corinthians 5:2. “These longings for the coming great change in body and place are simply part of a normal, healthy, growing Christian life.” Does our yearning for heaven in and of itself confirm that we know the very one with whom we wish to be, or is our yearning focused on getting relief from this hard life? 

Mr. Whitney offers that “the question is not merely, ‘Do you yearn for Heaven and to be with Jesus?’ but also, ‘For which Heaven and Jesus do you yearn?’” Do we yearn for a place of holiness? If being holy as God is holy is off-putting for us in our earthly existence, then we will hate heaven. Are we longing for and looking forward to a heart without sin? To have a pure heart to see the Lord? To being clothed in righteousness? That is what growing Christians increasingly long for – not just a “rest” from troubles and difficulties, but a holy heaven, holy relationships in heaven, a Holy Jesus, a holy joy, where we will be able to gaze and gaze upon the Lamb of God, on Jesus our Savior. Is that the thing we want above everything else? Is our groaning for that kind of heaven? 

I confess that at one time my “heaven” was a place of green valleys, of beautiful sunsets, of peace all around me, of a Garden of Eden. The more I grow in Christ, the more I know Him personally, I find my desire for Him is growing more than a desire for a heavenly geography. 

We have the Spirit of the Living God moving in us, motivating us, energizing us, developing joy into a once burdened heart. We are riddled by sin’s woes, and we work with that same Spirit to put off those things displeasing to God. But, let us not forget that this struggle is not forever:

·  “You are from God, little children, and have overcome [the spirit of the evil one]; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.” 1 John 4:4

·  ⁴For whoever has been born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world: our faith. ⁵ Who is the one who overcomes the world, but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? 1 John 5:4-5

·  The one who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who overcomes, I will grant to eat from the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God.’ Revelation 2:7

·  The one who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who overcomes will not be hurt by the second death.’  Revelation 2:11

·  The one who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and a new name written on the stone which no one knows except the one who receives it.’  Revelation 2:17

·  The one who overcomes, and the one who keeps My deeds until the end, I will give him authority over the nations;   Revelation 2:26

·  The one who overcomes will be clothed the same way, in white garments; and I will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.   Revelation 3:5

·  The one who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will not go out from it anymore; and I will write on him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God, and My new name.   Revelation 3:12

·  The one who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat with My Father on His throne.   Revelation 3:21

 

For these things we fight the good fight of faith; we do spiritual battle against sin and the evil one everyday. We know that we have the power to be faithful to the end, because Jesus has given us that kind of power that raises us up to life with Him. We are victors who will see the one for whom we yearn, Jesus Christ, in all of His glory and splendor, and we shall be clothed with His righteousness.

 

Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen. -  Ephesians 3:20-21

Blessed Are The Merciful, For They Will Receive Mercy

 

 

Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy. What is this mercy? It is critical for us to know what it is since Jesus desires us to have mercy (Matthew 9:13 (Jesus was quoting from Hosea 6:6)). It is forgiving one another (and yourself), i.e., not seeking retaliation for the harm done to you by another. It also refers to compassion we feel for others who are weak, poor, ill, anxious, and in other ways disadvantaged. Also would include the “outcasts” of society who, either through fault or no fault of their own are “disconnected” to the greater community. In some versions of the Bible, mercy is also translated as lovingkindness, an apt description. While the Bible is replete with examples of God’s mercy to the nation of Israel and surrounding nations, among others, our greatest example of mercy extended to others is that of God’s mercy in Christ, even though we cannot fully comprehend this mercy of God. The reason is because we cannot comprehend how God views sin: to Him, sin is abominable, He hates sin because of what it does to those He created in His image; He knows that in addition to separating us from Him, sin has the effects of destroying our bodies with each succeeding generation, making us weak and helpless against its ravages; He knows that sin always results in death. We are born with death already in us because of sin. We are sinners – no matter how “nice” we may seem. Even in the face of such inborn rejection, even though we are sinners, God still loves us so much as to send His own Son to live as a human and to become the only option for removing the penalty of sin. Jesus’ single sacrifice for all sin, the basis for restoration with God, is an undeserved mercy and forgiveness. God’s example lets us know that we, too, are responsible and accountable to God for the mercy we show or do not show to others. Do we forgive others who violate us or otherwise hurt us? Forgiveness is not easy, as our own inborn sin rebels against forgiving and forgiveness because we want to get even and make the offenders suffer. We sometimes even feel that foregiveness of one's sins against us leaves us damaged and scarred, vulnerable and humiliated. Actually, not forgiving does more harm to us; the bitterness against that person can produce murderous thoughts - ask me how I know - and can bring a stress that wears on your body and emotions. Our bitterness makes us vulnerable to more bitterness because we a duped into thinking that our bitterness is control over our circumstances. Bitterness exacerbates the wound inflicted upon us so that it scars us emotionally; the more we feed into it, the deeper and wider the scar becomes; the scar cannot heal over because the bitterness continues to ooze into it. We are duped to think that being a person who forgives is humiliating - that it weakens our stance before others. If and when we understand that forgiveness means to surrender our desire to get even and make payback happen, we begin to understand the power of God that enables us to forgive. That God will gladly make His Spirit abound in us so that we will have the forward-facing will and desire to forgive. Our forgiveness takes us out of bitterness' imprisonment, frees us to thrive knowing that our Heavenly Father will even more freely forgive us for our messing up. 

Mercy is a high bar; the opposite of mercy is unforgiveness and wrath. We cannot receive mercy if we choose not to forgive. Jesus actually commands us to be merciful as recorded in Luke 6:35-36, that we may look like children of our Heavenly Father. God is so willing to pour out mercies on us; in fact, His mercies to us are fresh each morning! (Lamentations 3:22-23) Because Jesus is Light, He tells us that we must be light also. We show this light when we are merciful to others. (John 8:12; Matthew 5:14; Ephesians 5:8

Explore

1.  Can you name a mercy that God has recently extended to you? How did it make you feel?

2.  Can you remember a time when it was very difficult to extend mercy to a particular person or persons? What made it difficult for you?

3.  Given all you have read about mercy and the One who extends it, what do you think it means to “walk in the light”?


Bonus: "Mercy" - Elevation Worship and Maverick City

Blessed Are The Meek, For They Will Inherit The Earth

 

 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Some   interpret the meekness mentioned here as “when we act like doormats; or, to feel insignificant and without value.” That is not what Jesus is referring to here. The Greek root word for meek used here is also the same one Jesus uses to refer to Himself in Matthew 11:29, namely, humility, gentleness and forgiving; He is our greatest example of what meekness looks like, our greatest example of humility, gentleness and forgiveness, and mercy. Do you think of Jesus as a doormat?  This meekness is not weakness; it is a fruit of the Spirit that we are to cultivate – imitating Jesus’ gentleness and forgiveness; growing in humility. It takes Divine strength to be meek and humble in a self-absorbed and ego-driven culture. Why? Because we are made weak by Adam’s sin in us, and because we live in satan’s evil world. God plants in His redeemed children the ability to become gentle through the power of the Holy Spirit in us - surrendering to His work, He teaches us to forgive like Christ – even forgive those who mistreat us. We let our gentleness grow by applying God’s Spirit-wrapped Word in study and meditation, allowing it to shape our prayers and perspectives (Colossians 3:16). It is by allowing the Spirit of God to transform our prideful hearts into hearts that are humble, for the proud will not inherit God’s kingdom, they will not inherit the earth; we are blessed to be God’s children (James 4:6-7; Luke 18:16-17)! That the meek shall inherit the earth carries a couple of meanings: through God’s grace we become His children when we repent of our rejection of Jesus, return and receive His eternal Spirit within us; we are adopted by God. As His children, we are heirs. We inherit what the Father has. He tells us at Psalm 24:1 that “the earth is the LORD’s and all that is in it.” We also can add to that the fact that in becoming God’s children through the Blood of Christ and the Holy Spirit, we become regenerated here on earth into a new life with Christ and enter into God’s kingdom here on earth. He re-sets us towards becoming the rightful stewards of creation as He intended, and thus joint heirs. (Genesis 1:26-28; Titus 3:6-7; Revelation 5:9-10)

Explore

1.     Is it hard or easy for you to be gentle and forgiving? Give a reason for your answer.

2.     In the coming days and weeks, how might you act gentle, kind, and forgiving to family, school or work mates, friends?

3.     Imitating Jesus. Do you know someone who imitates Jesus’ gentleness and kindness that you would like to imitate? Without naming the individual(s), give an example of their gentleness.

4.     How meaningful is it for you, personally, that the meek will inherit the earth?


Double bonus: "I Get on My Knees," Nicole Mullen; "Known", Tauren Wells

Blessed are Those Who Mourn, for They Will Be Comforted

 

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. The word translated “mourn” here means a deep grieving. It is true that God is a God of comfort to those who mourn the death of a loved one or lost relationship (2 Corinthians 1:3-5), and that God’s comfort surpasses any other, as we know that all perfect healing will happen in heaven. Yet, the inference here in this beatitude  goes beyond even that. It is one of deeply grieving our sins that have separated us from God, so the translation from Greek would be “Blessed are those who deeply grieve their sins that have separated them from God.”  As Ephesians 2:1-2 indicates, before our surrendering our lives to God, we were like “dead men/dead people walking” - we had no way to rectify that situation on our own. We were helpless. We rejected Jesus, and so lived and walked in the darkness of the world under the power of satan. (Romans 1:20-22; Ephesians 5:8) The ruler of this world – satan – is doing everything he can to keep us away from the only true God. Yet, by God’s amazing grace, God reaches down through all eternity to call us out of the mire of sin and darkness. God the Holy Spirit prods us and pings us, even allowing us to make choices that will bring despair or suffer troubles if we don’t immediately respond to His call, so that we can call out to Him and seek His face. The Holy Spirit pursues us – like the Father in  Jesus’ parable of the prodigal son, so that, by God’s grace, at some point we, too, may respond to the Spirit, falling down on the rock and hard place of sin and grieving the mess we’ve made by rejecting all God has done in Christ for us. The Spirit delights when we respond to His insistent call to us to “wake up” and to lament our sins – both “gross” and “respectable”. To recognize that the only source of release from the captivity and oppression of sin and its penalty – eternal death – is through faith in Jesus Christ. Paul, in his letter to the church at Corinth, refers to this recognition as “godly sorrow” – a sorrow or mourning generated through the Spirit’s prodding that leads us to repentance (2 Corinthians 7:10). In response to our grieving and repentance, God forgives us, surrounds us with His comfort, pouring out His grace on us and His Spirit into us. We receive the bounty of blessings – entrance into forever relationship with God, finding our true comfort—our peace -- in Christ, and in knowing that because of what He did at the cross, God has guaranteed our eternity with Him, and that He will lavish His love, grace, and mercy upon us (Ephesians 1:3-14). Have we mourned our sins? Do we mourn the sins that still befall us even though we are saved? It is never too early or too late to do so.

Explore

·       Do you remember a time when you grieved the loss of something or someone? How did that make you feel? Did you cry?

·       Why do you think that Jesus wants us to mourn our sinfulness? What might mourning the sinfulness of rejection of Jesus look like?

·       Is Jesus’ blessing of peace enough for you? Why do you answer that way?

Bonus: "Forgive Me, Lord, For I Have Sinned", Nathan Surgenor

Letting Go of What We Know to Step Into the Unknown By Faith - Part 2

We return to our journey with Luke and the disciples as they follow Jesus. Luke next records in chapter 8 other events that would, indeed, necessitate a faith from God to understand. 

After crossing the lake, Jesus and the disciples arrive at the country of Gadarenes in the south and southeast and, as they go on shore at the place Jesus tells them to dock, they are met by a dreadful sight - a naked man, crazed by demon possession, grimy, bruises over his body, face twisted, eyes that looked like they were being strained open and bulging, sweating, raging with ungodly sounds, feet blistered, ankles having the remnants of broken chains. Luke gives us a bit of background about this man - that for a goodly amount of time in this man's life he had been indwelt by demons, who took control over the man's life and being, breaking restraints that city officials had installed to keep him from doing harm to others. The demonic possession made it impossible for him to live in society - the demons drove him to despair and isolation, and to dwelling in the tombs near the sea waters of that area. The demons - alerted to the fact that the Son of God was in their midst - forced the man forward to where Jesus was; they were afraid of what Jesus would do to them because they knew who He truly was. (Can you imagine what the disciples were doing at this instant? Were they like the people of the city scared out their wits, and going to the safety of the boat, or finding this man's dilemma a source of crude entertainment? They had only hours before saw another dimension to this rabbi - that He had control over 'nature', but this situation - inflamed by demonic madness - could have left them doubting as what Jesus would do or could do.)  Jesus commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man and asks the demon his name. The demon says "Legion" because there are so many in and with him. The demons beg Jesus not to put them into the abyss (for they knew what their ultimate fate was to be); Jesus sends them into a herd of unclean animals and they drive the animals into the sea and drown them. Upon learning of what happened, the people of the city came out to where Jesus was to see with their own eyes the 'crazy demon man' no longer inhabited by the destructive demons, but dressed and calm. The people are seized with fear because of the power of Christ (flashback to when the Israelites were fearful of Moses after His encounter with God on the mountain), about what His presence could do to their way of life, and, therefore, strongly tell Jesus to leave! As Jesus and the disciples leave, the now delivered man asks to go with them, but Jesus tells him to stay and tell all the people what God has done for him. Then Luke says that the man went about telling everyone all Jesus had done for him. He had not only seen - he had experienced the faithfulness of God.

Upon their return to Galilee, a crowd welcomes Jesus and the disciples, and we reach a compelling pinnacle in Jesus' travels in this chapter of Luke. A man named Jairus who was a leader of the local synagogue reaches Jesus and falls at His feet, begging Him for the life of his daughter who was ill unto death. (picture the scene - a respected leader of the synagogue, in his fine robes, falls to the ground at Jesus feet; his actions illumine for any paying attention, that this Jesus was from God, a special prophet unlike any they would have known) Jesus accompanies the man as they make their way through the crowds, but the crowds are dense and Jesus and the man and the disciples are bumped about in a stop and slow-go motion as they determinedly make their way forward. And then it happens, right in the middle of Jesus' slowly moving through the crowd. "As he went, the crowds pressed in on him. Now there was a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years; and though she had spent all she had on physicians, no one could cure her. She came up behind him and touched the fringe of his clothes, and immediately her hemorrhage stopped. Then Jesus asked, “Who touched me?” When all denied it, Peter said, “Master, the crowds surround you and press in on you.” But Jesus said, “Someone touched me; for I noticed that power had gone out from me.” When the woman saw that she could not remain hidden, she came trembling; and falling down before him, she declared in the presence of all the people why she had touched him, and how she had been immediately healed. He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace.”

Strict observation of Jewish Law and interpretations by the Jewish priesthood would make them aware of the scriptural backdrop to this story. In the Law of Moses, a woman's menses were considered unclean because of the flow of blood. Leviticus 15, beginning at verse 19 presents the ritual she had to pursue: ritual washing of anything on which she sits and sleeps; those touching anything on which she sits or sleeps - even her clothes - would render them unclean as well. That she had this flow of blood beyond her menses for twelve years would have made her living in society impossible. Laundry day would be every single day. She would have been isolated to a great degree because she could not visit and sit on their divans, and there was always a possibility of blood leaking past her efforts to contain it. As one faithful to the law, she was both compliant and trapped by its regulations because of her unique situation, and yet she persevered to obey - keeping herself 'socially distant', which was not an easy task in a village or community. 

We are not told how much adherence to this law impacted her 'norm', e.g., how did she obtain items from market? How did she maintain her house? Did the physicians come her door and drop off some compounds or other remedies in front of it, being careful to be contactless? How did she or could she bring her sacrifices to the priest? Her condition would have kept suitors away - a husband and family was beyond her hopes now. Can you imagine living in a small town or village, being sick or potentially always on the verge of making others unclean before God, so that you are prevented from interacting with others in any meaningful way? (Of course you don't have to think hard about that: we've been through some highly difficult months of isolation and limited socializing. Multiply that by 12 years in the same place.) 

Her prayers for twelve years had been seeking God's healing and blessing, perhaps for God to send a special prophet as He had done through Elijah and Elisha to provide such healing. To remove this curse from her. Perhaps she had prayed Psalm 3:8, Psalm 4:6, especially Psalm 5:3. Maybe even Psalm 51. Perhaps all of the deliverance prayers she had learned of in holy scripture.  But her pleas were seemingly answered by silence. She sought out physicians who claimed to have a remedy, but all of them failed - so much so that she was financially spent seeking a cure. She could not puzzle out why her obedience to the law had not resulted in deliverance by now, or even an easing of her dilemma. Even the priests were not able to heal her, even though she may have been able to presented an offering to the priest for forgiveness of sins and God's favor. So this woman, for twelve years, having once long ago known the freedom of living under the law, now lived captive to the impact of Adam's sin in her body and restrained by that same law to living an imprisonment and captivity that no one could save her from. 

And then she heard about Jesus - the Great Prophet and Healer. Still, she was caught in a cycle of doing the 'right thing' and believing her righteousness would result in a deliverance. That God would be so pleased and moved by her faithful self-imprisonment, and gradual impoverishment as a result of legal obedience, that He would release her from her circumstance. Then she learned that Jesus had left Galilee. Had her hopes become so narrowed, her commitment to 'play by the rules' her focus, that she had missed what could have been God's answer to her years of difficulties and pain?

Did her prayers now change? Did she now pray, 'God - if you would have me step out of all I have known for these many years to risk it all, please give me a new kind of faith to do it. O God, please let me see Jesus!' 

Was God moving her in this new hope? Yes! She dared to believe that God would answer her twelve years of prayer, her twelve years of isolation and shame, her twelve years of being faithful, her twelve years of hoping against hope. That in this Great Prophet and Healer, in Jesus God would answer her. O God! She felt a new hope rising in her. But - and for her this was a big 'BUT' - in order to see her Deliverer, to receive His healing, she would need to step out in faith, literally - leaving her hiding place to stand in the brightness of the day. 

She had to seek and believe God's mercy. She had to leave the legalities of restraints in the law and of the priests, and step out in faith trusting in God's grace and mercy that were inherent in the law but not often taught (see Matthew 12:6-8). She had to let go of her rigidity of following the rules, of the fear and shame that narrowed her vision and thinking, and which kept her isolated and stuck on that expectation. She had to listen to what God was offering to her - something far beyond what she thought was the correct thing to do, and to actuate the faith God had sprouted in her. She had to seek Jesus at all risks to herself and her future in that place. So, determined, yet with fear and trembling, she clothes herself to obscure her identity (not realizing possibly until later that God's hand of protection clothed her) and skulks through the crowd - afraid that at any minute someone will recognize her and thus block her way to her Savior. And then she sees Him! She sees Him! She moves stealthily, and ever so carefully, but with an increasing urgency as she inches towards Him. She reaches out, straining to get near enough to the Great One and, finally, her hand touches His robe. And right there, right there in the middle of the noisy crowd a silent peace comes over her as she feels the healing taking place inside her body. A glorious warmth envelops her and she is filled to overflowing with gratefulness and joy as twelve years of strain leave her, replaced by a feeling of wholeness that she had not felt in so long, and of a Godly love that takes her by surprise. Then the silence is broken by His voice. "Who touched me?" The fear and trembling return - He knows what I have done! He knows that this unclean, unworthy woman has touched his garment and received His holy power in her inmost parts! It had been a glorious moment, one that would never leave her memory. Even if it was to be temporary, if He removes the miracle she just experienced, she will understand she tells herself. I haven't done anything for Him, so why should He allow me to keep this gift? Yet, He is now calling for her, He is now seeking her! He says, "someone has touched me because I felt my power leaving me." She did not know emotionally and spiritually until that moment that this Great Healer is the Anointed One. She would not know yet that her illness and suffering had been a gift, a sacred instrument, that had been planned for her from before time, that God's timing of her encounter with Jesus was intentional, and that her unique deliverance divine, and salvation came by God's grace. Jesus came back to Galilee for her and for those whom the Father had foreordained. That even while she suffered all of those years, God was moving heaven and earth to bring her to this point in time, to a point in her life that she would step into the unknown by the saving faith that God would give her. A faith she had received from God to risk what she thought had been the reasonable thing to do because she had done it for so long, that the possible reward of healing had become of more importance to her than the Healer, and to let that go so that she could, even with fear and trembling come to Jesus with a faith that saw who He was. 

Thus, feeling a courage that she didn't know could be in her, with all fear and trembling she comes up to the Master and falls at His feet, sobbing with a heart full of gratefulness and thanksgiving, in a flood of tears prostrate before Him in all humility, she publicly confesses her identity and what she had done to Jesus, at first expecting to be reprimanded, or even worse, for Him to take back His healing. But then, she heard Jesus' compassionate voice, His comforting words, wrapped in divine love that shattered the fear and dimmed the years of pain - calling her Daughter, and telling her that it is because of her faith she was healed. Jesus did not say that her gift of healing was due to her twelve years of prayer focused on the reward of following the law was what healed her, He tells her it is her faith, a trusting faith in God and not in rewards. That the God-Man Jesus, had not only healed her condition - He had changed her heart and the course of her life and blessed her with a faith that would be enduring and based on grace and not the false precepts that the religious establishment had tacked onto God's covenant law with Israel that eroded faith in God.

She acted on the gift of faith from God. It had been a long, debilitating twelve years, she had exhausted her finances and her spirit looking for the reward, yet somehow continued to wait on the Lord - even if from the wrong perspective. In His grace and in His timing He gifted her with the faith and confidence to trust and let go, and step out into the unknown in a new revitalized faith, based on belief and trust in God's Son Jesus, on His love, mercy and grace. She looked up at Jesus in deepest gratitude and awe, words hardly coming from her mouth. She looked into His eyes and saw the face of God.  

After blessing the woman, Jesus continues with Jairus despite their receiving the message that his daughter had died. Jairus, dejected by the news, hears Jesus tell him, “Do not fear. Only believe, and she will be saved.” In his mind and heart no doubt Jairus was at a crossroads - how can she be saved? She is dead. Yet, I will believe. And Jairus takes Jesus home with him. The mourners were already gathered for the bereavement rituals. Jairus wife was probably inconsolable, and upon seeing Jairus may have said, why did you trouble the teacher, our daughter is dead. The community has begun gathering outside here. Jesus tells the parents in the hearing of those present at the house that the young girl is just 'sleeping', and the people who had seen the girl die, nervously laughed at such a supposition. The door of the house closes leaving the mourners outside, and Jesus takes into the house Peter, John, and James, and the father and mother. The parents look to this God-Man and Great Healer, in faith as He touches the dead child's hand and says "Child, get up!" (a touch that would have rendered Him unclean under the law). Jesus speaks life back into her body to the astoundment of all, the parents awestruck yet filled with thanksgiving and so lost in the moment of this miracle, Jesus needs to instruct them to give her something to eat, to rejoice because they did believe, and their faith by God's grace, changed the direction of their lives in those few moments.

It does take faith to step into the unknown. We sometimes stick with what seems the reasonable thing to do, looking at those material supports that a reasonable person would look at. Praying for miracles and stymied by human reason, we cannot see the miracle that is already there. We are sometimes called in difficult and trying circumstances to let go of what we know - of what our reason tells us is the right thing to do, and to trust God in a different way. That new faith and trust takes us into the unknown, into the unseen, where God is free to execute His plan for us. It is in that unseen and unknown place where the faith in God and from God brings true victory.

What He has planned for us is sometimes waylaid because we are confusing and fusing trust in God with our own human reasoning. Look at Abram and Sarai. God had promised them a son, an heir, through whom God would bless all peoples. Well, they waited, and they waited, and finally reasoned that such a thing would happen if we pay it forward and have a child through a young female slave so that God's blessings can come to fruition. Yet the stepping out in reason led to unforeseen difficulties, a disruption in the household, and bitterness - a rift between two peoples that continues even unto this day. Yet God, who does not promise and not fulfill, places a new covenant between Himself and Abraham, a new faith to believe that Abraham's wife Sarah would become pregnant and bear the true child of promise. That through that child a there would be one born who would have the power and authority to bless the world. That child would be the Author and Perfector of our faith who tells us to lay down all those self-imposed things and human reasoning as supports and lean on Him instead. Listen to Him for He alone can open doors that no one can shut.