Thursday, September 30, 2010

Name Above All Names

It’s always fascinating to see how God will arrange a meeting between one of His needy children and a reassuring, insightful word from Scripture. I know that some find it preposterous that God would care about the daily activities and needs of His people. But the fact is, He does care for His children; He cares for each of us and, yes, even for you. God desires to give us some of His revealed wisdom in our times of need and He does so through His Word.

I recently had several skin cancers removed from my legs. I’ve had many such lesions removed throughout my life and there was nothing particularly different this time, but for some reason I found some anxiety rising in me. Perhaps one of the reasons for the anxiety was my feeling of,
“Is there no end to this?” The legalistic Pharisees would suggest that I felt this way because of my weak faith and they could be right.

The day before my surgical procedure I had one of those intersections between my need and God’s Word. As I was working at my desk, I came across an old note I had written with just Psalm 75:1-3 on it…nothing else. I am hopelessly curious and when I saw the note I couldn’t just throw it away. I couldn’t remember why I had written it or what these verses were about, so I quickly looked up the passage:

"We give thanks to you, O God,
we give thanks, for your Name is near;
men tell of your wonderful deeds.
You say, "I choose the appointed time;
it is I who judge uprightly.
When the earth and all its people quake,
it is I who hold its pillars firm”
(Psalm 75:1-3, NIV).

I was deeply encouraged by the reminder to give thanks in all things. And then the powerful declaration of God regarding His sovereignty hit me: “I choose the times, all of them. and I judge all things righteously. When things around you are shaking and seeming like they will fall apart, it is I [God]) who holds the pillars firm.” This was a powerfully encouraging passage for me at my moment of anxiety.

As I enjoyed this word of encouragement, I realized that I didn’t understand one part of it. I was rather baffled by the phrase, “for your Name is near.” What I also didn’t realize was how much the meaning of that phrase was going to minister to me at the place of my need.

After a little research I found out that some ancient Jewish authors and biblical scholars would not write out or pronounce the name of God. They felt that to do so was sacrilegious and showed a lack of reverence, so instead, they put abbreviations (YWWH for Yahweh) or used “the Name” to indicate that it was God they were speaking of.

My search to understand this rather awkward phrase also led me to Deuteronomy 12:5: “You shall seek the place which the Lord your God shall choose…to put His name and make His dwelling place…” (Amplified).
I discovered that the use of “Name” for God is equivalent to “His presence.” The place where God puts His Name is the place where the Lord Himself chooses to dwell.

The Lord quickened at least three things to my heart from these verses:

1. The passage was reminding me to give thanks. The injunction to “give thanks” is repeated within verse one and repetition in Scripture tells me, “This is important so pay attention.” I don’t give thanks for the problems, I give thanks for His faithfulness, for the wonderful ways He has met our needs in the past, and for His unfailing love. I worship Him!

2. God is not remote from those who give thanks. He is near and He is not unaware of each of the needs we face…all of them…big and little. God is aware of everything going on in our lives and He is not removed or distant from the struggle we may be in. In Psalm 75:1 God is telling us that He is near, that He chooses to make His dwelling place close to His children. Honest thanksgiving is humble thanksgiving and God dwells with the humble (Psalm 138:6).

3. I was reminded that He is still in charge, He is sovereign. He establishes the times for everything and when moments of tribulation come, He is the one who will hold things together.

Child of God, no matter the circumstances of your life, He is near and you are entitled to call on His Name.

Friday, September 24, 2010

THE EVERLASTING ARMS

“The eternal God is your refuge,
and his everlasting arms are under you”
(Deuteronomy 33:27).

A man’s daughter asked one of the local pastors to come and pray with her ill father. When the pastor arrived, he found the man lying in bed with his head propped up on two pillows. An empty chair sat beside his bed. The young pastor assumed that the old man had been informed of his visit and had the chair brought in.

“I guess you were expecting me,” he said.

“No, who are you?” asked the father.

The pastor introduced himself and explained why he was there and then remarked, “I saw the empty chair and I thought you knew I was coming to visit.”

“Oh, the chair,” said the old man. “Would you mind closing the door?”

Puzzled, the pastor closed the bedroom door.

“I’ve never told anyone this, not even my daughter,” said the man, “but all my life I have never known how to pray. At church I would hear the pastor talk about prayer, but it went right over my head. I never understood how to do that, to pray.”

“About four years ago my best friend and I were talking about prayer and he said to me, ‘John, prayer is just a simple matter of having a conversation with Jesus. Let me suggest this. Sit down in a chair, then put an empty chair in front of you, and in faith see Jesus sitting on the chair. This is not weird because Jesus promised that He would be with us always. Just speak to Him like you are talking to me right now.’”

“So, I tried it,” said the old man, “and I like it so much that I do it for a couple of hours every day. I’m careful, though. If my daughter saw me talking to an empty chair, she’d either have a nervous breakdown or send me off to the funny farm.”

The pastor was deeply moved by the story and encouraged the old man to continue on his journey. Then he prayed with him, anointed him with oil, and left.

Two nights later the daughter called to tell the minister that her daddy had died that afternoon.

“Did he die in peace?” the minister asked.

“Yes” she said. “When I left the house in the afternoon, Daddy called me over to his bedside, told me he loved me and kissed me on the cheek. When I came back from grocery shopping about an hour later, I found him. But there was something strange about his death. Apparently, just before Daddy died, he leaned over and rested his head on the chair beside his bed. What do you make of that?”

Choking back a sob, the pastor simply said, “I wish we could all go like that,” and then he told the daughter what her dad had told him about the empty chair.

Isn’t it fascinating how the use of an empty chair to visualize a conversation could revolutionize the old man’s prayer life? To learn to love to pray and to spend several hours a day praying is the mark of a changed man. The empty chair is not the reason for the change; the empty chair is where his Friend sat.

Friendship is defined as a relationship of trust, faith, concern and love for the other person.

In John 15:9-17 Jesus taught the disciples the importance and place of love. Jesus instructed the disciples to love each other as He loved them (vs.12). As a part of His teaching, Jesus made the following statement: “I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you” (John 15:15 NIV).

This was a powerful moment for the disciples because Jesus was offering them the gift of friendship. He didn’t have to make this offer; He did so because He loved them. His generosity in offering friendship was helping the disciples understand grace. They couldn’t earn friendship and they didn’t deserve it, but He offered it anyway because He loved them—and that’s grace.

The pharisaical legalists never do become friends of Jesus; they are too busy running around trying to meet all the demands of the law in the flesh. Legalists are always trying to be perfect and condemning others for their failures. They are trying to earn friendship when Jesus has given it as a gift. Friends receive the gift given in love and the love relationship is established.

Jesus says, “I have called you friends,” so why don’t we act like it? Let’s talk to Jesus as if He is actually a friend and not the recipient of a Tweet. Go ahead and visualize the empty chair and start talking to Him; if you are really burdened down, it’s okay to put your head over on the chair. He won’t mind at all; in fact, I think He will love it.

Thursday, September 16, 2010

AND SUCH WERE SOME OF YOU

“And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Corinthians 6:11, KJV).

And such were some of you.” These six words are some of the most hope-filled in all the New Testament.

I have a real affinity for the Corinthian letters. I never tire of reading about this troubled but dynamic church. I suppose it’s because it reminds me so much of today’s American/Canadian church. A troubled, stumbling church that can’t quite get its act together and stand up like an adult. One day it’s making forward strides and the next showing its dirty laundry in the form of scandals, usually over sex and money.

First Corinthians is a pastoral letter written to resolve doctrinal and practical issues within the church. The letter shows some of the cultural problems that followers of Jesus had to deal with, including sexual immorality, idolatry and the spirit of litigation. There were, of course, other issues but isn’t it interesting that the same spirit of litigation is running rampant in our world, as well as immorality and materialism (idolatry)?

One of the things I personally like about the Corinthian letters is the underlying message of hope! The letters speak of the power of the gospel to reach and change people, a message of hope to all who are caught in the vise-like grip of sin. It was Paul who said, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation of everyone who believes…” (Romans 1:16, NIV). The word power in the original is dunamis, meaning energy, might, great force. When you share your testimony you are sharing a message of great power and you must never underestimate that. It is the dunamis of the gospel unleashed in lives that brings change, deliverance and healing. Is it any wonder that the enemy is anxious to divert the message to less lethal subjects?

In First Corinthians chapter six, Paul first takes the church to task over lawsuits between church members. The apostle seems to be somewhat incredulous that believers would actually be suing one another in a secular court. He then goes on and lists a group that will not be inheriting the kingdom of God. And quite a list it is, including those who are sexually immoral, idolaters, adulterers, male prostitutes, homosexuals, thieves, greedy, drunkards, slanderers and swindlers. I’m not sure who Paul left out of the list but it wasn’t many. Paul, of course, is referring to the sins that were committed prior to their receiving Christ as their Savior.

But then comes Paul’s powerful statement of hope! With the Corinthian church in mind, he says, “And such were some of you.” Some of you used to be sinners just like those on the list but your life has changed. Because you embraced the power of God, the grip of sin has been broken and you are a new person.

I don’t believe any other New Testament writer could say these words with more “hope” in them than Paul. Before the apostle became a Christian, he was a Christ-hating, Christian-killing terrorist. Before he experienced the “new birth,” Paul lived life on the dark side and he knew intimately the power of the gospel to change a life.

“And such were some of you.” Paul immediately lays out the foundational process that brought these Christ followers to victory and established the “were” in their lives.

“But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God” (l Corinthians 6:11, NIV). For many of us these words are not quickly or easily understood but they are important, so let me try and simplify what the apostle is saying here.

“But you were washed.” This is an action that is initiated on the part of the individual. A better rendering would be, “You washed yourself,” meaning you took a step of faith and invited Jesus Christ into your life. When you did that, it initiated the washing or cleansing of being “born again.” Sin was washed away by the sacrificial blood of Jesus Christ.

“You were sanctified.” Sanctification begins at the moment of salvation when the Holy Spirit, heaven’s agent of change, comes to dwell in us. The focus of sanctification is to heal all the destructive work (dysfunctionality) that sin has done in you. For most of us the healing of sanctification is a process that takes place over a period of years or even a lifetime, just as physical healing is most commonly a process. Sanctification will be completed the moment we step into eternity. Second Corinthians 3:18 speaks of us as “…being transformed.”

“You were justified.” Justification focuses on the removal of the guilt of sin. Justification is by faith alone and not works and is complete at the moment of salvation. Sometimes we have to remind ourselves that “…there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1).

“In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and by the Spirit of our God.” The foundation for victory, as I call it, was placed into your life because you called on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation and at that moment the Holy Spirit came to live in you.

Praise God for His power to change a life. Because Jesus came and gave His life to pay the ransom for sin, no life, no matter how messed up it is, is outside the ability of the gospel (the power of God) to change it! “…If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:17, NIV).

“And such were many of us.”

Friday, September 10, 2010

THE SUFFICIENCY OF GRACE! DOES IT MATTER?

The debate over Paul’s thorn in the flesh began right after Paul died and it continues today. Scholars, theologians and TV preachers have taken adamant stands on what the thorn could and could not have been. Some early “experts” were convinced that Paul was the victim of an overwhelming spirit of perverted lust, others that he had eye problems, headaches, stomach aches, epilepsy—and the list goes on and on.

The point is that we don’t know what the thorn was and, frankly, if God wanted us to know He would have told us. It’s a trick of the enemy to get people stuck on the identity of the thorn. What we do know for sure is that the Greek word for thorn, skolops, used in 2 Corinthians 12:7 is not used anywhere else in the Bible. The meaning of the word is more than a little sticker on the stem of a rosebush; in fact, it means a sharpened stake. When the attacks of Paul’s thorn came, apparently it felt similar to being impaled, resulting in intense pain.

Paul prayed on three different occasions for this “thorn in the flesh” to be removed but God said no! I’m glad that God said no and I’m glad we don’t know what the thorn was. Why? Because when God said no to Paul, He spoke and gave him one of the most powerful revelations of the New Testament. If God hadn’t said no, we would not have this revelation:
“But he [the Lord] said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9).

Was this revelation of the sufficiency of grace so important that Paul was left with a lingering painful problem?

Paul began this whole section of teaching on grace by referring to the great revelations that he had received years earlier in his life. His descriptions included recounting being “caught up to the third heaven” (12:2) where he saw and heard things that he had no words to describe, and others that he was not permitted to talk about.

A good thing to remember at this point is that God will not talk to (give revelations to) the proud and arrogant. “Though the LORD is great, he cares for the humble, but he keeps his distance from the proud” (Psalm 138:6 NLT).

Sometimes God will give a wonderful revelation of truth to a humble person and as he/she begins to share that revelation, an insidious thought begins to edge its way into the mind: “You received that revelation because you are a very special person; you are not like the rest—you are smarter, more perceptive.” The father of lies begins his tale of deception, and pride takes root in the heart and mind of the previously humble person. At that point God withdraws and no further revelations come until the pride is dealt with. The apostle Paul understood this principle.

So that Paul would not fall prey to that deception, God allowed a “thorn” to come into his life to constantly remind him of how human and weak he really was. Out of the buffeting and pain of what Paul also describes as a “messenger of Satan” came a revelation for all time. The Lord spoke to Paul as he begged for an end to the pain: “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness” (12:9 NLT). The Lord links grace and power; He says that grace is power and that power flows out of weakness. The honestly humble follower of Christ knows that when life overwhelms him and there is nothing left that he can do…it is not over! It is out of the weakness and emptiness of being at the end of yourself that the power of God begins to flow. We call it a miracle or we testify to a mighty deliverance and we thank and praise Him for it. All of those things are manifestations of the sufficiency of His grace that meets us at the point of our weakness.

“When I am weak then I am strong” (12:10). Paul was a student of the Old Testament; he fully understood the revelation that God gave him about grace, weakness and strength because he knew what Proverbs taught. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding…and He shall…” (Proverbs 3:5-6). Paul learned not to lean on his own abilities, as vast as they were, but on the sufficiency of God’s grace. Paul learned that, as humiliating as it was to preach that Christ heals the sick and yet be sick himself, the greatest manifestations of grace came when he was at the end of himself.

Acknowledged weakness is the trigger to releasing the flow of God’s grace/power in our lives. This is precisely the point of the apostle John’s statement, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins…” (1 John 1:9 NIV). The forgiveness and cleansing come when we acknowledge our weakness.

I am really trying to learn to lean better, how about you? I want His grace, His power flowing more distinctly in my life.

“The weaker we feel, the harder we lean—the harder we lean, the stronger we grow.” (J. I. Packer)

Friday, September 3, 2010

YOU WERE BORN TO FLY!

One of the more interesting visual images given in Scripture is that of the eagle. Two brief passages present the imagery of the eagle; the first passage presents the visual of God likened to an eagle caring for its children and the second passage likens the people of God to the eagle.

As an eagle stirs up its nest,
Hovers over its young,
Spreading out its wings, taking them up,
Carrying them on its wings,
So the LORD alone led him,
And there was no foreign god with him.
(Deuteronomy 32:11-12, NKJV)

But those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.
(Isaiah 40:31 NIV; also see Exodus 19:4 NIV)

So, what do you think? If the parent is referred to as an eagle and the child is, too, what does that mean? Yes, that’s right! We were born to fly, to soar like the eagle!

Eagles are known for their ability to soar high above the earth. Some eagles are reported to be able to catch a thermal draft and fly 15,000 to 20,000 feet high. But the ability to fly is not something that eagles are born with—they have to learn this skill. Eagles are not eagles if they cannot fly! Turkeys don’t fly, they strut and cackle!

Eagles build their nests far above the earth, usually at the top of a tall tree high up on the side of a cliff or mountain. In a few minutes you will understand why.

Mom and dad eagle build the nest from sticks and then they pad the interior with feathers, down, grass and leaves. They don’t want their babies to have sticks poking them all day long so they make sure the nest is comfortable and softly lined.

An eaglet has a pretty good life. A great view, a soft bed, and room service throughout the day as mom and dad bring in the latest menu items of road kill.

Baby is growing and enjoying this good life. How easy it would be to spend the rest of one’s life living in this kind of laid-back comfort.

One day mother eagle seems to lose her mind. Instead of bringing the hungry eaglets food, she hovers over the nest and with the downdraft of her powerful wings she blows all the comfortable padding out of the nest. The comfort flies away and what’s left are the eaglets and a less-than-comfortable bed of sticks. But, hey, this is still a pretty good life, with room service and a great view.

But with the stirring of the nest everything begins to change. Instead of bringing the food into the nest, mom and dad start having the children come to them. First, the children have to climb up and get their food at the edge of the nest. Well, that’s new and a little inconvenient, but the children handle it. Then one day no more service into the nest at all. Instead, the parents hover with the food just outside the nest and baby is forced to climb to the edge and stretch out and take the food. A few days later, parents have moved back a little further and as hungry baby tries to reach for the food, it slips and begins to fall.

Baby cannot fly because it has no strength in its unused wings, so down it tumbles and “it ain’t flying but it’s sure trying.” Mother is ready for this and she swoops down and under the falling child, catches it and carries it back to the nest. Baby is unharmed and safe because mother is there.

The next day it’s the same thing. Down goes the child with wings flapping and flapping but it has not learned to fly—yet. Over and over the lesson is repeated and slowly strength comes into the baby’s wings. One day as baby falls and instinctively begins to flap its wings, suddenly everything begins to work and it begins to fly for the first time. Baby is not a baby anymore; now it’s an eagle because eagles know how to fly.

Mother had not lost her mind when she stirred the nest and blew the comfort out of the eaglet’s life. Mother knew that for an eagle to be an eagle, it had to learn to fly.

God will stir our nest and at times He will remove the comfort from our life. He knows that left to our own ways we will choose comfort over faith and so the training begins.

God knows that we have to learn to walk by faith, because without faith we cannot do His work and we cannot please Him.

He will never leave you nor forsake you. He will never be inattentive to your cry but He will stir your nest and teach you to fly because, “They shall mount up with wings as eagles.”

You were born to fly!