Isaiah 48:1-2, 4,9-13: "Listen to this, O house of Jacob, you who are called by the name of Israel and come from the line of Judah, you who take oaths in the name of the LORD and invoke the God of Israel but not in truth or righteousness- you who call yourselves citizens of the holy city and rely on the God of Israel-the LORD Almighty in his name . . . . I knew how stubborn you were; the sinews of your neck were iron, your forehead was bronze . . . . For my own name's sake I delay my wrath; for the sake of my praise I hold it back from you, so as not to cut you off. See, I have refined you, though not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction. For my name sake, for my own sake, I do this. How can I let myself be defamed? I will not yield my glory to another. . . . I am the first and I am the last. My own hand laid the foundations of the earth, and my right hand spread out the heavens; when I summon them they all stand up together."
If we have ever wondered whether God is patient and longsuffering towards humanity, we only have to read chapter 48 of Isaiah to see the evidence. God begins the chapter with a rebuke against these descendants of Abraham for having a form of religion but not being obedient to the Lord in "truth and righteousness." They may have thought themselves privileged because they were associated with the covenant community (and they may have been quite impressive in their rituals of worship) but their stubbornness and hardheadedness would bring Divine retribution in the "furnace of affliction." When intense heat is applied to refine a precious metal, the impurities (dross) are burned away leaving the metal in a purer form. So too was God's chastisement through the Babylonian invasion (605-586 BC) designed to bring forth a faithful remnant who would be uncompromising in their allegiance to the Lord.
Still, for the Lord's own namesake, we find that He was relenting in His execution of judgment to give opportunity for the Israelites to repent. Truly God is a "compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness" (Psalm 86:15). God is longsuffering, bearing our iniquities with patience and providing the Holy Spirit to convict us of sin with the hope of contrition, confession, and submission (John 16:8, 13). Still, because the Lord is the Alpha & Omega (the Beginning and the End) who alone is worthy of all praise, honor, and glory, He will not yield His glory to another. It is not because God is insecure and fearful that another would challenge His Lordship; rather, it is because God cannot transfer His Sovereign Glory to another without propagating the ultimate falsehood. No one is comparable to the Lord of Hosts (see Exodus 15:11) . . . therefore all glory is due Him! He alone is the Eternal, All-Powerful, All-Knowing, Ever-Present, Transcendent Lord who alone is to be worshipped.
We would do well to learn from the Israelites in this passage of Scripture. They were good at practicing a "form of religion, but denying its power" (2 Timothy 3:5). God was merciful for no other reason than because He is mercy and grace. Still, His Holiness would not be mocked by their rebellion; and in His Divinely appointed time, He would unleash His wrath for His Glory. This is quite telling: God is glorified in bestowing mercy; God is also glorified in the execution of His righteous wrath.
Let us surrender to the Lord in righteousness and truth, knowing that God wants to give us the abundant harvest of His blessing.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Self Denial
Luke 9:23-24: "The he (Jesus) said to them all: 'If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it.'"
Inserted between the calling and empowerment of the disciples by Jesus to ministry and their subsequent failures at demonstrating the power of God because of their self-aggrandizement was a teaching of Jesus about discipleship. Jesus had been praying in a quiet place with His disciples; then He turned to the disciples and asked them who the people thought He was. When Peter rightfully identified Jesus as the Anointed One of God, Jesus then explained the purpose of His first advent, namely to deny Himself by submitting to the will of God to be killed and raised to life for the redemption of mankind.
Then Jesus looked at His disciples and explained to them that if they were to be His disciples, they would have to deny any desire for self-adulation. They must "lose" themselves by yielding the entirety of their lives to Jesus as Lord. To choose to elevate one's "self" first was to forfeit the blessedness of God and His eternal grace.
Charles Finney, the great revivalist of the nineteenth century who often spoke of surrender to Christ as Lord, said it well: "Jesus Christ exercised self-denial to save sinners. So has God the Father exercised self-denial in giving his Son to die for us, and in sparing us, and in bearing with our perverseness. The Holy Ghost exercises self-denial in condescending to strive with such unholy beings to bring them to God. The angels exercise self-denial, in watching over this world. The apostles planted the Christian religion among the nations by the exercise of self-denial. And are we to think to being religious without any self-denial? Are we to call ourselves Christians, the followers of Christ, the temples of the Holy Ghosts, and to claim fellowship with the apostles, when we have never deprived ourselves of any thing that would promote our personal enjoyment for the sake of promoting Christ's kingdom? . . . . unless (you) are willing to lay yourself out for God and ready to sacrifice life and every thing else for Christ, you have not the spirit of Christ, and are none of his." Lectures on Revivals of Religion (1960), pg. 414.
We must remember that a personal relationship with Christ necessitates a yielding to Him as Lord. To seek association with Christ simply for the benefits of grace, with no intention of surrender to Him as Lord is no relationship at all. God is not simply a cosmic bellhop who is our remedy when we face difficulties in this life and who we expect to give us heaven simply because we want it. We must submit to Him as our Master; and as His servants, we forsake any self-seeking passions that would attempt to reassert a quest for personal lordship. When we are surrendered to Christ, our consumption is in obeying Him as Lord. We are driven by the desire to follow Him, and in the process we deny ourselves. What is wonderful is the joy that obedience to Christ brings to our souls; in fact, Jesus has told us that when we yoke ourselves to obedience to His will, we will find fulfillment in life, for His "yoke is easy and (His) burden is light" (Matthew 11:30).
Inserted between the calling and empowerment of the disciples by Jesus to ministry and their subsequent failures at demonstrating the power of God because of their self-aggrandizement was a teaching of Jesus about discipleship. Jesus had been praying in a quiet place with His disciples; then He turned to the disciples and asked them who the people thought He was. When Peter rightfully identified Jesus as the Anointed One of God, Jesus then explained the purpose of His first advent, namely to deny Himself by submitting to the will of God to be killed and raised to life for the redemption of mankind.
Then Jesus looked at His disciples and explained to them that if they were to be His disciples, they would have to deny any desire for self-adulation. They must "lose" themselves by yielding the entirety of their lives to Jesus as Lord. To choose to elevate one's "self" first was to forfeit the blessedness of God and His eternal grace.
Charles Finney, the great revivalist of the nineteenth century who often spoke of surrender to Christ as Lord, said it well: "Jesus Christ exercised self-denial to save sinners. So has God the Father exercised self-denial in giving his Son to die for us, and in sparing us, and in bearing with our perverseness. The Holy Ghost exercises self-denial in condescending to strive with such unholy beings to bring them to God. The angels exercise self-denial, in watching over this world. The apostles planted the Christian religion among the nations by the exercise of self-denial. And are we to think to being religious without any self-denial? Are we to call ourselves Christians, the followers of Christ, the temples of the Holy Ghosts, and to claim fellowship with the apostles, when we have never deprived ourselves of any thing that would promote our personal enjoyment for the sake of promoting Christ's kingdom? . . . . unless (you) are willing to lay yourself out for God and ready to sacrifice life and every thing else for Christ, you have not the spirit of Christ, and are none of his." Lectures on Revivals of Religion (1960), pg. 414.
We must remember that a personal relationship with Christ necessitates a yielding to Him as Lord. To seek association with Christ simply for the benefits of grace, with no intention of surrender to Him as Lord is no relationship at all. God is not simply a cosmic bellhop who is our remedy when we face difficulties in this life and who we expect to give us heaven simply because we want it. We must submit to Him as our Master; and as His servants, we forsake any self-seeking passions that would attempt to reassert a quest for personal lordship. When we are surrendered to Christ, our consumption is in obeying Him as Lord. We are driven by the desire to follow Him, and in the process we deny ourselves. What is wonderful is the joy that obedience to Christ brings to our souls; in fact, Jesus has told us that when we yoke ourselves to obedience to His will, we will find fulfillment in life, for His "yoke is easy and (His) burden is light" (Matthew 11:30).
Sunday, February 22, 2009
You May Not Get a Second Chance
Numbers 31:1,7-8,16: "The LORD said to Moses, 'Take vengeance on the Midianites for the Israelites.' . . . . They (the Israelites) fought against Midian, as the LORD commanded Moses, and killed every man . . . . they also killed Balaam son of Beor with the sword . . . . (he had given) advice (to the pagan women that they would lure the Israelite men) and were the means of turning the Israelites away from the LORD in what happened at Peor, so that a plague stuck the LORD's people."
Balaam is a rather obscure person mentioned in just a few chapters within Scripture; nonetheless, he is a man whose life teaches us an invaluable lesson of the need for obedience to the Lord. Balaam was a sorcerer who lived in the region of Aram. He had previously been summoned by Balak, King of Moab, to pronounce a curse on the Israelites, who had been moving through the region on their way to the Promised Land. Balak and the Moabites were struck with fear at the massive numbers of Israelites who had entered their territory, and their fears were only heightened when they found out how decidedly the Israelites had defeated the Amorites in battle. The king wanted a divine advantage in order that he might defeat the Israelites, and when he heard that the sorcerer's curses had effect (see Numbers 22:6), he offered Balaam great financial incentives to come and curse the children of God.
During the night, the Lord appeared to Balaam and told the sage not to go with the Moabites nor to pronounce a curse upon the Israelites, for they had received a covenant blessing from the Lord. When Balaam shared this news with the messengers of Balak, they returned only to find the king even more insistent to have the sorcerer return to Moab and pronounce a curse against the descendants of Abraham. The king sent even more impressive and numerous messengers back to Balaam with more financial incentive; but Balaam would not pronounce the curse in defiance to the Lord's will, even if the king were to give him the palace filled with precious treasures. In a strange twist of events, God permitted Balaam to go with the messengers, but he was only to do to what the Lord advised, not what the soliciting messengers were trying to get from him.
Although we are not told what happened during the commute, Balaam apparently did something against the expressed will of God, for as the sorcerer traveled on his donkey toward Moab, the Angel of the Lord blocked his path, drawing His sword to kill him for his disobedience. In a rather humorous series of events, the donkey saw the mighty angel blocking the path and turned into a field. Balaam apparently did not see the angel and continued to beat the donkey to get back on the path, but the donkey would not respond; instead, she lay down in the path even as her master continued to beat her. In his heated anger, Balaam did not realize that the Lord opened the mouth of the donkey to speak with the sorcerer, and when she asked why he was beating her relentlessly, the sage quickly replied that the donkey made him a fool before the royal entourage. Balaam was resolved to kill the donkey if only he had a sword; ironically, the donkey had spared Balaam's life by not continuing down the path. The Lord then opened the eyes of Balaam so that he could see the angel of wrath with sword drawn; it did not take Balaam long to jump off of his donkey and bow in submission to the heavenly being that was posed to strike him down. Balaam admitted his sin and was willing to return to his home, but the Lord again told the sage that he was to go with the messengers. Again, Balaam was only to speak what the Lord told him so say. From this re-emphasis of only speaking the Lord's dictates, we only can only suspect that Balaam was making some promises to these messengers along the way that were in defiance to the will of the Lord. Was Balaam enticed by the potential profit and prestige that lay before him if only he would do what the King of Moab requested? If Balaam had any notions of doing anything contrary to the Lord's will, his encounter with the angel settled the matter.
In fact, when Balaam gets to King Balak, he can only pronounce blessings upon the Israelites as per instruction of the Lord. The frustrated king of Moab sent Balaam away with no financial blessing, saying "the Lord has kept you from being rewarded. (24:11)"
In the next chapter (25) we find that the Moabites enticed the Israeli men to have sexual relations and follow their pagan gods at Peor, resulting in God's judgment of a plague that killed 24,000. In chapter 31 we find that Balaam was the one who encouraged the pagan women to entice the men of Israel. Did Balaam regret that he did not get the financial reward from the king of Moab and then devised a way that he knew could bring a divine curse upon the Israelites? In any event, God's judgment befell him to the point that he was killed by the sword by the Israelites in chapter 31.
It is amazing to see the disobedience of a man who had experienced such an incredible display of the awesome power of God; in fact, it is striking that a man who had averted the wrath of God once, would succumb to such rebellion against the Lord that would invariably bring divine judgment. Whereas we may be inclined to shake our heads in disgust at such behavior, do we not also test the Lord with our chronic disobedience. How often have we experienced a divine encounter with the Lord (and been resolved to faithful obedience to Him) only to later feast upon the evil temptations that would treat His Holiness with contempt? When we behave in such ways, we are no different from Balaam. Let us confess our sins while God's mercy is before us, so that we will not fall prey to His divine wrath. Even now, the angel of the Lord may have his sword drawn down the path of our disobedience. Let us turn from this path and follow the Lord in a spirit of contrition, confession, and surrender.
Balaam is a rather obscure person mentioned in just a few chapters within Scripture; nonetheless, he is a man whose life teaches us an invaluable lesson of the need for obedience to the Lord. Balaam was a sorcerer who lived in the region of Aram. He had previously been summoned by Balak, King of Moab, to pronounce a curse on the Israelites, who had been moving through the region on their way to the Promised Land. Balak and the Moabites were struck with fear at the massive numbers of Israelites who had entered their territory, and their fears were only heightened when they found out how decidedly the Israelites had defeated the Amorites in battle. The king wanted a divine advantage in order that he might defeat the Israelites, and when he heard that the sorcerer's curses had effect (see Numbers 22:6), he offered Balaam great financial incentives to come and curse the children of God.
During the night, the Lord appeared to Balaam and told the sage not to go with the Moabites nor to pronounce a curse upon the Israelites, for they had received a covenant blessing from the Lord. When Balaam shared this news with the messengers of Balak, they returned only to find the king even more insistent to have the sorcerer return to Moab and pronounce a curse against the descendants of Abraham. The king sent even more impressive and numerous messengers back to Balaam with more financial incentive; but Balaam would not pronounce the curse in defiance to the Lord's will, even if the king were to give him the palace filled with precious treasures. In a strange twist of events, God permitted Balaam to go with the messengers, but he was only to do to what the Lord advised, not what the soliciting messengers were trying to get from him.
Although we are not told what happened during the commute, Balaam apparently did something against the expressed will of God, for as the sorcerer traveled on his donkey toward Moab, the Angel of the Lord blocked his path, drawing His sword to kill him for his disobedience. In a rather humorous series of events, the donkey saw the mighty angel blocking the path and turned into a field. Balaam apparently did not see the angel and continued to beat the donkey to get back on the path, but the donkey would not respond; instead, she lay down in the path even as her master continued to beat her. In his heated anger, Balaam did not realize that the Lord opened the mouth of the donkey to speak with the sorcerer, and when she asked why he was beating her relentlessly, the sage quickly replied that the donkey made him a fool before the royal entourage. Balaam was resolved to kill the donkey if only he had a sword; ironically, the donkey had spared Balaam's life by not continuing down the path. The Lord then opened the eyes of Balaam so that he could see the angel of wrath with sword drawn; it did not take Balaam long to jump off of his donkey and bow in submission to the heavenly being that was posed to strike him down. Balaam admitted his sin and was willing to return to his home, but the Lord again told the sage that he was to go with the messengers. Again, Balaam was only to speak what the Lord told him so say. From this re-emphasis of only speaking the Lord's dictates, we only can only suspect that Balaam was making some promises to these messengers along the way that were in defiance to the will of the Lord. Was Balaam enticed by the potential profit and prestige that lay before him if only he would do what the King of Moab requested? If Balaam had any notions of doing anything contrary to the Lord's will, his encounter with the angel settled the matter.
In fact, when Balaam gets to King Balak, he can only pronounce blessings upon the Israelites as per instruction of the Lord. The frustrated king of Moab sent Balaam away with no financial blessing, saying "the Lord has kept you from being rewarded. (24:11)"
In the next chapter (25) we find that the Moabites enticed the Israeli men to have sexual relations and follow their pagan gods at Peor, resulting in God's judgment of a plague that killed 24,000. In chapter 31 we find that Balaam was the one who encouraged the pagan women to entice the men of Israel. Did Balaam regret that he did not get the financial reward from the king of Moab and then devised a way that he knew could bring a divine curse upon the Israelites? In any event, God's judgment befell him to the point that he was killed by the sword by the Israelites in chapter 31.
It is amazing to see the disobedience of a man who had experienced such an incredible display of the awesome power of God; in fact, it is striking that a man who had averted the wrath of God once, would succumb to such rebellion against the Lord that would invariably bring divine judgment. Whereas we may be inclined to shake our heads in disgust at such behavior, do we not also test the Lord with our chronic disobedience. How often have we experienced a divine encounter with the Lord (and been resolved to faithful obedience to Him) only to later feast upon the evil temptations that would treat His Holiness with contempt? When we behave in such ways, we are no different from Balaam. Let us confess our sins while God's mercy is before us, so that we will not fall prey to His divine wrath. Even now, the angel of the Lord may have his sword drawn down the path of our disobedience. Let us turn from this path and follow the Lord in a spirit of contrition, confession, and surrender.
Friday, February 20, 2009
Watch To Whom You Make Sacrifice
Leviticus 17:3ff: "Any Israelite who sacrifices an ox, a lamb, or a goat in the camp or outside of it instead of bringing it to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting to present it as an offering to the LORD in front of the tabernacle of the LORD-that man shall be considered guilty of bloodshed; he has shed blood and must be cut off from his people. This is so the Israelites will bring to the LORD the sacrifices they are now making in the open fields . . . . They must no longer offer any of their sacrifices to the goat idols to whom they prostitute themselves. This is to be a lasting ordinance for them and for the generations to come."
As the Israelites were trekking through the wilderness to the Promised Land, the LORD gave to Moses, Aaron, and the priests the above cited instructions. There was no dearth of sacrificial acts taking place around the Israelite camp; the problem was the object to which the sacrifices were being made. Apparently, some of the Israelites had decided that they no longer wanted to take their choicest animals to the Tabernacle and offer them as a celebration of worship to the Lord. Instead, they decided to make sacrifices in the fields to certain "goat idols." This act of rebellion against the Sovereignty of God was comparable to bloodshed and was considered so treasonous that those perpetrating such acts had to be cut off from the rest of the covenant community. God made the judgment severe in order that the people would understand that the Lord would not tolerate any sacrifices offered to any person or thing other than to Himself. Then the Lord made the ordinance everlasting for generations to come, so that the Israelites and their children would know that only focused worship to the One True God would be acceptable.
This is a great word for us in our generation. We must ask ourselves, "To whom are we presenting our choicest 'sacrifices' of worship? Are we presenting the best of our time, our money, and our energies to ourselves? to others? to projects? to careers? or to the Lord Almighty?" To offer a sacrifice to anyone or anything other than to God is to commit treasonous idolatry that is comparable to bloodshed. God will not tolerate such acts of recalcitrance. Let us confess our sin of idolatry to the Lord and come before His presence, making appropriate and acceptable sacrifices to Him alone. And may our hearts be so enthralled by His glorious presence in our lives that we delight in the offering of our sacrifices to Him.
As the Israelites were trekking through the wilderness to the Promised Land, the LORD gave to Moses, Aaron, and the priests the above cited instructions. There was no dearth of sacrificial acts taking place around the Israelite camp; the problem was the object to which the sacrifices were being made. Apparently, some of the Israelites had decided that they no longer wanted to take their choicest animals to the Tabernacle and offer them as a celebration of worship to the Lord. Instead, they decided to make sacrifices in the fields to certain "goat idols." This act of rebellion against the Sovereignty of God was comparable to bloodshed and was considered so treasonous that those perpetrating such acts had to be cut off from the rest of the covenant community. God made the judgment severe in order that the people would understand that the Lord would not tolerate any sacrifices offered to any person or thing other than to Himself. Then the Lord made the ordinance everlasting for generations to come, so that the Israelites and their children would know that only focused worship to the One True God would be acceptable.
This is a great word for us in our generation. We must ask ourselves, "To whom are we presenting our choicest 'sacrifices' of worship? Are we presenting the best of our time, our money, and our energies to ourselves? to others? to projects? to careers? or to the Lord Almighty?" To offer a sacrifice to anyone or anything other than to God is to commit treasonous idolatry that is comparable to bloodshed. God will not tolerate such acts of recalcitrance. Let us confess our sin of idolatry to the Lord and come before His presence, making appropriate and acceptable sacrifices to Him alone. And may our hearts be so enthralled by His glorious presence in our lives that we delight in the offering of our sacrifices to Him.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Tribulation Reveals the True Person Within
Job 27:3-6,11: "As long as I have life within me, the breath of God in my nostrils, my lips will not speak wickedness, and my tongue will utter no deceit. I will never admit you are right; till I die, I will not deny my integrity. I will maintain my righteousness and never let it go. I will teach you about the power of God; the ways of the Almighty I will not conceal."
If there has ever been a person who has endured just about every type of misfortune in life, it would be Job. In a single day, this highly respected, wealthy, righteous man from Uz lost his 10 children and many servants to tragic deaths, and he lost his wealth to invaders and fire. Soon thereafter, Job was afflicted with painful sores all over his body. Job was a pathetic sight to be sure!
To add fuel to misery, Job was abandoned by his friends and family, who believed that his misfortune was the result of some egregious sin in his life (see the words of Eliphaz in Job 4:8). This once respected man in the community was now the subject of scorn and ridicule by his people. Even his wife could not stand the smell that his body emitted and kept her distance. And little boys playing in the streets would make fun of the afflicted man when he passed by (see Job 19:17-19).
Whereas Job was not able to control his circumstances that were before him, he determined in his heart not to perpetrate evil in his heart. He would speak no deceit against the Lord; nor would he conclude that the deplorable conditions were justly due him. This man of God was determined to hold on to his righteousness and continue to exalt the power and majesty of the Lord Almighty.
Of course, we know the rest of the story in that God later rewarded Job for his faithfulness and exalted the once despised man with many riches and descendants. But what is most telling in this book of Scripture is Job's resolve to remain faithful to the Lord no matter the circumstance.
This is a great word for us today. Who are we when misfortune comes calling? Are we angered with God that such events would come our way? Are we apt to forsake our allegiances to the Lord, thinking that our commitments to Him are not being recognized and rewarded?
We must remember that trials are inevitable in our lives. We must remain faithful to the Lord in the midst of our tribulations, knowing that He will be with us through the circumstance and He will provide peace as we traverse those perilous paths of pain and difficulty.
If we really want to know who we truly are, we only need to wait for the trials of life and see how we respond. Let's be people deeply committed to the Lord, keeping our eyes upon our Savior and trusting that He will get us through our painful situations.
If there has ever been a person who has endured just about every type of misfortune in life, it would be Job. In a single day, this highly respected, wealthy, righteous man from Uz lost his 10 children and many servants to tragic deaths, and he lost his wealth to invaders and fire. Soon thereafter, Job was afflicted with painful sores all over his body. Job was a pathetic sight to be sure!
To add fuel to misery, Job was abandoned by his friends and family, who believed that his misfortune was the result of some egregious sin in his life (see the words of Eliphaz in Job 4:8). This once respected man in the community was now the subject of scorn and ridicule by his people. Even his wife could not stand the smell that his body emitted and kept her distance. And little boys playing in the streets would make fun of the afflicted man when he passed by (see Job 19:17-19).
Whereas Job was not able to control his circumstances that were before him, he determined in his heart not to perpetrate evil in his heart. He would speak no deceit against the Lord; nor would he conclude that the deplorable conditions were justly due him. This man of God was determined to hold on to his righteousness and continue to exalt the power and majesty of the Lord Almighty.
Of course, we know the rest of the story in that God later rewarded Job for his faithfulness and exalted the once despised man with many riches and descendants. But what is most telling in this book of Scripture is Job's resolve to remain faithful to the Lord no matter the circumstance.
This is a great word for us today. Who are we when misfortune comes calling? Are we angered with God that such events would come our way? Are we apt to forsake our allegiances to the Lord, thinking that our commitments to Him are not being recognized and rewarded?
We must remember that trials are inevitable in our lives. We must remain faithful to the Lord in the midst of our tribulations, knowing that He will be with us through the circumstance and He will provide peace as we traverse those perilous paths of pain and difficulty.
If we really want to know who we truly are, we only need to wait for the trials of life and see how we respond. Let's be people deeply committed to the Lord, keeping our eyes upon our Savior and trusting that He will get us through our painful situations.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Steadfastness in the Midst of Tribulation
Psalm 112:1,7: "Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who finds great delight in his commands . . . . He will have no fear of bad news; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the LORD."
Trials and tribulations are inevitable in our life experience; truly, none of us are immune to them. These difficulties that rack our souls with unimaginable anguish are packaged differently for each of us, but they are nonetheless real and nonetheless painful.
In the above mentioned passage, we find that the way to press through (and ultimately gain victory over) the storms of life is to "fear" the Lord and delight in His commands. To fear the Lord is to stand (or possibly fall) in utter awe at His greatness and to know that He is the Sovereign One who transcends all things and is triumphant over all things. When we trust in faith that God is in control, we can surrender to Him as our Lord and believe that He will bring about our ultimate deliverance from our miseries. We will be able to find rest in the assurance that our glorious Lord will make all things new (Revelation 21:5), as He draws the redeemed into His glorious presence and removes the tears that our painful ordeals have brought to our faces. Our hope will be found in the reality that God will vindicate us from the tribulations that this sinful world have forced upon us, and we will never again mourn the pain of loss in our lives.
Of course, when we know in our hearts that the Lord is the Almighty One who is Sovereign over all creation and is the greatest lover of our souls, then we will not find His commands a drudgery; instead we will find obedience to His will an absolute delight. We will want to obey Him, for we know that following His commands will draw us closer to His presence . . . the only way in which we are truly fulfilled.
Let us press on in knowing that God loves us and extends to us the hope of redemption from our perilous circumstances. Let us trust the Lord in faith, marveling in His presence in our lives today just as we will stand in utter amazement at His glory when He returns for us (see 2 Thessalonians 1:10).
When we walk daily in intimate fellowship with the Lord, our faith in Him will drive away the fears that would otherwise reek havoc in our lives. And when we trust that our Creator God is also our Redeemer and Sustainer who carries us through our ordeals, our hearts will remain steadfast in Him, no matter what tribulations befall us.
Trials and tribulations are inevitable in our life experience; truly, none of us are immune to them. These difficulties that rack our souls with unimaginable anguish are packaged differently for each of us, but they are nonetheless real and nonetheless painful.
In the above mentioned passage, we find that the way to press through (and ultimately gain victory over) the storms of life is to "fear" the Lord and delight in His commands. To fear the Lord is to stand (or possibly fall) in utter awe at His greatness and to know that He is the Sovereign One who transcends all things and is triumphant over all things. When we trust in faith that God is in control, we can surrender to Him as our Lord and believe that He will bring about our ultimate deliverance from our miseries. We will be able to find rest in the assurance that our glorious Lord will make all things new (Revelation 21:5), as He draws the redeemed into His glorious presence and removes the tears that our painful ordeals have brought to our faces. Our hope will be found in the reality that God will vindicate us from the tribulations that this sinful world have forced upon us, and we will never again mourn the pain of loss in our lives.
Of course, when we know in our hearts that the Lord is the Almighty One who is Sovereign over all creation and is the greatest lover of our souls, then we will not find His commands a drudgery; instead we will find obedience to His will an absolute delight. We will want to obey Him, for we know that following His commands will draw us closer to His presence . . . the only way in which we are truly fulfilled.
Let us press on in knowing that God loves us and extends to us the hope of redemption from our perilous circumstances. Let us trust the Lord in faith, marveling in His presence in our lives today just as we will stand in utter amazement at His glory when He returns for us (see 2 Thessalonians 1:10).
When we walk daily in intimate fellowship with the Lord, our faith in Him will drive away the fears that would otherwise reek havoc in our lives. And when we trust that our Creator God is also our Redeemer and Sustainer who carries us through our ordeals, our hearts will remain steadfast in Him, no matter what tribulations befall us.
Monday, February 16, 2009
God Will Tear Down To Build Up!
Hosea 6:1: "Come, let us return to the LORD. He has torn us to pieces but he will heal us; he has injured us but he will bind up our wounds."
When we begin to think of who God is, we like to picture Him as the Sovereign One in the restorative business. We like to think of God as our Rescuer who comes to our aid when we are in trouble. We sing praises in worship to Him as our Savior, Redeemer, Restorer, Advocate, etc. When we walk through the valleys of despair, we seek His intervention to take us to the blessed mountaintops of Divine favor. But do we ever think of God as a Destroyer, who tears down the rebellious in order to get them to a place that He in fact can restore them?
To appreciate the context of the passage cited above, we must understand that the prophet Hosea wrote this Divinely inspired book at a time when the Israelites were brazenly defiant against the Lord. Eight hundred years before the advent of Christ, these Israelites engaged in all types of licentiousness in utter rebellion against the commands of the Lord. From corporate sexual promiscuity to abuses against the poor and disadvantaged to gross syncretism and association with occult practices, these Israelites had reached the utter depths of their contempt for the One True Lord.
True to His Word, God would not be mocked by such wickedness by His people (see Galatians 6:7-8). And in His infinite wisdom, the Lord knew that the only way to get the attention of the Israelites was to bring calamity upon them. Within a few decades, God would send the Assyrian army to bring destruction to the land of Ephraim. As the northern tribes of Israel were being plundered by the invading armies, the Israelites cried out to the Lord for deliverance. God would later send prophets like Nahum to remind His people that the "Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble, caring for those who trust in Him" (Nahum 1:7). God was willing to shower His people with the healing springs of His blessing, if they only would return to Him as their only God and Savior. And as tragic as the events were that brought such widespread destruction, still, God used such events to draw His people back into a right fellowship with Him as their Lord. God knew that only demonstrative misfortune would get their attention, since they had fallen so low in their state of despondency.
We must remember today that the Lord desires for us to be in intimate fellowship with Him, and if He believes that "tearing us down" is the catalytic ingredient to get our attention, then He will use such measures to break us from our obstinacy. Dr. James MacDonald in his series Downpour tells us that God will use any necessary means (illness, financial crises, etc.) to get us to respond to Him. And whereas we are not to think that all calamity is necessarily the product of God's restorative process, we must pause in the midst of those storms of life to see if in fact God is trying to get our attention to draw us back to Him. If we truly were honest with ourselves, we would agree that some of those painful trials were orchestrated to bring us back into fellowship with the Lord of Hosts. Still, God does not leave us in the upheaval of our circumstances indefinitely; if we are responsive to the Lord, He will heal us of our "wounds" and present to us the joy of His glorious presence in our lives. And deep down we know that being in close intimacy with the Father is exactly the state for which our souls earnestly long.
Let us therefore know that God loves us and desires us to be in close fellowship with Him. If He sees us straying far from His presence, He will use necessary measures (no matter how painful) to tear away our recalcitrance and draw us back into fellowship with Him. Let's not despise the Lord for such interventions; rather, let us celebrate that He genuinely loves us and will pursue us with such fervor and determination!
When we begin to think of who God is, we like to picture Him as the Sovereign One in the restorative business. We like to think of God as our Rescuer who comes to our aid when we are in trouble. We sing praises in worship to Him as our Savior, Redeemer, Restorer, Advocate, etc. When we walk through the valleys of despair, we seek His intervention to take us to the blessed mountaintops of Divine favor. But do we ever think of God as a Destroyer, who tears down the rebellious in order to get them to a place that He in fact can restore them?
To appreciate the context of the passage cited above, we must understand that the prophet Hosea wrote this Divinely inspired book at a time when the Israelites were brazenly defiant against the Lord. Eight hundred years before the advent of Christ, these Israelites engaged in all types of licentiousness in utter rebellion against the commands of the Lord. From corporate sexual promiscuity to abuses against the poor and disadvantaged to gross syncretism and association with occult practices, these Israelites had reached the utter depths of their contempt for the One True Lord.
True to His Word, God would not be mocked by such wickedness by His people (see Galatians 6:7-8). And in His infinite wisdom, the Lord knew that the only way to get the attention of the Israelites was to bring calamity upon them. Within a few decades, God would send the Assyrian army to bring destruction to the land of Ephraim. As the northern tribes of Israel were being plundered by the invading armies, the Israelites cried out to the Lord for deliverance. God would later send prophets like Nahum to remind His people that the "Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble, caring for those who trust in Him" (Nahum 1:7). God was willing to shower His people with the healing springs of His blessing, if they only would return to Him as their only God and Savior. And as tragic as the events were that brought such widespread destruction, still, God used such events to draw His people back into a right fellowship with Him as their Lord. God knew that only demonstrative misfortune would get their attention, since they had fallen so low in their state of despondency.
We must remember today that the Lord desires for us to be in intimate fellowship with Him, and if He believes that "tearing us down" is the catalytic ingredient to get our attention, then He will use such measures to break us from our obstinacy. Dr. James MacDonald in his series Downpour tells us that God will use any necessary means (illness, financial crises, etc.) to get us to respond to Him. And whereas we are not to think that all calamity is necessarily the product of God's restorative process, we must pause in the midst of those storms of life to see if in fact God is trying to get our attention to draw us back to Him. If we truly were honest with ourselves, we would agree that some of those painful trials were orchestrated to bring us back into fellowship with the Lord of Hosts. Still, God does not leave us in the upheaval of our circumstances indefinitely; if we are responsive to the Lord, He will heal us of our "wounds" and present to us the joy of His glorious presence in our lives. And deep down we know that being in close intimacy with the Father is exactly the state for which our souls earnestly long.
Let us therefore know that God loves us and desires us to be in close fellowship with Him. If He sees us straying far from His presence, He will use necessary measures (no matter how painful) to tear away our recalcitrance and draw us back into fellowship with Him. Let's not despise the Lord for such interventions; rather, let us celebrate that He genuinely loves us and will pursue us with such fervor and determination!
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