Grace

 I am reminded of a graphic picture sketched by a young man grappling with the truth.  It showed a long line of people with happy faces.  They were waiting on their turn for an activity that looks like the ultimate in fun.  The activity is at the edge of a drop-off and near the edge reads a sign: “The Fall of Fun: Try it!”  There are people jumping off as though they are going into a swimming pool by dives, cannonballs, etc.  Everyone looks happy, eager, and controlled by their desire for pleasure.  However, what the viewer sees is quite another story.  The bottom is covered with ugly spikes of varying heights.  Many have already landed and the gruesome sight sheds new light on the line of happy faces. 

I’m not sure exactly where the artist was spiritually when he sketched the unsettling scene:  anger at sin or anger at God.  But for me, as I thought on it this morning, I found myself berating the unbeliever for such stupidity:  “observe, think, don’t be so sure of your philosophy.”   Piously, I made myself sick at their unbelief and then the thought hit hard:  “By grace you have been saved.”  Why am I so slow to remember this?  (It’s not the first time!)  I WAS in the line of happy, eager people with their mind bent on pleasure.  God, in HIS GRACE and MERCY, snatched me from the line before it was too late.

Praise His holy name!!  It is “grace that has brought me safe thus far and grace will lead me home.”

Rhetoric

 I was praying today.  Struggling to maintain order in my prayer time has become a way of life.  It didn’t use to be this way but now a battle rages like tug-o-war.  What ever I happen to be praying about becomes the thought, the side road instead of the continued conversation with my Father as I had set out to have.  So it seems I am back and forth from frivolous thought to conversation with God topped with apology for straying.  Not very fun, but Oh, so fulfilling, if I just persevere.

Today as I persevered, I began to try to find the right words to express to Him, words that were more in line with His high thinking.  Then I had to laugh at myself.  “This is God you’re talking to!  He’s never going to be impressed by your words.  Remember He has heard the best: Peter, James, John, Spurgeon, Tozer, Schaeffer.  You’re never going to make it to measure up to them much less Him.  He created the universe, every detail and manner of life and beauty with order and function…(I’ve been watching Planet Earth and Life produced for BBC so I’m pretty blown away right now with creation).”  He simply wants a pure heart, one that sincerely loves and seeks Him.  He has provided the access through Jesus and the “rhetoric” through the Holy Spirit.  Just relax, love Him, run to Him, lie down before Him and rest.  He wants to hear all about it just the way you would talk to a bosom friend.  “In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings to deep for words.”  Romans 8:26

Sorrow for Sin

I took down my Christmas tree yesterday.  I have done this now for many years.  It’s always bitter sweet but for many years, I have had a little ritual to help me enjoy it:  A cup of some wonderful hot drink and Andrea Bocelli singing Christmas songs in the background.  It didn’t work for me this year.  No, this year there was no sweet, just bitter.

This year was different for many reasons.  So, every ornament seemed to make me sad.  They all screamed, “LIFE HAS CHANGED…YOU”RE GETTING OLD…EVERYTHING IS GOING TO DIE!”  Happy thoughts, huh?  Every Andrea Bocelli song made me sob.  I sat down trying to get a grip when a thought hurled through my mind: When have I been this sorrowful over my sin?  When have I been this sorrowful over the fact that Jesus suffered more than I could ever imagine for my sin?  Have I wept over that lately?  No, I’m crying over Christmas ornaments and children growing up and wrinkles showing up and energy giving up.  Why?  Because I’ve come to love the world more than I should.

Here’s what Jesus says about the world: “They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.  Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth.”  And what does the Word say about the world?   “Do not love the world nor the things in the world.  If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.  The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.”  (John 17:16 & 17; 1 John 2:15-17)

Calm down now!  Remember you were bought with a price.  Honor God with your very being.  Enjoy life but don’t cling to it as your “Forever”.  Cling to Jesus.  He loves you so much He died to be with you.  Be cleansed by the Word, refreshed, renewed.  It’s a new year full of wonderful possibilities of use by the God of all creation!  Think like you believe that.  And if you’re going to be sorrowful, be sorrowful by the fact that you stray from right thinking!

Tools

Hand-mixer beaters, screwdriver, hammer and the list goes on.   All these tools have one basic thing in common: Without hands, they lay worthless, devoid of their intended purpose.  They all have names that designate their use.  The beaters blend, sometimes gently and sometimes rigorously, different ingredients to make one smooth batter.  The screwdriver fits right into place in order to drive a screw to its designated assignment in order to make yet another object (probably full of purpose itself) secure.  And then there’s the hammer, a stick of wood and a glob of iron put together to drive with accurate and deliberate force the nail with much the same effect as the screw.  I could go on and on with all the wonderful outcomes of just these three tools.  Yet, without the hands, there will be no outcome.

How like the Christian are these tools!!  We can no more produce a good work for the glory of God on our own than the above-mentioned tools.  I began thinking about this as I evaluated my life and what I look at as failures.  I was asking God what I DID wrong.  When will I ever learn??  I am a tool.  Praise God!  He is the power, the Hands, the Force.  The outcome is no more my business than how the cake turns out, or the furniture or house turns out to the beaters, screwdriver or the hammer.  They just do what the hands guide them to do.  Let us do the same!  The Hands that guide us are capable beyond our best thought!

"I'll be praying for you."

Does it really mean anything to hear or say those words?  If we believe the God of the universe…if we understand the power behind the Hearer of prayer, well, I should think those words mean everything!  We can do, and think, and read, and speak, but to pray… that makes all the difference in our walk and the walk of others.

There are more verses about prayer than can be shared here.  But consider these two:

“pray without ceasing” and “…so that your prayers will not be hindered”.  The latter one is what set my mind in motion this morning.  The first one from 1 Thessalonians 5:17 is self-explanatory and goes along with the words from a song that will follow. 

The second one from 1 Peter 3:7 is a verse instructing husbands how to be treating their wives. Peter issues a warning from God of the importance of following these instructions “so that your prayers will not be hindered”.  It’s the reasonable act of a Christian to talk to God throughout the day and to expect Him to act.  So honor Him in your very being, inward and outward so as not to have “hindered” prayers.  EVERYONE!  While this verse is addressed to husbands, we can all learn from the same principle.  PRAY!  And keep yourself in line with God’s word.  Pretty simple!

After I read this verse and considered the implications of the act of prayer being the very life and breath of a Christian, the following song came to mind.  While I’m not a lover of gospel music, the lyrics to this song, taught to me over 30 years ago, resonated with these morning thoughts:

How long has it been since you talked with the Lord and told Him your heart’s hidden secrets?  How long since you prayed?  How long since you stayed on your knees till the light shone through?  How long has it been since your mind felt at ease?  How long since your heart knew no burden?  Can you call Him your friend?  How long has it been since you knew that He cared for you?

“I’ll be praying for you!.”  These words mean everything!  Not because we’re anything but because Christ is all and in all.  And He has granted access to the One Who hears and moves in and through us!

Who Has Believed?

"Silent Night" plays in the background on this Christmas Eve as I write.  I've been reading Isaiah 53 this week.  It wasn't a random choice but where I "happen" to be as I read the book of Isaiah.  But it's such a wonderful choice for this season.  For it is important for us as Christians to remember why Jesus came.  He came to die, to take on the sin of the world and pay the price required by a Holy God.

Isaiah gives a brief picture of man: sinner, sheep astray, turned our own way, transgressors, wicked.  Isaiah also gives a brief but amazing picture of Christ: tender shoot, silent to His accusers, Righteous One, Justifier, Intercessor, not violent, not deceitful.  I would say the contrast here is monumental!
And then the bulk of this chapter paints a picture of what coming into the world of man meant for Jesus.

He had no beauty in appearance or form, no majesty, a root out of parched ground, despised, forsaken, sorrowful, grief, no esteem given, smitten of God, afflicted, pierced, crushed, chastened, scourged, oppressed, slaughtered, judged, cut off from life, guilt offering, anguished soul, iniquities shouldered, poured out to death, numbered with transgressors.  "King of Kings"?  God with us?  "This, this is Christ the Lord"?  Where was His "peace on earth"?  I would say it was in His "good will toward man on whom His favor rests."  Peace for Him was the accomplishment of His purpose!

What this "coming" means for us is what should be the center of our celebrations!  Jesus bore our grief, carried our sorrow, healed us, paid the price for us, justified us, took away our sin, intercedes for us--all this for our well-being.  He IS the Prince of Peace as the beautiful "Messiah" sings in the background now.  For when we believe and bow down to Jesus, we are the recipients of all these wonderful gifts He has provided for us.

Isaiah 53 begins with "Who has believed our message?"  We must live out this message in thought, words and deeds not just at this time of year but every moment until Christ takes us home.  "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved!" (Acts 16:31)   Jesus said, "I have come that they may have life and have it to the full."  (John 10:10)   Life, peace, happiness, fulfillment!  That's what we all want.  That's what we all seek.  That's what we all try to accomplish at this time of year we call Christmas.  But just like every other day of the year, these gifts are only had through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!  Peace for us is the accomplishment of His purpose!!  Who has "heard" our message?  Isaiah proclaimed the message!  Let us do likewise!  "JOY! to the world, the LORD has come!"

King of Kings

A “king” is a hard concept for an American to grasp.  We are awed by the presence of some, for instance, the president or film & music personalities, but a king…it’s just not programmed for us.  As a Christian in America, I must dig deep to imagine the regal presence of a king.

This requires “double” meditation on my part to consider God the King.  The Creator of all in charge of all and ruling it all.  Creator, with no beginning, Who put it all in motion, everything working precisely, completely in charge, no mistakes, no wringing of His hands and not one thing escapes His understanding or control.  God, the King!!   “God is the King of all the earth.” 

Now, let’s consider another aspect of this thought.  Jesus, Creator with God from the beginning, came to this earth of which He ruled.  Christmas, supposedly, is the time we celebrate this coming, His first Advent.  He was born of flesh, conceived by the Holy Spirit for what?   Pilate, who was knowledgeable about kings, asked Jesus if He was the King of the Jews.  Jesus did not answer the question immediately but then Pilate asked again, “So You are a king”?  Jesus answered, “You say correctly that I am a king. For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to testify to the truth.  Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.” 

Here we are at Christmas: lights, cameras, action, food, friends, family, and gifts.  What about worship?  As Christians, do we do any better than the world?  Jesus, God the King, said He is born and come to tell us the truth.  Do we hear His voice?  Are we listening?  Are we preparing Him room daily?  Does He awe us as much as the glitz of Hollywood, New York, Washington D.C. or the decorations on our houses?   Are we awed  by the truth that He desired relationship restored so passionately that He became flesh?

Right after He told Pilate this profound information, Pilate sarcastically asked Jesus the question many are still asking:  “What is truth?”  Then he proceeded to have Jesus flogged, a punishment that revealed just how fleshy Jesus had become.  Pilate then presented the pitiful figure to the people, “Behold, the Man!”   Not long after that, Pilate then said, “Behold, your King!”

Behold, the Man!  Behold, your King!  Behold, your God!  “Veiled in flesh the Godhead see, Hail the Incarnate Deity!  Pleased as Man with man to dwell, Jesus, our Emamanuel.”  Man-King-God!  Emmanuel, God with us!  “Shout for joy, O heavens!  And rejoice, O earth!  Break forth into joyful shouting, O mountains!  For the LORD has comforted His people and will have compassion on His afflicted.”  We are all afflicted with sin!  And Jesus, the God-Man, the King, came to be the Solution to this affliction.  This is why we Christians can sing “Joy to the world, the Lord is come.  Let earth receive her King!”  And this is why the Christian has hope in this ever-changing life:  Jesus will come again, His second Advent.  Rejoice, be prepared, proclaim the “Truth.”  “For “this” I have been born, for “this” I have come into the world, to testify to the truth.”

George Frideric Handel, upon reading God’s Word was so overcome by its power, that he began to write “Messiah”.  At one point in the weeks that followed, a servant testified that Handel burst out of his study with tears in his eyes, script in his hand and said, “I did think I did see all Heaven before me, and the great God Himself seated on His throne, with his Company of Angels.”

“For the Lord God omnipotent reigneth, Hallelujah.  The kingdom of this world has become the kingdom of our God and of His Christ.  King of Kings and Lord of Lords.”

“O, come let us adore Him!  O COME, let us ADORE HIM!  O COME, LET US ADORE HIM!  Christ, the LORD!”   Bow down and adore the King of all the earth.  “Kings will see and arise, Princes will also bow down.”   “Let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker!” 

Scripture References:  Psalm 47:7; John 18:33-37; Isaiah 49:13;  Isaiah 49:7; Psalm 95:6