Acts 12:6-10 (GWT) "The night before Herod was going to bring Peter to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers. His hands were bound with two chains, and guards were in front of the door. They were watching the prison. Suddenly, an angel from the Lord stood near Peter, and his cell was filled with light. The angel nudged Peter's side, woke him up, and said, "Hurry! Get up!" At that moment the chains fell from Peter's hands. The angel told him, "Put your shoes on, and get ready to go!" Peter did this. Then the angel told him, "Put your coat on, and follow me." Peter followed the angel out of the cell. He didn't realize that what the angel was doing was actually happening. He thought he was seeing a vision. They passed the first and second guardposts and came to the iron gate that led into the city. This gate opened by itself for them, so they went outside and up the street. The angel suddenly left Peter."
Dr. Larry Crabb, in Finding God, the follow-up or addition to his original book INSIDE OUT, speaks of 'the sinful nature' of man that was embedded in ourselves through the doubt of Eve and Adam. One who believed that God wasn't being 'good' by withholding the Tree of Good and Evil and the other, not believing God was 'good enough' to handle the introduction of sin through grace. We have spent the rest of human history doubting God could be good enough to do what He said, what He promises. So we turn to ourselves to deal with the reliance upon an unreliable world.
"The foundation of the fallen structure is our doubt in God's goodness, which creates the terror of aloneness in an unreliable world," Crabb states in Chapter Seven of Finding God, "which leads to rage against God for doing so little to protect us from suffering."
We don't believe perfectly in the love of the Father God to be 'good enough' for our struggles and therefore, seek to rely on our own abilities to see us through. Look at our 'recovery' and 'improvement' books that line the shelves of any bookstore in the American landscape; "Self" is the key word. Even in our recovery ministries at Church, we seek an understanding of our tendencies and motivations so that we can construct tripwires and flares to warn us when we are straying towards those destructive things. Recovery has become less about believing in the 'goodness' of God and more about our ability to deal with the addictions.
Pastor Dave, of Soul Quest Ministries, my new home church expressed this over and over in his sermon on Sunday (which you can hear, I believe, on the website www.soulquestministries.com). He pointed to the verse found in 1 John 4:17-18 (NIV) "In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like Him. There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love."
We worry about our ability to take care of ourselves in a world that we feel should take care of us, should validate us, and should make life livable for us. It often takes one situation, one loss, or one trial in which the world opposes such notions and we are terrified, fearful of what the future is going to be like. I know, I face it each day.
The separation from my wife, a decision that was harder than she'll ever believe, has set me into turmoil regarding my ability to take care of myself and my children. Mounting bills, limited income, car repairs, and just the situational aspects of single parenting have caused sleepless nights, worry, and doubt to cascade into every other aspect of my life. Regarding the ministerial call, regarding my ability to be a good, CHRISTIAN father, and where the future of my participation in the Awakened Hearts Ministry, which is going 'full-time' (not my participation, but the ministry leadership). Financial stress, complicated by the rising fuel prices and the failing automotive industry (which my job is in), doesn't lend support to the vision that God is good, or at least good ENOUGH, to deal in these things for me. So I try myself, and I am failing.
Fray Juan de la Cruz, Friar John of the Cross, believed that struggle and suffering were necessary for spiritual growth. "Turn not to the easiest, but to the most difficult… not to the more, but to the less; not towards what is high and precious, but to what is low and despised; not towards desiring anything, but to desiring nothing." His life was a struggle, sometimes deliberately brought upon himself and other times by others. His two famous writings, "Cantico Espiritual" (Spiritual Canticle) and "Noche Oscura del Alma" (Dark Night of the Soul), were written in jail by the very Church he served as a friar in.
It is what we do in the situations we face that cause us to grow. We either turn towards God, believing and moving as Peter did when the angel appeared before him, entering the reality of God's goodness and provision as it happens, or we question the ability of God to even hear our cries for help and develop a spirit of fear and anger towards our own Creator.
"There are many believers who know they SHOULD be free in Jesus. They have a head knowledge of freedom ---but somehow they haven't grasped the reality of the freedom that is promised! They walk with the vision without living the reality!" George, author and minister of Worthy New Ministry, writes in his devotional regarding Peter's belief (www.worthynewministry.com). What would it be like for us to believe that God is good enough to be good to us? How many prescriptions for the things that ail us would go unfilled if that knowledge of freedom from fear, terror, and sin would implant itself within our hearts instead of being only residing in our minds?
Watchman Nee, in The Spiritual Man, gives us a glimpse of what that could look like, if we had the faith to believe in our hearts of the goodness that is inherently God. "We should inquire once again as to what the life of faith is. It is one lived by believing in God under any circumstance: "If He slay me," says Job, "yet would I trust in Him." That is faith. Because I once believed, loved and trusted God I shall believe, love and trust Him wherever He may put me and however my heart and body may suffer…..Emotion begins to doubt when it senses blackness, whereas faith holds on to God even in the face of death."
Do you have that kind of faith? Realizing that the key to overcoming our innate deception in believing in the goodness of God and collapsing what Dr. Crabb calls the 'fallen structure' that hampers our ability to find God.
"I once was lost, but now am found. Was blind, but now I see."
What is the present you see? One with God in the details, or one with Him sitting on the throne impatient to finish you off?
If we are to know Him in the way He wants us to know Him; with joy, purpose, and self-control, then we must face the sin we carry from our birth and realize we are not worthy of His love, but given His grace.
We must turn from self-valued principles and rely on principles of God's value. Perfect love.....no fear.
That seems to be the theme of my many devotionals today, that God wants me to not fear the coming of the dawn, but face it with an eagerness of a child.
Carolyn Baker of All about God.com, chose this for her devotional today and I think it is fitting to close with it for mine:
God is our refuge and strength, an ever present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells. God is within her, she will not fall. God will help her at break of day. Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall; He lifts His voice, the earth melts. - Psalm 46:1–6
Monday, June 23
Tuesday, June 17
Code of Conduct
"He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God?" Micah 6:8 NAS
What is man called to do in performance of his service to God? Is it the transaction, that payment for the service rendered by Jesus Christ as He hung on a cross of wood and paid the debt for Sin? All sin for all of mankind.
Or is it something more? A REACTION to the mercy and grace given, though not deserved, and the actions of a God who loves His children so much that the ultimate sacrifice wasn't an afterthought, but a course to be taken to rescue the lost children He loves so much? No justification for our salvation, no repayment for the debt paid. A duty, honestly given and actively pursued, for the honor and glory of a God who served us without conditional response required.
To be like our Messiah; that is our motivation, our desire, and our purpose. Even though we fail as sinful, broken human beings, we continue to strive to that goal. Through the ministring of the Holy Spirit's counsel.
A code of conduct.
Yet, many people find that unsettling. We emulate our sports heroes; bringing our bodies into a healthy condition so that we can be like those million-dollar stars. We emulate our movie heroes; seeking the portrayed emotional connection that is scripted on the screen for our enjoyment.
We seek to be that simple person on the street that runs into a burning building at a child's cry with no thought of their own welfare. We glorify athletes who personalify the sport they play and spend millions in replications of their lifestyles, so that we might feel like them for a time.
And yet, we wonder why we should try and be like Christ. A haughty and difficult thing for us to do, we wonder why we should even try. After all, salvation is not conditional upon the good which we do. We are told that the price was paid so no one could boast that they had something to do with it. And, yet, we continue to try to meet some shadowy and indistinct level of performance to feel we deserve the sacrifice given. We put on the lifestyle of Christ, without any weight or value. We tithe out of obligation, not glad giving.
We are afraid to stand upon the Word and defend the distortion of it because we are told that we are called to love, and nothing more. After all, God is big enough to take care of Himself. We are afraid to declare the absolute certainity of the gospel, because Jesus wasn't pushy and neither is God. We decide that the expression of loving one another cannot include accountability, correction, or 'tough' love because......?
We cannot speak for ourselves, for we are flawed from sin's embrace and the broken relationship that we inherited. We cannot declare what is right, what is just, what is sinful, and what is good. For our views become tainted by our own upbringing, prejudices, and cultural inheritance. We cannot define something we ourselves desire equally for all.
But God can. And He has.
Homosexuality is a sin. Pre-martial sex is a sin. Pride is a sin. Covetedness is a sin. To name a few.
Each condemnable to Sin's only punishment: death.
I don't suppose to know the struggles that a homosexual person goes through as they struggle to deal with a tendency that is sinful, because I don't have that desire to be in a sexually intimate relationship with my own gender. I don't supposed to know what a transgender who believes they were 'born wrong', because I don't think that I was meant to be a woman.
I am equally condemnable in the Law for those things I struggle with, as do the homosexual, transgender, or even a thief. The adulterer, the immoral business person, and the liar all have equal footing with me before the throne of God. We are condemned by the sinful nature we are born with because of Adam's inaction and Eve's choice.
Do I hate the homosexual? I don't, despite what some may believe because I point to the scriptural reference that declares homosexuality wrong. Or because I oppose the immoral declaration that same sex 'marriages' are legal. I am called, through the grace of God and the declaration of scripture to love that sinful person as much as God loved this sinful person. To hold them accountable as God holds me accountable.
To put myself in their place, to the same standards.
Do I believe the bank robber is condemned to the death sentence of Hell? Yes, through the sinful actions that they have taken. Does that mean they cannot know God's love? No, because God has offered the sacrifice payment for sin to them just as much as He has me, a man no less sinful and no less deserving of the penalty of Hell.
"Everyone has sinned and fallen short of the glory of God" the scriptures declare. Everyone. Not just those who are actively living in Sin's embrace. Not those who struggle to take up their cross. No one. None of us have the right to feel that we've earned, deserve, or are justified to be redeemed, righteous, or restored. NO ONE.
How do we know what is right? God taught, teaches, and brings us to understanding and knowledge of what is right, what is good, and what is just. God, not the laws of man or the desires of a few, or even the many. Morality absolutely defined.
God is the sole author of goodness, righteousness, and morality.
We are called, just like we do when we obey the laws of our society, to follow and adhere to God's declaration of Law; to serve our fellow man justly in all aspects.
In as much as an earthly father instructs his children on proper good and moral values, just as the child makes a choice to violate those boundaries, those rules, so we too must live through the consequences of our actions. For our own mercy, justice is "served".
We do justly to our fellow humans; rendering to each one their due whether they are spiritually superior, equal, or inferior. We cannot hold over any one of them with the express desire to oppress due to Sin, rather we should hold them accountable to a higher standard we ourselves are accounted to. There, we have the basis for the structure of morality, secure from the whims of man and the winds of cultural shifts.
We are called to two duties before man, according to Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's commentary. "...justice, or strict equity, and mercy, or a kindly abatement of what we might justly demand, and a hearty desire to do good to others."
"We must, in the whole course of our conversation, conform ourselves to the will of God, keep up our communion with God, and study to approve ourselves to him in our integrity; and this we must do humbly," Matthew Henry's commentary states, by submitting our own understanding of truth, justice, and mercy to God's declarations, and conform our will to His precepts, not our own.
Without it, we become a immoral society that are governed by the whims of the slick of voice, the logic of the illogical, the laziness of the complacent, and the contempt of the contemptible. We find ourselves locked into culturally-defined morality that changes with the gusts of the wind, or the strongest force.
We must have justice above reproach of the whims of man, to have a higher moral authority recognized, and follow it with mercy, grace, and love.
That is what we, as Christians, should be striving for. Humble accountability, Merciful justice, and truthful restoration.
If we don't, as a society, we will fall from within as our corrupted moral center feeds upon itself.
Just look back into the annuals of history for its silent witness.
What is man called to do in performance of his service to God? Is it the transaction, that payment for the service rendered by Jesus Christ as He hung on a cross of wood and paid the debt for Sin? All sin for all of mankind.
Or is it something more? A REACTION to the mercy and grace given, though not deserved, and the actions of a God who loves His children so much that the ultimate sacrifice wasn't an afterthought, but a course to be taken to rescue the lost children He loves so much? No justification for our salvation, no repayment for the debt paid. A duty, honestly given and actively pursued, for the honor and glory of a God who served us without conditional response required.
To be like our Messiah; that is our motivation, our desire, and our purpose. Even though we fail as sinful, broken human beings, we continue to strive to that goal. Through the ministring of the Holy Spirit's counsel.
A code of conduct.
Yet, many people find that unsettling. We emulate our sports heroes; bringing our bodies into a healthy condition so that we can be like those million-dollar stars. We emulate our movie heroes; seeking the portrayed emotional connection that is scripted on the screen for our enjoyment.
We seek to be that simple person on the street that runs into a burning building at a child's cry with no thought of their own welfare. We glorify athletes who personalify the sport they play and spend millions in replications of their lifestyles, so that we might feel like them for a time.
And yet, we wonder why we should try and be like Christ. A haughty and difficult thing for us to do, we wonder why we should even try. After all, salvation is not conditional upon the good which we do. We are told that the price was paid so no one could boast that they had something to do with it. And, yet, we continue to try to meet some shadowy and indistinct level of performance to feel we deserve the sacrifice given. We put on the lifestyle of Christ, without any weight or value. We tithe out of obligation, not glad giving.
We are afraid to stand upon the Word and defend the distortion of it because we are told that we are called to love, and nothing more. After all, God is big enough to take care of Himself. We are afraid to declare the absolute certainity of the gospel, because Jesus wasn't pushy and neither is God. We decide that the expression of loving one another cannot include accountability, correction, or 'tough' love because......?
We cannot speak for ourselves, for we are flawed from sin's embrace and the broken relationship that we inherited. We cannot declare what is right, what is just, what is sinful, and what is good. For our views become tainted by our own upbringing, prejudices, and cultural inheritance. We cannot define something we ourselves desire equally for all.
But God can. And He has.
Homosexuality is a sin. Pre-martial sex is a sin. Pride is a sin. Covetedness is a sin. To name a few.
Each condemnable to Sin's only punishment: death.
I don't suppose to know the struggles that a homosexual person goes through as they struggle to deal with a tendency that is sinful, because I don't have that desire to be in a sexually intimate relationship with my own gender. I don't supposed to know what a transgender who believes they were 'born wrong', because I don't think that I was meant to be a woman.
I am equally condemnable in the Law for those things I struggle with, as do the homosexual, transgender, or even a thief. The adulterer, the immoral business person, and the liar all have equal footing with me before the throne of God. We are condemned by the sinful nature we are born with because of Adam's inaction and Eve's choice.
Do I hate the homosexual? I don't, despite what some may believe because I point to the scriptural reference that declares homosexuality wrong. Or because I oppose the immoral declaration that same sex 'marriages' are legal. I am called, through the grace of God and the declaration of scripture to love that sinful person as much as God loved this sinful person. To hold them accountable as God holds me accountable.
To put myself in their place, to the same standards.
Do I believe the bank robber is condemned to the death sentence of Hell? Yes, through the sinful actions that they have taken. Does that mean they cannot know God's love? No, because God has offered the sacrifice payment for sin to them just as much as He has me, a man no less sinful and no less deserving of the penalty of Hell.
"Everyone has sinned and fallen short of the glory of God" the scriptures declare. Everyone. Not just those who are actively living in Sin's embrace. Not those who struggle to take up their cross. No one. None of us have the right to feel that we've earned, deserve, or are justified to be redeemed, righteous, or restored. NO ONE.
How do we know what is right? God taught, teaches, and brings us to understanding and knowledge of what is right, what is good, and what is just. God, not the laws of man or the desires of a few, or even the many. Morality absolutely defined.
God is the sole author of goodness, righteousness, and morality.
We are called, just like we do when we obey the laws of our society, to follow and adhere to God's declaration of Law; to serve our fellow man justly in all aspects.
In as much as an earthly father instructs his children on proper good and moral values, just as the child makes a choice to violate those boundaries, those rules, so we too must live through the consequences of our actions. For our own mercy, justice is "served".
We do justly to our fellow humans; rendering to each one their due whether they are spiritually superior, equal, or inferior. We cannot hold over any one of them with the express desire to oppress due to Sin, rather we should hold them accountable to a higher standard we ourselves are accounted to. There, we have the basis for the structure of morality, secure from the whims of man and the winds of cultural shifts.
We are called to two duties before man, according to Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's commentary. "...justice, or strict equity, and mercy, or a kindly abatement of what we might justly demand, and a hearty desire to do good to others."
"We must, in the whole course of our conversation, conform ourselves to the will of God, keep up our communion with God, and study to approve ourselves to him in our integrity; and this we must do humbly," Matthew Henry's commentary states, by submitting our own understanding of truth, justice, and mercy to God's declarations, and conform our will to His precepts, not our own.
Without it, we become a immoral society that are governed by the whims of the slick of voice, the logic of the illogical, the laziness of the complacent, and the contempt of the contemptible. We find ourselves locked into culturally-defined morality that changes with the gusts of the wind, or the strongest force.
We must have justice above reproach of the whims of man, to have a higher moral authority recognized, and follow it with mercy, grace, and love.
That is what we, as Christians, should be striving for. Humble accountability, Merciful justice, and truthful restoration.
If we don't, as a society, we will fall from within as our corrupted moral center feeds upon itself.
Just look back into the annuals of history for its silent witness.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)