Luke 5:32 - "I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance."
It is not those who think that they 'deserve' heaven that Christ calls, but those who know that they do not deserve heaven. This is plain to see in the glaring examples of the Pharisees on one hand, and the prostitutes and tax collectors on the other hand. Think of the meal that Jesus had at Simon's house, and how they treated Jesus compared to Mary Magdalene who washed His feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. The Lord loves a “broken and contrite heart”. "Contrite" means "crushed", and we see this truth throughout scripture. Isaiah needed to be crushed and burned before he could say, "Here I am, send me!" In the presence of God's holiness Isaiah realized that he was not righteous -that he, in fact, was a sinner; and God, after Isaiah confessed that he was a sinner, cleansed him and then called him to serve.
The 'righteous' in the text above are actually the 'self-righteous'. They think themselves to be righteous; while a 'called' sinner knows himself not to be righteous. A 'called' sinner has been awakened to the fact of his sin by the Holy Spirit. The 'self-righteous' have built their house on sand, because their faith is in themselves and not in the Lord. In the Lord's place they have created, in their minds, a god of their own choosing, a god who grades on a curve. While sinners like Mary Magdalene fall at the feet of Jesus, the true teacher, who grades righteously in His mercy and grace. And a repentant sinner receives an "A" grade. An "A" for Accepted. The reality is that we are all 'self-righteous' until the Holy Spirit blesses us with spiritual life - opening our eyes to see our sinfulness, and through that repentance, and forgiveness, and salvation, and sanctification, and then glorification. All to His glory! Amen
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
A Living Sacrifice
Romans 12:1 “I appeal to you, therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.”
Our spiritual worship involves our physical bodies, which reflects our inner being, what we call the heart. God, through the apostle Paul, is telling us that our deeds and actions must be disciplined and controlled to better reflect the new creation that the Holy Spirit has wrought in us. In a sense, the Father in heaven is saying, “I see you as holy and pure due to the righteousness of My Son which I have applied to you, now act as I see you.” God is well aware (and we should be as well) that in this life – in this fallen world – we will never achieve the holiness and righteousness that we will in heaven, but that fact should not keep us from running towards that goal. Why should we ‘present our bodies as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable’? Because it is pleasing to God – it is our ‘spiritual worship’. We are told to worship God in spirit and truth, and in this verse we see a facet of what that means. Holy and godly living, according to the truths of God’s word, is spiritual worship. Physical living is spiritual worship. One cannot enter a sanctuary on a Sunday and successfully worship God if his intent, or even his status quo, is to live according to the flesh the rest of the week. Our bodies need to follow our spirits – our regenerated spirit, by the strength, power, and help of the Holy Spirit, not our strength alone. Our strength will get us nowhere, but our Holy-Spirit guided ‘wills’ with His strength will bring us closer to Him.
So many these days seem to think that spiritual worship is simply and only an emotional experience, when in fact it is ‘obedience’ that God sees as worship. “Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.” (James 1:27). Holy ‘obedience’ to the word of God is spiritual worship. Obedience does not save us, obedience is worship. Is this not the case with our own children? When they obey us, does that obedient act not honor and please us? Christ is our loving Master, and we should be His grateful servants/slaves with a desire and passion to please Him by our obedient actions.
Peter, in his letter (1 Peter) quoted from the book of Leviticus, "YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY."
The apostle Paul understood this important truth, which is why he wrote, “I appeal to you, therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.”
Amen!
Our spiritual worship involves our physical bodies, which reflects our inner being, what we call the heart. God, through the apostle Paul, is telling us that our deeds and actions must be disciplined and controlled to better reflect the new creation that the Holy Spirit has wrought in us. In a sense, the Father in heaven is saying, “I see you as holy and pure due to the righteousness of My Son which I have applied to you, now act as I see you.” God is well aware (and we should be as well) that in this life – in this fallen world – we will never achieve the holiness and righteousness that we will in heaven, but that fact should not keep us from running towards that goal. Why should we ‘present our bodies as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable’? Because it is pleasing to God – it is our ‘spiritual worship’. We are told to worship God in spirit and truth, and in this verse we see a facet of what that means. Holy and godly living, according to the truths of God’s word, is spiritual worship. Physical living is spiritual worship. One cannot enter a sanctuary on a Sunday and successfully worship God if his intent, or even his status quo, is to live according to the flesh the rest of the week. Our bodies need to follow our spirits – our regenerated spirit, by the strength, power, and help of the Holy Spirit, not our strength alone. Our strength will get us nowhere, but our Holy-Spirit guided ‘wills’ with His strength will bring us closer to Him.
So many these days seem to think that spiritual worship is simply and only an emotional experience, when in fact it is ‘obedience’ that God sees as worship. “Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.” (James 1:27). Holy ‘obedience’ to the word of God is spiritual worship. Obedience does not save us, obedience is worship. Is this not the case with our own children? When they obey us, does that obedient act not honor and please us? Christ is our loving Master, and we should be His grateful servants/slaves with a desire and passion to please Him by our obedient actions.
Peter, in his letter (1 Peter) quoted from the book of Leviticus, "YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY."
The apostle Paul understood this important truth, which is why he wrote, “I appeal to you, therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.”
Amen!
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
He Holds Our Hands
Psalm 37:24 – “When he falls, he will not be hurled headlong, because the LORD is the One who holds his hand.”
“When he falls.” The promise in this text does not negate the reality of falling, or stumbling spiritually. Rather, it confirms the obvious – we all fall, we all stumble, we all sin. The promise in this verse is that when we do fall, we will not be destroyed, we will not be “hurled headlong” dashing us to pieces – which is what we deserve each and every time we sin against our holy God. And why are we not dashed to pieces? Because it is the Lord who holds our hand. What great security! Why?! Because the One who holds our hand has also paid for each and every sin we commit as His chosen ones. He has paid the price, bore the wrath, and now He holds our hand in order to keep us from being hurled headlong. The One who holds our hand , to keep us from falling, has done it all for us – lived a perfect life in our stead, was the perfect sacrificial Lamb in our stead, and now mediates and advocates for us as our High Priest, and still, has time to hold our hand to keep us.
Drink in the fullness of this promise. Embrace it with thanksgiving and joy for all that it means – the person and the power of God is holding us secure, even when we fall. What love is there in these words. Christ does not just look down upon us from His throne in heaven, uninvolved, distant, but He holds us tightly. Rejoice and be glad! Amen.
“When he falls.” The promise in this text does not negate the reality of falling, or stumbling spiritually. Rather, it confirms the obvious – we all fall, we all stumble, we all sin. The promise in this verse is that when we do fall, we will not be destroyed, we will not be “hurled headlong” dashing us to pieces – which is what we deserve each and every time we sin against our holy God. And why are we not dashed to pieces? Because it is the Lord who holds our hand. What great security! Why?! Because the One who holds our hand has also paid for each and every sin we commit as His chosen ones. He has paid the price, bore the wrath, and now He holds our hand in order to keep us from being hurled headlong. The One who holds our hand , to keep us from falling, has done it all for us – lived a perfect life in our stead, was the perfect sacrificial Lamb in our stead, and now mediates and advocates for us as our High Priest, and still, has time to hold our hand to keep us.
Drink in the fullness of this promise. Embrace it with thanksgiving and joy for all that it means – the person and the power of God is holding us secure, even when we fall. What love is there in these words. Christ does not just look down upon us from His throne in heaven, uninvolved, distant, but He holds us tightly. Rejoice and be glad! Amen.
Friday, January 30, 2009
The Repentance That Leads to Life
Acts 11:18 – “When they heard this, they quieted down and glorified God, saying, “Well then, God has granted to the Gentiles also the repentance that leads to life.”
What is the ‘path’ that leads to life – a new, born-again life? It is the path that has been beaten down by the knees of the prayerful elect, and wetted by their tears of repentance. Moisture and compacting has turned this holy ‘path’ into a hard one to travel – too hard for many. This path also has many blood stains from scraped and calloused knees, and its pilgrims are known for their torn raiment. This hard, narrow, bloodied path that leads to life is called the path of “Repentance”, and it is the singular way to the ‘narrow gate’ that sits at the end of its long stretch, and ushers a pilgrim home to glory. This path of Repentance can be painful, as one grieves over their insults to God. This path is fenced by ‘humility’ on one side and ‘brokenness’ on the other side, and there is a ditch on both sides of the path; one called ‘pride’ and the other called ‘religion’.
But along this path, all the way to the end, to the narrow gate are two kinds of shade trees for the weary pilgrims to sit under and rest; one kind of tree is called ‘promise’ and the other is called ‘hope’. And when a pilgrim is not on their knees in prayer and confession, they are walking, kicking up the dust of ‘faith’ and ‘trust’.
In their weakness they are helped along the journey of the path by the unseen One and by other pilgrims. Over the fences the world beckons them to “Come and partake of the luscious things that the world has to offer. Come and be filled, come and find pleasure, come and be safe, come and enjoy.”
Some of the pilgrims stumble along the path into one of the ditches, or sit idly against a fence, or stay too long under a tree, or even worse, they climb one of the fences and partake of the poisonous fruit that the world has to offer. And when they have thus been convicted by the unseen One, they rush back over the fence, or rise from their idleness, or crawl out of the ditch and bloody their knees once again on the hard path of Repentance, finding that eventually the shade of the trees ‘promise’ and ‘hope’ will move along the path, as the sun sets, and will cover them if they just stay on their knees long enough in prayer.
And by morning they find themselves covered in the dew of ‘forgiveness’ and are able to stand up, once more, and continue their walk towards the narrow gate that leads to glory. On they go; helping other pilgrims along the way – warning some who stare over the fences at the world that beckons them. There, on that tear-stained path they encourage one another, seeking the strength of Him who bids them, “Forward, forward…never give up! Come, keep your eyes on Me, don’t listen to the sounds of the world, don’t look at its seductive offerings, don’t smell the enticing aromas…come, listen to My voice and keep on walking after Me, in the shade of My glory…follow Me.”
Father, thank You for granting us “the repentance that leads to life.” Thank You for setting us on the path to the narrow gate, and for the company of others and, especially, for guiding us along this path…this glorious, gracious, merciful path of repentance. Amen.
What is the ‘path’ that leads to life – a new, born-again life? It is the path that has been beaten down by the knees of the prayerful elect, and wetted by their tears of repentance. Moisture and compacting has turned this holy ‘path’ into a hard one to travel – too hard for many. This path also has many blood stains from scraped and calloused knees, and its pilgrims are known for their torn raiment. This hard, narrow, bloodied path that leads to life is called the path of “Repentance”, and it is the singular way to the ‘narrow gate’ that sits at the end of its long stretch, and ushers a pilgrim home to glory. This path of Repentance can be painful, as one grieves over their insults to God. This path is fenced by ‘humility’ on one side and ‘brokenness’ on the other side, and there is a ditch on both sides of the path; one called ‘pride’ and the other called ‘religion’.
But along this path, all the way to the end, to the narrow gate are two kinds of shade trees for the weary pilgrims to sit under and rest; one kind of tree is called ‘promise’ and the other is called ‘hope’. And when a pilgrim is not on their knees in prayer and confession, they are walking, kicking up the dust of ‘faith’ and ‘trust’.
In their weakness they are helped along the journey of the path by the unseen One and by other pilgrims. Over the fences the world beckons them to “Come and partake of the luscious things that the world has to offer. Come and be filled, come and find pleasure, come and be safe, come and enjoy.”
Some of the pilgrims stumble along the path into one of the ditches, or sit idly against a fence, or stay too long under a tree, or even worse, they climb one of the fences and partake of the poisonous fruit that the world has to offer. And when they have thus been convicted by the unseen One, they rush back over the fence, or rise from their idleness, or crawl out of the ditch and bloody their knees once again on the hard path of Repentance, finding that eventually the shade of the trees ‘promise’ and ‘hope’ will move along the path, as the sun sets, and will cover them if they just stay on their knees long enough in prayer.
And by morning they find themselves covered in the dew of ‘forgiveness’ and are able to stand up, once more, and continue their walk towards the narrow gate that leads to glory. On they go; helping other pilgrims along the way – warning some who stare over the fences at the world that beckons them. There, on that tear-stained path they encourage one another, seeking the strength of Him who bids them, “Forward, forward…never give up! Come, keep your eyes on Me, don’t listen to the sounds of the world, don’t look at its seductive offerings, don’t smell the enticing aromas…come, listen to My voice and keep on walking after Me, in the shade of My glory…follow Me.”
Father, thank You for granting us “the repentance that leads to life.” Thank You for setting us on the path to the narrow gate, and for the company of others and, especially, for guiding us along this path…this glorious, gracious, merciful path of repentance. Amen.
Monday, January 26, 2009
A Shield About Me
Psalm 3:3 – “But You, O Lord, are a shield about me, my glory, and the One who lifts my head.”
Has Christ, the Messiah, ever lifted your head? Have you rested in Him? Have you exhausted all efforts to become righteous on your own, and rested in the strength and kindness of His hands? Do you see the shield of protection that is in one of His hands while your tired head is lifted by the other? Is there not overwhelming peace and comfort in seeing this shield of protection – His shield of glory? Can you then see that His glory is all around you, like a glow from a fire, providing warmth and assurance?
Friend, if you cannot see the glow of His glory, or the shield of His protection, if you cannot feel your weary head in His healing hand, then cry out in repentance. Declare yourself an unworthy sinner, and through your tears you will begin to see a glow, and sense a shield, and feel His hand lifting your tired head. And then rejoice in His mercy and grace – His gift of salvation. Look into His eyes of holiness and vow to mortify the sin in your life in order to be more like Him, to please Him - Him who kneels down to hold up your weary head and places His shield of glory over you to protect you from the enemy, for He loves you, with a mighty love. Amen!
Has Christ, the Messiah, ever lifted your head? Have you rested in Him? Have you exhausted all efforts to become righteous on your own, and rested in the strength and kindness of His hands? Do you see the shield of protection that is in one of His hands while your tired head is lifted by the other? Is there not overwhelming peace and comfort in seeing this shield of protection – His shield of glory? Can you then see that His glory is all around you, like a glow from a fire, providing warmth and assurance?
Friend, if you cannot see the glow of His glory, or the shield of His protection, if you cannot feel your weary head in His healing hand, then cry out in repentance. Declare yourself an unworthy sinner, and through your tears you will begin to see a glow, and sense a shield, and feel His hand lifting your tired head. And then rejoice in His mercy and grace – His gift of salvation. Look into His eyes of holiness and vow to mortify the sin in your life in order to be more like Him, to please Him - Him who kneels down to hold up your weary head and places His shield of glory over you to protect you from the enemy, for He loves you, with a mighty love. Amen!
Friday, January 23, 2009
Bow in Reverence!
“But as for me, by Your abundant lovingkindness I will enter Your house, at Your holy temple I will bow in reverence for You.” Psalm 5:7
Friend, bow in reverence to God! Shake out the poison of irreverence in your heart. Bow in submission to the holy God of all creation. Bow in gratitude for Him redeeming you (if you are redeemed). Meditate on the glory of the Lord – as far as your fallen mind can understand His glory. Make Him BIG in your heart and mind, not another hobby, not a mere friend, but God Almighty, who spoke His creation into existence. Fall on your face each day in gratitude that He chose so unworthy a creature as yourself to save. Revere His name, His character, His word, His glory, His righteousness, His holiness, His perfect wrath, His love, His condescension, His sacrifice, His Lordship, His joy, and His mercy and grace!
If you take God lightly, He may very well take you lightly. “Therefore, I indeed will deal in wrath. My eye will have no pity nor will I spare; and though they cry in My ears with a loud voice, yet I will not listen to them.” (Ezekiel 8:18) Our heavenly Lord deserves our complete and continual reverence. This is how we will be spending eternity! We will be praising and revering and glorifying Christ for all eternity! Maybe we should practice it a little bit down here - maybe a lot down here.
Do you revere anything above God? Family, kids, job, church, ministry, talents, gifts, status? If so, you are an idolater who needs to repent – revering His forgiveness. He is God, and deserves our reverence; and as we revere Him in our hearts, our hearts and lives will be blessed, and we will revere Him even more. Lose yourself in the glory of God! Be renewed in His righteousness, restored in His forgiveness, and refreshed in His love. Amen
Friend, bow in reverence to God! Shake out the poison of irreverence in your heart. Bow in submission to the holy God of all creation. Bow in gratitude for Him redeeming you (if you are redeemed). Meditate on the glory of the Lord – as far as your fallen mind can understand His glory. Make Him BIG in your heart and mind, not another hobby, not a mere friend, but God Almighty, who spoke His creation into existence. Fall on your face each day in gratitude that He chose so unworthy a creature as yourself to save. Revere His name, His character, His word, His glory, His righteousness, His holiness, His perfect wrath, His love, His condescension, His sacrifice, His Lordship, His joy, and His mercy and grace!
If you take God lightly, He may very well take you lightly. “Therefore, I indeed will deal in wrath. My eye will have no pity nor will I spare; and though they cry in My ears with a loud voice, yet I will not listen to them.” (Ezekiel 8:18) Our heavenly Lord deserves our complete and continual reverence. This is how we will be spending eternity! We will be praising and revering and glorifying Christ for all eternity! Maybe we should practice it a little bit down here - maybe a lot down here.
Do you revere anything above God? Family, kids, job, church, ministry, talents, gifts, status? If so, you are an idolater who needs to repent – revering His forgiveness. He is God, and deserves our reverence; and as we revere Him in our hearts, our hearts and lives will be blessed, and we will revere Him even more. Lose yourself in the glory of God! Be renewed in His righteousness, restored in His forgiveness, and refreshed in His love. Amen
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