Category Archives: What God Taught Me Today

A Poor, Mourning, Gentle, Hungry, Thirsty Pilgrim

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Matthew 5:3-6 (NASB)
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
“Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth.
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.”

Poverty is not a virtue. Poverty of spirit indicates an awakened conscience to the richness of the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, “…who though He was rich, yet for our sakes became poor, that we through His poverty might be made rich.” Our poverty is highlighted by our bankruptcy of inability to effect change or appease the Holy. Poverty is seen by the open Treasure of Light that we newly see by the chest filled with the treasure of the King and His presence. “In His light we see light.”

To mourn is not divine nor do tears of a broken heart ensure comfort that ends in a predestined resolve of happy hope. (“And they lived happily ever after.” Really? Yes! If we mourn rightly!) Crying does not ensure joy. Yet the glory here is that we who biblically mourn have eyes no longer transfixed inwardly upon our personal failures or guilt as serial lawbreakers nor upon our aggravated bitterness born of another’s lawlessness which relentlessly assaults our expectations with repetitious disappointments. Mourners are biblically comforted by being born again and from above by the Holy Spirit according to the imperishable word implanted within our hearts to birth a living, abiding hope, by which we now through tears say, “All my springs of joy are in you.”

Gentleness is not a passivity that woos others to give us an earthly inheritance as they marvel at our indifference to abuse received as our nonresponse to violence impresses them with super human tolerance or ignorance. Yes. It is not a candy-man, nor anti-man “hit me with your best shot…” A gentle man is a warrior-prince who knows his masculine options as well as His rights of inheritance, and he is bold as a lion as the wicked flee his presence as the Lord equips him with sword and shield. Moses is the preeminent type as Christ is the fulfillment. Don’t overlook the whip nor the sword welded by by the Lion-Lamb of the Tribe of Judah who for cause of truth and justice had to humble Himself to the point of death for a season that our redemption might be made complete. Our inheritance is a matter of adoption into the King’s family. We are in the King’s family by invitation. His gentleness makes us good and His goodness gives His delight in sharing the treasure of His presence with His own. Do we bear marks of being make gentled by the Good Shepherd who is the model quintessential One who is “gentle and humble of heart”?

Just because I hunger and thirst for spiritual stuff is no insurance that I will partake of the true bounty that is ever before me. Has my taste changed to long for and pursue that heavenly manna and that holy drink that truly satisfies my soul’s need for the water that springs up into eternal life and the Bread of heaven that gives life to the world? There are copy food cakes and fraudulent fad foods that promise the best in this life and the life to come. They always seem to taste so temporally sweet and earthy, yet they never touch the splendor of the King nor satisfy the deepest longing of our heart and soul. Yes, oh yes! Their delectable, attractive passing pleasure is ecstatic in temporal satisfaction but soon the soul is hungry, and a truly burning heart hungers for true food spoken of by He who came down from Heaven as the Bread of life to give His life for the world. I will only be satisfied as I “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness.” My journey can only end where it first began: in the Light of the One who called me by grace. He is the One who bids us to come drink freely of the waters of life that mysteriously become a well of water springing up within us into an ever-flowing well of water for the healing of the nations much as the water became wine to satisfy the celebrants at a wedding feast in Cana of Galilee.

God’s call to me is to discern the counterfeits of today by a heart evaluation of myself in light of the instruction which the Lord Jesus gives me today. Am I real and do I pursue Him by establishing a life long obedience in the same direction that is characterized by construction of my house upon the Rock, so that when the storms come, He will ensure my standing when once again the sun shines on the New Day which He promises?

Am I a Raven or a Complainer?

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“Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap; they have no storeroom nor barn, and yet God feeds them; how much more valuable you are than the birds! ”
Luke 12:24

This is not a call to careless irresponsibility but rather a reminder to consider how the Father blesses due diligence and the appropriate use of appointed means. When I protest and complain against my present condition or reflectively grumble over my past experience of perceived injustice as an end or the means to an end, or as the agent of change to move men or the Almighty to advance my current condition then I have failed to be as the ravens who hunt from dawn to dusk for that appointed meal promised them by the Father. The ravens neither sit upon the nest in the midst of squawks and complaints nor take to the air with streaming tail banners in demonstration of protest of current lack of provision or another’s prosperity. The ravens responsibly hunt. They pursue. They act with prudent skill toward and accomplished ends through good and prescribed means. And they do not cease until bread is in beak and the babes are fed.

And the Father opens his hand, and He feeds them; and in due time He closes His hand, takes away their spirit, and they perish.

And as for us… He feeds us by promise of His provision, and some day soon He closes His hand on that Appointed Day and He takes away our spirit back unto Himself as we fly to judgment as it is so “appointed to every man but once to die.”

Jesus here has argued in metaphor from the lesser to the greater. Have we heard or do we protest too much that the red bird or the black bird or the robin or the swallow make out better than we? Our times are in His hands indifferent to the decisions and directives of men. “His lines have fallen to us in pleasant places.” My history is a providential wonder of the wisdom of the Almighty Creator and Sustainer of my life regardless of my sin and rebellion by the unfolding of eternal decrees. We are today what we are and where we are by the grace of God as that grace works within us. I’m not what I am because of my past… that may have influences in life experiences, but grace is sufficient TODAY for my submission and obedience TODAY.

God feeds us. But He feeds us and the world by “the vocation of the milkmaid.” Luther

God please feed us mostly and only importantly that manna from heaven… that Bread of life that gave His life for the world!

God help me to be as the busy raven and to shut my mouth of complains and grumbles as I rather fly to and fro with squawks of the glory of my Father who feeds me and who wisely governs me in both my physical and spiritual man!

Yes, Lord. May it be so and Amen!

God, the Benevolent Dictator

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I cringe when I hear an older, experienced pastor naively say, “God is a Gentleman…hee, hee, hee. He would never force…nor impose His will upon you…” I then wonder what his name is, for the God of Scripture is revealed as a Benevolent Dictator who always acts according to His predetermined plan in the lives of the wicked and saints alike to bring glory unto Himself and redemption unto His elect. (What Bible have they been reading? And we won’t even get started on the young whippersnapper preachers rolling into pulpits today from liberal Bible colleges and seminaries.)

Do you think it an accident the Lord of glory was crucified? And do you think it anything other than grace that you today happen to love Christ and despise the sin that you once loved?

Or… Do you think you can escape sin you now love and are intimately married to…apart from God overthrowing your rebellion, changing your heart, and commanding you to life from death into the freedom of knowing the Son? If God does not act to impose grace and His sovereign will upon you, you perish in sin. It’s that simple. He makes you willing to do His will. You can’t do that in your natural flesh.

Acts 2:23 (NASB)

“…this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death.”

God has a plan. It will not and cannot fail. Ours is to discover this plan and ensure we become worshippers of the One who can reveal or conceal the Father. 

If your God is not as I have described… then just what idol of your own creation are you worshipping? Repent and bow to Creator God, Sovereign Lord of Heaven and Earth. It matters Who you worship. You have absolutely no right and no authority to ignorantly attempt to remake God; He has revealed Himself to be, I AM that I AM. He will have no other gods before Him. He is a jealous God. And He is good.

Matthew 11:25-27 (NASB)

At that time Jesus said, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants. “Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight. “All things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.

Are You Eating Mush or Real Meat?

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“But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.”Hebrews 5:14

For some as we physically age certain ailments and afflictions may require solid foods to be puréed so we might safely ingest them. (It’s not Yum Yum, but Yuck Yuck!) This baby food consistency does not aesthetically allure the taste buds nor stir the heart but is required by the body.

I fear the spiritual ignorance of the Today Church age has produced a contemporary loss of appetite “to hunger and thirst” for the richness of heaven-born righteousness,” and has landed our society at an historical place of spiritual darkness and Biblical dysfunction. Consider how culture no longer collectively discerns evil and good; yes, we rather call blatant ungodliness good, and the timeless truth of moral principles emanating from the throne of God evil. Look at the poor quality of pseudo-preaching rampant across the land, and God constrain me not to open up the apostasy of much of the “worshiptainment” in many churches. Theology of hymnology is out. I, the big I, is in as I am needy and must “feel” better.

We witness a daily erosion of the foundational Creational principles of worship, work, and marriage/family. “If the foundations are destroyed what shall the righteous do?” (Psalms)

I know for certain, God is not mocked. He will establish His rule and dominion. We live in an age whereby we must respond, and thus cling to and fully declare the whole counsel of the wisdom of God, without apology: “Christ died for the ungodly” thus the Gospel is relevant and active today, though He stands at the door of judgment for His imminent reentry into our existence to set in order what remains. 

“O come to us, abide with us, our Lord Emmanuel.”

“I will build My Church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

Jesus

Are you distinctive in your discipleship unto the Lord Jesus? Are you committed to the spiritual disciplines? Are you going to die this day that Jesus might be manifest in your life? How shall you “Take Time to be Holy”?

When Forgiveness Stinks

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Then Peter came and said to Him, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.”Matthew 18

Forgiveness sometime stinks. Upon forgiveness we lose our perceived position of power and right of retaliation upon the offending party. We must lay our club down. We become disarmed. Peace treaties are signed and enacted and if we violate these treaties, we exchange positions and are in need of forgiveness. Risk is inherent in these gnarly relational intrigues. Power over the offender by withholding forgiveness was illusionary anyway… what were we thinking? That we somehow were different or better?

Forgiveness of serial offenders is obligatory when the “forgivor” is faced with legitimate repentance of the “forgivee”. We commonly forgive that chap closest to us multiple times daily… we forgive ourselves and go on and forget our transgression, and life is restored until our next sin and repentance. (#CSLewis)

To not forgive is inexcusable and off the table. Am I in the place of God? This does not nullify a potential change, even a relational change. (“I’ve got my eye on you…”) Serial forgiveness of a serial repenter does not imply my assumption or obligation of a lowly victim status. It is not grace nor graceful to enable an abuser by my becoming a serially abused person. The victor or innocent one in these repetitious fracases can easily morph into the victim status; there is but an ill-defined, short distance and few steps from the doorway to doormat. Doesn’t God in Christ offer options of expectations? If you repent then you are saying “God did something in me and to me. It is no longer I, but now the new me!”

Consequential loss of privilege may be required. A pastor who betrays his congregants in a gross or public way, or by serial blunders, is not worthy of his calling even when forgiven. He needs go get a real job in a real secular world as Moses in Midian, show faithfulness, (practice humility and repentance with the sheep as another dumb sheep and not as a shepherd), then wait upon the Lord with an eye out for a burning bush. Then only with a reluctant dragging should one draw near the pulpit again. 

“Forgiveness is one of the easiest things we might do once we have finally done it. It is much like riding a bike, once accomplished we never forget how to ride and we wonder why it was ever so difficult.” Lewis paraphrase

“Forgive and you shall be forgiven.”
Jesus

“To err is human, to forgive is divine.” (Someone) 

“Yada Yada” we all said…

Free grace? Is it REALLY free?

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“But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law.”(Paul to the Galatians to combat a works heresy that is alive and well TODAY in most pulpits.) God needs a little help with His grace, right?

“If you have never been accused of being an antinomian you probably are not preaching grace. Paul spent much of his ministry defending himself and his message against this charge.”
Doug Wilson

I think pure grace salvation is hard to preach for we want to help God out with work’s qualifiers He never required, and that He actually condemns. I think too we are commonly hooked on “another Gospel” of subtle works. What are you listening to? What are you preaching pastor? Whose robe of righteousness adorns your dress? Whose glory do you seek? My obedience is not a requirement of grace. The righteousness of Christ ALONE is… for He obeyed unto required death; you nor I can ever do that and escape judgment and wrath. The fact is we incur wrath by our works and obedience which we present and pursue as a basis of grace. 

The obedience of faith is to believe. This is the watershed and this is what we contend for. On your best day your best works are as abhorrent as rags soaked in menstrual blood. And you plan on wearing that before the King of kings? Right.

Death… is it negotiable?

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John 11:11-13 (NASB)

This He said, and after that He said to them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I go, so that I may awaken him out of sleep.” The disciples then said to Him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.” Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that He was speaking of literal sleep.


Thoughts…

It is quite easy for even a novice to discover consolation, comfort and hope in this account of the death, then subsequent resurrection of Lazarus. So much truth is revealed in John 11. The curtain of God’s eternal purpose to bestow man with life is drawn back but a wee bit and glory descends to Sheol.  So much understanding is granted the one who purposes time spent with our Lord herein these pages, to “ponder anew what the Almighty might do, if with His love He befriend us.” Truth will always stand unchanged, unchangable. Life and Truth Incarnate are before us. 

“Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go to wake him.” 

Okay

Jesus apparently considers the death of his friends a relative equivalent of a power nap that transforms one by resurrection to a new vitality of purpose, energy and understanding. Our Lord manages this greatest of all physical dilemmas with ease, with grace, and might we say with disdain at the evil of Sin’s consequence. In my years as a healthcare professional I have seen perhaps hundreds die, and it is never a thing of beauty for we were crowned with life as living souls designed in His image to know Him forever in life and glory. Yet death comes, and with but a word the effectual call of the King issues forth with the inherently powerful command to grant Life to the Fallen ones. 

The allegory works in both the spiritual resurrection today and the coming final resurrection of glorification of all those in Christ. This is no small matter. It is at the heart of the King’s reparation of the Fall. It is a blow to the head that renders him powerless who had the power of death. 

Brethren, He gives us that which we need most desperately and can never obtain apart from His work and the hearing of His voice. Without exception death will defeat each of us. We might ignore it but He crept one step closer with the setting sun of yesterday. Jesus alone is Lord of life with power and authority to remedy our greatest affliction. “Except a grain of wheat fall to the ground and die it remains by itself alone, but if it dies it bears much fruit…” He died that we might rise in Him. Who else makes such a claim and then validates it by this historical event which we see today as an allegory unto life by His utterance to, “Come Forth!”?

Hebrews 2:14-15 (NASB)

Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives. 

The Rare Virtues of Kindness and Truth

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“What is desirable in a man is his kindness,
And it is better to be a poor man than a liar.”

Proverbs 19:22

Reading this morning…

I stopped and considered the opposites of these “delights” and it troubles me how our current Western Culture value system has upended and forcibly cast away these character qualities. We honor the most abrasive abusers by supporting their candidacy for POTUS. This is also most vividly illustrated in the running abusive treatment of the recipients of wrath by authoritarian figures in all social, political and spiritual arenas.

Politicians abuse their positions to advance their personal security and power base by increasing the size of their coffers. The media mocks humility and gentleness and glamorizes the absurd. The church is filled with incompetent, self-seeking frauds in leadership positions whose preparation and labor over the Word consists of opening a sermon outline book a day or two before, and filling in the space between the various suggested points by insertion of interesting anecdotal commentary. A walk with God is unknown to them. I suppose too because I have been the recipient of wrath by pastoral abuse this is especially a salient and painful point with me.

A kind man does not seek his own, but understands the profit of considering others more important. I wonder how are we doing on that? Interesting how the abuser often has the abused Tee as one who has known the sting of rejection… thus the call to mortifying the deeds of the flesh are most relevant in the vigilance of God’s man entrusted with stewardship authority. Notice it is not innate authority, it is granted by the King. How desperately we need recall to put off before putting on as this is the clear, required Biblical principle. 

Where is a kind man? Where is a man of truth? Where is the Psalm 15 man? In my experience when one seeks tenderness to those in need and when one gives to those who lack there can on occasion be a general uprising of the Philistines. People are condemned by acts of kindness afforded the needy in their presence, and hate its overtures for then the Spirit and conscience afflicts the rude, selfish man. If it wasn’t Pastor’s idea then expect it to be torpedoed by the man who has an agenda. 

God help me to put on kindness as Christ was kind. God, may the poverty of the Lord Jesus Christ enrich me with heavenly grace to value and pursue what is esteemed by heaven, not that which is detestable. 

Proverbs 3:3-4 (NASB) 
Do not let kindness and truth leave you; 
Bind them around your neck, 
Write them on the tablet of your heart. 
So you will find favor and good repute 
In the sight of God and man. 

Dancing from Sin to Joy

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“O satisfy us in the morning with Your lovingkindness, 
That we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.
Make us glad according to the days You have afflicted us,
And the years we have seen evil.”
Psalms 90:14-15 (NASB)

    
The Psalmist indicates there exists an increased capacity for the children of God to know joy and gladness proportional to the degree of depravity which they have experienced. We need to understand that evil originates not only from our own personal cultivation, but also from the afflictions dumped upon us by the boneheads of the world, and unfortunately the church. Once the process is recognized we also experience God engage us with the law of the harvest principle. (Sowing & Reaping) Therein He releases the Kracken of sorts and unleashes the consequential results of doing stupid and coloring outside the lines. Oh glorious day! Did you so naively think God was going to “free-pass” you on that deal from the other day, or year? Grace abounds, yes and SUPER ABOUNDS in the presence of great perverted persistent blasphemy. (Paul always viewed himself as unworthy of being an apostle for his blasphemy, but God drowned his humility with glory and sovereign purpose). This principle is aptly illustrated in the New Testament to Simon the Pharisee by Jesus as the “woman who was a sinner” tended the Lord’s needs by washing His feet. The Lord’s praise of her was bestowed freely for her devotion to the King who was her friend as she demonstrated a penitent life.

Your rank rebellion and persistent failure are observable with devastating clarity by a purposeful glance in the rear view mirror of life. Therein lies the fertilizer that can actually become the rich soil of repentant tribulation whereby one springs heavenward and toward real life hidden with Christ in God. Never disqualify yourself as one who perpetually struggles with sin. Our badge of honor is that we are the walking wounded who have discovered a safer path of submissive obedience by way of Calvary. The call is to the death. One is more likely closer to ἀδόκιμοϛ (disqualification or rejection) for ignorance of sin or indifference to secret sin that remains unchecked rather than staying fitfully engaged in the conflict against nagging weights that we daily strive with. Did you really entertain the notion that sin’s aggravation would cease this side of glory? Sinless perfection in the flesh is blind presumption in the heart.

Joy in Jesus, quite frankly, is expanded to potentially greater horizons by the more profound pedigree of sinfulness we display. Pedigree implies past to me. History. From whence did we arise by grace? Grace multiplied by great sin is no excuse to continue frolicking with our innate pagan desires. They must perish! He calls us to glory not earthy or fleshy depravity. Glory embraces joy in pleasure rightly embraced, openly and in His presence alone. Now He is the glorious Savior of sinners and He is called Jesus, for such He came “to save His people from their sin.” Salvation from sin is not simply a satisfaction of guilt but a lifeline of rescue to each of us without exception from the power and pollution of sin. The old nonsense of, “Yeah, but I am different, I can’t escape my love of sin” is BravoSierra. It is a logical fallacy to think we can live for self if we call upon Christ as Lord. This is a twisted form of cross-less Christianity. 

If you have years of evil that are legitimately accredited to your transcript of sin, HOPE in GOD, for greater grace abounds toward you and upon you in Him. “Those who are forgiven much love much.” The morning of joy and sunlight celebration only come as the darkness of night flees His presence and glory. We celebrate the Son’s coming, not the persistence of darkness. None of us arrive at the wicket gate nor the gates of the Cellestial City unscathed. If He bore in His body the marks of His passion how can we differ?

Dance for Jesus today, this day! We have cause to hope, for grace is greater than all our sin! Don’t be blindly ignorant as the context of this Psalm speaks of a stiff-hearted, rebellious and unrepentant generation of sinners content to reject the call of God. God is not opposed to bumping off the rebellious as He did that generation in the wilderness wanderings. I guess He is patient toward me and you, though. We are still here… Let’s not presume upon His grace. If His kindness leads to repentance, where might our rejection of His kindness lead? He call us. He calls you. He calls me to a better more stable ground of no condemnation in the Son. Walk that way this day… by faith that sees the One who loves us so. 

Joy in Loving God and Loving Stuff… 

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Luke 16:15 (NASB)And He said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of men, but God knows your hearts; for that which is highly esteemed among men is detestable in the sight of God.”

Jesus

I think it important to distinguish between essential evil and idolatry. It is uncommon for a “thing” (anything) to touch and embrace essential evil or evil incarnate. Abominations are evil. We know they exist, and maybe we struggle with a few or more… By the contrary and confusing standard of stupid legalism Asceticism is deceptive and attracts the flesh in a perverse religious way as it enhances the illusion of righteousness… self-righteousness. That’s worth a lot in the “wood, hay, stubble” category. Stuff is generally neither an abomination in origin or essence. Stay with me please.

“All things are lawful to me but I will not be mastered by anything. All things are lawful… not all are profitable…not all edify…” (1 Corth 10) Yet, something greater is at stake. There is a greater governing principle a serious-minded Christ-follower must be confronted by. The Pharisee of all ages (times) refuses the greater principle as his preference is pleasure over glory to God. 

Idolatry is that which catapults a thing or thought to supersede beyond its boundary and into the arena of interference with foundational love for God by a subtle or overt attachment to the hidden heart. All such encumbering weights corrupt worship and are therefore detestable in God’s sight. Everything is on the table in such cases. Everything. Anything can be a help or hinderance. Take this iPhone for example…

The really strange thing is that all (most) things morphed to the detestable idol category in God’s eyes are okay and often essential things in their proper sphere. They certainly are permissible when used and even loved in proper context. God has provided to us all things in their proper place. He is the Giver of every good and perfect gift from above. (Spend time with the Preacher in Ecclesiastes for clarity… or confusion.)

Jack speaks to this in the Screwtape Letters.

Screwtape to Wormwood:

“Never forget that when we are dealing with any pleasure in its healthy and normal and satisfying form, we are, in a sense, on the Enemy’s ground. I know we have won many a soul through pleasure. All the same, it is His invention, not ours. He made all the pleasures: all our research so far has not enabled us to produce one. All we can do is to encourage the humans to take pleasures which our Enemy has produced, at times, or in ways, or in degrees, which He has forbidden. Hence we always try to work away from the natural condition of any pleasure to that in which it is least natural, least redolent of its Maker, and least pleasurable.” 

#CSLewis
Conclusion:

1 Corinthians 10:31 (NASB)

“Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”

  Herein lies not only a safety net but a driving principle of glory to a higher calling to Another’s standard and perspective that ensures joy without condemnation. 

We need never neglect the cross as the instrument of death that Jesus embraced for us and that He subsequently calls us to daily carry with Him.