Somehow, every time I read Genesis 22, I always manage to skip over where God says that Isaac is Abraham’s only son. What happened to Ishmael? Well, when Sarah made Abraham send Hagar and Ishmael away, he basically had to disown them because he was kicking them out of the household. So even though God had promised Abraham that he would bless Ishmael along with Isaac, Ishmael was denied his rights as Abraham’s son and could not receive an inheritance from his father; his only inheritance would be what God gave him.
This puts the sacrifice of Isaac into a new perspective. Usually I think, “Wow, for Abraham to sacrifice his only son must take a lot of faith,” but I don’t even think about Ishmael. Now the sacrifice seems even greater because not only was Abraham about to sacrifice Isaac, his only son, but he had also just disowned his only other heir. If he killed Isaac, he no longer had a back-up plan for his inheritance. But he went to sacrifice Isaac anyway, knowing that God must have something planned. This is a huge shift in Abraham’s way of thinking: back in chapter 16, Abraham doubted God’s promise to give him a son through Sarah, so he took matters into his own hands and had Ishmael with Hagar. After all, God had said that Abraham’s heir would be “a son coming form your own body,” not “from Sarai’s body (Genesis 15:4). But now in chapter 22, Abraham only has Isaac left, but he agrees to follow through with the sacrifice anyway. Of course, he could have gone against Sarah and went in search of Ishmael to bring him home and make him his son again, but he didn’t.
A lot of times we like to have back-up plans when God tests us. We say we believe God will pull through for us, but we always have something stored up just in case. “Who knows? Maybe His plan is for us to use what we already have instead of waiting for Him to give us something new.” I know I’m guilty of this. But what would we do if God took away our Plan B? Would we disobey God so we can have the security of knowing that God’s promise is still possible? Did Abraham think, “Well, Isaac is my only son now. And God, You told me he would be my heir, so I don’t think sacrificing him would be the right thing to do”? Maybe, but he didn’t act on it. When Abraham’s Plan B fell through, his only options were complete obedience or complete disobedience. Sometimes God has to take away our Plan B in order for us to see that. He has to remove Satan’s lies and deception in order for us to see that Plan B isn’t just another way to succeed if Plan A fails, it’s outright distrust. Resorting to Plan B shows that we don’t really think God can make Plan A work. I pray that we would be like Abraham in his later life, that when God gives us a task to do, we would recognize it as a necessary step in fulfilling His ultimate purpose, and then do it.
Saturday, January 28, 2012
"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled."
Matthew 5:6
It's been a while since the last time I wrote anything. I think part of it is that I've been writing my thoughts and revelations in a journal where I keep all my sermon notes, so my writing has been more on a personal level rather than being intended for teaching and sharing. But God had another reason for delaying my writing on the Beatitudes. I attended a Bible study a couple nights ago on what it means to be a man of God, and I was given a whole new perspective on this verse.
A lot of times we look at other Christians around us and feel like we're so far behind in our faith. There are always those people who are so entirely devoted to God that their mere presence makes us want to be better Christians. But too often, we let Satan use this view of our faith to condemn us. He says, "Look at how full of the Holy Spirit they are! Why aren't you like that? You still have so much more to learn about God, and He has so many blessings He wants to give you, but you refuse to receive them. That person over there is a good Christian. But you? You're still drinking spiritual milk. When will you grow up?" Of course, it is true that we have a lot to learn about God. In fact, we will never be able to learn everything about His infinite glory, but that shouldn't discourage us and make us feel deficient in our faith. It should encourage us to press in to know Him more because there is no limit to what He can reveal to us.
The devil tells us that we are lacking because we still need to learn more about God. But Jesus calls us blessed because we desire to know Him more. He says, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness"—why?—"for they will be filled." The fact that we are hungry is evidence that there is something that can fill us, and God will not leave us empty. The revealing of our hunger is God's promise to us that He will fill us.
So when you feel like you're missing something, like there's more that God wants to give you that you haven't received yet, don't be discouraged. It's true, God does have more that He wants to give us. But the fact that we desire to receive it is God's way of saying, "Soon. My blessings will come to you soon." Blessed are those who long to draw closer to the Lord and receive everything He has for them, who know that they have not yet been filled to capacity, because they are in agreement with God's will, and their desire is for Him to have His way. And His will is that we would be "filled to the measure of all the fullness of God" (Ephesians 3:19).
It's been a while since the last time I wrote anything. I think part of it is that I've been writing my thoughts and revelations in a journal where I keep all my sermon notes, so my writing has been more on a personal level rather than being intended for teaching and sharing. But God had another reason for delaying my writing on the Beatitudes. I attended a Bible study a couple nights ago on what it means to be a man of God, and I was given a whole new perspective on this verse.
A lot of times we look at other Christians around us and feel like we're so far behind in our faith. There are always those people who are so entirely devoted to God that their mere presence makes us want to be better Christians. But too often, we let Satan use this view of our faith to condemn us. He says, "Look at how full of the Holy Spirit they are! Why aren't you like that? You still have so much more to learn about God, and He has so many blessings He wants to give you, but you refuse to receive them. That person over there is a good Christian. But you? You're still drinking spiritual milk. When will you grow up?" Of course, it is true that we have a lot to learn about God. In fact, we will never be able to learn everything about His infinite glory, but that shouldn't discourage us and make us feel deficient in our faith. It should encourage us to press in to know Him more because there is no limit to what He can reveal to us.
The devil tells us that we are lacking because we still need to learn more about God. But Jesus calls us blessed because we desire to know Him more. He says, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness"—why?—"for they will be filled." The fact that we are hungry is evidence that there is something that can fill us, and God will not leave us empty. The revealing of our hunger is God's promise to us that He will fill us.
"For He satisfies the longing soul, and the hungry soul He fills with good things." ~ Psalm 107:9
"They feast on the abundance of Your house, and You give them drink from the river of Your delights." ~ Psalm 36:8
So when you feel like you're missing something, like there's more that God wants to give you that you haven't received yet, don't be discouraged. It's true, God does have more that He wants to give us. But the fact that we desire to receive it is God's way of saying, "Soon. My blessings will come to you soon." Blessed are those who long to draw closer to the Lord and receive everything He has for them, who know that they have not yet been filled to capacity, because they are in agreement with God's will, and their desire is for Him to have His way. And His will is that we would be "filled to the measure of all the fullness of God" (Ephesians 3:19).
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Prophecy and Prayer
Wow. Tonight was really encouraging. God really had everything planned out to catch my attention, and I’m sure He caught a lot of other people’s attention too. It started this morning when I was suddenly struck by the realization that I felt distant from God. It’s not that I feel like He’s far from me, I just feel like He’s standing right next to me, but I have my back turned toward Him. Well, when I stepped outside it was raining, and I suddenly thought of a couple songs that talk about rain: Let It Rain and Grace Like Rain.
Let It Rain:
The rest of the day went by pretty much as usual until around 5. The guys in the Redcoat trumpet section had a get-together for about an hour, and then I had dinner and went back to my dorm until the UGA brass band concert at 8. While I was in my dorm, I started working on arranging another song for On That Note. (On That Note is the acapella group I’m in that started this semester, for those of you who didn’t know.) This one was written by my friend Jon Joiner, who is on the worship team at the UGA Wesley Foundation, specifically in Freshley, so I’m really excited to work on it.
Then I went to the brass band concert, which was great! It would have been even better if it hadn’t been during Freshley. But thankfully, the concert was less than an hour, so I got a ride to Freshley and was able to get there in time for the last song of an extended worship session and for small group. And boy, what a song it was! It was Revelation Song, which is probably one of my favorite worship songs. And the Spirit was very present at Freshley tonight; it was obvious as soon as I walked in that He had been filling the room all night.
Then came small group time. In my prayer leadership small group we talked about prophecy. It was kind of funny because I had a conversation with my friend Josh about prophecy last year, and I had already heard everything that we talked about tonight from him. It was cool getting that affirmation that what I believe about prophecy is supported by others within Freshley. But even better was what came next. I was hoping we would get a chance to “practice” prophesying for each other, and we did! And the best part was that there was absolutely no way that we could interfere with the way we heard God’s voice: we were given a number and told to write down our prophecy/encouragement for that person without knowing who the number was assigned to. We had no way to make up a prophecy because we didn’t know who we would be asking God about. We just had to trust that He was telling us what we needed to tell the person we were supposed to be prophesying over. Well, the encouragement that was given to me was that I am a child of light and that God will free me from the trap that is set for me and allow me to come to Him wholeheartedly and be redeemed, rejecting Satan’s lies and accepting the Lord’s truths (Ephesians 5:8, Psalm 31:4-5). Like I said earlier, God answered my prayers to an even greater extent than I deserved.
But He didn’t stop there. As I was praying and writing, God gave me a set of verses that seemed to refer vaguely to witnessing. Basically what He told me to say was that even though witnessing may be hard with a particular person and it seems like you’re suffering, don’t give up, because God didn’t give up on you. James 1:12 says that God has promised the crown of life to those who love Him and who have stood the test, and Philippians 4:1 indicates that those who come to know Christ through us are our crown, so together the two verses are a hint that God is promising to save the lost person in answer to the prayers of the person I was prophesying over. He also wanted me to give encouragement to continue showing God’s love and to work diligently because He won’t leave the faithful without a reward.
Well, when we found out who we had been prophesying over, I gave my paper to her, and she told me that her boyfriend isn’t a Christian and it’s been a struggle. The fact that what I said was exactly what she needed was really encouraging for me. But prophecy isn’t about what we say or about saying the right thing for the right person at the right time. If that’s what we focus on, then we don’t really see the big picture of prophecy. Prophecy is one of God’s ways of sharing truth with us, and we should want to get to know Him more through prophecy. Prophecy shouldn’t be our main concern; we need to focus on the Giver of prophecy. It's not about me, it's about Him. Anyway, I was thinking about it when I got back to my dorm after Freshley, and it hit me: God didn’t just give me an eerily accurate prophecy about a person who needed to hear exactly what I had to say. He gave me a promise to share. He gave me the promise that if she perseveres with Christ’s power, He will save her boyfriend! The last thing I wrote on my paper was, “Your friend’s resolve to reject Christ is shaking! Stay confident [that God will move in him]!” That came straight from God, because I had no idea who I was talking to or who I was talking about. If that’s not encouraging, I don’t know what is!
And then to top it all off, another friend told me that our prayers for her roommate are being answered, slowly but surely.
Lord, let Your will be done! Come quickly to keep Your promise!
Let It Rain:
Let it rain, let it rain, open the floodgates of heaven.Grace Like Rain:
Hallelujah, grace like rain falls down on me. Hallelujah, all my stains are washed away.That got me thinking, and I remembered that God doesn’t care about my past—He cares more about what I’m doing right this instant—and this time I actually understood it. No matter how many times I’ve tried to run away from Him, He still calls me back expectantly. That realization was an answer to prayer that would be elaborated on later on today.
The rest of the day went by pretty much as usual until around 5. The guys in the Redcoat trumpet section had a get-together for about an hour, and then I had dinner and went back to my dorm until the UGA brass band concert at 8. While I was in my dorm, I started working on arranging another song for On That Note. (On That Note is the acapella group I’m in that started this semester, for those of you who didn’t know.) This one was written by my friend Jon Joiner, who is on the worship team at the UGA Wesley Foundation, specifically in Freshley, so I’m really excited to work on it.
Then I went to the brass band concert, which was great! It would have been even better if it hadn’t been during Freshley. But thankfully, the concert was less than an hour, so I got a ride to Freshley and was able to get there in time for the last song of an extended worship session and for small group. And boy, what a song it was! It was Revelation Song, which is probably one of my favorite worship songs. And the Spirit was very present at Freshley tonight; it was obvious as soon as I walked in that He had been filling the room all night.
Then came small group time. In my prayer leadership small group we talked about prophecy. It was kind of funny because I had a conversation with my friend Josh about prophecy last year, and I had already heard everything that we talked about tonight from him. It was cool getting that affirmation that what I believe about prophecy is supported by others within Freshley. But even better was what came next. I was hoping we would get a chance to “practice” prophesying for each other, and we did! And the best part was that there was absolutely no way that we could interfere with the way we heard God’s voice: we were given a number and told to write down our prophecy/encouragement for that person without knowing who the number was assigned to. We had no way to make up a prophecy because we didn’t know who we would be asking God about. We just had to trust that He was telling us what we needed to tell the person we were supposed to be prophesying over. Well, the encouragement that was given to me was that I am a child of light and that God will free me from the trap that is set for me and allow me to come to Him wholeheartedly and be redeemed, rejecting Satan’s lies and accepting the Lord’s truths (Ephesians 5:8, Psalm 31:4-5). Like I said earlier, God answered my prayers to an even greater extent than I deserved.
But He didn’t stop there. As I was praying and writing, God gave me a set of verses that seemed to refer vaguely to witnessing. Basically what He told me to say was that even though witnessing may be hard with a particular person and it seems like you’re suffering, don’t give up, because God didn’t give up on you. James 1:12 says that God has promised the crown of life to those who love Him and who have stood the test, and Philippians 4:1 indicates that those who come to know Christ through us are our crown, so together the two verses are a hint that God is promising to save the lost person in answer to the prayers of the person I was prophesying over. He also wanted me to give encouragement to continue showing God’s love and to work diligently because He won’t leave the faithful without a reward.
Well, when we found out who we had been prophesying over, I gave my paper to her, and she told me that her boyfriend isn’t a Christian and it’s been a struggle. The fact that what I said was exactly what she needed was really encouraging for me. But prophecy isn’t about what we say or about saying the right thing for the right person at the right time. If that’s what we focus on, then we don’t really see the big picture of prophecy. Prophecy is one of God’s ways of sharing truth with us, and we should want to get to know Him more through prophecy. Prophecy shouldn’t be our main concern; we need to focus on the Giver of prophecy. It's not about me, it's about Him. Anyway, I was thinking about it when I got back to my dorm after Freshley, and it hit me: God didn’t just give me an eerily accurate prophecy about a person who needed to hear exactly what I had to say. He gave me a promise to share. He gave me the promise that if she perseveres with Christ’s power, He will save her boyfriend! The last thing I wrote on my paper was, “Your friend’s resolve to reject Christ is shaking! Stay confident [that God will move in him]!” That came straight from God, because I had no idea who I was talking to or who I was talking about. If that’s not encouraging, I don’t know what is!
And then to top it all off, another friend told me that our prayers for her roommate are being answered, slowly but surely.
Lord, let Your will be done! Come quickly to keep Your promise!
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
"For He spoke, and it came to be; He commanded, and it stood firm."
Psalm 33:9.
I was reading the story of the centurion and his servant in Matthew 8:5-13 when something suddenly occurred to me. This story has always been strange to me; I could never make any sense of the centurion's words or why Jesus was so astonished by his faith. But it finally clicked just now. The secret lies in the beginning and end of verse 9: "'For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me... I say to my servant, "Do this," and he does it.'" I believe the centurion is specifically talking about his servant who is paralyzed, saying that the servant always obeys his commands because the centurion has authority over him; in saying this, he acknowledges that Jesus has authority over him, so he relinquishes his authority over his servant and gives the reins to Jesus. He knows that, because Jesus is the ultimate authority, whatever He says goes, so his servant will obey Him if He gives him a command.
And what's more, the centurion recognizes Jesus' identity as the Sovereign Lord, the God of all creation. In verse 8 the centurion says, "But just say the word, and my servant will be healed." As God spoke the world into existence in Genesis—just as light came into being at His command—all of creation, even mankind, must submit to His authority. If God were to simply command the servant to be healed, he would become well. He wouldn't even have to hear Jesus give the command in person because the Holy Spirit would speak the command to his spirit. Creation didn't even exist yet when God commanded the world into being, and it still obeyed; so why shouldn't something that already exists be able to hear and obey the Lord when He speaks?
The centurion's faith is so shocking because he truly acknowledges not only Jesus' identity as God, but also the fullness of God's sovereignty. He understands that nothing is impossible with God, and he holds tight to that truth. Even the Israelites in the Old Testament didn't have that kind of faith. Repeatedly they abandoned the Lord because they felt hopeless in the wilderness. They forgot that the Sovereign God was with them—no, they didn't forget that He was with them; they forgot that He is omnipotent. They lost faith in Him, not that they didn't believe He existed, but they didn't believe He could help them. But the centurion didn't forget. He trusted the Lord, so his faith was rewarded. As Mark 11:24 says, "Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours." The centurion believed in Jesus' sovereignty, and he was granted the blessing of seeing His power in action.
I pray that we would all have the kind of faith the centurion had. Let's remember Jesus' simple command in Mark 11:22: "Have faith in God."
I was reading the story of the centurion and his servant in Matthew 8:5-13 when something suddenly occurred to me. This story has always been strange to me; I could never make any sense of the centurion's words or why Jesus was so astonished by his faith. But it finally clicked just now. The secret lies in the beginning and end of verse 9: "'For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me... I say to my servant, "Do this," and he does it.'" I believe the centurion is specifically talking about his servant who is paralyzed, saying that the servant always obeys his commands because the centurion has authority over him; in saying this, he acknowledges that Jesus has authority over him, so he relinquishes his authority over his servant and gives the reins to Jesus. He knows that, because Jesus is the ultimate authority, whatever He says goes, so his servant will obey Him if He gives him a command.
And what's more, the centurion recognizes Jesus' identity as the Sovereign Lord, the God of all creation. In verse 8 the centurion says, "But just say the word, and my servant will be healed." As God spoke the world into existence in Genesis—just as light came into being at His command—all of creation, even mankind, must submit to His authority. If God were to simply command the servant to be healed, he would become well. He wouldn't even have to hear Jesus give the command in person because the Holy Spirit would speak the command to his spirit. Creation didn't even exist yet when God commanded the world into being, and it still obeyed; so why shouldn't something that already exists be able to hear and obey the Lord when He speaks?
The centurion's faith is so shocking because he truly acknowledges not only Jesus' identity as God, but also the fullness of God's sovereignty. He understands that nothing is impossible with God, and he holds tight to that truth. Even the Israelites in the Old Testament didn't have that kind of faith. Repeatedly they abandoned the Lord because they felt hopeless in the wilderness. They forgot that the Sovereign God was with them—no, they didn't forget that He was with them; they forgot that He is omnipotent. They lost faith in Him, not that they didn't believe He existed, but they didn't believe He could help them. But the centurion didn't forget. He trusted the Lord, so his faith was rewarded. As Mark 11:24 says, "Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours." The centurion believed in Jesus' sovereignty, and he was granted the blessing of seeing His power in action.
I pray that we would all have the kind of faith the centurion had. Let's remember Jesus' simple command in Mark 11:22: "Have faith in God."
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
"Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth."
Matthew 5:5
I think this verse gets misinterpreted a lot. So many people have the wrong idea about what the word meek means. According to Mirriam-Webster, meek means “deficient in spirit or courage: submissive; not violent or strong.” We understand that Jesus is often called “meek and mild,” but Jesus was not weak, and He most definitely was not deficient in spirit (although, if we go back to the first beatitude, we could say that He was poor in spirit and rich in the Spirit, but I don’t think that context applies here; in the first beatitude, ‘spirit’ refers to self-sufficiency, which is contrary to being dependent on the Holy Spirit; but in the dictionary definition of meek, ‘spirit’ refers more to hope and joy). Jesus was strong in the Spirit—and He still is—and He was bold in proclaiming the gospel of salvation and the coming of the kingdom of God, even to the point of causing violent division between Christians and their persecutors. So if Jesus was meek, then we must find another definition for the word that fits who Jesus was (and is).
I think this verse gets misinterpreted a lot. So many people have the wrong idea about what the word meek means. According to Mirriam-Webster, meek means “deficient in spirit or courage: submissive; not violent or strong.” We understand that Jesus is often called “meek and mild,” but Jesus was not weak, and He most definitely was not deficient in spirit (although, if we go back to the first beatitude, we could say that He was poor in spirit and rich in the Spirit, but I don’t think that context applies here; in the first beatitude, ‘spirit’ refers to self-sufficiency, which is contrary to being dependent on the Holy Spirit; but in the dictionary definition of meek, ‘spirit’ refers more to hope and joy). Jesus was strong in the Spirit—and He still is—and He was bold in proclaiming the gospel of salvation and the coming of the kingdom of God, even to the point of causing violent division between Christians and their persecutors. So if Jesus was meek, then we must find another definition for the word that fits who Jesus was (and is).
Now, this first definition of meek is actually the second definition in the dictionary. The first is this: enduring injury with patience and without resentment: mild.” That sounds a lot more like the Jesus we know, doesn’t it? But I think there’s even more to it than that. It might just be me, but when I hear “enduring injury,” I get the impression that whoever is enduring injury has the ability to decide to not endure injury. In other words, the meek person has the power to put an end to his own suffering, but he chooses not to for some reason, whether it be to protect others from harm or to encourage them in their present suffering or simply to show his love for someone. I believe the true, biblical definition of meek is the complete opposite of Mirriam-Webster’s second definition: a meek person is one who possesses great power, given to him by the Spirit, yet refuses to use it for his own benefit in favor of the rewards that will come with the fulfillment of a larger purpose. A truly meek person is one who sees the big picture, God’s perfect plan, and submits to His will even when it calls for personal suffering. And when the Lord does call him to suffer, the meek man will “endure injury with patience and without resentment.” He will not grow angry with God for causing him to go through trials, and he will be patient with his persecutors and show Christ-like love to them.
Now look at the blessing Jesus gives the meek: “for they will inherit the earth.” This is interesting to me: a man with great power can conquer the world and take it for himself; but a meek man, one who has great power but refuses to use it to benefit himself at others’ expense, will inherit the world and be given it by God. And the gift of God is far more valuable than our own wages, because “the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).
We have been given great power by the Lord. According to 2 Timothy 1:7, “God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a Spirit of power, of love, and of self-discipline.” In the famous words of Peter Parker’s Uncle Ben, “With great power comes great responsibility.” We have been given the Spirit not just for our own benefit, but also so that we can benefit others. So let’s use the power He has given us appropriately. Our job is not to arrive in heaven; it’s to make sure it’s crowded when we get there.
Sunday, September 18, 2011
"Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted."
Matthew 5:4
It's been a while since I've posted anything, and I've been feeling like I need to get back into writing/typing again, so here's another installment from my notes on the Beatitudes (which I should have finished a long time ago).
In this verse Jesus speaks about "those who mourn." I want to start by defining the word "mourn." According to Dictionary.com, to mourn is to feel or express sorrow or grief over misfortune, loss, or anything regretted; to deplore or lament; or to regret deeply or strongly.
Now, what exactly are we mourning? A close relative's death? Well, while the second part of this verse, "for they will be comforted," seems to imply that "those who mourn" are mourning someone's death, I believe the blessing is intended for those who mourn about something different. Let's take the Dictionary.com definitions piece by piece. The words "deplore" and "lament" essentially mean "express sorrow or grief," as in the first definition. So when we mourn we express sorrow or grief. About what? "Misfortune, loss, or anything regretted." Well, James tells us to "consider it pure joy" (James 1:2) whenever we are faced with misfortune, and when it comes to God's will, there really is no such thing as misfortune because everything is intended to bring glory to God. What I really want to focus on is the part of the definition that mentions loss and regret. What do you regret? Why do you regret something? We regret bad decisions because they result in bad consequences, right? I'm sure we can all agree that sinning is a bad decision. Why? Because it separates us from God. It is harmful to us and dishonoring to Him—He has designed us for far greater things than the pleasures of this world. To submit to the desires of this world is to stoop to a lower level than we were made for, to settle for less than we, as God's children, deserve. That's insulting to the Lord! He doesn't make anyone who only deserves the things of this world and nothing more. Sin causes us to be separated from God, the worst loss anyone could ever experience. So we mourn our sin—we regret sinning—because it has removed us from the presence of the Lord. We mourn because of our spiritual death. But thanks to Christ, we have been raised to spiritual life! We no longer mourn our spiritual death, but we still mourn our sins because they continue to create a barrier between us and our heavenly Father, preventing us from coming into the close relationship He desires.
But our own personal sin isn't all we mourn. We also mourn for the lost and for their sin that continues to blind them, preventing them from acknowledging God and turning to Him. We mourn for those who will never accept Christ. We lament for the depravity of the people of this world, praying for a move of God that would bring a revival.
Now let's go on to the blessing. Jesus says, "Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted." How exactly will those who mourn for sin be comforted? How can comfort be brought to those who mourn for the lost? The Lord comforts us with the cross of Christ! Jesus died on the cross as a sacrifice for our sins, and He rose from the grave as a sign that we who were once dead in our sins are now alive in Christ for all eternity! Jesus conquered the grave, and the power of sin and death has been extinguished. We are no longer defined by our deadness in sin, but by the life of Christ. Because Jesus is alive, we too are alive! What a great comfort that is! And when we mourn for the lost, God comforts us by sending His Spirit upon them to save them. And in turn, He comforts them with the knowledge that they are now alive; and when they mourn for the sins of others, He comforts them by saving those they mourn for; and it becomes a never-ending cycle (until Jesus returns, of course).
So let the sobering thought of our sin lead us to mourn every act that prevents us from drawing nearer to the Lord, and let's mourn for the lost, pleading with God to save them. Let's mourn with the hope and assurance that we will be comforted!
It's been a while since I've posted anything, and I've been feeling like I need to get back into writing/typing again, so here's another installment from my notes on the Beatitudes (which I should have finished a long time ago).
In this verse Jesus speaks about "those who mourn." I want to start by defining the word "mourn." According to Dictionary.com, to mourn is to feel or express sorrow or grief over misfortune, loss, or anything regretted; to deplore or lament; or to regret deeply or strongly.
Now, what exactly are we mourning? A close relative's death? Well, while the second part of this verse, "for they will be comforted," seems to imply that "those who mourn" are mourning someone's death, I believe the blessing is intended for those who mourn about something different. Let's take the Dictionary.com definitions piece by piece. The words "deplore" and "lament" essentially mean "express sorrow or grief," as in the first definition. So when we mourn we express sorrow or grief. About what? "Misfortune, loss, or anything regretted." Well, James tells us to "consider it pure joy" (James 1:2) whenever we are faced with misfortune, and when it comes to God's will, there really is no such thing as misfortune because everything is intended to bring glory to God. What I really want to focus on is the part of the definition that mentions loss and regret. What do you regret? Why do you regret something? We regret bad decisions because they result in bad consequences, right? I'm sure we can all agree that sinning is a bad decision. Why? Because it separates us from God. It is harmful to us and dishonoring to Him—He has designed us for far greater things than the pleasures of this world. To submit to the desires of this world is to stoop to a lower level than we were made for, to settle for less than we, as God's children, deserve. That's insulting to the Lord! He doesn't make anyone who only deserves the things of this world and nothing more. Sin causes us to be separated from God, the worst loss anyone could ever experience. So we mourn our sin—we regret sinning—because it has removed us from the presence of the Lord. We mourn because of our spiritual death. But thanks to Christ, we have been raised to spiritual life! We no longer mourn our spiritual death, but we still mourn our sins because they continue to create a barrier between us and our heavenly Father, preventing us from coming into the close relationship He desires.
But our own personal sin isn't all we mourn. We also mourn for the lost and for their sin that continues to blind them, preventing them from acknowledging God and turning to Him. We mourn for those who will never accept Christ. We lament for the depravity of the people of this world, praying for a move of God that would bring a revival.
Now let's go on to the blessing. Jesus says, "Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted." How exactly will those who mourn for sin be comforted? How can comfort be brought to those who mourn for the lost? The Lord comforts us with the cross of Christ! Jesus died on the cross as a sacrifice for our sins, and He rose from the grave as a sign that we who were once dead in our sins are now alive in Christ for all eternity! Jesus conquered the grave, and the power of sin and death has been extinguished. We are no longer defined by our deadness in sin, but by the life of Christ. Because Jesus is alive, we too are alive! What a great comfort that is! And when we mourn for the lost, God comforts us by sending His Spirit upon them to save them. And in turn, He comforts them with the knowledge that they are now alive; and when they mourn for the sins of others, He comforts them by saving those they mourn for; and it becomes a never-ending cycle (until Jesus returns, of course).
So let the sobering thought of our sin lead us to mourn every act that prevents us from drawing nearer to the Lord, and let's mourn for the lost, pleading with God to save them. Let's mourn with the hope and assurance that we will be comforted!
Thursday, August 4, 2011
In Spirit and in Truth
I've always wondered what Jesus meant when He said that true worshipers would worship in spirit and in truth.
As I was trying to fall asleep last night (at 2am, no less), God started throwing all these random revelations at me. I didn't get to sleep until almost 5 because of all the thoughts God was giving me. It was a little frustrating because 1) it was late, and I didn't really want to write everything down, but I didn't want to forget, so I ended up writing down all my thoughts, and 2) there were so many thoughts, and so many of them were so vague, that it would be impossible for me to describe all of them, let alone remember them. So many of revelations God gave me—all the different things in the world that point to God's existence and the fact that He made everything to work according to His will—were just vague pictures that I couldn't think of the words to describe. It's like when you're trying to describe a person to someone, and you can picture the person clearly in your mind, but you can't come up with the words to put that picture into the mind of the person you're talking to. The thoughts, the images, would only make sense in my own mind.
But anyway, around 2:30 or 3 in the morning, God decided to answer the question, "What does it mean to worship in spirit and truth?" And actually, He's still answering it for me right now. But I'll give last night's answer first.
When we worship in spirit, we worship because we want to. If you look back at verse 24, Jesus says, "God is spirit." Why does that matter in this context? Well, let's change the word spirit to love, because we all know the Bible says that God is love (1 John 4:16). So now verse 24 reads, "God is love, and His worshipers must worship in love and in truth." So we worship God because we love Him, and worship Him by showing our love for Him; in fact, our worship is the display of our love for Him. But now I'm talking in circles: Worship is our display of love, and our display of love is worship. In other words, every act that shows your love for God is an act of worship, whether it be selfless giving or being joyful in trials or comforting the broken; and when you worship God through prayer, through song, through thanksgiving, through a cheerful heart, through showing love for His creations, you are showing both God and the world that you love Him. Worship is love, and love is worship. (From that perspective, you can judge your own worship by saying that if you are not worshiping in love, then you are not worshiping at all. Just something to check in your own heart.)
Now, what does it mean to worship in truth? Well, just as worshiping in spirit means that we worship because we want to, worshiping in truth means that we worship because God deserves our worship. God truly is worthy of all praise. Or, to put that another way, truthfully God is worthy of all praise. So we worship God in truth, declaring what is true about Him and praising Him for it; we worship in truth because what is true about Him makes Him worship of all praise. And I'm talking in circles again: We praise God for what is true about Him, because what is true about Him makes Him worthy of praise... Like I said earlier, I'm basically trying to describe the face of God with mere words that can never portray an image in the same way that I see it. So I'm sorry if all of this is confusing.
If none of that made sense to you, really all you need to take away from this is that we worship God because we want to and because He deserves it.
If you've read my post about the sevenfold Spirit, then you know that my understanding is that the seven spirits are the spirits of Righteousness, Peace, Truth, Love, Wisdom, Power, and Life, which together make up the single Holy Spirit. So let's take those spirits and apply them to worship.
"Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and His worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth." ~ John 4:23-24Yes, He meant, at least in part, that we would no longer worship in any particular place, as we see in verse 21 (we still do at church, but we are not required to worship only at church); but I've always felt that there was something more to this statement. What is it about spirit and truth that makes a person's worship authentic and meaningful?
As I was trying to fall asleep last night (at 2am, no less), God started throwing all these random revelations at me. I didn't get to sleep until almost 5 because of all the thoughts God was giving me. It was a little frustrating because 1) it was late, and I didn't really want to write everything down, but I didn't want to forget, so I ended up writing down all my thoughts, and 2) there were so many thoughts, and so many of them were so vague, that it would be impossible for me to describe all of them, let alone remember them. So many of revelations God gave me—all the different things in the world that point to God's existence and the fact that He made everything to work according to His will—were just vague pictures that I couldn't think of the words to describe. It's like when you're trying to describe a person to someone, and you can picture the person clearly in your mind, but you can't come up with the words to put that picture into the mind of the person you're talking to. The thoughts, the images, would only make sense in my own mind.
But anyway, around 2:30 or 3 in the morning, God decided to answer the question, "What does it mean to worship in spirit and truth?" And actually, He's still answering it for me right now. But I'll give last night's answer first.
When we worship in spirit, we worship because we want to. If you look back at verse 24, Jesus says, "God is spirit." Why does that matter in this context? Well, let's change the word spirit to love, because we all know the Bible says that God is love (1 John 4:16). So now verse 24 reads, "God is love, and His worshipers must worship in love and in truth." So we worship God because we love Him, and worship Him by showing our love for Him; in fact, our worship is the display of our love for Him. But now I'm talking in circles: Worship is our display of love, and our display of love is worship. In other words, every act that shows your love for God is an act of worship, whether it be selfless giving or being joyful in trials or comforting the broken; and when you worship God through prayer, through song, through thanksgiving, through a cheerful heart, through showing love for His creations, you are showing both God and the world that you love Him. Worship is love, and love is worship. (From that perspective, you can judge your own worship by saying that if you are not worshiping in love, then you are not worshiping at all. Just something to check in your own heart.)
Now, what does it mean to worship in truth? Well, just as worshiping in spirit means that we worship because we want to, worshiping in truth means that we worship because God deserves our worship. God truly is worthy of all praise. Or, to put that another way, truthfully God is worthy of all praise. So we worship God in truth, declaring what is true about Him and praising Him for it; we worship in truth because what is true about Him makes Him worship of all praise. And I'm talking in circles again: We praise God for what is true about Him, because what is true about Him makes Him worthy of praise... Like I said earlier, I'm basically trying to describe the face of God with mere words that can never portray an image in the same way that I see it. So I'm sorry if all of this is confusing.
If none of that made sense to you, really all you need to take away from this is that we worship God because we want to and because He deserves it.
If you've read my post about the sevenfold Spirit, then you know that my understanding is that the seven spirits are the spirits of Righteousness, Peace, Truth, Love, Wisdom, Power, and Life, which together make up the single Holy Spirit. So let's take those spirits and apply them to worship.
We worship in (the Spirit of) Righteousness. As we are sanctified in Christ, and as we live out our calling to be righteous as our heavenly Father is righteous, our worship comes before the throne of God as pleasing incense.
We worship in Peace. As the Newsboys say in their song Strong Tower, "When the winds come hard against us, You are steadfast, You are true. When the ground beneath us trembles, Your Foundation never moves!" and "When the enemy surrounds us, closing in as darkness falls, though his armies rage against us, they can never scale these walls!" Or as King David puts it, "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" (Psalm 46:1-3). Even when everything seems to be falling apart, even when it seems like the whole world is against us, when we remain steadfast in the peace given to us through Christ, our trust in the Lord pleases Him as acceptable worship. And when others around us see our peace in hard times, it draw them to worship God as well, whether they realize it or not. And with peace also comes patience, the willingness to make peace with our enemies, even when it's the most difficult thing to do.
We worship in Truth. As I said before, we worship God because He deserves it, but also because that's what we were made to do. We were made to worship something or someone, whether it's God or something of this world. We have to make a daily decision, a moment-by-moment decision to worship God, because He is the only One worthy of praise.
We worship in Love. Again, as stated before, we worship because we love God—because we want to. This is how the thought process for the new details began: As I thought of God being spirit and God being love, the words spirit and love fell into place as the Spirit of Love, which brought to mind the rest of the qualities of the Holy Spirit.
We worship in Wisdom. We worship God because we know that, if we delight in Him, He will delight in us. Psalm 111:10 says, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow His precepts have good understanding. To Him belongs eternal praise." Even here, wisdom and the worship of God are interconnected. As we worship the Lord, we will gain wisdom, and as we grow in wisdom, we will worship God even more because of the new knowledge we have of Him. We worship Him because there is no better thing for us, His creations and His children, to do.
We worship in Power. Three verses come to mind: 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, Luke 10:19, and Matthew 5:5. "But He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong"; "I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you"; "Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth." The last verse seems to contradictory to power, but it really isn't. Thanks to the study on the Beatitudes that I went to several weeks ago (the notes for which I still have to finish typing...), I have come to understand meekness as the possession of power but the refusal to use it to elevate oneself, but rather to be humble and lift others up. So while meekness may seem to be a lack of power, it's really a possession of power and the refusal to use it for one's own benefit. So we worship in power in this way: by denying any power in and of ourselves and, instead, claiming Christ's power to brake the chains of sin, and by glorifying God by using the power given us to lift up the lowly, among other humble uses of that power.
And, of course, we worship in Life. We worship with our everyday actions. We worship with our joy, our livelihood, and our eager willingness to do even the most menial tasks. As we worship in the other six gifts of the Spirit, and as our daily lives show that worship, our mere existence becomes an act of worship because we habitual bring glory to God, and also because people praise God when they see us joyfully living for Him.So let's not worship God in the temple we call church or on the mountains we call self-righteousness and self-sufficiency—the lie that we can please God in and of ourselves—but let us worship and live for Him in spirit and in truth, by the power of the Holy Spirit alone.
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