The Ongoing Battle

Romans 7:23 but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.

23 βλέπω δὲ ἕτερον νόμον ἐν τοῖς μέλεσίν μου ἀντιστρατευόμενον τῷ νόμῳ τοῦ νοός μου καὶ αἰχμαλωτίζοντά με ἐν τῷ νόμῳ τῆς ἁμαρτίας τῷ ὄντι ἐν τοῖς μέλεσίν μου.

This comes at the end of a chapter that is somewhat debated. Is Paul speaking of himself in his redeemed or unredeemed state? I don't see any reason from the context to think that he has had a flashback to his unredeemed state. No, I think that he is speaking to his current life as a believer who has to constantly fight his flesh.


I wanted to focus on this verse because of the struggles I've had with this in the past. The most egregious was when I used this whole passage to justify my life of ongoing sin. After all, I could look at the Apostle Paul and his struggles. If he struggled with sin then why couldn't I? Besides, he also had a thorn in his flesh, right?


That's a fairly obvious one to debunk. But I think there is something more subtle here as well. I kind of slipped into gnosticism with this verse. In fact, I would say that the language I used while with Setting Captives Free was more or less gnostic. I started to equate the flesh with evil. That is certainly a fair inference from what Paul writes if we take this passage in isolation.


However, that's not the overall sense of biblical revelation. Solomon spoke of the joys of physical pleasure and even wrote a whole book about sex. Paul addresses eating in 1 Corinthians. He puts it in its proper place by telling us to sacrifice our freedoms for the sake of the consciences of others, but he also seems to imply that we can eat with gladness. In other words, we do not need to be ascetics.


The point is that we need to take a reformed view of the body. God made our bodies for our good and His glory, just like everything else. All things were created for Him (Colossians 1:16). I do not think that Scripture calls us to asceticism, but to discipline. We are to discipline our bodies and make them our slaves, but we do not need to run in fear of our bodies. We do need to subdue them to the will of God, but we should also enjoy the good things He created out of common grace like food, the beach, sunsets, the mountains, sex, etc.


Maybe you've not had this problem. However, if you've had any experience in Independent Baptist Fundamentalism I suspect you have. Enjoy God's common graces!

True Forgiveness

Acts 7:60 And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." And when he had said this, he fell asleep.



60 θεὶς δὲ τὰ γόνατα ἔκραξεν φωνῇ μεγάλῃ· κύριε, μὴ στήσῃς αὐτοῖς ταύτην τὴν ἁμαρτίαν. καὶ τοῦτο εἰπὼν ἐκοιμήθη.

This is the end of Stephen. We meet him in Acts 6 and by the end of Acts 7 he is dead. He lived to preach a very powerful sermon against the Jews regarding Christ. He explained through their history how things were leading up to Christ and then how they had rejected the prophets. Apparently they didn't take too kindly to being called stiff-necked and being associated with killing the prophets. The truth does hurt.

This is how Stephen reacted. He called out in a φωνῇ μεγάλῃ, which literally is a "great voice" or a "large voice." In other words, he was yelling. He addresses the Lord with the vocative case and says κύριε, μὴ στήσῃς. It's interesting to me that this is a subjunctive (a prohibitive subjunctive according to Wallace) rather than an imperative. That is a known usage of the subjunctive when giving a negative command, which is what Stephen was doing here. In other words, there is nothing particularly insightful to glean from the Greek compared to the ESV.

What is insightful to me is the grace that Stephen showed with his last breath. You don't have to look very far in Foxe's Book of Martyrs to find examples of men who used their last breath to forgive their executioners. I suspect that many a martyr died with this passage on his mind. Stephen shows us how to die here.

More importantly, he shows us how to live. Here was a man who could have cursed the men stoning him and I don't think that we would think too badly of him. We would know what he should have done, but we would put ourselves in his sandals and realize that we would likely do no better and therefore cut him some slack. But we don't have to because he did the right thing right up to the end. He demonstrated grace. He loved those who were persecuting him. In other words, he lived like he really believed that Jesus' commands were binding.

Do we do that? How do we treat those who curse us? Do we bless or curse them? Do we petition the Lord for their pardon because of their ignorance? Or do we start finding imprecatory psalms to pray against them? Stephen's story leaves us without excuse in how we go out this in our lives.

Unbelievable Mercy

Mark 5:13 So he gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out, and entered the pigs, and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea and were drowned in the sea.


13 καὶ ἐπέτρεψεν αὐτοῖς. καὶ ἐξελθόντα τὰ πνεύματα τὰ ἀκάθαρτα εἰσῆλθον εἰς τοὺς χοίρους, καὶ ὥρμησεν ἡ ἀγέλη κατὰ τοῦ κρημνοῦ εἰς τὴν θάλασσαν, ὡς δισχίλιοι, καὶ ἐπνίγοντο ἐν τῇ θαλάσσῃ.

This may be my favorite story in all of Mark.  Jesus is dealing with a man possessed with many demons.  He has been relegated to living in a tomb and is not in his right mind.  The demons recognized Jesus immediately upon His arrival and they begged Him not to torment them.  What was the result? ἐπέτρεψεν αὐτοῖς.  There is nothing fancy about the Greek here.  Basically, Jesus permitted the demons to have their request.

I think about my attitude toward those who have harmed me.  If someone were to hurt anyone in my family I would have a hard time showing mercy.  I would want to see that person suffer.  It would be difficult for me to be content with them merely receiving justice.  I would also want revenge.

Jesus certainly had it in His power to make these demons suffer.  In fact, that's what they were worried that He would do.  Instead, He cast the unclean spirits into unclean animals.  We don't really know what happened to the unclean spirits other than that they were not bothering their original host anymore.  I have not given much thought to the doctrine of demonology so I don't really understand everything that happened here.

What I do know is that Jesus even showed mercy to demons.  This was sheer grace because they did not deserve any mercy.  How much more mercy does He show us when He saves us from our sins?  And as we live our lives and seek to be Christlike, how much mercy do we show others?  How much grace do we extend?

My inclination is to be vindictive.  Christ's is to show mercy.  Let's seek the better path, amen?

The Value of Knowledge

2 Peter 1:2 May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.

2 χάρις ὑμῖν καὶ εἰρήνη πληθυνθείη ἐν ἐπιγνώσει τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ Ἰησοῦ τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν.

Normally when I think about this chapter I think of the latter verses that affirm the authority and inspiration of Scripture.  However, I want to focus on this verse in the greeting for two reasons.  One is that when I do my weekly review of 2 Peter I have a hard time remembering this verse in order because its structure is different than most of the other greeting verses in the New Testament.  Second is that this verse is different than most other greeting verses in the New Testament.

Paul typically incorporates χάρις ὑμῖν καὶ εἰρήνη into his greetings.  This literally means "grace and peace."  It's a very nice greeting, isn't it?  Who wouldn't want to have grace and peace multiplied to them?  But what I find fascinating here is the means Peter prescribes for it.  How are they to receive this grace and peace?  It is ἐν ἐπιγνώσει τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ Ἰησοῦ τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν.  There is nothing fancy about this Greek.  It is as the ESV translates it.

What's the big deal?  It seems that there are plenty of folks who are all about experience.  They want to have a rocking "worship time" (read: music).  They want the pastor to touch their hearts so that they "feel blessed."  They want to have emotional times of deep fellowship with the Lord.  Frankly, I think that these are noble goals.

However, they become ignoble when we forget one of the means God gives us to experience His grace and peace.  He gave us His Word.  That is an incredible gift to us.  As we become more familiar with it we grow in grace and peace.  We can certainly pursue the purely experiential too, but we need everything to be grounded in His Word.

What are you doing with respect to this?  Are you spending regular time in it?  Have you read the whole Bible at least once?  If not, why not?  At the risk of sounding snarky, if you aren't reading the Bible then you are implicitly saying that you don't want to know God better.  You don't want to enjoy greater grace and peace.  You think that there is some other way to go and you aren't enjoying the gift that He gave us through Scripture.  You probably wouldn't say these things in so many words, but that is what your attitude demonstrates.

Let's turn to His Word and get to know it.  There we will find grace and peace.

Remaining in Wrath

John 3:36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.

36 ὁ πιστεύων εἰς τὸν υἱὸν ἔχει ζωὴν αἰώνιον· ὁ δὲ ἀπειθῶν τῷ υἱῷ οὐκ ὄψεται ζωήν, ἀλλ᾽ ἡ ὀργὴ τοῦ θεοῦ μένει ἐπ᾽ αὐτόν.

John 3 may be the most famous chapter in the Bible because of all the signs exhorting people to read and believe John 3:16.  I love John 3:16 as much as the next guy, but I think that we lose something when we read it out of context, as we do with any other verse.  No verse exists in isolation.  So before we try to use John 3:16 as the big Arminian trump card, let's look at another verse.

This verse gives us a different picture of who God is, doesn't it?  The more famous verse gives one the image of God sitting up in heaven with something akin to a teenage crush on every person, but He is anxiously waiting for our acceptance of Him.  Here we see the same offer, but a point is clarified a bit.  Here we see that ἡ ὀργὴ τοῦ θεοῦ μένει ἐπ᾽ αὐτόν.

I was really struck by the word μένει when I read this today.  It "remains" on him?  Really?  That implies that God's wrath was there all along.  In other words, every person is in a default state of having God's wrath justly upon him until there is faith in the Son.  That's what it takes.

Does this seem unfair or unjust to you?  Then you do not know the holiness of God.  He is, by definition, perfect.  How can perfection live with sin?  The good news is that Jesus Christ bore this wrath for those who would believe in Him.  I urge you to repent of your sin and turn to Jesus Christ as the lord of your life.  You will still fail Him from time to time as we all do, but His grace is sufficient for us.

Fighting Through Rebuke

Matthew 20:31
(31)  The crowd rebuked them, telling them to be silent, but they cried out all the more, "Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!"

(31)  ὁ δὲ ὄχλος ἐπετίμησεν αὐτοῖς ἵνα σιωπήσωσιν· οἱ δὲ μεῖζον ἔκραξαν λέγοντες, Ἐλέησον ἡμᾶς, κύριε, υἱὸς Δαυίδ.

This is an encounter that two blind men on the street had with Jesus.  They were crying out for His mercy and others tried to keep them quiet.  However, they were so desperate for mercy that they would not be silenced.  In fact, they use an imperative in Ἐλέησον as they ask Jesus to have mercy on them.

Of course, in His mercy Jesus does heal them.  How could He not given their persistence?  This begs a question for our own lives.  How desperate are we for mercy?  Do we realize that we even need it?  Or do we think that we are basically OK and can just tack Jesus on as an addition to our lives?

My prayer is that you would realize your deep need for His mercy.  Cry out to Him.  He will take care of you. 

Do Not Fear

Matthew 17:6-7
(6)  When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were terrified.
(7)  But Jesus came and touched them, saying, "Rise, and have no fear."

(6)  καὶ ἀκούσαντες οἱ μαθηταὶ ἔπεσαν ἐπὶ πρόσωπον αὐτῶν καὶ ἐφοβήθησαν σφόδρα. 

(7)  καὶ προσῆλθεν ὁ Ἰησοῦς καὶ ἁψάμενος αὐτῶν εἶπεν, Ἐγέρθητε καὶ μὴ φοβεῖσθε.

I have no great exegetical insight today.  However, I do think that this passage bears mention.  Whenever I read the account of the Mount of Transfiguration I try to put myself in the scene.  Peter, James, and John were chosen to go up on this mountain with Jesus.  They had been walking with Jesus for some time and had seen some pretty amazing things.  They had seen Him feed multitudes, heal the sick, and even calm a storm.  They knew that Jesus was special.

This experience blew them away.  It's hard for us to imagine what it would be like for a first-century Jew to stand in the presence of Moses, Elijah, and Messiah.  Then on top of it they got to hear the voice of YHWH speak from heaven.  It is clear that this experience overwhelmed them.  Encounters with greatness will do that.  Yet after it all Jesus commands them to rise and not fear.  The words  Ἐγέρθητε and φοβεῖσθε are both imperatives.

Where are you with this?  If you've never found yourself on your knees in fear then I'm not sure you really know God.  We can't get to "rise up and do not fear" unless we are first prostrate before a holy God.  Have you fallen on your face before Him?  Do you realize the problem for all of us apart from the grace Jesus extends in His command to "rise up and do not fear?"  My prayer is that you do.

Forgiveness

Matthew 18:21-35

(21) Then Peter came up and said to him, "Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?"

(22) Jesus said to him, "I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven.

(23) "Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants.

(24) When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents.

(25) And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made.

(26) So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, 'Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.'

(27) And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt.

(28) But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii, and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, 'Pay what you owe.'

(29) So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, 'Have patience with me, and I will pay you.'

(30) He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt.

(31) When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place.

(32) Then his master summoned him and said to him, 'You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me.

(33) And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?'

(34) And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt.

(35) So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart."

Pardon the very long passage this morning, but you can't very well discuss a parable without quoting the parable. Here Jesus is giving a parable as an illustration of a shocking truth He just told Peter. The Jews believed that 3 was the number of times one had to forgive. Peter was trying to impress Jesus by going double plus one. As you can see, Jesus was not impressed. The manuscripts read either (70 x 7) or (77). Either way, the idea is that you don't count it.

What impressed me this morning was the explanation I read of the two debtors' sums. In today's terms, the first man owed roughly $6 Billion. Yes, that's billion with a b. The other owed a fair amount around $15,000, which is significant. However, that's a drop in the bucket compared to the $6 Billion.

This is quite a metaphor for us, isn't it? We owe God an incalculable debt. I think the number "ten thousand talents" was meant as a round number to indicate "an unpayable debt," kind of like how Wilt Chamberlain described his exploits with "ten thousand women." The point of this parable is to look into our hearts. If God could forgive us so great a debt, who are we not to forgive any wrong done to us? No matter what someone does it cannot compare to the debt that we owed to God.

As you prepare for Christmas and consider the Incarnation, ponder this parable. Think about what it means to be forgiven. That's what Jesus came to earth to do. It all started one night with a virgin giving birth to a boy.

The Solution to Evil

Nahum 1:7-8

(7) The LORD is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; he knows those who take refuge in him.

(8) But with an overflowing flood he will make a complete end of the adversaries, and will pursue his enemies into darkness.

A lot of folks have a problem with the God of the Bible because of the problem of evil. They wonder how a good God could allow so much suffering and evil in the world. Why doesn't He eradicate it?

I would say that these folks are being too small-minded. We all naturally tend to think of this world and experiences within it. They are looking for some kind of earthly justice. God has something much bigger in mind. They will suffer eternally for their evil, while the good will enjoy fellowship with Him forever.

Keep in mind that there is no one good, so this would be a real problem if we were left on our own. However, one who was perfectly good stepped in our place to take God's wrath for us. Christ died on the cross so that we might be reckoned among the righteous.

In the end, we don't really want a just God as we understand justice. We want a gracious God. The good news is that perfectly describes the true and living God in heaven.

Pressed Down

Amos 2:13-16

(13) "Behold, I will press you down in your place, as a cart full of sheaves presses down.

(14) Flight shall perish from the swift, and the strong shall not retain his strength, nor shall the mighty save his life;

(15) he who handles the bow shall not stand, and he who is swift of foot shall not save himself, nor shall he who rides the horse save his life;

(16) and he who is stout of heart among the mighty shall flee away naked in that day," declares the LORD.

We went to a local pumpkin patch and corn maze yesterday, so this passage kind of jumped out at me. There is a big difference between the way an empty cart rides and when the hayride is full of parents and kids. The ground certainly shows the difference too.

That's the image used here to describe how the Lord will press down His rebellious people. It's not a pretty sight, is it? This view of God is a little different than the one typically peddled here in the United States. We want our God to make things better for us. We interpret grace to mean that it doesn't matter if we transgress His laws because He is like some kind of cosmic grandfather who winks at sin.

We see a different view here. This is not to say that God delights in pressing down the disobedient. However, He will do so if that is what they need to repent. A subsequent passage makes it clear that a remnant would survive, but it won't be pretty:

Amos 3:11-12

(11) Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: "An adversary shall surround the land and bring down your defenses from you, and your strongholds shall be plundered."

(12) Thus says the LORD: "As the shepherd rescues from the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear, so shall the people of Israel who dwell in Samaria be rescued, with the corner of a couch and part of a bed.

I am not saying that God will beat us down if we are disobedient, though that might happen. My point is simply to show God's character. The gospel is necessary because apart from the atoning work of Christ we are destined for His just wrath. It may not be popular to discuss God's wrath these days, but I think that meditating upon that aspect of His nature makes grace seem that much more amazing.

Know His Word

Hosea 14:9

(9) Whoever is wise, let him understand these things; whoever is discerning, let him know them; for the ways of the LORD are right, and the upright walk in them, but transgressors stumble in them.

It's incredible to see just how many exhortations there are in Scripture about the value of knowing God's Word. This whole book has been about the unfaithfulness of Israel to the covenant they had with God. Chapter 14 speaks to God's amazing grace in still keeping His side of the covenant and the offer of restoration if they would repent and return to Him.

This is the last verse of the book. Life is very simple really. We just need to know what God's Word says and then obey it. Of course, that is much easier said than done. We can know what to do and fail to do it. But if we are in Christ we have a Helper in the Holy Spirit. He will help us to walk in God's ways. After all, He wrote the book.

This all presupposes a knowledge of God's Word. What are you doing to learn more about what it says?

Small Consolation

Ezekiel 32:31-32

(31) "When Pharaoh sees them, he will be comforted for all his multitude, Pharaoh and all his army, slain by the sword, declares the Lord GOD.

(32) For I spread terror in the land of the living; and he shall be laid to rest among the uncircumcised, with those who are slain by the sword, Pharaoh and all his multitude, declares the Lord GOD."

This is the last bit of a long passage of condemnation against Egypt. Just before this we saw how several other nations would end up in the same boat as Egypt. Apparently, this would comfort Pharaoh.

This reminds me of how much I love company when I am miserable. I think that there is something inside of us that always wants to compare. I'm currently listening to a series of messages about the parable of the two sons. I think we all have a little bit of the older brother in us. We prefer it when we are doing the right things and we can look down on someone else. We don't seem to have a natural predisposition toward grace.

Yet Paul gives us a different command:

Romans 12:15

(15) Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.

This is not something I like to contemplate much because I'm not very good at it. I get jealous of those who rejoice and I feel superior to those who weep, particularly when they are weeping about something they brought upon themselves. How much different is the way we are commanded to live!

Keeping Promises

Ezekiel 28:25-26

(25) "Thus says the Lord GOD: When I gather the house of Israel from the peoples among whom they are scattered, and manifest my holiness in them in the sight of the nations, then they shall dwell in their own land that I gave to my servant Jacob.

(26) And they shall dwell securely in it, and they shall build houses and plant vineyards. They shall dwell securely, when I execute judgments upon all their neighbors who have treated them with contempt. Then they will know that I am the LORD their God."

As we've gone through the prophets we have certainly seen plenty of places where God pronounces judgment against Israel. Plus, He has pronounced judgment against the foreign nations around them. In fact, this passage is sandwiched in the middle of such pronouncements.

There is some controversy about whether these prophecies refer to the people of Israel or God's future church as spiritual Israel. Either way, it is a wonderful promise of God's care. He certainly judged them as they deserved, but then here He promises to gather them by His grace. Why does He do this? Again, it is for the sake of His name.

Have you been gathered? Are you dwelling securely? Do you know this peace that this passage describes? If not, I invite you to God by way of the cross. Come to know Him. You can't beat dwelling securely by God's provision.

Our Faithful God

Lamentations 3:19-23
(19) Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall!
(20) My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me.
(21) But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope:
(22) The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end;
(23) they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

No study of Lamentations would be complete without treating this passage. Verse 23 would make for a great hymn, wouldn't it?

This passage reminds me of where I've been, where I am, and where I'm going. I remember being stuck in the muck and mire of habitual sin. I remember how I had to go when pornography beckoned. I remember how I would eat out of boredom rather than hunger. I remember what it was like to get winded after climbing a flight of stairs. Those were bitter times indeed.

I certainly am not perfect with my eyes, mouth, or legs. However, I am not where I was. I know that even when I do stumble the Lord is there faithfully showing me mercy. Every morning is a fresh chance to live for His glory. This is amazing to me when I consider how badly I mess up sometimes. Yet He is there and He is faithful.

2 Timothy 2:11-13
(11) The saying is trustworthy, for: If we have died with him, we will also live with him;
(12) if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us;
(13) if we are faithless, he remains faithful-- for he cannot deny himself.

Praise the Lord!

Cause and Effect

Jeremiah 44:20-23
(20) Then Jeremiah said to all the people, men and women, all the people who had given him this answer:
(21) "As for the offerings that you offered in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, you and your fathers, your kings and your officials, and the people of the land, did not the LORD remember them? Did it not come into his mind?
(22) The LORD could no longer bear your evil deeds and the abominations that you committed. Therefore your land has become a desolation and a waste and a curse, without inhabitant, as it is this day.
(23) It is because you made offerings and because you sinned against the LORD and did not obey the voice of the LORD or walk in his law and in his statutes and in his testimonies that this disaster has happened to you, as at this day."

In the previous verses the people lamented how badly their lives had gone since they stopped making offerings to the queen of heaven. They figured that all the calamity had come upon them because of this. Jeremiah had to straighten them out.

I think that it is easy for us to get into the mindset of God as a cosmic traffic cop. We think that we can make Him do what we want based on how we perform. We also think that we can escape consequences of sin if we just stop sinning. These people lived in wanton idolatry and stopped when they began to be consumed by the Babylonians. They figured that stopping the idolatry would make the Babylonians go away. What they failed to consider is that the exile was the consequence of their idolatry.

For us on this side of the cross we must remember that there are consequences to sin. Yes, there is grace and forgiveness at the cross. Our hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. However, there are still consequences we must deal with. Maybe it's an unwanted pregnancy. Maybe it's bankruptcy from poor stewardship. Maybe it's a loss of health from gluttony or drunkenness. Ultimately we will enjoy salvation, but we still need to deal with the consequences.

The good news is that it is never too late to start doing the right thing. We must repent and believe.

Finding Real Joy

Isaiah 35:10
(10) And the ransomed of the LORD shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

This is something I needed to be reminded of. It's so easy for me to pursue other things for joy. I think that mindless time online will bring me joy. I sometimes look at things (well, people) I have no business looking at because I'm not married to them. I sometimes think that just the right thing will bring me joy.

Everlasting joy comes from the Lord. Why can't I remember that? How is it that I can spend time memorizing Scripture and 5 minutes later find myself drifting off into sin? Why am I so fickle?

I know that I am not alone in this and that is some comfort. I think of the great words of "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing"


O to grace how great a debtor
daily I'm constrained to be!
Let thy goodness, like a fetter,
bind my wandering heart to thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
prone to leave the God I love;
here's my heart, O take and seal it,
seal it for thy courts above.

That is my prayer. Is it yours?

Mercy and Justice

Isaiah 29:17-21
(17) Is it not yet a very little while until Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field shall be regarded as a forest?
(18) In that day the deaf shall hear the words of a book, and out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind shall see.
(19) The meek shall obtain fresh joy in the LORD, and the poor among mankind shall exult in the Holy One of Israel.
(20) For the ruthless shall come to nothing and the scoffer cease, and all who watch to do evil shall be cut off,
(21) who by a word make a man out to be an offender, and lay a snare for him who reproves in the gate, and with an empty plea turn aside him who is in the right.

This passage is another one that gives me great hope for the future. First, I see myself in verse 18. I know that I was blind and deaf, but the Lord chose to open my eyes and ears to the truth of His Word. That doesn't mean I always live it perfectly, but it is now my standard for living.

Verse 19 is like a punch in the stomach sometimes. Am I meek? Do I realize my spiritual poverty? Do I see the need for grace in my life? Or am I more like the ruthless and scoffer of verse 20? Frankly, I'm more like that than I want to admit.

On many levels my life is cruising right now. My class is going well. Everyone is healthy. The weather is beautiful. Work is going well. However, I also know that things could be better. I don't treat my wife and children the way I should all the time. I am not particularly tender or affectionate. I am painfully aware of how selfish I am at my core. I still desperately need grace.

Where are you today? Do you realize your poverty of spirit? If so, what are you doing about it? I pray that all who read this would call out to Christ for the grace needed to live a life that glorifies Him.

Great is His Faithfulness

Micah 7:18-20
(18) Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance? He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in steadfast love.
(19) He will again have compassion on us; he will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.
(20) You will show faithfulness to Jacob and steadfast love to Abraham, as you have sworn to our fathers from the days of old.

It's pretty easy for me to read the Old Testament with an eye toward God's justice and wrath. I think that the Old Testament partly exists to show us that God takes things very seriously and that He is indeed just. However, there are moments of great hope in here.

Think about all the promises of wrath in the Prophets as well as the times when that wrath was poured out. Israel blew it. Yet here God promises mercy to His remant. Personally, I haven't quite decided how this relates to national Israel compared to us Gentiles. But what I do know is that either way it shows that God is indeed abounding in lovingkindness.

His Great Mercy

Joel 2:18-19
(18) Then the LORD became jealous for his land and had pity on his people.
(19) The LORD answered and said to his people, "Behold, I am sending to you grain, wine, and oil, and you will be satisfied; and I will no more make you a reproach among the nations.

The book of Joel is pretty harsh. It describes the army of swarming locusts that the Lord plans to send upon the people in the day of the Lord. Perhaps the most vivid description of the desolation is that the land ahead of them would be like the garden of Eden, but behind them would be utter desolation. The plan is for total destruction.

The Lord still has mercy despite the justice due to the people. All they need to do is repent. I realize that this seems like a Catch-22 since repentance is a gift from the Lord. Yet the Lord grants it to whom He wills. he does this because of the jealousy He has for His land and for His people.

It's easy for me sometimes to focus too much on God's wrath and justice because I think that helps to support my theology. I guess I focus on those because I sense a need to balance the common idea that God is so loving that He gives folks a free pass without any justice. Yet I know that I need to focus on His mercy as well. I certainly wouldn't be writing this apart from His mercy!

Made for a Purpose

Jeremiah 1:4-10
(4) Now the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
(5) "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations."
(6) Then I said, "Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth."
(7) But the LORD said to me, "Do not say, 'I am only a youth'; for to all to whom I send you, you shall go, and whatever I command you, you shall speak.
(8) Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, declares the LORD."
(9) Then the LORD put out his hand and touched my mouth. And the LORD said to me, "Behold, I have put my words in your mouth.
(10) See, I have set you this day over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant."

When did the Lord know Jeremiah? He knew him before he was even made in the womb. This tells me that God has a plan for everyone. He knows us before we are even born. As a side note, this also seems to speak to the sanctity of life in the womb.

Jeremiah knew that he was not equipped to carry out the task that the Lord gave him. However, the Lord reassured him and put the words in his mouth that he was to say. As we'll see through the coming days, Jeremiah was appointed to a very hard life. I'm not sure what Joel Osteen does with Jeremiah's life, but it would seem that Jeremiah had a deep faith and yet suffered greatly. Such is the lot of some in this world, though not in the next.

This dovetails with something I heard recently on Genesis 6. Children's bibles tend to get the story of Noah wrong. They tend to say that everyone in the world was wicked except Noah, and since he was righteous God liked him. This turns the gospel upside-down. Instead, it says that Noah found grace from the Lord. For some reason God chose Noah. Noah was declared "righteous," yet we know later on he got drunk and passed out naked in his tent. It would seem that he was hardly perfect. Therefore, I take "righteous" to mean that Noah was justified in the eyes of the Lord.

Chew on these truths. If you know Christ it is because God chose you. I don't know why other than it was for you to serve Him for His glory. That was true of Jeremiah and Noah. It's true for anyone who knows Jesus.