The Heavenly Perspective

It is natural for our gaze to be drawn away from Christ.  In the midst of the storm the wind-tossed waves look threatening and imposing.  All our senses become focused on escape and self-preservation.  Jesus promised His followers in this world we will face tribulation, but exhorts us to be joyful because He has overcome the world.  God allows pain, trials, satanic assault, and trouble to compass Christians on all sides.  We can be joyful even in the midst of difficulty because Christ has already overcome all.  He is in control.  I am His, and He is mine.

When Stephen was brought before the religious leaders falsely accused of blasphemy in Acts 7, his fear of God swallowed up all fear of man.  Moved by the Holy Spirit, the truth he spoke infuriated the chief priests.  Upon hearing his scathing rebuke they were cut to the heart.  There is no doubt in my mind Stephen recognised their murderous intentions.  Instead of focusing on the multitude of angry faces with murder on their breath, he looked to the LORD.  Acts 7:55-56 says, "But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, ⁵⁶ and said, "Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!" They dragged him outside the city, removed their cloaks, and took up stones to slay him.  Even as the stones and boulders found their mark on his body, he continued to look to God.  In that moment Stephen did not pray to be spared a brutal death or seek divine vengeance upon his enemies, but on his knees pleaded with God to forgive them - even as His LORD and Saviour Jesus Christ had done from the cross.

Sacrificial love, grace, and forgiveness are the fundamental characteristics of every Christian.  To walk accordingly, we must turn our eyes to Jesus Christ in simple faith.  If our eyes are fixed upon the stones which have been thrown at us, if our ears are tuned to the accusations hurled in our direction, if our focus is on the angry faces of our enemies, we will lose the heavenly perspective.  We can walk in the power of the Holy Spirit only when we deny ourselves, walk in obedience to our Saviour, and look unto Jesus alone.  One might expect Stephen to be graced with a heavenly vision after fasting and prayer, yet he was ushered into the very presence of God through the indwelling Spirit in the midst of a fiery trial.  Perhaps you tremble at the prospect of future trials you will face.  If we will tremble before the LORD in adoration and worship, in the midst of the trial God will reveal Himself in greater glory still.

Let us decide to turn our eyes to Jesus and trust in Him.  A true vision of God brings our issues and the fearful unknowns into our lives into proper perspective.  The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom!

Honest Mistake?

Are you serious, I inwardly groaned.  How many times in baking have I put in tablespoons instead of teaspoons?  I suppose that's not as bad as cups for tablespoons, but it pretty much sabotages whatever is being baked.  This morning I was making crepes for the family and only after piling 4 tablespoons of sugar on 2 cups of white flour did I realised my error.  At that moment I faced a decision bakers and chefs from the beginning of time have been forced to answer:  do I try to salvage the dish or just chuck it all and start over?  Many times I have been able to salvage the dish by carefully removing the extra bi-carb or cream of tartar.  But not this time.  I dumped the lot into the bin and started over.

When we make mistakes, that is the right course of action.  If we make a mistake and hope nobody notices, our salvage attempts often produce a poor result.  It is far better to admit our mistakes freely, apologise genuinely, and humbly start over.  This humbling process begins with us confessing our sin before God.  We like to term mistakes like the aforementioned as "honest mistakes," meaning there was no malice in our hearts beforehand.  In actuality it would be better to call such an error a careless mistake.  Had I double checked the amounts and measured carefully, the mistake could have easily been avoided.  Whether or not I had evil intentions when I poured the ingredients didn't change the fact I had loaded the bowl with almost four times more sugar than what the recipe called for!  If my family can notice slight differences in texture and taste from one batch of pancakes or crepes from the last, won't God notice when I try to hide my flaws by my secret salvage attempts?

Repentance is a beautiful gift from God.  It allows sinners like me to have a fresh start.  God put in His law provisions for imperfection.  Through sacrifice, atonement could be made for the sins of people.  God knows we will make mistakes.  Jesus loves sinners, and proved it by dying on the cross for the sins of His enemies.  It was liberating to throw away the contaminated flour and start over.  I didn't have to worry about the taste being off or the ingredients sticking to the pan.  I didn't have to go through the process of spending an hour cooking the crepes only to discover they were inedible.  All the worry, preoccupation, and irritation of making a stupid mistake was over because I started over fresh!  When we have made a mistake, let us be quick to admit it and start over with a new beginning offered us by God's grace.  What joy and peace is ours when we quit trying to salvage our mistakes and begin afresh!

No Love, No Justice

Last night I started thinking about the legal systems of this world.  It seems to me the blindfold has fallen from the eyes of Justice, and her scales are a false balance.  I have not studied law, nor am I a solicitor or judge.  But I have studied the character of God and the divine law He instituted.  When we examine God through scripture, we see Him as the perfect Lawgiver and Judge of all.  He is the ideal.  He is by nature wholly righteous, just, loving, and good.  And this is where the legal systems of the world have lost the plot:  law today has become the means to an end rather than a means to God's end.  Justice according to God's standard is no longer the point.  Legal wranglings are all about knowing the system, interpreting law according to precedent, and at times even using law to legally do what is by nature unlawful.  Courtrooms have become a place of pride-fueled entanglements with the combatants not wielding swords and nets, but carefully crafted arguments to damage reputations and ensnare people in their own words.  Making other people look bad makes others seem better, and paid experts brandish opposite opinions using the same evidence.  Winning is more important than truth because truth is debatable.

There are many factors that have led to the breaking away of the legal system in America from the love of God and biblical truth to the relativistic slough it has become.  John Jay, the first Supreme Court Justice said, "It appears to me that the gospel not only recognizes the whole moral law, and extends and perfects our knowledge of it, but also enjoins on all mankind the observance of it."  Because God is just, without an intimate knowledge of God how can a man truly understand justice?  Then it struck me:  God's justice and love are inseparable.  He is loving and just, just and loving.  His love does not spring from pity and His justice does not grow out of pride.  Apart from the love of God, there can be no justice.  This was an amazing concept indeed!  Is there any place for the love of God in our courtrooms?  Is there room for mercy, grace, and absolute truth?  Without being born again through the Gospel, a man can only be selfish, proud, and unjust.  He cannot love as God loves or judge with righteous judgment.

From this biblical perspective therefore, the courts of the world who deny the existence of God and the truth of His Word are breeding grounds of injustice.  Jesus railed against such in Luke 11:52:  "Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge. You did not enter in yourselves, and those who were entering in you hindered."  Are the lawyers or solicitors the problem?  No.  They are not different than any other person who goes through life in an unregenerate state.  The problem Jesus had with the lawyers He rebuked was their hypocrisy.  They made law so convoluted that the common man could not understand it properly.  It was not that the law needed to be so complex, but such a maze had been created that the lawyers hindered people from entering into godly knowledge.  The path of righteousness and justice they were to lead people through became so muddled and confusing they did not even bother to enter it themselves!  Justice could wink at sin if you filled her scales from behind her back.

The trouble is not just in courts, government, schools, or special interest groups:  the trouble resides in every single human heart because of sin.  The Law was a schoolmaster to show us our great sin and lead us by the hand to salvation through Jesus Christ.  He is the Judge of the living and the dead, and God has proved His authority through raising Him from the dead.  In Him love and justice come together in perfect harmony.  Our walk with Christ is not one according to outward conformity, but through inner transformation by the Holy Spirit.  God is righteous and just, and Jesus speaks peace to all who will bow before Him.  Psalm 85:8-13 reads, "I will hear what God the LORD will speak, for He will speak peace to His people and to His saints; but let them not turn back to folly. ⁹ Surely His salvation is near to those who fear Him, that glory may dwell in our land. ¹⁰ Mercy and truth have met together; righteousness and peace have kissed. ¹¹ Truth shall spring out of the earth, and righteousness shall look down from heaven. ¹² Yes, the LORD will give what is good; and our land will yield its increase. ¹³ Righteousness will go before Him, and shall make His footsteps our pathway."

Life Observations of Pastor Bill Wilson

Our recent move has forced me to go through files and paperwork.  Most of what I find is junk, but I did come across notes I took during a session taught by Pastor Bill Wilson of Metro World Child.  He is a dynamic communicator with a heart to reach children with the power of the Gospel all over the world by meeting spiritual and physical needs.  Some might find his style at times a bit gruff or abrasive, but I appreciate his perspective because it comes from a man who loves deeply.  He is a man who has experienced a lot of tough stuff, yet God has brought him through stronger still.  Here are some of thought-provoking proverbs he shared during that fireside chat many years ago:

• Everybody wants to walk on water but they won't get out of the boat.
• Whatever it takes!
• Some preachers love crowds and hate people.
• Don't wait to get knocked off a donkey.
• Your commitment must be stronger than your emotions.
• Happy hinges on what happens.
• If Jesus shows up and wants fruit, you better have it.
• What makes me angry is what God will use to change me.
• Everything in life is designed to make you quit.
• If you don't have it, you don't need it.  Hone and develop what you have.
• Never discuss your problem with someone incapable of solving it.
• You don't decide on what your ministry is supposed to be:  you discover it.
• When everyone thinks the same no one thinks much.
• Everything is just like church.
• Be faithful in the small things.
• If you do what you know, you know what to do.
• If you want something you've never had before, you have to do something you have never done before.