Gospel Inspiration

The Gospel of Jesus Christ should impact the way we live our lives.  When I face circumstances which are potentially frustrating and difficult, considering what Jesus has done for me helps me to meet issues with genuine joy.  Thinking about all Christ has freely given me transforms my perspective and aids me to show His love to others.

In our discipleship course we have been talking about seeing our lives through the lens of the Gospel, and keeping this in mind has been vital in me keeping a biblical perspective.  No matter how tired I am, inconvenienced I feel, or the depth of self-sacrifice is too great, Jesus has done infinitely greater for me.  What did Jesus do after a long day of ministry and people continued to seek Him?  He kept on ministering with grace and love.  Was it convenient for Him to leave the glory of heaven, put on human flesh, and take the form of a servant of all?  Is there any pain I have experienced like Christ endured when He was rejected, betrayed, scorned, and crucified?  Not a chance.  Jesus freely chose to be separated from the Father for my sin and it wasn't fair or fun.  It was loving, good, and merciful, but it was the most unfair thing in a human sense ever experienced on earth.  And Jesus still did it rejoicing, for He always did the will of the Father.

The next time you catch yourself feeling inconvenienced, annoyed, frustrated, or feeling resentment because people have been inconsiderate towards you, consider what Jesus has endured for your sake.  Instead of being preoccupied with what loving and serving other people is costing you, remember and praise God that Jesus freely paid a higher cost for your sake joyfully and without complaint.  When we weigh all we have freely received from God, we are able to freely give.  May our lives be a testimony of the Gospel lived out for all to see that God may be glorified for the power of His love and grace.

Jesus Christ = Mind Blown

During a lively discussion last night at the discipleship course, I was amazed afresh by the power of Jesus Christ.  Sifting through even a chapter describing the character and teachings of Christ will blow the mind of an earnest seeker of truth.  No matter how well a person combs through a passage of the living Word of God, the same objective truth comes to people in different ways.  I love how God is able to reveal Himself to all people who seek Him.  Instead of our unique personalities or viewpoints hindering us from understanding, the Holy Spirit is able to lend our individual perceptions to shed light on a passage for all to appreciate.

After Jesus arrived in Nain after the long hike from Capernaum, he saw the sad scene of a dead man being carried out of the city, the only son of a grieving widow.  A large crowd had gathered, for much of the city was there to support the woman.  Luke 7:13 says, "When the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her and said to her, "Do not weep."  Jesus knew the woman and her great loss, and He had compassion on her.  On the surface it may seem inconsiderate to command a weeping widow to stop crying, but Jesus knew what He would do.  Luke 7:14 continues:  "Then He came and touched the open coffin, and those who carried him stood still. And He said, "Young man, I say to you, arise."  Jesus spoke to the dead man as if he was alive and could hear him.  Was this some sort of hideous prank?  And then the unthinkable happened in Luke 7:15:  "So he who was dead sat up and began to speak. And He presented him to his mother."  At the command of Jesus, the dead man miraculously rose to life before many witnesses.  Having compassion on widow and talking to a deceased man is one thing, but through this resurrection Jesus revealed power and authority no living man who witnessed it could deny.  Death separates, but Jesus unites and restores.

Later in the chapter, Jesus accepted an invitation from a Pharisee to share a meal with him.  While Jesus was eating, a woman well-known by the locals for her life of sin poured an expensive box of perfume on Jesus, washed His feet with her tears, and wiped them clean with her hair.  The Pharisee who invited Jesus was completely disgusted with this display and judged Jesus to be a religious fraud.  Luke 7:39  reads, "Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he spoke to himself, saying, "This man, if He were a prophet, would know who and what manner of woman this is who is touching Him, for she is a sinner."  The Pharisee thought to himself if Jesus was indeed a holy man of God, He would not allow this woman to touch Him.  But the next verse says something amazing:  Luke 7:40 says, "And Jesus answered and said to him, "Simon, I have something to say to you." So he said, "Teacher, say it."  The verse says, "Jesus answered..."  Jesus answered the silent thoughts of the judgmental Pharisee.  Are you kidding me?  It is one thing to know if someone is a sinner, but another thing entirely to answer the thoughts of another person and to respond with wise insight.

These sort of events were commonplace in the life of Jesus during His pilgrimage on earth.  He showed compassion on others, spoke to dead people and raised them to life, and knowingly responded to the thoughts and hearts of men.  Jesus lives today and still raises the dead to life and speaks to the hearts of all who seek Him and listen.  I believe God has something to say to me and you today if we will heed Him.  In Christ there is everlasting hope and life.  Jesus created the mind to reason, and it is nothing for Him to change a mind, heart, or life.  He stands at the door and knocks, desiring to dine with anyone who will receive Him.  That will be a dinner conversation to remember!

God and Democracy

It should be a sobering truth:  God gives people what they ask for.  Our gracious God loves and gives.  Despite this, the tendency of men is to look to other men for help, guidance, and provision in this life.  If man does not see God performing as he likes, he is glad to swap to new leadership.  At a time where many in the United States are voting for their preferred party or presidential candidates, concerns are mounting.  From what I see from afar in Australia, there seems to be no presidential candidate on offer who can span the chasm which currently separates parties and people, wealthy and poor, businesses and individuals.  A nation which in the past championed itself as "one nation under God" is as fractured, angry, disillusioned, apathetic, and without hope as I have ever seen.  When we look to men, women, a political party, or even the "power of the people" to save us, it is only a matter of time before we realise we have already lost.

After God brought His beloved people out of Egypt with a mighty hand and established them in the Promised Land, it was only a matter of time before He was deemed an unfit ruler by the masses.  The men of Israel demanded, "We want a king to rule over us like the other nations."  For a long time people had looked to Samuel the prophet and judge as God's mouthpiece, and it was clear to them his sons were not cut from the same righteous cloth.  They were wicked, accepted bribes, and perverted judgment.  Samuel was angry with the request of the people for a king, but brought their demand before God in prayer.  Some might assume God would also be angry and destroy all who opposed and criticised His rule, but He did no such thing.  1 Samuel 8:7-9 reads, "And the LORD said to Samuel, "Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them. ⁸ According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt, even to this day--with which they have forsaken Me and served other gods--so they are doing to you also. ⁹ Now therefore, heed their voice. However, you shall solemnly forewarn them, and show them the behavior of the king who will reign over them."  God told Samuel not to take personally the rejection of God's rule, for it was not Samuel who had been rejected.  This followed a clear pattern of behaviour consistent with God's people from the beginning. Yet God would not give the people their desire before they had first been carefully warned about what to expect from their future king.

God provided specific details about what to expect from their new king and his governance, a stark contrast to God's divine rule.  God had given, but this king would take and take.  Ironically, Saul spoke more about what he would give - fields, vineyards, and position - than what he would take! (1 Samuel 22:7)  Consider the warning given the people in 1 Samuel 8:11-18:  "And he said, "This will be the behavior of the king who will reign over you: He will take your sons and appoint them for his own chariots and to be his horsemen, and some will run before his chariots. ¹² He will appoint captains over his thousands and captains over his fifties, will set some to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and some to make his weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. ¹³ He will take your daughters to be perfumers, cooks, and bakers. ¹⁴ And he will take the best of your fields, your vineyards, and your olive groves, and give them to his servants. ¹⁵ He will take a tenth of your grain and your vintage, and give it to his officers and servants. ¹⁶ And he will take your male servants, your female servants, your finest young men, and your donkeys, and put them to his work. ¹⁷ He will take a tenth of your sheep. And you will be his servants. ¹⁸ And you will cry out in that day because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, and the LORD will not hear you in that day."  That last line should send a shiver through the most hearty soul.  It was their choice to have a king to rule, but they had no idea how much it would cost them.  Their foolish choice to reject God would silence their complaints to God and they would remain oppressed by the king they desired.  God is gracious and good to provide government which He has been established to punish evildoers and to reward those who do well (1 Peter 2:13-14).  Because men are to be governed by God and Christians have agreed to God as their King, we are called to submit to governors as an extension of His rule.

As much as people in a democratic process want to believe they hold the key to power, remember it is God who lifts up kings and deposes them (Daniel 2:21).  Though men and women run for public office, God maintains sovereignty over all nations.  God spoke in Jeremiah 18:7-10, "The instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, to pull down, and to destroy it,⁸ if that nation against whom I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I thought to bring upon it. ⁹ And the instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it,¹⁰ if it does evil in My sight so that it does not obey My voice, then I will relent concerning the good with which I said I would benefit it."  The dearth of candidates in recent elections does not surprise me, for the people have spoken and God has listened.  If people are intent to cast off His rule, His righteous judgments, and deny His authority, we are free to appoint those we choose.  Many times God judged his people by their godless rulers, and God's ways have not changed.  Hearken unto God, the One who tells us what manner of rulers we choose for ourselves.  King Saul began in humility and the fear of the LORD, but finished his course as a madman who consulted witches for guidance.  He died in battle, but not by the hand of the enemy:  in a wounded panic he fell on his own sword.  So it will be for all who refuse to submit to God's rule and look unto men for hope and help.  Such will be pierced through with many sorrows.  Without God no nation is able to stand.  The warning of Samuel is relevant today for those who place their trust in men:  do not expect deliverance from God in heaven until there is first contrition and repentance.  God is our only hope, and in God the wise trust.

Entrenched or Established?

Years ago our family had a little dachshund named Wendel.  He slept in a kennel inside the house, but the backyard was his domain.  When I mowed the lawn I was able to easily discern where his little paws had been, paths which become well-worn over time as he patrolled the perimeter.  He had a routine of running along the fence, stopping at a point and barking, then heading back on his circuit. Wendel and people alike can be creatures of habit and routine, and even our brains resort to common tracks of thought.  A single word or feeling can place our thinking like a slot car onto a track, destined to circle the same closed loop again and again.  We can become so taken with a particular observation or personal conviction we become entrenched in our thinking and are quite unable (and even unwilling!) to consider another view as equally valid.  Some people's thoughts resemble a simple oval and others are more elaborate with multiple lanes and loops, but the result is the same.  Round and round the slot car goes, but there is no winner in this solitary race.

I don't want to be entrenched in my thinking like a slot car in the track.  When Christians are entrenched in ways of thinking it is far from good.  It is actually tragic.  Taking an informed position in doctrine or having a personal conviction is right and good, but someone who is entrenched in their views resemble a vigilant soldier in a bunker on high alert.  The world is seen through the visage of a paranoid warrior ready to shoot in the direction of a unfamiliar noise in the darkness.  Everyone outside his way of thinking is seen as a significant threat.  He has fortified his position and is prepared for the eventual assault.  He has rations and ammunition enough to outlast his enemy in his cold, concrete dwelling.  His position is primarily defensive and nothing can convince him to lower his guard.  No one can coax him it is safe to venture out to enjoy a bite to eat in the sun.  A person with an entrenched mindset does not listen or consider the truth of what is being said by others but is preoccupied to share the observations of their closed loop.  The slot car on the track may move forward, but in reality it is a dead end.

Now consider the difference between an entrenched viewpoint and one that has been established by the truth of God's Word.  David wrote about a man who delights and meditates on God's law and compared him to a well-established tree in Psalm 1:3:  "He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper."  A tree is a living, growing organism that has strong roots as a foundation - quite a different picture than a musty, cold bunker with guns pointed at all who approach!  With a strong root system which draws water and nutrition from the earth, so a Christian who feeds on God's Word and obeys it will be strengthened, grow, and be fruitful.  New branches of thought, new leaves of personal revelation and application sprout from old truths which are entirely new to a person.  It is not uncommon for Christians at times to place undo emphasis on one doctrine, ignore the implications of others, or have a distorted view of God's Word.  But God in His grace, through biblical truth rightly divided, chops off these branches and new, healthy growth is promoted,  Jesus compared a man who hears His words and does them to a man who built his house upon a rock.  Because the house had been established on a sure foundation who is Christ, he did not need to fear damage from the wind, rain, or flood.

Doctrine does not change, but my understanding of it should.  I should not remain perpetually on a closed loop concerning the implications of a passage, but to let down my guard, admit my knowledge and perspective is severely limited, and there is much for me to learn.  Jesus said He had much to say to His disciples, but they were not able to receive it because the Holy Spirit had not been sent.  I am afraid to say there is much Jesus cannot say to Christians today through His Word or the Holy Spirit because instead of listening we blurt out to finish God's sentences:  we have a closed loop of thinking which is familiar and therefore comfortable.  If someone holds a different slant or perspective on an interpretation people can feel instantly threatened and defensive instead of being willing to be challenged by what the Bible says and means.  There are few things worse than entrenched orthodoxy, for it prevents growth and maturity.  It substitutes increased knowledge for spiritual growth, sacrificing life and sweet fruit in exchange for what A.W. Tozer called a "circular grave."  How good it is for our faith to be growing and fruitful, knowing we are established in Jesus by the Gospel!  Instead of being entrenched in doctrinal debates, having been established by faith in Christ, let us venture out of the bunker and extend peace to all in Christ's name:  ready to listen, and choosing to love.