Eyes Opened by Grace

The grace of God is revealed by the divine inspiration of Balaam, a man whose eyes were open as he viewed the encampment of Israel according to their tribes.  Though Balaam was greedy and selfish, he had been given revelation from God concerning the nation of Israel and the Messiah who would rise out of Jacob and rule.  Afar off Balaam saw a Star come out of Jacob, and when Jesus was born wise men followed a star to worship the Child whose birth of a virgin had been foretold.  Balaam may have loved the wages of unrighteousness (2 Peter 2:15), yet God graciously for a season opened his eyes to see and proclaim what only God knew.

Blessed is the one whose eyes are opened by God to behold wondrous things in His word!  Blessed are those whose eyes are opened by faith in Jesus Christ to behold Him as their God and KING of KINGS!  It is like the one Jesus makes to see is given the key required to open up the vast wealth of God's wisdom and understanding found throughout scripture we now can see and hear ourselves.  A curator of a museum has access to works of art not yet made available to the public, and by faith in Jesus Christ Jew and Gentile alike are give access to truths hidden from the foundation of the world.  These immaculate, polished gems of truth hide in plain sight in the pages of God's word followers of Jesus have the benefit of admiring and holding close to our hearts, while the most distinguished scholars among men remain ignorant of their beauty and value.

One such gem that caught my attention recently is Zechariah 12:8-10 in relation to God's deliverance of Jerusalem from their enemies:  "In that day the LORD will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; the one who is feeble among them in that day shall be like David, and the house of David shall be like God, like the Angel of the LORD before them. ⁹ It shall be in that day that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. ¹⁰ "And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn."  For those whose eyes have been opened to behold Jesus as LORD, the only begotten Son of God, the glory of the returning Messiah shines forth brighter than the noonday sun.

When Jesus came and ministered in Judea, He was rejected by the sheep of Israel He came to shepherd and save.  His claims of being God in the flesh prompted accusations of blasphemy, and the Son of David was crucified and pierced on Calvary.  As Jesus hung on the cross the chief priests hurled the accusations prophesied in His face prophetically penned in Psalm 22.  They mocked and scorned the Messiah who suffered and died, but Jesus as He said rose from the dead alive and glorified three days later.  Before Jesus ascended to the Father in the view of many witnesses He promised to return, and He will do so to deliver Jerusalem and judge the earth.  God promised, "They will look on Me whom they pierced."  The Jews who survive the Great Tribulation will look upon Jesus and recognise Him as the Son of God they once rejected.  Their grief will be ultimately swallowed up with joy and peace that passes understanding by the grace of God through faith.

We are blessed beyond measure to have Bible translated in a language we can read, yet understanding of the text and proper application comes by interpreting scripture with scripture by the guidance of the Holy Spirit.  Jesus opens the eyes of those who trust in Him to see His glory in these thin, gilded pages.  He also opens our mouths to taste and see He is good and to proclaim the everlasting truth of the Gospel of grace to all.  There is more to see, believer; there is more in God's word to explore.  There is more of our lives to properly align with God's wisdom.  There is more truth to lay hold of, and we can look forward to seeing all fulfilled by God's grace in due time.

Heard Of God

The richness of God's word is beyond compare.  It is a light to our feet, a lamp unto our path and more still:  they are the words of life revealed.  In pages filled with history, narrative, dialogue, poetry, praise and prophecy, we discover situations we can identify with and apply personally to our situations.  Though it was penned thousands of years ago and translated in English centuries ago, it remains relevant spiritual truth that transforms and sustains countless people through faith in God.

Last night I read the passage when Hannah wept before the LORD at the tabernacle in Shiloh, deeply hurting from the provocations of her rival concerning her barrenness.  She cried out to God who had closed her womb to answer her request for a son she promised to give to the LORD and His service.  Eli the high priest, who watched her with a degree of disgust as her lips moved without audible sound, rebuked her for being drunk!  Hannah explained she was not inebriated but in her affliction of soul she cried out to God.  1 Samuel 1:17 reads, "Then Eli answered and said, "Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant your petition which you have asked of Him."  Without knowing what she requested, Eli by faith assured Hannah the God of Israel would grant her petition.

God was faithful to do according to Hannah's request and gave her a son she named Samuel whose name means, "heard of God."  Every time she said his name she was reminded of her former anguish, how God heard her prayer and was faithful to answer.  Hannah kept her word to the LORD and when Samuel was weaned she brought him to the tabernacle in Shiloh with a princely offering of three bulls, flour and wine.  Years had passed and many people had visited the tabernacle since the last time Hannah was there, and she identified herself as that woman whose prayer had been answered 1 Samuel 1:26-28:  "And she said, "O my lord! As your soul lives, my lord, I am the woman who stood by you here, praying to the LORD. ²⁷ For this child I prayed, and the LORD has granted me my petition which I asked of Him. ²⁸ Therefore I also have lent him to the LORD; as long as he lives he shall be lent to the LORD." So they worshiped the LORD there."

Eli did not know what Hannah prayed for at the time, but he rejoiced to see her prayer answered and her promise fulfilled.  The last part of verse 28 says in the KJV, "So he worshiped the LORD there."  The "he" and "they" is Eli and Hannah, not Samuel who did not yet know the LORD himself.  Worship is intrinsically tied to knowledge as Jesus said to the Samaritan woman in John 4, "We know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews."  Without knowledge of God and what He is done a person cannot truly worship God, and when we know what God has done how can we not worship Him?  When Hannah declared how God answered her prayer she and Eli worshiped God, and the beginning of 1 Samuel 2 is a lovely prayer as she rejoiced over the greatness of God.

I can identify with the joyful worship of Eli and Hannah's prayer because I too have been heard by the LORD.  Today marks 25 years since God was faithful to answer my prayer for a wife.  God has given us two sons, guided us to serve Him in Australia, allowed us to be permanent residents, then dual citizens and even provided us a house!  My soul swells with gladness in the worship of God as Hannah prayed in 1 Samuel 2:1-2:  "My heart rejoices in the LORD; my horn is exalted in the LORD. I smile at my enemies, because I rejoice in Your salvation. ² "No one is holy like the LORD, for there is none besides You, nor is there any rock like our God."  Who is like the LORD who does marvelous things without number?  His ways are past finding out, but all He has made known shows Himself to be good, gracious and glorious.

Has the LORD answered your prayer, believer?  Worship Him in prayer with thanksgiving, beloved of the LORD.  He has been faithful to us, and may we like Hannah be faithful to Him.  He has heard our prayers, and God delights to hear our praise as well as our hearts rejoice in Him.

Divine Delays

I have heard it said God works in mysterious ways, and we can rest assured He is working through intentional delays.  We can often tie God's love for us by His prompt responses to our prayers and requests, and some even doubt His favour if a painful trial be prolonged.  A passage in the Gospel of John reveals God delays with a glorious purpose in mind to accomplish far more than we could ever ask or think.

When Lazarus the friend of Jesus was deathly ill, his sisters Mary and Martha sent a messenger to Jesus to notify him.  They knew Jesus had the power to heal, and appealed to His love for Lazarus so He would quickly respond.  John 11:4-6 said, "When Jesus heard that, He said, "This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it." ⁵ Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. ⁶ So, when He heard that he was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He was."  Martha and Mary thought because Jesus loved Lazarus (which He certainly did) He would immediately respond by coming to them, but out of love for Lazarus--and Mary, Martha, His disciples, people in Bethany, believers and unbelievers for all time--He chose to delay.

While Jesus delayed, Lazarus died and was buried.  By the time Jesus arrived in Bethany, Lazarus had been dead four days.  This was no surprise to Jesus, for before they left on their journey John 11:14-15 reads, "Then Jesus said to them plainly, "Lazarus is dead. ¹⁵ And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, that you may believe. Nevertheless let us go to him."  Jesus allowed Lazarus to die because He was going to raise him from the dead and His disciples, the eyewitnesses and their testimony to others would cause people to believe Jesus was not merely a Rabbi but the Messiah, the Son of God, the Resurrection and the Life, and by faith in Him people would receive eternal life.  He would accomplish this amazing feat by waiting, by delaying when people were desperate for Him to act immediately.  Delay was a divine decree out of God's love for everyone, and His delay still bears everlasting fruit to this day.

Let us not dismiss how God demonstrates love by delays.  We see delays as an unnecessary inconvenience to be avoided, yet faith teaches us God works in and through circumstances in a miraculous fashion beyond what we could ever ask or think.  Martha and Mary desired Jesus to heal the body of Lazarus, but Jesus raised Him from the dead so they could receive eternal life and realise the death of a body does not mean all hope is lost.  For the believer it is a glorious entry into the presence of God where there is no sickness, suffering, pain, tears, sin or death.  Praise the LORD for His wondrous works, and through His divine delays He is accomplishing great things beyond reckoning because He loves us.

The Person Jesus

Jesus is LORD over all, and God has put everything under His feet.  When I grew up in the church I often heard of my need for Jesus as my "personal LORD and Saviour."  It was not enough for me to give mental ascent to the fact there is a God and He has been revealed in the person of Jesus, but to make a personal decision to receive Him by faith.  Whether my parents were "saved" did not remove my personal responsibility to choose to follow Jesus and obey Him.

When we say something is personal, we often mean it is something to keep private.  This is not the case when a soul is born again by the power of the Gospel, for a supernatural and transformational event has taken place.  The pop band Depeche Mode wrote a song about a "personal Jesus" that is not a Gospel song at all, for it suggests a person can be a "Jesus" figure for someone else, one who makes their life have meaning.  The "Jesus" depicted in that song who assures a caller of their acceptance and forgiveness reminds me of a personal pan pizza which translates to being very small, a light lunch for one person.  This isn't the meaning of Jesus being your personal LORD and Saviour at all, for He at once is a Saviour to all who trust in Him--with plenty left over.  To have "your own personal Jesus" excludes others and has it all backwards, for Jesus owns us having purchased us with His own blood.

Since the word "personal" never appears in scripture in the context of the Gospel, I view it as an unnecessary ornamentation or cliche that can potentially confuse people.  The Bible teaches God was manifested to mankind in the person of Jesus Christ, the "Word that became flesh and dwelt among us."  The disciples were eyewitnesses of His glory and many of these chose voluntary death rather than deny what they were convinced of:  they knew Jesus was exactly who He claimed to be, the Son of God, the Messiah, the Saviour of the world.  Jesus is not the Saviour we imagine He should be, for being God He is Who He is.  Jesus identified as "I AM," the almighty God who revealed Himself to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  The personal opinions of men have no power to shift who God is.

It is an awesome truth the KING OF KINGS can and will save all who believe and receive the crucified and risen Jesus as Saviour.  This reality changes who we are as people, for Jesus is our life.  Paul urged believers in Colossians 2:6-10:  "As you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, ⁷ rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving. ⁸ Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. ⁹ For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; ¹⁰ and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power."  Those who receive Christ are made complete in Him, having an abundant life with thanksgiving.

One miracle Jesus did was to feed 5,000 men plus women and children with 5 loaves and 2 fish--a personal-sized lunch of a lad who willingly offered it.  Jesus blessed the bread, broke it and directed His disciples to distribute it among the people who ate to the full.  There were 12 large baskets of fragments left over they gathered up.  This is a wonderful illustration how Jesus ministered to each one as much as they desired, and He is the Bread of Life who supplies more than we could ever need or want.  Our relationship with Him is deeply personal and eternal, and the abundant life Jesus offered by the Gospel is available to all who will choose to submit to Him in faith.