Words and Worlds of Difference

I heard something great in a sermon yesterday when the pastor made a distinction between "devotions" and "devotion."  Many Christians call a regular time of Bible reading or prayer "devotions," a spiritual discipline embraced to be in the Word of God, personal growth and to commune with God.  Without devotion to God, however, reading verses or muttering prayers can be an empty exercise.  The Pharisees were big on reading the Scriptures, public prayer and worship, yet they were not even forgiven of sin or saved because they had not placed their faith in Jesus.  This distinction prompted me to consider others that can plague the walks of genuine believers.  Different words make a world of difference.

King Saul believed in the existence of God and was given a new heart, yet he attempted to substitute sacrifice for obedience.  God told him to destroy all the Amalekites and all their animals because the time of judgment had come.  Instead of obeying the LORD, Saul saved the best of the animals under the pretense of bringing them as a sacrifice to God--as if He could be bought off.  The prophet Samuel rebuked Saul for his folly, and it is good we realise the tendency seen in Saul still continues to this day.

During the Bible study last week, we briefly discussed the difference between being broken by sin or broken for sin--a big distinction.  The reality is all human beings are born under the curse of sin that brings death.  We are dead in sins and incapable of doing good or being righteous by our efforts, spiritually broken beyond repair.  This puts all humanity on the same level before God, sinners who need a Saviour.  It is a small thing to admit we are broken people if we remain proud and self-sufficient:  it is the ones who are broken for their own sin--humbled and contrite before the LORD for our guilt, knowing we deserve death--who desperately come to Jesus Christ for salvation.

In addition to this, we can try in vain to substitute penance for repentance.  "Penance" is defined as punishment inflicted upon oneself or submitted to when imposed by others to show sorrow for sin.  In one regard it is doing a good thing to make up for doing a sinful thing.  Judas sorrowed over his sin and punished himself with death, yet he remained condemned before God without repentance.  While penance is often a work of the flesh, repentance is an inner work that begins with a changed mind that admits and confesses sin before God, takes action to cease from of sin, and seeks to do what pleases God instead.  Repentance is guided by the fear of God and the Holy Spirit which leads to a transformed life, knowing forgiveness is by grace through faith in Jesus.

While there may be no end to these important distinctions, the final one I admit I also have encountered by personal experience is to seek to be liked rather than being loving.  In a desire we would be accepted by others, we put ourselves before Jesus by trying to be likeable.  Jesus has provided us an example of what love looks like by His care and service of others, how He spoke the truth graciously, and even gave His own life as a sacrifice for sinners who hated Him.  It was the love of Jesus that led Him in His dealings with others--not the oppressive desire to be liked and accepted.  Seeking to be liked looks to receive from others, while choosing to love means giving to others with no strings attached.

Friends, we do well to follow Christ's example and commands by our devotion to Him shown in obedience, brokenness for sin, repentance, and to love one another as Jesus loves us.  As born-again believers, we are called to present ourselves as living sacrifices unto God which is our reasonable service.  Let us take heart God will do the heavy lifting we cannot do ourselves as we willingly take Christ's yoke upon us.  God is faithful to do His part, and let us examine our hearts and lives so we do ours in His strength.

The Power of Grace

Our study of Romans at Calvary Chapel Sydney has thrown us into the deep end of God's grace, and we are blessed for it.  "Grace" is one of the many words in Scripture that we often sell short by stunted or cliche definitions that are true but inadequate to convey the immense importance and impact of truth.  Have you ever had the situation where you are trying to take a picture of a breathtaking landscape or scene but the hi-tech camera you hold in your hands cannot contain or translate the beauty right before your eyes even in landscape mode?  Language, being limited, can sometimes be inadequate to explain all the wonder and impact of a small word that means more than the world to us.

God's grace is like that.  Our struggle to comprehend God's grace springs from the reality it is of God Whose ways and thoughts are higher than ours and is not of this world.  I have heard grace described as unmerited favour, and this is true--yet it only begins to scratch the surface of what grace is.  It is love that stoops, the glorious God out of His goodness choosing to reveal Himself to people dead in sins and dying in our place because He would have us saved to live with Him forever.  Grace is also God's power and influence that saves, strengthens and helps us in time of need (Hebrews 4:16).  God's grace is also the good standing we have before God, for by faith in Jesus "we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand" (Romans 5:2).  The most basic description of grace I can conceive of that conveys these three points (at this moment) is undeserved favour from God, God's power and strength that helps us, and good standing before God given out of His goodness alone.

All God's dealings with us are all of grace, for we cannot deserve or do anything to rightly earn His attention, affection or assistance.  We are saved by grace through faith in Jesus, and even when He points out our sin it is by His grace.  As born-again receivers of God's grace, we are enabled and called to extend grace to one another.  Today I had a lovely (and no so lovely!) object lesson of God's grace in an unexpected way.  At some point, I coughed or blew my nose, and somehow missed the tissue and left a deposit of phelgm on my shirt.  Gross, right?  I washed my hands and thought I was all clean and sanitised--but I wasn't.  A loving brother discreetly pointed out my defilement, and I was glad to be able to address the issue and could clean up before continuing in conversation with people.  Instead of distancing us from one another, knowing someone cares enough to inform us of our faults for our benefit draws us closer and frees us from shame because we realise we need grace.

When God points out our sin, it is not to humiliate or ridicule us:  it is all of His grace.  Because God is gracious, He genuinely cares about us and involves Himself in our lives.  He is not embarrassed to be around us though we fail and have countless faults.  We are a source of sin that is disgusting even to us, yet He continues to be gracious toward us and declares us righteous by the power of the Gospel.  There is not one thing we need to do or try to change about ourselves for Him to freely extend His love and grace to us.  All His instruction, correction and revelation about Him and ourselves is all of grace:  freely given out of His goodness and freely received by totally undeserving people.  Oh, the wonder of God's grace!  May God open our eyes to see the depths of His amazing grace and follow His lead to walk in holiness always.

Same Passage, Unexpected Flavour

I'm often amazed when I read familiar passages and the LORD helps me see them from a fresh perspective.  As one who cycles through familiar recipes for dinner or baking, my family grows accustomed to textures and flavours.  Many times over the years I have had comments--not that the food was good or bad--but that the flavour was different.  It has come to the point if I realise there is a difference than the usual offering, I will notify my family beforehand that I am aware of a difference because I did not have the usual ingredients on hand or made a substitution to spice things up.

Having read through the Bible numerous times and studied it in depth, a familiarity can grow with passages in God's word, our daily bread.  Today was a day when a familiar passage hit me differently, similar to a unexpected twist of flavour in a favourite dish.  I read the chapter when God spoke with Abram in Genesis 15 and said, "Do not fear, Abram.  I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward."  In response, Abram expressed concern God had not given him a son, so he lacked an heir.  Genesis 15:5-6 reads, "Then He brought him outside and said, "Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them." And He said to him, "So shall your descendants be." ⁶ And he believed in the LORD, and He accounted it to him for righteousness."

As the passage unfolds, God promised to give Abram the land who wondered by what means he would know he would inherit it.  God told him to prepare a heifer, ram, goat, turtledove and pigeon to cut a covenant with Abram.  Verse 12 begins by saying, "And when the sun was going down...".  The flow of the passage during my reading suggested this chapter took place on the same day, and if that was the case God told Abram to look to heaven and count the stars when they were not even visible due to sunlight.  Now it is entirely possible these events happened on different days when stars were visible, for the Bible is not an exhaustive account of everything that happened every day:  God in His wisdom simply tells us all we need to know.

Some might say, "It's ridiculous to say God told Abram to count the stars when they weren't even visible.  That's impossible!"  Yes, it is.  It was also impossible for Abram to count the stars in the dead of night, for that was the whole purpose of this divine exercise.  Whether it was day or night it is of small consequence, for Abram was prompted by God to do the impossible and believe God would do the impossible by His miraculous power:  to cause barren Sarai to give birth in due time.  There was no physical evidence Sarai would give birth because she was not pregnant, and it would not be until her menstrual cycle ceased and Abram was impotent that God would cause Isaac miraculously to be conceived and born.  Abram believed God, and God accounted his faith in Him for righteousness.

Reading the Bible and thinking it through works to clear away assumptions and preconceived ideas we did not realise we had.  God opens our eyes with a fresh perspective to see things we never saw before and grow in faith and appreciation of the Most High God who does the impossible and accounts faith in Him as righteousness.  God can use a familiar passage to hold forth the same everlasting truth with an unexpected flavour that really hits the spot.

Kings of Salem and Sodom

Back in school we used to write compare and contrast essays, and this approach was an effective technique to dig deeper into a subject.  This is also a viable technique to apply as we read the word of God, for it is easy to gloss over details as we carry on to the next verse or chapter without thinking things through.  While we need the assistance of the Holy Spirit to have understanding and fruitful application of God's word, the Bible remains the greatest literary work ever written.  We do well to ready slowly, thoughtfully and meditate on the words analytically.  With so much truth right on the surface, we also know God continues to reveal fresh insights that take more effort to gather and feed our souls with His wisdom.

I was struck after reading of Abram's victory by the grace of God over the 4 northern kings with their armies that sacked Sodom and took his nephew Lot captive.  After Abram and his 318 trained servants passed through Salem (which would later be called Jerusalem), he was met by Melchizedek, king of Salem and high priest of the Most High God.  He was also met by Bera king of Sodom whose people and goods Abram had delivered from the hand of their enemies.  The kings of Salem and Sodom were both royal rulers, but their interactions with Abram were markedly different--as was Abram's response to them.

Melchizedek met Abram with bread and wine to celebrate the victory given him by God and to refresh and strengthen him and his weary men.  Melchizedek gave more than victuals, for he was full of blessing and praise as Genesis 14:19-20 shows:  "And he blessed him and said: "Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; ²⁰ And blessed be God Most High, Who has delivered your enemies into your hand." And he gave him a tithe of all."  Melchizedek blessed Abram in light of the Most High God he served, and he blessed God as well for delivering Abram's enemies into his hand.  It is remarkable Abram is said to be "of God Most High," for in English the pronoun "of" connects people with being a son or daughter of a person.  A man of God is one who trusts in God, and the New Testament expounds on what spiritually occurs when we trust in Jesus:  we are born again and made children of God.  It is written in John 1:12-13, "But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: ¹³ who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God."  Abram responded to the greatness of Melchizedek by giving him a tenth of the spoils.

Bera the king of Sodom approached and spoke to Abram in a very different manner.  He brought no gift, blessing, thanksgiving or praise of the Most High God.  He came to Abram with a demand as Genesis 14:21 tells us:  "Now the king of Sodom said to Abram, "Give me the persons, and take the goods for yourself."  The king of Sodom demanded Abram give him his people, though ironically he was not able to deliver his own subjects from defeat and capture.  While Abram had the right of ownership of all he had taken, he refused to keep anything.  He gave the people and all the reclaimed goods from the battle to Bera, for Abram had raised his hand before the Most High God in an oath he would not give opportunity for Bera to claim he made Abram rich.  It was God Who made Abram successful in battle and in business; it was the Most High God he treasured who gave Abram everything he possessed.  Abram received the bread, wine and blessing from Melchizedek, but he would not keep the persons or goods of Sodom.

The demand of Bera king of Sodom was transactional, but the generosity of Melchizedek was all of grace.  Melchizedek made no demands upon Abram as he freely provided for his needs, refreshed his heart and spoke blessing, while Bera was willing to pay Abram off if he complied with his directive.  Praise the Most High God we catch a glimpse of His generosity, grace and goodness foreshadowed by Melchizedek we find in our relationship with Jesus Christ our LORD.  What joy, gladness and perfect peace blesses our hearts when we trust our Saviour Who loves us and gave Himself to deliver us.  Like Abram, we too can be people of God Most High by faith in Him, truly a people most blessed.