The Testimony of Forgiveness

"If You, O Lord, kept a record of sins,

O Lord, who could stand?

But with You there is forgiveness;

therefore You are feared."

Psalm 130.3-4

What does forgiveness do? Think about it: we've sinned against God, breaking relationship with Him. As we seek forgiveness, we recognize and take ownership of our faults.

It is interesting that one result of forgiveness is interpreted above as "You [God] are feared." This fear is the Hebrew word yare, which means both to be afraid and to respect. When used in relation to God, this word tends to mean to honor, respect, and hold in awe.

Let's consider this: when another person sins against us, regardless of the size of the offense, what does it say about our faith if we do not forgive? Do we then live up to our claim to truly be disciples of a forgiving God? But if instead we are able to forgive even the greatest offenses against us, we are witnesses to the fact that we know what true forgiveness is because we have learned it through our relationship with God. Thus, our forgiveness and desire for reconciliation with others becomes part of our witness to the majesty of God. Instead of being viewed as unforgiving hypocrites, people are able to see the work of God in us through forgiveness: in other words, our act of forgiveness can show Him to others. Through seeing His Spirit of redemptive power present in us, they themselves can be drawn to Him!

Bibliography

Goodrick, Edward W. and John R. Kohlenberger. Zondervan NIV Exhaustive Concordance. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1999. Print.

NIV Archaeological Study Bible. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2005. Print.

It's Time

Brothers and sisters, let me begin this post by telling you I am going to step on some toes. Rest assured, as I have been meditating on these Scriptures, it happened to me too. But, as the title says, it's time...

"For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins."

Matthew 6.14-15

This passage comes immediately after Jesus teaches His disciples the Model Prayer. "Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors," He teaches them to pray (Mt. 6.12). But if we're going to be completely honest, we don't always want to forgive. We've been hurt too bad, they've crossed the line one too many times, and so the list goes on and on...

However, if we are serious about being Christ's disciples, we must be serious about the issue of forgiveness. This may be against members of our family, against friends, or even against the Church. Certainly something happened to disrupt our relationship: our hurt is real. But God does not model holding a grudge: He deals justly with sin, yes, but He [the injured party] initiated the process of reconciliation [restoration of our relationship] with the ones who had wounded Him [us]. As such, we cannot truly claim that we are striving to follow Christ if we are not willing to seek restoration, whatever the cause of the injury may have been.

Thankfully, Christ offers us guidance on how to do this. Over the course of this new month, we will be exploring further the work and teachings of Christ on this topic. My prayer, brothers and sisters, is that we could be peacemakers, seeking restoration with those around us.

Bibliography

 

NIV Archaeological Study Bible. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2005. Print.

For Today

I was reading through some of my older writings, and wanted to share one that I published in 2007 through Facebook.

How majestic and glorious is the Lord God Almighty. He has done great things in the lives of His people. Though we turned from Him, He came to us in the person of Jesus Christ in an effort to draw us back to Him. He imparted upon those who believe in the name of Christ the Comforter, His own Holy Spirit. And today He walks with us through every moment of our lives. This is the testimony of those who believe in His name, of those who have come to recognize Him as Savior and Lord. Glory to God.

May God work through the efforts of His people as they serve Him around the world this day. Amen.

If you're like me, there are days when we get too caught up in the process. We look for methods, procedures, and solutions to get the most done in the absolute most efficient method possible. Truthfully, I do not believe that there is anything inherently wrong with this; we all know that we are only given a limited amount of time, and none of us know how much time that we have. However, if my entire life is spent checking things off the to-do list, moving from one problem or process to the next, I may have just wasted my life. 

Today, I offer a challenge to you and I: slow down. Take time to reflect and be amazed at who God is. Marvel at His creation, be still and contemplate His word, and savor His love. Enjoy time with family and friends. As you need to work, do so diligently and make the most of it. Live as God is calling you to live, allowing Him to be glorified through it and those around you to be built up along the way.

Finding Our Purpose

"The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person. For God will bring every act to judgment, anything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil."

Ecclesiastes 12:13-14

The Teacher has come to the conclusion of his research. As any student or former student will know, this is a moment of intense satisfaction and often understanding. This understanding is not to say that the author or we, the readers, necessarily have everything figured out; research does tend to lead to more questions. Nevertheless, the end of the work does bring a certain inevitable conclusion.

We, as individuals and as a community, are desperate for purpose in life. Without it we become irrelevant. Many authors will offer their insights on what the purpose of life should be, and they offer an infinite variety in what those purposes should be. Many of these center on finances, possessions, jobs, and other topics. They offer, or attempt to offer, complex solutions to complex problems. Perhaps that is one of the reasons we like them so much. We feel that our lives need to be complex; it makes us sound smarter. But note what the Teacher says: "Fear God and keep His commandments."

In the 1962 Wycliffe Bible Commentary, the following was written concerning these verses: "In reality, the author is saying nothing more in these last verses than he has been saying throughout the book- enjoy life while you can. This can be accomplished only by fearing God; for God is in control, He can be expected to reward righteousness and punish evil" (594). One part of this analysis rings well in our ears: enjoy life while you can.

This, in truth, is an underlying theme of our society today. Society tells us to do what makes us happy: be reckless, have fun, etc. Society will say that this can take whatever form it needs to, so long as in the end it pleases you, the individual. However, the author of Ecclesiastes, echoed by the commentator, challenges us by saying that the purpose is to fear God.

How, then, do we bring these ideas together? We want to have fun. We want to take risks, and live life to the absolute fullest. We want adventure. As I reflect upon Scripture, I do not think that these desires are inherently bad. However, they will ultimately leave me wanting more. The conclusion which the author of Ecclesiastes came to, after looking for happiness or contentedness in pleasure, in possessions, and in much more, was that the matter of utmost importance is to "Fear God and keep His commandments." While we can pursue adventure and have fun, we can do so in a way that intentionally acknowledges God. We can do so in a way that will glorify Him and encourage others, in a way that will share the Gospel with those around us, and in a way that will exhilarate us beyond all measure. As we allow God to be the focal point of our adventure, we will find ourselves more adventurous than we ever imagined.

J. Stafford Wright, contributing to The Expositor's Bible Commentary, reflects on these verses with the following: "Obviously, the Teacher is sometimes skeptical; but God is real to him, and he believes that God has revealed His will to mankind. If God had not done so, man could not be held accountable for his actions (v. 14). Thus, although he would like to know more of the total plan of God, man knows enough to be held responsible for what he does or fails to do" (1197). Most, if not all of us, would like to know more of what God has in store for our lives; we would love to know what the future will hold. I would love to know exactly what I'll be doing five years from now, but God has not revealed the whole plan; He has given glimpses, but not the whole. He has shown enough for right now, and it is my responsibility to follow Him in that.

And there, my friends, is the challenge for us all.

Bibliography:

Gaebelein, Frank E., Dick Polcyn, Willem A. VanGemeren, Allen P. Ross, J. Stafford. Wright, and Dennis Kinlaw. The Expositor's Bible Commentary: With the New International Version of the Holy Bible, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Pub. House, 1991. Print.

New American Standard Bible. La Habra, CA: Lockman Foundation, 1977. Kindle.

Pfeiffer, Charles F., and Everett Falconer Harrison. The Wycliffe Bible Commentary. Chicago: Moody, 1962. Print.

Seeking the Presence of God

"Seek the Lord while He may be found; call on Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the Lord, and He will have mercy on him, and to our God, for He will freely pardon. 'For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,' declares the Lord. 'As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts higher than your thoughts."

Isaiah 55.6-9

How often do we stop to marvel at the word of God? Lest we fall into the trap of simply reading (or worse, reading becomes a chore), consider that the Sovereign God of the universe inspired this word through generations to His people in order to tell His story: through it, with the Holy Spirit as our interpreter and counselor, we get a glimpse, however small it may be, into the mind of God.

Yet that is itself the paradox. Notice how this passage begins: "Seek the Lord while He may be found." Remember the words of David in Psalm 139:

"Where can I go from Your Spirit? Where can I flee from Your presence? If I go up to the heavens, You are there; if I make my bed in the depths, You are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there Your hand will guide me, Your right hand will hold me fast."

Or remember Paul's contemplation in Romans 8: "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?"

So if God is onmipresent, what does it mean to seek Him while He can be found? If God's ways are higher than ours, we'll never be able to understand completely. The best we get is a glimpse.

Think of it like this: we're walking by the railroad tracks and a train speeds by. We decide to follow it, so we start running. Regardless of how fast we run, are we likely to catch the train as it fades away into the distance? No- but as we continue running we get closer and closer to the train's final destination.

In much the same way, as we seek to understand the word of God we do not gain full insight into the mind of God. Yet with the help of the Holy Spirit and with perseverance in seeking on our own parts, we will get closer and closer to the target. Thus to "seek the Lord while He is near" becomes a command of intention to us. Even though our understanding of the infinite is immeasurably limited because we are finite, in seeking we are able to draw nearer to God and are transformed by His presence through the process.

Bibliography

NIV Archaeological Study Bible. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2005. Print.

Be Holy

"Therefore prepare your minds for action; discipline yourselves; set all your hope on the grace that Jesus Christ will bring you when He is revealed. Like obedient children, do not be conformed to the desires that you formerly had in ignorance. Instead, as He who called you is holy, be holy yourselves in all your conduct; for it is written, 'You shall be holy, for I am holy.'"

1 Peter 1:13-16

I am incapable of holiness. Every instinct within me runs without hesitation from it towards immediate self-gratification and later towards my own destruction. This seems to be the way of humanity. Think about the apostle Paul, as he records in Romans 7:

"So I find it to be a law that when I want to do good, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God in my inmost self, but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind, making me captive to the law of sin that dwells within me."

Romans 7:21-23

Scripture is filled with stories about people whom God called to holiness, yet who inevitably found ways to fall short of that calling. Our own lives are testimonies to this. Yet there is hope!

As Peter exhorts the church in his letter, we can take the path of spiritual discipline. The disciplines themselves do nothing to save us: they simply place us bare before the power of the Holy Spirit, which brings the dead back to life in a new creation.

Brothers and sisters, my prayer for us this week is that we are willing to submit ourselves to the work of the Holy Spirit, allowing ourselves to be shaped and transformed by Him as we are intentional in pursuing Christ through discipleship.

Lord God, make us holy as You are holy.

Bibliography

The Holy Bible containing the Old and New Testaments with the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books: New Revised Standard Version. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2006.

On Memorizing Scripture

"And you never can be sorry for the trouble you took to learn them [two thousand Bible verses]; for knowledge is worth more than anything there is in the world; it's what makes great men and good men..."

Judge Thatcher, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer,
Mark Twain (emphasis mine)

In a world dominated by the latest educational and discipleship trends, I would encourage us not to shy away from memorization. The Judge was above commending Tom on his (albeit alleged) learning of two thousand verses of Scripture. Without getting into the various arguments for and against rote memorization as a teaching tool, I think it is important that we take another look at the Judge's final statement (emphasized above). Now consider the words of the Psalmist:

"Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day. Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies, for it is ever with me. I have more understanding than all my teachers, for your testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the aged, for I keep your precepts. I hold back my feet from every evil way, in order to keep Your word. I do not turn aside from Your rules, for You have taught me. How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth."

Psalm 119:97-103

Brothers and sisters, we should be intentional about memorizing Scripture. We are surrounded by pressing matters and temptation every day: in order to navigate these troubled waters, it is vital that God's word is our meditation. It should be the chart by which we navigate. The psalmist notes the wisdom it gives him in comparison to those who are considered wise in society. More importantly, he proclaims the practical impact of having God's word as his meditation: holding his own feet back from evil, he does not turn aside from obeying the command of God.

Lord, let this be the case in our own lives. Empower us by Your Spirit to better hear Your voice and obey Your word.

Bibliography

ESV Bible. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2001. Kindle.

Twain, Mark. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. New York, NY: Random House Publishing, 1989.

Ego

"My Son, patience and humility in adversities are more pleasing to Me than much comfort and devotion in prosperity. Why doth a little thing spoken against thee make thee sad? If it had been more, thou still oughtest not to be moved. But now suffer it to go by; it is not the first, it is not new, and it will not be the last, if thou live long. Thou art brave enough, so long as no adversity meeteth thee. Thou givest good counsel also, and knowest how to strengthen others with thy words; but when tribulation suddenly knocketh at thine own door, thy counsel and strength fail. Consider thy great frailty, which thou dost so often experience in trifling matters nevertheless, for thy soul's health these things are done when they and such like happen unto thee."

Thomas a Kempis, The Imitation of Christ, 3.57.1

These words are offered as from God the Father through the mediation of one of His saints. Take a moment and read them again.

Now consider this:

“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, l because they do not know him who sent me.

John 15:18-21

Brothers and sisters, as we choose to follow Jesus, we need to be aware of this. The Holy Spirit works to transform our minds, shaping us to look more like Jesus: one could go so far as to say this is the truest form of the Imitation (to use Kempis' terminology). Now for the point: if we are imitating Christ, this will cause friction with the world. It makes people uncomfortable, because while the Gospel is the message of God's love, mercy, and grace, it calls us to life set apart—sanctified— and freed from the bondage to our sin and to our own egos. It calls for a life devoted to Kingdom principles, living out the ideals and commands of the King, which are not the principles or values of the present age.

Remember the call of Christ: "If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me" (Matthew 16:24, emphasis mine).

Bibliography

Benham, William, trans. The Imitation of Christ. Enhanced Media, 2017. Kindle.

ESV Bible. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2001. Kindle.

Details in the Fabric

"He must increase, but I must decrease."

John 3:30

In a society that thrives on celebrity and acclaim, this verse is a stark challenge to our very nature. We want people to know us. Think about social media: we publicize details and events in our lives, waiting eagerly to see who will like, comment, or retweet.

I do not believe that social media is a bad thing when used in moderation. Used correctly, it is an amazing tool for networking and even ministry. That being said, let us not forget that our story is not the story.

The sovereign God of the universe calls us to be a part of His story throughout history. His is the narrative and the glory. He is the main character. The narrative is not about what we can do or accomplish, but about what He has done and is still doing.

God, empower us to be content to be details in Your story. May You receive all the glory through our lives. You must increase, we must decrease. 

Bibliography

ESV Bible. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2001. Kindle.

Sweeping

"Remember these things, O Jacob, for you are my servant, O Israel. I have made you, you are my servant; O Israel, I will not forget you. I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed you."

Isaiah 44.21-22

How sweet that God has removed our sins "like the morning mist." This beautiful imagery comes at the conclusion of a declaration against idols. As I read this chapter, I was challenged to think about the idols in my own life. They are there, even though I attempt to deny them their power.

Think about the morning dew: it is present for just a little while, its impact visible. Then it is gone. The idols and sins that we wrestle now will not last forever; these current foes will become memories as new ones take their place.

It is God alone who is able to clean up the messes within us. True, we will likely get messy again: we may fall into this or that puddle, we will wrestle with our demons. Yet still He calls: "Return to me, for I have redeemed you." My friends, dear brothers and sisters, let us not lose sight of the fact that God is bigger than our mess.

Bibliography

NIV Archaeological Study Bible. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2005. Print.