Mystery of Godliness, part 3

Two weeks ago, I brought out how Paul tripped me up in his letter to Timothy with the phrase “the mystery of godliness.” I’m more familiar with the phrases the mystery of the gospel and the mystery of salvation, but I hadn’t considered godliness having a mystery about it. Then last week I looked a little deeper at Paul’s definition of that mystery.

“And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness:

God was manifested in the flesh,

Justified in the Spirit,

Seen by angels,

Preached among the Gentiles,

Believed on in the world,

Received up in glory.”

1 Timothy 3:16

I emphasized the mystery of how we see those things in the life of Jesus. We know them to be, but we know them by faith. We don’t comprehend every detail of how or why. God has held parts to be a mystery.

I ended with a greater mystery. How is this mystery to be expressed through me? Or better, how is it being expressed through me today, if it indeed is?

Perhaps the greatest hurdle to understanding the mystery is the first point: God manifesting in the flesh—or in particular, my flesh. Now, I’m not talking about not being who I used to be or what I could have been, given my before-Christ trajectory. One word comes to mind whenever I talk about this aspect of the mystery: intimacy.

We see that intimacy has been His purpose from the beginning. It’s written in Genesis 3 that after Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, they heard the voice of the Lord in the garden in the cool of the day. They recognized Him. This must not have been something new or rare for them. They enjoyed a companionship, an intimacy, that happened with few other men before Christ. God pointed out the importance of it when He rebuked rebellion even in Moses’s family by saying He has face-to-face conversations with Moses but no one else.

We understand that, in His omniscience, God hears our thoughts even before we speak them. However, as intimate as that might seem, He hears the thoughts of everyone. Knowing our thoughts and being intimate with Him are different things. This points out the different words used for know. One is simple knowledge; the other word speaks of knowing as Adam knew Eve and conceived a son.

In Jeremiah 31, the prophet wrote about a new covenant for Israel whereby they will no longer need teachers telling them what the Law says. Instead, He will write His Laws on their hearts. Looking backward through the lens of time, we know he was writing about the coming Messiah, Jesus. We also know how we have changed after we have put our trust in Jesus. I must ask, do we experience the intimacy and solid oneness indicated by God’s word to Jeremiah?

As for the new covenant we have through Jesus, consider His prayer in John chapter seventeen. He asked that not only those who were with Him but also those who would believe in the testimony, would enjoy the oneness He had with the Father. That should rattle a few doctrines.

And Jesus emphasized the importance of intimacy with Him and the Father in saying there will be those who have served in ministry even with signs and wonders that miss the mark. He said He will tell them to depart from His presence because “I never knew you.” In other words, we were never intimate.

Peter wrote that from the foundation of the world, God had sealed up a mystery that even the angels and spiritual powers longed to look into (1 Peter 1:10-12), but the revealing of the mystery was reserved for us to know. When Jesus was born, a myriad of angels in a great chorus sang of the wonder and wisdom of God having been born in a lowly manger. They saw only the beginning of the mystery and were filled with awe. When Jesus ministered on earth, even demons recognized who he was (the Messiah, God incarnate) and objected that this wasn’t the time for judgment. He silenced them. Cast them out. Paul wrote to the Corinthians that our warfare for the kingdom was not against flesh and blood, but against spiritual powers. Angels watch and see. It’s a mystery.

James indicated in his letter it is the in and out breathing of our faith—inhaling through our intimacy and exhaling through acting on what we believe—that keeps our faith alive.

Paul lists God in the flesh as the first point in the mystery of godliness. Every example, instruction, correction, and exhortation Paul wrote to the first century churches perfecting godliness points back to the core of the gospel message. He also warned that following to the letter the instructions becomes “unprofitable and useless” if it becomes law and lacks intimacy with Him.

I see this in the Word, now I am working toward it becoming real in my life. Here is a test I give myself regularly:

1. On a one-to-ten scale, with one being I believe in God and ten being I am intimate with God, where would I rate myself?
2. What are spiritual beings seeing in my life? When’s the last time demons have shuddered?
3. What parts of the world are being affected by my testimony? Remember, the world isn’t around the globe. It’s just outside my front door.

A Closer Look at the Mystery

Why all the mystery? The gospel is simple—or supposed to be, right? Then why keep some truths hidden? Why speak in parables, metaphors, types and shadows? Who’s with me?

Okay, I was a little facetious in that paragraph, but only a bit. Many times I’ve told God to just be up front and clear with me, but then He has a better plan. Even the wisdom of this world attests to the fact we place greater value on things that cost more. How much is God’s wisdom and nearness worth? How much effort are we willing to spend to know His wisdom? Paul gave us keys to unlocking the secret of kingdom life. I introduced it in last week’s blog on 1 Timothy 3.

The first key reveals God manifested in the flesh. That alone is a concept that continues to trip up even the most intelligent men walking among us today. Even if they accept God’s existence, that He spoke the universe into existence out of nothing, that He maintains a vigil over events on earth; the thought of abandoning His place in heaven to be born a man eludes their reasoning powers. It’s a mystery.

If they can get past that premise, then they struggle over the story of Jesus. Was he God? Was he a man? Based on what we know in the Bible written about him, he differed from other men even though we are told he wasn’t. He even called himself the son of man. Yet, he did what other men couldn’t—nor can—do. It’s a mystery.

The second key to the mystery says He was justified in the Spirit. Jesus said to the people of his day who wanted to know the truth about him to believe him because of the works he does. I consider this partly a plea to remember what the prophets had said about the Messiah. I also believe it was underscoring his claim that he did nothing apart from the Father. The miracles he performed were not of his own doing. His Father in heaven sent the signs to confirm His Son’s message. The Holy Spirit released His power through Jesus so people would know that the Father was in the Son and the Son was in the Father. How does the Almighty fill a mortal man for such things? It’s a mystery.

The third key reaches through and beyond Jesus’s ministry on earth. Gentiles also heard and received the gospel and godliness. For the Jews, this was a mystery, even though their scriptures said this would happen. They had it figured out differently. In their understanding, God would lift Israel as the pinnacle of the nations of the world so their place as a favored people would be seen and reverence by all others. They overlooked the references to a new covenant that took God’s promises and favor to all individuals, not just nations. Being able to enter into intimacy in the Holiest Place without proper offerings and sacrifices by anyone but the High Priest was inconceivable. Jesus opened the way for that in his dealings with those the Jewish leaders disparaged. His followers carried it far beyond. Yet, godliness is a mystery.

The fourth key builds on the third key. The mystery is believed throughout the world. For the first believers, seeing people from every part of the known world claiming to have come into an intimacy with the Holy God—the One who is so holy that you couldn’t say His name—had to have been difficult to accept. They had a history of several millenniums that proved in their minds such a thing was impossible. At the same time, God had confirmed its truth by the same signs and wonders done in their own midst. God was in chosen men spreading His Word to all people.

The fifth and final key rests in the last testimony by God that Jesus is who he said he was. In plain view of over 400 followers, His Father received Him up in glory. After coming back from the dead, Jesus spent several days with His followers. He continued proving with signs and wonders that He really had died and was raised to life again—the first born of all creation in the new covenant. The final evidence of his position in God’s kingdom happened when lifted him up and took him away in the clouds.

The significance of Paul’s definition lies in this truth: it is not only a historical event. We are to be immersed into the mystery. Let the fullness of the concept of God manifesting Himself in you, in me, permeate every cell of your being. Yes, we know that “when we accept Jesus as our Savior, he lives in our hearts.” I want to shout, “Get out of the cliché.” The idea of the Creator of the universe coming down to mankind, to become one of them. What an earth-shaking idea! But, how much more should His coming down to me, to dwell in me, have an even greater impact. I’m sure you can give testimony of how your life changed from the day you first asked Jesus to forgive you, but what sort of impact does having Him in your heart—the Almighty living in you—have on a routine day? It’s a mystery.

Moving Toward the Light

Last week’s blog has been years in the making. I remember spending months praying for a greater revelation and years growing incrementally. Paul wrote that he would give up everything he had accomplished. He even considered his name, reputation, and works he had done as a pile of pooh for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ.

For Paul to make such a comment, I felt like I had so much to learn in comparison. Then I read again about his conversion experience and his retreating from public exposure in order to look at the Scriptures (Old Testament) for a deeper understanding of Jesus and His ministry. After only three years, he exploded onto the church planting scene.

I’ve had several more years in my devotion to the Lord than that and have nowhere near the foundation of faith Paul displayed. What’s wrong with me? Sure, it takes the Holy Spirit to reveal the truth, but why would He withhold any truth from me?

Seeking insights from Paul’s life
I have focused seasons of time on other verses Paul wrote, seeking to know fully the height, depth, length, and breadth of the love of God. Because of it, my faith has grown. Over the years, I have continued to know a little more. With the gain, I’ve experienced setbacks. Circumstances have overwhelmed me and our family, giving rise to doubts that took time to recover from.

About a decade ago, the Lord planted a word in my heart that set me aside from ministry in the church while I spent three years writing and re-writing what He had shown me. He continued to deepen and broaden that message. Then, four years ago, several insights began to merge into a clearer call I believe Jesus has for His church. Much like moving a magnifying glass to bend light to a pinpoint that can start a fire, these messages have the power to burn away the dross in the church and turn it into a light in the world that drives away all darkness.

How can we see the vision He’s given become active in our lives? It should be clear by now that we can’t make it happen. Anything we manufacture takes the power and the glory out of the Lord’s hand. We are dependent on the move of the Holy Spirit. However, Paul does give guidance in his letters how we can follow what he must have done in those three black-out years of his life.

• He got alone with God.
• He studied the Scriptures for what they said about the Messiah.
• He received direct revelation of what God meant them to mean, not what men said they meant. 

Knowing that Jesus was the prophesied Messiah changed a lot of interpretations he had previously accepted. His understanding of God’s grace given through Jesus deepened as more verses about the Messiah came to light. He knew without any doubt Jesus only fulfilled them. Paul’s devotion to the Word and to knowing the truth was honored by the Holy Spirit. Just as Jesus had said, “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness…”

Being separate
In the early days of my stepping aside from church leadership, a pastor in another church made a soul-shaking observation. “The problem in the church is too many Christians try to see how far away from Christ they can be and still be called a Christian.” Where does that attitude come from? Why would a person want to be like the world that they were delivered from with great joy?

It could be from a misdirected idea that the world might be more open to listen to what they have to say if they weren’t too different from them. Remember this: As the world drifts further from Christian values and truth, our attempts to blend in carries us away from His likeness.

Or, could it arise from the need for affirmation? In the need to have people like us, do we dance to their drumbeat? The Word reminds us that He loves us. No other love really matters. As we return His love, we find ourselves—our hearts and our lives—interwoven with others who share in that most important love relationship. Jesus desires that He fills our longing directly and through the body, His Church.

Our special place in Christ
He asked in His prayer in John 17 for all who follow Him to be one with Him and with the Father (not in some philosophical or even mystical way, so catch this!) even as He is with the Father and the Father with Him. Foremost in the Lord’s heart before going to the cross was this. What impact does that have on your image of being in Christ?

Let me take this a step further. Some prophesies about the Christ in the Old Testament have not been fulfilled. Jesus said we would go on to do even greater things than He did. I believe some things were left for His corporate body (corporate Christ, the Church) to fulfill.

Could the standard God promised to raise up in the last days when the enemy comes in like a flood will be the corporate Christ? I believe so. As events seem to be getting bunched together toward that final conclusion, I am believing more and more I may live to see the Church (individually and corporately) so filled with Christ that God’s glory will be evident and undeniable.

Never miss the mark in Him
However, even if His return is still in the distant future, and even if His way of bringing the conclusion of all things is far from what I’ve imagined; I have greater confidence in Him accomplishing the work He started in me. 2020 has been a time for revealing the dross in my life (or as Paul said, the pile of pooh). My reactions to events have not been in my Lord’s nature, but mine. My prayers now have been focused removing the heart of stone—any part of it that remains—and replace it with a new heart of flesh with His Word written upon it. Join me in that prayer, won’t you?

Life’s Three-legged Race

Do the kids have three-legged races these days of virtual reality games? Maybe at old-fashioned fun fairs? I’m afraid they may have gone the way of greased pig catching contests, although they may still be around in some rural areas during certain celebrations. But three-legged races are part of my school day memories and were as much a part of childhood as tag, Red Rover, and Hide-and-Seek.

Strategy of the game

Winning racers learned how to coordinate their steps. Having their adjacent legs tied together was not enough. Unified syncopation made winners rise above the other contestants. Even with that, however, the two needed to be somewhat evenly matched in terms of length of stride. Or, the one with the longer stride had to learn to match his partner’s step. Some may have fallen into step; others may have developed a cadence like: tied, free…tied, free; 1, 2…1,2; or any other designation not left, right since one’s left was tied to the other’s right.

Strategy of life

No matter how they worked it out between themselves, they had to agree on some system to keep them from making their partner trip and fall. That reminds me of a verse I read recently from the prophet Amos. In chapter 3 and verse 3 of his book, he asked, “Can two walk together, except they be agreed?” It’s one line spoken a direct word from God to Israel, rebuking them from going their ways and opposing God’s. Therefore, judgment was coming upon them.

That stern reprimand speaks volumes to Christians. We’ve betrothed ourselves to Jesus. We’ve tied our lives to His will and purpose for us. As Paul wrote to the church in Rome, we are to reckon ourselves dead to sin and alive to Christ. We are to be yoked together with him. How well are we doing in life’s three-legged race? Do our lives reveal we agree with Him? These are tough questions I have wrestled with and prayed over for the last few years. I’m happy for the times I can say I believe I do show that. I cringe and cry out when something bad happens to uncover attitudes, words and actions that show how out of step I really am.

God provides for us to win

A little later in Amos, there is a word of hope. After detailing Israel’s failures—in so many words because they were tied to the wrong partner in their friendship with their Godless neighbors—and escalating the specifics of their offense and judgment, chapter four ends with, “For behold, He who forms mountains, and creates the wind, who declares to man what his thought is, and makes the morning darkness, who treads the high places of the earth—The Lord God of hosts is His name,” (Amos 4:13 NKJV). In other words, despite their callous dismissal of God, He declares/reveals Himself to them. His anger with sin does not obliterate His love. He reaches out to them again.

And I am so thankful for 1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Humility opens the door to receive grace. Grace becomes the vehicle for mercy. Mercy takes us to stand upright before God’s throne. There we can get our syncopation restored so we can win in this three-legged race.

 

Revelations

Something happened at the doctor’s office this week that has me stepping back up to the bully pulpit. Like all of you, I’m tired of hearing about Covid-19, the latest do or don’t list, and people’s reaction to extensions of sheltering-in-place measures. Some of you may have seen and recall a couple of bold comments I made at the beginning of May after having stifled them for weeks.

In response to an article I read on Facebook that could suggest something sinister afloat, I observed, “What we have seen is how easy it is to control the masses using fear, misinformation, conflicting information (unless the mask is the n95 variety, it will do nothing for you) to add confusion, and a non-stop one-line message.”

Privately, I had said to others that I do believe in a conspiracy, but it’s one dating back to Adam and Eve. Whether or not U.S. corporate and financial giants have their hands on the steering wheel of this wreck will likely never be known and, more importantly, may be immaterial. For those who may not know me well, let me say I believe prophesies in the Bible will be fulfilled. It’s looking more and more like I might see their fulfillment in my lifetime.

A Mark on the Back of the Hand
Several have posted on Facebook about chipping and tracking Americans, objecting vehemently and making reference to the mark of the beast in the book of Revelation. Do you remember when pay-at-the-pump was introduced around forty years ago? That’s when I made the following comment which I brought it up in conversation over those tracking chip posts. “America will not have the mark of the beast as spoken of in Revelation forced upon it. Americans will demand it.” They will—or at least a significant number of them—will flock to it for the bit of safety the government control will make them feel.

Again, in those private conversations I added that if the fear continues at its trajectory, we will soon hear people demanding to become a cashless society. That would be the next logical step for reducing contact with this or any future scary virus. Now to my doctor’s office experience.

Overheard

While I waited (mask in place, seated a safe distance from anyone), another patient entered and stepped up to the counter to sign in and pay her fee. In response to the question, how do you want to pay, she said, “I’m sure you don’t want cash. Money is the dirtiest thing there is.” She even refused a printed receipt, requesting an emailed one instead.

I’ve never considered myself a prophet. I guess I feel like some things are so obvious to me that I wonder how no one else sees them. As these things foretold in the Bible begin to happen around us, I see we are closer to another prophesy concerning the last days before final judgment. According to the vision the Apostle John received, men will be so filled with fear that they will cry out for mountains to fall on them instead of repenting. The window of time for us to make a difference in their lives is closing.

How Then Shall We Live

Right now people are looking for safe places. We Christians know we have that in Jesus Christ. However, the spoken Word without the visible living Word will not reach them. Their ears have been assaulted with too many words. They’ve closed them against more instruction. Being told they have it wrong will not be tolerated. But seeing Jesus as a reality in another person’s life will appear as a novelty—enough to arouse curiosity or perhaps awe. That means we Christians must live as citizens in His kingdom, in His likeness, and in His power. His Word working in us must be on display. We must get intimate with Him.

For my comments on how we can be that, click on the category box located on the right for “Blueprint for the Church” and read from the oldest first.

To Shut or Not to Shut

I was the first in my circle of influence to speak out against shutting down church meetings. The attacks online against my position were both endless and ruthless. I was the evil to be destroyed, in some eyes, all because I stood behind the science of social needs of humans and the scripture that exhorts believers to not forsake assembling together. The spiritual and the science agreed on my position.

Becoming flexible
In time, I bent my position and spoke to church leadership about having services on zoom. To my knowledge we were the first at least in our area to have a zoom service. Not only our main Sunday service, but also the various weekly small group meetings continued seeking, worshipping and serving Jesus in this way. It wasn’t the same as being in the physical presence of one another, but it still encouraged and built up the church.

New vision
Out of those meetings came the realization that the church could actually come out of isolation stronger instead of weaker. It’s too easy to rely on the experience of others to feel the Lord’s presence. We were being called upon to enter his presence in our own space apart from others. Another stumbling block to intimacy with him has been the busy-ness of our world. It seemed like the Lord said, “The hustle is gone now. Draw near.” We have challenged each other to use this time to learn to hear his voice more clearly, to enjoy his presence more fully, to become mighty in spirit by faith.

Turning tide
My struggle has changed considerably since the beginning. The restless tide is swelling. We all want an end to the virus and the shut-down. The fear of the solution against the spread (and doubting its wisdom) is becoming greater than the fear of the disease for many people. Two past experiences probably best explain where my opinion teeters now.

Spiritual dieting
First, my wife and I started a diet about a week or two before the disease was even heard about. We’ve laughed with the good-natured memes that depicted post-Covid body weights. This diet proved successful for us years ago. We lost the weight up to the point of leveling off the balance between our metabolism and caloric intake. Relaxing the discipline along with life interruptions and stress allowed the pounds to pack back on…and then some. We understand stress eating, but we have been able to stick with the diet and lose weight in spite of all the changes Covid brought. In some ways, the shut-down may have helped us because we focused on buying nothing more than what we needed to prepare our meals, spending the least amount of time in the stores necessary.

In like manner, our time before the Lord has been more intentional, more frequent, and deeper reaching in our hearts. The key for coming out of seclusion stronger is maintaining the discipline of the daily minimum requirements for a healthy spirit. It’s too easy to slip back into the old ways and start packing on the weight of busy-ness and wrong philosophies/attitudes.

Proper baking
The other metaphor I am pondering comes from watching my mom bake a sensitive cake. I remember the care she took to avoid strong vibrations in the kitchen. Shooing me away from opening the oven door to check the progress of a promised dessert. I remember the sickening feeling when something caused the cake to go flat and the thrill of seeing one come out of the oven as designed, seductive in its beauty.

My challenge
We have used this time of Covid closures to let the Holy Spirit cook us, in a way. After all my strong objections to shutting church meetings and my fears of how America will change and come out of the disease reaction, I am now concerned the process which the Holy Spirit has begun will be ended by our impatience and our “cake” will go flat. I pray that doesn’t happen whether we remain secluded or not. I know the Holy Spirit will work in our lives either way. I can trust him. My concern is for our part of the recipe. Will we continue the new discipline of our spiritual diet, or will we be too quick to return to the deceitful delicacies offered by this world along with its busy-ness.

How has your life changed during the isolation?
What new life patterns are you planning to maintain?
What are your prayers for the future?

A Pandemic Spiritual Retreat

I admit I took the Covid-19 stay-at-home orders personally. It sounded too much like an attack against the Church, intending to weaken believers. Self-development gurus claim only 21 days are necessary to create a new habit. Temporarily closing churches had the potential for creating a new lifestyle that didn’t include assembling together to worship. The writer of the Book of Hebrews warned against forsaking the gatherings. The order to stay at home stood in opposition to that.

Moreover, scientific tests have proven the need we humans have for touch, even how much it helps in the healing process. The response to this pandemic has pitted need against need.

We’ve witnessed the world agreeing with these points as a united gasp escaped at the sight of freezer trailers parked to receive the bodies in New York City. The world stood in somber compassion for the families separated not only by death, but also from the normal grieving process of the death.

More uncertainties
I have begun to see posts asking the same question I pondered in the beginning: What is our nation and the world going to be like as we exit the pandemic and afterward? One unsettling conclusion from our experience involves how quickly Americans will give up their freedoms if the fear is great enough. The writers of our Constitution knew rights, once surrendered, are difficult to impossible to regain. That concern created the Constitution’s first amendments known as the Bill of Rights. It is not yet known what America will be when the pandemic is behind us. Everyone hopes we return to normal, but they also wonder what our new normal will be.

Table turned
What we can be certain of, as I think back to my opening concern for the Church, is much more positive. By the way, I use the capital C to refer to all believers as Jesus sees them—one Church, not any particular division of His body of believers. The busy-ness of our daily lives often bumped study time in the Bible and spending time alone with Jesus off our calendar. Maybe we complained about not having time but struggled to arrange or make that time a priority. This time of isolation has given us the time we have needed. Instead of weakening the Church, I have seen signs that individual believers have been strengthened. Many are anticipating another Great Awakening as we come out of this because we have not been able to depend on the pastor to satisfy our weekly duties. We have learned to hear the Lord’s voice for ourselves and for our specific needs.

Value—and use—the remaining time
For that, we can say we have more good news. We are still in lockdown. We still have time to turn our hearts more fully to the Lord—to develop that habit, if you will—to walk in His counsel and constant presence. This pandemic may or may not have been a conspired attempt to weaken the Church, but it has instead been our opportunity for a spiritual retreat to refresh us, to get us back to our first love. With that, let’s renew Jesus’ vision for the Church, working outside the realm of politics and bringing new souls into the freedom in Christ.

Do You Hear Me Now?

The slap. It’s an action used in so many storylines. Whether in comedies like The Three Stooges movies or in serious drama like the movie Patton where the general goes into a hospital and attempts to slap shellshock out of a private, the slap gets a reaction. The receiver gives the deliverer his full attention. Gibbs in NCIS used a variation of the slap. Instead of on the face, he gave a swat on the back of the head. Sometimes it looked almost playful, but writers or the audience over time considered it, and it is no more. In comedy scenes we laugh. In drama we feel the pain. How should we respond when we see it in the Bible?

A Biblical Slap

The writer of Hebrews slapped his readers to get their attention through his words. They aren’t harsh words. They are full of wonder and love, in fact. However, with it is a “you should know this” theme. Nearly forty percent of the letter—the first five chapters—takes the time to re-establish who Jesus was and is. In case anyone missed why that knowledge is important or has failed to understand why it makes a difference, the writer approached the matter from several viewpoints. Written to the Jewish Christians, he challenged the weakness of their faith and response in their lives to Jesus. He countered their natural tendencies to drift back into their millenniums-old traditions of Judaism.

Moreover, for Christians in that church who hadn’t been Jews, the writer explained the background of each perspective in a way to deepen and expand their understanding and awe of Jesus. His purpose was to bring both Jew and Gentile together into an expression of the single corporate man Christ. And he had to first slap them out of their spiritual slumber. He chided them for having become dull of hearing.

Do you think of Him as…

The writer administered a heavy dose of a fresh look at Jesus. And, it seems like the right medicine for today’s believers. No matter what our experiences have been—before or after knowing Jesus—He is so much more! Listen to how the writer described Jesus: the Son of God, the heir of everything, the active force in creation, the radiance of the glory of God, the exact imprint of God’s likeness, upholding the universe by the word of his power. After eradicating the judgment of sin on mankind, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, becoming much higher than the angels, and God calls him Son. Jesus bears the testimony from the Almighty Himself that he is God’s Son.

In case any “Yeah, but…” remained, the writer continued with quotes from the prophets and King David supporting his claim. As fearsome as any angel or spiritual being might appear to be to anyone, Jesus is greater. That alone is reason to listen and obey his word. If the word of angels is to be harkened, so much more should a word from the Son be honored.

Salvation came through him. Thousands of years of trying to please God got the early Jewish readers of the letter of the law nowhere. Their sin was still upon them. The same holds true for the Gentiles—and by merit of the slap—for all believers who have become dull of hearing, who trust on a one-time confession of faith without the continued and daily devotion to him.

He is more…

Jesus is greater than Moses whom God used to deliver the descendants of Abraham from slavery and unite them as a nation and a people under God. Moses could not take them to that place of rest that Jesus has opened to us.

Following the precepts in the Law of Moses, Israel had their high priests appointed by God, but even Israel (in the loins of Abraham) paid homage to the high priest Melchizedek. Jesus is greater. Today we have great teachers of the Word, but be careful not to honor them too greatly, because Jesus is greater.

I felt the slap on the back of the head. I heard the “Get your head on straight” or the “Get in the game” exhortation accompanying it. Hebrews 1-5 is merely a pinch of how much greater and how much better Jesus is. When we consider He has put His Spirit in us, we should be filled with awe and asking for what He wants to do in and through us next, every day. Let’s not hinder that with those wrong affections I wrote about last week.

 

More, More About Jesus

I’ve said it before, I think, but it bears saying again. We are empty nesters. That’s important to us because…well…first, my wife and I have not had the house to ourselves for almost 44 years. At some point in time each of our five adult children have come back home. All with very legitimate reasons and all moving in almost as soon as the other moved out. We had come to the point where being empty nesters had to be a myth.

The second reason, which springs out of the first, is the time it affords us to get in the Word together and in prayer. We have treasured the time spent in reading only a few verses out of a book in the Bible then sharing insights we each got out of them. Over the next few weeks, I hope to share some of them with you, but let me preface them with how much they have tied together into one message.

The one thing
Perhaps the strongest one to date came from 2 Corinthians 6:12: “You are not restricted by us, but you are restricted in your own affections.” Paul has been saying that he has conducted himself in such a way as to direct their attention to Jesus, not himself. In so doing, they are not hindered in their experiences by him nor his ministry team if they are indeed following Jesus. They have the same Spirit in them as he does. If they are restricted by anything (here’s the big point), they are restricted by their own affections.

He goes on to underscore his point by saying how abhorrent and unthinkable it would be to put idols into God’s temple. Then he reminds them that they are now God’s temple.

The first century Church, the last Church, the Today Church
For years, I have told Jesus how much I desired to see Him moving in the Church in power as He once did. I told Him I hoped to see His glory fill believers before I die. I almost felt guilty asking for it, but at the same time I believed it to be His purpose and promise. The longer the delay, the more the idea of it began to seem like our hope of becoming empty nesters—something for someone else, but not us.

Rejecting that, I decided that it was something to continue praying for but was nothing I could make happen. It can only be accomplished by a move of His Holy Spirit. Man can’t manufacture it nor force it.

Then we read that verse. The hinderance is not external. I restrict it. We all restrict it by our own affections—by who or what receives our passion and devotion, by who or what we worship, by being self-focused and not focused on the kingdom of God and His righteousness.

Affections—Get out of my way or get in line
My wife and I had a good time of prayer afterwards. And I feel like the dam in my heart just broke open so that what Jesus has put there can start coming out. Expect to see my blogs become more consistent again. If you see me missing any weeks, that will be a sign for you to pray for me to return to right affections.

Has discouragement and disappointment in your relationship with Jesus become a new normal for you?
Do you believe being a Christian should be more than what you’ve experienced?
If so, message me. I would like to talk with you so we can encourage one another.

Come

Last weekend I read a post by another writer that reminded me I also had a word for the year: Come. I smiled as I remembered it. I missed it during the rehab of our house. It, along with my writing, got overrun by the self-imposed deadlines of the work on the house. From July to Thanksgiving we went from construction zone to seeing our imaginations turn out to be less than the reality.

In the beginning: chaos

After Thanksgiving

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The disruption began much earlier as we began packing our lives into boxes and having that interrupted by surgery and recovery. In short, it has been a year-long, grueling project. My sixty-nine years seemed so much older at the end of the year than it did in the beginning as muscles and joints ached and didn’t recover as they used to. (And that was with my son, grandson, and my son’s brother-in-law doing most of the heavy work.)

When I needed it most, I heard a whisper in my spirit, “Come.” It took on many forms. Sometimes, “Come. Tell me what’s bothering you.” Other times, “Come. Rest in my arms.” And, “Come. I have something to show you in my word.”

No matter how the Come presented itself, it delivered peace and love. It yielded the fruits of contentment, thankfulness, and at times a bit more awe.

With Christmas only days away, I am reminded of another Come. The shepherds said, “Come, let us go see for ourselves what the angels have declared to us.” The invitation to come is for everyone. Jesus’s arms are always open and welcoming. He can never be inconvenienced. He will never turn away from a seeking heart.

I pray you will let the word Come be your word for today if you haven’t experienced Jesus’s love for you. I would love to hear from you if you have questions, if you respond to the call, even if you want to share how a word for the year impacted you.

Posting a comment comes directly to me. It can remain private between us, or I can allow it to be posted. I will honor your request if you want it private. Merry Christmas.