Surprised by Belief

Posted on February 9, 2018 by heartcalm7

Jesus told Nicodemus not to be surprised that one must be born again in order to see the kingdom of God.  (John 3:5, 7)  He goes on to explain in a metaphor, The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit. (8) IMG_1892

This was the experience of the early church.  After Jesus’ resurrection, as they prayed in hiding, the disciples were suddenly surrounded by what sounded like a strong wind, as they were filled with the Holy Spirit and with power.  (Acts 2:2-4)  The Ethiopian eunuch traveling through Gaza and the Roman centurion Cornelius both showed evidence of a miraculous new birth, as the wind of the Spirit blew unexpectedly on them.  They were taken by surprise by life-changing belief in Jesus.

To the outside observer, the Spirit’s action seems random and sporadic.  But in the mind of God, these movements of the Spirit are an orderly fulfillment of His sovereign design.

Jesus said that No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.   John 6:44  He draws us in a wonderful way that is mysterious and unpredictable, yet accomplishing God’s will incisively, as a well-shot arrow finds its way to the target.

 pexels-photo-842876.jpegFor by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.   Ephesians 2:8-9

Thank You, Lord, for the wonderful, mysterious way You draw people to Yourself in inexplicable, life-changing belief.  We are awestruck by Your wisdom and sovereignty as we see You work in the hearts of people around us.  We pray that You move in that same way in the lives of people we love in our families, neighborhoods, and workplace.  Blow, Holy Spirit, blow!

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Longing For Home

Posted on February 3, 2018 by heartcalm7

For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.            Philippians 3:20
The believer in Christ belongs to another unseen world.  The more he reads of his true home, the more he fervently longs to experience it.  Not just as a place to find refuge, away from the dangers, hurts, and disappointments of this seen world —  that would be escapism.  But he longs to live in the here and now in the way he was created to live.

We live in a dual existence.  Our true life is unseen, hidden with Christ, in God (Colossians 3:1-4)  For this reason, we are exhorted to seek, to set our minds on the things above, rather than on the things we can see on earth.

The writer of Hebrews complimented believers in the Messiah for their example of homeward-looking.  All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.   Hebrews 11:13

The lens though which we see life thoroughly colors our thinking, and this affects the way we live.
It determines what we value and what we seek in life, what we trade our precious time to do in the few, short years we have been given.  This is why the subject of our gaze is so important.  John said it had a purifying effect on our lives.

We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.   1 John 3:2-3

Father God, I love you.  Help me to see myself as alive from the dead, rescued from the eternal death I deserve by Your unmerited grace.  Let me be motivated to love the things You love, to hate the things You hate.  Let me spend my time thinking, saying, and doing the things that are part of Your eternal Kingdom values.  Let me walk to Your drumbeat.  Use me to make a difference in the world around me.

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A Saving Look

Posted on February 1, 2018 by heartcalm7

As Israel was being led through the wilderness with little food and water, they began to grumble.  (Numbers 21:4-9)  They writhed under the plan of God to bring them through such hardship, and they rebelled against the leaders who brought them there.  This stirred God’s anger.  “The Lord sent fiery serpents among the people and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died.”  Moses, interceding for the people to be saved from death, was told by God, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a standard; and it shall come about, that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, he shall live.”  Those who chose to look were healed and lived.

Jesus used this story from 1300 years before to illustrate to his night-time visitor Nicodemus how a clueless, helpless human could hope to be born again and be saved from the eternal punishment we deserve.  “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; that whoever believes may in Him have eternal life.  For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.”   John 3:14-16

To be rescued from our impossible predicament is so simple.  Just a believing look is all it takes.  To trust in Jesus being our substitute, rather than hoping that we can someday be good enough.  This saving look is something anyone can do, people from any walk in life and any background.  Kings and queens and homeless and beggars have equal access to this salvation.    Charles Spurgeon (b. 1834), a famous British pastor, tells the story of his own conversion, when he realized he could just look to Jesus and be saved.  [read his story]

Dearest Father, comfort the hearts of us helpless sinners who recognize our powerlessness to save ourselves.  Give us hope.  Open our eyes to the healing salvation that You hold out to us.  Give us boldness to look to You and take this undeserved gift of forgiveness and eternal life from Your hands, clutching it tightly to ourselves.  Thank You, O Father!  Thank You!

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Confessing helplessness

Posted on January 30, 2018 by heartcalm7

O, what a gift it is to be made aware of our life-threatening condition!  After the initial shock, we are grateful to the doctor who uncovers a serious life threat.  Recognizing that we are not invincible — but in fact mortally vulnerable — motivates us to get the help we so desperately need.
Paul said this was quite true of our spiritual condition.  For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.   Romans 5:6

As Judah’s King Jehoshaphat trembled at the approach of a large coalition of hostile invading armies, he declared,

For we are powerless before this great multitude who are coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are on You.     2 Chronicles 20:12

To think we are well prevents us from seeking the help we need so badly.  To recognize that we are bankrupt to fix our own defects prepares us to seek that help from outside ourselves, from Him who made us, who knows our failings, and who alone can make us right.

O God, open my eyes to my many failings.  Let me come to grips with my own helplessness to fix myself.  Do what you must to make me what You designed me to be.  I cast myself into Your capable arms.

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“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.”

Posted on January 25, 2018 by heartcalm7

Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.        Colossians 3:16
What is the importance of having God’s word in our lives?  What is my motivation to let it dwell in me richly?  This would appear to be the question Moses addressed when he said, Take to your heart all the words with which I am warning you today, which you shall command your sons to observe carefully, even all the words of this law.  For it is not an idle word for you; indeed it is your life.                        Deuteronomy 32:46-47

If this Word is our very lives, we do well to treasure it deeply within us.  We do this to 1) experience what God wants for us in our own lives and 2) to give Him tools to use, through us, in the lives of others.

To allow the Word of God to dwell in us richly requires more than just reading or hearing it taught.  To dwell in us means for us to allow it to “settle down” in us and make its home in us.  This may mean repeating it over and over again out loud or in our heads, even to memorize it, so we can apply it and so it is there when we need it.  To let it dwell richly in us is to meditate or ruminate upon it, to mull it over with the intent to apply it.

When God’s wisdom is stored inside us, it can be accessed and used whenever opportunities present to help others.  This may fall into the category of positive encouragement, such as teaching, or it may involve cautioning them with admonition.  Both should be done with all wisdom, if it is to be offered in the way God Himself would do it, were He still present in the flesh.  Such wisdom will be the result of the hard work of treasuring His word within us.  This breeds the confidence needed for us to be used for good in the lives of people in our circles of influence.

Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.       2 Timothy 2:15

To offer back to God tools for Him to work with in our own lives and to be ready and equipped to help others in need gives us reason to sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in our hearts to God.  It is a joy to have the confidence that God will do His wise, good will in and through us, using His word implanted there.

For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven,
And do not return there without watering the earth
And making it bear and sprout,
And furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater;
So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth;
It will not return to Me empty,
Without accomplishing what I desire,
And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.                                                                                Isaiah 55:10-11

Lord, use Your word to fix me, and use me to edify others.

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Come into the Fortress

Posted on January 23, 2018 by heartcalm7

“O God, You have rejected us. You have broken us; You have been angry; O, restore us. You have made the land quake, You have split it open; Heal its breaches, for it totters. . . Thou hast made Thy people experience hardship.”              Psalms 60:1-3

In His omniscient wisdom as our Father, God sometimes chooses to bring us through trouble and difficult times, for our good.  In such times, it is vain for us to seek protection and deliverance in men (60:11, 62:9), aggressive fighting back, or in riches (62:10).  Our only efficacious refuge is the stronghold God provides us.

El Capitan

“From the end of the earth I call to You when my heart is faint; Lead me to the rock that is higher than I. For You have been a refuge for me, A tower of strength against the enemy. Let me dwell in Your tent forever; Let me take refuge in the shelter of Your wings.     [Selah].”                              Psalms 61:2-4 NASB

“My soul waits in silence for God only; From Him is my salvation. He only is my rock and my salvation, My stronghold; I shall not be greatly shaken.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA“My soul, wait in silence for God only, For my hope is from Him. He only is my rock and my salvation, My stronghold; I shall not be shaken. On God my salvation and my glory rest; The rock of my strength, my refuge is in God. Trust in Him at all times, O people; Pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us.  [Selah.]”                 Psalms 62:1-2, 5-8 NASB

Lord, let me rejoice in the circumstances You bring me, trusting in Your wise, loving hand, knowing that all You bring me through is good for me and for the progression of Your kingdom.  Let me fly to You and take my refuge there, cling to You, and draw my every breath and my strength from You.

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“To this one will I look: . .”

Posted on January 19, 2018 by heartcalm7

I remember longing to have a loving, approving look from my father when I was attempting to do something difficult or frightening.  It gave me courage to go on.

There are times when we want to avoid the attention of God, when the decisions we’ve made in life produce shame and regret.  But it is impossible to hide from His omnipresent gaze.

“Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable. ”         Hebrews 4:13

The kind of attention we seek from God, our Father is the kind Aaron the priest prayed over the people of Israel:

“The Lord bless you, and keep you.  The Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you.  The Lord lift up His countenance on you and give you peace.”    Numbers 6:24-26

Is there anything we can do to warrant this kind of attention from God?

One thing we can do is soberly concentrate to earnestly seek to be all He created us to be.

“The eyes of the Lord search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.”    2 Chronicles 16:9

Then add humility, repentance, and prayer to our posture before God.

 

“Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.”        2 Chronicles 7:14

“The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous
And His ears are open to their cry.
The face of the Lord is against evildoers.”     Psalm 34:15-16

Although the only response that can allow our sins to be forgiven and convey the promise of eternal life to us is belief in Jesus, these attitudes of humility, contrition, repentance, and earnest seeking of obedience can deepen our enjoyment of and benefit from our father-son relationship with our Father God.

“But to this one I will look,
To him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word.”                  Isaiah 66:2

Lord, I want so badly Your loving, approving, strengthening gaze.  I want Your powerful life to flow through me.  I want Your wisdom and empowerment in what I do on this earth, as Your ambassador, Your priest.  I want You to do Your will on earth through me.

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Put off the old; put on the new!

Posted on January 15, 2018 by heartcalm7

“. . . that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit,  and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind,  and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.”         Ephesians 4:22-24

You may be standing at the beginning of a new year, glancing back and looking ahead, wishing for something better.  It has been said that a definition of insanity is continuing to do something in the same way, though it has never been successful before.  Notwithstanding the element of truth this humorous maxim has in it, it takes courage to give up comfortable patterns of thinking and living.  But, as in construction, land has to be cleared before a new building can be erected.
Paul warns the Ephesian followers of Christ not to be satisfied with the old ways, but to put them off, like one doffs old clothes.  Similarly, Hebrews 12:1 encourages us to lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.

Before the New Birth, we had no choice but to live aimless, foolish, hurtful, wasted lives.  But now we have a choice, the choice to obediently put on the new self, which is said to have been created perfectly and beautifully, like God Himself.  This metamorphosis is something that we cannot do in our own strength.  (We have tried that, and it has always failed.)  But we can put on what He has already created for us.  He has wrapped me in a robe of righteousness.   Isaiah 61:10

Paul talks about this new life as though it is a sure thing, “a done deal.”  An experienced architect can confidently “see” a building he has designed as though it already exists, lacking only the execution of the construction workers.  God the Father has already created the good works He intends us to live out, as His masterpiece of new birth.  (Ephesians 2:10)  All that is lacking is for us to believe Him, trust Him, put on His new clothes, custom made for us, and walk about in them, watching Him live out His life through us.  (Galatians 2:20)   I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.  And the life I now live I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

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New wine! Come and drink deeply!

Posted on January 8, 2018 by heartcalm7

In this new year, what new adventures will you live out, with God’s help?  Are you open to leaving the old and comfortable behind, if it is not working, and following Him into fresh new directions? 

And He was also telling them a parable: “No one tears a piece of cloth from a new garment and puts it on an old garment; otherwise he will both tear the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old.  And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled out, and the skins will be ruined.  But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins.  And no one, after drinking old wine wishes for new; for he says, ‘The old is good enough.’”                 Luke 5:36-39

Are you in a desert place now, desperately thirsty for satisfaction and fulfillment?  Is this a time for you of waiting and wondering?  In this new year, have the courage to open your hands and receive His “traveling orders” for you.  This is His kind gift to you.  He has assured us that His yoke is easy and His burden is light (Matt. 11:30).  In following Him, we will find rest for our souls.


“Ho! Every one who thirsts, come to the waters;
And you who have no money come, buy and eat.
Come, buy wine and milk
Without money and without cost.
“Why do you spend money for what is not bread,
And your wages for what does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good,                                                                               And delight yourself in abundance.              Isaiah 55:1-2 

 

Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink.  He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’”  But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.            John 7:37-39

The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost.         Revelation 22:17

May God richly bless you in this new year with His presence and guidance.

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“I will do something new!”

Posted on January 2, 2018 by heartcalm7

As the New Year turns, people commonly look back with some remorse at opportunities missed or mistakes made in the past year, perhaps offenses committed, now regretted.  The Lord gives comfort through the prophet Isaiah:

“Do not call to mind the former things,
Or ponder things of the past.  

“Behold, I will do something new,
Now it will spring forth;
Will you not be aware of it?
I will even make a roadway in the wilderness,
Rivers in the desert.

I, even I, am the one who wipes out your transgressions for My own sake,
And I will not remember your sins.                 Isaiah 43:18-19, 25

Thank Him that He casts your sins behind His back and separates them from you as far as the east is from the west.  (Isaiah 38:17, Psalm 103:12)  Humbly thank Him for the happy plan He has for you in this next year.

“For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.”       Jeremiah 29:11

 

Even better than that, He has a wonderful eternal plan for those who have trusted in Him:

“And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them,  and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.”

And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” And He said, “Write, for these words are faithful and true.”  Then He said to me, “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.  I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost.  He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son.                 Revelation 21:3-7

“Therefore comfort one another with these words.”         1 Thessalonians 4:18

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