What is the Lord's Will?

What is the Lord's will for our lives?

We find the will of God in a general way through all the Word of God, and in particular from the moral Law of God.  God's commandments are not burdensome to those who love the Lord, and they see that His Law is righteous.

The Apostle Paul describes the will of God in one particular way by living a pure life from sexual immorality.  We see this truth in, 1Th.4:3, "For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality."  Our sexuality can create life and it can destroy relationships.  There's a good reason why God instructs us to keep his Laws. 

Our culture is depraved in many ways but we need to see the will of God in the Bible because we cannot know it in the world.  The Bible is the light of God's truth, it is the Word from God.  We can come to know the will of God when we see the goodness and righteousness of all His Law.  Jesus upheld this Law and this is the will of God for us too.  Our hearts will be blessed if we accept His will.

FAITH TODAY: Jn.14:21, "He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me.  And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love and manifest Myself to him."

The Word of Light

The Bible is called the Word of God, but it also brings the Light of the world to us.  It is a supernatural book that can penetrate and change us from the inside out.

Psalm 119:9-11, "How can a young man keep his way pure?  By guarding it according to your word.  With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments!  I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you."

The Psalmist describes keeping his life pure from sin by guarding himself with the Word of God.  This is the necessary Spiritual power we need, the power of faith in God through His Word.  We see the sin in the world and we find it distasteful when we have our hearts immersed with the Bible.

Also, we see that the Word of God brings Light to our souls because it is God who comes through in the Word of God.  He is the Light, and we live in darkness.  When we bring the Word into our lives, the Light of the kingdom of God comes in.

FAITH TODAY: Mt.4:16, "The people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned.  From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, 'Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.'"

Incarnation

Advent is upon us and we heard another good sermon today on the incarnation of Christ.  John 1:14 has to be one of the best verses in the Bible, and certainly one of my favorites.  Every time I hear someone teach or preach on this verse I get excited, it's just that good, it says so much and it means so much.  God became a Man, the specific Man who is the Messiah and Savior for those who trust in Him.

At the beginning of this chapter, we see that the Word was with God in the beginning and the Word was God.  The OT Israelites never saw God directly but they heard God, they heard His Word and understood that He spoke to them in many ways.  John was using language the Jewish people could understand.  Now he even described the Word of God as coming to them in the flesh, as a real human being, yet without sin.  The Word of God was Jesus.  

The incarnation of God was not only to become one of us but to provide redemption to those who believe that Jesus is Christ.  We see that this Man is also glorious, He is no ordinary man, He is the only begotten, or the only Son that proceeds forth from God.  He is glorious because He is without sin, and He is full of grace and truth.

In Christ, we see the grace of God that provides salvation for our sins.  We also see the truth of God who fulfills all the righteous requirements of the Law of God.  And that means He is still the grace and truth of God today.  We need both the grace and truth of God.  For it is by grace that we receive truth and it is by truth that we can understand what grace really is all about.

Jesus is the Christ, the incarnation of God, full of grace and truth.

FAITH TODAY:  John 1:14, "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth."

Got Vision?

Finding a Biblical vision in our troubled times can be a big help and inspiration for the Christian.

Jesus is the Christ, He is the Word of God that has come into the world.  He is alive and full of glory and power in heaven today.  

The Apostle Paul was singularly sold out to the glory and majesty of Christ.  It consumed him.  And this vision should be our all-encompassing vision as well.  There is no middle ground for Jesus, either He is the Son of God and God, or He was only a good moral teacher that has no authority today.

Paul describes Jesus in the book of Colossians as the image of God, the visible manifestation of God. He is also the Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer of all things, and He is the Head of the church.  Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, and Lord.  He is the Alpha and Omega of our salvation and all things.  Therefore we can pray to Him and trust in Him in every part of our lives.  He loves us lavishly.

FAITH TODAY:  Col.1:15-16, "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.  For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities - all things were created through him and for him."

Seasons of Life

For some time now I've wanted to post a new blog but I haven't had the time, or made the time, to sit down and write it out.  I've been busy lately.  And haven't we heard that before?  Really it's true.  It's true that I've been distracted for some time from Spiritual things.

I've been thinking about the seasons or stages of life and how there are distinct times in our lives when we're hard-pressed with certain activities at the expense of all other things we could be doing.  This seems to be normal, yet at times we seem to be on a conveyor belt of life that takes us places whether we like it or not.

We know there are chronological seasons that we can begin with.  When we're young we run through the high school years and then decide to go off to college.  This is an influential time as we discover what we like and what we're interested in, and hopefully, we combine them together to pursue our life's work.  It's also a time to meet people with common interests and desires, making friendships and relationships that will influence our entire adult life.

Then there's the family stage of life when we find a spouse and the kids begin to spring up out of nowhere.  Life doesn't slow down as we start a career or build a business to pay for things and stuff for our family.  It begins to move in fast forward as there's much to do with little time to do it.  We soon realize life is always going to be this way if we seek to uphold the responsibilities that we've begun at the beginning.  And we sometimes ask, is this all there is in life?  Is life a type of carousel, or rather, is it like an upward spiral staircase?

There are other seasons in life mixed in with the youth, teenage, college, young adult, career, parenting, middle-aged, and beyond.  There are Spiritual seasons of faith as well.  There are times of confidence and doubt, seasons of fruitfulness and barrenness, of floods and droughts, profitability and want.  There are seasons of happiness and disappointment, of health and sickness, of birth and death.  All these are mixed in together as we travel through the stages of life.  Do we see the Spiritual seasons of birth, growth, testing, failures, victories, praises, and glories in life?  Do we seek these Spiritual realities?

Focusing on the Spiritual life takes us through all the other seasons of life in the best way.  We cannot control many circumstances in our lives but we can accept them in faith as we accept God's providence.  We can look back on the past and forward to the future, and we can look up to God.  God teaches us, as we've seen so many times, that he is in control and he is benevolent.  He is the One who doesn't change even as we change and everything in our world changes and then changes again.

Our best seasons are when we seek Christ in faith, trust, and prayer and ask that he would teach us and sanctify us through it all.  When we focus on Christ all the seasons of life become secondary as we discover the Spirituality that is primary.  And this is still a challenge for me.  But I seek to remember that Christ has created us, redeemed us in grace, sanctifies us in his image, and will bring all things to consummation.  He calls us upward to him for our Spiritual growth so that we not only go through life but we would walk with him in faith in every season of life.  Amen.

FAITH TODAY:  Colossians 2: 6-7, "Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.

Our Affections

Making decisions about the numerous questions we face every day is usually a small matter of what's the next thing to do, or what's my schedule priority for the day.  But making decisions on a larger scale, for life decisions and knowing God's will for our lives, is a little bit more complex.  One of the questions many pastors and Christian teachers face from their people is, "What is God's will in this matter, or for me personally?"  It's never an easy answer to know the particulars.

One of my favorite ministries is John Piper's, Desiring God Ministries, DGM.  His materials and blogs can be found at www.desiringgod.org.  Just today I was reading this blog and found "Why God's Will Isn't Always Clear," April 30.  It caught my attention for several reasons not the least of which is that I struggle to know what God would have me do sometimes.  In fact, if the whole truth is told, I've struggled with this all my life, and I look back and realize I've made some mistakes in key decisions, or so it would appear.

This article is written by Jon Bloom and he covers some good territory in a short time.  For we know that God wants us to "walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him," Col. 1:10.  But this doesn't address the particulars in our lives, and the big decisions we make.  Bloom explains, "But one reason why God usually doesn't give us specific guidance in our sometimes-perplexing decisions is that he places a higher priority on our being transformed than on our being informed in order that we will be conformed to the image of Jesus, (Romans 8:29).  This can be difficult, and he also says, "It means that God has a design in the difficulty of our discerning."  Really?  Why would God allow us to struggle with the hard decisions?  What design is worth all the difficulties?

In the big picture of life, I am also reminded that all the difficulties, brokenness, struggles, and hardships of life are not God's fault.  All the sins, disappointments, setbacks, and even death itself are not part of God's original design.  In the Garden of Eden God made it clear that if (we) ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, we would surely die.  And Adam and Eve represented us as we would have acted in the same way they did, and as a result, we received their sinful natures.

But from the beginning, God has created a personal relationship with humanity for his glory, as we are made in his image to be like him.  We were to be his church, his bride, and the faithful people that worship him.  And Bloom describes, "But the father is not seeking workers, but worshippers (John 4:23).  And he knows that if he made his will for our specific decisions more explicit more often, we would tend to focus more on what we do rather than what we love."  God is interested in our hearts and minds so that we would have a personal relationship with him.

God is still seeking worshippers of what is truly worthy of our lives.  We are called in general to seek after God and his kingdom, and this develops a pattern of decisions that are based on our highest priority.  "But if we really love Jesus, we will increasingly love what he loves - we will be transformed by renewed minds.  And our love for him and his kingdom will be revealed in the pattern of small and large decisions we make."  This pattern of godliness is God's will.

God does not dictate our decisions but he reveals his grace and truth to us to show us not only what is best for us but also what we were created for.  Our affections will never be ultimately discouraged when we place them on God and the pattern of seeking him in all our lives.  Bloom concludes, "And someday, if we really seek to love him and trust him, we will see that he really was leading us through the confusing terrain of difficult decisions all along."  Amen.

FAITH TODAY:  Romans 12:2, "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God."

He is risen, He is risen indeed!

Easter is in just a few days and I love to remember the resurrection and new life in Christ.  Here are the notes I hope to use for Sunday school.

He is risen, He is risen indeed!  This is a salutation I first heard on Easter Sunday in 1976 when I first became a Christian.  It was a greeting of sorts where the first person would say, "He is risen."  And the second believer would respond, "He is risen indeed."  We still celebrate our faith in Christ this way because we look forward to our own resurrection from the grave one day.  This greeting is always delivered with great enthusiasm as we understand its significance and as we seek to encourage one another in the faith.

Let's look at "He is risen" from the Scriptures.  First, we see the narrative of the resurrection from all four of the gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.  This is a fourfold perspective.  The resurrection of our Savior also distinguishes Christianity from all other religions where their leader is dead and gone.  We not only remember our leader with us, but we also declare that He is risen from the dead and is alive forever more.  Where can we find these truths in the Bible?

In Mt 28:5-6, "But the angel said to the woman, 'Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified.  He is not here, for he has risen, as he said.  Come see where he lay.'"  One of the greatest commandments in Scripture is "fear not."  The angel comforted Mary for she certainly did not expect to see him, nor did she expect to find the Lord's grave empty.

In Mk 16:6, "And he said to them, "Do not be alarmed.  You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified.  He is risen; he is not here.  See the place where they laid him.""  Again the angel calms Mary with words of comfort for she is in shock.  It is a great shock still today for many to know that Jesus was not in the grave or that someone could rise from the dead.

In Lk 24:5-6, "And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, "Why do you seek the living among the dead?  He is not here, but has risen.""  The last thing the women expected was to find angels in the graveyard saying that Jesus was among the living and not the dead.  But isn't this exactly what we also hope for, to find life after the grave?

In Jn 20:16-17, "Jesus said to her, "Mary."  She turned and said to him in Aramaic, "Rabboni!" (which means Teacher).  Jesus said to her, "Do not cling to me, for I have not ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.""  Jesus gives evidence of his resurrected state to Mary and proclaims he will yet ascend into heaven.  It is significant that Mary was given the great honor of announcing to the disciples that Jesus was indeed alive I believe, because she showed the most love to Jesus.

This is the record of the resurrection of Jesus from the grave and it is historically reliable.  It was not fabricated as it shows genuine personality and perspective.  It gives us great confidence that there is hope for those with faith in Christ, and that we too will rise from the grave someday as well.

We also say, "He is risen indeed," to emphasize this great truth.  We can see even more truth in Scripture about Christ in heaven, both now and in the future.

What will heaven be like?  That can be a difficult question because we don't have that much knowledge.  But we see many glimpses from the book of Revelation in some key chapters.

In Rv 1:10-18, v. 10, John says, "I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet saying, "Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches."  We see John who heard Jesus speaking from heaven to explain things to come.  John was in the Spirit in a transcendent way.  John had a transcendent vision as heaven is not a place but a realm.

In Rv. 4:1-11, v.2, "At once I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne."  Here we see God the Father seated on the throne, with angels and elders worshipping him as, (v.8), "Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty."  There is a throne in heaven that is the center of attention for everything.  In 1 Peter 3:22, we see, "(Jesus) who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, angels and authorities and powers having been made subject to Him."  How significant a place does God the Father have?  What position does Jesus hold in heaven?

In Rv 5:1-14, v.5, "And one of the elders said to me, "Weep no more; behold the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals."  We see that Jesus has been resurrected and he has conquered, he is the Lion of Judah and the Root of David.  He is the fulfillment of all Messianic prophecies.

In Rv 21:1-27, v.6, Jesus says, "And he said to me, "It is done!  I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.  To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment.""  This is the Spiritual life that Jesus is speaking about.  Are we thirsty for the water of life?  How can we drink the water of the spring of life?

In Rv 22:1-22, v.7, "And behold, I am coming soon.  Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book."  From this we see that Christianity is not something just of the past, it is of the present and the future too.  We also see that we are blessed if we keep the words of the Book, the whole Bible.  They are our life and they give us Spiritual life.

There's another saying that pertains to the resurrection of Christ that is so beneficial to remember at Easter.  This is the saying, "The already, but not yet."  By this we mean that the kingdom of God has already begun, Jesus has been raised from the dead, he is the king and he has begun his Spiritual kingdom.  But it is not yet consummated, it is still to come in fullness in the future.  From this, we can live the Spiritual life today, as we know Jesus alluded to in Rev 21:6, "To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment."

The apostle Paul teaches us in many places how to live the Spiritual life today.  The book of Ephesians is especially significant for the life of the believer and thus the life of the church.

In Ep 4:17-32, v.17-18, "Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds.  They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart."  Paul makes a connection between the head and the heart in that we can be darkened in our minds because of the hardness of our hearts.  The Spiritual life requires both the head and the heart given to God.

In Ep 4:23, "and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds..."  We all grow weary and discouraged, yet Paul explains that we must be renewed in our minds, this is the key point.  We must have the Word of God refreshing our minds as this, in turn, connects to everything else in our lives.  We must learn about God through his Word primarily, and we cannot just hear it from someone else, we must ingest it.

Easter Sunday is absolutely my favorite holiday of the year as it gives us "A past forgiveness, a present strength, and a future hope," as I remember a pastor proclaimed many years ago. This is all because Jesus rose from the grave, He is seated at the right hand of God in heaven, and the Holy Spirit empowers our lives with faith today.  In my conscience, I know there is more to life than just the here and now, and the Holy Spirit gives me the confidence of eternal life when I die.  This is a great hope and it all comes from the resurrection of Jesus from the grave on Easter Sunday.

FAITH TODAY: Revelation 21:6, "It is done!  I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.  To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment."

True Spirituality

There are many great books written by Christian authors that can assist us in understanding how to live the Christian life.  One of my favorite teachers is Francis Schaeffer who lived in the twentieth century and had a great impact in the evangelical church.  Schaeffer was described as a philosopher, theologian, lecturer, and evangelist.  He was known particularly for starting a Christian study center in the Swiss Alps named L'Abri, where for several decades young people have gone in search for answers to life and understanding Christianity.

Perhaps one of the best books Schaeffer wrote and that has impacted my life was True Spirituality.  In this book he describes the essence of spirituality in the life of the Christian, which can often become cold after the initial conversion experience.  This spirituality is much more than an academic pursuit of knowledge or an external obedience to the commandments of God.  But rather it is a joyful relationship that is based upon a true repentance with God by accepting his Word in our hearts.  Particularly Schaeffer focuses on a Spirituality that is inward and causes us to grow in sanctification.

As Schaeffer describes in his preface, "In going further, I saw something else which made a profound difference in my life.  I searched through what the Bible said concerning reality as a Christian.  Gradually I saw that the problem was that with all the teaching I had received after I was a Christian, I had heard little about what the Bible says about the meaning of the finished work of Christ in our present lives."

Schaeffer had experienced a spiritual crisis of sorts in that he had lost his initial joy in his faith and wondered if Christianity was true at all.  It was in his reevaluation of the teachings of Scripture that he discovered the true spirituality that we live by.  In his first chapter he describes living out the Christian faith as he compares natural birth and life to spiritual birth and life, pages four and five.

"After we are born, the important thing is the living of our lives in all their relationships, possibilities, and capabilities.  It is exactly the same with the new birth.  In one way, the new birth is the most important thing in our spiritual lives, because we are not Christians until we have come this way.  In another way, however, after one has become a Christian, it must be minimized, in that we should not always have our minds only on our new birth.  The important thing after being born spiritually is to live.  There is the new birth, and then there is the Christian life to be lived.  This is the area of sanctification, from the time of new birth, through this present life, until Jesus comes or until we die."

Here Schaeffer emphasizes the importance of living out our faith and growing up in the faith just like a child after he is born begins to grow and mature in his natural life.  This spiritual growth takes Spiritual food and nourishment, exercise, and practice.  It takes living out our faith in fear and trembling, in humility and in boldness, in prayer and in obedience.  But to say one believes without action in faith is not true faith or true spirituality.  And we will be the ones left with anemic growth and malnutrition if we choose not to respond in our lives to the teachings of Scripture.

All of the Christian life can be attributed to grace as even the gift of life is given to us by God.  But what we do with the gifts we have been given is the life of faith, realizing that we all are limited in our gifts and callings, but we all are empowered when we live by the Holy Spirit.  Life in the Spirit is a pursuit of the godliness of Christ as we grow into his likeness in all things.  Some of the first traits that can be identified in true spirituality are humility, teachability, contentment, and thankfulness.  We must also be honest with ourselves to confess our sins and forgive other people.

I believe this true spirituality is difficult in our modern world to be sure, but it is by far the most rewarding and joyful life that could possibly be lived.  It is the life of sanctification and maturing in the faith of Christ and his truth.

FATIH TODAY:  Colossians 1:11, "May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints of light."

A New Year

We are well into the new year, 2015, even though it seems just like a couple of weeks ago it was 2014.  And it was, as time flies by when you get older and you remember many 'new years'.  'Time waits for no one' as the old saying goes.  But a new year is the time to take review of things accomplished and to set new goals with fresh optimism for the future.  So, Happy New Year!

One of the resolutions I've made for myself and my wife is to have more margin.  There's a good book entitled "Margin" from Richard A Swenson, M.D., that we read some twenty years ago as we were in the thick of raising six kids, holding down jobs, and being active in the church.  The book's thesis is "Restoring Emotional, Physical, Financial, And Time Reserves To Overloaded Lives."  It was a great idea so it seemed at the time, but we didn't do so well as it's always difficult to accomplish.  Yet it was just the prescription we needed to find a balance in our crazy busy lives.

Now it's 2015 and we are way down the road and have become empty nesters with much different time demands from our kids.  Certainly, there's no argument that we cannot change gears and come out of overdrive and slow down.  Isn't it time to smell the roses at least a little bit?  So we've decided to seek a little more 'margin' and work for more quality and less quantity in our activities.  Not a bad idea I believe as we look at the wider scope of life and how quickly life changes and people can be missed.  It's good to see the big picture when making resolutions if we can.

The big picture I believe includes seeing God's priorities and perspective.  This has always been a factor in setting goals for our lives and we need to make adjustments with every new season of life.  Twenty years ago it was good to seek a margin but that may have resulted in a thirty-minute break after the kids go to bed.  Now it may mean taking three days to go to a conference for spiritual and fellowship renewal.  And that is a great blessing indeed.

The Bible is the greatest book and has lots to say about our time, and also eternity.  One must wonder if eternity is an endless amount of time or the absence of time altogether.  Either one is hard to imagine.  But here and now we can make the most of our time with God's wisdom.  We can see a greater perspective from God's Word than from our single day-to-day perspective of the here and now.

In Ecclesiastes 3:1-4 we read, "To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven.  A time to be born, And a time to die; A time to plant, And a time to pluck what is planted; A time to kill, And a time to heal; A time to break down, And a time to build up; A time to weep, And a time to laugh; A time to mourn, And a time to dance."  These interesting parallels continue through verse eight, and they all relate to everyday life.

In this passage we see a litany of comparisons from one activity to another as there is a season for everything.  The overall perspective is that God is in ultimate control, he is the one who sees the end from the beginning and he is above all time and events.  He is eternal, omniscient, and benevolent.  And thus we can trust him as we live for him in his grace and truth, in this year and the next.

FAITH TODAY:  Ecclesiastes 3:11, "He has made everything beautiful in its time.  Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end."