Handle with Care

There's this farm I follow on Instagram, and the young girl who lives there can write like nobody's business. As I read it, the envy and jealousy rise hot inside of me, and I think to myself that I would just love to be so gifted. 

Her message and content I can't always remember because I am so focus on those eloquent words that meander along so breathtakingly through her causes and concerns. She writes that she doesn't believe in God, but she sure has a God-given ability whether she acknowledges it or not. 

And I hear God whisper into my heart, "You have the gifting I purposed for you to have." 

We own our gifts, don't we? Sometimes, many times, tempted to shape them into idols or form them into our identities, whatever they may be. We engage in this spiritual tug-of-war with God over which direction the gifts should be flowing, and God is saying to us that if he is the giver of the gift, then he is the governor of the gift as well. 

He knows us better than we know ourselves. He knows what we can handle. 

As far as writing goes, and I believe this truth can be applied to all gifts, he isn't looking for the next Hemingway. He is looking for it to be accomplished humbly and simply "his way." I know, so corny, I warned you. 

The Apostle Paul offers us some great advice, actually it's a commandment: "For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power." ( 1 Corinthians 1:17 ) 

In the city of Corinth, worldly wisdom and articulate speech in philosophical debating was all the rage. Paul would have none of it. The powerful, live-saving message of Jesus Christ would not get lost in all of their fancy pants, rhetorical persuasion. Paul saw to that with his simple speech. In that way, Paul preached liked nobody's business. In fact, God used him to preach and plant churches in the entirety of Asia and write most of the New Testament.

With a simple gift spoken simply, Paul led an extraordinary life. 

"For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.... God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise. God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong. God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so no human being might boast in the presence of God." ( 1 Corinthians 1:25-29 ) 

Read those verses again. 

I'm not claiming to know the mind of God, but according to the Scriptures, God has a pattern of doing things this way. He uses what man least expects and undervalues. 

Whatever our gifts - artistic, intellectual, linguistic, athletic, hospitable, mechanical, agricultural, botanical, educational, medical, oratorial, technological, and the list goes on - we are the Lord's servants. Our aim is always for others to see our works and glorify God, not us. And God will guide the gifts in his direction according to his perfect will. Think Paul's thorn to keep him from becoming conceited in that extraordinary life. (1 Peter 2:12 ) ( Matthew 5:16 ) ( Isaiah 42:8 )  ( 2 Corinthians 12: 6 & 7 ) 

Yes, we should develop our gifts the best that we can because God, and this is nothing short of astonishing, writes us into his story to play a small part. He could easily do it himself, and yet, he's not going to do it without us. Therefore, our content and concerns, i.e. the message of the gospel, must not get muddied in our pride and perfection and eloquent words. Many times I've found God to use the gifts he's placed in me to develop my own character. 

He gets to do that. He's the author.

Soli Deo Gloria! 💜 

Grace Talk Take Two

I'm continuing this evening to wrap my mind and arms around the concept of God's grace, but we will never fully get on top of it or to the bottom of it, and that's a good thing. As Christians we will spend our eternity, starting now, embraced securely in its sweet clutches, never having exhausted the measure of its length for God tells us that his grace is more than enough. ( 2 Corinthians 12: 9 ) 

Before I continue with another Packer passage: This weekend I ran across the 2022 Ligonier Ministries' State of Theology survey conducted by  LifeWay Research. People from all walks of life were surveyed, and it's particularly distressing and surprising to me how many of those polled claiming to be evangelicals have weak biblical theology. To be clear, I am speaking about the participants who hold to evangelical beliefs. 

According to the study those who strongly agree with these four statements: That the Bible is the highest authority for what they believe, that evangelism is important, that Jesus's sacrifice on the cross is the only thing that could remove their sin, and that only those who trust in Jesus Christ alone as savior receive God's free gift of eternal salvation. 

However, many in this group go on to agree that Jesus is a created being, that regularly attending church can be substituted by worshiping alone or with one's family, that God accepts worship of all religions, that the Holy Spirit is a force, not a personal being, that everyone sins a little, but people are good by nature, that Jesus was a good teacher, but not God, that God changes, and more.  

Biblical theology is not left just to theologians, pastors, and seminary students. As lay people we are commanded in scriptures to also understand sound doctrine lest we be tossed about by every wind of doctrine. ( Ephesians 4:14 ) ( 2 Timothy 2:15 )  

And this should not make us into Pharisees. When we understand the hopelessness of the human condition followed by the precious doctrine of God's grace and salvation, the power and beauty of this joyful knowledge transforms us into the image of Jesus and into ambassadors for his glory, barely able to contain ourselves in spreading the fragrance of the truth. 

"...things into which angels long to look."  ( 1 Peter 1:12 ) 

So, how can we get better acquainted with sound biblical doctrine? It's been said that when we first start to read the Bible that we should read the Gospel of John, but lately I've had a change of heart. Read it second, followed by the entire Bible. Now here's Dr. Packer: 

"Paul's letter to Rome is the high peak of Scripture...... All roads in the Bible lead to Romans, and all views afforded by the Bible are seen most clearly from Romans, and when the message of Romans gets into a man's heart there is no telling what may happen. 

What do you look for in the Bible? The wise man has his eye open for several things, and Romans is supreme on them all. Is it doctrine - truth about God, taught by God - that you are after? If so, you will find that Romans gives you all the main these integrated together: God, man, sin, law, judgment, faith, works, grace, creation, redemption, justification, sanctification, the plan salvation, election, reprobation, the person and work of Christ, the work of the Spirit, the Christian hope, the nature of the church, the place of Jews and Gentile in God's purposes, the philosophy of church and world history, the meaning and message of the Old Testament, the significance of baptism, the principles of personal piety and ethics, the duties of christian citizenship - et cetera! 

'No man verily can read it too oft or study it too well ( wrote Tyndale ) for the more it is studied the easier it is, and the more groundly ( i.e., deeply ) it is searched the preciouser things are found in it, so great treasury of spiritual things lieth hid therein'

Not every Christian, however, appreciates the magnificence of Romans, and there is a reason for this. A man who touched down on the top of Everest in a helicopter ( could such a thing be ) would not at that moment feel anything like what Hillary and Tensing felt when they stood on the same spot after climbing the mountain. 

Similarly, the impact of Romans upon you will depend on what has gone before. The law that operates is that the more you have dug into the rest of the Bible, the more you are exercised with the intellectual and moral problems of being a Christian, and the more you have felt the burden of weakness and the strain of faithfulness in your Christian life, the more you will find Romans saying to you." 

J.I. Packer, Knowing God

I know, its a lengthy blog post today, but it's Sunday. I think it's appropriate. 

Years ago my man children encouraged me to understand what I believe, said that it was important for me to know. I told them that I was a Christian, and that was good enough for me. I could recite the Apostle's Creed and The Lord's Prayer. I had no desire to understand all of those big churchy words and their meanings. I was the one missing out. I flew over my Bible every morning, never landing, never exploring or uncovering the priceless, powerful treasures that awaited to transform my life and draw me into a deeper relationship with my Father. How foolish I was.

Thank God for his grace. 💜

Grace Talk

To me "grace" is the most beautiful word in any language. It seems like in English it's the one word we haven't managed to soil or spoil. Grace is still grace. But what does it mean exactly? I'm going to let someone much wiser than me answer that question. A ghost blogger. A Holy Ghost blogger, in fact.  

I hope you'll take the time to read this passage. I believe it'll help us kick off the weekend better and straighter aligned than the best punter on any team in the game of football played today, one that reaches and clears the goalpost of life perfectly. At the end of the season, that's the only one that really matters. 

"What is grace? In the New Testament, grace means God's love in action toward men who merit the opposite of love. Grace means God moving heaven and earth to save sinners who could not lift a finger to help themselves. Grace means God sending his only Son to descend into hell on the cross so that we guilty ones might be reconciled to God and received into heaven. 

'( God ) hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.' ( 2 Corinthians 5:21 ) 

What is the purpose of grace? Primarily, to restore man's relationship with God. When God lays the foundation of this restored relationship, by forgiving our sins as we trust His Son, He does so in order that henceforth we and He may live in fellowship, and what he does in renewing our nature is intended to make us capable of, and actually lead us into, the exercise of love, trust, delight, hope. and obedience Godward - 

This is what all the work of grace aims at - an ever deeper knowledge of God, and an ever closer fellowship with Him. 

Grace is God drawing us sinners closer and closer to Himself. 

How does God in grace prosecute this purpose? Not by shielding us from assault by the world, the flesh, and the devil, nor by protecting us from burdensome and frustrating circumstances, nor yet by shielding us from troubles created by our own temperament and psychology; but rather by exposing us to all these things, so as to overwhelm us with a sense of our own inadequacy, and to drive us to cling to Him more closely. 

This is the ultimate reason, from our standpoint, why God fills our lives with troubles and perplexities of one sort and another - it is to ensure that we shall learn to hold Him fast." 

J. I. Packer, Knowing God 

I'm reminded of the Apostle Paul's words in 2 Corinthians 4:8-9 and 1:8-9: "We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed..." 

"For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead." 

Praise God, if you are in Christ, God has raised you from the dead. 

How rich is that? I never defined grace in those terms before, but I look back now and see that the grace of God has always been at work in my life, the darkness and even the self-inflicted wounds, have drawn me into my Father's everlasting arms and deeper into the knowledge of his will and love.  

"Amazing grace how sweet the sound

That saved a wrench like me

I once was lost, but now I'm found

Was blind, but now I see."

More tomorrow.  Happy Saturday! 💛

The Waiting Game

"I wait patiently for the Lord; he inclined to me and heard my cry." ( Psalm 40:1 )

"How did David wait?"

Patiently. 

That verse alone will give me a banquet enough to feast upon today. 

Waiting is a bittersweet song that is continually sung throughout the Psalms and entire Bible, but it appears that it also matters how we wait. We may not be able to control the fact that waiting ironically is a big part of our journey in the Christian walk, but we can determine how we engage the waiting. And in doing so, I believe we gain control over it and master the waiting, producing strength and wisdom, good fruits. In fact I've learned in my own life sometimes God is waiting for me just to wait properly. 

I think about this as I watch Jonah wait for things he loves. Sometimes he is so excited he jumps up and down and claps his hands in excited anticipation. It is so precious. Then other times he throws his small body upon the carpet in dramatic convulsions like a rickety carnival ride accompanied by a flow of tears. And I'm left to wonder if that is how my Father sees me at times when I'm exhausted and tired of waiting and refuse to see the kingdom treasures hidden inside of the waiting. 

When I'm patient I see better. I hear better. I think better. I become better. God uses waiting to perfect his children. He seems to use it a lot because it can be highly effective. Like everyone, right now in my life, I'm waiting on answers to several situations that are spread out before me. Since I don't know what to do, I wait. If I fling myself upon the carpet like a toddler, I might make a bad decision. God also gave us a brain to employ as we wait. 

So in waiting, I do what I've learned to do from my Father and others deeper in the Faith. I carry on. I read my Bible, meditate, and pray. I thank God and praise him for his amazing grace over a sinner like me. I keep the gospel in view and always in perspective. Because of my iniquity against a holy God, I should be busting hell wide open, but instead I am here in his mercy that is new every morning and his grace that is more than enough, waiting. 

"Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they that wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint." ( Isaiah 40:31) 

When we wait patiently, we gain supernatural strength and ability. We see with a bird's eye view. We run. We grow. 

We soar. 💜

 

Aslan and Shasta wait patiently for predators who fortunately are too afraid to ever show their faces.