Homeland

Twenty years ago this week the Farmer and I sat in a closing attorney's office signing on the dotted line for what we thought then was our "dreamland." 

This is one of my favorite pictures taken by a friend our first year there. It always reminded me of C.S. Lewis's Shadowlands.

When we were seventeen, before, when he used to dream of being a farmer, the two of us sitting on the beach together watching the people stroll up and down along the incoming tide, locked pinkies and promised each other we would not get "old" like those poor folks. We would remain forever seventeen. So much for that dream.

We dreamed about our farm. 

That dream too when finally realized was not what we expected. Rarely with God is it ever.

The interesting thing about this picture is that it is not actually of our farm, but rather the view from our farm. 

Today the picture is a constant reminder that this farm and this world are not our homeland. We are looking beyond this world to the world to come where Jesus sits at the right hand of the Father in all of His glory. When He will come one day and make all things new, including us, and wipe away every tear. 

A new heaven and a new earth.

"These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having received them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.

For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland.

If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return.

But as it is, they desire a better country, that is a heavenly one.

Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city." ( Hebrews 11:13-15 ) 

I'm not so sure I could have explained this to my younger self and convinced her to believe it. I think it's something you have to live.

💜

A People Prepared

 "to make ready for the Lord a people prepared." ( Luke 1:17 ) 

These words were spoken about John the Baptist before he was born, or conceived I should say, by the angel Gabriel to John's father, the priest Zechariah. 

His purpose from the Lord would be to "make ready for the Lord a people prepared." 

"Prepared" by definition means something planned in advance. 

"Make ready" is the act of preparing.

So which is it? Are the people prepared already or do they need to be prepared? 

Yes.

It's both.

Already, and not yet.

"as many as were appointed to eternal life believed." ( Acts 13:48 ) 

"and those with him are called and chosen and faithful." ( Revelation 17:14 ) 

"For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." ( Romans 10:13 ) 

God in his infinite wisdom, a God who spoke the universe into creation, who then scooped up a handful of dirt and formed a man, then proceeded to take one of his bones and make a woman, is not in any way a big one of us. 

We cannot understand his mind or his ways, and yet, he has made us in his image. To reflect such glory.

His wisdom allows the tensions to stick in his revealed word to us. The Trinity. The two natures of Christ. His sovereign choice and man's responsibility. The Holy Spirit doing the entire sanctifying work within his children, and his children working out their own salvation. 

We must embrace the mystery of a God who never contradicts himself.

When we rest our souls in the soft feather bed of a sovereign, all-wise, all-powerful, gracious, merciful, good to the marrow God like this, we find a comforting place for our preparation.

💜

Morning & Evening

Friends, if you're looking to add a devotional this year, I have one I'd like to recommend; although many of you will readily recognize the title. I hope you'll hear me out anyway. Maybe to revisit the tried and true. 

Recent studies and surveys have revealed that the younger generation doesn't want to be coddled when it comes to church, some even stated that it offends them. Many explicitly say that they don't want to be entertained, and they don't want the church to function like a business or a country club either as well as a concert. 

They want to gather with simplicity among other believers around Christ's Word and the sacraments - baptism and the Lord's table. They want to sing, read, and pray the Scriptures. They want to hear it preached and explained to them. Isn't that definition of church what we find in the Bible? How beautiful is that? Let's please not fail them. 

After all there is nothing else that can save and feed the lost and hungry soul. Although unbelievers are always welcome to worship with us if they choose, the church service was designed for Christ's church. I think that truth needs to be recovered. That's why we ask for unbelievers to please allow the bread and cup to pass them by, but also one reason we make sure the Gospel is thoroughly explained each service. 

The church gathers to be tended and fed, and then dispersed into the world to the share the Good News. 

I believe you have to get up pretty early in the morning to beat Charles Spurgeon's timeless devotional, "Morning and Evening." The great London preacher of the 1800s unfolds for us one Scripture in the morning along with our Bible reading to start our day and one in the evening before bed to rest and sleep on. 

I also believe there may not have ever been an age since Spurgeon's when we needed the teaching of God's Word more. After all, it is Spurgeon who is attributed with the frequent quote, "A time will come when instead of shepherds feeding the sheep, the church will have clowns entertaining the goats." I think we've arrived. Don't you? 

To strengthen my argument I'm including the reading from last night. I pray it blesses and encourages you as much as it did me. And perhaps causes you to revisit the pages or begin for the first time. Or read it with our little ones. 

 January 5 / Evening 

"And God saw the light." Genesis 1:4 

This morning we noticed the goodness of the light, and the Lord's dividing it from the darkness, we now note the special eye which the Lord had for the light. "God saw the light"-he looked at it with complacency, gazed upon it with pleasure, saw that it "was good." If the Lord has given you light, dear reader, he looks on that light with peculiar interest; for not only is it dear to him as his own handiwork, but because it is like himself, for "He is light." Pleasant it is to the believer to know that God's eye is thus tenderly observant of that work of grace which he has begun. He never loses sight of the treasure which he has placed in our earthen vessels. Sometimes we cannot see the light, but God always sees the light, and that is much better than our seeing it. Better for the judge to see my innocence than for me to think I see it. It is very comfortable for me to know that I am one of God's people-but whether I know it or not, if the Lord knows it, I am still safe. This is the foundation, "The Lord knoweth them that are his." ( 2 Timothy 2:19 ) You may be sighing and groaning because of inbred sin, and mourning over your darkness, yet the Lord sees "light" in your heart, for he has put it there, and all the cloudiness and gloom of your soul cannot conceal your light from his gracious eye. You may have sunk low in despondency, and even despair; but if your soul has any longing towards Christ, and if you are seeking to rest in his finished work, God sees the "light." He not only sees it, but he also preserves it in you. "I, the Lord, do keep it." ( Isaiah 27:3 ) This is a precious thought to those who, after anxious watching and guarding of themselves, feel their own powerlessness to do so. The light thus preserved by his grace, he will one day develop into the splendour of noonday, and the fulness of glory. The light within is the dawn of the eternal day. 💛

Amen  

Soli Deo Gloria

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"War and Peace with a Holy God"

T.G.I.M. First Monday of the New Year 🎉

"The word 'access' is crucial to anyone who has ever wrestled with a holy God.  

We see signs all around us about access. One sign may read, 'No Access,' and another reads, 'Limited Access.' At one time in history a 'No Access' sign was posted at the gates of Paradise. Even the Old Testament temple allowed ordinary people no access to the throne of God.

Even the high priest's access was 'limited' to once a year under very guarded circumstances. A thick veil separated the Holy of Holies from the rest of the temple. It was off-limits. Restricted. No admission was permitted to the rank-and-file believer.

The moment Jesus was slain, the instant the Just One died for the unjust, the veil in the temple was torn. The presence of God became accessible to us. For the Christian, the 'No Access' sign was removed from the gates of Paradise.

We may now walk freely on holy ground. We have access to His grace, but even more, we have access to Him. 

Justified people need no longer say to the Holy One, 'Depart from me, for I am a sinful man.' Now we can feel welcome in the presence of a holy God. We can take our questions to Him. He is not too remote to hear our cries.

We come as those covered by the righteousness of Christ. I repeat: We can feel welcome in the presence of God. To be sure we still come in awe, in a spirit of reverence and adoration, but the tremendous news is that we can come:

'Therefore since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are - yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.' ( Hebrews 4:14-16 )

To be bold or confident must not be confused with being arrogant or flip. But when we come we must remember two things: (1) who He is; and (2) who we are. 

For the Christian the holy war is over; the peace has been established. Access to the Father is ours. But we still must tremble before our God. He is still holy. 

We are to fear God not with a servile fear like that of a prisoner before his tormentor but as children who do not wish to displease their beloved Father. We come to Him in confidence; we come to Him in boldness; we have access. 

We have a holy peace."

💜 

( quoted from The Holiness of God, RC Sproul, Chapter 7, War and Peace with a Holy God )