change is part of life

If you’re a human being, than you’re in for change. You might say it’s in our genes. Hopefully change for good as we grow into adulthood, although each stage of life is special in itself. And not for good in that we inevitably age and eventually will die.

Change in other ways is good or not so good. Probably something of a mixture of both in most of us. We might be gaining ground in something, possibly a breakthrough here and there, only to find ourselves not doing so well in something else. Sometimes real failure might be the back door to something good.

We often look at life in terms of success and failure. But God sees beyond our small sense and appreciation of things. God has made us hard wired for so much more beyond whatever actual failure and imagined or real success in our lives. We might and indeed will actually revert back into old ways now and then, hopefully nothing damaging to ourselves or others. But even in them God can and will teach us if only we have a heart to listen. Ears to hear along with the heart to change comes from God’s grace and working. God is out to change us into no less than the image and likeness of his Son. The good change which is happening, and is to come. In and through Jesus.

 

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devotion to closeness to God

Their leader will be one of their own;
their ruler will arise from among them.
I will bring him near and he will come close to me—
for who is he who will devote himself
to be close to me?’
declares the Lord.

Jeremiah 30:21

Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.

Hebrews 10:19-22

Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

James 4:7-10

The NET Bible note says Jeremiah 30:21 is a rhetorical question with a “no” answer expected. That is not clear in the NIV nor the KJV, perhaps more “literal” in English from the Hebrew, but clearer in other English translations. No one would dare seek to draw near to the God of Israel on their own. Hebrews 10 makes it clear that the way has now been open to all of God’s people through the blood, the once for all sacrifice of Jesus in his death on the cross. We in Jesus are a “holy” and “royal priesthood” (1 Peter 2:5,9), and “made…to be…priests to serve…God” (Revelation 1:6).

So the way that was once made open through only designated ones necessarily year after year is now made open to all through Christ’s fulfillment in his atoning sacrifice. Not that “Old Testament” people couldn’t draw near to God who were not priests. They could do so only through the sacrificial system when possible, of course through faith. Enoch would be a prime example before the law was given (Genesis 5:21-24), and David (Psalm 15) and Daniel afterward (Daniel 9-12).

The passage in James quoted above makes it clear that this must be both in attitude and action. We’re told of the need for ongoing repentance, keeping short accounts with God. As well as simply taking the time to come near to God. This must become a priority, maybe we should say the priority of our lives.

I have more or less tried to do something like this over the years. I would in theory seek to be doing this all day. I did have a few special times, one I can remember early on in particular, “a date with God” as I called it, of drawing near to God. But special times each day were not a part of my life such as what evangelicals call “personal devotions.” I thought I would more than less be seeking to do that all day. I think at least to some extent this was a mistake. It is better to err on the side of making sure one has that “quiet time” with God. I used to listen regularly to God’s word being read. And now open my little Bible off and on throughout the day. But there needs to be those special times in prayer and in the word, not just thinking we can do that as we run throughout our day. But God will honor our attempt to do that even in the midst of the rush of life. Yet we need those times in silence before God.

Then hopefully as a pastor friend, Marvin Williams reminded me, we’ll have the scent of Christ on us, and be enabled by the Spirit to lead others to him. In and through Jesus.

the underrated virtue of gentleness

But the fruit of the Spirit is…gentleness…

Galatians 5

In these rough and tumble days, to be a man, to be strong, seems to more and more mean being crass and downright nasty. But nothing could be farther from the truth. True strength is able to absorb pain, and rather than inflicting it back, seek to help the one who is troubled.

There is nothing more important for Christians than to be gentle. The fruit of the Spirit as quoted above begins with “love” which might be the fountain of all the virtues listed with it, of course the love of the Spirit of God. And to love means among everything else listed (“love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control”), to be gentle. This is a character trait which defines our Lord:

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Matthew 11

The Greek New Testament scholar Bill Mounce on πραΰς, translated “gentle”:

Gloss:

gentle, meek, the positive moral quality of dealing with people in a kind manner, with humility and consideration

Definition:

also spelled πρᾶος, meek, gentle, kind, forgiving, Mt. 5:5; mild, benevolent, humane, Mt. 11:29; 21:5; 1 Pet. 3:4

πραΰτης in the Galatians 5 passage, seems to mean basically the same thing.

When it comes right down to it, God himself is gentle with people. God lets people have their own way with consequences following, and God will step in at a certain time to level judgment on evildoers. But God is normally what one could well describe as gentle toward all.

The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

2 Peter 3

…do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?

Romans 2

Reflecting God as we become more and more like Christ by the Spirit, means to be more and more gentle. That can mean firm, and not letting people walk over us. But in everything, gentle just the same.

A part of God’s good work to be completed in us (Philippians 1:6) in and through Jesus.

 

we become like who or what we focus on, what we love and hate

Why do the nations say,
“Where is their God?”
Our God is in heaven;
he does whatever pleases him.
But their idols are silver and gold,
made by human hands.
They have mouths, but cannot speak,
eyes, but cannot see.
They have ears, but cannot hear,
noses, but cannot smell.
They have hands, but cannot feel,
feet, but cannot walk,
nor can they utter a sound with their throats.
Those who make them will be like them,
and so will all who trust in them.

Psalm 115:2-8

A frightening thought today: but I think it’s psychologically, and far more importantly for me, biblically and theologically sound: We become like who or what we either love or hate.

First the easier, or more obvious: We become like what we love. I think of a man and woman who have been happily married at least a good share of their marriage for decades. They know each other practically better than they know themselves, and feel completely at home only in the presence of the other. They may have completely different personalities, but they believe they are one flesh in the holy state of matrimony. That may seem like a far fetched example, but there is a sense of awe and reverence for the other which ought to carry over into all of life. Akin to “the fear of the LORD being the beginning of knowledge” (Proverbs).

We become like the one we admire. And who should we admire and esteem the most? Of course if there’s a god, than that god, at least you would think. We Christians reverence God and accept the love of that Triune God in and through Christ by the Holy Spirit. And Scripture tells us that we as God’s children through faith in Christ are being made more and more like Christ. We somehow through God’s work are becoming more and more the people we were created to be, no less than brothers and sisters in the very family of God.

But what if we don’t love God? What if it’s a love focused on ourselves, or someone else? Then either we, or whoever, or even whatever becomes the measure of everything. And the problem with that is that we’re all sinners. We are a mix of good and bad, beautiful and ugly, but somehow never measuring up to whatever good aspirations we might have. And often pursuing what is really not good at all, or is at least a waste. It ends up being the blind leading the blind, like sheep going astray, heading toward a dead end, or even for a cliff. Not good to say the least. We need God’s grace and salvation found in Jesus.

What about what we hate? We must beware here. Indeed we should hate all that’s evil, while we love all that’s good. But we must be careful lest in that hatred we become like the very thing we hate. In the passage above, people of olden times didn’t necessarily love their gods. In fact they often feared them in more like utter fright, believing them to be vindictive if they failed to meet their demands. And while we may not have those kinds of gods today, we do have figurative gods in their place that are every bit as real. The idol of ambition to make it to the top and maybe be well known. The idol of pleasing someone who or something that demands a loyalty that is both crushing and demeaning. Causing us to act in certain ways we never would otherwise. Whatever it might be, anything less than the God revealed in Christ and found in Scripture does not deserve any such place in our hearts and lives.

The dearest idol I have known,
Whate’er that idol be,
Help me to tear it from thy throne,
And worship only thee.

William Cowper

Only God’s grace meaning God’s undeserved, unearned favor in the gift of Christ can make the needed difference in our lives. But even after receiving that grace, we must beware lest we drift back into our old ways. We must hold onto God’s grace in Jesus through faith. We must turn away from other things and keep our focus on Christ. In so doing we will be looking into the face of God. And will change from glory to glory into that resemblance beginning in this life, to be perfected when we see Jesus.

 

the grace in which we in Jesus stand

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand.

Romans 5:1-2a

There’s nothing more vitally important to our lives in God than God’s grace given to us in Christ. As we read in Romans and elsewhere it is through Christ in his death and resurrection that we’re granted forgiveness of sins and new, eternal life. Through faith. We believe God’s word, the gospel, and receive that word for ourselves. And so we receive the gift we could never earn or deserve. What Christ has done for us.

There’s nothing more basic to us than this reality. In and through it we carry on. Apart from that we’re on our own, which inevitably means God’s judgment since even with it we fall short. Instead we live in God’s favor. God’s grace is not just for our acceptance, but for all of life and to bring us more and more into Christ-likeness.

This is where we live, move and breathe. Nothing more, nothing less than the grace in which we now stand in and through Jesus.

really trusting in the Father

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life^[a]?

“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Matthew 6:25-34

One of Jesus’s most basic and insistent teachings was the necessity of trusting in the Father. And here he does it in terms of one’s basic needs; the thought that the Father will provide.

One of my regrets in life is my failure to really learn to trust in the Father in a meaningful way when it comes down to making a living as we call it. When people make that commitment, they inevitably face trials which seem to come to test their faith. When I say test, I don’t just mean to see whether or not their professed faith in the Father’s care is genuine. That, yes, but much more. Essentially testing means to actually establish that faith and cause it to grow. Only when people commit themselves to such a course, and hold on to it no matter what, can that faith become a part of who they are, an established part of their lives. Unfortunately I think by and large I missed the best part of that. In a secondary sense, I think I did experience something of the Father’s care. But with my hands on the entire time, and because of that I missed out on much, both in terms of the process and the outcome. And the outcome I don’t think as much in terms of dollars and cents, but more in just who one is, what one becomes through trusting in the Father. This, according to Jesus is a large part of what it means to follow him, and so become like him.

We commit all to the Father’s care, seek first his kingdom and his righteousness. And then he takes care of all our needs. As simple as that. That means we don’t think it depends on us. No, it depends on the Father. So our aim is simply to give ourselves completely to seeking first his kingdom and righteousness in our own lives. And with the prayer that it will come on earth as it is in heaven. The Father takes care of the rest. Not that we become irresponsible. We work, we seek to be good stewards of the gifts God gives us. But we do so as those completely dependent on him. Something I’m working on to become much better established in. In and through Jesus.

 

waiting for the change to come

“If only you would hide me in the grave
    and conceal me till your anger has passed!
If only you would set me a time
    and then remember me!
If someone dies, will they live again?
    All the days of my hard service
    I will wait for my renewal^[e] to come.
You will call and I will answer you;
    you will long for the creature your hands have made.
Surely then you will count my steps
    but not keep track of my sin.
My offenses will be sealed up in a bag;
    you will cover over my sin.

Job 14:13-17

I’m not sure, but I like the NIV choice within the context here of “renewal” over “release” (NIV footnote). I would vote that direction, given the book of Job and its context. Job was wrestling through with a hope before God, but understandably feeling hopeless and in despair.

It is easy to despair when one considers their own weaknesses and shortcomings. And that can turn into a vicious cycle which actually feeds on itself and makes matters worse.

While I think I’ve experienced some substantial change over the years, I want more change in my life. It seems mostly all incremental, so gradual, so that it’s easy to miss any change that has occurred. And ironically the more light we receive and live in, the more acutely aware we are of the dark spots left in our character and conduct. Sometimes in just lacking what we wished we had, but too often in displaying thoughts and attitudes not worthy of Christ.

In the case of Job, and ourselves, that doesn’t mean there isn’t much good. Job was acknowledging his offenses and sin here, but he was a man of faith and good character, as we see from the entire book in the way he conducts his arguments, even if they may not be entirely blameless. It’s degree. Any misstep by those further along is more egregious.

I want to bracket this post dealing briefly with the charge that such considerations are mere navel gazing, just being all taken up with one’s character while not caring about the world at large both close and further removed. Can’t it be a case of being concerned with both? Actually in Job’s case he certainly was. He defended the cause of those who needed it, as we see from the book. A big part of the problems in the world is lack of character. And before we decry everyone else, we must see to ourselves.

The hope Job expresses is after this life. We know that when we see Jesus we’ll become like him entirely, since we’ll see him as he is (1 John 3). And somehow we’ll be completely open to not only reflecting that light, but being transformed by it. That actually does begin now insofar as we see Jesus by the Spirit through the gospel.

I look forward to my own change to come. I’m tired of myself, of my deficiencies. I look to God to help me grow in grace and in the knowledge of Christ. And I look forward to the day when all struggle in the way we do now will cease. My sins covered and removed, and with others set free to live completely in God’s love then by the Spirit in and through Jesus.