More Than Words on a Page

The Bible is the Word of God for all His people in every generation and culture. The world has changed over the years, but human nature has not. We are all, at the core, sinners. Our methods may be different, but the bent to sin is not. For example, lust has been with humankind since the garden. Eve went after what would bring her pleasure. Lust is that same desire for pleasure. Men may access it through technology today, but the root is the same. Sin still runs through our human DNA. Our means of achieving it may be “modernized” but at the basest levels, we are essentially all the same.
One of the most important Bible study tools I learned is to glean the principle of the biblical text because, like our bent for sin, the principle is timeless. It always addresses the root of our human nature. That is why I will always teach context, context, context. One verse plucked out of its context can be – and often is – completely misconstrued. We need to discover the who, what, where, when, why, and how of the text.
Once you get through to the principle you are ready for the application. What does the principle demand of you? A step of obedience? A word to speak? An attitude that needs adjusting? A life change? This is where you decide who has authority over your life – you or God? The Spirit encourages me to put myself into the text to help me understand what God requires of me. I had a deep issue with my dad and the Lord had me put myself in 2 Corinthians 2:7-8: “Now, Dorcas, forgive and comfort your dad . . . and reaffirm your love for him.” It was a clear word that changed twenty years of estrangement.
This also reminds me of what He has done for me. That is where I want to take you today, Beloved.
I encourage you to take this personalized rendering of Isaiah 53:4-6 to heart:
“Surely He took up my infirmities and carried my sorrows,
yet I considered Him stricken by God, smitten by Him and afflicted.
But He was pierced for my transgressions,
He was crushed for my iniquities;
The punishment that brought me peace was upon Him,
and by His wounds, I am healed.
Like a sheep, I have gone astray, I have turned to my own way,
and the Lord has laid on Him all my iniquity.”
The Bible is not an antiquated book of rules and fairy tales. It is the living Word of the living God for you. Take up and read, Beloved.

Freedom in Christ

What is sin? It is “missing the mark” – “falling short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23). It is rebellion and disobedience. It is faithlessness (Rom 14:23). It is the choices we make, the road we take, our words and actions. But it is still more. Jesus said sin is a slave master – “Everyone who sins is a slave to sin” (John 8:34). And Paul said that we are by nature sinful: “I know that nothing good lives in me, that is in my sinful nature” (Rom 7:18). That is why we are slaves to sin.
The Bible is clear: we are not sinners because we sin; we sin because we are sinners. We sin because it is our very nature and we have no choice but to obey our nature. When Adam and Eve obeyed the serpent instead of God they unleashed sin on the world and on every human born into the world. Every person comes into life as a slave to sin. Even my precious, slightly imperfect granddaughter. Trust me, I know this for certain.
We cry out with Paul, “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?” Is there any hope for us? Yes, there is! “Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Rom 7:24-25).
Jesus had no trace of sin. He was perfect and holy. Yet He died because of sin. Your sin and my sin and the sin of every person who ever lived was heaped on Him at the cross and buried with Him in the grave. But when He rose from the dead, those sins stayed in the tomb. But not everyone will receive what He has done. When someone rejects the salvation Jesus bought with His blood, it is like they are marching into the tomb and taking their sins back. “These are MINE!”
I don’t want my sins back. I much prefer to run free in God’s forgiveness and mercy and grace. Jesus said, “If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:36). That means that, in Christ, we are no longer slaves to sin. We no longer have to obey our sin nature – even though we sometimes do.
If you hear nothing else I say, hear this: If you have received what Jesus did for you, you are not who you once were. You are “a new creation” (2 Cor 5:17). Receive it. Believe it. Live in it. Beloved, freedom looks good on you.

Jerusalem

God called a man named Abram to “Leave your country, your people, and your household and go to the land I will show you.” He promised to make Abram “a great nation . . . and a blessing to all the peoples on earth” (Gen 12: 1-3). Why Abram? Simply because he was God’s sovereign choice. Abram and his wife Sarai obeyed the Lord and set out for an unknown destination. God changed their names to Abraham and Sarah and promised them a child of their own. But after twenty-five years and no baby, she insisted that Abraham sleep with her servant Hagar who would bear a son for Sarah. This they did and they were pleased with the boy named Ishmael. Until.

Sarah miraculously conceived in their very old age – she 90 and he 100 and gave birth to Isaac, the promised child of the Lord. Abraham sent Hagar and Ismael away to protect Isaac’s inheritance. And this is the root of the unrest in the Middle East and the hatred for Israel. The nations that descended from Ishmael – the Arab and Muslim nations today – contend that as Abraham’s firstborn son, he – and thus they – are the rightful heirs to the land God gave his father, the territory of Palestine. But Isaac’s son, Jacob – renamed Israel – and his descendants are heirs to the land according to the Lord.

But the war on Israel goes even deeper than Isaac and Ishmael. It goes back to the Garden of Eden. After Adam and Eve sinned, God declared the destruction of satan through the “seed” of the woman: “I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel” (Gen 3:15). One of Eve’s sons – Seth – was the line through whom Abraham and the nation of Israel came. A Jewish baby – a descendant of Seth and Abraham and Isaac and Jacob/Israel was born. Jesus, who is also the Son of God is the seed of the woman from Genesis 3:15. Until his birth, satan used Israel’s enemies to try to obliterate the Jewish people and stop his destroyer from coming. (See Pharoah’s attempt to kill all the Jewish baby boys and the story of Esther.) But He came anyway. Satan thought he had won when Jesus died and was buried, but He came back to life. Prophecy declares that He will come back again and complete the destruction of satan which God proclaimed way back in the Garden. But the Jewish temple – which the Romans destroyed in 70 AD – must be rebuilt on its original site in Jerusalem before He returns (See Rev. 11). That site is the current location of the Islamic Dome of the Rock – the Muslim’s most holy temple.  

Satan is still trying to destroy the Jewish people – the nation of Israel – to prevent the rebuilding of the temple – and Christ’s return. That is why we must “Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem” (Psalm 122:6). It is about so much more than a strip of land in the Middle East. It is about the return of the Lord, the destruction of evil, and the ushering in of Christ’s eternal rule and reign. Don’t be afraid of what you see in the world, Beloved. God has not lost control. Not even for a second.

The Most Important Question

It is my heart’s desire to teach Joy about God, but she teaches me all the time. She is usually very compliant and agreeable to whatever we ask her to do, but occasionally she will get a defiant attitude and refuse to cooperate. We had a few of those occasions when she was home last week. After some stubborn resistance, she asked me, “What does God say?” To which I answered, “God wants you to obey and . . . pick up your toys, or eat your breakfast, or get your shoes on . . . And she does. Because God said.

Imagine how different the world would be if Eve had turned to Adam and asked, “What does God say?” Because God had already told the man “You must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil . . .” (Gen 2:17). Instead they took the fruit and plunged the entire human race into sin and condemnation.

Imagine how different your life would be if you met every temptation with the same question. When the urge to surf the internet for porn hits, “What does God say?” “I will set before my eyes no vile thing” (Ps 101:3). When a friend offers you drugs or alcohol, “What does God say?”  “God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love, and of self-discipline” (2 Tim 1:7). When a family member hurts you deeply and you want to tell them off, “What does God say?” “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you” (Lk 6:27-28).

Let’s look at this again from another perspective. When your heart is wounded and weary, “What does God say?” “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit” (Ps 34:18). When you feel unloved and unlovable, “What does God say?” “I have loved you with an everlasting love” (Jer 31:3). When I’ve missed the right way and feel like a lost cause, “What does God say?” “Your Father is not willing that any should be lost” (Mat 18:14).

You and I will ask a lot of questions in our lives, but none more important than Joy’s question. Because God always says what is right and true and His Word leads us to eternal life in Christ. Let my granddaughter be your teacher today. Beloved, “What does God say?”

Mercy

A verse jumped out at me and I am certain the Lord wants us to get a firm grasp on it. I believe it could make all the difference in how we evangelize the world in our generation. It resonated with me so deeply because I have been reading through one of the most important books in Christian literature: “The Cost of Discipleship” by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. He points an accusing finger at the theology of “cheap grace” vs. the reality of “costly grace.” Peter wrote, “You know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed . . .  but with the precious blood of Christ”(1 Pet 1:18 ). The grace that saves us cost Jesus His very life.

 Modern Christianity portrays salvation as if we are doing God a favor by accepting Jesus as our Savior. But that is not the Bible’s perspective at all. Here’s the verse that caught my attention this morning: “What if God, choosing to show his wrath and make His power known, bore with great patience the objects of His wrath—prepared for destruction?” (Rom 9:22). In our quest to add numbers to the church role, we have dismissed the case Paul made here for our need for grace and mercy. We are sinners. Every single human being save Jesus was, is, and will be a sinner. Not merely because we sin, but because we are born with a sinful nature passed down from the first man and woman. That sinful nature condemns us before a holy God. We rightfully bear the burden of death.

Paul painted a picture of God, who had every right to pour out His wrath on man, check His wrath, putting it in restraints so that He could first reveal His patience and mercy. But why? “What if He did this to make the riches of His glory known to the objects of His mercy . . .” (v. 23). He did it for His glory – that men who experience His mercy might give him the praise, honor, and exaltation He deserves.

We’re not doing God a favor by accepting His salvation. He is doing us the favor by extending the invitation. Love’s greatest expression is mercy. I realize this isn’t the warm, fuzzy devotional you are used to, Beloved. But it is the truth. God loves you and He showed it at the cross. He paid the highest price to redeem you. Will you give Him the glory He deserves?

Promise Keeper

Have you ever had someone break a promise to you? I am sure you have, and so have I. It’s part of life in this fallen world. But we have a God who always keeps His promises. Jeremiah declared of the Lord: “He has done just as He said He would” (Jer 40:3).

He promised the first man and woman that if they ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they would die. They ate and became mortal with death in their future. He promised Noah that he and his family would be rescued from the terrible flood that destroyed all life on earth. And they were. He promised Abraham that he would become the father of many nations and that his people would have a land of their own. Israel is the fulfillment of that promise. He promised to rescue Abraham’s descendants from slavery and 2 million plus Hebrew people marched out of Egypt and across a dry seabed between walls of water and into freedom. The Bible is replete with God’s promises and His fulfillment of them – to the nation of Israel and to the world.

Here is another promise God made: “He will crush your head . . .” (Gen 3:15). This promise is spoken to the evil one, the devil, satan himself – the one who threw all of humanity into chaos and sin. God promised to send Someone who would bring divine justice and break the enemy’s hold over humanity.  He was true to His Word. Jesus is the fulfillment of that promise.  

He also promised rest. Jesus said “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest” (Matt 11:28). He wasn’t necessarily talking about physical rest, although David declared that God leads him to restful places to be restored (Ps 23:2-3). In this context He was speaking of spiritual rest – He promises us rest for our souls. You and I are sinners and the penalty of our sin is condemnation – eternal death. The heart of the gospel is that Christ bore the burden of our condemnation on the cross. He gives us rest from our burden and rest from trying to atone for our own sins.

Paul said, “No matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ” (2 Cor 1:20). Jesus is the fulfillment of all the promises God has made. Do you believe Him, Beloved? Do you trust the Promise-Keeper?

The Secret to the Successful Christian Life

If I could suggest a “secret” to the successful Christian life it would be Paul’s counsel in Colossians 3:1 and 2: “Set your hearts on things above,” and “Set your minds on things above.” That covers everything. Our heart is the seat of our desires and emotions and our minds are the seat of our reasoning, and together they sit in the driver’s seat of our will and actions. Everything you and I think, say and do springs from our hearts and our minds. When satan went after Eve in the garden he went for her mind, refuting what God had said, and her heart, appealing to her desire for something tasty, something pretty, and something that would make her who she wanted to be: God. He hasn’t changed tactics since. He works through the world to discredit God and deny what He has said – enacting laws and cultural influences to turn the truth inside-out and upside-down. He works through education, which is not in and of itself evil. God counsels us to seek wisdom and knowledge and understanding, but our education system is almost entirely anti-God, from the pre-school level to the highest degrees in college. We do well to remember that “The Lord gives wisdom and from His mouth come knowledge and understanding” (Prov 2:6). He works through the media, and our penchant for entertainment. He works through social pressure and – sadly – religion gone rogue. But he finds his greatest success by tickling our hearts – our desires and passions, and emotions. This is the fertile ground in which the enemy plants his most productive seeds. He really doesn’t have to do much work at all. He just taps into what is already in us. James was right: “Each one is templated when, by is own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed” (Jas 1:14). And that is why Solomon said, “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life” (Prov. 4:23). Guarding our hearts involves guarding our mouth, our eyes, our steps, and our direction (vs. 24-27).That’s why Paul’s words are so powerful and true. The strongest guard we can set is to keep the focus of both our hearts and our minds God-ward. We do that chiefly through the regular, diligent, and purposeful intake of Scripture – nothing you and I can do has as much transforming power. Not only does the Word of God transform our minds (Rom 12:2), but it also changes our hearts (Ps 119:111-112). So start right here. Don’t just read over these references. Look them up and meditate on them. Plant them in the soil of your mind and heart. Beloved, that’s how you harvest righteousness.

Real Questions and Real Answers

When my younger brother was little, he was full of questions and I, being the wise older sister, tried to answer all of them. Until he became obsessed with this one: “Who put outside outside?” None of our answers sufficed. Then our dad said, “When people built buildings there wasn’t enough room for the whole world to be inside, so some of it had to stay outside.” And that satisfied him.

We may not ponder questions as complex as that, but there are questions that every person on earth needs to face:

1. Where did life come from?

2. What happens when we die?

3. How can we explain human behavior?

4. How can I determine right from wrong?

5. What is the purpose of man?

These questions shape our worldview and our worldview shapes our belief system. Our entire outlook on life is informed by our answers to these questions.

The greatest tool of Satan is to numb man’s mind so he does not think about these things. Instead, he has us obsessing over worldly, useless things that have no eternal significance.  We are awed by the opulence of celebrities rather than by the Creator of the brilliant heavens.  We fill our minds with worldly wisdom and ignore the wisdom of the Bible.  We build fortresses to protect us from our enemies and the enemy of our soul laughs as he wanders into our homes through the world wide web.  We refuse to worship God but pour out our highest accolades on athletes who carry a ball down a field.  Republicans and Democrats battle each other while our true enemy has free reign in our nation.  We are chasing after success rather than chasing after God. 

Satan doesn’t want us to ponder these questions because he knows that the answers will ultimately point us to God.  Life came from God (Gen 1-2). After death, we stand before God for eternal punishment or eternal life (Heb 9:27). Human behavior is the result of the first human’s sinful rebellion against their Creator (Gen 3). Right from wrong is spelled out in the Bible (Ps 119:9). The purpose of man is to love and worship God (Col 1:16; Rev 4:11). Until we face the real questions of humanity – and discover the true answers – we will continue to see evil in this world.  We must start asking the important questions, first to ourselves then in our homes and churches and communities.  Beloved, how will you answer these questions?

The Touch of His Hand

“The Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground (Genesis 2:7).

When God created the universe, He spoke – and from the nothingness everything came into being.  But when He created man, God “formed” him, meaning He worked with the raw materials as a craftsman.  He scooped up the dust – literally the dirt – from the earth and worked it into the form of a human being.  Do you know what that means?  He got His hands dirty creating man.  And He’s had His hands in the dirt of humanity ever since. 

Leprosy was one of the most feared diseases and rightly so. It was highly contagious and meant almost certain death and the person’s diseased body literally fell apart. The leper walked through the streets crying out “Unclean! Unclean!” so that others avoided touching him. But when a man with leprosy approached Him, “Jesus reached out His hand and touched the man” (Mark 1:40-42). He was willing to place His clean hand on a diseased man who needed His healing touch.

He allowed a woman with a long-standing issue of blood (a feminine disorder that made her unclean according to the Jewish Law) to touch Him – and through His power and her faith, she was healed (Mark 5:21-34). He welcomed the touch of “a sinful woman” who washed His feet with her tears and dried them with her hair and anointed him with expensive perfume prior to His crucifixion. It was a scandalous act of repentance and love on her part, and of mercy on His (Luke 7:36-50).

He touched blind eyes (Mark 8:242-26) and mute tongues and deaf ears (Mark 7:31-35). He touched people every day in His earthly ministry – dirty, diseased, sinful people. So why do you think He would turn you away because of the dirt, disease, and sin in your life?  He knows what you’ve done.  He knows where you’ve been and who you’ve been there with.  He knows what has been done to you.  Yes, your life is unclean, but He is not disgusted by it – or by you. 

Beloved, He will take your dirty life in His hands and cleanse it and reshape and rebuild it – and you – into something beautiful.  Bring it all to Him and let Him turn your filth into life. That is His specialty you know.

The Devil Made Me Do It

If you are of my generation and hear, “The devil made me do it!” you automatically picture a saucy gal named Geraldine. Geraldine was a character played by the comedian Flip Wilson and a true free spirit of the 1970s. Her ready excuse for her behavior was to blame it all on the devil. Wilson may have thought this was original comedy but Geraldine’s catchphrase was the oldest excuse in the book – literally.

Go back – way back – with me to the very beginning, to the Garden and the first humans, Adam, and Eve. When they tuned out God’s voice and listened to the serpent, they committed the first sin and brought the entire human race under condemnation. When God came to visit them that evening in the garden, they hid from Him because they knew what they had done was wrong – it was evil – and the Lord God would not tolerate their disobedience.

When He confronted them, they started passing the blame around like a hot potato. Adam was first, “The woman You put here with me – she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it” (Gen 3:12). Adam blamed the woman for his sin – and God. The woman pointed elsewhere, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate” (v. 13). “The devil made me do it.”

They were right in a sense, but also very wrong.  Even though they both laid the blame elsewhere, they had to admit the truth: “I ate.” That is confession at its purest. “Lord, I did it.” No excuses or blame-shifting because regardless of the temptation or the pressure or the emotions, you and I are responsible for our sins.

When David saw Bathsheba. he burned with lust. He sent for her and took her to his bed, then had her husband murdered to cover over his sin. When Nathan the prophet of God pointed his finger at the king, David came clean before God. “I know my transgressions and my sin is always before me. Against you, you only have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight” (Ps 51:3-4).

God calls us to holiness and expects us to obey. When we sin, we have no one to blame but ourselves. Jerry Bridges said, “If we sin, it is because we choose to sin, not because we lack the ability to say no to temptation.”[1] Here’s the bottom line: Nobody, not even the devil, can make you do it. Remember Beloved, God forgives sin, not excuses.

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[1] Jerry Bridges, The Pursuit of Holiness (Colorado Spring: NavPress, 2006), 80.