Come to the Throne of Grace

David was in it up to his neck (Ps 69:1). He could find no foothold to regain his stability; he felt like he was sinking in deep waters (v. 2). Though he cried out for help, he couldn’t see God coming to his rescue. He said, “My eyes fail looking for my God” (v. 3). David spoke of his enemies and we see their hatred toward him. His woes are understandable. But wait. Look at verse 5: “You know my folly, O God; my guilt is not hidden from you.” David is the cause of his own despair. David has put himself in the miry depths. The text doesn’t reveal his actions, but he talks about being “scorned, disgraced, and shamed” (v. 19).

David is suffering the consequences of his actions. Can you relate? I know I can. Most of my struggles and difficulties have my own fingerprints all over them. And my tendency when I fail is to withdraw from God and assume that I must lay in the bed I made. I have a hard time bringing myself to ask for His help when I messed up.

But David had no such qualms. He wrote, “But I pray to you, O Lord, in the time of Your favor; in your great love, O God, answer me with Your sure salvation” (v. 13). He pleads: “Rescue me . . . Deliver me” (v. 14). “Answer me” (v. 16). “Redeem me” (v. 18). “Protect me” (v. 29). David is convinced of God’s love and salvation. He appeals to the “goodness of Your love” and “great mercy” (v. 16). He knows that “The Lord hears the needy and does not despise His captive people” (v. 33).  He could have also written Hebrews 4:6 – “Let us approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

I don’t know what is keeping you from God today. But I know this beyond a shadow of a doubt: no matter what you have done, God’s mercy, grace, and love are yours for the asking. Because of Jesus, “nothing – not even your failures, sins and mistakes – will be able to separate [you] from the love of God” (Rom 8:38-39). Just ask Him, Beloved. Then receive it.  He loves to rescue His children.

Stand on that Rock and Sing!

I hope this doesn’t shock you, but I have a past. I did not always walk with Jesus, and it showed. I was self-centered and lived for the unholy trinity of me, myself, and I. Paul lists some of the “acts of the sinful nature” in several of his letters, and I exhibited more than a few of them. I’m not saying that with pride, but rather to show you the contrast between who I was and who God is shaping me to be.

To borrow from King David, when God saved me . . .

He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; He set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. (Psalm 40:2)

How foolish would I be to cling to the pit?

Yet I see and hear so many of God’s redeemed people referring to themselves by their past. Why? That’s not who you are anymore. I love how Paul declared, “You were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live . . . But God . . . .” God rescued you out of his great love and rich mercy and made you “alive with Christ” through whom you have been saved (Eph 2:1-5 – emphasis added). Do you see it? You were steeped in sin, but now you are filled with Christ. You were lost, but now you are found. You were condemned, but now you are set free. You were God’s enemy, now you are His child. You are “a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Cor 5:17).

If God has lifted you out of the pit of sin and set your feet on the solid Rock, why do you keep looking back into the mud and mire? No matter what you’ve done in the past, if you are in Christ, your identity is no longer there. You are made new – holy and righteous. Beloved, you are not that sinful person anymore. Stand tall on that rock and sing a song of praise to the Lord.

Acts: The Great Rescue Plan

I love this from Oswald Chambers: “The Cross was not something that happened to Jesus— He came to die; the Cross was His purpose in coming. He is “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Revelation 13:8).

Jesus’ death on the cross was not a knee-jerk reaction to human sin. It was the plan of the ages, instituted before the first light broke through the dark and formless universe. Adam and Eve’s sin did not take God by surprise. The sinful state of humanity was not a shock to God. Not once has God ever wrung His hands in heaven and wondered, “Whatever shall I do with them?” We often hear this human idea that God looked down from heaven and saw mankind in bondage to sin and death and sent His son in response. While it certainly expresses God’s heart of mercy for His creation, it’s not exactly the truth. The cross was His perfect plan all along.

Grab your Bible and read Acts 2:22-36. Peter spoke to the awestruck crowd who had witnessed the power of the Holy Spirit anointing His servants. While he pointed the finger at the Jewish people for Jesus’ death, he pointed out that the crucifixion was God’s idea all along. Peter said, “This man was handed over to you by God’s set purpose and foreknowledge” (v. 23). And so was His resurrection. David, Israel’s shepherd-king understood that God never intended to “abandon [His Holy One] to the grave” (v. 27). David’s bones still lay in His tomb in Jerusalem, but Jesus is alive and well and seated on the throne in heaven, pouring out His Holy Spirit on His people.

Revelation 13:8 said that Jesus is “the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world” He was always meant to come to earth as a tiny baby and live a perfect, sinless life, and die an undeserved and cruel death. He was always meant to lie in a tomb for three days and heaven never doubted that He would rise again because that was the plan all along.

Aren’t you glad that God didn’t wait for you to cry out from the pit of sin before He set a rescue plan in place? He planned it long before you needed it. That should give you great hope, It’s the only plan that offers us redemption and eternal life. Beloved, it’s a plan you can trust.

Devoted

You and I are God’s people in the devil’s world. There is so much evil in all around us that we can’t avoid unless we crawl into a cave and never come out. As tempting as that is , but it’s not the way to fulfill our purpose to be “salt and light in the world” (Matt. 5:13-16).  We have to be “in the world, but not of the world” (paraphrased from John 17:14-16). It’s not a “balance” as I’ve heard some say. It comes down to an all-in choice for holiness and a determination to never compromise.

Holiness means to be “set apart” for a special purpose. The Bible tells us that God sets us His people apart for His divine purposes. It’s powerfully displayed in Isaiah’s commissioning as a prophet of God in Isaiah 6. God gave Isaiah a vision of Himself – and a call to repentance. Isaiah knew that he was not worthy – he said, “Woe to me! I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty” (6:5). Isaiah lived in the unclean world, and even before the Lord’s call he had preached the judgment of God to Judah. But the filth of the world still clung to him. You cannot walk down a dirt road without collecting some of its dust. God cleansed his unclean lips – then set him apart to declare His Word. All through the Bible God convicts, cleanses, and sets people apart when He is going to do something big.

I believe God is getting ready to do a great work in the world. But it will require people who are consecrated to Him, willing to set everything aside to join Him. That means whole-hearted devotion to Christ and an unwillingness to compromise with the world – even as we live in it. I also believe a great battle is coming in this nation; the lines have already been drawn in our culture and our courts. Unfortunately, it has also been drawn through the Church, and some have chosen to side with the world. Only a people with pure, consecrated hearts will be able to stand firm in the face of it.

The Lord posed a question in Jeremiah’s day that rings loud and clear in our own: “’Who is he who will devote himself to be close to me?’ declares the Lord” (Jer. 30:21). My hand is up.

How will you answer, Beloved?

Advent 2022: Infant Holy, Infant Lowly

Image: “Infant Holy” by Jennah Larsen https://www.cornerstoneart.com/lds-artist-gallery/art_print_products/infant-holy

Try to wrap your head around this: the baby in the manger was the son of a virgin woman and the Son of God. The Scriptures say “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son . . . “ Matthew 1:23/Isaiah 7:14.  I know – you’ve heard this scripture a hundred times at least. But have you stopped to consider what it really means? The Protestant Church refers to it as “the virgin birth.” The Roman Catholic church calls it “The Immaculate Conception.” We tend to fly over it but we need to give it some time and attention because it is important.

The word “immaculate” means spotless, without flaw or error, stain or blemish – perfectly pure. That could never happen with two human parents. Joseph was a righteous man, but he had a sin nature like every other human being. Mary was a virgin and she was“highly favored” by God, but she had the same sin nature. Joseph would be Jesus’ earthly father, but not his “biological father.” Mary, however, would be His biological mother – therefore she had to be a virgin – sexually pure.

The Scripture said that Mary was “overshadowed” by the Holy Spirit as the “male party” to conception. In researching the word this means that He filled Mary with creative energy, much the same way He worked in the creation of the universe. More importantly, He provided spiritual purity so that the child would be the only human born without a sin nature. Now I am a Bible teacher. I like to make difficult things understandable. But I cannot explain how this occurred. It was a divine action that we must accept with wonder.

Why does this matter? Because you and I are unholy people in need of a holy Savior. Under the old covenant, sacrifices had to be made every year to atone for the people’s sins.   Only a divine sacrifice could guarantee salvation. Only holy blood  – divine blood – could atone for the human race. There’s just one problem: God cannot die. That is why Jesus had to be both divine and human. Thus Jesus came from the union of God and humanity. It was the only way to provide the perfect blood sacrifice required to redeem mankind from their sinful nature. It is the only hope you and I have.

Beloved, I encourage you to slow down through the familiar Christmas account. Take in every scene and ponder every word. This is not just a warm, fuzzy story to tell around the tree. This story is life. Eternal life. It is wonder and awe. It is Jesus – the God-man who came to save you.

Sin No More

When I read the Gospels, I marvel at Jesus’ patience and understanding with sinful people. No, He was not (is not) gentle with sin – He called it out for what it was. He didn’t excuse it or call it a disease or disorder. He didn’t accept it or tolerate it or celebrate it. Sin was and is appalling. It needs to be confronted – and Jesus did. Yet even while correcting sin, was always gracious to those lost souls caught in the devil’s snare. “He had compassion on them because He saw that they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd” (Matt 9:6).

While walking through Jerusalem one day, Jesus passed by a pool that was believed to have healing properties when the waters were stirred by “an angel.” A helpless invalid had laid by the side of the pool for thirty-eight years, waiting and hoping for his chance to slip into the waters at just the right moment. But he was alone and never managed to get there. Along came Jesus who healed Him. At a later encounter, Jesus told the man, “See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you” (John 5:1-14). He healed first, then corrected. We need to take notes.

On another occasion, Jesus was teaching in the temple and the religious leaders brought to him a woman caught in adultery. But just the woman – isn’t that interesting? He defended her against her accusers – but he did not defend her actions. When Jesus confronted the men with their hypocrisy they left in shame.  After assuring her that He did not condemn her, Jesus told the woman, “Go now and leave your life of sin.” (John 8:1-11). I have no doubt that she did. Grace and correction always work hand in hand.

I often look up words to build a devotional and that is what I was doing as I was developing a different point when God turned this in a whole other direction. When I looked up “sin no more” I found these two stories – and something else. Those same words appear again in the Scriptures when the writer of Hebrews talked about the new covenant in Christ. The Lord said, “I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more” (Heb 8:12). No more. No more guilt. No more shame. No more condemnation. Because all your sins are washed away by the blood of Jesus. The affair. The abortion. The sexual immorality. The lies. That sin you don’t want to remember? You won’t have to Beloved, because in Christ your sins are “no more.”

Hebrews: Outside the Camp

“We’re New Testament Christians, why are we studying the Old Testament? This stuff doesn’t apply to us anymore.” “One reason,” I answered “is because the New Testament writers used it quite a bit in their books and letters.  If we want to understand what they were saying, we need to understand their references.” That’s what we’re going to do in today’s passage.

“The high priest carried the blood of animals into the Most Holy Place as a sin offering, but the bodies are burned outside the camp” (Heb 13:11). It was Yom Kippur, the most holy day of the Jewish year. The day when the sins of the nation were atoned for. It was a day for fasting and prayer and confession. It was the day that the slate was wiped clean and the people were declared righteous – at least until they sinned again.  The high priest took the blood of the slaughtered animal into the Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle/Temple as a sin offering and sprinkled it on the mercy seat of the Lord. The carcass of the animal would be carried outside of the camp/city to be burned because it represented the sin of the people. Sin must not be allowed to remain among God’s holy nation.

The writer makes the new covenant connection in verse 12: “And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through His own blood.” Jesus was the sacrificial animal. Jesus’ blood was sprinkled on the mercy seat of the Lord. And Jesus was crucified and buried outside of the city of Jerusalem because He bore the sin of all humanity. And by His blood, those who believe and receive His atonement are made holy.

An interesting aside here is that the Jewish leaders rejected Jesus and had Him crucified at Golgotha because of His radical message. But by putting Him outside of the city proper they were unknowingly confirming that He was indeed the sacrifice for the sins of the people. Because his original audience was believing Jews, the writer urged them to “go to Him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace He bore,” symbolically rejecting the old ways of Judaism (v. 13).

As believers in Christ, you and I will often have to “go outside the camp” of popular opinion and cultural relevance, even within the church, to live in holiness. But we’re in good company. We’re out there with Jesus. Remember what He said: “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first” (John 15:18).

Oh, and there’s one more reason why we need to study the Old Testament, even as New Testament Christians – because Jesus is all over it and all in it. It’s worth digging into the early texts to know Him better. All of history, including the entire Bible, is His story. It’s the greatest story ever told.

Mistakes – I’ve Made a Few

When I study, I write with a pen in hand and put ink on paper – old school. It helps me remember things like I’m writing stuff directly in my brain. I was writing down a Scripture reference the other day and wrote the wrong number, (I’m sorry to disappoint you, but I do make mistakes) so I wrote the correct number over it. I traced it several times to make the right number show up better and cover over the wrong number, and in the process, I made the right number unreadable. I finally had to just scribble out the whole thing and rewrite it correctly and clearly.

Some of us are trying to fix our own mistakes. We’re trying to write over our sins and failures. We think, “If I just do enough things right, no one – especially God – will notice what I did wrong.” The problem is, the more we try to fix it, the worse we make it. Yep, I see you nodding your head. You’ve done it too.  And what we mess up is not a written word but ourselves.  If we keep going we will not even know who we are. Here’s the hard truth folks, you and I cannot overwrite our sins. God is not fooled. So stop trying.

God has a better plan. He said, “I, even I, am He who blots out your transgression, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more” (Isaiah 43:25). The idea here is that all your sins are written down in a book and God erases them, No, even better than erasing them, He removes them forever by washing our sin-page – and us – with the blood of His Son. John put it like this: “The blood of Jesus purifies us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). All of it. Every. Single. One. Jesus’ blood makes us spotless, innocent, and pure with no trace of our former sin left behind. Does that seem too good to be true? Trust me, it is true. Better yet, trust Him.

 Give your mistakes to Jesus. Give Him every sin and every failure. Give Him the shame and the guilt. Give Him the pain and regret. Let Him cover over it all with His precious blood and rewrite your story with His grace. Then, Beloved, you will be who God created you to be. His.

Hebrews: By faith Abraham . . .

“Abraham! Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love . . . and sacrifice him as a burnt offering . . . (Genesis 22:1-2).

As I meditate on Hebrews 11:17-19 (grab your Bible and read it) two questions come to mind: Why would God make such a horrific demand of Abraham and why would Abraham obey it? As I pondered those questions, two points emerge about Abraham and Isaac’s story.

To the first question, the author says that “God tested [Abraham],” (v. 17) and, as He often does, the Spirit whispered in my heart: “what does that mean?” The word “tested” actually has two meanings: to temp or to examine. How can you know which is happening? The difference is in the tester’s purpose: the devil tempts that the believer might fail God’s standards of faith and sin; God tests that He might determine and sharpen true character, with no desire of making the believer fail. God was examining Abraham’s willingness to obey Him, even in the most difficult requests.  Sometimes it’s difficult to understand who’s behind the test, but the way through is always the same. Keep your eyes on Jesus and your heart firmly planted in the Word. In either case, you will emerge with deeper roots of faith and a testimony of God’s power and goodness.

As to Abraham’s part, I never understood how he could willingly sacrifice his son until I studied his story alongside this Hebrews passage and Romans 4:18 – 20: “Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed . . . he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God.”  Did you catch it? Abraham believed the promise because of Who made it. He fully expected that God would still build a nation through Isaac and that meant Isaac would have to live. In his reasoning, he expected God to raise Isaac from the dead after the deed was done. But God stayed his hand at the last moment and provided a replacement sacrifice instead. The point is that Abraham’s faith was not in the promise – it was in the Promise-maker. And so must ours be.

Those are two solid truths you can build your life upon. God will never test you to make you fail and He will never make a promise He doesn’t intend to keep. Abraham is known for his great faith. Beloved, are you? Am I?

Glory!

Why does God deliver us out of our troubles? Why did He send His Son to die on the cross for you and me? Why does He “part the heavens and come down” and “draw [us] out of deep waters” (Psalm 18: 9, 16).

Because we are helpless and in desperate situations? Yes, but that’s not the only reason.

Because He loves us? Without question, but that’s not the whole answer.

Because He is the only one who can? That is true, but there’s more to the equation than that.

The most important reason God delivers us from our troubles and our sin is for His glory. He said, “Call on me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will glorify me” (Psalm 50:15). When you and I are pulled from the pit of despair, God is exalted. When His hand lifts us up from our fallen state, He is lifted up before all men. When pitiful sinners become children of God, knees bow and tongues confess His glory and majesty.

In His “high priestly prayer” in John 17, Jesus said, “Father the time has come.” Time for what? His death? Our atonement? The devil’s defeat? Yes, and no. Jesus said the time had come for glory. “Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you” (v. 1). In just five verses, Jesus used the word “glorify” and “glory” five times. His vision went beyond the cross to something greater – glory. That is what it’s all about. David proclaimed, “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands” (Psalm 19:1) Nature, the heavens, the nations, you and me –were all created to give God glory.  And we will. Paul said that “every knee should bow . . . and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil 2:10,11).

Every knee. Every tongue. Whether they did in this life or not, whether they acknowledge His existence today or not, whether they want to not or not – they will glorify Him. Beloved, maybe we should start practicing now.