Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Something Strange Happening?

1 Peter 4:12
Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.

Do not be surprised. This is to say that we are to expect what we are not to be surprised by. It is interesting that we who live in the midst of the valley of the shadow of death would consider trials and tribulations to be strange. It is quite strange that we who breathe the very atmosphere of struggle and suffering would think it strange when we taste of it's bitterness. It would not be unlike a fish who finds it strange that it is surrounded by water.

Heavy hearts and brokenness are constant companions for we who dwell in the land of sin, live with the people of sin, and indeed even battle with the sin in our own hearts. Thanks be to God that we are not left with only this dark canvass to behold. For even in the next few verses of 1st Peter a glorious hope is unleashed:

1 Peter 5:4
And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.

1 Peter 5:10-11
And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Here again I find the blessed tension between sorrow and rejoicing. Although we experience sorrow in many ways we are overwhelmingly blessed with the gaze-shifting magnitude of hope. This medicine called hope is found all over the Scriptures. Hope focuses upon God and His magnificent promises and refuses to consider only that which may be seen with physical eyes in the here and now.

Jesus plainly advises that we will indeed encounter tribulation, but He does not leave us there. Highlighting His purchase of this unspeakable hope, Jesus encourages us by reminding us what it was that He accomplished:

John 16:33
I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.

We have been graced with this sustaining hope because He has overcome the world. Were it not for His overcoming act we would all be left only ever to behold the dark canvass that presently surrounds us.

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

God's Priceless Purchase

While reading in Matthew 26, I was impacted afresh at the glories of Christ in willingly suffering on behalf of the glory of God and the good of His people.

Sometimes it is almost troubling, in a good way, to consider that the One who was eternally free from suffering volunteered to suffer so. The One who was wholly undeserving of pain and anguish endured it on our behalf that we might be set free to know Him and enjoy Him forever.

Matthew 26:38-39
Then he said to them, "My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me." And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, "My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will."


He who was eternally free from sorrow became dreadfully sorrowful that we, who deserve sorrow, might become free from sorrow forever. The infinite price of Him who suffered so greatly purchased for us the magnificent treasure of being able to glorify God by enjoying Him both now and for eternity. God’s priceless purchase for us was God Himself at the infinite cost of the suffering of His eternally glorious Son.

Psalm 139:6
“Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it.”

Friday, March 20, 2009

Aliens & Strangers...

Mark 13:13a
"And you will be hated by all for my name's sake."

Noah was mocked by those around him. Joseph was despised by his brothers. Moses was troubled by Dathan and his crew. Mordecai was hated by Haman. David was hunted relentlessly by Saul and his army. Many of the Old Testament prophets were killed by the very people they were sent speak to. Jesus was hated by the self-righteous religious people of his day. The disciples of Jesus were hated by those who killed them. Stephen was despised by the furious crowed who stoned him to death. John was hated by those who exiled him. Paul was hated by the religious people of his day, some of whom took a vow to kill him, and others of whom referred to him as a plague.

Hebrews 11:37-38
They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated-- of whom the world was not worthy--wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.

Hebrews 11:13-16
"These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted 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."

Mark 13:13b
"But the one who endures to the end will be saved. "

Revelation 2:10b
"Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life.
"

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Smack...

Life is war! The battle is for the affections of our hearts. These are staples in the life of a Christian. Why is it then that when I try to explain this to a friend, who is a Christian by confession, and he looks at me as if I'm speaking Greek?

Have you ever slapped a loved one in the face in order to wake them up? Have you ever shaken somebody by the scruff of the neck and talked to them nose to nose in order to relay the urgency of the situation at hand. Sometimes that is what we need. Sometimes we need a brother in the battle to get our attention and to help us get back in the fight.

Know a brother or sister in the faith who is struggling? Know a loved one battling with apathy and losing? Do them a favor and kick them in the pants, point out the army approaching them that they haven't noticed, and point them to the ultimate Commander in Chief. There is a place in the battle for them, sometimes they just need a little help finding it.

While in the midst of writing this I had another brother call me, expressing his current condition of losing the battle with apathy and feeling hard hearted. A loving smack on the head was what this brother needed. Hey bro, this life is war! Why aren't you fighting? What's that, you don't know any decent battalions (churches) to join? Well then come with me, I'll take you to one. Bro don't be surprised by the fiery trials that are assailing you and remember that our God makes even those trials work for our good. He knows what He's doing, and He's not done with you yet. Put on your armor, grab your weapon, it's time to get back into the fray.

Monday, March 16, 2009

Chris Tomlin: I Will Rise



"I Will Rise" Lyrics:
There's a peace I've come to know
Though my heart and flesh may fail
There's an anchor for my soul
I can say "It is well"

Jesus has overcome
And the grave is overwhelmed
The victory is won
He is risen from the dead

And I will rise when
He calls my name
No more sorrow, no more pain
I will rise on eagles' wings
Before my God fall on my knees And rise
I will rise

There's a day that's drawing near
When this darkness breaks to light
And the shadows disappear
And my faith shall be my eyes

Jesus has overcome
And the grave is overwhelmed
The victory is won
He is risen from the dead

And I will rise when
He calls my name
No more sorrow, no more pain
I will rise on eagles' wings
Before my God fall on my knees And rise
I will rise

And I hear the voice of
many angels sing,
"Worthy is the Lamb"
And I hear the cry of
every longing heart,
"Worthy is the Lamb" [x2]

And I will rise when
He calls my name
No more sorrow, no more pain
I will rise on eagles' wings
Before my God fall on my knees And rise
I will rise


An amazingly worshipful song: I Will Rise

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

The Wrath of The Lamb

Wrath and fury are not unfamiliar to mankind. We often get a taste of vengeance as we or our loved ones are wronged. Yet that the wrath of God is almost entirely incomprehendible. To say that we could have a fair understanding of the wrath of God would be akin to saying that an ant could understand the fury of a great white shark on the hunt. It would be like a spark from a flint rock being able to understand the fury and intensity with which the sun burns.

Justice will not be done here, nor ever with mere words, to describe the infinite unending unquenchable fiery wrath of God. Yet we would do well to consider such a magnitude. As the Lord has intricately designed creation to display His multifaceted glories, so He has also purposed that we may have somewhat of a glimpse of His wrath via creation. Although the depths of the wrath of God are as unfathomable as is His love, we are granted opportunities to see examples of such. A father's wrath against one who would harm his child, a mother bear's wrath against any who come near her cubs, a judge's wrath against a vile and heinous law breaker, these are mere pointers to that which words cannot describe.

All members of the human race stand in the precarious position of being within pouring range of the bottomless cup of God's just and spectacular wrath. "For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God."

This cup of wrath is what the Lord Jesus was referring to when He said, "My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will." And this is what the Holy Spirit inspired words were referring to, "Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him." It was the wrath of God which what Jesus absorbed upon the cross. It was the wrath of God which Jesus consumed on our behalf, in order that those, who by faith trust in Him, would not have to.

Isaiah 53:5
But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed.

Isaiah 53:11
Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.

Scripture is not scarce in it’s language which tells of those who must face the wrath of God on their own, apart from the substitutionary atonement of the Lamb of God. The wrath of the Lord that awaits those outside of Christ is beyond our imaginations. Consider for a moment the horror described in the below verses.

Revelation 6:15-17
Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, calling to the mountains and rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?"

Praise be to God that Christ has consumed the wrath of God on our behalf. Praise be to God that we who are in Christ will not face such dreadful terror as that described in Revelation 6:15-17.