"My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord,nor be weary when reproved by him.For the Lord disciplines the one he loves,and chastises every son whom he receives."It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. Hebrews 12:5-11 ESV
I have had a year full of trials, loss, discouragements, and disappointments. I would like to say that I have always trusted God, endured patiently, stayed at peace and full of hope. Frankly, at times I have felt like I am on a boat ready to capsize in the storm and have been full of fear, anxiety, and depression. That is why I am thankful for the word of God and when I have turned back to the Lord His word has given me ballast for my boat to endure and ride through the storms of my life. Hebrews 12 is one of those parts of the bible that can really help when your life seems dark, foreboding, and uncertain.
The writer declares that God sovereignly governs our adversaries and circumstances and that there is a plan and design of God in all of this. The text is wonderfully clear on this. Verse 6: "Those whom the Lord loves he disciplines." The design of God for your life is love. "Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him" (Proverbs 13:24). Oh how we need to remind ourselves the truth that our pain is not the effect of God's hate, but of God's love. We cannot prove that we are being disciplined because of God’s love to anyone, or even to ourselves, except by faith.
Often times the blessings of God’s loving discipline are exceedingly well disguised, so well disguised that we, and often times no one else cannot see the slightest hint of possible good in them. I can attest to that! We have no insight into God’s secret workings and purposes at the moment except the eyes of faith in God’s loving purposes. Faith proves it. Faith not only believes in God; faith believes God! Faith BELIEVES it is so when God says so and then ACTING like it is so. Faith’s logic is very simple: “We are God’s children. God loves His children and is bound by his own nature and covenant promises to do them only good. Therefore, whatever we receive from God’s sovereign hand, including discipline, is from God’s love.
We may be confident that nothing ultimately bad will ever happen to those who belong to Jesus. That doesn’t mean nothing painful won’t happen. Our hearts may be broken a thousand times in this world, and our bodies wracked with pain. But those things are all part of God loving discipline. Paul tells us to be “rooted and grounded in God’s love” (Ephesians 3:11). That is, to have a settled assurance that God cannot do anything apart from or contrary to His love for us. Spurgeon said, “God is too good to be unkind. He is too wise to be confused. If I cannot trace His hand, I can always trust His heart”
Verse 7 reinforces the Father’s disciplining love for you: "It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons." In other words, in your pain, you are not being treated as a slave or as an enemy. You are being treated and raised as a dearly beloved child of God. God has obligated Himself to redeem, love, protect, and bless you. “My steadfast love shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not be removed," (Isaiah 54:10). The issue is: will you believe this? Will you let the Word of God settle the issue for you, so that when the suffering comes, you don't turn on God or from God and put him in the dock and prosecute him with accusations? He probably will not tell you why it is your turn, or why it is happening now, or why there is this much pain, or why it lasts this long. But he has told you what you need to know: it is the love of an all-wise Father to a child. Will you trust him? As the hymn writer Lena Sandell Berg writers, "
Day by day and with each passing moment, Strength I find to meet my trials here; trusting in my Father's wise bestowment, I've no cause for worry or for fear. He whose heart is kind beyond all measure gives unto each day what He deems best, lovingly, it's part of pain and pleasure, mingling toil with peace and with rest.
But God is even willing to tell us more. Verses 10b-11, "He disciplines us for our good, that we may share His holiness…to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness." Four words of divine purpose in God’s loving discipline for your life: our good, our holiness, our peace, and our righteousness. Oh how good is God. Oh how purposeful is what you are going through when under discipline. This is the design of our loving Father that comes to us painfully and mysteriously through the hostility of sinful adversaries and the natural hazards of a fallen world.
Verse 9b poses our concluding question: Will we "be subject to the Father of spirits, and live?" The only way to experience the abundant life (John 10:10) that Christ promises is to submit and surrender to God’s loving and purposeful discipline right now. Submit to the place God has you and you will truly live! By faith let this be your new battle cry:
“Let the rains of disappointment come, if they water the plants of spiritual grace. Let the winds of adversity blow, if they serve to root more securely the trees that God has planted. I say, let the sun of prosperity be eclipsed, if that brings me closer to the true light of life. Welcome sweet discipline, discipline designed for my joy, discipline designed to make me what God wants me to be.”
Dear Christian your life is not a mistake. This is not a parenthesis or appendage. Right now counts forever! If we submit to this sovereign, loving, fatherly care, we will not "grow weary and lose heart," but we will grow into maturity and keep the faith, fight the good fight, and finish our course, and die well, and glorify our Father in heaven.
Let me conclude with the poem by William Cowper. Please read it slowly and thoughtfully and let the Father minister His love, grace, and mercy to you:
God moves in a mysterious way His wonders to perform; He plants his footsteps in the sea, and rides upon the storm. Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take; the clouds you so much dread Are big with mercy and will break in blessings on your head. Judge not the Lord by feeble sense, but trust him for his grace; behind a frowning providence He hides a smiling face. His purposes will ripen fast Unfolding every hour; the bud may have a bitter taste, but sweet will be the flower. Deep in unfathomable mines of never-failing skill, He treasures up his bright designs and works his sovereign will. Blind unbelief is sure to err and scan his work in vain; God is his own interpreter, and he will make it plain
Pastor Bill
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
THE AMAZING THING THAT GOD WANTS TO DO THROUGH YOU
"I am sending you to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.” Acts 26:18
Have you ever thought about what Jesus wants to do in this world through you? It is a most wonderful and amazing thing He aims to do and we find it in Acts 26.
In Acts 26, Paul is telling King Agrippa about his conversion and his call to the ministry. He reports the spectacular encounter with Christ he had on the Damascus Road. Then he reports the commission that Christ gave him. It’s the words of the commission that are so amazing and relevant for us this morning. Paul tells us tells us in verses 15-17 what Jesus told him: ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. But rise and stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you, delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles—to whom I am sending you.” Now listen carefully to what Jesus says he is sending Paul to do in his ministry: “I am sending you to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me” (Verse 18)
Jesus told Paul that He was sending him. When Paul thought about being sent by God and the task of proclaiming the gospel he writes in 2 Corinthians 4:7, “But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.” Paul describes himself as a jar of clay with a powerful gospel inside. Paul wants us to realize that we all are clay pots when it comes to containing and sharing the gospel. The glory of God shines brightest through the lives of flawed saints. This means that if you feel average or less than average in your sense of your ability to tell the gospel, you are the person God is looking for; a flawed, weak, clay pot, who simply shares the treasure of the gospel. Be encouraged, ordinary Christian. You are appointed, precisely in your ordinariness, for the greatest work in the world: proclaiming the greatest news in the world: the gospel of Jesus Christ.
The second thing we need to see is that Christ aims for us to go and tell, not just wait or others to come and see. From the first coming of Christ to the second coming of Christ the strategy of our mission is incarnation. Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. He left one place and went to another place. He gave up the glories and comforts of his heavenly home in order to go where the people were and tell them about the Father. And he said, "As the Father has sent me so send I you…Go Make disciples of all nations” (John 20:21; Matthew 28:19).
The third thing Christ aims to accomplish in our witness is the opening of the eyes of unbelievers. Now this is a radical call isn’t it? God is calling you and sending you out to do an utterly impossible task! Opening the eyes of the blind? Spiritually blind? At first glance it seems as if He is sending us out into certain failure and defeat. Yet Christ says it with such certainty, “I send you to open their eyes”. Especially when we see the impossible task set before us that Paul describes in 2 Corinthians 4:4, "The god of this age [Satan] has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the likeness of God." People who don’t believe in Christ are blind. That is why they don’t believe. Lostness is blindness to spiritual light, the light that really shines out from the gospel of Christ crucified and risen. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 4:3: “Even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled only to those who are perishing.” We all know people like this. It is like trying to describe a sunset to a man who has been blind his entire life. We pour out our heart to them and tell them about their sin and how Christ is the only person in the world who has died for sin and risen from the dead. We tell them about how beautiful and great is His love and wisdom and power and justice and meekness and humility and sovereignty. And they listen, and they hear the facts. They may even believe the facts of history. But they see no glory, no beauty, and no treasure. They can’t see Christ as supremely valuable; they see Him as offensive, foolish, boring, irrelevant, and worthless.
That is why this is no empty commission. The fact is that the eyes of the nations are blind and need to be opened; they need to turn from darkness to the light; they need to escape the power of Satan and come to God; and they need the forgiveness of sins. Conversion to Christ is at stake! Eternity is at stake! The souls of men and women are at stake.
Christ tells us in this text that He aims for this blindness to be healed and the deception broken. He aims to give sight. That's the goal of evangelism and missions. But we ask; how can you and I open the eyes of the blind? The answer of course is that in ourselves we can't. A work of God is needed in their lives to open their eyes and give them life so they can see and receive Christ as Savior and Lord and Treasure of their lives. 2 Corinthians 4:6 says, "It is God who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness,' who has shone in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ." It is God who created light in the beginning with an omnipotent, "Let there be light!" And it is God who now can open the eyes of the spiritually blind.
The God who created light in the beginning does the same thing in the human heart. Only the light this time is not physical light, but “the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.” Or as verse 4 calls it “the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ who is the image of God.” God does a divine supernatural call, just the same as in the beginning of the world when his call to the light created the light and it is powerful and effective. He causes the human heart to see the truth and beauty and worth of Christ—the glory of Christ. And when we see him for who he really is, we receive him for who he is Savior and Lord. This is what salvation is—having our eyes opened so that the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ shines into our hearts, and we see it and savor it and treasure it. This is the work of God.
So how does God accomplish this amazing work of opening the eyes of the spiritually blind? He uses means In Acts 26:18 says that Christ sends Paul to do it: "I send you to open their eyes, that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God." “So the exact reversal of satanic blindness and spiritual darkness comes from Christ’s messengers. So just when we feel most helpless—and who has not felt helpless before the spiritual deadness of those we love?—just when you felt most helpless you must hear this word: go, for I am sending you to be the agent of what only I can do, AND THROUGH YOU, AND THE PROCLAMATION OF THE GOSPEL, I WILL DO IT!
God alone says to the dead and dark human heart: Let there be light! And there is light. God alone can raise the dead. God alone gives spiritual light. God alone makes Christ appear true and beautiful and desirable. So go dear reader. Be his agent. He promises to use you. Open your mouth wide the Psalmist says; and He will fill it! (Psalm 81:10). Do you remember how Paul talked about this? He said it is like sowing seed and harvesting life. “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth” (1 Corinthians 3:6). Seed must be planted, cultivated, watered, and protected. But the miracle of life is God’s alone to give. In the moment of your greatest sense of helplessness, remember: God sends messengers “to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God.” God does not look at your city and wring His hands in defeat. He sends us to do what only he can do and He intends to do it. Jesus said in John 10:16, "I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice".
This is a very high and a very humbling calling. What are we to do that will cause people to see and be born again?” Tell them the good news of Christ. Proclaim the gospel. When you do that, God does a divine supernatural call, just the same as in the beginning of the world when his call to the light created the light. Just as when He called Lazarus to rise out of the tomb. He causes the human heart to see the truth and beauty and worth of Christ—the glory of Christ through the proclamation of the gospel.
People see and are born again through hearing that news, and never born again without it. “How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? …Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” (Romans 10:14-15, 17). The preaching of the gospel is God’s the work of missions for all of you. It is the means that God uses through each one of you to penetrate the kingdom of darkness and give sight to the spiritually blind.
All the Father wants are clay pots like you and me who will believe in God's aim to save, who are willing to proclaim the gospel, and who trust that by the working of the Holy Spirit when they share that God will open the eyes of the blind. I hope this gets you excited about God, excited about the gospel, and excited about what God wants to do through you in your community.
Expecting great things from God while attempting great things for God,
Bill
Have you ever thought about what Jesus wants to do in this world through you? It is a most wonderful and amazing thing He aims to do and we find it in Acts 26.
In Acts 26, Paul is telling King Agrippa about his conversion and his call to the ministry. He reports the spectacular encounter with Christ he had on the Damascus Road. Then he reports the commission that Christ gave him. It’s the words of the commission that are so amazing and relevant for us this morning. Paul tells us tells us in verses 15-17 what Jesus told him: ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. But rise and stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you, delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles—to whom I am sending you.” Now listen carefully to what Jesus says he is sending Paul to do in his ministry: “I am sending you to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me” (Verse 18)
Jesus told Paul that He was sending him. When Paul thought about being sent by God and the task of proclaiming the gospel he writes in 2 Corinthians 4:7, “But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.” Paul describes himself as a jar of clay with a powerful gospel inside. Paul wants us to realize that we all are clay pots when it comes to containing and sharing the gospel. The glory of God shines brightest through the lives of flawed saints. This means that if you feel average or less than average in your sense of your ability to tell the gospel, you are the person God is looking for; a flawed, weak, clay pot, who simply shares the treasure of the gospel. Be encouraged, ordinary Christian. You are appointed, precisely in your ordinariness, for the greatest work in the world: proclaiming the greatest news in the world: the gospel of Jesus Christ.
The second thing we need to see is that Christ aims for us to go and tell, not just wait or others to come and see. From the first coming of Christ to the second coming of Christ the strategy of our mission is incarnation. Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. He left one place and went to another place. He gave up the glories and comforts of his heavenly home in order to go where the people were and tell them about the Father. And he said, "As the Father has sent me so send I you…Go Make disciples of all nations” (John 20:21; Matthew 28:19).
The third thing Christ aims to accomplish in our witness is the opening of the eyes of unbelievers. Now this is a radical call isn’t it? God is calling you and sending you out to do an utterly impossible task! Opening the eyes of the blind? Spiritually blind? At first glance it seems as if He is sending us out into certain failure and defeat. Yet Christ says it with such certainty, “I send you to open their eyes”. Especially when we see the impossible task set before us that Paul describes in 2 Corinthians 4:4, "The god of this age [Satan] has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the likeness of God." People who don’t believe in Christ are blind. That is why they don’t believe. Lostness is blindness to spiritual light, the light that really shines out from the gospel of Christ crucified and risen. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 4:3: “Even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled only to those who are perishing.” We all know people like this. It is like trying to describe a sunset to a man who has been blind his entire life. We pour out our heart to them and tell them about their sin and how Christ is the only person in the world who has died for sin and risen from the dead. We tell them about how beautiful and great is His love and wisdom and power and justice and meekness and humility and sovereignty. And they listen, and they hear the facts. They may even believe the facts of history. But they see no glory, no beauty, and no treasure. They can’t see Christ as supremely valuable; they see Him as offensive, foolish, boring, irrelevant, and worthless.
That is why this is no empty commission. The fact is that the eyes of the nations are blind and need to be opened; they need to turn from darkness to the light; they need to escape the power of Satan and come to God; and they need the forgiveness of sins. Conversion to Christ is at stake! Eternity is at stake! The souls of men and women are at stake.
Christ tells us in this text that He aims for this blindness to be healed and the deception broken. He aims to give sight. That's the goal of evangelism and missions. But we ask; how can you and I open the eyes of the blind? The answer of course is that in ourselves we can't. A work of God is needed in their lives to open their eyes and give them life so they can see and receive Christ as Savior and Lord and Treasure of their lives. 2 Corinthians 4:6 says, "It is God who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness,' who has shone in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ." It is God who created light in the beginning with an omnipotent, "Let there be light!" And it is God who now can open the eyes of the spiritually blind.
The God who created light in the beginning does the same thing in the human heart. Only the light this time is not physical light, but “the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.” Or as verse 4 calls it “the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ who is the image of God.” God does a divine supernatural call, just the same as in the beginning of the world when his call to the light created the light and it is powerful and effective. He causes the human heart to see the truth and beauty and worth of Christ—the glory of Christ. And when we see him for who he really is, we receive him for who he is Savior and Lord. This is what salvation is—having our eyes opened so that the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ shines into our hearts, and we see it and savor it and treasure it. This is the work of God.
So how does God accomplish this amazing work of opening the eyes of the spiritually blind? He uses means In Acts 26:18 says that Christ sends Paul to do it: "I send you to open their eyes, that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God." “So the exact reversal of satanic blindness and spiritual darkness comes from Christ’s messengers. So just when we feel most helpless—and who has not felt helpless before the spiritual deadness of those we love?—just when you felt most helpless you must hear this word: go, for I am sending you to be the agent of what only I can do, AND THROUGH YOU, AND THE PROCLAMATION OF THE GOSPEL, I WILL DO IT!
God alone says to the dead and dark human heart: Let there be light! And there is light. God alone can raise the dead. God alone gives spiritual light. God alone makes Christ appear true and beautiful and desirable. So go dear reader. Be his agent. He promises to use you. Open your mouth wide the Psalmist says; and He will fill it! (Psalm 81:10). Do you remember how Paul talked about this? He said it is like sowing seed and harvesting life. “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth” (1 Corinthians 3:6). Seed must be planted, cultivated, watered, and protected. But the miracle of life is God’s alone to give. In the moment of your greatest sense of helplessness, remember: God sends messengers “to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God.” God does not look at your city and wring His hands in defeat. He sends us to do what only he can do and He intends to do it. Jesus said in John 10:16, "I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice".
This is a very high and a very humbling calling. What are we to do that will cause people to see and be born again?” Tell them the good news of Christ. Proclaim the gospel. When you do that, God does a divine supernatural call, just the same as in the beginning of the world when his call to the light created the light. Just as when He called Lazarus to rise out of the tomb. He causes the human heart to see the truth and beauty and worth of Christ—the glory of Christ through the proclamation of the gospel.
People see and are born again through hearing that news, and never born again without it. “How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? …Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” (Romans 10:14-15, 17). The preaching of the gospel is God’s the work of missions for all of you. It is the means that God uses through each one of you to penetrate the kingdom of darkness and give sight to the spiritually blind.
All the Father wants are clay pots like you and me who will believe in God's aim to save, who are willing to proclaim the gospel, and who trust that by the working of the Holy Spirit when they share that God will open the eyes of the blind. I hope this gets you excited about God, excited about the gospel, and excited about what God wants to do through you in your community.
Expecting great things from God while attempting great things for God,
Bill
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
CAN ANYBODY HELP US?
"I lift up my eyes to the hills.
From where does my help come?
My help comes from the LORD,
who made heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot be moved;
he who keeps you will not slumber.
Behold, he who keeps Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.
The LORD is your keeper;
the LORD is your shade on your right hand.
The sun shall not strike you by day,
nor the moon by night.
The LORD will keep you from all evil;
he will keep your life.
The LORD will keep
your going out and your coming in
from this time forth and forevermore."
Psalm 121 ESV
Hills in Palestine were rather majestic looking, beautiful from a distance, and filled with wonderful plant and animal life for those who came close. Hills were also a place where danger lurked. Cold at night. Wild beasts ready to tear at the sick and weak. Robbers waiting to victimize the unsuspecting traveler. The Psalmist looks at the present circumstances in his life and all he sees are hills. Dark, dangerous, foreboding hills. He says, "I lift up mine eyes to the hills." Uncertainty lies ahead. Danger waits for all who dare to approach. That is what those hills are. Hardship. That is what those hills represent. Problems ahead. That is what those hills guarantee. Some of the hills may be small. Some loom large as mountains. But the road to tomorrow goes right through the middle of them all. None can be missed.
I am currently facing many hills in my life. In the present all of my life seems like just a bunch of hills. How about you? The hills in my life are real and they are obstacles that have easily deterred me, discouraged me, caused great stress and fear to me, and have been a real threat to me. Perhaps for you they are circumstantial hills, relational hills and personal hills of our own weaknesses and limitations. Whatever they are, the question is, how will we face the hills in our lives?
I have found in my attempts to deal with my problems many inadequate solutions.
The Psalmist asked the question “…from where does my help come?”(Verse 1b) The person in trouble looks around for help ("I lift up my eyes to the hills") and asks a question: "where does my help come from?" Do you need help? Where do you look for help? As the Psalmist looks around horizontally what does he see? Hills! Dark, foreboding, dangerous, threatening hills! Problems and no solutions! So what do we do? Lately I have looked at the hills of my life and felt, "I lift up my eyes to the hills, Lord, and they fill me with fear."
When I think of those hills, I realize how weak I am, how frail, how powerless I am. In fact, looking to the hills for help ends in disappointment. For all their majesty and beauty, for all their quiet strength and firmness, they are, finally, just hills. How often do we look to this world, to others, and to ourselves for help only to find this nothing in this world cannot help me, people cannot help me, and most of all I cannot help me! The result of this for me has produced fear, anxiety, worry, despair, hopelessness, dread, loneliness, stress, emptiness, and helplessness.
So with all those hills, how are we going to make it? Where does our help come from? The remainder of the Psalm is an answer to that question.
“My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth” (Verse 2). When the Psalmist lifted his eyes up to the hills and asked the question “where can I find help?” he answered to himself, “My help comes from the Lord-not from the hills, but from the God who made the hills."
I have often mentioned that we either let ourselves talk to us, or we talk to ourselves. Here is a classic example. The Psalmist is in trouble, his self cries out in doubt, fear, and worry: “where do I find help?” but then he talks to himself: “my help comes from the Lord.” The dialogue with his own soul produced an answer, one he had known all along but came to only after he had tried other sources of help. In despair, he finally lifted his eyes in prayer to the ultimate source of help: "My help comes from the Lord”.
Faith’s vision stretches beyond our problems to the God who is the mighty creator over the all of the problems of life. So he reminds himself of a great truth: The one who can help me is my creator. There is a great big God for great big problems! The very one who made the hills is the one who can move the hills! The same God who can make heaven and earth is able to help, wants to help, and will help you and me.
Ephesians 3:20,"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.”
Jeremiah 33:2-3, “Thus says the LORD who made the earth, the LORD who formed it to establish it- the LORD is his name: Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known”.
Oh reader, there is help, living help, personal help, powerful help, wise help, true help, and immeasurable help. I am speaking this right now to God and to myself! “My help comes from the Lord!”
The Psalmist writes, “He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The LORD is your keeper; the LORD is your shade on your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. The LORD will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. The LORD will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore. ” (Verses 3-8)
Throughout the rest of the psalm, the psalmist reminds himself of two great truths:
1. God is watching over you, He never sleeps- God is always alert. God is always watchful. He is ever looking out for our good. He will never fall asleep at the wheel. His watch is 24 hours each day, 7 days each week, 365 days each year. This truth is reinforced in verse 4, “Behold, He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.” The Psalmist here is being insistent upon this point. This first word, “Behold” calls attention to what he will say. The mere repetition of this basic truth emphasizes it strongly. God doesn’t slumber. He doesn’t sleep. He is the faithful watchman, who will not only warn us of the impending danger (Ezekiel 33), but will play an active, tireless, role in keeping and protecting us.
2. God is the indefatigable worker in your life- Notice two key words. First the word “keep”. This word translated, “Keep” is the very common Hebrew word, shamar. This Hebrew word can be translated with a bunch of different English words, but all of them are getting at the same meaning. It can be translated, “keep, guard, watch, protect, retain, preserve, refrain, or care for.” The idea here is of surrounding and protecting and holding something, and not ever letting go. This word is used six times in this Psalm: Verse 3, “He who keeps you will not slumber.”Verse 4, “He who keeps Israel, will neither slumber nor sleep.” Verse 5, “The LORD is your keeper.” Verse 7, “The LORD will keep (i.e. protect) you from all evil.” Verse 7, “He will keep your soul.” Verse 8, “The LORD will keep (i.e. guard) your going out and your coming in.”
Secondly, underline that key word “will”. There are also six great promises here from God to you concerning God’s willingness to be working in, through, around, during, before, and after all of your problems:
No matter where you are God WILL keep you!(verses 1-2,8).
No matter what obstacle in your life God WILL keep you! (verse 3a)
No matter what the hour God WILL keep you! (verses 3b-4)
No matter what the conditions God WILL keep you! (verses 5-6)
No matter who is your enemy God WILL keep you! (verse 7)
No matter how long it takes God WILL keep you! (verse 8)
Where do we find help? Who will keep you? God is an indefatigable worker on your behalf. "From of old no one has heard or perceived by the ear, no eye has seen a God besides thee, who works for those who wait for him" (Isaiah 64:4). God is working for us around the clock. In fact, he is so eager to work for us that he goes around looking for more work to do for people who will trust him: "The eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show his might in behalf of those whose heart is whole toward him" (2 Chronicles 16:9).
God is not just waiting for us to get his help; he is seeking ways to give us help. He is doing this with overflowing eagerness. "I will not turn away from doing good to them; and I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me. I will rejoice in doing them good ... with all my heart and all my soul" (Jeremiah 32:40-41).
If we believe in this God of Psalm 121, we will always remember that by the time a problem exists, God has already been working on it and help is on the way. I can testify that God does not spare His people trouble, even severe trouble. But oh may we never stop believing that God isn’t a t work. He is always at work. And He is turning all of our losses and all of our pains into something good for those who trust Him. What a truth! What a reality! God is up all night and all day to work for those who wait for him.
Bishop Quayle, a leader of the Methodist church years ago, related an experience of the Lord's persistent providence. One night he worked into the early morning hours trying to finish his work and solve problems. In utter despair he looked down at the Bible on his desk which was open to Psalm 121. At a moment of intense pressure Quayle's eye fell on the assurance of the Lord's twenty-four-hour vigil of watchful care. In his inner being he heard the Lord say, "Quayle, there's no need for both of us to stay up all night. I'm going to stay up anyway. You go to bed and get a good sleep. "
I think I'll take a nap!
Bill
From where does my help come?
My help comes from the LORD,
who made heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot be moved;
he who keeps you will not slumber.
Behold, he who keeps Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.
The LORD is your keeper;
the LORD is your shade on your right hand.
The sun shall not strike you by day,
nor the moon by night.
The LORD will keep you from all evil;
he will keep your life.
The LORD will keep
your going out and your coming in
from this time forth and forevermore."
Psalm 121 ESV
Hills in Palestine were rather majestic looking, beautiful from a distance, and filled with wonderful plant and animal life for those who came close. Hills were also a place where danger lurked. Cold at night. Wild beasts ready to tear at the sick and weak. Robbers waiting to victimize the unsuspecting traveler. The Psalmist looks at the present circumstances in his life and all he sees are hills. Dark, dangerous, foreboding hills. He says, "I lift up mine eyes to the hills." Uncertainty lies ahead. Danger waits for all who dare to approach. That is what those hills are. Hardship. That is what those hills represent. Problems ahead. That is what those hills guarantee. Some of the hills may be small. Some loom large as mountains. But the road to tomorrow goes right through the middle of them all. None can be missed.
I am currently facing many hills in my life. In the present all of my life seems like just a bunch of hills. How about you? The hills in my life are real and they are obstacles that have easily deterred me, discouraged me, caused great stress and fear to me, and have been a real threat to me. Perhaps for you they are circumstantial hills, relational hills and personal hills of our own weaknesses and limitations. Whatever they are, the question is, how will we face the hills in our lives?
I have found in my attempts to deal with my problems many inadequate solutions.
The Psalmist asked the question “…from where does my help come?”(Verse 1b) The person in trouble looks around for help ("I lift up my eyes to the hills") and asks a question: "where does my help come from?" Do you need help? Where do you look for help? As the Psalmist looks around horizontally what does he see? Hills! Dark, foreboding, dangerous, threatening hills! Problems and no solutions! So what do we do? Lately I have looked at the hills of my life and felt, "I lift up my eyes to the hills, Lord, and they fill me with fear."
When I think of those hills, I realize how weak I am, how frail, how powerless I am. In fact, looking to the hills for help ends in disappointment. For all their majesty and beauty, for all their quiet strength and firmness, they are, finally, just hills. How often do we look to this world, to others, and to ourselves for help only to find this nothing in this world cannot help me, people cannot help me, and most of all I cannot help me! The result of this for me has produced fear, anxiety, worry, despair, hopelessness, dread, loneliness, stress, emptiness, and helplessness.
So with all those hills, how are we going to make it? Where does our help come from? The remainder of the Psalm is an answer to that question.
“My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth” (Verse 2). When the Psalmist lifted his eyes up to the hills and asked the question “where can I find help?” he answered to himself, “My help comes from the Lord-not from the hills, but from the God who made the hills."
I have often mentioned that we either let ourselves talk to us, or we talk to ourselves. Here is a classic example. The Psalmist is in trouble, his self cries out in doubt, fear, and worry: “where do I find help?” but then he talks to himself: “my help comes from the Lord.” The dialogue with his own soul produced an answer, one he had known all along but came to only after he had tried other sources of help. In despair, he finally lifted his eyes in prayer to the ultimate source of help: "My help comes from the Lord”.
Faith’s vision stretches beyond our problems to the God who is the mighty creator over the all of the problems of life. So he reminds himself of a great truth: The one who can help me is my creator. There is a great big God for great big problems! The very one who made the hills is the one who can move the hills! The same God who can make heaven and earth is able to help, wants to help, and will help you and me.
Ephesians 3:20,"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.”
Jeremiah 33:2-3, “Thus says the LORD who made the earth, the LORD who formed it to establish it- the LORD is his name: Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known”.
Oh reader, there is help, living help, personal help, powerful help, wise help, true help, and immeasurable help. I am speaking this right now to God and to myself! “My help comes from the Lord!”
The Psalmist writes, “He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The LORD is your keeper; the LORD is your shade on your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. The LORD will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. The LORD will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore. ” (Verses 3-8)
Throughout the rest of the psalm, the psalmist reminds himself of two great truths:
1. God is watching over you, He never sleeps- God is always alert. God is always watchful. He is ever looking out for our good. He will never fall asleep at the wheel. His watch is 24 hours each day, 7 days each week, 365 days each year. This truth is reinforced in verse 4, “Behold, He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.” The Psalmist here is being insistent upon this point. This first word, “Behold” calls attention to what he will say. The mere repetition of this basic truth emphasizes it strongly. God doesn’t slumber. He doesn’t sleep. He is the faithful watchman, who will not only warn us of the impending danger (Ezekiel 33), but will play an active, tireless, role in keeping and protecting us.
2. God is the indefatigable worker in your life- Notice two key words. First the word “keep”. This word translated, “Keep” is the very common Hebrew word, shamar. This Hebrew word can be translated with a bunch of different English words, but all of them are getting at the same meaning. It can be translated, “keep, guard, watch, protect, retain, preserve, refrain, or care for.” The idea here is of surrounding and protecting and holding something, and not ever letting go. This word is used six times in this Psalm: Verse 3, “He who keeps you will not slumber.”Verse 4, “He who keeps Israel, will neither slumber nor sleep.” Verse 5, “The LORD is your keeper.” Verse 7, “The LORD will keep (i.e. protect) you from all evil.” Verse 7, “He will keep your soul.” Verse 8, “The LORD will keep (i.e. guard) your going out and your coming in.”
Secondly, underline that key word “will”. There are also six great promises here from God to you concerning God’s willingness to be working in, through, around, during, before, and after all of your problems:
No matter where you are God WILL keep you!(verses 1-2,8).
No matter what obstacle in your life God WILL keep you! (verse 3a)
No matter what the hour God WILL keep you! (verses 3b-4)
No matter what the conditions God WILL keep you! (verses 5-6)
No matter who is your enemy God WILL keep you! (verse 7)
No matter how long it takes God WILL keep you! (verse 8)
Where do we find help? Who will keep you? God is an indefatigable worker on your behalf. "From of old no one has heard or perceived by the ear, no eye has seen a God besides thee, who works for those who wait for him" (Isaiah 64:4). God is working for us around the clock. In fact, he is so eager to work for us that he goes around looking for more work to do for people who will trust him: "The eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show his might in behalf of those whose heart is whole toward him" (2 Chronicles 16:9).
God is not just waiting for us to get his help; he is seeking ways to give us help. He is doing this with overflowing eagerness. "I will not turn away from doing good to them; and I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me. I will rejoice in doing them good ... with all my heart and all my soul" (Jeremiah 32:40-41).
If we believe in this God of Psalm 121, we will always remember that by the time a problem exists, God has already been working on it and help is on the way. I can testify that God does not spare His people trouble, even severe trouble. But oh may we never stop believing that God isn’t a t work. He is always at work. And He is turning all of our losses and all of our pains into something good for those who trust Him. What a truth! What a reality! God is up all night and all day to work for those who wait for him.
Bishop Quayle, a leader of the Methodist church years ago, related an experience of the Lord's persistent providence. One night he worked into the early morning hours trying to finish his work and solve problems. In utter despair he looked down at the Bible on his desk which was open to Psalm 121. At a moment of intense pressure Quayle's eye fell on the assurance of the Lord's twenty-four-hour vigil of watchful care. In his inner being he heard the Lord say, "Quayle, there's no need for both of us to stay up all night. I'm going to stay up anyway. You go to bed and get a good sleep. "
I think I'll take a nap!
Bill
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
I WILL NOT WASTE MY LIFE IN 2011
This morning the Lord spoke to me a reminder of what I have been speaking to others for ten years. It came to me like a mighty wind and a refreshing stream. I needed this to remind me and get myself back on course. The Lord simply reminded me "Bill, Don't waste your life!"
I remember it seeming only yesterday that I my life was one way. I had a good life with structure, routine, family, friends, ministry and suddenly my whole life unveiled. Everything changed. I really see that life is so short and so precious. There is a saying, "Only one life, twill soon be past. Only what's done for Christ will last."
One time Jesus Christ told a parable: "The land of a rich man produced plentifully, and he thought to himself, 'What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?' And he said, 'I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.' But God said to him, 'Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?' So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God. (Luke 12:16-21)
Oh, how jealous Jesus is that none of us be called a fool by God because of the way we used the gift of life! Life is not for the accumulating of things. Life is not to be wasted. It is very possible to waste your life. Few things make me tremble more than the possibility of taking this onetime gift of life and wasting it. But I want to put this in a positive slant. What is the essence of the unwasted life?” I will define it this way: An unwasted life is a life that puts the infinite value of Christ on display for the world to see.
The passion of the unwasted life is to joyfully display the supreme excellence of Christ by the way we live our lives. Life is given to us so that we can use it to show how awesome and great Jesus Christ is. Possessions, time, relationships, and ministry are given to us so that by the way we use them, we can show that they are not our treasure, but that Christ is our treasure. Every gift is given to us so that we will use it in a way that shows gifts are not our treasure, but Christ is our treasure. Our bodies are meant to be used in a way that makes much of Christ and not ourselves."For whatever you do whether you eat or drink, do to the glory of God." (1 Cor.10:31)
The great passion of the unwasted life is to magnify Christ. Here is the text that, perhaps more than any other, governs what life is really all about: Philippians 1:20-21. Paul says, “It is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be “MAGNIFIED” in my body, whether by life or by death."
Paul's all-consuming passion was that in his life and in his death Jesus Christ be magnified, that is, to show that Christ is magnificent, to exalt Christ, and demonstrate that He is very very great. We exist to make Him appear in the world as what He really is-magnificent. I have written many times about this because it is of such paramount importance.
Magnify has two distinct meanings. You can magnify like a telescope or like a microscope. When you magnify like a microscope, you make something tiny look bigger than it is. A dust mite can look like a monster. It is a foolish delusion to think that we can magnify God like this. In reality God does not need our help and it would be impossible for us to do. But when you magnify like a telescope, you make something unimaginably great look like what it really is. With space telescopes, pinprick galaxies in the sky are revealed for the billion-star giants that they are. That’s what Paul is getting at. In the night sky of this world God appears to most people, if at all, like a pinprick of light in a heaven of darkness. But He created us, redeemed us, and called us to see Him as He really is. When that happens we are freed and enabled to make Him look like what He really is: Magnificent and glorious!
In what way do we magnify God? Paul tells us, "...that Christ will be “MAGNIFIED” in my body” This is incredible! WE MAGNIFY GOD WHILE ON EARTH IN THIS LIFE IN OUR BODY! This is your life! This is the most important reason for your existence here. Another place Paul said, “You are not your own, you were bought with a price. So glorify God with your body” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). If you are a Christian you are not your own. Christ has bought you at the price of his death. You now belong doubly to God: He made you (Isaiah 43:7), and He bought you for His glory. This means that your life and your body aren’t your own. They are God’s. This body of yours is wonderfully chosen by God to be used to make Him seen, savored, and shown to a world that is dark and blind. You are called to help others see God's worth and beauty and value so that when their eyes are opened to Him, they love and treasure and follow Him. So, "glorify or magnify God in this body”! God created you for this and Christ redeemed you for this.
How did Paul magnify God in his body? The answer is given in Philippians 3:7-8,"Whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ.”
In other words, we display the worth of Christ by having an attitude of counting everything else as loss for Christ's sake. “I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of Christ.” What does this look like? This means that the life that displays the worth of Christ—the unwasted life—is the life that uses everything to show that Christ is more valuable that it is. For example, money is used to show that Christ is more valuable than money. Food is used to show that Christ is more valuable than food is. Houses, cars, and stuff are used to show that Christ is more valuable than they are. Spouses, family, friends, and your own life are places to show that Christ is more valuable than any of them. As a matter of fact, the best spouse, parent, friend we can be is when we live this way. We love others more by loving them less than Christ. The way we display the supreme worth of Jesus in our lives is by treasuring Christ above all things, and then making life choices that show that our joy is not finally in things or even in other people, but in Christ.
May we walk in the wisdom and spirit of David Brainerd, “Oh, that I might not loiter on my heavenly journey… O I longed to fill the remaining moments all for God! …I want to do something for God. ..Oh, how sweet it is to be spent and worn out for God!"
So, this morning I am hearing God remind me again with His loving whisper. Perhaps if you will listen you too will hear His comforting and still, small voice saying to you_________(Put your name here) "DON’T WASTE YOUR LIFE! "
Resolved to not waste my life,
Bill
I remember it seeming only yesterday that I my life was one way. I had a good life with structure, routine, family, friends, ministry and suddenly my whole life unveiled. Everything changed. I really see that life is so short and so precious. There is a saying, "Only one life, twill soon be past. Only what's done for Christ will last."
One time Jesus Christ told a parable: "The land of a rich man produced plentifully, and he thought to himself, 'What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?' And he said, 'I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.' But God said to him, 'Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?' So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God. (Luke 12:16-21)
Oh, how jealous Jesus is that none of us be called a fool by God because of the way we used the gift of life! Life is not for the accumulating of things. Life is not to be wasted. It is very possible to waste your life. Few things make me tremble more than the possibility of taking this onetime gift of life and wasting it. But I want to put this in a positive slant. What is the essence of the unwasted life?” I will define it this way: An unwasted life is a life that puts the infinite value of Christ on display for the world to see.
The passion of the unwasted life is to joyfully display the supreme excellence of Christ by the way we live our lives. Life is given to us so that we can use it to show how awesome and great Jesus Christ is. Possessions, time, relationships, and ministry are given to us so that by the way we use them, we can show that they are not our treasure, but that Christ is our treasure. Every gift is given to us so that we will use it in a way that shows gifts are not our treasure, but Christ is our treasure. Our bodies are meant to be used in a way that makes much of Christ and not ourselves."For whatever you do whether you eat or drink, do to the glory of God." (1 Cor.10:31)
The great passion of the unwasted life is to magnify Christ. Here is the text that, perhaps more than any other, governs what life is really all about: Philippians 1:20-21. Paul says, “It is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be “MAGNIFIED” in my body, whether by life or by death."
Paul's all-consuming passion was that in his life and in his death Jesus Christ be magnified, that is, to show that Christ is magnificent, to exalt Christ, and demonstrate that He is very very great. We exist to make Him appear in the world as what He really is-magnificent. I have written many times about this because it is of such paramount importance.
Magnify has two distinct meanings. You can magnify like a telescope or like a microscope. When you magnify like a microscope, you make something tiny look bigger than it is. A dust mite can look like a monster. It is a foolish delusion to think that we can magnify God like this. In reality God does not need our help and it would be impossible for us to do. But when you magnify like a telescope, you make something unimaginably great look like what it really is. With space telescopes, pinprick galaxies in the sky are revealed for the billion-star giants that they are. That’s what Paul is getting at. In the night sky of this world God appears to most people, if at all, like a pinprick of light in a heaven of darkness. But He created us, redeemed us, and called us to see Him as He really is. When that happens we are freed and enabled to make Him look like what He really is: Magnificent and glorious!
In what way do we magnify God? Paul tells us, "...that Christ will be “MAGNIFIED” in my body” This is incredible! WE MAGNIFY GOD WHILE ON EARTH IN THIS LIFE IN OUR BODY! This is your life! This is the most important reason for your existence here. Another place Paul said, “You are not your own, you were bought with a price. So glorify God with your body” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). If you are a Christian you are not your own. Christ has bought you at the price of his death. You now belong doubly to God: He made you (Isaiah 43:7), and He bought you for His glory. This means that your life and your body aren’t your own. They are God’s. This body of yours is wonderfully chosen by God to be used to make Him seen, savored, and shown to a world that is dark and blind. You are called to help others see God's worth and beauty and value so that when their eyes are opened to Him, they love and treasure and follow Him. So, "glorify or magnify God in this body”! God created you for this and Christ redeemed you for this.
How did Paul magnify God in his body? The answer is given in Philippians 3:7-8,"Whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ.”
In other words, we display the worth of Christ by having an attitude of counting everything else as loss for Christ's sake. “I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of Christ.” What does this look like? This means that the life that displays the worth of Christ—the unwasted life—is the life that uses everything to show that Christ is more valuable that it is. For example, money is used to show that Christ is more valuable than money. Food is used to show that Christ is more valuable than food is. Houses, cars, and stuff are used to show that Christ is more valuable than they are. Spouses, family, friends, and your own life are places to show that Christ is more valuable than any of them. As a matter of fact, the best spouse, parent, friend we can be is when we live this way. We love others more by loving them less than Christ. The way we display the supreme worth of Jesus in our lives is by treasuring Christ above all things, and then making life choices that show that our joy is not finally in things or even in other people, but in Christ.
May we walk in the wisdom and spirit of David Brainerd, “Oh, that I might not loiter on my heavenly journey… O I longed to fill the remaining moments all for God! …I want to do something for God. ..Oh, how sweet it is to be spent and worn out for God!"
So, this morning I am hearing God remind me again with His loving whisper. Perhaps if you will listen you too will hear His comforting and still, small voice saying to you_________(Put your name here) "DON’T WASTE YOUR LIFE! "
Resolved to not waste my life,
Bill
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