History, Choices and God

We have seen the prophets’ statements about the Messiah and the natural events that would herald his coming and his death. Daniel spoke of the time of the Messiah being cut off, Joel spoke of the coming “day of the Lord.” Now we narrow down the events to see what is revealed by God regarding not only this, but at how the events played out in the world and actual historical events. In John 11 and 12, we see two integral parts in play. The people acting of their own accord and the Jewish Aristocracy acting on their own. One lauding Jesus, the other plotting to kill him. The point of the passage is, these people did what they did without any coercion. Nobody forced them; they made their own decision; they operated from their free will; they did what they “felt” like doing.  All are left perfectly free to decide according to the way they choose.  What is interesting, is that we are free to choose -- as they were. We can go for or against Jesus -- but as they, we cannot choose the consequences. They will invariably follow a path that will reveal the sovereign choice of God.  

The first reaction of the Pharisees, to call an emergency session of the Sanhedrin shows desperation on their part. They have come together in to take drastic action. John here records three separate views of the same events. The first two are from the human point of view, which would still be shared by many today if we were involved in these events. Yet both of these are horribly, fatally wrong. The third is God's view. In the council of the Sanhedrin there were two parties, the Pharisees and the Sadducees, which saw the events leading up to a political uprising and that would result in the wrath of Rome coming down upon them: "The Romans will come and destroy both our temple and our nation (Jn.11:48)." The remarkable thing, of course, is that they were totally wrong. In fact, it is what they did in putting Jesus to death that had the effect they were hoping to avoid.  What they did not know, or what they forgot, was that Israel was not being preserved by their clever political manipulations.  What was keeping this nation a nation, was the hand of God. When they put the one whom God sent to death, God removed his protection, and the nations which had been hovering like birds of prey fulfilled the predictions of Jesus himself, that the city would be destroyed. History shows that they were terribly, horribly wrong. They were reckoning without the knowledge of all the factors involved.

Paul writes, "We preach a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glorification. None of the rulers of this age understood this; for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory," (1 Cor. 2:7-8). There is something secular wisdom does not know and cannot see because it lacks essential knowledge of the facts. Men continually make decisions which look right to them but are really terribly wrong and have disastrous effects upon themselves and upon society. In fact in Jn.11:50, it is Caiaphas’ own words uttering statements that they themselves did not understand, yet statements that confirmed  what you and I know (if we look) is the unseen hand of God in human history. Men could do their worst but they could not alter the divine plan. Richard Halverson, Chaplain to the United States Senate, states it well: "Nothing men can do will thwart or alter the will of God; and nothing God ever does sets aside the sovereign choice of man."  This unseen hand of God in human history is what men ignore, and that makes their free will a total disaster.

Prov.3: 5-6: "Trust in the Lord with all of your heart, and lean not to your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will direct your path."  It is absolutely impossible to understand what is happening in life unless you see life from God's point of view. There are factors involved that you will miss, there are realities that you do not see, that nobody sees. Nothing reveals time more than the hand of God in history.  Jn.11:54 states, “Jesus therefore no longer went about openly among the Jews, but went from there to the country near the wilderness, to a town called Ephraim; and there he stayed with the disciples.”  Why did he do so? There is no evidence that he ever was afraid of what he was facing. It was because he understood the way God works.  God is still at work, moving among men to raise up kingdoms and overthrow kingdoms. We must never forget that this view of history supplies elements that no secular mind can ever see. The rulers of this age do not understand this and so they make atrocious errors.  Paul says, "But we have the mind of Christ," (1 Cor.2:16). When you begin to have the mind of Christ, when you know the Word of God, when you look at events through its light -- not when you merely listen occasionally to a message, but when you saturate yourself with the mind and thinking of God you can face life realistically. Do you have that mind?

Jim

Emotions - Intellect? Which Does God Like Better?

Jesus answered, "The most important is, 'Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these."

Mk.12:28-31

Many when they hear these words, hear commandment. DO THIS! It is the Shema after all, the affirmation of God above all things.  Yet, have you ever stopped to consider the depth of what Jesus is saying here, that is THE greatest thing of all the Bible?  LOVE….yes, simple word, yet deep. How much do you love life, eating, breathing? Jesus states that our love for God should be more.  Not just kind of love him, He wants you to love him passionately. ALL of your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength. God doesn't want to just be in your head. He wants an integral, deep, emotional relationship with you.

This isn’t difficult to understand, when we comprehend that just because God is a Spirit (Jn.4:24) does not mean that God has no emotions. Read the scripture and you will see it is replete of descriptions of God’s feeling joy, grief, pain, and hatred toward sin and many other things. He gets frustrated with people, feels joy, compassion, pity….and the deepest of all love

Your ability to feel is a gift from God. The ability to love, create, be faithful and loyal, kindness, generosity are all emotions that are attached to the good things in life. While emotions may not always seem like a gift, but even the negative ones have a purpose. In this, as with all things, there are some things that we need to learn to avoid.  Emotionalism is the extreme of saying the only thing that matters in life is how you feel. This view is very egocentric, where everything is based on you. Everything in life is based on your emotions without thought of intent or basis of faith. Yes, God wants us to feel, because He feels. Yet, it is not how we feel that is to control our lives. That is why Jeremiah states,, “I know, O LORD, that the way of man is not in himself, that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps.” (Jer 10:23).  If left to myself and my emotions – I would self-destruct. Man does not have that capacity within himself.  That is why we need a compass, to point the right direction, give the right wisdom, and share the right advice (Psa.119:105; Jn.17:17; Rom.10:17; 2 Tm.3:16,17).

On the other hand, to go all Mr.Spock from Star Trek and obsess on stoicism is equally bad. To say feelings aren't important at all, and the only thing that matters is your intellect and your will is to ignore the fact that faith while based on verity of testimony of scripture, is an emotional response.  It is the answer of the conscience in response to what God has put before the soul (1 Pet.3:21).  Paul reminds us,  “For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.” (Rom 10:10). Did you notice the progression?  When the heart is convinced and believes, the mouth cannot keep from confessing. Why? Because it is the emotional response!  Some Christians have decided that it doesn't really matter how you feel and downplay emotions. That’s not right. God gave you your emotions for a reason, and he wants you to worship him emotionally — with all your heart and all your mind.

All of you…that is what God wants. Including your knowledge and your emotions. He doesn't want one over the other…He wants them BOTH!  Are you giving them to God? 

Jim

The Grand Scheme of Things

It has been intriguing lately, to see how bent out of shape people get over various things.  You know, the things that we have determined to be our "causes."  Those things we like to nit pick - flaunt, create miniature tornadoes over.  You should buy this particular brand of car, vote for this particular person because they belong to this or that party.

Isn't it interesting though, the things that centuries of biblical writers have shown us that God is interested in. There is a lot that is shown about what people chose and how people acted. Yet, in it all, what is truly important is revealed by God over and over again.  

• "so that I walked contrary to them and brought them into the land of their enemies—if then their uncircumcised heart is humbled and they make amends for their iniquity"  Lev 26:41
• "For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: "I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite." Isa 57:15
•  "He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?" (Mic 6:8). 
• For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people,  training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, Tit 2:11,12
• But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble." Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.  Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom.  Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you. Jas 4:6-10

These are just a few of the places where it shows where God wants the emphasis.  It is us - our hearts, our actions, our spirits that are important.  In all of Saul of Tarsus' causes, in all of his stampeding pretense of righteousness, it is on the road from Jerusalem to Damascus that God tells Saul, "You've got it wrong Saul."  Act 9:5  "And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I AM Jesus whom thou dost persecute; it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks."  It is not important to kill people just to be right. It is not important that my way is right and because I'm right you're wrong.  Its not important who rules what, who has the best car, what the best deodorant is, even whose bible is better. What is important is that if your life is not walking with God, treating others with kindness and justice in this world and by the changing of your own heart making the world a better place to live, then like the mass of humanity - we've missed the boat.  

Banners? Causes? Parties? Brands? Monies? all have their place in life. Some have them, some don't. But the truth is, if you do not have your health - these are meaningless. If you do not have your spirit walking humbly with God, these are nothing.  Would you give your eyes for your cause? Would you go blind for it? Would you willingly accept a life threatening disease in exchange for your brand, your money, your politics?   Jesus said it this way,   What will you gain, if you own the whole world but destroy yourself? What would you give to get back your soul? Mat 16:26

Jim

Hustle and Bustle - and then Quiet Meditations

Just got back from Texas to see my Mom. She had a stay in the hospital that concerned us, but she's doing ok - at least for the moment.

During our travel, Ann and I decided to take in some narrative readings of Beach Road by James Patterson and Peter De Jonge and Entombed by Linda Fairstein. Both of these books are good as far as plot is concerned and definitely have you going. Beach Road definitely catches you off with a lot or suspense and a twist at the end that leaves you stunned. Entombed is a Poe thriller and fascinating. However, as good as the content and plot, I have to give these a definite BAD-R rating because of the language. It was a turn off to us and disappointing that people feel that they have to use this type of language to form "authenticity." Yes, I am not naive to the fact that in the real world this is how people talk. But, I wonder if authors have considered that people might talk this way because they convey the image?

Naturally, in traveling you have to take breaks - so we decided to frequent bookstores and WalMarts. Here we discovered another book that we have just started The Shack by William Young. Jury's still out on this one, but I will let you know more as we get through it.

Outside of this, visiting Mom in the hospital, and trying to recover from road driving, I spent the week reflecting a lot. And, I made a discovery -- not so much of things I don't or didn't know, but of things I already know. When times and people get critical ...

1. Consider it a time of self reflection - Am I right? This is a biggie, because human instinct is that you are right no matter what. Its hard to fight this instinct, and consider that if someone is being critical to you, or about you - then you may NOT be right. Now, please don't misunderstand, I am not talking about "abusive" situations. I'm talking about where someone has been critical of you and you don't feel that you did anything to be criticized about. Perhaps before letting loose our mouths and saying things that we shouldn't or may regret later, we should step back and reflect on what is being said by them to see if indeed it may be warranted. Not saying that it won't hurt - but it still may be worth considering. 2 Cor. 13:5 Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?
   
2. Consider it a time for Searching The Scriptures! - This (even though we boast a lot about "the Bible Says") is not something that we like to do. It is something that we like to think that we know already! However, my discovery is that my "wisdom" is much lacking in a lot of things. It is a humbling thing to ask the question and to then search out the answer to "What does GOD say?" After all, He is the final "say so" on things isn't He? Why then shouldn't I want to KNOW what God says about something, or to find out? Is it because I am afraid that it might trespass on some dogma or preconceived notion that I have, or that it might rock my "I'm right" boat? John 12:48 He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.
   
3. Consider it a time for Quiet Actions! - Do what is right, no matter what! But - we don't have to have the trumpets blaring, the crowds gazing, and the fireworks flying to do this. It is what we like, but it is NOT necessary. One of the greatest examples to me about this in the Bible is Priscilla and Aquilla. In a day of bombings, violence and assassinations, the one thing that we DO NOT need, is people verbally assassinating one another. No matter WHAT religion they are. The key component of the scripture and of the character of God, and I don't care how you slice it - if you're out there being critical (me included!) you're not exemplifying that very well. Act 18:26 He began to speak freely (fearlessly and boldly) in the synagogue; but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him with them and expounded to him the way of God more definitely and accurately.
   

Guess I've got some things to work on then, because as I reflected on these things, I found that I am lacking in some areas and can behave better in others. I hope that this helps you to do the same.

Jim

COMMUNICATE

Ok...I have this thing, that whenever I hear the same thing come from at least three different sources, that I think God is saying "LISTEN!"

The buzzword for the day? Communicate! I once had a martial arts instructor that told me all the time in broken english "you must learn to relax!" Relax? I thought I was relaxed! What do you mean relax?

This is the way I am about this word COMMUNICATE! Communicate? I thought I was communicating! What do you mean communicate?

So it is, that we hear this often in marriages. One or the other party says, "You're not communicating!" What? I thought I was communicating! An endless argument is it not?

So, I strive to learn the art of communication.

• Jas 1:19 "Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger..."
• Pro 25:11 "A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver. "

And still, I strive to learn to communicate. I've even taken courses on communicating, and I still need to learn how to communicate. Something that I have learned, is that in communication is also the perception of the hearer. So, maybe what God is telling us all is something that I thought I had learned a long time ago (but evidently haven't - or at the least have forgotten) -- "ENGAGE YOUR BRAIN BEFORE DISENGAGING YOUR MOUTH!"

Then again, I have begun to think Prov.17:28 "Even a fool, when he is silent, is counted wise, and he who shuts his lips is counted as a man of understanding."

Perhaps silence is the better side of this art of communication?

Jim