Tag Archives: Essential 100

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Thou Shalt Remember!

Reflect:
Exodus 12:1-42

“This is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord—a lasting ordinance.” ~Exodus 12:14’”

I have always been intrigued with the number of times throughout Scripture that God called his people to remember his mighty acts of deliverance by prescribing for them various kinds of memorial observances. In some cases, the memorial came in the form of an altar of remembrance (Joshua 4:1-7), at other times it involved the symbolism of the priestly garments (Exodus 28:12), while some of the time it was to happen through a regular sacrifice (Leviticus 2:16), a festival (Numbers 10:10), or a high, holy day (Exodus 12:14). Most importantly, for the New Testament community, the regular observance of Holy Communion (I Corinthians 11:23-26) replaced all other official observances that were mnemonically related.

Apparently, God was concerned that his people would remember who he is, what he had done for them, and why he had called them to specific acts of remembrance. So why such concern?  We’ve got a memory problem, that’s why!  We tend to get fuzzy on the important things we ought to be very clear about. People forget the covenant promise to be faithful to their spouse and begin to drift in their marriage. Parents forget how much their kids need both a mom and a dad, and instead follow their selfish desires by pursuing divorce…at a horrible cost to their children. We get sidetracked from our primary purposes in life because we fail to remember our core values.  We drift spiritually because we get busy with spiritual-sounding activities, but forget to love the Lord.

That’s why Jesus said : “Remember your first love…remember the heights from which you have fallen and return…remember, every time you do this, my blood, my body. Remember.” Over and over the Bible calls us to remember lest we forget. You can’t read too far into God’s Word before noticing that a strong theology of remembrance is woven into the fabric of the chosen community.

God understood the power of memory and how visible representations would evoke powerful emotions that would reconnect us to defining events in our lives.  He knew how symbols of memory could arrest our tendency to drift spiritually and refocus us on the core experience of loving him. That is exactly why he instituted the Passover in the Old Testament and replaced it with Holy Communion in the New. God doesn’t want us to forget him.

Perhaps that should be the Eleventh Commandment: Thou Shalt Remember!

“As I would cast my mind over the day, I would see evidence of what God had done for one of us that I had not recognized in the busy moments of the day. As that happened, and it happened often, I realized that trying to remember had allowed God to show me what He had done.”  ~Henry B. Eyring

Reflect and Apply: The next time you partake of the Lord’s Table with your spiritual community, make a special and strategic effort to remember what the communion represents: the mightiest act of God ever expressed—the sacrifice of his Son on the cross. Call to mind God’s grace and mercy, and express heartfelt gratitude for his gift.  And then consider what such wondrous love now demands of you. And don’t forget!

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Can God Do That?

Reflect:
Exodus 7:3-4

“But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and though I multiply my miraculous signs and wonders in Egypt, he will not listen to you. Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and with mighty acts of judgment I will bring out my divisions, my people the Israelites.” ~Exodus 7:3-4

This isn’t the first, nor will it be the last instance in the Bible that doesn’t fit neatly within our theological box. That God would harden Pharaoh’s heart messes with our sophisticated sensibilities about God, namely that he is a safe, kind, benevolent and loving Deity who would never raise someone up just to throw them down.

What are we to do with this difficult part of the Bible? It would be so much easier to deal with if it just appeared once, a vague Scriptural anomaly, but it doesn’t. Not just once and then swept under the rug, this statement about God hardening Pharaoh’s heart appears ten times here in Exodus and yet again in Romans 9:16-18? Obviously, the Bible doesn’t try to hide this just because it is difficult to explain or because it makes us uncomfortable. No, it is unavoidably here for us to grapple with.

On the one hand, there are some that would have it that God was simply responding to what was already in Pharaoh’s heart, thus relieving God of any responsibility in the matter of hardening the king’s heart in order to justify destroying him. On the other hand, there are those who would quite bluntly declare that God created Pharaoh exactly for the express purpose of destroying him in order to bring glory to himself.

Perhaps the truth lies somewhere between.  The fact is, God does involve himself in the details of man’s affairs in order to bring about his sovereign plan, and he is well within his unimpeachable righteousness to align those who are his enemies for utter judgment so that his great power might be displayed in all the earth. Pharaoh is Example A of this. Yet at the same time, we must note that Pharaoh was duly warned that his stubborn refusal to obey God would result in judgment. (Exodus 4:23) We also find that the hardening God brought about in Pharaoh’s heart was, interestingly, matched by Pharaoh hardening his own heart: Ten times God hardened Pharaoh’s heart (Exodus 7:3; 9:12; 10:1,20, 27; 11:10; 14:4,8,17) and ten times Pharaoh hardened his own heart (Exodus 7:13,14,22; 8:15,19,32; 9:7,34,35; 13:15).

Ten times God hardened Pharaoh’s heart and ten times Pharaoh hardened his own heart. God, whose will and whose ways are inscrutable, is within his absolute sovereignty to bring about what he desires in human affairs—including hardening a ruler’s heart; yet man is never without personal responsibility in surrendering to the sovereign rulership of God.

What does that tell us?  Simply that God, whose will and whose ways are inscrutable, is within his absolute sovereignty to bring about what he desires in human affairs—including hardening a ruler’s heart; yet man is never without personal responsibility in surrendering to the sovereign rulership of God.

Does that make this uncomfortable piece of Scripture any easier to swallow?  No—and yes. No, it will always shake that comforting image of a loving, safe God.  Yes, we can lean into the track record of God’s loving omniscience and righteous omnipotence, and along with the Apostle Paul in Romans 11:33-36, declare with utter certainty in the face of mysterious passages like this,

Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!
Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?
Who has ever given to God, that God should repay them?
For from him and through him and for him are all things.
To him be the glory forever! Amen.

Yes indeed, glory to God forever.  Soli Deo Gloria!

“Man is a responsible moral agent, though he is also divinely controlled; man is divinely controlled, though he is also a responsible moral agent.” ~J.I. Packer

Reflect and Apply: Jonathan Edwards, considered to be America’s greatest theologian, wrote, “In efficacious grace we are not merely passive, nor yet does God do some and we do the rest. But God does all, and we do all. God produces all, we act all. For that is what produces, viz. our own acts. God is the only proper author and fountain; we only are the proper actors. We are in different respects, wholly passive and wholly active.” Reflect on that statement; then ask yourself, “How am I doing in my part?”

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God Remembers

Essential 100—Read:
Acts 10:1-11:18

“The angel answered, ‘Cornelius, your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God.’” (Acts 10:4)

No one knows how long Cornelius had faithfully prayed to God and regularly demonstrated kindness to people before he experienced this dramatic moment of divine visitation. The flavor of the story seems to indicate that day after day Cornelius simply offered up a life of quiet piety with no real or visible acknowledgement from God.

Maybe that is your story. It could be that you have faithfully trusted God, consistently served his cause and patiently waited for his favor over the years with seemingly nothing to show for it.  Perhaps you are wondering if you really matter to God or if he even notices your faithful life.

It is not uncommon at times for Christians to feel as if their prayers are nothing more than an exercise in futility and their acts of kindness simply go unnoticed.  Honestly, there have been times where we all have felt that our faithfulness just doesn’t matter. According to this verse, however, and others like it, every act of faith, whether reaching out to God in prayer or touching someone with the love of God, matters greatly to a watching Heavenly Father.

According to Revelation 5:8, every prayer you offer in faith to God rises up to heaven and is offered as precious and pleasing incense before his very throne:

“The four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.”

And according to Hebrews 6:10, your every act of kindness toward people counts in God’s book, and will one day result in his kindness being turned back to you.

“God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.”

Cornelius simply, consistently, faithfully set his course for a long obedience in the same direction, and one day there was a spiritual breakthrough.  He didn’t know it would happen that day—but the God who watches and remembers had other plans.

This may or may not be your day of spiritual breakthrough—you just don’t know.  But here is what you do know:  God is watching, he remembers, and he has plans for you!

“The reward of being ‘faithful over a few things’ is just the same as being ‘faithful over many things’; for the emphasis falls upon the same word; it is the ‘faithful’ who will enter ‘into the joy of their Lord.’” ~Charles S. Robinson

Reflect and Apply: Ask the Lord to strengthen you today for a long, consistent, determined and practical faithfulness. Perhaps this day will be the day of breakthrough into a deeper realm of God’s favor for you—you just never know when, not if, but when it will happen.

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What The World Needs Now

Essential 100—Read:
Acts 1:1-11

“When they had come together, they asked Him, saying, ‘Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.’” (Acts 1:6-8)

One of the most popular songs in 1965 was Burt Bacharach’s, “What The Word Needs Now Is Love.” If you were alive and interested in music back then, those syrupy, sappy lyrics are probably running through your head right about now. Since I’ve planted the thought in your mind, you will probably be singing it throughout the day: “What the world needs now is love, sweet love…” Sorry about that!

It seems to me that many in the modern American church would change those lyrics to, “what the world needs now…is a political party that represents our Christian values.” It doesn’t have quite the same ring to it, but that’s the way a lot of believers think these days. That is unfortunate!

The disciples were thinking that way too. After Jesus rose from the tomb as the victor over death, these followers were thinking that the Roman Empire was next in line for conquest. Perhaps the current Jewish religious regime could be dealt with at the same time. Finally, the kingdom of God would rule the earth in power and glory!

However, in this post-resurrection interaction in Acts 1, did you notice how Jesus distanced himself from that line of thought? He pointed out that political domination was not high on his list. What the world needed, Jesus said, was not political power, but a good dose of spiritual power being exercised through his people.

The kingdom of God was coming, all right, but it wouldn’t be through political persuasion or military conquest or social reformation. It would come when the Holy Spirit baptized believers with power, enabling them to do the works, speak the words and live the witness of Jesus before a watching world.

Things haven’t changed, you know. Two thousand years later, that is still Christ’s plan for world domination. The Holy Spirit is still available to all believers (Acts 2:38-39). He will fill those who yield, empowering ready vessels to extend the kingdom of God to a lost world, not in their own strength, but in the glorious might and supernatural power of God himself.

What the world needs now is power—sweet Holy Spirit power.

The Father’s gift of the Holy Spirit is still available. All you’ve got to do is ask and receive. I think I am going to ask today! Want to join me?

 “There is no better evangelist in the world than the Holy Spirit.”  ~D.L. Moody

Reflect and Apply: Offer this prayer today:  “Father, baptize me in the Holy Spirit at this moment! Cause a fresh wave of the Spirit’s presence and power to wash over me. Enable me to do your works, speak your words, and live your witness before a watching world.” 

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Mind Your Own Business

Essential 100—Read:
John 20:1-21:25

“Jesus replied, ‘If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? As for you, follow me.’” (John 21:22, NLT)

Mind your own business!  That’s the gist of what Jesus was saying to Peter.

Jesus had been drilling down to some issues that needed to be resolved in this rough fisherman-turned disciple. It was a difficult conversation that needed to happen before Peter could become the apostle Jesus had in mind, and Peter did what so many of us do: When the spotlight got focused on him a little too brightly, he tried to shed some light on John’s flaws.

Jesus kept the focus right where it needed to be: “Peter, quit worrying about what will happen to John and just focus on what I’ve called you to do. If I allow him to stay alive until I return, that is none of your business. You’ve got enough to worry about just taking care of your own junk let alone John’s. Just take care of you and you’ll be fine!”

Not bad advice! Wouldn’t we save ourselves a whole lot of wasted energy by just minding our own spiritual business? I know that’s true for me.  The time and emotional drain I spend worrying whether someone else is walking with Jesus the way I think they should takes away from the spiritual energy that could be focused on growing me up in Christ.

Now that is not to say that we should never express loving concern for another believer’s spiritual progress. Sometimes the people we care deeply about frankly need to step it up in their growth as a disciple of Jesus—and we need to call them out on that. However, since spiritual formation is an ongoing process that will not conclude until the day we die and reach heaven, you and I need to remember that we, too, need to step it up!

So the next time you have an urge to voice a “concern” about what another sister has said or how another brother is living or what another local shepherd is doing or the kind of theology a prominent Tele-evangelist is espousing, just remember what Jesus said to Peter: “What is that to you? Just worry about you and make sure you are following me!”

You see, those people you are worried about will have to answer to God for their lives one day, but so will you. And since it is highly unlikely that you will be able to change them one bit by all the energy you spend worrying about their spiritual condition anyway, try devoting that same energy to your own obedience. Besides, if you really want to see them change, the better focus of your efforts would be to pray for them. Spend at least as much time bringing them before the Father in prayer as you do thinking and talking about how upsetting they are to you.

Do that and change will happen all right—but it will be you that changes! So mind our own business today—it is not such a bad thing to do!

“Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves.”  ~Carl Gustav Jung

Reflect and Apply: Offer this prayer today:  “Lord, there is so much work yet to do in me, so keep me focused on my own spiritual development.  Help me to mind my own business, working on the things that I can change and leaving the things I can’t change up to you.”  

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The Last Supper—For Now

Essential 100—Read:
Luke 22:1-46

“Jesus said, ‘I have been very eager to eat this Passover meal with you before my suffering begins. For I tell you now that I won’t eat this meal again until its meaning is fulfilled in the Kingdom of God.’” (Luke 22:15-16)

From the moment Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper, Christians have regularly celebrated communion in memory of his death.  Some church traditions celebrate it every Sunday, others celebrate it monthly—as does my church on the first Sunday of every month—and still others have their own tradition as to the frequency and practice communion.

When we receive communion, we mostly focus on the Lord’s death and our redemption that was purchased at the moment of his sacrifice.  And what a sweet time of remembrance it is.  Nothing is more moving than coming to the Lord’s Table.

Yet it is not only about remembering, communion also calls us to look forward.  Twice, as Jesus instituted this holy sacrament, he spoke to his disciples of a time in the future where he, himself, would again participate in this celebration.  He was referring to his second coming.  He was issuing a promise that he would come again, and each time they, and by extension, we, receive Holy Communion, partakers were to be reminded of that promise and rejoice in its future fulfillment.

The next time you receive Holy Communion, I want to challenge you to not only look back in gratitude for the Lord’s death, but look forward in hope to the Lord’s coming.  When you eat the bread and drink the wine, you are declaring his death, as the Apostle Paul said, “til he comes.”

Holy Communion means a promise.  It is one of God’s best promises to you.  And he has never broken a promise—not one.  Jesus sealed the promise of his return by his death, and he guaranteed it by his resurrection.  He will make good on it—perhaps sooner than you expect.  And as you come to the Table, remember, “For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.”  (I Corinthians 11:26)

“Death stung himself to death when he stung Christ.” —William Romaine

Reflect and Apply: The next time you receive communion, deliberately and gratefully remember the promise he made to you of his return.

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The Emotional God

Essential 100—Read:
John 11:1-57

“When Jesus saw Mary weeping and saw the other people wailing with her, a deep anger welled up within him, and he was deeply troubled. ‘Where have you put him?’ he asked them. They told him, ‘Lord, come and see.’ Then Jesus wept. The people who were standing nearby said, ‘See how much he loved him!’” (John 11:33-36, NLT)

Jesus felt things very deeply—and I am so glad he did.  Jesus was fully human, yet fully God, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity. His whole incarnational purpose was to live among us (John 1:15) in order to bring God close (Isaiah 7:14), reveal who God is and what God is like to us, his creatures (Colossians 1:15,19-20), and through his redeeming sacrifice bring us back into a right relationship with our Father and Creator (Colossians 1:21-22).

In coming to Planet Earth to reveal God and redeem man, we do not find in Jesus an uncaring, distant, emotionless Deity, we find one who knew full well what is was like to be one of us. Therefore, he was the perfect bridge between the Divine and the fallen. In his earthly journey, God the Son experienced—and expressed—a wide range of emotions that were uniquely human. Just in John 11 and 12 alone, we see several occasions where humanity “leaked” from Deity:

He got angry and upset: “When Jesus saw Mary weeping and saw the other people wailing with her, a deep anger welled up within him, and he was deeply troubled.” (John 11:33, NLT)

He expressed unmitigated grief and the free flow of tears: “Then Jesus wept.”  (John 11:35, NLT)

He refused to be pacified when an issue was unresolved:  “Jesus was still angry as he arrived at the tomb, a cave with a stone rolled across its entrance. ‘Roll the stone aside,” Jesus told them.’” (John 11:38, NLT)

He got fed up:  “Jesus replied, ‘Leave her alone. She did this in preparation for my burial.’” (John 12:7, NLT)

He felt concern over the future: “Now my soul is deeply troubled. Should I pray, ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But this is the very reason I came!” (John 12:27, NLT)

In other Gospel accounts, we discover Jesus expressing other quite human emotion:

He was frustrated with his disciples’ thick-headedness: “Jesus asked them, ‘Are you still so dull?’” (Matthew 15:16, NLT)

He was overcome by the weight of responsibility: “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.” (Mark 14:34, NLT)

He felt irrepressible joy: “At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, ‘I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children.’” Luke 10:21, NLT)

Jesus, the perfect God-man, was able to feel things uniquely human: Sorrow, anger, frustration, spiritual exhaustion, and a tremendous capacity for joy.  But are those emotions uniquely human?  No, in truth, they are completely Divine. These feelings are not of just human origin; rather, they are feelings that originate within the very being of a feeling God, who has simply placed them within the genetic code of that part of his creation he holds most dear—human beings, which includes you and me.

The fact that you and I feel simply reminds us that our Creator feels.  What that means, among other things, is that we belong to a caring, compassionate God.  God the Father feels—he even dances over you with delight (Zephaniah 3:17); God the Son definitely feels, as we have just seen; God the Holy Spirit feels—he can be grieved and pleased (Ephesians 4:30, Galatians 6:8). That is good news, because it gives him an unfettered capacity to relate to our feelings and us great confidence to come before a caring, understanding God to express our deepest feelings. Hebrews 4:15-16 says,

“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

Yes, God feels. Jesus clearly demonstrated that.  So come confidently to a caring God to pour out your deepest, most inmost feelings.  His great promise is that you can exchange your feelings for his mercy, your emotions for his grace, your tears for his comfort, your fears for his strength and anything else you are carrying, good or bad, you can turn over to a Father who can definitely relate.

Now that is something you can feel really good about!

“Spiritual experience by definition is an internal awareness that involves strong emotion in response to the truth of God’s Word, amplified by the Holy Spirit and applied by Him to us personally.” ~John MacArthur

Reflect and Apply: This present moment might be a good time to take God up on the incredible offer he made to you in Hebrews 4:16!