Posted on Monday, February 3, 2014

A Testimony Without A Trial Is Not A Testimony

Reflect:
Exodus 14:10-11

As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians, marching after them. They were terrified and cried out to the Lord. They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt?”

So you want a testimony, do you? I do too! But are you willing to go through the circumstances that precede the testimony? Are you willing to have your back against the wall, to know that unless God comes through you’ll go down in flames, to despair even of life? Those are the conditions out of which great testimonies are born.

Joseph had to spend some time in the pit before God lifted him up as the “prince” of Egypt—next to Pharaoh, second most powerful figure in all of Egypt. David had to actually go out onto the battlefield and stand before Goliath before he became a giant-slayer. Daniel had to literally get tossed into a den full of protein-loving lions for the angel of the Lord to come and clamp their canines. Paul had to cruise into the midst of a deadly storm in order to survive an otherwise deadly shipwreck. Jesus had to go through the ordeal of the cross in order to overcome the grave.

You get the point, don’t you? Sadly, too many Christians don’t! They want the testimony without the trial. Sorry, it doesn’t work that way. You cannot separate the crown from the cross. In the Christian faith, the road to glory is along the path of suffering. Now I realize that is not the greatest slogan for a recruitment campaign, but it’s true. Not because God is some kind of celestial masochist, but the reality is this present world is under the dominion of sin. And the Bible clearly warns that it takes warfare to bring it back and put it under the dominion of its rightful Ruler—and along the way, soldiers will get wounded.

Though it doesn’t make for an attractive recruitment campaign to Christianity, there is no testimony without a trial. The Bible clearly promises that the path to the crown is by way of the cross. However, it also promises that whatever discomfort, discouragement and pain Christians experience for the sake of their faith will pale in comparison to the story they receive and the glory God receives.

The children of Israel desperately wanted God to deliver them from their bondage in Egypt, but they complained bitterly when it caused them discomfort. On more than one occasion they whined at Moses and complained about God because they weren’t consulted about the Divine deliverance plan.

Now God graciously put up with their moaning, but he came really close to losing his cool on occasion. Ultimately God delivered them, in spite of their bellyaching, and they ended up with a terrific testimony. But they were forever tagged with the whiner label.

Here’s the deal: Don’t be that way! If you want a testimony—and I think you do—trust God to bring it to you in anyway he sees fit. Just trust, don’t complain—even with the not-so-pleasant stuff that precedes the testimony. Later on, whatever discomfort, discouragement and pain you experienced will pale in comparison to the story you end up with—and the glory that goes to God. As Charles Spurgeon rightly observed,

“Many men owe the grandeur of their lives to their tremendous difficulties.”

Prayer… Sovereign God, thank you for every difficult, disappointment and delay you have allowed in my life. In your love, grace and wisdom you have used those very trials to shape me for greater things and eternal usefulness.

Posted on Thursday, January 30, 2014

Tools Of The Trade

Reflect:
Exodus 1:6-9

Now Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation died, but the Israelites were fruitful and multiplied greatly and became exceedingly numerous, so that the land was filled with them. Then a new king, who did not know about Joseph, came to power in Egypt. “Look,” he said to his people, “the Israelites have become much too numerous for us.”

The purpose of Exodus 1 is to set up the story told in the rest of Exodus clear through the book of Deuteronomy—the delivery and birth of the nation of Israel. Specifically, this first chapter sets the stage for Israel’s misery under Pharaoh and the rise of their leader, Moses.

Now the greatness and power of God demonstrated through the deliverance of Israel from Egypt along with the incredible leadership skills that were developed in Moses through the life-changing encounters he had with God would not have been possible without chapter one of Exodus: The descent of Israel into Egyptian bondage.

Of course, that reminds us of an undeniable and sometimes uncomfortable truth about God: He works in mysterious ways. Sometimes the blessings he gives us bring about the discomforts we try to avoid; sometimes those very discomforts are the blessings, albeit in disguise. We saw this powerfully illustrated in Genesis, where God sovereignly preserved Jacob’s family from famine in Egypt only by first sovereignly allowing Joseph to be sold into slavery in Egypt years earlier.

We find in Exodus 1:1-14 that God has blessed Jacobs’ family in such an extraordinary way that they literally become a great nation. Yet those very blessing—their explosive growth and economic prosperity—are the things that threatens Israel’s host nation, Egypt, who ultimately responds by forcing the Israelites into slavery and bondage.

God’s blessings end up causing Israel great discomfort and hardship—but in all of this God is setting the stage for a deliverer, Moses, whose story we will read in Exodus 2.

So what is the greater point to all of this? God’s blessings sometimes bring discomfort. However, discomfort is often the seed-bed from which God’s greater blessing grows.

While God’s blessings may bring discomfort, we must never forget that discomfort is often the seed-bed from which God’s greater blessing grows.

We must come to understand, in spite of unwanted and uncomfortable circumstances, that God is faithful—always. We need to establish that truth in our hearts and minds ahead of time, never permitting that settled law to be challenged when our circumstances take an unexpected and undesired turn. We need to learn to keep our eyes fixed on the faithfulness of God during those times of difficulty. I love how the hymn-writer, Maltbie Babcock, so eloquently put it,

“This is my Father’s world, O let me ne’er forget; that though the wrong seems oft so strong, God is the Ruler yet.” (This Is My Father’s World)

And not only is God faithful, he is also watchful. Even when the storms of life prevent you from seeing God, he sees you.

Furthermore, not only is God faithful and watchful, never forget that he is always at work. Even in Israel’s years of bondage and slavery, God is preparing to reveal his glory and his greatness at a future time in ways unmatched even to this day. So even when it seems like God is not in our circumstances, we can be assured that he is at work, setting the stage for a greater purpose that could only be revealed as a result of what we are experiencing in the present. As Henry Ward Beecher said, “Troubles are often the tools by which God fashions us for better things.”

Our troubles are simply God’s tools used to fashion us for better things!

Got any troubles at the moment? Just remember, they are God’s tools! And when he is through crafting you, you are going to make quite a fashion statement.

Prayer… Lord, develop in me the faith to always see through my circumstances, no matter how difficult they may be, to see your hand at work, setting the stage to reveal your glory. Help me to obey, even when to obey would allow those circumstances to threaten my health or happiness. And Lord, open my eyes to see and receive your blessing when it would seem impossible that blessings could happen.

Posted on Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Useful Idiots

Reflect:
Genesis 45:5, NLT

“Don’t be upset, and don’t be angry with yourselves for selling me to this place. It was God who sent me here ahead of you to preserve your lives.”

Useful idiots! With all due respect, that’s what I would call Joseph’s brothers.

Twenty-two years after they had sold him into slavery, the brothers are now standing before Joseph, and they don’t even recognize him. They have been blinded by two decades of thinking he had long since died, their perspective jaded by the haunting fear, guilt and shame of what they had done. (Genesis 44:16) Finally, as Joseph’s identity is revealed, the brothers expect him to exact revenge, make them pay dearly, and do to them what they had done to him.

But Joseph was cut from a different cloth than these lousy brothers. His submission to the sovereignty of God allowed him to see the pain they had inflicted not merely through his own perspective alone, but through a perspective that saw God working through their evil actions. Joseph recognized that in all the circumstances of life, big and small, good and bad, God had been inexorably bringing the currents of his personal history to a providential conclusion.

In all of life’s circumstances, big and small, good and bad, God is inexorably bringing the currents of your personal history to a providential conclusion.

Joseph’s submission to the sovereignty of God is revealed three times as he discloses himself to his brothers with words to this effect: “Don’t beat yourself up; it was God, not you, who sent me here. You had a plan and God had a plan, and God’s plan trumped yours. You were simply unwitting but useful instruments in his hands.” (Genesis 45:5,7,8). Joseph’s brothers might have been idiots for selling him into slavery twenty-two years before, but they were useful idiots in the hands of the Providential Ruler of all mankind.

The bottom line to Joseph’s story is that God is in control. He turns what is meant for evil to our good, extracts glory for himself even in the most impossible circumstances, and no matter what, always, always, always fulfills his sovereign purposes. His is in control! He is the Sovereign God of the universe, the Providential Ruler over the affairs, big and small, of all mankind, the Incomparable One who works all things for his glory.

God turns what is meant for evil to your good, extracts glory for himself even in the most impossible circumstances, and no matter what, always, always, always fulfills his sovereign purposes. His is in control!

And here’s the kicker: He works all things not only for his own glory—but for your good! That’s right—for your good. Now why would the Sovereign, Providential, Incomparable One bother with little old you? Simply because you’ve surrendered your life to him; and when you did that, you, perhaps even unwittingly, signed up to be on his sovereign plan.

So here’s the deal: If you have a few idiots making your life difficult, just remember, in God’s hands they are useful idiots.

Prayer… Sovereign Lord, today I express my trust that you will use what was hurtful to me for your glory and my good. I will refuse to allow bitterness and unforgiveness to take root in my spirit. Rather, by faith I will choose to see you actively at work in me.

Posted on Monday, January 27, 2014

Sowing, Reaping And Praying For A Crop Failure

Reflect:
Genesis 32:28

Their hearts sank and they turned to each other trembling and said, “What is this that God has done to us?” … “Everything is against me!” (Genesis 42:28 & 36)

If you’ve been around the Bible much, you know this story well. Joseph’s brothers, out of envy, anger and hatred, sold Joseph into slavery to nomads travelling to Egypt. A decade or two later, unknown to the brothers, Joseph has made an improbable rise to power, and now sits as second in command of the most powerful nation on earth.

Now forced to scrounge for food in Egypt during a severe famine, the tables are turned on the brothers: they stand face-to-face with Joseph, first bowing before him (a fulfillment of Joseph’s dream; the one that originally got him into hot water with the brothers), then begging for food, and ultimately begging for their very lives. And all the time their minds cannot fathom that it is actually Joseph with whom they are pleading.

There are so many things we could say about this chapter and its larger context: Like the sovereignty of God that allowed Joseph’s mistreatment in prior years as the very means to preserve his family down the road. Or how God always squeezes good out of evil for his children. Or how Joseph remains faithful and useful to God even when the evidence suggested that God had abandoned him. Or how Joseph left retribution, revenge and judgment in God’s hands, even when the best of men would have been tempted to exact a pound of flesh from these ornery brothers once Joseph had them dead to rights.

And don’t miss the application in all of those relevant truths: God will do that for you, too, if you will trust him with your life—both in the good times and especially in the bad when the evidence seems contrary to a loving God who is supposed to be in control.

But the one feature of this particular part of the story that intrigues me is the load of guilt this family carried for all those years, obviously paralyzing them with regret, the fear of receiving their just deserts and the onerous sense that they will have to pay an impossible price to make up for their evil actions in the past:

Their hearts sank and they turned to each other trembling and said, “What is this that God has done to us?” (Genesis 42:26)

Their father Jacob said to them, “You have deprived me of my children. Joseph is no more and Simeon is no more, and now you want to take Benjamin. Everything is against me!” (Genesis 42:36)

Then Reuben said to his father, “You may put both of my sons to death if I do not bring Benjamin back to you. Entrust him to my care, and I will bring him back.” (Genesis 42:37)

So what are the take away’s for you and me from the story of these messed up brothers?

First, as it relates to the brothers, no sinful action is worth the temporary satisfaction or pleasure it falsely promises—ever! The guilt, harm and forfeiture of God’s blessings are a horrible crop to reap at some point, either sooner or perhaps later, down the road.

No sinful action is worth the temporary satisfaction or pleasure it falsely promises—ever!

Second, as it relates to Jacob and his lingering dread, no child of God needs to fear a horrible harvest for past sins. God specializes in crop failures. Sure, there are consequences for sin sometimes, but God promises to turn even those to our good if we “have been called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28) As John Newton so profoundly wrote, “We serve a gracious Master who knows how to overrule even our mistakes to His glory and our own advantage.”

There are consequences for sin, but God promises to turn even those to our good if we “have been called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28)

Third, as it relates to Reuben’s assumption that he could assuage divine punishment, no personal sacrifice for sin will be needed for the child of God to cancel his punishment since God sent his very own Son, of whom Joseph was a type, to once and for all pay the price to satisfy God’s righteous wrath rightly directed at our sin. (Hebrews 10:8-14)

I’m so glad to be a follower of Jesus and not a child of Jacob, aren’t you! God’s unlimited, unmerited grace, purchased by Christ’s sacrificial death and glorious resurrection, is a far better way.

Overlay Your Sin With God’s Truth

Guilt—Romans 8:1-4

Fear—I John 1:9

Human effort to appease God—Hebrews 10:8-14

Martin Luther said, “The law works fear and wrath; grace works hope and mercy.” If you are living under a load of guilt and fear, or the sense that somehow you must make it up to God, meditate on and pray these truths back to God: Guilt—Romans 8:1-4; Fear—I John 1:9, Human effort to appease God—Hebrews 10:8-14. Then allow grace to wash away what doesn’t belong in the Christian’s life.

Prayer… Father, thank you for paying the price for my sin—all of it, past, present and future—through the death of your beloved Son, Jesus Christ. I will be eternally grateful!

Posted on Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Room For Only One Throne

Reflect:
Genesis 32:28

“Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome.”

There was a day when entertainment didn’t come through the television set; it came through the radio. Believe it or not, I can remember those days—at least the tail end of them. But in the good old days of radio, before my time, the folks were entertained with shows like “The Adventures of Sam Spade”, “Fibber McGee and Molly”, “The Shadow” (“the Shadow knows—bwahaha), and of course, “The Lone Ranger.” The Lone Ranger, who was known as “The Masked Man”, was the greatest! He would ride into town, save the day, then ride off into the sunset with a “Hi-yo, Silver, away!” to the tune of the William Tell Overture. And invariably an awestruck bystander would ask the question, “Who was that Masked Man anyway?”

“Who was that masked man anyway?” may be your response to the mysterious wrestling match that took place between Jacob and the unknown assailant here in Genesis 32:22-32. Of course, if you’ve grown up around the Bible, you’ve been instructed that Jacob’s opponent was God. But when you read the text, that’s not so clear. From Jacob’s perspective, his opponent was nothing more that a man (Genesis 32:24)—perhaps a shadowy assassin from Laban’s clan or a hitman from Esau’s tribe—both men whom Jacob had cheated and had sufficient reason to “rub out” the cheater!

But as the death match (“wrestling” would be far too tame a term if you were in Jacob shoes) continued through the night, and Jacob held his own against this stranger, it began to dawn on him that this was no mere human he was fighting. As you get to the end of the story and the two opponents finally speak, the stranger is identified—as least vaguely—when Jacob exclaims, “I have seen God face to face.” (Genesis 32:30)

We get a little more insight into the stranger’s identity all the way over in Hosea 12:4, when the prophet writes that it was none other than the Angel of the Lord who was duking it out with Jacob. The Angel of the Lord is identified as God himself throughout Scripture (for instance, Acts 7:30), and has even come to be known in Christian theology as a pre-incarnate revelation of Jesus Christ. So who was that masked man anyway? I think it is safe to say that Jacob was wrestling with none other than Jesus.

Now all that information may be nothing more than relatively useless Bible trivia to you, but there is something in this story with which you and I can identify: Wrestling with God. Jacob wrestled with God, and the essence of the wrestling match was over who was going to run Jacob’s life, and how. It had been clear to Jacob throughout his life that God wanted to bless him, but Jacob, whose name meant “deceiver”, had tried to manipulate and coerce those blessings into reality. Jacob wanted it done his way.

Wrestling with God is a clear indication of a struggle over who is going to run your life—and how. Just remember, God can’t be God of you if you are trying to be God, too. There is room for only one throne in your life!

I’ll bet you can relate to that; I sure can. You know that God has promised to bless you, but perhaps you are trying to force his favor according to your timing and to your liking. But it won’t work that way—it never does. God can’t be God of your life if you’re trying to be God of your life, too. There is room for only one throne in your personal world, and guess what, God gets it. When you resist, the wrestling begins.

God can’t be God of your life if you’re trying to be God of your life, too.

Learn from Jacob, my friend. The only way to go with God is by way of surrender. Jacob learned that the hard way—and he was left with a lifelong limp—but at the end of the day, Jacob’s fundamental approach to life changed from deceptive striving to faithful obedience. It is the surrender to a life of faithful obedience and ruthless trust that, as Andrew Murray wrote, must become “the essential characteristic of our lives.” C.S. Lewis said,

“The full acting out of the self’s surrender to God therefore demands pain: this action, to be perfect, must be done from the pure will to obey, in the absence, or in the teeth, of inclination.”

Where in your life do you need to surrender to God’s rule? Where are you wrestling with God? The sooner you cry “uncle” the better off you’ll be!

Prayer… You are God and I am not. Take my life—all of it—and let it be yours, wholly devoted to your will. Today, I cry “uncle!” I surrender all of me to you!

Posted on Monday, January 20, 2014

I Am A Friend Of God

Reflect:
Genesis 25:7-8

Abraham lived a hundred and seventy-five years. Then Abraham breathed his last and died at a good old age, an old man and full of years; and he was gathered to his people.

Reading the story of Abraham in Genesis can lead to only one conclusion: This man was a true hero of the faith! Here’s a guy who was saved by faith even before there was a Bible or the Law or Christ’s death and resurrection or a community of faith. God appeared to Abraham one day—we’re not even sure if he’d had any previous interaction with God or if this was simply an out-of-the-blue encounter—and Abraham said, “Okay God—I’m on board. What’s next?”

Abraham then went on a life-long journey with God in which he became known as a friend of God—a pretty cool designation, I’d say—the genetic father of God’s people, the Jews, and the spiritual father of all who believe in God’s Son, Jesus Christ. (James 2:23, Romans 4:16-17)

Obviously, Abraham was a very special man, and the Bible holds him up as an example to emulate for believers like you and me. We all ought to be Abraham-like in the spiritual dimension of our lives.

But is that even possible? Is there even the smallest chance that I can develop that same kind of Abraham-like relationship with God? Can I attain a walk with God that will be an Abraham-like example to others? And if it’s possible, then how?

Well, it is possible! Paul goes on to say, “God will count us righteous too if we believe in him who raised from the dead this Jesus who died for our sins and was raised to make us right with God.” (Romans 4:24, NLT)

How can we attain friendship with God? I can sum up the “how” in two words: Faith and hope—technically, that’s three words, but work with me!

First, you’ve got to make resurrection the foundation of your faith.

That’s what Abraham did! Romans 4:17 says, “Abraham believed in the God who brings back the dead to life.” Abraham was a little ahead of his time—like a few thousand years—but he believed in the God of the resurrection. What Paul is referring to here is the story of God’s call to Abraham to sacrifice his only son Isaac on the altar (you can read the story in Genesis 22), and Abraham’s willingness to actually go through with it. Why would Abraham be willing to do such a thing? Because he had faith in the God of the resurrection—the God who could, and would, raise Isaac back to life again.

The truth is, to have that kind of Abraham-like faith, you and I have to have that same Abraham-like trust in the God of the resurrection. If you don’t have a foundational and resolute belief in the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, and his promise to resurrect you from the dead, your faith will not only not develop to Abraham-like proportions, it will be meaningless. Paul teaches us in I Corinthians 15:14, “If Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty.”

In other words, if we have no faith in the God of the resurrection, then I am wasting my energy writing this blog…and you’re wasting your time reading it…and you’ll never come close to living an Abraham-like life of faith. But the historical fact of the resurrection of Jesus from the dead proves that God is who he said he is and will fulfill what he has promised to do. And the faith you place in the God who resurrects the dead will empower you to live the kind of God-honoring faith that Abraham had.

The historical fact of the resurrection of Jesus from the dead proves that God is who he said he is and will fulfill what he has promised to do.

Second, you’ve got to claim resurrection as the basis of your hope.

That, too, is what Abraham did. Romans 4:18 tells us that “even when there was no reason for hope, Abraham kept on hoping”…believing in God’s promises that one day he would be the father of many nations when his only son, through whom his lineage would continue, was about to die. In other words, Abraham didn’t let his circumstances dominate his life; he allowed God’s promises to dictate his life. Abraham believed that if Isaac was going to die on the altar, God would raise him to life. That was his hope.

People of faith don’t let circumstances dominate their lives; they allow God’s promises to dictate their life.

I don’t know if you’ve ever thought about this, but the exercise of that kind of hope is arguably the most powerful discipline you can engage as a believer. Count Bismarck said, “Without the hope of [Christian resurrection], this life is not worth the effort of getting dressed in the morning.” He was right! Christian hope is that important, and that powerful.

Karl Marx proclaimed that religious hope is the opiate of the people. But Hebrews 6:19 says, “We have this hope as an anchor of the soul, firm and secure.” And Paul writes in Romans 5:5 that this “hope does not disappoint us!”

Do you practice hope? I’m not talking about the breezy kind of optimism that Mary Martin sang about in South Pacific when she crooned, “I’m stuck like a dope with a thing called hope.” I’m talking about the exercise of hope that declares that you are choosing to believe in God’s promises, not just in spite of the evidence, but in scorn of the consequences. We’ve been called to practice that kind of hope.

Faith, hope and the resurrection…that was Abraham’s secret. I have faith that it will be your secret too…at least I hope so! He is risen!

Prayer… Father Abraham had many sons, and I want to be one of them. I want to offer the same kind of believing faith that led him to follow you without knowing the destination, to obey you when it seemed foolish, and to stare death in the face and express the hope of the resurrection. And I want to be your friend, too! Give me Abraham-like faith!

Posted on Friday, January 17, 2014

Your Part

Reflect:
Genesis 17:9

Then God said to Abraham, “Your responsibility is to obey the terms of the covenant. You and all your descendants have this continual responsibility.”

There is nothing more important in life, really, than to live in covenantal relationship with God.

That is the path to a blessed life—success (Biblically defined), significance (personal value, a deep and abiding sense that I have inherent worth, that my life matters and by my existence I have had an impact and made a difference) and satisfaction (joy, completeness, fulfillment). It is also the path to eternal life—forever living in the presence of God and fully living out his purposes in eternity without either the limitations of this fallen world or our flawed DNA.

Covenantal relationship—we were created to walk in covenant with our Creator, and when we do, there is nothing better. What is that covenant? That God contracts to be our God, walk with us, provide for us, even prosper us and fulfill his purposes on Planet Earth through us. That is God’s part of the covenant, which sounds pretty good to me. And pretty lopsided, too, when you consider our part.

We were created to walk in covenant with our Creator, and when we do, there is nothing better.

What is our part? Simply this: to listen, then obey. We are to hear God’s voice and order our steps accordingly. We are to align our hearts to love God fully, trust God unreservedly, honor God in both our attitudes as well as our actions, and leverage the totality of our lives to bring him glory.

This is what a covenantal response to God means: first to listen to what God says, and second, to do what God says. In essence, that is called faith—to believe God and to order our lives accordingly. As you read about the life of Abraham, this is the pattern you see: Abraham listened to God’s voice, believed God’s word, obeyed God’s plan, ordered his life accordingly and stepped out in trust daringly in anticipation that God would uphold his end of the covenant and fulfill all his promises.

Our part of living in covenantal relationship requires us to hear God’s voice and order our steps accordingly.

Of course, that doesn’t mean Abraham’s covenantal relationship with God was problem-free or unchallenged. And yours won’t be either. But what made Abraham’s life stand out as an extraordinary example of faith was that when he encountered these faith-rattling, covenant-crushing problems, over and over again his response was to listen, then obey.

Is that your pattern, too? Are you ready to offer that kind of life-response to God today? If you are—and if you will—and if, like Abraham, you will make that the pattern of your life, then you will live in a covenantal relationship with the Creator of the universe who will fulfill both his purposes and promises in your life.

And it doesn’t get any better than that.

When our problems lead us to pray and obey, we should embrace them as doing more good than harm.

Prayer… Father, I suspect that problems will challenge my covenantal journey with you today. May those problems lead me to prayer, and then to action. And because my problems lead me to pray and obey, I will embrace them as doing more good than harm.