The Experiment with Sovereignty

          - Daniela Oakley    

           Good Character is essential to a life well-lived. Character is our make-up or "ethos”—it’s proof of our vitality. Character is the chemical compound made up of our ability to discern right from wrong and the projection of our moral in the physical form of action.
What we do, how we live, the pattern of our life: this is what defines us, this is what demonstrates to the world all that "I" value.
If this is true, then it follows that man must determine how good character is come by. Is there one ultimate source, or is it a thing each man chooses for himself depending on disposition and personal taste? And why the emphasis on good character?
It is my experience that defining "good" is nearly as impossible as trying to define "love." Let us instead, consider its source- perhaps that will speak of its essence more than our vain attempts of shooting at it.
Consider Jesus' admonition to His disciples that they might "know a tree by its fruit." He wasn't asking them  to try and figure the dimensions of the fruit and whether it could be improved, repeated or bettered; He invites us to observe the fruit and trust that the source of this good is itself good.
So the question is not why do we call good fruit good (Indeed, is this not an over complication?), but what or who is the good tree? Who was the first to name things as good? Was it not the Creator of all Himself?
At the last of God’s creation He knew all was as He determined it should be. The writer of Genesis tells us that “God saw everything that He had made, and, behold, it was very good." (Genesis 1:31, KJV)
I submit that if God is the Author of all that is good, then He must not merely share that attribute of goodness; rather, He must be the ultimate reality of good. He must be Goodness itself. He is the tree which makes the good fruit come forth.
And now we come to the point of no return: for if God is not good, but rather, good is God, then to reject the importance of good character in my personal life is to reject not only goodness, but God. It is to say that what God has created is not how I define good and that God Himself is not the extent of good. When goodness becomes subjective, God's goodness is called into question.
Again, let us take this point back to the very beginning and ask ourselves, “What happened the first time God's credibility was put into question and His command weighed in the tribunal of Man?”
I can picture it. The woman standing near the tree, not making eye contact with the serpent, but only thinking of the object of her desire. And then, "Did God really say...?" The serpent crawls closer to the woman as he says this, but she does not notice. He thinks on the luscious taste of blasphemy, it roles from his tongue with a mood of playfulness...
And here is the really scary part: when questioned, Eve repeated exactly what God said.
Her lust for power and independence from God was stronger than her love and commitment to the God of all good. And independence from perfection can mean nothing less than dependence on evil.
Eating the fruit was Eve's only way to determine whether she could create good apart from God.
But Eve missed something: good is not a definition, it is a being. It is God. To undermine the authority of goodness in one area is to rip away God's authority all together. And the result was that her experiment with Sovereignty, her decision to bite the bait, ended in death for all.

Earn It

Yesterday, I finally got around to watching "Saving Private Ryan." The film is deeply moving, and the ending is especially memorable.
"Earn it," are the final words of John Hamilton to Private Ryan as he lay dying.

The movie later shows Ryan in his old age, tormented by this final demand. He turns to his wife, "Am I a good man? Have I lived well? Did I earn it?"

And it struck me that the very thing that Hamilton had wanted was corrupted by his own demand.
He wanted the lives of several men who had died to save Ryan to be consummated in one life.
Ryan's life.
He wanted Private Ryan to earn something which he could not earn and made him, instead of a man who gave back to society with no restraint, a man eternally tormented by his inability to do so...

Thank the Lord that He has not asked us to earn His love or even His physical sacrifice.
He hasn't asked us to earn one another's lives either but to, with gladness and of our own choice, relinquish our lives unto each other and ultimately unto Him.
And this is not just a demand for the dying, but even more for the living. Sacrificial deaths are always preceded by sacrificial lives.

But really, there is nothing so opposite of the world's mandate to "earn" our place than God's call to die; this is even more far reaching than the aforementioned point describes.

In the course of man's life, the world's sacred song tells us to find our greatest personal happiness, survive and thrive as long as we can and our health allows and to pursue our passions for which we lust with reckless abandon.
God says, "Deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me."
Read the last two sentences again until you can see the direct contradictions (which I did not even attempt to articulate in my first draft). Let their implications sink in...

...But all of this is hopeful rather than despairing, because it means all we have to do is relinquish that which is so greatly over-esteemed but which is truly worthless for that which nobody desires but is actually beyond price...

Mr. Malcolm Muggeridge illustrates this far better than I:

How can I ever explain to those who insist that we must believe in the world to love it that it is because I disbelieve in the world that I love every breath I take, look forward with ever greater delight to the coming of each spring, rejoice evermore in the companionship of my fellow-humans, to no single one of whom, searching my heart, do I wish ill, and of no single one of whom do I wish to separate myself, in word or thought or deed, or in some prospect of some other existence beyond the ticking of the clocks, the vista of the hills, the bounds and dimensions of our earthly hopes and distress? To accept the world as a destination rather than a staging-post, and the experience of living in it as life's full significance, would seem to me to reduce life to something far to banal and trivial to be taken seriously or held in esteem... In other words, the Christian proposition that he who lives his life in this world shall lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will see it projected unto eternity, is for living, not dying.

-Malcolm Muggeridge, Chronicles of Wasted Time, Chronicle 1: The Green Stick

I love pondering this quote because it is full of the life, worth and wealth of the gospel of which the New Testament implodes and of which modern apologetics is notoriously lacking. It is time that we stopped talking with such lengthy despondency about all we have had to sell or burn in order to pave the road for Christ and began talking of the precious jewel that is eternally ours.

Do It for You

As someone who loves to write, I've often heard the advise from fellow enthusiasts, "You have to write as if you were the only one ever going to see your work; if you keep thinking about how other people will feel about what you're writing, you are never going to love it and neither will anyone else" or some variation of this.

I think this statement is true- but it's only partially true. I've wrestled with this a whole lot because it's a statement I've always felt my gut react too; I've always felt that it wasn't fully true, but I could never say why...

The only way I can think to communicate this is with the example of physical art: It's widely accepted for an artist to feel that "it's just them and their piece, nothing else matters." This is the equivalent to an author thinking only about how she feels about her story. But here's the issue: the world is bigger than you and I. Our message, whether communicated through art or words, should be bigger than ourselves too, shouldn't it?

We must think of those receiving our work. We must consider if it will move them to action or only entertain them; we must ask ourselves if our stories are ringing true to life or if they are our own fabricated fairytale endings; we must be bold with the truth.

If our stories or art pieces are so hovered over and coddled by our personal feelings and intuition, then all we have accomplished is a work which is for us a reminder of our intrinsic flaws and for others, we've only confused or misled.

Our lives are not, in fact, individual. Neither is God's plan for us. We are unique, yes, but God doesn't have a specific plan for my life because I'm so different and talented and "shaped from a different mold." His specific plan is to bring the Gospel into every corner of the world and He will use my unique personality because He is gracious and not because I am the answer to the world's crisis.

If I am so caught up in my uniqueness that I refuse to let the Lord mold and shape me into a new being, I will never be useful to my Master. I will never be a brick who fits into His spiritual house of which Christ is the Cornerstone. My story will stay a story about self and will say nothing to the world of redemption.

So by all means, write. Write a story, even your own! But don't make it about you. Don't shield yourself from your own criticism or cleanse yourself of flaws. Don't refuse to be a Christian who confesses their sin before others: believe me, it's already known.  Every Christian's story, if truthfully told, begins with the awful, gut-wrenching reality of sin and is somewhere intercepted by the unbelievable, life-changing, reality of a Babe born in a stable.

If you don't spell out your life in terms of reality no one will ever stick with you until you reach the part about redemption...

Let the lowly brother glory in his exaltation

-James 1:9-

This verse contains a provoking disparity. How can a "lowly" positioned man glory in his "exaltation"(high rank, dignity)?

   One thing we can immediately see from the context is that James is not talking about earthly riches or rank. He is talking to physically impoverished, ill-treated Christians. He is talking to a people far from home and recognition.

  Yet still, he says "glory" (rejoice)!

This is amazing and has great implications for the Church.

Do you see?

He is telling the Church to rejoice in her fixed inheritance: eternal glory with Christ. And actually, James commands the church to actively rejoice about this always.

I love that James places this command towards the beginning of His letter. This is a beautiful (and as we will see as we go further into the letter), needed reminder.

"God has established you in heavenly places, Church! Do not let the circumstances of life cause you to despair or neglect the realities of heaven!" (paraphrase)

But I'd like to point out a second application. Just as "exaltation" doesn't solely refer to earthly riches or rank, so "lowly" doesn't solely refer to earthly destitution.

It's easy to look through the Bible and think that Jesus has something against rich people. This is simply not true. There are people (though yes, few and far between) who have great riches and become His disciples. There are still more who have steady homes and jobs and who can be considered the "middle-class" of Bible times.

God isn't opposed to a man with earthly wealth; He is opposed to pride. Pride is all about self: preserving self, propagating self, indulging self. And the reason earthly riches and a heart polluted with pride are so often linked in the Bible is not because God hates the abundance of money but rather because pride loves it.  Pride breeds all kinds of excess.

Another translation for this word "lowly" is "humble." We are always to come humbly before the Lord regardless of whether He is asking us, in a specific moment, to physically depart with our riches. But we are always to be spiritually separated from our wealth. Often this means physical separation from our wealth as well, not so much for God's benefit as for ours.

This is a command of love as much as it is a warning against corruption. We should always have so much more joy in being identified with Christ in His lowly state of suffering than in any sort of earthly prominence. The moment this is not the reality of our souls is also the moment we ought to evaluate where it is that our souls have drifted.

The Bride's Joy

-Isaiah 61:10-

He has clothed me with promises, numerous

And set His seal upon mine arm

The Son asked my hand on His Father's behalf

He made no enticement, nor used any charm

His promises simple, for a babe to comprehend

Life and Breath; His Father's love

To His Bride was promised also death

Division from the world until summoned to worlds above

She signed her name and the union was announced

No devil could trample the signet ring

They tried enticing her with charms and brought her strings of bead

"Add something more beautiful to your covenant with the King

"The King never said you could not add to your beauty

The 'Most High' would not expect you to limit your reach

"After all, you are the Queen," said one, drawing near

"And the Queen has equal rights; none would name it a breach

"Sure your heart has been stolen, your strong arm, also sealed

Perhaps than grant us your mind we will help you to wield

"The power you've come into as you're too common to know

The wisdom of the serpent and the triviality of a shield

"Daughter o' the worlds, Produce o' earth

Remember who was present at the time of your birth

"Why commit treason against your mother's own hands?

And deafen the sound of your father's mirth?

Then the Bride, if she remembers the extent of her vow

Will decry that to mind & heart & soul she has no claim

And altogether the words of the devil she will curse

He has no right to recount her birth and discredit her name

And suddenly her voice will take on angelic joy

She will recount her Lover's promise, to grant her a new birthright: His own

No more bound by sin or sorrow or despair

But seated in the heavenlies on an everlasting throne

A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.

-James 1:8

       Again we are warned of the seriousness of doubt.
Outwardly, this passage is disheartening; it seems to human eyes that God has no mercy on people who struggle with doubt. But hold on, because their are different ways to deal with doubt, and God forgives those who repent of it. The point is that doubt cannot reign in your life, not that if it ever pokes its head, you are immediately condemned.
One of the Hebraic meanings of this word denotes a "two-spirited" person. How can someone who is after the world and then after God and then again back to chasing the world, how can this kind of man lay hold of any sort of truth?
We completely understand this concept when it comes to other sins, and yet when talking of doubt, we don't seem to grasp that the damage done by unchecked doubt is equivalent to unchecked adultery, hatred, or addiction.
Doubt, like all sin, becomes addictive and Master if left unchallenged.

Consider again James metaphor of the waves...
If a man is driven by winds and waves, he is incapable of reaching the shore even if someone were to come out to sea and rescue him; unless his addiction is dealt with, he will return to the sea. Every man is the author and finisher of his own destruction.
The promise of a husband that he will remain faithful to his wife does not make the wife faithful; it takes two to make a marriage pure. Yet this is exactly what God did! He was and is a faithful husband to an adulterous bride. (Read Hosea for an amazing illustration of this truth.)
We must reckon with the reality that devotion and division cannot cohabitate.

Eternity Before Me

The Secret Place of the Most High

The only way to endure

The mortality of this mortal life

And reach that blessed shore

He bids all Christians, "Come and die

Meet me at the cross."

And to our shock we find great joy

In counting all things loss

Because in our death we see our Jesus

Standing at His throne

Fleshly pain overwhelmed by eternity

Though eternity as yet unknown

What little He has called us to bear

But a moment our burdens hard-press

Never without eternity before us

Even now by our Savior's love blessed

Think on Christ's cross, O child of God

Think of sufferings greater than thine

No shadow covered over the Son, Beloved

Crushed by His Father's wrath that was mine

Yahweh

           

“I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob,

as God Almighty, but by My name LORD[fn] I was not known to them."

-Exodus 6:3

        As I was studying this passage the other day, it amazed me how much of a privilege it was for the Israelites to know God's name: "Yahweh."

             Many times we've heard different attributes of God emphasized, such as love, mercy, grace...etc. But hardly ever do we look at the names of God and treasure them.  The difference between the way the Israelites recognized and worshiped God and the way we do is striking and convicting.

       This name for God, Yahweh, means "the self-existent One." It is a name that identifies God as the God of the Hebrews. It identified Him as the Savior of Israel, the One who goes behind them, before them, and is with them.

      And this strikes me, because I often praise God for what He does and not who He is. I often worship Him when He feels near, and not because He is my God and He is worthy of praise.

This kind of worship, this kind of love, is fading. It is a love based on performance and not on being. On perception of value and character and not upon the solid facts about who God is.

      Job's story is a perfect illustration of this: Job begins to doubt that the Lord has remembered him or even considers him. Two of his friends counsel him to repent and tell the Lord what wrong he has committed, they submit to Job that God would never have punished him if he hadn't acted wickedly.

And then Elihu comes. He tells Job that though he be righteous, he ought not to consider that God has acted unjustly. In chapter thirty-six He says, "I will ascribe righteousness to my Maker." and "

Behold, God is exalted by His power; Who teaches like Him? Who has assigned Him His way, Or who has said, 'You have done wrong'? Remember to magnify His work, Of which men have sung. Everyone has seen it; Man looks on it from afar. Behold, God is great, and we do not know Him; Nor can the number of His years be discovered."

       Elihu praises God because of who He is: the unknowable, just, Almighty God.

But we have access to a God who has revealed Himself. We can know the God we follow. No longer does He travel only behind us, as to protect us and keep watch over us (Gen 17:1). But He know walks with us and makes His home with us. The invisible God has revealed Himself through His Son. What a privilege we have to know God as Jehovah (another trans of Yahweh) or, "Jesus."

We can know Him not only by name, but in word, thought and deed. We can know His very heart.

What qualifies you to disciple?

“My brethren, let not many of you become teachers knowing that we shall be judged with a stricter judgment. For we all stumble in many things, if anyone does not stumble in word he is a perfect man able also to bridle the whole body.” -James 3:1-2

So...

I know I'm skipping ahead in my study of James, but sometimes the things you are learning currently are so fresh and immediate that you cannot speak of anything else.

This passage is scary. There's a temptation to take these words and say, “Actually, God specifically told me not to teach so I think I should just forget about that whole evangelizing, discipling thing.”

I've seen people do this with different passages and have done it myself, but here's the thing: every Christian is commanded to “go and make disciples” (Matthew 28:19)

There is a difference between assuming a wide-ranging role of leadership and being obedient to God's commission to follow Him in pouring your life out.

But don't jump the gun and think that just because I'm claiming that everyone is called to disciple, well then that must mean that it's a whole lot easier than you previously thought. Nope. Discipling is hard.

But the hard part is not the part you think... it's not the prep-work or finding the “right” curriculum, it's living it. To lead someone in God's word you need to eat and breathe the word. To hold someone to a higher standard your life needs to exemplify that standard. To introduce someone to the living God you must know that God. If you're going to tell someone to take up their cross, you better be carrying one yourself.

Dicipling other people means calling them down to follow you as you follow Christ- if you are not following Christ, then be assured that you are leading that person outside the camp to worship your idols with you.

“If the blind leads the blind, they shall both fall into a pit.” (Luke 6:39)

“There is a way that seems right unto man that in the end leads to death.” (Pro 14:12)

But if you are following the Lord. If your way aligns with His way. If a cross is always before you, it's shadow over you, and one even rests on your shoulder, than do not worry about method, eloquence, or curriculum. Follow Jesus' example. If your life is saturated with Christ, Christ will use you to lead others to the cross. If your life lines up with your proclamation, if the Spirit is deeply involved in your every day, nothing else matters.

The judgment for those who misuse His Spirit is fierce, but so is the judgment upon those who bury their seed in the ground and excuse their disobedience (Matt 25:24-30). We ought not to fear His judgment, but to rest in His grace.

"For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord" -James 1:7

This is the singular passage in the Bible where God claims that He will not answer the man who offers up doubt-saturated prayers. In other passages He talks of the wicked man's prayers being an abomination to Him (Pro 15:8) and in another part of James, he says that when His people ask for things selfishly, that they might "spend them on their pleasures," neither will he answer those prayers (Jas 4:3).

But doubt?

Okay, maybe doubt is a little worse than most people perceive, but does it really deserve the same punishment as selfishness and wickedness?

Well...yes. Doubt is a grievous sin in the eyes of God. To doubt is to bring God down to man's level, to expect of him what you would expect of imperfect, treasonous  mortals.

Consider this, the word for "suppose" in the Greek means to "make like one's self, imagine, be of the opinion." Doubting is equating God to men, it is to make the Creator of all alike to the creature, to ask "did God really say?" ...In other words, is God really like that? Would God really do that? Does He really, always know best??

Is it any wonder that James equates doubt with being "driven and tossed by the wind"? We cannot allow our imaginations to drive us... there is no telling where we will end up.

Be assured, God is not in any way like us; His thoughts are high above our thoughts and His ways are not our ways (Is 55:8-9). This is good news, because the Bible also says, "There is a way which seems right to a man, But in the end it leads to death." (Pro 16:25)

Thank the Lord that He is not like us! He is predictably faithful and unchanging even though, as Lewis says, "He never does things the same way twice." 

It's Important

       My family and I enjoy watching a reality tv show called Alone. The concept is very basic: twenty or so competitors are flown out to this remote, beautiful area, they are then separated and told to survive as long as they can (up to a year) with no human contact (except for an occasional vitals tests) and no man-made resource. They can pull out at any time, but they are never told how many people are still in the competition.

The show is quite interesting in that it really reveals who people are at their very core, what you can boil them down to. They become desperate, transparent, sometimes ugly.

There was a certain competitor who was animated, an inventor, and was simply loving every minute of her days. She ended up dropping out because she decided that she felt fulfilled. She decided that it wasn't any longer about the money and that staying in the competition would be hypocritical if she really believed that.

Another competitor, who ended up winning, said that the reason he made it was because he wanted to better his family. He said the hardest part about 'Alone' was being away from his family, but they were also his single motivation.

It hit me... both these competitors ended the game in a manner that reflected the thing of inherent significance in their lives. Both were able to endure little inconveniences, silence, loneliness and heartache because they had a higher goal.

The first competitor, though outwardly more content, ended up quitting because of her convictions, while the other, in agony, was able to remain for the sake of the family he treasured above all else in the world. Amazing!

Whether either of their conclusions is right or wrong is not the point. But this opened my eyes to a really profound truth: whatever your treasure is will, in the end, surface.

Whatever motivates you, whatever you live and die for, whatever shapes your identity and controls your mind, will, in fact, become known. In fact, your treasure will determine your end.

God is not ignorant of what that treasure is. In every single one of us, He knows. He knows why we wake up, why we despair, why we love life...

Do not hide from your own heart the reality of what it is that you truly idolize.

What possesses you?

God knows.

Do you know?

Go

Do not warn of certain death!

Do not mar his joy!

Let him live with pleasure stored

Do not unveil his ploy!

Do not bring to misery

The sinner loves his way

He is satisfied in death

So do not stop his play!

Do not tell the lover of life

His days will surely pass

And do not say we all must fade

And wither like the grass

Do not say it would've been better

If you were a babe, born still

And do not tell him the way he leads

His life will surely kill!

My child says the Lord of Lord's

This wisdom from on high?

To let the world slip slowly past

To never pierce a soul with My cry?

My plea that all would come and die

And take part in My cross

And forever bear the mark of the Gospel

My Son's blood, the terrible cost 

The Face of Stephen

     The face of Stephen was like that of an angel (Acts 6:15). His accusers hated the peace he exuded. They hated the power and faith which poured from him (6:8) and made his works undeniable. He was a man full of the Holy Spirit, content to be a waiter. He was a man whose eyes were fixed on eternity.

What amazed me thoroughly this week as I took a closer look at Stephen was that his death was so similar to our Lord Jesus Christ's.

Acts 7 talks of Stephen committing his Spirit, the self-same spirit of Christ, unto Jesus. Jesus also committed His Spirit unto His Father when all was finished on the cross.

Stephen asked the Lord not to charge his perpetrators with their sin, because even after all the signs Christ performed and his apostles continued in, many of the Jews refused such a lowly Messiah. They didn't know whom they were coming against. Jesus did likewise, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do." (Luke 23:34)

But there is something else which is even more astounding than both of these similarities. It is the contrast between the face of Stephen, alight with the glory of the Lord, and the face of Christ in horrible agony.

Stephen looked towards heaven and saw His Lord standing, waiting to receive Him and looking upon the faces of Stephens perpetrators with vengeance. But Jesus, the Son of God, had to gaze on His Father's back. There was no comfort in His agony.  There was a deep and necessary betrayal. There was a precise separation from the One who took on the fullness of everything accursed unto becoming a curse himself and the Holy and undefiled Father.

And think of this! Jesus still trusted His Father; He still hoped in and knew His Father's redemption even in that moment of disowning His Son. It was absolutely the only way to salvation. If there had been any other, the Son would have never been asked to shrink to so vile a state.

Jesus bore the wrath of His Father that now, we might always look to the Father for light and salvation.  There is not a moment that will ever separate us from the thorough blood of Christ. There is not a spot of sin that remains on us in the Father's sight. We may forever look to the Father for forgiveness, approval and hope...

I'm warning you up front: this is going to sound very cliché.

I've been thinking about the fact that much is required from those to whom much is given (Luke 12:48). In fact, the very reason I started this blog was because I had an overwhelming desire to give what I had received. I have received so much. So much knowledge of God, so much truth, so much reality.
It scares me.
Sometimes I truly am frightened by how much I know and have experienced of Christ- much will be required of me. I know what sin is; I know that God cares about the intrinsic intentions of my heart- what am I doing with that knowledge?
I know I am commanded to pray and I have been taught how- am I praying?

But here's the thing: when you pursue the Lord, He gives you not only the command, but the power to live out what He has called you to do. And He gives you unspeakable joy in the fulfillment of that calling (bonus!).

The Bible says that perfect love casts out fear (1Jhn 4:18). And while there is a part of knowing the Lord intimately that inspires fear, their is another side of that love in which no fear is found. When you know perfect love- love full of mercy, abounding in forgiveness and saturated with hope- there is no need to fear the judgment of a perfect Father.

I challenge you, if you are a follower of Christ, don't allow fear or lack of comfort to stop you from obeying the Lord. There is much joy in living out the Christian life. There is so much hope in allowing our Almighty God to work through our weakness.

Remember...

I was reminded tonight of the importance of remembrance.  The importance of disciplining my mind to recount the wonderful works of my God. The importance of not allowing the enemy to screw with the written record...

Remember. Remember God's faithfulness. Remember His mercy. Remember the investment He's made in you, the time He's spent with you, the jealousy He has for you, His desire for more of you...Remember the days of not knowing Him. Remember what they were like. Remember, truly and without beautification, what it is to be without God.

Remember what He's established in your life- it cannot be unestablished.  Remember the sin He has conquered in your life- it cannot be unconquered. Remember the Spirit He has sealed you with- He will not leave His promise unfulfilled.

Jesus has died and so have you. Jesus was buried; you also lied in a tomb. Jesus is indeed risen and you are with Him. You are a Christian. You are a Christ follower. The Anointed by the Anointed One. The second-born from the dead. The redeemed and perfected life continually being redeemed and perfected. You are hidden in Christ.

You are secure in the secret place of the Most High. You are restored in order that you may go and restore. You were given truth that you might proclaim it. You were washed that you might bathe the least among you. You were bought.

Don't forget.

James 1:6

"But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind."

We are commanded to plead with the Lord for wisdom. The word for ask in this verse means to "beg, desire, call for, crave." This is how valuable the wisdom of God is. And guess what... it doesn't come naturally. Earthly wisdom appeals to earthly creatures so we must learn to crave the things of heaven.

"Friendship with the world is enmity with God." James 4:4

Heavenly wisdom does not coincide with earthly wisdom on even one point.

Consider Noah, Abraham, David, Esther, Daniel...

James compares those who waver between belief and doubt to "a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind"

Driven by the wind! Waves go far out beyond the shore and come back when the wind decides. They are unpredictable because they have no loyalties.

They don't have any real 'pistis,' any real faith; their faith is dependent on feeling and not fact, on circumstance and not on God. 

Doubt discriminates, judges and is hostile while faith has determined fidelity.  Doubt is pointless and hopeless where faith has hope in something greater than itself. Doubt wavers and is at variance with itself while faith is sure and grounded. Doubt is blind and driven by wind; faith sees the invisible...

God is Life

One of my teachers at Bible School loved to talk about this fact: that God is the essence of life, the explosion of life, the abundance of life.

She reminded us constantly that creation shines forth Christ. That creation shows us who God is because it is a physical image of our invisible God.
So then... what does creation reveal? God is life! (Rom 1:20) The farthest thing from God is death and that is why sin can only ever produce death. Abundant life can only ever be found in Christ (John 6:68). And anyone who does not have the Son of God does not have life (Rom 8:9)

Here is an astounding list of different ways that God is shown as life in the scriptures; God is the: "breath of life" (Gen 2:7) "tree of life" (Gen 2:9); "spirit of life" (Gen 7:22); "assurance of life" (Deut 28:66); "restorer of life" (Rth 4:15); light of life" (Job 33:30); "path of life" (Psa 16:11); "fountain of life" (Psa 36:9); "way of life"(Prov 6:23); "well of life" (Prov 10:11); "resurrection of life" (Jhn 5:29); "bread of life" (Jhn 6:35); "prince of life" (Acts 3:15); "justification of life" (Rom 5:18); "newness of life" (Rom 6:4); "aroma of life" (1 Cor 2:16); "word of life" (Phl 2:16); "book of life" (Phl 4:3); "promise of life" (2 Tim 1:1); "crown of life" (James 1:12); "grace of life" (1 Pet 3:7); "water of life" (Rev 21:6); "river of life" (Rev 22:1); "preserver of life" (Gen 32:30); "blood of life" (Lev 17:11); "life of all flesh" (Lev 17:4); "life and length of days" (Deut 30:20); "faithful through life" (Jos 1:5); "bound in the bundle of the living" (1 Sam 25:29); "sparer of life" (1 Kings 20:31); "life of every living thing & the holder of life" (Job 12:10); "taker of life" (Job 27:8); "deliverer of life" (Psa 22:20); "strength of life" (Psa 27:1); "the one who remembers every life" (Psa 74:19); "life forevermore" (Psa 133:3); "wisdom of life" (Prov 4:13); "the one who will reward the living" (Prov 10:16); "the King's face is life" (Prov 16:15); "the fear of the Lord leads to life" (Prov 19:23); "humility towards the Lord leads to life" (Prov 22:4); "giver of life" (Ecc 8:15); "takes vengeance on life for life" (Jer 51:6); "life brought up from the pit" (Jhn 2:6); "the server and ransom of life" (Mar 10:45); "life is in Him and He is the light of men" (Jhn 1:4); "to believe in the Son is everlasting life" (Jhn 3:36); "life to the world" (Jhn 6:33); "His flesh is life" (Jhn 6:51); "keeper of life" (Jhn 10:28); "eternal word of life" (Jhn 6:68); "His name is life" (Jhn 20:31); "appointer of eternal life" (Acts 13:48); "we are saved by His life" (Rom 5:10); "faith in the Son of God is life" (Gal 2:20); "reaps everlasting life"(Gal 6:8); "He disregarded His own life" (Phl 12:30); "life and immortality brought to light" (2 Tim 1:10); "the soldier fighting for the life to come" (2 Tim 2:4); "hope of life" (Tit 1:2); "power of an endless life" (Heb 7:16); "given us all things pertaining to life" (2 Pet 1:3); "continuing to believe in the Son of God is life" (1 Jhn 5:13); "True God and eternal life" (1 Jhn 5:20); "abiding in God's love & looking to Christ's mercy is eternal life" (Jde 1:20); "the first and last who died and came to life" (Rev 2:8) [many of these points are paraphrased]

Guys, we have access to this life! Christ is the fullness of life! He is the tree of life never out of bloom, the breath of life never gasping for air, the restorer of life never Himself needing restoration. It is His delight to share His life with us;  He will never run short of life.
How is it that this man would come to count His life among the transgressors? That He would come to consider equality with God something not to be grasped? That He would forsake all that we might have all?
How much more- how much more- ought we to consider the vapors that we horde as nothing? It is a privilege to spend our lives for Him.

Nine things are presented in James as worthless (not exhaustive):

1. Prayer without faith
2. Faith without works
3. Patience without endurance
4. The body without the Spirit
5. Self-control of the body without a bridled tongue
6. Doing the law and simultaneously judging a brother
7. Knowing what is good and failing to do it
8. Friendship with the world as well as friendship with God
9. And fervency without righteousness

What's the point, you ask? Why would I bring this up? Don't we already have enough lists of perfection to measure up to...?

In Western society, we have a this vain idea of perfection that can absolutely never be reached. 
We attempt to attain it alone and in our own strength, not caring what or who we are stumbling over to reach our "perfection."
This is not the Biblical idea of perfection.
The Bible doesn't inform us that we are capable of being super-humans, in fact, quite the opposite. We are dead in our sin; useless, powerless, inoperative, wanting...

The word for "perfect" in the Greek is "teleios," a word that denotes completeness, wholeness, maturity, wanting nothing...

James 1:4 puts it this way: "But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing." (emphasis mine)

Take a look at the list again.  It's not saying "reach this perfection or heaven is unattainable." It's saying, "Come. Come and be clean. Be whole. Let the Master Potter mold and shape you into an honorable vessel, able to be used by Him." It's a call of love, a desire that God's people would not be half-hearted, half-devoted and half-alive.

Think about some of the things on this list. Have you ever tried to do one of these things without having the other part?
 I've had moments in my life of exceeding fervency, but I was unclean and not useful to my Master... I've known moments of desperate prayer, but faith in a Sovereign, unchanging, good Father was nonexistent...I've known times of striving to meet God's standards, but judging those who didn't put forth the same self-conjured effort...
Any one of these things without its counterpart leads to  emptiness. Embracing religion and not Jesus Christ is like storing up barns full of riches only to see them rot and have them as a witness against you, a mark of the vanity which consumed your life...

Allow the Lord Jesus to complete you! He is worthy of every part of you.

"...knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience." James 1:3

God doesn't test us for no reason.
He doesn't have a dice that He calls Gabriel to pull out of the closet once a week with our names on it, "Hmm, who should I test today?"

This was Job's error: he knew God was good and he didn't question his own right standing before the Lord, but he questioned God's purpose for allowing Job to suffer.

“What strength do I have, that I should hope?
And what is my end, that I should prolong my life?" -Job 6:11

Job didn't see the reason for His suffering, nor did he yet see God's complete sovereignty in His eternal purpose, therefore it was extremely difficult for him to endure. But Job defines His fault after God reveals His worthiness and glory.

“I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear,
But now my eye sees You." -Job 42:5

The testing of our faith [fidelity, assurance] produces [results in, performs, finishes in] patience [constancy, cheerful endurance, expectancy, hope] 

The word for patience in the Greek also bears this idea of submission, a coming under and abiding.

When we have experienced God's ways, God's means of growing us (usually through difficulty), we will begin to understand (oh, and this word "knowing" is "Ginosko" = knowledge through experience and relationship) how God works. We will begin to realize the hope in front of us because we know that our God doesn't do anything without purpose. We will not find it difficult to trust Him because we've seen Him come through in the past.

Here's the catch though, in order to know Him in this way, in order to be able to come under Him and trust Him and hope in all circumstances, you have to go through the trial! The first time this happens, you won't have experience to look back on. You will have to fix your eyes on Jesus and trust that He will work out His ends in your life.

 

-The Heart of God-

Have you ever stopped in the middle of what you're doing, and wondered at the Lord's transformation of your heart? 

I have! There are things in my life that I absolutely know did not originate with me. They just didn't. 

My sinful, flesh-gratifying nature that takes over without the Lord's intervention just wouldn't do certain things...

...I found myself having one of those moments today. 

I was praying for a friend who is so dear to me. A friend whose culture, lifestyle, and values are completely opposite my own. I am deeply burdened that God would get a hold of her life. 

"What? How did this even happen? How did we even become friends?" I sometimes wonder.

But the Lord taught me that just like anything else, gaining the heart of the Lord for the lost, no matter how opposite and outwardly incompatible you may be with a certain person the Lord has placed in your life, originates with obedience. 

You see... there was a time I was tempted not to stay in contact with this person. Not that I didn't want to talk to her, I just knew that it would take a whole lot of effort on my part and she lived far away and... 

it didn't matter! God began our friendship. He allowed us to meet and through my obedience in praying and communicating with this person, He has allowed me to gain His heart for her, to see her through His very eyes.

God doesn't give us His heart by transplant, but by intense, risky surgery. He renews it and sanctifies it as His sheep walk in obedience. 

"Follow me," He says, "and [then, once you have moved your feet] I will make you fishers of men." (Mat 4:19)

Move your feet, and He will move your heart.

This meditation on the Song of Solomon was inspired by a message I received at Bible School. Our teachers shed a new light on the Song of Solomon. They showed us how the Shulamite and her Beloved (Solomon) have a devotion to each other that we ought to emulate in our relationship with Christ.

 The more I read this book, the more amazed I am at the Shulamite's complete disregard for any opinion but her Beloved's (this grows after they marry and the longer they are together), and her Beloved's devotion to her despite her nonexistent status. It's a truly beautiful picture of how we are to count all that we must lose for Christ as nothing compared to dwelling in His presence forever... 

Reflection on Song of Solomon

            Intro:

            Eve, the Mother of the Living & the Dead:

The curse is heavy. It is shameful for my Lord to behold my face! How shameful. I hide from Him. He shall never again behold me, for I know I am helpless, naked, vile.

My feet carried me into the midst of the garden. Mine own heart yearned for the forbidden thing. My ears accepted the Serpents lie with great gladness, each compromise brought me closer to the desire of my heart.

I have violated the law of liberty, which the Lord once taught me. I have forsaken the inheritance of my father.

I have worshiped the god of desire & have believed that I myself could be a god. I have abhorred the name of the Lord & made Him like me, capable of  covetousness and deceit.  I have found rest in mine own pleasures and despised the Lord of rest. In my tyranny I have brought forth death to all things, now everything which comes forth from my womb will bear a curse and no blessing. I have lied to my husband and forsaken him. I have stolen of the tree of good and evil, and I have been found out. In one stroke have I trampled every law the Lord has established. 

O my God, where shall I go? Who can deliver me from this body of death? Who can wash my guilt and make me again a pure bride, knowing nothing of evil and trusting my Lord?

But You, O God, fearful and holy, have promised me, even me, a Redeemer. You have promised to make a way back into your holy presence. You have promised to form a man not of my polluted form, but of your seed. You have promised a Messiah from a man named David, and His name shall be called Emanuel...

            In The Presence of the King:

            The Shulamite:

You have invited me back into your garden, Solomon wisest of kings. Wisest of men, you have welcomed a foreigner to tend your vegetation, as if they were mine also.  How is it that you would trust me, O Solomon, a foreigner in your father's house?  A curse among your people?

O Solomon, I will do all for you! Tell me to stay and I will stay. Tell me to come, and I will run to you!

Tell me not to eat, and I will trust. Tell me to partake, and I will savor.

O Solomon, fairest among men, you have brought a rebel into your tent, a daughter of Eve, born under the same tree as the one bold to abhor your statutes. But I will not hide under the fig leaves. My face bears no shame, but reflects the glorious countenance of my king. Why should I hide myself from thee, my Beloved? No, but I will even hide in You!

O Solomon, with the strength of my life, I will pursue you. I will not stop until I am in your embrace.

In the last watch of the night, I will run into the square crying out, “where are you, my Beloved?”

If the watchmen find me and beat me, you will know. You will remember and will not hold them guiltless. There shouts may prevail in the streets, among the peoples they may accuse me. But when they stand before the gates of your kingdom, woe to them! They will be cast out and utterly destroyed.

I may be alienated in this life. In your absence they may refuse to recognize me as your wife, but I am convinced that even then you see. Even then your eyes know all, O wisest of kings.

If they take me for a prostitute and accuse me of every vile deed, what is that to me?

What is it to me if the sons of mere men malign me? Solomon, you have approved of me! I have found favor in the eyes of the king, what more does my heart need for peace? Beloved, you are my peace.

You have redeemed me. My redemption was costly, sealed with the eternal seal of your love. This seal is as strong as the curse of death and stronger still- for you have put death to utter shame.

Now Solomon, not only have you given me your footprints to follow into your garden, but freedom to take from any tree, to drink of your honey, the honey of your lips, which is sweeter to my mouth than all things.

You have allowed me to partake of the jewel, the very crown, or your garden: You have given me fruit from the tree of life, which is your life-blood. You have sealed me with your spirit. I have partaken of living water; I will never thirst.

Though I am beyond satisfied, you invite me to partake of the abundance. I will plant myself here, beside your river, that I might enjoy you until forever ends.

You have poured forth wisdom into my heart; I have not hindered it dear Solomon; I have delighted in your statutes.

I have desired the pure milk of your words and they are planted in me.

I have brought forth much fruit, for you have protected me as if I were the rightful queen.

I am enclosed by love's seal. My garden flourishes and smells of spiknard and cinnamon. But though it be my body, my Beloved, partake! You have cultivated this garden with your patient hands. You have pruned it with your wisdom and I have not withheld so much as a vine. How could I, my King, when you have not withheld your sacred body from me?

My garden is small, my Beloved. How I wish I might have given you a kingly gift, but this is all I own.

O Solomon, I have neglected my plot, but not you. It shoots up and its fragrance is as the fragrance of your own garden.

I, O Solomon, now desire nothing but to be with you. In the night too my heart thinks of you. That I may dwell in your house forever, but Solomon, even one day in your courts is worth all. To dwell with you one day is more to be desired than with a thousand foreign princes. Solomon, even if it were in the cleft of a rock, you are the rare prize, the magnificent jewel that my heart covets!

Return! Return my Solomon!

My love is asleep until I again see you.

Be swift, my Beloved, as the gazelle, come quickly!

I will keep watch, my Beloved, for I am love sick.

You have been absent one day and a thousand years have slipped through my fingers.

Sustain me even in your absence and come quickly lest I die of heart sickness.

Desiderio Domonai! Maranatha, my Solomon, Maranatha!

Nothing can break the seal of your love, I will hold you to your promise.

I will know of your coming long before you come, of your arrival long before you arrive, for I will remain sober; at night my heart will keep watch.

I do not wait as a foreigner any longer, but for my husband whose name is faithful and true.

Once my beauty enticed the world, but now I am a reflection of my King. My beauty is not of this world, nor do the

 daughters of men fathom my peace.

I once neglected my portion and wandered, aimless. My Beloved has given me his garden to tend to!

I will my Beloved; I will not let the work of your hands perish.

Your jealousy is cruel and flaming like fire. You keep me locked up, a barred fountain, an enclosed garden. But where else should I go, my Beloved? Who else brings forth life as you do? They tell me, “Look, your Beloved comes!” But I know my Beloved and He knows me. I know His voice, His steps, His ways; I am not deceived.

I will not be a faithless bride. I have tasted of the world, and your honey is a thousand times sweeter.

Even so, my Solomon, return! Already, my Beloved, I am sick for love! Maranatha, my King, come quickly!

-Five Benefits of Studying the Bible Slowly-

I used to read my Bible (mostly) everyday and feel out what I thought the passage might mean (if I wanted to on that particular day). 
That method was frustrating: I was telling myself things I pretty much already knew, or else I was giving my best shot at guessing what the passage meant. I wasn't willing to put effort into it; that took effort. I wasn't willing to find out the original meanings of the words, to see what God was really saying, and forget memorization- I was no good at it!  I had been told before that reading one passage over and over and over and over was one of the best ways to get the word inside you- that sounded dreadful!! Over and over ... and over? 

However... when I actually started doing this, that is, reading the same passage daily before studying it for (what will be) months- yes, months. I also started memorizing the verses as I study them, journaling Greek definitions and after all of this recording different thoughts on the accurately interpreted texts- this has been revolutionizing-here are five reasons why:

1. My comprehension of the Word as a whole has deepened. I know this sounds contradictory; but yes, spending a lot of time in one part of the Bible does, in fact, give you greater understanding of all of God's Word. Why? Because the Bible is a cohesive whole, it's not a random compilation of letters, prophecies and history, it's a single record of all of the words of God known to man. It is one man's words, and that man is Jesus Christ.

2. Diligently searching out the original author's intent has huge payoff. God promised that those who diligently seek him will find Him. He hates slothfulness. He hates excuses. He detests those who "interpret" the word so as not to have to obey its commands, but the humble, diligent seeker will be greatly rewarded.

3. The reward is Christ Himself! Studying the word in such depth reveals the heart of God- the Holy Spirit gives sight to those who call on the Lord and pursue Him with all their hearts. 

4.  No longer a forgetful hearer. You cannot forget the word of God when you are swimming in it. It comes back to you throughout the day; the Holy Spirit will remind you of all the things He has taught you in the great moments of decision and even throughout the day for the believer's fullness of joy!

5. When you truly know the word of God, passion follows. God doesn't keep his children in a dry, passionless state. Being passionate about Jesus is possible- but it must originate with the Creator of all things good. We cannot muster up a love for God. Passion follows obedience. Left to ourselves, we will always prefer earthly pleasures. Never will we desire the Lord- that would be completely opposite our fleshly, sinful natures. We must obey in faith and then the Lord's blessing to us is an ignited fire in our hearts- He gives us the ability to return His love.

 

-Pause- 

"Despising the shame..." (Heb 12:2)

Throughout my study of James, I've noticed that James plants different words which reference the rich and the poor (this is only evident if you look at the Greek). He places them strategically to show the Jews the frailty of their thinking; namely, having riches equates to being loved by God.

A verse I came across today struck me and gave light to Jesus' decision to "despise the shame" of the cross, an attitude which is completely opposite this idea that the rich are most blessed by God: "For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich." (2 Cor 8:9)

Through His poverty... we became rich.

Through His destitution, His beggarly state- we were welcomed into the King's palace and given the right to inherit His riches. Through the stripping of His righteousness, His power, His inherent goodness, His godliness, His equality with the Father to the point where the Father looked at His Son and saw a man covered in the filth of our iniquity, your sin, my overflow of wickedness (James 1:21) - we were given the right to become "children of God." (Rom 8:21)

For all time, we have access to Jesus Christ's righteousness, to the Father's opinion of Him as His "beloved Son." (Mat 3:17) In other words, we received Christ's reputation, once and for all, as blameless, when He took on our reputation of utter shamefulness which resulted in separation from the Father.

In fact, to His children the Lord is now just in saying, "Well done, good and faithful servant." (Mat 5:22)
Did you think you'd receive this praise based on your own merit? Friend- you've missed the entire Gospel!

Why is it so difficult for us to despise the shame and abuse of man? It is so difficult to bless the ones who curse us and love the ones who hate us. (Mat 5:44)  It is so difficult to hail trials from afar with joy (see yesterday's post). And yet... all God has asked us to endure is the shame of men; Jesus was encompassed by a far greater shame... "Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" (Mat 27:46)

We are called, like Christ, to despise the shame of the cross, (and our weight to carry is immensely lighter!) but we are called to do this for a reason... that through our poverty (of pride, self-defense, worldly reputation, regard for self, worldly intelligence or even earthly wealth) others might become rich... 

The only way we can endure the cross Christ has asked us not only to carry, but to be lifted up and crucified on as a murderer, is if we first die to our reputation and identify with our Savior in despising the shame.