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...