In a Class By Himself

As most of you know, we have a new addition in our home. Our new foreign exchange student from Italy, Federico, has blessed us and has begun to challenge me in many ways. He is teenager in every sense of the word, but he is insightful and thinks heavily about life and the things we experience therein. He is often taking in things, things that we see and experience daily without thought, in wonder and amazement. He is frequently asking hard questions about life and politics. These questions are not so hard because I don’t understand my convictions, but because I have to break it down in manageable terms that he can understand in his limited but growing mastery of the English language.

In our discussions, he often has shown that his opinions on America and its ways have been shaped not from personal experience, but by exposure to the media in Italy. He is young and shares many opinions that are consistent with his peers on both sides of the ocean, but he is teachable and open to discussion which is encouraging. I have found that we are all at a disadvantage when we look at things from a limited point of view. This is especially true when it comes to our experience with God.

I am currently reading a refreshing easy read by Chip Ingram called God As He Longs for You to See Him. I love Ingram’s teaching as he tends to, as Hendricks puts it, “put the cookies on the bottom shelf.” In his chapter on the holiness of God, he makes this statement, “God’s holiness, like His other attributes, is in a category by itself. He isn’t six or ten or one hundred times more holy than the best person you know. God himself is an entirely different category in which he is the only member.” WOW! That is humbling, because that means I am sinning just in how I am thinking about how holy God is, because I am thinking differently than He is. Often I think of God in terms of being more holy than I am, but he is so much more than that, he is in a class all by Himself. He is, as the angels declared, “HOLY, HOLY, HOLY.”

Ingram goes on to say, “When we get a high view of God, we stop comparing ourselves to others because we understand how much we fail to measure up to Him. Instead of trying to figure out how close we can get to sin without actually sinning, we begin trying to figure out how we can get as close to his purity as possible.” That is when we cry out in the same manner that Isaiah did, "Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts." (Isaiah. 6:5)

May God today expand your knowledge of who He is as He has me, and then worship Him for who he truly is!

"Thus says the LORD, 'Heaven is My throne and the earth is My footstool where then is a house you could build for Me? And where is a place that I may rest?'” (Isaiah 66:1)

Promises, Promises

Back in my youth, during the mid-eighties, there was a popular song by a group called Naked Eyes called "Promises Promises." The song simply talks about how two people, while growing up, made promises to each other that were not kept over the years. I have been working through the book of Ezekiel recently, and it is a rich book with much to say about God and his character--especially His justice and grace. God and only God can perfectly balance these two traits. Much of what the prophet records is God basically saying, "I warned you of what I would do if you didn't obey me, now I am going to do it." He would, in the near future, be withdrawing His presence from the Temple and causing judgement to be inflicted through the pagan nation of Babylon just like He said He would.

In the midst of all the judgement, in chapter 11, God offers this hopeful promise, "I will gather you from the nations and bring you back from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you back the land of Israel again.'" After 70 years of exile (which God promised), God begins the process of bringing His people back to Israel.

We all make promises, most we intend to keep and do, many we intend to and cannot due to circumstances beyond our control, and if we are honest, on occasion some we really never intend to keep in an attempt to placate someone. I am so thankful that I trust in a God that keeps His promises. Because, not only does He want to, but also because He is able to. Only God has the complete authority to follow through with what He says every time.

In a time that many are crying out in despair, I am reassured by His word and His promises. His word is full of promises to us and He is a God who is able to keep His promises. "Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us..." (Eph. 3:20).

Pucker Up

In past posts, I have written about how we must know the Word, and know it well. Over the years I have been a part of some really awesome teaching churches, and I attended a seminary that is world renown for it's instruction on the exposition of the scriptures. God's word itself teaches us clearly that we are to grow in our knowledge and understanding of it, in fact, the writer of the book of Hebrews scolds his readers that they still were only babes needing the milk of the Word instead of the meat, and he tells them to grow up in their faith. (cf. Hebrews 5:11-6:3)

Unfortunately, this true teaching has become a stumbling block for some in sharing the gospel with those around them. I see three errors that has resulted: 1. they don't share because they, "don't know as much theology as those who are educated"; 2. the other extreme, they share too much and go too deep into theological issues and confuse the hearer; or 3. they have such a pre-packaged "1...2...3..." approach to sharing the gospel that it becomes mechanical and disingenuous. I think most of the time, instead, we should use the K.I.S.S. method in sharing the gospel: Keep It Simple Silly!

I was reading in John 6 this morning, and it gives a great example of this. Jesus heals the man born blind from birth, and his followers try to make it a deeply doctrinal issue by asking who sinned the man or his parents. Christ cuts to the chase and tells them it isn't about that stuff, but rather, so that God can be glorified. Later in the passage, the Pharisees in their interrogations of the former blind ask him theological questions about his Healer, and he too cuts to the chase and says this, "Whether He is a sinner, I do not know; one thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see." He simply shared what Christ had done for him.

When sharing the gospel, one of the most important elements we need to share is not just the doctrine and theology, which is powerful in itself, but we must share what Christ has done in our lives. Our personal experiences can be powerful, and we are to be witnesses, but in order to be a witness we must bear witness of what He has done in OUR lives, not just the facts.

So, keep studying, keep preparing so that you may be ready to give an answer, but don't wait till you have all the answers. Read and grow in the Word. Share what you know. Pucker up and keep it simple silly!

"Do" vs. "Done"

It has been a good week in the Word this week, and in typical sovereign fashion, the Lord has been preparing me ahead of time for things that I get to teach on. This weekend, our church will be continuing a new study of faith essentials (TEAM training for those of you at Crossroads). I get to teach on something that when I learned it through TEAM, it was something that set me free in many regards of my spiritual life. It is the topic of "Law and Grace."

In short, and believe me if I get started I will be here for a long time, the issue of Law and Grace is about how we come to God for acceptance. Law teaches that in order to find your acceptance, you must "do." Grace, on the contrary, teaches that in order to be acceptable before God, you must trust in what has been "done." The cool thing the Lord reminded me this morning, is that even in the midst of the book of Leviticus (a book that is mostly about following a long litany of specific requirements to worship God), God was revealing Grace. And, he says it over and over again!!!!

Look with me at the 21st and 22nd chapter of Leviticus, as you read through this passage, you will notice 3 prominent truths and over again, "I am the Lord," "I am holy," and "You are to be holy." Now, if you haven't skimmed over the specific regulations for these people you could easily become overwhelmed by them (and maybe even a little grossed out). Simply put, these truths are that He is God, He is Perfect, and since they are His, they are to be perfect also.

Then, I noticed another truth I believe that is critical that is repeated in these chapters. If you are not careful, you will miss it. It first shows up in 21:8. "You shall consecrate him, therefore, for he offers the food of your God; he shall be holy to you; for I the LORD, who sanctifies you, am holy." You see it again in 21:15, 21:3, 22:9, 22:16, & 22:32. The God who is Holy and expected them to come to Him holy in order to be acceptable, says that HE is the one who will make them Holy.

Now for us, we look back at the completed work of Christ and are able to be identified with the righteousness of Christ through placing our faith is what He has done on the cross. For the folks first reading these words, their task was to place their faith in what was to be done. All while they were hearing how they must "do," (or rather could never do) God was telling them that it had to be "done" for them!

Way too often, even in the Christian church, we heap on others what they must "do" in order to be acceptable before God. Folks, that is a lie from the pits of hell. Our acceptance is not found in found we do, but in placing our trust only in what Christ has done.

What about all the things in the New Testament that we are told we to do? I think author Bob George nails this one best in his book Classic Christianity. He says, "...we are not obeying New Testament commands in order to be accepted by God. Under law, a man works in order to be accepted by God. Under grace, a man serves because he is already accepted by God."

If you are trusting in what Christ has done for you, you are accepted by God. Let that sink in. As a matter of fact, chew on that today. Because once you really grasp that you are completely accepted by God, it will change your life. It has mine. I used to struggle with depression because I felt I wasn't measuring up to God's standard, even to the point of having take medication for depression. However, once I embraced this truth, God began to transform me by the renewing of my mind. It has now been 6 years since I took any pills for that because I haven't needed it. You too can be free! Just rest in what has been done.

I Theenk I'm Gonna Need a Beeger God

In my continuing study through the life of the Hebrew people in the Exodus, I came across a passage that has a lesson we would all do well to learn. I know I haven't mastered it yet. And it seems, the older I get, the more I realize how little I really have mastered it. Oh, when I was in my twenties, I thought I had it figured out pretty well. It is the lesson of theology proper. While there are more complicated definitions, theology is simply defined as the study of God. Not long ago, I used to think that theology was boring and only for people who sit in closed seminary offices. However, I have since changed my mind. A.W. Tozer wrote, in Knowledge of the Holy, that worship of God requires that we think rightly about Him. He says, "The history of mankind will probably show that no people has ever risen above its religion, and man's spiritual history will positively demonstrate that no religion has ever been greater than its idea of God." That makes sense really, how can we worship what we do not know? Jesus said the same to the woman at the well.

How great is your idea of God? In Exodus 15, the Hebrews had gotten just a few glimpses of how big a God He really is, and it caused them to worship. If you have problems having reasons to worship Him, then perhaps your concept of God is too small. The fact that we cannot begin to fathom the mysteries of all who God is, is a great place to start. My absolute all time favorite quote still remains, "If God were small enough to be understood, He would not be big enough to be worshiped." (Evelyn Underhill) If we are not in a constant state of being awed by our God, perhaps it is time for us to take the little god out of the boxes we so often put Him in and get a bigger God!

Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! "Who has known the mind of the Lord?
Or who has been his counselor?"
"Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him?"
For from him and through him and to him are all things.
To him be the glory forever!
Amen. (Romans 11:33-36 (NASB))