On Where We Place Our Confidence

2 Tim 1:11-12 JB Phillips  It is this Gospel that I am commissioned to proclaim; it is of this Gospel that I am appointed both messenger and teacher, and it is for this Gospel that I am now suffering these things.  Yet I am not in the least ashamed.  For I know the One in Whom I have placed my confidence, and I am perfectly certain that the work He has committed to me is safe in his hands until that day.

2 Timothy 1:11-12 MSG   This is the Message I’ve been set apart to proclaim as preacher, emissary, and teacher. It’s also the cause of all this trouble I’m in. But I have no regrets. I couldn’t be more sure of my ground—the One I’ve trusted in can take care of what He’s trusted me to do right to the end.

Observation

We see the disarray in the world around us and feel as though things are out of control, are falling through the cracks, are swirling with desperation.  If we get our eyes on the circumstances, we can forget that God (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) is used to the unchanging nature of the world.  Because we have His Spirit and life working within us, we want to fix things, shake people awake to the loveliness, grace and salvation in Christ.  So, we get busy doing all that is humanly possible to make it so.  Some receive the message and are changed, but, then, when we run into unbelief, ridicule, rejection and persecution for being a faithful “preacher, emissary, and teacher,” we are surprised, discouraged, deterred and can even act ashamed of the Gospel we are sent to share.  Jesus, the greatest, most anointed teacher to ever walk the earth, suffered the same.  Why should we expect our faithfulness to receive a different result?

Paul was a frequent prisoner which degraded his credentials among his peers.  This Gospel he was (and we are) “set apart to proclaim” went against the culture, thought, human nature and, sometimes, laws of his times (and ours).  As Christians, we preach a crucified Savior, a counter cultural warrior with unconventional weapons (forgiveness, surrender, et al.), a King committed to peacemaking rather than power mongering.  When we focus on circumstances (how we are being affected), we can forget that we serve the One True, Almighty, Everlasting God Who created all and is over all.  He has the plan (still His one and only Plan A) that will succeed (no question here!) and has offered to let us partner with Him in the implementation.  Imprisoned Paul never forgot – “I am perfectly certain that the work He has committed to me is safe in his hands until that day.”  When God decides a thing will be done, it will be – regardless of what we can do for or against it.

Impact on Me

I recognize that participation in “the work He has committed to me” may require sacrifice (setting aside my own plans, giving up my own rights, being shamed by the world, or misunderstood and rejected for my stance).  God’s directions may leave me baffled at times because they seem to lead in the wrong direction or along an illogical or serpentine path.  Here, I will be tempted to help Him by creating my own plan, defining the work that needs to be done – showing a lack of confidence in His.  If I do so, He will find someone else who will listen and obey to accomplish His eternal purposes. 

So, in Whom do I place my absolute confidence?  I pray to always be like Jesus – “Not my will, but Yours be done.”  I want to marinate all I do in prayer so the works I do will be in fulfillment of God’s Plan A, saturated with the Holy Spirit and full of God-flavor in every bite.  This takes time, soaking in prayer, patiently waiting, listening for what I am to be doing, allowing for gradual change – in me as well as those I will impact.  I will only be willing to do so if I absolutely trust “the work He has committed to me is safe in his hands until that day.”

Devotion

You are my Almighty, Everlasting, Gracious, Patient, Self-Sacrificing, Loving Father.  How can I ever doubt Your faithfulness, Your wisdom, Your power, Your plan?  I choose to walk away from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil to eat from the Tree of Life, to sit under its branches, to rest in Your Presence, to listen to Your Holy Spirit for what You would have me do in this partnership You have so graciously made.  I want to be like Jesus – walking in Your life, light and perfect will.  Make it so, in Jesus’ name.

On Having a Kingdom Perspective

Mathhew 18:2-4 Phillips Jesus called a little child to his side and set him on his feet in the middle of them all. “Believe me,” he said, “unless you change your whole outlook and become like little children you will never enter the kingdom of Heaven. It is the man who can be as humble as this little child who is greatest in the kingdom of Heaven.

John 18:36 Phillips “My kingdom is not founded in this world—if it were, my servants would have fought to prevent my being handed over to the Jews. But in fact my kingdom is not founded on all this!…19:10-11  10 But Jesus gave him no reply. So Pilate said to him, “Won’t you speak to me? Don’t you realise that I have the power to set you free, and I have the power to have you crucified?”  11 “You have no power at all against me,” replied Jesus, “except what was given to you from above. And for that reason the one who handed me over to you is even more guilty than you are.”  …19:14-15 Pilate said to the Jews, “Look, here’s your king!”  15a At which they yelled, “Take him away, take him away, crucify him!”  15b Am I to crucify your king? Pilate asked them. “Caesar is our king and no one else,” replied the chief priests.

Observation

Jesus preached a kingdom that was timeless and upside down from a human perspective, a kingdom not familiar to or rooted in this world (“My kingdom is not founded in this world.”).  His kingdom was culturally and politically neutral, based entirely on eternal principles that are not specific to a time, place or culture, and, apparently, not so complicated to enter into as we tend to make it.  “It is the man who can be as humble as this little child who is greatest in the kingdom of Heaven.”

Jesus happened to walk this earth living under the influence of two powerful, oppressive and absolute governments (Romans and Sanhedrin).  Resisting either had severe consequences, even death.  Nonetheless, Jesus was not intimidated by the powers of this world – physical, political or spiritual.  His kingdom is eternal, unlimited in power, ultimate in authority and freedom-based; theirs were temporary, subject to the power of the next conqueror, with transient authority and restrictive.

Yet, this eternal, not-of-this-world kingdom was so simple that only children could were humble enough to understand and accept it.  Children are generally open, accepting and content to be cared for, nurtured, and under the protection of others.  As we mature, our pride gets in the way.  We become more independent (rebellious?), take on more responsibility (depend on our own strength?) and tend to base our responses on our training and past experiences (become more reactive and opinionated?).  Becoming more self-sufficient is not necessary a bad thing – unless we become unwise enough to trust in the kingdoms of this world – our own wisdom, physical power, strength and abilities, secular governments, and so on.  We must not forget how to be cared for, under the protection of, and submitted and committed to our God. 

Impact on Me

“You can do anything you set your mind to do.”  I grew up hearing this mantra.  This is not a Jesus Kingdom principle and is not event true outside of His kingdom.  I am to set my mind to be diligent in seeking the Kingdom of Heaven, but the strength, endurance and destination needs to be directed by and resourced in the wisdom, grace and power of the Holy Spirit.   (“Each time he said, ‘My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.’ So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. 10 That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”. 2 Cor 12:9-10)

So, when Jesus stood silent before Pilate, He was bringing the Kingdom to life through walking the footsteps set before Him – His suffering and death on the Cross.  It is interesting for me to note that the chief priests replied, “Caesar is our king and no one else,” because they had their sights and hope on another kingdom altogether – their own.  How easy it would be for me to fall into the same trap – choosing a kingdom that suited a lust for power, earthly wealth and status, personal fulfillment.  I want to choose appearing weak in earthly eyes if it will make me strong in the Lord.

Devotion

Father God, the Lord of my destiny, the redeemer of my soul, I want my worship to be only of and for You.  Don’t let me become mired in my own lust and greed for earthly rewards, blinded by my own wisdom, strength and planning, choosing to live in the wrong kingdom.  Keep my vision clear and focused on You.  Keep my feet on the path to pursue Your Kingdom alone, led by Your Holy Spirit, resourced and sustained by Your grace, humility, peace, wisdom and power for the journey.  Make it so, in Jesus’ name.

On Being Simple Enough

Matthew 18:1-7 PHILLIPS It was at this time that the disciples came to Jesus with the question, “Who is really greatest in the kingdom of Heaven?”  2-4 Jesus called a little child to his side and set him on his feet in the middle of them all. “Believe me,” he said, “unless you change your whole outlook and become like little children you will never enter the kingdom of Heaven. It is the man who can be as humble as this little child who is greatest in the kingdom of Heaven.  5-7 “Anyone who welcomes one child like this for my sake is welcoming me. But if anyone leads astray one of these little children who believe in me he would be better off thrown into the depths of the sea with a mill-stone hung round his neck! Alas for the world with its pitfalls! In the nature of things there must be pitfalls. yet alas for the man who is responsible for them!

Observation

Jesus’ disciples must have been taken aback by this answer.  One only has to read the book of Leviticus to know that Jewish religious practice was complicated and exacting; over the years between Abraham and Jesus, legalistic interpretations of The Law by generations of religious leaders added rules and practices that made it even more difficult for anyone to understand or comply.  This complex religious structure meant to create human rankings in God’s sight based on performance and heritage – essentially:

(1) high ranking – the religious elite (privileged experts) who specialized in the study, practice and enforcement of the myriad rules and practices of the complex religious structure, standing as God’s judges of religious acceptability and performance (such as the Chief Priest and the Sadducees and Pharisees of the Sanhedrin);

(2) lower ranking – those with a heart to honor God, who did their best but who, feeling the heavy burden and impossibility of full compliance with the rules and required practices, relied on the judgment of those higher ranking to determine the appropriate sacrifice for the infraction and appropriate method of offering it to receive forgiveness.  This included sincere ones who did their best to recite all the prayers and follow the rules, however imperfectly, without hope of truly pleasing God; and

(3) lowest ranking – those who gave up trying to comply because it was just too complicated or they believed they were too much of a stench in God’s nostrils (e.g., lepers, prostitutes, etc.). 

With this teaching, Jesus is turning His disciples’ understanding on its head, offering a completely counter cultural and seemingly heretical teaching.   “Whoever becomes simple and elemental again, like this child, will rank high in God’s kingdom.”  What Jesus taught required the disciples to abandon the past understanding of the Abrahamic covenant (based on centuries of added religious traditions, rules and teaching).  He shattered the idea of a God too holy to approach and in its place asked then to embrace a new covenant of a Father full of redemptive grace offering a personal relationship with God through Jesus the Messiah. Mind boggling when I think of what courage, conviction, persecution, and personal cost it must have required for them to make this choice …. 

Impact on Me

I am a simple person. This teaching of Jesus resonates with my personal understanding of and experience with the heart of our God to embrace and provide eternal life for whosoever will come.  Certainly, there are tenets of faith that are true, eternal and immutable that guide us in following, loving, and serving God well.  Thankfully, through the sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross, we have access to repentance which leads to redemption, rescue, and restoration when we either fall into sin or become another’s pitfall in sin.  However, despite wanting to keep my relationship with God simple, just as in the time of Jesus, I can become intimidated by the acceptable rules and practices of my culture or the larger religious community, judging myself as inadequate or guilty in God’s sight because I am not performing up to a standard set by men or my own perfectionism. 

When I do this, I am presuming to set the rules for the limits of God’s grace and my relationship Him, creating my own standards for what is acceptable, denying the completeness of the work of the Cross, and doubting that the love and grace of Father God is sufficient for me – essentially, recreating God into an idol made by my hands in my lesser image, by my expectations, controlling the relationship by what I will allow him to be for me.  Who do I think I am?!  Am I so foolish?!  Why would I ever doubt the sufficiency of the Cross, the love and grace of Father God?!   I find that I fall into this trap when I see myself as the ruler of my own fate (god of my own life?) – adult, experienced, learned, “wise in my own eyes” – and begin to hold my performance up for comparison to another’s.  May I always remember that I do not serve a performance-based God.

Devotion

Father God, full of mercy and love, Redeemer, I worship You.  I want to come as a child to You again, in Christ full of the wonder of You and Your Love, completely submitted to Your care, often sitting at Your feet, a frequent requester of Your wisdom, and willing to trust You to be all I need.   By Your Holy Spirit, search me for every barrier of complication, every standard that does not honor Your grace, love, and sacrifice, every offensive presumption, every sinful way; I come heartbroken to repent of all these and ask that You would forgive me and lead me in becoming more childlike, more dependent, more trusting in my relationship with You.  Because I know You love me past all understanding, I know that You hear me and will work in me to make it so. I commit to seek to please only You. In Jesus’ name, I pray.

On Departing Hollow Pathways

2 Corinthians 5:17-21 Phillips  For, if a man is in Christ, he becomes a new person altogether—the past is finished and gone, everything has become fresh and new. All this is God’s doing, for He has reconciled us to himself through Jesus Christ; and He has made us agents of the reconciliation. God was in Christ personally reconciling the world to Himself—not counting their sins against them—and has commissioned us with the message of reconciliation. We are now Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were appealing direct to you through us. As His personal representatives we say, “Make your peace with God.” For God caused Christ, who Himself knew nothing of sin, actually to be sin for our sakes, so that in Christ we might be made good with the goodness of God.

“Environment, nurture, wounds, relationships, choices, and experience—all of these leave their mark on us. Over time, our responses become habits, habits become patterns, and patterns begin to feel less like something we do and more like simply who we are. The deeper these “hollow pathways,” the less we even notice we are walking in them. That may be the most dangerous thing about the old self: from the inside, these “hollow pathways” can feel perfectly normal. We need a life other than our own to expose them—a different Spirit, a different standard, a different way of being human. And this is precisely what Christ gives us: not merely a better pattern to imitate, but His own life within us.”  Mark Slomka, my pastor for life, from his Merely Human Blog

Observation

We humans are a messy bunch.  We are imprinted with the experiences of our pasts – good and bad.  Our families can be nurturing or wounding or both.  The struggles – emotional, physical, spiritual – that mark our lives can establish strong character or undermine us.  “Over time, our responses become habits, habits become patterns, and patterns begin to feel less like something we do and more like simply who we are… That may be the most dangerous thing about the old self: from the inside, these “hollow pathways” can feel perfectly normal.” 

This is our legacy from Adam and Eve choosing to make themselves the gods of the knowledge of good and evil.  Humans are much to swayed by pride, inconsistent and wobbly in sense, perspective and understanding, to be any good at it.  In Christ, we have an opportunity to reconcile their mistake.  We can bypass the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, and, through reconciliation provided by the Cross and continued submission to the work of the Holy Spirit in us, reestablish and sustain the relationship our God intended at the beginning.  “For, if a man is in Christ, he becomes a new person altogether—the past is finished and gone, everything has become fresh and new. All this is God’s doing, for He has reconciled us to himself through Jesus Christ…”  What an extraordinary price to pay for relationship with us!

Impact on Me

The quote above is from a very wise pastor that God gifted into my life.  One of the gifts he exercised so well was challenging me to examine and evaluate the “hollow pathways” of my life.  He challenged me to be made new in Christ, to live above the circumstances of my past (temporary and temporal) by pursuing and embracing the eternal and holy.   He was an example to me of a merely human person in active pursuit of the fullness of the relationship Christ died to provide.  I provided a link to his blog above.

“For God caused Christ, who Himself knew nothing of sin, actually to be sin for our sakes, so that in Christ we might be made good with the goodness of God.”  This is my goal.  To allow this mere human (emotionally wobbly and flawed) to be overcome, overwhelmed and overflow with the goodness of God, with the mercy and grace of Christ, with the anointing of His Holy Spirit.  This is what Jesus died for me (and us) to be.  It is up to me to allow Holy Spirit to do the work to make  it happen.

Devotion

Father God, Creator, Redeemer, Lover of My Soul, You are worthy of all worship and praise.  I stand in awe of Your love for us, the value You place upon a relationship with us, the lengths to which You are willing to go to pursue and woo us.  I want to be surrendered to Your Holy Spirit so completely that You can dwell in me and I will be completely at rest in You.  I know that this will require sacrifice – forgiving/letting go of my past wounds, laying down my rights and expectations, being willing to be a fool for Your purposes and so much more.  Help me to remember when the choice comes that this is departing my hollow pathways to journey with You.  Make it so, in Jesus’ name.

On Being a Good Citizen

Romans 13:1-3 MSG Be a good citizen. All governments are under God. Insofar as there is peace and order, it’s God’s order. So live responsibly as a citizen. If you’re irresponsible to the state, then you’re irresponsible with God, and God will hold you responsible. Duly constituted authorities are only a threat if you’re trying to get by with something. Decent citizens should have nothing to fear.

3-5 Do you want to be on good terms with the government? Be a responsible citizen and you’ll get on just fine, the government working to your advantage. But if you’re breaking the rules right and left, watch out. The police aren’t there just to be admired in their uniforms. God also has an interest in keeping order, and he uses them to do it. That’s why you must live responsibly—not just to avoid punishment but also because it’s the right way to live.

6-7 That’s also why you pay taxes—so that an orderly way of life can be maintained. Fulfill your obligations as a citizen. Pay your taxes, pay your bills, respect your leaders.

1 Timothy 2:1-3 MSG The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know. Pray especially for rulers and their governments to rule well so we can be quietly about our business of living simply, in humble contemplation. This is the way our Savior God wants us to live.

Observation

“Be a good citizen. All governments are under God. Insofar as there is peace and order, it’s God’s order.  So, live responsibly as a citizen.“  This was written to Christians in Rome, a pagan culture ruled by leaders who viewed Christians as rebels and a threat to the state.  Christians experienced persecution, imprisonment and even martyrdom.  Paul is directing this church to be in the world but not of it, peacefully, patiently, consistently increasing the contrast between other religions and faith in Jesus Christ.  Be first citizens of Heaven who demonstrate obedience, submission to authority and living a peaceful life so to model a better way of living in faith, even to the point of death. 

“Pray especially for rulers and their governments to rule well so we can be quietly about our business of living simply, in humble contemplation.”   Timothy was also leading a congregation living under Roman rule, an economy based in strongly entrenched idol worship, and discrimination in business and social acceptance.  However, again Paul is asking us to look past the outward obstacles to emphasize the basis of the evangelism Jesus modeled for us – be willing to be a sacrifice in whatever way is required of you, look past the outward to contend for the salvation of the soul, love your enemy, be a living example of what a life in Christ provides (Romans 12).     

Impact On Me

“Fulfill your obligations as a citizen. Pay your taxes, pay your bills, respect your leaders.” I have lived a long time in this United States of America.  I have had times when I agreed with the federal/state/local elected or appointed officials and times when I have not.  Apparently, that is not the basis for how I am to respond to current rulers. I am to respect and pray for them whether I agree with them or not.  

I know that there will be no perfect government until all government is on the shoulders of Jesus. Paul did not say pray for those with whom you agree and rebel against those with whom you do not.  He reminds me that:   (1) God is sovereign; (2) I am first a citizen of Heaven; (3) I have been given to the USA as an ambassador of Heaven; (4) As an ambassador, I am to represent my country, its interests, and its ruler in a way that brings truth, peace, salvation, redemption, restoration and unity.   

“That’s why you must live responsibly—not just to avoid punishment but also because it’s the right way to live.”   So, it is my responsibility as a follower of Christ to pray for those who rule over me, to be a good and dutiful citizen without compromising my faith, to rely on my King to provide for and guide me in the right way to live regardless of how that is received in the secular culture around me, to never abandon mercy for judgment, to be willing to be misunderstood or persecuted so that Holy Spirit can accomplish His will and purpose, to pray for wise and Godly leadership at all levels while I strive to be in the world but not of it. 

Devotion

Father God, You are the One True God, Creator of the Universe, the Most High God, the Alpha and Omega, the All-Knowing One.  You have always been sovereign, always in control, always the One Who sets up kings and takes them down, always the One Who sees the whole picture of eternity, always the One Who is faithful to Your plan to redeem Your creation.  In these verses, Paul is telling me to put all my trust in You, all my responses rooted in Your Word, regardless of the circumstances, regardless of what I may face, regardless of the chaos that is happening around me.  Like David, I can lament away, crying out against injustice, as long as I get to the “but God…”, recognizing the You alone see all, know all, and are the One Who has all things working together for good for those who love and serve You.  May I be fully submitted and obedient, especially when I don’t understand and things don’t make sense.  Make it so in Jesus’ name.