Month: August 2022

On Location, Location, Location

Ephesians 1:3-8 NIV All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. 4 Even before He made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in His eyes. 5 God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to Himself through Jesus Christ. This is what He wanted to do, and it gave Him great pleasure. 6 So we praise God for the glorious grace He has poured out on us who belong to His dear Son.  7 He is so rich in kindness and grace that He purchased our freedom with the blood of His Son and forgave our sins. 8 He has showered His kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding.

Observation

Many of my relatives worked in real estate.  They always said it was better to buy a fixer upper in a good location than to buy a beautifully remodeled house in a rundown or troubled area.  The location ultimately controlled the value, not the quality, size or appearance of the house.  Money, skill and time invested wisely in the fixer upper in a good neighborhood would bring a good return.  However, those same things spent on the home in the undesirable area were probably not going to generate the desired return.

I can see the same principle at work in the verses above.  The premium location is in Christ, where we, as the fixer upper, gain value as we allow the Holy Spirit to remodel us to God’s standards.  We are made whole and holy by His love from foundation to roof top.  We are made free from fault and, as we allow, fully restored in Him by the Holy Spirit.

No matter what we invest in self-improvement, no matter what we accomplish, no matter how much wealth we gather to ourselves, outside of Christ we reside in a location that on its own merits will generate no positive eternal return on investment.  While we may look beautiful on the outside, the cracks in the foundation and all the other hidden faults remain.  However, when we are relocated into Jesus’ neighborhood and give Him freedom to fix us, He can find and repair all those hidden faults (false religion, deceptions, sins, habits) until we are completely new – “God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in His eyes.”

Impact on Me

When I came to Christ, I was a definite fixer upper.  I accepted that there was a God and went to church but did not understand that He wanted to be personally involved in my life.  I was probably considered a good person, but I, like us all, had many hidden faults and a few cracks in my foundation that needed fixing.  In the beginning, I confess that I was ashamed for Him to see some of my hidden faults but came to understand that He was not ashamed of me or anything He found in me.  He was there to set me right, to make me whole and holy in His love.  I learned through trial and error that He would do all that I allowed Him the freedom to do – evidence that His grace also came with increasing “wisdom and understanding.”

“God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to Himself through Jesus Christ. This is what He wanted to do, and it gave Him great pleasure.”  This is an astounding realization!  Not only did He begin to remodel me from bottom to top, but also to lift me up and move me into His own household, one I could never afford on my own.  I love these verses because they so reflect my joy and gratitude for the richness of His grace toward me in making me family, in giving His son so I could be His. 

“So we praise God for the glorious grace He has poured out on us who belong to His dear Son.  He is so rich in kindness and grace that He purchased our freedom with the blood of His Son and forgave our sins.  He has showered His kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding.”

Prayer

Lord God, You are unbelievably gracious and merciful, loving and forgiving.  I do joyfully and gratefully praise and worship You, so rich in kindness and grace that You paid the price I could never pay so that I might be free, so that I might be redeemed and transformed through life in Christ.  You planned it all long before I was born and patiently drew me for 30 years before I repented for my sin and accepted all the grace and redemption You were offering.  Help me to give You freedom to remodel me so, in all I say or do, others will praise Your handiwork and give glory to You for all You have done.  May I be a home for all the family and even strangers to experience Your hospitality as You express it through me.  Make it so, in Jesus’ name.

On What’s in My Tabernacle

On What’s in My Temple

1 Kings 6:23-29 [MSG] “Then he made two cherubim, gigantic angel-like figures, from olivewood. Each was fifteen feet tall. The outstretched wings of the cherubim (they were identical in size and shape) measured another fifteen feet. He placed the two cherubim, their wings spread, in the Inner Sanctuary. The combined wingspread stretched the width of the room, the wing of one cherub touched one wall, the wing of the other the other wall, and the wings touched in the middle. The cherubim were gold-plated. He then carved engravings of cherubim, palm trees, and flower blossoms on all the walls of both the Inner and the Main Sanctuary.”

Observation

Why are cherubim always portrayed as little naked baby angels?  Here they are very definitely portrayed as the strong silent types (“gigantic angel-like figures”) who guard the very presence of God.  Their images are carved all over the inside walls of the Temple.  Very few people could even enter into the sanctuary (the Holy Place or the Holy of Holies) to see these carvings, so this was not a reminder to the general public.  Who needed to be reminded of what Heaven affords in provision, protection and power?  The priests who served. 

In addition to the cherubim, there are the palm trees – symbols of victory, the conquering King (the palm branches of the triumphal entry in John 12 and Revelation 7).  I think also of the wonder and relief that a palm would bring to a wanderer in the desert as the promise of an oasis with water, dates for food, rescue, rest, restoration, relief from the dry, parched journey.  

What of the flower blossoms?  They are beautiful, fleeting, striking, promising seed – spending themselves for the reproduction and generation of more plants, more flowers, more seeds in the future, symbols of hope and redemption.  

Why was all of this on the inside where the general public could not see it?  Because they were not yet redeemed.  Hebrews 9:6-15 This Tabernacle and its sacrifices were a temporary fix, a shadow of the relationship God wants to restore. This Tabernacle, the Temples, and now us as His temple are so reminiscent of the Garden of Eden, that place where God walked and talked with His people, the place He intends to restore to us all in Christ.

Impact on Me

The Word tells us that we are not only a holy people and God’s priests, but also the temple of God’s Spirit.  In Christ, we can enter into the Holy of Holies. I have to ask myself what is engraved on the walls inside me?   Do I look like this Tabernacle on the inside?

When Jesus enters this temple, does He find me offering sacrifices of praise, prayer, obedience, and commitment?  Does He hear my heart and soul declaring that God is my protection, my hope, my victory, my redeemer, my resource, my Lord Whom I obey gladly even to the point of being broken and spilled out for His will and purpose?  Is the presence of God in my Holy of Holies guarded by fiery, fierce cherubim who strike fear in the heart of any enemy that would dare to approach?  Is my service to God coated with gold from top to bottom?

With the help of His Holy Spirit, I am being remodeled, reconstructed, restored to look like His Heaven on the inside so that people who don’t yet know Him will meet Him in me.

Prayer

Lord, I want to serve you with clean hands and a pure heart, a holy temple in which You find the sacrifices You count worthy to praise and worship You.  May my tabernacle of Your Holy Spirit also look like Heaven on the inside, full of Your presence, power and anointing. May my altars always be smoking with that sweet savor of Your presence, Your wisdom, Your redemption, Your grace so that others will come to know You because they are drawn to that fragrance and meet You in me.  In Jesus’ name, I pray.

On Being the House Jesus Built

Hebrews 3:1-6 MSG So, my dear Christian friends, companions in following this call to the heights, take a good hard look at Jesus. He’s the centerpiece of everything we believe, faithful in everything God gave him to do. Moses was also faithful, but Jesus gets far more honor. A builder is more valuable than a building any day. Every house has a builder, but the Builder behind them all is God. Moses did a good job in God’s house, but it was all servant work, getting things ready for what was to come. Christ as Son is in charge of the house.  Now, if we can only keep a firm grip on this bold confidence, we’re the house!

[ESV] Therefore, holy brothers, you who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession, 2who was faithful to him who appointed him, just as Moses also was faithful in all God’s house. 3For Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses—as much more glory as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself. 4(For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.) 5 Now Moses was faithful in all God’s house as a servant, to testify to the things that were to be spoken later, 6but Christ is faithful over God’s house as a son. And we are his house if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope.

Observation

Jesus is the Builder and the Son in charge of the house (which is us when we receive Him as Lord and Savior).  He desires to be the designer, builder, remodeler, butler, contractor, Lord of the manor – all of it.  As long as we allow, He will do as much as we allow to become what He has designed in His blueprints for us.  Everything we do needs to be based on this understanding, this foundation, this submission – whether it is study or service, parenting or being parented, giving or receiving, recreation or daily duties, whatever we do from moment to moment, day to day.  

If our foundation is Christ, if we allow Him to be the contractor, as He builds up the house, we should reveal Him to the world in all we do.  A difficulty arises when we forget to consult Him and start building on our own without running the plans by Him first.  I think of the Winchester House which became a confused labyrinth housing her fears and the ghosts of her past.  Building our lives willy nilly, just for the sake of building, accomplishing something, creating curb appeal that impresses others, rather than consulting Jesus’ blueprints for each of us, will end up the same.  Whatever He has designed for each of us is our perfect service, our perfect size and shape, our perfect purpose. 

Impact on Me

I have been known to identify myself as a recovering overachieving perfectionist who is not always recovering.  I struggle to balance putting too strong an emphasis on study and the gaining of knowledge with increased relationship-building, evangelism, outreach, daring to step out into new and bold experiences in faith.  While I 100% agree with the necessity and value of teaching apologetics, Christian foundations, and digging out the truth of the Gospel, these things all point inward and are, in their own way, selfish (what I get out of it) and easily controlled by me (my effort and ability determine my success).  Walking out the knowledge gained is quite another matter – my success depends on:

  • my obedience,
  • my submission,
  • my willingness to serve,
  • my faith to step outside a safe environment to take Jesus where I may not be comfortable or accepted,
  • my trust in what God has promised He will do,
  • my willingness to risk being a sacrifice and even appearing foolish and a failure.   

Even here, I must guard against the temptation to respond out of duty or looking for praise, again controlling my success by creating a checklist of “what is right to do.”  The teachings of Jesus were all about how we respond in love and gratitude by walking out our faith in the love and grace of Father God; the passion of Christ was the ultimate model for how I am to live my own life before God, “being faithful in everything God gave Him to do” because He could do no less.  Let all the credit go to my Builder, Jesus.

Prayer

Lord, I want to be faithful in everything You give me to do.  I want to balance knowledge with action, faith with deeds of compassion, mercy, truth.  Speak loudly and clearly to me so that I won’t ever be in doubt about Your wishes, Your will, Your plan for me.  I want to be a house built to Your specifications with only Your fingerprints on what is built.  In Jesus’ name, make it so.

On Handicaps

2 Corinthians 12:7-10 (MSG) Because of the extravagance of those revelations, and so I wouldn’t get a big head, I was given the gift of a handicap to keep me in constant touch with my limitations. Satan’s angel did his best to get me down; what he in fact did was push me to my knees. No danger then of walking around high and mighty! At first I didn’t think of it as a gift, and begged God to remove it. Three times I did that, and then he told me, “My grace is enough; it’s all you need.  My strength comes into its own in your weakness.”  Once I heard that, I was glad to let it happen. I quit focusing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift. It was a case of Christ’s strength moving in on my weakness. Now I take limitations in stride, and with good cheer, these limitations that cut me down to size—abuse, accidents, opposition, bad breaks. I just let Christ take over! And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become.

Observation

Paul considers his “thorn in the flesh” to be a gift because it reminds him that no healing or miracle is done in his own strength.  He is reminding us all that no matter what we bring to God’s work (talent, ability, education or ??) or accomplish in His name, we need to humbly give all the praise to Him, recognizing that it all arises from what we allow Him to do and be in and through us.  Paul knows that God can give any power, authority, talent, wisdom, strength, ability, words and any other resource to any one at any time to accomplish His will and purpose.  We should not consider ourselves special because He chose to give us a few that impress people.  Look at the artisans who constructed the Temple – no one is humanly talented enough to beat that elaborate candlestick out of one lump of gold.  God must have had His hand in it. 

We see God in Scripture reminding us of Who He is (“the Lord High and Mighty) and who we are if we remain meek and humble, allowing Him to be our strength.  One of my go-to stories is always Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego thrown into the fiery furnace and coming out alive without smelling like smoke!   When I feel completely overwhelmed and insufficient, I am reminded the four lepers of 1 Kings 7, considered worthless by the city and yet the ones who brought salvation from desperate famine.   And then there is Jesus, Who drove sickness, disease and demons out with a word or a touch.

Paul is saying that his “gift of a handicap” rescues him from becoming prideful and accepting praise for God’s works.  Paul’s handicap is a constant reminder that when he allows God to be strong in his weakness, God comes in like a flood and accomplishes all He has planned.

Impact on Me

I am a person who does not like to be the center of attention.  Please don’t hand me the microphone!  This does not mean that I do not struggle at times with being unrecognized (which pride translates as unappreciated).   I have to burn calories to change the devil’s recording – “That was really bad!  No one thinks you are doing a good job!  You said what!?   You are hopeless!”  and so on.  I have to replace that recording with what Jesus says about me – “You are a child of God and a temple of the Holy Spirit.  I am with you and will never leave you.  I love and appreciate you and that will never change.  I have called you and will give you all you need to accomplish My will and purpose.”  

“I quit focusing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift. It was a case of Christ’s strength moving in on my weakness.”  Pride always exposes weaknesses to condemn and accuse, but Paul is telling me (and you) that God exposes weaknesses so, when I surrender, I can flow in His strength.  This is a new perspective for me.   I am being asked to ignore the judgment, criticism and culture of my world to accept and see my life, my thoughts, my doings from God’s perspective.   As with Paul, my handicaps are meant to expose those hidden pockets of pride, my weaknesses, my “high and mighty” thoughts so I can take my limitations in stride and let Jesus take over.

Prayer

Lord, I want to take my limitations in stride and with good cheer, as Paul did.  I want to be surrounded by others who understand and accept limitations as opportunities for You to be strong and mighty.  I want to trust You enough to wait until You are ready to do a thing, even if I am getting really nervous or anxious from what I see as urgent.  Give me the gift of always being aware of my limitations and how they can be an opportunity for You to be strong.  I want to live a life surrendered to You, dependent upon You, listening to You, guided by You, awash in You.  Draw me into the garden with You more and more.  I love You, Lord.  In Jesus’ Name, make it so.