Category: Devotions

Staircase to Heaven

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God wants your eyes opened to a dynamic, spiritual world that both coincides with and transforms the physical universe. He wants you to live extraordinarily in the context of the ordinary. He wants you in on the secret – the supernatural is accessible. Yes, God desires to live with you, despite the infinite distance between the two of you. He wants you to see the unseen and build the eternal, even while stuck in moments of time.

The unveiling of this awesome, spiritual realm can happen at any point, in any place. Consider Jacob, son of Isaac. Running from his brother, Esau, whom he had deceived, Jacob finds a place in which to rest one night. “Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place to sleep” (Genesis 28:11, ESV). Then God gave Jacob a dream about a staircase set up on the earth that reached to Heaven. Angels of God were ascending and descending on this glorious staircase. To me, one of the most amazing parts of the dream was what the Lord said as Jacob watched angels travel from Heaven to earth and from earth to Heaven. God promised, “I am the LORD, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie I will give to you and your offspring . . . Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land” (Genesis 28:13, 15, ESV).

Did you catch it? God is interested in even the dirt beneath our feet! God is in the business of bringing His presence to this earth and His promise to the very real and practical places of our lives. The Lord does not beckon Jacob to somehow climb into a spiritual-only realm way out “beyond the blue.” Our God shows Jacob that He connects the earthly and heavenly. The Lord tells Jacob that the very ground on which he rests with a stone as a pillow will be the land that is blessed – the land where God will be with us. Our Creator has not forsaken us or the earth His hand fashioned. No, our Maker reveals to Jacob – and to us – a portal to the spiritual realm of blessing. Through God’s supernatural working, the ordinary stuff is transformed into the utterly amazing.

When Jacob awoke, he proclaimed something that resonates in our own hearts, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it” (Genesis 28:16, ESV). Yes! We need awakened to the reality that God is right where we are – working and moving. Your house is more than just a house; it is a place where God lives and moves and comforts and grows you. The stoplight at which you sit in your car is contained in no mundane intersection; it is a location where angels dwell and where God’s Spirit speaks. Do you see the staircase? Is your heart open to that portal between the regular and the miraculous? If not, I can tell you why.

That staircase – that Way – to the spiritual realm . . . is Jesus. He said to Nathanael one day, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man” (John 1:51, ESV). Jesus here declares that He is, in fact, the staircase of Jacob’s dream. Jesus Christ is the Gate through which we enter the supernatural world of God’s blessing. Jesus is the Way to see what truly matters in the midst of the ordinary. He paid the price for our sin, in order that we might experience the miracle of God working right here where we are.

Ultimately, God will bring His dwelling place to us. The apostle John declared in a vision from God of the future, “And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God . . . And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them” (Revelation 21:2, 3, ESV, emphasis mine). Until that day when God surrounds us with His fullness, we thank Him for Jesus, the staircase that opens the way for us to the things of God even now . . . as we walk this “ordinary” terrain.

Sustained by the Untraceable

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The hope of God goes deeper
Than any finger can trace.

Into the chasm of confusion
And entanglements of broken dreams,

Charges the love of Him
Who turns darkness into light.

And stands ready to throw
The father of hopelessness into the abyss.

Fully aware of why we mourn
When even we don’t know,

God pours His healing
Into the unseen crevices of our soul.

Though remaining mysterious to us
How the ultimate restoration will take place,

The healing this side of Heaven
Is enough to sustain.

May my heart with increased awareness
Absorb the hope of God undeserved.

My own hand cannot trace its working
But God’s finger points the way.

“But hope that is seen is no hope at all.” – Romans 8:24

“In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope . . .” – I Peter 1:3

“Search me, O God, and know my heart.” – Psalm 139:23

The Merging of Human and Divine Suffering

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Human misery abounds. We endure pain that comes in many shapes, sizes and ways. The heart aches, the body hurts, the mind is torn; and all the while life goes on. The questions beneath the surface are, “Does God understand?” and “Does God care?”

In teaching an adult class in Christian apologetics (a reasoned defense and articulation of the biblical faith), I was moved deeply in one moment of time as we recognized the profound message of God through one of the Psalms. We were studying the miraculous fulfillment of prophecy (against mathematical odds) as evidence of the Bible’s credibility. In particular, Psalm 22 is a psalm of David, written c. 1000 B.C. And yet, we find much of its content fulfilled in the suffering and death of Jesus Christ c. A.D. 30. God stays true to His Word over the span of a millennium. The Spirit of God worked through David’s life and mind as the words of Psalm 22 were written, and the same Holy Spirit was at the Cross of Calvary as Jesus suffered.

Striking me in our class that one particular day, were the beauty and comfort of the merging of the affliction of both man and God. You see, David was a mere human. He was a brave shepherd who became a king, but he was also a person who committed adultery and murder. David was a man of flesh and bone. He knew success and he knew failure. He prospered at times, but he also endured great loss. Hated and pursued by King Saul, having watched his baby with Bathsheba die, betrayed by his own son, and regretting deeply His sin; David was a human who knew anguish. That anguish pours from his pen in Psalm 22.

Hear David’s first lament in verse one, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?” (Psalm 22:1, ESV) Have you ever felt this way? Forsaken by God? As if God is distant and not hearing your groans? Perhaps we perceive a distance because our distress is so great, or because our sins against God are so palpable. In either case, we at times feel that the Lord has thoroughly forgotten us. We understand David’s grieving.

Ah, but do we understand God’s grieving? Do we recognize that for however intensely we sink into sorrow, God sinks even deeper? Though David asked and recorded these dark questions 1,000 years before Jesus came to earth, the Son of God Himself uttered the same words as He languished on the Cross. Yes, I at times feel like God has abandoned me. The sinfulness of me and the whole world has shattered the framework of peace and right as originally intended. That invasion of brokenness as the result of sin leads us to sense that we have somehow been deserted. Though the feeling is very real to us, the truth is that the Son of God, Jesus Christ, was actually isolated as His Father substituted Him as the offering for our sin in the grueling moments of the Cross. Jesus did, in fact, endure the unimaginable darkness of being abandoned by the Father. With incredible determination, Jesus willingly took the hit of “being forsaken.” We hear Him call out loudly from the Cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46, ESV)

Would you look to the dovetailing here of human and divine misery? What David feels, God fulfills. The hurt we humans face is met directly by our Creator. His love is so profound that He dives even lower into the hurt than we can go. Never believe that God does not understand. Place one finger in your Bible at Psalm 22 and another in Matthew 27, and then ask God to comfort your heart with His immeasurable and tangible understanding of your pain.

The entirety of Psalm 22 is filled with allusions to Christ’s suffering. Amazingly, God parallels the hurt of Jesus with the feelings of David. David cries, “My heart is like wax, it is melted within my breast” (Psalm 22:14b, ESV). We know that misery. We have experienced our heart “melting” in despair. Incredibly, this outpouring of David by God’s Spirit is surrounded by words we again can tie directly to God’s Son: “I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it is melted within my breast; my strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to my jaws; you lay me in the dust of death” (Psalm 22:14-15, ESV). Jesus’ body was hanging on a cross – bones out of joint – but not broken. He suffered unbelievable thirst. Ultimately, God laid His Son in the dust of death, as no human took His life. Following the death of Jesus, water and blood poured from His side at the strike of the Roman spear. All these details correspond to the feelings and prophecy of David’s Psalm. Do you see the merging of how we sometimes and temporarily feel with the actuality of God’s suffering?

Take comfort! The last verses of the psalm confirm the glorious end result of God’s work in the midst of greatest distress. God was in control even as Jesus died. God raised Him up! God accomplished His goal; the suffering had purpose! So does yours. “For he has not despised or abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, and he has not hidden his face from him, but has heard, when he cried to him” (Psalm 22:24, ESV).

God knows. Your greatest misery merges – just as David’s – with the suffering of God. He did not have to, but God chose to enter into pain more profoundly than we can imagine. When you pray, He understands.

God’s Got This

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Plans. We all attempt to make them. We feel guilty if they go unfulfilled. We struggle to know what they should be. We race the clock to complete them. We envy those of others. Plans. They excite us and they haunt us. And in the end, we know they are ultimately out of our control.

That’s a synopsis of plans from the inside out. What about pondering plans from the outside in?

Before I was ever born, the plans were already laid for the significance of my life. Fundamentally, I had nothing to do with the blueprint of my reality. I did not yet exist when my God wrote my days in His book. Listen to the poetry of Psalm 139:16b (ESV):

    “Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there were none of them.”

Understanding the sovereignty of God and, therefore, the finality of His designing efforts is quite a comfort. Our Lord is not constrained by time and circumstance. He does not work the plan of my life from the inside out. He works it out from eternity! Time cannot thwart His projects. Confusion does not enter the scene of God’s working.

God has hand-written a book about that critical intersection of my life and the days I endure. When I wake each morning, I can know that my all-powerful Lord is central at the meeting place of each day and my existence.

I will not live an earthly day that I am not supposed to live, and I will not miss an earthly day that is planned for me. From God’s plan for my life, not one speck can be stolen.

Thrive, my friend, in the knowledge of God’s strategy. Rather than wonder in frustration about so many plans – old and new – talk to the One who is in real control. Your days were etched in His book before you were a part of this world. God’s got this.

No Further from God’s Love in the Lows of Life

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We live in a culture marked by insecurity – ups and downs. Walking into a coffee shop, I spotted near the front door a leading newspaper with charts strewn across its front page. Each one showed lines shifting sharply upward and downward in spurts – all describing financial markets. Every morning, my blood tester shows me whether or not my blood sugar level is high or low compared to normal. Our ministry’s website analyzer graphs peaks and valleys according to people’s interest in our site. We are inundated with ups and downs. Even our emotional mood changes with circumstances, body chemistry, and human interaction.

In the midst of continual fluctuation, what a comfort it is to realize that God’s love never vacillates. No high or low – no up or down – can ever change the care and love of our God who transcends a fickle world. Though riding the roller coaster of an unstable world system may tend to make us feel insecure, God’s faithfulness never lessens and never ceases. We may be tempted to feel less loved because we endure a particular shift or low point, but – in reality – NOTHING separates us from God’s love. Take the poetic words of Romans 8:38-39 (ESV) at face value:

    “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Did you catch that all-important phrase, “Nor height nor depth”? The highs of the stock market or my savings account make me no more a receiver of God’s love than do the lows of the same. The zenith of my physical health makes me no more accepted by God than my illness. I see God in the peak of my joy and favorable circumstances, but the pit of sadness and suffering do not move me any further from my Creator. Nothing separates me from His love – no height and no depth – nothing.

We rest secure and accepted because God’s love is relentless. His love does not wane when circumstances do. His love does not increase when blessing comes. Why? Because His love is infinite in strength. Compared to the changes and situations of life, God’s love cannot be measured. His love is always at full capacity. His love consumes whatever would sever us from Him. The appearance of angels in our lives does not make God love us more, just as the attack of demons cannot remove one bit of His love from us. Life itself cannot divide us from God’s love, yet neither can death. No matter the place or way in which we find ourselves, God’s love is greater and unyielding in its grip on us.

Let no man of earth or demon of Hell steal from you this truth. Let no circumstance of life – good or bad – high or low – take from you this hope. Let no argument, speech, or false teaching rob you of this fact. Nothing in all creation can separate you from God’s love. He is the Creator. He loves you. Everything He made ultimately bows to His will. All creation belongs to Him. Nothing under His sovereignty can diminish His love for you, because He is THE Sovereign!

Come high, come low. Come angel, come demon. Come today, come tomorrow. Come life, come death. Come anything. God’s love is with me. Always. Highs don’t draw us closer, and lows don’t take us further from His love.

The Glorious Remaking

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“The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.” – Psalm 51:17

I gave to You a heart burdened with my own sin,
But I gave it to You;
And You made it a clean heart, free of guilt and shame.

I gave to You a mind shackled by fear,
But I gave it to you;
and You made it a strong mind, focused on truth.

I gave to You hands prone to selfishness and greed,
But I gave them to You;
And You made them hands extended, inclined to reach out.

I gave to You a will fixed on my own plans,
But I gave it to You;
And You made it a will to love You, unshaken by changing circumstance.

I gave to You the moments of my life, not seeming to amount to much as the second hand ticks to relentlessly,
But I gave them to you;
And You made them moments of eternal weight, reaching infinitely far into the future.

I gave to You my dreams, so elusive and unreal,
But I gave them to You;
And You made them dreams aligned with Your plan, bursting into glorious reality.

I gave to You my future, which is – without You – nothing,
But I gave it to you;
And You made it a future never-ending, always glorious.

I gave to You me, though I cannot add one bit to Your greatness;
But I gave me to You;
And You made me who I always wanted to be – the person You want me to be.

How to Have the Best Thanksgiving Ever!

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I recently read a story concerning a thief who operated in movie theaters. With a female accomplice, he would visit movie theaters when “girl movies” were showing. Sitting in the back of theater, the burglar would scope out places where women with purses were sitting. As soon as the lights went down, this robber would slither on the theater floor in order to reach under the seats of unsuspecting victims and take their purses. While on the floor, he extracted wallets and took out credit cards from them. The thief would then replace the wallet in the handbag and leave the purse in its original spot. Surely, many victims did not even realize that they had been stolen from until hours or possibly days later.

Similarly, the enemy of our souls is stealing meaning from our lives. Culturally speaking, the lights have been dimmed, and we barely realize the danger. Our grave situation is made clearer at the holidays. As the deeper meaning of the holidays decreases, our level of anxiety increases. So it is with life in general. This inverse relationship – the rise of anxiety with the decline of true meaningfulness – is plaguing us. Let us, therefore, use the microcosm of the Thanksgiving holiday as an example of how to view the vital nature of life as it should be according to God’s perspective. Perhaps we will recover meaning and eliminate much of our growing anxiousness. No one knows the needs of the human heart better than the Designer and Builder of the heart. God understands what the greatest focus of thankfulness should be. He realizes why we are so often left empty and fretting after a season that should produce joy. He recognizes our shortsightedness. Our God wants us to press past the shallow waters and swim into the sea of meaning that sustains the soul.

When it comes to Thanksgiving, for what are you thankful? Let’s discuss a couple typical, good answers:

1) Food. Many of us are thankful for turkey, sweet potatoes, and pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving. In fact, we are rightfully grateful for God’s provision of food each day. This status of heart is biblical and good. However, we must be thankful for something deeper. While perusing the sad memoir of avowed atheist, Christopher Hitchens, as he outlined his thoughts during his final months of earthly life; I was reminded of the frailty of the human body and how easily our appetite can be crushed by sickness. There will come a day for everyone when we will take our last bite of earthly food. No wonder we read the amazing words of Jesus to a seeking crowd in John chapter six. After Jesus fed a group of 5000 people, some from the crowd took efforts to follow Christ to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. They had obviously been impressed by His ability to fill their stomachs, and they crossed a sea to get back to Him. As the crowd approached, Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you” (John 6:26-27, ESV). Jesus is not here the seeker-friendly Savior some might expect Him to be. Rather, he chastises people who are looking for Him because of a temporary, physical blessing. He targets the core of their desires by declaring they should have interpreted the miracle of the multiplied bread and fish as a “sign.” A sign points to something else; it is not the destination. The physical bread for bodily hunger was meant to show people their need to be filled spiritually with the gift of eternal life in exchange for an insatiable spiritual hunger that – when left untreated – results in spiritual death. Jesus clearly demonstrates that our hope lies in a God who is bigger than the food He provides. This is a God who can take care of the body even when it is no longer physically able to consume food – even when it dies! This God will resurrect the physical body of those who have eternal life. We will eat again in Heaven, because we have “eaten” of Jesus, the Bread of Life! (John 6:48).

If literal food is all for which we are thankful, our hope is negated and our life is dismal; for eating in this body will come to an end. If we are grateful for literal bread because it points to the Bread of Life, then life is rich beyond description! We eat now and are reminded of the blessings of living in the new heavens and the new earth; as Jesus proclaimed, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever” (John 6:51, ESV).

2) Home and country. We are thankful for our homes and our country, as we should be. Many do not have this blessing. However, we must remember to recognize and believe all of God’s truth found in His Word. One of Jesus’ closest friends, Peter, said by the inspiration of God’s Holy Spirit in II Peter chapter three that this world and every place therein will one day be dissolved. As great as is the United States of America and as precious as is your warm and inviting home and its accompanying yard, these will not survive the intentional and glorious destruction and re-making of the world! As people must be remade in order to fit the holy plan of God (II Corinthians 5:17), so, too, must the universe. God’s mysterious working will take place with fire. As gold is refined and perfected in fire, so the cosmos will be perfected – set free from the misery it endures under the curse of sin (Romans 8:22). We cannot rely on this current world; we must count on the God who is the only continuum between this world and the next. Hear God’s Word: “By the same word [of God] the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men . . . The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare . . . Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness” (II Peter 3:7,10-13, NIV, 1984).

While we are grateful for our shelter and our place of existence in this universe, we are most thankful for a God who is greater than the sum total of all the cosmos. Not only so, but we rejoice in the fact that God has chosen to deposit in our very being a spiritual kingdom that cannot be shaken or dissolved! Listen carefully to the promise of Hebrews 12:26-28 (NASB), “But now He has promised, saying, ‘Yet once more I will shake not only the earth, but also the heaven.’ This expression, ‘Yet once more,’ denotes the removing of those things which can be shaken, as of created things, so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude . . .” Wow! we are thankful because we have inside of us the kingdom of God. Jesus has made the way for you and me to survive the shaking, undoing, and re-making of all His creation. Never will we disappear or be hopelessly destroyed. Though food and places may perish, we remain to enjoy the new place and the new food Jesus is preparing.

Please allow Thanksgiving this year to point to a greater truth – a deeper meaning than the temporal blessings humans enjoy to greatly varying degrees depending on their socioeconomic status and geographical location on this earth. Let this season be one that lifts your soul to an amazing God full of grace to give us such promise. He alone is unshakeable; but – amazingly – He deposits that hope in us. If today you took your last bite or enjoyed your last day in your home your God is still holding you. He is still holding the world. And while He is re-making both, He will let go of neither. Tenaciously, faithfully, and triumphantly; the plan of God goes on. Thank you, Jesus, for allowing me to enjoy the “Bread of Life” and the “Home of Righteousness.”

Happy Thanksgiving, unshakeable kingdom recipients!

Isn’t He Just a Carpenter?

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“What is the wisdom given to him? How are such mighty works done by his hands? Is not this the carpenter? And he could do no mighty works there.” (Mark 6:2,5; ESV)

Jesus walked the dusty path to His own hometown, Nazareth. Demons had been running from people’s lives at His word. He was setting the oppressed free and delivering hope where none had been. Diseases and afflictions were disappearing all over the place as Jesus healed so many. He had been bringing dead people back to life and preaching a message that was unlike any that had ever been heard. He was – in a completely wonderful way – out of control! Jesus was shaking up the sad and hopeless paradigm. He was bringing life and healing . . . and truth.

On the heels of all this amazing, other-worldly stuff; Jesus enters Nazareth. The people who had known Him since childhood now asked some pointed questions about Christ: 1) What is the wisdom given to Him? 2) How are such mighty works done by His hands, and 3) Is not this the carpenter? (Mark 6:2-3, ESV). They ask the questions from a perspective of familiarity and unbelief. Startled by the “neighborhood boy’s” ability to shake up the world, they demonstrate their heart’s dilemma by asking these questions. How could it be that a carpenter’s son from the simple town of Nazareth could heal the sick and boss around demons? How could this man who grew up like others as an earth-bound human actually perform miracles – do the supernatural? Isn’t He just natural, like the rest of us? “How are such mighty works done by His hands?” What a question! These neighborhood folks were throwing away their chance at real life by refusing to acknowledge the greatest miracle behind all the miracles – God in the flesh!

A person must see Jesus as Creator – as God – in order to see Jesus as He truly is. Jesus is God. And to talk about mighty works on earth . . . well, that is an understatement, indeed! The earth only exists because Jesus made it. His contemporaries could not grasp the origin of His healing and life-giving power because they refused to believe His work as God. Though walking around in human flesh 2000 years ago, Jesus is God’s Son, “Through whom also [God] created the world . . . and [Jesus] upholds the universe by the word of his power” (Hebrews 1:2-3, ESV).

Dare we talk about His carpentry work? Let’s do so! Jesus not only grew up learning to measure, cut, and build with the wood of trees; He brought all trees into existence and causes them to grow! He waters the earth and brings forth life. He laid the foundations of the universe itself – measuring both galaxies and molecules. He skillfully designed and put together the world itself. And yet, the people of His hometown could ask, “Is not this the carpenter?” They only saw Him as a common worker in wood from a family in Israel. They did not see Him as the Builder of Life.

The incomprehensible miracle of Jesus is the intersection of the divine and the regular – the supernatural and the natural. He is God, but He chose to experience humanness in order to save us. The very fact the Nazarenes took offense at is the very thing that saves us. Jesus is fully human and fully God. His real work is traced even to the creation of the universe and continues through the annals of time. He is the Master Carpenter, the Architect of people and of their salvation. Ever in the business of building and doing mighty works, Jesus told His followers before He departed the earth, “I go to prepare a place for you” (John 14:2, KJV). Abraham of the Old Testament days was living and looking forward to his best home yet to come. As this life could not fully satisfy Abraham, Hebrews 11:10 (ESV) says, “He was looking forward to the city that has foundations whose designer and builder is God.” Yes, Jesus is building a city for us, a perfect home.

The problem with which we must grapple is the one we find in Mark 6:5. Because the people of Nazareth refused to believe the true nature of Jesus (as they revealed in their questioning), the Bible says, “And [Jesus] could do not mighty works there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them” (Mark 6:5, ESV). The people could receive no mighty work of God because they refused to believe the true reason Jesus was able to do great works. They saw Him only as a regular carpenter – not the Builder of Life.

Do you need a mighty work of God in your life? How do you view Jesus? Do not be blinded by familiarity as the Nazarenes were, having heard His name so many times. Believe in Him completely. Trust in Him as the Carpenter you need to construct your life. He is waiting to forgive you, build you, and do mighty works. And one day, we shall walk in that city whose Designer and Builder is God.

IF YOUR MAN DOESN’T WIN: A Broad View of Politics and God’s Plan

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The Apostle Paul declares in Romans 13:1 (ESV), “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities.” He boldly added in verse seven, “Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.” Clearly, God’s plan is one that requires order and includes human government because of man’s sinful nature. We will not all keep reign over our own behavior, therefore, a higher human authority established by God must do so. Some people allow God’s principles to rule generally over their actions because they have relationship with God. Others throw off the thought of God and His authority and must be directed in behavior by outside influence rather than the Spirit of God in their hearts. This need for outside parameters when internal criteria are rejected is expressed beautifully in Psalm 32:8-9 (ESV),

    I [God] will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you. Be not like a horse or mule, without understanding, which must be curbed with bit and bridle, or it will not stay near you.

God’s desire is a man who willingly accepts God’s rule in His life. However, due to our fallen nature; God intervenes with human authority’s influence when we fail to restrain ourselves. Human government is a tool of God for a broken universe filled with broken people.

We must keep in mind that government consists of human beings and so is inherently fallible. God’s intention for authorities is clear and expressed in Romans 13:3-4 (ESV),

    For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer.

Generally, then, God intends authorities to promote good and punish evil. We know beyond the shadow of any doubt that this does not always happen. Without reference to myriad contemporary examples, think of the Apostle Paul’s personal experience. Though he writes very succinctly of government’s meaning, he was killed under the reign of Emperor Nero. He and Peter were martyred by authorities because they were Christians! In both of their lives, authorities acted perversely – in direct contradiction to God’s expressed purpose for government. Paul was not a fool, and he understood what we apprehend – that government fails at many points – just as people do.

Nonetheless, people of God understand the importance of government within its human limitations. It is both a creation and tool of a sovereign, unfailing God. As a created institution, it must align itself with God’s truth in order to fulfill its right aim. Government is not a stand-alone entity, and it is not the solution to the human dilemma. Jesus Christ stands alone as the Way to existence as God intended. No man, woman, or child will ever experience the right-working, soon-coming, perfected and re-made universe without first entering into a relationship with the Creator through Jesus Christ. The answer to human failure and misery is spiritual in nature. People need reformed on the inside – in the spirit. A right spirit in a woman gives her the power to live as she should, and that new heart can only come from God.

Good behavior, good laws, good decisions, good government, good families, good economic plans, good relationships, and good education – all these are the result of an inside job, if you will. A person is delivered first from his enslavement to sin’s power, and then he can act rightly on a more consistent basis. With the Holy Spirit of God abiding in his clean heart, a man can now act as one should whose goal is a right-working, God-glorifying universe (the ultimate goal of God!). Note the incredible thoughts of Charles Colson (2007),

    Today’s enthusiasm for political solutions to the moral problems of our culture arises from a distorted view of both politics and spirituality – too low a view of the power of a sovereign God and too high a view of the ability of man. The idea that human systems, reformed by Christian influence, pave the road to the Kingdom – or at least, to revival – has the same utopian ring that one finds in Marxist literature. It also ignores the consistent lesson of history that laws are most often reformed as a result of powerful spiritual movements. I know of no case where a spiritual movement was achieved by passing laws. (pp. 343-344)

Vital is our responsibilty to keep God’s order of things from being turned inside-out. Government is an important part of God’s plan; government is not the salvation of man. God is the Savior, and He is in the business of transforming people’s individual lives so they can help transform the world around them – including political systems.

Throughout history, governments and rulers have both succeeded and failed in their proper endeavor. We thank God for the privilege of observing His hand in the working of the government of the United States in many ways throughout the years. We think also of atrocities resulting from governmental rule – including our own political system. We often stand in speechless horror when we think of the sins committed and the misery wrought by political entities. Going directly to the Word of God, we have many examples. There is faithful Daniel who is tossed into a den of lions during the sixth century B.C. by decree of the Persian King Darius because Daniel refused to stop praying to His Savior. Daniel’s firm trust in God (his spiritual underpinning) resulted in his deliverance from the lions and a counter decree by King Darius charging citizens to reverence the God of Daniel.

There is the Apostle Paul, whose last years were spent often in prison under the authority of the Roman government. Nonetheless, faith in God grew as people witnessed the spiritual strength God gave to Paul despite the grave error and persecution of government. We see Paul gazing intently at his heavenly citizenship even as he walked this earth and sat in chains. The Word of God rang out with divine power despite – perhaps even because of – the evil committed by a government turned against its God-given intention. As he sat in a dungeon, chained to a Roman soldier, Paul wrote Philippians 1:12-14 (ESV),

    I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.

The apostle saw God using this circumstance – this perversion of government – to God’s glory! Paul knew the only true answer for the human condition was found in salvation. If his imprisonment meant more souls could enter the greatest place to be a citizen – Heaven – then Paul counted persecution worth the cost. He no doubt prayed for His release and the turning in repentance of Roman authority, but he patiently waited on the greater plan of God while doing so. Paul lived rightly, honored human authority rightly, and prayed rightly; but he staked his life on a greater reality than this world’s system. Hear his amazing words written from prison in Philippians 3:20-21 (NIV),

    But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.

In line with Paul’s words are those of Russell Kirk as quoted by Colson (2007),

    Christian faith may work wonders if it moves the minds and hearts of an increasing number of men and women. But if professed Christians forsake heaven as their destination and come to fancy that the state . . . may be converted into the terrestrial paradise – why they are less wise men than Marx.

Yes, Heaven is our destination. Its perfect justice and overwhelming beauty will be the result of God’s miracle in human hearts. Jesus died so we could live rightly. Note I Peter 2:24 (NIV), “[Jesus] himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness.” In Heaven, we will finally live rightly without hindrance!

For now, our encumbrance is a sinful nature. That nature prohibits perfection in both individuals and institutions. But it does not prohibit the purpose of God! God is transcendent, existing outside the universe and independent of any institution. He is able to fulfill the truth of Ephesians 1:11 (ESV), “[God] works all things according to the counsel of his will.” All things. Not some. All. Everything. Without a wasted circumstance. Incredibly, He even works the result of every presidential election after the counsel of His own will!

We must pray continually. We must act righteously in a dark world. We must vote. We must promote the heart of God to a world in trouble. Ultimately, though, we must trust in God. We must put all our hope in an infinitely big God who saves people one at a time now and will save the entire world system one day for those who trust in Him. No matter who the president is, God is the ruler of every inch of reality. Put your hope in Him, and influence others to do the same. Tend to the spiritual matters of the heart, and political matters will fall into line – along with all other interests. For there is a King greater than all kings, and His name is Jesus. He was born in the days of evil King Herod (Matthew 2:1). God allowed even His own Son to endure governmental injustice. Though Herod sought to kill Jesus, Jesus lived on! The plan of God for our salvation endured. Herod died. God’s purpose continued. That is the way it will always be. Evil is vanquished; God’s goodness prevails. No matter what it ever appears in this imperfect world, the curse will one day be fully erased! (Revelation 22:3)

God’s man wins! His name is Jesus.

Reference:

Colson, C. (2007). God & Government: An Insider’s View on the Boundaries Between Faith & Politics. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

Reality Just Beyond the Glass

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I sit behind a polished windowpane
Hearing the hum of heated air through vents.

On the other side of the glass
Lie trees in autumn splendor on a hillside.

The gentle breeze takes yellowish foliage
To a carpet of gold and green below.

Wafting in every direction under sunlight,
Drop beautiful leaves.

On goes a gorgeous shower of what was,
Making room for what will be.

The sunbeams on the shimmering trees
And the continual dance of the season proceeds;

As I sit behind glass panes in a building made by man,
Peering out at the artistry of God.

On the wall beside me hangs a framed photograph
Of an autumn scene.

While beautiful the picture is,
It does not compare to the reality just beyond the glass.

What comes directly from God
Cannot be adequately reproduced by man.

Chairs, buildings, heating systems, automobiles,
Framed art, calculators, tennis shoes, cherry pie, basketballs.

All these reflect the mind of our Creator,
Who designed our minds to design these things.

Yet, for all we make,
Nothing compares to what God creates!

Galaxies, mountains, antelopes, apple trees,
Sunshine, emeralds, sharks, bluebirds, waterfalls.

I appreciate the comfortable library in which I sit.
I enjoy looking out its windows when the ice of winter comes.

But my soul longs for the day
When I will not be separated from any of the handiwork of God.

I wait for the day when the city in which I walk
Will not have been manufactured by the hand of people.

Come quickly the day when everything about existence is as beautiful and rich as God intended,
Untainted by the messiness of humanity.

I wait for . . .
“The holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God.”

A city that comes from Heaven, right down from the throne of God!
This will be my home!

In that day, nothing will be unsatisfactory
Because nothing will be “once-removed” from God’s perfection.

All will be as He desires,
Which is – in our heart of hearts – what we, in fact, desire.

We will work beside Him then,
For He will finally and fully dwell with us.

The work of men will be the work of God,
For then we shall completely please Him.

All creation will be new – and uncursed –
Never wearing out, never growing old.

We will create and enjoy and explore forever
Because of the grace of precious Jesus . . .

When we finally enter the reality just beyond the glass.

“For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face.” (I Corinthians 13:12, KJV)

“I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God.” (Revelation 21:2, ESV)

Are Christians Praying Humanist Prayers?

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Paradigm shifts. They are often necessary. In the case of much prayer within the church, it is time for a paradigm shift. Our consumer-driven, self-absorbed culture has pushed prayer into a veritable humanist corner. Humanism claims that the reasoning of humans is to be valued above any divine thinking or supposed supernatural working. Although most Christians do not intend to function from a worldview antithetical to biblical Christianity, we may be doing so by default. As with any practice, prayer must be measured against God’s holy Word. We must do what Romans 12:2 commands us and ensure that our patterns of thinking do not simply flow with the culture at large, but rather press upstream against ungodly currents.

While recently teaching a Bible class, I was suddenly struck with a reality to which I had not previously paid much attention. We were considering the words of the Apostle Paul in Philippians 2:7 (ESV) about Jesus’ amazing condescension from Heaven to earth two thousand years ago, “But [Jesus] made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.” We honed in on the fact that Jesus made a willful decision to serve His Father even though Jesus is Himself fully God. Jesus chose not to grasp at His own rights (Philippians 2:6), but He elected rather to do the Father’s will . . . no matter the cost. In doing so, He demonstrates to us the proper attitude for genuine Christian living (Philippians 2:5).

What hit me the hardest was Jesus’ approach to His Father’s will; Jesus always submitted Himself to the Father’s plan and glory. Though fully God, Christ worked the blueprint of the Father in order that the perfect will of the blessed Trinity be accomplished. Most notably, we remember Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane on the eve of His arrest as He contemplates the degree of suffering He is facing. Jesus prayed, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will” (Matthew 26:39, ESV).

Wow! Jesus was God in the flesh, and He actually says that He would rather have the Father’s will accomplished than gain what the humanity of Him desired – to escape suffering. Hence, the dramatic difference between Jesus’ prayer and Peter’s “prayer.” Peter had not wanted Jesus to suffer either, but he allowed no room for God’s mysterious will and thus boldly declared about Jesus’ explanation of His own future crucifixion, “God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You” (Matthew 16:22, NASB). No sooner had Peter uttered His disgust with the plan of God than Jesus turned to Peter and proclaimed, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man” (Matthew 16:23, ESV).

Notice the underlying similarity but weighty and stark difference between the petition of Peter and Jesus. Both Peter and Jesus were troubled by the thought of the Son of God suffering so horrendously. However, the difference is critical. While Peter acted completely out of human flesh and thinking without giving room for God’s unfathomable will, Jesus submitted His pain and reluctance to His Father in order that God would get His way – which is the best way by infinite measure!

When I thought about the prayer of Jesus in the Garden, I pondered my own prayer life. So often we Christians begin prayers like this, “Dear God, I ask you to . . .” And then follows a list of items we present to God – things or circumstances we desire. We often give no thought to whether these things are God’s will, sometimes even foolishly believing God intends to spare us from all pain. We ask for relief as we see it and expect it. Instead, we ought to express our sorrow and anxious thoughts to God, and then we need to ask God to dominate any plan of ours with His perfect and mysterious will. If the Son of God prayed that God’s plan would override the desires of His humanity when the two were in disagreement, then we certainly should as well!

When Jesus instructed His disciples on prayer, He expressed at the outset in definitive terms that three things are priority for sure: God’s name is great above all and to be held in highest honor, God’s eternal kingdom is to come and take priority over human plans, and God’s will is to be done on this earth where our feet tread each day (see Matthew 6:9-10). We are not taught by Jesus to pray for human passions unless these longings glorify God’s name and press His kingdom forward in a world of much darkness. Prioritized over all is the ongoing will of God.

We must ask ourselves a difficult but essential question, “Am I praying for the glory and will of God or for the avoidance of anything my flesh deems difficult? Humanists place people above any supernatural being. Humanists trust in the thinking of people to solve our every dilemma. Christians place God above the will of humans. Christians trust in God’s sovereign plan to make life what it should be – even when pain is part of the picture. So I ask myself, “Am I praying as a humanist? Or as a Christian?”