A new name and a new nature

March 26, 2012

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My new name:  “Christos-Maria”

If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation:  2 Cor 5:17

Ontology is a good word.  It refers to beingness, something’s essence or someone’s nature/identity.  Think of the attributes, the properties or categories of something that exists. Why should you care about this term?  If you have been born again, YOUR ontology has changed.  You have a completely new nature.  As a newborn Christian, you were not merely ‘topped off’ with spiritual power.  Au contraire!  It’s not for nothing that the Bible talks about dying and being born anew.  One can’t be born a 2nd time, unless one has died.

Recently I attended a women’s retreat where we looked afresh at the book of Ephesians.  The last talk included an explication of the armor of God.  Since then, I’ve been mentally dressing myself each morning on my walk.  When I get to the breastplate of righteousness, I imagine myself as a Roman soldier, in shiny armor.  We’re all dressed alike; our chests and hearts protected with this silvery plating, a helmet, a shield and a pair sturdy sandals that can grip well (thanks, Regina!)  We are tucked in securely with a studded belt that holds a short but wicked sword, our one offensive weapon.  When we brandish it, we shout truth OUTLOUD i.e. statements of faith-building biblical facts.  The very words of God, shattering the atmosphere by life-changing sound waves, impact forever not just us who utter them, but the spirit world, as well as our brothers & sisters in Christ.  Take that!  En garde!

Shoulder to shoulder in our individual armor we are members of the church, the body of Christ. But from a distance, carrying on with the Roman soldier illustration, no one can tell that it’s Maria, or Regina, or Lise or Kris or Mabel.  What people see are identical soldiers. What makes us identical?   It should be Christ that others see or sense.   We are now new creations, in Christ, if we have been born again.  We have a new nature.  Yes, we have our personalities, but anything truly good, is from Christ in us.

And with this new ontology (which we can’t lose) we have new powers.  You & I can do things now that in our old sinful lonely flesh, we could never have done.  I’m thankful that the old Maria exists no longer (she’s died!)  In her place is this new creation:  “Christos-Maria”. And since I’m this new creation, then anything good I now do, it’s because of Christ in me….so He should get the glory.

What you know makes you happy – Part 2 Weddings

February 4, 2012

Maria 2 Corinthians, Joy , , Leave a comment

Here’s my premise – what we know can make us joyful.  Not what we have, where we find ourselves in life, or even what we’re doing in our lives.

Think back to a happy trip or vacation or event that was still in your future.  It might have been your wedding, graduation, a change in jobs or an upcoming trip.  You’d wake up in the morning, search your mind and immediately feel excited/ content when you thought about this ‘happy occasion’ to come.  Yet your current circumstances might still have included:

  • A grey rainy morning
  • A final exam to get through
  • Bills to pay
  • An unpleasant job to rush off to
  • A host of chores awaiting you
  • Unresolved conflicts
  • A health problem

Yet…because of what you knew awaited you, you could still feel joyful.

Well here is what we can feed our minds and direct our thoughts to:  If we are in Christ, then an amazing inheritance awaits us.  Listen to how Spurgeon describes what the Father and the Son lovingly planned:

There was a time before all time when God only was, the uncreated, the only existent one.  The Divine Three – Father, Son, and Spirit –lived in blessed camaraderie with each other, delighting in each other.  Oh the intensity of the divine love of the Father to the Son….The Father’s love made him resolve to show forth the glory of his Son.  The mysterious story which has been gradually unfolded before us has only this one design – the Father would make known his love to the Son and make the Son’s glories to appear before the eyes of those whom the Father gave him.

Spurgeon continues to set the Fall and the plan of redemption in this context referring to ‘the countless hosts of elect souls, ordained forever to a joy exceeding bounds’ as the goal and purpose of Christ’s life and work on the cross.  We as Christians make up this ‘Bride’ for whom the Son died.  Spurgeon writes that our ‘destiny is so high that no language can fully describe it.  God only knows the love of God and all that it has prepared for those who are objects of it’ i.e:  us!!!!!

Now do you see how WHAT we know can make all the difference in how we feel?

This has come home to me in recent months as I have been memorizing and meditating on some chapters in 2 Corinthians.  You know that verse that goes, “But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all surpassing power is from God and not ourselves” (ch 4, vs 7)?  I now think that the treasure we have is this KNOWLEDGE.  For right before that verse Paul talks about how ‘the Gospel illumines the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ’

The Holy Spirit is the deposit that confirms or guarantees that this knowledge is true and reliable.  But it is knowing what awaits us that gives us power and joy no matter the trials we undergo.  Suffering IS part of this world, it’s not a ‘whoops’.  Only Christianity acknowledges that fact and sets it in a context we can live with rationally.

So, despite pain….. Evil …… suffering…. drudgery…. problems……injustice and a whole plethora of awful things that make up this world:

So, despite beauty….. Love…..kindness…..loveliness…creativity….uncanny unselfishness and a whole host of wonderful things that make us want to cling to what is good and right with this world:

..let us consciously set our minds on what IS guaranteed and IS unchanging and IS more than we can ask or imagine, our inheritance in heaven, the wedding banquet planned for us, the Bride of Christ.  To make a very earthy comparison, we can be like the boy who whistled while mucking out horse manure from the barn, knowing that a pony awaited him.

*quotes from Randy Alcorn’s  book, We Shall See God – Charles Spurgeon’s classic devotional thoughts on Heaven  (2011 Eternal Perspectives Ministry)

I want more than a blessing

January 21, 2012

Maria 2 Corinthians, Anxiety, Genesis, James, Joy , , , Leave a comment

Genesis 24:1   Now Abraham was old, advanced in age; and God had blessed Abraham in every way.

So….what more could he want? Abraham had wealth, status, power and obviously favor with God.

If I were Abraham I would want a lot more:  CONTROL and ABSENCE OF PROBLEMS!

You see, Abraham, though amazingly blessed, still had a major challenge.  His son Isaac needed a wife, the right kind of woman who would be appropriate to play a major role in God’s promised plan.  So Abraham sent his oldest and most trusted servant (we never learn his name) on a long-shot mission, to persuade a suitable woman to come out in the middle of ‘nowhere’ to marry into a very strange family.

Here’s the point.  Even when we have ALL of God’s blessings, we still have to deal with problems.  Challenges/burdens are opportunities to trust God and wait with patience while praying steadfastly.  These unlikely ‘friends’ are also reminders to hold our desired ends lightly.  When faced with a problem, I usually know how I want it to work out.  My vision causes me to be anxious, because I realize that I lack the ability (control) to bring about what I want.  I chafe at this lack of assurance that my outcome will be realized.  So I regard problems as anathema and think sometimes that they should not even be, since I’m now a Child of God, a believer.

But God’s ways are not Maria’s. I think I’m getting a glimpse of how God has set up life for His children.

The only way we will continue to trust our Father is for us to be needy.  Problems are both God’s chosen means to insure on-going reliance on Him and a daily wake-up call that we are not in control.  He obviously thinks we are at risk of forgetting this fact.

Here’s what I’ve been pondering.  If God means problems to be woven into the fabric of human life, both for believers and pagans alike, then I should change how I look at them.  Yes, I know about Brother James’ ‘Pure Joy Club’ (….count it pure joy, my brothers when you meet trials of all kinds…James 1:2 ) but despite that verse and others from Paul, I still regard problems as ‘the enemy’!

Recently, however, I encountered a different way of looking at life.  And it’s tempting.  CS Lewis apparently divided the world into happy people and people who don’t LIKE to be happy.  Before reading this, I naively assumed that happy people were those with no more problems.  But maybe that species does not even exist.  If that is so, then maybe Paul was onto something when he affirmed (first paraphrasing 2 Cor 5:5 –since we have this down payment -i.e. Holy Spirit  of what is to come, ”Therefore,) we always feel cheerful, confident and courageous..…” 2 Cor 5:6a

So here’s my new prayer:  Father, enable me to remember hourly what You have done for me through my adoption and assigned inheritance and equipping me with the permanent Holy Spirit as a guarantee of what is mine.  Furthermore, so change my mind through your Holy Spirit Renovation project that just thinking of my adoption and inheritance cheers me to no end so that I take the daily problems in stride.  After all, stupid is the child of God who keeps problems to herself instead of casting them on her Father to handle.

Information Overload v. Applied Knowledge

January 12, 2012

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But we have this treasure, in jars of clay, to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not ourselves. (2 Cor 4:7)

I am overwhelmed by information.  Because of the űber-abundance of blog-posts… you-tube videos…. search engines…. people’s opinions ad infinitum (et ad nauseum) I find myself unable to keep up.  Of course I am the one who has defined what comes into my backyard.  I am the gatekeeper.  Yet even knowing that I myself have chosen certain podcasts, blogs, correspondances, magazines, and papers, their presence in my world have become a burden.  Who or what will rescue me from this increasing feeling of lack of time?

Merci au Seigneur – thank the Lord.  His word has clarified the distinction between information and knowledge.  And THAT has helped me re-think the situation.  There will always be more information than I can take in.  But information is of no use until it becomes meaningful to me in the form of knowledge.  I see knowledge as information that I have chewed and processed and lodged on my treed, my framework of thinking.   When that ‘knowledge-byte’ is accessible and useful, and grounded in Biblical truth, it can serve to guide me in life choices.

I am struck by how often the word knows/knowledge is used in Scripture.  Consider how it is used in the 2 Corinthians passage in Chapter 4 –

6 For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness’, has shone in our hearts so as to givethe light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.  7 But we have this treasure injars of clay,to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.

I think that ‘treasure ‘is this knowledge of the ‘god-ness’ or glory of Jesus and the fact that we KNOW that He is in us via the Holy Spirit.

Yesterday I was reading a devotion written by J.I. Packer and found myself SO relieved by how he interpreted verse 5 in the Romans 5 passage where Paul assures us that “… hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.”

This verse has always felt like an indictment of my lack of Christian love because I don’t FEEL that love in my heart.  But Packer described it as the KNOWLEDGE of God’s love.  Now THAT I can relate to, for I’m reminded that,

“God demonstrates and clearly proves his love toward us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us”?  (Rom 5:8)

I see that knowing, i.e. remembering truths about God is what I called wisdom when applied to one’s life.

We come full circle.  Part of that wisdom is the ability to set limits.  And God actually helps.  Part of my frustration with the abundance of information out there originates in the 24 hour day.  God has set up boundaries.  I bump up or crash into them, but they are there for my own good.  They force me to assess, to make choices.  I want to be able to say with the Psalmist, ‘the boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places.  I have a good & beautiful heritage.’ (Ps 16)

Unnatural Grace – a book recommendation

January 4, 2012

Maria 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Grace , , Leave a comment

It’s just not natural!  – a theology of grace

I’ve been captivated by a book.  Six years ago Episcopal priest Paul Zahl committed to paper what he has been teaching for the 30 years as a pastor.  Grace in Practice, A Theology of Everyday Life (2007) is changing me.

Very quickly he demonstrates how humans consistently fail to give each other grace. Yet each of us longs desperately to receive grace.  What is grace? –one-way love, the kind of love we crave because it’s freely given with no strings attached.  If there is an expectation on the part of the dispenser of grace, then it’s not grace, but manipulation.  And we are born with an innate ability to sniff out this kind of hypocrisy.

Christ is the ultimate example of grace. There is nothing we can do to earn salvation.  We can’t be good enough; we can’t manipulate our way into heaven,   “For when we were still sinners, Christ died for us” Romans 5:8

Lest you think that some people get by fine without grace due to their skill, hard work & maybe a bit of luck and that only down–and-out folk need grace, Zahl shatters that illusion right from the start.  How? –by explaining 3 givens that are true about every human that has ever lived:

a)   We are all guilty & inadequate to meet God’s standard due to original sin.  We live under an objective sentence of guilt and inside we FEEL this guilt.

b)   We are worse than we think; actually we are TOTALLY depraved which Zahl explains means that there is no part of the human condition that escapes depravity.

c)    No one has free will; free will is a myth we can’t shake. We’ve drunk the Kool-aid.

Read the book to follow his very convincing explanations and illustrations.

Because of the above givens, we crave grace.  But those we live with or work for don’t give us grace.  Instead they try to change us with exhortations (or worse, with commands or manipulative advice) to do better.  He calls that the Law.  No one ever gets better by the Law.

To be fair, Zahl makes an interesting distinction between what he calls necessary or natural law, the kind of law that protects us, but has no moral (read:  guilt-producing) baggage.

That kind of ‘first’ law maintains safety among groups of people.  It has nothing to do with self-improvement, relief from guilt or a thousand other problems we have.  When moral law (you should call your mother more often, you should do your homework consistently, you should stop drinking)  is applied, not only does it not help us, but often we dig our heels in further and do just the opposite of what the Law intends. Amazingly we do get better when grace is given.

In order to communicate what he means by grace, Zahl widens the theological term, ‘imputation’ and applies it to phenomena we have all witnessed.  This principle of passing on power through naming originated with God, “God gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were” – Romans 4:17b

Remember the time when your coach might have confidently said to you as an awkward 7th grader, ‘I think you’ll make a mighty fine basketball player’?  The power of that grace-filled imputation summoned your gifts and talents and motivated you to work hard to fulfill that expectation.  You were drawn to the drills and endless work that resulted in your becoming the good basketball player, all because your coach invited you and did not compel you.  Zahl promotes grace not only because it’s biblical, but because it works.

“The letter (the Law) kills but the spirit (Grace) gives life” – 2 Cor 3:6

Zahl doesn’t discount the Law. He describes how we need to allow the law to drive us crazy, so that we come to our senses.  I now see how it is necessary to be killed by the Law before Grace is even an option to consider.  We have to exhaust ourselves in trying to satisfy the Law and finally abandon our efforts and die to it before we turn to Grace.

I won’t go any further in describing Zahl’ work, but here are some quotes & paraphrases.  I hope they will whet your appetite enough to order the book.  Each night in December I could not wait to finish the dishes and find my cozy spot and read.  I felt hope rising:  hope and excitement in being able to offer those whom I love this kind of grace that brings out the best in people.

  • Grace is too good to be true.  It’s totally unfair
  • ‘theological anthropology’-takes in original sin, total depravity and our un-free will, our bondage
  • Marriage needs perpetual absolution.  Husbands have to forgive wives for being women. Women have to forgive their husbands for being men.
  • Everyone needs the same amount of love – 100 % unconditional one-way love
  • For grace to be grace there must not be any conditions, no partial role for me.
  • Grace is listening to another person without bringing the conversation back to you.
  • Grace never tries to fix, but trusts God to do this.  Grace listens
  • Grace in the marriage produces grace with the children

 

 

 

The futility of self-imposed goals

November 21, 2011

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“For freedom Christ has set us free: stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery.”  Gal 5:1

On the surface, this verse argues for a religion that orients on what God has done a priori and not what we have to do a posteriori to earn His favor. (If you’ve been around a Gospel-preaching church, you will have heard at least once that the Father punished the Son for our rebellion & evil deeds and then credited us with the Son’s perfect record of righteous living.)  The Christian religion or practices AFTER this event in history include taking this message to the world and teaching ourselves to walk in light of this ‘fait accompli’.

But as I struggle daily with understanding the Gospel message & power, I realize that I still live in the self-created religion of “Good Day/ Bad Day”.

Have you heard about this religion?  I don’t think I’m the only practitioner.  But I have my version and I would wager that you, fellow believer, have your personalized script.  You and I, we do pretty well at spouting ‘Done, not Do’.  Like you, I am SO BEYOND working my way toward earning God’s approval.  I’ve absorbed Tim Keller, Mike Horton and Tullian Tchividjian’s messages.  It’s not: what would Jesus do, but what has Jesus done.

My version of religion is far more insidious.  Here’s how it works:  I have appointed myself God and have created one religious rule for obtaining salvation/approval/heaven on earth.  This is how it goes:

I am worthy if I meet standard X,Y or Z

How I measure my day, is based on how well I succeed in meeting my standard.

My husband will ask me, “Did you have a good day?” It’s an innocent and loving question, even innocuous on the surface.  But how does one answer it?  It depends on how one defines GOOD!

Here are some possibilities from my life and others. See if you identify.

  • I was able to get the house clean – so it was a good day
  • Not one of the kids threw up, got into an argument, or broke anything – so it was a good day
  • I saw some progress in my projects at work – so it was a good day
  • I knocked off many items from my list – so it was a good day
  • My students were eating out of my hand – so it was a good day
  • I was pain-free – so it was a good day
  • I was complimented by my boss – so it was a good day
  • I stayed on my diet – so it was a good day
  • My kids didn’t annoy me – so it was a good day
  • I had a good night sleep – so it was a good day
  • I felt like I made a difference at work – so it was a good day
  • I got an A on the test – so it was a good day
  • I now have a date for Prom – so it was a good day
  • I paid the bills and there was enough money in the account – so it was a good day
  • I got accepted by a college/ I got offered a job – so it was a good day
  • I didn’t have to wait long to see the doctor – so it was a good day
  • It’s Friday and I made it through the week – so it was a good day
  • I had some time to myself – so it was a good day
  • It rained on the crops – so it was a good day
  • She called/ she didn’t call – so it was a good day
  • He listened to me – so it was a good day
  • I felt worthwhile…loved…. respected by him/ her/ them – so it was a good day

 

What’s wrong with this list, you might be saying?  They are perfectly normal things.  It’s not like we’ve set the standard unrealistically high: winning the lottery or being elected President.

The perversity of it is that we even have a list by which we measure ourselves.  Yes, we have tasks and work to do.  But we are not to evaluate ourselves by how or if we do them.  They should be emotion-free.  And scratch off any evaluative item that has to do with getting people to do something or think something.  That’s MORE than futile – that’s stupid!!! (I’m talking to myself.J)

So what are we to do?  Wrong question!  It’s rather, “how are we to order our thinking?”  By remembering, repenting and asking for Holy Spirit help to SUPER-GLUE our minds on the Truth.  Here are the 3 biggies that make up the basic Truth

  • God & Jesus & the HS planned and carried out a rescue mission, saving us from the futile way we were living.  You & I have immeasurable worth in view of the trouble the Trinity went to save us.
  • We have enough supernatural power in us as new creations (courtesy of our permanent resident, the Holy Spirit) to accomplish what God wants us to do.
  • We have a certain and eternal future which far outweighs the suffering and disappointment we all face every day, every week and every year of our lives.

So what should be our goal? What benchmark do we set for ourselves so we know how to measure whether it’s been a good day, a good year, and a good life?  If money, achievement, personal or relational goals are taken away, what is left?

“Therefore, (in view of all that awaits us and all that God has done) we have as our ambition….to be pleasing to Him” 2 Cor 5: 9

That’s it!  And if we fail today, we repent and start over tomorrow, confident that our falling short doesn’t affect our true security. When we succeed, we thank Him for his grace that enabled us to please Him this day.  This Christ-purchased freedom leaves no room for shame, pride, frustration or anger.

There is one other benefit to this re-ordered way of thinking and self-evaluation.  Since we’re no longer our own god with our own self-imposed standard of righteousness, we are not even tempted to impose on others OUR rules for correct behavior.  Think of the angst we endure when we add ‘judge of those around me’ to our job description.  These co-workers, fellow drivers, family members and friends might not even aware of the game we are playing.   Yet we judge them and feel superior.

The prison door is not locked. Come on out and breathe the fresh air of freedom. “For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And the ransom he paid was not mere gold or silver.” 1 Pet 1:18

 

PS:  If you’re wondering how we are to please the Lord, ask the Lord to show you in your reading of His word.  I’m starting with just taking Him at His Word, believing what He says and resting in that.

 

 

 

My two pillars

October 30, 2011

Maria 1 John, 2 Corinthians, Colossians , , , Leave a comment

See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! 1 John 3:1

Our principal’s husband spoke at chapel on Friday.  He engaged the students (12-18 year olds) by first painting a picture of his uncomfortable high-school years.  I’m sure some of them can identify with feeling shy and wanting to belong to some group, any group!  John, today a high-energy extraverted salesman, found a home in high school among the drama kids.

Toward the end of his talk, which dealt with the life-long struggle with sin, he mentioned that taking the Gospel into painful situations is the key to the temptations of sin.  He offered a scenario sure to resonate with teens: enduring conflict and difficult conversation with one’s parents.  As I sat in the audience, I waited for him to explain exactly how one ‘takes’ the Gospel into problems.

All of a sudden I got it!  Being a child of God MEANS we have a lot to look forward to that is 100 % certain. Our status and our inheritance are guaranteed by Jesus’ covenantal shed blood.  Knowing that our future is going to be full of pleasure & joy, we can endure more easily life’s frequent bouts of ‘affliction, disappointment, hardship, inconvenience and pressure’ (Romans 5: 3).

This faith in future grace reminds me of a Tim Keller story (Pastor, Redeemer Church in NYC). Two men were hired to muck out a stable for a time-certain period.  The contract with one was for a paltry sum of money.  The contract with the other was for a million dollars.  Same dirty, smelly work but different future rewards.  The one griped, the other whistled.  What made the difference?  The knowledge of what was waiting for each.

That thought prompted my mind to slip over to 2 verses that I’ve memorized, my new twin pillars to keep me steady in the midst of ever-changing circumstances:

–Christ in you, the hope of glory, Col 1:27…..(Christ in ME, the assurance of future joy, pleasure, satisfaction, love, celebration, peace….)

–But our light and momentary afflictions are achieving an eternal weight, an abundance of glory that far outweighs them all,  2 Cor 4:17…..(Yes, each day brings pain and uncertainty.  That’s the nature of living in a fallen world.  But God’s word assures me that there is a purpose and a payoff for the trials…).

These verses are just 2 of many promises meant to sustain us, to support us, to keep us from falling down under tribulation.

I think that is what John Lane meant by ‘taking the Gospel’ with you when you face trials.

Again, it’s what you know that makes all the difference.

Our Father, remind us what it means to love you with all our mind and give us the will and strength to do so.  Amen

Do versus Know

October 24, 2011

Maria 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, 2 Peter, Gospel , Leave a comment

Did you know that Christianity is different from every other faith ‘expression’ in the universe?  When I was in Toronto, I dialogued a bit with the assistant wedding photographer who was a Muslim.  He echoed the same assertion as my young Muslim pharmacist at Kroger:  “Judaism, Christianity and Islam are all basically the same.”

(That’s an easy assertion to counter – just ask them who Jesus is.  Jews admit Jesus was a teacher of the law.  Muslims claim that he was a prophet.  But divine Son of God?  No way!)

But for the purposes of this blog post, I want to share what gets at the heart of the main difference.

Here’s a general statement that I believe holds true.  Most religions teach you what you have to DO in order to obtain X, Y, or Z.  Christianity is NOT focused on what we do, but what we must KNOW.  Out of correct knowledge of reality, we can then do the right things.  But these ‘right actions’ are not directed at getting anything, earning anything, manipulating anyone.

Here’s what I mean.  Both the Greek and Hebrew words for the verb ‘to know’ are pivotal.  Look at some of these texts.

Paul:  Philippians 3:8 “ ….I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of KNOWING Christ Jesus my Lord.”

Paul:  1 Cor 2:14  “For I determined to KNOW nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.”

Paul: 2 Cor 2:14 “But thanks be to God, who always leads us in His triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the KNOWLEDGE of Him in every place

Paul: 2 Cor 4: 6b-7 “ For God….has shone in our hearts to give the light of the KNOWLEDGE of the glory of God in the face of Christ.  For we have THIS TREASURE (what else, but the preceding KNOWLEDGE) in earthen vessels (remember? our original dad, Adam, was made of clay dustJ)

Peter: 2 Peter 3: 3-4  “His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our KNOWLEDGE of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises (we have to KNOW them to derive power), so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires” (what we know changes our desires!)

Habbakuk 2:14 “For the earth will be filled with the KNOWLEDGE of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea”

We are all wired to want to DO and to EARN the goodies of life.  Jesus teaches that having the correct information and then resting on, banking on, savoring and  loving that information, that good news (‘gospel’) above all else is the key.  When his Jewish followers tried to pin him down (what do we have to do to get the ‘A’?) he answered in John 6:29, “This is the work of God, that you BELIEVE in Him whom He has sent”

He didn’t say, “This is the work of God, that you DO”.

Listening to Brad Evangelista (Crosspointe Church, Columbus, GA) and reading a John Piper essay (Desiring God ministries) today left me with the same message.  What we DO, the works we perform, our behavior all come out of WHO we are.  Brad was talking about coaching youth football and challenging the youngsters to play like who they are, Broncos!  John Piper was doing the same.  Since we are recipients (undeserving) of God’s glorious mercy, live like an amazed child of God who has untold treasures awaiting her.

To close, I want to share with you an anecdote expressing the same point that first we have to KNOW who we are, before we can ACT correctly or DO the right thing as fragrant ambassadors of Christ.  I was listening to the story of a woman who had escaped the lies of Mormonism.  When asked what was attractive about the Mormon life, she said it was the knowledge that she would one day be a goddess on her own planet.  She wore a necklace or bracelet with a pendant that was a promise of that, given to her when she was baptized as a Mormon convert. That knowledge made her feel special every day.  (Then came the day when she learned how false the teachings of Mormonism were and she left.)

Shouldn’t knowing the truth make the difference in our day-to-day life?  The best antidote to blah-ness is to feast on Christ. Then we can sincerely exclaim with Paul (Romans 11:33) – “Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and KNOWLEDGE of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!”

What’s a grape to do?

July 28, 2011

Maria 2 Corinthians, Doctrine, Galatians, Grace, John, Luke , Leave a comment

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Galatians 5:22-23a

For every tree is known by its fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns; nor from a bramble bush do they gather the grape. Luke 6:44

I am the Vine, you are the branches. When you’re joined with me and I with you, the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant. Separated, you can’t produce a thing. John 15:5 (the Message)

So how do you grow, if you are a piece of fruit? I’ve bounced back and forth between thinking that to grow fruit, you have to work at it:  you know, the whole sanctification process.  Sure God is the one who regenerated me, but now it’s up to me to lead the life of a disciple.  That means I have to work at and make a conscious effort to read my Bible, do acts of unselfish charity for those around me, sign up for committees at church ( no matter my interest ), all in hopes of becoming more Christ-like.  However, once in a while, I catch a whiff of a much easier way, the way of simply resting in what God has done through Jesus on the cross.  After all, fruit doesn’t do anything but simply sprout and hang onto the branch.  Almost convinced, I’ll start to think about how joyous and liberating that would be, if it were true.  That would TRULY be good news.

But then I’ll hear a sermon, or spot the title of a new book or read something about a super-duper Christian and I’ll go back to thinking: ‘No, it can’t be that easy. It’s all about self-denial, picking up my cross and leading a painful life.’

Fortunately, there are two facts that keep me coming back to the notion of rest and NOT having to do anything.  First of all, there is the nature of fruit.  Fruit is a by-product of a healthy tree.  Fruit sprouts automatically.  Jesus, himself, gives his disciples a Botany 101 lesson. Picture this scene as the guys are walking across the countryside:

**

Jesus:  Hey, fellows, look at these olives, what kind of tree do you think this is?

Precocious Peter:  could it be….an olive tree?

Jesus:  Spot on!  Wow.  How about these pinecones?   Where did they come from?

Tentative Thomas: maybe a pine tree?

Jesus:  Bingo! and they said you guys were just dumb fishermen! 

Eager Matthew:  Jesus, remember those rotten figs back in Jerusalem?  What about them?

Scornful Judas:  that’s easy, Dufus!  They’re rotten because the tree is dying.  It’s too close to the Temple Outhouse…..

**

It’s obvious; fruit doesn’t do anything but stay connected to the vital, sap-rich, nutrient-providing tree.  Given the right food and weather and protection from pesky bugs, the tree will grow and do what trees do naturally, sprout fruit.

Even Jesus found it axiomatic (i.e. – you don’t have to prove it) that good trees produce (after their own kind) good fruit.

The second argument for choosing the simple yet liberating concept of just hanging onto the branch comes from Jesus’ response to a crowd.  Recall a lengthy and difficult teaching by Jesus to the ‘always hungry’ 5000.  It’s the day after the miraculous fish and loves meal and the curious want more food.  Jesus advices them not to work for food that will be quickly eaten and digested, leaving them still hungry.  So they ask the reasonable follow-on question, “Well, if we can’t count on you to feed us like yesterday and if we don’t work to support ourselves in the traditional way, what kind of work are you talking about, Mr. Spiritual?”

Jesus stunningly shoots back in John 6:29, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”

That’s it?  That sounds so simple, too minimalist and easy.  But the more I understand God’s grace and His good gifts and all that Jesus has DONE; I believe THIS is exactly what God calls us to do!  Just believe.  “Well, well, what about good works?  Where do they fit in?” you might be sputtering.

It’s a good question.  The Christian life DOES involve good works, just like trees produce fruit.  But look at the role of the fruit and the trees.  The fruit naturally appears and grows, just by hanging on and having the ‘good fortune’ to be part of a healthy tree.

If you believe the TRUE biblical Jesus (not the Jesus you make up), trust Him, cling to Him, and absorb the truths He teaches from Genesis to Revelation, then you will grow naturally.  And if God wants you to be a grape that ends up in Kellogg’s Raisin Bran or a grape that floats and sloshes around with other fermented grapes in a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon, that is up to God.

Experientially, I know this is true.  I am not someone who has set out to DO Christian works.  I have followed my passions as they have grown naturally from being fed good food (true Bible teaching).  Remember making those pencil marks on a doorframe, measuring your growth as a child?  When you look back, you can see the proof of your change in height.  Yet all along, you probably were unaware of the lengthening of your skeletal structure. So it is in the Christian journey.  Fifteen years ago, I met a fellow mom who struck me as one of those ‘goody-two-shoes Christian ladies’, totally unlike me and certainly not someone I aspired to copy.  Then I joined Bible Study Fellowship (BSF) and started to study the Bible for the first time.  One day, with a start, I realized that God had changed me.  I no longer found this gal off-putting.   We were actually pretty similar.  It was I who had been transformed, all due to that Jesus life-sap I was soaking up as a connected piece of fruit.

Recently, I have spotted another change in me, one that is very encouraging.  I did nothing to work on it, no new DISCIPLINED habit .  Six months ago I read a book about initiating Gospel conversations with people one encounters naturally throughout the day.  My first reaction was how selfish I am STILL.  Unlike the author, I had no desire to make my day be about looking for opportunities to talk to people about ultimate, eternal matters.  After all, my day is about how much time I can cull for Maria to listen to podcasts, read books and exercise.

But thanks be to God who changes our desires.  I wrote last week about Caitlin, my student from school.  She is the teen who has taken up the challenge from this same book and has been initiating conversations with Wal-Mart clerks and gas station cashiers.  I was shamed into actually taking the plunge out of my comfort zone.  Astonishingly, I have been having fun!  This is evidence that I am not the same Maria.  But why should I be surprised?  Paul tells the Corinthians that once they have been regenerated, they have an entirely new nature.

Bottom line – the Gospel continues to be great news.  Just hang on to the right branch and soak in His word and let God do His gardening thing.  He has already done the hard part of grafting you into the right tree: the rest will follow.

An Antidote to Worry

July 3, 2011

Maria 2 Corinthians, Matthew, Peace, Philippians , , , 4 Comments

I’m pushing back to next week, my part 2 of Gospel blessings because a besetting sin has been demanding my attention.

I confess, I have fallen back into worry and self-recriminations about how much I weigh and how hard it is to get and stay slim.  What has prompted this reoccurring grief I give myself?  We’re back from vacation!!!   Mike and I explored the Appalachian hills of Tennessee and visited our kids in Kentucky for almost two weeks.  But we were NOT lumps who let ourselves ‘go’.  We walked/ hiked between ONE and FOUR hours a day. And our meals were relatively routine in quality and quantity.  Yet I gained weight; hence, my misery.  But every problem from God is also a doorway into spiritual growth and ultimately a gift.

God’s word is first a mirror to our error and then a light to the correct path.  Last week while worshiping with Wes and Anne at their Baptist church, the minister read a verse I had never seen before:  But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.

This word ‘simplicity’ is HAPLOTES (SG 572) in the Greek.  It means being single-minded, mentally honest, free from hypocrisy (espousing one way to live, living another way).  All of a sudden, I FELT free.  The fragrant and freeing idea of ‘all I have to do, is be devoted to Christ – no other cause, agenda, goal, purpose, plan’ settled gently into my spirit.  I realized that I had heard this before.  God is amazingly consistent in His instruction to us.  Consider other verses about the one thing:

  • There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her. – Luke 10:42 (NLT)
  • Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness…..- Matt 6:33
  • No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and will love the other….Math 6:24

Then the other day, back at home in my routine, stewing in the 3 pound gain, the Holy Spirit reminded me about the sin of worry.  I was moseying around in Matthew 6 again and came across the very familiar command in verse 31:  “Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?‘

My first thought was, is it that simple?  Just don’t worry?  How can that be?  What will I do?  What will I eat?  What if I cannot get off these 3 vacation pounds and then the OTHER 3 pounds I still need to lose (I know, I’m pathetic – but God uses ALL of our junk). How can I just NOT think about all this?  Who will think about it if I don’t?  My riposte to God echoed some atheists’ responses to the Gospel offer of grace, “It’s too good to be true” or, “It can’t be that simple”   My protestations were stopped.

So I did what I always do when I want to know more, I looked up the specific Greek words for ‘worry’.  The verb is MERIMNAO (SG 3308) which means to have one’s thoughts or interests divided.  When we think about a situation beyond the requisite time it takes to cast that little bugger into God’s big lap, we are dividing our thoughts, our minds, and our energies.  In sum, we are sinning. That brought me right back to HAPLOTES – the simplicity of being devoted just to Jesus!

So how am I applying these two verbs to my life?  I’m helping myself to the tool/gift of repentance.  I realize that I am NOT to stew about what I am to eat or do about my body.  In Philippians Paul uses this verb – MERINMNO – in the familiar ‘Don’t be anxious..but pray…’(Phil 4:6) command.  So I am allowing myself to pray once in the morning and to think about my concern ONLY then, as I hand it over to God.  Then when my mind starts to go THERE again, during the day, I repent of my disobedient, wayward thought and ask the Holy Spirit to help me return to being single-mindedly devoted to the ONE THING, Christ, my Lord.

I know you might not identify with my double-minded exhausting mental gymnastics about food and bodies, but this need to train and subdue our minds is basic for any Christian who desires to obey God and have his or her mind renovated. It seems that we all need LOTS of repetition of the same lessons, different flavors.  Thank you, Lord, that you are a patient teacher.

 

 

 

 

 

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