Underneath support – a thought for the New Year

December 30, 2011

Maria Colossians, Hebrews, Hope, Peace , , Leave a comment

I’m 54 and have been alive since I was 24.  It was in February of 1982 when God ‘rescued me from the dominion of darkness and transferred me into the kingdom of the Son He loves’. (Col 1:13) When you hear ‘rescue’, think plucked out. When you hear ‘transferred’, think of change in location.

I began to sprout & grow in direct proportion to the food I took in (Bible reading and study), but then the Enemy launched a full-scale frontal attack.  The first wave was the very big distraction of a multi-level marketing business that my husband’s boss offered us.  We were flattered that an older adult would ‘think so highly of us’.  Our goals changed and we followed the lure of easy money for about 7 years.  Our spiritual life went dormant. Further attacks followed with job struggles and marriage problems.

Then the aroma of life beckoned and little by little we awoke to the fact, THE FACT, that we were still alive.  But it wasn’t until we started to eat again (take in God’s word through Bible study, books on doctrine, podcast sermons and eventually meals from a Biblical church) that we really grew and started to heal. Looking back over the past 30 years, here is what I see as a bottom-line lesson.

Just like physical nourishment, aka Food is typically spaced out in 3 meals and a snack or 2 per day, so daily Biblical nourishment is a no-brainer.

But what I am finding is that a habitual quiet time (whether mid-morning, after supper, or either one of the dark book ends of the day) requires supplementation. Useful to me has been either meditation via scripture memory and/or a summary thought as in: ‘Well, this day might stink, but at least I know …….”

Here is my tri-pod assurance/ ‘insurance’ that I keep running back to throughout the day. Recalling these assurances provide me with on-going sustenance until the next ‘rendezvous’ with God’s Word:

  • My biggest problem in life has been solved: the wrath of God is no longer ON ME.  I have ‘eirene’ or peace with God because of the substitution and swapping of my actual guilt for Jesus’ righteousness.
  • My future is assured: ‘Christ in me, the expectation of Glory’ – I have a place in Heaven being saved and securely kept for me by Jesus – an unlimited life of excitement and adventure and face-to-face intimacy with the amazing Triune God.
  • The God of Jacob is my current, present help: Jacob was not a very nice character:  he was a swindler and a passive husband.  Yet because of God’s covenant with him, God helped, empowered and led him in incredible ways.  He didn’t deserve anything good, yet experienced a ‘more than one can ask or imagine life’.

As a believer, an heir along with my brother Jesus, these 3 facts are true and real.  They are my ballast. They are always there with me.  But the hard part is the decision to shift my thoughts to these truths.  They might be invisible, but they are more real than the transitory circumstances that get one down.

So, my prayer for you is that you find your bottom line, your ‘well, at least…’

Then hold on tight. As the writer to the Hebrews counsels (2:1), “We must pay the most careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.”

Here’s to NOT drifting.  Keep connected to your anchor.  May you grow more in awe and love with Christ in 2012

Why I’m glad Christianity is falsifiable

December 2, 2011

Maria 1 Corinthians, Colossians, Doctrine, Gospel, Hebrews , , 2 Comments

1 Cor 15: 17-19  And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.

 

“What if they found the body of Jesus, how would that affect your faith?” I heard this question the other day.  The man queried knew his Bible and went immediately to Paul’s gospel explanation.  The short of it is that without a risen Christ, Christianity doesn’t exist.

Reflecting on the essence of Christianity made me wonder if the Jews at the time of Jesus really understood the concept of ‘eternal life’ with God and the need to be ‘saved’ from the wrath of God in order to have a forever LOVING relationship with God.

When I sample the many texts in the OT that talk about salvation, I am left with the impression that Jews under the Old Covenant were really talking about being saved or rescued from difficult or perilous circumstances (oppression, danger, illness or poverty).  Yes, there was a moral law (the ten basic Mosaic Laws handed down TWICE by God).  Yes, real guilt or ‘asham’ in Hebrew was acknowledged (hence the Temple guilt offering). Yes, David acknowledged that when he killed Uriah he sinned against God. But many infractions were more community-based. Some were the result of inadvertently hurting a neighbor or his property.  Other deficits came about in day-to-day life, such as  giving birth, completing one’s monthly cycle, or even due to work commitments (such as burial or mold detail).

Hebrew people seem to have judged sin to be serious mainly because it separated them from the community.  OT texts talk about being unclean and thus alienated from fellowship.  Uncleanness didn’t necessarily mean breaking a moral law.  But ritualistic purification/ cleansing sacrificial acts were called for, in order to sanction a return to full communion with the group.

My premise is that 1st century Jews hearing about the New News of God had to be indoctrinated and explicitly taught this new doctrine. To fully understand the seriousness of being under God’s wrath, one needed teaching different from that of the Pharisees and Scribes.

What an extravagant and marvelous solution to the problem of God’s wrath!  We’ve lost our amazement and awe in face of not only a restoration of fellowship with God, but the whole adoption process. The gift of a loving and eventual face-to-face union with a triune God (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) that will last forever?  How is that possible?

The author of Hebrews succinctly articulates this new Covenant in chapter 9, verse 15:  “Christ, the Messiah is the author of an entirely new and different covenant, so that all those who are called and offered it, may received the promised eternal inheritance. For a death has taken place; Jesus has died as a ransom to save us from sins committed under the first or old covenant….”

All the above would have stayed the fantastical imaginings of wistful dreamers had there had been a body.  But thanks be to God!  Jesus’ resurrection is vindication of the false charge of blasphemy.  Technically He was put to death for claiming that He was one and the same as God.  The fact that He didn’t stay dead, that He actually supernaturally rose and appeared to more than 500 of the brothers at the same time as well as to the major apostles is proof positive that He is God, just as He claimed.

Had there been a body, Judaism would have remained the only player.  People would have continued to do bad stuff both morally against God and His creation and technically against the community.  Animals would have continued to die to temporarily fix the problem. Precious little talk of eternal face-to-face fellowship with God as Father would have occurred.

Okay…I know, you’re thinking of how Psalm 16 ends…” in your presence is fullness of joy and at your right hand are pleasures evermore”.  I agree:  if you look for them, there are OT references to eternal life with God.  But I don’t think that doctrine was a clear and present hope.  From everything we read in gospels, temple worship was big business, all about power and money.  The only mystery was the High Priest’s once-a-year high-profile, but hidden, almost Wizard of Oz-like performance behind the veil.

This, dear friends, is what we would be left with IF the dead body of Jesus had been produced. We would be gentile worshippers of Yahweh at best, just as lost as non-worshippers, but perhaps comforted by the ritual.  After all, man is a religious animal.

So the next time you think about what it would take for you to lose your faith, be glad that Christianity is falsifiable in such a clear way.  And then rejoice that Christianity is TRUE.  Jesus, the God-man who walked on earth 2100 years ago, was for real.  He is just as real today.  And we must study our doctrine to know the glorious riches of this mystery: “Christ in you, the assurance of glory”

 

What are we teaching our kids?!

November 16, 2011

Maria Hebrews, John , 2 Comments

“Contrary to what might be expected, I look back on experiences that at the time seemed especially desolating and painful with particular satisfaction. Indeed, I can say with complete truthfulness that everything I have learned in my 75 years in this world, everything that has truly enhanced and enlightened my experience, has been through affliction and not through happiness.” ~Malcolm Muggeridge, in Homemade, July, 1990

 

A good friend of mine, who happens to be my daughter-in-law, mentioned that she is learning that life is hard, marriage is hard and parenting is hard.  Her comments, which definitely resonated with me, caused me to think back to how I was raised.  Since neither of my parents was Christian (although my mom became a believer when I was 16) I grew up without any biblical influence.  Two values, however, were taught:  ‘hard work toward a goal brings rewards most of the time’ and ‘good girls don’t’. How’s that for wisdom!  What was NOT taught: ‘Life’s norm is pain, suffering and hard times, punctuated by joy and delight’.  I learned that gradually.

Why do parents keep Truth from children? After all, the Fall is a fact and Jesus himself suffered.  He taught his followers the folly of thinking their lot would differ from their master’s.

John 15: 20 – “Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also”.

Hebrews 2:18 – “Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.”

  Have parents grown hyper-protective in recent generations? Have they thought shielding their offspring from pain and danger via staged, enriching experiences and tech toys a better way to equip their kids for life? Or what about the limitless choices we hold out to our young people, tempting them with the illusion of scripting and controlling their destiny?  My juniors and seniors at school are overwhelmed with the idea that they could potentially apply to hundreds of colleges.  What if……? How do I find the RIGHT school that will….?

This parental approach to life is not taught in the Bible. In fact, it is assumed that parents will use wisdom to instruct their children.  Peter is blunt as recorded in 1 Pet 4:12-13:

“Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.”

His words point to suffering as part of the warp and woof of life.  Wouldn’t we be helping our children to teach them this reality early on?  No one chooses to suffer, but suffering is part of life.  Maybe this generation would not flee the church if authentic living were modeled.  Instead of shielding kids from disappointment and pain, we could face and work through our own suffering with transparency.  We could then stand with them as they go through their own hurts as youth. 

We could remind them of Jesus, recalling that Jesus chose a course of action that led him through MORE suffering than they or we will ever face.  Of course, Jesus was not a sucker for pain: He had a definite outcome in mind, one that would make the pain worth it. 

Hebrews 12:2 – For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

What was this joy that caused him to face cosmic torture?   Us!!!  To purchase our freedom, He faced the cross.  Two take-aways:

–      We won’t ever suffer as much as Jesus

–      He consider us worth suffering for

So as the French say, ‘Bon courage’!

 

The sin of fear and how to fight it

August 20, 2011

Maria Deuteronomy, Fear, Hebrews, Romans, Sin , , Leave a comment

A young Christian woman I met confided that she had recently lost a baby at 28 weeks and that was after 2 previous miscarriages.  She asked that I pray for God’s help in dealing with her persistent fear that she might lose other precious members of her family:  her 3 yr old daughter or her husband.  My heart lurched when I read her email.  What pain! Imagining what she might be going through made my heart sink.  I could well understand her fear, her drawing back and throwing herself in front of her husband and daughter as a brave ‘warrioress’, shouting:  “No further, Angel of Death!”

John Piper gave a talk at a recent Passion weekend to college students about why we should memorize scripture.  He reminded the audience that the Sword of the Spirit, i.e. God’s Word, is the ONLY offensive weapon we have.  He said that when we talk, announce, declare, shout out God’s promises which are ‘alive and full of power’ (Hebr 4:12) we wage active war against our sin.  And the first sin he mentioned was FEAR.

Fear and its cousin, anxiety, are ever-present enemies.  They are sins because they replace our trust in God.  John Piper who has battled depression and fear throughout his life has a useful acronym.  I shared it with the grieving mom and thought it would help all of us.  It is:  A-P-T-A-T

A – admit you have a need and are helpless, whether it is worry, lack of wisdom, money problems, ANYTHING that you can articulate. Spell out the problem.

P – pray and ask for help from God (remember that we have not because we ask not – James 4:20)

T – trust God that He will provide.  Pick a particular promise and make that your friend.  I googled ‘verses to fight fear’ and found a whole list. Here’s a good one from Deuteronomy 31:6   Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them (i.e. fearful, anxious thoughts); for the LORD your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you.”   When the fear thought pops in to your mind, you can say, “No!! I will not fear.  I WILL be strong and courageous for God is my Lord; He is THE ONE who goes with me.  He will not leave me or forsake me….and…(you can add other truths like – He is Jehovah Sabaoth – Lord of the angel armies)

A – act and do what you have to do, counting on the Holy Spirit to be with you and provide what He has promised.  We have to move out despite the fear.

T – thank God for what He IS doing and has done to slay that sin.

And I would add an R.  APTAT and Re-APTAT…as in, when we succumb to the sin of fear, anxiety, lust, idolatry, self-centeredness (and the list goes on…) that we REPENT and start again.  Even if we have to use this tool multiple times a day, it doesn’t matter.  There is ‘NO (SHAME or) CONDEMNATION for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1).  It’s pure pride to give up and say, “That’s just the way I am, I am a worrier, I am a fearful person, I cannot overcome this sin of ______!”

Let’s put on our boxing gloves, and fight the good fight of faith, using the ONE weapon God has given us, His Holy Word.

If you want to hear the talk by John Piper on God’s word as a weapon and the power of memorizing scripture, here’s the link:

John Piper’s talk

 

The beauty of the sacrament of communion – a new perspective

August 9, 2011

Maria Hebrews, Isaiah, John , 6 Comments

I didn’t know that!!!!

I’m talking about Communion, the Eucharist.

We’ve been members of a reformed Presbyterian church for 2 years, having left a main-line liberal denomination.  In our old church, Communion was always 100 % scripted, out of a printed liturgy. It always felt rote.  It was rote.  I struggled to find meaning, to imbue it with meaning, to do anything to make it more meaningful.  I was totally puzzled when people would remark, ‘unless I’ve had communion, I don’t feel like I’ve been to church’ or ‘communion is the high point of the worship service’.  Struggling to connect with these dear people’s sentiments, I would default to either of two polar reactions:

  1.  Something’s wrong with me, that I don’t  ‘get it’
  2. I’m better than them, because I prefer sermons with good expositional preaching

But Sunday our pastor mentioned something in passing that really caught my attention.  It was one brief sentence that shifted my understanding of communion so that it became beautiful.  I want to explain that transformation and then make an application about why it’s important ‘to explain stuff’ frequently, whether the Gospel or communion (which is the gospel).

Here is what our pastor said:  “God’s forgiveness of you is just as real and tangible as this bread and wine.” (Id est.: “These matzo crackers and this wine or juice – our choice”)

I sat up and said to myself, “this is what Communion is all about?  It is a reminder of the fact that God has forgiven us via Jesus’ death?”  Suddenly all the centuries of Israelite sacrifices that offered only temporary forgiveness made sense.  But the old covenant could carry them only so far. (‘The Law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming..” Hebr 10:1) The beauty of the ‘new’ covenant is that Jesus sacrificed himself one time..and it’s totally effective and efficient for us who are members of the covenant.  The bread is the material reminder of his body punished and tortured for us.

But the wine – now that is something complex and marvelous!!  It’s a double symbol – one of blood spilt during Christ’s work securing us eternal forgiveness and one of something festive.  To this end, the wine points to the promise of  a party that will be unbelievable, a heavenly banquet.

Adam Powers who writes the blog Pleasing Pain once described Jesus’ first miracle at Cana as a sign to those well-versed in prophets: Quantity & Quality – John 2:6-10.  Excellent wine would be the herald of the Messiah’s arrival.  He quotes the prophet Amos promising dripping, sweet wine.  Isaiah echoes the festive theme.

On this mountain the LORD Almighty will prepare
a feast of rich food for all peoples,
a banquet of aged wine—
the best of meats and the finest of wines.  Isaiah 25: 6

So during Communion, we get to share in a tangible reminder of what awaits us.  It’s a reminder of the wedding feast to which we have been invited as belonging to the bride.

Now here’s my application: In that one sentence of amplification from our pastor I saw how much I need to be instructed EVERY time we have communion. Just like I need to hear and learn about the gospel every day.  I hardly grasp the magnitude of the gospel, this amazing good news.  So I need my pastor to come at it a bit differently each time.  This is why clear and creative analogies help.

Once in our old denomination, it was the latest thing to do an ‘instructed Eucharist’ once a year for one’s congregation. That was definitely a move in the right direction.  More effective, however, is the drip method combined with an element of novelty.  I do appreciate our pastor’s thoughtful efforts to help us stay enthralled with God.  How beautiful is this gift of permanent forgiveness. I want to see over and over again what God has done for me by submitting to the cross.

And can you even take it all in?  That historical event outside of Jerusalem which secured our forever-forgiveness is also a party invitation!   I’m telling you, I need this kind of instruction EVERY week. Once a year is not enough!  I praise God for Bible-centered worship.

Forgiveness and freedom from guilt

June 22, 2011

Maria Forgiveness, Guilt, Hebrews, Psalm 103 , , Leave a comment

The other day I saw a distinction that was new to me.  The word ‘to forgive’ and the French word ‘pardonner’ both have the root or meaning to GIVE (French – donner, like donate).  God gives us a way back to a restored, right relationship with Him after we have violated one of His laws.  It’s 100 % from Him. We do nothing on our own.  Contrariwise, the sacrificial system of the Hebrews was built on the action of the sinner.  You broke God’s law, YOU gave up a valuable, unblemished part of your wealth & sustenance (livestock) and your relationship with God was restored.

Therefore, when God says in the letter to the Hebrews in Chapter 10, “….’their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more’.  And when these have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for sin. Therefore brothers, since we have confidence to enter the most holy place by the blood of Jesus (17-19)….having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience (22b)…”

What does this have to do with how you and I live and what we do with our sin?  If you and I are in Christ, that is, if we are part of those called and offered “….the promised eternal inheritance – now that he(Christ) has died as a ransom to set (us)  free from the sins committed under the first covenant” (Hebr 9:15), then there is nothing left for us to DO.

If we were still under the rules of the Mosaic Covenant, we would have to give up goods and perform sacrifices to cover our sins.  But now, as members of the new covenant, we exercise the privilege of heirs. We still sin, but we claim the covering effect of the paid ransom.  More meaningful to me is the freedom from guilt.

If we accept as FACT what God’s word says, then per verse 22b in Hebrews 10, we have been cleansed from a guilty conscience.  When did that happen?  When the Son was killed as a ransom to set us free from the penalty of all our sins (past, present and future) guilt was also removed.

So how does this work out?  My struggle with guilt comes more often from not living up to my standards for myself.  Over the years, I have come more and more to bring those standards in line with God’s law.  When I overeat, when I break a confidence, when I say something negative about another family member or brother and sister in Christ, when I choose to be selfish instead of following the prompting of the Holy Spirit, I feel guilty.  And I can wallow in guilt which turns me in on myself, away from God, away from others.  But face to face with the truth that my guilt has been removed, it is getting easier to talk to myself and say,

“Maria, you don’t have to stew in guilty feelings.  They are not necessary.  Guilt has been removed. So stop it!  Remember, there is NOW NO condemnation from God because I am an heir of the eternal inheritance along with my older brother Jesus. In fact He suffered so I don’t have to feel guilty.  Are you saying, by wallowing in your self-indulgent guilt, that it wasn’t ENOUGH for your older brother Jesus, son of the Living God, to willingly be punished for you, for THIS sin?”

I do listen to myself.  And the other day, it only took about 2 hours of stewing and self-talk for me to release myself from the prison of artificial guilt.

How about you?  Are you ignoring such a great benefit?  “Oh bless the Lord, O my soul and forget not all His benefits, He forgives all your sins!” (Psalm 103: 1a, 2-3a)

 

Freedom that comes with Grace

April 9, 2011

Maria Grace, Hebrews, John Leave a comment

I just learned that the Greek word to justify (phonetically: dik-ah-yo, # 1344) also means to free, to declare righteous.  Since as a Calvinist I believe that we are saved only by grace, grace is always on my mind.   And recently books, blogs and sermons on living or walking by grace have converged to grab my attention.  If repetition is the key to effective education, then I have absorbed the message. Apparently, this message could not have come at a better time: “Needs rescuing!” has been my epithet.

Like most Christians, I grew up in a legalistic culture, both in the church and in society.  “Be a good girl,” has been the life-sucking, pride-producing shackle that I have willingly worn.

What a ‘good girl’ looks like depends on the culture one is in.  In civic society, one is considered ‘good’ if one pursues education, works out, keeps up the yard, volunteers, etc.  In evangelical circles, one is considered a ‘good’ Christian if one has a quiet time and family devotions, goes on mission trips, serves at church, and raises conforming and polite children.  All these are ‘good’ things, but the danger to Christians is similar to that faced by Odysseus as he navigated the perilous and narrow strait between the Scylla and the Charybdis.

If we walk the path of Law (following the rules in order to earn Christian ‘brownie points’) one of two consequences will ensue.  Either we fail to meet the standards,  condemn ourselves and suffer disapproval from others.  Or, we believe we have succeeded in our own strength, take the glory and revel in our accomplishments.  There you have it: Draining condemnation or prideful strutting (however sophisticated & subtle)

There is a better way.  Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life”. (John 14:6)   Jesus’ way is the way of freedom.  When we accept the Creator’s assessment that we are sick (totally depraved with a long legal rap that qualifies us for God’s wrath) and turn and embrace the medicine offered (mercy) we are set free by God.  In exchange for trusting both God’s diagnosis and remedy, Jesus pays off our penalty and credits us with his perfect righteousness.

In addition to this priceless gift, we are given the supernatural, powerful Holy Spirit both as a deposit guaranteeing our future inheritance (perpetual pleasure at the right hand of God) and also as power for living in the flesh.

It works like this.  Jesus said He did not abolish the Law when He gave us the new covenant.  Instead, He sent a helper, God himself.  As new creations bonded and fused with supernatural Holy Spirit power, we CAN obey the law. But something is different.  We no longer strive for obedience to win God’s favor and love.  We already have it (Jesus’ death proves it – when we were still failing at law-keeping, He died for us – Romans 5:8).  Tullian Tchividjian likens it to being assured by the teacher that you have the A before the class even starts. The teacher gives you a helper to get all the work done.  And with this helper’s presence and guidance, you are guaranteed the A. That’s a promise.  So why struggle on your own?

Foolishly we forget.  Paul chastises the Galatians and asks with genuine astonishment why they would want to revert back to their own power once they have been rescued from the futile illusion of self-dependence, autonomy.  After all, if we are saved by grace (the bigger miracle), why shouldn’t we walk/live by grace? (the lesser miracle)

There you have it: acceptance, freedom and power.  But where does the Law fit in? God gives us the law as a wise way to live, to please Him.  But He also gives us the Holy Spirit to enable us to do what pleases Him.  We get His praise for pleasing Him and He gets the glory for enabling us to do so.  It’s a win-win system and much easier.  We know where we stand – basking with love and acceptance from our Father in the inner circle of the throne.   We are totally loved and totally secure.  Out of love, and with Holy Spirit enablement, we then aim to please Him, knowing that we cannot fail.

What’s the hitch, ‘le hic’ as they say in French?  It’s that every hour we forget about grace.  Our default setting is works.  We have to remember what Christ has done for us.  This is where good Christian friends can help.  The author of Hebrews exhorts us, “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds” (Hebr 10:24).  The best deed is to point our friends to the Cross.  Jesus said, “It is finished”. Revel in and comfort yourself with the fact that all the work has been done.  Look to the cross and be free from both the condemnation and the boasting that result from living by the flesh.

The Scarlet Letter

March 9, 2011

Maria Hebrews, Rest , , 4 Comments

‘You are/ it is’ precede ‘you should/ it is necessary that…’  A basic understanding of grammar comes in handy.  In the Christian world, God tells us facts before he commands us to obey him.  He tells us what IS (his character, his accomplishments, his power, his plans and goals) before he tells us what to DO.

When we fall into the sin of legalism, it’s because we’ve harnessed the proverbial cart before the horse, i.e., the imperative (do this) before the indicative (what is).

Here’s how using the indicative can help in our own lives. My thesis is that unless we keep telling ourselves Truth, then we fall victim to feelings which can lead us around by the nose.  Imagine you’re in the car, impatient to get home when someone cuts you off.  If you’re like me, you’re likely to criticize that other driver and think the worst about him.  But if you knew an indicative, a fact, your feelings would likely change.  What if you knew that in that car was a young husband desperately speeding to get his very pregnant wife to the hospital.  Imagine her in labor, in pain and him feeling helpless and mindful of only one thing, his precious wife. Would that change how you feel about him cutting you off?  Of course!  You would offer him some slack.  More information changes your assessment, hence the conclusion you draw and feed yourself, hence your feelings.

This example came to mind the other day when I was meditating on Hebrews.  In chapter 10, the author says that if the people knew that one sacrifice would wipe out their sins once and for all, they would no longer feel guilty for those sins. (Hebr 10: 2b ….for the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins.) That verse caused me to realize that I am not supposed to feel guilty for sins already forgiven.  The information that a sacrifice not only cleanses me, but takes away the guilt was new information.  And Jesus performed the one and only necessary sacrifice for sins AND for guilt.  When I still feel guilty after having been forgiven, I am forgetting a fact, an indicative.  Reminding myself of the fact that my guilt is taken away MAKES me feel differently.

The current message I’m receiving from the Bible and from sermons by RC Sproul and Tullian Tchividjian is how important the gospel message is to believers.  We need a steady daily diet of Gospel indicatives.  Our minds and hearts need to be saturated by the radical and scarcely-proclaimed message (one that is NOT intuitive, nor picked up by osmosis) of God’s grace and love. Culture daily bombards us with all the stuff we should do.  Guilt comes naturally in our culture.

I was brought to tears the other day listening to Tullian talk about the wonderful news of God’s grace.  He was illustrating it with an example of a student so stressed out by a high school honors class that she can’t perform.  In response the wise teacher guarantees her an A for the semester.   This A is contingent on NOTHING the student does, just on the kindness of the teacher.  From our perspective, this is an outrageous risk.  What if the student takes advantage of the ‘pre-destined A’?  Apparently that is a risk the teacher is willing to take.  In this real-life illustration, the high-school junior ended up relaxing and working hard and probably earning the A.  But she worked with peace of mind.

So too, we, have been given this ‘Scarlet Letter’, this predetermined grade of A, purchased in blood by Jesus.  It is a total gift.  We don’t have to do anything to earn it.  Furthermore, God won’t take it away from those he has given it to.  We can relax and learn from him.  We can trust this yoke, that it is easy.  Yet we chafe.  We would rather FEEL WORTHY.  Why is that?  Pernicious pride!  It offends us to have our opportunity  to earn WORTH taken away from us.  Somehow intrinsic value (totally up to God) doesn’t satisfy us.  This twisted thinking needs to be redeemed.  Only the daily drip method of life-giving Gospel truth can transform our minds.

The next time I start manufacturing pressure for myself, I need to pause and reflect.  Why am I feeling anxious?  What truth, fact, promise, and info about God do I need to remember?  What false conclusion am I drawing?  What am I trying to DO out of guilt or out of the idea that THIS is how ‘good’ Christians should act?  It is great news that I don’t have to DO anything.  I just have to ‘abide’ in Christ.  That means:  stay connected, keep my eyes on him, feed on him, hang out with him, be the Mary at his feet, rather than the Martha trying to get Jesus on her side against the ‘lazy ones’.

I want to wear this Scarlet Letter with pride!

A theology of Nos

March 1, 2011

Maria Hebrews, James, Prayer Leave a comment

The fervent prayers of a righteous woman make a lot of power available (James 5:16 – my version of the amplified)

Do all your prayers to God get answered?  How many Yeses have you had?  How many NOs?  How do you measure and track the results?  Recently a significant NO made me stop and think about my tally.

-God has given me many Yeses, many I have taken for granted

-The NOs actually teach me more because they cause me to pause, think and pray all the more.  The NOs teach me about God and about myself.  I want to talk about 3 NOs and 2 Yeses.

Ten days ago God closed a door.  I had been praying boldly in faith that not only would Mike secure an interview, but he would be chosen for a certain local civil service job.  The first cut was not a problem, but 3 weeks later he saw that he was a ‘non-select’.  Not being called for the interview hurt!  By our reckoning, he was imminently qualified.

This NO got me thinking about other NOs.  In the past 23 years, I can only recall 2 significant ones.  I’m sure there have been others, but they have faded from my memory.   More significant are the multitude of Yeses – hundreds of them: yeses to big prayers, to little prayers, to quick prayers and to long-term prayers. In fact just yesterday, a major YES came through, that is: safety and success for Wes in his Ranger course.

So what have I learned from the NOs? :  That I’m not in charge, that God truly does know best, that He has my best interests at heart, and that God has his reasons whether we know them or not.  Not bad lessons.

Our first NO was a response to another prayer about a job.  We wanted to stay in Germany where we were living in1983.  Doors shut and the fish weren’t biting, so we moved back to the States near where my parents were living.  My mom dropped dead, without a warning, 1 ½ years later.  In hindsight I saw the blessing to me and to our boys of that time with my mom.  Had we stayed in Europe (my heart’s desire) we would have been the poorer.

The other NO came as an answer to a fervent daily prayer that Wes and I offered on behalf of his friend who had applied to West Point as well.  Asthma blocked this boy’s admission and no waiver was forthcoming.   Frankly, I was shocked that God didn’t grant the waiver.  I truly thought that if we prayed in faith we could……what? …manipulate God?  I guess so!  That was a reality check.  God doesn’t always do what I think is best.

On the other hand, here are two Yeses that have been cooking for a long time.  I don’t think I really believed that God would answer them, (prayers wrapped in agnosticism).

Since I was 16 (I am now 53) I have struggled with eating issues. First there was bulimia…that God miraculously removed from my repertoire of destructive actions.  But since that deliverance at age 25, I have still struggled, prayed and cried about my body, obsessing over all things food and body.  Now, however, in the past 3 months, God has given me a way to eat and to maintain my weight without obsessing.  I am amazed.  He really DOES answer long-term prayers.

The other long-term prayer has to do with professional skill.  I switched to a completely different method of teaching French 8 ½ years ago.  It has been VERY difficult, because it is a skill that requires thinking on one’s feet and depending on the energy of the students, similar to an ‘Improv’ artist and his audience.  My husband has prayed along side of me, encouraging me with lots of love as he did when I was bulimic.  And again, in the past 3 months, I have popped out above the clouds and the skills have jelled. My confidence and delight in teaching this way have rapidly grown.  An unexpected answer to prayer, it alighted on my shoulder almost unnoticed at first.

In conclusion, here is what I have learned from the NOs and the Yeses.  I am ‘owning’ the command to “pray always”, being watchful and thankful.  As I pray, I totally FEEL that I can trust God to answer the prayers as He sees fit.  He knows all the circumstances and is immensely creative and patient. And I do not grow in prayer only through my own experiences, as if in a vacuum.  Answers to my own prayers are not alone in spurring me on.  Each time another brother and sister in Christ bids me pray for a need and then shares their rocky journey toward the answer (whether a No or a Yes) I am encouraged. For I am reminded that God IS listening and He DOES care.   That is the blessing gained from belonging to the body of Christ and being transparent and unashamed.

“Let us continue to spur one another to love and good deeds (PRAYER), not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another and all the more as you see the day approaching” Heb 10: 24-25

 

When faith is feeble

February 21, 2011

Maria 1 Peter, Ephesians, Faith, Hebrews , , Leave a comment

It’s not your faith! And that is good news.  If it were, then you might have cause to worry.  For if faith were all up to you, it might not be enough for the job.  We live as though we are the ones who have to generate our faith.  We fret and deconstruct his words, when Jesus claims that all we need is a tiny bit of faith, no more than a miniscule mustard seed.

Here is why we don’t have to worry.  Who or what is the source of your faith?  Certainly not you.  You don’t have to muster up faith and hope that it is enough.  You didn’t have any to begin with.  If you or I have saving faith in any amount, it is because we have been given it.  Consider the following texts:

  • Ephesians 2: 8-9  For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.
  • Hebrews 12: 2 …let us “…fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith…”
  • And a long passage from 1 Peter 1:  …we are
    “protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last times. In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while,  if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials,  so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at )the revelation of Jesus Christ;”

I read this passage the other day and was astonished by what God revealed after a 2nd glance.  At first I panicked, “I don’t think I can be truly protected by God, because my faith is weak”.  But then the Holy Spirit reminded me that I am not the source or creator or originator of my faith.  If I have any faith in God it is because it has been given to me.  And God says that whatever size his gift of faith is, it is enough.  The trials Peter refers to are not to make me look bad, but to prove TO ME, that this blessing of faith is not only adequate and reliable but sufficient as well for whatever life throws at me.

Now when we go back and look at all the texts which talk about faith, we see it in a different light:  ‘the righteous shall live by faith”.  Who is that verse talking about?   It is those who have been awakened from the dead (i.e. born again), thanks to God. Once they have been enabled to see, they then realize, and with eyes wide open, the choices of life and death before them. They gratefully accept the gift of both a clean slate and imputed righteousness as well as a storehouse of faith.  They can NOW live by this faith that God has put into them.  So it is the born again (aka the ‘righteous’), who live by faith: faith in God’s character, in his past actions and in his future promises.  They don’t look to their abilities, gifting and experience.

Now we we can surrender the lament that sounds ‘oh, so modest’, but is truly a sign of pride and unbelief, “Woe is me, for my lack of faith!”  If you are a believer, you have been given sufficient faith.  Step out, rely on God.  You won’t fall – and if you do, his strong arms are there to catch you.  Promise!  (God’s word cannot lie).   Encourage yourself with the truth that this gift of faith will not leak out.  You might feel weak, but you just have to realign your thoughts with God’s word and trust this faith. If it is from God, it is adequate.  It’s like manna for the day. Remind yourself that as a new creation, you have new resources to go with your new nature.  The faith is now a fact, if you are believer.  And it can never leave you!

Now what was it that you are afraid to do?  What have you let yourself off the hook about?  Repent and ‘drive on all the way’, as my Infantry father used to say.  With God’s faith residing in you, it’s all good.

 

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