Therefore, let us keep the feast…

March 6, 2013

Maria Celebration, Forgiveness, Sin, Uncategorized Leave a comment

Heard a great explanation of what it means that God loves me.

First I have to descend the ladder of how I view myself:

…..go beneath my projection –  a cultivated ‘Maria as lovely Christian woman’

….to that place where only I know what I’m really like. (Please don’t project my thoughts in 3 D living color w/ high sound fidelity for all to see!)

….go deeper – supposedly Jack Miller was fond of saying, “Cheer up!  You’re a lot worse than you think.”

Now get ready to be lifted up out of despair:

In my ‘pittiest’ pit, my omniscient Father loved me knowing all that I had done –  am doing –  and will do that is despicable…and He rescued me, sprang me, freed me.

The well-deserved death sentence NO LONGER hangs over my head.  As a gift, Jesus became Condemned Maria.  Think Dickens –  Tale of Two Cities .  Sydney Carlton assumes young Charles identity and will die in his place.

(Besides being freed from the penalty of death, I ALSO get Jesus’ résumé of righteousness accredited to me! No need to work to earn God’s approval)

So….

  1. Since I didn’t earn anything, I can’t ever lose anything – i.e. my salvation and good record
  2. I get to walk.  (You mean she just ——–WALKS?   Totally free?  out of prison?  How is THAT fair?????? – you call that justice!!!!?????)

I am free to go…so now it’s time to celebrate.

That’s the doctrine behind the liturgical response in an Episcopal worship service, “Therefore, let us keep the feast.”

We should be dancing, with a delighted smile on our faces….it’s party time!

**Two Questions

  • Who can I invite join me in this cosmic celebration?  Joy is multiplied when shared.
  • A more difficult question – why don’t I really believe this?  After all, our actions communicate our true beliefs.  My face betrays my identity.  I may be truly free.  But I sure act like I’m in prison.  And if I stay in my prison…then, that’s MY fault.  The door is wide open and can’t be shut!  

 

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.

Exploring the gifts of Grace

May 25, 2011

Maria Anxiety, Grace, Joy, Peace, Romans , , , , Leave a comment

You & I live our life in the “you must DO this and DO that” world in order to “be X, Y or Z.”  I get tired of ‘DO’ing, don’t you?  Whether it is at work or church or in relationships, it’s all exhausting and unceasing.

Christianity is different.  Christianity is the only religion that proclaims DONE, not DO!  What other religion has its God seek out his creation?  What other God died for his people?

Consider Romans 14:17, one of my new favorite verses:  For the Kingdom of God is not (religious rules governing) eating and drinking, but RIGHTEOUSNESS and PEACE and JOY in (by means of) the Holy Spirit.

This verse explains the essence of Christianity.  Living as a son or daughter in the Kingdom of God is not about following rules.  Instead it’s about treasuring what accrues to us as children of God.  By grace, (read: ‘a gift’) we are given:

  • Righteousness.  This is the Greek word ‘dika-ios-oo-nay’ (phonetic – # G1343).  It means that since we have been justified by God, we have right standing with our judge, God the Father.  When we become a Christian, we are made a new creation; we are united with Christ. The most eternally significant benefit is that our sins have been transferred over to Christ and paid for, so justice is done.  And we also have had transmitted to us Christ’s perfect life, as a credit.

Righteousness that belongs to someone else (but given to us) is not just a New Testament concept.  Consider Jeremiah 23:6. God is called Jehovah Tsedeq – the Lord our Righteousness.  We are not told to seek our own righteousness; we already have his if we belong to Him.

What follows from being ‘right’ with God?  Peace!  Remember Paul’s opening in Romans 5?  “Since we have been justified….let us grasp the fact that we have PEACE with God..”

  • Peace.  This is the Greek word, ‘ei-re-ne’ (#G1515).  Irene is the lovely name derived from this concept.  Here’s how the Blue Letter Bible website describes this peace, “the tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and content with its earthly lot, of whatsoever sort that is.”  If we have peace with God, we can reason from the greater to the lesser.  That is, if God has taken care of our biggest and eternal problem, we can rest assured that He will work temporary peace in our earthly relations to the extent that we trust Him and yield to His will.

Finally, the 2nd benefit of being made ‘right’ with God through what Jesus has done for us, is JOY by means of the Holy Spirit.

  • Joy.  ‘Chara’ is the Greek word (# G5479) The world attempts to sell us temporary happiness based on obtaining  ‘stuff’, ‘achievements’ or ‘experiences’.  But happiness is fleeting.  What we are starved for is permanent Joy.  We are wired for Joy; that is why happiness seems so desirable.  But happiness is the cheap version of joy.  Think about what a great God we have.  He desires our joy.  He could have said, “the Kingdom of God is about RULES or PLEASING ME or BEING BEST in the Kingdom or SACRIFICE or any other depressing version of DO THIS IN ORDER TO”.  But God wants our true joy.  When our answers to prayer result in NO and our happiness seems threatened, let us remember that our Heavenly Father desires something far better than what we can ask or imagine.

The last few words of our verse, “…in the Holy Spirit”, are important.  We need to remember that we cannot go after righteousness, peace & joy in our own strength.  But the good news assures us that if we are born-again believers, we have had our nature changed.  Our essence is different, we are united to Christ.  This change is passive in the sense that we do NOT do anything actively to bring it about.  We receive NEWS of what God himself has done.  If we respond to this news by executing an about-face and trust (‘receive’) what He says, then this new nature is ours. What follows is the family right to have fullness of peace and joy.

A caveat as I end: the joy and peace that are available to us, given both our right standing with God and our new nature IN Christ, won’t come to our awareness automatically.  We have to RE-CALL them frequently. We have to remind ourselves of our RIGHTS, our current inheritance.  But what a small effort for such a marvelous gift!  Each time we succumb to anxiety or internal churn, we can repent (think of the military command to make an About Face) and return our thoughts to the truth of who we are, whose we are and what belongs to us as beloved children of God.

Are you a member of the ‘ Pure Joy Club’?

May 10, 2011

Maria James, Joy, Romans , Leave a comment

What do disappointments, setbacks, problems, disasters and overall trouble have in common?  God sovereignly uses them ALL to conform us to the image of our brother and savior Jesus Christ.  Knowing that the apostle James exhorts us to count all these trials as ‘pure joy’, I invite you to embrace your status and learn with me as members of the Pure Joy Club.

  • Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.  James 1:2-4
  • …. We also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.  Romans 5: 3-4

Recently my dear husband had a disappointing setback, and this added to an on-going unpleasant situation.  On top of that, he came down with a case of impacted sinuses that he can’t shake.  It’s enough to make one not want to get out of bed some mornings!

But even though it is totally normal and legitimate to mourn frustrating and painful turn of events, Christians have to look to God’s Word to draw correct conclusions and know how to live.  Therefore, Mike and I are in the midst of encouraging one another with several truths that pertain to his situation.  He would be the first to admit that this is hard.  That’s why Christian community and prayer support from friends and family who know their Bible really helps.

Our pastor’s sermon Sunday was helpful.  He stressed that NOTHING is out of God’s control and that whatever happens IS the will of God.  The disciples were sad and bewildered to hear Jesus talk about his imminent departure.  But he encouraged their confidence by reassuring them that since He knew what was going to happen, they could trust him and ‘rest’.  Strengthening their faith, Jesus explained, “I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe” John 14:29

Relying on the fact that our Father not only knows but sovereignly controls what happens in our life is hugely reassuring. Other advice can also help us develop a right perspective.  For example, John Piper exhorts, “Don’t waste your cancer”!  By this he means that we can learn from our suffering and grow from the shocking jolt of tragedies.  As one of my colleagues quipped this morning,  “Our ‘crap’ makes good ‘compost’ for growing some very lush & hardy plants later on down the road.”

Tullian Tchividjian (pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church) suggests another use for our trials:

“In the crucible of pain, you discover what you really worship.  How is your present trial, suffering, disappointment a window on what has captured your heart?  What do you use to invest your life with meaning?  What you build your life on is your idol.”

Finally, remember we are not alone.  The spirit world watches how we react to life’s trials.  Remember Job?  When God boasted of him, Satan suggested that it was only for the ‘goodies’ from God that Job worshipped Him.  The demons certainly watched closely how Job reacted.  Would he curse God and die as ‘Mrs. Job’ bitingly suggested?  And don’t you think all the members of Job’s community watched him as well?  Our suffering is always more than just about us.  Much is a stake.  We can make it holy, if we offer up our suffering to God as a sacrifice.  Most assuredly this is impossible in our own strength. But we can count on Christ to bear this burden with us.  To God be all the glory!

Joy, Obedience and Major Premises

January 27, 2011

Maria Attitude, Joy, Thinking , Leave a comment

John 15: 9-11 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.

Jesus really wants us to be happy.  And he knows what will satisfy us the most – that is “remaining in him and obeying him”.

He makes amazing claims.  Not only is he not the cosmic meany who wants to block what will make me happy, he is claiming that he can and already has arranged for me to have complete joy.

Who or what ever claims to offer you complete joy?   A house makeover, a body makeover, a new car, a new wardrobe, a new husband, a new job, how about just a new cell phone (can anyone say Verizon iPhone – at last!!)..None of these even pretends to claim to offer us joy, let alone complete joy.  But here is Jesus, explicitly going out on a limb and informing us that he knows us well enough to provide what we cannot even imagine will satisfy us.

I, Maria, don’t even know what will provide me joy. Yet…this offer of his joy, of total joy..it  beckons and stands alone in the universe, unrivaled by anyone, anything.

Hmm…and it doesn’t sound like it will cost me much.  I don’t have to give up my job, my residence, my husband, my money, my habits….(my comfort foodJ  )  All I have to do is…..well..OBEY Him.  Okay, so what does Jesus command?  That’s a bit harder.  There are all sorts of commands in the Bible.  Do I look in the Old Testament or the New?

I can’t be too quick to narrow my scope to the New Testament, just because I am a Christian.  After all, Jesus announces he didn’t come to abolish the Law, but to fulfill it.  But didn’t the Son of God himself boil the cumbersome laws to just 2 commands – Love God…Love your neighbor (Matthew 22:36)  But wait a moment – there are OTHER two-law summaries. In 1 John 3:23, John reports Jesus as saying –“And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us.”   And in Mark 1:15 – Jesus commands us to repent and believe the good news. So what is a sincere Christian to do?

Here is what I conclude.  Jesus tells us that if we abide in him and his word abides in us, (John 15: 7) then we can ask for guidance about what to do and he will instruct us.  There is no other ONE SIZE FITS ALL guideline than this.  Saturating ourselves with his word is enough.  When we take in and meditate on scripture, then we can think through propositional truth, what I call ‘Major Premises’ and they help us make decisions.

Here is an illustration.  I was making Coq au Vin for a small dinner party Sunday night.  As I was dredging the chicken thighs and legs in flour to brown, my first thought was “poor chicken – he/ she was slaughtered for me to eat” and I started down the PETA –path.  Then I quickly was pulled back to reality by a Biblical major premise, by a propositional truth. I was reminded that, ‘God has given us animals to eat and has blessed that gift in a conversation with both Noah in the OT (Gen 9:3) and Peter in the NT (Acts 10:13)’.  From there it was a quick move to 1 Cor 10:31 – So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

My joy was quickly restored and the guests enjoyed the chicken.J

Jumping for Joy

January 11, 2011

Maria 1 Peter, Joy , 2 Comments

1 Peter 1:6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now, for a little while, you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.

‘Agalliao’ literally means to jump for joy.  Translators have drained off the very enthusiasm, sucked the brimming delight out of the original Greek.

What makes you deliriously happy?  Sometimes I glance at the gym’s TVs when I’m on the treadmill.  If I’m working out around 4 pm, Oprah used to be on.  Have you ever caught that show on one of her ‘goodie-give-away days’?  You’d think the women had just been told that a tumor is benign or something a little more significant.  But it’s just stuff that has them stirred up.

Or how about Superbowl Sunday in America?  An unpredictable upset can send the winning team’s fans into orbit.  I’ve never witnessed a Mega-Lottery winner’s initial reaction at the news of his change of fortune, but I can picture it.  They say the giddiness of the good news wears off as greedy distant relatives emerge and concrete decisions overwhelm the winner.

So why should you & I as believers, as God’s chosen children, jump for joy every day?  For starters, let’s consider some facts:

  • We have been permanently saved from the fiery grip of Hell’s demons
  • We have a guaranteed inheritance that is waiting for us in heaven. (I really can’t imagine all that might entail, but I am assured by God’s word that it is beyond human imagination.  And it must be VERY good, if Christ were willing to die so we could share in it.)
  • Remarkable  accounting transactions.  As a believer, Jesus’ righteousness counts for me and my sins have been transferred to him. What a deal!
  • God’s supernatural presence, power, protection, provision and all his possessions are mine in this present life -1 Cor 3:21b – ‘for all things belong to you (believers).’
  • God also gives me purpose for living in this present life (we were created to enjoy bringing Him glory) and guaranteed work/purpose in the Kingdom of God that is beyond this worldly concept of TIME.  We won’t float around in unending boredom strumming harps and polishing our halos – we’ll be busy with significant work.
  • God brings meaning to suffering and promises justice for wrongs done us.
  • God promises to work/weave the ‘all things’ (the suffering and injustices done us and our loved ones) into the fabric of our story that will bring Him glory and us eventual joy.

Dear Lord, the next time someone asks, “Maria, how are you doing?” may I remember to let them in on a little secret…that I’m turning cartwheels when I think what awaits me.  Let me NOT be afraid to share the good news that is available to them as well.  There are plenty of invites left for those who want to receive God’s enduring ‘goodies’.  And the joy will not fade within minutes/ hours or days from receiving this blood-stained invitation.  Don’t forget to ‘RSVP’!

 

Crazy Love – thoughts from Francis Chan

September 8, 2010

Maria Disciplines, Reflections, Thinking, Wisdom , Leave a comment

Francis Chan shares a vision of what being crazy about God looks like.  Lloyd C. Douglas wrote a book in 1929 called Magnificent Obsession, loosely based on the Gospel of Matthew.  That title describes what Chan is trying to portray as the ideal Christian response to God.  Here are some kernels of thought that spoke to me.

  1. Quoting A. W. Tozer:  “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us”
  2. Regarding God’s command to ‘rejoice in the Lord always’, Chan says:  “When I am consumed by my problems, stressed out about my life, my family, my job, I actually convey the belief that I think the circumstances are more important than God’s command to always rejoice.”
  3. Regarding control in the face of the uncertainties of life:  turning inward is one   way to respond.  Acknowledging our lack of control and reaching out for God’s help is another
  4. If we indulge in worry and stress, we are displaying arrogance.  We are declaring our tendency to forget 4 things:  -we have been forgiven/ -our lives are brief/ -we’re headed to heaven/ -in the context of God’s strength, that our problems are small indeed.
  5. The greatest good on this earth is God
  6. A piercing question:  Has your relationship with God actually changed the way you live?
  7. How God measures our lives (and what matters to Him most) – how we love
  8. If life is a river, then pursuing Christ requires swimming upstream.  If we stop swimming (i.e. stop pursuing Christ), we get pushed downstream.  We are letting our relationship with Christ deteriorate.
  9. Nothing should concern me more than my relationship with God (not my weight, not my time)

10. When I look at my relationship with God as a duty, a chore, a sacrifice, then I am getting the glory, not God.

11. We have a choice.  Either we just let life happen or we actively run toward Christ.

12. Radical concept – how about aspiring to the Median – when people commit to live at or below the median US income and give the rest for missions.

13. ******What are you doing right now that requires faith?

14. ******We are consumed by safety.  Most of our prayers are for traveling mercies.  What about praying, “God, bring me closer to you during this trip, whatever it takes.”

15. ******Battling pride – we have to seek to make our self less known and Christ more known.

16. Joy doesn’t depend on circumstances (my job, my weight, my time) or environment.  It is a gift that must be chosen and cultivated, a gift that ultimately comes from God.  (which means that God must REALLY care about providing me with a way to cultivate joy, i.e. TRIALS)

17. A person who literally has to depend on God for his daily bread and all that includes stays in prayer, close to God.

18. Chan says he wrote the book because much of our talk doesn’t match our lives.  We ‘quote’:  “I can do all things through Christ…../ Trust in the Lord always….” But we try to set our lives up so everything will be fine, even if God doesn’t come through.

19. You don’t have to wait for a special calling from God to be obedient to what He commands in His word.  Jesus didn’t say, “If you love me, you will obey me when you feel called…..”

20. Chan quotes Daniel Webster:  ‘The greatest thought that has ever entered my mind is that one day I will have to stand before a holy God and give an account of my life.’(And we thought he just loved words!)

21. About churchgoers who are lukewarm – they will not be heaven.  He recalls God spitting them out of his mouth in Revelation 3.  If someone DOES have the HS, there will be fruit evident in his or her life.  His or hers will not be a lukewarm life.

22. His summary – most of us live CRAZY LIVES.  A crazy life is to live a safe life and to store up things while trying to enjoy our time on earth, yet knowing that any second God could take your life.  Better to have Crazy Love of God and let that guide you.  We should

–      Keep pursuing Christ

–      Keep the thought that we are not alone – the spiritual realm is watching us, both God’s force’s and the Enemy’s

–      Try for a whole day to be conscious of heaven

–      Remember that we have life and power in us through the Holy Spirit

–      Recall what Annie Dillard wrote – ‘the way we live out each day is the way we will live out our lives’

–      **The American Dream (i.e. build a bigger barn story from Luke 12) fuels a lukewarm life.  We should not conform to that pattern.

Chew well, fellow travelers, and may we burn brighter for Christ. May it never be said that we were lukewarm.

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