1) Look at the map of Xerxes’ empire above. I always thought we were talking about a localized extinction of the Jewish people. The decree went out to all provinces. If carried out, this would essentially wipe out the dispersed Jewish nation.
Let’s see. Earth was totally corrupted at Noah’s time causing God to step in. Pharoah ordered all Jewish male babies killed. Queen in one of the book of Kings tried to wipe out David’s line. Herod ordered babies killed in Bethlehem. Hitler killed 6 million Jews. Iranian president wants Israel wiped off the map. See a PATTERN? Not sure you can find another ethnic group that over thousands of years has been the object of such “bad luck”. I believe it is part of Satan’s plan to either wipe out the “chosen people” or destroy the Messiah (or the Messiah’s line). If successful, the Bible is a lie, and maybe Satan has a chance to win his rebellion against God.
2) Keep this thought in mind for future reference. Haman was referred to as an Agagite. Most commentators mention that this would make Haman a survivor of the Amalekites. Since Mordecai is a Benjamite it would make hime from the tribe of King Saul. Chickens are coming home to roost from Saul showing mercy on the Amalekites contrary to God’s will.
But there is more. It may be true, and I believe it is, that the Amalekites were descended from Esau. As an Edomite, from a biblical perspective, the whole dynamic of Esau vs. Jacob (Israel) is playing out. We will follow this thread of thought more as readings in Old Testament proceed this year.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amalek
3) Vance: you can’t be very hard on your friend. Historians are split on the issue of “Esther” being an actual Historical event.
There are valid arguments on both sides. I am in the Historical camp for reasons that will be revealed at end of Esther. However, I can understand those that will not admit to a Historical view of Esther.
1Cor11:17-34
The Corinthains are a handful. So far, they have: had troubles with unity, sexual immorality, marriage and divorce, civil law cases, gender blurring, yielding in love to others, and submission to authority.
Paul now has no praise for them because of the abuses of the “churche’s” communal meals, and it spills over into the Lord’s Supper (Communion).
======================================================
AGAPE OR LOVE FEAST
The early church had a tradition of coming together and having a communal (covered-dish type thing) meal. Followed by communion.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agape_feast
Before Paul had talked about theological disunity – now he addresses a practical problem.
“..the Corinthian Christians were coming from a culture where the pagans would commonly have wild, riotous banquets given in honor of a pagan god. This is how it might not seem so strange to the Corinthian Christians to even get drunk and a church common meal….In that day, at common meals, it was expected that the “upper class” would receive better and more food than the “lower class.” This cultural custom was being carried over into the church, and the Christians weren’t really sharing with one another. At the agape feast, the rich brought more food and the poor brought less food; but in Corinth they were not sharing the food fairly…Ancient culture, much more than modern American culture, was extremely class concious. It was respect of these class divisions which so grieved Paul.” – David Guzik
Don’t pig out, Don’t get drunk, share equally with those that have less, not only out of Christian Brotherhood – but out of respect for the Lord’s Supper (Communion).
======================================================
LORD’S SUPPER
(Notes)
1) Paul received instruction directly from Christ regarding the words of the Last Supper.
2) I believe Communion is done out of remembrance and to proclaim the sacrifice that was done for us. Christ died once for our sins, and the idea that communion is a re-enactment of his death over and over seems to denigrate that idea. I will just leave it at that.
3) We are “unworthy”, but we are not to partake of Commuinon in an unworthy manner. We should be reverant, submissive, reflective of Christ and His sacrifice for us, acknowledging His love for us, and certainly not drunk.
4)Examine yourself and make sure you are in the right frame of mind. If you partake of Communion in a careless, thoughtless manner that turns it into a ritual rather than an honest moment between you and Christ – “eats and drinks judgment on himself.”
[Note: Not “the” judgment, but a judgment of an action. God can assess this and not necessarily punish immediately or even here on earth, but HE does not forget. Apparently for Corinthians, chastening was meted out. The early church often got this to make sure wrong actions early on were corrected, as an example to others.]
5) Paul does say that because of this act of irreverance, the Corinthains have been punished here on earth – with sickness and even death.
======================================================
SOLUTION
If we judged (diakrino)ourselves, we would not come under judgment (krino).
If we decide for ourselves by self-examination and receive communion in a worthy manner, then we would not receive God’s judgment – it would not be necessary.
If not there will be chastening so that the “body of Christ” does not live as the world (in condemnation).
In Summary – Act rightly at the common meal and Lord’s supper, so that you do not sin and incur judgment and chastening.
John
======== Vance:
I have a good friend who was raised in Turkey; he is Muslim. He lived with me at my house for a time while he was in college obtaining his doctorate degree.
We would talk freely with one another about many things. It is a wonderful honor. We would talk faith, and about the difference between Islam and Christianity.
One day he and I got into a discussion about the book of Esther. Though normally a quiet spoken and gracious person, he became very angry when I told him the story of Esther—a Jewish woman made queen of Persia who God used to save the Jewish people from extinction.
It seems that Muslims do not believe this account ever happened. He informed me that the story was made up by people in the West.
~~~
Esther 3 (Amplified Bible)
10
And the king took HIS SIGNET RING FROM HIS HAND [WITH WHICH TO SEAL HIS LETTERS BY THE KING’S AUTHORITY] and gave it to Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the Jews’ enemy.
12
Then the king’s secretaries were called in on the thirteenth day of the first month, and all that Haman had commanded was written to the king’s chief rulers and to the governors who were over all the provinces and to the princes of each people, to every province in its own script and to each people in their own language; it was written in the name of King Ahasuerus AND IT WAS SEALED WITH THE KING’S [SIGNET] RING.
I Corinthians 11 (Amplified Bible)
24
And when He had given thanks, He broke [it] and said, Take, eat. This is My body, which is broken for you. Do this to call Me [affectionately] to remembrance.
25
Similarly when supper was ended, He took the cup also, saying, THIS CUP IS THE NEW COVENANT [RATIFIED AND ESTABLISHED] IN MY BLOOD. Do this, as often as you drink [it], to call Me [affectionately] to remembrance.
29
For anyone who eats and drinks without discriminating and recognizing with due appreciation that [it is Christ’s] body, eats and drinks a sentence (a verdict of judgment) upon himself.
32
But when we [fall short and] are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined and chastened, so that we may not [finally] be condemned [to eternal punishment along] with the world.
NOTE:
Blood covenant. “Jesus paid it all—all to Him I owe” as the wonderful hymn goes.
Elements of blood covenant in the ancient world:
a.
God in Genesis 15 was saying to Abraham, “Even as the animals have died, I will stand with you and My promises. May what happened to these animals happen to Me if I do not keep My promise.
b.
Jesus, as the Son Who ratifies God’s Promises, now dies in our place as our Representative. He, as the Perfect Man, and as the Son of God says in the act of blood covenant: “I give Myself to you. I give you My strength. Your enemies are My enemies. I take your sins and weaknesses, and I give you My righteousness.”
c.
Seal of the covenant: Cutting of the flesh—life blood is being shed. The blood flows out of cut with promise of Jesus, “It is finished! Paid in full!”
d.
Jesus has become one with us and we with Him through blood covenant: The scar from the cutting of the flesh will never go away. It is the sign that we are one with Jesus and He is one with us.
e.
Our names change—from rebellious sinner to saved by Grace. When we sin now, it is a child of God who is redeemed. As such, as children, we need to thoroughly repent because we belong to Jesus and He lives inside of us. What an honor and privilege!
f.
Covenant meal of blood covenant in ancient times:
1.
Cup of wine:
* They drank wine, representing blood: “Drink my life’s blood
as I drink your life’s blood”.
* This means, “I see you fulfilling all the terms of the covenant
as I fulfill your life”.
2.
Piece of bread:
* The participants would feed each other as final statement: “Take me—all that I am. Eat of me, I am yours.”
~~~
We can see the blood covenant is how Jesus confirmed the covenant of the Father God with us. Jesus, the Father, and the Spirit are one in Trinity—three in one and one in three in perfect unity and agreement.
Jesus gave Himself as the Bread of Life. He confirmed it with blood covenant. Thus, as the Amplified Bible reads of I Corinthians 11:25: “THIS CUP IS THE NEW COVENANT [RATIFIED AND ESTABLISHED] IN MY BLOOD.”
~~~
Note that King Xerxes gave Haman his signet ring. In ancient times, when letters were signed, they would be sealed and closed with a small portion of melted wax. Then, the king would press the pattern of his signet ring onto the wax signifying that the letter was from him.
Whoever sealed a letter with the king’s ring was granted the same authority as the king!
There is a lot of symbolism here, but it is very practical for us today: Jesus—as the Son of God—ratified the covenant given by the Father for us. He took on our sins so we can become His righteousness. We are forever bonded with Jesus and the Father by blood covenant.
Jesus literally shares His own righteousness, strength, and authority with us. But—as I Corinthians 11 shows—we can only live and act in the Lord’s authority if we are living UNDER HIS AUTHORITY!
May we truly judge ourselves wearing the glasses of God’s Word. May we purge out the vile from the pure in our lives, so we can live up to the potential. We are made new creations in Christ. We are sons and daughters of the King.
If we properly judge ourselves and receive the discipline of the Lord, then we can become strong in our areas of weakness and we can glorify God!
~~~
The Corinthians were not eating and drinking the Lord’s supper in a worthy manner. Why is this? They did not treat the Lord’s supper in serious manner for what it is. As the Amplified Bible reads in I Corinthians 11:29:
“For anyone who eats and drinks without discriminating and recognizing with due appreciation that [it is Christ’s] body, eats and drinks a sentence (a verdict of judgment) upon himself.”
~~~
We are not—thank God—gods unto ourselves (though the devil would like us to believe that so we can enter judgment with him).
We are called to bear the image of Christ, and that only happens as we fulfill our part of the blood covenant: Jesus already shed His blood. Thank God there is no more blood to be shed.
Yet, we are called to give up our lives. “If Jesus be God and died for me, then nothing less than my life is fitting for Him.”
May we give our lives as living sacrifices unto God. When we sin and fail, may we quickly confess and become thoroughly cleansed from every stain of sin through Christ and His wonderful sacrifice.
Then, may we “walk in the Spirit so we do not fulfill the lusts of the flesh” (Galatians 5). More than that, we can only fulfill God’s will so others can hear about and see Jesus through us as we yield to the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is the God’s seal—the seal that Jesus is the down payment guaranteeing God’s promise of salvation to us.
May we be sealed in our life and behavior through surrender to the Holy Spirit so we Christ can truly be “our life” as He in actuality is.
Colossians 3 (NKJV)
1
If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God.
2
Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.
3
For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
4
When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.
5
Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.
Vance
======= Jan:
I ran across an article the other day “Sex in the City” by Mark Buchanan that focuses on Jonah, Esther & Daniel:
How do we respond to a corrupted culture? Two faulty examples and a better one.
In God’s Kingdom, judgement entwines with invitation, and is usually uttered with deep heartache. It’s God’s kindness that leads to repentance.
Jonah is my favorite prophet, and for no better reason than our uncanny resemblance. I’m bald and I figure him bald—why else his emotional tumult over how shade-dappled or sun-scorched his head? I’m short and I imagine him short: a stumpy, wiry guy, all that peevishness compacted tight as a nail bomb. He loved comfort and resented interruption, and that runs pretty close to my own bias. He was possessive, evasive, defensive, obsessive. Things not unknown to me.
Jonah is my least favorite prophet, and for exactly the same reason. He reminds me too much of me. I long to be Daniel-like in wisdom, Isaiah-like in righteousness, Ezekiel-like in faithfulness. I want the courage of Elijah, the endurance of Jeremiah, the long-view of Zechariah. I dream of standing down kings and outrunning horses, commanding drought and deluge with a word, calling down woe like thunderbolts and blessing like manna.
But I’m plagued with Jonah-likeness.
And here’s a deeper worry: so is the church. Not just my church, but the church—especially the church in North America. We’re evasive with God, resentful toward outsiders, smug about our own goodness. Prudish, hawkish, lovers of comfort, and nursing a giant grudge against anyone and anything that threatens it.
Just like Jonah.
That’s half the story, anyhow.
The other half is that the church is Esther, Esther prior to her awakening: assuming an insider status and willing to disguise her true identity for the sake of it, fearful of confronting her culture. We want to be like everyone else, only more so. We’re a people terrified of being peculiar. We’ll do almost anything to win a pagan king’s affections.
Jonah wants just to be left alone, and would happily let everyone else go to hell. Esther wants just to fit in, and willingly forsakes her distinctiveness to achieve that.
Between these two impulses, the kingdom always goes begging.
But this is about sex
And that’s exactly where I find these two stories so compelling, and so disturbing. Jonah and, implicitly, his community are threatened by Assyrian exile. Jonah is called as a missionary to the very people who bear that threat. Esther and, explicitly, her community are in the clutches of Persian exile. Esther is called to take a stand against the very people in whose land she and her people dwell but who now threaten to destroy them.
Neither story is about sex per se (though that’s a subtext in Esther: the things we do for love), but both are about God’s people living amidst pagan culture—a culture that is pervasive, seductive, potentially coercive, and often at deep odds with what God thinks. Both are about the ways God’s people try to negotiate their place toward or within that culture. And so both help us think through spiritual and ethical issues, including sexual ethics, for such a time as this.
How then shall we live?
Jonah chooses the way of condemnation. He hates the culture that threatens his own. His attitude is leave-us-alone and damn if you don’t. He is prideful of his distinctiveness (“I am a Hebrew and I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the land,” he smugly tells the sailors whose ship he’s boarded, even though he’s using these men to escape this God), but he’s not the least bit inclined to invite others to share in it.
So when God calls him to confront the people of Nineveh, Assyria’s capital, for their wickedness, Jonah flees. He simply doesn’t want to get involved. When God forces the issue, Jonah goes—grudgingly—and trumpets the doom of Nineveh, and then waits to behold it, and relish it. When the Ninevites repent and God shows mercy, Jonah throws a full-scale tantrum. This is what he long suspected God would do, and he turns surly and self-pitying about it.
Jonah’s attitude toward pagan culture is an old standby for the church. Avoid outsiders, and when you can’t, protest against them. Lament the sorry state of things. Call God’s judgment down. Imagine, with pleasure, the punishment to be visited on the disobedient. Meanwhile, make yourself as comfortable as possible. And if the threatened divine judgment fails to materialize? Sulk. Mightily.
It’s hard not to think here of some conservative churches’ reaction to the homosexual community. I live in Canada, where recently our government, against the wishes of most Canadians, pushed through legislation that legalized same-sex marriage. A few months prior to that, I attended a citywide prayer meeting where this issue was at the forefront.
Emotions were strong. I expected that, but what caught me by surprise was the tone of the meeting. It had a Jonah-like ring: jingoistic, gloating, self-righteous. People warmed quickly to themes of divine vengeance. They evoked it in vivid imagery.
The problem here is tactical as well as spiritual. Spiritually, we should be careful what we eat. Bloodthirst causes heartburn, severely. But tactically, this is hardly a way to start a kingdom revolution. The church on this issue should be begging God to help us to be Mark 2 communities: when people find out Jesus is in the house, they’re willing to break the roof open if that’s what it takes to get themselves and their sick friends inside.
I have talked with gay people about how they see Christians. Generally they see us as, well, you know the drill: bigoted, angry, narrow, hateful, afraid …
It’s a caricature, I know. Only, everything about that citywide prayer meeting supported it.
What if God’s larger desire is to invite people, all people, into the wideness of his mercy? Somehow the Ninevites were able to respond to God despite Jonah’s rancor and belligerence. After all, judgment is real, not to be trifled with. God’s wrath is being revealed against all godlessness and wickedness.
Only, Jonah doesn’t know anything but judgment. He is a Johnny-one-note. In God’s kingdom, judgment entwines with invitation, and is usually uttered with deep heartache (Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem …). It’s God’s kindness that leads to repentance. That kindness needs to be visible in the church. The consummation of the church’s missionary role will be that day when ten people from every tribe and tongue—Nineveh included—take hold of the hem of the robe of one believer and say, “Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you” (Zech. 8:23).
But Jonah is not interested. He doesn’t want his enemy’s repentance. He doesn’t want them in church, singing the songs of Zion. He certainly doesn’t want them coming to his church and bringing their own strange music with them. He wants them to pay, to suffer. He wants judgment, not mercy.
Jonah’s moral dogmatism, I think, hides his theological ambivalence. That’s usually what dogmatism does. Jonah is wary and begrudging, not just toward Ninevites, but toward God. He’s boastful of his knowledge of God but cagey in his relationship with him. He finds God both too hard and too soft—hard toward his chosen ones, soft toward the enemy. God, in his view, lacks an appropriate sense of favoritism.
I wonder if this isn’t the hidden motive of churches that take up Jonah’s style. Maybe the angry, accusatory stance is mostly a mask for our own misgivings about God.
“Fanaticism,” Carl Jung said, “is overcompensation for doubt.” We can trace this theological trajectory in the Pharisees. They disapproved of whatever they did not initiate. But Jesus identified their problem as a broken relationship with God. They overcompensated for doubt.
Jonah wants to condemn the culture. He would love to see it destroyed. The idea that it could be reclaimed, redeemed, invited to share in the goodness of God—such thinking is anathema to him. After all, he can hardly invite anyone, friend or foe, to taste and see that the Lord is good when he has not tasted and seen such things himself.
That’s only half our problem
The other half is being Esther, prior to her moment of reckoning. When it comes to pagan culture, Esther moves in precisely the opposite direction.
Jonah avoids it, caricatures it, condemns it. Esther accepts it, embraces it, extols it.
Many early interpreters and Bible commentators viewed Esther (and/or the Jewish community depicted in the book) as a type of the church in compromised, semi-pagan form. Modern interpreters generally dismiss typological readings of Scripture (with good reason), but as one who adjusts to a hostile culture, her example can be instructive.
She conforms to whatever standards the culture sets—dress like the reigning pop queen, subscribe to whatever attitudes are au courant—in order to look like everyone else, only better.
And here, it’s hard not to think of many mainline churches. In the recent controversy over same-sex marriage in Canada, entire denominations have aligned themselves with the spirit of the age. They want to be deemed beautiful in the eyes of the pagan king. The Anglican Church in Canada is even ostracizing dissenting churches and defrocking their ministers. The idea that the church should do anything other than endorse the culture’s current thinking on sexual matters is, in the minds of these denominational leaders, a throwback to medievalism. We’re in a new millennium now, is the rallying cry. We must move with the times.
If Jonah’s theological ilk were the Pharisees, Esther’s were the Sadducees. They valued expedience above faithfulness (or, more to the point, equated the two). The worst sin was to be out of kilter with the culture’s dominant values. Their highest goal was to reduce the lag time between the latest trends and their blessing thereof.
Of course, Esther eventually awakens from this. She realizes, in the nick of time, that the culture whose acceptance she craves is laying ambush for her and her people. And then, with savvy and courage, she finds a new way of living in exile.
But before that happens, Esther immerses herself in pagan culture. The idea that she should confront it, or refuse its wares, is unthinkable. She wants to be left alone, too—not by the culture, but by any sense that her primary loyalty lies elsewhere.
Both Jonah and Esther define two of the church’s reactions to today’s sexual values.
Shun and denounce.
Embrace and extol.
In my own church, I see both attitudes. Recently, I made a comment from the pulpit that the starting place for Christians to uphold the “sanctity of marriage” is not the courts but our own households. I cited statistics on divorce rates among evangelical Christians that put us pretty much in a dead heat with society at large. I talked about the high incidence of spousal abuse within conservative churches. I spoke about the widespread estrangement that prevails among many church-going couples. I mentioned the hidden plague of internet porn that is withering intimacy between husbands and wives.
Some people came out swinging: stop meddling with matters in here, they told me. Start condemning what’s happening out there.
Jonah.
On the other side, the statistics on premarital sex among evangelicals hardly distinguish us from all the other people on the face of the earth. And yet whenever I address this, a few folks take me aside and say, in effect, what’s the big deal? Aren’t there more important issues? A few kids are mixing it up between the sheets—well, so? Why fuss over that when we have a crisis of global warming, when the Amazonian rainforests are disappearing, when the sperm whale faces extinction? Recently, the Christian parents of a girl from our church tried to convince her to go on the pill. She sat them down and told them in no uncertain terms that she had no intention of having sex until she was married. They told her that was unrealistic, and she should go on it anyhow.
Esther.
What’s the alternative?
I think Daniel is our best guide for such a time as this. He stands between the extremes of Esther and Jonah. He, like Esther, lived in a time of Exile—Babylonian, then Persian. He lived among people mostly indifferent to his own convictions but who, when put off by those convictions, grew swiftly and menacingly hostile. He had to sort out his place within that culture: what could he, without violating conscience, say “yes” to? What must he, regardless of the personal risk, say “no” to?
Daniel had neither Jonah’s surly, haughty ways, nor Esther’s coy, accommodating manner. He had simple clarity and quiet integrity. Some things about the pagan culture—their education system, the political structure, their habit of naming you after one of their gods—no problem. Go to their schools. Work in their government. Bear their god’s name.
But one thing especially was taboo: king’s food. Of that Daniel would not partake. The food wasn’t wrong in and of itself. But it had been dedicated to pagan deities. To partake was to submit. To eat was to worship. So better to subsist on a diet of raw vegetables than eat the king’s rich meats and richer sauces, his wines and confections.
But Daniel and his companions did not merely subsist on vegetables: they thrived. They ended up more healthy and bright-eyed than all the other young men being trained with them.
We can sit under the teaching of our culture, and emerge shrewder in our own convictions. We can participate in the government of our culture, and bring glory to God by our diligence and integrity. We can be named after our culture’s deities (Mark—god of war!), and not suffer diminishment to our faith.
What we can’t do is eat king’s food.
But what is king’s food now? What is that element within our culture that, if the people of God participate in it, will ruin us?
I think it’s our culture’s sexual ethics.
What this culture lacks is purity. The church—especially Jonah—has not helped here much, because always we want to impose morality. Purity is to morality what intimacy is to acquaintance, what love is to tolerance, what oneness is to equality. Purity is not just a higher thing: it is a category unto itself.
I think we should stop preaching morality and start preaching purity. After all, no one wants to drink merely sterilized water, chlorinated water, water with a drop of iodine.
What awakens and then slakes thirst is pure water.
Daniel embraces the way of purity. He will not taint his body with what has been dedicated to another god. And if there’s a clear lesson from his story, it’s this: that is the one true way to win a pagan king’s heart. Everywhere Daniel goes, the king ends up acknowledging that God alone is God.
At our church, we call young people to the way of purity, not morality. We call them to be Daniels. Far from languishing, they thrive.
Not long ago, I was invited by an Esther-like church to do a one-day seminar on worship. I was surprised by the invitation—I don’t get many like it. The pastor who invited me told me that most of his colleagues were deeply wary of me, some openly hostile. He told me of one fellow pastor who phoned him to denounce me. He denounced evangelicals as a breed. “What has this man in common with us?” he demanded to know.
“Why don’t you come and see?” the host pastor said.
I came with a team of worship leaders and dancers, men and women in their late teens or early 20s. Only a handful of people had registered. Even in the church’s tiny sanctuary, they seemed thinly scattered. I kept watching for the man who hated me. Though I never met him, I knew him the moment he entered. He walked in like he was hunting vermin. He sat down, his arms locked across his chest. When we started singing and asked the people to stand, he remained seated. He scrutinized the words on the overhead.
After lunch, we led seminars. The dancers taught basic choreography. The musicians taught basic song writing. And I taught a basic theology of worship. The man came to mine. He sat beside me, spoiling for a fight.
Ten minutes into it, he erupted. A woman commented how the mainline church had compromised the gospel, and he started trading blows with her. He had a litany of evangelical crimes against humanity. The argument escalated, and the host pastor jumped in.
“Well,” he said, mild-mannered. “I think the mainline tradition is perhaps somewhat narrow in its ecclesiology and broadly tolerant in its theology. Whereas the evangelical tradition is rigidly narrow in its theology, and somewhat loosey-goosey in its ecclesiology.”
A brief moment of silence followed. I seized my opportunity. “Who here are pastors?” I asked. A few put up their hands, including the angry man.
“Let me ask you this,” I said. “The young people I brought today, do you like them?”
Everyone did, including the angry man.
“Are there many young people like that in your own churches, who are that passionate, that in love with God, that committed to the church and her mission?”
No, they all said.
“Do you want young people like these in your churches?”
Yes, they all said.
“With all due respect,” I said. “I think you don’t have them exactly because of your broadly tolerant theology. That theology helped abort a third of their peers. With all due respect, it assisted in a creating a sexual ethic that robbed this generation of intimacy and hope. It has driven most of them out of the church.
“My opinion? If you’re really serious about seeing this kind of young people in your churches—not just warming the pews but leading—you might consider being less broadly tolerant.”
I went on to speak about how we don’t teach our young people to be moral. We teach them to be pure. We call them to be Daniels.
“You can see for yourself,” I said, “the difference that makes.”
I looked over at the man who hated me. He was stricken. I thought he hated me even more. I thought he would walk out. But to my surprise, he came back for the last session.
To my delight, he stood when we sang. To my amazement, he opened his arms and held them like he was catching rain.
And he sang with gusto. “Great is they faithfulness,” he declared. I think he meant it.
Daniel tends to have that effect on people.
Jan
Job 8-11:20
In the old TV series, Dragnet, one of the main characters use to say, “Just the facts “M’am,” just the facts.” But as we continue reading in Job we will find that facts and truth are not same. Job and his friends are still thinking that God is the one who has brought on this calamity. Job is trying to prove that he is righteous and His friends are trying to prove to Job that he is sinful.
One of the hardest things to do is to try to convince someone who has all ready made up their mind that you are right and or they are wrong. You can wear yourself out trying to do that.
I Corinthians 15:1-28
The very foundation of the Christian faith, is Jesus’ death, burial and Resurrection. Paul puts it like this,
And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. (1 Corinthians 2:1-2 KJV)
We are so caught up in “living” we forget what life is all about. So too with our Christian walk, in trying to be “Christians” we forget what being a Christian is all about. It is Jesus Christ and Him crucified. It is all about what He has done, not what we have done. When we lose sight of that then we wind up on the road of “strange” doctrine, we wind up arguing over the incidentals and forgetting the foundation, Jesus’ Death, Burial and Resurrection. I believe that message is what Paul is trying to drill into the heads, hearts and minds of all those who say they call on the Name of Christ.
Remember this letter is one of correcton.
Psalm 38:1-22
Someone once asked the question, “Do you have brains?” “How do you know, are you sure?” Well we would say because I can reason and think I know that I have brains. Then the person asking the question said, “If you have brains, when was the last time you felt them?”
Just because you feel a certain way, does not mean that what you feel, or don’t feel is truth.
The title of this Psalm says, “A psalm of David, to bring us to the LORDs remembrance.” God has said He will never leave us or forsake us, (AMP) 1Ki_8:57; Pro_9:6; Heb_13:5; but we constantly find ourselves reminding God what He has said. Truthfully, we are really not reminding God of anything, who we really are reminding is ourselves. We are speaking to ourselves, mediating on the Words God has given us to remind us of what He said, by reminding Him of what He told us to remind Him with, His Words. (Hope this makes sense)
Proverbs 21:28-29
I think the wicked put up a bold front because they are trying to convince everyone, including themselves, that they are right. If enough volume and bravado is added to his words and body language, then he can gain what they want by intimidation and brut force. He operates under the false assumption that “Might makes Right.”
Grace and peace,
Ramona
======= Arun:
Resurrection of Jesus Christ
The belief of some in corinthian church was corrected by Paul that We as christians believe in resurrection as Jesus Christ Himself was resurrected.
All men die due to Adam; All men through Jesus get resurrected.
But oblivious to this fact, they had people in corinthian church who believed that theres no resurrection.
That is inconsistent with our gospel of Jesus we recieved.
I guess, people now in this age, propagate so many kinds of beliefs which are inconsistent with the foundational beliefs of our gospel.
Some preach that Jesus has no power to do miracles now. only in that period he could do but not now. Its a pity that they twist some of the scripture in order to justify their stance.
Jesus, is the same, yesterday today and tomorrow. He never changes, Time cannot limit him. He’s the alpha, omega.
Its totally unscriptural to say resurrection is not there and its similarly unscriptural to deny of God’s resurrection power and His miracle working power as people are stripping God from His matchless wonder working power as people are propagating this error.
Hey, Lets have our eyes and heart open to God. May He reveal Himself and correct and reprove us when we are wrong.
Arun
====== Pat:
In the Jewish culture at the time of Job it was believed that anything good that happened to a person was a reward for pleasing God and anything bad that happened or any illness was a punishment from God for doing something unpleasing to God. If you stubbed your toe on a rock it was because you did something that God did not like.
Job’s friends were trying to get Job to repent so God would lift His punishment from Job. Job’s refusal to repent was because he felt God was so great and he was so unimportant that he had no right to call on God to relieve him from his suffering. (Job 9:32-34)
God is all that great but we are not unimportant to God! God wants us to bring our problems to Him, large or small. God cannot put His arm around us and bring us comfort during hard times if we shut Him out. God wants to be our comforter – He loves us that much!
God Bless!
Pat
====== Ramona:
Job 8:1-11:20
(For we walk by faith, not by sight:) (2 Corinthians 5:7 KJV)
Job and his three friends: Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar are walking by sight, sense and circumstance. Granted, they did not have the luxury of reading the Apostle Paul’s writing; however, faith, trusting in God despite the environment that surrounds was just as relevant under the Old Covenant as it is in the New. It may be easy to dismiss their thought patterns and behaviors as strictly Old Testament “folly” but we find ourselves doing the same thing daily.
When making rash judgments on why “bad” things are happening to people, all we have access to is what we experience with our five senses and rationalize with our mind. Without the key, a Revelation from God, we are merely blind men and women groping our way in the dark.
I find myself taking Job’s stance when I try to defend myself or explain why things look the way they do and the only reason why I am doing that is to try to look good/better/righteous in front of others. Information, facts, observances don’t in themselves lead to truth they just may give you more information to come to wrong conclusions. Without a revelation from God, we only know in part. We still are only seeing through a glass darkly. Until we stand in the Presence of the King of kings, we will only be able to observe imperfectly. Theology doesn’t make a relationship with God.
Grace and peace,
Ramona
======== Jo Anne:
Concerning ‘doubting Thomas’, I have always identified with him. Then someone pointed out that at one point or another, all of the 11 ‘doubted’…until they saw some evidence or Christ Himself. Didn’t Jesus saying something to the effect ‘blessed are those who have not seen, yet believe’?
With all that goes on around me and what I see in the World, it’s easy to doubt. For me, ultimately, it’s my mind working with my will; I choose to believe what the Scriptures say and the testimony of others. There have been *God moments* in my life and I keep telling myself to write them down (my pastor says to build memory alters) to read & re-read to recall the times when He has interrupted my life and revealed something only He could have done.
Jo Anne
======= Jenny:
Poor Job…what sorrow he knew!
Job 10:18-19 “Why then have You brought me out of the womb? Oh, that I had perished and no eye had seen me! I would have been as though I had not been. I would have been carried from the womb to the grave.”
oh, how i know that pain!
Are Job’s friends well-meaning? I dont know…But i feel this whole account of Job’s life is here for us to know ppl suffer sometimes to no fault of their own. Just because we may go through awful trials, it doesnt mean God is punishing us or we lack faith.
Readings in Psalms show another Godly man suffering greatly. I’m sad that went through that but its sure a comfort for us today who can read their stories, hear their pain and despair and know there is hope. We can still praise God through our pain.
I love Paul’s writings as well. death is defeated! amen! today was a rather tough day for me, the 25th…yes i’m behind in my readings, but it would have been my mom’s 60th bday. she died at age 48. it hit me very hard and i just hurt so bad today. But I know since she was sealed in Christ she is present with Him. I just miss her so bad, its so hard, but we just have to lean on Christ and hold on to His promises.
Jenny
======= Terry:
What a great blog.
Terry
======= Sam:
God is masterful (isn’t He always) in the way He handles Job in this volume.
I don’t enjoy being a “Job” but love the consistency of our Father. I need to be more like that.
Sam
====== Deborah:
We believe in God the Father the son and the holy spirit. We believe that Jesus conquered death and therefore because we believe we live forever with Him. There is no death in Christ but everlasting life.
Deborah
====== Will:
Two sets of verses really stood out to me in today’s reading. Job 9:33-35 reads, “If only there were someone to arbitrate between us [God & Job], to lay his hands upon us both, someone to remove God’s rod from me, so that his terror would frighten me no more. Then I would speak up without fear of him, but as it stands now with me, I cannot.” How wonderful to be living now that we have this Arbitrator Job only wishes for and we can go before His throne with confidence per Hebrews 10:19-22.
The other verse that stood out today was Job 11:17, after reading Psalm 37 yesterday, David’s, “He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.” Both Zophar and David suggest similar results “if you devote your heart to Him” (Job 11:13) or “commit your way to the Lord” (Ps 37:5). I love how readings in different books sometimes mesh so nicely together that God opens your eyes to things not seen before!
Will
====== Frederick:
Proverbs 21:28
28 A false witness will perish,
but a careful listener will testify successfully.
Note: a careful listener not speaker!
Frederick
======= Billy:
Thanks for the stained glass pic Mike. I love stained-glass !!
Billy
======= Charles:
If only there were someone to mediate between us,
someone to bring us together,
someone to remove God’s rod from me,
so that his terror would frighten me no more.
Job 9:33-34
Come quickly to help me,
my Lord and my Savior.
Psalm 38:22
Charles
======= Patsy:
Every time I read the book I read how Job wanted to argue with God. I wonder how many of us want to argue with God when we are having really hard times. I think sometimes we have a tendency to tell God what we want Him to do instead letting God tell us what He wants us to do.
Patsy
======= Dee:
I love Job on many different facets. It allows a person God is fond of to be human and cry out and vent but also shows the true grit of friendship and how some are not so friendly when all else has failed Job..it shows how you need to know the whole story before you start judging. Just good stuff
I love in 1st Corinthians that we should be seeking not temporal stuff here on earth but eternal stuff that lasts forever.
The Psalm 38: 4-5 remind me of Job when boils break out on his body and he was so afflicted..he cried out to the Lord for relief. There isn’t a thing wrong about just needing some help.
Proverba..keeping a big front or being diligent , quiet humble but getting the job done..carries alot of clout in the long run
Dee
======= Jan:
Regarding the Book of Job & Job 5 as we can see below there is much truth in what Job’s friends say/tell him in regard to his situation. I don’t think the Book of Job is about what his/Job’s friends say or think or do – I think the Book of Job is about knowing that even though you may be a righteous person & in God’s favor, that that situation can change at any time – not because you have been sinful or disobedient but because you are going to go through the fire in your/our lives to be tested & that is exactly what was happening with Job – so don’t be unaware of these circumstances/happenings that will come to God’s sons & daughters – it will surely happen, it is part of the process. I don’t judge Job’s friends but understand them well-they are grasping at straws just like we do when something happens to us or those we love/our friends. I take this as a book of learning & knowing that we will all go through the fire & be tested & to hang on like Job does/did to the truth of God (what he/Job knew) & ride the wild wave to completion/deliverance & reap the reward after the testing (especially if you pass the test).
Job’s friends did the best they knew how & according to their experience & knowledge of how the Lord acts/acted in the past in regard to sin/disobedience:
Eliphazs Response Continues
1.”You may cry for help, but no one listens. You may turn to the angels, but they give you no help. 2.Surely resentment destroys the fool, and jealousy kills the simple. 3.From my experience, I know that fools who turn from God may be successful for the moment, but then comes sudden disaster. 4.Their children are abandoned far from help, with no one to defend them. 5.Their harvests are stolen, and their wealth satisfies the thirst of many others, not themselves! 6.But evil does not spring from the soil, and trouble does not sprout from the earth. 7.People are born for trouble as predictably as sparks fly upward from a fire.
8.”My advice to you is this: Go to God and present your case to him. 9.For he does great works too marvelous to understand. He performs miracles without number. 10.He gives rain for the earth. He sends water for the fields. 11.He gives prosperity to the poor and humble, and he takes sufferers to safety. 12.He frustrates the plans of the crafty, so their efforts will not succeed. 13.He catches those who think they are wise in their own cleverness, so that their cunning schemes are thwarted. 14.They grope in the daylight as though they were blind; they see no better in the daytime than at night. 15.He rescues the poor from the cutting words of the strong. He saves them from the clutches of the powerful. 16.And so at last the poor have hope, and the fangs of the wicked are broken.
17.”But consider the joy of those corrected by God! Do not despise the chastening of the Almighty when you sin. 18.For though he wounds, he also bandages. He strikes, but his hands also heal. 19.He will rescue you again and again so that no evil can touch you. 20.He will save you from death in time of famine, from the power of the sword in time of war. 21.You will be safe from slander and will have no fear of destruction when it comes. 22.You will laugh at destruction and famine; wild animals will not terrify you. 23.You will be at peace with the stones of the field, and its wild animals will be at peace with you. 24.You will know that your home is kept safe. When you visit your pastures, nothing will be missing. 25.Your children will be many; your descendants will be as plentiful as grass! 26.You will live to a good old age. You will not be harvested until the proper time!
27.”We have found from experience that all this is true. Listen to my counsel, and apply it to yourself.”
Jan
====== John:
Job
I agree with Jan, that the friends are doing the best they can with what they know – even if the tone becomes progressively harsher.
Perhaps what is important here is what the friends DO NOT DO:
1) They do not pray. They do sit and empathize with Job for seven days in silence – but no prayer. There is plenty of prayer (addressing God) in Job – but it comes from Job. The friends “talk” about God.
2) Friends do not hear Job. They do not address Job’s speeches other than saying, you say this – but God punishes sin, you are being punished, therefore you sinned, repent. How many times do we in consoling friends get locked in on a train of thought and speak it, without really hearing what the other person is saying?
======================================================
Bildad ( a bit harsher)
Premise: Man must have God’s blessing to prosper.
Starts off without the tact of Eliphaz. “How long will you say such things?
Your words are a blustering wind.”
God is just; does he pervert Justice? (NO)
Therefore, God will not punish the righteous.
Implies Job is wicked. So repent.
======================================================
JOB REPLIES
For the first time in story involving the speeches, I noice Job hears and responds to what is said.
Job agrees with Bildar’s wrods, BUT no man can be just before God.
God has complete power over nature.
Job cannot prove his innocence before God.
To Job it looks like God punishes the good and wicked.
[NOTE: There are some intersting insights (truths)about God by both Job and his friends. They just cannot connect the dots.
CH. 9
v 2. Man cannot be righteous before God
v15. I can only plead for mercy before the Judge. We do not want justice from God – we want and need His Mercy.
V22. God is just, but God also may afflict without cause. Job knows these two things and believes them. However, Job cannot resolve the two in his mind. Later in Jesus, we see the two put together in the sacrtifice of an innocent Christ to save mankind.
In vs. 32-34 Job recognizes there is a missing link. Job cannot stand before God and defend himself, he needs an intermediary. (Foreshadowing Christ)]
In chapter 10 Job returns to the theme – Let me understand or leave me alone to die.
======================================================
ZOPHAR (harshest yet)
God is lenient: you deserve worse.
God exacts of you less than your guilt deserves.
Gods ways are incomprehensible.
Repent and God will forgive.
John
====== John:
1Cor15:1-28
GOING BACK TO BASICS
Paul reminds the corinthians of the Gospel – the thing that really matters.
CHRIST DIED AND ROSE AGAIN.
But there was division, and this time in an essential. The Corinthians believed in the ressurection of Jesus, but some did not believe in the ressurection of the dead (man).
“Why has Paul so carefully proved the resurrection of Jesus? It wasn’t because the Corinthian Christians believed Jesus did not rise from the dead. In fact, he makes it clear in 1 Corinthians 15:11 that they did believe it: so we preach and so you believed. Then why was it important?
i. The Corinthian Christians were not denying Jesus’ resurrection; they were denying our resurrection. They were influenced either by Greek philosophy (which considered the resurrection undesirable, thinking the state of “pure spirit” superior), or by the thinking of the Sadducees (which thought the world beyond to be just wishful thinking). The bottom line is that the Corinthian Christians believed we lived forever, but not in resurrected bodies.
ii. Remember that resurrection is not merely life after death. It is the continuation of life after death in glorified bodies, which are our present bodies in a glorified state. – David Guzik
Paul presents the logic why ressurection of dead is a truth.
======================================================
First Fruits
I cannot remember if I mentioned this during gospels. Christ was the first fruits of the dead. In Judaism, before the field was harvested – a first fruit (wave sheath) offering was made by the priests. Some choice grain was picked and offered to God, then the full harvest would commence. Christ went first and we come after as the harvest of the “body of Christ”.
INTRICACY OF GOD’S PLAN
God’s plan is so intricate, and in regards to Christ very faithful to the Feasts he declared to Israel.
The first fruits offering (lifting up the sheath of grain to God) was done on the first day after the Sabbath. Not the High Sabbath of Passover, but after the Sabbath (Saturday) that fell after Passover. Offering took place sometime in morning before noon.
So it is entirely possible that on the Sunday following Christ’s crucifixion when the priests were making the first fruit offerings to God – that at the moment of the offering – is when Jesus went up to the Father as the literal first fruits offering.
[Note: There was a period of 7 days before Jesus came back to doubting Thomas in the upper room, and later eventually ascended into heaven. Co-incidently the priesthood were to go into their tent (later in seclusion of temple) for 7 days to be ordained in the presence of God before they could be consecrated and perform their priestly functions (LEV8:33). Wonder if that is why Jesus was in presence of God for seven days before returning to the disciples? :)He is our High Priest isn’t He?]
More? Acording to Eliot McQuaid of “Friends of Israel” site. Oil (symbol of anointing) was spread on the sheath of grain, and the way it was done the bundle of grain appeared to have stripes on it when held up to the sun. The same as Christ was anointed and He bore the stripes of man when he was lifted up to God.
======================================================
Adam and Christ
“For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.”
Repeated concept – twice for emphasis. First it is clear Paul is talking about a real person (Adam). Second, some people have a hard time with concept of one man being the reason for sin in the world. At times, I have a hard time understanding the concept.
Two things:
1) If you can accept Christ (one man) redeemed all sins; then why not one man being the cause of “death” (sin)?
2) The empirical evidence is in. Look at mankind. The OT heroes were flawed. Mankind has each gone his own way like sheep astray (Isaiah). This world is no Garden of Eden – something is wrong – it started somewhere.
======================================================
GLORY TO GOD
I believe that this whole creation process by God was to provide a love gift to His Son – Jesus Christ. That Jesus would be the first fruits of many “brothers”.
In the END, Jesus who has been given all power in the heavens and earth, in an act of submissiveness (there’s that word again)- will return all to the Father as His gift.
Why? Besides out of love and submissiveness to the Father? Because then God will receive His FULL GLORY. And that is what this has been all about from the beginning – God’s glory.
John
======== Vance:
Job 8
1
Then Bildad the Shuhite replied to Job:…
13
Such is the fate of all who forget God. The hope of the godless comes to nothing.
14
Everything they count on will collapse. They are leaning on a spiderweb.
15
They cling to their home for security, but it won’t last. They try to hold it fast, but it will not endure.
16
The godless seem so strong, like a lush plant growing in the sunshine, its branches spreading across the garden.
17
Its roots grow down through a pile of rocks to hold it firm.
18
But when it is uprooted, it isn’t even missed!
19
That is the end of its life, and others spring up from the earth to replace it.
It takes WISDOM to discern the reality of truth. The fact is, what Bildad says is what the Lord Himself has said in other places, and is irrevocably true:
Jeremiah 17
5
Thus says the Lord: Cursed [with great evil] is the strong man who trusts in and relies on frail man, making weak [human] flesh his arm, and whose mind and heart turn aside from the Lord.
6
For he shall be like a shrub or a person naked and destitute in the desert; and he shall not see any good come, but shall dwell in the parched places in the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land.
7
[Most] blessed is the man who believes in, trusts in, and relies on the Lord, and whose hope and confidence the Lord is.
8
For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters that spreads out its roots by the river; and it shall not see and fear when heat comes; but its leaf shall be green. It shall not be anxious and full of care in the year of drought, nor shall it cease yielding fruit.
THEN THE LORD EMPHASIZES THE REALITY OF THE HUMAN HEART:
9
The heart is deceitful above all things, and it is exceedingly perverse and corrupt and severely, mortally sick! Who can know it [perceive, understand, be acquainted with his own heart and mind]?(A)
10
I the Lord search the mind, I try the heart, even to give to every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings.
SO…
Does that mean that Bildad the Shuhite was correct in the way he was talking to Job? It was like he was scolding him. When people get sick, do we automatically ssume, “there must be sin in his or her life”?
Sin, of course, can and will effect every area of life—including the body and the mind—if not repented of.
I like the Weekly Torah Reading from the website hebrew4christians, a Messianic Jewish website where Christians can learn Hebrew for free—and learn the wonderful Jewish roots to our faith. Part of the Weekly Torah Reading
is pertinent to the question about Bildad the Shuhite and, by extension, about all of us:
“In the reading from Mark, the LORD Jesus was asked which of the mitzvot of the Torah is the most important of all? Or, to put it another way, what is it that God requires of us? What is the purpose of our lives, and how can we fulfill that purpose?
Jesus answered this question by reciting the Shema (with the v’ahavta) as the greatest commandment and added the commandment from Leviticus 19:18, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” as the second great commandment:
Jesus answered, “The most important (commandment) is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12:29-31)
Va’etchanan means “I pleaded,” which we may now understand as God’s plea that we:
1. Love Him as the Source of all our real and abiding good
2. Love one another as we love ourselves
The love of God and others! Think of it!
The greatest commandment is NOT found
* in the knowledge of
Torah, regardless of how
edifying or noble;
* nor in external
observances, regardless
of how scrupulously or
beautifully observed;
* nor in the practice of
Jewish minhagim
(customs), regardless of
how much they might make
us feel identified with
God’s Chosen People.
No.
==> Jesus’ answer is that the greatest duty of our lives is to love God with every bit of our passion, inwardness, and strength, and to extend that same love we instinctively feel toward ourselves to others around us.
When we walk in the power of the Holy Spirit and the fruit of the Holy Spirit is produced within us, we will not find ourselves walking contrary to the way of the Torah (Gal. 5:22-23), and the inward motivation of the Torah will be written upon our hearts (Jer. 31:33).
As Rav Sha’ul (Paul) wrote in Romans 13:10, “Love is the fulfilling of the law.”
May it please the LORD to give us a heart that can love in the truth. Amen.
We KNOW that Jesus has truly risen from the dead—and thus so have we as God has placed us “IN CHRIST”—and we have trusted and received Jesus as Lord. THANK GOD!
Since we know that, we CAN live the love life that the Father commands, that Jesus commands—through Jesus living HIS LIFE THROUGH US!
I need to spend time before the Lord… being so full of HIS LOVE and HIS PRESENCE so there is no room for any sinful intentions to rule. THEN… I can love as I trust Jesus to love through me.
Vance
======== Vance:
Job 9 (NKJV – Job: There Is No Mediator)
32
“For He is not a man, as I am ,that I may answer Him, and that we should go to court together.
33
Nor is there any mediator between us, who may lay his hand on us both.
34
Let Him take His rod away from me, and do not let dread of Him terrify me.
35
Then I would speak and not fear Him, but it is not so with me.
NOTE:
It is true that God the Father is not a man. In fact, that is a wonderful thing about God—He is God and not a man. As such, He is totally above all creation, He is trustworthy, and He is not fickle.
I Samuel 15 (NKJV)
29
And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor relent. For He is not a man, that He should relent.”
~~~
Yet, Job needed God to be a man so Job could talk “one on one” with God. God did, however, come to earth in the Lord Jesus Christ, and Jesus is our Mediator.
May we not live “in the fog” and pray “in confusion” about our lives. May we know God’s will as God has revealed in His Word. May we know God intimately through the Lord Jesus by the Spirit of God so we clearly know His guidance, and we follow.
Ephesians 5 (NKJV)
17
Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18 And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit,
May we know God’s Word and His way, and set our wills to yield to Him and to follow Him with all of our heart. Andrew Murray said in “With Christ In The School of Prayer”:
“[T]he Lord warns us against the vain repetitions of the Gentiles, who think to be heard for their much praying. We often hear prayers of great earnestness and fervour, in which a multitude of petitions are poured forth, but to which the Saviour would undoubtedly answer, ‘What will you that I should do unto you?’”
“But the word of the Master teaches us more. He does not say, ‘What do you wish?’, but ‘What do you will?’ One often wishes for a thing without willing it. I wish to have a certain article, but I find the price too high; I resolve not to take it; I wish, but do not will to have it.”
“The sluggard wishes to be rich, but does not will it. Many a one wishes to be saved, but perishes because he does not will it. The will rules the whole heart and life; if I really will to have anything that is within my reach, I do not rest till I have it.”
“The will is the highest power in the soul; grace wants above everything to sanctify and restore this will, one of the chief traits of God’s image, to full and free exercise.”
“Faith is nothing but the purpose of the will resting on God’s Word, and saying: I must have it. To believe truly is to will firmly.”
“It is often spiritual sloth that, under the appearance of humility, professes to have no will, because it fears the trouble of searching out the will of God, or, when [the will of God is] found, [it fears] the struggle of claiming it in faith. True humility is ever in company with strong faith, which only seeks to know what is according to the will of God, and then boldly claims the fulfillment of the promise [in John 15]: ‘You shall ask what you will, and it shall be done unto you.’ LORD TEACH US TO PRAY.”
Job 11 (NKJV- Zophar Urges Job to Repent)
4
For you have said, ‘My doctrine is pure, and I am clean in your eyes.’
5
But oh, that God would speak, and open His lips against you,
6
That He would show you the secrets of wisdom! For they would double your prudence.
Know therefore that God exacts from you less than your iniquity deserves.
7
“Can you search out the deep things of God? Can you find out the limits of the Almighty?
NOTE:
I really have to be careful in proclaiming out of pride that “I know what God wants” if I do not know. There is a clear certainty we can know about God—but it comes out of times of prayer, surrender, and seeking God’s Word and His will until He establishes in us His truth about a matter.
I Corinthians 15 (NKJV)
10
But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.
28
Now when all things are made subject to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subject to Him who put all things under Him, that God may be all in all.
NOTE:
ONLY BY GRACE am I what I am. And thank God that His grace is NOT IN VAIN. Thus, I always need to ask God for the persistent and consistent faith of the Lord Jesus Who never took His eyes from fulfilling the Father’s will.
God’s grace will accomplish God’s will in me. Am I willing for God to have all of me, so grace can fulfill all of God’s will in me?
D.L. Moody said, “The world has yet to see a man fully surrendered to God. I will be that man.”
Throughout eternity, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and the Father are one. One God in unity. Yet, in His role, Jesus always is the means of fulfilling the Father’s will. In His role, Jesus brings all in submission to the Father.
Psalm 38 (NKJV)
15
For in You, O LORD, I hope; You will hear, O Lord my God.
16
For I said, “Hear me, lest they rejoice over me, lest, when my foot slips, they exalt themselves against me.”
21
Do not forsake me, O LORD; O my God, be not far from me!
22
Make haste to help me, O Lord, my salvation!
NOTE:
God is our ONLY salvation! May we always pray: “Make haste to help me, O Lord, my salvation!”
Amen.
Vance