Equity VS. Equality (1/7/13)

Shalom,

 

     Please begin by readng Psalm 98:4-9.

 

            Consider with me the legal system of 11^th century England.  English Common Law was clarified through court decisions rather than initial legislation.  The system that came as a result was a monumental achievement.  It eventually became part the basis for our American legal system.  However, it was far from perfect.  As time went on the Common Law became so narrow and strict that it actually denied justice to some.  Unless your case fell within one of its norms, you wouldn’t receive justice.  The magistrate would give a verdict that would be legal, but it could also be unfair.  Such was the problem that Common Law brought to England.

            Suppose you entered into a contract with someone who later defaulted.  Under English Common Law you could sue for damages and the court would impose penalties upon the one breaking the contract.  But you don’t need the money, you need the work done that the contract stipulated.  Unfortunately, the Common Law couldn’t legally enforce the performance of work.  It could only impose penalties for nonperformance.  Therefore, the law wasn’t fair to you, though the judge’s decision was perfectly legal.  This placed justice and fairness at odds with each other.

            As time passed, people began to complain to the king about the unfairness of decisions based on the Common Law.  So the king passed these matters on to his chancellor and gave him the power to adjust it on the basis of fairness.  The chancellor could do this even if his verdict went contrary to a principle of the Common Law.  A new court system came into existence called the “Court of Equity.”  Common Law only dealt with the letter of the law.  The only limit binding the Court of Equity was the limit of conscience.  If a conflict arose between Common Law and Equity, the principle of Equity would win.  Fairness became the final criteria, rather than the narrow letter of the law.

            The Court of Equity mixed mercy with justice.  It provided grace as well as law.  This created an important principle upon which much of our American legal system was built.  Now we can argue for equitable rights and equitable claims.  Now justice and fairness, law and grace, can go hand-in-hand to serve the needs of everyone.

 

            Now let’s consider Psalm 98:9.  “Yahweh comes to judge the earth.  He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples with equity.”  This kind of judgment will be made with absolutely right information and in the totality of truth.  Our Creator is both a God of Justice and Mercy.  He upholds both the letter and the spirit of the law.  He can judge us with equity, total fairness, and absolute impartiality.  Many today don’t want him to their final judge.  They don’t want to be judged according to his amazingly fair system, mostly because they know he’s absolutely pure and right.  There’s no advantage to anyone, only pure and righteous judgment based on Yahweh’s standards.

            Look at Satan beside Adam and Eve.  Their sin was of a different nature than Satan’s.  They didn’t know what he knew, so it wouldn’t be fair for Yahweh to judge them on the same basis as the devil.  But this is what the law says, because it’s not allowed to make distinctions.  Yahweh knows each and every heart along with each and every choice we’ve ever made.  He has all the information and no bias in determining our judgment.  Satan had more information than Adam and Eve, having previously lived in the presence of Yahweh.  They would pay for their sin based on their knowledge, and so would the devil.

            This means that the condemnation of Adam and Eve was perfectly legal, but it was far from fair.  So Yahweh established a Court of Equity.  Here the legal limits of the law no longer force our Lord to condemn us.  Now he can also judge on the basis of conscience, fairness, and mercy.  Now he can consider all the factors, including faith and repentance.  While Yahweh’s Ten Commandments present the letter of the Law, Yahweh’s equity reveals the loving spirit behind the law.  When we become extreme legalists, we work hard to enforce the letter of the law.  Our problem with this is we become like the Pharisees and eventually our version of the law is very burdensome because of our micro-managing additions.  We ruin the simplicity of the Law by adding excessive explanations or additional laws to clarify and define things to suit ourselves.

 

            Our world, and especially our American system, is high on equality.  We desire for everyone to be equal, and even said so in our Constitution.  But since we’ve become a nation we’ve constantly had to make adjustments in practice to bring about this equality.  Slavery had to be abolished.  Civil Rights had to be clarified.  Women’s rights had to be defined.  If everyone is created equal, it seems we didn’t really know what that meant when we started.

            Now let’s consider the difference between Equality and Equity.  Equality is the state of being equal.  Equity is the state of being just, fair, and impartial.  As you can clearly see, they are different.  Would you prefer equality or equity to be the standard of measure and judgment?  Considering that most of us have preferred to be graded on the curve, we’re more inclined toward equity.  Our problem with equity is that we all have different understandings of what fair really is.  We often hear, “It’s not fair,” in our day.  Right now we have many people crying out that the rich should pay more taxes because it’s their “fair share.”  But they already pay more taxes.  What definition of fair are people using?  Why, the selfish, greedy human one of course.

            There are two different Hebrew words used for equity.  They both have a primary meaning of uprightness and straightforwardness.  But one also means to do things with integrity, correctly, and can mean simply “a truth.”  Yahweh works with ultimate integrity.  He has no favorites and gives no advantages.  Our heavenly Father works with absolute correctness.  He never makes an error in judgment and always has the truth before him when making his decisions.

            Do you want Yahweh to judge you equally with others, or equitably?  If we’re all the same, with no differences in gifting or ability, equality is fine.  But you must understand that equity is much better.  Why are there mentions of crowns and rewards if they don’t matter?  We’re clearly told in the Scriptures that Yahweh makes distinctions based on our efforts.  As people of our Lord’s Kingdom, equity should be much more important to us than equality.

            Is it just to treat everyone with total equality?  We give lots of advantages and handicaps to help people be more competitive in our world.  And we know for certain that everyone has different talents and abilities, different levels of understanding and capability.  If we know this, don’t you think our Creator does, too?  Is it fair to treat everyone equally?  Fair has different meanings to different people, mostly based on our personal human bias.  How can we be absolutely equal in judging everyone?  If there’s only one standard, there are only a small number of people who are right.  Is it impartial to treat everyone equally?  At least here we can come close to being right.  By being impartial we turn down our personal bias and try to see people for what they are.

            Our Creator God isn’t pro-socialism.  He’s not for democracy either.  He would prefer us all to bow down to him in a theocracy.  But pure socialism tries to put everyone on the same level.  The idea that there are no winners or losers isn’t viable in our world.  I’ve umpired T-Ball games where no one kept score so as not to hurt these little ones fragile psyches.  T-ball is for 6-8 year olds.  The parents think they’re doing a noble thing, but the kids think otherwise.  As they do the obligatory handshake after the game, the players who scored more runs are telling the other team how they beat them.  The idea of grading only on a pass/fail standard is socialistic.  Trying to keep underachievers from feeling bad about not achieving the same level as the straight-A students isn’t helpful.  Competition isn’t harmful to emotionally healthy people.

            An elementary school teacher does this activity with her class.  All the students sit in a circle, and she asks everyone to take off their left shoe and throw it into a pile in the middle.  Once the shoes are all piled up, she begins to redistribute them, one to each student, completely at random.  Then she tells everyone to put on the new shoes.  Inevitably, there are complaints.  “This isn’t my shoe.”  “It’s too big.”  “It’s too small.”  “This doesn’t fit me.”

            Whatever the specific complaints are, very few students are ever happy with their newly mismatched pair of shoes.  What’s wrong with that?  She did everything fairly.  Everyone has two shoes.  But as the children clearly know, they aren’t the correct shoes.  The teacher then explains to them that she was trying to treat them all equally.  She wasn’t trying to give them the best shoe for them individually.  Some children have bigger feet, so if they don’t mix them up like this someone will have more shoe.  Inevitably one of the children will say something like this.  “It doesn’t matter who has more shoe, it matters that we all have the right shoe for us.”

            That is the difference between equity and equality.  Equality means that everyone gets exactly the same outcome.  In this case two shoes, without regard to individual differences in the actual size of their feet.  Equity means everyone gets the same quality of outcome.  They get shoes that fit their individual needs.  Yahweh didn’t make us with a cookie cutter.  He made us as individuals with differences.  He doesn’t give us all the same level of intelligence, talent, or ability.   Trust him to sort out the differences and bless all of us.  Trust him to use all our differences to build a strong body.

            Our God is a God of equity.  He treats us all perfectly.  He’s perfectly just with all of us.  He’s perfectly fair in dealing with us as individuals.  He’s totally impartial and not affected by our different levels of ability.  I don’t know about you, but I definitely prefer the spirit of law to the letter of the law.  If you agree, that means we need equity, not equality.

 

            Blessings & Peace,  Mike

The Good Kind of Fear (12/31/12)

Shalom,

 

     Please begin by reading Psalm 90:3-12.

 

            First we’ll look at the root meanings of the word we translate as fear.  In the Hebrew it means dreadful and exceeding fear.  In the Greek it means exceeding fear and terror.  The Greek word is PHOBOS, which we use now as phobia.  Too many preachers and teachers in our day play off the “fear of the Lord” as only being in awe of his greatness.  Yes, this is part of fearing the Almighty God, but there should also be some healthy fear of his wrath in all of us.

            Both the Hebrew and the Greek have the added meaning of overwhelming awe and reverence, but primarily they mean to be exceedingly afraid.  We minimize the meaning of fearing our Lord by limiting its meaning to awe and wonder.  We have good reason to have a healthy fear of Yahweh.  Listen to Luke 12:4-5.  “I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more.  But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after the killing of the body has power to throw you into Hell.”  That our final judgment rests completely in the hands of our Creator should cause us fear.

 

            Psalm 90 offers some stern warnings and some sound advice.  Verse 12 is the key.  “Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.”  In godly wisdom and proper fear we find peace.  We may be uncertain about how our eternal future works, but we can be secure in the fact that it will be in the presence of our heavenly Father if we’ll obediently follow Jesus.  If we focus too much on the world and how to operate within its system, we’re not focusing on what’s good and right.  Yes, live well while you’re here, but know that this is not our home.

            We face many fears in our world.  The fear of change is probably one of the most prevalent.  The “old” way, no matter how miserable it makes us or how ineffective it is, seeks to get us hung up in the familiar.  Of course for the most part, the old is more comfortable and less frightening than the new.  But Yahweh warned us about getting stuck in old ways in Ecc 6:10.  “Do not say, ‘Why were the old days better than these?’  For it is not wise to ask such questions.”  Things are constantly changing in our world, but our Lord remains the same.  Trusting him to guide us can help us overcome our fear of change.

            In health matters, crisis is frequently the warning that tells us it’s time to change.  It may be that we have to change our eating habits “or else” go on medication for diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol, or heart problems.  It just might be that our clothes don’t fit anymore, bringing our conscience to be screaming at us to get into better shape.  It may be that we seem to be picking up every cold, flu, and virus that comes along. Have you ever been sick and tired of being sick and tired?  Again, trusting in our Lord and the way he told us to live can go a long way toward us living a healthier life.

            A super cautious mother always wore a gauze mask when coming near her baby and insisted that all visitors do likewise.  Several older and wiser women tried to tell her tactfully that she was carrying things too far, but the young mother insisted on having her way.  One day the mother mentioned that she thought her baby was beginning to cut a tooth and she wished she could find out about it in some way.

            A friend with several children of her own said, “Why, just put your finger in his mouth and..”  There was a horrified expression on the young mother’s face.  The friend quickly added, “Of course, you should boil your finger first.”  After a good laugh, the two shared some sound advice and the young mother agreed she was being over-protective.

 

            What fears keep us from being our best for our Lord and Master?  Some common ones are:

            Fear of the Unknown:  We’re most at ease when we’re completely familiar with our surroundings and sure of what the future holds for us.  As a result, fear of the new, the unseen, can paralyze us.  This fear can actually keep us from experiencing new things from our Lord.  The promise of Isa 26:3 can help us.  “You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you.”

            There’s no way to go through this life without encountering some new things.  The unexpected happens all the time.  None of us is so intelligent or prepared that we’ll always know what’s coming next.  The fear of the unknown is a deeply seated fear that prevents us from taking control of our lives and shaping them to suit us. It is a fear that keeps us average, keeps us doing all the same things everybody else is doing, simply because it is the familiar thing to do.  It keeps us from growing and maturing in our faith and causes us to miss the good adventures the Holy Spirit leads us into.

            When we accidentally touched the hot stove burner or iron as a child, our inborn safety center learned from that. When we strayed too far from our parents and they called us back with that tone of worry and fear in their voices, that safety center in our head heard it and learned.  Unfortunately, most people's safety centers have gone a little too far in their learning. The lesson you probably internalized was "if it is unfamiliar, it could be dangerous. Only trust the things you know."

            The result of this, is that when we get too close to the edge of what's familiar, our brain sends off all the same warning signals and red flags that it would if we absentmindedly got too close to the hot stove.  It's there to protect us, but it also is keeping us fenced into a safe little circle away from opportunity and growth.  We overcome this by trusting in the still small voice of the Spirit.  He’ll ensure that we learn and grow, that we experience new things, that we stay safe while stepping out beyond our self-imposed limits.

 

            Fear of Failure: This is particularly crippling for those who expect to do everything right the first time.  It’s especially overwhelming to those who cling to memories of past failures.  Atychiphobia, the fear of failure, is often one of the most paralyzing phobias.  Sometimes, we're so concerned about failing that we don't try an activity we want to try.  Other times our fear of failure is so strong we subconsciously undermine our own efforts so we don't have to continue to try.  This is why many have linked it with the fear of success. Like so many other fears, this phobia is often so strong it brings about the very failure that was feared.

            We need to focus on what we learned from these situations, instead of the failure itself.  This often keeps us from believing our God is able, and puts us in a dangerous position according to Rom 14:23.  “Everything that does not come from faith is sin.”  The best way to beat fear of failure is to face the things you fear, gradually, accepting that failure is simply necessary for success.  Successful people look at mistakes as outcomes or results, not as failure. Unsuccessful people look at mistakes as permanent and personal.  Buckminster Fuller wrote, “Whatever humans have learned had to be learned as a consequence only of trial and error experience. Humans have learned only through mistakes.”

            Most people self-limit themselves. Most people do not achieve a fraction of what they are capable of achieving because they are afraid to try because they are afraid they will fail.  Never forget what 1 John 4:18 speaks to us.  “There is no fear in love.  But perfect love drives out fear.”  If we walk in faith and trust that our Creator only has what’s best in mind for us, we can be successful in following his guidance.  That doesn’t mean we won’t make mistakes along the way, but that we’re working to be as obedient as possible and therefore don’t have to be afraid of where he leads us.

 

            Fear of Society:  There are people who won’t go out of their houses because something bad might happen.  Others shield their children from everything they possibly can, not allowing them to learn from their mistakes like we all need to.  The promise of Prov 3:5-6 can help us overcome this fear.  “Trust in Yahweh with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight.”  We live in a fallen world, a world full of people with free will.  We’re warned that there are troubles and persecutions and dangers that we’ll have to face.  The perfect world is yet to come.  For the meantime we have to trust in our Lord’s protection over our soul.

            Some Christian families totally separate themselves from the culture.  Some do it to try to keep their children from being corrupted by the world system.  Some do it out of fear that their children will be corrupted.  If we trust our Lord to guide us, we can be involved in activities out in the world.  If we listen to the Spirit’s voice we won’t get overly caught up in the bad stuff.  We should all be carefully considering, and prayerfully seeking the Spirit’s guidance, when it comes to what we involve ourselves in.

            There are many types of phobia which can be manifested in the fear of society.  Christians shouldn’t be caught up in any of them.  If we trust our Lord to watch over our souls, we can enter into interaction with the world without worrying about being totally corrupted by it.  In fact, part of our Kingdom work is to spread the influence of our faith around.  We can’t do that without stepping into the corrupted world.

 

            A moderate sense of fear may be considered to be normal, even healthy.  It may simply be an awareness of impending danger, a natural defense mechanism.  It may just be a pounding heart, flushed face, and sweaty palms in anticipation of doing something we’re unsure of or uncomfortable with.  Fears may be a reaction to imagined or real circumstances.  What we have to do is ensure that we don’t let them stop us from serving our Lord and Master.  Fears can be extremely overwhelming and cause us great trouble.  But they don’t have to stop us from obeying our call to share the Gospel.

            In our society we’re very concerned with safety: safety on the highway, in the home, at work, concerning our retirement.  We carry insurance for all sorts of things, and we make sure our premiums are paid up.  That’s the wise thing to do.  But what about eternity?  Are you making plans, do you have any insurance for the afterlife?

            The bottom line is that Christians don’t have to fear the wrath of Yahweh or his judgment for sin.  If you’re fearful, you can’t enjoy your salvation because you’ll always be filled with doubt instead of joy.  If you’re fearful, you can’t enjoy your brothers and sisters, the beautiful fellowship our Lord designed for our good.  If we believe and trust in the Father, Son, and Spirit - fear should no longer cause us any harm or have any lingering effects.  Don’t let the fears and anxieties of this life rob you of the Father’s grace and love.  Fear the Lord with right heart, not all this other negative stuff.  Trust him to guide you and lead you along a safe path, the path he’s prepared for each and every one of us.

 

            Blessings & Peace,  Mike

Merry Christmas (12/24/12)

Shalom,

 

     Warm and wonderful Christmas greetings to all.  I hope and pray that your celebration of the birth of our Lord and Savior is beautiful and spiritually enriching.

 

     In every age people ask the same question: Why doesn't God prove he exists through some powerful demonstration?  Every Christmas season, Yahweh reminds us what his answer to that persistent question is: His transforming power appears in ways that confound our expectations.  The Son of God came as a frail baby in a smelly stable among the common folk of his day rather than as a crowned king in a palace.  Our Creator does many things in unexpected ways because he wants people to know him by faith.  The day of Jesus' birth wasn't a holiday, it was a happening.  It's something no human earned and one we definitely don't deserve.  It's something like our loving heavenly Father often does, a gift of grace.

     That's what it was for those shepherds so long ago.  After a hard day of tending sheep, they're sitting around the fire swapping stories - telling lies most likely - as men are prone to do when they talk about themselves.  Suddenly the night is ablaze with heavenly light and they find themselves immersed in the glory of the Lord.  Out of this glory an angel appears with a startling announcement: "I bring you good news of great joy..."

     It's important to note that there's nothing at all in this account to suggest anything religious was going on around that campfire.  Nor is there anything in the Scriptures to lead us to believe that these shepherds did anything to bring about this angelic visit.  In truth, there's not a shred of evidence to indicate that they were in any way special; nothing to suggest that there was anything in their spirit or nature or lifestyle that would have earned them the privilege of this angelic announcement.

     I believe this is precisely why Yahweh chose them.  In first century Judea, shepherds were basically outcasts.  Respectable people simply didn't socialize with them.  They were the lowest class in that society, and to our way of thinking, they were the least likely to receive a supernatural visitation.  I believe this is a core message of Christmas.  It begs us to wake up and realize that the holy doesn't just happen to religious people, but many times to undeserving people the world over.  It could be lepers or lunatics, shepherds or Samaritans, or even a woman taken in adultery.

     Sometimes our heavenly Father comes to us as he did to the shepherds, through a mystical experience, a vision or a visitation.  More often than not, though, he reveals himself in much more ordinary ways - like "a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."  He may come as words of encouragement spoken by a friend in an hour of sorrow or in a child's smile or even in the words of a sermon.  Our Creator God often confounds our expectations because he doesn't think like we do.  We want big supernatural events to prove who he is.  He often does much more common things.  Remember Elijah waiting for Yahweh on the mountain?  Our Almighty One True God didn't appear to him in the big profound things like Elijah expected, the big wind and earthquake and fire weren't what he used.  The Sovereign Lord God spoke to Elijah in a gentle whisper.

     Christmas invites us to pause in the mad rush of living and meeting expectations.  It calls us to examine our lives, to see if we've missed something important in the quietness where our Father often speaks to us in a gentle whisper.  As we do, more often than not we belatedly realize that the presence of the Father, Son, and Spirit is with us; that he's been there all the time, even when we paid him no mind, even when we were sure he was nowhere to be found.  Most of the world missed an amazing supernatural event in Bethlehem because it was too wrapped up in its own expectations.  Most of the world missed the coming of the King of Glory because he showed up in such ordinary trappings.

     Don't miss out on the joy of Christmas: the Savior born to us.  Listen a little harder to some of the second, third, and fourth verses of those carols we love.  The Gospel is strongly and plainly proclaimed.  Jesus came to us, an ordinary yet extraordinary child sent by his Father in response to our need.  Don't let the traditions keep you from seeing that.  It's really sweet to sing Silent Night as we hold the candles on this night, but the hard fact is the Light of the World has come and many missed it.

     Enjoy your Christmas celebrations with new eyes.  Look at the amazing thing our Lord God Almighty did.  Praise Jesus for setting aside his divinity and living among us.  Praise the Father, Son, and Spirit for giving us what we needed instead of what we expected.  Remember what the angel said: "I bring you good news of great joy that will be for ALL PEOPLE.  Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you, he is Messiah the Lord" (Luke 2:10-11).

 

     Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Mike

How To Travel Well (12/17/12)

Shalom,

 

     Please begin by reading Psalm 84:5-7.

 

            If you don’t already know it, Mount Zion is the final destination you’re heading for as you walk with Jesus.  Zion means citadel, a fortress.  Specifically, Mount Zion is a portion of the city of Jerusalem.  Spiritually, it’s the home of our God and King.  It’s a specially revered place because Yahweh lives there and provides his prophets with revelation from it.  It’s an extremely special place in the mind of the Israelite, and should be pretty special to all Christian, too.  If we’re looking forward to living eternally with our Lord and Savior, we’re looking forward to spending some time on Mount Zion.

            In certain biblical passages, Zion is the equivalent of Jerusalem.  When that’s the case it’s considered as the religious capital of the people of Yahweh.  It’s significant that the Lamb is said to be standing on Mount Zion in Rev 14:1.  We Christians have at times lost sight of the riches of Scripture concerning some of these issues because of the popular end-times view of being raptured out to avoid trouble.  But when you track Mount Zion through the Bible you find it still holds a significant place for the Christian.  It’s where Jesus will be facing when he sets his feet down on the Mount of Olives during his triumphant return.  Many of us sing “We’re marching to Zion” as a worship song.  It’s also marching orders for the army of our Lord.

 

            “Blessed are those whose strength is in you.” To be truly living in the grace of our Lord Jesus we must work at being faithful.  The Christian life isn’t merely “hard,” it’s impossible without strength from the Father, Son, and Spirit.  Heb 12:2 says that Jesus is “the author and perfecter of our faith.”  Author means originator and founder.  Perfecter means fulfiller and finisher.  We have to work at being faithful, but Jesus is the source, the place where we find our strength.

            Jesus starts the work of salvation in us and he also finishes it.  Our work is to get to the places where this can be accomplished in our lives.  To live this Christian life successfully, we must have our Father’s strength, the strength that saves and keeps and enables us.  Our own resources and abilities are completely inadequate for the task.  We can’t increase our faith through knowledge or some sort of spiritual exercise.  We increase our faith by consistently being obedient servants of our Lord.  If we don’t show diligence and effort at gaining spiritual strength, our Lord isn’t going to be pouring out much of himself into us.

            We’re given lots of advice for gaining and maintaining the strength of our Lord.  Waiting on our Lord, seeking with all our heart, hungering and thirsting for his presence, and receiving the blessing of the Holy Spirit are just a few.  The point is that this doesn’t happen by accident.  When we’re purposeful in seeking and serving our Lord he provides the strength we need to walk in his power.  He’s not seeking after our excellence, but for our effort.  The excellence he wants to see in us is his own.  The gifts come from our Lord.  1 Pet 4:10 says, “Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.””

            This strength goes to those who “have set their hearts on pilgrimage.”  We’re all on a pilgrimage to Mount Zion, to the place where Yahweh dwells.  Pilgrimage here can mean the main road and it has to do with our lifestyle.  Does our lifestyle keep us on the highway to Heaven?  Do other people see that we’re fully dedicated to staying on the main road to Heaven?  Our whole lifetime should be a pursuit of this holy place.  We need to make our lifetimes count, to work at blessing and touching people with all the authority and power of the Kingdom.

            Don’t be like people in the world who allow the circumstances of life to dictate how they live.  When we believe in things like fate or destiny we become thermometers, always being ruled by outside pressure.  Christians are supposed to be thermostats, affecting and changing things from the inside.  Set your eyes on the finish line while you make your life count for Kingdom building.  Put all your energy, heart, hands, feet, and anything else you have into being occupied with Kingdom business.  Dictate to the world how your life is going to progress.  Live for Jesus and exploit every opportunity to grow and develop for the glory of your Lord and Savior.

 

            Also know that life sometimes brings tears.  The Valley of Baca is the Valley of Tears.  Trials and struggles are a part of life on this earth, but if we’re being sustained by the strength of our Lord they don’t seem so bad.  Trials and struggles are common to every human on the face of this earth.  But Christians don’t have to be so greatly affected by them.  Don’t try to “faith” your trials and struggles away.  Don’t pretend that they’re not real.  Just deal with them in a proper perspective.  See them through the eyes of joy, consider them with godly wisdom, endure them with divine strength.  Don’t forget the advice of James 1:2-3.  “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.”  Trials are meant to strengthen us.

            Look at what we’re supposed to be doing in the midst of the Valley of Tears, building springs.  “As they pass through, they make it a place of springs.”  It doesn’t say that Yahweh makes springs for us, but that those on pilgrimage to Zion will build springs, wells in the desert.  When we pass through the wilderness areas of life, the dry and arid desert places, we’re supposed to leave springs behind for the people following the same path.  The word for springs means a source of life.  There is life in the wilderness, especially after we leave behind springs of living water.

            The story is told of a weary traveler coming across an old pump well in the midst of a wilderness.  On the pump was a jar filled with water.  The traveler was about to voraciously suck it down in his thirst when he noticed there was a note attached to the jar.  The note said: Use this water to prime the pump and you’ll have more than enough, and some for the next vagabond.  If the man had gulped down the water, the pump would then be useless.  Because he read the note and obeyed its instructions he had more than enough for himself and was able to leave the jar full for the next weary traveler.  Pay attention to your Lord’s instructions as you travel through the wilderness and you’ll be able to do the same for someone coming behind you.

 

            It might not always be apparent, but right in the middle of our trails and struggles we’ll find opportunities for growth and blessing.  In the midst of trouble we can prove Yahweh’s provision and care for us.  We can find ourselves in some of the most amazing opportunities of testimony to others about the grace and blessing of our Lord and Savior.  Keep walking in faith through the tough places and you’ll find the blessing and grace and provision necessary to reach the mountaintops.  What is your attitude?  Are you going to allow circumstances to make you bitter or better?

            I found this simple verse which speaks some tough but necessary truth.  There is no oil without squeezing the olives.  There is no wine without pressing the grapes.  There is no fragrant perfume without crushing the flower petals.  If our Lord is allowing pressure in our lives, it’s no doubt serving a good purpose.  If we’ll trust him and persevere, we’ll find the good oil and wine and perfume waiting at the end of our journey.

            We all love the mountaintop experiences, the times of blessing and sunshine.  But where does the fruit grow?  Fruit doesn’t normally grow on mountaintops, but for the most part in the valleys.  Yes, the view is much nicer from high up, but the rich dirt of the valley provides the nutrition for the roots of the trees and vines.  Campbell Morgan said, “Faith digs wells in the driest places and finds the living water.”  Another reason for the wells we’re building as we travel through the wilderness is for fruit to grow.  All the time in the valley isn’t oppressive and terrible.  Some of it is also sunny and beautiful, especially when we’re planting the good seed of the Gospel of the Kingdom.

 

            When we pursue the Kingdom and keep walking in our Lord’s strength as we go through the wilderness, we’re promised to “go from strength to strength.”  Strength here means capability, skill, might.  We all want to be mighty warriors for our Lord.  The way we get there is by walking with him and seeking his direct guidance, and most of all obeying his commands.  To move from strength to strength means we keep following our Lord, every step of the way.  If we move in our own strength we forfeit the strength provided for us.  Our human capability, skill, and might will never suffice to get us to Mount Zion.  Only our Holy Spirit enhanced capability, skill, and might helps us make our way to the city of our God.

            And the scripture says that strength is provided until “each appears before God in Zion.”  Our Lord and Master will direct our steps in his strength.  He’ll bring us through to our eternal destination.  If we hunger and thirst and put forth an effort of our will to pursue holiness, the Holy Spirit will continue to fill us with divine strength to get to our destination.  Our loving heavenly Father makes certain all the provisions and resources are available along our way, but we must take up what he provides for it to do us any good.  We don’t get to Heaven just because we want to.  We get to Heaven because Yahweh wants us to.  Our desire isn’t enough if he doesn’t provide the strength and wisdom and grace necessary for us to enter his eternal presence.  We need his help, or we’ll be eternally stuck in the wilderness.

            Don’t submit your plans for the future to your Lord for his approval.  Pray and seek his counsel and direction.  When you know his plan, be radically obedient, following it with all your heart.  He already has a path he wants you to follow.  Don’t make personal adjustments to it to avoid trials and struggles.  Don’t sweat the trials and struggles.  Remember, they’re for your good.  Gain your Lord’s strength for the journey by loving and serving him.  “Blessed are those whose strength is in Yahweh.”

 

            Blessings & Peace,  Mike

Leaving a Godly Legacy (12/10/12)

Shalom,

 

        Please begin by reading Psalm 78:1-8.

 

            Hallmark, the greeting card company, has provided America with many opportunities to send their cards to friends and loved ones.  Father’s Day is held in June and celebrates their contributions to the family.  We have a perfect example of fatherhood given to us through the imagery of God the Father.  He’s even given us a design and plan to follow to help us do a better job.  If we want to leave a godly legacy to our children, we must start with a foundation in the Word of Yahweh.  If we choose other philosophies or writings, we’ll fall short of what our Creator designed for us to do.

            The Old Testament reveals three simple, yet solid, themes relating to the family and the necessary connection it must have to Yahweh’s Word.  First, our heavenly Father gave us His Word to help us survive in a hostile world.  Psalm 119:105 says, “Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”  The world is a dark place.  We need heavenly light if we’re to navigate safely through the obstacles of this world and its demonic world system.  Spiritual sight will allow us to determine the difference between right and wrong, good and evil, and help us make the decisions which will help guide our families to secure ground.

            If we’re to experience real change in our families, we must admit our sinfulness.  Then we must teach our children how to properly deal with it.  Knowing the truth of the Bible is good, but giving our children practical guidance and direction for staying on Yahweh’s path is better.  I often hear Christians complain about how the Bible can’t be read in public schools.  Are we faithfully reading it in our own homes?  The world doesn’t like Christianity.  All other religions aren’t a problem to the devil and his system.  None of them can redeem anyone from their sin and free souls from bondage.  We must do our parts as parents to ensure our children are equipped with the best information.

            The Bible can’t be a light for our paths if it’s lying on an end table covered with dust.  It doesn’t guide us anywhere when it’s stuck on a shelf out of sight and out of mind.  Knowing the Word will help us and our children overcome sin and give us practical help in becoming disciples of Jesus.  We need spiritual illumination to better understand the Word.  We need the light of the Gospel to shine through us into the hearts and minds of lost people.  We need discernment to avoid sin and evil.  All these pictures and metaphors about the helpfulness of spiritual light should help us understand how necessary it is for us.

 

            Second, Yahweh blesses those who honor and obey His Word.  Psalm 119:2 says, “Blessed are they who keep His statutes and seek him with all their heart.”  When we raise our families according to our heavenly Father’s principles of right living, he promises to bless us.  There are plenty of examples of how much Yahweh loves a seeking heart throughout the Bible.  If we desire to please him, obedience is the first step we need to take in being his servant.  Honoring and obeying His Word proves where our allegiance and loyalty is.  Dedicating ourselves to following his principles will help us overcome weakness and doubt.

            Does this mean we’ll never have any problems?  Of course not!  We’re all soldiers fighting battles in enemy territory against a fierce opponent.  Our families often do get hurt or injured in this spiritual battle, but we need to continue on no matter what happens.  If we stay on Yahweh’s path, all will end well eventually.  The blessing doesn’t mean that nothing will ever go wrong, but that we have eternal protection and peace of mind right in the midst of the worst that can happen.  Our vision needs to be toward eternity and the never-ending blessings found there.  If we only focus on this world, we only see temporary things.

 

            Third, Yahweh established the family as His primary way for passing on the truth of His Word from one generation to the next.  We read about this in Psalm 78.  “He commanded our forefathers to teach their children, so the next generation would know the commandments, even the children yet to be born and they in turn would tell their children.”  When parents don’t pass on a godly legacy to their children, the entire nation suffers for it.  It’s not just about our kids, but also our grandkids and great-grand-kids.  If we really get it right, it spreads even farther through the generations.

            Leaving a godly legacy means making the choice to obey our Lord and teach our children that this is the best way to live.  We have a silly saying that has become all too pervasive in our society.  “They’ll figure it all out for themselves when they’re old enough.”  That’s a load of baloney (you know, ridiculous and stupid).  We need to teach our children about our Creator and his principles for right living if we want them to follow him for themselves.  We need to give our children as much background in biblical wisdom and understanding as we possibly can.  The world system is going to try hard to convince them that they don’t need Christianity.  If we don’t equip them with real information to deal with this coercion to darkness, we leave them vulnerable to getting bound up in the darkness.

 

            There are five things we need to do to pass along a godly legacy.  They involve knowing, applying, experiencing, embracing, and proclaiming Yahweh’s truth about marriage and family.  It’s a lifelong process of forming our lives, marriages, and families according to the scriptural guidelines.

            Knowing Yahweh’s truth means learning the biblical blueprints for marriage and family.  The biggest problem today is that many Christians don’t know what their Bible teaches about marriage and family.  Many of our problems are rooted in our biblical illiteracy.  John 8:31-32 proclaims to us, “To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, ‘If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples.  Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

            To hold to the teachings of Jesus is to abide in them, to work at continuing in them.  Marriage is between a man and a woman, a husband and a wife.  The two become one in our Lord’s sight and part of their mandate is to have children and continue the work of subduing the earth.  Alternative lifestyles are only socially acceptable, the Bible clearly teaches against them.  Teach this to your children because our society is working hard to allow homosexual marriage and many other perversions as the “new normal.”

            Applying Yahweh’s truth requires putting his principles into action, living out what he’s set forth as truth.  This means measuring our attitudes and actions against the clear teachings of the Bible.  The Bible is very clear, not open for broad interpretations.  It’s not antiquated and out of date.  Our Creator knew exactly what he was doing in putting together his Holy Book.  No imperfect human has a better idea than our perfect God.  No one gets too intelligent to live without the Bible’s standards of righteous living.

            James 1:22 says, “Do not merely listen to the Word, and so deceive yourselves.  Do what it says.”  Don’t give lip service to your heavenly Father.  He’s never allowed that to fool or sway him and he never will.  Putting our faith into action is the certain proof that we mean what we say.  Faith needs to be acted out because it can’t be seen otherwise.

            Experiencing Yahweh’s truth happens as we apply his Word regularly in our homes and families.  Teach your children personal repentance and purity by your lifestyle, not just by telling them.  Teach them about the godly principles of marriage and family.  Don’t just tell them Bible stories.  Studies have shown that if we don’t relate to them how the Bible applies to real life, they’ll eventually walk away from faith.  Let them experience biblical living in their home.  Let them see the consequences of their sin instead of shielding them from its trouble.  Let them see how a man and a woman can love one another with a pure love.

            2 Tim 1:5 says, “I have been reminded about your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded, now lives in you.”  Passing the faith along is the biblical way.  Giving our children real experiences of Christian living and making them live up to biblical standards of right wrong will bless them, not overburden them.

            Embracing and proclaiming Yahweh’s truth actually work best together.  In them we see our convictions take root and emerge as a vital fruit-bearing plant.  When we proclaim our faith publicly we prove that we’ve embraced it privately.  The public proclamation of our faith is a major step toward our achieving spiritual maturity and godliness.  We’re no longer satisfied with mediocrity, we show we want the fullness of a life attached to our Creator.  We become soldiers of truth, vessels of the love and grace freely given to us, part of the transforming work of Jesus and his Gospel.

            Prov 4:4-5 says, “Lay hold of my words with all your heart; keep my commands and you will live.  Get wisdom, get understanding, do not forget my words or swerve from them.”  If we really love Jesus, publicly sharing our faith shouldn’t be so hard.  If we want others to have what we have in him, we’ll be willing to show them how to meet Jesus.  If we’ve embraced faith in Jesus, proclaiming that faith should come naturally.  Everyone needs the Gospel, so you’re not intruding into their private space by sharing the Gospel.  Your Lord wants them to hear the Gospel, don’t let their annoyance slow you down.

 

            We’re talking about practical living here.  If our heavenly Father already has a plan for our marriages and families, it’s only practical that we follow it.  He’s the Creator and Sustainer of all life.  Why should we presume to know a better way or expect that we can find something more pleasing in the world’s philosophies?  Psychologists don’t know our brains better than the God who created them.  Marriage counselors who don’t use the Bible as their guide can’t help us overcome our spiritual problems.  Trust that the one who ordained marriage also knows how it works best.

            Work at applying what you learn from your Bible reading.  Make it an adventure for your children, something that can help them see its effectiveness in real life.  Deut 6:7 says teaching our children is a 24/7 duty.  “Impress them on your children.  Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.”  Take some time out of the rat race, slow down and enjoy your Father’s love.  Show your children how much you appreciate and love them.

            What kind of a legacy will you leave to your children?  Do you know Yahweh’s design and plan for marriage and family?  It’s easy to find and not so hard to implement.

 

            Blessings & Peace,  Mike

Spiritual Desire (12/3/12)

Shalom,

 

     Please begin by reading Psalm 63.

 

            This is a psalm of David written when he was in the wilderness of Judah.  The only times we know David was there was when he was on the run from King Saul, and again later from his son Absalom.  In a lonely, arid land he cries out to Yahweh, the only One David knew who could save him and also satisfy the longings of his heart and soul.  He satisfied the longing in his heart and soul by praising his Almighty God for the loyal love he poured out even in times of distress.  David also shows the confidence and anticipation of a time when his enemies would be stopped.

            In the midst of his troubles, David remembers Yahweh’s consistent protection in the past.  He praises him for the provision he anticipates will come.  He’s not hung up in his circumstances.  He trusts that his Lord God will provide even when he can’t see how the rescue will come his way.  He renews his trust by proclaiming the blessings of Yahweh’s future provisions.

 

            Many of us spend much of our lives chasing the wind, getting caught up in worldly illusions of what’s truly important.  We think that our longing for significance is only a desire for food, fame, fortune, fun, or whatever it is that inspires us.  What we often miss is that this longing really is a hunger to know our heavenly Father.  We chase cheap imitations of the real thing, all the while imagining how wonderful it will be to catch and hold on to these cheap imitations of the real.  The truth is that only the Father, Son, and Spirit can truly provide what we need.  Only they can protect us, save us, and fill the God-sized hole that dwells in the middle of all of us.

            As blood-bought followers of Jesus the Christ, we’re to seek his presence earnestly and entirely.  Knowing him and pleasing him should be our consuming passion.  What too many people settle for is simply adopting some of the minor external requirements of Christianity because they believe their lives are too busy for a serious commitment.  Instead of immersing ourselves into his ways and Word, we merely dabble on the fringes and feel self-satisfied at what we’re sacrificing to reach this limited position.

            Given who and what Yahweh is, and what he has done for us, and what he is going to do for us; our only response should be to make knowing him, pleasing him, and finding deep satisfaction in our relationship with him the business of our lives.  We tend to seek our Father in limited ways because we’re also seeking after position, power, possessions, pleasure, or whatever it is that entices us.  What part of “Love the Lord your God with all…” do we misunderstand?  What part of complete surrender have we missed when being told of what it takes to be a trust disciple of Jesus?

            How do we get this level of passion for our Lord God?  It’s actually simpler than most think.  It begins with knowing who we really are, and knowing who Yahweh really is.  We did all the sinning, Jesus did all the saving.  Have we forgotten that we didn’t earn our salvation by some amazing act of piety?  Have we forgotten that we needed the blood of Jesus to be set free from our sin?  Have we lost sight of what a great gift the mercy of our Lord God is?  Jesus said in Luke 7:47, “he who has been forgiven little loves little.”  Paul Thigpen said it like this: “The secret of a passion for God is – the greater the debt, the greater the devotion.”  We need to recognize the great and amazing gift we’ve received from the Father, Son, and Spirit.  It should cause us to be greatly devoted to them.

 

            In this psalm we should get the idea that believers make it a habit to praise their God.  This praise involves recalling and retelling Yahweh’s mighty acts on our behalf.  This praise involves realizing that Yahweh’s hand is actively present in our lives this very day.  This praise should anticipate the wonderful acts yet to come from his hand.  None of us is saved by our own accord.  Nothing we do can accomplish the cleansing of our sins.  Praise should easily flow from our lips when we remember the great salvation provided for us in the blood of Jesus.

            We’ve forgotten about the primacy of praise.  Many think that worship is an optional part of Christianity.  If it’s snowing on Sunday morning or some friends invite us to go to lunch or the kids are being troublesome or many other excuses; we skip attending church.  Our prayer lives too easily become endless repetitions of lists, or complaints about how our life is messed up.  We’ve forgotten to praise Yahweh for his amazing attributes, his powerful acts of kindness and mercy, his pure and sweet love for us.  We’ve forgotten to share with others the wondrous things our Lord has done to bless our lives.  As a result our prayers and worship are a chore.  At the worst these activities become boring and lifeless.

            The Christians who know joy, peace, and confidence in their Lord are the ones who make praise a primary part of their lives.  The Bible is filled from start to finish with praises.  It’s filled with Yahweh’s mighty acts of blessing and deliverance for his people.  Can you sing along to the radio when it’s tuned to a Christian station?  Or can you only sing along to the secular station?  What blesses you, songs which lift up the name of our Lord, or songs about humanistic subjects?  If Christian music bores you, you had better reevaluate where you stand in Christ.

 

            Thirsting and longing for our Lord God is a key here.  How many of us in the Church today truly long for the presence of the Father, Son, and Spirit?  I can say, not enough of us.  Too many are longing for the wrong things.  Too many are focused on worldly issues or pleasures instead of Kingdom issues and pleasures.  This limits our ability to praise Yahweh because we’re too focused on earthly things which makes us blind to spiritual ones.  If we hunger and thirst for our Lord God we’ll include praise in our lives automatically.  It will be impossible for us not to because of our intense desire to be in his presence.

            What does thirst for our God look like?  Do you truly desire more and more of Jesus?  One who hungers and thirsts for the presence of Jesus is promised to find it, to be ultimately satisfied in the depths of their soul.  What kind of spiritual hunger is evident in our society and culture?  Is there great thirst in our comfortable homes?  What do the Samaritan women of our day look like coming to the well for water?  Water is readily available to us in America, much more so than in many areas of the world.  New York City gets its water – some of the best in the world – from deep lakes in the Catskill Mountains.  Millions of people are being provided with good drinking water from hundreds of miles away.

            New York City must have thousands of bars, stores, and restaurants.  How can they be so thirsty for water from lakes in our region?  The United States in general has abundant water, and most people can turn on the tap and drink right in their homes.  But is our country thirsty for living water?  We can be sure that people can’t live without water, but many try to survive without living water.  Have you found the fountain of living water?  Do you desire to immerse yourself in this fountain of living water?  Are you drinking from it still today and also sharing it with as many people as you can?  Once we’ve tasted of this living water, we should long for more and more and more.

 

            This psalm also brings out David’s strong hope in the future because of his trust in Yahweh’s covenant faithfulness.  Many today call it stepping out in faith, living by faith – not by sight.  David expected deliverance from his enemies, not because of anything about himself, but because Yahweh had sworn to protect him.  David had deep trust and faith in his Lord God Almighty.  He had experienced deliverance in the past and accepted the fact that his Lord God was able to do it again.  He had an experiential faith that sustained him even in dire circumstances.  He praises Yahweh in advance for the deliverance to come because he knew his God never fails.

            Paul reminds us in Romans that nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus (Rom 8:35-39).  Jesus reminded us that in this world we’d have trouble, but not to fret because he’d overcome the world (John 16:33).  He also told us he would never leave or forsake us (Heb 13:5).  Job 13:15 says, “Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him.”  There’s no other place we can run to where we can find eternal safety and security.  There’s nothing in this world which can provide real security for the future.

            Where does this kind of confidence in our Lord God Almighty come from?  First, it comes from knowing that our Lord always has our best interests in mind.  He loves us deeply and only wants to help us grow in faith and the knowledge of him.  Second, it comes from knowing that there’s life after this one which our Father promises to bring us to.  Even if we die in expressing our faith, our souls are totally safe and secure in him.  Third, it comes from knowing Yahweh never fails.  Be encouraged by Joshua’s words to Israel as he was leaving them in Josh 23:14.  “You know with all your heart and soul that not one of all the good promises Yahweh your God gave you has failed.”

 

            What are you thirsty for?  What or who are you trusting and finding your satisfaction in?  We can do and pursue all kinds of things.  But if they’re of this earth they’ll ultimately fail us and leave us thirsting again.  Never forget the words of Jesus in Matt 6:19-21.  “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.  But store up for yourselves treasures in Heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will also be.”

            Drink from the well of everlasting life.  Take the living water that only Jesus can provide.  Whether we’re in the physical desert of Judah or the spiritual wastelands found all around our world, there’s only one place to find help and satisfaction – in the Lord God who made Heaven and earth.  Praise him now for he has done great things and will continue to do great things.

 

            Blessings & Peace,  Mike