An Encounter with Glory

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“Let this Messiah, this king of Israel, come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe.” Those crucified with him also heaped insults on him.  Mark 15:32

At times I have difficulty grasping the love of God. As I consider the road to Calvary, emotion overwhelms me. I picture my Jesus anguishing on His knees in Gethsemane, sweating drops of blood. I see fists pounding His flesh, a thorny crown beaten into His head, lashes repeatedly stripping skin and bloody tissue from His back.

He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.  Isaiah 53:7

While His own people spit at Him and mocked Him, Jesus silently bore the weight of a cross—a punishment due us but not He who carried it—and stumbled up the hill to Calvary. There, angry soldiers pounded nails into His hands and feet, pinning Him to that cross. The ground beneath Him stained crimson by the blood of earth’s Creator, at last Jesus proclaimed, “It is finished” (John 19:30).

It might be easy for us to blame the religious leaders of Jesus’ day, but the truth is, you and I put Jesus there as much as they did. Our sin nailed Him to that cross.

These words from Sidewalk Prophets’ song You Love Me Anyway pierce my heart each time I hear them.

I am the thorn in Your crown, but You love me anyway

I am the sweat from Your brow, but You love me anyway

I am the nail in Your wrist, but You love me anyway

I am Judas' kiss, but You love me anyway

. . . I am the man that called out from the crowd

For Your blood to be spilled on this earth shaking ground

Yes then, I turned away with this smile on my face

With this sin in my heart tried to bury Your grace

And then alone in the night, I still called out for You

So ashamed of my life . . .

But You love me anyway

I am a blessed recipient of that grace, of that incomprehensible love. For 26 years I rejected my Lord and King, yet still He welcomed me with open arms the instant I opened my heart. Words cannot express my gratitude over His pursuit of this prodigal. He intersected my life, pierced my blindness with His glorious truth, and inscribed His Name upon my heart. In light of His revelation, I had nothing to offer Him but myself, and He gladly received me. Only later did I realize that “me” is all He ever truly wanted.

History records another recipient of grace whose life—and death—offers irrefutable hope of redemption through faith in the Son of God. The story of the crucified thief who joined Jesus in paradise unravels any theory that Jesus welcomes us based on the good we’ve done. Even the thief declared,

“We are punished justly for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man [Jesus] has done nothing wrong.”  Luke 23:41

I’d like to shift our focus to his next words, however.

“Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Luke 23:42

Perhaps you have never considered this thought before: How did he know? How did he know that Jesus would, indeed, come into a kingdom? His eyes witnessed the same things Jesus’ Disciples saw that sent them running in fear and believing it was over. Jesus hung battered and broken, struggling for His next breath and nearing His last. Death hung immanently, yet the thief knew that Jesus would one day reign as King, and he entrusted his life to His care. How did he know what even the Disciples could not yet understand?

I’d like to suggest that our friend the thief had an encounter with glory. God sent His Spirit to open his eyes and enable him to see. In John 6:65, Jesus said,

“. . . I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them.”

Our opening Scripture today reveals that as our thief first hung on the cross beside Jesus, he did not recognize Him as the Son of God. He joined the crowd and the other thief hurling insults at the King of Kings.

Jesus performed no visible miracle from the cross to change his opinion. He only heard His fervent prayers to the Father and listened to Jesus speak of forgiveness. But as the thief heard the words of Christ, God pierced his darkness with the light of truth, allowing a once blind man to see that Jesus was everything He claimed to be. He suddenly knew that death would not hold this King of the Jews. And with a repentant heart, our thief emerged alone from the crowd in defense of Jesus, abandoning the hateful mockers to proclaim His coming kingdom. All doubt erased, this man stood certain of what his earthly eyes could not see.

“ . . . blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”  John 20:29

Indeed.

Jesus answered him, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.”  Luke 23:43

Have you had your encounter with glory, dear one? Do you know beyond reason and doubt that Jesus’ kingdom is coming? Or are you still trying to convince yourself based on what others have told you?

You can know, beloved. Jesus longs to reveal Himself to you, to invade your darkness with His truth-baring light. All He requires of you is a seeking heart. He’ll do the rest.

“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the Lord. Jeremiah 29:13-14

The forgiven thief possessed the only thing he needed to draw God to Him that day. He had a repentant heart that sought the truth, so God faithfully showed up to reveal it in time for him to enter into paradise. Then our thief made the choice to believe. How like our Lord to come after the one lost lamb and carry him safely into the fold!

And what of the rest of the mob?  Some people just like the darkness (John 3:19). The others simply didn’t care.  

 

The Crushing Spirit of Doubt

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The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. Psalm 34:18

At some point, disappointment reaches into every life. No matter how closely we walk with the Lord, its sting can paralyze us. In fact, sometimes the more we have chosen to believe big things of God, the harder we fall when things don’t turn out the way we thought they would.

Can you relate? Have you ever been so certain one moment and then found yourself reeling with doubt the next?

If so, you’re not alone. I’d wager that all who’ve chosen to live by faith, actively believing God for His promises, have faced a crisis of faith at one time or another. I know I have. If you and I are going to answer God’s call on our lives and trust Him to do extraordinary things through us, we need to know what to do when the crisis hits.

Let’s consider a man who found himself stumbling over his own disappointment—a man about whom Jesus claimed, “I tell you the truth:  Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist” (Matthew 11:11).

You might be interested to know that Jesus spoke those words of John while he was going through his crisis of faith. Don’t you love knowing that God’s opinion of us doesn’t change in our moments of weakness? How He lavishes us in grace!

Let’s take a look at what caused this great man to waver. In answer to God’s call, John had devoted his life to preparing the people of Israel for the coming of their Messiah. He challenged them to repent and return to God, declaring Christ was coming! Then he pointed them to Jesus, knowing Christ had come.

The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’” John 1:29-30

John had no doubt that Jesus was the promised Christ. He had seen the Spirit of God come to rest upon Him like a dove, just as God had told him it would (verses 32-33). Certain of what he knew in his heart, John boldly proclaimed,

“I have seen and I testify that this is the Son of God.”  John 1:34

And John was right, of course. That same moment that sealed the truth in John’s heart launched the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. The Teacher began to unleash the power of God upon the earth, performing miracles and healing the sick.

Yet while Jesus’ ministry kicked into high gear, John found himself in a situation he did not expect. He did not join the throngs of people standing by to witness the fulfillment of what he had prophesied about Christ. Instead, he could only listen to reports of Jesus’ wonders from behind the walls of a dark prison cell.

Can you imagine the seeds of doubt springing up through his disappointment? After all, didn’t Scripture foretell that Messiah would come to set captives free? How hard it must have been to hear about all those miracles Jesus performed for others while experiencing no miracle of his own. For a moment, John wondered if he got it wrong.

When John heard in prison what Christ was doing, he sent his disciples to ask him, “Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?”  Matthew 11:2-3

Jesus responded by proclaiming the evidence of the miracles themselves, then added,

“Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me.” Matthew 11:6

Indeed, blessed is the one who doesn’t stumble when Jesus doesn’t do what he expects.

I feel such compassion toward John. My journey thus far has not landed me in a cell, but I too have felt my resolve crumble under the weight of doubt. I know the confusion of shifting from a strong stand of faith to crippling defeat when God’s will for me did not align with my own. It didn’t take long for seeds of doubt to crush my spirit. But in my moment of weakness, I did exactly what John did. I took my doubt to Jesus.

I remember rising early to the sounds of a thundering storm. Fitting, I thought. Nature’s rage echoed the turmoil swirling about in my own mind and heart. I grabbed my Bible and stepped outside onto my covered porch. Taking a seat in my favorite chair, I watched the rain fall, tears flowing, it seemed, in tandem with God’s own.

I cried out to God, my voice barely audible, “I need to hear your whisper on the wind.” Almost immediately, Jesus responded in my heart with three precious words, “I love you.” 

Hope stirred within me, its presence slowly piercing the shroud of doubt. “Is that really you?” And my Jesus in His great mercy repeated Himself, “I love you.”

I felt His presence wash over me from head to toe. Memories flooded my mind of promises made and kept by my Lord. The faith upon which I had stood was no illusion. God’s promises and His plans for me had not changed. He had simply altered my view of them. The Lord drew near to mend my broken heart, infused my crushed spirit with life, and made me ready to stand again. Oh, how I love Jesus.

John never got the earthly rescue he sought from Jesus. Like me, his crying out to God did not alter his circumstances. But Jesus did answer his faithful servant with assurances of truth…the truth that John needed to hear to build his faith…and then the Son of God proclaimed His pleasure over John’s life (Matthew 11:11).

How sweet it must have been to hear what Christ had said when John’s disciples reported back to him. He had not been wrong. The Christ had come. But John himself had prophesied, “He must become greater; I must become less” (John 3:30). The one called to precede the Messiah had fulfilled his purpose, and Jesus gave him the strength he needed for the last leg of his journey.

Not long afterward, Herod took John’s life. As the executioner’s blade pierced his neck, John breathed his last earthly breath. He took his next breath in the throne room of heaven, face to face with the God he had faithfully served. All doubt erased. Hunger ceased. Pain faded into memory as his being flooded with indescribable love and surpassing joy. You can be sure John never once thought of returning to the desert in which he’d spent his earthly life. He’d finally made it home.

They go from strength to strength, till each appears before God in Zion.  Psalm 84:7

Are you stumbling in doubt, beloved? Take it to Jesus. He has exactly what you need to make you stand.

Missing the Blessing

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The Lord said to him, “Who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the Lord?”  Exodus 4:11, NIV

One of my sons is a bit unhappy right now with a few of God’s choices for him. The way he puts it, “I got all the bad stuff from my parents.” It’s hard being twelve.

This year he has watched his friends propel past him several inches in height, shooting steadily upward as they hit their 7th grade growth spurts. His growth has been decidedly slower, and he fears he’s going to be short like his mom. He has also been blessed with dad’s teeth—which come complete with braces—and now he’s just discovered he has his mother’s eyes. Apparently glasses are in his future. As I said, it’s hard being twelve.

And right now, these things he perceives as limitations have obscured his view of anything else. He can’t see past them. They’ve completely overshadowed any thought of his potential. He doesn’t yet understand that every part of himself he views as weakness provides an opportunity for God to show His strength.

You and I tend to do the same thing. We get stuck on our limitations and often allow them to rob us of joy and blessings that wait just on the horizon. Even our friend Moses left some things on the table, and Scripture records that he left a legacy like no other.

Since then, no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face . . . For no one has ever shown the mighty power or performed the awesome deeds that Moses did in the sight of all Israel.  Deuteronomy 34:10, 12

Let’s rejoin Moses in the desert and uncover what he may have missed!

Last week we took a front row seat to his encounter with God through a burning bush. Out of all the people on the face of the earth, God chose Moses to lead His chosen people to their deliverance. What had Moses done to deserve such an honor? Absolutely nothing. God found him hiding in the desert, consumed by his past failure.

But God doesn’t call us based on our incredible strengths and abilities. He calls us according to His purpose. Moses hadn’t earned the position God held out to him. God had simply offered Him a gift of grace. His responses to Moses’ protests prove that to be true. 

God didn’t answer Moses’ doubt by building him up and encouraging his abilities. What Moses could or couldn’t do didn’t matter. God answered by promising Moses three things.

·      I will be with you. Exodus 3:12

·      I AM all that you need.  Exodus 3:14

·      I will prove to the people that I am with you through miraculous signs. Exodus 4:1-9

Still, Moses remained unconvinced. Immediately upon experiencing a miraculous display of God’s power, Moses offered up his final retort.

Moses said to the Lord, “O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.”  Exodus 4:10

Part of me wants to interrupt their conversation right here and ask Moses, “Are you serious?” I mean, He had just seen God turn the staff he was holding into a snake and watched his own hand become leprous and then healed at God’s command. Yet he faced God and said, “I don’t think so. I don’t like the way I talk.”

Pay close attention to God’s response.

The Lord said to him, “Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.”  Exodus 4:11-12

Essentially God said to Moses, “I made your mouth. I will help you speak.”

But Moses said, “O Lord, please send someone else to do it.”  Then the Lord’s anger burned against Moses . . . Exodus 4:13-14

Sometimes we need to be careful what we wish for. Even after all of God’s promises and a grand display of miraculous power, Moses asked God to send someone else. In anger, God granted Moses’ request, but that still didn’t get Moses out of going.

“What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well. He is already on his way to meet you, and his heart will be glad when he sees you. You shall speak to him and put words in his mouth; I will help both of you speak and will teach you what to do. He will speak to the people for you, and it will be as if he were your mouth . . .” Exodus 4:14-16

Don’t miss the cost of Moses’ stubbornness, dear one. Yes, God in His mercy provided Aaron to help Moses communicate with the people, but Moses forfeited a miracle God wanted to perform on his behalf. God didn’t plan to have another man speak for Moses “as if he were [his] mouth” (verse 16). God desired to reveal His power through Moses by making his mouth speak (verse 12)! God’s purpose still prevailed, but poor Moses argued himself right out of his blessing.

I wonder how many times you and I have talked ourselves out of a blessing God had waiting on the edge of a step of faith. How often have we wrestled against God’s purpose for our lives and refused to trust Him for His best?

I have a confession to make. I taught this lesson on Moses in my Sunday school class two weeks ago. When we reached these verses uncovering this missed blessing, conviction fell over me so powerfully, I couldn’t speak for a moment. I physically felt God’s presence from head to toe, and He whispered to my heart, “That’s you, dear one.” Tears stung my eyes and my voice caught in my throat. Before I even had time to think about it, I closed my eyes before the class, lifted my face toward heaven and answered Him, “God forgive me.”

You see, I have chosen to live my life for the glory of the Lord, and amazingly, He has used this life to bring about some small part of His plan for the nations. But I realize I tend to act like Moses did when God invited Him to participate. At times I believe I’ve allowed my view of myself and my limitations to overshadow my view of God. In those moments, God has still used me to bring about His will, but perhaps I’ve missed some of what God wanted to do for me in the process. I don’t want to leave any more blessings on the table!

God has things to do right now in our generation. Let’s commit together to believe big things of God. The God who made our mouths can cause them to speak with boldness. The God who made the seas still has power to make them part. God is so much bigger than our limitations. As we readily respond in faith, we may just get to witness His great power.

“Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning. . . so that when he comes and knocks [you] can immediately open the door for him. Luke 12:35-36

 

 

Doing the Impossible

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Jesus replied, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.” Luke 18:27

We serve a magnificent, all-powerful God. Nothing is too difficult for Him. Things that loom beyond our human realm of possibility become quite possible when the Almighty enters the scene.

Unfortunately, most of us don’t live as though that’s true. We tend to limit what we’ll expect from God, especially when it comes to our understanding of how God might want to use us. We often allow our abilities—or lack of them—to define our idea of what God might desire to do through us. That misplaced focus can cause us to miss out on a marvelous blessing.

Today we will visit the desert with Moses and join him beside that famous burning bush. We have much to learn from his encounter with God, and you may just feel the heat of the flames. Thankfully, these don’t consume (Exodus 3:2), so you don’t need to fear getting burned. You may, however, learn how to push past your own self-doubt and trust God to do something extraordinary through you.

Let’s first consider the scene. Moses has spent the last forty years tending sheep in the desert, a long way from the Pharaoh’s palace he had been raised in. A botched attempt to intervene on behalf of an Israelite slave ended in murder and sent him running far from Egypt for his life. Now suddenly, on an ordinary day while Moses performed an ordinary task, God showed up and told him it was time to finish what he started forty years ago.

The Lord said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land… So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”  Exodus 3:7-8, 10

Moses’ response to God was less than enthusiastic. Honestly, I’m pretty certain mine would have been as well. I mean, who really wants to return to the scene of their most tragic failure? And the last time Moses saw Pharaoh, he wanted to take his life.

Like Moses, you and I possess all sorts of reasons for not wanting to do what God asks of us. On the surface, some of them even appear to be very valid reasons. But I think you’ll find that if you bring them to the Lord and allow yourself to see them overshadowed by His greatness, they really do become quite inconsequential.

How do you typically respond, dear one, when God calls you to move on His behalf? Do you charge ahead full of faith, or do you argue like Moses to see if God changes His mind?

Unfortunately, I realize I tend to do a bit of arguing. I am full of faith in God’s ability, but I tend to doubt myself. Thankfully, God’s pretty good at winning battles.

Moses offered up four arguments against doing the thing God asked of Him. Today we will consider the first three and conclude with His final argument next week. As we look at each one, contemplate how God’s response to Moses applies to you.

Who am I? Moses’ first argument stemmed from self-doubt. “But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”  (Exodus 3:11) It’s as if he’s questioning God’s choice, “Are you sure you’ve got the right guy?” I can tell you I’ve spoken similar words to God myself, and God responds to me with the same words He spoke to Moses.

God’s Answer:  “I will be with you.” Exodus 3:12

Who are you?  Next Moses asks for a little clarification. God had already revealed who He was at the start of their conversation, and Moses hid his face in reverent response (verse 6). Still, upon hearing the task God appointed for him, Moses asks…

“Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?”  Exodus 3:13

It might be interesting to note that God revealed His names in Scripture as His people experienced that aspect of His character. It’s almost as if Moses is asking, “You said you’d go with me, but who are you going to be?” Would He be Deliverer? Comforter? Provider? God Almighty?

God’s Answer: “I AM WHO I AM” Exodus 3:14 By declaring Himself I AM, God declared, “I am everything you need.”

What if they don’t believe me? We can easily face a crisis of faith when we consider how others might view it. Wondering what others think can keep us from believing ourselves. I would bet every fisherman that abandoned his net to follow Jesus dealt with this one. Moses, it seems, faced that same doubt.

Moses answered, “What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you’?”  Exodus 4:1

God’s Answer: Essentially, “I will show myself.”  Exodus 4:2-9

God promised Moses that if he would trust Him by going to Egypt to rescue the people of Israel, God would make it known to the people that He was with him. He would provide evidence that He was present and that He did in fact send Moses to deliver them through miraculous signs.

Moses chose to trust God and saw Him keep every promise. God showed up to perform marvelous works that brought great deliverance and altered the course of history. And that shepherd tending sheep in the desert became the leader of God’s chosen nation.

Beloved, what is God calling you to do that you have neglected to trust Him for? Obedience invites God’s presence. And as you step out in faith with I AM, you can rest assured that God will eventually show Himself to doubting scoffers. If He has invited you to participate with Him in His plans, just like Moses you can believe that when the time is right He will allow Himself to be seen in the midst of it.

I’d like to leave you with one closing thought to chew on. When Moses voiced the reasons he couldn’t do what God had asked, not once did God encourage Moses by building him up. He didn’t offer the words, “You can do this.” Moses’ ability was a non-issue. God’s response was simply, “I will; I AM; I can.” Glory!

Living Water Flows

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Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”  John 4:10

I love the story of the woman at the well. I can’t help but relate to her experience. Like her, I spent years avoiding people. It just seemed safer keeping to myself. And like that broken woman, caught up in sin and existing in isolation, Jesus met me in the midst of the mundane to offer me living water. With a hopeful heart, I drank.

Soon that water began to bear the fruit of life. I discovered true forgiveness, healing replaced brokenness, and love drew me out of my solitude. The joy of restoration kindled a passion in me for God’s Word that remains insatiable. And while I remain faithful to feast on His Word, the living water within me continually produces new life. Oh, how I love Jesus!

Do you know the gift of God Jesus speaks of in John 4:10? Does living water flow through you? 

If you have put your faith in Jesus and received Him as your Lord and Savior, He has given you His Spirit. But Jesus didn’t give you the Holy Spirit to settle into your soul like a puddle. He is not just a possession given to seal you for salvation. He entered your heart to flood your entire being with His presence. He means to flow through you in a way that makes people take notice. And as He flows, He produces life.

. . . Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.” By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. John 7:37-39

How does Jesus describe the Spirit?  He is like streams of living water that flow from within.

Take a moment to picture a flowing stream. It differs greatly from still water. A stream bubbles and swells with life, changing the landscape as it flows. Have you ever stumbled upon a stagnant pond and found junk collecting on the surface of the water? Not so with flowing water. Moving water carries debris along and eventually washes it away.

Has the Holy Spirit left His tangible mark on your life, dear one? Can you see evidence of His movement? You’re meant to. The Holy Spirit within you initiates change. His movement will stir up waste and debris until He clears it right out of you. Then He’ll plant the fruit of abundant life in its place.

Beloved, if you want to activate the flow of the Spirit within you, you’re going to have to feed the stream.

Psalm 1:2-3 teaches,

But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.

Scripture links our ability to prosper and grow while fed by streams of water with our delight in His Word. Meditating on His Word and receiving it into our hearts gets the stream flowing within us. Likewise, the absence of time in the Word brings spiritual drought, and the living water will cease to flow.

During my family’s recent trip to Maui, we took a van ride through the rain forest to Hana and around the eastern coastline of the island. The breathtaking drive took us through lush green jungles, around hundreds of winding curves, and over 56 one-lane bridges that crossed over tropical streams and waterfalls.

Hana fallsEach time we reached one of the bridges and the flowing water came into view, our driver—a native Hawaiian who hadgrown up there and been giving tours for years—would exclaim over the amount of water bursting forth through the rock formations. The area had received much more rain than usual, causing water to flow in torrents in places where a small trickle had existed before. Even she took pictures of the sites!

As we reached the coastline, we saw the result of the heavy flow. The ocean waters surrounding the cliffs of the island on that side didn’t display the usual turquoise green and blue that reflect the beauty of the sky. Instead, we saw brown, brackish waters. The heavy rain and increased flow of the mountain streams caused debris, mud and soil to wash out to the sea.

Dear one, Jesus gave us the living water to make us holy, to cleanse us from the sin that lies within the depths of our stony hearts. That living water has the ability to wash it right out of us, but the flowing stream can only be fed by the rain of the Word.

Ephesians 5:25-26 tells us, “Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word.” The Word and the Spirit must unite to wash the remnants of our sin out to sea. And as the obstacles blocking the flow of the Spirit are removed, the Spirit can swell and increase in power, producing His glorious life-giving fruit.

Will you exercise your faith by feeding on God’s Word and allow His Spirit to flow with life in you? Your Promised Land waits.

For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land—a land with streams and pools of water, with springs flowing in the valleys and hills.  Deuteronomy 8:7

 

 

 

 

Grace

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Greetings from the beautiful island of Maui, Hawaii! I am vacationing this week with my husband and sons, enjoying a brief period of rest and praising God for His wondrous creation. I will be back next week!

In the meantime, I'm happy to introduce you to my dear friend, Kelly Grecco. She serves alongside her husband in ministry, loving the kids in our area through Youth For Christ. She's also the proud mother of two high school students. Today, she shares a few thoughts on grace. I pray that her words bless you.

Kelly Grecco

 

Grace by Kelly Grecco

  "For by grace you have been saved through faith.  And this is not your own doing; it is a gift from God."  Ephesians 2:8, ESV

I have heard this verse for years. I could have probably recited it for you for most of my teen and young adult years. However, I can not say that I truly "knew" this verse. I did not know it deep in my heart and soul where God wanted me to know it. While I could recite it, I never took in for myself the part about grace.

For most of my growing up years, I carried scars deep inside. If I had been different, been a better kid, been prettier or smarter, then my father would not have left. He would not have cast me aside as if I were worthless trash. He would not have made it clear that he wanted nothing to do with me.  While I would never have verbally said any of these things, the scars were deep, and I believed what I had been told and shown. I was worthless. I was not worth his time. I had no value in his mind. While I knew, intellectually, that those things were not true, I still carried them in my heart.

When I accepted Christ as my Savior, I knew He could heal me of all of those thoughts. The problem was, because I believed them, I could and would not let Him bring them into the light and expose them for what they were. Lies.

Because I did not allow God to deal with them, I tried my very best to be good enough for Him. I tried to clean myself up so I could be acceptable. The problem with that is that none of us can ever be "good enough" on our own. It is only through Jesus' sacrifice that we can even approach Him.

So, God brought me face to face with this verse. He brought me face to face with grace. What is grace? By definition, grace is favor or goodwill;   a manifestation of favor, especially by a superior; mercy, clemency, pardon; to favor, honor, exalt.

You see, because we are not worthy, God had to gift us with worthiness through Jesus. He did not owe it to us, we could never earn it, so He offered it to us freely–not because of who we are or what we have done,  but because of who He is, what He has done and because He desires a relationship with us. He had to show me that, by letting Him deal with the lies that were poured into me and that I chose to believe, His grace could truly set me free.

It is not an easy process, believe me. It hurts. It is revealing of more than we sometimes even know is there. However, it is SO worth it. In return, God pours Himself into us and fills us with truth and His spirit. A gift of grace, of relationship and freedom that we can never truly imagine until we accept it.
 

The God Who Fills

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And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.  Ephesians 1:22-23

You probably know that Scripture defines the church as the body of Christ. But did you realize that it defines the body as “the fullness of him who fills everything in every way?” Does He fill you?

Last week we witnessed God perform the miraculous on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-8). God’s glory filled His human temple! And as Jesus filled His disciples with His Spirit, He revealed something extraordinary. He demonstrated the potential of His church.

Dear one, many of us professing to be followers of Jesus Christ live powerless lives marked by defeat rather than living testimonies that display the glory of God. Let me remind you what God spoke through the prophet Malachi,

“I the Lord do not change.”  Malachi 3:6

Hebrews 13:8 confirms, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” Jesus has not changed since the day He gave birth to His church. His church has changed.

Many of us seem to have overlooked an important characteristic of Christ revealed in Scripture: Jesus fills. As you consider the following verses, ask God to give you fresh perspective about why He allowed His Son to dwell within your heart.

I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.  Ephesians 3:16-19

For what purpose did Paul pray for strength and power in our inner being? What desired result will flow from grasping the depth of Christ’s love and establishing our roots there? Verse 19 reveals the divine purpose: that we may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Dear one, God desires to fill you with the complete measure of Himself. Not just a portion, the full measure. The God who fills both heaven and earth (Jeremiah 23:24) plans to fill you with the entire magnitude of who He is through His Son.

For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.  Colossians 1:19-20

God poured His fullness into Jesus. Now Jesus means to pour that same fullness into us.

For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority.  Colossians 2:9-10

The crowds at Pentecost witnessed Jesus doing exactly what He was made to do, fill every thing in every way (Ephesians 1:23). As the early believers waited in Jerusalem in obedient submission to Jesus’ instructions, Jesus filled His early followers with His Spirit. The Head took authority over His believing body, resulting in a grand display of glory and power.

Remember, Jesus had already breathed His Spirit into these devoted followers (John 20:22). Their faith in Him had already sealed them as His own for salvation (Ephesians 1:13). But what happened at Pentecost empowered them for service in the Kingdom. They no longer simply possessed God’s Spirit; they were filled by Him (Acts 2:4). And that filling empowered them to reveal Christ to a lost and needy world. People in the crowd from every nation remarked, “we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” (Acts 2:11)

Can you imagine how they must have felt that day? The disciples were no strangers to miraculous power. Jesus had empowered them to heal the sick and cast out demons while He still walked among them (Luke 9:1). But what they experienced at Pentecost was altogether different. As Jesus filled them, they became one with their Lord. They weren’t exercising authority He had given them. This time, He filled them up and took them over!

Do you want to know how the early church differed from much of the church we see today? Jesus filled them. They surrendered to Him with sold-out abandon, relinquishing their own desires to live out the will of God. The result was the very presence of Christ making Himself known through them in unbelievable ways.

Notice the common denominator in each of the following Scriptures.

And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.  Acts 4:31

Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them . . .  Acts 4:8 

Brothers, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom.  Acts 6:3 

And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.  Acts 13:52

And what distinguished John the Baptist, the man who held the great privilege of preparing the way for the Lord?  He was “filled with the Holy Spirit even from birth.”  Luke 1:15

Do you want to live out your eternal purpose on this earth? Do you want to leave a legacy that will survive the testing of fire at the end of days? You will never be an effective witness for very long by trying to act like Jesus. Eventually, hypocrisy will reveal itself and send the very people you try to reach running in the other direction.

The hurting world doesn’t need people who occasionally behave like Jesus. It needs Jesus.

Beloved, we need to stop pretending to be like Jesus and let the Son of God within us be who He is. We need to surrender control and humbly invite Him to take His throne. Jesus means to reveal Himself as Lord, not just in heaven, but over the hearts, minds and lives of all who believe.

Let’s surrender everything and allow the King of Glory to fill His house. The world will witness the glory of God transforming hearts and lives, and . . .

. . .the body of Christ [will] be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.  Ephesians 4:12-13

 

The LORD is One

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“I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one:  I in them and you in me.”  John 17:22-23a

Feeling stirs my heart as I ponder the words of our opening Scripture today. They flowed from the mouth of Jesus on the night of His arrest. You just read some of the last recorded utterances of the Word made flesh before His body dangled for you from a bloody cross.

We observe an intimate moment between God the Son and God the Father, the heart of God laid bare before us in His perfect Word. Did you know Jesus’ final prayers were for you?

Jesus had just finished praying for Himself and the disciples He would leave behind. Then in verse 20 He adds, “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message.” That’s you and me.

What did He pray for, dear one?

“that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.”  John 17:21

Witness the Father’s revealed will spoken through the voice of His Son. His highest priority? Unity within the body of believers. Jesus prayed that believers would be one with each other in the same way that He is one with the Father. The resulting unity would cause the world to believe that Jesus did indeed come from God.

How is that possible? Jesus and the Father are completely one in every way. They share the same thoughts and desires, their actions flow from the same perfect will. How can men and women with very different preferences and desires, longings and needs truly share one mind . . . one heart . . . one will?

They can’t, at least not within the realm of the natural. But those who believe in Jesus and have received the seal of His Spirit within them aren’t limited to the natural. They possess the very glory of God.

Look at Jesus’ words in our opening verse. “I have given them the glory that you gave me.” According to Jesus, that glory will enable us to be one.

Last week we discovered a primary characteristic of God’s glory revealed to us in Scripture: it fills. We watched it consume the tabernacle the people of God built to house it (Exodus 40:34). We witnessed it filling the temple Solomon built in Jerusalem, and we saw how the sight of it brought observers to their knees (2 Chronicles 7:1-3).  We also discovered that believers have become the new temple of the LORD (1 Corinthians 3:16).

The glory of God has come to rest within the hearts of men.

Let’s pull up a chair to observe another intimate moment, this time between Jesus and His disciples after His death and resurrection. The disciples had gathered behind locked doors, fearing for themselves after seeing their Lord crucified. Jesus suddenly stood among them proclaiming peace.

Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”  John 20:21-22

Do you know what happens when God speaks, beloved? Whatever He says occurs.

“So is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”  Isaiah 55:11

Jesus not only spoke the words, He breathed on them, releasing His Spirit to once again dwell within man’s soul, the place He had created for His glory to dwell (Isaiah 43:7).

It reminds me of the first time God gave that gift to man.

The Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.  Genesis 2:7

The presence of sin caused the glory to depart from its dwelling place, but Christ’s sacrifice for that sin opened the way for God to return to His rightful earthly home: the heart of man.  And so once Jesus conquered sin and rose victorious from the grave, He breathed the glory of God back into it’s original temple. Halleluiah!

That gift in itself gives cause for celebration, but the story doesn’t end there. Jesus had something more to teach His disciples about the glory He had given them.  So before He returned to heaven to rejoin His Father He instructed them to wait in Jerusalem for a gift.

As you take in the following Scriptures, notice the similarities between this event and the filling of Solomon’s temple (2 Chronicles 7:1).

Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.  They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.  Acts 2:2-4

The disciples of Jesus obediently waited together for the gift Jesus told them would come. While they lingered—presenting themselves as living sacrifices freely submitted to the will of the Lord—tongues of fire came to rest on each of them. And all of them were filled with the Spirit of God. God’s glory once again filled His dwelling place.

Oh, how I love the beautiful consistency of Scripture when we open our eyes to see! Look at the resulting evidence of the God of Glory filling His temple.

Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language.  Utterly amazed, they asked: “Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans?  Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language?  Acts 2:5-8

Imagine the amazement gripping the hearts of all who were there. People from every nation under heaven heard the same message that day, spoken by men from Galilee. Yet all of them—no matter where they came from— could understand! The supernatural power of God filling His people brought about a unity that had not existed since the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11). His overwhelming presence brought the people together, uniting them in understanding and bearing witness to His awesome power.

God means to fill His house! The result of that filling will bring about a unity that we are not capable of within the limits of our flesh.

We will explore the concept further next week. Until then, spend some time worshiping God and praising Him for His mighty works. He deserves it.

The God of Glory

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“Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth—everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.”   Isaiah 43:6-7

For centuries man has scoured the earth and beyond in search of elusive answers to these haunting questions: Why am I here? What is my purpose?

Scripture settles the matter in one succinct sentence. God created you for His glory.

I’ll let the thought settle on you for a moment.  Your existence—your entire reason for being—centers on one, eternal purpose: the glory of God. No wonder man finds himself driven to relentlessly pursue glory. He was made for it.  Yet man’s quest for glory never truly satisfies the soul.  The glory he chases can’t quiet the longing; the deceiver has convinced man to abandon God’s glory for his own.

Your heart cries out for the glory of God, dear one. It longs to encounter it, to be filled by it. You see, that’s exactly what God’s glory does. It fills.

. . . the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. Habakkuk 2:14

Praise be to his glorious name forever; may the whole earth be filled with his glory. Psalm 72:19

God’s glory fills wherever He dwells. He sits enthroned above the earth (Isaiah 40:22), and the heavens declare His glory (Psalm 19:1). Yet amazingly, in His great love for humanity, God desires to dwell among men.

He spoke these incredible words to Moses after delivering Israel out of Egypt,

“ . . . have them make a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell among them.”  Exodus 25:8

God gave detailed instructions to Moses for the building of His tabernacle, and Moses did as God commanded Him.

. . . And so Moses finished the work. Then the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. Moses could not enter the Tent of Meeting because the cloud had settled upon it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. Exodus 40:33-35

I wonder how the people felt as they witnessed the sight. What comfort it must have given to observe God’s nearness with their eyes! Yet the gift of God’s glory was not given for nearness alone. He meant to lead them into His extraordinary purpose for them.

In all the travels of the Israelites, whenever the cloud lifted from above the tabernacle, they would set out; but if the cloud did not lift, they did not set out—until the day it lifted. So the cloud of the Lord was over the tabernacle by day, and fire was in the cloud by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel during all their travels.  Exodus 40:36-38

God’s glory consumed the place where He dwelled and led His people into their Promised Land. Later King Solomon built a temple in Jerusalem to house the LORD’s glory. When he had finished its construction, he offered up a prayer of dedication before all of Israel. In the midst of his praise, these words erupted from his lips.

“But will God really dwell on earth? The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built!”  1 Kings 8:27

Indeed, how can a structure built by human hands truly contain the glory of God?

2 Chronicles 7 describes what happened at the conclusion of Solomon’s prayer.

When Solomon finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord filled the temple.  The priests could not enter the temple of the Lord because the glory of the Lord filled it.  When all the Israelites saw the fire coming down and the glory of the Lord above the temple, they knelt on the pavement with their faces to the ground, and they worshiped and gave thanks to the Lord, saying,

“He is good; his love endures forever.” 

(verses 1-3)

Imagine the sight! Fire descended from heaven to consume their sacrifices as God’s glory filled the temple. And as the watching people beheld God’s glory engulfing His new dwelling, their knees hit the pavement and their faces hit the ground.

The prophet Ezekiel had a similar experience when God gave him a vision,

I looked and saw the glory of the Lord filling the temple of the Lord, and I fell facedown. Ezekiel 44:4

The sight of God’s glory filling His dwelling place brings people to their knees. Dear one, if you belong to Jesus, you have become the temple of the LORD.

Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you?   1 Corinthians 3:16

Consider what that truth means for you, beloved. Jesus—the radiance of God’s glory (Hebrews 1:3)— has given His glory to all who believe in Him (John 17:22). His glory no longer inhabits walls of gold, marble or stone. God’s glory now dwells within the hearts of His children. God inhabits the vessels He Himself  “created for [His] glory, whom [He] formed and made” (Isaiah 43:7).

You were created to house the glory of God, and now His glory dwells within you. Based on the precedent set in Scripture, God intends to fill you with that glory.

 “I will shake all nations, and the desired of all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory,” says the Lord Almighty.  Haggai 2:7

What if you and I committed to seek the LORD for the revelation of His glory? What if we began to fervently pray for God to fill His house? What if we truly surrendered our hearts to God, presenting ourselves as living sacrifices, and invited the fire of God to consume all that inhibits the unveiling of His glory within us?

As the glory of the LORD fills His dwelling place, all who see it will fall to their knees.

 

 

The God of Redemption

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And they sang a new song: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.”  Revelation 5:9

Last week we explored God’s power over creation. Whatever God desires, He simply speaks, and it becomes so.

Jesus—the Word made flesh—carries all of God’s authority and power.

The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. Hebrews 1:3

When Jesus walked the dusty roads of Galilee, creation knew its Master. Water became wine at His word (John 2:9). Empty nets filled with fish at His command (Luke 5:5-6). Bread multiplied as He blessed and broke it (Matthew 14:19-20). And when a boat carrying Jesus and His Disciples tossed about on a stormy sea, Jesus revealed His authority over the wind and the waves.

Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm. The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!”         Matthew 8:26-27

He wasn’t just man. He was God.

Jesus reigns as Lord over all creation, and creation bows. I wonder if when Jesus walked on water He simply told the waters not to let Him sink. I imagine creation’s symphony of praise lifting to His throne delights His heart. And I suspect the contrast of man’s rejection and rebellion wounds Him with a piercing ache.

He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.  John 1:10-11

How thankful I am that above all else, forgiveness and love flow from God’s heart toward humanity. Anger could have been justifiably hurled from the mouth of Christ in response to man’s hatred. He who formed them from the dust could have called upon fire to consume them then and there. He could’ve commanded their hearts to stop beating and their bodies would have simply collapsed to the earth.

But Jesus didn’t speak death over His accusers; He offered life. Though they rejected Him, He refused to reject them. Consider Jesus’ words as His body hung broken and bleeding, nailed to a cross by the very people He came to save.

Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”  Luke 23:34

That’s a curious thought. Mankind rejected the lordship of Jesus Christ, preferring to beat and execute Him rather than exalt Him within their hearts. Yet Jesus offered forgiveness claiming, “they don’t know . . . they don’t understand.”

Jesus understood what humanity could not yet see. Mankind wasn’t His enemy, but rather the object of His devotion. His foe was the one who had enslaved their hearts with sin and blinded them to the truth.

The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 2 Corinthians 4:4

At the dawn of creation, man was one with his Maker. The Spirit of God dwelled within Him and man lived free from the burden of sin and its trappings amid the safety of perfect love.

Then Adam and Eve opened their minds to consider the whispers of the deceiver instead of remaining on the sure foundation of God’s truth. Their Maker had told them “. . . you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die” (Genesis 2:17).

Satan offered them an alternative in direct opposition to God’s truth. “You will not surely die,” the serpent said to the woman (Genesis 3:4).

Sadly, they chose to trust the voice of the serpent over the voice of the One who had given them life. Desires aroused by possibility took root and overshadowed truth. They had not known evil. They didn’t understand how desperately they should fear it. They simply liked the idea of being like God. So they ate . . . and in that moment, they rejected the Lordship of their Creator and unwittingly submitted themselves to a new lord. God’s Spirit departed from man and evil took its place. They discovered the terrifying reality of Romans 6:16,

Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?

If only the enemy had given full disclosure. But that’s not his way. His realm is darkness. And his hatred of God set his primary objective squarely on that which God loves most: humanity. He stole the object of God’s affection as his own, enslaving our hearts with sin. He’s been manipulating and destroying us ever since, his deceitful lies convincing us we want him to.

What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?  Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!  Romans 7:24-25

Jesus loves you enough to die so you can live free.

And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.  Colossians 2:15

Our penalty has been paid and man’s bondage to sin is broken. Jesus has come, “to say to the captives, ‘Come out,’ and to those in darkness, ‘Be free!’” (Isaiah 49:9). He has released His Spirit to once again enter the heart of man and restore our fellowship with God.

Jesus has reclaimed your right to choose who will reign within your heart.

Who will you choose, beloved? Who will you trust with your tomorrows? Will you continue to walk the path of darkness, blindly following the destructive desires of your enslaved heart (Jeremiah 17:9)? Or will you join creation’s song and allow The LORD Our Righteousness (Jeremiah 23:6) to ascend His throne within you?

The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. Romans 8:19

Beloved of God, will you be counted among them?