Exhortation – Page 15

Ask in Faith

If we lack wisdom, God invites us to ask Him for more; He gives to all liberally, and doesn’t scold us for asking. (Ja 1:5) In believing God will help us, as we ask Him for good things, we honor Him by acknowledging His faithfulness and goodness, and trusting Him. It shows we understand His character, and expect Him to act accordingly.

But if we don’t ask in faith, confidently knowing He’ll help us (Ja 1:6), we shouldn’t expect anything from Him (Ja 1:7); we’re acting as if God isn’t good or faithful, which exposes a double-mindedness, an instability at the core of who we are. (Ja 1:8) How so?

Being unsure of God’s willingness to help us with wisdom, when He’s told us wisdom is the most important thing in all the world, and that with all of our getting we’re to be getting understanding (Pr 4:7), is to treat Him as if He is malicious, arbitrary and fickle. This is doubting His goodness and love at the core. If we don’t trust the faithfulness of God, if we don’t even know Him, we need His help here first.

Doubting Him on His willingness to give us wisdom, or any obviously good thing, is like thinking He’d refuse to help us find Him (He 11:6), or to help us follow and serve Him. (2Th 3:3) It’s to reject everything He’s told us about Himself; it’s calling Him a liar (1Jn 5:10) and denying His name. At the core of our own being, we know better than this — God isn’t evil — which makes us double-minded.

If we’re content to dishonor God like this, believing lies about Him rather than seeking His grace to believe rightly in Him, He just might let us. (Pr 14:12) And it would be our own fault. (Jn_3:19)

But if we humble ourselves and come to Him (Mt 11:28), seeking His face, casting our insufficiency upon Him (1Pe 5:7) and begging Him to quicken us (Ps 119:156), to give us His life (Jn 1:4), to help us find Him and walk worthy of Him, He most certainly will. (Mt 7:8) That’s just Who He is.

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Of What Sort

God says the fire will try our work, our life, the harvest of our time on Earth, to see what sort it is. (1Co 3:13) If anything of our life abides the fire, we receive eternal reward (14); otherwise we suffer eternal loss. (15)

Fire is evidently a reference to Judgment Day (2Pe 3:7), when everyone shall give account of himself to God. (Ro 14:12) The concept of sort, or type, evidently refers to whether our work is essentially good or evil; it also indicates degree: how good or evil.

Since we’re made in God’s image, we intuitively understand the concept of good and evil: it’s in our DNA. God has defined it for us, but we tend to reject God’s view and make up our own as we go, even disagreeing among ourselves. But God doesn’t change (Ja 1:17), and justice demands He use His own definition. He will.

So, what’s God’s criteria? What’s He looking for? What makes something we do, or who we are, good or evil? What is success? What is failure?

Understanding this is to understand everything that’s really worth understanding; to miss this is to miss, well, everything. (Mk 8:36) Most of us will get this wrong (Mt 7:22-23), and only because we don’t want to get it right. (Jn 3:19)

It’s not our actions in themselves that make us good or evil, but why we do what we do (1Co 13:3), and there are ultimately only two possibilities: we’re either out to please ourselves, or God. (Php 2:21) Living merely to please ourselves, self-orientation, is the essence of all rebellion. (Ps 2:3) Each life will be characterized primarily by one motive or the other, love or selfishness, but not both. (Mt 12:33)

What pleases God? Obeying Him; cleaving to Him, loving Him and others; treating others justly, loving mercy, walking in humility. (Mi 6:8)

In being overly concerned with Man’s approval, we’re driven by fear of his displeasure (Jn 12:43), which is sin (1Co 7:23), selfish and evil by definition. (Ja 4:17) We can’t be the servants of Christ if we’re slaves to fear (Ga 1:10); fear ensnares us, polluting our motives and service. (Pr 29:25)

God will inspect every activity of our lives, testing it against holiness, and expose our every motive, which will reveal our general life’s orientation to the universe. His fire will burn up everything that isn’t rooted in Christ (Jn 15:6), in the pleasure of God. (Re 4:11) Everything He hasn’t planted will be rooted up. (Mt 15:13)

Learning to please God is a journey that starts with repenting from dead works; His elect are growing here daily (1Th 4:1), as we purify ourselves (1Jn 3:3) to serve the living God. (He 9:14)

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Goodness and Severity

God is awesome in every respect; He’s extreme, infinite in every facet of His being. Everything He is and does should move us to worship.

If we prefer to focus on some particular part of God, rather than taking the whole of Him, we find imbalance, a false god. He is love, most certainly (1Jn 4:8), but He’s also light (1Jn 1:5), even a consuming fire (He 12:29), a terror to all who live in sin, to be feared by us all. (Php 2:12)

God calls us to behold His goodness and severity together (Ro 11:22), to be awed in both Heaven and Hell at once. (Re 15:3) We’re to glory in His kindness (Lk 6:35) as well as His justice, vengeance and fury. (Re 18:20)

It’s only in seeking God in all His attributes at once, where they converge in fullness and glory, that we discover Him. As we take in all of God honestly, delighting in all His ways, drinking in everything about Him without bias, preference or reservation, we’re sanctified, changed, transformed more and more into His likeness by His Spirit. (2Co 3:18)

Behold t he beauty in God’s grace (Ep 1:6) and mercy as He redeems sinful Man and makes us His own (1Jn 3:1), yet also feed in the ma jesty of His wrath as He tramples His enemies underfoot. (Is 63:3)

Rejoicing in all the attributes of God, glorying in everything about Him (2Co 10:17), is seeing Him as He is (1Jn 3:2), and not as we wish for Him to be. (Ro 1:23) This, and nothing less, is receiving Him, which is in itself the work of God. (Jn 1:12-13)

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Honor and Glory

God is honorable, worthy of great respect and esteem. (Re 4:11). All in heaven honor Him (Re 19:7); how might we do so here on Earth?

A primary way we honor God is by believing Him, taking Him at His word, acting as if everything He says is true, trusting Him. We call it faith. Anything else is calling Him a liar (1Jn 5:10); certainly not honoring to Him.

Obeying God honors Him by acknowledging His right to order our lives, to require right behavior of us, which is itself honorable. (Ro 2:10) Disobeying Him flaunts His authority and majesty, rejects His lordship and moves Him to wrath and indignation towards us. (Rom 2:8)

Treating our own selves with dignity, honoring all as God’s children, also honors Him, for we’re made in His image. (1Th 4:4-5) Purging all dishonorable activity and influences from our lives suits us for His service. (2Ti 2:21)

It is also honoring to God to suffer in hope (Ro 5:3), knowing He’s working all things for our good (Ro 8:28), and that He will be glorified in the end. (1Pe 1:7)

A more subtle way in which we might honor our God is by acknowledging H is goodness, giving Him the benefit of the doubt, as we’re laying the practical foundations of spiritual life. For example, the Bible says God inspired scripture (2Ti 3:16); in accepting this we know the autographs, the original Greek or Hebrew manuscripts, were inspired by God.

Yet the Bible doesn’t explicitly tell us whether any copies or translations of the autographs also contain this inspired property, so we must make an assumption about that: either God did preserve His Word for us in an inspired form, so that we can access a modern version of the scriptures today, in a common language, one that’s equivalent to the originals for all practical purposes, or He didn’t.

Which assumption honors Him? Gives Him the benefit of the doubt? Shall we assume God inspired His word for no practical reason, such that no one has ever actually benefited from this special quality? Shall we act as if no one has ever held a perfectly trustworthy Bible in their hands, one they could call the authentic word of God? Or shall we assume that God inspired His word for a purpose (2Ti 3:17), and that He is fulfilling that purpose, and act accordingly?

Most of us assume He didn’t, and assume inspiration is confined to the autographs, in a perfectly useless place. We’re encouraged to depend on pastors, teachers and theologians to reveal scripture to us. We don’t think we have access to the Word of God today, so we don’t tend to hide scripture in our hearts and meditate on it day and night, like God tells us to. (De 6:6) It’s hard enough to do this with a text we trust, so most of us have given up before we even start. But is this honoring to God?

Wouldn’t it honor God more if we expected Him to act with integrity, with intention? Being Who He is, faithful and true (Re 19:11), wouldn’t He enable our journey with an inspired version of His word in a modern language, a book we can read and understand for ourselves, to feed and guide us safely home, seeing that’s why He gave us the scripture in the first place? If we acted like He did, would we expect this to please Him, or disappoint Him?

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Choose the Fear

As an instinct, fear can be a good thing, keeping us out of harm’s way. It helps us avoid things like, well, provoking gangsters and thugs – fearing what they might do to us encourages a basic kind of wisdom.

Christ reasons, by way of contrast, that there’s only one to be afraid of: God. (Lk 12:4-5) God is capable of inflicting so much damage and harm, truly an infinite amount of pain and suffering, that all other fears should pale in comparison; the very thought of offending Him should move us to trembling (Php 2:12), even as we’re rejoicing in Him. (Ps 2:11)

Many prefer to focus on respect or reverence rather than fear, perhaps to encourage us to be more comfortable with God. But that’s like telling us to relax when our clothes might be catching fire.

The potential danger we’re all in with God is incredibly real, and there’s no point in playing it down: He’s a consuming fire (He 12:29), and most of us are chaff. (Mt 3:12) Even for the best of us, it’s a fearful thing to fall into His hands (He 10:31), and all of us will: evading Him isn’t an option. The slightest uncertainty here should terrify us. (2Co 5:11)

Firstly, a healthy fear of God keeps us from presumptuous sin, from carelessly offending Him (Pr 16:6), and that’s just plain smart – like not poking a gorilla in the eye, even if he seems friendly.

Godly fear also motivates us to ensure our election (2Pe 1:10), striving to enter the narrow gate (Lk 13:24) and pass fully into His rest. (He 4:11) In light of the second death, living for even a moment without absolute assurance of eternal life is unthinkable. (2Co 13:5)

Fear in itself, rational fear of any kind, would never encourage us to run or hide from God: thinking we can avoid omnipresence is like trying to escape from space and time itself; the thought is unintelligent at best. Only an insane dislike, a relentless distaste for the divine, would seek to escape from One who inhabits eternity.

Perhaps this is partly why “the fear of JEHOVAH is the beginning of wisdom.” (Pr 9:10) Try to fathom a soul with any sense of propriety or understanding that willfully chooses to neglect or offend omnipotence. How can anyone with a grain of sense not “kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and ye perish from the way when His wrath is kindled but a little?” (Ps 2:12)

A lack of reverence for God, any willingness to sin against Him deliberately, on purpose, not choosing to fear Him in every healthy sense of the word (Pr 1:29), is essentially a failure to grasp the fundamental nature of God; it’s either rank unbelief in who God says He is, or exceedingly irrational.

The fear of God is our friend (Ps 19:9a): choose it (Pr 1:29) and be wise. Learn to fear Him rightly (Ps 34:11); God’s children don’t take Him lightly, casually; we fear Him unto joy. All else is unbelief, enmity, no matter how we slice it.

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The Month of Abib

In keeping Passover (1Co 5:8) JEHOVAH tells us to observe the month in which it occurs as the the first one, the start of a new year (Ex 12:2); He calls it Abib (De 16:1), from a word meaning tender or green, in reference to unripened grain.

One obvious way to observe this month is to note we’re required to find a spotless lamb (Ex 12:5), so we’re to be observing lambs, noting blemishes and defects, looking for that perfect specimen.

On the tenth of Abib we must choose a spotless lamb and set it apart, keeping it four days and identifying ourselves with it, then killing it (Ex 12:6) unto JEHOVAH (De 16:2) and consuming it. (Ex 12:8) Our particular sacrificial lamb is to become part of us forever.

As in each of JEHOVAH’s feasts, here again we have a picture of how we discover Jesus Christ and make Him part of our lives: searching Him out, that perfect specimen of humanity, considering Him and comparing Him with others. Finding Him flawless and divine, we receive Him into our midst (Jn 1:12), studying Him and centering our lives around Him. (1Pe 2:21) Then we see Him on God’s altar becoming our sin (2Co 5:21) and taking it away (Jn 1:29), and trusting Him to reconcile us to God (2Co 5:19) we enter into His rest (He 4:10), identifying with Him and becoming one with Him. (Jn 17:21)

Each Spring in the month of Abib, as new life springs forth in the fields and flocks, we consider anew our Savior (He 3:1), pondering the unsearchable riches of Jesus Christ (Ep 3:8), feeding in the majesty, remembering the day He became our Passover (1Co 5:7), the day JEHOVAH delivered us from the kingdom of this world. (De 16:3)

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Cleave to Jehovah

Loving God is obeying Him (1Jn 5:3), and obeying Him includes cleaving to Him (De 10:20), clinging to Him, sticking to Him like glue; we can’t love God as He ought to be loved … from a distance.

If we ever find ourselves checking in with God, that means we first checked out. If we ever return to Him, then at some point we must have left Him. If we’re ever unaware of God, oblivious of Him, ignoring Him, then we’re out of focus, distracted, consumed with the temporal, cleaving to dust.

What if one of the four beasts surrounding God’s throne, whose sole purpose is to glorify God Almighty by continuously repeating a single line, “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come,” (Re 4:8), got distracted for a minute, and checked out to focus on something else?

We’ve no lesser purpose here and now. Sure, we can’t physically see Jehovah (1Ti 6:16), but He’s as much or more with us than with the heavenly hosts; He lives in and through us! (Ep 4:6) Constantly envision Him standing beside you, hovering around you, observing, engaging … He’s closer than that, closer than our breath. He’s never distracted, never loses focus, never forgets.

We’re not to hope to eventually live this way, looking to abide in Him (1Jn 2:28) in some far away day, but to be deliberate and intentional about it now, moment by moment, cultivating a continuous awareness of God’s companionship in our lives, and purposing to cleave to Him. (Ac 11:23)

If there’s anything we cannot boldly do in the presence of God, then let’s not do it. If there’s anything we cannot freely say before Him, then let’s not say it. If there’s any place we cannot joyfully go with Him, then let’s not go there. We live and move in Him (Ac 17:28); let’s do all in His name, every moment of every day.

In Christ, we can focus on the task at hand without ignoring Him; we can engage in prayerful conversation while we’re rejoicing in Him (Php 4:4); we can live in unbroken delight in His immediate and overwhelming presence as we serve Him here in this life. (Ps 27:4)

This is our inheritance in Christ; He lived this way (Jn 8:29), so He can live this way in us, as we access His life by faith. His command in itself proclaims His promise of aid in all who seek Him. (He 11:6) It’s a loss to live a single second of this life in any other way.

Oh! To be ever mindful of the living God! Continually loving Him, feeding in His majesty!

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Every Idle Word

Most people seem to think their spiritual lives are their own business, of no one else’s concern, an extremely private matter. Yet Jesus said we’d each give a public account of every word we’ve ever spoken. (Mt 12:36)

The implications are staggering; some day, somewhere, our words and actions, all of our willful activity, will be on display before the universe; we’ll be explaining our motives to God, why we did what we did, in every detail of our lives, in the presence of the angels and all of humanity.

In that awesome Day, no one’s opinion will matter but God’s; His Law is the standard by which all our motives will be measured. (Jn 5:45) Nothing will be overlooked; nothing will be missed. (Lk_8:17)

How we spent our time, our money and energy, our loves and affections, our hatreds and lusts, it will all be out in the open for everyone to examine, a public display of our entire existence. On trial in the midst of an immense amphitheater, the center of everyone’s focus for hundreds of years, no one will be there to cover for us, no one to blame but ourselves.

In looking toward that Day, the only reason we might be uncomfortable is if we’re evil, living in darkness. If we’re living in the light, seeking and following after truth, we’ve nothing to fear. (Jn 3:20-21)

We can ignore the words of Jesus and live our lives in secret, heedless of the coming Storm, as if we’ll never be discovered, and be ashamed before Him when He appears. Or, we can abide in God, cleaving to Him, continually and humbly asking Him to reveal our motives to us now, and engaging spiritual community to help us live more and more according to His will, and expect to be bold (1Jn 4:17) and confident in that Day. (1Jn 2:28)

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Denying His Name

Jehovah commends the church in Philadelphia for not denying His name. (Re 3:8) It’s the only reference to this concept I see in Scripture.

God’s name, what we call Him, is Jehovah. Not denying this is good, but there’s evidently more to God’s name than an appellation.

Our name represents our character and symbolizes how we’re known; it’s a culmination of our choices, a symbol of our nature, the way we express who and what we are, individually and uniquely. (Pr 22:1) To deny one’s name is to call them a fraud, to denounce the framing of their character, to despise and resent them as a pretender, an impostor.

When we doubt God we deny His name, calling Him a liar (1Jn 5:10); He’s altogether true. (Jn 3:33) When we distrust God, we deny His name; He’s perfectly faithful. When we’re disappointed in God, we deny His name; He’s perfectly wise. When we resent God, we deny His name; He’s resolutely just. When we’re bored with God, we deny His name; He’s infinitely interesting and delightful, the perfection of beauty (Ps 50:2), majesty and excellence. When we’re covetous we deny His name, committing idol a try; He’s the ultimate fulfillment of our desire.

Believing on the name of God, the opposite of denying His name, is living as if Jehovah is who He claims to be; resting in the fact that He both has done and always will do according to His Word. How can we be content to live otherwise? Yet who can do this in their own strength?

Let’s be established with grace, looking unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith, to overcome the world through us. (Jn 16:33)

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In My Name

Do we hope to find spiritual power in a formula, treating God like a vending machine? Do we act as if the right words, or the correct ritual, or being in a sacred place, will get us what we want?

Is that why most Christian prayers end with, in Jesus’ name? Are we using His name like a charm or a mojo? like a magic trick to ensure God hears us? (Jn 14:14) Isn’t this a bit like witchcraft?

The seven sons of Sceva, thinking they could command demons in Jesus’ name, found out the hard way: there’s no power here. (Ac 19:13-16) If we ask for the wrong thing, or for the wrong reason, God isn’t going to hear us no matter what tag line we use. (Ja 4:3)

If God promises to do whatever I ask in His name, then this must mean I’m asking according to His will (1Jn 5:14), at His command (1Ki 18:36), on His behalf, as if He Himself were saying it (De 18:18-19), and for Him, to please and honor Him. Tacking His name onto any other kind of prayer is abuse; it’s taking His name in vain.

God knows what I need before I ask Him (Mt 6:8); my prayers don’t inform Him, and He can’t be manipulated. The form, the place, the technique of prayer … it’s nothing. God’s after our heart; let’s be after His.

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