In the pain of the battle with the old nature, we hide from the Holy Spirit. The very One who can help us cope with this struggle is the one we block out. He has been sent to groan for us. He has been sent to guide us. He ministers the comfort and cleansing of forgiveness.
We lust after many things. We have set up idols in our lives. The things that we must possess or our life will be unsatisfied.
Perhaps, if we re-direct our attention to the Holy Spirit and objectify Him for possession, we will see the depths of intimacy that are possible with our God.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
The End of Fear
And finally,
The ultimate Source of Fear has made us fearless.
Ps 27:1
Rom 8:14,15
2 Tim 1:7
Yes, the objects of fear in these verses are temporal, but in light of our discussion, doesn't it seem significant that God has become our ally and protector?
The ultimate Source of Fear has made us fearless.
Ps 27:1
Rom 8:14,15
2 Tim 1:7
Yes, the objects of fear in these verses are temporal, but in light of our discussion, doesn't it seem significant that God has become our ally and protector?
Monday, January 26, 2009
Honor-Fear or Trembling-Fear?
We are discussing the meaning of the word fear in Ps 103:11, 13, and 17.
The context of our discussion is that God's mercy has been preceeded by his anger (manifested at 3:00 PM about 2000 years ago).
The particular question is what is the nature of fear as found in Ps 103? Is it trembling or is it honor? or both?
On Sunday, we offered a strenuous argument that honor-fear has no meaning without trembling-fear and that probably the church today, and our church would be no exception, would prefer to think of fear as honor. I perceive that honor is safer commodity for us to dole out to God in manageable doses when we want. I think that we have God right where we want him - standing by for time of trouble - but not meddling with our daily priorities. I see honor today as a phony front that our politicians show to the American Taxpayer (gag me quick somebody) or a slick system of deceit which international emmissaries use to communicate without committment. So what is the depth our relationship to God if such examples are influencing our concept of honor? And where in the bible do we ever find honor without fear?
I don't want to hear it about the Magi - A sudden out of place star was a pretty fearsome thing for a pagan.
The paradoxical beauty of our fear-love relationship with God is that when the basis for fear is properly established and it produces fully functioning obedience in our lives, the trembling becomes attached to a real memory, not an imminent danger. And the honor probably looks more like awe, as an involuntary reaction to the immensity of all of His attributes, as opposed to a show of respect that we deign to bestow.
I am deliberately trying to overstate some of the views expressed in our class. I do not mean to put words in the mouths of those who expressed them or to offend with the hyperbole of these statements. I am certain that your statements in class were not meant to be as crass as I have portrayed them. But I am also certain that there are some for whom those statements would not sound extreme. Maybe each of us in the cycle of the privacy of our own sin and the public show of our churchgoing behave toward God in accordance with similar, yet unspoken, crassness.
I very definitely am trying to point out that our road to spiritual recovery which we must travel
everytime we sin must pass through key points.
David clearly takes ownership of his offense to God in Ps 51.
He acknowledges God's right to judge.
He requests forgiveness and cleansing.
In brokenness, he articulates his desire for the relationship to continue.
He states a determination to be a teacher of the God's truth to those in proximity watching the process he is experiencing. What an expression of honest confidence in God.
Finally in Ps 103, as we see a re-established confidence in his relationship with God, and a renewal of joy as He recounts all that has ocurred, we see a leader who is determined to influence those around him to structure a life -not just a Sunday morning- which looks and feels like kneeling before Him in worship.
The context of our discussion is that God's mercy has been preceeded by his anger (manifested at 3:00 PM about 2000 years ago).
The particular question is what is the nature of fear as found in Ps 103? Is it trembling or is it honor? or both?
On Sunday, we offered a strenuous argument that honor-fear has no meaning without trembling-fear and that probably the church today, and our church would be no exception, would prefer to think of fear as honor. I perceive that honor is safer commodity for us to dole out to God in manageable doses when we want. I think that we have God right where we want him - standing by for time of trouble - but not meddling with our daily priorities. I see honor today as a phony front that our politicians show to the American Taxpayer (gag me quick somebody) or a slick system of deceit which international emmissaries use to communicate without committment. So what is the depth our relationship to God if such examples are influencing our concept of honor? And where in the bible do we ever find honor without fear?
I don't want to hear it about the Magi - A sudden out of place star was a pretty fearsome thing for a pagan.
The paradoxical beauty of our fear-love relationship with God is that when the basis for fear is properly established and it produces fully functioning obedience in our lives, the trembling becomes attached to a real memory, not an imminent danger. And the honor probably looks more like awe, as an involuntary reaction to the immensity of all of His attributes, as opposed to a show of respect that we deign to bestow.
I am deliberately trying to overstate some of the views expressed in our class. I do not mean to put words in the mouths of those who expressed them or to offend with the hyperbole of these statements. I am certain that your statements in class were not meant to be as crass as I have portrayed them. But I am also certain that there are some for whom those statements would not sound extreme. Maybe each of us in the cycle of the privacy of our own sin and the public show of our churchgoing behave toward God in accordance with similar, yet unspoken, crassness.
I very definitely am trying to point out that our road to spiritual recovery which we must travel
everytime we sin must pass through key points.
David clearly takes ownership of his offense to God in Ps 51.
He acknowledges God's right to judge.
He requests forgiveness and cleansing.
In brokenness, he articulates his desire for the relationship to continue.
He states a determination to be a teacher of the God's truth to those in proximity watching the process he is experiencing. What an expression of honest confidence in God.
Finally in Ps 103, as we see a re-established confidence in his relationship with God, and a renewal of joy as He recounts all that has ocurred, we see a leader who is determined to influence those around him to structure a life -not just a Sunday morning- which looks and feels like kneeling before Him in worship.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
The Meaning of Mercy
In Ps 103:8-10 we've been discussing the anger of God as a prerequisite to his mercy.
Yes, there is a danger in over-emphasising anything. But since there is not enough observable fear of God in our culture (maybe even our church) and since the anger of God is a fearsome thing, I doubt we have erred on that side.
So what happens if we neglect the anger of God?
I think those of us who are recipients of his mercy and who fail to keep his anger in view rob themselves of the magnificence of his mercy. We miss out on a wellspring of spiritual vitality which strengthens our humility, edifies our fellow believers, and shines like stars (big ones!) in the world.
We look at the Rocky Mountains and marvel at their immensity and their beauty. But they are a by-product of the cataclysm of God's-Flood-that-Noah-survived in which they were created by the violence of judgement.
We simply must look at the beauty of our sonship Gal 4, the access we have to the Creator Heb 4, the fellowship we have with the Son Phil 3, and our possession (of all things!) of the Spirit within us (Rom 8:9-17) and remember that the anger of God has produced this beautifully restored relationship.
But we're about to turn to verses 11-13 and see that he is done with the anger toward us.
Perhaps I sound confusing. Maybe you're thinking, if God has moved on, shouldn't we?
Just think - we have to remember his anger - but he does not! Wow!
Yes, there is a danger in over-emphasising anything. But since there is not enough observable fear of God in our culture (maybe even our church) and since the anger of God is a fearsome thing, I doubt we have erred on that side.
So what happens if we neglect the anger of God?
I think those of us who are recipients of his mercy and who fail to keep his anger in view rob themselves of the magnificence of his mercy. We miss out on a wellspring of spiritual vitality which strengthens our humility, edifies our fellow believers, and shines like stars (big ones!) in the world.
We look at the Rocky Mountains and marvel at their immensity and their beauty. But they are a by-product of the cataclysm of God's-Flood-that-Noah-survived in which they were created by the violence of judgement.
We simply must look at the beauty of our sonship Gal 4, the access we have to the Creator Heb 4, the fellowship we have with the Son Phil 3, and our possession (of all things!) of the Spirit within us (Rom 8:9-17) and remember that the anger of God has produced this beautifully restored relationship.
But we're about to turn to verses 11-13 and see that he is done with the anger toward us.
Perhaps I sound confusing. Maybe you're thinking, if God has moved on, shouldn't we?
Just think - we have to remember his anger - but he does not! Wow!
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Remote Anger
We possess the Holy Spirit within us.
We have the written and eyewitness record that Christ has come and paid the substitutionary penalty for our sin.
We have seen God's transforming power in the lives of the lost.
We have experienced God's extraordinary material provision for those in need.
But we have never seen the anger of God......yet.
And the cacophony of denial that explodes from the culture around us doesn't make it any easier to keep the reality of the anger of God in mind.
In Ps 103: 8-10, David testifies to the mercy and grace of the Lord. But for us, it is necessary to frame the truths of mercy and grace with the reality of God's anger with sin.
Can I see the anger of God in the mercy of God with the same clarity and at the same time?
Is it even possible to overemphasize the anger of God?
What are the dangers of forgetting the anger of God?
We have the written and eyewitness record that Christ has come and paid the substitutionary penalty for our sin.
We have seen God's transforming power in the lives of the lost.
We have experienced God's extraordinary material provision for those in need.
But we have never seen the anger of God......yet.
And the cacophony of denial that explodes from the culture around us doesn't make it any easier to keep the reality of the anger of God in mind.
In Ps 103: 8-10, David testifies to the mercy and grace of the Lord. But for us, it is necessary to frame the truths of mercy and grace with the reality of God's anger with sin.
Can I see the anger of God in the mercy of God with the same clarity and at the same time?
Is it even possible to overemphasize the anger of God?
What are the dangers of forgetting the anger of God?
Monday, December 29, 2008
Perfect Government
Justice is not, nor has it ever been, a product of man.
Justice, where it does exists, only does so because God established it and man, in that instance, follows it.
In 1850, Frederic Bastiat said, there is "the fatal tendency that exists in the heart of man to satisfy his wants with the least possible effort. This fact explains the almost universal perversion of the law. Thus, it is easy to understand how the law, instead of checking justice, becomes the invincible weapon of injustice. It is easy to understand why the law is used by the legislator to destroy in varying degrees among the rest of the people, their personal independence by slavery, their liberty by oppression, and their property by plunder. This is done for the benefit of the person who makes the law, and in proportion to the power that he holds."
-Could be a commentary on our times, but it's not. What we face now is not new. It's not even as bad as it has been before. It could be much worse. But according to Psalm 103:6, it will be judged by God ........
How does scripture direct the Christian's response to injustice around him?
Justice, where it does exists, only does so because God established it and man, in that instance, follows it.
In 1850, Frederic Bastiat said, there is "the fatal tendency that exists in the heart of man to satisfy his wants with the least possible effort. This fact explains the almost universal perversion of the law. Thus, it is easy to understand how the law, instead of checking justice, becomes the invincible weapon of injustice. It is easy to understand why the law is used by the legislator to destroy in varying degrees among the rest of the people, their personal independence by slavery, their liberty by oppression, and their property by plunder. This is done for the benefit of the person who makes the law, and in proportion to the power that he holds."
-Could be a commentary on our times, but it's not. What we face now is not new. It's not even as bad as it has been before. It could be much worse. But according to Psalm 103:6, it will be judged by God ........
How does scripture direct the Christian's response to injustice around him?
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Birthday of the King!
What do kings wear on their heads? Why?
Psalm 103:4 says the Lord crowns us. The word used can mean either to surround or to bestow a crown. He crowns us with lovingkindness and tender mercies. What do you think is the significance of the action which employs lovingkindness and tender mercies? I look forward to your comments.
Merry Christmas.
Psalm 103:4 says the Lord crowns us. The word used can mean either to surround or to bestow a crown. He crowns us with lovingkindness and tender mercies. What do you think is the significance of the action which employs lovingkindness and tender mercies? I look forward to your comments.
Merry Christmas.
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