HOW DO WE CHANGE?

It’s inevitable. Summer’s brilliance has narrowed and slanted into autumn’s waning light. We New Englanders feel the change and brace for another winter. We look forward to the first nip of frost, the crunch of a freshly picked apple, the sweet aroma of wood smoke curling upward into the chilling air. Slowly the colors creep into the leaves – flaming crimson, luminous yellow, soft mauve – nature’s dazzling mosaic. Their beauty enchants us. Yet we are staring death in the face. Death in technicolor, but death nonetheless. These blazing colors will fade and float helplessly to the ground, soon to lie silent under the coming snow. Winter will come.

We might find it strange that the Apostle Paul referred to the Law (2 Corinthians 3) as “fading glory”. But the Law of Moses is somewhat like autumn. It is a thing of great beauty. Taken in its totality, it describes a perfect human being. We would stand in awe of the person who could keep all 633 commandments, and we would love that person. But as Paul reminds us in Romans 7, even as believers, we are powerless to keep it. In fact the Law was given to prove to us our need of Christ. Like autumn, the fading glory of the Law brought death. In fact it is called “the ministry of death”.

But spring will come again. The beauty of autumn is far surpassed by the spine tingling joy we feel at the sight of the first crocus, bravely pushing its way up through the dark soil into the light of day. Warm rains pour down to wake the earth. The April sun caresses our shoulders once again. Each evening, the light lingers a few moments longer as the earth leans further toward the sun. Here is life-giving glory, the glory of the coming summer.

So it is with God’s new covenant in Christ. Jesus is that perfect man, the only One who fulfilled the Law. We could never live up to its demands. Just as the glory of spring surpasses autumn’s glory, so does the glory of the Gospel surpass that of the Law. The Cross brings us to the end of all self-improvement programs. We lean back into the power of the completed work of Christ. Here is an invitation  to summer, to new life, to transformation.

How does it happen to us as believers? This is the mystery hidden for so many ages, Christ in you, the hope of glory. (Col. 1:27).The Holy Spirit shows us more of Jesus and then little by little, changes us into his likeness. It happens in countless ways, but it does happen. We are being changed “from glory to glory” (2 Cor. 3:18) to become more like Him. We spend time in his presence. We talk with him and his people. It might be through a scripture, a song, a sermon, a friend, or a still small voice in our hearts. The Holy Spirit does what we could never do in our own effort. And we change, we grow, we become more like our Savior. This is the good news of the Gospel.

Someday soon, we will see Him as He is, (1 Jn. 3:2) and we will be like Him forever. This is our hope.

WAIT! STOP WORKING?

Here is a passage worth a ponder or two.

There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his.  Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest…(Heb. 4:9-11)

Wait! What? I thought I was supposed to work for God, to serve the Lord. Yes, but… here is something to consider. The context here goes all the way back to Israel’s failure to keep the Law. It reveals the truth that no human can keep it without missing the mark. Then it points ahead to the work of the Cross that begins to transform us from the inside out when we receive Christ. We often think of the “do’s and don’ts” of our faith walk, how we are improving ourselves, checking off the list of religious duties. And it is true, discipline is key. But in what direction, and under whose leadership? I find myself asking, am I caught up in my own cycle of rules and regulations, defining my own version of Christianity, disregarding the Holy Spirit’s leading?

That’s one of the things I just love about Jesus. He is so personal, so continually connected. All we bring to the party is our loving surrender, our worship, our listening ear. Perhaps that is one of the messages of Hebrews 4, for the writer goes on to say this:

 For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing of soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.  Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account. (Heb. 4:12-13)

Oh, those motives! Am I working out of some sort of religious improvement plan, or out of sheer obedience, leaning back into His Grace? It makes all the difference, both in success and rewards.

And here is something to remember.

 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess.  For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.  Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. (Heb. 4:14-16)

 This is good news. Jesus knows our every weakness, and went all the way to Calvary and back to the Father in heaven to give us all things that pertain to life and godliness. All we need to do is ask. He’s waiting with mercy, forgiveness when we fail. And Grace, His transforming power working in us. Sometimes all we can pray is “Help”. But He always answers that prayer.

NO SHADOWS ON THIS PATH!

How do you picture the new year as it stretches out before you? Do you see an unknown path, twisting and turning in obscurity, old troubles and new worries jumping out at you from the darkness? Well, that is partly true. No one, scripture tells us, can know what tomorrow will bring. We just don’t know every detail of our future. But still, that is not the whole story.

God talks a lot about paths in scripture. And He gives very different word pictures of our life paths as believers. Let’s think about a few of these pictures.

Here’s one from the book of Proverbs: “But the path of the righteous is as the dawning light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day” (Proverbs 4:18). Can you see yourself on an upward path, headed into dazzling light, each day brighter than the one before? And another one from the mouth of Job, as he struggles with the justice of God and makes progress, slowly but surely. “But He knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold.” (Job 23:10).  Even on the darkest days, Job knows that God is working for his good. God is not a detached “prime mover” who stands back and observes the chaos. He is in love with His creation, and powerfully at work in each of His children, infinitely aware of our needs.

And here’s another comfort. “The Lord makes firm the steps of the one who delights in him; though he may stumble, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with His hand. “(Psalm 37:23,24) How about that? Can’t you just feel the hand of God steadying you as you walk along your path? But the best part is what waits at the end of our path. “You guide me with Your counsel, and afterward You will take me into Glory” (Psalm 73:24). Here’s more: “As for me, I will see Your face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied when I awake in Your likeness. (Psalm 17:15).What an incredible hope we have in Christ; changed forever into His glorious image! What a future for the children of God!

Meanwhile, He lays out the path of our days. He lights the way for us and walks with us through every situation, bearing our griefs and carrying our sorrows. As our pastor shared with us this morning, He is there to instruct us and teach us in the way we should go, and He counsels us with His loving eye upon us (Psalm 32:8).  Don’t know what to do? All you gotta do is ask! Sometimes the best prayer we can pray is one word: “Help!” He always answers that one.

The prophet Jeremiah reminds us that we don’t have what it takes to control our lives “O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.” (Jer. 10:23 . Yes, that’s right. We don’t have what it takes to manage our lives. That’s why Jesus went to the Cross for us. Now we are free to do all that He has planned for us and to live in the fullness of His provision and joy.

RICHER THAN YOU THINK

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places”.  (Eph. 1:3). The Apostle Paul is tireless in reminding us of our riches in Christ. But sometimes we gloss over these verses, either shoving them into our future life with Him in heaven, or failing to realize their practical, everyday value for us as we live out our lives here on earth.

This breathtaking verse in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians leads us to a closer look at those “spiritual blessings” in 1 Cor. 1:30.  

“It is because of Him that ye are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us Wisdom from God – that is, our Righteousness, Holiness and Redemption.” Now hold everything. It’s easy to gloss over “religious” words. Let’s stop right there and soak this in.

We can start with a working definition of Wisdom – the knowledge of what to do next. How often do we wonder what to do next?  Jesus always knows what to do next. We can ask. He knows how to open up those blessings to His children.

Righteousness – Our right standing with God, through the blood of Jesus, shed for our sins. When satan, our accuser, comes to bring guilt and despair, Jesus will remind us to tell him to take a hike. He has no place in us. All has been settled by the blood of Jesus. “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Cor. 5:21 niv). Not perfect, but marvelously covered in the righteousness of Christ! Good to remember on a dark and rainy November morning.

Sanctification – holiness, the transforming work of the Holy Spirit in our everyday lives, making us more like Jesus as we say, “Yes, Lord” and let Him work in us. “And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” (2 Cor. 3:18 niv). So restful, so practical, to lean back into His power and let Him work in us. Some might be dreading the coming holidays due to old family conflicts. Can it be different this year? Yes, Jesus can give you the right words to say, or even quiet you if necessary. All you gotta do is ask for that wisdom! He’s a down to earth meddler, and He works wherever we allow Him.

Redemption – Our Hope of coming Glory, the redemption of our bodies, made fit for eternity with Him when we see Him as He is. “Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. “(1 Jn. 3:2 niv). All Creation is poised for this moment. When we wonder where life is taking us, Jesus will remind us of our future with Him.

COME AND DRINK

It’s the Feast of Tabernacles, the Fall Feast of rejoicing; the harvest is in. The Israelite nation has gathered in Jerusalem for these seven days of celebration, and the city is teeming with joy. “Tabernacles” are constructed from fragrant branches to remind the Jews of God’s protection in the wilderness. The city is ablaze with light from four enormous golden candlesticks, some 75 feet high. No corner of Jerusalem is in darkness. Zealous worshippers dance into the night, singing praises to God. Exuberant music fills the streets.

Now the seventh day, the last great day of the feast, has come. The chosen priest, accompanied by a throng of worshippers and lilting flute music, goes down to the pool of Siloam and fills a golden pitcher with water. Trumpets sound as the priest enters the Temple and pours the water into a magnificent silver basin. The worshippers chant words from Psalm 118: “O Lord, do save, we beseech Thee…” In the Talmud we read, “Why is the name of it called the drawing out of water? Because of the pouring out of the Holy Spirit, according to what is said: ‘With joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation’”. (Isaiah 12:3). This is their expectation.

And here He comes, this Jesus of Nazareth, this carpenter, this itinerant preacher, this upstart. He stands up, and the brilliance of the glorious Temple pales in His presence.

On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.”[a] 39 By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified. (John 7:37-39)

Our Jesus, our Messiah, stands up and proclaims “Come to ME and drink.” I am the living water that will not only quench your thirst, but will flow from your innermost being. And not only will you live, but you will bring life to those around you.” Let’s drink deeply, Church, every day, and watch what the Holy Spirit will do through us.

SPOOKING IN PLACE

I just learned something new about horses from a friend who is an avid horsewoman. She told me that these beautiful animals are trained to do something called “spooking in place”.

“What is that?” I asked. I’d never heard the term.

“Well,” she explained, “when a horse startles, his first instinct is to bolt and run. The owner must train him to listen to his voice, to respond to pressure on his sides, and to ‘spook in place’. The horse, although still  frightened, will hold still and relax because he knows that his master is in control, eventually  breathing deeply to release the fear.

This brings us to the word “meek”, which has come to mean timid, soft, a pushover.  Not so in ancient Biblical Greek. The Greeks “meeked” their horses to respond to only one voice. The horse trained in this way would stand entirely still in the midst of battle, even at the risk of his life, at his master’s command.  He was meeked, tamed to one voice. He could “spook in place”.

 Here is something to consider. How many times do I give in to my fear, bolting or running ahead full tilt, flailing around for answers?

Fear is not a sin; it is an emotion. Fear comes to all of us. It’s how we react to it that makes the difference. When we know who holds our reins, when we stop and listen for God’s voice, when we hear Him say “Stand still; I’ve got this”, we can relax and breathe in His Holy Presence. It changes everything. Not a bad idea to “spook in place”.

WAKE UP WITH CHRIST

Something woke me at 3 AM today, and I struggled to get back to sleep, as I sometimes do. Thoughts and concerns tumbled through my head as I lay prey to a dozen worries. “Quiet down!” I told myself. This is no way for a believer to spend the night. That only made things worse. Then I began to remember a favorite psalm, Psalm 63.

O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;

2 To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary.

3 Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee.

4 Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name.

5 My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips:

6 When I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches.

OH! I realized. Here I am on my bed! Maybe I am supposed to remember Him and think about Him, listening for His Voice in the still of the night. Maybe He has something He wants to tell me, a word of wisdom, a solution to a problem, a new step into Grace, more of Himself. So I listened. Sure enough, clarity came. Wonderful words of life, straight from my Lord. And I fell back into peace and rest.

I am so grateful that Jesus stayed awake for me through the sorrow of Gethsemane, the agony of the Cross, the three horrific days in the realm of Death. Such wondrous love.  Could I not keep watch with Him for just one hour? Maybe it’s not such a bad thing to wake in the night, if Jesus is waiting for me there.   

ONE SHOE OFF

Are you thinking, “Diddle diddle dumpling my son John?” If so, change gears and replace the name “John” with “Joshua”. That will take us to Joshua 5 for one of the  treasures from our pastor’s sermon last Sunday. As Joshua moved into leadership of Israel, he moved into a contract with God, assuring victory. Off came that sandal. This is how covenants were ratified in ancient times.

And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, What saith my Lord unto his servant?

And the captain of the Lord’s host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did so.

We believers have been purchased by the blood of Christ. By faith, we have entered into a legal contract with God our Father. And this is the best part; it guarantees us eternal life and sonship!

 He (Christ) entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining[b] eternal redemption. The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean.  How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God! For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant. (Hebrews 9:12-15)

The new covenant, the eternal contract, ensures us of our inheritance in Christ.  Let’s walk in faith with one shoe off, believing God, resting in the finished work of the Cross. And as we live out our lives here on earth, let’s echo Joshua’s words: “What saith my Lord unto his servant?”

SHAKESPEARE AND AGAPE LOVE?

Over the past few weeks, our pastor has nourished us with a banquet of scripture on the Love of God. If you haven’t taken the time to listen to his latest sermons, you owe it to yourself to do so. This agape love is so much deeper than our human efforts – startling and challenging. Even Shakespeare could see it, for in spite of all the enemy does to obliterate the love of God, it shines through in our world.

Would  you believe it? Will himself wrote about agape love. Look at this piece of Sonnet 116:

            “Love is not love which alters when it alteration finds,

            Or bends with the remover to remove.

            O, no! It is an ever fixed mark

            That looks on tempests, and is never shaken”

Here is just one verse that our pastor shared from Ephesians 3:

16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Agape Love. Covenant Love. Calvary Love. The Life of God poured out for us We can know it; we can live in it.  A church living in love. Think of it – filled with the fullness of God! Jesus reminds us:

“ By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

YOUR OWN PERSONAL SABBATH

Driving by our Blue Seal store today, I noticed a sign announcing “Starting July 4 closed Sundays.” I wanted to run inside and thank them. What if every store in town did the same thing? “Wendy’s closed on Sundays – come back for chili on Monday.” ” Benson’s closed on Sundays – that washer repair can wait one day”. “Dunkin’ closed on Sundays – take a caffeine break!” What a concept. Our merry-go-round culture could use a weekly break. What if we just all stopped running in circles and did nothing but breathe for a day, just one day a week? Would the world end?

Jesus noted that the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. It was God’s idea in the first place, flowing from His father’s heart, and even God Himself took a Sabbath. Are we smarter than God? Has anyone out there developed a more effective plan for living in this crazy world?

The writer of the book of Hebrews reminds us, “There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from His own work, just as God did from His.” (Hebrews 4:9,10). Stop! Rest! Lean back in the arms of Jesus! Let the Holy Spirit guide, inform and empower you. As the old song lyrics go, “There’s nothing more that I can do, for Jesus paid it all”.

SHAKING OFF SNAKES

You might say it had been a “bad hair” fortnight. Two weeks on the open sea with 274 Roman sailors, their ship driven helplessly by a Northeaster, neither sun nor stars appearing for many days. Everyone gave up hope except for Paul. God sent an angel to remind him that he would stand before Caesar, and that not one life would be lost. Paul’s faith was contagious, and sure enough the ship ran aground on the island of Malta, and every single man made it to shore.

As Paul pitched in to build a bonfire against the cold winter rain, a poisonous viper latched onto his hand. The islanders watched for him to die, but our apostle just shook it off and kept on working. Next thing we know, Paul was placing that same hand on the governor’s father and healing him.

There is a lesson here for us. We all have “bad hair” days that can drive us to distraction. We all go through storms, sometimes several in one week’s time. Shouldn’t God have given Paul a break for helping with the fire? Hadn’t he been through enough? But it was the storm, the shipwreck, and the snakebite that led to the healing.

In Chapter 1 of the book of Romans, Paul prayed for a “prosperous journey” to Rome. Was his journey prosperous? He was not booked in a stateroom on a luxury liner. There was no posh hotel room waiting for him on the island. But I’m learning to love this definition of prosperity – having everything you need to do the Will of God. So the next time the snake bites, and he will, let’s just shake him off and see what God does next.