God makes beautiful things...

Exodus 28:2 says "make sacred garments for Aaron that are glorious and beautiful" (NLT, italics are mine.)

As I read chapter 28 I was continually struck by how God loves beautiful things, and Aaron's clothing to be worn during his priestly service, is a great example of this. Throughout the chapter we see that "skilled craftsmen" (vs. 3) are to make these clothes and that they are to use materials that are only fitting for royalty, for service, for God: fine linen cloth, purple, blue and scarlet thread, onyx and a myriad of other precious stones, gold filigree, pure gold thread and gold bells. These items are to be "skillfully embroidered" (vs. 6) and they are to be used "with great skill and care" (vs. 15) so that all these items, whether for Aaron or for his son, are to be "glorious and beautiful" (vs. 40). God loves beautiful, set apart things; and he especially loves these things when they are used while representing His people before His presence!

Throughout chapter 28 Aaron was continually reminded that he was to be dressed this certain way so that, ultimately, he might "represent the people of Israel" (vs. 12, 21, 29) before the Most Holy God. The two onyx stones on his ephod had engraved on them "the names of the tribes of Israel" (vs. 9) so that as Aaron carried these names on his shoulders they served "as a constant reminder" of who he represents when he goes before the Lord. Thus, whether it was the onyx stones, or the four rows of gemstones or the gold medallion worn on his forehead he was representing the sinful people of Israel before the Holy God so that "the Lord will accept his people" (vs. 38).

As I reflected on these two truths, that God loves beautiful things and that Aaron represented the sinful nation of Israel to a Holy God, I thought how true this is still for us today!

First, God loves beautiful things, especially his people who are made in His image (Gen. 1:27)! He loved us enough to come into this broken world and to search for the lost sheep of Israel (Mt. 15:24 and Luke 15:1-7) and to be the light to all Gentiles (Isaiah 49:6, Luke 2:32 and Acts 26:23)...you and me!

And when we accept Christ as our Lord and Savior then we are the image-bearers of Christ who are called to the ministry of being his ambassadors to those in this broken and sinful world which needs to be reconciled to God (2 Cor. 5:11-21)!

May we remember that God makes "beautiful things out of the dust, out of us"; and may our lives, and our words, "be life/Let my words be truth/I don't wanna say a word/Unless it points the world back to You" (Gungor's song "Beautiful Things" can be seen here and Hawk Nelson's song "Words" can be seen by clicking here).

Stand still and watch? Or, get moving and walk through?

As I was reading Exodus 13-15 this morning I was challenged by Moses' exhortation to his fellow Israelites to always remember how the Lord rescued them from Egypt with "the power of his mighty hand" (13:3). As a matter of fact, he mentions this fact four times (vss. 3, 9, 14, 16 in the NLT)! Clearly, Moses wanted the people to know it was God who was going to deliver them from Pharaoh and the Egyptians!

Even more interesting to me was how this was all said before they had even left Egypt! It's only that we read in vs. 17 "when Pharaoh finally let the people go, God did not lead them along the main road..." The Israelites hadn't even left and yet Moses was already preparing them to know and remember that it was the LORD who was going to do the delivering.

Interesting too how Moses stressed the importance of teaching these truths to the future generations, "the glorious deeds of the Lord, about his power and his mighty wonders" (Psalm 78:4). In two separate, but related places (vss. 8 and 14), Moses tells the Israelites that there will be plenty of opportunities for the Israelites to explain to their children all the details surrounding the events of the Passover and the deliverance from Egypt. Clearly, God's covenant community is already living out Deuteronomy 6:4-9 where they are exhorted to tell their children God's commands as they are "at home" and "on the road" and "when you are going to bed and when you are getting up."

And speaking of the deliverance of Egypt, when crisis strikes isn't it amazing how quickly they forget about God's mighty hand and how he will deliver them from Egypt!? "As Pharaoh approached, the people of Israel looked up and panicked when they saw the Egyptians overtaking them. They cried out to the Lord..." (14:10) and then they grumbled at Moses, "why did you bring us out here to die in the wilderness? Weren't there enough graves for us in Egypt?" (vs. 11) Whether he told them four times, or fourteen times, you wonder if they would've remembered that God was going to deliver them through "the power of his mighty hand"!?

And then I sense the Holy Spirit say to me, "how often have you known the strength and power and might of the LORD and yet you forget when trials come?" Ah yes, I'm just as guilty as the Israelites! Many of us are!

What probably struck me the most this morning though was the difference in response between Moses and God during this crisis. On the one hand Moses, no doubt speaking in great faith, said to the people in 15:13, "don't be afraid. Just stand still and watch the Lord rescue you today." How true this statement is to our own thoughts and actions. Many times I have thought to myself, "let's wait and see how the Lord will provide." In theory and practice there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with that. After all, we see countless scriptures like Psalm 27:14 that says "wait patiently for the Lord. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the Lord."

But on the other hand we see the LORD's immediate words to Moses in 15:15, "why are you crying out to me? Tell the people to get moving! Divide the water so the Israelites can walk through..."

Hmm, interesting...Moses says to stand still and watch...God says to get moving and walk!? How do we reconcile this different approach? Probably, too often, we do nothing in the spiritual guise of "standing still and watching" in faith when in actuality it is really paralysis caused by fear. The better option is to always follow where the Lord leads, "to get moving and walk through" whatever might be going on.

Obviously there is wisdom in "being still and knowing God" (Psalm 46:10) as we pray and seek His face for direction on what to do next. But there also comes a time when actions have to be taken, knowing that God, who promises "to never leave us nor forsake us" (Heb. 13:5; Mt. 28:20; Psalm 23 and Jn. 10:11ff) is guiding us and strengthening us with "the power of his mighty hand" (Ex. 13:3).

Who will you be like this year?

As I have done our Daily Walk Bible (DWB) reading thus far this year I have been encouraged and challenged by what scripture has to say about some of the Biblical characters. For example:

*“When it was time for the harvest, Cain presented some of his crops as a gift to the Lord. Abel also brought a gift—the best of the firstborn lambs from his flock” (Genesis 4:3-4).

*“After the birth of Methuselah, Enoch lived in close fellowship with God for another 300 years…walking in close fellowship with God” (5:22-24).

*“Noah was a righteous man, the only blameless person living on earth at the time, and he walked in close fellowship with God” (6:9).

“And Abram believed the Lord, and the Lord counted him as righteous because of his faith” (15:6).

“Jesus called out to them (Simon and Andrew), “Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!” And they left their nets at once and followed him” (Matthew 4:19-20).

When I offer to God my time, talents and treasures am I like Cain and only offering some of myself? Or am I like Abel and offering the best of what I have?

On a daily basis, am I “remaining” or “abiding” in Christ (John 15) and thus walking in close fellowship like Enoch and Noah?

Like Abram, when faced with the uncertainty of the future am I showing my faith in God and in his sovereign plan and will for my life and the life of our church?

Am I willing to follow Christ at once, thereby counting the cost of being his disciple, and doing what He calls me to do?

All these, and many more, are the people in Scripture who are inspiring me to ask tough questions of my life and faith. How about you? Who are you reading about and how are you being challenged and encouraged today in your Christian faith?

No matter where you are in life, even if you are in the pit of despair or in prison like Joseph, the Lord will be with you and will show you “his faithful love” (Gen. 39:21).

Happy New Year!

In my excitement and anticipation of starting again the Daily Walk Bible reading program I’ve been thinking a lot about the New Year, 2013. The beginning of the year, as we all know, is a great time for reflection on the past so to better plan and live for God’s glory in the future. To that end, I share these 10 questions, from Dr. Donald Whitney, to consider as we start the New Year.

“Once, when the people of God had become careless in their relationship with Him, the Lord rebuked them through the prophet Haggai. “Consider your ways!” (Haggai 1:5) he declared, urging them to reflect on some of the things happening to them, and to evaluate their slipshod spirituality in light of what God had told them.

            Even those most faithful to God occasionally need to pause and think about the direction of their lives. It’s so easy to bump along from one busy week to another without ever stopping to ponder where we’re going and where we should be going.

1. What’s one thing you could do this year to increase your enjoyment of God?

2. What’s the most humanly impossible thing you will ask God to do this year?

3. What’s the single most important thing you could do to improve the quality of your family life this year?

4. In which spiritual discipline do you most want to make progress this year, and what will you do about it?

5. What is the single biggest time-waster in your life, and what will you do about it this year?

6. What is the most helpful new way you could strengthen your church?

7. For whose salvation will you pray most fervently this year?

8. What’s the most important way you will, by God’s grace, try to make this year different from last year?

9. What one thing could you do to improve your prayer life this year?

10. What single thing that you plan to do this year will matter most in ten years? In eternity?

In 2013, may we stop and “consider our ways.” God bless you in this New Year!

The Truth about Christ...

"Grace, mercy, and peace, which come from God the Father and from Jesus Christ - the Son of the Father - will continue to be with us who live IN TRUTH and LOVE" (2 John 3). 

As I stated in yesterday's blog post, God's love is manifested IN Jesus Christ, who IS "the truth" that John mentions 11 times in the epistles of 2 and 3 John. Whatever you read and come across today, remember "the truth about Christ" (2 John 10).

God is love...as seen in Jesus Christ

As I get caught up this morning on our readings in 1-3 John I was struck again by the often quoted passage in 1 John 4:8, "But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love" (NLT, emphasis mine). If we heard it once, we have probably heard it a thousand times...God is love. And in our world today, we NEED to hear this a thousand times.

But I was also struck by a passage in the chapter before, 1 John 3:23-24 says, "And this is his commandment: We must believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as he commanded us. Those who obey God's commandments remain in fellowship with him, and he with them. And we know he lives in us because the Spirit he gave us lives in us" (NLT, emphasis mine).

In our culture today, we so often hear "God is love" and often this phrase is said with a New Age, Pluralistic, "all roads lead to God" sort of tone and meaning. God, the amorphous how-ever-we-want-to-define-him-sort-of-God is the God often referenced when it is said "God is love."

Along with that phrase "God is love" we so often hear "let's just all get along and love each other." Again, it is a nebulous sort of statement that ranks up there with "peace, love, recycle." It's become a buzz phrase and rightly so as, again, it's a phrase we need to be reminded of a thousand times in our broken and fallen world.

But what I found interesting about this passage in 1 John 3:23 is that it is grounded in the fact, and belief, that this "God" came in a flesh and blood form in Jesus Christ!  "And this is his commandment: We must believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as he commanded us." We are to believe, and confess our belief, in Jesus Christ who "is the visible image of the invisible God" as Colossians 1:15 states.

The statement "God is love" is rooted in this visible, skin and bone representation of Jesus Christ who demonstrated, through his death on the cross, what it truly means "to love one another."

This Advent Season as we celebrate and look forward to the coming of Emmanuel, God with us, God with skin and bones, may we remember that the buzz phrases of "God is love" and "love one another" are grounded and based on this Emmanuel who was born to a Virgin in the backwater town of Bethlehem.

God's grace and peace to you!

Encouragement from a friend

The proverbial joke is that Pastor's only work one day of the week...ha, ha, ha! I assure you that is a total lie.

Like many jobs that many people have, being a pastor is the type of position that you never get away from because there are always things going on. You are always thinking about: situations at church, conversations that were had, meetings that are up and coming and a genuine concern for those in your congregation. This past week has been challenging to say the least and my emotions have been all over the place. Because I am NOT seeking a pity party, NOR am I seeking pats-on-the-back, but rather to give thanks, I will leave it at that.

So this morning as part of my Sabbath I'm catching up on my Daily Walk Bible reading and was reading through 2 Thessalonians. The following verses were a huge blessing and encouragement to me:

¹⁶ Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal comfort and a wonderful hope, ¹⁷ comfort you and strengthen you in every good thing you do and say (2 Thess. 2:16-17, NLT)

and also 

¹⁶ Now may the Lord of peace himself give you his peace at all times and in every situation. The Lord be with you all (2 Thess. 3:16), NLT).

About 10 minutes later, after praying about these verses and how they related to current church happenings, the UPS truck drives up and drops off an odd-shaped styrofoam package on our front steps. Because it is 68 degrees right now (woo hoo!!) I had the storm door open and the screen door still on and so I went out and found a package from Omaha Steaks. On the address label was this kind note...

"Thank you for your friendship. You feed me so now I can feed you! A blessed Christmas to you" and the note was signed by a friend who is a member at our church. 

As I was writing a thank you note to this person my eyes welled up with tears because this person's thoughtful gift was that needed "comfort, strength, and peace" that I read about earlier in 2 Thessalonians.

No matter what your vocational calling is we all have our challenges to deal with and we all need to know we are appreciated for the job that we are trying to do. Who can you thank today at your workplace, or church, or at home for the job they are trying to do? Who in your life needs to be encouraged? Who in your life needs a note of appreciation for how they have blessed your life? I know I am EXTREMELY grateful for what I received today and will be sure to pass that along to this friend. How about you?

"May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all" (2 Thess. 3:18).