Anticipation

These last few weeks I have been thinking about Simeon and how he was able to see Christ as a baby.  How amazing would that be?  The passage I am quoting is from Luke chapter 2 and it was 40 days after Jesus was born (after the days of purification).  “25Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him. 26It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. 27Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, 28Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying: 29“Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you may now dismiss your servant in peace. 30For my eyes have seen your salvation, 31which you have prepared in the sight of all nations: 32a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel.” (Luke 2:25-32, NIV).

Oh, to have held Jesus in your arms.  Christ coming the way He did is incredible and simply amazing.  However, I want to touch on Simeon’s life in this passage.  Simeon’s story challenged me today.  In this passage, we see a man following the Lord.  Not only following the Lord, but looking for His movements and for His promises to come to fruition, with a sense of anticipation.  Simeon was eagerly waiting to see what the Lord was doing and how God was going to fulfill His promise. 

Simeon clearly understood Scripture because, he referenced Scripture in verses 29-32 (Gen 46:30, Isaiah 52:10).  He was able to hear the Spirit talking which tells us he was listening for the Lord.   He was obedient as the Spirit led him which showed his humility and his heart for serving the Lord.  Each aspect of this passage tells me he had a genuine walk, a genuine relationship with God.  One that could sense the will of God through prayer and studying His Word. 

Simeon was obedient, he eagerly looked for God, and he studied God’s Word.   If Simeon was not looking for God’s promises to come to pass, if Simeon was not obedient to the Spirit’s leading, would he have even noticed the Messiah?  Simeon was able to see the promises of God fulfilled because he was looking.

What challenges me in this passage revolves around this question.  Am I looking for God to move in my life with that same sense of anticipation as Simeon did?  Am I eagerly looking for God’s movements with eyes wide open?  God is the same yesterday, today, and forever more.  God is still moving today.  Be looking for how God is speaking to your life today, with eyes wide open.  Are you looking for God with a sense of anticipation?

Boldly to the throne!

There was a time when I thought I could never come before God with boldness.  Have you ever felt that way?  Hebrews 4:14-16 states “Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.  For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are yet without sin.  Let us therefor come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (NKJV).

Before knowing Christ my life was lost in sin.  I was separated from God and heading down the wrong path.  Isaiah confirms our lostness and our separation from God when he wrote “But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you so that He will not hear” (Isaiah 59:2).  The only way to come before God must be through faith and being righteous in His eyes.  This leaves the question, how do we become righteous in the sight of God.  This only comes because of Christ, what He did on the cross, and His righteousness.

Paul wrote “and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith” (Phil 3:9).  Through God’s righteousness He has forgiven our sins and He has also prepared for us righteousness by which we come to Him. 

Why is it that I do not always feel righteous though?  As I read Scripture from day to day I find I feel bolder in coming to God with my thoughts and prayers.  However, there are also times when I do not always read as much as I want and then I feel less worthy.  There are times I feel I proclaim His Word with zeal and then turn around not having the same passion.  My level of boldness sometimes feels like it is attached to my own abilities or my own thoughts of righteousness. 

So, what is our righteousness?  Scripture reveals “But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness, and sanctification and redemption” (1 Cor. 1:30).  This means that Christ is our righteousness.  It is Christ Himself that is our righteousness.  This is the only way we can come before God because He is our righteousness.  It is because of Christ living within us.  We are clothed in righteousness because it is Christ who is our righteousness.  This means, as born-again believers, we can come to God with boldness at any moment for we have Christ in us who is our righteousness.  Therefor, do not be hesitant to come before our God and King for we have His righteousness living within us.

So, when the devil comes around and tells you to not talk to God, telling you that you are not worthy, saying your needs are too small, remember He is our righteousness.  Watchman Nee wrote that when Satan comes barking at you that “… you can reply “You have forgotten, Satan, that my righteousness before God is not my good conduct of today, but my righteousness before Him is Christ” (Nee, 22).  So today, remember that we can boldly come before Christ and meet with Him everyday because of Christ living in us and because of His righteousness.  We can have a relationship with God and come before Him because of Christ!  Praise be to God!

“…He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4b).

 

Nee, Watchman. The Glory of His Life. Christian Fellowship Publishers, 1976.

Truth

 Truth as a Person,

Today, there seems to be a cloud around what truth is.  As we watch life unfold, it seems clear that humanity is crying out for the truth, and is in search for it. The question is, how do we find truth and what does it look like?  Scripture reveals where to find truth in the following passage.

"Jesus answered, "I am the way the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6, NIV).

"Jesus talked a lot about truth.  Note how often the word occurs in the gospel of John.  When he spoke about truth, Jesus spoke in personal terms.  You will remember that he refused, much to the dismay of many people, particularly the philosophers, to speak of truth in abstraction, as though it existed in itself.  He wanted to relate truth to himself and to his Father in an existential way.  He even went beyond that; he ultimately identified truth completely with himself and his Father.

The temple authorities, troubled by Jesus and wanting to know the truthfulness of his message, challenged him.  He responded, "If anyone chooses to do God's will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God" (John 7:17).

Jesus thus affirmed the truthfulness of his own teaching in terms of relationship to his Father.  Sometimes we would like to translate that answer into "Anyone who does the truth will certainly know it."  But that is not the way Jesus spoke or thought.  We should never be fooled.  There was no truth for Jesus apart from the Father.  Truth was simply the Father's will.  Thus personal categories are appropriate when we speak of truth because the ultimate categories are all personal.  Ultimately, Jesus is the truth.

If we develop a love affair with the truth and pursue it far enough, we will find the truth.  When we find it, we will have found Jesus and that he is the one we need.  The shortcut to it all is found in his simple words, "Come unto me." Have you come?" (Kinlaw, June 17).

    Kinlaw, Dennis. This Day With the Master: 365 Daily Meditations. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2002.

I am sending you!

    It is incredible how God wants people, He wants us, to be involved in His plans and purposes.  I have been thinking of the life of Moses and how God used him as His instrument to free people from Egyptian slavery.  The Lord said to Moses "Now, therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come to Me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them.  Come now, therefore, and I will send you to Pharoah that you may bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt" (Exodus 3:9-10, NKJV).

    As you dig deeper into these passages you can see that Moses understands he is not capable to do this on his own power.  God called Moses anyway.  Moses recognized, that apart from God, the task was too big.  Moses is one of many Old Testaments examples, that demonstrates a completely surrendered life God.  When we realize we are wholly reliant on God, and uncapable in our own power, that is when God uses us most effectively.  God called many people throughout Scripture to be instruments of God's plans and He is still calling us today!

Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” (John 20:21, NIV)

    Dennis Kinlaw wrote something that spoke to me and I hope it speaks to you as well.  "The Good Shephard commands his sheep to follow Him!  Following Christ is an all-engaging commitment of one's life and heart.  Jesus says that this is how it must be; he must be the leader and controller of one's life.  Therefore, we must have holy hearts.  The human desire is to manage our own lives; we are hesitant to release control because we might face unexpected demands or unpleasantness.  But we are never safe until we have taken our hands off the control knob and have forfeited our right to ourselves, so that Jesus is in full control.

    If Jesus gains the right to spend us the way he pleases, there will be miracles in our lives.  Just as he broke five loaves and two fish, providing food to the multitude, so there will be fruit in our own lives.  We will live as Jesus, who gave up his life for his sheep.

    For every person there comes a day when Jesus says, "Follow me."  Have you come to the place where you are ready to be a living sacrifice?  Let Christ spill you, use you, and pour you out in the way he pleases.  Let Jesus give you to whom he will.  Take your hands off your life, and let him put his hands on your life.

    There is a world out there.  Jesus has shown us the way to win it: his Father sent him to lay down his life.  Now he is sending you" (Kinlaw).

References

    Kinlaw, Dennis. This Day With the Master: 365 Daily Meditations. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2002.

Reliant on God

 “10. So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.” But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” (Exodus 3:10-11, NIV).

    Moses was born a slave, placed in the river as a baby, and was found and raised by Pharaoh’s daughter.  Moses had quite the story right out of the gate.  After Moses had grown up (40 years old), Moses saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew.  The short story is Moses killed the Egyptian.  Instead of cheering and thanking Moses, the Hebrews mocked him for killing the Egyptian and Moses ended up fleeing for his life. 

    The passage quoted today is 40 years later.  This is the moment where God spoke from the burning bush.  As this story unfolds we see that Moses did not feel worthy, or able, to answer God’s call on his life.  We see Moses runs out of reasons to avoid God’s call on his life, and he does go to Egypt.  We ultimately see, Moses is used by God to free the people from Egyptian control at the age of 80.  Moses gets to see God move in incredible, and miraculous ways for the rest of his life.

    What strikes me in this story, is that when Moses thought he was fit to accomplish things on his own, he failed, and ended up a long way from where he wanted to be.  However, when he felt unfit for the task, God used Moses in mighty ways.  God transformed Moses’s life when he completely surrendered to God’s will.

    How often do we try and take control of situations in our lives on our own?  How often do we try and rely on our own strength instead of His?  As we face each day, as we face each challenge, maybe we should think about one of the key points in Moses’s story.  It is when we realize we are wholly reliant on God, and uncapable in our own power, that God uses us most effectively.  Transformation happens when we surrender ourselves, and wholly let God lead.

Triumphal Procession

 

Triumphal Procession

Thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him. (2 Corinthians 2:14).

“The fragrance of the knowledge of Christ is spread in the earth through us.  To some it will be an aroma unto salvation; to others it will be an aroma that leads to death because they reject him.  Who is equal to the task of spreading that knowledge?  Paul tells us how to meet such a task; “But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him.”  Many scholars agree that Paul mixed his metaphors: the first half of the verse seems to deal with the Resurrection (the triumphal procession), and the second half seems to deal with the Cross (fragrance comes only through crushing).

            However, one day I found a paperback book on this passage of Scripture.  It was a doctoral dissertation, and the scholar had researched this verse and studied the Greek word thriambeuo, which is translated “to lead in triumphal procession.”  He found that it was an old Etruscan word, and the Etruscans had a very different triumphal procession from the Roman one that was led by the emperor.  The king who led the Etruscan triumphal procession through the city was the captured, defeated king.  He was spit upon and beaten, and at the end he was sacrificed to the Etruscan gods who supposedly had given the victory.  The conquering king brought up the rear of the procession.  So Paul had not mixed his metaphors.  He was picturing Christ not as the conquering King, but as the conquered King, the One who was to be the sacrifice. 

If Christ leads the procession, then he leads us to an alter of self-sacrifice, the Cross.  It is a triumphal procession because out of the sacrifice of self the fragrance of the gospel comes” (Kinlaw).

I trust this devotion has opened your heart and mind today.  Christ gave of himself sacrificially.  He literally gave His very life for you and for me.  He is the only One worthy of worship and praise.  As we follow Him, we are to put off the old self (or old man as NKJV states).  “You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” (Eph. 4:22-24, NIV).  Our former selves are to be removed, sacrificed, so that our new identity in Christ takes hold.  Shaped and molded by the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

As we read the following by Isaiah, let us reflect on what Christ has done for us and reflect on our own walk with the Lord.  Are we walking triumphantly?   “The Sovereign Lord has given me a well-instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary. He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being instructed. The Sovereign Lord has opened my ears; I have not been rebellious; I have not turned away. I offered my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard; I did not hide my face from mocking and spitting. Because the Sovereign Lord helps me; I will not be disgraced. Therefore have I set my face like flint, and I know I will not be put to shame. He who vindicates me is near. Who then will bring charges against me? Let us face each other! Who is my accuser? Let him confront me! It is the Sovereign Lord who helps me. Who will condemn me? They will all wear out like a garment; the moths will eat them up. (Isaiah 50:4-9, NIV)

References

Kinlaw, Dennis. This Day With the Master: 365 Daily Meditations. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2002.