Too Tired to Find Rest.....

   Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it...... For we who have believed do enter that rest. ........ There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His. (excerpted from Hebrews 4:1-10 NKJV) 

 

   Rest? What's that? 

 We Christians today often lead a haggard, anxiety filled existence while quietly reassuring ourselves that we can rely on Christ -- if we can just find time to get around to it.  We conceive that rest is an inactivity only to be engaged when no possible activity can replace it. Even church activity can overwhelm our capacity. Do we really think this is what Jesus meant when He said, Come to me all of you who are weak and heavy burdened and I will give you rest?

   John Owen, bible commentator, cited five attributes of resting in Christ:

1-  Rest means peace with God.

         

      We should find great rest when the Lord lifts our sin burden. Knowing the eternality of our peace with God should be a fountain of daily peace.

2-  Rest means freedom from a servile, bondage-like spirit in the worship and service of God.

       Paul often repeated that he was a bond servant to Christ, but meant an indenture induced by his love for his Savior rather than at the hand of a tyrant God.  

3-   Rest means deliverance from the burden of Mosaic observance.

      This should be a no-brainer for every Christian, but it is not. It is very easy to drift into a mindset of law abiding works, where our service becomes erroneously a pleasing payment that tries to earn the gift that Jesus has already given us.

4-  Rest means the freedom of worship according to the gospel.

      How often have we stood in worship on the brink of exuberance, only to tamp it down out of concern what some other Christian might think of us? Oh, if we would only worship with childlike abandon!

5-   Rest means the rest that God Himself enjoys.

    

      God never experiences anxiety or worry. Ever. As animators of Christ's attributes in and to a hurting world, we need only to receive His rest to animate it visibly in our lives. This takes first a restructuring of our priorities. There will be no peace without sufficient daily prayer and time spent in the Word. While seemingly obvious Christian solutions, these are often supplanted by human busyness. We need to relive ourselves of the mistaken view of Christianity as a state of constant doing, and replace it with a view of our constant awareness of our eternal peace with, in, and from the Lord. 

        We have submitted to His authority. Why do we find it so hard to submit to His rest?

Psalm 116  -- Return to your rest, O my soul,For the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.

Copyright 2014 Mission of the Master Ministries, Inc. May be reproduced in whole or in part without prior written permission if a link is provided to http://wordworkswednesday.blogspot.com 

Erasing Error Instead of Correcting It.....

And they sought to lay hands on Him, but feared the multitude, for they knew He had spoken the parable against them. So they left Him and went away. (Mark 12:12) 

    What do you do when you find the Word of God pressing against you?  This is an important question, because as the Holy Spirit leads us through the ongoing process of sanctification, many times the Word will instruct us and the Holy Spirit convict us. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness... (1 Tim 3:16) If humility and submission to the authority of the Word reign in your heart, you'll submit, repent, and ask the Holy Spirit to guide a course correction in your life. But humility's nemesis, pride, often has a different plan, suggesting that we simply ignore or erase our error instead of correcting it.

   When Jesus walked the earth in flesh, the rulers of God's Temple in Jerusalem had allowed spiritual elitism to infect their minds. They liked being the ones who had all the answers, and when Jesus arrived with better answers, and the Word (in the flesh) pressed against them, they let pride driven envy infect their thoughts and block a corrective teaching about their leadership. Members of the Sanhedrin felt they had paid their dues through service to attain the positions they held in the Temple hierarchy. Still others, the priests of God, had inherited their jobs by right of birth as descendants of Aaron, and they felt prideful entitlement. Both groups had enjoyed a long season where their authority was never questioned, so instead of looking to the final Arbiter for answers, they had become their own arbiters. They had barked human inspired orders and the multitudes had obeyed them. Now, a Servant Lord had arrived with Truth on His tongue and it infuriated them. The Psalmist wrote --  When with rebukes You correct man for iniquity, You make his beauty melt away like a moth; Surely every man is vapor.... John Wesley expressed their situation like this -- How wonderful is the providence of God, using all things for the good of His children! Generally the multitude is restrained from tearing them in pieces only by the fear of their rulers. And here the rulers themselves are restrained, through fear of the multitude! 

    What do you do when you find the Word of God leaned against you? What do you do when you realize you are wrong, sideways with the Lord, caught in sin? We've all had the experience of abrupt conviction by the simple hearing of God's word. Those moments test our claims of submission. I'd be less than truthful if I didn't admit to you that I have myself applied the Pharisaic solution, and plotted against the word. I've experienced conviction and instead of submitting to it's instruction, searched the scriptures for a loophole that would excuse me.  I've even resorted to reconsidering contradictory doctrinal positions that I thought might excuse me where God had accused me. I've worn a scriptural hearing aid that would allow some thoughts in but protect me from the menacing truth of my sin. I've wasted a lot of time and effort and taken many winding paths only to find myself standing back at the foot of the Word, with my heart fully convicted. Prideful resistance of God was a forty seven year habit for me before He, by Grace through faith, saved me. That's when I first experienced the blessing of Divine correction. Still, well rooted old habits and favored sins like to try to push up new shoots every now and then. 

   The writer of Hebrews reminds us -- Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. (Hebrews 12:11)  If we I want to yield the peaceable fruit of righteousness, we have to yield to the Vine-dresser's pruning Spirit.

   Where in your life is the word of God leaned against you? Where are you pushing back instead of submitting? Where are you listening to everything or anything on your spiritual iPod except what Holy Spirit and the Word of God are instructing?

    For whom the LORD loves He chastens...

Copyright 2014 Mission of the Master Ministries, Inc. May be reproduced in whole or in part without prior written permission if a link is provided to http://wordworkswednesday.blogspot.com 

It Takes Faith to Stop Hammering at the Rubble

"This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel:'Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit, 'Says the Lord of hosts. 'Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain! And he shall bring forth the capstone With shouts of "Grace, grace to it!" ' " (Zechariah 4:6-7 NKJV)

   

   For many Christians, our personal foundation was built on human wisdom before we knew the Lord and studied His Word. As Americans our foundation stones often include self reliance, personal achievement, the value of accumulation, and freedom to accomplish whatever we want. Even for those raised in the church and steeped in the Word these secular notions and cultural influences have drifted quietly and corruptively into our hearts.

 

   In the biblical account reflected in the verses above, Zerubbabel faced the challenge of rebuilding the temple. In fact, the term the Lord spoke through His prophet Zechariah, "O Great Mountain" probably referred to the mountain of rubble that existed after the temple's destruction. Zerubbabel was what would today be called a community organizer. He had limited ability, resources and power to accomplish the daunting task before him, and he was hindered (as we often are) by self doubt and discouragement.

 

   The work of God often requires resources that exceed our abilities. When we reach the intersection of  the enormity of the task we face and the limitation of our abilities and feel our helplessness, we are faced with many options. We often choose to push on against insurmountable odds in our own power, producing frustration and exhaustion. In the work and way of the world we are taught to fight through these crossroads with sheer self will. But God's message is not one of human dominance, but rather utter dependence on Him. Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit, 'Says the Lord of hosts...

 

   It is culturally counter intuitive to follow God's plan -- In order to win, you need to surrender -- but we can only win Kingdom victories when our hearts are fully reliant on the King. Great relief awaits us when we surrender the outcomes of our difficulties to the mighty hand of God, even in the face of critics and those who mock the Lord and His work.  Charles Spurgeon, an early mega church preacher, saw this clearly --

 

“O churches! take heed lest ye trust in yourselves; take heed lest ye say, ‘We are a respectable body,’ ‘We are a mighty number,’ ‘We are a potent people;’ take heed lest ye begin to glory in your own strength; for when that is done, ‘Ichabod’ shall be written on your walls and your glory shall depart from you. Remember, that he who was with us when we were but few, must be with us now we are many, or else we must fail; and he who strengthened us when we were but as ‘little in Israel,’ must be with us, now that we are like ‘the thousands of Manasseh,’ or else it is all over with us and our day is past.” (Spurgeon)

 

   Or consider David Guzik 's commentary on the  conclusion of this passage --  He shall bring forth the capstone with shouts of “Grace, grace to it!”--

   This is God's assurance to Zerubbabel that not only will the work be finished, but Zerubbabel - he - shall finish it, setting the capstone and declaring that it was all a work of grace. When the work is done through human might or power we can take credit for it, but when the work is done by the continual supply of the Spirit, then it is all to the glory of God’s grace.(Guzik)

 

  Zerubbabel faced a literal mountain of rubble. We often face piles of relationship rubble, financial rubble, or the rubble that remains after sin is departed. Often we decide -- this is my mess, I have to clean it up. The Lord's plan is far simpler. Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit....

 

   So I'm thinking..... what rubble rocks am I am hammering by my own strength while the Lord looks on, thinking, My Spirit could move that entire mountain for you, Steve, if you'd only trust Me enough to let Me.

   It takes faith to stop hammering, and faith releases the awesome power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus said, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.  
 

Copyright 2013 Mission of the Master Ministries, Inc. May be quoted in whole or in part without prior written permission if a link is provided to http://wordworkswednesday.blogspot.com

 

 

Powerball Dreams, Fireman Ed and Forgiveness Flowing From Love

 

 

A few years ago I was in Asia in a restaurant that served western style food. A wealthy local family entered and were seated. They were very westernized Asians. They all wore all name brand expensive western clothing. They had several children with them and also a poorly dressed young woman, the family slave. She watched them eat and waited on the kid’s every whim. When they had finished eating, she was allowed to finish their unwanted scraps. At 15, she was their slave. She had no rights. She had no right to express her indignation. She had no recourse but to do exactly what she was told, exactly when she was told to do it. In a nation like America where many are focused today on small white Power Ball lottery tickets that will award someone $500,000,000 (pre-tax) and how we would spend that if we won, it is hard to relate to the notion of one human owning another.        Peter reminds those who were slaves in the natural who belonged to Christ that they were to, by voluntary submission to Christ, also submit to their masters, whether good or evil. Servants, be submissive to your masters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the harsh.(1 Peter 2:18 NKJV)

  

  There is almost nothing as likely to bring me charging from a submissive state of mind than when I suffer an injustice and the accompanying feeling of humiliation at the hands of another person. I feel the need to voice my opinion and fight back. Slaves do not enjoy that right. Peter lived in a world where often nearly half the people he saw were slaves. I might more easily agree with this verse if he had written — If your master treats you well, respond well. His instruction for Christian response to harsh unjust treatment was to voluntarily carry the burden that is unfairly being heaped upon you. Fireman Ed, the New York Jets most famous super fan, resigned his fanship this week because the indignation of supporting a losing team was more than he could bear. Really? We live in a country with very high class injustice.  
 

   Peter’s words make me consider my own reaction when I suffer harsh unjust treatment. In the very next verse he says — For this is commendable, if because of conscience toward God one endures grief, suffering wrongfully.
 

    The issue of my reaction to harsh treatment and suffering because of conscience toward God lands fundamentally in my faith. Do I trust God to care for my rights and my honor or do I let my hurt feelings reign and determine that I must fix the problem myself? God will always treat me more than fairly. My salvation testifies to the Grace of God in this regard. Christ’s revenge on me for my sin was expressed not like I would have expressed it, but instead with forgiveness flowing from love. Is it possible for me to follow Him to a place where I can respond to injustice with forgiveness flowing from love? What if I react instead of with revenge or even quiet separation, but with forgiveness flowing from love? What if the greater the harsh injustice, I meet it with greater forgiveness flowing from love?
 

   Jesus often leads me to places where I cannot take another step until I surrender to suffering for His name’s sake and trust Him to lead me through it. When I submit, the issue is settled and I have peace (even if my tormentor is still flailing away). People may call that losing, but it is in fact a mighty spiritual victory. It exalts Christ. I cannot lift the name of Jesus by refusing to suffer injustice like He did. There can be victory in submission to suffering that the world will never understand. I need to revisit these thoughts daily, submit, pick up my cross and follow Him.

Copyright 2012 Mission of the Master Ministries, Inc. Can be quoted in whole of in part without prior written permission if a link is provided to http://wordwrokswednesday.blogspot.com

Joy in the Hill Country in Judah



Artist's depiction of the meeting of Mary and Elizabeth

 Now at  this time Mary arose and went in a hurry to the hill country, to a city of Judah, and entered the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. And she cried out with a loud voice and said, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! "And how has it happened to me, that the mother of my Lord would come to me? "For behold, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped in my womb for joy. "And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to her by the Lord." (Luke 1:39-45 NKJV)

    For the period of time just prior to these verses, the lives of Elizabeth and Zacharias had been pretty amazing. Zacharias had a conversation with the angel Gabriel. Because he had failed to believe Gabriel, Zacharias spent five months unable to speak. His wife who was had thought to be barren was now pregnant. Her unborn child had an amazing assignment from God, and she had been filled with the Holy Spirit. That's a pretty good run! Most of us might feel very blessed by events like these. Just as Elizabeth and Mary are cousins, often so are blessed and prideful. Its a small step from being humbled by God's blessing to feeling superior by being called by God.



    Elizabeth (Elisheva in Hebrew) displayed no envy at Mary' arrival. Informed by the Holy Spirit Elisheva said in humility, And how has it happened to me, that the mother of my Lord would come to me? Elizabeth received her secondary role in God's redemptive plan with grace as would her son, John, years later at the Jordan. Could I have done that? I'm not certain it would have been any easy thing.

    I suppose its coincidental that the words ministry and vanity rhyme. The bible says - For who makes you differ from another? And what do you have that you did not receive? Now if you did indeed receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it? (1 Cor 4:7 KNJV) Pride is a sledgehammer that demolishes ministry (both corporate ministry and personal ministry). Paul has taught us in 1 Corinthians 12 that the distributed gifts in the church are distinct but of equal value. The same is not necessarily true with ministry. Some ministry is huge and immediately fruitful for the Lord's Kingdom while others struggle to blossom, leaving us to wonder why. Elizabeth didn't waste time wondering. Instead she gave herself over to God's plan. Much time can be wasted struggling to accomplish under the power of self what God would have done effortlessly in the wake of a submitted heart. Pride focuses on human evaluation and recognition while submission focuses only on the Lord's leading and direction.

   Do you walk in an Elisheva Spirit of submission to God's plan for your life? Do you begin each day recognizing in prayer your need for God to accomplish His call on your life, or do you wave Him off each morning with an "I've got this one covered" attitude? In your heart do you believe..... that there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to her (you) by the Lord." Elizabeth received God’s will for her life as a blessing and His calling on her life as a privilege without comparison to Mary…and more….she rejoiced for her cousin Mary’s superior role as mother of God Incarnate, Jesus.

Today let’s thank God for His call on our lives and recommit to resubmit without regard for what the world (even the Christian world) thinks about it.