"As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you." (Isaiah 66:13)
In the ideal situation, it is the mother in the home who provides comfort to its occupants, in much the same way the Holy Spirit brings comfort to the heart of a believer (Jno.14:26). Unless this inclination has been stifled somehow in childhood, or by a disdain for the feminine role, in general, I think all women possess a need to console and nurture. Whether she has children of her own or not, a woman's "mother-heart" is drawn to a crying child or a hurting soul. And her first impulse will be to gather them into her arms, next to her heart.
The emotion most like this, and which a father may possess, is pity. We read in Psalm 103:13, "Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him." This is as it should be, for it is the father who will make the hard decisions and prod the children to try a little harder and go a little farther. Because of this, he will always run the risk of being too rigorous in his training, at times; and it is then that an ability to show pity will be greatly appreciated!
But if our heavenly Father shows us pity, and the Holy Spirit is our source of comfort, what does God, the Son, bring this Trio of Consolation? Why empathy, of course. The ability to experience as own the feelings of another. Hebrews 7:26 tells us that Jesus did not simply reach out from where He was to comfort and show us pity; He actually came where we were. He "became us." So now,we can be assured that the great heart that wept at the grave of a friend (Jno.11:35), and over a doomed city (Luke 19:41), is also "touched with the feeling of our infirmities" (Heb.4:15).
In the three Personalities of my God, I have the comfort of a mother, the pity of a father, and the empathy of a brother. Supernatural solace for inconsolable grief--what a thing! No wonder the songwriter wrote:
Come ye disconsolate, where-e'er ye languish,
Come to the mercy seat; fervently kneel.
Here bring your wounded hearts; here tell your anguish;
Earth has no sorrow that heav'n cannot heal.
--Thomas Moore
Monday, July 21, 2008
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Obedience: A Matter of Courage
“Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law.” (Josh. 1:7)
Mark it down; it takes good, old-fashioned, bone-hard courage to do what is right. Popular culture may claim that it is courageous to do your own thing; but, on the contrary, your own thing is the easiest thing to do. It’s a default mechanism. There is much in life that is individual and unique to each of us, but the unchanging laws of God do not fall into this category. As time goes by, God’s laws may be less and less in step with society, but that only shows the awkwardness and imbalance of society.
I realize, of course, there are those who thrive on going against the grain, not because they are dedicated to following God’s law but simply dead set on ramming through their own preferences. This isn’t courage, either, since confrontation comes far easier for them than accommodation. With such people, allowing differences on secondary issues will take every bit of courage and grace they can muster.
God, through Moses, gave the nation of Israel a great host of laws with which to govern their lives. In the New Testament, many of these are not laid down, as such, for the Church (though many are). Instead, the rules of conduct given by Jesus and the New Testament writers, though they may not be as extensive, are even more exacting. For instance, according to Matthew 5:27-28, we break the seventh commandment (“Thou shalt not commit adultery”) when we harbor lust within our hearts.
I will say it again: It takes courage to obey the laws of God. And though others may be involved, obedience is not a group activity. If we require a crowd around us to bolster our resolve, we will never know if it is truly obedience or merely convenience.
Courage is not simply one of the virtues but the form of every virtue at the testing point. — C.S. Lewis
Mark it down; it takes good, old-fashioned, bone-hard courage to do what is right. Popular culture may claim that it is courageous to do your own thing; but, on the contrary, your own thing is the easiest thing to do. It’s a default mechanism. There is much in life that is individual and unique to each of us, but the unchanging laws of God do not fall into this category. As time goes by, God’s laws may be less and less in step with society, but that only shows the awkwardness and imbalance of society.
I realize, of course, there are those who thrive on going against the grain, not because they are dedicated to following God’s law but simply dead set on ramming through their own preferences. This isn’t courage, either, since confrontation comes far easier for them than accommodation. With such people, allowing differences on secondary issues will take every bit of courage and grace they can muster.
God, through Moses, gave the nation of Israel a great host of laws with which to govern their lives. In the New Testament, many of these are not laid down, as such, for the Church (though many are). Instead, the rules of conduct given by Jesus and the New Testament writers, though they may not be as extensive, are even more exacting. For instance, according to Matthew 5:27-28, we break the seventh commandment (“Thou shalt not commit adultery”) when we harbor lust within our hearts.
I will say it again: It takes courage to obey the laws of God. And though others may be involved, obedience is not a group activity. If we require a crowd around us to bolster our resolve, we will never know if it is truly obedience or merely convenience.
Courage is not simply one of the virtues but the form of every virtue at the testing point. — C.S. Lewis
Monday, July 14, 2008
Those Filthy Rags
"But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags." (Isa. 64:6)
If our righteousness is like filthy rags to God, what in the world must our sins look like to Him? Much worse than what they look like to us, I’d wager. I have come to the conclusion that there may be less actual sins than some have claimed, but those things which actually are sinful are taken far too lightly. Some of us are like legislators who, instead of enforcing existing laws, find it easier to make new ones. I marvel sometimes at the blatant sin seen in the life of some believers. Not that they commit them (after all, the sinful nature is still alive and well), but the fact that they excuse them. Perhaps I should have enclosed the word "believers" in quotation marks.
It may be of interest us as women that Strong's Concordance identifies the word "filthy" found in this verse as coming from a Hebrew word meaning "menstruation," which should give us some idea of just how repulsive these rags really are. This should also lay to rest any notion that salvation can be obtained by any so-called righteous works, in any economy—New or Old Testament. We should remind ourselves, from time to time, that it was our sins (within our power), as well as our sinful nature (outside our power) that cost God the life of His Son. We may have received our sinful nature from our father, Adam; but with our salvation, we acquired a new nature: God's. And we now have the option of choosing or rejecting sin (Rom.6:16). We will never be sinless, till we are rid of this sinful flesh; but when we do sin, we should know this; it’s because we chose to.
When the prophet Isaiah saw God in all His glory, his first words were, "Woe is me! for I am undone." People with only a dim conception of God will always possess a distorted view of sin, as well. When we see Him as He truly is, and ourselves as we truly are, then we will recognize our sin, and call it for what it is.
Sin is the dare of God's justice, the rape of His mercy, the jeer of His patience, the slight of His power, and the contempt of His love.
— John Bunyan
If our righteousness is like filthy rags to God, what in the world must our sins look like to Him? Much worse than what they look like to us, I’d wager. I have come to the conclusion that there may be less actual sins than some have claimed, but those things which actually are sinful are taken far too lightly. Some of us are like legislators who, instead of enforcing existing laws, find it easier to make new ones. I marvel sometimes at the blatant sin seen in the life of some believers. Not that they commit them (after all, the sinful nature is still alive and well), but the fact that they excuse them. Perhaps I should have enclosed the word "believers" in quotation marks.
It may be of interest us as women that Strong's Concordance identifies the word "filthy" found in this verse as coming from a Hebrew word meaning "menstruation," which should give us some idea of just how repulsive these rags really are. This should also lay to rest any notion that salvation can be obtained by any so-called righteous works, in any economy—New or Old Testament. We should remind ourselves, from time to time, that it was our sins (within our power), as well as our sinful nature (outside our power) that cost God the life of His Son. We may have received our sinful nature from our father, Adam; but with our salvation, we acquired a new nature: God's. And we now have the option of choosing or rejecting sin (Rom.6:16). We will never be sinless, till we are rid of this sinful flesh; but when we do sin, we should know this; it’s because we chose to.
When the prophet Isaiah saw God in all His glory, his first words were, "Woe is me! for I am undone." People with only a dim conception of God will always possess a distorted view of sin, as well. When we see Him as He truly is, and ourselves as we truly are, then we will recognize our sin, and call it for what it is.
Sin is the dare of God's justice, the rape of His mercy, the jeer of His patience, the slight of His power, and the contempt of His love.
— John Bunyan
Sunday, July 13, 2008
The Right Proportion
"For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee. In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the LORD thy Redeemer. (Isa.54:7-8)
I have been blessed by being present at the births of both my great-grandchildren. I remember as my granddaughter was laboring to bring our precious Ethan Andrew into the outside world from his ultimate comfort zone, noticing a big clock on the wall directly in front of Glory. No doubt, it provided a way to time the pains, but I couldn't help thinking (and remarking to my daughter-in-law) that I still thought the clock was a poor idea. I don't know about other women, but to me the daunting uncertainty of how much longer the pain would continue was every bit as distressing as the pain itself. I suppose that's why I kept assuring Glory that it would soon be over and the result would make it all worthwhile. And my young granddaughter (bless her heart) flashed one of her incandescent smiles and murmured through the pain, "I'm trying to be happy!"
There's a wonderful lesson for us in these verses in Isaiah. You and I, my dear Christian friend, should stop "watching the clock" when it comes to our trials and hard times; because, in retrospect, just like childbirth, the labor room of our afflictions will seem to have been a "small moment" compared to the "great mercies" and "everlasting kindness" of the God who will soon gather us to His bosom. Paul reminds us of this same truth when he says in 2 Corinthians 4:17, "For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory."
God knows exactly how to proportion the events of our lives in order to produce the best results for us in the long run. That’s what it’s all about, you know…the long run. And although generally speaking He prefers an even balance in most things, when it comes to His own personal dealings with you and me, His mercy and kindness will tip the scales in our favor, every time.
I have been blessed by being present at the births of both my great-grandchildren. I remember as my granddaughter was laboring to bring our precious Ethan Andrew into the outside world from his ultimate comfort zone, noticing a big clock on the wall directly in front of Glory. No doubt, it provided a way to time the pains, but I couldn't help thinking (and remarking to my daughter-in-law) that I still thought the clock was a poor idea. I don't know about other women, but to me the daunting uncertainty of how much longer the pain would continue was every bit as distressing as the pain itself. I suppose that's why I kept assuring Glory that it would soon be over and the result would make it all worthwhile. And my young granddaughter (bless her heart) flashed one of her incandescent smiles and murmured through the pain, "I'm trying to be happy!"
There's a wonderful lesson for us in these verses in Isaiah. You and I, my dear Christian friend, should stop "watching the clock" when it comes to our trials and hard times; because, in retrospect, just like childbirth, the labor room of our afflictions will seem to have been a "small moment" compared to the "great mercies" and "everlasting kindness" of the God who will soon gather us to His bosom. Paul reminds us of this same truth when he says in 2 Corinthians 4:17, "For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory."
God knows exactly how to proportion the events of our lives in order to produce the best results for us in the long run. That’s what it’s all about, you know…the long run. And although generally speaking He prefers an even balance in most things, when it comes to His own personal dealings with you and me, His mercy and kindness will tip the scales in our favor, every time.
Friday, July 11, 2008
Setting Them Afloat
"As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the LORD; my spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed's seed, saith the LORD, from henceforth and for ever." (Isa.59:21)
I once counseled a mother whose grown children were fiercely bickering among themselves, causing her much anguish, and putting a strain on her and her husband's relationship. Her question to me was, "What do I say to them?" to which I replied, "As little as possible." One of the hardest things in life is to relinquish responsibility for people and situations that have been under our jurisdiction for many years. We sometimes think to ourselves, when our children are young, “I'll be so glad when I don't have to make all the decisions and bear the ultimate accountability.” Then, oddly enough, when that time comes, we are hesitant to let go. It's hard to truly set them afloat.
Perhaps I could illustrate it this way: A life jacket is a wonderful device for keeping you buoyant, but you can't wear one all the time, just in case you fall in water somewhere! No, in that case, one would need to have already learned how to swim, or, at least, to float. Then, a buoy in the water—steady and true—will be sufficient as a marker to lead one back in the direction of safe harbor…if he or she is so inclined
When the time comes for our children be set afloat, hard as it may seem, we will need to do less talking to them about God, and more talking to God about them. I know this is a easier said than done, but if we're willing to trust God, and allow the Holy Spirit free rein, we can save ourselves a great deal of pain and frustration. If we cannot bring ourselves to claim this verse in Isaiah 59 as a promise, we can surely claim it as a principle. And in the meantime, remember this:
Our grown children need us to be buoys, not life-jackets, on the sea of life.
I once counseled a mother whose grown children were fiercely bickering among themselves, causing her much anguish, and putting a strain on her and her husband's relationship. Her question to me was, "What do I say to them?" to which I replied, "As little as possible." One of the hardest things in life is to relinquish responsibility for people and situations that have been under our jurisdiction for many years. We sometimes think to ourselves, when our children are young, “I'll be so glad when I don't have to make all the decisions and bear the ultimate accountability.” Then, oddly enough, when that time comes, we are hesitant to let go. It's hard to truly set them afloat.
Perhaps I could illustrate it this way: A life jacket is a wonderful device for keeping you buoyant, but you can't wear one all the time, just in case you fall in water somewhere! No, in that case, one would need to have already learned how to swim, or, at least, to float. Then, a buoy in the water—steady and true—will be sufficient as a marker to lead one back in the direction of safe harbor…if he or she is so inclined
When the time comes for our children be set afloat, hard as it may seem, we will need to do less talking to them about God, and more talking to God about them. I know this is a easier said than done, but if we're willing to trust God, and allow the Holy Spirit free rein, we can save ourselves a great deal of pain and frustration. If we cannot bring ourselves to claim this verse in Isaiah 59 as a promise, we can surely claim it as a principle. And in the meantime, remember this:
Our grown children need us to be buoys, not life-jackets, on the sea of life.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Risk Everything on God
"And she said, According unto your words, so be it. And she sent them away,, and they departed; and she bound the scarlet line in the window." (Josh.2:21)
James 2:26 tells us that "faith without works is dead"; and in the case of Rahab, the harlot, if her faith had not included works, she would have been dead, along with her family. In fact, the previous verse says, point blank, this lady of the night from Jericho, notwithstanding her dubious occupation, was "justified by works." Yet we find her included with the other exemplars of faith in Hebrews eleven. (She and Abraham share this seemingly paradoxical description.) Add to the mix Paul's plain words in Galatians 2:16, "For by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified," and you have the makings for a first-rate contradiction. But only if you are willing to throw all common sense out the window.
You've heard the saying, I'm sure, "Faith alone saves, but faith that saves is not alone." Well, this little play on words, to my way of thinking, hits the nail on the head. Fidelity does not constitute a marriage; but a marriage without it is just so much paper work. Works follow faith as surely as night follows day. Their manifestation may be obvious or almost unperceivable; but they will be there.
It was Amy Carmichael who said, "Risk everything on God." And that's exactly what Rahab did. There were probably other women in Jericho who made their living the same way she did, but she was the only one who was alive after the destruction of her city. It was not giving up prostitution that saved her life (though I'm sure she did); it was taking the two spies at their word (faith) and tying the scarlet line in her window (works). The spies could not see the faith in her heart (only God saw that), but they could see the scarlet cord in her window.
Many years ago, as a young child, I, too, took God at this Word, and He hung a scarlet cord (the blood of His Son) in the window of my soul. Now I have no fear of destruction in the judgment to come; and any "good works" seen in my life spring from that. Those who know me cannot see the faith that lives in my soul, but they can see its effects in my life, and I trust that will give them comfort when I have gone to Heaven. There, God will not look for those works, however, but for the "scarlet cord" placed in my soul those many years ago. And on that day, even more so than this day, I will be ever so glad I risked everything on Him.
James 2:26 tells us that "faith without works is dead"; and in the case of Rahab, the harlot, if her faith had not included works, she would have been dead, along with her family. In fact, the previous verse says, point blank, this lady of the night from Jericho, notwithstanding her dubious occupation, was "justified by works." Yet we find her included with the other exemplars of faith in Hebrews eleven. (She and Abraham share this seemingly paradoxical description.) Add to the mix Paul's plain words in Galatians 2:16, "For by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified," and you have the makings for a first-rate contradiction. But only if you are willing to throw all common sense out the window.
You've heard the saying, I'm sure, "Faith alone saves, but faith that saves is not alone." Well, this little play on words, to my way of thinking, hits the nail on the head. Fidelity does not constitute a marriage; but a marriage without it is just so much paper work. Works follow faith as surely as night follows day. Their manifestation may be obvious or almost unperceivable; but they will be there.
It was Amy Carmichael who said, "Risk everything on God." And that's exactly what Rahab did. There were probably other women in Jericho who made their living the same way she did, but she was the only one who was alive after the destruction of her city. It was not giving up prostitution that saved her life (though I'm sure she did); it was taking the two spies at their word (faith) and tying the scarlet line in her window (works). The spies could not see the faith in her heart (only God saw that), but they could see the scarlet cord in her window.
Many years ago, as a young child, I, too, took God at this Word, and He hung a scarlet cord (the blood of His Son) in the window of my soul. Now I have no fear of destruction in the judgment to come; and any "good works" seen in my life spring from that. Those who know me cannot see the faith that lives in my soul, but they can see its effects in my life, and I trust that will give them comfort when I have gone to Heaven. There, God will not look for those works, however, but for the "scarlet cord" placed in my soul those many years ago. And on that day, even more so than this day, I will be ever so glad I risked everything on Him.
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Higher Thoughts
"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts." (Isa.55:8-9)
I firmly believe there are times when God impresses His will on our hearts and minds, especially when there is need for immediate action. But, generally speaking, the Will of God is found in the Word of God; and to conduct our lives otherwise is to court disaster. Here is a good rule of thumb in such matters: Our understanding of the Bible should never be based on our experiences; but, rather, our experiences must be evaluated in light of the Scriptures. For as these verses in Isaiah tell us, God and I just do not think alike.
"Ah, but wait a minute," I can hear you Bible students saying. "As children of God, we now have 'the mind of Christ.' Paul says so in 1 Corinthians 2:16." Let's consider that a minute. Because Christ lives within me, does that insure that every thought I have is His? No, because the war that goes on between good and evil in my "members" (Rom.7:21-23), is a war of ideas, played out in my "mind"; and I cannot afford to linger long on that battlefield, when truth is at stake. So, if I want to know what God thinks about something, I'll have to find out what He said about it. (As one of my English professors was fond of saying, "How do I know what I think, till I see what I say?") And the only way I can do that is to read the Book of His thoughts. We know His thoughts—the thoughts that are higher than ours—are found in His Word. After all, it is His Word, not His thoughts, that He has promised in verse eleven will not "return unto [him] void.”
Oh, yes; we do indeed have the mind of Christ, not always in our heads, but always in our hands, within the pages of the Word of God, forever "settled in heaven" (Psl.119:89). And I agree with Peter; this is a much “more sure” place” (2Pet.1:19-21).
So, think higher thoughts than your own today, as you make decisions, raise your children, and interact with those around you. Open the pages of the "God-breathed" Book" (Psl.33:6) and take a big, deep breath!
I firmly believe there are times when God impresses His will on our hearts and minds, especially when there is need for immediate action. But, generally speaking, the Will of God is found in the Word of God; and to conduct our lives otherwise is to court disaster. Here is a good rule of thumb in such matters: Our understanding of the Bible should never be based on our experiences; but, rather, our experiences must be evaluated in light of the Scriptures. For as these verses in Isaiah tell us, God and I just do not think alike.
"Ah, but wait a minute," I can hear you Bible students saying. "As children of God, we now have 'the mind of Christ.' Paul says so in 1 Corinthians 2:16." Let's consider that a minute. Because Christ lives within me, does that insure that every thought I have is His? No, because the war that goes on between good and evil in my "members" (Rom.7:21-23), is a war of ideas, played out in my "mind"; and I cannot afford to linger long on that battlefield, when truth is at stake. So, if I want to know what God thinks about something, I'll have to find out what He said about it. (As one of my English professors was fond of saying, "How do I know what I think, till I see what I say?") And the only way I can do that is to read the Book of His thoughts. We know His thoughts—the thoughts that are higher than ours—are found in His Word. After all, it is His Word, not His thoughts, that He has promised in verse eleven will not "return unto [him] void.”
Oh, yes; we do indeed have the mind of Christ, not always in our heads, but always in our hands, within the pages of the Word of God, forever "settled in heaven" (Psl.119:89). And I agree with Peter; this is a much “more sure” place” (2Pet.1:19-21).
So, think higher thoughts than your own today, as you make decisions, raise your children, and interact with those around you. Open the pages of the "God-breathed" Book" (Psl.33:6) and take a big, deep breath!
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