Bible Study

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I Have An Obligation!

This week’s writings will focus on various aspects of God’s view of me as His child.  Yesterday, I wrote about the right we have to become children of God.  As incredible as that right is, like every right that we claim, it comes with an obligation.  An obligation is the backside of a right — a side we would often just as soon ignore.

There is a statement that I was told by my parents countless times during my childhood.  It is, “Your rights only go as far as to the point that you are stepping on another’s toes, or infringing on their rights.”  Now I understand that there are times that we all need our toes stepped on.  We need them stepped on by a brother who is rebuking, correcting, or challenging us in love, not by the “rights” of someone else.  If I am exercising my “rights” in a way that is harming or restricting someone else in their rights, then I have overstepped my bounds — particularly when we are talking about our rights in becoming children of God.

Paul puts it this way when he writes about the power of God’s Spirit within us:

“Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation — but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it.  For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.”
“For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.  The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship.  And by him we cry, ‘Abba, Father.'”  Romans 8:12-15

Paul tells us that because of Christ dwelling in us through the presence of His Spirit, we have an obligation.  This is not a natural obligation to live according to my desires and wants.  That is an easy excuse.  We word it in many ways — “This is just the way I am.” . . . “I can’t help it, I have desires.” . . . “I’m just not a friendly person” . . . “You don’t understand what I’ve been through.” . . . and on the list could go — justification as to why we live according to an obligation to the flesh.

Paul says we have a different obligation — an obligation that comes from, and shows, that we are indeed children of God.  This is an obligation to live by the Spirit and in the power of the spirit, putting to death the “obligations” of the body.  This rejecting of the misdeeds of the body brings life because it shows that we are indeed children of God, being led by His Spirit.

Who are you giving the greater power in your life today?  Is it the sinful nature of the flesh or the presence of the living God whose Spirit brought about your adoption as God’s child?

I pray that as you experience the freedom of crying out to God, “Abba, Father”, you will embrace the obligation to live in the power and presence of the Spirit so that you may truly live.  As a child of God, you and I have an obligation.

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I Have My Rights!

Here in the United States, we seem to thrive on individual rights.  Our country was founded proclaiming that its citizens have the rights of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”.  We’ve added so many more.  The right to bear arms.  The right to assemble peaceably.  The right to vote — equal representation.  The right to own property.  The right to defend that property.  The right to choose — to make our own decisions.  Even the right to remain silent — unfortunately, one that isn’t used often enough. 😉

There is one thing that fascinates me about our American “rights”.  Even though most would claim that these are “God-given” rights, the Bible often does not back up that claim.  I think of those original “Creator-endowed, unalienable rights” — “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”.  If these are truly rights given to us by God, then I think the predominance of the godly Bible characters somehow missed their rights.  Prophet after prophet, along with the majority of the apostles and early Christians, did not live a life centered around their “right” to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”.  Many of them lost their life for the sake of their faith.  Others were imprisoned and enslaved because of their belief in God.  It was not their own pleasure that drove them to share the message of God with individuals, cities, and nations.  No, it often brought misery, hardship, and turmoil into their life — quite the contrast to the “happiness” our American culture says we have a right to.

That is not to say that as Christians we have no rights — we do.  We have a right that far surpasses any of our “guaranteed” American rights, or rights any other nation or person may give you.  John writes about this as he communicates to us the Christmas message — the message of God coming to earth and taking on human flesh in the person of Jesus.  John writes this message of our “right” in John 1:9-13:

“The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world.  He was in the world, and though the world was made by him, the world did not recognize him.  He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.  Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God — children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.”

The right to become children of God!  Wow!  This is the right that caused the Apostles and early Christians to fearlessly proclaim the gospel as they should.  God says that to those who receive Jesus, who believe in His name, they have a right — not a chance, not a possibility, not a what-if or maybe, but a right to become a child of God.  We know all about rights in this country and we believe that no one can take our rights away from us.  We demand our rights because they belong to us.

When I dwell on God’s view of me, it is humbling and invigorating that He sees me as His child.  He has set up the true “Creator-endowed, unalienable rights”, and this is it.  Not simply a right to life, freedom, and happiness; a right to relationship!  I have a right to call God my Father.  John says that this is a right I have by birth — not a natural birth, but a supernatural birth.  It is the birth Jesus talks about in the third chapter of John when He tells Nicodemus, “You must be born again”.  It is this acceptance and belief in Jesus that gives me the greatest right ever.  I claim this right.  I have this right — a right purchased by the blood of Jesus through which God says I am His child.

May you and I value the right we have to become children of God.  May we honor that relationship and live up to the responsibility that comes with being a part of the family — God’s family. 

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What Does God Say . . . About Me?

The “View From The Top:  What Does God Say?” series at the Deer Run Church of Christ has just finished 13 weeks of pursuing God in “What Does God Say . . . About God?”  This has been a great 3 months of listening to God’s view of Himself.

This week we start the next 13 week focus of “What Does God Say . . . About Me?”  Much of my writings on this blog will follow our weekly topics and daily questions.  You can find the daily questions for this series, and the previous one, at Something To Think About . . ..  I am looking forward to this section of seeking God as 13 weeks are spent individually, and corporately, listening to God’s view of me.

Thank you for joining me on this journey.

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I Can Relate

Experience has a way of forming and tempering who we are.  Not only in the way we react and respond to a particular situation, but also in the way we view the words and actions of others.  Our presumed knowledge of another’s experiences often determines if we trust their counsel, advice, and help when we are in need.  We really are looking for two things, someone that has been in similar circumstances so we feel we can relate to them and we want that person to have overcome whatever difficulty that you had in common. 

We all probably know people who claim to have the solutions for all of our problems, all of our communities’ struggles, and all of the world’s ills.  I quickly become skeptical when it appears as if they have never struggled with any of the problems that I, my community, and the world face.  The answers are too neatly packaged because they do not reflect real life.  On the other hand, it is equally frustrating to have someone try to convince me they have the solution I need when they are worse off than I am.  I know many people who try to teach on the benefits of Godly financial stewardship, yet their personal financial picture is in ruins.  I believe there is great benefit to handling finances in such a way that God is honored and He comes first, but I’m not sure it helps a lot to have someone try to teach that principle when their life appears like they haven’t lived it.

That is why the verses in our study from Hebrews 2:14-18 are such an encouragement.

“Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death — that is, the devil — and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.  For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants.  For this reason he had to be made like his brothers and sisters in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people.  Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.”

Jesus not only experienced the human-ness that we have, and everything that entails, He overcame the temptations that continually cause me to stumble.  He knows how hard it is and He can relate to the difficulty you and I have in living life in faithful obedience.  He is not a “pie in the sky” God that looks down his nose at us and questions why we don’t get it right — He did it, why can’t we?  He knows that sin and temptation can be overcome, but He also knows how hard that is.  Jesus had the same struggles we have in facing the temptations to sin, yet he refused to give in.  In the struggles we have, He says, “I can relate”.  His mercy comes from an understanding of the frailty of mankind. 

This is a Savior I can trust!  He has been where I am at and He has successfully conquered every problem that I will face.  It wasn’t an easy, natural thing for Him any more than it is for me.  I can trust Him to walk me through each temptation without my having to give in to it because He has already been down that path without sin.  I can also trust Him to show mercy and forgiveness if I stumble and “don’t get it right” because He understands just how hard it is.  His challenge that I “have not yet resisted temptation to the point of shedding blood” is a poignant reminder that He does know just how hard it is — He shed His blood. 

Praise God!  His mercy endures forever! 

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Mercy Received, Is Mercy Given?

I wrote in an earlier post, Seventy Times Seven, about Peter asking Jesus how many times he should forgive someone.  Not only does Jesus give the short answer of seventy times seven (or seventy-seven, depending on the translation), He goes on to tell a parable to illustrate why we ought to forgive and show mercy.

As you read this familiar parable, ask God to help you see accurately where you are in it.  In Matthew 18:23-34, Jesus says;

“Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants.  As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold was brought to him.  Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.
The servant fell on his knees before him.  ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’  The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.
But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins.  He grabbed him and began to choke him.  ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.
His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’
But he refused.  Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt.  When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and went and told their master everything that had happened.
Then the master called the servant in.  ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to.  Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’  In anger his master handed him over to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.”

We read the account of that servant and we think, “What a jerk!”  His enormous debt was canceled and he goes straight out of his master’s presence and demands justice be served on a fellow servant who owed him a minute fraction of what he had just been forgiven of.  This servant had received mercy of a magnitude that is really hard to imagine.  In an American culture and equivalent, this debt that was forgiven could be approaching the five billion dollar mark (see note below).  I can almost hear Peter and the others who may have been listening, gasp when Jesus first brings up the amount of this servant’s debt.  It would have been clear to them that there was no way this debt would be re-payed — ever!  I can also imagine the surprise, and the relief — Jesus had said this story was about the kingdom of heaven — when the master took pity and canceled the debt.  Wow!  Who would have thought such a debt would ever be forgiven? 

That is why the second part of the story had to come as such a shock.  Here is a man who you would think would be filled with joy and gratitude.  A man that should have such an immense feeling of relief and freedom.  And yet we see this man go out and immediately abuse, threaten, and take to court a fellow servant who owed him much, much less than he had just been forgiven of.  Again, our American culture equivalent could approach ten thousand dollars (see note below).  Obviously not an insignificant amount — at least not until you compare it to the first servant’s debt.  I’m sure that nearly everyone who hears this story for the first time has the same response that the rest of the fellow servants of these two men had — they were outraged.  How could someone who had been forgiven so much treat another human being with such contempt?  The unfairness of it all took the fellow servants to the master to report all that had happened.  The result is predictable.  The master becomes angry that the first servant had not shown mercy on his fellow servant in the way that it had been shown to him.  The punishment is declared and swiftly carried out.  The man is thrown in jail to be tortured until he should pay back his debt — a debt so large it seems beyond repayment.

It is a nice, challenging story that we can walk away from thinking, “Good story.  Serves him right.  That guy deserves an extreme punishment.”  At least we could if it wasn’t for verse 35 where Jesus makes the application to us.  He says, “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive a brother or sister from your heart.” 

So, where do you see yourself in the story?  We are all there — at least in the beginning.  It is a story about the kingdom of heaven.  We are all that first servant who has accumulated a debt that we can never repay.  As Christians, we have received mercy from God.  He has paid the debt Himself and canceled our obligation to the penalty of sin.  So, what is our response?  How do we treat other people, even fellow Christians, who “owe us”?  What is our reaction when a fellow servant sins against us? . . .  A servant of the same Master who has forgiven us our sin against Him.  How often do we abuse, threaten, and take to court a fellow Christian whose wrong pales in comparison to the sin God has forgiven us of?  Paul says this shouldn’t be.  Jesus says, “Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?” 

You and I have received much mercy.  Our response needs to be a giving of much mercy. Just as the unmerciful servant was handed over to be tortured for eternity — until he could pay back an un-payable debt — Jesus says God will treat us in the same way if we do not show mercy.  May you and I be mercy givers because we have been mercy receivers.

  

         — note:  Here is my math.  The commentary I looked at listed a talent as 20 years of a day laborer’s wages.  To use round numbers, I used a figure of $25,000 a year for a laborer times 20 years is a half million dollars per talent.  10,000 talents times .5 million dollars is 5,000 million dollars, or 5 billion dollars.  The same commentary lists a denarius, or silver coin, as the daily wage of a laborer.  Using the same annual figure and a 5 day work week, I come up with $100 a day, or denarius.  100 dollars times 100 coins equals 10,000 dollars.  At least that is the way my math works with the information I have. 🙂

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Mercy: What A Delight!

I had the opportunity to preach Sunday evening about the mercy of God.  Preparing for that made me think about the whole idea of mercy and what it is.  I looked up the word mercy in the dictionary and it gave the definition as “compassion: kindness or forgiveness shown especially to somebody a person has power over”.  While I would quickly agree that compassion, kindness, and forgiveness all have something to do with mercy, I felt that the definition given was just too weak . . . too inadequate for this characteristic of God that we call mercy. 

You see, I think the dictionary was missing a key element of mercy — at the heart of mercy is the fact that it is undeserved.  If we deserve the compassion, kindness, and forgiveness shown to us, then it is something we earned and not mercy at all.  No, real mercy comes when we know we deserve punishment, condemnation, consequences, or retaliation and it is not given out to us.  I used the following illustration Sunday night that I think many people can relate to.

A few years ago I was on my way to a graduation open house on a Sunday afternoon with my mind a million miles away.  I was in full time youth ministry at the time and Sundays were days that were jam-packed full of activities and responsibilities that kept my attention all day long if they were to be accomplished well.  Anyhow, this particular afternoon I was simply driving to my destination without paying much attention at all to my surroundings or where I was.  As we were nearing the house we were headed to, my wife tells me that the sheriff’s car that had just went by us just did a U-turn and was likely coming after me.  Sure enough, the flashing lights appeared in my rear view mirror and as I pulled over to let him by he simply pulled in behind me.  I was caught.  Unfortunately, I wasn’t really sure what I was caught at.  This section of road was actually a fairly notorious speed trap, so I assumed I was its latest victim.  However, I wasn’t paying any attention and didn’t even know for sure if I was speeding and if so how fast I had been going.  The officer soon approached my car window and asked the question, “Do you know why I stopped you?”  I don’t know if that is a normal question, but it seems like a strange question to me.  Especially at this moment because my answer was something like this, “I’m not real sure, but I would guess I was driving too fast.”  And so I told him the truth.  I was paying absolutely no attention to what I was doing and therefore had no idea how fast I was driving.  He took me back to his car to show me the radar reading and sure enough, I was doing 47 in a 35 mph zone.  I simply told him that if that is what it said, then I must have been doing that.  I apologized . . . I expressed my regret . . . I confessed my wrongs of driving too fast and not paying attention.  I acknowledged that I was caught and I was guilty.  And then the mercy came.  He calmly and mildly reprimands me and tells me to pay attention when I drive and watch my speed.  Thank you and have a good day!

Wow!  Individuals that know me and were also going to the open house, gave me a hard time about my little roadside visit.  When I told them the officer just wanted to chat about my driving habits and encouraged me to pay attention and do what I ought, they couldn’t believe it.  It seems that “everyone” who gets caught on that section of roadway gets a ticket.  For me, it was mercy in action.  I didn’t demand it, I didn’t really even request it.  I definitely didn’t deserve it.  I simply confessed my sin and humbly took responsibility for my actions that I knew were wrong.  Any other course of action would have made mercy unlikely at best. 

God is a lot like that.  Micah 7:18 says He is a God “who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance.  [He does] not stay angry forever but delight[s] to show mercy.”  God longs to show mercy if we would just come to him in humility.  A broken and contrite heart, He will not turn away.  His anger over our sin will melt away when he sees us come to Him in repentance.  God is always calling us to Himself, longing for us to recognize that we are guilty and in need of His mercy.  Mercy that is freely given to all who humble themselves and confess their sin as He is “faithful and just to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 

May you and I bring delight to God by being honest with Him in our need for His mercy.

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Where Is This “Coming”?

Have you ever gotten tired of waiting for something?  . . . So tired that you gave up on ever seeing, getting, or doing whatever it was you were waiting for?  I remember, not so much from memory but from home movies of the event, a time when I was in grade school and got so tired of waiting for my grandparents to show up for my birthday party that I gave up on them and went to sleep in the recliner.  I wanted the birthday celebration to come.  I was even sure that it would, at least I thought so.  But I finally gave up.  Watching and waiting grew old and I just couldn’t do it any longer.  If somehow we could just understand the reason for the delay, maybe — just maybe, we would wait more patiently.

Peter writes in 2 Peter 3:3-9,

“Above all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires.  They will say, ‘Where is this “coming” he promised?  Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.’  But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens came into being and the earth was formed out of water and by water.  By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed.  By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.
But do not forget this one thing, dear friends:  With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.  The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness.  Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”

Peter writes that individuals will give up on the promise of Jesus returning.  They will mock any and all who continue to believe that this return is not only possible, but a sure thing.  Such an attitude is contagious.  Negativity has a way of creeping through a group of people and before you know it, entire congregations, cities, and even nations are infected.  Like a spreading disease, doubt eats away at people when they are required to wait with no understanding of why.  Yet faith is just the opposite — it is the growing confidence in the yet unseen that is strengthened through understanding. 

I experienced that contrast a few weeks ago when I made the trip to Nappanee to help with the tornado damage clean-up.  Coming into town, the final 5 miles took an hour to drive.  You talk about trying a person’s patience!  Many could not understand the delay and car after car did a U-turn in the roadway and headed back to where they came from.  Yet many of us had at least a partial degree of understanding.  We knew it would take time to direct and park all of the cars that were streaming to this small town to help.  We were confident that the purpose of the delay was a result of the number of people wanting to help.  And so it was, thousands of people were converging on this town and the numbers were overwhelmingly greater than anticipated.  Was it worth it?  I say,”Yes!”  Even the delays were worth it because my focus stayed on the purpose and anticipation of assisting a community that needed help.

As we wait for the return of Jesus, Peter reminds us to pay little attention to the negative attitudes and the scoffers that try to dissuade us from our faith.  The delay has purpose.  The purpose is God’s desire that none would perish, but all would come to repentance.  He is deliberately delaying His return to give people all the opportunity in the world to see Him for who He is and turn to Him in repentance before He returns to judge the world and all who are in it. 

The delay has purpose, so we wait.  But we do more than wait, we work.  Peter goes on to write in verses 14 and 15, “since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him.  Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation”.  We eagerly await the return of Jesus, making every effort to be doing the things that please and honor Him.  Our “work” is to live our life in obedience to Christ, spreading the gospel of salvation to all we can.  Knowing that the patience of God is the reason Jesus has not yet returned, how will you live, speak, and act toward those around you?

May you and I celebrate the patience of God that brought us to salvation.  May we also live our life in a way that lifts up Jesus and allows us to be tools in His desire for all to have a saving relationship with Him.

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Seventy Times Seven

Patience and forgiveness — how connected are they in your life?  As I consider these two qualities of God, I wonder if it is even possible to separate them. 

I think of the time Peter asks Jesus, “how many times should I forgive someone who sins against me?  Up to seven times?”  The response of Jesus seems to indicate that Peter missed the whole point of forgiveness.  True forgiveness — mercy — is undeserved each and every time it is given.  There is not a tally sheet that says I will forgive you this time because you are still within your limit and therefore deserve my forgiveness.  No, Jesus says to forgive seventy times seven — or some translations would say, seventy-seven times.  Either way, that principle is not setting up a score card, rather it is emphasizing the patience required in the act of forgiveness.

Think about the connection.  Consider yourself.  Would people say that you are a forgiving person?  Yes or no, does that answer not also fit the question, “are you a patient person”?  Patient people forgive.  Forgiving people must be patient.  Does forgiving in the manner and frequency taught by Jesus require patience?  Absolutely!  Does living out the fruit of the Spirit in practicing patience (long-suffering) with one another require forgiveness?  Without a doubt!

Look at your life a little closer and more deeply and you begin to see the patience of God at work.  Paul put it this way in 1 Timothy 1:15-17:

“Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance:  Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners — of whom I am the worst.  But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life.  Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever.  Amen.”

How patient must God be with mankind — with you and me?  Do we want God to quit forgiving after the seventh time we ask?  Or even after the 490th time (70 x 7)?  I don’t think so!  I know I don’t want Him to.  God’s patience is defined by His mercy, both undeserved so that we know without a doubt it is all Him and none of our doing when we are saved.  God suffers long with us, not willing that any should perish but that all would come to repentance.  It is God’s patience that can take a man like Paul, or me, and show mercy to him in order that the purpose of Jesus coming into the world might be accomplished — to save sinners.

Paul wants you and I to know that no one need be without hope.  Yes, the justice of God with His wrath and judgement will come but His very nature of patience and mercy says that He is willing to forgive and forgive, longing for each person to believe in Him and accept His mercy. 

I am thankful that God is patient.  As he works in my life — in this jar of clay that I’ve made available to Him — He is patient and works with loving care bringing the hard and brittle surfaces of my life to a point of softness and flexibility.  His patience allows Him to form me more and more into the image of His Son, Jesus, while not breaking or destroying me.  I pray daily and thank God for His patience with me.  He has not given up, though there have been many times — okay, daily times that he probably should have by man’s evaluation.  But God is not man and man is not God so His patience forms me, carries me, equips me, prods me, challenges me, and changes me into what He desires this lump of clay to be.

May you and I appreciate the patience of God on a daily basis.  May we seek to live obediently and not “try the patience” of God by the things we do and say.