A couple of weeks ago, Laura decided to begin a new venture, and she purchased the Topical Memory System for Scripture memorization. It is produced by The Navigators, a most solid ministry located in Colorado Springs (they were there long before the rest of evangelical Christendom). (Side note: Next June, Laura and I are scheduled to be co-hosts for a Marriage Getaway at the castle at The Navigators' Glen Eyrie property there in Colorado Springs. We'd love to have some of you along. If you're interested, you can begin to check out the retreat here. We'll be there June 25-28.)
Anyway, I have been working with her at memorizing some verses. The first three were verses I already knew, so while it was good to shore them up, I wasn't really forced to meditate on them. Not so with No. 4. Here it is:
John 14:21 (NIV)
"Whoever has My commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves Me. He who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him."
Now let me ask you this: how many times have you prayed to ask the Lord to reveal Himself to you? The truth is that this is a most common prayer among fellowships and believers in our stream of theological understanding. Now while the Bible is not a book of "magic formulas" there is a most definite progression in the words of Jesus here:
"Demonstrate your love for Me" => How? => "Get My commands" =>
"Obey My commands" => "Thereby receive the Father's love" =>
"And My love" => "And I will show Myself to you"
In other words, if you want the Lord to reveal Himself to you, start by laying hold of His commands in mind and in action. Dispense of your ignorance of what He is asking by going back and back and back to the Word. Then pray against your fear of actually doing this stuff and put your feet to the ground, your hand to the plow, whatever expression you want to use (in our house: kick booty).
I know this may seem to fly in the face of the grace-alone thinking that we have come to excuse ourselves with, but we're not really talking about salvation here. We're talking about walking even now in the parts of the kingdom where the King walks. In the end, some will be saved as though escaping through flames (1 Corinthians 3:15). But let's quest after the greater rewards: the gold, silver and precious stones that come from building right atop the foundation that has been laid, Jesus Christ.
Grace is what gives us the ability to fly; obedience is flapping our wings. And when we do that, what wonders we will see from the new view we gain!
QUESTIONS FOR THOSE WHO MIGHT COMMENT
- Can we encourage you? Lay out a commandment of Christ that is a struggle for you, and let's see if there are other who have words of wisdom and strength for your soul.
- Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote of forsaking "cheap grace," emphasizing Paul's thoughts in Romans 6:1-2: "Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means!" How do we do the righteous works of Christ in response to His grace without becoming legalistic?
God Keeps Leading
11 years ago
11 comments:
"Grace is what gives us the ability to fly; obedience is flapping our wings."
Good stuff.
I was listening to Mary Chapin Carpenter's song _I'll Take My Chances_ yesterday and when she sang the line, "Forgiveness doesn't come with a debt", I thought, "Yes, it does". It doesn't come with a price (except Christ's salvific work on the cross, but that's a given, no?) but the debt we owe is our obedience to His commands. If we are saved, our duty here should also be our delight. It's wing-flapping because we're so grateful for the chance to fly.
Also reading through Isaiah this month. God has a few choice words to say to His disobedient people. I keep coming back to, "If you love me, you will keep my commands".
~Kenj
Sometimes I get this image in my head of God sitting on the throne of heaven. He's just sitting there: straight back, an arm on each armrest (the throne of heaven apparently has armrests), surveying all that worships him. He's not really doing anything, just soaking it all in.
This image is remarkably unsatisfying. In fact, it's downright discouraging. I mean, he's not even smiling, just assessing. This picture reflects a very distant understanding of God. It shows me that my spiritual eyes don't really see very well.
The truth is, I think God has sweat on his brow. I think his throne is actually a reference to his reign, his kingship. It's like saying "the crown" to refer to a ruler. Our ruler doesn't sit around waiting for his subjects to do all the heavy lifting. He's a God that enters our time and space. He's a god that works alongside us, gets dirt under his nails, and wears out his blue-jeans.
When I think of God as the Great CEO in the Sky, distant management that evaluates and directs instead of in the factories and fields, the Christian life seems pointless. It's too hard. I feel like a kid who's parent barks orders but never demonstrates how to do the job.
As Christians we know that's not God's character. He's a God that was born in a barn for goodness' sake. He's a God that labors along side of us. He's a God that knows every aspect of human suffering, weeps with us in our losses, and parties with us in our successes. He's a God that was accused of being a party animal and hanging out in saloons. He's a God that, if he were walking the earth in flesh today, would be living with the undocumented farm workers of our valley. They'd pick the peaches and grapes side-by-side, throwing back a cool-one at the end of a long day.
When I think of God in these terms, I just want to hang out with him. He's like a dad who says, "Son, come outside. The fence needs fixing. I'll get the wood, you go get the skill saw. It's a lot to handle, but I'm sure we can get the job done if we work together. Afterwards well rest with a tall glass of something refreshing." Who can refuse a teacher like that? Who wouldn't work out of pure love for someone so awesome?
Laboring for the Lord may be hard, but there's joy in the work when we do it for love alone. This image of a God who enters the nitty-gritty stuff of life and works just as hard as I do (much harder in fact) motivates me to do all I can to please him. The most surprising thing is, he does the work purely out of love for us too.
There sure are a lot of refreshments in that last post. Maybe there's somthing there.
I believe that when I am desiring to do Christ's will then I 'm not stuck in a spirit of legalism but I love Him and love people. Yes, the goal is to do His will where we're at--work, home, family and reaching beyond so that truly we "go out and come in with Him."
We all seem to have different desires when it comes to doing Christ's work---for me it has been pointing others to Christ and see those who are "not close" to Him yet come near to Him. I love being a part of that wonderful work. Recently I read Jesus' words,"I will make you fishers of men" and it hit me that He is the one who works in me to become a fisher of men. Kind of reminds me of the verse in Philippians: God works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose(Phil. 2:13)
So how can I do the righteous works of Christ in response to His grace without becoming leagalistic? Realize being able to do anything for Him depends on His grace and strength, His changing and working in me continually, and know He is initiating everything(not me).
Elizabeth, you used the word desire. That works for me. It indicates being drawn in, not dragged; a joyfully obedient response to mutual love.
Your post made me think of a verse I memorized as a child, Philippians 2.13.
I learned the verse through a song, sung by "Little Marcy". God is at work within you; helping you want to obey him; and then helping you do what he wants you to do.
True obedience (inner and outer) happens when our desires and God's desires converge.
As to Jeff's other question: What areas of obedience are a particular struggle for me?
I'll keep it simple.
Commandments 2, 4, 5
2. Don't make and worship idols.
I struggle with perfectionism. I guess I think I can actually be perfect for the sake of perfection. I make my self an idol unto myself.
4. Honor the Sabbath.
In pursuit of perfectionism, I overwork and stubbornly refuse to rest.
5. Honor your father and mother.
I struggle with connecting with my parents out of love for them, seeing them not as one's who can fulfill my needs, but as those who are as needy as I. I am growing in this, but the idolatry piece fits here too.
since I battle sin, and I am a sinner of great magnitude I often am aware of the verse that talks about after Christ forgives me, if I keep on sinning there is no more grace for me. I also study alot about life after death and near death experiences and some of the stuff I read on this alarms me. When I hear how someone dies, and they go to hell, and all the people they see their in torment that they know... and regular church goers, and even pastors, priests, clergy, deacons etc...Now I have no proof that what they are saying is true.. but it appears the road is very narrow that leads to heaven, and the road to destruction is exceedingly wide. And of course I become concerned because im afraid in my life im gonna miss something and end up on that wide road. Does that make sense? Faith and grace are not always clear to me.
I guess a tough one for me is "denying myself"...
Jesus also said that there will be people in heaven that we will be surprised about: "I never thought I'd see them here." And, there will be some that thought they knew the score, but Jesus says, "Away from me, I never knew you."
I wanted to respond to this because I am recently discovering many people who read books about "after death experiences" at my workplace and I am concerned for my co-workers who are deeply influenced by them. The ideas expressed are clearly not those from our Lord Jesus Christ, or what God has already shown us in the Scriptures and by His Spirit. These books contain "doctrines" such as heaven is the final home of everyone regardless of whether Christ came to reconcile us to the Father or not, or whether anyone believes this or not. I hadn't(till now)heard about the books which cause believers to be insecure in their salvation casting doubt on being saved/safe in Him, or making it all the way through life to Heaven, through Christ. This saddens me, but knowing about it makes me wish to write and say that we must rely on what Scripture and the Spirit teach us ONLY.
The Scripture already written twice by others... It is God Who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose...is worth holding onto tightly. Trust He is doing that and let Him give you peace about your salvation. Resist the insecurities the enemy would like to wrap you up in. "He is faithful and He will do it." Jude v. 21 also says,"To Him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before His glorious presence without fault and with great joy . . ."
For me if my salvation depended on having 100% correct theology and a 100% perfect Christian life---sacrificial, loving,faithful, etc---how could I be saved, or keep it up?? Knowing Christ is always working in me and won't let me fall is my only hope, and may I add, my security.
Well said Anonymous. Way too many "other" books out there. Kind of Boggles your mind.
How important is this line from anonymous: Knowing Christ is always working in me and won't let me fall is my only hope, and may I add, my security.
For many years in American evangelism and apologetics, we have emphasized a key difference between Christ and all other faith systems: Christ rose from the dead. We are the only faith that declares such a resurrection and the only ones who hold it to be true. And the resurrection has been rightly taught as the chief distinctive of our faith.
But there is a second distinctive very nearly as significant: the assurance of salvation. No other faith offers this. All others suggest that you accumulate enough good works to hope that God will accept you. In Christ, we have hope of a whole other kind, a firm hope, sealed in His death and resurrection as we give ourselves over to Him.
Will there be surprises in heaven, both on the "who's in" side and the "who's out" side? Yes. But that is because we rarely see others with spiritual eyes. If we are willing to put all our eggs in the Jesus basket, authentically believing in our hearts (with doubts acceptable at times, but no gross turning), and willingly professing Him with our lips in reverence and joy, our spirits will confirm that we are in Him, He is in us, and eternity with Him is ours.
We must never run roughshod over this promise, but we must cling to it most tightly. I might even go so far as to suggest that if you are soul-searchingly asking the question of whether you will be on the "out" side with Matthew 7:2-23in mind, then you are in good shape, desiring righteousness (as God has made you to do) and moving toward it and Him. It is likely those who assume their righteousness, even attaching themselves to Christ's name though not really moving with Him, who fall in line with the Pharisees and head toward judgment.
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