The Role of Tempter

Luke 17:1, And he said to his disciples, "Temptations to sin are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come!"

Oh that we would listen to this! Yes, temptations abound but this shouldn’t cause us to lightly regard the role of a tempter. Of course we can play the tempter in any number of ways. However, given our American fascination with the physical body, we Christians need to be especially wary in dress. Though everyone else around us seems to “get away with” dressing seductively (women and men) and enticing the eyes of the opposite sex in an unholy way, we cannot justify doing the same and joining the ranks of tempters and temptresses.

There's no other way around it: those who cause others to sin will have to answer to God Himself for the failure of their brethren. It's hard enough for me to face the owner of some object I've borrowed and broken, even if he is a friend. How much worse will it be to face the Almighty Father of those we have wantonly led into sexual failure and face His righteous anger? And all because we thought we had to show of our bodies to get the affirmation we crave.

Oh that we would love God enough to realize His approval is all we need and that we would love each other enough to inconvenience ourselves for the sake of protecting one another (the kind of attitude Paul pled for in I Corinthians 8-10). God, open our eyes to see life is not about us but about You and those You have placed around us!

Jonah 2:5-6, A Prayer From the Depths

A personal prayer I share with the hope that it may encourage you, as it did me, to trust.

*-*-*-*-*

Father, I’m panicked by life, by how relentlessly its dark, fast rapids swirl me off my feet and hurl my powerless frame against the jagged boulders of commitments, friendships, events, academics, ministry… Looking ahead I see nothing but more hungry rocks, more narrow, skin-scraped escapes. I can do nothing to stop the powerful current of time and my desperate gasps for spiritual air too often end in half-drowned convulsions to rid my lungs of the river’s substitutes for the Spirit's breath.

But bedraggled and torn though I am from the chaos of this mad current, You have steered me clear the sharpest edges that would have shattered my bones. And I have yet to drown under the mirky, convulsing waters of time. You have kept my lungs filled with pneuma.

Oh help me now, Parter of the Red Sea and Stiller of the Jordan. Place my feet on solid ground and do not let me be shaken. I know at the end of this river lies the sea of death after which I may find the land of life eternal. I know I cannot walk there untouched by rough waves and the thundering rapids I so fear. But if I must swim this terrifying water-path, do not let me navigate it alone but hold me powerfully and secure in Your hand.

Thank You for placing Your body between the rocky shards of death and my feeble flesh. Thank You for parting the surf-smashing breakers with Your own broad back, giving me time to catch my breath. As I slip under the foaming swirl once more I cry, “Bring me safely home, oh my God, my Wave-walker!”

Truly Miraculous Power

Luke 16:31, He said to him, "If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead."

See the preceding verses for the full story of Lazarus and the rich man.

This verse contains an important principle. God’s word alone is enough to convict people of their sin and turn them to God. Those who do not repent after hearing the preaching of the gospel will never come to salvation for there is nothing else in the world that could convince them, not even great signs and miracles. The word of God alone is sharper than a two-edged sword piercing through our stony human hearts to the depths of the soul (Hebrews 4:12). And we are entrusted with this life-changing message mightier than the power it takes to do the impossible and raise someone from the dead. That's a lot of power! God, give us the will to use it well!

Watching the Father Rejoice

Luke 15:7, 10, 24, "There will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents... There is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents... 'Let us eat and celebrate! For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found!'"

Note the progression of rejoicing in the three parables of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son. First, all we know is that "there is rejoicing" in heaven for the lost one returned. Then we discover that angels witness the rejoicing, though they don’t seem to be a part of it. Who then is doing this celebrating? In the story of the returned prodigal, we see that the great joy filling the heavens comes from none other than the Father Himself, singing over the homecoming of His son! And here I'd always thought it was the angels rejoicing.

As children of a good Father, our hearts should long to bring joy to our saving God, and there are many ways to do this. However, in my own experience, I have focused almost solely on "right living," presenting Him my weak strivings for His honor and my Christlikeness. Yet, while God calls us to pursue conformity to Christ's image and the advancement of His Kingdom, I too often neglect the chief way to accomplish both––evangelism.

What is more Christ-like than bringing the gospel to the hurting and dying, the castoff and the repulsive? What advances God's glory more than another sinner snatched from the devil's chains? How Pharisaical are we who think that giving Christ "our goodness" will please Him when we ignore the lost cries of Les Miserables around us. (I just watched the film, after reading the book, and find Victor Hugo's characters the embodiment of our need to be socially concerned Christians.) Let us bring unequaled, undying love to the ravished Fantine. Let us bring identity, hope, and peace to the conflicted and past-hounded Valjean. Let us show grace to the unyielding and lonely Javert. Let us give true purpose to Marius and his fervid revolutionaries.

And above all, let us bring our perishing, aching, needy brothers and sisters in Adam to our Father and watch Him rejoice.

Compel the People to Come In

Luke 14:23, And the master said to the servant, "Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled."

Thank You, Lord, for compelling the dregs of the world to come to Your wedding feast. We all would otherwise find some excuse (see Luke 14:16-18) to join the devil in his misery and turn down Your invitation to blessed life in You. Thank You that You were not content to let us make our poor decision to skip out on the Lamb's marriage supper but determined to have us there, not simply as guests, but as the bride herself! For this You deserve eternal praise from a grateful people.

Degrees of Condemnation?

Luke 12:47-48, And that servant who knew his master's will but did not get ready or act according to his will, will receive a severe beating. But the one who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, will receive a light beating. Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.

I don’t see another way around this; the Bible indicates in multiple places that, even as there will be varying degrees of rewards (see for example the parable of the talents), there are will also be varying degrees of punishments. Those to whom much has been revealed will be expected to live up to all they knew. While God will only hold those who knew little to the little they knew. Therefore, it seems there is great condemnation for those who have grown up around Christian influence and know what their Maker would have of them. However, those living in darkness will only be held to the abundant witness of creation (see Psalm 19 and Romans 1 and 2). Suddenly makes you wonder how faithful you've been to live according to the revelation God has bestowed on you, doesn't it?

The Yearning

Luke 12:35-37a, Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning, and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks. Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes.

How hard it is to remain alert in a world that sings us a thousand lullabies hoping to get our attention drifting. We ought to love God such that, like a restless dog not content until his master returns, we wait anxiously for Him knowing that the yearning He has placed in us will not be satisfied until He has come for us. Praise God for yearning, for restless dissatisfaction with the status quo! It is the one thing that reminds us not to get comfortable in this world but to joyfully anticipate our true fulfillment that comes when He returns! Yearning keeps us awaiting and alert for we know that the house is empty, dark, and cold until the Master returns.

On this theme, below is a song that beautifully captures the yearning of the human heart for the restoration of all things that only Our Messiah, Our Emmanuel can accomplish. It's a beautiful choral piece which, if you can find it for online purchase, please let me know about it!

There is a yearning in hearts weighed down by ancient grief and centuries of sorrow.
There is a yearning
In hearts that in the darkness hide
And in the shades of death abide,
A yearning for tomorrow.

There is a yearning,
A yearning for the promised One, the Firstborn of creation.
There is a yearning for
The Lord who visited His own,
And by His death for sin atoned,
To bring to us salvation.

There is a yearning
That fills the hearts of those who wait the day of His appearing.
There is a yearning
When all our sorrows are erased
And we shall see the One who placed
Within our hearts the yearning.

Emmanuel, Emmanuel, within our hearts, the yearning.

Best Friends Stick Together

Luke 12:8-9, "And I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God, but the one who denies me before men will be denied before the angels of God."

We humans invest a lot in cultivating the right relationships and growing friendships. If nothing else, today's church has mastered the language of relational interaction. Now if we church-goers only spent our time investing in the most important relationship of all. We pour time and money into family, friends, significant others, and sometimes even neighbors and coworkers. But quite frankly, on the relationship scale, I fear God ranks around the "coworker level" as measured by the time, effort, and money we put into our walk with him. Yet we claim Him as our Bridegroom, our best Friend.

We whose eyes have been opened to see the supreme worth of Christ ought to proudly confess Him before all. What newly engaged young woman doesn't chatter incessantly about her fiancé and their future life together? (And I speak from experience because lately many of my friends have golden bands around their ring-fingers.) And we are awaiting our marriage to the Lamb! I know its a long engagement, but should that in any way dull our passion for Christ or render Him too boring to talk about?

Yet so often, cowardly human that I am, I deny the only One who gives value to my life and makes me any different from others. Those who deny Christ before men because they don’t esteem Him enough to risk losing either the approval of the contemporaries or even their own lives (see Luke 14:26, 33) will find Jesus does not consider them worthy of His friendship. And His is the only relationship that will spare any human from hell.

Because He Cares for You

Luke 12:6-7, Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies?And not one of them is forgotten before God. Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.

Though in our moments of temptation we may choose to forget God, He does not forget us! Even as we are called to fear Him (see last post), Christ reminds us that we are valuable to God who concerns Himself to know the very number of our hairs. If God, being so great, will condescend to know so much about lowly me, how then can I not devote my life to knowing Him? Yet we humans think we are so important that everyone ought to know about and care about us––even our God! And we spend so little time outside of our self-preoccupied bubble. What wonders we would find if we looked up from our navel-gazing into the wondrous, mysterious face of God and spent the rest of eternity searching Him out!

I was just now struck by the full and blessed weight of the little phrase at the end of I Peter 5:7–– "because He cares for you." Why would, why should God care for us? He has nothing to gain from His relationship with us but grief and suffering. Yet He has chosen to enter into this relationship with us regardless of what it costs Him. Far from trying to avoid the troubles we bring Him, He urges us to "cast our cares on Him." WHY? "Because He cares for you."

What kind of Being is this who would care so much for those who care little for Him and who would bear all the burdens of those who spat in His face? This God, our God and our Savior! And He cares for us!

The Role of Fear in the Christian Walk

Luke 12:4-5, I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him!

Having exposed man’s stupid desire to impress other men with a false show that does not deceive God (see verses 1-3), Jesus now targets our fear of other men that too often overcomes our fear of God. Our priorities are so mixed up! God should be a primary focus, the One we fear most and the One we most seek to please. Yet so often our efforts are aimed at other humans who, if impressed with us, can do little truly beneficial for us or who, if hating us, have only the limited power to kill us. We think on such a temporal scale when our minds should be fixed on eternity.

Also note that Jesus Himself ("Love incarnate") had no qualms about stressing the fear of God. And this fear is a legitimate sentiment even among Christians who should at least fear the consequences of disobeying their Master if they do not feel the impulse to obey out of love. I am not endorsing a cringing, sniveling adherence to the rules for fear of being "beaten" by a God who sadistically pounces on any who mess up. Rather I understand that God would have us obey Him out of love for Him as our Father. However, we should also recognize that as our Father He will discipline us for our good when we stray (I Corinthians 11:32). So with this in mind, we have a double impulse to remain faithful for if our love for the object of our temptation threatens to overcome our love for our Father, then perhaps the stinging memory of His kind discipline will cause us to fear the consequences of disobedience and turn us back to our God.

How to End Temptation

Luke 11:41, Give as alms those things that are within, and behold, everything is clean for you.

An intriguing statement I had never noticed before. If we give God what He’s looking for, in other words a heart that is molded by Christ after His own, then everything else in life becomes clean for us because we are no longer tempted by that evil God does not find tempting (consider Galatians 5:16). Once our heart is in line with God's, we no longer have to set up external boundaries to keep ourselves from sin because sin will not appeal to us. This is the task of the Christ-follower, complete conformity with the Father’s heart reflected best in the person of Jesus (Paul's point in Philippians 3:8-10, 14, 17).

As with everything else in this blog, this post is nothing more than you already know. But I hope it will simply serve to remind us where to keep our focus while in the thick of our battle against sin. Eradicating evil in our lives can itself be a distraction from God if we simply focus on making ourselves sin-free. We will never succeed in our attempts to exterminate our inclination toward wrong if we do not first develop a taste for what is right! Only by filling our lives with more of our Savior does sin, our former master, lose its power over us and its appeal.

At the risk of sounding trite and offering Christian clichés, here's what I've discovered in my own spiritual walk: In the end, the Sunday School answer––JESUS!––is the only right response to everything in the Christian life. And the sooner we learn this truth, the richer our lives will be for there is nothing better for us than the One we were created for, our Savior.

The One Thing Necessary

Luke 10:41-42, But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”

Given the preceding parable on the Good Samaritan, one might assume that “good religion” is being a good neighbor and that, if one would inherit eternal life, he must be a good guy to all around him. But such an others-focused, works-oriented attitude is not what Luke is trying to convey in his book. While the parable of the Good Samaritan should show us that we all will fail if we try to win our own salvation by being good neighbors, this next story about Mary and Martha shows us there is really only one thing we need––Jesus, the Good Samaritan Himself.

Martha should be considered a prime example of the Good Samaritan in her backbreaking service to others; by this standard Mary was failing miserably to live up to “good-person-ness.” However, Jesus praises Mary for having found the “one thing necessary which will not be taken from her” not Martha for all the kind favors rendered to those around her. While people are important (as indicated in the previous parable), we mustn't forget that Jesus is the center of the universe and the reason for all! He is the one thing we all need and the only thing that can never be taken from us!

Passing By On the Other Side

Luke 10:31-32, Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.

How easily we condemn the priest and Levite in the story of the Good Samaritan! However, they were trying to keep themselves ritually pure according to the Mosaic law; possibly both were on their way to the temple for service because the text doesn’t indicate what direction they were traveling in. But Jesus Himself satirizes this fastidious and self-righteous care for the ceremonial law that leads people to neglect the highest order of the law––care for one’s neighbor. Though He doesn’t mention the Pharisee by name (supposing the lawyer who questioned Jesus was a Pharisee), everyone present knew how punctilious this sect was.

Have you ever wondered how often you've played the role of the Levite and the priest in this story? We all would like to identify ourselves with the Samaritan in this tale and with the ultimate Good Samaritan––Christ Himself. But how often do we, in the name of religious obligation or constraint, pass by perishing sinners or even our own suffering brethren? Often we don't even guise our disinclination to help in the robes of pious particularity. I know often I'm simply straight-up selfish and refuse to inconvenience myself for someone else. I assuage my guilt by assuring myself I have other responsibilities, or I am not equipped with the particular expertise needed to address this problem, or if the request had only not taken me by surprise I would be prepared to help. I'm sure these were the pretexts of the Levite and the priest and the inner voices that tempted the Samaritan to continue unencumbered on his way, voices he refused to listen to.

Think of this: God in His sovereignty places us in the moment with the needy person before us. So maybe there is something He means for us to do, and surely it isn't to pass by on the other side.

Who is Your God?

Luke 10:22, All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

I'm only in my early twenties but I've already lived enough life to know there are plenty of "good" people in the world who put my feeble efforts at pious living to shame yet who, because of their rejection of Christ, will be in hell. It's not easy to say that, especially because according to our lowly human understanding of "goodness," these people seem like stellar examples to the rest of us not only in their apparently admirable actions but in their sophisticated understanding of the divine.

I know I can easily feel confused by the many religious folk in this world who seem to have a handle on God. They appear to know Him and can talk easily about their experiences with Him. Even many of their thoughts on their deity seem in keeping with the Scripture's revelation of God’s character as kind, loving, personal, powerful, etc. Yet these are the qualities our age has ascribed to God and too often this understanding is divorced from an acknowledgement of Jesus Christ as the sole mediator between a righteous and indignant Judge and us sin-laden, rebellious humans.

According to this verse and so many others in Scripture, those who have not been led to the Father by Christ’s own hand do not know the real God. They see an image of God conjured in their minds by extrapolating and exponentiating whatever goodness common grace has allowed them to see in their lives onto a projection of God. But this is merely a god created by man.

The true God can be seen only through the lenses given us by Christ, the only One who can show us the divine for what it really is (for those familiar with philosophy, think of Kant’s a priori framework of interpretation only supplied to us by Christ during and after salvation). Jesus alone reveals the Father, and we can only come to Jesus for this knowledge if drawn by the Father (John 6:44a). As Romans 3:10-12 explains, man will not come to God on his own so God must draw man!

Who then is our God? A God who is socially-constructed? A God who shape-shifts to fit our preferences? Or is He the true and immutable God as revealed in Christ and unveiled to us through Christ? Who is your God?

The Focus of Celebration is...?

Luke 10:17-18a, 20, The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!” And he said to them...“Do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

Too often we get carried away with the benefits of our relationship with God that we ignore the chief of blessings: Our relationship with God! Our eternal destines are secure in God’s hand! This should thrill us more than anything He performs in and through our lives and give us cause for rejoicing though there be things our God chooses not to accomplish through us.

Remember this when you are tempted to look around you and count all God has done through you more valuable than your Savior Himself. (This attitude can be seen when your friendships, ministries, etc., become more important to you than the God who called you to them.) Do not rejoice in the power He has granted you (see vv. 18-19) and the mighty work He has performed through you. Rather, “rejoice that your name is written in heaven” and this only because of the wonderful work of your Savior.

If you feel you know much of God, you are simply a child to whom the Lord has chosen to display the marvels of His wisdom and the strength of His power. And if He chooses to use you, remember He does the choosing and the using, and from His omnipotent arm comes the power He wields in your life. Therefore, He alone is worthy of praise! Let's be sure to reflect glory where it is due.

Prayer for the New Year

Father, so often I come to the word knowing that I need feeding. I’m like a child who sits down to a delightful dinner to enjoy the smells and tastes of the table but thinks little of delighting in his mother who has prepared his banquet. Father, You have been faithful to show me that I must have Your word or be miserable. But don’t let me be so intent on feeding my soul that spiritual nourishment becomes my end during my time of devotions. Rather, show me that my time in the word is time spent communing with You, the Preparer of my spiritual repast. I am only truly fed when I have met with my God.

A meal had without the presence of the Chef does nothing to feed the heart though the belly may cease its rumbling. Lord, feed my heart by meeting with me now and throughout this year. Don’t let the moments I spend with You be a mere exercise in academia or even a desperate desire to keep my spirit renewed. But show me Your face! Let me know You, not simply facts about You, for only then is my soul truly satisfied.

Hit the Snooze Button...

Luke 9:29-32a, And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered, and his clothing became dazzling white. And behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. Now Peter and those who were with him were heavy with sleep...

Why are the disciples always so sleepy when things of great spiritual import take place?! As usual Christ was praying and the disciples were drifting in dream land. This may be a jab at our spiritually lethargy as humans when God is busy accomplishing great works. How much we miss out on because we are far more concerned with the comfort of the flesh than fighting spiritual battles!

God grant us spiritual alertness in the coming year. May we die to fleshly desires and make Him our priority that we might not fail to see Jesus for who He really is (as Peter and his fellows nearly did!).