So Excited When we are children, having had limited experiences, we get exposed to many new things. These things can be exhilarating. We look at many things that adults might view as mundane with a sense of awe and wonder. As we grow we begin to seek out, with eager anticipation, those opportunities to be overcome with the joy of new or exciting experiences. Many people in our day have become thrill seekers, and much of the danger has been removed from our modern sophisticated lives. As life goes on, we become more invested in some things than others, and what brings us real excitement changes. Our personal passions and relational connection truly affect how we relate to one another and the world around us. Hope What do you look forward to most about eternity? The obvious answer is Christ! We as believers look forward to this perfect relationship with God. The experience of His presence made possible by the righteousness of Christ imputed to you. But what else? I have often heard people speculating about what it will be like to have glorified bodies or live in New Jerusalem. However, one of the things that I look forward to is the absence of division. Now we each have preconceived ideas about what is fundamentally true that keep us from having a perfect understanding of reality. We all wholeheartedly believe some things that are wrong. Even as Christians, we are not correct about everything. Of course, we should be striving to have our minds renewed by the word of God. This means that we have to intentionally identify the pre-understandings that we have from our experience. We need to seek the grammatical, historical, and literary meaning of the text of Scripture. Most of all we must seek to comprehend the redemptive message of the Bible. God has given us His word so that we can see the glorious revelation of Himself to His image bearers so that we can live for His glory. Purpose Ultimately, God's glory is at the center of the purpose for all things. I believe that as Christians we often have this sentiment on our lips but not as the driving focus of our lives. How would our lives be different if we truly lived as if the most important thing was God's glory? What would we do differently if we were convinced that God's Word and the Holy Spirit would accomplish, through us, everything that God intends? I long for a time when we see God’s purposes being accomplished and fulfilled. Maybe this is what we mean when we cry out for revival. That God would be powerfully and perfectly bringing about all His purposes. But the reality is that God is doing just that. The only thing that keeps us from seeing it is that we are not looking with eyes of faith. We must look for the fulfillment of God's glorious purposes the way a farmer or gardener looks for the first signs of growth after the planting season. The Kingdom of God is like a mustard seed. So as believers we must be believing and seeking the Kingdom of God and His righteousness before and above everything else in life (Matthew 6:33). We can do this because we know that God will take care of all our needs (Philippians 4:19) according to His purposes (Romans 8:28). One practical way of exercising faith in this way right now is to pray for Ukraine. Not only the political and military operations but also the people, especially our brothers and sisters in that land. Let's cry out to God on their behalf and beg God to use their struggle to bring about great spiritual awakening and revival all for His great glory!
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Common Man Pride is at the root of so much, if not all, of our sin. When our first parents (Adam & Eve) fell into sin, it was because they were tempted with the idea that they could become more like God by their disobedience. The irony is that they actually became less like God by their sin. But the point we need to realize is the haughty arrogance that accompanied their evil aspiration. The Apostle John even identifies pride as being at the core of what fuels sin in us and in the world (1 John 2:15-17). This boasting is not because we possess an abundance of greatness, but rather because we possess an emptiness because of our sin, shame, and guilt. Every attempt to fill this void with achievement or accolade or accomplishment is unsuccessful because what we truly need is not glory but humility. We see the reality of pride and hubris at the heart of sin even in how the evil one attempted to draw Jesus into sin. The wiley serpent took Jesus to the top of the temple and called on Him to employ his merited favor by being saved from the fall to which Jesus responded in obedience to not tempt God. Satan also tried to tempt Jesus with wealth and power of the kingdoms of the world, but again Jesus would not sin against God (Luke 4:1-12). The point with this is that pride is pivotal in most if not all sin and this is common to every human experience including yours and mine. Get Down But how are we to be humbled? I would guess that everyone of us has experienced the process of humiliation. We have been called out on some flaw or silliness and we have felt the sting of humiliation. Humiliation is when we feel guilt and shame that is foisted upon us by someone else. Humiliation often drives us to a sinful self loathing that either tries to shift the blame for our situation to someone else (I’m looking at you Adam & Eve Genesis 3:12-13) or concludes that our suffering and misery is meaningless. I would argue, however, that this is not what the Lord would have for His people. Jesus is not seeking to humiliate the already helpless sinner but rather to lift up the humble believer. Of course, God does humble men. If we consider the biblical account of men such as Pharaoh (Exodus 14), Nabal (1 Samuel 25), and Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 4:28-33) clearly God does humble men to both demonstrate His sovereign authority and His goodness toward His people. But ultimately, the call for believers is that we would humble ourselves. In the New Testament, both Peter (1 Peter 5:5) and James (James 4:6) cite the truth that God is opposed to the arrogant and haughty person but gracious to the humble and lowly person. DIY I think we need to understand that the encouragement of scripture is that we need to humble ourselves. We should not wait for the guilt and shame to become so unbearable that we are driven down and abased, but rather, we should go joyfully to our knees in praise and reverence to our God so that He will lift us up. Peter also instructs us to humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God and He will lift us up (1 Peter 5:6-7). It is from this place of humility that God will exalt us and from this humbled state we can cast our anxieties on Him. Notice the way to prevail over worries and cares in this life is not to raise yourself up but to bring yourself low before God and He will raise you up. Peter even states that humility will help us to alert to the scheming taps of the devil. High Handed Humility As a matter of fact, as believers, we are promised that there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1). Paul also reminds us that everyone who believes in Him will not be put to shame (Romans 10:11). You see, we as believers can humble ourselves boldly. We can go to our knees with great confidence in the gracious promises of our God and our Savior. This means that we can wage war against our own pride and arrogance with total abandonment knowing that when we are weak, exhausted and low He will lift us up EVERY SINGLE TIME! Narcissism We know that the earth, and even our solar system and galaxy, are not the center of the universe. As believers, we know that God and His glory are at the center and are the source of all things. But, even though we know these things, we experience life as if we are the center because we are the constant veritable in all our experiences. Because this is the case we can act (even sinfully) in ways that are consistent with our perception, but not true reality. I keep using plural pronouns but maybe I should speak only for myself. I sin when I act as if everything is about me. Wow is me! So I had a pretty frustrating day. I could go into the details but you don't need those to understand my point. I even posted on Facebook and quickly realized the foolishness of lashing out like a spoiled toddler. (I quickly deleted it.) In the midst of my circumstances all that I was thinking about was what I was losing or enduring or suffering. While not thinking this way, I was acting as if I deserved better or easier circumstances than I was receiving. Even as I write these things I am embarrassed by the immaturity of these actions. My sin has required personal repentance toward those I have sinned against in my anger. I also have repented toward God who I have sinned against by exalting myself. Mourn for others What the Lord used to open my eyes to the ridiculous nature of my sin was the reality of the suffering of others. Today I saw a post about a friend who was suffering terribly with COVID. My wife is also currently dealing with COVID. I also heard about a godly brother who had suffered a serious accident and was in critical (possibly fatal) condition. I thought about this brother and his wife and his family and how insignificant my problems were in comparison to their present trials. Finally, I remembered that one week ago a fellow classmate of mine from high school was found dead. The gravity of the reality of what people all around me were enduring shook me to my senses. The Holy Spirit graciously turned my eyes back to what matters most. Fixed Gaze There is a classic hymn that I'm sure we all know that calls us to "turn our eyes upon Jesus and look fully in His wonderful face." It is at this point that the song points out that the things of earth (our experiences, problems, pursuits) will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace! The writer of the book of Hebrews seems to have been thinking the same thing when he wrote that we ought to lay aside every weight and sin that would entangle us and look to Jesus who is the founder and perfecter of our faith (Hebrews 12:1-2). When our view is fixed on Jesus it puts everything else in the proper perspective! Advanced in Years What do you think about when you hear the word age? Probably your first line of thinking is about your age. We tend to personalize things pretty quickly. Age is a term referring to the amount of time that has passed since something began. (That's my definition!) The dictionary says that age is the length of time a person has lived or a thing has existed. Age in this sense is related to both experience and existence. There is an interesting phrase in Luke 1 referring to the birth of John the Baptist. In verse 7, both ESV and NKJV translations use the phrase, “advanced in years,” to refer to Zechariah and Elizabeth (Luke 1:7). I have always thought the English phrase is an attempt to tactfully make the point that they were old. Obviously, the point in the text is that they are beyond the age of having children. Two things are important to notice about this passage. First, we are to note the power of God in divinely bringing about the conception and birth of the forerunner who would prepare the way for Jesus. But also, we see that even after Zechariah and Elizabeth had most likely stopped hoping for a child, God was accomplishing His perfect will. All those years of barrenness and heartache mattered and had a purpose. Only a Number Age is also a rather relative concept. Old and young designations really have to do with life circumstances as much as years experienced. Just today I saw a video where a man called into a radio program because he felt hopeless about his finances and his future. What was interesting was not so much the financial issues (he had a couple thousand dollars in debt and a low to average income) rather it was the fact that he was 22 years old. This man felt like he had missed his opportunity to have a successful life and was beyond all hope. But most people over say 35 would probably immediately realize that he had plenty of opportunity still to come. Or consider a professional athlete, in many sports by the late twenties to the early thirties the athletes must retire because they have passed their prime athletic abilities. They may have 60 more years of life, but that portion is complete. Or consider the careers of so many individuals who didn't even start doing the things they are best known for until they were 60 or 70 or even older. Examples of such people are Col. Sanders (KFC), Laura Ingalls Wilder, Julia Child and Grandma Moses. My point is that we categorize old and young often based on relative circumstances not objective standards. Ages However, there is another use of the term age. The dictionary also gives the secondary definition as, “a distinct period of history.” This reference is about what we would also call eras and epochs. We define our history according to these periods of time. The Bible speaks of two ages. The first is called “this age” (Matthew 12:32). This refers to the current time in which we live. It is the age extending from the beginning of creation till the end of this cosmos. This age is also called an “evil age” (Galatians 1:3-5). This is the age when sin is present and persistent but not ultimate or eternal. It is from this present evil age that Jesus has come to rescue and deliver His people from the power and penalty of our sin. But Jesus will ultimately also deliver us from the very presence of sin by taking us from this age to what the Bible calls the “age to come” (Mark 10:29-31). Because this is true the Apostle Paul instructs us as believers to renounce ungodliness and live godly lives in this age as we are awaiting the blessed hope of the age to come (Titus 2:11-14). The Apostle Peter also encourages us to live lives of holiness and godliness as we wait for the new age where righteousness dwells (2 Peter 3:11-13). |
AuthorEddie Ragsdale Archives
May 2024
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