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WAY BEYOND ME

Ps.139:7 – Where could I go from your Spirit? Where could I run and hide from your face? If I go up to heaven, you’re there!

One of the stunning things about the Lord is how He is so powerful and infinitely expansive and at the same time, so personal and intimate. These two seemingly contradictory realties are actually the very foundation of our Christian faith. Our God created a universe so big and complicated that man can’t crack the surface of God’s great creation. He created the vast universe that is so huge that our computer generated telescopes can’t find the end of His creation. Maybe that’s because creation mirrors the infinite nature of the Lord and apparently has no end. And then there is the complex nature of creation, Who created eyes and light, ears and sound, mouths and taste, and hands that feel. His creation points us to His incredible infinite knowledge. At the same time the Lord is incredibly personal and sensitive. We see His personal nature when He ministered to Jairus and his daughter, the thief on the cross, the woman at the well in Samaria: the gospels are filled with stories of how Jesus ministered personally to individuals. Here is David Jeremiah on today’s verse.

“Solomon, the son of David and the wisest man of his age, built a majestic temple to the glory of God…..Even though this temple was a wonder of the ancient world, Solomon reflected on the inadequacy of anything built with hands to contain the magnificence of God. He said, “Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You. How much less this temple which I have built!”. Here is the paradox. We know that God is as far beyond us as the deepest reaches of the universe. Yet at the same time, “He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and have our being”. Since God is both beyond us and beside us, His love also exists beyond us, beside us, and within us. His love is to us as the sea is to a fish: The sea is huge and expansive beyond the limited range of any fish, yet in it the fish lives, moves, and has its very being.”

We are brought to the amazing conclusion; God is bigger and more merciful that we can ever know. Knowing Him is the beginning of understanding and is better than life itself.

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EXPECTING GOD’S NEW DAY

Rom.8:26-28 – And in a similar way, the Holy Spirit takes hold of us in our human frailty to empower us in our weakness. For example, at times we don’t even know how to pray, or know the best things to ask for. But the Holy Spirit rises up within us to super-intercede on our behalf, pleading to God with emotional sighs too deep for words. God, the searcher of the heart, knows fully our longings, yet he also understands the desires of the Spirit, because the Holy Spirit passionately pleads before God for us, his holy ones, in perfect harmony with God’s plan and our destiny. So we are convinced that every detail of our lives is continually woven together to fit into God’s perfect plan of bringing good into our lives, for we are his lovers who have been called to fulfill his designed purpose.

I put a lengthy passage from Romans 8 for today’s devotion, please take time to read it and ponder. There is power and revelation for those who hunger. This passage speaks of the groan of creation that lives in the heart of every born again child of God. The Holy Spirit who has come to dwell in us prays God’s powerful prayers within in us. He is praying for the fulfillment of redemption, the manifestation of the Bride of Christ. What this passage reminds me of is the personal nature of God’s plan. He has chosen me as a vessel to pray through for His kingdom plan. That’s not all, I am included in His plan. I see through a glass darkly and am often not sure how to ray. These groanings of the Spirit is actually the Lord calling for His kingdom through me and in me. Here are some observations from the Passion Notes on today’s passage.

“We find three groanings in this chapter. Creation groans for the glorious freedom of God’s children (v. 22), we groan to experience the fullness of our status as God’s children (v. 23), and the Holy Spirit groans for our complete destiny to be fulfilled (here).”

So I say let the groaning begin. Our prayer language is obviously part of this groaning. Pray in the Spirit. Allow the Holy Spirit to take you to deeper places as you prayer in your heavenly language. As we yield we join in to this heavenly anticipation. The struggles in life won’t all go away, they just won’t seem like such a big deal as God’s kingdom breaks in on us.

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GODS LIBARY

MERRY SATURDAY BY PARRIS-

“O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens.” Ps.8:11

I learned an amazing fact the other day about beetles. That God must have loved beetles because they end up being the largest variety of species on the earth. There are 400,000 different kinds of beetles that they have classified and scientists are still finding more of them. Tell me, how does one make 400,000 different kinds of beetles? In fact one could be so bold to say, that without beetles the earth would be in big trouble. The ecosystem would become unbalanced. From bringing pollen to flowers, breaking down dung to masquerading as ants, beetles rock in my world.

Joseph Caryl, the English Puritan Bible commentator, proclaimed that “All creatures have a teaching voice, they read us divinity Lectures of Divine Providence.” He taught that every particular beast, or every single creature is able to give instruction . . . the least as well as the greatest, the Mouse as well as the Elephant or the Lyon; the Shrimp as well as Leviathan; the Hysop on the wall, as well as the Cedar in Lebanon; the Grasses of the field, as well as the oaks of Bashan. John Flavell’s reflections on “spiritual husbandry” resembled Francis of Assisi when he affirmed, “It’s an excellent Art to discourse with Birds, Beasts and Fishes, about sublime and spiritual Subjects, and make them answer to our questions.” “Believe me,” he said, thou shalt find more in the Woods than in a [library] corner; Stones and Trees will teach thee what thou shalt not hear from learned Doctors.

“Our five senses are so many Doors whereby . . . External Objects are conveyed to us, and the Soul is to take notice of them.” We hear God speaking in each of these. “From the Sun, to the Stone; from the Cedar, to the Violet; every creature hath a voice to teach us something of God. This whole World is a School of man. All the Creatures spell this to us. . . .” John Bailey of Connecticut spoke of everything in creation as constituting a part of “God’s library,” a vast resource from which people could “read their fill.” From the beauty of open fields to the hard-working faithfulness of a good horse, the natural world provided entry to the mystery of God’s glory. For the person of discerning spirit, the tiniest creature witnesses to the source of its amazing life in God’s providential care. But don’t stop with the creature, he said, go on to the source. “The Fountain must needs have more than the Stream.” In the same way, John Flavell of Dartmouth urged his congregation to “Make a ladder out of earthly materials,” using matter—even cattle and corn fields—to ascend to God. He described “the World below [as] a Glass to discover the World above; Seculum est speculum.”

I pray you take the time to examine God’s library. Take out the God glasses and see, lean forward with your ears and he just might have something to say to you.

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SUPERMEN

Eph.1:16-18 – I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened,

You ever think how different things will be in the new heaven and the new earth? Its really hard to imagine because things will totally shift. Just zeroing in on one thing, our vision or the way things will appear, can give us an indication of how much things will change. I can think of three things right off the bat that will cause an unthinkable transformation in everything.

First, the whole of creation was effected by the fall of man and the fall of Satan and many of the angels. We have no way to know how different things will be when that curse is removed at the return of Christ. Secondly, the world is now lit and held together by the sun. In the new world there will be no sun because the Lord will be its light. Third, our bodies will be changed. Having immortal bodies like Jesus will change everything. Think about it, our new bodies will have new eyes. Here is how Dane Ortlund explains some of Jonathan Edwards thoughts on seeing in the new world.

“The thinking Edwards gives to the role of sight in the believer’s life is not limited solely to spiritual vision. In one miscellany that considers the glorified body of Christ, Edwards reflects on what believers’ physical eyes will be like in their glorified existence in the new earth. He surmises that believers in the new heavens and the new earth will be able to see across the entire universe since Christ, not the sun, will be lighting the whole universe, and the light emitted by Christ’s glorified body must be far faster than the speed of light in a solar system lit up by our sun.”

One of our problems in life is comparing our world and everything in it by our limited experience. If our bodies are to be like Christ’s resurrected body (and they are) we will be quite different from the way we are now. Could it be our fixation on superheroes is rooted in who we will be ? 1 Jn.3:2 – “Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.”

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CREATION IS SPEAKING

Ps.19:1 – The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork.

It is so easy in our high tech and video controlled world to lose the sense of the majesty of God we were created to enjoy. We spend most of our time indoors looking at computer screens or flat screens soaking in lifeless images and information. We live in an amazing world that is chattering and singing continuously the amazing attributes of our creator. Have you ever seen a cheetah in the wild running with all its might? Or maybe even a horse galloping with joy across a field? What about monkeys swinging from a tree or dolphins leaping for joy?Are all of these creatures random accidents displaying the good fortune of genetic luck through natural selection? All of these creatures carry within them the beauty of their maker. They exist to display God’s attributes, they are preaching a powerful revelation as they go about their daily activities. Here is a portion from Jonathan Edwards on the purpose of God’s creatures.

“So that when we are delighted with flowery meadows and gentle breezes of wind, we may consider that we only see the emanations of the sweet benevolence of Jesus Christ; when we behold the fragrant rose and lily, we see his love and purity. So the green trees and fields, and singing of birds, are the emanations of his infinite joy and benignity; the easiness and naturalness of trees and vines [are] shadows of his infinite beauty and loveliness; the crystal rivers and murmuring streams have the footsteps of his sweet grace and bounty. When we behold the light and brightness of the sun, the golden edges of an evening cloud, or the beauteous bow, we behold the adumbrations of his glory and goodness; and the blue skies, of his mildness and gentleness. There are also many things wherein we may behold his awful majesty: in the sun in his strength, in comets, in thunder, in the towering thunder clouds, in ragged rocks and the brows of mountains. That beauteous light with which the world is filled in a clear day is a lively shadow of his spotless holiness and happiness, and delight in communicating himself.”

Then we come to man. We are the only creature with the capacity of actually seeing God’s glory in creation. That can happen only when our eyes, blinded by sin, are opened by His grace. Like blind Bartimaeus of old, when our eyes are opened we can finally see the face of God.

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DRINK FROM THE FOUNTAINHEAD

Ps.36:8 – They drink their fill of the abundance of Your house;

And You give them to drink of the river of Your delights.

Have you ever pondered the thought that God Himself created pleasure. We may have a hard time seeing that clearly looking through the lens of our fallen nature but God Himself is the inventor of enjoyment. Who is the One who conceived of honey, watermelons, and bananas? Not only did He create a world filled with savory pleasures, He also invented tastebuds to enjoy them. What about mountain streams and cascading waterfalls, lush tropical forests and arctic tundras? Not to forget sunflowers, roses, and lilies. Then He had to create light, eyes (with all their complications), and a brain to process and enjoy the magnificent beauty all around us. All of these creations point to their source, the fountainhead of everything Who is God Himself. All of the pleasure that we see and enjoy in this life are only signposts pointing to Beauty Himself. As Solomon said, He is altogether lovely. Here are some thoughts on pleasure from C. S. Lewis.

“And in there, beyond Nature, we shall eat of the tree of life. At present, if we are reborn in Christ, the spirit in us lives directly on God; but the mind and, still more, the body receives life from Him at a thousand removes—through our ancestors, through our food, through the elements. The faint, far-off results of those energies which God’s creative rapture implanted in matter when He made the worlds are what we now call physical pleasures; and even thus filtered, they are too much for our present management. What would it be to taste at the fountainhead that stream of which even these lower reaches prove so intoxicating? Yet that, I believe, is what lies before us. The whole man is to drink joy from the fountain of joy. As St. Augustine said, the rapture of the saved soul will “flow over” into the glorified body. In the light of our present specialized and depraved appetites, we cannot imagine this torrens voluptatis, and I warn everyone most seriously not to try.”

So if there is a Creator and He made us with this thirst for pleasure maybe just maybe we should stop trying to limit our pleasures in this life and call that spiritual. Maybe what we are looking for is pleasure Himself. Maybe all these earthly pleasures are just pointing to the abundance of joy found in the presence of the Lord.

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THE WHOLE WORLD IS AN ANTHEM

MERRY TUESDAY BY PARRIS

“Those who dwell at the ends of the earth are in awe at your signs. You make the going out of the morning and the evening to shout for joy. You visit the earth and water it; you greatly enrich it; the river of God is full of water; you provide their grain, for so you have prepared it.” Psalms 65:8-9 ESV

Hey what does your morning look like? Do you check the latest story on instagram, or troll endlessly through Facebook? Worse yet turn on the tv and fill the house with news. I’m not here to get into your business by any means. Funny thing is while you were sleeping the God of creation had a busy night!

I may be guilty of all of the above too but I try to value God in my mornings and look for his handiwork and listen to the song. I find whatever transpired in my darkest night somehow looks brighter in the morning. Earth begins its sweet routine and life is good again. Some might find this brutal when they have lost so much but time, with its gentle hand, heals us through earth’s cycles. At some point in my morning I go lay down on the couch and read His glorious word, pray for my family and for the things that come up in my spirit and then head outside to reset my life. Our great manager had been circling the earth with his mercies. Martin Luther says, “God must be always attending to it with rain and heat, and must do everything to make it grow and prosper while the farmer lies at home and sleeps. God puts his crowning handiwork on everything”.

As we shuffle along through our lives we forget that the footsteps of God, who is the great fertilizer, may be traced by the abundance which he creates, he is all around us. His bounty makes the earth give vent to praise. The birds and the cows along with the grasses of the fields all respond back to his voice. The constant ripple of the waves and the hissing of the wind along with the cloud formations twirl and swirl according to his rhythm. The Treasury of David says “Nature has no discords. Her airs are melodious, her chorus is full of harmony. All, all is for the Lord; the world is a hymn to the Eternal. Blessed is he who, hearing, joins in it, and makes one singer in the mighty chorus.” Selah

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HIDDEN IN PLAIN VIEW

Rom. 1:19,20 – For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.

Mardi Gras pretty much describes the spiritual condition of our world today. It masks itself as a religious holiday, the day before forty days of fasting and penance leading up to Easter. Our culture does its best to stay spiritual, rewriting God in their own image rather than beholding His beauty that is all around us. The Lord has chosen to hide Himself in plain view. What do I mean by that? Paul touched on it in today’s verse. The Lord has revealed Himself (to those who want to see) in creation all around us. His infinite nature can be seen in the immensity and eternal nature of the universe itself, His power is seen in the smallest particle of His creation. Splitting the atom displays a small taste of the power of God seen in nuclear explosions. His beauty is seen in the splendor of sunsets and mountain vistas. His creativity is seen in the diversity of His creatures (sloths, kangaroos, and orangutans). His wisdom is seen in the invention of sound, sight, smell and taste (not to mention ears, noses, eyes, and tastebuds).

He is also hiding Himself in the mystery of redemption. The testimony of hookers, thieves, drug users and dealers as well as bank presidents, businessmen and women, not to forget the professionals from all walks of life experiencing the power of His redeeming love. He is everywhere and so casually ignored by the multitudes.

If Mardi Gras typifies the real condition of our world maybe we should not call it the day that God forgot, but rather a people who have forgotten their God. Here is a quote from my wife quoting John Calvin. I think it pretty much speaks for itself.

“Mardi Gras in New Orleans is a day “that we obscure Christ and wrap him up with our subtleties that he can never be found. For they know precisely what his name is; but we empty him of his power and so exhibit a phantom in his place. Though we profess to believe in Christ, we invent for ourselves a torn, disfigured, emptied of his power, denuded of his office, such as to be a spectacle rather than Christ himself.”

Today begins the Lenten season. I am asking to see Him more clearly in every part of my life; from the trials to the blessings, in His word and in His church. Let everything that has breath give praise to the Lord.

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GOD’S CLOTHES

Ps.29:2 the Message –

In awe before the glory,

in awe before God’s visible power.

Stand at attention!

Dress your best to honor him!

 

Psa. 29:3   GOD thunders across the waters,

Brilliant, his voice and his face, streaming brightness—GOD, across the flood waters.

 

Psa. 29:4   GOD’S thunder tympanic,

GOD’S thunder symphonic.

It seemed as if Jesus was surprised at humans and their inability to see God’s glory all around them. He said repeatedly that they had eyes to see and couldn’t see and they had ears to hear but they couldn’t hear. He told Nicodemus that he would never see the kingdom of God if he wasn’t born again. On another occasion He told His disciples that they must become like children or they would never enter the kingdom of God.

For those who have tasted the goodness of God His glory becomes evident and visible everywhere. Sometimes it seems like creation itself is shouting. Actually Jesus said the rocks would scream His praises if we don’t. Isaiah said it like this. “For you will go out with joy And be led forth with peace; The mountains and the hills will break forth into shouts of joy before you, And all the trees of the field will clap their hands”. Here is John Calvin on his thoughts about seeing the Lord in creation.

“That we may enjoy the sight of God, he must come forth to view with his clothing (creation); that is to say, we must first cast our eyes upon the very beautiful fabric of the world in which he wishes to be seen by us. . . .For in this world God blesses us in such a way as to give us a mere foretaste of his kindness, and by that taste to entice us to desire heavenly blessings with which we may be satisfied. As soon as we acknowledge God to be the supreme architect, who has erected the beauteous fabric of the universe, our minds must necessarily be ravished with wonder at his infinite goodness, wisdom, and power….We see, indeed, the world with our eyes, we tread the earth with our feet, we touch innumerable kinds of God’s works with our hands, we inhale a sweet and pleasant fragrance from herbs and flowers, we enjoy boundless benefits; but in those very things of which we attain some knowledge, there dwells such an immensity of divine power, goodness, and wisdom, as absorbs all our senses.”

So Calvin viewed creation as God’s clothing. Is it possible that everything around you is there with a brilliant message? Power, beauty, wisdom, and creativity are seen in all of His creation. From roses to waterfalls, from mountain ranges to crashing ocean waves; creation itself is singing and shouting the praises of God.

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GOD’S VINEYARD

JN.15:1,2,8 – I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.

The Lord speaks through pictures. The great prophesy about the last days from the prophet Joel speaks of the Lord pouring out His Spirit in the last days, speaking to us through visions and dreams. If we have eyes to see it, God is always speaking through His creation. Today’s passage is a great example. Jesus is teaching His disciples about The Holy Spirit and miracles and bearing fruit and used a vineyard they were walking through to make His words understandable. The harvest we are expecting will come from His vineyard. Seeing the valuable spiritual truth in the vineyard will help us cooperate with the move of God. Here are some thoughts from Andrew Murray on the Vine.

“What has our Lord to say to us of fruit? Simply this–that fruit is the one thing the branch is for, and that if it bear not fruit, the husbandman takes it away. The vine is the glory of the husbandman; the branch is the glory of the vine; the fruit is the glory of the branch; if the branch bring not forth fruit, there is no glory or worth in it; it is an offense and a hindrance; the husbandman takes it away. The one reason for the existence of a branch, the one mark of being a true branch of the heavenly Vine, the one condition of being allowed by the divine Husbandman to share the life the Vine is–bearing fruit.

And what is fruit? Something that the branch bears, not for itself, but for its owner; something that is to be gathered, and taken away.”

Creation is intended to display God’s glory. We have the privilege of being the Lord’s greatest vehicle to display His glory. Why is that? We are His redeemed sons and daughters of God. Our connection to Him and to one another in the local church is the vehicle the Lord has chosen to display His choice fruit. How is He glorified? Through the quality and quantity of His harvest. As I stay connected to Him and His body He flows through me and He is glorified.