Camping

"After six days, Jesus took with Him Peter, James and John, his brother and led them up a high mountain by themselves. There He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light. Just then, appearing before them was Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus. Peter said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three tents - one for You, one for Moses and one for Elijah." Matthew 17: 1-4

Have you ever had one of those rare and beautiful transcendent moments in your life when you really knew, felt and sensed the awesome, loving presence of Jesus? I mean, really experienced it - to the point of being overwhelmed and awed - so much so that there was never any doubt that God was real, God was immense, and God loved you.

I have been blessed on occasion in my life to have had God explode into my ordinary existence. I have had mountain top experiences of drinking deeply from Jesus' awesome presence, and quite frankly, there is nothing quite like it. I remember wishing that the feeling and experience could have lasted forever...

Peter, James and John were blessed with an awesome experience - before their eyes, up on the mountain top, Jesus, (for a brief moment) stripped back His humanity to reveal the entirety of His godly nature. He face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as bright as a white light, and then to top it off - Moses and Elijah (long dead rocks of the Hebrew faith) stepped out into the open and began talking with Jesus! Jesus blessed the three disciples with a private and personal glimpse at the awesome extent of His almighty holiness - and they were left with an indelible experience. Can you imagine, being there intimately with Jesus, Moses and Elijah, in full view of all that makes God great?

Is it any wonder that Peter's first response was to pitch some tents and camp for a while on the mountain? Peter wanted some permanency to this experience. Tents would surely allow this mountaintop experience with Jesus to keep on going.

But alas, for Peter, James and John, the transcendent mountaintop experience was not to last. Jesus had work in the world of the ordinary for them to be about.

Although I strongly desire to experience these mountaintop moments with Jesus as much as I possibly can - Jesus also has work for me to be about in the valleys. I will have eternity to "camp" with Him and bask in His presence. Until then, I will be content and grateful for the little glimpses of glory that I get, and let them encourage and embolden me for my work amidst the ordinary.

Be God's, Scott

Help Is On The Way

"I lift up my eyes to the mountains - where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the maker of heaven and earth." Psalm 121: 1-2

After dinner last night, as I was just beginning to enjoy my book, my son popped his head in and said, "Um Dad, my laptop is doing something weird, can you come and fix it for me?" My love of my son overcame my laconic after dinner haze, and I got up and went to the kitchen to check it out. Now, I know a little bit about computers, but not nearly enough to consider myself as any sort true help to anyone. However, what little I do know can be illuminated by the online support people and available FAQ's.

I spent a good deal of time trying to figure out why the battery on my son's year old laptop was dead and unchargeable. I went to the manual. I plinked around with the preloaded computer applications in order to test it. I went to online forums, FAQ's, and the HP website support. I went everywhere I could think of going, and quite frankly I wasn't getting anywhere. I distinctly remember thinking aloud..."what I really need is Bill Gates to walk through that door and tell me what the problem is." Well, Bill never came to help, but I did eventually read enough to figure out that my son needed a new $30 battery.

Have you ever thought that before when frustrated and in need of help? If only the expert, the one who invented this thing, could walk in and show me what to do!

Computer troubles are the least of our worries, aren't they? Batteries and error messages pale in comparison to the difficulties that routinely pop up in our life. We cry out for help in the midst of our helplessness when someone close to us dies unexpectedly...when we lose our job...when we receive a debilitating illness or injury...when a natural disaster takes away our home...when an intimate relationship is on the tipping point of ending...when our addictions threaten us anew.

When you are in need of help - to whom do you direct your cry? Where does your help come from?

I have faith that the Lord will answer my cry, swoop in, and give me exactly the help I need in any given situation. After all, He says He will in His word, and who am I to question God's word?
And why shouldn't He? He is the maker of heaven and earth - in other words, the almighty expert on everything and anything to do with life in this universe. He has the ability to handle and help any of our problems because He is greater than all of them - He is the maker of all things!

Who are we to fret or despair in our troubles? Why should we ever let them overtake us? All we need to do is to cry out for the maker of life.

Our help comes from Him.

Be God's, Scott

kneel

"I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." Genesis 12: 2-3

God's covenant with Abram is filled with the language and promise of blessing.

The Hebrew word for blessing is Barak (yes, that is what President Obama's name means), and when you look at the etymology of this Hebrew word - it literally means "to kneel." In the Old Testament sense of the word, a blessing was something of value given graciously from one of power and authority to someone of lower standing. This blessing was a public declaration of favor, and endowed the recipient with power for prosperity and success. It was clearly a wonderful thing to receive a blessing - and since it was a gift and favor that one truly did not deserve or earn, it was traditionally received by humbly kneeling and accepting.

One receives a blessing by humbly kneeling.

Abram received wonderful unmerited blessings from God - the promise of land, descendants, and future blessings from God and others. All of these Abram humbled knelt and received, for who could imagine anything better than receiving a blessing from God himself! God loves to bestow blessings upon His children because He wants the world to know His love, His peace, His joy, and His faithfulness. Now, did you notice why God gave Abram these blessings? There was a reason or purpose behind the gifts...

Abram received these blessings so that through them, he might be a blessing to all of the families on the earth. Abram was blessed in order to be a blessing to others. This is the simple motive behind God, in His good pleasure blessing us - He wants us to use whatever blessing He has given us in order to bless others. Our blessings from God are not to be hoarded or used only for personal pleasure, or selfish gain - but in humble thanksgiving seeking out others to bless.

What might this blessing of others look like?

Just as we received our blessings from God on our knees, we also ought to offer to bless the world on our knees. We truly bless the world, when we humble ourselves before them and become their servant. We were fully given our blessings through Jesus, about whom it is said, "He has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ." Eph. 1:3 This same Jesus, gracefully gave us these rich blessings by humbling Himself, even to death on a cross. Jesus became a suffering servant to give us our heavenly blessings, and as He does so, He says, "I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you." John 13:15

We are called to bless the world by humbly serving them - one gives a blessing by humbly kneeling.

Be God's, Scott

Leave and Go

"The LORD had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you"...So Abram went, as the LORD had told him." Genesis 12: 1,4

Human sin had ravaged God's relationship with His beloved creation. Humanity, in its pride and depravity, had separated themselves from their creator. Prior to the great flood, God had found only one righteous person in the world, Noah, that convinced Him not to wipe out all of His work. And then not too long after the second chance shown by God to His creation through Noah, humanity again led by the nose of their sinful nature, constructed the tower of Babel in a futile attempt to gain equality with God.

In spite of humanity's constant efforts at thumbing their collective noses at God's grace, lordship, and love - God's love for humanity never ceased. Even though by all rights He really should have wiped the slate clean with us and started anew - His faithfulness and patience know no end.

God had a plan for the redemption of humanity, in fact, it was a plan for the redemption of all of His creation. And God's plan began with one man, who was asked to obey in faith a rather large askance.

Leave your country...leave your family...leave your house - everything you know, everybody you know, the only life you have ever known - and go to a land I will show you. Not even a specific destination. Just, leave and go. Keep walking in the direction I point you, until I tell you to stop, then you will be there.

But where is there, God? Don't worry about that, just leave and go.

But what am I to do when I get there? Don't worry about that, just leave and go.

But what about my family and life? Don't worry about that, just leave and go.

The redemption of the entirety of creation depended on one man being willing to drop everything, and to leave and go when God asked Him to. Surprisingly, Abram went as the LORD told him to. I say surprisingly because I wonder if I would have left and gone.

I mean, am I the only one who is blown away by Abram's faith and trust in God here. Surely he should have at least asked for a little more information before making his decision right. I often have a hard enough time obeying God in faith for simple things in my life - let alone one in which He calls you away from family, friends and lifestyle to only He knows where.

Abram's trust and faith - his willingness to leave and go - challenges us to do likewise whenever God asks us, no matter what He may ask of us. The simple lesson here is that when God calls you to do anything for Him according to His plan, He will always do His part...He will never leave us hanging, let us down, or spurn our trust with unfaithfulness. If Abram can rightly trust God in this huge choice, surely we are able to leave and go when God calls us amidst the small and simple choices that challenge us in everyday life.

God used the faith of Abram to execute His great plan of redemption for His creation...I wonder what He might be able to accomplish through you and me if we but choose to leave and go in faith when He asks...

Be God's, Scott

We are not as strong as we think we are...

"Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry."
Matthew 4: 1-2

The human being is an amazing resilient creation. Throughout the history of the world we have shown the capacity to adapt and endure almost any and every difficulty faced. With grit, guile and inner strength, when in the face of adversity, we more often than not boldly stare it down, and push back. Our plucky survival instinct has served us well over the years - we were created to be strong and resilient.

However, as one of my favorite songsters, Rich Mullins, wrote - "we are not as strong as we think we are."

Physically speaking - I have seen some of the strongest people I have ever known felled and conquered by disease and illness. Unfortunately, no amount of inner strength, or "pull yourself up by your bootstraps" attitude had the capacity stop the onslaught of disease. Even more simple than disease - we cannot live or function very long without food, water, and sleep. Take any of these three things away for any amount of time, and tough humanity is reduced to a helpless creature.

Emotionally speaking - some are stronger than others I suppose, but even so, are we really as strong as we let on? I mean, in the face of an earth shattering relationship betrayal, or a tragic death, or an unexpected loss of income and employment - is our plucky survival instinct enough?

Then there is temptation - the sweet sirens call to sensuously indulge in disobedience to God. To willingly drink of sin in spite of its ill effects on us. If you are anything like me, the temptation is often much stronger than my resolve, and if it came down to a cosmic arm wrestle between my strength and the temptations allure...much to my shame, the temptation usually wins.

We are not as strong as we think we are...but I know of One who is stronger than our hurt, more mighty than our struggle, tougher than our tough times, and fully capable of pinning down our temptations. In fact, in our weakness, He is made strong.

Why was Jesus tempted so in the wilderness? Jesus who had never known what it is to be in need, or to struggle, or to hurt, willingly stooped down to earth, took on our humanity, and then proceeded to test the limits of the human condition. In the desert: he knew thirst, he knew hunger, he knew loneliness, he knew temptation. These things that often leave us reeling were endured by Jesus for 40 days. But why?

Empathy...

"For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin." Hebrews 4:15

God knew that we didn't have enough strength to endure life in this sinful world on our own. He knew that we would all eventually come across stuff that was beyond our pluck and guile, and he didn't want us to have go it alone. So He walked our journey for Himself.

Jesus understands our pain, because He lived it. Jesus knows how difficult it is to survive temptation, because He survived it. Jesus, fully human, knows exactly how you feel and what you are going through. Jesus, fully God, is almighty in power and strength and able to strengthen and uplift us when we are unable to do so on our own.

Our own strength has limitations and will only take us so far...but the strength of God in Jesus Christ will surely be sufficient for all who seek it.

Thanks be to God, that although we are not as strong as we think we are - Jesus is exactly as strong as we need Him to be.

Be God's, Scott

Represent

"For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!" Romans 5: 17

I recently, like many of my American and Canadian friends, endured that annual rite of Spring - Tax Season. When I lived in Canada, I had the system pretty well figured out. I downloaded TurboTax and easily gave unto Caesar that which was Caesar's. Now that we have lived in the States for a bit, I must confess that I still have yet to figure out how to do my taxes for the IRS. But then again, I suppose many Americans who have lived here for years still have to figure that out.
So, I take my receipts and official documents to a special tax accountant every year, who asks me a few rote questions, and then proceeds to complete my taxes for me. She does a great job, and for me, a relatively pain free tax season.

Now, in order for my accountant to submit my tax reports off to the IRS, we have to do something technical and official. I, and my wife, have to sign a document that allows our accountant to represent our case to the IRS. Once we do that, our accountant officially speaks on our behalf, and she expertly communicates our interests with them, as if we were speaking to them ourselves. In a legal sense, she speaks for us to the US government. This is representation.

The accounting of our salvation is not so different from the accounting of my taxes. Adam, when he sinned, not only plunged himself under the curse of sin and death, he also acted as our representative. As our representative, he also plunged all of humanity under the curse of sin and death. As the scripture said, "death reigned through this one man."

Just as I am unable to account my own taxes, I am also unable to account for my own sins. My reason for not being able to account for my own taxes is incompetence...my reason for not being able to account for my own sins however is not mere incompetence - it's my sinful total inability to do anything about it. It's impossible for any person to take care of their own sins.

Thankfully, just as we had one representing us in our depravity, we also have one representing us in salvation. Jesus Christ came to account for our sins as our representative. He paid the penalty for our sins by taking our place. He represents us before God the Father as judge and declares us right and holy. The gift of righteousness comes only through faith in the one who stoops to represent us.

Thanks be to God for taking our place.

Be God's, Scott

Duty?

"I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.
Do not be like the horse or the mule,
which have no understanding
but must be controlled by bit and bridle
or they will not come to you." Psalm 32: 8-9

So, how would you describe your part in your relationship with God - as one who obeys and follows reluctantly because, really, you have to...or, as one who obeys and follows joyfully out of a loving thankful heart? Maybe somewhere in between? I think these are important questions to consider. The Scriptures seem to indicate that "why" we obey is more important even than "if" we obey. Our motives are important to God. He wants us to want to follow and obey, and not to do so begrudging out of compulsion. And really, can you blame Him?

If you were in crazy love with someone, how would you want them to respond to your love? And when I say crazy love I mean crazy love: someone that you are so in besotted with that you think about them all the time, you do whatever you can to bring them joy and contentment, you shower them with tokens of your affection, and you would protect them to the death (even if it meant giving up your own life). How would you want the object of your desire to respond to your love?

Perhaps they could send you flowers with a note attached that read, "Here are the flowers you require, I bought them for you because I had to meet your expectations." Perhaps a part of their wedding vows sounded something like this, "I will always care for you, because I am obliged to do so. I will never leave you, because that would probably make you upset." Or perhaps on the occasion of your anniversary, you are invited out for dinner with a, "well if we must go...let go and get it over with."

I am thinking that these responses just seem ridciulous right? One wants their love returned in equal intensity. One wants their affection returned in kind with heartfelt meaning and not duty.

God shows His love to us in many ways, including directing us in the way we should go in life, and by always keeping a loving protective eye on us - not to mention the greatest of these...giving up His own life for us.

How do we often respond to God's love in our relationship with Him? If you're like me, you are often like the mule in David's Psalm - needing bit and bridle to forcefully make you respond accordingly against your will. Obeying and following, but not being crazy about doing it. In fact, if you didn't feel like you had to obey God, would you still?

God wants us to want to follow and obey Him. His desire for us, is that we love Him with the same intensity as He loves us. A true joyful relationship with God comes from not only receiving His love, but responding in kind out devotion and gratitude.

Be God's, Scott