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Perspective

For He who is mighty has done great things for me, And holy is His name. And His mercy is on those who fear Him From generation to generation. He has shown strength with His arm; He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. He has put down the mighty from their thrones, And exalted the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things, And the rich He has sent away empty.
Luke 1:49-53 NKJV

I Fear Him = Receive Mercy
I am Proud = Are scattered
I am Mighty = Brought low
I am lowly = Exalted
I am Hungry = filled with good things
I am rich = sent away empty

This is a picture of world/flesh vs eternal/spirit – a picture of how what the carnal consider valuable is worthless in the eyes of God. The things the carnal person would avoid are the things that he treasures.

It truly comes down to the difference between an eternal perspective and a right now perspective. It truly comes down to either loving and serving God and hating sin – or loving and serving ourselves and rejecting God.

Yes, Lord, you have done mighty and merciful and loving things for us. Help us keep our eyes on this new perspective. Set our eyes on the only prize and portion worth having, Lord. Don’t let us settle for anything of this world that might cost us our soul. Establish our footsteps so that when we examine ourselves you might show us approved. Search our hearts and remove anything that hinders your Holy Spirit from shining in our lives for your honor and glory. Call your people to awake and arise. Breathe new life into all these dead bones. Mold us, equip us, send us, and use us for your Kingdom to be come and your well be done in our lives today. Amen.

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Why do You cast off my soul? Why do You hide Your face from me?

O Lord , God of my salvation,
I have cried out day and night before You.
Let my prayer come before You;
Incline Your ear to my cry.

For my soul is full of troubles,
And my life draws near to the grave.
I am counted with those who go down to the pit;
I am like a man who  has no strength,
Adrift among the dead,
Like the slain who lie in the grave,
Whom You remember no more,
And who are cut off from Your hand.
You have laid me in the lowest pit,
In darkness, in the depths.
Your wrath lies heavy upon me,
And You have afflicted me with all Your waves.

Selah

You have put away my acquaintances far from me;
You have made me an abomination to them;
I  am shut up, and I cannot get out;
My eye wastes away because of affliction.

Lord , I have called daily upon You;
I have stretched out my hands to You.
Will You work wonders for the dead?
Shall the dead arise and praise You?

Selah

Shall Your lovingkindness be declared in the grave?
Or Your faithfulness in the place of destruction?
Shall Your wonders be known in the dark?
And Your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?
But to You I have cried out, O Lord ,
And in the morning my prayer comes before You.

Lord , why do You cast off my soul?
Why do You hide Your face from me?
I have  been afflicted and ready to die from my youth;
I suffer Your terrors; I am distraught.
Your fierce wrath has gone over me;
Your terrors have cut me off.
They came around me all day long like water;
They engulfed me altogether.
Loved one and friend You have put far from me,
And my acquaintances into darkness.
Psalms 88:1-18 NKJV

To those who would foolishly point their fingers at another that is in trouble or sickness or oppression, and like those “friends of Job”, would tell a praying and trusting man of God that it is his lack of faith –

To those who would foolishly align a man’s prosperity and health and positive mental attitude as a yardstick of the hand of God upon His life –

To those who have not received the sweet lashes of His correction and who have not shared in the sufferings, trials, and tribulations of a cross bearing life –

Knowing and walking this very Psalm or personally in their own lives might be the very best lesson about the hand of God and His ways being higher than ours.

Or if they are headed off into destruction and death and eternal separation from God, maybe it is merciful that they at least get to enjoy the pleasures of the flesh, since they have refused the eternal treasures of God.

If you have not yet lived this Psalm, I pray that you might, friend. It will take you to a place of closeness that the milk and cereal of “sugar coated, buddy Jesus” just doesn’t measure up to. Don’t remain satisfied by milk forever. There is work to be done, friend. Eat your bread, and work through this meat,  so that you will stand strong and firm for what faces us today – and so that you will be equipped and shown worthy of this upward call to Christ.

Amen.

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Are you a contender?

ἐπαγωνίζομαι
epagōnizomai

– to struggle for, to earnestly contend for

“Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.”
– Jude 1:3 NKJV

Paul tells us in the short, but critically important book of Jude that while he has been diligent writing about salvation in so many of his letters, that it is also necessary that he “exhort” us – strongly encourage and urge us. And the point of this strong encouragement is that we would “contend” – struggle, grapple with, take on – for the faith.

This is not a sideline faith. This is not an arm chair quarterback faith. This is not a faith of complacency and absence of power or conviction because “Jesus has already won the victory.”

This is an active faith. This is a faith not resting and fattening ourselves up in prosperity as if we were resting in peace alone. No, this is a faith of action, or purpose, of mission.

And he warns us of those who have crept in who “turn the grace of God into lewdness” – calling good what the Word of God calls evil. They deny the Word of God because they are liars just like their father, in whom there is no truth at all. They contradict the Word of God because they want their own will to be done instead of His will. They come up with many excuses to justify their continued disobedience and their false teaching. They add to or subtract from the Word of God to their own pleasing and their own accord – not to further His glory and honor.

Their hearts are seared from their hypocrisy, empty religious practices, and continued rebellion. They have found themselves spiritless and powerless, and have declared an public and damning denial of themselves by their unleashing all kinds of immorality and ungodliness into their gatherings. They do not love God enough to enter into the gate themselves, and they do not love others enough to sound a clear warning of the coming destruction. So they will party on until the end, just as it was in the days of Noah. These liars are selling tickets to hell and making merchandise of the ignorant because they chase after ease and profit and a full belly and have no interest in serving God – they want to be served by God.

They flatter people with their sugary sweet words in order to gain their trust and their loyalty. They are sensual and carnal people – chasing after the things of this world. Even in their prayers, they ask for things of the world that will root and rust and decay, instead of eternal treasures, instead of the fruit of your Holy Spirit, instead of for a surrendered life shining as salt and light here and now.

Yes, on some we show compassion because they seek compassion – because they are already humble and ready to hear truth. But for so many of these hard hearted, proud, defiant, rebellious people – they need the fear of God and it is the only thing that will pull them or of the fire – because they are still in love with their filthy ways and do not hate sin as we do.

If you do not hate sin, how can you say you are His?

We will love one master and hate the other.

If you love sin, you are of your father, the devil. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

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Arise, Awake, Don’t just dream light, Be light.

Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
Matthew 5:16 NKJV

For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them.  For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret. But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light. Therefore He says: “Awake, you who sleep, Arise from the dead, And Christ will give you light.”
Ephesians 5:8-14 NKJV

Being a follower of Christ is not about just having an enlightened understanding of Christ or of His teachings – yes,  this is how we come to the knowledge of truth – by hearing the  Word of God. But being a follower must be more than just head knowledge – it must be active and alive in our hearts and actions and daily lives.

We are to walk in the light. We aren’t to fear or hide from the darkness. We aren’t to participate in the darkness,  we are to expose it. Jesus didn’t spend time amongst sinners so that He could sin, but so that He could bring them to God. We should do the same. Jesus didn’t use love and mercy as an excuse to break the law, He demonstrated how God’s instruction is built upon loving God’s ways and character and nature instead of our own carnal desires. He doesn’t call us to add to our subtract from the Word of God to fit our own comfortable lifestyles or opinions,  He calls us to pick up our cross and follow in His footsteps – in His example, in His truth, in His life – even if it leads to a similar end to His with people hating us and persecuting us because they hate Him.

He never instructs folks to “say a sinners prayer and then get in a good church” – He calls us to lay down our old lives and follow Him. He calls us to die to ourselves and to love Him completely. He calls us to walk in light and to be the church, to be the body,  the vessel,  that is willing to carry His truth, His love, His message out to the world – even to those who hate it. He doesn’t call us into a life of guaranteed comfort and prosperity in this world. He doesn’t call us into a life of complacency towards godliness, holiness, righteousness, repentance, and sin.

He says: “Awake, you who sleep, Arise from the dead, And Christ will give you light.”

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The “AND” really does matter

Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.
– Hebrews 12:14 ESV

Peace and Holiness.
Christ as Savior and Lord.
Forgiveness received and Repentance lived.

Do we see the AND?

Many will fall to one side or the other, interested in one but not the other,  because that is the goal of the enemy – that there would be those that fail to receive grace. Yes, the very next verse warns us of this great danger.

See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled; that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal. For you know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears. – Hebrews 12:15-17 ESV

If we want peace, but have no interest in holiness, the enemy can falsify peace by giving us a life of wealth, comfort, false security or worldly pleasures in this life so that we might ignore and avoid any interest or urgings towards being holy. He will speaks lies of all kinds to keep people on this carnal path of lasciviousness and worldliness – even letting them call themselves Christians and participate in religious ceremonies and practices as long as they keep God at a distance from their actual lives.

If we want holiness,  but have no interest in peace,  the enemy can falsify this by encouraging an air of spiritual pride, offering us works and honor amongst men and the ability to sew and point out the specks in others eyes without seeing the log in our own – so that we might know about law and scripture but know little about love and peace amongst our brothers and sisters. He will speak lies of all kinds to keep people on this prideful path of legalism and loveless religious practice and bitterness towards the lost, the hurting, and the afflicted – even Leyva them call themselves Christians and be leaders as long as they keep others at a distance from the forgiveness and love that they have to offer.

Yes, the path of the AND is critical,  because without it, “no one will see the Lord”. And that path is narrow and few will find it,  but will be satisfied with those broad ways that go to destruction.

Which gutter is the enemy trying to drag you into today? Which of the two would you rather avoid and instead cling to the other? God seeks a greater righteousness be born and grow in us than that of the lawless sinners or the loveless religious hypocrites. This is the Law of Christ. And when strived for as peace with everyone AND with holiness towards God – we understand His commandment:

“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.  This is the great and first commandment.  And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.  On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
– Matthew 22:36-40 ESV

Just like the churches in Revelation needed to examine themselves to recognize their strengths and their weaknesses and then act – we need to examine ourselves and then act.

The life of a Christian is not passive – it is not a powerless mentality of “once saved always saved because I’ve baptized” and “I’m just a sinner saved by grace that will continue to sin every day” – with people existing their remaining a slave to sin when Christ doesn’t just set us free from the consequences of sin – He sets us free indeed to walk as a new creation!

The life of a Christian is not war against flesh and blood or building a tower of works to get to heaven either. It is nothing that would have us standing in front of others, proud of what we have done. If something is commendable in our lives,  He must receive the praise and honor and I must humble myself with the realization that it was Him who lives in me and not me.

Whichever of these two you are most comfortable accepting is not the one that you need to work more on – and that is our tendency – to fall into one ditch and keep digging deeper.

We must climb out. We must get back on the narrow path.

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Do you?

Do you love Jesus?

I ask this question with people that I know and strangers that I meet, because it is the core foundation of the gospel of Jesus Christ – and I’m amazed at the answers that I get.

“I’m the pastor/deacon/elder at blah blah blah…”

“I go to church at…”

“I read the Bible and pray every day…”

That’s not what I asked, friend. Do you love Jesus?

Rarely do I see that response of deep joy spring up and rejoice with “Yes,  I love Jesus!” Rarely do I find someone eager to deny themselves, take up their cross, follow Jesus, give generously to the needy, love their enemies, and expect nothing from this life but the opportunity to serve Him until our days are through. Rarely do I find someone who wants to be used by the Lord to have His will done in our lives.

But far too often, I find a world that is interested in using the idea of Jesus and of religion and prayer to get what they want. Far too often I see a world that seeks to make God their slave and themselves the master – even in prayers as they name and claim all kinds of things for themselves as their portion instead of Jesus Christ being their portion and prize. I find so many selling their eternal soul for a bowl of soup – giving up the imperishable for more things that perish.

I find a world that has little interest in serving and loving God, but that wants to be served and loved by God. I find ac world that even when blessed by trusting in the Lord, is quickly distracted and falls into chasing after things and security and pleasure and honor amongst men instead of chasing only after God.

I find a world full of wolves that profit off of religion and the traditions of men,  who make merchandise and slaves and followers of the very ones they are supposed to equip and send out. I find a world of kings who gather their flocks to be fleeced to advertise their name wide and far that is not the name above all names – instead of a world of servants gathering together to be fed and provided for and loved so they can go out and do the same to others.

I find so many eager to talk and be seen, but so few who want to walk and be clean.

What an evil and rebellious generation we live in, with people chasing after whoever will tell them whatever lies they want to hear – and so few actually seeking to find Jesus Christ in the Word of God, so few actually wanting to know Him personally and intimately,  so few who want to love God more than self, so many that like the idea of Him as Savior but aren’t interested in the reality of Him as Lord.

Do you love Jesus?

Is He the love of your life?

Is He the steering wheel of your life instead of the spare tire?

And yes, I shine this light on myself daily and I am thankful for His grace when I fall short, but He loves us more than to leave us there.

Peter denied Christ too,  but was restored from his disgrace, from his shame, from his letting down the Lord yet again – and He was restored to walk in his purpose and mission. It’s time that we step past religion and rise up as the true church, alive with his Holy Spirit alive and active in our lives. It’s time that we walked out our mission.

It’s time for us to love Jesus.

So when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me more than these?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Feed My lambs.” He said to him again a second time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Tend My sheep.” He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?” And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.” Jesus said to him, “Feed My sheep.  Most assuredly, I say to you, when you were younger, you girded yourself and walked where you wished; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish.”  This He spoke, signifying by what death he would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He said to him, “Follow Me.”
John 21:15-19 NKJV
http://bible.com/114/jhn.21.15-19.NKJV

So he answered and said, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,’ and ‘your neighbor as yourself.’ ”
Luke 10:27 NKJV
http://bible.com/114/luk.10.27.NKJV

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Locked tight

I have a box that is locked tight in the closet of my mind. It is a box that has been tucked away with hopes that I might forget about the guilt and shame and weight of its contents. It is something that I cannot change and it is a weight too heavy to bear.

At times I have feared that it’s weight might carry me down to Sheol with it. It is a weight that men will hold against me like a scarlet letter on my chest that announces “Unclean!  Unworthy! Disqualified!” Some would go as far as to tell me that I should not speak of the glory of my Lord and Savior – some would go as far as saying that I am doomed, with no hope at all – an abomination – filthy and eternally rejected by a God they claim can love them but not me,  can bless them but not me, can hear them but not me.

And their archers know exactly where to target those flaming arrows so they enter the creases of my armor. They are very familiar with the broken places in the walls where they seek to creep in and set up strongholds. They are very good at accusing their wounded brother, at mocking their wounded prey, at tearing into the very flesh of my heart with their teeth. And once they have set up camp inside the walls, they are very good at hiding and keeping quiet,  hoping that I will not remember, hoping that I will not find these intruders until they are ready to attack and overwhelm me in a moment of weakness.

And even when I think about this tightly guarded box, I do not know what to do with it. The stench of its contents overwhelms me and I wretch in shame and guilt just at the memory. I built up a great arsenal of weapons for the enemy to use against me and they have taken up camp in the armory that I built for the enemy through the foolish ignorance of my old, childish ways. I have handed the enemy weapons of mass destruction to use against me to terrorize my very heart.

You see, the past – I cannot change it. I cannot even fathom how to set it right. When I see the hurt and pain and wreckage that my past caused to some – especially to one – I know the warnings of stumbling even one of these little ones – but what about us who may have clipped the wings of an angel? What of those of us who have burdened another that we once loved? The event doesn’t even need an accuser to stand when I am called. They don’t even need the pile of evidence to hold against me.

I stand before you a dead man walking. I stand before you as the very man that carries the millstone around his neck. I stand before you, worthy of and expecting the pit for my broken covenant between God and another. I stand before you, knowing that on that day, I will finally know whether my hope has been in vain.

Can He love even me? I cry out, Yes! He can and He does! I preach to others the Good News of the gospel,  even as I fear the consequences that I deserve. Even as I acknowledge that I am unworthy, unqualified in the eyes of so many perfect men – I do not envy such men that are in their own estimations above reproach. I do not strive to be listed and titled and honored here on earth among them – because either Christ is my only portion and prize, or He will send me too the pit that I so truly deserve.

Enemy, do you call for a witness, for a testimony against me? Let me speak! Because I declare myself guilty by virtue of my old life – but thank you,  Jesus,  it doesn’t stop there! Yes,  I am guilty. Yes, I bear my cross as a man condemned and worthy of death and destruction and separation from a holy and righteous God – BUT GOD…

And I’m so thankful for that BUT GOD…

But God so loved ME, that He sent His Son to die on the cross in my place,  and the enemy was defeated by His love and by my faith, and He rose again as not just the judge, but the advocate that we have in heaven, and His Holy Spirit came to live in me and convict me if sin, teach me truth, and guide me in His ways, so that He will be glorified,  not me.

That box in the back of the closet will be opened, and the contents may do their best to torment me and distract me, and they may even overcome my emotions and my reason and my logic, but they will not overcome my strength because it comes from the Lord – because the victory is His, not mine. With God, all things are possible.

It’s time to open the box.

The Pharisees also came to Him, testing Him, and saying to Him, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?” And He answered and said to them, “Have you not read that He who made  them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’  and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’ ?  So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.” They said to Him, “Why then did Moses command to give a certificate of divorce, and to put her away?” He said to them, “Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so.  And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery.” His disciples said to Him, “If such is the case of the man with his wife, it is better not to marry.”

But He said to them, “All cannot accept this saying, but only those to whom it has been given:  For there are eunuchs who were born thus from their mother’s womb, and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sake. He who is able to accept it, let him accept it.”

Then little children were brought to Him that He might put His hands on them and pray, but the disciples rebuked them. But Jesus said, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven.”  And He laid His hands on them and departed from there.

Now behold, one came and said to Him, “Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?” So He said to him, “Why do you call Me good?  No one is  good but One, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.” He said to Him, “Which ones?” Jesus said, “ ‘You shall not murder,’ ‘You shall not commit adultery,’ ‘You shall not steal,’ ‘You shall not bear false witness,’  ‘Honor your father and  your  mother,’ and, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’  ” The young man said to Him, “All these things I have kept from my youth. What do I still lack?” Jesus said to him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

Then Jesus said to His disciples, “Assuredly, I say to you that it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.  And again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” When His disciples heard it, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?” But Jesus looked at them and said to them, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
Matthew 19:3-26 NKJV
http://bible.com/114/mat.19.3-26.NKJV

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What is Faith/Belief?

Faith is believing in the Word of God as truth.

It isn’t just believing that Jesus was a man that had good lessons to teach, the demons know that is true and will still go down to the pit.

It isn’t just believing that Jesus was the Son of God, God come in the flesh to walk amongst man, to die on a cross, because even the demons know this is true.

It isn’t just believing things “about Jesus”, because that is just mental reasoning and logic that starts in our mind.

Believing takes place in our heart, in that central place where our desires and our foundation exist – upon which everything else is built. Believing is a tearing down of the old structures of “my will, my dreams, my desires” to replace it with “God’s will, God’s purpose, God’s truth” as the foundation upon everything has to be built. Yes, humanly speaking believing involves change, cost, and sacrifice in this world. But spiritually speaking, it offers growth, value, and treasure eternal. Believing in our heart shifts our perspective and our priorities into a new alignment that is very contrary and different to that old idol/master of self/ego.

Without this firm foundation and change on the inside, we can practice religion and struggle under our own strength against ourselves, but we will find ourselves powerless – because our heart is still yearning for what it believes, regardless of any volume of “retraining” we subject ourselves to on Sunday mornings.

You see, belief is not a one time prayer and confession – although it starts with that. It starts with a surrender, once we’ve realized our need for a Savior, and we’ve humbled ourselves to receive a new Lord of our life – and it lives as a seed of grace,  of His Holy Spirit,  of His very nature and character planted in our lives and growing.

You see belief is active and alive and now – it isn’t a check box or a ticket already purchased. I don’t ask you if you’ve accepted Christ, because we know that many have thought they believed and have turned back because they had deceived themselves. No, I ask, “Do you love Jesus Christ? Do you love God? Is His Spirit alive and evident in your life today?”

This is belief – active, alive, manifest in the life of the believer. We must step past the mental games and gnosticism and new age spirituality – to a real and alive God who lives in us, whose guidance and instruction we value as truth, whose love and mercy and righteousness we hunger for. This is the Kingdom of God that we seek – His will being done in our lives. Yes, this is belief, to not only be hearers of the Word of God,  but to be doers – to actually love Him.

Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.
John 14:23 NKJV

Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in  it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.
James 1:21-25 NKJV

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Sincere love

Peace to the brethren, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. Amen.
Ephesians 6:23-24 NKJV
http://bible.com/114/eph.6.23-24.NKJV

Grace for all those who truly love our Lord Jesus Christ.

Yes, grace is available to all,  it is a gift extended and avaliable. And grace isn’t just a promise of escape from consequences – it isn’t just an idea of a loving Father and merciful Savior. Grace is being born again, with a new seed of life planted within the tilled up soil of our old lives. Those of us who love Jesus Christ as the Lord of our lives, who seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness – yes, this grace is for us.

And what a simple, but complete requirement to receive the gift of life – sincere love of Jesus Christ as Lord of our lives. Yes, something like this takes faith.

Do you love Him?

That is my question. At its essence, that is the gospel. Because if we believe, then how could we not love Him? He is the light come into the darkness, not to condemn us for our chains of sin, but to deliver us to new life. Are we running from the light to hide, or running to the light in grattitude for His revelation, for His truth, for showing us the way?

Thank you, Lord, for opening our eyes to your love. For revealing your very nature to us. For bearing out your fruit in our lives as evidence of your life breathing within these dead bones. Thank you for welcoming us with open arms as the loving Father, when we were just hoping to come back to your house as a humble servant. Remind us that it isn’t about our works, but about your love, and our love in response. Teach us to love more today, so that others might find us peculiar enough to want a taste of this sweet grace, of this wonderful for of your love that is alive in us. Amen.

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Gomer, Hosea, Christ

When the Lord first began speaking to Israel through Hosea, he said to him, “Go and marry a prostitute, so that some of her children will be conceived in prostitution. This will illustrate how Israel has acted like a prostitute by turning against the Lord and worshiping other gods.” So Hosea married Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim, and she became pregnant and gave Hosea a son.
Hosea 1:2-3 NLT
http://bible.com/116/hos.1.2-3.NLT

This isn’t Hosea finding a whore on his own and saying,  “God, make her mine.”  No,  many men have been enticed by their eyes and their flesh to chase after the harlots of this age that don’t even walk the streets,  but that peddle their bodies to men unknown from their own bedrooms over the Internet. And the same can be said for these foolish men who send indiscreet and inappropriate pictures to the daughters of God, who seek to commit incest with sisters in Christ who are to be another man’s wife. We don’t get to twist this passage into something that justifies sexual immorality, fornication, prostitution, exhibitionism, perversion – because it does not. These things are still part of the “shall not inherit the kingdom of God” that we find in Galatians 5.

No, this is God saying to Hosea that he will do as God instructs, even if Hosea is aware of the risks and danger and ridicule and embarrassment and betrayal that will come from marrying such a woman – He has to trust that God has a meaning and purpose that is more important than his own wants and concerns.

This is a different kind of faith than what is sold on TV and from behind so many pulpits that seek to make merchandise of the children of God. This isn’t a message about getting God to give you what you want now. This isn’t about living your best life now. This isn’t about God or His children participating in the ways the law breakers. This is a message about the obedience of a man of God to the calling and purpose set before him by God,  even when He knows the cost to himself will be great.

Yes, this is the life that Christ talks about when He says that we will face trials and tribulations and suffering in this life. This is the life that we hear about when we learn that we will be a peculiar people, strangers/foreigners walking through this world,  living lives clearly set apart from the ways of the world – even as we walk amongst the world and show them and teach them about Christ. And He tells us that the world cannot receive the Spirit of truth,  and that many will go to destruction,  and that if we stand faithful that we will face persecution.

Does this sound like a preacher trying sell worldly promises of prosperity in this life in order to fill the pews with dead bodies and his pockets to overflowing with their money? No,  this is about our God who searches for even one heart that truly seeks Him and wants to know Him and serve Him.

God doesn’t promise Hosea a faithful wife if he is obedient and faithful. And Good doesn’t promise us that those we love and help and serve will return or love with anything less than betrayal and treachery. Look at His example on the cross – He came to them with love and truth and they hated and crucified Him for it. And He tells us to pick up our cross and follow Him,  to not turn back, that true love is to lay down our lives for others.

This is not the sugary sweet half truths that get people excited and distracted by great entertainment and a charismatic teacher and a message that leaves them comfortable as the God of their own lives – that feeds philosophical ideals and life lessons,  but leaves them no closer to a godly, righteous life with Jesus as Lord of their lives, with His will being done in their lives. It is vanity, repackaged and sold religious materials sold by the DVD and book and thirty that bears the names of men,  and companies, instead of the name of God. It is the fleecing of the flock by the wolves, while Jesus told us that His disciples will feed His sheep (not feed off of them).

Hosea obeyed.

Hosea faced disappointment.
Hosea faced betrayal.
Hosea faced embarrassment.

Because his whore wife did what whores do, she committed adultery, she went to the only thing that she knew. Because Hosea knew God, but his new wife did not. There are many we will help and serve as followers of Christ who will hurt us and betray us, but it is not about us.

Yes, this is the hardest idol to lay down – self. It is not about you,  friend. It is about Christ who either lives in you or who is waiting for you to hear His call. And I’m not selling you rainbows and sunshine and lollipops – I’m saying, count the cost. If you believe Him,  then it is clear that there is nothing in this world worth your eternal soul,  no matter the trials and tribulations that you might face.

Then the Lord said to me, “Go and love your wife again, even though she commits adultery with another lover. This will illustrate that the Lord still loves Israel, even though the people have turned to other gods and love to worship them. ” So I bought her back for fifteen pieces of silver and five bushels of barley and a measure of wine.
Hosea 3:1-2 NLT
http://bible.com/116/hos.3.1-2.NLT

And after Hosea’s wife proved herself unfaithful and returned to her adultery – God didn’t tell Hosea that he had the legal grounds to divorce his wife. No, God tells him to go and love his wife again. And it even cost him to buy her back. This sounds costly, this sounds like sacrifice, this sounds like it would have been impossible for a proud man – and you’re right, but for a humble man,  submitted to God’s will it is just another act of faith.

And this act of faith wasn’t to build up or equip Hosea, or to buy Him any more love or favor from God who already loves Him fully – this act of faith was about being a clear find visible example of faith to a rebellious nation. Our acts of faith are meant to be a living testimony to a dark,  lost world – even when it has a cost – ESPECIALLY when it has a cost.

Yes, at some point,  we were Gomer and needed rescue by Christ (our personal Hosea). But if you are married to Christ in baptism,  and if He’s even bought you back from your rebellious ways with the Holy Spirit that lives in you – don’t we see that at some point we should be realizing that the world needs us to be more like Hosea? How many of us still think of ourselves as Gomer when He is telling us,

“You are forgiven, you are born again, you are no longer like Gomer, you are like Hosea. I have not only given you a new name in Christ, I have come to live in you and to bring life to the world by raising up my children. Stand up, Child of God – you are called to your pups and mission. You are no longer Gomer,  but I send you out to the Gomers of this world, like sheep among wolves. But I am with you always. Go and let them see Christ who lives in you.”