November 20, 2008

We are living in a time of tremendous uncertainty, the likes of which have been experienced only by those who have lived long enough to remember back 70 years or more. Many significant concerns are consuming our collective attention and resources, and are dividing public resolve as well as our national unity. Additionally, the moral fiber of our country seems to be unraveling at light speed, and “acknowledging God in all of our ways” has become downright illegal. In some respects, we are beginning to get acquainted with a few of the realities that our Christian brothers and sisters in other parts of the world have been facing all their lives.

As bad as things may appear to us at the moment, we know that the cultural conditions confronting the first century Church were worse by far. Persecution, imprisonment and death for Christians were business as usual and running rampant on a global scale. Brutality, immorality and pantheistic world views were government sanctioned. In our natural way of thinking, we would expect that the spread of the Good News of Christ should have floundered, sputtered and succumbed to an early grave.

Yet in the midst of such turmoil, Paul requested prayers such as these: “(pray) for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life. . .” and “pray for us that the word of the Lord will spread rapidly and be glorified. . . and that we will be rescued from perverse and evil men; for not all have faith.” (1 Timothy 2:2; 2 Thessalonians 3:1-2) He described his horrific experiences of beatings and imprisonments in these terms: “Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel. . . Because of my chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly.” (Philippians 1:12-14)

What Paul understood is that, in spite of a culture of distraction, turmoil and opposition threatening the declaration of God’s Word, God can create supernaturally a spiritual condition of peace. This is a peace in the realm of the spirit in spite of all the chaos in the natural. This is a peace in the spirit that overrules all confusion and commotion in the natural. This is a peace that brings clarity in the presence of conflict, gives rise to faith in the midst of fear, and promotes Divine purpose in the face of human perplexity.

Recently, I have begun to pray for God to lay the groundwork for peace in the spirit, so that His Word might prosper and bear much fruit as it is planted. As it says in Zechariah 8:12, “there will be peace for the seed.” This is a supernatural provision that God creates over and above our natural landscape, enabling the soil of our lives to become a fertile field for His Word to thrive and flourish. This peace is such that it defies human explanation or understanding, yet it compels us to be receptive to the seed of God’s Word as it is sown.

May God grant us peace for the seed of His Word in our own lives, that it might fall on good soil, go deep, take root and bear much fruit. And may He grant peace in our culture so that, in spite of the winds of opposition and adversity, His Word once again may be heard loud and clear by a people desperately in need of a Savior.

November 12, 2008

Daniel was a man of God who lived a remarkably successful life in the midst of great personal upheaval and major global turmoil. As a young man, probably not more than fifteen years of age, he literally was captured and deported by marauding foreign invaders, being relocated to far-away Babylon where he spent the rest of his life. However, even as a prisoner of war and captive living in exile from his homeland, Daniel was recognized early on for his unusual wisdom and understanding, and he achieved remarkable favor and renown with his captors. Within the first year or two of his arrival in Babylon, he was promoted to public service and spent the next 65(!) or more years of his life as a high ranking government official – serving as counselor and advisor to kings and multiple sovereign administrations.

What made Daniel unique? What made him stand out to his peers and to his captors alike? Daniel 6:3 says “Then this Daniel began distinguishing himself among the commissioners and satraps (governors) because he possessed an extraordinary spirit, and the king planned to appoint him over the entire kingdom” (emphasis added). In fact, his “extraordinary spirit” is further described in Daniel 5:11-14 as a man “in whom is the spirit of the holy gods.” Even Daniel’s pagan captors could discern that what he possessed was super-human, a supernatural endowment giving him “illumination, insight and wisdom like the wisdom of the gods.” Of course, you and I know today that the extraordinary spirit in Daniel was none other than the Holy Spirit of God Himself.

Now the truly remarkable thing for you and me as children of God through faith in Christ, is that we have the same Holy Spirit indwelling us! That’s right. You and I possess the same “extraordinary Spirit” that Daniel possessed. In fact, this was promised over 2500 years ago by Ezekiel, one of Daniel’s contemporaries. “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you. . . I will put My Spirit within you. . .” (Ezekiel 36:26-27). Almost 600 years later, Jesus spoke of the fulfillment of this promise: “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever; the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.” (John 14:16-17 emphasis added).

This “extraordinary Spirit” that was in Daniel and now is in us, reveals to us the deep things of God. He is our guide into all truth, because He takes the things belonging to our Heavenly Father and the Lord Jesus, and He discloses them to us (John 16:13-15). As the Apostle Paul says “We have received . . . the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God” (1 Corinthians 2:12). The same illumination, insight and wisdom that characterized Daniel’s life is available to us today, by the indwelling and empowering Presence of the Spirit of God in us.

This astonishing reality, however, often is accompanied by an equally astonishing question. If we possess the same “extraordinary Spirit” as Daniel, why do we still tend to trust our own instincts, rely on our own strength and lean on our own understanding? Why would I defer to my own ordinary spirit, rather than yield the floor to God’s extraordinary Spirit? The basic difference between Daniel and me is not that he possessed an extraordinary spirit – but rather that he submitted his life to that extraordinary Spirit.

Walking together with Him!

Scott

November 5, 200

 

In September we began a sermon series entitled “By My Spirit” from the familiar passage in Zechariah 4:6, “Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,' says the Lord Almighty.” At some point, any proper study of the Holy Spirit will necessarily include the topic of worship.

It is interesting that we find two of the most basic elements of true worship in the context of this vivid prophetic revelation Zechariah received about the Spirit. The first is our spontaneous and enthusiastic response to the grace of God enabling us to fulfill our God-given destiny (Zech. 4:7). The second is God’s delight at seeing us live the way we were designed to live (Zech. 4:10). Worship at its core is man’s spirited response to His Creator, and God’s delight in seeing the successfully-fulfilled divine purpose of His creatures.

Spirit and Truth both are required elements for proper worship. In John 4:23-24 Jesus says “A time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."

The “Spirit” aspect of worship clearly involves our immaterial being – the eternal, inward part of us that is housed in our temporary bodies. But it also, necessarily, incorporates the Holy Spirit of God who lives with us and has been deposited/invested in us (John 14:16-17).

Our “spirited” responses to God may be informed by our minds, but there is no question they only can originate from a much deeper place than can be summoned by mere intellect or cognitive processes alone. It is in the place where “Deep calls to deep” (Psalm 42:7) that God’s Spirit connects with ours and draws us into an otherwise unprompted and passionate response to our Father in heaven.

The “Truth” aspect of worship relates to our unique, God-given design and destiny. If we are responding in truth to our Maker we will be marching to the beat of His drum, hearing and obeying His Word, seeking first His Kingdom and His righteousness, keeping in step with His Spirit. It is why we are called to present our bodies as a “living sacrifice” (Rom. 12:1), which places them no longer under our command but God’s alone.

This surrendering act is defined as our “spiritual service of worship” and ultimately will bear out (“prove”) the good, acceptable and perfect will of God. This is what gives God greatest delight. The Apostle John perhaps reflected the Father’s heart best when he wrote “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth” (3 John 1:4).

Responding to the grace of God in our lives with Spirit-ignited, unbridled enthusiasm, and living out His grace with all integrity and no compromise – this is worship at its best, in Spirit and in Truth.

Walking together with Him!
Scott