I understand that this argument will fall on def ears for those who do not believe the Bible is God's Word, who otherwise do not believe in the stories therein, the miraculous conception of Christ and the events that surrounded it. That's okay. We should still know what we believe, and this was helpful to me. As I was reading through Luke recently I had some thoughts strike me as relevant to the abortion debate.
Luke 1:41-42
And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!
Notice what leaped in the womb--a baby. That is John as a baby while in the womb, leaped. A baby, not because Elizabeth chose to give birth yet, but because John was a baby in the womb regardless of her choice whether or not to slay him. Also, notice that the fruit of Mary's womb was blessed, and the cause of his leap. Now, this "fruit of the womb" that was in Mary, was Jesus at a very early stage of human development. Yet, He was already blessed for what He was, as He was in the womb. Blessed not because Mary chose to give birth, but blessed regardless of he choice whether or not to slay Him. The person of Jesus, in all His humanity, fully God and fully man, was all of that at the earliest stages of development. He was six months younger than John (verse 26). He was as much a blessed human when he was fruit in the womb, as when He was a full grown man. The blessing did not wait for the birth, but it preceded it. God makes no differentiation, and neither should we.
Sunday, December 13, 2015
Monday, December 7, 2015
How cute was Jesus as a baby?
To look at the baby Jesus with "cuteness", I believe is to gravely misunderstand Him. Personally, I have a hard time looking at Jesus as a baby (as we remember Him portrayed when He was born as a baby during this time of year), and thinking, "That's cute". Even as an infant, He implores this kind of worship, as expressed in O'Holy Night.
"A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices
For yonder breaks a new glorious morn
Fall on your knees"
It is not the cuteness of the baby that drives you to your knees, but His holiness. The gravity of Who He is, and the weight He would be lifting off the world's shoulders (all who trust in Him). Given this gravity of Who He was and what He came to do, the baby Jesus was probably the least "cute" baby that ever was born, to those Who recognize Him for Who He is. Not that He was less than average in physical appearance, but his physical appearance whether aesthetically appealing or not would be obsolete, in light of His Lordship. Do you know Who He is? The knowledge of Who He was and Who He would become was all planned out (Isaiah 53:2), and should greatly overshadow these temporal observations. This is not just any other cute baby.
It was when the child grew and began to speak that many people chided Him, and ultimately would torture Him to death. When we look at the baby Jesus, we must consider His calling and His end (on the cross). Not this was His end forever, because He is risen and is alive today at His rightful place in the heavens--Ruler over all the universe. Do not just consider his mere physical form as a baby, because He was not just any other baby. This baby was miraculously conceived, born of a virgin, Lord of Lords, and King of Kings. It was by Him and through Him, that the world exists (John 1:1-5). This little baby, is worthy of infinitely more than our cute thoughts.
----
Isaiah 42:1-10
42 Behold my servant, whom I uphold,
my chosen, in whom my soul delights;
I have put my Spirit upon him;
he will bring forth justice to the nations.
2 He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice,
or make it heard in the street;
3 a bruised reed he will not break,
and a faintly burning wick he will not quench;
he will faithfully bring forth justice.
4 He will not grow faint or be discouraged
till he has established justice in the earth;
and the coastlands wait for his law.
5 Thus says God, the Lord,
who created the heavens and stretched them out,
who spread out the earth and what comes from it,
who gives breath to the people on it
and spirit to those who walk in it:
6 “I am the Lord; I have called you in righteousness;
I will take you by the hand and keep you;
I will give you as a covenant for the people,
a light for the nations,
7 to open the eyes that are blind,
to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon,
from the prison those who sit in darkness.
8 I am the Lord; that is my name;
my glory I give to no other,
nor my praise to carved idols.
9 Behold, the former things have come to pass,
and new things I now declare;
before they spring forth
I tell you of them.”
Sing to the Lord a New Song
10 Sing to the Lord a new song,
his praise from the end of the earth,
you who go down to the sea, and all that fills it,
the coastlands and their inhabitants.
Tuesday, October 27, 2015
Nobody is Perfect
"Nobody is perfect".
Have you ever said this? I have. Besides the obvious, what are we trying to say?
Often this is said when a mistake has been made and we are trying to make ourselves or someone else feel better. Indeed, we should seek to lift others up and make them feel better, *in Christ*. Apart from Christ, we should feel miserable--because that's what we are.
Instead of finding the encouragement of, "nobody is perfect", in the Bible we see things like the following recorded.
“You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Matthew 5:48 ESV
“And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” James 1:4
“Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”” Matthew 19:21 ESV
---
It would seem that instead of trying to make us comfortable in our obvious imperfection, God would seek to make us very uncomfortable in our imperfection.
When we all stumble and fall in many ways, we must not rest in our imperfection. We must find rest in His perfection--the One Who is willing and able to make anyone perfect.
“All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.”
John 6:37 ESV
Have you ever said this? I have. Besides the obvious, what are we trying to say?
Often this is said when a mistake has been made and we are trying to make ourselves or someone else feel better. Indeed, we should seek to lift others up and make them feel better, *in Christ*. Apart from Christ, we should feel miserable--because that's what we are.
Instead of finding the encouragement of, "nobody is perfect", in the Bible we see things like the following recorded.
“You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Matthew 5:48 ESV
“And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” James 1:4
“Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”” Matthew 19:21 ESV
---
It would seem that instead of trying to make us comfortable in our obvious imperfection, God would seek to make us very uncomfortable in our imperfection.
When we all stumble and fall in many ways, we must not rest in our imperfection. We must find rest in His perfection--the One Who is willing and able to make anyone perfect.
“All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.”
John 6:37 ESV
Thursday, October 15, 2015
The Greatest Threat to the Church
The threat to the church is not the fiery furnace of persecution. The threat is not the stripping of native "religious freedoms" we have become accustomed to. The threat is not the pressing trials on our bodies in sickness or poverty. No, God through Paul told us that these were even to God's glory as Christ would be manifest in us through them (2 Cor 4:8-10). The great threat is not even the charlatan who boasts great blasphemes and heretical things. Such men or women are easily set aside with a few words from Scripture and left for the spiritually deprived and reprobate to follow. Not to go completely unaddressed, but His sheep know His voice.
The great threat is a lackadaisical approach to sin in our every day lives. It is the insincerity of heart that in a supposed familiarity with God, breeds contempt towards His holiness and how we live up to our calling in response to it. It's not the outlandish God-hater, or blasphemer who brings the greatest threat. Rather, within an otherwise Scriptural-sound company of brothers, it's sleepiness towards God and indifference to our calling, taking root in our every day lives. The greatest threat to the church is found in the lukewarm waters of tolerance towards our own sinful state; a heart that leads to the lighthearted approval of carnal pursuits, lusts, and desires that have no actual sincere thought to the glory or holiness of Christ. We sing glory, but we do not pursue it. He would not have us lukewarm (Rev 3:15-17).
This threat to the church has a mind to see another brother indulging in irreverent speech, only to long for an excuse to do the same; or, perhaps to just ignore it. Never does it lovingly take issue, as not to offend with the holiness of God, or bring a concern to how the holiness of God as expressed in us is under attack. After all, we all must have a little fun in fruitless pursuits, and all things are permissible. The great threat is the claim on "Christian liberty" as a means of fulfilling our own lusts.
A smile at the audacious things of outsiders we think to be somehow set apart from the reality of how our own heart reacts to such things. Does it yearn for the holiness of God, or does it smirk? Do we not also indulge in their behavior in our hypocritical thinking? Jesus said that to lust in the heart and to be angry without just cause was to be an adulterer and a murderer. Do we get His message? Or, do we with piety in the light of day agree that we would never participate in those sinful things--but say those things are still good for a laugh! In the dark of night it delights us. Not in His light but in light of our televisions and computer screens.
Then, as if sin was some joke to be trifled with we give it a subtle wink and confess "my bad", to move along quickly and go unnoticed. We are a "my bad" lukewarm society. We try not to take notice of our sin, but God notices. He notices that we have both had our light fill of sin, and our light fill of repentance.
At worst this leads to mocking those brothers and sisters who do daily pine earnestly for a sanctified life after Christ; viewed as being unnecessarily "hardcore", and meanwhile being satisfied in our own hardcore pursuits of permitted carnality. So long as "grace" is invoked, then holiness needs not chased. The great threat is forgetting Him (Who He really is) Who snatched us from the files of hell to a higher calling; calling us instead to His unchanging and ever-consuming holiness, by which we are being saved.
Thursday, September 17, 2015
Step into the Light, in order to have all your (secret) sins exposed.
Who is going to take care of your secret sins--the secret sins you don't even know about?
Proverbs 21:2 says, "All a man's ways seem right to him, but the LORD evaluates the motives."
We often think we are great judges of character--especially our own character. They may think they know me, but they don't know me... not like I know me. I'm a really good person. I have evaluated myself, and look, see I am very good.
Left to our own devices, we are not great judges of our selves at all. Oh sure, we are able to evaluate ourselves honestly to a degree. But, wholly, completely? No. Much of our sins are hidden in darkness (and many are laid open for others to see). Consider the entire spectrum of sin, and consider the entire spectrum of light. Much of light is not seen by the naked eye so to is man's sin. Though we think we are great at seeing all the light, we really aren't good at all. We miss so much.
Consider how little of the light spectrum we can see. Now, sin is not light... Jesus is the light. But it is by the light that our sins are exposed and dealt with.
Jesus said, "And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed." (John 3:19-20)
Most often, this saying of Jesus is simply understood as there are parts hidden in darkness; willingly concealed or otherwise, but sins hidden that are in shadows we aren't willing (or maybe even able) to see. I think that is a fine understand of what Jesus is saying. However, I believe it is also understood in considering the spectrum of light that exists beyond our scope of vision.
With Jesus, He will reveal things to us (by the light) that we never saw before. Even then, though, our minds can only fathom so much at a time. He reveals it little by little over our entire life, and He is faithful through it all. Our only hope for true exposure of our sin and consequently forgiveness, is to step into the light--the One who covers the entire spectrum seen and unseen--in order to be healed.
It is often put forth that "No man (mankind) can judge me, only God can do that!" In some regard, I say Amen! You (I) cannot even judge yourself! Yet to truly grasp the depth of our own depravity, is to grasp that we are as equally unqualified to judge the depths of our own motives as any other man would be. Only God can judge me (truly, wholly, completely), and He will. If you haven't stepped into the light, however, then we shouldn't count on that fact working in your favor.
So, what then? If we cannot even know the depravity of our own hearts such that we can stand firm on our own righteousness, how can we hope to stand before God who knows the motives of our hearts? How can we ever hope to justify ourselves and make ourselves pure? We can't.
When God judges sin--all sin--in the most secret regions of your heart, how can a man hope to be ready? There is coming a day when God will judge the secrets of our hearts (Romans 2:16); secrets even to us. Secrets that if revealed to you--fully the whole depth of depravity--it would leave us as an irreconcilable heap of pity.
SO, JESUS.
We cannot deal with our own blindness to our own sin, on our own. We cannot see the entire spectrum of our sin without the help of the light, or hope to have it reconciled. With man, this is impossible; but with God, all things are possible (Matthew 19:26). He is our only hope to have our sins--both sins glaringly obvious or secretly concealed--paid for completely above and beyond what we could have ever understood on our own.
Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12)
Proverbs 21:2 says, "All a man's ways seem right to him, but the LORD evaluates the motives."
We often think we are great judges of character--especially our own character. They may think they know me, but they don't know me... not like I know me. I'm a really good person. I have evaluated myself, and look, see I am very good.
Left to our own devices, we are not great judges of our selves at all. Oh sure, we are able to evaluate ourselves honestly to a degree. But, wholly, completely? No. Much of our sins are hidden in darkness (and many are laid open for others to see). Consider the entire spectrum of sin, and consider the entire spectrum of light. Much of light is not seen by the naked eye so to is man's sin. Though we think we are great at seeing all the light, we really aren't good at all. We miss so much.
Consider how little of the light spectrum we can see. Now, sin is not light... Jesus is the light. But it is by the light that our sins are exposed and dealt with.
Jesus said, "And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed." (John 3:19-20)
Most often, this saying of Jesus is simply understood as there are parts hidden in darkness; willingly concealed or otherwise, but sins hidden that are in shadows we aren't willing (or maybe even able) to see. I think that is a fine understand of what Jesus is saying. However, I believe it is also understood in considering the spectrum of light that exists beyond our scope of vision.
With Jesus, He will reveal things to us (by the light) that we never saw before. Even then, though, our minds can only fathom so much at a time. He reveals it little by little over our entire life, and He is faithful through it all. Our only hope for true exposure of our sin and consequently forgiveness, is to step into the light--the One who covers the entire spectrum seen and unseen--in order to be healed.
It is often put forth that "No man (mankind) can judge me, only God can do that!" In some regard, I say Amen! You (I) cannot even judge yourself! Yet to truly grasp the depth of our own depravity, is to grasp that we are as equally unqualified to judge the depths of our own motives as any other man would be. Only God can judge me (truly, wholly, completely), and He will. If you haven't stepped into the light, however, then we shouldn't count on that fact working in your favor.
So, what then? If we cannot even know the depravity of our own hearts such that we can stand firm on our own righteousness, how can we hope to stand before God who knows the motives of our hearts? How can we ever hope to justify ourselves and make ourselves pure? We can't.
When God judges sin--all sin--in the most secret regions of your heart, how can a man hope to be ready? There is coming a day when God will judge the secrets of our hearts (Romans 2:16); secrets even to us. Secrets that if revealed to you--fully the whole depth of depravity--it would leave us as an irreconcilable heap of pity.
SO, JESUS.
We cannot deal with our own blindness to our own sin, on our own. We cannot see the entire spectrum of our sin without the help of the light, or hope to have it reconciled. With man, this is impossible; but with God, all things are possible (Matthew 19:26). He is our only hope to have our sins--both sins glaringly obvious or secretly concealed--paid for completely above and beyond what we could have ever understood on our own.
Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12)
Wednesday, May 20, 2015
Do you believe in God? Have you known the King, or just known about Him?
Have you found God? This is much more than an intellectual concession, agreeing that you have a Maker, going to church, or even finding Jesus to have possessed some wisdom. This is far more than an appreciation for a divine justice you believe and hope will be served out on evil someday (no doubt we think, decidedly in our favor). However, I can have an appreciation for a king, a respect for his dominion, and yet never know him.
In many places Jesus said that it is in knowing Him (not just knowing about Him or agreeing with Him on some points), where people find salvation (Matthew 7:23, for example). So have I sought the king, and upon seeking have I found the king? Have I known about the king, and appreciated His lordship over the land, or have I known the king personally? That is an entirely different question, and relationship.
Do you believe you are saved? By what merit? Because you believed in God? Perhaps you have read the Bible, and believed some of the things in it. Yet, very studious people who devote themselves to studying the Scriptures can be not saved (John 5:39); even devoting a life's work to it. The Bible also says that even the demons believe that God exists, and they tremble (James 2:19).
Do you believe God loves you? Those who have truly received the love of God, and who will receive the love of God in the life to come are those who have found Him--not just conceded to a belief in an Almighty maker of the cosmos Who they think will someday right all the wrongs that have been done against them or other people. Have you found Him, or do you just know some things about him? There is a huge difference.
Unless we have known the king, all of our appreciation for his Majesty and dominion will be for naught, and the justice we hope he will serve will be decidedly not in our favor. If you have not found God, you have not loved him. If you have not loved him, then what hope should we have that this Almighty maker of the cosmos would decide anything in our favor on the day of judgment?
I love those who love me, And those who seek me diligently will find me. (Proverbs 8:17)
In many places Jesus said that it is in knowing Him (not just knowing about Him or agreeing with Him on some points), where people find salvation (Matthew 7:23, for example). So have I sought the king, and upon seeking have I found the king? Have I known about the king, and appreciated His lordship over the land, or have I known the king personally? That is an entirely different question, and relationship.
Do you believe you are saved? By what merit? Because you believed in God? Perhaps you have read the Bible, and believed some of the things in it. Yet, very studious people who devote themselves to studying the Scriptures can be not saved (John 5:39); even devoting a life's work to it. The Bible also says that even the demons believe that God exists, and they tremble (James 2:19).
Do you believe God loves you? Those who have truly received the love of God, and who will receive the love of God in the life to come are those who have found Him--not just conceded to a belief in an Almighty maker of the cosmos Who they think will someday right all the wrongs that have been done against them or other people. Have you found Him, or do you just know some things about him? There is a huge difference.
Unless we have known the king, all of our appreciation for his Majesty and dominion will be for naught, and the justice we hope he will serve will be decidedly not in our favor. If you have not found God, you have not loved him. If you have not loved him, then what hope should we have that this Almighty maker of the cosmos would decide anything in our favor on the day of judgment?
I love those who love me, And those who seek me diligently will find me. (Proverbs 8:17)
Friday, April 3, 2015
Do we compartmentalize God? This is a confession, and a general observation.
On Sunday morning at our church gatherings when music is played, it is about God. This may seem like a silly question, but why? Why is that? It's very intentional in proclaiming God, singing to God, about God, and for God. Why? The music choice is very specific in that way. We would all be pretty shocked and even rightfully offended to hear an AC/DC, Katie Perry, or some other famous musician’s song played during Sunday morning worship. But, is Tuesday morning not supposed to be filled with worship? Is that not the time to worship God? Not now, Lord… wait for Sunday morning. I’ll give you your day. Is not Thursday evening His?
So when we listen to music (as an example) during all the other times in our life, how are we expressing that worship? Is it consistent, or have we compartmentalized God for His special God time and God place? Do we set aside God worship for Sunday morning, Wednesday evening, or some other special time set apart for Him? Not that we shouldn't set special alone time apart for God in solitude, away from our daily distractions—that is something else. Of course we should do that as often as we can and need to.
How do we compartmentalize God—to subtly make little of Him?
We might say things likes “my sports life”, or “work life”, or “political life”, or “social life”, or perhaps “family life” and whatever other life we may make distinction of? What do we mean exactly? The most important thing here is to not get hung up on terms, but to honestly ask ourselves—do I isolate God? Is our sports life in some way disconnected from our family life? Is our work life somehow disconnected from our spiritual life? We may be looking at this all wrong.
“Yes, but”, someone will say, “My work life *is* distinct from my family life. I cannot be with my family when I’m at work. For all intents and purposes I have no interaction with my family when I am at work.” Perhaps this would be a true distinction, if the only way you served your family was by face-to-face, direct interaction. But, if you are called to work to support your family as most families do have at least one person who is, then really that is an extension of your family life. Whether in close proximity working in the yard while the kids are napping, or working downtown while the kids are in school. Even so, there may be some true distinction in this thinking because all of us are finite. Our spouse, our kids, our coworkers, our neighbors—we are all very much not omnipresent. Again, not to get hung up on terms, we’ll say maybe that’s just fine so long as we aren't neglecting those we should love in doing so. Most importantly, so long as we aren't isolating God to His room, to await His special time we allow Him to have an impression on our lives.
The main danger I seek to root out is the thinking of setting certain “lives” aside apart from God, as compartments that are our own unique territories somehow isolated from the calling of God; my sports life, my family life, my work life, my church life, and my spiritual life—even my prayer life.
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. (1st Thessalonians 5:16-18)
Do we treat God like our lives are a microwave dinner? We pick and choose what He will touch, when, and how. Complete with all of its separate little compartments, designed not to mix until we choose to bring them together at the appointed time in our stomach? See, we aren't meant to be microwave TV dinners; corn over here, mashed potatoes over there, molten lava brownie in the corner, and our main dish steeped in gravy (Salisbury steak because we can all agree, it is the best). Now that I've either made you hungry or a little sick… hear this Psalm and be renewed.
Psalm 139:7-12
7 Where shall I go from your Spirit?
Or where shall I flee from your presence?
8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there!
If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
9 If I take the wings of the morning
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
10 even there your hand shall lead me,
and your right hand shall hold me.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,
and the light about me be night,”
12 even the darkness is not dark to you;
the night is bright as the day,
for darkness is as light with you.
Do you hear the heart in this Psalm? Do you see what he is saying? Rather than microwave dinners with our own little compartments, isolated from the good gravy of God’s Spirit, we are better off to be mindful of God as this Psalm shows us in every aspect of our life—to be like a hot stew wrapped with the constant savor of the juices of worship throughout every bite, immovably woven throughout every single savor—a chicken pot pie.
Do we reserve the worship of God for Sunday mornings? What do we choose to listen to throughout the rest of the week? Do we have special God music for Sunday morning—a time when our Monday through Saturday music isn't played, only to bust out the non-Sunday morning worship music for our own time the other six days of the week? Do we have a special attitude we save for Sunday morning where we elevate God in our hearts in a special way, which we do not present the rest of the week? Do we have a special way of thinking and talking on Sunday morning that only leaves us Monday morning when we go to work? It ought to not be so.
Inviting God into everything is a submission of our will, more than giving God permission.
Let us be so engrossed in the savor of God that we delight in Him always. Let us say as the psalmist says, “Where shall I go from Your Spirit!?” May God be holy all the time, and no more or less holy to us on Sunday morning than He is on Tuesday afternoon. And may He be utterly holy. That is my desire.
Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me. If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,” even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you.
On Sunday morning at our church gatherings when music is played, it is about God. This may seem like a silly question, but why? Why is that? It's very intentional in proclaiming God, singing to God, about God, and for God. Why? The music choice is very specific in that way. We would all be pretty shocked and even rightfully offended to hear an AC/DC, Katie Perry, or some other famous musician’s song played during Sunday morning worship. But, is Tuesday morning not supposed to be filled with worship? Is that not the time to worship God? Not now, Lord… wait for Sunday morning. I’ll give you your day. Is not Thursday evening His?
So when we listen to music (as an example) during all the other times in our life, how are we expressing that worship? Is it consistent, or have we compartmentalized God for His special God time and God place? Do we set aside God worship for Sunday morning, Wednesday evening, or some other special time set apart for Him? Not that we shouldn't set special alone time apart for God in solitude, away from our daily distractions—that is something else. Of course we should do that as often as we can and need to.
How do we compartmentalize God—to subtly make little of Him?
We might say things likes “my sports life”, or “work life”, or “political life”, or “social life”, or perhaps “family life” and whatever other life we may make distinction of? What do we mean exactly? The most important thing here is to not get hung up on terms, but to honestly ask ourselves—do I isolate God? Is our sports life in some way disconnected from our family life? Is our work life somehow disconnected from our spiritual life? We may be looking at this all wrong.
“Yes, but”, someone will say, “My work life *is* distinct from my family life. I cannot be with my family when I’m at work. For all intents and purposes I have no interaction with my family when I am at work.” Perhaps this would be a true distinction, if the only way you served your family was by face-to-face, direct interaction. But, if you are called to work to support your family as most families do have at least one person who is, then really that is an extension of your family life. Whether in close proximity working in the yard while the kids are napping, or working downtown while the kids are in school. Even so, there may be some true distinction in this thinking because all of us are finite. Our spouse, our kids, our coworkers, our neighbors—we are all very much not omnipresent. Again, not to get hung up on terms, we’ll say maybe that’s just fine so long as we aren't neglecting those we should love in doing so. Most importantly, so long as we aren't isolating God to His room, to await His special time we allow Him to have an impression on our lives.
The main danger I seek to root out is the thinking of setting certain “lives” aside apart from God, as compartments that are our own unique territories somehow isolated from the calling of God; my sports life, my family life, my work life, my church life, and my spiritual life—even my prayer life.
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. (1st Thessalonians 5:16-18)
Do we treat God like our lives are a microwave dinner? We pick and choose what He will touch, when, and how. Complete with all of its separate little compartments, designed not to mix until we choose to bring them together at the appointed time in our stomach? See, we aren't meant to be microwave TV dinners; corn over here, mashed potatoes over there, molten lava brownie in the corner, and our main dish steeped in gravy (Salisbury steak because we can all agree, it is the best). Now that I've either made you hungry or a little sick… hear this Psalm and be renewed.
Psalm 139:7-12
7 Where shall I go from your Spirit?
Or where shall I flee from your presence?
8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there!
If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
9 If I take the wings of the morning
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
10 even there your hand shall lead me,
and your right hand shall hold me.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,
and the light about me be night,”
12 even the darkness is not dark to you;
the night is bright as the day,
for darkness is as light with you.
Do you hear the heart in this Psalm? Do you see what he is saying? Rather than microwave dinners with our own little compartments, isolated from the good gravy of God’s Spirit, we are better off to be mindful of God as this Psalm shows us in every aspect of our life—to be like a hot stew wrapped with the constant savor of the juices of worship throughout every bite, immovably woven throughout every single savor—a chicken pot pie.
Do we reserve the worship of God for Sunday mornings? What do we choose to listen to throughout the rest of the week? Do we have special God music for Sunday morning—a time when our Monday through Saturday music isn't played, only to bust out the non-Sunday morning worship music for our own time the other six days of the week? Do we have a special attitude we save for Sunday morning where we elevate God in our hearts in a special way, which we do not present the rest of the week? Do we have a special way of thinking and talking on Sunday morning that only leaves us Monday morning when we go to work? It ought to not be so.
Inviting God into everything is a submission of our will, more than giving God permission.
Let us be so engrossed in the savor of God that we delight in Him always. Let us say as the psalmist says, “Where shall I go from Your Spirit!?” May God be holy all the time, and no more or less holy to us on Sunday morning than He is on Tuesday afternoon. And may He be utterly holy. That is my desire.
Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me. If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,” even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you.
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