Delight

“Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.” Psalm 1:1,2

This passage to some extent bothers me.  It makes it sound like we are to be completely isolated and insulated from those whom we might (and God might) consider ‘wicked’ or ‘sinners’ or ‘scoffers,’ when the reality is that there by the grace of God, go I.

Jesus in his ministry spent an abundant amount of time with the wicked and sinners and scoffers.  And some of them, maybe a lot of them, turned their lives around and followed the Savior. But again, the passage actually isn’t telling what we are to do to achieve righteousness, it is telling us what we will do. After righteousness calls.

A lot of us have before and after stories.  What life was like before Christ, and what it has been like after.  Before Christ, many of us can relate to being in ‘counsel’ (literally getting advice from) with wicked or being in the ‘way’ (a path or road with the goals and purposes) of sinners or sitting in the seat (a place of honor) of a scoffer.  But after Christ, we delight – not in those former things, as Paul says, “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” (visit 2 Corinthians 5:17)

The new delights in what God wants (as outlined generously in his law), yet still not being afraid to be around ‘wicked’ or ‘sinners’ or ‘scoffers’, but allowing God’s word to give us the advice, purposes and place of honor that any of us needs.

Be out there.  We have to be.  But always come back to Christ.  And delight in him.

Timing

He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority.” Acts 1:7

Luke records these as some of Jesus’ last words before he ascended into heaven.  Of course, he said this after being asked, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”

Bad question at the wrong time, I guess.  The point Jesus makes is that everything, and he means everything, is under God’s control.

Even the seasons.

We’ve now entered my favorite season of the year.  Fall.  Days have cooled off and dried out, night are delightful.  I know a lot of you don’t like this time of year simply because of what comes next.  Winter.  Is it going to be a bad winter? While some are saying yes, let me quote our Lord, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority.”

It will be what it will be.  It is God’s under control. I guess I can go with that.

Which reminds me.  What season are you in now?  Are there better…or worse seasons coming?  The answer is yes. To both.

But.  The more you know about our God the more you can trust him.  Proverbs 3:5 says, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.”

That sort of trust makes questions like, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” or “is it going to be a bad winter?” or “what is my next season going to be like?” rather mute.  Important, yes.  But the answers lie in God’s sovereignty and love.  He is in control, he is love, now can we trust him in what is to come?

I want to answer yes, and most of the time I do.  I know I should without fail, but I am as human as anyone else. I’ll keep working on it.  How about you?  Whatever season you find yourselves in, look to the Lord and know what is to come is fixed by his own authority.

And let’s work on the trust together.  It is fall. And what is to come is fixed by his own authority.   

Thank God.

Imitation

“Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children.” Ephesians 5:1

I received this short snippet of Scripture in an email the other morning, and my first thought was –where’s the rest of the passage?

My second thought was –Chris, you should know the rest of the thought. “And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”

Ok.  What really threw me was the, “be imitators of God.”  This I know.   God is a lot of things that I am not nor will I even pretend to be.  Frankly it would be frightening if I were God or even thought I was.

Which gets to a point.  Paul says, “be imitators….”  The transitive verb “imitate” means, according to Webster, “to follow as a pattern, model, or example.” I know I’ll always be a shallow and flawed imitator of the One I’m supposed “to follow as a pattern, model, or example.”  But that does not mean I should stop trying.  The context of Paul’s words are about being “as beloved children” walking, “in love, as Christ loved us.”   

It’s about love.  God, through Christ, so loved us… (if you can’t finish this sentence visit John 3:16) that we are to imitate his love back into the world around us.  As trusters and believers in Jesus we have been so loved…that we are to love back out. Sacrificially, if needed, as modeled by Jesus.

That is the imitation we are to be about.  We are to “follow as a pattern, model, or example” the incredible undeserved love that Jesus has heaped on us.  And be that love out into a world that is suffering without and even sometimes with Jesus.  Yes I know I will strive to do so, and will do so imperfectly. And I’ll trust God’s grace to cover my imperfections.  But it is a call to all those he calls his own. “Be imitators of God, as beloved children.” 

Got it.

Sound

Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you. - 2 Timothy 1:13-14

This passage really got me to thinking.

A couple of things jump out at me about it.  The first is we are to “Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me.”  Which means there is no need to be making things up as we go forward in the faith.  Everything we need for faith and practice can be found in Scripture – which was simply what Paul’s “sounds words” often were referring back to.  Sounds words that themselves we now accept as Scripture.  This does not mean that every answer to life’s individual problems can be found in Scripture – but what we need to know is all found there.  All things “in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus” are there.

Which leads to the second thing. We can study Scripture all we want, but if we are not relying on “the Holy Spirit who dwells within us” it will be a dead exercise.  I think another way of saying this is found in Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians when he wrote, “For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” (Visit 2 Cor. 3:6)

Even the soundest of words, spoken or listened to without the Spirit will mean little; in fact it can be used to crush people.

Be sound.  Be about life! Be about the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.  Trust His Spirit to work in and through you. 

And see what happens.

Die

For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. - Philippians 1:21

Sometimes, when I read a verse like this, I wonder if we Christians have a death wish. Indeed when Paul wrote this he was in fact a prisoner stuck in Jail (Rome likely). He did not know what his future held (I guess none of us really know what our futures hold), and was openly pondering in this letter what would be better.  Life – in prison even though he still could minister the grace of Christ to others, or death, which would men being in the presence of Jesus. One was good…but he called the other “gain.”

When I saw this passage in my email Monday morning, my mind took me somewhere else than, admittedly, the context of this verse of Philippians is about.

Yet, where my mind took me was not inaccurate.  Probably more of a reflection on what I was feeling at that moment.

“…To live is Christ, and to die is gain.”

Other verses started flooding my head.  Things like, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me." (visit Galatians 2:20) Or, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me." (visit Luke 9:23) Or even a few chapter later in Galatians where Paul writes, “And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” (visit Galatians 5:24)

Die.

I’m such an imperfect person.  I am. There are many things in me that disgust me that still need to die. There are. Oh, don’t get me wrong, many things already have died, but I’m not there yet.  I want, while I’m still on this side of eternity, to truly and freely experience, “to live is Christ,” and experience it fully.

Oh, I get glimpses, it is like seeing in a mirror dimly (visit 1 Cor. 13:12).  But those glimpses of what I should be in Christ are so fleeting.   

This I know.  I’m closer now to what I should be than I ever have been before.  Someday, I shall be perfect.  But not in this lifetime.  That is why Paul could say with all honesty, “to die is gain.”

No, I don’t have a death wish.  Not completely.  Just a longing to really know what it would be like to “live is Christ.”

I need to die.  And Christ needs to live in me.