merittmusings

Does God Live in You?

www.bible.com/1713/1jn.4.15.csb

Could you contain the Creator of the Universe? Could you hold Him in your heart? Sounds impossible, but this is the promise of today’s text. Faith in the Divine Sonship of Christ, the Carpenter’s Son from Galilee, is the qualification. Far removed from those early days of faith it may be easier for us to see Jesus as the Son of God. We have no notions of Him as the kind Nazarene with a broad smile or kind eyes. We didn’t known Him as the powerful preacher or healer in Judea with whom the authorities argued. We didn’t spend time with Him around a campfire as he told them about the Kingdom. We didn’t see His humanity as He suffered on the cross. All we know we’ve experienced through the gospels and the Word of God. Could we believe in Him too?

Jesus once promised greater blessing on those who do not see, and yet believe. We definitely fall into that category. I wish we could hear His voice, to experience the timbre and pitch of the voice of the Son of God. Yet for us, Jesus is a man whose face we’ve only seen in artists’ depictions. We can only imagine what He is like. When He says, ”My sheep know my voice, ” you know we must be familiar with it, but only in the sense of catching His message and truth.

But that voice, though removed from us, still echoes down the corridors of time. Unlike many whose voices were stilled, Jesus still speaks. As Christians, we still hear Him. How do we know this? Because we’re neighbors. He loves in us. Our hearts are ”strangely warmed” by even the record of His words. Do you know His voice? You can even today. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Make Him Lord of your life. He speaks even today.

God bless you in your work today.

The God who Tempts

www.bible.com/1713/jas.1.13.csb

Have you ever underwent a trial and believed God had placed such a burden on you? Have you ever blamed God for putting you into an impossible situation? Have you ever accused God of overwhelming you with circumstances beyond what you could handle? Well, then you might need to hear this verse.

You’ve surely all heard that God won’t give you more than you can handle. That’s a loose interpretation of 1 Cor 10:13. More accurately, it says you will not be tempted beyond what you are able, but that God will provide a way of escape from the temptation. It does not speak to suffering. Yet many people believe that it does, so that suffering comes calling, it is overwhelming.

This people blame God for their suffering. But again, God is not responsible for suffering. He allows it to grow and mature you as a a carpenter might apply a file to smooth out a rough place in wood.

Neither does God tempt you, but He allows temptation to test your resolve. What kind of faith would you have if it was untested? If you read on in this text, you find that temptation doesn’t come from elsewhere, but from the desires of your own heart. Will you go back to the sins that tripped you up before?

While God is responsible for creating this world, He is not responsible for everything that happens in it. He does not sin. We do. And any sin we commit we must be accountable to. We cannot blame God for that. We bear our guilt and shame. Not God.

Yet God loves us so much, He found a way to bear our sin for us, taking the punishment upon Himself, by sending His own Son. Christ bore our sins to the cross and paid for them by His blood. Jesus bore our guilt, at His own expense, to save your soul.

God bless you today.

Trying to Please People

www.bible.com/1713/gal.1.10.csb

In full disclosure, I’ve been guilty of this, especially as a pastor. When your pastor depends on your church for both job and housing, it forces him to walk a dangerous line. On the one hand, he must preach the truth. On the other hand, he cannot call out sin that might endanger his continued employment. He must make as many friends as possible when his position depends on keeping people satisfied. This does not apply to all churches, but if your church can fire a preacher and his family with a board vote, you might be one of them.

This does not mean that preachers ought to be boors. A Preacher ought to be pleasant to talk to and ought to be able to relate to people. Jesus was pleasant, but also spoke with authority. Jesus loves people, but he also loved them enough to address their sins. Jesus could do this without hypocrisy. We are not so good at it.

Caught between our own struggle with sin, we try to preach the truth to others about theirs. Yes. It is complicated. Jesus once said no one can serve two masters. A Preacher cannot serve the Lord and the Church. Let Him serve the Lord, and he will do what needs done in the church. But let him do so in love, for without it he become a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal, a loud noise with no meaning.

This verse brings up a few things for me today. If you’ve read this far you would be right in assuming these kinds of things happened to me a few times. I’m not perfect. Never have been. I don’t have all the answers. I don’t have to. I know someone who does, and that’s enough. But I’ve seen a few things, been hurt by a few others. It still stings today whenever I’m asked if I pastor anywhere. Despite all I’ve been through, I miss it. I would gladly jump back in if given the opportunity.

But I’m also wiser now than I once was. I know more about people than I did when I was 22. I am not as polarized as I used to be. I know people act out of pain and grief and hurt. Evil doesn’t always wear the mask the devil. Sometimes it’s because that person was hurt years ago and they act out of their pain. Jesus could see that. He saw it in the woman at the well. He saw it in Pontius Pilate.

Well, that’s probably enough for today. Make it a good one.

Fearless Love

www.bible.com/1713/1jn.4.18.csb

So what do we know today? I feel like I’ve written about this recently, but I couldn’t find it. Perfect love, mature love, is fearless. Because when Daddy is with you, you aren’t afraid of risk.

So what do we have to fear? You might have heard recently about Kanye West. I too was cautiously optimistic that this conversion might actually be authentic. Here is someone from the celebrity scene that is now taking about Jesus in a good way. He is openly evangelizing. He is doing the work of the church. And the church, well, is being the church.

What I mean is, many churches are downplaying this conversion because he didn’t come from us. If this were a pastor from an unknown church who suddenly popped up on the national scene, the church would be far more accepting. But he’s not. He is like a Paul, someone who openly despised conservative values and was a popular rap artist singing what rap artists rap about until one day God got a hold of him.

I think the church needs to take this as a warning. This is what we need to fear. God picked Kanye because we weren’t getting the message out. Let that sink in. We’ve kept the gospel bottled up in church buildings and Christian lifestyle, so that if you are not like us, you cannot be us. It is a condition the church ought to be familiar with, as we have repeated the same cycle throughout history, until God calls a Paul, or a Martin Luther, or a Tyndale, or a Billy Sunday, or a Tim Tebow. Over and again, God has had to call someone outside the box because the gospel couldn’t get out of the box.

So if God is calling Kanye West to evangelize the lost, it’s because the church wasn’t reaching who He wanted to reach. For Paul, it was outreach to the Gentiles. For Martin Luther, it was outreach to the non-Latins. And so on, and so forth. If the church will not go, then God will call someone else to go. Be afraid Church that you have not lost your relevance.

Something to ponder on this Monday.

Unseen Evidence

https://my.bible.com/verse-of-the-day/HEB.11.1/46037?version=100

What is faith? This verse is often quoted as the answer to that question. Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. Well, as a definition, it often strikes me as ”faith is being faithful.” it doesn’t really answer the question of what faith is. What I hope for doesn’t have a ”substance” and what I can’t see doesn’t really count as “evidence”, does it?

Here’s where you a probably thinking I am going to come back with an amazing answer to this question. But I don’t have one. Faith is taken by itself as evidence of things I don’t have. Confidence is sometimes placed in this verse as an answer, that faith is confidence that what we hope for will in fact happen. If I pray for healing, then faith is the confidence that I will be healed. If I pray for the Lord’s will to be revealed in my life, then faith is knowing that God will reveal that will to me. Faith is grasping what I can’t grasp with my hands. Only by faith can we comprehend things we cannot see with our eyes.

It is by faith that I believe my wife loves me. Either that or it’s an elaborate ruse to gain my confidence so that she can someday do something nefarious. So far, 24+ years on, she has expertly carried on as if she loves me. I can’t see love. But I can see meals prepared, hugs given and received, kisses, even four children brought into the world. If she doesn’t love me, then she has gone through an awful lot of trouble. I believe that love exists, because I can see what it does.

Faith must then be my active portion of that. Faith is what I do based upon what I can’t see, but know is there. Faith is active beyond my senses to my deductions based on what I can see. I believe in God because I see the effects of His creation around me. I believe in Jesus because of the evidence of His life and his work in me. I am not the same man I was when I was saved.

That may not be a great definition, but it is mine. Maybe it will be a help to you today. God bless.

Devoted Do-Gooder

www.bible.com/1713/1pe.3.13.csb

Are yo though, I mean, are you devoted to doing good? How much good-doing does it take to be considered ”devoted”? I’m thinking quite a bit. For this isn’t the occasional good deed done where others can see. It is also maintaining your integrity especially when others cannot see.

But this verse also offers the promise of protection for those who do good. The Lord sees and knows your heart. He knows your motivations, whether it of love and a desire to do good, or a desire out of pride in order to be seen by men. What kind of person will God protect do you think?

Be good. Shun evil. There is now law in heaven for doing good on earth. May God bless you today.

Does No Wrong

www.bible.com/1713/rom.13.10.csb

I believe we have been lured into one of Satan’s most ingenious traps. As Christian people, we have first been lured into the idea that we are all about love. We have been told that Love trumps all, and that God is a God of love. For the most part, this is true. But love has been emphasized so much, it has been emphasized over truth and logic. Is that so wrong? As the first part of this verse suggests, love does no wrong, thus, if I do something in the name of love, it cannot be wrong. Do you see where this is going?

Now Christians are known for being people of love. Our God is love. Our own book says so. So how can we possibly say a thing is wrong if it is done in love? People living together who aren’t married? That ‘s not living in sin anymore. That living in love. People of the same sex who love each other? No problem! They’re in love. What’s the issue? People who love children? Don’t fret yourself. It ‘s still love even if only one party consents, right?

And now all of us Christians have to keep our mouths shut. We’ve been preaching love for centuries. We can’t go back now. This is all love. It’s all good. We are hypocrites if we say these kinds of love are bad. And a hypocritical Christian is a charge we cannot recover from. Oh what a clever trap. We have preached ourselves into a corner because we have only emphasized part of the Word. In our effort to appeal to the masses, we have ignored the weightier matters.

In this verse is the solution. Love is the fulfillment of the law. Love does not and cannot break the law. Love does not make new law, or what was wrong now right. Love is the fulfillment of the law, for what the law prevented by its “don’t’s”, love fulfill by emphasizing its positive. Thou shall not steal becomes respect another’s property. Thou shalt not commit adultery becomes respect the boundaries of your marriage and otbers. Love even calls us to resist anyone else who who would trod upon these values. See must uphold justice when others cannot do themselves. We must advocate for those that cannot speak. If it is in our power to do good, then it is a sin not to.

Love is far more powerful than law, but love never contradicts the law. If we are to love, we must also respect the law, for both come from God, and God does not contradict Himself.

God bless you on this Friday!

Day of Distress

www.bible.com/1713/nam.1.7.csb

Would you take refuge in the Lord if He offered you the chance? If the Lord offered you protection, would you stay in His stronghold? Many would jump at the opportunity, but few would stay because of the terms and conditions.

First, the Lord is good. He’s not just better than most, but is supremely good. He is good unparalleled. There is no higher good than Him. So if you would take refuge in Him, you must be good in His presence. The Lord tolerates no evil not sin in His presence. If you would be protected by the Lord, then you must remain good in His company.

Second, God’s care is supreme. God not only cares for your physics life, but for your soul. He cares whether you are tempted to do those same things that caused you distress in the first place. Once people get a little peace and rest, any vices you enjoy come back to haunt you, and threaten you again with the distress you just escaped. So being in God’s stronghold will require you to change. Change is hard. But change in the hand of a wise teacher is good. He will counsel and encourage, but He will also direct and discipline.

If the Lord offered you safety and protection today, would you take it? Something to consider on this Thursday.

God of Mysteries

www.bible.com/1713/jer.33.3.csb

The deep things of God remain are great mysteries. Even those who’ve spent their lives searching them out can only grasp the most basic concepts. There are depths of God that cannot be fathomed by mortal minds.

Even to begin such an undertaking requires the Holy Spirit, a gift Christians receive upon their baptism. For the Holy Spirit searches the deep things of God (1 Cor 3). The Holy Spirit does better than Google when it comes to the deeps of the Almighty.

So why the invitation? If our minds can’t handle it and the Spirit is our only guide, why does God invite us to know Him?

Are you ever interested in how your dad met your mom? Or what your mom was like growing up? Have you ever talked with your parents about their dreams and desires, or things that they’ve learned? It is one of my privileges to talk to the old and hear these kinds of stories. The human experience is one of the more fascinating elements of history. What life was like. How did people of previous generations solve the same problems without electricity and google?

In the same way, I think we would like to know more about where we came from, and of the mind that brought us into being. What is life like for an eternal Being with an infinite imagination and creativity? What are the principles that govern His Being? What does He like? What are His dreams and desires? Thankfully He didn’t leave Himself without record, for all these answers can be found in His book. That’s right, for all those people who say of their life, “I could write a book!”, He did.

But He didn’t just write a book. That would be too simple. He employed a host of writers who in turn using their own life experiences wrote about God from their own unique perspectives. Yet the same God shines through every page, just to show you that He isn’t an iconoclast or a demagogue, but that expression of God can take on many different means. God expresses Himself directly at times, through voice and prophet, but also through signs and symbols, through Psalm and prose, through gospel letters, even in apocalypse. The same God, but revealed in a myriad of means to appeal to the widest possible audience, human beings. And all are invited to discover His secrets. Woah.

Take some time today and read. You might learn something.

Covenant of Peace

www.bible.com/1713/isa.54.10.csb

I’ve not seen many earthquakes. In fact, I could count them on one hand. When I was growing up in Indiana my hometown was subject to a minor earth tremor from the Midwest faultline in Missouri. It shook the house, but at the time I thought someone was in the next room jumping up and down. Dad said there was a crack in the foundation after it was over. Since then, I’ve not really worried about earthquakes.

Then I find out last week that California had another earthquake. For them, according to a friend at church who grew up out there, it is an everyday occurrence. It’s kind of a ho-hum moment for them unless it gets up in the 5-7 range. They’re all worried about the really big one. Everyone says its coming, but no one knows when.

So when reading this verse today, it seems that earthquakes were more of a problem for Israelites than they are for me in middle America. But I have had a few events in my life that rocked my world, like the birth of my children, losing a job, getting married, moving into a new house, buying a new car. These kinds of major changes, both good and bad, change everything.

The biggest story around here recently was the West Liberty tornado in 2012. It destroyed whole buildings, flattening the downtown. People were described as moving around like zombies, homes gone, the family dispersed to who knows where. It took a lot of time to get the community back on its feet. We live on a thin veneer of civilization. If you remove one thing, like electricity, the whole world can change in just a few hours. You wouldn’t be reading this without electricity.

But what God promises here is a transcendent peace beyond all circumstances. If the world is shaken, or your world is rocked, the peace of the Lord will remain. Nothing in this world can shake loose the love of God on your soul. God doesn’t care what your finances look like, how well-off you are, or what you can offer Him. You already have everything He wants from you. Were you jobless, homeless, or friendless, God would still want you. God will still love you. God has made a covenant of peace with you, not based on your net worth, but on your faith.

Do you believe in this God of mine? Does He still make you tremble when you realize all He endured to bring you to Himself? I want you to know Him too. I want you in on this little secret. He loves you and has given everything, the most valuable gift He would give, His own Son. He sacrificed everything to make you His. Would you join this covenant of peace?