Purpose of Man: Love God

Yeah, so this is better than Monday, but hopefully, I don't have another moment in chapel, where I think, "Oh, this would make a good blog post idea. OH, I didn't publish one today!" They really aren't fun.

You've heard me say before that the purpose of man is to love God and enjoy Him forever, and through that, we glorify Him. This is the essence of something I am desperately seeking to know. How does one die to self and live for Him? If He is all that it takes to serve Him, then what effort must we do? What is our part? How does dying to self actually look in our life on a day-to-day basis?

And with today's chapel message, I begin to be more and more convinced that the main thing we need to do is just get to know and appreciate God more and more. As we study more and more about Him, and spend more and more time with Him, serving Him and living appropriately just starts to flow.

Not that it becomes easy or that our nature suddenly stops wanting to sin, but we start to more successfully abide in Him. We surrender to what He wants, and we're already all ready to accept His grace immediately when we sin and move on to serve Him greater.

So how do we do die to self? By fully knowing and understanding God, and asking Him to grant us a love and desire for Him. At least, that's part of it. I'll let you know what else the Lord teaches me on this subject as time goes on.

Going Deeper in the Book of Nehemiah

I'm guessing you've gathered from my rather brilliant title that we are going deeper into the book of Nehemiah today. You should pat yourself on the back for your accomplishment.

But yes, that book which I and every one else loves to discuss and share truths from is exactly where we'll be going once more. Hopefully, you haven't grown bored of a wonderful part of the Word of God yet!

So we all are pretty familiar with the events of the book. The Israelites are in bad shape - they are poor because of a famine, their rulers are exploiting their poverty, simply making it worse, they are selling their children into slavery because things are just that bad. And then just to top it off, their wall's been torn down.

Now the wall wouldn't have just looked cool for the Israelites! Rather, it would have been protection from outside forces. Thus, the Israelites were vulnerable to attacks from Sanballat and Tobiah and the lesser-known Geshem the Arabian.

But we know that Nehemiah enters the story and suddenly all else is good in the world. Nehemiah's life can teach us many great lessons, like how to properly handle burdens, how to be a good leader, and how to keep from getting ambushed in the wilderness (the answer is of course, don't go because you are too involved in the work of the Lord).

But you know what in all of these things we seem to be missing one largely important thing - why was the book written in the first place? Why did Nehemiah pen these words? Better yet, why did the Holy Spirit direct Nehemiah to write this book?

Pulling in all our lessons are not necessarily wrong, but we should dig a little deeper to find out why it was written.

And of course, to do that, it would be necessary to take ourselves back to the time in which it was written.

The time is after the 70 years predicted by Jeremiah that the captivity would last. The Temple has been rebuilt, and the people have returned to Jerusalem. At that time, everyone thought that this was it. That Zerubbabel, the son of David, would rise to the throne, and Israel would be restored.

But no throne for poor Zerubbabel, and David's line had still not returned to the throne of Israel. God didn't seem to be keeping His promises anymore. Indeed, the fact that there was a famine and that everything seemed stacked against the Israelites might have led many to wonder - does God even care?

Then comes Nehemiah. When he hears of the destruction of the wall, he is distraught, but he does one thing at the very beginning of the book. He prays. And in that prayer, he confirms that God is not the kind of being that turns His back on His people. Instead in Nehemiah 1:5, we read,

"And said, I beseech thee, O Lord God of heaven, the great and terrible God, that keepeth covenant and mercy for them that love him and observe his commandments:"

 God keeps covenant and mercy for them that love Him and observe His commandments. Hmmm... I guess that means God still cares for His people right?

Further, it is seen that this word for mercy, is the covenantal word hּׅesed which could be translated loyal love or lovingkindness, but actually means a lot more. It is a word linked to the covenants of God. The covenant this one seems to link to would be the conditional mosaic covenant. If the Israelites hold up their end of the bargain, God will hold up His. 

Thus, Nehemiah seeks to show that God still cares for His people and those that love Him. It signifies this theme by showing God's provision through the person of Nehemiah, as well as showing the Israelites grow to observe more of God's commandments. 

So, does God still care, according to Nehemiah, it's against his nature not to. And where do we find this proclamation? Well, right at the beginning, where you would expect to find a thesis statement! 

And that's not all. If you were writing  story, you'd want your theme to be explicit from the start, but you would also want to repeat it from time to time. Observe, how this operates in the book of Nehemiah, 

"Think upon me, my God, for good, according to all that I have done for this people." ~Nehemiah 5:19 

"My God, think thou upon Tobiah and Sanballat according to these their works, and on the prophetess Noadiah, and the rest of the prophets, that would have put me in fear." ~Nehemiah 6:14 

"And for the wood offering, at times appointed, and for the firstfruits. Remember me, O my God, for good." ~Nehemiah 13:31  

It's easy to just read past these words, but when you examine this based on the purpose behind the book itself, you notice that these are actually super important textual clues that point to a unified part of the book.

And you should pay special attention to what shows up in Nehemiah 13:32.


For those of you who actually follow all my Bible links, I'm sorry. There is not Nehemiah 13:32, and there isn't a Nehemiah 14 either. The book ends with Nehemiah asking the Lord, "Remember me, O my God, for good."

That is not a coincidence. Because when you are writing anything, you try to make sure your point is near the beginning of the book, near the end of the book, and interspersed throughout the book, and that's exactly what Nehemiah has done here.

So what does it all mean? It means that God does not abandon His people. He didn't abandon Israel, and He won't abandon us. Indeed, if it seems that you are having difficulty in your relationship with the Lord, it can only be because you have sin that is driving you away from the Lord.

The good news, the Lord will still extend care and provision and His unconditional promises, like salvation to those who have accepted Him no matter what. Also, He is always willing to restore fellowship with those who want to love Him and observe His commandments once more.

 Read within this light, those stories certainly do hold a lot more weight than some moral we apply to them, don't they?

Habakkuk: Why God Has not Abandoned You

Habakkuk is perplexed. He just can't seem to understand the way that God operates anymore. So much wickedness is prevalent in Israel, and yet He stands by idle. How in the world can He let this continue? 

Habakkuk's bafflement causes him to beseech God to tell him why. Yet Habakkuk was not prepared for the Lord's answer, which we read in Habakkuk 1:5-7, 

"Behold ye among the heathen, and regard, and wonder marvelously: for I will work a work in your days which ye will not believe, though it be told you. For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, which shall march through the breadth of the land, to possess the dwellingplaces that are not their's. They are terrible and dreadful: their judgment and their dignity shall proceed of themselves."

Oh, right, that little nation the size of Puerto Rico that is more wicked and evil than us is going to bring us into captivity. I shouldn't have brought this us, Lord; is there any other way?

It is within Habakkuk's attempt at talking God out of it, or maybe just again wondering why God seemed to be turning a blind eye to evil where we get one of my absolute favorite verses of the Bible - Habakkuk 1:13,

"Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity: wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he?"

So the Lord responds by saying that yes, Habakkuk, the Chaldeans do deserve judgment for their evil deeds, and they will receive... but only after they have taken the Israelites captive.

This seeming neglect for the Israelites on behalf of God leaves Habakkuk worried and distraught. We pick up on his emotions in Habakkuk 3:1-2,

"A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet upon Shigionoth. O Lord, I have heard thy speech, and was afraid: O Lord, revive thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known; in wrath remember mercy."

 Now obviously, Habakkuk is asking the Lord to remember His mercies in the midst of pouring out punishments because quite frankly he is just a tad concerned of what's going on. But Habakkuk answers his own concern by relaying a short history of the Israelite people.

It takes more time than I have here to break down every single bit of his references, but here are a few: the crossing of the Red Sea, the Sun standing still at Gibeon, the acts of Joshua and the conquest, and the defense of the Lord most generally.

Habakkuk's point is perhaps best summarized by New Testament verse Philippians 1:6,

"Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:" 

The book of Habakkuk capstones with the last three verses,

"Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds' feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places. To the chief singer on my stringed instruments."

Here we see that circumstances may not be great. Indeed, there seems to be as many different bad things going on as Habakkuk could fathom. Yet he is rejoicing in the Lord. Yet he believes that his enjoyment of God will outdo all of that.

And how? "The Lord God is my strength." Habakkuk acknowledges that the Lord will not turn His back on Israel, and will indeed strengthen him to do that which he would not be able to do in the first place.

In fact, Habakkuk uses the image of a goat's foot. It is quite impressive where goats are able to find themselves with their little feet. Thus, Habakkuk is convinced that the Lord is able to strengthen him to do what is extraordinary - show joy in any and all circumstances.

And that reminds me of another often misused verse from the book of Philippians - 4:11-13,

"Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.  know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me."

It's Probably your Fault

Oh, right, I forgot, I shouldn't upset readers by saying that something in their life could have been avoided. People aren't fond of being told they did something wrong. Oh, well, I'm not writing this blog to please or entertain people, so...

In my relationship with the Lord, it would seem that there has been a rough patch once again. Times are tough and the relationship doesn't seem to be growing at all. And I at once just want to know why. Why? Why? Why?

But my first reaction wasn't to look to myself. Though I did not explicitly start blaming God, by refusing to look to myself for responsibility, I implicitly said that it was the fault of the Lord that all seemed to be dead. Perhaps my feeling was just that God is not obligated to give me anything, even a solid relationship with Him, and so maybe right now, He simply isn't.

Though technically true, that God is not obligated to give His children anything, my sentiment ignores the fact that God will always want to give us an opportunity to see Him greater. Indeed, He created us so that we could enjoy Him forever.

This is a similar situation to what the Israelites found themselves in prior to the captivity. They felt their relationship with the Lord become strained. They were sacrificing and fasting, and the Lord just didn't seem to be paying any attention. It is here that Isaiah reminds them (and me yesterday morning),

"Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear. For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered perverseness."

Or put more bluntly, God's merciful and willing to save you or hear your cries at any time. His ears do not become heavy ever so that he cannot hear. Instead if you are separated from God, it is your fault because of your iniquities.

That is exactly what I needed to hear. We as Christians are perfectly equipped to grow in our knowledge and intimate relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ. So when we fail to grow in that relationship, it is not because of failing on God's part, but because of our own individual sinful failure. It will always be our fault.





(Note that suffering and trials are not what is being discussed here. Not all suffering and trials are the fault of man's individual sinfulness. Enjoying God does not equate with peaceful, non-hazardous conditions; instead it equates with peace and joy in Christ in the midst of dangerous and depressing circumstances.)

Psalm 23: Surely Goodness and Mercy will "Follow" You

So, with the first week of a long and busy summer done, I seem to have forgotten how to write. Seeing how I am taking an online composition class, I suppose I need to remember pretty soon.

Have you ever wondered about the blessings of God and just how much they tend to pursue those who do right? Probably not, but that does seem to be message of Psalm 23:6. Psalm 23 as a whole of course, reads, 

"The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever."

This is an interesting chapter to be sure, and I believe the meaning of one Hebrew word (with touches of meaning on other words as well) is instrumental to understanding the passage.

The word translated as "follow" here in this text is generally used for purposes that involve more energy and less passive than the meaning currently given by the word "follow." Thus, I would say that the definition of rādap in Psalm 23:6 is more along the lines of actively, persistently, and energetically pursuing an individual as if one was chasing or hunting an individual within a military situation.

It would seem that in general rādap means this more active pursuit with energy, rather than the more passive, “follow.” Thus, in order to justify a translation of the word which was that weaker form of the word, we would need to see clear textual and contextual reasons why that meaning was actually directed.

However, we see no such clues. Indeed, we see quite the opposite. The chapter’s emphasis upon trusting the Lord completely and wholly because of His providential care for His people is only strengthened by the thought that the Lord’s goodness and mercy will follow us persistently. This understanding is consistent with the way the Lord’s providence is displayed throughout the rest of the passage.

For example, in verse 2, it explains that “he maketh me to lie down in green pastures.” At first this doesn’t seem to highlight anything important, but if we remember the imagery of a shepherd that David is using here. The shepherd’s job was to find grass where the sheep could eat, and then direct them to another pasture where they could have their next meal.

This aspect of lying down in green pastures is an indication that the Lord provided a pasture that was so green that it would prepare them not just for this meal, but for the next. This providence then is not a weak just getting by care, but rather an exhaustive care for all issues in life. With that in mind, it makes little sense to assume that the use of rādap is weaker than the has been translated elsewhere in the Old Testament, when the Lord’s providential care is being emphasized as being way more than sufficient.

I believe it is important to emphasize the strength of the effort of the pursuit of God’s mercy and goodness in our lives. The military pursuit that this is often translated actually highlights the word rādap in the text. Within this text, that would mean that goodness and mercy pursue us with the same fervor and diligence as a man does who is seeking revenge or carrying out military orders.

As we continually will be in sin, we will continually need the Lord’s mercy and goodness to pursue us vigorously. Simply, pleasing the LORD would be nigh impossible if goodness and mercy only half-heartedly followed us.

More to the context of Psalm 23 as a whole, though, the Lord’s persistent pursuing of His people allows us to have no excuse for not fully trusting in His name. Not only does it provide an ample reason why we should trust Him in that the LORD is interested enough in lowly us, it also provides all that we need to be able to continue to grow in our relationship with Him.

Due to the covenantal nature of the word translated as mercy (hּׅesed), it is clear that one of the other reasons this chapter gives us to trust in the LORD is that he is able to keep His promises and allow His covenantal love to energetically pursue all His people. There is never a time when our sin begins to take us outside of God’s covenantal love. The Lord will always keep His promises, this is reified by the use of rādap to indicated that God’s covenantal love will energetically pursue in this case, David.

This understanding frames the entire chapter within the context of the Lord’s faithfulness in keeping His promises. This then highlights ample reasons why we should trust the LORD in all that we do. Allow Him to be our Shepherd and bless us as He has promised to do because ultimately we can’t fall outside of His promises. But just like any other element of God’s grace, we shouldn’t treat this as license to sin, but instead look for it as another reason why the LORD deserves our worship, service, and love.

The Lord will Fight for your Worship

Just in case you were wondering, you should trust God. Such we see admonished in the earlier verses of Isaiah 26. But as you would expect from a well-crafted biblical book, it doesn't repeat that same phrasing over and over again with no further exposition.

As Isaiah continues onward through his explanation of the topic, he reveals an interesting part of God's character. One that is very unique and very real in our lives to this day.

Specifically, look to verses 12-16,

"Lord, thou wilt ordain peace for us: for thou also hast wrought all our works in us. O Lord our God, other lords beside thee have had dominion over us: but by thee only will we make mention of thy name. They are dead, they shall not live; they are deceased, they shall not rise: therefore hast thou visited and destroyed them, and made all their memory to perish. Thou hast increased the nation, O Lord, thou hast increased the nation: thou art glorified: thou hadst removed it far unto all the ends of the earth. Lord, in trouble have they visited thee, they poured out a prayer when thy chastening was upon them."

So, it would seem from these verses that the Israelites worshiped false gods that were not the LORD. This the Lord responded to by destroying those gods so that even so much of their memory perished.

The Lord does not let His dominion and the worship that he rightfully deserves to head over to another being at any time. Instead, He determines that He will keep the loyalty of His people, even if that means destroying their other gods.

Seeing how the Lord is immutable and all, it seems obvious that He still acts in the same way today though the application may be a little bit different. Sometimes though, when the Lord begins to see our hearts being turned away to other things that are not Him, He will fight for our hearts by destroying our idols to being with.

But just because the Lord will fight for you, doesn't mean that you should make Him. On the contrary, like other elements of God's grace, I believe that this should only encourage you to try harder to live in a way pleasing to the One who would do so much for someone He doesn't need at all.

Hobbies, Hobbies, Hobbies,

The Christian life. It's one of absolute supreme pleasantness and beauty. One where we can all just sit back, pray to ask the Lord for guidance throughout the day, and be sure to attend church on Sunday, and we will have lived a successful Christian life. We don't radically need to change our lives; we just need to add another hobby on our list of life habits. 

So you would think at times when looking at least at the caricature of the church today. Though I must be careful to admit that there are obviously individuals and churches who are preaching the gospel in an accurate way, we must admit there is a consensus among individuals among the church that this seems to be the way we live. 

Soren Kierkegaard explains this phenomena this way: 

"So it is with our Christian worship services. We, too, have wings, we have imagination, intended to help us actually rise aloft. But we play, allow our imagination to amuse itself in an hour of Sunday daydreaming. In reality, however, we stay right where we are – and on Monday regard it as a proof that God’s grace gets us plump, fat, delicate. That is, we accumulate money, get to be a somebody in the world, beget children, become successful, and so forth. And those who actually get involved with God and who therefore suffer and have torments, troubles, and grief, of these we say: Here is proof that they do not have the grace of God."

 What a waste of a life! What a way to not live as a Christian. Let's try to actually attempt to sacrifice as needed to actually live for Him. Christianity is about having something to both live and die for. It's about having something so meaningful that you give up everything you possess. Christianity is not about having something so important that you dedicate a day out of every week and a portion out of every day.

Living a victorious Christian life is an all-encompassing goal that we must work at in everything.

Sufficient Grace: True Humility in Action

Humility. Immediately the word brings about some image in our mind. We think of someone who thinks that his talents are inferior to those of his peers. We think of the opposite of a guy who is so arrogant that he won't even acknowledge that anyone else is good at all.

Rick Warren (quotation is usually misattributed to C.S. Lewis) has a somewhat different take on humility. He states,

"Humility is not thinking less of yourself; it is thinking of yourself less." 

When I first read this quotation a couple of years ago, I was less than impressed. You see, from where I was coming, that would make humility nothing less than selflessness and then we didn't need another name to describe the same virtue.

But as time past, my perspective changed, and now I find this definition of humility to be the accurate one. You see, while we use the expression, "thinking of yourself" to express someone with a selfish tendency to not care about others, Warren is referring to something different when he uses that expression in his clever quotation.

To learn what, we will ask examine what the opposite of pride really is. Pride we all know to be the evil to which humility fights. Pride and arrogance are the tenets of man's feelings that make them think they just don't need any help from anybody, and that everyone else is inferior and not worthy to be spoken to.

Or that's what it can mean in extreme circumstances. Arrogance can also just come off in a little urge to prove yourself right, never admit to being wrong, and not accepting any reproof that you are given.

At its core, pride is just an overconfidence in one's own self. A time where yes, we are focusing upon our own abilities, and not those of the Lord or anyone else. Whether we experience this overconfidence in a small way or an extreme way, we know for sure that pride has significant consequences. The Bible admonishes us in Proverbs 16:18,

"Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall."

Pride clearly involves thinking too highly of oneself, and since humility is the virtue that is portrayed as exactly opposite this, we ought to assume that it involves thinking lowly of oneself and his abilities.

This is indeed fair. Humility does involve thinking lowly of one's own abilities, but that's hardly the end of the story. Simply thinking less of yourself will more than likely bring you into a state of insecurity than a state of humility.

Now you are not likely to think there's any real difference between humility and insecurity. To my understanding, humility is comfortable with the amount of talent one doesn't possess, whereas insecurity is not secure or peaceful about his lack of ability and is thus trying to build himself up.

The easiest way for an insecure person to feel built up is simply to bring others down. In my experience with debate, I found the teams that were elite would have good things to say to and about novices. They would see promise in these novices that perhaps the novices hadn't noticed in themselves.

The teams that wanted to be considered elite - that were close to that status, but just couldn't quite get there -  always seemed to be willing to brag about how much they crushed the same novices that the elite teams were just praising. These teams would be willing to hurl insults at how "novicey" these teams were without a hint of compassion in their voices.

You see, insecurity taught them the best way to build themselves up was to bring others down, to condemn them and to treat them in an arrogant way. Thus, insecurity is a precursor to prideful actions. Yet an insecure person definitely thinks less of himself than a typical arrogant person, how could he also be proud?

I guess it's easier to acknowledge the Nebuchadnezzar from Daniel 4, who puts his power above that of God, than to see the one who not being comfortable with his own power, starts to comfort himself by showing those who are weaker than himself, those who have even less power than he does. But they are still in essence looking to their power above God's.

My life since high school began has been one ginormous cycle. First I would be incredibly arrogant and trust in my abilities to work out particular situations. Then when my abilities completely failed me, I would be simply finding myself completely lacking in my abilities and became uncomfortable with how many abilities I lacked. Until I tore other people down enough in my mind to see that I truly wasn't that bad. And on and on it went.

Finally, I realized what my ultimate problem was. When I forced myself into thinking about my flaws and weaknesses, I never found comfort within them, and was still thinking about myself too much. In both situations, I was still proud and hadn't found true humility.

Because you see, Rick Warren is right. True humility isn't just about knowing you're not the best person who walked the earth. True humility isn't just about acknowledging your own weaknesses. True humility is not just about thinking less of yourself.

Indeed, true humility is about knowing who the best person who walked the earth is. True humility is acknowledging that your weaknesses mean nothing in comparison to His strength. True humility is thinking of yourself less and God more.

Living a humble life is about being comfortable with your own weakness because you truly believe the words of 2 Corinthians 12:9,

"And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me."

Trials and Persecution 7: Day of Reflection

It is with a sad heart that I write this post today. This post will be the last of the series posts that have been the Wednesday posts over the duration of this blog. It is the first and hopefully only casualty this blog takes from the very soon not as flexible schedule my life will file under. A greater announcement regarding that will come next Wednesday.

But the show must go on; we have business to attend to today that isn't related to that which pertains to these series as a whole.

In life, we are bound to experience trials. There are self-help and encouragement books galore to show us how to survive and thrive through the struggles we find in our lives. Indeed some have gone as far as to say that success happens simply when people are able to overcome those obstacles in their life that would so easily beset them.

If success truly is determined by our abilities to overcome suffering, then we ought to be able to understand all that suffering encompasses. Truly, it makes sense that there are so many books dedicated to suffering. This is just another one of those written types of presentation regarding hardship for the Christian. But I would hope that thus far I have stumbled upon a certain amount of encouraging truth.

Let us review our discussion of the trials and persecution that a Christian will inevitably face by examining the history of suffering throughout the Bible.

Cause of Suffering

"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." 

Thus begins the Bible in Genesis 1:1. This is then the beginning of the world as we know it. Through the rest of the chapter, we hear about how the Lord created everything that we know. He declares of course after everything that he created, that it was good. 

Indeed it was perfect in complete harmony and bliss. Adam and Eve were placed in this utopia by the Lord, and the Lord even went so far as to warn them of which fruit was good to eat and which would cause certain death to interrupt their eternal bliss. But Adam and Eve decided they knew better than the Lord did, and ate the forbidden fruit anyway. Since that time, we've seen that the Lord was right, death and suffering of a both temporal and eternal kind were introduced into the lives of humans, all because of sin. 

Now we must be careful here. Just because the ultimate cause of all suffering is sin, does not mean that all individual suffering comes from a direct result of sin. Indeed, hardship can also come as a means of avoiding greater trials, a temptation from the devil, and to increase our faith for greater service to the Lord. 

It is impossible to tell for sure why each trial we see in the world is happening, but we best not assume that it is all because of sin. The book of Job among other portions of Scripture show us that this is not the case.

Cessation of Eternal Suffering

Adam and Eve have now reproduced and the world is populated. Through the seed of Adam, all man has been born evil, with nary a glimpse of righteousness in their minds. Men have a code of morality, and some men appear to live fairly decent lives based on it. But in Isaiah 64:6, we learn that even the good works we do are nothing righteous at all.

"But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away."

We remember that this sin in our lives is going to lead us through a life of suffering into the ultimate and eternal suffering. It is a pretty bleak scenario.

But the Lord is gracious. Just as He didn't give up on humanity after the fall in the first place, He hasn't left them to eternal suffering even now. He uses His omnipotent and sovereign power to supernaturally cause Himself to be born into this world without the evil seed of Adam.

At this point, God Himself calling Himself Jesus is a second and final Adam. He once again is placed in a world with no sin at first, and then was tempted just as anyone else would be. Yet through this all, Jesus did not sin.

Then in the end of it all, he went through the ultimate suffering on the cross, both physically and emotionally, as a penalty for the sins of the world. Jesus' atoning sacrifice promises to eliminate the eternal suffering of those who would accept it as punishment for their actions.

Notice though that Jesus' sacrifice doesn't promise anything regarding the hardship we face in our own world. The temporal trials that we face will not be magically gone once we trust in Jesus. In fact, if we truly trust in Jesus and follow in His words, the persecution we face should increase. Look at 2 Timothy 3:12,

"Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution."

Salvation and Christianity are not about having a fulfilled, wealthy life here on earth; it is about our eternal life being more abundant in the end. However, Christ doesn't leave us hanging out to dry nonetheless.

Christ's Strength through Suffering

Knowing that serving the Lord would only produce results that are troubling to our lives, we might be tempted to just decide to give up. Trust that the Lord will keep His promises to grant us eternal life. With our eternal suffering taken care of, we should see what we can do about working through that temporal suffering too. 

Before you jump the ship that quickly, ask yourself, are you really prepared to go through trials and persecution without the Lord's presence, and without His strength in your life? Because whether you serve Him or not, hardship will find you. The only difference is, whether you have someone to help you in the crisis. (I'm going to neglect to mention that serving the Lord stores up eternal treasures in Heaven, so you can consider the persecution it beings in this Earth an investment.)

You see, as if the Lord hadn't done enough already by giving us both life and eternal life by His grace, He also decided that He is going to always be there for us to comfort us in all manner of our conversation in this world. Jesus Christ our Lord promises to strengthen us so we can manage to survive through any suffering that may befall us. As Sarah Arthur brilliantly puts it, 

"Jesus fought the war and has come back to help us win our battles." 

Paul explains in much more detail in Philippians 4:11-13,

 "Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me."

After all that the Lord has done for me in relation to His grace, I'd say that I am willing to suffer a little for His sake, knowing that His presence is better than being comfortable in my life. With all the love He has given me, I would like to be able to please Him as I would any other person who cared about me so deeply.

Reexamining the Water Hose: Why Obedience May Not Please the Lord

In Christian churches today, we often hear an emphasis that our actions need to be pleasing to the Lord. We are told that we need to obey the Lord in all that He says, no matter the consequences, and the Lord will be satisfied with our works.

Only that's not entirely accurate. You see, obeying the Lord is only one half of pleasing the Lord. As you can see in a study of the book of Haggai, obedience at great risk means nothing if we don't also have the proper heart.

Remember the analogy I mentioned in Doctrines of the Christian Faith 3: Nature of Man,

"Imagine a water hose. When you turn on the water, water flows through that water hose. If you put clean water through a dirty water hose, the water is not going to come out clean. Rather all the impurities and filth of the hose are going to pass into the water.

Similarly, in our everyday life, the good works we do are contaminated because they have to pass through us, our dirty water hose."

Our hearts are the water hoses through which all our actions must pass through. The nature of our heart is adequate to change our actions from good to bad and from pleasing the Lord to displeasing the Lord.

Thus, we must make sure our hearts are focused upon the Lord. As aforementioned, in Haggai, the children of Israel err in this particular way.

Here's the background: the children of Israel have been in captivity for seventy years, but the Lord has recently granted them the grace to go repair His temple.

But the king of Persia has been misled regarding their intentions in this rask. Due to this, he forbids them from completing their work.

At this time, instead of continuing to obey the commandment of the Lord, the Israelites obey the earthly king.

Now let's not jump to judge them here. After all, this was their easiest option. Being in the king's good graces can always come in handy, and they don't have to wonder when the axe will fall on their heads. At least not from that king anyway.

The Israelites turn their attention from the Lord and from his house, and direct it to their own homes, neglecting the house of God.

That's where the book of Haggai begins. Because of the neglect of the temple, the Lord has withheld his blessings from the Israelites. Indeed, Haggai 1 explains,

"In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, in the first day of the month, came the word of the Lord by Haggai the prophet unto Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, saying, Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying,... Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your ceiled houses, and this house lie waste? Now therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts; Consider your ways. Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes. Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Consider your ways. Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith the Lord. Ye looked for much, and, lo it came to little; and when ye brought it home, I did blow upon it. Why? saith the Lord of hosts. Because of mine house that is waste, and ye run every man unto his own house."

The Lord has been gracious again to send Haggai to rebuke the people and bring them back to obedience. Make no mistake -  obeying THE King meant directly disobeying the Persian king. This could have brought any number of punishments onto the Jewish people. The Lord was requiring of them quite a big risk.

Yet when the Israelites resume their work on the temple, the Lord was not pleased with their actions and with their sacrifice.

Yes, they are obeying the Lord, but throughout this time of outward obedience, the Israelites never turned back their hearts to the Lord.  As Haggai 2:11-14 indicates,

"Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Ask now the priests concerning the law, saying, If one bear holy flesh in the skirt of his garment, and with his skirt do touch bread, or pottage, or wine, or oil, or any meat, shall it be holy? And the priests answered and said, No. Then said Haggai, If one that is unclean by a dead body touch any of these, shall it be unclean? And the priests answered and said, It shall be unclean. Then answered Haggai, and said, So is this people, and so is this nation before me, saith the Lord; and so is every work of their hands; and that which they offer there is unclean."

The Lord uses this analogy of Levitical law to indicate that the heart's unclean nature makes the work unclean. Because they turned not to the Lord, the Lord's blessings are still being withheld, and their works are not pleasing to the Lord.

In our Christian walks then, we must be careful not to just attack the visible effects of a sinful heart. Showing outward obedience may make us look good to other Christians, but it ultimately may not please the Lord.

At any rate, it alone is insufficient. The Lord doesn't want begrudging servants to His calling, He wants willing servants, with a desire to serve Him with their efforts. It's not enough that their efforts may align for that particular time. The water hose affects the water, my friend.

Reverence in Prayer

This post is a little less formal than usual. It also will not be me sharing something I have specifically seen or learned in my Bible reading in a manner easily applicable to the reader's life. Instead, I would like to simply share my admiration for Ezra's prayer in Ezra 9.

Here's the background: Ezra has just arrived at Jerusalem and is learning of the plight of the Jews that were rebuilding the wall. But he finds that the people (and the leaders especially) have sinned against the Lord. He is devastated that the Israelites have done this, and rents his clothes in the tradition of his fathers (I'm glad we no longer have that tradition).

Listen to his words, recorded for us in Ezra 9:6-15, 

"O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to thee, my God: for our iniquities are increased over our head, and our trespass is grown up unto the heavens. Since the days of our fathers have we been in a great trespass unto this day; and for our iniquities have we, our kings, and our priests, been delivered into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, and to a spoil, and to confusion of face, as it is this day. And now for a little space grace hath been shewed from the Lord our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a nail in his holy place, that our God may lighten our eyes, and give us a little reviving in our bondage. For we were bondmen; yet our God hath not forsaken us in our bondage, but hath extended mercy unto us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to give us a reviving, to set up the house of our God, and to repair the desolations thereof, and to give us a wall in Judah and in Jerusalem. And now, O our God, what shall we say after this? for we have forsaken thy commandments, Which thou hast commanded by thy servants the prophets, saying, The land, unto which ye go to possess it, is an unclean land with the filthiness of the people of the lands, with their abominations, which have filled it from one end to another with their uncleanness. Now therefore give not your daughters unto their sons, neither take their daughters unto your sons, nor seek their peace or their wealth for ever: that ye may be strong, and eat the good of the land, and leave it for an inheritance to your children for ever. And after all that is come upon us for our evil deeds, and for our great trespass, seeing that thou our God hast punished us less than our iniquities deserve, and hast given us such deliverance as this; Should we again break thy commandments, and join in affinity with the people of these abominations? wouldest not thou be angry with us till thou hadst consumed us, so that there should be no remnant nor escaping? O Lord God of Israel, thou art righteous: for we remain yet escaped, as it is this day: behold, we are before thee in our trespasses: for we cannot stand before thee because of this."

A few random thoughts:
1.  "Oh my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to thee." Ezra felt so guilty about sin that he didn't commit that he couldn't quite bear to bring himself into the presence of God to ask forgiveness on behalf of the children of Israel.

2. Furthermore, Ezra has completely taken upon himself the sin of the children of Israel at Jerusalem, even though he was a 5 months journey away from the city when it happened!

3. "And now for a little space grace." Ezra realizes that the Jews have been punished for their sins. Instead of focusing upon that, he decided to spend his time focusing on the fact that God has allowed the Israelites a slight reprieve from that suffering to build His temple.

4. "Thou our God hast punished us less than our iniquities deserve." Ezra acknowledges that even the punishment that the Lord has given to them (namely, the captivity) was far less than what they deserved. The Israelites had time and time again neglected the commandment of their Lord, so to be peaceably taken captive and even given high positions in the conquering kingdom wasn't too bad at all. Or at least that's what Ezra's attitude is. Not sure I would say the same in his position.

5. Finally, Ezra acknowledges that the Israelites can't stare at a God who has given them so much unwarranted grace and continue to sin and displease Him. "Should we again break thy commandments, and join in affinity with the people of these abominations? wouldest not thou be angry with us till thou hadst consumed us, so that there should be no remnant nor escaping?" One is reminded of Romans 6:1-2,

"What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?"

On a somewhat related note, "Astonied" is a much snazzier way of saying astonished.

Why we should Put the Death Penalty to Death

In a time of ancient history, the Israelites were setting up what many call today the first representative government. This term paints a picture in our minds that is actually quite different from the reality in my mind.

Now don't get me wrong, there were definitely different tribes who did have certain representatives in place. However, the government was very much a monarchy, where the Monarch led through the representative of men like Moses, Joshua, and so on. 

The Lord leads the Israelites and establishes their system of government through the works of Moses. (Indeed if you ever truly want to know how a government should be structured, I think you should probably follow God's model here.) 

But the key point is that the Lord was leading the Israelites along the way. He established the death penalty clearly at this time, and He administered it with perfect grace. We see this most clearly with the death of Achan after he stole from the Lord Himself. 

So then how could I say that I was against the death penalty with this in mind? Clearly I don't think I'm better than God. 

Indeed I don't. No man is going to execute such perfect judgment. That is actually the exact reason that I am against the death penalty in our world today. 

As I made the distinction earlier, God was the leader of the ancient Israelite government, and when he decides who should live and die, he does do so perfectly. 

Today, we have no government that is directly led by God. Yes, I know that God is sovereign in all he does, but if we use that excuse here, we might as well stop worrying about anything we do because God is in control of everything. 

At the end of the day, I agree with the idea of a death penalty in principle (an eye for an eye), but I do not trust the human errors that come with a government administered by men. Death is a very permanent state that no man can undo. It seems too much for me to trust a justice system administered by men in such a crucial area. 

Indeed our current system admits the possibility of mistake. There are massive initiatives put in place to allow for an appeals process, once again administered by men, to sift through and ensure there are no innocent people who die.

This appeals process probably catches most mistakes, but it too will not be perfect. Yes, I doubt that the United States has put to death too many people who are innocent, but even one would be too many. 

Also, who are we men to decide that certain crimes are worthy of death anyway? We're not God. We don't make those types of decisions. Or we don't until we come together and form governments. 

In conclusion, I leave you with the words of Gandalf the White, 

"Deserves it! I daresay he does. Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement. For even the very wise cannot see all ends." 

Except of course the Lord. he does see all ends, and everything entirely, and that omniscience and sovereignty is exactly why we should leave the decision of who lives and who dies up to him.

Doctrines of the Christian Faith Addendum

I expressed within this series how one can receive eternal life. I made it a point to stress that this is by faith and not by works. We must simply accept by faith what Jesus has done, but nothing we can do will ever grant us salvation.

However, I did not discuss some alternative viewpoints or the negligent impacts that this can provide if used in the incorrect context. It would be wise for me to at least briefly discuss some of those here.

The Proper Place of Baptism

Baptism is not a part of Salvation. Sure, there are metaphors about baptism and eternal life, but this is talking about a baptism of the spirit and not a baptism of water. Observe John 1:32-33,

"And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him. And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost."

So what is the purpose of the baptism by water that John did (and we emulate today)? It is a step of obedience, a symbol of the change that God has worked within you, and a commitment to obey the Lord in what He wished you to do.

As an extension, without a relationship with the Lord (salvation), you have no reason to commit to obey Him in everything, or show what change He has wrought within you (because He hasn't yet); thus, baptism comes after Salvation.

Those who believe in infant's baptism either are caught up in Catholic tradition, believe that baptism is a part of salvation, or view it as a commitment to raise their children in a godly manner. The latter I can understand, but I don't see much scripture to support it. 

Faith Without Works is Dead

I have made the point often in this series, that salvation is a gift and not of works. This may may lead some to question, so why try to live a good life after one becomes saved?

It is true that nothing we can do can establish a relationship with the Lord. Thus, we need faith and calling upon the Lord to establish a relationship to salvation.

However, just as you wouldn't expect a relationship with a person you meet on the street to last very long if efforts were not made to strengthen the relationship; if you desire to strengthen your relationship with the Lord, you would need to put in more effort.

Thus, faith without works leads to a "dead" relationship, in that although it will always be there, it will not develop into anything meaningful. Good for securing your eternity; not good for peace and comfort in your temporal life.

Additionally, in Romans 6, Paul explains simply,

"What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?"