Live In Grace

“Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:” (Heb 12:28 AV)

 

In the whole context of this book, the above verse might qualify as the concluding verse of application.  The entire theme of the book is the superiority of the new covenant and testament over the old.  That is, grace by Christ Jesus is better than the old testament law and the sacrificial system.  The kingdom of which the writer speaks is the kingdom of eternal life for the saint, and the kingdom of the Messiah promised to Abraham, Isaac, and David.  This kingdom of eternal life cannot be moved.  We are eternally secure in the grace of Jesus Christ by His blood sacrifice on Calvary.  If that is the case, and it is, then we must continue in that same grace.  The word for ‘have’ means to hold on to.  This grace we are to have is to ourselves.  This grace is not the grace we should show toward others.  Although we should, this is not what the Apostle means.  This would make perfect sense to the Jew who was used to living under the law.  It would figure to him that although Christ can save by grace, it would be our works that keep that salvation.  This was the trouble stirred up in Galatia.  Certain Jews wanted to add some of the Jewish traditions to grace.  Not so.  We are saved by grace and we are kept by grace.  There is another application here.  That is, grace goes beyond the mere security of the eternal soul.  This grace that saved us and keeps us should also be the same grace that guides us, comforts us and matures us.  Let us hold that same grace day to day for every need we have.

What is also suggested is without grace as our foundation, we cannot serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.  One would think just the opposite.  If we had to prove our adoration to God by keeping His commandments, wouldn’t that be with reverence and godly fear?  If we thought God was judgmental and vindictive above all else and we feared justice, wouldn’t we then serve Him acceptably with reverence and godly fear?  Yet, the writer implies this would not be the case.  Without the grace of God, our service becomes misguided.  Don’t get me wrong.  We should be concerned with the correction and justice of God.  If not, unbridled liberty and revelry would ensue.  There should be a fear that keeps us from straying from the right ways of God.  However, perfect love casteth out fear.  If we truly understood grace, then our motives would be different.  We would serve him from a deep and profound respect and adoration.  Our appreciation for and understanding of His great grace would be the reason we walk in obedience rather than the fear of a spanking.

Observe one word above all others.  Acceptably.  To neglect the doctrine of grace in our walk with God means we are unacceptably serving Him.  If we cower if fear thinking God’s grace only goes so far as the forgiveness of our sin debt for the purposes of eternal life, then we are not serving God acceptably.  It doesn’t matter how much we do for God.  If we behave like most pagan religions that serve their god in terror, then we are serving God unacceptably.  The grace of God must be held on to.  The grace of God must be the primary motivation for our service.  The grace of God must be deep in our minds and hearts and then we can serve Him from a heart of gratitude and humility.  Otherwise, all our labors, although beneficial and appreciated, will not be acceptable in the sight of God.  God’s grace is something we have a hard time understanding.  It must simply be trusted.

Respect The Stickers

"Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward.” (Heb 11:26 AV)

 

That phrase, recompence of the reward or recompence of reward occurs three times in the book of Hebrews.  In fact, this phrase only appears in Hebrews.  The first occasion in a negative one and is found in chapter two.  The second appears in chapter ten and was in our verse for yesterday’s entry.  Now, here it is again.  When the LORD reveals a pattern, the student of the word of God would be wise to sit up and take notice.  In chapter ten and chapter eleven, the connotation is a good won.  The recompence of reward is a just and great blessing for doing something right.  In chapter ten, the context is staying steadfast and not casting away one’s confidence.  Here, the word of God is speaking of Moses who endured much because he esteemed reproach for doing right to be far more valuable than the temporal riches of Egypt.  With this reproach came an understanding of future rewards.  Therefore, the reproach, or hardship, and future reward are seen as one and the same.  What struck me is one little word.  Respect.  We use this word to mean esteem highly.  We value what we respect.  We put it in a place of honor.  The Greek word means to be attentive to it above all others; to gaze upon it attentively.  The opposite would be to devalue it.  Or at best, to assume it to be no different than anything else.

Back in the day, there were several reward programs launched by different companies as a way to lure people into continued patronage.  Participating gas stations gave away green stamps and once saved, they could be redeemed for goods.  Some still use this technique.  Mallow Cups still prints numbers on the inside of their candy wrappers and if one saves up enough, they also can be redeemed.  Mcdonald's used to have the monopoly game.  You would get peel-off stickers on your products and collect them for prizes.  Just yesterday, I was giving my wife a hard time about Khols bucks.  For every dollar amount you spend, they give you Khols cash which you can use on your next purchase.  It creates a revolving door of steady patronage.  Who wants to give up cash?  The thing is, for these programs to work, the participant must have an eye for the future and save up these little rewards for a bigger one.  Going back to the Khols cash, I bought a fan for the bedroom and got some Khols cash.  I handed it to my wife and she placed it down.  The next time we headed off to Khols, thinking we had this Khols cash, it was nowhere to be found.  It probably got thrown out.  It looked just like junk mail and was probably in the same pile to be sorted later, but ended up in the trash.  Why?  There was no respect for the recompense of reward.  There wasn’t an eye that placed value on something of future use.  It was set aside thinking we might get to it when we needed it.  But it was lost.

This passage got me thinking.  I wonder how much of God’s blessings we throw away because we don’t deem the effort to gain it worth the trouble.  How many blessings have we wasted because we thought the means to attaining them were too hard?  How many souls ended up in the wrong hands because we did not take the effort to chase them down or go out of our way to meet with them?  How much of the recompence of reward have we dissed because we simply didn’t think obedience of faith was worth it?  How many opportunities have we let slip by because the reproach was too difficult or the demands on our time were too great?  I wonder how many warehouses full of green stamp merchandise went to waste because all across America, there were junk drawers full of green stamp books that sat unredeemed.  How many mallow cup star point find their way into to trash because it just isn’t worth the effort?  God has blessings for those who will trust Him and make the effort to serve Him.  On the face of it, it may seem like we are getting small returns on our investment.   But if one soul comes to Christ because of our efforts, he or she may bring more.  There is a warehouse of God’s blessings out there for the diligent servant of God to enjoy.  All we need to do is have respect unto the recompence of the reward.

Don't Throw It Away

“Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward.” (Heb 10:35 AV)

The writer of Hebrews commends his audience for their care for him.  They suffered loss at the hands of the persecutors of the writer.  They suffered just because they were Jewish and because they had accepted Christ.  Their loss was significant.  Having non-stop issues, it might be a temptation to let one’s zeal cool.  It might be tempting to let someone else fight the good fight for a change.  The Hebrews, having endured for so long, might become weary in well-doing.  The writer tells them not to cast away something they had.  No man can steal our joy.  No man can take our confidence, wither.  If we lose our confidence, we have chosen to do that ourselves.  Confidence here is translated as boldness earlier in the chapter.  I don’t believe this is a mistake.  Confidence does manifest itself as boldness.  The less confidence we have, the less bold we are.  Confidence is the emotion that is foundational to boldness.  It is the core belief of something is true and dependable.  Confidence is what gives us boldness.  Casting our confidence aside means all boldness ceases.

I find the whole idea of casting away confidence an interesting concept.  The Greek word means to throw away or to cast off.  When we think of confidence, we usually think of someone who loses it.  Not someone who throws it away.  We think of circumstances being the reason.  Someone who loses confidence might have suffered one too many failures.  Therefore, he lacks confidence.  If he suffers diminished confidence, perhaps hope has been stolen.  When we think of the loss of confidence, we seldom think it happened as a deliberate choice by the one who lost that confidence.  But this is what the writer implies.  HE encourages his readers to hold fast to their confidence.  He encourages them not to throw it away.  If they do, there is a recompense of reward. Recompense is remuneration.  It is payment in kind.  If we hold fast to our confidence, the payment is a reward and not a loss.

In Boy Scouts, we were taught several survival skills.  One of them was how to start a fire when the wood was wet.  There are several ways this can be done.  Dry kindling is the most important of all needs.  We always brought with us a fire starter.  It could be a cube of fuel or something as simple as drier lint.  That is the easiest part.  The hardest part was finding wood that could be used as main firewood on a small fire.  We were taught to find pine wood that had high sap content.  Then we would cut notches in the wood sore of like a pine cone.  These were deep notches and you would leave a part of the notch on.  Into those notches, you would stuff your fuel.  Lint or fuel was stuffed in and lit.  The idea was to burn it slowly and hot so the sap would start on fire.  The thing is, we knew in theory this should work.  Keeping at it until it did was another matter.  Knowing if we could start a small ember in the pine wood, we could coax it into a bonfire before too long.  Confidence in what we knew to be true is what brought the fire to life.

We give up on God way too early.  We often do not see something all the way through.  Our confidence is challenged because things do not come easy.  We suffer failure or a loss and we think nothing will ever work out.  We refuse to meditate on that which did work out.  We see the falls more than we do the steps of victory.  Our confidence is lost because of our perspective.  But we are not talking about the loss of confidence.  We are talking about the deliberate choice to cast it off.  We are challenged not to do so.  Regardless of the circumstances or outcome, neither should determine our confidence.  If God said it, then it is true no matter the circumstances.  If God called us to it, it doesn't matter what our success rather is.  It is still our calling.  If the promise was made, God has not taken it back.  If we lose confidence, it is our own doing.

Infinite Faith Towards an Infinite God

“Great is our Lord, and of great power: his understanding is infinite.” (Ps 147:5 AV)

 

No explanation is needed here!  Pretty easy to understand, yet hard to at the same time.  How do we comprehend something infinite?  The implication is the power of God is just as infinite as His understanding.  It’s like route 86 in the southern tier of New York.  A pretty drive, but it seems to go on forever.  This road runs from Erie, PA to about the center of the state of New York.  It runs through some scenic areas, but there are no cities to see.  No towns to speak of.  That is until you reach Corning.  We used to drive this road when returning from home to Chicago.  You can avoid all the toll roads in N.Y. which can be a bit pricey.  The downside is a road that seems to never end.  The road is hilly enough to avoid mirages. But I can imagine what that would be like.  Driving down a straight road with only a mirage in front of you has to be boring beyond compare.  No reference point.  No input.  Just a road that goes on forever with no end in sight.  This is about as close as we can get to what infinite means to us.  To continue with the illustration of Route 86, this highway threads its way through the foothills of the Appellation Mountains.  There is plenty of scenery.  It is not boring at all.  If you enjoy nature, it is a rather pleasant drive.  Until you are used to the highway, each time you travel it, an adventure ensues.  The terrain may not change all that much, but wildlife can.  This is more akin to the infinite power and knowledge of God.  The trip is grand.  God knows the end from the beginning, even if we do not.

Not being able to see and plan ahead is one of the hardest things when it comes to growing our faith.  We know that Route 86 can be a bit dangerous given certain weather conditions.  The closer one gets to Erie, PA, the more likely they will encounter snow off of Lake Erie.  There are many small bridges on this trip.  If the weather is right around freezing, black ice can be an issue.  If there is a lot of rain, there is the potential for flooding over the roadway.  There’s always the possibility of fallen rocks.  Of wildlife standing it the road or bounding across it.  If you encounter car trouble, the nearest help is tens of miles.  This highway is not well-traveled.  So, there is the distinct possibility that it may be a while before someone is willing to stop and lend a hand.  My father-in-law would often suggest this highway for that very reason.  Much less traffic and therefore, much less commercial traffic.  In his mind, the less traffic, the safer it was to travel.  Route 86 is a beautiful drive.  But it takes a bit of patience and a bit of nerve.  Not knowing what might happen and the proximity of help makes this option a bit riskier than the much better traveled and maintained toll system.  No doubt, it is a beautiful way to go.  But it takes more faith to drive it.

God asks us to trust Him.  This is no small thing.  We are not prone to place ourselves in the full care of another.  Even if we do take risks, they are controlled risks.  And we are the ones in control.  If at any time we feel unsafe, we can pull the plug on the whole thing.  This is not so with God.  To trust the LORD means we get on Route 86 and take it all the way to the end.  We may steer a little.  But there are lanes we must follow.  There are few exits off Route 86.  Once you are on it, unless there is an emergency, you stay on it.  Trusting the LORD is not for the faint of heart.  But He has not asked us to do the impossible.  He is infinite in power and understanding.  He knows all things including our futures.  He can and does control all things even though the future may look very scary.  He knows what He is doing.  Put the car on cruise control and enjoy the ride.  If the weather gets a little dicey, then drive safely.  But don’t get off the road.  God knows exactly where we need to be.  He knows exactly how to get there.  He knows everything and nothing is too hard for the LORD.  Trust in the LORD will all your heart!

Nigh

“The LORD is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth.” (Ps 145:18 AV)

 

James tells us that whatever is not of faith is sin.  I know the context is slightly different, but the principle remains.  Paul tells us that without faith that God exists, it is impossible to please Him.  Faith is the key to our relationship with God.  Not emotions.  Not a ‘sense’.  Not an intuition.  Not even an opinion.  Faith is the key.  Although spiritual life does have an element of discernment and ‘feeling’ associated with it.  When the Holy Spirit convicts us of sin, we feel guilt.  Not always, though.  Or, we could feel guilt when guilt is not warranted.  We can feel guilty for something that is not our fault because someone else has convinced us that it is.  Above, the psalmist declares the unassailable truth that if we go to God with a sincere heart and do not try to presume or hide anything, then He is nigh to us.  It doesn’t matter how we feel.  It doesn’t matter what others say.  It doesn’t matter what we sense.  If the Bible says that He is nigh if we call upon Him in truth, then He is.  We must accept this by faith.

A manager of a mining company would take his son to work every once in a while.  Dad would parade his boy proudly boasting of all his accomplishments.  Dad would take his son around the job and teach him about the mining business.  He would vigorously teach his son to observe all safety regulations.  All safety equipment must be worn.  When an area was marked as dangerous, there was no admittance.  Above all else, never go anywhere alone.  Always take a buddy.  In and out of the mine they went.  They explored different veins and check on the workmen’s progress.  At the end of one tunnel, there was caution tape and a big sign that read, “Danger! Do not proceed beyond this point without authorization from management.”  Dad explained the tunnel was unstable and they hadn’t had to opportunity to shore up the ceiling.  One afternoon, the son being of age, asked his father if he could go into the mine alone.  Dad gave his permission and off he went.  This young man thought that giving him permission meant the entire mine.  Including the danger zone.  This is where the young man headed.  He had his safety equipment on and even saw the prudence of wearing an oxygen tank.  Into the danger zone, he went.  As he explored, he came upon a vein of what he thought was something very valuable.  The vein extended up into the ceiling.  He got busy removing the ore and before long, the ceiling collapsed.  He was trapped within.  Looking for a vent and finding one, he shot a flare-up through the hole.  Then he waited.  And waited.  And waited.  As dusk approached, he was getting worried.  No one came.  Day two arrived.  Again, he shot a flare up the shaft.  And waited.  Another day passed and he was getting low on oxygen.  If someone didn’t come quickly, he would parish.  In a last-ditch effort, he blasted a horn up the shaft.  He did so in Morris Code.  S.O.S.  That did the trick.  Soon, men came to the shaft and he heard his Dad’s voice.  Knowing that as long as he didn’t give up and sent some kind of signal of his whereabouts, his father would never give up either.  Soon he was rescued from his tomb.

God does not turn a deaf ear to His children who walk with Him in sincerity and in truth.  We cannot see Him.  We cannot touch Him.  We cannot always sense His presence.  But that does not mean He is removed.  He is nigh to all those who call upon Him in truth.  He is there even if we cannot discern it.  Like the son trapped in the cave, it was faith in his father that sent up the flares and horn blast.  He never gave up that his father would find him.  He never doubted his father’s love.  The same should be true of the child of God.  Never doubt His love for you.  He loves you and cares for you in ways that are too wonderful to find out.  Until heaven shall be our home, we will never see the extent of how much God cares.  Take it by faith that God is nigh.  And then you will understand just how close He really is.

Don't Worry, Be Happy

“Happy is that people, that is in such a case: yea, happy is that people, whose God is the LORD.” (Ps 144:15 AV)

 

I have been thinking a lot about peace, contentment, and happiness lately.  With all that is going on in the world, it is hard to remain so.  One cannot help but hear all the negativity all around and have it affect you.  The news, the internet, the TV, and the radio are filled with reports of everything going the wrong way.  Poll after poll indicated the misery index among the people of the planet is only steadily increasing.  This same attitude is seeping into the pews.  Discontentment is everywhere.  How do I know?  Because it is almost impossible to see someone under the age of forty fully convinced about a calling in life and a place to stay.  They are constantly moving around.  From one church to the next.  From one job to the next.  From one family to the next.  They cannot stay put and grow where God has planted them.  We just do not know how to be happy anymore.  The world has robbed us of the joy we are supposed to have.  Our writer above mentions many benefits that come to the people of God in the form of the nation of Israel.  There are restoration and physical blessings mentioned.  But the same can be true of the New Testament Saint.  We may not have the same physical promises, but we have some that are unique to the church.  Regardless of what life may be like, if God is our LORD, then we should be happy!

My wife and I just spent three days up in Door County, Wisconsin.  Door County is one of those tourist destinations everyone has been to at least once.  There are many little towns to visit with their little shops and trades to peruse.  We stayed in Sturgeon Bay, which is the county seat, and saw what we wanted to see.  We had a wonderful time walking by the water and visiting the lighthouse.  I needed some blue jeans, so we stopped at a few other places.  Then we went on to Sonny’s restaurant on the river.  It was delightful.  We split a lobster ravioli and each had a salad.  What a wonderful dish! Really tasty.  A few more little shops and we packed it in for the night.  Our goal was to get up and work our way towards Sister’s Bay.  There is a restaurant called Al Johnsen’s which apparently features goats grazing on top of their roof.  We just had to go.  So, off we went.  We stopped off in Egg Harbor.  Did a little shopping.  We stopped off at a few beaches to look at the water and enjoy the Indian Summer weather.  In Sister’s Bay, we shopped a couple of more places and then walked down the street to Al Johnsen’s.  It was one O’clock.  They closed at three.  Plenty of time, right?  Wrong.  They were booked until closing time.  What a letdown.  Al Johnsen’s was the biggest reason we went on the whole trip.  As we were inside, very disappointed and a bit perturbed, I overheard an elder gentlemen absolutely beside himself there were no tables for the remainder of the day.  I remarked how they had driven over five hundred miles to come to this restaurant.  All of a sudden, I didn’t feel so bad.  For us, it wasn’t more the 120mi.  Just a two hour drive.  We could do that on any weekend.  This poor fellow planned his entire vacation around this one place and they couldn’t get in.  How unhappy he was.

The child of God has no standing to complain.  We are the most blessed of all of God’s creatures.  We get the awesome privilege to know God by faith.  Not even the angels get to do that.  We have a glorious home in heaven waiting for us.  We are adopted into the family of God and there is nothing that can ever change that.  We may have trials of faith.  We may have hardships along the way.  But through it all, God is always there.  If we are unhappy, it is not the LORD’s doing.  If we groan every day we get up out of bed, it is not because God failed to be good to us.  We simply do not know how good we have it.  Upon reflection, our vacation was paid for by other means than our own pocket.  All we needed to do was gas up the car and eat.  Everything else was covered.  So, we didn’t get to eat at a place that had goats on the roof.  The LORD provided other means of happiness.  We found an out-of-the-way dive that the locals frequented and enjoyed watching the patron interact with all his regulars.  They acted like one big family.  We were able to pull over at the last second and finally find that perfect knickknack for our shadow box.  We got back into Sturgeon Bay before all the shops closed and Lisa was able to do a bit more Christmas shopping.  The LORD knew all along what we needed for our happiness and all we needed to do is trust Him.  God is so good!  All the time!

My Last Prayer

“Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning; for in thee do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto thee.” (Ps 143:8 AV)

 

The first phrase of the verse has several implications.  It could be the writer is seeking an extension of his life.  He wants to wake up in the morning and hear the lovingkindness of God.  Upon death, the Old Testament saint slept until such a time as the Savior would come and die for them.  Therefore, it is not uncommon to read of a psalmist's desire for longer life that he might use for the glory of God.  He knows that once he dies, he has no more opportunity to serve God among men until the resurrection makes it possible.  This verse is incredible.  Truly.  The writer’s single desire is to know the ways of God so that he might walk therein.  The lifting up of the soul is an expression of worship and the manifestation of that worship is the desire to walk in the ways of God.  This is all he wants.  He wants a longer life so that he might learn to walk in obedience.  What a prayer!

I have a son that is a perfectionist.  Almost to a fault.  I taught him when we homeschooled.  It was a bit difficult.  He would not allow for any mistakes or even a bit of interpretation.  He wanted to do it perfectly right or it didn’t count at all.  This trait is admirable.  As a parent who wants his child to do his best and knows that it may not be perfect, this can be frustrating.  Moving on to new skills didn’t come easy.  He refused until he got it perfectly right.  As you can imagine, there were skills he excelled in.  Memorization was one of them.  He worked hard and conquered anything put before him.  He almost completed all of the available AWANA requirements before he got too old to carry on.  When it comes to spelling, he is the champ.  Other skills did not come so easily.  Handwriting was one.  He has great handwriting, but not perfect.  Taking the time to practice all of the sheets in cursive took time.  There were more eraser marks than lead.  He worked and worked until he got it perfect.  Or, as perfect as he knew he could get it.  This tenacity paid off.  He isn’t a natural ‘A’ student.  In other words, he had to read, study, and internalize the information needed.  He didn’t get a few things without some hard work.  His two brothers, on the other hand, never studied and carried an A average.  My true student worked as hard as anyone for an A and in the end, his perfectionism was a great blessing.  It taught him that anything worth having was worth the hard work to attain it.  Even today, if you looked at his life, he works really, really hard.  God has given him a tough road to travel, but I cannot think of anyone more able to conquer the mountains set before him than this son of mine.  He wants to know the rule, the requirement, and the expectation, and do his absolute best.

This is the prayer of the psalmist above.  He hasn’t gotten where he knows God wants him to be.  He wants to accomplish all God has for him, especially obedience to His word.  It isn’t enough to do most of the word of God.  It isn’t acceptable to just pass.  He wants to know what it is like to be fully committed to the plan and will of God so that whenever God commands, he obeys.  His soul is lifted up.  He sacrifices all that he is for this deep desire.  His whole being is laid before the LORD that his will might be broken for the will of God.  This is his heartbeat.  We have many ambitions in life.  A nice house.  Promotions at the workplace.  The LORD’s work full-time.  Perhaps to win so many to Christ.  Tithe a substantial amount.  But how much do we want to simply live in complete obedience to His revealed word?  This is the prayer for the saint as he falls off to sleep.  Please, LORD, give me one more day that I might learn Your commands and obey them.