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The very fact that you have lawsuits among you means you have been completely defeated already. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated?
1 Corinthians 6:7

“Why not rather be wronged?” the Scripture asks. Well, I could come up with a boatload of reasons. Any of the following phrases or questions immediately come to mind:

• Doesn’t God want justice?
• Does God want His children to be taken advantage of?
• It’s disrespectful and I won’t be disrespected.
• Unrighteousness goes against everything I believe in – am I to walk away from injustice?
• They shouldn’t be allowed to get away with that!
• Well, it’s just plain wrong!

And yet, Paul writes that it is better to be wronged and cheated. I guess we should note for the record that if anyone has earned the right to make such a statement it was Paul. He experienced more than his fair share of persecution, false accusations, betrayals and character assassinations. Yet he continued to pursue God without bitterness and without holding back. There’s also no indication that he carried unforgiveness in his heart.

I admire that. I’ve been betrayed, falsely accused and had my character greatly maligned. I haven’t been stoned or beaten. Yet it took awhile for me to return to ministry without holding back part of my heart and my passion. There’s no indication that the Apostle Paul had a hint of hesitation to continue whole-heartedly.

I’ve been thinking about this abit – wondering where Paul got his undiluted commitment and passion. One word that comes to mind – it’s a word that God’s been highlighting a lot recently – perspective. Paul constantly kept his focus on bigger things – Christ and Him risen, Christ and His return.

I read a verse during a Bible study today that struck me more than it has in the past:

As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.
Luke 9:51

With His eyes on the prize – being taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely walked toward His crucifixion.

The author of Hebrews summarized it this way:

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Hebrews 12:2

As the time approached for Him to be taken up to heaven…for the joy set before Him…Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem…He endured the cross.

The Hebrews passage takes the next step – the one that moves Scripture from being a story about someone else to being a holy standard and motivation for our lives:

Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
Hebrews 12:3

Consider – think about – all Christ endured from sinful men so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. So that your focus isn’t on what’s been taken from you or what someone did to you or said about you…so that you don’t file lawsuits to fight for what is yours. It’s not worth it. Such an approach means we’ve already lost!

But, you might say, I may win and gain back the money (or whatever) that is owed me. Yes, but it wasn’t worth the price:

• The love that was killed in the process.
• The time that was spent pursuing things other than the Kingdom of God.
• The opportunities to practice so many disciplines – like humility and patience and kindness and silence.
• The opportunities to show forth the love and character of God by being forgiving and compassionate and joyful.

What I see is that when our eyes are on the prize, bickering, slandering, cheating one another and taking one another to court fall by the wayside. They become excess baggage that when dropped leave us with a load that is so light we run and jump with joy more easily.

Life isn’t always fun and it often isn’t fair. Christ promised that –

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
John 16:33

But when our focus isn’t on this world, it doesn’t bother us nearly as much! Honest!

During this Summer of Praise, I’m working on fixing my eyes on Jesus…in all circumstances and at all times. How about you?

Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.
Colossians 3:12 (NIV)

God is changing me! (And for that I am eternally thankful!) I am finally realizing that my “job” as a Christian is to bring the Kingdom of God into every place I go and every situation I face. Further, I’m realizing that the way I do that is not so much with my words, although as a speaker and writer, I place great importance on words. Before the words can have impact, though, the atmosphere must be one in which they can be heard.

Phil and I met my aunt at a restaurant recently to catch up. We’d heard good things about the restaurant and none of us had been to it yet. Boy did we pick the wrong restaurant! There was so much ambient noise in the restaurant that we couldn’t hear one another across the table.

Often, the ambient noise in our lives is like that of the restaurant – our circumstances scream so loudly that we can barely hear what others are saying to us. I suspect that the ambient noise for many who don’t know Christ is several decibels higher than for those of us who have the relief valves of prayer and worship. At least we have the opportunity to open the relief valve and let the noise drain into quietness and peace of God. (The more we abide in Christ, the more that relief valve is constantly open.)

When we bring the Kingdom of God into places and situations, we change the atmosphere from being highly charged with screaming voices to being highly charged with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.

The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood
John 1:5

People may not understand the light we’ve brought into the darkness (to mix metaphors), but they can’t help but notice it.

What a wonderful opportunity we have! All we have to do is be compassionate, kind, humble, gentle and patient! Piece of cake, right? OK, maybe not. So let’s start by focusing on kindness.

In preparing for this blog, I did a search in the NIV translation of the Bible. I was surprised to find the word kindness used 56 times, mostly referring to the kindness of God. Author and speaker Graham Cooke often describes God as the kindest person He knows. Clearly, the Bible places great value on kindness. American culture – not so much! Our definition of kindness has deteriorated to the canned “Thank you shopping at WalMart. Have a nice day!” Nice sentiment; meaningless when expressed in a toneless manner and unaccompanied by a smile. If we are to imitate Christ, if we are to be “practicing Christians,” our lives will be different from those around us. One of the ways it should be different is that we ought to become “the kindest people others know.”

I’d sure like to get better at it, and the holiday season is the perfect time to begin.

What leads to un-kindness?
Unkindness says a great deal about the person practicing it (yes, unkindness is a practice just as kindness is). It says things like:

• I’m more important than you are and don’t have time to treat you with respect.
• I don’t value you as an individual so you are not worthy of my kindness.
• I’m selfish and self-absorbed in my own issues – I don’t care enough about you to show you kindness.
• I’m impatient (which is a whole lot like selfish and self-absorbed) and don’t have time to be kind to you.
• I’m lazy and don’t make the effort to be kind to you.
• I’m ignorant, believing anything or anyone who is different from me is just wrong and/or inferior. You happen to be different from me so I will treat you with the contempt you deserve instead of the kindness God commands.
• I am disobedient to God’s Word which tells me to treat you with kindness, and my actions demonstrate that deep down inside, I’m unappreciative of the kindness God has shown me.

Ouch! The truth is that I am all those things without Christ. Each one of those sinful qualities can be found in my heart. I am thankful that I am forgiven and there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. There is, however, the constant urging to become the woman of God that He created me to be. There is the constant urging to beome the man or woman of God that He created you to be. So let’s look at the positive and turn our thoughts toward practicing our faith by demonstrating kindness toward others.

How might we show kindness in every day life?
Kindness is a virtue that has largely gone out of fashion. Let’s bring it back! Try these things:

• Smile! Genuinely smile! I’ve lived most of my life not smiling at people and I’m ready to change that. I’ve found that when I do genuinely smile at people, I love the results! I feel better about myself and about life. And the people I smile at are often encouraged – they respond with surprise and their eyes light up.
• Say “Thank you!” and mean it. Our response to the WalMart employee can easily be as automated as their thank you. When they say “Have a nice day!” don’t just mumble “thank you” as you pick up your bags and walk away. Pause and say “Thank you! I will. You have a nice day, too!” You’ll be surprised at some of the responses you get. It might even open up an opportunity for you to pray for them.
• Do helpful things when you see people in need.
  • When you see someone struggling with something – carrying too many bags or wrangling children and groceries or about to drop the many papers in their hands – offer to help.
  • Have a co-worker that is suddenly under a pile of work? Offer to help.
  • How about taking time to help a neighbor rake their leaves or pull weeds?
  • When the snow begins to fly, don’t just shovel your walkway, do your neighbor’s (especially if you have a snow blower and they don’t or if they are elderly or a single mom).
  • Get into the habit of asking “How can I help?” At first, people will usually say that you can’t, but if you keep at it, many of them will become comfortable enough to let you help in some way.
• Don’t respond with rudeness –no matter how rude they are to you!
• Share your life. This season, invite others to become involved in your life. Here are some ideas:
  • Put up your Christmas trees together – first at their house, then at yours.
  • Go shopping together.
  • Share a soup & salad dinner during the week. Soup & salad is easy and fast, but gives you an opportunity to share life with someone who just might need a friend.
• Use your talents to show others kindness. I have a friend who makes special memory cards when a family member dies. Another friend makes personal greeting cards for special occasions. If your strength is in business, mentor someone who is just getting started.
• Be thankful for the kindness God has shown you.

Well that exhausts my list – at least for now. What suggestions do you have for making kindness a part of your every day life?

Let’s become better at being PC! Challenge yourself this season to show more kindness each day.

Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you toward repentance?
Romans 2:4

I apologize, readers, that over the past month I haven’t come close to achieving my goal of two to three posts each week. A couple of days each week I’ve driven across town to sit with a dying friend through her final days and nights on this earth. What a privilege it has been! I’ve found, though, that my mind and heart were so focused on my friend that writing blogs was difficult. I’ve been reading Scripture quite a bit, and thoroughly enjoying it, but unable to get many thoughts in writing. (I did sometimes write short notes on Facebook – be sure to become a friend of the Apprehending Grace FB page.)

My friend went home to be with the Lord Tuesday morning. Today, I’d like to share some reflections with you. I’m looking over the past month and simply musing on life here on earth and God’s interruptions in it.

• Life is precious. It is so easy to get bogged down in the trials and challenges, even the minor annoyances, of this life. Don’t let it happen! Each day is a gift from God. Over the past few years I have struggled often waking up not being as joyful and thankful as I want to be. I have committed over and over to say to the Lord “Thank You!” each morning. After a few days I forget. I’ve wracked my brain trying to figure out what trigger to use to remind myself to be thankful first thing in the morning. During this process, I’ve realized that the first thing I look at each morning is the clock that is next to my pillow and at eye level. I’ve put a simply sign on it that says “Thank You, Lord, for today!”
• Enjoy moments. Don’t let the challenges of this life be your focus. Even as my friend’s strength was growing weak, we went for a “walk” around the hospice house (she in the wheel chair, I in the driver’s position). I wheeled her up to a glass door to look out. She motioned for me to move her closer. Assuming she couldn’t see out the window, I did so. That wasn’t her intention. She immediately pushed on the crash bar and turned to me motioning for me to join in the fun of her “jail break.” She was determined to have fun in her last days.
• Remember God’s promises. We talked a lot about the promises of God over the past month. Yesterday, I was reading a book by Philip Yancey called Finding God in Unexpected Places. It’s a great book full of short chapters about finding God in all walks of life. He quotes a former pastor of his as saying this:

As churches grow wealthier and more successful, they’re less likely to sing “This world is not my home, I’m just a passin’ through” and more likely to intone “This is my Father’s world.”

God has given us many precious promises, and it seems that the better this world gets, the more we put our hope in it instead of God’s promises. Let’s focus more on God’s promises than what this world may or may not have for us.

• Leaving this earth is often quite difficult. The dying process is long and arduous for many people. I’ve often wondered at that. One thought I have is that we were made for everlasting life – our bodies resist dying because we weren’t meant to die. Death is a result of sin. Praise God that He has made it possible for us to pass from this life into eternal life – because Jesus died in our place. Hallelujah! What a Savior!
• Family and friends are more important than most other things. Hence, I’ve neglected my blog and to a lesser degree I neglected my business. I also neglected my husband, but he was totally understanding and encouraged me to do so. Now this was an “emergency” situation, but I am sorry I waited for the emergency to get to know my friend better. I’ve called her “friend” throughout this blog because she was. But she was also my cousin and after high school we moved away from each other and barely largely lost contact. About eight years ago we moved to within two hours of each other, but still only saw one another once a twice a year at family gatherings. I so enjoyed getting to know her again and am sorry we didn’t make getting reacquainted a priority sooner.
• Be forgiving. Among the many conversations we had, my friend made the comment “we need to make room for one another’s craziness.” We’re all a little crazy, and family relationships can make us even crazier. What she was saying, a bit more colorfully perhaps, was “love one another” (John 13:34).

• God is in control. So many, many times over the past month, I watched God control my schedule to accomplish His purposes. Unfortunately, in my heart I didn’t always respond positively and in faith. Sometimes I grumbled. God is so gracious that He did it anyway and then unfolded His plans before my very eyes.

• Our enemy, satan, comes to steal, kill & destroy. Christ came so that we might have abundant life. (John 10:10) I hate the cancer that took my friend’s life (and the lives of five other family members in the past five years). Satan is the author of that cancer. God, in His abundant grace and overwhelming love, is the author of life. He created it, sustains it and He makes it possible for it to never end. I choose life! I hope you do to!
• God is our peace. The circumstances of this world might give us a temporal joy or happiness, but God gives peace. I love the temporal joy and happiness, but I’ll take the abiding peace over it any day. Out of that peace grows an abiding joy and strength. Thank You, God!
• God is good. When all is said and done, God is good. Period. No question, no doubt. God is good.

1. Don’t take on the emotional burdens of others. Yes, we are called to bear one another’s burdens, and that means to provide physical help where possible and to bring those burdens to the Lord on their behalf. It doesn’t mean guessing or imaging what their emotional response is and taking it on as our own. My mom was in the hospital this weekend, the same weekend of a family reunion that she had been counting the days to. I was so sad for my mom missing the reunion. Yet every time I talked to or saw her, she was fine. I kept thinking “how very sad she’ll feel while everyone is at the reunion and she’s in the hospital bed alone.” It turned my world gray for a time – and she was fine! How foolish of me to take on that unnecessary burden. I’m 54 years old, mom has been totally paralyzed on her left side and has had limited use of her right side for more than a dozen years…and she still teaches me things. I want to be like her when I grow up!
2. Do your best and then have confidence that God’s grace will come through for you! This is especially true when the ground under you seems unstable or the mountain in front of you too high. God’s grace is sufficient and His power is made perfect in our weakness. (2 Corinthians 12:9) The key is to truly have confidence in God – which means stop fretting and look forward to what He will do! (I can’t always do it, but it’s a great way to live – when I’m able to appropriate that grace, life is good, no matter what happens!)
3. The enemy lives in the shadows. God operates in the light. The enemy operates in the shadows – the “what ifs,” doubts and fears. To extinguish the shadows, turn up the lights – worship, read or meditate on Scripture, sing or hum your favorite hymn, remind yourself of God’s great promises and His unfailing faithfulness. Do whatever it takes to turn up the lights. (John 3:19-21, 8:12)
4. God’s people are very good. They have your back in this world. And God has your back in the spiritual realm. If you don’t have a church home – one that you attend regularly and where you know people and are known by them – start your search for one immediately. Without a church family you set yourself as easy pickin’s for the enemy.
5. We really do have a lot of power over how we feel about and respond to life. Like I said earlier, I’m 54 years old. That means I’ve stood in lots of lines in lots of stores. This evening I stood in a relatively short line with the absolutely slowest cashier I’ve ever encountered. I was tempted to get frustrated. After thumbing through two magazines, I was even more tempted. That’s when I noticed the guy in front of me. He had a memorial shirt on for someone who had died serving our country in March of this year. He looked tired, but he waited patiently. It encouraged me to let go of my own agenda and simply wait and smile. I realized during this process that if I had continued on the route to frustration, I would have left that line ten minutes later with an annoyance that would have stayed with me well into the evening. Instead, I left smiling and humming praises to God. I felt good about smiling at the very slow cashier – she probably doesn’t get many people smiling at her. I felt good about conquering frustration for the moment. And I felt really good about the results – feeling blessed instead of annoyed. Gotta love that!

So, faithful readers, I don’t know if any of the above speaks to you, but it seems like a lot to learn in a weekend. God is good! Blessings on your upcoming week!

Last Sunday was the 4^th of July – in the United States we celebrated the founding of our country. 234 years ago the Continental Congress, as it was called, declared our independence from Great Britain. We would no longer belong to Britain. And from then on, if you were born in this country you automatically became a citizen of the United States of America.

Just as being born in America makes you a citizen of America, there is a second birth that the Bible refers to that makes you a citizen of another world altogether. Let’s look at the discussion Jesus had with Nicodemus from John 3:

¹After dark one evening, a Jewish religious leader named Nicodemus, a Pharisee, ²came to speak with Jesus. “Teacher,” he said, “we all know that God has sent you to teach us. Your miraculous signs are proof enough that God is with you.”

³Jesus replied, “I assure you, unless you are born again, you can never see the Kingdom of God.”

⁴“What do you mean?” exclaimed Nicodemus. “How can an old man go back into his mother’s womb and be born again?”

⁵Jesus replied, “The truth is, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. ⁶Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives new life from heaven.
John 3:1-6 (NLT)

Scripture tells us that being what the Bible calls “born again” or born of the Spirit “gives new life from heaven.” And the moment we are born into that new life, we have dual citizenship – citizenship in two very different worlds – the one we live in now and the one we will one day live in for all of eternity.

Scripture has more to say about this new citizenship. In the book of Ephesians, Paul describes how we were once dead in our sins. A new birth would be required to raise us to life.

⁴But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, ⁵made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. ⁶And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms…
Ephesians 2:4-6 (NIV)

Do you see that – if you are in Christ (and I pray that you are) –if you are in Christ, although you are still here on earth, you are also seated with Christ in heavenly realms.

Paul goes on to tell the Ephesians to…

¹²remember that at that time you were separate from Christ…
Ephesians 2:12

That is, before you trusted Christ as your Savior. If you have never trusted Christ as your Savior, you are still separated from Him. Trusting Christ as your Savior means first agreeing with Him that you have lived your life separate from Him, going your own way, making your own (wrong) choices; then turning from your own way (repenting) and asking Him to lead your life. Here’s another description of the process.

remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world.
Ephesians 2:12 (NIV)

When you were separate from Christ, you were excluded from the covenants and promises of God. Paul actually uses the word “foreigners” – we were foreigners to the covenants and promises –we were not yet citizens of heaven. But Paul continues:

¹³But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ….¹⁸For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.

¹⁹Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household,
Ephesians 2:13, 18-19

Through the blood of Christ, we have become citizens of heaven.

I learned last week that nearly 1 out of every 20 men aged 16-45 died in the American Revolution. They died fighting to win our freedom from Great Britain. Given the population then and now, that would be the equivalent of 3 million men dying today. Their death bought us our citizenship in a new country. I don’t want to squander that freedom – I don’t want them to have died for nothing. I want to live recognizing and enjoying the freedoms that come with being a citizen of the United States of America.

It was Christ’s death that bought our citizenship in heaven. I’m so thankful for that and I don’t want Christ to have died for nothing either. I want to live and walk in the freedoms that citizenship in heaven makes available.

Listen to what it says in Colossians 3:

¹Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits at God’s right hand in the place of honor and power. ²Let heaven fill your thoughts. Do not think only about things down here on earth. ³For you died when Christ died, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. ⁴And when Christ, who is your real life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory.
Colossians 3:1-4

I love this passage! Because you have been raised to new life – set your sights on the realities of heaven. Notice that it says the “realities” of heaven – heaven isn’t just some pie-in-the-sky, wishful thinking, pipe dream. It is a reality. And we’re to set our sights on that reality – let it fill our thoughts instead of the challenges of this world. Why? Because your real life is hidden with Christ – where is that? Seated in heavenly realms at the right hand of God! Wow! Wow, wow!

Martin Luther, 16^th century church reformer, founder of the Lutheran church, said this:

“Even in the best of health we should have death always before our eyes [so that] we will not expect to remain on this earth forever, but will have one foot in the air, so to speak.”
Martin Luther – 16^th century church reformer

Let’s live, not only with one foot in the air, but with heaven filling our thoughts!

I do not believe God wants us to fail. However, I believe God wants us to risk failure to spend time with him, to live life his way. God is calling us to deep relationship, and that requires some time and some sacrifice. It requires trust – trust that God’s way is better than our way.
from Attending to the Trinity blog on “Humble Future 2″

Josh Broward provides an excellent blog for today, Trinity Sunday. You can find it here.

It’s quite long and worth reading the whole blog. If, however, you feel inclined to bail out before even starting, let me suggest that you skip the history at the beginning of the blog and start after the first break in the blog where the author writes “But what does it mean? What is the point?” You won’t have missed anything substantive. Additionally, there are two videos totaling about six and a half minutes. I didn’t particularly like them, but they make the author’s point. Skip them if you’re pressed for time.

But don’t skip the blog altogether. Consider it part of your observance of this special Lord’s Day (Christian Sabbath), Trinity Sunday.

Which of the author’s three suggestions are you going to implement this week? Since this is the second thing I’ve read recently suggesting a practice similar to what he calls the “HOLY 5″ I think that’s where I’ll start.

Me & God Today
The truth is that my prayer life has been declining for awhile. Yet God is so good. He graciously continues to speak to me and to protect and love me. Yet slowly, I was allowing the world to grab my attention and it was pulling me away from God. Yet , God is so good – even when I drift farther away, He pursues me.

This morning, after reading my Bible, I began to update my to do list with new things that needed my attention today. While doing so, God prompted me to put three items of prayer on the list. I don’t usually put prayer items on my to do list, but this morning, I recognized God’s prompting and added the three items to the right of the things I needed to do today.

Let me again say that God is very good. I said that “I recognized” God’s prompting, but I don’t mean to take credit for it – all credit belongs to God, even the credit for me recognizing His promptings. His prompting was so strong, that thankfully, I paused while making the list to actually pray for the items! Making a note to pray, or saying that we’ll pray, and actually praying are radically different things. This morning I paused to pray about the items.

One of the three issues I prayed about related to a new endeavor in our business. We were moving ahead and I was beginning to be uncomfortable about the direction we were taking. So I prayed and asked for guidance. About two hours later, a totally new idea came to my mind that makes SO much more sense than the other direction we were headed. It is less expensive, has less risk, doesn’t impact customer service, and if it results in lower quality I won’t have lost anything for having tried the approach.

God is so good! He prompted me to pray, I prayed, and He answered.

Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.
John 16:24 (Jesus is speaking)

Phil & God Today
I went upstairs to tell my husband about the new direction and the goodness of God. After listening to my story, he had his own to tell. His prayer life has also been declining and this morning he was feeling prompted to pray. He began by opening his Bible t read a few chapters, but found himself in an Old Testament book that is sometimes dry and factual – not a place where we hear from God easily. But he prayed, expressing his desire to continue reading from where he had last left off and his desire for God to speak to him. He read seven verses before God responded to the prayer! God began to speak to him about an area of his life that needs refreshing.

God is so good. He prompted Phil to pray, Phil prayed, God answered.

⁹“So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. ¹⁰For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
Luke 11:9-10 (Jesus is speaking)

You & God Today?
God is so good! Today He saved Phil & I from ourselves by prompting us to pray – and we couldn’t be happier about it! May we encourage you to take those issues that are on your mind and those areas of your life that need His input and ask God to speak to you? He wants to hear from you, so don’t put it off. We’re really glad we didn’t.

Not a Cloud or Pillar of Fire Anymore
While journeying to the Promised Land, the Israelites lived each moment of each day with the visible presence of the Lord before them. I imagine such a presence would impact the way I lived – that was the subject of my last blog.

God has not given us such a visible presence to follow in our generation (for we walk by faith, not by sight), but He has not left us without a witness. He has not left us without His presence. As the Israelites wandered in the wilderness, God’s presence was with them as a cloud or a pillar of fire. Today, God’s presence is with us today as an internal witness, as Jesus promised:

²³Jesus replied, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. ²⁴He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.

²⁵“All this I have spoken while still with you. ²⁶But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.
John 14:23-26

In this passage, Jesus promised two things about God’s presence in the lives of believers:

• God the Father and Jesus would come to those who love him and obey his teaching. Furthermore, they would make their home with those who love and obey the Lord.
• The Lord would send the Holy Spirit to teach believers “all things” and remind them of everything Jesus said to them.

Jesus’ promise was that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit would be a part of our lives. Clearly, believers would not be without the Lord’s presence after His death. Jesus made good on the promise of sending the Holy Spirit shortly after His resurrection:

¹⁹On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” …²¹…As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” ²²And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”
John 20:19-22

Peter makes it clear that the Holy Spirit was for all believers, when He spoke to the crowd on the day of Pentecost:

³⁷When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”

³⁸Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
Acts 2:37-38

For those of us who are believers, the Father and Son have made a home in our hearts, and the Holy Spirit has been sent to lead and guide us. The Lord has not left us without His presence. It’s just that His presence is a bit different from what the wandering Israelites experienced. The Israelites looked to the cloud or fire to determine when they should go and when they should stay; we must look to the leading of the Holy Spirit to determine when we should go and when we should stay. The problem I see is that their sign was visible. We, on the other hand, have been given the joy and challenge of following the invisible God.

I purposefully describe it as a joy and a challenge because it is both. God’s wisdom and His Kingdom are a great treasure; it is our joy to search for and discover that treasure. Yet how much easier it would be to have the visible sign of the cloud or pillar of fire.

Most of the time I prefer the joy of the discovery over the routine of following the visible. Yet how does one find the invisible? How does one know when it’s been found? I’d like to look at those issues in this and future blogs, and I hope you’ll give your input, either here as a comment or on the Apprehending Grace Facebook page.

There’s Invisible and There’s Invisible – Manifest Presence and “Every Day” Presence
Scripture is clear that God is always with us (Matthew 28:20). There is never a time when He is not with us. Yet there times when He seems to be “more present” – there are times when it seems as if He has opened our spiritual senses to experience Him in a more “real” way. That is called the manifest presence of God. God has made himself manifest, or “readily perceived by the senses” (as the word is defined by Merriam-Webster’s Online Dictionary).

It is somewhat easier to follow the invisible God when we learn to recognize Him in our midst. I’ve found that it is easier to recognize His manifest presence than his “every day” presence, especially when we are first learning to see Him.

God has wonderfully created each of us uniquely. And while He is the same yesterday, today and forever, He deals with each of us in ways that are uniquely suited to the personality and gifts He’s put in us. That means He may communicate His presence and His will differently to me than to you. I experience God’s manifest presence as a kind of electricity in the air and an expanding of my insight or knowledge. The spiritual sense of knowing that God is especially near is heightened. It’s difficult to put into words. I think most people would agree with my rather vague description.

Being uniquely created, however, we may enter into God’s presence, or come to experience God’s presence, in different ways. For example, I most often experience God’s manifest presence during worship or when journaling. My husband is a bit more cerebral than me, and he most often enters into God’s manifest presence through personal Bible study and meditation. Some experience it most strongly when serving. It’s important that we never assume that the way we experience God’s manifest presence is the only, best or primary way. God is much bigger than that.

One thing that is common, however, is that people will rarely experience the manifest presence of God unless they include God-directed activities in their lives. If I don’t attend worship services regularly and worship on my own, I limit my opportunities for experiencing God’s manifest presence. When I stop journaling, I no longer experience His presence in that way. When Phil is lax in his study, his sense of the presence of God in his life wanes.

It is one thing to know, intellectually, that God is always with us. It is another thing to experience that Truth. I am not advocating that we operate based on our feelings and experiences, but I am encouraging us to pursue the manifest presence of God. Experiencing it, experiencing Him, will be a tremendous encouragement to you in your walk with the Lord. Experiencing His manifest presence will also help you recognize Him when He moves in a more subtle way.

It’s kind of like recognizing pink because you know the color red. Once you’ve seen the full color, a shade of it holds a memory of the fullness. The same is true with God. Once you’ve experienced His manifest presence, it’s easier to recognize His every day presence

Which makes following the invisible God a whole lot easier, the subject of my next blog.

Under the anointing of the Holy Spirit, Peter gave his first sermon on the day of Pentecost. As often happens when I listen to sermons on Sunday mornings, one sentence arrested me:

“Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.”
Acts 2:36

“Both Lord and Christ”
Not just Lord, and not just Christ, but both Lord and Christ. What’s the difference? I turned to my trusted Greek dictionaries. The word translated “Lord” means “he to whom a person or thing belongs, about which he has power of deciding; master.”* God has made Jesus Lord – the One to whom all things belong; the One to whom all people belong, whether they accept His ownership of them or not.

Fact: The Sovereign God of the Universe had made Jesus the Owner of all created things.

Paul picked up Peter’s theme in Philippians:

⁹ Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
¹⁰ that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
¹¹ and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
Philippians 2:9-11

The truth is we belong to Jesus. He is our Master, our Owner, the One to whom we will one day bow our knee. The choice we face is – will we accept His ownership and bow our knee today? Will that bowed knee represent our will – that is, will it mean that we have bowed our will to His will? Hmmm. I think bowing the knee is much easier than bowing the will, but they ought to be one and the same. Brian Doerksen sings a song “Today” that captures this theme: “Today I choose to follow You. Today I choose to give my ‘Yes’ to You.”

God has already made Jesus Lord; let’s not wait until some other day to accept that ownership. God made Jesus your Lord. Will you accept His Lordship?

God made Jesus both “Lord and Christ.” The word “Christ” literally means “anointed” and is the name given to the Messiah, the Son of God.* We see this in John 1:

[Andrew] found his own brother Simon, and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated, the Christ).
John 1:41

The word “Messiah” comes from the Hebrew word (the language of the Old Testament); the word “Christ” is the Greek word (the language of the New Testament). Both refer to Jesus. Who was the Messiah? He was the long awaited Savior. One of the values of reading the Old Testament is that it lays the foundation that the Israelites were looking and longing for the promised Savior to come. Christ, the Messiah, is the fulfillment of that promise and that great anticipation. He is the One who would save them and will save us from ourselves – our sinful nature – and throw open the doors to a vibrant relationship and intimacy with God.

God has made Jesus to be our Owner and our Savior. Both Lord and Christ. Not just our Owner. Not just our Savior. Both. As Owner, He can do with us as He pleases. As Savior, He is compassionate and strong. As an Owner, He could determine us to be worthless and throw us away. As Savior, He doesn’t have that option – we are of tremendous worth to Him and He desires the very best for each of us.

“Whom You Crucified”
I wasn’t there, but yes, I crucified Christ. It was my sin that required the death of a perfect sacrifice. If you all had lived perfect lives, Christ would have been crucified for my sin. It is Christ’s perfect sacrifice that pays the debt required by my wrongdoing. He is my Savior. His sacrifice saves me from eternal damnation and opens the doors to eternal life. Wow.

Sin is messy business, as I blogged about several days ago. As the Israelites were required to slaughter a lamb or bull to pay for their sins, Christ was the lamb slaughtered as payment for my sins. His sacrifice wipes my slate clean. His blood cleanses my soul. Again I say: Wow.

“God has made…”
It was God who elevated Jesus to the position of Lord and Christ. It wasn’t me, you, my pastor or your pastor, or even the Pope who made Jesus Lord and Christ. It wasn’t anyone who has ever lived on this earth who made Jesus Lord and Christ. It was the One who created the earth and all things in and on it. It was God, the Most High God, the Creator of heaven and earth, who made Jesus both Lord and Christ.

“Brothers, what shall we do?”

When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”
Acts 2:37

After Peter’s declaration that God had made Jesus, whom they had crucified, both Lord and Christ, the crowd had one response: “Brothers, what shall we do?”

Peter’s response was one we need to be reminded of from time to time:

³⁸Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. ³⁹The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”
Acts 2:38-39

Repent! Literally, “think differently!”** Bring your thinking into line with God’s Word. Come into agreement with Him that you have sinned, that sin requires a price and that Christ, the Messiah, the Savior, paid that price.

Be baptized – be cleansed of your sins. It’s interesting that the word “baptized” also means to be “overwhelmed.”** Be overwhelmed with the goodness of God. Be overwhelmed with His presence. Be overwhelmed to the point of giving Him complete control.

Receive the gift of the Holy Spirit – the One who comforts, reveals God and empowers believers to live the life God wants us to live.

This promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off – don’t believe it’s not for you. It is. If there is even the tiniest thing in you that whispers “yeah, but this isn’t for you, you’re not good enough” – that thing has a name – satan and he is a liar. He is the father of lies and there is no good in him. Choose to believe God. Repent, be baptized and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

What will you do?

When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”
Acts 2:37

I pray that your heart has been quickened as well. God has made Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ. What will you do about it? Will you make Him Lord – Owner – of your life? Will you recognize Him as your Savior? Will you repent and be baptized and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. I pray that today you are overwhelmed with God’s grace, the Savior’s cleansing power and the revelation and peace of the Holy Spirit.

*From Thayer’s Greek Definitions from Brown-Driver-Briggs’ Hebrew Definitions, Electronic Edition STEP Files Copyright © 1999, Findex.com, Inc.

**From Strong’s Hebrew and Greek Dictionaries by James Strong, Electronic Edition STEP Files Copyright © 1998, Parsons Technology, Inc.

Have you been blessed by January’s reading?
I sure have – I’ve enjoyed January’s reading a great deal. Perhaps it’s because we’re reading a bit slower than last year. Both my husband and I sensed Jesus’ great compassion as we read the final chapters of John. The man who had just been betrayed by all his followers and crucified by his enemies built a fire on the beach and had breakfast ready when his friends who had worked all night came in. He asked them to put some of their fish on the fire – making them feel like they had contributed to the meal. He commissioned Peter, I believe as a way of assuring him that his betrayal had not disqualified him for ministry. Graham Cooke is fond of saying “Jesus is the kindest person I know.” This scene bears witness to that statement.

The Gospel According to Matthew
In February we’ll read another of the Gospels – the book of Matthew. It is told from a hugely different perspective, but it’s the same story. Matthew was writing to Jewish Christians and emphasizes that Jesus fulfills the Jewish Scriptures. The book is written in the style of an ancient biography. Interestingly, ancient biographies were often organized topically instead of chronologically, and that’s the approach Matthew took. You’ll find the sayings of Jesus organized according to topic, not in the order Jesus said them.

It’s also interesting that the book of Matthew, or one of the documents Matthew used as a source when writing the Gospel, may have been used as a training manual for new Christians. The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament (Copyright © 1993 by Craig S. Keener) says this about the book of Matthew:

[Matthew] portrays Jesus as the epitome of Israel’s hopes for his Jewish audience, but also emphasizes missions to the Gentiles: outreach to the Gentiles is rooted both in the Old Testament and in Jesus’ teaching.

Sounds like good study material to help us become well-grounded believers. Jesus is not only the epitome of Israel’s hopes, He is the epitome of our hope as well.

Finally, you’ll find my husband’s life verse in Matthew:

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
Matthew 6:33

“All these things” covers a lot of territory! What a challenge to believe this and live it when things are tough!

From Genesis to Exodus
We’ll also finish the book of Genesis and begin to read through Exodus. Egypt, Moses, Aaron, Pharaoh, plagues, miraculous deliverances, manna, water from rocks, Jethro’s visit, The Ten Commandments – all this and more await us! What an adventure the book of Exodus is. Consider reading it with that perspective. Imagine yourself as one of the Israelites as you read through the book. How would you have responded in each situation?

There are certain passages that I just fall in love with every time I read them. Genesis 1:1 is one of them:

In the beginning God created…

I don’t know why, but those words are magical to me.(Magical in a good sense – in the sense that they inspire awe every time I hear or read them.) Another two verses are those that begin the Ten Commandments:

“I am the LORD your God, who rescued you from slavery in Egypt.
“Do not worship any other gods besides me.”
Exodus 29:2-3

Be prepared to be challenged! He has rescued us from slavery to sin and demands that we worship no other gods beside Him.

Enjoy your February reading! Experience the adventure!

The recommended reading schedule is below.

To download a PDF of February’s recommended reading plan, click here.