The key to His goodness

 

Yesterday I asked my husband how marriages would be different if both husband and wife were always filled with the Spirit? We agreed — no conflicts ever.

At the request of a friend, I read a book in which the author didn’t understand that concept and gave a long history of the results of men and women in conflict over who is the boss. Without the Holy Spirit, this battle will continue; with Him there is no battle.

Piper gives testimony to the unity in his church between him, his wife, and the church leaders. He says that they all have the same “husband” who is Jesus Christ. As their first commitment and common allegiance, there is no competition. All three hear the same voice and the Holy Spirit is the secret of their unity. He is their peacemaker and the power behind their desires and ideas.

In another reading, another pastor said the same things, then added the way it happens and how God works to bring that understanding. He quoted:

Then (Jesus) said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. (Luke 24:44–47)

This man’s prayer was that God would open his eyes and the eyes of all Christians to see Jesus everywhere in the Bible, to read the law of Moses, the Prophets, and the psalms with Jesus clearly in view.

He also confessed that for years he thought the law was only as a bunch of rules and principles for earning God’s favor and blessings and managing his life. Finally he understood they were given to drive him to Jesus. The law has never been a way to earn God's acceptance. Any efforts without the Holy Spirit are futile and frustrating.

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Ephesians 2:8–9)

Jesus fulfilled the law for us by His perfect obedience, and exhausted its judgment by His death. I have life because of His life. I cannot boast, just as I cannot do well without Him.
I’m reading the prophets but without fear of judgment for I see them the same way: those who listen and obey are able to walk in harmony with God. Those who do not will experience the consequences. He gave the “rules” to us for the same reason He gives us the “rules” in the NT — to show how badly we need to walk in the Spirit and not in the flesh. Otherwise, we cannot obey Him, nor be like Him. Life in the flesh is doing our own thing — and that is sin.

Jesus is the “Yes” and “Amen” to every promise God has made. With Him, we can do it. In ourselves, we fall short. Reading the Bible is the way God reveals this. Of course I often learn through experience and its failures, but unless God opens my mind to understand the Scriptures, I will not ‘get it’ and be in the dark about why my life gets messed up. Too often I’ve lived my own way and made so many mistakes. Selfishness is a perfect way to be miserable.

PRAY: Jesus, continue to open my mind to understand how the entire Bible is a revelation of the gospel, of You and Your commitment to redeem Your people and restore the world. Show me more of you and my place in Your story. I’ve learned that all things are intended to transform me into Your image. That is entirely awesome. Even being able to listen to Your voice and do what You say is a great wonder. I’m deeply humbled that You transform sinners such as I to do Your will. I am overjoyed too, at such love and grace. You are incredible — and that also comes from You being willing to reveal Yourself to me. Amen.

Protected In a place of refuge

I was not born there nor were my parents, but Grandad came from Scotland. We’ve travelled there three times and each time I felt that I belonged there. The people look like my family and have the same sense of humor. The scenery is varied and lovely. And wow, those castles are not only inviting but give a strong sense of protection.

Today, the word to describe God is STRONGHOLD. The dictionary describes this as a place that has been fortified to protect it against attack or a place where a particular cause or belief is strongly defended or upheld. That definition says that being “in Christ” who is the Word of God is being in a stronghold and being filled with the written Word of God is also being in a stronghold.

The OT speaks of strongholds like Edinburgh castle, literal structures where God’s people could hide against their enemies. Jerusalem, also called Zion, was one of them. While David hid in this and other many places, he realized his true protection and said in 2 Samuel 22:2–4:

“The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold and my refuge, my savior; you save me from violence. I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies.”

In several ways, the psalms declare the same truth. Psalm 9:9 says, “The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.”

Psalm 27:1. “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?”

Psalm 37:39. “The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord; he is their stronghold in the time of trouble.”

Psalm 94:21–22. “They band together against the life of the righteous and condemn the innocent to death. But the Lord has become my stronghold, and my God the rock of my refuge.”

The prophets also recognized the Lord as a refuge for His people:

Isaiah 25:4. “For you have been a stronghold to the poor, a stronghold to the needy in his distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat; for the breath of the ruthless is like a storm against a wall.”

Jeremiah 16:19. “O Lord, my strength and my stronghold, my refuge in the day of trouble, to you shall the nations come from the ends of the earth and say: “Our fathers have inherited nothing but lies, worthless things in which there is no profit.”

Joel 3:16. “The Lord roars from Zion, and utters his voice from Jerusalem, and the heavens and the earth quake. But the Lord is a refuge to his people, a stronghold to the people of Israel.”

The NT does not use this word. The closest it comes is comparing two mountains; one is Sinai where the Law was given, the other is Zion representing the new covenant initiated by the blood of Christ:

Hebrews 12:22–24. “But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.”

In relation to stronghold, fleeing to Jesus for salvation is ‘better’ than any fortress — whether people consider keeping the Law will protect them, or doing their own thing is ‘good enough’ to preserve them from the enemies of sin and death. The NT says that those who trust Christ alone for their salvation are “in Christ” and that makes Him our stronghold and refuge against all foes.

GAZE INTO HIS GLORY. Being in Christ and being in the written Word of God are strongholds for me and for all God’s people. Jesus protects us, warns us, helps us in our spiritual battles as well as in the trials of life. The Word of God strongly defends our faith in Him. Christians who neglect to read and study it can be sitting ducks for the enemy were it not for a loving Savior who often protects us — even in our ignorance! However, being in Christ and in His Word turns life into an enlightened adventure, a far better choice than any other place of refuge!