No matter what, His will is accomplished . . .

Without intending to, I missed Herod Agrippa I, another grandson of Herod the Great, the third ruler at the time of Christ and one whose story makes me cringe. His reign from A.D. 37–44 was cut short by his sudden and gruesome death. Before that, he murdered of James the son of Zebedee and brother of John. Then he put Peter in prison. His death is recorded as follows:

On an appointed day Herod put on his royal robes, took his seat upon the throne, and delivered an oration to them. And the people were shouting, “The voice of a god, and not of a man!” Immediately an angel of the Lord struck him down, because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and breathed his last. (Acts 12:21–23)

This “appointed day” reminds me of the phrase “in the fullness of time” as if the writers is hinting that God had orchestrated both events — the birth of His Son and the death of this man who tried to usurp His glory. I cringe when I read this, not only because of the worms, but because of the times I have failed to give God the glory when praised by others. How sinful to receive praise that belongs to Him. How gracious of God to not strike me with the same fate.

One more political leader stands out in the story of Jesus Christ. It is the Roman procurator of Judea, Pontius Pilate (A.D. 26–36). He was involved in the trial of Jesus, and even though he repeatedly declared Him not guilty, he finally condemned the Son of God to death.

(Pilate) went back outside to the Jews and told them, “I find no guilt in him. But you have a custom that I should release one man for you at the Passover. So do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?” They cried out again, “Not this man, but Barabbas!” Now Barabbas was a robber. Then Pilate took Jesus and flogged him. And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head and arrayed him in a purple robe. They came up to him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and struck him with their hands. Pilate went out again and said to them, “See, I am bringing him out to you that you may know that I find no guilt in him.” So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Behold the man!” When the chief priests and the officers saw him, they cried out, “Crucify him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and crucify him, for I find no guilt in him.” (John 18:38–19:6)

Shortly after the death of Christ, Tiberius deposed Pilate for an attack on the Samaritans and ordered him to appear before the emperor (A.D. 36). What happened to him after that is uncertain.

Again, ambivalence in leadership played a role in the story of Jesus Christ. Pilate waffled. He was afraid of upsetting the Jews and putting his position in jeopardy even though he was convinced that Jesus did not deserve to die. He reminds me of many contemporary politicians who fear their loss of position and power more than they fear doing what is unjust.

^^^^^^^^^^^^

Lord Jesus, reading about these people in authority presents instruction and warning to me, but also encouragement. I’m to stand for truth, glorify God in all things, and not be afraid of what others think or might do to me. At the same time, I’m encouraged that God uses even the foolishness of human beings to fit into His plans. Your goals are met, regardless of human flaws and failures. I trust You with the events of life, the leaders who seem to be set against You, and the results of their decisions. Your plans will be accomplished. I also trust You when I mess up. I can’t make any excuses that this is part of Your plan but I can know that my mistakes will not stop You from fulfilling your plan. Big picture or small incidents, I can rest in You.

Escaping slavery

Even though I know the truth of it by experience, the question is: How can a person become free by becoming a bondservant to Jesus Christ? It works, but why? The natural reasoning says that being a slave of anyone, even God, is anything but freedom.

The first thing to understand is that we are all serving something or someone. It might be our job, our family, our reputation, another person, but it is usually ourselves. I am my own taskmaster. However, God says . . .

Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification. (Romans 6:16–19)

Chambers points out what these verses say; I am responsible for choosing whom I will serve. If I am a slave to myself and my own passions, it is because I yielded myself to myself. If I am a servant of God, it is because I have yielded myself to Him.

Again, self is a horrid taskmaster. Chambers uses the example of lust. He says we cannot break its bondage should it rule our lives. Lust is: ‘I must have it at once,’ whether it is the lust of the flesh or the lust of the mind. Once yielded, people may hate themselves for it, but they cannot escape it. This is true for addictions and anything else that people allow to control their lives.

Our human power is useless. Whatever kind of bondage holds me, the only escape from it is by humble surrender to the Lord Jesus Christ. It is as Paul preached . . . He brings “deliverance to the captives.”

If anyone ever says, “Oh, I can give up that habit whenever I like” they soon find out that the habit is far stronger than they assumed. Christians might sing, “He will break every fetter,” but live in obvious slavery to themselves, talking only about their interests, concerned only what makes them look good. Yielding to Jesus breaks all forms of such slavery. He sets free those who are captured by the desire to “be their own person.”

I can easily see the ball and chain of bad habits, obvious sinful lifestyles and patterns. It is more difficult to recognize that even good habits can dominate my life, not because they are somehow evil, but because they are ruling what I do, how I think and talk. Instead of abiding in the Lordship of Christ, I’m a slave to something else – having my own way. What a tyrant that is!

It may take a long time to realize the prison bars of self. It may also take just as long to escape that prison. However, the only way to do it is by grabbing hold of the outstretched hand of Jesus, refusing to let go of Him, doing whatever He says, and going wherever He leads.

Serving Christ who lives in me

My sister and I are driving two hours today to set up a booth at a craft fair. As we were looking at our Bibles this morning, she said that when Christians do anything to serve the Lord, there is no reason for us to be praised or take credit, for it is not us who do the service, but Christ who lives in us.

Then I opened my devotional reading for today and this is the verse that it highlights.

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)

I almost feel God hugging me and saying, “Isn’t this a good word for you today!” It is so good that He has already given it to me two times. Do I sense a test coming?

The devotional writer says this is the wonder of life in Jesus Christ. Because He lives in me I don’t have to wonder what to do whenever there are opportunities to serve Him or when difficult situations happen. He is here with me. He wants me to listen to Him, not my own selfish ideas. That is part of what it means to be crucified with Him. When I listen, I know what to do; no hesitation involved.

I’ve noticed that this instinctive knowledge increases the more I read His Word and think about what I have read. The Bible not only nourishes my soul; it gives Jesus the vocabulary He uses to speak to me. 

Putting aside my old life is also important. It has no value for it is dead to God. Being free from my own demands also increases my ability to quickly grasp what He is saying to me. There ought to be no need to ponder what Jesus would do. Because He lives in me, and because He is teaching me the reality of my own death to self, I should hesitate less and less. 

Of course, now that I’ve said that, this weekend of doing something new and unusual will be a venue to test out how well I listen!

Choose this day . . .

When I was in high school and missed a question on a quiz, my classmates made fun of me. I don’t remember how I felt at the time, but I’m sure their remarks stung. Months ago I typed the wrong name in a blog post, one of those absent-minded things like calling one of your children by the name of another one. A friend sent me an email and said, “I think you meant . . . ” and I thanked her and fixed it.

These two events added to my solid convictions about the New Testament structure for rebuking someone. Matthew 18 says that I should approach another person alone to tell them of their sin. In this way, I am respecting them and giving them opportunity to fix their error. If they hear me, I have won them, and if not, then I can ask a second concerned person to come with me in the rebuke.

This week I’ve been reminded again that God’s way is perfect, and that it applies to little goof-ups as well as blatant sin. I made another absent-minded error. Instead of a personal correction, one person made fun of me publically. I felt like I was back in high school. It was not a big deal, even less important than missing one math or science question, but I realized again that God wants me to be gracious, even in the little things. If another person goofs up, kindness and grace are always called for rather than assuming making fun is funny.

My devotional reading this morning offers some thoughts about whom I serve. Yesterday offered the same type of question. I’m seeing a connection in these questions to my feelings about being unloved.

And Elijah came to all the people, and said, “How long will you falter between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.” But the people answered him not a word. (1 Kings 18:21)

In my case, Baal is not the alternative. Instead, my god could easily be me, my desires, and my way of doing things. It could also be my feelings, particularly when they are injured.

The first line of Rick Warren’s book on living as a Christian, The Purpose Driven Life, says, “It is not about you.” He is so right. As I think about my offenses, and about those who offend me, neither are important. What is important is that I honor God when I mess up, and also honor Him when others mess up in the way they handle my mistakes.

Jesus died for all and for all sin, big or small, purposeful or thoughtless. Spelling words incorrectly, or making an error in division, or calling someone by the wrong name is nothing. My goal is not perfection in those things but in acting like Jesus. Living the Christian life is about Him. I need to be like Him in how I treat others who make mistakes. Even though He made none of His own, I need to be like Him in my response to unloving barbs against what I do. I need to live so that what I do honors Him and I need to respond to even little things the way He responds.

The Holy Spirit puts a line from the Bible in my mind. It is the first part of Jeremiah 12:5. “If you have run with the footmen, and they have wearied you, Then how can you contend with horses?”

Jesus never flinched at the false accusations cast in His direction. He rebuked Peter for suggesting another path for His life, but other than that, what people said to Him were of no import to His focus. If He responded at all, it was for their sake. In other words, His pain was not that He was attacked or treated without respect, but that they had sinned against God and their sin was damaging that relationship.

While I want to be loved by others, this isn’t a lesson about that. It is a lesson about responding to a lack of that love like Jesus responds; He loved them anyway, no matter what people did to Him.

As Warren says, this is not about me. It is about choosing whom I will serve — the Lord God . . . or my own desire for respect, even in the little things.

Whom will I serve today?

When faced with a choice, I am already in one of the options.

This was the premise in a small booklet. It pointed out how those presented with the opportunity to follow Christ could choose to follow Him or not, but one of those options describes their situation before the opportunity presents itself.

Today my husband and I can choose to go out in the rain or stay in our room. We are already in the room. It is comfy here, spacious and has everything we would need for the day. Going out in the rain isn’t that appealing, and if we were at home with this option, we would decide to stay in. However, the rain in Scotland is not like the rain in Alberta, Canada. Here, many do not bother with an umbrella. The rain, light or heavy, seems a part of the day as much as sunshine. It is not an “evil” to be avoided, but a way of life to be accepted.

In the Bible, Joshua had been leading the people since the death of Moses. Continually faced with the challenges of following God and the temptations to do otherwise, and Joshua challenged them.

And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. (Joshua 24:15)

At this point in their history, the Israelites seemed to be already in that option of serving the Lord, yet temptations continually threatened to pull them away. Joshua reminded them that as human beings created to worship, if they did not worship the Lord, they would worship someone or something, in this case, the gods of the people around them.

I think about this challenge, “If it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve. . . .” My options are not exactly the same as theirs. The people around me do not have little statues that they bow to, but many of them do have idols. They serve the great god of commerce, or leisure, or simply the god of self.

Each day, even each moment of the day and with each turn of events, I face a choice. Will I go in that direction, or stay on my current path? Whom will I serve? Does it seem evil, difficult, or at least foolish to serve the Lord? If so, I need to ask myself more questions, such as, Where is my faith? What can any other god do for me above what the Lord does?

In Joshua’s day, his question may have been rhetorical. Certainly the options were not even an issue, for in his mind, who would want to follow idols. Yet the potential was there, and easy for the people to slide into. That is why this is an excellent question for me too. As I start this day and as the day unfolds, whom will I serve?