“Our first place of victory [over fear] is in believing the truth concerning our relationship with God. Paul tells us that, “having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom 5:1). We reject the lie that insists God is our enemy. We come to believe He is our Helper in the healing of our souls!”
-Francis Frangipane
How good it is to give thanks to the Eternal
and to praise Your name with song, O Most High;
To speak of Your unfailing love in the morning
and rehearse Your faithfulness as night begins to fall.
How good it is to praise to the sound of strings—lute and harp—
the stirring melodies of the lyre.
Because You, O Eternal One, thrill me with the things You have done,
I will sing with joy in light of Your deeds.
(Psalm 92:1-4)
“God has foreordained the works to which He has called you. He has been ahead of you preparing the place to which you are coming and manipulating all the resources of the universe in order that the work you do may be a part of His whole great and gracious work.” – G. Campbell Morgan
Wonder blasts the soul – that is, the spiritual – and the skeleton, the body – the material. Wonder interprets life through the eyes of eternity while enjoying the moment, but never lets the moment’s revision exhaust the eternal.
– Ravi Zacharias
Sometimes, when alpenglow lights up the mountains for a few minutes at sunset I want to stand up and applaud, shouting “Author! Author!”
Sometimes I do.
I want to praise the Creator of all this.
I heard of a writer who tried to correct some information about his motivation for the development of a character on a Wikipedia article about himself. Ironically, the corrections he tried to make were “re-corrected” because he – the author – was not recognized as an authority on himself. (A whole other discussion about media and trust could be held here but I shall resist for the moment.)
Yesterday my son and I were discussing theology as he helped me make dinner. He thought there was a reason the people who marvelled at the things Jesus said recognized he that taught as one who had authority.
“It’s because he was the author,” my son said, as he mashed the potatoes. “Teachers like the scribes of Jesus’ day, can only propose theories on what they think the author meant, but Jesus spoke with authority because, as the author of the story, he knew what it meant.”
The best way to understand what the author intended is to ask the author. In Hebrews we read that Jesus Christ is the author and finisher of our faith. He is the ultimate authority on God’s intentions. Like watching a continuing saga of gigantic proportions the meaning of beginning of the story can only be fully understood in the context of the ending. This takes a brilliant author.
Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrew 12 NKJV)
In Christ the great mystery of the ages is revealed.
The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
And he is the head of the body, the church;
he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.
For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. (Colossians 1: 17-20)
He speaks as one having authority.
“But what is liberty without wisdom, and without virtue? It is the greatest of all possible evils; for it is folly, vice, and madness, without tuition or restraint.”
– Edmund Burke
Wisdom is an overlooked but very necessary gift from God.
Wisdom is often the missing element when trying to communicate liberty and love. Wisdom includes knowledge, but knowledge does not necessarily include wisdom. How often do we hear the phrase, “I’m sure he meant well?” whilst cleaning up a human relations fiasco.
There is a difference between wisdom that comes from above and wisdom gained from years of study and experience. Like words of knowledge mentioned in Romans 12, words of wisdom go beyond the natural ability of a person to perceive without the aid of the Holy Spirit. The wisdom that comes from God “is first utterly pure, then peace-loving, gentle, approachable, full of tolerant thoughts and kindly actions, with no breath of favouritism or hint of hypocrisy.” (James 3:17 Phillips)
The gift of wisdom is a spiritual gift, and is closely connected with hearing and understanding God’s perspective. Sometimes Godly wisdom is counter-intuitive because it has a different goal in mind than what we think is in our best interest. While reading about Godly wisdom I was surprised to learn that the greatest hindrance to using this gift is rivalry, jealousy and envy.
“Are there some wise and understanding men among you? Then your lives will be an example of the humility that is born of true wisdom.” (James 3:13)
It reminds me of the time a man with a sword stood before Joshua as he was about to lead his men into battle. Joshua asked, “Are you for us or for our enemies?”
“Neither,” he replied, “but as commander of the army of the Lord I have now come.”
The real question is not whether or not God is on our side. The question is about whether or not we are on His.
Someone told me once that presumptive sin is the unquestioned idea that God is a kind of Santa Claus who exists to serve our desires. Our desires can look quite noble. We want a family we can be proud of. We want our country to be free, peaceful, and prosperous. We want our own church gathering -the one that meets under a particular steeple or gymnasium roof – to be a beacon of light in the community. We want our mission to bear fruit.
Secretly, however, we want our congregation to shine more brightly than others. We want to be able to say we have the greatest growth, the widest influence, the finest music, the biggest outreach, the most political influence, the finest sermons, the most popular programs, the most prosperous, healthy, well-taught, well-behaved attendees and the best thought-out forms of governance with leaders well-schooled in the art of business administration. We want our mission to be blessed in stead of blessing God’s mission. We want our team to win.
Wisdom is understanding how to apply all the other gifts in a way that will be to the benefit of others and will honour God.
The Bible says wisdom is connected to humility, not ambition – and definitely not pride. The fastest way to shut down the operation of wisdom in our midst is to fail to recognize the gifts and callings in others or to encourage them or promote them as being more important than ourselves.
Spiritual growth that screens knowledge through wisdom and love is often counter-intuitive in an upside down Kingdom where the last shall be first and the first shall be last.
James goes on to write in chapter four of the book named after him that the greatest cause – no, the cause – of division and disgruntlements in the church is competitiveness and jealousy.
“But about the feuds and struggles that exist among you—where do you suppose they come from? Can’t you see that they arise from conflicting passions within yourselves? You crave for something and don’t get it, you are jealous and envious of what others have got and you don’t possess it yourselves. Consequently in your exasperated frustration you struggle and fight with one another. You don’t get what you want because you don’t ask God for it. And when you do ask he doesn’t give it to you, for you ask in quite the wrong spirit—you only want to satisfy your own desires.”
Since we were just told in chapter three that rivalry and jealousy shut down the ability to receive wisdom, perhaps what we ought to be praying for is not the things we can spend on our own pleasure, or for things that improve our own reputation or attract admiration. Perhaps the gift we need to be asking for is wisdom and grace we can lavish on others to God’s glory.
God promised He will give wisdom liberally -all we have to do is remain humble and ask with the right motives.
Long before music was sung by a choir,
Long before silver was shaped in the fire,
Long before poets inspired the heart,
You were the Spirit of all that is art.
You give the potter the feel of the clay;
You give the actor the right part to play;
You give the author a story to tell;
You are the prayer in the sound of a bell.
Praise to all lovers who feel your desire!
Praise to all music which soars to inspire!
Praise to the wonders of Thy artistry
Our Divine Spirit, all glory to Thee.
(Charles Anthony Silvestri)
O guiding night!
O night more lovely than the dawn!
O night that has united
the Lover with his beloved,
transforming the beloved in her Lover.
(St. John of the Cross)
“And you, my little son,
will be called the prophet of the Most High,
because you will prepare the way for the Lord.
You will tell his people how to find salvation
through forgiveness of their sins.
Because of God’s tender mercy,
the morning light from heaven is about to break upon us,
to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
and to guide us to the path of peace.”
– from Zechariah’s prophecy over his baby son, John (in The Message)
“Who is this in royal robes,
marching in his great strength?
“It is I, the Lord, announcing your salvation!
It is I, the Lord, who has the power to save!
(from Isaiah 63)
On the morning before the slaughter in Paris, while I was still asleep, I heard a voice. It woke me.
“42! 63!”
This has happened before, so I asked, “Psalm 42?”
“Isaiah 42.”
I looked it up. It’s starts with a prophecy about the Messiah, his character, his role, his manner and his purpose.
I looked up Isaiah 63. It has a similar theme of a Father who fights evil on behalf of his children.
Both passages end with a description of His sorrow when the people he desired to save turned to their own methods, even other gods, instead of calling on Him and responding to Him. In Isaiah’s time He left them to their own devices for a while, but continued to call out to them over and over through his prophets.
Many times in history God’s people have prayed crying “‘Anah!” to Him. “Hear us! Respond to us!” (A discussion of the word ‘anah here.)
Many times in history Yhwh has prayed to his beloved, “‘Anah!” “Hear Me! Respond to me!”
For a few days I didn’t understand why he would direct my attention to these passages. Since then I have seen many responses to the triumph of evil in Paris and Kenya and Syria and many other places in the world. Love them all! Kill them all!
Can we just admit that if there was a sure-fire method of solving this situation without exacerbating horrible actions or being captured by the evil spirits behind it ourselves, that it would have been done by now? We have lost our innocence about both the nobility of armed conflict and the consequences of doing nothing when we hear the cries of victims of evil aggression.
In our own family, this very week, we are still fighting World War II. My mother-in-law barely escaped death or an internment camp as a young teenager when her family’s home in Rangoon, Burma was bombed by the invading Japanese. Their savings were in that house. They lost everything and fled on the last military transport to India. Now, as her short-term memory loss requires us to take measures to protect her she feels like her own family is confiscating her savings and threatening her freedom by sending her to an old person internment camp. (She refuses to live with us.) In her mind history is repeating -or perhaps the war has never ended- and that which she feared most has come upon her.
I remember my mom describing the beatings she and her brothers suffered on the way home from school as ethnic Germans living in Canada during the war. No one took the time to understand that they were running from both the Russians and the Germans. No one noticed that their older brother was fighting for the Canadian army in the Netherlands. When Hitler’s troops arrived in my grandfather’s village they killed 1/3 of the population in one day. Stalin had already killed my grandmother’s family. I see the Syrian refugees fleeing violence as unjust as the pogroms of Russia a century ago also being met with rejection from all sides.
Some of our extended family were still in Germany when the battle lines were drawn up. Let me tell you no one hated Hitler more than a German boy drafted to the Russian front! But if you were Ukrainian like my husband’s grandparents and saw a German boy in a tank coming toward you, it was not a good time to offer hospitality. It is not easy to love your enemy and love your children at the same time. We desperately need wisdom and discernment.
I am a grandchild of refugees who still lives with the consequences of war. I am so grateful that Canada took my family in! I am grateful Canada heard the cries of the victims of injustice and made room for them. I am grateful that many were willing to lay down their lives to fight injustice. Now I am even more grateful to those, like the intercessor Rees Howells, who fought the war on their knees. We will never know this side of heaven how much intercessors, those who war in the heavenlies, did to bring peace.
Now it is time for those who hear his voice to respond.
What am I saying? History has proven that our methods of solving problems like ISIS are horribly inadequate. I have heard people say, after they have tried everything they can think of to save themselves in threatening circumstances, “Well, all we can do now is pray.”
I hear my heavenly Father say, “Make Me your first response! It is I, the Lord! It is I, who has the power to save!”
“Look at my servant, whom I strengthen.
He is my chosen one, who pleases me.
I have put my Spirit upon him.
He will bring justice to the nations.
He will not shout
or raise his voice in public.
He will not crush the weakest reed
or put out a flickering candle.
He will bring justice to all who have been wronged.
He will not falter or lose heart
until justice prevails throughout the earth.
Even distant lands beyond the sea will wait for his instruction.”
(from Isaiah 42)
Charis: Subject to Change 