Thursday, January 20, 2011

Jesus Is Lord

The Lordship of Christ is not just a creed, not just a cute little phrase to tack onto the end of a lull.  What are the implications of these words for my life?  What does it mean that Jesus is Lord?  What is the significance of this truth?
If He is Lord, who, therefore am I?  I am his subject.  I am his servant.  I am his steward.   And yet, at the same time, He has made me a co-heir with him.
I bow.  I confess. I give him precedence in all things.  I honor.  I worship.
When the disciples encountered his authority over nature, they cried out in amazement - who IS this man?  And Peter begged him - depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.  
Everywhere Jesus went he changed the equation.  And yet he did not rule by force.  The One Being in all the universe truly deserving the service of mankind came instead declaring: I did not come to be served, but to serve...
Meekness and majesty.  
God in humility.
The King becomes a servant, thereby empowering his subjects and giving them a life they never could have obtained without him.  
His Lordship is a quality he possesses with or without the acknowledgement of humans.   He doesn't need us to recognize him as such for it to be so.  He is secure in being who he is.  If we submit to him as Lord, then we ourselves benefit.  But even if we don't, he won't force himself upon us.  He'll just go on being the Lord until the Day of reckoning.  Then, on that Day, the acknowledgment of his Lordship will come from each one who has borrowed breath from him, but the benefits will no longer be available.  
I choose to bow now.

Thursday, January 13, 2011

God as God

"We want to know Him as He reveals Himself, not as our unassisted human hearts or the world define Him." - Bob Gladstone
Reflections on a Revelation of God as God...

I need to know God as He really is, not as I imagine him to be.  Not as someone else has told me he is.  Whose word could I trust?  Whose experience could be an infallible witness explaining him perfectly?  
And yet... God is perfectly revealed in Christ.  He is the exact representation of him.  That which is unseen is seen in Christ.  
Don't you know me, Jesus asked Philip, have I been with you all this time and you still don't know who I am?  This his response after Philip exclaimed, "Show us the Father!  And it will be enough for us."  Seems like an admirable request, one coming from the depths of Philip's captured heart.  But Jesus gives him a mild rebuke - how could you ask that, don't you know who I am?  When you've seen me, you've seen the Father.
So getting to know Jesus = getting to know the Father.   He has declared him.  This is the mystery and the significance of the incarnation.  
God is revealed in his word.  When we read the word of God, divinely inspired by him, we are beholding a true reflection of who he is.  This is our standard of measurement for every other revelation.  If we think we receive something about God and it doesn't square with what he has already said, then we know that our "revelation" is somehow flawed.  God doesn't contradict himself nor does he change like shadows that dance around in the dark.  
God desires to reveal himself to me.  He longs for me to know him.  He wants to pull back the curtain and show me a little more of his goodness, his mercy, his compassion, his glory.  He knows I'm weak and can't absorb more than a small fraction of it at once, but still he desires fellowship with me.  He wants to break into my world and have me recognize him.  He wants me to learn to hear his voice.  He wants me to be searching the Scriptures for words to live by, lifting my voice in worship throughout the day, sitting at his feet pouring out my worship perfume.  
I want to know him as he is.  So many images have been created in the name of God, so many icons, so many avatars impersonating him.  People, ideas, false gods, fantasies, theories, all pretending to be THE God of the universe.  Yet there is only One true and living God, One way to eternal life, One Creator of all things.  Who is this God and what does he say about himself?
Gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness.  
The only way I can truly experience God is by revelation.  My heart has to be drawn and he has to open my eyes.  Otherwise I cannot know who he really is.  Jesus said no one could come to him unless the Father would draw him. So I need God to have God.  I need God to even begin to desire God.  Everything begins with him.  From him, to him, and through him are all things - to him be the glory forever.
   

Monday, January 10, 2011

Appetizers

Even with all the amazing gifts of love each day, they are actually reminders of greater things to come. 
It's as if we're on an expedition finding gold. But all the flecks we uncover - as wonderful, beautiful and exhilarating as they may be - are indications that the Mother-load is out there still unrealized
“Open my eyes to see the wonderful mystery of love” - when I receive a gift of your love here, help me to lift my eyes to the Giver who is smiling at me with love whispering, "There's more where that came from; indeed, much more than you can imagine... Just wait till you get here."
 ...you have a better and an enduring possession for yourselves in heaven. Hebrews 10:34


#53 New beginnings with new mercies for each new day.
#54 Chocolate covered pretzels



Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Becoming More of a Child


How would I know Christ as my deliverer unless I had been in a pit?
How would I know him as my Savior unless I had been lost?
How would I know him as the One who calms the storm 
unless I had been in the midst of a tempest?
How would I know him as my provider if I had never been in need?
How would I learn to depend on him if I were never destitute?
How would I know him as my healer if I had never been sick?
So I can give thanks even if I don’t have a lot, even if I’m being tossed by life’s storms, even I’m struggling with illness, even if I am at the end of all my natural resources... 
indeed “he THEN is all my hope and stay.”
It’s during those times when I learn who he really is.  
If I don’t truly experience HIM during adversity, drought, famine, or trials, then do I really KNOW him at all?  Am I only thankful during times of prosperity - those rare moments when “everything is going great”?  
I have to find GOD no matter the situation.  I think he set it up this way.  He’s there pulling for me saying, “Come on, you can do it.  Just trust me this time.  Keep praising, keep rejoicing.  Watch what I will do.  Watch who you’ll become...”