"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field." (Matt 13:44)
The man in the parable bought the field in order to have the treasure. The treasure exists not on its own but in the context of the field. We must purchase the field if we are to have the treasure.
The field represents various things - the Word, the church, and life itself.
We must immerse ourselves in the Word to find all the riches of the treasures that are in Christ. The written Word is God's full revelation to man. Never can we trust in voices and leanings and illuminations, as good as they are, to guide us into truth. Every impression we have must be held up to the Word and be tested whether it be true or not. Nor can we leave it totally to others to teach us - the Lord will be our teacher. He that wrote the book will disclose it to us.
We must buy the church and bury ourselves in it to have the treasure of Christ in all His glory. This thing is bigger than any one of us; we need each other and must love and care for one another. We must expose ourselves to all the problems that come with the church - people that aren't like us, people with problems, people with different backgrounds and viewpoints, people that don't necessarily care for us all that much.
How do we grow? By loving and caring and tending and going out of ourselves and learning to love. By feeding and being fed, by opening up our lives to others, by weeping with those that weep and rejoicing with those that rejoice. By considering others as better than ourselves, by honoring the least among us. By coming together in committed relationship, by reaching out together, by being intentional in our love for one another. Church is family - you don't get to choose your family, and you don't get to choose your brothers and sisters in Christ. And you don't get to walk away from them when they do something you don't like.
We must see our entire lives - every day, even the cloudy ones - as being in His loving care. We all love the mountain top, but David knew that we walk through valleys, and said "For thou art with me." To find out that the Lord is with me even in the valley of the shadow of death is one of the greatest things we can know. That will take us beyond cotton candy Christianity into substance and truth.
Sunday, April 30, 2006
Saturday, April 22, 2006
It's Official
I'm retired - happened yesterday.
I got taken out to lunch every day this week, and Pat and I are celebrating with dinners out, so I'm a little full.
But I'm also full of hope and expectation, to be able to do the things that mean the most to me. First and foremost is serving the Lord. There are so many things we want to do and now we'll have ample time for them (like during daytime hours, without having to sandwich them between supper, walking the dog, and mowing the lawn).
We're gearing up to go back to Paraguay in July. That was such an eventful trip last year and we're looking forward with great anticipation to what God will do there on this next trip.
I plan to be more active than my work-life schedule permitted, and to pursue my hobbies of calligraphy, studying classical guitar, and increasing my Spanish vocabulary. We'll be visiting grandkids, going to the beach and - did I mention finally getting enough sleep?
I got taken out to lunch every day this week, and Pat and I are celebrating with dinners out, so I'm a little full.
But I'm also full of hope and expectation, to be able to do the things that mean the most to me. First and foremost is serving the Lord. There are so many things we want to do and now we'll have ample time for them (like during daytime hours, without having to sandwich them between supper, walking the dog, and mowing the lawn).
We're gearing up to go back to Paraguay in July. That was such an eventful trip last year and we're looking forward with great anticipation to what God will do there on this next trip.
I plan to be more active than my work-life schedule permitted, and to pursue my hobbies of calligraphy, studying classical guitar, and increasing my Spanish vocabulary. We'll be visiting grandkids, going to the beach and - did I mention finally getting enough sleep?
Thursday, April 20, 2006
They Left Their Nets
When Jesus called the disciples and said to them "Follow me," they left their nets, their boats, their jobs, and their families. What was there about this Man that caused them to forsake all?
Was it something in His voice? His eyes? His face?
Isaiah says that He had no form nor comeliness that we should desire Him. He was as a root out of dry ground. No one except John the Baptizer recognized Him at the Jordan.
Yet He was so attractive to those He called that they immediately and without a second thought left their livelihood to follow this itinerant preacher.
When He speaks to your heart, all else will pale in comparison. His beauty and His love outshine the sun. It is as the sun rising in the eastern sky, dimming all lesser lights in the stars and the moon.
Listen for His voice - He is calling to whosoever will. He is calling you. Not to religion or doctrine or creed, but to Himself, the bright and morning star, the light of the world. No experience compares to knowing Him and walking with Him.
Let Him be your light, your love, your all. You'll never regret it.
Was it something in His voice? His eyes? His face?
Isaiah says that He had no form nor comeliness that we should desire Him. He was as a root out of dry ground. No one except John the Baptizer recognized Him at the Jordan.
Yet He was so attractive to those He called that they immediately and without a second thought left their livelihood to follow this itinerant preacher.
When He speaks to your heart, all else will pale in comparison. His beauty and His love outshine the sun. It is as the sun rising in the eastern sky, dimming all lesser lights in the stars and the moon.
Listen for His voice - He is calling to whosoever will. He is calling you. Not to religion or doctrine or creed, but to Himself, the bright and morning star, the light of the world. No experience compares to knowing Him and walking with Him.
Let Him be your light, your love, your all. You'll never regret it.
Monday, April 10, 2006
East and West
"As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us." (Psalm 20:12)
Ever wonder how far the east is from the west? They never meet. (Remember the old adage "East is east and west is west and never the twain shall meet?")
If I walk out the door and head north, eventually I'll reach the North Pole. If I keep on walking I'll then be going south.
But if I start walking east I could walk forever, and never end up going west. North and south meet at the poles but east and west never, ever meet.
That's how far God has removed our sins from us. They will never be connected to us again. The blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin. His blood doesn't just cover our sins, only to need covering again the next year as in the Old Testament; the blood of Jesus washes our sin away.
Can God forget anything? How could the all-wise and all-knowing God ever forget anything? But He can and He does: "I will forgive their iniquity and I will remember their sin no more." (Jer 31:34).
Paul directs the book of Ephesians to the "saints" that are in Ephesus. Are we afraid to call ourselves saints? Yes, we are. We're like Paul when he said he was the chiefest of sinners; it's not bad to see ourselves that way - certainly, the longer I walk with the Lord the more I see my own depravity - but we need to see things from God's viewpoint, too. He doesn't see our sin. He doesn't remember our sin. He has forgotten them. He doesn't have a book with all our sins recorded by our names - the blood of Jesus has washed them all away.
Paul, who killed Christians prior to his conversion, said he served God with a clean conscience. We can have the same clean conscience before God, knowing that God not only forgives, but He forgets.
Ever wonder how far the east is from the west? They never meet. (Remember the old adage "East is east and west is west and never the twain shall meet?")
If I walk out the door and head north, eventually I'll reach the North Pole. If I keep on walking I'll then be going south.
But if I start walking east I could walk forever, and never end up going west. North and south meet at the poles but east and west never, ever meet.
That's how far God has removed our sins from us. They will never be connected to us again. The blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin. His blood doesn't just cover our sins, only to need covering again the next year as in the Old Testament; the blood of Jesus washes our sin away.
Can God forget anything? How could the all-wise and all-knowing God ever forget anything? But He can and He does: "I will forgive their iniquity and I will remember their sin no more." (Jer 31:34).
Paul directs the book of Ephesians to the "saints" that are in Ephesus. Are we afraid to call ourselves saints? Yes, we are. We're like Paul when he said he was the chiefest of sinners; it's not bad to see ourselves that way - certainly, the longer I walk with the Lord the more I see my own depravity - but we need to see things from God's viewpoint, too. He doesn't see our sin. He doesn't remember our sin. He has forgotten them. He doesn't have a book with all our sins recorded by our names - the blood of Jesus has washed them all away.
Paul, who killed Christians prior to his conversion, said he served God with a clean conscience. We can have the same clean conscience before God, knowing that God not only forgives, but He forgets.
Monday, April 03, 2006
Tozer: The Friends of God
The Friends of God Scripture
What a difference it makes when we cease being general (a dodge, incidentally, for pseudo-humility and unbelief) and become pointed and personal in our approach to God. Then we shall not fear the personal pronoun, but shall with all the friends of God relate it to the One who gave it and claim each one for himself the Person and work of the Triune God. Then we shall see that all that God did was for each of us. Then we can sing: For me Thou didst cover Thyself with light as with a garment and stretch out the heavens like a curtain and lay the foundations of the earth. For me Thou didst appoint the moon for seasons and the sun knoweth his going down. For me Thou didst make every beast of the earth after his kind and every herb bearing seed and every tree in which is the fruit of a tree. For me prophet wrote and psalmist sang. For me holy men spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. For me Christ died, and the redemptive benefits of that death are by the miracle of His present life perpetuated forever, as efficacious now as on the day He bowed His head and gave up the ghost. And when He arose the third day it was for me; and when He poured out upon the disciples the promised Holy Spirit it was that He might continue in me the work He had been doing for me since the morning of the creation.
What a difference it makes when we cease being general (a dodge, incidentally, for pseudo-humility and unbelief) and become pointed and personal in our approach to God. Then we shall not fear the personal pronoun, but shall with all the friends of God relate it to the One who gave it and claim each one for himself the Person and work of the Triune God. Then we shall see that all that God did was for each of us. Then we can sing: For me Thou didst cover Thyself with light as with a garment and stretch out the heavens like a curtain and lay the foundations of the earth. For me Thou didst appoint the moon for seasons and the sun knoweth his going down. For me Thou didst make every beast of the earth after his kind and every herb bearing seed and every tree in which is the fruit of a tree. For me prophet wrote and psalmist sang. For me holy men spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. For me Christ died, and the redemptive benefits of that death are by the miracle of His present life perpetuated forever, as efficacious now as on the day He bowed His head and gave up the ghost. And when He arose the third day it was for me; and when He poured out upon the disciples the promised Holy Spirit it was that He might continue in me the work He had been doing for me since the morning of the creation.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)