The Hammer of the Lord - May 27, 2018

Jeremiah 23:29 - “Is not My word like fire?” declares the LORD, “and like a hammer which shatters a rock? 

During much of my elementary school years my father labored as a carpenter. He would come home from work with his tool belt usually dusted with sawdust from whatever they had framed out that day. While I never spent a day with him on the jobsite, he was always building something around the house. Long before pneumatic nail guns, I would marvel how he could take a framing nail and drive it through 2X4s with one or at the most two blows from his hammer. This practiced hand/eye coordination allowed my father's strength to become focused in a very small area. The framing hammer seldom missed its mark and provided the brute force needed to successfully join lumber together until whatever he was building took shape. Then, with equal skill, he would often complete his work with smaller nails and a lighter finishing hammer. The same accuracy applied as he attached paneling on our house or wood shingles on an enclosure for the dog. The application was often indicative of the tool need for the job, while the finesse of the craftsman would then determine the quality of the work. I was never disappointed in what I saw my father complete, for it showed his character of care and concern over the finished project.

Upon reflection of our lead verse, I have often wondered why we do not see God's word similarly as a hammer in the hands of His children? Jeremiah the prophet spoke to Israel regarding their sin in chapter 23 of his oracle. He was comparing the difference between those who falsely spoke concerning their dreams about Israel's future and when God spoke. As with much Scripture, there are similarities between what was going on then with today. Some would present a Gospel of prosperity and faith devoid of obedience. These would tell us all we must do is believe God's word and all of His promises are ours. However, the Bible is quick to point out how how true prosperity cannot come without obedience to the Lord. Otherwise, our faith becomes idolatrous as we seek to cultivate a belief in what created things we can obtain rather than clinging to the Creator. When our devotion is divided, we find that the "hammer" in our hands does not have near the effect as it did in Jeremiah's day. The word, when it is diluted by the world, becomes much less than a powerful hammer that is able to strike a rock with precision and pulverizing force. Instead, it becomes like a rubber mallet, capable of only stunning or reverberating the rock, but never shattering it. The mallet in the hands of many today wielding the word of God bears little resemblance to the hammer of which Jeremiah spoke. The mallets many of us possess, in regard to how we live and share the word of God, has been formed by both preachers we have sat under and the world which has wooed us with compromise. No longer is it strong with a precise strike, but it is flat and wide like a mallet with little power to either drive a spiritual nail into the heart of those needing conviction, nor is it able to destroy the stony heart by which so many hide from God.

Not surprisingly, the word mallet is not used anywhere in scripture. A wooden mallet may have been used in various instances, but the context of the use of the word in Jeremiah implies a hammer used in a forge. The transliteration of the Hebrew word is pattiysh meaning a hammer used in the fire of forging metal. This is most appropriate to the first part of Jeremiah 23:29 where the Lord states through the prophet how His word is first like fire, then like a hammer. God desires to heat up His people to the melting point with the intense glow of His word where we are malleable. Then, the precision work of His hammer can go to work, molding and shaping according to His desire. Could an instrument such as a wooden or rubber mallet accomplish anything in this regard with heated, glowing metal? Certainly not. That is why God's word will never return void, even if it is limited through His servants. It always goes forth and accomplishes that which it was sent to do (Isaiah 55:11). However, for it to succeed to the uttermost, we must be those who obediently weld the hammer of His truth with skill and accuracy. We must not shrink from those under conviction, but we must take the hammer which God has given us and disciple effectively. Remember, Christ has sent us into the world to teach all nations. He does not desire us to shrink from the heat He produces in the forge of holiness, but He desires we strike lives with precisely those things which will lead to sanctification---passionate love and obedience for the Savior!

A hammer does not excuse itself for what it is, nor does a mallet. They function largely in the manner they were created. It is our choice which one we choose to wield in our lives and with those whom we will disciple. They might be those in our families or others we encounter. However, we will only be able to stand the heat of God's forge if we have been there ourselves. That will allow us to know how to help form those God brings into our lives. We must not shrink from using the hammer of the Lord in a deliberate, yet loving way. It is our responsibility, beloved, to become master craftsmen, who know how to hit the mark in which God has entrusted to strike. By doing so, we ensure the word of God is a tool which can penetrate into the lives of those whom He has called us to love. If we pursue Christ in this way, the fires of sanctification will become "friendly fire" for both us and those we are helping to shape through His great love. May we all have wisdom to take up His word and use it with great effectiveness, for His glory.

Heavenly Father, forgive us for using Your word for our own pleasures. Allow us the wisdom to take up the hammer of the Lord and use it with Your great love and zeal. Start with us, Lord. Purify us and allow Your hammer to cleanse us from all disobedience. Then, show us how to strike the hearts of others with Your great hammer of love and change lives forever. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

Your Barefoot Servant,

Rick

The Fear Factor - May 20, 2018

Exodus 20:20 - Moses said to the people, "Do not be afraid; for God has come in order to test you, and in order that the fear of Him may remain with you, so that you may not sin.” 

The unknown has always shaken mankind's sensibilities. So much is indefinite about our day to day living that humans create notions of fear around things that seem unpredictable. If it is logical, certain, and conventional then we generally have less fear regarding their outcomes. However, if we cannot predict something in our respective lives it creates fear and uncertainty. Our present economy should certainly give someone pause regarding how secure we are as a society. For many who do not God, this is undoubtedly a very troubling time as job and financial security are at 70 year lows. Currently, the U.S. Midwest is affected by the worst drought in more than 25 years. Unsettling times create unsettled minds that are prone to anxiety. However, while no one can predict the economy or the weather, there is a solution that does not necessarily end these problems, but puts them into proper perspective.

Many of us do not look forward to God coming into our lives in ways that appear like judgment. Many of us who have been praying that God would revive His church in westernized Christianity often have a selfish mentality concerning what this should look like. We might imagine how the Lord will come down and shower us with His presence and we will all be bathed in His joy and peace and we will have this perpetual smile on our face. This is purely sentimental and unrealistic regarding how God has moved in the past and how He will continue to move in our present and future state. Ideally, anxieties and fears are meant to do only one thing constructive in the lives of believers---drive us to the Lord. As our lead verse states, God will come, but it will often be in the manner of a test to see how we will react. Will we succumb to the onslaught of bills, or a wrecked marriage, or a weakened economy where our jobs are uncertain? Or, will we trust in God and reverence Him for all He is doing? Isaiah understood the significance concerning how we experience the darkness or the "night of the soul." In these times, he tells us how it is imperative we keep things in proper perspective, knowing what the Lord is doing in our midst. He writes regarding God's protection the following: "At night my soul longs for You, Indeed, my spirit within me seeks You diligently; for when the earth experiences Your judgments the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness." (Isaiah 26:9) The prophet understood how judgments should often be viewed as the catalyst to bring about God's desired result upon the earth. Without a doubt, we should plead for God's mercy, but we must understand that often His grace and tender mercies come through chastisement. Are we ready for God to scourge us as sons and daughters in this way? This is the drawing of the Lord, beloved, to make us into His image.

Too often, we understand a portion of this truth, but are easily swayed once again by our own fear. We end up embracing our anxiety because it is familiar and desirous since it is somewhat "comfortable." However, as Moses stated in Exodus 20:20, there is a way to allow the fear of the Lord to remain with us, chasing away all earthly and manmade fears. We must understand how the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Proverbs 9:10). And, if it is the beginning of wisdom it is also the end of wisdom as well as the acquiring of it. There is no greater thing that we might seek as Christians, beloved. Once we have a bit of the fear of the Lord to keep us from sin, then we must continue to pray for more of the fear of the Lord leading to more wisdom (Ephesians 1:17-19). We must give ourselves to asking God to replace the fear of man with His fear, for as the psalmist states, it is clean and endures forever (Psalm 19:9). Consequentially, the second half of this verse states how ... "the judgments of the Lord are true; they are righteous all together." Clearly, the fear of the Lord is necessary to understand how the judgments of God are not to be feared but embraced, eventually resulting in His ultimate mercies.

The carnal or fleshly person might read our lead verse and see blatant contradiction regarding the fear factor. However, those who are spiritually discerning know the fear of man devours faith and continues to facilitate our separation from God. With God's help, we must understand that the fear of the Lord is possibly the greatest gift given to mankind outside of Christ's redemption. We are told throughout the book of Proverbs it is the beginning of wisdom and by Moses in this verse how it keeps us from sin. May we pray daily for the fear of the Lord, for from it flows the wisdom of God. Through this factored fear, we will be able to gain all of Jesus' redemption which cost Him so dearly.

Heavenly Father, may we grow in the fear of the Lord. It is clean, enduring forever which will chase away doubt, anxiety, and every fear generated from the soul of man. May we rest in the assurance that your judgments are the kindest thing you can give us as a wayward people. Revive us through your great love. Send your judgments bathed in Your great mercies. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

Your Barefoot Servant,

Rick

Eye on the Prize - May 13, 2018

Psalm 123:2 - Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the Lord our God, until He is gracious to us.

To be certain, there is a difference between fine and elegant dining. Most of us have experienced the former. This usually entails an upscale restaurant where we are waited on by a waiter or waitress. This particular employee is generally serving our table along with a few other patrons at the same time. However, elegant dining is different. If we have not experienced it in person, we have probably seen a characterization on a TV program or in a movie. There is usually a head waiter and a staff of underling waiters who wait specifically on one party of persons, whether that be two or twenty. The underlings are generally invisible until the moment someone in the party nods for more wine or for their dish to be cleared. This gesture is normally done to the head waiter, who then accompanies his or her subordinate with whatever is needed. While the underling waiter pours more wine or serves in some other manner in silence, the head waiter will come along side and make sure all of the party is waited on properly. The head waiter will be the only one who dares speak to the guests, but only as necessary. Once the service has been accomplished, both the head waiter and the underling staff will retreat to the background and await further instructions. This staff of waiters, led by the head waiter, have set their goal not to be seen as good waiters, but rather to offer extraordinary service to their guests. Individual charm or beauty becomes superfluous if they have not served with passionate grace regarding their collective duties.

As our lead verse states, our attitude toward Jesus our Master should be similar to the example concerning elegant dining. There are many who would preach to us their brand of Christianity, saying we must accomplish this and that for the Lord and seek to satisfy Him by all our "doing." This can be analogous to fine dining, in that we often try to serve this group or that, or run after this ministry or another, thinking we are serving the Lord. Sometimes, we can get so busy like dear Martha that we forget what are the most important things (Luke 10:38-42). Serving Christ's disciples both then and now are important. However, if we begin to lose context with the reason or the motive behind our service, then it is time to re-evaluate. If we would take this example into a fine and elegant dining analogy, then we might see Martha running from table to table, trying to please all in attendance. However, I believe Jesus wanted Martha to understand the importance of what it meant to elegantly dine with the Master. Perhaps He was thinking of this very psalm when He mentioned to Martha that she needed to reassess who and why she was serving. Her visibility by her unneeded outburst to the Lord regarding her sister Mary was not characteristic of "elegant dining." She should have been watching her Lord much like the head waiter, anticipating Jesus' queue regarding how she was to wait upon Him. Martha had unfortunately thought the prize was in the serving when in reality the prize was the resultant praise (or rebuke in her case) of the One she served.

Mary lived and loved simply, as her sister Martha hopefully attained. Others such as Paul, while scholarly and educated, lived likewise as remonstrated through his writings. In his former life, he served his Pharisaic community with an eye on self-promotion, resulting in commotion in the church through his persecutions. However, he had missed the point of devotion---not to a culture but to his Creator, nor to a lifestyle but to the Life Giver. Once Paul understood with certainty whom he was serving, he became that "apostolic head waiter" that orchestrated love and devotion through those whom he discipled. Everything prior to Paul's conversion, the apostle regarded as futile attempts to know God. However, once he found the Lord, he counted all things rubbish in comparison to knowing Jesus (Philippians 3:8). That is why the apostle stated the prize was not in living out the pharisaical life and attempting to serve God through the law which could never be kept. Instead, it was being a servant to the Master and learning to look to Him and then responding accordingly in a way pleasing to Christ. As Paul states: "I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 3:14) He was no longer looking for praise upon this earth, but he sought the praise of the One who would one day say, "Well done, good and faithful servant. ... Enter into the joy of your Master." (Matthew 25:23)

For those of us who learn to look to the Master upon this earth---like the psalmist, or Mary, or Paul---we too will hear the accolades of Jesus as we enter into His joy. Paul and others stated there was a crown laid up for those who persevered (II Timothy 4:8; James 1:12; Revelation 2:10). However, as Paul, we should regard the prize of the upward call our chief desire, that we please the Lord. As the twenty four elders cast their crowns at Christ's feet, we can better understand the superfluous idea of any recompense we might receive in view of our great reward of serving Christ faithfully. Crowns and rewards may seem moot in the light of His great suffering to receive the reward of His sufferings. At that moment, when we see Him face to face, we will truly understand that we have not worked for a cause or labored for a way of life, but we have served a Beautiful Man who loved us with all of His Being. Our great desire should be to gaze to the Master as those who know nothing about serving, but to have a willing heart to learn from the Great Servant Himself. Only then will we be fulfilling our roles as waiters upon His divine grace.

Gracious Father, Wonderful Master ... Grant us eyes to see You and to wait only upon You. Teach us to serve You first, and then others as You lead and guide. Help us to be faithful, loving servants that desire to catch a glimpse of Your desire and for us to immediately act upon Your direction with passionate devotion. May we all one day hear, "Good and faithful servant" as we run into the arms of the Master. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

Your Barefoot Servant,

Rick

Holy Despair - May 6, 2018

Matthew 5:48 - Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

During my first trip to Israel, and seeing the supposed site of the Sermon on the Mount outside of Capernaum, my imagination has often taken me to that hill overlooking the Sea of Galilee. By the time Jesus spoke to this conflux of persons, His notoriety had grown conspicuously. While no one knows for certain, it is possible the "crowd" He referred to in Matthew 5:1 could be as few as a hundred or possibly in the thousands. Regardless, any number of hills around Galilee's sea would have provided ample room for scores to leisurely recline in the grass and listen to this itinerant preacher from Nazareth. I cannot help but believe they were in no way prepared for what they would hear that day. Beginning with the Beatitudes, Jesus turned the religious order of the day on their proverbial ear by declaring many opposites regarding what the people had been taught by the Levitical order. Strength of spirit had always been a sign of spiritual prosperity to the Jews. Yet, Jesus was telling them in His first declaration, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God." (Matthew 5:2) He continues with a seeming contradiction regarding what the Jews regarded as a sign of a healthy soul --- the presence of joy. In Matthew 5:3 He tells them how blessed is the man who mourns over their sin, because they will be comforted. These are just two examples of how Jesus knocks the props out from underneath what the Jews considered to make them right with God.

While the Beatitudes were meant to right the capsized ship of religion in their lives, the Sermon on the Mount went into specifics on how this would occur. Early in chapter five of Matthew's Gospel, Jesus tells the crowds it is not their responsibility to fulfill the law, but it was His. In Matthew 5:17 He states: “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill." This is the theme of the Sermon on the Mount which is concluded with our lead verse of Matthew 5:48: "Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect." Perfection is the only thing Jesus was aiming at, and He knew He was the only One capable of living it. Probably, at this point in His sermon, they were still unaware of what the Lord was requiring of them. If they were sensing despair because of His radical requirements, His statement of fulfilling the law should have brought them great hope. However, I just wonder how many truly understood what Christ was saying? Jesus went on to explain Himself by way of example in the following verses, using the phrase "You have heard that it was said." He uses this figure of speech five times before the end of chapter five to segue by way of juxtaposition regarding how they assumed God's law applied to their life and their reality. For instance, not only should a man not commit adultery, but to look at a woman in a lustful manner makes him guilty without the physical act (Matthew 5:27). Additionally, Jesus gives them another lesson in not hating their enemies, but instead loving those who mistreat them (Matthew 5:43). These ideas were undoubtedly diametric to all the people had been taught by their religious leaders. For some, it most assuredly brought a despair of ever being able to fulfill this "new law" which Jesus seemed to be preaching. However, for others it more than likely had the opposite effect.

Later in His ministry, Jesus encountered the rich young ruler, who was atypical of many Jews of that time who believed they kept the law. However, when he met Jesus and the Lord told him to sell all his possessions and come follow Him, it created a huge disappointment in the young man. Mark 10:22 states: "But at these words he was saddened, and he went away grieving, for he was one who owned much property." This wealthy ruler had set His beliefs on the fallacy of doing good, rather than being good. Jesus was telling him the way to get free, which was surrendering all the world has to offer and to come follow Him. However, the despair of the thought of relinquishing all of his securities deeply saddened him. He knew he was incapable of such sacrifice. Likewise, there were many who listened to Jesus throughout His three year ministry -- from the Sermon on the Mount until His last week in Jerusalem -- who could not turn toward the Savior because of their need to cling to their old way of thinking. They would not allow that holy despair which the Holy Spirit imparts to have its way in their hearts, convincing them they could never fulfill the law and trusting Jesus to do so in their stead. However, for those who understood---allowing the disappointment of their feeble efforts of pleasing God to work as a catalyst to propel them to God and His mercy---these are the ones who would find life eternal as they allowed their souls to mourn and to be ultimately comforted by God.

The requirements for us today are no different. We must be perfect, even as our Heavenly Father is perfect. When we finally embrace this reality and allow the Holy Spirit to mourn with us over our sin, then we can truly surrender to the Lord and be comforted in His salvation. True godly hope through Jesus' promise of giving us His perfect life will never disappoint, for His love will be shed abroad in our hearts (Romans 5:5). While the Sermon on the Mount was truly radical to the sensibilities of those who sought to justify themselves in God's eyes in first century Palestine, it is equally offensive to most in our modern time. We feel uncomfortable talking about mourning over our sin, or allowing God's holy despair to show us our complete inability to save ourselves. However, when we do, He is faithful to comfort and bring great joy to those who would trust in His perfect work in our lives. May we all surrender to Him, knowing that to mourn with the Holy Spirit over our sin means we will have peace beyond comprehension.

Heavenly Father, may You give us Your holy despair producing within us godly sorrow and true repentance. Through our despair, make us joyful sons and daughter of the Most High. Grant us Your understanding over our sin, so that we might partake of the goodness of Your salvation. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

Your Barefoot Servant,

Rick