Category: God

The Song of our Heart.

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It was my observation that God’s love for us exhibits a beautiful eccentricity — he chose to bring us into his circle of friends, choosing to emotionally connect us with him. To be sure, He is self-sufficient. Yet he clearly states he desires our love and will not cease the pursuit until we acquiesce. This quest for us, on his part, is forever. This is God’s love, not that we loved God first, but that he loved us first, and permitted his Son to mediate our rebellion (see John 3:16).

Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 — Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away (NIV).

Paul assures us love will remain; God is our friend; he wants to be friends with us. Please note – no man alive would be foolish enough to think we came up with the idea to become friends with God. On our best day we defy, retreat, run, and hide from him. Yet he hunts us down. Abraham never said, ‘I am a friend to God’ but we read in James 2:23 that God said to Abraham – You are my friend. A smart person smiles and says, ‘yes sir.’  Abraham was a smart person. The disciples were not quick (out of respect) to claim friendship with Jesus, yet Jesus said – You are my friends (John 15:15). A wise person, who understands humility also understands the gravity of this situation. We are wise to honor what he says, and act with courage when the need arises – given we are his friend. We have no reason, because of this redemptive love, to hide in the brush.

Love is self-sacrifice. It considers nothing related to self but gives freely to the object of its affection. We see this constantly. A young mother, thin and tired, nurses a healthy baby, she gazes at her child with eyes of love. Jesus said – “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” God takes pleasure in His creation (Psalms 104:31). God’s purpose in creation of people was His own pleasure (Psalms 149:4). His pleasure is unmistakable when we read about his handiwork. Psalms 104 is an amazing poem about his creation, full of the delight of God for us and the things he made.

Love builds community. Elohim smiles broadly with us when we are walking with him. He is not a gloomy cranky old guy gazing down at us with a passing interest. I have found nothing in scripture that defines him this way. He is very affectionate. He is protective of us; Jesus endured the atonement process to open the door for fellowship. When we yield to the Spirit of God, he grins and reaches out to embrace us. Zephaniah 3:15-17 says — The Lord, the King of Israel, is with you; never again will you fear any harm. On that day they will say to Jerusalem, do not fear, Zion; do not let your hands hang limp. The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you but will rejoice over you with singing (NIV).

Finally, we look at music. As you might guess – love embodies music. Speaking to Job in the 38th chapter, God asks – where were you when I laid down the foundations of the earth you are standing on, did you not hear the morning stars singing together, did you not hear the sons of God shouting for joy? (Job 38:7-9). Music is an expression of the heart, we use our hands and voice to express emotion, we communicate emotion with and without words. Music is as much about silence (gaps between notes) as it is about hearing notes. Just as God blurted out the universe bathed in love when the stars were singing – we blurt out our secrets when we create music. The things we love become the song of our heart.  We are wise to respond to the hand of God extended towards us – he is offering his friendship to each of us.

I choose Jesus.

As if Full of Fire

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It was my observation when working my way through the first chapter of Ezekiel, this passage of interest is our first glimpse of the most high. All of the parts of the vision described in the previous essays on chapter one was no more than an introduction to this portion of the vision. This is the main event. Why? because now we discuss the image that appears above the throne, the figure that was like a man.

Ezekiel 1:26-28 says — Above the vault over their heads was what looked like a throne of lapis lazuli, and high above on the throne was a figure like that of a man.I saw that from what appeared to be his waist up he looked like glowing metal, as if full of fire, and that from there down he looked like fire; and brilliant light surrounded him. Like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance around him. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. When I saw it, I fell facedown, and I heard the voice of one speaking [NIV].

In this vision God establishes himself as the Lord of angels and overseer of events in the world, thus it is easy to postulate — whatever God either promises (positive or negative); he is able to accomplish.

Angels are presented as his servants; we mortals are his tools. Knowing he is not silent, we look above the wheels, the angels, and the platform to the throne, to the one true living God. We expect a message. Why? Because he is the one true living God who communicates that plan. He is not silent.

In other throne room visions we get the same message. God is not silent. John in Revelation 1:12-13 hear a voice, and again in Revelation 19:10 John speaks of the testimony of Jesus.

We should also note the Glory of God was above the heads of the angels. His position commands reverence and respect. The angels were under his feet as we have read in 1 Peter 3:22 that angels, principalities, and powers are made subject to him. This brings to light the amazing depth of God’s grace. He lives above the angels in this vision, but in his role as our ransom, he chose to become a little lower than the angels (see Hebrews 2:9).

When Ezekiel saw God, he was shroud in light, the color of amber, covered as with a garment. And so, in this vision, he appears in the likeness of man. Notice his lower section gave the appearance of fire, reinforcing the notion that God is a consuming fire. There were rays coming out of his hand (Habakkuk 3:4) that suggest the shielding of his full power. In Revelation 4:3 we also see a rainbow, most view this rainbow as a display of majesty, a cooling of the heat, God’s mercy and kindness, a display of graciousness (implied in Genesis 9:16, Leviticus 26:42) [NIV].

We should note that Ezekiel does not say this is how God himself appears. Rather we are looking at his glory, a translucent image, lest we see God and die. We see a mere shadow (implied in Hebrews 10:1). When he saw this image, he fell upon his face. Ezekiel was overpowered, He knew the distance between himself and God, distance caused by sin. Ezekiel went prostrate on the floor in humility and respect. He prepared himself to hear the message from God. The plan, expressed by God, was overwhelming.

I have come to know — the more we humble ourselves; the more God will make himself known to us. Everything Ezekiel saw to this point served one purpose. Prepare his heart to hear the message. Prepare his heart to hear the plan. We are taught by words from the Spirit of God and then the message is written on our heart with the blood of Jesus. Review Matthew chapter 5, make no mistake, God delights in teaching the humble to be humbler. We benefit. Prepare your heart. Embrace the fire. I choose Jesus.

Difficult to Define Him.

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It was my observation, if John had aggressively declared that love is only what God is, we would be compelled to say God is what love is (see 1 John 4:8). If love is equal to God, then the God we have defined leaves little space for any other attributes, He becomes a man-made deity. He no longer is Elohim. Let us open the aperture of thought to a larger f-stop. When we examine God’s other attributes, we can learn more accurately about His love. For example, if God is self-existent, then love has no beginning; if Elohim is eternal, love has no end; if the Logos is infinite, he has no boundaries for his love; if he is holy, he is pure in love; if He is immense, His love is incomprehensible.  Now we can say his love is like a sea with no end, and we bend in silence at his grace and grandeur (see Psalms 36:5-9).

Psalms 104:30-35 says — When you send your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the ground. May the glory of the Lord endure forever; may the Lord rejoice in his works—he who looks at the earth, and it trembles, who touches the mountains, and they smoke. I will sing to the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live. May my meditation be pleasing to him, as I rejoice in the Lord. (NIV). Selah.

If we know God, we are compelled to try to speak of His love and grace. Try we must, but none of us do it very well. There are no words in my vocabulary to properly define the formidable and wonder-filled attributes of God. Children reach toward a star hoping to grab the light. Their outstretched arm points towards the love of God. This is the best we can do – encourage others to look up.

1 John 4: 13-18 says —   This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. And so, we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love (NIV).

I am not foolish enough to say – I know exactly what love is. But I can see many things that exhibit the notion of love. We can see love pours out goodwill towards other people. Love does not wish fear for others. John said there is no fear in love. Fear is a painful thing; it grips us and blinds us to a path towards safety. It persists and grows; it smashes our hope. Yet, the moment we encounter love, fear runs away. Fear is powerless over us; that is the impact of love. My mother is many things, but her love can arrest my fear.

Our world is full of trouble and enemies. A casual examination of the news suggests that our enemies’ resolve is strong, and trouble is inevitable. Soldiers are taught to focus on the endgame, get the job done, adapt to the situation and overcome the problem. Their answer to fear is to redirect their focus. Yet, I think, the effort to vanquish fear without addressing the cause is silly. Our heart is wise enough to know as long as we trust our plan to outmaneuver the enemy, we may have every good reason to be afraid; we may have overlooked something, may have failed to ask a question we did not know we needed to ask. But, in the end, we know that fear is a liar. We are wise to focus on love – the endgame.

This is what I know – God is a God who defines love, in the secret place of our heart, we lean on Jesus. Love is not the sum total of God; but it is an essential truth of his sovereignty. Our effort to adapt and overcome fear is nothing compared to his Love. His love casts away all fear. When we embrace God’s love and mercy – fear retreats into the shadows. Nothing can really hurt us, perhaps temporarily, but not forever. Love will win. I choose Jesus.

How do you know me?  

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It has been my observation while reading scripture that word meanings matter. We rest our salvation on the twist of a phrase or a deeper understanding of a few terms. Words matter. I think it is useful to invest time in the meaning of terms we encounter in scripture if we are to have a reasonable chance of understanding the truth in Scriptures. Let us begin at the beginning. Our key words and terms gleaned from scripture should express God’s ideas, we are not idea creators, we are interpreters. The words, themselves should not be the endgame. We say that God is love; we say that God is light; or we say that Christ is truth; we are conveying a truth about God the Father and Jesus. Consider the implications of this example sentence — “My friend is patient.” By making this statement, we are not saying that the sum total of my friend is patience, i.e., patience and my friend are equal; we are merely saying our subject (my friend) exhibits a tremendous amount of patience. The term – is, are, and be all express a similar idea and are used in a similar way. Our subject (my friend) is more than just patience, but he is very patient. The differentiation is an important distinction, one that requires thought.

The attributes of God are collective, together they help us to know something about God and about how he will respond to things. If we impair the concept of personality in God and reduce His attributes to one, then, by inference, we are relegating that specific attribute as our God. We could say God is power. If we were defining God, with the notion that God equals power, would we not also have to say power is God? What if we said, God is mercy. Would we not also have to say mercy is God? When we start accidently limiting God by our terms, the God we have left is not the God of Abraham; He is not the God and Father of Jesus; He is not Elohim, the power behind the prophets and the apostles; He is not the Redeemer of his church, nor the God of the new covenant, and he is not the God of the universe..

Let us push a little deeper into the notion of God’s attributes.  What we are talking about is quiescent attributes vs active attributes. Quiescent attributes define God’s essence. Active attributes define how God interacts all the time with the things around Him. Please understand, this differentiation of attributes is not an easy thing to discuss. Ask three people about this, you will get three different answers. In my view, the quiescent attributes of God are eternal, omniscience, indivisible, sovereign, holy, immutable, omnipotent, and infinite. The active attributes are love, knowledge, wisdom, truth, righteousness, goodness, grace, mercy, justice, and power.

Why does this matter – because when we limit our view of God to only one or two of these attributes, we render Elohim impotent – we limit his activities. If you were part of the community trying to negate the impact of God (progressive theologians), I think this would be a primary goal of this community – limit God’s sphere of operations. Negate the effect of as many active attributes as possible. Deny the existence of all quiescent attributes with a simple theorem – nothing stays true forever. Reduce God to a few active attributes, choose the attributes carefully and then lament of his inability to act or his inconsistent actions over time. This is the underlying goal of the liberal theologian.

When John says, ‘God is Love’, he is defining an essential, active attribute of God (see 1 John 4:8). Love as well as life reveals its presence by its actions. Love is a powerful characteristic of God but is not the sole attribute of God. Love is the underpinning for holiness, justice, faithfulness, mercy, kindness, and truth – to name a few. Because God is immutable, He acts consistently with love. He never stops being himself – ever. In context, John is saying, if we cannot or do not love the people around us, then we do not have God in us, for he loves the people around us – God is love, God is embodiment of the type of love we should and will have for others.  IF WE ARE FILLED with God, He will exude from us, why? He is love. We cannot hold him back.   Therefore, I choose Jesus.

You Have Been Unruly (Part III)

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This is the third message present in chapter 5. I addressed the first two messages from Chapter 5 in Part 1 and Part 2 of this series. In this third message, we find a clear statement, I will put you down, I will bring you famine, childlessness, bloodshed, and the plague. You are done. I, the Lord, have spoken.

Ezekiel 5:14-17 says — I will make you a ruin and a reproach among the nations around you, in the sight of all who pass by. You will be a reproach and a taunt, a warning, and an object of horror to the nations around you when I inflict punishment on you in anger and in wrath and with stinging rebuke. I the Lord have spoken. When I shoot at you with my deadly and destructive arrows of famine, I will shoot to destroy you. I will bring more famine upon you and cut off your supply of food. I will send famine and wild beasts against you, and they will leave you childless. Plague and bloodshed will sweep through you, and I will bring the sword against you. I the Lord have spoken [NIV]

This situation is far more dire than any previous judgement. All of the minor prophets deal with this situation. Once the judgement is over and the Hebrews limp home from Babylon, they never really get their luster restored. They dribble along looking for unity, shifting the blame for their problems from Babylon, to Alexander the Great, then the Romans. Eventually the Messiah appears. Then after the rejection of the Messiah, the temple is destroyed by the Romans and the Hebrews are scattered.

This is a bad thing, on the scale of the problem that led to Noah and the ‘reset’ button (the flood and the ark). Nobody makes fun of God. Nobody! The Hebrews have caused the other nations to mock and make fun of the one true living God. God’s judgment is announced with time for repentance provided.  Then Judgement comes — his way, his time, his severity, and with his finality. He tried extremely hard to make a path for the Hebrews. They simply balked at the gesture.  He put the hammer down.

The one true living God is determined to school this rebellious crowd. He is determined to cause the knee to bend. They will learn to fear him and then learn to respect his power and his mercy. The closer the human is to God’s grace the more severely he refutes the sin. The Hebrews were to teach the other nations about virtue and piety. They were to be water in a dry land. But they chose to abdicate that role, pursuing with vigor the depravity of the other nations. They rolled in the mud, imbedded their minds with the filth of sin. They lifted their haughty fist in anger towards God and rebelled.

The outcome. We are watching the demise of the Hebrew nation, they are reduced in stature to serve the neighboring kingdoms, they build somebody else’s city rather than their own city. In their final days of freedom, they resort to eating their children. Their lifeblood is squandered to fill their belly. Is that not similar to what is happening today? Do we not kill our own children to be free?

The sword of the Lord that once defended the city is now used to destroy the city. The warriors who attach the city move like evil beasts making prey of the inhabitants of the city. Women were not safe, children are not safe, this is a bad situation as the city grinds down to embers. No one escapes, even the ones who try to flee to the deserts and mountains are hacked down. But there is still more.

As we push our way through this story, we see God’s mercy emerging. We see the promises of a future once God pulls back his wrath and replaces it once again with his mercy. We see an amazing vision of a valley of bones that are brought back to life in Chapter 37. God promises to end the exile and then, taking a page from the new covenant yet to be written, God tells them how they will be returned to life. When we walk in with his eyes, at his pace, watching things unfold, his mercy is endless. I choose Jesus.

You Have Been Unruly (Part II)

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It has been my observation that Ezekiel 5 contains three messages, each building upon the other. I reviewed the first message in — You have been Unruly (part 1). Now we are moving to the second of the three messages. What makes Ezekiel 5 worthy of detailed examination is simple – this is the first real message presented by Ezekiel in his writings. First, the Hebrews abdicated their position as the light of the world. Second, the Hebrews are about to endure something that God has never done in the past and will not do again. Parents will eat their children and children will eat their parents. Third, God says He will bring them bloodshed, famine, drought, childlessness, and the plague. This is intense.

Ezekiel 5:8-11 says — Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself am against you, Jerusalem, and I will inflict punishment on you in the sight of the nations. Because of all your detestable idols, I will do to you what I have never done before and will never do again. Therefore, in your midst parents will eat their children, and children will eat their parents. I will inflict punishment on you and will scatter all your survivors to the winds. Therefore, as surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, because you have defiled my sanctuary with all your vile images and detestable practices, I myself will shave you; I will not look at you with pity or spare you.

This is a harsh message compared to the first message from Ezekiel 5 (see part 1 of this essay series). Is he justified? Yes. They brought this judgement to their own doorstep. They knew the right path and had experienced the benefit that comes from following the right path, yet they rejected the mantle of God and decided they could do better for themselves, if they took matters into their own hands.

Standing against the one true living God is a lonely place to be. There is nowhere on the face of this earth to hide. There is nothing that can be hidden. All is known. Those who will not acknowledge God’s judgement will suffer the consequences. The ability to hide behind the mercy of God and sidestep the judgement of God is over. The punishment of famine and cannibalism is the only path forward. When God’s sovereignty is set aside and dishonored by man’s sin, God is grieved (implied in Psalms 95:10). Their destruction brings the situation to closure. The books are balanced.

The notion of ransom and mitigation defers or resolves the impact of sin. But when God’s mercy has been stayed, then we find only wrath with no pity. This is not a place any person ever wants to find themselves. From this place there is no recourse. You never want to find yourself the intended audience of this message.  Notice the intent of Ezekiel 7:4 — I will not look at you with pity; I will not spare you. I will surely repay you for your conduct and for the detestable practices among you. Then you will know that I am the LORD [NIV].  The Hebrews have crossed the line.

We do not know the exact details surrounding their cannibalism, it appears they engaged in this detestable practice because of the lack of food. We know that as the siege progresses, life becomes difficult, people lose hope and physical strength. They did not have any manna to help them, they were left with few options to maintain life.

Even if they managed to escape the famine, they knew the Judgement was still in full force. It did not matter where they went, God was there. He was calling them back to him. He was telling them to turn back or die. It is remarkable that so many chose death rather than repent. They were a stubborn group who had completely abandoned the God of their forefathers. The remnant was a very thin line during this period of Israelite history. But the remnant survived. I choose Jesus.

You have been Unruly (Part I)

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It has been my observation while reading the first four chapters of Ezekiel, we are presented with visions and theatrical presentations. But, at the beginning of chapter 5, things change.  Ezekiel is asked to shave his face and his head. Then he is asked to play with his fresh cut hair, throwing it into the air and cutting it with his sword. I was amazed by the sharpness of his sword, similar to a Samurai Sword, to cut in this manner. I think his head and face were shaved to reflect the stripping of Jerusalem from its inhabitants, to be set naked and bare, to be shaved with a razor (see Isaiah 7:20).  But there is more. Now, for the first time in Ezekiel, we get a plain unvarnished message. Ezekiel tells it straight. You have rebelled. You have rejected my laws. You have been unruly!

Ezekiel 5:5-7 says — This is what the Sovereign Lord says: This is Jerusalem, which I have set in the center of the nations, with countries all around her. Yet in her wickedness she has rebelled against my laws and decrees more than the nations and countries around her. She has rejected my laws and has not followed my decrees. Therefore, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: You have been more unruly than the nations around you and have not followed my decrees or kept my laws. You have not evenconformed to the standards of the nations around you [NIV].

Initially, God set Jerusalem up as the center of admiration from of all the nations surrounding her. The location of the promised land was not a random decision. She was not a remote village but placed in the middle of countries of large populations, these countries were full of learning and sophisticated cultures, famed for their arts and science. Yet, Jerusalem, with a culture designed by God, was a jewel amongst the best the world had to offer.

Because of her strong morality and solid culture, Jerusalem was dignified and desired above the neighboring countries and was, in many ways, excelling over all of them. Other countries clamored to do business with the Hebrews because of their honesty.  The holy mountain (city) was exalted above all the other hills (implied in Isaiah 2:2). This was the hill God desired; the other nations were aware of this affection (See Psalms 68:16). Some looked at Jerusalem with a kind-eye, others with a jealous-eye.

God set up Jerusalem on display to influence the other nations, setting the stage for the new covenant. This city on a hill was to be a candle upon a candlestick to spread the light to the dark corners of the world. The other nations had observed the excellent culture created by God’s statues and law. As noted during Soloman’s time, the people of Jerusalem were viewed as a wise people to be respected (see Deuteronomy 4:6) but now they squandered this position.

By failing to meet the goals, this flow of influence through the earth would be reserved for the latter days, the time of the new covenant. Once this situation was clear, once Jerusalem no longer held this position, the light burned dim and eventually was extinguished. In fact, the glory of the Lord departs Jerusalem as presented in Ezekiel’s visions in chapter 10.

So, it goes without much thought, when people are placed in visible leader roles by God, it may be by design they do well, not because they are particularly talented, but because it furthers the message and mission of the one true living God. For this reason, the light shines. God is glorified. When the men start carving a bit of the glory out for themselves or turn away from the source of success, then the trouble begins.

With that, we find the core of Israel’s trouble. They took their eyes off of God and his plan. They backed away from God’s structure, the Hebrews began to despise the things that their neighbors admired. Consider the confusion that followed. Consider the pettiness their neighbors saw. The neighbor’s admiration turned to greed – they desired the wealth assimilated by the Hebrews. And, with that, the downward turn was complete. How easily the snare was set for Jerusalem to fall. We must never take our eye off the prize. There will always be a snare at our doorstep. I choose Jesus.