Tag: New Covenant

The appearance of Justice

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It has been my observation while reading scripture on God’s mercy that Justice also appears. We know that Mercy and Justice are attributes of God. We know they both existed before creation; we know they are part of who God is, was, and always shall be. The one true living God has always engaged in mercy when handling our problems and he has always employed justice (fair jurisprudence) when managing cases where his mercy has been rejected, trampled upon, and despised. This was the plan when Jesus walked on earth and he is doing it today, it shall be forever. for as long as we can visualize the future, Elohim will continue – He is God. God’s mercy is not a temporary thing but a strong dominate attribute of the one true living God.

Consider what Micah 6:8 says — He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God [ESV]. When deciding what to do, I think we should start by saying — but for the grace of God, I could be the one to be judged. When we are wronged – we usually have a choice: (1) seek justice or (2) forgive and strengthen the person involved. In general, with mercy, we restore a relationship and move forward towards a positive outcome. The proper outcome of justice should be the same. The notion of walking with God involves finding a proper balance between justice and mercy in a way that advances the cause of Jesus.

I spent many years running a company and was compelled in several cases to explore the relationship between justice and mercy. Justice is rendered when people receive their due. Within the operations of my company, an act of justice typically was causing people to keep their word in agreements. Mercy, on the other hand, was an exercise in forbearance, grace, and compassion (let them off the hook).

I recall a case where I had a client that needed some graphics support for several images in a federal proposal. I reached out to a friend of mine and gave him the subcontract. I defined the requirements and provided a few samples. He did his best, they were not acceptable, I requested and obtained edits to the images, still not good enough. I was starting to push against a due date with no product to deliver. I reached out to another friend, provided the requirements and original samples, he made good stuff, and I delivered the products. Now, what to do with failed graphics. I could not in good faith charge my client for the failures only for the success. I wrestled with paying my failed sub (subcontractor). I knew the failed sub needed the work and I had overestimated his skills. I talked with him, showed him the final results, talked about his mistakes and how to do it better next time, and then paid him. I made the contract with my sub, I concluded I was not clear enough on the acceptance criteria, I took the blame and moved on. I helped him find a job with a local company to get the skills he needed.  Justice? Yes.  Right decision? Absolutely.

Paul says (Ephesians 2:4-6) — because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, … made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by [God’s] grace you have been saved. [For] God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms [NIV].

The deeper truth – it is hard to embrace God’s justice, generally we are not able to fully trust he will deal with the sins committed against us – we want to become part of the vengeance. It is hard to embrace God’s mercy because we are not sure he will accept our meager request for forgiveness, we are not sure he will put away our grievous sin’s. For both viewpoints, there is only one answer. A cross with streaming red blood dripping onto the ground. A tomb with nothing remaining but the empty clothing of a risen Jesus. His mercy and justice will be perfectly applied to close the issues. He will do the right thing. He will never break a bruised reed. He is far more merciful than we can ever imagine.

I choose Jesus.

Fire moved Back and Forth

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It has been my observation while trying to feel a small portion of the things Ezekiel must have felt when he was confronted with his throne room vision – we are called to service. He could hear and see the angels moving. Perhaps he could feel the wind and the vibrations emanating from the vision. The angels are active, they are industrious by nature, seeking the opportunity to serve. I think, on our best days, that should be our view, our singular chosen role in life – service to Jesus.

Ezekiel 1:12-14 says — Wherever the Spirit would go, they [the angels] would go, without turning as they went. The appearance of the living creatures was like burning coals of fire or like torches. Fire moved back and forth among the creatures; it was bright, and lightning flashed out of it. The creatures sped back and forth like flashes of lightning [NIV].

They went straight forward, looking where they were heading, they were not looking about, the singleness of their gaze revealed the singularity of their heart to the matter at hand. There was no hesitation. They moved as a community to accomplish one goal. They did not hinder each other. Each was interested in the community goal, no shining stars seeking individual glory in this group.

They moved wherever the Spirit of God beckoned, they used the wisdom God gave them to drive their motions and actions so they could implement God’s will, to serve the purpose and vision of God, to accomplish his directives. I wonder, when we read that Lucifer falls like lightning into his own ruin (see Luke 10:19), if we can assume that angels fly like lightening as they accomplish God’s work? Perhaps.

Some people I read suggest that the Spirit of God is the driver of the angels. It is their honor to be led directly by God, thus their instant obedience. I find their obedience to be awe inspiring. They are created, just as we are, yet we rebelled. They did not. Consider for a minute the honor they receive for their obedience. The angels are ‘that close’ to the one true living God. Our rebellion keeps us at a distance. Yet we know our turn is coming, soon we shall be eye to eye with God, as the angels are.

Ezekiel saw them by their own light, as if it was burning coals of fire, the amber glow reddish burn, yellow flames of fire. The heat and glow could be seen as their love and fervent zeal of service for the one true living God. Their splendor and brightness flashing like lightening could be their forcefulness against the enemies of God (similar to Psalms 18:12).

The fire moved back and forth (up and down) and it was laser bright. We know the counter point is the world of darkness, the place deeper and darker than the valley of the shadow of death, the lair of the ruler of darkness, the operational headquarters granted to Lucifer. This laser light pierces all places even the headquarters of lucifer. Angels operate in Gods shekinah glory. They conceal the reflected light for us, we see then as with a candlelight, the dim light of man. This is what we see moving around the angels. But when the arc angel shouts and we rise to go home, then we will see them clearly.

I think the appearance of the burning coals and lightening points to the wrath of God, his judgement happening at that time to the Israeli nation. The coals were scattered upon the city of Jerusalem to consume it, to level it because of their rebellion (please make a careful read of Ezekiel 10:1-22, take note of the similarities). At the same time, I think we should see the light display as a message of comfort, God is on the job, taking care of business, bringing truth and light into the darkness of this present trouble. To the one this fire is bright, it is very reviving and refreshing; to the other, out of the fire comes fresh lightning to destroy them. Rejoice, bow down and be grateful we are on the right side of the fence.

I choose Jesus.

By the Rivers of Babylon

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It was my observation browsing through Ezekiel, this vision in chapter 1 is not like any other message I’ve ever read in scripture. Ezekiel is very precise about his calling. He was sitting by a tributary of the river of Babylon (Euphrates), known as the Kabar River. It did not go unnoticed by me that the Euphrates is one of the four rivers that’s connected to the Garden of Eden. It also did not go unnoticed to me that Bob Marley wrote about this river in his landmark song by the Rivers of Babylon. We all know that Bob pulled his references from Psalms 137; but it was humorous to me that Ezekiel was hanging out on that same river that Bob spoke about. I’m not saying in any way that Bob’s writings are prophetic. In fact, he got the intent of Psalms 137 wrong. But I am observing that you find the most interesting things when you allow God to muse a bit with you. And so, we begin.

Ezekiel 1:1-3 says — In my thirtieth year, in the fourth month on the fifth day, while I was among the exiles by the Kebar River, the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God. On the fifth of the month—it was the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoiachin— the word of the Lord came to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, by the Kebar River in the land of the Babylonians [NIV].

In this opening statement from Ezekiel, we find the circumstances of this prophecy. The first few verses define who was involved and they define the audience. The entire 1st chapter is a vision of God. I’ve read this chapter 15-20 times. I’ve done audio playbacks; I’ve tried to draw pictures of what the vision shows. This initial vision is the most profound thing I’ve encountered in a long time when reading the scriptures. Of course, this vision will have some competition for that prize once I finally get to evaluating Revelation. On the other hand, there is Ezekiel 10 and Ezekiel 37. We will see.

The glory of God (the vision) starts with the discussion of the four angels with extended wings, supporting him. There is a strong loud continuous sound of thunder accompanied by lightening. And it outlines the wheels that they stand upon and the platform that they hold up with their wings. Then the throne and the one true living God is described. When you try to make a picture from this vision, God’s glory speaks loud and clear. You are foolish to approach this without reverence, I think we would be at peril if we disrespect this vision. We see the throne through a veil, we are given but a glimpse.

We can glean from these initial few verses the approximate time when Ezekiel started his ministry. He was about 30 years old. He was at the age to be called into priesthood. But we should note Ezekiel is in Babylon. There are no temple services. God calls him to be a prophet to the people that have rejected the covenant law and temple ordinances. Later, God tells Ezekiel that he will need a forehead made out of flint. Why? Because the message he is to deliver will cause people to reject him aggressively.

The deeper truth. Most everybody I read agrees that this calling came to Ezekiel on the sabbath day. John’s Revelation also came on the sabbath day (see Revelation 1:10). Then we read in Lamentations 1:7 — In the days of her affliction and roaming, Jerusalem remembers all her pleasant things that she had in the days of old. When her people fell into the hand of the enemy, with no one to help her, the adversaries saw her and mocked at her downfall [NKJV].

The footnote in NKJV for Lamentations 1:7 suggests the Hebrew term underneath the word ‘downfall’ refers to the mocking of sabbaths. Do you think that it was an accident the initial message of Ezekiel and message of Revelation were delivered to the prophets on the Sabbath? I think not. Both messages have been mocked by men. I choose Jesus.

I Am Sending Him To You

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It has been my observation that many people are like andante noodles on the plate, slip sliding around, waiting to be distracted by Lucifer and sidelined on the plate. God knows our weakness, far better than we know ourselves. Fortunately, He has prepared a path off that plate. The Spirit of God leads us through the deep waters on that path to freedom. The Spirit is ready to lead us, the path has been cleared to safety, but we hinder progress until we are willing to surrender fully to God.

John wrote — it is for your good that I (Jesus) am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: about sin, because people do not believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.  (John 16: 7-11)

Jesus said — I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me [the things] he will make known to you (John 16: 12-15).

How does this happen? We meditate on scripture, the Spirit illuminates our mind, He writes that scripture on our heart, scribbled with the blood of Jesus, always present, always providing a light to our path. He opens our heart to the glory of the one true living God. The deep and abiding glory. Our attention is pulled (not pushed) to the life of Jesus – His works, teaching, death, resurrection, and elevation to the right hand of God. Scripture becomes real – it breathes fire into us as we meditate on his Word. This screams about the importance of absorbing Scripture and praying that God will empower us to really hear, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest scripture so we are truly transformed into people of God (loosely paraphrased from the ancient Book of Common Prayer).

What do we do? Find a good church with a solid preacher and worship team. Hang out, get involved, take a few risks, read, study, and meditate on Scripture. Find Jesus in the Bible. As we embrace the enormity of Jesus over time, considering his nature, his works, all that he is.  When we do this – our affection and abiding respect for Him grows, as will our desire to please Him and emulate Him.

What is next? We need to implement our regular, systematic obedience, engage in the hunt for wisdom from scripture, and then apply that wisdom to the events and activities of the day. This includes but should not be limited to family, friendships, church, ministry, community, workplace, and every place we are standing on any given day. Even within this very moment!

Octavious Winslow (1808 – 1878) said — All that we spiritually know of ourselves, all that we know of God, and of Jesus, and his Word, we owe to the teaching of the Holy Spirit; and all the real light, sanctification, strength, and comfort we are made to possess on our way to glory, we must ascribe to Him. To be richly anointed with the Spirit is to be led into all truth; and to be filled with the Spirit is to be filled with love to God and man.

We collect data on how to live, but not until we allow the Spirit of God to infuse our heart with the data, does it have an effect. We live not by the collection process but by transformation. God rebuilds us. Less of me, more of him. We are to walk in wisdom with the mind of God (1 Corinthians 2:16).  I choose Jesus.

Guard your Heart.

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It has been my observation that we are vulnerable to the many variations of Lucifer’s foolishness that will ultimately reduce to a single initiative — Distraction. There are plenty of distractions in this universe to pull our attention away from the things we need to embrace to experience God’s abundant life. David tells us — I will guard my ways that I may not sin with my tongue; I will guard my mouth as with a muzzle while the wicked are in my presence (Psalms 39:1). Paul says — Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching; persevere in these things, … as you do this you will ensure salvation both for yourself and for those who hear you (1 Timothy 4:16). Peter says – Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8).

The ultimate outcome of an abundant life is undistracted worship of the one true living God in appreciation for what he has accomplished in our life. Concerning the worship of God, I have noted that Soloman views worship as a remedy to negate the impact of Lucifers distractions. When we worship and drink in scripture, we are protected by God’s firm assurances that lead us to action – he has our back. ‘Learning how to Learn’ is a vanguard concept that helps us to (1) avoid being deceived by Lucifer’s distractions, (2) avoid having our heart vexed with the disappointments that are hidden in the distractions, and (3) illuminate a path to embracing the fruit and gifts of the Spirit. God will overcome our struggle, he will teach us how to learn his way, he will teach us the truth. We shall win!

If we keep our heart focused, we can maintain the communion we enjoy with the one true living God; but we must be cautious and aware of the troubles that can come our way. We need to identify the path and move towards an authentic undistracted life – live your life in a consistent manner. Think about the same stuff alone that we think about around others. Say the same thing to people that we say directly to God. Do the same things alone that you do in front of others. This notion starts and ends with respect, respect for the things of God, respect for others, respect for self.

Jeremiah said —   Yes, this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “Do not let the prophets and diviners among you deceive you. Do not listen to the dreams you encourage them to have. They are prophesying lies to you in my name. I have not sent them,” declares the Lord. This is what the Lord says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you, … plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, … and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you, … and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile” (Jeremiah 29:8-14).

We must pay attention to the messaging we are bombarded with inside the church and outside the church. Be careful of the things you let creep into your heart. Test everything you hear from all sources; align the messaging you are hearing with scripture. If it is not reinforced by God’s word, ignore the messaging. For the messages that are true, let go of the uneasiness, find a way to embrace the truth. God will not refrain from telling the truth, He will unfold truth in a way that we can grab onto, but he is quick to offer mercy to our tender repentant hearts. His eye is on our soul, His eye is on our heart, His eye is on our mind. He is gentle and kind. Yield to Him.

Proverbs tell us — My son, pay attention to what I say; turn your ear to my words. Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart; for they are life to those who find them and health to one’s whole body. Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it (Proverbs 4:20-23).   

I choose Jesus.

I am not doing This for Your Sake

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It was my observation the message in the first part of Ezekiel 36 is a broad scale explanation of why God has hammered the friends and neighbors of the Hebrews. They understand what is going on and some are still defiant, others are perplexed. In their discouragement, they know of their unworthiness, and they are unsure of their future. They know their resistance was strong and unabated. God feels their uneasiness and chooses to introduce them to their distant future.

In this chapter we find a powerful promise of a new covenant. They are not specifically told it is a new covenant, but the messianic promise is clear. God has a new plan. He does it all, we are the recipients of a new life. He delivers a promise that we would be prepared, reformed by his grace and mercy, to walk with him. In the end he makes it clear that this message is page two of their life.

There is more, God makes it clear there is life with Him after exile; there is a path out of their dilemma, there is a way to extract themselves from spiritual infidelity. At first, they did not see the solution but it explains why they were in Babylon. The subliminal message feels like ‘absence makes the heart grow fond once again’. The separation from the thing they have known all their life was soon felt and that which they had taken for granted, now absent, was missed and then lamented.

I think the exile is also intended as an introduction to the full impact of the new covenant of grace, the full power of grace is magnified by the harshness of the exile as an antithesis to walking with God. You might recall the messianic hints in Ezekiel 34. In that chapter we explored a promise of the coming shepherd, and all the implications of that shepherd. Now, in this chapter, we expand on that message, we talk about the promises of the Holy Spirit, and the richness of the soon-to-be new covenant. We get a glimpse of his gracious influence, methods of operation, sanctification model, and the process for justification.

Yet, he also knows that some may still resist. They will remember their ways and not believe that God can and will forgive them. In that mindset, they truly lament, then he offers honesty and hope…

Ezekiel 36: 24-32 says — For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. Then you will live in the land I gave your ancestors; you will be my people, and I will be your God. I will save you from all your uncleanness. I will call for the grain and make it plentiful and will not bring famine upon you. I will increase the fruit of the trees and the crops of the field, so that you will no longer suffer disgrace among the nations because of famine. Then you will remember your evil ways and wicked deeds, and you will loathe yourselves for your sins and detestable practices. I want you to know that I am not doing this for your sake declares the Sovereign Lord. Be ashamed and disgraced for your conduct! [NIV]

In our worst day, defiant of his grace, we will always find self-love at the core of our sin. What causes us to repent? It’s simple, I suspect repenting occurs when we cannot but wince when we notice the absurdness of our action that set us at odds with God. But before we can get to that point there will be a self-quarrel to accept the facts and then reconcile to the need to repent. It is constant, this wincing thing, because our mistakes and transgressions are non-stop. How then shall we live?

We find solace in the Goodness of God. His goodness overcomes our badness and leads us into the proper state of mind to repent. We resist kicking and yelling right up to the point where we relent and repent (or we do not repent and consequences happen). It is a repetitive cycle. Our God loves us through it all. He smiles as we struggle, because he knows the outcome and humors us as we work through the details. Who could love us more than God does. Anyone? I suspect not. Our wife and children take a close second in that race, but he is king of the hill. I choose Jesus.

This is the Path

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It was my observation while reading the Book of Psalms that the message in Psalm 119:105 is much more useful than first meets the eye. Consider the message in this verse – ‘My word is a lamp unto your feet’. From this verse, build a visual of an angel right in front of you, holding a lamp in the evening hours, so you can see the ground in front of you. That light gives us the direction that we need to walk safely and stay close to Elohim. Of course, we know the Lamp at our feet is God’s Word. But consider an actual lamp before our feet. Scripture paints the path we are to walk just as an actual lamp paints a path for us to follow. But how do we understand what God is telling us? For example, when The Spirit of God says, ‘I am your righteousness’, what does that word ‘righteousness’ actually mean? What does this word tell us about the one true living God? When Jesus says, ‘I am the truth’, do we focus on the word ‘truth’ or the phrase ‘I am’?

Verses matter. Phrases matter. Vocabulary matters. If you are going to meditate on a verse, having a vocabulary of biblical terms is immensely helpful. Otherwise, how do you know what to think about the verse? How do you ask proper questions? When the answer comes to you, how do you know what the answer even means? That is what vocabulary’s all about.

It is one thing to memorize a verse. It is another thing to understand the meaning of that verse. And it is yet another thing to understand how the words that are used to construct that verse relate to other verses and shape the meaning of the other verses. I know this is very intense, but this is what mining the Word of God is all about.

Furthermore, this is the essence and purpose of meditation. Taking a look at a verse, identifying the words that are important to you for today, and then really drilling down into what the verse means (unpacking), how does it affect me, what does God want me to know about this subject that he has put in front of me today. You want to know what Elohim’s plan is, But how? I suggest when you drill down into the Word, you will start to discover things. Then, his plan begins to unfold in front of you. Elohim gets excited when you show interest — incredibly excited. He shows up with lots of help!

The Spirit of God works diligently to help you get the message if your heart is ready to receive. That is part of the meditation process, getting your heart in the right place to receive. None of this is easy, it is much easier for me to write about it than it is to actually do it. I struggle with this just like you struggle with it — we all struggle with it. But I can assure you that understanding scripture over time does get easier as your biblical vocabulary becomes broader.

Take your time, try to learn one or two things a day. Get a notebook, try to express the definition for the new words you may have learned. And you will be amazed at the end of the month if you are able to achieve that daily goal — you will have 20 or 30 new words added to your vocabulary. Stay with it and at the end of the year you have added 300-400 new words to your biblical vocabulary. Scripture will be considerably easier to understand at that point.

What does it all mean? It all starts with a remarkably simple task — try and figure out the message — one verse, one term at a time. You want to know God; this is the path. You want to walk with God, this is the path. You want to feel his presence when you are mired in trouble, this is the path. You want to help your children; this is the path. You want to help your wife or your husband; this is the path. You want to know what to do on the job, this is the path. I can think of no finer way to spend your life. This is the path.

I choose Jesus.