"What can this pain teach me?"

Job reminisces about his prior life,“when the Almighty was still with me and my children were around me, when my path was drenched with cream and the rock poured out for me streams of olive oil” (Job 29:56). Job encourages himself to remain steadfast and guard his faithful trust in God: “Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him; I will surely defend my ways to his face. Indeed, this will turn out for my deliverance for no godless man would dare come before him!” (Job 13:15 –16). Although Christ had not been born yet, Job declared boldly, “I know that my Redeemer lives/And that in the end he will stand upon the earth/And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God/I myself will see him with my own yes, I, and not another, How my heart yearns within me!” (Job 19:25-27). Job knows his God and God knows him. Even death can’t separate him from His God. His Redeemer is Christ. Christ, would die and be resurrected, was the one who would redeem his suffering. No matter what life deals him, he knows that God will ultimately have the last word and redeem his life with eternal life.

Job valiantly declares, in the face of all that would shout the opposite, “My intercessor is my friend/As my eyes pour out tears to God/On behalf of a man he pleads with God/As a man pleads for his friend.” (Job 16:20-21). Hebrews 7:25 declares that Christ ever lives to make intercession for us. He goes before the throne of God and pleads on our behalf as our High Priest.  The truth is that ,“No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it” (Hebrews 12:11). The pain we experience in this world is to work to conform us to the image of Christ. For even Jesus learned to be a Son through what he suffered: “Though He was God's Son, He learned obedience through what He suffered. ... though he was a Son, yet learned obedience by the things which he suffered” (Hebrews 5:8).

C.S. Lewis states emphatically, “God shouts in our pain; it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” Malcolm Muggeridge poses a hypothetical situation, “Suppose you eliminated suffering, what a dreadful place the world would be, the world would be the most ghastly place; everything that corrects the tendency of this unspeakable little creature, man, to feel ever-important and ever-pleased with himself would disappear. He’s bad enough now, but he would be absolutely intolerable if he never suffered.”

As Dr. David Jeremiah warns that it is easy to adapt the outlook that once one becomes a Christian life will become easier, but that simply is not the cause.  In reality, “God has something for us to learn that will make us wiser or save us from some worse pain in the future. Or it may be a door-opener, unlocking new possibilities in our lives,” but we must wisely ask God what is that I am to learn. Paul exhorts us, “My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you”  (Galatians 4:19).

Paul exhorts us, “My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you”  (Galatians 4:19). He warns in  Romans 2:12, “Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”

In this imperfect world, it is good to know that pain does not have to be wasted. It can connect us to the eternal God, the one who truly matters. Even more, it is wonderful to know that Christ lives to intercede for us and to assist us as we walk through this vale of tears.

Remaining Teachable,

MJ

The Gift that Keeps on Giving

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
 (Isaiah 9:6)

 

When we are children, and sadly, sometimes still as adults, we dream about the gifts that we are to receive at Christmas. We often look for the newest, shiniest, and most expensive things hoping that they will satisfy. But sadly, the shine wears off, something better comes along, and the longing for more starts gnawing in our guts again. I have the secret to that angst. You see when God created man He left one space empty- it was a space the size of a manger. He always had the intention of enlarging that small space to a full-size mansion, but he just needed a little room in the inn of our hearts. And thus was born, the story of Christmas.

When God gave Jesus to mankind, He gave the best gift that would ever be given. John 3:16 says that God so loved the world that He gave His only son that whoever would believe Him would not perish but have everlasting life. Jesus was not forced to give his life, however. Jesus agreed, before the foundation of the earth, to be sent as a sacrifice to reconcile us to God. Before Adam and Eve sinned, in fact,  before they were ever created,  the Holy Trinity came up with a plan of redemption. They celebrated Jesus' decision to be born a man through a virgin. God the Father spoke the Word, Holy Spirit implanted that Word, Jesus, in Mary. The process was as seamless as Creation when God spoke  the worlds into existence. Jesus, the very Logos of Word, came from His mouth and the breath of God’s speech, the Holy Spirit (Ruach Ha’Kodesh), hovered again over the blackness and worlds were created.

 Jesus agreed to leave his heavenly throne and be born to poor parents and to live in an occupied land. At that time, Israel was being subjugated by the world’s greatest power, Rome.  The Jewish people were looking for the Messiah, the Savior, who had been proclaimed by Isaiah.  But like so many today, they were looking in the wrong place. They expected him to be born to wealthy parents, learned rabbi and rebbitzin, or  to come from the courts of kings, not be born in Bethlehem of Judah, the least of all the cities. He lived as a blue-collar worker and was suspected to be a bastard, an illegitimate child.

 He was despised and rejected by men,

a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering.

Like one from whom men hide their faces

he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

Surely he took up our infirmities

and carried our sorrows,

yet we considered him stricken by God,

smitten by him, and afflicted.

5But he was pierced for our transgressions,

he was crushed for our iniquities;

the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,

and by his wounds we are healed.

though he had done no violence,

nor was any deceit in his mouth.

because he poured out his life unto death,

and was numbered with the transgressors.

For he bore the sin of many,

and made intercession for the transgressors( Isaiah 53:3-8)

Jesus walked through the dust and grime of life to be able to be our intercessor. To know what it feels like  to be a man. He saw man’s most evil side as he lay on the cross crucified between two thieves. Yet, his love provoked him to say, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” He touched swindlers, thieves, prostitutes, and the self-righteous and he loved them all. He invited them to the table and to entered His Father’s house. For it was that reason, that he came. Then he endured death on the cross, bearing all or our sins so that we could be reconciled to God and experience eternal life.

Jesus is the gift that keeps on giving- He said that he came that we might have life and life more abundantly (John 10:10). He came to remove fear, anxiety, sickness, lack, disease, hatred, unforgiveness, and bitterness. He even destroyed the very works of Satan and defeated death and the grave.  Even after his death, he continues to work for us as our ever-living intercessor pleading on our behalf.

Moreover, he promises to return and take us to a very special mansion he has built according our desires and wishes.  As you make room for him in your heart, he is making room for you in eternity. He is the only gift of which you will never of tire, that will always hold your interest, spark your enthusiasm. He never dulls, tatters, or rots. That would be the treasure of the world. No, the more you know of the more you want to know and them ore you will realize that you have not begun to know Him. He is the gift which keeps on giving.

Would you like to know more of Him today?

He asks only one thing- that you let him live his life through you. Because Christ lived and died for you, he asks you to allow him to live his life through you:

 "I have been crucified with Christ and it is not longer who lives, but Christ who lives within and the life I live for the Son of God who died for me. Accept the Gift of Christ means that He gets to live His life now through you and that’s the best gift you can give God this  Christmas season"  (Galatians 2:20)

When you think of Gift- think of this little acronym: God’s Investment For Mankind’s Eventual Triumphant  Return Home . He wants you to spend eternity with him. If you make room in the inn of your heart for him, he has a mansion for you in heaven and abundant life here on earth.

Enlarging My Heart This Christmas,

MJ

Untouchable- Unimpeachable

What would it be like to live a life that is unimpeachable? Job lived such a life: “In the land of Uz, there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright. He feared God and shunned evil” (Job 1:1-2).  His life was so impeccable that God pointed him out as an exemplary model two times: “One day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them. The Lord said to Satan, “Where have you come from?” Satan answered the Lord, “from roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it.” Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil” (Job 2:1-2)

The devil readily admitted that he had being going to and fro looking for someone, but he could find no one worthy of his attention. That is, until God suggested that he consider his servant, Job. Job declares, “If I have walked in falsehood or my foot has hurried after deceit let god weigh me in honest scales and he will know that I am blameless” (Job 31:5-6).

Job served and honored God even when he lost that he held dear. He lost all of his personal possessions. For most, a loss of business, home, and possessions would have constituted more than enough to signal a rapid departure from serving God, but not for Job. After listening to what appears to be a relentless list of losses, he  still stuck with God. Even when he learned that all of his children also died, he continued to serve God.  His wife thought he would do better by simply cursing God, but he replied:”Is it right to serve God when he gives good and not also bad?”

When the devil failed to get Job to turn on God, he retorted, “Won’t a man serve you since you protect his very life?”(Job 2:3). God had so much faith in Job that He responded, “You can touch him except, do not kill him. Satan immediately left and went to torment Job with grievous boils” Even then, suffering, Job refused to curse God. But why?

He lived an unimpeachable life. God placed the life being lived by Job as the gold standard. If I were to be indicted based on how I lived, would I be convicted based on righteous living? Could God really trust me to be faithful when all I loved and valued was stripped from my hands? Some in history have had to answer that question. For some individuals like Corrie Ten Boom  hat answer was yes. For others, like Elie Wiesel, Hitler’s concentrations ere bigger than his god.  

So many say the right words but do not live the life that they claim. They do not live above the norm.  Every day, it seems some politician, teacher, or even religious leader is in the news for living duplicitious lives. Their lives are not untouchable. Humbly, I submit that I want to live a life that is unimpeachable. I want my record to remind people of who God truly is. I want to live a life that gets God’s attention- a life that is thankful even when things do not go my way or even if disaster strikes. God rewarded Job's faith, and He will reward yours.

Listening,

MJ

The Great Weepers

For you, O LORD, have delivered
my soul from death,
my eyes from tears,
my feet from stumbling,
that I may walk before the LORD
in the land of the living.
Psalm 116:8-9 (NIV).

As we wander the earth, God knows each step that we take. Many of these pilgrimages lead to pain, but God collects each tear. In Middle Eastern cultures, it was a common funerary tradition for people to cry, collecting tears into a bottle, to symbolize loss and the extent of love for the deceased. In fact, mourners were often paid by the copiousness of their tears; as they walked, they carried cups in which to catch the falling tears. Those who mourned the destruction of Jerusalem's temple cried into such bottles which are now treasured relics.

We know, at least in our heads, that God is near to the broken-hearted and saves those crushed in spirit. We might even rely on the promise and invitation contained in Hebrews 4:16: “Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” This invitation is to intercede, to groan, to lay our hearts bare much in the same way that Hannah did.

Hannah was childless; although the favored wife, she could not conceive. That one deficit left her to be pitied among women in the Jewish society in which she lived. To be childless was considered a curse from God. So great was her desire for a child that when she arrived in the temple she prayed so diligently that the priest Eli believed her inebriated. 

according to Rabbi Anne Brener, Rabbi Johanan provides ten words which may be considered synonymous with prayer. Many of these words depict the emotional state of the Hebrews trapped in the depths of slavery: cry, lament, groan, sing, encounter, trouble, call, fall, pray, and supplicate. According to the rabbis, by directing one's whole being to prayer, kavanah, one can be assured of being answered. There is some solace to be found in this promise, but Y’Shua provides something better: Come, talk to me, and I will answer you from the depths. I will give you the groans that can’t be uttered and just as my Father understood the unuttered prayers of Hannah, I too understand you.

Hannah was not alone in her distress and summons of God’s help. Other men and women of  great faith and righteousness also called out to God in tears. Rabbi Brener lists

the cries of the children of Israel from the depths of slavery, …Job as he described the depth of feeling with which he would need to express “the anguish of my spirit in the bitterness of my soul” (Job 7:11)[,] terrified Judah with his brothers as they entered the house of Joseph and fell to the ground (Genesis 43:18); Jonah’s prayer from the belly of the great fish (Jonah 2:2); and Queen Esther, as she lay at her husband’s feet, begging for mercy for herself and her people (Esther 8:3). With these role models for the prayers of our hearts, we are given permission to pour out our tears and offer them to God, and know that these deeply personal expressions are counted as prayer, just as Psalm 56 affirms, that God counts our tears in a bottle.

Jesus wept with Mary and Martha even though He know that He would raise Lazarus from the dead.  And your great Intercessor, the Holy Spirit, weeps with you now:  "In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express" (Romans 8:26). Death often takes us by surprise; he  is a thief and no matter if we lock our doors, he enters. But, I love this promise and triumphant declaration of Y'Shua: "O death, where is your victory? O death where is your sting?" (I Corinthians 15:55). 

I recently learned of the death of a friend's father. This man was gracious and kind, and although I had not seen him for years,  his death still brought tears to my eyes. Then I reminded myself that God himself walks with us always. He puts our tears in His bottle, and one day He will wipe them all away. Death will someday be a thing of the past, and so will be our tears.

MJ