by RobertCummins | Feb 6, 2016 | 05. The Heart
The Heart – 1 Samuel 16:1-13
If ever there were a next king of Israel, Eliab was the man. He height, he had build—he had presence. Samuel said to himself, “Surely the Lord’s anointed is before me.” First impressions were not going to serve Samuel well on this mission. Actually, he was going to go 0 for 7 in the discernment department. No doubt Samuel continued in prayerful thought, “Okay, Lord, what is wrong here?” What God spoke next to Samuel was both timeless and priceless:
“Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him… for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
I love it when I can find connections between the Old and New Testaments. This was one of those blessed mornings because Paul too understood matters of the heart:
Therefore from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no longer. Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. 2 Cor. 5:16-21
How often in our process of electing leaders, hiring people and choosing mates do we size the candidate up, look at their resume and say something to the effect, “Surely the Lord’s anointed is before me. This is the one!” only to discover “anointed” was hardly the word. When I think of the society this kind of discernment has formed, I sigh. So then, how do we cooperate with God in the relational dimension of shaping society? Hang with me as we explore a new and different vision, make a proposal, and pray a prayer.
Because today’s passage has to do with the selection of an ancient king we may miss a modern parallel.
Jesus was sacrificed, and with His blood He purchased men unto God from every tribe and language and people and nation. And He has made them a kingdom (a royal race) and priests to our God, and they shall reign [as kings] over the earth! (Revelation 5:10)
The Message Bible refers to those who have been cleansed by Christ’s blood as Priest-kings who will rule over the earth. When modern Christians stretch their imaginations, rarely in their self-image do they reach this far. They may conceive that their becoming new creations has saved them from hell and insured them a mansion in heaven, but John Q. Evangelical’s vision often falls tragically short of including what God had in mind when he made their new identity. This is no doubt a delight to the principalities and powers, the rulers and authorities that oppose God’s agenda on the earth.
Where there is no vision (no redemptive revelation of God), the people perish; but he who keeps the law of God, happy, fortunate, and enviable is he. (Prov. 29:18)
In the past few years I have come across new ideas (and salvaged existing ones) that have helped shape a vision I can live out of, one to which my heart has awakened and said, “Yes and amen!” One of the contributing ideas is the following definition of a leader: anyone who takes responsibility for the potential in another person or process.
This idea is in perfect harmony with God’s intentions for His priest-king children whom He is endeavoring to shape into His image and unite into a communal statement to both His enemies and His friends throughout the cosmos.
As we live out the lives He has given us, we will learn to recognize and see each other, not by the flesh but rather by the potential of Christ within (the only hope of glory in the earth). We will not assess each other by the good or the bad of our pasts but rather by the unlimited potential within (which is Christ Himself), which is shaping the future kingdom of God. We will discover that Christ intended us to be a community of interconnected spirits who take ownership of each other’s potential above our own and thus fulfill the mandates of servant leadership and the two new commandments He gave to His new creations:
The first in importance is, ‘Listen, Israel: The Lord your God is one; so love the Lord God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence and energy.’ And here is the second: ‘Love others as well as you love yourself.’ There is no other commandment that ranks with these. (Mark 12:30)
David was a singular king under an old covenant inferior to our own. We are a community of priest-kings who, like David, have been anointed and are now citizens of God’s kingdom, governed by a new covenant. In Christ the horn of oil has been poured out on us in His Holy Spirit. One day, like David, we will collectively realize that the Spirit of the Lord has mightily come upon us, and we shall begin reigning in life.
For if because of one man’s trespass death reigned through that one, much more surely will those who receive God’s overflowing grace and the free gift of righteousness—putting them into right standing with Himself, reign as kings in life through the one Man Jesus Christ. Romans 5:17
Father, may we see that Your horn of oil has been poured out upon us. Crystalize our identities as beloved new creation-children and priest-kings entrusted with each other’s well-being and the kingdom of God. As this world sees us loving each other in this way, may they see that we love You. Make your appeal through us. Anoint us with the credibility of new creations. Teach us to watch over our own hearts and each other’s so the springs of living water may overflow from us into the lives around us. May our ministry of reconciliation be effectual, demonstrating that any man who believes is reconciled to God through Christ. Let your priest kings arise and take dominion. Amen.
by RobertCummins | Feb 5, 2016 | 05. The Heart
The Heart – Proverbs 4:20-27
My son, give attention to my words; Incline your ear to my sayings. Do not let them depart from your sight; Keep them in the midst of your heart, for they are life to those who find them and health to all their body. Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life. Put away from you a deceitful mouth and put devious speech far from you. Let your eyes look directly ahead and let your gaze be fixed straight in front of you. Watch the path of your feet and all your ways will be established. Do not turn to the right nor to the left; Turn your foot from evil.
Embedded in today’s passage is a verse which has become true north on my spirtual compass; “Keep vigilant watch over your heart; that’s where life starts.” That is how the Message puts it. My heart has been entrusted to me to watch over for a brief season. It is the talent I can bury or invest. If you read The Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25:14-21, particularly Jesus’ punch line, you will understand my incentive …
For to everyone who has, more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away. Throw out the worthless slave into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
My heart was unknown to me until 1976 when I surrendered my life to Jesus Christ. I didn’t understand it in the moment, but I had abandoned my heart to God as his Son’s residence on earth. Christ had come and occupied the house which had been haunted. The dark spirits were evicted and the Holy Spirit moved in. It was the ultimate flip. I had a new heart! To my astonishment I had become born again, a concept that may have escaped the Denominationarians, who oversaw my Communicant’s Class.
Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again. John 3:7
My new heart was enveloped in an atmosphere of OMG. I was living at a very high altitude and I loved the view. I had never seen vistas like this before. Having been the quintessential ne’er-do-well, I vowed to walk the straight and narrow path lest I fall back down into the dark misery of my recent past. In God’s word, I learned how to take my first steps …
When you sit in your house and when you walk along the road and when you lie down and when you rise up. You shall write them (God’s words) on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. Deuteronomy 11:19-20
This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success. Joshua 1:8
And then, there is a verse from today’s passage …
Let your eyes look directly ahead and let your gaze be fixed straight in front of you. Watch the path of your feet and all your ways will be established. Do not turn to the right nor to the left.
I came into the kingdom knowing, as well as anyone, how much God loved me. Yet, as I took one step after another, my joyful OMG waned and was replaced with an, “OMG, I am standing on a tightrope at an impossible height!” To walk, I believed I must have God’s word going on in surround-sound. I must diligently watch over my heart with exacting obedience lest I come off the rope. Even in the presence of a very personal assurance from God that he would pick me up, I walked as though the fall would kill me.
When I say that I have a personal relationship with God, that statement involves, to a large extent, his rescues. They have been numerous and humbling. I have learned something valuable though as I have walked, and stumbled – I’m no tightrope walker. That is for sure. But all is not lost, because for those who are in Christ, the rope has been cut. Our safety does not depend on our balancing act. Right here, we enter more deeply into the mystery, because we must still watch over our hearts and invest our precious talent. Keeping my balance though today is so different than it was then.
Today, when I feel I am about to fall, when my knees bend and my arms extend, I remind myself that Christ is my life. My life is not dependent on improving my old one. That old life is buried in Christ. The man who walks today has been raised up in Christ. He knows it because of decades of falling and having been picked up. If I feel shaky today, I still go to God’s word but not in a feverish, white-knuckled fear of falling. I protect my heart from these fiery fear-laden darts with Christ-centered truths, such as …
In him we live and move and have our being. Acts 17:28
Right at this point, the religious spirit says, “Knowing the net is there will give license to him who walks, to cavort and spin and walk without righteous principle.” False. In him whose heart is occupied by Christ, there is a predisposition to righteousness. The born again heart instinctively thirsts for it. The Spirit who convicts us of righteousness would describe the narrow path differently. Please listen …
He stood me up on a wide-open field; I stood there saved—surprised to be loved! Psalm 18:19 The Message
I knew this when I first encountered Jesus yet I strayed onto the tightrope of religion – believing my acceptance and security rest in my balancing skills. Loving God with all our hearts, watching over our hearts, investing them in the kingdom has much to do with rest and little to do with work. It is likely though that we must experience the tightrope in order to discover the love and security of the wide open field. Mary (Martha’s sister) has taught more than anyone about walking.
Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her. (from Luke 10)
Mary invested her heart wisely. She knew, even then, that everything really does depend upon Christ alone. A song comes to mind …
My hope is built on nothing less / Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness; / I dare not trust the sweetest frame, / But wholly lean on Jesus’ name. / On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand; / All other ground is sinking sand.
When darkness veils His lovely face, / I rest on His unchanging grace; / In every high and stormy gale / My anchor holds within the veil. / On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand; / All other ground is sinking sand.
His oath, His covenant, and blood / Support me in the whelming flood; / When every earthly prop gives way, / He then is all my Hope and Stay. / On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand; / All other ground is sinking sand.
When He shall come with trumpet sound, / Oh, may I then in Him be found, / Clothed in His righteousness alone, / Faultless to stand before the throne! / On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand.
Father,
Lead us to that wide open field where we are delivered from our fear of falling and we discover that your life is our life and that, regardless of our circumstances, you are our broad, safe foundation which cannot fail. You shall have your victory. Amen.
by RobertCummins | Feb 4, 2016 | 04. Hunger and Thirst
Hunger and Thirst – Psalm 42:1-2
Why are you in despair, O my soul? And why have you become disturbed within me?
When our souls have come to the place where they ask these kinds of questions, the kingdom of God is drawing us in. Christ is standing right at the door, delivering his invitation to come into His house and dine with Him. Are you saying that Christ has come knocking at my door clothed as a disturbance, dressed in despair? Exactly. A soul that exhibits the inward honesty to ask questions of this maginitude has already been influenced by the Holy Spirit and God’s prevenient grace (explained yesterday).
However, in its struggle, the soul may be asking, “Where is the victorious Christian life I have heard about? Why is my soul in despair anyway?” The answer: “Because it is the blessed victim of a divine conspiracy.” The Holy Trinity has a plan. God the Father has his mark on this one. His relentless love is sponsoring this mission to rescue the one in ninety-nine. Jesus, Good Shepherd that he is, has arranged that this sheep find its way through this unlikely appearing gate into a safe pasture. The Spirit, the Great Counselor has brought things to a boil within the heart, uncovering, as He had intended, a primal hunger and thirst. Without it even knowing how it has happened this soul has been brought by the Spirit to the threshold of a great adventure. How will the next chapter of this soul’s life read? The following is from a book that needs to be written. Only the names have been changed in the following narrative, to protect the guilty …
Devon was taking some courage, as he entered the pastor’s office, that in his parched soul, there was at least some fear and trembling, pulsing there as a sign of spiritual life. He was like most young men who had seen more on his computer screen than he should, but that particular temptation was in check, at least for the moment. Devon was also struggling to some degree with finances, vocation and the ever gnawing questions about his relationship with the opposite sex. Yet there was still more. While Devon had been going through the motions of work and church, there was this abiding, and escalating, concern that all was not well with his soul. He had even begun to question scripture and church authority. Yet, out of a white-knuckled effort, he had called and asked for some time with the pastor, hoping this representative of God could tell him why his soul was in despair. Devon was disturbed about his own spirituality and believed he needed some answers. He had been given an 11:00 am appointment.
Larry was Devon’s pastor mostly because he was his parent’s pastor, but Devon really had no one else to go to. Larry was actually pretty stoked that one of the few younger folks remaining in the congregation had elected to seek him out. In fact this was a first. However, Larry was confident he could serve this young man because God had personally told him what he had always known, his primary call was that of a disciple maker. Just as Devon entered the office, Larry’s last thought was, “Oh crap! (I mean darn), Is this kid’s name Devon, or does he pronounce it Devón?” He comforted himself that in the long run, the pronunciation of the name would be of secondary importance to the biblical knowledge he was about to impart. He also made a mental note to repent later for thinking the word “crap”.
“Hey Big’un! Good to see you! I’ve been meaning to call and see how things are going with you. Still reading that bible we gave you at your baptism?” The question reminded Devon that his pre-batism discussion 7 years ago was the last conversation he had had with this person. He didn’t say it but, he had never actually read that bible. It was too small and he could never get into the King James translation. Devon improvised, “Yes sir, I’m no scholar but I’ve been reading the bible pretty steady now for several years.” “Excellent!”, Larry announced, ” The scriptures truly are the pathway to the abundant life, aren’t they?
Even though exactly what the abundant life was, had never really been explained (or for that matter modeled), Devon nodded, hoping a sermon was not brewing here. (Larry had a bit of a reputation of not really listening but going on ad nauseam on subjects entirely unrelated to the matter at hand.) Devon was fortunate (kind of). After digging deeper than he ever had, telling the story of his spiritual struggles, he was only getting a homily, not a full blown sermon on Larry’s go-to-topic, spiritual warfare. Devon was doing his best to listen but his worst fears were being confirmed. Larry was not really hearing anything he was saying.
The damage done by this train wreck was only compounded by the fact that Larry was quite pleased at how this session was wrapping up. Knowing that he had to lead the ministerial alliance meeting in just 15 minutes, he cheerfully closed their session, “Devón, I hope that was helpful. Just keep attending church, studying your bible and tithing and you can be confident that God will reward your faithfulness and give you the desire of your heart. Amen?” Devon, viscerally shaken by what had just taken place, managed an “Amen” and thought, “I was right. He didn’t even know my name.” As for Larry, he was in awe of God’s goodness, to allow an anointing that strong even after he had almost cursed.
Unfortunately for Devon, he had run into a hireling instead of a spiritual father. While Larry could not have been better intentioned, neither could he have been more ill-equipped to see what God was actually up to in Devon’s life. Devon didn’t need an appointment with a counselor. He needed a relationship with an elder brother, a friend or mentor, who knew the ways of God and the landscape of the human heart. Fortunately for Devon, the Trinity’s conspiracy was not derailed.
This unfortunate encounter turned out to be providential. As Devon allowed his turmoil to drive Him toward God, he was able, with the help of some spiritual fathers, process the rejection and hurt of his encounters with the religion around him, and in him. He was finally able to forgive Larry and the institutional church and realize, that had God not allowed this experience in His life, he would never have learned that Christ Himself was his sufficiency, independent of whatever the pastor and the church do or do not do. Neither would he have discovered that the true Church is not defined by bricks and mortar or driven primarily by pastors and programs. As the kingdom of God has continued to grow in Devon’s heart he has been filled with hope as he finds himself in an ever expanding network of souls who understand how to steward the hunger and thirst within…To be continued.
As the deer pants for the water brooks, So my soul pants for You, O God.
My soul thirsts for God, for the living God;
Father, please help us to be vulnerable with You. Help us to find safe places where our facades are unnecessary. In our own increasing liberty help us to create those safe spaces for each other, where the Holy Spirit can better access the broken things within and liberate us into the freedoms that You have purchased for us. Lord, help us to weep over the things that grieve you and celebrate the things that bring you joy. We shall hope in you and we shall praise you again! Amen.
by RobertCummins | Feb 4, 2016 | 04. Hunger and Thirst
Hunger and Thirst – Matthew 5:6
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
In a recent gathering someone asked, “Where does hunger and thirst come from?” Superb question! They wanted to know if God gave it as a gift to some and perhaps withheld it from others. Even though I couldn’t direct them to a book in the Bible called Hunger and Thirst, I did direct him to The Psalms. One Christian voice I monitor has said, “When I am astray within and the way seems obscure, I go into the Psalms and I read until I find my voice.” The Psalms model hunger and thirst for God in their expressions of transparency and passion.
Among all the ways the scriptures inspire us, they are intended to provoke our hunger and thirst. However, If we approach scripture as academics who must subject each verse to bible study vivisection we may miss the benefit that comes from the scalpel’s work on our own hearts. It is easy to think that scholarship (either mine or some one else’s) is the key to relational intimacy with God. While it prevails today, the idea that bible study is the key to an abiding life would have been utterly foreign to the first disciples. While inductive thought is important and will aid in our grasp of the letter of God’s Word, it will fall short, in itself, in revealing the Spirit of the Word. The Spirit of the Word can only be tasted in our personal experience with God.
If we look at the narrative of scripture and read it as a mere history book or missions manual we will miss its point. However, when the narrative becomes our reference point, our hunger and thirst will be stirred. The bible was not given to us to glorify a by-gone dispensation. It was given to us to direct us to Jesus – our Life. The Bible is God’s invitation to us into a living breathing encounter with Himself, complete with a now-glory all its own. When this dawns in our heart, the fires of our own hunger and thirst will be stoked.
The stories that resonate with me, the reports that have the most authentic ring to them are those where people have responded to their questions and to their pain by opening themselves up to God and to others. The act of becoming vulnerable is an expression of humility which God responds to. The story line is predictable. In their perseverance, these people invariably taste and see for themselves just how good God is and they begin entrusting more and more of themselves to Him. Because He loves their faith and rewards them when they seek Him, God entrusts their hearts with an increasing awareness of Himself. Because of his infinite and generous personality, the inevitable outcome for any heart taking honest and humble steps toward God will be increased hunger and thirst.
Because it often appears (at least in the natural) that the burden of relating to God is on us, I may not be able to satisfy my friend’s question regarding the origins of hunger and thirst. But, I can say that God is the giver of all good gifts. I am also reminded that no man comes to the Father unless he is drawn. So, I think we are mistaken if we credit man as the initiator of any relationship with God. I have always been influenced by the doctrine of “prevenient grace” which says in essence, that before there was anything (including a response from man), there was God, the primal spark. In light of prevenient grace, we must always ask, “What are the current and provocative circumstances in my life that God is endeavoring to use in order to draw me to Himself and nurture my hunger and thirst?
To my friend who has asked the insightful questions, I believe that the Author-Spirit of these Psalms says …
Come and lay bare your broken heart. Say what’s on your mind. Be yourself. I know it all anyway. It will do us both good for you to tell me your deepest disappointments. Ask Me your deepest questions. Tell Me your deepest hurts and make the requests that are on your heart. From here I can best address those matters you cannot even see, which are generating your turmoil. Do this and watch your hunger and thirst grow. Watch our relationship blossom.
Father, while Your ways are higher than our, and we cannot know all that we might like, we can rest in the good news that You have things covered. Thank you that redemption is buried deep into the DNA of creation and therefore into life’s circumstances. One thing we are compelled to seek, that we might continually dwell in Your house, that we might meditate in Your Word and behold the beauty of Your presence. Grant that we might become those whom You seek, who worship you in spirit and in truth. Amen.
by RobertCummins | Feb 4, 2016 | 05. The Heart
The Heart (Thursday) – Mark 12:28-34
The Heart – Mark 12:28-34
One of the religion scholars came up. Hearing the lively exchanges of question and answer and seeing how sharp Jesus was in his answers, he put in his question: “Which is most important of all the commandments?” Jesus said, “The first in importance is, ‘Listen, Israel: The Lord your God is one; so love the Lord God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence and energy.’ And here is the second: ‘Love others as well as you love yourself.’ There is no other commandment that ranks with these.” The religion scholar said, “A wonderful answer, Teacher! So lucid and accurate—that God is one and there is no other. And loving him with all passion and intelligence and energy, and loving others as well as you love yourself. Why, that’s better than all offerings and sacrifices put together! When Jesus realized how insightful he was, he said, “You’re almost there, right on the border of God’s kingdom.” The Message
I am unsure if the western Church has even found its way to the border. George Barna’s research (in his book; Revolution) verifies that we are certainly not entering in to God’s kingdom. His findings reveal the disturbing fact that a large percentage of those who identify themselves as christians do not even believe in the fundamental tennents of the faith. For many of them the virgin birth and the inspiration of scripture are debatable. There is also a large chunk of those polled who spend little to no time in prayer nor do they give away much of their time or money. For those of us in these camps, Jesus might be saying,
Turn around! You’re heading in the wrong direction. The kingdom of God is the other way.
In the West a kind of spirituality has emerged by focusing on an inspired story outside its original divine context. We have embraced the gospel of Jesus Christ outside the context of the kingdom of God – which was Jesus’ own keynote message. We have embraced God Incarnate as our perfect sacrifice, who died and secured heaven for us, but we have paid little attention to the Son of Man, who lived not just as our ticket to heaven, but as as our example of how to live on earth. With our expectations and faith calibrated on the sweet-by-and-by, the kingdom of God is being overshot and unexplored.
N.T. Wright explains our overshooting. He points out that; “We have skipped (in the gospels) from Bethlehem straight to Calvary with very little emphasis on Jesus in the Galilean countryside. Jesus came as a baby and died as a man and we will see Him some day in heaven. And, need I say, the sooner the better!” His point is that we have gutted the good news of its emphasis if we skip from the new birth to life after death. When Jesus announced that in Him the kingdom of God had come and that it was in fact within us, He was saying “we too” are called to set captives free, to heal the sick, to cast out demons and relieve the oppressed. 1 John 4:17 says, “As He is so also are we in this world. The Message puts it like this; “Our standing in the world is identical with Christ’s.” Those who think of heaven as starting when they die overshoot the foretelling words of Jesus about His kingdom…
The person who trusts me will not only do what I’m doing but even greater things, because I, on my way to the Father, am giving you the same work to do that I’ve been doing. You can count on it.
When Jesus teaches us to pray, “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven,” so many of us leap forward to a time when our flesh is no more, when in fact, Jesus intended us to shine while living in this earthly house. Our destiny, as children of light, is to radiate life now, just as Jesus did as the Son of Man.
I think those rulers and powers and those spiritual forces of wickedness that Paul refers us to in Ephesians 6 are going to be in shock and awe when the Church puts on the fuller armor of God which includes a kingdom-now, weapons-grade gospel. I believe the battle will become a route when the saints take up the divinely powerful sword of the Spirit (which is the word of God) and destroy the lofty half-truths that have exalted themselves above the fuller kingdom-knowledge of God.
We see the battle for this earth as lost only because we view it with our natural eyes. Could it be that when God answers our prayer that His will be done on earth as it is in heaven that the true Church (that Barna’s polls do not locate) will destroy the existing fortresses inside our vain earth-bound imaginations about christianity? From Christ’s vantage point, (and ours, if we have ears to hear) we are now seated with Him in heaven. It is now a matter of exposing and repenting of the half-gospel we have embraced and all the lies it has spawned, taking them each captive and converting them, by obedience, to the reality of Christ’s kingdom.
Father, make your enemies your footstool and shod our feet afresh with the exceedingly good news of a kingdom gospel. Before the eyes of this skeptical world (and church), may new lives validate the now-proclamations of Your realm! May they see us loving You with all passion and intelligence and energy, and loving others as well as we love ourselves. And may our ears hear You say, “Well done. You have arrived! Welcome to the kingdom of God.” In Jesus majestic Name. So be it!
