by RobertCummins | Jan 18, 2016 | 03. Longing
Longing – 2 Corinthians 5:1-5
For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For indeed in this house we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven, inasmuch as we, having put it on, will not be found naked. For indeed while we are in this tent, we groan, being burdened, because we do not want to be unclothed but to be clothed, so that what is mortal will be swallowed up by life. Now He who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave to us the Spirit as a pledge.
Perhaps medical bracelets with “2 Corinthians 5:1-5” embossed on them would be appropriate for us groaners. When people hear us moaning as we try to move, we can just point to our bracelet and relieve their concerns. Hopefully though, we can do this with a wink so they can see that in spite of our aching bodies, our spirits have that glow of renewal.
Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. 2 Corinthians 4:16
I confess, it is a daily temptation for me to loose heart as my outer man decays and looses strength. When Solomon says, “The glory of young men is their strength” I totally understand. I have desperately clung to every shred of my strength as it has bid me adieu. Men reach the peak of their strength between 30 and 35. It is hard to believe I have been saying goodbye for three decades! It appears that, for our physical bodies anyway, fading glory is our destiny but let’s not write our obituaries quite yet. 2 Corinthians 4:17-18 sheds hopeful light on our circumstance …
For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
Where does this light affliction come from that causes us to groan? I have decided it doesn’t matter. It only matters how we respond to it. Through the process of his life working itself out in us, we learn that temporal affliction, whatever its origin, can have a glorious outcome.
So teach us to number our days, that we may present to You a heart of wisdom. Psalm 90:12
If we can learn to respond in Christ, aging is merely light affliction which is producing for myself and my groaning brethren an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison. Redemption is embedded by grace into all the circumstance that touch our lives, especially aging. When we learn to respond to our trials and tests we are presenting our hearts of wisdom to the Lord.
What is mortal is being swallowed up by Life. Now He who is preparing us for this very purpose is God, who gave to us the Spirit as a pledge.
Father, while I remain grateful for it, I look forward to life swallowing up the mortality of my body. Until then, teach me to see the unseen as I age. I pray that as the world looks on, they will see the glow of renewal in our eyes, even if our backs are bent. Amen.
by RobertCummins | Jan 23, 2015 | 03. Longing
Proverbs 13:12-25
Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but desire fulfilled is a tree of life…….The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life, to turn aside from the snares of death. Good understanding produces favor……The righteous will be rewarded with prosperity…… and the wealth of the sinner is stored up for the righteous.
On Wednesday I proposed that Solomon’s wisdom was inferior to Jesus Christ – the wisdom of God. This comment might rankle those banking that the wealth of the righteous will be rewarded with prosperity which (they typically reason) has come from the wealth of sinners which has been stored up for them. Even now I can hear the congregation, “Amen Brother!” I have noticed that many of the rankled have an aversion to the full gospel of the New Testament. I’m not speaking of the full-gospel that involves Jesus and His work of the cross; I’m speaking of the full gospel that refers to us taking ours up daily.
If it is wealth in this life that our hearts long for, we would naturally avoid a testament that does not produce one single testimony of a person finding worldly wealth because of their righteousness. The wisdom of God in Christ is superior and in conflict with righteousness-for- riches / quid pro quo Christianity.
For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the cleverness of the clever I will set aside.” Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?
If Solomon could issue some revisions to Proverbs, I am sure he would defer to the resurrected Messiah, allowing that Jesus, the teacher of the wise (in His Person) is THE fountain of life, who turns us aside from the snares of death. This is revised understanding and it will indeed produces favor.
There are still those pining for that transfer of wealth from the wicked into their accounts. Many of them are stalwart and continue to confess the inevitability of this promise as a tonic to their sick hearts which suffer from so much misplaced and deferred hope. On the other hand there are those who have grasped that Jesus Himself was the windfall. It was always intended to be Him alone who would fulfill our longings. With or without an earthly portfolio these saints accounts are overflowing with an other-worldly satisfaction that defies all earthly knowledge and wisdom.
I believe Jesus is always inviting us to divest ourselves of our hope in this material world. I believe he is saying that the wealth stored up by the wicked is a grotesquely inferior treasure to that of His His Son for whom our hearts were created. It is those who grasp this who realize the abundance of Life the New Testament describes.
Father, May you lead us directly to those places where we can see exactly where are our hearts are invested. Deliver us Lord from the myriad usurpers who contend for the thrones of our hearts. Help us to hear Your invitations to come away with You, that place where we can truly conduct business with You with whom we have to do. Amen.
Proverbs 13:12-25
Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but desire fulfilled is a tree of life
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
On Wednesday I proposed that Solomon’s wisdom was inferior to Jesus Christ – the wisdom of God. This comment might have rankled those banking that the righteous will be rewarded with prosperity which (they typically reason) has come from the wealth of sinners which has been stored up for them. Even now I can hear the congregation, “Amen Brother!” I have noticed that many of the rankled have an aversion to the full gospel of the New Testament. I’m not speaking of the full-gospel that involves Jesus and His work on the cross; I’m speaking of the full gospel that refers to us daily taking up our crosses and folowing Him.
It is the cross that makes the path very narrow and broad the way that leads to destruction. Yet, it is only through the cross that our sorrows and disappointments can be converted into joy-filled strength.
I pray that you will have (or make) the time to read and reflect further this AM in the MwM.
Blessings to you,
Rob
by RobertCummins | Jan 22, 2015 | 03. Longing
Psalm 119:17-24
My soul is crushed with longing for your ordinances at all times.
I believe this is one of the things that God saw in David’s heart that pleased Him – this desperation of heart for His word. David’s confession of hunger seemed to accompany him at all times. David was hungering as he tended sheep, as he was slaying giants, as he was reigning over Israel or repenting of his sins. How did this hunger come about in David? Could we or should we experience hunger for God’s Word as a part of the normal Christian life?
2 Timothy 3:16 informs us that the scriptures are God-breathed. It seems Adam was birthed in similar fashion. Our new natures in Christ, are compatible with the spirit of the scriptures. As a new creation my heart has been formatted for His Word. So, when I read about David’s experience with God, I don’t just acknowledge David as a great and mighty anomoly who had special access to God. Instead I look at David and believe God is telling his story because it was intended to have become ours. David is not an exception. He is a benchmark. Having the right reference points is an established pathway to longing. If David is a special case, we can excuse his experience. If He is our mentor we must follow in his footsteps. Once we see David in this light we have taken a big step toward this essential heart-component of those created for another realm who are just passing through.
Deal bountifully with Your servant, that I may live and keep Your word. Open my eyes, that I may behold wonderful things from Your law. I am a stranger in the earth; do not hide Your commandments from me. My soul is crushed with longing after Your ordinances at all times. You rebuke the arrogant, the cursed, who wander from Your commandments. Take away reproach and contempt from me, for I observe Your testimonies. Even though princes sit and talk against me, Your servant meditates on Your statutes. Your testimonies also are my delight; they are my counselors.
Father, thank you for Your Word and Your Spirit. May they work in concert to accomplish Your will in our hearts on earth as it is heaven. May hunger accompany and escort us into Your presence now and forever more. May this be.
I don’t just acknowledge David as a great and mighty anomoly who had special access to God. Instead I look at David and believe God is telling his story because it was intended to have become ours. David is not an exception. He is a benchmark. Having the right reference points is an established pathway to longing. If David is a special case, we can excuse his experience. If He is our mentor we must follow in his footsteps. Once we see David in this light we have taken a big step toward this essential heart-component of those created for another realm who are just passing through.
by RobertCummins | Jan 21, 2015 | 03. Longing
Ecclesiastes 3:1-11
There’s an opportune time to do things, a right time for everything on the earth: a right time for birth and another for death, a right time to plant and another to reap, a right time to kill and another to heal, a right time to destroy and another to construct, a right time to cry and another to laugh, a right time to lament and another to cheer, a right time to make love and another to abstain, a right time to embrace and another to part, a right time to search and another to count your losses, a right time to hold on and another to let go, a right time to rip out and another to mend, a right time to shut up and another to speak up, a right time to love and another to hate, a right time to wage war and another to make peace. (Ecc 3:1-8)
I imagine the word “right” is a joke to the atheist and an annoyance to the agnostic since rightness implies that divine intention is embedded in all things. After all right and wrong only make sense in a moral universe and a moral universe implies a just creator. As Pilot asked, ‘What is truth?’, the unbeliever and doubter must ask, ‘What is justice?’
Most Christians claim to believe that the bible is inspired. Many even say that it is inerrant. Even though I can’t find that in the bible, I too believe scripture is inspired. (which means many things to many people) But, does inspired imply that Solomon’s words, as the wisest man who ever lived, were all the gospel truth? After Solomon has declared the rightness of things happening at appropriate times, listen to his conclusions…..
In the end, does it really make a difference what anyone does? I’ve had a good look at what God has given us to do—busywork, mostly. True, God made everything beautiful in itself and in its time—but he’s left us in the dark, so we can never know what God is up to, whether he’s coming or going. (Ecclesiastes 3:9-11)
Solomon’s conclusion causes me to believe that old testament wisdom has limitations. If this council in Ecclesiastes is dependable, I must conclude that God, in all His sovereignty and goodness, has crowned us with blindness and busyness as our glory. if Solomon is on point, the only application I can come up with, since what we do has no bearing on anything, is to eat, drink and be merry for we are all going to die. Solomon has acknowledged God’s sovereignty, yet it has led him to promote a wisdom that will lead to indifference. Can you reconcile the lyrics of this dirge with the song and spirit of the new testament?
There’s an opportune time to do things, a right time for everything on the earth: a right time for birth..
In the fulness of time, at just the right moment, it was time for God to come to earth and make some things clear that the old testament in itself could not bring into focus. Birthed in obscurity to a virgin, God made His understated entrance into our time and space at just the right time.
There’s an opportune time to do things, a right time for everything on the earth: a right time for birth and another for death…
In the fulness of time: at just the right moment, it came time for Jesus to sacrifice His life for us – those condemned to die for our sin in the context of divine justice. Christ willingly laid down His own life as an unblemished sacrifice, an offering that satisfied the debt we owed but could never repay. With this He took us far beyond Solomon’s wisdom. He revealed Himself, as the mystery of the ages, a surprise that had been withheld until just the right time.
I do believe that the revelation that Solomon had was the ultimate wisdom of his day. With this partial light in his heart, crying and lamenting over life’s futility was in order. But with Christ, who had come as the light of the world, who had come to inhabit the tabernacle of the believing human heart, is it appropriate to agree with Solomon that we do not know whether He’s coming or going or that we can never know what God is up to? Has God left us in the dark? If you think it is, then I propose it is the right time for you to read the new testament afresh. Here are just a few verses that represent the spirit of the new testament. They stand in contrast to Solomon’s incomplete understandings and outlook. These reverse any notions about the wisdom of simply eating, drinking and being merry.
He creates each of us by Christ Jesus to join him in the work he does, the good work he has gotten ready for us to do, work we had better be doing. (Ephesians 2:10) I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of. (John 10:10) For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified and these whom He justified, He also glorified. (Romans 8:29-30) You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. (Matt 5:14)
So what are we to do with the wisdom of Solomon? Discard it? I think that would be unwise. I believe the new testament saint is one being led by the Spirit. He has the Word to inspire him and the two (the Word and the Spirit) working in concert, warn the saint against the folly of brushing the futility of sin under the rug, teaching him to avoid the demonic doctrines that can disconnect the saint from any suffering and cause him to forget that we live on a battlefield not a playground designed for his amusement while awaiting heaven.
The new testament saint would also acknoweldge that he is the beneficiary of those right times that all old testament saints anticipated. With an awareness of sin and empathy for the damage it creates, the new testament saint lays hold of the wisdom that is in Christ. While we often sing dirges, highlighting the potency of our sinful natures, bemoaning our plight in a corrupt generation, we should also be composing and singing new songs of triumph, highlighting our rebirth into a new kingdom, celebrating our new identities as sons and friends of God, counting our circumstances all joy as we co-labor with Christ with our specific gifts and callings, all which are intended to have now-impact in our world. I believe if Solomon were here and privy to the mystery of Christ, he would say something to this effect….
“I have had a second and better look at what God has given us to do and I have revised my position. In the end, it really does make a difference what we all do. Indeed God has made everything beautiful in itself and He has by no means left us in the dark in this regard. God has come in Christ so that we would know Him as well as what He is up to. Solomon might just continue to preach…
“In Christ, today is the right time for salvation. Today is the right time to wage war by way of our love. This is the opportune time to re-present the gospel. Speak up. Cheer up and laugh as this fuller gospel mends broken hearts and ushers healing and peace into the earth. Yes, its true that earth is fallen and a temporary prince is reigning for a time in the darkness of deceit. But his reign is only temporary. In this coming hour Christ’s light and life will ultimately radiate from the Bride who is preparing herself and being prepared for Her Groom. Darkness will ultimately be displaced by the Light of Christ in us. Darkness will be vanquished.
Father, none of us are exempt from being old wineskins. We are all in the process of being revitalized, redeemed and restored to Your image. The seed has been planted in us. May our eyes look to anticipate Your harvest. Equip us to keep searching and to keep building with our hearts steeped in the hope of our glorious calling in Christ. Amen.
by RobertCummins | Jan 19, 2015 | 03. Longing
2 Corinthians 5:1-5
For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For indeed in this house we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven, inasmuch as we, having put it on, will not be found naked. For indeed while we are in this tent, we groan, being burdened, because we do not want to be unclothed but to be clothed, so that what is mortal will be swallowed up by life. Now He who prepared us (educated?) for this very purpose is God, who gave to us the Spirit as a pledge.
Perhaps medical bracelets (like diabetics wear) with 2 Corinthians 5:1-5 embossed on them would be appropriate for us groaners. When people hear us moaning as we get up, sit down or get started, we can just point to our bracelet and relieve their concerns; “Oh, they’re just Groaners.” Hopefully though we can do this with a wink so they can see that in spite of the downward trends of our bodies, our spirits are soaring upward.
Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. from 2 Corinthians 4:16-18
I have to be honest, it is very tempting to loose heart as my outer man is decaying and loosing strength. I read in Proverbs; The glory of young men is their strength (Pr 20:29). I totally get this. I have attempted to hang desperately onto each and every shred of my strength as it has bid me adieu. Research shows that men reach the peak of strength between 30 and 35. It is hard to believe that my downward slide began 3 decades ago! (Hmm. As I recall that is when the doctor’s first diagnosed my depression.) It appears to be a settled matter in nature that while in these bodies fading glory is our destiny. Before we write our own obituary though let’s explore this a bit. Does the gospel of the Kingdom have any rest-of-the-story off-setting good news? I believe it does. Let’s try and ferret it out with the rest of Proverbs 20:29
The glory of young men is their strength and the honor of old men is their gray hair.
And with the rest of 2 Corinthians 4:16-18
For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. 2Corinthians 4:16-18
Along my ongoing 30 year slide I have developed my own version of Proverbs 20:29. (I pray this is not a Revelation 22:18-19 level – modification of God’s Word. This would not be too wise.)
The glory of young men is their strength and the honor of old men is their wisdom. RLC Paraphrase
Forgive me. You are about to experience one of those clutch-less shifts from one gear to a seemingly unrelated one… Speaking of discipleship……
If you seek to make disciples, you always get the church. If you seek to build a church, you rarely get disciples.
This is an ultra-wise statement by Mike Bren from his book; Building a Discipling Culture. But what does discipling look like? Will discipleship begin and end with the local church’s 2015 curriculum? How did the early church do discipleship in the pre-curricuulum dispensation? It seems obvious that discipleship from a biblical perspective could never be confined to a curriculum since it is essentially what is going on between a believer’s heart and his Lord. With the Spirit of Truth indwelling our hearts, our darkness could (for those who cooperate with Jesus’ Life within), be exposed and dealt with. (Note: Here in this heart the kingdom grows) However, those endeavoring to build church numerically do not get communities of disciples because having one’s heart exposed and walking in the light is not why most people attend church.
Jesus, as Lord of the heart, is the ultimate invasion of privacy – not exactly what the average western believer signs up for; “How anti-American! My forefather’s fought for these rights of mine! Blood has been spilled to guarantee my right to pursue happiness (as I define it)!” We will return now to groaning, the topic of this post – by way of wisdom, which we might think of as living in harmony with unseen reality. Again; 2 Corinthians 4:16-18.
For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
Where does affliction come from? Persecution? These circumstances which cause us to groan? I tell you a mystery; it doesn’t matter. It only matters how we respond to them. If we are His disciples (personally mentored students), we will know that temporal affliction (whatever its origin) can be exchanged for an eternal weight of glory, far beyond all comparison. Another glory & age-orinted principle of wisdom comes from Psalm 90:12;
Teach us to number our days, that we may present to You a heart of wisdom.
Needing to attend two funerals today will contribute its obvious wisdom; riding two hours in a car with my bad back as company will add the amen.
What is going on in life, for those with awakened and willing eyes is a first-class education at KU (Kingdom University). Advanced degrees are available to those grasping that they are not victims of random mayhem since the writer of KU’s curriculum is both sovereign and benevolent; plus…He is family. All disciples attend KU. The campuses are scattered throughout the world wherever the students awaken each day. I believe this insight is courtesy of grey hair and wisdom.
Aging is merely light affliction which is producing for myself and my groaning classmates (if we are teachable) an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison. Embedded by grace into all the circumstance-based homework of our days are the things our Lord would use to actually become our Lord. When we learn to respond in Christ to our trials and tests (walking in His Spirit), we are presenting to Him our hearts of wisdom. This is how the qualitative-growth of the campus occurs. This is how the inevitable growth of the kingdom takes place -Thy will being done on earth as it is in heaven.
What is mortal is being swallowed up by Life. He who is educating us for this very purpose is God, who gave to us the Spirit as a pledge.
Shall we seize our day since it turns out there are so many transformational opportunities present within it, designed that we might better know our Provost?
Father, we even groan at our groaning. Only you can get us through today’s lessons. None of us can enter class nor earn a single credit outside of your grace and mercy. If the wisdom of gray hair has taught us anything it is that it is not by the might or power of our strength that the kingdom is built but by Your Spirit. Give us those awakened and willing eyes. Grant us those steadfast hearts that will do their homework. We each want to stand before you and hear your “Well done.” This shall be our diploma. Amen.
by RobertCummins | Jan 19, 2014 | 03. Longing
God’s love is meteoric, His loyalty astronomic, His purpose titanic, His verdicts oceanic.
Yet in his largeness nothing gets lost; not a man, not a mouse, slips through the cracks.
How exquisite your love, O God! How eager we are to run under your wings,
To eat our fill at the banquet you spread as you fill our tankards with Eden spring water.
You’re a fountain of cascading light, and you open our eyes to light.
Keep on loving your friends; do your work in welcoming hearts.
Those who have had dealings with the one true God understand why adjectives of cosmic proportion are used to describe Him. While the psalmist’s words might seem like overstatement to some, the truth is they are anything but. To even approximate the granduer and majesty of God, human imagination and language must be stretched to their limits. I love the psalms for this reason. They are not theologically precise discourses regarding the ways of God. They are more like convulsions, spilling out the heart’s deepest longings and its declarations of who God has become to the writer.
Do you think its possible, having been created in God’s image, that there are longings awaiting to find expression within every soul? I have speculated this is so and that those who are fortunate enough to never succeed in blunting this primal hunger of longing are referred to by Jesus as the poor in spirit to whom belongs the Kingdom of heaven.
I have also speculated that in cultures such as ours where our affluence and technology create endless distractions and the time to indulge ourselves in them that any latent hunger is blunted if not killed off altogether. We are the wealthiest, busiest, best fed, most entertained culture that has ever lived. We are also one of the most ungrateful, impatient, unfulfilled, angry and empty ones. Why is this? How could this be?
We are told that in our stillness we shall discover God for ourselves. We are told to only dwell on things that are true and lovely and worthy of praise. We are told to watch over our hearts with all diligence because that is where life is inaugurated. We disregard these most fundamental of commands at our own peril. While all of God’s promises are amen and amen, I feel as though in regards to knowing God there is an “oh no” as well as an “amen”.
Learning to respond with an amen to our inner longings will facilitate our growing experience with the radical extremes of God’s love. Having eaten and drank our fill from God, who is Himself our abundant provision, is evidence of our delight and acceptance of the invitations He has been sending out. Our ongoing encounter with Him will facilitate our entrance into the ultimate event, The Marriage Supper of the Lamb. The Guest’s lamps will be full and they will be welcomed at the door. Those who never slowed down, whose hearts were seduced by the spirit of the age; who could neither bear silence nor stillness, who never learned to stop and fill their own lamps, will find themselves without sufficient oil to finish their journey. This is the saddest story I encounter in scripture.
I rarely lean upon fear as a motivator. However since reading Neal Postman’s, Entertaining Ourselves to Death, I have had some fear and trembling in my soul as I have been working this topic out in my own life. It is currently very out of vogue to have an “oh no” response to anything since it might throw us back into the dark ages of legalism and quench the grace of God and the liberty it affords us.
Can we have an ongoing experience with the meteoric love of God through the keeping of a list of thou-shalt-nots? I don’t think so. Can we have an ongoing experience with His cosmic goodness by ignoring His warnings and admonitions to live a circumspect life? I don’t think so. So, are we stuck? I don’t think so.
I believe there is a pathway in the Spirit where our obedience is no longer thought of as a means toward some end. While walking in the Spirit, obedience is merely the natural byproduct of a trusting and loving heart. Thou-shalt-nots create a tight-rope that the saint must balance upon where his energies are consumed with sin management and the pursuit of holiness. While this may sound noble, this has not projected any complimentary light on the Good News of Jesus Christ.
On the other hand, those who walk in the Spirit travel in a wide open space where all things are permissable yet are not all profitable. They do not convey to the world that their’s is a white-nuckled existence where their well being is determined by their own discipline. Instead, often in small and simple ways, with their joy and liberty, they convey they have been caught up into something cosmic in scale. And within these kingdom citizens, whose hearts have been liberated from any thou-shalt-nots, many will find safety and refuge.
Father, teach us to nurture longing and may it grow full-term within us to be birthed as the consumation our hearts were created for. May our hearts display the contentment of those being watched over by the Lord of Creation and the satisfaction of those who sup with the King of Kings. Oh God, in simplicity and rest may our lives eloquently state just how exquisite is Your love! Amen.
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