by RobertCummins | Feb 3, 2016 | 05. The Heart
The Heart – Ezekiel 11:17-21
When I read the old testament and I hear the decrees God spoke against Israel and the promises He made to them through the prophets I try to keep in mind; that was then; this is now. Israel was living under the auspices of a different covenant than we do. But, even though these words were not spoken to us directly, we can glean much about God’s great heart through His dealings with His initial chosen people.
The scene is familiar, Israel has played the harlot by abandoning her part of that old covenant. She has partaken in the idolatry of foreign peoples. Under that covenant, in this circumstance, God is obligated to fulfill His promise to judge them. This judgement, in part, has caused Israel to be exhiled to Babylon where they will serve as slaves. Yet Ezekiel prophecies some encouraging news to the judged nation. Thus says the Lord God…
“I will gather you from the peoples and assemble you out of the countries among which you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.” When they come there, they will remove all its detestable things and all its abominations from it. And I will give them one heart, and put a new spirit within them. And I will take the heart of stone out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in My statutes and keep My ordinances and do them. Then they will be My people, and I shall be their God. But as for those whose hearts go after their detestable things and abominations, I will bring their conduct down on their heads,” declares the Lord God.”
When God is represented by those filled with the guilt and shame of religion, He is portrayed as angry, poised to judge. But there is something crucial we must learn about God’s heart – in the way it was disposed, even to those who had suffered His wrath…
Though I had removed them far away among the nations and though I had scattered them among the countries, yet I was a sanctuary for them a little while in the countries where they had gone.
Even to those whom He had judged He had positioned Himself as their sanctuary! Is God’s heart as fundamentally angry and poised to judge as we have been told? This is a glimpse of His heart in the days of the old covenant. Even then, it seems as though He is at least as ready to restore as He is to express His anger. And, if this was so then what do we have now? So, what do you think? ……
With God on our side like this, how can we lose? If God didn’t hesitate to put everything on the line for us, embracing our condition and exposing himself to the worst by sending his own Son, is there anything else he wouldn’t gladly and freely do for us? Romans 8:32 MSG
I believe the Jews were hamstrung by not having the promised new and softer heart that Ezekiel refers to. Were the ancient Jews even capable of compliance, shackled with hearts of stone as they were? The more important question is really, “Are we capable of living in harmony with God as members of a new covenant?” Being in Christ, having Christ as our life, is the essence of the new hearts He has freely and gladly given us. So I must answer with a grateful and enthusiastic, “Yes! God Himself, in-Christ, is our sanctuary and astonishingly, we are His.”
A friend, just this morning, has given me the perfect adjective to describe the covenant we enjoy. It’s “apocalyptic.” Here is his offering:
“Apocolyptic” is used to describe a certain genre of literature (and also by some to mean an end times catastrophe). What the word really means is; the revealing of something that was previously not known. Jesus’ life, death & resurrection was apocalyptic, not because it signaled the end of the world, but because it revealed things which the Old Testament only hinted of. It is the key that unlocked the Old Testament prophecies. The Gospel is not only good news. The gospel is apocalyptic good news’!
Oh Lord, how majestic are your ways in all the earth! May the heights and depths of what you have done register in us. Continue to reveal to our new hearts the breadth and the length of your astonishing love until they are filled up to the fulness of You. Now to You who are able to do exceedingly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to You be the glory in Your Church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.
by RobertCummins | Feb 1, 2016 | 05. The Heart
The Heart – Jeremiah 29:10-14
As soon as Babylon’s seventy years are up and not a day before, I’ll show up and take care of you as I promised and bring you back home. I know what I’m doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for. “When you call on me, when you come and pray to me, I’ll listen.“When you come looking for me, you’ll find me.“Yes, when you get serious about finding me and want it more than anything else, I’ll make sure you won’t be disappointed.” — God’s Decree. — “I’ll turn things around for you. I’ll bring you back from all the countries into which I drove you” — God’s Decree — “I’ll bring you home to the place from which I sent you off into exile. You can count on it.
Can a Christian take Jeremiah at his word that God will not abandon him and that he has plans of a hopeful future for him? Absolutely. Is it right for a Christian to anticipate these blessings because of the intensity of their searching and prayer? No. Jeremiah is speaking to Israel – a nation under a different covenant, with a specific calling and with specific transgressions. We are not Israel and we have not been exiled.
Why would we claim old conditional promises when the ones we have in the New Covenant are far superior? This passage implies we are estranged from God when in fact we have been reconciled to him and have access into the holiest place in-Christ. Far from being abandoned because of our deficient fervor, we have been seated with Christ in heavenly realms because of his efforts in seeking us. While Jeremiah’s words imply distance between God and his people, those who have believed and repented have been grafted inseparably into Christ. Zero distance. This is the good news!
These old testament promises, contingent on man’s stony-hearted performance are inferior to the New Testament’s promise of life. Jesus, who is our life, is a gift independent of all effort, however whole-hearted it might be. Sadly, our flesh seems to have a default-religious setting that insists on self-dependence instead of Christ-dependence. The consequence is religion which is both tragic and comical.
It leads us to pray prayers and sing songs in a spirit of desperation. We plead with God to draw near to us while, in that very moment, he is dwelling in us. While we are begging him to come, he is asking, “What gave you the impression I left?” It is no wonder we burn out. We spend massive amounts of energy and resources trying to purchase what we already own. God does not want us going backward, entangling ourselves in an outdated covenant. He could not have made this any clearer to me.
It was the turn of the century and I was in my weeping prophet phase of spirituality. In pitch darkness I ascended the grassy knoll. This was just one of the many lonely places I had found where I offered up my petitions (and perhaps a few modest complaints). On this particular night, I was ratcheting up my seriousness, asking if, as my reward, he would please reveal himself to me and restore the joy of my salvation, “Lord. please do not take Thy Holy Spirit from me!” I was doing some serious Jeremiah-style pleading and I believed my impassioned prayers would surely end my (somewhat undeserved) exile from God. “Lord, rain down your Spirit on me!”… And the Lord, he did smile.
As I was praying, I heard something below and I felt the earth literally tremble beneath my feet. My prayers had reached such a crescendo it would not have surprised me if a burning bush would have appeared! As I was listening intently for the long awaited (and I might add, deserved) word from God, I was assailed, not by the rain of His Spirit from above but by the RainBird below. (I live next to golf course) I was lifted off the ground by a jet of water that had to be 1000 psi. I was standing directly over (as in straddling) a sprinkler head. I was so shocked and disoriented I did not escape its aim before I was drenched. It was as though its machine gun bursts were trained on me whichever way I moved. The heat of my passion had been extinguished and, to make matters worse, I knew who it was who had such excellent timing and aim! Yes, the Lord, he did smile.
I should have picked up on what God was doing sooner because of an incident that took place in our home 20 years earlier. One evening, when our second daughter was just a baby, she was provoked and had worked herself into an irreversible emotional tailspin. She could not talk but boy could she wail! Mustering all our parental wisdom, we sat her down into a bathtub of unheated tap water. The effect was magical! Whatever had been her problem had given way to a new and more immediate issue. The child we retrieved from the tub was the quieter version of the daughter we enjoyed and preferred. We dried off her wrinkly pink skin and wiped away all her tears. Thankfully, all was once again well with her soul and she was off to her next adventure. I think the word of the Lord to both – my daughter and myself, after our unorthodox baptisms, was (and remains) …
Dear Ones, seriously, You need to chill out.
It is so pivotal to know we have not been exiled – no matter how we may feel. In Christ we can’t even leave home. To many of his super-busy, super-zealous (and often frustrated) children, the Lord is saying something like this …
Its in quietness and rest you will find Me. By all means seek me with all your heart but do it with the new one that I have given you that intuitively knows I have not left you and never will. I want you to learn to rest in me. I am your life, so in every sense, I am your sufficiency. Our lives are permanently entwined. Celebrate that! Repent of your strife. The emotions you desire will follow your renewed thinking. Chill out a little. It is going to be alright. I promise.
Father, It is a good thing to give thanks to you and sing praises to your name. As I take account of the exceedingly great promises you have entrusted us, I am stunned at the wisdom and generosity of your plans and the extravagance of your love! Truly Lord you are The Wonder of all wonders! I love You too.
by RobertCummins | Feb 7, 2015 | 05. The Heart
1 Samuel 16:1-13
If ever there were a next king of Israel, Eliab was the man. He had presence. His height and build set him apart. 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 on this day. No doubt Samuel continued in prayerful thought, “OK 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!” and then discover “anointed” was actually the wrong word for what we contracted with. When I think of the society that these choices have formed, I would answer, “Way too often.” 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 parellel.
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 God’s intended identity. This is no doubt a delight to the principalities and powers, the rulers and authorities who 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 that my heart has awakened to and said, “Yes and Amen!” One of the contributing ideas is the following definition of a leader; A leader is any one 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 that 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 of a new covenant. In Christ the horn of oil has been poured out on us in His Holy Spirit. One day, as David did, 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 are loving You. Make your appeal through us. Anoint us with the credibility of new creations. Teach us to watch over our hearts and each others 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 will believe can be reconciled to God through Christ. Let your priest kings arise and take dominion! Amen.
by RobertCummins | Feb 5, 2015 | 05. 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.”
I am unsure if the western Church has even found its way to the border. George Barna’s research verifies that we definitely have not entered in. His findings reveal the disturbing fact that a large percentage of those who identify themselves as christians do not 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 a beautiful story outside its original wonderful context. We have attempted to embraced a gospel outside the context of the kingdom of God. 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 rather as as our example of how we are to reveal heaven on earth through our Christ impregnated lives. 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 says—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 mandated us to pray that His kingdom will be revealed as a bright radiating light now while still in our flesh just as it was with Him when He lived in His flesh as the Son of Man.
I think those rulers and powers and those spiritual forces of wickedness that Paul referred to in Ephesians 6 are going to be in shock and awe when the Church puts on the fuller armor of God that 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 exalt themselves above the fuller kingdom-knowledge of God.
We see the battle for this earth as lost because we view it only 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, as we are now seated with Him in heaven) its a matter of exposing and repenting of the half -gospel we have embraced and taking that deficient thought (or lie) captive and converting it to the obedience of Christ’s kingdom reality.
Father, make your enemies as footstool beneath your feet and shod ours afresh with the exceedingly good news of a gospel full of Your kingdom. Before the eyes of the skeptical world (and church), may our 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!
by RobertCummins | Feb 4, 2015 | 05. The Heart
Isaiah 29:13-16
Then the Lord said, “Because this people draw near with their words And honor Me with their lip service, but they remove their hearts far from Me, and their reverence for Me consists of tradition learned by rote, therefore behold, I will once again deal marvelously with this people, wondrously marvelous; and the wisdom of their wise men will perish, and the discernment of their discerning men will be concealed.” Woe to those who deeply hide their plans from the Lord, and whose deeds are done in a dark place, and they say, “Who sees us?” or “Who knows us?” You turn things around! Shall the potter be considered as equal with the clay, that what is made would say to its maker, “He did not make me”; Or what is formed say to him who formed it, “He has no understanding”?
If you will bare with me, this post will eventually merge with today’s verse….
Does the prosperity it has created, in itself, qualify the American Dream as a success? While it is critical, it is obvious that economics is not the guarantor of peace on earth and good will among men. We have growing problems that money can’t fix. It might even be argued that money exacerbates some of those problems.
As I drive through my neighborhood and see the privacy fences and then the larger homes with land and fences between households, I wonder how frequently these neighbors interact? I also wonder what is going on in the privacy of the rooms of those houses. Are the family members partitioned off from each other within those homes? How many of them are engaged with video games, social media, entertainment or any of these (harmless?) things that rob them from authentic lives lived out face to face with family and neighbors?
Taking this one step further; inside the hearts of these individuals, what is going on? Might we find our core problem there; hearts that are deeply hiding their plans from the Lord (and each other) and whose lives are being lived out in dark (private) places, where they are essentially saying, “Who sees us?” or “Who knows us?”
I am beginning to wonder if TV producers are not mocking us with their zombie productions. Could they be using the images of the living dead as a metaphor for our own grotesque inner lives and the dysfunctional communities we create? Could God be saying through these horror shows that in our isolation from Him and each other, we ourselves are the living casualties of the material world we have worshipped?
If we think of community simply as the connectivity between those created in His image, I believe God is giving low marks to the American Dream in the area of community. Who among us is taking the vital signs of community? Are there any preventative community-health measures we need to consider? Does God have any corrective measures in play?
For those Isaiah is reffering to in our passage, living with their private and toxic thoughts, God has a plan that (at least) He thinks will be wondrously marvelous. How marvelous will it seem to the beneficiaries of this plan when God lets them know their worship is repulsive to Him? How wondrous will it seem when society’s remaining lights of wisdom and discernment are switched off? As children of light, we should find this commentary on visibility fascinating and sobering.
God says we have turned things around and is answering the questions the deceived ask. He, says, “I the Potter see you. I the Creator know you.” Even if the sleepers awake, without God they will only compound the problem with a new social program to get folks out of their houses or laws to prevent yards and fences. The only solution is for men to come out of hiding in their own hearts and expose themselves to God – accepting the invitation He offers to come into the safety of His own great heart. In Christ alone can they find the remedy for the core issue; the disconnection between their hearts and His.
When we are healed and restored, we then become agents of His kingdom. We ourselves become the credibility of His Good News. We become the safe houses for others. As we live out in the open, knowing we are fully seen, fully known and loved by God, our very lives become an invitation to the enslaved and isolated to venture out of the dark places where the devil has been systematically robbing them of the life God intended. There, as children of light, we will demonstrate the liberty and freedom of the kingdom of God. We become the undisputed evidence that God’s dreams trumps the American Dream. One day, the community of the redeemed, His Church will get high marks as she majors in connectivity, helping all those around her find their way back to the Father and to each other.
Father, even now, set your wondrously marvelous plans into motion. Awaken that communal gene of Yours in our hearts. Help us to find our security in You, that in love, we might lead a host of captivities into the liberty and joy of Christ. May all Your dreams come true in us. So be it.
by RobertCummins | Feb 3, 2015 | 05. The Heart
Ezekiel 11:17-21
When I read the old testament and I hear the decrees God spoke against Israel and the promises He made to them through the prophets I try to keep in mind; that was then; this is now. Israel was living under the auspices of a different covenant than we do. But, even though these words were not spoken to us directly, we can glean much about God’s great heart through His dealings with His initial chosen people.
The scene is familiar, Israel has played the harlot by abandoning her part of that old covenant. She has partaken in the idolatry of foreign peoples. Under that covenant, in this circumstance, God is obligated to fulfill His promise to judge them. This judgement, in part, has caused Israel to be exhiled to Babylon where they will serve as slaves. Yet Ezekiel prophecies some encouraging news to the judged nation. Thus says the Lord God..……..
“I will gather you from the peoples and assemble you out of the countries among which you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.” When they come there, they will remove all its detestable things and all its abominations from it. And I will give them one heart, and put a new spirit within them. And I will take the heart of stone out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in My statutes and keep My ordinances and do them. Then they will be My people, and I shall be their God. But as for those whose hearts go after their detestable things and abominations, I will bring their conduct down on their heads,” declares the Lord God.”
When God is represented by those filled with the guilt and shame of religion, He is portrayed as angry and poised to judge. But here is something we can learn about God’s heart – in the way that it was disposed even to those whom had suffered His wrath…..
Though I had removed them far away among the nations and though I had scattered them among the countries, yet I was a sanctuary for them a little while in the countries where they had gone.
Even to those whom He had judged He had positioned Himself as their sanctuary! Is God’s heart as fundamentally angry and poised to judge as we have been told? This is a glimpse of His heart in the days of the old covenant. Even then, it seems as though He is at least as ready to restore as He is to express His anger. And, if this was so then what do we have now? So, what do you think? ……
With God on our side like this, how can we lose? If God didn’t hesitate to put everything on the line for us, embracing our condition and exposing himself to the worst by sending his own Son, is there anything else he wouldn’t gladly and freely do for us? Romans 8:32 MSG
I believe the Jews were hamstrung by not having the promised new and softer heart that Ezekiel refers to. Were the ancient Jews even capable of compliance, shackled with hearts of stone as they were? Whatever the answer to this question, the important one is really, “Are we capable of living in harmony with God as members of a new covenant?” Being in Christ; having Christ as our life, is the essence of the new hearts He has freely and gladly given to us. So, I must answer with a grateful and enthusiastic, “Yes! Both then and now, God Himself, in-Christ, is our sanctuary and astonishingly, we are His.”
A friend, just this morning, has given me the perfect adjective to describe the covenant we enjoy. It’s “apocalyptic.” Here is his offering:
“Apocolyptic” is used to describe a certain genre of literature (and also by some to mean an end times catastrophe). What the word really means is ‘the revealing of something that was previously not known‘. Jesus’ life, death & resurrection was apocalyptic, not because it signaled the end of the world, but because it revealed things which the OT and the Jews could only try to understand. It is the key that unlocked the OT prophecies. The Gospel is not only ‘good new’. The gospel is apocalyptic good news’! (Thanks DM)
Oh Lord, how majestic are your ways in all the earth! May the heights and depths of what you have done register in us. Continue to reveal to our new hearts the breadth and the length of your astonishing love until they are filled up to the fulness of You. Now to You who are able to do exceedingly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to You be the glory in Your Church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.
