by RobertCummins | Nov 16, 2015 | 46. Trust
Trust – John 14:1-4
Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also. And you know the way where I am going.
In John 13:36 Jesus had just told Peter …
Where I go, you cannot follow Me now; but you will follow later.
Jesus words themselves are enough to trouble one’s heart. He just told Peter that Peter knew the way where he was going, but that he couldn’t come – at least not now. Peter, holding on to his life for all its worth, presses the matter …
Peter: Lord, why can I not follow You right now? I will lay down my life for You.
Jesus: Will you lay down your life for Me? Truly, truly, I say to you, a cock shall not crow until you deny me three times.
Jesus was telling Peter that he was about to find out just how little he really knew about himself and Peter was understandably troubled. His way of seeing things was being threatened and his agenda was at risk if Jesus was going somewhere without him. At the close of his gospel, John speaks to this …
Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to gird yourself, and walk wherever you wished; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will gird you, and bring you where you do not wish to go.
The Father did this with his Son. And, as he came to terms with God’s ways, Jesus responded …
Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Thine be done.
Jesus may have known what was coming but Peter didn’t. Peter was blindsided. Jesus had to take his hand and lead him somewhere he did not wish to go so that he might follow him later. Peter could have never gone the distance with Jesus had he not stretched out his hands and allowed Jesus to take him to the place where he saw his flesh and its deep entanglement with the world.
Jesus takes our hands as well and leads us to the place where we see our independence and selfish agendas. No doubt our hearts too will be troubled when we are blindsided. However, if we will let him hold our hands he will lead us into a brokenness that changes our relationship with him forever. The Lord has led us here for a purpose. As we come to grips with our bankruptcy, he is free to become our sufficiency. We trade what we cannot keep for that which we cannot loose.
Many are looking beyond the horizon of this life for the place Jesus has gone to prepare. That will be a glorious day indeed. While we wait, it is also good to acknowledge that he has, in a very real sense, already received us to himself, that where he is, there we are also.
And you know the way where I am going.
Yes we do. Jesus is himself the way, the truth and the life and he now resides in us as a current hope of glory. It is invaluable to know that, while we have homes in heaven, we are currently God’s address on earth.
Father, enlarge our hearts that we may claim current hope without forfeiting future hope. Help us to offer our trembling hands to you. May we learn to deny ourselves and not you. May we allow you to gird us with your life and take us anywhere your good and wise heart aspires. May your will be done and not ours. Untrouble us with the knowledge that we are yours and you are ours, forevermore. Amen.
Song recommendation: Beyond The Blue by Josh Garrels
Sample lyrics ….
Plumbing the depths to the place in between / The tangible world and the land of dreams
Because everything ain’t quite what it seems / There’s more beneath the appearance of things
A man is weak, but the spirit yearns / To keep on course from the bow to the stern
And throw overboard every selfish concern / That tries to work for what can’t be earned
Sometimes the only way to return is to go, / Where the winds will take you
And to let go, of all, you cannot hold onto / For the hope, beyond,the blue
Said I let go, of all, I could not hold onto / For the hope, I have, in yo
by RobertCummins | Nov 16, 2014 | 46. Trust
Psalm 37:1-11
Delight yourself in the Lord; and He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He will do it.
If I were to just take “this” psalm I might interpret “it” to be real estate, and material prosperity in general.
But the humble will inherit the land and will delight themselves in abundant prosperity.
How consistent with the Father’s heart it is to see His beloved and cherished children be radically blessed and prospered. I am convinced God aspires to see us make as great a return as possible over the longest period of time on the investment of the “talents” he has entrusted us with.
Who do you consider to be the wisest investor in scripture? Did your selection come from the Old Testament or the New Testament?
Another question we should ask ourselves in all earnestness,”What is the desire of my heart?
I am certainly drawn to the abundant prosperity of Abraham. He had land holdings, herds of livestock and tons of grandkids. Then… I am also attracted to a man like Paul who had lived under both covenants and had much to say about what it was he had been entrusted to invest and how he had invested it. As he revealed the returns he was anticipating, he also revealed what his target ROI (Return On Investment) or DOH (the Desire Of his Heart) was. As one who is also living under the New Covenant, I have always considered Paul a worthy investment counselor in both the area of “short” and “long term” investment. Paul shows us the investment that is paying great dividends now and offering unlimited upside potential over time.
I will refer you to Philippians 3:7-21. Here Paul speaks of how he examines a balance sheet and what he considers assets and liabilities In Phil 3:1-7, he even describes how his thinking about investing dramatically changed. I am sure that if Paul could tell us who most influenced his investment strategies, he would refer us to Jesus who told us that the kingdom of God was going to be an overlooked opportunity that we should endeavor to acquire at all costs. Read Matthew 6:19-21,13: 31,32; 13:44 & 13:45 for Jesus’ advice.
As our portfolios are radically unbalanced toward Christ’s eternal kingdom, we can also borrow from David’s counsel in Psalm 37 in learning to draw dividends from eternity that we can enjoy even now. He reminds us that first and foremost, it must begin with us “delighting” our selves in Him and “trusting” in Him. We must also “commit our way to Him”. David also advises us to be patient investors – learn to hold on to the asset and never sell out; in short, learn to wait. He indicates that we will be tempted toward worry and jealousy as we see the sons of this temporal world earn what appears to be huge returns and reap extravagant windfalls. Along with David, Paul too encourages the long view. He suggests humbly resting in the unending benefits that will accrue to us as citizens of heaven. (Phil 3:20, Eph 2:19)
Father, win our hearts back from every thing we have given them to that will ultimately cause weeping and gnashing of teeth when we see the consequence of having invested our dreams and desires in this world. Show us where our hearts are divided and compromised and grant us repentance to transfer our love and affection back to You and to Your unending kingdom. Amen.
by RobertCummins | Nov 15, 2014 | 46. Trust
Luke 22:31-38
A friend of mine tells me from time to time they struggle to believe. They will typically say, “Faith is a gift; one either has it or they don’t“. Is faith a gift? Or, is it a choice? Perhaps both?
Simon, Simon, behold Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat….
Imagine what your response would have been if Jesus locked eyes with you and said, “The devil’s intentions are to separate you and I, but I have prayed for you that your faith not fail you.” What would your response be?
Peter’s response was defensive as if Jesus had wrongly accused him of deficient trust or lack of loyalty; “No way Lord, I know myself well enough and I would go to jail or even die with You before I would abandon you.”
We know how this story develops, Peter did not know himself as well as he had thought. So…, did Jesus grant some limited satanic access to Peter as God had done with Job? At what point was this prayer of Jesus answered?……
But I have prayed for you (Peter) that your faith may not fail.
Three times Peter was given the opportunity to stand fast in his identification with Jesus. Three times he cratered. No doubt Satan assumed his victory as Peter fled, overcome by the events in and around him. Imagine the horror as he watched His closest friend, the Son of God being mocked and beaten. Imagine his guilt, knowing that by his inaction he was a conspirator to this worst of all nightmares. At some point Peter also had to get used to living with himself, which may have been quite painful given that he was a very different man than he had supposed.
As out of control as Peter’s life may have seemed to him, I believe that in the unseen eternal dimension, Jesus’ prayers were being answered at the same time Satan was prematurely celebrating the sifting he was attempting. Through this painful ordeal Peter was being emptied of the delusions he had entertained about himself so that he might be filled with the life of God and receive a new and enduring identity in Christ. (By all means read Henri Nouwen’s entry in Blue Book.)
I am inclined to agree with my friend that faith, particularly as it relates to our initial salvation is a pure gift. I believe that the faith that is growing in us as followers of Christ (in our ongoing salvation) is that same gift but now invites and requires our participation. As life happens, and events unfold, we can be sure that behind the scene there is an enemy who desires to sift and separate us from God, or at least create that illusion and at the same time a Savior who is interceding for us who will not loose a single one that God has given Him. And in those moments where it seems that all hope is gone, where we have proven our faithlessness to ourselves and to the world, we can have confidence that Jesus’ prayer will be answered and that ultimately his faith which he has given us will grow if only we will persevere. (Check out Romans 5:1-3 and James 1:2-4)
Random suggestion: Check out Eric Bibb. His CD Diamond Days has this precious thread of persevering faith woven all through it. Genre; Acoustic Blues. He nails it in every way.
Father, that you are present and faithful at all times and circumstances is a wonderful yet difficult truth to grasp. If and when trials or attacks come our way, may our response be increasingly influenced by the reality that we are yours. Help us in our participation, in the midst of our emotions and errant thoughts, to make our declarations of your goodness. And after our seasons of disorientation help us grasp that we have always been secure in you. An may our lives, like Peter, become nourishment for your lambs. Amen.
by RobertCummins | Nov 14, 2014 | 46. Trust
Job 42:1-6
Job is confessing the folly of babbling about things far beyond him, wonders way over his head, things about God that he had picked up second hand. Job’s admission is a bit concerning to someone who records as many words as I have of late especially since Proverbs tells us words should be used very wisely and that too many of them lead unavoidably to folly and sin. And yet…..we are also told that they can be refreshing and life giving. Matthew 10:27 tells us;
What I tell you in the darkness, speak in the light; and what you hear whispered in your ear, proclaim upon the housetops.
I pray after these 38 years of following him that I am beginning to know the difference between babbling and proclaiming, from going on about a scriptural proposition and simply telling my story. To be sure, I have done both. In reviewing some things I was writing between 1995 and 2005 I found much Jōbish- babbling. (Augustan wrote his Confessions. Cummins wrote his Complaints) Beneath the words there were subtle questions regarding God’s goodness and His wisdom.
On the surface, the words may have seemed to come from an honest spirit of inquiry but in truth they were coming from a heart that was embittered and had struggled for years to know much joy in communion with God. What could be found in my heart was information, doctrine and strangely enough, strong convictions. When I opened my mouth or pressed the keys on my keyboard (often with great force), too often all that came out was a loveless, lifeless religious noise. (Check out Matt 6:23, 1 Cor 13:1)
Job, and the rest of us are sharing space with angels, demons and their commanders. We do not know who to blame at times for our plight. We all are familiar with this line of thinking: “If God is sovereign and He is good then why …. then we fill in the blank with what we have seen as apparent evidence to the contrary. Job and I had erred in how we were completing that sentence. Speaking from experience; If this supposed honest spirit of inquiry is hiding in our hearts then the hymns of faith we are singing are likely just us whistling in the dark.
Whether our personal darkness is perceived as an attack or the woodshed I believe Hebrews 4:13 is the wisest way for us to interpret and react. This brief sentence has been life to me. “...all things are open and laid bare to him whom we have to do“. If we will persevere through our dark circumstances in deference to Him, I am confident that we will emerge one day with first hand experience with God – truth that we can proclaim with authority as our own.
These earned-words which only we are positioned to share can often slip past barriers others have to sermonizing. Living-truth that matches character carries authority. Our story becomes a humble and disarming first hand account of God’s involvement in the affairs of men. Our stories are a visible reality that a good God is inclined toward men with mercy and kindness. Our lives and our words will resonate and awaken hope and faith in others.
I had acquired as much Bible knowledge, read as many books and listened to as many teachings as most, but like Job, in many ways, “I had only heard of Him by the hearing of the ear“. Usually what I had to say, with conviction mind you, was second hand and borrowed. However, after my season of darkness, like Job, I too retracted my questions and repented as best I could of my speculative babbling. Now, I fortunately have some degree of confidence in saying, “but now MY eye sees Thee“.
If we are in the darkness, let us give thanks because it is there where He will speak to us. What He whispers there in our ears can ultimately be proclaimed from the housetops.
Father, help us to each update our stories by listening in the midst of whatever our current darkness may be, and whatever we may perceive as its origin. May we emerge from our circumstances in faith having fresh confirmation in our hearts of Your goodness, Your kind intention and Your power. May both the spirit of our questions and our words be flavored by love, by boldness and with a joy that is appropriate for the sons and daughters of a great king such as You. Amen.
by RobertCummins | Nov 13, 2014 | 46. Trust
Proverbs 3:5,6
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and and He will make your paths straight.
I think when I memorized this verse shortly after becoming a follower of Christ, I had a vision of the Lord and I, hand-in-hand, venturing higher and higher on some gradual and scenic trail. In the inevitable higher altitudes I would be at peace with the world, with no more cares than a flower in the field, more specifically a lilly, since I had also memorized Matt 6:28b.
This verse, coupled with Joshua 1:8 left me with the further impression that if I would continue to hide His word in my heart, that this path would proceed on a more or less direct course to prosperity and success. I liked this plan! if I would do this then the Lord would do that. I loved the idea of traveling hand in hand with “Peace” and “Success”. I was more than ready to jettison “Loneliness” and “Failure”, the outfitters of my previous life who had led me into a box canyon of misery. Yes, leaning on this understanding of the Christian life was going to make my journey an enjoyable and, I believed, a pretty manageable affair.
We have grandchildren now and they remind me how cute and clueless toddlers are. I am pretty sure the Lord was smiling down at me too as He saw me taking my first steps – imagining that this Christian life was going to be something I could actually manage by way of my understanding.
It was really kind of amazing how quickly the trail started to twist and turn but I was determined to not get lost by following any dead-end trails of sin or bad doctrine. I was loaded up with memorized scriptures and knew “in my knower” they would light my path onward to the high places. However, as I started traveling with a wife and kids and faced some vocational and financial challenges, everything started shifting. The terrain, the scenery and even the company changed on me. On this lap around the mountain, Peace and Success passed the baton to Sorrow and Suffering. What’s the deal! This is not at all working out according to my understanding! I can see with my own eyes, we are going in the opposite direction. The AMEN of my perpetually praying heart was replaced with an OMG!
The do not trust in your own understanding part of our passage probably made its first major contribution to my life as the Lord was removing (excuse me, “tearing”) the myth from my heart that I could manage anything with understanding, however biblical accurate. Learning to place my trust in the Lord when things inside me and around me felt out of control and totally incomprehensible seemed to be the only path remaining for me. Honestly, it still is.
It would be enjoyable and I think valuable for us to reflect on our stories and tell each other about those times where we learned (or failed to learn) to trust in Him and acknowledge Him. I will recommend once again a favorite book of mine; Hinds Feet on High Places. It, as well as any story, depicts the journey to the higher places in God. It has been particularly helpful in those seasons when the trail vanished or seemed impossibly steep or headed in the wrong direction.
The myth has now been replaced, at least to some degree, with an experience-based revelation that His life within me is a mystery far greater than my finite mind can lay hold of and in any way control. Literally, Christ is my life and His ongoing revelation of this reality has required that I experience life’s ups and downs and twists and turns with Him. These rugged elements of the trail have revealed the mysterious essence of my relationship with Him. Without them I would have been left to my delusions.
If I have learned anything it is that the abundant life is all about enjoying His company along the way, no matter what we encounter on the trail. It is really only through my rest in His love that I can entrust all my heart to Him. Christ alone (not my understanding of Him or the Bible) is my sufficiency. Our lives are like a glass orb inside where our spirit’s flame glows or dims as we respond to the trail conditions. We must walk carefully for we are being observed…..
Let you light shine before men in such a way that they see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.
Confession; I have not always enjoyed God’s company along the trail. Overtime, my OMG! subtly developed into bitterness – something that can nearly obliterate the view of a trail and even make a mockery of some supposed journey.
For the record, I am SO glad I memorized those scriptures and I am SO grateful for His Word! I am also more grateful than ever before for His Spirit who has breathed life into my stockpile of bible knowledge and connected at least a few of the dots.
Father, Thank you for being our good and capable Shepherd. May we see and acknowledge Your lovingkindness in the midst of our current circumstances. May we continue to learn how to prefer Your leadership over our own understanding. Amen.
by RobertCummins | Nov 12, 2014 | 46. Trust
Psalm 125
Do you ever find yourself agitated in spirit where something deep inside you seems to be on edge but you really can’t put your finger on the reason why? This has been my experience of late. One of the benefits of the Blue Book has been its encouragement to pause and wait on the Lord in a new way. This habit of waiting, where I am subjecting my distressed (and often putrid thoughts) to a fresh stream of living and hope-filled truth stirs the Life within. I am especially aware of this process this morning as His words are bringing clarity and perspective, relieving me of some of the rancor within.
Note: I looked up “rancor” just to make sure my application was consistent with the actual meaning. The example it offered was; “In the end, the debate created a degree of “rancor” among the Sunday School members.” Oh yes! “Rancor” is the right word. Thank you Mr Webster.
Actually, I confess, I substituted “Sunday School” for “committee” in the above definition. I took this liberty because (as I read Psalm 125) I backtracked my tumult of spirit to Sunday School which (this past week) had turned into a sort of town hall debate which exposed an apparently impassable gulf between one side of the political canyon and the other. Psalm 125 however, has caused me to see that the distance across might not be so far as it might appear.
Do good, O Lord, to those who are good, and to those who are upright in their hearts.
I think Psalm 125:4 is the Kingdom of God’s-common ground to those on either side of the divide. As I have considered the debate, I heard in both, as in this psalm, the longing for righteousness and social justice. Both the super-majority, who are my friends, and the super-minority who is my friend, want to see good. Being well acquainted with sibling squabbles, I am grieved when I see consternation among my eternal family.
“In the west, it seems that your discourse produces more heat than light.” (paraphrase of a comment by Ravi Zacharias)
It seems as though the supposedly unbiased, profit-driven media who, hosts our political discourse forces us to shout sound bites at each other across the divide with the assumption there is no common ground between us. I am proposing the idea that, “there is no common ground”, is a lie fostered by the Father of Lies whose mission it is to divide. He is no doubt pleased with his progress based on our overheated exchanges and the increasingly divisive nature of our discourse.
“Oh great! Here Rob goes over-spiritualizing things again”. At least this was the feeling I got when I tried to step out into the gulf and speak to both sides of the divided sunday school class. It seemed neither side knew quite what to do with me. My super-majority friends think I am a defector from their camp. My super minority-friend thinks I am a defector from his. If my 100% pledge of allegiance to a side is the cost of belonging, then the truth is, I can’t belong. I recently listened to a song called A King and a Kingdom by Derek Webb. Here are some lyrics from that song;
my first allegiance is not to a flag, a country, or a man
my first allegiance is not to democracy or blood
it’s to a King and a kingdom
there are two great lies that i’ve heard;
“the day you eat of the fruit of the tree, you will not surely die”
and that Jesus Christ was a white, middle class republican
and if you wanna be saved you have to learn to be like him
“Oh, now he’s gone too far! He has now slandered my socio-economic classification, my race and my ideology!” I hear the raised voices from both sides declaring, “There can be no middle ground! You must declare allegiance to either FOX news or CNBC!”
To illustrate my point;
My bright and sensitive son attended a Christian school where he learned the Westminster catechism in Pre-K and more. We discovered the “and more” on the way home from school one day when he asked us to pray for a close friend of our family. It happened to be my super-minority friend. We were taken aback! What had prompted the intercessor in our son to find its voice? I said “Ok, son what shall we pray?” And this discerning child replied, “We need to pray for Jerry; He’s a democrat.” My son knew intuitively that this leftward leaning soul was damned due to an infection apparently as fatal as sin – the wrong political ideology.
Those who trust in the Lord are as Mount Zion, which cannot be moved, but abides forever.
My brief study of Mount Zion equated it to the city of the great King David, the seat of power in a time that was thought of as Israel’s golden age.
So the Lord surrounds His people from this time forth and forever.
Those who have submitted to the rulership of Jesus are looking for “the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God“. They have citizenship in heaven. Because they have been raised up with Christ, they keep seeking the things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. They set their minds on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. (Heb 11:10, Phil 3:20, Col 3:1,2)
Political discourse as it is, moderated by a biased media, breeds hopelessness, frustration and agitation of spirit, as it focuses on our differences, highlights the negatives and stirs up contention (and consequently rakes in profits). Unfortunately, at least in this hour, media thrives on division and in my opinion disqualifies itself as a useful moderator of any meaningful and productive discourse.
As the water of His word washed over my soul this morning and gave it needed perspective, my agitation was altered to more of a hope-oriented anxious longing which I pray is an appropriate emotion for those who have been subjected for a time (along with creation) to a season of futility.
For we know the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together.” We have hope though because creation itself will be set free from it slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. Romans 8:19
Our King came to us from heaven born as a child and a government of peace rests on His shoulders. There will be no end to the increase of this government or His rule over this kingdom. He will uphold it with justice and righteousness for evermore. This is going to be accomplished by the zeal of the One who is called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father and Prince of Peace. (from Isaiah 9:6,7)
Father, Your Word gives us peace and hope in a world that appears to have none. May the sons and daughters of the Kingdom arise and from their higher ground (seated with Christ). May we earn the right (by Your love) which is in us, to be the hosts of a new dialogue which will draw us together; which will reveal the common ground between us – our instinctive love of righteousness and justice. May Your kingdom of Truth and Wisdom be vindicated by her words of love, wise counsel and deeds of social justice. May this new conversation birth unexpected healing and unity in behalf of all men for Your Name’s sake.
When you returns may you find us conducting ourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ’s kingdom; standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel. Thank You for restoring my spirit again and again. Amen
