change
Course Correction
By Linda Rex
Recently, just for the fun of it, I’ve been watching some old episodes of Lost in Space. Since these were made back in the 1960’s, it’s amusing for me to see what was considered science fiction back then—reel to reel tapes and punch card computers, dials and buttons. The clothing and hairs styles of course are very 1960ish. And all these space adventures took place in the 1990’s and 2000’s (We aren’t even doing manned intergalactic space travel yet and it’s 2014!).
The ongoing pain-in-the-neck on the Robinson family’s space voyage is Dr. Zachary Smith. He seems to be the picture of every worst human trait—greed, dishonesty, laziness, and so on. He’s always finding a way to get out of having to work and spends his time getting himself and everyone else into dangerous predicaments. Whenever there is the slightest issue or problem, he goes into a despairing decline: “Oh, the pain…”
Vainly the Robinson family tries to reform him, but to no avail. Over and over, they swear they’re going to cast him adrift or abandon him to his fate because he deserves it. But once again, they choose love and grace over giving Dr. Smith what he deserves.
One night as I was working on a project and watching another episode of the series it occurred to me that in many ways, this whole thing was like a picture of the divine perichoretic relationship and us as humans. How often we are like Dr. Smith—annoying and offensive and downright diabolical. And yet, the Father, Son and Spirit continue to make room for us in their relationship of love and unity. We deserve to be cast adrift, to receive the full consequences for our choices, our unloving and corrupt behavior, but once again, God covers us with grace in Christ and brings us home.
Sadly, like Dr. Smith, we can receive warnings, corrections, and even the conviction of the Holy Spirit, and yet keep returning to our old, comfortable way of doing things. We can have a mirror held up and be shown our shortcomings and yet keep on following our destructive path.
But this isn’t how it needs to be. Because we have a God who is committed to us becoming all that he created us to be in Christ. He has formed us in his own image and will not cease to work toward that end in conforming us to the image of Christ.
One way in which we participate in this process is by choosing to allow the difficulties, strains and struggles of life to be used by God to transform us. We allow God to use sorrow and pain as a means of discipline—not punishment, but rather as a training tool. We let the strong winds of suffering build spiritual muscle in us.
We permit God to make changes in the way we think, believe, and act by responding to his Spirit and filling our minds with his Word. We choose to do the hard work of growing up in Christ rather than making every excuse in the book to keep from having to face the truth about ourselves. We, for the moment, choose sorrow over laughter—taking seriously God’s call to follow Christ wherever he leads on whichever path he chooses to take.
Unlike Zachary Smith, we don’t have to spend endless space miles caught in the corruption of human sin and depravity. When God goes to work, we become new people. It takes time—our whole life. But as we willingly participate in what God is doing to transform us—turning to Christ daily, trusting in his grace—change will come. Who we are at the beginning is not who we will be in the end. We have God’s word on that.
Thank you, Lord, that you have promised to perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish us. You have given us the privilege of sharing in your eternal glory in Christ. We trust you will finish what you have begun, in the name of the Father, Son and Spirit. Amen.
“Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom.” James 4:9
“After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you. To Him be dominion forever and ever. Amen.” 1 Peter 5:10–11
When Words Aren’t Enough
by Linda Rex
I was thinking about the lost art of Bible reading. The Bible used to be the main textbook in the classroom. Many parents and teachers used the Bible to teach their children to read. Although I don’t really see the benefit of teaching a child to read using, “and Attai begat Nathan, and Nathan begat Zabad, and Zabad begat Ephlal, and Ephlal begat Obed,…” (1 Chr. 2:36-37 YLT) when most adults including myself can’t even pronounce the names correctly, there is benefit in the Bible being used so frequently. The words and content were more readily available to the average person, so that many learned a basic form of morality and Christian basis for living as part of their daily life.
The great Protestant tradition of each person being able to read and interpret the Bible as the Spirit leads has allowed for a great variety in translations and religions within the realm of Christianity. But, naturally, there is some danger in this. When a person believes that they have received a specific revelation out of scripture and they begin to spread it around as though it is the truth (when really it is a misinterpretation of Scripture) then this is a problem. When the Scriptures are used to lead people away from the central truth of Scripture—Jesus Christ and salvation through him alone—this is a serious situation indeed.
In Jesus’ confrontation with the Pharisees and scribes, who were taking him to task for associating with and caring for the sinners and outcasts of society, he brought up the fact that even though the Israelite nation had had the word of God for centuries, they really never did hear it. Or when they did hear it, it did not transform their lives. It pointed them to Jesus Christ, who would be the fulfillment of the scriptures and bring salvation for all people, but they didn’t recognize him when he came.
The truth is that a person can have the Bible and even read it and memorize it, but without a heart of faith, a heart that is humble and surrendered to the Father, that trusts in the Son of God, Jesus Christ, and is open to the work and will of the Holy Spirit, the Bible will make no difference in their life. Until God, by his Spirit, writes the law of love on a person’s heart and mind, the words cannot and will not be understood correctly, or believed and obeyed as God intended.
Surely, a person can have an outstanding “form of godliness.” We had a form of godliness for many years as members of the former Worldwide Church of God. We had seventh day Sabbath-keeping, holy day keeping, tithing (3 of them even) and clean foods eating godliness. We had the “we are the nation of Israel” holiness that excluded people of other races and ethnicities through our Anglo/British Israelism. And we brought the Holy Spirit along as the power we needed—always asking God for more of it because we never could be quite good enough. We definitely stood out in the society as being “separate.”
It was a “feel good” religion because all of us felt how good we were compared to everyone else because we were doing what was right while everyone else was obeying pagan holidays and disobeying God. The truth was that this “form of godliness” was a slavery and we didn’t really feel that good after all, because in our hearts we knew we never could be good enough. We were constantly striving to “overcome” so we could make it into God’s kingdom. We lived daily with that nagging feeling of guilt and shame that comes when we are striving to do relationship with God in our own strength. We were never sure that God really did love us, individually, fully, unconditionally.
Being immersed in this religion since the day I took my first breath and having seen and heard the founders, movers and shakers of this religion since the time I could first remember, I, much like the apostle Paul in his day, feel a deep yearning for the freedom of all those who are still bound by these ways of thinking and believing. How I long to help others see that Jesus Christ, who is/was God in human flesh, brought together all of Israel and all other people together in himself, in his person! He joined us forever in himself so that now he is the law, the law written on our hearts by the Holy Spirit. The testimony of the Scriptures points to Jesus Christ as the center—the old covenant and new covenant have him at the core. It is all about him—he is our Sabbath rest, he is our holy day, he is our clean food as the Bread and the Wine, he is our baptism, he is our tithe—the One set apart for holy use!
Was it not enough that he lived in our place, died for us and rose from the dead? Must we continually add things to this in order to feel good enough? If we need guidelines for living, then we need to look to him and look to those he taught when he came. They provide plenty of “rules for living” if we need them—but the apostles all began at a central place, faith in Jesus Christ and in our union with God in him through the Holy Spirit. This is the beginning of our faith and from there we build. This means we have a unified basis for belief and faith.
Jesus warned of the dangers of attributing the work of the Spirit to Satan. This is what our church did. We taught that the early church was deceived and left the faith. This is a denial of the Spirit and his work and I shudder to think that we disrespected him by professing this. May God forgive us! The real truth is that as the Spirit led the early church into a new and deeper understanding of the nature of God that had been revealed to them by Jesus Christ, they included this in the creeds and in their worship. Rejected by the Sabbath-keeping Jews, they began to center their life around Jesus Christ, with the Christian calendar focused on his birth, life, death, resurrection and ascension. This was not a twisted deception, but a leading of the Holy Spirit and a handing down faithfully of the teachings of Jesus Christ and the apostles. It was Spirit-led and Spirit-filled.
Moses and the Prophets spoke of these days, when the knowledge of God would fill the earth like waters cover the seas, when the worship of God would be found in all nations. Moses and the Prophets pointed us to the One who would come and transform the world by transforming human hearts. When God goes to work in someone’s life and heart through the Spirit and Christ becomes the foundation of their faith, they become a new person. There is a joy and light in their eyes that comes from them knowing to their core that they are loved and cherished by God. I pray that that light will never be extinguished by the lie that somehow being loved and forgiven, being in Christ, is not enough—that they have to add something to this, that they have to add all the things Christ did in their place. May God grant us all the grace to truly trust in Christ and to trust in him alone!
Holy Father, it breaks my heart that so many cannot see the wonder of what you have done for all of us in Jesus Christ. It makes me sad that we are so easily deceived by words, words that twist and corrupt the simple message of the gospel, of faith in Christ. Holy Spirit, forgive us for grieving you, for attributing your gracious work for humankind to the devil. I’m so sorry! Lord Jesus, please come in your Spirit and transform hearts. Forgive and bring healing, liberation, hope, regeneration, God, please. Jesus, in your name, for your sake, I pray. Amen.
“But he said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.’ ” Luke 16:31 (NASB)
He Set the World on Fire
By Linda Rex
This morning I was reading about an enormous fire in the state of Idaho at Sun Valley. This wildfire is threatening many homes in the mountain resort community, causing many to flee as firefighters attempt to contain the massive blaze.
I was reminded that as a child I used to have nightmares about being caught in one of the wildfires that often frequented the southern California foothills near where I grew up. A fire such as this would burn through the hills above us at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains, often burning homes that were in its path. Sometimes the Santa Anita Winds would feed the fire, multiplying the damage it created to catastrophic proportions.
As a child, the loss to fire of all that I knew—home, family, belongings—was a frightening prospect. The only thing that eased the horror of such a prospect was my fledgling faith in a God who would take care of us. Otherwise, it was a concept that for me meant the end of the world as we know it. Having heard that one day the world would end in conflagration, I was rather frightened by the prospect of such a terrifying end.
So why did Jesus say that he came “to set fire to the world, and I wish it were already burning?” God himself is described as a consuming fire. Many scriptures point to the day when all that is evil will be consumed in the fire of God’s wrath. Is God such a wrathful, angry God that he looks forward to burning everything and everyone up?
Not only did Jesus say that he came to set the world on fire. He also said that he had a baptism he had to undergo and he was constrained or bound to complete it before the world could be set ablaze. The baptism he was facing was his own baptism by fire, the crucifixion. Jesus knew that when the time was right he would be unjustly accused and executed like a criminal by the leaders of his own people. In this event, as the One who is fully God and fully man, he would take upon himself all that every human being had ever done or would do that was deserving of death and bear our punishment in our place. He was working diligently every moment toward that end, to complete his commitment to all of humanity to save them from their sins. What drove Jesus to do this was the love of God for all the people he had created to bear his image. God’s great love bore the full extent of God’s wrath upon himself in our place. In Christ, God burned away all our sin, self and evil, not only by his sinless life, but also by his suffering, death and resurrection.
Sometimes a fire reaches a point of such intensity that it cannot be put out, but must be left to burn itself out. A firestorm is a fire out of control. We know that fire consumes all that is burnable in its path. It requires both flammable substances and oxygen in order to burn. Water or other substances that cut off its access to oxygen will snuff a fire out. The fire of God’s love is like a firestorm. It cannot be quenched—it is an unquenchable fire. We may do our best to attempt to quench the fire of God’s love. We may even turn away from and reject his love. But God’s fire will have its way, and will burn away all that mars the perfect image of him in each and every one of us.
After Jesus’ supreme sacrifice, the disciples gathered together to pray. They anticipated Jesus keeping a promise he had made to them—that they would be baptized with the Holy Spirit. John the Baptist had pointed his followers to Jesus, who would baptize with “the Holy Spirit and with fire.” Now Christ’s followers looked forward to Jesus doing exactly that. The Spirit, when given, was manifested as flames of fire, lighting on each of the believers. Through each of these people who received the Holy Spirit, God set the world ablaze with the fire of his love. And he still does this today.
As a person opens him or herself up to Jesus Christ and his Spirit, God goes to work in that person’s heart and life, and he begins to burn away all that is not in agreement with God’s nature, heart and life. As the flames of God’s love consume all that is not godly, a believer begins to change, from the inside out. It is a process, a journey that is life-long. No matter the ups and downs of life, God never stops working. The fire of his love never changes, though we may live and act in ways that attempt to quench it. When we trust in the finished work of Jesus Christ, when we keep our focus on him, each day sharing in his death and resurrection, dying to self and living to God, we are transformed from our natural glory into ever-increasing glory that reflects our divine Origin.
As believers grow up into Christ, they will begin to change. They will not think the way they used to. What interested them before will not always interest them, because their interests and thoughts will be governed by the Spirit of the God who made them, rather than by what their carnal nature may desire. They will grow up into the image of God they were created to be—they will begin to take on their true identity, being as they were meant to be. They will come fully alive. And the fire lit in their hearts and lives will begin to spread to those around them.
So we see in the book of Acts how the fire Jesus lit in the hearts of his followers began to spread throughout Judea, Samaria and then on into the areas beyond. And followers of Jesus can be found today in many nations throughout the world. Where his people have gone, the fire of God’s love has spread, and will continue to spread as they continue to participate in the life and love of Father, Son and Spirit they were created to share in.
The Love of God is an unquenchable love, an all-consuming fire, and will not cease to work to conform all humanity into the image of God in Christ. In the end, God’s love will destroy anything and everything that stands in opposition to him and that will bring harm to his children or destroy the image of himself his children were created to manifest. This is a conflagration we do not need to fear, as we are united to the God of Love in Christ by the Spirit. This firestorm is our salvation, hope and joy. Praise God!
We praise you, God, that you are an all-consuming Fire, a Fire of Love and Life. Thank you for uniting yourself with us in Jesus so that we need not fear the fire of your wrath, but rather can enjoy the heat and cleansing power of your love. We trust you to finish what you have begun in us to bring us to wholeness in Christ. We pray in his name. Amen.
“I came to set fire to the world, and I wish it were already burning!” Luke 12:49 (NCV)
Something from Nothing
by Linda Rex
When my children were very little, I was often called upon as their mom to rescue them from a serious dilemma such as fixing their tricycle, putting the head or arm back on their doll, or saving them from the scary neighbor’s dog. All these issues were well within my ability as their mother to resolve. But on occasion they asked me to do something that was beyond my capacity as a human being such as bringing their deceased pet fish back to life. In these cases, I found myself having to explain to them that I just could not do it. This they could not understand, because in their eyes, Mom could do anything!
Ah, the disillusionment of youth when they find out mom or dad is just like themselves—imperfect and insufficient to meet their every need! But this is a life lesson we are all faced with at some point or another. To promote another human being to the place God reserves for himself alone is risky business indeed. And it often can be destructive to the one who is placed on a pedestal. It is essential to our mental, emotional, spiritual and even physical health, to recognize and admit that we are incapable of perfection, of sustaining ourselves or others, or of creating something out of nothing. Only one Being has that ability and prerogative.
The testimony of the Christian Scriptures is that God, who existed apart from and before time as Father, Son and Spirit, created all that we know today out of nothing. He did this to share with created others unlike himself yet like himself, all the blessings of the love and life of his Being. Since the beginning of time, we as human beings have questioned God’s love and good will toward us, and so have found so many ways to put barriers between us and the God who made us. We have attempted to play his role in the universe as well as our own. The results continue to be tragic.
But God said no to all that we have done in this regard and has affirmed his intention that we all share in the life and love of Father, Son and Spirit as he ordained in the beginning. So he came himself as the Word into time in the person of Jesus Christ—fully human, fully God—so that he might demonstrate his love toward us. God is making something out of nothing, and he will finish what he has begun. The proof of this lies in the glorified human form of Jesus Christ who lived, died and rose again to live forever at God’s right hand in glory.
So when we get discouraged by life and our inadequacies, when we see the impossibilities of life, when we can only see evil and destruction and despair—this is the time to remember the God who made all things out of nothing. He is not done yet. He will finish what he has begun. He will bring perfection out of our imperfection, wholeness out of our brokenness. He is our Redeemer and will redeem all things.
As we daily surrender our inadequacies, failures, sorrows and weaknesses to him and embrace the risen Christ in their stead, we will experience the transformation of our deadness into life in him. This is the promise we have in Jesus—to share in, participate in his perfected human life both now and forever. It doesn’t depend on us—it depends completely on him. We are reminded of this as we participate in communion, eating the bread and drinking the wine in remembrance of him. God knows the end from the beginning, and he has declared our salvation in Jesus Christ. And he will not fail us in this. Believe it or not.
Dear God, thank you so much for your perfect gift in Jesus Christ and the precious Spirit, who lives in us to bring to completion the perfected life of your Son in each of us. We trust you to finish what you have started in us. Our hope and our faith are fully in you and not in ourselves. Open our eyes to see you and know you for the loving, faithful, gracious God you truly are. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
“…God, who gives life to the dead and calls into being that which does not exist.” Romans 4:17b (NASB)
“By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible.” Hebrews 11:3 (NASB)
Sowing the Right Seed Matters
by Linda Rex
One of the lessons I learned as a farmer’s wife years ago was the importance of planning ahead for the harvest. I remember that we had some pasture ground that was not growing well and needed to be reseeded. Being the city girl that I was, I just figured we needed to go somewhere and buy some grass seed and plant it. Simple enough.
But it was explained to me that there were a multitude of grass types that could be planted in the pasture. And in order to have a crop that would provide the proper nutrients for our cows that would enable them to produce the proper milk and so on, we needed to plant a particular combination of grasses. Apparently it does make a big difference what type of grass seed a person sows in his or her pasture, since what he or she sows there determines what will be reaped in the end in the health and well-being of the cattle which graze there.
This lesson of reaping what you sow was rehearsed many times over for me during my years on the farm. The apostle Paul used reaping what you sow as a way of explaining the importance of setting one’s hope and faith on the Lord Jesus Christ rather than in one’s own self.
In our verses for today, Paul was talking to the Galatian church, which had members who were returning back to their Jewish practices as the substance of their faith, rather than continuing to trust in Jesus Christ for their salvation. He pointed out that they did not receive their new life in the Spirit by observing certain rituals and ceremonial days, by circumcision, or by keeping the old covenant laws. They received it through faith, the faith of Christ. He went on to explain how depending upon ourselves to do what is right is futile—it does not save us. Only Christ saves us, by coming to us in the Person and presence of the Holy Spirit.
The lesson for us today is that we need to consider what we are sowing in our lives and how we are sowing it. What do we trust in day by day to ensure that everything in our lives goes the way we want it to? What are we depending upon? Do we have a tight control on ourselves, our world, our lives, our relationships? Are we counting on our ability to keep it all together and solve our problems? Are we diligently trying to make sure we are being patient enough, kind enough, good enough?
I need to ask you now: How is that going for you? Personally, it never really worked well for me. I would be surprised if it worked well for you all the time. Because God never intended you to do it all yourself. If he had intended that, he would never have come himself in the person of Christ to live in human flesh to live and die for us and be resurrected for us. What God intended was for us to be crucified with Christ and to live a new resurrected life in him. We don’t live out of ourselves, we live out of Christ by the Holy Spirit.
This is what Paul means by reaping what we sow. If we sow to our human flesh and out of our own human flesh, we will reap death and corruption. But if we sow by the Spirit, seeking and depending upon the spiritual realities in Christ, we will reap eternal life, the kingdom life we can participate in now as we live in relationship with God in Christ by the Holy Spirit. We do have hope of a new life because God has, in Christ, made us new—he has sown the spiritual seed of the Holy Spirit in us as we embrace and receive it. Let us trust in Christ and in what God is doing in us and with us by his Holy Spirit. Let’s allow him to be for us, in us and with us, all that he desires. The harvest will be an eternal blessing of living in the life and love of God as Father, Son and Spirit.
Holy God, thank you for sowing in us your perfect seed of life eternal. Transform us by your Spirit. Resurrect us even today in Christ into the new life you have for us. Begin now to remake us into your image of love you want us to reflect. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
“Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.” Galatians 6:7-8
Transitions
by Linda Rex
Last summer my daughter and I made the difficult transition of moving from a quiet rural town in southeast Iowa to metropolitan Nashville. We have noticed not only the change in climate, but also the change in the number of people and homes and cars that we see on a daily basis. No longer can we step out of the house at night and see a blanket of stars. Instead we see only a few of the brighter stars, and we hear the noise of the city with the cars, trains and trucks constantly on the move.
We have been blessed with a nice home in a pleasant neighborhood. We have enough room and all that we need. But it is not the same as our home back in Iowa, no matter how we look at it. At times we feel uprooted like plants lying on the ground, with our roots withering in the hot sun. At other times we feel like transplants stuffed into hard clay soil, with no soft loam tucked around us to comfort us or ease the transition. Sometimes adjusting to the transition can be very difficult.
But there is one thing that has enabled us to weather the transition in positive ways. It is the knowledge that when all is said and done, this physical home is not our ultimate habitation. God has invited us to make him our habitation, our dwelling place. God has invited us to rest in him, to take up residence in Jesus.
When we live and walk in him, there is a comfort and peace that passes all understanding. When we live each day in his presence in this way, God brings people and circumstances into our lives that are encouraging and healing. He surrounds us with his love and feeds us with his grace.
It is his body, the Body of Christ, who expresses his love and care for us. We are blessed by the support and generosity of our brothers and sisters in Christ, whether members of our fellowships or not. God has shown over and over that he is with us in this transition, that in Christ, in him, “we live, and move and have our being” as the apostle Paul wrote. We are held in the center of the life and love of Father, Son and Spirit, for God is our dwelling place. We are truly grateful for this blessing.
Thank you, Lord God, that we may dwell even now “in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” Thank you that in the midst of upheavals and transitions in life and those times when we feel uprooted we have a permanent dwelling place in you. You are our refuge, our place of safety, our comfort and peace. We praise you and thank you. In Jesus name. Amen.
“For you have made the LORD, my refuge, even the Most High, your dwelling place.” Psalm 91:9
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Our Life in the Trinity 