Peace, Be Still

The weeks of insanity never seem to end in my world. Stiff backs, sore feet, and sick days become as universal a constant as does completing assignments and trying to squeeze in time for cleaning my room (in a constant state of ineffective disorganization after several days away). Finally I plunked down this evening to catch up on some much needed study, exhausted from another long weekend at work.

The passage that stuck out to me the most was Mark 4: 37-40 (NKJV). Christ was heading to the other side of a lake after a long day of preaching, when death seemed to loom at the disciples' doorsteps (or, more accurately, at the stern of their ship).

"And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat the boar, so that it was already filling. But he was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke him and said to him, "Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?" Then he arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Peace, be still!" And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. But he said to them, "Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?""

I was thinking all day at work how busy I am. I never have a chance to have a full Sabbath rest, and prayer has definitely been put on the back burner. Part of it is because I am afraid of failure. Will I have enough money to pay back loans? Will I be able to finish school, let alone this semester with good grades? Will I get such and such assignment done? A lot of my life revolves around a fear of failure from the perfection I strive for, and in that fear, I forget about God.

A friend of mine told me recently that I shouldn't be so anxious about my school and work. "You know yourself by now that you will do your best to complete it," she advised, "So don't worry." I could take the same advice in saying, I know God well enough by now that he will provide enough to complete it. When the storms of life crash in, and we're full of fear and trembling that it just won't calm down, God gazes into our eyes and whispers, "Peace, be still." It is there in his presence we are no longer meant to fear the crisis of this life.

The Sober Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice. It seems like an odd way to discuss a Biblical life, but it was interesting to me to see a modern author’s take on what moral issues the characters from Jane Austen’s famous novels were able to use in their fictional stories. Apparently, according to the author, Austen’s characters are able to navigate relationships and decisions with a sort of pseudo  religiosity, without all the bells and whistles of Scripture.

To me, though, the reality of Austen’s good characters resonate the Christian upbringing Austen had herself. Without a moral backbone, things like purity, respect and kindness to others, and even propriety and thoughtfulness jump out the secular window. One of the main issues the author talked about was the steadiness of Austen’s characters; may we say, the maturity of Austen’s characters? They act like adults in their relationships and decisions. There is no name calling, cat calling, berating or belittling. Instead, humbled by circumstances and corrected by peers and elders alike, the “good” characters so revered in Austen’s writings come out in the end with more moral fiber than ever.

There is the same sort of steadiness, daresay, seriousness, of pursuing temperate character in Scripture. “A man of knowledge uses words with restraint,” Prov. 17:27 reminds us, “and a man of understanding is even-tempered.” Proverbs is scattered with a call towards silence instead of speaking; it is a fool who blabs and bickers, whereas in this modern day society of cellphones and Facebook, all gossip is fair game. The more talk, the merrier. It is interesting to note that the very behavior the world condemns as introverted and unsociable, the Bible commends as wise.

Sobriety and humility continue to exhibit themselves in the way we live our lives as adults, growing maturely in the words of God. In Romans 12:3, Paul advises, “Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.” Our attitudes about ourselves and our behaviors should not be flippant, but considerate and full of sobriety. It is not prudish, but prudent.

It is with some frustration that the author of Hebrews reminds his recipients that they are still children, clinging to elementary teachings of the Word; indeed, not soberly prepared at all. He echoes 1 Cor. 3: 1-3 (“Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly—mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you no worldly? Are you not acting like mere men?”) in which Paul struggles to place the believers under his care into more mature and sober thinking. For the author of Hebrews, maturity equates with a search for righteousness. Otherwise, we drink milk and maintain our childish ways to the world.

“We have much to say about this [the elementary teachings of Jesus as High Priest], but it is hard to say because you are slow to learn. In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.” (Heb. 5:11-14)

Today in high schools everywhere, the trend is for the loudest mouth to get the most popularity, and it is the angry manager who wrathfully proceeds over an entire company. Yet in Scripture, the sober-minded are rewarded with a closer pathway in conjunction with righteousness, a higher character, and a more noble calling towards others in our life. How much do we listen and humbly (soberly) make our choices in our response, whether it is through silence or speech?

Filled to the Measure

I was reading a book recently by Dr. Deborah Newman entitled, "Comfortable in Your Own Skin". The book primarily focuses on exposing your past feelings and opinions about yourself from experiences in childhood and beyond, and how it shapes your view of who God made you to be. Mostly, her opinions seem to revolve primarily on Psalm139:13-16, in which David marvels at his personal worth in God's eyes.

"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be."

David prefaces this portion of the Psalm talking about how he cannot flee from the God who created him. God will not abandon the work he placed on earth, nor will he allow it to depart his sight, because he has ordained a plan for it, as he has for all of the things he created. 

I loved the quote Dr. Newman used from George MacDonald: "I would rather be what God chose to make me than the most glorious creature that I could think of; for to have been thought about, born in God's thought, and then made by God, is the dearest, grandest and most precious thing in all thinking."

Those who have struggled with depression can tell you that the last thing on earth they feel like is a "precious thing". They feel lost in darkness, where beauty and joy no longer reign; yet in David's simple Psalm, he cries out to a God in that same darkness. "Where can I go from your Spirit?" He asks, "Where can I flee from your presence?" (Psalm 139:7)

 In speaking to the church in Ephesus, Paul remembers that limitless love. In Ephesians 3:17-19 he declares, "I pray that you [the believers in Ephesus], being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." He recognizes again the God that surpasses the darkness in order to take to his heart the created works, giving them fullness in his very self, in his own glory.

It is with adoration and relief that we, too, can look up and know we are worthy, that through the darkness we cannot "flee" from his presence, but that he has predestined us to be filled with all of the fullness of himself and the worth he has granted us as his created works. 

His Inexpressible Joy

I am a day late writing this post because of a weekend away. However, it was through that Sabbath day listening to a sermon preached on the supremacy and Lordship of Christ that brought me to the thoughts I'm writing here today.

The preacher talked extensively about how our lives should be a reflection of Christ, not simply "in our hearts", but in our actions. Although I've heard those words oft repeated to me growing up, I was brought to a different perspective on it when I read a verse he cited about the issue in 1 Peter 1:8-9. "Though you have not seen [Christ], you love him: and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls."

Often when we think of our salvation, we think of ourselves and how we are supposed to do XYZ in order to accomplish this task---this great task of seeking approval and acceptance from God for salvation. We do our actions, pay our tithes, and believe in him. It is me, me, me, when it comes to our endpoint, and so we become consumed with action, and then eventually wither because we are tired of it being our "me" effort in order to work towards true repentance. So, we reserve it back to our hearts, and only walk through the motions.

The beauty of f 1 Peter 1, though, is that it is all about him. We RECEIVE. We LOVE him. It is a GLORIOUS action, full of JOY that is INEXPRESSIBLE. That is what makes it beyond circumstantial actions (which we will eventually grow tired of expressing) into the Lordship of a God who conquers the works-based religion. Eph. 2: 4-10 best describes it by saying,

"But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy,  made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,  in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—  not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."

Grace. Love. It is this which urges us onward to willingly be God's handiwork with inexpressible joy and unwavering faith that our strength is not our own, but comes from the open heart of our Lord.

Mind of God, Heart of God

The previous week was a long one for me. Between emotional upsets with close family and friends, the busyness of work and school, and thoughts that seemed to spiral into personal regrets, by today, the Sabbath day, I felt exhausted. I wandered out to a lone pond wondering if the portent image of seeing several black crows and cloudy skies meant something ill was approaching. Yet my main thoughts revolved around my circumstances, not my God. He had been mainly lost in what I felt was more important: the tasks and people of the week.

In Matthew 16:21-23, Jesus was reminding his disciples of his impending death. The miracles he had performed, the people he had influenced, and the ministry he had lead on earth were all important aspects of why God had sent him to earth, but the end result was not events and work, but portraying entirely (and finally) the glory of God through his sacrifice on the cross. Peter, distressed at Jesus' talk of death, questioned Jesus leaving behind the "importance" of wordly commitments in favor of death, but Jesus knew his long-lasting perspective was clearer than Peter's confusion. Adamantly, he declared to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are an offense to me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of man"(Matt. 16:23).

The verse stood out to me significantly. Christ still accomplished his purposes on earth. He was always faithful to his ministry, always attentive to his people, and always persevering in his actions, yet his viewpoint sought God and looked beyond the temporary to the eternal. He drew away into the recesses of God's heart while accomplishing the tasks set about in God's mind.

Just as Christ modeled God's mind, the men and women who went before him echoed and personified himself and his Father. I am reminded most of Hebrews 11 and it's "Hall of Faith", especially the passage in Hebrews 11:13-16, as it highlights the eternal perspective of the people of God:

 "All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them."

What does it mean to live with an eternal perspective? It means to pray---daily. It means to read his word---daily. It means to think of his decrees and worship him in the small things---daily. It means sometimes reminding oneself to forget about the brevity of this present day in the beauty of his forever.

The Face Off of Trinitarian Vs. Unitarian

I was in a discussion with a good friend of mine this week who is a Mormon, and she pointed out that she personally believes that Jesus was not fully God and fully man---that he has aspects of God, which made him perfect enough to redeem us as humans, but that God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are all separate beings. The 'egg concept' (God as the shell, Christ as the yolk, the Holy Spirit as the white) I had been taught growing up as the Trinity being 3 in 1 seemed to float around in my already befuddled head as I tried to grasp this Unitarian concept.

Although Mormons wouldn't associate with the Unitarian church in any way, shape, or form, Unitarians have a similar idea. I found this the weird way by googling information about the Trinity. I was actually shocked to hear Bible believing Christians disbelieving Jesus' divinity! To me, it has always been essential that Christ was fully God, because to view him as anything less would not only seem blasphemous to me, it would seem as if his sacrifice was nullified by his only half shrug at divinity.

I did some research of my own to see what Scripture said about the issue. One of my favorite verses I found was 1 John 5:7 (KJV): "For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word [which, when referenced to John 1, is Jesus], and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one."

Colossions 2: 9- 10 (KJV) also states, "For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form...", supporting  following verses in Col. 1:15-20. Christ himself declares, "I and the Father are one" (John 10:29-30).

These were just a few verses I used for my Trinitarian point of view.

My prayer as I talk to my Mormon friend, and all other religious people I know, is that I don't forget they are intelligent people who have reasons and culture of their own to believe what they feel is correct. Although I disagree, I need to find my own reasons to support that disagreement and back up my points. I remember doing this once about a year prior when a friend was protesting at the church's lack of acceptance of people with homosexuality. A homosexual minister made a Youtube video crying foul play on certain verses and their Hebrew context, but when I looked the same verses up, it became clear to me he was botching them to suit his own purposes for his decision to sin. The same goes for other religious viewpoints. Even if it is not sin, is it preventing this person from grasping the true nature of God? Is it telling them a Gospel message that could be flawed? If so, the glory and wisdom of God is being maligned, and we as Christians are called to search and find the precious treasure of truth.

Father, Discipline Me

I was talking to a good friend the other day about if it is a wise idea to save up funds in order to help your child go to college debt-free. My thought process concerning it was that children should have to work themselves to gain the funds--and incentives---to pay for their own degree. Their hard work and discipline, though not pleasant at the time, would pay off with a good career and a solid foundation, teaching them certain financial responsibilities and mature decisions without daddy or mommy footing the bill for them to get there. Even though me and my friend disagreed in the end about my opinion, it made me think about how God views our process of perseverance in the Christian walk.

Hebrews 12: 4-13, Paul discusses how God views are journey towards holiness, the shedding of sin in our life through the production of his discipline:
"In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says,

“My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline,
    and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, 

 because the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
    and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.”

 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. “Make level paths for your feet,”so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed."

 Even though our discipline as Christians is not the material gains of this world, God places circumstances in our life so that we, the sons and daughters of a perfect Father, can gain steps toward abolishing sin: having hope in trying times, working in a difficult job in order to have joy in him, and being rebuked for an anger issue by a Christian brother or sister. Even though we can feel beat down, discouraged, weary, and just plain annoyed, God is putting us in the time out chair to give us an understanding of how to deal with life's eventual ups and downs with holiness instead of the sinful nature. 

I've always loved the verse in Prov. 24:10 because it so greatly represents the man or woman who has forgotten God's presence and his NEED to discipline through hard work and difficulties, "If you falter in times of trouble, how small is your strength!"

God, like the loving Father he is, knows that discipline is necessary for the production of new fruit. He prunes the dead branches to make room for the blooms.