God,

We do not fear our lives, and

We do not fear our death

Because You are with us.

Hebrews 6

Therefore leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ, let us press on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, of instruction about washings and laying on of hands, and the resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment.

And this we will do, if God permits.

For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame.

For ground that drinks the rain which often falls on it and brings forth vegetation useful to those for whose sake it is also tilled, receives a blessing from God; but if it yields thorns and thistles, it is worthless and close to being cursed, and it ends up being burned.

But, beloved, we are convinced of better things concerning you, and things that accompany salvation, though we are speaking in this way.

For God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love which you have shown toward His name, in having ministered and in still ministering to the saints.

And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you will not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

For when God made the promise to Abraham, since He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, saying, "I WILL SURELY BLESS YOU AND I WILL SURELY MULTIPLY YOU."

And so, having patiently waited, he obtained the promise.

For men swear by one greater than themselves, and with them an oath given as confirmation is an end of every dispute.

In the same way God, desiring even more to show to the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of His purpose, interposed with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us.

This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil, where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.

Hebrews 5:11-14

Concerning him we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing.

For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food.

For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant.

But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.

I often think about these verses. Honestly, I mostly think about them in relation to the church in America and how many of us are infants partaking of only milk. 

And I have many opinions about those who are on milk when they should be well past it and those who are on milk because they're afraid to step up to solid food and I even have opinions about those who continue to feed milk to those who should be more mature. I have a lot to say about those people.

But, what about me? Am I on solid food or am I on milk? I think it depends on the definition of the terms. I don't think solid food is more knowledge of God, I think it's experience with God and the doing of holy things, more than the thinking of holy things.

I like to think that I'm on solid food, most times, but sometimes, I think the truth may be that I'm jut not eating anything. That's the challenge of feeding yourself rather than being fed passively by a church - by a pastor or teacher or evangelist or tele-evangelist. If you have to feed yourself then you have to feed yourself.

Luckily, we have a God who cares for us. When I first came to Iraq, I really struggled to eat God, so to speak. Especially in corporate worship and prayer times. I hated it. We were all like college kids who only knew how to microwave things. Our times were bland and way overdone. 

We all yearned for something more and we eventually stormed our way to better food. Six months in and I'd say we were eating at least as well as newlyweds.

(I'll admit that I may have just way overused my analogy, but I think you get my point - eating solid food is harder than eating milk)

I don't think we should move past milk only to starve to death, but we should move past milk before it puts us to sleep.

That's the best way my wife and I have found to put the baby to sleep (or even just to get her to stop crying): feed her milk! She's almost always pacified and most of the time she sleeps when she's had enough.

But, I'd bet if you're reading this, you're beyond milk and need to be on solid food. If an infant typically starts adding solid food at 6 months, we should be eating the caviar of faith. Even beyond just the Happy Meals and pizzas!

This is my sincerest wish for believers - that they would be those who are mature, those who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.

I pray it for myslef also.

Hebrews 5:1-10

For every high priest taken from among men is appointed on behalf of men in things pertaining to God, in order to offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins; he can deal gently with the ignorant and misguided, since he himself also is beset with weakness; and because of it he is obligated to offer sacrifices for sins, as for the people, so also for himself. And no one takes the honor to himself, but receives it when he is called by God, even as Aaron was. So also Christ did not glorify Himself so as to become a high priest, but He who said to Him,

^"YOU ARE MY SON,
TODAY I HAVE BEGOTTEN YOU";

just as He says also in another passage,

^"YOU ARE A PRIEST FOREVER
ACCORDING TO THE ORDER OF MELCHIZEDEK."

In the days of His flesh, He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His piety.

Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation, being designated by God as a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek.

Ah, the passages about Melchizedek. I had no idea who Melchizedek was before Wiley told me. 

And it's important. Jesus is a high priest in the order of Melchizedek. Genesis 14:18 says

Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High, and he blessed Abram, saying,
"Blessed be Abram by God Most High,
Creator of heaven and earth."

So it all made sense to me. Communion made sense, Jesus' death made sense, atonement for sins made sense.

The idea that Jesus is a high priest of God, that He fulfilled and fulfills all the requirements of the law is crazy! It's great! 

In my daily life I need to remember that he can deal gently with the ignorant and misguided, since he himself also is beset with weakness.

Hebrews 4

Therefore, let us fear if, while a promise remains of entering His rest, any one of you may seem to have come short of it. For indeed we have had good news preached to us, just as they also; but the word they heard did not profit them, because it was not united by faith in those who heard. For we who have believed enter that rest, just as He has said,

"AS I SWORE IN MY WRATH,
THEY SHALL NOT ENTER MY REST,"

although His works were finished from the foundation of the world. For He has said somewhere concerning the seventh day:

"AND GOD RESTED ON THE SEVENTH DAY FROM ALL HIS WORKS"; and again in this passage, "THEY SHALL NOT ENTER MY REST."

Therefore, since it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly had good news preached to them failed to enter because of disobedience, He again fixes a certain day, "Today," saying through David after so long a time just as has been said before,

"TODAY IF YOU HEAR HIS VOICE,
DO NOT HARDEN YOUR HEARTS."

For if Joshua had given them rest, He would not have spoken of another day after that. So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His. Therefore let us be diligent to enter that rest, so that no one will fall, through following the same example of disobedience.

For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.

Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

All of this talk about God's rest, but what does it mean? How do we get there?

We who have believed enter that rest. Hmmmm. I don't know how to defend it theologically and I won't try, but I know that I long to enter that rest. I do think it's a future rest, not for the here and now, but I also think that a shadow of rest, if you will, can be had today.

The last portions of this chapter remind us that the word of God judges the hearts of men and that, because Jesus was man, we have a high priest who can sympathize with our struggles.

I don't know what else I want to say about it. There's a threat here exhorting us to continue in our faith lest we be denied God's rest as the Israelites were when they hardened their hearts against God in the desert.

Do I harden my heart like the Israelites in the desert? I think I do, but I also have forgiveness to fall back on as long as I accept it and seek it (hold fast to my confession).

Hebrews 3: 12-19

It's funny to me now as I reread this passage that I didn't notice the link. I wrote previously about the importance that Hebrews had on my own decision to follow Christ. What I failed to note, though, was the significance of Hebrews in my recent growth.

In December 2005, I was first introduced to a study either based on or directly from Unity of the Bible written by Daniel Fuller. The study is also written by Fuller, though even if it's not directly from the book.

Oversimplified, the study is about the various ways one defies God by disbelieving His promises and reminds how we can fight disbelief in God - which leads to death - by remembering God's clear promises to us.

A fundamental scripture used within the study comes from Hebrews 3. It's the following chunk of the chapter.

Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God. But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called "Today," so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end, while it is said,

"TODAY IF YOU HEAR HIS VOICE,
DO NOT HARDEN YOUR HEARTS,
AS WHEN THEY PROVOKED ME."

For who provoked Him when they had heard? Indeed, did not all those who came out of Egypt led by Moses? And with whom was He angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who were disobedient?

So we see that they were not able to enter because of unbelief.

So, for the past two years I've been studying - sometimes against my will - the theology of Hebrews and I never really made a connection. I know it sounds strange, but it's true. I sort of disassociated this scripture from the Book of Hebrews once it was transplanted into the study.

The most important thing, however, isn't the connection, but the lesson this scripture teaches: we will not enter God's rest if we cease to believe.

For me, this idea plays out in two ways:

1. it reminds me that it isn't sin that denies a person eternal rest in God. It's disbelief. A person doesn't go to Hell for telling lies, or for murder, or for being gay, or whatever sin you want to choose. A person goes to hell when they refuse the Lord.

2. The alternative is true. I am not saved by the things I do. The Israelites all followed Moses out of Egypt, but it wasn't enough to simply follow Moses and struggle in the desert! They were required to believe! Suffering doesn't equal salvation. Following rules doesn't equal salvation.

Hebrews 3:1-12 (and then some rambling)

Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest of our confession; He was faithful to Him who appointed Him, as Moses also was in all His house.

For He has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, by just so much as the builder of the house has more honor than the house. 

For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.

Now Moses was faithful in all His house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken later; but Christ was faithful as a Son over His house--whose house we are, if we hold fast our confidence and the boast of our hope firm until the end.

Therefore, just as the Holy Spirit says,

"TODAY IF YOU HEAR HIS VOICE,
DO NOT HARDEN YOUR HEARTS AS WHEN THEY PROVOKED ME,
AS IN THE DAY OF TRIAL IN THE WILDERNESS,
WHERE YOUR FATHERS TRIED Me BY TESTING Me,
AND SAW MY WORKS FOR FORTY YEARS.
THEREFORE I WAS ANGRY WITH THIS GENERATION,
AND SAID, 'THEY ALWAYS GO ASTRAY IN THEIR HEART,
AND THEY DID NOT KNOW MY WAYS';
AS I SWORE IN MY WRATH,
'THEY SHALL NOT ENTER MY REST.'"

It's surprising to me still that I decided to work my way through the book of Hebrews and write down my reflections - ideas, thoughts, feelings, etc - here for the world to see. It's really not my style, but here I am anyways. 

This bit in the third chapter about Moses vs Jesus is about the law more than it's about Moses. The law being fulfilled by Jesus. More importantly, as the author of the Law, God is more important than the law. He deserves more glory than the law. As we read earlier in Hebrews, Jesus was with God from the beginning and "the world" was created through Him, certainly then also the law was created through Jesus. Jesus deserves more glory than the law.  

Moses was simply a servant in the church, the body of Christ, the house

We are part of that body only if we hold fast our faith until the end; our faith in Jesus as our saviour, our faith that the house indeed does exist. 

Do I believe that the house exists? That's the important question. Do I live inside the faith that Jesus Christ dies for my sins?

The question isn't "Do I believe that I am a good person?" or "Do I believe that God likes good people?" God built a house for his children and intends for us to live in it. We sin, but that doesn't get us kicked out. We live rent free, in fact. No animal sacrifices or fasting to pay the rent. 

Just faith.

Sometimes, I desire the law, though. Sometimes I wish I could just follow the Old Testament stuff. I wish I could just follow the ten commandments and ritually wash myself and slay the right animals and burn all the right parts. I'm pretty smart, see, so it wouldn't be too hard for me to learn all of that and always know exactly how good I am and how good (or not) everyone else is. It'd be easy...

But then I am reminded of the Hebrews in the desert wandering and dieing and being denied entry into God's rest because of their provocations. The rules can only tell me what not to do. The House that Jesus built is about living and freedom. 

There is a struggle to live within the simplicity of what Jesus has built, but it's what drew me to Jesus in the first place. I thought it was always about how good I was or wasn't. I thought I had to act a certain way and be a certain person. I didn't know that by fulfilling the law of the old testament, Jesus had set us free of the punishment sin demands. 

The new covenant turns it all upside down and makes everything new by doing everything the old covenant promised that it would do! Not destroyed or over-turned or re-imagined or "now under new management" or new and improved or any of  that.

Solid and consistent throughout all time. Always. 

Doesn't that blow your freakin' mind?

Hebrews 2:5-18

It is not to angels that he has subjected the world to come, about which we are speaking. But there is a place where someone has testified:
"What is man that you are mindful of him,
the son of man that you care for him?
You made him a little lower than the angels;
you crowned him with glory and honor
and put everything under his feet."

In putting everything under him, God left nothing that is not subject to him. Yet at present we do not see everything subject to him. But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.

In bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering. Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers. He says,  "I will declare your name to my brothers; in the presence of the congregation I will sing your praises." And again,  "I will put my trust in him." And again he says,  "Here am I, and the children God has given me."

Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death €”that is, the devil and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham's descendants. For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement forthe sins of the people. Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

Here we see the first real glimpse of the hope of Jesus in the book of Hebrews: "...so that by his death he might destroy...the devil and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death." The fear of death from sin under the law, the law of life perverted by the enemy. 

Knowing what sin was by the law, they were afraid to live lest it bring about their death. And they were afraid of death because they feared the punishment of God. They couldn't be sure of their salvation because they had sinned too much and they couldn't be sure whether they had done enough to atone for those sins.

So Jesus came and died for all the sins. He was the last sacrifice to fulfill the sacrifice required under the law.

Simple, yes?

Well, not really. I mean how easy is it to believe that there's nothing to be done to make ammends for sins? If it were so easy, people would do it. This takes away all of the control. I have no control. If I sin, i can't do anything to make it right again.

I can't pray five times, or fast for 10 days, or give money to the poor, or give 10% to my church, or spend 3 years in prison, or clean the church bathrooms, or go on a missions trip to Africa, or sell all of my belongings, or suffer through disease, or go silent for a few months. Nothing. I can't suffer my way through my guilt to earn forgiveness.

It's freeing and scary all at once. 

If you watch enough Dr. Phil, you'll see that people do this stuff all the time. They live a life that is less than they could live because they believe they don't deserve it, that they deserve to be punished. Well, sure you deserve to be punished, but you don't need to be. Jesus paid for those sins already and no amount of self-inflicted punishment can earn you a damn thing. So stop it. 

Hewbrews 2:1-4

"For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it.

For if the word spoken through angels proved unalterable, and every transgression and disobedience received a just penalty, how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? After it was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard, God also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will."

We pay closer attention because it was told to us by the Son of God. We listened to the angels and Jesus is way more important that they are. I mean we listened to the prophets and they were just men.

Not only did Jesus say it, but his words were confirmed in those who heard his message by God himself! 

Whoa. I mean, is Jesus' message confirmed in me by God working through miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit? That's quite a question for everyone who has heard and has believed is it not? How is this message confirmed in me?

Looking critically at myself, I am forced to say that I don't know and that lack of surety and confidence is shameful. 

And it Begins...

Hebrews 1

God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.

And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much better than the angels, as He has inherited a more excellent name than they.

For to which of the angels did He ever say,
"YOU ARE MY SON,
TODAY I HAVE BEGOTTEN YOU"?

And again,
"I WILL BE A FATHER TO HIM
AND HE SHALL BE A SON TO ME"?

And when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says,
"AND LET ALL THE ANGELS OF GOD WORSHIP HIM."

And of the angels He says,
"WHO MAKES HIS ANGELS WINDS,
AND HIS MINISTERS A FLAME OF FIRE."

But of the Son He says,
"YOUR THRONE, O GOD, IS FOREVER AND EVER,
AND THE RIGHTEOUS SCEPTER IS THE SCEPTER OF HIS KINGDOM.
"YOU HAVE LOVED RIGHTEOUSNESS AND HATED LAWLESSNESS;
THEREFORE GOD, YOUR GOD, HAS ANOINTED YOU
WITH THE OIL OF GLADNESS ABOVE YOUR COMPANIONS."

And,

"YOU, LORD, IN THE BEGINNING LAID THE FOUNDATION OF THE EARTH,
AND THE HEAVENS ARE THE WORKS OF YOUR HANDS;
THEY WILL PERISH, BUT YOU REMAIN;
AND THEY ALL WILL BECOME OLD LIKE A GARMENT,
AND LIKE A MANTLE YOU WILL ROLL THEM UP;
LIKE A GARMENT THEY WILL ALSO BE CHANGED
BUT YOU ARE THE SAME,
AND YOUR YEARS WILL NOT COME TO AN END."

But to which of the angels has He ever said,
"SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND,
UNTIL I MAKE YOUR ENEMIES
FOOTSTOOL FOR YOUR FEET"?

Are they not all ministering spirits, sent out to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation?

God made the world through Jesus. Meaning that Jesus didn't just show up on the scene in the book of Matthew. I remember that being quite a revelation when I heard it. The rest of the stuff about Jesus being the son of God and higher than the angels and at the right hand of God, it's great but I already knew all of that.

That's the common Christian jargon stuff. I mean I had been celebrating Christmas for almost 20 years. Of course I knew that Jesus was God's son and all that jazz.

But he was there at creation? WTF? Seriously. It's astounding. It's like the opening passages of John: 

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

He was in the beginning with God.

All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.

In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.

The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

Did not comprehend it indeed. 

These passages are exciting to me. It's like a secret. I mean, it's like I know a something that once was hidden to me. It's amusing to me as well because I don't think that's the point of the opening of Hebrews. The real focus is clearly to define Jesus' position above the angels, but, like I said, that was always obvious to me. I mean who worships angels, right?

Been a Long Time

It's been a long time since I posted anything here! A lot has been going on, but that's not a real excuse. I kinda forgot that this blog existed. I mean in my normal day-to-days I just never thought to remember it.

That's really too bad, though. 

I don't have too much to say today either, though. I've been thinking a lot about the Book of Hebrews. I haven't been reading it as much as I've been thinking about it's significance in my life. I've been focused on chapter 12 for almost a month.

When I was asked why I decided to follow Jesus, I said that it was because of the new covenant; the idea that Jesus fulfilled the old covenant and didn't just show up with a new plan or his own agenda. I learned that through the Hebrews. 

I say all of that to mean that Hebrews has been an important book to me in the past and the stuff contained within it really defines who I am as a believer. Or, it should define me as the foundation of my faith, yes?

Over the next couple of weeks, I intend to go through the book and see how much it actually does define me. It's a matter of integrity and I hope my actions line up with my words.

When Heaven Invaded Earth

I cannot take credit for the post which follows. It was sent to me by a friend and is an excerpt from When Heaven Invades Earth by Bill Johnson.

The Christian life is not found on the Cross. It is found because of the Cross.

The Cross is not the end, it is the BEGINNING!!

The great majority of the Christian world is still weeping at the foot of the Cross. The consciousness of mankind remains fixed on the Christ who died, not the Christ who lives. People are looking back to the Redeemer who was, not the Redeemer who is.

Jesus became poor so that I could become rich. He suffered with stripes to free me from affliction, and He became sin so I might become the righteousness of God. Why then should I try to become as He was, when He suffered so I could become as He is? At some point the reality of the Resurrection must come into play in our lives—we must discover the power of the Resurrection for all who believe.

Jesus said, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.” A misunderstanding of this call has led many to follow His life of self-denial, but to stop short of His life of power. For them, the cross-walk involves trying to crucify their sin nature by embracing joyless brokenness as an evidence of the cross. But we must follow Him all the way—to a lifestyle empowered by the Resurrection!

One who embraces an inferior cross is constantly filled with introspection and self-induced suffering. But the cross is not self-applied. Jesus did not nail Himself to the cross. Christians who are trapped by this counterfeit are constantly talking about their weaknesses. If the devil finds us uninterested in evil, then he’ll try to get us focused on our unworthiness and inability. …

In my own pursuit of God, I often became preoccupied with ME! It was easy to think that being constantly aware of my faults and weaknesses was humility. It’s not! If I’m the main subject, talking incessantly about my weaknesses, I have entered into the most subtle form of pride. Repeated phrases such as “I’m so unworthy” become a nauseating replacement for the declarations of the worthiness of God. By being sold on my unrighteousness, the enemy has disengaged me from effective service. It’s a perversion of true holiness when my introspection causes my spiritual self-esteem to increase, but my effectiveness in demonstrating the power of the Gospel to decrease.

True brokenness causes complete dependency on God, moving us to radical obedience that releases the power of the Gospel to the world around us. …

Therefore, in your weakest state, declare, “I AM STRONG!” Agree with God regardless of how you feel and discover the power of resurrection. Without faith it is impossible to please Him. The first place that faith must be exercised is in our own standing with God. 

Apart from Christ, we’re unworthy. And it’s true that without Him, we are nothing. But I am not without Him, and I never will be again! At what point do we start thinking of our worth through His eyes? If it’s true that the value of something is measured by what someone else will pay, then we need to rethink our worth. Do we ever acknowledge who we are before Him? Please don’t misunderstand; I’m not encouraging arrogance or cockiness. But wouldn’t it honor Him more if we believed that He actually did a good enough job in saving us, and that we really are saved? Jesus paid the ultimate price to make it possible for us to have a change in our identity. Isn’t it time we believe it and receive the benefits? If we don’t, we’ll break down in our confidence as we stand before the world in these final days. The boldness we need is not self-confidence, but the confidence that the Father has in the work of His Son in us. It’s no longer a question of heaven or hell. It’s only a question of how much of hell’s thinking I will allow into this heavenly mind of mine. 

Zacharias was given a promise from God that was beyond his comprehension: he was to have a son in his old age. It was hard to believe, so he asked God to give him confirmation. Apparently an angel speaking with him wasn’t a big enough sign! God silenced him for nine months. When God silences the voices of unbelief, it is usually because their words could affect the outcome of a promise. When Zacharias saw God’s promise fulfilled and he chose to name his son according to the command, against the wishes of his relatives, God loosed his tongue. Obedience against popular opinion will often reintroduce someone to personal faith. And that’s a faith that goes against understanding.

Mary was also given a promise beyond comprehension: she was to give birth to the Son of God. When she couldn’t understand, she asked how it was possible since she was a virgin. Understanding a promise from God has never been the prerequisite to its fulfillment. Ignorance asks for understanding; unbelief asks for proof. She stands apart from Zacharias because while being ignorant, she surrendered to the promise. Her cry remains one of the most important expressions the Church can learn in this day--

”be it unto me according to Your word.”

We’ve discussed an incredible promise of paramount importance to the Church. There are few things further from our grasp than the statement, “as He is, so are we in this world.” And so we have the choice: to stand in the shoes of Zacharias and lose our voice, or walk in the ways of Mary and invite God to restore to us the promises we cannot control.

I believe that for the most part this counterfeit cross-walk is embraced because it requires no faith. It’s easy to see my weakness, my propensity toward sin, and my inability to be like Jesus. Confessing this truth requires no faith at all. On the contrary, to do as Paul commanded in Romans 6:13, to consider myself dead to sin, I must believe God!

When God gave Moses a noble task, he responded with “who am I?” God changed the subject saying, “certainly I will be with you.” When we are focused on our lack, the Father tries to change the subject to something that will lead us to the source and the foundation of faith: Himself. The noble call always reveals the nobility of the Caller.

Doesn’t it honor Him more when His children no longer see themselves as only “sinners saved by grace,” but now as “heirs of God?” Isn’t it a greater form of humility to believe Him when He says we are precious in His sight when we don’t feel very precious? Doesn’t it honor Him more when we think of ourselves as free from sin because He said we are? At some point we must rise up to the high call of God and stop saying things about ourselves that are no longer true. If we’re going to fully come in to what God has for us in this last days’ revival, we will have to come to grips with the issue of being more than “sinners saved by grace.” Maturity comes from faith in the sufficiency of God’s redemptive work that establishes us as sons and daughters of the Most High. …

Psalm 118

“In my anguish I cried to the LORD, and he answered..."

Anguish is a strong word, but we've all felt it. I feel it right now. I feel it for my personal situation (unemployment, poverty and incessant waiting). I feel it now for my friends and family for many of the same reasons. I feel it for the people of Iraq for what I think are obvious reasons.

But also because they don't know the Lord. They are striving and seeking and fighting but will never know peace. It's sad, but I know that God works through all situations regardless of the view from the outside.

But what good is knowing God when things still go bad? When things blow up - literally or figuratively? Does knowing Jesus get me a job, or save loved ones from death, or give us back what we've lost?

How exactly does God "answer" when we call out in anguish?

"...by setting me free. The LORD is with me; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?”