"Merry" Christmas

As I write, Suzanne and the boys are all fast asleep after a great Christmas day. We opened presents this morning, had a delectable breakfast (breakfast casserole, waffles, and oranges), and generally enjoyed being together as a family. Every year we do our best to keep the celebration of Jesus' birthday the main point of this holiday season, but this year I think God is trying to teach me why.

Here's where He has me. What is it about Christmas that makes it merry? Family? Friends? Gifts? Food? Traditions? Decorations? Toys? Santa? Rudolph? Manger scenes? Christmas Pageants? Although, all of these are wonderful, they are not what makes Christmas merry. They are results of the ultimate cause of merriment. I think the old carol reveals the answer to my question.

O come all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant!

O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem.

Come and behold Him, born the King of Angels.

O come let us adore Him!

O come let us adore Him!

O come let us adore Him!

Christ The LORD!

Jesus is really what makes Christmas merry. I know that sounds cheesy, but don't stop reading. It's not a trite thing, this "adoring" Him. It is the reason you were born and it can be the most satisfying experience of your life to learn to love Him. Not just go to church. Not just be good and keep the ten commandments. Not just live by the golden rule. I mean love Him! This may sound a bit mystical to you...well it is.

"God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and truth." -John 4:24 (ESV)

You see, God is well aware that our desire for satisfaction drives almost every decision we make. He is also aware that He, Himself, is the most satisfying thing in the universe. So God commands us throughout His word to glorify God. I know, it sounds self-centered and egotistical of God to continually demand that we give Him glory, but it is the most loving act possible. Here's why. He is also aware that nothing else will satisfy us like Him.

NOTHING!

I stand on a platform in a bible believing church week in and week out and lead worship, and when I look in people's faces, I honestly wonder if God's people will ever really get this. There are obviously exceptions, but as a whole, I don't think we do. We read commands like "Rejoice in the LORD always" (Philippians 4:4), or "O taste and see that the LORD is good!" (Psalm 34:8) and we obviously make them mean something other than what they say, or maybe we just don't think they carry the same weight as "do not lie" or "do not steal your neighbors wife!" If we get a taste of Him, we will rejoice!

Question: Do we really love God? Think about it, if you rejoiced in your spouse like you rejoice in God, would he/she be confident in your love? I realize this is not a typical warm and fuzzy Christmas message, but God is calling us out. He is reminding us that even when He came as a baby, the response of those who "got it" was rejoicing (Luke 1:44, 46-47; 2:10, 20, Matthew 2:10).

Now here is where the excuses will begin. Jon, I am just not an emotional person. Jon, I just don't feel comfortable with external demonstrations of emotion. Jon, I am more of a thinker than a feeler. Jon, I don't want to be fanatical or anything...Well...God made you. He understands how you are wired. He knows your heart. I must say, though, even in my limited experience with people, I have never met anyone (that I remember) who didn't get excited about something in their lives. It might be a sports team or it might be their grandchildren or children. It might be food or it might be movies. It might be reading or it might be music. I could go on and on, but you get the point.

Here's the bottom line. Jesus said, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment." -Matthew 22:37-38 (ESV)

What would obedience to this command look like in your life? When we begin to understand and embrace this radical idea of loving God, it will change us forever. Life will become an adventure for us, and God will use us to change the world.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

~Jon

Nothing for me to do

This comes from Watchman Nee, another man of God who has long been gone from this earth, but God is still using. I came across this story in a book called, Sit, Walk, Stand. Enjoy.

"An engineer living in a large city in the West left his homeland for the Far East. He was away for two or three years, and during his absence his wife was unfaithful to him and went off with one of his best friends. On his return home he found he had lost his wife, his two children and his best friend. At the close of a meeting which I was addressing, this grief-stricken man unburdened himself to me. 'Day and night for two solid years my heart has been full of hatred,' he said. 'I am a Christian, and I know I ought to forgive my wife and my friend, but though I try and try to forgive them, I simply cannot. Every day I resolve to love them, and every day I fail. What can I do about it?' 'Do nothing at all,' I replied. 'What do you mean?' he asked, startled. 'Am I to continue to hate them?' So I explained: 'The solution of your problem lies here, that when the Lord Jesus died on the Cross he not only bore your sins away but he bore you away too. When he was crucified, your old man was crucified in him, so that that unforgiving you, who simply cannot love those who have wronged you, has been taken right out of the way in his death. God has dealt with the whole situation in the Cross, and there is nothing left for you to deal with. Just say to him, 'Lord, I cannot love and I give up trying, but I count on thy perfect love. I cannot forgive, but I trust thee to forgive instead of me, and to do so henceforth in me.'

The man sat there amazed and said, 'That's all so new, I feel I must do something about it.' Then a moment later he added again, 'But what can I do?' 'God is waiting till you cease to do,' I said. 'When you cease doing, then God will begin. Have you ever tried to save a drowning man? The trouble is that his fear prevents him trusting himself to you. When that is so, there are just two ways of going about it. Either you must knock him unconscious and then drag him to the shore, or else you must leave him to struggle and shout until his strength gives way before you go to his rescue. If you try to save him while he has any strength left, he will clutch at you in his terror and drag you under, and both he and you will be lost. God is waiting for your store of strength to be utterly exhausted before he can deliver you. Once you have ceased to struggle, he will do everything. God is waiting for you to despair.'

My engineer friend jumped up. 'Brother,' he said, 'I've seen it. Praise God, it's all right now with me! There's nothing for me to do. He has done it all!' And with radiant face he went off rejoicing."

Helped (again) by Spurgeon

It has been a while since my last post and I must explain. It has been a different and difficult few weeks. As you know (from previous posts), I recently had knee surgery. Then on November 16, my wife, Suzanne also had surgery. She has been experiencing pretty major discomfort for quite a while and the doctors determined that her Gall Bladder must come out. So just as I was beginning to walk normally again, she had this procedure. Now I suppose that every person is different, but we did not have a completely accurate picture of what the recovery would be like. There were stories of those who had this surgery and attended a college basketball game that same night, stories of those who went back to work 2-3 days later, stories of those who traveled by car to visit family states away within a few days, and I could go on. The deal is, it was done with a less invasive arthroscope and the incisions were small, but IT WAS STILL SURGERY! This on top of months of feeling bad physically, having very little appetite, and the heavy emotional impact of these first two resulted in a difficult follow up week after her surgery. I am happy to say that she is getting better every day and is returning to "normal." (Her dad would say, "Why be normal?" Ha.) But God is teaching us that during difficult seasons like this, our obedience to His command to "Delight yourself in the Lord" (Psalm 37:4) takes greater effort to obey. It is what John Piper calls "the fight for joy" and it is how we make it through dark times. It seems that right now there are many around me that are going through great difficulty and I want to say, "Hang on to Him. He will lead you through!"

"But now, this is what the Lord says - He who created you, O Jacob, He who formed you, Israel; Do not fear for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name, you are Mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior;" - Isaiah 43:1-3a (TNIV)

It is in times like this that we must remember...remember what God has done in our lives up until now...remember what He has done in those around us...remember what He has done in the lives of people in the past. It is this backward glance at His past work and meditation on the promises of His word that produce faith in us that leads us through. So once again, God has used C. H. Spurgeon to speak encouragement and produce hope in my heart. I shared with the choir last night about his life and how he fought for joy through much adversity. Much of what I shared came through a biographical sermon from Desiring God. As you read of God's amazing work in this man, I pray that you find the joy that only comes in the presence of our overwhelming God.

Jon

http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/Biographies/1469_Charles_Spurgeon_Preaching_Through_Adversity/

Father/Physician...Healer!

Hallelujah! I wanted to give God some glory over my knee. I had a follow up appointment with my surgeon this week and he informed me that not only was the surgery a success, but that there is no arthritis in my knee! Either 3 doctors gave wrong diagnoses or God healed my knee! I prefer to think it was the latter. I just wanted to brag on God for His grace one more time. He is good! Hallelujah!

Spurgeon on Joy in Psalm 68

I have been journeying through Psalm 68 during the last week or so using Charles Spurgeon's Treasury of David as a study help and I really want to share some of his incredible insights. It is amazing how God continues to speak through His servants, even after they have passed from this life into eternity. I pray that you enjoy God as you read. ~Jon


Psalms 68:3 (PSALMS)
EXPOSITION
Ver. 3. But let the righteous be glad. The presence of God on the throne of grace is an overflowing source of delight to the godly; and let them not fail to drink of the streams which are meant to make them glad.

Let them rejoice before God. The courtiers of the happy God should wear the garments of gladness, for in his presence is fullness of joy. That presence, which is the dread and death of the wicked, is the desire and delight of the saints.

Yea, let them exceedingly rejoice. Let them dance with all their might, as David did, for very joy. No bounds should be set to joy in the Lord. "Again, I say, rejoice, "says the apostle, as if he would have us add joy to joy without measure or pause. When God is seen to shine propitious from above the mercy seat in the person of our Immanuel, our hearts must needs leap within us with exultation, if we are indeed among those made righteous in his righteousness, and sanctified by his Spirit. Move on, O army of the living God, with shouts of abounding triumph, for Jesus leads the van.


Psalms 68:4 (PSALMS)
EXPOSITION
Ver. 4. Sing unto God, sing praises to his name. To time and tune, with order and care, celebrate the character and deeds of God, the God of his people. Do it again and again; and let the praise, with resolution of heart, be all directed to him. Sing not for ostentation, but devotion; not to be heard of men, but of the Lord himself. Sing not to the congregation, but "unto God, "

Extol him that rideth upon the heavens by his name JAH. Remember his most great, incomprehensible, and awful name; reflect upon his self existence and absolute dominion, rise to the highest pitch of joyful reverence in adoring him. Heaven beholds him riding on the clouds in storm, and earth has seen him marching over its plains with majesty. The Hebrew seems to be: "Cast up a highway for him who marches through the wilderness, "in allusion to the wanderings of the tribes in the desert. The marches of God were in the waste howling wilderness. His eternal power and Godhead were there displayed in his feeding, ruling, and protecting the vast hosts which he had brought out of Egypt. The ark brought all this to remembrance, and suggested it as a theme for song. The name JAH is an abbreviation of the name Jehovah; it is not a diminution of that name, but an intensified word, containing in it the essence of the longer, august title. It only occurs here in our version of Scripture, except in connection with other words such as Hallelujah.

And rejoice before him. In the presence of him who marched so gloriously at the head of the elect nation, it is most fitting that all his people should display a holy delight. We ought to avoid dullness in our worship. Our songs should be weighty with solemnity, but not heavy with sadness. Angels are nearer the throne than we, but their deepest awe is consonant with the purest bliss; our sense of divine greatness must not minister terror but gladness to our souls; we should rejoice before him. It should be our wish and prayer, that in this wilderness world, a highway may be prepared for the God of grace. "Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God, "is the cry of gospel heralds, and we must all zealously aim at obedience thereto; for where the God of the mercy seat comes, blessings innumerable are given to the sons of men.

Pleasure (Psalm 67)

Vs. 1 - "May God be gracious to us and bless us, Selah" (ESV)

This seems like a pretty self-centered prayer at first blush. Lord, bless me! Then it's followed by Selah. Selah is when the Psalm (which is a song, remember) says something that you just have to stop and revel in. It's that moment in a worship service when a congregation settles into a holy hush that lingers, or spontaneous applause that brings extended celebration, or a little ad lib musical section where spontaneous songs of worship, praise, and thanksgiving come from individuals all at the same time and create a multi layered, beautiful moment of corporate worship. So this seems like, "bless me real good!" But check out the punctuation. It is a comma, not a period. The Selah comes in mid thought. Keep reading...

Vs. 2 - "that Your way may be known on earth, Your saving power among all the nations." (ESV)

"That" is the word that brings this alive. Lord, bless me so people will know how You act. Bless me so Your power will be seen all over the world. But wait, this is about to get even better...

Vs.3-4 - "Let the peoples praise You, O God; let all the peoples praise You! Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for You judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon earth. Selah" (ESV)

I can't help but think that this Selah is more intense than the first. Look at the progression again. Lord, show us Your grace and bless us so we can really know how You interact with people. Then people will take pleasure in Your ways. How do we take pleasure in His ways? Well, when we see that He is just and guides His people, we will praise Him. Why? Because we love Him! We enjoy Him! I think this phrase is not understood much in a lot of churches. We have forgotten how to love God. Here's why I say this. I think it was C.S. Lewis who said that when we love something, the automatic result is praise. Think about it. When you go to a great restaurant, what do you do the next day? You praise it to anyone who will listen because you want them to enjoy it, too. The same goes for anything you enjoy...a movie, a vacation, play, concert, song, etc. When we really enjoy something, we praise it! Then just in case you missed it, the Psalmist picks up the same thought after the Selah.

Vs. 5 - "Let the peoples praise You, O God; let all the peoples praise You!" (ESV)

Vs. 6-7 - "The earth has yielded it's increase; God, our God, shall bless us. God shall bless us; let all the ends of the earth fear Him!" (ESV)

God is faithful. He is dependable. He will always be this. He will keep His promise to provide for His people. He is a trustworthy king. We love Him. We fear Him. Not as cowering subjects afraid for their lives, but kneeling before Him in loyalty and reverence and submission and awe. Awe of an Overwhelming, Mighty, Awesome, Completely Sovereign, Strong, Just, Avenging, and Powerful King who is Good and Loving and Untamable! Again, C.S. Lewis gives us a great picture of this. In The Chronicles of Narnia, Aslan, the great lion king is this type of ruler. When the question is asked, "Is he a tame lion?" The answer comes back, "Tame, no...but He is good." So this fear is enjoyable, because it is how we respond to the most enjoyable reality in the universe, God.

Oh Great and Awesome King! Forgive us for not loving You. We say we do, but our true feelings are shown in what we enjoy most. Lord, open our eyes to see you as You really are and to experience that reality as pleasure! Oh God, let no other thing charm us as You do. May we see you in every legitimate pleasure and not look for other pleasures to take the place of You. Thank You for allowing us to feel pleasure in You. You could have created us as a cold race with no passion. It would have made things a lot less messy. But You didn't. You gave us a desire to enjoy You, even though we have many times not truly done so. Oh Lord, be gracious to us and bless us and teach us to enjoy fearing You! In Jesus Name, Amen.

Father/Physician

1 week ago, this morning, I had surgery to remove some bone/cartilage fragments from my knee. I have a form of arthritis that caused some spots of bone tissue to die and chip away. Therefore, they stopped being bone and started being "artifacts" according to my doc. Anyway, they have been removed, and God has used my week of forced relaxation to speak.

It's interesting to know that when I was 15 (that'd be 20 years ago) I was told by a doctor that I had the beginnings of arthritis, but it was not until now that I had to have anything done about it. Isn't that just like the spiritual realm? Lots of stuff that causes us pain is rooted way back in our past and it takes a loving "doctor" to go in and remove what is dead that causes our pain. God identifies Himself as our Great Physician, but He is also Father. He is not only completely knowledgeable about what ails us, He loves us and knows what we must go through to grow us up into maturity in Him. Hallelujah, He is constantly Fathering us. We can trust His heart, even though His action may make zero sense to us.

Oh Father, keep fathering me. Help me trust that You know what You are doing and that Your agenda is for my good and Your glory. In Jesus Name, Amen.

United in the Same Mind

I am spending a great deal of time in 2 Corinthians these days (more on that later) and while doing some background study, I read 1 Corinthians 1:10.

"I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment." (ESV)

This is a challenging thought for me, so I started digging. I read it to Suzanne, and she immediately thought of Philippians 2:2-5.

"complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus," (ESV)

In Ephesians 4:1-16, Paul reminds us that this unity is not devoid of diversity, but filled with it...diverse gifts, personalities, and roles. The unifying thing is that the Holy Spirit is the source of all this and all these things serve the same purpose in the Body of Christ..."to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the Body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ," vs. 12-13 (ESV). So the more we get to know Jesus, the more unified we should become! This is totally contrary to the idea that in order to be united, we must be shallow and never go for the depths of the knowledge of Christ. The unity comes because of the same focus, Jesus. When two people are chasing Christ with all their might, they will have much in common because their passion will be the same.

Now, this is still a very difficult command to obey. I think it is a symptom of being a part of fallen humanity. I will say this, though. This idea of unity is very attractive and it is a great encouragement to know that what God commands, He gives us all we need to obey Him. Hallelujah! So, let's chase Him together and as a result, live (as best as we can) in unity of mind.

If you want to read more about unity, check out the links below.

http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/Sermons/ByDate/1988/623_The_Nature_of_the_Unity_We_Seek/

http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/Sermons/ByDate/1988/624_Christian_Unity_and_the_Cross/

A Glorious Gospel

"Truly no man can ransom another, or give to God the price of his life, for the ransom of their life is costly and can never suffice, that he should live on forever and never see the pit. But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol, for He will receive me. Selah" - Psalm 49:7-9, 15 (ESV)

"But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it--the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by His blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in His divine forbearance He had passed over former sins. It was to show His righteousness at the present time, so that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus." - Romans 3:21-26 (ESV)

As I read this, this morning, I was amazed at God's plan. Those of us who have heard the gospel all our lives are in great danger of forgetting that it is not just a message for lost people. When we begin to look at it that way, we are missing a wonderful opportunity to worship and enjoy our God. God's good news is meant to inspire worship in the purest form. When we read passages like the ones above, we are called to remember that the gospel is for God's glory, not just for the sinner's salvation! God is "just and the justifier." Only He could have dreamed this dream of "passing over" sins for generations and generations before the cross, then paying the penalty for all sins of all time of all who would believe in Jesus. Thus, He is just because He punished sin and the justifier because Jesus died in our place. Hallelujah! We are justified!! What a glorious gospel provided by a glorious God!

Praise & Pride

"O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth! You have set Your glory above the heavens. From the lips of children and infants You have ordained praise because of Your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger." - Psalm 8:1-2 (NIV)

The weather here in Tennessee has been incredible this week. Sunshine, with highs in the 60s and 70s! So yesterday, my family and I headed to a local park for a picnic and some "adventure." OK, so adventure to a 2 year old and a 6 year old may not be mountain climbing, but it is fun none the less. Anyway, at one point my 2 year old and my self were sitting under a tree looking at the beautiful blue sky and fluffy clouds and feeling the fresh fall breeze when I began to thank and praise God out loud for what we were looking at. It only took a minute for my little boy to jump in on the praise, too. It was amazing for me as a Dad to hear him praising God for the trees and the sky and basically everything he could see (including cars that were passing on a nearby street). Something in me was moved greatly. I don't think it was just that Daddy place that puts tears in my eyes when I realize how my boys are growing. I think it was Psalm 8:2 being brought to life in my spirit. God was ordaining praise through the lips of a two year old. It's in moments like that, that I realize how much we adults squelch the Spirit of God within us in the name of "maturity." We become too sophisticated, or something, so we don't respond to God in a truly self-forgetful way. Check out this command.

"Clap your hands, all peoples! Shout to God with loud songs of joy! For the Lord, the Most High, is to be feared, a great king over all the earth." - Psalm 47:1-2 (ESV)

Did you catch that? We are commanded to celebrate with outward evidences of clapping, shouting, and songs of joy because the Lord is to be feared! Isn't fear defined as reverential awe? You mean God expects me to be in awe and celebrate?!? This is part of what makes the God of the bible so different than any other so-called gods. He desires to be feared AND enjoyed! WOW!

So why don't we obey this, naturally? One word...PRIDE.

"As God's image bearers, we were made to revel in and reveal His glory. However, because of sin, we 'returned the favor' and remade God in our image, choosing to live for our glory rather than His. The only calling we care about is 'calling the shots.' How broken are we? Apart from God's intervention, we continually look to find our meaning, worth, and purpose anywhere, but in relationship with God. But God has intervened by sending Jesus into our broken world. He has come to restore the Father's image in us, and restore us to God's purposes. Therefore, we are broken to the degree we choose to live for our glory rather than God's glory." - from "Restoring Broken Things" by Steven Curtis Chapman & Scotty Smith, pg 104

So today, I want to repent of the sin that my two year old has no need to repent of...prideful self-awareness. Lord, I pray You grant me the grace to fear You today and enjoy You today. Help me follow the example of the two year old worship leader sleeping down the hall and openly, without reservation express praise and thanksgiving whenever and however You ordain it to come forth. In Jesus Name, Amen.

Habbakuk 2:2

Nancy Leigh DeMoss has a great message on the passage that I referenced to in the last post. Check it out at:

http://www.reviveourhearts.com/radio/roh/today.php?pid=9665

Here goes...

Well, I have given in.

For a while now, I have toyed with the idea of starting a blog and the Lord said, today is the day. This morning, He took me to Habakkuk 2:2-3 and I knew this was the time.

"And the LORD answered me: 'Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it. For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end--it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay.'" (ESV)

A few years ago, I asked the Lord who I was in His eyes. His response was clear. He said I was His Joshua, a liberator, leading people to their promised inheritance...freedom! So when I began thinking of what to call this blog, The Joshua Journal was the obvious choice.

I pray that God will encourage you on your journey with Him through the thoughts He leads me to share, here.