When are you quiet?

January 22, 2014 / Craig / Leave a comment

25The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.

26 It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.

27 It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth.

28Let him sit alone in silence when it is laid on him;

Lamentations 3:25-28

Jeremiah is lamenting. But his lament is not without hope. He affirms the faithfulness and mercy of God towards His people.

Wisdom will not be gained with many words.

Wisdom will not be gained with persistent inattention to the matters of your soul.

Wisdom will be gained in quiet.

When we find ourselves under the weight of life and God’s hand how squirmy we become. When are you quiet?

Really, when are you quiet?

What are your patterns of quiet?

When do you exercise the discipline of turning down the chatter of the world, and tuning in to the chatter of your mind, in order to quiet yourself before the Lord Jesus?

Wisdom starts with worship.

January 21, 2014 / Craig / Leave a comment

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever! Psalm 111:10

The fear of the Lord can be characterized as a deep abiding reverential awe for God. In Psalm 111 the psalmists calls a people probably wracked with the despair of their Babylonian exile to value following God and His ways even in a foreign land.

We can be that way. We start to wonder, “is it worth it to follow Jesus when faith in Him and practice of His ways runs counter to the prevailing view?”

In Psalm 111 the Psalmists reminds the readers and singers of God’s works and God’s mercy towards Israel. Both His works and His mercy generates awe.

Wisdom starts with worship.

Wisdom is needed in our day. It will not be generated by degrees. Wisdom is generated first by knowing God and taking stock of who He is and what He has to say to us.

Which one is not like the other?

January 14, 2014 / Craig / 1 Comment

31 “To what then shall I compare the people of this generation, and what are they like? 32They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another,

“‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance;

we sang a dirge, and you did not weep.’

33 For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ 34The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ 35Yet wisdom is justified by all her children.” Luke 7:31-35

The games we play searching for a handle on life.

Remember the game? Remember the exercise in learning how to differentiate? Which one is not like the other? But now that we are growing up we must add a second question: Which one is not like the other and what does that mean?

We can differentiate. And there are many places in life where we must. However, the problem comes when we are infected with the temptation to control for uniformity. Like the generation viewing Jesus and John the Baptist we are frustrated by not being in control. We play the flute and you do not dance! We sing a dirge and you do not cry!

Missing the diverse work of God.

Jesus is drawing out the proclivity of his generation and ours to miss the work of God when it is different from what we expect. Could Jesus and John have been more different in the lifestyle? John lived the life of an ascetic in the desert. Jesus lived the life of one fully engaged in the lives of city sinners. John fasted. Jesus feasted. And the people were dismayed by the difference so they judged and accused: John has a demon. Jesus is a glutton.

The Beginning of Wisdom

Jesus says wisdom is demonstrated, shown, justified by her fruit… by her children. Wisdom begins with worship. “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom.” So there it is, the source of Jesus and John’s difference is God. As we each pursue Christ we should not expect that we will all be uniform in the expression of His grace and truth through our personality, passions, patterns, professions, and prayers. Wisdom encourages us to watch with wonder and delight as The Spirit of God manifests the image of the Son in the followers of Christ and His church to the glory of God.

The Voice

January 9, 2014 / Craig / Leave a comment

32And David said to Abigail, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me! 33Blessed be your discretion, and blessed be you, who have kept me this day from bloodguilt and from working salvation with my own hand! 1 Samuel 25:32-33

What’s your capacity for hearing the voice of wisdom?

David was on long journey to become King of Israel. A seventeen year journey.

But now the one who tapped him for the job was dead. Samuel had died.

Now he’s leading a ragtag group of misfits and malcontents.

600 of them. And they must be fed.

Now he’s living in the desert with so many things unsure.

Now he’s being hunted by Saul the King of Israel.

Now he’s been shamed and dissed by Nabal.

Now he’s wondering what’s the use of persisting in doing good.

Now he’s out for blood; and honour; and stuff.

But God intervened.

He sent a voice of wisdom.

He sent Abigail.

She humbled herself. Fell at David’s feet.

She reminded David of God’s hand on his life.

She reminded David of God’s hand to provide.

She reminded David of God’s promise to establish his throne.

She reminded David that their future was linked.

She reminded David of how the stain of revenge would never leave him.

The Voice of Wisdom.

We need this voice of wisdom.

We are so short-sighted in our views, attitudes, and actions.

So Jesus comes to us as the voice of wisdom.

God’s wisdom from above.

Jesus intercepts us on the path of destruction.

Jesus humbly kneels at the feet of his disciples and washes their feet.

Jesus serves us at the point of our greatest need — forgiveness —

through even through death on the cross.

Jesus fulfills God’s promises for us.

Jesus establishes us with Him in His Kingdom.

Jesus links us to His future.

Jesus provides.

He is The Voice.

Are you listening?

Finding Examples in the Spiritual History of Israel

October 15, 2013 / Craig / Leave a comment

Finding Examples in the Spiritual History of Israel

1For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, 2and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, 3and all ate the same spiritual food, 4and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ. 5Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness. 
6Now these things took place as examples for us… 1 Corinthians 10:1-6

How shall the followers of Jesus read the Old Testament?

One, we must read it with a sense of the abiding presence of Christ Jesus.
The spiritual history of Israel was never far from the minds of the Apostles. Paul teaches that Jesus is the spiritual Rock of Israel present, rescuing, leading, forming, correcting, judging and providing for them. When he says that Jesus Christ is the spiritual Rock from which they drank he is alluding to the occasions in the wilderness where God provided for them with water from the rock. The people of God have been gracefully formed as His and gracefully provided the necessities of life.

Two, we must read it as a testimony of God’s ways with His people and we must make adjustments accordingly. Paul says that these people have become examples to us. This requires careful reading in order to locate the “wisdom” available to us. Paul seems to be suggesting that the followers of Jesus gathered as His Church must be asking, “Why was God not pleased with the generation that experienced His power and glory?