Faithful on Fridays Blog

The Call of the Beloved

I love post-it notes. I’ll admit it, I use them virtually every day. They serve as reminders to my overloaded brain. Here’s my ‘note to self’ for today:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. (Ephesians 1:3-6 ESV)

Can you see the many spiritual blessings listed in these verses? We’ve covered being chosen, walking in holiness and without blame, that our destiny is adoption into His family, and all because we are in the Beloved.

That phrase of endearment, in the Beloved, sent me on a marvelous journey into the scriptures. The word translated ‘beloved’ is used about 65 times in the New Testament. You may remember at Jesus’ baptism, the heavens were torn open and His Father spoke: “You are my beloved Son; with You I am pleased,” (Mark 1:9-11). That experience showed the interconnectedness of heaven and earth; Your kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven. It’s important because Jesus is God’s Son and we have established that we are sons and daughters in like manner. Jesus is the Beloved and we are the beloved. As God was pleased with His Son, in the same way, He is pleased with us.

This declaration of love is intimate and sincere. We personally experience divine love from heaven. It’s a love that demonstrates value and is treasured; it’s a blessing that is His will and comes through grace. God loves Israel (Jer. 31:3) the promised Messiah (Is. 42:1-4) in that way, and it’s woven throughout the Song of Songs in a deeply intimate way.

Paul picks up the theme of this kind of love and carries it into his writings. He tells us in Rom. 1:7 that we are loved by God and called to be saints and in Rom. 12:19 he warns us, for that reason, to not take our own vengeance but to overcome evil with good. That’s how the beloved of God would act. Paul sends encouragement throughout his letters as a father would speak to his son and continues the call of the beloved. John, the apostle that Jesus loved, uniquely understood this relationship and used the title ‘beloved’ consistently throughout his letters. We are the ones that God loves, Jesus loves, Paul loves, Peter loves, John loves; I think you get the picture.

Beloved readers, whatever this next week holds for you, remember this: your spiritual blessings are available because you remain intimately connected to the Beloved Jesus Christ. Walk worthy of His love.

My grandsons love to read, especially by flashlight. While hovered over a book in the dark they take an adventure in a story. Psalm 119:105-112, our fourteenth octave, begins with the Hebrew word for lamp. Similar to these boys, we need a lamp to guide us through our story in life. If we jump ahead into Jesus’ story, the gospel of John, we read this:

The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it. (John 1:4-5)

Jesus Christ is the Word of God therefore He is our lamp as the Psalmist writes. What Jesus said and did gives light to our lives in every situation. Whether we’re on a rocky or smooth path; we need to keep the light on. I’m not saying it’ll be easy, often it’s not, but the end result will be worth it. He’ll build our faith, give us strength, and we’ll experience greater degrees of trust with each trial. The writer puts it like this:

I’ve promised it once, and I’ll promise it again: I will obey your righteous regulations. (Psalms 119:106 NLT)

Even though he’s turned a corner in life he remembered what worked in the rough times. His relationship with God through His Word is what brought him through the past trials and it’ll get him through again. God’s promises are trustworthy and the more you depend on Him the greater your faith becomes. You begin to walk through life with your head held higher knowing, really knowing, God will come through for you. He did it once and He’ll do it again. He’s like that.

Don’t think for a moment that this is ‘pie in the sky’. God is not some Sugar Daddy that gives us everything we want when we want it. He’s a Father who extends His love to us through His Son and gives us instructions and even commands to follow. It’s pretty simple, really.

“Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?” Jesus replied, “‘You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ (Matthew 22:36-39 NLT)

The author ends this section describing God’s Word as the ‘joy of my heart’ and consequently he determined to continue his life with Jesus as his Source.

Don’t enter your day without turning on the light. Open your Bible and begin reading. When was the last time you read a gospel? Focus your attention on Jesus’ words and what they mean to you. God has, as Augustine said, illumination and as Paul wrote, revelation for you:

But it was to us that God revealed these things by his Spirit. For his Spirit searches out everything and shows us God’s deep secrets. (1 Corinthians 2:10 NLT)

Adoption

I watched a Shirley Temple movie recently, Curly Top, and was reminded of her role as Elizabeth, a young orphan. This old B&W film recounted her life in an orphanage when suddenly someone chose to adopt her. Elizabeth questioned this man on the meaning of adoption. He replied to her, “you will live in my house and have the advantages of everything I own.” That’s also a picture of the scriptural meaning of adoption from Eph. 1:5.

The family of Abraham was adopted by God and the nation was named His firstborn son. Israel was the predestined vessel God chose to bring His love to the world. Paul tells us in this verse that we are also predestined for adoption, however, ours is a spiritual adoption. Just like in Curly Top, we were picked out or chosen by Him. That gives us rights and privileges as John tells us in his gospel.

But to all who believed Him and accepted Him, He gave the right to become children of God. They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God. (John 1:12, 13 NLT)

Since we become His children when we come to Christ, who is also called the Son of God, we become co-heirs. What belongs to the Son, belongs to us.

For God knew His people in advance, and He chose them to become like His Son, so that His Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. (Romans 8:29 NLT)

What a wonderful spiritual blessing we have in Christ! He elected us because He already loved us. We were specifically selected to be His adult children with the status due His family. That little word ‘for’ or ‘unto’ adoption connects them. It literally means a work done with a view in sight. When God was planning His creation He had our adoption in His view and it would be accomplished through Jesus Christ. One Son giving His life for all of those who would become His adopted sons. The NLT translation reads, “This is what He wanted to do and it gave Him great pleasure.”

So what do we do with this spiritual blessing of adoption? Jesus answered that question:

“Love your enemies! Do good to them. Lend to them without expecting to be repaid. Then your reward from heaven will be very great, and you will truly be acting as children of the Most High, for he is kind to those who are unthankful and wicked. (Luke 6:35 NLT)

John confirmed it for the end times:

All who are victorious will inherit all these blessings, and I will be their God, and they will be my children. (Revelation 21:7 NLT)

Remind yourself of your position in the family of God this week. If things aren’t going smoothly for you it’s your right as an adopted child of God to claim His promises from Eph. 1:3-14.

Psalm 119 is like a long and winding road. We’re over halfway through 176 verses and today we get to turn a corner. The last few octaves have been focused on suffering and enemy attacks but today the writer shifts to declaration. He experienced success against his enemies and now desires to give God recognition. As we travel our own roads in life, straight or curves, hills and valleys, stop, yield, or speed signs; to whom do we give the credit? Ourselves or God?

The Psalmist began this octave with a Hebrew word that translates ‘how’ or ‘how much’. He attributes his victory to God’s Word over enemy attacks. “How much I love your Word!” God’s law is His Word. It’s the map that we use to travel this road called life with all of its twists and turns. This man has realized that God’s Word works! It’s the best way because it functions like a divine GPS. It tells us where we are and helps us navigate our destination.

Let’s look at some of the writer’s revelations about God’s Word (vs. 98-102):

*It makes me wiser than my enemies.
*I have more understanding than my teachers or even older people.
*It helps me veer away from evil and maintain a straight path.
*I receive power to remain on the right road.

This writer has experienced triumph over his enemies as he walked the difficult stretch of road called suffering. The good thing is, he came to the end of that particular highway maintaining his integrity. That’s the way I want to navigate. When evil comes my way I desire to walk closely with God in my relationship with Him and stay in alignment with His Word. It’s not always a smooth path, it can be quite rocky, but I know that the Spirit of God gives me the power to complete the trip.

The Psalmist experienced the sweetness of God’s Word (vs. 103) as he positioned himself in a place of humility. “God, I need you.” It’s as simple as that. Have you stopped at that place today? Where does your GPS place you? Have you veered off in a direction that brings no inner peace or joy? Do you feel far away from God due to this stretch of road? Has it become rocky with many unexpected turns or is it straight and easy right now? Either way, God’s Word will get you through and keep you prepared for any temptation or trial that appears.

The writer completes this meditation with a comparison (vs. 104). He loves God’s Word with such passion that a turn away is like hate to him. He has arrived at a straight stretch of road where he’s thinking clearly and realizing that God came through for him. That’s why he began this octave: I love God’s Word so much!

I think the Beatles had it right in their famous song, The Long and Winding Road, it will lead you to His door. If you receive this via email, go to the website to view the YouTube video:

http://youtu.be/Xqu9qhBHWNs

You may have noticed I reposted the Blessing. Sorry about that.
This is the correct post for today from the Archive.

Blameless

“Don’t blame me!” How often have you said that to someone? We constantly want to deflect guilt away from ourselves; especially when we’re innocent and sometimes when we’re not. Either way, we desire to be without blame.

As we continue through Eph. 1:3-14 we come to the phrase ‘holy and blameless’. I wrote on holiness last Friday and now I want to discuss being blameless. The Greek word means to be without fault or guilt. You can probably see where Paul was going. He was reminding himself that God desires us to be found not guilty in any charges the devil may try to bring against us. And never forget, when you are down, Satan will not give you merciful thoughts, he’ll kick you in the groin with accusations.

Paul isn’t referring to our justification or righteousness in these verses. He is sending out an encouragement to pull down from heaven that spiritual blessing or benefit from the heavenly places that allows us to to be above God’s disapproval or before Him in our everyday life. It’s a gift of the Holy Spirit to be able to walk blamelessly. It isn’t gained through our own willpower or strength but by His power and strength. When we try to do what’s right in our own power, we fail. But when we ask for His help, we succeed with unimaginable strength.

Now, we can easily put ourselves in situations that tempt us. That’s not smart and makes it very difficult to walk blameless or innocent in His sight. It’s much smarter to stay away from temptation and the ways of the world that would draw us into sin. Sometimes we simply have to fight the good fight of faith in our minds and actions so that we don’t disappoint the One Who gave His life as a ransom for us.

Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people. (Philippians 2:15 NLT)

Sin brings shame, disgrace, and guilt but the Holy Spirit is in you and He will help you stay in opposition to it. You know in your heart what sin easily trips you up; stay away from it! Leading a morally blameless life takes a strong desire, that’s for sure. However, God hasn’t left us alone to try to walk in His ways; we have the Spirit of God. I know I don’t want to disappoint God; I want Him to approve of my life. He’s coming back soon, you know. Many of the verses that mention ‘blameless’ also mention The Day of the Lord.

I pray this over you from Jerusalem on this faithful Friday:

Now may the God of peace make you holy in every way, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again. God will make this happen, for he who calls you is faithful. (1 Thessalonians 5:23, 24 NLT)

Blessing

A few years ago I was asked to give the blessing at a wedding. I was honored because speaking a blessing is simply declaring good things over people you care about. When Paul was writing to the believers in the city of Ephesus he began by declaring a blessing to God and his readers (Eph. 1:3). It seems to me that this powerful paragraph (vss. 3-14) is a result of Paul’s overwhelming revelation of God’s promises, blessings, or heritage given to His followers. He was undoubtedly writing or dictating so fast that the words came pouring out of him.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, (Ephesians 1:3 ESV)

Every day we experience life in various ways here on earth: positive and negative. We need to remember, as Paul was reminding himself, that there are benefits to being a believer (Ps. 103:3) given to help us live out those experiences in victory. Those blessings are delivered from heaven by the Spirit of God at just the right time with everything you require to live a triumphant life. As citizens of heaven we have legal standing to draw from that inheritance, but what does that really mean? It means that when we need justice or mercy in an earthly matter we can declare that blessing from the heavenly realm and bring it to the earth: Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done… you finish it. This isn’t the prosperity gospel, this is the truth of God’s Word. The eternal blessings that reside in the sphere of heaven can be realized in the sphere of our temporary, earthly lives when we remain in Christ.

As a believer in Christ Jesus we have a position of authority on this earth. Paul talks about it in Eph. 6:12 when he tells us to be strong and stand in the Lord’s might against the spiritual forces of evil ‘in the heavenly places’. He uses that same phrase five times in Ephesians. It’s as if we travel back and forth experiencing that overlapping of heaven and earth. Again, remember that phrase that Jesus spoke as He taught His disciples to pray: thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven? This may seem deep to you but when you get it, you’ll stand a little taller and walk a little stronger knowing what rightfully belongs to you who are in Christ.

This week I encourage you to walk in a manner worthy of who you are and begin to take full advantage of what is available to you. If you are bitter against someone, pull down forgiveness. If you are frustrated, pull down encouragement. If you need God’s mercy, it’s there for you, simply ask. Christ has provided all that you need to live in righteousness and holiness; take advantage of your inheritance, it’s a foretaste of heaven on earth.

“How can the past and future be, when the past no longer is, and the future is not yet? As for the present, if it were always present and never moved on to become the past, it would not be time, but eternity.”

That quote from Augustine, Christian philosopher and theologian, was written in the fourth century yet we are still trying to understand the concept of time. The Psalmist of 119:89-96 began this octave with a declaration of God’s word being eternal, perpetual, and continuing. We have a beginning; God does not. We understand life within the framework of time; God does not. He is outside of time. Hard to understand? Yes, but true, nonetheless.

Before time began God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit had a heavenly dialogue and established a Kingdom plan (Matt. 25:31-34; John 5:37-40, 17:4, 24).

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. (John 1:1-2 NKJV)

The Father revealed detail of this plan to the Son; read this excerpt from their conversation:

The LORD said to my Lord, “Sit in the place of honor at my right hand until I humble your enemies, making them a footstool under your feet.” (Psalms 110:1 NLT)

That plan was developed outside of time, is firmly settled in heaven, Super Glued, and nothing can change or alter it. The Psalmist is confident of that faithful truth for all generations and relates, in these verses, that this knowledge got him through his suffering. It’s designed to do the same thing for you. If you make His Word your delight (vs. 92), not a task, it will take you through any trial of life.

… the wisdom we speak of is the mystery of God —his plan that was previously hidden, even though he made it for our ultimate glory before the world began. (1 Corinthians 2:7 NLT)

Make no mistake, the Psalmist never forgot what his responsibilities were (precepts) and made them his focus. Our relationship with God, first of all, needs to be cultivated with conversation and prayer and His Word sown in our hearts. Secondly, involvement in the local church is a vital component to our servant-attitudes because Christ loves and died for her (Eph. 5:25, 32) and that brings us into resurrection life: kingdom living.

As we follow this author’s line of thinking (vss. 93-95) it’s apparent that remembering what God has done for you in the past will get you through your present and even into your future. We are time-constrained but He is not. His repeated actions on your behalf (testimonies) show His sovereignty and divine love.

I have seen that everything [human] has its limits and end [no matter how extensive, noble, and excellent]; but Your commandment is exceedingly broad and extends without limits [into eternity]. (Psalm 119:96 AMP)

Another World

Have you ever read what the qualifications are for sainthood? Don’t get me wrong, I love that we honor what God has accomplished through believers of the past but what are the Biblical qualifications of being a saint?

Let’s take a short trip into the Old Testament to find out where it all began. God declared Himself holy. That’s not simply without sin, it’s much more than that. Our God, in three persons, is kadosh, holy: distinct and totally different. He’s in another realm, another world, so to speak. No one can compare to Him in His majestic authority and character. Yet this God, Who covenants with mankind, commands us to be holy as well.

For I am the Lord your God. You must consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy. (Leviticus 11:44a NLT)

Seriously? A command to be holy? The logical question is: what is holiness? The truth is we were created in His image therefore we were created holy. Yes, without sin, but again, more than that; we are to be different and distinct. Since the Fall we lost our sinless state but with Christ, in Him, we are restored. We are now seen by God as righteous and our goal is to live our lives again as people who are distinct and different. That’s holiness. When we are in Christ Jesus (Eph. 1:3) we are holy, we are considered a saint or sanctified one. Sinless? No. Living our lives different from the world? Yes, we were chosen for that purpose, to be holy.

As New Testament believers we are called to live in another world. A new sphere of life that has new morals and values. We don’t look like the world any longer; we think differently, we talk differently, and we act differently. Living in Christ Jesus means that we now re-present Him to the world as His image bearers.

Interestingly, Paul writes that Christ died:

to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God’s word. He did this to present her to himself as a glorious church without a spot or wrinkle or any other blemish. Instead, she will be holy and without fault. (Ephesians 5:26-27 NLT)

Sounds too good to be true, doesn’t it? That’s part of the idea of spiritual blessings in heavenly places.

The encouragement I bring you this week is to live holy, since you re-present Christ to the world, as He is holy. You will never be sinless in this world but every day you can grow in your spiritual walk in Him. Every day you can take another step in holiness and gain more ground. Every day you can have a prayer on your lips asking God to give you a pure heart toward others. You live in another world, you are a saint; let your behavior and speech reflect that truth.

My grandchildren and I used to enjoy watching a cartoon entitled Special Agent Oso. The essence of the show is to give kids three steps to complete a task, to do them in order, and enjoy the end result. Good Friday is one of the steps in God’s divine order of redemption and we have the privilege of enjoying the outcome: forgiveness of our sin and relationship with God forever.

Why is Good Friday is so good? It’s partly because on this somber day we remember that there were steps that needed to be taken in order for His divine plan to be accomplished.

He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross (Col. 2: 13).

Did you ever wonder why He allowed Himself to be put through such an ordeal, a literal execution? The book of Hebrews tells us the reason was because of the joy that was ahead of Him (12:2). At first thought I wouldn’t describe Good Friday as joyful but I think we can see it more clearly in the questioning of Jesus by the high priest, Caiaphas. He needed a false testimony to condemn Him to death. Listen to his command and Jesus’ response:

And the high priest said to Him, “I adjure You by the living God, that You tell us whether You are the Christ, the Son of God.” Jesus said to him, “You have said it yourself; nevertheless I tell you, hereafter you will see THE SON OF MAN SITTING AT THE RIGHT HAND OF POWER, and COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF HEAVEN.” (Matthew 26:63, 64 NASB)

Jesus shows us here that He was focused, not on the cross and the suffering He would endure, but on His return. Did you catch that? Jesus was thinking about His magnificent return to earth as Judge and King. His answer to Caiaphas proves that Jesus looked beyond the crucifixion and to His return when He will prove to the world, once and for all, that He is the long-awaited and promised Messiah. Let’s keep our eyes focused on His return this year as well as remembering what He endured on our behalf. The why of Good Friday is the knowledge He had of our promised destiny with Him. Our future is established: ruling and reigning with Him on earth, that’s incorruptible joy and it is set before us also.

God’s step-by-step plan of redemption, fulfilled in order, brings great joy to a believer. That’s why we call it Good Friday amidst the memory of torture, suffering, and death.

For the righteous will never be moved; he will be remembered forever. He is not afraid of bad news; his heart is firm, trusting in the Lord. His heart is steady; he will not be afraid, until he looks in triumph on his adversaries. (Psalm 112:6-8 ESV)

I join you in joyfully celebrating Resurrection Sunday this year.