LookingtoJesus

God’s Eternal Truth

Bible Reading: Isaiah 40:1-11; 1 Peter 1:22-25

On June 17, 1859, a freakishly hot northwest wind swept down on the small town of Goleta, California.  The temperature rose to a record 133 degrees by 2 PM and hovered in the 130s for almost three hours.  It was called a simoom, from an Arabic term for a hot, dust-filled, violent wind.  It was both lethal and incredible—with readings and consequences too wild for modern-day skeptics to believe.  Cattle dropped dead.  Birds fell from the sky.  According to a government report, “Fruit was blasted and fell to the ground, burned only on one side, and gardens were ruined.”  The suddenness of the event “struck inhabitants with terror” and people retreated to their homes and closed every window and door.  When people emerged, birds and animals lay dead up and down the coastline.  The simoom withdrew almost as quickly as it emerged.  By 5 PM the temperature was 122 degrees.  By 7 PM it had dropped to a more typical 77 degrees.

That historical event vividly illustrates the truths spoken of in this passage, “All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the field.  The grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of the Lord blows on it; surely the people are grass.  The grass withers; the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever” (Isaiah 40:6-8).  

God spoke these words through the prophet Isaiah some 2700 years ago. Isaiah chapters 1-39 have to do with Isaiah’s warning to the people of pending judgment. Whereas chapters 40-66 speak of a future restoration. In this context, Isaiah 40:6-8 speaks to our human frailty against the backdrop of the permanence of God’s promises. Everything in this world is transitory. That’s true of Kings and Kingdoms, men and movements, and indeed all of humanity. But the promise God made of a future restoration for His people “will stand forever” (Isaiah 40:8).

It was seven centuries after Isaiah’s day when the Apostle Peter wrote his epistle and quoted from Isaiah.  He was writing to believers who were suffering severe persecution as a direct result of their faith in Christ.  Some were losing their jobs or homes or, in some cases, their lives. They were all too aware of the frailty and transitory nature of their earthly lives, but Peter spoke to them of imperishable things.  They were born again to “a living hope” (1 Peter 1:3), to “an inheritance that is imperishable” (1 Peter 1:4), and through the imperishable seed of “the living and abiding word of God (1 Peter 1:23).  The “good news that was preached” to them was according to the “word of the Lord (which) remains forever” (1 Peter 1:25).

We are now 2700 years removed from Isaiah’s day and 2000 from when Peter wrote his epistle, but the truth that “the word of the Lord remains forever” is no less true or precious than it was to those who have gone on before us.  In an uncertain world where everything is changing so fast, we are encouraged knowing that God’s promises to us never change!  By His word we’ve been born again and according to His sure promise we “set (our) hope fully on the grace to be brought to (us) at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:13).

It is Albert Barnes has commented: “God’s Word is unmoved, fixed, permanent. Amidst all the revolutions on earth, the fading glories of natural objects, and the wasting strength of man, his truth remains unaffected. Its beauty never fades; its power is never enfeebled. The gospel system is as lovely now as it was when it was first revealed to man, and it has as much power to save as it had when first applied to a human heart.”

In a world where everything passes away, God calls us to be encouraged with the hope of His promises! 

Scott Bashoor

STANDING ON THE PROMISES

Standing on the promises of Christ, my King,
Through eternal ages let his praises ring;
Glory in the highest, I will shout and sing,
Standing on the promises of God.

Refrain:
Standing, standing,
Standing on the promises of God, my Savior;
Standing, standing,
I’m standing on the promises of God.

Standing on the promises that cannot fail.
When the howling storms of doubt and fear assail,
By the living Word of God I shall prevail,
Standing on the promises of God. [Refrain]

Standing on the promises of Christ, the Lord,
Bound to him eternally by love’s strong cord,
Overcoming daily with the Spirit’s sword,
Standing on the promises of God. [Refrain]

Standing on the promises I cannot fall,
List’ning ev’ry moment to the Spirit’s call,
Resting in my Savior as my all in all,
Standing on the promises of God. [Refrain]

Pay Attention to the Word

Bible Reading: 2 Peter 1:16-21

It had been nearly four decades since Peter experienced what he wrote about here, but he well-remembered what took place.  His testimony regarding Christ’s transfiguration did not arise from “cleverly devised myths” (2 Peter 1:16).  Peter and his companions were “eyewitnesses of his majesty,” heard the “voice borne from heaven,” and were “with (Jesus) on the holy mountain” (2 Peter 1:16-18).

We’ve not shared in Peter’s experience–in fact, we’ve not seen Jesus and don’t see Him now (1 Peter 1:8)—but we have “the prophetic word” to guide us and to that we would “do well to pay attention” (2 Peter 1:19).  Many in this postmodern day preference personal experience as a guide, but Peter directs us to something far better—the objective truth revealed to us in God’s inspired Word (1 Peter 1:20-21; 2 Timothy 3:16-17).  We are exhorted to “pay attention” to it as we navigate through this present darkness in eager anticipation of the dawn of Christ’s return.

The Greek Word translated “pay attention” was a nautical term meaning to hold a ship in a direction.  It is in the present tense and speaks to the need to keep holding one’s mind to the Word, as a ship might navigate in a dark stormy night by the glimmer of light from a distant lighthouse.  A GPS is an amazing device—by satellite it determines your position, within a few feet, anywhere on the planet. Give it a destination and it will give you audible instructions as to when to turn. No longer is there a need for maps or to stop and embarrassingly ask for directions. But a GPS has its limitations–It will do you no good to type in “heaven” as your destination—it doesn’t know the way. The best of earthbound navigational means is of no value or assistance when it comes to spiritual matters. 

The hymn “Let the Lower Lights Be Burning” is based on a true story D. L. Moody once told.  Cleveland harbor was marked by two sets of lights.  A ship was headed into the harbor on a dark and stormy night.  They spotted the upper lights, but not the lower ones.  They needed both to successfully navigate the passage, but due to the ferocity of the storm they had no choice but to proceed.  The ship ultimately crashed into the rocks and few survived.  There is a need to pay attention to the Word lest we be led off course into treacherous waters (2 Peter 2:1-3; Ephesians 4:14).  The hymn’s theme— “let the lower lights be burning”—speaks to the need for believers to uphold a light-bearing testimony in this dark world, but the hymn also illustrates the need we each have for God’s supreme “navigational aid.”

The Bible is elsewhere said to be a light to our feet and a lamp to our path (Psalm 119:105).  In darkness it is difficult to safely find one’s way apart from the provision of light from some external source.  God’s word is that light to us.  How are we to distinguish between right and wrong, good and evil, truth and falsehood?  How are we to know if a thing is in fact pleasing unto God?  What will work to help us to stay the course on the narrow path that leads to life when most everyone else is headed in the opposite direction?  God’s inspired Word alone can do that (2 Timothy 3:16-17). 

Every Gideon Bible includes this wonderful testimony regarding the Scripture’s ability to guide us: “The Bible contains the mind of God, the state of man, the way of salvation, the doom of sinners, and the happiness of believers. Its doctrines are holy, its precepts are binding, its histories are true, and its decisions are immutable. Read it to be wise, believe it to be safe, and practice it to be holy. It contains light to direct you, food to support you, and comfort to cheer you. It is the traveler’s map, the pilgrim’s staff, the pilot’s compass, the soldier’s sword, and the Christian’s charter. Here Paradise is restored, Heaven opened, and the gates of hell disclosed. CHRIST is its grand subject, our good the design, and the glory of God its end. It should fill the memory, rule the heart, and guide the feet. Read it slowly, frequently, and prayerfully. It is a mine of wealth, a paradise of glory, and a river of pleasure. It is given you in life, will be opened at the judgment, and be remembered forever. It involves the highest responsibility, will reward the greatest labor, and will condemn all who trifle with its sacred contents.” 

God’s Word provides direction for life and enables us to stay on course.

Anonymous

LET THE LOWER LIGHTS BE BURNING

Brightly beams our Father’s mercy
From His lighthouse evermore;
But to us He gives the keeping
Of the lights along the shore.

Refrain:
Let the lower lights be burning!
Send a gleam across the wave!
Some poor fainting, struggling seaman
You may rescue, you may save.

Dark the night of sin has settled,
Loud the angry billows roar;
Eager eyes are watching, longing,
For the lights along the shore. [Refrain]

Trim your feeble lamp, my brother!
Some poor seaman, tempest-tossed,
Trying now to make the harbor,
In the darkness may be lost. [Refrain]

Longing for Truth

Bible Reading: Acts 2:42; 1 Peter 2:1-2

On one of our trips to Uganda our visit with a pastor was disrupted by the incessant crying of a small child.  In speaking to the father of the child it was discovered that the girl—who appeared to be no bigger than a baby–was in fact about 5 years old.  We were saddened to learn that her lack of growth was caused by an eating disorder that prevented her from digesting her food properly.  She had not grown because she could not eat right.  On hearing the news, the mission took steps to get the girl to a specialist for diagnosis and treatment.

What is true in the physical realm holds true in the spiritual.  God wants us to grow up spiritually into Christ-like maturity.  Just as a newborn baby is expected to grow physically, the newly born-again child of God is expected to grow up also.  There is something very wrong if a Christian is never growing.  The number one reason why they sometimes don’t is spiritual malnutrition.  They do not grow because their spiritual diet is lacking.

The command in this verse is to “long for” the Word.  The term speaks of having a great desire for something.  One translation uses the word “crave” to express the thought.  Our desire for the Word ought to be like that of a newborn baby craving mother’s milk.  There is nothing more important to a newborn baby.  They will loudly express their displeasure if it is denied to them.  Imagine if a believer did the same (i.e., loudly wailing) if for some reason the Word of God was not availed to him.

Newborn babies don’t need to be taught to like mother’s milk, they instinctively long for it from birth.  Christians are like that too.  The Spirit of God puts a craving for the Word into the heart of the newly born-again child of God.  By the Spirit you craved the Word when you were first saved and through the influence of the Word you grew.  Underlying the craving for the Word is another Spirit-led desire.  Believers don’t crave the Word simply because they are commanded to, they crave the Word because they yearn to know Jesus better.

This craving for the Word has practical implications.  The believer has certain responsibilities to the Word of God that are to be approached with a “craving the Word” sort of attitude.  It is necessary to hear (Romans 10:17), read (Revelation 1:3), study (2 Timothy 2:15), memorize (Psalm 119:11), and meditate on (Psalm 1:2) the Word.  Spiritual growth then takes place as the Spirit of God applies the Word of God to the heart of the believer.

George Mueller once wrote of the need for us to find spiritual nourishment in God’s Word: “I saw more clearly than ever, that the first and primary business to which I ought to attend every day was to have my soul happy in the Lord…It is as plain to me as anything that the first thing a child of God has to do morning by morning is to obtain food for the inner man.  As the outer man is not fit for work for any length of time, except we take food, and as this is one of the first things we do in the morning, so it should be with the inner man…Now what is food for the inner man?–not prayer, but the Word of God—and here again not the simple reading of the Word of God, so that it only passes through our minds, just as water runs through a pipe, but considering what we read, pondering over it, and applying it to our hearts.”

The Bible contains all the nutrients we need for a healthy soul.

Anonymous

MORE ABOUT JESUS

More about Jesus would I know,
More of His grace to others show;
More of His saving fullness see,
More of His love who died for me.

Refrain:
More, more about Jesus,
More, more about Jesus;
More of His saving fullness see,
More of His love who died for me.

More about Jesus let me learn,
More of His holy will discern;
Spirit of God, my teacher be,
Showing the things of Christ to me. [Refrain]

More about Jesus in His Word,
Holding communion with my Lord;
Hearing His voice in ev’ry line,
Making each faithful saying mine. [Refrain]

More about Jesus on His throne,
Riches in glory all His own;
More of His kingdom’s sure increase;
More of His coming, Prince of peace. [Refrain]

Loving the Book

Bible Reading: Psalm 119

Soon after Laura and I were married we began attending the newly formed St. Helens Community Bible Church in St. Helens, Oregon. One of my co-workers at Trojan Nuclear Plant, Max Snook, was the pastor. Anyone who knows Max knows him to be a man possessing an exceptional devotion to knowing the Word and growing in it. He’s been contagious in that, discipling others who have grown to love the Word just as he does. Max began that ministry at St. Helens Community Bible Church by preaching a series through Psalm 119–one eight verse stanza each Sunday–for he wanted the church to be well founded in its commitment to living according to the truth. That was almost forty years ago, and Pastor Max is still faithfully preaching the Word at that church! Praise the Lord!

Psalm 119 is an amazing work of literature!  There’s a beauty in its structure that we can’t easily see in our English bibles. You may have noticed in your Bible that there’s a Hebrew word preceding each of the eight-verse stanzas.  Those words represent Hebrew letters.  There are twenty-two letters in the Hebrew alphabet, and this psalm contains twenty-two stanzas of eight verses each.  Each of the twenty-two stanzas is given a letter of the Hebrew alphabet, and each line in that stanza begins with that Hebrew letter!  Imagine how difficult it would be to replicate that! 

It would be good for any of us to be more devoted to the Word, but how do we do that?  This Psalm is a prayer expressing awe and adoration of God for His Word!  The Psalmist loves the Word because He loves God.  He understands how the Word can bring blessing to his life in so many ways.  Because He loves God, and loves the Word, he prays that his heart and life will be increasingly aligned to the truth.  In prayer he wrestles with the truths that he already knows that they might be increasingly embedded in his innermost being. 

David Powlison has commented on this: “In other words, Psalm 119 is personal prayer. It’s talking to, not teaching about. We hear what a man says out loud in God’s presence: his joyous pleasure, vocal need, open adoration, blunt requests, candid assertions, deep struggles, fiercely good intentions…we overhear the honest words erupting when what God says gets into you. We hear someone speaking to the God who speaks, someone who needs the God who speaks, someone who loves the God who speaks. It’s not thinking about a topic; it’s getting down to business.” 

There’s so much in this Psalm and it would be impossible for us here to even survey it all.  But since we’ve adopted Psalm 119:18 as our memory verse for the month, let’s take a moment to consider it.  “Open my eyes, that I may see wondrous things from Your law” is a prayer.  It is a good prayer for any of us at any time, but it’s especially appropriate as we approach the Word in reading or study.  The prayer humbly acknowledges our dependence on the Spirit if our hearts and lives are to be fully aligned to the truth.  As Adrian Rogers once said, “It took a supernatural miracle to reveal it; it took a supernatural miracle to write it; and it’ll take a supernatural miracle for you to understand it.”  The prayer also acknowledges that there are wonderful things to behold in God’s Word.  God is an awesome God!  Jesus is a wonderful Savior!  The gospel is a glorious gospel!  In Jesus, we possess unfathomable riches!  The Holy Spirit works through the Word to open our eyes to all the awe-inspiring realities bound up in the infinitude of our great God!

The Holy Scriptures tell us what we could never learn any other way: they tell us what we are, who we are, how we got here, why we are here and what we are required to do while we remain here.

A. W. Tozer

OPEN MY EYES, THAT I MAY SEE

Open my eyes that I may see
glimpses of truth thou hast for me.
Place in my hands the wonderful key
that shall unclasp and set me free.
Silently now I wait for thee,
ready, my God, thy will to see.
Open my eyes, illumine me,
Spirit divine!

Open my ears that I may hear
voices of truth thou sendest clear,
and while the wave notes fall on my ear,
ev’rything false will disappear.
Silently now I wait for thee,
ready, my God, thy will to see.
Open my ears, illumine me,
Spirit divine!

Open my mouth and let me bear
gladly the warm truth ev’rywhere.
Open my heart and let me prepare
love with thy children thus to share.
Silently now I wait for thee,
ready, my God, thy will to see.
Open my mouth, illumine me,
Spirit divine!

God’s Perfect Word

Bible Reading: Psalm 19

A part of my job as a Training Specialist at Trojan Nuclear Plant was the writing of lesson plans and other training materials for Reactor Operators. The operation of a Nuclear Reactor is no simple thing, so there were many different lesson plans, each having to do with some aspect of controlling the power plant’s operation. Operating manuals and Nuclear Regulatory Control requirements formed the basis for these lesson plans, and as these were sometimes revised, there’d be a need to revise our materials. That’s why we staffed a couple of secretaries whose job it was to try to keep up in the typing and copying of all these revisions. It was a never-ending process, as there was always a need to improve on what had been written. Not so the Word of God. There’s no need for revision when it comes to God’s inspired Word, for its as perfect now as it will always be.

Psalm 19 speaks to the revelation of God to man.  Verses 1-6 speak to what it referred to as God’s general revelation through the world.  Verses 7-14 speak to His special revelation through His word.  God has revealed Himself and His glory to all men through the world (i.e., creation).  The heavens are spoken of, because every person can look to the sky and see what it is that God has created.  The heavens speak, but without words or voice, to all people of His glory.  General revelation by itself is sufficient to condemn, but not to save (Romans 1:19-20).  It takes the words of Scripture—special revelation—to save a sinner.

Six statements are made in this Psalm regarding various attributes of God’s Word.  Each statement affirms the Word to be “of the Lord.”  The repeated use of that phrase reminds us of the divine origin of Scripture.  The Bible is, as we’ve previously noted, inspired by God.  Each of the six statements regarding Scripture speaks to a title, a characteristic, and a benefit.  John MacArthur has noted how this Psalm is like Psalm 119 but in condensed form.  He has also noted how the titles for Scripture used here (i.e., law, testimony, precepts, commandment, fear, rules) are used over and over again in Psalm 119.  Collectively, these six statements constitute an incontrovertible declaration of the perfection and sufficiency of God’s Word.

We’ve not the space here to look at every one of these six statements, but let’s consider the first.  “The Law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul” (Psalm 19:7a).  The term Law speaks to the role of Scripture in speaking to us that which we need to know to live in right relationship to God.  In that respect it is akin to God’s operating manual for us humans.  That reminds us, of course, of the trouble we sometimes find ourselves in when we fail to operate things according to the instructions!  The Law of the Lord is perfect.  The thought here is not just that it is without flaw or error, which is true, but that it lacks nothing.  It is comprehensive is its instruction to provide in every way what is needed to accomplish its objective.  What’s the objective—“reviving the soul” (Psalm 19:7b).  The term soul speaks to the inner person.  The objective of Scripture is not just to clean us up on the outside, it’s reach goes far deeper than that.  It is sufficient to revive and transform us from the inside out.  To affect in us a total transformation from our inner most being that is then reflected in the way we think, do, and say!

The NT writers likewise spoke of this.  As Peter wrote, “You’ve been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God” (1 Peter 1:23).  And Paul, “And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers” (1 Thessalonians 2:13).  I’ve got hundreds of books on my Kindle, and too many printed versions of books that fill my bookshelves or are stored away in boxes.  Though human-authored books can educate, instruct, entertain, and even inspire us, none of them can come close to doing what the Bible can do, for the Bible alone has the power to save and transform.   Someone came up with this acrostic for the Bible: Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth.  It is that, and in a perfect and sufficient way, and is therefore worthy of our devotion!

While other books inform, and some few reform, this one book transforms.

A. T. Pierson

TAKE TIME TO BE HOLY

Take time to be holy, speak oft with thy Lord;
Abide in Him always, and feed on His Word.
Make friends of God’s children, help those who are weak,
Forgetting in nothing His blessing to seek.

Take time to be holy, the world rushes on;
Spend much time in secret, with Jesus alone.
By looking to Jesus, like Him thou shalt be;
Thy friends in thy conduct His likeness shall see.

Take time to be holy, let Him be thy Guide;
And run not before Him, whatever betide.
In joy or in sorrow, still follow the Lord,
And, looking to Jesus, still trust in His Word.

Take time to be holy, be calm in thy soul,
Each thought and each motive beneath His control.
Thus led by His Spirit to fountains of love,
Thou soon shalt be fitted for service above.

Profitable for You

Bible Reading: 2 Timothy 3:1-17

I’m writing this on the day after the tragic school shooting in Uvalde, Texas. It is heart-breaking to think of the terror directed towards those young children and teachers, and the unimaginable grief that has confronted the parents and families in that small Texas town.  Pray for those folks!

Our passage relates to the matter. We live in difficult times. We were warned of such things. Read through 2 Timothy 3:1-5 in the light of what you see and hear about in the news. The attitudes and behaviors spoken of are common fare in our country these days. They typify the kinds of things that are to be expected in any time or place where God’s Word has lost its influence in the suppression and abandonment of truth (2 Timothy 3:7-8; Romans 1:18-32). We are rightly horrified by school shootings and many acts of violence we hear about. Where can we look for hope and direction?

Paul warned Timothy about the difficult times that were to come.  He likewise exhorted Timothy to purpose to live in a contrary manner, saying “You, however” and “But as for you” (2 Timothy 3:10, 14).  Timothy was to look to Paul’s godly example and to the “sacred writings which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 3:10-11, 15).  In a time of apostasy, it is incumbent on the follower of Jesus to purpose to cleave to the Word if he is to navigate the myriad of challenges that accompany a society’s rejection of God and truth.

God’s inspired word is profitable.  Its profit lies in its ability to work such that “the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:17).  We cannot expect to be equipped to serve Jesus in such a manner apart from devotion to the Word.  We are pilgrims on a journey on the narrow way.  The narrow way is filled with twists and turns and obstacles and unexpected challenges.  We need a guide to lead us if we are to stay on the path and proceed safely to our destination.  The Bible is that guide, a “lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Psalm 119:105).

Using this analogy, look at what God’s Word can do: 1) in teaching the Bible marks out for us the path of righteousness.  God’s word teaches us how to walk in a manner consistent to who God is and what He expects from us.  It shows us what is right and what is wrong.  2) in reproof the Bible alerts us when we’ve wandered from the path.  “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it” (Jeremiah 17:9), but the Word is able to discern “the thoughts and intentions of the heart (Hebrews 4:12).  3) in correction the Bible can get us back on the path.  The Greek term translated correction means literally to make straight again.  After exposing and condemning false beliefs and practices, the Bible works to restore us, setting us back on our feet on the path.  4) In training the Bible works to keep us on the path.  The Greek term used here is a term that was used in the training of a child.  Training takes time and involves the repeated hearing and studying of the truth such that a person is “trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil” (Hebrews 5:14).  Throughout the process the Spirit of God works to apply the Word of God to the heart of the believer so that he’s made useful and is progressively matured into Christlikeness!

John MacArthur has commented on the profitability of God’s Word: “This is the way; walk you in it.  This is how you go through life’s maze.  This is how you navigate the world.  You wander through this dangerous world, this deadly world, this deceptive world, this confused world with all its pitfalls, all the horrors that are out there, and you navigate this thing; and in the process, you do it with a joyful heart because you stay on the right path.  Scripture, the doctrines of Scripture, create a right path, a way to think, and a way to walk.” There’s bad news in the world.  But God has condescended to our need.  He’s graciously provisioned us with His Word, that we might know the truth about Him and His will for us, and so that we might safely proceed and progress along His path amidst the difficult times in which we live. 

With God’s Word as your map and His Spirit as your compass, you’re sure to stay on course.

Anonymous

TEACH ME THY WAY, O LORD

Teach me thy way, O Lord; teach me thy way!
Thy guiding grace afford; teach me thy way!
Help me to walk aright, more by faith, less by sight;
lead me with heav’nly light; teach me thy way!

When I am sad at heart, teach me thy way!
When earthly joys depart, teach me thy way!
In hours of loneliness, in times of dire distress,
in failure or success, teach me thy way!

When doubts and fears arise, teach me thy way!
When storms o’erspread the skies, teach me thy way!
Shine thro’ the cloud and rain, thro’ sorrow, toil, and pain;
make thou my pathway plain; teach me thy way!

Long as my life shall last, teach me thy way!
Where’er my lot be cast, teach me thy way!
Until the race is run, until the journey’s done,
until the crown is won, teach me thy way!

Far More Abundantly

Bible Reading: Ephesians 3:14-21

Ephesians 3:20-21, “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen” (NJKV).

Over the years I’ve been drawn to this particular passage of Scripture.  It was the subject of a five-part series I preached at the conclusion of our many years of ministry at Lewis and Clark Bible Church.  I’ve used the text on many occasions in preaching in churches in Uganda.  There is much encouragement here for us when it comes to the matter of devotion to prayer.

Say a prayer.  Think a thought.  God is able to do more, exceedingly more, exceedingly abundantly more.  It is by “the power that works within us” that He does this.  In his first prayer in this epistle Paul prayed that the eyes of our heart might be enlightened to know the “immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe” (Ephesians 1:19-20).  The empty tomb of the Risen Savior testifies to God’s ability to accomplish what He has purposed to do in our lives.  In his second prayer in this epistle Paul prayed that we might “comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge” (Ephesians 3:19).  That work that God is doing in us is according to his power which is immeasurably great and to his limitless love which surpasses knowledge.

God is always exceeding our expectations in the way he works.  You’ll find plenty of examples of this in the Bible, but there is one that relates especially to the matter of hand.  The prodigal son left his father’s house and “squandered his property in reckless living” (Luke 15:13-14).  Wallowing in the mire with the pigs—and longing to “be fed with the pods that the pigs ate”—he “came to himself” and purposed to return to his father (Luke 15:17-20).  He thought at best he might gain employment as one of his father’s hired servants.  But that’s not what happened.  “While he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion” (Luke 15:20).  Not only was he taken back, his father embraced him and kissed him.  He not only welcomed him–he clothed him with a robe, a ring, and shoes.  He then killed the fattened calf and held a celebration.  His Father’s capacity to forgive and restore was exceedingly abundantly beyond what the prodigal would have thought possible.

Having said all of that—there is a particular matter that verse twenty relates to.  What is work that God is doing that is “exceedingly abundantly beyond?”  According to the context it is us being “filled up with all the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:19).  It is the end point of salvation that is in view here—being brought into complete conformity with Christ.  Salvation is bigger in scope than we can now imagine.  It includes forgiveness of our sins (Ephesians 1:7), but it is bigger than that.  We understand that it involves growing in Christ–from one state of glory to the next (2 Corinthians 3:18)—but it is still bigger than that.  We understand it to lead to a future glorified estate when He “will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body” (Philippians 3:21), but what does that entail (1 John 3:1-2)?  How can we perceive or comprehend what that must be (1 Corinthians 2:9, 13:12)?  The culmination of His salvation “to the uttermost” (Hebrews 7:25) is as a glorious mountain peak lying above and beyond the clouds.  We anticipate it, but the full measure of its glory eludes us.  But God is at work in us and is more than able to finish the glorious work He started (Philippians 1:6). 

Its good then for us to keep in mind to whom it is we are praying!  God is not a stingy, reluctant God whose inclination it is to withhold from us His promised blessings.  He is not impotent when it comes to intervening in our lives when it comes to completing the work He started in us!  He is the God of miracles who has proven He is able time after time!  In fact, His ability to work transcends our ability to comprehend!  How privileged we are to serve and worship and pray to Him!

Say a Prayer.  Think a Thought.  God is Able to do More.  Exceedingly Abundantly More.

HE IS ABLE
He is able, more than able
To accomplish what concerns me today
He is able, more than able
To handle anything that comes my way
He is able, more than able
To do much more than I could ever dream
He is able, more than able
To make me what He wants me to be

Praying for Spiritual Eyes to See

Bible Reading: Ephesians 1:15-23

Helen Keller was only two years old when an illness struck her blind and deaf.  Unable to communicate with the outside world her life was filled with unimaginable loneliness and despair.  Miss Anne Sullivan was brought to assist her and worked patiently to break through the darkness.  One day she and “Teacher”—as Helen always called her—went to the outdoor pump.  Miss Sullivan started to draw water and put Helen’s hand under the spout.  As the cool water gushed over one hand, she spelled into the other hand the word “w-a-t-e-r” first slowly, then rapidly.  Suddenly, the signals had meaning in Helen’s mind.  She knew that “water” meant the wonderful cool substance flowing over her hand.  Quickly, she stopped and touched the earth and demanded its letter name and by nightfall she had learned thirty words.  Helen later wrote of the experiences of that day: “As we continued to the house every object which I touched quivered with life.  That was because I saw everything with a strange, new sight that had come to me.  It would have been difficult to find a happier child than I was as I lay in my crib…and for the first time longed for a new day to come.” 

Whether you realize it or not, you owe any understanding of truth you now possess to the person of the Holy Spirit.  Were it not for Him in His illuminating work, you and I would be blind and deaf to spiritual truth.  Indeed, “we have received…the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God” (1 Corinthians 2:12).  Just as the Spirit first worked to open your ears to the “word of truth, the gospel of your salvation,” so He has been at work ever since unveiling to you the glory of Jesus (Ephesians 1:13; 2 Corinthians 3:18).

Accordingly, Paul’s prayer in Ephesians chapter one is that we might be given a “Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened” that we might know certain things (Ephesians 1:17-19).  Three things are spoken of: 1) “the hope to which he has called you;” 2) “the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints;” and 3) “the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe” (Ephesians 1:18-19).  Each has to do with our relationship with Jesus (i.e., the hope we have in Him, the riches we possess in Him, and the power availed to us through Him).

Note the context of this prayer.  The preceding verses have to do with the manifold blessings we possess in the Lord Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1:3-14).  Paul’s prayer is that the eyes of our hearts would be enlightened to the realization of the very truths he was writing to them about.  He understood that it is necessary for the Spirit to work if truth is to be apprehended at the heart level.  We need to make a distinction between knowing a thing intellectually (i.e., being “booksmart”) and knowing a thing such that it works to affect a change in one’s heart and life.  That’s the kind of “knowing” Paul was praying for here.  And that’s the kind of knowing we each need. 

What Paul is saying here is that we are incredibly blessed in Jesus!  In Him, we possess a living hope, unsearchable riches, and immeasurable power.  It is the Spirit who bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God, and it is the Spirit who unveils to us the full measure of God’s blessings to us as His children.  You are a child of the King!  And knowing that influences the way you live out your Christian life in this world.  And so, Paul prayed.  And so, we should pray.

“Spirit of God, My Teacher be, Showing the Things of Christ to Me”

OPEN MY EYES, THAT I MAY SEE

Open my eyes that I may see
glimpses of truth thou hast for me.
Place in my hands the wonderful key
that shall unclasp and set me free.
Silently now I wait for thee,
ready, my God, thy will to see.
Open my eyes, illumine me,
Spirit divine!

Open my ears that I may hear
voices of truth thou sendest clear,
and while the wave notes fall on my ear,
ev’rything false will disappear.
Silently now I wait for thee,
ready, my God, thy will to see.
Open my ears, illumine me,
Spirit divine!

Open my mouth and let me bear
gladly the warm truth ev’rywhere.
Open my heart and let me prepare
love with thy children thus to share.
Silently now I wait for thee,
ready, my God, thy will to see.
Open my mouth, illumine me,
Spirit divine!

Praying Unto Christlikeness

Bible Reading: Philippians 1:9-11

If you’ve ever watched the show Fixer-Upper you’ve seen how dramatic the result can be when a house is totally renovated and made to look beautiful and appealing.  But there is no more dramatic renovation than that which is done by God in saving a radically depraved sinner and transforming them into Christlikeness.  It is a work which is “to the praise of his glorious grace” (Ephesians 1:6), and when Jesus comes to be “glorified in his saints,” He will be “marveled at among all who have believed” (2 Thessalonians 1:10).  We will be awestruck by Jesus and by the work He has done in us!

The entirety of the believer’s salvation lies in the realm of the miraculous.  The believer in Christ is not a religious person, at least not in the sense in which we normally understand that term, instead he is a person who has been miraculously born again into a personal and life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ.  Every step he takes in his transformative journey is a “by grace” step, a step in which he must be led and empowered by the Spirit to do things he could never do on his own (John 15:5; Galatians 3:3; Philippians 3:3).  Progress is not made by trying harder to do better in his own self-effort but happens instead as the Spirit works though the Word to transform him into “(Christ’s) image from one degree of glory to another” (2 Corinthians 3:18).  The call to “work out your salvation with fear and trembling” would be impossible were it not for the fact that “it is God who works in you, both to will and work for his good pleasure” (Philippians 2:12-13).

Why does this matter and how is it related to devotion to prayer?  The realization of the depth of our dependence in the light of the glorious destiny to which we’ve been called, should drive us to devotion to prayer.  The things for which Paul prays in Philippians 1:9-11 are things we could never do in and of ourselves.  That love which “abounds more and more” and is instructed by truth and exercised with discernment, is not a human love improved upon, it is a love which “has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us” (Romans 5:5).  It is the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22).  No amount of human self-effort or religiosity can work to bear the “fruit of righteousness” in us, as it “comes through Jesus Christ” and is therefore to “the glory and praise of God” (Philippians 1:11).  As Jesus made clear, His fruit is born in us as we abide in Him, for apart from Him we “can do nothing” (John 15:5).   His renovating work has this lofty goal: “so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ” (Philippians 1:10).  This saving work of Jesus is indeed a miracle, for His grand purpose is to progressively eradicate sin from us in every respect!  This fact alone put us in the place of constantly looking to God in prayer for direction and strength, for the journey is too difficult and the destination too far off for us to ever make it apart from His gracious leading and provision (Romans 7:24-25)!

D. A. Carson offers these insightful words in relation to this prayer: “This means that when Paul prays this prayer, he is praying for nothing less than revival.  He is praying that Christians might be, right now, what we ought to be, what we certainly one day will be.  The text teaches us to pray that we will test and approve for ourselves the highest and holiest things—all with a view to the day of Jesus Christ.  Even now, Paul’s prayer insists, Christians are to be holy as pardoned sinners can be this side of eternity.  And we pray toward that end.  It is in this way that Paul’s prayer for what is excellent is tied to the long view, to the day of Jesus Christ.”

“O to be like Thee!  Blessed Redeemer, This is my constant longing and prayer!”

O TO BE LIKE THEE!
Oh! to be like Thee, blessed Redeemer,
This is my constant longing and prayer;
Gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures,
Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.

Refrain:
Oh! to be like Thee, oh! to be like Thee,
Blessed Redeemer, pure as Thou art;
Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;
Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.

Oh! to be like Thee, full of compassion,
Loving, forgiving, tender and kind,
Helping the helpless, cheering the fainting,
Seeking the wand’ring sinner to find.

Oh! to be like Thee, lowly in spirit,
Holy and harmless, patient and brave;
Meekly enduring cruel reproaches,
Willing to suffer, others to save.

Oh! to be like Thee, Lord, I am coming,
Now to receive th’ anointing divine;
All that I am and have I am bringing,
Lord, from this moment all shall be Thine.

Oh! to be like Thee, while I am pleading,
Pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love,
Make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling,
Fit me for life and Heaven above.