In Him I Hope

Oh God, to Thee I look; my soul
Is vile and void of virtue.
But Christ, but Christ's atoning work
Of righteousness for me is full.

In Thee I rest - a helpless thing
Having neither hands nor feet,
Nor strength, but weak, I fall -
And falling on Thee, soar with wings.
___________________

“And now, O Lord, for what do I wait?
My hope is in you..."

- Psalm 39:7 ESV

The Mark of Wisdom

The highest mark of wisdom is not the ability to speak of great and lofty things, or to eloquently tell others the things I know. No, the highest mark of wisdom is humility; it is submissiveness of spirit to God and others, that seeks advice, heeds good counsel and takes to heart reproof.

"Hear instruction and be wise
and do not neglect it."
- Proverbs 8:33 ESV

"The wise of heart will receive commandments..."
-Proverbs 10:8 ESV

Lessons from the Garden

This morning was lovely. The thermometer barely touching 80. The sun clouded and to the west the blue sky spread with those high, clean, wispy clouds that come after a rain. The breeze coming softly over the river, wafting a fresh, woodsy exhilarating scent through the morning air.

A good morning to get some yardwork done. I got my pruning shears and went around cutting dead branches off plants. After I finished, I walked past my bouganvillea again and noticed a totally dead branch lying on top of the fence. Hmm.. must have cut it off awhile back and it didn't fall to the ground. I reached to take it off, but it wouldn't move, so I lifted up the branches and checked the end of the stem. It was still connected - at least it looked like it. That's strange... But when I pulled on it again, I realized that though the outer bark was connected, the inner fibers of the branch had been broken off long ago.

It made me think - about Jesus' words

"Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned." - John 15:5-6 ESV

It made me think - about the possibility of looking like abiding in Christ. It is possible to be disconnected from the life of Christ in the heart and yet maintain an outward semblance of it for a time. Outwardly the religious activity that accompanies true abiding in Christ is the same, but inwardly the connection is not there. It doesn't last. That dead branch was a sober reminder that it doesn't.

The importance of being in Christ is immense. To be really in Him, by faith, is what matters above all else. What good is it to maintain an appearance of being in Christ? It is of no value; it is even damnable. The disconnected branch may for a little while remain green, but it will dry up and be destined for burning.

But to be really in the vine, even if it means being pruned and for awhile not looking like much - to be really in Christ and He in me - that in time I may be "filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God." (Philippians 1:11 ESV) ...is the greatest blessedness, for only in Christ will I bear good fruit, and bearing good fruit I shall be proven to be in Christ. Then my hope increases, and God is glorified.

"By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples." - John 15:8 ESV

The God we didn't know..

When Layering Verses Doesn't Quite Work

(By the way, if anyone is wondering why in some of my posts I put NIV and others ESV, it's because my personal Bible is an NIV, which I am hoping to replace soon since its not a very good translation, and my favorite version is ESV)

The other morning I opened by Bible to 2 Samuel and my eyes lit on an underlined verse in 24:1

"Again the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and he incited David against them, saying, 'Go and take a census of Israel and Judah.' NIV

Now that is amazing. It simply blows the box we pea-brained humans try to put God in. But there is something even more amazing - what the book of Chronicles says about the same event:

"Satan rose up against Israel and incited David to take a census of Israel." - 1 Chronicles 21:1 NIV

Um, speaking of layering verses (see a previous post)...does this work?

I do not believe that the Bible contradicts itself, and certainly do not believe that God and Satan are one and the same! So what shall I think of this?

Interpret Scripture by Scripture.

In the account of Job, Satan asked God for permission to afflict Job's body...

..."And the Lord said to Satan, 'Behold, he is in your hand; only spare his life.'
So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and struck Job with loathsome sores from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. And he took a piece of broken pottery with which to scrape himself while he sat in the ashes. Then his wife said to him, 'Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die.' But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?”' Job 2:6-10 ESV

Now isn't Job supposed to say: "You are talking like a foolish woman - this is an attack of the enemy! Satan is the king of sickness and death. God is the great healer. Why do you want me to curse God, when this is obviously of Satan?"

But he didn't say that. He attributed it to God - Job, how dare you blame God?

No - the inspired author said this:

"In all this, Job did not sin with his lips" - Job 3:10 ESV

For every single action - whether of
fish, (Mat. 17:27, John 21:6, Jonah 1:17)
bird, (Mat. 10:29)
beast, (Gen. 7:9, Matt. 21:7)
insect (2 Chron. 7:13)
man, (Acts 16:14, 2 Sam. 24:1, Esther 6:1)
or Satan - God is behind it all. He is terrifyingly sovereign. Terrifying, that is, unless He's on my side. Consider this passage from Romans 8:

"And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? - Romans 8:28-31 ESV

No one! Not even Satan. The God who preserved Job throughout the very afflictions that He allowed will preserve us His beloved children throughout every situation that He allows in our lives.

"For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." - Romans 8:38-39 ESV