Mary

Just musing . . .

The more I think about it--dangerous I know--the more I'm convinced that when Jesus called His mother Mary, "Woman," it was a name of endearment and reminder. Reminder of what you say? A reminder of who He was and who she was. He was "the seed of the woman" come to be bruised by the Serpent, but to, in the process, crush the Serpent. (He has been crushed, you know!) She was the "Woman" God had graciously selected to be the mother of His Son. That assignment brought mystery, joy, and sorrow into her life. I'm thinking she needed encouraging reminders. Don't you love Gabriel's greeting to Mary, "Hail, oh woman greatly blessed." And, "Mary, you have found favor with God." Think she ever forgot that moment and those words? "Oh woman greatly blessed." I think our God of encouragement was eager to keep reminding Mary of her blessing and of the mission of her Son. Aren't you delighted when God's Spirit brings to your heart and mind words of encouragement?

(And while I'm musing, I wish the Lord had shared with us the moment when He found Himself in His mother's arms after His resurrection. I bet I know what He called her.)

Why Is It?

Why is it that I, who could convince anyone in about ten seconds how little I actually know, seem to always think that I know more than the omniscient God about what should or shouldn't have happened?
Why is it that I, who love so selfishly and imperfectly, am always questioning how loving my Savior is being--the One who willingly, joyously, gave His life for His enemies--for me--by the cruelest of tortures?
Why is it that I, whom am constantly spending the excess that God has given me on me, get so upset about the needs in the world that aren't being met?
Why is it that I, who sin every day without even thinking about it and too often after thinking about it, believe that the immutable, righteous, holy, sinless God is in error when He tells me what is sinful and immoral?
Why isn't that I, who don't even know for sure what will happen in the next sixty seconds, believe that the infinite, eternal God has no idea what is best for the future?

Why? Idolatry. I think that I should be god. That I could do a better job. Oh, I would never say it. But my thoughts and actions betray my self-worship. The enemy says, "You shall be like gods." And I embrace his lies.

"God me merciful to me a sinner!"

And graciously He always is. Amazing love.

"Oh, love that will not let me go, I rest my weary soul in Thee."

"O Cross that liftest up my head, I dare not ask to hide from Thee."

Conquerors

Let's see now. We are aliens in a hostile world. We have a powerful enemy who is constantly trying to attack God by attacking us. We have a sin nature that is in conflict with the Holy Spirit's desire to transform us. We have a world that constantly bombards us with ideas meant to conform us to their image and thought processes. We are surrounded by needs, and our resources and abilities can never completely solve the problem. The things we want to do we don't do, and the things we don't want to do, we end up doing. We live in bodies of flesh that time and age and ache and get sick and have unquenchable appetites. We live a life of faith with no guarantee of the outcome; and often, no idea what the outcome was.

And yet, we are more than conquerors. Why? "Greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world." When we are weak, then we are strong. Where sin abounds, grace does much more abound. "My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory." "Faithful is He who called you, who will also perform it." Yes, "thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!" As the song writer says, "Not to the strong is the battle, not to the swift is the race, but to the true and the faithful, victory is promised through grace." "Marvelous grace of our loving Lord!" "Great is Thy faithfulness!"

Later

"Later" has a way of becoming "never." The men of Israel who believed the ten spies who had returned from the Promised Land and had, consequently, rebelled against God's promises found that out. They "presumed to go up into the hill top" and take the Promised Land after God said they would be wandering in the wilderness for forty years. They decided that God's "it's too late" was not really true just as they had decided a few days before that God's "now is the time" was not really true. They were guilty of those presumptuous sins the psalmist prays that God will deliver him from. The enemy routed them.
Never presume upon the goodness or severity of God. When He says something, do it immediately. Many have hesitated and found it too late. Esau sought repentance with tears but it was too late to get the blessing. For Ananias and Sapphira it was too late to serve God completely and honestly. For Noah's generation it was too late to return to their Creator and worship Him. For Judas, it was too late. Lot's wife--too late. Sodom and Gomorrah--too late. Gehazi--too late. The rich man and his barns--too late. A generation of Israelis--too late. Obey God now when the call comes for obedience. Obeying God later may be later than you think. Beware. Satan always has some reasonable alternative to ready obedience, the result of which is heartache and failure. When the Spirit of God reveals to you a step of obedience, do not presume upon the patience of God. Act now.
"Keep back Thy servant from presumptuous sins and let them not have dominion over me; then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression."

Security

Security has nothing to do with how much money you have in the bank. It has nothing to do with how marvelous your health is. It has nothing to do with the stability of the economic system. It has nothing to do with job security. It has nothing to do with how fantastic of a retirement plan you have. It has everything to do with Who holds you in His hands and promises to be with you and stand by you in the midst of the flood, in the midst of the fire, in the midst of the storm, even in those times when you're trying to live as if you don't need Him or want Him or trust Him. In poverty His presence makes you richer than a king. In loneliness His presence lavishes you with His love. In defeat and failure His presence makes you an overwhelming conqueror. In the shadow of death His presence makes you confidently fearless. In disappointment His presence sets you on the Rock of hope. In times of prosperity His presence gives you His heart of compassion for the needy. In times of confusion His presence gives you the clarity of faith. In each and every moment of your life, His presence makes you secure.

Security: "But while God and I shall be, I am His and He is mine."

A Lineage of Grace

This time of year I always meditate on the grace found in the lineage of our Savior. My favorite is the double grace given to Rahab. First, her faith saved her from Jericho's fate. And then she got a Jewish husband! (I tend to lean toward it being one of the spies she saved--but who knows.) And she became one of our Savior's grandmothers. The double blessing of grace? She had a godly, compassionate son who is also one of Scripture's heroes. His name was Boaz--Ruth's kinsman redeemer. Grace, grace, marvelous grace!

Another grace story in our Savior's lineage: A wife by the duplicitous wrangling of her father; a victim of a husband's apathy because of his selfish disease called "playing favorites." (He was really "good" at it.) Yet, chosen by God to be another one of our Savior's grandmothers. Her name? Leah.

A third grace story: David and Bathsheba. Their first son died. Please don't believe that grace eliminates consequences. But the grace of God was undeniably evident in the birth of their second son. You've heard of Solomon, right? Grace, grace, marvelous grace.

When I read Jesus "family tree" in Matthew, I am struck by how many of those people we know absolutely nothing about. They are nearly anonymous blips on the screen of history. Yet, our God knew each of them and by His grace preserved them so that in the fullness of time we might have our Savior. From one blip on the screen of history to another, isn't it astounding that the God of the universe knows you and that your "family tree" has been preserved through all the years of history from Noah to today? What did all my European ancestors live through--wars, plagues, famines, migrations, who knows what?--that I would be here today in this century, in this country, chosen and adopted into His family by His infinite grace? Grace, grace, God's grace--marvelous grace. Isn't it great being one of his blips on the screen of history? 

Hilltops

The prophet Jeremiah--the weeping prophet--sat on the hill overlooking Jerusalem after the city and its people had been plundered and pillaged by the ruthless Babylonian army; and, he had these thoughts:

"How lonely sits the city that was full of people! She has become like a widow who was once great among the nations."
"For the Lord has caused her grief because of the multitude of her transgressions."
"My eyes fail because of tears, my spirit is greatly troubled; my heart is poured out upon the earth."
"The Lord has done what He purposed; He has accomplished His word which He commanded from the days of old."

God's people had become no different from the pagan societies surrounding them: idolatrous, immoral, apathetic to the poor and needy, pompous in their "security" that since they still worshiped Jehovah (along with the other gods) that He would protect them--not judge them. They were wrong. The immutable, infinitely holy and righteous God, always judges His people for their spiritual adultery. Jeremiah knew the judgment was righteous, but it broke his heart.

And then at possibly the worst moments of his life, the prophet remembered--remembered those words that we so often sing without reflecting on their context:

"The Lord's lovingkindnesses indeed never cease; for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Thy faithfulness. 'The Lord is my portion,' says my soul, 'therefore I have hope in Him.' The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the person who seeks Him. It is good that He waits silently for the salvation of the Lord."

At those worst moments in our lives, can we sing those words? Can we with tears streaming down our faces rejoice in the great faithfulness of God? Can we seek Him by waiting, silently, without complaint, knowing that He is our Deliverer from any and all disappointments, any and all failures, any and all discipline? He is all that He has revealed Himself to be. Sitting on our hilltops, may we remember and believe.

"Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father, there is no shadow of turning with Thee; Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not; as Thou hast been, Thou forever wilt be. Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness! Morning by morning new mercies I see; all I have needed Thy hand hath provided--Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord unto me!"