December 11, 2011 … God’s Unfathomable Ways

Passage of the Day: Philippians 2: 8 [ NIV - see highlight passage in bold/underlined] … 5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7 but made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death — even death on a cross!

My Journal for Today: John MacArthur begins his Strength for Today devotional on this date by reminding his readers (that’s me!) of what the Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 11: 33, writing (from the NASB), “Oh, the depth … of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!” And Paul was agreeing with David, the Psalmist (in Ps. 36: 6) who wrote, “Your judgments (are like) the great deep.” We also read God say, through the Prophet in Isaiah 55: 8 – 9 [NIV], “8 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. 9 "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

When we consider the passage we’ve been studying this month [i.e., Philippians 2: 5-11], certainly no human would have ever scripted God coming to mankind in the way His Incarnation unfolded from God’s plan. And even Christ’s Disciples had trouble recognizing their Messiah, even though they knew of the Old Testament prophesies and walking with Him as they saw Jesus fulfill so many of those prophesies. And in today’s devotional, John MacArthur even speculates on what Jesus’ thoughts might have been about mankind, when MacArthur wrote, ” Somewhere along the path of Christ’s descent, you’d think He would have said to Himself, These people really aren’t worth redeeming. This is too degrading and humiliating!” But thankfully, MacArthur analyzes that Christ’s humility was such to the Heavenly Father that God, the Son, had no such thoughts. Our Lord was inexorably set on a path to humble Himself as a man to the point of death to become the Lamb of God and save mankind.

Who would have thunk it ?! A babe, born in a manger, not a palace; … a boy raised as a carpenter’s son, rather than as a powerful prince; ... and the King of kings, living out his adult years with a ragtag group of itinerants, rather than leading an army against Rome in deliverance of God’s people. And yet, this was the wild and wondrous plan which God used to redeem mankind, culminating in the horror and humiliation Christ endured to shed His blood in atonement for Man’s sin. But no wonder the Disciples of Christ, even His inner circle had trouble seeing Jesus as THE KING of kings and LORD of lords.

As MacArthur states for this date, “God’s ways ARE unsearchable; His truths profound. And His plan to redeem us was accomplished by Christ’s humiliation.” As the kids would say today, “Go figure!” … However, for the one who does figure it out, or at least seek it out (i.e., reasoning and responding in faith from his/her heart), he/she will plumb God’s incredible plan for eternal life from the depths and treasures of the very mind of God [so beautifully summarized in John 3: 16, which you probably have memorized].

That’s where one finds The Good News of the Gospel and gets a glimpse personally into the most incredible display of humility ever fashioned for us to follow. Yes, God’s heights are so incredibly high; but they must be scaled. They are so vastly deep; but they must be plumbed. That, to me, is the essence of any Advent season; and as we move on into this Christmas Season, there will be more; … so, again, stay tuned!

My Prayer Today: Too high and deep are Your ways, Lord; but help me to find them as I seek to know You, my Lord and Savior. Amen

November 15, 2011 … The Qualities of True Wisdom

Passage of the Day: James 3: 17 [ highlight verse - bold/underlined] … 13 Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. 14 But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. 15 Such "wisdom" does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil. 16 For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice. 17 But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. 18 Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.

My Journal for Today: For any who have been following or undertaking this study of the pursuit of Godly wisdom with me during November, you’ll remember that James, the author of our current study in James 3, began our discussion with a rhetorical question he asked in verse 13. He asked who, among his readers, is wise and understanding. Then he begins an answer with a general declaration that the truly wise person is one whose deeds and attitudes will reveal that person’s wisdom [which is a measure of his Christlikeness].

Today, in the highlight verse of James 3: 17, the author is more specific as to the qualities one would find in the Godly wise Christian; and if one reads/studies the list, he/she will find that it is an imposing one, for sure! I think of my oft used word picture of God’s word being a mirror of truth. And the reaction of the natural man when confronted by such a mirror, for example in James’ list in today’s passage, is to either rebel or run from the mirror, not wanting to see what is depicted. However, James is saying that the God-inspired Christian will desire to take what is revealed (i.e., the natural self) and turn himself into the supernatural image of Christ.

In the list presented in James 3: 17, we read that the Godly-wise Christian lives a life of Godly excellence [James 3: 13], where that one is found to be humble, pure, peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy, filled with God’s fruit (see Gal. 5: 22, 23), totally unwavering, and completely without hypocrisy. Wow! What an inventory of values, attitudes, and lifestyle choices! And I don’t know about you; but I’ve got some growing to do as I inventory this list to become a Godly-wise Christian.

Having done an in-depth study of these qualities, even of the Greek terms for each value, I can say that having this list as a periodic viewing into God’s mirror of truth can be a bit painful; but it is a very productive exercise to promote Christian growth. But, we have to be willing to see who REALLY we are when compared with our Model, Who, of course, is Christ.

I strongly believe that God wants His own [i.e., the born-again Christian] to keep looking into God’s mirror of truth/faith (see 2nd Cor. 13: 5), at least periodically, to see where we stand and where we need to grow. That’s why using a self inventory like this one today or looking at another like Paul’s fruit of the Spirit (again see Gal. 5: 22, 23) periodically can be a productive way to let God’s conviction and direction move us closer to Him and so that we can follow Him more readily (see Prov. 3: 5, 6 and Luke 9: 23).

My Prayer Today: Lord, may my life reflect Your mind. Amen

November 7, 2011 … Knowing God

Passage of the Day: Job 28: 28 [in bold/underlined] 23 ... God understands the way to it [i.e., wisdom] and He alone knows where it dwells, 24 for He views the ends of the earth and sees everything under the heavens. 25 When He established the force of the wind and measured out the waters, 26 when He made a decree for the rain and a path for the thunderstorm, 27 then He looked at wisdom and appraised it; He confirmed it and tested it. 28 And He said to man, 'The fear of the Lord—that is wisdom, and to shun evil is understanding.' "

My Journal for Today: If you’re following along with me this month, yesterday I asked you to read and meditate upon Job, all of Chapter 28, where the much maligned Job lamented about where one might find God’s mind – i.e., His wisdom. And in verse 28, Job quoted God’s decree of where it can be found … in the “fear of the Lord,” … with the understanding of God’s wisdom being exhibited by the believer in the shunning of evil.

This is the same refrain echoed by Solomon when the King wrote to his son (and to you and me by extension), “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge [i.e., wisdom], but fools despise wisdom and discipline.” [Proverbs 1: 7] And in Prov. 9: 10, Solomon similarly penned, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.“

Solomon really wanted his son to understand how important Godly wisdom was for God’s children; and I believe through his life and many failures (chronicled in the book of Ecclesiastes), Solomon had come to the realization of where true wisdom resides – i.e., in the mind of God alone; and that is where it must be pursued. So, if Solomon’s son – and any Christian – desires to understand and reflect Godly wisdom in his/her life, that one must know God’s mind. And for us, as Christians pursuing Godly wisdom, the best place to find God’s mind is in God’s word (see 2nd Tim. 3: 16 – 17).

Therefore, for the Christian, fearing God [i.e., revering and/or submitting to God, the Holy Spirit], is the key to open God’s mind for His wisdom; and this begins at salvation and growing to the extent that the believer (i.e., a truly converted Christian) knows and reveres God and lives according to His truth. All of life, therefore, becomes a head-long – no, probably better said, a “heart-long” – pursuit to know God; because the more a Christian knows God, that believer will reflect God in living worship, which is the 24/7 life of Godly values, attitudes, and behavior [and right now some of you may be thinking, as am I, of Romans 12: 1-2, which reflects this truth].

So, I must ask myself - as should you – “Do I fear God? … Do I know Him?” And my answer is to both questions is, for sure; … BUT … NOT WELL ENOUGH! Therefore, as the word picture in Job 28 indicates [see yesterday’s entry], it will be my life-long pursuit to mine God’s mind from His word.

My Prayer Today: To know You, Lord is to live for You. Amen

November 6, 2011 … Searching for Wisdom

Passage of the Day: Job 28 [Yes, the entire chapter. Please read it – linked here!]

My Journal for Today: I’m captivated by the word picture created by Job in Chapter 28, who, because of his dire circumstances became a desperate seeker after the mind of God (i.e., His wisdom). In this chapter, in his deep personal confusion, he pictured the search for wisdom by a man like himself as being like that of the mining practices of his day. If you do a little study on this, as I have, you’ll find out that ancient miners, seeking the precious gems and/or ore of the time, would dig deep vertical shafts into the rock or earth; and then they would lower themselves down on harnesses into the earth to dig further or to pick for the precious gems or ore which they sought. The shafts were barely wide enough for one man to fit into them; and the deeper the hole became, the greater was the risk for cave-in and death for the seeker. But at the same time, as the risk became greater, so did the chances that the miner would pull up products of greater value.

Job saw our search for wisdom like those mining practices of his day. We pick away, mining in the risky life of this world, digging and digging into our relationship with God, … trying to find what we can from God’s mine (of his mind) of great value, many times searching to find the most precious of all commodities, … jewels from the very mind or heart of God. The frustration of such a search is reflected in Job 28: 21, where Job writes, “It [Godly wisdom] is hidden from the eyes of every living thing;…” and if we seek for God’s precious gems of wisdom in the minefield of this world, we will never find the treasures He has waiting for us.

However, … after exploring the metaphor of earthly mining for God’s precious wisdom, Job came (at the end of Chapter 28, in verse 28) to a gem of wisdom, when he quoted directly from God, “The fear of the Lord—that is wisdom, and to shun evil is understanding.” Now, that is a jewel for which we’d be well served to mine in this life and eternally. One might call it a HOPE DIAMOND in God’s treasure chest of wisdom. As John MacArthur puts it in today’s devotional entry from Strength for Today, “Wisdom is found in a Person, not in a place.” Knowing and fearing (i.e., revering) God is the only productive mine where we can dig for true – Godly - wisdom.

True wisdom – the very mindset of God – can only be found in an exhaustive – and sometimes even risky – pursuit of knowing God Himself; and our understanding will be measured by the degree to which we obey His word and depart from the evil God desires for us to avoid (i.e., sin). And we have the richest mine field of all for digging for God’s wisdom available to us in the pages of His word.

Now, I ask myself, “Am I mining for the mind of God deeply enough?” It’s a question worthy of finding the precious answer … the jewels of Godly wisdom.

My Prayer Today: Help me to mine deeply enough to find gems of Your wisdom, dear Lord. Amen