Jesus . . . Rest

Greetings Friend.

What follows are some thoughts on Christ and the Christian’s Rest. I’ve compiled a few items on the theme. The main biblical passages are Matthew 11:28-29 and Hebrews 3 and 4. You may be very familiar with Matthew 11:28-29. If you can recite the text, are you as familiar with the reality it describes? Have you responded to Jesus’ call and have you entered that rest? Having entered, do you live from that rest? What about your life confirms this to you?

Or, does your life, at its deepest recesses, evidence the complete opposite of rest—unrest: …”chaos” …”turmoil”…”fear”…and “always scurrying about needing something but never seeming to be satisfied and quieted?” Do you seek something you see as rest from your own resources, from other people, or from the world? What describes you?

Today, some may need to hear a call to rest for the first time. Others of us may need to hear a call to rest as a reminder. Do you need to hear a call to receive rest for your life? Does it seem as if the help you sense you really need cannot be obtained, so you just assume your experience is life and is all you’ll ever possibly know? Have you given up? If there were a peace or rest available that promised you a new view of life, enjoyment, and separation from the world’s woes and your own, what cost would you be willing to pay? Would the offer even interest you?

As you read what follows, consider the rest described, the source, and the cost. Consider what people did who were contemporaries with Jesus. Will you do the same? If Jesus were to call you specifically, would your ears hear?

"No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the Prophets: 'They will all be taught by God.' Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from Him comes to me.” (Jn 6:44-45)

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” (Mt 11:28-29)

“Since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it.” (Heb 4:1)

“There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest.” (Heb 4:9-11)

“Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.” (Mt 9:12)


“Come unto me, all ye who mourn, with guilt and fear oppressed;
Resign to me the willing heart, and I will give you rest.

Take up my yoke, and learn from me, a meek and lowly mind;
And thus your weary, troubled souls repose and peace shall find.

For light and gentle is my yoke: the burden I impose
Shall ease the heart which groaned before beneath the load of woes.”

(Author Unknown)


“Oh! Wonderful, wonderful! That the one who has help to give is the one who says, Come hither! What love is this! There is love in the act of a man who is able to help and does help him who begs for help. But for one to offer help! and to offer it to all! Yes, and precisely to all such as can do nothing to help in return! To offer it—no, to shout it out, as if the Helper were the one who needed help, as if in fact He who is able and willing to help all was Himself in a sense a needy one, in that He feels an urge, and consequently need to help, need of the suffer in order to help him!” “As for the danger that too many might come, He had no fear of it.” *

“All His willingness to help would perhaps be no help at all if He did not utter this word and thereby take the first step. For in His summons, ‘Come unto me,’ it is He in fact that comes to them … He who utters this saving word, ‘Come hither,’ was not deceived in Himself when He uttered the word, neither will He deceive thee when thou comest to Him to find rest by casting thy burden upon Him. He follows the prompting of His heart in uttering it, and His heart accompanies [follows] the word—follow then thou the word and it will accompany [follow] thee back to His heart.” **

Friend, when considering Matthew 11:28-29, backup and read first chapter 10. Then, after reading into Matthew 11, continue on into chapter 12. Doing so, you will notice the theme of “rest” as it pertains to Christ, captured and conveyed many different ways, all crowned by His call in 11:28.

Matthew 10 reveals Jesus, the Jesus message proclaimed, and reactions to that message. Matthew 11 reveals aspects of John the Baptist’s message (people “came to” him), differing reactions to the Baptist’s message, the Baptist’s own sense of looking to Christ and rest, but then the Spirit has us look beyond the Baptist to see Christ Himself (…as the one to whom all people should come to, and Jesus as “The Caller”). Then, with the Caller, the Call, and the reality of Rest revealed, the first part of Matthew 12 positions Jesus as Lord over the Sabbath (Law, etc.).

As a result of Jesus being proclaimed and believed in, the record shows people experienced physical rest, relational rest, spiritual rest, etc., both immediately and anticipated during future events. These examples of what I (correctly or incorrectly) see as “rest or peace in the life of a person separated to Christ and, thus, in opposition with the world,” extend from a person being yoked to Christ. Once yoked, a person lives in concert with Christ as the fundamental relationship in life, following His lead through life. One who has answered Christ’s call then lives from a position of rest (barring the disruption of that rest due to unbelief or hardness of heart). See John 10:4, 9; Psalm 121:7-8; Psalm 23.

Matthew 11 also connects the concept of rest to final judgment. There were those during Jesus’ life (as now) who rejected Christ, believing they were safe resting in “their” estimation and judgment of Christ and proclamations regarding Him. Yet they were blind as to their true condition and true need, so they could not foresee the time when their apparent rest would vanish and horror become their enduring condition. Thus, there is a sense of rest, or false rest, (actually, it may be termed “being self-reliant”) that exists as a normal attitude associated with people’s view of Christ.

“Come to Me.” The call is Christ’s. It is His own unique pronouncement and narrow invitation to be with Him and forever partake in the Divine relationship of everlasting life. His pronouncement offering rest to all follows, in the text, and flows from His confession to the Father of Divine wisdom doing things just the way His Father purposed. There is no mistake in Christ’s offering of rest. Do not be fooled! You cannot self-generate, nor can the world generate, the type of rest Jesus here emphasizes and offers, and that you and I need.

Following Christ’s call is chapter 12. The first eight verses show Christ as rest from the Law (from self-righteousness and religiosity). In Christ, one is free from the Law, both its demands and judgments. Christ fulfilling the Law means those who came to Christ could rest. The Law could lead to Christ, but only Christ could return rest. Law has this neither by design nor capacity. But, still, many prefer life under and by Law because this way of life seems fashioned for the flesh and fallen human nature. It demands and self-justifies, which, strangely, appears right and safe to some. But it does not provide the needed rest. It does not stem from mercy. It demands.

The entire set of chapters, Matthew 10-12, display for us Christ and reactions to Christ, be those reactions rejection or receipt of His person, message, or rest.

Now, with Jesus’ call from Matthew fresh in mind, proceed to Hebrews chapters 1 through 4. Chapters 3 and 4 emphasis the unique rest related to Christ. The message of the writer is that this rest can be missed. The writer, in similar fashion to Matthew 10 and 11, presents Christ (Hebrews 1-2): His person and position. The writer then provides an example of those who earlier in Divine history rejected, thus missed, God’s offered rest. Interpretations may differ, but I take this example, primarily, as a physical rest conditionally offered to the Israelites. Christ, the substance of Old Testament shadows and history, is the true and promised rest of God that remains for some to enter.

As with Israel then, people today hear Christ presented, but they have not faith. These fail to enter into God’s offered rest (primarily spiritual, relational). Faith moves one toward the reality of what is revealed about Christ as Christ is presented. Faith is a believing response to the call and movement toward Christ. The rest that both Matthew and the writer of Hebrews call people to be sure they participate in is enduring rest: it is being reconciled to God through Christ, then living from that ultimate relationship.

This particular rest bears its own reality and validation to the believer:

“He who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His.” God rested. He enjoyed the new reality He created! He pronounced His work both Good and Very Good. Friend, if a Christian, do you enjoy—as a primary description—your life? Are you resting in God? Frequent admonitions and warnings fill Hebrews 3 and 4 that one can miss out on the life God wants that person to experience. As in Matthew 11, so the Hebrews author encourages us to get and stay close to Christ:

Matthew: “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” Hebrews: “Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

Reader, “rest” is what you and I need. Jesus offers it. We can not create or find the necessary rest apart from Christ. We are the needy ones. We don’t have the basis or source within ourselves to generate it. Neither does the world. There are numerous varieties of false rest to mislead us from coming to and staying with Christ. Jesus is true rest and He invites us to both live in a condition of rest and from a condition (state) of rest. Both Matthew 11:28-29 and Hebrews 3-4 reveal Christ as true rest and stress the importance of one knowing he or she has entered into that rest. What would our lives look like if we lived from a state of Divine rest? Let that thought or vision take hold in your imagination and instruct you.

May you let your life tell you whether you have entered in and live from this rest. If you doubt, revisit Christ’s call. Then, without further delay, enter into His rest today.

God’s best to you.


“With tearful eyes I look around;
Life seems a dark and stormy sea;
Yet, mid the gloom, I hear a sound,
A heavenly whisper, ‘Come to me.’

It tells me of a place of rest;
It tells me where my soul may flee:
Oh, to the weary, faint, oppressed,
How sweet the bidding, ‘Come to me!’

When the poor heart with anguish learns
That earthly props resigned must be,
And from each broken cistern turns,
It hears the accents, “Come to me.”

When against sin I strive in vain,
And cannot from its yoke get free,
Sinking beneath the heavy chain,
The words arrest me, “Come to me.”

‘Come, for all else must fail and die;
Earth is no resting-place for thee;
To heaven direct they weeping eye,
I am thy portion; come to me.’

O voice of mercy! Voice of love!
In conflict, grief, and agony,
Support me, cheer me from above!
And gently whisper, ‘Come to me.’”

(Charlotte Elliott, d. 1871)

(Soren Kierkegaard, Training in Christianity, *p 6 and 9, **p 16; ISBN 0375725644)

Imagination

Greetings Friend.

My suggestion is to meditate through the below in an atmosphere of quietness.

Regarding your Imagination: Does your imagination serve your godly passions and desires or do you often (it may seem) awaken to yourself and find that you’ve been on a road of imaginative thoughts which, in and of themselves, could be identified as unholy, earthly, of the flesh, or even demonic? Friend, you and I need not be subject to an ungodly imagination, but we often remain so for long periods of time. Recognize this and change. Force your imagination to serve you, to lift you into God’s presence, to behold the glories and graces of God, to manifest to your mind—by the Spirit—the inheritance of the saints. Do not live as a slave to your corrupt imagination, whereby the bulk of your idle time consists in nurturing unholy contemplations, when you’ve been made a child of the King!

Consider the following hymn and how godly imagination works for you and presents to you the objects described.


“Now let our souls, on wings sublime, rise from the vanities of time,
Draw back the parting vail, and see the glories of eternity.

Born by a new, celestial birth, why should we grovel here on earth?
Why grasp at vain and fleeting toys, so near to heaven’s eternal joys?

Shall aught beguile us on the road while we are walking back to God?
For strangers into life we come, and dying is but going home.

Welcome, sweet hour of full discharge, that sets our longing souls at large,
Unbinds our chains, breaks up our cell, and gives us with our God to dwell.

To dwell with God, to feel his love, is the full heaven enjoyed above;
And the sweet expectation now is the young dawn of heaven below.”

(Rev. Dr. Thomas Gibbons, d. 1785)


Imagination can work for you and present to you. Perhaps while reading the above hymn one verse or another attracted your thoughts above the others. The first? Maybe the second? Perhaps imagination lifted up to you an idea instead, such as the difference between “vanities of time” and “heaven’s eternal joys,” or “walking back to God” or “dying is but going home.” Friend, permit me to ask, do you have times during each day where your mind and heart employ imagination’s craft for a journey into “the expectation of entering” into God’s full presence when your life here is done? Consider the below and let imagination serve you.


“COURAGE IN THE DAY OF JUDGMENT”

“Have we not often imagined that redeemed souls must have a strange meeting at the judgment, when the secrets of hearts shall be revealed? Is the prospect of it altogether welcome to us? It has been said that, if in this world every man’s heart could be open to the gaze of every other man, no two could ever again be friends, for no two could look each other in the eye. How, then, will our self-respect bear the last ordeal? The beloved apostle gives us the answer. ‘God dwelleth in us. Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit. We know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him. Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment, because as he is so are we.’ If we indeed know this, why should we not be bold?

In that day, we shall revere in others the clear image of God, wrought by God’s own hand. They will revere the same in us. We shall meet each other without a blush. Some of our departed kindred have been glorified so long before us, that we are apt to think of them as vastly our superiors. Their distance from us, which years are lengthening, disheartens us. But we shall overtake them, and that will be no crestfallen meeting. We shall receive their welcome without confusion. We shall not fear their secret contempt when they take us by the hand. Their greetings will have no hollow sound. The salutations of angels will not abash us. The morning stars, which exult in a sinless history of thousands of years, will not look chillingly upon us. Gabriel, Michael, the seven spirits before the throne, will not recognize us haughtily. Even the eye of the Infinite One will not close itself in disgust at our appearing. It shall search us,—He that formed the eye, shall not he see?—it shall search us indeed, but as light searches a prism. It shall find only itself reflected at every angle, and in a radiance of beauty which nothing but itself could evoke.

(Austin Phelps, The New Birth: or, The Work of the Holy Spirit, 1867, p. 227-229)


Does what you just read prompt you to consider (Imagine) any possibilities for your first moments in God’s presence after your earthly life ends, when you depart this world and join the heavenly community, when you become fully aware of yourself in the way God knows you, when you cannot escape the realization of all God has been to you? Give room for your imagination to roam above earth’s dusty ways to spheres where all is filled with nothing less than divine praise! Do you ever go there? Would going there even briefly each day make any difference for your life now—the anticipation of joining the heavenly throng?

Imagination can work for you and present to you. But, imagination can also make the godly expressions of saints from times past yours in times present. Imagination can help you see differences for your life now and lift you into the life to come. Imagination can let you see and share in what another has seen. The hymn below can be yours. As you read it, read it from your perspective, not the author’s. Be the subject. Use your imagination to see what another has seen and go where it leads.

Once you experience the cherished benefits of godly imagination, you’ll not again submit yourself (for long) to the wiles and ways of that which can easily enslave you to corruption. Use your imagination to your advantage and God’s honor.

God’s best to you.


“How bright these glorious spirits shine! Whence all their white array?
How came they to the blissful seats of everlasting day?

Lo! These are they from sufferings great who came to realms of light,
And in the blood of Christ have washed those robes which shine so bright.

Now, with triumphal palms, they stand before the throne on high,
And serve the God they love, amid the glories of the sky.

His presence fills each heart with joy, tunes every voice to sing;
By day, by night, the sacred courts with glad hosannas ring.

The Lamb that dwells amid the throne, shall o’er them still preside,
Feed them with nourishment divine, and all their footsteps guide.

In pastures green he’ll lead his flock, where living streams appear;
And God, the Lord, from every eye, shall wipe off every tear.”

(Isaac Watts, d. 1748)

Acknowledging And Mending The Drift

We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. (Heb 2:1) See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. (Heb 3:12) For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith. Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. (Heb 4:2, 14-15)


Drifting. We can drift. God’s word informs us to be on guard for this. Drifting away from God is a fact. The movement would be hardly noticeable; lost in the confusion and business of our daily lives. It would seem to happen without our choice. We would fault business and distraction, anything but ourselves. But, I fear, it is because we make certain choices and because we have not paid careful attention that we actually drift. What does your life tell you? Have you drifted? Do you and I care for and safe guard that which God has bestowed on us, what we have heard from Him? How could we tell? What would you and I use to know? Are you in any way adrift right now?

Unbelieving. If you have drifted, thus no longer believing and living as you once might have (especially regarding foundational aspects of the Christian faith and their influence on your life), perhaps you’ve drifted to the point where there has even been an unfortunate, yet defining, turn away from God Himself. If honest, I trust you would see and confess this. Reader, do you believe you have drifted from God and now evidence aspects of an unbelieving life? To what degree? Have you drifted so far that the shore of God’s presence is no longer even in sight? What does your life say? Are you in any way unbelieving?

Friend, I, like so many others, waiver in my love for God and my love for people, my relation to God’s word, and actually living God’s word. Living by principles other than God’s love (generally, the alternative is self-interest) my heart is not always toward God or His word. Thus, I’m adrift. My mooring is undone. I move across the sea of my emotions, fears, memories, self-interest, finding in every place the world’s affirmation that “this way” of moving through life is valid and justified. Yet, drifting on the world’s currents leads to compounding confusion created by ungodly thoughts and passions, thereby fostering and strengthening my life of unbelief. It is an ugly and completely ungodly place to expect to find one’s self and try to live life from. My heart grows colder this way. I feel further separated from God and others, and I as a natural course take greater refuge in the citadel of my fleshly soul (alone, yet perversely comforted that I’m with me). I’m left to myself and the world’s spirit (which can also, and only, be cold). God does not redeem people to live adrift, to live in unbelief, to live separated to self. This is not why He gave His Son.

You and I are weak, friend, with respect to our paying attention, safeguarding godly beliefs which become godly lives, and living out godly love. We are not careful. We so commonly do not combine what of God we hear with the faith we’ve been granted as a gift, thus we don’t experience true godly life. Neither do others through us. We need to confess this sad condition when we find it. Then again, perhaps I am alone on this. Perhaps it is only me who experiences these unfortunate states. But, I believe otherwise. I believe both you and I are together subject to unbelief, to drifting, to turning away from God. We are casualties of all these conditions, because of our insufficient care and concern for our hearts, we don’t believe God, and we do not live from the principle of God’s love.

But Jesus knows you are tempted to live in ways that cool your godly affections and ignite fleshly fires. You must be aware that Jesus continually knows your condition. He knows you better than you know yourself. And He cares. If you have been reconciled to the Father through Christ, He is not your enemy. When we are faithless, He remains faithful. Thus, you and I should be easily compelled to live constantly on guard, and know when drifting and unbelief have occurred, then seek Christ, confessing to Him what He already knows about us. Again, there are no grounds for fear at this point, unless one is not being truly honest with God or has never encountered His grace.

Father above, where Christ Your Son is stationed at Your side, You love me and those reconciled to You through Your Son. You gave us Your Son and Your word, so we can know You and sufficiently know ourselves and preserve the wonder of life with You throughout our earthly days. You’ve warned me to watch my heart. You’ve told me I’m subject to doubting You. You’ve clearly told me I can drift, become totally turned away from You through my unbelief and sin, my alternate desire then being to live by self-rule or that of the world. But I have a confidence, Father. My confidence is in Your Son, the very one seated to Your right. You see Him, hear Him, and You love Him. Lord Jesus, as my great high priest, as my confidence, as my advocated before Your Father and my Father, You always know my condition. Turn me back toward You. Take me away from that which I have set as god for myself. Restore the notion and reality of Your love to me and let that reality anchor my soul sufficiently to prevent the drift again. Restore Your word as light for my life. May Your word always find union with faith in my heart and may my life thus bear lasting fruit to Thee and benefit others. Forgive me Father for not believing You. May I pay more careful attention and honor all You have provided me through Your Son. Thanks be to You Father, Lord Jesus, and Spirit of God. Amen.


“Jesus, seek thy wandering sheep;
Bring me back, and lead, and keep;
Take on thee my every care,
Bear me, on thy bosom bear;
Let me know my Shepherd’s voice,
More and more in thee rejoice;
More and more of thee receive;
Ever in thy spirit live,--

Live till all thy life I know,
Foll’wing thee, my Lord, below;
Gladly then from earth remove,
Gathered to thy fold above:
Oh, that I at last my stand
With the sheep at they right hand,
Take the crown so freely given,
Enter in by thee to heaven!”

(author believed to be Charles Wesley)

Your Goodness

“How great is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you, which you bestow in the sight of men on those who take refuge in you. In the shelter of your presence you hide them.” (PS 31.19-20)

“And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.’” (Rev 21.3; see Eph 2:19-22, Jn 14:23)

“And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever—the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.” (Jn 14.16-17) “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” (14.27)

“I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.” (Jn 15.11) “I tell you the truth, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy.” (Jn 16.20, 22) "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." (33)

"My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.” (Jn 17.20-21)


Father, Your word and Your Son speak encouragements to me. The world could never fill my ear nor set my heart with such wonderful words! O Lord, I trust in Your goodness. You are my refuge. Your presence is my peace. You are with me. You assure me. As it was with the apostles, so it is with me. You have graciously and freely given me your Spirit of Truth. The world knows him not. You understand me. The world does not. You are my peace. The world is not. The world rejoices to see you gone, but for me you are ever present and your joy I know and keep. These blessings they cannot know. These they do not want to know. Thank You, O God, for permitting me to know You, to experience Your presence, Your joy, Your peace.

I am encouraged and strengthened. Jesus, you prayed for me when you prayed for your disciples. You had me in mind. I rejoice and am grateful for your love and care, and for your faithfulness to the Father. Because of your life with and in me, you say the world, as blind and evil as it is, can know the Father sent you. Thus my prayer. This is my heart’s desire confessed to you. Without you I am nothing and can do nothing worthy of your name. Father, Lord Jesus, Spirit of God, as I rest in You, and You abide with me, may I realize Your presence and goodness more consistently and fully day after day, and may some from the world come to know, Father, that Jesus is your Son and that he was sent by You into the world as Your revelation to humanity. In gratitude for all You are to me, may my life please bear witness to You in this world. Amen

Where is my God?

“Where is my God?—does he retire beyond the reach of humble sighs? Are these weak breathings of desire too languid to ascend the skies?” “Teach my weak heart, O gracious Lord, with stronger faith to call thee mine; bid me pronounce the blissful word, my Father—God, with joy divine.” (Anne Steele, 1716-1778)


The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, (Lk 4:18)

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. (Jn 3:17, 19, 20)

Surely you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place. (PS 51:6)

"I have no husband," she replied. (Jn 4:17) Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, "Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?" (Jn 4:28-29) So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. (Jn 4:40)

Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent. Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me. (Rev 3:19-20)

Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him." Jesus replied, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me. (Jn 14:21, 23)

But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; may those who love your salvation always say, "The LORD be exalted!" Yet I am poor and needy; may the Lord think of me. You are my help and my deliverer; O my God, do not delay. (PS 40:16-17)


Dear Reader, the heart of God is to reconcile and relate. God wants you to know Him. The heart of man is to cry out, yet to often remain hidden and shut up in a false sense of security and life; thus crying due to real need, but not understanding, and thereby rejecting, the only real answer. Christ came not to condemn. Do not fear Him. When He approaches you and speaks to you, receive Him. Be honest.

Truth in the inward parts. Keeping the heart’s door shut. Evil hates light because it will be exposed. “I have no husband.” “Come, see.” “They urged him to stay…he stayed.” Friend, have you met Christ in the inward parts of your heart—ever, or recently anew? If not, what do you fear? Loss of yourself? Exposure of what you know yourself to actually be? Christ may initially approach you from the outside, like he did the Samaritan woman, but He desires entrance to the most intimate parts of your life, as when He knocks. Do you sense something within that isn’t set quite right? If you do, don’t let fear (or sin) hold you hostage. Has Christ spoken there? Receive Him there. Agree with Him regarding His view of your life. This will lead to your increased desire to be with Him.

“He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed.” What if the light you believe you have is actually darkness? Christ came to free. We need to be freed, freed from self, sin, the world and Satan. Trust not in yourself. Let Christ deliver you. Can you for a moment envision what such freedom would mean to you? If you desire delivery from yourself, behold Christ.

If you have recently met Christ in the inward part of your heart, what have you experienced? Liberty? Petitioning God to spend more time with you? Do you say with the psalmist "The LORD be exalted!" and “You are my help and my deliverer; O my God, do not delay!” This is true freedom with and in Christ: Praising and Desiring God. If you have recently met Christ in the inward part of your heart, then you do know the blessed joy of His presence at that place and you do acknowledge the ever growing desire for further union with God. Christ will eat with you, and you with Him. Do you now enjoy this meal? Would you like to? Do not withhold Christ’s access to your heart.

“He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him… My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him." Friend, here is the best of the Christian experience—living in the presence of God. As you know, the reality revealed to us by these words is not automatic or a guarantee this side of Heaven. Consider Jesus’ emphasis on God’s word and your emphasis on God’s word. Do you believe Christ’s words regarding His words? Your emphasis on God’s word reveals the degree to which you love Him. How great is your love for Him? Pursue Him freely. He has given His word to you. Both Father and Son will love you, manifest Themselves to you, and establish Their home with you now. What more could you and I ever desire?

“Where is my God?” Know and guard your heart, friend. Jesus came to deliver you, to free you, to establish you, and to enable you to know Him and His Father to the greatest degree possible this side of Heaven. You yourself can prevent this deepest and fullest God intimacy from ever being apart of your life. Don’t let a Christ-less condition be your earthly testimony. Jesus reveals the greatest offer ever. Receive Him in the inward parts always.



“He lives,--the great Redeemer lives:
What joy the blest assurance gives!
And now, before his Father, God,
Pleads the full merit of his blood.

Repeated crimes awake our fears,
And justice armed with frowns appears;
But in the Saviour’s lovely face,
Sweet mercy smiles, and all is peace.

Hence, then, ye black, despairing thoughts;
Above our fears, above our faults,
His powerful intercessions rise,
And guild recedes, and terror dies.

In every dark, distressful hour,
When sin and Satan join their power,
Let this dear hope repel the dart,
That Jesus bears us on his heart.

Great Advocate! Almighty Friend!
On thee our humble hopes depend:
Our cause can never, never fail,
For thou dost plead, and must prevail.”

(Anne Steele, 1716-1778)

The World Crushes. The Lord Lifts.

“We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed;” (2 Cor 4:8) “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died [with Christ], and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.” (Col 1:1-3)


Dear Reader,

“The World Crushes. The Lord Lifts.” This title says volumes to us, does it not? You understand what I mean. There seems no escape for the godly from all that is against God in the world. We see it and hear it without pause. We are simply overwhelmed by it. (Praise God if you see and hear the difference!) And we tell ourselves “We’ve no sufficient remedy to stem its advance! Ungodliness and evil through men spreads without strain! This condition crushes us!”

Yet, for us who profess to know Christ, who have died with Him and now live with Him, there is remedy for our minds and hearts. Our remedy, yours as an individual and ours collectively, is Christ Himself. We must never forget this. We must never lose sight of Him during our days else the world will certainly achieve its goal and crush us. The reality is that many of us have already lost sight of Christ, and we are now crushed in mind, heart, and perhaps even body. You know who you are, if you are crushed. You feel the world’s weight too much. But the “worldly crush” need not be the end. You can be, and should be, “Lifted.”

Jesus himself, on His cross, was suspended (lifted) between the earth and Heaven. He came from Heaven to earth, was rejected by those He came to, and was cast up away from the earth as a plague, an evil doer, and undesirable. Many tried to “crush” Him with stones, threats and death. Those of the world wanted nothing of Him, yet He was the world’s Saviour. He would bear the world’s weight. Evil hearts cast Him from “their” earth. Always remember that Jesus, more than we ever will, understands the evil and weighty pressures of the world. We can, and should, take great comfort that Jesus knows our daily plight and that He is for us. The world does not know this, but God is in charge and all is His. He is King. This fact alone can lift us.

Jesus returned to His Father (and our Father). His Father lifted Him to a place the world would never imagine and in a way the world could never do. And we, as Christians, are now “in Him” in the presence of His Father; though we do not fully apprehend this reality. Yet, as those professing Christ, we should realize the truth regarding our Divine position throughout our days (have experience of the earthly-Heavenly difference and be linked more to the Heavenly), knowing that one day our experiential “suspension” between earth and Heaven will change. We will be fully free from all that is earthly and worldly (all it’s crushing weight), and we will be fully lifted by the Father into the fullness of God’s presence. But, for now, as Christians, we feel torn between two worlds. Sometimes we are simply crushed.

Friend, do not let the world win over you! The Lord Lifts! He is your true(er) identity and He is your true(er) reality. Jesus is the Head of His body. Where the Head is the body will also be. The world is passing away. Let it pass! You and God, and everything you have through Christ in God, are forever fixed and will never pass away. You can and will be Lifted!

Below, I have provided three hymns from the Rev. Ottiwell Heginbotham (1744-1768) to assist you in godly reflections and meditations on being Crushed or Lifted. Distinctions that we experience as Christians, with heart-felt sensitivities and Christ centered confessions, abound in these hymns. Very little is known of this man. I do not even know the titles to these works. What I find truly amazing about them, though, is not just that they so wonderfully capture and express Christian truths and heart confessions, but that their author died at age 24! How young! Yet, what depth and maturity of heart with God! How many years, friend, have you and I professed Christ? See if your heart sings in agreement with the words below that originate from such a young author. If not, perhaps too much of the world’s weight has crushed you for too long. Recognize your relation to your Lord and let the Lord Lift you today. Let Him be your life, and let Him Lift you every day. God’s best to you.

Carl


HYMN 1

“Yes, I will bless thee, O my God!
Through all my earthly days;
And to eternity prolong
Thy vast, thy boundless praise.

In every smiling, happy hour,
Be this my sweet employ:
Thy praise refines my earthly bliss,
And doubles all my joy.

When gloomy care, and keen distress
Afflict my throbbing breast,
Thy praise shall mingle with my tears,
And lull each pain to rest.

Nor shall my tongue alone proclaim
The honors of my God:
My life, with all its active powers,
Shall spread thy praise abroad.

Nor death itself shall stop my song,
Though it will close my eyes;
My thoughts shall then to nobler heights,
And sweeter raptures rise.

There shall my lips in endless praise
Their grateful tribute pay;
The theme demands an angel’s tongue,
And an eternal day.”


HYMN 2

“Sweet the moments, rich in blessing,
Which before the cross I spend;
Life, and health, and peace possessing,
From the sinner’s dying Friend.

Truly blessed is this station,
Low before his cross to lie;
While I see divine compassion
Beaming in his gracious eye.

Here it is I find my heaven,
While upon the cross I gaze;
Love I much? I’ve much forgiven;
I’m a miracle of grace.

Love and grief my heart dividing,
With my tears his feet I’ll bathe;
Constant still, in faith abiding,
Life deriving from his death.

Here in tender, grateful sorrow
With my Saviour will I stay;
Here new hope and strength will borrow;
Here will love my fears away.”


HYMN 3

“Sweet peace of conscience, heavenly guest,
Come, fix thy mansion in my breast;
Dispel my doubts, my fears control,
And heal the anguish of my soul.

Come, smiling hope, and joy sincere,
Come, make your constant dwelling here;
Still let your presence cheer my heart,
Nor sin compel you to depart.

O God of hope and peace divine,
Make thou these secret pleasures mine;
Forgive my sins, my fears remove,
And fill my heart with joy and love.”

The Whole of My Day is Heavenward

Friend, is The Whole of Your Day Heavenward?

Is it?

Just what type of question is this? It is a question intended to produce reflection.

Let us reflect.

Even if you profess to be a Christian, most likely, as with me, your days would be described as anything but Heavenward in thoughts, in desires, in words, or in actions. Pressing and urgent matters and concerns seem to demand our all, do they not? Distractions abound. We live on the surface level of the Worldly, and we usually only engage what is temporary and passing. This all seems normal to us. These are our days.

Yet, beyond our notice, we are truly moving Heavenward. We will one day stand fully in God’s presence and we will know ourselves as He knows us. (Are you comfortable with that?) Our memory will present each of us with inescapable reminders of our days and of times when we were Heavenward, when we were Worldly, and when we were Heavenward though in the World; when we consciously discerned the difference and chose the Heavenward. In the end, in an ultimate sense, one can say that even without our conscious participation or direct notice “The Whole of Our Days is Heavenward.”

I can probably assume that we more often than not pass the moments of our days so caught up with every temporal care that we close most days without any sincere acknowledgement of our relation with God and even more without any sincere communion or fellowship with Him. Most of you reading this may even have a history of closing your days without a review of those days, without expressing gratitude to God, without confessing sin to God, without experiencing forgiveness from God, or even without having spent minimal time pursuing God through His Word. Is this you?

If this description is remotely true of us, what does it reveal about how we value God and about whether or not we truly know Him? Whether we even relate to God as our Father? Is God truly my God and your God, or do our lives reveal that something else is? What could ever be god to us if it is not God? If, in the end, after our earthly lives, we believe we will spend eternity with God—if this our hope—why is He not more part of our lives now? Is eternal life with God some existence to begin after I leave this earthly journey, or am I immersed in eternal life now? If we are not experiencing what we believe should be a level of fellowship with God during our days “now,” why not? Do you ask yourself such questions, or do I alone consider such matters?

“The Whole of My Day is Heavenward.”

“The Whole of Your Day is Heavenward.”

These are descriptive statements. But why “Whole”? What is meant by this word? Do we imply the “entirety of” or the “tone of”? Perhaps we can find some room for self-comfort, some ground of safety for our conscience, if we decrease the strength of the phrase “The Whole of My Day is Heavenward” to “The Tone of My Day is Heavenward.” For we tell ourselves such complaints, don’t we? “It is simply impossible that every breathing second I’d be Heavenward in all my faculties and all my function! What weight of expectation as this is demanded of me!” All right. Let us then, for preservation sake, define “The Whole of” as “The Tone of.” Very good. Here we are. Now we feel safer before ourselves (and God). Let us continue.

Reader, if you would confess that most of your days are not Heavenward, can you honestly say that some are? Do you see parts that are? Further, and perhaps more important, do you recognize any trace of desire within you that more of your day would be so?

Are you aware of God’s personal work in your life, His drawing? Is God’s drawing you to Himself noticeable? That is, is He revealing or disclosing more spiritual understanding to you? Do you see? Do you hear? Does something remain, something direct, does something grow? Can you answer “yes”?

Is your desire for more consistency through your day for times of pursuing God and the things of God, for more communion and fellowship with God, for times of ongoing reflection and prayer, and if so, do you understand what would need to occur so that those times of Divine communion would then be experienced? Regarding your desires, do they remain, do they direct, do they grow? Can you answer “yes”?

Or, is this entire line of questioning and the idea of self-reflection foreign to you? What, then, if you lost some or all of what to this point God has granted you? Would you be aware of such loss? What if God’s drawing and your desires for God began to diminish, withdraw and not remain? No longer direct? Die? Would it even matter? It happens to some.

Friend, the above line of questioning and the items for self-reflection and self-awareness in regard to your and my individual relations with God are of the upmost importance. Consider Jesus’ own words to us from Matthew 13:12:

“Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.”

The thirteenth chapter of Matthew is both remarkable and essential for Christian life. What Jesus says here and how the Spirit of God has divinely ordained the chapter’s structure are fascinating and beyond the scope of this writing. But two points are immediately relevant: what verse 13:12 describes, and what those who have been given can learn from those who seemed to have but didn’t.

First, what verse 13:12 describes. Dear reader, it describes you. It describes me. If we have ever read or heard God’s Word it describes us. This is not a verse calling us to action. It is a verse telling us something about ourselves. It is disclosure. It is revelation. It makes something known that without God’s action would otherwise never be apprehended much less naturally figured out. The nature of this verse, initially spoke from our Savior’s lips, is descriptive. Meaning, you and I are somewhere in this verse. We are either (1) of the group “Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance” or (2) of the group “Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.”

Now, I have two questions for you, questions I have both asked and answered for myself. Question one: Which group do you want to be in, group (1) or group (2)? Question two: Which group are you in, group (1) or group (2)? Your answers to both questions matter. Jesus is here, as the Living Word of God, recorded (now to us in the Written Word of God) telling us as hearers and readers of God’s Word something essential. Jesus is saying, “I am disclosing something to you about your relation to God’s Word [the “seed” in the Matthew 13, Parable of the Soils], thus I am disclosing something to you about your relation to God.”

“Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.”

Again, Jesus here describes you. Where are you? What does the “Tone” the “Whole” of your life say? How does your life place you? What do you see?

Second, what can those who have been given, who will be given more, whose lives will see the fruit from what they’ve been given (the seed), what can these learn from the others who truly do not have, those that lose what they seemed to have? Answer: discernment and self-awareness. Jesus describes for us enemies of God’s Word, and we are given the divine understanding of these enemies to both discern them, be self-aware of their presence, influence and affects on our lives with and before God.

Jesus states in Matthew 13:20, 22 and 23 that “the seed” is “the Word.” In verse 13:19 Jesus calls it “the Message about the Kingdom.” This Message and these Words are the seed which are sown by God (the Son of Man? Matthew 13:37) in your life and mine. From this seed, according to the seed’s nature, growth should follow, and fruit should be the natural outcome, the natural end. And while it is of interest to discuss the presence of fruit from the Word in our lives, this is not the current task at hand. What we want to learn is something that those who do not have or those who seem to have actually don’t have. These are truly "Have-Nots." By examining them, we want understanding of what causes God’s Word to die in our lives so that we can prevent that end.

Visit with me Jesus’ description of this group from Matthew 13:18-22:

"Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown along the path.

The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away.

The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful.”

Reader, the three descriptions above apply to individuals who at some time or times, perhaps regularly, engage God’s Word or are engaged by God’s Word. But in no way does God’s Word (the seed) take root in the person’s heart (the person’s life), grow, and bear fruit. But it may, and likely does, according to 13:12, seem that certain individuals appear to themselves and others as godly. Jesus says they truly are not. They have a false and unfruitful relationship to God and His Word, but for us their undoing is educational. If you have placed yourself in Group 1 of Matthew 13:12, and you truly are a member of that group, here is the instruction that will increase your discernment and increase your self-awareness.

God’s Word, His Message about His Kingdom, and me, through observing those who seemed to have had but truly did not:

“When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown along the path.”

Here, God’s Word is sown quickly and dies quickly. How does it die? It is discarded and removed. The attention and effort you and I give to God’s Word is critical. How we value God’s Word is central. The evil one, the Devil, has a vested interest in damaging and destroying my relation to God’s Word, both my view of it and my desire for it. He wants that relationship to die. He wants the Word of God in my heart to die. He wants no root to take, no growth to occur, and no fruit to show. He devours the Word.

Remember the Devil’s temptation to Eve and Adam? “Did God truly say?” The Devil wants you to doubt and disbelieve God’s Word (to doubt and disbelieve God), be disinterested in God’s Word, to deny and dismiss God’s Word, to devalue doctrine. The Devil wants to be our god by default, by helping us believe we are like God (determining wrong and right), disassociating ourselves from God through a quick yet significant dismissal of His Word. The Devil is a liar, a deceiver and a destroyer. Friend, discern and be self-aware of your relation to God and His Word continually. Ask yourself about your relation to God and His Word. Do you note elements of this paragraph in your life? What can you learn about yourself from this first group of those who truly never had and lost what they seemed to have?

“The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away.“

This description is difficult for us all. God’s Word is here contrasted with the reality of external Worldly pressures as expressed through the lives of others (certainly the ungodly). They produce fear and lead to quick decisions and actions. Two realities locked in battle: God’s Kingdom and the World. Let us not think too highly of ourselves, though. Perhaps we, like many others, would cave to the threats of death or torture because of the Word. I pray to God not, and we must ever live with the impression of our Savior in our minds and on our hearts to strengthen us if we ever face such threats. If you have read Foxes Book of Martyrs, you know the degree of evil the ungodly are capable of and many a saint has submitted to.

But let us understand the phrase “at once receives it with joy.” Here perhaps is the key. God’s message is in some degree appealing to the lost. But not every lost heart undergoes the necessary brokenness whereby the seed can be properly planted. This example reveals shallowness towards God. God’s Word was not truly nor completely understood in the example of this life. Something of God’s message was valued, but the value of temporal life was actually above that of God and what God revealed about Himself and life with Him. If your relation to God and His Word is shallow, then you will likely deny Him more easily when fearful of Worldly threats. His Word in you will die.

The World and those of the World are natural enemies to God and His Word. These are continual external pressures on the life of one who has a relation to God and His Word. This example reveals a misplaced worth. The seed in this life died. Friend, discern and be self-aware of your relation to God and His Word continually. Ask yourself about your relation to God and His Word and how external pressures of the World affect you. Do you note elements of this paragraph in your life? What can you learn about yourself from this second group of those who truly never had and lost what they seemed to have?

“The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful.”

Fist it was the Devil. Then external Worldly pressures. Here we face ourselves and our fallen, natural, fleshly and ungodly natures. Here we face internal Worldly pressures. Does the term “thorns” describe your heart? Does the phrase “the worries of this life” express your inner world? Do you have a false view of true wealth? Friend, the Devil and the external World can both have their affect on you and influence you to deny God and abandon His Word. But we can do that to ourselves without their assistance. Your fallen-ness (that self-centered independence) does not want God. Desiring God is unnatural. Your fallen-ness would rather exist as god and judge, condemn, fear, and be focused so much on the here-and-now that you forget God and His foreverness. If you are thus focused on yourself, you’ll never see, hear, or know God. His Word, which is everlasting, will never be valued when you are so set on knowing only that which passes.

You, dear Reader, have the capability to cause any seed of God’s Word to not take root, to not grow, to not bear fruit, to essentially die. Congratulations. When you finally stand in God’s presence unable to escape your memory will you blame the Devil, the apple (the external World), or yourself? Ask yourself regarding your relation to God and His Word and how the internal pressures of your sinfulness affect you. Converse with God about it. Confess and repent. Do you note elements of this paragraph in your life? What can you learn about yourself from this third group of those who truly never had and lost what they seemed to have?

“The Whole (tone) of My Day is Heavenward.”

“The Whole (tone) of Your Day is Heavenward.”

“Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.”

Reader, if you have made it this far, I trust something has become apparent to you regarding your life with God and your relation to God’s Word. Jesus gave us Matthew 13:12 to reveal something to us about both. There are valuable lessons for us to learn from the lives of those who seemed to have but truly didn’t that they themselves are unable to know and understand. What can you learn from those who cannot learn? God gives you such understanding.

If I were to continue with this discourse, I would examine the remainder of Matthew 13 to see what we can understand about God’s Kingdom and our relation to those items, as well as each reference in Matthew regarding God’s Kingdom. For, remember, this seed, God’s Word, which is planted in our lives to grow (mature and open up—disclose), and bear fruit, is the message about the Kingdom. Perhaps as you read Matthew again, you’ll associate these truths to Jesus’ Matthew 13 statements.

God’s best to you. May you sense God’s drawing and respond. May you desire more of Him, pursue Him and be on guard to what will cause His Word in your life to either grow or die. May you not fear your memory on that day you stand before Him. He is all knowing and ever present. In actuality, you live before Him now. There is no hiding.

Carl