The Great Exchange

I was struck by a certain truth today!

God exchanged our wretchedness for His perfect righteousness.

He could have come down as a warrior to defeat sin. But He chose the form of man. Not just man, but a babe. It was the ultimate form of humility. A baby totally dependent on man, specifically his mother, to fulfill his every need. He grew up in great wisdom and stature and favor with God and man. Then chose to leave all, not to just go back to heaven, but to save the very people (and mankind) that He was dependent on as a babe. And not just taking us back to heaven with him, but choosing to die to pay the price that our horrendous sin required!

NOT ONLY THAT!

He became sin! We will never understand what that entails. Think of all the most wicked and evil sins that man has committed; sins that every single one of us has the ability to commit. He became that. He became the adulterer. He became the pedophiliac. He became the liar. He became the terrorist. He became sin so that we could become the righteousness of God! Just think on this friend.

What kind of love could drive Him to this! A love we can't even fathom, yet a love that is to drive us to love just like that!

Another beautiful picture of this exchange is wealth. We arrive in this world spiritually poor and deprived of any chance to gain riches or wealth due to our sinful state. Yet, our merciful Maker, through His grace, provides riches, immense and overflowing. He takes our poverty as His own. Dust to Riches. That's us! And He, deserving nothing but majesty and riches becomes the beggar groveling for every bite.

Oh, the mercy! Oh, the grace!

Nehemiah 9

May Your glorious name be praised! You alone are God!

YOU made...

YOU preserve...

YOU made a covenant...

YOU promised...

YOU saw...

YOU heard...

YOU displayed...

YOU knew...

YOU HAVE A GLORIOUS REPUTATION THAT HAS NEVER BEEN FORGOTTEN!

YOU divided...

YOU hurled...

YOU led...

YOU came...

YOU gave...

YOU instructed...

YOU commanded...

BUT our ancestors were proud... THEY refused... THEY paid no attention. THEY became stubborn...

BUT YOU are a God of forgiveness...in your great mercy YOU did not abandon them to die in the wilderness...YOU sent Your good Spirit to instruct them...

THEN YOU helped...
YOU placed...
YOU made...
YOU subdued...

BUT despite all of this, they were disobedient and rebelled against YOU. THEY turned....THEY committed...

SO, YOU handed them over..

BUT, THEY cried... and YOU heard...In YOUR great mercy, YOU rescued...YOU listened...

YOU warned them...

BUT THEY became proud...THEY disobeyed...THEY stubbornly turned..

BUT YOU sent Your Spirit who warned them through prophets...In Your great mercy, YOU did not completely destroy of abandon them...

What a gracious and merciful God you are!

As I read through this chapter I saw me. The span of my lifetime thus far. I am where I am and who I am only by the amazing grace of God and His mercy on my life.



 

The Stiff-Necked (Like Me)

"Lord, open my eyes to the wonderful things in Your Law."

This is my prayer so often as I sit down to open God's Word each morning. Today was wonderful, yet not so wonderful. You know, days when deep conviction sets in. Yet, at the same time seeing God's amazing mercy. This God who showers us with new mercies every day.

I started reading the book of Mark last week. The second Gospel of the Life of Jesus. I don't know about about you,  but sometimes self-righteousness rears its ugly head and I think, "I know all these Bible stories. I learned them from the time I was knee high to a grasshopper." (O.K. Now I am sounding a tad like my grandpa.) As I read, I encountered over and over again the amazing unbelief that followed Jesus around in the form of His very disciples. Not the mass of followers. His beloved twelve.

There I found myself. 

Mark 4:35-41 recounts the storm being stilled by its very Creator. Now to be clear, many other healings took place before this, but the response of his close followers was fear. Fear of the waves. Fear of the wind. Fear of perishing. Their Savior stilled it instantly. He questioned them as to why they were afraid. He asked them, "Do you still have no faith?" There response: "they became VERY much afraid and said to one another,"Who then is this, that even the wind and sea obey Him?"

Many more healings took place and five thousand (or more) are fed with very little. Another miracle before their very eyes. They leave the mountain side to take a boat to the other side. During this ride, Jesus comes walking on the water to them. Their response: FEAR! Utter Astonishment! And we are told that "they had gained no insight from the feeding of the five thousand, but their hearts were hardened."

More miracles, feedings and healings. The Pharisees enter the picture. Jesus warns His disciples of the "leaven of the Pharisees", and yet, all they can think about is food; real bread. Jesus gently reminds them of all He has done. He asks them several questions to jog their minds about what they have just been a part of. It's useless. They are helpless. At this point, I think to myself, "Can you believe it? Such unbelief!" 

Surely they have to start understanding. No. Not yet, Now enters Peter. Jesus is expressing to them what is about to happen to Him. Mark 8:32 says, "And He was stating the matter plainly. And Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him." Peter rebuked Jesus! Can you believe it? If I was Jesus, I'm pretty sure I would have zapped them all.

Then my heart condemns me. I find myself wondering what I would do. What I do now? God is faithful. God is everpresent. I forget. I fear. I distrust. I even....rebuke. "God, You really don't know what You're doing!" Do I say these words? No! But I live them out.

I praise Jesus for His amazing mercy! Thankful He doesn't give up on me and zap me. In awe that He reaches down so often in His gentle, loving way and nudges me to keep going. To keep believing. To keep loving Him.

He Rescues Us!

2 Peter 2:4-7,9

"For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment; if He did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly; if by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes He condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; and if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked....THEN THE LORD KNOWS HOW TO RESCUE THE GODLY FROM TRIALS AND TO KEEP THE UNRIGHTEOUS UNDER PUNISHMENT UNTIL THE DAY OF JUDGMENT.

The girls and I have been studying through the story of Sodom and Gomorrah in devotions each morning. Today we looked at this passage from Peter. I have read through the Bible several times, but have never seen this verse clearly. What mercy God lavished on Lot! Lot struggled to leave this wicked city, so the angels grabbed him and physically removed him. What mercy! 

Peter continued this theme of mercy by applying this event to the New Testament Church. He reminds his readers and us, that God is capable of rescuing no matter how much destruction appears around His children. No matter the trial that comes your way (or mine) our God is a big God and has a big plan. 

What an Gospel opportunity to present to my littlest who still hasn't made the decision. Sin is destructive, but God has made a way to save us. 

What a God of mercy!

So, my friend, do you find yourself in the deep pit of trial and despair? God knows and sees. He will rescue you. In His time. In His way. For our good. For His glory.

The Extent of a Merciful God

It seems that everywhere I read in the Scriptures, no matter how sinful the people were, God always extended mercy.


Judges 1 and 2 was where I meditated today. 


Joshua led the people into the promised land and gave them the orders of the Lord before He died.  The Israelites failed to obey. Every single tribe failed to drive out the heathen and idolaters in the land they were given. The cycle continued.  The anger of the Lord burned against them; He verbally reproved them; they lifted up their eyes to heaven, wept and sacrificed to their God.


Judges 2:10 "All that generation also were gathered  to their fathers; and there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord, nor yet the work which He had done for Israel."


The baton was not passed. The mandate given to the people in Deuteronomy 6:7-8 was forgotten.


Lord, help me to pass your goodness and the Gospel on to the next generation by my daily interaction with my children. Help me to NOT forget to instruct them. Grant me strength in this task.


So, one would conclude what is stated next; "Then the sons of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals, and they forsook the Lord their God...."


The cycle: God's anger burned; He gave them over to their enemies; wherever they went the hand of the Lord was against them.


As I read verse 16 of chapter 2, tears began to flow.


"Then the Lord raised up judges who delivered them from the hands of those who plundered them." WHAT??? They don't deserve this Lord.


I don't deserve this.


The mercy God displays to His children is astounding. I need this mercy every day. God's love and covenant with His children is never-ending. His promises to Abraham WOULD be fulfilled. His promises to me, His child, WILL be fulfilled.


I am awestruck by this mercy.

Unworthy

(Luke 71-10)

Jesus has entered Capernaum. The crowds continue to follow him. Sadly, they are following for their own needs to be met, as well as just seeing Him as a prophet.

The crowd seems to be a mixed group of people. There are always those who have sincere faith who really desire to know this Jesus.

²Now a centurion had a servant who was sick and at the point of death, who was highly valued by him.³When the centurion heard about Jesus, he sent to him elders of the Jews, asking him to come and heal his servant.

Notice the religious leaders request of Jesus.

⁴And when they came to Jesus, they pleaded with him earnestly, saying, "He is worthy to have you do this for him, ⁵for he loves our nation, and he is the one who built us our synagogue."

Notice the centurion's response.

⁶And Jesus went with them. When he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends, saying to him, "Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof. ⁷Therefore I did not presume to come to you. But say the word, and let my servant be healed.⁸For I too am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me: and I say to one, 'Go,' and he goes; and to another, 'Come,' and he comes; and to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it." ⁹When Jesus heard these things, he marveled at him, and turning to the crowd that followed him, said, "I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith." ¹⁰And when those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the servant well.

There was an extreme change in response. I suspect the first request was from hearts of the religious leaders. They were always concerned for the outward; wanting to "look good"; making note of what people did instead of their motives.

Jesus is always concerned with the heart. So many times he reprimanded the religious leaders for this.

My heart? I know the truth of Jeremiah 17:9. My heart is deceitful and desperately wicked...I don't even know the measure of this. But my Jesus knows. I pray for his mercies every day.

Jesus saw the Centurion's true faith, and rewarded it.

Are you worthy or unworthy?

Amazing Man!

The book of Job is where I find myself settled in God's Word. As I meandered and studied through the first chapter, I was amazed at the events at hand.

Job is described as "blameless, upright, fearing God, and turning away from evil". These are truly evidences of his close walk with his God, Yahweh.

We've all heard the story of this man who was sifted by the devil with the permission of God.

He was a rich man, by all accounts. 10 children. 7,000 sheep. 3,000 camels. 500 yoke of oxen. 500 female donkeys. Countless servants. Yet, as we find out when all is taken, not one of these things was an idol in his life. He knew he was blessed. He knew all came from the hand of God.

Then all was taken.

And the man's response certainly bears witness of his strong faith.

"Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I shall return there. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord."

The last few words of chapter 1: "Through all this, Job did not sin, nor did he blame God."

None of us have ever gone through what this man of God did. We have endured our own trials. I, myself, have seen my mother leave this world and know, by faith, she is with the Lord. I have been temporarily separated from my oldest treasure. My heart at many times feel such pain that I don't know if I can go on. I want to give up. Surely, I have subtly blamed God, yet always come back to his sovereignty and majestic mercy.


The "whys" have been great at times. The tears can fill many vials.


But, without a doubt, I want and desire to bless the name of the Lord.

My Master, give me the strength from you to do this.

This Thought....

But, though I continually sin, God continually shows lovingkindness.

This lovingkindness reaches as high as the heavens are above the earth.

It stretches from east to west.

I will meditate on this today.

Undeserved Gifts Abound

Titus 3:4-7

But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared,

He is such a good God who abounds in lovingkindness and mercy.

He saved us,

We were so deceitful and wicked, desperate for this salvation.

not because of works done by us in righteousness,

Our righteousness is nothing but filthy rags; there is no amount of good works we can do to merit His favor.

but according to his own mercy,

Mercy:1. Compassionate treatment, especially of those under one's power; clemency.
2. A disposition to be kind and forgiving:

by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,

We were filthy; He made us clean. Renewal: the conversion of wasteland into land suitable for use of habitation or cultivation.

whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior,

What a generous God we have who seals us with His Spirit, not leaving us to our own devices after He saves us.

so that being justified by his grace

Justification is God's act of declaring or making a sinner righteous before God.

we might become heirs


I have been adopted by God; once His enemy, now His daughter.

according to the hope of eternal life.

I will live forever with my Savior. He has granted me eternal life. This is my hope.

God's Continuous Reminders

Jeremiah 17:7-8 "Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord and whose trust is the Lord. For he will be like a tree firmly planted by the water, that extends its roots by a stream and will not fear when the heat comes; but its leaves will be green; and it will not be anxious in a year of drought nor cease to yield fruit".

This verse the Lord gave me last fall as our family verse for this trial we find ourselves in.

As I went through out my day today, the Lord brought this verse to my remembrance in a book I am reading. As I was listening to a local radio station, the afternoon DJ read these verses and as I listened I thanked God for His tender mercies. This gift to me today was just like feeling my Savior's arms around me, reminding me He has heard our deep, gut-wrenching prayers and holds my precious one in His hands, as well.

We praise Him for answers in His time and for His glory.

Today is the 6 month mark of the separation. God is so good.

Grace in Trials

The following is a prayer from a book on puritan prayers that I often run to.

Grace In Trials

Father of Mercies,

Hear me for Jesus' sake.

I am sinful even in my closest walk with Thee;

it is of thy mercy I died not long ago;

Thy grace has given me faith in the cross

by which thou hast reconciled thyself to me

and me to thee, drawing me by thy love,

reckoning me as innocent in Christ though guilty in myself.

Giver of all graces,

I look to thee for strength to maintain them in me,

for it is hard to practice what I believe.

Strengthen me against temptations,

My heart is an unexhausted fountain of sin,

a river of corruption since childhood days,

flowing on in every pattern of behaviour;

Thou hast disarmed me of the means in which I trusted,

and I have no strength but in thee.

Thou alone canst hold back my evil ways,

but without thy grace to sustain me I fall,

Satan's darts quickly inflame me,

and the shield that should quench them

easily drops from my hand;

Empower me against his wilds and assaults,

Keep me sensible of my weakness,

and of my dependence upon thy strength.

Let every trial teach me more of thy peace,

more of thy love.

They Holy Spirit is given to increase they graces,

and I cannot preserve or improve them

unless he works continually in me.

May he confirm my trust in thy promised help,

and let me walk humbly in dependence upon thee,

for Jesus' sake.

-The Valley of Vision

4 Very Important Words

Habakkuk 3:2c

"...in wrath remember mercy."

-when I sin

-when my children sin

-towards my loved ones

-when I seem to forget you

-when the world crowds in too close

-when I feel lonely...because I moved away from your bosom

-when I choose self pity

-when I think I have certain rights

-when the church becomes like the world

-when I need my Heavenly Father's correction

-when the bride forgets who the Bridegroom is

Thank you for your mercy, Abba, Father. Thank you for your covenant of blood secured by your Holy Son. Teach us how to show mercy to others.