Life "presenced with Divinity"

TODAY’S SPECIAL: Ephesians 2:1-10

TO CHEW ON: “But God who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)” Ephesians 2:4,5


Today’s reading in Ephesians reminds me of a book I’m reading. Biblical Ethics / The Moral Foundations of Life / The Philosophy of Sin by Oswald Chambers is a collection of talks, addresses, and lectures Chambers gave at various times and places from 1909 to 1917.

I find his words a wonderful elaboration on the themes touched on by Paul here: the need for us to die to the old self and to live the new Holy Spirit-dependant “alive together with Christ” life God has “prepared beforehand for us” (Ephesians 2:5,10).

• Christians are unhappy if “They are not at one with the principle that unites them”; if they are not “Christians at heart.” Chambers describes halfhearted Christians as carrying their beliefs like a headache and because they can’t chop off their heads they can’t get rid of the headache -  Kindle Location 514.

• When dealing with sinful tendencies, we starve those things in ourselves: “It is absurd to say, pray about them; when once a thing is seen to be wrong, don’t pray about it, it fixes the mind on it; never for a second brood on it; destroy it by neglect” - KL 731 (emphasis added).

• But we’re only human. How can the ideal that Paul describes be true of us?  Chambers takes this realistic approach: “No one is constituted to live a pure, divine life on earth; we are constituted to live human lives on earth, presenced with Divinity” - KL 798 (emphasis added).

• I love that—“presenced with divinity.” Chambers talks more about realizing that state: “Am I willing that the old disposition should be crucified with Christ? If I am, Jesus Christ will take possession of me and will baptize me into His life until I bear a strong family likeness to Him. It is a lonely path, a path of death, but it means ultimately being presenced with Divinity” - KL 1241 (emphasis added).

• We can all probably relate to the tug-of-war between the self-directed and Spirit-directed life implied in how Chambers describes God handling the backtracking we easily revert to: “As soon as you begin to forecast and plan for yourself, God will break up your program—He delights to do it—until we learn to live like children based on the knowledge that God is ruling and reigning …” - KL 1342 (emphasis added).

• Such surrender doesn’t happen without a struggle. “When the Holy Spirit emancipates my personality, no attention is paid to my individuality, to my temperament or to my prejudices; He brings me into oneness with God entirely when I am willing to waive my right to myself and let Him have His way. No individual gets there without a crisis, a crisis of a terrific nature in which he or she goes to the death of something” - KL 1350 (emphasis added).

PRAYER: Dear Father, may these be more than words and ideas on the page. Please help me to realize in practical, everyday experience the “alive together with Christ” life—a life "presenced with Divinity." Amen.



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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

How's my living?

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Colossians 3:12-4:1

TO CHEW ON: "And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him."  Colossians 3:17

Perhaps at some time you've driven behind a commercial vehicle on which was posted the decal "How's my driving?" Under the question was a phone number or website—the number or site you, as an observer, could contact if you saw the person driving badly.

Why would someone have such a message on their vehicle? I'm sure it's not the idea of the driver, but of the company that he and his vehicle represent.* That employee represents his company in the way he drives, loads and unloads his truck, even behaves at truck stops. On the job, he lives in the name of the company that employs him.

That, says Paul, is what's involved in being a disciple of Jesus. We "...do all in the name of the Lord Jesus..." We realize that everything we say and do represents Him. In this, though, we are never off the job, never out of uniform.

The way we handle good times or stressful situations, whether we act with kindness or rudeness,  how we behave in exaltation or tragedy—all are done as representatives of Jesus. We act in His name while in traffic, in line at the bank, when we see someone in trouble, and when we're left with a sinkful of dishes… I wonder what would happen if somewhere on us was posted "How's my living?" with a heavenly number to call with complaints. Would heaven be flooded with calls?

This outlook reminds me of another verse that such a life implies:

"I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me" - Galatians 2:20.

PRAYER:  Dear Jesus, help me to internalize the fact that everything I do reflects on You. Help me to make choices in my talk and actions that will bring honor to Your name. Amen.


*The Wikipedia article on "How's my driving?" cites that vehicles displaying the decal are involved in 22% fewer accidents and a 52% reduction in accident-related costs.

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

No need to flaunt, prove, or push

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Philippians 2:1-11

TO CHEW ON: "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant and coming in the likeness of men." Philippians 2:5-7

Nowadays the common wisdom is if we want people to buy our product, patronize our business, or read our writings, we must get noticed. Thousands give advice on how to establish our presence on the internet using Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, blogs, and a myriad of other ways to generate buzz and business.

I wonder how Jesus would have handled all this. What would He have put on His Facebook update? What would He have tweeted? What would He have written on His blog? Would He even have been online?

I love what a sidebar article in my Bible says about Jesus' humility:

"Chrlstlike humility is manifested in the freedom of God's Son to affirm the fullness of all God has placed in Him, without needing to flaunt, prove or push it through self-advancement. Jesus' complete absence of any need to "clutch" for power or attention is manifest humility" - Fuchsia Pickett, "Christlikeness," New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, p. 1662 (emphasis added).

Though media pundits do advise us to exhibit interest in others the underlying motivation is often selfish. The hope is that the attention will be reciprocated and we will get what we are after—something for ourselves.

There was no such self-service in Jesus' humility. He exchanged the role and status He had in heaven ("...made Himself nothing" - Philippians 2:7 NIV) and gave the ultimate (His life) in order to buy us back to God.

His humility did result in exaltation, though—an honor higher than any person could give, bestowed by God Himself (Philippians 2:9-11).

Our Bible commenter helps us understand how this call to be humble works for us:

"Just as Christ's humility received ultimate exaltation (Phil. 2:9-11), so our call to 'humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up' points to the way for the rise of God's highest purpose in each of us (James 4:10). Humbling ourselves opens us up to increased grace (James 4:6; 1 Peter 5:5), and childlikeness is the doorway to the dynamism of 'kingdom come' in our life and service (Matthew 18:4)" Fuchsia Pickett (source quoted above, emphasis added)

PRAYER: Dear Jesus, thank You for Your humility, shown when You relinquished all Your rights, even the right to live. Help me to begin to understand what true humility is and how to live it in 2012. Amen.

MORE: Humility quotes

"The reason we see hypocrisy and fraud and unreality in others is because they are all in our own hearts. The great characteristic of a saint is humility—Yes all those things and other evils would have been manifested in me but for the grace of God, therefore I have no right to judge" - Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest, June 22nd reading.

"The passion of Christianity is that I deliberately sign away my own rights and become a bond-slave of Jesus Christ." Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest, November 3 reading.

"Humility is so shy. If you begin talking about it, it leaves” - Tim Keller (quoted by John Piper in "The Shy Virtue of Christmas."

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Gain from loss

Image: Skeeze / pixabay.com

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Philippians 3:1-11

TO CHEW ON: "Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Jesus Christ my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish that I may gain Christ." Philippians 3:8

Would we, like Paul, have a list of things we've given up to "gain Christ"? Paul once had status as a model Jewish man and a Pharisee. Not just any Pharisee either but one who put hands and feet to his convictions against the upstart Christ-following sect  by hunting them down, persecuting and killing them. But the Damascus Road incident took place. Paul met Jesus. Then ".. what things were gain I have counted loss for Christ" - Philippians 3:7.

It's a paradox: gain from loss.

Jesus' teaching had many references to this paradox:

To a rich young man who wanted to be perfect and assured Jesus he had kept the law, Jesus said: " '… go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me' " - Matthew 19:21.

Later in answering His disciples' questions about what He has just said, Jesus said: " ' And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My name’s sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first' " - Matthew 19:29,30.

After Peter rebuked Jesus for talking about dying, Jesus explained to Peter and all the disciples the sobering choice they were making: " 'Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it' " - Mark 8:34,35.

Another time Jesus spoke about position and made this startling claim: " 'If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all' ” - Mark 9:35.

Still another time He taught: " 'Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain' " - John 12:24,25.

So we see that in his willingness to lose everything for the sake of knowing Christ, Paul was just tapping into the mindset of his Master.

I ask myself, have I done that? Have you? What does it mean to "deny" myself, to "take up my cross," to "save" or "lose" my life, to "hate it" or "love it," to "count all things as loss" in exchange for knowing Christ. Does it have implications for what I do with my money and possessions, my time, relationships, goals, ambitions, the career I choose? I'll be pondering these questions today.


PRAYER: Dear Jesus, please help me to understand in terms of everyday living, this paradox of gain from loss, and be willing to test it in my life. Amen.

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Die to live

TODAY'S SPECIAL: 2 Corinthians 4:1-15

TO CHEW ON: "We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed—always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body." 2 Corinthians 4:8-10

Life out of death is one of the Bible's recurring themes. We ask, how can it be? Yet at some deep level we grasp its truth.

The principle of life out of death:

• Is seen in nature: "'… unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies it remains alone, but if it dies, it produces much grain'" - John 12:22 (also 1 Corinthians 15:36).

• Is demonstrated in believer's baptism - Romans 6:4.

• Jesus described it as a condition for following Him - Luke 9:24.

• Becomes personal as we apply verses like Galatians 2:20 ("I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live but Christ lives in me…")  and Colossians 3:3 ("For you died and your life is hidden in Christ with God").

I suppose this crucifixion or death will mean something slightly different to each one of us. But overall it implies that we give up our rights to ourselves, our agendas, possessions, families, vacations, how we spend our time, always ready to come or go at His beck and call.

Radical? Yes.

Nonsensical? No.

The result is worth if, for if we have "died"  the "… life of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh" (2 Corinthians 4:11); "…the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God (Galatians 2:20); "… your life is hid with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3); " … you also will appear with Him in glory" (Colossians 3:4).  (Emphasis added.)

PRAYER: Dear God, please help me to know the practical outworking of what it means to lose myself for Your sake, to be crucified and die to myself on this day, not as theory but in actual living. Amen.

MORE: Feast of St. Philip and St. James

Today the church celebrates two of the apostles who followed Jesus in this way: Philip and James. The day's liturgy begins with this collect:

Almighty God, who gave to your apostles Philip and James grace and strength to bear witness to the truth: Grant that we, being mindful of their victory of faith, may glorify in life and death the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Jesus' template for discipleship

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Luke 9:10-27

TO CHEW ON: "'If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.'" Luke 9:23

Part of our reading today is Jesus' private and direct instructions to His disciples. In it He tells them plainly, about a year before the events, that things will not end well for Him (vs. 22). To those who continue following Him despite all this, He explains what such loyalty involves.

Let's look at His instructions phrase by phrase to discover more about what being a disciple means for us as well.

"If anyone desires to come after Me..." Following Jesus is not something that is forced on us. We do it out of our desire or volition — though it is a desire that is put in us, in the first place, by God Himself (John 6:44).

"...let him deny himself..." "Understand and accept that discipleship means forsaking all selfish personal ambition," says a study note in my Bible. To me this means submitting every plan and goal to His lordship, every decision to Him for the final say.

"...and take up his cross..." This isn't startling until we think about what a cross was in the time of Jesus — an instrument of death for criminals. Taking up His cross was what Jesus was forced to do literally as He went from Jerusalem to Golgotha. In our day we might say, pick up your gun, or noose or lethal injection as a reminder of how dead you are to yourself.

"...daily..." This rejection of the self-life happens again every morning. Though it may begin with a crisis decision, we need to renew our commitment to it every day.

"...and follow Me."

"With Jesus, righteousness no longer consists of observance of an external legal code. He likens it to an apprenticeship to Himself as Master Teacher through the Holy Spirit" (Spirit Filled Life Bible p. 1439).

I like that: "apprenticeship to Himself as Master Teacher." For the life of a disciple is not turning one's back on selfish ambition toward a life of nothingness. Instead it is such a rejection so that the powerful life Jesus can have full sway in and through us.

PRAYER: Dear Jesus, I want to be this kind of a disciple. Please teach me what it means to take up my cross daily and follow you. Amen.

MORE: "Jesus I My Cross Have Taken"

I love this modern rendition of this classic - by Henry F. Lyte - 1824. (Sorry, there's no info on who the singer is.)



Lyrics are here. (You may want to turn off the player on upper left of the cyberhymnal page if you're following the lyrics along with the YouTube singer.)

Do your 8-12-year-olds have daily devotions? Point them to Bible Drive-Thru.

The crucified life

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Galatians 2:1-21

TO CHEW ON: "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." Galatians 2:20

If you have lived your whole life striving to be accepted on the basis of your performance, it's hard to switch that mind-set off. That shift in thinking was what God required of the early church. Peter and Paul were in the vanguard of those who taught that being right with God no longer involved trying to keep the Jewish laws. This radical paradigm shift involved growing pains.

Our reading today tells of some of them. Legalists, called Judaizers, had infiltrated some of the churches in Galatia (north-central Asia Minor which included the towns of Iconium, Lystra and Derbe). Their teaching that keeping certain Old Testament laws were still binding on Christ-followers and necessary for earning salvation was opposite to what Paul taught: that salvation was by grace through faith.

In his famous "I have been crucified with Christ passage, we have the climax of Paul's teaching. He is saying, I appropriate Jesus' death for myself. He perfectly fulfilled the law in my stead. He took the punishment of my inability to do so -- death -- for me. Now I am assured of salvation ("live") not by trying to fulfill the law's requirements but believing that what Jesus did is enough.

The struggle with legalism was not only a New Testament problem. Still today we find ourselves making judgments about people's spiritual states by what they do and don't do. It's comfortable to have cut-and-dried standards and boundaries.

Though a balance here is necessary (even Paul, the champion of salvation by grace through faith, taught church discipline), I'd rather err on the side of extending grace to others. Let God be their judge. Meanwhile I ponder what the salvation-by-grace-through-faith life, the "crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me" life looks like for me. As the focus shifts from whether or not I am allowed to have a glass of wine with a meal or sit in church without a head covering to the invisible but stubborn aspects of my self-life, I can start confronting real issues. Things like forgiving someone who has slighted me, loving someone who irritates me, and figuring out why I get irritated in the first place.

PRAYER: Dear God, please help me to leave the judging of others to You. Help me to live the crucified life, not as a way to earn salvation, but in love, gratefulness and allegiance to You. Amen.

MORE: Food for thought:

"Important in any community of faith is an ever-renewed expectation in what God is doing with our brothers and sisters in the faith. We refuse to label the others as one thing or another. We refuse to predict our brother's behavior, our sister's growth. Each person in the community is unique; each is specially loved and particularly led by the Spirit of God. How can I presume to make conclusions about anyone? How can I pretend to know your worth or place." Eugene Peterson A Long Obedience in the Same Direction, p. 182.

Do your 8-12-year-olds have daily devotions? Point them to Bible Drive-Thru.