Heart Renovations

We think and reason with our mind. However, we often follow our heart. For a nonbeliever that can be disastrous. But a Christian is wise to do so because Jesus Christ, the Son of God, lives there to guide us unfailingly towards achieving righteousness. Thus, who is in control of one’s heart is important.

Dallas Willard wrote, “Our life and how we find the world now and in the future is, almost totally, a simple result of what we’ve become in the depths of our being – in our spirit, will and heart. From there we see our world and interpret reality. From there we make our choices, break forth into action, try to change our world. We live from our depths – most of which we don’t understand.”

The Bible states, “Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life“ (Proverbs 4:23). We’re urged to “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding“ (Proverbs 3:5). Why? “The heart is more deceitful than anything else“ (Jeremiah 17:9) and, left to its own wonts, inevitably causes us to worship idols instead of God. Jesus preached, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also“ (Matthew 6:21).

Recognizing our heart’s deceitfulness, every individual should cry out like David: “Create for me a pure heart, O God! Renew a resolute spirit within me! Don’t reject me!“ (Psalm 51:10-11). God will hear our pleas and respond with this promise: “I’ll give you a new heart, and I’ll put a new spirit within you. I’ll remove the heart of stone from your body and give you a heart of flesh. I’ll put My Spirit within you“ (Ezekiel 36:26-27).

Oswald Chambers described mankind’s dilemma well: “The man or woman who doesn’t know God demands an infinite satisfaction from other human beings which they can’t give, and in the case of the man, he becomes tyrannical and cruel. It springs from this one thing, the human heart must have satisfaction, but there’s only one Being who can satisfy the last abyss of the human heart, and that’s the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Willard wrote, “The greatest need you and I have – the greatest need of collective humanity – is renovation of our heart. That spiritual place within us from which outlook, choices, and actions come has been formed by a world away from God. Now it must be transformed.” And transformation is something only the Holy Spirit can accomplish.

So, there is a solution. But who’s going to tell the planet’s population what it is? God has assigned that task to His own – us. Christ issued His orders: “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything I’ve commanded you“ (Matthew 28:19-20). Why us? Because Christians are “the elect of God, holy and dearly loved“ (Colossians 3:12), “blameless and pure, children of God without blemish though you live in a crooked and perverse society, in which you shine as lights in the world“ (Philippians 2:15).

The critical caveat is we can only “shine” and bear good fruit if our hearts have been renovated. Surrendering it to our Lord isn’t optional. We must welcome Him inside. Willard wrote, “The spiritual renovation and the ‘spirituality’ that comes from Jesus is nothing less than an invasion of natural human reality by a supernatural life from above.” Christ’s workmanship is truly miraculous.

I’m not saying only God can change us. Everyone changes. Most people change several times throughout their lifetime. Some changes are beneficial. But often the changes due to terrible things happening causes us to become emotionally withdrawn, depressed and dysfunctional. Being human, we then struggle to fix whatever’s gone wrong with our heart – on our own. It never works. We need the Divine Carpenter.

I just finished reading the excellent book, Shame and Grace, by Lewis Smedes. He delves into the profound problems shame can cause when it comes to assessing ourselves. He writes, “The difference between guilt and shame is very clear – in theory. We feel guilty for what we do. We feel shame for what we are. A person feels guilt because he did something wrong. A person feels shame because he is something wrong.”

He also takes on what appears to be paradoxical to every Christian. Since the Bible stresses that “There’s no one righteous, not even one“ (Romans 3:10) and that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God“ (3:23) it’s obvious we’re undeserving of grace. Why? Because we’re under the curse of original sin. So, does that mean we’re worthless? No. On the contrary, we’re loved. So much that God “gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life“ (John 3:16). Jesus didn’t suffer and die on the cross for “worthless people.”

In other words, we may be hot messes but we’re not unredeemable. Still, it can be confusing to read in Romans where Paul exclaims, “I want to do good, but I cannot do it… Wretched man that I am!“ (7:19,24), followed by “There’s therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus“ (8:1). Because it’s a logic-defying mystery Christians should trust in God as a child trusts a loving parent. At the same time, we must tell those who think they have no value how wrong they are.

Henri Nouwen wrote, “I hope you can somehow identify in yourself the temptation to self-rejection, whether it manifests itself in arrogance or in low self-esteem. Not seldom, self-rejection is simply seen as the neurotic expression of an insecure person. But neurosis is often the psychic manifestation of a much deeper human darkness; the darkness of not feeling truly welcome in human existence. Self-rejection is the greatest enemy of the spiritual life because it contradicts the sacred voice that calls us the ‘Beloved.’ Being the Beloved expresses the core truth of our existence.”

The Sinfulness of Pride

I’ll begin with some tongue-in-cheek humor from Mac Davis. In 1980 he scored an international hit with a song he wrote. He sang, “It’s hard to be humble/when you’re perfect in every way/I can’t wait to look in the mirror/’cause I get better looking each day/To know me is to love me/I must be a hell of a man/Oh Lord, it’s hard to be humble/but I’m doing the best I can.”

All sarcasm aside, humility is a difficult character trait to achieve and maintain because our culture doesn’t consider it admirable. They associate humility with weakness and lack of ambition. Even Christ’s disciples struggled with humility. “They came to Capernaum. After Jesus was inside the house He asked them, ‘What were you discussing on the way?’ But they were silent, for on the way they’d argued with one another about who was the greatest. After He sat down, He called the twelve and said to them, ‘If anyone wants to be first, he must be last of all and servant of all’“ (Mark 9:33-35).

Now, the biggest mistake we can make is to equate humility with low self-esteem. Charles Swindoll wrote, “Humility isn’t a result of having a poor self-image. True humility comes from a place of strength and inner security. Genuinely humble people who have a desire to seek the well-being of others are generally very secure people.” Christians should be the humblest of human beings because of what our Savior has done for us.

Martyn Lloyd-Jones preached, “I’m told to esteem others better than myself, and there’s only one thing that can make me do that – and thank God, it does make me do it – it’s this. When I read the Bible I see the sinful nature that’s in me; I see my failures, my shortcomings. But even then there’s a tendency to defend them. There’s only one thing I know of that crushes me to the ground, and humiliates me to the dust, and that’s to look at the Son of God, and especially contemplate the cross. Nothing else can do it.”

In every situation, our Lord’s example provides a pathway to righteous living. Brennan Manning commented, “In the full acceptance of who He was, Jesus is the archetype of personality integration. When we ‘put on Christ’ and fully accept who we are, a healthy independence from peer pressure, people-pleasing, and human respect develops. Christ’s preferences and values become our own.”

“All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. And God will exalt you in due time, if you humble yourselves under His mighty hand by casting all your cares on Him because He cares for you“ (1 Peter 5:5-7). Notice Peter didn’t sidestep the fear we all share that if we humble ourselves people will take advantage of us. In other words, who’ll look out for us if we don’t? The Holy Word says God will and that it’s a matter of us nurturing unshakable faith, believing that God the Father truly “cares for us.”

James warned that pride is offensive in God’s eyes and gave instructions on how to conquer it. “Submit to God. Resist the devil and he’ll flee from you. Draw near to God and He’ll draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and make your hearts pure, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn, and weep. Turn your laughter into mourning and your joy into despair. Humble yourselves before the Lord and He will lift you up“ (James 4:7-10).

It’s impossible to not see that modern society deems pride a liberating asset. Much of the world gleefully designates June as “pride month.” But Christians should never endorse prideful attitudes or behaviors. The Bible clearly states, “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. It’s better to be lowly in spirit with the afflicted than to share the spoils with the proud“ (Proverbs 16:18-19). The “spoils” in question are those cursed by God.

Calvin wrote, “If we would make way for the call of Christ, we must put far from us all arrogance produced by a foolish persuasion of self-righteousness, when a man thinks he has something in himself which deservedly recommends him to God. …Never shall we have sufficient confidence in Jesus unless utterly distrustful of ourselves; never shall we take courage in Him until we first despond of ourselves; never shall we have full consolation in Him until we cease to have any in ourselves. When we’ve entirely discarded all self-confidence, and trust solely in the certainty of His goodness, we’re fit to apprehend and obtain the grace of God.”

Frederick Buechner opined, “Humility is often confused with the polite self-deprecation of saying you’re not much of a bridge player when you know perfectly well you are. Conscious or otherwise, this kind of humility is a form of gamesmanship. If you really aren’t much of a bridge player, you’re apt to be rather proud of yourself for admitting it so humbly. This kind of humility is a form of low comedy.”

Authentic humility only manifests in us if we voluntarily surrender ourselves to serving our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ. John MacArthur wrote, “Discipleship, like slavery, entails a life of total self-denial, a humble disposition toward others, a wholehearted devotion to the Master alone, a willingness to obey His commands in everything, an eagerness to serve Him even in His absence, and a motivation that comes from knowing He’s well pleased.”

A pride-filled person doesn’t think they need forgiveness, whereas a truly humble individual not only knows they need it desperately but isn’t too proud to beg God for it. Henri Nouwen wrote, “One of the greatest challenges of the spiritual life is to receive God’s forgiveness. There’s something in us humans that keeps us clinging to our sins and prevents us from letting God erase our past and offer us a completely new beginning.” That something is pride. Repent of it. Then pluck it out and throw it away.

Silence is Golden

When I was growing up my parents would sometimes tell me to “pipe down”. That was a nice way of saying “shut your trap”. In our spiritual journey, as we “work out our salvation“ (Philippians 2:12), it’s vital we “pipe down” often so we can hear God speak to us through the silence. He doesn’t do it audibly. He can, but probably won’t.

The Hebrew word selah appears frequently in the Old Testament, especially in the Psalms. Scholars agree it likely means “pause”. God’s telling us there are times to quieten ourselves, relax, breathe deeply and patiently wait on the Lord. David wrote, “Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD“ (Psalm 27:14).

Dan Rather once interviewed Mother Teresa. He asked, “When you pray, what do you say to God?” She replied, “I don’t say anything. I listen.” He then inquired, “When God speaks to you what does He say?” She said, “He doesn’t say anything. He listens.” This stumped Rather. She politely added, “And if you don’t understand that, I can’t explain it to you.”

Most of us talk too much. A.W. Tozer opined, “The inadequacy of much of our spiritual experience can be traced back to our habit of skipping through the corridors of the Kingdom like children in the marketplace, chattering about everything, but pausing to learn the value of nothing.”

Solomon wrote, “My child, if you receive my words, and store up my commands within you by making your ear attentive to wisdom and by turning your heart to understanding, indeed, if you call out for discernment – raise your voice for understanding – if you seek it like silver, and search for it like hidden treasure, then you’ll understand how to fear the LORD, and you’ll discover knowledge about God“ (Proverbs 2:1-5). Of course, our “calling out for discernment“ should be done before we silently listen.

Our prayer time can present our best opportunity to selah. Brennan Manning recommended, “Speak to Jesus – or just lovingly stay in silence and communicate with Him beyond words.”

Charles Swindoll preached, “Our only reliable source of communication from God is the Bible. The purpose of silence isn’t to receive extrabiblical instructions or secret messages. Yet somehow in the crucible of silence the Holy Spirit boils the truth we get from Scripture down to its essence, reveals specific insights that are pertinent, then applies them to our most perplexing problems and our most stubborn misconceptions. As God transforms our heart to beat more truly for Him, our decisions accomplish His will as we reflect His character.”

Henri Nouwen wrote, “We’re left with the question of how to practice a ministry of silence in which our word has the power to represent the fullness of God’s silence. This is an important question because we’ve become so contaminated by our wordy world that we hold to the deceptive opinion that our words are more important than our silence.”

Realize God isn’t asking much of us here. We don’t have to assume a yoga position, chant a mantra or do anything except to not utter a single sound. The hardest part for us is turning off our phones and other distracting devices, instructing others to give us some “alone time,” then closing our eyes and making room in our mind for God to enter. It’s not rocket science but it’s essential to maintaining spiritual intimacy.

I’m not downplaying the difficulty involved in achieving even a semblance of solitude sometimes. But if you keep at it consistently it’ll become a habit others will eventually accept as an aspect of your deepening relationship with Christ. The peace, serenity and contentment you’ll gain will be worth it to both you and them.

Christians are to emulate our Savior. He didn’t spend His life sequestered in a cave. On the contrary, He was “out there” among the people. He stayed busy converting lives, healing the sick, exorcising demons, restoring sight to the blind, raising the dead, etc. Yet after one particularly harried day we’re told: “Then Jesus got up early in the morning when it was still very dark, departed, and went out to a deserted place, and there He spent time in prayer“ (Mark 1:35).

I used to have a hard time listening intently when someone was speaking to me. I’d be preoccupied with coming up with an impressive or clever response. Therefore, I often misheard. (My wife complains that I still “don’t listen” well to her. Guilty as charged.) But Celebrate Recovery has helped me immensely in that regard because in our small group gatherings nobody’s allowed to speak except the person sharing so it’s pointless to do anything but listen and, over time, it became natural to do that with everyone.

In one Old Testament story the prophet Elijah was depressed and distraught. He wanted to die. But then God quietly “spoke” to him. Nouwen commented, “Wind, earthquake and fire manifested themselves in succession, but God is said not to have been in any of these. Then a different phenomenon followed. The translations a gentle whisper and ‘a still small voice’ don’t do full justice to the enigmatic Hebrew expression, which may be better rendered ‘a brief sound of silence.'”

May we never lose sight of what God has commanded is our principal goal. Paul wrote, “My aim is to know Him, to experience the power of His resurrection, to share in His sufferings, and to be like Him in His death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead“ (Philippians 3:10-11). The most efficient way to know Him is to meditate on Scripture, pray for guidance and then selah long enough to listen.

Swindoll advised, “Make silence and solitude a priority. In that quiet aloneness, let the Holy Spirit cultivate serenity in you. You owe it not only to yourself but to those you love most. If you don’t, you’ll never really know the God you worship, and your loved ones will never really know who you are.”

Spiritual Intimacy with Christ

The church in Ephesus and its congregation were greatly admired. Jesus told John to write to them: “I know your works as well as your labor and steadfast endurance, and that you cannot tolerate evil. You’ve even put to the test those who refer to themselves as apostles (but they’re not) and have discovered that they’re false. I’m also aware that you’ve persisted steadfastly, endured much for the sake of My name, and haven’t grown weary.”

That’s some lofty praise coming from the Creator of the universe. However, the next section was a wakeup call. “But I have this against you: You’ve departed from your first love! Therefore, remember from what high state you’ve fallen and repent! Do what deeds you did at the first…” (Revelation 2:1-5). They’d left their love for Christ behind. Bear in mind Paul’s famous letter to them had ended with “Grace be with all of those who love our Lord Jesus with an undying love“ (Ephesians 6:24).

A.T. Robertson commented, “This early love, proof of the new life in Christ, had cooled off in spite of their doctrinal purity. They’d remained orthodox but had become unloving.” John Stott wrote, “They’d fallen from the early heights of devotion to Christ which they’d climbed. They’d descended to the plains of mediocrity. In a word, they were backsliders. The hearts of the Ephesian Christians had chilled.”

That sad indictment applies to every believer eventually. We get distracted by everything. Raising kids, making a living, and dealing with life in general often causes us to divert our eyes from our Savior. Before long our love for Him wanes. That’s when a readjustment of our priorities becomes necessary. Charles Swindoll wrote, “A new perspective is essential in order to rekindle that first-love kind of relationship where God is real again, where you and He are on much closer speaking terms, where a spiritual intimacy exists as a natural part of your walk with Him. …It’s so easy to get religious instead of godly.”

How do we reestablish intimacy with God? Discipline is key. Understand, spiritual discipline isn’t optional. “…Train yourself for godliness. For ‘physical exercise has some value, but godliness is valuable in every way. It holds promise for the present life and for the life to come.’ This saying is trustworthy and deserves full acceptance. In fact, this is why we work hard and struggle, because we’ve set our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of believers“ (1 Timothy 4:7-10).

Holiness should be our #1 goal. Jerry Bridges wrote, “The pursuit of holiness requires sustained and vigorous effort. It allows for no indolence, lethargy, and halfhearted commitment toward even the smallest sins. In short, it demands the highest priority in the life of a Christian, because to be holy is to be like Christ.”

The Bible offers instructions on disciplining ourselves. “Make every effort to add to your faith excellence, to excellence, knowledge; to knowledge, self-control; to self-control, perseverance; to perseverance, godliness; to godliness, brotherly affection; to brotherly affection, unselfish love. For if these things are really yours and are continually increasing, they’ll keep you from becoming ineffective and unproductive in your pursuit of knowing our Lord Jesus Christ more intimately“ (2 Peter 1:5-8).

Notice Peter’s not saying Christians are to aspire to become off-putting, legalistic-minded fanatics. All the preferred traits he listed are things we acquire by habitually consulting the Scriptures daily, “praying without ceasing“ (1 Thessalonians 5:17), attending and supporting our church and its members, and generously sharing Christian love with all others unconditionally.

It’s fair to say spiritual discipline isn’t strenuous or exhausting at all. Mainly because it’s not something you work on alone. Never forget that the Holy Spirit who literally lives within you is constantly guiding, encouraging, and empowering you to overcome your tendency to drift away from the source of all hope – Jesus Christ.

Depression is a tell-tale symptom of losing interest in maintaining intimacy with God. I’m as susceptible to getting caught in its debilitating grip as any other believer. Been there, done that. Martyn Lloyd-Jones wrote, “If we’re unhappy and depressed Christians it’s more than likely due to a lack of discipline. Let us be up and doing, and giving all diligence, let us supplement our faith and not be afraid.”

He continued, “Let us get our ideas clear and then put them into practice, and supplement our faith with strength and vigor, with knowledge, with temperance, with patience, godliness, brotherly kindness and love. Let us begin to enjoy our Christian life and be useful and helpful to others. Let us grow in grace and wisdom and so be an attraction to all who know us to come and join us in the faith, and to experience the blessedness of God’s exceedingly great and precious promises which never fail.”

If maintaining intimacy with our Lord is burdensome to you then I suspect you have misconceptions about how much Jesus loves you and what an unparalleled joy it is to know Him intimately. In Henri Nouwen’s, The Life of the Beloved, he wrote, “Being the Beloved is the origin and the fulfillment of the life of the Spirit. …As soon as we catch a glimpse of this truth, we’re put on a journey in search of the fullness of that truth and we won’t stop until we can rest in that truth.”

He continued, “The fact that I’m always searching for God, always struggling to discover the fullness of love, always yearning for the complete truth, tells me I’ve already been given a taste of God, of love and of truth. Deep in the recesses of our minds and hearts there lies hidden the treasure we seek. We know its preciousness, and we know it holds the gift we most desire: a life stronger than death.”

Self-discipline will immensely help Christians prevent this fallen world from stealing any of our love for our Lord Jesus. We mustn’t hold any of it back. He deserves it all.

Making Peace

While studying Jesus’ seventh Beatitude, “Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God“ (Matthew 5:9), it occurred to me that He was instructing His followers to emulate His perfect countenance in every aspect of their lives.

Spurgeon agrees: “There’s a mystery always connected with the number seven. It was the number of perfection among the Hebrews, and it appears the Savior put the peacemaker there as if such a man was nearly approaching the perfect man in Christ Jesus. He who wants to have perfect blessedness, as far as it can be enjoyed on earth, must labor to attain this seventh benediction and become a peacemaker.”

As I’ve expressed, the Beatitudes represent a “ladder of light.” Each successive rung is presented in its proper order and context. The previous Beatitude concerned the Holy Spirit’s purifying our heart. That blessing allows us to be effective peacemakers. “The wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable… The fruit of righteousness is planted in peace among those who make peace“ (James 3:17-18).

Understand Jesus’ mission was to make peace between sinful mankind and God. “There’s one God and one intermediary between God and humanity, Christ Jesus…” (1 Timothy 2:5). “He’s the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the eternal inheritance He’s promised, since He died to set them free from the violations committed under the first covenant“ (Hebrews 9:15).

In other words, since He’s reconciled us with God on our behalf, our Lord commands that all Christians live peaceably with everyone they come in contact with. However, being a peacemaker will bring ridicule, harassment and even persecution into our life. Just as it did for our Savior.

It’s not far-fetched to state that human beings aren’t instinctively peaceable. Our sordid history reveals our inclination to make war, not love. That’s why imitating Christ distinguishes us from those who feel they must always remain on the defensive. Believers are taught to “…not engage in heated disputes, but be kind toward all, apt teachers, patient, correcting opponents with gentleness“ (2 Timothy 2:24).

Sadly, pacificism is too often equated with cowardice. That’s not a fair assessment. It implies that being a peacemaker means never getting angry or venting frustrations. Yet Jesus once “entered the temple area and drove out all those who were selling and buying in the temple courts and turned over the tables of the money changers…” (Matthew 21:12). Note His justified outburst wasn’t directed toward any person in particular but rather at the disrespectful “religious culture” shamefully defiling God’s house of worship.

The Bible urges Christians to control their “righteous indignation.” “Be angry and do not sin; don’t let the sun go down on the cause of your anger. Don’t give the devil an opportunity“ (Ephesians 4:26). Getting mad isn’t necessarily sinful. Staying that way always is. Be quick to forgive and to promptly make amends. Actually, a dedicated peacemaker should be immune to insults because they remain consciously aware of their status as adopted “children of God.”

While it’s never wise to meddle in other people’s private business, it’s the obligation of every Christ-follower to intervene as an impartial peacemaker when a quarrel between two individuals or groups of people threatens to escalate into violence. Can doing so put them in harm’s way? Yes. Never forget Jesus took the cruelest blows from both His Father and us in order to make peace between God and humankind.

The Bible doesn’t soft-pedal this subject, warning “Pursue peace with everyone, and holiness, for without it no one will see the Lord“ (Hebrews 12:14). A.W. Pink wrote, “To walk worthy of God is to walk as Christ walked, and any deviation from that standard is a reflection on our profession and a reproach upon Him. It’s for our own peace that we be conformed to Christ’s pattern.”

Some may conclude being a peacemaker is akin to being a masochistic doormat who doesn’t treasure his/her own wellbeing. Or mind suffering pain. If you think that’s how you can best serve Jesus, you’re misinformed. God’s children are to enjoy His gift of life. Henri Nouwen wrote, “The great struggle facing you is not to leave the world, to reject your ambitions and aspirations or to despise money, prestige or success, but to claim your spiritual truth and to live in the world as someone who doesn’t belong to it.”

A peacemaker’s goal is to show others there’s a better way. Christ’s way. Throughout His delivery of the Beatitudes Jesus never accused those listening of being horrible, unredeemable creatures. On the contrary, He called them blessed. He repeatedly urged everybody to “love one another“ (John 13:34).

Brennan Manning wrote, “To live and think as Jesus did is to discover the sincerity, goodness, and truth often hidden behind the gross, coarse exteriors of our fellow human beings. It’s seeing the potential good in others they don’t see in themselves and to affirm this good in the face of powerful evidence to the contrary. It’s not a blind optimism that ignores the reality of evil, but a perspective that acknowledges their potential for good so insistently that the wayward must eventually respond in agreement.”

A love-saturated peacemaker refuses to be coerced into lashing out in retaliation, no matter the circumstances. Manning commented, “Turning the other cheek, walking the extra mile, offering no resistance to injury, being reconciled with one another, and forgiving seventy times seven times are not arbitrary whims of the Savior. He didn’t preface the Sermon on the Mount with, ‘It would be nice if….’ “

In this Beatitude Jesus is basically saying, “Be more like Me.” He’s the promised Messiah who’ll one day establish permanent “peace on earth…” (Luke 2:14). He’s our ideal role model, our ever-present friend and trustworthy guide. He utilized the concept of His being the “Son of God” to help us comprehend the eternal Trinitarian relationship of which He is part. Therefore, the idea that being peacemakers makes us “children of God“ doesn’t seem so unimaginable.

The Mercy Parables

“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy“ (Matthew 5:7). Throughout His earthly sojourn, Jesus’ parables helped even illiterate folks comprehend what He was teaching. The ones involving the giving of mercy and the penalty of withholding it were no exception. Three in particular come to mind.

Christ presented the story of the “Good Samaritan” in response to a question posed by one of the religious know-it-alls who asked Him, “Who is my neighbor?“ It’s in Luke 10:29-37. Here’s my take on it:

A man was going from Jerusalem to Jericho. Tragically, he was attacked by thugs who not only robbed him of everything he had (including his clothes) but also cruelly pummeled him nearly to death before dumping him on the side of the road. Not long afterwards a priest showed up. He callously chose to ignore the poor victim, giving his bleeding body the widest berth possible before continuing on. Next a Levite arrived on the grisly scene, but he did what the priest had done – Nothing.

Then came a Samaritan fellow. This plot twist probably elicited gasps from Jesus’ listeners because Samaritans were considered practically subhuman and were an ethnicity despised by most Jews. However, Christ shocked them all by saying that’s who showed mercy to the critically injured man! He doctored his wounds, hauled him onto his donkey, took him to an inn, gave the owner cash to cover costs his care would incur and promised to reimburse any overages when he returned.

Our Lord then inquired, “Which traveler viewed the beaten man as being his neighbor?” No doubt the religious know-it-all angrily mumbled through gritted teeth, “I reckon it was the one who was merciful.” As he sulked away Jesus called out and recommended that he “Go and do the same.”

Notice the Samaritan didn’t know the crime victim from Adam. Neither did the priest or the Levite. But it was the Samaritan, the man not depicted as religious at all, who displayed true compassion in the situation. The point? God’s blessing is bestowed upon everyone who’s merciful. The parable indicates that everybody is our neighbor and deserving of receiving mercy whether we feel like giving it or not!

In the second parable Jesus elaborates on whom the merciful will obtain mercy from – God the Father. The well-known story of the Prodigal in Luke 15:11-32 involves a man with two sons. The youngest is a selfish, disrespectful brat who insists his father fork over his share of the family estate. He then takes off to indulge in all the sinful things this fallen world has to offer every pleasure-seeker.

Like many of us learned the hard way, wealth and the pals it attracts have a way of disappearing in a flash. The punk finds himself starving in a hog pen. He “comes to his senses“ and realizes he’d be better off slaving away as a lowly serf on his daddy’s farm. At least he’d be fed. So, he gets his apology speech together and heads for home.

Now, the Pharisees listening to Christ’s tale were expecting to hear that the father would murder the kid on sight because what he’d done was so outrageously wrong by every measure. Nothing less than the death penalty would be in order. Show him mercy? You gotta be kidding. But Jesus proceeded to take the story in a most unanticipated direction.

When the father spots his ingrate offspring’s noggin rising over the distant horizon he slips on his Nikes and sprints down the path to hug and kiss his surprised son. The prodigal begins uttering his “I’m so sorry” spiel but only gets a few words out before dad cuts him off and announces he’s going to host the biggest celebration anyone’s ever seen because the son he feared was lost forever has returned home alive.

Jesus was teaching us that God the Father is a gazillion times more merciful to His own than can be imagined. One of my favorite books is The Return of the Prodigal Son by Henri Nouwen. It’s a must-read. His insights are flat-out amazing.

He wrote of Father God, “The only authority He claims for Himself is the authority of compassion. That authority comes from letting the sins of His children pierce His heart. There’s no lust, greed, anger, resentment, jealousy, or vengeance in His lost children that hasn’t caused immense grief to His heart. The grief’s so deep because His heart’s so pure. From the deep inner place where love embraces all human grief, the Father reaches out to His children. The touch of His hands, radiating inner light, seeks only to heal.”

The third parable serves as a warning to those who refuse to be merciful. Jesus’ narrative appears in Matthew 18:23-35. In it a king decrees to “call in” his loans. One of his most massively-in-debt subjects confesses he can’t immediately meet his financial obligation and begs the king to give him more time. The king not only has mercy on him but cancels his debt altogether!

You’d think the king’s graciousness would change the man’s heart forever. But no. The pardoned debtor immediately walks out, grabs an acquaintance who owes him $10, and begins to throttle him while demanding he pay up pronto. The guy’s broke and pleads for mercy, but he gets tossed in the slammer for his trouble. Word gets back to the king, and he’s understandably incensed. Not only does he incarcerate the unsympathetic jerk but instructs the guards to torture him accordingly.

Jesus ends the parable with: “So also my heavenly Father will do to you, if each of you doesn’t forgive your brother from your heart.” Too harsh? Only if we think being merciful to others is optional. If we show mercy only to people we deem worthy of it, we’ve failed to understand that not one of us merits God’s mercy because we’re all unholy sinners undeserving of even a shred of His grace.

Jesus couldn’t have made it clearer. Be merciful and be blessed.

Have Mercy

Spurgeon called the Beatitudes a “ladder of light” because each successive rung represents a step up toward attaining righteousness. While the initial four describe what sincere believers find when we honestly examine ourselves, the fifth describes a blessing we’ve been given and are to give away to others.

Jesus preached, “Blessed are the merciful, for they will obtain mercy“ (Matthew 5:7). However, we won’t necessarily receive mercy from those we’re merciful to. The mercy Jesus refers to is God’s. Notice this Beatitude also contains a stipulation similar to what our Lord taught regarding forgiveness: “If you forgive others their sins, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you don’t forgive others, your Father won’t forgive you your sins“ (Matthew 6:14-15).

The Bible emphasizes the importance of being merciful. “God has told you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God“ (Micah 6:8). Thus, “Judgment is merciless for the one who has shown no mercy. But mercy triumphs over judgment“ (James 2:13).

God expects His elect to be the most merciful people on the planet. Since I’m a sinner who feels I should crawl to God daily and literally beg Him for mercy, being merciful to others certainly doesn’t seem too much to ask.

However, we mustn’t get legalistic about it. Spurgeon warned, “We’d greatly err if we said we must be merciful in order to obtain mercy, and that we must only hope to receive it by being merciful ourselves. Any such legal notion would be contrary to the entire current of Scripture and opposed to the doctrine of justification by faith in Christ.”

Never forget, we’re not saved by being merciful but by faith alone.

Jesus infers in this Beatitude that God’s chosen have already been blessed with His mercy, else we’d have no hope for salvation! History shows humans aren’t naturally merciful. Only the Holy Spirit’s transformation of our heart grants us the ability to be merciful. Henri Nouwen wrote, “The blessings we give to each other are expressions of the blessing that rests on us from all eternity.”

The most obvious recipients of a Christian’s mercy are the “less fortunate.” Of course, the number in that category is astronomical. We can’t fix them all. Christ told His disciples, “You’ll always have the poor with you, and you can do good for them whenever you want“ (Mark 14:7). God said through Moses, “There’ll never cease to be some poor people in the land; therefore, I’m commanding you to make sure you open your hand…” (Deuteronomy 15:11).

In today’s world “charitable organizations” often turn out to be anything but charitable. It’s wise to be wary. One of the functions of your church is to ensure the tithes and donations of the congregation don’t fall into the pockets of the greedy but actually go to those in need. So, when in doubt, give generously to your church.

The most merciful thing a believer can do is to instantly forgive those who intentionally or unintentionally injure us physically or emotionally, who insult, slander, disrespect us – or inflict even worse harm. Paul wrote, “Bless those who persecute you, bless and do not curse“ (Romans 12:14) while our Lord taught, “Love your enemy and pray for those who persecute you…” (Matthew 5:44).

Being merciful is being vulnerable. Dallas Willard commented, “The worldly-wise say, ‘Woe to the merciful, for they shall be taken advantage of.'” Brennan Manning wrote, “The world doesn’t understand vulnerability. Vulnerability is flatly rejected by the world as incompetence, and compassionate caring is dismissed as unprofitable.”

Yes, it’s hard to be merciful to some. It’s one thing to have mercy on our friends and family members, but to pray God has mercy on evildoers who appear hellbent on destroying our country, letting murderers go free, blaspheming our Savior, etc. is a huge challenge. I confess it’s something I usually don’t desire to do. But if I want to receive mercy it’s what I must do.

Furthermore, we’re to be merciful towards all of humanity. Spurgeon wrote, “The merciful Christian doesn’t care merely for the extremely fallen class, so-called by the men of the world, but they regard the whole race as fallen.” It’s sinful to deem the “non-elect” undeserving of mercy. Election is God’s prerogative. Who are we to judge?

Spurgeon commented, “The great doctrine of election is very precious to Christians, and we hold it most firmly, but there are some – and it mustn’t be denied – who allow that doctrine to chill their love toward their fellowmen.” Our #1 job is to mercifully inform everybody about the gospel truth that saves. Period.

James S. Stewart wrote, “Shall I, as a Christian, be content to pursue the religious quest as a private hobby, and to develop my own spiritual life? Or will I concern myself personally for those outside and deliberately take upon my heart the whole world’s need for Christ? …The Gospel isn’t for an age, but for all time. Yet it’s precisely this particular age – this historic hour and none other – to which we’re commissioned by God to speak.”

Spurgeon summarized thusly: “I firmly believe when a man is in trouble, if he’s been enabled through divine grace to be kind and generous toward others, he may look to God in prayer and say, ‘Lord, there’s Your promise; I claim no merit for it, but Your grace has enabled me to help others when I see them in the same condition as I am.'”

I admit I don’t always faithfully obey my Savior who proclaimed, “Give, and it’ll be given to you: A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be poured into your lap. For the measure you use will be the measure you receive“ (Luke 6:38). But I should. There’s nothing we can receive and freely give away more valuable than mercy.

Lastly, God is “the Father of mercies…” (2 Corinthians 1:3). Therefore, His chosen should be “children of mercies…”

My Lord Jesus Christ

It’s only proper for my last essay of 2022 to be all about my precious Savior. My vocabulary falls woefully short of adequately describing my gracious Redeemer, so I’ll highlight what many of my favorite Christian authors have written. However, it’s impossible to top what the Bible declares of Him.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was fully God. …All things were created by Him, and apart from Him not one thing was created that’s been created. In Him was life, and the life was the light of mankind. And the light shines on in the darkness, but the darkness has not mastered it“ (John 1:1-5).

Why is Jesus called “The Word?” Thomas Watson wrote, “As a word is the interpreter of the mind, and reveals what’s in a man’s breast; so Jesus Christ reveals His Father’s mind to us concerning the great matters of our salvation.” Miraculously, The Word came in person to deliver the Good News and to proclaim absolute truths. Scripture affirms, “The Word became flesh and took up residence among us“ (John 1:14).

Jesus, being God, could’ve displayed His sovereignty in any number of ways. But He chose to be Himself. So, what was He like? He told us, “I’m gentle and humble in heart“ (Matthew 11:29). Christ exhibited those traits consistently throughout His earthly sojourn. He got mad only when His Father was disrespected and even then, His ire wasn’t directed at any particular individual.

Brennan Manning emphasized our Lord’s compassion. In his book, The Relentless Tenderness of Jesus, he wrote, “The Jesus of my journey, the way He’s revealed Himself to me, is as the Compassionate One. Not because He’s the Son of God, but Son of God because He’s compassionate beyond mortal possibility. Therein lies His divinity for me. He’s the image of the invisible God. Should you choose to call Jesus goodness, He’ll be good to you; should you choose to call Him love, He’ll be loving to you; should you choose to call Him compassionate, He will know that you know.” Christ taught, “Everyone will know by this that you’re my disciples – if you have love for one another“ (John 13:35).

Christ wasn’t a stoic. He experienced every emotion and impulse that we do but patiently. In his book, The Jesus I Never Knew, Philip Yancey wrote, “The Gospels reveal a range of Jesus’ emotional responses; sudden sympathy for a person with leprosy, exuberance over His disciples’ successes, a blast of anger at coldhearted legalists, grief over an unreceptive city, and then those awful cries of anguish in Gethsemane and on the cross. He had nearly inexhaustible patience with individuals but no patience at all with institutions and injustice.”

Jesus demonstrated the vital importance of prayer. You’d figure God would have no need to pray, but He proved that notion wrong. James S. Stewart wrote in his book, The Life & Teaching of Jesus Christ, “The practical conclusion to which a study of the prayer life of Jesus is that prayer must ever be the heart and center of all true religion and the dynamic and driving power of all the best and noblest of living. …It’s those who’ve learned the way of prayer from Jesus who’ve found the secret of victorious life. They go from strength to strength; every one of them appears before God in Zion.”

Jesus boldly taught His followers to think of God as being the best Father we can imagine. In his superb, The Return of the Prodigal Son, Henri Nouwen wrote, “Here’s the God I want to believe in; a Father who, from the beginning of creation, has stretched out His arms in merciful blessing, never forcing Himself on anyone, but always waiting; never letting His arms drop down in despair, but always hoping His children will return so He can speak words of love to them and let His tired arms rest on their shoulders. His only desire is to bless.”

The Lord is our sympathetic, steadfast, and everlasting friend. “A person who has friends may be harmed by them, but there’s a friend who sticks closer than a brother“ (Proverbs 18:24). That friend is Jesus. In The Glory of Christ A.W. Pink wrote, “Since He’s a faithful Friend, we may safely tell Him the secrets of our hearts, for He’ll never betray our confidence. But His friendship also imposes definite obligations – to please Him, promote His cause, and daily seek His counsel.”

Jesus is our Justifier. Charles Spurgeon put it succinctly: “Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. It’s to me even to this day the greatest wonder I’ve ever heard of that God should ever justify me. …I, who am altogether undeserving, am treated as if I am deserving. I’m loved with as much love as if I’d always been godly, whereas previously I was ungodly. Who can help being astonished at this? Gratitude for such favor stands dressed in robes of wonder.”

Yet it’s Christ’s love for us that defies conception. “Having loved His own who were in the world, He now loved them to the very end“ (John 13:1). In his excellent book, Gentle and Lowly, Dane Ortlund wrote, “John’s point is that in going to the cross, Jesus didn’t retain something for Himself, the way we tend to do when we seek to love others sacrificially. He doesn’t love like us. We love until we’re betrayed. Jesus continued to the cross despite betrayal. We love until we’re forsaken. Jesus loved through forsakenness. We love up to a limit. Jesus loves to the end.”

Me? I grow closer to Jesus daily. Every time I read the “red letter” passages in the New Testament I gain more profound love and sincere appreciation for my Savior. My friends and family know I’m a Christian committed to imitating my Lord. Some call me a “Jesus Freak.” That’s okay. It’s no burden. It’s an honor. Christ is all I need. He’s more than sufficient. He’s everything to me.

Why Did Jesus Come Here?

Ian Hamilton offered a succinct answer: “In the councils of eternity, the Son of God, with His Father and the Spirit, conspired and decreed in astonishing love to create a world, and out of the sinful mass of that world, all fallen in its appointed covenant head, Adam, to redeem a people, for Their own glory.”

Christ revealed His mission thusly: “Everyone whom the Father gives me will come to me, and the one who comes to me I’ll never send away.  For I’ve come down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of the one who sent me.  …For this is the will of my Father – for everyone who looks on the Son and believes in Him to have eternal life, and I’ll raise him up at the last day” (John 6:37-38,40).

Everything Jesus did on earth was done in unwavering allegiance, fidelity, and servitude to both His Father and the “covenant of redemption” the Trinity entered into before time began.  Because Christ fulfilled every aspect of His assignment, Christians receive all the blessings God wills to bestow upon them.

What was Jesus’ role in the covenant agreement?  (1) He’d incarnate as a human being, (2) He’d become the mediator between the Father and His people, and (3) through the shedding of His blood He’d atone for the sins of the elect.  Our precious Savior did it all.

The Holy Spirit’s part in Christ’s mission?  “The LORD’s spirit will rest on Him – a spirit that gives extraordinary wisdom, a spirit that provides the ability to execute plans, a spirit that produces absolute loyalty to the LORD” (Isaiah 11:2).  In other words, all three persons of the Godhead were involved in making sure all components of their covenant of redemption were completed.

In the process, Jesus also taught believers how to live.

As with everything pertaining to His sovereign rule, God has a plan and a timetable.  Early in His ministry, Christ repeatedly stated His “hour has not yet come” (John 2:4).  Accordingly, the gospels reveal that Jesus often avoided escalating confrontations with His enemies.  Not because He feared them, but in order to adhere to His Father’s timeline.  Christ never hurried or felt a need to rush things.  His patience exemplifies the Scripture that says, “Those who wait for the LORD’s help find renewed strength” (Isaiah 40:31).

Christ’s faith in His Father never flagged.  Even when facing the most inhumane, torturous death ever devised by mankind, He willingly dragged a heavy cross up Calvary Hill.  There’s no downplaying the agonies He suffered on our behalf.  Obeying His Father cost Him everything.  Hamilton wrote, “Faithfulness to His Father required it; the salvation of the elect of God depended on it.”  Jesus took my place.  I can’t thank Him enough.

Christ came here as a servant, especially to His Father who was overjoyed by His Son’s dedication and devotion.  “A voice came from heaven: ‘You are my one dear Son; in you I take great delight” (Mark 1:11).  In His parable of the talents Jesus inferred that pleasing God comes from wisely using the gifts He’s given us for furthering His kingdom.  Our reward will come when someday we’ll hear the blessed words, “Well done, good and faithful servant!  …Enter into the joy of your master” (Matthew 25:21).

Christ’s living a sinless life was inevitable, but it was also for our benefit.  While we can’t achieve perfection, in every circumstance Jesus demonstrated how undiluted trust in God can enable us to keep our hearts and minds focused on unhesitatingly doing the right thing.  Hebrews 13:6 says, “The Lord is my helper, and I will not be afraid.  What can man do to me?”  Therefore, we should strive to conduct ourselves with the same confident attitude our Savior did.

The fact that the Father “gave His only Son” (John 3:16) to display to the world “His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8) should humble one and all.  Jesus exhibited unselfish love every moment He was here.  He was no stoic.  For example, “When He saw the crowds, He had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd” (Matthew 9:36).

The scandalous level of love portrayed in Christ’s tale of the prodigal is unfathomable.  Every culture would deem what the son did absolutely unforgivable.  Kenneth Bailey commented, “His manner of leaving is tantamount to wishing his father dead.”  Disgraceful. But, as Henri Nouwen wrote, “More than any other story in the Gospel, the parable of the prodigal son expresses the boundlessness of God’s compassionate love.”

Jesus compared God’s love to that of the prodigal’s father who didn’t merely allow his ungrateful son to come home but ran down the road to meet him, then “threw his arms around him and kissed him” (Luke 15:20).  Hamilton wrote, “The Pharisees couldn’t understand Jesus because they didn’t understand that ‘God is love’.  Jesus’s disregard for social and traditional religious conventions was due to His compassion for sinners – love for sinners made Him seek, by all means, to save some.”

It humbles me when I consider that what’s been done for believers was decreed to be done prior to creation.  Love so amazing! The profundity of it inspires me as it did Charles Spurgeon who preached, “The same mind that was in Christ Jesus should dwell richly in us.  His last command to His disciples was ‘Love one another.’  He who loves is born of God…  The world ought to point to us and say, ‘See how these Christians love one another?  Not in word only, but in deed and in truth!”

Some religions consider Christ only a “significant prophet”.  Wrong.  He is God Almighty and He came here to redeem us.  John Calvin wrote, “Who possesses life and righteousness, and the dominion and government of heaven, but God alone?  Therefore God, in His infinite mercy, having determined to redeem us, became Himself our Redeemer in the person of His only begotten Son.”

Love So Amazing

One of the songs we sang in Sunday School went, “Jesus loves me, this I know/’cause the Bible tells me so.”  Simple as it is, nothing’s more truthful.  And His love isn’t temporary or fickle.  Through the prophet, the Lord told His chosen, “I have loved you with an everlasting love” (Jeremiah 31:3).  The word everlasting indicates God’s love for us had no beginning, is always present, and has no end.

That’s absolutely amazing.  Especially to a habitual sinner like myself who often doubts he’s numbered among God’s elect. Why? Because I’m so aware of how unrighteously I act.  Ian Hamilton wrote, “There are times when remaining sin seems to rule over us, although its rule has been decisively broken via our union with Christ in His death and resurrection.”  I tend to overlook, concerning believers, that Jesus declared: “No one will snatch them from my hand” (John 10:28).

God’s everlasting love is the foundation of the gospel we’ve been commissioned to spread across the globe.  The Scriptures exclaim, “See what sort of love the Father has given to us: that we should be called God’s children – and indeed we are!” (1 John 3:1).  God’s love is our immovable anchor.  I’m not implying it’ll prevent storms from violently rocking our boat.  It won’t. Rather, His love’s the anchor that keeps those storms from causing us to drift away from Him.  As Paul taught, there’s no force disruptive enough to “separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39).

I’m comforted knowing I’m not alone in sometimes judging myself unworthy of God’s love.  Henri Nouwen testified, “I knew I was broken.  I knew I was a sinner.  I knew I continually disappointed God, but I could never accept that part of me.  It was a part of me that embarrassed me.  I continually felt the need to apologize, to run from my weaknesses, to deny who I was and concentrate on what I should be.”

But Henri then concluded, “I came to see it was in my brokenness, in my powerlessness, in my weakness that Jesus was made strong.  It was in the acceptance of my lack of faith that God could give me faith.  It was in the embracing of my brokenness I could identify with others’ brokenness.  It was my role to identify with others’ pain, not relieve it.  Ministry was sharing, not dominating; understanding, not theologizing; caring, not fixing.”

Honestly, I find God’s everlasting love for sinners like me downright scandalous.  Yet that’s what it’s always been.  One can’t read through Kings and Chronicles and not become dismayed over Israel’s steady decline that reached rock bottom during the reign of Manasseh, an immoral monster of a tyrant who even let babies be cruelly sacrificed to idols.  He was, by any measure, the worst of Judah’s horrible kings.  God justly had him arrested by the occupying Assyrian army and hauled away.  “They seized Manasseh, put hooks in his nose, bound him with bronze chains, and carried him away to Babylon” (2 Chronicles 33:11).

If anyone was undeserving of God’s love it’d be Manasseh, right?  But God is incredibly gracious.  “In his pain Manasseh asked the LORD his God for mercy and truly humbled himself before the God of his ancestors.  When he prayed to the LORD, the LORD responded to him and answered favorably his cry for mercy.  The LORD brought him back to Jerusalem to his kingdom.  Then Manasseh realized that the LORD is the true God” (vv.12-13).

Nobody would accuse God of unfairness if He’d let Manasseh rot in prison.  I dare say that’s what most of us would’ve sentenced him to suffer.  Yet God’s forgiveness knows no bounds.  His love confounds us and assures us at the same time.  It also raises the question, “Who are we to withhold love from those we deem beneath us?”  Jesus commands us to love everyone.  No exceptions.  Hamilton opined, “It’s one thing to have a theology of grace and another to live grace.”

We mustn’t abuse God’s grace.  Too many Christians, myself included, are prone to let it serve as a legitimate excuse for letting our flesh have its iniquitous way.  Paul, aware of this heretical reasoning, wrote, “What shall we say then?  Are we to remain in sin so that grace may increase?  Absolutely not!  How can we who died to sin still live in it?” (Romans 6:1-2).

As Voddie Baucham likes to say, our response to those verses should be either an “amen” or an “ouch!”  I must confess to uttering the latter.  If I think I’m less sinful than, say, king Manasseh, I’m badly mistaken.  By the same token, if I consider myself less deserving of God’s amazing love than my pastor I’m wrong on that count, too.  Jesus loves me.  This I know.

Brennan Manning wrote, “At every moment of our existence God offers us this good news.  Sadly, many of us continue to cultivate such an artificial identity that the liberating truth of our belovedness fails to break through.  We huff and puff to impress God, scramble for Brownie points, thrash about trying to fix ourselves, and live the gospel in such a joyless fashion that it has little appeal to nominal Christians and unbelievers searching for truth.”

Frederick Buechner commented, “Repent and believe in the gospel, Jesus says.  Turn around and believe that the good news that we’re loved is better than we ever dared hope, and that to believe in that good news, to live out of it and towards it, to be in love with that good news, is of all glad things in this world the gladdest thing of all!”

Buechner mentioned repentance.  Never forget that repentance, like faith, is a gift from God.  Spurgeon preached, “He who’s gone into His glory, raised into all the splendor and majesty of God, has abundant ways of working repentance in those to whom He grants forgiveness.  He’s even now waiting to give repentance to you.  Ask Him for it at once.”