Earthly Glaze or Heavenly Gaze?

13 These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. 14 For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. 15 If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.
—Hebrews 11:13-16



Be honest. When was the last time you spent more than a fleeting few seconds thinking about heaven, much less allowing your heart the time and intemperance to actually desire it? Hopefully not, but perhaps you’re like me and it’s been awhile, a long while, longer than you can even recall. This morning, randomly (miraculously?), I’ve given it some thought. And while I’m by no means a guru on this subject or any, the Spirit has moved me enough to crack my laptop and write.

Another question: are there ever instances in this hectic, harried life when you stop, look around you at everyone and everything else whizzing past you a hundred miles an hour, and realize, in a moment of almost profound clarity, ‘I’m not from here’? I have, and I’ll admit, it’s eerie, even unsettling—so much so that my response is to quickly settle back into the ‘trance of the temporal’ I inhabited before being jarred from it.

Bumper-sticker junkie –noun, 1. One who is overly infatuated with bumper stickers, not so much so that their personal automobile is covered with them, but so much so that upon identifying their outline on another’s bumper they hit the gas as hard as necessary to get a better look. 2. See previous definition.

I am a bumper-sticker junkie. I take notice of any and all of them whenever I’m behind the wheel. Many I see nowadays are the Christian, ‘Not of This World’ logo (note: normally these are NOT adjacent to the classic, ‘Keep Honking…I’m Reloading). Don’t get me wrong—this one has a cool design and is artfully edgy—but it loses some of its punch when you look a little lower and realize its plastered on a Cadillac Escalade.

I’m not being a hater here—I have no right to be. The sticker is a start. It just can’t be the end. In the passage above the writer of Hebrews recaps reality for those highlighted in what’s referred to as the Hall of Faith. He makes a distinction about the life of people like Abraham, Noah, Joseph, even Enoch: their sandals would have aptly displayed, ‘Not of This World.’ They had a heartbeat for heaven. Out of it sprang other-worldly hope. And this hope was the very means by which they overcame the trials they encountered, the things of this world: injustice, ridicule, uncertainty, fear.

In all the instances where God allowed the people of Israel to be exiled from their homeland (there were many), there existed one common thread: ultimately there grew within the hearts of His people a strong desire to return home. At a point, they looked around their Gentile surroundings and fully realized they were strangers in a foreign land, not meant to stay there. They were God’s people, His elect, and He had prepared a place for them.

So it is with us.

C.S. Lewis wrote about hope (having a heart for heaven) as a theological virtue, in his renowned classic, Mere Christianity. I’ll conclude with it. But before I do, let me exhort us to live a life worthy of God’s calling (and worthy of the sticker). May we STOP, long enough to let our minds marinate on heaven…and mostly on Who’s there. Enough of this will incline our hearts toward hope—just the thing we need to run this raucous race in such a way as to get the prize.

Grace to you, to put away the Earthly glaze for a Heavenly gaze,

Voice of another

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hope is one of the Theological virtues. This means that a continual looking forward to the eternal world is not (as some modern people think) a form of escapism or wishful thinking, but one of the things a Christian is meant to do. It does not mean that we are to leave the present world as it is. If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were just those who thought most of the next. The Apostles themselves, who set on foot the conversion of the Roman Empire, the great men who built up the Middle Ages, the English Evangelicals who abolished the Slave Trade, all left their mark on Earth, precisely because their minds were occupied with Heaven. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this. Aim at Heaven and you will get earth ‘thrown in’: aim at earth and you will get neither.

-C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

'Considering' Faith

11 By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised.     —Hebrews 11:11

We’re back to the subject of faith, no, not because other topics are lacking or lackluster, I just can’t get past this one. Perhaps it’s because I have so little faith and want more. That’s certainly part of it. But aside from that, why it beckons our contemplation, it’s the thing which brings Him pleasure and us eternity. We do incredibly well, then, to meditate on it, in hopes of realizing His glorification and our gain. The book of Hebrews goes to great depths to explain what faith is, how to receive it, and what it tangibly looks like in the world. Considering, reread the verse above.

Though rarely quoted or commented on, Hebrews 11:11 stands out. It lays out a rather basic equation of how faith works, or at least should. Now Sarah gets a bad rap for laughing when Abraham told her God was giving them a child…and she did suggest her husband lie with a slave girl, but let’s not quickly dismiss what she went through here. She had been barren her entire life. No doubt this grieved her greatly. Because of this, it’s possible she felt worthless, rejected, even scorned. For most of her life Sarah might have been thinking, How could God withhold childbearing from me, a woman who wanted nothing more? Based on surface facts it’s easy to put Sarah on the periphery of the great cloud of witnesses, but the truth is, I want to emulate her faith.

Ultimately, Sarah did the one thing which gave her the faith to receive the power to conceive—she considered God. And in considering Him, she knew Him to be faithful, worthy of her trust. So she believed in God’s promise and bore Isaac—the wrinkled, grandma-aged woman whose womb was full of cobwebs, by faith, became the mother, if you will, of all nations.

When it comes down to it, having faith and acting upon it heavily involves ‘considering.’ Maybe you haven’t thought of it that way before. I hadn’t. Often when situations in my life have called for faith I’ve only momentarily or casually considered Him who is able to do more than I could ask or imagine. And I wonder why my faith is feeble? In a bizarre way, exactly when faith is required I have the tendency to first focus on myself instead of on the One who authors and perfects it.

Faith grows (awakens?) when we consider God, not the circumstance, and certainly not ourselves. But what do we think about when we consider Him? We should consider His characteristics and His promises, which are profound as they are many. Sarah considered the faithfulness of God, how He had shown Himself faithful to them in the past. So God’s exemplified love and sovereign plan gave her the faith to believe she would conceive. She wasn’t godly in her initial response (she, like me, probably thought of herself first), but she eventually considered the LORD and, in so doing, made it to the Hall of Faith!

While God’s attributes are many, there is one truth we should immediately and unquestioningly consider: He is the Lord of lords. Without sounding cheesy, He is the Master of the Universe—indeed, He literally holds it together by the power of His word. He is powerful to save our souls—certainly powerful to come through for us in our present need. And He is good. So good. His plan for us is for our gain, our eternal good, even in the face of a world trying to convince us otherwise.

In order to consider Him well, we have to know Him well. Without knowledge of Him, His ways, His purpose, it is difficult to act in faith. Sarah knew Him. She and Abraham talked to Him, communed with Him, and followed in His ways. Today, we have two ways to know Him. First, we have His Word. He has revealed Himself to us through the Bible. Our sole purpose in studying the Bible is to intimately know the Savior of our soul. Through it we become acquainted with the God of old—the One who is the same yesterday, today, forever. Second, we have His Spirit, who helps our once-blind heart see His hand in our life (whether we’ve acknowledged it or not, it’s been there!). By His grace I have seen multiple instances of His divine intervention—evidences of His sovereign (and unique) plan for my life. I harken back to them to consider Him who is faithful, giving me the faith to take heart and press on.

Last point: our faith in Him is for His glory. That’s why faith is so important. Sarah’s pregnancy and motherhood was ordained for the exultation of the Most High God. Just the same, when we have faith in God—in His purpose, His plan, His power and provision—we showcase His majesty to the watching world. That’s the beauty of it all. Circumstances couldn’t be more inconsequential—whether good or bad, happy or sad, we can have faith. When we do, He gets glory. And His purpose (ours too, if we’d only realize it!) is fulfilled.

So often life’s events make it difficult to trust, to fully and firmly believe in Him who is able. But that’s only due to our lack of knowledge and consideration. Of any, we have no reason to doubt, no reason to worry. We are His people, children of the King.

If two sparrows are sold for a penny, how much more valuable to Him are we?

Grace to you, to awaken your faith by considering the King,

Voice of another

A Call from the Desert

pre·serve verb

verb (used with object)

      1.    to keep alive or in existence

      2.    to keep safe from harm or injury; protect or spare

      3.    to keep up; maintain

      4.    to keep possession of; retain

www.dictionary.com

I was listening to a certain Christian radio morning show not long ago and I tuned in just in time to hear one of the co-hosts describing a difficult relationship with a coworker. He went on and on about how unhealthy it was—how even the most routine interactions caused him to respond to this individual with raw contempt. His rambling finally ceased with the conclusion: ‘I prayed about it and had to discontinue the relationship altogether for the sake of self-preservation.’

Self-preservation. The concept lingered. How much of life is characterized by a striving for preservation, by a robust desire to retain and maintain? Think about it. We try to preserve youth, health, wealth, prosperity, comfort, safety, even sanity. In many ways, self-preservation is the overarching credo we ascribe to on a daily basis. We’re more than willing to do the uncomfortable to stay comfortable; we’re willing to sacrifice and save to maintain wealth; we’re even willing to endure pain to retain a prosperous life. And sometimes we do this under the guise of faith, or Christianity.

Notice how all four of the above definitions begin. ‘To keep…’

The nature of keeping—it’s done with motivation and intention. It brings certainty, perhaps security. It promotes stagnation. And it’s something that can be adored, even worshiped.

What does Jesus say about keeping (saving)?

35 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it. 36 For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?

—Mark 8:35-36

He doesn’t seem to want us to preserve…or keep…or save this life. In fact, He calls us to do just the opposite.

But most often, when we meet trials of many kinds, as the Apostle James correctly predicted we would, our natural inclination is to ‘fight or flight’—to do anything we can to evade suffering and maintain (preserve) comfort, certainty, security. Why? Because they are most desirable. And we store them up as treasures.

James, however, encourages an entirely alternative approach. Take heed to his exhortation:

2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.

 —James 1:2-3

We fight. Or we take flight when there appears trouble. There’s another option: delight. We can embrace the suffering we’ll inevitably encounter, counting it joy. Not because we’re to be masochists—that would fly in the face of our holy God. No, because we can trust the sovereign purpose of our Father to refine our fledgling faith through it all.

God, who began a good work in each of His children, will carry it on to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. The work (sanctification) is, indeed, good—just far from easy. And this shouldn’t catch us as a surprise. Jesus himself said, ‘If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.’ (Mark 8:34) What about a trip down the Calvary road suggests comfort, safety and security? What here suggests simply preserving what we’ve got?

There’s another word that looks remarkably similar to the word ‘preserve.’

Persevere.

Grace to you, to lose your life, to embrace the refinement of faith through trials…and preserve your salvation.

Voice of another