Diamond In A Mansion, Treasure In A Shack

I think there are many people in ministry who think that their heavenly reward will be based upon the part of their ministry that can be seen.  How many sermons they preached or how many pews were filled or how many altar calls were made.  How many mission trips they took or VBSes they volunteered for or Sunday school classes they taught or books they wrote or Bible studies they taught.  But those are all exterior things.  Exterior things are the wood, hay and straw that will be burned away to reveal the true spiritual value inside.  The Apostle Paul tells the Corinthians that they must be careful how they build on the foundation of Christ.  There will be people who build using various building materials:  gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, and straw, and their work "will be shown for what it is" because the Day of Judgment "will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person's work"--if what is built survives the fire, they will receive a reward; if what is built is burned up, they will suffer loss.  Paul says they will retain their salvation, "but only as one escaping through the flames" (1 Cor 3:1-15).

I think the lion's share of our heavenly reward will be based on the things which are not seen, because it is the things which are not seen that have lasting, eternal value (2 Cor 4:16-18).  Our reward will not be based on the outward appearance of our lives and work, but will be more-so based on our motive behind the thing we did, rather than the thing we did itself-- meaning, it will be based less on the things we do and more-so on the person we are while we are doing them.  And when we stand before the great and terrible judge Who is the examiner of human hearts, we will come face to face with the awful reality that there is nothing that can be hidden from the searching eyes of the living God-- there is nothing that exists in all creation that is impenetrable to His flaming gaze.  Scripture tells us that it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God (Heb 10:31) and even though I look forward to gazing upon the face of my Savior, I dread His examination of my works because the only perfect human life that has ever been lived was His, not mine.

We tend to forget that we worship a retributive God Who is perfect in justice, which means even though our salvation is secure, we will all reap what we've sown.  Jesus says so:  "For the Son of Man is going to come in His Father's glory with His angels, and then He will reward each person according to what they have done" (Matt 16:27).  We are saved by grace but we are judged according to our works and the motives behind them:  "For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil" (Eccl 12:14).  We can convince ourselves easily enough that our motives are pure, but we cannot fool God.  There are many times in my life in which I thought my motives were pure and was convinced my intentions were noble, only to find out otherwise when I truly surrendered to God and allowed His searching eyes to sift through me.  I can think of many times in my younger years in which I was convinced that I was right, only to find out after-the-fact that I was indeed wrong.  I have had me and my family's life upended by people who were convinced they were right, and I grieve for them because I know that one day they will understand that they were indeed wrong, and I don't want anyone to have to face that. 

As I contemplate these events in my life, it brings me to my knees in humility because I have intimate experience with just how easily we fool ourselves about the integrity of our intentions and the purity of our motives.  That is why Paul so solemnly warns the Corinthians who prided themselves on their perceived righteousness, "let him who thinks he stands firm, take heed that he does not fall" (1 Cor 10:12).  Scripture also repeatedly warns us not to be wise in our own estimation (Prov 3:7; Isaiah 5:21; Rom 12:3).  We are also repeatedly told to allow God to examine our heart (Lamentations 3:40; Psalm 19:12; 26:2; 139:23,24; Job 31:6; 1 Thess 2:4).  Who can honestly stand before God and claim they have a truly pure heart based on their own merit?  No one.

We cannot fall into the trap of allowing the external appearance of our life be our gauge for inner treasure.  Inner treasure is the development of our character in relation to our understanding of God.  Knowledge of God comes through Scripture, but understanding of God comes through experiencing Him and being in His presence.  Which means the true measure of a Christian has more to do with their prayer life, rather than how much Scripture they know or what they accomplish.  And if prayer life is the true measure of a Christian, then maybe that helps people understand why things look so dismal at this point in the church.  Leonard Ravenhill rightly stated, "No Christian is greater than [their] prayer life."  He also rightly said, "We want power; [But God] wants to expose our weakness. We want large bonuses for small investments of prayer. We want to sow radish seeds but reap a forest of redwoods." 

The truth is, there are going to be countless people who are utterly gob-smacked when they get to heaven and see.  When the veil is pulled back and those who thought they knew, those who thought they understood, come face to face with how truly ignorant they were.  When the pastor with the successful earthly ministry sees the heavenly reward he thought was surely going to be his, given to the elderly widow who quietly sat on the back pew on Sundays and fought dragons on her knees as she prayed for him by her bedside through the week.  When countless people in ministry see that the very reason for their seeming success wasn't them, but the unseen and unknown people who were praying for them. 

Scripture says that God examines our heart (Jer 17:10), and one way He does so is through fire.  Scripture clearly tells us that God is a consuming fire (Ex 24:17; Deut 4:24; 5:24; 9:3; Num 11:1; 16:35; Ps 97:3).  To survive a consuming fire, you must become fire.  The only way to pass through the flame is to become a flame.  The only thing that can withstand God's nature is His nature.  Thus, our heavenly reward will have much to do with our character and how accurately we reflect God's image.  The more in-line we are with God's character, and thus, the more accurately we bear His image, the less that will be burned away when we encounter the fire of His presence.  You can spend your entire life building the exterior:   a mansion with a single diamond inside on a meticulously manicured 100-acre estate will all be burned to nothing, as if it never existed, leaving only the diamond.  Or you can spend your entire life filling the interior:  a ramshackle cabin with priceless jewels tucked under the worn floorboards, and when the shack burns down, the hidden treasure that was inside will be revealed for all to see.   

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Matt 6:19-21)

For the Son of Man is going to come in His Father's glory with His angels, and then He will reward each person according to what they have done. (Matt 16:27)

And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. (Rev 20:12)

So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. (2 Cor 4:18)

I, the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve. (Jer 17:10)

Why should any mortal man complain, in view of his sins? Let us examine and test our ways, and turn back to the Lord. (Lam 3:39,40)

Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Can't you see for yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you-- unless you actually fail the test? (2 Cor 13:5)

The Wine Of Suffering

Suffering forces us to contemplate God in a way that is foreign to human understanding.  We are creatures who conceptualize things in a "cause and effect" paradigm.  We observe, we take in the data, we formulate an assessment of the data based on former experiences, human perception, and human assumptions.  We postulate, we pontificate, we presume, we presuppose.  We assess, we ascertain, we assimilate, we ascribe.  And the concept of suffering comes lumbering into our china cabinet of attribution and proceeds to shatter our fragile collection of conclusions.  Oceans of ink have been spilled over the course of our existence in an attempt to explain suffering.  Countless tears have spilled down countless cheeks in frustration, woe, confusion, and disconsolation over the concept of human suffering.  Why must we suffer?  Why does God allow it?  And the simplest conclusion I can come up with is that grapes have to be crushed to make wine.

When making wine, you are not just dealing with the juice from the grapes.  You are also dealing with the pulp, skin and fiber that make up the grape because every part of the grape is needed to provide body, color, and depth of flavor to the wine.  Without them, you would just have clear grape juice with minimal quality.  Crushing the grapes bursts the skins so that everything that is inside can be exposed and properly processed.  Once the grapes are crushed, they sit still and ferment for a short time, and then they are put into a wine press.  The crushed grape solids are pressed under great pressure to extract even more juice.  This can be done by hand, but you cannot get nearly as much juice from the pulp as a wine press can.

The notion that God would want to crush us like grapes to expose our weaknesses, and then unrelentingly press us into further extraction can be quite disconcerting to our human reason.  Like making wine from grapes, the crushing and pressing effect of suffering can be both destructive and productive at the same time.  Suffering can expose the ugliness that remains in our own heart, causing us to lash out at those closest to us, destroying friendships and relationships.  But it can also bring us to a place of sweet surrender in a way that helps us see what is truly important in life.  It can cause us to act in ways in which we will have to later ask for forgiveness, yet it can also cause us to see clearly all the ways in which we should forgive.  Like grapes, suffering can be both bitter and sweet. 

However, the fact of the matter still remains:  suffering exposes our weaknesses in a way that nothing else can.  If you want to see the true heart of a person, observe how they react to suffering.  Suffering strips us of everything and then ties our hands behind our back and taunts us-- daring us to respond.  When we suffer, we do it naked and exposed.  Suffering brings us into a chasm of vulnerability that we cannot traverse in our own strength, nor reach the other side by our own reason.  It breaks us down and then breaks us in half and then stomps us into pieces.  Nothing, and I do mean nothing, can reach the inner sanctum of the human heart like suffering can.  It is a sword with a driving force of incalculable power, piercing through layer after layer of vanity, ignorance, rebellion, anger, bitterness, and pride.  Perhaps that is why God allows it.  Perhaps, that is why those whom He loves the most, He allows to suffer the most.  That is what we see when we look at the suffering of Jesus Christ.  If God's love for us is measured by our suffering, then we can clearly see the degree of His love for His own Son. 

This simply does not make sense to us.  We cannot make sense of a God who metes out love through suffering, but that is what we find when we look at Scripture, and this simply does not compute in our human perceptions.  My purpose for writing this post is not to give a definitive answer about suffering because I do not think that one exists.  If you are looking for an answer as to why the innocent and guilty suffer alike, I do not have one for you.  I can only look at suffering honestly, and bring you along the journey of contemplation that so many others have tread before me.  And when we take a good, honest look at suffering, we are forced to wrestle with God in a way that we otherwise wouldn't.  Who is this God?  How can I understand Him?  What is He like?  These are the questions we must contemplate because we are creatures whose purpose is to reflect His image, and we can't do that unless we can see that image clearly.

For it is better, if it is God's will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the spirit. (1 Pet 3:17,18)

How is it to your credit if you are beaten for doing wrong and you endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in His footsteps. (1 Pet 2:20,21)

He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief. Like one from whom men hide their faces, He was despised and we esteemed Him not...we all like sheep have gone astray, each one has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so He did not open His mouth. (Is 53:3,6,7)

The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears; He delivers them from all their troubles. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted; He saves the crushed in spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers them from them all. (Ps 34:17-19)

He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. He determines the number of the stars; He calls them each by name. Great is our Lord, and mighty in power; His understanding has no limit. (Ps 147:3-5)

Terms Of Engagement

One of the things I often contemplate from the Gospel accounts is how many people rejected the truth that Christ spoke into their life.  There was God on earth, walking around, sharing Himself with them and pouring His wisdom into their life, but they walked away from it because it wasn't what they were looking for or because it didn't fit their perception of God.  Quite frankly, more often than not, Jesus simply didn't meet people's expectations of Him.  Not because of a lack of substance on His part, but because of a lack of understanding on theirs.

We are often guilty of this ourselves.  We like to listen to God's truth, as long as it makes sense to us.  As long as it makes us feel better about ourselves.  As long as it fits within our perceptions of what God should be like.  As long as Jesus meets our expectations.  But when God begins to deal with our heart, when He refuses us the things we ask of Him, when He hands us a mirror instead, we'd much rather walk away and find someone or something else to fulfill our expectations.  Someone who won't point out the flaws in us that separate us from God or mute His voice.  Something that will temporarily soothe our longing hearts.  I wonder how many people have asked God to reveal Himself to them, only to find consternation, frustration, and bewilderment when He does.

The only way we can approach God, is on His terms.  The problem is, too many of us want God on our terms.  We want to enter into His presence, but we want to bring all our stuff with us when we come.  And that's not going to work, because as we grow closer to Him, our hands must become emptier and emptier.  Our heart must become purer and purer, which means that we must allow Him to sift our hearts and regularly examine our motives, intentions, and perceptions.  And honestly, it is excruciating work allowing God to deal with you-- to face your own ugliness, to confess it, and surrender it to God.  Scripture says that God is a consuming fire, which means that as we grow nearer to Him, everything that cannot stand in His presence is burned away (Heb 12:29).  Everything that is false and fleshly and selfish and ignorant and foolish and sinful and immature.  It all has to go.

That is what Paul is talking about when he tells us to "work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God Who is at work in you..." (Phil 2:12,13).  He instructs us to have the same attitude as Christ "Who emptied Himself and took the form of a slave...[humbling] Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross" (v. 5-8).   Even Jesus could not follow God on His own terms (John 5:30; 8:28; 12:49).  The cross was the Father's terms and the incarnate Christ submitted to them (Matt 26:42).  Jesus as the Son of Man, asked if it were possible to make the cup pass from Him, but we see His nature as the Son of Man surrendering and becoming aligned with His nature as the Son of God when Jesus says, "Not my will but Yours be done" (Luke 22:42).  So it is with us, as we surrender our nature as the sons and daughters of Adam and Eve to become aligned with our nature as sons and daughters of the Most High God, Whose image we were created to bear.  To bear His image, we must do it on His terms.

There are several accounts in the Gospels of people who clearly want to follow Jesus, but they want to do so on their own terms.  A teacher of the law tells Jesus, "I will follow You wherever you go," and Jesus' response to him is basically, "You want to follow Me to a destination, but I have no destination because I AM the destination" (Matt 8:27).  Another person wants to follow Jesus, but asks that Jesus wait for him to first bury his dead father, and Jesus' response to him is basically, "You can follow Me or you can bury your father, but you can't do both...let the dead bury their own dead" (Matt 8:22). Nicodemus comes to Jesus under the cover of night to learn more about following Jesus and Jesus baffles him with His response:  You cannot follow Me unless you are born again (John 3:1-7).   The rich young ruler thought that following Jesus was a matter of task-- "all these [commandments] I have kept from my youth" (Luke 18:21).  But when Jesus pointed out to him that it was less a matter of task and more a matter of his greedy heart, the rich young ruler "went away grieving; for he owned much property" (Matt 19:19-22).

There is a deeper, significant spiritual lesson behind each of these individual accounts, but for all intents and purposes they all exhibit the same human tendency to seek commitment on our own terms.  They also all exhibit the same consistent characteristic of Christ to first address the issues of our heart.  Instance after instance, we see Jesus frustrating those who attempt to follow Him on their own terms, rather than His.  We see people bringing their assumptions with them about Who He is and what He is like, only to come face to face with Someone else.  And also, the disturbing fact that Jesus lets them walk away.  What we must understand is that Jesus lets them walk away because unless we surrender and allow Him to address the issues in our heart, any effort on our part to be in relationship with Him is futile.  Because to be in relationship with Christ, is to surrender your heart to Him.  Those are His terms and they are non-negotiable.

Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. (Phil 3:12-14)

So Jesus said, "When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He and I do nothing on my own initiative, but speak these things as the Father taught Me. And He Who sent Me is with Me; He has not left Me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to Him." (John 8:28,29)

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes and to carefully observe My ordinances. (Ezek 36:26,27)

I will give them a heart to know Me, that I am the Lord. They will be My people, and I will be their God, for they will return to Me with all their heart. (Jer 24:7)

It is clear that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. (2 Cor 3:3)

The Simple Act Of Praise

God's answers to us are often simple.  In 2 Kings Chapter 5, we see a man named Naaman who expected God to heal him of his leprosy in a spectacular way.  When Naaman came to Elisha the prophet to see what God's instructions were for his healing, Elisha told him that God said to "go wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed" (2 Kings 5:10).  What we must understand is that it is not necessarily our actions that effect change in the spiritual realm, but our faith behind those actions.  God didn't heal Naaman with the water from the Jordan river, Naaman was healed because of his faith in the God who told him to wash himself in the river.  Naaman evidenced his trust in God, and God healed him.  We know that God doesn't always heal, but in this particular case, God's answer to Naaman was something that He would use to grow Naaman's understanding of Him.  There was a much bigger picture that God was at work in, than just healing Naaman's leprosy.  But in this particular case, healing Naaman's leprosy served just one small part in the bigger picture.

I know someone that struggles with fear. It is an irrational fear and it is crippling to them.  In their particular case, it is a combination of both medical and spiritual things at work.  The medical aspect is a biological imbalance of the chemicals in their brain.  When our brains don't make the right chemicals in the right amounts, it affects our mood and thinking.  The spiritual aspect is that this medical imbalance-- and its resulting effects-- are being taken advantage of by demonic entities who use this imbalance as an opportunity to exacerbate the fluctuation in this person's thinking and perceptions.  Demonic entities don't necessarily attack people because they are bad.  Sometimes they attack them because they are good and they hate them because of their relationship with God.  Other times they attack them because that person has opened themselves up to spiritual attack by unrepented sin or by allowing some sort of demonic foothold in their life.  Either way, whether because the person is doing something right or because they have done something wrong, remember that Jesus was attacked by Satan himself.  Jesus is the holiest human being that has ever lived, so Jesus wasn't attacked because He was doing anything wrong, but because of the threat He posed to Satan and his kingdom.  When Satan attacked Jesus, Jesus was legitimately, biologically hungry and weak.  And then Satan tried to take advantage of Jesus spiritually through His weakened and compromised physical state.  That is how spiritual warfare usually works.  Often times when someone is undergoing emotional spiritual warfare, both biological and spiritual aspects are in play.  Depression, anxiety, and compulsive/obsessive thoughts are real medical conditions.  But demons who take advantage of us in these weakened mental states are just as real.  But this post isn't about the nuts and bolts behind spiritual warfare and the details of demonism in the spiritual realm.  This post is about faith.  So, bear with me as we traverse through the details that will lead us full circle, back to where this post started.

Several days ago, I had the sort of dream that I am pretty used to having at this point in my life.  I dreamed that I was dealing with a demon.  I often dream of battling with demons and it used to freak me out, but now it's just a normal part of my life and I take it in stride.  In my dream, I told the demon to leave because it had no right to be where it was at.  The person in my dream had done nothing to invite the demon or its torment into their life.  The demon was there because it had convinced the person that they couldn't make it leave. The demon had convinced the person that there was nothing they could do to make it go and the demon stayed because that person had been believing its lies.  When I told the demon to leave, it resisted because that's what most of them do.  They want to see if you really believe what you are saying.  In many ways, a demon has the mentality of a three-year-old child, they will resist anything you tell them to do and will try to wait around to see just how serious you are about forcing them to comply.  Like a toddler, they are boundary testers and they are relentless about it.  Like a toddler, they usually don't overcome your will by sheer strength, but simply because they've worn down your resolve to stand firm on it.  While I stood there in my dream, refusing to budge, and resolutely waited for the demon to leave, I began to praise God and then the dream immediately ended and I woke up.  Then I rolled over and went back to sleep.

As I was praying in the spirit this morning for the person that has been tormented with irrational fear, I was crying out to God for them.  I was interceding for them and going to battle for them in prayer against whatever wickedness was trying to cripple them through their thoughts and emotions.  I humbled myself before the Lord and prayed for Him to show us the way to walk in that would free this person and their family from this relentless spirit.  The Holy Spirit immediately brought me to remembrance of the dream I had a few nights ago.  I immediately understood that the dream I had that night wasn't random, but was the answer that I would be seeking just a few days later.  God knew I would go to battle for someone this Tuesday morning, so He gave me the answer I needed before the day even came.  The way this particular evil would be driven out of this person's life would be through praise. 

We often think that God's answers to us should be profound and spectacular.  We are often like Naaman, who "went away angry" when he received God's simple answer to go wash in the Jordan River for his leprosy (2 Kings 5:11).  Scripture records Naaman's reaction:  "I thought that [Elisha] would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy," then he reasoned within himself that the water from the rivers in his hometown were just as good as the Jordan River and he might as well rinse somewhere closer to home if rinsing in the Jordan was gonna be God's lame answer to him, "so he turned and went off in a rage" (2 Kings 5:12).  Naaman was frustrated and discouraged because God's answer to him was nothing like what he expected.  Naaman's disgust at God's simple answer to wash in the Jordan shows us that Naaman was focused on God's answer as one of action, rather than one of faith.  It wasn't the water of the Jordan River that was special, nor was it the actual getting wet and washing himself.  Naaman's healing really had nothing to do with the "thing" God was asking Naaman to do, it had to do with his attitude behind it.  God was dealing with Naaman's heart, so He told Naaman to do something that would orient Naaman's heart to God in the proper way:  to humble him. 

Verse 13 records Naaman's servants asking him:  If Elisha had told you to do some great thing to be healed, wouldn't you have done it?  Yet how much easier is it to do such a simple thing as to wash in the Jordan?  We often make God's dealings with us out to be far more complicated than they usually are.  God deals in simple transactions of faith.  Faith is our currency, our shield, and our weapon.  We tend to focus on the sword as our weapon, but what we must understand is that spiritual swords are lifted by faith.  The sword is useless as a weapon without the faith to move it.  God's answer to this person I prayed for who was dealing with tormentuous fear was:  "You will overcome fear with praise. Evil will not stand against praise.  It can't.  Praise will drive it out."  Fear wants to be this person's god and this person has been feeling torn apart because they are trying to serve two masters.  The fear they feel is very real, but the things they are imagining in their mind that are inciting the fear are not real.  What God wanted this person to know is, "This is what is real:  FEAR IS NOT THE MASTER OF YOUR HOUSE.   So, tell it to leave and praise Me as it waits around to see how serious you are about forcing it to comply."  Like Naaman, the answer this person received was quite simple.  It was tailor made to deal with what needed to be reoriented in this person's heart:  trust in God.  Like Naaman, their faith would be evidenced by a simple action.  Their trust in God would be evidenced through their praise.

You are to fear the Lord your God and serve Him. Hold fast to Him and take your oaths in His name. He is your praise and He is your God, Who has done for you these great and awesome wonders your eyes have seen. (Deut 10:20,21)

I cry out by day, O my God, but You do not answer, and by night, but I have no rest. Yet You are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel. In You our fathers trusted; they trusted and You delivered them. (Psalm 22:2-4)

Praise the Lord.

Praise the Lord, O my soul.

I will praise the Lord all my life;

I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.

Do not put your trust in princes,

in mortal men, who cannot save.

When their spirit departs, they return to the ground;

on that very day their plans come to nothing.

Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,

whose hope is in the Lord his God,

the Maker of heaven and earth,

the sea, and everything in them--

the Lord, who remains faithful forever.

He upholds the cause of the oppressed

and gives food to the hungry.

The Lord sets prisoners free,

the Lord gives sight to the blind,

the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down,

the Lord loves the righteous.

The Lord watches over the foreigner

and sustains that fatherless and the widow,

but He frustrates the ways of the wicked.

The Lord reigns forever,

your God, O Zion, for all generations.

Praise the Lord. (Psalm 146)

The Cost Of Kindness

I often see the Facebook blurb:  "Kindness costs you nothing."  And I often feel the urge to point out that sometimes, kindness actually costs a lot.  Kindness cost Jesus His life.  It cost Him being slapped in the face and spit on.  It cost Him many moments of His life where He may just rather have had time to Himself in peace and quiet, rather than pouring Himself out to the masses day after day.  I wonder how many times Jesus was tired and needed a break, but went and served and helped people anyway?  I disagree that "kindness costs you nothing." 

For a divorced mother to be kind to the husband who beat her when it's his weekend to have the kids, that is costly kindness.  For the divorced husband to be kind to the wife who cheated on him when it's her weekend to have the kids, that is costly kindness.  For an employee to be kind to a boss who exploits them or belittles them, that is costly kindness.  For you to be kind to the person you know is gossiping about you behind your back, that is costly kindness.  It is costly because there are things within yourself that you have to die to, so that you can be kind toward them.  There are emotions which you'd much rather prefer to feel, that must be put to death, or at the very least, neutered.  There is an inner death that takes place when we are kind to those who least deserve it and when we'd much rather prefer to treat them as their actions deserve.  But, it is not our place to determine what their actions deserve. 

Jesus explicitly commands us:  "But to those of you who will listen, I say:  Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you...love your enemies...Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for He is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked.  Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful" (Luke 6:27-36).  And it is in this context of forgiveness towards the unforgivable that Jesus instructs us not to judge or condemn:  "Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven" (v. 37).  We do not determine what is forgivable and unforgivable.  Only God does that.  Jesus says do not judge, do not condemn, but forgive-- for with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you (v. 38).  We are not being told to overlook other people's wrongs to us or to be a doormat to someone.  We are not being told to accept despicable behavior.  Jesus is telling us not to allow the way other people treat us to determine the way we treat them.  But rather, "Treat others the same way you want them to treat you" (v. 31).  Which means, the way people treat us is not our standard of measurement for how we treat them.  Our standard of measurement is the goodness with which we would prefer to be treated ourselves.

That is why kindness can be costly.  When we are mistreated, it is not our natural tendency to go and find the person that mistreated us and give them a big ol' hug and a-coke-and-a-smile.  If truth be told, and it must, most of us would probably prefer to karate chop them in the throat.  Or pull out all the flowers in their flower bed and put them--clods of dirt and all-- into the front seat of their car.  Or at the very least, unleash the full, verbal barrage of "our side of the story" when they come up in conversation, rather than just sweetly smile and desperately try to find something nice to say.  Trust me, I know, I've legitimately considered all three of these scenarios at one point or another in my life.  But Jesus says that we don't get to do any of those retributive things, and sometimes that feels costly. 

Death to self is a costly thing and I don't think it's wise to downplay that with catchy, insipid Facebook Psalms that try to imply otherwise.  I think the popular term, "the struggle is real," would be appropriate in this regard.  Sometimes it is a struggle to be kind and that struggle is real, but God is always present to give us grace in that struggle.  He gives us the grace to be kind because it is His will for us to be kind.  We are kind because He is "kind to the ungrateful and the wicked" and we were created to reflect His image, and He has poured out His Spirit unto us so that we can successfully do so.  However, access to His empowering Spirit does not detract from the fact that for us to walk in the Spirit, part of us has to die so that He can live in us.  Which means that sometimes, kindness will be costly.

He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Do not even tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even Gentiles do the same? Be perfect, therefore, as your Heavenly Father is perfect. (Matt 5:45-48)

Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may be blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and perverse generation, in which you shine as lights in the world. (Phil 2:14,15)

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. (Matt 5:7)

Wait for the Lord and keep His way, and He will raise you up to inherit the land. When the wicked are cut off, you will see it. (Psalm 37:34)

Put to death, therefore, the components of your earthly nature:  sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming on the sons of disobedience. (Col 3:5,6)

The Place Of No Words

The place of no words

God dwells here

God dwells in the place of no words

Because He is more than anything words can express

Because words cannot contain Him

He is the Word

You leave behind your words when you come here

And you take no words with you when you leave

You bring your heart and all that is in it

You lay it down before Him

As you bow down at His feet

Back away and surrender to examination

Drop your arms to your sides

Close your eyes and lay your head back

Let His gaze wash you clean

Let Him sort through the chambers of your heart

Do not try to grasp it from Him

As He turns it over and over in His hands

Let Him do His holy work

Oh Lord, I want to capture You in my words

So that I can shape you into something I can comprehend

I want to reel You in

And encircle You in a net of understanding

But You are words

You are understanding

And You cannot be possessed

Only experienced

Share Yourself with me

In this place of no words

Bring me to the place that is beyond words

To the place of knowing

To the place where wisdom dwells

And understanding reigns

How many have You brought to this threshold

Who turned and walked away

Because to walk through this door

Everything else must be left behind?

Take my hand and lead me through

Into the furnace blast of Your consuming fire

Burn away all that I am

So that only Your reflection remains

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. (John 1:1,2)

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. (Prov 9:10)

Therefore, since we are receiving an unshakable kingdom, let us be filled with gratitude, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe. For our God is a consuming fire. (Heb 12:28,29)

And we, who with unveiled faces, all reflect the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into His image with intensifying glory, which comes from the Lord, Who is the Spirit. (2 Cor 3:18)

"Can a man hide in secret places where I cannot see him?" declares the Lord. "Do I not fill the heavens and earth?" declares the Lord. (Jer 23:24)

You have searched me and known me. You know when I sit and when I rise; You understand my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down; You are aware of all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, You know all about it, O Lord. You hem me in behind and before; You have laid Your hand upon me. (Psalm 139:1-5)

The Least Of These

John gives an account in Chapter 4 of his gospel of Jesus passing through Samaria on His way back to Galilee from Judea.  Jews usually avoided passing through Samaria and would travel around it by crossing the Jordan and traveling along the east side.  The origin of the Samaritans is generally traced to the division of Israel into northern and southern kingdoms during the rebellion of Jeroboam, in which the northern kingdoms eventually fell to the Assyrians who displaced the native northern Israelites into surrounding nations and replaced them with peoples of various nationalities and religious beliefs, whom the remaining northern Israelites intermarried with.  Samaritans were hated by the Jews who considered them ethnic half-breeds, more Gentile than Jew, religiously unclean because they practiced an aberrant form of Judaism, and were considered traitors because of past support to conquering nations.  John clearly states at verse 9, "Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans," which seems to be his way of attempting to tastefully convey that there is no love lost between Jew and Samaritan.

The account of the Samaritan woman at the well packs a triple-punch in terms of Jesus' dealings with those who were normally considered "the fringes of society" or those who were considered "less than" in terms of religiosity or inherent human value.  In this one passage, He ministers to a person who is not only a despised Samaritan, but also a woman and a sinner.  This would have been the epitome of disgust to a religious Jew.  You get a sense of the disciples' shock at verse 27, "His disciples came and they were astonished that He had been speaking with a woman," yet none of them dared question Him.  It is quite remarkable that their shock value did not even lie in the fact that Jesus was dealing with a Samaritan or a sinner, but that He was bothering with a woman.

This account of the Samaritan woman is a pithy exchange, from which many treasures of truth can be mined.  All of the details in this account are significant for understanding what is being communicated, but the key for putting it all together is actually what is said in the preceding chapter.  In Chapter 3, John gives us the account of Jesus' conversation with Nicodemus, a believing Pharisee who met with Him secretly under the cover of night.  After Nicodemus questions Jesus, Jesus admonishes him, "Are you the teacher of Israel and do not understand these things?  Truly, truly I say to you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen, and you do not accept our testimony" (3:10,11).  Then Jesus tells Nicodemus, those who believe in Him will not be judged, but those who do not believe in Him have been judged already "because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God" (3:18).  Then, a few verses later, John the Baptist reiterates the religious leaders' lack of faith by restating what Jesus said in his own words, "What He has seen and heard of that He testifies; and no one receives His testimony. He who has received His testimony has set his seal to this, that God is true....for He gives the Spirit without measure...He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him" (John 3:32-36). 

Then we see Jesus illustrate all these words through His interaction with the Samaritan woman.  She is not a teacher of Israel, yet she understands (3:10).  Jesus echoes His words to Nicodemus at 3:11 when He says to the woman, "You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews" (4:22).  Yet even in her ignorance, she does not refuse His testimony, but accepts it.  The Pharisees consider her judged and under God's wrath as a sinner and a Samaritan, and not even worthy of receiving any spiritual gift of God because she is a woman.  Yet because she believes, she is not judged (3:18).  Not only is she not judged, but she is also offered the Spirit without measure (3:34):  "Whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life" (4:14).  On every account that Jesus admonishes the spiritual leaders of Israel and the spiritually arrogant, this Samaritan woman-- the least likely, the least valued, the least worthy, the least respected, the least considered-- succeeds in faithfulness. 

In this account we see God's grace at work in the most unlikely of places with the most unlikely of people.  We see that God's gracious gift of salvation and redemption extends to the unworthy and rejected, and even more so, that devotion to God is not measured by righteous works or favorable status or rank in society, but that He measures devotion by faith.  When we feel downtrodden, we must hold onto this truth in faith.  When we are in the valley of weakness, failure, and doubt, we must remember in faith that there is no place that God will not reach down and draw us up from.  Likewise, when we are on the mountaintop and think we stand, we must remember to be humble and self-examining, lest we fall.  We cannot hide anything from God.  Jesus tells the Samaritan woman, "God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and truth" (4:24).  To worship in spirit, requires faith.  To worship in truth, requires the willingness to be truthful about ourselves, to let God examine our heart and to surrender to whatever truth He shows us to walk in.

 

But the Pharisees and their scribes complained to Jesus' disciples, "Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?" Jesus answered, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance." (Luke 5:30-32)

Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell down before Him trembling in fear, and she told Him the whole truth.  He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has healed you. God in peace and be freed from your suffering." (Mark 5:33,34)

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him. (Heb 11:6)

For the eyes of the Lord roam to and fro over all the earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is fully devoted to Him. (2 Chron 16:9)

Now the people were bringing the little children to Jesus for Him to place His hands on them, and the disciples rebuked those who brought them. When Jesus saw this, He was greatly displeased and indignant and told them, "Let the little children come to Me and do not hinder them! For the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who does not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." (Mark 10:13-15)