A Rejection of Mediocrity

Working in a fast-paces restaurant half the week and living at a secular university invites a good deal of foul language. At times, it’s rubbed off on me. I’ve had to watch my language at times; now and then I let expletives slip under my breath. It’s one of many things I’ve been convicted about, and one of many things God is working on in my life.

I still use exclamations that make some people uncomfortable. “Gosh” is technically a euphemism derived from “God”, but it’s developed enough of an identity of its own that I don’t equate it with blasphemy.

“Gosh, these hot wings are amazing.”

But every now and then, so-called “minced oaths” are really inadequate. Particularly when I’m really glad at something God’s done. Things that He does deserve an exclamation of surprise more illustrative of awe. “Gosh, I’m blessed” is almost blasphemous in its disconcern.

Would it be less blasphemous (or altogether profitable) to use God’s name as an expression of the scale of awe and gratitude you feel for what He’s done?

“God, I’m thankful for grace.”

It’s one thing to use God’s name in place of a four-letter word. But reverse blasphemy poses an interesting question, I think.

David

Christians love to read clever anecdotes about how to overcome a particular besetting sin or thwart the schemes of the devil. Why wouldn’t we? This isn’t necessarily a method of doing that….but hopefully it will bring you a little comfort anyway.

The flesh — it’s a constant battle, isn’t it? We fool ourselves into thinking that our own strength will keep us righteous, but sin overtakes us nonetheless. We cry out with the Apostle Paul, “Oh, wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?”

Our answer should be the same as his.

“Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! ….there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do.”

I was reading through part of Psalms when I recalled these words. King David wrote Psalm 18 as a celebration of God’s strength and the victory he’d been given over Saul and the rest of his enemies. Here’s an excerpt:

I love you, O LORD, my strength.
The LORD is my Rock and my Fortress and my Deliverer, my God, my Rock, in whom I take refuge, my Shield, and the horn of my salvation, my Stronghold.
I call upon the LORD, Who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies.
The cords of death encompassed me; the torrents of destruction assailed me; the cords of Sheol entangled me; the snares of death confronted me.
In my distress I called upon the Lord; to my God I cried for help. From His temple He heard my voice, and my cry to Him reached His ears.
He rescued me from my strong enemy and from those who hated me, for they were too mighty for me.
They confronted me in the day of my calamity, but the Lord was my support.”

I don’t know about you. But I was never really able to identify very much with King David in passages like these. I’d never had to fight against people who wanted me dead. Usually, when I was in a bitter dispute with someone, I had been the one at fault. I didn’t ever have a time that I “pursued my enemies and overtook them, and did not turn back till they were consumed.”

But even so, the passage really resonated with me today. So I read it over again a few times. Re-reading scripture is a really good idea.

Then I saw the parallel.

“The cords of death encompassed me; the torrents of destruction assailed me; the cords of Sheol entangled me; the snares of death confronted me.”

“Oh, wretched man that I am? Who shall deliver me from this body of sin?”

The parallel continues.

“You have given me the shield of Your salvation, and Your right hand supported me, and Your gentleness made me great. You gave a wide place for my steps under me, and my feet did not slip.”

“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.”

What peace and what blessing! “If God is for us, who can be against us?” The battle against the flesh isn’t a battle we must fight alone, or even a battle that we can fight alone; the battle is and always will be the Lord’s. And He is more than capable of defeating sin.

For me, it’s just an awfully beautiful sight to imagine:

“The Lord also thundered in the heavens, and the Most High uttered His voice, hailstones and coals of fire. And He sent out His arrows and scattered them; He flashed forth lightnings and routed them. Then the channels of the sea were seen, and the foundations of the world were laid bare at Your rebuke, O Lord, at the blast of the breath of Your nostrils.”

Don’t you see? This is what God does to our flesh and our sin when we give Him the reins of our life! Is there any conceivable way that we’ll be defeated by our own selfish lusts when the Lord of the universe is fighting for us?

“For You equipped me with strength for the battle; You made those who rise against me sink under me. You made my enemies turn their backs to me, and those who hated me I destroyed.”

Dear Christian: trust in the Lord, and lean not on your own understanding. Seek Him first and He will bear you up.

David

For the past week and a half, I’ve been speaking with a Jehovah’s Witness about the nature of man, the nature of God, and the significance of sin, righteousness, and judgment.

It’s been interesting to realize that the primary difficulty that Jehovah’s Witnesses have is their denial of the seriousness of sin. They point to Adam’s sin, and say that since sin has been a part of the world since him, our own personal sin isn’t our fault.

Since sin isn’t our fault, there’s no reason for Hell. Our death is a consequence of Adam’s sin, not our own. Not only is Hell denied, but the substitutionary atonement is denied; Jesus needed only die to reverse the effect of Adam’s sin. They don’t believe He bore the wrath of God on our behalf, because our sin doesn’t anger God.

No wonder their theology is mixed up.

I was telling him about the cross and the interaction between God the Father and God the Son at that pivotal point in history. Yet the question came to mind: where was God the Spirit at this point? What was He doing? Was He present in the wrath being delivered by the Father, or was He supporting the Son?

After reading through part of Matthew this morning, I think I have an answer.

“And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, ‘Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?’ that is, ‘My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?’

“And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up His spirit. And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split.”

As Jesus died, the Father was pouring out infinite wrath. The Son was absorbing infinite wrath. For an instant, two members of the Godhead were completely occupied. Not even the creation of the worlds had required such limitless divine power, but this did. Infinite wrath met infinite love, and both were satisfied.

And in that instant, the Godhead was torn. Never before had there been anything less than perfect harmony between the Father and the Son. Yet for that moment, the Father turned His face away. No wonder the Son exclaimed, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”

And the Spirit of God, resting in the temple, tore His garments in grief. The veil was rent from top to bottom, and the foundation stone of the temple split where the power landed. The earth shook and rocks tore asunder.

It wasn’t that the judgment of the Father spilled over. The Son drank every drop of the wrath of God. If even a single drop of that infinite fury had spilled, it would have destroyed the whole world. No, the destruction in the earth was the anguished cry of the Spirit, as He witnessed the Father forsaking the Son.

Rending the veil of the temple and shattering the earth wasn’t all that the Spirit did.

“The tombs also were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised.”

People were being raised from the dead? Never had anyone other than God done that. Angels never raised anyone from the dead. Men did it on occasion—Elijah and Elisha, for example—but only through the power of God. Yet two members of the Godhead, the Father and the Son, were at this moment completely occupied. Never before had any member of the Godhead been completely concentrated on a single object. But now, both the Father and the Son were exercising unlimited power in accomplishing the substitutionary atonement.

Who, then, provided the divine power to raise the dead? The Spirit, of course. Just as His grief at the separation of the Father and the Son was desperate enough the tear the curtain and rend the earth, so His joy at the accomplishment of the atonement—Christ’s cry, “It is finished!”—was more than sufficient to raise the saints, who now were freed from the bonds of death and Hades and would walk on the earth until the ascension 40 days later.

This passage not only demonstrates the intensity and passion in the Cross, but proves the full divinity and Personhood of God the Holy Spirit.

Infinite wrath met infinite love. Infinite grief was balanced by infinite joy. Infinite justice found infinite mercy at the Cross, and both poured out in infinite glory to our God.

Soli Deo Gloria. It’s the cross, yo.

David

What does He know that we don’t
What grand design is this
To break apart hearts
Dashing our dreams
Making the precious obscene

In Him, our promise is true
In Him, all things are new
In Him, we can see
In Him, we’ll be
In Him forever secure

Someone asked me about whether healing services are Christian. Here’s a short summary of what’s wrong with the mindset of services like this….

There are people who are Christians who go to healing services. And they say that it’s a Christian thing.

But it’s not something that God encourages or teaches. People like to pretend that they can get things for themselves…health, wealth, or prosperity…by saying the right incantations or reading Bible verses in the right order. God isn’t impressed by those things. He’s not some big white-haired man in the sky, waiting for us to get the right sequence of phrases in order. He’s not controlled by us.

People who think they can control God don’t know God.

God’s will is a lot cleaner and straighter than ours. He uses joy and pain and health and suffering and wealth and poverty to glorify Himself. A healing service says, “God exists to make our lives happy; we just have to do the right things in the right order.” God says, “You exist so that I can use your life to bring myself glory…I will do what I will, regardless of what you think you’re doing.”

The people at healing services usually take pieces of Bible verses and twist them to make them seem like promises. Then they drum up a lot of emotion in the audience. They appeal to superstition and use cheap tricks to convince people that God is present…when He’s no where close.

Foolishness sees love as the product of long companionship or persevering courtship. Love is the offspring of spiritual affinity—unless that affinity arises immediately, it will not appear in a year or in a lifetime. Only the spirit can effect love. Infatuation, admiration, lust, or even trust can be mistaken for love, but the beauty birthed in the affinity of two souls is immortal.

Food for thought.

David

This is a really excellent gospel presentation – you would do well to check it out!

David

No, I don’t expect that this title will win many points for popularity. Of course, it wasn’t exactly intended to.

iPhones are quite amazing…really, they are. My iPhone lets me do all sorts of things that would be terribly difficult without it. YouVersion.com has an app for the iPhone that lets you choose from a variety of plans to read through the Bible in a given time period. I read awfully fast, so I’m using the Bible-in-3-months plan. It comes to 12-16 chapters each day, which takes me about twenty minutes each morning, reading slowly.

The plan goes straight through the Bible continuously, so by Saturday morning I was already halfway through Genesis. There’s something really refreshing about plowing through Genesis at the beginning of the year…you can feel the Spirit renewing your mind. Genesis is full of beginnings – at least that’s what the little header in my Bible says.

There’s always a great deal of discussion, especially in Reformed and/or home schooled circles, over the proper methods and practices of romance. Josh Harris roundly condemned recreational dating as a means of finding a mate. The Vision Forum group, headed by Doug Phillips, teaches a strict concept of courtship mixed with a renewed patriarchy and restoration theology. Others simply discourage casual dating and encourage seriousness.

Wherever you may be on the continuum (or if you’re not particularly concerned at all), there are a few interesting illustrations of a “Biblical marriage” in Genesis.

I prefer to use the term “Biblical marriage” instead of “Biblical courtship” – it makes the focus a little stronger. And with this in mind, we approach the comedy of errors in Genesis 24.

I call it a comedy of errors simply because the premise seems humorous. “Servant, swear that you’ll set my kid up with a girl from a nice family.” “Okay.” ~long road trip~ “God, let’s get a girl that likes camels, okay?” “Hey – your daughter gave my camels water; can my boss’s kid marry her?”

And yet, what we see in this passage is, in fact, an arranged marriage. But it’s the good kind of arranged marriage: a God-arranged marriage.

I’d wager a guess that God’s design for marriage—the enduring union between a man and a woman—is just this. He wants marriage to be something He arranges.

In the story of Isaac and Rebekah, we can see three aspects of a real God-arranged marriage.

Trust in Providence

It started with Abraham trusting God (and I’d suspect that his brother Nahor, Rebecca’s father, had done the same). This kind of trust isn’t just an affirmation of belief; it’s the choice to believe that God will do what He has promised. Abraham instructed Eliezer his servant:

“The Lord God of heaven, who took from my father’s house and from the land of my family, and who spoke to me and swore to me, saying, ‘To your seed I give this land,’ He will send His angel before you, and you shall take a wife for my son from [my father's house].” (Genesis 24:7)

Abraham believed that God would keep His promise to make Abraham’s seed into a great nation. He knew God didn’t want his son to take a wife from the tribes that surrounded them in Canaan. He trusted God enough to send his servant on a rather long journey in pursuit of the woman God had for son.

What’s really interesting about Abraham’s trust, though, was that it did not extend to his own plan. He trusted God to provide a wife for his son, but he knew his understanding of God wasn’t complete. He knew that God could provide in a way or at a time that was unexpected. So he told his servant, “…if the woman is not willing to follow you, then you will be released from this oath.” Abraham believed God enough to trust that He would make the path straight.

Abraham knew he wouldn’t have to force God’s will into fruition. How often are we so sure of our own understanding of God’s will that we’ll ignore counsel or clear Scriptural directions to chase what we think God has…when the manner or timing is really a lot different than we expect?

Eliezer trusted God as well. Girls might not understand how hard it is for a guy to approach a pretty girl, but it really is. And Eliezer was a rather old fellow! It takes a whole lot of trust to say, “God, bring the woman to me, and I’ll trust that she’s the one.” It may have been tempting for him to have waffled around or tried to hunt down a nice-looking prospect on his own wisdom…but instead he trusted God. Later on, he says:

“And I said to my master, ‘Perhaps the woman will not follow me.’ But he said to me, ‘The Lord, before whom I walk, will send His angel with you and prosper your way; and you shall take a wife for my son from my family and from my father’s house.’” (verses 39-40)

Rebekah, Laban, and Bethuel also trusted God. “The thing comes from the Lord; we cannot speak to you either bad or good. Here is Rebecca before you; take her and go, and let her be your master’s son’s wife, as the Lord has spoken.”

Consent – both of the parents and of the bride

There’s another important aspect of a God-arranged marriage: consent. Not only is this naturally very important to the general peace and comfort of all involved, but in looking at this passage, it’s clear that parental consent is one of the things God uses to show that He’s ordained the thing. Eliezer recounts from Abraham’s instructions:

‘You will be clear from this oath when you arrive among my family; for if they will not give her to you, then you will be released from my oath.’ (verse 41)

Just as it would have been in opposition to God’s plan (not to mention foolish) for Eliezer to take Rebekah without her family’s consent, so it’s terribly foolish for a young couple to think that they have God’s will all figured out and subsequently ignore the advice of parents.

Another key point: the consent of the girl. After all, it’s her life they’re dealing with. “Then they called Rebekah and said to her, ‘Will you go with this man?’ And she said, ‘I will go.’” (verse 58)

But note that the girl’s consent came after God had already orchestrated the whole event.

True Love

“Then Isaac…took Rebekah and she became his wife, and he loved her.” (verse 67)

Genesis speaks of the love that Jacob had for Rachel, and it infers the love that Abram/Abraham had for Sarai/Sarah. But there’s something a little different about the love that Isaac had for Rebekah.

Abraham had the whole affair with Hagar, and he took a couple of wives after Sarah died. He had a couple of concubines as well. Jacob married Leah and Rachel and slept with their assorted handmaidens on a variety of occasions. Judah, later, would have a terrible time dealing with his daughter-in-law. But in all of Genesis, there’s no mention of Isaac loving anyone else but Rebekah.

A little glimpse of this can be seen a couple of chapters later. Like his father, Isaac has a beautiful wife and is terrified that the people he’s staying with will kill him and take her. So, as Abraham did, he says that she’s his sister.

“Now it came to pass, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked through a window, and saw, and there was Isaac showing endearment to Rebekah his wife. Then Abimelech called Isaac and said, ‘Quite obviously she is your wife.’” (Genesis 26:8-9)

The English Standard Version translates the Hebrew word/phrase tsachaq (“showing endearment to”) as “laughing with”. The King James Version translates it “sporting with”. Whatever it was, Abimelech was quite certain that the two were married. It’s one of the rare examples (outside Song of Solomon, at least) of the love and affection between a man and a woman.

Did you know that the word “kiss” is only used romantically two times in the entire Bible?

Isaac and Rebekah had something that is quite enviable: a God-arranged marriage. Its conception was marked by trust in God, mutual consent, and enduring love. Such a nice reminder of what God has in store for those who love Him.

David

God gave the Jews two signs to tell whether an animal was kosher, and therefore fit for food. There was an internal sign: kosher animals must chew their cud. There was an external sign: kosher animals must have split hooves. It is the presence of both signs that rendered the animal kosher.

Just as animals are either kosher or not, so men are either marked by the signs of redemption or they are not. In speaking of Jews themselves, Rabbi Moskowitz says:

“…a kosher Jew is marked by two signs. The internal: faith…[and]…prayer…. The external: the actual fulfillment of [God's requirements]. It is not enough to have one sign alone. The camel, which chews its cud but doesn’t have split hooves, represents those with internal signs while the [pig], which has split hooves but doesn’t chew its cud, symbolizes those that have only the external signs.”

This mirrors very closely the comparison of faith and works spoken of by Paul and by James under the new covenant:

What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?” -James

“For by works of the law no human being will be justified in His sight…But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law: the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith.” -Paul

We know that a man who has been born again will have both enduring faith and visible fruit. In the new covenant, again, we’re given two signs whereby we can tell a “kosher” Christian: their faith in Christ and the fruit of the work of grace in their life.

I thought that the analogy can carry a little further. A pig – with the external sign of split hooves – is like a man who takes pride in his works, trusting them to save him. A camel – with the internal sign of chewing the cud – is like a man who simulates a relationship with Christ by his own efforts but has no lasting fruit.

And just as it would take a miracle to change a pig or a camel into a sheep, so it takes the miracle of grace and imputed righteousness and salvation to change human “pigs” and human “camels” into sheep. Sheep that hear the Shepherd’s voice and follow.

There’s no continuum between split hooves and un-split hooves. There’s no “halfway point” between chewing the cud and not chewing the cud. And there’s nothing that an unclean animal can do to change itself into a kosher one.

If you’ve been born again, then thank God that He has miraculously changed you and given you faith to trust Him and the Holy Spirit to produce fruit in your life. Seek to display the fruit of your salvation however you can.

And if you are one who, like a camel, has all the right words and beliefs but no externally changed life to accompany it…or, like a pig, has the external show of good deeds but a heart that doesn’t yearn for the things of God…then seek the Lord while He may be found.

May God bless you this year.

David

Right now all I can taste are bitter tears
And right now all I can see are clouds of sorrow
From the other side of all this pain
Is that You I hear
Laughing loud, and calling out to me

And saying, see-
It’s everything you said that it would be
And even better than you would believe
And I’m counting down the days
Until you’re here with me
And finally you’ll see

But right now all I can say is, Lord, how long
Before You come and take away this aching
This night of weeping seems to have no end
But when the morning light breaks through
We’ll open up our eyes and we will see

It’s everything He said that it would be
And even better than we would believe
And He’s counting down the days
Till He says, “Come with me”
And finally

He’ll wipe every tear from our eyes
And make everything new
Just like He promised
Wait and see…just wait and see….
Wait and see

And I’m counting down the days until I see
It’s everything He said that it would be
And even better than we would believe
And I’m counting down the days
Till He says, “Come with me”
And finally, we’ll see….

I wrote you a letter
Things could be better
Full of promises, eager hopes and dreams
Did you get it
Have you read it
It talks about you and me
And the future, you see
Something no one can do
Is take the place of you
Can’t you see you’re one of a kind

Child, you’re like a star
Set apart
Set apart from the start of the world
This is your time
Rise and shine
Child, you’re one of a kind

Sometimes everything’s too much
Like the deepest cut
It hurts to be touched
When you hear it
If you feel it
Don’t let it have its way
I’m trying to say
Something no one can do
Is take the place of you
Oh can’t you see you’re one of a kind

Child, you’re like a star
Set apart
Set apart from the start of the world
This is your time
Rise and shine
Child, you’re one of a kind

I know it’s hard to hear promises
When the blue has turned to grey
Nobody said it was easy
But I know you’ll find your way

I would have never thought, just two short months ago, that I’d be where I am today. I couldn’t have imagined it four months ago, or 6 months ago, or 10 months ago.

A year ago, I embarked on a journey that seemed so filled with hope and promise and beauty. I truly fell in love, for the first and only time in my life. And in a combination of foolishness and frustration and confusion and mistakes, I lost the one thing in my life that I hold the dearest.

Should we hold true love dear above our walk with Christ? Of course not. Should it define everything we are? No. Should we give up everything we know in pursuit of it? I think so.

I used to think that stress and depression and worry were things that weak people faced. I didn’t think that any reasonable person would – could – feel this way. But I learned that until you truly care about something, you can’t be hurt by losing it. And once you know what caring really means, you’re able to understand hurt unlike anything you’d ever imagined.

I feel like a man who was awakened from peaceful slumber by a swift, solid punch in the groin. And as if more blows came quickly before I’d even had time to reel.

Should I have been asleep? No. That’s one problem, for sure. “A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and disaster will come upon you swiftly.”

When I originally picked out a name for this blog – years ago – I meant to say “Complacency”, not “Mediocrity”. It turns out that complacency is a worse master than mediocrity. You can have a life that’s far from mediocre, but still fall into complacency without realizing it.

Sometimes the consequences of complacency are deadly. And sometimes, they aren’t – instead, they cut you to the heart and drain you of life until death would be a welcome escape. Until your very existence is limited to a few things that you know that you repeat over and over through sobs.

Words like these never meant as much to me as they do now:

Shall I take from your hand blessings
Yet not welcome any pain
Shall I thank you for days of sunshine
Yet grumble in days of rain

Yesterday, Christmas Eve, my brother wanted to play me in chess. I’m pretty good at chess, as long as I’m not distracted. But I remembered the last time I played chess, and it was too much.

I recklessly threw pieces to my brother left and right – he happily took all the opportunities I gave him. I laid out moves for him with ruthless resolve. Then, right when he thought he was about to win, and my king was all but alone on the board, I savagely made a last move, forcing him to stalemate me.

I felt so ashamed. He just wanted to play a game with his big brother, but I made it a metaphor for my agonized state. Like that king, I’m alone. And any move I make will kill me, but I’m not finished. It’s a painful place to be.

I haven’t stopped caring – I care more than ever. I haven’t stopped loving or hoping. And the odds don’t even matter any more. But that doesn’t make it easy.

All I have is hope and trust in God and love for someone. It’s enough to get me through. But not much more.

God is able to put broken, beautiful hearts back together. He gives grace upon grace. I trust Him.

Merry Christmas.

David

This summer, I tried to learn to play the piano. When I was little, my great-uncle tried to teach me to sight read, but I largely failed in that endeavor. Still, I gained enough familiarity with sheet music that I could sing a printed part, so when I decided to try and learn a few piano pieces this summer, I figured it wouldn’t be too hard.

Boy, was I wrong. Playing the piano is hard. And I can’t do it.  I tried, though. Learned to play a couple of songs relatively well.  Without practice, though, you tend to lose that.

Have you ever taught yourself to play an instrument, but lost the ability due to lack of practice?

One song I (kind of) learned to play was The Gospel Song by Sovereign Grace Music. It’s a really pleasant song.

I was lamenting the fact that the song only has one verse. Someone, who I happen to care a lot about, told me that I should write additional verses to it, but I didn’t think I’d be able to do that. “It’s already so complete.” She insisted that I try…I promised that I would, someday.

So, I did.

Holy God in love became
Perfect Man to bear my blame
On the cross He took my sin
By His death I live again

Wracked with pain, despised and scorned
See the Father’s wrath unfold
Sinless Son, for love destroyed
By His plan, my hope is born

For my sin He bled and died
Conqu’ring what had held me tied
See Him rise, victorious King
By His life, new life I sing

Now in life I serve this King
Life He gave; my life I bring
Judgment I no longer fear
Saved in Christ, my Hope is here

If anyone wants to use these additional verses, feel free to do so. Licensing is as follows.

The Gospel Song Extended by David MacMillan III is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

Enjoy!

David

Most people are familiar with Paul’s use of a race as a metaphor for the Christian life in his first letter to the Corinthians:

“Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it.

And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown.Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air.” 1 Corinthians 9:24-26

How do we run this race with certainty? We know that as long as we live on earth, we have to deal with the effects of our flesh. Paul wrote in Romans that the good he wants to do, he doesn’t do, and the evil he doesn’t want to do, he ends up practicing. We can say we believe in the perseverance of the saints, but what kind of perseverance is it if our lives are being controlled by the flesh? How can we run with certainty when we still struggle with the flesh?

I don’t believe that Paul is merely saying that the certainty is in our ultimate perseverance. We can persevere in the race itself, not just after our life is over. But how?

If anyone knew perseverance in the face of the flesh’s desires, it was David. Here’s what he wrote about sanctification:

“My soul clings to the dust;
Revive me according to Your word.
I have declared my ways, and You answered me;
Teach me Your statutes.
Make me understand the way of Your precepts;
So shall I meditate on Your wonderful works.
My soul melts from heaviness;
Strengthen me according to Your word.
Remove from me the way of lying,
And grant me Your law graciously.
I have chosen the way of truth;
Your judgments I have laid before me.
I cling to Your testimonies;
O Lord, do not put me to shame!
I will run the course of Your commandments,
For You shall enlarge my heart.”
Psalm 119 – Dalet

David knew acutely the hurt that comes when we give way to the flesh. How can a man honor God continually? How can a man run the race with certainty? Because God has promised that He will strengthen us. “I will run the course of Your commandments, for You shall enlarge my heart.” Were it not for God strengthening us, it would be impossible for us to continually grow closer to Him and put off sin. But with God, all things are possible.

Paul writes in Romans 8, “For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by Whom we cry out, ‘Abba, Father.’” When you are a child of God, He will give you the power to run with certainty.  As we obey Him, He will strengthen us.

It’s a vicious cycle. The more we obey God, the more He strengthens us, and the more we seek to obey Him. Terribly vicious.

“There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.

For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” Romans 8:1-4

Isn’t it amazing – what God did? Sending Christ to atone for our sins was more than we ever deserved. Imputing His righteousness to us, that we might appear holy and blameless before the Father, was more than we ever deserved. But just as He justified us, He also adopted us and gave us life in the Spirit, that we would even fulfill the righteous requirement of the law through the Spirit, despite still living trapped by the flesh.

What a glorious, true, complete salvation!

Merry Christmas.

David

Snow filters down
Blanketing earth again
Fallen leaves hide
Their pain and doubt obscured
Another year
Passed by in a deep rush

Chilled hearts beat slow
Steady, but soft; struggling
Still echoing
Bygone, sacred tattoos
Strength for each day
Wrought by tomorrow’s hope

But melting snow
Reveals no coming spring
No greenery
Only cold, muddy sod
‘Tis twilight still
Dawn seems so distant now

“Another year”
“Another season passed”
But this season
Doesn’t pass; only lands
This sense of loss
Some things ought to remain

Bright lights and trees
Sing of joy and Christmas
But mud beneath
Distorts the look of peace
Can Christmas come
When treasured love must hide?

Unless a seed
Falls to the ground and dies
It will not bear
A fruit that truly lasts
But this death hurts
Can’t breathe; must break this fall

Under the snow
Dreams still lie, shattered, torn
This cold blanket
Does nothing to move them
Just covering
Hiding the pain for now

Still the earth waits
So frozen in its grief
Angst and questions
Weighing down icy hours
The seeds of spring
Still waiting, still so cold

Such is winter
This season in our life
Though we can’t see
What He’s preparing now
Someday spring’s sun
Will melt the snow: new hope

A summer gone
The fall, marked with longing
Winter with hurt
Spring too distant to see
But light will come
Shine love unrelenting

David