Early in my spiritual journey, I seemed to take exception to words like obedience and submission...I just didn’t understand. I wanted an easy faith; I wanted a friend in Jesus, a savior and not necessarily a Lord. I didn't want to give up my perception of freedom. I struggled with this for a while and one day it just hit me that submission to one who was willing to forgive anything, to one who loved me steadfastly, to one who gave His life for me was the only thing that made sense.
Only with this submission am I truly free...free not to worry, free to love, free to care, free to worship, free to truly live. Only with this thing called submission can you truly understand relationships and grace and forgiveness and here it comes again freedom.
I recently read a blog by the daughter of someone famous for apologetics where she has gone from growing up Christian to now claiming the title non‐believer. It was heartbreaking and probably still is for her parents. In her blog she says that she didn’t regret growing up Christian because; “I wouldn’t understand what freedom truly is — freedom from a life centered around obedience and submission, freedom to think anything, freedom from guilt and shame, freedom from the perpetual heavy obligation to keep every thought pure. Nothing I’ve ever encountered in my life has been so breathtakingly beautiful.
Freedom is my God now, and I love this one a thousand times more than I ever loved the last one.”
I guess I would just counter that her description of freedom means she is free to live a broken life centered on something of this world. Where I might say I am free to live a life centered on Christ and as such obedience and submission are a natural outcome because Christ first loved me, that I am free to live a life basking in grace free from guilt and shame due to the finished work of Christ on my behalf, free to turn back to the open arms of Christ whenever I mess up and that nothing in my life is so breathtakingly beautiful.
I guess the thing that bothered me most about this blog was that she was certain she broke her mother’s heart and that she didn’t know the impact to her father as they haven’t spoken. Yet we all know there is hope and as the prodigal son returned to the open arms of the father I will pray for this family, I will pray for restoration and reconciliation and the hope of Christ for them all.
It just seemed appropriate to end with Colossians 1: 9-12;
For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light.
For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Amen.
Grace and Peace!
Hebrews 11:1 tells us what faith is:
“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not
see.”
So faith is an overarching trust and assurance in God and his truths as revealed to us
in his precious Word. Hebrews 11:2 goes on to say that Faith is “what the ancients
were commended for.”
I have often marveled at the faith displayed by those in the Bible. Hebrews goes on
to list a “hall of faith” and many are so obvious, but some require study. I recently
came upon Hebrews 11:32 and there are several in the hall of faith that I
immediately recognize; Gideon, Sampson, David and the list goes on. However, I
was drawn to one name in particular; Barak.
I must admit I didn’t readily recognize Barak or his story so I started digging trying
to determine why he was in God’s hall of faith. To find the story you must go to
Judges 4 and 5. If you do you find out he was tasked to lead an Army of 10,000 men
against the oppressive king. Barak was a little hesitant to do such a thing and was
summoned by Deborah the judge and prophetess. Deborah questions Barak about
leading the men and Barak says I will go if you go. Well in this culture it was
unheard of to ask a woman to go and lead an army.
So they go and Deborah tells Barak now is the time the Lord has given to lead the
men into battle. Barak goes leading the army and destroys the army of the oppressive
king. Yet, I still ask why was Barak listed in the hall of faith and not Deborah? As I
read and studied and prayed I saw a couple of things.
-
Even a weak faith can be used for the Glory of God
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Weak faith can be strengthened by trusting in the word(s) of God
It seems to me Barak is a great example of both; a weak faith becoming strong by
trusting in God’s word and all for the glory of God. Somehow that just encourages
me as at times my faith is tested. I think I see more clearly that as we face the
challenges of life; it truly is (or can be) a question of faith.
Father, thank you for your Word, thank your for the example of Barak and the
knowledge that our faith and trust and obedience can be strengthened through
Christ and by the power of the Holy Spirit. All for your Glory!
Grace and Peace!
2 Corinthians 5:17-21
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone,
the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ
and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to
himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed
to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as
though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s
behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so
that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
I have always loved this passage called the Ministry of Reconciliation and just the
wonderful picture of God’s grace it provides. I recently ran across a great
explanation of this passage from J. I. Packer in his new book “Weakness is the Way.”
In the book, he says:
“The method of God’s reconciliation is here revealed, then, as a two-‐way transfer, or
exchange. On the one hand, the Lord Jesus as our substitute took our place and
tasted on our behalf the penalty – that is the death and banishment into hell – that
we deserved. On the other hand, we are made sharers of the Father’s eternal
approval of and pleasure in his always loyal, loving and obedient Son, who now has
borne, and borne away, the sin of the world. Retributive justice has been done, once
for all, and just justification – justification, that is, on the basis of justice thus
executed – is now ours for the taking.
Well may we speak of this double action on God’s part as the great exchange, the
wonderful exchange, and as I like to do for maximum emphasis, ‘the stupendous
exchange.’ It is overwhelmingly awesome, almost beyond belief. It is holy love in
action – the holy love of the Father, who sent his Son into this world to die for our
sins; the holy love of the Son, love for everyone whose sins he bore; and the holy
love of the Holy Spirit, who works in our hearts to create and sustain the faith that
brings the blessing of reconciliation and acceptance home to us as the supreme gift
of divine grace.”
Father, we thank you for your ministry of reconciliation and the grace offered
divinely so that we might be reconciled to you; that we might be in right relation to
you for all eternity. Amen and amen!
Grace and Peace!
