Earth and Heav'n be One

Things don’t always go right. At some point, things will most assuredly go wrong. Count on it. It is in these moments that we are most likely to cry out to God. And often, it feels that He is far away.

If you are a person who prays, then you have had the experience of wondering at times if you are merely talking to yourself. The presence of God is not obvious, and you feel as though your prayers are ascending only so far as the ceiling above you. This is not unusual. It is a test of faith. In this moment of need, you question if there is really a God who hears and cares and answers prayer. And then, we affirm that yes, based on the rock-solid promises of God found in His Word, and perhaps from personal experience as well, we believe that God, wherever He is, hears our prayer. 

David’s “Deliverance Psalm” is found in 2 Samuel 22 and again in Psalm 18. I love the early, simple sections about prayer. First, in verse 4, David says, “I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies.” It’s a statement of fact; not necessarily cause and effect, but a practice (prayer) and performance (God’s deliverance, at different times and using different means). It is a statement of confidence.

But then David goes on in vv. 5,6 to describe vividly the trouble he is facing - waves and torrents; cords and snares, threatening death. He comes back to prayer in verse 7, saying, “In my distress, I called upon the Lord. To my God I called.” The last half of verse 7 is golden: “From His temple He heard my voice; my cry came to His ears.” Yes, your cry makes it all the way from the deepest, darkest corner and flies the distance through the gates of heaven into His holy temple and enters His ear. Prayer conquers the distance.

The Lord’s Prayer admits to the problem of distance: “Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.” In heaven, everything works. Glory, justice, joy … Not so here on earth. And yet, we want God to institute His will here on earth, so far from heaven, and we try to practice His will ourselves, often unsuccessfully.

The old hymn “This Is My Father’s World” reminds us that “though the wrong be oft so strong, God is the ruler yet,” and “Jesus who died will be satisfied, and earth and heaven be one.” One day the gulf between heaven and earth will be collapsed. One day, we will talk to Jesus face to face. Today, we pray, by faith. And we will continue to do so, though many may think we are only talking to ourselves.

Incomparable

So you buy a dog, just a mutt, but as good as any other dog. Now what to name him? How about this? “Incomparable”

That clearly does not work. Yours is a dog just like any other dog, perhaps more ordinary than most. And, we all are experts at making comparisons. You, and your dog, are comparable - easily compared, whether favorably or unfavorably, with others. Not so with God. 

God is incomparable. That is, He is in a category of his own. The Old Testament character, Job, says, “For He is not a man like me…” We cannot compare ourselves to Him, or Him to ourselves. But we often do, because that is what we do, and the result is that we begin to wrongly think of ourselves in god-terms, and we begin to think of God in man-terms. And that’s a problem. 

Imagine a God who cannot possibly be too full of Himself. He cannot be guilty of an arrogant pride - because He is in fact the fullness of glory and the sum of all perfection.

Imagine a God who has never made a mistake. He has never suffered regret or remorse. He has never second-guessed Himself.

Imagine a God who never grows wiser, since He is all-wise; who knows all contingencies, and who is never surprised.

We are not comparable to this God. We can easily trespass into wrongful pride; we make plenty of mistakes, and we desperately need more wisdom than we now have. We cannot compare ourselves to God, because He is incomparable.

This might potentially lead one to despair, for how can we relate to a God who is so different from us? But don’t forget: the Bible clearly teaches that God made us, without sin, and yet in such a way that we all are subject to weakness and to weariness. God made us this way, and He loves us this way. The Incomparable Creator loves his creatures, and fashioned them (us) in such a way that we live best when we acknowledge our weakness and need, and when we recognize our proper position of being dependent on Him. 

We acknowledge our weakness and need and dependance when  we heed His Word and receive His Son, in faith and obedience. Failing to do so, we prepare for ourselves a clash with the Creator and Redeemer who is in a class by Himself. Again, Job completes his thought, saying, “For he is not a man, as I am, that I might answer him, that we should come to trial together.” (Job 9:32 ESV)

Christ First in Love and Life

A friend of mine earned a trip through work to Monaco. On a tour, the guide told a story about a conflict between Prince Rainier of Monaco and Aristotle Onassis - the reigning political power vs. the financial titan. When asked who won, the guide said, “the king, of course.” Why? “Because when it comes to kings, there can only be one.” Jesus said as much, not concerning political vs. economic power, but regarding spiritual powers, when he said, “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money” (Matthew 6:24).

“Christ First” is an exclusive claim. It’s central to God’s eternal plan. In the Bible, we read that God’s long-term plan is “to unite all things in him (Christ), things in heaven and things on earth (Ephesians 1:10 ESV). Similarly, Paul writes “in him (Christ) all things hold together” (Colossians 1:17 ESV), and that God’s intention is “that in everything he (Christ) might be preeminent” (v.18). Only of Jesus did God say with the voice from heaven: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17 ESV). All of this to say that it is God’s plan for Christ, God’s Anointed and Appointed One, to be first. And only one can be first.

“Christ First in Love and Life” is the first of Lake Ann Camp’s core values. One could argue that all the other values proceed from this one. Get this one right, and all the others will fall into place. Get this one wrong, and there will be trouble all down the line. Isn’t that the way it works in all our lives? So many of our problems arise, not because of the problem itself, but because of something deeper. It’s not usually just a problem of thinking, or feeling, or relating, or spending. It’s a heart problem - a spiritual problem. Our hearts want what they want, as if there were a little king in there, demanding his/her due. And he/she acts as though there can only be one. And that’s true. But ultimately, that One must be Christ.

And so our phrase goes straight to the heart, right from the start: “Christ first in love.” What do our hearts regard as more important than anything else? Whom do we adore? With what are we most impressed? And we have to come back, time and again, to this one answer: Christ. So many times, speaking personally, I realize that I really want the world to revolve around me. And when I find out that it doesn’t, I’d get frustrated and angry. Our phrase also says “Christ First .. in Life.” We actually live for him, because He died for us. We live our lives as a “living sacrifice,” since Jesus already gave himself up as our dying sacrifice, having walked in our shoes and died in our place. He bore the weight of our sin so that we could experience the lightness, the weightless burden, of giving up what is “normal” so that we can serve and share, love and care for others.

We invite you to trust Christ, to let him be the center of your life, as your King. Because, after all, there can only be One.

Pure (Me)ssiah

Contrasting those called and committed to serving Christ as opposed to those serving themselves, Titus 1:15 says “To the pure, all things are pure; but to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but both their mind and their conscience are defiled.” That’s pretty brutal.

Paul is here writing to young minister Titus, explaining that purity is a mindset, an outlook, a way of life. It is a training of the eyes, a restraint of the tongue, an ordering of the mind, and the character of the heart. And they all go together. You are either pure, or you’re not. It is a way to distinguish two classes of people.

Oh, it’s never quite that easy. No one is perfect, and there are gaps and faults. But for the pure, the reign of purity works persuasively to stamp out impurity. Whereas, for the impure, any quest for purity is short-armed and short-lived. Further, I am not saying that an impure person is as putrid as possible. An impure person can be satisfied with an ‘acceptable’ level of impurity. He might leer at women but leave children alone, feeling self-righteous along the way. But make no mistake. He is not pure. 

We have to admit that impurity is the norm; purity, the exception. So where does purity come from? James 3:17 says that “wisdom from above is first pure …” It comes from above; from outside of ourselves. It comes from a relationship with the only person who walked this earth in perfect purity - from Jesus, who gives a new heart to us, by faith in Him, that deeply desires to be like him.

When we live in a society made up of impure people, we must always be on guard against people who want to use us for their own purposes. It may take place ‘merely’ in their eyes or minds - and so, as they say, where’s the harm? But please, don’t believe their flatteries; and, seriously, don’t make any kind of deal with them. Their friendship is good only so long as you are easy, and so long as the sacrifices required to maintain the relationship are cheap. 

But then, imagine living in a society made up of those who walk in purity, not because they have to, but because they are pure. They are free to look at you with love, not lust; and they want what is best, for you. They are willing to share, and serve, and sacrifice, because they already have what they need - a relationship with One who Himself is pure, and they are experiencing the benefits. 

Consider switching sides today. Move to the Messiah, Jesus, the only One anointed and appointed to lead you into purity.