TerryLema

Last week was a busy, thought-provoking week. Monday, I had a hearing appointment (to be tested for new devices), and an eye appointment (to see if I needed new glasses). Tuesday, I had an infusion (to help control the two auto-immune diseases). Wednesday, I had a physical therapy appointment (to see if my muscles can be strengthened).

I made the remark at one of those appointments that getting old can be tough … then immediately heard the LORD whisper to me that at least I have the privilege of getting old, so many do not.

That whisper became all the more important on Friday when I attended a Celebration of Life for an 18-year-old.

Every day is precious. We do not know when we enter this world just how many we will have. Some have few; others have many. I was amazed when I did the calculations that I have had 28,080 days. Only the LORD knows if I will have 28,081!

Psalm 90 reminds us that if we want wisdom, we need to consider our days.

“Teach us to number our days carefully so that we may develop wisdom in our hearts.” [HCSB]

Instead of bemoaning all the problems associated with advancing years (old age), today I am thankful for those years. My body may suffer the effects of aging, but I have had 28,080 days to run the race God has set before me.

Each day is precious.

Numbers 20:12:  “Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them.” 

Numbers 20 is a sad chapter in Israel’s history.  The beginning of the chapter speaks of the death of Miriam, Moses’ sister; and the end speaks of the death of Aaron, Moses’ brother.  In the middle we find the death of promise.

The people had arrived at Kadesh in the Desert of Zin.  There was no water, so they did what they always did, they quarreled with Moses.  “Why did you bring us out into this desert to die,” they said.  Moses and Aaron turned from the people and went to the Tent of Meeting falling on their faces before the LORD.

Suddenly the glory of the LORD appeared to Moses and Aaron and God instructed them to gather the assembly and speak to the rock.  God promised to bring water out of the rock.  But Moses was frustrated and angry and instead of simply speaking to the rock, he struck it with his staff as he shouted at the people, “Listen, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?”  [v10]

God was not pleased.  Moses and Aaron had failed to obey the word of the Lord, they had failed to honor God as holy in the sight of the Israelites.  He then told Moses and Aaron that they would not lead the people into the Promised Land and would die within sight of it.

Moses got the miracle but lost the promise. I cannot think of anything sadder, to gain what we are seeking in the now and lose the promise of the future.  God honored the people’s need and brought water from the rock.  But because Moses failed to do it God’s way, he missed the Promised Land.  Even though he would beg God to change His mind, God did not grant that request and Moses died just shy of the border of Canaan.

What a warning to all of us. It isn’t enough to just do it¸ we need to make sure we are doing it His way. 

Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life. [Philippians 2:14-15]

We looked at the first part of this Scripture in yesterday’s devotion.  Today let’s explore the second part, the part that gives the outcome of doing everything without grumbling or arguing, and becoming blameless and pure amid a world that is warped and crooked.

The outcome is simple, “Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life.”

Here it seems translations differ slightly.  The older translations tell us we will shine as lights in the world [KJV], the newer ones as lights or stars in the universe. [NIV]

I’m fine with either.  I think the emphasis is on the word shine anyway.  This morally corrupt warped world is dark.  Sin is always dark, without the light of God.  We are supposed to shine, bringing a noticeable brightness into its midst.  Whether it’s light or stars, the idea is that we stand out and we illuminate everywhere we go.

Unfortunately, for many Christians and in many churches, we don’t look much different from the world – nothing sets us apart.  We have adopted the practices of this morally corrupt, warped generation.  We commit adultery, have sex outside of marriage, engage in envy and greed, we hate, and lie, and get angry.

It’s time we thought about shining as stars in the sky and hold(ing) firmly to the word of life.

Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life. [Philippians 2:14-15]

This verse, in this version, was my verse of the day.  I’m not sure which translation it is.  Again, the translators broke the sentence into two by adding the period after generation.  Just like the last time I came across that style, it made me pause and think.

I love the word pairings in that first sentence.  Grumbling or arguing.  Blameless and pure.  Warped and crooked.  It’s as if Paul wanted to make sure we understood – and one word just wasn’t quite enough.  By letting that sentence stand alone, the translators encouraged us to take note of that.

Everything we do as children of God must be without grumbling or arguing.  The Greek words are exactly that … grumbling and arguing (or debating).  Neither of those traits hang well on a Christian.  It’s like wearing a suit that just doesn’t fit, something looks off.  It’s hard to proclaim the love of God one moment and grumble/argue the next.  Our testimonies about our wonderful God just don’t jive with how we act.

Instead, children of God are to be blameless and pure.  Blameless in English is about the same as blameless in the Greek … without fault.  Pure means unmixed.  I remember the old advertisement for Ivory Soap, “99.9% pure.”  As Christians, I’m pretty sure God is bumping that up to 100% pure.

And we are to accomplish all this while living amid a warped and crooked (morally corrupt) world.

More tomorrow.

James 1:4:  … so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing. [HCSB]

There’s that word again — mature [HCSB], perfect [KJV], in the Greek meaning completeness.

It is combined this time with complete [HCSB], entire [KJV], in the Greek meaning perfectly sound.

God’s goal is that we are complete and perfectly sound, lacking nothing in our spiritual walk with Him.  I so agree with that!  I want to be complete and perfectly sound.  I’m just not quite as enthusiastic with the pathway James sets forth to achieve those things.  Here’s the rest of the story …

James 1:2-4:  Consider it a great joy, my brothers, whenever you experience various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. But endurance must do its complete work, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing.  [HCSB]

Endurance (perseverance) in trials and testing of faith.  It is that wonderful word hupomone; meaning cheerful (or hopeful) endurance, constancy.  It is often translated as patience.  Cheerful patience.

Learning to be cheerfully patient in trials and testing matures us.  Too often we think if we just pray for perseverance, it will supernaturally be dropped into our attitude.  That’s never the way it has worked for me.

Instead, I find myself in situations where I simply must change my attitude and find a way through God’s Holy Spirit to handle the situation differently than just becoming frustrated or angry.

As I learn perseverance, cheerful patience in dealing with little things (like the never-ending lines in Walmart), I can then apply that to more intense trials and testing.

Ephesians 4:13:  …until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of God’s Son, growing into a mature man with a stature measured by Christ’s fullness. [HCSB]

Ephesians 4 explains that God gives to the church ministry gifts, pastors, teachers, evangelists, prophets, and apostles.  The mission of these gifts is to prepare God’s people for service so that the body of Christ may be built up.  The outcomes expected are quite clear, we will reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of Jesus, and we will become “mature.”

The KJV translates that word, teleios (tel’-i-os) as perfect; the HCSB as mature. It means completeness as applied to labor, growth, mental and moral character.

God expects us to mature, not to remain as infants.  Our goal is the whole measure of the fullness of Christ in our lives … not just a little bit, or a half measure, but the whole measure, all of Him.

It is so much easier to remain a baby.  Infancy requires that others do everything for us.  There is a time when being an infant is absolutely correct, but infancy is not supposed to characterize our entire spiritual walk.  We are to mature and that requires work.

God provides the gifts of ministry to help us, to teach and guide us into maturity, but there is a work on our part also.  We need to study, repent, pray, and practice spiritual disciplines.  We are to grow mentally and morally.  Our deeds and labors are to mature also.  We begin to accept responsibility in our churches and assemblies to help others to achieve maturity.

To me there is nothing sadder than someone who has been a Christian for decades that is still lacking spiritual maturity.  There are joys in maturity that will never be experienced, rewards in eternity that will never be achieved by remaining an infant.

Philippians 3:13-14:  Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.  [NKJV]

What a beautiful word picture Paul paints in this wonderful and very familiar passage.  Think about those phrases, reaching forward and press(ing) toward.

Reaching forward is NT:1901 epekteinomai (ep-ek-ti’-nom-ahee); to stretch (oneself) forward upon.

Press(ing) toward is NT:1377 dioko (dee-o’-ko); to pursue.

My local NBC channel has already started advertising for the summer Olympics in Paris next year. I love the summer Olympics, especially the races. How many times during the summer Olympic games do we see runners press(ing) toward, reaching forward to cross that finish line?  Some even flat-out dive for it.

Sprinters, milers, marathoners all have the same goal, to reach that finish line.  Some are racing for gold, others know that medaling is out of their reach, but they are representing their nation, and they are determined to finish the race. It will not matter if they are first or last, they are finishers!

God has set our racecourse for us individually.  We don’t run the same race as anyone else.  Yet we all have the same goal – the prize God awards to those He calls in Christ Jesus.  We all want to be finishers, completing our race, bringing honor to our Lord and Savior.

Lord, I want to run my race and finish it well.  I want to press and reach for that prize.  I want to bring honor and glory to my Lord.  Give me perseverance to run, and the strength and determination to finish.  Amen.

There are many Scriptures which encourage us to seek God and to know Him. Paul cried out in his letter to the Philippians “My goal is to know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings ….” [Philippians 3:10 HCSB]

That is a cry that should also be in our hearts. Our goal is to know Christ in power and in fellowship. It is something we work toward. We crave that satisfaction still knowing that we are never satisfied with where we are. We keep moving on, drawing closer and closer to Him. That is our life goal.

But, there is also the realization that it is impossible for us to fully understand the mind of God. Paul tells us in Romans that His judgments/decisions are unsearchable and His ways untraceable.

“Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God! How unsearchable His judgments and untraceable His ways!” [Romans 11:33 HCSB]

“Oh, how great are God’s riches and wisdom and knowledge! How impossible it is for us to understand his decisions and his ways!” [Romans 11:33 NLT]

I am thankful that I cannot fully understand the mind of God. If I could, He would be reduced to my level of intelligence and wisdom … and the world would be in real trouble!