The Balance

In my last post, Sacrificial Victim, I mentioned God is interested in mercy and forgiveness, and in Him our default is grace.  I always like to consider the balance of God’s character.  In our human mind, with the boundaries of earthly reason and logic, we sometimes create false dichotomies.  We have a hard time understanding God’s nature and character because from our perspective we see opposing characteristics.  We believe one characteristic cannot exist with another.

“And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord! the Lord! a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abundant in loving-kindness and truth, Keeping mercy and loving-kindness for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but Who will by no means clear the guilty,” (Ex. 34:6-7a)

I love this explanation God gives of Himself, because imbedded we see love, kindness, mercy and forgiveness, yet in the same breath we see judgement, punishment and intolerance.

Our Father is an awesome God, One who makes us wonder. 

Jesus Himself, the perfect representation of God’s character, expressed in one instance that He had not come to judge (John 12:47), yet in another instance says He had come to judge (John 9:39).

As we understand the heart and purpose of Father, we realize these seeming dichotomies are all part of Who He is.  Under the banner of love, with mercy and grace, He exacts discipline and punishment.  And I am so, so thankful.

If we can truly grasp that God is a good, good Father, we see everything He does as an expression of His heart.  He is interested in repentance, redemption, deliverance, and inheritance.  If we can see every action according to this purpose, perhaps we would be less suspect of God.

As an illustration of God’s heart, I’d like to consider Joseph’s treatment of His brothers after they came to Egypt looking for food from Pharaoh.  If you remember, Joseph’s brothers despised Joseph for His vision, and wanted to kill him.  In the end, the brothers sold him into slavery.  God eventually fulfilled Joseph’s dream, and through him saved many lives. (Gen. 37-47)

When Joseph’s brothers came to him to buy food, the Bible says he treated them as if they were strangers and spoke roughly to them.  He accused them of being spies and having an unfriendly purpose. (Gen. 42:9)  It seems he was treating his brothers harshly, without grace.  He then put his brothers through a series of tests and trials before revealing himself and bestowing forgiveness, mercy and grace on his brothers and their families.

At first glance, I am tempted to believe Joseph was acting apart from God in his treatment of his brother, that he was taking vengeance out on them.  But the Bible says the Spirit of God was on Joseph, and that he was doing the work of God with God. 

As I considered these things, I remember God disciplines his sons (Heb. 12:6).  In His love for us, He rebukes us, even to the point of punishment, for the sake of repentance.  He then allows us to go through tests and trials, not to prove our faith to Him, but to ourselves.  We learn to walk in a new way, allowing our faith to arise into action, causing us to believe.

There was a young pastor that was going through a terrible trial.  He was walking through the most awful circumstances, things that no father should have to deal with.  As I cried out for mercy, my heart was screaming enough is enough!  I felt the Father’s loving rebuke:

“Who are You to question my treatment of my son?  What you call harsh and unfair I am using for salvation.  And not just for one, but many.”

Yes, our Father is a good, good Father.  Receive these words today, and may You believe in the reality of your own life.

Sacrificial Victim

“Go and learn what this means: I desire mercy... and not sacrifice and sacrificial victims.”  (Matt. 9:13 AMP)

What is a sacrificial victim?

A sacrificial victim is a person who is ritually killed with the intention of propitiating or pleasing a deity.  In other words, killing in the name of (our) idols.

What this means is that God is interested in mercy and forgiveness, even when an injustice occurs.  Idols happen anytime we allow something earthbound to take the place of God in our heart.  This can take the form of money, our job, our religion, or even our own will.  Sometimes our idols are revealed when things don’t go our way, or we perceive injustice regarding our idols.  For instance, how do we treat people when we believe they are ripping us off, or charging more than we would like to pay?  Are we willing to tear that person down by taking our anger out on them, thus treating them as a sacrificial victim?  How about at work when things don’t go according to our plan?  How do we treat our co-workers or employees when they don’t meet our expectation?  Are we willing to mistreat our neighbor and potentially cause damage to their soul?  Perhaps we are really good at being good in public, but it is our family we are sacrificing.

When our default isn’t grace, it is an indication that Jesus doesn’t have complete hold of our heart.  Perhaps it has been hardened by the mistreatment of this world!  God never intended for His children to receive such abuse in this world.  When we are following Him, He protects us.  This can be a physical protection, such as when He prompts us to leave or avoid an abusive or dangerous situation.   Most often, in everyday life, this refers to a spiritual protection.  Evil happens, and the spirit of this world directly opposes the Spirit of God.  While we are here, our lives are affected.  It’s horrible to be robbed, abused, mistreated... but thankfully our savior understands and has experienced these things!  He’s right there comforting us and whispering His love and plan for our life.  When we believe His perspective, allowing it to replace our human perspective, our soul is spared.  He heals the offense and we remain innocent!!

In our humanity we are weak.  Anytime we are tired, hungry, or stressed we are more likely to give in to the old man inside.  But walking in Christ provides the rest we need.  Obeying His promptings in our everyday life lessens these weaknesses as we are empowered by the Spirit of God.  Surrender today, this moment!

Why Am I Not Experiencing Eternal Life?

All too often our spiritual story identifies more with the Israelites’ than Jesus’.  We experience salvation and deliverance and then we enter into a wilderness experience.  Like the Israelites we get distracted, confused, and discouraged.  We do what we think is right instead of obeying God’s commands.  We loose track of God and His purpose.  Our focus is down below instead of up above.  We forget that we have been saved and delivered, responding according to the flesh.  Some of the Israelites died in the wilderness, never having experienced God’s promised land on earth.

Jesus entered into the wilderness too.  Right after He was baptized and the Holy Spirit came and remained with Him, He went into the wilderness where He was tested and tempted.  Jesus focussed.  He allowed the experience to destroy His flesh.  The testing served to prove Him and empower Him to complete God’s purpose for His life.  His experience qualified Him, made Him ready to do God’s ministry here on earth.  He responded to the test in the way God would have Him respond.

The result?  Jesus’ wilderness experience lasted 40 days.  The Israelites? 40 years.  Huh.

I don’t want to spend my life saved by grace but never experiencing the life God has given me, a life as represented by the Promised Land.  I certainly don’t want to die in the wilderness!!  The wilderness is dark and sight is limited.  Jesus is Light.  The Promised Land is flowing with milk and honey.  Eternal life is filled with richness and abundance.  We experience the first fruits of heaven when we respond as God would have us respond.  Our life takes on an eternal quality when we obey the Holy Spirit.

Let’s focus on God today!