GRACE BLOGS COLLECTION
Being fully inoculated in the post-enlightenment exaltation of human rationality and educated to promote thinking above feeling, I have tended to downplay feelings as having much value in religious experience. How many times have I been reminded by parents, teachers, coaches, and preachers to get over my feelings and act on truth? The post-modern insistence on subjectivity to the exclusion of objective truth claims is foolish and adds to my suspicion of "feeling it."
Yet, I wonder if the sense of longing deep in my breast cries for a relationship with God that is fuller than contemporary religious propositions provide. After all, the words of Scripture do seem to promise a salvation that includes every part of us.
Therefore he is able, once and forever, to save (completely) those who come to God through him. He lives forever to intercede with God on their behalf. (Hebrews 7:25 NLT)
Jesus promised His disciples that the Comforter who would be sent to them after His ascension would make the presence of God as real to them as the communion He enjoys (see John 14:15-22). All the evidence we find in the Acts of The Apostles points to a community who enjoyed the felt presence of God. They lived far beyond mere principles and propositions. They were loved at the very deepest levels of existence and became rejoicing martyrs and world-changers. They did not wonder what Jesus would do if He were present. They assumed His presence and experienced His communion. It wasn't theory. It was shared life.
The most common question asked by sincere Christians today is about knowing God's will. Of course we want to know His will. How else can we find direction and fulfill our destiny? But such a question could imply our willingness to do what is required even if God remains distant. If we just know what to do, we can follow the plan with or without His conscious presence. It might even imply that we think we can do the will of God without His enablement. This attitude produces morally-conscious people, but they are usually joyless.
Maybe there is another question that should precede the one about knowing His will: "What is the heart of God?" If knowing God is the essence of eternal life (John 17:3), then knowing His heart is essential. We can't afford to speculate and assume things about Him that aren't true because we are responding to whatever concept of God we presently retain.
Looking through the branches of the bush they were hiding behind, Adam and Eve concluded some things about God that were devastatingly wrong. Since then, humanity has been misperceiving God's heart. Left to our own perceptions, we will never get it right.
Moses had seen the mighty works of God. He had heard His voice. But he wanted more. He asked if he could see God's glory. To prevent his being incinerated, God hid him in a cave and passed by him while declaring His nature:
The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, "The Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children, to the third and fourth generation." (Exodus 34:6 ESV)
Sadly, many focus on the iniquity phrase and miss the core of the revelation. Fearing the sure consequences of sin, they live trying to avoid it rather than embracing the God whose heart is merciful and gracious. Yes, sin has consequences. Left unconfronted it will continue to infect generations. But God’s merciful heart did what was necessary to be both just and merciful. It is His mercy that moves Him to take the wrath of sin on Himself in Jesus so that we can be forgiven and fully reconciled. It is His heart that is shown in all His works, and it is His heart that invites us into intimate communion with Him.
As we get to know Him, we find mercy and grace abounding and unstoppable love and eternal forgiveness granted. He acts according to His heart. He is not a hypocrite. Jesus came to reveal the nature of the Father and when He self-identified, He spoke of His heart:
Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. (Matthew 11:28 ESV)
We can never see the purpose of His life, miracles, death, resurrection, and ascension if we don't know His heart. His works reveal His heart, but we can marvel at His works and never feel His heart. If we miss that, we miss a large part of the salvation He gives. When we know in fact and in feeling His sympathies toward us, we will run to Him; never hiding or isolating. We discover that, like water, streams of mercy flow to the neediest point.
When we are devastated by our own disqualification, we qualify for mercy -- and that is where He shines brightest. God's glory is the revelation of His heart. We see His glory most clearly when we plead for mercy, and His mercy touches every aspect of our being. We know Him in our thoughts and in our emotions. We move toward experiencing the full restoration of humanity that He purchased. We know it and feel it because it is real.
Oh God, show me your glory!
Dudley Hall is a Senior Contributor to The Stream. He is the founder and President of Kerygma Ventures, a sought-after speaker, an engaging preacher, an effective consultant, and a trusted spiritual father. Dudley has authored several books including Grace Works, Incense & Thunder, Glad to be Left Behind, Men In Their Own Skin, Orphans No More, When Hard Times Come, Follow Me and his latest, a children's book laced with gospel truth: Shorty the Substitute Ram.
The post Oh God, I’m Just Not Feeling You appeared first on The Stream.
The real celebration with God entering the world as a human is that He would do a work resulting in justification, forgiveness, redemption, righteousness and so much more—which He extended through perfect love by grace. This is why believers have peace with God. The Savior brought faith and life—and it’s much more excellent than a religious system of works which falls short. When it comes to your celebration this year, don’t keep hanging out at the manger, but remember the ultimate result of what it brought.
And what about the misleading use of some verses in Hebrews Chapter 7 … where the writer intersects Abraham, Melchizedek and Jesus. Manipulators will abuse and misuse the passage as an argument for tithing and miss the bigger picture of context—which was the fact that Jesus Christ was superior to Abraham, as well as the Old Covenant and the old priesthood … and He replaced them both with something more excellent.
The tithe was part of that old law. The Jews were still under it when Jesus walked the earth. The purpose of Jesus coming was to free Israel from that law and to tear down that wall of law so Gentiles could also experience freedom and life. We abide in a different covenant and are not under any of the old law. And yet, church incorporated can’t resist cherry picking a few of their chosen favorites from that obsolete package. The tithe is usually one of them. Even Jesus stated the tithe was about food—not money and not all of your income.
Under the law, tithing was a requirement for the sake of the priestly Levitical tribe, as they received a tenth of the food from the other tribes of Israel. Now in Christ, we freely give as motivated by perfect love.
While writing my book Letters from Jesus, I discovered a lot of gems in scripture. Some of these were hidden in the introductions Jesus gives his letters to the seven churches. Consider this introduction from his letter to the church in Ephesus:
These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands. (Rev 2:1)
This is a truly remarkable picture of Jesus. But what does it mean?
Jesus takes a selfie
If the Bible is an art gallery, the Revelation letters are a special wing containing seven portraits of Jesus. These portraits are found at the beginning of each of the seven letters, and each is a treasure.
For starters, each is a self-portrait painted by Jesus himself. We are not hearing about Jesus second hand, and we are not seeing him through the eyes of another. This is Jesus revealing Jesus using word pictures found nowhere else in the Bible.
In the first portrait, we see Jesus holding seven stars. The seven stars in the Lord’s right hand are the angels or leaders of the seven churches (see Rev. 1:20). In scripture, those who teach the gospel of righteousness are called stars (Dan. 12:3), while false teachers are called wandering stars (Jude 1:13).
Why are the stars in his right hand? What is so special about that hand?
The right hand of God signifies his power and strength. “Your right hand, O Lord, is majestic in power,” sang Moses. “Your right hand, O Lord, shatters the enemy” (Ex. 15:6).
Held by the right hand of God
In the Psalms, God’s right hand saves us, holds us, and shelters us (Ps. 17:7, 60:5, 63:8). His right hand is also the place of honor (Acts 2:33–34).
So when Jesus tells the seven stars or pastors that he is holding them in his right hand, he is saying, “You have nothing to fear, for I am holding you with my strong and mighty right hand.”
In truth, Jesus holds all of us in his mighty right hand (see John 10:28). He holds you and me.
So the next time you have some anxiety-inducing thought about whether you might stumble at the final hurdle and be lost, incline your ear to Jesus and hear what he says. He says this:
I’ve got you. You have nothing to fear. No one can snatch you from my strong and mighty right hand.
Amen.
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“…if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”This is wrapped in the context of the (former) Old Covenant, where the Jewish temple had just opened for business—which would be considered a house of animal sacrifices. It was another conditional promise based upon keeping the law … which nobody could ever successfully accomplish. If they were obedient to every command—while praying and seeking God’s face at the temple house–then God would respond with healing and forgiveness.