The Mystery of His Will

 

Dear Fellow Travelers,

          These are the words of the Apostle Paul from his letter to the church at Ephesus: In all wisdom and insight He made known to us the mystery of His will . . .(Ephesians 1:8b-9a NASB). Knowing that most of you are serious students of the Scriptures, this will probably sound like a foolish question, but I am going to take the risk of sounding foolish and ask it: He made known to us the mystery of His will concerning what?

          If we should be honest, most of us would admit that His will is a mystery quite often. Oh, I know that we are clear about some issues, e.g. stealing, lying, and idolatry; however, there are some issues where His will is not quite that straightforward, e.g. traveling by air or by train, singing in the choir or serving in the nursery, and entering the ministry or working as an engineer.

          The mystery to which Paul is referring in this text apparently falls into the latter category, as there are many diverse opinions, even among folk in the Protestant church. Apparently, His will concerning this mystery is not very straightforward. Or is it that some have not been given eyes to see? If some have been given “eyes to see” and others have not been given them, who, pray tell me, has the “seeing eyes?”

          Oh, I almost forgot to answer my question! What is this mystery of His will that He has made known, at least to some?

          I think I will wait a bit before I offer my answer, as I would really like to hear your responses to the question. I am eagerly waiting to hear from you! 

         

         

"This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent" (John 6:29 NASB).

A Word about Triage

My years as an EMT helped me to see just how important triage really is. When the doors of the ER are abruptly pushed open by a stretcher carrying a young man with a major bleed, the attention of the medical personnel is turned from the man with the broken limb, or the woman with terminal cancer, or the child with a “runny nose” to the medical emergency—the man with the major bleed. Yes! Each patient is very important and each patient’s problem is just as important; however, there is a protocol that must be followed. One would think that the man with the broken limb would gladly wait until the physicians attended the man with the major bleed, but experience shows us that this is not the case. In the same way, one would think that the family of the lady with the terminal cancer, or the parents of the child with the “runny” nose would gladly wait until the physicians attended the man with the major bleed; however, our self-centeredness most often rules. If you do not believe me, spend a few hours in the ER or in a MD’s waiting room, and while you are there watch and listen. Even better, put yourself on the stretcher, and answer this question: Who is my neighbor? More than likely, the only way you will find the answer is to face the more difficult question: Who is neighbor to the one with the major bleed?  Maybe, just maybe, it is your turn to be the “good Samaritan.”

One Wednesday evening, many years ago now, something happened that I vividly remember. I was teaching a Bible study, when someone unexpectedly entered the room with two urgent prayer requests. After apologizing for having “interrupted” the Bible study, he went on to share the specifics of his requests. It was certainly obvious to me, and I believe to everyone else, that he was desperate for someone to pray for him. I immediately stopped teaching and asked the group to join in prayer in his behalf. What followed disturbed me. Instead of praying for the man, several in the group began to share their own requests. Not one person mentioned this man or his requests. It was as if he had never entered the room.

Although I am fully aware that their requests were very important and urgent to them, it concerned me that the focus so quickly moved from this man’s requests to “our” requests. This man had driven to the church and mustered the courage to “interrupt” our Bible study for the sole purpose of having us pray for matters that were very urgent to him, and, unfortunately, we responded with a time of sharing our own requests. In my opinion, our response demonstrated our self-centeredness. We had, obviously, moved the focus off him and onto ourselves. 

Make no mistake about this: I always want (and encourage) people to feel free to share their prayer requests with one another and to pray for one another; however, I do not want our self-centeredness to rule our lives and, thereby, cause us to miss the opportunities of ministry that He places before us. There are times when we should be sensitive to the fact that another has a major “hemorrhage,” and, therefore, desperately needs someone to assist in stopping his bleed. Surely, these are the times when we should set our own needs and concerns aside and selflessly minister to others. 

          The man who had “interrupted” the Bible study was obviously struggling emotionally with the concerns he brought to us, so much so that he left the room to regain his composure. In a few minutes, he returned to thank the group for praying. I wondered what he was really thinking and feeling.

          From the moment he entered the room, I was overcome with the reality of the Presence of the Holy Spirit and with the fact that God was doing something very significant. I struggled to discern what it was, but I could not, at least not in the moment. To be sure, I did not think that this man had interrupted the Bible study! I soon realized that he brought to light a truth that the group desperately needed to learn: Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind let each of you regard one another as more important than himself” (Philippians 2:3 NASB).

The following is an excerpt from an article I read by Dr. Larry Crabb in Christian Counseling Today, vol. 10; no 1; p. 48:

It all comes down to self-centeredness, to a naturally self-focused, self-reliant soul that we’re powerless to change. We place our interests above God’s; we plot ways to use God for our agendas; and we refuse to recognize God’s glory as the final value we can joyfully pursue. That is our deep sin. There is only one answer: grace. We need forgiveness that then empowers us to live a new way, supernaturally, in community, with broken and grateful saints.

           For whatever it might be worth, I agree with Dr. Crabb and I trust that we can somehow move beyond that which we are powerless to change into that “new creation” which Jesus brought into existence through His death, burial, and resurrection.

Grace lavished (and I mean that!),

         

         

"This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent" (John 6:29 NASB).

Following the Rules

        The following is the eighth in a series of eight of the benefits & blessings God has bestowed upon every one of His children:

Striving to live by someone’s list of religious rules need no longer be a concern for you because Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to live in you as your guide and teacher, as is evidenced by this: And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not behold Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you, and will be in you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you (John 14:16-17; 26). In other words, you can now wake up each morning thoroughly convinced that the Holy Spirit will be your guide and teacher as you journey through the day.

          I spent most of my younger years desperately trying to follow the “rules for Christian living” that were given to me by various significant others, e.g., parents, teachers, and  preachers. Strangely, not all of my peers were given the same list to follow, though there were a few commonalities. For example, the list I was given clearly stated that dancing was sinful; however, that was not true for some of my peers. They danced and I did not. It was as simple as that. Actually, I was pretty good at following the rules—outwardly. Strong flesh is another name for it.

         

          Anyway, my point is this: The Bible is not a rule book for us to follow in order to be righteous; instead, it is the revelation of Jesus, who is our righteousness. It took me a while to see that, but when I finally had my eyes opened, I began to realize the power the Holy Spirit has to lead and guide my life. Living a life that honors Him became the passion of my life. Oh, yes, I have failed many times but my failing did not negate the fact that I am righteous—His doing, not mine.

         

         

"This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent" (John 6:29 NASB).

Hiding from God?

        The following is the seventh in a series of eight of the benefits & blessings God has bestowed upon every one of His children:

Hiding from God’s Presence need no longer be a concern for you, even when your behavior is most despicable, because God chose to give to you unconditional, confident access into His Presence, as is evidenced by this: Since therefore, brethren, we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, and since we have a great high priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water (Hebrews 10:19-22). In other words, you can now feel comfortable in God’s Presence even when you are doing the most despicable sin you can imagine. Never again do you have try to hide from Him!

          Yes, I know these verses sound too good to be true, and most of the time when something sounds too good to be true, it is; however, this is an exception. As a believer, you really do not have to hide from God’s Presence ever again! You can cease thinking that He is out to get you because you have committed some sin(s), or for any other reason, for that matter!

          My dear friend, thinking that God is “out to get you” is Old Covenant thinking! Thinking that you have to hide from God for any reason is Old Covenant thinking! You no longer live under the Old Covenant. In case you have forgotten, Jesus ushered in a new and better covenant, one with better promises, and He did it for your benefit and for His glory!

         

         

"This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent" (John 6:29 NASB).

Overcoming Sin!

         The following is the sixth in a series of eight of the benefits & blessings God has bestowed upon every one of His children:

Striving to stop sinning, striving to overcome the power of sin in your life, need no longer be a concern for you because God chose to break the power sin had over you by releasing you from the Law—the Law of Moses, the Ten Commandments, the law of sin and death, the ministry of death, the ministry of condemnation (see Romans 8 & 2 Corinthians 3)—as is evidenced by these passages:

(1) For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law, but under grace (Romans 6:14);

(2) Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree” (Galatians 3:13);

(3) For while we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were aroused by the Law, were at work in the members of your body to bear fruit for death. But now having been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter. What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? May it never be! On the contrary, I would not have come to know sin except through the Law; for I would not have known about coveting if the Law had not said, ‘You shall not covet.’ But sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind, for apart from the Law sin is dead” (Romans 7:5-8);

“The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:56).

          In light of these passages (and many others, I might add!), it is strange (and certainly sad!) that so many continue to insist that we must somehow “die to sin,” that we must somehow “break sin’s power” in our lives. On the contrary, what we must do is ask the Holy Spirit to make the truth of Jesus’ finished work real in our lives! Why, pray tell me, do we need to do what He has already done?

          Try this passage on for size: “No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God” (1 John 3:9).

         

          You think about that—

         

         

"This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent" (John 6:29 NASB).