That Everything May Commend Christ

"The other person needs to be loved for what he is, as one for whom Christ became man, died and rose again, for whom Christ brought forgiveness of sins and eternal life.  Because Christ has long since acted decisively for my brother, before I could begin to act, I must leave him his freedom to be Christ’s;  I must meet him only as the person that he already is in Christ’s eyes…Human love constructs its own image of the other person, of what he is and what he should become.  It takes the life of the other person into its own hands.  Spiritual love recognizes the true image of the other person which he has received from Jesus Christ; the image that Jesus Christ himself embodied and would stamp upon all men.  Therefore spiritual love proves itself in that everything it says and does commends Christ…"

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together

For the King and His Kingdom Are One

Don’t you think we just need more of an imagination?  Don’t you think too, after reading this, we need more of an imagination to speak these words to our children in ways that they can relate to, assimilate, and live in the reality of?

This from RC Sproul Jr, who lost both his wife and a daughter this past year:

“It is a good and glorious thing to remember what our union with Christ means in terms of our glorification.  His work did not merely acquire for us a verdict of not guilty.  Rather, because we are in union with Him, we are joint heirs with Him.  The glory that is His in His resurrection is ours.  The glory that is His in His ascension is ours.  We are even now, because we are in union with Him, seated with Him in the heavenly places.  We are kings and queens even now because we are one with Him—the One who reigns over all.

“There is, however, more still.  Remember that Jesus, when He met Saul on the road to Damascus, did not ask, “Why are you persecuting My bride?” but “Why are you persecuting Me?”  He, in union with us, so identifies with us, that what we suffer, He suffers.  Because we are one flesh, what one half suffers the other half does as well.  Because of our union with Him, Jesus suffered from acute myeloid leukemia.  Because of our union with Him, Jesus went into remission after a successful bone marrow transplant.  Because of our union with Him, Jesus relapsed.  Because of our union with Him, Jesus’ clinical trial was unable to slow the deadly progression of the disease.   Because of our union with Him, He was unable to try more chemotherapy because his kidneys began to fail.  Because of our union with Jesus, Jesus went into hospice, said goodbye to His friends, to His parents, His sister and brother, and to His little children.  Because of our union with Jesus, Jesus said goodbye to the man who loved her forever and always.  And because of our union with Jesus, Jesus, one with me, sat helpless while His bride waltzed into eternity.

"Jesus, however, was raised from the dead.  With Him was raised my beloved and with Him was raised my hope.  Because she is in union with Him, she has found the fullness of the kingdom, and His righteousness is now all her own.  Furthermore, because I am in union with Him, though I see through a glass darkly, I am there to dance with her.  Because I am in union with Him, I got to be there when Jesus and Denise welcomed our little girl Shannon to heavenly rest.

"We are called to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.  By His grace, we know that in His grace, His kingdom and His righteousness has been seeking us.  But even that is not the utmost glory of the kingdom.  The great glory of the kingdom is the glory of the King.  For the King and His kingdom are one, even as we and the King are one.  Rest and rejoice.  Give thanks and give praise."

The Purer the Gold

Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water’.  John 7:38

When I wrote Snapshots of a Christ-focused Wedding I promised I would tell you something about the bride and groom, other than that they hail from opposite corners of the continent and were born two days apart.  For a few reasons, this was delayed until now, but I did want to share a particular bit of their romance.

I’ve had several posts in which I talk about watching our children, young or grown, walk through significant trials.  Painful though it is, for somehow we want so badly for them to be well, comfortable, happy and satisfied, these trials serve Christ’s transforming purpose in their lives.  Indeed, especially if they are walking in fellowship with the Lord it is hard to see them walk through severe trials.

Yes, this post is about a wedding.  A glorious, happy, deeply satisfying and Christ-exalting wedding.  For you see, the groom and the bride began their love story just following severe trials in both their lives.  In fact, their first correspondences were about their responses to these trials.

How do we measure the priceless jewels of suffering which turn hearts deeper in to a love for Christ, seek only to magnify HIM if even through this, and bear tenfold the beautiful fruit of being submitted to His will for their lives?  Would we still say God chose poorly this trial?  Ask why did it have to be this way? 

With their permission, I am including excerpts from their first correspondence, to show the riches of Christ-exalting suffering that came into, and pours out of, the hearts and lives of this young couple.  Yes, the suffering was real:  the groom was found to have a cancerous tumor on his leg which resulted in his leg being amputated above the knee, then followed by cancer treatments.  The bride’s trials were equally as devastating and troubling for her, albiet in a different manner, in the same months and years. 

He wrote, “If I could have my leg back I would take it in a heartbeat but I have absolutely no regrets about losing it. My life is actually so much richer than it was before I lost it. There’s nothing like adversity to really test your spirit and to let you find out what you are capable of. (I actually mean what God’s grace allows you to be capable of.) My situation has allowed me to share my faith with people and has forced me to totally trust God and depend on him for EVERYTHING.” He also wrote, “Although I am looking forward to celebrating the five year mark (of being cancer free) I realize that every day each of us is given is a gift and it truly belongs to the Lord. There are days that I forget this but once I remember the sacrifice Christ made for me it really hits home and inspires me to live for him.” And, “I’m sorry to hear about your health problems. I guess you came to the same conclusion as I did in deciding that health problems and adversity are great motivators to draw closer to God. Kind of blessings in disguise.”

She wrote, “It was such an encouragement to read your last message! You know, it is such a blessing to belong to the body of Christ, where we can see God's hand through all of our trials, and use our experiences to make our testimony that much stronger. Usually, when I look at the Christians I know who have had a lot of struggles in their life (spiritually or physically), I am amazed by their peace and faith and strong witness. Being sick myself (although I am not trying to compare my situation in any way to yours or anyone else's), I have drawn a lot of encouragement from knowing that God loves me enough to bring me through this trial, because I have grown closer to Him in ways that I probably wouldn't have if I hadn't gone through this. I love thinking of it this way: I (or you...whoever) am gold, and in order for it to be beautiful and pure, it HAS to go through fire, which is painful, but in the end will make us more and more like Christ. The purer the gold, the more He will be able to see His reflection when He looks at us.”

This, along with more of their story, was read at the wedding reception, a several-hour affair of incredible joy, celebration, and laughter.  No regrets; no looking back, or wishing for something else.  God has brought every earthly blessing and delight to them, not only in giving them one another, but in sanctifying their suffering and crowning it with perfect peace.  Thus, this wedding was a monument to God’s perfect craftsmanship in turning painful situations into the gold of our good and His glory. And a promise to parents that God’s plans for them are more well-laid than our wishes. 

Thankfulness for Community

In the Christian community thankfulness is just what it is anywhere else in the Christian life.  Only he who gives thanks for the little things receives the big things.  We prevent God from giving us the great spiritual gifts He has in store for us, because we do not give thanks for daily gifts.  We think we dare not be satisfied with the small measure of spiritual knowledge experience and love that has been given to us, and that we must constantly be looking forward eagerly for the highest good.  Then we deplore the fact that we lack the deep certainty, the strong faith, and the rich experience that God has given to others, and we consider this lament to be pious.  We pray for the big things and forget to give thanks for the ordinary, small (and yet really not small) gifts.  How can God entrust great things to one who will not thankfully receive from Him the little things?  If we do not give thanks daily for the Christian fellowship in which we have been place, even where there is no great experience, no discoverable riches, but much weakness, small faith, and difficulty; if on the contrary we only keep complaining to God that everything is so paltry and petty, so far from what we expected, then we hinder God from letting our fellowship grow according to the measure and riches which are there for us all in Jesus Christ.

--from Life Together, Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Oxford, England, 2009

Tenfold Diligence to the Work Assigned Us

Mary Winslow raised three sons to become ministers; and she lived to see three grandsons become ministers.  She was born two years before our country’s war for independence.  She married a Lieutenant at 17, and came to Christ soon following.  Shortly after immigrating to New York with ten children, she lost her infant daughter.  Before her baby could be buried, she received word from oversees that her husband had died.  Widowed at 40, responsible for nine children, her entire life was turned upside down.  Worst of all, her spiritual darkness and despondency overwhelmed her for some months.

Nevertheless, the Lord delivered her from all these sorrows and turned her darkness into light.  Later, she confessed that affliction was for her own welfare.  “I think I have learned more of my dreadfully wicked heart, and the preciousness of Jesus during this trial than I ever learnt before”, she said.  By seasoned experience, she learned how to maintain a spirit of unwavering faith during times of suffering.   And God granted her remarkable joys to balance the sorrows.  He redeemed all of her children…

I really do love how she talks to others in her letters, and I think we have so much to learn from her forthright emphasis on gospel, on the Person of Jesus Christ, and of our heart responses to Him.  Here’s another taste:

“My dear friend, I wish to know how the Lord’s work is prospering in your hands.  However little we may know of each other here, we are to dwell together throughout eternity.  How should this thought unite the children of God, level every barrier between them erected by man’s inventions and Satan’s devices!  We shall know, even as we are known.  We shall know Jesus--precious Jesus!—and shall we not know and love all who bear His image; and should we not try and be as much like what we expect to be in the world of glory to which we are daily approaching—yea, moment by moment nearing our port.  Happy thought! Glorious prospect before us!  Take courage, my friend, and give tenfold diligence to the work assigned you by your Master.  I trust you are well assured he has called you to it, and if so, I hope you look to Him continually for materials to enable you to carry it on to the praise of His holy name, and that at last you might receive a “well done, good and faithful servant," from His blessed lips.  Oh, to live to please Him who died for us, and to do His work faithfully, and with an upright heart, looking for our reward only in knowing and feeling that we are doing His will…”

--Bio and quote from Heaven Opened, Octavius Winslow editor

Oxford, England, 2009 

Ministry of Motherhood

“Mothering is no second-rate ministry for the spiritually and intellectually mediocre. 

Mothering is a Christ-rated ministry for soul and mind sculptors and what could ever be substandard about passing on Christ’s standard?”  --Ann Voskamp 

I do wonder long at why, in today’s culture, we’ve lost sight of the magnitude of the work we as mothers have to do in our own home:  studying the personalities, needs, spiritual acumen of our children, encouraging them in appetites and endeavors that keep them focused on the Christ-path and not looking to the right nor the left for their identity or satisfaction.  Full time job, yes? And that’s second-fiddle, even so, to being a help-meet to our husbands primarily and foremost.  There is altogether too much to distract us.

I do love the opening quote by Ann.  Another wonderful and godly mentor, Mary Winslow, writes the following in a letter to one in ministry; I am seeking to apply its truths and wisdom to the ministry of my motherhood, and I find it fits well-adorned to the cause…(note how boldly she addresses this person, for the sake and goal of encouragement in the Lord!  Should we find ourselves closer in our friendships if we dared such an approach to exhibiting our love for one another?)

“I am wishing to know from yourself, not only how it is with your own soul, but how it is with the little flock over whom you are placed as overseer.  Are you gathering in souls for the harvest?  Does the Lord bless you with success?  Are poor sinners converted?  I do think it depends a good deal on our own state of soul whether we are useful or not.  I do hope yours is prospering, and if so, the Spirit within you will shew Himself in your work.  This I have had occasion often to observe.  And yet, the Lord might not bless us in the way we mark out for ourselves; for though in our poor wisdom it may seem the right way, He might see differently. 

“I have learned much from long though painful experience of the narrow road, and seem now to be left a little longer that I might speak a word in season to those who are coming after me—a word of warning, a word of counsel, a word of encouragement.  It is a mercy to be employed in any way, however humble the attempt and weak the instrument.  

Dear friend, do you feel Jesus precious to your soul?  Is He not the fountain, yea, the ocean of love?  Oh, get much of it into your heart!  Aim to live on high.  The soul naturally, through the weakness of the flesh, cleaves to the dust; and Satan is ever busy encumbering out minds with the poor world we are rapidly passing through.  Well might he be called ‘the god of this world’.  Be not ignorant of his devices.  A throne of grace is always accessible.  Never stop to argue with Satan, but flee to Jesus your strength; He will give you the victory over His old enemy.  What a precious resource is this!  How could we live a moment without it!  A throne of grace is the only verdant spot in this wide wilderness.  Oh, the power of prayer!  Coming in the name of Jesus, the Father can withhold no good thing from us.

“You need wisdom from above to accomplish this great work.  The Holy Spirit must be your teacher.  He alone can accompany His own word spoken to the soul.  He it is who gives life…” 

--in the middle of a bike ride

Christ Often Heareth

““Words are but the body, the garment, the outside of prayer; sighs are nearer the heart work.”  What about when we are not answered in our prayers?  This is perhaps the most difficult aspect of prayer to deal with.  Why does prayer seem to be unanswered?  How do we know when we are answered?  In respect to the first question, Rutherford responds that the delay in answers to prayer have a merciful and beneficial aspect to it.  “Christ often heareth when He doth not answer; His not answering is an answer, and speaks thus, Pray on, go on, and cry; for the Lord holdeth His door fast bolted, not to keep out, but that you may knock and knock.  Patience to wait for the answer is itself an answer.  Prayer is to God, worship; to us, often, it is but a servant upon mere necessity sent on a business.”  Even prayers that would seem to be lost and wasted are not so at all; they are both heard and answered. 

“I may pray for victory to God’s people in a battle; they love, yet I am heard and answered because I prayed for that victory not under the notion of victory, but as linked with mercy to the church and the honor of Christ.  The formal object of my prayers was a spiritual mercy to the church and the honor of Jesus Christ.  The Lord hath shown mercy to His people by humbling them and glorifies His Son in preserving a fallen people.  He hears what is spiritual and not the errors.”

“We are heard when we ask in faith according to God’s will.  How shall we know we are answered?  Hannah knew because of peace after prayer.  Paul knew because of receiving new supply to bear the want of what he sought in prayer.  Liberty and boldness of faith are other indications…”

--taken from The King in His Beauty, excerpts and biography of Samuel Rutherford edited by Matthew Vogan