Keep His Commandments

     "And thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no."  In this post, we look at the last of the four reasons why the children of Israel wandered: "whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no."  
    
     I remember, as a kid, my mom would tell me to do something, and I was often slow to comply, or even do it at all.  Yes, I was rebellious.  But the reality was, I didn't love her enough.  Jesus said "If ye love me, keep my commandments" (John 14:15).  Doing something you're asked to do is an expression of love.  I remember when my grandpa would ask me if I wanted to walk fields with him, which meant carrying a hoe, and taking out weeds.  I hated it; but I loved him, so I always obliged.  His body language, while I accompanied him, was always something that made me feel thankful, because I knew he loved me, and wanted to be with me, and I wanted to return that expression.  

     Scripture is replete with references on keeping the commandments; we know this.  It's the inner desire; a lack of love (to be brutally honest) for God, that keeps us from effectually being obedient.  When I was young, there were lots of reasons for not obeying my mom, because, I thought, I'm just a kid.  Paul addresses this notion in I Corinthians 13:11 "When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things." Reality is such that we must take responsibility for ourselves.  The promises of keeping God's commandments are sure.  Genesis 9:21 states "And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant, which I made unto thy father Enoch; that, when men should keep all my commandments, Zion should again come on the earth, the city of Enoch which I have caught up unto myself."

     The gospel, at root, is about relationships.  In order to build relationships, there must be trust, love, and sacrifice.  Our Heavenly Father demonstrated this desired relationship for us in the giving of His only begotten Son.  In any relationship, communication and cooperation, are the building blocks.   Being "of one heart, and one mind" is the fruit of said relationship.  This is what John was referencing in I John 2:3-4 "And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.  He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him."  Knowing Him is the product of keeping His commandments. John adds later "And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight."  As any good parent, the Lord desires us to keep his commandments because He desires the best for us, and embedded in his commandments are the means by which we receive the best from him.  It doesn't always have to make sense; we just need to believe and obey.  

     Perhaps our greatest stumbling block in keeping His commandments is because we don't always understand them.  What would be our response to being told to walk around Jericho, once a day for six days, and then on the seventh day, you'll walk around Jericho seven times, after which the priests will blow their horns, and the walls will crumble down.  Imagine the looks on the children of Israel while Joshua explained this plan.  Truth is, the Lord doesn't need us to approve of His plans, He just wants us to obey.  Consider this lesson: in the fourth chapter of Genesis, we read about how the Lord commanded Adam to make sacrifice.  Adam obeyed.  Many days after, an angel of the Lord appeared to Adam and asked him why he made sacrifice.  Adams response was "I know not, except I was commanded of the Lord". It was then that the angel explained that the sacrifice was in similitude of the sacrifice of the Lamb of God, the Son of the Almighty.  The lesson here is: understanding always follows obedience.  Keeping the commandments opens the Heavenly windows for the revelation of God.  There is no other path to this intimate relationship with Him.

     Four reasons for the forty years of wandering.  How long shall we wander?   How long will it take us to embrace The Truth and look upward?  Does it matter?  It sure does.  So much so that God sent His Son to die for us.  What are we willing to sacrifice to dwell in the Kingdom of God?  How about our will.  Trust Him.  Make his will your desire.  Know Him.  Make His word your bread.  He waits. He longs for us.  Jesus didn't die so we could go to church; Jesus died so that we could become the church.  To His honor and glory may we serve.  God bless.

    

Thine heart

     "And thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no."  In this, the third post on this scripture, we will be considering the heart, or the importance of knowing what is in our hearts.  We're not talking about blood, ventricles, or aortas.  We're going to look at what the Lord was meaning when he said "know what was in thine heart".  As in previous posts, He is not referring to what He needs to look at in our hearts; He already knows us.  Our hearts are open to him like a book, and all He needs to do is turn the pages.  The point of the scripture is so that he might expose to US what is in OUR hearts.

     There are many verses throughout scripture that speak of the heart; both in temporal terms, as well as spiritual terms.  Again, we will be looking into the spiritual meaning of the heart in this post.  Let's consider a few, both negative and positive.  Genesis 6:57 reads: "And the Lord spake unto Adam, saying, Inasmuch as thy children are conceived in sin, even so, when they begin to grow up sin conceiveth in their hearts, and they taste the bitter, that they may know to prize the good."  Genesis 7:23 tells us "And the called his people, Zion, because they were of one heart and of one mind, and dwelt in righteousness; and there were no poor among them."  In the Psalms, we have two opposite views as well: "I will praise thee, O Lord, with my whole heart; I will show forth all thy marvelous works." and "His mouth is full of cursing and deceit; and his heart is full of fraud; and under his tongue is mischief and vanity."  How can these two extremes exist in the same heart?  They really can't.  It reminds me of the old story of an Indian who claims he has the spirit of two wolves fighting inside of him; one kind and gentle, the other mean and dangerous.  When asked which one will survive, the Indian pronounced "which ever one I feed".  Such is the truth with our hearts.

     Let's for a moment consider our natural heart.  It is the means by which the life blood is pumped throughout our whole bodies.  Without it, we would die.  Abuse what we take into our bodies, and the heart pumps the poison all through our being, making us sick, or even bringing us death.  Provide our bodies with good things, and we will be filled with life giving nourishment.  Such it is in the spiritual life also.   The Bible uses the word "heart" primarily to refer to the ruling center of the whole person, the spring of all desires. The heart is seen as the seat of the will, intellect and feel­ings. "Character", "personality" and "mind" are approximate modern terms for the Bible's meaning of heart.  According to the Bible, the heart is the center not only of spiritual activity, but of all the operations of human life. "Heart" and "soul" are often used interchangeably (Deut. 6:5;26:16; comp. Matt. 22:37; Mark 12:30, 33), but this is not generally the case. The heart is the "home of the personal life," and hence a man is designated, according to his heart, wise (1 Kings 3:12, etc.), pure (Ps. 24:4; Matt. 5:8, etc.), upright and righteous (Gen. 20:5, 6; Ps. 11:2; 78:72), pious and good (Luke 8:15), etc. In these and such passages the word "soul" could not be substituted for "heart." The heart is also the seat of the conscience (Rom. 2:15). It is naturally wicked (Gen. 8:21), and hence it contaminates the whole life and character (Matt. 12:34; 15:18; comp. Eccl. 8:11; Ps. 73:7 ).  

     Our problem, to some extent, is that we look TOO much at the sin, and not the heart.  Sin is the fruit of what lies in the heart.  Consider this: you and your companion are ready for bed.  It's late, and you have had a long day.  Suddenly, one of you remembers that there are a sink full of dishes waiting to be cleaned.  After bringing your companion to the attention of said dishes, you suddenly hear water being run into the sink.  Then, you hear the cleaning and rinsing of dishes.  Shortly after it becomes quiet, your 7 year old comes and stands before you.  With a big smile, this little servant announces that the dishes are done, and you can go to bed.  As good, respectable parents, you get up, go into the kitchen, and inspect the work.  You find that there is still food crusted on all of the plates still.  There is dried egg in the tines of several forks, left from that mornings breakfast.  Yes, your determination is correct- these are not good works.  But then, you look into the beaming eyes of your little one; so proud to have helped, filled with the desire of showing love to you; perhaps the works aren't perfect.  But the heart of this little one is!  This is what the Lord desires of each of us.  When our hearts are perfect, we become pliable in the hands of the potter.  When we reach this point in our lives, then the righteous works will follow.  In Matthew 5:10, Jesus says it best: "And blessed are all the pure in heart; for they shall see God." 

 

     A heart wholly devoted, a whole heart, a pure heart are commonly understood terms for any "first-love" relationship (Revelation 2:4) with the Lord. It is the "hot" rather than the "lukewarm" of Revelation 3:16.  There is one more expression to consider. Jesus said that the greatest commandment was to love the Lord God with all one's heart, mind, soul and strength. It may be unnecessary to draw the distinction, but if a whole or pure heart is a perfect quality, then "with all one's heart" is perfect quantity.  To this end, may we labor together, for the good of His Kingdom.  God bless.

    

    

Prove Thee

    "And thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no."  In this post, we shall consider the second point that the  Lord makes concerning why the children of Israel wandered for forty years: "prove thee".

     Let's first consider the meaning of the word, before we look at the Lord's purpose behind it.  The word "prove", scripturally, is a term that is expressed through four different, but connected words.  The first, "nacah" means to lift or weigh.  The second word "bachan" means to try by heat or fire.  The third, "dokimazo" means to try, and the last, "peirazo" means to tempt.  One other definition that deserves consideration is "to establish or demonstrate; to find by experience.  In other words, there is a work being accomplished, which is centered upon the revelation of God to his creation.  This is the key to the understanding of what the Lord intends for us to see in this verse.

     There is one other question that needs to be answered: who is this "proving" for?  It certainly does not mean to prove anything about us to God, for He knows more about us than we do.  But rather, the opposite is what is being accomplished; the means by which God proves himself to us, and the proving of ourselves.......to ourselves.  Let's think about this.  God intended Israel's experience in the wilderness to be the means by which he taught them that all of life, both the physical and the spiritual aspects, are totally dependent upon God's providence.  And it's the same lesson for those of us, in these last days, who labor on our pilgrimage to the Kingdom of God.  

     You see, God allowed difficulties for the Israelites to face; and he does so for us too.  Romans 8: 18-20 reads "For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be named with the glory which shall be revealed in us.  For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.  For the creature was made subject to tribulation not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected it in hope;"  Notice the last sentence: "hope", "him".  Who subjected us in hope?  Him- God.  It is his hope that we become dependent upon him.  This is why he allows trials.  This is why such trials never come at convenient times; the more difficult choices seem to come in times of hardship, when our loyalty is put into question, and when it is much easier to serve ourselves.  God wants us to sacrifice ourselves, or our wills, instead.

     God works, with great wisdom, to expose our weaknesses.  It took forty years to expose the weaknesses of the children of Israel so that they would finally cry out to him to fill the void in their lives, and make them whole.   God's one goal is to break our pride and the continual process of focusing our lives upon ourselves.  Remember the experience of Isaiah in chapter six.  It took the vision of the Holy One to set the prophet free from himself.  This is Gods plan for us.  By allowing tribulations to come upon us, he sets the stage for us to recognize our true weakness, and then the revelation of Himself that delivers us from ourselves and sets us free in Him.  Remember; when Jesus sets you free, you are "free indeed".

     God does not waste his resources, and he never gives up on anyone.  Philippines 1:6 reads "Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ;"   Willingly, he puts us into the furnace of affliction, so that we might return to him pure and unadulterated.  This is His hope, and His work.  And it's our work too.  We are to be the instruments in His hands to bring the light of Christ to all those we come in contact with.  This is the purpose of purging.  This is the purpose of tribulation.  Let us, willingly, lay our lives upon the altar of sacrifice, and glorify Him.  God bless.

    

Humility

     "And thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no."  This scripture verse, from Deuteronomy 8:2, has spoken to me recently.  Any of us who grew up in the R.L.D.S. church know of a major split that occurred in 1984.  While the reason, and/or the people behind it are important, they are not the point of this particular post.  Even more pressing, to my mind, is the realization that we are still "in the wilderness" since the split, and our continued wandering is a product of our own decisions. Considering the scripture quoted above, we are now in the 35th year of wandering.  My concern is, that we are all too comfortable in our scattered state to really care enough to look into how we can be brought back together, as one church again.

     In the scripture noted, the Lord gives 4 reasons why he had the children of Israel wander for forty years: to humble them, to prove them, to know their hearts, and to see if they would keep his commandments.  I would like to begin to look at each of these reasons, separately, in upcoming blog posts.  Today, I wish us to consider humility.

     Christian life has suffered great loss, because believers have not been distinctly guided to see that nothing in life is more natural and beautiful, than to be nothing, so that God may be all.  It has not been made clear that it is not sin that humbles us, but grace.  We live in an era when it is assumed that one can be a Christian, and still serve self.  In this, we err.  When God created the universe, it was with the one object of making man the partaker of His perfection, and of showing in creation, the glory of His love, His wisdom, and His power.  Even today, God wishes to reveal himself, in and through us believers, the communication and revelation of himself to all of His creation. Let's consider Isaiah 6: 1-8  "In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.  Above it stood the seraphim; each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.  And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory.  And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.  Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.  Then flew one of the seraphim unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar;  And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this has touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.  Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me." 
    
     A lot to consider here.  I believe this to be one of THE greatest worship experiences recorded in scripture.  King Uzziah is mentioned because, history tells us, that Isaiah was a first cousin of the king.  Not only did he have royal blood, but he was also a prophet of the most high God.  It would seem easy to allow a little pride in occasionally.  How do we know?  Because of his reaction to seeing the King of Kings in vision.  "I am undone" is quite a phrase.  Imagine yourself being a piece of rope, created at a certain length, for a certain purpose by God.  Pride, or lack of humility, creates knots in the rope that actually reduce the ability of the created rope to function to the length intended.  When Isaiah beheld the glory of God, all of his pride crumbled; the knots became "undone".  The recognition of his filthy rags of sin had convicted Isaiah of his unworthiness, and left him without hope.  This is what sin does-separates us from God.  But the vision doesn't end there.  God has mercy upon him.  As the seraphim flies to Isaiah, and touches his lips with the coal, God is extending grace, and forgives Isaiah his sins.  This is true humility: to recognize your inability to save yourself, and then recognize the grace of God to you that sets you free.  Isaiah's response: "here am I, send me!"

     Humility is the place of entire dependence on God. Humility is the root of every virtue, the soil in which the fruit of the Spirit take root and grow.  Humility is not something we offer to God, but it is the sense of entire nothingness, which comes from when we see how truly God is all, and in which we make way for God to be all.  No tree can grow except on the root from which it sprang.  Through all its existence, it can only live with the life that was in the seed that gave it being.

     Humility is not an act; it's a life.  Sometimes it's easy to think of ourselves as humble before God, yet in all truth, humility toward others will be the only sufficient proof that our humility before God is real.  It is in our relationship to one another, in our treatment of one another, that the true lowliness of mind and the humility of heart are to be seen.  This is the true self-denial to which our Savior calls us; the acknowledgement that self has nothing good in it except as an empty vessel which God alone must fill.  Our humility before God has no value, except that it prepares us to reveal the love of Jesus to our fellow men.  We are called to be a light unto this world.  It is in the depth of humility that God can set us ablaze, for his glory and honor.  To this end, may we labor together.  God bless.