In Ecclesiastes, Solomon bemoans the futility of man’s attempts to “make progress”” during his days under the sun. Whatever “progress” I may attain in my life, for my generation, will eventually be undone. A new discovery or significant contribution will be forgotten over time or replaced by a newer one. That’s not to say that God does not intend for mankind to make progress. Quite the opposite, He has commanded us to progress–to subdue the earth and multiply in it.

Therefore the pursuit of progress is wired into the species. But God has ordained, by virtue of short life, physical boundaries, limited opportunities, and general decay, that my contribution to His overall plan be almost completely obscured.

God governs progress in the world. Individuals cannot see God’s work under the sun. I find comfort in the hidden joys God works into my futile days. He encourages me to seek joy, goodness and contentment in all His benevolent gifts. Enjoying simple pleasures keeps me from striving and being vexed in futile pursuits of progress and striving for meaning. This truth has a counterintuitive effect on my soul because rather than inclining me toward hopelessness in my pursuits, instead it preserves a good and healthy work ethic. I can focus on simply doing good work without trying to figure out how the unique edges that give shape to the tiny puzzle piece of my life fit in with the whole. God knows what He is doing under the sun, but I do not, and will not see it while I toil here.

But Ecclesiastes is limited in scope to my days and my toil under the sun. It starts with the cradle and ends with the grave. There is just enough mention of eternity to keep me sober and conscious that God will bring His righteous judgment to bear on all that I do.

Ecclesiastes is indeed an excellent tonic against my worldly ambitions, arrogance, and presumptuous independence. But the perspective of Ecclesiastes is incomplete with regard to God’s ultimate purposes. There may be nothing new under the sun, but God has brought about something new under heaven. The new covenant in Christ’s blood makes all things new. The mystery of Christ crucified was and is hidden from eyes that merely consider earthly things. The redeemed life has a new shape–it’s no longer a short segment defined by beginning and end points. The redeemed soul has a starting point in the first birth, but due to rebirth in Christ, it has no end point at the grave. No, the shape of new life is a ray, a line with a starting point, inclined upward toward Christ with no end point. It continues toward eternity.

So what of the pursuit of progress, ambition, and striving in the new life? To strive, press, strain and push for progress and attainment under the sun leads primarily to futility and vexation. To strive, press, strain and push forward for progress in faith for growth in heavenly riches, for deeper communion with God is not futile at all–rather I am exhorted to it and enticed by the promise of eternal rewards. Here is where God intends for the ambitious impulse within me to find free expression. Run as to win, fight not without aim, strive Christward and progress in faith! To press hard on the earth from cradle to grave is mostly futile and often vexing. To press hard on the upward trajectory along the unending ray which moves forward toward eternity with no endpoint is right and good and glorifying to God.

Run my soul–but not as though the world depended on it. Run because the soul it intended to run to Christ for the progress of faith, the joy of the soul, and the glory of God. Amen.

The context for this exhortation toward unassuming, obligatory service is Jesus’ command to forgive – even the same person seven times in the same day. Because I am forgiven so much and so often, withholding forgiveness or presuming that my forgiving is a big deal is laughable. When I forgive it’s no great shakes – I’m only fulfilling my most basic obligation as a forgiven sinner.

There is a danger in misapplying this verse however, by thinking that God is pleased with service that flows out from a mere fulfillment of duty.

Truly, I have a duty to obey the Lord’s commands. Satisfying His standards is to be expected. My failure to fulfill His requirements is entirely blameworthy. Fulfilling the obligations of a slave, answering fully to all the master’s orders, is but the fitting response of any servant. But, this does not mean that God is satisfied with my mere fulfillment of duty. Such a disinterested obedience is unbecoming a Christian. I believe this passage speaks to everyone – Christian or not. When a non-Christian rebels, rejecting their status as creatures in God’s universe, they are guilty of derivation of duty. If they should obey a command, they have nothing to boast about since obedience is our humblest duty.

Yet, for the Christian disinterested service is not an option. Meditating on the nature of the master in this parable helps me drive home how mere upholding of duties is offensive to God. I rerun this parable inserting three different masters.

Master one: the scoundrel. There are many masters who gain their position through dishonorable, even deceitful means. And such a master, who has no regard for honor and integrity in his dealings – would be even more contemptuous of his slaves. Nevertheless, the slaves of a scoundrel are still slaves – they’ve been bought and so it is their duty to serve their wicked master. Yet they might do so, fully satisfying their duty, with no internal respect and with little regard for the master himself.

Master two: the honorable master. Now I consider an honorable master, one who gained his wealth by working hard. He treats others with proper regard and provides his servants with appropriate accommodation and fair treatment. Such servants must also perform their duties, it is their obligation. Yet I can imagine such slaves being more wholehearted in their service. They might genuinely respect their master, and even strive to do their jobs with distinction.

Master three: the good master. Consider a very wealthy master who uses his wealth to relive those in distress. His occupation is to feed and clothe widows and orphans. His extensive good works are evident to all in his household. He is renowned for altruism and generosity. He consistently gives himself to meeting the needs others. And this master did not buy his slaves off the market. No, he traveled far and wide to find the sorriest, most mistreated and oppressed slaves – belonging to the harshest, most wicked masters. He purchased them for outrageous terms. Having redeemed them from oppressive masters, at high price, he brings them into his home where they serve him by joining in his occupation of blessing others in distress.

What of the mere duty of these slaves? Yes, they are slaves whose duties are just as obligatory as any other. But could such a slave serve such a master with a dispassionate, disinterested duty? Never!

As a Christian, I must fulfill my duty – and not wait for a prize every time I do. Yet I may never merely fulfill my duty as though that is all that is required. My duties must be fulfilled – but they must be fulfilled like a servant of the good master – who being so good, serving Him can hardly be called service at all. No, more like astounding privilege and honor.

Dear Lord – grant me an enthusiasm for serving you that is fitting for one called to so great a master. Forgive me when my attitude and motivation is so much less than it ought to be for one redeemed, rescued and brought into your great kingdom. Set my eyes on the payment you made – demonstrated on the cross, that I might no longer live for myself but for Him who died for me and rose again – joyfully, happily, and thankfully. Amen.

How good it is to come out the other side of a trial. Trials are painful, but they accomplish a good purpose. But going through them is no fun. All trials are designed to produce a fruitful harvest of righteousness and they always ultimately improve our lives and increase our joy. How good it is to enjoy the fruit of righteousness which has been born of an accomplished and completed trial.

We live through seasons – seasons of trial and seasons of refreshments and rest. Yet if we still have life we can be assured that there are still trials laid out before us. Sometimes we see trials coming. We may foresee a financial trial – or maybe we experience early symptoms of a progressive illness. In such times we endure stress and dread of what is coming.

God’s grace is sufficient in every trial. He walks with us through them all. Yet we still dread our trials. I’m thankful that I do not know the details of the trials that I have yet to endure. I am protected from dread because I do not know the details of tomorrow’s evil. I trust God that when they come, His grace will flow, and He will meet all my needs. I also have a sense of peace and rest today, in part because I am protected from the knowledge of what I may face tomorrow. For example, I do not know how I will die – whether as an old man in my sleep or with my days cut short in some accident or by some painful disease. I’m glad I don’t know – my God ordained ignorance affords me a measure of peace for today.

But Jesus was not ignorant of His trial. He knew exactly what was coming. His distress was full of the perfect knowledge of exactly what was coming His way. Yet He did not shrink back. He faced, with full knowledge, all the dreadful pains in front of Him. He knew He would be betrayed by one friend and denied by another. He knew that conspiracy and injustice that would put Him in chains. He knew of the beatings, mocking, spitting and beard plucking. He knew about the flogging and the thorns. He knew about the cross, the piercing and stabbing. He also knew about the cup. The cup of wrath had to be drunk, and He knew He had to drink it down.

If I were to learn today that I had cancer and would have to undergo chemotherapy which would cause awful nausea and vomiting, I would have much dread to endure in sickly anticipation of the actual events themselves. In contrast, if I suddenly came down with a stomach virus I might have the same ultimate experience, but without the dead of anticipating the pain. How much more potent the dread Jesus faced as he drew near the time of His death. As He faced the ultimate dread, He did not waver, He did not run away, He proceeded in perfect obedience and willingly endured the cross. The cross did not come upon Him suddenly and by surprise, but rather step-by-step according to His full knowledge and perfect anticipation.

How strong He is. How brave He is. How fearless. How resolute. How admirable and worthy of praise.

He did it and it is accomplished! He underwent that baptism and it is complete. No trial lays before Him – all has been established. For the joy set before Him, He endured the cross. And now that He has accomplished it, He lives in perfect joy. He had the worst of trials and now He enjoys the greatest of its fruits – forever.

How sweet it is too, that He invites us to enjoy His joy with Him. He is preparing our place. He will deliver us into the fullness of His kingdom where all our trials will be past and only joy will remain.

Thank you, Jesus for your endurance and strength. Thank you for securing our blessings and establishing a waterfall of grace and mercy which abounds for us forever. Grant me grace in times of trial and a view of the eternal weight of glory to sustain me and anchor my hope and my delight in you. Amen.

This year my wife discovered and introduced me to at a terrific show on the Food Network called “Good Eats” It’s a cooking show. It’s informative and instructional like other cooking shows but it is so much better because its host, Alton Brown, provides extremely interesting historical and scientific information about the process of cooking. On top of that, the show is very entertaining, fun, silly, and captivating.

But what I think is most compelling about the show is that Alton Brown really loves “Good Eats.” His passion for good food is evident in every show – and he’s not afraid to make his personal tastes and preferences known. He treats food with such enthusiasm that he almost makes me willing to eat artichokes or blue cheese - almost.

In some respects Alton’s job is easy. That’s because food really is good eats. We all have appetites and we all love food – it tastes good. Making me want to eat chocolate chip cookies is like shooting fish in a barrel.

God made food to be good. He made me like the taste of food – especially sweet food like honey. Proverbs 24:13 says “My son, eat honey for it is good.” Okay! Here’s a command that’s easy to obey. Honey is good, and I’m willing to speculate that God allows substitutions in this recipe. “My son, eat chocolate for it is good… My son, eat steak for it is good,” mmmmmmm steak. God is the one who made honey good eats. But He doesn’t stop there. God is good and His good gifts, like tasty food, are to be enjoyed, but something else needs to happen when I eat tasty food. I need to know something else when I enjoy the taste of honey on my tongue. I need to know that wisdom is to my soul, as honey is to my taste. Proverbs reinforces this truth.

“Incline your ear and hear the words of the wise,
And apply your mind to my knowledge;
For it will be pleasant if you keep them within you,
That they may be ready on your lips.
So that your trust may be in the LORD,
I have taught you today, even you.
Have I not written to you excellent things
Of counsels and knowledge,
To make you know the certainty of the words of truth
That you may correctly answer him who sent you?

Tasting wisdom, eating wisdom, is “good eats” for the soul. Eating good food is pleasant on my lips, but eating wisdom is pleasant deep within. Eating food is a pleasant, but not very long lasting – I consume a dish of ice cream in maybe five minutes – if I try to make it last. But wisdom, when eaten and digested can be pleasant forever. God’s councils and knowledge are excellent and they have the spiritual capacity to increase my trust in the Lord – which is eternally nourishing.

The wisdom of God is vast and comes in many forms, flavors, and dishes. The wisdom of God can be enjoyed in bite sized snacks, or dined upon in elaborate feasts. But whatever its form, or however it is prepared, the effective ingredient is always Christ. Jesus is the wisdom of God,

“But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, so that, just as it is written, ‘LET HIM WHO BOASTS, BOAST IN THE LORD.’” 1 Corinthians 1:30.

Considering Jesus Christ in all His glory is the eating of wisdom – and it is Best Eats!

Lord thank you for your goodness, your kindness and your generosity. Thank you for making honey sweet to the taste. Please help me to enjoy food as a sweet reminder that wisdom is such for my soul. And grant me a tongue that has the capacity to taste and enjoy that which is truly good. Destroy, I pray, my lively taste buds for worthless things that compete for my appetites. Change me to enjoy the wisdom of God – the glory of Christ – so much that competing desires would no longer appeal to me. Give me truly good eats to satisfy my soul in Christ. In His name I pray. Amen.

Psalms 142:6

David’s spirit was overwhelmed and had fainted within him. His emotional stress was unavoidable since his life was threatened by enemies who sought to kill him, and they had the upper hand. David’s emotions did not run opposite to his circumstances. As a result he was troubled, he complained, and felt trapped. He felt weak and imprisoned. David’s piety however is that in such a low state he sought the Lord. He did not just cry; he cried to the Lord. He did not just pour out complaint; he poured out his complaint to the Lord. He did not just declare his troubles; he declared his troubles before the Lord.

Being overwhelmed was not just a result his external circumstances, his circumstances pressed him, but the fainting of his inner spirit in the circumstances caused him even more distress. His emotions were sapped, his joy had dried up. The piety of David though, is seen in where he directed his distress, or rather to whom it was directed. David’s feelings of being trapped resulted from the reality that he was in fact trapped in a cave. All the distress associated with such circumstances, caused his spirit to be brought low.

While in such a spiritually depressed state David does not pen Psalm 27. In Psalm 27 David declared God’s salvation and in it he deeply rejoices in God’s beauty. No, while in the cave he writes Psalm 142 where he pours out his complaint. But there is a connection between the two Psalms. In Psalm 27 David was looking back on having been delivered, and looking back he deeply rejoices in God’s faithfulness. God’s faithfulness to him in that time of trouble established his confidence that God was in total control, and that He would deliver him in this current trouble. David was trained to seek the Lord by such trials. By such refining he came to expect a true deep satisfying joy in the Lord would invariably follow such times.

Therefore in Psalm 142, when David finds himself yet again in trouble, even though his spirit faints, he is trained to lift up his head. He may have been “in prison,” physically trapped in a cave, and of course emotionally distressed, but rather than grumbling in darkness he sticks his head out between the bars to glimpse the light just outside his cell; he cries out to the Lord. His feelings of despondency are real, but they do not keep him from seeking the Lord! Such downcast moments only deepen his cry for the Lord. They remind him that the Lord is his true refuge and his portion forever.

David’s piety is also seen in how he acknowledges is that God was totally in control of his circumstances and in control of the condition of his spirit, “when my spirit was overwhelmed within me thou didst know my path.” David does not dismiss God from the circumstances or from his current emotional state. Instead he appeals to God to rescue, deliver, and restore him both circumstantially and emotionally. David knows that a genuine and deeply satisfying thanksgiving to God will soon follow, because he trusts that God will deal bountifully with him. However, David does not “jump the gun.” He does not break into a jubilant exaltation yet, for he is still trapped, and his spirit is still in a state of tears. It may be harmful for us to speak peace to our own hearts before God speaks peace.

John Owen in “The Mortification of Sin” Wrote:

“In case God disquiet the heart about the guilt of its distempers, either in respect of its root and indwelling, or in respect of any eruptions of it, take heed thou speakest not peace to thyself before God speaks it; but hearken what he says to thy soul… This is a business of great importance. It is a sad thing for a man to deceive his own soul herein. All the warnings God gives us, in tenderness to our souls, to try and examine ourselves, do tend to the preventing of this great evil of speaking peace groundlessly to ourselves; which is upon the issue to bless ourselves, in an opposition to God… it is the great prerogative and sovereignty of God to give grace to whom he pleases (“He hath mercy on whom he will,” Rom. 9:18; and among all the sons of men, he calls whom he will, and sanctifies whom he will), so among those so called and justified, and whom he will save, he yet reserves this privilege to himself, to speak peace to whom he pleaseth, and in what degree he pleaseth, even amongst them on whom he hath bestowed grace.”

I think remaining God-centered and continuing to cry out to God while in such low states – truly anticipating by faith the joy and thanksgiving to come, is better than trying to twist my emotions against their actual current condition and thereby praise from false spirit. Rather, I should not cease to praise – for God is always worthy of it, but in such times my praise should be like David’s here in Psalm 142. Truthful, honest about my complaints, always directed to God, always working to strengthen my soul’s satisfaction in Him alone, always clinging to hope that God will deliver, and truly anticipating the joy to come and the peace that will come when I can bring true, deep, soul drenched thanksgiving to Him.

God will deliver, and joy and thanksgiving will flow. My praise will reach its culmination having been anticipated with tears, it will be rich, full, and genuine. God wants my praise, and I want to give Him my best, fullest, and most genuine praise. Often God needs to squeeze it out, and I’m happy to be squeezed if it will produce the true oil of joy and gladness in Him.

Thank you, Jesus, for directing my path. Thank you that you work everything out, even distresses, to deliver me from the world and set my joy in you. Help me Lord to take heed to my spirit, knowing its true condition that I might seek you deeply and fully, and praise you deeply from the heart. I love you and need you. In your name. Amen.

Psalms 130:7

Not just redemption – though that would be more than I deserve, but abundant redemption. This redemption is so abundant that it delivers us, and then adds to deliverance an unimaginable inheritance. Lord, I’m so glad that you did not just save me and then leave me to myself, but that you saved me and granted to me a rich inheritance in Christ. Lord please help me to recognize and appreciate those parts of my inheritance that have been given to me now; forgiveness, freedom from sin, power from your Spirit, gifts to serve and glorify your grace, love and fellowship with the saints, promises that ensure that all things will work together for my good, inexpressible joy even in the midst of trials and sorrows, and so much more.

Lord, please help me also to continually have a longing, an aching in my heart, for those parts of my inheritance that are yet to come. Such future treasures that I can’t even imagine them; an undiminished, uncorrupted, and fully enjoyable delight in the presence of Christ and eternal fellowship with you such that will fully satisfy my soul. Lord please rain on me moments of this fellowship, times of such communion (albeit limited because of my current limited capacity to receive and experience such intensity). But as I wait on you, allow me to delight myself in you and feel your presence. I need you and am desperate for you. I wait for you more than the watchman wait for the morning – my soul waits. Come quickly Lord. Revive my heart with joy and power from your Spirit; that you will dwell in my heart by faith and I might be filled to all the measure of the fullness of God. Amen.

“For this reason I endure all things for the sake of those who are chosen, so that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus and with it eternal glory.” 2 Timothy 2:10

]]> http://consideringchrist.org/blog/redemption-and-inheritance/feed/ 0 http://consideringchrist.org/blog/god-is-the-ultimate-spice/ http://consideringchrist.org/blog/god-is-the-ultimate-spice/#comments Sun, 15 Aug 2004 18:09:45 +0000 Eric Holter http://ccdev.ericholter.com/?p=148 Meditation on Psalms 128:1-2- It is entirely possible to receive God’s blessings with thankfulness but without happiness.]]> “How blessed is everyone who fears the Lord,
Who walks in his ways.
When you shall eat the of the fruit of your hands,
You will be happy and it will be well with you. ”

Psalms 128:1-2

God is the ultimate spice! When my ultimate intention and goal in life is to fear God and walk in His ways, His abundant blessings extend even to such simple things as increasing the enjoyment of eating food. In other words, a true engagement with the living God takes simple things like eating food and multiplies their enjoyment so that they become both richer and happier experiences in themselves – but also, and more importantly, they increase our enjoyment and deepen our delight in God Himself.

I could make a dangerous mistake here, and think that God’s intention for me – in being good to me – is simply to make sure that I have food. Certainly, that God simply provides such necessities as food for me is a very good thing. Yet, if I stop there, and simply utter a quick prayer of thanks, that such food has been faithfully provided, I will miss out on a greater good that God has for me. He blesses me (makes me happy) when I fear Him and walk in His ways. This blessing extends itself, and plays itself out, not just by giving me such good things, but amazingly, by his grace, He also grants me the capacity to receive such things with happily! It is entirely possible to eat food with thankfulness and genuine gratitude, yet not happily. Thankfulness and happiness are not the same things. God blesses us with both. So when I eat a good steak, for instance, I not only thank God for needed sustenance – but I utter groans that words can not express as I enjoy and am very happy to have (with thankfulness) and enjoy (happily) such blessings from God. Fearing and knowing God intensifies all such enjoyments!

Yet I cannot stop there or I might be guilty of loving God’s gifts more than the giver. And so for me, when I enjoy things like great steaks, and experience happiness in the eating, I flag that genuine response (the happiness in eating), I flag it in my mind and when I go to God’s word (the most delicious of all “steaks”) I ask God to produce the same “mmmmmm” in my soul, the same happiness and enjoying in eating His Word. This happens of course when the word, by the power of the Spirit enables me to see more clearly, the all satisfying glory of God, in the face of Christ. When God is, in this way, received in my heart, it is not just with thankfulness, but with great happiness!

O Lord, be to me more desirable than any treasure on earth. As I put your Word into my mind and heart, let me receive delightful mouthfuls of the finest of foods. And please Lord, don’t let me walk away from such experiences merely with a polite “thank you,” but grant me, by your grace, a deep enjoyment and happiness as I view your glory by seeing Jesus Christ more clearly. Amen.

]]> http://consideringchrist.org/blog/god-is-the-ultimate-spice/feed/ 0 http://consideringchrist.org/blog/happiness-is-being-freed-from-captivity/ http://consideringchrist.org/blog/happiness-is-being-freed-from-captivity/#comments Tue, 10 Aug 2004 19:40:54 +0000 Eric Holter http://ccdev.ericholter.com/?p=146 Meditation on Psalms 126:1-3- If you falter… remember that you were once a captive … but now you are free.]]> “When the LORD brought back the captive ones of Zion,
We were like those who dream.
Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
And our tongue with joyful shouting;
Then they said among the nations,
“The LORD has done great things for them.”
The LORD has done great things for us;
We are glad.”

Psalms 126:1-3

Jesus said, “he who sins is a slave to sin.” The apostle Paul tells us that in Christ “our old self was crucified with Him that our body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin.”

Therefore I say to you, O my soul, let your mouth be filled with laughter, and your tongue with joyful shouting. The Lord has done great things for you – be glad! And if you falter and become sullen – remember that you were once a captive – you were a slave to sin without hope and without God in the world. But now you are free. You have been made a child of God. You have Jesus Christ as an everlasting inheritance and if God was pleased to deliver up His most precious Son for you, will He not also along with Him give you all good things?

Lord I pray, pour forth the oil of gladness – your Holy Spirit – to fill my mouth with laughter and my tongue with joyful singing. Lord let the gladness you impart be seen by the world, that they might say – “the Lord has done great things for him,” that you O Lord will be glorified in me by joy and gladness. Amen.

]]> http://consideringchrist.org/blog/happiness-is-being-freed-from-captivity/feed/ 0 http://consideringchrist.org/blog/what-are-you-waiting-for/ http://consideringchrist.org/blog/what-are-you-waiting-for/#comments Thu, 05 Aug 2004 19:37:19 +0000 Eric Holter http://ccdev.ericholter.com/?p=144 Meditation on Zechariah 8:19- The Day of the Lord will bring about joy, gladness and cheerful feasts in the presence of Lord.]]> “…And the fast of the … months will become joy, gladness, and cheerful feasts…”

Zechariah 8:19

John’s disciples asked Jesus one day why His disciples did not fast. In essence Jesus’ answer was that while He was with them the feast was at hand – it’s ludicrous to fast when a feast is at hand. But Jesus knew that He was going to His father and that this temporary season of feasting would end for his disciples and that yes – then, they would fast.

We fast, at least in part in order to poignantly remind ourselves that the feast we long for is not here yet. Remember all the many verses in the Bible that speak of a longing, waiting, and looking expectantly for “the day?” Here are a few …

Matthew 24:14 “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.“

Luke 2:38 “At that very moment she came up and began giving thanks to God, and continued to speak of Him to all those who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.”

John 14:3 “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.”

1 Corinthians 1:7 “so that you are not lacking in any gift, awaiting eagerly the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ,”

2 Timothy 4:18 “The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed, and will bring me safely to His heavenly kingdom; to Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.”

Titus 2:13 “looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus,”

Hebrews 9:28 “so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him.”

Hebrews 13:14 “For here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the city which is to come.”

1 Peter 4:13 “but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation.”

2 Peter 3:12 “looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God…“

Jude 21 “keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life.”

Revelations 22:20 “He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming quickly.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.”

There is a day-a day called “The day of the Lord” that will once and for all put an end to fasting. Instead, that day will bring about an unending, undiminishing, ever increasing, exceedingly abundant joy, gladness and cheerful feasts in the presence of Lord surrounded by the light of his glory.

Thank you father for the fore tastes of the full banquet of glory you have in store for me. Thank you for the joy and gladness I have now as I anticipate the day of the Lord; and Jesus, please come – come quickly and bring us into your banquet hall for the cheerful feast of joy and gladness in the light of your presence.
Hallelujah. Maranatha. Come Lord Jesus. Amen.

]]> http://consideringchrist.org/blog/what-are-you-waiting-for/feed/ 0 http://consideringchrist.org/blog/listen-to-the-joy-of-the-lord/ http://consideringchrist.org/blog/listen-to-the-joy-of-the-lord/#comments Mon, 05 Jul 2004 19:17:41 +0000 Eric Holter http://ccdev.ericholter.com/?p=135 Meditation on Zephaniah 3:14-15, 17 - There are preventers that can keep my heart from the joy to which it has been called.]]> “Shout for joy, O daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem! The LORD has taken away His judgments against you, He has cleared away your enemies. The King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst; You will fear disaster no more.”

“The LORD your God is in your midst, A victorious warrior. He will exult over you with joy, He will be quiet in His love, He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy.”

Zephaniah 3:14-15, 17

At, first, when I read verses like these in Zephaniah, verses that extol me to shout with joy, or to rejoice and exalt with all my heart, at first my heart rises with the possibility of such an astounding and consuming joy in God. Quickly following this spark, however, sadness often comes because my heart, in fact, is not like this. Such exuberance of joy and gladness displayed in such active expressions as shouting for joy are not typical of my emotional currents. Yet the occasion that calls for such joyful, glad celebration has been more completely delivered to me than it had been for those to whom these verses were originally written. They originally promised a physical deliverance from armies of oppressors. I have been given a greater deliverance; I have been delivered from sin. All God’s judgments have been thoroughly taken away from me. He has utterly defeated my enemies. Why shouldn’t my heart rejoice and shout joyfully since I have received, in full, these promises?

In truth, my heart may rejoice, and does rejoice by the grace of God, yet there are preventers that can keep my heart from the joy to which it has been called, or that mitigate and stifle the fullness of its joy. What are these evil, stubborn preventers; these robbers and mufflers of joy? In a word they are my sin, residing yet in my flesh, which daily and constantly battles against my faith to the end that I will fail to lay hold of the glorious victory God has already won through Christ’s overcoming on the cross. By the spirit I may have the spiritual eyes to see and the spiritual ears to hear the victory song of my risen Lord. But if the flesh wins its skirmishes my faith will be weakened so that the heavenly singing fades and my joy diminishes.

Oh to gain the victory, by the Spirit, over the flesh and kill my sin. Putting to death the flesh is necessary if my faith is to be strong. And when my faith is strong and I can hear more clearly the sounds of joy and my heart resonates with its chords.

The fight of faith includes daily battles, and while it has not been ordained for me to decisively win every battle, it has been ordained for me to fight a winning war, to gain ground, to push back the enemy, to grow in strength, and, praise God, to ultimately win. Therefore I will fight and engage in battle and wrestle against sin, and never give up.

Here is just one tactical maneuver I can use in my fighting. Look at verse 17 “He will exalt over you with joy, He will be quiet in his love, He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy.” At moments when my heart might not be shouting for joy I need to remember that God, though I may not hear it, is singing over me with joy and rejoicing over me with shouts of joy. While my heart might grow faint, God’s never does. While my joy might ebb and flow His never does. Let the bigness, the sovereignty, the transcendence of God always assure me that He is in control, but remember that for as infinite as God is, He is also personal, present, and emotionally engaged, more deeply than I will ever know. His call to me to rejoice with shouts of joy is not a call to originate something out from myself. It is a call to respond to His shouts of joy. To command my rejoicing is not to frustrate me by requiring something that I cannot generate – it is a command that awakens faith to see and hear the exaltation of God’s joy and to be caught up in His victory song.

Therefore my soul, when you are fighting against the deadening attacks of the flesh, fight back with faith that believes that God’s music yet plays – His songs are being sung, He is shouting with joy. Let your heart arise and think about the music of heaven – make your shouts of joy an echoing of God’s shouts of joy. Meditate and contemplates on what it will sound like when the war is over and the final battle has been won, and your faith will turn to sight and the songs of heaven will ring forth, and your ears will hear them perfectly. Listen soul; listen to the joy of the Lord.

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