Greater Is He

In my post on June 28, I described how I can magnify God in my own life and experience. When you think of it, that is an incredible, and humbling, statement to make. The fact that my life, like yours, can make a difference in how God is viewed by others is quite something. That means, in fact, that it is my life that becomes, as it were, a magnifying glass. When people view God through my testimony, they get an enlarged view of who God is, seeing Him in greater detail than they would otherwise have seen Him. Your life too, in its own unique way, can become a magnifying glass, a lens through which people can understand God in fresh and new ways. After all, isn't that what a "testimony" is all about?

In this post, I want to take up something that I mentioned in my post on "The Spiritual Magnifying Glass". In that post, I quoted 1 John 4:4 which says:

"You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world."

This has been a great encouragement to me as I've had to face what appear to be insurmountable circumstances -- in particular an illness which medical science calls "terminal." What is interesting to note is that this illness is, at this time, greater than medical science. People put a lot of faith in medical science -- and it is indeed amazing what science has done, and will continue to do -- yet human knowledge will always have its limits. Even when medical science finally conquers cancer, there will always be something else that will define the limits to human capability. But those limits do not apply to God. By definition, He is greater than every limit, every obstacle, every thing that might seek to oppose His will and purpose.

And the amazing thing, revealed by 1 John 4:4 and other scriptures, is that this almighty God is now residing in me! (note Luke 17:21; Ephesians 3:16; Colossians 1:29). He is not outside of my personal frame of reference -- someone whom I address from a distance, trying to get His attention. No, He has become a vital part of my life, and now it is from within me that He works. This is emphasised in Ephesians 3:20, which says:

"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us..."

This next couple of weeks are a time of focused prayer and intercession for me and my family. On Saturday, my parents are driving down from Newcastle, arriving in Melbourne on Sunday, and for the next several days we'll be pressing in "to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me" (Philippians 3:12).

So let's take a brief look at the power of God, remembering that, according to Ephesians 3:20, this power is now "at work within us" -- a power that is "able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine."

• Exodus 15:6 - "Your right hand, O LORD, was majestic in power. Your right hand, O LORD, shattered the enemy.

• Psalm 66:3 - "Say to God, 'How awesome are your deeds! So great is your power that your enemies cringe before you.'"

• Psalm 89:13 - "Your arm is endued with power; your hand is strong, your right hand exalted."

• Psalm 147:5 - "Great is our Lord and mighty in power; his understanding has no limit."

• Psalm 150:2 - "Praise him for his acts of power; praise him for his surpassing greatness."

• Isaiah 40:10 - "See, the Sovereign LORD comes with power, and his arm rules for him. See, his reward is with him, and his recompense accompanies him."

• Isaiah 40:26 - "Lift your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one, and calls them each by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing."

• Jeremiah 10:6 - "No one is like you, O LORD; you are great, and your name is mighty in power."

• Jeremiah 32:17 - "Ah, Sovereign LORD, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you."

I particularly love Psalm 150:2, which speaks of God's "surpassing greatness." In fact, many verses use superlative language when describing the power of God (see 2 Corinthians 4:7; Ephesians 1:19; 3:20).

2 Thessalonians 1:9 speaks of "the majesty of his power," and this awesome power is now living within me! 2 Corinthians 4:7 calls this "all-surpassing power" a "treasure [hidden] in jars of clay" -- in other words, in the weakness and frailty of my human body there resides a power that surpasses anything that can possibly come against it!

Isaiah 63:12 describes how God "sent his glorious arm of power to be at Moses' right hand, who divided the waters before them, to gain for himself everlasting renown..." Now this same "glorious arm of power" -- the same arm that "divided the waters" before the people of Israel -- undergirds my life.

Isaiah 40:29 tells us that God "gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak." For this reason, Joel 3:10 says: "Let the weakling say, 'I am strong!'"

In response to Paul's request for help, God made this promise to him in 2 Corinthians 12:9:

"...My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."

Paul's response is also my response:

"...Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses...For when I am weak, then I am strong."

We started off this post with a quotation from 1 John 4:4:

"You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world."

As I face the hardships ahead, I know that I have within me the power to overcome -- not because of any innate strength or power that I possess, but simply because the One who has overcome the world has taken up residence in my heart. No matter what I may face, "the one who is in [me] is greater than the one who is in the world"!

The Joy of Seeking God

In yesterday's post, I quoted Psalm 34:1-4 which says:

"I will extol the LORD at all times; his praise will always be on my lips. My soul will boast in the LORD; let the afflicted hear and rejoice. Glorify the LORD with me; let us exalt his name together. I sought the LORD, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears."

This has very much been my experience over the last couple of weeks, in particular. If you'd like to learn a little more of where I am right now, in the ongoing "narrative" of my healing, then check out the following update I posted on "The Prayer Firewall":

The Call to Prayer

Yesterday I focused on the first part of that quoted psalm -- the part that says I can "magnify" the Lord in my life through my praise and thanksgiving. Today I want to focus a little on the second part of Psalm 34:1-4, particularly verse 4:

"I sought the LORD, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears."

The key to faith is in seeking the Lord. Faith is not about a distant mental assent about God's existence or his characteristics. It is a vital motivation that drives you to seek God's face. As David wrote earlier in Psalm 27:8:

"My heart says of you, 'Seek his face!' Your face, LORD, I will seek."

You cannot separate true faith from seeking God. That's why Hebrews 11:6 tells that one of the two important components of faith is believing "that [God] rewards those who earnestly seek him." Seeking personalises faith and focuses it upon a Person, not on a need.
In Matthew 7:7-8, Jesus gave the ultimate promise to the one who believes. In The Amplified Bible, this reads:

"Keep on asking and it will be given you; keep on seeking and you will find; keep on knocking [reverently] and [the door] will be opened to you. For everyone who keeps on asking receives; and he who keeps on seeking finds; and to him who keeps on knocking, [the door] will be opened."

The key to seeking the Lord (and thus the key also to genuine faith) is to seek the Lord "with all your heart." Jeremiah 29:13 tells us:

"You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart."

As far as God is concerned, it is -- and always has been -- an issue of the heart. Faith is not some magical formula that forces God's hand so that we get what we want. Faith is the stuff of relationship. God seeks to draw faith out of our heart, so that we focus with all of our being on Him. That's why Hebrews 11:6 says that "without faith it is impossible to please God..."

Psalm 9:10 provides a wonderful insight into the character of God, particularly in the light of Hebrews 11:6. It declares:

"Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you."

I particularly love Psalm 40:16, in The Amplified Bible, for it ties together the last two posts with these wonderful words:

"Let all those that seek and require You rejoice and be glad in You; let such as love Your salvation say continually, The Lord be magnified."

Some time ago, the Lord gave me Psalm 105:4 as a command:

"Look to the LORD and his strength; seek his face always."

So that is what I continue to do. In my weakness, I "look to the LORD and his strength." In my time of need, I "seek his face always." And the result, as I shared yesterday (see "The Spiritual Magnifying Glass"), will be that the Lord will be magnified in my life -- not just in my own personal experience, but in the view of others. My prayer is that, in all things, God will indeed be magnified!

The Spiritual Magnifying Glass

In my post on June 26, I sought to establish the importance of "The God Factor" in our personal lives, and that, for each and every person, there is "no more profound question demanding an answer." And as my quotation of Paul Little goes on to say, the question "Is there a God?" is the question "that must be answered by every human being, and the answer is far-reaching in its implications for every individual."

The nature of God is absolute, totally independent of my personal frame of reference. And yet I've discovered in my own personal walk with God that my experiencing of God is not absolute. It is relative -- in other words, my experience of the absoluteness of God's character depends on certain factors in my life. I've discovered that my experience of God is relative to my attitude and focus in life. The Bible has a word for this important factor of relativity: "faith".

You will remember that Hebrews 11:6 says:

"And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him."

Faith is a gift from God to me (note Ephesians 2:8-9), but how I use that faith is entirely up to me. If I choose to use that faith toward God, and put my trust and hope in Him, then something happens. God -- the eternal, unchanging God -- is "magnified" in my life!

In the New International Version, Psalm 34:1-4 says this:

"I will extol the LORD at all times; his praise will always be on my lips. My soul will boast in the LORD; let the afflicted hear and rejoice. Glorify the LORD with me; let us exalt his name together. I sought the LORD, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears."

David, who wrote this psalm, was experiencing great difficulties at that juncture of his life. And yet he chose to "extol" God, to "glorify" him and "exalt his name." I particularly like the way the New King James Version translates the original Hebrew of this psalm. In the NKJV, Psalm 34:3 reads this way:

"Oh, magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt His name together."

In the New King James Version, Psalm 69:30 also says something similar:

"I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify Him with thanksgiving."

Through my praise and thanksgiving, I can actually "magnify" God! This doesn't mean that God actually gets any bigger. What it means is that my personal view of Him does! It is like putting a magnifying glass over an object. The object doesn't grow in size, but my view of that object is enhanced and magnified. Suddenly I see details I haven't seen before. Under the power of the magnifying glass, the object is enhanced in ways I would never have thought possible.

That's the way it is with our experience of God. When we praise Him and thank Him, our faith focuses on God and this has a "magnifying effect" -- God suddenly enlarges and can be seen in closer detail. He suddenly looms larger in our lives -- relative to everything else that is going on around us. He hasn't grown or changed in any way, because He is absolute -- unchanging in all his attributes. But my view of Him relative to my own life has changed! And so I like to call this my Special Theory of Spiritual Relativity ;-)

1 John 4:4 says:

"You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world."

The statement made by this verse is an absolute fact. The "one who is in you" -- God -- is far greater than "the one who is in the world" (usually interpreted as Satan, but this could apply to anyone who opposes God). But it is my faith in God -- my personal agreement with this absolute fact -- that makes it a reality for me on a personal basis.

The reverse, however, can also be true. My lack of faith can have an opposite effect -- reducing God, instead of magnifying Him! Once again, God Himself has not changed, but the appearance of His size, from my perspective, has. The original disciples of Jesus constantly fell into this trap, and for this reason Jesus often rebuked them, as He did in Matthew 14:31:

"You of little faith...why did you doubt?"

Have you ever looked down a telescope from the wrong end? Instead of magnifying the distant object, the reverse happens. Everything suddenly appears smaller -- even more distant than before! That's what happens when fear takes hold of a person's heart -- when faith melts away and, like Peter (see the whole story in Matthew 14:22-33), our focus becomes distracted by "the wind and the waves" around us. The gross effect then becomes one of magnification of our circumstances and demagnification of Jesus in our lives. We amplify the obstacles and reduce God.

Faith turns this around. Through praise and thanksgiving, the telescope of my focus is spun back into its proper orientation, and God is once again magnified in my life. Suddenly the circumstances -- those massive waves that threatened to drown me -- become miniscule compared to the might and wonder of my God (read Isaiah 40:6-31).

This is an important lesson for all of us, and something I'm continually putting into operation in my own life. How easy it is, like Peter, to become distracted -- to lose focus. But I declare that my God is "greater than the one who is in the world" (1 John 4:4)! I invite you to join me in responding to Psalm 34:3 (NKJV):

"Oh, magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt His name together."

The God Factor

In yesterday's post, I made a statement which I'd like to take up and explain a little. In the post, "Reality Check", I wrote:

"...I came to the conclusion long ago that without God nothing actually makes any sense. All the intricate paradoxes of quantum physics are resolved, at least in my mind, the moment you add God to the equation of physical reality. Without Him, simply put, there can be no reality at all."

I'm fascinated by both philosophy and quantum physics (it takes a lot just to pull me back from chatting ad nauseum on these subjects). But what I particularly want to discuss in this post is a subject which fascinates me even more -- God Himself.

A belief in God is not a luxury. It changes the way a person approaches life. So not only does God need to be added "to the equation of physical reality," as I wrote yesterday, God also needs to be added to the equation of our personal reality. Personally, this is very true for my life. Without God, I really don't know how I would be able to handle the problems I'm facing now (see "The Oncologist's Report"). He is the "rock" on which I've built my life (Psalm 18:2; Matthew 7:24-27), and because of Him I'm able to withstand the onslaught of the "wind and waves" that are pounding against my life right now (if you think this is just a "crutch", then I suggest you read "The Anchor of My Soul"). For me, "The God Factor" is what makes all the difference in my life.

In Isaiah 40:28, the prophet asks:

"Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth."

The Bible never tries to explain the existence of God. In fact, when God introduced Himself to Moses, he did so with these words: "I am who I am" (Exodus 3:14). God simply is. He doesn't try to explain the finer philosophical points of how He came into existence or provide scientific explanations of how He created the universe. He simply exists, as the ever-present "I am" (see my previous posts on this subject -- "The Ever Present God" and "Jesus Christ - The Same Yesterday, Today and Forever").

But although the Bible never tries to prove God's existence, it does clearly state God's view of those who would deny His existence. Psalm 14:1 tells us:

"The fool says in his heart, 'There is no God.'"

The Hebrew word here translated "fool" also denotes "one who is morally deficient". In other words, it is out of a desire to be relieved of moral accountability to God that a person says, "There is no God." If you read what follows Psalm 14:1, you see the consequences of that foolish denial of God's existence. Psalm 14:2-3 goes on to say:

"The Lord looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God. All have turned aside, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one."

The issue of God's existence is not just a theoretical or philosophical exercise. It has profound consequences for the moral foundations of society. According to Mortimer Adler, in Great Ideas Syntopicon:

"More consequences for thought and action follow the affirmation or denial of God than from answering any other basic question."

Paul Little, in his book Know Why You Believe, has this to say:

"There is in human existence no more profound question demanding an answer. 'Is there a God?' is the question that must be answered by every human being, and the answer is far-reaching in its implications for every individual."

Hebrews 11:3 says this:

"By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible."

The expression "by faith" is important, because belief in God is all about faith. By this, I don't mean "blind faith" (i.e. believing in something based on a rejection of logic and evidence). Rather, I mean a faith which is seeing on a different level (for more on this, see my post "Faith Without Wavering"). Faith is not blind; it is an "eyes wide open" experience of trusting the word of someone else about something you yourself don't have direct proof for (note Hebrews 11:1).

Hebrews 11:6 goes on to say:

"And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him."

You'll notice that the faith that pleases God involves two elements:

1. Believing that God exists


2. Believing that God responds personally to our seeking Him

Both elements are important. It's not good enough just to believe that God exists (note James 2:19). We must respond personally to that axiomatic belief with a total reorientation of our thinking to include God in the equation of our personal lives.

Regarding God's existence, the Bible is pretty unequivocal. Romans 1:20 says:

"For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities -- his eternal power and divine nature -- have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse."

The Message phrases Romans 1:18-20 in this way:

"But God's angry displeasure erupts as acts of human mistrust and wrongdoing and lying accumulate, as people try to put a shroud over truth. But the basic reality of God is plain enough. Open your eyes and there it is! By taking a long and thoughtful look at what God has created, people have always been able to see what their eyes as such can't see: eternal power, for instance, and the mystery of his divine being. So nobody has a good excuse."

But this post is not actually about trying to prove or disprove God's existence (if you want to learn more about this, you can download a lesson I wrote on this subject: "Does God Exist?" from the following location: http://www.online-bible-college.com/downloads/es108-02.pdf). No, this post is more about the consequences of believing or disbelieving in God, or more importantly, about the application of one's belief (or disbelief) of God to one's life.

In Romans 1, Paul goes on to say what happens when people reject the axiomatic truth of God's existence and treat themselves as morally independent of His rules of righteousness.

In the New International Version, we find this translation of Romans 1:21-32:

"For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.

"Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator -- who is forever praised. Amen.

"Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.

"Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them."

In The Message, we find this colloquial paraphrase of Romans 1:21-32:

"What happened was this: People knew God perfectly well, but when they didn't treat him like God, refusing to worship him, they trivialized themselves into silliness and confusion so that there was neither sense nor direction left in their lives. They pretended to know it all, but were illiterate regarding life. They traded the glory of God who holds the whole world in his hands for cheap figurines you can buy at any roadside stand.

"So God said, in effect, 'If that's what you want, that's what you get.' It wasn't long before they were living in a pigpen, smeared with filth, filthy inside and out. And all this because they traded the true God for a fake god, and worshiped the god they made instead of the God who made them - the God we bless, the God who blesses us. Oh, yes!

"Worse followed. Refusing to know God, they soon didn't know how to be human either - women didn't know how to be women, men didn't know how to be men. Sexually confused, they abused and defiled one another, women with women, men with men - all lust, no love. And then they paid for it, oh, how they paid for it - emptied of God and love, godless and loveless wretches.

"Since they didn't bother to acknowledge God, God quit bothering them and let them run loose. And then all hell broke loose: rampant evil, grabbing and grasping, vicious backstabbing. They made life hell on earth with their envy, wanton killing, bickering, and cheating. Look at them: mean-spirited, venomous, fork-tongued God-bashers. Bullies, swaggerers, insufferable windbags! They keep inventing new ways of wrecking lives. They ditch their parents when they get in the way. Stupid, slimy, cruel, cold-blooded. And it's not as if they don't know better. They know perfectly well they're spitting in God's face. And they don't care - worse, they hand out prizes to those who do the worst things best!"

What an indictment! Yet the downward spiral of moral depravity all starts with how people treat God -- at first rejecting the knowledge of God, which the Bible says is "clearly seen". From there, it spirals into "rampant evil" and the breakdown of society.

But remember, as Hebrews 11:6 points out, it's not just about believing in God; it's about seeking Him. In his address to the Athenian philosophers (the intellectuals of his day), Paul made this declaration in Acts 17:24-27:

"The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands...From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us."

Let's personally respond to this invitation that God has given us. I encourage you to add the God Factor to your life equation, for that's the only way the equation will properly balance. Seek Him with all your heart, for in Jeremiah 29:13-14, God gives this personal promise to you:

"'You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,' declares the LORD..."

And adding his personal vouchsafe to His Father's promise, Jesus said in Matthew 7:7-8:

"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened."

In closing, I will quote from the closing sentence in the book A Beginner's Guide to Reality. Jim Gaggott, himself an atheist (or at least a non-religionist), ends his book with these words:

"The answers are here, but to understand them you must first choose what to believe."

I choose to believe in God. What about you? If you're not yet sure, then may I suggest you read the lesson I wrote for the Online Bible College on proof for God's existence called:

"Does God Exist?"

Reality Check

I've recently been reading a book called A Beginner's Guide to Reality, by Jim Baggott. I've thoroughly enjoyed the book, and I'm particularly tickled by the cover, which includes a shopping list series of philosophical questions, topped by: "Does this book exist?" :-)

Jim Baggott's book provides a "beginner's guide" to the philosophical questions that have been asked by mankind, down through history, starting with Plato and Aristotle (or, even before Plato, with Parmenides and Heraclitus), and continuing into modern times with Decartes (of "I think, therefore I am" fame), Berkeley, Hume and Kant, to name but a few. In the 20th century, the philosophical mantle of determining the nature of reality then passed on to quantum physicists, who explored through scientitic theory and experiment the fundamental basis of reality, and discovered it to be fundamentally very strange indeed!

It's not my purpose in this post to give a running commentary on the nature of reality, or quantum physics for that matter (as much as I enjoy both topics), but rather to provide a "reality check." The book A Beginner's Guide to Reality seeks to answer some ancient questions that still ring in people's minds today, such as, "What is real?" and "What is the nature of reality?" But the Bible has been around a lot longer than A Beginner's Guide to Reality, and it has very clear answers of its own.

Before I answer these questions from a biblical perspective, I do want to note that I came to the conclusion long ago that without God nothing actually makes any sense. All the intricate paradoxes of quantum physics are resolved, at least in my mind, the moment you add God to the equation of physical reality. Without Him, simply put, there can be no reality at all. And this is not a brilliant conclusion on my part. It was in the Bible long ago. Not only does the Bible itself begin with the words, "In the beginning, God..." (Genesis 1:1), it also says in Psalm 14:1:

"The fool says in his heart, 'There is no God.'"

So back to the ancient question, "What is real?" This is important, because what you believe to be real will determine how you build your life. The lure of consumerism and materialism is based on the assumption that the only thing real is material things, but this philosophical belief has disastrous consequences for a person's life, not to mention it being one of the most innately hopeless and meaningless of philosophies.

In The Message, we find this rendition of Proverbs 1:1:

"These are the wise sayings of Solomon, David's son, Israel's king -- Written down so we'll know how to live well and right, to understand what life means and where it's going; A manual for living, for learning what's right and just and fair; To teach the inexperienced the ropes and give our young people a grasp on reality..."

So what does the Bible have to say about reality? First of all, the Bible distinguishes between the visible and the invisible levels of reality. In Colossians 1:16, Paul writes:

"For by [Jesus] all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible...all things were created by him and for him."

In fact, God himself is described as being "invisible" (Romans 1:20; Colossians 1:15; 1 Timothy 1:17). Not only that, but God also sustains and provides continuity to all of visible reality (Colossians 1:17). In other words, the invisible underpins the visible.

Secondly, the Bible distinguishes between the temporary and the permanent levels of reality. In fact, counter to intuition, it is the visible reality that is described as being "temporary" while the invisible reality (i.e. God himself and the invisible spiritual realm) that is described as being "eternal", for 2 Corinthians 4:18 says:

"So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."

Seen in this way, the invisible realm of spiritual existence is actually, according to the Bible, more real than the visible, material universe in which we live -- the mountains, the oceans, the cities, even the stars and planets -- which we tend to call "reality"!

This is restated in Isaiah 34:4, which gives us a preview of what will happen to the physical universe:

"All the stars of the heavens will be dissolved and the sky rolled up like a scroll; all the starry host will fall like withered leaves from the vine, like shriveled figs from the fig tree."

In a similar vein, Isaiah 51:6 says:

"Lift up your eyes to the heavens, look at the earth beneath; the heavens will vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment and its inhabitants die like flies. But my salvation will last forever, my righteousness will never fail."

Do you see what the Bible is saying? The salvation and righteousness of God will outlast the physical universe! So, once again, in the light of verses like these, we ask the question is more "real" -- physical or spiritual reality? The biblical answer is that the spiritual/eternal is, for all practical purposes, the "real" reality. This is backed up by Psalm 102:25-27:

"In the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment. Like clothing you will change them and they will be discarded. But you remain the same, and your years will never end."

Once again we come back to the fact, pointed out time and time again in the Bible, that God is eternal and is therefore the solid "Rock" of reality upon which you can build your life (Psalm 18:2; 18:31; Psalm 62:2). In His parable about the wise and foolish builders, in Matthew 7:24-27, Jesus points out that it is important to "build on the rock", and identifies that "rock" with his own teachings. Further, in Matthew 24:35, Jesus declared:

"Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away."

In other words, if you want to build your life on that which is "reality," build them upon Jesus' words, because Jesus' words will outlast even the material universe!

I started off this post (more or less) with a quote from The Message's paraphrase of Proverbs 1:1:

"These are the wise sayings of Solomon, David's son, Israel's king -- Written down so we'll know how to live well and right, to understand what life means and where it's going; A manual for living, for learning what's right and just and fair; To teach the inexperienced the ropes and give our young people a grasp on reality..."

The Bible is indeed a "manual for living, for learning what's right and just and fair", but it is also there to "teach the inexperienced the ropes" of life, and to give us "a grasp on reality." So here's some more advice from the Bible (again, these are Jesus' words, as paraphrased in The Message). Matthew 6:30 says:

"What I'm trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God's giving. People who don't know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don't worry about missing out. You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met."

It is the "God-reality" that counts in the long run, and for me, that is what I fix my eyes upon.

Here's another couple of quotations from The Message:

• Ephesians 4:17 - "And so I insist -- and God backs me up on this -- that there be no going along with the crowd, the empty-headed, mindless crowd. They've refused for so long to deal with God that they've lost touch not only with God but with reality itself. They can't think straight anymore."

• 1 John 3:18 - "My dear children, let's not just talk about love; let's practice real love. This is the only way we'll know we're living truly, living in God's reality. It's also the way to shut down debilitating self-criticism, even when there is something to it. For God is greater than our worried hearts and knows more about us than we do ourselves."

• Romans 1:19 - "But the basic reality of God is plain enough. Open your eyes and there it is!"

So it turns out that you don't need to study Plato or Aristotle, Hume or Kant, in order to get a handle on what is real and what is not. Nor do you need to have a degree in quantum physics. All you need to do is determine what is eternal and what is not. And as I shared in yesterday's post -- "Numbering My Days Aright" -- a wise person would respond by "banking" on the eternal, not on the temporary (Matthew 6:19-21).

Once you've been able to distinguish between the two realities -- the material vs the spiritual, the temporary vs the eternal -- you need to decide which you will "bank" on for your life -- or, in other words, which of the two "realities" will be the "rock" upon which you will build your life. And just in case you're having trouble making that decision, can I remind you of a promise that God made? In Hebrews 12:26-27, the Bible says:

"At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, 'Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.' The words 'once more' indicate the removing of what can be shaken that is, created things so that what cannot be shaken may remain."

That last passage, rendered in The Message, has these compelling words:

"...[God's] voice that time shook the earth to its foundations; this time -- he's told us this quite plainly -- he'll also rock the heavens: 'One last shaking, from top to bottom, stem to stern.' The phrase 'one last shaking' means a thorough housecleaning, getting rid of all the historical and religious junk so that the unshakable essentials stand clear and uncluttered."

What most people call reality -- their world of bank accounts and credit card statements, stock markets and job opportunities -- and even the very solid ground on which they stand, which seems so permanent and lasting -- is going to be shaken by God. And why will God shake this apparent reality? So that what cannot be shaken -- the "real" reality -- will remain! Let's be wise and not wait for earth-shaking events to re-adjust our view of reality. Let's build our lives now on that which will last!

Numbering My Days Aright

I was watching a video documentary earlier today, and it showed shots of life as it was in the 1930s -- automobiles on the streets, people walking across the road, signs advertising hot pizza. I was challenged by the fact that these were real people, not actors. They had lived their lives almost a century ago, facing many of the same kinds of problems that we face today -- relationship difficulties, work challenges, battles with illness, life struggles of all kinds. I wondered what they had thought at the time -- their hopes, their despairs, their dreams for the future. That future has come and gone, and is now my past. Their lives are, for me, mere momentary recordings on film, that showed up on a black-and-white documentary that I viewed in the comfort of my home, circa 2006.

I'm always challenged by the Lord when I see old documentaries like this. And the challenge is this: How will I spend my life? Will I waste my days? Or will I do something that will matter for eternity? Because soon enough, I too will be merely a momentary recording on a blog that someone else may read, generations from now. When you take a step back like that, and realise that your lifespan, no matter how long or short, is barely a click of the finger in the vast expanse of eternity, this puts things in a totally different perspective, doesn't it?

In Psalm 144:3-4, the psalmist wrote:

"O LORD, what is man that you care for him, the son of man that you think of him? Man is like a breath; his days are like a fleeting shadow."

When you think of the trillions of years that make up eternity, what is the "threescore years and ten" (Psalm 90:10, KJV) given to us in comparison? Well, unless I was made for eternity, my short lifespan is actually totally futile. Even the lifespan of the human species, if there was no God, would be meaningless in the infinite stretches of eternity -- here now but gone in the twinkling of an eye. No wonder, from the Lord's perspective, all the glory of the nations is nothing when it is "weighed on the scales" of God's priorities. Isaiah 40:15 says:

"Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket; they are regarded as dust on the scales; he weighs the islands as though they were fine dust."

What Isaiah is saying is that when measured on God's scales, the nations of the earth barely even register -- like dust on the scales. How much more an individual life!

And yet in answer to the question of Psalm 114:3, amazingly, God does care for us! Jesus, in Matthew 10:29-31, said:

"Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows."

Despite being miniscule on both the scales of space and time, God still loves us and cares for us. In that light, how much more should we care about how we use the time allotted to us?

Psalm 90:12 says:

"Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom."

I believe it is important for us to have a clear sense of perspective as we go through life. Each day is valuable. In fact, Psalm 139:16 says: "...All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." That means we need to approach each day with "a heart of wisdom" and "number our days aright." Paul says the same thing in Ephesians 5:15-16:

"Be very careful, then, how you live -- not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil."

I made a statement a little earlier that I want to explain more fully: "...unless I was made for eternity, my short lifespan is actually totally futile." Most people don't try to comprehend the perspective of eternity, because without God, it robs each day of value. What does it matter, in the long run, if I am good or bad? What does it matter, one million years from now, whether I treated my neighbour well, or was kind to animals, or was honest when calculating my taxes? If I was not created for eternity, all my actions become ultimately meaningless.

You get a real sense of this "meaninglessness" of life when you read Ecclesiastes!). Take a look at these samples:

• Ecclesiastes 1:2 - "'Meaningless! Meaningless!'" says the Teacher. 'Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.'"

• Ecclesiastes 1:14 - "I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind."

• Ecclesiastes 2:1 - "I thought in my heart, 'Come now, I will test you with pleasure to find out what is good.' But that also proved to be meaningless."

• Ecclesiastes 2:11 - "Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun."

• Ecclesiastes 2:15 - "Then I thought in my heart, 'The fate of the fool will overtake me also. What then do I gain by being wise?' I said in my heart, 'This too is meaningless.'"

• Ecclesiastes 2:17 - "So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind."

Do you pick up the sense of futility and, as the King James Version puts it, "vanity" of human life without an eternal context? But in the very same book, Ecclesiastes 3:11 says:

"[God] has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end."

God has set eternity in your heart. And it is eternity that gives a proper context for your life here on earth. This is why Jesus said in Matthew 6:19-21:

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

I love the way The Message phrases Jesus' words:

"Don't hoard treasure down here where it gets eaten by moths and corroded by rust or -- worse! -- stolen by burglars. Stockpile treasure in heaven, where it's safe from moth and rust and burglars. It's obvious, isn't it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being."

Where is your heart? If your heart's focus is, ultimately, on eternity with God, then this will affect the way that you approach each day down here on earth. For with a proper eternal perspective, you will indeed be able to "number your days aright" (Psalm 90:12) and live "not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity" (Ephesians 5:15-16).

Seeing As God Sees

Over the last couple of days, I've focused on the issue of intimacy with God -- simply because that's what God has been focusing on in my life. We've seen in "The Spiritual Intimacy of a True Disciple" that intimacy with God is a mark of the true disciple, and that this intimacy is an integral part of what I call "the meno experience" of being organically connected with the Lord Jesus Christ in one's daily life. Then, in "Developing Spiritual Intimacy", we saw that intimacy with God emerges from two components of a disciple's walk with the Lord -- hearing ("quality time" with the Lord) and obeying (doing what pleases the Lord) -- which then results in the "fruit" of intimacy with God (righteousness and "every good work").

Now I want us to explore one more dimension of intimacy. In my previous post "The Ways of God", I wrote about how the Bible expects the disciple of Jesus to not only learn the ways of God but also to walk in them. A product of genuine intimacy with God will be an "eye to eye" experience of seeing the world through the same lens that God does.

Take a look at John 4:35:

"Do you not say, 'Four months more and then the harvest'? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest."

The Amplified Bible phrases it this way:

"Do you not say, It is still four months until harvest time comes? Look! I tell you, raise your eyes and observe the fields and see how they are already white for harvesting."

Jesus is here encouraging His disciples to open their eyes and see what He can see. This involves looking beyond the natural perspective and seeing the world as God sees it.

In my previous post, "Faith Without Wavering", I explained that faith is "seeing on another level", but I didn't specifically identify exactly on who's level faith is seeing. The answer, of course, is God's level. God has his own way of seeing the world, and part of being a disciple of Jesus is learning to see the world the way God sees it -- taking on a God's-eye view, so to speak.

Jesus constantly saw the world around Him through His Father's eyes. As so, as disciples of Jesus, we need to learn from the Master. Let's take a look at some scriptures on how Jesus saw people and events around Him. We find this account in Matthew 9:35-36:

"When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, 'The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.'"

With Jesus, how He viewed things outworked in His actions. He saw the real need of the crowd, as opposed to the obvious need, and this stirred His compassion, spurring Him forward in the purposes of His Father.

In Matthew 14:14, we see a similar observation-reaction process at work:

"When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick."

According to Mark 10:21, "Jesus looked at [the young ruler] and loved him." In a similar way, Luke 7:13 tells us: "When the Lord saw [the woman], his heart went out to her..."

Do you see the pattern emerging here? In each instance recorded in these verses, Jesus saw people through the eyes of His Father and the result was compassion and love (followed by Him acting on that compassion and love). In other words, Jesus saw the world through the eyes of love.

But before I apply this on a personal level in terms of how the Lord is speaking to me, let's take a look at some other verses, for at this point we're still only seeing half the picture. In Luke 19:41, we find this account:

"As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it."

Why did Jesus weep? It is because He saw something in the city which caused Him to weep. Unlike the disciples, who only saw the glory of the city (see Luke 21:5-6), Jesus saw its impending destruction due to the judgment of God (Luke 19:42-44). In other words, Jesus didn't just see through the eyes of love; He also saw through the eyes of truth.

In God's character, love and truth go hand in hand (2 John 1:3; Ephesians 4:15). God is not just a God of love; He is also a God of holiness, justice and truth. That means if we are to see our world as God sees it, we also must see the world both through the lens of love and the lens of truth. In fact, Jesus demands nothing less from His disciple.

In John 5:19, Jesus said of Himself:

"I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does."

There are two important things to learn from Jesus' self-description:

1. Jesus observed what His Father was doing
2. Jesus acted on what He observed

I've been thinking on this a fair bit for the last couple of days. As a disciple of Jesus, joined to Him vitally and organically in the meno connection, I must learn also that "apart from [Jesus], [I] can do nothing" (John 15:8). And -- think about it for a moment -- if the Church as a whole becomes a people who are genuine disciples of Jesus -- seeing their world as Jesus sees it, and responding in the same way that Jesus would -- what kind of impact would this have on the world?

So in closing, take one more look at the two verses (both as translated by The Amplified Bible) that summarise, for me, what being a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ is all about:

• John 15:5 - "...Whoever lives in Me and I in him bears much (abundant) fruit. However, apart from Me [cut off from vital union with Me] you can do nothing."
• John 15:8 - "When you bear (produce) much fruit, My Father is honored and glorified, and you show and prove yourselves to be true followers of Mine."

Bearing the fruit of intimacy with God is the mark of a true disciple of Jesus. My prayer is: "Lord, let me experience more depths of intimacy with you -- both hearing Your voice and obeying Your voice -- so that I can bear the fruit of that intimacy, bringing honour and glory to You. Amen."

Developing Spiritual Intimacy

In the light of what I shared yesterday, on "The Spiritual Intimacy of a True Disciple," I was meditating today on Ephesians 4:30. Different Bible translations render this verse in different ways:

• New International Version - "And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption."

• New King James Version - "And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption."

• New Living Translation - "And do not bring sorrow to God's Holy Spirit by the way you live. Remember, he is the one who has identified you as his own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption."

• Young's Literal Translation - "And make not sorrowful the Holy Spirit of God, in which ye were sealed to a day of redemption."

• New Life Version - "Do not make God's Holy Spirit have sorrow for the way you live. The Holy Spirit has put a mark on you for the day you will be set free."

• Worldwide English (New Testament) - "Do nothing that makes the Holy Spirit feel sad. He is the mark God has put on you until the day you will belong to God altogether."

• God's Word - "Don't give Gods Holy Spirit any reason to be upset with you. He has put his seal on you for the day you will be set free [from the world of sin]."

• New Testament in Modern Speech - "And beware of grieving the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you have been sealed in preparation for the day of Redemption."

• The Amplified Bible - "And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God [do not offend or vex or sadden Him], by Whom you were sealed (marked, branded as God's own, secured) for the day of redemption (of final deliverance through Christ from evil and the consequences of sin)."

• The Message - "Don't grieve God. Don't break his heart. His Holy Spirit, moving and breathing in you, is the most intimate part of your life, making you fit for himself. Don't take such a gift for granted."

That last quotation, from The Message, is what I quoted in yesterday's post, and it is the version that really struck me today. Eugene Peterson describes the Holy Spirit as "the most intimate part of your life, making you fit for himself." And you notice that Paul's encouragement to live a holy life is a warning that to do the opposite -- to live a life not fit for God -- actually grieves the Holy Spirit Himself. That means that I don't merely anger God when I choose a life contrary to God's holiness, I actually bring grief to God's heart! That puts a whole different spin on my motivation to live a holy life!

And take a look at the context of Ephesians 4:30. In the very next verse, Ephesians 4:31, we find these words:

"Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice."

That verse is not a non sequitur. It has everything to do with not grieving the Holy Spirit! In other words, how do we grieve God's Spirit? By harbouring "bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice"!

Sin is much more than just doing the wrong thing. Sin is an intimacy breaker. We see this in everyday relationships - there is no quicker shortcut to breaking intimacy in a human relationship than to be unfaithful to your partner, or to wrong your partner in some way. It is no different with God.

So, I've been meditating on Ephesians 4:30. I've been asking the Lord, "How can I develop a greater spiritual intimacy with you?" And the answer, it seems, is a two-fold one. Part one of that answer is: "Spend time with Me!" That part is the obvious part. But it is the second part of the answer that has been ringing in my ears all this evening: "Walk with me!"

The first part of God's answer involves spending "quality time" with the Lord. It means hearing His voice. The second part of God's answer, however, involves obedience. It means putting what you hear into practice (note Matthew 7:24-27; James 1:22).

It always seems to come back to John 15:4: "Remain in me, and I will remain in you." And the fruit that John 15:4-8 speaks of is, of course, nothing less than the fruit of intimacy with God! Check out Galatians 5:22-23 and Ephesians 5:8-10 for a detailed list of the fruit of intimacy with God, but I especially like Colossians 1:10, which describes it as "bearing fruit in every good work" and Philippians 1:11, which describes the fruit of intimacy with God as "the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ."

Developing and maintaining a genuine intimacy with God depends not just on spending quality time with the Lord (i.e. in personal devotions) but in walking with Him in everyday life (i.e. in obedience to God's Word). The two components of genuine intimacy with God are:

1. Hear
2. Obey

Jesus brings this out clearly in John 15:9-14:

"As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love...You are my friends if you do what I command."

Where Jesus says, "You are my friends if you do what I command," read: "You will experience true intimacy (i.e. genuine friendship) with me if you do what I command." Disobedience breaks intimacy with God, just as genuine, heart-motivated obedience builds that intimacy. So in closing for today, I encourage you to meditate on that same passage from Ephesians 4:30, as found in The Message:

"Don't grieve God. Don't break his heart. His Holy Spirit, moving and breathing in you, is the most intimate part of your life, making you fit for himself. Don't take such a gift for granted."

The Spiritual Intimacy of a True Disciple

I shared yesterday about what I call "the meno experience", which is my term for the intimate connection with the Lord that underpins the Christian life, as described by Jesus in John 15:1-8. In fact, as I mentioned yesterday, I believe it is crucial to the disciple's pattern of life. You cannot be a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ without being organically connected (meno) with the Lord in a give-and-take relationship which the Wuest Extended Translation calls "a living communion" and The Amplified Bible calls "a vital union" with Christ.

This last Sunday, Alwyn Wong shared a passage of Scripture at ECC's Twilight Service. Luke 10:38-42 relates this intriguing account of Mary's "meno connection" with Jesus, and from this passage we can learn a lot about how the ongoing meno connection actually works.

"As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, 'Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!' 'Martha, Martha,' the Lord answered, 'you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.'"

This passage has meant a lot to me, and the Lord often brings me back to it. This is because I can relate so easily to Martha's position, and in particular recognise the rebuke of the Lord to Martha as being, all to often, to me also. Like Martha, I can all too easily become "distracted by all the preparations that had to be made" for ministry and life in general. And like Martha, I too can easily become "worried and upset about many things." As The Amplified Bible puts it, she was "overly occupied and too busy" and "distracted with much serving."

As I shared in my previous post, "The Question of Value", I am a very goal-oriented person. This translates into a propensity toward busyness in my relationship with the Lord -- a lot of "doing" for Him. Some friends have found themselves exhausted after I've passed through for a couple of days, simply because of the pace I set for myself. And so, like Martha, I can all too easily become "overly occupied and too busy", and in the process miss out on what is really important in my walk with the Lord.

What was Mary's secret? What was it that Jesus pronounced as being the "only one thing [that] is needed", which would not be taken away from Mary? First of all, a little lesson on first century culture would be helpful.

In the time of Jesus, a rabbi would teach by sitting down (note Matthew 5:1-2; Luke 5:3). The rabbi's disciples would sit at their rabbi's feet as he taught and listen to his parables and instructions for life (note Luke 8:35). But according to Luke's account, when Jesus came into the home of Martha, Mary and Lazarus, Mary joined the male disciples at the feet of Jesus -- in other words, she took upon herself the position of a disciple of Jesus. Martha was upset about this, and not just because she felt abandoned in the kitchen; she also saw Mary's audacity as a cultural affront, and felt that Jesus would surely back her up and rebuke Mary for her insolence and cultural faux pas. Instead, Jesus commends Mary and declares that she has "chosen what is better" and "it will not be taken away from her."

Apart from the obvious elevation by Jesus of woman to a position where they too could be disciples, there is a broader teaching for all of us...and for me, in particular. The "better part" (KJV) that Mary had chosen was to sit at the feet of Jesus and learn from Him. This wasn't just a matter of getting educated. The rabinnical method was to teach a pattern of life, not just a theory of life (note Philippians 3:17), for a disciple was one who learnt by following his rabbi and imitating his pattern of life (1 Corinthians 11:1).

I believe the act of sitting at the feet of another is a picture of spiritual intimacy -- the act of coming close to a teacher in order to learn from him in close proximity, where the lessons are rubbed off onto another as much as they are verbally taught. I actually coined a term for this kind of teaching (adapting a concept used by Charles Kraft in his book, Communicating the Gospel God's Way). Kraft taught that there are three modes of communication:

1. Monologue -- This is what we, in Western culture, mainly use when a teacher tries to impart knowledge to a class of students. One person (the teacher) speaks and the class listens, with very little interaction allowed. This is also the model upon which pulpit ministry is based. It can work, but not as effectively as the other two modes of communication; yet it remains the most popular methodology within the Church.

2. Dialogue -- This mode of communication is more appropriate for smaller groups, or even one-on-one communication. This involves more interaction -- more give and take between the teacher and the student, and is vastly more effective than monologue for genuine, life-changing communication.

3. Paralogue -- That's the word I coined for the third mode of communication. It is similar to dialogue, in that it allows plenty of one-on-one interaction and interplay between the teacher and the student. However, it is longer-term, for it is communication in parallel -- side-by-side, so to speak -- in the course of ongoing events in everyday life. This is why the disciple "followed" the rabbi, for in following the rabbi in mundane and everyday events in life, the rabbi was able to exemplify to his disciple the true pattern of life, beyond merely teaching the theory of that pattern of life.

Jesus is my Saviour (Titus 3:4-6) and He is my Lord (Colossians 2:6). But He is also my Rabbi (Matthew 23:8). I best learn from him in the mode of paralogue, where I come close to Him and follow Him throughout the course of my walk each day.

Out of this paralogue -- long-term dialogue that emerges from real life events we encounter throughout the day -- I learn to think like my Master thinks. This is the "renewing of the mind" that Romans 12:2 speaks of. For how can I walk with the Lord each day, in a genuine "living communion", and not be shaped by what the Lord has to say into my life?

Isaiah 30:20-21 gives this prophecy:

"Although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers will be hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see them. Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, "This is the way; walk in it."

Although this prophecy is speaking of a time in Israel's future (fulfilled in the years following Israel's exile in Babylon and Persia) when God would multiply teachers within the covenant community, it also speaks of the Holy Spirit's activity, for the Holy Spirit is the ultimate teacher who will be the one who speaks in our ear with the words: "This is the way; walk in it" (note John 16:13-15).

For me personally, the secret to living the Christian life has been found in moving beyond drily obeying God's commands to discover an intimacy with God in that emerges as a direct result from obeying those commands. The link between obedience and intimacy is often missed by those not experienced in obedience, but it is found in Jesus' statement found in John 15:9-10:

"As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love."

This means that the meno experience (which is the foundation of true intimacy with God) is based on obedience to God's commands. How do we remain (meno) in God's love, Jesus asks? By obeying His commands. "If you obey my commands," says Jesus, "[then] you will remain in my love..."

The drive toward intimacy is the key to a healthy Christian life and to a genuine walk of discipleship to Christ. Paul discovered this for himself. He had previously been the master of legalistic obedience (see Philippians 3:4-6), but after a life-changing encounter with Christ, Paul's priorities were turned upside-down. Intimacy through obedience became his prime goal, and Paul described it this way in Philippians 3:7-10:

"But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ - the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. I want to know Christ..."

The Message gives a modern twist to those ancient words:

"The very credentials these people are waving around as something special, I'm tearing up and throwing out with the trash along with everything else I used to take credit for. And why? Because of Christ. Yes, all the things I once thought were so important are gone from my life. Compared to the high privilege of knowing Christ Jesus as my Master, firsthand, everything I once thought I had going for me is insignificant -- dog dung. I've dumped it all in the trash so that I could embrace Christ and be embraced by him. I didn't want some petty, inferior brand of righteousness that comes from keeping a list of rules when I could get the robust kind that comes from trusting Christ -- God's righteousness. I gave up all that inferior stuff so I could know Christ personally..."

The result of this intimacy with God is that we move beyond just being a disciple of Jesus; we become a friend of Jesus. In James 2:23, Abraham is described as "God's friend," and in John 15:15, Jesus told his disciples:

"I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you."

But Jesus once again links the intimacy of friendship with obedience in John 15:14:

"You are my friends if you do what I command."

Mary commenced her meno experience by sitting at the Lord's feet -- a position of intimacy -- listening to Jesus' teachings. According to Acts 2:42 (NKJV), the early disciples "continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers." These four things -- the apostles' teaching, fellowship, the breaking of bread and prayer -- are all elements of the disciple's meno experience, and also dimensions of intimacy we can have with God. There is an intimacy to be found in reading God's Word, just as there is an intimacy to be found in worship, in prayer and in other expressions of obedience in the Christian life. And with this simple yet profound revelation has come a realisation that has profoundly changed the way I look at life. It is a desire for intimacy with God that drives you into all those things we know we are supposed to do - read the Bible, pray, fast, even witness!

Here's how The Message describes the embrace of spiritual intimacy with God:

• Deuteronomy 4:7 -- "...What other great nation has gods that are intimate with them the way God, our God, is with us, always ready to listen to us? "

• Psalm 2:10 -- "Worship God in adoring embrace..."

• John 15:5 -- "I am the Vine, you are the branches. When you're joined with me and I with you, the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant."

• John 15:9 -- "I've loved you the way my Father has loved me. Make yourselves at home in my love. If you keep my commands, you'll remain intimately at home in my love. That's what I've done -- kept my Father's commands and made myself at home in his love."

• Romans 8:31 -- "I'm absolutely convinced that nothing...absolutely nothing can get between us and God's love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us."

• 2 Corinthians 13:14 -- "The amazing grace of the Master, Jesus Christ, the extravagant love of God, the intimate friendship of the Holy Spirit, be with all of you."

• Galatians 4:4 -- "Doesn't that privilege of intimate conversation with God make it plain that you are not a slave, but a child? And if you are a child, you're also an heir, with complete access to the inheritance."

• Ephesians 4:30 -- "Don't grieve God. Don't break his heart. His Holy Spirit, moving and breathing in you, is the most intimate part of your life, making you fit for himself. Don't take such a gift for granted."

• Philippians 3:7 -- "I've dumped [my own righteousness] all in the trash so that I could embrace Christ and be embraced by him."

• 2 Peter 1:3 -- "Everything that goes into a life of pleasing God has been miraculously given to us by getting to know, personally and intimately, the One who invited us to God. The best invitation we ever received!..."

• 1 John 2:4 -- "...Anyone who claims to be intimate with God ought to live the same kind of life Jesus lived."

• 1 John 4:13 -- "This is how we know we're living steadily and deeply in him, and he in us: He's given us life from his life, from his very own Spirit...Everyone who confesses that Jesus is God's Son participates continuously in an intimate relationship with God. We know it so well, we've embraced it heart and soul, this love that comes from God."

Mary discovered the "better part" -- a deep intimacy with God discovered in hearing and obeying His teachings -- and Jesus said this would not be taken from her. I'm in the process of discovering this same deep intimacy with the Lord. My cry is to know the Lord -- deeply and intimately -- and that cry is the driving force behind my study of God's Word. What riches I've discovered so far in God's Word; what riches remain yet to be discovered!

The Meno Experience

Having shared about the true meaning of covenant in my last two posts -- see "The Eternal Covenant (Part 1)" and "The Eternal Covenant (Part 2)" -- I must now share one more revelation that has transformed my thinking and significantly shaped my life. This revelation is so fundamental to a proper understanding of how the Christian life works, and yet so counter-intuitive to the religious mindset most of us inherent from our upbringing, that it requires what the Bible calls "a renewing of your mind" (Romans 12:2; Ephesians 4:23; Colossians 3:10). In fact, before we look at this revolutionary subject, let's take a brief look at Romans 12:2, this time from The Amplified Bible:

"Do not be conformed to this world (this age), [fashioned after and adapted to its external, superficial customs], but be transformed (changed) by the [entire] renewal of your mind [by its new ideals and its new attitude]..."

To be a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ means two things happening at the same time:

1. The act of not conforming to this world, or what the NIV calls "the pattern of this world."


2. The process of being transformed by "the [entire] renewal of your mind [by its new ideals and its new attitude]" -- in other words, conforming to a new pattern of life!

You'll find these twin concepts in many parts of the Bible. For example, take a look at 2 Peter 1:4:

"...[God] has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires."

Can you see the same two vital principles at work? Here they are:

• Principle #1 -- Not conforming to this world: "...escap[ing] the corruption in the world caused by evil desires."


• Principle #2 -- Being transformed by the renewing of your mind: "...participat[ing] in the divine nature."

I believe that the application of these two principles to a person's life is the essence of what it means to be a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ. And these two principles must both operate at the same time; you can't have one without the other. If you are not to conform to the pattern of this world, you must instead conform to another pattern -- the pattern of the life of a true disciple of Jesus (note John 8:31-32; Matthew 7:24-27). And if you are to be conformed to the likeness of Jesus (Romans 8:29), then you must first not be conformed to the pattern of this world! This repentance-transformation principle underpins the great Christian journey -- a journey in which one "escape[s] the corruption in the world caused by evil desires" (what you leave behind) and in which one "participate[s] in the divine nature" (what you move toward). Without these two things in operation, there can be no journey.

Well, I've taken a long time to build up to my main point, haven't I? But believe me, unless we understand this twin principle of repentance-transformation, what I'm about to share with you will be little more than a nice chat about a Bible verse. Without being prepared to turn your back on something old and embrace something new (i.e. repentance), there can be no transformation. My prayer is that what I'm about to share with you will have a genuine transformative value in your life -- simply put, that it will change your life forever!

OK, buckle up and let's begin!

In John 15:1-8, Jesus opens his disciple's minds to a revelation of how the Christian life has been designed to work. And he uses a horticultural analogy to explain it all:

"I am the true vine...Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing...If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples."

I'm going to start from the end backwards. In the last verse quoted above (verse 8), Jesus says that if we apply the principles he is teaching here, then we will truly show ourselves to be His disciples. In other words, as He said in John 8:31, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples." And part of the essential teaching of Jesus that we "hold to" is found in John 15. Simply put, Jesus says that the Christian life involves an organic connection with him, in the same way that a branch is organically connected to the vine stem -- drawing life and nourishment from the vine and thus producing the fruit of the vine. In other words, your life as a Christian is not an independent experience. It is a connected experience, and the quality of the fruit you produce is equal to the quality of the connection you have.

Let me emphasise this again. According to Jesus, "bear[ing] much fruit" (verse 8) depends on one's connection to the stem of the vine. An independent branch may temporarily have the outward semblance of life, but that life quickly withers and no fruit is produced. In the same way, says Jesus, "If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." Jesus is absolutely clear about this. Independent action on our part, no matter how well intentioned, will ultimately prove "fruitless".

The Greek verb that Jesus uses, which is translated by the NIV as "remain", is meno. It has the following shades of meaning:

• To remain, abide, live in
• To sojourn, tarry, wait
• Not to depart, not to be moved, to stay in a given state or relationship
• To be held, kept continually, fixed immovably, stuck steadfastly
• To continue to be, to last, to endure, to survive
• To remain united, not to become separated or cut off

It is rendered by different Bible translations as "remain", "abide", "joined" and "dwell", to name just a few. All these different words have one common meaning: to be connected securely and continually, so that life may flow.

Take a look at how Eugene Peterson's The Message renders John 15:1-8:

"I am the Real Vine...Live in me. Make your home in me just as I do in you. In the same way that a branch can't bear grapes by itself but only by being joined to the vine, you can't bear fruit unless you are joined with me. I am the Vine, you are the branches. When you're joined with me and I with you, the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant. Separated, you can't produce a thing. Anyone who separates from me is deadwood, gathered up and thrown on the bonfire. But if you make yourselves at home with me and my words are at home in you, you can be sure that whatever you ask will be listened to and acted upon. This is how my Father shows who he is -- when you produce grapes, when you mature as my disciples."

Earlier, in John 14:10, Jesus had already described His own relationship with His Father as having exactly the same meno connection:

"Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living (meno) in me, who is doing his work."

The meno experience that Jesus Himself experienced is the same meno experience He has extended to us. Everything in the Christian life revolves around this meno connection with God, through Jesus -- what The Amplified Bible calls a "vital union" or what the Wuest Extended Translation calls "a living communion." Even the quality of our wider unity, as the global Church of the Lord Jesus Christ, is based very much on our common meno experience in Christ, for in John 17:20-23 Jesus said:

"...I pray...that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me..."

The unity that Jesus prayed for is based on the same "intimate and organic" relationship that Jesus Himself has with His Father - "I in you and you in me" (read again John 14:10). No matter where I look, I keep coming face to face with this description of total intimacy between the Father and the Son, an intimacy that has been extended to you and me -- not as a optional extra for the Christian life, but as an absolute requirement for it (please download my OBC lesson "The Amazing Secret" for a more detailed description of what this means). In fact, when Jesus told his disciples that "apart from me you can do nothing," in John 15:5, He was simply echoing what He had earlier said of His own experience in John 5:19, using the same descriptive terms:

"...I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does."

The relationship between the Father and the Son is a meno experience, and our relationship with Jesus is, likewise, also a meno experience. And the strength of this meno connection determines both the quantity and quality of the fruit we produce -- fruit that ultimately brings glory to the Father and "show[s] yourselves to be my disciples" (John 15:8).

If you would like to learn more about how to develop this meno experience for yourself, you can download my OBC lesson on this subject, called "Abiding in the Vine," from the following address:

http://www.online-bible-college.com/downloads/dsc-03.pdf