Tag: goodness of god

Abundant Life (1 Kings 8:1-21)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
Solomon dedicates the Temple at Jerusalem, by James Tissot (1836-1902)

Solomon then summoned to Jerusalem the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes—the leaders of the ancestral families of the Israelites. They were to bring the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant to the Temple from its location in the City of David, also known as Zion. So all the men of Israel assembled before King Solomon at the annual Festival of Shelters, which is held in early autumn in the month of Ethanim.

When all the elders of Israel arrived, the priests picked up the Ark. The priests and Levites brought up the Ark of the Lord along with the special tent and all the sacred items that had been in it. There, before the Ark, King Solomon and the entire community of Israel sacrificed so many sheep, goats, and cattle that no one could keep count!

Then the priests carried the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant into the inner sanctuary of the Temple—the Most Holy Place—and placed it beneath the wings of the cherubim. The cherubim spread their wings over the Ark, forming a canopy over the Ark and its carrying poles. These poles were so long that their ends could be seen from the Holy Place, which is in front of the Most Holy Place, but not from the outside. They are still there to this day. Nothing was in the Ark except the two stone tablets that Moses had placed in it at Mount Sinai, where the Lord made a covenant with the people of Israel when they left the land of Egypt.

When the priests came out of the Holy Place, a thick cloud filled the Temple of the Lord. The priests could not continue their service because of the cloud, for the glorious presence of the Lord filled the Temple of the Lord.

Then Solomon prayed, “O Lord, you have said that you would live in a thick cloud of darkness. Now I have built a glorious Temple for you, a place where you can live forever!”

Then the king turned around to the entire community of Israel standing before him and gave this blessing: “Praise the Lord, the God of Israel, who has kept the promise he made to my father, David. For he told my father, ‘From the day I brought my people Israel out of Egypt, I have never chosen a city among any of the tribes of Israel as the place where a Temple should be built to honor my name. But I have chosen David to be king over my people Israel.’”

Then Solomon said, “My father, David, wanted to build this Temple to honor the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. But the Lord told him, ‘You wanted to build the Temple to honor my name. Your intention is good, but you are not the one to do it. One of your own sons will build the Temple to honor me.’

“And now the Lord has fulfilled the promise he made, for I have become king in my father’s place, and now I sit on the throne of Israel, just as the Lord promised. I have built this Temple to honor the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. And I have prepared a place there for the Ark, which contains the covenant that the Lord made with our ancestors when he brought them out of Egypt.” (New Living Translation)

Dedication of Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem, by Johann Georg Platzer (1704-1761)

I admit, at many times, that I am prone to melancholy. I tend to be quick at accepting blame, and rather slow at owning my good work. Another way of putting this is that it is easier to give than to receive.

Those who have endured a lot of hard circumstances, and persevered through many adversities, can sometimes be reticent to accept the good, the abundant, and the beautiful, whenever it comes to us in this life.

Waiting for the other shoe to drop, far too many people hold back themselves from receiving and enjoying the really good things in life. They worry that the goodness will disappear, or be taken away; and so, they withhold gratitude and blessing, whenever they are in the presence of great abundance.

Just so you know, in case there are those of you who need to hear it spelled out plainly: That’s messed up.

People are meant to be abundantly generous, as well as wildly receptive. It’s likely why there are so many spiritually unhealthy persons in the world.

Bless their hearts, they give a lot, without receiving much, and then their spiritual diarrhea makes it so they can’t give anymore. And they oftentimes give to those who are in such a habit of receiving (and not giving) that the receiver’s spiritual constipation becomes a terrible problem.

Let’s avoid both extremes by letting ourselves both give and receive with equal abandon. No one can be spiritually growing, healthy, and mature without the dynamic of giving and receiving.

Solomon knew how to do both. King Solomon was the king of abundance. He accepted and received big; and he gave and blessed big. Nobody before him or after him received and gave more.

The Temple, in all of its glory and grandeur, with the Ark of the Covenant encrusted with gold as the central object in the building, was all for a God who doesn’t live in houses, a God who is invisible.

In Solomon’s dedication of the Temple, he made it clear that the God of Israel is not, and cannot, be restricted to, or located within, a single place. Thus, the Lord is limitless, and not subject to any human manipulation.

God is free to give with great abandon. And God is also free to take away. Blessed be the name of the Lord God. If we continually try and anticipate or predict what God will do, we will likely be a nervous ball of anxiety all of the time, wondering when the unexpected and/or unwanted will visit us.

It is much better to receive the good things the Lord gives us, and enjoy them while we have them.

“I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”

Jesus (John 10:10)

Nothing is permanent, with the exception of relationships and love. So, if we can connect the temporal material things of this life in service to the immaterial realities of this universe, then we are in a position to experience peace, joy, and satisfaction.

If and when the material disappears, or is taken away, then it shall neither defeat us, nor destroy us. For our relational connections with God and others exist, and are free flowing, with the energy of gracious receiving and giving as the conduit of abundant life.

Melancholy is important and has its place for us in this present life; yet, so do things like celebration, dedication, joy, exuberance, emotional commitment, and open love. Indeed, to have these in abundance is a reflection of the God of abundance, in whose name we are bold to pray:

God of abundance, you have fed us with the bread of life and cup of salvation; you have united us with Christ and one another; and you have made us one with all your people in heaven and on earth. Now send us forth in the power of your Spirit, that we may proclaim your redeeming love to the world and continue forever in the risen life of Christ our Savior. Amen.

What is Your View of God? (Psalm 33:1-12)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year ALeave a comment
God’s Love… by Hope G. Smith

Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous.
    Praise befits the upright.
Praise the Lord with the lyre;
    make melody to him with the harp of ten strings.
Sing to him a new song;
    play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts.

For the word of the Lord is upright,
    and all his work is done in faithfulness.
He loves righteousness and justice;
    the earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord.

By the word of the Lord the heavens were made
    and all their host by the breath of his mouth.
He gathered the waters of the sea as in a bottle;
    he put the deeps in storehouses.

Let all the earth fear the Lord;
    let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him,
for he spoke, and it came to be;
    he commanded, and it stood firm.

The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing;
    he frustrates the plans of the peoples.
The counsel of the Lord stands forever,
    the thoughts of his heart to all generations.
Happy is the nation whose God is the Lord,
    the people whom he has chosen as his heritage. (New Revised Standard Version)

One of the reasons I adore the biblical psalms is that they present a majestic God who is full of goodness and steadfast love. The Lord’s very character is disposed toward justice and righteousness. Every word of God comes from this place of control and compassionate care.

I agree with the psalmist’s view of God because it resonates with my own experience. I have found that the God of the Psalms is high above all creation as the sovereign ruler, as well as intimately close as a friend.

The words, then, which proceed from the mouth of God are always just, right, good, fair, and loving. If God’s basic character is love, then everything God says and does comes from love. And that is precisely why I am completely devoted to this Lord.

Believers can sing a new song and revel in the Lord’s presence because they discern that everything comes down to God. That is, the way we view God is the way we will live our lives. 

For example, if we tend to see God as a stern Being whose main activity is to continually rebuke and punish people for their sin, then we will live with a constant sense of guilt and anxiety for fear of angering such a God. We will invariably live a performance-based life trying to pull ourselves up by our spiritual bootstraps in order to please or placate such a God who is always looking over our shoulder to make sure that we do not mess up.

That’s a miserable life, indeed! This is why many people internally say to themselves, “To hell with it!” and live in outright rebellion against a God who seems not to care a wit about their happiness. 

The cruelties of this world seem only to be God mocking their abysmal failure at being decent people. It would be like telling my grandson with epilepsy to stop having seizures, as if my love for him is dependent on him being seizure-free. Most people would consider it abusive for a parent or grandparent to yell at a kid for having seizures. With that kind of view of God, I wouldn’t want to know him either. And if that’s the sort of god you’re buying into, you need a new god.

But, on the other hand, if we understand God as a loving parent who is pained by the damage guilt and shame has done to the souls of people, then we are open to seeing the grace of God coming to set broken spirits right again.

With Christianity, the death of Christ is the ultimate act of love in taking care of the sin issue once for all. God in Christ did for us what we could do for ourselves; he gave his life so that we could live as we were intended to live: enjoying God and God’s creation forever.

In this view of God, the task of spiritual formation is one of constantly replacing destructive understandings of God with the kind of thoughts of God that filled the mind of Jesus himself. 

And the only good way of doing that is through the basic spiritual disciplines of Scripture reading and prayer, hearing the words of God. In order to listen well, we engage in practices of silence and solitude, as well as praise and celebration, that helps us connect with God’s Word. 

The grand redemptive story of the Bible is that the steadfast love of God has found its apex and fulfillment in the incarnation, life, death, resurrection, and ascension of the Lord Jesus. Therefore, all of Holy Scripture is to be viewed through these lenses of the grace of God in Christ. It is a very different picture than the one of an indifferent God.

Seeing God from the perspective of grace brings a joyous way to live because it views God as generous and hospitable. From such an angle, the logical and appropriate response is one of gratitude. 

All false gospels have at their core a kind of you-are-bad-try-harder approach. Preachers of such an ilk only rail against people as being scum buckets of sin and offer no real hope of transformation in Christ. It promotes a grace-less religion, and it is nothing less than biblical malpractice.

I take heart that if we have trouble seeing God as we ought, or experience difficulty viewing life as it is meant to truly be lived, we can ask God to give us wisdom. And the promise connected to that encouragement to pray is that God will give generously to all without finding fault and it will be given to them. (James 1:5)

In the psalmist’s view of God, prayer is not a chore but a delight; service is not drudgery but a willing response; reading Scripture is not a mandatory exercise but a wonderful practice of knowing God better; and praise organically erupts from the depths of our being, because we have spiritual eyes to see that everywhere we look, the whole earth is filled with the steadfast love of God.

Bless us with Love, O Merciful God;
That we may Love as you Love!
That we may show patience, tolerance,
Kindness, caring and love to all!
Give me knowledge; O giver of Knowledge,
That I may be one with my Creator and all creation!
O Compassionate One, grant compassion to us;
That we may help all people in need!
Bless us with your Love, O Lord.
Bless us with your Love. Amen.

James 1:17-27 – Be Good because God Is Good

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of first-fruits of all he created.

My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.

Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. (New International Version)

God is Good – All the Time

And all the time – God is good. That statement is a bedrock foundation for Christian faith. Without a basic affirmation and belief of God’s goodness, our faith will experience cracks and not stand the test of hardship and difficulty in life. Without the steadfast conviction that God is good, the alternative is that God is somehow fickle or even mean – that God does not care about my problems.

The trials and tribulations of life are intended by God to be watershed experiences that prove the genuineness, or lack thereof, of our faith. When life is good, it is easy to say God is good. However, when it isn’t, we may slide into a belief system that thinks God is the source of our trouble. And if we have not been working on a relationship with God, we will have scant resources to draw from to help us.

God is good, and not mean. Every single good gift there is in this world comes from God. Nothing evil comes from God. God’s grace is constantly around us. If his grace were not here, it would be like living inside a dystopian novel, or a zombie apocalypse, where everyone is constantly looking over their shoulders for the next evil thing to happen. Although evil exists, it could be a whole lot worse if it were not for divine grace and goodness.

“This is true faith, a living confidence in the goodness of God.”

Martin Luther

God is immutable, that is, God’s goodness is ever-present. On this earth we are constantly subjected to changing light as the sun rises and sets, and as the clouds come and go. Yet, God does not change like shifting shadows. God is not fickle or capricious. God’s goodness is always at high noon, standing like an eternal sun in a bright blue sky radiating unbroken grace to us.

God’s goodness has delivered people from sin, death, and hell. God’s grace has given us new life. God created the world and pronounced it “good.” God formed you and called you “good.” And God has forgiven you, in Christ, and says it is “good.”

God gave us a good word for us to accept and live by.

Hurry Up and Listen

There is a great need for listeners today. Precious little productive communication takes place because there are so many people in a hyper-vigilant state airing their opinions. They talk over and on top of each other because they’ve already made-up their minds about how things really are and what should be done. Nobody is listening.

Bible reading is a primary source for listening to God. Yet, although many people own multiple Bibles, and Scripture is freely available through digital sources, far too many persons simply don’t read and listen to it.

Slow Down and Speak

God has given us two ears and one mouth so that we will listen twice as much as we talk.   

Too much talk leads to sin. Be sensible and keep your mouth shut. (Proverbs 10:19, NLT)

A loose tongue and constant opining happens because of faulty listening.  An inability to listen leads to a lack of understanding because we do not take the time to get the whole story. It’s easy to pronounce verdicts with little information, and offer bad advice, when there is little listening.

Have a Long Fuse

Be slow to anger. A fool speaks without thinking, which stirs up strife. Slow to listen and quick to speak leads to anger flares. An angry spirit is an unteachable spirit, unwilling to listen to both God and others. 

Rash words said in anger produce an ugly unrighteous life. Selfish opinionated anger produces harsh bitter words and kills God’s plan for a good life.

We are to accept the Word of God. Throwing labels at people only de-humanizes them. They become objects of anger and scorn, and not people made in God’s image. Nothing good comes from ignoring God’s Word and giving-in to bitterness. It destroys good people.

Get Rid of Evil

Get rid of all moral filth, and the evil that is so prevalent. The unwillingness to listen, a loose tongue, and unrighteous anger are moral evils. Evil is not only perpetuated by serial killers, terrorists, and other people different from us. In fact, the face of evil rarely comes to us in the form of red horns and a pitchfork.

Evil also resides as soft-core wickedness – common ordinary evil. The demonic can work in an almost ho-hum manner, subtly questioning whether anyone can really live up to the precepts of God’s Word, and generally undermining all that takes place to the glory of God.

The face of evil is neither hot nor cold, but “meh.” It is the bitter slow-cooked seething anger bubbling just underneath the surface which comes out in a plastic smile while offering up a morsel of slander based on a lack of listening well. It comes out in fake gestures of niceness while being quick to make judgments with little to no information.

Put away the “meh.” Receive God’s Word. Take a teachable posture. Stop and listen to what God’s Word has to say.

Be a Doer of God’s Word, Not Just a Hearer

The Word of God is not truly received until it is put into practice. 

It is not the hearers of the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but the doers of the law who will be justified. (Romans 2:13, NRSV) 

Blessed are those who hear the word of God and obey it (Luke 11:28, NIV). 

The person who only hears is like a Mr. Potato Head that is only ears. He cannot stand because he has no feet.  He cannot do anything because he has no hands. Mr. Potato Head needs some feet so that he can follow Jesus wherever he goes. And he needs hands so he can do God’s will.

Listening to the Word without obedience is just that – it is mere hearing.  Profession of faith means nothing without a practice of that faith; learning the Bible is useless without living it; and acceptance of the Word is nothing more than a mental exercise without action to back it up.  Profession, knowledge, and acceptance alone does not satisfy God’s plan for our lives. 

Pay Attention to the Person in the Mirror

A person looks at himself in the mirror. He clearly sees all his flaws. Yet he does not respond, likely because he doesn’t like what he sees. It’s silly to look into a mirror, see a major bedhead, and just do nothing about it and go to work as if everything were fine. We look. We examine. We hear. We see exactly who we are. And we can’t even identify ourselves in a police lineup.

The person forgets what he looks like because he does not really want to face himself. This isn’t a clueless guy. It is one who sees himself as he really is and chooses not to do anything about it.

Forgetfulness happens because of inaction. Remembrance, communion, and hope all occur through active participation. God blesses the one who looks hard into the mirror of God’s Word, then intentionally makes changes based on what he finds.

Obedience to God’s Word brings freedom, not bondage. Listening, seeing, adjusting, and changing is a freeing activity. That’s because it’s how we are designed to live.

Holy and good God, give me grace to see you, others, and myself clearly so that I will be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. Amen.

God Is Good

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Exploring Church Ministry BlogLeave a comment
Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers.  Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.  He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created (James 1:16-18, NIV).
 
 
 
            God is good – all the time.  And all the time – God is good.  That statement is a bedrock foundation for the Christian faith.  Without a basic affirmation and belief of God’s goodness, our faith will experience cracks and not stand the test of hard circumstances and difficult situations in life.  Without the steadfast conviction that God is good, the alternative is that God is somehow fickle or even mean – that he does not really care about the problems we experience in life.
 
            Last week I had an experience I have not had in twenty years; I bounced a check.  First of all, it’s embarrassing because I didn’t have the resources I thought I did. It’s frustrating because you tack on the charge for your negligence. So, here I walk into the bank where everyone knows the pastor.  And I get to walk up and tell them that the pastor needs to clear up his insufficient funds.  A trial is like a bounced check. You feel stuck with a problem that you don’t have the resources to solve. The temptation is to rant to God: “Do you see me over here, God? Do you see what I’m going through? Are you paying attention? I’m about to bounce a lot of spiritual checks here. I don’t have the resources. I don’t have it emotionally. You’re rattling my faith, God. Don’t leave me in this mess.”
 
Those expressions of desperation you feel so awful about are in fact the exact truth that God has been trying to bring to your attention. You flat out don’t have the resources. He wants you to come to the place where you humbly get before him in a deeper way and tell him what he’s known to be true all along: you are in over your head and you need him.  Your poverty of spirit enables you to receive from God.
 
            When life is good, it is not a stretch to say God is good.  But it might be easy to slide into a belief system that thinks God is the problem when situations take a turn for the worse – that somehow God is the source of our trouble.  And if we have not been working on a relationship with God, we will have scant resources to draw from in a time of trouble.
 
            God is good.  God is not mean.  Every single good gift that there is in this world comes from God.  Nothing evil can come from God.  There would be no good in this world if God was not around.  God’s grace is constantly around us.  If his grace were not here, it would be like living in a dystopian novel.  It would be like a zombie apocalypse where everyone is constantly looking over their shoulders for the next evil thing to happen.  But, although there is evil in this world, it could be a whole lot worse if it were not for God’s goodness.
 
            People will typically question God’s goodness when they do not understand what is happening with something they do not like.  They want answers.  They want justice.  They want stability.  And when it does not come right away, they might question if God really cares.  But you do not need to understand everything about a situation to know that God is good.  “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).  Nothing can separate us from God’s love – not trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword – not any adverse circumstance that occurs in your life.
 

 

            God has good plans for his people, the church, because he is a good God – all the time – without changing like shifting shadows.  As long as we believe we have the resources and abilities within ourselves to do church ministry, it will likely either not happen or not occur with the blessing of God.  Only through the humility of dependence in a good God who gives good gifts is there true hope and faith.  World Communion Sunday reminds us that our good God is at work in people from all nations and ethnicities all across the earth, providing spiritual nourishment to us at his hospitably good Table.  Thank you, Jesus.