Month: October 2017

“What must I do to receive eternal life?” (Luke 10:25) That’s what the man asked Jesus.

What he really wants to know is: What are the instructions? What do I have to do? What do I have to put in to get the outcome I want? It’s a vending machine mindset – put in the money, push the buttons, get the candy bar.

I don’t know this man, but I imagine he was a bare-minimum, letter-of-the-law kind of guy. Like the Pharisees who made a big show of their offerings, or of their prayers, or who used tithing as their excuse not to support their aging parents. We can rely too heavily on our own right living, only to find that it fails us – it can’t protect us from the trials of life and it isn’t enough to cover our debts when we come before a holy God.

Jesus essentially responds to the man’s question: “You know the Law. What do you think it says?” The man answers from the textbook, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind. And love your neighbor as yourself.” Jesus says, “Gold star! Do it and you’re in.”

Then we see the man’s heart clearly – the Bible says “the man wanted to justify his actions” (Luke 10:29).

But that’s not how it works. The Bible clearly says “salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done” (Ephesians 2:9). To justify is to declare right, to line up, to show something is satisfactory. We are only justified by grace through faith. It’s a gift that comes through the conduit of belief.  It’s the only way. Keeping the rules was never going to be enough.

I want you to know God; that’s more important than burnt offerings.  Hosea 6:6

The man in front of Jesus probably looked pretty good on the outside or he wouldn’t have invited public scrutiny. He was pretty confident he’d followed all the rules.  He’d given all the correct offerings.  He just wanted confirmation that his right living was good enough for God.

If you think you have what it takes, you don’t need a Savior.  And if you don’t need a Savior, you have no use for Jesus. 

The heart that knows it’s empty-handed recognizes its deep offense against God and the weight of His impending judgment, and cries out: How can I be saved? How can someone like me – someone who has done the things I’ve done, who is of no account, who isn’t flashy or educated or wealthy – how can someone like me have any hope? How can I be rescued?

We need a Savior.  With a Savior comes forgiveness and freedom. Freedom from our old sins. Freedom from our old habits and empty way of life. Freedom from trying to follow the rules, do enough good, or be good enough. If we know we need a Savior, it means we recognize we can’t do it on our own. The key to our salvation is to believe that Jesus is the Son of God, and that He will save us from what really robs us of life – not death, but sin.

Then God our Savior showed us his kindness and love. He saved us, not because of the good things we did, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins and gave us a new life through the Holy Spirit. He generously poured out the Spirit upon us because of what Jesus Christ our Savior did. He declared us not guilty because of his great kindness. And now we know that we will inherit eternal life.  Titus 3:4-7

There is hope. Not because of any good we have done. Not because the bad we’ve done isn’t too bad. There is hope because of God’s mercy and kindness. There is hope because there is a Savior.

Sometimes we get stuck looking back – like Lot’s wife, we can’t tear our eyes away from the destruction of what we once loved, and we are swept away too. But God wants us to  have a future orientation, a “not-yet” focus.  Forget the past and look forward to what lies ahead (Philippians 3:13).  Dream of what is still yet to be.

One man who had a dream and a past is Joseph.  He starts off a teenage snitch who was Daddy’s clear favorite.  Not exactly endearing to his siblings.  Then God sent him a dream in which he ruled over his brothers.  His immediate response was to brag about it.  That didn’t improve family relations.  When God sent another dream that revealed Joseph in authority over his father as well as his brothers, Jacob heard about it.  He got bent out of shape and rebuked Joseph.

Jacob missed the boat here.  He wondered what the dream meant (Genesis 37:11), but he didn’t do anything about it.  God gave Jacob the opening to train and direct Joseph. Instead his pride – you’re definitely not the boss of me – caused him to miss the opportunity to teach Joseph humility before God.

The enemy didn’t miss his opportunity though.  He capitalized on their abundance of pride.  The brothers couldn’t imagine bowing down to that little snot.  And Joseph imagined that the dreams were confirmation he deserved his family’s worship.

It all came to a head when Joseph was out of Daddy’s eyesight.  His brothers saw him coming and said, “Here comes that dreamer!… Let’s kill him and throw him into a deep pit… Then we’ll see what becomes of all his dreams!” (Genesis 37:19-20) God had plans for Joseph; that’s why He gave him the dreams and the ability to understand their meaning.  And Joseph had an enemy who didn’t want to see his dreams come true.  In the same way, your God-given dreams are opposed. Your enemy wants to put them to death before anything comes of them.  He wants you to stop dreaming, to give up hope.  He doesn’t want you to fulfill your purpose.

God intervened.  Joseph’s life was spared.  And he was still thrown in a pit, sold into slavery, falsely accused, jailed, and forgotten.  God didn’t want any of those things for Joseph.  He would rather Joseph didn’t walk in any of those places. But He didn’t waste those years.

After languishing in prison, God gave Joseph the opportunity to use his gift of dream interpretation for the king.  And Joseph said, “It is beyond my power to do this… but God will tell you what it means” (Genesis 41:16).  Gone is the boasting, and in its place is humility and a sense of servant hood.  It was in the dark of the prison cell, when he seemed to have been forgotten by the world, maybe even by God, that Joseph’s character was transformed.

Later in life, Joseph said of this time, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good.  He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people” (Genesis 50:20).  Satan certainly meant it for evil.  We see his attacks over and over.  If he can just trip Joseph up, if he can just get in the way, Joseph will never get where God is leading him.  He will never become the man God desires him to be.

Our enemy definitely wants to harm us. But God thwarts the plans of the enemy.  In Joseph’s life, He circumvented Satan’s attacks by using them to put him in a position he never could have gotten to if he’d stayed home.  Over and over, God intervened. Eventually He vindicated Joseph.  He more than restored his position.

When Joseph revealed his identity to his brothers, he “broke down and wept aloud. His sobs could be heard throughout the palace” (Genesis 45:2)  The pain of the offense and the path that he had taken to get to his high position weren’t gone.  The wounds hadn’t been erased.  But Joseph wasn’t the same man who had those dreams so many years before.  “Don’t be angry with yourselves that you did this to me, for God did it.  He sent me here ahead of you to preserve your lives” (Genesis 45:5).

Joseph had to endure a lot.  I don’t know if he ever gave in to despair, ever just wanted to give up.  Maybe he wondered what the point was. Did he remember the dreams God gave him to sustain him?  Jesus said the ones who are most blessed are the ones who don’t have a vision, and believe anyway (John 20:29).  Faith is confident assurance in what we have not yet seen (Hebrews 11:1).

It’s ok that we don’t love all the ways we have to take.  God doesn’t love them either. He would rather there was no cancer journey.  No path through divorce.  No doorway through death.  But He loves you.  He loves you taking His hand in spite of fear and drawing strength and courage from it.  And saying Yes, Jesus, let’s begin.

Then He will shepherd you through dark valleys to a place of rest and restoration.  A place of salvation. So we walk in obedience to the will of the Father wherever it leads us, trusting that He will use these unwanted, unlooked for pathways to get us where He wants us to be.  We would rather remain in our favored position on our father’s farm, wearing a beautiful coat, but God says, I have a better way.  A way that will lead to more life, life not just for you, not just for a little while, but eternal life.  That sounds like an impossible dream, but it’s fantastic reality.