Living By Faith, Not by Sight #169

"For we live by faith, not by sight."
2 Cor. 5:7

In 1815 the French Emperor, Napoleon, had conquered the whole of  Europe except Britain.
France fought against Britain in the Battle of Waterloo. If Napoleon won, the whole of Europe would have been enslaved to him. The man who stood between him and victory was General Wellington, the leader of the English troops. The whole of Britain waited anxiously to hear news of the outcome of the battle. Would they be free , or become slaves to Napoleon. To carry the news of outcome of  the battle to England, a ship used flags to signal a message to a man standing on a hill, and so on across the country. The first word, "Wellington",  was signaled...the next word was "defeated". Then a fog quickly descended  and the message was interrupted as they couldn't see what the man on the ship was signaling with his flags. Across England people openly wept over the message: "Wellington defeated". Then the fog lifted , and they could again see the signal pinafores on the ship.
The communication continued with two more words:"the enemy".
The whole message was WELLINGTON DEFEATED THE ENEMY!
The hearts of the British people were immediately changed from deep despair to celebrating victory!

Similarly, there was great sorrow when the body of Jesus was carried from the cross to the tomb.
The signal seemed to say that Jesus Christ was defeated, but three days later the "fog" lifted and the whole message was announced: JESUS CHRIST DEFEATED THE ENEMY!
Through Jesus we have complete victory over our enemeies of sin, death, and satan.
We have new life, a glorious hope, and the certainty of our own resurrection one day.
Let us not live by sight, for everything around us seems to say "Jesus has been defeated".
Let us live according to our spiritual sight , for only then will we be able to see the whole message:
"JESUS CHRIST HAS DEFEATED THE ENEMY!"

-Reprinted from Asia Harvest's guest editorial by Hammie and Alti, missionaries in remote and dangerous areas of Asia

Costly 301

"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Romans 6:23 NKJV

Sin is a costly, deadly business.
I was reading Leviticus 4 this morning in which the Lord directed Moses and Israel how to atone for sin ( the sin offering) :
"He shall bring the bull to the door of the tabernacle of meeting before the Lord, lay his hand on the bull’s head, and kill the bull before the Lord. Then the anointed priest shall take some of the bull’s blood and bring it to the tabernacle of meeting. The priest shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle some of the blood seven times before the Lord, in front of the veil of the sanctuary. And the priest shall put some of the blood on the horns of the altar of sweet incense before the Lord, which is in the tabernacle of meeting; and he shall pour the remaining blood of the bull at the base of the altar of the burnt offering, which is at the door of the tabernacle of meeting." (Leviticus 4:4-7 NKJV)

The business of paying for the high cost of sin was an ugly business. It was expensive (only perfect specimens were sacrificed), not to mention gory and bloody. The priests and the altar area were splattered with blood, and I imagine this rivaled any scene from a horror movie. From the time that the sacrificial system was set in place until the ultimate sacrifice that Jesus, the Lamb of God, gave there was a steady increase in offerings. As sin increased so did the need for more and more sacrifices, blood splattering, butchering...death.
The sacrificial system is not practiced any longer, but this doesn't change the payment required for sin: someone has to pay with their life. This may seem like "Christianity 101", but we must-I must-remember (and never forget) the great payment that was made for us all.
Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, once and for all.
If you suffer from self- esteem issues think about this great truth:
God loves us ( present tense) so much that He sent his only Son to take the punishment we so deserve...ransoming and delivering us from eternal death to everlasting life.

Two Facets of Covenant Relationships 160

Last night I had the privilege of being in the audience at Grace Center with Bethel's Kris Valloton. I'm borrowing from his message, it was so striking. The message was about what real covenant looks like as rooted in the scripture, and there were two powerful take aways that stood out to me:

1) Vulnerability

"After David had finished talking with Saul, Jonathan became one in spirit with David, and he loved him as himself. From that day Saul kept David with him and did not let him return home to his family. And Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself. Jonathan took off the robe he was wearing and gave it to David, along with his tunic, and even his sword, his bow and his belt. "
1 Samuel 18:1-4 NIV

Jonathan and David had become one in spirit, knitted together, and Jonathan so trusted David that he gave David both his own armor and weaponry, in the process making himself transparent and vulnerable to David. Had David been malicious or evil he could've murdered Jonathan, since Jonathan had uncovered and unshielded himself. Jonathan was King Saul's son, more powerful than David, who came from a shepherd family, yet Jonathan renewed his covenant with David three times. Kris talked about "camaraderie being rooted in covenant, but covenants are not rooted in camaraderie" - camaraderie involves two or more parties united against a common foe. Covenant, however, removes the "us vs. them" mindset, and is laced through and through with grace- defined as the operational power of God.
Covenantal love that stands the challenges of life's seasons requires stepping out of our own emotional armor, being summed up by this quote:
"You can only love people to the depths that you will let them hurt you."

2) Covenant or Co-habitation?

"My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends." John 15:12, 13 NIV

In covenant relationships those who have entered are prepared to even lay down their lives for the others, but where there is only cohabitation, those involved are only interested in what they can extract from this arrangement. I'm not just referring to marriage here but neither was Jesus- He was talking to his followers, his friends. Jesus is the incarnation and product of COVENANT,  His human ancestors were those who choose to enter into covenants: Abraham, Ruth, David.
We as followers of Jesus cannot benefit from His teachings unless we are willing to follow Him, as Lord. After all, He tells us that those who want to follow Him- in covenant- must deny themselves and pick up their crosses daily. Crucified on our own crosses are pride, arrogance, judgement, our "rights", our selves. I would submit to you that our self righteousness yanks the nails out of our own crosses and uses them to crucify those we should love and edify.

Kris also discussed the facts that we cannot take "suffering out of the Gospels" ( look at the life of Paul, who called himself an imitator of Christ), and 1 Cor.13:4 reminds us that "love suffers long and is kind", and once again, I was reminded that "grace is the operational power of God."

Climb Every Mountain 176

Mountain tops are exceptional places to be.
They are places where the atmosphere is clear and rarified,
and 360 degree views that extend for many miles are afforded to those who dwell there.
But there is a journey that must be undertaken to arrive there, and it is not an easy or comfortable one. The path is strewn with a variety of obstacles, and it is not for the faint hearted.
The higher  the climb, the greater the potential danger of falling.
Where we place our footing and  what we grasp must be carefully considered and tested.
So it is with our lives.
Often referred to as our "walk", but perhaps more aptly called our "climb"...
We will be stretched to our limits, perhaps even now you may be;
sometimes stumbling, sometimes discouraged,
sometimes exhausted, yes, and sometimes falling.
But climb we must, get up, we must...otherwise the "mountains" in our lives remain towering, confining monoliths that we are unable to see over or around.
Beloved, the climb can't be sustained without supernatural strength that comes from beyond ourselves, from God alone.
With it though, we can be confident as we climb.

"It is God who arms me with strength and keeps my way secure. He makes my feet like the feet of a deer; he causes me to stand on the heights. You provide a broad path for my feet, so that my ankles do not give way." (Psalm 18:32, 33, 36 NIV)