God Is In The Details

Almonds are good. They are tasty little things and actually good for you. Lots of calcium. Good fat in them too. They’re not nuts though. Technically, they are in the peach family. Weird. I thought only tomatoes had an identity crisis. Nonetheless, almonds grow all over the place – mostly in California, but a lot in Spain too. Thanks Wikipedia. They also grow in Israel.

God (Jehovah, The LORD – it’s good to clarify these things) gave instructions to Moses on Mount Sinai for a tabernacle to be constructed in order for the LORD to dwell with his people. It was elaborate. It took craftsman of all kinds to put it together: weavers and metalworkers mostly. The metalworkers used silver, brass, bronze and gold. One particular furnishing in the tabernacle were golden lamp-stands. God told Moses to make the bowls on the lamps to resemble almond blossoms. Why almond blossoms? They look nice, I’m sure. God never tells Moses why, just that He wants them to look that way. Maybe it was obvious to Moses. It sure wasn’t to me.

So I went looking for more information about almonds. Here is what I found: Almonds grow on trees, and these trees are the first to blossom – of ALL trees. They are in bloom as early as January. That is why God wanted them to adorn the place where he was going to make his presence known. You see, God making a dwelling place here on earth simply pre-figures Jesus. The tabernacle and the temple in the Old Testament are all about Jesus Christ. This aspect of it shows us that Jesus is the first to bloom. He is actually called the “firstfruits” of the new creation God is making. We will follow in the likeness of His resurrection.

When some of the Israelites complained against Moses and Aaron, one of the things God did was to have all of the leaders in the various families to bring their rods to the tabernacle. Aaron’s was brought as well. The test was that whichever rod blossomed was God’s choice of a mediator for the people. Aaron’s rod blossomed – almond blossoms to be precise. Not only that, but there were also ripe almonds in the blossoms. This was later put into the ark of the covenant along with the stone tablets and a jar of manna.

Aaron’s rod that budded was kept as a reminder of God’s way. God’s way is resurrection. A dead stick does not naturally blossom. But with God, all things are possible. Impossibilities are actually his specialty. Ezekiel saw dry bones coming to life again in the valley. This is the principle of God’s working. That is how we know the difference between our way and His way. His ways are higher than our ways “as the heavens are from the earth.”

One more thing. Remember what Jesus called himself? He said, “I am the way, the truth and the life.” Think about the ark for a second. That’s a picture of Jesus too. What was inside? A jar of manna – life, the stone tablets – truth, and the rod that budded – the way. The next time you eat an almond, I hope Jesus comes to mind.

BJ

Who Said That?

The other day my wife caught me talking to myself. That’s right, I was audibly carrying on an imaginary conversation. Now, it wasn’t really loud. My lips were moving and I guess she heard something. Does that qualify me for institutionalization? Am I crazy? Well, as the one in question, I would have to say that sanity is a subjective thing. In other words, crazy often just means, misunderstood. Yes, I talk to myself sometimes, but that’s just because sometimes no one else will listen. Thanks for listening, me.

The fact that it is possible to have a conversation with yourself (come on, you do it too) helps to understand what Jesus came to do. He came to divide. In talking to Nicodemus, he said, “flesh is flesh… spirit is spirit.” When you are reborn through faith in the finished work of the cross of Christ, something brand new is planted inside the old. It’s like the Israelites entering the Promised land, even though it’s full of enemies. There’s a new life that gets put inside you when you come to faith in Christ, but the old is still there. There is war going on between the two. It doesn’t have to be a war, though. The nature of the new is like those that marched around Jericho. Those walls didn’t stand a chance.

All the same, there are now two natures. If you don’t think so, read Romans 6 and 7, again. This is not to say that all Christians have multiple personality disorders. There is one you. But the old you dies on the cross with Jesus, and the new you is immediately planted in the old, dead, you. This is confusing, as spiritual things normally are to natural minds (1st Cor. 2:14). Paul says it this way, “Reckon yourselves as dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” There are two things that happened at the cross. The first is death, not only for Jesus, but for those who trust in him too. His crucifixion provides the severing of your old enslaved life to sin. His resurrection (2nd thing) infuses his very life into you, starting you over again. But the old dead you is still encasing this new life.

So, how does talking to yourself help to see this? There is a back-and-forth between the flesh and the spirit. What theologians (we should all be, really) call the Adamic life is dead set against this new Christ-life. It’s like the animosity between Isaac and Ishmael. Ishmael represents mans efforts to achieve God’s ends. Isaac represents God’s way. Temptation does not come from the devil, it comes from you. (James 1:14) The old dead sinful self talks to the new Christ-life, trying to entice you to go back to your old ways. The trick is not to talk back.

You won’t argue or reason your way out of temptation. The old life is conniving and scheming. Your focus needs to remain on the source of your new life. And that is none other than Jesus, of course. People talk about victorious Christian living, as if the battle is still to be fought. Christ won already. You just have to believe it. It’s hard to see, especially when your gaze is turned inward. Look into the empty tomb instead. Look at the scars that Jesus decided to keep in his glorified body.

The next time you are engaged in a little heart to heart with yourself, turn it into a prayer instead. I’ll try too. Hold me to it. Even Jesus had a habit of going alone to the mountain to pray. It will help you to remember what he’s done for you already. It will keep you out of the loony-bin too.

BJ

Dim The Lights Please

There’s a lamp in my living room that my brother gave my wife and I when we got married. It’s nice - A heavy thing that the kids haven’t managed to knock off the cabinet yet. But there has been a silent war going on, and this lamp is the battlefield. Whenever I go to turn it on, I turn the lampshade just a bit to get at the switch. This makes the seam in the shade turn outwards to face the rest of the room. My wife will then turn the shade later when she notices this. So, back and forth, this has been going on for years now. It’s never mentioned, but my sense of practicality is rubbing up against my wife’s uncanny knack for interior design. The war of the lamp may not end this side of heaven. Unless of course all this turning causes the thing to eventually just snap off.

So, this gets me thinking about light. I want the light to be turned on easily. My wife wants the light to look right. Philosophically, both are important. If there is a way to see, it should be something accessible. Also, if there is a source of light, it should be presented in the best way possible. The light should be on, and it should shine well, without distraction.

Jesus walked into a dark temple, during the feast of booths, and said “I am the light of the world.” Traditionally they put out the lights during this festival and He used the opportunity to contrast that darkness with himself. John says that “in him is no darkness at all.” This is the same one of whom Paul writes, “he dwells in light unapproachable.” Christ brings clarity to grace and truth, the very things this world can even appreciate to a certain degree without him. Sometimes I think that it’s just a matter of flicking a switch and having Jesus presented that will win people over to him. It doesn’t in fact play out that way very often. He seems to mystify people quite a bit. I’ve been thinking more lately, thanks to my wife’s side of the lamp-war, about the way he should be presented.

Light is a funny thing. C.S. Lewis wrote a short story about a man born blind who received his sight through surgery. This man had a fascination with light. He wanted to be able to see it, but could only see the things the light allowed him to see. It’s a tragic story, ending with this man diving into a gorge filled with luminescent fog. This seems to have some bearing on the Lord Jesus, as we consider him, “the light of the world.” He brings light to the sin and darkness here and exposes it. At his death, we see the conspiracy of both religion and government, the betrayal and the fair-weather friendships we are all so prone to, the violence man is capable of, and our propensity to wash our hands of a thing and hang someone out to dry. Jesus exposed sin so clearly and yet he is still so misunderstood.

Christ is like that dangerous sun, able to blind you if you stare too long. What is the danger? He is the radiance of the glory of God the Father, the express image of His person – Holy, Perfect, Right. These flawed eyes can’t take him in. But one thing about the sun - you CAN see it set, and rise again. That’s where these eyes find Jesus. He had a blinding effect on those that tried to take him in full strength. But for those who see him crucified and rising from the tomb, he fills their vision. That’s how I now present him. I don’t just preach Jesus, I preach Christ crucified. I read that Billy Graham once spoke about Jesus without mentioning the cross, and not one person responded. He vowed to never do that again.

Light isn’t to be hidden under a bowl, but shining it directly into people eyes doesn’t help either. Present Jesus the way the Word presents him: setting and rising like the sun. There’s a reason why Jews start their day in the evening. Dark came first, and then light - death, then resurrection.

BJ

That's Sick

I’m a baby when I’m sick. I don’t tolerate illness well at all. Colds and flus don’t inflict themselves on me that often (thanks guys), so that is probably why. I hear about people that wake up every day with a splitting headache, or a sore back, or feet that burn so hot they never have to where shoes – even in the winter. I’m not kidding about that last one. Disease is a symptom of a fallen world. The fact that our bodies break down is proof that we are physically on the way out. The downward spiral is upon us all. A couple of guys escaped it – Enoch and Elijah. They lived before Jesus touched down here, so things were different then. But barring the day of Jesus’ return, we will go through illness and death. It’s as sure as taxes they say. As sure as babies like to suck on things.

What concerns me though, is our reaction to it. Mine this time around was not so good. I think I milked it a little. “Honey, can you get me a Tylenol…”, “Dear, can you run out and get me some cough syrup…”, or even “Can you unwrap my lozenge?” It’s good to be sick. It helps you understand what others go through. Sympathy should be a healthy currency when a friend is ill. But we can be too fixated on it. I’ve often had a knee-jerk kind of reaction to prayer meetings I’ve sat through where just about every request had something to do with either a physical ailment or a material need. It grates me the wrong way when people get too preoccupied with the physical world and neglect the spiritual. But then I turn around and get sick. Pray for me, I cry!

It’s an important thought, nonetheless. It is easy to keep our needs in the forefront of our minds. The hard thing to do is to cast those cares, that bread on the waters. The problem with being preoccupied with the physical things is that it actually has the potential to undermine God. Jesus asked a man to follow him once. The man replied, “let me go bury my father first.” The Lord answered him with seeming harshness by saying, “let the dead bury their own dead…” It sounds callous at the outset, but maybe the carbuncle was on the other guy. He was in effect saying to Jesus, “You don’t understand, my dad is sick and he’s going to die soon. I want to stick around and be there for him and my family.” Once again, that first part of the reply was, “Jesus, you don’t understand…”

I think we often tell Jesus that he doesn’t understand. We question the waiting and the often lack of supply for the need, but you have to remember that we don’t really know the meaning of that word. Need, is a subjective thing. It’s a whole lot different from God’s perspective. Maybe we need tuberculosis, maybe we need to get into a car crash, maybe we need to even die. But to die, is gain – right? That’s the mind of Christ. It’s not our natural minds to think that way. This takes prayer. This takes some serious re-adjustment of our hearts to the heart of a father that actually loves us more than we love ourselves. We talk about him knowing us better, but not too often do I hear that the Lord passionately and desperately loves us more than we even begin to love ourselves. If that’s true, don’t you think he’s worth trusting?

Jesus was on the cross, and looked down at Mary. He said to her, “Mary, behold your son” referring to John. He was dying on the cross, going through excruciating (a new word they had to coin) pain. He is thinking about others. He didn’t take the gall, the anesthetic. He bore our griefs and our sorrows, physically, emotionally, mentally, and most of all spiritually. We can trust that we have a sympathetic high priest.

I’m told that “sick” is another word that has been re-applied. Like “wicked” or “ridiculous”, now “sick” means, cool. Well, I don’t think that’s a stretch. Don’t we often quote Romans 8:28 – “We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose.” I think it’s safe to say that “sick” can be included in “all things”. God can make being sick, good. How? Let’s leave it up to the One that made death good too.

BJ