4SpiritualSecrets

“… But for this reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify Your name.”
(John 12: 27, 28)

When we have a vision we must also have a plan. It has been said that without vision the people perish, but without a plan the vision perishes. Nehemiah not only had a vision to repair and rebuild the wall around Jerusalem. He had a plan to do so. As an enslaved exile his plan was to present his vision to the emperor for whom he was a cup bearer.

This was extremely dangerous because there was a death penalty for being sad in the presence of the emperor, or for bringing anything negative to the attention of the emperor while he was serving him. Nehemiah had the faith to pray silently and then present his vision to the emperor. The emperor showed empathy and compassion for Nehemiah. He not only approved his plan. He supplied everything that was needed to see that the plan was followed to the letter.

Has God put a vision in your heart of what He wants you to do? If you have a vision do you have a plan? In that context consider this formula for your vision: vision + faith + sacrifice = miracle. If you have a vision and a plan to carry out that vision, are you willing to sacrifice for that vision? Are you willing to die for that vision?

Our Lord had a vision and a plan. He was willing to sacrifice and die for His vision and plan. He mandated that we should follow His example. Regarding your vision and plan, are you willing to pray essentially: “Father glorify Yourself and send me the bill. Anything Father, just glorify Yourself?”

“…what my God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem…” (Nehemiah 2: 12)

When Nehemiah learned of the dreadful condition of the wall around Jerusalem he wept, fasted and prayed. He then became a supreme example of what it means to have a vision. His definition of vision is what God had put in his heart to do. I have heard missionaries describe how they were reading the Gospels and when they got to the Great Commission they knew what God had put in their heart to do.

When I was a new believer studying for the ministry I heard a great Bible professor survey the entire Bible. He made it so clear and relevant. I felt as if he was introducing us to sixty-six of his holy little friends and I wanted to spend the rest of my life getting to know them better. I also knew in my heart that God wanted me to put together a devotional, practical survey of the Bible for lay people and make it even more simple than the one I was being taught. That vision eventually became a reality.

As you grow in your faith and your relationship with God have you been close enough to God for Him to put in your heart what He wants you to do? The whole Bible and church history affirm the reality that God loves to work that way.

The Apostle Paul stood in chains before a king and said some beautiful words. He said he was not disobedient to the heavenly vision God gave him (Acts 26: 19). Has God put in your heart what He wants you to do? Will you make the commitment that you will not be disobedient to that vision?

“Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.” (Mark 16:15)

“The Great Commission is the charter of the Church. Like any other organization the Church must fulfill the terms of its charter or it should cease and desist.” So wrote a missionary statesman of another generation.

For more than twenty years I was the pastor of a church that was near a naval base and more than seventy percent of my church members were military. I soon learned that when a military man received his orders he read them very carefully and obeyed them to the letter. Two thousand years ago Jesus Christ gave us our orders. The man I have quoted was saying that we as a church must obey our orders or we should cease and desist as a church.

General George Patton once arrived before dawn at a station in North Africa much earlier than he was expected. Everything was in disarray. He kicked a soldier who was asleep on the floor. When the lowly GI realized who had kicked him he jumped to his feet, saluted and said “I’m sorry sir. I was just trying to get some sleep!” The general responded, “That’s OK son.” In his profane way, which I will not quote, the general essentially continued, You’re the only one around here who knows what he’s trying to do!

How it must grieve the risen living Christ to realize that so many in His Church today don’t know what they’re trying to do. We not only ignore His clear orders – many have never even heard that He gave us our charter, which is repeated at the end of every Gospel and at the beginning of Acts, the inspired history book of the Church.

“So he said, ‘Lord, what do You want me to do?’” (Acts 9:6 NKJV)

Two Men named Marx and Engels authored The Communist Manifesto. For years after their book had been written the membership in the Communist Party was meager. When a man named Lenin appeared on the scene he wrote a very short pamphlet entitled “What Is to Be Done?” His thesis was that if you read the book authored by Marx and Engels and then look at the world, what do you think should be done by those who truly believe what they wrote? Until the collapse of the “Iron Curtain” there were a billion people under the control of the Communist Party.

During the height of what we called “The Cold War,” for at least a decade I was obsessed with this question: “As a devout follower of Jesus Christ why not write a short booklet entitled ‘What Is to Be Done?’ by those who believe the Bible and then look at the world?” I asked many of the spiritual heavyweights I met this question. The best answer I received was from a man I highly respected. He told me that no one could write that booklet for everyone. Each individual disciple of Jesus needs to write his own booklet by asking the question the Apostle Paul asked the risen Christ on the road to Damascus which is quoted above.

The way we each receive the answers to that question from the Lord could be called our personal vision statement. Sadly, so many followers of Jesus do not have a personal vision statement. I challenge you to work out your own personal vision statement by asking the risen Christ, “Lord, what do you want me to do?”

“… But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of knowing from whom you have learned them …” (2 Timothy 3:14)

Paul wrote these words to Timothy, his son in the faith, from the dreadful prison in Rome where he was very soon executed. These were the last words of the Apostle Paul and his last words to Timothy. That reality should add much weight to these words. He was telling Timothy it is vitally important that we continue in the things we have learned and have proven to be true.

The Apostle John records words of Jesus (John 8:31-36) where He told people who had just professed faith in Him that they must continue in His Word and become His disciples indeed. He promised them that if they would continue in this way they would come into a relationship with the One Who is the Truth, and when that happened, they would be free indeed. Disciples indeed, free indeed, if they continue.

Why is it that so very many do not continue? That’s the bad news. The good news is that a “committed minority” does continue and when they do, they eventually establish a relationship with the risen, living Christ. Paul answered that question for us. When he was in prison and could not be present with his favorite church at Philippi he wrote them that he was confident that they would continue in the faith because God had begun a great work in their lives and He would continue that work until Jesus returns. (Philippians 1:6; 2:13)

Will you acknowledge the critical importance of continuity and cooperate with the One Who wants to continue His work in you by continuing as a disciple indeed?

“… But one thing I do… I press toward the goal of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3: 13, 14)

Are you entering into this New Year with resolution? Can you reduce your priorities to just one thing? In the excerpts above from the writings of the Apostle Paul, the greatest missionary the church ever had wrote that he had just one priority: “the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”

The great apostle often used athletic terminology in his writings. Here he likens life to a race and the goal at the end of this race is what God was calling him to be and do, in Christ, until he was called home to be with his Lord forever.

When an athlete is pacing a race their objective is to give everything they have to winning the race at the instant they break the tape at the end of the race. If they spend all their energy before they break that tape they will collapse before the race is over. If they have not given it all when they break the tape at the end of the race they have not done their best to win the race. That is the race plan and life plan Paul is describing here.

As you run your race of 2010 do you have a race plan for your life span? Are you pacing your race in such a way that when you break the tape at the end of the race you will have given it all for what God is calling you to be and do for Him in Christ in 2010?

“He turns rivers into a wilderness,
And the water springs into dry ground;
A fruitful land into barrenness,
He turns a wilderness into pools of water,
And dry land into watersprings.
He also blesses them, and they multiply greatly;
And He does not let their cattle decrease.

Then they are diminished and brought low
Through oppression, affliction and sorrow,
Whoever is wise will observe these things,
And they will understand
The lovingkindness of the LORD.”

(Psalm 107: 33-35; 38, 39, 43)

The risen Christ chastises complacency in the lives of His authentic disciples. We learn this from the third chapter of the book of Revelation. This is a letter to a lukewarm church in which He tells them He would rather they would be hot but if they’re not going to get hot He prefers them to get cold because their complacency makes Him want to vomit! He chastises those He loves in their church. He is knocking on the door of their lives and that knocking is chastisement motivated by His love for them.

We have the same message here in this great psalm of redemption. God blesses His people and then at times He diminishes them and they are brought low. After expressing that truth with beautiful and eloquent metaphors this inspired hymn writer informs us that if we are wise, when we observe these things we will see in them the lovingkindness of the Lord! This is God redeeming us from our COMPLACENCY because He loves us.

It is easier to see the Providence of God when we look back. As you stand on the threshold of a new year and you look back over your life can you resonate with this fifth level of redemption? Then say so!

“… For He commands and raises the stormy wind,
Which lifts up the waves of the sea.
They mount up to the heavens,
They go down again to the depths;
Their soul melts because of trouble.
They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man,
And are at their wits’ end.
Then they cry out to the LORD in their trouble,
And He… calms the storm.” (Psalm 107: 25-28)

In these verses we learn about still another level of redemption. Those who have been redeemed from their chaos, chains and choices can be redeemed from their storms or CRISES. Observe that God commands and raises these storms.

In the Gospels we read about an event where Jesus wanted to teach His apostles about faith. His classroom that day was a great storm, which He turned into a great calm by asking a great question. His question was “How is it that you have no faith?” (Mark 4: 35-40)

In this wonderful psalm we are being told that because the God of our redemption wants to deepen our faith, He commands and raises storms that bring us to the place where we are at our wits end, our soul melts within us and we reel to and fro like a drunken man. Then the God who commanded and raised the storm calms the storm and we find that we have entered into a deeper level of redemption.

Do you meet yourself in this psalm when you hear this level of redemption? As in all these other levels of redemption, when we realize we have or are experiencing this fourth level of redemption we should thank the Lord for His goodness and for His wonderful works to the children of men!

“… and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:21 NKJV)

The essence of Christmas is consistent with the five stanzas of the hymn of redemption in Psalm 107 we have been considering.

If there was anyone in the Christmas story who had the right to an explanation of what was happening, it surely was Joseph. The angel who shared these words with Joseph expressed what Christmas is all about when he told Joseph to call the baby Mary was going to have “Jesus” because He would save His people from their sins.

The word “Jesus” actually means “Savior.” But I would like to call your attention to the reality that the baby was to be given this name because He would save His people from their sins.

Many evangelical believers seem to put a spin on this statement of the angel that was never intended. Our spin is something like “forgive His people for their sins.” However, the hard reality is the angel declared that it was the purpose on the heart of God to save His people from their sins.

In the words of the redemption hymn, when He redeems us from our chaos it is also His plan to deliver us from our chains. That is obviously on the heart of God when His angel pronounced this Christmas Good News.

Redemption means “to buy back and bring back that which was lost.” Rehabilitation in its Latin root means “to invest again with dignity.” He came to forgive us for our sins but He came to offer us much more than that. He wants to save (deliver) us from our sins.

Have a personal Christmas – believe the declaration the angel made to Joseph!

Psalm 107 (cont’d)
17 Fools, because of their transgression,
And because of their iniquities, were afflicted…
19 Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble,
And He saved them out of their distresses.
20 He sent His word and healed them,
And delivered them from their destructions.

After being redeemed from chaos and chains the refrain is repeated that men thus redeemed should thank the LORD for His goodness and for His wonderful works in their life.

When the third level of redemption is described in the stanza above, observe the emphasis upon the hard reality that those being redeemed in this way are responsible for the consequences they are experiencing. Five times we are told that they are suffering the consequences of their transgression, their iniquities, their trouble, their distresses and their destructions.

Robert Louis Stevenson wrote, “Soon or late every man must sit down to a banquet of consequences.” The third stanza tells how God redeems from the consequences of stupid and foolish CHOICES. Again the refrain is repeated that we should praise Him and thank Him when He delivers us in this way.

Those of us who have experienced the first two levels or dimensions of redemption can still make foolish and stupid choices that can land us in difficult situations or even in the hog pens of this world. Like the prodigal son we must come to our senses and be redeemed from the consequences of our foolish choices.

The prodigal in the story of Jesus experienced his elderly Father running to him and smothering him with love and affection. In the same way we will find the love of God passionate about redeeming us from the consequences of our foolish and prodigal choices.