day no. 12,727: a default desire for strange fire‏

I’m like a badger.
Once I sink my teeth in, I’m hooked.

Leviticus 10:1-3

Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it and laid incense on it and offered unauthorized fire before the Lord, which he had not commanded them.² And fire came out from before the Lord and consumed them, and they died before theLord.³ Then Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the Lord has said: ‘Among those who are near me I will be sanctified, and before all the people I will be glorified.’” And Aaron held his peace.

I love that some translations render this “strange” fire as though this is absurd, bizarre, unheard of, and ridiculous in light of Christ, God’s glory.

Yet, by nature, we desire unauthorized fire.
However, if we bring our fire to God, we get burned.

We discover that fire is real, but ours was just a play thing in comparison.

Our candles provide no light when engulfed by the light of day.

It reminds me of several C.S. Lewis observations:

“…as a candle flame which becomes invisible because someone has pulled up the blind, thrown open the shutters, and let in the blaze of the risen sun."

Even the light we reflect of Christ in this life will be consumed by His light.

The light we have is borrowed.
Borrowed to be given back.
On loan to be shown to others.

This reminds me of a verse from the hymn“O Love That Wilt Not Let Me Go”

O light that followest all my way,
I yield my flickering torch to thee;
My heart restores its borrowed ray,
That in thy sunshine’s blaze its day
May brighter, fairer be.

Back to Mr. C.S.

“I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.”

We see everything only because we see Jesus.

“A man can no more diminish God's glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic canput out the sun by scribbling the word 'darkness' on the walls of his cell.”

We cannot cancel His light by our darkness or desire for it any more than we can fashion lamps from the darkness we find within.

I hope this is encouraging you as much as it is me as I meditate and appreciate the light of Christ on our behalf and in our lives.

day no. 12,726: something i found myself saying‏

“God will work all things of those hidden in Christ to their good and to His glory. He is more committed to both of those things than we are. So if you go in that, you cannot fail for the object of your desire is faithful.”

I recently wrote this in an email to a brother in Christ encouraging him to bravely go about the business of being alive in the course of uncertainty in the certain future held by God.

Psalm 37:4
 
Delight yourself in the Lord,
and he will give you the desires of your heart.

See the order?

Delight in God.
Receive your delight.

But this is not a quid pro quo sorta dealio.

We do not have to conjure up affection in order to receive right affections.

The psalm merely means to encourage us in the promise of receiving that which we long for if we long for the salvation that is of the Lord.

2 Timothy 2:11-13

¹¹ The saying is trustworthy, for:

If we have died with him, we will also live with him;
¹² if we endure, we will also reign with him;
if we deny him, he also will deny us;
¹³ if we are faithless, he remains faithful—

for he cannot deny himself.

Do we know how each and every detail of our lives is going to work out?

Nope.

Do we know how faith in Jesus works out?

Yeppers.

Sorry.

Yesh.

If God is faithful, faith will prevail, because He said so.

day no. 12,723: the torches that you have kindled‏

Isaiah 50:10-11

 

¹⁰ Who among you fears the Lord
and obeys the voice of his servant?
Let him who walks in darkness
and has no light
trust in the name of the Lord
and rely on his God.
¹¹ Behold, all you who kindle a fire,
who equip yourselves with burning torches!
Walk by the light of your fire,
and by the torches that you have kindled!
This you have from my hand:
you shall lie down in torment.

 

The opposite of canDeo is “can do.”

 

As in a “can do” attitude.

 

If canDeo means “I shine” and the I is understood to be Christ alone, “can do” is the constant warring against that says, “No, I shine! (without You)”.

 

Those who strive to light their own fires and equip themselves with light inherit torment.

 

We must urge people to resist the spirit of the age’s invitation to find a spark of light within one’s self. It is heresy!

 

There is no inner light.

 

There is Christ and there is darkness.

 

Two categories.

Mutually exclusive.

 

Isaiah states some seek to equip themselves in order to see and interpret the world around them, to see life, to see salvation.

 

The author of Hebrews states the saints are equipped by the light of Christ to accomplish His glory, their good and the wisdom for living worthy lives in the light of His provision.

Hebrews 13:20-21

²⁰ Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant,²¹ equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

 

He equips.

He works in us.

He shines.

He does it all.

Through Jesus.

 

And then He looks at us and has the audacity to say, “Well done, good and faithful.”

 

He makes us pleasing in His sight and then credits us with Christ’s accomplishments.

 

That will preach.

 

That will produce a response in kind that shouts, “to Him be glory forever and ever. Amen!”

 

I love CanDeo.

 

I love that the name alone communicates the richness of Christ and the poverty of men, the light of God and the darkness of good enough, the anchor of hope and the failure of fostering flames by the feats of our fingers. If you bring unholy fire to God, you get burned. If you walk by the light of His consuming fire, you discover salvation.

day no. 12,722: rhetoric can't raise the dead!

It’s no secret that I like Mars Hill and the teaching and music they produce. I found this video of Dustin Kensrue of The Modern Post doing an acoustic version of “Grace Alone”
 

  This led me to realize that Dustin Kensrue was the lead singer for Thrice, a band I have known about for some time, but never before really got much into for whatever reason… until now!
 

I love Kensrue’s live acoustic stuff which has introduced me to several Thrice songs which include some awesome lyrics such as: “It's true that you could snap my neck, I trust you'll save my life instead,” from Anthology.

Reminds me of Romans 5:10, “For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, then how much more, having been reconciled, will we be saved by His life!”

We were enemies and God’s response could have been to put down the resistance finally and forever with one death blow. He could snap our necks. But the same power and authority He has to punish sin, He used to offer a hope of salvation. The very same power and rule He exerts over our situations in sin, He can intercede into our situation for salvation.

I also love the line, “Rhetoric can’t raise the dead,” from Artist in the Ambulance.

This reminds me of Philippians 3:7-11, “But everything that was a gain to me, I have considered to be a loss because of Christ. 8 More than that, I also consider everything to be a loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. Because of Him I have suffered the loss of all things and consider them filth, so that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own from the law, but one that is through faith in Christ—the righteousness from God based on faith. 10 My goal is to know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, 11 assuming that I will somehow reach the resurrection from among the dead.”

All our accomplishments and arguments as to why we should be accepted and resurrected to life by God will fall flat if not for Christ.

So, in summary. I’m getting into Thrice lately and Dustin Kensrue specifically.

My kids know the words (read – the chorus) to “Down there by the Train” which is the closing song in his acoustic set from above. It’s a Tom Waits cover and it is AWESOME! It also includes some good lyrics. Check it out.

day no. 12,721: tentmakers must be willing to forgo a measure of career achievement and private leisure for the privilege of gaining the prize

And for tentmakers to survive three full-time jobs (work, family, and ministry), they must also adopt a sacrificial lifestyle. Tentmakers must live a pruned life and literally find leisure and rest in the rhythm of serving Christ (Matt 11:28). They must be willing to forgo a measure of career achievement and private leisure for the privilege of gaining the prize (Phil 3:14). Many would like to be tentmakers if they could be wealthy and live a leisurely and cultural lifestyle. But the truth is that a significant ministry in the church and the community can only come by sacrifice. ~ R. Paul Stevens

It is a privilege to be prompted to surrender everything by God in gaining all the riches of Christ.

It is hard work.
It is exhausting.
It is wearisome.

It is an honor.

Matthew 19:29

And everyone who has left houses, brothers or sisters, father or mother, children, or fields because of My name will receive 100 times more and will inherit eternal life.

 

He didn't have to promise to bless it.

He could have commanded it.

He deserves it.

He alone is worth the effort and abandon.

 

But He is generous and grants us more than we can imagine in coming to Him with abandon.

 

day no. 12,720: ollie ollie oxen free - the Gospel in a game‏

I wanted to know the etymology behind this phrase and found some good info HERE.

Do me a favor and read the following:

Olly olly oxen free (and variants: ollie ollie umphrey, olly-olly-ee, ally ally in free,^[1] ally alley ocean free, etc.) is a catchphrase used in such children's games as hide and seek to indicate that players who are hiding can come out into the open without losing the game, that the position of the sides in a game has changed (as in which side is in the field or which side is at bat or "up" in baseball or kickball), or, alternatively, that the game is entirely over. It is thought to derive from the phrase "All ye, all ye 'outs' in free,","All the outs in free" or possibly "Calling all the 'outs' in free;" in other words:  all who are "out" may come in without penalty.^[2] However, this may not be the etymology at all--"Olly olly oxen free" is suspiciously close to the German phrase "Alle, alle auch sind frei," meaning "everyone, everyone is also free."^[3] Various calls used for such purposes have gone by the collective name of "ollyoxalls" in some places.^[4]

Did you see it?

So much Gospel imagery in that description.

Didn’t see it?

See below:

John 12:36

While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.

1 Peter 2:9

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

Ephesians 5:7-9

⁷ Therefore do not become partners with them;⁸ for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light⁹ (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true)

Romans 5:6-11

⁶ For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. ⁷ For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—⁸ but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.⁹ Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.¹⁰ For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.¹¹ More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation

Does that help you see what I saw at all?

“(all) who are hiding can come out into the openwithout losing the game”

Everyone in darkness has opportunity while it is still light to believe.

If you believe now, you will enter into light with no penalty and be counted as one never having indulged in darkness.

The game is not lost by forfeiting to the cross.

It is lost in continuing to strive to impress the One upon it dying.

“the position of the sides in a game has changed “

Enemies have become allies.

God’s grace turns rebels into His righteousness.

“the game is entirely over.”

It is finished!

Entirely.

For good.

Forever.

“all who are ‘out’ may come in without penalty”

1 John 1:8-9

⁸ If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.⁹ If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

"everyone, everyone is also free”

John 3:16

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life

day no. 12,719 - and so it begins...

Today is the 12,719th day of my life.

I think I may begin documenting my blog to reflect the number of days that are passing before me.

Psalm 90:12

Teach us to number our days carefully
so that we may develop wisdom in our hearts.

Someday, my numbers will be in the books.

It would be interesting at that point to do this in reverse.

That is to to number the total number of my days and count backwards so that these blogs would be titled, "On August 19, 2013 with 13,413 days remaining in my life, I did...."

This would go all the up until the last day of my life.

On that day, I did...... and that was the last day I lived here on earth.

That is heavy to consider.

God, help me number my days.!