ASCENDING THE IMPOSSIBLE – May 1

“Jesus answered him, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the Kingdom of God.’” John 3:3

I just returned from another business trip to Mount Rainer National Park. Unlike my last trip (Knowing Greatness without Sight), the skies were clear and I was able to behold clearly the mountain. I gazed upon the heights of the mountains with a yearning eye.

The clarity of the skies promised an unimpeded view to anyone at the pinnacle of such a mountain. I so wanted to see that view. Yet, I knew that neither I nor anyone else would behold the view on that day. The snow is still too deep and the trails too treacherous to ascend Mount Rainer. Therefore, the prize of the glorious view from its pinnacle was not beheld by any mortal man on that clear day.

There is another site that is even more unattainable than the wintry panorama of Mount Rainer’s peak. No man can ascend to God’s presence and behold the Kingdom of God. For this site, Jesus told us that we must be born again.

How does one ascend to a peak that has no trail?
How does one scale a summit whose base cannot be found?
How does the flesh accomplish that which is born of the Spirit?

It is impossible. It is impossible for man to find access or even to see the Kingdom of God from the pinnacle of any human accomplishment. No one can ascend to heaven.

No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. (John 4:13-15)

This is the glorious good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The ascent to heaven, access to the Kingdom of God, is now possible – not by any work of the flesh but by the work of the Spirit.

We can stand at the pinnacle of the mountain of God and see His Kingdom. We can enter into His rest and eternal life. It is an ascent that we cannot make but was accomplished for us. The prize of this summit is a gift given to all how believe in the Son of Man, Jesus Christ.

Praise be to God who has made the impossible possible. May we marvel at the miraculous heavenly things of God Almighty!

PRAYER: Father, thank you for making a way to your holy presence. Thank you for making the ascent to your Kingdom for us.  Thank you for the work the Spirit that I might be born of the Spirit.  Forgive me for my lack of marvel at the gift of eternal life that you have given me.  You are great and greatly to be praised.  I pray this in the precious name of your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen

“THE GREAT AUDITOR” – Oct 30

“Search me, O God, and know my heart!  Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!”  Psalm 139:23-24

Mikko Luntiala / Foter.com / CC BY

The current gray days signal not only the coming of winter but the impending end of the fiscal year.  The corporate books for the year 2013 will soon be officially closed and final tax burdens calculated.  Corporate financial statements will be prepared and sent to our accountant.  He will filter those numbers through the various sieves of the tax code, which will inevitably retain more money than I consider reasonable; a gray day indeed.

401(K) 2013 / Foter.com / CC BY-SA

The complexity of the tax code forces businesses to hire professional accountants to guide them through the morass of regulations.  Millions are annually spent on tax accountants for the sole purpose of avoiding the monster of the taxation wilderness – the IRS.  Paying taxes is bad enough but no one wants to incur notice of the government’s intention to audit; a gray day indeed.

DonkeyHotey / Foter.com / CC BY

The IRS is generally the most feared government agency in the United States.  They are feared because they can cast anyone into a financial abyss based on the authority of their field audit, while most are overwhelmed by regulations they don’t understand.

As a result, the IRS probably does not have corporations lining up, requesting to be audited.  I don’t think anyone has sent them a message saying, “Search me, O IRS, and know my financials!  Try me and know my deductions!  And see if there be any grievous way in my financial statements, and lead me in the way of a penalty!”

I am an honest business person.  There is nothing in our corporate financials that worries me but I still don’t relish the idea (cost and time) of being audited.  However, imagine someone engaged in the cat and mouse game of tax evasion.  Imagine their fear of being audited.   They know that their tax forms have lies and deception.  People have gone to prison for tax evasion; an audit for them would be a gray day indeed.

However, the IRS would not be feared if we all had the assurance that our accounts were completely in accordance to the IRS standards.

The majority of world religions and many professing Christians fear God like the IRS.  They are just hoping to squeak past the final audit in the sky.  Concern has to arise regarding some of the more shaky deductions associated with the justifying of unseemly actions.  Uncertainty is the norm when gambling that the assets of good works might actually net eternal life when balanced against the liabilities of sin.

God as the Great Auditor should be feared more than the IRS.

Most are about as willing to welcome God in to do a spiritual audit as they are  the IRS.  Most do not seek God to search their lives and know their heart.  They know what He will find. So, they live in fear of receiving the ultimate penalty.

Therefore, they have no assurance of their eternal destination until the final auditing of the Great Auditor; a gray life indeed.

The Bible is very clear that God the Father is the Great Auditor.  However, He is so much more than a final judge.

Alex E. Proimos / Foter.com / CC BY-NC

He is the Great Physician also.  Jesus Christ came into this world for the sick.

But when he heard it, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.  (Matthew 9:12-13)

He did not come to show us how to increase the spiritual assets of our works and decrease the liabilities of sin in the hope of obtaining a profitable balance to squeak past the Great Auditor.

He came to heal people from sin.  He completed that work in all who have been born again in Christ.  For those in Christ, we have been completely healed from the condemnation of our sin.  We have been completely justified by the work of the Great Physician.  Our eternal hope rests assured in the work of Christ, our healer.  I wrote about how we can know that assurance in ETERNITY CONFIDENCE INDICATOR.  Those who have been healed by the Great Physician do not have to fear the Great Auditor; our accounts are completely in accordance to God’s standards because they are basis on the work of Christ, whose righteousness has been credited to us.

However, sin still dwells within me.  I look at my life and I know that  in many areas I fail to live up to the commandments of God.  While my eternal hope is secure, I still need the Great Physician to continue to work in my life, transforming me more and more into the unblemished image of His son.  We call that sanctification.

As with any physician, we need God to examine us.  We need him to search for all the sin buried deep in our heart as an oncologist would search for hidden cancer.  Nothing good comes from ignoring symptoms of cancerous growth.  A physician has to be allowed to search for the cause of all those abnormalities.

The Spirit of God is that physician.  This is the life of a follower of Christ; yielding to the Great Physician.

We live healed from the terminal condition of sin. There is no reason to fear the judgement of God.
We live in continuing need of the Great Physician.  May we live daily in submission to His examination of our hearts, allowing Him to reveal to us anything that is grievous and then removing it.

That is a bright life, indeed.

PRAYER: Lord, thank you for not saving me to a gray life of uncertain works.  Thank you for showing me mercy and grace by healing me from the terminal condition of my sin.  O Lord, search me and know my heart!  Try me and know my thoughts!  See if there are any grievous ways in me!  Father, examine me completely and show me those areas where sin lingers.  Cleanse me of all my unrighteousness. May I glorify you in all that I do.  I pray this in the precious name of your Son,  Jesus Christ.   Amen.

GATES OF MY INNER FORTRESS – Dec. 7th

“If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.” Luke 16:31

I watched a documentary on Cheyenne Mountain. Cheyenne Mtn. is a military command center built inside of a granite mountain. It is home to elements of NORAD, the North American Aerospace Defense Command. The facility is located a third of a mile inside of the mountain and protected by 25 ton blast doors. It is an incredibly secure facility.

However, it seems to me that even Cheyenne Mountain is not as secure as what is within some – a hardened heart. I don’t think that we really grasp the resistive strength of a hardened heart and the miracle of salvation. We often think that if we can just have the right reasoning then the barriers of a hardened heart will be overcome and this person will come to the free gift of eternal life. The rich man was told in Luke 16 that even if a dead person were to come back from the grave, people would still not be convinced. The scriptures completely contain all that is necessary for anyone to be saved.

I have wondered if there were more conversion experiences like that of Paul on the road to Damascus   many more people would be saved.  According to Luke 16, it is not true. So, why do some reject the Word of God, refusing to believe, and some accept it unto salvation?

I don’t know – it is a mystery that breaks my heart. It is a mystery of the hardened heart.

Every person has a secure fortress deep within them that has impregnable gates. Those gates are locked from the inside. There is no reasoning, cajoling, guilting, shaming, begging, or pleading, that I can do to force those gates open. I cannot devise a method to pick those locks. I don’t even have access to them – they’re on the inside.

The gates of a hardened heart can only be opened by the rebel within, as he or she is drawn out into the light by the King of kings and Lord of lords. Why do some give up their rebellion and come out while others refuse? Why did the rich man in hell not repent and beg to be saved? Why do the demons, knowing who Jesus is, continue in their rebellion, assured of their fate?

I don’t know – it is the miracle of salvation. All I know is the scriptures tells us that God calls His elect to Himself; People will only open the gates of their inner fortress to the Shepherd that they already know (John 10:3-4).   One day we will understand it all.  I have long since stopped trying to figure out how God does things. It is beyond me. I am but a clay pot in His hands.  He is God and can do as He pleases, for His own glory.

Today, I stand in awe of the miracle of salvation; in gratitude to my Savior for calling me out from my own fortress of sin and death. That is a treasure that words fail to explain. Today, I will continue to spread the seeds of the gospel of Jesus Christ, for His glory, and let the Spirit do the work of calling His children to the glorious light of our Father.  A work that only He can do.

PRAYER: Lord, thank you for saving me, a sinner, while I was still in my sin.  Father, continue your work of calling your sheep by name and leading us all out.    Amen

Image from http://news.cnet.com/2300-13576_3-10001119-2.html