True Love

"Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was." John 11:5-6

What an interesting set of verses to explain the love of God. What a warped view of the love of God we have. This is the story of the death of Lazarus and Jesus raising him from the dead. While reading this passage this morning these two verses leaped off the page at me. They seem so paradoxical. Could it be that perhaps this was just a mistake in writing by John? (If you believe that then we must have an entirely different discussion) Absolutely not! We know that every word of Scripture is inspired by God. It is put together exactly as He desires and in this passage He is showing us how His love works. We have become so accustomed to this new definition of love that our culture has thrown on us that we can scarcely see the truth about love. We believe love to be an attempt at making another person happy. That is, we believe that we must say or do whatever we must to make someone feel good about themselves and us, even at the expense of the truth. We have dilemmas over whether to tell someone the truth at the expense of their feelings. Or to put it another way, we wonder whether it is better to tell someone a painful truth or let them continue in ignorant happiness. This is not love. This is not the love of God that is found in Scripture. God never withholds the truth from us or pain from us so that we may feel good. God allows such events in our life that we may see Him and find Him all satisfying. That is the case here with Lazarus. Jesus knew full well that Lazarus would die. He knew that Mary and Martha would grieve tremendously for four days before Jesus arrived. He knew that they believed all to be lost and would even be angry with Him for His delay. Yet "he stayed two days longer in the place where He was. Why? "Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus." So how is this love made manifest? Mary and Martha are weeping in anguish and Lazarus is dead. How is that loving? How can Jesus possible show His love from this? How could His delay possibly be loving? the answer is found in Jesus' reply to Mary and Martha one verse prior to verse 5. "This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son may be glorified through it." What was Jesus' objective in this situation? It was their overflowing joy in the glory of God not their temporary happiness in seemingly "perfecting" their circumstances. What Mary and Martha wanted most was to be with their brother. The wanted him to have relief from His physical ailments. What God wanted most was to be wanted most. He wanted them to be able to say "though he slay me yet will I trust Him" He wanted them to see Him for who He is and find their ultimate satisfaction in Him. If took the death of Lazarus to do it, then so be it. If it took temporary pain to make eternal joy then so be it. We must not be so short sighted in our suffering but rather understand the truth of God's love. It always leads us to be satisfied in Him ALONE! Though there may be pain, there will be great reward because we will see the glory of the only begotten in whom the fullness of God is pleased to dwell. That my friends is love. God's revelation of Himself at the expense of temporary happiness. May we find Him more satisfying than anything this world offers, for that is what it means to be a believer in Jesus Christ.
DAW

More of Jesus

I want more of Jesus. I don't want more of His stuff and His "blessings." I want the person Himself. There is a deep longing in more heart right now for more of Christ. I feel the words of Peter when He said "to whom will we go? You have the words of eternal life." John 6:68 There is too much in the world that would draw the evil desires in me and pull my life into destruction. I want Jesus. I need Him yes, and that need could never be put into words, but I want Him as my treasure. I want to see Him in His glory. I want to experience His holiness. I want to know what it is like to be in the presence of God so strongly that you feel as if you will die if you stay any longer.
(Isaiah 6) I want to abide every second in the presence of my dangerous but good King. I need Him yes, but I desire Him also.
DAW

Who is your teacher?

For those of you who know me and those that don't but read this blog, you have by now come to see that I have been heavily influenced by the teaching of John Piper. God has greatly used Dr. Piper in teaching me His word. I have come to see that thinking is the means to understanding. Simple yes I know but all to often we ( and I mean me) just expect that if we read the Bible, no matter how cursory it may be, that that will be enough to grasp the truths of Scripture. That is not the case. God desires us to think (meditate) on His word day and night. Psalm 1. So there is no doubt that Dr. Piper has been and continues to be very influential in this area.
With that said I feel I must make a point here that I have been convicted of in recent days. I must never set Dr. Piper or anyone else in the seat of ultimate teacher in my life. Let me explain what I mean. There can come a tendency in our lives that we set someone up to be of great influence in our lives and mistakingly make them to be god. Even if they have been used by God to show us more of Himself we, as humans, can make them out to be something they are not. For example, we could perhaps interpret Scripture based on their understanding of the Bible and not God teaching us through the power of the Holy Spirit. You might ask the question, what is so wrong with getting their view on Bible interpretation. Nothing as long as you are not using them to do the work that God desires to do in you. In other words, if you would rather read men's books to grasp an understanding of Scripture than to read the Bible and think about it yourself then you are setting yourself up to be deceived. Men are fallible, all men. No matter how great they may seem to be and no matter what impact they have had on your life they are capable of being wrong. So the best thing to do is ask God to be your ultimate teacher. God wrote the book and if anyone can teach us it would be Him. Seek first God and His word, because it is absolute truth, then go to the secondary sources. We should never put man in the place of primary teacher in our life because they did not write the Scripture, God did. Go to the source. Do not just blindly believe everything that you may hear someone say. Study the Bible. Think (meditate) on the Bible and allow God to teach you first. Then utilize those whom He has also taught to help you when you need it.
It is our responsibility and our pleasure to read the Bible and know the God who redeems us. God wrote His Word not to primarily give us a list of rules to follow but rather to reveal to us who He is. It is only when we see who He is that we will change. When you get a glimpse of the holiness of God for example you will begin to hate sin more and more. A view of the cross in light of God's holiness reveals the severity and gruesomeness of sin. So read the bible and know God. Pray that He would be your primary teacher. Then go to other sources once you have thought it through. God has given us tremendous teachers to assist in pointing us in the right direction but he never means for those teachers to take his place in our lives. Seek Him first through His Word!
DAW