The Beautiful World of Surrender

As I was driving this morning on my way to work, I was confronted with a question from the Lord that I believe we seldom ever want to think about or answer---“When will you surrender all?” It was one of those “out of the blue” moments where as I was turning the van into a parking lot it was as if the Lord suddenly appeared in the passenger seat and said, “By the way, when will you surrender all?” Take a moment and consider that question for yourself. Now, take even a longer moment and think about it in all honesty, considering your life in light of Scripture, and in examining all of the things in your life that truly do not matter. I can imagine that like myself, if you’re reading this blog the many excuses for justifying the stagnant, secular, and selfish pursuits in your life are starting to come to mind. In fact, we have become the experts of creating our own definition as to what “surrender” means according to God. Like the serpent in the Garden of Eden, I can already hear my flesh asking, “Did God really say…?”

I find it interesting that in all four gospels Jesus makes this statement to his disciples, “for whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it” (Matthew 16:25, see also Matthew 10:39, Mark 8:35, Luke 9:24, 17:33, and John 12:25). What does this tell us? The obvious answer is two fold: first, Jesus most definitely said it and secondly, it must have been something of great importance to us if all of the gospel writers included it in their witness. The problem, however, is what we want to do with Jesus’ admonition to “lose our lives” for His sake. The word “lose” in this passage carries the idea of “putting out of the way entirely or abolishing.” When Jesus points out that the man who wants to “save” his life will lose it, he is referring to the idea that this person is saving himself from suffering and danger while doing everything he can to preserve or rescue his life. In essence, Jesus gives us a picture of a person who is doing everything he can to avoid the life of suffering that comes from truly giving our lives to God. The suffering I am speaking of is one that comes from the denying of one’s flesh. The flesh, when it is denied, desires desperately to be rescued safely back into its comfortable place of indulgence and control. Although God gave man dominion, man wants to rule! He is not satisfied with being the “manager” of what God has given him in life; rather, he would be more comfortable being the “dictator” over all that happens in and to his life. This is the struggle of humanity-----the struggle to maintain control.

We could sit here and argue over what exactly Jesus was trying to say when he submitted that we need to “lose” our lives. We could pretend that He is not interested in the everyday activities of our lives such as what we watch, eat, listen to, and how we use our time. We could convince ourselves that Jesus is only concerned with our “surrender” when it comes to our “spirituality” and that our physical lives are our own to do as we please. Jesus, however, said that “if a kingdom is divided against, that kingdom cannot stand” (Mark 3:24).  When Jesus spoke those words, he was explaining that it is impossible for two ruling influences to be in power at the same time in one’s life. Jesus was accused doing things by the authority of Satan while at the same time, manifesting things in his life that could only come from the authority of God. The most important thing we should note is this: we cannot have our lives both ways. Either God is God in our lives or someone else is seated upon the throne of our hearts. The ultimate proof of this is seen in our willingness or unwillingness to surrender to the Lord. Ultimately, one needs to consider what the chief goal in life actually is: is it to live for one’s self or is it to completely live for Christ?

Many of us would say that it would be to live for Christ; however, our claims are tattered with the notion that we only live for Him in a way that we still get so much of the say with what we do with our time, energy, and resources in this life. In other words, He is our source to the kingdom of God but we remain our own source while on this earthly kingdom. For me, one of the most amazing statements that Jesus made was “by myself I can do nothing…” (John 5:30). Jesus did not simply come to earth to live a good and sinless life to die on a cross-----he also came as an example to be followed or as He put it “the way, the truth, and the life…” (John 14:6). Jesus demonstrated that in all He did, He did only what His Father told Him to do (John 5:19). Did that mean everything He did in life He considered His relationship with the Father? Scripture DOES NOT suggest otherwise! We are the ones who suggest to ourselves that there are areas of our lives where we can call the shots or as I call it, “having our own little kingdom apart from God where we can rule and reign.” Whatever gave us the idea that we have the option that we can do what we want when we want and still follow Christ? Does that mean I have to consult God about things as simple as eating my three plus meals a day? Would we have any weight problems or food related illnesses if we did? If we consulted the Lord for every penny we spent would we have financial issues in our lives? We think we can make decisions a part from God but as Proverbs so eloquently puts it “There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death” (Proverbs 14:12, 16:25).

I in no way have “arrived” in this pursuit of surrender----and it is a pursuit! My life is surrounded by the things that give me a false sense of well being and help me avoid the unnecessary suffering of my flesh. If I get bored, rather than finding pleasure in God I find something to entertain me. If my flesh is hungry after I had just eaten a substantial meal, I calm it’s suffering by feeding it what it doesn’t need. I am not trying to promote asceticism but I am trying to help us consider how much of our lives are under our control rather than the control of the Spirit of the Lord. Surrender is more than a lofty ideal in the Christian faith. It is the expected ideal for fully experiencing the fruit that comes from knowing Christ. Jesus said, “If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). Our own initiatives in life result in “nothing” of value in this life or the next. We must be intimately connected to Christ in all that we do in life. Doing that, however, is only found in the difficult task of surrender. We can do many things in the kingdom of God but there is no greater expression of worshiping the Lord than to give Him all of our lives. This is a day-by-day and moment-by-moment choice; however, it is the ONLY WAY we can truly become all that God has intended us to be as it is the ONLY WAY we can come to know the true riches of becoming like Christ in all that he did. I have a long way to go but go I begin to enter into the beautiful world of surrender.  

Prepare for the Coming Storm

      The Great Tornado Outbreak of April 3, 1974 was a day in America which many will not forget. One town in particular, Xenia, was about fifty miles from where I lived as a child and if you are a student of weather history, you will have no problem recognizing the name of that city as it became known for enduring the most powerful and deadliest tornado in history. Thirty-three people died in Xenia alone with thousands injured. A wave of mass destruction was all that was left in that town. Although nothing could have prevented the obliterating damage in the wake of the aftermath, the thirty-three people who lost their lives possibly could have been saved. The most amazing part of Xenia’s story for me rests in one oversight by community officials----there were no warning sirens installed. Image how different things may have been for the families of those who had lost their lives had someone been able to warn them of the coming destructive storm.

     Like a siren that sounds when a coming tornado is on its way, the only thing that will save us as a people from reaping the consequences for the lukewarm ways of the American church is a return to a radical life of worship before the Lord. For too long we have muddled our way through the Christian faith and have compromised all that is sacred and holy for the sake of comfort, convenience, and crowds. We have lost the essentials of truth, spirit, humility, sensitivity, prayer, holiness, and the fear of the Lord. We’ve replaced these things with relevancy, entertainment, compromise, strategies, and the need to build our own kingdom in the kingdom of God. There is however, a storm that is brewing on the horizon and life as we know it, in comfortable and complacent church of America, is about to experience a wave of unprecedented destruction which will destroy the very foundations that we have placed our false sense of truth. 

     The prophet Ezekiel cried out to his people that “The end is now upon you…” I believe that even more as our nation digresses into moral filth and political corruption, his statement rings true. Jesus promised in Matthew 24-25 that there would come a day when the “end” would be evident. I believe wholeheartedly that we are in the beginning of these days----deception, wars, hatred, and false prophets. Paul echoes this by adding that in these “last days” will be filled with people who will be “lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God---having a form of godliness but denying its power” (2 Timothy 3:1-6). It doesn’t take a genius to see the increasing evidence of these things taking place in our world today.

     Worship comes down to a simple transaction which takes place in our lives: we worship which leads to knowing God more which leads to a greater life of faith. Hebrews 10:6 states “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” We cannot please God unless we have “faith.” Faith in turn, is more than simply believing something “about God;” rather, it is a belief “in” God which translates to how we live our lives. In other words, if I have faith in God I believe God, and if I believe God, then I will live my life in complete obedience to God as I truly see Him as Lord and King. 

   There is a storm that is coming very soon. A few years back, the Lord impressed upon me that I needed to “prepare for the coming storm.” Since that time, our country has drastically changed. We can now see the severe storm clouds on the horizon and they appear to be approaching us fast. More specifically, the Lord made it very clear that His people need to learn to live by faith in order to endure the fury of this coming storm. If we as His people who claim to worship Him cannot live in a way that reflects our full trust, hope, and confidence in Him when life is easy, then how will we weather the storm when it bears down upon us? I cannot help to think of Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 7:24-27 concerning the two men who chose to build their houses on completely opposite foundations. This speaks to our faith and in essence, Jesus is asking His disciples, “What will you choose to build your life upon?” 

     This is why worship in spirit and in truth is critical for the people of God. Our faith will never be anything of substance unless we come to a place where we intimately know that One who we need to place our faith in. It is only through true worship where we can discover the depths of knowing God. A half-hearted attempt which is focused on other things will never get us to a place where we can find the revealed heart of the Lord. For too long, the church has made “faith” an easy acquisition which costs the buyer nothing more than a simple prayer and weekly attendance to Sunday service. Rather than examining the reality of our anemic faith which is evidenced through the lack of the Holy Spirit’s presence and power in our midst, we make ourselves feel better by convincing ourselves how much God loves us. I will not dispute our need to know of His love but somewhere along the way, knowing of His love should cause us to forsake all that is of this world and passionately pursue His presence with a relentless desire that will stop at nothing to simply “know Him!” 

     This is ultimately where worship in spirit and in truth leads---to a place where God is everything and we are nothing. It is a life that is completely “enamored by His presence, humbled by His grace, captured by His endless love, and consumed by His embrace.” This is the cry of a heart that is desperate for God and will stop at nothing to find Him. And this is the place where faith begins. It’s not a matter of “believing” God. It is a life that has come to know the Lord so intimately that you see no other reason in all of life to seek satisfaction, provision, and passion from any other means or any other place. It is the simple expression of saying “I have all I need in Jesus.” 

     We will never come to that place unless we begin to put ourselves in a place of knowing God in greater depths. Worship should be all of life. All that we do, say, think, and believe should reflect the truth of God and the Spirit of God living within us. We need to come to grips with the notion that “there is nothing good that lives in me”----except for Jesus Christ. Why are we so afraid of this truth? Why are we so afraid to proclaim this in our churches that we are indeed unworthy, miserable and wretched people within ourselves? Rather than believing that the harsh reality of ourselves would turn people “off” to the notion of Christianity, perhaps it would make us realize the incomparable worth of our salvation resulting in a greater faith in the only One who brings any value to our lives! 

     We need to prepare for what lies ahead. We need to find ourselves in the center of the heart of God knowing that we are holding on to all that He is. The time has come to let go of all that has held us back from knowing the Lord as He desires for us to know Him. Otherwise, we will have run our race in vain. We will become like that man who built his house on the shifting sands of life only to be washed away in the coming storm. Our faith will be tested and tried beyond what we have ever experienced in this country. When that day comes the truth about and the spirit of your worship will be made known. When all is said and done, what will be said of your life in regards to how you worshiped the Lord? 

 

     The radical call to worship is one that says “He must become greater and I must become less” (John 3:30). It is the forsaking of one’s life for sake of living life for Jesus Christ. We’ve made it too much about ourselves, we’ve stolen center stage and we have forgotten our First love to love lesser things. I can only be a voice which calls forth a hungry people who would desire to forsake the things of this world to enter into another world---one of Spirit and of truth. As for me, this world can no longer hold my affections nor can it any longer demand my attention. Time is too short.

Worship in the Fast Lane

I have to make an honest confession. Sometimes when I sit in some churches I feel absolutely suffocated by all that is going on. It is as if a pillow is being smothered on my face holding me down as I try to gasp for a single breath. I have never taken amphetamines, but at times I wonder if many of our worship services have been suffering from an addiction to “speed.” Growing up, I hated roller-coasters; however, I loved anything that would spin me around to the point where it felt like I wasn’t going to be able to walk straight for a week. As I have gotten older, I have come to a startling discovery---I can no longer take the constant motion of spinning around! The proceeding migraine, nausea, and stiff neck have made me a huge fan of the simpler things in life. And like a mature adult who can no longer take the gravitational forces of amusement park rides, I have come to a place where I can no longer stomach the repetitive, going through the motions Great America theme park worship setting in the church today! As an occasional participant, I have to ask myself as I did when I stopped going to the theme park, “What’s the point?”

What is the point of what we do in the worship service today? Why do we sing the songs that we do and why do we go to such great lengths to execute every element of the service to flawless perfection? Is it so when the band strikes the last chord and the preacher has articulated his final point we can all go out the church doors going “WOW! Can’t wait to get back on this ride next time?” We hail the creativity of our services that are filled with the latest music, riveting dramas, state of the art videos, and of course, a relevant, felt needs message that is sure to keep you wanting to come back for more. But at the end of the day, what has really changed? Sure, we’ve gone through Sunday’s religious ritual with excellence and have found a way to captivate the local audience but when the curtain closes, has anything really changed? 

       

It seems that many of our worship leaders spend more time emulating the latest worship leaders by trying to mimic every nuance of their latest songs or trying to perfectly fit their weekly song selection as another creative element to seem like the service was led by the Spirit than they do in actually leading people into the throne room of God. I know, as a worship leader, I can hear the arguments of “We’re doing this for the Lord! If the world does things with excellence so should we!” I believe that to be true, but by whose standard of excellence. I’m sure that when Paul said “Be excellent in all you do” he would have much rather preferred that those involved in the worship ministry be much more excellent in prayer and the spiritual disciplines rather than being able to perfect the latest guitar lick that would send the song over the top. If we’re worshiping right, then why is everything staying the same week in and week out?

The answer is simple: We’ve come to accept worship in the fast lane---more energy, more drama, more technicalities, and more creativity which drives worship to being an event of captivation for spiritual thrill seekers. And just as it is so easy to race to the amusement park and enjoy the rides without even thinking about the hundreds of people you pass along the way who are not as fortunate as you to spend a day in the park, we have missed the bigger thrill along the way of giving those less fortunate a taste of what we have taken for granted.

When worship becomes about the worshiper the spirit of religion reigns. Religion seeks only to serve the individual and not the God of the individual. When we come to this point in our worship, the greater blessings of God are missed and the overall power of the church is diminished. We can have what we consider “great worship” in the church but in the end, if it only results on an introverted experience of our faith, then in essence, our expressions of worship means nothing as it has not changed us to the point of changing the world around us.Worship in the fast lane is a dangerous place to be. With all that we are doing in the worship services, have we also forgotten the bigger picture that screams out to us that “There is something much more than ourselves!” We can continue to live under the impression that we are touching the heart of God, when in reality, if through our lives His heart is not touching those around us---the sick, the poor, the lonely, the afflicted, and oppressed----we’ve missed the exit to where the ride of worship was intended to take us. I’m sure that in their habitual fasting God’s people in Jerusalem in Isaiah's day(see Isaiah 58) felt as if they were accomplishing something great. And just as there is “nothing new under the sun,” I cannot help to think that we also step back and relish at the heights of what our attempt to make worship better has made us feel like. I believe the real question mimics that of the prophet’s:

“Is this the kind of worship which I have chosen? That a man would delight himself for a Sunday in the midst of exceptional music, professional multi-media, riveting drama, and relevant felt-needs messages in order to sing the praises of his church and be ‘wowed” in the name of excellence?”

And just like the prophet Isaiah, I will “shout it aloud” and “raise my voice like a trumpet” to declare that the day of introverted, self-centered, amusement-based worship practices must come to an end as they are not acceptable to the Lord! We need to return to the heart of worship that will return to us the purposes of God for His church. We are to finish the work the Lord began while we wait for our day of deliverance--- and that work is to live out our worship before the Lord so that we declare to the world that is missing out on the pleasure which we have been privileged to enjoy: 

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

Luke 4:18-19

Is Jesus Better?

The Song of Solomon is an often neglected and mistreated book of the Old Testament. Theologians have labored in finding its significance and preachers have abused its context in making it mean what it does not. Some have even developed end-times theologies based upon the “bride paradigm” and believe that the book unlocks mysteries that promote a deeper and more intimate relationship with Christ. In reality, the Song of Solomon is a poem about two lovers who celebrate the joy their marital relationship. This however, does not mean that there are no parallels that reflect upon our relationship with Christ. After all, we are the Bride of Christ and He is the Lover of Our Souls. Paul explained in Ephesians 5 that marriage is a reflection of one’s relationship with Christ. It is our earthy institution that best explains our heavenly relationship with Christ (v.31-32). With this in mind, the Song of Solomon provides some challenges for the reader in the area of evaluating one’s passion for Christ.

One verse in particular, brings a great deal of conviction when I ponder its implications in my relationship with Christ. The author writes, “How is your beloved better than others, most beautiful of women? How is your beloved better than others that you charge us so?” (Song of Solomon 5:9). The woman in this passage was passionately seeking after her lover and begged for her friends to join her in the pursuit of finding him. Their response in our vernacular would have sounded more like, “What makes him so great? What makes him so different that you’re asking us to join you in your pursuit?” I believe that this is a fair question for those friends to ask. After all, it is the middle of the night and the woman is asking her friends for quite a commitment on their part. Although we would most likely not ask our friends to help us chase down someone who we are madly in love with, we would ask others to consider following us as we follow after the Lover of Our Soul----and this is where this passage begins to convict.

As Christians, we make certain claims about Jesus. We believe Him to be the most important part of our lives. We believe His Word to be true and that He keeps that Word. We believe Him to be our strength, sufficiency, comfort, joy, and even our Healer. We believe that He is God Almighty and that He is to be worshiped with all of our heart. The problem lies that when others look at our lives, does our example answer the question of “How is your beloved better than others…how is your beloved better than others that you charge us so?” We make claims that we are worshipers of Jesus, but do the actions, attitudes, and activities we choose to participate in reflect those claims? I can say that living for Jesus is “better” than choosing to live for this world but if my life does not look any different from those choosing to NOT live for Christ, then who am I kidding? This extends well past the idea that “because I go to church” I show how much Jesus means to me mentality. A passion for Christ that screams “HE IS BETTER THAN ALL ELSE” is something that needs to be a part of every fabric of my life---otherwise I live as a hypocrite. Jesus did not claim that He was “the way for some of life, the truth for only what I choose to believe, and the life when only I want to act like someone who loves Christ.” No, He said He is “THE way, THE truth, and THE life!” (John 14:6).

In George Barna’s book Growing True Disciples, he conducted a study which discovered that for the most part, professing Christians are no different in beliefs, actions, and attitudes in life than non-believers. And yet, these same Christians also make the claim that “Jesus is better than all else.” The simple truth is that we cannot claim to be “following after Jesus” while living as those who do not follow after Jesus. If Jesus is “more” than all else in this life, then our example would fully promote that. We would not be focused upon the priorities of pursuing wealth, materialism, fashion, entertainment, success, and questionable indulging that identifies us with worldly living. Rather, we would show with our lives that Jesus has “another way” of living. Those who choose to follow that way will easily be able to answer the question of “What makes Jesus better than the life I already have?” In fact, they won’t have to speak a word to answer that question as the life that passionately pursues Jesus will be evident and DIFFERENT from anything this world has to offer!

A Fire That Lives

Did you ever have one of those experiences when you read a book and said to yourself, “I’m not sure of I got it?” Don’t get me wrong, the book I finished just a few days ago was an entertaining piece of work but when it was all over, I wasn’t sure what the author was actually trying to say from a theological or biblical standpoint. It appears that he was trying to emphasize the fact that those who have grown up without fathers are not abandoned but have become “wounded healers” that have something to invest in the lives of others who grew up in similar circumstances. For me, however, he missed a golden opportunity to allow something much more profound to happen through the experience of his reading his book----he missed allowing the voice of the Lord to speak through the mouthpiece of Scripture throughout the pages. I’m not suggesting that Christian authors fill every other thought with a verse from the Bible, but I am suggesting that as much as we try to convey truth in our own words, sometimes the Word of God speaks to us in greater volumes that our inadequate words ever could attempt to do.

I am now reading another book, The Fire of the Word by Chris Webb. If read properly, it will take me four months to go through this 190 page book. It’s about coming back to a place in our lives where we actually experience the Word of God as it was intended to be experienced. Already, God has given me revelation that I perhaps have not yet considered. As I read my passage of Scripture for today’s reflection, I was reminded of what the “Word of God” means to us who open our Bibles daily in the attempts to hear God’s voice. 1 Samuel 3:1-10 records the story of a young Samuel who receives his calling from the Lord. The imagery is interesting as it shows two different postures of people and two different experiences each one has. First there is Eli. We find him sleeping in his usual place. Then we have Samuel who decides to lay down by the Ark of the Covenant. As you read the story, Samuel is privileged to hear the voice of God calling his name while Eli gets this story second hand from what Samuel experiences. Did you ever think that this is what happens in the church time and time again? There are those who hear God’s voice and those who hear God’s voice second hand through what others experience. The difference is in one’s posture and position before the Lord. Samuel put himself in a place where he was in God’s presence while Eli lived by his routine. Samuel did what was necessary to get as close to God’s presence as he could while Eli was content with being “in the temple” but not in the Most Holy Place.

I think you can easily see the parallels between those who genuinely desire to worship God (Samuel) and those who go through the motions of religion (Eli); however, there is something even more profound in this passage. This is about the Word of the Lord and our ability to hear His voice. God has made it known that He speaks---and I believe He is speaking all of the time. If that is not the case, then we cannot claim that the Bible is the “living Word of God.” His voice constantly speaks to our lives. The problem is that we are not listening. Why? Because our lives are not in position to do so! Hebrews 4:12 states “For the Word of God is LIVING AND ACTIVE…” In other words, each and every time we open the pages of Scripture, GOD IS SPEAKING! But do we hear? Are we listening? Chris Webb made a statement that has stayed with me all week. He suggested that God’s invitation to his word is “not to explain God but to experience God” (Webb 2011, 21). I think too many times when we open His Word we search for “information.” We search for some “truth” he might have for us-----but are we searching FOR HIM? The Bible is much more than a book, but too often I read it like I read To Own a Dragon and I find myself saying, “Some good stuff here but I’m still not satisfied.”

I propose a new approach to God’s Word for this New Year. Rather than being like Eli and opening Scripture from “routine and duty” that we approach it like Samuel. We put ourselves in a position of being able to hear God’s voice----still, quiet, reverent, and making our lives a “Most Holy Place.” If we can do that, then all we need to do is to open our ears and listen for the voice of the Lord. When we open the pages of the Bible we are not opening the pages of just another book----we are opening our lives to the voice of the Lord. He will call our name and when he does we simply need to reply “Speak, for your servant is listening.”

The Coming of a King

It was dark days and the world was in disarray when the announcement first came to a people who were subject to a wicked king, “ The people walking in darkness have seen a great light…for unto us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders” (Isaiah 9:1, 6). The words of the prophet Isaiah came at a time when trusting God was no longer in the interest of the Israel. King Ahaz had decided, despite the fact that Isaiah had told him to “trust God” when faced with the invasion of an enemy, to take it upon himself to place the “government upon his shoulders.” For most kings, this was the normal way of life----they were kings and they ruled their kingdoms. Not so with Israel. They had a king, but he did not rule the kingdom. He was not to be the supreme ruler; rather, he was to be an administrator and was to faithfully serve the people under the hand of God’s authority. God’s people allowed a tyrant on the throne who had forgotten that when it came to His kingdom, God alone had the authority to rule and reign.

The repercussions of Ahaz (and other kings who choose to place the “government upon their own shoulders”) brought the people of God into even darker days under the rule of an empire not their own: Rome. During those days another announcement came, “Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger” (Luke 2:11-12). In the midst of living among the most powerful earthly kingdom to ever be upon the face of the earth in all of history, God announced that His king had now come to change the entire power structure of mankind. This time, however, it was not about lands, armies, empires, or politics. It was about coming to rule the unconquerable kingdom of the hearts of man and the human spirit. Although a few recognized that the “child was given” to rule and reign in their lives, many continued on in the same fashion as Ahaz and trusted in their ability to rule their own lives.

Psalm 89 speaks of God’s rule and reign over all of creation. It calls for men to bow before His throne and just as Isaiah promised, the psalmist recognized that one day that upon David’s throne, would sit one who would be exalted over all the “kings of the earth” and who would rule forever (Psalm 89:27-29). Today, that person is sitting on that throne. Do we recognize that? The psalmist goes on to describe something that is all too common in our world concerning this King---“You have exalted the right hand of his foes…” (Ps. 89:42). The psalmist recognized that because Israel failed to maintain the covenant relationship between and God and themselves, God turned them over to the authority of their enemies. The result is that for many, like in the days of Ahaz and in the days of Rome, nothing has changed and life remains under the rule of someone other than the One who is destined to rule.

Christmas is a powerful reminder that a King has come. He has not come to simply give us a warm and wonderful story that will be reproduced over and over until we lose sight of its true meaning. He came to be KING! He came in the hopes that we would no longer “exalt the right hand” of his foes and would exalt Him to the rightful place in our lives. In the bible, the “right hand” is symbolic of authority, rule, and power. Isaiah’s promise was that when the child was born, the “government will be upon his shoulder.” In other words, He was given the authority to rule and reign in our lives. We’ve been given this promise. We’ve been given this King to rule and reign our lives----but is His right hand exalted in our lives or that of his foes? The foes are no longer physical governments that attempt to dictate to how men should live; consequently, it is the government of men's hearts that stand to assert the “right hand” of authority over Christ. It is pride, greed, envy, lust, anger, bitterness, doubt, worry, and fear that represent the “foes” of this King. We cannot go through life after having encountered the King and then exalt the right hand of his foes in our hearts----otherwise, His coming to us would be in vain. We would be no different that the countless people who throughout the ages have missed the point: Jesus Christ has come to rule and reign as King over our lives. Either He is or He isn’t. A salvation that doesn’t have Jesus Christ reigning in our hearts and reigning over His foes is no salvation at all! 

If there is any doubt as to why Jesus Christ came, it will one day be made crystal clear. This king is coming once again. In his first coming, he established a throne within the hearts of men. In his second coming, he will establish his physical kingdom. No longer will there be ANY foes to be found. Echoing throughout the heavens and the earth we will hear “The kingdom of this world has become the kingdom of our Lord and His Christ, and He will reign forever and ever” (Revelation 11:15). My prayer is that during this Christmas season you would remember that we have been given a King to rule our lives and because of that, we would actually allow Him to have that place in our hearts.

The Making of an Unshakable Life

The great questions of Psalm 15 “Lord, who may dwell in your sanctuary?” and “Who may live on your holy hill?” centers on the realization that there are conditions which are present and must be fulfilled if one is to obtain the privileged life that lives in the favor of the Lord. Jesus echoes this idea throughout the Gospels in making statements such as “…anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:27), “ For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:20) and “ I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it” (Mark 10:15). In making such statements, one could easily argue that there are individuals who inherit salvation based on their faith in the work of Christ who are vastly different from those who have experienced salvation but have inherited the kingdom of God as a way of life. The latter are the people, who Spurgeon explains that are “Members of the visible church, which is God’s tabernacle of worship, and hill of eminence,” that “diligently see to it, that they have the preparation of heart which fits them to be inmates of the house of God.”[i] Those who “dwell” in God’s sanctuary and “live on His holy hill” have made certain “marks” in their lives----lines in the sand that have propelled them into a life of Christian maturity.

Centuries before Jesus revealed to His disciples the challenges that would face those who desired to obtain a life defined by the kingdom, David penned the words of Psalm 15 realizing that in order to become a person whose life would be identified as being “unshakable” in worshiping Yahweh, there were stipulations which needed to be fulfilled to experience such a life. Although it only contains five verses, Psalm 15, reveals three “marks” of maturation that must be present in one’s life if one is to live an “unshakable life” that is defined by the presence of God; consequently, these three “marks” are the result of the life-long journey of pursuing a life of spiritual formation, which is steeped in discipline and exercised through the desire to know God deeply and passionately.

The first mark of maturity that allows one to live an unshakable life is purity. David said in response to his question of “who may dwell..?” (v.1) in the sanctuary and holy hill of God, that it is “He whose walk is blameless…”(v.2) who will be able to reside there. The Hebrew word, tamiym means “complete, whole, without defect, and entirely in accord with truth and fact.”[ii] Blamelessness infers that when a life is under examination through the eyes of the Lord, He is seeing a complete, unadulterated heart that is free from sinful contaminates. The whole person is able to stand in purity before the Lord. The way of blamelessness, however, is not an easy road for the believer to walk. It is evident that those who would strive for purity in a world that is over wrought with sin would need to maintain a disciplined life. This calls for the practice of submission in every area of one’s life. Richard Foster explains that submission is “…the ability to lay down the burden of always needing to get our own way.”[iii] It is the self-less life that leads to the blameless life as one seeks to fulfill the living out of the pure love of Christ in “laying down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). As one submits to the will of the Lord, he is able to fulfill the act of blameless living as David described as “who does his neighbor no wrong” (Ps. 15:3).

The second mark of maturity found in Psalm 15 is obedience. David’s observation that those whose walk is “blameless” may dwell in the unshakable place of the Lord’s presence is followed by the addition of “and who does what is righteous” (v.2). The word righteous in this context portrays the meaning of doing what is “ethically and morally right.”[iv] In order for one to do what is morally and ethically “right” one must adhere to the commandments of the Lord. By doing so, one is exercising the discipline of worship. Foster writes that “just as worship begins in holy expectancy, it ends in holy obedience…in all things and in all ways we do exactly what Christ says because we have a holy obedience that has been cultivated over years of experience.”[v] Although the believer has been given a “righteousness in Christ” (Phil. 3:9), the act of righteousness, which David is referring to in Psalm 15, is something which must be exercised in one’s life. Disciplines such as study, prayer, worship, and service, all play an important role in developing an obedient heart which seeks to live out the commandments of the Lord. Only in doing so can one “do what is righteous;” otherwise, acts of righteousness would be exercised through selfish motives rather than the desire to please God. David inserts the application of what the practice of righteousness reflects itself in one’s life as being “…has no slander…does no wrong…casts no slur…keeps his oath…and does not accept a bribe” (Ps. 15:3-5). Thus, obedience to what the Lord requires in one’s life results in acts of righteousness which allows one to “…dwell in your sanctuary” in unshakable worship before the Lord.

The third mark of maturity found in Psalm 15 is one of “integrity.” It has been said, that “Integrity is who you are when no one is looking.”  David’s reflection on this idea in Psalm 15 is found in the phrase, “…who speaks the truth from his heart” (Ps. 15:2). The word “truth” denotes “faithfulness, stability, continuance and reliability.”[vi] Speaking truth from one’s heart expresses more than spoken words. Motives and thoughts are things which also come from the heart. If one is not faithfully, continually, and reliably living out the “truth” of the Christian life then speaking “truth” from one’s heart would be an impossibility. Only a person who will remain true to themselves can fulfill what David had in mind for this requirement of the unshakable life. Matthew 5: 8 states “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”  John Stott notes that those who have a “pure heart” have a heart that is “utterly sincere,” furthermore, he adds that “Their whole life, public and private, is transparent before God…yet how few of us live one life and live it in the open.”[vii] Truth encompasses the essence of the spiritual disciplines. Without one living in integrity, the foundations of spiritual formation cannot be supported as one would deny the truth of who he is in Christ and opt to live his life governed by the flesh. To dwell in the sanctuary of God and live in His holy hill, however, the believer must be true to the life he has been given and through that life----physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually, speak the truth in all things.

A life that reflects purity, obedience and integrity is not a result of an instantaneous work of the Spirit; rather, it is a result of a life that journeys on the road of spiritual formation. Psalm 15 shares the important truth that if one chooses to embark on the journey one can live an unshakable life which dwells with the presence of God. Although the believer has been given all he needs in Christ to fulfill what is required for the unshakable life, he must realize that “sufficient strength and insight” will not “be automatically infused into our being in the moment of need.”[viii] The context of Psalm 15 makes it clear that the privilege of living the unshakable life is a matter of choice. God cannot make His people choose purity, obedience or integrity. He cannot make them choose a holy life nor can He make them choose a disciplined life. He can, however, make it possible. By giving the believer the opportunity to take the “yoke” of Christ upon him and by “adopting His overall life style,” the unshakable life becomes a reality.[ix] This reality can only be made possible through a life of spiritual formation. The disciplining of one’s self to live as Jesus lived. The provision has already been made. One only needs to discipline one’s self to pursue the life that has been provided. In other words, mature in the Christian life. If one can do that, then he can come to live the unshakable life that dwells in the presence of the Lord.

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[i] C. H. Spurgeon, The Treasury of David: vol. 1(Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1974), 176.

[ii] Edward W. Goodrick and John R. Kohlenberger III, The Strongest NIV Exhaustive Concordance (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1999), 1508.

[iii] Richard J. Foster, Celebration of Discipline (New York: Harper One, 1998), 111.

[iv] Francis Brown, The Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon (Peabody: Hendrickson Publishers, 2008), 841.

[v] Richard J. Foster, Celebration of Discipline, 173.

[vi] Blue Letter Bible. "Book of Psalms 15 - (NIV - New International Version)." Blue Letter Bible. 1996-2010. 3 Oct 2010. < http://www.blueletterbible.org/Bible.cfm?b=Psa&c=15&t=NIV >.

[vii] John R. W. Stott, The Message of the Sermon on the Mount (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1978), 49.

[viii] Dallas Willard, The Spirit of the Disciplines,(New York: Harper One, 1988), 4.

[ix] Ibid., 5.