How Mercy and Justice Work Together

I will sing of mercy and justice:
To You, O LORD, I will sing praises.

(Psalm 101:1)

Mercy and justice are not in competition. In fact, they work together. The justice of God is what sets things right, and it is a good thing. Of course, if you are on the wrong side of God’s justice, you might not think it so wonderful.

But that’s where the mercy of God steps in. The Hebrew word for “mercy” is hesed (or chesed, with the guttural kh sound). God’s hesed is His steadfast love and mercy. It is the love with which He has covenanted to be always be good to His people. It matches the agape love of the New Testament.

Here is how God’s mercy and justice work together:

• The justice of God comes and sets things right
• The mercy of God comes and sets you on the right side of His justice.

God’s mercy and justice come together in the Lord Jesus Christ, who took our sins upon Himself and nailed them to the Cross. Mercy and justice have both now been satisfied in the Lord Jesus, and we receive this through faith in Him.

No wonder, then, that David says, “I will sing of mercy and justice.” Together they come and set things right for you and me — and position us to receive blessing. In other words, God’s mercy means that it is just and right for God to bless us now. So David gladly becomes the minstrel who sings of both mercy and justice.

David quickly adds, “To You, O LORD, I will sing praises.” You see, mercy and justice are all about God. They begin out of His initiative and out of His goodness. It is God’s nature to do right and to set things right — that’s the holiness of God. But it is also God’s nature to show mercy to His wayward people — that’s the love of the God who is love.

Today is the day to sing of God’s mercy AND His justice, for they are both for your benefit and blessing. Sing praises to the LORD who has covenanted to love you forever, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Tapping Into the Mind of God

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,” says the LORD. (Isaiah 55:8)

Our minds were made, not to think our own thoughts and have our own understanding, but to think His thoughts and operate in His understanding — His Spirit communicating to our spirit. That certainly unlocks the cage and sets the canary free.

What a blessed place we come to when we get tired of our own incompetent ways and limited thoughts. We don't need those stinkin' things, anyway. Never did—they only do us harm. But we have the Spirit and the Word and the Blood and the Name, and a God whose plan is to reveal His ways and His thoughts upon the earth through us!

In Joel 2 and Acts 2, God speaks of pouring out His Spirit on all flesh. “And your young men shall see visions, and your old men dream dreams.” What strikes me about that is that the old men, when they are filled with the Spirit, do not sit around reminiscing about “way back when.” No, they become oriented in a different direction. They dream dreams. They are not caught in the past but look to the future and what God is bringing forth.

Yes, God is looking for those who will dream His dreams upon the earth. He will fulfill them if we will dream them, and we will dream them when we give up on ourselves and learn to tap into Him.

Loud, Disruptive Praise

Oh come, let us sing to the LORD!
Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation.
Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving;
Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms.

(Psalm 95:1-2)

Can you believe it? This is an invitation to party with the Lord. Come!
The word for “sing” (Hebrew ranan) means to shout aloud, to cry out for joy. Not at all vague or tentative — it is an overcoming sound, a sound of rejoicing and triumph.

Come and “shout joyfully.” The Hebrew word is rua and means to mar the silence, to split the ears with sound. It is a loud and clamorous noise. Maybe some people cannot carry a melodious tune, but is there anybody who cannot make a joyful noise? In my neighborhood there is a guy who, every time our hometown football team scores a goal, will either grab his trumpet and give a loud blast, or else run out to his car and lay on the horn. That’s rua, a joy-filled, unrestrained noise of celebration.

What’s all the clamor about? The Rock of our salvation. The Rock speaks of a stable and secure refuge, a place of strength and advantage, a superior position high above the enemy. “Salvation” is deliverance, safety and even prosperity. The Hebrew word is yesha. This is the salvation (yasha) that comes from the Lord (Yahweh), the equivalent of Yeshua (Yahweh saves), and that is the name of Jesus.

If that doesn’t prime your pump, you just need more revelation about Jesus, who He is and who you are in Him. [See Getting a Revelation of Jesus]

Come before His presence. That is, don’t delay a second, but hurry to meet Him. In His presence is the place to be. Come running, and bring your todah with you. Todah is praise and thanksgiving, the lifting of your hands in adoration toward Him. It is the attitude of a grateful heart turned loosed into the body. It is worship that doesn’t hold back.

Shout joyfully to the Lord! God says it twice — the second witness to establish the fact that God wants us to get loud and joyful, even disruptive in our praise. Bellow out to Him with songs of praise — break out your instruments and pluck, pound, blow, fram and frail. Bring all your best riffs. Don’t worry about being prim and proper — this is a jam session, so turn it all loose before Him. Get a Saturday night frame of mind and celebrate Jesus with all your heart.

When God Delivers His People

Rescue me and deliver me from the hand of foreigners,
  Whose mouth speaks lying words,
  And whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood —

(Psalm 144:11)

David is the psalm writer here. In this prayer, he is not just asking for himself. He is king, and he is seeking deliverance for the sake of his people. Deliverance from “foreigners,” people who do not know the God of Israel. They are the enemies of His people. So the promises that follow are not just for David or a few select individuals. They are for all God's people.

That our sons may be as plants grown up in their youth
  That our daughters may be as pillars,
  Sculptured in palace style.

(Psalm 144:12)

When God brings deliverance to His people, they also receive promise for their children. The prophet Isaiah echoes this in Isaiah 54.13, “All your children shall be taught by the LORD, and great shall be the peace [shalom, the peace that comes from being made whole] of your children.”

That our barns may be full,
  Supplying all kinds of produce;
That our sheep may bring forth thousands
  And ten thousands in our fields
That our oxen may be well laden

(Psalm 144:13-14)

When God brings deliverance to His people, they have provision of every kind. Their barns are full and their goods are multiplied. This is reminiscent of the covenant blessings found in Deuteronomy, “And you shall remember the LORD your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers” (Deut. 8.17).

That there be no breaking in or going out;
That there be no outcry in our streets.

(Psalm 144:14)

When God brings deliverance to His people, He blesses them with security. There is no fear, for the LORD is their God.

Happy are the people who are in such a state;
Happy are the people whose God is the LORD!

(Psalm 144:15)

These blessings are for all the people of God. None are left out. When God delivers His people, anyone who knows the LORD may claim these promises, and they will not be denied. If people of old covenant were thus blessed, think how much more people of the new covenant are blessed.

The good news of the Gospel is that, in Jesus Christ, God has delivered us from everything that keeps us from Him and the life He desires for us. Nothing now stands in the way, except for unbelief.

Psalm 144 is good “praying ground,” because it expresses the will of God for His delivered people. First John 5:14-15 gives us the assurance that when we pray according to God's will, He hears us, and we will have our prayers answered.

Let the words of this psalm fill your mouth in prayer. Let them be on your lips in praise. Let faith rise up in your heart as you meditate on these promises from God's Word. Then begin watching for the answer to emerge.

The Nearly Perfect Crime

The Nearly Perfect Crime
How the Church Almost Killed the Ministry of Healing
by Francis MacNutt

Francis MacNutt has written an insightful book about how the ministry of healing has been greatly diminished in the Church for centuries (almost 1600 hundred years!). Healing was a major part of the ministry of Jesus and His disciples, the record of which takes up about a third of the Gospels, not to mention the book of Acts. Throughout, MacNutt emphasizes the importance of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, not just for healing ministry, but for every ministry.

MacNutt shows how healing ministry flourished for the first three centuries, and was then sidelined by nominal Christianity beginning with the Constantinian era. He details how ecclesiastical structures and the developing clergy/laity distinction quickly began to remove healing ministry from the hands of the people — it became a work for the “super-spiritual,” and few could qualify to perform it (some of the Desert Fathers, for example). Healing shortly became the province of relics and shrines — and the clergy no longer had to deal with embarrassing questions when healings did not occur at their hands.

He also talks about how the purpose of God’s love and compassion in healing had been severely neglected in the intervening centuries. Healing ministry became viewed strictly as a validation of truth, but was no longer necessary for faith. “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe” became the watchword, and interest in the display of God’s love through healing fell by the way.

MacNutt discusses how the Platonic split between body and soul, and the severe doctrines of the Manichees (i.e. the intrinsic evil of the flesh, and especially of sexuality) further eviscerated the ministry of healing. During the middle ages, the development of the “divine right of kings” generated “the Royal Touch,” and healing ministry was limited, by law, to the monarchs of England and France.

Although a committed Roman Catholic, MacNutt believes that the Reformation did not extend far enough in its scope — the Reformers continued to ignore the reality of healing ministry. Oh, they recognized that there had once been such a thing in Jesus’ day, but now that time was past, and the ministry had ceased. So much for reformation!

But all along the way, there have been healing ministers and ministries among the people, arising in times of revival and when people were desperate for a healing touch from God. In the last 300 hundred years there have been some glimpses of healing ministry arising again, then faltering. Then it began trending upward in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, mostly among the pentecostally inclined. These came to include the charismatic and “third wave” movements late in the mid-to-late 1900s, about which MacNutt writes from personal experience (the appendix is a testimony of how he received the baptism, or “release” of the Holy Spirit, into his life and ministry).

In all, Francis MacNutt brings us understanding about the decline of healing ministry, but also a hope and a challenge to welcome the release of the Holy Spirit and healing ministry back into the Western Church  — just as it has been increasingly been experienced in the Third Word Church.

The Nearly Perfect Crime (now available at Amazon.com)

Meditation in the Psalms

In the Psalms, as well as in the Bible in general, meditation is not about emptying our minds, but about filling our hearts and mouths with the things of God: the words, the works, the wonders, the majesty and the love of God, and ultimately, on God Himself. Here are some Hebrew words concerning meditation:

• Damah — to compare or consider
• Siyach — to ponder and converse with oneself (aloud)
• Hagah — to ponder or imagine; literally, to murmer

Benefits of Meditation

Let the words of my mouth
  and the meditation [higgayon, from hagah] of my heart
Be acceptable in Your sight,
  O LORD, my strength and my Redeemer.

(Psalm 19:14)

The word for “acceptable” means pleasure, delight and favor. When we learn to meditate on the things of God, it is a delight to Him and brings forth His favor.

My mouth shall speak wisdom,
And the meditation [haguth, from hagah] of my heart shall give understanding.

(Psalm 49:3)

Meditation brings understanding. When we put it in our mouth and speak it forth, it is the wisdom of God.

Hear my voice, O God, in my meditation [siyach];
Preserve my life from fear of the enemy.

(Psalm 64:1)

Some people meditate on the enemy, but when our meditation is on God, He hears, and we are delivered from fear of the enemy.

May my meditation [siyach] be sweet to Him;
I will be glad in the LORD.

(Psalm 104:34)

Meditating on the things of God is sweet to Him and brings delight and joy to us as well.

I have more understanding than all my teachers,
For Your testimonies are my meditation [siychah, from siyach].

(Psalm 119:99)

Meditation on the truths of God’s Word give us understanding, more than our teachers can give.

Evening and morning and at noon
I will pray [siyach], and cry aloud,
And He shall hear my voice.

(Psalm 55:17)

Anytime day or night, when we meditate on God and cry out to Him, He hears us, and hearing us, He acts on our behalf.

On the Word of God

Blessed is the man
Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,
Nor stands in the path of sinners,
Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;
But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
And in His law he meditates [hagah] day and night.

(Psalm 1:1-2)

My eyes are awake through the night watches,
That I may meditate [siyach] on Your Word.

(Psalm 119:148)

I will meditate [siyach] on Your precepts,
And contemplate Your ways.

(Psalm 119:15)

On the Works of God

I have considered the days of old,
  The years of ancient times.
  I call to remembrance my song in the night;
I meditate [siyach] within my heart,
  And my spirit makes diligent search….
I will also meditate [hagah] on all Your work,
  And talk of Your deeds.

(Psalm 77:5-6, 12)

I remember the days of old;
I meditate [hagah] on all Your works;
I muse [siyach] on the work of Your hands.

(Psalm 143:5)

On the Wonders of God

Sing to Him, sing psalms to Him;
Talk [siyach] of all His wondrous works!

(Psalm 105:2)

Make me understand the way of Your precepts;
So shall I meditate [siyach] on Your wondrous works.

(Psalm 119:27)

On the Majesty of God

I will meditate [siyach] on the glorious splendor of Your majesty,
And on Your wondrous works.

(Psalm 145:5)

On the Love of God

Within Your temple, O God,
We meditate [damah] on Your unfailing love.

(Psalm 48:9 NIV)

On God Himself

When I remember You on my bed,
I meditate [hagah] on You in the night watches.

(Psalm 63:6)

Meditate on God and the things of God at all times. Let them fill your heart, your mouth and your mind, and the blessings and benefits of God will begin to fill your life.

Burdens or Benefits?

Blessed be the Lord,
Who daily loads us with benefits,
The God of our salvation!

Selah.

(Psalm 68:19)

“Who daily loads us with benefits.” That’s how the King James has it, and the New King James. The NIV and the NASB have, “Who daily bears our burden(s).”

So, which is it? Burdens or benefits?

The Hebrew text is a bit enigmatic here, as it does not use the word for either “burden” or “benefit.” In fact, there is no noun used there at all, only a verb. Young’s Literal Translation brings that out: “Blessed is the Lord, day by day He layeth on us.” The Message has it, “Day after day He carries us along.”

The verb for “load” (“Who daily loads us with benefits”) can mean loading on, but it can also mean to take up a load. So we’re back where we started.

Certainly, it is a great benefit when the Lord takes up our burdens for us. That is exactly what Jesus did for us at the Cross — He took up our sins upon Himself so that we don’t have to bear them any more. Isaiah 53 also speaks of Jesus bearing our sicknesses and carrying our pains (v. 3; see also Matthew 8:17) and says that by His stripes we were healed (v. 5).

Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, the Anointed One (they all mean the same thing). Isaiah shows us the anointing and what it means: “It shall come to pass in that day that his burden will be taken away from your shoulder, and his yoke from your neck, and the yoke will be destroyed because of the anointing oil” (Isaiah 10:27).

We see this echoed in Jesus’ words: “Come unto Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30). Jesus exchanged the heavy yoke of oppression for His yoke, which is easy because He bears it with us.

So, maybe it’s “Who daily bears our burdens.”

On the other hand, there is more to our salvation than what Jesus bore for us. There are also the things He has given to us, and these, too, are great benefits — too great and too many for me to do them justice here. But David sums up the wonderful benefits of the Lord in Psalm 103:

Bless the LORD, O my soul,
  And forget not all His benefits;
Who forgives all your iniquities,
  Who heals all your diseases,
Who redeems your life from destruction,
  Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies,
Who satisfies your mouth [desires] with good things,
  So that your youth is renewed like the eagles.

(Psalm 103:2-5).

So maybe it’s, “Who daily loads us with benefits.”

In the context of Psalm 68, we see God portrayed as a conquering King ascending to His throne: “You have ascended on high, You have led captivity captive; You have received gifts among men” (Psalm 68:18). But how does that play into verse 19?

Paul quotes this passage in Ephesians 4, referring to the Ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ and how He gave gifts to His body, the Church:

But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore He says:

“When He ascended on high,
He led captivity captive,
And gave gifts to men.”

(Ephesians 4:7-8)

Wait a minute — doesn’t that just create another problem? I mean, Psalm 68 says He received gifts and Ephesians 4 says He gave gifts. It really is no problem, though, when you understand the triumphal return of a conquering king. He was not only greeted by the people, but he was also given gifts and tribute. Then, in turn, he would give out those gifts to others who, for example, supported him in battle. So there was both receiving and giving of gifts.

So maybe, in the context of receiving (and giving) of gifts, it is, “Who daily loads us with benefits.”

Perhaps it is best to think of it as two sides of the same coin. And whichever one you are feeling the need for most on any given day, burden-bearing or benefit-blessing, that’s the one you can look to the Lord for. Whichever way you take it, remember that it is daily — day after day, God is faithful to bear our burdens and to bless us. So why not look to Him for both — every day.

Here’s one more thing — and to me, it is the most exciting thing. We’ve seen how Jesus fulfills this passage either way, both bearing our burdens and blessing us with benefits. But I want you to notice that His name is even embedded in this text. The last line of the verse reads, “The God of our salvation.” The Hebrew word for “salvation” here is yeshua, and that is the Hebrew name for Jesus.

For every need, God has a provision. Claim it.
For every burden, God has a benefit. Receive it.
For every problem, God has a promise. Believe it.

Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears your burdens and loads you with benefits, the God of your salvation — Jesus! Selah on that for a while.

Barefoot at the Burning Bush

Back when I was in the Presbyterian church, my old pastor and I used to have a running discussion about Moses and the desert and the burning bush (see Exodus 3). At the time, we were both trying to understand our own circumstances and callings in the flickering light of that paradigm. We began to develop a theory that when Moses ran from Egypt and fled to the desert, maybe it was not originally a desert at all. Maybe it was a lush and lovely forest. Not the backside of the desert, but the backwoods.

So maybe one day, God decides to get Moses’ attention, because He has something that He wants to do in and with and through Moses. And so He sets one of those trees on fire — torches it as a fiery beacon of His presence. But Moses isn't paying attention, and so he misses it.

The next day, God tries again. Whoompsh! Another tree bursts into flames. Again, Moses misses it. But God doesn't give up — He never gives up.

And so, day after day, greatly desiring to do a mighty work for and with Moses, God lights up trees and bushes and shrubs. And day after day, Moses, maybe absorbed with being rejected by his people, and perhaps remembering the princely courts of Egypt which adorned his former days, doesn't even notice.

Months pass. Years go by, until, one day, Moses no longer dwells in a lush and lovely forest at all, but in a dry and dusty desert. He no longer thinks about what once was or what might have been. He is an old man now.

But there is one last little bush left. And God hasn't given up — He never gives up. So He sets this one last little bush on fire. But He cannot let it be consumed by the flames because it is the last little bush.

Now we know from Scripture that Moses does eventually see the burning bush, but we are never told how long it took. Could've been days. Could've been months. Could've been years. The bush burning all the while. But finally! Moses looks and, behold! The bush is burning with fire and is not consumed. Moses says to himself, “I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn” (v. 3).

It is at that moment, when Moses turns aside from his routine, from his own thoughts and his own ways — it is at that moment that God calls out to him from the midst of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And Moses stepped into a life-changing, world-changing encounter with the Lord of heaven and earth.

God says that His ways are higher than our ways, and His thoughts higher than our thoughts (Isaiah 55:8-9). He calls us to trust in Him with all our hearts and lean not on our own understanding (Proverbs 3:5). Are you ready to turn aside from your own ways and thoughts to embrace His? A wonderful adventure awaits.

(You can read more about this "barefoot adventure" in Walking Barefoot: Living in Prayer, Faith & the Power of God, from Walking Barefoot Ministries. Also at Amazon in print and Kindle.)

Becoming a Son of Encouragement

Let me tell you about Joseph, “a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means Son of Encouragement)” (Acts 4:36). The Greek word translated “encouragement” here is paraklesis, from para, meaning “by the side,” or “alongside,” and kaleo, “to call.” Paraklesis is a picture of one coming alongside and calling out to another. It is a word of gentleness and strength that speaks of exhortation as well as encouragement, of challenge as well as comfort. The apostle Paul numbered paraklesis among the spiritual gifts in Romans 12.

Spiritual encouragement is an “alongside” ministry. It means talking with people, “up close and personal,” rather than shouting at them from a distance. It means helping them find their spiritual way, the path God calls them to walk, rather than leading them in our footsteps. It requires the vision to see what God can do in a person's life.

Barnabas had such a vision. When the apostle Paul first became a believer, he ceased persecuting Christians and began preaching Jesus in the synagogues. But when the disciples in Jerusalem were afraid and did not think him sincere, it was Barnabas who recognized the work of God in Saul (later called Paul) and brought him into the fellowship (Acts 9:27).

When the first Jewish Christians, scattered by persecution, began to take the gospel into gentile communities, Barnabas went to Antioch to investigate. “When he arrived and saw the evidence of the grace of God, he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts” (Acts 11:23).

And when Paul wanted to make his second missionary journey without John Mark, who had deserted the first mission, Barnabas sharply disagreed. He saw the work God wanted to do in Mark's life and was not willing to abandon him. So Barnabas parted company with Paul, taking Mark with him to Cyprus, mentoring him in ministry. His vision was confirmed as Mark became an able and respected partner to both Peter (1 Peter 5:13) and Paul (2 Timothy 4:11).

How is your vision? Can you see what the kingdom of God looks like in the life of someone to whom you are ministering. They may not be able to see it for themselves — can you see it for them and encourage them with it, speaking it over their lives and believing God for it? Can you walk beside them — not ahead, not behind, not above, but beside them? Then you can become a “son of encouragement.”

Abiding Even in the Face of Evil

But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God;
I trust in the mercy of God forever and ever.
I will praise You forever,
Because You have done it;
And in the presence of Your saints
I will wait on Your name, for it is good.

(Psalm 52:8-9)

The inscription of this psalm reads, “A contemplation of David when Doeg the Edomite went and told Saul, and said to him, ‘David has gone to the house of Ahimelech.’”

You can read about the treachery of Doeg in 1 Samuel 22. Doeg was an exceedingly ruthless man, and King Saul had fallen so low in his bitterness toward David that he made Doeg his right hand man. When Saul’s own royal guards would not slay Ahimelech and the house of priests, Doeg gladly performed the task, killing 85 who wore the linen ephod. Not only that, he also turned against Nob, the city of the priests, where he slew men, women, children, and nursing infants, as well as oxen, donkeys and sheep.

In the midst of this evil and treachery, David puts his trust in the Lord:

“But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God.” A green olive tree is a symbol of prosperity and stability, reminiscent of the tree planted by rivers of living water in Psalm 1. Olive trees are also long lived, with many years of fruitfulness.

“I trust in the mercy of God forever and ever.” David continually looks to God for refuge. He trusts in the hesed, the steadfast love and faithfulness of God, for he is in covenant with Yahweh. That is his plan from now on, emphatically — forever and ever!

“I will praise You forever because You have done it.” He lifts his hands to Yahweh in thanks and praise, because the LORD has the situation well in hand and will render the judgment. His heart is set.

“And in the presence of Your saints, I will wait on Your name, for it is good.” David has a patient expectation in the Lord. This is not something hidden away and done in secret, David has gone public with it. He has declared himself, his trust, his gratitude, his praise before all the people of the LORD who are in his company.

No wonder then, that he opens this psalm with, “Why do you boast in evil, O mighty man? The goodness of God endures continually.” He has already seen the end of this matter from the beginning, and that is where he makes his stand.

Yes, there is evil round about, but it is the goodness of God that will endure. So take your stand with David: 1. Trust in the covenant love and mercy of God forever. 2. Keep on giving your thanks and praise to the Lord. 3. Wait on the Lord in patient expectation, for He always will uphold His name’s sake.

Restoring Wholeness and Destroying Oppression

For He is coming, for He is coming to judge the earth.
He shall judge the world with righteousness
And the peoples with His truth.

(Psalm 96:13)

The judgment of God is not a bad thing—unless you’re on the wrong side of it. But when you are on the right side of it, it is very magnificent. If you are on the wrong side of God’s judgment, repentance it a very magnificent thing.

For all those who know the Lord Jesus Christ, the judgment of God does not come to condemn you No, when you know Jesus, the judgment of God comes to condemn everything that stands against you.

Jesus came to save His people (that is, everyone who trusts in Him) from their sins (Matthew 1:21) — and that is the judgment of God. But He also came to destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:8) — and that is the judgment of God also. He also came to give you life more abundantly—and that, too, is the judgment of God.

Do not fear the judgment of God, but receive it — it is for your good. If you need to repent, then repent. For God is merciful and gracious, and His judgment will turn in your favor. That’s why Jesus came.

Glory in the Looking Glass

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does. (James 1:22-25)

When you look in the mirror, what do you see? James likens the perfect law of liberty to a mirror. The law of liberty is the Good News of Jesus Christ, for He is the one who has fulfilled (perfected) the law of God on our behalf. It is a law of freedom, not of bondage. The law of liberty is the law of the Spirit, for where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom (2 Corinthians 3:17).

The law of liberty is the law of love, for Jesus summed up all the commandments of God with this: “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind… You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these hang all the Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 22:37-40). Love fulfills the law of God: “For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself’” (Galatians 5:14).

The law of liberty is a mirror for us, if we have received the Lord Jesus Christ. When we look into it, we can see the love of God at work in us, transforming us into the likeness of Christ. But it is not a mirror we can casually glance at and expect to receive any benefit. No, this mirror is one we must take time to behold, to gaze into long and deeply, and with a heart of obedient faith.

The Enigma of Glory

For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known. (1 Corinthians 13:12)

We see dimly, at first, and so we must gaze intently. That is how it is now, but Paul says there is also a then. Now we see dimly — it is enigmatic — but then we shall see face to face (literally, looking at the face of the One who is looking at us). Now we know in part, but then we shall know just as we are also known.

Paul adds, “And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love” (v. 13). The law of liberty, which is the law of love, is at work in us right now, and so there is a transforming experience as we continue to gaze into this mirror. We become more and more like the God who is love.

Beholding the Glory

But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of God. (2 Corinthians 3:18)

When you look into a mirror, do you see the glory of the Lord? If you know Jesus, the Spirit of the Lord lives inside you, and He does not reside there without the glory of the Lord. In fact, you were created and birthed from above, by the Spirit of God, to bear this glory and reveal it to others, to be fully conformed to the image of Christ (Romans 8:29).

Give your diligent attention to the law of liberty, the law of the Spirit, the law of love. Believe and obey whatever the Lord makes known to you as you are transformed from glory to glory — ever greater, ever deeper expressions of His goodness. This is the looking glass of glory, and it reveals your identity and your destiny in the God who is love. Gaze intently for the rest of your life.

Delight, Desire and Dreams

Delight yourself also in the LORD,
And He shall give you the desires of your heart.

(Psalm 37:4)

The Hebrew word for “delight” means to be soft and pliable, to be luxurious. You can always tell what a person delights in most — it is what they talk about all the time, what they spend their money on, what they give their time and their life to. They are soft and pliable toward it. They luxuriate in it.

The word for “desires” means requests, or petitions. They are literally “askings.” As we get closer to God and become soft and pliable toward Him, and our thoughts become fixed on Him, the object of our delight begins to shape our desires. The askings of our heart are nurtured by the dreams God has for us. By us, I do not just mean you and me; I mean you and God, and me and God — an “us” that includes God.

God has a dream for us and Him together. But He does not just want to dream it Himself. He wants to see what the dream looks like when we dream it out of our desires and delights.

When God made Adam, He brought all the animals to him to see what he would name them. He did not tell Adam what to name them, but He wanted to see what the dreams and askings of Adam’s heart were, and how they would be revealed in Adam’s namings. In the same way, God wants to know the askings and dreams of our hearts as we get into intimate relationship with Him.

Let down your defenses and become soft and pliable toward God. Luxuriate yourself in Him — His love, His grace, His goodness. Dream together with Him — then ask what you will, it will be done for you, in Jesus’ name.

Having Dominion

How did God plan for Adam and Eve to have dominion over the earth and all its creatures? And how was it connected to their identity in Him? Find out in this month's faith-builder article, a study in Genesis 1:26-28, called Having Dominion.

The Order of Prosperity

Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers. (3 John 2)

There is an established order to prosperity. It begins with the soul, for John said, “even as your soul prospers.” Then there is health, the prosperity of the body. Finally, there is prosperity in all other things, including, but by no means limited to, financial prosperity.

Financial prosperity will not lead you into soul prosperity, but soul prosperity will lead you into a place where you can receive financial prosperity.

Focus on the prosperity of your soul, then you will be ready to prosper in all things. Jesus said, “Seek first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you” (Matthew 6:33).

The Seedbed of Pure Desire

Delight yourself also in the LORD,
And He shall give you the desires of your heart.

(Psalm 37:4)

Intimate relationship with God is the seedbed for every pure desire.

The Holy Breath

And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. (Genesis 2:7)

So Jesus said to them, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you. And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sings of any, they are retained” (John 20:21-23).

God breathed into Adam; Jesus breathed into the disciples. In both instances, this was an impartation of the Holy Spirit. What was also being imparted was the authority to speak on behalf of God and heaven.

In Genesis 2, God literally “puffed” into Adam’s nostrils. The Hebrew word is naphach.

In John 20, Jesus literally “puffed” on the disciples. The Greek word is emphysao. It is the same word used to translate naphach in the Septuagint (an early Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament).

In Genesis 2, Adam became a breathing, speaking spirit, with the capacity to think God’s thoughts and speak God’s words. (See Created to Know and Speak the Mind of God)

In John 20, the disciples received the Holy Spirit and were sent out in the same way that Jesus was sent out. They were given authority to forgive sins, or retain them. This was the authority to speak the Gospel, to extend the forgiveness of God through preaching the Good News.

There has always been great power in the human capacity to speak words. Even from the beginning, they were meant to reveal the mind of God. Now, even more, God has given us authority to extend the forgiveness of His heart to those who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.

Created to Know and Speak the Mind of God

And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. (Genesis 2:7)

Man is a unique creature in all the universe. He alone has the breath of God in him. Literally, God puffed the breath of life into Adam’s nostrils, then man became a nephesh chayyim, a “living being.” He was not just living, as the animals of Genesis 1 were said to be living. No, he was living solely and especially because of the breath of life from God’s own mouth was at work in him.

In other Bible passages, the word nephesh is often translated as “mind,” for example, at Genesis 23:8 and Deuteronomy 18:6. So in the context of God and man, it refers to more than mere existence. It involves the capacity for thought.

There are a couple of other words translated as “mind” in the Old Testament which help us understand this connection even more. The Hebrew word for “spirit,” ruach, is often used to refer to “wind” and even “breath.” But it also is used as a word for “mind” (Genesis 26:35). The breath that God breathed into Adam’s nostrils was actually the Holy Spirit, giving life to Adam’s body. But we can also say that what God breathed into Adam was the mind of God.

Another interesting word in this regard is the Hebrew word peh. In Leviticus 24:12, it is translated as “mind.” But it literally refers to the mouth as a means of blowing. God, with His mouth, blew the breath of life into Adam’s nostrils. It gives a new meaning to the term “mind-blowing.”

God says, “My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways, My ways” (Isaiah 55:8). But that does not mean that we cannot know God’s thoughts. Indeed, we were created with the capacity to know the mind of God, to understand His ways and walk in them. Though Adam fell, we still have this capacity to think the thoughts of God, if we have experienced the new birth by the Holy Spirit. For Paul says:

“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. (1 Corinthians 2:9-11)

An ancient Hebrew commentary, the Targum Onkelos, has something very interesting to say about Genesis 2:7. The commentator concludes that God blew into Adam’s nostrils a speaking spirit, and thus Adam himself became a speaking spirit. So not only did Adam bear the image of God, and the authority of God, but he was also a speaking spirit, to breathe forth words, even as God did.

We were created, not only to have the mind of God, to think His thoughts after Him, but also to speak forth the mind of God — our mouths breathing forth His words. His words are never idle or spoken in vain, but they accomplish everything He sends them out to do. As we speak them into our life and the world around us, they will bring forth the purposes of God.

God has created you and me with tremendous capacity, world-changing potential. Do not limit yourself by your own thoughts when you can know the mind of God. Why use your mouth to speak your own feeble words, when you can breathe out the powerful Word of God into the world.

Problem Solving 101

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep…. And God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. (Genesis 1:1-3)

Can you imagine if God did what we do whenever we run into a problem? “Wow, it sure is dark out here! Can you believe how dark it is? Angels, come and take a look at this darkness, would you. I mean it is daaaark. Whew! I don’t know what I’m gonna do, its just so dark. I hope it doesn’t get any darker or else we’re all going to be in big trouble, because I was counting on it not being so dark. But it is daaaaark. Dark, dark, dark! We’ve really got a problem on our hands because its just so dark.”

How silly would that have been to keep focusing on the problem, talking about the problem, getting into agreement with everyone about the problem — when God had the answer all along.

And yet, so often, isn’t that how you and I have been conditioned to deal with problems? We tell everyone about the problem and hope to get sympathy from them. We try and get others to agree with us about how bad the problem really is. We go on and on about the problem.

But what did God actually do?

It was dark. God said, “Let there be light.” He didn’t say one word about the problem. He simply spoke the answer: Light be. And light was.

Now, you and I are not God. But we are created in the image of God. And we have the authority to speak the Word of God. We have the authority of Jesus to speak to mountains and expect to see them move (Mark 11:22-23).

When you have a problem, find out what the Word of God has to say about it, then start saying what the Word says. In other words, don’t focus on the problem, focus on the answer God has provided.

Abundance or Contentment?

Paul’s word to Timothy:

Now godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content.

But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. (1 Timothy 6:6-10)

Paul’s word to the Corinthians:

And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work. (2 Corinthians 9:8)

Contentment or abundance — which one does God want us to have? Actually, it is not either/or but both/and. God wants us to have contentment and abundance. It is not readily apparent in the English texts, but the Greek word behind “contentment” in 1 Timothy 6:6 and “sufficiency” in 2 Corinthians 9:8 is the same: autarkeia. It has to do with an inner disposition about outer circumstances.

The truth is that we cannot understand abundance until we have come to understand contentment. Some people are never satisfied, no matter how much they have. It is this sort of person that Paul is advising Timothy about. They desire to be rich but are never satisfied because they are looking for finances and material possessions to rescue them and make them happy.

But money and things were never designed by God to meet those needs. In fact, when we look to money to rescue us, make us happy, or fulfill us in any way, we have idolized it, making it a god before us. There is only one who can do those things for us, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now, God promises to meet all of our needs. But until we look to Him alone, we will not realize the fulfillment of that promise because we are putting our trust in other gods. That always leads to fear, because fear is the opposite of biblical faith. So, out of fear, we will keep trying to gather more than we need, never having contentment.

The answer to contentment is simple: Trust God to take care of you in all things. “The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want [have lack].” His grace is sufficient for every circumstance. Then you will be able recognize the abundance God is placing within your hands to bless others with.