Friday, March 1, 2013

A Colony of Heaven on Earth

For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. (Philippians 3:20)
Paul wants the believers at Philippi to follow him, Timothy and others as sound examples of living together as followers of Jesus. He has two reasons particularly in mind. The first we have already seen: Because there are those who, though they present themselves as believers, actually live as enemies of the cross by their self-absorbed behavior. The second reason is this: Our citizenship is in heaven.

Paul knows very well about citizenship. Though he is from Tarsus, in Cilicia (Acts 21:39), he is a freeborn citizen of Rome. And he does not mind invoking its benefits, as we see in this vignette from when he was placed under arrest by a Roman commander in Jerusalem:
And as they bound him with thongs, Paul said to the centurion who stood by, “Is it lawful for you to scourge a man who is a Roman, and uncondemned?”

When the centurion heard that, he went and told the commander, saying, “Take care what you do, for this man is a Roman.”

Then the commander came and said to him, “Tell me, are you a Roman?”

He said, “Yes.”

The commander answered, “With a large sum I obtained this citizenship.”

And Paul said, “But I was born a citizen.”

Then immediately those who were about to examine him withdrew from him; and the commander was also afraid after he found out that he was a Roman, and because he had bound him. (Acts 22:25-29)
Like the old American Express ad says, “Membership has it’s privileges.” A Roman citizen has great status throughout the Empire, and the believers at Philippi understand how important and valuable this citizenship is. Philippi is one of only five cities in Macedonia that enjoys a special citizenship status with Rome. But now Paul speaks of a much greater citizenship, one possessed by every believer in Jesus.

It is important to understand that this citizenship is not about what we will one day be. Notice that Paul does not say that “our citizenship will be in heaven,” but rather, “our citizenship is in heaven.” For believers in Jesus, it is present reality, not just future hope.

It is also important to understand that this citizenship is not so much about where we are going as it is about where we are from. That is, Paul is speaking here more about our source than our destination. We know this is about heaven as source because we eagerly await for the return of the Lord Jesus from there.

Citizens of Rome were sent out to create colonies in every territory that was under Roman authority. The purpose was to establish the life and culture of Rome throughout the empire. Citizens of heaven are sent out to create colonies in every territory under heaven, to establish the life and culture of heaven throughout the earth. “We are a colony of heaven,” is how Moffatt’s New Translation puts it.

The Greek word for “citizenship” (politeuma) is about commonwealth or community. It comes from a word that speaks of the administration of a city. To be a citizen of heaven means that our lives are now administered from there. We no longer have to live in bondage to the lusts and desires of the old way of life we used to know. We are no longer subject to the world systems that are manipulated by principalities and powers.

As a colony of heaven, we are here to establish the life and culture of heaven on earth. For all authority in heaven and on earth has now been given to King Jesus the Messiah (Matthew 28:18), and He has sent out His assembly, the Church, to disciple the nations and teach them everything Jesus taught (Matthew 28:19-20). The end result will be heaven and earth coming together as one (Revelation 21), the will of God being done on earth exactly as it is being done in heaven (Matthew 6:10).

This process is not yet finished, of course, but it has already begun. The darkness is already fading away and the true light of King Jesus is already shining (1 John 2:8). Even so, it will not be full and complete until the King comes again. So we watch for that day with eager anticipation, living out our citizenship here and now, enjoying the favor of heaven and imparting its blessing to the earth.

As a colony of heaven on earth, we are to live in such a way that demonstrates that reality. Although it is not apparent in English translations, Paul touched on this earlier, when he said, “Let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ” (Philippians 1:27). The Greek word for “conduct” is politeuomai, which speaks of the citizens of a free country getting along together in community. As citizens of heaven, then, we must learn to get along well together on earth — because there is no division in heaven.

Focus Questions
  1. What are the benefits of having heaven as your destination?
  2. What are the benefits of having heaven as your source?
  3. How does the way we conduct ourselves demonstrate the reality of heaven on earth?



There is Always Joy!
There is Always Joy!
Paul’s Letters to the Jesus Believers at Philippi
Bite-Sized Studies Through the Book of Philippians
by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

Thursday, February 28, 2013

Random Thoughts


Some thoughts culled from my random file. Some have occurred to me moments of quiet reflection, some in discussion with others, and a couple highlighted by readers of some of my books. For your edification, inspiration and/or amusement.
  • The Father, Son and Holy Spirit are conspiring together on your behalf.
  • Faithfulness is trusting God in all things. Because He is faithful and will always lead you to what is right.
  • Some say that “money talks,” but I think it merely amplifies what is already in the heart.
  • Though there is great evil in the world, the greater nature of the world is love — because that is the nature of the One who made it. Live in that expectation.
  • If you’re gonna pray for rain, take an umbrella.
  • Faith is an understanding. Faith is a decision one continually makes. Faith is a commitment. Christian faith is enabled by God: Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God, and no one can confess, apart from the Holy Spirit, that Jesus is Lord. Because of the divine element involved, faith is more than merely a preference. Faith is more than personal, because it affects every area of one’s life, private and public.
  • The gifts of the Spirit and the fruits of the Spirit are not in competition. One does not invalidate the other or render the other unnecessary. God has given both to the Church. Neither is to be marginalized or denigrated.
  • The practice of the gifts of the Spirit is not necessarily “at will,” but rather, “as needed.” What is the most important gift? Whichever one is needed at the time. For example, when someone is sick, what they need is healing. It is the same with the word of knowledge or word of wisdom, or some other miracle. The gift is not the particular manifestation itself — the gift is the Holy Spirit, and He brings forth what is needed. The only matter of the will is the decision of whether we are going to believe God and His Word.
  • Faith is being confident about what God has promised; presumption is being confident about my own speculations. God obligates Himself by His word, but He is not in any way obligated by my speculations.
  • There is very much about God that is a mystery to us. His love, grace and mercy are a mystery. So also His holiness and justice. That does not mean that we can’t know anything about them, only that we can’t know everything about them. God is infinite; we are not.
  • What does it mean to seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness? The kingdom of God is His rule and reign, His will being done on earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:10). Here, the righteousness of God, as the Amplified Bible notes, is “His way of doing and being right.” Seeking is about giving ourselves totally over to God, looking for His rule and reign in everything, and obeying it. It is doing things God’s way, which is the right way and will always bring the right results. — Three Kindle users highlighted this quote from my book, The Kingdom of Heaven on Earth.
  • “Who is this life all about? Those who think it is all about themselves walk in fear of every problem and situation that is bigger than them, and they will perish in the wilderness. Those who know it is all about God walk in faith, knowing that God is much bigger than any and every problem. They go on to enjoy victory in the Promised Land.” — Five Kindle users highlighted this quote from my book, God’s Word in Your Mouth.

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

The Gospel of His Name


The gospel is the good news about the kingdom of God and how Jesus of Nazareth fulfills the story of Israel. The name “Jesus” and the terms “Lord” and “Christ” (or rather, “Messiah”) are loaded with gospel significance.
  • He is called “Jesus,” or “Yeshua” (His name in Hebrew), because “He shall save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21) and yeshuah is the Hebrew word for salvation. So there is connection to the story of Israel in that.
  • He is also called “Messiah”, because He is the “anointed one” God promised to Israel, the one anointed to be King.
  • He is called “Lord,” which speaks of His divinity and His authority as King.
When the Philippian jailer, who was not of Israel, fell on his knees before Paul and begged, “What must I do to be saved?” Paul answered, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved, and your house” (Acts 16:31). I don’t take that merely as the “plan of salvation.” I see in it a super-condensed proclamation of the gospel: He is savior, He is God’s promised and Anointed King over Israel and the world, and He is divine. If that is not how Paul actually condensed it that sudden moment, it is at least how Luke condensed it in the telling.

Of course, this verse often gets used as nothing more than a personal plan of salvation — about us and how we get saved. Was it important for the Philippian jailer? Sure. That is how the jailer — and each one of us — gets to participate in the bigger story of the kingdom of God. But Paul was also declaring something important about the identify of Jesus and what that means in the history of the world and the purpose of God.

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

The Gospel in 1 Corinthians 15

Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you — unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures,
First Corinthians 15 presents us with a solid outline of the gospel. It is the apostolic tradition handed down to Paul, then faithfully handed down from Paul, and received as such by the Jesus believers at Corinth and by the Church at large. It is the message that we are called to believe, the message by which we are redeemed.

There is the crucifixion, the burial, the resurrection. “According to the scriptures” alludes to the Hebrew “backstory,” so these things did not happen in a historical vacuum but speaks of the fulfillment of God’s age-old promise and plan.

Paul then speaks at length concerning the resurrection of King Jesus bodily from the dead. It not just about Jesus, however, but also about us. Because Jesus the firstfruits from the dead, that guarantees our own bodily resurrection as well: “But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (v. 20).

There also is the coming again of the King, which is just as much a part of the good news: “But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming” (v. 23). And after that, the Consummation, when everything in heaven and on earth comes together as one. “Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power” (v. 24).

When I was in Bible college, we stopped at the Cross, then on to the Resurrection, but then shot ahead to the Parousia (the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus). It was not until a number of years later that I began to understand the significance of the Ascension — King Jesus rising to His throne. At the right hand of the Father. In Matthew 28, we jumped to the Great Commission, in verses 19 and 20, but paid scant attention to verse 18, where Jesus declared, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.” But that is a stunning declaration He made, and tremendously good news. It means that the reign of King Jesus has already begun. Not just in heaven but on earth as well.

In other words, the kingdom of God is here and now. By faith in Jesus, the King, we participate in His kingdom here and now. However, though it has already begun, it is not yet completely done. That will not happen until Jesus comes again. Then we will experience it forever when our bodies are transformed or resurrected, and incorruptible (1 Corinthians 15:50-54). In the meantime, all things are currently in the process of being placed under His feet. “For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet” (1 Corinthians 15:25).

In view of all this, Paul concludes, “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 15:58).

Like the old gospel song says, “Ain’t that good news?”

Monday, February 25, 2013

God and Prepositions — and Me


I understand my life to be a fellowship “with” God, a partnership in a “father and son” way. There is a saying, attributed to John Wesley, that God does not do anything in the world except in answer to prayer. I believe that is true. I see prayer as a very real partnership with God.

I am “from” God — He is the source of my being, the source of my supply, the source of every good thing in my life.

And I am “for” God. Not driven, but led at His pleasure. I have given up the idea of doing “great things” for God — I don’t trust my judgment anymore about what is “great.” I am learning to be content with doing what God leads me to do. He knows what He wants me to do, and I believe that will actually end up being the greatest thing I can do, whether or not it appears that way to me at the start. After years of ministry, I have learned that it is often the small things, things I don’t even remember doing or saying, that have the greatest effect.

Jesus did only those things that pleased the Father, did only what He saw the Father doing, and said only what He heard the Father saying. That is what I seek, and that is how I would understand “under” God.

“Over” God sounds manipulative and presumptuous.

Along with being “in” God, there is also God “in” me. Both are important realizations. Sounds a bit more intimate than just “with.”

In John 1:1, we have “and the Word was with God.” The Greek word for “with” here is pros, which can mean “toward.” I think of Jesus and the Father pressed toward each other, conspiring with each other about what was to take place, and a plan was conceived. I think of prayer in a similar way, as God and me plotting something together.

Sunday, February 24, 2013

Following Jesus


Following Jesus is not just something we make room for in our lives, as if we work it into our busy schedule. It is a complete reorientation of our lives. Not just something we do in our lives, but a new way of living out our lives. It is a new way of life, and indeed, a new life. We view everything in life through a new focus — who Jesus is and what He is doing in the world, in us and through us.

It is not merely the priority, the first item on our list that we check off and can then move on to the next item. Jesus is all-encompassing of everything in our life. Everything is prioritized according to His priorities, everything evaluated through the lens of following Him.

There is no doing it by halves; it is an all or nothing proposition. Years ago, my father asked Jesus to come into his life. He says he heard the Lord say, “I would not touch your life with a ten-foot pole. But I will come and be your life.” And that makes all the difference.

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Enemies of the Cross

For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame — who set their mind on earthly things. (Philippians 3:18-19)
Paul has spoken of good patterns for living the life of faith in Jesus the Messiah, a life lived with and for others. The Lord Jesus is the prime example, but Paul also offers himself, as well as Timothy and Epaphroditus and others, as worth imitating.

However, Paul also knows of a different sort whose example leads in exactly the wrong direction. He calls them enemies of the cross of Messiah. They work against what the Lord Jesus came to do. Not so much by their doctrine (though that may be part of it) as by their manner of life — their “walk.”

“Enemies of the cross” is Paul’s assessment of how they live. Then he describes them in a way that seems to work back to front, from their end to their beginning.
  • Their path leads to destruction.
  • Their belly is their god.
  • They glory in behavior they should be ashamed of.
  • They set their mind on earthly things.
But who are these people Paul describes? Some think they are the Jewish legalists, the “dogs,” “evil workers” and “mutilators” he warned about earlier. Perhaps that is so, although the language he uses would need to be stretched quite a bit to fit legalists. However, the ones he warns about here seem to go in the other direction, into licentiousness. Either way, they are ultimately focused on themselves. Paul has dealt with such before, as in his letter to the believers at Rome.
Now I urge you, brethren, note those who cause divisions and offenses, contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and avoid them. For those who are such do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly, and by smooth words and flattering speech deceive the hearts of the simple. (Romans 16:17-18)
They do not come as pagans or as those who are outside the Church — the Philippian believers would have already known to beware of those — but they present themselves as believers in Jesus. However, something important is missing, something is very wrong about them. They set their mind on earthly things. That is where the problem begins: their mindset, their attitude, their focus. They see no further than their own short lives, so that is all that really matters to them. They live for their own pleasures, no matter how base or shameful. They are focused on themselves and what they can get out of it all.

It begins with being fixated on earthly things and it leads ultimately to ruin. Perhaps that is one reason why Paul works back from their end to their beginning, as a caution to the believers at Philippi about beginning down the same road by doing things out of “selfish ambition or conceit,” or looking out only for their own interests and not also the interests of others (Philippians 2:3-4).

The antidote to a mind set on earthly things is to have the mind of Christ, who teaches us to see beyond ourselves and this present life to a greater time and a greater glory. If we let Him work in us, He will lead us into humble servanthood, to share in the fellowship of His suffering as well as the power of His resurrection — and that is a very good ending.

Focus Questions
  1. What is the relationship between what you believe and how you live?
  2. How does a self-focused life work against the cross of Jesus?
  3. How does a self-focused life lead to destruction?



There is Always Joy!
There is Always Joy!
Paul’s Letters to the Jesus Believers at Philippi
Bite-Sized Studies Through the Book of Philippians
by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Learning Together

Brethren, join in following my example, and note those who so walk, as you have us for a pattern. (Philippians 3:17)
Paul has described the attitude that Jesus believers need to develop. It is the mindset of Jesus Himself that Paul set before them so richly in chapter 2, a portrait of divine humility and divine greatness. It is the path Paul himself is following, and now he calls the believers at Philippi to come follow his example. “Become followers together of me,” is how Young’s Literal Translation puts it. “Followers together” is one word in Greek, symmimetes, a compound of sym, which means “with” or “together” and mimetes, from a verb that means to imitate. That has been Paul’s concern throughout his letter, that believers would learn to walk together, with a common focus and of one heart and soul — that of the Lord Jesus.

Follow “my” example, be imitators together of “me,” Paul says. Does that seem arrogant? He has given them the example of the Lord Jesus. What could be better than that? Yet, he offers himself as an example of how that gets lived out. In his letter to the believers at Corinth, he said, “Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1). Jesus practiced it perfectly, but Paul — not so much. Yet they had never actually seen Jesus as He walked this walk. But they did see how Paul did it, and they could do it the way he did it. Jesus was the perfect example, but Paul was a pretty good one.

They also saw how Timothy and Epaphroditus lived out the faith. Timothy was with Paul from the beginning of his ministry there, and Epaphroditus was one of them. Paul has already mentioned their example. Timothy is one who is of “like mind” with Paul, a man of proven character and a servant heart (Philippians 2:19-22). Paul called Epaphroditus, “my brother, fellow worker, fellow soldier,” and told of how Epaphroditus pushed himself, though perhaps too hard, for their sake (Philippians 2:25-30). “Hold such in high regard,” Paul said of these men, and of all who are like them. They are worthy of honor.

Now he says, “Note those who so walk, as you have us for a pattern.” Paul, Timothy and Epaphroditus provide a good pattern, but there are others at Philippi who follow the same manner of life. “Note” them. The Greek word means to look at, observe, contemplate. In other words, study them, watch how they do it, learn from them — then do the same.

There is a simple teaching method that could apply here: “Watch one, do one, teach one.” Or to put it another way: Observe how others do it, practice their pattern yourself, then become a good pattern for others to follow.

Focus Questions
  1. Who are those you look to as examples for your own walk with others?
  2. Do you have to be perfect to be a good example yourself?
  3. Who are those who look to you for an example and pattern of how to walk?



There is Always Joy!
There is Always Joy!
Paul’s Letters to the Jesus Believers at Philippi
Bite-Sized Studies Through the Book of Philippians
by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

Saturday, February 9, 2013

Thanks to You!


THANK YOU for visiting The Faith Log and for your interest in our ministry. If you have been helped, encouraged or otherwise blessed by our tweets, posts, articles, books or music, and you would like to have a part in the work of this ministry, we have added a new page to our site (see the navigation tabs at top) with some simple ways you can help. It is called Thanks to You.

First, we would count it a great blessing if you remembered us in your prayers. Also, if there is anything in particular in our writings that you have found helpful, we would love to hear from you about it.

Here are quicklinks to some other simple and easy ways:
FOR WHATEVER WAYS you would like to help Walking Barefoot Ministries, we would like to say Thanks!

Friday, February 8, 2013

Walking the Path Together

Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you. Nevertheless, to the degree that we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us be of the same mind. (Philippians 3:15-16)
Phillips translates it this way: “All of us who are spiritually adult should set ourselves this sort of ambition, and if at present you cannot see this, yet you will find that this is the attitude which God is leading you to adopt. It is important that we go forward in the light of such truth as we have ourselves attained to” (J. B. Phillips, The New Testament in Modern English).

Paul speaks again of being “mature” (Greek, teleios). We saw it earlier in verse 12, where it was translated as “perfected” (teleioo). There, it was about being made fully mature and complete, and Paul made it clear that he has not yet reached that goal. But here in verse 15, he speaks of maturity in a relative way. In a community of believers such as at Philippi, we will find believers with various levels of spiritual maturity. There are those who are new to the faith and still have much to learn. There are others who have been walking with the Lord for a longer time and have grown up in the faith. Some have grown more, and some have grown faster, than others. No one has arrived at the finish line, but each is somewhere along the way.

Paul makes his appeal, then, to those who have come to some measure of maturity. “Have this mind,” he says. That is, have the mindset or attitude he has been speaking about since the beginning of chapter 2, where he exhorted them to be “like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind” (v. 2). It is an attitude of humility (“lowliness of mind”), not of self-seeking ambition or conceit. It is putting others ahead of ourselves, watching out for their interests as well as our own (vv. 3-4). It is taking the role of the servant, which is glory in disguise, and Jesus is the perfect example of this. “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus,” Paul said (v. 5). The Lord Jesus humbled Himself and became a servant, even to the point of death on the cross, giving His life for our sake. Because of this, God has exalted Him to the highest place.

It is this mindset that Paul pursues in Philippians 3:10, “That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death.” To know the Lord Jesus well is to know Him in the fellowship of His sufferings — to pour out one’s life for others — as well as in the power of His resurrection life. All these go together, and Jesus is glorified in the midst of them.

So now Paul says to as many as are mature, “Have this mind.” It is the mark of maturity. “And if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you.” If there are any who think themselves spiritually grown up but who do not have the attitude Paul speaks of, it will soon become apparent — God will reveal it to them. Everything about the Christian life points us toward it, and it is what being a follower of Jesus is about. When persecution looms, as for these believers at Philippi, such revelation is likely to come sooner rather than later — and the sooner we learn this lesson, the better off we will be.

Not everyone has reached the same level of maturity, but however far along we have progressed and to whatever degree we have grown up in the Lord Jesus, we are to “walk by the same rule.” The Greek word for “walk” pictures an orderly procession, everyone keeping in step with each other. We walk this path together, always pressing, like Paul, toward the goal, so that everyone may cross the finish line and lay hold of that for which the Lord Jesus has laid hold of us.

Focus Questions
  1. This mindset Paul wants all of us to have — do you think it is a good indicator of spiritual maturity? Why, or why not?
  2. What are some ways God exposes improper attitudes and teaches us appropriate ones?
  3. Why is it important that we keep in step with each other along this path?



There is Always Joy!
There is Always Joy!
Paul’s Letters to the Jesus Believers at Philippi
Bite-Sized Studies Through the Book of Philippians
by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

Friday, February 1, 2013

Pursuing a Jesus-Shaped Life

Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:12-14)
Paul has one goal and he pursues it with single-minded passion. He does not claim to have reached it, or that he is full and complete in his knowledge of the Lord Jesus. He knows has not. But he continues to press toward it, pursuing it with everything that is in him.

In former days, he had zealously pursued Jesus believers in order to persecute them, thinking he was doing God a service. Now he focuses all his zeal on the true prize: knowing Jesus, his Messiah and Lord, in everything.

This is the reason for which the Jesus has laid hold of him — and of us: That we may know Him in all things and fellowship with Him in the power of His resurrection, a power so great that it transforms suffering and persecution into an opportunity not only to honor Him but also to know Him more.

Paul still has in mind the example of the Lord Jesus that he began with in chapter 2: “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.” Jesus laid hold of us so that we could lay hold of Him. He became like us so we could become like Him. He humbled Himself so that we might be lifted up, to share in His name and participate in His glory.

As Paul notes elsewhere, God has “predestined us to be conformed to the image of His Son” (Romans 8:29). That is what Paul desires more than anything else: to be conformed to the image of the Son — to know Him in the power of His resurrection and in the fellowship of His suffering, to be conformed to His likeness, even if that means death. Paul wants to be a part of what Jesus came to do. In other words, he is pursuing a Jesus-shaped life.

He has one purpose, one focus, one goal, and all his energies and efforts are committed toward that. He is like an Olympic runner going after the prize. He is not looking back to see what is behind, he is looking along the track and focused on the victory that lay ahead. There is still much ground to cover before his race is done, and he is pouring himself out that he may cross the finish line a winner. He is running the race set before him, as the author Hebrews has said so well:
Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:1-2)
And at the end of his life, Paul was able to say without regret but with great joy:
I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing. (2 Timothy 4:6-8)
The prize, the “upward call” of God in Jesus the Messiah, lay ahead him — the day of resurrection, when he would know the Lord Jesus so perfectly that the life of Jesus would transform him completely. We will see more about that at the end of Philippians 3.

Focus Questions
  1. How would you describe where you are in your own “race”?
  2. Are there things in your past that trouble or distract you?
  3. Is the prize you seek worthy of pouring yourself out?



There is Always Joy!
There is Always Joy!
Paul’s Letters to the Jesus Believers at Philippi
Bite-Sized Studies Through the Book of Philippians
by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

Thursday, January 10, 2013

The Power of His Resurrection, the Fellowship of His Suffering

That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. (Philippians 3:10-11)
This living relationship we have with God through faith in Jesus the Messiah (and through His faithfulness) is all about knowing the Lord Jesus, the power of His resurrection — and the “fellowship of His sufferings.”

Knowing the Lord Jesus? Sure. Though it is greater and more wonderful than we can imagine, it is something we can embrace with joyful anticipation. Likewise, knowing the power of His resurrection. That’s an easy Yes. But knowing the “fellowship of His sufferings” and being “conformed to His death”? Well, we need a little time to think about that one, don’t you. For Paul, however, it is a quick and ready Yes. It is part of knowing Jesus intimately, and Paul is glad to give up everything else for that.

Paul glories in the resurrection of the Lord Jesus and what that means for our own future resurrection (see 1 Corinthians 15, where he teaches at length about that). And his prayer for believers is that God would give us Holy Spirit revelation that we may know “what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 1:19-20). This is the same power by which God “is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us” (Ephesians 3:20).

Paul definitely wants to know Jesus in the power of His resurrection, but just as much, he wants to know Jesus in the partnership of His sufferings. He is not, of course, referring to participation in the passion of the cross and the work of atonement Jesus did for us there — that work is already full and complete! No, he is talking about being persecuted for proclaiming the Lord Jesus as God’s Anointed King.

This is not theoretical with Paul but a reality that he has experienced often since he first came to know Jesus as Lord and Messiah. Though he does not do so here, he could easily have recited a litany of the persecutions, imprisonments, lashings, beatings, stonings and other perils he has endured for the sake of the gospel (see 2 Corinthians 11:23-33). And of course, he writes this present letter from under house arrest in Rome. Yet he rejoices — there is always joy! — and he wants the believers at Philippi to rejoice as well, even as they too are experiencing persecution. As he observed earlier, “For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake, having the same conflict which you saw in me and now hear is in me” (Philippians 1:29-30).

The fellowship of Jesus sufferings, in a very real sense, has to do with emptying ourselves, pouring ourselves out and becoming servants for the sake of others. Just as Messiah emptied and poured Himself out for our sakes, taking the form of a servant. Paul still bears that in mind as he continues his letter. Just as Jesus became obedient even to the point of death on the cross, Paul is ready and willing to be “conformed” to His death — which seems to be the likely outcome of the course he is on — “if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.” This if statement is not an expression of any doubt, and “attain” does not mean that he must somehow earn or deserve resurrection from the dead; the Greek word simply means to “arrive.”

The simple truth about resurrection is that there must first be a death. Paul has died to himself and the only thing that matters to him now is knowing Jesus. Departing this life holds no fear for him because he fully expects that he will be raised from the dead when King Jesus comes again. Does it matter then how he dies, whether as a martyr or by some other means? Not to Paul, it doesn’t. Either way, the end result is the same — resurrection from the dead! And there is no shame in suffering for the sake of the One who suffered for us.

Focus Questions
  1. Have you experienced personal, intimate relationship with the Lord Jesus?
  2. Have you experienced the power of His resurrection in your life?
  3. Is it worth everything you are, everything you have — even your own life?



There is Always Joy!
There is Always Joy!
Paul’s Letters to the Jesus Believers at Philippi
Bite-Sized Studies Through the Book of Philippians
by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

The Faithfulness of Messiah

That I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith. (Philippians 3:8-9)
Paul puts no “confidence in the flesh,” that is, in who he is by birth or what he has accomplished. In fact, he considers everything in his life as “loss” so that he might “gain” Jesus as his Messiah, to know Him and Lord and be “found in Him.”

To be found in the Lord Jesus means to belong to Him. In Ephesians, Paul tells believers that we are “accepted in the Beloved” (Ephesians 1:6). That is, God accepts us because of His Beloved Son. When God looks at us, He sees Jesus, and when He looks at Jesus, He finds us. God is thoroughly delighted about that. So is Paul, and to him it is worth everything.

Paul no longer seeks a “righteousness” of his own, that is, a right relationship with God that is based on anything he is in himself or what he has done. He has given up looking for it by keeping the law of Moses, which turned out to be a disaster for him. Outwardly, he seemed to being keeping it well, but in his heart of hearts, he knew he was a mess. In Romans 7:7-24, he describes the desperation of that experience and how he ended up by crying out, “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” (v. 24). And then of course, in the next verse, he rejoices in the answer: “I thank God — through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 7:25).

What Paul has found that is so incomparable is a relationship with God that is based on the faithfulness of the Lord Jesus. The NKJV says, “through faith in Christ,” but I think the better reading is “through the faithfulness of Christ.” The word “of” gives us a more literal rendering of the Greek text, and the Greek word pisteos, often translated “faith,” can just as well be taken here as “faithfulness.” A number of translations support this reading, including the Common English Bible, The Expanded Bible, N. T Wright’s Kingdom New Testament and Stern’s Jewish New Testament.

Now, it is quite true that we are counted as righteous before God through faith in Jesus the Messiah, but that is possible only because He has Himself been found faithful to God. Israel, through whom God wanted to bless all the nations of the earth, had proved unfaithful. But where Israel failed, Jesus her Messiah succeeded. Paul has already shown us in Philippians 2:5-11 what that faithfulness of Messiah looked like, how the Lord Jesus humbled Himself to the point of death on the cross, and how God therefore gave Him the name that is above every other name and dominion over everything in heaven and earth.

Paul discovered, much to his surprise — and relief — that it is not about him. It is not even about the law. It is about Jesus, whom God has made both Lord and Messiah. In Him, we are now dead to the law (Romans 7:4) and it has no more power, no more say over us. Jesus nailed it to the cross (Colossians 2:14). It is not circumcision or any other aspect of law-keeping that demonstrates this right relationship with God, but faith in Jesus the Messiah.

In Him, we are also now dead to sin. It too has no more power and no more say over us. In his letter to the Jesus believers at Rome, Paul speaks of
knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:6-11)
That is how Paul, as he writes to the believers at Philippi, now reckons himself. What he values far above all else is the living relationship with God that has been won for us by the faithfulness of Messiah.

Focus Questions
  1. How did a law-based relationship with God turn into such a desperate situation for Paul?
  2. Why is the faithfulness of Jesus the Messiah such a relief for Paul?
  3. How much of your relationship with God have you considered to be based on your own performance?



There is Always Joy!
There is Always Joy!
Paul’s Letters to the Jesus Believers at Philippi
Bite-Sized Studies Through the Book of Philippians
by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

Sunday, January 6, 2013

From Great Loss to Great Gain

Though I also might have confidence in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so: circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee; concerning zeal, persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ. (Philippians 3:4-8)
Paul is dealing with the joy stealers, the legalistic teachers who insist that Gentiles must be ritually circumcised in order to be identified as belonging to the people of God. They have confidence in the flesh — literally! But Paul sounds a very different in response: “We have no confidence in the flesh.” However, if these teachers want to boast in themselves and their accomplishments, Paul can match them point for point and put them under the table. Here is his resume:
  • Circumcised the eighth day. Paul was no proselyte but a Jew from birth and circumcised as an infant, according to the law of Moses.
  • Of the stock of Israel. His ancestry went all the way to Jacob, whose name was changed to Israel and who fathered the twelve tribes that became the nation of Israel.
  • Of the tribe of Benjamin. Paul’s line came through Benjamin, the only tribe that was loyal to the tribe of Judah and the throne of David when the kingdom divided.
  • A Hebrew of the Hebrews. Paul was no Greekified Jew, but a Hebrew-speaking Jew born of Hebrew parents.
  • Concerning the law, a Pharisee. Though Jews in other regions followed pharisaical notions of piety, it was only in and around Jerusalem that the Pharisees themselves flourished, and Paul was there in the thick of it. He was not merely a wannabe but a real Pharisee.
  • Concerning zeal, persecuting the church. Paul even outdid many of his fellow Pharisees in zeal — by actively pursuing and prosecuting Christians.
  • Concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. Paul conformed completely to every legalistic standard and observance.
Add all that up and Paul wins the competition hands down — if that is the game those teachers want to play. He was very well-credentialed and that should have been quite profitable for him, or so he had thought at an earlier time in his life. But now comes the kicker, and Paul adds it all up in his own estimation: All that was once in his plus column turned out to be a minus. “But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ.”

The latter three points are not a source of pride for Paul — certainly not persecuting the church. He is not ashamed of his Jewish heritage (nor should he be), but at the end of the day, not even that matters if he has missed the most important thing. So he is quite willing to count even that as loss because he has found the thing that is exceedingly greater and much more excellent: To know Jesus as his Messiah and Lord, “for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ.” That is all that matters for him now — it eclipses everything else.

The words “loss” and “gain” are accounting terms, the language of the marketplace. The things Paul has enumerated above, he now counts as “rubbish.” The Greek word he uses, skubalon, is much more severe than the that English translation lets on. The KJV renders it as “dung.” It is excrement and offscouring and rubbish, vile and detestable (you can supply your own modern day equivalent and it would be quite accurate), and everything that keeps us from knowing the Lord Jesus should be counted as such.

So Paul puts it all in the loss column, and if that were all he had, he would be in a very deep hole. But, joyfully, he has something else that cancels out all his loss. He has come to know the Lord Jesus, God’s Messiah King. And that is great gain!

Focus Questions
  1. What heritage and accomplishments are you most proud of in your life?
  2. Have you experienced Jesus the Messiah as your Lord in such a way that eclipses all of these?
  3. How would you describe or explain that?



There is Always Joy!
There is Always Joy!
Paul’s Letters to the Jesus Believers at Philippi
Bite-Sized Studies Through the Book of Philippians
by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

Friday, January 4, 2013

Don’t Let Them Steal Your Joy

Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. For me to write the same things to you is not tedious, but for you it is safe. Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the mutilation! For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh. (Philippians 3:1-3)
“Finally,” Paul says, and it might sound like he is finishing up his letter and bringing it in for a landing. Not so. The Greek literally means, “as for the rest,” and signals a transition to a new topic.

“Rejoice in the Lord.” There is always joy, and it is found in the Lord Jesus. It is a constant theme with Paul, particularly in this letter, and he certainly does not mind saying it again. It is for their safety and well-being that he does so now, especially in view of what he is about to say.

There are those who would come and steal that joy, and Paul warns the Jesus believers at Philippi to watch out for them. “Beware the dogs. Beware the evil workers. Beware the mutilation.” He is not talking about three different groups, but describing the same group in three different ways. In his ministry, he has frequently dealt with these Jewish legalists who insist that circumcision is the necessary means of identifying who belongs to God. He has addressed their teaching in his letters to the Jesus believer in Galatia and at Colosse. This is serious business and Paul refers to these false teachers with very harsh language.
  • They are “dogs.” Dogs engage openly in behavior that would be shameful for people to engage in. Pagans, who shamelessly behave in ways that violate the law of God, would be considered dogs by these false teachers. But Paul turns it around on them and it is now the teachers themselves who are called  “dogs.” Jesus the Messiah has fulfilled the law of Moses, and it is no longer circumcision but faith in Him that now marks out God’s chosen people. To teach otherwise is shameful to the gospel.
  • They are “evil workers.” Elsewhere, Paul refers to similar teachers as, “false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:13).
  • They are “the mutilation.” This is a play on words. The Greek word for “circumcision” is peritome, from a word that means “to cut around.” The word for mutilation is katatome, which means “to cut up.” These false teachers are hacks, promoting what is not necessary but is actually now useless in identifying the people of God. They mutilate the good news about Jesus the Messiah.
Paul has an answer for them, one that is also a great encouragement for Jesus believers everywhere: “For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.” That really turns the tables, because true circumcision — the one God is really interested in — is not the one that is made with hands (and knives) but the circumcision of the heart. For circumcision was always meant to be the outward sign of an inward reality. This was made clear in both the Law and the Prophets.
Therefore circumcise the foreskin of your heart, and be stiff-necked no longer. (Deuteronomy 10:16)

And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live. (Deuteronomy 30:6)

Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and take away the foreskins of your hearts. (Jeremiah 4:4)
The physical rite was the cutting away of the flesh and symbolized faithfulness to the covenant God made with Israel. Removing that little fold of skin, however, could not produce what it signified. But what that ritual could not do, Jesus Himself has accomplished in us. In his letter to the Jesus believers at Colosse, where he has also dealt with the same issue, Paul said, “In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ” (Colossians 2:11). Those who possess the “circumcision made without hands” are recognized in three ways:
  • We worship God in the Spirit. This gets to the “heart” of the matter, where God has placed His own Spirit within us (Ezekiel 36:24-27), and we worship God in Spirit and in truth (John 4:24).
  • We rejoice in the Messiah, Jesus. The word for “rejoice” here is not the same one we have seen earlier, although it is no less celebrative. It is a Greek word that means “to glory, exult or boast in.” We do not boast in anything about ourselves, but our glory is in the Lord Jesus — we brag about Him. He is the one who, as Messiah, has fulfilled all that is required of the people of God.
  • We have no confidence in the flesh. Paul is using the word “flesh” here in a double way. It speaks of our humanity apart from the power and Spirit of God. But in view of the controversy he is addressing, it also refers here to physical flesh, which was subject to the ritual of circumcision. As believers in Jesus, we put no stock in any of it. Our confidence is in Him and the Holy Spirit.
Putting any confidence in ourselves and what we can do will rob us of our joy. That was not the intent of these teachers but it would most certainly be the result. So Paul is quite glad to remind the believers at Philippi once again to rejoice in the Lord Jesus and put all their confidence in Him — that’s where the joy is!

Focus Questions
  1. How can the circumcision of these legalistic teachers rob us of joy?
  2. Why is it a joy to have no confidence in ourselves or anything we have done?
  3. What does the “circumcision of the heart” look like, and how does it bring us joy?



There is Always Joy!
There is Always Joy!
Paul’s Letters to the Jesus Believers at Philippi
Bite-Sized Studies Through the Book of Philippians
by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

Thursday, January 3, 2013

On The Day I Called

On the day I called, You answered me. (Psalm 138:3)
In this psalm, the David gives praise to the LORD for His lovingkindness and loyalty — God has kept His word. And now he gives his reason: “On the day I called, You answered me.”

Many Christians, when they pray, usually wait to see if God has answered their prayer. That is, they are not willing to believe it until they see it, and when they see it, then they will believe it. Of course, there can be some time between when we pray and when we see the answer, between “Amen” and “There it is!” But if we are not willing to believe it until we see it, then that time becomes a matter if instead of when.

However, the Bible teaches us something different about prayer. Look at a couple examples from the book of Daniel. In chapter 9, Daniel called on the Lord, and even while he was yet praying, the answer came in the form of an angel: “O Daniel, I have now come forth to give you skill to understand. At the beginning of your supplication the command went out, and I have come to tell you” (Daniel 9:22-23). Daniel prayed and the answer came right away. But watch what happened on another occasion, in chapter 10. Daniel set his heart to understand something, and during that time he fasted from wine and meat and “pleasant food.” He did this for three weeks, then he had a vision and the hand of an angel suddenly touched him.

“Do not fear, Daniel,” the angel said, “for from the first day that you set your heart to understand, and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard; and I have come because of your words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days; and behold, Michael one of the chief princes, came to help me” (Daniel 10:12-13).

Now, notice that in both cases, Daniel’s prayer was answered right from the beginning. In the first instance, the answer showed up immediately, but in the second, the answer did not appear for 21 days. Even so, in both cases, God answered on the day Daniel prayed.

God’s timing is not always our timing, not just because He is eternal while we are finite, but because He sees the “bigger picture” and knows the right time. In the New Testament, there are two different Greek words that are used in regard to time. One is chronos, which speaks of clock or calendar time. The other is kairos, a word that signifies a poignant, purposeful time. God works according to kairos time, the appropriate and propitious time. So, when we pray, God hears and answers us that very day. The answer may come immediately, or it may take a while before it shows up — but it will always come at the right time.

On the day we pray, God answers us. That is what Jesus taught. He said, “Whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them” (Mark 11:24). Notice the tense here: “believe that you receive them.” The NASB says, “believe that you have received them.” In other words, we receive the answer at the time we pray. Where I come from, when you have received something from someone, you thank them. So, when we have prayed in faith, that is the appropriate time to say, “Thank You, Lord,” knowing that we have received what we have asked.

That is what the dynamic of faith adds to our prayer. We do not have to wait to see the answer in order to know that we have the answer. We do not see so that we may believe, we believe so that we may see. God hears and answers our prayers on the day we pray them, and if we believe that when we pray, we will surely see it come to pass.

Friday, December 28, 2012

A Shoot from the Stump of Jesse


The tree had been felled and all hope had been dashed. The kingdom that once was had been broken in two. God’s promise to David (son of Jesse), of an heir who would reign forever, had apparently failed. But wait! What’s this? There is still life in the old stump. All is not lost and there is still hope, for a new shoot has emerged.
Then a shoot will grow from the stump of Jesse,
and a branch from his roots will bear fruit.
(Isaiah 11:1 HCSB)
The tree was the kingdom of Israel, which had been divided into two, Israel and Judah, after Solomon departed the scene. Israel, the northern kingdom, was about to be carried off into captivity by Assyria. That was the prophecy of earlier chapters. However, a remnant of Israel would return from exile — but only a remnant — and would turn to the LORD in faith. Then Isaiah spoke of an “anointing” that would lift the burden of the oppressor off their shoulders and would completely destroy the yoke from off their neck (Isaiah 10:27). The power of the enemy would be broken. And then, a shoot would grow from the stump of Jesse.

A remnant and a shoot. That seems so little, so small. And yet, that is so often how God does His work. Indeed, in Zechariah 4:10, He says, “Do not despise these small beginnings” (NLT). In the book of Daniel, the prophet interprets the dream of Nebuchadnezzar and speaks of the Messiah (the “Anointed One”), who would come in like a stone but would “grow” to become a great mountain that fills the whole earth. He would break in pieces the other kingdoms and establish a kingdom that would stand forever — the kingdom of God (see Daniel 2:29-45).

This is the Lord Jesus, the “stone” that smashes all the other kingdoms and becomes a great “mountain” that fills the whole earth. He came preaching, “The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand,” and at the cross, He disarmed the principalities and powers, which are the demonic influences behind all the kings and cultures of the world (Colossians 2:15). He established the kingdom of heaven on earth, and it has been growing and increasing ever since. Remember how Jesus described the kingdom in the parables He taught.
  • “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground, and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how.” (Mark 4:26)
  • “What is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it? It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and put in his garden; and it grew and became a large tree, and the birds of the air nested in its branches.” (Luke 13:18-19)
  • “To what shall I liken the kingdom of God? It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened.” (Luke 13:20-21)
  • “From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it” (Matthew 11:12 NIV).
The kingdom of God starts small but grows big. Even the Messiah, the Word who “became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14), had a small beginning in the world. Born in a tiny, inconspicuous town, nestled in the insignificance of old feed trough, visited only by shepherds and star geeks. And yet, this is the one of whom the prophet says,
For unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called
Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of His government and peace
There will be no end,
Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom,
To order it and establish it with judgment and justice
From that time forward, even forever
(Isaiah 9:6-7)
Messiah came into the world as a child, an infant, a tiny shoot from an old sawed-off stump. But He is a Son, the Son of David, and He grew up to sit on the throne of David, where He will rule and reign forever. His kingdom has come, and it will keep on increasing and advancing until it fills the whole earth.



Let Earth Receive Her King
Let Earth Receive Her King
Advent, Christmas and the Kingdom of God
by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

Thursday, December 27, 2012

Living Between the Comings

When the LORD brought back the captivity of Zion,
We were like those who dream.
Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
And our tongue with singing.
Then they said among the nations,
“The LORD done great things for them.”
The LORD has done great things for us,
And we are glad.

Bring back our captivity, O LORD,
As the streams in the South.
Those who sow in tears
Shall reap in joy.
He who continually goes forth weeping,
Bearing seed for sowing,
Shall doubtless come again with rejoicing,
Bringing his sheaves with him.
(Psalm 126)
The psalm writer is thinking about when Israel first began to return from Babylonian captivity. It was a wonderful time, like a dream full of laughter and joy. It was a God thing. But he also realizes that there is still more that needs to be done — there are still others in captivity, and even those who are already free are still under the dominion of foreign kings. The psalm writer is living between the “comings,” between the first release from captivity and the final fulfillment, and that means there is still much sowing to be done and much reaping. There are still many tears to be shed but also much rejoicing, for the greater harvest is yet to come.

Like the psalm writer, we too are living between the “comings.” Between the first coming of King Jesus into the world to establish the kingdom of God, and the second coming when He will return and the kingdom of God will fill all the earth. In between, however, the kingdom increases and multiplies. Like a mustard seed that a man sows in his garden. It is a small seed, yet when it is sown it becomes a large tree where birds can nest in its branches (Luke 13:18-19). The kingdom is like leaven that a woman works into a large batch of flour. It is a small amount, yet when it is activated and released into the dough it grows and multiplies until it permeates the whole lump and changes it completely.

Jesus taught the disciples to pray to the Father, “Your kingdom, come. Your will, be done on earth as it is in heaven.” And His kingdom has come, and His will has already begun to be done on earth as it is in heaven. But it has not yet come in all its fullness, so we keep praying, and watching, and sowing.

King Jesus has ascended to the throne at the right hand of the father, the place of ruling and reigning. When He returns, there will be a great rejoicing and the harvest will be complete.

We live between the “comings.”



Let Earth Receive Her King
Let Earth Receive Her King
Advent, Christmas and the Kingdom of God
by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

Saturday, December 15, 2012

Psalm 122 and the New Jerusalem


An Advent adaptation of Psalm 122 in light of Isaiah 2:2-5, Revelation 21 and the coming of King Jesus into the world. (See Let Us Go Up to the Mountain of the LORD)
I was light and bright and full of joy
When they came and said to me,
“Let us go up to the house of Yahweh.”
Our feet shall stand within your gates, O Jerusalem,
The city of God come down
From heaven to earth.

It is a city built together,
Joining heaven and earth as one:
Where the tribes go up,
The tribes of Yahweh,
To fulfill the testimony of Israel,
And give thanks to the name of Yahweh.

For there He will set things right among the nations.
From the throne of the house of David,
Where King Jesus, the Anointed One,
Rules and reigns forever.

Pray for the peace of the new Jerusalem:
“They shall prosper who love you.
Shalom be within your walls,
And prosperity within your palaces.
For the sake of my brothers and sisters,

For the sake of the nations,
I will say, even now, ‘Peace be with you.’
Because of the house of Yahweh our God
I will seek your good.”
Let us go up to the mountain of the LORD and walk in His light.



Let Earth Receive Her King
Let Earth Receive Her King
Advent, Christmas and the Kingdom of God
by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

Friday, December 14, 2012

Let Us Go Up to the Mountain of the LORD


We are in the season of Advent. Advent means “coming.” In ancient Rome, the adventus was a ceremony in honor of the emperor, welcoming him into the city, often as he returned from a victorious military campaign. The Christian season of Advent is a time of waiting and preparation that focuses on the arrival of Jesus the Messiah, God’s Anointed King, into the world. This was His first coming, and we remember it as Christmas. But in this season we also have an eye toward His second coming, when He will return at the end of the age.

At His first coming, the kingdom of God entered into the world and the promises of God began to be fulfilled. At His second coming, the kingdom and all those promises will be brought to completion. In the season of Advent, we remember those promises as we prepare to celebrate the birth of King Jesus, but also as we await the return of the King.

God has much to say, through Isaiah the prophet, about those promises. Isaiah long ago prophesied what would come in the “last days.” We often think of this as the “end times,” and envision the robed and bearded man, all cartoon-like, walking the city with a sign that reads, “Repent. The end is near.” But here the “last days” are about the completion of God’s plan, the fulfillment of all He has promised His people. The first anticipation of hope Isaiah brings is found in chapter 2:
In the last days
the mountain of the LORD’s house will be established
at the top of the mountains
and will be raised above the hills.
All nations will stream to it,
and many peoples will come and say,
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD,
to the house of the God of Jacob.
He will teach us about His ways
so that we may walk in His paths.”
For instruction will go out of Zion
and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
He will settle disputes among the nations
and provide arbitration for many peoples.
They will turn their swords into plows
and their spears into pruning knives.
Nations will not take up the sword against other nations,
and they will never again train for war.
House of Jacob, come and let us walk in the LORD’s light.
(Isaiah 2:2-5 HCSB)
Here is the time of God’s reign, through Christ, over all the nations of the earth, from His holy city, Zion. They will all come to His mountain, to the house of the Lord, His temple, the place where He dwells on earth. From there He sends forth His Word into all the world to disciple the nations in His ways. The Lord will judge between the nations and set everything right. There will be no more need for the implements of war — there will be no more war.

We see the light of fulfillment in the birth of Jesus at Bethlehem. The Word, who is God, became flesh and “dwelt” — literally, “tabernacled” — among us (John 1:1, 14). God became present with us as a human being through Jesus the God-man, who is fully human as well as fully divine.

After the cross and resurrection, and before Jesus ascended to His throne in heaven at the right hand of the Father, Jesus gathered His disciples and declared: “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth” (Matthew 28:18). Then He commissioned them to go out into the world:
Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. (Matthew 28:19-20)

You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth. (Acts 1:8)
This is the instruction of the Lord going forth from Zion, His word going forth from Jerusalem to all the nations. At the end of Revelation, the end of “the Book,” and the end of the age, we see God’s holy city, Jerusalem, coming down and joining heaven to earth.
Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues came to me and talked with me, saying, “Come, I will show you the bride, the Lamb’s wife.” And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God ...

But I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light. And the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it. Its gates shall not be shut at all by day (there shall be no night there). And they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it ...

And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. (Revelation 21:9-10, 22-26; 2:1-2 )
Here is the mountain of the Lord, the Holy City and the Temple where God dwells forever with His people. It is the kingdom of God come into the world, the will of God being done on earth exactly as it is being done in heaven. Here are all the nations of the world bringing all their glory to honor King Jesus the Lamb. And here they all find their healing and restoration — the Tree of Life.

In Advent, we prepare our hearts to celebrate the coming of the Lord Jesus into the world at Bethlehem two thousand years ago, even as we live in the present reality of His Lordship and watch for His future coming, the fulfillment of all things. Let us go up to the mountain of the Lord and walk in His light.



Let Earth Receive Her King
Let Earth Receive Her King
Advent, Christmas and the Kingdom of God
by Jeff Doles

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