Got Compassion? Part 2

But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith,
praying in the Holy Ghost,
Keep yourselves in the love of God,
looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.
And of some have compassion, making a difference:
And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire;
hating even the garment spotted by the flesh. Jude 20-23


Four basic actions are listed for the believer immediately preceding the command to "have compassion".

(1) Building up yourselves on your most holy faith - 'faith' here means conviction, belief, fidelity, faithfulness. Very simply, first we have to know WHAT we believe. Not just an intellectual belief that we give out as the 'Sunday School Answer' in those fun spiritual discussions, but a holy belief that moves us to fidelity and obedience to God. That's the kind of belief that builds us up. That's the kind of belief that gives us compassion.

(2) Praying in the Holy Ghost - it's the Holy Ghost that "teaches us all things". When we pray in the Holy Ghost, we're relying on Him to teach us what to pray- to give us discernment so that we pray in accordance with the will of God. Not a selfish prayer based on what I want, but an unselfish prayer based on what God wants. So then we have to know WHAT to pray. As we pray for others as the Holy Ghost directs, it gives us God's heart for them - His compassion.

(3) Keep yourselves in the love of God - 'keep' here means guard or maintain the state of being. God's love for us is everlasting and unchanging, and certainly needs no guarding from us. But we do need to guard our awareness that God loves us and that God loves others. So then we have to know God's love. Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so... When we keep ourselves aware of God's love for us and others, it gives us compassion.

(4) Looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life - 'looking for' here means receiving to one's self, admitting, accepting, expecting. We are to continually be receiving, admitting, accepting, and expecting the mercy of Jesus in giving us eternal life. So then we have to know WHO keeps us. So then assurance of salvation is essential to having compassion. When I have assurance that I am truly 'safe and secure from all alarms', that security compels me to extend that security to others... it gives me compassion.


What a fellowship, what a joy divine,
Leaning on the everlasting arms;
What a blessedness, what a peace is mine,
Leaning on the everlasting arms.

Leaning, leaning, safe and secure from all alarms;
Leaning, leaning, leaning on the everlasting arms.

Oh, how sweet to walk in this pilgrim way,
Leaning on the everlasting arms;
Oh, how bright the path grows from day to day,
Leaning on the everlasting arms.

What have I to dread, what have I to fear,
Leaning on the everlasting arms?
I have blessed peace with my Lord so near,
Leaning on the everlasting arms.

Got Compassion? Part 1

And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen. John 21:25


The compassionate acts of Jesus Christ in the mere 33 years that He walked as a man upon this earth could not be contained in the world itself... If my compassionate acts in my 33+ years were recorded, they would not fill a very large volume I fear. What about yours? As I look around at my fellow Christians, there are very few who exhibit more compassion for others than for themselves... How does one develop compassion? And what is compassion exactly?

The compassion that Jesus Christ showed centered on making people whole by bringing them 'out of the darkness' and 'into God's glorious light'. He didn't reject people because they were in the darkness, but He didn't leave them there either. He viewed sin as a destructive barrier that separated people from God.

His compassion moved Him to do His part in tearing the barrier down.
His compassion moved Him to challenge those who received Him as Saviour
to "go and sin no more".


And of some have compassion, making a difference:
And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire;
hating even the garment spotted by the flesh. Jude 22-23

Spiritual Warfare

2 Corinthians 10:3-6
For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.


We exist in the physical realm in the form of a human body - the flesh - which contains our unregenerated human nature that is prone to sin and opposed to God. But we also exist in the spiritual realm in the form of a spirit - a regenerated spirit if we've accepted Christ as our Saviour - which is that part of our being that is able to relate to God.

Paul is saying that we must use spiritual weapons to bring our physical bodies into submission to God. Those spiritual weapons are mighty through God to demolish our strong holds (anything on which we rely to oppose God).

The first military order Paul gives for our spiritual warfare is "casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God". This literally means to demolish human reasoning and philosophies that have become barriers against the knowledge of God. Isaiah 55:9 says, "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts." We need to recognize that God's thoughts are higher than the thoughts of man. When man's philosophies oppose God's knowledge, we are to demolish them so that we can receive the knowledge of God.

For example, the theory of evolution opposes God's account of creation as told in the very first chapter of the Bible. What a strong hold! A person that accepts man's philosophy of evolution over God's account of creation has erected a barrier against the most basic and fundamental knowledge of God. And not only against creation, but against all that follows in the Bible. How can the knowledge of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ break through that barrier?

The second military order Paul gives for our spiritual warfare is "bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ". This literally means to capture your own mind and force it to obey Christ. Sounds easy? It's not. It would be if my mind only generated a couple of thoughts a day. But thousands of thoughts run through my mind every day - they stream by so fast, I can't even type fast enough to capture them on paper. Capturing every thought is difficult because it's constantly demanding.

It's like an super thorough internet filter. When each and every url has to be checked for content before it's viewed, it slows down the processing speed. So it is with our thoughts; when we capture every thought and check it for content before we use it, it will slow down our thought process. And that will slow down our communication process. But that's okay - because James 1:19 says, "Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God." Being slow to speak certainly includes the idea of checking our thoughts first to be sure they're obedient to Christ before we let them roll off our tongues.

The spiritual battle we wage
against our own sin
is won or lost
in our own minds.

Finally, the third military order Paul gives for our spiritual warfare is "having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience". Literally this means having a spiritual fitness, a preparedness, to protect and defend against all disobedience (foreign and domestic). As a soldier builds and maintains his physical readiness for the rigors of physical battle, we are to build and maintain our spiritual readiness for the rigors of spiritual battle. Sometimes we will have to defend and protect against our own disobedience; sometimes against the disobedience of others that threatens to ensnare us or our fellow soldiers.

So what builds the spirit? The same thing that builds the physical body - food, water, rest, exercise, resistance, discipline. Our spiritual food is the Word of God. Our spiritual water is our relationship with Jesus Christ. Our spiritual rest - the assurance of our salvation by faith not works. Our spiritual exercise and resistance - the temptations and trials that we encounter and push through and overcome. As James 1:2-4 says, "My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing." Our spiritual discipline - obedience to Christ.

Temptations and trials
that try our faith
also work to make us
spiritually complete.

The life of a soldier during wartime is not easy. Neither is the life of a Christian who is daily fighting a spiritual battle against sin. Our enemy is bringing the battle to us every day of our lives - are we engaging the enemy or just surrendering?

Can External Things Defile?

Mark 7:18-23
And he saith unto them, Are ye so without understanding also? Do ye not perceive, that whatsoever thing from without entereth into the man, it cannot defile him;
Because it entereth not into his heart, but into the belly, and goeth out into the draught, purging all meats? And he said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.

Jesus as a teacher demonstrates classic teaching techniques. First he imparts the teaching through a parable and an explanation. Then he demonstrates the lesson with a life experience or test. This was the teaching: evil does not enter into our bodies from outside; evil comes out of us from our heart. The very next life experience recorded in the Scripture is Jesus casting out the devil from the daughter of the Syrophenician woman.

So evil resides within us. So does that mean that externals are spiritually neutral?

Romans 13:11-14
And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.

Paul's teaching is clear. We are to "cast off the works of darkness" first and then we can "put on the armor of light" (protection of illumination/ understanding). Paul goes on to list the works of darkness as rioting and drunkenness, chambering and wantonness (lasciviousness), strife and envy.

Paul goes on to say that there's something else we must do after casting off the works of darkness and putting on the Lord Jesus Christ. We still have to "make no provision for the flesh" because we still carry the lusts around in our hearts.

There is a prescribed order to getting victory: cast off the works of darkness, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh.

Placating a "lesser sin" under the guise of grace in order to control a "bigger sin" is futile. So is feeding the lust with "christian-ized" versions of sinful environments; that may give you the illusion of control, but in reality it's just making provision for the flesh to fulfill its lusts. It's baiting the evil that resides within. The works of darkness (rioting, drunkenness, chambering, wantonness [lasciviousness], strife, envy) will only continue to grow...

Engrafted...

James 1:17-21 uses a plant metaphor to show us how God uses His Word in our lives...

VERSE 17
"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning."

The plant imagery begins in this verse. From reading the next few verses, we understand that "every good gift and every perfect gift" refers to God's Word, and it is good, perfect, coming down (like rain) from God the Father of light. God gave His Word (water). God is the constant, unchanging, unshadowed light we need to comprehend, or process, it. Just as plants require light to turn water and nutrients into food, we require God's light to turn the Word of God into nourishment for us. God has given us all that we need for life and godliness.

2 Peter 1:2-4 "Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust."

VERSE 18
"Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures."

The plant imagery continues in verse 18. God is the sower, His Word is the seed, we who are born again are the firstfruits of His creatures. God sowed the seed of His Word, and we are the new creatures that sprouted.


VERSE 19-20
"Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God."

As new creatures sown by the Word of God, let us be "swift to hear" (as a plant soaks up water and light) by feeding ourselves on the Word of God. Let us be "slow to speak" (not allowing weeds to spring out of our original corrupt nature, but waiting on the nourishment of God's Word to bring forth fruit). Let us be "slow to wrath" (not producing thorns and stickers by reacting in anger as per our original corrupt nature), but rather producing the peacable fruit that comes from the righteousness of God.


VERSE 21
"Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls."

More plant imagery with the mention of the grafting process. God desires to graft His Word into our lives to produce a Christlike fruit. To receive the graft, we must cut something out - our filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness. To receive the graft, we must have meekness - trusting and obeying God's Word instead of rejecting and disobeying God's Word.


Here's what I found out about grafting...

"When you want to combine two plants into one plant, grafting is the way to go. Grafting is one of the most interesting forms of plant propagation. You can use the best part of two plants to create an either stronger or differently shaped variety. This will work with fruit plants, flowering plants or really any type of plant. Grafting is a method of plant propagation widely used in horticulture, where the tissues of one plant are encouraged to fuse with those of another. Grafting is the art of attaching a piece of one plant to another in such a way that the two pieces bond and become one plant."

God asks us to cut out our sinfulness to make room for the graft of His Word. He asks us to receive that graft instead of rejecting it. Only then will we produce the fruit He desires.

What about your life? Has the Word of Truth been sown in your heart? Have you been "born again" by receiving Jesus Christ as your Saviour? As a new creature, are you cutting out the sinfulness of your life to make room for God's graft? Are you receiving that graft by trusting and obeying God's Word? Or are you reject the graft by rejecting and disobeying God's Word? What kind of fruit are you producing? Thorns of wrath? Or fruit of righteousness?

Is the fruit of your life growing below the graft from your old nature (corruption, sinfulness)? Or is the fruit of your life growing above the graft from your new nature (righteousness)?

Solomon's Temple

After reading the account of Solomon building the temple, I googled Solomon's temple and found this blog that chronicles the building of a lego model of the temple.
http://assemblingthetemple.blogspot.com/


This is a model from the Israel Museum...
http://www.imj.org.il/panavision/jerusalem_model_index.html

Ask What I Shall Give Thee

I Kings 3:5,9-10
"In Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night and God said, Ask what I shall give thee.

Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad for who is able to judge this thy so great a people?

And the speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing."

Very simple - it pleased the Lord for Solomon to ask for wisdom.

Very simple - it still pleases the Lord for us to ask for wisdom.

James 1:5-7
If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.

For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.

Back to Solomon... he awakes from his dream, and right away has to judge a very difficult case.

I Kings 3:15-16
And Solomon awoke; and, behold, it was a dream. And he came to Jerusalem, and stood before the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and offered up burnt offerings, and offered peace offerings, and made a feast to all his servants. Then came there two women, that were harlots, unto the king, and stood before him.

Solomon hears conflicting testimony from two women, both of them known harlots, both of them unreliable witnesses. It this a test of Solomon's wisdom? Or is this a test of his faith? How does he respond?

I Kings 3:24-25
And the king said, Bring me a sword. And they brought a sword before the king. And the king said, Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other.

BRING ME A SWORD! What courage! What faith! What wisdom!

I Kings 3:28-4:1
And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had judged; and they feared the king for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him, to do judgment. So king Solomon was king over all Israel.

When we ask for wisdom from God IN FAITH that He will provide it, that faith and wisdom will show up in our actions and will give God glory!

"Ask what I shall give thee..."

"Lord, give me wisdom"

God Thwarts Good Counsel...

II Samuel 17:14
"For the LORD had appointed to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel to the intent that the LORD might bring evil upon Absalom."

In other words, God planned to thwart good counsel... wow... now I'm curious... I thought God was the author and promoter of good counsel...

Hmmmm.... who is this Ahithophel whose good counsel is about to be thwarted by God? Here, in order, are the Scriptures' mentions of Ahithophel.

1st Mention of Ahithophel - he was a trusted counsellor of David who has been summoned by Absalom, David's traitor son.
2SA 15:12 And Absalom sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David's counsellor, from his city, even from Giloh, while he offered sacrifices. And the conspiracy was strong; for the people increased continually with Absalom.

2nd Mention of Ahithophel - he is exposed to David as a conspirator with Absalom. David prays that God will turn Ahithophel's counsel to foolishness. So God appointed to thwart Ahithophel's counsel after David prayed for the same thing....
2SA 15:31 And one told David, saying, Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom. And David said, O LORD, I pray thee, turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness.

3rd Mention of Ahithophel - he counsels Absalom to commit a vile act in an open public way - taking David's concubines.
2SA 16:20-22 Then said Absalom to Ahithophel, Give counsel among you what we shall do. And Ahithophel said unto Absalom, Go in unto thy father's concubines, which he hath left to keep the house; and all Israel shall hear that thou art abhorred of thy father then shall the hands of all that are with thee be strong. So they spread Absalom a tent upon the top of the house; and Absalom went in unto his father's concubines in the sight of all Israel.

So now I wonder why Absalom would want to tarnish the nice-guy image he's worked so hard to cultivate. After all, he's spent the past forty years "stealing the hearts of the men of Israel".

Absalom's actions are rooted in bitterness and unforgiveness. Remember that Tamar sought refuge and comfort from Absalom after Amnon forced himself on her and then rejected her. Absalom counseled Tamar to "hold her peace" and two years later, he set a very public trap for Amnon and killed him. Absalom is openly challenging his father, King David, for neglecting to deal with Amnon's crime against Tamar.

After killing Amnon, Absalom flees and lives in exile for 3 years. Finally, David calls for him and Absalom returns to Jerusalem, but is not allowed to see David's face. This "exile in Jerusalem" drags on for 2 more years, until Absalom again challenges David in a very public way to see him and perhaps even kill him. When they finally meet, David kisses him. So all is forgiven and everything is ok, right?

Wrong. It's at this very point that Absalom begins a 40-year campaign to "steal the hearts of the men of Israel". Why? I think Absalom provoked David over and over - baited David to take the first punch - and David wouldn't. Absalom has been forgiven, but he won't forgive. The bitterness is eating him up. He wants a good fight, but David won't make the first move.

How infuriating it is to have the person you won't forgive - demonstrate grace and forgiveness toward you!

So back to our verse:
II Samuel 17:14 "For the LORD had appointed to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel to the intent that the LORD might bring evil upon Absalom."

God has waited 40 years for Absalom to forgive and now He will deal with Absalom...