Jan 1 2012

Have you seen Jesus lately?


This afternoon I took down Christmas wreaths, garland, trees, and brightly colored lights, to be stowed away in the attic for another year. This annual ritual signals the Christmas season is over. For a few weeks now Christian believers the world over have talked about, and thought about, and celebrated the incarnation of Jesus who is the Christ of God. The incarnation, the fact that God became flesh, was announced with great fanfare! An angel brought the good news and a multitude of heavenly creatures sang and praised God. A star was assigned to this great event! It was a big deal!

Jesus came from heaven, became a man, lived a very simple life, had a short ministry of about 3 years, and though he never did anything wrong, was murdered by religious zealots. He was buried, and just as promised, he was raised from the dead and in a bit less than six weeks he left earth in the clouds and no one has seen him since. Well, that’s not completely true. What about the second incarnation?

If possible, perhaps even more mysterious than Jesus becoming flesh to live, die, and be raised back to life for us is that even as you read these words Jesus is all around the world in flesh right now! Christianity is a very mysterious religion to say the least. And, God let some of his Old Testament prophets in on some of the mystery. For example Isiah 53 was written hundreds of years before Jesus became a man but when I read that passage it’s almost like I’m reading the account of an eye witness. However, there was one subtle mystery that was not revealed to those men of old.

As the Apostle Paul sat in a prison cell waiting to be tried he wrote these words.

24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church, 25 of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, 26 the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. 27 To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 28 Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. 29 For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me. (Colossians 1:24-29 ESV)

Paul spoke of “the mystery hidden for ages and generations” it was to those first century believers, and to you and me God chose to “make known how great…are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is CHRIST IN YOU, the hope of glory”. Jesus is incarnate in every one who is his own. I don’t know about you, but to me this is pretty mysterious! But, it is true!

Remember Jesus talking to his inner circle in John 14 when he was preparing them for his leaving?

15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, 17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. 18 “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.” (John 14:15-20)

His promise to them was in part I “will be in you”, and “I in you.” This wonderful truth is the secret of the abundant, fruitful, joy filled, sin killing, Christian life. Jesus again spoke to his disciples on this subject. He said something to them that must have seemed very odd. “It is to your advantage that I go away.”

“But now I am going to him who sent me, and none of you asks me,‘Where are you going?’ 6 But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. 7 Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.” (John 16:5-7 ESV)

As the disciples had begun to be understand that Jesus was leaving them, as this passage says, sorrow had gripped their hearts. Oh how they must have dreaded the time when he would no longer be with them. What they were about to understand was that He was coming back in the person of the Helper, as John put it, the Holy Spirit in them. When Jesus was living on earth as a man he was confined to time and space. He could only be one place at a time. But, when he would dwell in his people he is where they are, all the time! His promise “I will never leave you” takes on new meaning.

Jesus lives in His people! This wonderful truth raises the question that all of us who claim him as Lord must grapple with, How shall we then live? If this teaching is true, if Jesus really lives in me and you, what sort of people must we be? How do we “flesh him out”? How different should we be? I think Paul’s words in the Colossians passage gives the clear answer.

“28 Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. 29 For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.” (Colossians 1:28,29 ESV)

The Christian life was never to be lived by the resources and energy of human flesh. That “The flesh profits nothing” (John 6:63) is very true. When a man does what he does relying only upon himself the result of his effort will only be what flesh can do. God calls it “nothing”. But, when we surrender, when we cease from all of our trying and start trusting, it is only then the Holy Spirit will do his will and work in us.

To be our best for Christ we must live every waking moment conscious that “I can’t” and that “Only he can”. God’s strength is only powerful in our weakness. It is not the dedicated life God uses but the surrendered life. Many Christians try desperately to be holy, to live consecrated lives, completely by sheer determination. And, they fail, over and over and over again. I think everyone who reads this article will have to agree they have been there and done that!

One last passage to advise our living and to help us allow Jesus to be front and center in our lives.

“For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” (Philippians 2:13 ESV)

You see, it is His will and His work that pleases him, not what you and I can do on our own. It is only in light of this verse, and the impact of it’s truth, that the preceding verse makes sense. It is very familiar to most of us.

“…work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12b ESV)

As my friend Edward Fudge often says of this passage, “It is our job to work out what God has worked in” and he is right. We should live in awe of the truth that Jesus lives in us and his mission has never changed one tiny bit. He is still about redemption and reconciliation and invites us mere mortals to participate in his ongoing story of loving ungodly men and women.

The question remains, will I give up so Jesus can show up? May God bless you as you surrender to his Lordship day by day.

Royce Ogle
Monroe, LA

(This post is also running athttp://wineskins.org)

Jan 1 2012

2011 in review for GraceDigest.com


The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

The concert hall at the Syndey Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 12,000 times in 2011. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 4 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.

Dec 26 2011

Why do bad things happen to good, godly people?


The short answer is “Because godly people live in a sin cursed broken world”.

I don’t claim to know all of God’s ways. I do know some things he has clearly revealed to us in Scripture. For instance, Jesus promised his disciples that “in the world” they would “have tribulation” (John 16:33) And when Jesus told his own how they would be treated in his absence it was anything but smooth sailing. He promised they would be persecuted just as believers before them had been. (Matthew 5:11-13).

Today’s Christians, especially in the United States, have been exposed to years of false teaching by word of faith preachers. In our TV market there are three or four networks of programming that with few exceptions feature men and women who declare that God’s will for you and me is that we have a high paying job, that we not be sick, that our children behave well, and that our bank accounts be full. This teaching is so pervasive that it has crept into mainstream pulpits as well. It should be no surprise then that when Christians fall on hard times their first response is one of two things or both. They believe they have done something wrong, or they believe that God is not pleased with them. False teaching is so common that I have heard invitations for people to come to Christ with the promise of a better life here on earth. The truth is, following Jesus might well make day-to-day circumstances worse. A life of devotion to Christ may not end well…here on earth.

When Jesus warned his disciples that trouble was in their future He also told them “fear not, I have overcome the world” and to”rejoice and be glad because great is your reward in heaven“. Jesus and the Apostles left little doubt that Christians are not exempt from trouble in the world.

In Romans 8 there is enough truth for a seminary course on Christian theology. It breaks down like this.

Romans 8:1-11 –  No condemnation for those who are in Christ. The Spirit frees us from sin and enables us to live righteously and will give life to our dead bodies at the resurrection.

Romans 8:12-17 – The presence of the Holy Spirit is God’s assurance that we have been adopted as sons, that we share in Christ’s inheritance, and that we will someday be glorified as he has been.

Romans 8:18-39 – Is a great panorama of truth about suffering as Christians, a lengthy explanation of why we can expect trouble in the world,  the Holy Spirit’s role in the midst of suffering and tribulations, and that our salvation is certain and not conditioned upon circumstances.

Near the end of this great chapter are these remarkable words.

31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? 33 Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written,

“For your sake we are being killed all the day long;we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”

37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord

Oh how I hope each person who reads this post will carefully and thoughtfully read these verses and depend on them to be true in the circumstances of your life. There are some things we need to remember and trust with all our might.

1. God is for us! God is for us without regard to our circumstances. In good times and in troubles, God is consistently for us. We must never doubt this. Even when we sin, even when it’s our sin that puts us at a disadvantage, God is for us. He doesn’t ever approve of our sins but he never stops being for us.

2. Expect trouble. Christians die with cancer, their kids are killed in auto accidents, their spouses abandon them, they face all sorts of tribulation and distress including persecution, hunger, not having enough clothes to wear, and even violent death.

3. God is still for us! Did you catch verse 37?  “.. IN all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. It is not when things are going along smoothly that we can know God is for us (and he is..) but IN the middle of our worst trouble we are conquerors.

Here’s the skinny. This life of following Jesus is a fixed deal. Even when by all acceptable standards you are a loser you still win! God is FOR YOU!

Bad things happen to good people so our heavenly Father can receive even more glory. His strength is only on display in the midst of our worst weaknesses. So don’t be discouraged when trouble comes but rather rejoice! God loves you, God is for you.

Royce

 

 

 

Dec 24 2011

It’s Christmas!


What a fun and magical time of year! I enjoy the beautiful colored lights and other decorations, the excitement of children, and the anticipation of adults who are looking forward to great times with family and friends to share meals, gift exchanges, and worship.

In a while I’ll grill some tasty rib eyes and we will enjoy them with our Monroe kids and grand kids for our evening meal after church. We will go to a Christmas Eve Service at their church and then tomorrow morning we will worship with our church family at 10 o’clock. Then in the evening we are having friends over for chili and conversation.

So, as you can see, at our house there is nothing big, nothing fancy, just a family enjoying God’s blessings and celebrating the birth of Jesus our Lord.

My hope is that the grace of Christmas, with all its promises, be yours throughout the year. May the wonder of God’s lavish love for sinners be with you always. From our home and our hearts, Carol and I wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy and prosperous New Year.

Thank you for reading GraceDigest and for your encouragement over what has now become years.

In Him,
Royce & Carol Ogle
Monroe, LA