Posted on by intentional4christ

Monuments

For the past few weeks, I have been thinking about something I read about in the story of the Israelites as they crossed the Jordan into Jericho. Let’s read the scripture together:

So Joshua summoned the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, and said to them, “Cross over before the ark of the LORD your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take a stone upon his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of Israel, to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’ you are to tell them, ‘The waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters were cut off.’ Therefore these stones will be a memorial to the Israelites forever.” Thus the Israelites did as Joshua had commanded them. They took up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, one for each tribe of Israel, just as the LORD had told Joshua; and they carried them to the camp, where they set them down. Joshua also set up twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan, in the place where the priests who carried the ark of the covenant stood. And the stones are there to this day.

Joshua 4: 4-9 BSB

Joshua, Israel’s new leader loved to erect monuments as reminders to Israelites. He erected two monuments, one in the Jordan River and one in their camp site after they crossed the Jordan River, as memorials of God’s faithfulness in keeping a longstanding promise to the Israelites. Later on we see that when Achan sinned against God, Joshua erected monument of stones over his grave to remind the Israelites to fear and obey God (Joshua 6). Whether as reminders of God’s faithfulness or His holiness, these monuments were important to Joshua. And every time he erected them, they were meant to point people back to God.

Now fast forward to the New Testament in Mark 13 and we see one of Jesus’ disciples describe the temple of Jerusalem. He said “Teacher, look at the magnificent stones and buildings!”  (vs. 1). But Jesus’ response was rather astonishing: “Do you see all these great buildings?” Jesus replied. “Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down” (vs. 2).

The temple of that day was a magnificent edifice, a monument, that had become significant to the Israelites. Unfortunately, the majesty that was accorded to the temple far surpassed that which was accorded to the God who inhabited the temple. Jesus pointed out to the disciple and anyone else who was listening that the manmade magnificent monument was going to come crashing down.

Let’s backtrack to Gen 11 where the early human race decided to erect a monument, a tower that reached up to the heavens.

“Come,” they said, “let us build for ourselves a city with a tower that reaches to the heavens, that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of all the earth.”

Gen 11:4 BSB

Their aim for erecting a monument could not have been more different from Joshua’s. The purpose of Tower of Babel was to make a name for themselves. As we go about our lives on a daily basis, our accomplishments and achievement become monuments and memorials that signal that we walked this earth and left a mark. Monuments are very important because they remind us of how far we have come (1 Samuel 7: 12). Monuments only become problematic when they do not point us and others towards God. When we begin to ascribe more majesty and glory to ourselves than the God who inhabits the temple of our bodies, then we are setting ourselves up for a great fall, where not one stone will be left on another!

Almost a year ago, one of our pastors in church preached a sermon from Gen 11 and she asked us to consider two important questions:

  1. What have I built in my own strength for my own fame that needs to be deconstructed?
  2. What towers have I built that shine a spotlight on my self instead of God?

Today, as you go about your life’s activities and work towards leaving a legacy behind, I ask you to consider these two questions above. If the stones of remembrance that you are erecting do not point you or others to God, then I encourage you to reorient your accomplishments back to the Source and Giver of good gifts. Jesus encouraged us that our works, our accomplishments, our fame, should always be for the glory of our Great God.

In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:16 BSB

This word is timely for me and hopefully for you as well. I leave you with the lyrics of this song:

All the glory must be to the Lord, Only He is worthy of our praise;

No one on earth should claim glory for Himself;

The glory must be to the Lord.

Yours Truly

Posted on by intentional4christ

The lifter of my head

For the past few months, I have been following the Israelites journey from Abraham’s loins to becoming an independent nation in my bible studies. And a few days ago, something caught my attention in Joseph’s story.

Joseph had been sold into slavery by his brothers because they were jealous of him. While in slavery, his master’s wife tried to force herself on him which landed him in jail. Through all his woes, the favour of God continued to rest on him and distinguished him even in the jail cell. One night, two people in the jail had dreams and woke up quite disturbed because they did not understand what their dreams meant. And Joseph through God’s power, interpreted their dreams. Lets read together:

So the chief cupbearer told his dream to Joseph, and said to him, “In my dream, behold, there was a vine in front of me; and on the vine were three branches. And as it was budding, its blossoms came out, and its clusters produced ripe grapes. “Now Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand; so I took the grapes and squeezed them into Pharaoh’s cup, and I put the cup into Pharaoh’s hand.” Then Joseph said to him, “This is the interpretation of it: the three branches are three days; within three more days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your office; and you will put Pharaoh’s cup into his hand according to your former custom when you were his cupbearer. [Genesis 40:9-13 NASB]

This is a long passage so lets pause for a second and pay attention to the bolded words: Pharoah will lift up your head. Got it? Ok let’s continue:

When the chief baker saw that he had interpreted favorably, he said to Joseph, “I also saw in my dream, and behold, there were three baskets of white bread on my head; and in the top basket there were some of all sorts of baked food for Pharaoh, and the birds were eating them out of the basket on my head.” Then Joseph answered and said, “This is its interpretation: the three baskets are three days; within three more days Pharaoh will lift up your head from you and will hang you on a tree, and the birds will eat your flesh off you.” [Genesis 40 :16- 19]

This time, pay attention to the bolded statement: Pharoah will lift up your head from you. Same guy, Pharoah; same kind of dream for the butler and the baker; but very different outcomes. One’s head was lifted up and the other’s head was lifted up from his body. This is what God was drawing my attention to this week.

There is a psalm that I pray over myself every time I need to experience God’s supernatural favour in my dealings with people. And it is this:

But you, O LORD, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head.

Psalm 3:3 ESV

And although I pray this prayer very often, I sometimes find myself seeking personal recognition and honour from people or find myself trying to curry favour with people using my own efforts. This week, I found myself in such a position and as I was walking away from that situation, I heard God’s rebuke as the scripture Psalm 3:3 came to mind. God was reminding me from His word that He alone is and should be the lifter of my head.

The baker thought that because the butler had received favorable news about Pharoah lifting the butler’s head, that he would receive the same news. However, his interpretation was rather grave (no pun intended): Pharaoh would lift up his head right off his body! You see, human beings are fickle. The bible tells us that the arm of flesh (human beings) will fail us but the One who created the arm is mighty to save (2 Chronicles 32:8). We are encouraged to not put our hope in any human being.

Looking to people to bestow honour on us, that is not God-sanctioned, can only lead to trouble. When we look to mere humans for our elevation and promotion, you never know what you will get: either your head will be lifted up or it will be lifted up from your body! But God’s promises are yes and amen: to be the lifter of your head.

This week, God reminded me that instead of praying this psalm as a request of Him, that I confess it as my positionality. GOD is my Shield. GOD is my Glory. GOD is the Lifter of my head. This confession delimits my tendencies and desires to chase after promotions and recognition. If God wants honour and elevation for me, it will happen. I do not need to chase after them. After all, God’s goodness and His mercies have been designed to follow me all the days of my life (Psalm 23: 6) and not the other way around.

Today’s post is a message for me. It is deeply personal. However, it might be a word of caution or a sweet reminder of God’s tender love for you. Which ever the case, God is always and forever for us, guarding jealously and fiercely our inheritance in Christ Jesus. He is a shield about us, our glory, and the lifter up of our heads. Amen.

Yours Truly

Posted on by intentional4christ · 1 Comment

Borrowed Bodies

For the past month or so, I have been reflecting on this topic as my family and I have navigated some trying times. Today, I will look at one of Jesus’ parables, the parable of the tenants, with a new perspective:

Then Jesus began to speak to them in parables: “A man planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a wine vat, and built a watchtower. Then he rented it out to some tenants and went away on a journey. At harvest time, he sent a servant to the tenants to collect his share of the fruit of the vineyard. But they seized the servant, beat him, and sent him away empty-handed. Then he sent them another servant, and they struck him over the head and treated him shamefully. He sent still another, and this one they killed. He sent many others; some they beat and others they killed. Finally, having one beloved son, he sent him to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said. But the tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ So they seized the son, killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard. What then will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and kill those tenants, and will give the vineyard to others. Have you never read this Scripture: ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes’? ”At this, the leaders sought to arrest Jesus, for they knew that He had spoken this parable against them. But fearing the crowd, they left Him and went away. Mark 12:1-12 BSB

This parable was one of Jesus’ clearer ones- God had sent many messengers ahead of Jesus himself to present a message to a broken world to be reconciled to God but the world did not listen! so God sends his beloved son and even Him would be rejected and killed. The religious leaders of the day understood the implication of what Jesus was saying and immediately took offence but a few days later, the same religious leaders condemned Jesus to a brutal death outside of Jerusalem where he was beaten mercilessly and hung on a cross to die.

A few weeks ago, I heard a sermon where the pastor was encouraging to look at this parable from another lens: the lens of the tenants. The tenants were renters of the vineyard. They had not planted the vineyard, neither had they put the wall around it, dug the wine vat, nor built the watchtower. The owner had put in all the work of creating this space and the tenants were mere renters of the vineyard who just had to share the fruit of the harvest with the owner. However, from the parable, the tenants were not acting as tenants at all! They were acting as if they were the owners of the vineyard when all they had to do was give the owner his due!

How many times do we act like we are owners of our own lives? How many times do we take all the glory for the things that happen in our lives, refusing to give God the glory that is due His name? We own nothing! Everything we have has been given to us.

After all, we brought nothing with us when we came into the world, and we can’t take anything with us when we leave it. 1Tim 6:7 NIV

Even the bodies that we have, we do not own… we are just tenants in them! We live, move, and enjoy pleasures in this body but at the end of the day, it is just that: a borrowed body. When the true owner asks of it, we relinquish this body, give it back to its owner, and it returns to the earth from which it came as dust or ashes.

Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore glorify God with your body. 1 Cor 6:19-20

These are very humbling thoughts! But that’s not all, lets continue to look at the story. Before the owner came a-calling, he sent many messengers, even his own son, to remind the tenants that they were to give him his due while they were operating the rented vineyard. While we are operating in our borrowed bodies, how many messengers have God sent to remind us that we are not our own, that we were bought with a price, a price that cost Him the blood of His Son Jesus on a rugged cross? Are we heeding the messengers? How has God been reminding you of late that this world is not your own and you are just passing through? How has God been telling you to put your vineyard in order and make an accounting of the life you have been given? When He asks for your body back, would you be ready to give account of what you did with it and how you glorified Him with your body?

Maybe this post comes as a messenger to you today… what are you going to do about the message? The owner gave the tenants countless opportunities to turn things around before sending his son. But one day, they ran out of time and the owner himself came to the vineyard and it was game over for them. God will continue to send invitations to us to be reconciled to him and it will keep coming and coming and coming and coming until the day it stops. Oh God may I not be found wanting on that day!

Search me O God and know my heart today….try me O Saviour and know my thoughts I pray. See if there is any wicked way in me and cleanse me from all my sins and set me free.

Martin Luther

Finally, to cap it off, lets talk about giving God his due. As I reflect over my life, there have been many times that I have looked at my accomplishments and thought to myself, “wow see what you have achieved!” I credit my intellect, strength, skills, and abilities for my achievements and sometimes the glory that is due God takes a back burner as I pursue opportunities to continue to grow my fame and acclaim and amass all these great accolades and achievements. This struggle is as old as time. The people of Babel said “Come let’s build a great city for ourselves with a tower that reaches into the sky. This will make us famous and keep us from being scattered all over the world (Gen 11:4 NIV).” King Nebuchadnezzer said, “Look at this great city Babylon! By my own mighty power, I have built this city as my royal residence to display my majestic splendor (Daniel 4:30 NIV).” The rich fool said, “This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry.”(Luke 12: 18-19 NASB).” In each of these examples, God showed them that He is owner of everything they had amassed, had accomplished, and even of their very lives! If we ought to boast, let it be in what God has done for us and has accomplished for us: let us boast in the work of the cross and just like the Apostle Paul, may this be our confession:

May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. Galatians 6:14 NIV

I leave you with these lyrics to ponder:

I will not boast in anything
No gifts, no power, no wisdom
But I will boast in Jesus Christ
His death and resurrection

Stuart Townend

Yours Truly.

P.S. In memory of KODA. Rest easy!