As I was reading this passage again on Friday something struck me as peculiar.
Vs 4 “you are precious and honoured in my sight, and I love you.”
It struck me that God is saying this to his people Israel who have failed him over and over again. How can he say this to them… or to us?
You are precious – extremely valuable to me…and honoured ? Held in high esteem? Really?
I kept asking the Lord – what does this mean? And I felt him say..”This is not about behaviour or performance. That has all been dealt with in Jesus. It is about what you carry.”
Every human being has been created in the image of God. Yes, it was broken and marred. But he still honours what he has put within us as his creation. CS Lewis famously said: “Every time you meet another human being you should imagine a large angel walking in front of them calling out “Make way for the image of God!” An astounding picture….
He honours his own image in us.
He honours what we carry of his work of grace in us and his new life in us.
He honours the potential he gave us to bring life and beauty and order and joy to others.
He honours our deep heart intentions and longings, however feeble our attempts are.
He honours the fact we hang on in dark and difficult times…
He honours our care and love for others.
“You are precious and honoured in my sight… and I love you..”
A few weeks ago I struggled to make a phone call to see someone in Wellington.
I didn’t know them but I needed to make a connection with them. I kept putting it off again and again.
I asked myself why? And then realized I was afraid – afraid of messing this up… afraid of not explaining myself properly, not being received and listened to and understood.
This was an old wound reverberating, from old words of dishonour and ridicule in early years.
Many of us… probably all of us need to hear these wonderful words to us.
“YOU ARE PRECIOUS… AND HONOURED IN MY SIGHT, and I love you.’
As I pondered these words again yesterday – I realized that the Father says this to Jesus ‘You are precious and honoured and I love you…. And Jesus says it to the Father…’Father, You are precious to me and I honour you and I love you..” And then they both say to the Spirit… Tell them, tell them… This is how we feel about them too. Tell them!”
For this is the wonderful work of the Spirit – to convey to us what he hears in the courts of heaven… Being HIS means we are swept up into this relationship of love and honour and respect and incredible value – and this is the basis of our joy in the Lord.
What would change in our sense of who we are – in our ability to step out with courage, to walk closely with the Lord into new things - if we really, really heard the Spirit say to us “You are honoured by the Father… You are honoured by the Lord Jesus… They delight over you!”
Even the Spirit honours us by coming to live in us.
Sunday, June 17, 2012
I have summoned you!
“Fear not, my precious one. For I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name… YOU ARE MINE!”
What does this mean – “I have summoned you by name.”
It means he called us to be his long before we ever called out to him to save us.
He summoned us…. He called out to the four winds… YOU ARE MINE… come home!
And before we ever heard those words aloud…. Our hearts heard them.
The reason we gather to worship and listen to his word is because he summoned us long ago.
The reason our hearts turned to him at some time and began to drink in his words… is that he summoned us - because he wanted us.
This whole passage is the language of covenant.
The Lord… the Holy One of Israel is speaking covenant language. He chose to make himself our covenant partner. “You are my people, and I am your God.”
It was his choice before it was ours. It was His actions, not ours which made us His. He decided and acted long, long before we decided and responded.
Covenant means we belong to him, and he belongs to us.
All he is is available to us – and all we are he rightly expects to be available to him. This is Covenant life.
He decided we would be his before we even existed on this earth.
He created us in every detail to be his – and he paid that awful price to get us back again.
And so he calls and calls and calls – “come back to me my precious one… you are mine.”
He calls us by name – individually – personally. Because he knows us all by name.
And when he says “Fear not – I have redeemed you, You are mine…” he is saying not only ‘you are my choice’ but‘you are my responsibility – everything about you is my responsibility.
Your debts, your sins, your struggles, your fears, your dreams, your hopes, your best endeavours….your worst days… I am carrying all of these’. I carry the full weight of your lives…and you don’t need to.
This is why Jesus can say - “Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light’.
Covenant means that he, the Lord, our Father, our Saviour, our Elder Brother, carries the weight of our lives. Past, present and future.
We no longer need to carry it. We no longer need to live with fear and anxiety and uncertainty.
What would happen in your heart… in the way you live your life if this reality grabbed you and re-ordered your inner being? "I called you…. I initiated everything….You are my responsibility… so there is nothing to fear." How would you live if this was real to you?
What does this mean – “I have summoned you by name.”
It means he called us to be his long before we ever called out to him to save us.
He summoned us…. He called out to the four winds… YOU ARE MINE… come home!
And before we ever heard those words aloud…. Our hearts heard them.
The reason we gather to worship and listen to his word is because he summoned us long ago.
The reason our hearts turned to him at some time and began to drink in his words… is that he summoned us - because he wanted us.
This whole passage is the language of covenant.
The Lord… the Holy One of Israel is speaking covenant language. He chose to make himself our covenant partner. “You are my people, and I am your God.”
It was his choice before it was ours. It was His actions, not ours which made us His. He decided and acted long, long before we decided and responded.
Covenant means we belong to him, and he belongs to us.
All he is is available to us – and all we are he rightly expects to be available to him. This is Covenant life.
He decided we would be his before we even existed on this earth.
He created us in every detail to be his – and he paid that awful price to get us back again.
And so he calls and calls and calls – “come back to me my precious one… you are mine.”
He calls us by name – individually – personally. Because he knows us all by name.
And when he says “Fear not – I have redeemed you, You are mine…” he is saying not only ‘you are my choice’ but‘you are my responsibility – everything about you is my responsibility.
Your debts, your sins, your struggles, your fears, your dreams, your hopes, your best endeavours….your worst days… I am carrying all of these’. I carry the full weight of your lives…and you don’t need to.
This is why Jesus can say - “Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light’.
Covenant means that he, the Lord, our Father, our Saviour, our Elder Brother, carries the weight of our lives. Past, present and future.
We no longer need to carry it. We no longer need to live with fear and anxiety and uncertainty.
What would happen in your heart… in the way you live your life if this reality grabbed you and re-ordered your inner being? "I called you…. I initiated everything….You are my responsibility… so there is nothing to fear." How would you live if this was real to you?
Your value to him
I read the following words the other day on a blog from Steve Taylor (Isle of Sky) They really touched me.
He was pondering on the verse in Hebrews 12:2 “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the JOY set before him endured the cross, scorning it’s shame…”
What future joy could possibly be worth the incredible suffering and shame of death by crucifixion? There was no joy in heaven that Jesus did not already know – so this statement must mean something other than his anticipation of returning there. There can be no doubt therefore that the joy that Jesus and the Father anticipated – was you!
Can that really be true? It seems so incredible! But we are told that as the woman rejoiced over finding the coin she had lost - “In the same way, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels when even one sinner repents.” (Luke 15:10 – NIV) We are of incredible worth to the Father, so your reconciliation, your redemption brings incredible joy to his heart. So valuable are you that Calvary was, as far as He is concerned, worth it all. You are precious beyond words!
What would change in your heart if this reality really took hold of you? “You are precious beyond words to me.”
Your redemption, your rescue, your reconciliation to the Father was worth the agony of the cross. You are THAT precious to him. What would change?
He was pondering on the verse in Hebrews 12:2 “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the JOY set before him endured the cross, scorning it’s shame…”
What future joy could possibly be worth the incredible suffering and shame of death by crucifixion? There was no joy in heaven that Jesus did not already know – so this statement must mean something other than his anticipation of returning there. There can be no doubt therefore that the joy that Jesus and the Father anticipated – was you!
Can that really be true? It seems so incredible! But we are told that as the woman rejoiced over finding the coin she had lost - “In the same way, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels when even one sinner repents.” (Luke 15:10 – NIV) We are of incredible worth to the Father, so your reconciliation, your redemption brings incredible joy to his heart. So valuable are you that Calvary was, as far as He is concerned, worth it all. You are precious beyond words!
What would change in your heart if this reality really took hold of you? “You are precious beyond words to me.”
Your redemption, your rescue, your reconciliation to the Father was worth the agony of the cross. You are THAT precious to him. What would change?
Thursday, June 14, 2012
He delights in me
I have been reading Wayne Jacobsen’s book “He Loves Me!” recently and have been greatly helped by the following:
“The Lord your God is with you. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.” Zephaniah 3:17 Except for fleeting moments, I couldn’t imagine that this was the way God felt about me. Regular moments of insecurity would drive me to my knees in repentance and make me redouble my efforts to be more committed to God, but I never had any certainty that the things I was doing were enough to cause him to be delighted with me. I thought I had to put something forward that would prove to him how serious I was about following him.
During this time I experienced incredible moments of fellowship with God. I saw him intervene in ways that I knew only he could… But the more I gave him the more it seemed he wanted, and the best I could do at any moment was to break even with him.
I’ll never forget when that all changed. A few years ago, through a painful betrayal and a fresh insight into God’s work for us on the cross, I began to see how much my Father loved me and to understand how much delight he took in his children. This realization radically transformed my life…
God doesn’t need us to serve him as a means to attain his love or affection. He wants us to serve him out of the love and affection he already holds in his heart. If you have never tasted that reality, you cannot imagine the freedom that lies ahead of you. My Father brought me to the place where I realized that even if I never preached another sermon, never counselled another person, never led someone to Christ again, he would still delight in me as his child.
That doesn’t mean he approves of everything I do, but he has freed me to know that he loves me – absolutely and completely. It is not the fear of losing God’s favour that takes us to the depth of fellowship with him and transforms our lives with his holiness. It is our certainty of knowing his unrelenting love for us even in the midst of our weakness and failure that leads us to the fullness of his life. Fear had never taken me to the depths of his life or his transforming power; discovering his delight has. I now know that the key to God’s favour doesn’t rest on what I give him but on what he already has given to me.
He delights in you, too. Can you see him that way, exulting and dancing with joy over you?
See his website: http://www.lifestream.org/ for all sorts of free resources, mp3s and newsletter
“The Lord your God is with you. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.” Zephaniah 3:17 Except for fleeting moments, I couldn’t imagine that this was the way God felt about me. Regular moments of insecurity would drive me to my knees in repentance and make me redouble my efforts to be more committed to God, but I never had any certainty that the things I was doing were enough to cause him to be delighted with me. I thought I had to put something forward that would prove to him how serious I was about following him.
During this time I experienced incredible moments of fellowship with God. I saw him intervene in ways that I knew only he could… But the more I gave him the more it seemed he wanted, and the best I could do at any moment was to break even with him.
I’ll never forget when that all changed. A few years ago, through a painful betrayal and a fresh insight into God’s work for us on the cross, I began to see how much my Father loved me and to understand how much delight he took in his children. This realization radically transformed my life…
God doesn’t need us to serve him as a means to attain his love or affection. He wants us to serve him out of the love and affection he already holds in his heart. If you have never tasted that reality, you cannot imagine the freedom that lies ahead of you. My Father brought me to the place where I realized that even if I never preached another sermon, never counselled another person, never led someone to Christ again, he would still delight in me as his child.
That doesn’t mean he approves of everything I do, but he has freed me to know that he loves me – absolutely and completely. It is not the fear of losing God’s favour that takes us to the depth of fellowship with him and transforms our lives with his holiness. It is our certainty of knowing his unrelenting love for us even in the midst of our weakness and failure that leads us to the fullness of his life. Fear had never taken me to the depths of his life or his transforming power; discovering his delight has. I now know that the key to God’s favour doesn’t rest on what I give him but on what he already has given to me.
He delights in you, too. Can you see him that way, exulting and dancing with joy over you?
See his website: http://www.lifestream.org/ for all sorts of free resources, mp3s and newsletter
Monday, June 4, 2012
Distracted by His Presence
The other Sunday we had a brooding sense of the Presence of God. It was rather awe-inspiring. Some were overcome by the sharing of the Word, some by the worship time. The pastor felt so 'distracted' he was not sure he could preach coherently!
I felt shakey, a melting sense inside, close to tears all the time - a deep sense of his love mixed with joy. A song we had sung stayed with me for days and days, and still returns. I woke with it in my head this morning and the same sense of being a little distracted, overwhelmed.... was upon me.
Even doing ordinary things - I feel I just want to sink into worship and disengage with the focus on TV or reading or cooking or emails... Interesting. It feels like He is calling me away over and over into adoration or just listening for him. It is fully a heart/spirit thing. My head can be elsewhere and there is that deeper engagement with Him.
It has created a deep hunger again - for that awareness and attentiveness I have known in the past. Is this how it is always meant to be? Have we had things upside down, inside out... HE IS THERE, with us, all the time. Sinking into that is our 'hiding place', our place of peace, our source of joy, our strength and wisdom... all we need.
Here are some great quotes from Bill Johnson's latest book Hosting His Presence:
Meeting Him through adoration
“It has been a practice of mine for many years now to go to sleep with this simple act of releasing my affection, my love and adoration for him until I sense His Presence rest upon me. I don’t sing or worship, or intercede for others - I simply love him until my heart is warmed by His Presence.
Genesis teaches us that the day starts at night. Giving him our nights is the way to start our day. For many, the torment that is experienced in the night watches would end by this simple action. Start your day at night by giving him your affection until He warms your heart.” (p.159)
Letting Him love you
One of the more meaningful parts of my life is the five-minute vacations I take. They can happen any time or anywhere. The amount of time I take varies, but the activity does not. For example, if I am in my office, I’ll ask my secretary to hold my calls for a few minutes. I will sit down and generally close my eyes and pray something like this, “God, I’m going to sit here quietly, just to be the object of your love.” The flow of His love for us is like a massive waterfall. Becoming aware of that love and experiencing that love is wonderful beyond words. It has the side benefits of driving out all fear.
I felt shakey, a melting sense inside, close to tears all the time - a deep sense of his love mixed with joy. A song we had sung stayed with me for days and days, and still returns. I woke with it in my head this morning and the same sense of being a little distracted, overwhelmed.... was upon me.
Even doing ordinary things - I feel I just want to sink into worship and disengage with the focus on TV or reading or cooking or emails... Interesting. It feels like He is calling me away over and over into adoration or just listening for him. It is fully a heart/spirit thing. My head can be elsewhere and there is that deeper engagement with Him.
It has created a deep hunger again - for that awareness and attentiveness I have known in the past. Is this how it is always meant to be? Have we had things upside down, inside out... HE IS THERE, with us, all the time. Sinking into that is our 'hiding place', our place of peace, our source of joy, our strength and wisdom... all we need.
Here are some great quotes from Bill Johnson's latest book Hosting His Presence:
Meeting Him through adoration
“It has been a practice of mine for many years now to go to sleep with this simple act of releasing my affection, my love and adoration for him until I sense His Presence rest upon me. I don’t sing or worship, or intercede for others - I simply love him until my heart is warmed by His Presence.
Genesis teaches us that the day starts at night. Giving him our nights is the way to start our day. For many, the torment that is experienced in the night watches would end by this simple action. Start your day at night by giving him your affection until He warms your heart.” (p.159)
Letting Him love you
One of the more meaningful parts of my life is the five-minute vacations I take. They can happen any time or anywhere. The amount of time I take varies, but the activity does not. For example, if I am in my office, I’ll ask my secretary to hold my calls for a few minutes. I will sit down and generally close my eyes and pray something like this, “God, I’m going to sit here quietly, just to be the object of your love.” The flow of His love for us is like a massive waterfall. Becoming aware of that love and experiencing that love is wonderful beyond words. It has the side benefits of driving out all fear.
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