2005-08-05
Good Morning Cherished Ones,
It should come as no surprise that there would be some similarities between Christ's own words and those of his half-brother, James. After all, they were both raised in the same earthly home. Both wrote about how to live lives of holiness and thus, responded to the commands of the Father. As you probably already know, I like to call James, our parent-apostle, because of his forthright, almost strident language, which reminds me of parental pronouncements. But James' message is right on the mark! Both messages, that of the Sermon on the Mount and that found in the little book of James remind us of our need for integrity in what we think and say. They are a call to a higher law.
We've already had a good look at Christ's teaching on vows in MT 5: 33-37, which I hope you will review if you feel the need. Now let's look at JAS 5: 12, "Above all, my brothers, do not use an oath when you make a promise. Do not swear by heaven or by earth, or by anything else. Say only 'Yes' when you mean yes, and 'No' when you mean no, and then you will not come under God's judgment." If this is truly understood, it eliminates the psychological game playing that people often do with each other. Being passive or passive aggressive would no longer be an option. When passive, a person allows others to overstep reasonable boundaries in a effort to always avoid confrontations. In passive aggressive behavior, one almost has two personalities, the pleasant, pliant one which is shown and the angry resentful one, which generates evil actions behind another person's back or grudges held. It would also eliminate the many opportunities that exist for misunderstandings. The Psalmist wrote in PS 141: 3, "Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips." The issue of God's judgment would ideally be held in great importance in a person's life, importance enough to cause second thoughts before something dishonest, mean, or cruel escaped from the mouth. We already know that James himself described the tongue as like "a tiny flame that can set a forest on fire" [JAS 3: 5b].
By having to deeply consider negative consequences for ungodly vows taken, a person thinks twice before swearing any oath that is a lie. Christ, in the Sermon on the Mount [MT 5: 8] reminds us, "Blessed are the pure in heart; they will see God." What greater joy can there be than to be able to gaze directly on God's face and inherit the blessings of a blissful eternal life of fellowship with Him? MT 5: 33 adds, "Do not break your promise, but do what you have vowed to the Lord you will do." For a moment ponder this notion. It begs for us to be very careful what we promise and to only make a promise we can and are willing to keep. In other words, we must think first and then speak! I came up against this repeatedly as I was raising my son. He would ask me to promise something, and children will remember the promises you make, expecting the promise to be kept. If adults frequently break promises made to children, it does great psychological damage. That's true for adults promising other adults too. In my very unhappy first marriage, that was one of the issues that eventually led to the breakdown of that relationship. Children need to be brought up in stable, loving homes. If they are not, it might take them their whole lives to undo the damage that is done to them.
Our call to holy living is no small matter. It is dear to God's heart. 1 PET 1: 14-16, "Be obedient to God, and do not allow your lives to be shaped by those desires you had when you were still ignorant. Instead, be holy in all you do, just as God who called you is holy. The Scriptures [LV 11: 44-45; LV 19: 2] say, 'Be holy because I am holy.'" We can trust our Father in heaven, and that is what makes Him the wonderful Covenant Partner that He is. When He says something, we can be sure He won't go back on His word. Christ felt this was important enough to repeat the notion in MT 5: 48, "Therefore, you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect." This should not be understood as God expecting all of us to perfect, but rather, as a goal that the Father sets for imperfect humans to work toward. My understanding tells me that when we actually are perfected in the process of sanctification to the degree which God deems acceptable, we will be glorified, i.e. taken up to heaven to be with Him for eternity. Christ used the Pharisees as examples of stubbornness in imperfection, of hearts closed to improving in their knowledge of God and His ways. They were legalistic and often hypocritical in their judging of others. He inspired Paul to talk of the other end of the spectrum of imperfection, the pagans and others who rejected God. Their behavior was equally unacceptable to the Father. Righteousness is clearly described in the Scriptures as behavior conforming to the example set by Christ. Christ was not passive or aggressive; He was assertive. He prayed and thought first, before He spoke. He never said anything that would bring another person who opens his heart to Him to defeat. 2 CH 16: 9, "The eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those who hearts are fully committed to Him." This gives us a view of how the Lord takes interest in every detail of our lives. His intent is to bring us back to Him for a forever of joy, peace, His love, and sweet fellowship.
PRAYER: O Lord, from the time of the original sin, every manner of evil has raged over the earth. Your own human creations were forced to be born as Your enemies. And yet, You loved us enough that You sent Your Son to suffer and to die on the cross. Then, through the miracle of Your power, You raised Him from death to eternal life, bringing Him back to Your side [JN 3: 16; RO 3: 24-25]. You have stepped out on a limb for us in giving us Your Spirit to dwell in us and by promising us that if we would come to faith in Christ, we would be saved from certain spiritual death. By doing this, You have shown us how death and evil are defeated, "swallowed up in victory" [1 COR 15: 54]. Moreover, while You know it is necessary for us to endure struggle, sadness, loss, and pain at the devil's hand, You equipped us to do this by having Christ authorize and empower us to use the same power You used to raise Him from death to life to battle the evil one to victory in His name [EPH 1: 18-20]. We stand in amazement when we think of two more promises that You made and are keeping. The first, Dearest Lord, is in JN 15: 7, the one where You tell us that if we remain in Christ and His words in us, You will grant us that for which we ask. The other in HE 8: 12 is Your promise not only to forgive our sins but to forget them, as well. That kind of faithfulness deserves at the very least our obedience and adherence to Your laws. You deserve our thanks and praise for eternity! So, today, although we are imperfect and always in need of Your guidance, correction, and instruction, we offer You our promise of dedication and diligence to Your teaching. We acknowledge Your superb attributes and mighty deeds. Our prayer before Your throne is that You will always remain a Presence in our lives, that you will continue to guide us along 'that hard path leading from the narrow gate that leads to eternal life" [MT 7: 13-14]. Our ears and eyes are open to You, Dearest Abba; and our hearts are grateful for Your many blessings. In Christ's name, amen.
For the last couple of weeks, I have been led to write about God's ideals for our calling to His higher law. Next week, the Holy Spirit is asking me to write about how the American justice system if falling short of that call. While I don't have all the answers by far, we need to look at some of the reasons for this. This will lead up to asking some crucial questions which need our examination about how that could be improved. In the meanwhile, we need to focus our minds and hearts on some important overarching facts about the God we worship. He never breaks His promises. He is a constantly loving Presence in our lives, who loves us enough to make us His friends even when we do not deserve this. He is capable of bringing people from the lowest, most evil lifestyle to belief in Him, for example people like Charles Colson, the "Son of Sam" serial murderer, and Karla Fay Tucker. He is unselfish in sacrificing His only Son and in making Him "the First among many brothers" [RO 8: 29], thus giving us salvation and the hope of the resurrection. While He is capable to destroying His people for their evil, He chooses to give each person every possible opportunity to come to faith in Him. This is exemplified by the thief being crucified with him in LK 23: 42-43 who had said, "Remember me, Jesus, when You come as King!" to which Christ replied, "I promise you that today you will be in Paradise with Me." Deathbed salvations of this kind are a reality, although none of us are ever wise to wait that long to come to faith in our Savior. We are a blessed people to have a God Who wants us by His side that badly. He deserves our righteousness, teachable hearts, and faithful worship, praise, and thanks. Nothing less!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn