A Throne of Grace

(Heb. 4:16, Rev. 12:10-12, Ps. 91)

This thought from the letter to the Hebrews was posted as part of a prayer request on a ministry website.  I needed to hear it again.  The Lord as eternal mediator has made the way for us to live in the throne room of God.  It is a throne of grace.  I hear much in these days born of a desire for righteousness.  It is often repeated that justice and righteousness are the foundations of God’s throne.  It is so.  But how does God define that justice and righteousness?  He defined it at the cross of Christ, not in our fleshly efforts to rule by laws patterned after the law of Moses.  His justice is met with the blood of the worthy Lamb.

Our enemy is quick to accuse and condemn us.  When we fail, the accuser is correct in that we have fallen and come short.  But we hear too little to remind us that the seat of His throne is a seat of mercy.  The words from Revelation tell us that the accuser has been cast down.  Here is a little trouble for my human understanding.  Some explain that three heavens or levels of heavens exist.  The highest holds the throne and the Lord dwells there.  The second level is the area where Michael and his angels have warred with Satan and his helpers, and thrown them down.  The third or lowest are those created heavens that we see.  No understanding is perfect but I think this passage tells us that the accuser has no more access to accuse us to God. 

How is this?  The blood of the pure Lamb of God is there.  This blood that is simultaneously human and divine.is the demonstration of the unfathomable love of God.  The blood speaks forgiveness and cleansing from all unrighteousness.  The devil cannot approach there for it speaks his eternal, complete defeat and ultimate shame.  His time is short.  He runs around in the world among us accusing God to us, accusing believers to one another, and spreading lies and distortion wherever he can.  He began his jealous war against humanity in the Garden with insinuation of God withholding good from us.  He has no new weapons.  When we think of bringing every thought captive to Christ, let us include every twisted word from the serpent.  Remember Jesus’ confrontation with him in the wilderness.  The enemy will distort truth.  But the word of God in us is greater.

How important to feed on the truth, on the bread that Christ is.  When we receive by the Spirit, not merely the letter but the Spirit of truth, our spirits are strengthened.  The word becomes flesh in us when digested and tested.  It takes time for spiritual growth and meditation on the truth is part of the process.  Do you read the Bible?  Are you biblically literate?  It is important and includes the law and the prophets.  It also includes what we have as the gospels and letters. 

May we as the people of God see ourselves in a spiritual battle and cease from playing into our enemy’s hand.  Cease from accusation.  Correct and counsel when offenses come.  Sometimes they should be ignored if small.  When correction is not received repeatedly we should avoid such so-called brothers.  I come back to Paul writing that he prayed and turned certain men over to Satan that they would learn not to blaspheme.  The Lord is patient and His goal for everyman is that they would be saved.  It is important for us to never hinder that process.  Be careful not to offend young believers but recognize their immaturity.  How important we who are mature learn to help young ones to grow.  True love is patient, kind, and gentle but firm.

Growth happens as we are transformed by, and in His presence.  It includes exposure.  Every corner of hearts will be searched by the One whose eyes are flames of fire.  Are we willing to submit to that? We approach the throne without fear knowing that His end is for our good, our eternal good.  We learn to live in His presence, to dwell in that place of unapproachable light.  Yet it is forever approachable to those who have known He is love.

Shadow and Substance

(Col. 2:17, Heb. 8:5-6, 10:1, 11:1, 12:18-25)

Jesus taught in parables to use earthly frames of reference to teach heavenly realities.  He asked to what He could compare the kingdom of heaven.  He spoke of the kingdom.  He never taught us how to build a church.  He was focused on us entering the kingdom.  He builds His church His way.  We do best to simply allow Him to fit us together.

Similar to His teaching in parables, the Lord gave to Moses the law and the model of the tabernacle.  Many years ago, I visited a museum with a full scale model of the tabernacle in Pennsylvania.  I appreciated that.  I had already studied the scripture and sat in on teaching concerning the tabernacle and it’s relation to our spiritual lives.  It is valuable, even critical, to understand the process and progression to enter the Lord’s presence.  In simpler words, the tabernacle shows the way to get close to God.  Once there, our purpose is to stay there.  Fellowship, close relationship, has been God’s purpose and desire.  He walked with Adam in the cool of the day.  Enoch walked with Him.  Jesus said, He and the Father are one.  That is close.

Jesus prayed that we, His members, those who have received His words, would be one as He and the Father are one.  This goes beyond agreement in our thoughts with one another.  Much of our thoughts are too low.  They do not align with the thoughts of God.  How important is it that the words of our mouths and the meditations of our hearts are pleasing to Him.  No question mark with that thought.  It is of the greatest importance that we grow up into His mind and His heart.  As this happens, it becomes our delight to do His will.  It becomes spontaneous, naturally spiritual we might say.  Alignment with the Lord, true oneness with Him is a process.

While it is a process, we find times we call breakthrough.  We find ourselves thrust out of old ways, more into the continual newness of the Spirit.  We may find ourselves restrained, restricted in some way and we want to break out.  True freedom is not the absence of restraint, for our self-centered self wants its own way.  The Lord brings us to be constrained by His love.  Like a little child, we want and when we have, we do not want to let go.  When we see the Lord’s ways are better than our desires, we learn to follow His lead.  The breakthrough is like the Passover out of Egypt and like the entrance into Canaan.  They were very different but both brought a maturing.

In the wilderness time between these two significant transitions, the Lord gave the tabernacle as instructive.  In that day, a few saw beyond the structure to pursue the Lord.  Namely these were Joshua and Caleb.  Consider that their families, wives and children were included with them to enter the land.  I should check out the record to confirm this but I will leave that to you.  I mention this because Joshua later says that he and his house will serve the Lord.  Joshua knew that Moses had something more and so he hung close and stayed at the door when Moses went into meet with the Lord.  All of this I mention that we might see that all of us are called to be like Joshua, to be hungry to pursue what we see in others as substance, as something more than what we have known.  We want it to rub off on us. As we pursue, we will find the Lord’s calling and choosing.  So it was with Moses, so it was with Joshua and Caleb, so it was with the twelve.  Now, Jesus has offered to all, “If any man would come after me, let that one take up his cross and follow me.”  Anyone!  This goes out to every man, woman, and child.  I am convinced that children can begin to follow the Lamb of God.  Some are called from the womb.  Some hear the call later.  When you hear, respond.  It is worth the cost.  In the shadows we learn, we begin to understand.  Don’t stay there.  The Lord Himself, Jesus Christ, is calling.  When you hear, get up and follow.  It is worth every cost.

An Upward Gaze

(Colossians 3:1,2, Eph. 2:6-10, Luke 10:38-42)

Set your affection, your mind, your gaze upon things above.  Why?  Christ is there.  He has ascended.  He is no longer bound to the earth.  He said it was to the benefit of those with Him that He leave the limitation of an earthly life and then the Spirit would come.  It is to our great benefit today that He has become a life giving Spirit and been poured out.  This one, Jesus, was seen by many as He ascended.  And they heard, after He had passed from their physical sight, that He would come again.  For this moment, let us not pursue all that is in His full appearing.  He said that the timing of that event is with Father alone.

That man, Paul, who said he had been a Hebrew of the Hebrews, came to understand the magnitude of what God had accomplished in Christ.  The incarnation, the son of God taking the form of the son of man, was the necessary operation to allow this one, Jesus, to become the faithful high priest of God’s house.  In Christ here, God was displaying more fully and perfectly His intention from before the foundation of creation.  Paul understood and teaches us that Christ Jesus is the representative man, appointed by God, the second, the last Adam.  John did the same in his first letter.  As Christ died for all for sin, all died in sin.  Now we can choose to say yes and agree to be dead to sin and alive to righteousness.  At every turn, say yes to Him, to the Spirit.  Choose His righteousness as your portion.

Many dangers, toils, and snares are found along our journey.  Grace is the answer.  It is not knowledge of stuff, a better handle on our doctrine.  Now understanding matters but that is not our foundation.  Christ is the rock, the ground that enables us to walk steadily. And He will change us.  Beholding Him we are changed from glory to glory.  Too often we are side-tracked into issues.  That is part of our learning, our journey.  Some endeavor may seem important or valuable.  Is the Lord in it?  Is He leading you into it.  We find that as we go on, others may be led by the Lord into certain areas, ministries, places of true spiritual activity but it may not be for us.  Nothing to be anxious about here.  If we find its not working, we can ask Him.  Better to ask Him beforehand but we all learn in different ways.

Best is to set your sights on Him and learn to be still and listen.  We find He searches our hearts and turns us from our own efforts to a cooperation with Him.  We hear more keenly and follow more closely. We learn to follow the Lamb wherever He leads us.  Jesus said Mary had chosen the better part.  To sit at His feet and listen is best.  Yes, we will be active in making preparations for Him.  Martha was doing that.  Jesus corrected her complaining about her sister not her actions.  We should be careful not to criticize one who may not ppear active but who has drawn aside from all the distractions to listen.

If we will see our place with Him in the heavens, in the spirit, and move there to behold Him, He will change us.  There we gain His perspective.  There we mature as sons seeing what our Father is doing.  There we can hear Him ask who will go for Him.  From there He sends us on His mission for us.  We will experience what it means to be seated with Him in His place of authority.  Then we will not be turned aside so easily to pursue other lesser things.  And we learn that true nature of God which is meek and lowly of heart.  That is how Jesus describes Himself when calling us to come to Him.  Now we come to Him where He is, seated on a throne.  All this the very work of God, following His great intention before we ever existed that He would have us where He is. This is not a reality to see only as future.  The fulness of it is yet coming but it is for us to believe into it now.  Make it your desire.  It is already His that you be near Him.  He is near us.  The kingdom of God is in our midst today.  His righteousness, His great peace, His unspeakable joy.  Receive it today.