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“I am a sojourner on the earth; hide not your commandments from me…

Your statutes have been my songs in the house of my sojourning.”

Psalm 119:19, 54

Sojourner – one who stays temporarily.

July 4th was earlier this month. Most of us enjoy fireworks and concerts. We remember our founding fathers and are grateful for all the freedoms we enjoy. It’s good to be an American.

But as Christians, our ultimate allegiance is not to a country or an earthly king.

One of the major themes running through Bible is getting back to our real home, getting back to Eden with God. While on this earth we are just pilgrims and exiles.

In Hebrews 11, we are introduced to the heroes of the faith and in the middle of the chapter the author gives an in depth description of our heroes’ geographical allegiance:

“These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them city.”

Our country is wonderful and God has blessed us with so many freedoms that we shouldn’t take for granted. But we are sojourners as the psalmist says. We are only here temporarily.

Our better country is waiting for us in heaven and Jesus is right now preparing it for us.

So sing those patriotic songs. Thank God for all the blessings he has given us as Americans. But let your eyes be fixed on the better country. And let your theme song be his word as you sojourn.

I’ve always loved the last part of Hebrews 6, specifically verses 13-20. I can remember exactly where I was when the truth of hope as the anchor of my soul truly gripped me.

“We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf…”

Today I was meditating on a different verse that has always puzzled me.

“So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us.”

Great stuff, but what are the two unchangeable things? For years I have gone over these verses and never dug deep to figure it out. This is where comprehension comes in. Bible study is really a lot like literature comprehension. We don’t always like that because it’s hard and it reminds us of those questions on the SAT, but this is God’s word and the treasure available for us to unearth when we dig deep is precious.

Back in verse 13 it talks about God making a promise to Abraham and goes on to describe what happens when people make promises or covenants with each other. They swear by something greater than themselves. They take an oath. An oath is basically an appeal to a higher authority or something very precious that communicates your commitment to following through on your promise. Jesus gave an example of how not to do this in the Sermon on the Mount. He spoke against flippant oath taking. People were promising to do something and then swearing by the temple or Jerusalem or their heads.

Here in Hebrews, the whole point is that God does not make flippant promises. He actually doubles down to show us what kind of promise maker he is. He made his promise to Abraham (Genesis 22:16) which was to bless him and multiply his descendants. And he took an oath. Did God swear by the temple or the sun or the moon? No. He swore by himself. He swore by the most valuable thing, his own name.

These are the two unchangeable things.

The promise and the oath.

Did God have to double up here? Isn’t it enough that he promised? From God’s perspective it is. God never lies and what he says he will do. (Numbers 23:19, Titus 1:2)

God could’ve stopped at the promise so why did he take that extra step of swearing by himself?

Carefully read verses 17-18 again being sure to unfold the grammar:

“So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us.”

God desired to show us what kind of a promise maker and promise keeper he is. Remember, he didn’t have to do this.

More convincingly.

That we may have strong encouragement.

God wants us to really believe him, to know that he is rock-solid trustworthy.

Read John Piper’s words about this passage and bask in the knowledge that this is your God.

“He is utterly committed to working for our hope. He insists that we be people of confident hope, not of worry and uncertainty. He wants us to think about the future, and to be totally confident and assured about how it will turn out. That’s what this text is about.“

Matthew 7:7-11 continually stumps me. There are similar passages on prayer that convey the same unbelievable message.

Everyone who asks receives. (Matthew 7:8)

If you abide in me and my word abides in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you. (John 15:7)

Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do. (John 14:13)

These have always seemed to be too good to be true. And I have certainly prayed for things for a long time and not received them. I have prayed diligently for what I thought were good things, godly things, and not received them.

So I am left questioning. I am left with a niggling sort of doubt that dwells on the periphery of my spirit whenever I read these passages.

What is going on? What is Jesus getting at?

Sometimes it helps to ask the opposite question. What is Jesus not saying?

We know that prayer is not some kind of vending machine. Put in the money and press the button and you get what you pay for. This is not how prayer works.

But you can’t escape the force of the promise in Matthew 7.

Everyone, everyone, who asks receives.

Jesus uses three different descriptors for prayer. Ask, seek, knock.

Keep praying, keep asking, keep seeking.

Then he goes on to make a relationship comparison. A son asks a father for something good. The father isn’t going to give his son something evil.

We know how to give good things to our children, and we are evil. (Ouch!) How much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!

I don’t fully understand this passage and these promises but I think Jesus is emphasizing two things:

1. Ask, and keep asking.

2. Remember who you are asking.

I don’t think he’s giving a lecture on how to get stuff in prayer. But how often do we use prayer and use God like this? How often do we neglect the relationship?

Persistent seeking in prayer will develop our relationship with God in such a way that we grow and learn in how to ask and what to ask for.

How much more will your Father give good things to those who ask!

Screen time.

I hate it.

When I was a kid I spent way too much time in front of the TV. I watched all kinds of things, especially sports. Even sports I didn’t play like bowling and tennis.

Bowling? Seriously? (gives a sheepish nod)

But now I get that soul tightening feeling when I spend too much time in front of a screen. It never fails that the more time I spend glued to a screen the more I feel enslaved to it. Others may be able to take it or leave it without any pang of conscience. Perhaps I am being overly scrupulous.

There is a time and place for entertainment but how much do I really need? And does this screen time really refresh or does it suck my soul dry and shrivel it up?

There are definitely activities that I can pursue that will feed and enlarge my soul.

Writing, music, reading, nature.

These things contain a certain potential to draw me out of myself and into beauty.

And beauty is soul food.

“And there’s so much beauty around us for just two eyes to see…” Rich Mullins

Grace is writ large everywhere around us in his creation. From the night sky to the intricate design of a buttercup. To uncover it and even create it yourself is to enter into the Creator’s work, and perhaps, even enter into worship.

The flight of a monarch and the color green can make my soul unfurl.

But the swiping of the screen or the changing of a channel or the incessant Facebook scrolling can immediately tighten it.

Soul tightening.

I came up with that last year at this time. It described how certain concerns and anxieties came creeping into my soul and kept me from breathing deeply of his grace.

Yesterday I was reminded of Galatians 5 and freedom. When we don’t stand fast in that freedom the result is a falling from grace.

Grace, freedom. Remember.

Remember that going back to the law is going back to slavery. Going back to a master that has only one message. Condemnation.

Just as the Israelites were called to remember, I must remember. Remember the promises of grace and remind myself of my weaknesses.

We all have certain strains of weaknesses, like ruts in the dirt road that we’re prone to fall into.

That tightening of the soul came back this week. I had an unexpected day off on Wednesday and I contemplated what to do. And I felt my soul tightening as I questioned my choice of activities. Back and forth, what was right for that day? Shouldn’t I spend time with this person or that person? I shouldn’t be selfish and just do what I want, right?

I didn’t see that rut coming. I fell right into it.

Paralyzing introspection.

I didn’t realize I was in the rut until the next day. I had been oblivious to this weakness of mine.

To climb out I needed to remember. I needed to remind myself that the opposite of paralysis is freedom and the opposite of introspection is looking to Jesus.

Remembering my weaknesses and my need and the promises already in my possession will help me stand in that gracious freedom and will result in greater sanctification.

Many today would say they are spiritual but have nothing to do with God’s word.

“Those who, rejecting Scripture, imagine that they have some peculiar way of penetrating to God, are to be deemed not so much under the influence of error as madness.”

Calvin pulls no punches. He makes the point that to call oneself spiritual without any reference to God or his word is crazy, because what spirit is guiding them? Some may feel they are being more open and generous to say they are spiritual apart from the Bible, but what spirit are they opening themselves up to?

Christians are tempted by this as well. We may stray from the written word and think that experiences of the Spirit are paramount.

“But they say that it is insulting to subject the Spirit, to whom all things are to be subject, to the Scripture: as if it were disgraceful to the Holy Spirit to maintain a perfect resemblance throughout, and be in all respects without variation consistent with himself.”

John 16:13 says that the Spirit never speaks of himself. The doctrine of the Trinity describes a three-in-one God who is perfectly harmonious within himself. Why then do we long for a spirit that is unconstrained and free, without borders? The Holy Spirit, because he is part of the godhead must act in accordance with God’s nature, and therefore, with God’s word.

The Spirit and the word go together. The Spirit is not superior to the word. He administers and confirms the word.

“God did not produce his word before men for the sake of sudden display, intending to abolish it the moment the Spirit should arrive; but he employed the same Spirit, by whose agency he had administered the word, to complete his work by the efficacious confirmation of the word.”

Calvin warns at the end of the chapter of fastening onto random notions of our own minds.

“…the word is the instrument by which the illumination of the Spirit is dispensed.”

He says we are daily invited to experience the Spirit through the hearing and reading of the word. The Spirit administers and confirms and enlivens the word.

To put the Spirit at odds with the word or to seek him apart from the word is not to seek the true Spirit at all.

“This God – his way is perfect…”

All around me and inside me I see imperfection, things left undone, words I shouldn’t have said. Every action, thought, word of God is perfection. There are no doubts, no mistakes in him.

“…the word of the Lord proves true…”

It’s not just that the word is true, but that it proves true. God has shown over and over that he will do what he says. Why do I think I am an exception to him fulfilling his promises? God speaks and will perform all his word. Ezekiel 12:25-28

“…he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him.”

He is a shield for those who do what? Take refuge. If you stand in front of the shield, you will not be protected. Hide yourself behind the shield. Hide yourself in him.

“For who is God but the Lord? And who is a rock, except our God?”

He alone is God. He alone is an unshakeable, unmoveable, unbreakable rock.

“This God is my strong refuge and has made my way blameless.”

I like the use of the word, this. Look here, behold, this God. Not that god, but this God, is my place of safety. He makes my way blameless.

Jude 24-25….

“Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before his presence with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

Today I was listening to a podcast about what we can learn from Jonathan Edwards.

I love Jonathan Edwards. I am especially drawn to his resolutions. When he was a young man he came up with 70 resolutions for his life. They are a die hard commitment to a God glorifying life. Years ago, after first reading his resolutions, I came up with my own. I am a rule follower at heart so this kind of thing was right up my alley.

In this podcast, two Edwards scholars were asked about their take on the resolutions and if Christians today should make up their own. I was surprised to hear their responses.

They said no. They said these resolutions came from a time in Edwards’ life when he was full of youthful zeal for the Lord. This isn’t bad but later on in his life, Edwards realized that this kind of youthful zeal could easily turn into a prideful legalism.

One guy on the podcast said that Edwards can come across with these resolutions as someone expecting himself to live this super heroic Christian life. Edwards realized later that he was guilty of a kind of overemphasized introspection. It caused him to judge himself very severely. As he went along in life, Edwards learned more about living by grace.

I am very prone to this overemphasized introspection. What is this? It is looking inwardly at yourself, taking a microscope to your attitudes and actions, constantly seeing if you’re measuring up.

This is not the gospel. If we are saved by grace, we must live by grace. Let’s not try to take on the Holy Spirit’s job. He has promised to finish what he started. Philippians 1:6

“…we cannot aspire to him in earnest until we have begun to be displeased with ourselves.”

How true. An honest assessment of our own selves reveals our need for him. Calvin further argues that if we only compare ourselves with what’s around us, we’ll never come to the truth. Only up against the blinding whiteness of his holiness do we see our corrupt pollution and our desperate need.

“…men are never duly touched and impressed with a conviction of their insignificance, until they have contrasted themselves with the majesty of God.”

The great need of the moment is to have clear vision, of ourselves and of God. This is true wisdom.

To be anxious is to be proud. Anxiety lies to you. It tells you that you’re in control. It expects you to know everything. 
You’re supposed to be able to.

You’re supposed to know how.

Humility is content to accept limitations. Limitations of knowledge. Limitations of control.

John Piper has said that in any situation, God is always doing a thousand different things that we cannot see and do not know. God designed me to not have that vision or knowledge. 

To covet it is to go beyond my limitations into anxiety.

Anxiety then has roots. Roots of pride and covetousness.

Thanks go to Hannah Anderson and her book, Humble Roots, for the inspiration for this post.