Not My Mountain

I've always loved the mountains and the Appalachian hills in my native area.  Nothing refreshes me more than a cool, noisy mountain stream, the lush, dewy foliage, the beautiful wildlife.  I live in the foothills of the Appalachians, and just now was called away from the "Resplendent Daughter Ministries Studios" (my basement office, lol!), to come upstairs and see the wild turkey hen strutting across our yard. God's glorious creation!

Well, the author of Hebrews is a master at weaving the Old Testament with the New.  He does this in today's text, by contrasting Mt. Sinai with Mt. Zion.

Like me, you probably have heard of Mt. Sinai, out there in the desert where the Hebrews' "wilderness wanderings" took place.  But, you may be wondering, "where is Mt. Zion?"  I had to look it up, although I suspected it was in Jerusalem.  Here is the official answer, from Wikipedia:

Mount Zion (Hebrew: הַר צִיוֹן‎, Har Tsiyyon; Arabic: جبل صهيون‎‎, Jabel Sahyoun) is a hill in Jerusalem just outside the walls of the Old City. The term Mount Zion has been used in the Hebrew Bible first for the City of David (2 Samuel 5:7 and 1 Chronicles 11:5) and later for the Temple Mount, but its meaning has shifted and it is now used as the name of ancient Jerusalem's Western Hill.  In a wider sense, the term is also used for the entire Land of Israel.

Interestingly, Wikipedia goes on to say that the specific hill called Mt. Zion has shifted to three different locations over the centuries.  Hmmm.... Regardless, let's consider today's text:

18You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom and storm; 19to a trumpet blast or to such a voice speaking words that those who heard it begged that no further word be spoken to them, 20because they could not bear what was commanded: “If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned to death.”^c 21The sight was so terrifying that Moses said, “I am trembling with fear.”^d

22But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, 23to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 24to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

As He began to establish the Jewish nation, God used fear, awe, reverence and respect as His motivators.  As a reminder, this is the scene where God called Moses up to receive the 10 Commandments.  The Bible tells us the Jewish people were terrified, even Moses!  The days at Sinai were marked by loud trumpet blasts, loud peals of thunder, lightning, fiery darts falling out of the sky to kill trespassers (even animals), smoke, the audible voice of God!  What that must have been like!
I'm so glad that's not my mountain.

By contrast, Mt. Zion represents joy - - joy derived from the embracing of God's grace in one's life!
Mt. Zion is not only a type (representation) of the new covenant of faith and grace in Jesus Christ, it is a type of God's future heavenly city.  Interestingly, the city of Jerusalem, at the time Hebrews was penned, had only about 5 more years of peace remaining.  Hebrews was written around 65 A.D., and the city of Jerusalem was utterly destroyed, the Temple razed, in 70 A.D.
Our future home, the heavenly city, will never be destroyed or even tarnished!

Just this past weekend, the city of London endured unspeakable horror, at the hands of Muslim jihadists.  Obviously, in the city of London (as in much of other first world countries), the population, the citizens are becoming more diverse in their beliefs as to what constitutes "godliness".  And, as a result, as these opposing beliefs slam into each other, terror abounds.
This will not be the case in the heavenly Jerusalem, the New Jerusalem spoken of in Psalm 2, Psalm 110, Galatians 4:26, Hebrews 11:10, and Revelation 21.
This city, located on Mt. Zion will literally be "Heaven on Earth", the Capitol City during Jesus' 1000-year (milennial) reign.

And, let's look at the citizens of that heavenly city: thousands upon thousands of righteous angels, continually praising Father, Son and Holy Spirit, as well as those people whose names are written in the Book of Life - - that is, those whose faith in God and His Son, Jesus Christ, has caused their name to be written there.  There will be NO diversity of opinion about godliness in that city!  Hallelujah! Everyone there will testify that the righteous live eternally by their faith and that the spilled blood of Jesus is all-sufficient for the redemption of and the perfection of His Church.

I woke up this morning lamenting my many sins.  As I laid there on the bed, I cried out to God, looking forward to that day in which my spirit will be made perfect.  Because (and only because) Jesus is my Savior, I carry the DNA of perfection within me, God's Holy Spirit; but, the corruption of my human DNA still remains.  "The struggle is real", as the saying goes.  OH, but in that day!  Can you even imagine?  Sheer perfection of every saint, every human being who has put his faith in the King of Kings and Lord of Lords!

Source:

1    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Zion

Gifts, Small and Great

Good morning,

I've waded into a difficult passage this morning, 1 Corinthians 12:14-31.  Because of its length I won't reproduce it here.  If you don't go read it, however, you will be lost.  Here is a link, to make things easy:
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+12%3A14-31&version=NASB

The essential difficulty of this passage is the seeming contradiction contained in it.
First of all, Paul is saying that all of the spiritual gifts are as necessary as each part of the human body is necessary.  But, then, later (in verses 28-31), he seems to imply that some of the gifts are more special and important than others.

I love the analogy of the Church to the human body.  (Paul expounds on this also in Ephesians 1 and 4.)  Each believer is created by God, according to His perfect foreknowledge.  Each is a miracle. Each is designed to work beautifully together.  It is God that constructs the body in the womb of the mother.  It is God who gifts each new believer.  It is God who leads believers to the local churches, along with the gifts each received at the time of his/her conversion (salvation).  He builds churches according to the giftedness of each individual member.

And, here is a powerful truth - - -
To the extent each of those members yields to the Holy Spirit, walks in obedience to the Word of God and exercises his or her spiritual gifts, the local church grows.
(Now, there are exceptions to this.  There are, for example, churches which have unhealthy growth, based on false teaching and deception.  Satan will pervert anything that is of God, even the growth of the local church.)

Diversity of gifts is healthy.  Where there is little diversity, there is an overabundance of uniformity. Uniformity is not the same as unity. We should pray for and work for unity of purpose in our churches, while we celebrate the diversity of our spiritual gifts.

Another distortion of the devil's is to persuade us to honor some spiritual gifts more than others. Paul seems to confirm this false teaching by mentioning how the Church got started, through the work of the apostles (that gift was preeminent in spreading the gospel initially), prophets, teachers and so on.

Yet, Paul speaks of this to "call out" the false teaching and frame the truth correctly.  Some gifts are more "important" for specific times.  Some are more "showy" in that they seem more effective in leading others to a saving relationship with Jesus Christ.  Evangelism is one of those, for example. Healing is another.  Yet, all the spiritual gifts are necessary, whether they are "pretty" or "flamboyant" or "sensational".... or not.  After all, you can live without some of the more visible parts of the body (ears, eyes, hands, feet, face); but, it's hard to live without some of the "less honorable" parts (the elimination system, the heart, the brain, etc.)

What, then, does Paul mean when he says, "Earnestly desire the greater gifts, and I will still show you a more excellent way" (verse 31)?  How can we "desire" something that is not part of our individual "gift package" the Holy Spirit gives us at the time of our salvation experience?

There ARE "greater gifts", and they are the heritage of every believer, in addition to their customized "gift package" from the Holy Spirit.  They are gifts found in every Christ follower, every child of the King: faith that leads to salvation by grace alone (Ephesians 2:8), justification (Romans 5:1 - being made positionally right with God forever), sanctification (John 17:17 - the continual purifying we can have through the Holy Spirit's work in our lives, in this earthly life), glorification (Philippians 3:20-21 - when we finally are totally free from sin, see Him face-to-face and are with him eternally). Inherent in each of these stages are the gifts of righteousness, joy, peace and love, the beautiful anointing oils of the Holy Spirit onto and into our own spirits (Romans 14:17).  We should every day earnestly desire these extraordinary, available-to-all-believer gifts!

In the next chapter, Paul shows us "a more excellent way", as he describes that ultimate mark of the Christian, the spiritual gift of Christ-like love.

Lord Jesus, you know I have truly wrestled with this post today.  There were (good) distractions.  I could not find things I wanted.  I believe this post to be horribly imperfect.  But, I pray that you will anoint it with Your matchless grace and use it in my life and in the lives of those who read it, as I pray for all my "almost daily" posts.  It is not about me; it is about You, and all of this (sometimes seemingly wretched mess) is offered up for Your honor and glory alone.  All love and praise to You, my King!  Amen.

To Each His Own

Good morning,

I don't hear that English expression much anymore, the title of this post.  In years past, I heard it often, to explain a person's choices or preferences.  I chose it for a slightly different meaning in the context of this post.

Yesterday I was telling a dear friend about the Peru trip.  She lamented the fact that she could not go. Not that she could not afford to go, but that she did not have the emotional endurance to go.  It is plain as can be that her spiritual gifts are different than mine.  The Holy Spirit has gifted her differently.  For example, while I have a small measure of the gift of hospitality, she has a heaping helping!  I love that about her.  She has the ability to make everyone feel welcome and loved.

God has equipped each of us differently so that, although we are united in our purpose to serve our Savior, we have the gifts to do that in a number of different ways.  Listen to what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 12:1-12 (NET)

With regard to spiritual gifts, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed. 2 You know that when you were pagans you were often led astray by speechless idols, however you were led. 3 So I want you to understand that no one speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus is cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.

4 Now there are different gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 And there are different ministries, but the same Lord. 6 And there are different results, but the same God who produces all of them in everyone. 7 To each person the manifestation of the ZonaSpirit is given for the benefit of all. 8 For one person is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, and another the message of knowledge according to the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10 to another performance of miracles, to another prophecy, and to another discernment of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, and to another the interpretation of tongues. 11 It is one and the same Spirit, distributing as he decides to each person, who produces all these things.

When preparing to go to Peru, the leader of Zona Zegura asked that I prepare teachings for the women on "the woman's leadership role in the church".  As I prayed about what to teach, the Holy Spirit led me to begin with personal holiness (although that segment ended up being taught by the other teacher, my pastor; so, I omitted that segment), then to move on to the woman's leadership role in the home, and then after proper spiritual authority had been established, the topic of spiritual gifts. I'm not going to reproduce that teaching here.

The point is this:  we must embrace the spiritual gifts the Lord has given us.  Why?  Because He gave them to us so that we can bless others, both within the Body of Christ and outside it as well.  Some gifts are given primarily for the unbelieving world (the gifts of evangelism and healing, for example) and others primarily for the building up of the Christian fellowship (the Body of Christ).  An example of that would be the gift of teaching.

The crux of this passage is in the underlined verses above.
1.  We are not the source of our spiritual gifts.  We receive them the moment we accept Jesus as Savior because it is at that moment the Holy Spirit comes to live within us.
2.  Because we are not the source of our gifts, we cannot take the credit for them nor can we accept any praise that comes from the use of our gifts.  Verse 11 clearly states that it is the Holy Spirit who produces both the gifts and the results of exercising them.
3.  It is SO important to remember that the purpose of our gifts is not only to benefit others, but also to glorify God.  Some of the gifts - - healing, for example, should always lead to a praise session and an invitation to others/observers to accept Christ, the One who performed the healing.

Finally, a common mistake we make in the Body of Christ is to glorify some gifts above others.  In fact, some use this "excuse" to not exercise their own gifts.  However, Paul goes on to say that this is a deception and a trap from the evil one.  Our gifts should bring unity, not disunity, peace not discord or dissension or envy or strife.  We'll examine those verses tomorrow.

Dear Father, I praise You for the gifts you give to Your children.  Each new day is an opportunity to use mine to advance Your kingdom, to encourage and support Your children, to bring You all the glory!  May it be done in my life today.  In Jesus' name, amen.