Monday's Meditation: A Person and His Promises

Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact
that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. Romans 4:18-21

Last month I posted my reflections on the limits of doubt, a post that generated some interest, but left me cold because I had concentrated on the negative. I love this passage from Romans because it points me toward faith even while taking doubt into consideration. Faith is a worthy meditation for the week. To get you started, here are just a couple of notes.

"He faced the fact that his body was a good as dead." I love this. It tells me that faith does not require that I ignore the facts. I can stare frankly at what is before me. At the same time there are things bigger than the facts. This passage teaches me I can acknowledge my doubts without celebrating them.

“Being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.“ Verses 20 and 21 tell me that Abraham's faith rested in God's promises, not a limited understanding of the situation. In fact, Abraham was persuaded that God could and would act. I suspect the reason faith is difficult for some people is that they’ve been told faith is believing a set of theological “facts” instead of trusting a person--a person fully capable and willing of acting on their behalf.

In another New Testament book Peter said that we become partakers in the divine nature through God's promises. His promises give us hope. That hope whispers to us, "go ahead--dare to to trust him, and to trust his promise!" I want nothing to do with a definition of faith that requires agreement with propositions, I want everything to do with a faith that requires me to hope and trust in the Father's promise.

Perhaps you could consider this during the week: faith is not agreeing with a set of propositions, it’s knowing a Person, hearing His promises, and trusting Him to fulfill them. Surely that’s better than celebrating my doubt, isn’t it?

Lightning and Thunder: Seven Meditations

Perhaps you’re like me: from time to time I catch myself thinking, “If I only had a little more faith I could be a better disciple.” Actually, we could substitute nearly any other quality for the word faith, “if I only had a little more teaching, time, energy . . .” Most of us are keenly aware of the qualities we lack as followers of Jesus. We possess the assurance of our weakness instead of the assurance of his faithfulness.

Let me share with you a passage from Peter’s second letter that changed my life forever:

His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. For this very reason, make every effort . . . ~ 2 Peter 1: 3 - 5

When I read this passage several years ago it flashed like lightning across my heart, and the thunder still rattles my everyday life. Let me share seven meditations from these amazing words. Perhaps you could carry them with you, one each day; even a whole day is not enough time to consider the implications of each statement.

• “His divine power . . .” As followers of Jesus, our everyday life in Christ should be based upon his divine power, not our human strength.

• “has given us everything we need for life and godliness . . .” The problem is, most of us think that God did everything on the cross and now the rest of our life in Christ depends upon us. Good news: he isn’t finished dispensing his grace!

• “through our knowledge of him . . .” Road block—our western mindset leads us to believe that the knowledge of him comes through mere study. A more fruitful approach is to know him by experiencing his presence.

• “his own glory and goodness. . . ” 21st century Americans have difficulty understanding “glory,” but his glory can impact our life—and he is good beyond all measure. Better yet: his glory and goodness are directed toward us!

• “He has given us very great and precious promises . . .” Do we ever reflect upon his promises? I’m afraid that for most of us his promises are like autumn leaves: beautiful, but not very useful.

• “So that through them you may participate in the divine nature . . .” Here is where the lightning flash knocked me over. We can participate in God’s nature, right here, right now. Who knows the full meaning of this phrase? Whatever it means, it has to be good!

• “and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires . . . “ Many believers are trapped into thinking the gospel is only about forgiveness, but the good news is even better: we can be set free from the cycle of corruption!

These are the seven meditations, but there remains one further step. The scripture calls us to action as well:

“For this very reason, make every effort . . .” Notice that “effort” comes after we encounter his divine power, his glory and goodness, and his precious promises. Too many disciples of Jesus, serious in their commitment to follow him, believe that their effort comes first. Instead, our effort is a response to all he has done.

“For this very reason, make every effort . . .” But there is another segment of Christians who think effort is opposed to grace. For these friends we can only quote Dallas Willard (as we do so often!) “Grace is not opposed to effort, it is opposed to earning.”

The challenge of this passage continues into verses 5 – 11. The danger of these next verses is that we believe we can accomplish the list apart from his divine power, his glory and goodness, and his precious promises. Don’t be in a hurry. Take a week to meditate on what he has done. It will take a lifetime to “make every effort.”