Tag: longings

Good Desires (Part Three)

img_37002 Chronicles 17:1-19

Jehoshaphat had a desire to teach his people (17:7-9). This desire caused him to take action. He did not simply have a dream, but he took practical steps to see it become a reality. A lot of local churches have dreams to reach people with the gospel. But they rarely see much accomplished. There are many reasons for this failure, but one is that there far more talk (in board meetings, committee meetings, and business meetings – I think there is a recurring noun there) than action. And if something doesn’t immediately “work”, they have more meetings to discuss the need for a new plan! Jehoshaphat did not fall into a swamp of inactivity. He acted.

  • He sent a team of teachers (five officials, nine Levites, and two priests) on an extensive tour throughout Judah. At least part of this plan came from the Torah (Leviticus 10:11). Ezra later followed this plan. Priests were to be the source of spiritual instruction (cf. Malachi 2:7). Who are the priests today? Believers in Jesus Christ are priests (1 Peter 2:5; etc.) under Jesus our Great High Priest. So then, you and I need to be the source of wisdom and knowledge of God and the gospel to those around us. Don’t try to wiggle out of this. Yes, you can do it. You have the Holy Spirit and God’s Word, the Bible. Most of you reading this blog have heard many messages and Bible lessons. You ought to be able to open the Gospel of Mark or the letter to the Romans and explain Christ and the good news to others. If you think you can’t, contact me and we’ll talk about this, okay?
  • Jehoshaphat knew that people need to have God’s message explained to them. People usually really learn through some kind of conversation, and I’m not downplaying the formal teaching and preaching of the Word. I’m teaching now. We all need general, public instruction. Every local assembly needs this to keep a unified vision. But we also need a place to ask questions and bounce our ideas about what we’re hearing off of others. His team of teachers would be able to meet that practical, spiritual need. They could gather people together in a circle around a fire or a basket of bread and so teach and answer their questions.

Comment: Your small group ought to function this way. The purpose of a small group is not to be a “Bible study” doing a mad dash through a book or topic, just to say that they finished the material. The time you cover just one question or one verse, discussing it together in love, might be the most effective learning situation you have ever had. If people are asking good, meaningful questions and receiving the same kind of answers, not just yakking or gossiping about something, then keep in step with what the Spirit is doing. Everyone in a gospel community must have a sense of spiritual flexibility.

  • They took the word with them. The Book of the Law means at least Deuteronomy or the entire Torah, and perhaps other Scripture then available. From God’s Word, they could present the central story of God’s glory, the need for a Redeemer, and his amazing grace for sinners who repent and believe. Learn the main story line of the Bible, and be able to apply it to the walk of faith. Remember it is about Jesus Christ (Luke 24:44-47).

God honored Jehoshaphat for his devotion (17:5, 10). God sticks to his purposes, or as is usually said, he keeps his promises. Consider 1 Samuel 2:30. God has revealed that about himself. He honors those who honor him. Jehoshaphat did, and so God honored him. Jehoshaphat sought to keep the law covenant, so the Lord protected him and his people during his reign (Deuteronomy 28). At this point, we must understand that we relate to God through the new covenant. During this life, he does not promise his adult sons and daughters physical prosperity, but he does promise his presence and the help of the Holy Spirit to fulfill our heavenly calling. This is one reason the new covenant is the better covenant!

Remember that Jehoshaphat could not do it alone (17:7-9). He formed a team to help him in the work. Each of us in our local assemblies must work together in gospel partnership in the areas God has placed us. Followers of Christ do mission together. How can you join with others to expand the ministry of the word where you live?

The most important factor was that the Lord was with Jehoshaphat (17:3). Anything accomplished that is truly godly and lasting comes from the action of the Spirit of the Lord. The Holy Spirit lives in God’s people today. Those who know the Lord can say, “the Lord is with us”. That is something to rejoice about! We have what the early church had: The Spirit and the Word. Let’s seek out new opportunities to act for the Lord this week!

Grace and peace, David

Good Desires (Part Two)

img_11742 Chronicles 17:1-19

The Lord God has given people desires or longings. As we live in this world, we develop other desires according to our circumstances, abilities, etc. These desires can be either holy or wicked. In this article, we think again about the good desires that Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, had.

Jehoshaphat had a desire to seek the Lord (17:3-6). Notice how this godly desire worked out in his life.

  • He followed the good example of David. It is not clear if the text should be translated like the NIV does to refer to Jehoshaphat, or as the ESV does to refer to David (“because he walked in the earlier ways of David”). Regardless, Jehoshaphat sought the Lord like David did (cf. Psalm 27:8; etc.), and so he rejected the Baals. There were many false gods worshiped in Palestine with the title of Baal (“Master”). Each one was believed to be in control of some part of nature or some place. Baal worship was the attempt to gain the favor of these so-called gods, so that a person could have a happy, prosperous life. (Hopefully, that does not describe your motivation for worshiping the living God!) Worship of the Lord emphasizes his glory and goodness in redeeming his people from sin to eternal salvation. In true worship, we are not trying to buy something from God, but we are celebrating what he freely does. We need to remember Jehoshaphat’s rejection of Baal worship when we come to the next chapter.
  • His heart was devoted or “lifted up” to the Lord. In contrast, others might lift their hearts up to other gods, human wisdom or selfish ambition. But Jehoshaphat gave his heart or inner person to the Lord and his ways. (You simply can’t give your heart to the Lord and not to the Lord’s ways. True spirituality is according to God’s word.) The principle of the first great command was operating in his heart (Deuteronomy 6:4-5). When he realized that God was his covenant Lord, he gave himself to the Lord’s lordship over him. For Jehoshaphat, this required him to structure his life around the reality of God and his relationship to him, as mediated through the law covenant (Deuteronomy 4:23-24). For us, it means confessing that “Jesus is Lord”. Christ is the ultimate loyalty for the Christian, because God the Father has made him the ultimate Lord over everything. By his death and resurrection, Christ earned absolute lordship, and he exercises it (Romans 14:9-10; 1 Corinthians 15:25; Ephesians 1:19b-23). Sip on that strong coffee for a while! Yes, that is spiritual caffeine that will really wake you up!

Comment: Some people might say that evangelical Christians are professional liars, because we say, “Jesus is Lord,” while we live contradictory to our confession. My friends, we should not try to answer that accusation with words but with lives that are devoted to Christ’s lordship. How are our lives saying that Jesus has set us free to live for God? But first, do you confess that “Jesus is Lord”? Listen to Romans 10:8-13. But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

  • His devoted heart produced godly action. He worshiped according to the law covenant, and not according to the ways of false religion, like the practices of Israel invented by Jeroboam I (cf. 1 Ki 12), or the polytheistic practices of the Canaanites. He did his best to remove the religious perversions of Asherah (the goddess associated with Baal or even with God in false religious practice). The high places had sacred stones that were supposed to contain the Baals. We must worship the Lord in his way, which he has clearly revealed in the Bible.

This weekend, think about the way you worshiped. First, did you gather with other believers? Second, did your worship conform to the pattern set forth in the New Testament Scriptures? How do you know that it did? Third, what good results came from your worship? Did it transform you and others?

Grace and peace, David

Good Desires (Part One)

dscn08032 Chronicles 17:1-19

Today we start a series of articles about “When Desires Clash”. We can see a serious clash of desires in the life of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah. Jehoshaphat was one of the better kings of the southern kingdom of Judah. (There were no godly kings in the northern kingdom of Israel.) He did many things that were pleasing to the Lord, because he loved the Lord. His good actions came from a good heart, since all our words and actions spring from the inner person of our hearts. But his life was also marred by various failures that occurred when he gave in to evil desires. In other words, Jehoshaphat was a lot like you and me. At times I imagine what it would be like if churches advertised that they were not perfect. The slogan could be: “Welcome to Messy Community Church, where it’s okay to admit that you are having spiritual and personal problems. But here by God’s grace, we also want you to see real change – to become increasingly like the Lord Jesus.”

All of us have desires. We have good, God-given desires, such as hunger, thirst, sex, dominion, safety, and comfort. We also have desires such as longings for wealth, prestige, and so forth. All our desires seek satisfaction, and our lives are formed very much by what wants we pursue. In the story of Jehoshaphat, we encounter a good man, who struggled with evil desires, like we all do. Most of his life, he gave himself to the good desire to love the Lord God. But there were other times, when evil desires worked against the ruling desire of his heart. In other words, his life was messy, and we can learn from the messiness of his life.

The Chronicler records the story of Jehoshaphat more extensively than the writer of Kings, and he presents it in four parts: his early reforms, his near fatal alliance with Ahab, his correction and recommitment, and his leadership in a time of national crisis. May God give us grace to really learn and change, as we read about God’s work in Jehoshaphat’s life. Today we will look at one of Jehoshaphat’s good desires. He had a good desire to strengthen his kingdom (17:1-2, 12-19).

Jehoshaphat understood his situation and what needed to be done. His kingdom had weakened during the later years of his father Asa, while the northern kingdom of Israel had been strengthening under Omri and Ahab. He made best use of his resources to counteract the growing threat from Ahab. As a national leader, he had to use do this by building up his military.

In a similar way, what do you do in spiritual warfare (cf. Ephesians 6:11; 1 Peter 2:11)? Fleshly means are ineffectual and misconstrue the enemy. Yet the problem of the American church for forty years has been that of trying to win a spiritual struggle with this-worldly methods. The result has been a poor imitation of the world that hasn’t helped but seriously complicated the crisis. We need to return to the gospel, which is the power of God for salvation (Romans 1:16-17).

Jehoshaphat continued with his plan, as the Lord prospered it. When we read history in the Bible, we must maintain a proper sense of time. From a literary perspective, time is compressed to present key points. But in actual life, what Jehoshaphat did occurred over many years. He could not build a strong military force with adequate defensive capabilities in weeks or months. It was a long-term program.

In our culture, we expect and demand instant results. If something doesn’t work quickly, we wrongly assume that it will not work at all. Oh, someone might tritely say, “Rome wasn’t built in a day.” But the attitude of perseverance to accomplish spiritual goals is strangely lacking. Christ’s plan is clearly, concisely stated in places like Matthew 28:19-20; Luke 24:44-47. We need to persevere in his plan. There is no other way to build a local church, and it requires huge investments of our time into the lives of people in order for them to become followers of Christ. Only rarely do we see anyone turn from sin to trust in Christ quickly, and even in those times, God was already at work in their lives. Jesus has sent us into the world, so we ought to seek to make disciples where he has placed us. You and I must maintain a constant missional perspective. Let’s pray and reach out to people that they might become fully committed followers of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Grace and peace, David