Reading a KD (Faithfully forwarded by my friend RRK) this morning, I was hit smack between the eyes by the pervasive, and quite unattractive, hypocrisies in my life. Contemplating this, which is an upgrade from my usual contemplations of my navel, it occurred to me that a little (Actually, more than a little.) confrontation of my personal hypocrisies, which, I am guessing might often turn out to be corporate or at least shared hypocrisies, is called for from someone who is so brassy as to write as much as I do.
By way of confession, I think it might be good if I occasionally (Meaning as often as the Spirit prompts me) jot down and launch into the ether, some observations/revelations on this issue of hypocrisy, which, if you check out what Jesus had to say about it, is a HUGE issue for any who aspire to spend eternity with Him and His Father.
But, so I can hide a little from having my personal hypocrisies completely outed, I will write under the Nom de Plume of "Hypocraticus."
If you, who are on the dE-votions list, would rather not receive the occasional reflection of Hypocraticus, just let me know. Otherwise they will show up in your Inbox, as well as appear in my blog, and on my Facebook page.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
Monday, June 7, 2010
The Mortality of My Flesh
My first really serious encounter with my mortality came in the summer of 1980 when, biting into a delicious deli-sandwich at a conference in NJ I suddenly found myself chewing in something too hard to swallow and digest. Upon expelling and examining the object I discovered it was a part of one of my teeth, which was replace a few days later by my first crown (Yes, I have have a couple more over the last 30 years.).
Well, it was at that moment, staring at the little broken piece of enamel in my hand, that I realized that this body of mine wasn't going to last forever. Kind of sobering. All of 27 and I had lost a piece of my original equipment and had a replacement part installed. As I said, I've had a couple of other parts replaced, as in the other crowns in my mouth. I have also had failing parts propped up by pills, eyeglasses (Progressing from single lens, to bifocal, to tri-focal, to progressive), and various wraps and supports for joints. Three years ago I even gave away one of my more important parts, gladly surrendering one of my kidneys for our son Dan to use (I would encourage any of you to do the same, should the opportunity offer. I can't say that I miss the kidney, and hey, removing major organs is an easy way to lose a little weight.).
Back to the summer of 1980. Confronted with the irrefutable evidence of my mortality, I was a bit shaken. You see, I was still several years from embracing Him who died to guarantee me, not just immortality, for God has created us all immortal, but an unimaginably joyful, peaceful, and sweet eternity in His Father's house. Though I can hardly imagine what our spiritual bodies will be like, I know that none of their parts will ever break or wear out. That's good new for those who will be spending eternity with the Father and the Son; it's not so good news for those who will suffer forever in their spiritual bodies, cut off from Father and Son, and subjected to unspeakable torments.
I guess the point of this reflecting, and I am not sure what put it in mind today, is that sooner or later all of us come to the realization that, even if we don't lose a tooth, or have a part removed or replace, the days of our flesh in this beautiful world are numbered. What matters at that point is that we don't shrug our shoulders as if the end of our flesh means the end of us, and that we understand that one of two distinct eternities awaits us. Jesus has given us the way (As in, He is THE Way) to be 100% assured of a glorious eternity, and the sooner we have that assurance, the more we can both enjoy and make the most of the remaining days of our mortal flesh.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
Well, it was at that moment, staring at the little broken piece of enamel in my hand, that I realized that this body of mine wasn't going to last forever. Kind of sobering. All of 27 and I had lost a piece of my original equipment and had a replacement part installed. As I said, I've had a couple of other parts replaced, as in the other crowns in my mouth. I have also had failing parts propped up by pills, eyeglasses (Progressing from single lens, to bifocal, to tri-focal, to progressive), and various wraps and supports for joints. Three years ago I even gave away one of my more important parts, gladly surrendering one of my kidneys for our son Dan to use (I would encourage any of you to do the same, should the opportunity offer. I can't say that I miss the kidney, and hey, removing major organs is an easy way to lose a little weight.).
Back to the summer of 1980. Confronted with the irrefutable evidence of my mortality, I was a bit shaken. You see, I was still several years from embracing Him who died to guarantee me, not just immortality, for God has created us all immortal, but an unimaginably joyful, peaceful, and sweet eternity in His Father's house. Though I can hardly imagine what our spiritual bodies will be like, I know that none of their parts will ever break or wear out. That's good new for those who will be spending eternity with the Father and the Son; it's not so good news for those who will suffer forever in their spiritual bodies, cut off from Father and Son, and subjected to unspeakable torments.
I guess the point of this reflecting, and I am not sure what put it in mind today, is that sooner or later all of us come to the realization that, even if we don't lose a tooth, or have a part removed or replace, the days of our flesh in this beautiful world are numbered. What matters at that point is that we don't shrug our shoulders as if the end of our flesh means the end of us, and that we understand that one of two distinct eternities awaits us. Jesus has given us the way (As in, He is THE Way) to be 100% assured of a glorious eternity, and the sooner we have that assurance, the more we can both enjoy and make the most of the remaining days of our mortal flesh.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
Jesus Opened Prayer
What Did Jesus Do?
Pray then like this…
Matthew 6.9
Have you ever had an adventure in the kitchen? My wife can tell you that I have had more than a few. My adventures result from my tendency to look at recipes more as a jazz musician would rather than a classical one; instead of following them precisely I will often go off and improvise, substituting or adding ingredients of my own. I look at recipes as “open,” in that I feel free to alter them. It makes for some interesting, if not always delicious, results, like the time I dumped a tablespoon or so of ground cloves into some meatloaf. Dinner wasn’t so good that night, but the whole house had a not unpleasant pungency!
In his discourse on prayer in Matthew 6, part of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus “opened” prayer, giving us an example, not a strict order or recipe. The ingredients of prayer, and how much of each of them, is not locked down, but opened up; prayer is not restricted to the words of Matthew 6.9-13. And a good thing too, since the other canonical version of the Lord’s Prayer in Luke 11.2-4 itself varies from Matthew.
Jesus did not say “pray this” or “pray these words only,” but instead “pray like this” or “pray in this manner.” It is somewhat amusing that the words Jesus intended to open and personalize prayer for us all have become the most rote prayer in the world. And don’t even think about reciting, which unfortunately prayer has devolved to for many, the Lord’s Prayer in anything but the words of the King James Version! (I will let you in on a little secret: I have never called to my wife from the living room and said, “O honey, which art in the kitchen.”)
Think of it this way, do you have the exact same conversation with everyone you speak with? Parents, do each of your children all say the same thing to you over and over again without the slightest variation? Then how likely do you think it is that our Father wants our conversation with him to be constrained to the 66 words in Matthew 6 (Which version includes the concluding doxology, (“For yours in the kingdom, the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen”), or the 39 words in Luke 11.
So, when it comes to our teaching others to pray, we can teach others to follow the example of the hypocrites, who recited godly words to impress others (Matthew 6.5), and the Gentiles, who burdened their gods with many and repeated high-sounding but empty phrases (Matthew 6.7), or we can look to Jesus, who opened prayer up to be: (1) addressed to the one loving Father of all, (2) personal, (3) spontaneous, (4) improvised, (5) short, and (6) humble and sincere.
Prayer can keep God aloof and remote, communication confined to cold formality, or empty repetition. Or we can show others that prayer can and should be the means to draw ever closer to the Father in intimate and loving relationship. That’s what Jesus did.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
Pray then like this…
Matthew 6.9
Have you ever had an adventure in the kitchen? My wife can tell you that I have had more than a few. My adventures result from my tendency to look at recipes more as a jazz musician would rather than a classical one; instead of following them precisely I will often go off and improvise, substituting or adding ingredients of my own. I look at recipes as “open,” in that I feel free to alter them. It makes for some interesting, if not always delicious, results, like the time I dumped a tablespoon or so of ground cloves into some meatloaf. Dinner wasn’t so good that night, but the whole house had a not unpleasant pungency!
In his discourse on prayer in Matthew 6, part of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus “opened” prayer, giving us an example, not a strict order or recipe. The ingredients of prayer, and how much of each of them, is not locked down, but opened up; prayer is not restricted to the words of Matthew 6.9-13. And a good thing too, since the other canonical version of the Lord’s Prayer in Luke 11.2-4 itself varies from Matthew.
Jesus did not say “pray this” or “pray these words only,” but instead “pray like this” or “pray in this manner.” It is somewhat amusing that the words Jesus intended to open and personalize prayer for us all have become the most rote prayer in the world. And don’t even think about reciting, which unfortunately prayer has devolved to for many, the Lord’s Prayer in anything but the words of the King James Version! (I will let you in on a little secret: I have never called to my wife from the living room and said, “O honey, which art in the kitchen.”)
Think of it this way, do you have the exact same conversation with everyone you speak with? Parents, do each of your children all say the same thing to you over and over again without the slightest variation? Then how likely do you think it is that our Father wants our conversation with him to be constrained to the 66 words in Matthew 6 (Which version includes the concluding doxology, (“For yours in the kingdom, the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen”), or the 39 words in Luke 11.
So, when it comes to our teaching others to pray, we can teach others to follow the example of the hypocrites, who recited godly words to impress others (Matthew 6.5), and the Gentiles, who burdened their gods with many and repeated high-sounding but empty phrases (Matthew 6.7), or we can look to Jesus, who opened prayer up to be: (1) addressed to the one loving Father of all, (2) personal, (3) spontaneous, (4) improvised, (5) short, and (6) humble and sincere.
Prayer can keep God aloof and remote, communication confined to cold formality, or empty repetition. Or we can show others that prayer can and should be the means to draw ever closer to the Father in intimate and loving relationship. That’s what Jesus did.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Jesus Pointed True
What did Jesus Do?
I am the way…No one comes to the Father except through me.
John 14.6
I just got back from a week at Boy Scout Camp. There were no Scouts there yet, it was a week of getting ready for the 2,000 boys and young men who will be coming later this month and through July. There are lots of things to do at camp. On brutally hot summer days there’s no better place to be than the waterfront. And, if you want to make something nice to give to mom when you get back from camp, then you want to work on a project at the handicraft hut. For the adventurous there is the 40 foot climbing tower and the high ropes course. Perhaps not as much fun as some of these other activities in camp, but probably more important in some ways is the outdoor skills area, or what we used to call Scoutcraft. If a boy isn’t taught how to take care of himself in the outdoors he can get into all kinds of trouble.
Take knowing where you are going in the woods. If you don’t know the trails and the terrain you can get lost pretty easily, even in areas which are not all that remote. Get into some deep wilderness and you better have a guide, or at least a good compass that points the true way for you. One thing a leader would never give a Scout would be a faulty compass, one that didn’t point true. A compass that points anywhere but north is good for nothing but getting lost!
Now God, the Father, could be likened to a Scout leader who has a strong and abiding interest in the welfare of all his Scouts. Of course, God thinks of us as sons and daughters, but most good Scout leaders come to think of the young people in their troop as family of sorts, so the analogy isn’t so far off. Well, the Father wants nothing more than for his “Scouts” to be able to make it home to him. And he knows that, like the greenest tenderfoot Scout, we don’t have the knowledge, skills, or equipment to make our way home on our own. So the Father has given the world a compass.
Now, do you think the father would give out some compasses that point north, and others that point, oh south by southeast? Why, God would have us all heading off in all kinds of directions, with only the ones who were lucky enough to get the actual working compasses that pointed true, being able to get home. Well, the Father would not play false with any of his “Scouts.” God has not given out many different compasses, but One who could honestly say, “I am the way…No one come to the Father except through me.” In fact, Jesus is at one and the same time both the compass, and the trail, if you will. He not only shows us the way, He is the way; kind of map, compass, and trail all in one.
Some will like to argue that there are “many paths” too God. But, as any Scout can tell you, not all paths lead you home. And any compass that does not point true is worthless. When we encounter someone who is lost, do we tell them they can go in any direction they like and still get to where they need to go. or do we show them and tell them the truth, pointing the true way to the Father? That’s what Jesus did.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
I am the way…No one comes to the Father except through me.
John 14.6
I just got back from a week at Boy Scout Camp. There were no Scouts there yet, it was a week of getting ready for the 2,000 boys and young men who will be coming later this month and through July. There are lots of things to do at camp. On brutally hot summer days there’s no better place to be than the waterfront. And, if you want to make something nice to give to mom when you get back from camp, then you want to work on a project at the handicraft hut. For the adventurous there is the 40 foot climbing tower and the high ropes course. Perhaps not as much fun as some of these other activities in camp, but probably more important in some ways is the outdoor skills area, or what we used to call Scoutcraft. If a boy isn’t taught how to take care of himself in the outdoors he can get into all kinds of trouble.
Take knowing where you are going in the woods. If you don’t know the trails and the terrain you can get lost pretty easily, even in areas which are not all that remote. Get into some deep wilderness and you better have a guide, or at least a good compass that points the true way for you. One thing a leader would never give a Scout would be a faulty compass, one that didn’t point true. A compass that points anywhere but north is good for nothing but getting lost!
Now God, the Father, could be likened to a Scout leader who has a strong and abiding interest in the welfare of all his Scouts. Of course, God thinks of us as sons and daughters, but most good Scout leaders come to think of the young people in their troop as family of sorts, so the analogy isn’t so far off. Well, the Father wants nothing more than for his “Scouts” to be able to make it home to him. And he knows that, like the greenest tenderfoot Scout, we don’t have the knowledge, skills, or equipment to make our way home on our own. So the Father has given the world a compass.
Now, do you think the father would give out some compasses that point north, and others that point, oh south by southeast? Why, God would have us all heading off in all kinds of directions, with only the ones who were lucky enough to get the actual working compasses that pointed true, being able to get home. Well, the Father would not play false with any of his “Scouts.” God has not given out many different compasses, but One who could honestly say, “I am the way…No one come to the Father except through me.” In fact, Jesus is at one and the same time both the compass, and the trail, if you will. He not only shows us the way, He is the way; kind of map, compass, and trail all in one.
Some will like to argue that there are “many paths” too God. But, as any Scout can tell you, not all paths lead you home. And any compass that does not point true is worthless. When we encounter someone who is lost, do we tell them they can go in any direction they like and still get to where they need to go. or do we show them and tell them the truth, pointing the true way to the Father? That’s what Jesus did.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
Friday, June 4, 2010
Jesus Waited
What Did Jesus Do?
Allow both to grow until the harvest…
Matthew 13.30
Have you ever grabbed up a pile of what you thought was all junk mail, only to discover after you threw it all in the trash that you got rid of something of value? I have. Junk mail can be a pretty annoying nuisance, but sometimes a little more care, and taking time to carefully see what is junk and what is not can save you from making a sometimes costly mistake.
Jesus didn’t make mistakes. He was also patient, quite willing to wait for that which was to be cast away into the “incinerator” to reveal itself. Of course, in the parable about the wheat and the tares Jesus was talking about something much more important than grains and weeds, He was talking about souls.
And, though He had perfect insight into the heart and soul of people, none of us do. So it is a good idea for us to learn the lesson of this parable, and wait. Being too quick to condemn and cast away someone we judge to be a “tare” could mean we cast aside one whom Christ died to save.
Tares were sneaky. They looked an awful lot like wheat. It would be almost impossible to weed a field sown with darnel (a perennial grass thought to be the biblical tare) and with wheat without plucking out some of the good plants with the bad.
A lot of people consider themselves pretty good judges of others; they do not hesitate to comment on who is saved and who isn’t, who is a “good” Christian, and who is a “tare” who only resembles a Christian, but doing so they show more “tareness” (As in tearing down and tearing apart) than “wheatness” (As in “wheatnessing” for the Lord, if you’ll pardon the pun).
Jesus knew there would come a day, the day of the great harvest of souls, when the mature “wheat” and the mature “tares” will be easily identified and separate. There will be good grain (Or fruit, if you prefer) produced by the one, and nothing but barrenness from the other. So the Lord was quite content for all to be revealed in time, and counseled for us to do the same. This means that the “tares” will receive the same care and consideration as the “wheat,” and who knows, there may be more wheat than we would have imagined. For the truth is, without Jesus we’re all tares, worthy of nothing more than being thrown into the fire. But by the grace of God, Christ died and rose again, that many “tares” should become “wheat.”
So next time you are ready to yank some “tares” out of your congregation, or to throw away a relationship with someone who you are sure is a tare, wait, they may yet become wheat of the Lord’s harvest. That’s what Jesus did.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
Allow both to grow until the harvest…
Matthew 13.30
Have you ever grabbed up a pile of what you thought was all junk mail, only to discover after you threw it all in the trash that you got rid of something of value? I have. Junk mail can be a pretty annoying nuisance, but sometimes a little more care, and taking time to carefully see what is junk and what is not can save you from making a sometimes costly mistake.
Jesus didn’t make mistakes. He was also patient, quite willing to wait for that which was to be cast away into the “incinerator” to reveal itself. Of course, in the parable about the wheat and the tares Jesus was talking about something much more important than grains and weeds, He was talking about souls.
And, though He had perfect insight into the heart and soul of people, none of us do. So it is a good idea for us to learn the lesson of this parable, and wait. Being too quick to condemn and cast away someone we judge to be a “tare” could mean we cast aside one whom Christ died to save.
Tares were sneaky. They looked an awful lot like wheat. It would be almost impossible to weed a field sown with darnel (a perennial grass thought to be the biblical tare) and with wheat without plucking out some of the good plants with the bad.
A lot of people consider themselves pretty good judges of others; they do not hesitate to comment on who is saved and who isn’t, who is a “good” Christian, and who is a “tare” who only resembles a Christian, but doing so they show more “tareness” (As in tearing down and tearing apart) than “wheatness” (As in “wheatnessing” for the Lord, if you’ll pardon the pun).
Jesus knew there would come a day, the day of the great harvest of souls, when the mature “wheat” and the mature “tares” will be easily identified and separate. There will be good grain (Or fruit, if you prefer) produced by the one, and nothing but barrenness from the other. So the Lord was quite content for all to be revealed in time, and counseled for us to do the same. This means that the “tares” will receive the same care and consideration as the “wheat,” and who knows, there may be more wheat than we would have imagined. For the truth is, without Jesus we’re all tares, worthy of nothing more than being thrown into the fire. But by the grace of God, Christ died and rose again, that many “tares” should become “wheat.”
So next time you are ready to yank some “tares” out of your congregation, or to throw away a relationship with someone who you are sure is a tare, wait, they may yet become wheat of the Lord’s harvest. That’s what Jesus did.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Jesus Came Down
What Did Jesus Do?
For the bread of heaven is he who comes down from heaven
and gives his life to the world.
John 6.33
I’m not one to worry about making a fool of myself, so I don’t mind telling you about the time I was convinced there was something wrong with our breadmaker. We had one of those machines where you throw all the ingredients in and it kneads the bread, lets it rise, and bakes it, all while you can be busy doing anything else you please. Pour in the ingredients, push a button, come back in a couple of hours, and you’ve got bread!
Well that’s just what I did one time, only to come back and find a doorstop in the breadmaker! I had about a two inch high “loaf” of, well, I couldn’t quite call it bread. Usually the loaf would have been maybe 8-9 inches long. Well, I gamely tried to eat the, well, not bread, but I am not sure what to call it. Unfortunately it was just about as hard as it was dense, so I couldn’t even get a decent bite of it.
It was only a couple of weeks later when I mentioned to a friend that our breadmaket wasn’t working well, that I discovered that brewer’s yeast, while apparently good for making beer, does not make good bread because it doesn’t rise. So, now you know what a dope I used to be (I’d never be so dumb now. Believe that and I have this bridge in Brooklyn to sell you.).
All this is to say that most of us are used to bread that rises. But, in the long run, the bread we really need is the bread that came down. Not that He was the first, of course. The ancient Israelites had been sustained through forty years of wilderness sojourning by bread that came down from heaven. That bread had been manna, manna from God, not Moses. Ironically, all the faithless generation which had come out of Egypt and was fed by the manna perished in the wilderness. While manna could sustain people who were hungry, it couldn’t give life to those who were truly perishing because of their sins.
But the other bread that “came down,” the bread that not only came down, but stood there before the people, he was the “true bread from heaven.” In a rather strange, but gloriously divine, process, the “true bread” had to be lifted up on the cross, then laid low in a tomb, in order that He should do what bread does—rise. Of course, Jesus rose like no bread any of us have ever known. He rose with redeeming power and with life in Him. And, that we might have life, the Holy Spirit makes whatever bread we partake in the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, the true living bead in us.
Now most of us are not all that interested in coming down; we’d much rather rise, thank you very much. But life, true life, is only for those who are first willing to give up their life (See Matthew 16.25). That’s what Jesus did.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
For the bread of heaven is he who comes down from heaven
and gives his life to the world.
John 6.33
I’m not one to worry about making a fool of myself, so I don’t mind telling you about the time I was convinced there was something wrong with our breadmaker. We had one of those machines where you throw all the ingredients in and it kneads the bread, lets it rise, and bakes it, all while you can be busy doing anything else you please. Pour in the ingredients, push a button, come back in a couple of hours, and you’ve got bread!
Well that’s just what I did one time, only to come back and find a doorstop in the breadmaker! I had about a two inch high “loaf” of, well, I couldn’t quite call it bread. Usually the loaf would have been maybe 8-9 inches long. Well, I gamely tried to eat the, well, not bread, but I am not sure what to call it. Unfortunately it was just about as hard as it was dense, so I couldn’t even get a decent bite of it.
It was only a couple of weeks later when I mentioned to a friend that our breadmaket wasn’t working well, that I discovered that brewer’s yeast, while apparently good for making beer, does not make good bread because it doesn’t rise. So, now you know what a dope I used to be (I’d never be so dumb now. Believe that and I have this bridge in Brooklyn to sell you.).
All this is to say that most of us are used to bread that rises. But, in the long run, the bread we really need is the bread that came down. Not that He was the first, of course. The ancient Israelites had been sustained through forty years of wilderness sojourning by bread that came down from heaven. That bread had been manna, manna from God, not Moses. Ironically, all the faithless generation which had come out of Egypt and was fed by the manna perished in the wilderness. While manna could sustain people who were hungry, it couldn’t give life to those who were truly perishing because of their sins.
But the other bread that “came down,” the bread that not only came down, but stood there before the people, he was the “true bread from heaven.” In a rather strange, but gloriously divine, process, the “true bread” had to be lifted up on the cross, then laid low in a tomb, in order that He should do what bread does—rise. Of course, Jesus rose like no bread any of us have ever known. He rose with redeeming power and with life in Him. And, that we might have life, the Holy Spirit makes whatever bread we partake in the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, the true living bead in us.
Now most of us are not all that interested in coming down; we’d much rather rise, thank you very much. But life, true life, is only for those who are first willing to give up their life (See Matthew 16.25). That’s what Jesus did.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Jesus Withdrew
What Did Jesus Do?
Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king,
Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself.
John 6.15
Right ends cannot be accomplished by wrong means. Jesus truly was King, but not by virtue of the enthusiastic impulse of a crowd, and not of the kind of kingdom the crowd envisioned. Jesus was not a rabble rousing anti-Roman insurrectionist, His kingdom would not come by violence, other than the violence done to Him.
And so, though the compassionate Christ would see that five thousand would be fed by five loaves and two fish, He was not about to allow that crowd, spurred by their misunderstanding of who the One was who performed the miracle, to forcibly take Him and make him a king. Right ends cannot be accomplished by wrong means. Withdrawing beyond the reach of the energized, but misunderstanding crowd, Jesus would continue His ministry until the moment arrived when He would allow himself to be taken by another uncomprehending crowd and be crucified by them. Right ends cannot be accomplished by wrong means; but sometimes seemingly wrong means can be the divine choice of God to accomplish his will.
Jesus withdrew to desolate and lonely places both to separate himself from the throngs who continually jumped to wrong conclusions about Him, and about the kingdom, and to draw closer to the Father. (See Mark 1.35) Knowing when and how to move forward, and when to withdraw makes all the difference in the progress of the kingdom. The kingdom advances in God’s timing, not ours; by God’s will, not ours; according to God’s purposes, not ours. Jesus understood this perfectly; yet He wrestled with His own personal desire to withdraw when the time came for Him to fall into the hands of the mob. (Matthew 26.37-42) Right ends are accomplished when we submit to the means ordained by the Father.
Has your enthusiasm ever led you to run so fast that you got ahead of God, in effect attempting to force the kingdom forward by your striving? I must confess to having been the perpetrator of some high-minded failures by virtue of rushing ahead when I should have withdrawn and waited upon God. By keeping our eyes on the Father, and our mind on things that are above, we can know when to advance and when to withdraw for the good of the kingdom and the glory of God. That’s what Jesus did.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king,
Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself.
John 6.15
Right ends cannot be accomplished by wrong means. Jesus truly was King, but not by virtue of the enthusiastic impulse of a crowd, and not of the kind of kingdom the crowd envisioned. Jesus was not a rabble rousing anti-Roman insurrectionist, His kingdom would not come by violence, other than the violence done to Him.
And so, though the compassionate Christ would see that five thousand would be fed by five loaves and two fish, He was not about to allow that crowd, spurred by their misunderstanding of who the One was who performed the miracle, to forcibly take Him and make him a king. Right ends cannot be accomplished by wrong means. Withdrawing beyond the reach of the energized, but misunderstanding crowd, Jesus would continue His ministry until the moment arrived when He would allow himself to be taken by another uncomprehending crowd and be crucified by them. Right ends cannot be accomplished by wrong means; but sometimes seemingly wrong means can be the divine choice of God to accomplish his will.
Jesus withdrew to desolate and lonely places both to separate himself from the throngs who continually jumped to wrong conclusions about Him, and about the kingdom, and to draw closer to the Father. (See Mark 1.35) Knowing when and how to move forward, and when to withdraw makes all the difference in the progress of the kingdom. The kingdom advances in God’s timing, not ours; by God’s will, not ours; according to God’s purposes, not ours. Jesus understood this perfectly; yet He wrestled with His own personal desire to withdraw when the time came for Him to fall into the hands of the mob. (Matthew 26.37-42) Right ends are accomplished when we submit to the means ordained by the Father.
Has your enthusiasm ever led you to run so fast that you got ahead of God, in effect attempting to force the kingdom forward by your striving? I must confess to having been the perpetrator of some high-minded failures by virtue of rushing ahead when I should have withdrawn and waited upon God. By keeping our eyes on the Father, and our mind on things that are above, we can know when to advance and when to withdraw for the good of the kingdom and the glory of God. That’s what Jesus did.
S.D.G.
Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4
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