Redemption

"Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?  You are not your own; you were bought at a price.  Therefore honor God with your body." (1 Corinthians 6:19,20 NIV)
The main theme of this passage is the reason why we should care about our bodies: redemption.  If the Bible could be summed up in one word, it would be redemption.  From the fall to the cross, God sovereignly orchestrated the events of HiStory according to His redemptive plan.  From what, though, did God redeem us?  Some say that God saved us from ourselves, but that makes little sense, if we were made in God's image.  God rescued us from the chains of sin which have enslaved every person on planet earth, from Adam to the babies born seconds ago.  Most are familiar with concept of a ransom, which is what redemption is.  Kidnappers demand ransom money before they will free their hostage(s).  But how does God ransom us from sin?  How does one person's death two thousand years ago free everyone living hence?  The answer lies in Jesus, who willingly exchanged his perfect, sinless self for each and every person who is willing to accept Him as an exchange.  Sin demands death.  But the beauty of Jesus' redemptive work on the cross is that Jesus has met Sin's demands for all time.  We have merely to accept the ransom, and we are redeemed, rescued from the bonds of slavery to sin and spiritual death.

But we have an obligation, having once been ransomed, to honor the Redeemer.  We must not simply live, we must live for Him, telling others in word and deed how they too can be rescued.   If we live in this way, we will truly honor God with our bodies.
"Redeemed, how I love to proclaim it!
Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb;
Redeemed through His infinite mercy,
His child and forever I am."

Trust

"Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths." (Proverbs 3:5,6)
Two words in these verses stand out to me: trust and all.  What is trust?  We are frequently admonished by our friends, family or coworkers--"Trust me." However, trust is a fragile thing.  Often, people have a problem trusting others because at one point in their lives someone they trusted broke that trust and left them deeply wounded, and healed only with many scars.  However, this verse does not admonish us to trust in fallible human beings.  It tells us to trust in the LORD, the infallible, immutable, sovereign God who always keeps His promises, and works all things together for good.

That leaves the word all.  Twice it occurs in this passage: first "with all your heart," second "in all your ways."  Our trust in God must not hold anything back.  We must be willing (figuratively) to jump out of a plane or walk through the desert or swim across the English channel, even if we know we can't do it on our won, in our own strength.  In all our activities with all our heart we must trust.  In doing so we fulfill what Jesus told us was the greatest commandment: "Love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength."

Rejoicing!

What does it mean to "rejoice always?" It cannot mean to laugh and be happy all the time, for Jesus said "Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh."  (Luke 6:21) And, "Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep." (6:25)  Rejoicing, then, must be about more than emotions, laughter and tears.  Rejoicing is a mindset, an attitude, an outlook on life that looks beyond the daily struggles and fears and depends on something more.  Romans 12:12 says we are to "Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer."  The key to constant rejoicing is hope.  Not hope in the trivial everyday sense, but hope in the biblical sense.  What is the difference?  Biblical hope is about security in the future, resting entirely in God's sovereign hands, not wishful thinking about something we want to happen.  Hope, then, makes all the difference.

When we know that God's answer to Moses' questions was "I AM WHO I AM," that God is a rock in a weary land, a shelter in the time of storm, that when we pass through the waters, he will be with us, and through the floods they will not sweep over us, that God is a mighty fortress, a bulwark never failing, our guide and keeper, redeemer, sustainer and deliverer, how can we help but rejoicing evermore in the hope that all his precious promises will be fulfilled; that we will stand before the throne at the end of the age with people from every tribe, language, people and nation, and at the name of Jesus every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father, singing "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come--Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things and by your will they existed and were created!"  How can we help but rejoicing in that hope!  Amen and Amen!

Deliverance

(N.B. I wrote this on Monday, but haven't had time to post it until today.)
Psalm 120:1 says: "In my distress I called to the LORD, and he answered me." Yesterday, my emotions were like a ball of yarn completely tangled and in knots.  The events of the last week had tested me to the point that I knew I needed to surrender completely to God, but in my fear, I only half-turned to the Lord.  The pastor talked about Psalm 120 in his sermon on Sunday morning, but the way he applied it did not speak directly to my situation.  Then in College Group, the ministry resident (a fancy term for a two-year intern) talked about Psalm 150.  Again, I gleaned some insight from what he said, but I really wasn't ready to give the situation entirely to God.  It wasn't until last night, after I had prayed and read my Bible extensively and tried to listen to God's voice, gotten into bed and tried to go to sleep that I realized the problem.  Inside I felt like I was carrying a heavy burden of emotions that just wouldn't go away.  So I started praying again.  I said something like, "Lord, I want to trust you.  I've given up ___ to you."  And then the Spirit prompted me: "Have you really given it up completely to Me?"  I realized then that though I thought I had surrendered it to God nearly six months ago, I was retaining just a little bit of that unhealthy emotion so that in case something happened down the road that would make it alright, I could easily resurrect that feeling.   So when something, over which I had no control, happened last week that did affect that emotion, the emotion surfaced from the depths of my heart as if it had always been just below, waiting for an opportune moment.  After this realization, I told the Lord, "I surrender it all to you.  I won't keep anything back for myself.  I leave everything to your sovereign will and will no longer worry about the present or the future." "In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me." As soon as I had finished praying, I felt the burden fall away and the yarn begin to unravel.  I was able to fall asleep quickly, and this morning when I woke, I had the realization that no matter what comes my way, I can always call upon the Lord.  Hopefully next time I won't wait as long to call upon His name, because I know He will answer.