2 CHRONICLES 24:1 - 25:28 JEHOIADA & JOASH: Jehoiada the priest taught, mentored, advised and greatly helped Joash the King. Jehoiada was buried among the kings; Joash was NOT. In fact, Joash KILLED Jehoiada's son, Zechariah - in the Temple court! Later, Joash's servants killed him to avenge Jehoiada's son.
A PERFECT HEART: Amaziah, Joash's son, was 25 when he began his reign. "He did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, but not with a perfect heart." (25:2) David had a "perfect heart" (Psa 101:2). A "perfect heart" is one that is wholly and totally devoted to God, and without guile. David was "blameless, and had integrity". His motives were not mixed, and he didn't have secrets from God. Amaziah had a good beginning, but brought up Edomite idols and worshipped them.
RESPONSE: "Perfection" implies maturity and singlemindedness and a lack of mixture (mixture of flesh and spirit). This means I can't do the right thing for the wrong reason. My only motive must be to glorify God, to please Him. And so, the Holy Spirit tests our motives, sends fire to burn up all self-centeredness and self-preservation. It's a good thing that a "perfect heart" does not mean a "SINLESS heart", but a "BLAMELESS heart". To go after God with all my heart - repent quickly when I need to, and keep moving toward God.
ROMANS 12:1-21
Romans chapters 12-16: RIGHTEOUSNESS REVEALED: Romans 12 was introduced by Romans 11:29-36: regarding "THE gifts and THE callings" of God, the "mercies of God" that advance us in holiness. And at the very foundation is that "all things are of God and through Him and to Him."
"THE callings": It is the same for every one of us --- to lay down our lives in order to be transformed to the image of Jesus Christ. This is our "reasonable worship". ALL true worship is sacrificial submission and extravagant love for the Father. (The first mention of worship is Gen 22:5 where Abraham went to sacrifice Isaac.) Presenting the body is our priestly worship. "The callings” are for death and resurrection in us. We are transformed as we renew the mind. In renewing the mind, the object is to obtain the mind of the Spirit because the will of God is the most important thing in the universe.
"THE gifts": are the "charismata" and are IRREVOCABLE. This is because they are part of our DNA, whether we are saved or not. In operating our "gifts", we are really talking about how we see life - our orientation to circumstances. And the first thing we must know about them is that we have a "measure of faith" and going outside of that measure brings swift judgment by God. So we must stay "soberminded" - which means to be void of speculative imagination. The only reason people go outside their "measure" (ability, confidence, determined extent, boundaries of authority) is that they THINK they are gaining more freedom, but that always leaves you more bound that before! Real freedom is found in your "measure".
"THE GIFTS THEMSELVES": The "charismata" are the "talents" in Mat 25:15, God's "goods" in Luke 19:12-27, the "gifts" in 1 Peter 4:10-11. None of the gifts are any better than any others - just different. They are diverse (1 Co 12:4) because not everyone is supposed to see everything the same way!
The example I give is this: Suppose a big, overweight woman came into a conference room, plunked herself down on a chair, and the chair broke to pieces and the woman landed on the floor. WHAT WOULD YOU DO? What is your immediate reaction? Some would run to help her, making sure she was okay. Some would encourage her to try another chair, hoping she wasn't embarrassed. Some would think that she should KNOW better than to "plunk" down into a chair that small. Another may feel that someone needed to teach her how to chose a chair when she came into a room. Still others would have tried to repair the chair, or just buy a new one. IT DEPENDS ON THE "GIFT" YOU HAVE FROM THIS LIST! By the way, this list is complete. There are no other "gifts" that should have been included.
Romans 12:6-8 1 Corinthians 12:4-7 Ephesians 4:7-16
Gr: charismata Gr: pneumatikos Gr: doma
Divine endowment Manifestation of the Holy Spirit People-gift to the church
Diversities of gifts Diversities of operations Administrations
(1 Co 12:4) (1 Co 12:6) (1 Co 12:5)
You see, these three lists are ALL DIFFERENT. We don't "own" any of the gifts except the list in Romans. Prophesy - is the tendency to see all of life in "black-and-white" or "either-or". The advantage is that they usually judge people quickly and efficiently. That is also the disadvantage, by the way. The servant (which we all are, by the way - to some extent) would rather you think they are a "hard worker", than a nice person! They would have been cleaning up the broken chair and looking around for a substitute. The teacher is the person who speaks in paragraphs! They explain everything! The exhorter just knows you can do it! They will always give you another chance. The ruler is in charge. They can see the big picture, but not always the details. The mercy person is just so sweet. They get taken advantage of a lot, and so they must always be "cheerful" or they would get plowed under. Oddly enough, God likes to put a mercy person with a prophesy person as husband and wife, and other such odd pairings! The giver likes to take care of other's needs, but wants to know just how that money got spent. They are good stewards.
PAUL'S "SERMON ON THE MOUNT": Verses 9-21 contain 23 injunctions of righteousness. The biggest characteristic is that Grace in and on the believer ALWAYS goes beyond the letter of the Law. We are God's servants/slaves, and as such we have no life of our own. We belong to God. Our "gifts and callings" preclude a life for ourselves. Verse 21 sums it up wonderfully: we are never to be conquered by evil. We don't just ”overcome evil" - but we go beyond that and displace the evil with something good - in ourselves first.
RESPONSE: I remember a trip that my husband and I took to Waikiki, Hawaii many years ago. We were walking on the beach and were offered marijuana several times. Walking in "town" and even at the mall, there were girls in very scanty bikinis. At night we could hear the young ones on the sidewalk drunk and yelling to one another. I finally said, "If I don't find another Christian pretty soon, I want to go home. This place is full of devils!" My husband said, "What devils? Ease up. We're on vacation!" Of course, I thought he was just the most UNspiritual person I had ever seen. He just didn't get it! Couldn't he "discern" the devils? Didn't he see just how wicked this place was? NO! His gifts were DIFFERENT - not WRONG. He was a "mercy person" - probably so he could stand me! He wasn't SUPPOSED to see all that stuff! He was supposed to help me relax and have a good time! It was my job to discern when it was necessary. My weakness was that a thing was either good or evil. There was no "gray" area in-between where God was working! On the other hand, my husband will give a person too many chances (in my opinion). The advantage of knowing about this list in Romans is that now I see that my husband isn't less spiritual than I am - being merciful and serving are just as needed as the gifts God gave me. In fact, they tend to be much more practical too. He's just DIFFERENT!
PSALM 22:19-31
The secret to being part of verses 22-31 is the crucifixion of verses 1-21. Psalm 22 is about the "Good Shepherd", Jesus (John 10:11). This Psalm was fulfilled at Calvary1000 years after David wrote it. Verse 22 is the pivotal point - the Great Commission to take the Gospel to all the earth. See v 31 - "they SHALL come, and SHALL declare His righteousness unto a people that SHALL be born."
PROVERBS 20:8-10
RESPONSE: "The meek shall eat and be satisfied:" The word "meek" describes a person who is READY to receive from God. He is no longer self-sufficient, but is tamed, teachable, and not touchy. It actually comes from a base word that means "to pay attention". Because the CAPACITY is now there, the meek are now able to be "satisfied". The meek person KNOWS they need God, they KNOW they can't live this thing on their own. They have seen their own hearts and KNOW they need Jesus' Life in them and that in themselves, there is nothing to commend them. They aren't already "full of themselves" so they can receive more of Jesus.
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