DESOLATION OF EDOM (MT. SEIR): Edomites are descendants of Esau, and so represent the flesh. Since Edom loved bloodshed, then God would give them some! Since they hated the elect, then God would hate Edom! Edom aided Babylon against Israel, gloated over Judah's fall and planned to annex Judah for themselves. The ruin of Edom spells the rising up of Judah!
GOD'S ELECT: Gal 3:16, 27-29 calls us the Seed of Abraham. 1 Pet 2:9-10 says we are the Holy nation", Phil 3:3 the circumcision, Gal 4:21-23 the Heavenly Jerusalem, Gal 6:16 the ISRAEL OF GOD. This chapter is about the people of the Spirit in contrast with the people of the flesh.
FOR THE GLORY OF GOD: (36:22-23) "That they may know that I am God." (1) God has cleansed us from all our filthiness and sanctified us (36:25). And even tho the powers of darkness laughed at God, He WILL be sanctified IN His people (1 Thess 1:10). (2) He gave us a new heart (36:26). (3) He put His Spirit in us to enable and empower us. (4) He gives us ABUNDANT Life (Ezek 36: 30; John 10:10). (5) He delivered us from uncleanness and teaches us to hate sin and love repentance (36:31). (6) God reversed the curse and brings death into life (36:34-35). (7) God gives us INFLUENCE with the surrounding people (36:36). There are actually 25 "I will's" telling us about God's restoration of His elect.
RESPONSE: Let's face it. We all have areas of our lives that have never been fruitful. They are desolate and we don't seem to be able to do anything about it. Things happened in my life that made me think that I would never be happy again. But God promises to give us more than we started out with! Our desolate lives can be like the Garden of Eden, full of LIFE. We are delivered from the bondage of corruption and failure. We are freed from guilt, shame and regret. That is what a LIFE OF REPENTANCE gives us - continually re-connecting to God, re-orienting our lives around God as the Center. Repentance means "to change your mind". The "ancient high places" (36:2) are now "the heavenly places in Christ Jesus" (Eph 2:6) from whence we walk in victory.
JAMES 1:1-18
RELEVANT BACKGROUND: (1) The author could be James, the brother of Jesus; or James, the Elder (one of the 12 apostles). Either way, this James was obviously considered an authority in the Church at large, and the Holy Spirit is the true Author. (2) The Holy Spirit saw to it that the book of James was included in the canon of the Scriptures, even tho there was some opposition because, at quick glance, James appears to contradict the book of Romans. (3) The Holy Spirit also made sure that James was placed right after Hebrews, such that it is included in the grouping of books, "All About Faith" from Hebrews thru Revelation. (4) As such, James is written to all of us who have committed to "live by faith".
REST: Some of us have thought that the goal of faith was to get things, like healing, deliverance, a better life, houses, etc. In Hebrews we learned that the goal of faith is "Rest" - living as if God were present and visible, seeing God in everything. Hebrews also tells us that "the Land" spoken of in the OT is actually "God's Rest". It is in "God's Rest" (here, in this life) that we find contentment and satisaction in Jesus alone. Joy is now our default and we live to serve.
Faith IS the "evidence" and "substance" of the existence of the invisible realm. If we actually live and function in a realm that is invisible, inaudible, impossible, unobtainable except thru Jesus - then how does that translate into everyday life? James teaches that the outward manifestation of faith is called "works". "Works" are not self-effort, but a result of "living by faith". What we believe is evidenced by what we do. (Jas 1:18) What keeps stopping us from making that a reality? That is what James will show us. Also in Hebrews we learned that we must "lay aside very weight". Just what those weights are, James will show us those too!
WISDOM: Wisdom is the practical ability to function and live successfully - at "Rest", by faith. It is the insight to make right decisions. What James is interested in is godly or "heavenly" wisdom, not earthly wisdom. Godly wisdom comes by faith, and that godly wisdom is what makes faith relevant. Godly wisdom is the ability to see and evaluate all of life from God's point-of-view. Faith is not stagnant, not a single event. Faith is living as if God were present and visible, trusting outcomes to God.
FAITH: In James we are taught how to overcome oppostion and come to faith. In order to do that, I must UN-learn how I have been living (by what I see, what I think, what I want), and then acquire God's wisdom. Along the way, God helps me to develop PATIENCE - testing my faith thru delay. During the "patience" part, I develop INTEGRITY, or wholeness - "perfect and complete, lacking nothing." I become integrated: my knowledge, my beliefs, my actions and words are in agreement because the struggle has been resolved. I think it is interesting that the "proving of our faith" does not produce more faith, but it produces PATIENCE - which is the ability to remain "in faith", or "at Rest".
JAMES 1:1-18: Be overjoyed when your faith (not you, but your faith) is tested, because God is breaking the power of our obsession with ourselves. Every minute of every day we must choose to make God our center, which brings resolution to the struggle to walk by faith. When we try to balance God with ourselves, James calls that "doubleminded". The literal meaning of that Greek word is "two-souls". I am facing two directions, and so I become unstable. What we need to become "singleminded" (at rest) and "stable" is wisdom. Psa 51:6 says that wisdom must be taught by God in our inward parts. When we "love God" (1:12) we won't abandon God for the love of self. If we live by faith, then we can't live by what we feel and what we see too.
The life of God in us is to be desired more than our human lusts (appetites of the flesh or self-life). God's gifts are good and perfect. He doesn't change His mind about us because He is not fickle. As we follow after the Father, sinful habits begin to drop away. When we are governed by a love of self (human lust), we can be enticed to sin. We will remove the struggle from our minds by letting the flesh drop away thru neglect! Ignore it's demands! We can receive God's faithfulness, God's Life, God's joy, God's strength.
RESPONSE: At one time I was convinced that my life was just one struggle after another! And so I was spiritually and emotionally UNSTABLE. No one ever told me how to remove the struggle from my mind. Repentance has nothing to do with guilt, shame, or regret at being caught. In fact, I searched in vain to find a Scripture that says to "repent of our sins." What I DID find was one that said to "repent and turn to God" (Acts 26:20) New Testament "repentance" means "to change my mind." Repentance is the change process! What we THINK, matters! What we think and how we think determines what we believe. Bible "belief" is not "to give mental assent or agreement." "Believe" means "to give oneself to it because of being morally certain." It is the Hebrew word, "Amen". The struggle to "live by faith" must be settled in my mind. What I think about is what I will do - my mind and my mouth steer my body and my actions.
PSALM 116:1-19
Another chapter of the "Deuteronomy Psalms" (107-150). On the threshold of the Land, you would think there would be some warfare instructions, but instead, we find in Deuteronomy the word, "Remember". In a time with no writing tablets, no television or radio, "remembering" was done orally. We must "remember" out loud - especially today when there is too much information coming at us. This section of Psalms tells us what to remember, what to think, what to say. Remember this: "repentance" means "to change my mind" - and is the process of learning to live by faith. One habit that must be destroyed in us is complaining. Complaining is a form of unbelief and ingratitude and must be repented of. The way to overcome that is with thanksgiving. When we give God thanks for all His goodness and greatness, we turn our minds away from ourselves to God and open up our hearts to receive from Him. We must make ourselves vulnerable and soft to receive His love. We are trusting Him to deliver us from all our darkness and death. How can we ever repay Him? (v.12)
One who loves God like this, holds God in the center of his life, with his thoughts always "defaulting" to the goodness and greatness of God. This is a habit that can be developed thru conscious repetition. I speak out loud of how God has delivered me from death; He "has dealt bountifully with me", He is gracious and merciful, He has "loosed my bonds" and given me freedom and contentment. He has "helped" me (v.6) Heb: "yasha" also means "salvation and deliverance from destruction and misery."
PROVERBS 27:23-27
This just proves again: The opposite of poverty is not wealth, but stewardship.
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