With Malice Aforethought

Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him [Christ Jesus], that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin. Romans 6:6-7 (NKJV)

Today’s devotional thoughts may upset some, but in light of Scripture I offer no apologies. To God sin is so heinous in its ability to destroy us that it is the one thing we are to hate with every ounce of our being and to be ready to put it down every time it whispers rebellion in our ears. The Apostle Paul makes a valid and graphic case of how we are to deal with it. We are to crucify it with malice Aforethought.

 Malice Aforethought is a legal term that Webster defines as the intention to kill or harm, which is held to distinguish unlawful killing from murder. In other words, its violence thought of beforehand and done with deliberate and malicious intent to do harm. The 1611 King James translation of the Sixth Commandment (Exodus 20:13) as kill is unfortunate and has caused much confusion. It has been misunderstood to forbid all death, whether justified or not.

The Hebrew word rȃtsach (raw-tsakh’) can be translated as kill, but in this sense and context, its meaning is better translated murder. After Noah and his family were brought through the worldwide flood (Genesis chapters 6-8) God instituted capital punishment for murder as every human is made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26, 9:6). 

As those of us who aspire to the laws and commandments of God we cling to the love and teachings of Christ. We know and believe murder is wrong, but Paul tells us there is one part of our Christian experience where a violent attitude toward the sin that rests in our carnal (ungodly) appetites is appropriate and to be exercised as needed. That’s the side of us that consistently gets back up from the cross after we nail him or her to it. While accepting Christ unfortunately doesn’t destroy sin, a relationship with Him frees us from remaining a slave to it. We have the choice to take those old natures and nail them to the cross when they tap us on the shoulder and say “Hey, I’m back. Let’s sin.”

We want to have a willingness to crucify them. Crucifixion is vicious and is meant to be done with malice aforethought. Put him, or her, to death! When we show those appetites mercy, they always bring us degradation. We must be willing to first die to self, with a determination toward Old Man extermination.

It’s not a one-time-fix. So, when is this old geezer gonna die? We’ll be rid of him when we draw our last breath, or our bodies are regenerated when Christ comes for His church (1^st Thessalonians 4:17). Until then it’s a daily, and sometimes hourly, struggle. We have to crucify them every time he/she shows up. We can’t white-knuckle it, but by the Power of the Holy Spirit, we can nail it! When we hear the old man say, “Hi there, guess who’s back?” we have the choice to turn our minds and our wills over to God and ask Him to empower us to resist. Pray it. “Jesus, I can only do this with Your help and power. Please help me.” He is our strength. When it’s necessary we must nail that buzzard to the cross-with the greatest of malice aforethought-every time.  

Ken

The God Who Sees

Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You, But the night shines as the day; The darkness and the light are both alike to You. Psalm 139:12

We do live in troubling and turbulent times. The majority of us will concede the facts when the nightly news chooses to report them. While there are a slight percentage who say things are good, and some say never better, they fiddle as Rome burns.

Jesus said we would have dark and troubling times. In our finite bodies it’s sometimes difficult to fully grasp the abilities of the Spiritual attributes (characteristics and qualities) of God, including His ultimate power and authority. All deeds done in darkness, or secret, are to Him as fully illuminated as sunlight.

One of the greatest questions we all have wondered is if God is ultimate in power and authority why doesn’t He just wave His hand and make it all perfect? There are many answers to that, but mine is “I don’t know why He’s chosen to do it this way. We can ask Him when we see Him.” And I’m sure 99.9% of us will.

It may seem like the chaos in the world is hidden from His eyes, but He sees it all. Jesus said of turbulent times, “Don’t allow your hearts to be troubled,” and, “I have told you, that in Me you might have peace, in the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world,” (John 14:1, 16:33).

He exists from eternity to eternity, and He knows the end from the beginning (Psalm 90:2, Isaiah 46:9-10). He is still seated on the throne and in complete control. He will put an end to the suffering Satan has brought upon the human race.

David is here speaking metaphorically. God doesn’t need light to know what’s happening. He has existed from eternity past and has always known what would be happening, now and forever. He is El Roi, the all-seeing God and the restrainer of mankind’s evil deeds.

A.W. Tozer, one of the greatest Christian thinkers of the twentieth century said, “While it looks like things are out of control, behind the scenes there is a God who hasn’t surrendered His authority.” He sees Rome ablaze, yet no one, or thing, has or can, push Him off His throne. He is in complete control and says He is the God who sees it all and He is making it right. See what He means?

Ken

 

 

Resting From Resentment

Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord: looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled. Hebrews 12:14-15 (NKJV)

I recently had a very good conversation with the leader of my Christian men’s Bible study group concerning forgiveness. I was dealing with a specific resentment toward another person. I knew what Jesus taught about forgiveness, that it wasn’t simply a righteous suggestion, but a commandment, to be given without condition (Luke 17:4). If it’s a conditional forgiveness, then it becomes retaliation (a punishment). I thought I’d forgiven this individual, but I wasn’t sure where holding them accountable crossed the line into blame, bitterness and resentment, and I was still feeling resentment whenever I would think of what they had done to me.

This brother is very wise and there was no judgment against me. He said, “That’s an excellent question, Ken. I’ve found in most cases I’ve seen and dealt with, that if there’s resentment it means there’s been no forgiveness. You can’t have resentment if you’ve forgiven.”

I realized I hadn’t surrendered my hurt to Christ in the matter and that I needed to deal with it. I re-approached this individual, confessed my resentments and asked for their forgiveness, clearing the air. They appreciated my honesty and offered grace to me in their forgiveness.

I’ve known Christians who acquiesced to the principle of forgiveness, yet not to the practice of its true nature and purpose. One person told me they’d forgiven me of a past trespass I’d committed against them yet continued to hold onto their hurt and resentment for what I’d done.

My group leader pointed out that “Our only duty is to seek and ask forgiveness. The burden then rests on the person being asked. They can forgive or choose not to, but it’s on them, not you. You’ve done your part. If resentments continue, then I would have to think their forgiveness came from the head and not the heart and for them to find rest from resentment that needs to be addressed.”

Without the strength and proper power, which can only come from God, forgiveness just becomes pretty prose. Nice words to salve our conscience and not the firm commitment to hand our hurt over to Christ and walk away fully justified in our clemency.

Forgiveness is mainly for us, to free us from hurt and suffering. When you can’t forgive someone, pray for them. It may not change them, but it will change you.

The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong and in Christ, when we are at our weakest, we stand at our strongest (2^nd Corinthians 12:10). It goes from forgiveness in principle to forgiveness with the fullest and most satisfying purpose, that frees us from hurt, pain and suffering. The weak may give mental ascent, but lip service is all talk. Forgiveness, and the rest it brings, is always the attribute of the strong and we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us (Philippians 4:13).

Ken

Edges

“Now I tell you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe I am He.” John 13:19 (NKJV)

Is Jesus trustworthy, even if He doesn’t give you the answer you want immediately? You may be in a dry time, experientially, praying for and wanting an answer, but while you’re doing plenty of wanting, you’re doing plenty of waiting. It mostly seems your fleeces aren’t even slightly damp with dew.

In my 65 years as a believer, I can only count one experience where God responded to my prayer as soon as I called to Him. I needed His immediate protection, and He gave it to me within seconds. But overall, His responses to my prayers have come over long periods of time.

But in those times of traipsing through the desert wastelands, as with Israel, my clothes or sandals never wore out (Deuteronomy 8:4, Nehemiah 9:21). Every desert has an edge-one that begins-and one that ends.

Nearly 1/3 of the Tanach (Hebrew Bible) and the Jewish New Testament (written by Jews) is prophetic, that is God’s foretelling of events He would do. Hundreds of those prophecies have already been fulfilled, proving their truth historically. There are at least 1000 concerning the return of Messiah Yehoshua (Jesus) yet to come to pass. Jesus tells John in Revelation 21:5 that His words are true and faithful.

If you’re feeling the heat through your sandals, there’s three things I can encourage you with. First, your sandals, or clothes, will never wear out; second, there’s an edge of exit even to your desert. He will keep you fed and watered up to the point He leads you out, and third, the words of Christ remain true and faithful.

He doesn’t lead us into desert sands for His sake, but ours. The greatest growth often comes from the hottest times. They are times that can sweat out impurities from our lives. His desire for us is to be free from the hurts, habits and hang-ups that are holding us back.

Whether Christ leads us for a time into the desert or answers us within seconds He is always faithful to feed us and lead us. Every desert has its edges. If He leads us in, He can lead us out. He has told us, so when it happens, we may believe He is God’s Anointed One. He forever remains the True and Faithful One, on every edge.

Ken

Righteous Robes for Wretched Rags

For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. 2^nd Corinthians 5:21 (NKJV)

 

I’ll never forget the time the lights came on for a lady I knew. I had been reading from John’s gospel account of the arrest, torture, and crucifixion of Christ. No sermon or emotional appeal, only the word of God. All of a sudden, her head snapped up and she said, “Wait a minute; He was innocent. You mean they killed a man who was totally innocent? He didn’t deserve that. He’d done nothing wrong! Why did they do that?” Flesh and blood had not revealed that to her. It was the Holy Spirit.

Jesus Christ allowed it to be so, offering the righteous in place of the unrighteous, to complete God’s plan of redeeming the human race back into complete relationship with Him. We were in a state of wretchedness that once we believed He changed into righteousness.

It was nothing we deserved. It was His gift to us when we believed, in spite of anything we had ever done. That’s a difficult thing for the majority of us to comprehend let alone accept. I recall when my neighbor bought me a gift I said to his mom, “But I didn’t get him anything.”  I never forgot her reply. She said, “It’s a gift. You can’t repay a gift.” When we believed on Christ, His clean robe of righteousness was gifted to us. He draped it over our dirty lives, not only covering our guilt but forgiving all our sins (1^st John 1:9). Whatever shame you may be holding in your experience account, if you have put your faith and trust in Christ that account now reads 0.00.

Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame,” (Romans 10:11). We can have a wakeup call that says, “But He was innocent and I’m so dirty. How could he put such a beautiful robe around my shoulders? I don’t deserve it.” None of us do, but anyone who asks of Him receives one, for this is why that innocent one willingly died in our place. The love of God covers the earth (John 3:16). 

God was not willing that anyone should perish but that all should come to repentance (2^nd Peter 3:9). Amazing Grace. A robe for rags. It’s a gift, not a debt. You can’t repay a gift. All you need do is accept it.

Ken  

A Warrior in the Winepress

Now the Angel of the LORD came and sat under the terebinth tree which was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon threshed wheat in the winepress, in order to hide it from the Midianites. Judges 6:11 (NKJV)

Israel was again repeating her cycle of sin against the LORD. They would sin against God, He would bring their enemies to oppress them in order to discipline them, they would cry out and repent, God would deliver them, there would be years of good, then they would go back to rebelling against God. It was a sequence that played out for years. Hard times create strong men. Strong men create good times. Good times create weak men. Weak men create hard times, and that wheel squeaks on.

 In the time before Israel had kings, they had Judges. These men and women weren’t judges as we know who wear robes and sit in courts of law. They were chosen and empowered by the LORD to lead and guide His people.

It was at this certain time in Israel’s history He allowed His discipline to come in the attack and oppression of the Midianite and Amalekite people. They would invade and plunder Israel, destroying the produce of the earth as far as Gaza. The Israeli’s had to hide in dens, caves, and mountain strongholds, (Judges 6:2-4) to escape their cruelty.

One day an Israeli named Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to hide it from his enemies. He had no intention, nor inclination, that he was anything or anyone special when the Angel of the LORD appeared to him and called him a mighty warrior (Ju 6:12).

Have you ever thought God sees you as a mighty warrior when you’re hiding? He can and does. He can make you as powerful as a smooth stone in a shepherd’s sling that slays a Goliath, or use 300 warriors to strike terror into thousands, causing them to flee for their lives (Ju 7:16-22).

We are made in the Image of God, by and for the One, True, and Living God. He is unrestrained by past, present, or future years. He’s always known He might find us hiding while we thought we were living a normal, or even abnormal life. As a child of Christ our past is in the rearview mirror, our present is where He is right now to help us, and our future is secure. He sees us even if we’re working out of a winepress.

The Angel of the LORD was not your average angel but denotes a Being of full Deity. It could well have been a pre-incarnate appearance of Christ which was witnessed many times in the Old Testament experiences of the prophets and patriarchs-Emmanuel-God With Us.

He is with you and as His child knows where you are every second, and every circumstance. In every place you can walk, sit, work, or hide He can operate in you, both to will and to do His good pleasure (Philippians 2:13).

Gideon was hiding in a winepress, yet the LORD called him a warrior. He used him to purge the land and be the judge of Israel for the next 40 years. Where we are matters not. In our own strength, situations might cause us to want to hide, but He sees us as mighty warriors, even then. It can be from the pew, the living room or even a winepress. He is with us “unto the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). Warriors can be found everywhere, winepresses included.

Ken

 

When Your Check Engine Light Comes On

You show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore. Psalm 16:11

In the Gospel of John, Chapter 6, he gives the account of Jesus feeding the 5,000 by the Sea of Galilee, and they were just counting the men. Add wives and children and a crowd of 15,000 could be a low estimate. It was getting late, and the crowd needed to eat.

Jesus took 5 barley loaves and 2 small fish and miraculously multiplied them to the point everyone was fed “as much as they wanted” with 12 baskets-full of leftovers (Jn 6:11, 13). He wanted to show He is able to easily meet every need. The people said, “This is the Prophet who is come into the world,” (Deuteronomy 18:15), and wanted to make Him king (Jn 6:14-15).

The next day the crowd followed Jesus and the disciples to the town of Capernaum. He knew they hadn’t come seeking the Son of God for spiritual renewal but for a handout because they had had their bellies filled the previous day. They were after food that perishes. They found happiness and not joy. Those are two very different things.

Happiness is based on things and circumstances; it can come and go. Happiness is leaving the mechanics in a repaired automobile. Happiness evaporates a few miles down the road when the Check Engine light comes on again. Happiness comes and goes because it is dependent on the moment. Happiness ends when hunger begins.

Joy on the other hand is internal well-being or even the anticipation of well-being. Its dependence is not on the external state of affairs, but the internal knowledge and trust that God dwells with us.

Jesus gently rebuked those that wanted to vote economics first and getting their hearts right last. He said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.” They rejected Him anyway, voting with their carnal appetites, for momentary happiness, despising Him (Jn 6:42) and the joy only He could give them.

In this world we will have to face a few Check Engine lights. Jesus said so (John 16:33). Well, in so many words. I’ve discovered joy in my own life when I didn’t understand God’s ways-yet held to His worth-believing and trusting He remained good even when circumstances were not.

A full belly or a determined and seasoned heart? Fleeting or fulfilled? Peter’s answer to Jesus best sums it up: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Also, we have come to believe and know [emphasis added] that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Jn 6:68-69).

Jesus can bring happiness to be sure, but when that Check Engine light stays on and that smile turns to a frown, happiness fades but joy in Christ remains constant. Hopefully Jesus just doesn’t make you happy. Hopefully He increases and strengthens your joy. Only He has the words of eternal life. Who else can give that kind of rest? To whom else can you go when that light comes on?

Ken