...Upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace...” (Is. 53:5)
“'I am the Lord your God, who teaches you to profit, who leads you in the way you should go. Oh that you had paid attention to my commandments! Then your peace would have been like a river, and your righteousness like the waves of the sea'...'There is no peace,' says the Lord, 'for the wicked'” (Is. 48:17-18, 22).
“But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word. He who slaughters an ox is like one who kills a man; he who sacrifices a lamb, like one who breaks a dog's neck;.. these have chosen their own ways, and their soul delights in their abominations.” (Is 66:2-3).
Too often we fall into self-sufficiency in our Christian walk. We accepted Christ by faith but then live our lives by religious performance and self-effort. When we live out of our own self-effort, we lack peace and spiritual fruit in our lives.
As one article by R. Thomas Brass notes, “Too many of us are still entangled in the works mentality method of listening and learning and then simply trying to do our best. And, as a result, we forsake the process of becoming like Christ by the power of God and instead embrace the mentality and methodology of works.
As Paul exhorts us, in Galatians 3:1-3:
R. Thomas Brass writes, “In accordance with His compassionate nature, our God has graciously granted us the privilege of new spiritual life. ...This extraordinary supernatural transformation is intended to provide us with the opportunity to experience the spiritual blessings of inner peace, joy, and holy living as daily portions of our blessed inheritance in Christ Jesus." 2
Christ paid the price for us to have every spiritual blessing in heavenly places (Eph. 1:3). In Him, we have joy, peace, and holy living. However, where we fail is in our belief to receive these blessings. Instead, in unbelief, we stand aside and work hard to achieve what is already fully been given to us in Christ.
“I can sing of your love forever...Love that has saved me, love that has freed me.”
“Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the Lord's hand double for all her sins” (Is. 40:1-2).
As R. Thomas Brass writes, for too many of us, “familiar religious practice” gives those stuck in self-effort and self-sufficiency “a sense of moving forward without the actual “burden” of significant inner change. Change that must accompany the privileges and opportunities afforded by God’s grace.” 3
It is so easy to work for God rather than depend upon Him in faith, having a trusting relationship with Him and resting in His love. Out of a place of works, I become weary and resentful in doing the will of the Lord. I lack peace in my life. When I don't get it right, I think to myself, I will work harder and get it right next time.
“There is a river, there is a road, a place of holy riches I'm told. It's where I am supposed to be... my Heavenly.... I know it never feels right to let go of the safety we're used to holding so tight.”
We must let go of our desire to control and get it right, surrendering them to God and look to Him as our sole source of sufficiency. It is not our actions that please or displease God, it is our heart. Our actions are merely an outward manifestation of what is going on in our hearts.
R. Thomas Brass writes, “We have, through living in this fallen world, developed into creatures that depend strongly upon our own abilities to survive. We have become fundamentally self-reliant. We will not easily surrender the control of our life to God. Our intent is to stay in control (which is focusing on the problems), instead of surrendering control to God (which would be focusing on the solution).” 4
R. Thomas Brass goes on to note that even in prayer we have a tendency to desire to stay in control, focusing on what we want God to perform for us (what we think needs to be done). 5 We try to control His actions rather than directing our hearts toward who God is and the goodness and steadfast love we can anticipate from Him.
“What can we say to describe just a glimpse of Your Glory? How can our words portray but a thread of Your Majesty?”
“Where is he who brought them up out of the sea with the shepherds of his flock? Where is he who put in the midst of them his Holy Spirit, who caused his glorious arm to go at the right hand of Moses, who divided the waters before them to make for himself an everlasting name, who led them through the depths?” (Is 63:11-12).
R. Thomas Brass notes that “God’s best solution is to offer us the opportunity to feel, think, and act differently in reaction to the circumstances of our life by being changed inwardly. Specifically, this solution is the process of the character of Christ being perfected within us. As Christ is perfected within us, our perspective of the world around us begins to change. As we are able to apply God’s perspective to our daily circumstances, we feel less compelled to try to maintain our self-centered control of the world around us. And we begin to see that in one way or another, Christ within us is the best solution to every problem. The life cycle of unbelief, which had blinded us to seeing God’s finest solution, is broken.” 6
“Hey Lord, we will embrace your move... Hey Lord, we will embrace Your love...”
Self-effort, working to get all our actions right, produces self-righteousness. We then judge others through this same lens that we judge ourselves. However, as we fully receive the mercy and grace of God instead of looking to get everything right, we can extend this same forgiveness and goodness to those around us.
Isaiah prophesies in Is. 53:6, “all we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned -every one- to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” We all have a need for a Savior. We all need forgiveness and grace. God freely extends this to each one of us.
“Holiness is what I long for, holiness is what I need, holiness is what you want from me.”
I so often fall into thinking holiness is getting all the actions right. However, He is the One who is holy. “The Way of Holiness (Is. 35:8), is the path of repentance, forgiveness and grace. “For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver; the Lord is our king; he will save us... all the people who dwell there will be forgiven their iniquity.”
“Isn't He, beautiful? Beautiful, isn't He..Isn't He, wonderful? Wonderful, Isn't He”
R. Thomas Brass writes that “The heart of the humble trembles with eager expectation as it kneels before the cross of Christ. It has come to a place of limitless opportunity. A place of transformation for the soul. A place that leads, from the portal of dying to self, to the attainment of holy vision and purpose. The cross of Christ is the guidepost of the humble heart; it points the way to the place of new life. By this guidepost, the humble of heart will know the way to their inheritance. And they will enter their Promised Land.” 7
Is. 60:21, “Your people shall all be righteous, they shall possess the land forever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I might be glorified.”
Evelyn Underhill wrote in a recent article I read that “a deep, humble contrition, a sense of our creaturely imperfections and unworthiness, gratitude for all that is given us, burning and increasing [love] that longs to spend itself on other souls -all these things are signs of spiritual vitality; and spiritual vitality depends on the loving adherence of our spirits to God.” 8
It is in loving adherence to God, receiving His love and forgiveness, that we love and forgive others. Abiding in the Vine, we produce fruit in our lives (John 15:4).
“I will celebrate, sing unto the Lord, I will sing to Him a new song... I will praise Him for He has triumphed victoriously!”
In this place of worship and praise for who He is, adhering and receiving from Him, we have an inexhaustible supply to love and give ourselves away freely to others, even in the face of great opposition.
“He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength Even youths shall faint and be wary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint” (Is. 40:29-31).
In this place of inexhaustible supply, we can love all men, even the unlovable, with great joy.
“Come, now is the time to worship, now is the time to give your heart...”
Isaiah knew the kind of love that loved the unlovable in great joy with the hope they would come to know and trust in God. In Is. 50:4-10 he writes, “The Lord God has given me the tongue of those who are taught, that I may know how to sustain with a word him who is weary. Morning by morning he awakens; he awakens my ear to hear as those who are taught. The Lord God has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious; I turned not backward. I gave my back to those who strike, and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard; I hid not my face from disgrace and spitting. But the Lord God helps me; therefore I have not been disgraced; therefore I have set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be put to open shame. He who vindicates me is near. Who will contend with me? Let us stand up together. Who is my adversary? Let him come near to me. Behold, the Lord God helps me; who will declare me guilty? Behold, all of them will wear out like a garment; the moth will eat them up. Who among you fears the Lord and obeys the voice of his servant? Let him who walks in darkness and has no light trust in the name of the Lord and on his God.”
“so take my heart and form it, take my mind, transform it, take my will, conform it, to Yours to Yours, Oh Lord.”
To love others means not only to love the lost in hopes that they may know Christ, but to love our fellow Christians well.
“Open our eyes Lord, we want to see Jesus.”
We reflect the love and life of Christ when we give ourselves away generously to our brothers in Christ. As my reading for the day, “Praying with Ignatius of Loyola” notes, “Jesus called all Christians to build community through mutual concern, compassion, sharing, and developing friendships. Indeed, at the very beginnings of the church, people pointed to the Christians and remarked how they loved one another. Compassionate friendships support, affirm, and invite us to full life in Christ.”
Ignatious adjusted himself to the needs and personality of others. As my devotional notes, he “nurtured his brothers with love. With the tenderness of a father, he displayed a sincere interest in each companion, accepting each one in his own uniqueness. He was consistent in offering encouragement and support, attentive to their individual needs. 9
Ignatius writes, “For when the superior and the subjects are closely united to His Divine and Supreme Goodness, they will very easily be united among themselves, through that same love which will descent from the Divine goodness and spread to all the other men, and particularly into the body of the Society. 10
Psalm 133 says, “How good it is, how pleasant, for God's people to live in unity. It is like the precious oil running down from Aaron's head and beard, down the collar of his robes, It is like the dew on Mount Hermon falling on the hills of Zion. For there Yahweh has promised a blessing, life that never ends.”
Lord, I realize that I fail to love others well because I fail to live in Your love. So often I seem to forget and go back into self-effort. Rather than resting secure in your love, living my life out of gratitude for all that You have done in my life, I live my life trying to prove that I am worthy of receiving your love.
When things don't go as I planned, I start thinking it must be because I failed and You are punishing me. I fear disaster and then try all the harder to get it right and fail in discouragement. I get so lost. I am grateful that You come and get me and draw me back into your love. As the song sings, “my life is in you Lord, my strength is in You Lord, my hope is in You Lord.” That I may love and praise you with all of my life. You are my hope and my joy. Please help me to love others well.
My people will abide in a peaceful habitation, in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places. (Is 32:18)
1. http://jerichoministry.com/inheritance.html
2. http://jerichoministry.com/inheritance.html
3. http://jerichoministry.com/inheritance.html
4. http://jerichoministry.com/inheritance.html
5. http://jerichoministry.com/inheritance.html
6. http://jerichoministry.com/inheritance.html
7. http://jerichoministry.com/inheritance.html
8. Underhill, Evelyn. The House of the Soul and Concerning the Inner Life. The Seabury Press, Minneapolis, MN. n.d., pp. 116-119
9. Bergan, Jacqueline Syurup and Schwan, Marie. Praying with Ignatius of Loyola. The Word Among Us Press. Ijamsville, Maryland. 1991.
10. Bergan, Jacqueline Syurup and Schwan, Marie. Praying with Ignatius of Loyola. The Word Among Us Press. Ijamsville, Maryland. 1991.
“But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word. He who slaughters an ox is like one who kills a man; he who sacrifices a lamb, like one who breaks a dog's neck;.. these have chosen their own ways, and their soul delights in their abominations.” (Is 66:2-3).
Too often we fall into self-sufficiency in our Christian walk. We accepted Christ by faith but then live our lives by religious performance and self-effort. When we live out of our own self-effort, we lack peace and spiritual fruit in our lives.
As one article by R. Thomas Brass notes, “Too many of us are still entangled in the works mentality method of listening and learning and then simply trying to do our best. And, as a result, we forsake the process of becoming like Christ by the power of God and instead embrace the mentality and methodology of works.
As Paul exhorts us, in Galatians 3:1-3:
“You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?” 1
R. Thomas Brass writes, “In accordance with His compassionate nature, our God has graciously granted us the privilege of new spiritual life. ...This extraordinary supernatural transformation is intended to provide us with the opportunity to experience the spiritual blessings of inner peace, joy, and holy living as daily portions of our blessed inheritance in Christ Jesus." 2
Christ paid the price for us to have every spiritual blessing in heavenly places (Eph. 1:3). In Him, we have joy, peace, and holy living. However, where we fail is in our belief to receive these blessings. Instead, in unbelief, we stand aside and work hard to achieve what is already fully been given to us in Christ.
“I can sing of your love forever...Love that has saved me, love that has freed me.”
“Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the Lord's hand double for all her sins” (Is. 40:1-2).
As R. Thomas Brass writes, for too many of us, “familiar religious practice” gives those stuck in self-effort and self-sufficiency “a sense of moving forward without the actual “burden” of significant inner change. Change that must accompany the privileges and opportunities afforded by God’s grace.” 3
It is so easy to work for God rather than depend upon Him in faith, having a trusting relationship with Him and resting in His love. Out of a place of works, I become weary and resentful in doing the will of the Lord. I lack peace in my life. When I don't get it right, I think to myself, I will work harder and get it right next time.
“There is a river, there is a road, a place of holy riches I'm told. It's where I am supposed to be... my Heavenly.... I know it never feels right to let go of the safety we're used to holding so tight.”
We must let go of our desire to control and get it right, surrendering them to God and look to Him as our sole source of sufficiency. It is not our actions that please or displease God, it is our heart. Our actions are merely an outward manifestation of what is going on in our hearts.
R. Thomas Brass writes, “We have, through living in this fallen world, developed into creatures that depend strongly upon our own abilities to survive. We have become fundamentally self-reliant. We will not easily surrender the control of our life to God. Our intent is to stay in control (which is focusing on the problems), instead of surrendering control to God (which would be focusing on the solution).” 4
R. Thomas Brass goes on to note that even in prayer we have a tendency to desire to stay in control, focusing on what we want God to perform for us (what we think needs to be done). 5 We try to control His actions rather than directing our hearts toward who God is and the goodness and steadfast love we can anticipate from Him.
“What can we say to describe just a glimpse of Your Glory? How can our words portray but a thread of Your Majesty?”
“Where is he who brought them up out of the sea with the shepherds of his flock? Where is he who put in the midst of them his Holy Spirit, who caused his glorious arm to go at the right hand of Moses, who divided the waters before them to make for himself an everlasting name, who led them through the depths?” (Is 63:11-12).
R. Thomas Brass notes that “God’s best solution is to offer us the opportunity to feel, think, and act differently in reaction to the circumstances of our life by being changed inwardly. Specifically, this solution is the process of the character of Christ being perfected within us. As Christ is perfected within us, our perspective of the world around us begins to change. As we are able to apply God’s perspective to our daily circumstances, we feel less compelled to try to maintain our self-centered control of the world around us. And we begin to see that in one way or another, Christ within us is the best solution to every problem. The life cycle of unbelief, which had blinded us to seeing God’s finest solution, is broken.” 6
“Hey Lord, we will embrace your move... Hey Lord, we will embrace Your love...”
Self-effort, working to get all our actions right, produces self-righteousness. We then judge others through this same lens that we judge ourselves. However, as we fully receive the mercy and grace of God instead of looking to get everything right, we can extend this same forgiveness and goodness to those around us.
Isaiah prophesies in Is. 53:6, “all we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned -every one- to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” We all have a need for a Savior. We all need forgiveness and grace. God freely extends this to each one of us.
“Holiness is what I long for, holiness is what I need, holiness is what you want from me.”
I so often fall into thinking holiness is getting all the actions right. However, He is the One who is holy. “The Way of Holiness (Is. 35:8), is the path of repentance, forgiveness and grace. “For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver; the Lord is our king; he will save us... all the people who dwell there will be forgiven their iniquity.”
“Isn't He, beautiful? Beautiful, isn't He..Isn't He, wonderful? Wonderful, Isn't He”
R. Thomas Brass writes that “The heart of the humble trembles with eager expectation as it kneels before the cross of Christ. It has come to a place of limitless opportunity. A place of transformation for the soul. A place that leads, from the portal of dying to self, to the attainment of holy vision and purpose. The cross of Christ is the guidepost of the humble heart; it points the way to the place of new life. By this guidepost, the humble of heart will know the way to their inheritance. And they will enter their Promised Land.” 7
Is. 60:21, “Your people shall all be righteous, they shall possess the land forever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I might be glorified.”
Evelyn Underhill wrote in a recent article I read that “a deep, humble contrition, a sense of our creaturely imperfections and unworthiness, gratitude for all that is given us, burning and increasing [love] that longs to spend itself on other souls -all these things are signs of spiritual vitality; and spiritual vitality depends on the loving adherence of our spirits to God.” 8
It is in loving adherence to God, receiving His love and forgiveness, that we love and forgive others. Abiding in the Vine, we produce fruit in our lives (John 15:4).
“I will celebrate, sing unto the Lord, I will sing to Him a new song... I will praise Him for He has triumphed victoriously!”
In this place of worship and praise for who He is, adhering and receiving from Him, we have an inexhaustible supply to love and give ourselves away freely to others, even in the face of great opposition.
“He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength Even youths shall faint and be wary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint” (Is. 40:29-31).
In this place of inexhaustible supply, we can love all men, even the unlovable, with great joy.
“Come, now is the time to worship, now is the time to give your heart...”
Isaiah knew the kind of love that loved the unlovable in great joy with the hope they would come to know and trust in God. In Is. 50:4-10 he writes, “The Lord God has given me the tongue of those who are taught, that I may know how to sustain with a word him who is weary. Morning by morning he awakens; he awakens my ear to hear as those who are taught. The Lord God has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious; I turned not backward. I gave my back to those who strike, and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard; I hid not my face from disgrace and spitting. But the Lord God helps me; therefore I have not been disgraced; therefore I have set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be put to open shame. He who vindicates me is near. Who will contend with me? Let us stand up together. Who is my adversary? Let him come near to me. Behold, the Lord God helps me; who will declare me guilty? Behold, all of them will wear out like a garment; the moth will eat them up. Who among you fears the Lord and obeys the voice of his servant? Let him who walks in darkness and has no light trust in the name of the Lord and on his God.”
“so take my heart and form it, take my mind, transform it, take my will, conform it, to Yours to Yours, Oh Lord.”
To love others means not only to love the lost in hopes that they may know Christ, but to love our fellow Christians well.
“Open our eyes Lord, we want to see Jesus.”
We reflect the love and life of Christ when we give ourselves away generously to our brothers in Christ. As my reading for the day, “Praying with Ignatius of Loyola” notes, “Jesus called all Christians to build community through mutual concern, compassion, sharing, and developing friendships. Indeed, at the very beginnings of the church, people pointed to the Christians and remarked how they loved one another. Compassionate friendships support, affirm, and invite us to full life in Christ.”
Ignatious adjusted himself to the needs and personality of others. As my devotional notes, he “nurtured his brothers with love. With the tenderness of a father, he displayed a sincere interest in each companion, accepting each one in his own uniqueness. He was consistent in offering encouragement and support, attentive to their individual needs. 9
Ignatius writes, “For when the superior and the subjects are closely united to His Divine and Supreme Goodness, they will very easily be united among themselves, through that same love which will descent from the Divine goodness and spread to all the other men, and particularly into the body of the Society. 10
Psalm 133 says, “How good it is, how pleasant, for God's people to live in unity. It is like the precious oil running down from Aaron's head and beard, down the collar of his robes, It is like the dew on Mount Hermon falling on the hills of Zion. For there Yahweh has promised a blessing, life that never ends.”
Lord, I realize that I fail to love others well because I fail to live in Your love. So often I seem to forget and go back into self-effort. Rather than resting secure in your love, living my life out of gratitude for all that You have done in my life, I live my life trying to prove that I am worthy of receiving your love.
When things don't go as I planned, I start thinking it must be because I failed and You are punishing me. I fear disaster and then try all the harder to get it right and fail in discouragement. I get so lost. I am grateful that You come and get me and draw me back into your love. As the song sings, “my life is in you Lord, my strength is in You Lord, my hope is in You Lord.” That I may love and praise you with all of my life. You are my hope and my joy. Please help me to love others well.
My people will abide in a peaceful habitation, in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places. (Is 32:18)
1. http://jerichoministry.com/inheritance.html
2. http://jerichoministry.com/inheritance.html
3. http://jerichoministry.com/inheritance.html
4. http://jerichoministry.com/inheritance.html
5. http://jerichoministry.com/inheritance.html
6. http://jerichoministry.com/inheritance.html
7. http://jerichoministry.com/inheritance.html
8. Underhill, Evelyn. The House of the Soul and Concerning the Inner Life. The Seabury Press, Minneapolis, MN. n.d., pp. 116-119
9. Bergan, Jacqueline Syurup and Schwan, Marie. Praying with Ignatius of Loyola. The Word Among Us Press. Ijamsville, Maryland. 1991.
10. Bergan, Jacqueline Syurup and Schwan, Marie. Praying with Ignatius of Loyola. The Word Among Us Press. Ijamsville, Maryland. 1991.
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