Wilderness Wonderings Blog

Hope Within the Uncertainty

February 22, 2021 by David Noland Leave a Comment

In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said:
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory!”
And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”
Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”
Isaiah 6:1-7

It has been said that one should never meet their idols, for they never live up to the lofty expectations that we build up in our heads. As with any form of idolatry, the created will always pale in comparison to the creator, no matter how brightly the created shines. In times of great uncertainty, it is natural and human to look to our political leaders for guidance. Yet today, when we see our political divide continually fomented by the very officials we purport to idolize, we are sorely perplexed and often left disappointed.

Isaiah begins in a time of political upheaval as King Uzziah, the ruler of the kingdom of Judah for 52 years has died. 52 years of relative peace have come to a screeching halt. However, Uzziah is perhaps best know for his pride as he entered the temple and burned incense to the Lord, a prerogative reserved only for the priests (2 Chronicles 25:18). We would be struck leprosy as a result of his disobedience and forced to live in isolation until his death, with his son Jotham ruling in his stead. It is in the midst of this political chaos and uncertainty that Isaiah has his vision.

When we humbly come into the presence of God, two things become immediately apparent. First, we see Him for who He really is. He is holy, set apart. He is omnipotent. He is righteous. And He is alone is the ruler of creation, which testifies to His glory. Secondly, we see ourselves for who we really are. The illumination of His holiness exposes our lowliness. We are unclean. We are unworthy to stand in the presence of One so glorious. Not only do we see ourselves for who we really are, we see others around us in the same light and recognize that we are no better.

But the omnipotent ruler of creation is also a merciful judge. When we acknowledge our lowliness in the light of His holiness, we are compelled to confess our sin and He is faithful to forgive our sin. It is interesting that the apostle John evokes this image when he writes “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9) It is interesting because rarely do we perceive forgiveness as justice, but John makes it clear that He is faithful (consistent) and just to forgive us when we humbly confess our disobedience to Him. He is just because mercy and grace always carry an element of being undeserved. We cannot earn mercy or grace. We simply receive it. We cannot make others earn grace or mercy, because then it is merit.

Grace and mercy are just because the punishment is still fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary. It is only when individuals place their trust in the atoning sacrifice of Christ that we can experience true grace and mercy that is faithful and just. My favorite analogy of the cross is this simply picture: it is the intersection of the stake of God’s judgement – from His holiness to our lowliness – with His outstretched arms of mercy, grace, forgiveness, and love. Grace and mercy still require payment to balance the ledger. That payment was meted out in the blood of Jesus on a hillside outside of Jerusalem on Friday afternoon in 33 AD.

If you look into the genealogy of Jesus as recorded in Matthew 1, you will find an interesting list of characters. Adulterers, murderers, foreigners, prostitutes, and even unfaithful kings, including Uzziah and his son Jotham. The genealogy that Matthew records is to prove the fulfillment of the promise of the eternal King of kings in Jesus as prophesied in Genesis 49:10: “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, not the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to him; and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.”

Breath of Life

January 7, 2021 by David Noland Leave a Comment

And He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord God, you know.” Then He said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the Lord.”

So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them. But there was no breath in them. Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.” So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.
Ezekiel 37:3-10

The events of the last several years have escalated to become frighteningly similar to the events in the history of Israel prior to their Babylonian exile. Abandonment of God. The people given to idolatry. Ungodly political leaders. Destruction, disease, and death all around. For seven years during the Babylonian exile, Ezekiel prophesied hopelessness and judgement against Judah and her enemies. Judgement because Israel did the very thing that Adam and Eve did all the way back in the Garden.

First they allowed temptation to sow a seed of doubt of God’s Word in their hearts. Then their vision was enticed by their own appetites. They rejected God’s commandments and ultimately hid from Him as they were exposed before the world. As a result, they were taken out of the “land flowing with milk and honey” into slavery once again. And true to pattern, the hearts of the people of Israel were dead as a result of their sin. Dry as a result of their abandonment. Scattered as a result of their own ambitions.

But Ezekiel comes along with a message of hope. God’s judgement would not last forever, because His mercies are everlasting. His promises must be preserved for the hope of the world. And He gives Ezekiel a vision to the valley of dry bones.

On the surface, the vision begins with a feeling of hopelessness. The army lay defeated and dead in the low ground of the valley. And God asks Ezekiel a seemingly rhetorical question: “Can these bones live?” The natural man would of course say “No. What is dead is dead.” But we are talking with the Almighty Creator of Heaven and Earth. The God of miracles. The God who breathes life into dead, decayed bones. The God who breathes hope into dead, withered hearts.

There are a few things that the reader should notice in this passage:

The prophet is only commanded to do one thing – speak the Word of God. Nothing more, nothing less. No commentary. No exposition. Simply speak over the bones the Word of the Lord.
The prophet had to obey the command of God in the vision in order to see what God was doing. Obedience to God’s commandments is paramount if we are to experience the miracles of God’s presence.
It is the work of the Holy Spirit that restores, not the words of the prophet. Without the intent and willful working of the Holy Spirit to restore, the bones would have remained dead and withered in the valley of desolation.
There was no life in the restored bodies until the Holy Spirit resided within the bodies. Appearance of godliness is still dead without the Spirit of God animating and living within the people. It wasn’t until “the breath came INTO them” that “they lived and stood on their feet.”

God’s Kingdom is not a social club. It is not an organization for political activism. It is not a non-profit, do-good charity. The Kingdom of God is “an exceedingly great army.” We are called to be ambassadors for Christ, representatives of the King – the ekklesia. Without the Holy Spirit of God residing in us, we are impotent and weak. Dead and withered. Lifeless and hopeless.

My friends, to speak the Word of God, you must know the Word of the Lord. It is imperative that you dive into the Scriptures and absorb every detail. The scriptures are the standard by which God expects us to live. It is the standard by which we will be judged. It is the standard by which we will be held accountable.

Speak the Word of God over your life. Speak His Word over your family. Speak His Word over your workplace. Speak His Word over your friendships. Speak His Word over your school. Speak His Word over your marriage. Speak His Word over your own heart. But be forewarned, it is not the Word itself that holds power. It’s the Holy Spirit of God breathing over the dried bones of your environment. It’s the Holy Spirit of God breathing into restored lives that brings hope to a people in exile from the presence of the Almighty God.

Return to Him today. Open your heart and receive His grace and His power and His authority in your life. And witness a miracle as new life begins fresh in you and the world around you.

The Covenant Kingdom Promise of Deliverance Fulfilled

November 30, 2020 by David Noland Leave a Comment

The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.
Matthew 1:1

As we enter the advent season, it is reasonable to investigate what the gospel writers have to say about the events surrounding the incarnation and birth of the most important person to have ever walked the earth. Matthew, as a Jewish disciple of Jesus and known outcast as a tax collector, provides us with some keen insights into the purpose of his gospel and the nature of the who Jesus was.

The word that is rendered as “genealogy” in the first verse is the Greek word “genesis”, meaning simply “the beginning.” Just as Moses began the Pentateuch with the story of human origins, Matthew’s gospel begins with telling us the origins of a new human – a Messiah who was promised, A King who would deliver, and a Covenant He would fulfill.

The Messiah Who Was Promised

As far back as Genesis 3:15, God had promised to deliver mankind through a Messiah that would crush the head of the serpent that brought deception and death to humanity through a sacrificial offering of Himself. “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring, he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heal.” This the first promise of salvation for humanity that found its fulfillment in a descendent of the woman – Jesus. The gospel of Luke meticulously traces the lineage of Jesus all the way back to Adam and Eve, illustrating the fulfillment of this prophecy recorded by Moses in the beginning. It is a prophecy that finds its final fulfillment on the cross of Calvary.

The King Who Would Deliver

As Matthew was a known tax collector, it is reasonable to extrapolate that he had an intimate knowledge of law and quite possibly the implications of inheritance law. As a result, he leveraged this knowledge as he traced Jesus’ lineage through his earthly, foster father Joseph as a descendent of King David, of the tribe of Judah. This establishes Jesus’ legal right to the throne of Israel, in spite of the occupation of the Roman Empire of the day. Again, a Kingdom prophecy spoken by Jacob over his sons finds its fulfillment here:

“The scepter shall not depart from Judah,
nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,
until tribute comes to him;
and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.
Binding his foal to the vine
and his donkey’s colt to the choice vine,
he has washed his garments in wine
and his vesture in the blood of grapes.” (Genesis 49:10, 11)

The Covenant That Is Fulfilled

Matthew further traces back to his own Jewish roots to illustrate fulfillment of a covenant promise of the Messiah as the son of Abraham, the ultimate patriarch of the Jewish people. By invoking the Abrahamic covenant, Matthew reminds his readers that not only was Abraham a sojourner in a foreign land, Israel was effectively the same under Roman rule. Yet God promised a new covenant to Abraham in that He would bless him and through his descendants all people would be blessed:

“And the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven and said, “By myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his[a] enemies, and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.” (Genesis 22:16-18)

It is through this Son Jesus that God has made it possible for all the nations of the earth to be blessed, not just the nation of Israel. As a result, any who places their faith in Him as the Messiah is adopted into the Abrahamic family covenant of blessing as promised by the Lord Himself. Because Abraham did not withold his only Son from the Lord, God Himself chose to not withhold His only Son, Jesus from the sacrifice of Calvary that paid the price for sins of the world.

Grace to you this Christmas advent season, my friend. Cling to the promised Messiah. Bow to the delivering King. Remember His covenant just as He remembered it 2000 years ago and continues its fulfillment to this day.

The Heart of Reproach

November 17, 2020 by David Noland Leave a Comment

Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch tears away from the garment, and a worse tear is made. Neither is new wine put into old wineskins. If it is, the skins burst and the wine is spilled and the skins are destroyed. But new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved.”
Matthew 9:14-17

If another of the faith does not publicly worship in the same manner that you do, does that make you holier than the other? The disciples of John (the Baptist) challenge Jesus who has on other occasions told His disciples to practice their fasting in private (Matthew 6:16-18). However, here they come boasting of their spirituality and equating themselves with the Pharisees, who we have already seen challenge Jesus with their own disagreements with His methods and teaching. When you associate with the prideful, your own pride will quickly surface and lead to your own downfall.

Using a religious practice to demonstrate your piety is shallow faith, like putting a shiny new patch on an old pair of jeans. When it comes time to wash that garment, the compatibility will quickly become apparent and lead to damage of the main garment. In the same way, using a religious act to demonstrate your faith instead of allowing a heart that is consumed with love and compassion for your neighbor be the measure of your faith produces the same damaged results.

In the same way, if you try to put freshly fermented wine in old, worn out wineskins, the wineskin will not be able to handle the weight and corrosive action of the wine against the weakened leather and lead to the entire crop of wine to be spilled and wasted, unusable – unfit for consumption.

Is your faith fit for consumption? Then preserve it in a true vessel of compassion and grace and a heart that is prepared to offer restoration and reconciliation instead of furthering division and bitterness. Is your faith restorative? Then prepare it first with immersion in the water of the Word before applying it to the visual edifice of your life. This way, your deeds do not stand out as a sore thumb and not reflective of the garment you wear before witnesses.

When you are in the presence of the Bridegroom, it is time to celebrate His grace and His love. It’s not a time for dour piety. It’s not a time for drawing attention to yourself and your religiosity. It’s a time to focus on the Savior. The time for fasting will come in due course. And when it does, do not do so like the hypocrites and draw attention to yourself.

Grace to you, my friends. Revel in the presence of the Savior. Celebrate Him for He is indeed worthy of our attention.

A Heart for Restoration

November 11, 2020 by David Noland Leave a Comment

As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him. And as Jesus reclined at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples. And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” But when he heard it, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”
Matthew 9:9-13

One of the recurring themes throughout the gospel of Matthew is the theme of reconciliation and restoration. Additionally, we see repeatedly how when Jesus fulfills this missionary mandate, He is met with resistance from the religious elites. And Matthew himself was no stranger to being an outcast in his own society. Tax collectors across the Roman Empire were often despised by their local communities – much the same as they are today even. However, as tax collectors were handsomely rewarded by their Roman overlords for their meticulous, and often excessive, collection of revenues, local communities would often look at tax collectors as traitors to their own people – parasitic leeches living off the fruits of the labor of others.

And this colored the perspective of the Pharisees who prejudiciously viewed tax collectors as cheats and traitors, thus classifying them as societal “sinners”. The truth of the matter we don’t know how much tax collectors cheated their charges, but the fact that they served a foreign occupier in deference to their own people was sufficient reason for their shunning.

But Jesus, as He always does, looks past the circumstances and status and offers grace and restoration, much to the consternation of the Pharisees. Jesus had already been criticized by the scribes and experts of the law for forgiving sin. Now the Pharisees, the elite priests and teachers of the law of Moses, criticize Him for relating to the outcasts.

We have seen this attitude play itself out all too often in today’s society, most especially in the intersection of faith and politics. We find ourselves divided in the camps of red and blue, each shouting down the other as out of touch, reprobates, and sometimes worse. In each camp, members are more concerned about furthering their agendas than fostering reconciliation and relationship. Each camp has different ideas of how to address the common problems we both see, but one camp sees it as a problem for the government to fix while others see it as a problem for private individuals to address. Is it possible that there is somewhere in the middle where both could be right? To hear the rhetoric from both camps, one would think there isn’t any common ground upon which we can stand. As a result, the dividing wall of separation continues to stand stronger than ever before, but I digress.

It should come as no surprise that Jesus would quote from the prophet Hosea to His critics in this circumstance. He directly quotes the first part of Hoses 6:6, but I believe He intentionally left out the second part of the same sentence and when you read it, you can easily see why:

“For I desire steadfast love [mercy] and not sacrifice,
the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.”
Hosea 6:6

To know God is to love Him; to love Him is to desire to know Him more. This is first and foremost on the heart of God the Father – a restored relationship with His children. This is why Paul referred to his ministry as a “ministry of reconciliation” (2 Corinthians 5:11-21). Our number one mission in this world is to restore relationships between mankind and God as well as between each other. The heart of the gospel is redemption and restoration.

As we enter into this festive holiday season of Thanksgiving and Christmas, I challenge you to seek opportunities to restore broken relationships. I challenge you see opportunities for redemption at the foot of the cross. I challenge you to humbly set aside your pride and prejudices and seek reconciliation in the name of the Father of grace.

Above is a video from Season 1 of The Chosen, available in your mobile device app store, showing a creative take on the call of Matthew. The attitudes I described before are prevalent in this scene, but are also setup in earlier episodes. I encourage you to download the app today and experience this unique presentation of the life of Christ and His disciples in your app store today.

Apple: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-chosen/id1473663873
Google: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details…

A Heart for Redemption

November 10, 2020 by David Noland Leave a Comment

“And getting into a boat he crossed over and came to his own city. And behold, some people brought to him a paralytic, lying on a bed. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.” And behold, some of the scribes said to themselves, “This man is blaspheming.” But Jesus, knowing[a] their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts? For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he then said to the paralytic—“Rise, pick up your bed and go home.” And he rose and went home. When the crowds saw it, they were afraid, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to men.”
Matthew 9:1-8

When Jesus forgives, He heals hearts, but forgiveness doesn’t always bring healing naturally. Sometimes, forgiving someone of their trespasses brings judgement from those who have refuse to give up their self-interests. When we sit in judgement of others who seek forgiveness and healing, or even one who seeks to forgive and heal others, we expose our own hearts as burrowed with bitter roots of unforgiveness and hatred. The religious establishment was more concerned about the following their traditions and rules that they were willing to sacrifice relationship in favor or religiosity.

In this season of our country, there are many who are seeking to get past the bitterness and brokenness of the rhetoric that we have witnessed and are still witnessing play out in the media and in social media. Yet, there are elements on both sides of the aisle that are more concerned about being “right” instead of being reconciled. While there are some legitimate concerns on both sides – and you can see them if you look beyond your own preconceived notions of justice and look to the heart of each other – when we sit in judgement of those who wish to bring healing and reconciliation instead of taking your preferred side of the argument, we expose the condition of our individual hearts.

And such judgement is evil to the core. And Jesus sees it for what it really is. The fact of the matter is that it is easy to say “I forgive you.” It’s quite another matter to offer restoration, because restoration requires healing of brokenness. Brokenness of heart. Brokenness of vision. Brokenness of spirit. And brokenness brings pain. Pain is nothing more than a neurological signal that your brain sends out that says change is necessary. If you put your hand in the fire, you are going to get burned and it’s going to hurt. That is a signal that your body is telling you to stop and take your hand out of the fire and don’t do it again. That’s a picture of repentance.

The same image applies to how we treat one another. We experience pain and brokenness in our relationship and we change and break off the relationship. But that produces even more pain and brokenness as the relationship becomes strained and broken. It’s not enough to simply offer forgiveness. Forgiveness is merely the first and easiest step. Restoration requires healing and healing requires work and time. But a refusal to offer restoration is in fact just as sinful as the pain that broke the relationship in the first place.

Restoration and reconciliation are acts of grace. Grace is undeserved, but grace is what we all need. It’s one thing to receive grace from God Himself, but quite another to extend that same grace to our neighbor who offends us. If we consider ourselves Christ-followers, we have an obligation to view everything in the world against the backdrop of the cross of Calvary. In that act, Christ showed us the price it took for God to forgive mankind. In so doing, when we surrender our lives to Him, we also surrender our right to be unforgiving towards anyone.

And in many cases, restoration is only possible through the intervention of Jesus Himself by the power of the Holy Spirit. The paralytic’s friends brought him to Jesus for restoration. They knew they didn’t have the power to heal, but they knew who did. If you humbly come together before Jesus seeking restoration in your relationship, He is faithful and just to forgive and heal. But it requires humility on the part of all in order for all relationships to be healed.

I challenge you to seek restoration in your relationships this season. Seek and give forgiveness to one another, but don’t let it stop there. Pursue restoration and reconciliation with all your heart. And if the pain is too great, seek the intervention of the Father. Seek wise counsel from intermediary. We are in a period of Thanksgiving, soon to be followed by celebrating the advent of our Lord Jesus with Christmas. What better time to come before Him in humility together and seek restoration for ourselves and for each other.