grace

The Curse of the Gadarenes

October 27, 2020 by David Noland Leave a Comment

And when he came to the other side, to the country of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men met him, coming out of the tombs, so fierce that no one could pass that way. And behold, they cried out, “What have you to do with us, O Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?” Now a herd of many pigs was feeding at some distance from them. And the demons begged him, saying, “If you cast us out, send us away into the herd of pigs.” And he said to them, “Go.” So they came out and went into the pigs, and behold, the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the waters. The herdsmen fled, and going into the city they told everything, especially what had happened to the demon-possessed men. And behold, all the city came out to meet Jesus, and when they saw him, they begged him to leave their region.
Matthew 8:28-34

When you see someone who has suffered find relief, what is your natural response? Generally, our first response is to celebrate with them. But what about when that relief comes at a great cost to yourself without your “consent”? How do you respond then? Do you give glory to God for healing or do you curse Him for the price that was required to bring that healing?

Jesus and his disciples have just crossed the Sea of Galilee after ministering to Peter’s household and his local community. In fact, the primary reason that Jesus crossed the Sea of Galilee was to seek refuge from the pressing crowds (Matthew 8:18). After calming the storm and the fears of His disciples, they disembark the boat in the country of the Gadarenes, south of the River Yarmuk. Gadara was the capital of the province of Peraea, and is known today as Umm Qais in the country of Jordan, near the border of Syria. In 218 BC, the Greek historian Polybius described Gadara as the “strongest of all places in the region.” It was one of 10 cities in the region designated by the Roman governors as the Decapolis.

What is perhaps best known about Gadara is that it was the birthplace of Meleager, one of the most admired Hellenistic Greek poets of antiquity. He was most known not only for his own work, but more so for his compilation of the works of other Greek poets in his collection that comprised the “Greek Anthology.” Additionally, Gadara was known as a major trading station for pork, which was highly prized in the Roman Empire as a welfare allowance for the poor. As a result, Gadara was quite rich due to the herding and hunting of wild pigs.

At the time that Jesus was there, Gadara is known to have had no fewer than 3 performance theatres, a colonnaded market street, and a Greek temple to the mythological god, Poseidon – as evidenced by the large baths discovered during excavations. The god Poseidon was also known as “lord of the earth” or the “earth-shaker” and was historically credited as the reason for the seismic activity in the region as regaled in Greek myths. As you may recall from yesterday’s study of Jesus calming the storm on the Sea of Galilee, this speaks directly to the religious insights of the Gadarenes as it pertains to earthquakes in the region.

Not only did Jesus demonstrate His power over nature in the calming of the storm, He also demonstrated His authority over the “god of the earth”. Furthermore, in comes two demon-possessed men – likely adherents to the worship of Poseidon from Gadara. According to Mark’s account (which he sets in Gerasa – a few miles south of Gadara – which likely more accurately places the events somewhere in between the two cities), there were multiple demons – as many as 1000 – as evidenced by the name “Legion”.

As Jesus cast the demons into the pigs and the entire herd rushed into the Sea of Galilee and drowned, the herdsmen ran away and reported to the leaders of the city. Word got around so much so quickly that the entire city came out to meet Jesus. However, contrast the response of wonder from Jesus’ disciples with the response of the people of Gadara as they begged Him to leave the region.

They didn’t just politely ask Jesus to leave. They begged Him. Jesus was viewed as a threat to their economic way of life. He was a threat to their religious way of life. The very act of casting out the demons from these two men demonstrated that Jesus was a threat to everything they held dear.

And I ask you, what happens when Jesus upsets your apple cart? How do you respond when He challenges your way of life? How do you react when He takes from you that which holds you back from serving Him? Do you beg Him to leave you alone so that you can go back to the chains of this world? Or do you invite Him to make Himself at home within the recesses of your heart and mind? Do you offer Him your everything for the sake of His kingdom knowing that He has the power to overcome everything that binds you?

I beg you, I implore you. Open you heart to hear from Him today. Cling to Him for dear life and rest at His feet knowing that He has your best interests at heart. Let His Kingdom come in you today.

Peace Within the Pain

October 20, 2020 by David Noland Leave a Comment

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
2 Corinthians 12:9

As Sara and I near the end of our packing up for our move, yesterday I went through and starting taking things off the walls. As I took down pictures and decorations from the various rooms in our apartment, then had to go back and remove nails and staples, which left marks in the walls that I will have to go back to cover over before we turn in our keys. Otherwise, as is common practice, we would be charged with the damages from simply living a normal, every day life with decorations on our walls. Embellishments to make life more bearable. Photos to boast of our travels. Paintings to add color to our meager existence.

It struck me how removing all of the embellishments and vanity pieces exposed the damages beneath. The scars along the walls that were hidden behind the photos and decorations. What struck me even more was how much of a picture of our lives this has become. When all is stripped away and your life is laid bare, what will be exposed beneath the embellishments of your life? Inevitably, underneath it all, we all bear scars from pains long past. Our natural tendency is to cover up those scars and hide them or distract from them with false impressions that are secondary to the true surface that lies beneath.

We cover up our pain with false joy and laughter. We fill in the cracks with the appearance of wealth and prosperity. We spackle the piercings with vanity and pride. We paint over the blemishes in order to blend in with our surroundings hoping that nobody will see the imperfections beneath. We make our lives a facade while our world continues to crumble from the inside out.

Too often we treat vulnerability as a weakness, but in reality, it is in our weakness that we can find our greatest strength. When we humbly submit to the healing hand of our gracious Lord, He joyfully provides the healing we so desperately need. But we must be willing to strip away the veneer and lay our lives bare before His throne so that He can reach out and touch us and make us whole again. We must learn to be honest with ourselves about the true state of our being before we can really grasp the depth of our need for our Savior.

Then and only then can the Master Builder come in and do the work of restoration that our souls require. He fills in the holes of our pain with healing. He covers the blemishes of our sin with grace. And as a Master Painter, He begins painting a new mural with our lives that outshines the dull, drab white-washed walls of our heart.

Open your heart today to the joy of the Savior. Let Him transform your mind and bring peace to your troubled heart.

The Identity of the Kingdom

September 4, 2020 by David Noland Leave a Comment

Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’
Matthew 7:21-23

Much has been said and written about our current American political climate and the apparent divisiveness that has characterized our national discourse over the last 20 years. We have seen bitterness and anger manifest itself in unimaginable ways. From racial discord to gender inequities to identity politics, we have been witnessing and continue to witness the undermining of the rule of law in the name of emotional humanism that elevates individual preferences over the standards of reality.

God did not make a mistake when He created you. He created you with a design in mind that suits His purposes for His Kingdom to our good. He designed you with special care and knit you together in the womb to prepare you for what He has in store for you in terms of His goodness and grace. We argue this until Kingdom come but the fact remains that there are only two genders: male and female. And you were genetically designed to be one or the other. No amount of superficial surgical intervention can change the fact that your genetic makeup, the building blocks of who God designed you to be, is immutable. It cannot be changed. You will always have either XX chromosomes as a female or XY chromosomes as a male. Gender is defined biologically, not emotionally.

In the same manner, just because you identify yourself as a Christian does not necessarily mean that you really are. Just because you said a prayer and got your supposed “fire insurance” does not mean you have received a ticket to the gates of Heaven. And the spiritual “genetic” makeup of who you are is not defined by your emotional responses to the gospel message. The only identity transformation that is part of our human design is your spiritual identity, and it is defined by the absence or the presence of the Spirit of God living within you. And the evidence of the His presence and His transformation of your mind and heart is demonstrated to the extent of your obedience.

In our American system of government, we elect representatives through a representative democracy, where representatives that we pick and choose democratically create our laws, enforce our laws, and interpret our laws – all of which we are bound by social contract to obey by order of the Constitution. You can scream to the heavens that the elected official is “not my president” or “not my governor” or “not my representative” all you want. That doesn’t change the reality that the elected official in question still retains the title and the authority that is vested in them by our system of election.

And you can scream to the Heavens that Jesus is not Lord all you want, but eventually you will bend a knee to him and confess that He is indeed Lord:

So that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Philippians 2:10-11

It is an inescapable truth. And you can live your life in this world as you choose, but when that time comes, it won’t be what you know or even who you know that saves you. It will come down to Who know you. And Jesus makes it clear that His knowledge of you is predicated on His Spirit living in you to perform the work of righteousness in this world. Miracles can be counterfeited. We can even speak Biblical truth to our hearts’ content. But if we don’t live our lives in a way that is characterized by His grace, then it is all in vain.

This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.
1 John 1:5-10

I beg you to examine your heart and mind and always be re-examining yourselves. Measure your life against the standard of God’s Word. Let His word be the plumb line that determines how straight the path is that you are walking. Your citizenship in Heaven is purchased by His blood, but it is evidenced by your submission to His law.

The Rule of the Kingdom

September 1, 2020 by David Noland Leave a Comment

In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets.
Matthew 7:12

The Golden Rule. I’ve personally never liked the term because for it to be the Golden Rule is would have to be the greatest of the commandments. And Jesus and the Law itself have boldly explained that the greatest commandment is to “Love the Lord your God with all heart and all your soul and with all your mind.” (Matthew 22:37) However, Jesus elevated the second greatest commandment to be a natural outgrowth of the first “Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:39) In effect, He was making this declaration: “Your love for God is demonstrated by your love for His greatest creation – people.”

Love, as defined by Matthew 22, is the Greek word agapao. Love is not a noun in that passage, but it is a verb. A word of action that demonstrates a deeper inner condition. The word “apagao” in the imperfect tense implies incompletion, or more appropriately a continuous act without end. The word in this tense is used 144 times in the New Testament over 110 verses. It is perhaps the most important word in all of Scripture because it defines the heart of God towards His creation and provides us with a lens through which to observe His actions towards us. He treats us with love, because He desires for us to love Him. He disciplines us in order to draw us back to Him. He seeks to withhold from us that which would make us distant from Him. And He loves us enough to give us a choice to love Him, yet not without making the consequences of such abandonment clear. This demonstration of His great love for us is His example of how we are to treat one another.

We speak the truth in love to one another, not to be a herald of judgement, but to be a beacon of grace, guidance, restoration, and love. We ought to expect the same from others around us. Yet all too often, we either speak judgement against one another, which is the antithesis of God’s desire for us. Judgement is born out of hatred, but accountability is born out of love. Judgement destroys hope; accountability provides restoration. And it’s very easy to blur the lines between the two – as both the one delivering discipline and the one receiving it. In both cases, it is because our vision is obscured by our own inner condition. That is why Jesus warns earlier to examine your own heart before seeking to provide discipline and extend accountability.

We speak of the Golden Rule more often in defensive terms, but the tone and tense of the commandment is active and on the offense, rather than defense. Most of the time when we hear anyone bring up the Golden Rule, it is to defend their own condition and plea for grace and mercy, or rather more appropriately ignorance. However, the Golden Rule is stated in such a way as to be proactive, rather than reactive. It’s imperative as opposed to submissive. The Rule doesn’t say “Do not treat others the same way you do not want them to treat you.” That’s passive and barely even reactive.

So how ought we to treat one another in love? What does that look like? We serve one another. We sacrifice for one another. We respect one another in spite of our differences. We recognize one another as one of God’s children, created in His image for His purposes. To treat one another as we want to be treated is to recognize our God-ordained design as His image bearers. Sometimes that means discipline, but more importantly that means grace.

When we abuse one another, are we treating each other the way that we want to be treated? How ridiculous a proposition! But every day we see it over and over again. Domestic violence continues to invade our homes. Human trafficking continues to rise in every corner of the globe. We treat one another as objects for our own gain, rather than as God’s children designed to be loved.

When we reduce humanity to nothing more than a batch of cells put together by mere random chance with no clear purpose, it is inevitable that we see not only ourselves as a god unto ourselves, but others as objects to be used to further our own agendas and animalistic desires. Evolution does not solve for the moral imperative to love. In fact, anyone who tells you that morality is ingrained in each of us without the need of God or creation, is borrowing capital from God Himself. Moral law directly implies that there is a law giver that defines that law. In order for a moral law to be universally applied, it must come from a law giver that stands outside of that universe. Whether we choose to accept that God is our moral law-giver or not, does not negate our responsibility to His law. Ignorance of the law is no excuse for breaking the law in American society. The same basic principle applies in the spiritual realm as well.

The greatest virtue that extends from love is humility. Humility recognizes our place before the throne of grace, whereas pride seeks to elevate our place to sit upon the throne that is not ours. James, the younger brother of Jesus, states “Do you think that the Scripture speaks to no purpose: ‘He jealously desires the Spirit which He has made to dwell in us’? But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says ‘God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.’ Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” (James 4:5-7)

Humbly stand your ground in love for one another. Resist the temptation to stand in pride against one another. Submit your desires to God’s heart and let His Spirit transform you. When we learn what it means to humbly submit to Him in trust and love, then, and only then, will we ever truly understand how to love one another.

The Judgement of the Kingdom

August 28, 2020 by David Noland Leave a Comment

Do not judge so that you will not be judged. For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, “Let me take the speck out of your eye,” and behold, the log is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye. Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces. (Matthew 7:1-6)

There is a fine line between judgement and accountability, and it is predicated by a carefully cultivated relationship and personal responsibility. More often than not, when we seek to correct the behavior of another, we can be met with resistance. However, this resistance is mostly due to one thing: you have not cultivated the relationship necessary to develop a safe environment for accountability. In which case, attempts at holding another accountable will be seen as an attitude of judgement. This is why is vitally important that we have a sense of discernment about ourselves and the relationship we have with others before we seek to be an agent of correction and discipline.

All too often, anyone who feels judged will quote the first verse and leave out the remainder of the verse in an effort to avoid the feelings of correction. The remainder of this passage does not say that we should not hold each other accountable for our sins. However, it does explain that we should exercise self-awareness and discernment before we seek to correct our brothers and sisters. Ensure that your own heart is in the right and that your relationship with that person is in a place that is going to be receptive to the corrective accountability first. If you act of self-righteous indignation, then you will very likely not witness the repentance that is intended. Otherwise, hypocrisy is creeping at the door of your own heart.

On the other hand, we are indeed called to hold one another accountable within the Kingdom for our behavior. James put it this way: “My brothers, if any among you strays from the truth and one turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.” (James 5:19) Notice here that James is leveraging the relationship of brotherhood in the course of accountability.

There are numerous times throughout Scripture that Jesus speaks to holding one another accountable within the Kingdom. But in every case, he encourages self-discernment and leveraging the interpersonal relationship you have with the other. If you do not have a relationship with someone that you are seeking to discipline, how can you expect them to heed your warnings? You wouldn’t go about disciplining an unruly child you didn’t know or have a relationship with, would you? Of course not! You’d seek out the parent of that child and describe the situation and allow them to exercise the responsibility of discipline because they have the relationship with the child that is more likely to produce repentance.

In the same way, Jesus admonishes us not to pass judgement upon those who are outside of the Kingdom when He says “Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.” In this passage, “dogs” and “swine” are referring to wild packs of animals – wild dogs and wild boars that would roam the countryside seeking to devour everything in their path – scavengers. At first glance, and when taken out of context, it seems like Jesus is being rude here, but you have to consider His audience.

Wild dogs are known to be destructive and untamable, often traveling nocturnally in packs together wreaking havoc on weaker animals and consuming the trash and leftovers of the stronger predators. In fact, it was recently reported that jackals were stating to take over parks in Tel Aviv, Israel at night due to lockdowns form the coronoavirus pandemic. These packs of wild dogs are not only dangerous to human populations, but are highly territorial and aggressive with one another in their fight for survival. Wild pigs were considered ritually unclean in Jewish society, but also would travel in packs or hordes. In both cases, if you approach these packs alone and try to scare them off or get them to stop their destruction, the entire pack is likely to turn on you, ignore your commands, and attack you instead. Is it any surprise that the same thing happens when we followers of Christ try to correct or discipline those who live outside of the Kingdom?

As Paul once wrote, “For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” (1 Corinthians 1:18-25) The commandments of God were written for His people. The Scriptures give us a guide to live by and a standard to hold one another to. However, non-believers who live outside of the Kingdom are not likely to bow to the dictates of Scripture. They live by a different standard – typically the standard of their own humanism that elevates their own self-interest above the interests of God’s Kingdom.

As a nation, the United States is not bound to enforce its internal laws on the citizens of other countries when they are not within our borders. However, when citizens of other nations enter our borders, they are expected to abide by our laws and customs as a matter of mutual respect. The same is true for American citizen traveling abroad. And when mutually incompatible legislation exists between two countries, more often than not it is the country of citizenship that takes precedence on account of ignorance.

And the same is true of the Kingdom of God. And that is not to say that we should not seek to influence the world around us. If we expect to exact social change in our society, we must first seek to bring change to the hearts of individuals. Human behavior is an outgrowth of the condition of individual hearts. Behavior will only change when hearts change. And we can only impact the hearts of others when our behavior reflects the Kingdom heart of our Father and King. And that takes a carefully cultivated relationship that facilitates an openness of communication that will allow the seed of truth to be planted that will bring forth the fruit of repentance.

The Petition of the Kingdom

August 19, 2020 by David Noland Leave a Comment

The Petition of the Kingdom

“And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words. So do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.

Pray, then, in this way:

‘Our Father who is in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.”’
Matthew 6:9-13

Have you ever had someone repeatedly making the same demands of you to the point that suddenly feel like you are trapped in a scene of Groundhog Day? A common practice among the pagan Romans of the day was to repeat the same ritualistic phrases over and over again in a form of magical incantation, meant to manipulate the gods into doing the will of the pray-er. Subtly, the Jewish leadership began to model this same practice by repeating the Scriptural prayers of old so much so that they began to lose the heart of their prayers and turned prayer into another form of incantation in order to manipulate God into doing their will. In fact, there are some elements within the modern church today that still practice this concept, and have taken the Lord’s prayer and turned it into this same ritualistic practice, instead of recognizing the context of what Jesus was saying in order to inspire the people to approach prayer as a time of intimate conversation with their Creator.

When Jesus says “Pray, then, in this way”, He was not saying to only pray with these words. Rather, the phrase “in this way” is more appropriately translated “in this pattern.” There have been a number of different acronyms and illustrations of how to pattern your prayers after the model that Jesus presented here, so I will not go into those. But I will give you some highlights in the hopes of guiding you through how prayer touches the heart of God.

First, we begin with the intimate acknowledgement of our relationship to Him. He is our Abba. Our spiritual daddy. The head of our household. The Father who guides, teaches, and disciplines because of His great love for His children. And even though He may not be physically present with us, His spiritual presence is always with us.

Secondly, the acknowledgement of our relationship to Him inevitably inspires an acknowledgement of His holiness. When we humbly approach the throne of grace, recognizing He is the only Holy and righteous God, we are forced to recognize that we are wretched in comparison to His surpassing greatness. He is the King of Glory and we must be dependent upon His mercy.

Which brings us to His Kingdom. He is not only our Father, He is also our King. He is our lawgiver and we are citizens of His kingdom, adopted into His family and naturalized into His realm. As such we are now beholden to His word and submitted to His Lordship in our lives. As a result our priority is to shift to His will in our lives, not our own.

Next we transition to our petition for our daily need. Our manna, the bread of heaven. That which gives us nourishment and strength for the challenges of the day. As Jeremiah lamented over the pending destruction of Israel, he uttered the familiar encouragement:

“The Lord’s lovingkindness [mercies] indeed never cease,
for His compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness.” (Lamentations 3:22-23)

From here, as we bask in the glory of His grace and mercy, we are then inspired to confession. As the apostle John wrote “If we say we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.” (1 John 1:8-10) John writes these words not to the unbelievers of his day, but to the church – the believers who claim the name of God. When we walk in the Light of His truth, we can quickly see that we are indeed sinners in need of mercy. And when we confess our sinful nature and our specific sinful acts, He is faithful to forgive and righteous in His cleansing. Only the righteousness of God can cleanse our own unrighteousness by the power of the Blood of His Son.

This transitions us into repentance. A heart that is forgiven is one that seeks to remain in the mercies of God. And this requires continual repentance and submission of our sinful will to the righteous will of God. It’s not enough to confess our sin and depend upon His mercy. If our confession does not result in repentance, it is a faithless confession and our words ring hollow when presented from a heart of stone.

Ultimately, our prayers must be reflective and submitted to the will of God. For the Kingdom is His. The power is His. The glory is His. None of it belongs to us. We have no right to make demands of our God, but He joyfully wishes to bless His children who are submitted to the will of His Kingdom.

The great mystery of grace is not that we can approach the throne of the King and bring our demands, but rather that we can “approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (Hebrews 4:16) We can approach His throne confident in knowing that when we come before Him with humility and brokenness of heart, He is faithful to place His hand upon our head and heart and give us His full approval.

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