Come and Seek and Find

Have you a sense of want in your soul? Do you hunger 

and

 thirst after righteousness? Then this is an evidence that Christ has wrought upon your heart, 

and

 created this sense of need, in order that He may be sought after to do those things for you through the endowment of His Holy Spirit which it is impossible for you to do for yourself.

The Lord specifies no conditions except that you hunger for His mercy, desiring His counsel, 

and

 long for His love.

“Ask!” The asking makes it manifest that you realize your necessity, 

and

 if you ask in faith, you will receive. The Lord has pledged His word, 

and

 it cannot fail. That you feel 

and

 know that you are a sinner is sufficient argument in asking for His mercy 

and

 compassion. The condition upon which you may come to God is not that you shall be holy, but that you shall ask God to cleanse you from all sin 

and

 purify you from all iniquity. Then why wait longer? Why not take God at His word, 

and

say:

“Here, Lord, I give myself to Thee,

‘Tis all that I can do”?

If Satan comes to cast his shadow between you 

and

 God, accusing you of sin, tempting you to distrust God 

and

 doubt His mercy, say: I cannot allow my weakness to come between me 

and

 God; for He is my strength. My sins, which are many, are laid upon Jesus, my divine Substitute 

and

Sacrifice. 

“Nothing in my hand I bring.

Simply to thy cross I cling.”

No man can look within himself 

and

 find anything in his character that will recommend him to God, or make his acceptance sure. It is only through Jesus, whom the Father gave for the life of the world, that the sinner may find access to God. Jesus alone is our Redeemer, our Advocate 

and

Mediator; in Him is our only hope for pardon, peace, 

and

 righteousness. It is by virtue of the blood of Christ that the sin-stricken soul can be restored to soundness. Christ is the fragrance, the holy incense which makes your petition acceptable to the Father. Then can you not say: 

“Just as I am, without one plea,

But that Thy blood was shed for me, 

And

 that Thou bid’st me come to Thee,

O Lamb of God, I come.”

Coming to Christ does not require severe mental effort 

and

 agony; it is simply accepting the terms of salvation that God has made plain in His Word.

The blessing is free to all.

The invitation is, “Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, 

and

 he that hath no money; come ye, buy,

and

 eat; yea, come, buy wine 

and

 milk without money 

and

 without price. Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? 

and

 your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, 

and

 eat ye that which is good, 

and

 let your soul delight itself in fatness” (

Isaiah 55:1, 2

).

[Ellen White, "Come and Seek and Find," 

1 Selected Messages

, 332-333. First appeared as an article in the

Signs of the Times,

 December 19, 1982.]

What God Must Do ?

From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests, and teachers of the law, and that He must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.” Mt 16:21

Jesus, the Divine Son,

must

go and

must

suffer and

must

be killed and

must

be raised? What could it possibly mean that God “must” do something? Is He compelled by some other person or force? Not likely, considering His supreme position in the universe. Has He trapped Himself into it by willing it? No, I think there’s a better answer.

. . .

A couple of years ago

Christianity Today

did a series titled “Is Our Gospel Too Small?” That question has been on my mind often lately as I’ve considered this rich and exhaustless science of salvation. I’m afraid that perhaps our good ol’ evangelical pragmatism has duped us into shrinking the Gospel down to one (important) part of the problem and one (very important) part of the solution. It is good and necessary to be able to explain the Gospel simply and there are some helpful tools out there for doing just that, but if we think that three select texts from Romans on a pocket-sized pamphlet does justice to the sin problem or to the Savior solution, then indeed our Gospel is far too small.

The sin problem is bigger than only my personal wrong choices—it is a problem in my nature, it is a social problem too; in fact, it is a complex cosmic problem! And the solution is bigger than the death of Jesus on the cross. To solve the big, complex, personal-social-cosmic problem, God made a big, complex, personal-social-cosmic solution which includes the cross event, but is not limited to it. The solution requires His deity, His incarnation, His perfect life, His resurrection, His inaugeration, His ascension, the sending of His Spirit, the revelation of His will, His intercession, His judgment, the cleansing by His fire, His return—and even more!

Our sharp focus on the cross—to the neglect of the manger and the empty tomb and the heavenly sanctuary and the new earth—has diminshed our appreciation for the whole work of God. It has narrowed our vision to the gift of justification and left us with teeny tiny predestinations and sanctifications and glorifications. What a joy it is to be forgiven! Yet there are more joys beside, joys that are stuffed on every page of every Bible, waiting for some perceptive soul to take them up and enjoy them.

Recently an important insight was forged in my mind about salvation:

Everything that God has done, is doing, and will do is necessary for our salvation

. No piece of the plan is superfluous, no action has been unnecessary, no part is an appendix. I was initially startled to read that Christ “was raised to life for our justification” (Rom. 4:25) because I thought that justification was completely secured on the cross, but I thought wrongly. My justification requires not only the cross but the resurrection, and indeed every aspect of Christ’s ministry. I could no more be saved without His kingly inaugeration than I could without His sacrificial death. Sounds almost heretical, doesn’t it?

But now that I understand God’s salvation economy, I perceive the significance of Matthew 16:21. Who or what makes it necessary that Christ go and suffer and die and live again? By His own free will the Lord has chosen to enact a glorious plan of salvation, and

if we are to be saved

then Christ must go and must suffer and must die and must be raised again. Christ journeyed to Jerusalem because He wanted to save me, and that meant enduring the cross. Christ still wants to save me, and now that means not a cross but the tunic of the High Priest, soon it will mean returning in the clouds, and someday it will mean recreating the heavens and the earth---and all for love of us!

Regarding the struggle of dressing as a professional woman.

“4. Yes, We Knew This: It’s Worse for Women

Most news junkies have probably heard the story of Debrahlee Lorenzana, the Queens woman who sued Citibank last month, alleging she was fired for being “too hot.” Whether or not there’s any validity to the woman’s case, women in the workplace are often faced with a double bind: they are expected to be sexy but can be punished for being too attractive. Sixty-one percent of the hiring managers we surveyed—60 percent of whom were men—said they believe a woman would benefit from wearing clothing that shows off her figure at work. Meanwhile, 47 percent of those same managers said they believe some women are penalized for being too good-looking in the office. As a whole, women are perceived to benefit more from their looks: 39 percent of managers believe that being “very good-looking” is more of an advantage for women than men, while only 16 percent believe the opposite—that it’s more beneficial to men than to women. (Is anybody surprised?)”

— Newsweek

(This quote comes via Newsweek. See also Equality Myth's blog on a recent Forbes article regarding women and flirtation in the workplace.)

So we want to avoid looking frumpy and outdated, or sloppy and unprofessional. Yet we're also expected to look attractive-- but not too much of that kind of attractive. Look good but not too good? *Sigh. And let me just say that as a part of the female clergy, figuring out how to dress is the most complex part of my job. More than once I wished we all wore loose, Middle Eastern robes or nun habits.

Update [24Oct]: Apparently this issue is on the minds of other female clergy, too >>

God is FOR me. God is for ME.

Grasp the fact that God is for you--let this certainty make its impact on you in relation to what you are up against at this very moment; and you will find in thus knowing God as your sovereign protector, irrevocably committed to you in the covenant of grace, both freedom from fear and new strength for the fight. [J.I. Packer]

Yes, God is for me. 
     If God is for us, who can be against us?


But reading my friend Andrea's post which included Packer's quotation brought one issue forcefully to my mind: But why? Why is God for me? And should He even be?


This morning I transgressed God's law. And not in a "Oops, what just happened?" sort of way. This was a "I hear You talking and I don't want to listen!" sort of way. It was iniquity, sin, rebellion. I defied God to His face.


But He is "for" me?


It doesn't make any sense. He knows what I've done-- He was right there. But He is still "for" me. Why? Shouldn't He be against me? Shouldn't He at least be neutral? Or distant? Shouldn't He be watching me fight my own battles and losing and muse to His perfect self, "If only she hadn't rebelled..."?
But He is "for" me.

"What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?"  [Romans 8.31-35]

God gave up His Son for me, holding nothing back. He offers to me, graciously, every good thing in that Son. God is my justifier, defending me against the (accurate and well-documented) accusations of the enemy. He stands on my side of the courtroom and defends me against the penalty of the crime I committed against Him to His very face. The very One, the only One, with the power to condemn me for my manifest rebellion stands as my Intercessor, His own blood shed for my sake. And no matter where I am, His love is there with me. Nothing, absolutely nothing, can separate me from the love of Christ. 


He is "for" me!


Grace really is amazing.