September 15 Esight, 2008

The great ladies of Persia and Media, who have heard what the queen has said, will quote this day to all the king’s officers, and there will be no end to the disrespect and discord! If it please your majesty, let a royal decree be issued by you . . . never to be revoked, that Vashti shall not again appear before King Ahasuerus; and let your majesty give her place as queen to another who is more worthy of it than she. When the edict made by the king is proclaimed throughout the length and breadth of the kingdom, all women, high and low alike, will give honour to their husbands . . . Dispatches were sent to all the king’s provinces, to every province in its own script and to every people in their own language, in order that each man, whatever language he spoke, should be master in his own house. (Esther 1:17-22)The Gospel of Esther. For quite some time now I have believed that Mathew, Mark, Luke and John are not the only Gospels in the Bible. In fact, every book of the Bible is a “Gospel” in its own right. The purpose of every book is to illuminate the darkness in each of our hearts in regards to our picture of God. Yet, what does the book of Esther contribute to our concept of God and His other-centered love? Though there are many gospel lessons in this book, there is one that stands out above the rest. Two great principles are contrasted.

First, we find women being kept “in line” by decree, control, and fear. Women kept “in line?” That phrase brings a crooked smile to my face. You see, I was raised by a single mom and I can already hear how she would be ranting at the thought of it. But outside of gender issues, notice the principles used by one to control another. Law, control and fear.

Next, we are introduced to Modecai and Haman’s scuffle. Modecai refuses to “bow” to show Haman the respect and honor he feels he deserves. So how does Haman respond? “Kill ‘em all!”

What is alarming to me is that many people picture God to be exactly like King Ahasuerus and his servant Haman. God is “keeping us in line” through the methods of Law, through control and fear. We had better do as He says or we’ll end up “like Vashti.” But stop for a minute! Isn’t this exactly why Lucifer was given time and did not immediately meet the fate of death that sprang from his rebellion? If Lucifer would have been destroyed, the angelic hosts would not have understood how or why it came about! But secondly, assuming God had wiped Lucifer out for his rebellion, they would have either rebelled themselves or buckled down under a much more shallow version of “service.” They themselves would have remained loyal, placing their necks under the yoke of the “master of the house.” Their obedience would have been driven by the fear that what was “done” to Lucifer would be “done” to them if they did not submit.

And Haman? Many today feel as if God’s final act on this planet will be to, with blood dripping from His fangs, wipe out all who have refused to “bow,” so to speak.

Are these really the principles God uses to win our hearts? Absolutely not! God forbid! For these principles can only ever win outward conformity, but never accomplish inward transformity. (I know that’s not a real word, but it rhymes, give me some grace.) It will win outward obedience but these principles can never truly win our hearts. At best, they will cement us in our own self concern and self preservation, but never transform us into the likeness of God’s self-abandoning love.

Then where do we see God in the book of Esther? Where are the principles of the King and Haman contrasted? It’s in the decision made by Esther herself. (My mom would be beaming that it was through a woman!)

When faced with the proposition of death, Esther’s mind was set. She would risk all to save the lives of her people.

‘Go and assemble all the Jews that are in Susa, and fast on my behalf; for three days, night and day, take neither food nor drink, and I also will fast with my maids. After that, in defiance of the law, I shall go to the king; if I perish, I perish.” (Esther 4:16)

Ponder this well, dear reader. In this statement we see self-sacrifice. We see self-abandonment. We see other-centeredness. In short, we see love! Love for her people caused Esther to risk her well-being for the good of others. To put them first rather than herself. Is this where we find God in the book of Esther?

Consider the cross. John wrote these words in response to God’s own “risk” that He took to save us:

Having loved his own, He loved them to the end. (John 13:1)

Or as the Amplified version states it:

And as He had loved those who were His own in the world, He loved them to the last and to the highest degree. (John 13:1, AMP)

And why? Control, manipulation, guilt, fear and legislation? No, NEVER! You were made for love from a willing heart, not forced devotion! God isn’t interested in getting anything from you, but in continually giving to you. When faced with the prospect of staying on the cross and never seeing His Father’s reconciling face again, the God of this universe encountered love for You beyond description. His final thoughts were, “I will save YOU at any cost to Myself, and ‘if I perish, I perish!”

Dear friend, will you allow this selfless love to become your picture of the God of this universe? If you will, you will truly never be the same.

“For the love of Christ controls us once we have reached the conclusion that one man died for all and therefore all mankind has died. He died for all so that those who live should cease to live for themselves . . .” ( 2 Corinthians 5:14,15 REB)

I wish you God’s best this week!

September 8 Esight, 2008

When Jacob had worked seven years for Rachel, and they seemed like a few days because he loved her.—Genesis 29:20First let me apologize for being absent the last two weeks. We have received many emails from those who missed getting their e-sight last week. I am so sorry. I am in Loma Linda as I write this, about to speak. I have also just finished a week in northern California where I was privileged to watch God do what He does best with the students at Rio Lindo Academy. I’ll fill you in on all the miraculous details in next month’s newsletter.

This week, I would like you to muse over the above words considering Jacob and his love for Rachel. Time became “relative” for Jacob. Years seemed like days! Why? Because “he loved her.”

This brings Peter’s words to mind, “Here is something, dear friends, which you must not forget: in the Lord’s sight one day is like a thousand years and a thousand years like one day. It is not that the Lord is slow in keeping His promise, as some suppose, but that He is patient with you. It is not His will that any should be lost, but that all should come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:8, 9)

Did you catch that? God is not slow about fulfilling the promise of return, yet He is dragging His feet! Why? Because He, in His inmost heart, is not “willing” for any to perish. He cannot bring Himself to return yet. His heart will not permit Him. Yet, though He must wait, the years seem as only days to Him. Why? “. . . because He loves her.” He loves YOU! He is preparing a place for YOU. (John 14:2,3) It takes time. This will be a place where there will no longer be any more “mourning and crying and pain, for the old order has passed away!” (Revelation 21:4) No matter how long it takes, He cares so much for YOU that every sacrifice is a delight, every gift a pleasure. Though it may take thousands of years, and it has, these seem as only days to Him.

Stop and listen. He loves you! Do you realize that, dear reader? Do you know what that means? Ponder it well, for those three simple words are the most disbelieved words in the English language. But He does! He is especially fond of you. He doesn’t care how long it takes. He will be patient. For you, He has risked all. You are the apple of His eye, and He will do whatever it takes to restore and save you into His perfect love.

Do you want that, dear friend? I do. I don’t want to be one who makes Him wait any longer. If that is your hope as well, tell Him about that. Give Him your all, right now. Hold nothing back. You are already in His heart, won’t you let Him be in yours? Be one who will not only “look” for His return, but “hasten” it! (2 Peter 3:12)

I wish you God’s best this week.

August 24 Esight, 2008

“Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet without your Father’s knowledge not one of them can fall to the ground.” (Matthew 10:29 REB)I would like to contrast the above words of Jesus with the words of demonically inspired counsel of Job’s friend Eliphaz. Remember, this is one of the friends Job was admonished to make atonement for in the end of his experience, and for good reason. Eliphaz’s words are dangerous and dead wrong! Born from the enemy himself which, if you pay close enough attention, apparently visited Eliphaz personally with such loathsome counsel.

“A word came to me in secret—

a mere whisper of a word, but I heard it clearly.

It came in a scary dream one night,

after I had fallen into a deep, deep sleep.

Dread stared me in the face, and Terror.

I was scared to death—I shook from head to foot.

A spirit glided right in front of me—

the hair on my head stood on end.

I couldn’t tell what it was that appeared there—

a blur . . . and then I heard a muffled voice:

‘How can mere mortals be more righteous than God?

How can humans be purer than their Creator?

Why, God doesn’t even trust his own servants,

doesn’t even cheer his angels,

So how much less these bodies composed of mud,

fragile as moths?

These bodies of ours are here today and gone tomorrow,

and no one even notices—gone without a trace.

When the tent stakes are ripped up, the tent collapses—

we die and are never the wiser for having lived.’

Call for help, Job, if you think anyone will answer!

To which of the holy angels will you turn?” (JOB 4:12-5:1, The Message)

It was this same Eliphaz who said:

“Don’t blame fate when things go wrong—trouble doesn’t come from nowhere.” (Job 5:6, The Message)

Yet Solomon, in his wisdom, did say that fate, or chance is to blame.

“I returned and saw under the sun that the race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong, neither is bread to the wise nor riches to men of intelligence and understanding nor favor to men of skill; but time and chance happen to them all.” (Ecclesiastes 9:11, AMP)

Why? Because chance is the fruit of granting free choice. There’s a chance now that things will not go the way we or God desire it! Yet, loving and fulfilling relationships require irrevocable freedom. God is not interested in meticulously controlling all we do or experience! But, in the same breath, let me quickly say that He is meticulously involved in each of our lives. And that, dear reader, is a comforting thought.

He is involved with every detail of your life. Nothing touches you that doesn’t also touch Him! You are not alone! He is ever with you, loving you, drawing you more intimately closer into the embrace of His perfect love. Regardless of what the “chance” of all the infinitely free moral decisions being made every day may throw our way . . . you are being kept watch over by the greatest Lover time and chance have ever witnessed—The great Lover of the Universe, and you are the apple of His eye.

Does that mean that nothing will ever cause you pain? How foolish. He is a God of freedom, not control. What it does mean is that you are never, ever alone! And one day all tears, all pain, and all evil will be seen for what it is and reality will be changed for eternity!

“It is Satan’s work to fill men’s hearts with doubt. He leads them to look upon God as a stern judge. He tempts them to sin, and then to regard themselves as too vile to approach their heavenly Father or to excite His pity. The Lord understands all this. Jesus assures His disciples of God’s sympathy for them in their needs and weaknesses. Not a sigh is breathed, not a pain felt, not a grief pierces the soul, but the throb vibrates to the Father’s heart. The Bible shows us God in His high and holy place, not in a state of inactivity, not in silence and solitude, but surrounded by ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands of holy intelligences, all waiting to do His will. Through channels which we cannot discern He is in active communication with every part of His dominion. But it is in this speck of a world, in the souls that He gave His only-begotten Son to save, that His interest and the interest of all heaven is centered. God is bending from His throne to hear the cry of the oppressed. To every sincere prayer He answers, “Here I am.” He uplifts the distressed and downtrodden. In all our afflictions He is afflicted. In every temptation and every trial the angel of His presence is near to deliver.” (White, The Desire of Ages, p. 356)

I wish you God’s best this week.

August 17 Esight, 2008

“This is why I was born, and for this I have come into the world, to bear witness to the Truth.” Jesus—John 18:37 AMP

Truth is more than that which stimulates the intellect and it’s more than mere doctrinal apologetics. The root word for truth is the same as betrothal. Truth is that which binds our hearts in betrothal to God.

Let me explain. These days, I’m convinced the word truth is used too lightly. We use “truth” for just about any fact we can find in the Bible. I would like you to consider truth to be more than just a list of Biblical facts.

The devil himself knows what happens when a person dies. He knows about the Sabbath, he understands the final fate of the lost, he knows there’s a heavenly sanctuary (he used to live there), and he understands the relation of Calvary and the Law. Truly, if he were to come to one of our evangelistic series we could baptize him! BUT, follow the words of Jesus very carefully: “[The Devil] was a murderer from the beginning, and is not rooted in the truth; there is no truth in him.” (John 8:44 REB)

We would all agree that the devil intellectually assents to each of our 28 fundamental beliefs, yet “there is no truth in Him.” That must mean that truth epitomizes much more than doctrinal beliefs. Jesus said, “I am the way, the Truth and the life.” (John 14:6). According to the words of Jesus, in order for Biblical facts to become “The Truth” they must reveal, at their very core, the One who is the Truth. It is actually quite possible to present Biblical facts totally divorced from Truth! For example, believing in the seventh-day Sabbath isn’t synonymous with believing in the Truth. The devil believes this and the Truth is nowhere to be found in him. It may be factual, but it’s not the Truth. Doctrinal facts alone will never comprise Truth! Jesus stated that He was “born for this,” to bear witness to it! So, here is the Truth, dear reader. Jesus exemplified it and He was born to shout it from the rooftops!

God is Love, and He Loves You!

Don’t just memorize it. Don’t just listen to it. Discover what it means and your life will truly never be the same. I am convinced that, above every other truth an individual can come to know from the scriptures, the truth that God is love and that He loves them is paramount above all else. Jesus was born so that we might be able to hear God say “I love you.”

Would you like to experience the Truth, dear friend? Would you like to encounter the truth about our God and His self-abandoning love for you? Seeing the truth about His love and becoming betrothed to Him through that love is the theme of the entire scriptures. Listen as He whispers the following words to you.

“As I passed by again, I saw that the time had come for you to fall in love. I covered your naked body with my coat and promised to love you. Yes, I made a marriage covenant with you, and you became mine. This is what the Sovereign Lord says.” Ezekiel 16:8 TEV (emphasis supplied)

“And I will make you my promised bride forever. I will be good and fair; I will show you my love and mercy. I will be true to you as my promised bride, and you will know the Lord.” Hosea 2:19,20 NCV (emphasis supplied)

Will you let Him take you more intimately into the embrace of the truth of His love for you this week?

I wish you God’s best.

August 10 Esight, 2008

A Message from GOD of-the-Angel-Armies: “Don’t listen to the sermons of the prophets. It’s all hot air. Lies, lies, and more lies. They make it all up. Not a word they speak comes from me. They preach their ‘Everything Will Turn Out Fine’ sermon to congregations with no taste for God, Their ‘Nothing Bad Will Ever Happen to You’ sermon to people who are set in their own ways. Have any of these prophets bothered to meet with me, the true GOD? bothered to take in what I have to say? listened to and then lived out my Word? I never sent these prophets, but they ran anyway. I never spoke to them, but they preached away . . . If they’d have bothered to sit down and meet with me, they’d have preached my Message to my people. They’d have gotten them back on the right track, gotten them out of their evil ruts.”—Jeremiah 23:16-22 The MessageWow!!! Those are some pretty strong words. An impassioned God is speaking about those claiming to be sent by Him but with a message He did not inspire. It would be well for any who bear the name “Christian” to give some time to meditating on the above passage. Truly the greatest revelation of God’s character of Love was manifested at the Cross of Calvary. Yet, amid the settling dust of the cross, one of the most damaging misrepresentations of God would emerge from within the most unsuspected place, His church. Humanities’ heart-level picture of the type of being we imagine God to be has been subject to untold damage during a time when “Christianity would rule the world.” More blood has been shed in the name of Jesus Christ or of Christianity than in any other name or religion. And this has had its effect.

Yet the Bible tells of a time, here in these last days, when the work of “a pretender” will abruptly come to an end. Our understanding of God’s character will be radically “cleansed” (Daniel 8:14), and the earth will once again be “lightened” (Revelation 18:1) with the glorious, climactic, final revealing of God’s extravagant love for us all. God will have a people who are passionate about Him! Their chief concern (2 Corinthians 5:15) will be for God to feel overloved and overjoyed as they look beyond concern for their own salvation (Luke 17:33) to the “salvation” of their God (Revelation 19:1).

There are so many voices both within and without God’s church. Do we really understand what lies in the heart of God for us? Do we find our hearts moved beyond description as we see His grace, His love, His character for what it really is? And is this our cry to this world, our message, our emphasis? The trumpet must be given a certain sound. There was a time within our own history when that little lady of whom we all think so highly heard the trumpet giving that very right ring:

“Those who, since the Minneapolis meeting, have had the privilege of listening to the words spoken by the messengers of God, Elder A. T. Jones, Prof. Prescott, Brn. E. J. Waggoner, O. A. Olsen, and many others, at the campmeetings and ministerial institutes, have had the invitation, Come, for all things are now ready. Come to the supper prepared for you. Light, heaven’s light, has been shining. The trumpet has given a certain sound. Those who have made their various excuses for neglecting to respond to the call, have lost much. The light has been shining upon justification by faith and the imputed righteousness of Christ. Those who receive and act in the light given, will, in their teachings, give evidence that the message of Christ crucified, a risen Saviour ascended into the heavens to be our advocate, is the wisdom and power of God in the conversion of souls, bringing them back to their loyalty to Christ. These are our themes,–Christ crucified for our sins, Christ risen from the dead, Christ our intercessor before God; and closely connected with these is the office-work of the Holy Spirit, the representative of Christ, sent forth with divine power and gifts for men.” (To J. E. White. Norfolk Villa, Prospect St., Granville. September 25, 1895. W-86-1895)

May we be found, not simply with trumpet in hand, but playing the right tune.

I wish you God’s best this week.

August 3 Esight, 2008

What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? (Luke 15:4, emphasis added.)

Or what woman, if she has ten silver coins and loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? (Luke 15:8, emphasis added.)Many of you are aware that I am in the midst of restoring a 100-year-old farmhouse. This possesses its own unique challenges since I am rarely here. I just came back from being on the road for three weeks and picked up my hammer once again. What is truly amazing is that a month ago, we planted grass! (Only those who have lived on a construction site know the joy of seeing grass sprout to replace acres of mud.) I was so excited this week to come home and see the grass actually growing! I took a barefoot walk around the yard and just took some mental and emotional notes. What stuck out the most is that around the side of the house, one of my children had left a rag outside on the ground that we were using when we refinished our kitchen cabinets. It was now dry and hard and embedded in the ground. But what was truly amazing is that it also had grass growing up through it. Through the actual cloth, the grass was growing. I stopped and stared. Grass grows through almost anything. Hard dirt, cloth, and even at times rock and concrete. It seems to be purposely determined on breaking through whatever is in its way to reach the sun. It grows and grows and grows, moving closer with every inch.

Immediately, I must confess, there was a part of me who thought that this is how we should be with God. Our hearts should be continually reaching out after Him. But I knew this didn’t feel quite right. I wasn’t getting what God was trying to say to me at the moment. It was if He was tapping on my shoulder, still saying, “Keep trying, I don’t want any more from you. I want to give you something here.” I continued to stubbornly ponder. How can my heart become more devoted to reaching after God as this grass does the sun? Then it hit me. I had missed the point. God was not trying to squeeze greater devotion out of me. He whispered, “You’ve got it backwards Herb. I’m the grass and you are the sun. I’m stopping at nothing to reach you!” Tears welled as I began to feel His heart, once again wrapping around me in the cool of this summer evening.

What a truly amazingly loving God we serve.

While on my most recent trip, I met a man who was asked by a mutual friend of ours, “When did you find God?” His response resonated in my heart. He replied, “That’s a curious question. I didn’t know God was ever lost. I prefer to see it as the day He found me.” Jesus sought to show us the same picture of our heavenly Father: “in the parable of the lost sheep, Christ teaches that salvation does not come through our seeking after God but through God’s seeking after us” (E.G. White, Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 189).

This week as you consider these precious truths, let me once again emphasize that yes, it’s important for God to be in your heart, but how do we get Him there? It is, first, by believing you are in the heart of God.

” . . . God gave to human beings an unmistakable evidence of the love with which He regarded them . . . The gift of Christ reveals the Father’s heart. It testifies that, having undertaken our redemption, He will spare nothing, however dear, which is necessary to the completion of His work” (E.G. White, Counsels on Stewardship, p. 14).

Quit running. Stop. Relax. Let Him, this week, find you.

I wish you God’s best this week.

July 29 Esight, 2008

In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes, were mocking Him among themselves and saying, ‘He saved others; He cannot save Himself. Let this Christ, the King of Israel, now come down from the cross, so that we may see and believe!’ Those who were crucified with Him were also insulting Him. (Mark 15:31-32)They were dead right! He had lived His entire life in disinterested benevolence, saving others at every step. He had always put others before Himself. And now, once again, others must come first. What His assailants did not understand is that Jesus could have saved Himself. Never was His back against the wall. What He was enduring was voluntary, of His own volition, His own free will. But in order to save others, He must not now “save Himself!” Although He could save us, and He had the power to save Himself, He could not do both.

Take a moment to meditate on the following four passages in the above context:

“Satan with his fierce temptations wrung the heart of Jesus. The Saviour could not see through the portals of the tomb. Hope did not present to Him His coming forth from the grave a conqueror, or tell Him of the Father”s acceptance of the sacrifice. He feared that sin was so offensive to God that Their separation was to be eternal.” (Ellen White, The Desire of Ages, p. 753)

Jesus felt, “Forsaken among the dead, like the slain who lie in the grave, whom you remember no more . . .” (Psalm 88:5)

Yet, in the midst of feeling completely helpless to save you and I and Himself too . . .

“Jesus did not count heaven a place to be desired while we were lost.” (Ellen White, The Desire of Ages, p. 417)

“He sees the helplessness of man. He sees the power of sin. The woes and lamentations of a doomed world rise before Him. He beholds its impending fate, and His decision is made. He will save man at any cost to Himself.” (Ellen White, The Desire of Ages, p. 693)

I stand in front of this kind of self-abandonment, this kind of love and I am silenced. With tears in my eyes, my heart reaches away from my own self-centeredness, my own pursuits, and I reach out to a love like this. Could this be true? Is this really what God is like? God, do you really love me like this? Will you really love me regardless of the cost to Yourself? I feel the arguments rising, “Please God, don’t give up heaven for me, I’m not worth it.” Yet, I sense Him whispering, “I didn’t do it because you were worthy. I did it because I love you . . . and you can’t change that. Come, let me enfold you in what your heart has always been longing for.” I thank Him this week for His love for me. May your heart, dear reader, join mine in loving Him back.

I wish you God’s best this week.

July 21 Esight, 2008

For the grace of God which carries with it salvation for all men has appeared.” (Titus 2:11 DBY)Recently, we received a very good question here at Renewed Heart Ministries. I have noticed throughout the years that this question is usually asked about twice a year.

“Herb, are you saying that everyone is going to be saved?”

Let me be clear from the very beginning. No. I don’t believe that everyone will be saved. But let me be quick to add that they should be! There is no reason, not even the slightest, why every person should not be saved and in the kingdom except that they don’t want to be.

I would like to share some statements from three of my favorite authors regarding this subject:

First, the Apostle Paul:

“For the grace of God which carries with it salvation for all men has appeared.” (Titus 2:11 DBY)

“For it is for this we labor and strive, because we have fixed our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers.” (1 Timothy 4:10 NASB)

“In conclusion, just as through one transgression condemnation came upon all, so through one righteous act acquittal and life came to all.” (Romans 5:18 NAB)

“For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.” (Romans 5:17 NASB emphasis added)

Next, E.J. Waggoner:

“He willeth that all men should be saved, and come to the knowledge of the truth. (1Tim.2:4) And He ‘worketh all things after the counsel of His own will.’ (Eph.1:11) ‘What! do you mean to teach universal salvation?’ We mean to teach just what the Word of God teaches,–that ‘the grace of God hath appeared, bringing salvation to all men.’ (Titus 2:11, R.V) God has wrought out salvation for every man, and has given it to him; but the majority spurn it, and throw it away. The Judgment will reveal the fact that full and complete salvation was given to every man, and that the lost have deliberately thrown away their birthright possession.” (The Glad Tidings, p. 23 – Original Version)

Lastly, Ellen White:

“In his sinless state, man held joyful communion with Him “in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” (Colossians 2:3) But after his sin, he could no longer find joy in holiness, and he sought to hide from the presence of God. Such is still the condition of the unrenewed heart. It is not in harmony with God, and finds no joy in communion with Him. The sinner could not be happy in God’s presence; he would shrink from the companionship of holy beings. Could he be permitted to enter heaven, it would have no joy for him. The spirit of unselfish love that reigns there–every heart responding to the heart of Infinite Love–would touch no answering chord in his soul. His thoughts, his interests, his motives, would be alien to those that actuate the sinless dwellers there. He would be a discordant note in the melody of heaven. Heaven would be to him a place of torture; he would long to be hidden from Him who is its light, and the center of its joy. It is no arbitrary decree on the part of God that excludes the wicked from heaven; they are shut out by their own unfitness for its companionship. The glory of God would be to them a consuming fire. They would welcome destruction, that they might be hidden from the face of Him who died to redeem them.” (Steps to Christ, p. 17)