Grace III

Fulfilling Grace

Exodus 34:5 And the Lord descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. 6 And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, 7 Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation. 8 And Moses made haste, and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshipped. 9 And he said, If now I have found grace in thy sight, O Lord, let my Lord, I pray thee, go among us; for it is a stiff-necked people; and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for thine inheritance. 10 And he said, Behold, I make a covenant: before all thy people I will do marvels, such as have not been done in all the earth, nor in any nation: and all the people among which thou art shall see the work of the Lord: for it is a terrible thing that I will do with thee.

Who is the God you serve?  Have you ever heard a message that you have heard before but it was said in a different way and let you see God in a new light?  That happened to me last night.  I love prophecy, unknown tongues and the gifts of the Holy Spirit but I’m thankful for my sojourn into the Southern Baptist environs of Suffolk, Virginia.  We full gospel ministers and churches can get just a bit arrogant about our spiritual gifts or perhaps we’ve been to some dead non-Pentecostal churches before and that has tainted our outlook and given us a jaded look at our Baptist brethren.  Whatever your take on this peculiar point let’s not forget that they might look at you just as strangely. 

Last night I heard a pastor from Jacksonville, Florida preach a message about the God who sees our end from the beginning.  It was all about a God who watched you completely miss the mark (can you say sin) and yet He didn’t toss you off the team.  I’ve been pigeon holed for years by leaders great and small and saints who figured I was too flighty, too full of jokes, too busy doing secular work or too full of myself.  The general statement if someone hears me (or thinks they hear me) is, “That’s just Jay.”  I suppose we should ask, “Who is Jay?” 

The preacher last night said he was a stutterer and eighteen years ago when he accepted his call to the ministry and his father asked him to read scripture – the Twenty Third Psalm – he took five minutes to get through it and mangled it.  He was so ashamed for destroying a verse he knew by heart that he complained to God on the way home and said, “If you want me to be your preacher then why would you make the one part of my body that you need for ministry, broken?”  In one of those moments of clarity and grace God told him that He would either heal the flaw or leave it intact and make him prosper in ministry in spite of it.  I watched that man rattle off scriptures and Bible truths last night with a clarity and speed that would have made a rapper envious.  Certainly God (as He once informed Moses) is the creator of the tongue.

I could say that I know who and what I am but that would be incorrect.  I see who I was and I see who I am but I only imperfectly see who I am becoming.  God sees all His children at all seasons of their lives at the same time.  He’s not surprised you missed His mark so badly but He also knows you won’t tomorrow.  While you are looking at the man I was and maybe even the man I am, God is pursuing the man I will be.  I’ve seen pastors, bishops, apostles and prophets fail to give opportunities to others to shine because they do not see that person as God does.  It may not be your responsibility to make my journey to excellence your number one concern, but is it really your job to hold me back and deny my opportunities to grow…simply because I might miss the mark?

I’m not writing this out of bitterness or a sense of betrayal because I feel none of those things.  I am at a place in Christ where I know that I know that I know that there is nothing anyone can do to hold me back or prevent my God promised future.  That wasn’t always the case and there were some long dry years that could have been made easier by a nudge in the right direction or a regular opportunity to bloom, but those seasons have made me who I am and even if I could I’m not sure I would change any of them.  I am grateful for the words of encouragement that I received from a few insightful people who kept me from walking off in despair but all in all I am full of joy for my life and future in our God.

You might ask, “What does any of this have to do with the verses above?”  It has to do with the fact that Israel like us is often disrespected or cast aside while they await God’s clock to move back around to a renewed relationship.  It has to do with the fact that God is eternal, omnipotent and omnipresent.  It has to do with the fact that God is not going to put up with a superior attitude on our part when we have no reason to feel superior and rather have every reason to feel insignificant, grateful and humble.  In the scripture above Moses has spent whole chapters telling God how much He wants to see Him in all of His glory.  The experience would kill Moses but he wanted to experience it nonetheless.  In God’s grace He allowed Moses to have a taste of his desire but it leaves him permanently changed and transfigured.

This is what we must keep in mind.  The more time you spent with God the more you will become changed and more like Him.  In verse six above God Himself proclaimed, “The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, 7 Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.”  He declared Himself and made no bones about it.  Yahweh!  Yahweh El!  Merciful and gracious, longsuffering, abundant in goodness and truth! 

Do you know that about your God?  Do others know that about YOU?  The god that the Muslims worship is said to be unknowable and capricious.  Capricious is just another word that means, “Not to be trusted.”  Our God can be trusted; our God will press into our lives to bring us an expected end.  Glory to our God in the Highest!!!  Because God is gracious and loving He accepted Moses’ intercession for the stiff necked Israelites and began to personally lead them again.  I get so frustrated by SO CALLED Christians who bash other Christians for failing to live up to scripture.  Thank God Christ came to save me apart from my scriptural obedience and thank God He continues to work in me daily until I attain that obedience in my life. 

I don’t know what your God means to you but I believe verse 10 above, “10 And he said, Behold, I make a covenant: before all thy people I will do marvels, such as have not been done in all the earth, nor in any nation: and all the people among which thou art shall see the work of the Lord: for it is a terrible thing that I will do with thee.”

More than thirty years ago Apostle Joseph Sims told us to write a letter to God and tell God your heart’s desire.  We had been studying the works and ministry of Moses and it inspired me to write a letter to God and say I wanted to be like Moses and have a relationship with God where He and I would be friends and He would talk to me ‘face to face.’  The years have come and gone but I never forgot the letter or the fact that 15 years later God told me to make myself a staff patterned after the one Moses carried.  Verse 10 says to me, “Behold my son, I make a covenant before all your people and will do marvels.  They will see my works like it has never been seen before and the nations will recognize that I am with you for it is a fearful and awesome thing that I will do with you.” 

What does all this mean to me?  It means that no matter who you think you see in me, you do not see the me that I see.  God once told me to duck when I entered a building so I would not hit my head on the 10 foot door jamb.  When I questioned Him on it He said, “Do not think that you are only as tall as the body you live in.  I have made you much more.”  I do not say these things in arrogance or a feeling of self accomplishment because as Jesus said in John 15:5, “Apart from me you can do nothing.”  I say them because they are true and sure and because God sees the me that will be and not the me that you see. 

What does He see in you?

Negotiating Grace

Numbers 32:1 Now the children of Reuben and the children of Gad had a very great multitude of cattle: and when they saw the land of Jazer, and the land of Gilead, that, behold, the place was a place for cattle; 2 The children of Gad and the children of Reuben came and spake unto Moses, and to Eleazar the priest, and unto the princes of the congregation, saying, 3 Ataroth, and Dibon, and Jazer, and Nimrah, and Heshbon, and Elealeh, and Shebam, and Nebo, and Beon, 4 Even the country which the Lord smote before the congregation of Israel, is a land for cattle, and thy servants have cattle: 5 Wherefore, said they, if we have found grace in thy sight, let this land be given unto thy servants for a possession, and bring us not over Jordan.

God promised great blessings to the children of Israel if they would continue to walk before Him faithfully.  Regardless of how strong or weak they were, they promised to be His faithful servants in all things.  We all tend to promise God anything in an attempt to obtain the promises we desire from Him.  Sometimes we are even aware of our own character traits that will conspire against us and prevent us from fully obeying His Word.  There have been a lot of attacks against Israel over the centuries and for the most part the body of Christ has behaved abominably toward the Jews.  They are God’s chosen people and if I wanted to I could produce scripture after scripture that will show their time is not over nor has God forsaken them.

I can also even more easily show scriptures that reveal us to be the mongrel dogs of the life of God, the WILD olive branch that was grafted, adopted in.  God never cut off the tame olive branch, He simply loved us enough to build us a room off to the side so we might experience His love.  We are the adopted son who took advantage of the fact that the natural son became angry and ran off to make his way in the world.  In his absence we have taken over his room and instead of respecting his belongings we have thrown most of them out as if they didn’t matter at all. 

We have become adults, lived our lives and grown old in our adopted Father’s home and it will soon be time to return to where all men must eventually go.  Some of us still treat our big brother with contempt and arrogance while others are beginning to discover that all those books and letters in his room were valuable and worthwhile after all.  It’s almost time for us to move into the homes built specifically for us.  Will we leave anything behind for our wayward brother so he might use it and know that we loved him when he stops his wandering and returns home as he has begun to do? 

Every one of us makes poor decisions from time to time.  That is the nature of our imperfect lives and thought processes.  The miracle of grace is that God can use those mistakes and build on them or use them to correct our mistakes.  Moses was leading the children of Israel into the promised land when Reuben and Gad realized that they were happy with the piece of property they were currently traveling through.  God had His reasons for wanting Israel all on one side of the Jordan river.  There were no bridges in those days and fording the river was a difficult and dangerous task.  Rivers isolate and Reuben and Gad were beginning to draw back from the national unity of Israel. 

If I had been Reuben I think I would have taken my father's prophecy to heart and sought to change it.  I would not have done those things that were guaranteed to draw me away from a closer walk with God.  As for Gad, Jacob’s prophecy to him was one of strength that failed leading to conquest, “A troop that shall be overcome by a troop.”  Ruben and Gad’s problem was the same as Israel’s problem when Jesus came into Jerusalem.  They wanted what they had but God wanted so much more for them.  Without spiritual eyes to see they could only judge the natural and by natural judgment the land on this side of the river is better for us.  When God says the other side is better, don’t argue and when times get hard, don’t murmur.  Things ARE better on the other side.  Instead of holding on to old things, suck it up and make the move.  Is it frightening?  It can be.  Is it difficult?  Probably, and yet the you who will become is worth all the trouble.

Proverbs 3:8 says, “"Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil. It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones."

Numbers 32:6 And Moses said unto the children of Gad and to the children of Reuben, Shall your brethren go to war, and shall ye sit here? 7 And wherefore discourage ye the heart of the children of Israel from going over into the land which the Lord hath given them? 8 Thus did your fathers, when I sent them from Kadeshbarnea to see the land. 9 For when they went up unto the valley of Eshcol, and saw the land, they discouraged the heart of the children of Israel, that they should not go into the land which the Lord had given them. 10 And the Lord 's anger was kindled the same time, and he sware, saying, 11 Surely none of the men that came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land which I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob; because they have not wholly followed me: 12 Save Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite, and Joshua the son of Nun: for they have wholly followed the Lord. 13 And the Lord' s anger was kindled against Israel, and he made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation, that had done evil in the sight of the Lord, was consumed. 14 And, behold, ye are risen up in your fathers 'stead, an increase of sinful men, to augment yet the fierce anger of the Lord toward Israel. 15 For if ye turn away from after him, he will yet again leave them in the wilderness; and ye shall destroy all this people.

Moses had the same problem as Joshua and others.  He was so used to leading the Children of Israel that he didn’t always take major decisions directly to God.  To be sure he warned Gad and Reuben of what might happen if they failed to fully support and assist their brethren; but scripture does not show him approaching God for wisdom in this area.  How much more difficult would the campaigns become because Reuben and Gad left their wives and children behind while they followed their brethren over the river.  They would now be outside the camp and away from Israel’s protection if raiders should come and the hearts of the men who would go over to fight would never feel like they were fighting for THEIR land…they had that already.  Wouldn’t it have been better to have all stayed together while they were on the move? 

Even Christians quote Romans 12:2 which says, “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”  Reuben and Gad’s decision might have been acceptable or good in the eyes of Moses but was it perfect, lacking nothing?  I don’t believe so.  They had to build cities to protect themselves and places for the cattle.  It would have been better and stronger to have traveled together in unity (Psalm 133:1).

Grace For Provision

Ruth 2:1 And Naomi had a kinsman of her husband's, a mighty man of wealth, of the family of Elimelech; and his name was Boaz. 2 And Ruth the Moabitess said unto Naomi, Let me now go to the field, and glean ears of corn after him in whose sight I shall find grace. And she said unto her, Go, my daughter. 3 And she went, and came, and gleaned in the field after the reapers: and her hap was to light on a part of the field belonging unto Boaz, who was of the kindred of Elimelech.

I was born in Seattle, Washington.  I remember when we bought a ‘color’ TV.  It was a huge 19 inch.  Our phones all were rotary dial and it was a big thing when my dad ordered a push button phone even though it looked just like the rotary phone except for the dial.  My sister Barbara lived with us then and taught me how to tie my shoes.  She got married when I was 5 and left to move to Michigan.  I’ve since forgiven her husband.  I loved Halloween and one year filled an entire pillowcase full of candy.  My mom made me give half of it to my cousin who didn’t get as much.  I’ve since forgiven my mom. 

I live in Suffolk, Virginia.  There is a 44” flat screen TV on the wall in my bedroom.  It’s not very big today.  My phone is 4” x 2.5” x 3/8” and I can talk to anyone in the world with it.  I talked to Africa just this week.  It doesn’t have any buttons or dials and has more memory in a card smaller than my fingernail than my first full sized computer had in a hard drive as big as my Bible.  My sister Barbara lives in Seattle now and sometimes I give her advice.  Sometimes she gives me advice too.  I still know how to tie my shoes.  I absolutely detest Halloween because it makes Satan look cute and he is not cute; he’s deadly.

Somewhere between those two paragraphs I found the Lord (well, He found me and had mercy on me), got married and raised a family.  I have had several jobs and focused on just one…ministry.  I have died to self, revived and died again many times over the years.  Somewhere in the midst of it all I have learned to trust in Him all the more and have begun to learn exactly who and what I am in Him.  That thought might make others think I have delusions of grandeur but we in Christ should know just who and what we really are.  I have failed so many times that I thought I had a doctorate in it.  My title should have been, “Bishop JR Staab, PhD, DD, OMG, LOL.  Okay, I made most of those up.

My point is that from the guy in the first paragraph to the guy in the second and third I have become a completely different guy and none of it would have happened without God’s help.  We expect those around us to ‘get it.’ We offer no grace and wonder why this world and especially this country is so messed up.  I’ll tell you why; we have failed them in the grace department.  In the book of Ruth we have a woman who had everything the world could have offered.  She was nobility and wealthy in her own country and chose to hold on to an invisible God and a wounded elderly mother-in-law rather than all the wealth of a pagan kingdom.  Most of us wouldn’t have given her the time of day.

In verse 2 she makes a statement that betrays her faith in God and assurance of her position in His love, “…let me go and find grace in the field of the one in whose eyes I will find grace.”  Her statement is not one of boldness and taking charge but one of petition to her mother-in-law.  She is seeking Naomi’s permission for the opportunity to beg and glean on her mother-in-law’s behalf.  Would any of us do such a thing?  I wonder if our comment would be, “Look old woman, you ought to be happy that I’m even going out to get something to eat.”  The average Israelite would have spit on the road in front of her but she had humbled herself before all their sight.

She and Naomi must have had some great Bible Studies.  Her understanding of grace was not only toward the owner of the field but toward the God she had chosen to obey.  She knew that her only hope as a detested Moabite was God’s grace.  Before I continue let me ask you a couple questions.  Would you have humbled yourself to the point that if someone cursed and spit on you your trust would still be in God?  No?  You failed.  Would you have left the comfort of your home to follow after this bitter and angry old woman and a brand new God?  No?  You failed.  For me today, probably yes.  For me yesterday…uh … no..

Ruth 2:8 Then said Boaz unto Ruth, Hearest thou not, my daughter? Go not to glean in another field, neither go from hence, but abide here fast by my maidens: 9 Let thine eyes be on the field that they do reap, and go thou after them: have I not charged the young men that they shall not touch thee? and when thou art athirst, go unto the vessels, and drink of that which the young men have drawn. 10 Then she fell on her face, and bowed herself to the ground, and said unto him, Why have I found grace in thine eyes, that thou shouldest take knowledge of me, seeing I am a stranger?

Boaz was a saint of God.  Today he would have been one of those Christians who not only talk a good game but live it and are willing to die by it.  He was an honest business man, a gracious leader and a redeemer of lost souls.  Ruth couldn’t even imagine why he would look at her.  She knew full well what Israel thought of her people.  They were the offspring of Lot who refused to come to their Israeli brethren’s assistance and even chose to combat them and use trickery to defeat them.  God had cursed Moab and ordered that they not be allowed into the tabernacle of the Lord through the tenth generation.  Ruth’s submission, surrender and service brought a tikkun, a miraculous mending to the people of Moab. 

You have a choice before God.  You can be wicked and say, “What’s yours is mine and what’s mine is mine.  You can be lawful and say, “What’s yours is yours and what’s mine is mine; or you can be righteous and say, “What’s yours is yours and what’s mine is yours.”  Ruth stood before Naomi and chose righteousness.  Because of her cHessed (lovingkindness) God brought her before Boaz and he in his righteousness obeyed his heart.  The Jewish world at that time was offended by the marriage but could not prevent it.  Ruth’s grandson Jesse was ashamed by it but David, the greatest king of Israel reaped the reward of that cHessed. 

The lineage of Jesus contains Tamar, Rahab, Ruth and Bathsheeba.  One slept with her father-in-law.  One was a prostitute.  One was cursed by God and one cheated on her husband.  When you speak of grace and assault God’s people…you have failed Him.  When you speak of grace and curse sinners…you have failed Him.  When you speak of grace and fail to lead sinners to redemption…you have failed Him.  We are in the dispensation of Grace and God Himself will hold you to blame if you fail to love and minister grace to those in need.  Never forget.  Righteous indignation is as dirty as the deepest sin.

Ruth 2:11 And Boaz answered and said unto her, It hath fully been shewed me, all that thou hast done unto thy mother in law since the death of thine husband: and how thou hast left thy father and thy mother, and the land of thy nativity, and art come unto a people which thou knewest not heretofore. 12 The Lord recompense thy work, and a full reward be given thee of the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to trust.

Only when you bless and do not curse will God trust you to accomplish the greatest works of faith and mercy in His name.  We have the honor of blessing others and the shame of cursing.  Will you choose honor or shame?  This world is coming to a close as we know it.  Our politicians and leaders no longer trust God for wisdom and guidance.  They are filled with wrath and shame.  Will you pray until revival comes to Washington or will you hide yourself from their pain and wait until judgment comes.  The choice is yours.  Learn well how to trust God beloved.  More than anything else these days the world needs faith and grace.  I pray you do not let them down.  

Be strong beloved.  

Bishop J