We are so accustomed to media producers needing to get their credits we expect to wait before we get the good stuff. We still have a moment to get a cup of coffee or a cold drink before things get interesting. Not so with God. Here in the beginning of Second Peter the “good stuff” begins with “Simon…” listen, “Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of our Lord Jesus Christ to those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ.” This is a power packed sentence.
Right from the get-go we have life changing information to guide us into the knowledge of God. In my mind when God wants to move something to His advantage He does it. “Simon” did not fit God’s plan so He changed it to Peter. I can hear Peter saying, “Simon that’s who I was. Peter that’s who I am because God changed my name.” And if that is not enough he goes on to say he is a bondservant.
Now a bondservant is a slave who has served his indenture but does not want to leave his good master so he voluntarily dedicates himself to his master for life. In order to show his status as a bondservant his master takes the slave to the doorpost and with an awl about the size of an average index finger and pierces the earlobe. This marks the slave for life as a bond slave or bondservant. But there was no such mark on Peter. What marked Peter’s life as a bond slave for Christ?
This mark piqued my curiosity and raised the question, “What marks my life for Christ, my Lord and master?” I do not have a hole in my ear. What do I have? There is nothing physical that would say to others, “I am of Christ.”
In his first epistle Peter gave this instruction, “But sanctify the Lord in your heart and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you with meekness and fear. Having a good conscience…” (1 Pet 3:15) He was speaking from experience having committed his life to Christ even to his own crucifixion. I want to believe I would do the same and yet I know my testimony gets tarnished from time to time because I do not always put Jesus first.
My whole point is with Christ the “good stuff” is in every word and the order of the words. There is nothing written in the Scriptures that is not important. Slow down when you read the Scriptures. Read one verse or one word at a time and ask of your reading, “What does God want me to know about Him from what I have just read?”
Paul prayed in Colossians 1 this, “We asked God to give you a complete understanding of what He wants to do in your life and to make you wise with spiritual wisdom. Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord and you will continually do good, kind things for others.” I believe this is the mark we carry for Christ. Being spiritually wise and thinking outside ourselves is what sets us apart from the world and without a word tells people we serve the living God of the universe and no other.
May you be blessed this day and forever!
Friday, March 12, 2010
Monday, March 8, 2010
Psalm 15:5
Well, here we are at the end of Psalm 15 and there are some sweet ideas yet to discuss. I am particularly interested in the first thought in verse 5.
Psalm 15:5: Those who do not charge interest on the money they lend,
and who refuse to accept bribes to testify against the innocent,
such people will stand firm forever. (NLT)
My attention is drawn to the “interest” not being charged. As a banker I know the bank lived on the interest it collected from the loans that were made. Here David tells us that we are not to go into the relationship with the thought of collecting that interest. And to take it a step further in the New Testament at Luke 6:35-36: "Love your enemies! Do good to them! Lend to them! And don't be concerned that they might not repay. Then your reward from heaven will be very great, and you will truly be acting as children of the Most High, for he is kind to the unthankful and to those who are wicked. You must be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate.” (NLT) (emphasis mine).
So if I understand this it means not only cannot I charge interest, I can’t even expect repayment. This is a hard saying. However, I did this once with my own money and the borrower met my expectations, I didn’t get it back. I have never thought badly of the borrower but I remember the incident.
Part two is something with which I have no personal experience. Jesus was talking about money so I must draw the conclusion that the bribe would be cash or it’s equivalent. We are instructed to refuse such a bribe when it involves the innocent. However, I am of the mind to think it would be unfaithful and unthinkable to think of accepting a bribe and perhaps by your testimony convict someone you know to be innocent and subject them to punishment.
Now this is an illustration of the practice of reading a whole passage in context before trying to put any part of it into your life. If we take any single injunction from the Psalm and try to live it by itself we will have difficulties that will at the least be discouraging, and at best, only a partial fulfillment of your desire to conform to the life of Jesus.
Know all that is required before jumping in. Then take the parts and live them.
Psalm 15:5: Those who do not charge interest on the money they lend,
and who refuse to accept bribes to testify against the innocent,
such people will stand firm forever. (NLT)
My attention is drawn to the “interest” not being charged. As a banker I know the bank lived on the interest it collected from the loans that were made. Here David tells us that we are not to go into the relationship with the thought of collecting that interest. And to take it a step further in the New Testament at Luke 6:35-36: "Love your enemies! Do good to them! Lend to them! And don't be concerned that they might not repay. Then your reward from heaven will be very great, and you will truly be acting as children of the Most High, for he is kind to the unthankful and to those who are wicked. You must be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate.” (NLT) (emphasis mine).
So if I understand this it means not only cannot I charge interest, I can’t even expect repayment. This is a hard saying. However, I did this once with my own money and the borrower met my expectations, I didn’t get it back. I have never thought badly of the borrower but I remember the incident.
Part two is something with which I have no personal experience. Jesus was talking about money so I must draw the conclusion that the bribe would be cash or it’s equivalent. We are instructed to refuse such a bribe when it involves the innocent. However, I am of the mind to think it would be unfaithful and unthinkable to think of accepting a bribe and perhaps by your testimony convict someone you know to be innocent and subject them to punishment.
Now this is an illustration of the practice of reading a whole passage in context before trying to put any part of it into your life. If we take any single injunction from the Psalm and try to live it by itself we will have difficulties that will at the least be discouraging, and at best, only a partial fulfillment of your desire to conform to the life of Jesus.
Know all that is required before jumping in. Then take the parts and live them.
Monday, February 22, 2010
Well here it is Monday again and I have not written my blog. So here we go:
Verse 4: Those who despise persistent sinners
and honor the faithful followers of the Lord
and keep their promises even when it hurts.
This first phrase has cause me a great amount of prayer and seeking to find an acceptable answer. In light of 2 Peter where it says,"...but (the Lord) is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance." And the many times we have heard that the prayer of importunity is the way to deal with stubborn unbelievers it is hard to accept this command to despise sinners. The second operative however comes to our rescue when confused with this injunction, That word is "persistent." I chose to let the Word define the Word at this point and went to my collection of Bibles to see how others handled it. The most direct scripture regarding this is in The English Version which says,"... despises those whom God rejects." So if I listen to "persistent" and understand those are the people God rejects I can sleep at night in comfort. I am not violating my conscience. Other translations of the original texts use words like vile, reprobate, and wicked to identify the despised.
"...the faithful followers," are easier to ingest into my theology. All disciples who can honestly say they are hungry and thirsty for righteousness know followers whose lives demonstrate faithfulness. They are the ones who are proven through testing and are ready in season and out of season to share the love of Christ in appropriate ways to the lost and the hungry disciple. The faithful are generous givers, salty, ripe with the Word, kind and merciful always adding to their relationship with Jesus. they know who they are in Christ and live like they do. They always have time for me and you. Hebrews Chapter Four tells us that grace is available to us when we need it. Faithful followers are often that grace.
"...and keep their promises even when it hurts." God really knows how to test the spirit. But we have no excuse, our Teacher is the best example of this phrase and we cannot argue with him. So when we tell our children we will take them to the park on Saturday and the opportunity comes for us to do an adult thing we cannot brush off our commitment to our kids. They heard us give them a promise and they expect us to keep it. When we don't keep the promise we have hurt them and they remember for years that broken promise. The same is true with our relationship with God. When we make what the International House of Prayer calls a Sacred Trust with God to do something that is the same as a promise. We set the conditions to be fulfilled nobody forced us to do it. We said we would follow, we would pray or we would testify of His goodness. We made a promise and we must keep it even if it hurts.
Verse 4: Those who despise persistent sinners
and honor the faithful followers of the Lord
and keep their promises even when it hurts.
This first phrase has cause me a great amount of prayer and seeking to find an acceptable answer. In light of 2 Peter where it says,"...but (the Lord) is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance." And the many times we have heard that the prayer of importunity is the way to deal with stubborn unbelievers it is hard to accept this command to despise sinners. The second operative however comes to our rescue when confused with this injunction, That word is "persistent." I chose to let the Word define the Word at this point and went to my collection of Bibles to see how others handled it. The most direct scripture regarding this is in The English Version which says,"... despises those whom God rejects." So if I listen to "persistent" and understand those are the people God rejects I can sleep at night in comfort. I am not violating my conscience. Other translations of the original texts use words like vile, reprobate, and wicked to identify the despised.
"...the faithful followers," are easier to ingest into my theology. All disciples who can honestly say they are hungry and thirsty for righteousness know followers whose lives demonstrate faithfulness. They are the ones who are proven through testing and are ready in season and out of season to share the love of Christ in appropriate ways to the lost and the hungry disciple. The faithful are generous givers, salty, ripe with the Word, kind and merciful always adding to their relationship with Jesus. they know who they are in Christ and live like they do. They always have time for me and you. Hebrews Chapter Four tells us that grace is available to us when we need it. Faithful followers are often that grace.
"...and keep their promises even when it hurts." God really knows how to test the spirit. But we have no excuse, our Teacher is the best example of this phrase and we cannot argue with him. So when we tell our children we will take them to the park on Saturday and the opportunity comes for us to do an adult thing we cannot brush off our commitment to our kids. They heard us give them a promise and they expect us to keep it. When we don't keep the promise we have hurt them and they remember for years that broken promise. The same is true with our relationship with God. When we make what the International House of Prayer calls a Sacred Trust with God to do something that is the same as a promise. We set the conditions to be fulfilled nobody forced us to do it. We said we would follow, we would pray or we would testify of His goodness. We made a promise and we must keep it even if it hurts.
Monday, February 15, 2010
Ps 15 vs 3
I ask you to refer back to the two questions David put at the outset of this Psalm. Take into consideration that what is being asked is "who may' worship or enter not who can. We must come to a heart understanding of the entire Psalm and not take an external view of ourselves. This means we cannot go out and practice these injunctions without them being impressed upon our person first. To apply these injunctions externally first would be to attempt to please God and earn our way into the sanctuary and His presence. Our primary stance here is to believe God will grant us access to both the sanctuary and His presence and trust he will keep His word.
So, in my continuing monologue on this Psalm I find each verse brings us deeper into the nature of those who may worship and especially those who may enter His presence. What a joyous time it is to truly enter His presence! For me there is a hurried slow process to become quiet enough to open to the door and then more time to sit and listen carefully, quietly so nothing interferes with my hearing. When the door opens dialog is available and prosperous. So sit and listen. Quiet yourself before moving beyond the text we are considering. Listen specifically to hear.
3 Those who refuse to slander others
or harm their neighbors
or speak evil of their friends. NLT
Some people have little problem with this right conduct and have harmonious relationships with their 'others', 'neighbors' or 'friends'. But most of us are challenged by these instructions: refuse to slander, or harm, or speak evil of.
Lets look at 'others'. For my simple mind an other is anyone who isn't me. That includes you and any other you out there. A broad category indeed. And then there is slander. Webster says,"stumbling block, offense" and goes on to say, "an utterance of false charges or misrepresentations which defame another's reputation. Some would add "on purpose." But the definition does not draw a line as to purpose, it includes any one who would utter such a statement. The Scriptures also tell us that we are responsible for every idle word. So even in jest (of which I am often guilty) we are accountable. The Holy Spirit speaking through David again is taking the highest road of conduct. Here to harm our neighbor is to insult or disparage that person. To speak evil of a friend is to say anything toward that person that is displeasing to God, or anything wicked or disparaging. All of these definitions are strict in their interpretation and application.
While getting these three instruction settled in your heart, stop for a moment at the end of the day and ask yourself this question, "How did I do today with my others, neighbors and friends?" It will take a time to get these character traits established but it will also give quicker access to God and Jesus when you want them close.
So, in my continuing monologue on this Psalm I find each verse brings us deeper into the nature of those who may worship and especially those who may enter His presence. What a joyous time it is to truly enter His presence! For me there is a hurried slow process to become quiet enough to open to the door and then more time to sit and listen carefully, quietly so nothing interferes with my hearing. When the door opens dialog is available and prosperous. So sit and listen. Quiet yourself before moving beyond the text we are considering. Listen specifically to hear.
3 Those who refuse to slander others
or harm their neighbors
or speak evil of their friends. NLT
Some people have little problem with this right conduct and have harmonious relationships with their 'others', 'neighbors' or 'friends'. But most of us are challenged by these instructions: refuse to slander, or harm, or speak evil of.
Lets look at 'others'. For my simple mind an other is anyone who isn't me. That includes you and any other you out there. A broad category indeed. And then there is slander. Webster says,"stumbling block, offense" and goes on to say, "an utterance of false charges or misrepresentations which defame another's reputation. Some would add "on purpose." But the definition does not draw a line as to purpose, it includes any one who would utter such a statement. The Scriptures also tell us that we are responsible for every idle word. So even in jest (of which I am often guilty) we are accountable. The Holy Spirit speaking through David again is taking the highest road of conduct. Here to harm our neighbor is to insult or disparage that person. To speak evil of a friend is to say anything toward that person that is displeasing to God, or anything wicked or disparaging. All of these definitions are strict in their interpretation and application.
While getting these three instruction settled in your heart, stop for a moment at the end of the day and ask yourself this question, "How did I do today with my others, neighbors and friends?" It will take a time to get these character traits established but it will also give quicker access to God and Jesus when you want them close.
Monday, February 8, 2010
"LOOKING . . . "
The book of 1st John opens with a description of the One who was from the beginning and came to earth in the flesh. There are several statements made in the opening to show that John was talking of an actual person. John says this"...which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon..." The looked upon is a way of saying, "I stared for a considerable time and studied the makeup of this person."
In looking at Psalm 15, I find David sitting in a "Secret Place" musing through a forenoon and coming to the conclusion that his citizens needed more explanation of how this community ought to appear to the rest of the world. It does not sound as if he were doing this for discipline, just for information and instruction. I have no theological proofs to offer, it is a gut sense that brings me to this summation.
Remember now, David asked of himself and God, "Who may worship in your sanctuary Lord? Who may enter your presence on your holy hill?" and then David began the answer, which very well could be and probably is directly from God, through the Spirit. "Those who lead blameless lives and do what is right, speaking the truth from sincere hearts."
"Those who lead blameless lives..." Wow, that narrows the group of qualifiers in a hurry. I am sure that is very difficult at the best and impossible at its worst. Blameless? you got to be kidding. How is it likely? This "Blameless" theme runs throughout the New Testament often referring to the end times and the return of Jesus Christ. "Without spot and blameless." says Peter in his second book. And by human effort it is impossible, but with Jesus and the Holy Spirit, possibility is possible.
To be subject to blame is to be worthy of blame or reproach or censure. To live blamelessly is to not be or feel guilty of wrongdoing. In reading the writings of Michael Molinos, a 17th century mystic, I found he believes the sincere desire to live a blameless life by an act of faith and resolve is enough to guide us on a path to an undistorted relationship with the Lord who lives within us. The blood of Jesus shed on the cross covered all past guilt, repentance delivers us today and forgiveness is the icing on the cake.
To "...do what is right" is to live in righteousness. 1st John again speaks to this point by saying, "He who practices righteousness is righteous just as He is righteous." Practice is an ongoing pursuit we developed when we first began to speak. If we did not get our message across we cried and tried again until we got it right. That is practice. Crying is not permissible as an adult. We are to purpose to get it right and try again and again until it is no longer trial and error but the practice of a holy lifestyle.
The Holy Spirit, who really authored David's Psalms, is always orderly. Therefore, when we address the third portion of this injunction, "...speaking the truth from a sincere heart." we are to have already tackled the first two, that is living blamelessly and righteously. The Scriptures become essential to speaking the truth and without time in the words of God, his truth will escape us. We can speak only from our experience or opinions and not from being established in God's truth. That is what is required here.
Another note as to using this material in your life. It is not intended that a person should take just a small portion of this Psalm and put it into practice but rather to use the total piece. Too often we see or hear a way to improve our lives and jump right in and make a mess because we have not considered all the information available before takeoff. I would hope you will put this in memory and either go to Psalm 15 and read the entire piece or wait until I have finished the rest of it here. If you wait, you will have time to ingest what has already been presented and hopefully be open to more.
The book of 1st John opens with a description of the One who was from the beginning and came to earth in the flesh. There are several statements made in the opening to show that John was talking of an actual person. John says this"...which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon..." The looked upon is a way of saying, "I stared for a considerable time and studied the makeup of this person."
In looking at Psalm 15, I find David sitting in a "Secret Place" musing through a forenoon and coming to the conclusion that his citizens needed more explanation of how this community ought to appear to the rest of the world. It does not sound as if he were doing this for discipline, just for information and instruction. I have no theological proofs to offer, it is a gut sense that brings me to this summation.
Remember now, David asked of himself and God, "Who may worship in your sanctuary Lord? Who may enter your presence on your holy hill?" and then David began the answer, which very well could be and probably is directly from God, through the Spirit. "Those who lead blameless lives and do what is right, speaking the truth from sincere hearts."
"Those who lead blameless lives..." Wow, that narrows the group of qualifiers in a hurry. I am sure that is very difficult at the best and impossible at its worst. Blameless? you got to be kidding. How is it likely? This "Blameless" theme runs throughout the New Testament often referring to the end times and the return of Jesus Christ. "Without spot and blameless." says Peter in his second book. And by human effort it is impossible, but with Jesus and the Holy Spirit, possibility is possible.
To be subject to blame is to be worthy of blame or reproach or censure. To live blamelessly is to not be or feel guilty of wrongdoing. In reading the writings of Michael Molinos, a 17th century mystic, I found he believes the sincere desire to live a blameless life by an act of faith and resolve is enough to guide us on a path to an undistorted relationship with the Lord who lives within us. The blood of Jesus shed on the cross covered all past guilt, repentance delivers us today and forgiveness is the icing on the cake.
To "...do what is right" is to live in righteousness. 1st John again speaks to this point by saying, "He who practices righteousness is righteous just as He is righteous." Practice is an ongoing pursuit we developed when we first began to speak. If we did not get our message across we cried and tried again until we got it right. That is practice. Crying is not permissible as an adult. We are to purpose to get it right and try again and again until it is no longer trial and error but the practice of a holy lifestyle.
The Holy Spirit, who really authored David's Psalms, is always orderly. Therefore, when we address the third portion of this injunction, "...speaking the truth from a sincere heart." we are to have already tackled the first two, that is living blamelessly and righteously. The Scriptures become essential to speaking the truth and without time in the words of God, his truth will escape us. We can speak only from our experience or opinions and not from being established in God's truth. That is what is required here.
Another note as to using this material in your life. It is not intended that a person should take just a small portion of this Psalm and put it into practice but rather to use the total piece. Too often we see or hear a way to improve our lives and jump right in and make a mess because we have not considered all the information available before takeoff. I would hope you will put this in memory and either go to Psalm 15 and read the entire piece or wait until I have finished the rest of it here. If you wait, you will have time to ingest what has already been presented and hopefully be open to more.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Sorta housekeeping
I am taking this interlude from my ideas of what David desired to achieve from penning Psalm 15 to hopefully open for you the same new excitement I have for doing this blog. My desire is that we might gain the same understanding that created the Psalm and why it has been preserved over all these years so we see this Psalm in a new way and will prompt our lives to bring glory to our Lord.
I am also seeing a greater value and power in hiding the Word in your heart. It has come through the reading of a book about music, The Music Lesson by Victor L. Wooten. I do not know the author but have been told he is one of the best bass players out there. What I am finding is a completely new look at how to approach learning to play music. I am half way through the book and see other applications of this approach.
So why am I telling you this in the middle of a blog on Psalm 15? It gives us a new look at learning how to live the Psalm. What Wooten says is when most people first approach music all they see is the notes. They whiz right past the groove, tone and purpose and fail to see the whole which includes many other facets that make the music beautiful.
This is much like my coming to Psalm 15. At first glance all I see are the words and not the rest of the picture, like how the words are connected what is their purpose and how would they sound aloud. Now the notes or words are important but without having looked at the whole I miss the beauty and often see only what I think I already know.
In the memorization of Scripture I have always kept the whole piece in view from the beginning. I do not just start memorizing words because when you get through all you have is a series of words without knowing what they were intended to be as a whole. By seeing the whole at the beginning I get the tenor and the tone of the piece before I ever start the memory work. So, when I am finished I know how it is to sound as a whole and thereby capture the beauty and much of the truth of the work. Then because I primarily do the Scriptures as drama I have a good feel for the way it ought to sound when spoken. The whole is not just a bunch of single words one after another but a beautiful picture.
Monday, February 1, 2010
Perspective
Occasionally I sit and ponder the Scriptures with a desire to see what they would say to me and they reveal themselves. I am not a theologian nor biblical scholar but I do like to spend time with the Scriptures as often as I can. Early on in my Christian walk I ran into the Navigators and learned a few things from them about digging into the Word.
One of the books printed by NAVPRESS is Historic Creeds by Kenneth Boa. There I found we can come to love God in greater measure through meditation especially when memorization accompanies the practice. The book leads us through topics such as Loving God through His World, His Word and His Works. It also goes into historic titles and instructions for "The Practice of Sacred Reading". I did not know the "how" and "why" I was doing what I did until this book explained it to me. I also did not intend to promote a book on my first blog but it is done and I am happy with having done it.
Having said all that, here is the point. Over the last year I have spent time with Psalm 15. I have committed it to memory and I sit with it thinking about each word and each combinations of words. Here is Psalm 15 in the New Living Translation:
Who may worship in your sactuary Lord?
Who may enter your presence on your holy hill?
Those who lead blameless lives and do what is right
speaking the truth from sincere hearts.
Those who refuse to slander others
or harm their neighbors
or speak evil of their friends.
Those who despise persistent sinners,
and honor the faithful followers of the Lord
and keep their promises even when it hurts.
Those who do not charge interest on the money they lend,
and who refuse to accept bribes to testify against the innocent.
Such people will stand firm forever.
With regard to the first question, the Psalm asks, I suggest, that worship is available to anyone who believes everywhere they go. Jehova-Shammah is the Lord who is there. Where ever we go He is there. He is with us enroute and proceeds us to our destination. We cannot go without His going with us and being there when we arrive. That is very assuring to me that I am protected any time I am proceeding in obedience. When obedient I am in His sanctuary.
With regard to the second question I have a different view. This view has been enhanced and clarified from our recent experience at the International House of Prayer - Atlanta where we spent seven months of 2009. Our perspective has turned more eternal from that experience.
In my mind, the holy hill is and has always been Mount Zion. However, looking from an eternal perspective not only is it Mt. Zion, it is also the landing spot for the New Jerusalem. Who may enter his presence may be limited first by the injunctions of Psalm 15 and second by the language found in Hebrews 3:14&15, "For if we are faithful to the end, trusting God just as firmly as when we first believed, we will share in all that belongs to Christ. But never forget the warning: Today you must listen to his voice. Don't harden you hearts against him as Israel did when they rebelled."
This puts us to the test of both questions. Psalm 15 gives us guidelines for life. Hebrews 3 tells us how long we must live by those guidelines. What do you think?
One of the books printed by NAVPRESS is Historic Creeds by Kenneth Boa. There I found we can come to love God in greater measure through meditation especially when memorization accompanies the practice. The book leads us through topics such as Loving God through His World, His Word and His Works. It also goes into historic titles and instructions for "The Practice of Sacred Reading". I did not know the "how" and "why" I was doing what I did until this book explained it to me. I also did not intend to promote a book on my first blog but it is done and I am happy with having done it.
Having said all that, here is the point. Over the last year I have spent time with Psalm 15. I have committed it to memory and I sit with it thinking about each word and each combinations of words. Here is Psalm 15 in the New Living Translation:
Who may worship in your sactuary Lord?
Who may enter your presence on your holy hill?
Those who lead blameless lives and do what is right
speaking the truth from sincere hearts.
Those who refuse to slander others
or harm their neighbors
or speak evil of their friends.
Those who despise persistent sinners,
and honor the faithful followers of the Lord
and keep their promises even when it hurts.
Those who do not charge interest on the money they lend,
and who refuse to accept bribes to testify against the innocent.
Such people will stand firm forever.
With regard to the first question, the Psalm asks, I suggest, that worship is available to anyone who believes everywhere they go. Jehova-Shammah is the Lord who is there. Where ever we go He is there. He is with us enroute and proceeds us to our destination. We cannot go without His going with us and being there when we arrive. That is very assuring to me that I am protected any time I am proceeding in obedience. When obedient I am in His sanctuary.
With regard to the second question I have a different view. This view has been enhanced and clarified from our recent experience at the International House of Prayer - Atlanta where we spent seven months of 2009. Our perspective has turned more eternal from that experience.
In my mind, the holy hill is and has always been Mount Zion. However, looking from an eternal perspective not only is it Mt. Zion, it is also the landing spot for the New Jerusalem. Who may enter his presence may be limited first by the injunctions of Psalm 15 and second by the language found in Hebrews 3:14&15, "For if we are faithful to the end, trusting God just as firmly as when we first believed, we will share in all that belongs to Christ. But never forget the warning: Today you must listen to his voice. Don't harden you hearts against him as Israel did when they rebelled."
This puts us to the test of both questions. Psalm 15 gives us guidelines for life. Hebrews 3 tells us how long we must live by those guidelines. What do you think?
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