Chiseling Stones

On By Bp. Justin ElwellIn InspirationLeave a comment

Labor can be tedious. Trying to find meaning in mundane, repetitive tasks, exhausting. Walking in the Spirit while in the workforce, or tending to the home front, tiresome.

Paul, recognizing the challenge of finding the Spirit in the midst of the worldly, wrote, “And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men” (Col. 3:23).

I often meditate on the construction of the second Holy Temple. The enormity of the project. The years of constriction. Then the response to seeing the foundation of the second Temple by those who had seen the first? They wept; because it did not measure up (Ezra 3:12).

Imagine if your only task was to chisel stones. Day after day: hammer to chisel. Not tasked with the finishing work, you labor in the dust and heat. Yet, your labor apparently pales in comparison to what had come before. Devastating.

Still, the Lord said, “The glory of this latter temple shall be greater than the former,’ says the LORD of hosts. ‘And in this place I will give peace,’ says the LORD of hosts” (Hag. 2:9).

How could the glory of the second surpass that of the first?

It would be personally visited by the Lord Himself, not in presence, but in person (Mal. 3:1).

The stones mindlessly chiseled. The dust filling the air. The scorching heat. It all served a purpose, more grand than could be imagined: Emmanuel walking on those very stones.

Today, as Paul tells us, we are a habitation of God personally visited, and in dwelt by His Son (I Cor. 3:16), chiseled by the Holy Spirit. Yet, the labor isn’t to building up and out, but to be present as Yeshua reaches through us to the next living stone to be chiseled out of this world for His advancing Kingdom.

When you recognize how He has reformed you into a living stone, a living presence in His dwelling, those hours with the chisel seem to fade away as one more appears before Him, and is ushered into His Kingdom.

Be well. Shalom.

Passover Meditation #2

On By Bp. Justin ElwellIn InspirationLeave a comment

In the hours of a Passover Seder, the subtly of its message can get lost in the ache of sitting, mental boredom, or translation itself.

Yet, during the Passover Seder you will note a series of fours: children, questions, cups, and stages of redemption. Why?

While all of these elements are intertwined as one story, one lesson stands out, that of redemption. In the Hebrew text of Exodus 6:6-7, a prominent Passover text, we find four verbs to describe redemption. As we read:

“Therefore say to the children of Israel: ‘I am the Lord; I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, I will rescue you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments. I will take you as My people, and I will be your God. Then you shall know that I am the Lord your God who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.”

He will, 1) “bring you out … 2) save you … 3) redeem you … 4) take you …”

We note from this that deliverance is in stages; or we can understand it as a process. Yes, in messianic faith we understand the fullness of salvation to be a now, but not yet. Still, there is something more at work that gives encouragement.

First, the Lord delivers His people from oppressive bondage to sin and shame. Second, He releases us from subjection to the kingdom of darkness. Third, He redeems from the midst of destruction. Fourth, He takes us to Himself.

What do we learn from this?

Paul encourages us, “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure” (Phil. 2:12-13).

Wrongly applied, “fear and trembling” seems to imply that salvation can be lost, especially if we do not work at it. Not very encouraging, and this is not at all what Paul has in mind.

Fear and trembling describes the reverent humility of one saved, not by their own effort or moral goodness, but by the unmerited action (Eph. 2:8-9) of God in fulfilling His promises to Abraham (Gen. 12:1-3; 15:13-14) by the promised lamb (Gen. 22:8).

Not in our own strength do we reach the goal (Ro. 10:4), but in the working of God’s will as it works in us according to His pleasure.

Recognize that we, as His people, are growing, not all at once, as that would be unhealthy, but gradually. While our souls are safely renewed in Yeshua/Jesus, we continue to mature in faith as He leads us out of our personal and corporate Egypt.

Let’s recognize the stages, given by the Lord, submit to His leading along the way, and rejoice in both the great and small victories in Him that manifest in our lives.

That is the message of these four verbs, and how we can deepen our understanding of them for today.

Be well. Shalom.

Why Rush?

On By Bp. Justin ElwellIn InspirationLeave a comment

Prayer takes time. In an age of instantaneous communication, and even quicker movement from here to there, prayer still takes time. Why?

Heaven. Too often disciples are in a rush: things to do, people to see, a living to make. But heaven.

David wrote:

שָׂמַחְתִּי, בְּאֹמְרִים לִי–בֵּית יְהוָה נֵלֵךְ

“I rejoiced in my soul when they said to me, ‘Let us travel to the house of the Lord.’”

David describes a journey. Journeys, by definition, take time. Even this inner journey of prayer takes time, at times, even more time than a journey of many miles.

With the miles of distraction, pressures, obligations, fears, heartache, etc. in our lives, prayer, really intimate prayer, is often a distance away.

The story is told of two men who met to pray and study. Both men began, silently, involved in their inner work. One finished long before the other. Why? What was his companion doing?

He explained, “You travel for business; why not just think of the journey, what you need to do at the destination, and imagine the return home in your mind?” “Because,” the man said, “I have to be there. I just can’t think myself there.”

Exactly. Prayer is being there. Not just talking to there, but a journey over the inner clutter along the way to be there, in His presence.

We should take time. Yes, it’s not always allowable, convenient, or desired; but we should learn to do the inner work of faith to appear before Him, and rejoice at the trip to be there; not just imagine it.

Why rush? We all know those precious times with family and friends, so sweet, that unfolded after the miles on the train, plane, or in an automobile.

How much sweeter the time before the Lord when we take our time, leave behind, even for a few moments, the urge to rush on to the next thing.

Yeshua/Jesus provides a beautiful example for us, as He lay aside sleep to go to the lonely places to pray, “Now it came to pass in those days that He went out to the mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God.” (Lk. 6:12).

He went out. It was inconvenient. It was physical movement. He demonstrated the inner journey of prayer for us by going out.

Shouldn’t prayer, speaking to the maker of heaven and earth, be the one thing we make time for, and not rush through?

Be well. Shalom.