Category: sin

His Oil, Your Head

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I have to admit, I always wondered what this verse in Psalm 23 meant. I thought “He anoints my head with oil” was a nice poetic phrase for God blessing David. But as I delved deeper into the context and explored different interpretations, a beautiful and profound meaning unfolded before my eyes.

First of all the act of anointing with oil holds significant cultural and spiritual symbolism in biblical times. It was a practice to anoint guests as a sign of honor and welcome, especially in lavish feasts and celebrations.

Anointing with oil also had medicinal purposes, as it could soothe and heal various ailments. (Now that’s interesting, I thought.)

In the context of Psalm 23, the phrase “He anoints my head with oil” takes on a deeper metaphorical meaning. It signifies God’s abundant blessings, His provision, and His care for His people. Just as a host anoints the head of a guest as an act of honor and hospitality, God lovingly anoints us with blessings and favor.

Moreover, the act of anointing with oil has spiritual connotations. In ancient religious rituals, anointing with oil was a sign of consecration, setting apart someone or something for a holy purpose.

This verse also portrays a practical picture of medicinal shepherding.

In biblical times, shepherds used oil to treat and protect the sheep’s wounds and keep insects away from their heads. By anointing our heads with oil, God brings healing and comfort to our brokenness, soothing our hurts and protecting us from the turmoil of life.

Sheep often can do harmful things to themselves as they try to find relief from flies and ticks.

Their ears and eyes can be targets for tormenting insects as well.

Sheep have been known to bash their heads against rock walls to dislodge flies from their ears, noses, and eyes. A good shepherd watches closely over his flock. He watches over them carefully.

A good shepherd knows that poured out oil forms a barrier of protection against these things that would try to destroy the sheep.

Have you ever asked God to anoint your head with oil?

Psalm 23 as a whole beautifully paints a picture of God as our loving and caring Shepherd, guiding us, providing for us, and protecting us. The imagery of anointing with oil further illuminates the depth of His love and the extent of His care. It reminds us that we are chosen and cherished by God, and that His blessings are abundant and unending.

But ask yourself these questions. Do you have times of mental torment? Do the worrisome thoughts invade your mind over and over? Do you beat your head against a wall trying to stop them?

The Holy Spirit can come with His endless supply of oil!

“You prepare a table before me
    in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
    my cup overflows.”

Psalm 23:5, ESV

Oh how He loves you!

God Really Wants to Forgive You

forgiveness

“But neither of them could repay him, so he kindly forgave them both, canceling their debts.” 

Luke 7:42

When you are in debt, whether $50 or $50,000 there’s that anxiety of being in slavery to the lender.  And yet when we begin to line up the spiritual with the physical we learn that we are all in debt.  We all owe more than we have. Most of us realize this, and many just “turn off the spiritual apparatus” that seems to keep harping on this, and then we tell ourselves repeatedly that it really isn’t true.

But all of us are in debt. 

Of course not everyone is the same, we have different sins.  Some have lived a deliberately dark, prodigal life (as in “drugs, sex and rock-n-roll”).  Others, embracing a strained moralism of some kind, have apparently sinned less (think choir boys, or “Snow White”).  But no matter, for “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.”  (Romans 3:23)

And “all” means all. “Fallen” means a complete collapse.

In this parable, Jesus adroitly tells the story of two men who were indebted to a very rich man.  One owed a relatively small amount, but yet it was significant enough for this man to worry and to hope maybe for some mercy.  He knew that he owed, and knew he lacked the means to pay what was required.

The second man owed far more, many times beyond the first man.  This guy was very deep in debt.  The modern equivalent was close to $500,000, and in ancient times this would have been a staggering amount of money.  But he too held out for mercy; and hoped for the forgiveness of his debt (stranger things have happened).

The astonishing thing is that the rich man completely and unreservedly forgave both. 

Kindness alone was what moved the Lender.  These two men would be released without any conditions, liens, or liabilities.  They walked into the room expecting imprisonment, and they walked out with all their debts forgiven. Plain and simple.jail-free The amazing fact for you and I is this– we have been released from the ponderous weight of our sins, and yet we are really confused.  Our sins have been taken from us and we bear them no more!  The guilt of our transgressions has been cut away from our souls.

What Jesus did, dying on that cross, not for His sin, but for mine, ours and theirs, allows even the most nasty and vile of us to walk out scot-free.

Some who read this have committed spectacular sins.

You have piled up more sin and evil than others around you.  But no matter, it’s all forgiven.  It’s time to believe this, repent and then take your pardon and walk out into the bright sunshine as a free man or woman. There is no record of your sins, you can scour heaven and earth looking for it, and yet there is no evidence it ever existed.  

Except for His nail-prints.

 

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The Art of Being Seen

Jesus entered Jericho and made his way through the town. 2 There was a man there named Zacchaeus. He was the chief tax collector in the region, and he had become very rich. 3 He tried to get a look at Jesus, but he was too short to see over the crowd. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree beside the road, for Jesus was going to pass that way.

5 When Jesus came by he looked up at Zacchaeus and called him by name.“Zacchaeus!” he said. “Quick, come down! I must be a guest in your home today.” 6 Zacchaeus quickly climbed down and took Jesus to his house in great excitement and joy. 7 But the people were displeased. “He has gone to be the guest of a notorious sinner,” they grumbled.

8 Meanwhile, Zacchaeus stood before the Lord and said, “I will give half my wealth to the poor, Lord, and if I have cheated people on their taxes, I will give them back four times as much!” 9 Jesus responded, “Salvation has come to this home today, for this man has shown himself to be a true son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.”

Luke 19:1-10, NLT

Zacchaeus was a resourceful man.  Jericho was a prime toll center in the entire area, and Zacchaeus would’ve been the richest man in the entire region. He was very wealthy, being an overseer of other tax collectors (the region with a major export of balsa wood.) He was well on his way to becoming a millionaire at least, the ancient Judean version of it.

We should know two things about Zacchaeus:
  1. His Hebrew name meant “pure.” This was an ironic moniker for a despised man who had sold out to the Roman tax business. (Perhaps he had had a ‘godly mother?)
  2. He was very short in stature. I suppose we could call him ‘vertically challenged’?

I suppose there is one other thing, my guess is it’s the main one. He simply wanted to see Jesus. He was so short that he couldn’t see over the crowds. Perhaps he could’ve bribed his way to the curb, but apparently, there wasn’t enough time. Jesus was coming this way! He must make a decision.

He looks and sees a tree. It grew on the side of the road, its branches hanging over the well-traveled path. He clumsily climbs up (in a robe!) and finds a clear spot to get a good look at Jesus. He is a simple man, and this is all he wants is just to see Jesus!

Within the Christian faith over the many centuries, there has always been a heart’s desire to get closer to Jesus. Many of the established ‘disciplines’ such as:

  • prayer
  • the study of scripture
  • fasting
  • evangelism
  • simplicity
  • solitude
  • service
  • confession
  • worship
Think of this list as simply branches of the tree.
Each discipline comes as one of several. But they are futile, or worse if they don’t lead us to Jesus Christ. 

It is critical to grasp the end result; they are merely the methods we use to see Jesus clearer. Its folly to climb the tree, just for the sake of climbing. No. The branch we are sitting on is just a means to an end. To behold our Lord, to somehow get closer to Him is priceless.

For example, I usually don’t pray for ‘prayers sake.’ I must pray like Zacchaeus climbed;  I just to see Jesus. I know He is always watching and yet I want Him to see me.

But we also are not to build tree houses. Rather we’re meant to see Jesus, come down, and have a wonderful time with Him in close fellowship.

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Flourish-61

Living Tethered to the Cross

We live in this place.
We live in this place.

 “The devil never rejoices more than when he robs a servant of God of the peace of God.”
Sometimes I think I’ve made the devil dance far too many times.

I confess that peace has never been real high on my list. Love, joy, kindness and even goodness are clear priorities. Peace–well… not so much. Until it’s not there. And then I get frantic by its absence, and look for it with manic bewilderment. (Not again!) It seems that peace matters.

I’m panting for some real peace, some sign that God still loves me. Anxiety eats at me. I beat myself up by my last failure. The guilt of my latest sin grows until it looms larger than the blood that saved me. Someone once told me that religious people have the most neurosis. And that could be true.

Perhaps it’s a legalistic Christian that gets strangest?

I’m afraid that we are taking “the present tense’ out of the Gospel.

The past tense is far preferable to us as we manage the Christian life. We like to make check marks on our list. Repentance– check. Baptism– check. Bible study– check. I think it gives me a definite feeling of ‘maturity.’ I think that somehow I am holy.

The closer I move toward the light the more I see my sinfulness. I haven’t arrived, and it seems I’m still the sinner I always was. I cannot pretend otherwise, trying hard changes nothing. I still desperately need God’s grace.

I know, I’ve tried to produce godliness, and I just can’t do it. Discipleship starts in earnest but it ends up only disappointing me, and maybe even annoys God, ( but I’m not always sure of that). I know forgiveness, and I do walk in its wonderful light. When I read the Word it’s so good, and I know that it’s true. But, that’s not the issue.

I read Luther 30 years ago. (And Bonhoeffer would say something similar.)  “When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said, ‘Repent,’ he willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance.” Luther once wrote.

There is a present tense here we can’t ignore. I don’t just repent over smoking, or fornication, or of hypocrisy, once and done. But my entire way of living is meant to be one of repenting!

Repentance needs to be a moment-by-moment grace.

As I read the Beatitudes I cannot evade the sense that they are present tense. Read them, they’re obviously not a spiritual checklist. Each verse seems to speak of the time being, the present moment. No list here, guys. Discipleship is not a simple list to check-off spiritual growth.

“God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him,
    for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.
4 God blesses those who mourn,
    for they will be comforted.
5 God blesses those who are humble…
 
   

Matthew 5:3-5

“All of the Christian life is repentance. Turning from sin and trusting in the good news that Jesus saves sinners aren’t merely a one-time inaugural experience but the daily substance of Christianity. The gospel is for every day and every moment. Repentance is to be the Christian’s continual posture.”

John Piper

Luther’s last words, laying on his deathbed wrote on a scrap of paper these words, “We are beggars! This is true.” Thirty years before, he was only echoing his first thesis that he nailed on that door. It seems dear ones, we are to live at the foot of the cross. Everyday. Because we desperately need to.

And perhaps the biggest reason is this: Jesus only comes for ‘sinners.’

I want to suggest that we will always be beggars, I think that this is true. But I also believe that someday, I will shine with the glory of God and be changed into  the likeness of my Savior.

That dear one is true.

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