by Pastor James Lee

“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” (Philippians 4:4-8)

Paul says in v. 5, “The Lord is near” or “The Lord is at hand.” If my lack of joy, my lack of contentment, my lack of patience, says anything about me, it says that I don’t functionally believe He “is near.” Those sins always occur in the context of God’s omnipresence and omniscience. So that the Lord is right next to us, in the same room, and we’re behaving like He’s not enough, like He’s not holy, like He doesn’t actually care about us, like He’s not powerful or loving enough to be the answer to our struggles and problems. It’s one thing to believe the attributes of God, it’s quite another to see it and live it every moment. It’s both convicting and comforting, isn’t it? It is for me, big time… the “Lord is near” both in terms of our time and space. It’s both His presence and His imminence. He’s right here with us now, yet He’s coming back soon.

Depending on the state of our minds at a given time, we can view that positively, so that we’re running to God, rather than running from Him. His nearness in a sense equals His grace. Or we can view that just as accurately yet negatively, realizing we’re not getting away with anything. But, the good news is that the gospel addresses both in glorious mercy. So on one end, we should be deeply comforted, that Christ our Friend and Savior is with us all the time, and will never forsake us. He’s keeping us, our bottom line, our rock, our anchor, and if we ask, He’ll guide us, enable us, help us, transform us. On the other hand, there also ought to be a reverential fear, expressed by a poem titled, “If Jesus came to your house.” It challenges us about the things done, said, thought, and watched in the home, and asks what changes would there be if Jesus turned up as a guest for a day? But the point of the poem, of course, is that He is there every day. How true are the things we say? How different would our lives look if we each took holiness more seriously? How does our noble Savior judge our attitudes, the way we might deal with company expense forms, our critical spirit, our greed, or when we gossip about others? What would we do less of, or not at all? What would we do more of? What greater joy also might we experience? Greater usefulness and witness in the name of the Lord? How deep is our pride when we refuse to forgive brethren? Gerard Chrispin asks, “He will treat all His children with the same grace and favour. How can I face Him, and give an account of my life as a Christian, if I fail to treat some Christian brothers and sisters sensitively and gently, possibly just because our personal chemistry differs?” Therein, I believe, is the rub. Think reverently of God with me now. Do you know that every sin is a direct violation of the Great Commandment, which Jesus says is the sum of the law? Every sin is a failure to love God and love people, whether by commission or omission, correct?

That should cause us to pause and make us realize both how much grace we’ve received and how much grace we need. We’re washing others’ feet with joy and seeking to understand others and not just be understood. Everything has a horizontal and vertical component. Romans 12 is an example of that. To be a living sacrifice of worship to God, will mean humbly loving our fellow brethren. Philip Ryken comments, “We need to be honest about the fact that all of our dissatisfaction is discontent with God. Usually we take out our frustrations on someone else. But God knows that when we grumble, we are finding fault with Him. A complaining spirit indicates a problem in our relationship with God.” Right relationship leads to joy!