A S P E C T S - a monthly devotional journal For subscription information on receiving Aspects every month via e-mail, or the laser-printed edition by mail, see NOTES, COPYRIGHT & SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION near the end of this file. Aspects is written by David S. Lampel. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Issue #07, June 1991 (Internet Edition) B E N E D I C T I O N ----------------------------------------------------------------- In this issue: Perspective - The Lord Bless You and Keep You Perspective - May the God of Peace...Equip You Perspective - May...God...Give You a Spirit of Unity Perspective - ...Grace...Love...Fellowship... ----------------------------------------------------------------- ben-e-dic-tion (ben'u dik'shun) n. [ME. benediccioun < L. benedictio < benedicere, to speak well of, in ML.(Ec.), to hallow, bless, < bene, well + dicere, to speak] 1. a blessing 2. an invocation of divine blessing, esp. at the end of a religious service 3. blessedness.(1) The sermon has been delivered. The invitation has been given and the final hymn sung. We are all standing with Bibles and purses in hand and a growling emptiness in the pit of our stomachs. And we all know what comes next. The Pastor lifts his hand and utters one of a handful of familiar passages--maybe this Sunday the one most familiar to all: The LORD bless you and keep you; The LORD make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you; The LORD lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace.(2) And if you're like me, you probably didn't hear a word of it; your mind was elsewhere. Maybe on one of the Pastor's sermon points; maybe on those who came forward today, or on those who didn't; maybe on the roast that will soon be filling that emptiness in your belly; maybe on that important Monday meeting. Maybe you just figured that you had heard that same passage so many times before--indeed, could recite it from memory-- there was no point in paying attention this time. A benediction is usually a verse or group of verses found in Scripture that calls down God's blessings. There's nothing about a benediction that says it must be invoked at the end of a Worship Service; in fact, many of the benedictions in the New Testament will be found at the beginning, as well as the end, of the epistle. But we have established the habit of sandwiching it between the Pastor and the pot roast. The word benediction is not in the Bible; it is a more modern word that could be said to mean a "good word." Some of our favorite benedictions aren't. For example, Jude 24-25 is more a Doxology than a Benediction: To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy--to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen. But isn't it a lovely way to end a Worship Service! Benedictions are not just platitudes for pleasantly ending a Sunday service. They contain powerful truths--truths that are then available to us in our daily lives. They can become valuable treasures--gems to clutch in our hands as we meditate on our God and Savior. This month I would challenge you to clutch these treasures for awhile. Hold them close to you and allow the strong and reassuring truths of God to wash through your mind as you meditate on Him. Each week we will consider a different benediction from Scripture. Week One - Numbers 6:24-26 - Reassures us of His love Week Two - 1 Kings 8:57-60; Hebrews 13:20-21 - Remind us of our dependency on Him Week Three - Romans 15:5-6 - He is the glue that binds us together Week Four - 2 Corinthians 13:14 - Confirms the role and purpose of the Trinity in our lives ----------------------------------------------------------------- Perspective THE LORD BLESS YOU AND KEEP YOU ------------- The LORD bless you and keep you; The LORD make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you; The LORD lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace. (Numbers 6:24-26 NKJV) May the Lord bless and protect you; may the Lord's face radiate with joy because of you; may he be gracious to you, show you his favor, and give you his peace. (The Living Bible) _________________________ The Wonder of It All There's the wonder of sunset at evening, the wonder as sunrise I see; But the wonder of wonders that thrills my soul is the wonder that God loves me. O, the wonder of it all! The wonder of it all! Just to think that God loves me. O, the wonder of it all! The wonder of it all! Just to think that God loves me. There's the wonder of springtime and harvest, the sky, the stars, the sun; But the wonder of wonders that thrills my soul is a wonder that's only begun. O, the wonder of it all! The wonder of it all! Just to think that God loves me. O, the wonder of it all! The wonder of it all! Just to think that God loves me.(3) _________________________ Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness! Morning by morning new mercies I see; All I have needed Thy hand hath provided-- Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!(4) May God forgive me for adding to His Holy Word, but I see this benediction as a confirmation of His love for us. As I read these verses, I find myself inserting the word "will" before every verb: The LORD will bless you and will keep you; The LORD will make His face shine upon you, And He will be gracious to you; The LORD will lift up His countenance upon you, And He will give you peace. Praise His name! _________________________ Making it Personal ------------------ Our relationship with God is circular, isn't it? What is your response to the immeasurable blessings and love He pours into your life? _________________________ May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine upon us, Selah. (PSA 67:1) Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. (2PE 1:2) How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. (1JO 3:1) I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory. Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands. (PSA 63:2-4) _________________________ THIS WEEK: Pay attention to God working in your life this week. Jot down the times He Enriched you Kept or protected you Radiated with joy over you Was gracious toward you Comforted you with His expression of love ----------------------------------------------------------------- Perspective MAY THE GOD OF PEACE...EQUIP YOU ------------- May the Lord our God be with us, as He was with our fathers; may He not leave us or forsake us, that He may incline our hearts to Himself, to walk in all His ways and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His ordinances, which He commanded our fathers. And may these words of mine, with which I have made supplication before the Lord, be near to the Lord our God day and night, that He may maintain the cause of His servant and the cause of His people Israel, as each day requires, so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord is God; there is no one else. (1 Kings 8:57-60 NASB) May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. (Hebrews 13:20-21 NIV) _________________________ Breathe on Me, Breath of God Breathe on Me, Breath of God, fill me with life anew, That I may love what Thou dost love, and do what Thou wouldst do. Breathe on Me, Breath of God, until my heart is pure, Until my will is one with Thine, to do and to endure. Breathe on Me, Breath of God, till I am wholly Thine, Until this earthly part of me glows with Thy fire divine. Breathe on Me, Breath of God, so shall I never die, But live with Thee the perfect life of Thine eternity.(5) Meditation Point ---------------- May he give us the desire to do his will in everything...(6) All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2TI 3:16-17) And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen. (1PE 5:10-11) May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (ROM 15:13) ----------------------------------------------------------------- Perspective MAY...GOD...GIVE YOU A SPIRIT OF UNITY ------------- May the God who inspires men to endure, and gives them a Father's care, give you a mind united towards one another because of your common loyalty to Jesus Christ. And then, as one man, you will sing from the heart the praises of God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 15:5-6 Phillips) JOH 17:20-23 1CO 1:10 GAL 6:9-10 EPH 4:1-13 HEB 2:10-12 _________________________ Our God Has Made Us One Our God has made us one-- In Him our hearts unite. When we His children share His love, Our joy is His delight. Our God has made us one-- His glory is displayed. For as we build each other up Our love becomes His praise. Our God has made us one-- In sorrow and in joy; We share the cross of Christ, our Lord, In Him we now rejoice. Our God has made us one-- One church to bear His name; One body and one Bride of Christ, And with Him we shall reign.(7) "What the circulation of the blood is to the human body, that the Holy Spirit is to the body of Christ which is the church. Now, by virtue of the one life-blood, every limb of the body holds fellowship with every other, and as long as life lasts that fellowship is inevitable. If the hand be unwashed the eye cannot refuse communion with it on that account. If the finger be diseased, the hand cannot, by binding a cord around it, prevent the life-current from flowing. Nothing but death can break up the fellowship. You must tear away the member, or it must of necessity commune with the rest of the body. It is even thus in the body of Christ. No laws can prevent one living member of Christ from fellowship with every other. The pulse of living fellowship sends a wave through the whole mystical frame. Where there is but one life, fellowship is an inevitable consequence. Yet some talk of restricted communion and imagine that they can practice it. If they be alive unto God they may in mistaken conscientiousness deny their fellow Christians the outward sign of communion, but communion itself falls not under any rule or regulation of theirs. Tie a red tape round your thumb and let it decree that the whole body is out of fellowship with it. The thumb's decree is either ridiculously inoperative, or else it proves injurious to itself. God has made us one, one Spirit quickens us, and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus. To deny any believer in Jesus is to refuse what you must of necessity give, and to deny in symbol what you must inevitably render in reality."(8) Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. (COL 3:15-17) ----------------------------------------------------------------- Perspective ...GRACE...LOVE...FELLOWSHIP... ------------- May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. (2 Corinthians 13:14) _________________________ Praise Ye the Triune God Praise ye the Father for His lovingkindness, Tenderly cares He for His erring children; Praise Him, ye angels, praise Him in the heavens, Praise ye Jehovah! Praise ye the Savior--great is His compassion, Graciously cares He for His chosen people; Young men and maidens, ye old men and children, Praise ye the Savior! Praise ye the Spirit, Comforter of Israel, Sent of the Father and the Son to bless us; Praise ye the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit-- Praise ye the Triune God!(9) Many people have a difficult time with the concept of Trinity-- three-in-one. Maybe this illustration will help: The room in which I write this has three windows, each offering a different view out. If I were outside the room looking in and if God Himself sat on His throne in the center of this room, I could look in at Him through each of the windows. Each window would offer a different perspective of the same person. God gave us the gift of the Trinity for a reason--so that we would have these three perspectives. What is your mental image of the Trinity? Your image of God, the Father? God, the Son? God, the Holy Spirit? _________________________ Some thoughts on the Trinity... I'm not sure we could even comprehend the Father without the earthly life of Jesus. Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.(10) The first step in embracing Jesus as our way to the Father is to realize that He is the only way. We have no options. Then we come to understand that God the Father's power must be filtered through the humanity of Jesus for us to comprehend it. It is too mighty for us to survive its reality. God Himself protected Moses from His blinding majesty by pressing him into the cleft of a rock with His own hand; we are protected--and, at the same time, informed--of his power and might by Jesus Christ. Before Jesus, man perceived God as an indefinable, exacting taskmaster whose very name was a mystery. Jesus brought to the world a tangible image of the loving, compassionate Father in whom dwell also purity and justice. In the fragility of our human state we cannot look upon the Father and live, but we are encouraged to look upon--to look to--the Savior, God in flesh. All of which makes Jesus all the more personal; when we realize that He was made attainable--touchable--by design, it is easier to reach out to Him---thereby, gaining more intimate access to the Father. The Holy Spirit does not have His own Gospel. While there are three aspects to the Godhead, all begin with and emanate from God the Father. Jesus repeatedly defers to His Father: Jesus gave them this answer: "I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. (JOH 5:19) "When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me. (15:26) But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. (16:13) I came from the Father and entered the world; now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father." (16:28) So Jesus puts forth the Father's gospel; He is the The Word, the physical manifestation of God's truth. The Holy Spirit, meanwhile, carries the words of Jesus (which originated with the Father) to our hearts: ...when the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth... But the truth the Spirit speaks will not be His own: ...for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak,...the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, He will bear witness of Me--and you will bear witness of Me...(NASB) Jesus is the pivotal point--the focus--because everything from the Father goes to Him; then the Holy Spirit bears witness of Him to us by translating that message for our hearts--causing us to do nothing less than bear witness of Him ourselves. And through all of this, the Father glorifies the Son. ======================================================================== NOTES, COPYRIGHT & SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION Notes ----- 1. Webster's New World Dictionary, 2nd College Edition (Simon and Schuster, 1980). 2. Numbers 6:24-26 (NKJV) 3. George Beverly Shea, Hymn #65 in The Hymnal for Worship & Celebration (WORD, 1986). 4. Thomas O. Chisholm, Hymn #43 in The Hymnal for Worship & Celebration (WORD, 1986). 5. Edwin Hatch, Hymn #259 in The Hymnal for Worship & Celebration (WORD, 1986). 6. 1 Kings 8:58 (LB) 7. Niles Borop, Hymn #287 in The Hymnal for Worship & Celebration (WORD, 1986). 8. Charles H. Spurgeon, The Quotable Spurgeon (Shaw, 1990), p.272 9. Elizabeth R. Charles, Hymn #264 in The Hymnal for Worship & Celebration (WORD, 1986). 10. John 17:7-8,26; most of the Scripture quotations in this section are NASB. Copyright Information --------------------- All original material in Aspects is Copyright (C) 1995 David S. Lampel. This data file is the sole property of David S. Lampel. It may not be altered or edited in any way. It may be reproduced only in its entirety for circulation as "freeware," without charge. All reproductions of this data file must contain the copyright notice (i.e., "Copyright (C) 1995 David S. Lampel."). This data file may not be used without the permission of David S. Lampel for resale or the enhancement of any other product sold. This includes all of its content. Brief quotations not to exceed more than 500 words may be used, with the appropriate copyright notice, to enhance or supplement personal or church devotions, newsletters, journals, or spoken messages. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture is from the New International Version. NIV quotations are from the Holy Bible: New International Version, Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by the International Bible Society. Used by permission. NASB quotations are from the New American Standard Bible (C) 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977 by The Lockman Foundation. Subscription Information ------------------------ Aspects is published monthly. There are two preferred methods of receiving it on a regular basis: 1) You may subscribe to the laser-printed (hard copy) edition, which is sent out via regular mail. This edition is different from this file you are reading in the following ways: - a "typeset" look, with italics, larger titles and headings, etc. - Scripture text and quotations are more obviously set apart - lines printed for your notes after each question - arrives pre-punched for a 3-ring binder - generally looks better 2) You may subscribe to the e-mail edition, which will be "mailed" to you directly each month. This edition will be formatted just like this file you are now reading--which still contains all the text of the printed edition. There is no charge for either option. For a free subscription to Aspects, send a note to "dlampel@dlampel.com" Please specify the method by which you wish to receive Aspects. Be sure to include your postal mailing address if you choose the printed edition. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Aspects is distributed free-of-charge, without obligation, in service to our Lord and to His glory. Reader opinions are always welcome, as are insights into the published material. Send all comments to the above address. We always appreciate hearing when someone has been edified by this work. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Notes on the "online" Format ---------------------------- Certain adaptations to the text are necessary for distribution of this ASCII edition of Aspects. Endnote reference numbers are enclosed in parentheses (); quotations are enclosed by quotation marks " ", and are further set apart from original text by indentation and the presence of a following endnote reference; Scripture references are indented, and either cite the reference or are accompanied by a following endnote reference. If you would prefer reading Aspects in its more native, printed form, we would encourage you to subscribe to the edition that is mailed out every month. ---------------------------------------------- file: /pub/resources/text/aspects: asp-007.txt