A View From The Sycamore Tree: Beautiful Feet Bringing Good News

Friday, April 17, 2009

Beautiful Feet Bringing Good News - Isaiah 52 part 2

"How lovely on the mountains

are the feet of him who brings good news,

who announces peace

and brings good news of happiness,

who announces salvation,

and says to Zion, 'Your God reigns!'

(vs 7)

Looking for a good pedicure? Here it is - let your feet bring the good news of the gospel to a lost and dying world! "How lovely on the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news."

The gospel is a blessing to all who will hear and recieve it. It "announces peace." It brings to us the terms upon which peace with God can be accessed. By nature we are "children of wrath" and "enemies of God." But the good news of the gospel changes all of that. It makes us children of God and heirs of heaven!

"But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one, and broke down the dividing wall, by abolishing in His flesh the enmity...thus establishing peace, and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity." (Eph 2:13-16)

"He who was delivered up because of our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification. Therefore having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. (Rom 4:25-5:1)

"For it was the Father's good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Christ, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, i say, whether things on earth or things in heaven. And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach." (Col 1:19-22)

The gospel "brings good news of happiness." True happiness comes from holiness and from no other fount. If I am to be happy I must be made holy. I can only be made holy through the imputed righteousness of Christ. This word happiness, in the Bible, is not a self-centered glee and giddiness as the world so often portrays it. Throughout the scripture it is often translated "blessed" or "joy" rather than "happy." It is probably best laid out to us in Christ's own words in the Sermon on the Mount when He begins his discourse with the beatitudes. Here he describes the happiness that the gospel brings to a life.

"And opening His mouth He began to teach them saying,

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when men cast insults at you, and persecute you, and say all kind of evil against you falsely, on account of Me. Rejoice, and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you."

The happiness that the gospel brings is totally contrary to the counterfeit happiness of the world. It is a blessing and a joy despite our outward condition. It is true contentment in any storm. It is, as Jeremiah Burroughs puts it "that sweet, inward, quiet, gracious frame of spirit, which freely submits to and delights in God's wise and fatherly disposal in every condition." Only the gospel can bring about that type of peace and happiness.

The gospel "announces salvation." It is through this proclamation that salvation can be ascented to in the mind and owned in the heart. To be believed it must be held forth.

"Whoever calls on the name of the LORD will be saved. How then shall they call upon Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him whome they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, 'How beautiful are the feet of those who bring glad tidings of good things!" (Rom 10:13-15)

The gospel "says to Zion, Your God reigns!" It declares the Lordship of Christ to the world which He owns and governs. It declares His sovereign power to free those who are bound in their hellish chains if they will bow the knee to Him. And it declares His sovereign right to judiciously condemn all those who treacherously cling to their sin and rebellion against His rightful authority.

Matthew Henry says that the gospel "is a proclamation of peace and salvation; it is gospel indeed, good news of victory over our spiritual enemies and liberty from our spiritual bondage. The good news is that Jesus reigns. Christ Himself, brought these tidings first (Luke 4:18, Heb 2:3) and of Him the text speaks. How beautiful are His feet, His feet that hung upon Mount Calvary!"

My Great Savior, thank you for having your feet pierced for me. Thank you for pursuing me with the gospel. Thank you for sending ambassadors into my life with beautiful feet. Make mine lovely as I seek to hold forth this glorious peace giving, happiness granting, salvation offering good news of You - King Jesus!

In His glorious grace,

Lori

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Here We Go!

This is a blog about the goodness and grace of God, even amidst the angst of autism.

So ... how did this whole thing start?

Well, I said I'd never do this but obviously here I am. After being challenged, encouraged, goaded and double dog dared, several years ago I began to blog.

Near the end of 2008, I found myself with renewed passion for God's Word, Kingdom, and people and I was stirred, through nothing other than the simple means of grace, to a hunger and thirsting for righteousness unlike any other time in my 20+ years as a Christian.

During that period, I began typing out the things that were striking me the most in my quiet time each morning. Honestly, I started because I wanted to have a written record that I could pass along to my children one day - lettered Ebenezers reminding them of how much their Mom loves God and His Word.

While doing that I found myself so excited on certain days that I began to email my musings to some of my girl friends, hoping to encourage them even as Christ was encouraging me. Many of those gals challenged me to put these things online in a blog form so others could have access to them. That's how this site started.

Now, to shoot really straight with you, that personal "revival" of mine has pendumatically ebbed and flowed over the course of the days, months and years since 2008. For a prolonged period after that initial renewing surge I actually found myself in an utterly antithetical place. God, in His wisdom, was pleased to grant me a substantial season in the dark dungeon of "doubting castle" - those days were some of the hardest of my life post-Jesus but were providentially ordained days ultimately used for my good and for my God's glory.

"Through many dangers, toils, and snares I have already come" by nothing but the amazing grace of an amazing God.

I've learned that even in the midst of the darkest of days there's just something about the light of God's Word that is powerful. The Scripture has been an anchor for me in the storm surge of life. Even when my eyes have seemed to be rather veiled and my vision somewhat dimmed, there has still been a re-focusing force that has risen when I have gazed long and hard upon the Word of God. Thus, even as a saint who struggles, I continue to write of my God, my Redeemer, His promises, and His truth.

I'm not always very regular at posting here because there are many more important duties in my life right now than blog uploads - ie. being wife, mom, housekeeper, cook, taxi service, chief bottle washer, and laundry lady - along with that music thing I do as a side gig! But, as time allows I'll be cutting and pasting from Joshua and Elizabeth's future journal gift and sharing some of it with you as well.

Thanks for stopping by!

Who's Doing This?

Lori Sealy is daily amazed at the grace of God in her life. Adopted as an infant and raised in an evangelical church, she rebelled against the things of Christ during high school and considered herself an atheist. Upon entering college, the God who ordains our steps ordained that her path would cross with several students who loved Christ and loved His Word. During that first year of college, she set out to destroy the faith of these young Christians. They set out to pray for her salvation.

Knowing that "faith comes through hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ," six college students daily confronted her sin and challenged her with the truths of God's glorious Word. Their obedience in proclaiming the good news of the gospel of Christ bore fruit in August of 1988 when by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, she was adopted for the second time in her life - this time into the family of God.

Lori is now the wife of Phillip Sealy. They live in Sylva, North Carolina where Phillip has been called to plant a new church for the Presbyterian Church of America (PCA) - Redeemer Church Sylva. The Sealys have two children Joshua (14) and Elizabeth (12). Lori and Joshua both live with autism.

In her spare time (what little there is) Lori masquerades as a part-time songwriter/singer and performs on a limited monthly basis. Lori's newest CD, "The Strife is Over," has recently released. Hard copies of it, along with her last release "Begone Unbelief", are available through CD Baby and Lori's own website. Digital downloads are available through iTunes, Google Play, and Amazon mp3!

Be sure to visit http://www.lorisealy.com/ to learn more!

Why the Sycamore Tree?

Zaccheus, the wee little man, wanted to see Jesus and so he climbed into the sycamore tree in order to get a good look. Lori, the wee little wife and mom, longs to see Jesus as well. I realize that the place where I will catch a true glimpse of Him is in the pages of His Word.

The Bible is my sycamore tree and I find myself longing more and more to climb up into its branches that I might see Christ more clearly. This blog is simply a record of what God is teaching me as I spend time in "the tree" of His glorious Word. If anyone reads it I'll be amazed; if anyone profits from it I'll be humbled; and if anything good is found in it Soli Deo Gloria!