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Paradox: Seeing Gains as Losses

When I survey the wondrous cross
   On which the Prince of glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
   And pour contempt on all my pride.

When I Survey the Wondrous Cross
By: Isaac Watts, 1674-1748

Listen as you read.  This is a nice instrumental version.

Having surveyed the cross a bit in Tuesday’s Tuning, inviting our heart to come back to a place of wonder, now turn your mind to the discipline of embracing the implications of the cross for your daily living in these Thursday Thoughts.

The Prince of Glory

A quick search of several different translations turned up zero occurrences of this name for Jesus.  While the King James refers to God as the “Lord of glory” in I Corinthians 2:8, nowhere is the phrase “Prince of glory” found in Scripture.  I find that interesting because it is such an apt name for Christ.

When you think of Jesus, what is your first thought of Him?  Healing the sick?  Feeding the thousands?  Walking on water?  Maybe even suffering on the cross?  Is it something like this image?  I must confess, it is not my first thought, yet what a powerful default mental image to conjure.  I suppose there are times in exuberant worship I have thought of Jesus like this, but not often enough.

What a beautiful image to create with his words to contrast the treatment He deserved with the treatment He received.  I want to come back to this image in my mind so as to cultivate a loftier view of Jesus in the days ahead.  I am thankful to Watts for using it, and maybe even creating it, but am far more thankful to Jesus for being it, yet humbling Himself to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Though I want to imagine Jesus like this more often, I do not want to lose another way of viewing Him that I often return to, which allows me to rightly see so many other things.

Backdrop of the Cross

Though the wonder and grandeur of the person of Jesus Christ and His unparalleled work on the cross  are remarkable in and of themselves, I think it is imperative that we also learn to see all of life through another lens.

“I always view my circumstances against the backdrop of the cross, where God demonstrated once and for all His deep love for me.”  Henry Blackaby, Experiencing God

For years I have returned to this practice to help contextualize things I have faced.  What Blackaby is encouraging here is the development of the ability or discipline to see everything, or better yet, interpret everything in light of the reality of the cross of Jesus Christ.  The cross changed the course of human history so it certainly has implications on the circumstances of my life.

Gains as Losses

The Christian Life is full of paradoxes.

  • die to live
  • give to receive
  • love your enemies
  • gains as losses

When I see the cross accurately for what it represents, the love of God on full display, I am left with little choice but to consider my “richest gains” as loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ.  But how do I do that practically?

When something is valuable to you, you treat it as such.  You protect it.  Defend it.  Spend time just thinking about it.  When we esteem to0 highly any of our gains, things we have earned or maybe simply been given, things can get out of balance.  It is not long before other things of value in our lives suffer from our inability to maintain a healthy perspective.

Ridiculous example.  Netflix and sleep.  Many of us have shows we like to watch.  Sometimes we stay up later than we should to enjoy another episode.  We let our desire to be entertained outweigh other things of value, namely in our example, sleep.  Yes, I have been guilty of this in case you are wondering.  I know it is a silly example, but hopefully it illustrates the danger, and the opportunity.

What gains, or things of value, might it profit you to consider as loss?  Maybe it’s another Netflix episode.  Maybe is something far more valuable.  Nothing compares with what you will actually gain by considering those things rightly.  Oh for the ability to survey the cross like that. Holy Spirit, help us.

Jesus, thank You laying down Your life on the cross.  It is wonderful indeed, and I know that full well.  But I long to know it more.  Help me to think rightly of the gains in my life, and to even consider them as losses, if that means I will now You more. In Jesus name.   Amen.

Joyful Thinking!

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Subscribers enjoy this podcast! Everyone else, the transcript below.

Podcast 4.1 Transcript

Welcome to Thursday Thoughts at Resonant 7, where we reflect on the reality of God and resolve to let it resound in our lives, repeatedly. Let’s think about this.

When I survey the wondrous cross

1 Corinthians 1:18 ESV

For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

How wondrous to see the cross of Jesus Christ for what it truly is, a symbol of His love for us.  Once it was folly to you, but now the power of God. Thank Jesus for giving you eyes of faith to not only see, but rightly appraise the value of His cross.

 On which the Prince of glory died,

Philippians 2:6-8 ESV

though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Jesus had to condescend so far just to become like us, because He was after all the Prince of glory.  But His humbling did not stop there. The Ever-Living God died for us. Our minds can barely conceive the wonder of His love.  Thank Him for dying for you.

My richest gain I count but loss,

Philippians 3:8 ESV

Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ

So whatever was to my profit or gain I consider as loss that I may know Christ.  Ask Him to help you rightly value your accomplishments, and His.

 And pour contempt on all my pride.

Proverbs 11:2 ESV

When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with the humble is wisdom.

Oh that we would routinely see our pride with scorn, as opposed to defending it.  Pride is disgraceful, but never more clearly than when juxtaposed with the humility of Christ.  Ask the Holy Spirit to help you acknowledge and deal with your pride.

Take a few moments to talk to Jesus about what has come to your mind, or listen to what He is saying to you, then I will read our text once more.

When I survey the wondrous cross
   On which the Prince of glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
   And pour contempt on all my pride.

Take the mindfulness of God’s presence cultivated in these last few minutes into the next ones and beyond.  Until next time, be Resonant.

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What’s Effecting Your Appraisal of the Cross?

The Wondrous Cross

When I survey the wondrous cross
   On which the Prince of glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
   And pour contempt on all my pride.

When I Survey the Wondrous Cross
By: Isaac Watts, 1674-1748

Listen as you read.  This is a nice instrumental version.

Before we begin, would you please take a few moments and look at the cross.  As you do, ask the Holy Spirit to give you fresh eyes to see it, and all that it represents and symbolizes to you as a follower of Christ.  Survey the cross.

Survey

One of the reasons I love the hymns so much is because the writers chose their words so carefully.  It may not have been quite so unusual in 1707 when Issac Watts used the word survey, but I believe it is an excellent choice still today.  I asked you above to look at the cross first, then to survey it.  But let us take a quick look at how much richer a word survey truly it.

Survey says…

I must admit, when I think of the word survey in this context, the idea of forming or sharing my opinion or perspective never even crosses my mind, but it is a good place to begin.  Different pronunciation, different meaning.  In a sense I suppose Watts is stating his opinion and experience of the cross, and although it is a singular survey, it is a challenging, compelling and powerful one.  So much so that it influences and shapes that of those who read and sing his text thoughtfully.  Frankly though, this is just a beginning point.

Silhouette background illustration of a land surveyor.

This is the image that first comes to mind for me when I see this word, survey.  In it we begin to develop a different perspective as we consider the cross.  Let’s consider the definition of this activity as found at Thought Co.

In its broadest sense, the term surveying encompasses all activities that measure and record information about the physical world and the environment. The term is often used interchangeably with geomatics which is the science of determining the position of points on, above or below the surface of the earth.

This definition intrigued me, not only because of the conciseness of the first part, but also the latter which referred to “on, above or below the surface of the earth” all three of which the cross has implications upon, not to mention the term geomatics, which was a new one to me.

And so we arrive at the term as is used in the hymn.  Survey, to look carefully and thoughtfully at the cross so as to appraise it.  And that is not easy to do, for a couple reasons.  First on which is that we have become so familiar with the cross that we think we have ascertained its full meaning.  We wear it, decorate with it, and adorn our churches with it in attempts to keep this powerful symbol before us, but in so doing may suffer the unintended consequence of diluting the true power of what it represents.  I pray as we journey through Lent and make our approach to Holy Week the Spirit will allow us to see the cross in a while new light, even as we declare again what mercy has done for us at it!

Pride

And herein lies the second reason appraising the cross is not easy, our pride.  As much as we know we desperately need the cross, we too often live as though we do not.  Jesus invites us in Luke 9:23 to “deny (ourselves) and take up (our) cross daily” but we would often rather admire His.

Contempt is the feeling that a person or a thing is beneath consideration, worthless, or deserving scorn.  It is the last part of the definition that comes closest to what Watts is saying.  This is a very strong statement, and appropriately so.  It is exceedingly so when juxtaposed with the wonder that fills our hearts when we survey the cross, and at the same time still opposes it.

What fills you with pride?  Or better yet, how does pride slowly seep into your life?  Are you aware of the gateways?  Even that which at the surface is not a bad thing, like the ability to sing, can become a hindrance if we derive our identity from it.

Imagine this image is coffee.  Now imagine it is laced with acid.  That changes it, doesn’t it?  That is effectively what pride does to everything it touches.  So Watts, filled with wonder at the sight of the cross, determines to pour scorn on his pride, and we should purpose to do the same.

Inventory

I asked above, but would encourage you to take a quick inventory of what might invite pride into your life, and be on guard against it by pouring scorn on it whenever your appraisal of it competes with your appraisal of the cross.  We will do a little more of this on Thursday, but tune your heart today with this in mind.

Happy Tuning!

Jesus, thank You for giving me the ability to see Your cross for what it is,  a wonderful expression of Your love for me.  Help me to survey it rightly and nail my pride to it regularly.  Help me tune my heart today with an awareness that my pride will mar my ability to see and respond to Your cross today, and make the necessary adjustments as I go through this day.  In Jesus name.  Amen.

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Please comment below and share if you have found this helpful in your journey of being more resonant.

Below is content available only to Subscribers.  Want to learn more about accessing all the additional material in the Subscriber Content Library, click here, or the Free Member Content Library with some examples of the Subscribers content, click here.

Subscribers, enjoy this video log!  Everyone else, the transcript below.

Video 4.1 Transcript

Welcome to Tuesday Tunings at Resonant 7, where we reflect on the reality of God and resolve to let it resound in our lives, repeatedly. Let’s tune our hearts.

When I survey the wondrous cross
   On which the Prince of glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
   And pour contempt on all my pride.

Survey is a bit of an unusual word as it’s used here, but it’s perfect.  When we look carefully and thoroughly at the cross to appraise it, it is indeed wonderful. Thank God for the capacity to survey the cross.

Because of who He is, Jesus should never have had to die. Because of who He is, Jesus knew His was the only life that could be offered as a substitutionary sacrifice for our sins. Thank Him.

Only His death could atone for sin, and in so doing it renders everything we could ever attain or possess as comparably worthless. Ask Jesus to help you see everything accordingly which you might otherwise be tempted to do to earn His grace.

Oh for the ability to view my personal achievements beneath consideration, worthless, and even deserving of scorn that I might rightly see the wonder of His love for me displayed on the cross.  Help me Lord.

Take a few moments to talk to Jesus about what has surfaced in your heart, or just listen to what He is saying to you, then we will sing once more.

Sing

Take the awareness of God’s presence cultivated in these last few minutes into the next ones and beyond.  Until next time, be Resonant.

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Coming in July!

This series of blogs, Wednesday Wanderings, is currently under development.  We look forward to releasing the first of these this summer, each with their own unique multimedia component like Tuesday Tunings and Thursday Thoughts!

Stay tuned for details!!

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Who, and Where, Are the Saints of God?

Glory, Praise and Love

Glory to God, and praise and love,
Be ever, ever given;
By saints below and saints above,
The Church in earth and heaven.

O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing
By: Charles Wesley, 1707-1788

Listen as you read.  This is a nice instrumental version.

The first two lines of this stanza instruct “what” must be done and “when”.  We examined those in our last Tuning, which you can find here.  The final two lines tell us “who” should be doing it and “where”.  Let’s think about this.

God’s Saints are the Church His Body

In some measure we might look at the first two lines as the qualifiers of who the saints actually are.  Those who eternally give God glory, praise and love are His saints.  But we should also consider what the Bible has to say about who the saints of God are.

There are many passages that speak of the saints in both the Old and New Testaments, and though our context here does not provide time to do an exhaustive study, let’s look at one from near the end of the book.

Revelation 14:12 Christian Standard Bible (CSB)

“…the saints, who keep God’s commands and their faith in Jesus.”

So there are at least two characteristics.

  1. Faith in Jesus
  2. Obedience

There are many who would give intellectual ascent to having some trust in Jesus but have no evidence of working that out in their daily living.

The Church on Earth

Saints Below

Giving God glory, praise and honor. This is our work now. Not going to church as the image might imply, but being the Church, the hands and feet of Jesus to one another and the world around us.

When you think of the Church, not your church or a church, but THE Church, what comes to mind?  Corporate gatherings like this one?  People offering songs of praise to God?  I would imagine it includes those things, but hopefully it is a lot more.

I am part of a missions movement that has kept my eyes beyond my local body with some success over the years, but even still, I long to find ways to celebrate the incredible, beautiful, diverse yet unified body we are!  I want to continue to get a taste of what heaven is and will be like, even before I get there.

Singers Together

Diversity is a word that is thrown around a lot today, but in the last few months I have had a taste of it that stoked my desire for more.  The experience was an opportunity to bring some differing cultural expressions together in a way that esteemed them both.  The admiration and love that flowed from some music offering God praise was undoubtedly a small taste of what our God has in store for us when He gathers all the saints together around the throne.  I am humbled to have been a part of something so wonderful and can hardly wait to experience it again, even before I join the…

Saints Above

Giving God glory, praise and honor. This is currently the work of the saints of God who have gone before and will be our work eternally when we join them there.

When you think about the “saints above”, what comes to mind?  Think about for just a moment…

If your eyes tracked ahead at all you may have seen this image.  I tried to find a good artists’ rendering that captured my sense of what that might look like and none represented the incredible differences that will make up that throng around the throne.  They tended to be a single large group gathered around our Lord shrouded in clouds and brilliant glory.

While I could appreciate that concept, because we are indeed one in our Lord, the diversity that will be reflected within that unity was not rendered in anything I could find.  Instead I offer this image.

Though it would take a thousand to truly begin to scratch the surface of the efficacy of Christ’s sacrifice on the peoples of the earth, this one gives enough material for the question I will ask, and the exercise I want to offer.

Look at a few of those faces.  Identify a few that are different from you, whatever that means.  Question:  Is your concept of the saints above expansive enough to include that face?  Exercise:  Will you ask God to expand your capacity for the saints above to match His?  While I realize such an exercise could cause your mind to melt, I think it is a worthwhile one.  Why?  Because I believe it will enable you to give even more glory, praise and love to Him who not only gave a tongue to sing…but everyone one of them as well.

Let’s make the most of it, here and now, then and there!

 

Jesus, thank you for giving me a tongue to offer You glory and praise, and a life to offer You love.  Thank You for granting me the privilege of becoming one of the saints, redeemed by Your blood.  Stir my longing for that great worshipful throng, even as I enjoy the ones I come across here. Glory to Your Name.  Amen

Joyful Thinking!

Are these thoughts helping you to develop greater spiritual awareness?  Sign-up in the form to the right above to get updates of new tools to help you be Resonant.

Below is content available only to Subscribers.  Want to learn more about accessing all the additional material in the Subscriber Content Library, click here.  Or check out some samples at our Free Member Content Library.  We have lots of tools and lots of options designed to help you be Resonant!  Check them out today!!

Subscribers enjoy this podcast! Everyone else, the transcript below.

Podcast 3.5 Transcript

Welcome to Thursday Thoughts at Resonant 7, where we reflect on the reality of God and resolve to let it resound in our lives, repeatedly. Let’s think about this.

Glory to God, and praise and love,

Revelation 4:11 ESV

“Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”

This view of the worship around God’s throne is an invitation for us to join that praise now, even as we prepare for it and long to join it in heaven one day.  He is worthy. Will you lift your voice and your life in praise today?

  Be ever, ever given;

Psalm 86:12 ESV

I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart, and I will glorify your name forever.

From Revelation and the end of time, back to the ancient worship book of the Hebrew people, the eternal call to worship resounds continually.  Forever and ever He is worthy of glory. Determine to continually find a way to be a part of the praise.

By saints below and saints above,

Psalm 30:4 ESV

Sing praises to the Lord, O you his saints, and give thanks to his holy name.

Not only is He worthy at all times, but also in all places.  Across all time and space the saints of God, those redeemed by their trust in Him, have been, are, and will be giving Him praise.  Thank Him that you get to be a part of that.

  The Church in earth and heaven.

1 Corinthians 1:2 ESV

To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours:

What an incredible, beautiful, diverse, unified body we are!  Sanctified means set apart as holy. Not because of anything we have done, but solely because of what Jesus has done, we are the Church.  O, we have a thousand tongues, and far more, to sing our Great Redeemer’s praise! Hallelujah!

Take a few moments to talk to Jesus about what has come to your mind, or just listen to what He is saying to you, then I will read our text once more.

Glory to God, and praise and love,
Be ever, ever given;
By saints below and saints above,
The Church in earth and heaven.

Take the mindfulness of God’s presence cultivated in these last few minutes into the next ones and beyond.  Until next time, be Resonant.

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…And Love

Love the Lord

Glory to God, and praise and love,
Be ever, ever given;
By saints below and saints above,
The Church in earth and heaven.

O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing
By: Charles Wesley, 1707-1788

Listen as you read.  This is a nice instrumental version.

We are focusing in every one of these Tunings on loving God with our hearts.  Giving glory to God and praising Him seem pretty straightforward right?  I mean, the words seem to communicate pretty clearly what I need to do.  I need to give glory and praise to God, not only with my lips but with my life as well.  And I need to do this because He is worthy of said glory and praise.  But what about LOVE?

Loving God

Ok, I need to love God.  I am down with that.  But exactly how do I do that.  Pretty quickly simply telling God I love Him seems to fall way short of what my response to His love for me truly needs to be.  Instead, this kind of love implies that we are giving of ourselves.  [If you want to think more about love, here’s a great article about love at Crosswalk.com, “What Is Love? – Meaning & Biblical Understanding of the Word” by Meg Bucher]  This also brings it in line with the other two concepts, we give Him glory and praise, so to give Him love requires us to give of ourselves.

What I want to encourage you to consider is, “What would that kind of love look like in my life?”  I think a great place to begin is Jesus’ explanation, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” (John 14:15)  This takes the nebulous concept of love and immediately makes it at least a bit clearer.

Loving My Neighbor

Allow me to give you but one example.  Jesus commanded us to love the Lord, and immediately followed it with a second commandment, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”  (Mark 12:31)  When you understand that your neighbor is not just the person who lives next door, but instead anyone around you that needs help, then it becomes obvious you will have no shortage of opportunities to love Jesus, as you love your neighbor.

Some are more obvious and appropriate for some than others, but consider these.

  • A person with a flat tire alongside the road.
  • The young couple who has just welcomed their second child into their home and is feeling overwhelmed.
  • Your child when you can tell something is bothering them.
  • The co-worker whose car is in the shop and needs a ride to work.
  • Insert the one that has already come to your mind here__________

This is one of the ways we love God, by giving ourselves away, just like Jesus did on the cross.

The Empty Box

Checking Off Your List

Now before you go looking for these things to do so you can check them off your list, allow me to caution you.  First, do not just dutifully love your neighbor.  Put your heart into it.  Look for ways to give yourself away, not simply obey the command.  This makes a world of difference to the person you are loving, and also to God.

Second, notice the unchecked box in the image.  It is meant to represent the opportunities around you of which you have not yet taken advantage.  And do you know what happens when you do check off that box? You realize there is another unchecked one below it, representing the never-ending opportunities to love others.

Never-Ending

And I do mean never-ending.  Did you notice the second line repetition of the word ever?  When a writer repeats a word, they are drawing special, special attention to something.  Here the emphasis is on the eternal scope of our adoration.  I am not certain what our eternal loving will look like, but I do believe there will be a communal aspect to our forever worship.  I believe this will certainly involve giving ourselves away to others as we give glory, praise and love to God.  That starts now, and continues on forever.  Thanks be to God.

We will think about that a little more in our next Thoughts.  Until then, be resonant.

Happy Tuning!

Jesus, thank You for loving me and modeling for me how to give myself away.  I want to give you glory and praise, so I know I need to continue to look for ways to love others.  Help me to see those opportunities and then give me courage to walk into them.    In Jesus name.  Amen.

Finding some help here tuning?  Sign-up in the box in the sidebar to get updates of new tools to help you be Resonant.

Please comment below and share if you have found this helpful in your journey of being more resonant.

Below is content available only to Subscribers and Free Members.  Want to learn more about accessing all the additional material in the Subscriber Content Library, click here, or the Free Member Content Library, click here.

Subscribers and Free Members, enjoy this video log!  Everyone else, the transcript below.

Video 3.5 Transcript

Welcome to Tuesday Tunings at Resonant 7, where we reflect on the reality of God and resolve to let it resound in our lives, repeatedly. Let’s tune our hearts.

Glory to God, and praise and love
  Be ever, ever giv’n
By saints below and saints above,
  The church in earth and heav’n.

Glory and praise appear pretty straightforward, particularly because they seem word driven. But love immediately implies action. Ask God to show you how to do all three today.

When songwriters repeat a word we should really pay attention. Here, it is putting emphasis on the scope of our adoration, ever, ever. He is worthy of us doing this now, and forever.

But not just us, all the saints on earth, joining all the saints who have already gone before us and are in His presence in heaven. Thank him for the opportunity to continue your worship when this life is over.

Your saving faith makes you His child and a part of the church. If you have one you attend, thank him and pray for it. If you do not, ask him to lead you to one, so you may experience now a taste of what is forever yours.

Take a few moments to talk to Jesus about what has surfaced in your heart, or just listen to what He is saying to you, then we will sing once more.

Sing

Take the awareness of God’s presence cultivated in these last few minutes into the next ones and beyond.  Until next time, be Resonant.

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