A Story Unfinished, A Lesson Learned

“As a father of 3 daughters, I have experienced my fair share of fairy tales.  Whether it be watching the video (again), pretending to be any or all the characters, or mixing and matching storylines to suit the fancy of the Head Princess (that would be Grace, age 4 1/2), I’d say I am fairly fluent in the language of Fairyland.

I see and appreciate the morals of the stories.  Beauty, goodness, and bravery are commended above evil, wickedness, and selfishness.  In the end, good triumphs and evil is overcome.  Princesses find true love from princes.  And everyone lives happily ever after.

But it was something my wife did recently that brought it all into focus for me.  My fairy tale DNA providing the context for the following illustration.

Amy, my wife, was holding our youngest, Abby, who was semi-interested in holding an apple slice (primarily because her sisters were holding apple slices and she didn’t want to be left out).  Now, an 8-month old baby’s ability to maintain an effective grasp of an object they ARE interested in is unrefined to say the least (unless hair is involved for some reason).”

……and that is all that remains of what sounds like a really good story.  I wrote those words seven months ago, but can’t even recall why I didn’t finish the thought (to be honest I can’t even remember the thought itself or the incident that served as its genesis).

Now, as I run through my memory in a futile attempt to piece together the “Mystery of the Missing Story” (as Gracie would call it), I’m struck graciously by a second lesson.  Regret.

I’ve got some news for you (and me).  Last night as we slept, the world kept turning and time kept ticking.  Those hours aren’t coming back.  Life is dynamic.  It moves with ZERO regard for our preferences.  You can’t go back.  You can’t fast forward.  You can’t pause it.  But you can participate in it.  You can be present in the experience.  You can minimize the regret of neglect.

What I mean is this.  Writing, to me, is the greatest experience of joy outside of my family and faith.  It’s my answer to the question of what I would do if I could do anything.  Seven months ago, something happened in my everyday life that triggered the process in me of taking an experience and joyfully transforming it into a gospel-expressing gift that I could share with the world around me.  And now its gone.  Left unfinished.  That thing which thrills me most was interrupted, neglected, and forgotten.

God has hard-wired us each for certain joys.  Pause for a moment and just consider that sentence.  Your life and experience is not random, but designed, and your innermost make-up is built to run on 2 Double Joy sized batteries.  Additionally, that’s true for EACH of us.  There is no factory in China churning out a few million of you every week.  God crafts us each, one at a time, with intent and purpose.  When we discover that, living really begins.

So whatever it is for you (writing, singing, teaching, leading, ???-ing), learn from my mistake.  Don’t neglect doing it.  Don’t turn away from it.  Don’t set it on the back burner.  In fact, put a few things down that you currently have in your hands in order to get a better grip on it.  Your passion.  Your calling.

Seven months from now you’ll be glad you did.

Trust And Belief

A Weak Subtlety That Carries Profound Significance

I admit that the point I’m attempting to make is debatable at best on the surface.  But the treasured thought buried beneath is well worth the effort to dig it out and put it on display.

Like the saying, “There are two sides to every coin”, trust and belief represent two similar, yet unique ways to think about something.  Trust connotes the sense that something or someone will NOT act in a way that is harmful to me or mine.  It suspends any potential reason to fear.  I trust that the chair will not break when I sit on it.  I trust that I will not be hurt because the chair is sound.

Belief offers another perspective.  Belief carries with it the sense that something or someone WILL act it in a way that is beneficial or good to me and mine.  It instills a confidence beyond the mere absence of danger and conveys the surety of blessing.  I believe that my personal trainer is knowledgeable.  I believe they will lead me into a greater fitness level therefore I do what they tell me to do.

(Yes, I recognize you can trust the chair WILL hold up or believe that my trainer WILL NOT hurt me, but it still highlights that there are two sides to this coin.  I’ve just chosen to parse it out this way.  Let’s keep digging! :)

That’s Cute, But So Is My New Puppy.  What’s Your Point?

Trust and belief are two words that illuminate God’s character and my response to Him.  Trust allows me to stop running from Him.  Belief inspires me to follow Him.  Trust frees me from fear.  Belief frees me to worship.

God’s character can be described with many words and parceled into different attributes.

God is love.  God is merciful.  God is just.  God is powerful.  God is holy.  God is patient, forgiving, ever-present.  He saves, heals, carries.

They’re all true and they’re all good.  He is true – you can trust Him.  He is good – you can believe in Him.

Trust and belief are the two sides of the coin, and the coin is God’s love for us.  In the beginning, when God first approaches us, we tremble and fear.  And rightly so.  We are guilty.  He is holy.  This can’t end well, we think.  So God’s love extends to us like a blanket covering our cold bodies.  He has to soothe the fear to still the trembling.  And that’s what He does.

“There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.  For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.  We love because He first loved us.” (1 John 4)

That initial moment can be pictured by the outstretched arms of God reaching towards you.  The look in His eyes is the reflection of the cross.  And the warmth that chases away the cold is His Spirit breathing new life.  You know He is trustworthy.  You know you can trust Him.

But then, after the fear is replaced by trust, His love engenders another element within.  Belief grows with every new experience and encounter.  We are encouraged and we begin to draw upon the past trustworthiness of God for a belief-filled perspective of the future.

“We have come to know and to believe the love God has for us.  God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.” (1 John 4)

The depiction of this second side of love is His initially outstretched arms now drawing you into Himself.  Into His heart, which is where you have always been destined to be.  He brings you in to “abide” together.  You know He is good.  You know you can believe in Him for the rest of your life.

Flipping The Coin

The two-sided coin of God’s love is the deeper treasure we unearth as we think about trust and belief.  Turn it over in your mind however you will, but whichever side comes up, you will find that He has completely given the completeness of Himself to us through gospel of Jesus.

“For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell…” (Colossians 1)

“But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near…” (Ephesians 2)

Trust in Jesus.  Believe in Him forever.  Why?  Because He loves you.

Floundering Or Flourishing?

flounder: 1.  hesitate in confusion: to act in a way that shows confusion or a lack of purpose 
2.  be in serious difficulty: to have serious problems and be close to failing

flourish: 1.  be healthy or grow well: to be strong and healthy or grow well, especially because conditions are right 
2.  do well: to sustain continuous steady strong growth

Encarta ® World English Dictionary © & (P) 1998-2005 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

A fish flips its tail.  Contorts its body.  With vigor it flicks.  It flops.  It leaps.  What determines the progress of these movements?  Or the ease of  progress?  It is the environment, the place in which they take place.  What these movements are employed for or against determines their purpose.  The fish on dry land flounders.  The fish in the depths of the sea flourishes.  The difference is where it is placed, and why it struggles.

Strength is given to us for the pursuit of life.  For living.  To struggle against death is futile.  No man has ever achieved victory in a struggle against death.  Except one.

Jesus alone has displayed the strength to emerge victoriously from that fight with death.  It is in this, in Him, that we must rest.  Or rather, have our floundering transformed into flourishing.  Once we are moved from the wrong into the right, we soar!

Yes, we are to struggle.  But not against death.  In vain do any hope of winning that fight.  All men die.  All.  Die.  The outcome never changes.  The fact that we struggle shows that we truly are meant for life.  The fact that we all die shows, just as truly, that something is fatally wrong.  If that for which we all struggle is unattained by all, we must pause and ask why.  Our obstinacy is somewhat laudable.  But our fruitlessness should be revelatory.

We are to struggle towards life. For life.  Our deliverance from and victory over death is not within our ability.  But it is in God’s.  And it is this very victory that He accomplished in Jesus.

We can’t.  He can.  He has.  We must stop and be placed in the right context of movement.  Be placed in life.  Only then does movement produce progress.  It is redeemed from futility.  Now when we struggle, we fly.  Now we flourish.

The difference arguably is subtle, but it is significant.  Certainly to the fish.

WHAT ABOUT YOU?

Are your efforts being employed in the context for which they were designed?  Or do you sense immediate and imminent futility?

Consider your environment.  Are you the fish in the desert or the fish in the sea?  Are you floundering in the final throes of death or are you flourishing in the vast expanse of life?  The context of your existence will define how fruitful your efforts and movements can be.  We are all fish born in the middle of the arid dessert.  Instinctively we move, albeit without progress.  Inevitably we die.

Change of movement isn’t the remedy.  Change of environment is.  This is illustrated for us in the Bible when we read that being saved means that we have been brought out of one environment and placed in another.  The places aren’t desert and sea, but rather dark and light.  Dark signifies the original context of our existence.  Light, the place into which He brings us (see Colossians 1).

Keep in mind that the fish cannot flop indefinitely and eventually, by rigorous endurance, make it to the sea.  In the same way, we cannot dwell indefinitely in the darkness and stumble our way into the light.  Our time is limited and our journey is infinite.

Just as the fish needs an external help, we can only make it to the light by being brought by the hands of another.  Our environment is changed by the care and compassion of Someone else.  It is God who saves us from the dessert and brings us into the sea of life.

FOR OR AGAINST?

The other difference between the fish in the desert and the fish in the sea is purpose.  The intense movement of the first is consumed with one end in mind - survival.  Just not death.  The second has had the death situation resolved, so now all the effort it employs is not against death, but rather for life.  It’s end goal is not surviving, but thriving.

For what purpose are the movements of your daily existence employed?  Perhaps you find yourself wearied and tired from the struggle against death (in all its forms).  Perhaps you’ve known or seen in others a tireless, joyful pursuit of life.  The good news for you is that the latter are not doing anything differently from what you’re doing.  The difference goes back to environment.

When once you are picked up out of the environment of death (the desert) and placed in the environment you were meant to be in (the sea), the double blessing is that all your movements find their rightful place in life.  That former thrashing about is redeemed into a masterful stroke of beauty.  Effort once employed futilely against death now flows elegantly in life.  The dance is the same.  Only now there is music.

“He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”  Colossians 1:13-14

“For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.”  Colossians 1:29

Mirrored Audacity

We look and sound the most silly when we least understand.

Consider some of the things you’ve said or done over your life that can still make you cringe and/or blush today.  At some point we’ve all stuck the proverbial foot in our mouths.  Our words clearly expressing the fact that we don’t know what we were talking about, and now everybody knows it.

These experiences can cause us to develop a filter through which every word must pass before it receives permission to be spoken.  We turn our attention inward in an attempt to retain our dignity in the eyes of others.  This can be a good thing.

But if we spend too much time self-evaluating we may miss the reality of the universe-cracking truths that are all around us.  Sometimes it takes being offended or alarmed at what someone else says to make us aware of those truths.  We gain a new understanding of the fine line between the two sides of audacity.

audacity:

1.  boldness or daring: daring or willingness to challenge assumptions or conventions or tackle something difficult or dangerous

2.  impudence: lack of respect in somebody's behavior toward another person

OMG!

In Matthew 8/9, there are actions and statements that could cause some eyebrows to raise or palms to sweat.  Statements or demands made to/about Jesus that, when observed through the lens of what we view as “proper”, seem inappropriate and bordering on hubris.

They are made by people both foreign and common to Jesus.  They are made by friends, strangers, and enemies of Jesus.  They are all made in the context of approaching Jesus.  And they all provide keys to understanding.

First, a leper approaches Jesus.  This probably set some people on edge as it unfolded and is the most alarming aspect of the scene.  The audacity of a leper to make contact with someone else is alarming, “wrong”, even scandalous.  There were rules in place to govern what and where a leper could do or go.  This action is clearly not in line with convention.  Then comes the statement, “…you can make me clean.”  As clearly confident as his footsteps forward.

Next, a soldier, a foreign soldier, comes to Jesus.  Not as unlikely an approach, but a “marvelous” scene of boldness when we get to the conversation.  The soldier simply states that his servant is paralyzed at his house.  Jesus says he will come.  But the soldier redirects the course of events.  He basically says, “No, not that way.”  He tells Jesus how to heal his servant.  And in telling Jesus what to do exhibits a right-minded boldness based on a right-minded understanding.

Subsequently, the disciples find themselves in a boat on the sea in the middle of a great storm.  And they find Jesus…asleep.  They approach him with apparent faithlessness due to a lack of understanding.  “We are perishing!”, they say.  Jesus remedies their perspective by displaying a marvel of his own.  He talks to the wind.  He commands the waves.  And they obey.  Their jaws drop in order to facilitate that proverbial foot we mentioned earlier.

There are others.  Demons, speaking through men, seemingly dictate to Jesus what to do with them.  Religious leaders miss the point of the healing of one and a calling of another, so Jesus spells it out.  Wrong-headed questions from wrong-headed understanding.

 Stepping Towards The Mirror

All these people approached Jesus with an understanding.  Their understanding guided what they boldly did or said to Jesus.  And Jesus’s responses show us which ones understood rightly.  He serves as a mirror to which all come and discover the truth.

Those who approached Jesus with a right understanding are affirmed in their boldness by him.  The leper was healed.  The soldier was elevated as the epitome of understanding.

Those who approached with a wrong understanding were shown the faultiness of their misguided boldness.  The disciples witnessed how the voice of Jesus was the same voice heard at the creation of the universe.  They understood him to be less than He is, and He corrected their too-little premises.

So I ask you, which of the two do you relate with?  Which appeared more reasonable to you before Jesus lifted the cover and revealed what/who was truly right?

Our actions and words show upon what understanding they are based.  And in an attempt to fit in we often act and speak in line with the majority because its easier to be accepted than to be audacious.  However, if we stand before the mirror long enough we’re going to discover that God is not acting in a conventional way.  And the more we understand what God has done, we will find ourselves moving and speaking in ways that will seem silly to many.

The (Seemingly) Impossible Truth

It’s easier to believe with the unbelieving because what they believe is less grand than the truth.  And here is the truth.

It is impossible to approach God more boldly than He has approached us.

The leper’s approach and the soldier’s approach are not as out of line as might be thought on initial perception.  But they are completely in line with the language God is speaking.  They understood who Jesus was and what God was doing in approaching them (a rejected outcast and a resented enemy), and they mirrored Him.

God’s entrance into our lives is not a polite whisper dripping with syrupy politeness.  There is no etiquette or form that God abides by in His approach.  He is blunt.  He is direct.  He is audacious.

And if He, as great as He truly is, will blaze so bold a path to me, as ungreat as I truly am, then should I not reciprocate with as bold a belief?  Should I not lay aside my proud misunderstandings and be wholly grasped by true understanding?  Yes.  Even if it makes me look silly to most.

Because an understanding of the truth should lead to exhibitions of audacity.  Wondered at by some leading to their encouragement.  Ruffling the feathers of others highlighting their hubris.  Illustrating for all the marvelous approach of God to man.

Awakened In The Day

When Dreams Break Through

A sudden cry broke the stillness of sleep last night.  It wasn’t the scream of pain or the shriek of fright.  It was more like the moaning of disappointment or the recollection of past hurt.  My daughter had a bad dream, and her body reacted to what was going through her mind.

Doubtless, she was recalling some major minor disappointment from the previous day.  A toy was taken or not given.  Her way was denied.  And the conflict escalated to confrontation and crying.  Now she is reliving the moment in her mind, and she cries.

And that begs the question in my mind this morning: if my daughter can be awakened in the night by the fighting she has done in the day, can I be awakened in the day to do those things about which I have dreamt all night?

At Home In A Foreign Place

There are those things in our lives (or rather in our minds) that, even the mere thought of them, thrill the deepest parts of us to the highest of heights.  They are like a foreign place you enter for the first time, and from the moment you walk through the door you feel completely at home.  Or rather, you feel like you are returning home.

When once these places have been found, we never want to leave.  And even when we must return to reality we find that our hearts never truly leave those place.  Nor do they leave us.  They stay with us.  Within us.  You could call them the ‘desires of your heart’ (Psalm 37).

Every breeze now seemingly blows from that place, and quickens our minds to recollection and beckons us to come.  At some point, hopefully, we will find the draw of that place too powerful to overcome, and we will go.  No matter how great the cost to us or how outwardly small the reward, we will be there.

We will be there because it is not about ‘things’ any longer.  Being there will supersede all else.  We will be there for the place itself.  The place is our prize.  The prize of rightness.

Stepping Stones To Home

Paul knew well the breezes from that distant place.  He endured terrific opposition and trial, yet could speak of overflowing joy and indescribable peace.  He may have been here, but his heart was in that other place.  Every moment and occurrence in life was a stepping stone.  Whether or not his steps were popular or judged right by others was insignificant.  Paul was headed to his heart’s home, and every moment along the way was redeemed by the rightness of his ultimate destination.

Near the end of his life, we read some words he wrote to his friend and spiritual son, Timothy.

“…the time of my departure has come.  I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.  Henceforth, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.”

That ultimate place of rightness with the Lord encroached backwards into Paul’s daily existence.  He found every place he entered made right by the land to which he was headed.

And that’s my prayer for us today.  May we experience the rightness of home in all that we do here.  May the recurring dreams of our hearts become the realities of our doings today and everyday.  May the security of God’s righteousness embolden us to live deeply and richly as we walk towards His voice.

Reversal

God’s word is weighty.  It is substantive.  Consider that all the things you will see and touch today are the congealment of God’s spoken word.  When His word comes in contact with something (like a mountain, see Zechariah 4 or Matthew 21) it is the ‘something’ that is moved.  There is nothing in all of existence that is of greater substance than God’s word.

This can (and should) be applied to our lives today.  The highest ‘mountains’ of wrong, fear, hurt, confusion, or ______________ that seem to span the entire horizon of our days are no match for the smallest word of God.  It doesn’t seem or feel like that should be the case, but, in true reality, it is.  God’s word holds the power of reversal.

‘Those’ days and ‘These’ days

In Zechariah, we encounter Israel facing the mountains of utter decimation and defeat.  They are captive, plundered, and forced to dwell in the midst of a conquering kingdom.  They are a byword and the punch-line to the jokes spoken in every foreign language.  Laughter, unfortunately in this case, is a universal languages.  They understand that things aren’t like they used to be in the “good old days.”

In ‘those’ days, men and women dwelt comfortably in a secure city.  The streets resounded with the laughter and shouts of boys and girls playing.  Long life was the norm.  You needed a good staff because your life was going to outlast your body (see Zechariah 8).

But ‘those’ days are long gone.  Only a few remain who remember what it was like to be among friends rather than foreigners.  Yes, ‘those’ days are gone because God spoke them away.  The people of ‘those’ days neglected to remember that all the good they knew and saw was the product of God’s word of blessing.  They fashioned in their minds that this good life was the life of their own making, and they turned their entire being away from God and His word.

So, in order that His people would be ever mindful of the power and character of His word, God spoke again: exile, plunder, and loss as the everyday experience.  Reversal for the sake of revelation.

This is happening again.

Into the mire of captivity and woe, a voice is heard.  Few are the ears that will recognize it, though it addresses all exiles.

“Return to me, and I will return to you…”

“My city shall be rebuilt…”

“Up!  It’s time to go home…!”

“Your captor becomes your plunder…”

“I will be your God, and you will be my people…”

Scandalous Sentiments

God then begins to return His people to Jerusalem.  He raises leaders in Nehemiah, Ezra, Zerubbabel, and Joshua.  The exiles are home.  But more than that their hearts are home.

God accomplishes more than the rebuilding of a city.  The city is simply a location for Him to put the people that he is restoring.  And, as great as this historical reality is, this whole movement is a sign, a reverse echo, of what is to come.

The reversal of the exiles’ situation is a foreshadowing of the reversal that Jesus affects in our hearts today.  It is a foretelling of the gospel.  But have you considered the full implication that the story holds?  There are elements to this reversal that can border on scandalous if I’m not careful.  I type with trepidation as I ponder them.

Although Israel physically dwelt in Babylon their true “captor” was not an earthly force.  They were living under the weight not of a foreign king, but of God’s Word.  They were where they were because God spoke.

Although sin is our experiential ruler, we bear the burden of the condemnation God decreed through His Word.  We are “captive” to God’s righteous judgment.  We are where we are because God spoke it to be this way.

God stands as our captor.  We lie defeated under the victory of His Word.

But God didn’t stop speaking.  His Word eventually became flesh, and actually dwelt among us (Zechariah 2; John 1).

When God spoke the reversal of captor becoming plunder for His people, He fulfilled those words for us Himself in Christ.  God, in Jesus, stepped into the place of captivity, and set us in the place of victory.  Here is where caution is warranted, as the gospel advances to new and seemingly scandalous (to me at least) depths.

Now, we did nothing to defeat or overcome God and His Word.  It wasn’t our blood shed in the struggle with our sin (Hebrews 12).  Don’t exalt yourself into that role.  That is blatantly scandalous and heretical.  But there is a  sense of God becoming my “plunder” that strikes a new chord in me.  Not that I capture Him, but that He ordains Himself to become my treasure by becoming the object of His own wrath and plunders Himself.  Then, gives that treasure to me.

Does this help to drive home the immensity and power of God’s love for us?  Or the extent of our salvation?  This gift of the only truly free Person in all existence taking on the role, the position of captive.  And this, for me.  In my place.

Reality And Illustration

Examine this scene:  Two prisoners.  Barnabas, who is guilty, and Jesus, who is not.  Barnabas stands in the place, as do we, of notorious guilt.  Jesus, alone, stands in the place of singular innocence.  And yet it is Barnabas, and we, who walks away a free man, and Jesus who is delivered over as a prisoner to be scourged and crucified.  (The only confused one is Pilate, the judge, who walks away guilty, yet declaring himself innocent by his own decree.)

Barnabas was a prisoner of the law, of God.  Guilty.  The plunder of justice and of God.

Jesus was the freeman of the law, of God.  Innocent.  The possessor of the riches of justice and of God.

There is no other explanation for this reversal of outcomes except that God’s Word has come into contact with the mountain of reality and the mountain has been moved.

Gracious illustrations are nice, but the reality of grace is scandalous.

The Approach

“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life…” – 1 John 1

“…the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let us go…and see this thing that has happened….’  And [they] returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen…” – Luke 2

“Now the…sinners were all drawing near to hear him.” – Luke 15

THE WHISPER HEARD AROUND THE WORLD

Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.  So many words have been written (and rightly so) about that night when God broke through into humanly existence and approached a fallen world to save it. And, although there is a deep sense of obscurity surrounding this event, there is also clear revelation and glorious proclamation concerning this drawing near of God.

The heralding of angels. Celestial signs. Prophetic voices resounding in temple courts.

Relative to what He is worthy of, it may seem like God whispered when He made His grand entrance into the world, but the proclamation of this good news was clearly made.

And it was clearly heard.

A PROGRESSIVE ENCOUNTER

Picture in your mind a person casually walking down a road. Off in the distance, yet within earshot, a sound is made. What happens next?

The footsteps stop. The head turns slightly in the direction of the perceived sound. That which was initially heard is now listened for.

There it is again.

Now, eyes become involved. It came from over there. With brow furrowed, the listener attempts to focus on what has grabbed their attention. They see something off a ways.

Footsteps begin again, but in a new direction. They approach this ‘thing that has happened’, as the shepherds in Luke’s gospel would describe it. Closer and closer. With every step more information is gathered, and now the mind is starting to interpret and understand.

Now, just a few feet away, clarity begins to set in. Could it be? Is this real? The investigator’s arm extends.

Touch. Contact. Grasping. Holding.

WHAT IT ALL MEANS

That is the approach that the shepherds, the magi, and the disciples all took as they beheld Jesus. And it is the way “sinners” past and present still approach Him.

Heard. Seen. Looked. Touched. A progressive encountering of something new. Something new that speaks to a once-hoped-for thought that still lingers beneath the surface of everyday life. A thought that is so much the fabric of who we are that all it takes is a “whisper” to stop us in our tracks.

That something is fellowship, friendship, nearness with God. That something is really Someone. And He has a name. Jesus.

This Christmas, as holidays bring a break in the action of normal everyday life, I pray for and encourage you to stop and listen to what’s really going on in that story about a baby in a manger.

When Need Becomes Desire

It is true that we are all born with needs. The need to be fed, the need to be cleansed, the need to learn, and a thousand others. But as we grow, and as these needs are met by others, a change takes place. Our needs (though still technically needs) become our desires.

We desire to eat, but we don’t (typically) need to be fed. We desire to be cleansed, but we don’t need to be bathed. And (though we might think otherwise) we desire to learn, but we don’t need to be taught.

All of those initial needs still exist in us. But now when they are cared for, rather than merely meeting a need, we satisfy a desire.

The gift of God to us is the transformation of our needs into desires.

In the Bible, we read that all people (including me and you) are “under sin”. That is the universal need. We need to be separated from our sin. To have it removed from us and us from it.

But we also read that “no one seeks God”, not even one. Amazingly, though the heart of man (on some level) universally feels and deals with the need arising from sin, we universally fail to attain (or even seek) the solution.

The need has yet to be transformed into desire.

But God does something wonderful in the heart of his child. By His Spirit and grace, He enters into the need we all feel and He turns it into a desire for Himself. In the light of His Presence, our sin carries a shame that causes us to run from Him. But His grace gives humility that allows us to carry that shame back to Him. And when we do approach Him, we find not only our need met but we experience the satisfaction of our (new) heart’s desire.

For God does not merely meet needs. He satisfies desires. We are all born needing Him, but we are only re-born when we desire Him. 

And that is the gift of God to us. Merry Christmas.

This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins – 1 John 4:10

“You did not choose me….but I chose You…” – Jesus (John 15:16)

You Are A Flag

A flag is a mere lifeless symbol apart from the animating wind.  Yes, it bears the image and represents the substance of its country or cause, but of itself it hangs limp and lifeless.  It is the wind that enlivens and gives motion to the flag.

We are the image-bearers of God.  All of us.  All of creation.  Yet apart (separated) from the blowing wind of His Spirit, we do not move.  We do nothing other or more than show forth design.  There is no (or at most diminished) glory or ‘inspiration’.

A flag alone does not make a country.  It represents a truth greater and outside of itself.  The greater reality of the country precedes the symbolic actuality of the flag.  As foolish as it is to say that you own a car because you carry a key, so it is to speak of the value of a flag apart from acknowledging its country.

Think of your life.  Your self.  Your being.  You are a flag.  You represent and symbolize the very Person of God.  Take even a cursory look at how much took place in order for you to be born, and you will be hard pressed to sincerely believe that you are the product of chance and mere biological process.  God’s most intimate revelation to you of His existence and being is in the mirror every morning.

Now think of your purpose.  If it helps think of the purpose of a flag.  Bold to announce pride and value.  Colorful to represent joy and celebration.  Durable and strong to withstand that which it was designed to embrace.  The wind.

You are not a subtle statement.  You are an unblushing decree of the glory of God.  A heart-filling, spine-tingling, goose-bump-giving, tear-in-the-eye-causing reminder of home.  Represent Him well, and embrace the wind.

My Proposed Manifesto: Live, Preach, Teach, Share, Defend

LIVE THE GOSPEL

“…Live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.” (Philippians 1:27, HCSB)

“…and he [Jesus] died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.” (2 Corinthians 5:15)

“Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.” (1 Peter 2:12. NIV)

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind…” (Romans 12:2, ESV)

The Gospel is the message of new creation for (at least) an individual.  Our lives reflect the work God has done in our hearts.  We do not mold our hearts by our outward works, but rather we ‘put on the new self’ created according to God’s likeness (Ephesians 4);  an inward new life (the free gift of God to us) being worked outwardly (the joyful expression of our obedience to God) to the glory of God.

PREACH THE GOSPEL

“Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!” (1 Corinthians 9:16, ESV)

“I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus…preach the word…” (2 Timothy 4:1-2, ESV)

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes…” (Romans 1:16, ESV)

“And how are they to hear without someone preaching?” (Romans 10:14, ESV)

Not only do our everyday lives express the gospel work in our hearts, but our words will clearly tell the world the message of what God has done through the person of Jesus Christ.  ‘We are not ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of God for the salvation of all who believe.’  Therefore, we publicly proclaim the miraculous message of the gospel to others and offer it to all who will believe.

TEACH THE GOSPEL

“Now we have received…the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God.” (1 Corinthians 2:12, ESV)

“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness…” (2 Timothy 3:16, ESV)

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another…” (Colossians 3:16, NIV)

The gospel is the work of God giving us new life instantaneously, continually, and eternally.  The ramifications of the Gospel are experienced daily, in every moment and situation of life. We learn to interpret the happenings of life in the light of the Gospel, and we learn how the Gospel applies to every facet of our existence. The Gospel illumines our days, and our days are the space where the Gospel continually unfolds to us. Therefore, we teach (and learn) the full counsel of the bible, relying on the Holy Spirit’s ministry, in order to consistently and fully live and grow in this new life.

SHARE THE GOSPEL

“’Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has mercy on you.’” (Mark 5:19, ESV)

“’Freely you have received, freely give.’” (Matthew 10:8, NIV)

We believe in the supreme value of people and of God’s gift of life through Jesus Christ. We also know that we do not merit, in any way, the lavish love of God who made us his very own children.  Therefore, we share the love and gospel of Jesus with those around us in our daily lives.  We do this respectfully and gently in accordance with the context of our neighbor’s perspective that the message would be most clearly understood by them.  We pray for the Lord of the harvest to send workers into the broader field of the whole world for the purpose of harvesting the fruit of people’s salvation and God’s glory.

DEFEND THE GOSPEL

“Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth…” (2 Timothy 2:25, NIV)

“…always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect…” (1 Peter 3:15, ESV)

“We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God…” (2 Corinthians 10:5, ESV)

We speak clearly in response to opposing and contrary doctrines that distort and/or deny the truth of the gospel.  We prepare our minds and hearts for this in order to be able to gently instruct others according to the truth of the gospel, and we remain hopeful that God will grant others the grace to turn from falsehood to truth.

Shelter, Shield, Shepherd (Part 3/3)

Jesus, My Shelter: Protection from the elements (Part 1) 

Jesus, My Shield: Protection from enemies (Part 2)

A more brief recap…

The 3 Truths You Hope To Find

An open door.  When the elements exert their power over us, our first and only thought is, ‘How can I get out of this?’  Anything will do.  But something permanent would be perfect.

A safe place.  Arrows of hatred whiz by.  Unkind words stab.  Mistreatment stings.  To just be ignored will do, but to be saved would be perfect.

A hero.  When you don’t know, you want to know someone who does.  When you can’t, you hope there is someone who can.  A stranger will do, but a father would be perfect.

Jesus, My Shepherd: Provision of Everything

“We all, like sheep, have gone astray” (see Isaiah).  That is a felt reality we all experience and bear every day.  If it wasn’t then why do you always feel like you’re seeking something?  Why this sense of lostness?

Sheep, as I have heard, are dumb.  They don’t make right choices based on reason.  They choose based on limited information being filtered through a feeble mind.  Sheep couldn’t reason their way through one day, much less a lifetime.  And it isn’t like sheep have a whole lot to do.  Eat grass.  Drink water. Lie down.  That basically covers it.

Sheep rely (not volitionally, but necessarily) entirely on shepherds.  A shepherd exists not because the sheep understood their need, discussed their options, and chose to have a human being lead them around all the time so they could live thanks to his care. But rather a shepherd exists because he knows sheep. He knows their limitations and needs. He knows where they will make mistakes and chooses to care for them in order to save them from themselves.

The shepherd meets the needs of the sheep not because they seek him out but because he seeks them out.  He provides everything for them, not because they ask, but because he cares for and knows them.

Jesus calls himself the ‘Good Shepherd’ who lays down his life for the sheep. We are sheep.  We have not sought Him out, but He has sought us out and found us.

As a shepherd must do and provide everything for his sheep, Jesus has done and provided everything for us. Salvation, sustenance, cleansing, rest, defense, care.

Dwell for a moment in the tension between the oblivious nature of your sheepness and the glimmering of hope that your human mind perceives in the light of the gospel.  Feel your need of a shepherd. Realize the love of Jesus, the Chief Shepherd (see 1 Peter).

Closing thoughts

There are common threads that run through all of us. A vulnerability to elemental forces. A felt opposition or apathy on the part of others to our well-being. And a tremendous capacity to be completely helpless.

Jesus Christ, the Son of God, put on flesh in order to provide us with an impenetrable shelter and shield from both the force of God’s wrath raining down on our sin and the fiery darts hurled at us from every enemy.  He laid down his life like a Shepherd for His sheep in order to provide us everything we would ever need for both this life and the life beyond.

Jesus. Our shelter from storms. Our shield from enemies. Our provision for everything.

O my Shelter! You are a refuge to where I can run and be saved from the scorching heat of the day and the chilling winds of the desolate night. O, Mighty Shield! You are to me a sure and reliable defense from the wily attacks of my enemies. O, Great Shepherd! From Your hands I find the provision of all I want and need.

Shelter, Shield, Shepherd (Part 2/3)

A brief recap ~

The 3 Truths You Know

Life happens.  Rain.  Sun.  Heat.  Cold.  Wind.  Snow.  Skin is a poor defense against those things.  We all experience them.  We all have skin.  Therefore, we all need something else.  That something else is a shelter.

Some people just don’t like you.  Rightly or wrongly.  Personally or impersonally.  At best they don’t care, but mostly they care only for your harm and demise.  We are vulnerable.  We need a shield.

You are dumb and weak.  Maybe not in your professional field, recreational interests, or doing sudokus.  But in most things you either don’t have a clue or don’t have the strength.  We’re sheep.  We need a shepherd.

The 3 Truths You Hope To Find

An open door.  When the elements exert their power over us, our first and only thought is, ‘How can I get out of this?’  Anything will do.  But something permanent would be perfect.

A safe place.  Arrows of hatred whiz by.  Unkind words stab.  Mistreatment stings.  To just be ignored will do, but to be saved would be perfect.

A hero.  When you don’t know, you want to know someone who does.  When you can’t, you hope there is someone who can.  A stranger will do, but a father would be perfect.

Jesus, My Shelter: Protection from the elements (Part 1)

Jesus, My Shield: Protection from enemies

Have you felt your vulnerability today?  A better question would be how many times have you felt your vulnerability today?  It’s open season, and you are squarely in the crosshairs of seemingly everyone (and sometimes everything) else.

Why do we feel like that?  Because it’s true.

When you and I walked into sin (just like Adam and Eve, from whom we inherited that bent to do so), we simultaneously decided to walk away from the covering of God.  We decided that our way of doing things was the better way of doing things.  At least for us, it was.

What we failed to realize was that those very words we were revolting against and discarding because they were too strict, or archaic, or irrelevant, or simply a myth were more of a defense for us than an attack against us.  When we turned away from the words of God, we turned away from the protection of God.  This reality along with the real presence of enemies is what produces our vulnerability.

We have spiritual enemies, the chief of which is Satan.  On our own we’ve never stood a chance (again, see: Adam & Eve).  We’re vulnerable to his accusations because we have sinned and are in fact guilty.  We succumb to his deception because we don’t have the solid bedrock of God’s words illuminating truth.  And our lives become awash with doubt because on our own, in the end, all we really have is…ourselves.

But we, also, all become physical enemies to each other when we walk away from the covering of God.  Billions of people living according to their own set of standards and who appoint themselves as their sole authority, determining their own right and wrong, is a boiling pot ready to overflow with scalding hatred, evil, and pain.

Everyone’s defenses are up because we have all become vulnerable.  We have no shield.

Jesus has become to us the shelter from the wrath of God, and if we take refuge in Him from the elements of life we will also find Him to be a shield from our enemies.

Not only are we shielded in the midst of attack, but we are released from trying to be our own defense.  We can put down the weapons we’ve trained on those around us.  And, rather than being another enemy, we are freed to become healers and helpers.

We are vulnerable as long as we are in our sin.  We will always have enemies in this life, but we don’t have to be one.  Be shielded by Jesus today.  Forgiven of sin.  Saved from enemies.

“The LORD is…my shield.  I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies.”  - Psalm 18:2-3

Jesus, My Shepherd: Provision for everything

Shelter, Shield, Shepherd (Part 1/3)

Jesus is become to us the manifest expression of God’s manifold provision for our many needs.

Yes, you are needy.  Admit it or don’t.  We both know it’s true. We all know it’s true.

You’re beat up.  You’re naked.  You’re lost.  You’re needy.

And no one else cares, no one else loves you to the degree or depth that God does.

How else does the gospel message even make sense or come to be apart from a divine reality saving us from our sorry human condition?

The gospel is the bridge between what you know experientially to be true in you and what you hope to be true beyond you.

The 3 Truths You Know

Life happens.  Rain.  Sun.  Heat.  Cold.  Wind.  Snow.  Skin is a poor defense against those things.  We all experience them.  We all have skin.  Therefore, we all need something else.  That something else is a shelter.

Some people just don’t like you.  Rightly or wrongly.  Personally or impersonally.  At best they don’t care, but mostly they care only for your harm and demise.  We are vulnerable.  We need a shield.

You are dumb and weak.  Maybe not in your professional field, recreational interests, or doing sudokus.  But in most things you either don’t have a clue or don’t have the strength.  We’re sheep.  We need a shepherd.

The 3 Truths You Hope To Find

An open door.  When the elements exert their power over us, our first and only thought is, ‘How can I get out of this?’  Anything will do.  But something permanent would be perfect.

A safe place.  Arrows of hatred whiz by.  Unkind words stab.  Mistreatment stings.  To just be ignored will do, but to be saved would be perfect.

A hero.  When you don’t know, you want to know someone who does.  When you can’t, you hope there is someone who can.  A stranger will do, but a father would be perfect.

Jesus, My Shelter: Protection from the elements

Jesus is the only person I know who has ever calmed a storm with his words.  Use your physical eyes to witness the powers that roam this world – the elements.  They are unrelenting, impartial, unsympathetic, impassionate, furious.  Now apply that to the world that lives inside your chest.  Storms don’t just blow across the plains, and hurricanes don’t only affect the coasts.  They rise in our hearts, minds, and souls.

We live in a world threatened and terrified by disaster.  Jesus alone stands above the unchangeable elements.  He has weathered the elemental wrath of God that is tracking directly across our souls.  He has withstood every torrential temptation and damaging disappointment.

The best we can do in a storm is hide.  The same holds true for the storms of life.  And Jesus invites us to hide in Him.  He provides Himself as the protection we need from the elements of life.  ‘…your life is hidden with Christ in God.’  Jesus used the image of a door to describe His role in the rescue mission of the gospel.  He is the only true shelter you will ever find for your soul.  Come in out of the rain.  Jesus is your shelter.

Jesus, My Shield: Protection from enemies

Jesus, My Shepherd: Provision for everything

Redeeming The Leaf Piles (An Allegory of a Pumpkin Patch)

It is the season of Summer, and we are caught up in the prospect of growing a garden in our backyard.  The current season reminds me of past seasons.  Autumn produced generous falling leaves (thank you trees) that were subsequently raked into piles and burned in the Spring (sorry lungs).

Now, in our backyard we not only had our own new leaf piles, but we also inherited the grand daddy of all leaf burning spots.  Scarred, charred, barren, dead.  So we “piled” on our contribution to the legacy of the yard.

This pile plot has been around for years if not decades.  It probably started out small – the leaves from the Fall.  But with time and neglect it grew in both size and degree.  Eventually, small branches and minor bits of trash were added.  Then chunks of broken doors, windows, and tools.  Soon, things that won’t even burn found themselves placed there – broken glass, wire cables, aluminum cans.  If it wasn’t fit or convenient for use, it ended up on the old “leaf” pile.

So as we began to clean up our yard, we joined in the cycle of life of the leaf pile.  The flame was kindled, and years of cast-offs were slowly consumed.  But even with diligent tending remnants still remained.

Perhaps it’s more accurate to say that the items on the leaf pile weren’t destroyed but rather transformed.  As I sift through the ashes there are still discernable pieces of screen mesh, a mostly-buried cable, charred glass, and a hundred other forgotten memories.

Memories of a past filled with as many failed attempts that bring a chuckle as buried regrets that still hold the power to burden our minds and sink our hearts.  Why won’t these things die?  Why can’t we get rid of them for good?

The principle matter is one of perspective.  The present leaf pile can either be reminiscent of a dark (yet ever present) past, or it can be viewed as an opportunity for a brightened future and a new reality.  The most applicable word is: redemption.

To redeem something is to ransom it out of a current prison or identity resulting from a past event into a different and better future.  To free the present from the prison of the past.  It is to bring life out of death.

And that’s where the idea of the pumpkin patch came from.  Why not take this generations-old patch of refuse, and transform it into a fruitful pumpkin patch?  So with the knowledge that ashes can be used as good fertilizer for healthy growing, we set out on our mission of redemption.

As the tiller churns through layer upon layer of the past, forgotten details begin to surface.  Old becomes new again, and perspective dictates response.  The broken glass bottle can drag one back to that moment of haunting regret or be seen in contrast with the future that is purposed to be.  Does it remain or is it to be removed?

In the light of redemption this old footprint of the past becomes a step forward, gaining ground towards a new purpose.

And now as our hands work the freshly turned soil more new things materialize.  Every rock removed is a reclaimed place for the root of life to grow.  The workable plot now begins to take on the pattern of the purpose that is being brought to it.

I see a seed pile will go here and … here.  A boundary will mark the edges like this.  It looks like there’s room for two pumpkin vines.  Vision and perception begin to merge.  With time and tending of the new purpose, this old ground will blossom with the fruit of redemption!

This attempted allegory of the pumpkin patch, I hope, registers with you.  The old, inherited leaf piles are present in the backyards of all of our lives.  Sin (original and personal), mistakes, regrets, and hurts litter our memories and souls.  Hidden from the passersby out front, but ever-hindering our true enjoyment of life.  I pray that God will come into our past-filled present and redeem our barren places with His new purpose and abundant fruitfulness.

[Addendum: External forces are compliant (and even assistive) with the old purposes of the leaf pile – rot, barrenness, ruin.  Beware of these forces and ward them off with diligence.  As you plant the seeds of redemption, birds may swoop in and “devour them”.  Weeds will arise to “choke out” any new life (see Matthew 13).  And time is required to see this new fruit, but the waiting is no longer filled with reminiscent regret but expectant hope.]

The God Who Does Whatever He Pleases

“For I know that the Lord is great, and that our Lord is above all gods. Whatever the Lord pleases, he does, in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all deeps.” (Psalm 135:5)

I read that this morning and hesitated.  I felt unsure about confidently expressing that verse to others.  Doesn’t that sound arrogant?  Conceited?  Selfish?

In anyone else, “Yes”.  Then I remembered God’s character is not man’s. That’s the difference.

He is holy.  We are fallen.  Don’t make the mistake of projecting onto God our sinful nature, and never interpret an action of God through the lens of human motivation.

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways, my ways….  For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:8-9)

Only God can reverse Psalm 135:5 and still be true.  “Whatever the Lord does, pleases him.”

No man or woman can say that (at least not an honest one).  Show me a person without regret for at least one action in their life and I’ll show you a person with serious delusions.

God is the ONLY being whose actions AND motives are pure.  If you’ve never felt this truth in yourself, try reading Romans 7 again:

“For I do not understand my own actions.  For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.  Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good.  So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.  For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is in my flesh.  For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.  For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.”

Doing the wrong things I don’t want to do.  Not doing the right things I want to do.  Impure actions and impotent motivations.  That’s me.

Who will rescue me from how I know myself to be?

Only the One who has done all the right things I’ve failed to do and never done those things resulting in regret.

How?  It’s the mystery of what God has done through Jesus.

“For our sake he made him [Jesus] to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Cor 5:21)

This is what God does.  And the pleasure?  It’s indescribable in human terms.  Found only in the divine character of God.

“…who for the joy that was set before him [Jesus] endured the cross…” (Heb 12:2)

And…

“…it pleased God through the folly of what we preach [the cross] to save those who believe.” (1 Cor 1:21)

Thank you to the God Who does whatever he pleases that “whatever He pleases, he does.”

Skipping Rocks And Faith

It happens more often than you think.  In fact, you’ll find it every day if you know what to look for.  And if you know what to do with it.

Perfection.

It’s when a situation meets preparation and gumption.  A pass, a dive, and a catch.  A man, a woman, and an introduction.  A broken person, a dying savior, and faith.

Today it was a riverbed, a rock, and a throw.

If you’ve skipped many rocks, you know that half the challenge is finding the the right rock.  Flat, not too thin, not too thick, round, even, not too big, not too small.  Typically you just have to make due with what you can find - clunky, flimsy, odd, random – and make up for it with the throw.

But every so often you stumble upon the perfect rock, the perfect water, and the perfect throw.  And the results can be quite impressive.  Today was that day for me.  I found it.

And I paused.

Have you considered that the very characteristic of the “perfect” skipping rock that makes it ideal has less to do with the rock itself and more to do with the one who finds it?

The rocks perfection is only completed by the finder’s willingness to throw it away.  And not just throw it, but wholeheartedly zing it so that it travels as far away from himself as he can get it.

Faith is a lot like that, too.

We comb the waterfronts of our lives looking for that “perfect” something that will make all the difference.  A career.  A spouse.  A house.  A physique.  A reputation.

More often than not we’re forced to “spin” those things the best that we can to see how far they can go.  And inevitably they all fall remarkably short of the perfection we seek.

What about this gospel (literally “good news”) of a perfect God providing a perfect sacrifice to perfectly deal with every imperfection in me?  Have you found that “Rock” yet?

And if you have, what have you done with it?  Is your faith buried deep in a pocket?  Forgotten upon a shelf?  Left in the riverbed?  Or have you exerted you’re best effort into seeing just how far this “Rock” is really capable of going?

The Bible talks about faith being “perfected”.  Now, God IS perfect in His power, and Jesus’s sacrifice IS perfect in provision (there’s no need for us to finish anything for Him).  But there is the aspect of faith being perfected IN us.  IN you, and IN me.

That work requires some gumption on our part.

First, pick up the rock.  Take hold of that salvation, hope and life that Jesus has provided and extended to us.

Second, throw it as well and as far as you can.  Our lives the continuation of that One perfect Rock and His eternal “skip” through history.

(By the way, I threw the rock I found today.  And it WAS perfect!)

Know. Love.

What do you love?

I bet you can tell me a lot about it/him/her.  We know most about what we love.  That’s kind of the way it works.  We discover something new.  Our interest is sparked.  We dig deeper.  We learn more.  Knowledge feeds the fire of love, and love drives us to know something more deeply.

Love IS possible apart from knowledge, but it will lack all the depth and robustness of which love is capable.  In other words, loving a stranger may be done purely by choice/will, but how much better could that love be expressed given a greater knowledge of that person.  I can serve any stranger a meal, but serving someone their favorite meal takes friendship which requires knowledge.  And the more I know the better I can love.

Now, seeing as God is eternal and timeless, both His knowledge and love of you has been perfect from the beginning.  Your beginning.  Think about that.  God knew you before you, your parents, your grandparents, or your great-grandparents were ever born.  To take that a step further, replace “knew” in the previous sentence with “loved”.

Love’s provision.

Would you agree with me that we provide most for the things/people we love?  So, provision is another way to say love.  When I look at the provision of God in my life, do I make that connection?  Or do I chalk it up to chance, luck, self-sufficiency, or something else?

Am I aware (vitally aware) that this dinner before me is a direct result of God’s love for me?  When I dress in the morning do I realize that my entire wardrobe has been provided to me by One Who cares about me?

This sounds familiar

When Jesus stood on the mountainside as recorded in Matthew 6 and began to introduce people to the Kingdom of God and the love of His Father, he revealed this knowledge-love-provision picture.

He said, “Don’t be anxious about the daily things in life like clothes and food!  Your heavenly Father KNOWS that you need them all.  Seek him first who is seeking you most and all these things will be PROVIDED to you.” [Matt 6:31-33, author’s paraphrase]

This was a reintroduction of people to the God who knows.  When Israel had travelled to Egypt and found themselves enslaved under heavy burdens they did what all hurting people do.  They groaned.  They cried.

In Exodus 2:25 we see what a loving Father is doing when His children are hurting.  “God saw the people of Israel – and God KNEW.”

Enter Moses and a burning bush and deliverance.

It’s the same today.  When we hurt (through sins of our own or others), God sees.  God knows.  God loves.  God provides.

Enter Jesus and a cross and deliverance.

Don’t miss the love for you and knowledge of you that is behind everything you find yourself provided with today.

The Pain of Love

Not all pain is bad.

I just put my little girl down for bed tonight, and as I closed the door…my heart sank.  It hit me that another day with this precious treasure is past and gone.  But there was another sentiment as well.  I just flat out love her so much that it hurts.  So much so that any physical pain I might encounter on her behalf pales in comparison.

The flesh’s capacity for sensation is nothing compared to the heart’s.  And the power of a punch can never compare to the power of love.

Consider that the next time Jesus pops up on the radar screen of your thoughts.  How could He have done what the bible says he did?  Crucifixion?  Voluntarily?  For me?  For you?

While it may be hard to swallow what Jesus did, it should be downright gobstopping when we attempt to grasp why he did it.

Love.

Love that hurt so bad even whip scourges, thorns penetrating skull, fists pounding face, spikes through wrists and ankles, spear thrusts into the chest don’t begin to approach a comparison.  (Hebrews 12:2)

There is a pit in the heart of God that aches simply for you.

Consider that the next time pain enters the arena of your life.  “God, you don’t know how much this hurts!”  His reply: “Then you don’t know how deep my love is for you.” (Ephesians 3:18)

It’s hard to conceive of anything being greater than the pains we feel (especially in the depth of the moment).  But this characteristic of Love, this godly ache, is deeper still.

Deep.

Deep in the pits of hellish thoughts, feelings of abandonment, numbing loss, echoing sobs of loneliness, or paralyzing pain there is the presence of Another.  His arms reaching down even deeper than you can feel in order to embrace and carry you.  (Deuteronomy 33:27)

There is NO pit deeper than the love God has for you.

God, whether I ascend to the heavens or lie down in the depths of all that is known, you are there.  You are here.  Though I feel that I am at the bottom, there is yet your upholding hands beneath me.  Your love and care for me is deeper still.  Awaken my mind to know the love of Christ that surpasses all knowledge, and, once knowing, then to feel.  Help me to interpret life by the truth and not the other way around.  In humility and awe, Amen.

Affirmation

If you could have only one thing completely affirmed about yourself today, what would you want it to be? (Deeper question: what should you want it to be?)

That you are financially secure and set for the rest of your natural life? That you are physically healthy and free of disease for decades to come? That your name and reputation or widely respected and will be honored throughout history?

How about this: That the salvation spoken of in the gospel of Jesus Christ is true and real and yours?

Which of these choices would you want to have undoubtedly affirmed to you today? Your answer will reveal much about what you value and desire.

Let’s add another perspective to the question. If you had ALL of the first three options (wealth, health, and honor), but nothing changed with the last one, how would you feel? And if we flipped it. You had continual questions and doubts about ALL of the first three, but an unshakeable peace about the last one. Now, how would you feel?

Jesus spoke of this very situation when He asked, “What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?”

The context of that statement is the conversation Jesus has with His disciples about WHO He truly is. The Christ. The Messiah. The Son of God.

After that conversation, Jesus tells His followers WHAT He must do and WHAT will happen to Him. Derision. Suffering. Torture. Murder. But also, Resurrection!

Peter latches on only to the earthly elements of Jesus' foretelling and declares, “NO, no, no! Never! Not that! Not you!” Jesus then points out Peter’s nearsightedness, and asks that probing priority-revealing question we looked at above.

What does it matter if you have the house(s), and the car(s), and the toys, and the income, and the bank accounts, and the honor if you don’t have an eternally secure soul?

What does it matter if you DON’T have the house, or the car, or the toys, or the income, or the bank account, or the honor but you DO have security beyond all that those things can ever hold – salvation?

Out of all the options we listed at the beginning of this entry there is only one that is truly secure, truly valuable, and freely attainable today. The salvation spoken of in the gospel of Jesus Christ is true and real and yours…TODAY.

“This is the testimony, God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life.” - I John 5:12-13

“For ‘everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’” -Romans 10:13

5 ‘W’s For The Valleys - Psalm 42

‘Who?’

‘…so my soul pants for YOU, O God.’ v. 1

When you find yourself in the valleys of discontent always ask what it is that would make the difference.  The only real answer will consistently be the presence of Almighty God.  He is the Healer, Comforter, Provider, Friend, Lord, Savior, and any other title that you need in life.  That’s why perhaps his greatest name is Immanuel.  God WITH us.  It’s not that there is a part of God that we need.  It’s that everything we always need is met in who he is.

‘When?’

‘When can I go and meet with God?’ v. 2

Doesn’t life have a way of gathering up on itself and you feel like time is the scarcest commodity you have?  At least one of two things has happened when that is the case.  We have said, ‘yes’ to too many things of this world, and/or we have said, ‘yes’ to too few moments with God.  We must check our priority lists, and if ‘time with God’ drops down to the point that we wonder if we’ll ever get there again WE MUST MAKE CHANGES.

Our soul’s needs will not be met by anything or anyone else.  Yes, we have responsibilities and commitments, but none more vital than knowing and enjoying the God we claim is our very life.  Besides, apart from Him what will we really accomplish anyway?  (see John 15 for the answer to that question).

‘Where?’

‘…men say to me all day long, ‘Where is your God?’ v. 3

If it wasn’t enough that we would trip over our own feet at times, there are always those other voices that would gladly lead us deeper into discontentedness.  These are the ones who would believe that the answer to the ‘Who?’ of above is something other than God.  They are voices of discontent that seek distraction rather than peace.  Numbness rather than life.  They need to find security in their choices and direction by deriding absolutes and recruiting others to wander with them.  The notion of any truth outside of themselves is as foreign to their minds as peace is to their souls.  Beware of allowing the bitterness of others to affect your resolution.

‘What?’

‘These things I remember as I pour out my soul…’ v. 4

Never remain in the victories of the past, but recall them in order to move into new ones.  There is a fear that the best has passed us by, and we are tempted to feel empty and futile.  But realize that the ‘better-than-any-experienced-or-hoped-for-best’ is always ahead of us.  We look forward to the coming victory of the King we have never seen but yet we love.  We await the arrival and installment of new, better things (like earths and heavens and bodies!).  Let the former tastes and echoes of these things encourage you in the valleys.

‘Why?’

‘Why are you downcast, O my soul?’ v. 5

Question your questions.  ‘Why downcast, O my soul?’  Are you looking to something or someone other than the Lord God Almighty to fill you up and satisfy you?  Are you cramming more and more into your schedule rather than remaining faithful to your highest priority?  Are you finding solace in others’ doubts instead of the security of Truth?

‘Why, O soul?’  Have you forgotten what has come before and, most importantly, what lies ahead?  How can you recall these things and think on the dawning future and be downcast, soul?

When the valley walls loom large seek out the Person of God (Who), regain the proper priorities in your schedule and life (When), stand firm against the bitter solicitors of doubt (Where), recall better times that remind of an even better future (What), and, by faith, speak to your soul words of truth and encouragement.