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Behold, I am making all things new.
– Revelation 21:5
Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.
– 2 Corinthians 5:17
The snow fell all day, blanketing the yard and surrounding hills in a soft white whisper.
Christmas still adorns our house, although the ornaments are sagging on the tree. Little piles of unused Christmas wrap and orphan presents wait to be assimilated into our home. Bits of artificial snow sparkle on the floor. Like a frayed blanket, the season is showing a ragged edge.
An infant year sits just a few days away, glowing with the hope of a new beginning. Magazine ads feed into my desire for a fresh start, promising me a hard body, renewed vigor, and financial success if I’ll just buy in at the winter sale price.
Starting over sounds really good right now. The truth is, though, I’ll be dragging some baggage into 2016: a broken foot and a few other consequences of life choices. Some things, like a bad foot, can’t be fixed as easily as realizing we’ve messed up. The decisions we make every day create ripples into our future, for good or evil. Some things we do are just mistakes, like picking the wrong brand of salsa for tacos; others are the result of deliberate and flawed moral choices. Either way, we will live with the consequences of our failures.
But we can lose the guilt.
Jesus knows we aren’t perfect. The whole point of His coming, His death on the cross, and His resurrection was to deliver us from ourselves. Our sins were nailed to the cross with Him and washed away by His blood. Guilt, the consciousness of wrongdoing, is the spear that drives us to the cross. There, we are crucified with Him and raised to a new life.
Fresh, pure, and new, just like a winter snow.
This new beginning will last long after New Year’s resolutions have been pitched and the treadmill relegated to the garage. It’s the chance to listen to another voice besides the selfish one inside us, the opportunity to move with God and in God and because of God.
A new beginning, all year long, is as near to us as a prayer. Thank God, we don’t have to wait a whole year to start over. In Jesus, every day can be New Year’s Day.
Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.
– Jeremiah 43:18 (NIV)
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And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God.
– Luke 2:13
The night lay heavily over the fields, formless and void, just like every other night.
The man finished his patrol and returned to the small fire where the others gathered to warm up. He pulled up a piece of wood to sit on, plopped down, and stretched his legs toward the heat. By habit, he surveyed the night sky for any sign of approaching weather.
A multitude of stars danced across the heavens. The fields lay in shadows just beyond the ring of light from the flames. The soft lights of the town flickered in the darkness.
Bethlehem was louder and busier lately, filled with travelers to be counted in the census. The throbbing din of tired children, creaking carts, and eager vendors pulsed long into the evening, finally replaced by the restless sleep of a displaced city.
In the fields, there would be no rest for the shepherds. The hills surrounding Bethlehem provided prime grazing for herds of sheep raised for the Temple sacrifices held in nearby Jerusalem. The sheep could not be left untended, especially at night. The shepherds guarded them around the clock, every day of the year.
Tonight was a night like every other night.
Until the angel appeared.
There was no warning this night would be different, no hint of the momentous event about to occur. Why should tonight be any different than any other? Generations of hopeless lives played out on the same stage for thousands of years, marred by sorrow, trapped in the oppression of their own failings. They worked and played. They lived and died. Nothing ever changed.
How could they know God had chosen this night to bring heaven to earth?
How many nights have you spent watching, working, giving in to the specter of hopelessness? Do you believe tomorrow will be just another day to suffer?
I’ve been there. I’m often there. I get up every day, put one foot in front of another, and do the same thing the next day. After a while, I forget God may come into my situation at any moment, without warning, bringing our rescue.
We may choose to live without hope, but that doesn’t stop God.
He’s an invader. He lights up our sky and brings us good news of great joy when we least expect it. It arrives at the perfect moment, the one He has ordained from the beginning. And again the angels sing.
The King is here.
Deliverance is born anew.
Glory to God in the Highest!
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But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.
– 2 Corinthians 3:18
The skeleton lay in its dusty box, long hidden from the sun.
I knelt down and reluctantly opened the lid. A tangle of white metal and miniature lights lay in an inglorious heap. The pre-lit metal tree was supposed to be for outdoor use, but for some reason I can no longer remember, I began putting it up in the little breakfast nook inside the house several years ago.
I lifted a section out of its casket and shook it. It unfolded with an unceremonious rattle. My daughter and I wrestled the rest of it open, assembled the sections, and inspected the tree.
The years outdoors had taken its toll, the original white metal paint now pallid. Rust had settled into its joints.
For a moment I considered putting it back into the box. But we set it in its usual corner and plugged it in. At least the lights worked.
We dressed its stiff branches with glass, silver, and gold ornaments. For a final touch, we hung a dozen glittering acrylic icicles.
It was dark by the time we finished. I stood back and surveyed our work.
And caught my breath.
The dead had come to life. The old metal outdoor tree had been transformed, shimmering with light that danced in the glass and silver and gold. I marveled in its brilliance. I reveled in the power of turning something plain into a new creation.
God rejoices in transforming us.
In the night, when my bones ache over the day’s labor and my heart aches over the day’s sorrows, when all I see is a tangle of worries dumped into the grave of my dreams, I will remember the majesty of transformation. I will thank God for seeing past my weaknesses and old soul. I will trust in His delight in raising the dead, plugging us into the source of His power.
Then the night will dance with new life, shining in the Light.
Oh, rust, where is thy sting?
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This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil.
– Hebrews 6:19
The fishing vessel lunged toward the sky upon a heaving wave and careened down its black back as the herculean storm roiled the ocean beneath them.
Rain pounded against the ship’s wheelhouse windows. Inside, the lights of the navigational instruments were small comfort to the exhausted captain. The hurricane was getting the best of them. How he wished he’d heeded the weather warnings and stayed in the harbor.
The captain wiped his face, grabbed the intercom, and flipped the toggle switch on. “Shut ‘er down, boys, and head inside. We’re running for cover.”
The men gladly pushed the last crab pot into its place on the deck, lashed it to the others, and waddled awkwardly into shelter. The captain set a course for the back side of one of the nearby islands, where the land offered some protection against the storm. There he dropped anchor so the waves wouldn’t dash the ship against the rocky beach during the night. They collapsed into a restless sleep in their bunks until the morning brought calm again to their world.
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Last night I lay in bed, exhausted from another long day of caregiving. But sleep would not come. The many hardships which have marked our journey these last two years pounded against my soul. I prayed over and over again for God’s mercy, for rescue, for some kind of help.
In answer, just a few words came to me: O afflicted one, storm-tossed, and not comforted.
What? Was that a verse from the Bible?
I couldn’t remember, but it must be. It was as if God was telling me He knew exactly how I felt. But that couldn’t be all the Scripture verse. What was the rest of it?
I couldn’t recall, so I threw an anchor into that harbor, comforted even in knowing that God saw us and our pain. In the storm, in the night, that was enough.
This afternoon we received an answer to one of those desperate prayers.
Amazed, I looked up the words that had come in the night and discovered they were, indeed, part of a verse from Isaiah:
O afflicted one, storm-tossed, and not comforted,
Behold, I will set your stones in antimony,
And your foundations I will lay in sapphires.– Isaiah 54:11
There it was, the promise profound. Although we ride the storms of life, the voyage is taking us somewhere. We will arrive safely at the new Jerusalem. Each tortured mile of the journey may feel pointless at times but is bringing us ever closer to the eternal city.
Antimony is a metalloid that resists heat, securing the foundation of our faith from the flames of trial. The precious stones speak of the riches of the Builder and His love for the Bride for whom He has built it.
Beautiful, solid, and eternal. Through His sacrifice, death, and resurrection, Jesus Christ has secured a future for us that will never grow old or die. In the meantime, He reminds us He knows what we are enduring, and He cares that we are hurting.
He cares.
Harbor hope always. Seek Him constantly. Anchor your soul to His promises.
I’m here, in the morning, to tell you God answers prayers.
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Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had arrogance, abundant food and careless ease, but she did not help the poor and needy.
– Ezekiel 16:49
My feet throbbed as I eased into bed after a long day.
Like millions of other Americans, I’m gearing up for the traditional Thanksgiving feast. Yesterday afternoon I baked and frosted dozens of sugar cookies for family members. A humungous turkey commandeers the bottom shelf of the frig. Today I’ll bake pies and rolls and the family’s favorite broccoli casserole. On the big day tomorrow, the turkey will go in the oven and the kitchen will fill with the savory scent of abundance.
It’s been a hard year for our family, filled with loss and trial. The sweet memories of Thanksgivings past and the hope of Thanksgivings future ease away the pain as the holiday aromas swath me in nostalgia. I remember all God has done for us, all the blessings we still have.
There is so much for which I am thankful.
In the heartache, I am reminded how much a sense of need draws us to God. Conversely, I realize abundance often makes us complacent and arrogant instead of grateful.
I’ve done a lot of thinking about that verse in Ezekiel about the city of Sodom. Most people, if asked what their guilt was, would probably answer that it was immorality. And yes, they were immoral. Both Genesis 13:13 and 18:20 tell us they were very wicked, committing serious sins in the eyes of God.
Thus they were haughty and committed abominations before Me. Therefore I removed them when I saw it.
– Ezekiel 16:50
And there’s the word that bothers me. Thus.
Reading the two verses together, we find that Sodom was full of unthankful people. They did what they wanted. They played, ate, cared only for themselves, and became proud. They were well-fed, bored, haughty, and without compassion. Thus they gave themselves over to wickedness.
One was a consequence of the other. That’s sobering stuff.
The destruction of Sodom began with their lack, not their lust.
They lacked gratitude. Therefore, their unthankful hearts turned to stone and fell into sin. Like them, any people who forgets their God are doomed, unless they realize what they have done and ask God for forgiveness.
This Thanksgiving, I want to turn those verses around. I want to accept our neediness as a chance to see God’s mercy. I want to embrace the pain in our lives that keeps us humble and gives us compassion for others who are suffering. I want to work hard for Jesus and the humanity He loves who are hurting all around us.
Most of all, I want to be thankful, every day of the year, for everything.
Therefore the LORD longs to be gracious to you, And therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you. For the LORD is a God of justice; How blessed are all those who long for Him.
– Isaiah 30:18
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This is the highest praise that earth or hell affords—to be classified by the enemy as one with Jesus.
– Leonard Ravenhill
Visiting a big church for the first time is nerve-wracking.
Once you get past the cheery greeters just inside the doors, you seem to disappear. As you make your way to the sanctuary, people brush by without even making eye contact. You suddenly feel very insignificant. But it’s not surprising.
No one here knows you.
Don’t you hate the sense of powerlessness that comes with being lost in a crowd? We want to be noticed and valued. That’s normal. The danger is when we try to be someone we’re not in order to raise our star power.
During the time of the early church, seven sons of a Jewish chief priest traveled around Israel performing exorcisms. When they heard Paul was performing miracles in the name of Jesus, they decided to use His name for their own benefit. They found a man possessed by evil spirits and attempted to cast out the demons with these words: “I adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preaches.” (Acts 19:13)
That didn’t cut it. The demon knew the Spirit of God wasn’t present in them. It answered back, saying, “I recognize Jesus, and I know about Paul, but who are you?” The possessed man then attacked them, humiliating them so thoroughly they ran from the house wounded and naked.
Like these exorcists, some people try to appropriate the kingdom of heaven by doing good works with His name, instead of doing them in His name. Jesus has promised to turn away all imposters.
Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’
And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’
– Matthew 7:22-23
Like the sons of Sceva, what we do in Jesus’ name still doesn’t cut it. It’s not about what words we say or how we say them. It’s not how much good we do that gets us noticed by the devil and accepted by God.
Do you want to enter the kingdom of God? Do you desire power in your walk and authority over evil in your daily life?
Don’t try to fake it or copy others. Make sure you have given your life over to God and you are in His family. He recognizes His own children. Then the word will get around, and both heaven and hell both will be acquainted with you.
It’s not about who you know. All that matters is that the right Person knows you.
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So we do not focus on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
– 2 Corinthians 4:18 (Holman Christian Bible)
One moment he felt strong and young and immortal. The next moment, his life crashed around him, the veil between two worlds torn.
In the space between one breath and the next, a teenager discovered which world is real.
Kevin was traveling in Canada with a youth ministry team when the accident happened. He and a friend worked on music during a quiet summer afternoon at the church where they stayed. Feeling restless, Kevin talked his friend into helping him practice the backflips he had been learning.
The first couple of flips went smoothly. On the next, Kevin didn’t make the rotation and came down hard on his head. His neck snapped forward, and he instantly lost all feeling. He watched his body fall to the ground, like it didn’t belong to him.
He also stopped breathing. The air in his lungs escaped like a long sigh. Panicked, his friend ran for help.
As Kevin lay alone, dying in the grass of the church lawn, he heard a voice so clearly he thought it was audible.
The voice was God’s. He told Kevin he would be okay.
In those last moments before he lost consciousness, Kevin felt no fear. As darkness closed in, the presence of God was overpowering.
Help finally arrived. Kevin was revived, put on life support, and flown to a hospital in Calgary. There he began the long journey back to this life.
Kevin survived the spinal cord injury that paralyzed him eighteen years ago. And he finally learned to breathe again on his own after two years on life support. But he says that one moment when God spoke to him was so powerful, nothing else since has seemed real. To him, the eternal that he experienced between breaths is the true reality.
The dimension in which he still lives is the imposter.
Beyond our physical senses lies a realm far above our earthly experience.
Like electricity and the wind, we only know it’s there because we can see its effects.
This is the great irony of God’s wisdom. The world we see is temporary. The unseen one is eternal. We who believe are called pilgrims because we journey from one land to the next. We’re just passing through this world, living in the tents we call bodies.
We’re not supposed to invest too much into this space in time. We’re not supposed to live for today. We’re called to send our treasure on ahead of us to the other realm, where it can never be lost.
A day is coming for us to leave our tents behind.
It’s a fearsome thing because tents are all we know. But we can trust in the power of God to take us safely between breaths to the place where life infuses the golden air of forever.
Forever is real. We’re going to be okay. Trust in the Lord, sojourner.
There’s a mansion just beyond the veil.
For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
– 2 Corinthians 1:5
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For God so loved the world…
Recently I saw this posted on social media by a stranger: “Please don’t be offended if I don’t reply or follow you. But I love you!”
Uh, okay.
I pondered the introduction. This person wanted me to know he may or may not decide to ever communicate with me. But he loved me. With an exclamation mark.
Please excuse my confusion.
It really is overused, that four-letter word we call love. Nowadays, it can mean almost anything. As long as it’s happy and distant. We don’t let most people near enough to hurt us, nor do we plan on sacrificing for them.
What is love, anyway? No one does a better job of explaining it than the apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 13. But I can tell you what love isn’t.
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Love isn’t good at remembering our mistakes.
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Love isn’t going to speak an insult that devastates someone else.
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Love isn’t used as a tool to stonewall honest communication. True love seeks the highest good for its beloved, which sometimes necessitates confronting an issue with the goal of resolution and reconciliation.
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Love isn’t a feeling.
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Love isn’t a paper bag we hide inside to keep from having to see, and therefore discern, good from evil.
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Love can’t survive and grow without nurturing.
Is a general feeling of goodwill toward others really love? Can we love without giving? Is love even possible without action?
The Bible tells us God loved us when we were the most unlovable. He cared so much He gave His very best, the sacrificial gift of His own Son. He understood the suffering required for our redemption, and He was willing to pay the price. Even when we turn that most magnificent of words into a lifeless cliché, He still loves us.
Imagine what could happen if we loved the world so much that we gave. What kind of homes and churches and businesses and relationships could we have if love was more than an overused, four-letter word for us?
John 3:16 tells us that God’s giving resulted in everlasting life for those who believe. Love equals life.
And that’s a beautiful word.
…that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.
– John 3:16
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But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love.
– 1 Corinthians 13:13
The ballroom awaited the bride and groom for the evening wedding, resplendent in readiness.
A massive chandelier of mirrors hung from the vaulted ceiling, capturing and reflecting every movement below. The lights were dimmed, but the room was alive with strings of white miniature lights that ran along the ceiling and cascaded behind a gold curtain to form an electric altar of light.
A candle shared center stage of each guest table with a hot pink gerbera daisy. Soon the tables at either side of the electric altar filled, and a buzz of anticipation hung over the hall.
The groom stood nervously before the cascade of light and awaited his bride’s entrance. Finally she made a graceful entrance to join him. Together they vowed eternal love to each other before God and the witnesses. A sweet kiss sealed the moment, and they made their triumphant exit.
During the reception that followed, a familiar figure slipped to our side. She was elderly, her gray hair curling sweetly around her small face. In her soft cream sweater, she appeared almost angelic, a look that belied her feisty nature. She appeared a little unsteady. Remembering her bad back, I offered her a chair between my husband and me.
The conversation quickly turned to the recent loss of her husband. We had not seen Ava since the death of her husband, so as the music began and people milled loudly around us, she related the events of Clyde’s final weeks.
Very ill in his last days, the jolly man we remembered had lost one hundred pounds. It hardly seemed fair for such a wonderful man to have suffered so much.
When our son was first injured years ago, it was Clyde and Ava who appeared regularly in our driveway in their massive white car like Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus, their trunk overflowing with boxes of groceries. They never forgot to bring something special for our youngest daughter, and they always gave with such energy and joy.
My throat tightened at the memory. Undaunted, Ava continued her story. Before Clyde died, he concocted a plan to surprise her. With their sixtieth anniversary approaching, he recruited someone from his hospital bedside to go to the jeweler for him. From his description, three rings were brought to him. From these three, he chose a ring for Ava to replace the tiny diamond chip she had worn for sixty years.
Ava extended a small, lined hand. Her fingers were gnarled from years of hard work, but all I could see was The Ring, chosen lovingly by a dying man for the woman he loved. I took her hand and turned it in the light. Three large diamonds shimmered in the white lights of the ballroom. Ava said Clyde told her the three diamonds represented Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow.
Past, Present, and Future for a love that could never die.
Tears filled my eyes. Ava apologized for making me cry. But it wasn’t really sadness I felt.
It was the day. It was the fullness of it and the contrast. One love story was beginning, aglow with the promise of devotion. One love story had moved into eternity, aflame with the glory of a promise fulfilled.
Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow is just another way of talking about eternity. We who love Christ are His beloved Bride. Ava’s three diamonds are our reminder the love that comes from the Eternal One can never die.
Present, Past, and Future. You are loved.
And He placed His right hand on me, saying, ‘Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.’
– Revelation 1:17-18
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Abide in Him, so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming.
– 1 John 2:28
It started as a child.
It haunted me through school. Sometimes it still comes in the night, when darkness covers my heart and whispers to my mind the three little words I hate:
You’re a failure.
I’ve never felt worthy of anything in my life. It wasn’t my family’s fault. I had wonderful, supportive parents who were always been there for me. I have a husband who loves me unconditionally.
The inner whispers began in grade school. We moved around a lot, and I was in and out of schools around the country. It fed a growing sense of lostness as I was shuffled from town to town and from school to school. In my nightmares I found myself sitting in class, dressed only in my underwear.
Naked and ashamed.
The sense of unworthiness became full-blown in high school as my worst fears of inadequacy were validated by the cruel daily gauntlet I ran in the halls. I was always the one who didn’t get the memo, the one left standing outside the circle of connectedness that drew in everyone else. Frantic to be accepted, I often made a fool of myself in front of others as I tried to mimic what made the Cool People so cool.
Each night I lay in bed and listened to the whispers. I made mental lists of all the mistakes I had made, all the ways I had shamed myself in my search for belonging.
I didn’t know my sense of being lost was not related to my social status but to an awakening sense of my spiritual condition.
My soul had fallen to the wolves because I had no knowledge of my Protector. The mournfulness in my heart was my subconscious cry for my Creator, for the Savior I so desperately needed. Nothing else satisfied my yearning for completeness because only God could complete me. Only He could cover me and make me worthy.
And He did. When I reached out to Him, He tore up my list of failures and welcomed me into His circle. He showed me how much He understands me, inside and out, and He loves me. Because He loves me, He commands me to stay within the circle, connected to the source of life. He says, “Abide in Me.” (John 15:7)
What does it mean to “abide?” It means to stay connected to Him, to live where He has planted me, to respect the boundaries He has placed around my life. It would be a tragedy if He returned and found me living in a place that brought shame to His name. Because I am His child, and because I wear His name, I want to be found living in integrity.
We live in desperate days.
The temptation to compromise is strong. His call to each to us, His people, in this hour, is to remain rooted in our faith.
Wherever God has placed you, abide.
Stay connected to the source of life flowing with such vitality through your veins. You never know when He will return for you. When that day arrives, may He find you bearing fruit as you eagerly watching the skies. May your heart leap with joy at the sight of His beautiful face. May you meet with confidence the one who has cleansed you and clothed you and given you everlasting life.
If you abide in Him, you will never be ashamed.
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Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed quickly, therefore the hearts of the sons of men among them are given fully to do evil.
– Ecclesiastes 8:11
Be sure your sin will find you out.
– Numbers 32:23
He sat waiting just outside the circle of the streetlight, poised in the shadows like a viper in black.
I happened to see him as I pulled up to a stop sign and waited for the traffic to clear. I was careful to signal and look both ways before pulling out onto the highway.
Before I did, though, a shockwave of blue and red lights erupted in the night sky. The trap was sprung on a car that had just accelerated by me as I waited. I pulled out, switched lanes, and maneuvered past the police cruiser and the fast little red Corvette sitting in misery in its headlights.
Swift justice is sweet—if I’m not the one in the hot seat.
We all love to see justice served quickly. We just want it served on someone else. We’re hoping for mercy for ourselves. After all, we can come up with some good excuses for the bad decisions we make. Most of us tend to magnify the sins of others and minimize our own, and it frustrates us when we are caught in our misdeeds while others appear to skate unscathed past the rules. It’s especially frustrating when God seems to ignore injustice around us.
There are at least two reasons God’s justice comes slowly:
God does not take pleasure in punishing people.
2 Peter 2:9 tells us “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.” He holds open the door as long as possible before He shuts it. He gives us every chance to turn away from sin. He longs to show us mercy.
Slow justice reveals our hearts.
Will we serve God out of love, or out of fear? If He holds back disciplining us, will we praise Him for His patience or push the limits of our boundaries even farther?
To what will our hearts be fully devoted, if given the chance?
God alone is capable of perfectly executing righteousness with mercy. He sees the end from the beginning and the deepest motive of the whitest heart. He loves deeply and works endlessly to bring justice to His beautiful Earth.
In His time.
Though the mills of God grind slowly;
Yet they grind exceeding small;
Though with patience He stands waiting,
With exactness grinds He all.– Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
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All the days of the afflicted are bad,
But a cheerful heart has a continual feast.
– Proverbs 15:15
As people count strength, Betsie was a frail person.
Chronic illness had battered her small frame even before she was herded with the others on a train headed to a Nazi death camp. Unlike her sturdy and fiery-natured sister, Betsie ten Boom was a gentle soul. Corrie felt the constant need to guard her sister from the evil surrounding them at Ravensbruck.
As it turned out, it wasn’t really necessary. Betsie was fine.
This seemingly frail woman had a storehouse of strength that continually amazed those around her. She prayed for her captors. She thanked God for the fleas infesting their quarters because it kept others away and gave them privacy for Bible study. She laughed with the guards when they harassed her for being too weak to carry her share of the workload. She bore every cruelty with dignity.
In death she wore a smile.
Though a starving prisoner devoid of all comforts of humanity, Betsie ten Boom was a rich woman. This was not because she thought good thoughts or had a positive attitude. Betsie lived at the banquet table of Jesus.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.
– Psalm 23:5
During her time at Ravensbruck, Betsie held Bible studies with her sister and invited others for community worship. She sought God and was filled by Him. She didn’t exist on yesterday’s leftovers; she dined every day on fresh inspiration from God.
Nothing about her faith was dry, stale, or moldy.
She not only had enough provision for each day, she had a storehouse of fresh provision from which to draw.
Abundant. Overflowing. Joy.
Her joy sustained her through the worst imaginable hardships and gave her the courage to laugh at her weakness in the presence of her enemies. To smile at the provision of fleas. To see the humor in the profane. To refuse to be a victim.
To trust God all the way to the grave.
Those who lean into God with this kind of trust are never the beggars, no matter what circumstances befall them. Grumbling’s not on the menu.
They live at the table of God, a feast fit for royalty.
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John responded to them all, saying, ‘As for me, I baptize you with water; but He is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to untie the straps of His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.’
– John 3:16
Google’s English dictionary and Oxford Languages defines a firebrand as:
1. a person who is passionate about a particular cause, typically inciting change and taking radical action.
2. a piece of burning wood.
Until this summer, I never knew the source of the term “firebrand.”
I knew it meant someone passionate or radical about a cause. I guessed it meant to be “on fire.” I had never heard “firebrand” defined as a piece of burning wood.
Then a long spring, summer drought, and dry lightning combined to create a storm of fires that collectively decimated tens of thousands of acres in the Northwest near where I live. The smoke often obliterated the hills around us and choked the air with its acrid oppression.
We kept an eye on the local broadcasts to stay informed on the progress of firefighting efforts. One morning, a newsman stood near a threatened town with an update. He held up a piece of wood about the size of his hand. Firefighters, he said, were worried the wind would carry away burning pieces of wood to start new fires. He called this piece of burning wood a firebrand.
When Jesus left heaven, filled with the Shekinah glory, He was the bush burning, but not consumed.
With His sacrifice and resurrection, Christ redeemed us and set us, the humble wood, on fire. From the first disciples until now, the wind of His Spirit carries His fire from flame to flame, inspiring passion encircling the planet.
Have you caught the fire? Do you burn for Him? Are you willing to allow the Spirit of God to send you where conditions are right for new flames of faith to ignite dry hearts?
Are you willing to be His firebrand?
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And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
– Revelation 20:10
Where does the devil go at Christ’s return?
The answer that springs to mind is, “Hell, of course.”
But Satan has never inhabited hell. Hades (in the Greek) and Sheol (in the Hebrew) are other words for hell, the place for the departed souls of those who have died in their sins.
The Bible teaches that before Christ’s coming and redemption of mankind, God had a place for the souls of the dead to dwell temporarily. This place had two sides, one for the souls of those who were not believers, and one who held the Old Testament believers. This second place was called Paradise, or Abraham’s Bosom. A vivid description of this place is given us by Jesus in Luke 16:19-31.
We know that Christ once went to Hades. 1 Peter 3:19-20 relates an account of Christ’s visit to the “Spirits now in prison, who once were disobedient, when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah.” During the three days after his death and before His resurrection, Jesus entered hell and proclaimed the gospel to those who died in unbelief. He also released the Old Testament believers from Paradise to join His Father, effectively moving Paradise to heaven (Matthew 27:53).
As we saw last week, Satan has no place to rest. He roams the earth “like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). He also still has access to heaven, where he accuses believers before God “day and night” (Revelation 12:10).
Revelation, the last book of the Bible, reveals the future of our adversary.
In the last days, he is thrown out of heaven and comes to earth with “great wrath, knowing that he has only a short time” (Revelation 12:12). This period is known as the Great Tribulation, which will culminate in the glorious return of Jesus Christ. Jesus will stop the rebellion at Armageddon and set up His kingdom on earth for 1000 years. Revelation 20:1-3 tells us the devil will be bound into an abyss during Christ’s millennial reign.
Then Satan is released for a short time to again deceive the nations. This rebellion is short-lived, however, and ends with his banishment to a place called the “lake of fire.” He is joined there by the unrighteous dead of all ages and the demons. “Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire” (Revelation 20:14).
Satan knows he is a vanquished adversary. His only possible goals now are to take as many people as he can with him and to wound the heart of God with the suffering he inflicts on His beautiful world.
It’s about revenge now for Satan.
The devil knows anything that hurts God’s people hurts God. So, he expends all his energy and hate to do as much damage as possible in the time he has left.
Though he roars like a lion, he’s still a snake who lost his legs in Eden. The angel once called the “star of the morning” now eats the dust of this world. He may wound God’s heel, but his head has already been crushed. He is an enemy on the run.
Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
– James 4:7
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Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them. The LORD said to Satan, ‘From where do you come?’ Then Satan answered the LORD and said, ‘From roaming about on the earth and walking around on it.’
– Job 1:6-7
The devil isn’t in hell.
The cartoons we see where he stands at the door to the fire with his pitchfork are comical and corny.
Just what he’d like you to think.
It’s one of the two sides he likes to present to mankind. The other face is one of a fierce and frightening monster. In his effort to control his image, he likes to either convince you he’s just a cartoon character, or – if you believe he’s real – a terrifying superpower.
The Scriptures depict the devil as a fallen angel who inhabits three places: God’s heaven, outer space, and the Earth. In Job, we are given a very special glimpse into the throne room of God. Here Satan presents himself before God to report his whereabouts. He has been roaming the earth.
We are given another look into the spiritual realm in the book of Daniel. An angel appears to Daniel in response to his prayer and fasting. The angel tells Daniel he was delayed in his response by three weeks of battle with the kingdom of Persia, a battle so fierce the archangel Michael came to help him. It is believed that the “kings of Persia” mentioned there are spiritual forces of evil (Daniel 10:12-13).
God, we learn from the Bible, is omnipresent. He can be everywhere at once. Satan, on the other hand, is just one being, though still a powerful one. He can’t be everywhere at the same time. He is the brain behind the evil we endure, but many of his schemes are carried out by his legions of fallen angels, whom we call demons. Ephesians 6:12 tells us that our battle isn’t against humans, but against “rulers” and “powers” and “world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.”
The devil, we see, doesn’t live in hell. He doesn’t even own the rights to hell. He did once own the rights to the earth, forfeited to him by Adam and Eve, the reason he could offer all the kingdoms of the world to Jesus in the wilderness (Matthew 4:9).
These were the keys to the kingdom reclaimed by Christ at the cross and with His resurrection. Until then, Satan held the world in his clutches and kept it in chains. Jesus paid the ransom for His beloved creation and won its freedom. In Revelation 1:17-18, Jesus appears to the apostle and tells him, “Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.”
Satan is a wandering spirit.
He has no place to call his. His only possession is the hearts of those who have given themselves over to him. Even then, they are only his until death. Then they are held in Hades until the day of judgment. He never knows when one of those he possesses will suddenly turn on him and run to God. Then they are lost to him forever.
Revelation 12:9-10 calls the devil the “accuser of our brethren,” who “accuses them before our God day and night.” This indicates that Satan still has access to heaven and God today.
That’s going to change.
Next week: Where Is the Devil Headed?
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How you have fallen from heaven, O star of the morning, son of the dawn!
You have been cut down to the earth,
You who have weakened the nations!
– Isaiah 14:12
It’s snake season where I live.
Our long, dry summer has driven all kinds of creatures down to the river valley in Idaho. The hills around us are scorched under the unusually abundant triple-digit days. Deer, moose, coyotes, insects, and snakes are looking for water and a cool retreat from the heat.
That means we keep a sharp lookout and watch our feet as we work outside. A few summers ago, I reached down into my flower garden to change the sprinkler and found a rattlesnake soaking up the cool water. It blended in so well and never did rattle at us. It occurred to me that I could easily have been bitten.
Sometimes the attack comes without a warning.
If, as we learned last week, Satan was the highest of the angels, what was he doing in the Garden tempting the clueless Eve? In the fourteenth chapter of the book of Isaiah, we read that he got cocky. He believed he could take the universe away from God.
For this, he lost his place in heaven and was condemned for his folly.
God told Satan:
Because you have done this,
Cursed are you more than all cattle,
And more than every beast of the field;
On your belly you will go,
And dust you will eat
All the days of your life;
And I will put enmity
Between you and the woman,
And between your seed and her seed;
He shall bruise you on the head,
And you shall bruise him on the heel.– Genesis 3:14-15
In Revelation 12:3-9, a “great red dragon,” who is identified as “the serpent of old,” the devil, and Satan, sweeps away a third of the stars of heaven with his tail. The “stars of heaven” are probably one-third of the angels who follow Satan in his rebellion. This army of demons do his bidding as he continues his long rebellion against God.
But he is a snake already crushed.
Next week: Where Is the Devil Now?
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God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good.
– Genesis 1:31
Popular culture paints the devil as a slick-talking rascal in a red suit, sporting horns and a pointy tail.
He supposedly lives in hell and relishes each new addition to his cauldron of boiling souls. In movies he perches on the shoulder of the hero, whispering evil into his ear as an angel on the opposite shoulder argues for him to do the right thing.
The monster behind the caricature is a much more frightening and complicated creature.
The Bible tells us God was pleased with His work at the end of the creation week. This creation included not only the earth and its inhabitants, but the universe itself and its hosts. The existence of orders of angels are well-documented in the Scriptures. Ephesians 6:12 speaks of “principalities and powers” in the spiritual realm. The books of Revelation, Ezekiel, and Isaiah describe strange angelic beings.
The Bible indicates that Satan was originally the crowning glory of the angelic beings.
In the book of Ezekiel, God speaks to the “king of Tyre,” possibly a king, but seemingly someone of much greater stature. He says to this being:
You had the seal of perfection,
Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.You were in Eden, the garden of God;
Every precious stone was your covering:
The ruby, the topaz and the diamond;
The beryl, the onyx and the jasper;
The lapis lazuli, the turquoise and the emerald;
And the gold, the workmanship of your settings and sockets,
Was in you.
On the day that you were created
They were prepared.You were the anointed cherub who covers,
And I placed you there.
You were on the holy mountain of God;
You walked in the midst of the stones of fire.You were blameless in your ways
From the day you were created
Until unrighteousness was found in you.– Ezekiel 28:12-15
It seems unlikely a snake could bedazzle Eve enough to betray God. But an anointed angel with the cunning of a serpent certainly could.
Next week: Part 3
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And give no opportunity to the devil.
– Ephesians 4:27 (ESV)
There are only two kinds of snakes in our yard: One-rock and Two-rock.
The big ones take two rocks.
That’s been my credo for years, much to the chagrin of my reptile-loving nephew. I always figured snakes have the whole river valley near my home to hang out in. If they wander onto my turf, they’re on their own.
That’s not fair, though. They are part of God’s creation, too, and they’re just being what God made them to be. They can’t help it if they scare me to death. Though we don’t kill the nonpoisonous snakes what wander onto our property, I will always have a big aversion to snakes of any kind. I never could understand the passage in Genesis 3:1-5 where Eve falls for the wiles of a serpent. I’d be too busy throwing rocks to listen.
Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?
The woman said to the serpent, ‘From the fruit of the trees of the garden, we may eat; but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.’
The serpent said to the woman, ‘You surely will not die! For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.
– Genesis 3:1-5
Because Adam and Eve listened to the serpent, God cursed it with these words: “Because you have done this, cursed are you more than all cattle, and more than every beast of the field; on your belly you will go, and dust you will eat all the days of your life.” (Genesis 3:14)
These passages bothered me for a long time, for the following reasons:
(1) Why is a snake talking?
(2) Why doesn’t it bother the woman that a snake is talking?
(3) Why would Satan appear as a snake when it would be much more impressive to show up as the angel he was?
(4) Isn’t taking the legs off snakes an odd way to punish Satan?
(5) Since acquired characteristics can’t be inherited, why don’t the rest of the snakes since Eden still have legs?
I take the Bible literally, but I also know certain passages of Scriptures (especially those having to do with future events) are couched in parables and symbolic language. These Scriptures can be interpreted with other verses in the Bible.
Revelation 12:9 gives us an important key to Genesis 3:
“And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.” (Revelation 12:9)
That answers a lot of questions. The “serpent of old” wasn’t a literal snake, any more than he is a literal dragon. It was Satan. Next week we’ll explore who Satan really is.
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For it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God.
-1 Peter 4:17
One flag comes down. Another goes up. And everyone has an opinion.
Battle lines are being drawn everywhere as the States formerly known as United become a nation polarized by competing ideologies.
Christians have, understandably, felt threatened by the increasingly hostile environment in which we live. The natural response is to fight back.
But I can’t help but wonder if we are fighting the wrong battle.
We’re up in arms against homosexuality, but we choose to look the other way when heterosexual Christian couples live together outside of marriage. We shake our heads at crime in the streets, yet we don’t know where our own children are. We decry abortion but sacrifice our own babies on the altar of our ambitions because we’re just too busy to care.
Do Christians really want to throw stones at unbelievers from a house of glass?
Yes, we must oppose sin and take a stand against evil. It’s important to fight for the faith. And what is faith?
“Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” – Hebrews 11:1
The battlefield for Christianity lies at our feet, as we choose each day whether or not to believe what we can’t see; to follow a commander we’ve never met; to rout the principalities that threaten the sovereignty of God over our hearts.
It’s so much easier to take on the enemy without than it is to challenge the enemy within, isn’t it?
What do you battle today?
Whatever it is, Jesus Christ extends His grace to you. He has promised to vanquish your enemy, whether it is substance abuse, sexual impurity, pride, lies, discouragement, or anything else that assaults your soul. He has paid a high price for your victory. Let Him win it for you.
Open His letters and allow His Spirit to speak. He has promised to fight for us, and He has something to say.
The battle is not yours but God’s.
– 2 Chronicles 20:15
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Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed quickly, therefore the hearts of the sons of men among them are given fully to do evil.
– Ecclesiastes 8:11
He asked the question, but his voice filled with mocking.
The Canadian wondered why Canada hadn’t earned judgment from God for its decade of marrying gay people, given the loud warnings of impending judgment upon America for its recent approval of gay marriage.
The implied message: Judgment isn’t coming.
Judgment is coming, though not specifically because of the new fad in sexual orientation. The Bible tells us a day is coming when God will bring justice to this world, both rewarding the good deeds of those who loved Him and executing a sentence against the evil acts of those who didn’t.
But for now, at this moment, we live in the age of grace.
“After the flood, before the fire, you’ll find us in time,” Dogwood sang back in 1975. We’re still there, between the genesis of humanity and the revelation of Jesus Christ in all His glory. As the age drags on, God’s grace on the nations is seen by some as a sign of His weakness, His approval of their lifestyles, or His nonexistence.
Because we haven’t been brought before the Judge yet, we think we’re free. Because God restrains His power, we think Him impotent. Like children testing our limits, we grow bolder when our misdeeds are met with His benevolence.
As we lurch toward destruction, we slap away the hand reaching down to rescue us.
We believe we can do this by ourselves. We don’t need a daddy or an advocate. It’s all under control.
Until the day we meet the Judge.
Thus I will punish the world for its evil,
And the wicked for their iniquity;
I will also put an end to the arrogance of the proud,
And abase the haughtiness of the ruthless.– Isaiah 13:11
