Focused Mode – No clutter. No noise. Just immersive content.
-
But now you must put aside all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you have taken off the old self with its practices, and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator….
– Colossians 3:8-10 (Berean Study Bible)
The day was cold and nearing dusk as my daughter and I walked briskly along the river front.
The wind danced around us as if delighted at its power to make us pull our jackets closer and turn back toward the car sooner than we’d planned. A few others were out in the waning light, the usual stoic-faced joggers, people glued to their cell phones, and a grizzled couple with their dog. We exchanged polite smiles with the walkers we met who were going the other way, and I wondered at the social custom that requires face-to-face congeniality on a bike path among strangers who would soon be in our respective cars fighting over a lane change. It’s easier to be mad at people when we can’t see their faces.
When people get close, it’s hard to stay detached. Proximity to others requires us to recognize and respond to their humanity. It’s much easier to hide behind the mask of anonymity. It’s our safe place, the face we both hide behind and present to the world.
The current political climate is a bitter reminder of how ugly we can be from behind the mask.
Social media makes it easy to say things to the screen that we would never say to a person’s face. People have long called alcohol “liquid courage.” Today we could add the glow of a screen to the list of drugs that bolster a weak man’s bravado.
Those of us who are believers know this isn’t right. The mask is the old man, the one that Jesus Christ came to set upon the Cross with Himself. The old man is crucified with the Lord; the new man has been raised with Him. We can paint and powder and wax and dress up the mask, but it’s still a decaying corpse.
Our Lord took a breathtaking risk in coming to earth as a man. The King of all the universe was not content to sit safely behind the veil His divinity bestowed upon Him. He stepped out from the glory and became vulnerable to the assaults and indignities of this world. He did it for us, because He loved us more than He loved His reputation. He was willing to risk everything for our healing. He never once walked by someone who might be hurting because it was too risky for Him.
He took this love all the way to the Cross. And He took us with Him. We are crucified with Him, and we have no excuse to live in the deadness of the old life.
God calls us to take off the mask, to let the resurrection man in us reflect the power and exquisite life of a remarkable creator. Today’s a new day. Release the beautiful.
-
For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
– Hebrews 4:12
God created mankind in His image, we are told in Genesis.
His image is expressed through humanity in many ways, from our desire to express our personalities through our own creations to our drive to reach beyond ourselves to others. Our very existence mirrors His Godhead in trinity. Each person enters time and space as three: body, soul, and spirit. We often use the terms “soul” and “spirit” interchangeably, but they are separate entities.
- Our body we know well. It is the house of flesh, the vessel of clay in which we reside on this side of heaven.
- Our soul is who we are. It is more than the sum of our thoughts or the vault from which our brain operates. It is the eternal person that is us. The brain is the control room that connects our soul to our body and directs the body to act out the commands of the soul. Our souls will exist forever. The question since Eden has been where that eternal dwelling will be.
- Our spirit hears the voice of God and communes with Him. It is the part of us that is lost if we do not accept the sacrifice of Jesus which restored the communion of Eden to mankind. This is the new man spoken of by the apostle Paul in the book of Romans.
At the Fall, the death humanity suffered was three-fold.
Our spirits died, and communion with God ceased. A biological clock began to tick in our bodies that made death of the flesh a certainty. Our souls could no longer live in the presence of God and carried a sentence of eternal judgment away from His presence.
The cross destroyed the curse and restored us. For those who lived before the coming of the Lord Jesus, it was a forward-looking faith. For us, it means accepting the revelation of His good news. At salvation, the Holy Spirit enters this house of clay to come alongside us. He speaks to our spirits, comforts our souls, and keeps our bodies as seed for the resurrection.
In the Bible, the three persons of the Trinity always worked together and gave the glory to the Father. In our lives, God desires us to put our triune body under the power and direction of the Holy Spirit, who will grant us strength and victory for each day. In Him we are truly complete.
-
But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.
But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. 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.
But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.
– 2 Peter 3:7-10
This morning the sun groaned a bit as she arose heavily from her bed behind the mountains that guard the valley where I live.
The day was a bit shorter, the darkness longer. I sat at the computer with my first cup of steaming coffee and sadly skimmed through the news.
Too much heartache and destruction met my eyes. It’s a good thing I’m not God. I would have torched us a long time ago.
I understand, at least theologically, why He holds back His hand in judgment. Not only is He executing a plan conceived before the foundation of the world, His Creator-heart grieves at having to destroy His creation. He longs for every person to be saved from an eternity in hell. To that end, He endures the vulgarities, the blasphemies, the brutalities against His kingdom as His Spirit strives with the souls of men for their salvation. With the same humility exhibited by Christ at His sacrificial death, the Father remains quiet under the arrogant assault of sinners against Him and His kingdom.
He knows what’s coming.
Several years ago, a popular radio personality had a public meltdown in which he vehemently damned God. When questioned by his shocked listeners, he continued to curse. He crowned the diatribe by flinging a challenge at God to strike him down at that very moment. He smugly interpreted the silence that followed and his continuing existence as proof there is no God.
He didn’t know the magnitude of grace that filled the silence.
God could have quenched his life with a single word. But the Lord is not a capricious sovereign. He cares for humanity, all of it, depraved and so very lost as it is. The Lord holds open the door to heaven and waits for us lost sinners to find our way home.
One day, the door will close, and that man will stand before the Judge of heaven and earth. He will remember the day that he cursed and challenged that which he did not understand. He will know why God did not strike him down. He will see the magnificent grace that took the abuse and offered forgiveness to the abuser. He will understand all he lost and all he could have had.
Then, it will be too late. Today, the door stands open. Forgiveness awaits.
-
My son, do not reject the discipline of the Lord
Or loathe His reproof,
For whom the Lord loves He reproves,
Even as a father corrects the son in whom he delights.– Proverbs 3:11-12
It sits in our dining room in all its four-foot, leafy splendor. It’s a fig tree, and it’s a bonsai.
At least, it was a bonsai.
Several years ago, I became interested in bonsai trees and decided to get a starter tree. The fig I found in a local big box store had already been trimmed into a lovely little miniature tree with a twisted trunk.
For a while I religiously nipped and trimmed at the branches to keep it stunted. Then I just couldn’t stand to see it confined any more. One day I freed its roots and transplanted it into a bigger pot. It took off from there. I have kept it fed, repotted, and in the light. It has long ago outgrown the space for which it was intended. Now it commands its own corner in our little breakfast nook.
That’s one of the many reasons I can’t be God. I don’t have the wisdom and control to prune back unruly lives. Creating a bonsai, like training a soul, takes close supervision, an artist’s eye, and a firm hand. It’s hard to cut away a healthy branch or snip off new growth. It must be even tougher to employ the necessary measures to train a human heart upward, the way a gardener binds the branches of a plants to force its growth in the desired direction.
As a parent, I know a bit of God’s heartache. It’s brutally hard to make decisions no one understands, and which go against our own natural desire to cherish and spoil our offspring.
Lack of training creates, by default, the very problems we seek to avoid.
We want everyone to be happy. But life without restraint is a miserable existence.
Pruning hurts. It hurts both the gardener and the plant. In the end, however, it yields a stronger, more beautiful and fruitful plant that reflects the artistry of its creator.
God is not being cruel when He allows us to go through painful times. Discipline is the proof we are His. It’s the assurance He loves us and is completely devoted to our ultimate well-being.
When you feel the pressure of trial, know that behind it is the hand of the perfect creator and father, shaping you into all you can be.
Rest in His hands. Trust in His goodness. Believe in His love for you. Know, without a shadow of doubt, He is shaping you to shine in the place He has for you.
All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.
– Hebrews 12:11
-
Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.
– Matthew 7:15
Turn on the television, and the assault begins.
The whole world appears to be shouting, “Look at me! Look at me!” Everyone wants to sell their worldviews, their products, or their validation.
The church isn’t immune to the hype. All That Glitters latches its bony fingers around the padded auditorium chairs of our freshly remodeled sanctuaries and pulls us into the latest spiritual fad. It can take the form of new revelation or recycled reformation from a source that looks earnest and sounds convincing. But beneath the façade lurks a familiar nemesis.
Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
-1 Peter 5:8
Satan seeks to deceive us, divide us, and destroy us.
His bag of tricks and sleight of hand are impressive trapdoors to disillusionment. He constantly roams the earth in an insatiable search for humans to devour.
But if our adversary is disguised to look like a friend, how do we keep from being tricked? The Bible gives us several crucial instructions for victory:
Be a fruit inspector.
You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they?
– Matthew 7:16
Learn from your mistakes.
But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.
– Hebrews 5:14
Do your research on a teacher or group before subscribing to their teaching.
The good man brings good things out of his good store of treasure, and the evil man brings evil things out of his evil store of treasure.
– Matthew 12:35
Don’t ignore the warning signs of trouble, and be willing to confront it.
Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.
– 1 Corinthians 16:13
Know the voice of the Shepherd. Read His Word.
My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand.
– John 10:27-28
Those who belong to God recognize His voice and the fruit of His Spirit in the lives of others. If we are vigilant, we will not be taken in by appearances. We can discern truth from lies through the direction of the Holy Spirit who lives in us and by learning from our mistakes. If we do this, we will stand as conquerors in the battle for the hearts of mankind.
-
And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.
– James 5:18
This summer has lain heavy on my soul.
As the hills surrounding my valley turned dry and brown in the daily heat, so I have withered under an unrelenting spiritual oppression.
I read my Bible, prayed desperate prayers, watered my flowers, and waited for relief. My husband and I took turns setting sprinklers. We clung to God’s Word the way men in the desert clutch their water canteen.
We managed to keep most of the plants alive, but they looked tired and burned around the edges.
Just like I felt.
Last week, the weather broke. The wind blew in a front, bringing with it two days of refreshing rain. The ground soaked it up. The grass that had struggled under our watering suddenly sprung to vibrant life with that one good rain from heaven. Even flowers long past their bloom lifted their heads to savor God’s goodness.
Perhaps coincidently, one of the worst trials I’ve ever known began to find resolution as the Holy Spirit brought in winds of renewal.
Again, I’m in awe of the abundance of grace with which God restores His creation.
He has washed my eyes to see His tenderness, His beauty, His love for us. He has answered my deepest lament with a comfort too precious for words, too powerful to comprehend.
I lift my head to savor God’s goodness. Like the grass, the human heart has shallow roots and fades quickly in the dry season. But those shallow roots also are the first to taste the rain.
The God who made the grass reminds me of this:
Our days on earth are like grass;
like wildflowers, we bloom and die.
The wind blows, and we are gone—
as though we had never been here.
– Psalm 103:15-16 (NLT)
That alone is enough for Him to move heaven and hell to protect, restore, keep, and revive us. We are like grass and the flowers of the field in our physical limitations, but we are eternal and destined for another world, one in which He will wipe the tears from our eyes and welcome us in joy.
Until then, He sends the rain.
-
The righteous man will flourish like the palm tree,
He will grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
Planted in the house of the LORD,
They will flourish in the courts of our God.
They will still yield fruit in old age;
They shall be full of sap and very green,
To declare that the LORD is upright;
He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.
– Psalm 92:12-15
Irma was nearly one hundred years old when she left this earth.
She had been elderly as long as I had known her. She was widowed at a young age and raised her children alone while she earned a living for them. She lived in the big house she was raised in until advanced age prevented her from running up and down the stairs.
She walked to work across town because she wanted to, not because she didn’t have a car. She was a member of a local prayer group and prayed fervently for others. She believed every word of the Bible and lived like it. Every Sunday during growing season, the altar was graced with flowers from her garden. She refused to take naps and survived a bout with cancer in her eighties.
One of my favorite photos of her was taken at a local riverbank where she fished with my mother. Even in the photo there is nothing static about her. She is smiling, pulling at the fishing rod and reeling in the line in one fluid motion. She was never ashamed of her white hair, her laugh lines, or her faith.
She lived well and with the perfect balance of joy and dignity.
Irma was the embodiment of a person planted in the house of the Lord.
Like a tree, she had set her roots deep in the soil to find the water of life. Her roots secured her against the gales of foul weather and connected her to the refreshment of the Holy Spirit.
Whenever I read Psalm 92, I think of Irma. She was a mature tree, still full of sap. There was no deadness in her. She flourished, and the fruit of the Holy Spirit was evident in her walk. She used to laugh about being green and sappy in her old age. Somehow, she made it look awesome.
In her life, Irma had suffered much. But instead of letting her wounds create bitterness, she trusted in the Lord to do the secret work of healing while she simply walked in grace. As I think back on the honor of knowing such a servant of the Most High, just four words come to mind:
Green. Sappy. Not ashamed.
-
Because He has loved Me, therefore I will deliver him;
I will set him securely on high, because he has known My name.
He will call upon Me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble;
I will rescue him and honor him.
With a long life I will satisfy him
And let him see My salvation.
– Psalm 91:14-16
God gives us just one job.
Not that you’d know it by watching God’s people sometimes. We just can’t believe that our duty to God could be that simple. Besides, most of us have a bit of the Pharisee in us, and straining gnats from our spiritual lives makes us feel more secure than coughing up the camel of compulsive religiosity. We want to gain God’s approval by our performance, even though we know that it took Jesus’ sacrifice to wash away the filthiness of our own righteousness.
The Martha in us makes everything so hard, when the Lord is calling us to be Mary, running toward the sound of His voice; sitting in stillness as His feet; not wasting a moment of our time with Him in distracted busyness. We belong at His feet, gazing in adoration at His face, clinging to His every word.
In Jesus’ day, one of the Pharisees tried to test Jesus by asking Him, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?”
To this Jesus answered, “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and foremost commandment.” -Matthew 22:24-28.
Our one job? Love God.
And we are not just called to love Him, but to adore Him desperately, passionately, with everything we are and speak and think. A love this great purifies us. It inspires us to action, so the things we do for Him are not to acquire spirituality or to gain God’s ear. They are, instead, the response of a devoted heart.
When God sees this, He rejoices over us with these great “I wills:”
-
I will deliver him.
-
I will set him securely on high.
-
I will answer him when he calls upon Me.
-
I will be with him in trouble.
-
I will rescue him and honor him.
-
I will satisfy him with a long life and let him see My salvation.
All that we seek to find in God doesn’t come from straining to gain His love, but from giving Him ours. He loved us before the world was even set into space. He has proven His love to us in every way possible.
We love, because He first loved us.
-1 John 4:19
-
-
Then Job said, ‘Therefore I have declared that which I did not understand,
Things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.
I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear;
But now my eye sees You;
Therefore, I retract,
And I repent in dust and ashes.’
– Job 42:3b, 5-6
Job was a righteous, God-fearing man who tried hard to please God in all he did.
When hit with unfathomable loss, he worshiped. Even when he was struck with a devastating disease, he did not turn his back on God.
He did, however, complain. His disease ravaged him to the point that he was unrecognizable to his friends as he sat in the ashes and scraped his boils with a piece of broken pottery. Finally driven to the edge, his pain was so great that he cursed the day of his birth. This vulnerable moment opened him up to the final insult as his friends attacked his integrity and heaped the blame for his tragedy upon his own head.
But Job was at the end of himself and in no mood to give in to their self-righteous chastisement. His soul had been stripped completely down to the dirt. They attacked; he defended himself vigorously. Lost in the cacophony was the voice of God. No one seemed to notice.
Except one.
A fourth friend named Elihu sat there, quietly burning with anger against them all, for Job justified himself in his own eyes, and the three friends condemned him without cause. Finally, he spoke up and chastised Job because Job had complained against God instead of seeking Him out in his distress. Elihu presented a moving defense of the power and sovereignty of the Creator.
In the silence that followed, God Himself dispelled the shadows.
He reminded Job of the awesome intelligence that rules the universe and challenged him to present an understanding of even the simplest forces of nature. He rebuked Job for thinking he knew better than such an omnipotent Creator. In His words, we are reminded of the Apostle Paul’s words in his letter to the Romans:
For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what his been made, so that they are without excuse.
– Romans 1:20
Job had spent his life following what he had been told about God. In doing so, he been so blinded by his own efforts to please His Lord that he had missed really seeing God in the world around him.
His trials were not some wicked test of wills between spiritual forces, but the means by which God brought Job to a place where he was ready to receive a deeper revelation of the God he served.
Eyes wide open, truly seeing for the first time.
Job came out on the other side of his trial having experienced the God whose faithfulness can be trusted through any hardship; the Savior whose sacrifice can heal any pain; the Father whose discipline is the beautiful badge of His everlasting love.
-
Satan said, ‘Does Job fear God nothing? Have You not made a hedge about him and his house and all that he has, on every side?
But put forth Your hand now and touch all that he has; he will surely curse You to Your face.’
– Job 1:9, 10a, 11
Behind the Veil
The book of Job is one of the few glimpses given mankind behind the veil into the interaction between God and his created beings. And the revelation is an astounding one. Not only is Satan not in hell, he has access to both heaven and earth. Satan tells God that he has been roaming about on the earth, which immediately suggests 1 Peter 3:8: “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” He roams the earth looking for human weakness he can exploit to cause pain and destruction.
But it isn’t Satan who brings up Job, but God. “Have you considered My servant Job?”
Satan seizes the bait and is lured into the fight. God grants permission to Satan to strike Job’s family and possessions in a series of losses inflicted by the sword, fire, and wind.
Job responds in the traditional expressions of grief and yet does not blame God. In fact, he falls to the ground and worships Him. His trust in the face of incomprehensible tragedy is staggering.
That’s not the end of it, though. Again, Satan appears before God. Again, God prods the devil into focusing on Job. This time, God grants the adversary permission to afflict Job’s body.
Finally, Job can take no more. From the depths of his anguish come the questions. If Job could have only read the first chapter of the book that bore his name, he would have understood God wasn’t being evil or cruel. He had not forsaken Job. On the contrary, He had singled out Job because of his reverence and diligence toward Him, to display his faith and to pull back the veil on suffering to generations of believers after him who would ask the same questions.
Job sees none of this.
All he sees is his world crashing down upon him. The crucial moment comes when his wife unknowingly steps into Satan’s carefully crafted trap, urging him to make the prediction a reality.
Curse God and die.
But in his darkest moment, when all he thought he knew about God had been lost in a pit of pain, Job refuses to turn on his Lord. Without knowing it, he has won the battle with that decision, revealing both the power of God to keep His own and the fragrance of a faith released under the heel of injustice.
Though Job passes the test, he still has more to learn before the restoration comes. It’s not enough for God to simply see Satan shut down. It’s not about Job passing a test. God has a deeper lesson for the man He loves so much.
Now God speaks.
When He is done, Job understands. He understands.
Job’s declaration rings throughout history for us who have followed. From his suffering comes this encouragement for us today:
When trial has burned everything we love, God brings from the ashes a new song.
Next week: When the Hedge Comes Down, Part 3
-
Satan said, ‘Have You not made a hedge about him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. But put forth Your hand now and touch all that he has; he will surely curse You to Your face.’
– Job 1:10-11
It came without warning.
One day a dark cloud descended over our home, and the floodgates of hell opened upon our heads. Events unfolded in terrifying succession, crises that I could never have dreamed would have happened to us. We love Jesus. Our home has been consecrated to Christ, and we have tried to serve Him with our whole hearts. We’ve lived through our share of trials and disappointments, but nothing like the onslaught of the last year.
We were instantly filled with panic, and immediately the questions came. What had we done? How could this happen to a family trying to serve God? How had we failed?
The Bible tells us we all stumble in many ways. But in the wake of the disaster, one of our sons and our pastor agreed one possibility seemed most obvious: The hedge was down. God had given Satan permission to test us.
In the book of Job, we read the account of a man hit with a series of tragedies rarely suffered by any one family. In his story, we read important truths for anyone dealing with bewildering loss. One that particularly stands out concerns the source of his suffering.
Job’s trials were not connected to sin in his life.
In John 9:2-3 we learn the disciples of Jesus assumed a man had been born blind because either he or his parents sinned. Jesus answered, “It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him.” Jesus healed that man, and it was only then he understood the answer to the “Why?” that had tormented him all his life.
Job was not perfect, but he was “blameless, upright, fearing God and turning away from evil.” (Job 1:1) This man reverenced God. He served God with a pure heart and a clean conscience. He even sacrificed offerings for the consecration of his children.
Our problems are often the result of our sin and poor decisions. Even then, God is at work. His response to our sin is not to punish us but to purify and discipline us like the good Father He is.
For Job, it seemed God struck him down without cause.
The Bible tells us trials come upon us for our testing, to strengthen and establish us in the faith.
When we are in the fire, it’s easy to ask God, “Why?” It doesn’t hurt to ask that question and examine our own hearts. If we can find no explanation for the trial, it’s possible another drama is being played out behind the scenes.
Next Week: When the Hedge Comes Down, Part 2
-
Just as a father has compassion on his children,
So the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him.– Psalm 103:13
They call them fur babies, those pets we adore and spoil and spend too much money on each year.
The other day I rolled up to a stop light along with the usual collection of pickups and SUV’s. This is Idaho, after all, where we wear our flannel camo lounge pants and hiking boots to the grocery store with pride. Our highways and parking lots are well-represented by four-wheel-drive and all-wheel-drive vehicles, because you never know when you’ll have to cross a muddy road here, not altogether an unreasonable expectation in a state that keeps taxes low and road maintenance at a minimum.
As I sat at the red light, a pickup pulled up beside me in the other lane. The window was rolled down, and the driver rested his arm lazily on the door ledge. A chihuahua fur baby sat perched in the crook of the driver’s arm, yapping with all its tiny might at the pickup in front of me.
That’s when I noticed the dog standing in the bed of that truck, protected by a low canopy. It was a Siberian husky, impressive in its white and black coat. It lowered its head but didn’t bark in return. It fixed its icy blue eyes at the little yapping dog in the window. The contrast was both comical and chilling.
The chihuahua challenged the husky, oblivious to the fact the larger dog could have easily mangled him if he wanted and had the opportunity. But the little dog wasn’t worried, because he had his “daddy’s” arm around him.
Then the light changed, and a little squirt of a dog rode off feeling strong and justified and safe, totally without merit except for the love of the one who owned him.
Every day we awaken to a dangerous world.
An enemy many times stronger than us roams the earth, looking for someone to devour. On our own, we are as helpless as that little dog. Our defenses are just as pitiful, our attempts to frighten our adversary just as ridiculous.
But each day, we can rest in complete and utter safety.
Our safety comes in resting in the arms of the One who is Lord, Sovereign, and King, and of all. Just like that chihuahua has been adopted by a kind human, we have been adopted by a kind Master. The price He paid for us was high. The love He bestows on us is unfathomable. Every breath we take, each beat of our heart is in response to the Life-giver. How much more will He redeem us from the trials of this life and usher us safely into His eternal kingdom?
Are you afraid today? Are you being stalked by heartache and danger?
Never fear. Be bold in challenging the powers that try to enslave you. No matter what happens today, Daddy has you safe in His arms. We serve a compassionate Father, who deserves our trust and love.
Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’
– Galatians 4:6
-
Let them praise the name of the Lord,
For His name alone is exalted;
His glory is above earth and heaven.– Psalm 148:13
A Ugandan acquaintance of ours once told us how he learned to master his Sunday school lessons.
“The right answer,” he said with a grin, “is always, ‘Jesus.’
As a child, no matter what question the teacher posed in class, he always answered, “Jesus.”
I remembered this story recently as an unthinkable situation confronted our family, one I never dreamed we would face.
It arrived unannounced, stripping us of our sense of dignity and safety. It shook my faith down to the core and made me rethink all I believed about God. For the first time in the many decades I have been a Christian, I felt as if God had left the room when I needed Him most.
These last months, as I have sifted through the ashes of what I thought I knew, some unshakeable truths have emerged:
God is real.
Though the pain is worse than anything I have ever imagined, I can see how God has been working in our situation. Our prayers are being answered, just not in the way I hoped. This has led me to a deepening revelation of something I often professed but rarely faced in full surrender:
God is sovereign.
I can claim His promises, chastise the Devil, pray until I’m blue in the face, worship earnestly, argue convincingly, work until I’m exhausted, and quote Scriptures all day. But the reality is God’s in charge. Those responses to trial may be appropriate and Bible-based, but if I’m doing them with the motive of getting my way, they’re not going to be effective.
The Father is fierce in His love for us and unswayed by our desperate attempts to escape His discipline in our lives.
God’s Word is immutable.
I based so many of my actions in my adult life upon the promises of the Bible. My first reaction when we were dropped into this furnace was shock at the seeming contradiction. This no trial I expected to face, ever. The last year taught me that I had attached many expectations, principles, and personal interpretations to select Scriptures. I had created an elaborate scaffolding around the Bible that colored my vision of God.
Nothing really matters except our relationships with God and each other.
The reality is we can’t change a single hair on our head. It all comes down to the Savior. Jesus Christ alone is worthy. He wants us. Just us. Not what we believe or accomplish. When we are stripped of all we have to offer Him and to those we love, He clothes us with grace and calls us His. Then He calls us to be as radical in our commitment to Him and as gracious in our commitment to each other.
Today I still don’t understand much of what has happened. I sit in the rubble as the questions swirl around me, and I know this one thing:
The answer is “Jesus.”
-
We love, because He first loved us. If someone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.
– 1 John 4:19-20
In 1788, the Austrians were at war with Turkey.
Determined to control the Danube River, about 100,000 Austrian soldiers set up camp near Karansebes. The Austrian army was comprised of troops who were German, Czechoslovakian, Hungarian, and Polish, so communication among the men was not good, to say the least.
Scouts were sent out to search for Turks but ran into some gypsies instead and brought back liquor to the camp. As the men got increasingly drunk, they became more and more agitated. The party deteriorated into a brawl, and at that point, someone shouted that the Turks were attacking.
Drunk and unprepared for battle, many men simply fled. In the confusion and unable to understand each other, the soldiers mistook the defectors for the Turks and began firing at them. Soon 10,000 soldiers lay wounded or dead at the hand of their comrades.
Two days later, the Turks showed up and captured the city, bewildered by the carnage but happy with the ease with which they overtook their enemies.
While the veracity of this battle is disputed by some historians, the message of the story is clear: An army that doesn’t communicate and treats each other like the enemy is sure to lose the battle.
It’s not easy to stay on track, though, is it? In real life, battle lines are not always clear. Sometimes, a real or imagined blow from an unexpected source sends us reeling. Other times, the emotion and pain from our own struggles cloud our discernment, and we lash out blindly, taking out an innocent comrade with our words.
Nothing wounds deeper than an unprovoked attack from someone we love.
Debate over doctrine is one of the greatest tricks of the enemy to get us fighting among ourselves. Although it is crucial to contend for the faith, we swing the two-edged sword of the Word of God at our own peril if we aim it at a fellow soldier. God commands us to instruct others in gentleness and humility.
We live in a crucial period in history. Satan is getting bolder, and our faith is being tested on many levels. The wounded lie strewn across the battlefield of broken lives and torn hearts. Now, more than ever, it’s time to take stock of what we are fighting for and how we can support each other in the heat of battle.
We must communicate effectively, treat others with tenderness, and forgive quickly. It is our duty to bind up the wounds of our fellow soldiers and leave no one behind.
This Memorial Day, we thank those who gave the ultimate sacrifice for their homes, families, and nation. May we learn the lessons they have taught us.
-
By Rebekah Hamley
I always feel closest to God when I’m in nature.
And on my hike in the Hunua Range, New Zealand, I felt His presence all around me. Life has thrown many challenges these last couple months and my future is full of unknowns, but as I explored His magnificent creation, I was reminded that the God Who created it all, loved me beyond measure. As beautiful as His creation is, God’s love is even more so.
He created and cares for the world and every living thing in it, so how much more does He care for us?
Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?
-Matthew 6:26
While life is so uncertain, one thing is: God loves us so much, and He will never abandon us. No matter what happens in the coming days, months, or years, God is in control. And He will give us the strength to overcome any trial that comes our way.
But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.
-Isaiah 40:31
As I reached the top of the range, and I saw the view in the picture above, I started crying and laughing at the sheer joy of God’s love and beauty. There was a particular quote from a song that my friend’s band wrote that stood out to me in that moment:
God of the mountains, God of the sea, all I see is Your glory. You are my refuge,
You’re all I need, and I know You know me.
You are all I expect.
-“Expectations” by Convent Bonfires
I’ve been able to see God’s glory all around me in the mountains of New Zealand and the seas of Australia. He has been my refuge during my time here and provided all I needed. He is all I expect and so much more. I know that with God by my side and fighting for me, I can face anything life throws my way.
Rebekah Hamley is the daughter of former missionaries and was born in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. She is completing her degree in environmental science through Bethel University in Minneapolis, Minnesota. During a recent break from her studies in Australia, she spent a week in New Zealand.
https://bekahhamley.wordpress.com/2018/05/01/god-of-the-mountains/
-
For man is born for trouble,
As sparks fly upward.
– Job 5:7
Jesus said, ‘Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me.’
– John 14:1
If it can go wrong, it will.
It is said that the author of that gem was Captain Edward A. Murphy. He reportedly uttered the words that have morphed into the expression we know today as Murphy’s law while working as an engineer on an Air Force project in 1949.
Murphy’s Law isn’t news to much of anyone, and especially not to anyone who has ever tried to hang wallpaper. I know this because I have hung some wallpaper in my life and just finished attempting to freshen up an old wall with that textured paintable stuff. It looks sturdy enough on the roll. It turns into tissue paper when it’s wet, though, and the glue on the back produces more slime than a baby’s first cold. Wallpapering one wall between some wooden beams consumed me, my husband, a ladder, box cutter, straight edge, pencil, scissors, wallpaper tray, brush, roller, cardboard, endless rags to wipe up the slime, caulk gun, and two days of our lives gone forever.
Thankfully, I our marriage survived.
Because we live in a fallen world, most anything we undertake comes with its own set of special pitfalls.
At times it feels like just getting out of bed sets us up for defeat. But we shouldn’t be surprised. God clued us in thousands of years ago in the book of Job when He warned us that we are born for trouble as surely as sparks from a fire will fly up into the sky.
Sometimes, we cause our own trouble. Sometimes, trouble finds us. Life on this earth can get us down. But Jesus’ answer to trial is as freeing as it is challenging: Don’t let trouble trouble you. We can’t control every trial that enters our lives, but we can control our response to it.
Our reaction to trouble is usually to wallow in it. God challenges us to exercise discipline over our thought life by giving our worries and heartaches to God, trusting in His sovereign power and keeping our eyes on Him. The mind is an intense battlefield upon which we fight the enemy of our faith. Concentrating on our problems opens the door to darker emotions and defeat.
I’m done with wallpapering for (ever) now, but I know real challenges await each day. I’m learning how to control the urge to let my heart wallow in my problems. Worry never changes anything except us. Through the power of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God, I will put my trust in the God who will deliver me from evil.
The answer to our troubles, however large or small is, “Believe.”
Jesus said, ‘Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me.’
-John 14:1
http://www.murphys-laws.com/murphy/murphy-true.html
-
He does great things which we cannot comprehend.
– Job 37:5 NKJV
The harvest long gone, the ground lay in deep slumber.
A tiny hard seed fell unnoticed to the earth. For months it lay unseen. But within that tiny shell, the blueprint for a full-grown tree rested in the cold, black soil. In spring, under a nurturing sun and life-giving rain, it burst from the ground and reached toward the light to grow and bloom.
The caterpillar who once crawled in the same dirt awaited release from its chrysalis shroud. Transformation complete, it emerged with not the slightest resemblance to the creature it once was. The worm was gone. From its shell it unfurled magnificent wings woven into gossamer sails and ornately painted by the hand of God as it lay in the stillness.
In a nearby field, a calf formed unseen in the womb of its mother for long months. God intricately knitted blood and bone and tissue into the image of its parents as it, too, waited out the darkness. Beautiful, full of life, perfectly woven, it finally entered the first light of a new day.
Another spring has come, bringing new life from dark places and proclaiming once again the reality of God’s power to transform.
Here are the everyday miracles to which we have become a bit too accustomed. Engrossed in our problems, living in the darkness of our sorrows, we walk blindly past the gospel of creation trumpeting the praises of the resurrected Christ. Beaten down by the world’s lies that this is all there is, that nothing ever changes, and there is no way out, we resign ourselves to the shadows and the dirt.
But all around us, creation begs to differ.
Darkness is God’s secret workshop, where He fashions the new creation away from the prying eyes of His enemies.
In the chrysalis of the closet, He plans and weaves and forms His beloved into something that will burst forth with joy at the proper season. To us, our problems are impossible to solve. But we serve a God of the impossible.
In God’s world, worms sprout painted wings and a little seed produces a tree. While I weep and complain and feel sorry for myself, God simply smiles and works. It is the season of resurrection, after all. The frozen ground must yield to the rising sun. In the glow of a new season, life once again conquers death. Miracles abound around us, and we remember that winter never wins. Jesus is Lord, and that is enough.
Can God solve my problems?
Can a worm fly?
Call to Me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know.
– Jeremiah 33:3
-
Do not be afraid any longer, only believe.
– Mark 5:36
She lay on her bed with her eyes closed, her long, black lashes kissing her gaunt cheeks.
Her father hovered over her in distress, the sight of her ravaged body disemboweling him again. He had never, ever, felt so helpless, so full of pain. His cherished daughter, his gentle little lamb, lay dying, and he could only stand by and weep.
The house began to fill with family and friends as the news shot through the city. Panic filled Jairus. Then it occurred to him that there was still a ray of hope: to find the prophet Jesus from Nazareth.
Jairus was a man of some reputation and stature. He was a synagogue official in charge of overseeing the services and work of the synagogue, a man who ordinarily conducted His affairs with solemn dignity.
But his grief over his daughter had stripped him of any such contrivances. When he learned Jesus had crossed the Sea of Galilee and was in his city, he eagerly searched Him out. Jesus wasn’t hard to find, surrounded as He was by a crush of people electrified by the miracles. Jairus made his way to Jesus, fell at the feet of the Christ, ignored the crowd, and begged for his daughter’s life.
Jesus consented to go with him. They headed toward Jairus’ home, jostled by a crowd pressing Jesus for their own miracles.
On the way, Jesus suddenly stopped and asked who had touched Him. This was an odd question. People were everywhere. Everyone wanted to be healed.
Then a woman, trembling in joy and fear, came forward and confessed to touching His garment. She had been completely healed by the power that flowed from Him.
While she rejoiced with her Deliverer, Jairus waited in agony.
These short moments taken to restore one person kept Jesus from the bedside of the lamb who lay dying.
Before Jesus could finish speaking to her, messengers arrived with the news that Jairus’ daughter was dead, striking fear in his heart as they destroyed the hope to which he clung.
It’s too late. Don’t trouble the Teacher anymore.
Then God spoke into his despair. “Do not be afraid any longer, only believe.”
Jesus dismissed the crowd. He took three disciples and came to the house of Jairus, where the mourning had already begun. Jesus told them, “Why make a commotion and weep? The child has not died, but is asleep.”
The wails of grief quickly gave way to derision. Jesus sent them away.
Then He took his three disciples and the girl’s parents to the room where the girl lay. He took her hand and said, “Talitha kum.” Talitha is the feminine form of the Aramaic word “lamb.” “Kum” means “arise.”
Lamb, arise.
In one moment, a family in torment was restored. That which was impossible with man was accomplished with just a word from the Savior.
Of all the miracles Jesus performed during His earthly ministry, He must have especially loved reuniting children with their families. This, after all, was the very picture of His purpose for dying on Golgotha. He came from heaven entrusted with one mission, to reunite Father God with His fallen creation, the children dead in their sins and for whom He grieved deeply. It was, and is, His great joy to enter the house of the dead and awaken us to new life with the words to which unbelief must always bow:
Lamb, arise.
-
Should evil come upon us, the sword, or judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we will stand before this house and before You (for Your name is in this house) and cry to You in our distress, and You will hear and deliver us.
– 2 Chronicles 20:9
A multitude of enemy warriors marched to war against the tribe of Judah.
They slipped around the Dead Sea and caught the people of God by surprise, making it as far as Engedi before they were spotted and reported to King Jehoshaphat.
Jehoshaphat knew that his army could not stand before the combined armies of his enemies. Distressed, he turned to God, proclaiming a fast in Judah and assembling all the people to the house of God. His prayer is memorialized in Chronicles for the generations after to him who face an overpowering evil force. He ended his entreaty with these touching words: “Our eyes are on You.”
God answered the king with a plan for battle that has become the blueprint for generations of His people to come:
-Do not fear or be dismayed. (v. 15)
-The battle is God’s. (v.15)
-Hold your position on the battlefield. (v. 17)
-Trust God. (v.20)
-Offer the thanksgiving of praise. (v. 21-22)
-Stand and see the salvation of the LORD. (v. 17)
King Jehoshaphat did all God had commanded. His army went down to the battleground, stood before the amassed armies of their enemies, and sang praises to God. They did not fight, and they did not run before the threat of certain defeat. They did not study the enemy or count the number of weapons and men arrayed before them. They kept their eyes off the battleground and on their Captain.
They held their position, trusted God, faced down fear, and sang His praises.
True to God’s word, He destroyed the enemy by setting them against themselves, so that they were all destroyed without Judah’s army raising one hand in battle.
When Satan sets a trap for you, and you find yourself facing certain destruction, remember God’s promise to Judah.
Your enemy may be too strong for you, but this isn’t your battle.
This is God’s war, and it’s personal.
Your God will fight for you. Look up, for your deliverance is coming.
-
Lift up a song for Him who rides through the deserts,
Whose name is the LORD, and exult before Him.
– Psalm 68:4
A new year usually begins with hope and promise set against the backdrop of winter.
My new year began in the heat of a blistering emotional desert. People I love are in pain, and their torment has scorched my soul. Day after weary day has stretched on with no relief in sight and only endless wilderness before us. Hope has slowly soured in my belly as my desperate prayers are met with silence. Waves of fear wash over me in the night as I frantically seek God before falling into a fitful sleep.
In the gray dawn of another day, I am spent. I can pray no more. There are no more words I can say, no entreaty with which to reach my Master. As the night shadows fade before the rising sun, I arise and pad heavily into the breakfast nook with a cup of coffee. There I open my Bible.
In the space between darkness and light, I need to hear His voice.
This morning I find Psalm 68, a powerful image of a God who does not sit impartially in the heavens glaring down at his frail creation. Here, I find a God who rides through the desert as conqueror. Once again, I am reminded no pit is too deep for Him, no problem too hard for Him, no trial too hot for Him.
O God, when You went forth before Your people,
When You marched through the wilderness,
The earth quaked;
The heavens also dropped rain at the presence of God.
– Psalm 68:7-8
Throughout this song of David, God addresses every situation of our lives that makes us feel lost and in need of a savior. He reminds us He is a father to the fatherless, an advocate for the widows, a home for the lonely, a deliverer for those in any kind of bondage, and a provider to the poor.
Through the wilderness He marches as the victor. Before His majesty the earth quakes and the armies of hell flee. In His presence the heavens open, and life-giving rain quenches our barrenness. In our worst of times, He reminds us of His promises.
You confirmed your inheritance when it was parched.
– Psalm 68:9
Fearsome as He is to His enemies, the King comes to His sheepfold as a precious and pure dove, a gentle Shepherd and Comforter to His people.
When You lie down among the sheepfolds,
You are like the wings of a dove covered with silver,
And its pinions with glistening gold.
– Psalm 68:13
Once again, I am in awe.
Victory doesn’t come because we tough out trial. It doesn’t come because we pray the right prayers, sing the right songs, or attend the right church. We are saved because we belong to the Lord Jesus Christ, Ruler of heaven and earth.
Dawn is rising.
Click Next Page to load more
