Regrets

Mar 29, 2021 | Devotions

We all have regrets.  Our choices in the past can leave us disappointed in our present life.  Life hasn’t turned out the way we expected or wanted. The longer we live, the more “opportunities” we have to look over our shoulder, wondering what might have been. 

Sometimes, even when life is going well—and certainly when life is disappointing—we play a game of  “if only.”  It goes something like this: “If only I had done this or that instead of what I did. Oh, how much better life would be!”  But there is a problem hidden in that “if only.”  We don’t know that life would have been better had we done things differently.  Our imaginations paints it as “wonderful,” but it would have been just as bad — or worse.

The truth is we don’t get a “do-over.”  We get one life and we travel on it one way:  forward in time.  Whatever we have created in our choices (or was created for us by the choices of others), this truth remains:  this is our one, precious life.  We don’t get another. 

How, then, shall we live now?  

Shall we become bitter, weighing out all we have lost?

Shall we be defeated because we never got a chance in the sun?

Shall we complain, point fingers, and cast recriminations to every corner because life has not been fair or even kind?

We could.  We often do.

Scripture, however, is clear we should not do any of those things.  Paul said he counted all he had lost as nothing compared to the surpassing worth of knowing Christ (Philippians 3:8).  James 1:2 says we should “count it all joy when you fall into various trials.”  And over and over, scripture tells us to rejoice (Psalm 33:1) and rejoice (Habakkuk 3:18), and rejoice (1 Thessalonians 5:16)!  In fact, one Wiki user reported counting 286 verses that tell us to rejoice.  (FYI, I did not fact check that.)  The point is that we should live and can live with thankful hearts for God’s walk with us. Our life may not be what we want it to be. Our life may not be what God wants it to be.  Yet we can still be joyful and thankful.

There was a film released in 1995 called Mr. Holland’s Opus.  It is the story of a man’s life as he struggled to create a magnificent musical work (an opus).  I won’t spoil it for you as it is worth watching if you can find it.  He becomes very despondent at one point thinking his life has been wasted.  In the end, they show his Opus —  a truly magnificent work, albeit it not the one he thought he was creating.

All of our lives are like Mr. Holland’s.  We choose and choose and choose – and this is what we have now:  the life I am living, the life you are living. We are told by God to be thankful and rejoice, no matter our circumstances.  So, we must, like Mr. Holland, look for the things that are of worth in our lives, in spite of any disappointments or regrets.

God is more faithful than we can know or imagine.  He is the master at making lemonade from lemons.  Further He isn’t keeping a tally of missed chances and blown opportunities.  Only we humans do that.  

As a fellow, finite human, I cannot begin to tell you all that is of worth and value in your life.  I can, however, assure you there is something. Many things, even. The only road from “regret” to “rejoice” is the one where we pack up our disappointments and what-ifs and leave them at the foot of God’s throne (leave them, I say!  Not leave them and pick them back up!).  You and I are created to do good works.  Let us leave behind these regrets that so entangle, and press on to the things God lays before us. God is still on the move – let us be also.

We won’t get a do-over – but we can have a do-now. 

This is the day The Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.

Biblical Truth and Science

Mar 22, 2021 | Devotions

Time magazine recently profiled Dr. Francis Collins, a scientist who believes in God and science in that order. Collins heads the National Institute of Health. He is and has been in the middle of our nation’s struggle with the pandemic. (He is Dr. Fauci’s boss.) More important, Dr. Collins is a Christian. 

In his The Language of God Collins described moving from atheism to agnosticism. Finally, he describes an experience when, as he put it, “I knelt in the dewy grass as the sun rose and surrendered to Jesus Christ.” That decision became the cornerstone to Collins’ holding biblical truth and science together. 

Holding biblical truth and science together is important for you and me. The world seems to have crowned science as king. Many believe science is the way to discover true knowledge; that science is the only real hope for the future. Some believe human beings, even the human race itself, can be “engineered” to move us toward perfection. They claim death is simply a hurdle that science will help us leap. In short, there is a naïve optimism that counts on technology (applying science) to solve the world’s problems. 

As Christians we cannot ignore the increase of knowledge and ability exploding around us. God gave us minds and these minds are to be used for His glory. He called us to season and to illuminate the world, not simply complain about circumstances. If we are to have any influence on today and tomorrow, we need to think about bringing together science and biblical truth. Here are some points to think about:

• Seek to establish a firm biblical foundation of truth in our own hearts and minds. When we explain or defend biblical truth, we should not simply be trying to justify our own opinions or what we’ve always heard.

• Recognize the importance of humankind. We are not “top of the evolutionary heap” animals. People are God’s representatives in the world. We are important. We have a history and a purpose.

• Accept that humankind and the world with it is fallen. Sin is a fact of life in each of us and in whatever setting we find ourselves. Broken from the beginning, our ultimate hope is in God, not in ourselves.

• Affirm the value of science and technology as tools which God may use in His way. These tools, when used with such biases as rejection of the supernatural, disregard for God (no God or no need for God), self-exaltation to the point of neglecting others folks, however, may be more harmful than helpful.

• Reject the view that human knowledge and ability is the final measure. God alone is omniscient (all-knowing) and omnipotent (all-powerful).

Finally, as C. S. Lewis wrote regarding our commitment to God’s unchanging standards, “We must at all costs not move with the times.” Even when the latest scientific evidence or national poll stands against biblical truth, God’s Word is sure.

  Francis Collins, The Language of God, (New York:  Free Press, 2006), 225.

Leaving the Parking Space

Mar 15, 2021 | Devotions

Parked

The sun came out – after a long, winter cold span.  I sat in my parked car with the sun streaming in and thought, “Oh!  It is good to rest here!”  It reminded me of Peter’s statement to Jesus after the transfiguration on the mountain.  Peter, James and John were witness to the transfiguration.  Right in the middle of God’s glory shining down, Peter says, “Lord! it is good for us to be here.” (Mathew 17:4).  Mind, he goes on to offer to put up tents, but only because “it was good” for “us to be here.”  You may recall the response to Peter’s suggestion is “listen to my son” and “Get up” because we have to go.

I am Peter so often.  Oh, I long to be Paul (Mr. This-One-Thing-I-Do).  But instead I find I am Peter:  impulsive, jetting enthusiastically one way and then just as strong on an about face. Loving Jesus, but a little rudder-free and wind-tossed.  Sometimes (often), I am like Peter was in this moment:   I just want to stay where it is good.  Like that morning.  I wanted to stay in my parked car in the warm sun and imagine that I was making headway on my journey. 

Foolish, I know.  But being human, I can easily deceive myself.  I read scripture, I say a prayer, I attend Bible study.  I mark all the boxes and say all the right churchy-phrases.  But I wonder sometimes if I am just parked in my warm spot imagining that I am on a spiritual journey. 

Am I making headway on my spiritual journey?

Am I growing at all?  

Am I even different this year than I was this same time last year?

Because I would like to be.  I would like to be in motion towards God and about God’s business in His Kingdom.  I would like to NOT be a “parked car”.  

The parking places, though, are so tempting!  This, after all, is my comfort zone.  I like it here, where things are the same and not challenging.  I am known, the people around me are familiar, and my routines give me an illusion of control.  It is a comfortable parking place – all this marking boxes, saying churchy-phrases, and volunteering in all the same old spots.

Yet even as I basked in the sun streaming thru my car window that morning, I knew I could not remain. Nor can I remain the same in my journey with God.   If we are called to anything in Christ, it is not to stay (warm, safe, parked).  Jesus said “come” and “follow me”.  So, though my path is dotted with tempting parking places, I must stay only a short while in any warm and safe place.  God’s call is upon my life – it is upon all our lives. Thus, while our destination is not always clear on our spiritual journey, the call to put one foot in front of the other most assuredly is.  

In a practical sense, this means doing different things.  It may mean reading a great authors from our legacy of faith from a different denomination (gasp!  What?!).  It may mean serving somewhere ne and challenging.  It may mean curtailing your lifestyle to be a better steward of all God has entrusted to you.  There are many things that might be a “new step” in your journey.  It is rare that Jesus uses the word “stay” – so it is possible that doing the same old same old in your faith is just what you should be doing.  But more commonly, Jesus said “go”, “come”, and “follow me”.  This means taking new steps.  So if you have become stale in your journey, or if you have felt safe and unchallenged for a while, then it is time, my sweet brother or sister in the faith.  It is time to get out of our warm, safe, parking spot and make headway again. 

Intercession for Others

Mar 8, 2021 | Devotions

How long do you think the apostle Paul’s prayer list was? He prayed for churches by name. He prayed for the Jewish people. He must have prayed for his co-workers, his enemies, the emperor, and on and on. No wonder he wrote that we should pray without ceasing. Paul prayed and asked for prayer because he knew the importance of something called intercession.

Intercession is praying with a purpose and with some passion for others. (This blog focuses on praying for people as opposed to entities such as a nation or a church or a school system.) Intercession is a privilege and an opportunity. More, it builds that community which is so important in the kingdom of God. 

OK, if you and I already believe in and practice prayer for others, why this blog? Could it be that we can get into a habit of simply praying, “Lord, bless so and so today”?

Imagine for a moment how you would answer God if, when we asked Him to bless somebody, He answered, “What do you want Me to do? What do they need?” Would we be able to answer? Would we take the easy way out and ask God to act according to His will? That sounds good, but it often reflects an ignorance on our part—an ignorance of what the person needs, what she or he is going through, feeling, or even how the person is praying for himself or herself. 

Certainly God knows what folks need, but intercession is privilege of praying for them. It encourages us to consider what the person wants and how God might want to work in his or her life. When we ask,  “How may I pray for you?” we aren’t being nosy. People may be reluctant to talk about their situation and we want to respect their privacy, but we need some guidance only they can give. For instance, when someone asks us to pray that God would heal their family, what do they want from God? What person, relationship, or need in the family needs God’s touch?

Besides praying with knowledge and godly wisdom, sometimes the Spirit may show us how to be part of the answer to prayer. We may have resources we can use to help. We may have had experiences God leads us to share. For instance, when we discover a person needs a job, we may have contacts that will let us be part of God’s answer. Or, we may know very well what it feels like to be unemployed and so are able to pray for the discouragement, even fear, that rises in the heart.

We are not automatically the answer to another person’s prayer. Often, despite conversations with others, we still don’t know exactly how to pray in a given situation. We are able, though, to pray more deeply, more lovingly for and with the person. We are able to lay out before God our desire and theirs in specific terms, always leaving open the option that God may have a different goal and method. God’s way and purposes are always better—that’s the reason we pray for God’s will to be done—after we have shared our best thoughts and desires with Him. For example, while we want to pray for physical healing when a friend is ill, the experience of illness can bring them to a level of humility that everyday life does not teach.

Intercession is not new or complicated. It is a privilege you and I have enjoyed as we have prayed for others and as we have asked folks to pray for us. That privilege is part of the community God intends for us to enjoy here and on into eternity. What could bring us together more now as brothers and sisters in Christ than coming before the Lord together in prayer?

Evangelical Confession

Jan 25, 2021 | Devotions

Confession of sin—specifically, one person confessing to another person may be one of the most misunderstood and yet one of the most helpful spiritual disciplines believers can use. The Bible rarely refers to this practice. James 5:16  “Confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed“ (NASB) seems to be a special case. Still, Christians throughout the centuries have used this practice to grow closer to the Lord and to overcome the power of sin in their lives.

This one-to-one confession is different from asking a person to forgive us for something we may have done to them. It’s different, also, from the Roman Catholic practice of confession to a priest. Moreover, it is different from Christian counseling. Sin can disrupt our lives in such a way that we would benefit from Christian counseling. This confession is different.

Person-to-person confession is a discipline of inviting another believer into our life, asking them to listen as we confess some sin and to respond as the Lord leads them. Most often that response will be to pray for you in that moment or to speak encouraging words or to remind you of God’s love and patience however the Spirit leads. 

We know God forgives us as we confess sin. (Think of such verses as 1 John 1:9.) So why have another person help us? It’s because too often we pray “blanket prayers” (“forgive me of my sins”), without thinking deeply about those sins that haunt us day after day, year after year.

Most of us have sins that recur despite our best efforts. We try to change. We try harder. We pray for strength. We even ask people to pray for us (without getting too specific if the sin is too personal). But victory over those “strongholds” eludes us. So what is it that makes person-to-person confession of sin a discipline that gives us traction in moving toward victory?

When we confess our long-standing sins to another person at least two things occur. The first thing is that we get specific about the sin that has its hold on us. The other person isn’t a mind-reader. We have to identify the sin we’re struggling with; identify it by name, out loud (or in writing). We name those sinful thoughts and deeds and attitudes that haunt us and cause us to condemn ourselves silently. We name and describe if necessary the sins we are ashamed to admit. We admit the sin just won’t go away. After confessing the same sin to the same person repeatedly, the second thing occurs. We become embarrassed having to admit our sin repeatedly. The embarrassment will lead us either to give up this practice of confession or to face our sin specifically, consciously and intentionally, and let the Lord heal us. 

This confession is not some kind of spiritual or psychological exhibitionism. Neither is it a one-on-one game of “you tell me your secrets and I will tell you mine.” It is the Lord using  human interaction to do what we, by ourselves, cannot (or will not) do in the recesses of our mind and heart:  identify, confess, accept His healing.

When the Lord leads us to this confessional practice, we need to note some guidelines.

• We ask the Lord to help us find that person who will listen to us, our “confessor.” 

• Confession leads to a closeness that must not be misunderstood, so our listener needs to be of the same sex. Often the person will be older, but that is not necessary.

• Consider the maturity of the listener. The spiritual maturity of the listener may be even more important than our maturity. We are trusting that person to receive our words and to receive the Lord’s leading, not to impose her or his opinions or advice. 

Think of a child confessing to a parent or a teacher something the child did wrong. The way the parent or teacher responds can create a healthy awareness of the wrong, help the confessing child understand what is so wrong with what he or she has done, and encourage proper behavior. Ignoring, excusing, or punishing in a way that “does not fit the crime” in a sense can be confusing to the child and block any future confessions.  So, too, our listener can bless our life or sour us toward this opportunity to grow in the Lord.

Treating sin seriously is important for the people of God, especially sins that persist such as sins of attitude, disposition, omission, habit. God has given us ways to deal with these strongholds and confession to our brother or sister in Christ is one of them.