Dec 14, 2020 | Devotions
It is tinsel time. And jingle bells.
However, not every person is jolly this time of year. As the tinsel goes up, for some, the soul drops into despair.
I have a very short word of hope for this: God. He is the first and the last word in hope for the broken hearted. Our Enemy, however, makes it hard to hold onto that truth. We must often rehearse the truths in its parts to combat his lies. Here are some foundation blocks on which you can stand firm when The Enemy is in your face.
- You. Are. Loved. The first lie The Enemy would have us believe is that we are UN-lovable. It is easy to buy into. Other people may have done things to you – horrible, betraying, demeaning, abusive things. It has made you wonder if you are lovable because why would that person do this to you…unless there was something wrong with you. That is a Lie. Or perhaps you have done things that you think are so shameful and so unforgiveable you could never be loved if someone really knew it all. Lie, again. Or maybe it is rooted in something I can’t even imagine. It is still a lie. All lies. The Enemy wants you to believe this lie so you remain defeated, especially when the rest of the world is tinsel-and-jingle-bells joy. Here is The Truth: Christ loved you so much He died for you. Even if no one else ever came to faith because of His sacrifice, He would still have died for you. Did die for you. And why? Because He loved you that much – you are so precious to Him that He could not bear Heaven without you. For God so loved, he gave his son. The Holy Spirit is the seal of proof in you until the time you go home to Heaven. You are known. You are seen. All of you – every bad and every good thing. You are known. And you are still loved. There is nothing in you, or that has been done to you, that can render you unlovable by the Father, the Son and The Holy spirit. TRUTH: You. Are. Loved.
- You. Are. Not. Alone. This is the second lie The Enemy would have us believe. It is tied to the first. I mean, if I am not loveable, then that is why no one wants to be around me. And if I am not loved or wanted, then why would I force my presence on them – better to stay in my room. Alone. When we buy into this lie, we think we are alone in our sorrow and mourning; no one cares. Lie. Still a lie. Always a lie. The Enemy wants you isolated and broken. Here is the Truth: I am with you until the end of the age, Jesus told us. The Holy Spirit is with us at all times. There is nowhere we can go in the earth that God is not already there. When you are sleeping He sings over you; when you are awake He watches over you. He bends low to hear your every gasping prayer and collect every tear, and He will never leave you – never. TRUTH: You. Are. Not. Alone.
Perhaps you already have a favorite verse you’ve worn thin from repeating it to yourself. But in case you don’t, let me leave with a few (just a few! There are many more!) of God’s promises to you.
God is your refuge, your strength, and your shelter:
- Psalm 119:114 You are my hiding place and my shield; I put my hope in Your word.
- Proverbs 18:10 The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.
- Joel 3:16 The LORD will roar from Zion and raise His voice from Jerusalem; heaven and earth will tremble. But the LORD will be a refuge for His people, a stronghold for the people of Israel.
God loves you with a love stronger and deeper and wider than any human can love:
- Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
- 1 John 3:1 See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!
- Ephesians 3 17-19 …And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power… to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
God is with you – He will not abandon you:
- Isaiah 41:10 Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
- Leviticus 26:11-12 I will make my dwelling among you, and my soul shall not abhor you. And I will walk among you and will be your God, and you shall be my people.
- Romans 8:31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
- Deuteronomy 31:6 Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you.”
This year has been harder for most of us than many other years. It is not one many of us want to repeat. If you face this holiday with more sorrow than joy, or more anger than peace, or more fear than you can remember having in a long time, take heart. God is still with you. You are still His beloved child, the apple of His eye. He is Big Enough to walk with you thru your entire sea of grief and thru every horror, memory, hurt. God doesn’t need (or want) you to be tinsel-and-jingle bell when inside you there is only pain. God is OK if you are real with Him. He will not turn from you.
You are loved.
You are not alone.
God is your strong tower.
He is with you unto the end of the time.
Dec 7, 2020 | Devotions
OK, it isn’t the greatest mystery in the world. But, those goods in the store that say “home made,” in whose home were they made? Are stores implying the ingredients for these goods were chosen with loving care then prepared with personal, loving interest, maybe even using an old family recipe? Or do things such as efficiency, packaging, profit margin fit in? Is the consumer really most important? Oddly enough, those questions and more came to mind as I read Isaiah 58 which seemed to feature “home-made religion.”
Isaiah 58 focuses on two religious practices, important and blessed practices: fasting and keeping the Sabbath. God’s Old Testament people had practiced these two disciplines for centuries. Keeping the Sabbath was a matter of obedience to the commandments. Fasting was a matter of honoring God by humbling oneself, giving up something good in exchange for something better. Isaiah addressed worshipers who were fasting and keeping the Sabbath, but the prophet’s message was: God isn’t impressed. One reason He was not impressed was because His “worshipers” were doing their own thing. When they fasted, they fasted to please themselves (Isa. 58:3). On the Sabbath, they were doing whatever they wanted, going their own ways, seeking their own pleasures (Isa. 58:13).
Their choosing for themselves how they would worship is what I call “home-made religion.” It wasn’t developed in the Temple or in the mind of God, it was home-made in their homes and hearts. In a sense, they were following their own “recipe” for godly living. They had looked through the cook book (God’s Word) and had chosen the ingredients they would use and offer to God as worship. Fasting? Yes, but the way they wanted to fast. Sabbath-keeping? Yes, again as they choose for themselves what to do and not to do. Maybe they included tithing, daily prayers, offerings. In each they chose what they would do and how they would do it. They decided for themselves just what worship and service and praying would be pleasing to God and what would not make any difference to Him in the way they lived as the people of God.
Many of us would feel right at home among these worshipers. We are a freedom-loving people who often feel “put upon” when someone says we must do this or that—even if that someone is God. Of course we would not resist God to His face; but, when His Word speaks to us or His ministers imply we are self-serving and not humble, often we resist in our heart. We seem to prefer home-made godliness in which we choose the recipe rather than rely on the Holy Spirit.
We create our home-made religion by developing a view of God that fits with our lifestyle, with what we want God to be—a God who is always willing to help and not be too demanding.
We choose ingredients—elements, practices, doctrines —that are pleasant, fitting in with the “nice” parts of Christian living. We serve God in the way we want, not according to need. We give what we want to give, not according to need or opportunity. We read and study scripture, the parts we enjoy or comfort us, not the parts that convict us of sin or humble us.
We take our home-made religion to church to be with other folks like ourselves, being careful not to expose what we really think or believe. After all, what we believe or think isn’t anyone else’s business is it? But it is God’s business. He is the One who “tastes” our home-made creation.
Isaiah 58 shows God did not like the taste of His people’s fasting and Sabbath-keeping. Are there parts of your life in the Lord that are tasty to you—comfortable, self-serving, self-centered religion—but not to God?
Nov 30, 2020 | Devotions
Most of us played a game in childhood called “Chutes and Ladders” (or perhaps “Snakes and Ladders”?). All players start in one corner of the game board with the objective of getting to another corner of the board along a meandering path. Along the path there are chutes that drop you backwards to retrace a section of path and ladders that let you move ahead skipping portions. Each player rolls the dice and moves their game piece hoping fervently to avoid the chutes and celebrating joyfully when we hit a ladder. As a childhood game it is a fine thing – simple and easy to understand. Concrete rules with a known start and a known end destination.
But what happens if we have never stopped playing? What happens if we are still playing this game of chutes and ladders in our prayer life? Bear with me a moment as I stretch the analogy (possibly beyond limits!)….
I can find myself at times checking how much there is left on my mortgage (or checking the bank balance) or checking how my relationship is doing with a loved one (or checking in on my own level of internal peace). In essence, I am looking to see where I am on the game board of life. From these check points, I pray. I tell God about a friend who is facing surgery and ask for Him to heal that person. I tell God about a financial challenge or a job change and ask God to provide a solution or open a door. As I pray, you see, I am projecting forward to where I’d like myself or others to be on the game board of life. Here I am. There is where I’d like to be (or would like another person to be). My prayer life is filled with prayers to get from where we are to someplace else – someplace better. In essence, “God help me avoid the chutes” (i.e. don’t let me suffer or let anyone I know suffer) and “God help me find a ladder” (get the promotion, bless my children, etc.).
I do not think these are bad prayers. We are, after all, told to bring everything to the foot of the throne (Philippians 4:6) and to pray at all times with all sorts of prayers (Ephesians 6:18). God bends close to hear us – our every need and want. I think He fully welcomes our prayers, even if they are mostly help me avoid the struggle and help me gain a leg up in the direction I want to go.
I wonder, however, if we would all look vastly different if we dared prayers that stepped outside the bounds of the game board. Would it touch God’s heart if we prayed something wild and fierce and…well…maybe a little crazy-sounding to our fellow humans?
I have a friend who told me many years ago that I should never pray for her to be safe when she travelled. She told me she didn’t need to be safe – she needed to be audacious in her faith. She asked me to pray for courage for her that no matter what happened she would speak boldly of her Lord and Savior and live a life so filled with trust that the world noticed and might ask of her God. No – not safe for her, just audacious, courageous, boldly trusting. Why? So that others would notice and ask. She wasn’t asking for a chute or a ladder. She was asking that her game piece be swept from the board entirely so that only God could be seen. Crazy, huh? Wild and fierce.
What if – after we have asked for the things we want – we ask God to make us vessels of His glory as well? What if we said, “And though I have asked for these things, still Thy will be done. Make of me whatsoever you see fit, that I might show your glory to the world.” It is a little scary. We are suddenly moving beyond prayers for safety and avoiding pain. We are giving God what I think of as “Isaiah permission” (Here I am God! Send me!) and “Job faith” (Though He slay me, yet still will I praise Him!).
If I stop and think, I know that God’s goal is that none should perish and that all would not only know Him but be safe inside His family. Since that is His goal — and since we are His– then that should be our ultimate goal as well, right? To shift to that, however, we must move beyond a chutes and ladders prayer-life; we have to start praying Kingdom prayers – wild, fierce, crazy prayers…
And so let me end with that type of prayer: Oh Lord! Make us fierce! Make us warriors in our prayers! Make us fearless in our prayers such that we ask for things that touch your heart for the world and You say, “Yes. Yes. And Yes.”
Nov 23, 2020 | Devotions
The chorus of an old hymn begins with “Trust Me, try Me, prove Me says the Lord of Hosts.” The words reflect God’s challenge to His people in Malachi 3:8-10. In those verses God challenges His people to trust Him, bring Him their whole tithe, and to discover that He will bless them abundantly.
God’s Old Testament people needed money and the things money could supply—and so do we. God knew that and wanted to give those folks a way to demonstrate that they trusted Him. So this devotional isn’t about money or about giving. It’s about trusting God. It’s about how we answer the question, “Do you trust God?” Do we answer with a simple “Yes, I trust God” or do we answer “Yes, I trust God….” Those dots in the answer mean there is something more to come in our answer. For instance, we might answer, either aloud or in our minds, “Yes, I trust God when….” or “Yes, I trust God for….” If so, are we saying we trust God sometimes or for some things?
There are folks who have grown in their trust of God such that the door is wide open for God to act or to speak. They have learned to trust God whatever comes their way. They have learned to rely on God to handle difficult issues. More than that they have learned to look at life, all of life, as coming from God. They know that God’s sovereignty and God’s providential care are not simply doctrines to be believed. For these folks these truths are everyday experiences. But not every believer has come to that point of trust.
Some believers trust God only when they are pushed to a point of need. When crises come they seek God; and, in His mercy and grace, God responds. When the crisis is past, they thank God and move on. When this becomes a pattern, this going to God when they’ve run out of answers or other remedies, they seldom grow toward trusting Him with all of life. Perhaps the problem is, as one writer put it, they have far too much sense for the things they do. By too much sense, the writer meant that even Christians think they have enough worldly “wisdom,” enough experience in life, or enough resources of various kinds so that they can live life themselves.
How about you and me? Do we have enough sense about how to live life that we don’t go to God until we are really stretched in our everyday lives? Do we have to run out of whatever “fuel” we run on, we turn to God? If we deal with God in this way, He becomes our “God of the gap.” He takes up the slack when we can’t cope. Then, crisis over, need supplied, it’s back to life according to our “sense.”
I am not talking about believing in God. According to polls, the majority of folks around us believe in God. Of course, they may believe God is some shapeless force behind nature or a glorified 911 operator. But, even folks who believe in God as He has revealed in scripture do not necessarily trust Him with all of life. One reason may be that they do not see God as the supreme reality of life.
Life is full of realities—our relationships, our experiences, our feelings—what we call “the real world.” So where is God in all this? Is God the “most real” among these real things? Is He involved in all them? Is He the ultimate reality? Or does God seem remote or vague? Does He dwell at some distance from you when you live in this real world?
God’s reality is not simply a fact to be filed away in our minds. Looking, listening for Him, seeking Him in all we do and think and say invites Him to be present, to be real, in our lives. We learn to accept, as did Job, good and adversity from His hand. We learn to follow Him, to enjoy Him. More, God’s reality in our lives changes us. These changes in us are part of the way God prepares us for glory where and when we will know just how real God is.
1 A phrase from James Mays, Interpretation: Psalms, (Louisville: John Knox Press, 1994), 86.
Nov 16, 2020 | Devotions
A good friend of mine recently sent me an excerpt from a C.S. Lewis’ sermon called “Weight of Glory”. In this sermon, Mr. Lewis admonished that every person who comes into your presence is immortal. Whatever you think of them, this is an immortal: a person who will one day be a soul of immense weight and glory — or a horror of corruption.
For a moment, imagine the person you know best (you know, the one you love but who laughs too loudly, or passes smelly gas at weird times, or simply repeats themselves until you think you will go mad). Or think of the person you don’t love but must interact with (the neighbor who doesn’t repair the fence but complains about your dogs, the clerk who nitpicks every error, the driver who rushes up in the construction zone and dives in at the last minute). Now, instead of seeing them in all their annoying human frailty, clothe them with immortality.
This person is immortal – s/he will live forever. Either as a child of God, forgiven and bathed in Glory…or thrown into the river of eternal fire where they will suffer things we don’t even want to imagine. Forgiven, glory – or horror, river of fire. When viewed this way, their more annoying behavior fades into insignificance.
It is, as Mr. Lewis observed in his sermon, a “serious thing” to live moment to moment with the weight of our neighbors’ glory on our backs. It is (or should be) quite humbling to remember that this person – whom we may love or despise, admire or want to avoid at all costs – is one that we can nudge closer to God or farther away with our words and actions. In this moment, when we are confronted with this person, we should ask ourselves this question: am I moving them closer to God? Am I helping them lean towards forgiven and glory? Or am I helping them move towards horror and corruption? This is the weight you and I bear when we are confronted with another person. It should make us humble – our words and actions have eternal consequence.
Mr. Lewis ends with this thought: each person you encounter is the holiest object presented to your senses. If this person is a Christian s/he is already consecrated and holy – you are interacting with a holy immortal across the table or across the fence. Our words and behavior should encourage them in their trust of The One. If this person is not a Believer, you are still interacting with an immortal – the question is yet to be answered if they will be an immortal forgiven…or a horror and corruption.
Today, as we each go about our life or visit hard-to-love family over the holidays, remember you walk among immortals. Our words and behavior reflect what we believe about them. When we remember that they are immortal (and if we believe they are valuable to God), we will treat them as the treasure God says they are. It might look like this:
- reply with a gentle word in the face of anger (Proverbs 15:1);
- ignore insults from those who don’t know any better (Proverbs 12:16);
- forgive 70 times 7 times (Luke 17:4).
You see, our words and behavior will point them towards God. Or not.
We have but this one life to influence each other’s immortal status, so “be ye holy, for I am holy”(1 Peter 1:16) and “in humility count others as more significant than yourself.” (Philippians 2:3). May you, my sweet brothers and sisters in the faith, tap the power of the Holy Spirit in you and so nudge someone closer to God…
Nov 2, 2020 | Devotions
Have you ever given God a blank check? Imagine signing a check that says “Pay to the order of God.” Then, instead of writing in some dollars and cents, you leave those lines open. God gets to fill in what He wants. In a sense, when we come to Christ and receive His salvation, that is what we’re doing. We’re saying, God you can have whatever I have. But, since we can’t offer God whatever we have and then live according to our own way of doing things, part of that giving everything to God means we want to do God’s will. We want to give Him that blank check.
Those of us who came to Christ at an early age may not have understood the life-long implications of our decision. I invited Him into my life when I was seven years old. I didn’t think about the decades of life that lay before me. Folks converted as adults perhaps understand and feel more keenly what it means to give God their lives now and into the future. Whatever the age when the Lord claimed us, we have come to understand that to be a child of God involves seeking and doing God’s will. (If that wasn’t part of your thinking originally, I hope you have come to the place of wanting to live God’s way for God’s purposes in your everyday life.)
But what is God’s will? We often discuss, read, even fret about God’s will in this decision or that. But here is another perspective. Can it be that God’s will might be for you and me to recognize this life, the life we are presently living, is the best life He can give us in light of our decisions and our circumstances? To believe this we have to think about God’s purposes in our life. What is He trying and wanting to do? We have to recognize, too, how our past decisions and our present circumstances shape the way we live today. God’s purposes in our lives include developing us in such a way that we grow up into Christ, enabling and leading us to live our lives to God’s glory, and to serve God in His Kingdom. But what about the other things I mentioned, decisions and circumstances? How do they work together with God’s purposes to, in some way, make this life the best life God can give us right now?
Think for a moment about how your decisions have brought you to this point in your life. You can probably see a mixture of good and bad decisions, of important and unimportant decisions, of insignificant decisions which directed your life one way or another. You can see how your life today is based in part on decisions you made. Making wise decisions in the past about finances may have enabled you to live comfortably today. Poor decisions in relationships, vocation, self-care may restrict or inhibit the lifestyle you now live.
While past decisions may affect present and future circumstances, that isn’t the whole story. Genetic predispositions, diseases, handicaps of various sorts, the moral and physical environment we live in, lack of opportunities, responsibilities forced upon us all these and more can restrict the way we live. We may long for health, freedom, and a new start; but here and today is where we live not having any of these. Or it may be our circumstances help us to live the Christian life, care for others, and glorify God.
Why does God not intervene in our decisions and circumstances and thus change our lives? God is sovereign with all authority and all wisdom. He knows the present, the past, and the future. And the truth is sometimes He does intervene. But God has a way of respecting our human decision-making capabilities. That may be part of our growing up in Christ, learning to make decision that reflect God’s thinking. So, while sometimes God makes the right decision clear to us; sometimes He seems to say “your call,” then graciously works with us however we choose.
If you and I have come to understand the God is good and that He loves us, perhaps we can accept the fact that God has given us this life as the best life available given who we are and where we are. Does that mean we do not try to change our circumstances? No. Does it mean we should not try to deal with the painful “fallout” of past decisions? No. It means that we trust God either to take away what handicaps or inhibits or to imbed His word in us, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor. 12:9 ESV).
