Rain pours--and I mean pours--down from the sky. Good night, last February was all cold, snow and ice. This February is rain, rain, and more rain.
The day took an interesting turn this morning, however, when so much wild weather was predicted that all the schools let out early. Tornados all over the place. And did I mention the rain?
As we waited for this massive storm system to pass, my sweet sister emailed me with a wonderful verse she said they have tucked in a picture frame in their bedroom: "Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me, for in You my soul takes refuge, until the destroying storms pass by." (Ps.57:1-3) That's a mighty good word.
Such an encouraging reminder of the One who holds all things in His mighty, nail-scarred hands...including us...and the storms that He allows to come our way for His greater, deeper and eternal purposes.
It's all too easy to allow the storms of life to determine our attitude and outlook, isn't it? But James' words keep ringing in my ears: "Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have it's full effect that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." (James 1:2-4)
Apparently the Greek word used here for “count” is literally translated as “think forward.” We might say, “fast forward.” We are to “fast forward” in our thinking to what God will be doing in our lives and in our world through our trials. Sure, we might not feel like rejoicing, but if we’ll think forward in our minds to see with eyes of faith to God’s far greater purposes through our troubles, then we can find true joy, peace, and hope right in the midst of those storms.
In other words, we can experience supernatural joy by fast forwarding in our minds to the glorious result God has for us. That’s what Jesus did on the cross! Heb.12:2 says “Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him, endured the cross…” Jesus endured the cross with joy, because He set before His mind the glorious purpose of saving us from our sins and giving us eternal life! Or as Paul described it in 2 Cor.4, “this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not the things that seen but to the things that are unseen…”
When I look back at some of the hardest storms in my past, I can trace God’s amazing faithfulness in the midst of it as well as the remarkable ways He used it for His glory. When you recall all the ways God redeemed your past suffering, doesn’t it give you renewed hope and trust that He’ll continue to do it with whatever you’re enduring today? If He was faithful then, won’t He be just as faithful now? YES, because our Lord—Who is the same yesterday, today and forever—will always be perfect in His goodness, faithfulness and love!
And you know what? When we endure those painful trials and eventually come out the other side, our joy is redoubled, isn’t it? I don’t mean everything works out, but we experience a deeper gratefulness and joy than we’ve known before.
It's been four years since our daughter's accident, and I still weep over God’s nearness to us in the midst of it all. His love, His grace, His strength, His gift of people and prayer. I can still hear a song today, and it takes me back to that ICU room, and I’m overcome. You know why? Because I’m overwhelmed with joyful gratitude not only at what God has done, but also of all He taught us and how He strengthened our faith right in the midst of the suffering. Maybe that’s just a tiny foretaste of what Paul meant when he said in I Cor.15, “death is swallowed up in victory.” The suffering we all endure will be swallowed up by victory, and the joy will be multiplied exponentially! Do you know what that means?
No matter the storms we're enduring in the present or those that might appear on the horizon, we can completely trust our forever faithful God with the future! We can stop worrying about the future and all of life’s “what if’s"...because God has it all. And He’s promised and proven He’ll ultimately use every bit of it for our good and His glory.
These storms will pass, the sun will reappear, and the world will look radically different and better. So we can "count it all joy" today--trusting in all He's doing now and anticipating all He's got for us tomorrow and on into eternity.
To God be the glory.
Thursday, February 25, 2016
Thursday, February 18, 2016
The game-which-shall-not-be-named...and yet, joy!
This should be a day of much "weeping and gnashing of teeth" for us Tar Heel fans. Okay, well, maybe it is such a day.
The basketball-game-which-shall-not-be-named (or ever referred to again after this post), occurred last night between our beloved boys wearing God's favorite color (duh--look at the beautiful blue sky today) and a team which definitely shall-not-be-named (but their mascot is a devil--that tells you all you need to know). Suffice it to say, we learned the hard way that "it ain't over till it's over," and the ending of this game was a total catastrophe.
I can feel the blood pressure rising...time to breathe deeply and eat a piece of chocolate...
Okay, much better.
I actually went to bed before said nightmare/disaster ending. Very, very wise decision. But when I awoke early this morning, I was a bit anxious to discover the winner of the basketball-game-which-shall-not-be-named. However, I'm mighty thankful to report that I followed a habit I'm been trying to establish of not looking at my phone, email, or anything, until I first read God's Word. First, I read a chapter of James out loud (Bingley appreciated the wisdom and encouragement as well) and then today's reading from Daily Light.
I make a lot of dumb decisions, but like I said, this was a wise one. Thank You, Lord!
So after having my mind renewed--which I would soon discover I desperately and urgently needed--I opened my cell phone to discover 48 text messages, all starting at 11:12 p.m. last night. They were all from our family text message group, and let me just say, there was an overflowing abundance of weeping and gnashing of teeth among my children (and husband) as they texted back and forth. For example, "I want to cry." "I will not get over this for a long time." Or here's one exchange between them all--
"Coach K owns Roy."
"Completely owns him."
"Literally property of Coach K"
"I'm gonna spank Bingley, I'm so mad" (followed by laughing, winking smiley face--just so you don't get the wrong idea).
It went on and on from there.
Now normally, I might have been a bit grumpy over this horror of a game-which-shall-not-be-named. I take that back. Normally, I might have been downright furious, irritable, and discouraged over the awful, terrible unfairness of it all. Yes, I know, I'm a bad, bad sport and I know it. It's why I made the wise decision not to watch the game-which-shall-not-be-named right before going to bed. That wouldn't have been conducive to sleep or to a godly attitude (to put it mildly).
But this morning, instead of total frustration, I felt--could it be?--overwhelming gratitude, even joy! Why? Well, first because putting God first always realigns, corrects, and gets your thinking and your attitude right. And if we can think right, we can act right. And to do that means filling our minds with that which is the ultimate right: God's Word.
As Hannah Whitall Smith said, "If we take the words of God, His revealed truth, into our lips and eat it, that is, if we will dwell upon His words and say them over and over to ourselves and thoroughly take in and assimilate their meaning in a commonsense way, we shall find that our soul life is fed and nourished by them and is made strong and vigorous in consequence."
Oh how thankful I am every single day for God's supernatural, wisdom-giving, hope-infusing, joy-producing Word!
And secondly, I felt joy and gratitude just in seeing all those texts from this family that I love so much. Oh Father, I wanted to cry, thank You, thank You, thank You for the unutterable joy and privilege of loving and being loved! Thank You for the priceless gift of my husband and children. Thank You for the gift of laughter. Thank You for the fun of games...even when they don't go our way. Thank You for Life!
Yes, I know--in the big scheme of things, this was nothing--and I mean nothing--but a silly, ultimately unimportant basketball game. My Lord and I have been through much deeper, darker waters. But oh goodness, praise Him that He's so faithful even in our little, seemingly insignificant irritations, worries, or sorrows.
He's there with us in the ICU and cancer ward...but He's also there with us in the missed appointments, flat tires, and flunked tests. In the big and small, He's forever faithful, forever working, and forever loving, correcting, forgiving, and empowering.
Even in a blown basketball-game-which-shall-not-be-named!
And by the way, the verses from Daily Light? Here's just a few: "Sorrow will be turned into joy." (John 16:20) "I will sing of Your mercy in the morning; for You have been my defense and refuge in the day of my trouble." (Ps.59:16) "Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning." (Ps.30:5)
And all God's people--even the Carolina fans--said "AMEN!" To God be the glory.
The basketball-game-which-shall-not-be-named (or ever referred to again after this post), occurred last night between our beloved boys wearing God's favorite color (duh--look at the beautiful blue sky today) and a team which definitely shall-not-be-named (but their mascot is a devil--that tells you all you need to know). Suffice it to say, we learned the hard way that "it ain't over till it's over," and the ending of this game was a total catastrophe.
I can feel the blood pressure rising...time to breathe deeply and eat a piece of chocolate...
Okay, much better.
I actually went to bed before said nightmare/disaster ending. Very, very wise decision. But when I awoke early this morning, I was a bit anxious to discover the winner of the basketball-game-which-shall-not-be-named. However, I'm mighty thankful to report that I followed a habit I'm been trying to establish of not looking at my phone, email, or anything, until I first read God's Word. First, I read a chapter of James out loud (Bingley appreciated the wisdom and encouragement as well) and then today's reading from Daily Light.
I make a lot of dumb decisions, but like I said, this was a wise one. Thank You, Lord!
So after having my mind renewed--which I would soon discover I desperately and urgently needed--I opened my cell phone to discover 48 text messages, all starting at 11:12 p.m. last night. They were all from our family text message group, and let me just say, there was an overflowing abundance of weeping and gnashing of teeth among my children (and husband) as they texted back and forth. For example, "I want to cry." "I will not get over this for a long time." Or here's one exchange between them all--
"Coach K owns Roy."
"Completely owns him."
"Literally property of Coach K"
"I'm gonna spank Bingley, I'm so mad" (followed by laughing, winking smiley face--just so you don't get the wrong idea).
It went on and on from there.
Now normally, I might have been a bit grumpy over this horror of a game-which-shall-not-be-named. I take that back. Normally, I might have been downright furious, irritable, and discouraged over the awful, terrible unfairness of it all. Yes, I know, I'm a bad, bad sport and I know it. It's why I made the wise decision not to watch the game-which-shall-not-be-named right before going to bed. That wouldn't have been conducive to sleep or to a godly attitude (to put it mildly).
But this morning, instead of total frustration, I felt--could it be?--overwhelming gratitude, even joy! Why? Well, first because putting God first always realigns, corrects, and gets your thinking and your attitude right. And if we can think right, we can act right. And to do that means filling our minds with that which is the ultimate right: God's Word.
As Hannah Whitall Smith said, "If we take the words of God, His revealed truth, into our lips and eat it, that is, if we will dwell upon His words and say them over and over to ourselves and thoroughly take in and assimilate their meaning in a commonsense way, we shall find that our soul life is fed and nourished by them and is made strong and vigorous in consequence."
Oh how thankful I am every single day for God's supernatural, wisdom-giving, hope-infusing, joy-producing Word!
And secondly, I felt joy and gratitude just in seeing all those texts from this family that I love so much. Oh Father, I wanted to cry, thank You, thank You, thank You for the unutterable joy and privilege of loving and being loved! Thank You for the priceless gift of my husband and children. Thank You for the gift of laughter. Thank You for the fun of games...even when they don't go our way. Thank You for Life!
Yes, I know--in the big scheme of things, this was nothing--and I mean nothing--but a silly, ultimately unimportant basketball game. My Lord and I have been through much deeper, darker waters. But oh goodness, praise Him that He's so faithful even in our little, seemingly insignificant irritations, worries, or sorrows.
He's there with us in the ICU and cancer ward...but He's also there with us in the missed appointments, flat tires, and flunked tests. In the big and small, He's forever faithful, forever working, and forever loving, correcting, forgiving, and empowering.
Even in a blown basketball-game-which-shall-not-be-named!
And by the way, the verses from Daily Light? Here's just a few: "Sorrow will be turned into joy." (John 16:20) "I will sing of Your mercy in the morning; for You have been my defense and refuge in the day of my trouble." (Ps.59:16) "Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning." (Ps.30:5)
And all God's people--even the Carolina fans--said "AMEN!" To God be the glory.
Thursday, February 11, 2016
Choosing rest
Like so many of us, she's a doer, and, boy, it's mighty hard for us busy, busy, busy doers to be still. Be quiet. Rest. Recover...not just our worn-out bodies, but more often our exhausted, frazzled hearts and spirits. We want to get better now, so we can get back out there and go, go, go.
Not that I would know anything about this. I'm just saying...
HA! What a lie! I'm horribly impatient and anxious to do, do, do...rather than be. In fact, right now I've been fighting a terrible case of grumpiness and discontentment largely precipitated by a silly foot injury. Not only does it plain old hurt--and pain can get you so self-focused, which is never a good thing--but Mr. Bingley spends half the day whining and looking at me with a mixture of sorrow and reproach. "Why on earth aren't you taking me for a walk," I can almost hear him whimpering. So on top of everything else, I feel guilty. Geez.
My point in all this? Well, for one thing, a reminder of how desperately I need the forgiveness and grace of the Lord Jesus every day, every hour, every moment. How ridiculously prone I can be to throw a pity-party in my mind...and before I know it, I've forgotten the Lord's extravagant and utterly underserved goodness in my life.
Gift upon gift upon gift He's showered upon us in family, friends, home, creation...all of Life! But even better, there's His Word, His presence, His power, His love, His peace...
And His Son. Oh my the priceless, wondrous gift of Jesus and salvation!
Oh forgive us, Father, when we forget. When we lose sight of You and Your goodness, because we're too preoccupied with ourselves and our circumstances.
But there's another lesson, for one of the unexpected treasures of being forced to slow down, of getting off the crazed merry-go-round of busyness, is this renewed, redeemed perspective. When we have to slow, we hear Him speak. When we suddenly pause, we sense His presence. When we have to change our usual routine, He comes into that now empty space and loves and teaches us in deeper ways.
Yes, He's always speaking. Yes, He's always there. Yes, He's always loving and teaching...but we often fail to truly hear and listen. As good old James tells us, we need to "be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger" (James 1:19). How can we hear Him if we're too busy speaking, rushing, doing, and going 24-7?
As our texted my sweet friend, "Yes, it's so hard sometimes to slow down and not be busy, busy, busy. But think of all the ways God is going to be speaking to, and loving you, in those quiet spaces. 'In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.' (Isa.30:15) So against our nature, isn't it? But that's the very place where He blesses!"
Today, let's pause and, as Brother Lawrence says, "Practice His presence." Slow down and savor His goodness. Stop with the busy, complaining self-chatter and fill that space with His life-giving, hope-infusing Word. Rather than the quick glance, spend time gazing--and then praising--God and His beauty.
Choose quietness and trust in the Prince of Peace and King of Kings and rediscover your strength. Rest of the soul and the body is a choice. Let's choose to rest in Him, for He is infinitely worthy, able, and glorious.
To God be the glory.
Sunday, February 7, 2016
A reminder of God's goodness...from a dog!
Got James 1 on the brain.
You see, we start studying the book of James next week in Bible study, so it's time to shift from Nehemiah all the time to James all the time. And while I'm woefully inadequate at this teaching stuff--as in, completely, totally unqualified--there's just nothing like the blessing of being immersed (because you are desperate for the Lord to teach you!) in God's Word.
But here's my point. Early this morning I'd been reading James 1--which, incidentally contains some pretty fabulous, practical, but convicting stuff!--and read these familiar words--
"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change." (James 1:17)
We know, know, know this, don't we? Yes, of course, God is the Giver of all good gifts...but yet, all too often we forget in the nitty gritty of life. In the trenches of the grinding routine or some gripping crisis, we forget what it means to have a Lord who is relentlessly, constantly, 24-7, infinitely, and perfectly good. Good in the big things and in the small things. Good in the obvious blessings but also in the hard, confusing challenges.
We know He's good...but sometimes we live as if we've forgotten--or even doubt--it.
But today, on the way to an early morning meeting at church, the Lord gave me a simple little reminder of His extravagant goodness even in His "small and ordinary" gifts--dogs. Yep, dogs.
You see, as I was hurriedly driving to church, we passed a dear friend running with her loyal, dear old dog, Bailey. She jogged along, while sweet Bailey, a bit less energetically, lagged behind. And I couldn't help but break into a smile.
Seriously, it was one of those joy-burst moments. Little did my sweet friend know that she'd reminded me of God's goodness. I immediately thanked the Lord for this treasure of a friend, who, incidentally, is also an amazing mama, wife, and Christ-follower. Thank You, Jesus, for Your good, good gift of friends.
And, of course, thank You for dogs! Such sweet companions--like Bailey, like Bingley, like Turner, like Boxley, like Darcy, like Charlie, like Gracie, like Blue, like Emma (oh my, wonderful, dear old Emma across the street! She must be one of the oldest labs ever--a living example of steadfastness...and God's goodness!). Dogs bring so much fun, color, and love into our lives. Thank You, too, for their goofiness and single-minded focus on love, love, love. Well, that and food.
(Translation of this look: Can we go walk NOW? Or how about a TREAT? Or maybe I can just sit in your lap for a few hours?)
In church we sat behind the handsome young yellow lab who's in training to be some kind of service dog. Silly, I know, but as I gazed at his sweet face, I was again reminded of our Lord who never, ever stops giving gifts. He's giving and giving and giving gift upon gift upon gift...because that's who He is. Are we seeing those gifts? Are we looking to their good, good Source and giving Him all the praise and glory?
Just one more thing, but I loved this. The present participle in v.17 "coming down" describes "an unending succession of gifts." In fact, here's a more literal reading of these words: "Every good and perfect gift is from above [ALL good comes from above], coming down [in UNENDING succession] from the Father of heavenly lights [the Good Framer of the entire universe], who does not change like shifting shadows [His goodness stays at UNCHANGING, ETERNAL high noon]!"
Only good comes from God. He is good all the time, in every possible way. Our Gift-Giver is the perfectly good and awesome Father of creation. If you doubt His goodness, go out and take a little look at the stars tonight...or the hawk in mid-flight...or the sunrise in the morning...or your sweet dog.
And God's goodness will never, ever, ever change. He will be as eternally and perfectly good tomorrow as He was thousands of years ago....which means we can stop worrying about the future. We can entrust all our unknowns to the Great and Good God Who knows all, can do all, and who will keep on pouring out His goodness on us out into eternity.
A lot to be learned from a dog, isn't it?!
So, thank You, Father, thank You. Thank You for all Your gifts...from friends to dogs to everything quite literally under (and above) the sun. Lord, You are our Good, Good Father.
To God be the glory.
You see, we start studying the book of James next week in Bible study, so it's time to shift from Nehemiah all the time to James all the time. And while I'm woefully inadequate at this teaching stuff--as in, completely, totally unqualified--there's just nothing like the blessing of being immersed (because you are desperate for the Lord to teach you!) in God's Word.
But here's my point. Early this morning I'd been reading James 1--which, incidentally contains some pretty fabulous, practical, but convicting stuff!--and read these familiar words--
"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change." (James 1:17)
We know, know, know this, don't we? Yes, of course, God is the Giver of all good gifts...but yet, all too often we forget in the nitty gritty of life. In the trenches of the grinding routine or some gripping crisis, we forget what it means to have a Lord who is relentlessly, constantly, 24-7, infinitely, and perfectly good. Good in the big things and in the small things. Good in the obvious blessings but also in the hard, confusing challenges.
We know He's good...but sometimes we live as if we've forgotten--or even doubt--it.
But today, on the way to an early morning meeting at church, the Lord gave me a simple little reminder of His extravagant goodness even in His "small and ordinary" gifts--dogs. Yep, dogs.
You see, as I was hurriedly driving to church, we passed a dear friend running with her loyal, dear old dog, Bailey. She jogged along, while sweet Bailey, a bit less energetically, lagged behind. And I couldn't help but break into a smile.
Seriously, it was one of those joy-burst moments. Little did my sweet friend know that she'd reminded me of God's goodness. I immediately thanked the Lord for this treasure of a friend, who, incidentally, is also an amazing mama, wife, and Christ-follower. Thank You, Jesus, for Your good, good gift of friends.
And, of course, thank You for dogs! Such sweet companions--like Bailey, like Bingley, like Turner, like Boxley, like Darcy, like Charlie, like Gracie, like Blue, like Emma (oh my, wonderful, dear old Emma across the street! She must be one of the oldest labs ever--a living example of steadfastness...and God's goodness!). Dogs bring so much fun, color, and love into our lives. Thank You, too, for their goofiness and single-minded focus on love, love, love. Well, that and food.
In church we sat behind the handsome young yellow lab who's in training to be some kind of service dog. Silly, I know, but as I gazed at his sweet face, I was again reminded of our Lord who never, ever stops giving gifts. He's giving and giving and giving gift upon gift upon gift...because that's who He is. Are we seeing those gifts? Are we looking to their good, good Source and giving Him all the praise and glory?
Just one more thing, but I loved this. The present participle in v.17 "coming down" describes "an unending succession of gifts." In fact, here's a more literal reading of these words: "Every good and perfect gift is from above [ALL good comes from above], coming down [in UNENDING succession] from the Father of heavenly lights [the Good Framer of the entire universe], who does not change like shifting shadows [His goodness stays at UNCHANGING, ETERNAL high noon]!"
Only good comes from God. He is good all the time, in every possible way. Our Gift-Giver is the perfectly good and awesome Father of creation. If you doubt His goodness, go out and take a little look at the stars tonight...or the hawk in mid-flight...or the sunrise in the morning...or your sweet dog.
And God's goodness will never, ever, ever change. He will be as eternally and perfectly good tomorrow as He was thousands of years ago....which means we can stop worrying about the future. We can entrust all our unknowns to the Great and Good God Who knows all, can do all, and who will keep on pouring out His goodness on us out into eternity.
A lot to be learned from a dog, isn't it?!
So, thank You, Father, thank You. Thank You for all Your gifts...from friends to dogs to everything quite literally under (and above) the sun. Lord, You are our Good, Good Father.
To God be the glory.
Friday, February 5, 2016
So, what are you preaching?
Two weeks ago today, the world looked mighty different. Snow and ice on the ground, beautiful, yes, but messy, cold, and treacherous. Mr. B loved it...me, not so much, at least not in the mucky, icy stage. But I did thank the Lord for the remarkable glory of a world transformed in the early morning sunrise.
Today, however, that snow is merely a memory, and everything around us looks radically different in the chilly, but sunshiny, day. Yesterday, pouring sheets of rain. Two weeks ago, snow and ice. Today, the bright sun and shadows of trees dancing happily on the ground.
Isn't it something how wind, weather, and indeed the whole world, can change day to day? And isn't it something how our hearts and spirits can rise and fall...varying so dramatically from one day to the next, and even from one moment to the next?
There is One constant in the midst of all this upheaval and change in our daily lives--the Lord Jesus. "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever." (Heb.13:8)
He is the same Almighty Savior who saves us from our sins and gives us moment-by-moment grace to live this life to His glory. He is the same Lord who is sovereign over every single thing that ever happens to us and is working all, all, all things for our greater good and His greater glory. He is the same loving, tender, compassionate One who knows our every thought, our every failing, our every sin and loves us just as we are...BUT Who also loves us too much to leave us there. He is the same God of unimaginable glory who has power over even sin and death, and Whose resurrection power is available to us 24-7. He is the constant Companion, Encourager, Comforter who has given us His Holy Spirit to continually guide, correct, convict, help, and lead us. He is the same Emmanuel--God with us--all the time, all the way.
So here's the thing: when our emotions go up and down, when life presses us hard and trials come, will we choose to remember and place our trust in this unchangeable, perfect, omnipotent, and infinitely loving Savior? Or will we place our trust in our own piddly little ideas and plans? Will we trust our ever-faithful Emmanuel or our ever-vacillating emotions?
Or, as Paul David Tripp says, will we preach to ourselves "a false 'I can't do this' gospel or the true 'I have all I need in Christ' gospel?'" As Tripp says over and over again, "No one is more influential in your life than you are because no one talks to you more than you do."
Isn't that the truth? Aren't we all constantly talking to ourselves, evaluating ourselves, others, the world, and choosing the lens--either a lens of Gospel truth and hope or of worldly doubt and despair--through which we will view all these things? Tripp reminds us:"We either preach to ourselves a gospel of aloneness, poverty, and inability or the true Gospel of God's presence, power, and constant provision. You are preaching to yourself a gospel that produces fear and timidity or one that propels you with courage and hope. You are preaching to yourself of a God who is distant, passive, and uncaring [which is, incidentally a totally false God!] or of a God who is near, caring, and active."
Today, this very day, we each have the choice: which gospel will we preach to ourselves? Will it be the Gospel of Jesus Christ's gift of salvation, grace, and ever-lasting hope...or some gospel of lies, self-dependency, and despair. Will it be the Gospel of the Truth as revealed in God's perfect, eternal Word...or of any other lesser, empty, failing, misery-inducing man-made gospel?
You choose. What will you be preaching to yourself this day? Our gracious, extravagantly generous Lord has given us His Word that we might daily preach to ourselves the life-giving, strength-infusing, hope-sustaining Truth.
Yep, a lot can change in a day, including us and our perspective on life. And so much depends on the words that we are preaching to ourselves on a daily and hourly basis. Let's choose Truth and Life. Let's choose the Word. Let's choose Jesus.
To God be the glory.
Isn't it something how wind, weather, and indeed the whole world, can change day to day? And isn't it something how our hearts and spirits can rise and fall...varying so dramatically from one day to the next, and even from one moment to the next?
There is One constant in the midst of all this upheaval and change in our daily lives--the Lord Jesus. "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever." (Heb.13:8)
He is the same Almighty Savior who saves us from our sins and gives us moment-by-moment grace to live this life to His glory. He is the same Lord who is sovereign over every single thing that ever happens to us and is working all, all, all things for our greater good and His greater glory. He is the same loving, tender, compassionate One who knows our every thought, our every failing, our every sin and loves us just as we are...BUT Who also loves us too much to leave us there. He is the same God of unimaginable glory who has power over even sin and death, and Whose resurrection power is available to us 24-7. He is the constant Companion, Encourager, Comforter who has given us His Holy Spirit to continually guide, correct, convict, help, and lead us. He is the same Emmanuel--God with us--all the time, all the way.
So here's the thing: when our emotions go up and down, when life presses us hard and trials come, will we choose to remember and place our trust in this unchangeable, perfect, omnipotent, and infinitely loving Savior? Or will we place our trust in our own piddly little ideas and plans? Will we trust our ever-faithful Emmanuel or our ever-vacillating emotions?
Or, as Paul David Tripp says, will we preach to ourselves "a false 'I can't do this' gospel or the true 'I have all I need in Christ' gospel?'" As Tripp says over and over again, "No one is more influential in your life than you are because no one talks to you more than you do."
Isn't that the truth? Aren't we all constantly talking to ourselves, evaluating ourselves, others, the world, and choosing the lens--either a lens of Gospel truth and hope or of worldly doubt and despair--through which we will view all these things? Tripp reminds us:"We either preach to ourselves a gospel of aloneness, poverty, and inability or the true Gospel of God's presence, power, and constant provision. You are preaching to yourself a gospel that produces fear and timidity or one that propels you with courage and hope. You are preaching to yourself of a God who is distant, passive, and uncaring [which is, incidentally a totally false God!] or of a God who is near, caring, and active."
Today, this very day, we each have the choice: which gospel will we preach to ourselves? Will it be the Gospel of Jesus Christ's gift of salvation, grace, and ever-lasting hope...or some gospel of lies, self-dependency, and despair. Will it be the Gospel of the Truth as revealed in God's perfect, eternal Word...or of any other lesser, empty, failing, misery-inducing man-made gospel?
You choose. What will you be preaching to yourself this day? Our gracious, extravagantly generous Lord has given us His Word that we might daily preach to ourselves the life-giving, strength-infusing, hope-sustaining Truth.
Yep, a lot can change in a day, including us and our perspective on life. And so much depends on the words that we are preaching to ourselves on a daily and hourly basis. Let's choose Truth and Life. Let's choose the Word. Let's choose Jesus.
To God be the glory.
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