Thursday, February 16, 2017

Just for today

         "The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness." (Lam.3:22-23)
         One of my very favorite verses...and here's the incredible thing: it's smack dab in the middle of the book of Lamentations.  Yes, Lamentations--as in the book written by Jeremiah, "the weeping prophet," to lament the destruction of the Jews' beloved city and capital of Jerusalem as well as his people's tragic exile.  Yet in the midst of the sorrow, the destruction, the seeming hopelessness is this powerful word of hope...because of God's forever faithfulness and endless mercy.
         That's the Lord we serve.  He doesn't treat us as our sins deserve. (Ps.103:10)  He's rich in mercy, and because of His great love for us, "even when we were dead in our sins, made us alive together with Christ--by grace you have been saved--and raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages He might show the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus." (Eph.2:4-7)
         Like the sun daily rising over the mountains, like the promise of the rainbow after the rain, He is faithful, glorious and trustworthy.  Always.
         Yes, the world is a crazy, often dark place these days...but in the midst of our lamentations, we may, we must rejoice that our Heavenly Father's steadfast love never ceases, His mercies never end--for they are brand new every single morning--and His faithfulness is great beyond all imagining.
         When we start to fret over all our mistakes from yesterday, we grow discouraged and defeated.  And when we start worrying over all the challenges and difficulties ahead of us tomorrow, fear, anxiety and even dread can overwhelm us.  But yesterday's gone.  Done.  Put it behind you.  And tomorrow's not here yet.  Entrust the unknowable and uncontrollable future to the One who holds that future.
          Instead, let's focus on today.  Trust God for today's challenges and needs.  Thank God for today's blessings and gifts.  Ask God for today's strength and empowering grace.  Pray today.  Love today.  Rejoice today.  Read His Word today.  Trust today.  
          In the words of the South African pastor, Andrew Murray: "A day, just one day only, but still a day, given to abide and grow up in Jesus Christ.  Whether it be a day of health or sickness, joy or sorrow, rest or work, of struggle or victory, let the chief thought with which you receive it in the morning thanksgiving be this: A day that the Father gave; in it I may, I must, become more closely united to Jesus.  As the Father says, 'Can you trust Me just for this one day?' you cannot but give the joyful response, 'I will trust and not be afraid.'"
        Yes, Lord, yes.  Thank You for Your steadfast love, endless mercies, and perfect faithfulness...we trust You for and in this day, Today.  To God be the glory.

Wednesday, February 8, 2017

Glory happening...lift up your gaze!

         Glory happening on the greenway--
         Who would have thought?  On a regular old, ordinary early morning walk, glory flashes all around us.  Wish I could take better pictures, because the combination of my terrible photography skills and an old iphone doesn't begin to do it justice.  The vibrant pinks and oranges painted the entire morning sky--it truly was a gigantic, unmistakable finger pointing straight to our majestic Creator.  
        "The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands...In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun.  It is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, like a champion rejoicing to run his course.  It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other; nothing is deprived of its warmth." (Ps.19:1,4-6)  What a creation...what a Creator!  What a sun...what a Son!
         That magnificent sunrise portended a beautiful February day.  But by the next morning, it was grey, rainy, and gloomy.  Ugh.  I trudged outside with Mr. B, struggling to muster up some energy (well, I struggled; his energy never seems to diminish).  Same old, same old...
        Until I happened to lift my gaze from the pavement up to the skies.  Mother Teresa was so right: "All our trouble comes from looking around rather than up."  I'd amend that to include looking down...how much do we miss by keeping our eyes and hearts focused downward rather than upward?  But I digress. When I happened to glance up at the foreboding sky, I saw a majestic blue heron perched on a tippy top branch surveying the greenway.  

        "Beside them the birds of the heavens dwell; they sing among the branches." (Ps.104:12)
        "Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on.  Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?  Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are you not of more value than they?'  (Mt.6:25-26)
        How thankful I am for the reminders all around us of God's greatness, glory, and grace in His creation and His creatures.  The skies, the sun, the moon and the stars wordlessly, but eloquently, declare His glory.  The birds sing of His faithfulness...and their song resounds with the command not to worry but to trust.  Oh how I need the Lord's constant visual aides to worship, trust, and thank...and not to worry, complain, and compare.
         As Tim Keller prays: "Maker of heaven and earth, Your creation speaks and sings to us of Your greatness.  May I neither despise nature, failing to care reverently for its integrity, nor worship nature, failing to let it point me beyond itself to Your glory, which even it only 'fitfully reflects.'"
        Amen!  I don't know what you might be going through today, but can I give one simple piece of advice--lift up your eyes.  Stop looking down or around, and gaze upward.  Look up physically and spiritually.  Just as surely as the sun will rise in the morning and the birds will perch on the trees, God is there.  He is forever faithful, loving, good, gracious, wise, and powerful.  He will never ever ever leave you nor forsake you.
         As my dear friend Kelly always says, "He's got this."  And He does.
        So lift up your gaze, and trust Him.
        To God be the glory.
         
       

Saturday, February 4, 2017

Preaching to yourself

                            Food for weekend thought on preaching to yourself--
        Loved these words from Paul David Tripp--and I know I've shared them before, but don't we all need reminding?  I know I sure do.  So here are his thoughts--
           "Every day you preach to yourself some kind of gospel--a false 'I can't do this' gospel or the true 'I have all I need in Christ' gospel...No one is more influential in your life than you are because no one talks to you more than you do.  It's a fact that you and I are in an endless conversation with ourselves...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 or of a God who is near, caring, and active.  You are always preaching to yourself a gospel that causes you to rest in His wisdom or a gospel that produces a bit of panic because it seems as if there are no answers to be found.
             Today, when it feels as if no one understands, what gospel will you preach to you?  As you face physical sickness, the loss of a job, or the disloyalty of a friend, what message will you bring to you?  When you are tempted to give way to despondency or fear, what will you say to you?  What life seems hard and unfair, what gospel will you preach to you?...
              It really is true--no one talks to you more than you do.  So God in His grace has given you His Word so that you may preach to yourself what is true in those moments when the only one talking to you is you."
        What a good and true word!  We all have running conversations going on in our heads, and the words we habitually speak to ourselves determine the condition of our hearts.  It's remarkable how quickly I can drag myself down--all by my little lonesome--by focusing on the enemy's lies as opposed to God's Truth.  And there is such enormous power in our thoughts and our words.
        Duh, you say.  But here's the thing--we know it, but so often we fail to practice it.  We daily, hourly, minute by minute have the choice: will we preach to ourselves God's Truth and His words that bring life, hope, joy, peace, and wisdom?  Or will we default to negative, destructive, discouraging, ungrateful words that tear down rather than build up?
       Proverbs 18:21 says that "Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits."  And Matthew 12:37 warns "For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned."  Yes, these apply to whether we use our tongues with others as instruments of blessing or condemnation.  But they also apply to the words we speak to ourselves.  Because as Tripp says, no one speaks to you more than you.
        Might we preach to ourselves--and to others--the Truth of God's strength-filling, hope-infusing, life-giving Word.
        To God be the glory.