Open your mouth, open your eyes!

In case you're in need of a little joy burst today--

"Open your mouth and taste, open your eyes and see--

how good God is. 

Blessed are you who run to Him." Ps.34:8 The Message)

       "O Lord, all my ancestors were justified in their trust in You. Rid my heart of all pointless anxieties and paralyzing fears. Give me a cheerful and buoyant spirit, and peace in doing your will; for Christ's sake. Amen" (Prayer for this morning from John Baille's A Diary of Private Prayer.)
        Anybody else need a wee bit of reminding that our God is all-good, all-wise, all-gracious, all-kind, all-loving, and sovereign and in control of all, all, all things?  Well, hello, HE IS! 
        We're so prone to myopically squint and see only the messed up, divisive, uncertain, generally terrible things around us. And yes, there's a gracious plenty of that to go around. But, goodness gracious, this little picture of my precious granddaughter totally enjoying and delighting in her lunch (yes, she comes by her love of food naturally!  Our whole family loves, loves, loves to eat!) reminded me to open my eyes and look around at all of God's relentless goodness. It's everywhere, because He's everywhere. 
         The blue heron sitting regally in the middle of Crabtree Creek. The scent of gardenias. The laugher of a dear friend. The relaxation of a hot bath. The joy of reading that great book. The softness of silk. The happy songs of early morning birds. The sweetness of a homegrown tomato or ripe blueberries or warm bread or chocolate anything. The sound of a favorite song. The strong beauty of a majestic tree.The gift of home. The grin of a baby.
        Open up your eyes and look around. Linger and savor. Slow down and notice. Taste and see. Oh please, please taste and see...
        And then worship the Author, the Creator, the Chef, the Sustainer of every single good--every oh so, so good--gift in your life.
        Yes, there's still Covid and rancor and injustice and on and on...but over and above it all,  there is Jesus. Emmanuel--God with us. And because He is with  us, in us, for us we will ultimately be okay.  Or really, infinitely more than okay, because ahead is glory beyond anything we can begin to imagine. And all the sweetest, best gifts of this world are only the tiniest foretaste of the eternal and joyous glory ahead.
         So let's choose to live this day with hope and joy.  Let's ask our Father to "rid our hearts of all pointless anxieties and paralyzing fears." (After all, does your anxiety help? Seriously, when has worrying and wringing our hands ever really benefitted us or anybody else?)  Instead, by His grace and for His glory, let's ask Him to "give us a cheerful and buoyant spirit and peace in doing your will, for Christ's sake."
         Today, let's open wide our mouths and taste, open wide our eyes and see, how good God is...and then share His goodness with someone else. Surely there's a person around you who needs to hear, who needs to be reminded of our good, good Father. "Blessed are you who run to Him." We're coming, Abba, we're coming!
          To God be the glory. 

Lord of all hope...people of hope

            How about a little dose of hope?  Not the world's "hope so" kind of hope, but real, honest-to-goodness, God-created, God-sustaining, indefatigable hope. Happily, these aren't my paltry words, but the Lord's words in a brief verse that I decided to memorize way back in March when this whole Covid marathon began. 
           Little did any of us dream how prolonged, how difficult, how frustrating, how discouraging this marathon would prove to be. Nor could we have dreamt all the tragedies, division, anger, tension, violence that would be unleashed during these long, hard months.  So this little nugget from the Lord has come to mean more and more to me, and I pray it will strengthen and encourage your heart as well.  It's simple, but profound--
        "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit, you may abound in hope." Romans 15:13
        He is the God of hope. That is who He is.
        He is the one who can and will fill us to overflowing with all (not some, not a little bit, not a modicum, but all) joy and peace in believing.  Oh how we all need joy and peace--and He's got them in overflowing, unlimited abundance.
        His Holy Spirit that dwells within us will empower us to abound in hope. Oh yes, we need His power! His power that raised Jesus from the dead!  That's some serious power and that's the power that will fill us and enable us to experience and live in abounding, God-created, God-sustaining, God-strengthening hope.
        Moreover, we all know that His hope never ever disappoints, never ever fails, even in the midst of the worst suffering, the most terrible tragedies, the most impossible dilemmas. Again, don't take my word for it, but His:  "More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us." (Rom.5:3-5)
        So here's my simple message today--we can and should be a people of hope, because we follow a Lord of hope. No matter what our circumstances may look like right now, we have the hope of Almighty God which cannot disappoint and will not be defeated. Might we look to Him and be filled with overflowing hope! 
         I'll close with some powerful words on hope I read the other day from a ministry that serves parents and families called Axis--
        "Experts warn a second surge of COVID-19 deaths are imminent. Racial tensions continue to dominate the news cycle. Economic insecurity is trickling down into every sphere of life. It seems everything these days is up for grabs. Despair, darkness, and depression are dominating the cultural landscape and our interior lives. And yet, as followers of Christ, we are called to be people of hope in a hurting world, which, in hard times like these can only seem like “foolishness to the Greeks.” But is it?
        If there is one lasting legacy you can leave with your children during this kairos moment in their lives, it might be this: We are a people of hope. But hope and good old-fashioned optimism are radically different things. While optimism is focused on a good future outcome or a pleasant change in our current circumstances, hope is a quiet confidence in the present based on what God in Christ has done in the past. As long-time missionary and theologian Leslie Newbigin once wrote, “I am neither an optimist nor a pessimist. Jesus Christ is risen from the dead.” Amen to that.
        For Newbigin and for us, hope is defiance in the face of fear. It is the often courageous task of staring reality in the face and still claiming that though evil, suffering, and death remain, they have already been defeated. Hope is standing in the valley of dry bones and daring to believe God will breathe life into them once again. Hope is mustering the courage to go to the tomb in the early hours before dawn, just in case. Hope is living as resurrection people in a dying world. Hope is joining God right here and right now in the renewal of all things. If Hell is hopelessness, then maybe a little bit of heaven is the realization that all over this tired old world, 'hope springs eternal.'"
         Thank You, Lord, that in You, we have true, lasting, powerful, transformative, never-ending hope. Because our hope is grounded in the glorious reality that You rose from the dead, and You are alive, Lord Jesus. Father, we don't know what the future holds, but we know that You hold the future. And we know the very end of the story...and You win. And because You win, we win, so our trust  and our hope is in You.
        Today, by the power of your Holy Spirit, would you fill us with your hope and then use us to pour out that hope upon every person that we meet. Might we be not just glad receivers of your hope, but generous givers of your hope.  Oh how this weary world needs your hope, Lord. In your grace and by your power, please use us. We praise You that You are the Lord of all hope so we can be a people of hope. In Your mighty name we pray. Amen.
        To God be the glory. 

"Nose to the sunrise"

        This will be simple and short, but maybe you, like me, needed this little reminder.  So here it is--
        This morning, our daughter texted our family a quote on our family group text that is one of my all-time favorites. She's always loved it too, and, boy, today was a day I needed to hear it again. Its's from the C.S. Lewis book, Voyage of the Dawn Treader. These are the words of the plucky, courageous, faithful little mouse, Reepicheep:
        "My own plans are made. While I can, I sail east in the Dawn Treader. When she fails me, I paddle east in my coracle. When she sinks, I shall swim east with my four paws. And when I can swim no longer, if I have not reached Aslan's country, or shot over the edge of the world into some vast cataract, I shall sink with my nose to the sunrise."
        In a word, don't quit. Persevere in loving God and loving others. Persist in trusting the Lord...in reading His Word...in obeying Him...in following Him, step by step by step all the way until He brings you to your Heavenly Home, to "Aslan's country." Lock your gaze on Him and keep walking. Keep going...He's promised He will get you there, not somehow but triumphantly.
        And how will we do that? Glad you asked!:
        Isaiah 40:29-31 "He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; 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."
        Romans 12:1-3 "Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted."
        Rely on Him. Ask Him, Depend upon Him. Look to Him. Consider Him. Trust Him. It's not about us or what we can do...it's all about Him and what He can and will do in us and through us.
        Thank You, Lord, that You always meet us right where we are--and today, I simply needed to be reminded not to quit. Not to give in to weariness or worry.  Not to let my focus wander, but to keep my eyes on the prize--on You. On glory. On the King of Kings who is with us here in the trenches and will be with  us forever in our perfect, joyful, glorious Heavenly Home. 
         As Tim Keller recently wrote when sharing about his battle with pancreatic cancer, "Running the race set before me with joy, because Jesus ran an infinitely harder race with joy, for me." 
         Yes, Lord, yes!  Keep us running our races with joy, one day at a time. For every day that  You choose to give us, keep us focused, keep us following hard after you, keep us faithful. All the way to the finish line.
         We're not gonna quit.  Even if it means sinking with our "noses to the sunrise," let's keep on. Our Father is going to get us there...and He'll be with  us every step of the way. So run...paddle...swim...or even sink with joy.
         To God be the glory.