Speaking Light

          Words.  So many words spoken...emailed...texted...tweeted...repeated.  

          And I'm just wondering: are my words bringing light to the darkness...or simply adding to the darkness, thus making it ever so much darker?  

         Are my words like the rising sun in the morning, brightening and eventually conquering the darkness of night?  Or are my words like a shooting star--giving but a momentary, fleeting stab of illumination but not altering the darkness one iota? 

        Oh Father, make us like the sun--like The Son--so that we bring the Light of Christ into every place, every relationship, every problem, every discussion.  There is so much darkness in the world.  The political discourse can quite literally make you sick with sadness, anger, and fear.  Are we really that divided?  Really that antagonistic?  Really that foolish and cruel to use words that wound and cut deeply and often permanently?  

        No, I can't change the world.  I can't change the culture.  I can't even change my little city or neighborhood.  But here's what I can change: myself.  Change my words.  Change my thoughts that lead to those words and my actions that often spring from those words.  And as I change, the darkness in the world around me slowly, but inevitably, begins to abate. 

        I can speak Life,  I can speak Love.  I can speak the Light of Christ into the darkness.  

       Jesus asks us, "Is a lamp brought in to be put under a basket, or under a bed, and not on a stand?" (Mk 4:21)  No!  We are His light.  As believers, we hold within us the Light of the World, and we can, we must, shine His light into the darkness.  

        "You are the light of the world.  A city set on a hill cannot be hidden," says The Light, the Lord Jesus. (Mt.5:14)  How dare we not do what we were made to do--shine, illuminate, glow, brighten, and eventually defeat the darkness with His light.  

        It can begin with our words.  Sharing His words.  Illuminating the darkness by speaking His Word.  Encouraging with words.  Strengthening with words.  Building up with words.  Speaking the Truth in love.  Yes, always the Truth...but always in love.  Unconquerable Light shining in the darkness.

        Here's how Mother Teresa put it: "Words which do not give the light of Christ, increase the darkness."  

        Funny, sometimes it's hardest to do with those you love the most.  We tend to get lazy or too comfortable and familiar, and before we know it, we're spreading darkness rather than light in our families or with our friends.  

       Oh Father, help us to speak light instead!  Help us to use words which "give the light of Christ" as Mother Teresa says.  I want to speak light to my husband and my children...rather than sarcasm ("the language of the weak," my mama used to always say).  Speak words of encouragement rather than of negativity and defeatism.  Speak Truth rather than "going with the flow" and simply acquiescing with the darkness.  

       And refuse some words: refuse to speak gossip...or complaining...or comparing...or cursing...or cutting remarks.  And always, always refuse words of despair.  

      Yeah sure, all too often we've felt or shared those dark words of discouragement and despair...but how dare we?  Christ died for our sins, rose from the dead, and reigns forever and ever.  His Light has defeated the darkness, and one glorious day we will see it not just by faith but by sight.  We have all our sins covered behind us, Christ now within us forever, and heaven's glories before us, so how can we despair?  

        This day, might we speak words of Christ's light and life into a dark world.  Help us Father to speak words of light with our families, our friends, our neighborhoods, our workplaces, our stores, our churches, our schools, our cities.  Might we begin beating back the darkness by bringing in Your Light.  Help us to live out Jesus words, "let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven." (Mt.5:16)

        Light...one word at a time.  

        To God be the glory.

       

Pray-ers

                                 A little food for weekend thought...on prayer--
        Can I just admit this right up front?  Prayer is hard...and I'm not much good at it.  To put it mildly.
        But oh how I long to be better.  You too?  Maybe like me, you know that consistent, intimate communication with the Lord is the secret to a joy-filled, God-glorifying, strength-sustaining life.  We want to be prayer warriors who make a difference in this world for Christ.  We want to be a source of blessing to others through our prayers.  We want to enable our families and loved ones to be all that God created them to be and to reach their full God-given potential.  We want to know the Lord more fully and to love Him more wholeheartedly more and more every day of our lives. We want to grow ever closer to Jesus and to resemble Him more and more with each passing year.
        In short, we want to be pray-ers!  I guess that's not a word--but let's make it one!  Because don't we desire to be men and women who don't just say prayers but who are pray-ers.  Powerful, believing, receiving, unflagging, unceasing pray-ers.
        I have some dear friends who are such prayer warriors...and oh what blessings they each are.  How I thank the Lord for such pray-ers who simply Do. Not. Quit. Praying.  Ever.  They pray God's Word back to Him.  They pray in good times and in bad.  They pray boldly, yet humbly.  They pray expectantly, yet submissively.  They don't wait to pray until they've figured out just the right words.
          Nope, they just pray.  After all, God's promised us in His Word that His Holy Spirit will pray for us when we don't know how or what to pray.  "Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness.  For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words." (Rom.8:26)  Not only that, but we're commanded to confidently "draw near to the throne of grace that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need." (Heb.4:16)  And Jesus, we're told "is able to save completely those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to intercede for them." (Heb.7:25)
        What wonderful promises!...which makes me wonder: what on earth are we waiting for?  If the Spirit speaks for us, the Lord Jesus beckons us near and intercedes for us, and the Father loves us and promises to hear and answer us in His (not our) perfect way, how can we lose?  Why aren't we praying?  
         I loved this analogy from Tim Keller (well, actually it was from his wife, Kathy).  "If the doctor said you have a fatal condition, and unless you take this medicine every night from 11:00 to 11:15, and swallow these pills, you will be dead by morning. If that was the case...you would never miss. You would never say, I was too tired, or, I didn’t get to it, or, I was watching a movie, and I didn’t leave time. You never would do that."  His point?  Don't allow the excuses of distractions or busyness or even exhaustion prevent you from praying, because if you truly understand the power of prayer, then you'll shove aside all those excuses and make time to pray.  
        Maybe part of it simply boils down to making a decision that we will pray.  No. Matter. What.             That we will be pray-ers...rather than wish-ers or hope-ers or maybe-some-day-ers.
        That we will pray and trust God with the results, whatever those results might be.  Why?  Because we've got to realize that the Lord God is the only One with all the wisdom, all the knowledge of all the facts, all the justice, all the mercy, and all the love.  We see only a teeny, tiny fraction of the whole picture.  But the Lord sees and knows it all.  Literally--past, present, future, and into infinity.
        And really, God's will is what we would choose if we knew everything that God knows, right?
        So, maybe you've got it all together, and you're one of those mighty prayer warriors for whom I thank the Lord.  If so, thank you, thank you, thank you and keep it up!  As Winston Churchill famously said in the darkest part of World War II: "Never, never, never give up."  We need you--so keep praying!
        But just in case you're not one of those prayer warriors, how about joining me and starting afresh today...and then tomorrow...and then the next?  Let's ask God to enable us to become powerful, persistent, patient pray-ers.  As I recently heard on a podcast, let's ask God to enable us to be "pushy" in our prayers--P.U.S.H.  Pray Until Something Happens.
         "On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have set watchmen; all the day and all the night, they shall never be silent.  You who put the Lord in remembrance, take no rest, and give Him no rest until He establishes Jerusalem and makes it a praise in the earth." (Isa.62:6-7)
         God's calling us--meaning you and me--in our generation, in our nation, in our city, in our church, in our family, in our school, in our workplace, to be those "watchmen" on the walls.  And His Word tells us to keep on praying...to "never be silent" and "to take no rest" until Almighty God answers in His perfect way and His perfect timing.  
         Sure, I don't understand it all.  I feel like I don't know the right words.  I sometimes grow discouraged.  I tend to get distracted.  But here's what I do know: He's commanded us to pray.  His Word gives us promise after promise about the supernatural power of prayer. His Holy Spirit gives us the words.  His Son intercedes for us continually.  And His throne is a throne of not just ultimate power and authority, but also grace.  And forgiveness.  And mercy.  And wisdom.  And love.
          So let's Pray Until Something Happens.  And then leave the results up to our loving, perfect, and omnipotent Heavenly Father.  What a relief--we don't have to produce the results; we just have to pray.
         Father, Help us, teach us, enable us, empower us to be persistent, powerful, patient pray-ers.
        To God be the glory. 

       

Like a tree beside streams of water

         "Blessed is the one who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on His law he meditates day and night.  He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither.  In all that he does, he prospers." (Ps.1:1-3)
         I've always loved this Psalm--largely because it paints such a beautiful and memorable word picture of that tree planted by those flowing, life-giving streams of water.  The person who loves God's Word...who reads it, ponders it, delights in it (and in delighting, surely heeds it), will be like that continually watered and nourished tree resting beside the babbling brook and revitalizing river.
         Oh how I want to be like that tree!  Vibrant and green, offering both soothing shade and life-giving oxygen to passing animals and people.  Don't we all want to be a source of Jesus' living water--splashing joy and sustaining strength to those with whom we come into contact?  We do that by soaking in His Word.  By abiding and enjoying His Word.  By getting our perspective renewed everyday...and oh how we need that with all of life's daily big and little assaults and disappointments.

       I'll never forget the sight of some trees at Cane River whose roots were badly exposed--probably by the prolonged drought the region has suffered--

Yet remarkably, these trees were still vibrant, green, leafy, and flourishing.  Why?  Well I suspect because those roots rested right at the water's edge and were still drawing enough nourishment to sustain them in times of great stress.
         Oh Father, that is what we need!  To dig down deep into You and Your Word so that when the storms and stresses and sorrows of life assail, we're dug in strong and secure.  Content even when things don't go our way.  Peaceful even when our loved ones face hardship and difficulty.  Stable even in an ever-unstable, crazy world.
         How?  Because we're fixed in the immovable, omnipotent, almighty, infinite, eternal, unchanging Rock.  And we're planted beside the never-failing, life-giving, hope-infusing, grace-filled, strength-sustaining water of His Word.
          I love Tim Keller's words on this Psalm: "So to know how to meditate on and delight in the Bible is the secret to a relationship with God and to life itself.  Views contrary to God's Word are no anchor in time of need.  God's Word gives us the resilience of a tree with a source of living water that will never dry up."
         I don't know what "time of need" you might be enduring right now, but God's Word can be your anchor.  God's Word will give you that resilience you so desperately need.  God's Word will always be the "source of living water that will never dry up"--no. matter. what.
       It's so simple yet so profoundly powerful--open the Word and drink deeply of Life...and be satisfied, strengthened, and filled to overflowing.  
       To God be the glory.

It was good

          When God made mountain streams, it was good.

          But then, He decided to have fun, so He made waterfalls...and it was mighty good.

          But He didn't stop there.  He made rhododendron...and bumblebees...and butterflies...

And it was sooooo good.

"For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.  For His invisible attributes, namely, His eternal power and divine  nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world in the things that have been  made.  So they are without excuse." (Rom.1:19-20)

If you want to glimpse the Lord's power, His creativity, His joy, His wisdom, His glory, then open your eyes and look around.  What a creation...and oh my, what a Creator.  Thank You, Father, for all the ways You reveal Yourself in Your glorious creation.  

Thank You for Your Word that reveals Your heart, Your ways, Your love, Your forgiveness, Your grace, and Your beautiful Son and our wonderful Savior.

And thank You for the joy of savoring the wonders of Your mountains with family I love and adore.  Lord, it's inexpressibly good, and I give You all the thanks and praise. 

To God be the glory.

Deer...and faith over fear

         We have some another set of twins in our backyard this summer--

         Oh my, how I love to watch deer!  They are so incredibly graceful and delicate..yet remarkably powerful.  They easily leap over bushes and fences as if they were stepping over a crack in the sidewalk!  Truly amazing and beautiful, so we've really enjoyed watching these twins grow up in our backyard.
         They typically disappear in the heavy brush and thick trees in the back of our yard for most of the day, but every now and then we'll see them come out and feast on our assorted collection of grass and weeds.  Help yourselves fellows!  How about going to work on some of that ivy?
         Late at night and very early in the morning (while it's still dark), we've often found them lying down together and sleeping in the middle of the yard.  I don't what that's all about, but it's fun to see them. Well, let me rephrase that.  It was fun to see them...until Mr. Bingley finally figured out that they were not some fearful foe but instead might make fun playmates.
        Here's what happened the other morning (sorry for the quality of the pictures but it was pitch dark, and I'm a crummy photographer).  Bingley crept down the stairs while the deer just stared at him.  Here they are looking at this strange big, black apparition--

          Bingley stood motionless on the little patio at the edge of the yard, staring and staring for a good minute or two--

         Until--pow--he exploded after them.  For some unimaginable reason, our little deer buddies did not take this as a friendly gesture and took off into our backyard woods.  We haven't seen much of them since, but I guess they figured that discretion is the better part of valor.
         As I thought about the deer, however, I was reminded of one of my favorite passages in Scripture from the prophet Isaiah:
         "Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who have an anxious heart, 'Be strong; fear not!  Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God.  He will come and save you.'  Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy.  For waters break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert." (Isaiah 35:3-6)
          What a beautiful picture of a lame man leaping powerfully and gracefully like a deer.  And what wonderful words about the coming of our Almighty God!  (Indeed, the whole chapter is spectacular!)  Here in the midst of the dog days (excuse the pun, Bingley) of summer and with all that's going on in our nation and our world, who doesn't need to be reminded to strengthen their weak hands and firm up their feeble knees?  And I'm betting I'm not alone in requiring the constant admonition and encouragement to my anxious heart to "Be strong; fear not!"
           So what's the antidote to fear?  Faith!  "Do not fear, only believe," Jesus tells us in Mark 5:36.  We've got the choice: focus on our fears or fix our gaze on Jesus in faith.  Keep rehearsing all our fears or keep reminding ourselves of our awesome, glorious Savior who is full of grace and mercy.  Keep rehashing our worries or keep returning to faith in our forever faithful Lord.
           And oh, by the way: how do we increase our faith?  It's not by will power or wish power or work power.  Nope, it's so simple yet so utterly life-changing and fear-demolishing: delve into God's Word.  Abide in God's Word.  Meditate on God's Word.  Speak out loud God's Word.  "So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ." (Rom.10:17)
           Man oh man, I am such a slow learner and such a gigantic forgetter.  How quickly I fall into fretting and fussing and worrying over, well, you name it (though most often it focuses upon our children.  We parents can be anxiety machines when it comes to our kids.)  But the answer is always to choose to look at our circumstances through the lens of faith.  We don't judge our God by the size of our circumstances. No sir.  We judge our circumstances by the infinitely gigantic size of our great God!  And we do that by getting in His Word and seeing who He is...and what He's done...and all He's promised...and all He is and will be doing now and in the future.
          The more we gaze at God in His Word, the more our faith will grow.  And the more our faith grows, the smaller our fears will become.
         Faith drives out fear.  Faith multiplies our strength.  And faith fuels joy...joy like the lame leaping like a deer or the mute singing and rejoicing.
         Thank You, Father, for faith.  Thank You that faith in You will always overcome our fears. Thank You for deer and the astounding beauty of Your creation.  And thank You for the priceless gift of Jesus in whom is our faith, our hope, our strength, and our joy.  
         To God be the glory.
         

After Dallas

                    Food for weekend thought on the events of Dallas--

        We are all reeling after the terrible and tragic events in recent days.  The shootings, the hatred, the bitter divisions, the horrific loss of innocent lives...there is just so much sorrow and so many seemingly impossible problems confronting our nation.  What do we do?  How do we respond?                    Here's what I do know: for the believer despair is always wrong; Christ-like love is always right; and prayer is always our most potent weapon against the forces of darkness.
        And in the end, no matter how evil the days we live in, Jesus Christ will never be put back in the grave.  Because He lives, we, His people, have the power to choose hope rather than despair, to share His liberating love rather than retaliate, and to pray to Almighty God with urgency and expectancy rather than throw up our hands in resignation.
         I found these words from John Stonestreet of the Colson Center to be powerful, convicting, and thought-provoking.  His commentary is long but well worth reading and pondering:

 "We wake up this day as a nation wishing last night, and the other events of this week, didn’t actually happen—the shooting deaths of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, of Philando Castile in Minnesota, and five police officers, still unnamed as I write this, in Dallas. A demonically insidious string of events, hitting our nation like a series of pounding waves.

The endless articles, tweets, blog postings, and conversations reveal just how bewildered we are. Honestly, it reminds me of mentally trying to muddle through the events of 9-11. Only, this is different. Not worse, just different. On 9-11, we were reeling from an outside attack. Today, we reel from a brokenness within.

While confirmation bias tempts us to retreat to our pet causes, explanations, and scapegoats, we’d be wiser to listen to the tweeted words of Florida Pastor H.B. Charles, “The Bible exhorts us to weep with those who weep. It doesn’t tell us to judge whether they should be weeping.” In particular, two communities in our midst weep: African-Americans and law enforcement officials. We can and ought to be distressed by the brokenness on both sides.

Let us first and unequivocally say every human life is precious and valuable because it bears the very image of God. C.S. Lewis wrote in The Weight of Glory, “You’ve never met a mere mortal… Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit.”

Let’s also say that the week’s events are a surface explosion of issues long present in our society. As my friend Pastor Chris Brooks said to me Friday, those asking “where did this come from?” reveal they’ve not been watching or listening. Alexander Solzhenitsyn saw it back in 1978, when he remarked (in a speech fittingly called “A World Split Apart”) the smooth surface film of our society was thin indeed, with only illusions of stability and health.

We’re not okay, folks, and we haven’t been in quite a while. These horrible events are not creating unrest; rather they are revealing it. Our society is weak in its middle—at the “social glue” level of local communities and civil society. And, we have a race problem. We might disagree on why, but it won’t do us any good to say it doesn’t exist. Here we are – and there’s no way out of this except by confronting it.

Third, and most important, let us proclaim, “Christ has risen!” It is true about this moment as it is about every other moment of history – good or bad.

And now, Christian, what might we do?

First, pray. It sounds trite and expected, but it isn’t. I’m spending today praying for the pastors tasked with shepherding congregations through this on Sunday. I’m thankful Russell Moore has pointed out that happy, clappy worship songs in church won’t do at such a cultural moment. There are times to lament. This is one of them.

I am also praying for Christians tasked with talking about this with colleagues, families, and neighbors on Monday. I am praying we will be Gospel-shaped in our words and tone.

But mostly, I pray today for mercy using ancient, tried, and tested words: Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, have mercy on us. Lord, have mercy on us.

Second, we can, in the words of the Apostle James, be quick to listen and slow to speak (1:19), particularly to those with whom we agree on the Gospel but differ in experiences as citizens.

Third, we can focus efforts on rebuilding those institutions able to address the problems we face. Government has a role, but the state cannot lead us in reconciliation, virtue formation, or trust building. God has uniquely equipped the home and the church for those tasks.

It looks bleak, but we worship the same Christ whose Gospel has brought healing to post-adultery marriages, post-riot cities, even post-genocide Rwanda. It can here too. There is, in fact, no other place to look."

         Amen.  Might we as believers be quick to listen, quick to love, quick to forgive, quick to share the Good News of Jesus' gift of salvation, quick to grieve with those who grieve...but slow to spout out our opinions, slow to anger, slow to wring our hands in fear, slow to assume the worst of others.  Might we be quick to pray and slow to default to self-sufficiency or apathy.
          As I was just reminded in God's Word yesterday, "For nothing is impossible with God." (Luke 1:37)  Lord, we ask that You would do the impossible and bring healing, comfort, hope, love, and revival to our broken nation.  We ask this in the mighty name of the risen Lord Jesus.  Amen.

The Turtle

        Yesterday morning, the Lord gave me a little surprise.  In fact, I'd call it an unexpected grace-wrapped gift of joy.  And it came in the form of a turtle.  Yep, a turtle laboriously crawling across a busy street.  God's sometimes quiet, but unmistakably loving and powerful, presence breaks through at the most remarkable times...often when you least expect it.  And frequently in life's seemingly ordinary, small moments (but we all know there really aren't any "small" moments--not in God's economy).
        You see, early yesterday morning I read these words from Eric Liddell (the great Olympian who died in a Japanese concentration camp during World War II):
          "It is helpful to start each new day with a question like the following clearly before you: 'Have I surrendered this new day to God, and will I seek and obey the guidance of the Holy Spirit throughout its hours?'  Wait until, with the full consent of your will, you can say, 'I have; I will.'"
         Each day provides a new opportunity to say, "Whatever You send--Yes, Lord.  However You direct--Yes, Lord.  Whatever You ask--Yes, Lord.  Wherever You lead--Yes, Lord."  Liddell's words convicted me that before leaving home in the morning, I need to consciously choose to surrender the day to the One who made it and gave it to me.  And that includes making a predetermined decision to seek and obey the promptings of the Holy Spirit.  Even His seemingly quiet and small promptings.
         Which leads me back to the turtle.  We have some dear neighbors who love turtles and have several of them in a little pool at their house.  Not long ago I saw one on the greenway and thought about picking the little guy up to add to their crew, but I failed to do it.  Later that day I learned they would've loved to have had another turtle, especially since it was the birthday of a beloved one who's now in heaven.  It sounds silly, but at the time I sadly realized this was one of those very tiny moments when I ignored the Holy Spirit's whisper and missed an opportunity to encourage someone else.  It felt like a loss.  
          But yesterday, the Lord gave me another chance.  Oh how thankful I am that He is the God of second, third, and fourth chances!  When I saw that little guy creeping across the road, I hesitated and then stopped.  If nothing else, I'd save him from being run over, and I surely didn't want to miss another opportunity to be a blessing...even if it was just an itty bitty blessing.
         So I picked this little fellow up, and he's now joined our neighbor's turtle family.  Since they are out of town, I texted her to let her know.  And that's when I learned that it was her birthday, and this new turtle felt like a happy birthday present to her from heaven.  You could almost feel God smiling.
          And it felt like pure joy to me.  Sure, maybe it was a very small thing and a very small prompting.  But this time I'd obeyed, and the result had been to bless and encourage someone else, and there's simply no greater joy than that.  
          Obedience always brings blessing.  Always.  I shudder to think how often I've missed the opportunity to give joy to others and to be encouraged myself, because I'm too busy doing what I want to do rather than obeying what the Holy Spirit gently nudges me to do.  "Today," says the book of Hebrews, "if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion." (Heb.3:15) And, of course, that always begins by doing what God tells us to do in His Word.  As Jim Elliott once said, "Why do you need a voice when you have a verse."
         The Lord has given you the gift of this day.  We all have the choice today: will we listen to and obey Him through His Word and through the promptings of the Holy Spirit?  Or will we go our own selfish way and miss out on all that God has for us and for those He wants to bless through us?      He's always speaking life...and always desiring that we share that life with others.  But we have to choose to listen and obey.
          Might we be a channel of blessing and joy by listening and obeying...and then watching God go to work.  Even through a turtle.  To God be the glory.