"The best laid plans..."
How many times have we heard or repeated that phrase? Basically meaning--"I planned and planned, and it was all for nought...or everything changed...my plans didn't pan out..." or, well you know the drill.
Our son, Preyer, is among millions of folks who are dealing with that reality right now because of the dreaded coronavirus. He'd been planning a couple month back packing trip across Europe after he graduated and before he begins work in May. He carefully researched and planned every last detail. His sister was meeting him for part of the trip. Several dear friends were meeting him at different parts. My husband and I planned to meet him for part as well (for my husband's first trip to Europe). And now, nada. We all had to cancel. And Preyer had to abandon his original plan and is now trying to salvage a greatly truncated bit of travel in eastern Europe (where the virus hasn't spread nearly as much).
Preyer's attitude has been incredibly mature. He recently wrote of all the sudden and dramatic changes that he's "learning to embrace it and enjoy the unexpected turns."
But here's my point in bringing this up: when we first talked the other day about how all his travel plans had blown up, he said, “I hate that I wasted all that time planning this.” I reminded him, however, that nothing’s ever wasted. He had learned a lot and now would be well prepared the next time he wants to take a trip. That effort, that time spent learning was not a waste, despite the unexpected upheaval of plans.
All this immediately brought to mind two things First, our time spent learning and investing in God’s Word is NEVER EVER wasted! You never know when the investment in time and effort you are putting in now, will one day yield enormous benefits and blessings. Putting in time now, prepares you for the crises of tomorrow. Each day, each minute in God's Word plants His seed deep within your heart and that seed will blossom into strength in times of distress, wisdom in times of perplexity, hope in times of discouragement, God-confidence in times of uncertainty, and faith in times of fear. Put in the those deposits now, knowing they will yield a hundred and a thousand fold in the future. No matter what, make it a priority to get into God’s Word everyday so that He can renew your mind, refocus your gaze upon Jesus, and refuel your faith in Him.
Secondly, we have absolutely no idea what the future holds, but we place our faith in the One who holds the future. Sure, we can and should make our plans, but if nothing else, the past few months have surely taught us that we cannot control the future. Our plans may completely fail, but God never will.
These past few months have been filled with some deep sorrows and challenging difficulties for a number of people very close to me. None of us planned for tragedy or death or disease or accidents. And the entire globe now sees how a microscopic virus can literally wreak deadly havoc across the entire planet. As the great Christian philosopher Blaise Pascal once noted, “Man is only a reed, the weakest in nature . . . There is no need for the whole universe to take up arms to crush him: a vapor . . . is enough to kill him.”
BUT GOD! In our Bible study this year, we've found ourselves repeating that phrase over and over again--but God. But God is in control. But God is our heavenly Father, and His love for us is infinite and unstoppable. But God sees the whole vast picture while we only glimpse the tiniest little speck of it. But God has already defeated the powers of sin and death at the cross. But God took the worst event in human history and brought about it the greatest, most unimaginable eternal good out of it. But God has promised He will use ALL things—even tragedies, even sorrows, even premature deaths, even viruses, even economic collapse—for our ultimate good and His greater glory. But God is coming back and will make all things new. But God is preparing for us a perfect, joyous, eternal Home in heaven.
And so might we will choose to trust in Him and His Word rather than our circumstances and our feelings. Might we choose to daily renew our minds in His Word so that we can glimpse His glory and be filled with His wisdom, power, love, and hope. And might we constantly keep in our hearts the great truth of but God. He will make a way through our blighted hopes and blasted plans, and one glorious day, we will proclaim the goodness and greatness of His perfect plans and ways.
To God be the glory.
Tuesday, March 10, 2020
Saturday, March 7, 2020
Lent, dead things, and springtime
Lenten thoughts--
Hello again! I apologize for the long absence, but I've been focused on writing lectures for Bible study, and the old brain bandwidth could only handle so much at one time. Lord willing, I'm hoping to write here more regularly. And since the season of Lent began last Wednesday, the plan is to share some brief thoughts throughout the Lenten season.
By way of very quick introduction, Lent comes from the old English word for "springtime." Of course, it's not feeling a whole lot like spring quite yet...but we can see tiny, encouraging glimpses that spring is on the way! Thank You Lord!
Lent provides us with the space and time to ponder not only our own sinfulness, but more importantly, to remember the cross and the price Jesus paid to cleanse us of our sins. And this can't help but engender in us overwhelming gratitude. As John Newton famously shared near the very end of his life. "Although my memory's fading, I remember two things very clearly: I am a great sinner and Christ is a great Savior." Amen to that!
I recently read these thoughts that were directed to children about Lent: "This is the season when the earth begins to come back to life after winter. Ice melts, the earth thaws, and things that were dead begin to bloom and grow again. During Lent, we name the things in our hearts and in our world that are dead, and we wait to see how God will raise them to new life with Jesus."
So today, will you ask yourself: what are some of those dead things in my life? Dead dreams? Dead hopes? Dead relationships? Dead strength? Dead vision? Dead faith? And will you look to God and trust that He, even now, is making all things new? At any given moment, He's working and moving in countless ways that we cannot see and do not know. Maybe we can glimpse no evidence of it at the moment, but we can be sure that with God, when nothing is happening, something is happening! So we need to listen to Him, surrender to Him, trust Him, and place our hope in Him.
As has often been said, "God works best in a graveyard." Look around and notice the signs hidden all throughout nature that God is bringing new life out of cold, dead winter. Spring is coming. New life is growing. God is working. Let's wait on Him with hope in our hearts and a song of anticipatory praise on our lips.
To God be the glory.
Hello again! I apologize for the long absence, but I've been focused on writing lectures for Bible study, and the old brain bandwidth could only handle so much at one time. Lord willing, I'm hoping to write here more regularly. And since the season of Lent began last Wednesday, the plan is to share some brief thoughts throughout the Lenten season.
By way of very quick introduction, Lent comes from the old English word for "springtime." Of course, it's not feeling a whole lot like spring quite yet...but we can see tiny, encouraging glimpses that spring is on the way! Thank You Lord!
Lent provides us with the space and time to ponder not only our own sinfulness, but more importantly, to remember the cross and the price Jesus paid to cleanse us of our sins. And this can't help but engender in us overwhelming gratitude. As John Newton famously shared near the very end of his life. "Although my memory's fading, I remember two things very clearly: I am a great sinner and Christ is a great Savior." Amen to that!
I recently read these thoughts that were directed to children about Lent: "This is the season when the earth begins to come back to life after winter. Ice melts, the earth thaws, and things that were dead begin to bloom and grow again. During Lent, we name the things in our hearts and in our world that are dead, and we wait to see how God will raise them to new life with Jesus."
So today, will you ask yourself: what are some of those dead things in my life? Dead dreams? Dead hopes? Dead relationships? Dead strength? Dead vision? Dead faith? And will you look to God and trust that He, even now, is making all things new? At any given moment, He's working and moving in countless ways that we cannot see and do not know. Maybe we can glimpse no evidence of it at the moment, but we can be sure that with God, when nothing is happening, something is happening! So we need to listen to Him, surrender to Him, trust Him, and place our hope in Him.
As has often been said, "God works best in a graveyard." Look around and notice the signs hidden all throughout nature that God is bringing new life out of cold, dead winter. Spring is coming. New life is growing. God is working. Let's wait on Him with hope in our hearts and a song of anticipatory praise on our lips.
To God be the glory.
Saturday, February 1, 2020
T.H.A.N.K.S.
Food for weekend thought--on THANKS!
So far, 2020 has been...hmm, well, like all of life--plenty of moments of joy but also of sorrow. And seeing how recently we've seen our share of dear friends and family facing hardship and challenges, I thought I'd just reprieve a little something from a lecture a week ago on thanksgiving. The lecture was on Psalm 34 in case you want to go reread it--which I heartily encourage you to do! As in all of God's Word, that psalm is filled with some mighty good stuff! Thank You, Lord, for Your Word!
At the end of the lecture, however, we focused on some practical suggestions for consciously and consistently putting more thanksgiving into our lives. So to help remind and encourage us to be thankful, how about an acronym (and I LOVE me an acronym!). We’re going to use the word THANKS. How’s that for original?! But golly, that should at least help folks like me who have the memory of a gnat to remember it a little easier!
Last time I checked, the word “thanks” begins with T, and T stands for THINK! What we put into our minds is critical, because what we feed our minds directly impacts our thoughts, attitudes and actions. But in addition to what we feed our minds, we need to remember that we can CHOOSE what we FOCUS upon in our minds. We can choose to marinate on worrisome thoughts or we can meditate on God’s Word. We have a choice about the thoughts upon which we will dwell!
Did you know, for instance, that at least 70% of the average person’s thoughts each day are negative and 85% of her thoughts are based on what she thought about yesterday. That means for most of us, our daily thoughts are on a repetitive negative loop! No wonder we’re discouraged, worried, or overwhelmed—because our thinking directly impacts every aspect of our lives!
But God’s Word gives us what is both a command and a prescription for those negative repetitive thoughts which do nothing but harm us, worry us, and rob us of joy, peace, and sleep! We’re commanded in 2 Cor.10:5, to “take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” And throughout both the Old and New Testament, we’re also commanded to thank and praise God in all things. That means we’re to take our thoughts captive, and we can choose thoughts of gratitude and praise!
There are countless examples throughout the Psalms, but here are a few examples from the New Testament: Phil.4:4-6: “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. Or Col.3:16-17, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” Or one of my all-time favorites, I Thess.5:16-18, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing; give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” (We’re always wondering what God’s will is for our lives—well, here’s one very clear answer to that question—give thanks in all circumstances for this is God’s will in Christ Jesus for you!)
So we first need to THINK—meaning stop, notice our thoughts, and consciously think to replace our negative thoughts with the positive of God’s Word and with the wonderful positive of thanksgiving and praising.
We all have the choice. We can take our thoughts captive—so THINK and when that negative thought enters, immediately interrupt that negative loop, and choose instead to think about all the reasons for thanksgiving in your life and start thanking the Lord!
By the way, thinking also includes REMEMBERING! In order to be thankful, you have to think about and recall what's happened or has not happened that are reasons for thanksgiving. We can’t be thankful for God’s gifts to us last week if we fail to remember them. So think and remember God’s goodness and faithfulness.
And this is important—the reasons for thankfulness most definitely do NOT have to be big things! Yeah sure, we’re all thankful for the big answers to prayer or the big amazing blessings that come into our lives. But most of the time, it’s the simple things, the simple daily gifts that God sends that bring us the most joy. The smell of freshly baking bread, the hug of a friend, the uplifting text when we’re discouraged, the sun on our face, the sound of a favorite song, the happy greeting from our dog, the gift of laughter. Remembering fuels rejoicing. So pause to think and to remember so that you can start thanking and rejoicing!
Next we come to H for HABIT—as in get in the habit of not just thinking about your reasons for thanksgiving, but also get in the habit of WRITING them down. It’s not enough just to think about why you’re thankful; we remember best when we write things down! Writing it down imprints it on our memory and helps us establish a habitual mindset of gratitude. So establish the habit of writing down—or in some way recording—the things for which you’re thankful!
A is for ALWAYS. Scripture commands us repeatedly to give thanks in ALL circumstances, to rejoice ALWAYS and on and on—it’s not an every now and then proposition. Rather, thankfulness should be an everyday, every year, life-long habit and response.
This means, of course, that our thankfulness shouldn’t ebb and flow depending on our circumstances. Yes, I know that can be challenging, but I also know from personal experience that it’s also life-changing. There have been times in my life where the last thing in the world I felt like doing was choosing to be thankful. But in some of those darkest moments, when I consciously stopped and instead of despairing and worrying, choose instead to try to find something—anything—for which to be thankful, it truly transformed my heart and attitude.
There have been times when—thru tears—I doggedly shifted my mind and trudged ahead in searching for reasons for gratitude. When Janie was in a coma in the ICU, and I was feeling overwhelmed with fear and sadness, the Lord--in His great grace--spoke to my heart: "Start thanking me." I gritted my teeth and forced myself to begin a list. I began simply and very reluctantly with “Thank You Lord there’s a Starbucks in the lobby where I can get hot tea.” And then I thought of the nurses and how wonderful they had been, so I thanked Him for them…and very slowly, I began to get on a roll and found more and more reasons for gratitude even in that darkest of moments.
I’ll never forget it. That difficult time when the Lord—in His mercy and grace—prompted me to desperately try to find reasons for thankfulness when I totally didn’t feel like it, not only transformed me in that moment; it has literally affected me for the rest of my life. I mess up in a million different ways everyday, but I pray I will always be someone who tries to habitually thank and praise God.
So we’ve got T for think, H for habit, and A for always. N is for NOTICE. This is a pretty simple but important one as well, because half the time in life, we walk around failing to notice and be fully present and conscious. We’ve got our faces in our phones, our minds lost in daydreams, or we’re simply busy and overwhelmed. But we’ve got to ask God to help us to keep our eyes wide open and notice all the gifts He’s constantly pouring upon us!
The other day, I glanced up on my walk with Bingley and saw a beautiful blue heron soaring overhead. He was magnificent! But if I’d failed to look up, I’d have missed him. And missed the opportunity right then and there to smile and thank my Heavenly Father for His amazing creativity in creating such a bird, for allowing him to live nearby, and for me to get to see him! We need to open our eyes and notice what God’s doing all around us!
K is for KILL—as in KILL COMPLAINING AND COMPARING and instead replace them with thanking and rejoicing! Seriously, what good does all that grumbling do? Or how does it EVER help to compare yourself or your life to anyone else’s? Not one bit! You can take it to the bank—comparison is the thief of joy. Always. So get off the dead-end, negative road of complaining and comparing and choose instead to replace them with thanking and rejoicing!
So we’ve got T for think, H for habit, A for always, N for notice, K for kill complaining and comparing, and finally, S is for SCRIPTURE! (Well, and also SONG!) You probably already figured this one out, but thanksgiving derives it’s fuel, it’s impetus, it’s reason, it’s source from the Scriptures! Renew your mind in the Scriptures, fill your mind with the Scriptures, meditate on the scriptures. When you do, you’ll have endless reason and material with which to thank and praise God!
I had to throw SONG in here as well, because music is such a gift when it comes to fueling our thanksgiving and praise! I’ve shared this before, but Amy Carmichael’s wonderful words bear repeating yet again. She’d always say that whenever she was frightened or dejected, “I sing the doxology and the devil flees.”
If you’re really discouraged or worried, put on some praise music! Sometimes, if I’m struggling in some way, I’ll blast God-glorifying music in my car or our home and start singing loudly along—it’s a game changer! Give your life a soundtrack of praise by keeping some great music readily available—it will lift your gaze and encourage your heart!
So how about a quick challenge to help encourage this habit of thankfulness in our lives? (You may already be doing something like this, but if not, what better day to start than today!) Go buy (or find at home) a small notebook of any kind. And then determine an approximate time each day in which you’ll write at least ONE thing for which you’re thankful! The goal is to (hopefully) get up to three (or so) a day, but let’s start small! That’s because researchers say that the best way to start a new habit is to begin small and then, Lord willing, build from there.
I’m overwhelmed if think I have to come up with and write about a bunch of things, but we can all write one, can’t we? And maybe we can eventually move to three per day! But if we only write down one thing for the rest of our lives, that will be terrific! Cn you imagine what a joy it would be to look back over that list many years from today?
Simple or profound—just write down whatever the Lord puts on your heart. Lord, thank You for the blue heron I saw in the creek. Thank You I was able to walk Bingley before the rain started pouring down. Thank You that our son is home for a few weeks. Thank You for that video of our precious grandbaby! Thank You my back feels better. And on and on! Even as I started my list, I got on a roll!
Let's ask the Lord to help us to establish this as a daily habit and to increasingly transform us into people who are so relentlessly thankful that we shine God’s love and splash joyful gratitude on everyone we meet.
“Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to His name.” Heb.13:15
To God be the glory.
So far, 2020 has been...hmm, well, like all of life--plenty of moments of joy but also of sorrow. And seeing how recently we've seen our share of dear friends and family facing hardship and challenges, I thought I'd just reprieve a little something from a lecture a week ago on thanksgiving. The lecture was on Psalm 34 in case you want to go reread it--which I heartily encourage you to do! As in all of God's Word, that psalm is filled with some mighty good stuff! Thank You, Lord, for Your Word!
At the end of the lecture, however, we focused on some practical suggestions for consciously and consistently putting more thanksgiving into our lives. So to help remind and encourage us to be thankful, how about an acronym (and I LOVE me an acronym!). We’re going to use the word THANKS. How’s that for original?! But golly, that should at least help folks like me who have the memory of a gnat to remember it a little easier!
Last time I checked, the word “thanks” begins with T, and T stands for THINK! What we put into our minds is critical, because what we feed our minds directly impacts our thoughts, attitudes and actions. But in addition to what we feed our minds, we need to remember that we can CHOOSE what we FOCUS upon in our minds. We can choose to marinate on worrisome thoughts or we can meditate on God’s Word. We have a choice about the thoughts upon which we will dwell!
Did you know, for instance, that at least 70% of the average person’s thoughts each day are negative and 85% of her thoughts are based on what she thought about yesterday. That means for most of us, our daily thoughts are on a repetitive negative loop! No wonder we’re discouraged, worried, or overwhelmed—because our thinking directly impacts every aspect of our lives!
But God’s Word gives us what is both a command and a prescription for those negative repetitive thoughts which do nothing but harm us, worry us, and rob us of joy, peace, and sleep! We’re commanded in 2 Cor.10:5, to “take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” And throughout both the Old and New Testament, we’re also commanded to thank and praise God in all things. That means we’re to take our thoughts captive, and we can choose thoughts of gratitude and praise!
There are countless examples throughout the Psalms, but here are a few examples from the New Testament: Phil.4:4-6: “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. Or Col.3:16-17, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” Or one of my all-time favorites, I Thess.5:16-18, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing; give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” (We’re always wondering what God’s will is for our lives—well, here’s one very clear answer to that question—give thanks in all circumstances for this is God’s will in Christ Jesus for you!)
So we first need to THINK—meaning stop, notice our thoughts, and consciously think to replace our negative thoughts with the positive of God’s Word and with the wonderful positive of thanksgiving and praising.
We all have the choice. We can take our thoughts captive—so THINK and when that negative thought enters, immediately interrupt that negative loop, and choose instead to think about all the reasons for thanksgiving in your life and start thanking the Lord!
By the way, thinking also includes REMEMBERING! In order to be thankful, you have to think about and recall what's happened or has not happened that are reasons for thanksgiving. We can’t be thankful for God’s gifts to us last week if we fail to remember them. So think and remember God’s goodness and faithfulness.
And this is important—the reasons for thankfulness most definitely do NOT have to be big things! Yeah sure, we’re all thankful for the big answers to prayer or the big amazing blessings that come into our lives. But most of the time, it’s the simple things, the simple daily gifts that God sends that bring us the most joy. The smell of freshly baking bread, the hug of a friend, the uplifting text when we’re discouraged, the sun on our face, the sound of a favorite song, the happy greeting from our dog, the gift of laughter. Remembering fuels rejoicing. So pause to think and to remember so that you can start thanking and rejoicing!
Next we come to H for HABIT—as in get in the habit of not just thinking about your reasons for thanksgiving, but also get in the habit of WRITING them down. It’s not enough just to think about why you’re thankful; we remember best when we write things down! Writing it down imprints it on our memory and helps us establish a habitual mindset of gratitude. So establish the habit of writing down—or in some way recording—the things for which you’re thankful!
A is for ALWAYS. Scripture commands us repeatedly to give thanks in ALL circumstances, to rejoice ALWAYS and on and on—it’s not an every now and then proposition. Rather, thankfulness should be an everyday, every year, life-long habit and response.
This means, of course, that our thankfulness shouldn’t ebb and flow depending on our circumstances. Yes, I know that can be challenging, but I also know from personal experience that it’s also life-changing. There have been times in my life where the last thing in the world I felt like doing was choosing to be thankful. But in some of those darkest moments, when I consciously stopped and instead of despairing and worrying, choose instead to try to find something—anything—for which to be thankful, it truly transformed my heart and attitude.
There have been times when—thru tears—I doggedly shifted my mind and trudged ahead in searching for reasons for gratitude. When Janie was in a coma in the ICU, and I was feeling overwhelmed with fear and sadness, the Lord--in His great grace--spoke to my heart: "Start thanking me." I gritted my teeth and forced myself to begin a list. I began simply and very reluctantly with “Thank You Lord there’s a Starbucks in the lobby where I can get hot tea.” And then I thought of the nurses and how wonderful they had been, so I thanked Him for them…and very slowly, I began to get on a roll and found more and more reasons for gratitude even in that darkest of moments.
I’ll never forget it. That difficult time when the Lord—in His mercy and grace—prompted me to desperately try to find reasons for thankfulness when I totally didn’t feel like it, not only transformed me in that moment; it has literally affected me for the rest of my life. I mess up in a million different ways everyday, but I pray I will always be someone who tries to habitually thank and praise God.
So we’ve got T for think, H for habit, and A for always. N is for NOTICE. This is a pretty simple but important one as well, because half the time in life, we walk around failing to notice and be fully present and conscious. We’ve got our faces in our phones, our minds lost in daydreams, or we’re simply busy and overwhelmed. But we’ve got to ask God to help us to keep our eyes wide open and notice all the gifts He’s constantly pouring upon us!
The other day, I glanced up on my walk with Bingley and saw a beautiful blue heron soaring overhead. He was magnificent! But if I’d failed to look up, I’d have missed him. And missed the opportunity right then and there to smile and thank my Heavenly Father for His amazing creativity in creating such a bird, for allowing him to live nearby, and for me to get to see him! We need to open our eyes and notice what God’s doing all around us!
K is for KILL—as in KILL COMPLAINING AND COMPARING and instead replace them with thanking and rejoicing! Seriously, what good does all that grumbling do? Or how does it EVER help to compare yourself or your life to anyone else’s? Not one bit! You can take it to the bank—comparison is the thief of joy. Always. So get off the dead-end, negative road of complaining and comparing and choose instead to replace them with thanking and rejoicing!
So we’ve got T for think, H for habit, A for always, N for notice, K for kill complaining and comparing, and finally, S is for SCRIPTURE! (Well, and also SONG!) You probably already figured this one out, but thanksgiving derives it’s fuel, it’s impetus, it’s reason, it’s source from the Scriptures! Renew your mind in the Scriptures, fill your mind with the Scriptures, meditate on the scriptures. When you do, you’ll have endless reason and material with which to thank and praise God!
I had to throw SONG in here as well, because music is such a gift when it comes to fueling our thanksgiving and praise! I’ve shared this before, but Amy Carmichael’s wonderful words bear repeating yet again. She’d always say that whenever she was frightened or dejected, “I sing the doxology and the devil flees.”
If you’re really discouraged or worried, put on some praise music! Sometimes, if I’m struggling in some way, I’ll blast God-glorifying music in my car or our home and start singing loudly along—it’s a game changer! Give your life a soundtrack of praise by keeping some great music readily available—it will lift your gaze and encourage your heart!
So how about a quick challenge to help encourage this habit of thankfulness in our lives? (You may already be doing something like this, but if not, what better day to start than today!) Go buy (or find at home) a small notebook of any kind. And then determine an approximate time each day in which you’ll write at least ONE thing for which you’re thankful! The goal is to (hopefully) get up to three (or so) a day, but let’s start small! That’s because researchers say that the best way to start a new habit is to begin small and then, Lord willing, build from there.
I’m overwhelmed if think I have to come up with and write about a bunch of things, but we can all write one, can’t we? And maybe we can eventually move to three per day! But if we only write down one thing for the rest of our lives, that will be terrific! Cn you imagine what a joy it would be to look back over that list many years from today?
Simple or profound—just write down whatever the Lord puts on your heart. Lord, thank You for the blue heron I saw in the creek. Thank You I was able to walk Bingley before the rain started pouring down. Thank You that our son is home for a few weeks. Thank You for that video of our precious grandbaby! Thank You my back feels better. And on and on! Even as I started my list, I got on a roll!
Let's ask the Lord to help us to establish this as a daily habit and to increasingly transform us into people who are so relentlessly thankful that we shine God’s love and splash joyful gratitude on everyone we meet.
“Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to His name.” Heb.13:15
To God be the glory.
Saturday, January 11, 2020
After Advent...and other endings
Advent and Christmas are over, and I’ll be honest, I often struggle a bit this time of year. There’s a vague sense of sadness and malaise that settles over me, because I love Advent and the wonderful build up to Christmas so much. I savor quiet Advent devotions by the tree. I happily anticipate family coming home and all the fun, noisy celebrations. I totally enjoy all season long the delicious food and glorious music and beautiful sparkling lights and rich scents of evergreen and cinnamon.
And then boom—it’s all over.
Don’t you think endings are hard? Especially after something wonderful like Christmas, endings are particularly difficult, because there’s a certain level of grieving associated with any ending in our lives—even though an ending also implies a new beginning of some sort. And I’m learning that I do have to acknowledge that sadness and honor that grief over the ending.
But I’ve always loved how John Piper puts it. “Occasionally, weep deeply over the life you hoped would be. [because we all have disappointments and unmet expectations in life, don’t we?]. Grieve the losses. THEN wash your face. Trust God. And embrace the life you have.”
Here's what that has meant for me these past few weeks: doing some grieving and weeping over a number of various endings and little sorrows in my life. These endings are nothing compared to those that some of our dear friends are confronting and grieving right now, and I completely recognize and acknowledge that. And I thank God that He has given me a small measure of that grief and allowed me to experience a taste of that sorrow, which then prompts me to continually cry out in prayer on behalf of those I love who are hurting.
But still, for each of us, endings are endings...and all endings, even those micro-sorrows, still cause pain and sadness. This planet is a magnificent place, and this life is a luminous gift every single day--praise God. But it's still a place full of brokenness, disappointment, separation, death, disease. None of us escapes it.
So here are a few of those micro-sorrows, those minor--but still painful for me--endings I've been confronting--Christmas being over; children leaving town; taking down our lovely tree and putting away all our beloved Christmas stuff (and my cherished nativities!); thinking about and missing loved ones who have gone home to heaven (this time of year always seems to really bring those feelings out); and our last child leaving home and heading off to college. Grieving the end of having children in our home full-time and coming home to a much quieter, empty house, well, that's a real thing, and it's just plain hard. Not to mention this all means having to buckle down and do the hard and disciplined work of preparing for Bible study lectures (which is a joy but is also just plain hard, time-consuming, and often lonely work).
But here’s what really changed my whole perspective and allowed me to move from sadness over the ending to hope and anticipation for the future: choosing to open God’s Word—even when I didn’t feel like it!—and to read and meditate on His Word. And here’s one of the things I read—
“Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall! My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me. BUT THIS I CALL TO MIND AND THEREFORE I HAVE HOPE: THE STEADFAST LOVE OF THE LORD NEVER CEASES, HIS MERCIES ARE NEW EVERY MORNING, GREAT IS YOUR FAITHFULNESS. ‘The Lord is my portion,’ says my soul, ‘therefore I will hope in Him.’ The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.” Lam.3:19-26
(I wrote about this passage a few weeks ago, since it was one of Nancy McDougal's favorites, and she read it every morning. I loved that, and I've been trying to do the same. Thank you, sweet Nancy! I rejoice that your faith is now made sight.)
I thought I’d share with you what I wrote in response to these wonderful verses after I read them that particular morning:
Lord, right now, I’m choosing to CALL TO MIND You and what Your Word says—Your steadfast love never ceases, great is Your faithfulness, Your mercies are new every morning (and evening and afternoon!). Lord, I have the choice to meditate on my sadnesses and worries and grow anxious, discontent, and miserable OR to meditate on You and Your goodness and Your myriad gifts to me. So help me to do this now and teach me, by faith, to recognize Your voice and to run to You.
And this is laid out so clearly in Psalm 1 (The psalm we’re studying the first week of Bible study.) There are only two ways and two types of people: the righteous person who is blessed delights in your Word and meditates on it day and night. She is like a tree planted by streams of water and all she does prospers. Or the wicked person who walks, then stands, then sits with the wicked, sinners, and scoffers and will be like chaff that’s blown away.
But here’s the thing: when I’m focusing on what I’m lacking rather than my Lord, when I’m complaining rather than praising, when I’m fretting and worrying rather than trusting and worshipping by faith, then I’m living like the wicked, unbelieving man! I’m living like a spiritual amnesiac. And we FORGET!!
I couldn't help but think of the example of the Old Testament prophet Elijah. He had just blown away the prophets of Baal and seen a supernatural display of God's power in sending consuming fire from heaven to his altar that was soaked with water. Wow! But then, immediately after that, there was no spiritual revival in Israel and wicked old queen Jezebel was utterly unfazed. In fact, she declared that she was coming after Elijah and was determined to have him killed. So what did Elijah do? Did he remember God's astounding display of supernatural power he'd just experienced? Wouldn't you think he would've laughed at Jezebel and declared, "Bring it on! You're nothing compared to my mighty God!" Uh, no! Elijah immediately despaired of his very life! He basically asked God to kill him! That's how quickly Elijah forget all about what God had done...and that’s me Lord! How quickly I forget who You are and all You’ve done!
So I have to DAILY be reminded! I have to have my mind renewed everyday by Your Word (Rom.12:1-2), because I forget and fall into wrong and destructive habits of thinking and then acting. “Praising is a battle for our minds before it’s an act of our hearts.” (Ruth Simons) I must CHOOSE to rejoice, and I do that by examining the Word and meditating on it! And that fosters joy—joy just bubbles up!
But it all begins with the battle to open the Word, read it, think about it and believe it. Proclaim it. Read it out loud. That’s why we have verses around our house—so we’re swimming in an atmosphere of God’s supernatural Word, and when we struggle to believe with our feelings, we can believe with our faith. By proclaiming it even when there’s a struggle with it in my heart. (Another diversion--but how about the guys marching around Jericho? Don’t you wish you could have read their thoughts!! Surely many, if not all of them, thought, “No way this is gonna work Joshua! We look like fools. What on earth?” I bet many of them were frightened, thinking not only how ridiculous they looked but also what easy pickings they were for the enemy to just wipe out as they marched around the walls of Jericho completely unarmed. But they ACTED on God’s Word despite their feelings! They trusted in His Word more than they trusted in their fickle emotions and hearts.)
Whew! Sorry for all that rambling, but I figured I'd just share what I wrote!
But here’s my point for each of us for this new year and new decade. Choose daily to go to God’s Word. First ask Him to give you the desire to read it and to delight in it. He’s the One who can give that to you. And then, no matter whether you feel like it or not, choose daily to make the time in your schedule—and there is ALWAYS time! We have to eat and brush our teeth don’t we? We have time to read His Word!—choose to read it and then to meditate on it…meaning think about it, chew on it throughout the day. Maybe write it down and keep it with you and ponder what it means for your life. We know how to worry so that means we know how to meditate—when you worry, you roll things around in your mind over and over and think about it incessantly, right? Well, flip the switch and instead of fretting and worrying, put God’s Word in there and cogitate and think about that! Churn the Word not your worries!
Yes, grieve the endings...but then go to the Word. Listen to His voice of love, grace, peace, hope. And as Piper says, wash your face, trust God, and embrace the life you have, the life He has given you. He is making all things new. Even the hardest of endings. He's promised in His Word...and I trust Him.
To God be the glory.
And then boom—it’s all over.
Don’t you think endings are hard? Especially after something wonderful like Christmas, endings are particularly difficult, because there’s a certain level of grieving associated with any ending in our lives—even though an ending also implies a new beginning of some sort. And I’m learning that I do have to acknowledge that sadness and honor that grief over the ending.
But I’ve always loved how John Piper puts it. “Occasionally, weep deeply over the life you hoped would be. [because we all have disappointments and unmet expectations in life, don’t we?]. Grieve the losses. THEN wash your face. Trust God. And embrace the life you have.”
Here's what that has meant for me these past few weeks: doing some grieving and weeping over a number of various endings and little sorrows in my life. These endings are nothing compared to those that some of our dear friends are confronting and grieving right now, and I completely recognize and acknowledge that. And I thank God that He has given me a small measure of that grief and allowed me to experience a taste of that sorrow, which then prompts me to continually cry out in prayer on behalf of those I love who are hurting.
But still, for each of us, endings are endings...and all endings, even those micro-sorrows, still cause pain and sadness. This planet is a magnificent place, and this life is a luminous gift every single day--praise God. But it's still a place full of brokenness, disappointment, separation, death, disease. None of us escapes it.
So here are a few of those micro-sorrows, those minor--but still painful for me--endings I've been confronting--Christmas being over; children leaving town; taking down our lovely tree and putting away all our beloved Christmas stuff (and my cherished nativities!); thinking about and missing loved ones who have gone home to heaven (this time of year always seems to really bring those feelings out); and our last child leaving home and heading off to college. Grieving the end of having children in our home full-time and coming home to a much quieter, empty house, well, that's a real thing, and it's just plain hard. Not to mention this all means having to buckle down and do the hard and disciplined work of preparing for Bible study lectures (which is a joy but is also just plain hard, time-consuming, and often lonely work).
But here’s what really changed my whole perspective and allowed me to move from sadness over the ending to hope and anticipation for the future: choosing to open God’s Word—even when I didn’t feel like it!—and to read and meditate on His Word. And here’s one of the things I read—
“Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall! My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me. BUT THIS I CALL TO MIND AND THEREFORE I HAVE HOPE: THE STEADFAST LOVE OF THE LORD NEVER CEASES, HIS MERCIES ARE NEW EVERY MORNING, GREAT IS YOUR FAITHFULNESS. ‘The Lord is my portion,’ says my soul, ‘therefore I will hope in Him.’ The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.” Lam.3:19-26
(I wrote about this passage a few weeks ago, since it was one of Nancy McDougal's favorites, and she read it every morning. I loved that, and I've been trying to do the same. Thank you, sweet Nancy! I rejoice that your faith is now made sight.)
I thought I’d share with you what I wrote in response to these wonderful verses after I read them that particular morning:
Lord, right now, I’m choosing to CALL TO MIND You and what Your Word says—Your steadfast love never ceases, great is Your faithfulness, Your mercies are new every morning (and evening and afternoon!). Lord, I have the choice to meditate on my sadnesses and worries and grow anxious, discontent, and miserable OR to meditate on You and Your goodness and Your myriad gifts to me. So help me to do this now and teach me, by faith, to recognize Your voice and to run to You.
And this is laid out so clearly in Psalm 1 (The psalm we’re studying the first week of Bible study.) There are only two ways and two types of people: the righteous person who is blessed delights in your Word and meditates on it day and night. She is like a tree planted by streams of water and all she does prospers. Or the wicked person who walks, then stands, then sits with the wicked, sinners, and scoffers and will be like chaff that’s blown away.
But here’s the thing: when I’m focusing on what I’m lacking rather than my Lord, when I’m complaining rather than praising, when I’m fretting and worrying rather than trusting and worshipping by faith, then I’m living like the wicked, unbelieving man! I’m living like a spiritual amnesiac. And we FORGET!!
I couldn't help but think of the example of the Old Testament prophet Elijah. He had just blown away the prophets of Baal and seen a supernatural display of God's power in sending consuming fire from heaven to his altar that was soaked with water. Wow! But then, immediately after that, there was no spiritual revival in Israel and wicked old queen Jezebel was utterly unfazed. In fact, she declared that she was coming after Elijah and was determined to have him killed. So what did Elijah do? Did he remember God's astounding display of supernatural power he'd just experienced? Wouldn't you think he would've laughed at Jezebel and declared, "Bring it on! You're nothing compared to my mighty God!" Uh, no! Elijah immediately despaired of his very life! He basically asked God to kill him! That's how quickly Elijah forget all about what God had done...and that’s me Lord! How quickly I forget who You are and all You’ve done!
So I have to DAILY be reminded! I have to have my mind renewed everyday by Your Word (Rom.12:1-2), because I forget and fall into wrong and destructive habits of thinking and then acting. “Praising is a battle for our minds before it’s an act of our hearts.” (Ruth Simons) I must CHOOSE to rejoice, and I do that by examining the Word and meditating on it! And that fosters joy—joy just bubbles up!
But it all begins with the battle to open the Word, read it, think about it and believe it. Proclaim it. Read it out loud. That’s why we have verses around our house—so we’re swimming in an atmosphere of God’s supernatural Word, and when we struggle to believe with our feelings, we can believe with our faith. By proclaiming it even when there’s a struggle with it in my heart. (Another diversion--but how about the guys marching around Jericho? Don’t you wish you could have read their thoughts!! Surely many, if not all of them, thought, “No way this is gonna work Joshua! We look like fools. What on earth?” I bet many of them were frightened, thinking not only how ridiculous they looked but also what easy pickings they were for the enemy to just wipe out as they marched around the walls of Jericho completely unarmed. But they ACTED on God’s Word despite their feelings! They trusted in His Word more than they trusted in their fickle emotions and hearts.)
Whew! Sorry for all that rambling, but I figured I'd just share what I wrote!
But here’s my point for each of us for this new year and new decade. Choose daily to go to God’s Word. First ask Him to give you the desire to read it and to delight in it. He’s the One who can give that to you. And then, no matter whether you feel like it or not, choose daily to make the time in your schedule—and there is ALWAYS time! We have to eat and brush our teeth don’t we? We have time to read His Word!—choose to read it and then to meditate on it…meaning think about it, chew on it throughout the day. Maybe write it down and keep it with you and ponder what it means for your life. We know how to worry so that means we know how to meditate—when you worry, you roll things around in your mind over and over and think about it incessantly, right? Well, flip the switch and instead of fretting and worrying, put God’s Word in there and cogitate and think about that! Churn the Word not your worries!
Yes, grieve the endings...but then go to the Word. Listen to His voice of love, grace, peace, hope. And as Piper says, wash your face, trust God, and embrace the life you have, the life He has given you. He is making all things new. Even the hardest of endings. He's promised in His Word...and I trust Him.
To God be the glory.
Tuesday, December 17, 2019
God. With. Us.
"All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoke by the prophet: 'Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call His name, Immanuel' (which means 'God with us'). (Mt.1:23)
"God with us." Have you really considered what this means? Right this moment, in the midst of the frenzy to celebrate Christmas (though the world has no idea we're celebrating the birthday of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords), can't we pause for a moment of Sabbath sanity to consider anew this astounding, life and destiny altering truth--God. With. Us.
Have we perhaps lost sight of the wonder of who He is and why He came in the midst of all the busyness and craziness? Well then, let me remind you--as I've reminded myself--God with us.
The God who is with us is the Almighty, all-glorious, omnipotent, omniscient Creator and Sustainer of all that we see and of the most unimaginably distant galaxies and the tiniest, most infinitesimal atomic structure. Yes, that Lord of glory and wonder and perfection and steadfast love and grace and holiness and compassion, He is "God with us." God with you. Right now. Whether you're mired in the midst of the deepest sorrow or sailing along the wings of wondrous joy. Whether you're stuck in the muddy middle of some challenge or difficulty that seems to have no end or coming home to promising beginnings or happy completions.
On your very best day, He is "God with us." And on your very worst, when you've failed and forgotten Him and given up and maybe even quit, well, He is still "God with us. " Ever-faithful. Ever-forgiving. Ever-loving. Ever-sustaining. The God of fresh starts and new mercies, day or night. The God of "Let's begin again, right here, right now, because I am with you and for you and in you. I am Immanuel, God with us."
Oh how overwhelmed and thankful I am that He is "God with us." But let me close with the powerful words of Charles Spurgeon. Please read slowly and savor and then pause to thank the Lord that He is God. With. Us. Always and forever. Spurgeon writes--
"This is his name, 'God with us,'—God with us, by his incarnation, for the august Creator of the world did walk upon this globe; he who made ten thousand orbs, each of them more mighty and more vast than this earth, became the inhabitant of this tiny atom. He, who was from everlasting to everlasting, came to this world of time, and stood upon the narrow neck of land betwixt the two unbounded seas. 'God with us': he has not lost that name – Jesus had that name on earth, and he has it now in heaven. He is now 'God with us.' Believer, he is God with thee, to protect thee; thou art not alone, because the Saviour is with thee. Put me in the desert, where vegetation grows not; I can still say, 'God with us.' Put me on the wild ocean, and let my ship dance madly on the waves; I would still say, 'Immanuel, God with us.' Mount me on the sunbeam, and let me fly beyond the western sea; still I would say, 'God with us.' Let my body dive down into the depths of the ocean, and let me hide in its caverns; still I could, as a child of God, say, 'God with us.' Ay, and in the grave, sleeping there in corruption, still I can see the footmarks of Jesus; he trod the path of all his people, and still his name is 'God with us.'"
Praise You, Lord, praise You, our Immanuel--God with us--and to You be all the glory.
"God with us." Have you really considered what this means? Right this moment, in the midst of the frenzy to celebrate Christmas (though the world has no idea we're celebrating the birthday of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords), can't we pause for a moment of Sabbath sanity to consider anew this astounding, life and destiny altering truth--God. With. Us.
Have we perhaps lost sight of the wonder of who He is and why He came in the midst of all the busyness and craziness? Well then, let me remind you--as I've reminded myself--God with us.
The God who is with us is the Almighty, all-glorious, omnipotent, omniscient Creator and Sustainer of all that we see and of the most unimaginably distant galaxies and the tiniest, most infinitesimal atomic structure. Yes, that Lord of glory and wonder and perfection and steadfast love and grace and holiness and compassion, He is "God with us." God with you. Right now. Whether you're mired in the midst of the deepest sorrow or sailing along the wings of wondrous joy. Whether you're stuck in the muddy middle of some challenge or difficulty that seems to have no end or coming home to promising beginnings or happy completions.
On your very best day, He is "God with us." And on your very worst, when you've failed and forgotten Him and given up and maybe even quit, well, He is still "God with us. " Ever-faithful. Ever-forgiving. Ever-loving. Ever-sustaining. The God of fresh starts and new mercies, day or night. The God of "Let's begin again, right here, right now, because I am with you and for you and in you. I am Immanuel, God with us."
Oh how overwhelmed and thankful I am that He is "God with us." But let me close with the powerful words of Charles Spurgeon. Please read slowly and savor and then pause to thank the Lord that He is God. With. Us. Always and forever. Spurgeon writes--
"This is his name, 'God with us,'—God with us, by his incarnation, for the august Creator of the world did walk upon this globe; he who made ten thousand orbs, each of them more mighty and more vast than this earth, became the inhabitant of this tiny atom. He, who was from everlasting to everlasting, came to this world of time, and stood upon the narrow neck of land betwixt the two unbounded seas. 'God with us': he has not lost that name – Jesus had that name on earth, and he has it now in heaven. He is now 'God with us.' Believer, he is God with thee, to protect thee; thou art not alone, because the Saviour is with thee. Put me in the desert, where vegetation grows not; I can still say, 'God with us.' Put me on the wild ocean, and let my ship dance madly on the waves; I would still say, 'Immanuel, God with us.' Mount me on the sunbeam, and let me fly beyond the western sea; still I would say, 'God with us.' Let my body dive down into the depths of the ocean, and let me hide in its caverns; still I could, as a child of God, say, 'God with us.' Ay, and in the grave, sleeping there in corruption, still I can see the footmarks of Jesus; he trod the path of all his people, and still his name is 'God with us.'"
Praise You, Lord, praise You, our Immanuel--God with us--and to You be all the glory.
Wednesday, December 11, 2019
Savior-Warrior-Baby
How I love the Advent season. These days and weeks to prepare for the Savior's coming--to contemplate what Jesus' birth means, to still our frantic busyness for some part of everyday that we might wonder at the astonishing, glorious Gift God has given us in His Son--the Lord God Almighty wrapped in fragile infant flesh.
Who could possibly imagine such a scenario? The Lord lying in a lowly feeding rough? The King of Kings arriving without any worldly fanfare or comforts? The Sovereign Creator and Sustainer of the universe born as an utterly helpless and weak newborn? The Greatest allowed Himself to become smallest; the Highest became lowest; the Infinite and Eternal became finite and limited. All out of His unimaginably great love for us--for you, for me.
But in these days of Advent, as you contemplate who He is and why He came--for your redemption, praise God!--please don't allow Jesus to remain as that powerless, fragile infant. Yes, that's how He came, and how thankful we all should be for such a God. But He was and is so infinitely much more. He is your Conquering King who defeated sin and death for you. He is your Comforter who with comfort and encourage and guide you like no other. He is your Wisdom. He is your Joy. He is your Hope. He is your Peace. He is your Love who loves with His perfect love. He is your Grace. He is your Emmanuel who is always, always, always with you and in you.
But He is also your Lion of Judah. Oh please, please remember that the baby Jesus is also the conquering, fierce, omnipotent Lion of Judah. He is Lord God Almighty, and there is none other.
I have never forgotten the words of our dear friend, David Dwight, when our Janie was unconscious in the hospital. I've shared them before but they are worth sharing again (and again!), because we all need the reminder of who our Savior is and what He is able to do. We have so many very dear friends who are enduring deep suffering and sorrow right now. And this Advent--surely like every Advent--finds many folks struggling mightily just to find the courage to keep putting one foot in front of the other. And so might we all remember--
And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."
David said he spoke with a Biblical languages scholar and asked him for his thoughts on this passage. Here are David's words: "I will never forget his answer. He said, "David, in verse 13, it says a "the heavenly host" appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest and peace to men on whom his favor rests." "This translation," he said, "is far too mild. The word that the translators have called "host" in english is unequivocally the word "army" in greek. The word is "stratia" and it is always and everywhere translated army. In this regard, the Bible is saying that at the birth of Jesus, the sky was filled with a heavenly army - and what they said to the shepherds was something that feels much more like, "Glory to God, this is war, but don't be afraid.""
When he said it, I was frankly stunned. He said, "David, this is more fitting to the reality that Jesus was born to win the ultimate battle, and the capstone of that victory is the resurrection. The heavenly army said to the shepherds in essence, "you needn't be afraid, God does the battling and will win the big war. You trust and walk with this savior-warrior-baby, and be at peace that the Lord's armies are doing the battling and that the victory will be won. That's why you can rejoice - the victory will be won."
It has forever changed my sense of Christmas, in a way that gives me strength and hope."
And it has forever changed mine as well. If you are in the midst of some sorrow or deep disappointment or great loss, please remember who this baby was and is--He is the Savior-Warrior-Baby. He is the mighty Lion of Judah, and He is battling for you...and He will always always always win the war. We might feel tempest tossed, but our Lion, our Aslan, our Conquering King, our Savior-Warrior-Baby is fully, completely in control. Our Lion of Judah will carry us through the storm, and one day He will still every storm, defeat every foe, wipe away every tear, and replace every sorrow with His perfect and unending joy. And nothing and nobody can stop Him.
Thank You, Lord Jesus, for coming. Thank You for coming as a fragile, helpless baby who understands all our weaknesses and fears. But thank You also that You are our Conquering King--our Savior-Warrior-Baby who will swallow up death in victory.
Yes, Aslan, You are on the move and so even as we grieve, we can grieve with hope and with the sure and certain knowledge that You will right every wrong and reign victorious forever and ever. To the Savior-Warrior-Baby, to our Lion of Judah, be all the glory.
Who could possibly imagine such a scenario? The Lord lying in a lowly feeding rough? The King of Kings arriving without any worldly fanfare or comforts? The Sovereign Creator and Sustainer of the universe born as an utterly helpless and weak newborn? The Greatest allowed Himself to become smallest; the Highest became lowest; the Infinite and Eternal became finite and limited. All out of His unimaginably great love for us--for you, for me.
But in these days of Advent, as you contemplate who He is and why He came--for your redemption, praise God!--please don't allow Jesus to remain as that powerless, fragile infant. Yes, that's how He came, and how thankful we all should be for such a God. But He was and is so infinitely much more. He is your Conquering King who defeated sin and death for you. He is your Comforter who with comfort and encourage and guide you like no other. He is your Wisdom. He is your Joy. He is your Hope. He is your Peace. He is your Love who loves with His perfect love. He is your Grace. He is your Emmanuel who is always, always, always with you and in you.
But He is also your Lion of Judah. Oh please, please remember that the baby Jesus is also the conquering, fierce, omnipotent Lion of Judah. He is Lord God Almighty, and there is none other.
I have never forgotten the words of our dear friend, David Dwight, when our Janie was unconscious in the hospital. I've shared them before but they are worth sharing again (and again!), because we all need the reminder of who our Savior is and what He is able to do. We have so many very dear friends who are enduring deep suffering and sorrow right now. And this Advent--surely like every Advent--finds many folks struggling mightily just to find the courage to keep putting one foot in front of the other. And so might we all remember--
And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."
When he said it, I was frankly stunned. He said, "David, this is more fitting to the reality that Jesus was born to win the ultimate battle, and the capstone of that victory is the resurrection. The heavenly army said to the shepherds in essence, "you needn't be afraid, God does the battling and will win the big war. You trust and walk with this savior-warrior-baby, and be at peace that the Lord's armies are doing the battling and that the victory will be won. That's why you can rejoice - the victory will be won."
It has forever changed my sense of Christmas, in a way that gives me strength and hope."
And it has forever changed mine as well. If you are in the midst of some sorrow or deep disappointment or great loss, please remember who this baby was and is--He is the Savior-Warrior-Baby. He is the mighty Lion of Judah, and He is battling for you...and He will always always always win the war. We might feel tempest tossed, but our Lion, our Aslan, our Conquering King, our Savior-Warrior-Baby is fully, completely in control. Our Lion of Judah will carry us through the storm, and one day He will still every storm, defeat every foe, wipe away every tear, and replace every sorrow with His perfect and unending joy. And nothing and nobody can stop Him.
Thank You, Lord Jesus, for coming. Thank You for coming as a fragile, helpless baby who understands all our weaknesses and fears. But thank You also that You are our Conquering King--our Savior-Warrior-Baby who will swallow up death in victory.
Yes, Aslan, You are on the move and so even as we grieve, we can grieve with hope and with the sure and certain knowledge that You will right every wrong and reign victorious forever and ever. To the Savior-Warrior-Baby, to our Lion of Judah, be all the glory.
Friday, December 6, 2019
Hope in the hard places
Yesterday I went to a beautiful celebration of a life lived to the glory of God--Nancy McDougal embodied what it meant to love God and love others. Thank You, Lord, for the inspiring example of lives like hers--much like Wynn Burrus, JoAnna McMillan, Ray Siegler, just to mention a few. Heaven grows ever sweeter as I contemplate the wonderful folks who have gone on ahead of us.
One thing that especially struck me was the passage of the Bible that Nancy particularly loved and had laminated on a card and kept in her Bible. Every single morning she read this passage, and what an encouraging way to begin the day! It's one of my favorite passages as well, and it's contained in the book of Lamentations.
Now by way of a bit of background information, Lamentations was written by Jeremiah, often referred to as "the weeping prophet," because he prophesied during the horrific years of his nation's destruction, exile and captivity by the brutal nation of Babylon. Not only did he give out God's truth at a desolate and hopeless time in Israel's history, but the very people he was speaking to rejected him and his message.
No wonder Jeremiah says right before this passage begins, "Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall! My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me." (Lam.3:19-20) Isolated, discouraged, even despairing, Jeremiah looks around and sees only a barren, bleak landscape.
Anybody ever been there? Perhaps even now, in this season of Advent--this season of waiting...waiting...waiting for the coming of the King--you are tired and weary. Or lonely. Disheartened by all you see around you. Frightened about the future. Anxious about the uncontrollable. Or perhaps simply, deeply, sad over some difficult loss. Loss of a loved one...loss of a dream...loss of health...loss, even, of a special season of life that's now over.
We've all been there. Many of us are there now.
But Emmanuel--God with us--is right there with you, with us, in the thick of it. He's here with you now, and He'll be with you tomorrow and next week and next year and into eternity. No matter how alone you might feel, the truth is--You. Are. Not. Alone. Not ever. The Almighty Lord of Heaven and Earth is right there with you, whether you're in the loftiest palace or the lowest pit.
But you have to stop and remember this truth. You have to recall and remind yourself where your God is (not only on the throne of the vast universe but also right there with you), who your God is (Savior, Redeemer, Lion of Judah, Lion of God, Creator, Sustainer, Deliverer, Comforter, Encourager, King of Kings and on and on!), and what He says.
And that means going to His Word! When we're utterly exhausted or distressed or discouraged, we need to do what the prophet Jeremiah goes on to do in the passage dear Nancy loves so much--you call to mind His Word and His character! "But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love the Lord never ceases; His mercies are new every morning. 'The Lord is my portion,' says my soul, 'therefore I will hope in Him.' The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord." (Lam.3:21-26)
Yes! Right in the midst of the pit of waiting or sorrow or despair, choose to call to mind who your God is, what He has done, and what He has said. Open the Word. Read it out loud--through tears if they fall. And allow your heart and mind to hear those healing, strengthening, revealing, encouraging words of Truth come out of your mouth.
When we remember and rehearse His Word, we have hope. (Lam.3:21) What a glorious gift hope is!
Remember and rehearse His steadfast love that never ceases. (Lam.3:22) His mercies that never come to an end and that are brand, spanking new every morning--and every afternoon and evening and night! (Lam.3:22-23) His infinite goodness. (Lam.3:25) Read, remember, rehearse and have your mind renewed and your heart revived. Maybe even copy this passage, and like Nancy, keep it in your Bible to remind you to enter your day with hope as you fix your gaze on the King of Kings.
Thank You, Father, for the life of Nancy McDougal and for her example of relentlessly and constantly loving You and others. Thank You for her love of Your Word and for the way she entered each day by recalling these great truths in Lamentations. And thank You that she is truly Home for Christmas and rejoicing in Your presence. Help us to be faithful as she was all the way to our finish line...which is really just the very beginning of real, true Life.
To God be the glory.
One thing that especially struck me was the passage of the Bible that Nancy particularly loved and had laminated on a card and kept in her Bible. Every single morning she read this passage, and what an encouraging way to begin the day! It's one of my favorite passages as well, and it's contained in the book of Lamentations.
Now by way of a bit of background information, Lamentations was written by Jeremiah, often referred to as "the weeping prophet," because he prophesied during the horrific years of his nation's destruction, exile and captivity by the brutal nation of Babylon. Not only did he give out God's truth at a desolate and hopeless time in Israel's history, but the very people he was speaking to rejected him and his message.
No wonder Jeremiah says right before this passage begins, "Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall! My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me." (Lam.3:19-20) Isolated, discouraged, even despairing, Jeremiah looks around and sees only a barren, bleak landscape.
Anybody ever been there? Perhaps even now, in this season of Advent--this season of waiting...waiting...waiting for the coming of the King--you are tired and weary. Or lonely. Disheartened by all you see around you. Frightened about the future. Anxious about the uncontrollable. Or perhaps simply, deeply, sad over some difficult loss. Loss of a loved one...loss of a dream...loss of health...loss, even, of a special season of life that's now over.
We've all been there. Many of us are there now.
But Emmanuel--God with us--is right there with you, with us, in the thick of it. He's here with you now, and He'll be with you tomorrow and next week and next year and into eternity. No matter how alone you might feel, the truth is--You. Are. Not. Alone. Not ever. The Almighty Lord of Heaven and Earth is right there with you, whether you're in the loftiest palace or the lowest pit.
But you have to stop and remember this truth. You have to recall and remind yourself where your God is (not only on the throne of the vast universe but also right there with you), who your God is (Savior, Redeemer, Lion of Judah, Lion of God, Creator, Sustainer, Deliverer, Comforter, Encourager, King of Kings and on and on!), and what He says.
And that means going to His Word! When we're utterly exhausted or distressed or discouraged, we need to do what the prophet Jeremiah goes on to do in the passage dear Nancy loves so much--you call to mind His Word and His character! "But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love the Lord never ceases; His mercies are new every morning. 'The Lord is my portion,' says my soul, 'therefore I will hope in Him.' The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord." (Lam.3:21-26)
Yes! Right in the midst of the pit of waiting or sorrow or despair, choose to call to mind who your God is, what He has done, and what He has said. Open the Word. Read it out loud--through tears if they fall. And allow your heart and mind to hear those healing, strengthening, revealing, encouraging words of Truth come out of your mouth.
When we remember and rehearse His Word, we have hope. (Lam.3:21) What a glorious gift hope is!
Remember and rehearse His steadfast love that never ceases. (Lam.3:22) His mercies that never come to an end and that are brand, spanking new every morning--and every afternoon and evening and night! (Lam.3:22-23) His infinite goodness. (Lam.3:25) Read, remember, rehearse and have your mind renewed and your heart revived. Maybe even copy this passage, and like Nancy, keep it in your Bible to remind you to enter your day with hope as you fix your gaze on the King of Kings.
Thank You, Father, for the life of Nancy McDougal and for her example of relentlessly and constantly loving You and others. Thank You for her love of Your Word and for the way she entered each day by recalling these great truths in Lamentations. And thank You that she is truly Home for Christmas and rejoicing in Your presence. Help us to be faithful as she was all the way to our finish line...which is really just the very beginning of real, true Life.
To God be the glory.
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