Am I part of a plan?

 

 

I like to be ‘included,’ to be useful, contributing to the world in which I live. Knowing that I am helping someone gives me a sense of meaning and fulfillment. Since I retired from pastoral work in the local church I have wrestled with the issue of finding where and how I continue to ‘fit’ into the larger scheme of life.  Thankfully serving pastorally does not require being ‘the pastor’ of a local congregation and there is no shortage of opportunities to care for others. In the desire to have purpose I am not unique. Most people want to sense that they matter, that they are part of a family, a church, a project – valued as being a person of worth. 

So, how about you?
Do you think about how you can contribute to a better world, how your life can make a difference?
Do you ever feel like you are too (fill the blank) to be useful in God’s purposes in this world?

While reading Matthew 1 this week, I took note of five names included like footnotes in the genealogy of Jesus. There among some big names like Abraham, Isaac, David, and Solomon are five women who were included in God’s plan to bring salvation to the world: Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba, and Mary.  Each of these people might have concluded that they were incapable or unworthy of being ‘included.’  

Tamar was a young woman who was widowed and left childless. Her father in law refused to follow the custom of marrying her to another of his sons so she scandalously tricked him into getting her pregnant. (Genesis 38)  Yes, that is in the Bible! She is part of Jesus’ lineage.

Rahab was a resident of Jericho, a prostitute who received Israeli spies, acted in faith, and was saved from the city’s destruction and was included because of that faith.

Ruth was another outsider, a Moabite (not a Jew) who was widowed and who came to Israel with her mother in law, Naomi, poor and alone. She was full of courage and became the wife of Boaz, a great-grandmother of David.

Bathsheba was caught up in scandal, part of adultery and David’s plot to kill her husband, Uriah, yet she is part of the plan, too.

Mary was a young woman in obscurity, a nobody from nowhere that God knew and who knew God. She became the mother of Jesus!

As I read those names and reflected on the fact that they are included I felt the whisper of the Spirit reminding me that God has a plan and a place for each one of us. Our culture admires the beautiful, the talented, the rich. Even the Christian church in America is infected with the celebrity culture, giving admiration to those who enjoy ‘success’ of fame.  Those of us who live ordinary lives might come to think that we are of less worth or even that we have no place in God’s purposes. That is a lie, a devilish deception designed to cause us to ignore our spiritual gifts and/or to miss out on the ministry to which God calls.

The Word assures us that God will work in us and through us. Consider this passage from 1 Corinthians. I choose to use a paraphrase, The Message, to help with clarity of understanding. "God’s various gifts are handed out everywhere; but they all originate in God’s Spirit. God’s various ministries are carried out everywhere; but they all originate in God’s Spirit. God’s various expressions of power are in action everywhere; but God himself is behind it all. Each person is given something to do that shows who God is: Everyone gets in on it, everyone benefits. All kinds of things are handed out by the Spirit, and to all kinds of people!" (1 Corinthians 12:4-7, The Message)  

If we desire to know the most meaningful life, we will look higher than money, fame, or temporary rewards. We will invite the Spirit to lead us, equip us, and help us to live faithfully today, right we are. Many Christians fail to know the joy of the Lord because they are waiting – for another season, for different situations, for a time when they ‘feel’ more qualified. The decision to be all that God desires starts today!  None of us can begin to know how God will weave the threads of life together in the grand tapestry of His design. The testimony of the five women in Jesus’ genealogy is evidence of that fact.

Here is the word from the Word. "Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity." (Colossians 4:5, NIV) "May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen." (Hebrews 13:20-21, NIV)

Let’s do it!

(Video of this blog at this link)
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You Say
(a beautiful song performed by Lauren Daigle)

I keep fighting voices in my mind
That say I'm not enough
Ev'ry single lie that tells me
I will never measure up

Am I more than just the sum of
Ev'ry high and ev'ry low
Remind me once again just who I am
Because I need to know oo oh

You say I am loved when I can't feel a thing
You say I am strong when I think I am weak
You say I am held when I am falling short
And when I don't belong oh You say I am Yours
And I believe oh I believe
What You say of me I believe

The only thing that matters now
Is ev'rything You think of me
In You I find my worth
In You I find my identity

Taking all I have and now I'm laying it at Your feet
You'll have ev'ry failure God
You'll have ev'ry victory

Oh I believe yes I believe
What You say of me I believe

 

Bebo Norman | Jason Ingram | Lauren Daigle | Mike Donehey | Paul Mabury

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Endure!

So, here we are at the beginning of 2022. Most of us thought that the pandemic mess would be behind us after nearly two years. Surprise! We are in the middle of an outbreak of a new variant, coping with yet more uncertainty. This tiny virus keeps on reminding me of our tenuous grasp on life. Sickness and death seem to find people quite randomly, shattering any illusions I might have about my mastery of fate. Yes, it’s personal for me.  I have lost too many friends and prayed long and hard for many more.  I can hear your thought about now.  “Jerry, I thought that CoffeeBreak is about encouraging us?”  Yes, friend, it is! 

The reality about our existence that the virus has made more evident is one that the ancient Psalm attributed to Moses declares: "You turn people back to dust, saying, “Return to dust!” For you, a thousand years are as yesterday! They are like a few hours! You sweep people away like dreams that disappear or like grass that springs up in the morning. In the morning it blooms and flourishes, but by evening it is dry and withered." (Psalm 90:3-6, NLT) Grim? Perhaps, but living with the knowledge of the brevity of life can help us to gain focus. That same Psalm continues with this prayer: "Teach us to make the most of our time, so that we may grow in wisdom. … Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, so we may sing for joy to the end of our lives." (Psalm 90:12-14, NLT)

God invites us to real life, to live with peace and hope, in spite of  the state of the world in which we are living.

Jesus speaks! “I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." (Matthew 6:25-33, NIV)

Here in the opening days of a New Year, His familiar words challenge me, again, to refocus on what matters, on what cannot be taken from me by the winds of change that blow through my life.

Will you receive those words with faith?
Will you pray, as I have, to find a secure anchor for your life in the eternal promise of God? 

God says that our soul can be secured by Him and that we can find a life that is richer in joy, one that finds meaning. 

How? It is more than the money we acquire, more than the pleasures we enjoy, more than the moments of happiness that we find.  Jesus invites us to live in His kingdom and righteousness. What does that mean? We surrender ourselves to Him, humbly acknowledging that He is in charge, that He directs us, that we live to serve His purposes. 

Given our cultural love of independence, it is difficult for us to accept that peace and fulfillment can be found in submission to Him. Will we pray, as He did, “Lord, not MY will, but Yours be done?”   And He invites us to receive the gift of a right relationship with God that leads us to live as the people of God.  What a key part of knowing the life God intends for us. We need not dread Him, or hide from Him, or work endlessly at ‘proving’ that we are good enough.  He provides us with a gift of grace, acceptance with Him that is beyond our merit or purchase!  Put on the Righteousness of Christ. Secure in Him even death itself loses its terrors.

Reset. Refocus. Refuse the angst so common in the world at the dawn of 2022.  Instead, choose life in Christ.

The word from the Word is a reminder, a little phrase that I pray will find a place in your mind today and for the rest of the coming year. "If we endure, we will also reign with Him." (2 Timothy 2:12, NIV)  

Lord, steady us, help us to seek You above all else that we may live in hope and know Your peace. Amen.

(Video of this blog at this link)
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Be Thou My Vision (Slane)

(Selah sings this beautiful, heart-felt prayer. Pray along with their song)

Be Thou my vision
O Lord of my heart
Naught be all else to me
Save that Thou art
Thou my best thought
By day or by night
Waking or sleeping
Thy presence my light

Be Thou my wisdom
Be Thou my true Word
I ever with Thee
And Thou with me Lord
Thou my great Father
I Thy true son
Thou in me dwelling
And I with Thee one

 High King of heaven
When vict'ry is won
May I reach heaven's joys
O bright heaven's Sun
Heart of my own heart
Whatever befall
Still be my vision
O Ruler of all

 Eleanor Henrietta Hull | Mary Elizabeth Byrne © Words: Public Domain

Balancing the checkbook

 

For many years I have used software called Quicken™ to manage my bank accounts. It makes a formerly dreaded task of month’s end - balancing the checkbook – a breeze. In the past, there was always at least one check or bank fee that I failed to enter or entered incorrectly, something that made the reconciliation process difficult. The only solution was to go back through my check register - line by line – comparing it to the bank statement to find my mistake. I learned that doing it every month was important because if I put it off the job would turn into a real bear!  Today, the process is a simple click of a couple of keys on my PC and I know exactly the balances in my accounts.

About 12 hours from this writing, we will be closing out 2020.  I believe we would do well to take some time to balance the books, so to speak.

Alone, with the Holy Spirit, there is benefit to some reflection.

What kind of questions form our reflection? Some suggestions -

-Am I a debtor to someone needing to ask forgiveness, offer thanks, or seek reconciliation?

-To whom should I speak a word of thanks?

-Am I cultivating habits that make me healthy in body and spirit?

-Do I give priority to my relationship with God, with regular worship, prayer, and spiritual disciplines?

-Is the ‘fruit of the Spirit’ in evidence:  “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  gentleness and self-control?” (Galatians 5:22)

-How did I succeed? ... or fail? ... and by whose measure?

I hope that your reflection is not a ‘once a year’ thing. The accounts of our lives can get awfully out of balance in 12 months. As Christians we ought to take a cue from Paul’s instructions about receiving Communion. He tells us that before we take the holy Cup and Bread, there is an important moment.  To avoid being an unworthy, out of balance Believer, he says, "examine yourself before eating the bread and drinking from the cup." (1 Corinthians 11:28, NLT)  "But if we examine ourselves, we will not be examined by God and judged in this way." (1 Corinthians 11:31, NLT)  It is to be a regular discipline.

Christians are blessed with a gift of God to facilitate the process of keeping life in balance. God, the Holy Spirit, lives in us. Of Him, Jesus said that He would convict us when we err, steady us with assurance, and remind us of our hope in things eternal.  In your reflection, take time to become God-aware, inviting the Spirit to speak.  When you feel His gentle urging to change, to make something right, to recalibrate your course – respond quickly, readily saying, “Yes, Lord!”

Most of make some New Year’s resolutions, don’t we? We declare that this year we will …  and you can fill in that blank. But, 99% of them are notoriously forgotten by the 2^nd week of January!  Christian, that is why we need to regularly enter the Presence of God and prayerfully receive His guidance.

I love Paul’s inspired counsel. "Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit." (Galatians 5:25, NIV)  The most effective way to change  and to sustain that change is to involve others, to become accountable, to have support. That’s why AA is so helpful in the pursuit of sobriety, why Noom™ (an online plan for weight control) works so well. God has given us His Spirit and called us into His Church with the aim of making us into people who live for His glory even as we become ‘more than conquerors’ in this world.

As we leave this year behind, let’s raise our sights higher, pursuing God with passion and purpose.

Here's a word from the Word for us on the last day of 2020. May the Lord give us insight and wisdom to embrace the calling that is urged on us in it.
"I count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord,
for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish,

that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness,
which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ,
the righteousness which is from God by faith;...

Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended;
but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind
and reaching forward to those things which are ahead,

I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 3:8-9, 13-14, NKJV)

Onward to "make a measurable difference for the kingdom of Christ."

(Video of this blog at this link)
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Build My Life

Worthy of ev'ry song we could ever sing
Worthy of all the praise we could ever bring
Worthy of ev'ry breath we could ever breathe
We live for You

Jesus the name above ev'ry other name
Jesus the only one who could ever save
Worthy of ev'ry breath we could ever breathe
We live for You
We live for You

Holy there is no one like You
There is none beside You
Open up my eyes in wonder and show me who You are
And fill me with Your heart
And lead me in Your love to those around me

I will build my life upon Your love
It is a firm foundation
I will put my trust in You alone
And I will not be shaken

Brett Younker | Karl Martin | Kirby Kaple | Matt Redman | Pat Barrett

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Grief and Hope …

 

In the ancient book of Job, the Bible’s story of one man’s terrible trials, there is this pithy observation - "People are born for trouble as predictably as sparks fly upward from a fire." (Job 5:7, NLT)  Simply said, loss and disappointment are included in this thing that we know as ‘being human.’  Today I remember loss with sharp pain of grief on this 6^th anniversary of my wife’s death. That has left a wound in my life that has not fully healed.

I do not write that in self-pity or seeking sympathy for I know that that all of us must cope with loss.  It finds us in so many ways – sickness, death, divorce, addiction, job loss, pandemic, war -  it’s a long list!  I hasten to add that life can be rich in joy and fulfillment, too. I have known countless blessings in my days for which I am profoundly grateful.

How can we live with loss, doing well in spite of the grief that will come to us all?

Life must be lived with realism and acceptance.

How quickly an illusion that we can control life will consume us. Blessed with strength, full of optimism, we set out on the adventure of life. Our marriage is going to be the best ever. Our job is going to be fulfilling and productive. Our friendships will be rich and last for a lifetime. Until … failure comes; sickness visits, a child dies, our spouse turns out not to be the angel we imagined but rather an ordinary sinner.  

Millions experience the death of their dreams and conclude it must be their fault. If only they were smarter, richer, or famous they could make their life work. Believing the lie so many turn in people filled with envy and bitterness. Others refuse to deal with life and work mightily to sustain the fantasy of unending youth to hide their pain, or the pursuit of ‘success’ to prove their worth, or sensual pleasure in an attempt to soothe a troubled soul. Some will turn to alcohol or drugs to mask the ache of loss.  The wise will understand what they can control and what they cannot and learn to accept each season as it comes.

If we realize that we are not just body and emotions, that God has made us with an eternal soul, we can find meaning and fulfillment that sustains us in those changing seasons, that equips us to kind of person that leaves a blessing wherever she goes.

Life is richest when we anchor our hope in the promises of God.

Solomon, the rich king of Israel, lived for himself, accomplishing much, experiencing every pleasure that could be known. As an old man, full of regret, he offered this wisdom to us. "Don’t let the excitement of youth cause you to forget your Creator. Honor him in your youth before you grow old and no longer enjoy living. It will be too late then to remember him, when the light of the sun and moon and stars is dim to your old eyes, and there is no silver lining left among the clouds." (Ecclesiastes 12:1-2, NLT) "Here is my final conclusion: Fear God and obey his commands, for this is the duty of every person." (Ecclesiastes 12:13, NLT)

I listened to a man, 80 years of age, who has lived richly, a leader of others known world-wide, a godly scholar, talk about his recent encounter with cancer. He was not angry, nor was he bitter. He acknowledged that mortality crept up on him, surprising him. But, from the well of his relationship with God, he had drawn real and sustaining hope. “In my physical weakness, I have found my spirit growing stronger, my relationship with God deepening” he said. How can he face the limits of human existence with hope?  Because he knows his Creator through Christ Jesus and lives in faith that the grave is not the end.  

Paul, the apostle, tells us that he prayed for God to remove a troubling hardship. It did not happen. Rather God told him “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." (2 Corinthians 12:9-10, NIV)

Life need not be grim, nor must we surrender to the sorrow. But, if we would live well, we must look higher in faith. Don’t be taken in by that superficial and fake ‘faith’ that insists you can pray away every problem, claim health and wealth as your God-given right.  That is no faith, at all. It is simply an extension of human pride.  Real faith rests on the Person and promise of God Who has promised His Kingdom come to us all and assured us of that hope in the Resurrection of His Son, who overcame death, Hell, and the grave for us.

So, deal with life as it is.
Learn acceptance.
Pray for grace.

Grow deeper.
Keep faith and live in hope – that there more to life than we can see with our human eyes.

Here is the word from the Word. "So think clearly and exercise self-control. Look forward to the special blessings that will come to you at the return of Jesus Christ. Obey God because you are his children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of doing evil; you didn’t know any better then. But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God—who chose you to be his children—is holy. … 

Through Christ you have come to trust in God. And because God raised Christ from the dead and gave him great glory, your faith and hope can be placed confidently in God. … 

As the prophet says, “People are like grass that dies away; their beauty fades as quickly as the beauty of wildflowers. The grass withers, and the flowers fall away. But the word of the Lord will last forever.” And that word is the Good News that was preached to you." (1 Peter 1:13-15, 21, 24-25, NLT)

(Video of this blog at this link)
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Beneath The Cross Of Jesus (Saint Christopher)

Beneath the cross of Jesus
I fain would take my stand
The shadow of a mighty rock
Within a weary land
A home within the wilderness
A rest upon the way
From the burning of the noontide heat
And the burden of the day

Upon the cross of Jesus
Mine eyes at times can see
The very dying form of One
Who suffered there for me
And from my smitten heart with tears
Two wonders I confess
The wonder of redeeming love
And my unworthiness

I take O cross thy shadow
For my abiding place
I ask no other sunshine than
The sunshine of His face
Content to let the world go by
To know no gain nor loss
My sinful self my only shame
My glory all the cross

Elizabeth Cecilia Clephane | Frederick Charles Maker

© Words: Public Domain