By and by, I’ll place an Ebenezer! (see below)

I spent some time looking through old pictures yesterday. Each image triggered memories – some happy, some sad, some wistful.  There were photos of a trip to family reunion in Indiana that I took with my Mom and Dad. Going with them was a spur of the moment decision.  I am now so thankful I took a the time. None of us knew that it would be the last trip together, that Dad would become gravely ill not many months later.  Did God play a part in guiding me to take the time to go? I absolutely believe He did.  It wasn’t the only moment where yesterday’s reflection revealed His hand guiding me.    

The Word tells us that "The steps of the godly are directed by the Lord. He delights in every detail of their lives." (Psalm 37:23, NLT)  Often His hand is unseen in this present moment, but we continue to walk in faith. And, like I did yesterday, as we look back, we can, like Samuel create memorials to remind us of God’s faithfulness.  "Samuel then took a large stone and placed it between the towns of Mizpah and Jeshanah. He named it Ebenezer—“the stone of help”—for he said, “Up to this point the Lord has helped us!” (1 Samuel 7:12, NLT)

Abraham was directed to take his son, Isaac, to Mount Moriah.  God demanded a sacrifice. As they traveled, the boy wondered aloud about a missing element. “Father, we have the wood and the fire, but where is the lamb?”  The man of faith answered, “The LORD will provide!”  Only at the moment of surrender, when Abraham was willing to give that which was dearest to himself, he experienced the fulfillment of his words of faith. "Abraham looked up and saw a ram caught by its horns in the bushes. So he took the ram and sacrificed it in place of his son. Abraham named that place “The Lord Will Provide.” (Genesis 22:13-14, CEV)

I am in one of those times when it is hard to see the Lord’s hand. Frustrating situations, multiple problems for which no solutions are evident, and questions about the future are very much a part of my life right now. My choice is to trust. Why? Because of His promise to direct my steps, to be my Provider.  Only half in jest, I wonder why He doesn’t choose to put enough resources in my bank account to eliminate any concerns, why He doesn’t let me see a level, straight road into tomorrow.  In my heart I know why, though.  Then, I would grow complacent, perhaps even apathetic, in my pursuit of Him.  He loves me enough to keep me close to Him, to encourage me to walk in faith. 

Do you want to look back and know that He has led you? Then, follow the path of Abraham, which is one of faithful obedience for this day. Even if we cannot see the outcome, we must submit our will to His  In time His ‘delight in every detail of our lives,’  will become evident. In eternity, when He reviews our lives, we will see His purposes and plans completely.  Faith will become sight!

Here’s a familiar passage from the Word.  Let’s own it and live in the promise. "Trust in the Lord and do good. Then you will live safely in the land and prosper. Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart’s desires. Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust him, and he will help you. He will make your innocence as clear as the dawn, and the justice of your cause will shine like the noonday sun. Be still in the presence of the Lord, and wait patiently for him to act." (Psalm 37:3-7, NLT)

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Blessed Assurance

Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine.

O what a foretaste of glory divine!

Heir of salvation, purchase of God,

Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood.

Perfect submission, all is at rest.

I, in my Savior, am happy and blest.

Watching and waiting, looking above,

Filled with His goodness, lost in His love.

This is my story, this is my song;

Praising my Savior, all the day long!

This is my story, this is my song;

Praising my Savior, all the day long!

Fanny Jane Crosby | Phoebe Palmer Knapp

Public Domain

Loving the Truth

Loving the Truth

What is a lie?  Is it just telling somebody something that is blatantly untrue?  That’s one kind of lie. A much more common way of lying is creating subtle impressions, allowing others to form wrong conclusions that are encouraged with a wink and a nod, a dropped hint, an arched eyebrow.  But, is that really lying? Yes, it is. We can create an aura of spirituality by dropping the right words or folding our prayers in a prayerful pose. We can devastate another’s reputation without ever explicitly saying a negative word.  In the realm of politics this is called, ‘spin.’  A whole profession has grown up around image-making, teaching people who live in public how to create the right impression or to encourage the slant on the story that puts them in the best light.  And, all of this is an offense to the Lord who calls you and me to authentic living, to love the truth.  

Truth, as a word, is fairly easy to define - the actual state of a matter, conformity with fact, honesty.   Living truthfully is much more difficult.   Admitting to the reality of certain attitudes or thoughts,  acknowledging that we are tempted in certain ways,  dealing with the things we would like not to be true, is a huge challenge.    When I look in the mirror every morning my mind is tempted to superimpose the image of an energetic 30 year old man over the reality staring back at me.  Seriously, it is much more difficult, when I am before the Lord, to acknowledge the realities of my sinful nature that the Spirit brings before me.   When He says, "Jerry, this attitude must change,"  I would rather excuse it or deny it, than deal with it.  

The upside of loving truth is freedom!  The Bible says that "Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does." (James 1:23-25, NIV)

Consider the gifts that loving the Truth provides:  

·         Truth makes us free. No one can control us, deceive us, or blackmail us if we live in truth. 

·         Truth opens the door to Christ’s gift of grace that makes us holy. "Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth. Just as you sent me into the world, I am sending them into the world. And I give myself as a holy sacrifice for them so they can be made holy by your truth." (John 17:17-19, NLT)      

·         Truth lets us to live 'in the Light.'  We don’t stumble around, falling into things, hurting ourselves when we live outside of the shadows.    Jesus said, "If you stick with this, living out what I tell you, you are my disciples for sure. Then you will experience for yourselves the truth, and the truth will free you." (John 8:31-32, The Message)    And, "he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God." (John 3:21, NKJV)   Interesting statement isn't it?  "Does the truth."    Truth is not abstract nor is it merely philosophical.  We can live it!   

  

Do you love the truth?  
Is your life characterized by honesty, authenticity?  
Do you refuse to play games with yourself and others?  

Living in that way will not necessarily win any popularity contests.  Jesus confronted the world with the truth and they killed Him for it!   But, living in the truth and letting truth shape your life from the inside out will make you whole and holy, a person who conquers temptation and pleases God.    Look for even the smallest kinds of bending the truth in your life and ask God to give you the courage and strength to get it right.

Here's a word from the Word for your thoughts today:   "Let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’ For whatever is more than these is from the evil one." (Matthew 5:37, NKJV)  No spin, just the Truth!

Tears of Engagement

I find myself in tears after a phone call to my office from a young mother who can’t afford diapers for her baby because Daddy decided it was more important to have ‘fun’ than to take care of his child.  Driving down the street in our little town, I see teenage kids shuffling along, trying hard to look cool, and I cry for  them because I know that they find the world a scary place these days.  Reading about 2 boys in an Ohio town who decided a dead-drunk girl was just a toy for their gratification makes me cry – for her, for them.  The empire-building that continues in this world – the rich exploiting and oppressing the poor – makes me cry, too.  Yes, I cry about myself, too, when I realize how easily I am distracted by some trinket, taken up by some fad, deafened by choice to the Spirit’s voice.

These tears are not born of despondency or depression. They are the Spirit’s work. He allows us to catch of glimpse of the heart of the Father that is broken by the sins and suffering of His Creation. Do you realize that the Bible’s Gospel is not at all about escape?  It is about engagement.  God did not abandon the world to sin, He came to be part of the world to bring salvation to us. "So the Word became human and lived here on earth among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the only Son of the Father." (John 1:14, NLT) “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16, NLT)  Jesus Christ is God come to earth, God becoming Man, God warring with Evil, God defeating sin.  Our churches are decorated by crosses and from that many people gather that what happened there was the grand finale of God’s plan, except it wasn’t!

Yes, the Cross is amazing and key to our hope.  There we see Jesus becoming sin for us, bearing the guilt of the world.  But, the story of the Cross is incomplete without Resurrection morning.  When Jesus stepped out of the Tomb, alive forever more, He gave us evidence that sin’s power is broken.  Like Jesus we need not preserve our lives by escape.  We can ‘die’ to Self, engage with a suffering world at great cost, because of the Resurrection!  We must remember that we are invited to enter into new life with Him, not just so we can eventually go to Heaven, but to wrench Creation and those who live in it from the grasp of evil.  We can give our lives with the certain hope that He will give us everlasting life. After a long, detailed argument about the reality of Jesus’ resurrection, the Word comes around to this conclusion: "Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain." (1 Corinthians 15:58, NIV)

Are you so assured of God’s power to save that you will follow Him into dark places to be His light, serve Him in difficult situations without complaint?  Here is a word from the Word. Take hold of its promise by faith then boldly go where tears abound, with complete confidence in His promise to save. "And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you." (Romans 8:11, NIV)  “ Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us." (Romans 8:34, NIV)  "We are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:37-39, NIV)

Amen

Life in Three Tenses

Maribel, one of our kids, was a sprinter when she was in prep school. One of her events was the 4 x 100 meter, a race with four runners. The continuity of the race is the baton and the key is the hand-off. It happens in a blind fashion. The outgoing runner does not look backwards, even as she extends her hand to receive the baton. It is the responsibility of the incoming runner to thrust it into her outstretched hand, and not let go until the outgoing runner takes hold of it.

It's a metaphor for life. We are part of a long relay, generations overlapping, influence passing from one person to the next. We anticipate tomorrow even as we remember yesterday!  Like Paul, I often say, "I thank my God every time I remember you." (Philippians 1:3, NIV)  I live in three tenses: past, present, and future.
Yesterday is a treasure!
Today is taking shape.
Tomorrow is full of promise - because of those with whom I walk and the plans of God.  

Last week, I had to write a letter of farewell to friends who moved on. It is hard to extend the baton and release it to them as they run on. But, as the Preacher of Ecclesiastes writes, "There is a time for everything, a season for every activity under heaven. A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to harvest. ... A time to cry and a time to laugh." (Ecclesiastes 3:1-9, NLT) Even as one partnership dissolves, another takes shape. There is sadness, offset by joy.  In our extended families, we gather for funerals or weddings. Friends, people we knew in the past, relatives; as well as new acquaintances, come for a time to sit down to feast. Ties from the past are strengthened and possibilities for the future are formed around those tables.  

In the book of the Revelation, so full of conflict and suffering, there is a moment of promise. John sees a great celebration, a gathering of God's people that never ends. "I heard again what sounded like the shout of a huge crowd, or the roar of mighty ocean waves, or the crash of loud thunder: "Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns. Let us be glad and rejoice and honor him. For the time has come for the wedding feast of the Lamb, and his bride has prepared herself. She is permitted to wear the finest white linen." (Fine linen represents the good deeds done by the people of God.) And the angel said, "Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb." And he added, "These are true words that come from God." (Revelation 19:6-9, NLT)

Eternity offers us rest, completion, the joy of no more handing off the baton! I so look forward to not needing to say, "so long" to anyone ever again. But until then, I'll keep running. How about you? Here's a word from the Word. " Do you see what this means-all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we'd better get on with it. Strip down, start running-and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins." (Hebrews 12:1, The Message) There is a race to be run. Let's go!

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This Could Be The Dawning

A parade began at Calv'ry,

The saints of all the ages fill its ranks.

O'er the sands of time they're marching,

To their King's great coronation,

And this could be the dawning of that day.

Oh, this could be the dawning

Of that grand and glorious day!

When the face of Jesus we behold.

Dreams and hopes of all the ages,

Are awaiting His returning,

And this could be the dawning of that day.

Gloria Gaither | William J. Gaither

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