Are you bitter?

The frustration, the disappointment, the apparent lack of options made a person I was meeting with feel boxed in, wondering what to do next. Every choice available had such cost – come, go, stay, walk away?  I could empathize!  Dealing with a rebellious teen in my own household at times leaves me overwhelmed, too. Rejection stings. Discipline is rejected. In his eyes, I am the one who has the problem. After all, what’s wrong with playing video games all day and half the night? I can only sigh and hang on for tomorrow. My frustration spills over into complaint sometimes, too. “Where are You, Lord? Why have you given me this assignment, too?”   

How wonderful to remember that my spiritual security does not from my grip on His hand, but rather by His grasp of my hand. In the Scripture, I read: "I realized that my heart was bitter, and I was all torn up inside. … Yet I still belong to You; You hold my right hand." (Psalm 73:21, 23, NLT)

John, leader of the churches in Asia Minor, living in Ephesus, was an old man. Rome, cracking down on the Christians, sent him to exile on a little rocky island called Patmos.  How could that old preacher not feel forsaken? There he was in a cave, alone. Do you imagine that he sulked, whined, and shook his fist at God? You would be wrong. The book of the Revelation opens with this note:  “It was the Lord’s Day, and I was worshiping in the Spirit.” (1:10). As he prayed, John received those wildly wonderful pictures of God’s ultimate triumph over Evil that we read in that book! His submission God allowed him to enter into a place of supernatural renewal.

Could he have known the comfort of the touch of the Lord if he wrapped himself in a stinking blanket of bitterness stained with his disappointment with God? I think the answer to that question is obvious. Before you jump to the conclusion that to be frustrated by life is somehow a sin or a lack of faith, let me hasten to add that I find no place in the Bible that tells us that we cannot weep. Even those of deep faith sometimes walk in the dark, unable to see what is ahead, their tomorrows hidden by the fog of frustration. Yes, sometimes our tears flow equally from sorrow and anger in those moments.

In those days when the soul-ache is deep, when words turn into heavy sighs, we still have a choice to make: we can become bitter or we can become broken. A bitter man blames God and cuts himself off from the touch of the Father’s hand. A broken man kneels in humble worship. David sings that broken hearts are open to God’s healing. "I learned God-worship when my pride was shattered. Heart-shattered lives ready for love don’t for a moment escape God’s notice." (Psalm 51:17, The Message)

Are you feeling the pressures of life today? 

Does it seem that God has turned away?

Choose to wait, humbly, for Him. When tempted by bitterness, reject it. Instead, let your heart break.  I pray that the Spirit will find you with His tender, comforting touch.

Our word from the Word comes from a favorite Psalm. Note the lead words of each thought that call to reliance on the Lord.

"Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.

Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.

Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him;
do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes.

Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret—it leads only to evil.
For evil men will be cut off, but those who hope in the Lord will inherit the land."
(Psalm 37:3-9, NIV)

_____________________

I Surrender All

All to Jesus I surrender

All to Him I freely give

I will ever love and trust Him

In His presence daily live

All to Jesus I surrender

Make me Savior wholly Thine

Let me feel the Holy Spirit

Truly know that Thou art mine

I surrender all

I surrender all

All to Thee my blessed Savior

I surrender all

Judson Wheeler Van DeVenter

© Words: Public Domain

Watching Death Approach

For two days my focus has been with Dad Catalano (my father in law) as his body is failing.  The strong hands that could take some pine boards and make a beautiful table lie folded, occasionally feebly moving in slow waves. Mostly quiet, there are moments when he mutters unintelligibly though I smiled when advised me, clearly and out of nowhere, to ‘Buy a Maytag. They last forever.’  His pastor visited yesterday and we sang, “Blessed Assurance” at Dad’s bedside. My heart broke in that moment. Mostly, I think of eternity as I wait and watch. What drama is swirling in the spiritual realms around us? Do angels stand guard to take him home? Surely the Presence of the Spirit is near, that much I know. As Dad travels through the valley of the shadow of death we are assured that the Lord is with him.

The Psalm teaches us to sing thus. "I love the Lord, for he heard my voice; he heard my cry for mercy. Because he turned his ear to me, I will call on him as long as I live. The cords of death entangled me, the anguish of the grave came upon me; I was overcome by trouble and sorrow. Then I called on the name of the Lord: “O Lord, save me!” The Lord is gracious and righteous; our God is full of compassion. The Lord protects the simplehearted; when I was in great need, he saved me." (Psalm 116:1-6, NIV)  And then this line - "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints." (Psalm 116:15, NIV)

Death can be a time of ultimate abandonment, when the sheer terror of it, the irresistible pull of the living into the chasm of death, causes people to turn away from the dying, to shrink into a protective shell. But not for those who walk with God. He is not put off by the ugliness of death, He cares and engages and loves even in that moment. "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints."  Yes, as ugly as death looks from our side of the doorway to eternity, for our loving Father it is a treasured moment when He readies us to know Him fully, to enjoy His Presence in ways that defy our imagination. "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints."

This is yet another reason to live near to the heart of God, as one of His treasured possessions. We are made His children by His grace gift, our forgiveness and reconciliation secured by the promise of Jesus who died that we might live. Sainthood is a daily way of life. Do not be misled to think it is only the hope of a few super-Christians.  You and I are called to be saints! Paul tells us that we are "loved by God and called to be saints: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ." (Romans 1:7, NIV) That means we find our purpose in loving Him, choose to obey the Spirit’s direction, and make our day to day choices guided by the Holy Spirit.  Max Lucado asks this:  “If today were your last, would you do what you’re doing? Or would you love more, give more, forgive more? Then do so! Forgive and give as if it were your last opportunity. Love like there’s no tomorrow, and if tomorrow comes, love again.”

In this, we are saints. "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints."

The process of death is hard, ugly, ripping away that person we love. But, in Christ and His salvation we can live in great hope. This grand declaration is our word from the Word.  Hear it and live ready to be welcomed home, a saint. “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 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 15:55-58, NIV)

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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 perfect delight

Visions of rapture now burst on my sight

Angels descending bring from above

Echoes of mercy whispers of love

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

© Words: Public Domain

Faith out of focus

Imagine going to your doctor to talk about severe digestive issues and having her obsess on a hangnail she saw on your hand! Silly, isn’t it?  You would object, “Dr. my hangnail is an issue but it’s tiny compared to the main thing, being that I cannot eat without pain!”  What if you took your car to the garage to have them find out why it is so hard to start in the morning and when you returned found out that they had merely checked the pressure in the tires? “Tires? They are not the problem!” you would tell the service advisor.

In our Christian life we must guard against becoming focused on secondary issues as a reason for our existence!

Congregations do not exist to support church buildings.

Pastors are not called to be therapists or morale boosters.

Worship gatherings are not a place to be entertained.

Serving in ministry is not about finding self-fulfillment.

Sermons are not good just because they are interesting.

Prayer is not about ‘getting things from God.’  

We have one core purpose as Christians and as His Church –
to know Christ and to make Him known! 

Feeding the hungry is important, however we do it as an expression of the love of Christ, not simply for humanitarian reasons. We must care for orphans, defend those who are powerless, build community – but always with the desire of making Christ visible.  Preaching that does not bring people to the Cross of Christ and invite them to know the renewal of the Spirit may be helpful in creating better lives, but it misses the point.

Paul’s declaration should be one we all make daily - "I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead." (Philippians 3:10-11, NIV)  You may be thinking that is rather a statement of the obvious.  It isn’t! We become sidetracked into personal agendas, taken up with pet projects, and wrapped up in our own religious mindset so easily.  Paul knew that. Just before that magnificent passage just quoted he wrote - "Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith." (Philippians 3:8-9, NLT)

We can become ‘professional’ Christians, adept at saying the right words, doing ‘right’ kinds of things, without really knowing Jesus. Our word from the Word is a warning from the Lord Himself. 
“Knowing the correct password—saying ‘Master, Master,’ for instance—isn’t going to get you anywhere with me. What is required is serious obedience—doing what my Father wills. I can see it now—at the Final Judgment thousands strutting up to me and saying, ‘Master, we preached the Message, we bashed the demons, our God-sponsored projects had everyone talking.’ And do you know what I am going to say? ‘You missed the boat. All you did was use me to make yourselves important. You don’t impress me one bit. You’re out of here.’ “These words I speak to you are not incidental additions to your life, homeowner improvements to your standard of living. They are foundational words, words to build a life on. If you work these words into your life, you are like a smart carpenter who built his house on solid rock." (Matthew 7:21-24, The Message)

Make Christ- His Life, His Cross, His Resurrection - the core of your life. Pray that all attitudes, plans, words, and actions will flow from a heart fully devoted to the Savior, Lord, and King.

____________

Be The Centre

Jesus be the centre

Be my source be my light

Jesus

Jesus be the centre

Be my hope be my song

Jesus

Jesus be my vision

Be my path be my guide

Jesus

Be the fire in my heart

Be the wind in these sails

Be the reason that I live

Jesus Jesus

Michael Frye

© 1999 Vineyard Songs (UK/Eire) (Vineyard Music UK)

CCLI License # 810055