When you feel that they just don’t care

She felt invisible. A good Mom, she has loved and cared for her family and seldom receives even a word of appreciation. Her heart is wounded by their thoughtlessness.  He is aged and cries often, not because of physical pain, but because his family is so busy that they forget to include him, in spite of years of caring for them, giving up his own comfort to provide what they needed at the time.

Perhaps you can identify with this, having your own story about being overlooked, ignored, or forgotten by others?

When we give ourselves away, dig in and try to make a difference, only to be misunderstood and/or misjudged, it hurts!  The story of good people who get caught in the crossfire of personalities and egos at work, in their home, or at their church is an all too familiar one. When we find ourselves in those situations we have a choice to make. Will we get bitter?

Bitterness, a self-defensive reflex that says, “Take care of yourself. Trust no one. Build walls.” is chosen so naturally when we are hurting. We might want to retaliate.  Let me tell you something you probably know - bitterness is a poison that is indiscriminate. We cannot pour a cup for another without wounding our own soul.

So, how can we get better instead?

It is no cliché to say – “Remember who you’re ultimately serving!”  Jesus said that even giving a cup of cold water to a thirsty man or visiting a lonely one is a gift to Him. "I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’" (Matthew 25:40, NIV)  He knows exactly why we did what we did and never misunderstands or forgets.  Sobering, isn’t it? Hopefully, it encourages to do good even when we’re unappreciated.

One night, long ago, at a time when I was doing my absolute best to try to lead a church that was broken, a man I had trusted turned against me. He accused me and opposed me at every turn. He saw only a part of what was going on, his judgment was clouded by other associations. After months of being attacked, again and again, my heart was broken, my strength nearly gone. I never came closer to making the choice to leave pastoral ministry than I did one night after yet another tempestuous meeting. Walking alone in the darkness of the church’s sanctuary, with tears streaming down my face that came as much from anger as from sorrow, the Spirit whispered oh so clearly “What do I know about this situation? Have I released you from your calling?”  I found comfort in committing the whole conflict to him, taking my part, and trusting Him to care for the rest.  The grace of His embrace gave me new strength and provided the freedom I needed to pursue forgiveness and reconciliation. It was not simple, nor was it easy! 

If you’re hurting, dangerously close to slipping into bitterness, remember Who it is that you serve, ultimately.

We must not return fire, when others fire on us. Whoa, that’s a tough call, isn’t it? Peter tells us "If you’re treated badly for good behavior and continue in spite of it to be a good servant, that is what counts with God. This is the kind of life you’ve been invited into, the kind of life Christ lived. … He never did one thing wrong, Not once said anything amiss. They called him every name in the book and he said nothing back. He suffered in silence, content to let God set things right." (1 Peter 2:20-23, The Message)  

We actively seek the good of those who hurt us. It is not enough just to face this passively! Going beyond mere non-response supernaturally we move to bless them. "Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you." (Luke 6:28, NLT)

How can we choose this way? Who will care for us? All of this rests on the secure foundation of the Lord’s love for us and His keen insight into the circumstances that have broken our hearts.

IF your soul is battered, IF your heart is broken, WHEN your mind cries out for vindication – go to Jesus’ embrace. He knows the Truth and even if all Hell accuses, it is He alone that makes us right in the sight of the Father.

Here’s a word from the Word. Make it your prayerful meditation today.

"Vindicate me, O LORD, for I have led a blameless life;
I have trusted in the LORD without wavering.
Test me, O LORD, and try me, examine my heart and my mind;
for your love is ever before me, and I walk continually in your truth.

I do not sit with deceitful men, nor do I consort with hypocrites;
I abhor the assembly of evildoers and refuse to sit with the wicked.
I wash my hands in innocence, and go about your altar, O LORD,
proclaiming aloud your praise and telling of all your wonderful deeds.
I love the house where you live,
O LORD, the place where your glory dwells."

(Psalm 26:1-8, NIV)  Amen.

__________

Good, Good Father  (listen, learn, and worship at this link)

I've heard a thousand stories

Of what they think You’re like

But I've heard the tender whisper

Of love in the dead of night

You tell me that You’re pleased

And that I'm never alone

You're a Good Good Father

It's who You are

It's who You are

It's who You are

And I'm loved by You

It's who I am

It's who I am

It's who I am

I've seen many searching for answers

Far and wide

But I know we're all searching for answers

Only You provide

Because You know just what we need

Before we say a word

You are perfect in all of Your ways

You are perfect in all of Your ways

You are perfect in all of Your ways to us

Love so undeniable I can hardly speak

Peace so unexplainable I can hardly think

As You call me deeper still

As You call me deeper still

As You call me deeper still

Into love love love

You're a Good Good Father

It's who You are

It's who You are

It's who You are

And I'm loved by You

It's who I am

It's who I am

It's who I am

Anthony Brown | Pat Barrett

© 2014 Capitol CMG Paragon (Admin. by Capitol CMG Publishing)

Common Hymnal Publishing (Admin. by Capitol CMG Publishing)

CCLI License # 810055

Justified freely - not just dry theology

If we hold that God is the Creator, the Source, the Giver of Life – there is a question that begs an answer.  How can I know Him?  Why would we not want to know the Being Who made us, to discover – in Him – the answers to questions about our purpose in existence? Paul tells us, in the opening passage of Romans, that God announces Himself to humanity in the grandeur of what He’s made, that He writes His moral code into our consciences.
 

But, is it enough to just say there is a Divine Being and then to conclude that He is unknowable?  We need not make that sad choice to live in ignorance of the Holy One. Why? Because, He has revealed Himself to us in His Son, Jesus Christ, and through the pages of the inspired Scripture; and He invites us to know Him.

That revelation includes an astounding declaration about how we can find freedom from that sense (which is real) that we are separated from Him, from the guilt and unworthiness that comes when we approach Him in worship. In the following passage, we find the heart of the Good News, the statement about how we are set right with our God, restored to our Father, and enter into eternal life. 

"But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice . . . so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus." (Romans 3:21-26, NIV)

Justified! Does it matter? Is it a word only of interest to theologians?  It should not be. It is the heart of the Gospel, the great news that we who have wandered far can come home, not abjectly begging for a place among the hired help, but as children in the family, heirs of the Father’s life and riches!  The amazing part is that there is no initiation fee, no arduous pathway to His altar. There is an invitation to believe and receive!

Many find it just too good to be true. Insisting there must be something they must do, they straddle the fence of their own goodness, their own religiosity, and the grace of God. They say that they have faith in Christ and but hold high their baptism as the trophy that makes them right.  They add many things to ‘faith in Jesus’ – church membership, attempts at impeccable morality, humanitarian service, benevolence  … it is a long list. 

All the while God says we are ‘justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.’  Yes, Jerry, but …  I must be good enough for God. And that is the lie that makes sons into slaves. God asks us to take that decisive step, in faith, to leave behind the human religious systems that are so appealing to us and commit ourselves to Jesus Christ alone.

The completed thought of being set right with God (justified!) is that we will become people useful to His purposes, we will find the joy of serving Him,  we will grow away from sin and into holiness that is beautiful, whole, and full of love. 

Are you attempting to act like a Christian without actually becoming one? Are you trying to earn your way into the favor of God, to build a legacy of good that is sufficient to erase your sense of guilt?  If so, you have taken on a task that is impossible.  Would you be willing to just believe what He says to you, to accept His invitation to trust Christ as the complete and total reason for your acceptance at the throne of the Holy One? 

The word from the Word today states the glorious freedom of the children of God. Pause and invite the Spirit to open your heart and mind to the Truth. Then, read on.  "By entering through faith into what God has always wanted to do for us—set us right with him, make us fit for him—we have it all together with God because of our Master Jesus. And that’s not all: We throw open our doors to God and discover, at the same moment, that He has already thrown open His door to us. We find ourselves standing where we always hoped we might stand—out in the wide open spaces of God’s grace and glory, standing tall and shouting our praise." (Romans 5:1-2, The Message)

Yes, we are justified (set right with our Father)  solely by faith in the Savior who gave His life to buy us back from the slavery of sin and the certainty of death. Only trust Him!

_________

Reckless Love

(worship with this song about His love)

Before I spoke a word
You were singing over me

You have been so so good to me

Before I took a breath
You breathed Your life in me

You have been so so kind to me

O the overwhelming never-ending reckless

Love of God

O it chases me down fights 'til I'm found

Leaves the ninety-nine

I couldn't earn it I don't deserve

Still You give Yourself away

O the overwhelming never-ending reckless

Love of God

When I was Your foe still Your love fought for me

You have been so so good to me

When I felt no worth You paid it all for me

You have been so so kind to me

There's no shadow You won't light up

Mountain You won't climb up

Coming after me

There's no wall You won't kick down

Lie You won't tear down

Coming after me

Caleb Culver | Cory Asbury | Ran Jackson

© Watershed Publishing Group (Admin. by Watershed Music Group)

Bethel Music Publishing

Richmond Park Publishing

CCLI License # 810055

That Quiet Confidence

“What’s going to happen to me? Will I be … what if?” Those questions have visited my mind many times throughout my lifetime. Confronted by change, I have a choice to make –  to trust God to lead me into the future or allow an awful anxiety to drive me to desperation.  How well I remember the choices I had to make when confronted with the evidence that my wife of 40 years was terminally ill.  There were parts of me that wanted to run and hide. And God, the Spirit, was present, inviting to remain steady – caring for Bev in her hour of crisis and trusting Him for a whole new future. Is that easy? Silly question! Was it a once and done decision? Not at all.   

Faith was a quiet confidence that I settled on God, that waited, that renewed day by day, that wavered, that found strength in support of friends and family. Faith was found then, and still is, in my willingness to release control of tomorrow to the One who is eternal.

Dramatic events tend to raise our consciousness of our faith (or lack thereof) but the truth is that genuine Christianity is a life of faith that owns us from the moment of each day’s awakening.  Our most basic daily decisions, if we claim to know, love, and serve Christ Jesus will be shaped by faith in what is beyond the perception of our natural eyes.  "The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It’s our handle on what we can’t see. … It’s impossible to please God apart from faith. And why? Because anyone who wants to approach God must believe both that he exists and that he cares enough to respond to those who seek him." (Hebrews 11:6, The Message)

Faith is not just discovered on the day of a diagnosis of terminal cancer, when circumstances go wildly out of our control, or when some critical question demands an answer. Faith leads us to shape the way we work, the way we spend our money, the way we use our time, and forms our most basic identity. It boils down to this – God owns me and secures my future through Jesus Christ or I am master of my destiny. There can be no middle ground.   

As we learn to trust Him with our future, our kids, our marriage, even our own sense of worth – faith grows.  Jesus uses some interesting metaphors to illustrate that growth.  “What is the Kingdom of God like? How can I illustrate it? It is like a tiny mustard seed planted in a garden; it grows and becomes a tree, and the birds come and find shelter among its branches.” He also asked, “What else is the Kingdom of God like? It is like yeast used by a woman making bread. Even though she used a large amount of flour, the yeast permeated every part of the dough.” (Luke 13:18-21, NLT)

Let’s not turn faith into a kind of magic wand. Let’s not allow a caricature of faith to convince us that we are in control as long as we say the right words or somehow “believe” enough.  Instead, will you join me in a quiet confidence in the Father, a willingness to work with Him, to walk where He leads – be it into a spectacular miracle or to formation of the steady trust needed to endure tempestuous times of change?  The ‘Faith Chapter’ – Hebrews 11 – is of two important parts. Most of us tend only to read the first, which recounts the amazing victories won by heroes of faith. But there is a second part that teaches a faith that is much less appealing but just as necessary. 

Read of the steady faith of those who did not find the miracle they desired in their lifetime. "Others braved abuse and whips, and, yes, chains and dungeons. We have stories of those who were stoned, sawed in two, murdered in cold blood; stories of vagrants wandering the earth in animal skins, homeless, friendless, powerless— the world didn’t deserve them!—making their way as best they could on the cruel edges of the world. 

Not one of these people, even though their lives of faith were exemplary, got their hands on what was promised. God had a better plan for us: that their faith and our faith would come together to make one completed whole, their lives of faith not complete apart from ours." (Hebrews 11:36-40, The Message)

________

Lord, give us a Quiet Confidence,
a willingness to trust and wait, to hold onto hope,

to live with joy in the difficult days.

May we not surrender to apathy,

Nor demand what we must have to remain faithful.

Show us Your face,

Keep us near to Your heart.

Whisper to us that You are Master, Savior, and Friend.

In Jesus’ Name.

Amen