Take my hand

Coronavirus – Covid19.  It’s become real and people are afraid! Are you?  So many are making decisions that are out of proportion to the actual threat of the virus. Our economy is staggering as the stock market responds with fear. Travel plans are being cancelled. Even the smallest risk of exposure is creating terrible anxiety. What I read tells me to take basic precautions – wash hands frequently, keep hands away from the face. It appears that the vast majority of people who do get infected develop symptoms like the common cold and quickly recover. But, fear is a powerful thing and the daily drone of news amplifies our sense that the threat is imminent for each of us.

Don’t let yourself be driven – in any part of life – by fear. Face the fact that Life is not a sure thing! 

If you prepare to start a new project there will always be naysayers who will warn you that 'there isn't enough money, there isn't enough time, somebody might sue us ...”  If you take the lead for change you will inevitably be told that you’re “too young, too old, too dumb, too smart...” to live your dream.  Here is what I know -  if we believe those negative voices, we begin to die inwardly because we put our dreams on the shelf and go home to our recliners to watch TV alone night after night: safe but ‘dead.’

Reading in Matthew, we saw how Jesus fed 5000 people miraculously. It was a high moment, a wondrous thing to celebrate. He then sent His disciples home across the lake by boat, while he went to seek a solitary place of prayer. It was rough going  because of waves and wind. In the middle of the night, Jesus came to them - walking on the water. Their first response? Terror!  Who expects to see a man coming through the mists in the middle of a lake? “Surely,” they thought, “We are seeing a ghost.”  Then, He spoke.  

Peter recognized the voice of Jesus and in keeping with his impulsiveness he said, "Lord, if it's you tell me to come to you on the water."  "Come," he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, "Lord, save me!" Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. "You of little faith," he said, "why did you doubt?" (Matthew 14: 29-31 NIV)

This isn't a story about a daredevil who threw all caution to the wind or about a man with a secret death wish. Peter wanted to know His Lord and his love for Jesus overcome all fear, leading him to obedience. Peter asked Jesus to call him and when the Lord did, Peter responded -- against all good sense -- by getting out of the boat. He walked on the water until he realized the absurdity of his situation and only then  he failed... or did he?  I think that the real failures that night were the other 11 guys who sat safely in the boat watching Peter do the impossible.

We smile at Peter’s quickly fading faith, at the fact that when he realized he was standing on water, he grew fearful. But, I’m impressed that he obeyed Jesus’ invitation. I, too, have responded to His invitation only to begin to grasp the ‘impossibility’ of my situation and to slip into fear. He is there, my Savior, my God. Have you ever figuratively walked on water or are you safe in the boat, unwilling to take a risk?  Willingness to take a risk is an integral part of success!  Those unwilling to fail cannot succeed.

Are waves kicking up around your little lifeboat today?  Are your kids rebelling?  Is your marriage strained?  Is some sin pulling hard on you, so much that the temptation is nearly overwhelming?  Have past financial decisions come around creating a situation you can’t control?   Are you afraid of aging, the future, or the coronavirus?   We all have storms that come up, making waves. No matter how risk averse you are, sickness, stress, and hardships find us all. That's life!

Jesus walks with us. He's passing by, and He’s inviting us to walk on the waves! Will you accept the challenge to grow a bigger, deeper faith?  When you hear His voice, get out of the boat. 

Here’s the word from the Word.  Make it yours as you meditate on it. "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily hinders our progress. And let us run with endurance the race that God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from start to finish. He was willing to die a shameful death on the cross because of the joy he knew would be his afterward. Now he is seated in the place of highest honor beside God’s throne in heaven. Think about all he endured when sinful people did such terrible things to him, so that you don’t become weary and give up." (Hebrews 12:1-3, NLT)

__________

“Precious Lord, Take My Hand”

Lyrics & Music by Thomas A. Dorsey

Performed by Mahalia Jackson

Precious Lord, take my hand

Lead me on, let me stand

I'm tired, I’m weak, I’m lone

Through the storm, through the night

Lead me on to the light

Take my hand precious Lord, lead me home

When my way grows drear precious Lord linger near

When my light is almost gone

Hear my cry, hear my call

Hold my hand lest I fall

Take my hand precious Lord, lead me home

When the darkness appears and the night draws near

And the day is past and gone

At the river I stand

Guide my feet, hold my hand

Take my hand precious Lord, lead me home

“You are asking the impossible!”

The person who is serious about following Jesus soon runs into His ‘impossible’ requests. He says to you and me -  “Build my Church!”  “Make disciples!” “Love your enemy!” “Forgive as I forgave you!”  “Die to Self.”  Maybe you are more optimistic about yourself than I, but that list, which is just a beginning, is marked by things that are simply not possible for me in my own natural strength.  

That is where faith meets my inability.  I trust the Spirit to work a daily miracle of grace. Will you?

Here is a story about a day when Jesus made an impossible request of His friends.

"When Jesus heard what had happened, (the execution of John, the Baptist) he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns. When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick. As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.”

Jesus replied, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.” “We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered. “Bring them here to me,” he said. And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children." (Matthew 14:13-21, NIV)

“You give them something to eat!”  The crowd numbered in the thousands, they were miles from any major town, and they had no money. Jesus seemed to be ignoring the reality of the situation. John’s Gospel adds the detail that it was Philip who spoke up. He said what they all thought. “It would take a small fortune, nearly a year’s wages, to buy bread, even if we could find any.” John tells us that Jesus "was testing Philip, for he already knew what he was going to do." (John 6:6, NLT)  Andrew brought a boy and his lunch to Jesus, who gave thanks for it and miraculously multiplied so that it fed the whole crowd, with 12 baskets of leftovers!

God already has a plan for me, for you.
It may not align with our understanding in the moment. Who thought that a boy’s lunch was of much use in feeding a crowd of thousands that day so long ago? Instead of raising our objections, we can take our cue from Isaiah who teaches us to "Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near." (Isaiah 55:6, NIV)  Present yourself to Him, ready to respond. He can, and often does, work in our lives outside of our expectations.   

Why? “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." (Isaiah 55:8-9, NIV) As you read Isaiah’s words are you tempted to say, “How can I ever know His plans?”  The Spirit of God lives in us. When you face an ‘impossibility’  if you will readily respond in faith, given what you know of Him in this moment, He will unfold the mysteries of His plan as you need to know it.

Andrew may have felt foolish bringing a boy’s lunch to Jesus in response to His direction to feed the crowd, but it was all he had and he offered it.  That kind of faith pleases God and prepares us to find His way and will sufficient to live in obedience.  Is that a difficult truth for you to accept, sounding like nonsense?  Pray for the mind of Christ. Submit your thoughts to Him, choosing to be quiet, to wait, to listen.  This is not about being gullible, or charging off to just do something because you think God must bless every choice YOU make. That’s not faith, that is presumptuous nonsense. To see the hand of God at work often demands that we wait with patient hope.

God does ask the impossible of us – that we live as His children in this world. But, He is not cruel, nor does He throw us into the deep water and abandon us there. He leads, He empowers, He is present. So, take this word from the Word. My prayer is that the Truth will inspire a new faith in us, that readily believes the plan of God that has been established from the dawn of Creation. "For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength." (Philippians 4:13, NLT)

Now, where is that hungry crowd that needs to be fed His Word?

__________

Christ Be Magnified

( A new worship song by Cory Asbury.
Let it be your prayer today.)

Were creation suddenly articulate

With a thousand tongues to lift one cry

Then from north to south and east to west

We'd hear Christ be magnified

Were the whole earth echoing His eminence

His name would burst from sea and sky

From rivers to the mountain tops

We'd hear Christ be magnified

O Christ be magnified

Let His praise arise

Christ be magnified in me

O Christ be magnified

From the altar of my life

Christ be magnified in me

When ev'ry creature finds its inmost melody

And ev'ry human heart its native cry

O then in one enraptured hymn of praise

We'll sing Christ be magnified

I won't bow to idols

I'll stand strong and worship You

And if it puts me in the fire

I'll rejoice 'cause You're there too

I won't be formed by feelings

I hold fast to what is true

If the cross brings transformation

Then I'll be crucified with You

(You can hang me there with You)

'Cause death is just the doorway

Into resurrection life

If I join You in Your suff'rings

Then I'll join You when You rise

And when You return in glory

With all the angels and the saints

My heart will still be singing

My song will be the same

Cody Carnes | Cory Asbury | Ethan Hulse

© 2019 Cory Asbury Publishing (Admin. by Bethel Music Publishing)

Capitol CMG Paragon (Admin. by Capitol CMG Publishing)

Writer's Roof Publishing (Admin. by Capitol CMG Publishing)

CCLI License # 810055

The Carpenter’s Son

You know that phrase – “Familiarity breeds contempt” – don’t you? When we know someone closely, it’s hard to think of them as uniquely gifted or talented. It is possible to completely miss the value of a friend’s advice just because they are a friend. That wisdom that comes from Mom or Dad that is so treasured by other people just sounds like the same old tired stuff we have heard them say from childhood. Our church can seem so boring or dull compared to the one two towns over because we know the patterns of our worship so well. Yes, we can overlook the love of our spouse, the stability of our home, the value of our steady job – just because those things are so close to us, so familiar, that we do not see the whole picture.

Here is something that is seriously important to remember – we can grow close to Jesus, knowing His goodness and grace for a long time and that familiarity can rob us of the wonder of faith.

Take a look at this from Matthew’s Gospel. Jesus went home to minister and when He stood up to teach in the local place of worship, at first the people were astonished, but then they grew offended. “Who does He think He is?”  "Coming to his hometown, he began teaching the people in their synagogue, and they were amazed. “Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?” they asked. “Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother’s name Mary, and aren’t his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas? Aren’t all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?” And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, “Only in his hometown and in his own house is a prophet without honor.” And he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith." (Matthew 13:54-58, NIV)

One way to keep our faith fresh is to renew the full understanding of the revelation of Christ Jesus.

The Man of the Gospels is approachable and relatable. I love thinking of Jesus walking with His disciples, laughing in the sunshine, getting irritated with them when they were slow to learn, showing them the power of God when He stopped to heal a blind man. It’s a comforting, human, accessible mental image of my Savior, but if that is the only way I think of Him, it could be difficult to trust Him when life gets crazy or confusing.

I need to see the image of the majestic, mysterious Revelation of John, too. "On the Lord’s Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, which said: “Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea.” I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and among the lampstands was someone “like a son of man,” dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance. 

When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades." (Revelation 1:10-18, NIV)  That can just stop me in my tracks, make me draw a deep breath, and say reverentially, “Jesus, Majesty!”  It’s not as comforting as thinking of the Carpenter, Mary’s Son, but it is the completed picture of the Lord of Glory who desires our full faith and complete obedience.

Let’s not make the mistake of making God too small, taming Him in an attempt to make Him accessible. If we do this, we risk growing offended when things go upside in our lives, when He (as we think of Him) does not do as we think He ought to do.  C. S. Lewis, in his famed allegory of Christ, as Aslan, the lion, reminds us of the wonder. “Aslan is a lion- the Lion, the great Lion." "Ooh" said Susan. "I'd thought he was a man. Is he-quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion"..."Safe?" said Mr Beaver ..."Who said anything about safe? 'Course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the King, I tell you.”  (The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe)  Lord, make that my conviction – that You are powerful, not ‘safe’ but always good. Amen.

The word from the Word calls us to both mystery and love. "Therefore, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful." (Hebrews 10:19-23, NIV)

_________

Majesty
(one of those classic worship choruses)

Majesty worship His majesty

Unto Jesus be all glory

Honor and praise

Majesty kingdom authority

Flow from His throne

Unto His own His anthem raise

So exalt lift up on high

The name of Jesus

Magnify come glorify

Christ Jesus the King

Majesty worship His majesty

Jesus who died now glorified

King of all kings

Jack Hayford

© 1981 New Spring (Admin. by Brentwood-Benson Music Publishing, Inc.)

CCLI License # 810055