“Do the next thing.”

 Elizabeth Elliott, Christian missionary, mother, teacher, and author, lived a full life that included what seems to be more than her fair share of suffering. She endured the long uncertainty of a 5 year courtship with a man who did not know if he should marry her. Finally, Jim did marry her and their marriage was sweet. Then, he was martyred 2 years later, leaving her a single parent.  

 In pursuit of her calling to an Amazonian tribal people, she found herself in a terrible, unceasing conflict with another missionary that became so sharp she left Ecuador after 2 years of attempting to find reconciliation. She was criticized by many in the Christian world for her prolific writing and teaching that challenged the ‘victory speak’ and superficial Christianity she found in so many churches in America. Her second husband died after a long bout with cancer. 

In later life, she slipped into Alzheimer’s disease, that robbed her of her sharp mind. But this was her creed… “And I’ve come to see that it’s through the deepest suffering that God has taught me the deepest lessons. And if we’ll trust Him for it, we can come through to the unshakable assurance that He’s in charge. He has a loving purpose. And He can transform something terrible into something wonderful. Suffering is never for nothing.” ― Elisabeth Elliot, Suffering Is Never for Nothing

I loved the biography of the first half of her life, Becoming Elizabeth Elliott, which I read this week. I wondered how she remained a vital, faithful, fruitful follower of Jesus through all the trials and sorrow. Her choice was simple - “Do the next thing.” I don’t know any simpler formula for peace, for relief from stress and anxiety than that very practical, very down-to-earth word of wisdom. Do the next thing. That has gotten me through more agonies than anything else I could recommend.”  Each time life knocked her down, she stood up, asked God for direction, and made the most of the next opportunity.

IF we are engaged with our world, deeply committed to the calling of Christ, we will find ourselves going through hardships. We don’t have to go looking for them. We don’t have to pick a fight for Christ’s sake. We don’t have to try to be a martyr!   

The choice of discipleship sets us against the world systems, our own ego-centric nature, and the Evil One.  Even if we do not experience great tragedy, we will be faced with the call of Jesus to ‘come and die,’ to ‘take up our cross.’  Being His disciple is a choice that comes with a cost, always. If we are content to know just enough “Jesus” to feel that we are ready for Heaven if He calls us home (Not too soon, though) but not so much “Jesus” that it disturbs our comfortable lives, we will never become beautiful believers.

But, when we choose to serve, generously give our time and money not from our excess but as a priority, forgive, love, worship – all things that are costly to Self – we are building a true treasure. We will begin to radiate His light into our dark world. Our reward may not be recognition but God sees and rewards. Today?  Perhaps not, but certainly!  

 Paul, writing to us, assures that the daily choice of discipleship, though hard, has rich returns. "Among God’s churches we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring. All this is evidence that God’s judgment is right, and as a result you will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are suffering. God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels." (2 Thessalonians 1:4-7, NIV)

When we endure the hard, we become worthies of His Kingdom, men and women of note in Heaven! 

Ah friend, can you see beyond time’s horizon to hold onto the promise? 
Will you, by faith, receive the truth that God is just and that the sacrifices made will find His recognition?
As Elizabeth Elliott would declare – “Suffering is never for nothing!”

This coming week in our time of Thanksgiving many are finding life more difficult than they might want it to be. There is uncertainty about the future.  We are in a troubled time of political and social change. As Christians, let’s deal with this without complaint. Even as we live in the reality of the ‘hard,’ we can stay steady in faith and offer genuine thanks to the God who never walks off, never abandons us, the God who stays!  We will pray, together, for Jesus’ life to be recreated us and in Him we will find life to the full as well the assurance of eternal life.

Here is the word from the Word.  "And so we keep on praying for you, that our God will make you worthy of the life to which he called you. And we pray that God, by his power, will fulfill all your good intentions and faithful deeds. Then everyone will give honor to the name of our Lord Jesus because of you, and you will be honored along with him. This is all made possible because of the undeserved favor of our God and Lord, Jesus Christ." (2 Thessalonians 1:11-12, NLT)

 

NOTE -  Thank you for traveling with me in these daily thoughts.
Next week, I’ll be taking a break from writing. 
CoffeeBreak will be back on Monday, November 30, and together we can make the journey of Advent.

Happy Thanksgiving!

________

The God Who Stays
(Matthew West worships our faithful, loving Father)

If I were You I would've given up on me by now
I would've labeled me a lost cause
'Cause I feel just like a lost cause
If I were You
I would've turned around and walked away
I would've labeled me beyond repair
'Cause I feel like I'm beyond repair

But ('Cause) somehow You don't see me like I do
Somehow You're still here 

You're (From) the God who stays
You're the God who stays
You're the one who runs in my direction
When the whole world walks away

You're the God who stands
With wide open arms
And You tell me nothing I have ever done
Could separate my heart
(From the God who stays)

I used to hide
Every time I thought I let You down
I always thought I had to earn my way
But I'm learning You don't work that way

My shame can't separate my guilt can't separate
My past can't separate I'm Yours forever
My sin can't separate my scars can't separate
My failures can't separate I'm Yours forever
No enemy can separate
No power of hell can take away
Your love for me will never change

I'm Yours forever

AJ Pruis | Jonathan Smith | Matthew West
© Be Essential Songs (Admin. by Essential Music Publishing LLC)

Cashagamble Jet Music (Admin. by Essential Music Publishing LLC)

Combustion Five (Admin. by Me Gusta Music LLC)

Highly Combustible Music (Admin. by One77 Songs c/o Kobalt Songs Music Publishing (ASCAP))

CCLI License # 810055

An emotional mess?

 

Last night, while reading some new state regulations for COVID there were rumbles in my heart, a gathering storm that signaled that I was not reacting rationally. My emotions were surging.  Seems to me that many of us are ‘emoting’ rather than thinking these days, reacting instead of responding. Fear or anger, two common emotions in this time, do not shape the best responses in any of us, do they?

Are you emotional? While some people more readily allow themselves to feel and express emotions than others it is a fact that we ALL experience those ‘feelings’ we call – emotions. They are gifts from God that give us the abilities to know joy, to feel fear, to be happy, to grieve, to love though love is more than a feeling. Rich as they are, it is a grave mistake to allow emotions to rule. That said, let’s not go to the other extreme either, repressing or ignoring those feelings. When we learn how to experience a rich emotional life we are richer, more human.  And yet we know, or at least we should, that when our feelings are put in charge of our behavior, we are at risk of playing the fool. When motions rule, there is instability, a lack of productivity. We expect a toddler to plummet from giddy heights of laughter to stormy tumult of tears within 5 minutes. An adult who allows himself to be that volatile gives cause for concern!

So what’s my point today? 

Let’s keep faith fixed on the Solid Rock, Christ Jesus,
who is greater than the state of our heart at any given moment!

Many Christians reduce their faith to an ‘experience,’ chasing a feeling, even judging the reality of their salvation by what emotions rule at the moment.  We are not more ‘saved’ on those days when we feel serene, nor are we less loved by God when our inner life is in a tempest!  I am a Pentecostal Christian who values personal experience because I believe that the Holy Spirit is present, active, and moving me. My worship includes laughter and tears. 

In times of prayer it is not uncommon for me to become so full of emotion that it spills over in tears, is expressed with an outburst of loud praise, or even a hearty laugh! Jesus told us that we must "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’" (Mark 12:30, NIV) Our walk with the Lord is a combination of emotion and truth, of passion and discipline, of feeling and fact.

God’s love for us is not at the mercy of our emotions. He does not only love us when we have those warm and fuzzy feelings that come when we hear our favorite worship song or hymn. He is not more present if we find our heart broken and tearful when we pray. He is equally God – all the time - bad days and good ones.

He is still Lord when exhaustion steals our passion. He is Lord when anxiety about the future produces a temporary soul paralysis. The stress that accompanies COVID has complicated worshipful emotions for many of us. IF that is the case for you, acknowledge it and set your sights higher that the state of your heart. As the Word says, “Fix your eyes on Jesus!”

Let’s not let ourselves fall in love with a feeling. Choose to love the Truth! If we build our salvation on a special state of mind, on emotional well-being,  it is a weak, sandy foundation.  Our hope rests on the Solid Rock, Who gives us the unchanging promises of an eternal God, Who “does not change like shifting shadows.” (James 1.17)

The word from the Word comes from the ancient revelation of the preacher, Zephaniah, who reminds the people of the Lord to trust the immutable Truth!
"The Lord your God is with you,
he is mighty to save.
He will take great delight in you,
he will quiet you with his love,
he will rejoice over you with singing.” (Zephaniah  3:17, NIV)

______________________

Immortal, Invisible

(A majestic hymn of worship.)

Immortal, invisible, God only wise,

In light inaccessible

Hid from our eyes;

Most blessed, most glorious,

The Ancient of Days;

Almighty, victorious,

Thy great name we praise.

 

Unresting, unhasting

And silent as light;

Nor wanting, nor wasting,

Thou rulest in might.

Thy justice, like mountains,

High soaring above;

Thy clouds, which are fountains

Of goodness and love.

 

To all, life Thou givest,

To both great and small;

In all, life Thou livest,

The true life of all;

We blossom and flourish

As leaves on the tree,

And wither and perish

But naught changeth Thee.

 

Great Father of glory,

Pure Father of light;

Thine angels adore Thee

All veiling their sight.

All praise we would render,

O help us to see

'Tis only the splendor

Of light hideth Thee.

 

Immortal Invisible

Smith, Walter Chalmers / Robert, John

© Public Domain

When you’re sick of it all

 

The virus is ‘back,’ infection rates rising all across the nation. New restrictions are being put in place for travel and even for our holiday celebrations! We are of many opinions about the wisdom and effectiveness of those rules, but there is one thing that most of share – we are just sick of it all! Who wouldn’t like to just go out to dinner without thinking about a mask or sitting in a half-empty room? Who wouldn’t like to experience a Sunday morning worship service complete with hugs, singing loud, and warm human interactions?   

In a conversation yesterday I was asked, “Do you think life will ever be ‘normal’ again?”  Who has not wondered that?  I cannot predict what the future might look like, but I can say with complete assurance that I know Who holds me secure.

My prayers these days are filled with silence, focused on waiting, seeking to know anew that HE is God. I meditated on this passage today, one that invites us to ‘take refuge’ in Him. "So God has given us both his promise and his oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we who have fled to him for refuge can take new courage, for we can hold on to his promise with confidence. This confidence is like a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. It leads us through the curtain of heaven into God’s inner sanctuary." (Hebrews 6:18-19, NLT)

One stormy night Peter stepped out of the boat on the Sea of Galilee at Jesus’ invitation. Remember that little story in Matthew’s Gospel?  "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 14:30-31, NIV)  

When he consciously thought about the ‘impossibility’ of walking on water he started to sink. In that moment he had the presence of mind to say - "Lord, save me."  That is me in this time! Sometimes I whine my prayers confessing that I am weak, afraid, sick and tired of life as it is, that I am out of hope, spent, and done!  But, then there is renewed realization that Jesus is Lord and my faith grows, allowing me to renew my reliance on the God who saves.

Years after his walk on the water, Peter, then a spiritual leader in the new Church, wrote these words of encouragement - "Friends, when life gets really difficult, don’t jump to the conclusion that God isn’t on the job. Instead, be glad that you are in the very thick of what Christ experienced. This is a spiritual refining process, with glory just around the corner. " (1 Peter 4:12-13, The Message) 

When life appears to be out of control, when questions outrun the answers, we might be tempted to conclude that God has turned His back on us. If we begin to believe that lie, we fall into a vulnerable place that is illustrated in the story of Eve in Eden. Satan approached Eve with the suggestion that God was not good, that He was withholding the best things in life from her.  I have heard that same whisper. When I listen to that voice, things get bad. When I look up in prayer, waiting, listening for the Spirit, I find that He is able to save.

When we feel desperate we are good company. Jesus Himself, when suffering on the cross, screamed, “My God, why have You forsaken me.”  The Resurrection life lay on the other side of painful death!  So it is for us, my friend. The new life of faith and hope emerges from the death of Self.  When we are conflicted, struggling, trying to find our way as a Christian, we make a mistake if we look for simple answers or quick resolutions.  Faith asks us to pray for courage and to allow for tears that entreat Him to hold our hearts together even as we wait the reward of eternal life.

Whatever challenges you're facing today,  God is present. Walking with Jesus is little like Peter’s walk to Him on the water, impossible in the natural, but completely plausible when He holds our hand.  Pray a simple prayer – “Lord, save me!” and let Him.

Here's a word from the Word.  Let the living Word fill your mind with His Presence as you meditate on the promise.   

"God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things,
may have an abundance for every good work. As it is written: "He has dispersed abroad, He has given to the poor; His righteousness endures forever." 

Now may He who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food, supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness, while you are enriched in everything for all liberality, which causes thanksgiving through us to God.
For the administration of this service not only supplies the needs of the saints, but also is abounding through many thanksgivings to God."
(2 Corinthians 9:8-12, NKJV)

________________________

HIDE THOU ME

(A Southern Gospel song that carries a GREAT message)

Sometimes I feel discouraged,
And think my life in vain.
I'm tempted then to murmur,
And of my lot complain.
But when I think of Jesus,
And all He's done for me,
Then I cry, "O Rock of Ages,
Hide Thou me."

 

O Rock of Ages, hide Thou me.
No other refuge have I but Thee.
When life's dark vale I wander,
Far, far from Thee.
Then I cry,"O Rock of Ages,
Hide Thou me."

 

Sometimes it seems I dare not,
Go one step farther on.
And from my heart all courage
Has slipped away and gone.
But I remember Jesus,
And all His love for me.
Then I cry,"O Rock of Ages, Hide Thou me."

 

Hide Thou Me
Harris, Thoro / Tolbert, L.R. © 1926. Renewed 1953 Singspiration Music
CCLI License No. 810055

As good as he is?

One of my heroes is Jim Elliott, a young missionary martyr who died while attempting to reach an Amazonian tribal people with the Gospel of Christ in 1956. Words from his journal, written when he was a young adult, have inspired me including this well-known line: “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”  I am currently reading the authorized biography of his wife, Elizabeth, a woman who writing has also fed my soul. I was privileged to hear her speak several times in years past before her death.

Jim was, in my mind, a special kind of Christian;  one who lived in perpetual fellowship with the Lord, who never waffled on a commitment, who knew the will of God for his life and walked in it flawlessly – except that he wasn’t!

While reading the book (Becoming Elizabeth Elliott) yesterday, I laughed and cried while discovering authentic human dimensions I had not known before in these two saints. No, there were no scandals or huge character flaws in evidence. There were inconsistencies of confession, self-doubts, longings for comfort, insensitivities to the feelings of others bordering on arrogance, and times when they were confused about the best way to serve God. In short, they were real people ‘working out their salvation’ everyday!

We all need our heroes and examples - men and women who help us to understand what it means to serve God whole-heartedly, don’t we? There is a dangerous side to that. In books and films we see them in one dimension. We lift them up to places above the experiences of ordinary Christians like ourselves which can make us feel like second-class Christians wondering why we cannot live in the same daily ‘glory’ that they found. The truth is they did not live in some kind of unique holy glow either. When we read their stories we tend to focus on the high points, the days of discovery, while ignoring or glossing over the months of waiting, wanted, and wondering!

Are you tripping yourself up by living in comparison to another Christian?
Are you wondering why you cannot be as good as they are?
Do you question God why He has not given you the wonderful experiences of your hero of faith?

God finds us where we are, loves us deeply as we are, and asks no more or less from us than to seek Him with our whole heart. Will we always ‘get it right?’ The answer is obviously NO. We will get distracted. We will be tempted and sometimes fail. We will sometimes confuse our agenda with His will, getting it sincerely wrong! Yet He is patient with us, leads us, forgives us, heals us, uses us. Best of all, in His amazing providence, He can take even our ‘mistakes’ and use them for His purposes.

In my reading yesterday, I realized anew that when I stand before Jesus to ‘report in’ at the end of my life, He will not ask me why I wasn’t more like Jim!  He will ask me what I did with the opportunities of the life I lived. He will see Jerry with love and grace. And yes, He will see the successes, the failures, the triumphs, the defeats with perfect clarity. 

God does not award grades ‘on a curve.’ He asks our faith, our commitment, our confession. Our true assurance is not that we were ‘just like Jim,’ but that because of His grace we are just like Him.  What a wonderful thought.

Here is a word from the Word.
"Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else, for each one should carry his own load.  …

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers." (Galatians 6:2-10, NIV)

___________

There Was Jesus
(Zac Williams and Dolly Parton remind us of His grace!)

Every time I tried to make it on my own

Every time I tried to stand and start to fall

All those lonely roads that I have traveled on

There was Jesus

 

When the life I built came crashing to the ground

When the friends I had were nowhere to be found

I couldn't see it then but I can see it now

There was Jesus

 

In the waiting in the searching

In the healing and the hurting

Like a blessing buried in the broken pieces

Every minute every moment

Of where I been or where I'm going

Even when I didn't know it

Or couldn't see it

(There was Jesus)

 

For this man who needs amazing kind of grace

For forgiveness at a price I couldn't pay

I'm not perfect so I thank God every day

There was Jesus (There was Jesus)

 

There was Jesus on the mountain in the valleys

(There was Jesus) in the shadows of the alleys

(There was Jesus) in the fire in the flood

(There was Jesus) always is and always was

 

No I never walk alone You are always there

(Never walk alone)

 

There was Jesus (There was Jesus)

(There was Jesus)

 

Casey Beathard | Jonathan Smith | Zach Williams

© Anthems of Hope (Admin. by Essential Music Publishing LLC)

Be Essential Songs (Admin. by Essential Music Publishing LLC)

CCLI License # 810055

In the deepest part of me

A video circulated on the Internet last week that was tragically moving. It showed an elderly woman, Marta C. González, once a prima ballerina, who has Alzheimer’s. She sits in a wheel chair, slumped over, until she hears the music of Swan Lake. Beautifully her hands, arms, neck, and head begin to move as she recreates the dance from memory long past. The scene is captivating – amazing, sad, and beautiful all in the same moment. (See it here.)  

 A friend and I were talking about it and her observation paralleled mine – what am I storing up in my memory that is dug in so deeply that it would resurface even if my conscious mind no longer functioned? Who am I in the deepest part of me?

Jesus taught us that our inner reality inevitably becomes the outer one! “A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit. A tree is identified by the kind of fruit it produces. Figs never grow on thornbushes or grapes on bramble bushes. A good person produces good deeds from a good heart, and an evil person produces evil deeds from an evil heart. Whatever is in your heart determines what you say." (Luke 6:43-45, NLT)

If we want to experience a life transforming spirituality we will cooperate with God’s Spirit to change us from the very core of our being.  What are your core convictions, the unshakeable things that form your behavior?   

Let me illustrate my point with the idea of gravity. We know that the law of gravity is real, it works, and that if we break it, we will suffer, don’t we? A rational person does not stand at the edge of a cliff and think, “Perhaps today I can fly!”  She knows that if she jumps the result will be severe injury or death! That’s a core conviction. We understand that a wire charged with electricity can light up a room or give us a terrible shock. It only takes one encounter with electric shock to create a core conviction – don’t touch bare electrical wires!  

When we believe what the Bible says about God's love and forgiveness, about judgment and salvation, about Christ and the Cross, about the life of the Spirit - and those beliefs work their way to the core of our being – our lives will inevitably change.  How do we change our convictions, forming a beautiful inner person that will overflow with life and grace in life?

We need to immerse our mind in the Scripture! 

The Bible shows us who God is, how the world works, and what is true. In the holy Word we learn that in spite of what our culture drives into our brain about self-expression, He is God and we are not. Our world centers on Him and our life is made richer in the discovery of His will. Constant exposure to the stories, doctrines, and promises of the Word changes our core convictions.

We must adopt an attitude of humility.

A person who insists on doing things that he knows to be a violation of the will of the Lord gradually slips deeper into deception. If a person continues to rationalize and justify actions he once understood to be wrong, he will cloud his mind. Lies will soon seem to be true. The distortion will become a toxic mix that causes destruction. Paul reminds us of the renewal the Spirit offers. Once we “were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared,  He saved us!”  (Titus 3:3) In humility we accept the gift of life we can never earn for ourselves.

We seek daily interaction with the Holy Spirit! 

Life can fill up with ‘stuff,’ keeping us busy with making a living, chasing fun, feeding our face so that we might forget that we a spiritual person, an eternal being made in the image of God. Making time for contemplative prayer, for worship (and not just ‘in church), and to look beyond our next meal creates opportunities for God to speak, to remind us that we are His children, to change who we are from the inside out.

So, let me return to the ballerina. If the time should come when your conscious mind is failing, what will remain, embedded at the core?  The answer is not necessarily what you thought you learned in Sunday School!  It is revealed in the unguarded moments, when you are under pressure, or when hardship comes.   

Peter speaks of the amazing grace of Jesus that gives us salvation, reminds us that trials come to refine us, and then assures us that our “faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls." (1 Peter 1:7-9, NIV)

Let’s pursue a depth of faith, a core conviction of Truth.

Here is a word from the Word. May it speak to us this Monday morning. "How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word. I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands. I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you." (Psalm 119:9-11, NIV)

_____________

Beautiful Things

 

All this pain

I wonder if I'll ever find my way

I wonder if my life could really change

At all

 

All this earth

Could all that is lost ever be found

Could a garden come up from this ground

At all

 

You make beautiful things

You make beautiful things out of the dust

You make beautiful things

You make beautiful things out of us

 

All around

Hope is springing up from this old ground

Out of chaos life is being found

In You

 

You make me new You are making me new

You make me new You are making me new

(REPEAT)

 

Lisa Gungor | Michael Gungor

© 2009 worshiptogether.com songs (Admin. by Capitol CMG Publishing)

CCLI License # 810055