Like a piece of burnt toast?

It is as subtle as a developing cancer and every bit as deadly if left untreated. It grows in the soul, feeding on good intentions and high goals that are misfocused. I am talking about ‘burn out.’ Is your life about as appealing as a piece of burnt toast?  If you hate life, feel exhausted, don’t want to get out bed, are slipping in your performance at work, have trouble sleeping, are finding yourself in more arguments, and are not focused;  you may want to have a conversation with someone about making some changes in the way you live. Burnout generally results from stress and stress levels are way up since the pandemic started. Burnt out people have allowed themselves to be overwhelmed by life's responsibilities.

Burnout is not indicated when we have a few bad days in a row. Everybody has those times when it feels like nothing is working, when life’s demands overload the schedule, when they arrive at the end of day exhausted. Burnout is different!  A person who is suffering this way starts the day exhausted, week after week. She may drive herself to work, but productivity is diminished.  A burnt out person has no motivation to excellence, has lost any joy in life to duty.

So, if you’re saying, “Jerry, that’s me! Want can I do?” 
First of all, don’t quit your job. That might sound like a fix, and it might even feel good to hand in your keys … for a few days, but burn out is more about HOW we react to life than it is about life itself.  We can work at high levels of productivity without burning out.

1. As a Christian, we must accept the Word’s principle of breaking up our work schedule with times of rest. In the Old Testament, the people of God were instructed to observe the 7^th day of the week as one of rest. The law of the Sabbath was important. It followed the Creation story of God’s own ‘rest.’  Genesis says, "God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning-the sixth day. Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done." (Genesis 1:31 -2:3, NIV) 

We must discipline ourselves to set aside the constant clamor of responsibility at least one day out of the week.  Many of us are ruled by the notifications on our smartphones, by laptop computers that let us bring ‘the office’ into our living room, by work expectations that we will be ‘available’ at any hour of the day.  It can be difficult to remind ourselves that the world will not stop if we turn off the work email at 6 pm! We might even be passed over for a promotion if we insist on honoring God with a true priority of rest. But … we will be emotionally and spiritually healthier.

2. Christians who adopt a standard of ‘perfection’ put themselves at a much higher risk of burnout.  The call of Christ to a holy life of devotion is a worthy one and in the memorable words of Oswald Chamber's devotional book, requires 'my utmost for His highest.'   IF we turn knowing and serving Jesus into keeping measure of hours spent in prayer, chapters read in our Bible, Sundays spent in church, or time invested in ministry work any ‘joy of the Lord’ that could renew us will be lost in the statistics.  The sweet relationship of a loving God will be replaced with the rigorous religion that exhausts us.  Who intends to become one of those drudges who occupy church pews, joyless, hanging on to God knows what, to stay out of Hell? 

Of course Christians will be diligent in the spiritual disciplines, but for the purpose of knowing God, not gaining approval of others or even to try to find some inner sense of worth. They are a means not an end. Jesus wants us to know Him even as we serve Him.

3. God calls us out of isolation and into His Church, into loving relationships. If you ‘don’t have time’ for relationships, something is wrong with the way you understand life itself.  Having even 2 or 3 real friends with whom we can be ourselves, who have permission to ‘call us out’ when needed, who we know we can call at 2 am if needed, are a primary defense against burnout! When you invest a couple of hours at a table with people who know you, who listen to your stories, who make you laugh, and you will feel renewed. Share a passion for some project with 3 or 4 other like-minded Christians and you will multiply your effectiveness and find joy in the journey!  Solomon should have taken his own advice when he wrote: "A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken." (Ecclesiastes 4:12, NLT)

Let's learn how to pursue our God with real love, with a diligent desire for excellence, observing days of rest, receiving His grace for our imperfections, and reflecting on the journey in the company of friends.  Let’s not miss out on Jesus’ promise that through Him we can know 'life to the full,' because we are living in a pressure filled environment that controls us. 

Meditate on this word from the Word and see what the Spirit is saying to you today.

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." (Matthew 11:28-30, NIV)  Eugene Peterson offers this commentary on that passage - "Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me-watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly." (Matthew 11:28-30, The Message)

Now that sounds like a life I want to live.
How about you?

_________________

Goodness Of God

(CeCe Winans reminds us of His love)

I love You Lord
Oh Your mercy never fails me
All my days
I've been held in Your hands
From the moment that I wake up
Until I lay my head
I will sing of the goodness of God

All my life You have been faithful
All my life You have been so so good
With every breath that I am able
I will sing of the goodness of God

I love Your voice
You have led me through the fire
In darkest night
You are close like no other
I've known You as a father
I've known You as a friend
I have lived in the goodness of God

Your goodness is running after
It’s running after me
Your goodness is running after
It’s running after me
With my life laid down
I’m surrendered now
I give You everything
Your goodness is running after
It's running after me

 

Ben Fielding | Brian Johnson | Ed Cash | Jason Ingram | Jenn Johnson

© 2018 Alletrop Music (Admin. by Capitol CMG Publishing)

SHOUT! Music Publishing Australia (Admin. by Capitol CMG Publishing)

Fellow Ships Music (Admin. by Essential Music Publishing LLC)

So Essential Tunes (Admin. by Essential Music Publishing LLC)

Bethel Music Publishing

CCLI License # 810055

Revive those dry bones!

Over lunch yesterday, a much younger pastor and I talked about our calling, about the future of the Church.  I’m getting ready to take a seat on the sidelines; he’s coming into his prime years of productivity but both of us have questions about how Christianity will be lived in the coming years. 

How will the church look coming out of the pandemic years?
Will people return to the congregation or ‘privatize’ their faith? 
How will the message of Christ find a way into the hearts and minds of the younger generation of which about 4 in 10 are stated, “nones,” meaning that they self-identify as having no spiritual preference? 
Much more personally, I ask myself, “Jerry, what will your faith life look like as you move into your retirement years, away from leadership in the local church? Will you stay vital and strong in the Lord, your commitment to Him the core of your life?”

We are all in constant need of revival, an infusion of the Life of the Spirit that keeps our faith from turning into a relic, focused on some memory of yesteryear. Some of us will see that word, ‘Revival’ and it will bring to mind a week of church meetings conducted by a fiery preacher who stirs up a surge of emotional enthusiasm. That could be a partial idea but spiritual revival is more. For others a ‘revival’ is seen in the launch of a moral cause, the birth of a new church program, or the construction of a house of worship. Not really, though those things can bring a temporary renewal. Revival certainly is not rolling back time to recapture some moment of spiritual ecstasy.

Ezekiel's famous vision, that weird one in chapter 37, defines revival for me! The preacher saw a valley full of old, dry bones. "The hand of the LORD was upon me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the LORD and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” I said, “O Sovereign LORD, you alone know.” (Ezekiel 37:1-3, NIV)

At the Lord's command, he preached the Word of the Lord to those bones. Before his eyes they rattled, arranged into skeletons, took on flesh; and the wind of the Spirit blew over them restoring life. What a vision.  God said, "Speak a prophetic message to these bones and say, 'Dry bones, listen to the word of the Lord!" (Ezekiel 37:4, NLT)  Ezekiel’s responses -"So I spoke the message as he commanded me, and breath came into their bodies. They all came to life and stood up on their feet-a great army." (Ezekiel 37:10, NLT)

The breath of the Spirit can and will bring life to people and places that resemble a valley of dry bones! 

If your soul is dry, your heart without a love for Jesus, if your eyes have lost a vision of the Most Holy One – the answer is a revival, a renewal of life. God can make the dead live again!

"Won't you revive us again, so your people can rejoice in you?" (Psalm 85:6, NLT)

"O Lord, revive thy work in the midst of the years." (Habakkuk 3:2, KJV)

"For this is what the high and lofty One says- he who lives forever, whose name is holy:

"I live in a high and holy place, but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite." (Isaiah 57:15, NIV)

"Come, let us return to the Lord. He has torn us to pieces; now he will heal us. He has injured us; now he will bandage our wounds. In just a short time he will restore us, so that we may live in his presence." (Hosea 6:1-2, NLT)

It is a real mistake to think that we can manufacture a revival – in our own heart or in our church – with more meetings, more hype, or pumped up emotions. Those ‘revivals’ are more like a circus that comes through town, creates a little excitement and then moves on.  Genuine revival starts in our heart, work of the Spirit of God that is deep, personal, and persistent. While we cannot make it happen, we can prepare for revival, hunger for renewal, and wait on the Lord.

First, we pray. In our prayers we confess our desire and ask the Lord to send the Word anew that makes us live!

Second, we humble ourselves, acknowledging Who He is - Majesty enthroned - and we are - His children in need.

Third, we turn to Him; "here I am, Lord; all that I am, all that I am not. It is You I desire more than anything or anyone."

I am praying for revival, knowing full well that when the Holy Spirit shows up, He comes as a disrupter, asking for change.  Will I let Him own my life, change my heart, fill my mind?  It is the heart of spiritual revival.

Here's the word from the Word.  It is more of Ezekiel’s strange vision. My prayer is that it becomes a template of renewal for 2021.

"Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They indeed say, 'Our bones are dry, our hope is lost, and we ourselves are cut off!' Therefore prophesy and say to them, 'Thus says the Lord God:

"Behold, O My people, I will open your graves and cause you to come up from your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. Then you shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O My people, and brought you up from your graves.  I will put My Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken it and performed it," says the Lord.' " (Ezekiel 37:11-14, NKJV)

_____________________

RAIN DOWN

(a song from Delirious, a rewind to 2004!)

 

Looks like tonight the sky is heavy

Feels like the winds are gonna change

Beneath my feet the earth is ready

I know it's time for heaven's rain

It's gonna rain

 

'Cause it's living water we desire 'cause

To flood our hearts with holy fire

 

Rain down all around the world we're singing

Rain down can you hear the earth is singing

Rain down my heart is dry but still I'm singing

Rain down rain it down

 

Back to the start my heart is heavy

Feels like it's time to dream again

I see the clouds and yes I'm ready

To dance upon this barren land

Hope in my hands

 

Do not shut do not shut

Do not shut the heavens

But open up open up

Open up our hearts

Rain down all around the world

We're singing rain down

 

Give me strength to cross the water

Keep my heart upon Your altar

Give me strength to cross this water

Keep my feet don't let me falter

 

Rain Down

© 2004 Curious Music UK (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing)

Martin Smith | Stuart Garrard

CCLI License No. 810055

Giving up your M+M™ candy?

 

When I was in 3^rd grade our family moved from rural Iowa to Staten Island, NY.  We moved into an Italian neighborhood where most everybody was Roman Catholic.  I heard my new friends talking about what they were going to ‘give up’ for Lent.  It was a puzzle to me because my Pentecostal church did not observe seasons of Advent or Lent. Even as a child I realized that most of what they were ‘fasting’ for Lent was symbolic, as in giving up chocolate cake.  Will you be observing a Lenten fast?

Today is the beginning of the season of Lent, 40 days that lead up to the celebration of the Resurrection. The word has roots in Anglo-Saxon language, sounding like their word for Spring.  Traditionally, Lent was marked by fasting, abstaining from certain foods for the purpose of spiritual focus. It was set at 40 days (excluding Sundays) because the number, 40, is a recurrent one throughout the Bible that is often associated with preparation for God’s work of renewal. The rain fell for 40 days in Noah’s flood. The Israelites wandered in the wilderness for 40 years.  Moses spent 40 days on the mountain receiving the Law.  Israel’s spies explored Canaan for 40 days. Jesus spent 40 days alone, fasting, and during that time experienced the temptation.

I believe that the Christian church desperately needs a renewal in our time. Would you join me in prayer, asking God to prepare our hearts for the move of the Spirit? “Lord, start with me,” I pray!

Though we do not practice the discipline of fasting very much these days, it is useful as a discipline to remind ourselves that we are more than our physical appetites.  A meaningful fast is an offering to God as well as a discipline of the body. Fasting, coupled with prayer, can help us to grow in Christ. Paul knew the importance of a fast. "I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified." (1 Corinthians 9:27, NLT)

Saying ‘no’ to our personal comfort is not a choice readily made. Living in our climate-controlled homes, with abundance of food, we respond like servants to our body’s signals for warmth, food, or drink.  Don’t misunderstand me. I am grateful for a secure home, a warm bed, and a full belly! But, things are out of balance.  If we are incapable of refusing the cravings of our body, we will be easy targets for the Tempter.

Paul puts it in stark terms of slavery. "Before, you let yourselves be slaves of impurity and lawlessness. Now you must choose to be slaves of righteousness so that you will become holy. In those days, when you were slaves of sin, you weren’t concerned with doing what was right. And what was the result? It was not good, since now you are ashamed of the things you used to do, things that end in eternal doom. But now you are free from the power of sin and have become slaves of God. Now you do those things that lead to holiness and result in eternal life." (Romans 6:19-22, NLT)

During the season of Lent, I am suggesting that we engage with a meaningful kind of ‘fasting.’  Instead of symbolically giving up M+M™ candy, how about taking on your appetites with the help of the Spirit?

Are you consumed by anxiety in these uncertain days? Take up a fast.
Is there an ‘addiction’ in your life, something that owns you instead of you owning it? Take up a fast.
Complaining too often or too much about discomforts or inconveniences? Take up a fast.

Give God your lunch hour one day a week and make the time one of prayerful reflection.
Or, set aside one evening each week to sit in silence instead of watching  YouTube.™ 

Whatever you do remember, it’s not a ‘hunger strike’ to get God’s attention!
Fasting is for the purpose of discipline and preparation.

Match your fast with meditation on the meaning of our Christianity.  In Christ, we go from death to life, from facing an eternity apart from God to having a home promised for eternity in His Presence. Lenten fasts end before Easter so that Christians can feast with joy.  That feast anticipates the promise of life beyond death, of hope that survives the body’s demise.  Spirit-filled Christians must have a vision that reaches over time’s horizon. 

The reason we say no to the craving of ‘the flesh,’ (the sinful nature) is knowing the greater promise of Glory. That is why Paul starkly tells us to mortify the flesh, that is, to put it to death. "We are debtors—not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God." (Romans 8:12-14, NKJV)  Fasting is one way to say, “Die, old sinful nature!”

Let’s use this season to grow toward the eternal hope that we read about in the word from the Word.
"It is this Good News that saves you if you continue to believe the message I told you—…  our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies. Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die, this Scripture will be fulfilled: “Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power.

But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ. So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless." (1 Corinthians 15:2, 53-58, NLT)  Amen!

Now, what about those M+M’s?

_______________

I Will Offer Up My Life

 

I will offer up my life

In spirit and truth,

Pouring out the oil of love

As my worship to You.

In surrender I must give

My ev'ry part;

Lord, receive the sacrifice

Of a broken heart.

 

Jesus, what can I give,

What can I bring

To so faithful a friend,

To so loving a King?

Savior, what can be said,

What can be sung

As a praise of Your name

For the things You have done?

 

Oh, my words could not tell,

Not even in part,

Of the debt of love

That is owed by this

Thankful heart.

 

You deserve my every breath

For You've paid the great cost.

Giving up Your life to death,

Even death on a cross.

 

You took all my shame away,

There defeated my sin,

Opened up the gates of heaven,

And have beckoned me in.

 

Matt Redman © 1994 Kingsway's Thankyou Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing)

 

CCLI License No. 810055

O LOVE that will not let me go

It was confirmed again yesterday – Jerry is aging. The eye exam yesterday that while I am a long way from losing my sight (hopefully!) I do need stronger lens. And yes, I struggle to hear speech clearly. My friends see the blank look on my face when I ‘hear’ the noise but do not get the words.  I am irritated by the need to say, “would you mind repeating that for me?” But these things are part of the expected march of time, reminders of mortality that come to us all.  My faith is not challenged by the fact of an aging body. 

What does challenge me is that unexpected hardship, that development for which no preparation is made.  We are living in such a time. The world I knew even a year ago seems no longer to exist. The values I cherish are increasingly rejected by others. The future is murky – for me personally, for the world in which I live.  Yes, friend, it is time to ‘walk by faith.’

In the little book of Ruth, which  is a story of faith in the middle of the unexpected, we meet Naomi. She was a Jew who moved to Moab with her husband and two young sons to escape a famine in Israel.  Life was finally coming together, when suddenly her husband, Elimelech, died. Naomi, picked up the pieces of her life and went on.  Her two sons married. A decade passed in which life was good, then... unexpectedly both sons died! Naomi's life was shattered again.

When life falls apart, as her’s did, there are seldom ‘explanations’ that are adequate. Yes, it is important to understand what we can, to adjust course as we are able, to know where we have failed, but often life, to our view, just seems random:  one life shatters, another flourishes.

Christian, you can be a person of faith and still think that our God can be infuriatingly unpredictable. I have cried myself to sleep more than one night, wondering “God, why is one dream realized and another shattered?” Yet, my faith holds.

While there are not enough answers this side of Heaven to satisfy every question, there are enough testimonies of grace to help us to trust Him even when we cannot understand His ways. When the mystery overwhelms us, we can borrow the prayer of a desperate father who brought his son for healing to Jesus. "I do believe, but help me not to doubt!" (Mark 9.24)

IF we will trust Him, He is able to lead us into a new life, a new kind of JOY!  Too often what we insist is that God give back our old life. That is not the best or wisest prayer. Better to invite Him to lead us into the future, helping us to be shaped around His plans.  

Let’s go back to the story of Naomi. This woman decided to return to Israel.  One of her daughters in law, Ruth, for whom the story is named, decided to accompany her. Her love and loyalty were bright lights in Naomi’s life. Once there we learn that they were very poor. Ruth went to pick up the leftovers in the fields of Naomi’s kinsfolk after harvest.  While there she caught the eye of Boaz. 

Spoiler alert!  "Boaz married Ruth. She became his wife. Boaz slept with her. By God's gracious gift she conceived and had a son. The town women said to Naomi, "Blessed be God! He didn't leave you without family to carry on your life. May this baby grow up to be famous in Israel! He'll make you young again! He'll take care of you in old age. And this daughter-in-law who has brought him into the world and loves you so much, why, she's worth more to you than seven sons!" Naomi took the baby and held him in her arms, cuddling him, cooing over him, waiting on him hand and foot." (Ruth 4:13-16, The Message) That baby became the grandfather of Israel's great king, David! An alien woman, Ruth, was brought to Israel and included in the line of David and the line of the Messiah, Jesus.

It would be silly to conclude that the joy in those verses somehow erased the sorrow of three deaths.  They are different events and cannot be compared!  We make a grave mistake to think that somehow life is about living in a perfectly balanced state where the pain is always offset by the blessings, where the hard times are offset by the good times. Life is about living in full faith.  When we are willing to keep walking with God, He seldom chooses to give us back our ‘old life’ but He does lead us into NEW joy and fruitfulness in this season and situation.

Are you struggling with life?
Maybe it is the expected stuff of aging, which became a little more real to me yesterday.  Maybe it is a maelstrom of disaster, an unexpected collapse of your dreams. God is present. Be like Naomi and choose to live.  Strengthen the ties to those who love you, those who will weep with you. There will be days (how I know!) when your faith will waver and you will need to borrow the strength of another to stand. Wait for faith to become strong enough for you to touch the heart of God again.

A hundred people will offer ‘explanations.’  Love them anyway. 
More will hand you some clichés and their simplistic answers. Smile with grace.
Links to podcasts and offers of books will be loving given to you in your pain. See the love behind the efforts to make you better.   

Above all, do not reject God. Ask Him for courage to weep yet keep hope and faith intact as you pray --- "I do believe, but help me not to doubt!"

Our word from the Word today is a call to the choice of faith.

"Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand.
You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory.
Whom have I in heaven but you?
And earth has nothing I desire besides you.
My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." (Psalm 73:23-26, NIV)

________________

O Love That Will Not Let Me Go
(You cannot listen to this without being stirred in heart and faith!)

O love that will not let me go,

I rest my weary soul in Thee.

I give Thee back the life I owe,

That in Thine ocean depths its flow,

May richer fuller be.

 

O joy that seekest me through pain,

I cannot close my heart to Thee.

I trace the rainbow through the rain,

And feel the promise is not vain,

That morn shall tearless be.

 

O Love that will not let me go

Oh Cross that liftest up my head

I dare not ask to fly from Thee

I lay in dust life's glory dead

And from the ground there blossoms red

Life that shall endless be

 

O Love That Will Not Let Me Go

George Matteson © Public Domain CCLI License No. 810055

Running out the clock?

 

There is a strategy often used in football by a winning team who takes possession of the ball with 2 minutes or less on the game clock. They ‘run out the clock.’  The quarterback lets the maximum time pass, takes the snap, and quickly kneels to end the play. That is repeated several times until the game is over.  The ball is not advanced, no play is attempted. Why? Because by kneeling on the ball there is no risk of losing the ball to the other team recovering a fumble. The team in the lead has no imperative to attempt a long pass down the field. I understand the strategy but it makes for a boring game conclusion.

Are you living your life in that manner, just burning through day after day, running out the clock?
Have you determined, for your own reasons, to take no risks in life, to just play it safe protecting yourself, your time, your ‘lead’ so to speak?  I know the temptation!

At the conclusion of yesterday’s ministry, while reflecting on the efforts made, I wondered aloud if I was just running out the clock?  The past year has been one of the most challenging years of ministry in my entire lifetime.  (Yes, I know it has been difficult for MOST of us.)  In December, 2019, months before the pandemic arrived, I informed the church board that my plan was step down from the leadership of the church at the end of 2021. At that time I hoped for a good final year, a strong finish.  But, life happened, the church closed for months and when we re-opened it was to limited attendance and ministry. Many weeks end with my sense that there was no advance of His work. The frustrations that are common to us all in these times may well tempt us to kneel on the ball, so to speak, running out the clock.

When Christians choose to be pre-occupied with secondary issues, to waste endless hours ‘studying’ the issues, to refuse to engage their minds with the hard things, to ignore the questions that are begging for real answers, to pray sleepy prayers that lack any real passion, they are not really ‘in the game.’ 

Paul was inspired by the Spirit to address us this way.  Yes, it is the old English version of the Scripture which I use because I want one line to stick with you today – “Redeeming the time.”  "Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is." (Ephesians 5:14-17, KJV) The passage is a series of directives that build one on the other.

WAKE UP, rise from the dead.  

Christians can slip into a kind of zombie state, walking through the motions, going to church, singing the songs without life, without an awareness of the Holy Spirit. Wake up! Shake off the lethargy.

LOOK AROUND.  

There are people who are existing without God and hope, their lives confused. Are we aware of their need?  Do we even seen our own need, or are we staring at the ground in front of us, blind to life’s reality that is swirling at the periphery of our vision?

REDEEM the time.  

The word Paul uses that we translate “redeem,” is powerful in imagery. It was used of paying a ransom for someone who needed rescue, about buying freedom for someone held in debtor’s prison, or about paying the price of freedom for a slave! When a person was ‘redeemed,’ he was able to return to life, to be useful once again.  If we are running out the clock in life, we have sold ourselves to a kind of slavery, becoming unproductive, useless to the Kingdom of God. So, we are told to pay the price of sacrifice to own our time once again, to make life count for something.

UNDERSTAND the will of God.  

Yes, Christian, this is a critical factor.  The Word reminds us that “You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you  (Redeemed!) with a high price. So you must honor God.” (1 Corinthians 6.20)  God has freed us from hopelessness, from slavery to Self, so that we might serve Him. Will we? Only if we know what He wants from us which is not hard to discern. He desires that we become ‘holy,’ devoted to His ways. He desires that we live in love – for Him, for our neighbor. He desires that we pursue Him in worship that is deep, real, and heart-felt.  

This Monday morning, I want each of us to ask ourselves if we are, in fact, ‘running out the clock’ on life.  If we discern, with the help of God, that we have settled for a risk-free life, that we are content to let day after day pass without any real or meaningful spiritual service, let’s take the wisdom of this word. Wake up. Look around. Redeem the time. Understand God’s will.

Here is that passage again, our word from the Word. “Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is." (Ephesians 5:14-17, NIV)

____________

See A Victory

The weapon may be formed but it won't prosper
When the darkness falls it won't prevail
'Cause the God I serve knows only how to triumph
My God will never fail My God will never fail

I'm gonna see a victory
I'm gonna see a victory
For the battle belongs to You Lord
I'm gonna see a victory
I'm gonna see a victory
For the battle belongs to You Lord

There's power in the mighty Name of Jesus
Every war He wages He will win
I'm not backing down from any giant
I know how this story ends
I know how this story ends

You take what the enemy meant for evil
And You turn it for good
You turn it for good

Ben Fielding | Chris Brown | Jason Ingram | Steven Furtick

© 2019 SHOUT! Music Publishing Australia (Admin. by Capitol CMG Publishing)

Fellow Ships Music (Admin. by Essential Music Publishing LLC)

Music by Elevation Worship Publishing (Admin. by Essential Music Publishing LLC)

So Essential Tunes (Admin. by Essential Music Publishing LLC)

CCLI License # 810055