Grimly Determined?

A long time ago the teacher’s advice during a gym class baseball game made an impression on me. Never an athlete, I wanted desperately to make a hit. I gripped the bat in grim determination, stared at the pitcher, and swung wildly at the pitch. You guessed it – I struck out yet again! The teacher told me I was trying too hard, over-thinking the game.  That advice never did help me with my baseball game, but it has stayed with me as a life lesson. When I allow myself to become a knot of tension, when I am overly focused on me, I am trying too hard and, if I’m wrapped up in myself, I am certain to fail to live as God desires.

The Scripture promises us that God is always at work, that He is greater than the situations that frustrate us, that He can and will accomplish His purpose in us and through us but we must be willing to let Him lead. Paul writes "I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will give you mighty inner strength through his Holy Spirit." (Ephesians 3:16, NLT)  "Now glory be to God! By his mighty power at work within us, he is able to accomplish infinitely more than we would ever dare to ask or hope." (Ephesians 3:20, NLT)  That is not just for super-saints.  

I believe that sometimes we ‘try too hard’ on our own and end up getting in God’s way, that our unwillingness to wait, to trust, to pray actually hinders the work of God, the Spirit. A prime example are the wandering Israelites of the Exodus. When they chose their own wisdom, when they followed the ‘intelligence’ of the spies who declared the conquest of Promised Land would formidable, near impossible, God let them wander for a generation!  Only after they died did their children get to possess the promise of God.

I make no case for being passive or for resignation to ‘fate.’ Our faith must be robust, our hands engaged in the work to which He calls us. God Almighty has chosen to work with us, as amazing as that seems. He gives freedom to walk with Him, to know the joy of fulfilling His plans.  He also will let us rebel and resist, to doubt and delay, though not without consequence.  Sometimes I think that Christians who claim to be ‘waiting on the Lord’ or who delay action by saying ‘I’ll pray about it,’ are just avoiding making a tough decision or doing the hard thing that He asks.

A Psalm gives us an image to ponder about our constant response to our God. "I lift up my eyes to you, to you whose throne is in heaven. As the eyes of slaves look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maid look to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the LORD our God, till he shows us his mercy." (Psalm 123:1-2, NIV)  There is a submission, a surrender, that allows His perfect will to emerge. So we sing, “Perfect submission, all is at rest. I in my Savior am happy and blest. Watching and waiting, looking above, filled with His goodness; lost in His love.”  (Blessed Assurance)

Let the Lord lead you, alert to His ways, attentive to His word.  Instead of trying to wrestle a blessing from His hands, open yours to accept what He is ready to give.

Are you trying too hard? Pause, reflect, listen, give thanks, receive!

Here’s a word from the Word.  May your soul sing with the Psalmist about the glorious works of our God.

"You answer us with awesome deeds of righteousness, O God our Savior,
the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas,
who formed the mountains by your power, having armed yourself with strength,
who stilled the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves, and the turmoil of the nations. 

Those living far away fear your wonders; where morning dawns and evening fades you call forth songs of joy. You care for the land and water it;  you enrich it abundantly. The streams of God are filled with water to provide the people with grain, for so you have ordained it." (Psalm 65:5-9, NIV)

__________________

Blessed Assurance
(Carrie Underwood’s simple presentation of the hymn

will help you to worship this day)

 

Blessed assurance Jesus is mine

O what a foretaste of glory divine

Heir of salvation purchase of God

Born of His Spirit washed in His blood

 

This is my story this is my song

Praising my Savior all the day long

This is my story this is my song

Praising my Savior all the day long

 

Perfect submission perfect delight

Visions of rapture now burst on my sight

Angels descending bring from above

Echoes of mercy whispers of love

 

Perfect submission all is at rest

I in my Savior am happy and blest

Watching and waiting looking above

Filled with His goodness lost in His love

 

Fanny Jane Crosby

© Words: Public Domain

Anxious fears?

 

Sean, my son, is planning a trip through Montana and Wyoming this Summer with his family.  He sent me this note -“We are talking about grizzly and moose encounters  ... Landon (just finished 1^st grade) slaps his face and says, "OOOOOHHH NNOOOO! A moose can run 35 mph and I can only run like 5 mph. I'm done for!"   Yes, I know we should not make light of the fears of others even if we think they are unfounded. But, there is humor there because Landon’s chances of needing to outrun a hostile moose are close to non-existent. 

A pastor noted a visit to an adult Sunday School class where a frenzied discussion had overtaken the room. Everyone was talking about “abortion, gay marriage, transgender acceptance, hate crime laws, political shenanigans, the coming world government, the antichrist, the President, and the possibility of an armed uprising in America so everyone had better have plenty of ammunition. Also, blood moons, Armageddon and Joel Osteen.”  Fear ruled that moment! Quietly, he asked them what the study text for the day was, a gentle reminder of the importance of remaining anchored to the Word.

Do you feed your fears? 

If you watch the endless loop of ‘news’ on your television, you will soon become convinced that the ‘end of the world as we know it’ is right around the corner.

If your Bible reading and study focuses on a steady diet of apocalyptic texts you will likely become consumed with conspiracy theories, seeing evidence of ‘the end’ in every headline.

If your conversations with friends slips often into observations about how quickly the world is falling apart, you are going to begin to believe that all is lost!

 Choosing to be wise- cultivating good habits, eating a healthy diet, limiting exposure to risk – is good.

It is a tragedy that so many Americans are convinced that it is possible to create a totally safe and predictable world by writing endless regulations, observing scrupulous hygiene,  and/or do all the ‘right’ things, whatever they may that to be.  When an accident interrupts their plans, when a cancer diagnosis threatens their future, or when they can no longer pretend that they are masters of their fate because of events beyond their control; they are shocked, dismayed even, ready to conclude that hope is lost! It isn’t.

Life goes on, flowing around the odd, the awful, the unpredictable; even death itself.  Attempting to eliminate all risk by avoiding every possibility of harm or danger will lock us into a very small life without the joy of discovery or creativity or the knowledge of the goodness of God. 

Christian, we can choose to live fully, reducing fear’s control over us, by exercising real faith.
Faith is not a choice to live in a fake world, nor does faith require us to be eternally optimistic. Too much of what passes for ‘faith’ is just happy talk, an attempt to ignore reality with spiritual cliches.  Jeremiah’s example inspires me.  He had lived through an awful invasion, witnessing the horror of brutal war, and was left reeling with confusion and fear. 

But, he chose faith. He wrote: "Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.” The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD." (Lamentations 3:21-26, NIV)  His faith grew out of the choice to anchor himself in the eternal reality of God that envelopes the present mysteries of life that can make us afraid.

Faith is not an abstract concept! It is relational, the pursuit of God.  When fear leaves us frenzied, He invites us to the quiet, one of the most difficult choices for many of us, me included. Our natural response to anxiety is to run around looking for someone or something to ‘make it better.’  The Lord says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” (Psalm 46:10, NIV)  Be intentional. Look up. Wait.

Ann Voscamp wrote of finding healing as she emerged from the stress of life in the era of COVID isolation as she watched her little flock of newly shorn sheep in a pasture. “When the heart is full of trouble, step outside to see that the whole earth isn’t only full of trouble, but ultimately is full of His glory. The way to navigate loss is to lose all that distracts from the glory of God. Step outside and watch the Maker of clouds overhead, lift the clouds within.  He who breaks the clouds can heal our heartbreak, and the Maker of a million stars can heal every kind of broken heart.”  (https://annvoskamp.com/2021/07/how-to-heal-find-a-way-through-loss-a-journey-part-1/)   She uses a phrase that caught my attention:  “Adoration of God’s glory short circuits rumination of our problems.”  This, she says, is ‘glory soaking.’   

You don’t have to go somewhere exotic, take a long pilgrimage, or escape for days on end.  We can ‘glory soak’ and find faith’s renewal by taking a walk in the woods with eyes wide open, by sitting cross-legged on the floor with a toddler and entering into her world of wonder, by listening the sounds of a summer thunderstorm rolling overhead, by sitting in an empty church meditating on a Psalm, by holding a friend close for a moment reminded of care and love.  God is here now, with us, if only we will perceive His Presence.

Are you feeding your fears? Step back and remind yourself – “The Lord is my portion … Great is your faithfulness!”

Here is a word from the Word.  I pray it will be an inspiration of renewed faith for this day.

"I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." (Ephesians 3:16-21, NIV)

______________

Oceans (Where Feet May Fail)

(Elenyi sings this anthem beautifully – enjoy!)

 You call me out upon the waters
The great unknown where feet may fail
And there I find You in the mystery
In oceans deep my faith will stand

 And I will call upon Your name
And keep my eyes above the waves
When oceans rise
My soul will rest in Your embrace
For I am Yours and You are mine

 Your grace abounds in deepest waters
Your sov'reign hand will be my guide
Where feet may fail and fear surrounds me
You've never failed and You won't start now

 Oh and You are mine oh

Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders
Let me walk upon the waters
Wherever You would call me
Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander
And my faith will be made stronger
In the presence of my Savior

 I will call upon Your name
Keep my eyes above the waves
My soul will rest in Your embrace
I am Yours and You are mine

 

Joel Houston | Matt Crocker | Salomon Ligthelm© 2012 Hillsong Music Publishing Australia (Admin. by Capitol CMG Publishing)

CCLI License # 810055

Keeping the End in Mind

 

Today I’ll once again stand in the presence of Death and grief, something I have done almost weekly this year. Grim, you ask? It could be except for the promise and hope I know. 

 Reading in the mind-blowing, strange, and wonderful words of the Revelation, I came to this interlude this morning:  “And he said, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore, “they are before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them. Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat upon them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; he will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” (Revelation 7:14-17, NIV)

We can anticipate standing in the Throne Room of the Almighty, welcomed into the Presence of God. THIS, my dear friend, is our great HOPE!  

Life is a gift and there are many joys to be found along the way.  And, then, too, we know that seasons of hardship come, when we experience the frustrations, when all is hard and tears blur our vision. The reality with which we must deal is that fact – regardless of how hard we try to deny it, ignore it, suppress it –  that we are mortal and our flesh will fail.  We all come to the same end, some sooner, some later. The stark question is – what then?   John says that because of Christ Jesus, we are destined to know the Presence of the Father, that life continues there with Him without the trials of life: no hunger, no sun scorched earth, no more tears!

Covey, writer of 7 Habits, says that those who live best ‘begin with the end in mind.’ 

Successful projects are those well-planned, those with a completed design that is guiding the work in progress. Think of your life as a grand project, which it is, really.  What are you building? What do you desire to the be result at ‘the end?’  Are you focused on superficial stuff – adding to your pile of possessions, working to add accolades to your resume? Or, are you focused on the eternal values of relationships, of God’s service, living a life of love that enriches others?

What rewards are you living for? As much as it might feel awful, take some time to ponder your mortality. If you need an image, think of yourself in a casket in front of a room of mourners. What are they thinking about you?  Are they remembering kindness, remembering a person who consistently loved, who was giving his best? Or, are they privately remembering a person who sucked life from the room, a person who made sure he was first in line?

Form another image of yourself standing before Jesus as He pages through the records of your life. Is He smiling His approval or does He see wasted years, a life spent on things of little value? If Heaven is at the horizon of time, your true Hope, you will live differently. Yes, we need to live with the end in mind; not grimly, not darkly, not with dread.  We can anticipate going HOME, leaving a legacy that honors the Lord.

Don’t put off the important because of the pressure of the urgent. Tend those relationships. Prioritize loving God and loving people. Practice spiritual disciplines – worship, prayer, meditation, service, generosity, simplicity, solitude, and submission – that allow the Spirit to make the inner person strong and rich!

The word from the Word should make us sober and glad. The wisdom in these words assure us that no matter how life appears to us in this moment, there will be a final moment of justice. What will that moment bring your way?"For no one can lay any other foundation than the one we already have—Jesus Christ. Now anyone who builds on that foundation may use gold, silver, jewels, wood, hay, or straw. But there is going to come a time of testing at the judgment day to see what kind of work each builder has done. Everyone’s work will be put through the fire to see whether or not it keeps its value. If the work survives the fire, that builder will receive a reward. But if the work is burned up, the builder will suffer great loss. The builders themselves will be saved, but like someone escaping through a wall of flames." (1 Corinthians 3:11-15, NLT)

By and by, I hope to meet YOU in the Throne Room of Heaven!

____________________

Mighty To Save

Ev’ryone needs compassion
Love that's never failing
Let mercy fall on me
Ev’ryone needs forgiveness
The kindness of a Savior
The hope of nations

 

Savior He can move the mountains
My God is mighty to save
He is mighty to save
Forever Author of salvation
He rose and conquered the grave
Jesus conquered the grave

 

So take me as You find me
All my fears and failures
Fill my life again
I give my life to follow
Ev’rything I believe in
Now I surrender

 

Shine your light and let the whole world see
We're singing
For the glory of the risen King
Jesus
Shine your light and let the whole world see
We're singing
For the glory of the risen King

Ben Fielding | Reuben Morgan

© 2006 Hillsong Music Publishing Australia (Admin. by Capitol CMG Publishing)

CCLI License # 810055

Beautiful for God’s sake

Eugene Peterson, in his memoirs, The Pastor, tells of the year of no Christmas tree, 1939, when he was 7 years old. His mom, a Christian who pursued a holy life, read an obscure passage in Jeremiah that warned of cutting down a tree and decorating it with gold (Jeremiah 10:3-4). She missed the context, which was about making idols and too literally took the words as forbidding the family to put up their Christmas tree.  Much later in life she tried to apologize for her ‘silliness.’ 

While Peterson acknowledges the absurdity of that Christmas year, he concludes that even his mother’s poor Scripture interpretation helped him to appreciate that God’s story of redemption, His entry into His Creation, to die and save those He has made. The story defies our understanding even as it changes us from sinners to saints!

Are you, Christian friend, a holy person, living a life that is distinctly different because of His love? Are you grappling with what it means to belong to Him, even at the risk of occasionally lapsing into the silly or superficial, but always desiring to love Him, about all else? 

God, by the work of His Holy Spirit has brought us new life. We no longer are slaves to lust, greed, or hatred. We are graced to be loving, contented, and joyful. But, there are choices to be made - everyday - that allows the work of God to be accomplished in us. Christians sometimes confuse the issue by thinking that keeping a moral code is the same thing as actually being holy. 

Raised in a holiness church, I was forbidden to enjoy any 'worldly' entertainment, to let profane words into my speech, to go to places that were ‘ungodly.’ The evils of alcohol and tobacco and ‘rock and roll’ were etched into my mind as if those prohibitions were part of the 10 Commandments! I mistakenly thought that I was saving myself through by “being good,” which meant keeping the rules. As with all who think that way, I was plagued with a sense of shame, knowing the gap between my inner thoughts and my outer conformity to the ‘code.’  

Maturity brought me to a place where I understood that it is God’s grace makes us holy!  We are not holy because we avoid certain places, don’t curse, or manage to be a ‘good Christian’ in appearance. We are being made holy by Christ Jesus who lives in us. Real holiness is beautiful, visible in big and small ways in us. God invites us to live intimately with Him - "...we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people." "Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you." "I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty." (2 Corinthians 6:15-18, NIV)

I see an amazing grace, an absurdity even, in the Bible’s story of David. This man who gave us the worship songs of Psalms, who led Israel to be God’s own people, was also a bloody warrior, an adulterer, a murderer, and a miserable failure as a father. Yet, God loved him and worked in him. Is that an excuse for sin. Not at all, but it should humble us enough to seek His transformation, to see the possibility of being His holy person in spite of our personal flaws.

Peter urges us to let God’s life fully develop in us. We actively pursue Him.  "Dear friends, I warn you as "temporary residents and foreigners" to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against your very souls. Be careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbors. Then even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honorable behavior, and they will give honor to God when he judges the world." (1 Peter 2:11-12, NLT)

Oh may God help us to live in a way that reveals His goodness and love in true devotion. I pray that He will keep us from forming a defensive shield, an exclusively holy huddle that does not allow us to be the ‘salt and light’ in this world that Jesus desires.  In same breath, I pray that He will make us distinctively His, preserving us from compromise with the ungodly values and ways of ‘the world.’  

The key thing is to seek to know and intimacy with God that fills us with wisdom to know His will and an obedience that causes us to walk in His way.  I pray the beautiful words of Isaiah that the Spirit of the Lord will  "provide for those who grieve in Zion— to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor." (Isaiah 61:3, NIV)  Ah, this is the heart of holiness.

Here's a word from the Word to ponder today. "I delight greatly in the LORD; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. For as the soil makes the sprout come up and a garden causes seeds to grow, so the Sovereign LORD will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations. For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, for Jerusalem’s sake I will not remain quiet, till her righteousness shines out like the dawn, her salvation like a blazing torch." (Isaiah 61:10-62:1, NIV)

______________

Goodness Of God

 

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 Capitol CMG Paragon (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