Working With Jesus

 

War!  The images of people’s faces full of fear, of masses huddled in subways, of destruction wrought by missiles replay in my mind. As I lay in my bed, in my warm home, safe and secure I could not simply lay aside the suffering that war’s brutality is bringing to this world. Early this morning, as I was praying, while there was thankfulness for my blessings there was great sadness.

"Jerry, why emphasize the sorrow? Why not look on the bright side?"  If we allow ourselves to look on evil, on suffering, on pain, those things can be a catalyst for prayer and engagement with need. Where we see the evidence of people who are feeling the effect of the Curse of sin, we cannot just pull the curtains of our mind and ignore their reality.

I will not, in spite of my own overflowing cup of privilege, pretend that all is well.  We are, dear Christian, commissioned to be agents of the Savior, messengers of hope, practitioners of peace for those under the weight of the Evil One. Jesus’ work is our work. Like Him, we must be willing let our hearts be broken by human need – both near and far.

We do not carry the weight alone! We need not collapse in despair.  I will go to the One who gives me this invitation - "Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke fits perfectly, and the burden I give you is light.” (Matthew 11:29-30, NLT)   

Called to work with Him, we need not get worked up, weighed down, or worn out by the effort-  because He is yoked with us, showing us how to do His work effectively.   Ah, that does not mean we escape all sorrow or effort. Jesus was Himself a man well acquainted with the sorrows of humanity, but He was renewed by His Father as He engaged in the work. So we can know the daily infusion of the Spirit’s hope and strength, IF we turn to Him and stand with Him in the yoke of service.

Sometimes I wonder if I can make a difference, if efforts to love in His Name will change anything, if my prayers are bouncing off of the ceiling of my room.  Yes, I admit that the mission of compassion can seem to be a fool's attempt to hold back a tidal wave of human suffering. But I know that I am in the service of the One who has overcome the world! 

I have read the end of the Book, and I know that in the end He will vanquish evil, wipe away the tears, and invite us into the Kingdom of Light and so I want to be about His work even while I patiently and faithfully pray – “Your Kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven.”

Let’s work with Jesus, not just for Him. As we join Him in the yoke, we can engage ourselves with those who suffer, even when it makes us weep! We are sustained by this wonderful promise-  ". . . they stand in front of God's throne and serve him day and night in his Temple. And he who sits on the throne will give them shelter. They will never again be hungry or thirsty; they will never be scorched by the heat of the sun. For the Lamb on the throne will be their Shepherd. He will lead them to springs of life-giving water. And God will wipe every tear from their eyes." (Revelation 7:15-17, NLT)

As I close this thought, I turn to a Psalm of Lament, the 73^rd, where we find these words that encourage us to hope. "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. Those who are far from you will perish; you destroy all who are unfaithful to you. But as for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the Sovereign LORD my refuge; I will tell of all your deeds." (Psalm 73:22-28, NIV)

(Video of this blog at this link)

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 My Dwelling Place (Psalm 91)
(A Psalm of worship and comfort.
May it lift you to worship today.)

My dwelling place is God Most High
My refuge and my fortress
When plague and pestilence draw nigh
I’m hidden in His presence
When terrors fall and arrows fly
His shield will be my safety
When stones across my pathway lie
On angels’ wings I’m carried 

My dwelling place is God Most High
A present help in danger
I rest secure in Love’s pure light
Beneath My Master’s favor
He freed me from the fowler’s snare
Where sin and shame had bound me
Deceived I made my refuge there
Till fearless He came for me

Wonderful powerful my hope and my defender
Mighty God Emmanuel my dwelling place forever 

My dwelling place is God Most High
I’ll never seek another
For I am His and He is mine
My heart He’ll keep forever
I know the Name on Whom I call
He promises to answer
With life he satisfies my soul
And crowns me with his pleasure

Chris Eaton | Keith Getty | Kelly Meredith Minter | Kristyn Getty | Stuart Townend
© 2015, 2018 Getty Music Hymns and Songs (Admin. by Music Services, Inc.)

Getty Music Publishing (Admin. by Music Services, Inc.)
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CCLI License # 810055

Choosing Serenity

 

Are you feeling anxious? The world we live in gives us plenty of reasons for concern. While I watched our Secretary of State and the Foreign Minister of Ukraine hold a press conference yesterday about the outbreak of war and I felt cold fear creep over me.  The following news of inflation and rapidly rising energy costs brought more worry. Then, a friend let me know that the news about his lung cancer was grim.  My mind wandered into worry about health.  Who has not had a day like that when life’s troubles and trials darken the future?

Sensing the rising angst, I turned off the news, quieted my heart, and prayerfully took those needs and more to the One who tells me “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me." (John 14:1, NIV)  I am a man who is predictable, who plans, who likes his routine habits- coffee at the same time, dinner at 5, order in his home. Disrupt those things and my natural response is to become anxious. Yes, I know that I can choose serenity.  Today, in the predawn darkness, I prayed that God’s peace would be mine and that He would use me to bring peace to those with whom I interact this day.

If you are feeling some level of anxiety about life, you are by no means unique. About half of adult Americans report that they are stressed, worried, and anxious. Around a quarter of us say that our anxiety is disrupting life significantly, more than passing concerns. 

Christian we are not helpless victims of fear nor need we wave the flag of surrender to anxiety. One of God’s gifts to His children is peace. It is available to us for the asking and is received by faith. The night before He went to the cross Jesus told His friends that they were going to experience hard times, but that the Holy Spirit would come to live in them.  Read His promise to them and us. “I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give isn’t like the peace the world gives. So don’t be troubled or afraid." (John 14:27, NLT)  “Do not let your hearts be troubled.”  It’s not a suggestion or a wishful idea. It is a directive for the Christian life.

Paul’s words are perhaps familiar but their familiarity does not rob them of their powerful truth. "Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. If you do this, you will experience God’s peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:6-7, NLT)  Choose serenity!

What are some practical steps
we can take to experience God’s gift of serenity?

Pray! Start there.  At the risk of stating the obvious, your prayers need not be eloquent, long, or even impassioned. God only asks that we turn our hearts to Him with a grain of faith. Your prayer can be as simple as quietly saying the name of Jesus like a child murmurs about her Mama. The Psalm urges us to ‘be still and know that I am God.’  Some of the most powerful prayers are wordless.

Share! Anxiety grows when we try to wrestle with it alone. Ask a friend to listen to your heart’s cry. Watch out for those who rush in to ‘fix’ you, who imply that your troubles must be the result of some failing in you. They may be right but in the moment of our fear we need to be cared for with compassion even more than instructed.  Jesus reminds us of the power of agreement with God and others. He says that He is present when just two or three gather in His Name and that as we agree in prayer, the world changes.

Commit yourself to God’s care!  Sometimes when I feel the weight of many concerns I extend my hand palm upwards and I visualize my needs held there. Then I lift that hand towards the heavens, as I commit those needs consciously and intentionally to the Lord. Perhaps that sounds silly to you but it helps me. 

Remember King Hezekiah in his time of trouble? He was threatened by the military might of Assyria in a letter that demanded tribute. "After Hezekiah received the letter and read it, he went up to the Lord’s Temple and spread it out before the Lord. And Hezekiah prayed this prayer before the Lord: “O Lord, God of Israel, you are enthroned between the mighty cherubim! You alone are God of all the kingdoms of the earth. You alone created the heavens and the earth." (2 Kings 19:14-15, NLT)  He gave it to God.  We can enjoy the gift of peace when we actively let God be God.

Today, whatever your concerns, choose serenity. It is a discipline to do so. Sometimes we apparently like our worries, holding onto them, talking endlessly about them, fretting to anyone who will listen. Such is human nature, but God invites us to live differently – people who know His peace.

The word from the Word comes from the preacher, Isaiah, who was inspired to write of peace:

"You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you,
whose thoughts are fixed on you!
Trust in the Lord always, for the Lord God is the eternal Rock.

He humbles the proud and brings the arrogant city to the dust.
Its walls come crashing down!
The poor and oppressed trample it underfoot.

But for those who are righteous, the path is not steep and rough.
You are a God of justice, and you smooth out the road ahead of them.
Lord, we love to obey your laws; our heart’s desire is to glorify your name.

All night long I search for you; earnestly I seek for God." (Isaiah 26:3-9, NLT)

(Video of this blog at this link)

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Wonderful Peace

Far away in the depths of my spirit today

Rolls a melody sweeter than psalm

In celestial-like strains it unceasingly falls

O'er my soul like an infinite calm

 

Peace peace wonderful peace

Coming down from the Father above

Sweep over my spirit forever I pray

In fathomless billows of love

 

I am resting today in this wonderful peace

Resting sweetly in Jesus' control

For I'm kept from all danger by night and by day

And His glory is flooding my soul

 

Ah soul are you here without comfort and rest

Marching down the rough pathway of time

Make Jesus your friend ere the shadows grow dark

O accept this sweet peace so sublime

 

 

Warren D. Cornell | William G. Cooper

© Words: Public Domain

 

Light it up!

 

 

 

As the sun slid over the horizon this morning, light gradually dispelled the dark. As I write I look out over naked trees and brown grass brightened by splashed of sunlight that bathes that ‘death’ with the promise of life. Few things can do more to encourage a person than bringing light to their confusion, offering bright hope in the middle of dark despair. On those occasions when I have been ill, the sickness always seems worse in the night, better with the coming of the morning’s light.  

Then, too, even a familiar place can be frightening in the dark!  I love the sanctuary of our church, a place where I have spent most of my professional life, but that cavernous space becomes less comforting at 10 PM when undefined fears feel more real in the darkness and shadows of that vast room.  A simple flick of a switch and the introduction of light dispels those fears.

Are you living on the edge of darkness, experiencing confusion about who you are, why you exist, where you are going?   I do not intend to be simplistic, but there is Light to be found. Jesus says - “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t be stumbling through the darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.” (John 8:12, NLT)  Let’s not race past that thought. 
 

Jesus tells us we are loved by God – light.
He tells us that we can know life eternal, freed from dread – light.
He promises that the Spirit of God lives in those who receive Him by faith – light. 
He teaches us that our daily needs are supplied by His resourceful Father -light.
He shows us the path to a truly ‘blessed’ life, not a superficially happy one – light.  Need I go on?

Quoted Isaiah, Matthew’s Gospel makes this declaration - "the people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.”" (Matthew 4:16, NIV)  He is our Light. Are you letting His light shine into your life?

Shifting the thought a little today, let’s remember that God has called us to be lights in the darkness, too.  What a high and holy calling.  Jesus, in the Sermon on the Mount, invites us to become light-bearers. "You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We’re going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don’t think I’m going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I’m putting you on a light stand. Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you’ll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven." (Matthew 5:14-16, The Message)

Light just does the work of illuminating by shining. The glorious dawn of the morning with that powerful source of earth’s energy does not come with trumpets. The sun just comes up over the horizon and quietly the light arrives. Christian, when we live ‘in the light’ we become reflectors of that light. Our best work is done, not in noisy demonstrations or violent confrontation, but quietly as we love and serve God and others. Yes, we come a light to dark places, pointing others to God’s love and grace in Christ Jesus. Is your life reflecting the true Light?

Here is a word from the Word for this new week. The preacher, Isaiah, speaks to our religion. A fast is a way of expressing devotion. He was inspired to remind us that religion without relationship, an attempt to please God apart from caring for others, is not what our Father desires.  Rather, we are to care, to love, to give.   

Note the blessings that come to those who do these things. “No, the kind of fasting I want calls you to free those who are wrongly imprisoned and to stop oppressing those who work for you. Treat them fairly and give them what they earn. I want you to share your food with the hungry and to welcome poor wanderers into your homes. Give clothes to those who need them, and do not hide from relatives who need your help. “If you do these things, your salvation will come like the dawn. Yes, your healing will come quickly. Your godliness will lead you forward, and the glory of the Lord (LIGHT) will protect you from behind." (Isaiah 58:6-8, NLT)

Lord, be our Light and help us to reflect your Radiance to our dark world. Amen.

(Video of this blog at this link)

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This Little Light of Mine

This little light of mine,

I’m gonna let shine …

Let it shine.

 

Everywhere I go,

I’m gonna let shine …

Let it shine.

 

Even when I’m afraid,

I’m gonna let shine …

Let it shine.

 

 

Public Domain