That is how you stand firm

I wrote these thoughts 8 years ago today, just a few hours before Bev died.  As I thought about that day I found the devotion that I wrote that morning while in great anguish. The words are still true and worth repeating, not just in the face of death, but as we begin a New Year.  “That is how you stand firm.”

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“Oh, how can I do this?” Bev asked me sorrowfully as we both sensed that the days ahead were about to become even more difficult. Perhaps I merely state the obvious, but there is no escaping that dying is hard. There is grief, loss of dignity, and frequently terrible bodily pain. Bev was not alone in musing about how to travel that road hopefully. I too wondered - in my own thoughts - “How can I do this?”  The hospice resources offered practical advice: “Keep friends close. Use music to soothe the troubled soul. Follow familiar faith practices. Talk with people who understand and empathize. Try to get regular rest.”  We have done all those things, and yet . . .   the sorrow is crushing, the pain of spirit unlike any earthly ache I have ever known.

Prayerfully today, I turn to the wisdom that is from above and find an old, new truth.  The only way to endure is to remember Heaven! When Bev and I were talking and I offered the thought to her that the best way to ‘do this’ was to focus on the Eternal Promise of unending Life in Heaven. She was not, in that moment, greatly encouraged! She is a fighter and, up until a few days ago, was determined to stay with me and her family as long as possible. We love what and who we can see, touch, and hold. Still, we can only walk the road though the valley of the shadow when we have Heaven in our heart. 

Paul says it this way:  "But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body. Therefore, my brothers, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, that is how you should stand firm in the Lord, dear friends!" (Philippians 3:20-4:1, NIV)

Have you Heaven in your heart, your mind, and your soul? I am nearer heaven these days as my wife lays dying in the next room. She has slipped beyond my words and no longer can respond to my caress.

The sense of loss would be beyond description except for that hope that I possess in faith- “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am." (John 14:1-3, NLT) I am glad that I am not attempting to make reservations at this late hour!  Long ago, Bev and I put our trust in the One who saves, who makes us alive forevermore.  Have you?

The word from the Word steadies me on this rocky way.  Though sad, I am not hopeless. My prayer is that the Truth will steady you, too. "When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” (1 Corinthians 15:54-55, NIV)  "Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain." (1 Corinthians 15:58, NIV)

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As we begin 2024, we may find the promise of new beginnings. There are also many who live with the gathering dark clouds of tragedy. The drumbeat of war grows more intense. The political scene is chaotic. But in all of this we who are ‘in Christ’ can ‘stand firm’ because we have our sights set on a home eternal, promised by God who is unchanging. So, “That is how you stand firm.”

May you find in Him a blessed New Year.

(Video of this blog at this link)

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Graves Into Gardens

I searched the world but it couldn't fill me

Man's empty praise and treasures that fade

Are never enough

Then You came along and put me back together

And every desire is now satisfied here in Your love

 

Oh there's nothing better than You

There's nothing better than You

Lord there's nothing

Nothing is better than You

 

I'm not afraid to show You my weakness

My failures and flaws

Lord You've seen them all

And You still call me friend

'Cause the God of the mountain

Is the God of the valley

There's not a place

Your mercy and grace won't find me again

 

You turn mourning to dancing

You give beauty for ashes

You turn shame into glory

You're the only one who can

You turn graves into gardens

You turn bones into armies

You turn seas into highways

You're the only one who can

Brandon Lake | Chris Brown | Steven Furtick | Tiffany Hudson

© 2019 Brandon Lake Music; Maverick City Publishing Worldwide; Music by Elevation Worship Publishing; Bethel Music Publishing

CCLI License # 810055

What makes the difference?

Let me pose a question that might make you uncomfortable. Are you a Christian from the inside out? Perhaps you do not understand the query.  There are millions of people who do “Christian” things - going to church, able to converse about the Holy Scripture, knowledgeable about the traditions of the faith, living a life that is morally upright. But, if you engage many of those persons in a discussion about the loving God, they admit they do not understand the concept. You discover that they cannot claim a solid assurance about eternal life or that they are God’s child. 

Jesus met a man like that. Sensing that there is ‘more,’ he came to Jesus asking how to inherit eternal life. When Jesus asked him about his observance of the Commandments, he responded: "The man replied, “I’ve obeyed all these commandments since I was a child.” (Luke 18:21, NLT) Jesus did not challenge his claim so he was truthful. He did all the right things but he did not know God as his “Abba,” his real Father. 

Interestingly, Jesus did not attempt to convince the man of the love of God!  He challenged him to look at his own heart! “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” (Luke 18:22, NIV)  The Lord knew that this challenge would cause that rich young man to look inside and there he would find that one thing he could not do on his own.

True conversion, an inside out experience of God’s grace, only happens when we come to the end of ourselves, realizing our inability to true love God - heart, soul, mind, and strength - on our own.  God does not allow us to feel this pain and or hopelessness because He enjoys our misery.  We can only own the treasure of His love when we are willing to completely trust His grace. 

If we would be truly different, people of the Kingdom of God, we must receive what we can never earn or gain. It’s a transformation that comes from the inside out, by revelation, instigated by the Spirit of God acting on us. We are not passive. In the mystery of His plan, He asks us to answer His gift of grace with faith.

Paul describes this as the ‘foolishness of the Gospel.’ It takes away any reason for pride, any hope that we have in our own discipline, intelligence, or heritage. At the Cross, the rich and the poor, the young and the old, the royal and the commoner, those morally upright and those whose lives are a drama of self-destruction – stand on level ground. "God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so very much …(that)  He raised us from the dead along with Christ, and we are seated with him in the heavenly realms—all because we are one with Christ Jesus. … we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so that we can do the good things he planned for us long ago." (Ephesians 2:4,6,10 NLT)

The Christian life is an ‘inside out’ transformation. God does look for change. The things we once loved lose their appeal as we come to love Him. As we ‘keep in step with the Spirit’ we joyfully say yes to love, forgiveness, and generosity;  no to selfishness. Jesus was not compromising on the truth.  Those who know God’s grace will most certainly have a new life, a new heart. That new life shows up in ever increasing measure. Jesus says it this way -  "By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit." (Matthew 7:16-18, NIV)

Are you desperate for the love of your Abba?

Do you want to be different from the inside out?

Do you desire to be a true worshipper?

Flip the pursuit from trying to trusting, from looking at your accomplishments to thanking Him for His gift to you.  If we try to experience God’s full life by pointing out how good we have been or how much we have sacrificed for our religion- we insult the Lord of Love. Rather, we thank Him for His amazing love with true humility having glimpsed our brokenness that is offset by His gracious goodness towards us.

Here’s a word from the Word.

"I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry.
He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire;
he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.

He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear and put their trust in the Lord.
Blessed is the man who makes the Lord his trust, who does not look to the proud,
to those who turn aside to false gods." (Psalm 40:1-4, NIV)

(Video of this blog at this link)

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Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone)

Amazing grace how sweet the sound

That saved a wretch like me

I once was lost but now I'm found

Was blind but now I see

 

'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear

And grace my fears relieved

How precious did that grace appear

The hour I first believed

 

My chains are gone I've been set free

My God my Savior has ransomed me

And like a flood His mercy rains

Unending love amazing grace

 

The Lord has promised good to me

His word my hope secures

He will my shield and portion be

As long as life endures

 

The earth shall soon dissolve like snow

The sun forbear to shine

But God who called me here below

Will be forever mine

Will be forever mine

You are forever mine

 

Chris Tomlin | John Newton | Louie Giglio

© 2006 Rising Springs Music; Vamos Publishing; worshiptogether.com songs

CCLI License # 810055