Head pounds? Take more Tylenol™

It is a miserable headache. My body feels like I have been beaten. Do I like the pain? Of course not. But, it is a signal to me that a tiny virus has taken up residence in me with all those not so wonderful symptoms that go with the common head cold.  If pay attention, rest, and drink fluids, I will recover more quickly. If I ignore the pain I will prolong the misery.

Pain can be a gift to us when we recognize it as a signal that something is wrong, that corrective action is necessary. Touch a hot surface and instantly you hand pulls away as nerves flash a pain signal to your brain that causes you to react. Without the pain, your hand would be severely damaged, wouldn’t it?  Not all pain is physical.

We can know spiritual sickness, too. When our soul aches for meaning, when we cannot find peace of mind, when prayer becomes an afterthought, what does it mean? That is when we need discernment, perhaps even a wise counselor to help us. An aching heart can be caused by guilt, the conviction of the Holy Spirit asking us to turn around.  Waking up with a sense of futility signals a time to renew our pursuit of God’s plans. When we are substituting momentary delight for eternal purpose, wasting precious days, God will call us to look higher.  And, yes, an aching soul may be signaling some place of unforgiveness, some unresolved conflict from long ago, some place where our heart is resisting God, the Spirit!

Our medicine cabinets are full of chemicals that mask our pain. I can take some Tylenol and a nasal decongestant and fool my body into thinking I am better, but all I have really done is hide the symptoms.  Pain relievers are not healing, they just temporarily turn off the pain signal. That’s not all bad if we take steps to deal with the issue that causes us pain at the same time. Tragically there are things that we can turn to that mask the pain in our hearts. We can stir up angry rage, which hides our pain. We can run to gourmet delights and find some temporary relief.  We can go and buy new clothes and numb our ache, for a while.

Jesus says, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls." (Matthew 11:28-29, NLT) Don’t be too quick to dismiss that prescription! We need to practice soul health.  That includes regularly getting together with others to worship the Lord.  In all the demands of our busy 2019 lives, we must faithfully find ourselves in quiet times of reflective prayer.  We can, we should, turn over our cares and concerns to the One who knows all our tomorrows. The Spirit of God will lead us to love, to forgive, and will call us to repentance.  This will give us the kind of spiritual health that allows us to clearly know the difference between the junk and the treasure in life.

As with most healing, the pain of our soul is seldom relieved in an instant. Rather, God heals us from the inside out as we learn to live in ways that are spiritually healthy. Here’s a word from the Word. Read it thoughtfully, prayerfully today. There’s a lot of soul food in it!

"Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.

And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast." -1 Peter 5:6-10, NIV

_______

Living Hope
(A song to turn our hearts to His healing promise)

How great the chasm that lay between us

How high the mountain I could not climb

In desperation I turned to heaven

And spoke Your name into the night

Then through the darkness Your loving-kindness

Tore through the shadows of my soul

The work is finished the end is written

Jesus Christ my living hope

Who could imagine so great a mercy

What heart could fathom such boundless grace

The God of ages stepped down from glory

To wear my sin and bear my shame

The cross has spoken I am forgiven

The King of kings calls me His own

Beautiful Savior I’m Yours forever

Jesus Christ my living hope

Hallelujah praise the One who set me free

Hallelujah death has lost its grip on me

You have broken every chain

There’s salvation in Your name

Jesus Christ my living hope

Then came the morning that sealed the promise

Your buried body began to breathe

Out of the silence the Roaring Lion

Declared the grave has no claim on me

Jesus Yours is the victory

Jesus Christ my living hope

Oh God You are my living hope

Brian Johnson | Phil Wickham

© 2017 Phil Wickham Music (Fair Trade Music Publishing [c/o Essential Music Publishing LLC])

Simply Global Songs (Fair Trade Music Publishing [c/o Essential Music Publishing LLC])

Sing My Songs (Fair Trade Music Publishing [c/o Essential Music Publishing LLC])

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CCLI License # 810055

Finding the balance between Truth and Love

Earlier this week, when New York passed a law that, in my opinion, showed an utter disregard for the sacredness of human life, I made some public statements that some found offensive.  Several called me out for a ‘lack of love.’  I took their rebukes seriously, for I am not above correction. 

When is it appropriate to express convictions based on my understanding of the revealed will of God even those that make some people uncomfortable, angry, or feeling guilty? Or, should my goal be to ‘just love’ without judgment, realizing that life is complex, that choices are hard, and that people are different?  The Scripture teaches me both to be a voice in the wilderness whose life and words call others to get right with God and to be a messenger of reconciliation that holds out the grace of God, which is immeasurable and free.

The balance between truth and love is a major concern for me in my Christian life.  Have I found the perfect place at the fulcrum? No, certainly not.  

Here is how I think about these things, the guidelines that I try to follow.

First of all, I know that my primary message is not morality, it is about Christ Jesus.  There must always be the hope of redemption, the offer of restoration.  The promise of John 3.16 where God is said to love the world must be prominent in my words. However, the Cross makes no sense if there is no offense.  We are sinners, separated from our Father, in desperate need apart from the intervention of His grace.  Is depravity a popular topic? Not at all, but it part of the truth.

Second, I must be authentic about my own process! Jesus reminds me to get the post out of my own eye so I can see clearly to help my brother rid himself of the splinter in his. His point was not ‘I’m OK, you’re OK,’ so let’s sing a happy song of affirmation of our dysfunctions and imperfections.  He asked us for humility to understand that we are all dealing with a sinful nature, all recipients of grace.  If my message is about ‘those people who sin’ whoever they may be or whatever they may have done, I will slip into a Pharisaical blindness to my own pride.  Again, acknowledging my own sins does not preclude bearing witness to the Truth.  It means I lead the way to the Cross of Christ where I find myself set right with a holy God.

Third, I must never speak to gain applause or be silenced by a desire for approval. It may sound arrogant, please forgive me that, but it matters little what anyone ultimately thinks of me. That does not mean that I am beyond accountability or free to say whatever comes to mind. When the Bible tells me that God sees past my words and my actions to the very intents and motives of my heart, I am equally comforted and terrified!  Nothing in me is hidden from Him.  While I am completely assured of heaven through Christ Jesus I also know that He will hold me accountable for how I live, what I say, and how I used those opportunities He presented to me.  Yes, that is beyond sobering. It makes me feel the fear of God.

In the opening of the book of the Acts, a promise that the Spirit of God would live in us is made. And why does He come to us?  Jesus said, "You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1:8, NKJV)  We are empowered to be those who bear witness to Him – Who is Truth and Love!

So, my prayer is to be winsome, compassionate, and wise even as I am fearlessly committed to the messages of sin and redemption.  In a culture that has more and more “Nones” (those with no faith) and “Dones” (those who are fed up with organized Church) may we find a way to “speak the truth in love.” (Ephesians 4.15)

Here is a word from the Word.  "But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name. For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And, “If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?” (1 Peter 4:13-18, NIV)  Amen.

How can I Trust Your promises?

Do you ever begin to question God, asking Him what He’s up to? Abraham did!  In Genesis 12, God gave him an amazing promise of many descendants, that he would be a blessings to the whole world. Years past and Abraham was still without a son! In the 15^th chapter, he asks God this - “O Sovereign Lord, what good are all your blessings when I don’t even have a son?” (Genesis 15:2, NLT)  I think most of us have been in that place. We think we know God’s promise but there seems to be no way from where we are to that place of His blessings. What did Abraham do?  “He believed God!”  So must we.

If we attempt to anything in life, especially in the work of God, we may find ourselves dealing with situations that look like failure.  Our doubts will be fueled by the half-truths that are shared by well-intentioned Christian. Many insist that if we are living in faith, we will go from success to victory in unbroken triumph! We don’t. Nobody does.

We love to recount the story of Jesus’ visit to his friends in a boat on the Sea of Galilee.  We imagine Peter’s bold step over the side of the boat where he walked on the water, too.  It’s a glorious story of faith, until it isn’t!  Peter failed moments after he started. So, did God throw him away? Not at all. More remarkable than Peter’s short trip on the water, is the faithfulness of Jesus who caught him before he sank. We love to tell of Paul’s travels around the empire planting churches. Yet that story is incomplete if we do not remember that he got thrown out of most cities he visited, knowing rejection and disappointment again and again. He spent almost as much time in jail as he did teaching in marketplaces. The most amazing thing is that he didn’t just give up and go home!  In fact, some of his best writing to us comes from those times of imprisonment.

Paul acknowledged the desperation he felt. Feel the emotion in his words. “We were crushed and completely overwhelmed, and we thought we would never live through it. 9 In fact, we expected to die. But as a result, we learned not to rely on ourselves, but on God who can raise the dead.”  (2 Corinthians 1:8, NLT)   Like Abraham before him, Paul learned to lean unto God. In his moment of doubt, the Lord spoke to Abram and that man responded with faith that leaned into God. "And Abram believed the Lord, and the Lord declared him righteous because of his faith." (Genesis 15:6, NLT)

Are you wrestling with disappointment? Have you heard the promise of God only to find yourself frustrated? Brent Crowe reminds us of an important thing. “There is a type of failure that attempts something that is consistent with God’s desired will and yet comes up short or doesn’t work out the way we thought it would. This is the type of failure that God doesn’t look at and go… ‘You’ve failed and you’ve sinned’… Number one I think it pleases him.  Number two, I think he views it through the lens of sanctification and we’re being built up in the faith when we attempt things for God’s glory.” - Brent Crowe

God chose to include failure on the pages of the Bible. Instead of giving inspirational stories about perfect heroes, He told us about real people who lived in faith mixed with failure. If we look deeply, we will be astounded by the grace of God that finds people at their worst. We celebrate David’s love for God and his victories and they are ever more amazing when we also include his violent nature, his terrible moments of adultery and even murder!  We admire about Abraham’s faith, which was remarkable, but tend to forget that God loved and used him even when he got it very wrong, fathering a son with Hagar, lying about Sarah to Pharaoh. Samson was a hero and a heel!  He led Israel to great victories but could not overcome his weakness for pretty women.  Still God’s grace persisted.

So, am I excusing faithlessness or failure? Not for a moment.  Our desire must be to know the Presence of God, to walk in the Spirit, and to do those things that make His Name great.  But, we will fail and others will fail us. What then?  Will we give up, go home, and look for another place for joy? Or, will we love Him, accept His grace, and give it where necessary?

The word from the Word is from a letter of Paul that I love.  In our worst failures there is a divine conjunction - "But God…”   He “is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so very much, that even while we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s special favor that you have been saved!) For 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. And so God can always point to us as examples of the incredible wealth of his favor and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us through Christ Jesus. God saved you by his special favor when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God." (Ephesians 2:4-8, NLT)

Lord lead us to life in the middle of the messes that are a part of this broken world. Amen

__________

Even If

(Mercy Me encourages us to lean on our Father)

They say sometimes you win some

Sometimes you lose some

And right now right now I'm losing bad

I've stood on this stage night after night

Reminding the broken it'll be alright

But right now oh right now I just can't

It's easy to sing

When there's nothing to bring me down

But what will I say

When I'm held to the flame like I am right now

I know You're able and I know You can

Save through the fire with Your mighty hand

But even if You don't

My hope is You alone

They say it only takes a little faith

To move a mountain

Well good thing

A little faith is all I have right now

But God when You choose

To leave mountains unmovable

Oh give me the strength to be able to sing

It is well with my soul

I know the sorrow and I know the hurt

Would all go away if You just say the word

But even if You don't

My hope is You alone

You've been faithful

You've been good all of my days

Jesus I will cling to You

Come what may

'Cause I know You're able

I know You care

I hope in You alone ooh

It is well with my soul

It is well it is well with my soul

Bart Millard | Ben Glover | Crystal Lewis | David Arthur Garcia | Tim Timmons

© 2017 D Soul Music (Admin. by Brentwood-Benson Music Publishing, Inc.)

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