Hope food

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Lamentations 3:22-45

TO CHEW ON: "'The Lord is my portion,' says my soul, 'Therefore I hope in Him!'" Lamentations 3:24

Writer, singer Carolyn Arends told this story on a 2010 Christianity Today webinar on worship:

"On July 12th my dad passed away and I was very, very sad and still am. My husband and I speak together at family camps and we were right in the middle of speaking at this camp. We went home for a day to see my Mom and cry together, and then she said, "I really think you need to go back and finish speaking at that camp."


At first I thought, How am I ever going to do that? I'm too sad. But it turned out to be such a gift because each day of that camp for about three hours I had this opportunity to formally affirm all the things that I know to be true about God's character — about His goodness, about His trustworthiness, about His provision for us. That was such a gift to me in my grief. It didn't take it away, but it reminded me that we do not grieve as those who have no hope and that we never mourn alone." (Webinar no longer available online.)

Focusing on God seems to be what Jeremiah is telling the beleaguered citizens of Judah to do here. In a turnaround so abrupt it practically gives us whiplash, he goes from dwelling on his desperate state, to reminding himself—and his hearers—of a vital fact: We have God, therefore we have hope.

He calls God his portion, a word commonly used to describe one's set-aside amount of food. How do we take God as our portion?

I think of it as meditating on and claiming for myself that aspect of God that relates to my specific problem. For example, if I'm experiencing injustice, I recall God's ability to see any situation realistically and to mete out justice for me in it. If it's illness or physical injury, I review the stories of healing in the Bible and meditate on God's ability to restore health—that sort of thing.

Jeremiah goes on to give other reasons it makes sense to trust in God—more flavours of that portion if you will:

1. It's good to experience God's "yoke" or constraint when we're young (it's implied that such experience matures and makes men and women out of us) (Jeremiah 3:25-27).

2. Problems don't last forever. God's merciful nature will eventually cause Him to show compassion (Jeremiah 3:31-33).

3. Nothing can come into our lives without God's knowledge or permission (Jeremiah 3:37-38).

Whatever you or I are facing today, let's claim God as our hope. Let's recall who He is. Let's remember His faithfulness to us. Let's make Him our portion.

PRAYER: "Dear God, thank You that You are big enough for every one of my problems. Help me to understand this at a heart / life level. Amen.

MORE: Store up for hope before trouble strikes

It's a good idea to prepare ahead for times of trouble. One of the ways we can do this is by familiarizing ourselves with God and  His attributes and ways in the good times, before tragedy strikes. Knowing God by J. I. Packer is an excellent book to read in this regard.

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Do your 8-12-year-olds have daily devotions? Point them to Bible Drive-Thru.

Playing catch with God

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Ephesians 3:1-21

TO CHEW ON: "...that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height—to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge..." - Ephesians 3:17-19


In her book Theology in Aisle Seven, Carolyn Arends tells of the time in a pre-concert prayer meeting when she prayed something like, "'God, we invite you here among us.'" The next person to pray—the church's minister—contradicted her theology when he prayed, "'We know we do not have to request your presence because there is nowhere you are not. So we celebrate the fact you are already here with us now'" - Theology in Aisle Seven, Kindle Location 141.

In a way Paul's prayer for the Ephesians when he requests that God make them able to comprehend Christ's love for them, is his subtler request for his readers of what Carolyn desired. We all want to feel God is with us, to sense His presence, to know He wraps us in a loving hug.

Paul gives us the key to how that begins when he says "...that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith..."

But what about those times God feels distant, or even absent?

Though Carolyn was a little miffed at having her theology so publicly corrected, the minister's words set her to search out these things and brought her to some life-altering realizations. Attending to the words of Jesus when He talked about the Kingdom of God coming near (Matthew 4:17), she discovered:

"...for the biblical writers, heaven is close. In fact the 'first heavens' is a term used to describe the earth's atmosphere. So when Jesus describes the invisible (but very real) realm that God inhabits, he lets us know it's not only out there, but also as near as the atmosphere surrounding our bodies and the air we breathe" - Arends, Theology, KL 161.

She found another piece of the puzzle when a colleague shared an article about a father and son playing catch and related such an activity with fathering and being a child. "They do not call it a game of throw," her friend said, "but catch."

Arends concludes:

"God is the initiator. We love because he first loved us. We're here because he thought of us and welcomed us into his world. Yes, he stands at the doors to our hearts and knocks, but we need only let him in" - Arends, Theology, K.L. 174.

Doesn't all that help us comprehend His love and presence a little better?

PRAYER: Dear God, thank You for being here, all around me, as present as the air I breathe. Help me to catch the signals of Your nearness in the blessings that flow through my day, the prickly lessons, and the sadnesses that keep my heart soft. May I affirm Your presence by throwing my thankfulness back to you. Amen.

MORE:  But don't we need to catch God's attention?

More Arends: "I suspect I have sometimes unconsciously used spiritual disciplines as smoke signals to get God's attention. Now I am learning that they are simply ways of letting him capture mine" - Carolyn Arends, Theology, K.L. 16.

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Complaining about the food

"And thou shalt smite on the rocks..." 
Lithograph by Marc Chagall

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Psalm 78:1-20

TO CHEW ON: "He also brought streams out of the rock, and caused waters to run down like rivers. But they sinned even more against Him by rebelling against the Most High in the wilderness" - Psalm 78:16,17

I identify with Carolyn Arends when she writes in Theology in Aisle Seven:

"I was making my way through Exodus, feeling a little jealous of my spiritual ancestors. It seemed they never had to wonder if God was there. They had only to follow pillars of cloud and fire, gathering up the manna served fresh daily from God's kitchen .... I wondered why the present-day actions of the immutable God sometimes seem so muted in contrast to the God of Moses. I wouldn't mind a pillar of cloud or fire when I need direction, or some manna on my front lawn when I pray for provision" - Carolyn Arends, Theology in Aisle Seven, Kindle Location 507.

But Asaph, the writer of today's psalm, reminds us that despite that luminous GPS, six-day-a-week meal service, and all the other tangible evidences of God's presence, the Israelites still struggled with bad attitudes of discontent, grumbling, and rebellion. Why?

Perhaps verse 18 holds a key to their problem: "They tested God in their heart..."

[Test—nasah—means to put to the test, try, prove, tempt. It's the thing that God does to us through life, not we to Him. As the Word Wealth writer of my Bible's notes concludes: "In this reference, the wilderness generation insulted and grieved the Lord by tempting and limiting Him as if to test His patience or His power" - Dick Mills, Word Wealth, New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, p. 747.]

Note the place those discontented complaints and rebellions originated: "their heart." It was an inner thing first before an outer action. Really as simple as choosing to see life's glass half empty instead of half full.

And so you and I too have a choice to make. Do we focus on what's wrong with life, the things we wish were different, what we would like more of, and so in effect test God, telling Him He's not doing a good enough job in our circumstances? Or do we, in our hearts, focus on gratitude, thankfulness, what's right with life? For it's as easy for us to test God as it was for the Israelites—as easy as complaining about the food!


PRAYER: Dear God, please help me to live with gratitude every day, choosing to see life in a positive, not negative light, choosing not to test You in my heart. Amen.

MORE: Ingratitude—the catalyst of all my sins?

"From all our beginnings, we keep reliving the Garden story.

Satan, he wanted more. More power, more glory. Ultimately, in his essence Satan is an ingrate. And he sinks his venom into the heart of Eden. Satan's sin becomes the first sin of all humanity: the sin of ingratitude. Adam and Eve are, simply, painfully, ungrateful for what God gave.

Isn't that the catalyst of all my sins?"

- Ann Voskamp, One Thousand Gifts, p. 15.

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Sing!

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Psalm 96:1-13

TO CHEW ON: "O sing to the Lord a new song!

Sing to the Lord all the earth.

Sing to the Lord, bless His name;

Proclaim the good news of His

salvation from day to day." Psalm 96:1-2

Do you sing? Day after tomorrow is Sunday. If you attend church somewhere, chances are you will sing there. You may sing songs that you know in a style that you enjoy, or new songs that excite you, or even be expected to sing along with music that is not to your taste.

What is singing anyway? The dictionary defines "sing":

"To produce word sounds that differ from speech in that vowels are lengthened, pitches are clearly defined, and voiceless consonants are minimized."

Wow - that sounds like a sterile activity! Though that clinical description of singing may be 'anatomically correct,' it misses the whole emotional aspect of "sing" that must be experienced to be understood. A commentary in my Bible gets much closer to capturing that meaning, especially as it relates to Christians:

"Singing is a dynamic and vital part of our devotional life with God. The Psalms refer to singing more than seventy times. Even if you feel that you do not sing well, know that your heavenly Father loves the sound of your voice (Song of Solomon 2:14). It is not important how well you sing, but simply that you sing. Praise is a pathway to joy" - "Truth-In-Action Through Psalms, Book four: Psalms 90-106," New Spirit Filled Life Bible, p. 770-771.

Not only are the Psalms full of singing — it's all through the Bible. Here are some examples to help us understand when, why, what, and how we sing.

We sing:

- when we're victorious (Psalm 27:6).
- to celebrate the One who brought us salvation (Psalm 95:1).
- aloud and loud (Psalm 81:1).
- accompanied by instruments (Psalm 81:2).
- to the Lord (Isaiah 12:5).
- and to one another (Ephesians 5:19).
- with the mind and with the Spirit (1 Corinthians 14:15).
- all kinds of songs  (Ephesians 5:19).
- arising from the overflow of God's word in us (Colossians 3:16).
- from happy hearts (James 5:13).
- a new song, finding fresh reasons and ways to sing praise (Psalm 96:1 our focus verse).

As my Bible says about this verse specifically:

"Sing a new song to the Lord. Whether you are a professional musician or simply one who has a thankful heart, put your praise into song. Offer your song to God as a sacrifice of praise. It is pleasing to the Lord." -- "Truth-In-Action through Psalms Book four: Psalms 90-106," New Spirit Filled Life Bible, p. 771 (emphasis added).

PRAYER: Dear God, thank You for songs and singing. Please "tune my heart to sing Thy grace." Amen.

MORE: "Any Given Sunday" and some songs for the road...

Carolyn Arends' song "Any Given Sunday" captures the variety of the songs we sing in church:

Any given Sunday...
... you can count on singing
There’s every kind of music
There’s hymns and Bach and folk and pop
And most of it’s in tune

Read the rest of the lyrics and Carolyn's comments here. Catch a sample of the song here (click the >| part of the player till you get to Song 4).

Jan Cox in her blog Under the Cover of Prayer has put together a singing road trip for us. Drive and sing along with her here.

(From the archives.)

Know, remember, drink and be still

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Psalm 46:1-11
 
TO CHEW ON: "God is our refuge and strength,

A very present help in trouble...

Be still and know that I am God..."

Psalm 46:1,10a


The Sons of Korah wrote Psalm 46 to encourage and give hope to people who were in trouble. By the things the psalmist mentions it seems the trouble was war with another nation. The writer begins with a declaration about who God is:

"God is our refuge  — shelter, protection, fortress, hope, place of trust — and our strength  — power, security — in trouble" 

He reminds the people about the security of the city (vs 4-5). It has an underground stream that provides water even if the water supply is cut off by siege. (Though there is no actual river flowing through Jerusalem, "it is believed by many that there is a subterranean water supply that is the source of various fountains and pools in Jerusalem" New Spirit Filled Life Bible, p. 723.) God's presence in her makes her unshakeable, in case of battering. He will help her at sunrise, which is a likely time for the enemy to attack.

He says more about the identity of God (vs 7-9). He calls Him Yahweh Sabaoth — the Lord of Hosts. I am reminded of the story of Elisha, when the King of Syria comes to capture him, surrounding the city with his army. In the morning, Elisha's servant sees the army and is afraid. But Elisha draws his attention to another army — an army of heavenly warriors: "Do not fear for those who are with us are more than those who are with them" - 2 Kings 6:8-17.

He also calls God the "God of Jacob." This reminds them of their history with God when, in the past, He has preserved their forefather Jacob and his descendants, causing havoc to enemy weapons and transportation.

In the light of all this, God Himself steps to the mic, telling the readers/listeners: "Be still and know that I am God."

The comment writer of my Bible suggests this is "God addressing the wicked warring nations." That may be so. But I think it is also God addressing the worried, wailing people. He tells them to still the fearful voices around them and in their own heads, perhaps even to the extent of silencing their own ideas and suggestions to God about how He could help them.

We may not be living in a city surrounded by an enemy army but our lives can feel just as attacked. Circumstances, demands of home, family and church, sickness, sandwich pressures (simultaneously looking after kids and parents), the clamour around us (internet, TV, radio, the constant demands of social networking via the phone, Facebook, Twitter) can make a mighty din, causing us stress, anxiety and fear.

At such times, let's use the encouragements of Psalm 46. We can:

• Know our God — a shelter, strength, the Lord of Hosts.

• Remember our history with God. ("He is the God of ___" [insert your name here]).

• Drink from the river that flows within — get strength from the Bible and the Holy Spirit's application of what we read.

• Be still — turn off the noise in our environment, refuse to listen to the chatter in our heads, even silence our own suggestions to God while we wait for His solutions (Exodus 14:13-14).

PRAYER: Dear God, help me to take advantage of what is available in You when I'm feeling stressed, anxious, surrounded by demands, or trouble. Help me to be still and wait for You to work.  Amen.

MORE: "Be Still" the song

Canadian singer-songwriter Carolyn Arends has written a song based on this verse. It's on her newest album Love Was Here First.

I can't post the actual song but if you go to this page, that songs starts playing when the page loads.


I love these lines from the bridge section:

Oh how I need a vacation

‘Cause it’s so exhausting pretending I’m God

There would be much less frustration

If I would let you do your job

All lyrics are here

Do your 8-12-year-olds have daily devotions? Point them to Bible Drive-Thru.