Too late

"Jesus Wept" by James Tissot (1836-1902)

TODAY'S SPECIAL: John 11:17-37

TO CHEW ON: "Now Martha said to Jesus, 'Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.'" John 11:21

What confusion Jesus caused by coming late. Martha didn't understand it. Mary didn't understand it (vs. 32). Even the Jews, who seemed to find a point on which to criticize Jesus every time he did a miracle, faulted Him for not doing one this time (vs. 37).

Jesus himself felt the impact of His delay. The sight of his friends so grief-stricken rocked Him to the core so that He "groaned in spirit," "was troubled," and "wept."

So why didn't He come sooner?

Because He had a bigger purpose in mind than sparing them this tragedy. He alludes to it when talking to His disciples in vs. 14 & 15: "Lazarus is dead. And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, that you may believe..."

Then, when Martha runs out to meet Him with her "if only..." He says it plainly: "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live" - 11:25. He was shortly going to prove that He was bigger than even our biggest and most final enemy — death.

How much like Mary, Martha, and the Jews we are. We pray and wait, holding in our mind an expectation of how God will work. But He doesn't come through for us — until it's too late. But is it?

I believe there is a resurrection and life in every seeming delay. God works in our lives not to bring us through by the easiest, most comfortable way but by the most faith-stretching, God-glorifying, best way.

Where does God seem to be taking too long to answer in your life today? Will you trust Him to be resurrection and life in that situation, though it seems even now that He is too late?

PRAYER: Dear God, help me to trust Your timing in every circumstance. Amen.

MORE: When belief becomes a personal possession

"Martha believed in the power at the disposal of Jesus Christ, she believed that if He had been present He could have healed her brother; she also believed that Jesus had a peculiar intimacy with God and that whatever He asked of God, God would do; but she needed a closer personal intimacy with Jesus. Martha's programme of belief had its fulfilment in the future; Jesus led her on until her belief became a personal possession, and then slowly emerged into a particular inheritance - 'Yea, Lord, I believe that Thou art the Christ. . ." - Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest - November 6 reading.

Earth tatters

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Isaiah 51:1-23

TO CHEW ON: "Lift up your eyes to the heavens

And look on the earth beneath.

For the heavens will vanish away like smoke,

And the earth will grow old like a garment,

And those who dwell in it will die in like manner.

But My salvation will be forever

And My righteousness will not be abolished." Isaiah 51:6

Our society is obsessed with the state of Earth. Hardly a week goes but but we're not warned that if we don't drive less, pollute less, procreate less, use less water, fish less, and on and on, our planet is doomed. Such warnings may be warranted. For the Bible makes no secret of the fact that planet Earth will change and is temporary:

• "They will perish...yes they will all grow old like a garment; Like a cloak you will change them.." - Psalm 102:26 

• "The earth mourns and fades away..." - Isaiah 24:4.

• "The host of heaven shall be dissolved and the heavens shall be rolled up like a scroll..." - Isaiah 34:4.

• "Heaven and earth shall pass away..." - Matthew 24:35.

• "...the things which are seen are temporary..."- 2 Corinthians 4:18.

• "...the heavens will pass away with a great noise and the elements will meet with fervent heat" - 2 Peter 3:10.

• "The world is passing away, and the lust of it" - 1 John 2:17.

In the light of all that, it is only wise to shift one's focus from the things of this transitory, mutable, doomed Earth to that which doesn't and won't change. We need to expend our energies on the things that last. What are those?

• God - Psalm 102:27; Malachi 3:6; Hebrews 1:12.

• Jesus - Hebrews 13:8.

• Jesus' words - Matthew 24:35. 

• God's word - 1 Peter 1:25.

• God's dominion - Daniel 7:14.

• "The counsel of the Lord, the plans of His heart" - Psalm 33:11.

• God's salvation and righteousness - Isaiah 51:6 (our focus verse).

• Quality work built on the foundation of Jesus - 1 Corinthians 3:11-15.

("To build on the foundation a building of durable material [gold, silver, precious stones] is to teach sound doctrine and live a life of fidelity to the truth thus leading converts to spiritual maturity. To build with perishable material [wood, hay, stubble] is to provide inadequate or unsound teaching or to compromise the truth by demonstrating a lifestyle that contradicts or fails to model it" - New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, p. 1583.)

How easy it is to give a mental nod to the fact of Earth's impermanence while we continue to live as if it is a lasting reality.

May God grip my heart (yours too?) with His reality, so that "The things of earth will grow strangely dim / In the light of His glory and grace."

PRAYER: Dear God, I'm guilty of living as if life on Earth is the real thing. Help me to grasp, at a heart level, how brief and impermanent this life is, and to change my focus and give my energy to what is real and lasting. Amen.

MORE: "Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus" - Cynthia Clawson

"The Lord is with you"

"Study for 'Ecce ancilla Domini!'
by Dante Gabriel Rossetti - 1849

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Luke 1:26-38

TO CHEW ON: "And having come in the angel said to her, "Rejoice, highly favoured one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women.'" Luke 1:28

I wonder what the angel found Mary busy at when he came into her Nazareth house. Perhaps she was sweeping or preparing food, sewing or tending the fire, daydreaming or folding clothes. Whatever she was doing, the angel's pronouncement, "The Lord is with you" tells us God had watched and was there, present with her in her everyday living.

God is no less involved in the day-to-day of our lives. And we can be aware of Him by inviting Him into the mundane. I am reminded of Brother Lawrence, that 17th century man, of whom it is said in the preface to his recorded conversations and letter The Practice of the Presence of God:

"No conceited scholar was Brother Lawrence: theological and doctrinal debates bored him, if he noticed them at all. His one desire was for communion with God, We find him worshiping more in his kitchen than in his cathedral: he could pray with another


Lord of all pots and pans and things...
Make me a saint by getting meals
And washing up the plates!


And he could say, "The time of business does not with me differ from the time of prayer, and in the noise and clatter of my kitchen, while several persons are at the same time calling for different things, I possess God n as great tranquility as if I were upon my knees" -  p. 8 (in my 1976 edition).

Of course God is with us too, whether we acknowledge His presence or not. But why not? Here are some little things we might do to help us in this:

• Play praise music while we work, instead of listening to talk radio or TV.

• Review memorized scripture.

• Pray for family members, friends, and the world situation as these things come to mind, even as our hands are busy dusting or setting the table.

• Lay before Him the problems that come up as they occur to us.

• Use our imaginations to see those around us as if Jesus were right beside us (because He is).

PRAYER: Dear God, help me to practice Your presence by consciously inviting You into every setting, gathering, and activity. Amen.

MORE: "He is Here" - Gaither vocal band



Today the church celebrates "The Feast of the Annunciation." The liturgy for the day begins with this collect:

"Pour your grace into our hearts, O Lord, that we who have known the incarnation of your Son Jesus Christ, announced by an angel to the Virgin Mary, may by his cross and passion be brought to the glory of his resurrection; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen." 

True worship

TODAY'S SPECIAL: John 4:1-24

TO CHEW ON: "But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him." John 4:24

There is at this time in Protestant church circles, a range of opinions on the best way to worship God. On one hand there are those who are discovering new-to-them practices of worship by exploring and reintroducing the old ways. A return to liturgy and various methods of contemplative prayer are gaining popularity. Here, for example, is an article by a former Baptist pastor explaining how he uses a rosary in prayer.

On the other side there are those who caution against any and all whiffs of the contemplative, warning that even though these things were modeled and taught by the early church fathers and mothers, they were influenced by paganism and thus tainted and suspect.

Personally, I understand the need for caution but also wonder if we're not going overboard when we label as dangerous everyone with whom we don't agree on every detail. I find myself siding with A. W. Tozer who, when he was criticized for reading and quoting Catholic writers like Julian of Norwich, Augustine, Francis of Assissi, and Michale De Molinos "...handled these naysayers in the same way he dealt with negative comments from his frequent references to the Ante-Nicene Church Fathers, or moderns such as Thomas Merton. These saints, from Tozer's angle of vision, knew the Lord intimately and he learned from their writings about drawing closer to Christ — even if he did not agree with everything they believed" - Lyle Dorset,  A Passion for God: The Spiritual Journey of A. W. Tozer , Moody Publishers 2008,  Kindle location 2074.

But how does one decide what to use, and what to throw out? Worship leader LeMar Boschman writes, in a sidebar article in my Bible:

"It is the believer's responsibility to discover how the Lord wants to be worshiped and to explore and cultivate a relationship with Him out of which sincere, Holy Spirit-enabled worship will flow. Jesus instructs it:

Worship in "spirit" — that is alive through new birth (John 1:12-13; 3:6-7) and aglow with holy Spirit enablement (1 Corinthians 14:14-15). This is not mechanical, rote or merely human activity but dynamically capacitated spiritual action.

"In truth" emphasizes biblical integrity joined to personal honesty, manifest in a heart of sincerity, a humble manner of transparency and a relational integrity. Meaning and being what we say, as well as being spiritually energized in our worship, opens the way to that worship the Father seeks" - New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, p. 1449.

With the Bible as our plum line, we won't go wrong.

PRAYER: Dear God, direct me to true worship through Your word. Please warn me by Your Spirit against any practice or method of prayer or meditation that is dangerous, forbidden, or will do me harm. Amen.

MORE: "Heart of Worship" - Matt Redman

Bore deep into God

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Psalm 89:1-29

TO CHEW ON: "Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne;

Mercy and truth go before Your face." Psalm 89:14

Who of us hasn't set some person on a pedestal only to find, when we get to know them better (or if they are a historical figure, we read about them), there are, running through the strata of their lives, veins of unrighteousness, injustice, falsehood, selfishness, or other failing? We will never experience such disillusionment with God!

God is righteous and justice at the deepest level: "Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne" is expressed in the Message as, "The Right and Justice are the roots of your rule."

The result and evidence of His rule is love and truth: "Mercy and truth go before Your face" (NKJV) is translated "Unfailing love and truth walk before You as attendants" - NLT, and "Love and truth are its fruits" - Message.

Psalm 89:18 uses the adjective "holy" to encapsulate all God's good, sinless, peerless, authentic, above reproach qualities. He is called "The Holy One of Israel."

[holy - qudosh: set apart, dedicated to sacred purposes; holy, sacred, clean, morally or ceremonially pure...Holiness is separation from everything profane and defiling; and at the same time dedication to everything holy and pure" - New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, p. 155.]

A commentary note in my Bible gives some ways to work the holiness of God, into our lives:

"Holiness is understood and learned by going directly to its source, the Holy One of Israel.

• Search the scriptures to learn the truth of God's holiness.

• Spend time worshiping God to be transformed by His holiness (2 Corinthians 3:18).

• Ask the Holy Spirit to enable you to walk in holiness (1 Peter 1:13-19) - New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, p. 756.

PRAYER: Dear God, I am so glad that You are holy through and through, that in You there is no hint of injustice or unrighteousness, no whiff of hatred or lies. I revel in Your name (vs. 16) — Your essence and reputation. Amen.

MORE: Thoughts on knowing God

"What were we made for? To know God. What aim should we set ourselves in life? To know God. What is the 'eternal life' that Jesus gives? Knowledge of God (John 17:3). What is the best thing in life, bringing more joy, delight, and contentment, than anything else? Knowledge of God (Jeremiah 9:23 ff). What of all the states God ever sees man in, gives Him most pleasure? Knowledge of God (Hosea 6:6).


In these few sentences we have said a very great deal.... What we have said provides at once a foundation, shape, and goal for our lives, plus a principle of priorities and a scale of values. Once you become aware that the main business that you are here for is to know God, most of life's problems fall into place of their own accord" - J. I. Packer, Knowing God, p. 31.

Staged Christianity

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Matthew 6:1-18

TO CHEW ON: "Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do....And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites.... Moreover when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites...." Matthew 6:2a, 5a, 16a.

What is this hypocrite business Jesus so condemns here?

A word study article in my Bible explains:

"In Bible days actors wore masks, which included mechanisms for amplifying the voice. Since the dramas were questions and answers, the word describing the dialogue was hupokrinomai, to reply or to answer. Hupokrites is one who is playacting, reading a script, or one who puts on an act. The hypocrite conceals his true motives under a cloak of make-believe" - New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, p. 1299.

Our modern definition bears out the above. My dictionary defines "hypocrite" as one who practices "hypocrisy: The pretense of having feelings or characteristics one does not possess, especially the deceitful assumption of praiseworthy qualities; insincerity; masking or disguising one's true nature."

Jesus puts His finger on three practices the Pharisees of His time performed with insincerity. While charitable deeds, prayer, and fasting are all things easily performed in secret, they made sure everyone noticed a good work was about to be performed by sounding a trumpet. They prayed prominently in the synagogue or street corner where they were sure to be visible. When they fasted, their facial expressions broadcast to everyone that their stomachs were empty. They had corrupted these practices which were meant to minister to God, into advertisements for themselves and their piety.

Do we ever playact in a similar way? Oh, it may not look exactly the same but any act that should be God-directed but we're using to get something for ourselves is hypocritical. We volunteer at the mission and love the admiration we get for it. We give, and enjoy our reputation for being generous. We bless and encourage others with the real view to get them to reciprocate.

We may get what we want. But that's the extent of it. We have our reward.

How much better to examine our motives and expunge any vestige of self-interest. Sometimes that will mean we do things secretly, where there is no chance that anyone will see and compliment. At other times that will mean checking at the door any expectation of having the favour returned by the person who we bless. For "...your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly." (And doesn't even this promise feed into potentially self-serving motives? It could, although I believe God's rewards are often not in kind, but come along a different avenue)

PRAYER: Dear God, please help me to recognize the hypocrisy living in me. I repent of hypocritical, pride-inspired actions. Help me to do my acts of devotion secretly, for the right reasons, and for Your eyes only. Amen.

MORE: Ash Wednesday

Today is Ash Wednesday on the church calendar. This About.com article tells us a bit about the day:

"In Western Christianity, Ash Wednesday marks the first day, or the start of the season of Lent, which begins 40 days prior to Easter (Sundays are not included in the count).

Lent is a time when many Christians prepare for Easter by observing a period of fasting, repentance, moderation and spiritual discipline. During some Ash Wednesday services, the minister will lightly rub the sign of the cross with ashes onto the foreheads of worshipers."
...read the entire article

The liturgy for Ash Wednesday begins with the following collect:

Almighty and everlasting God, you hate nothing you have made and forgive the sins of all who are penitent: Create and make in us new and contrite hearts, that we, worthily lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness, may obtain of you, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Faith: seed-sized to mountain-moving

Tree growing through rocks
Harrison, B.C.*

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Matthew 17:14-27

TO CHEW ON: "Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, 'Why could we not cast it out?"

So Jesus said to them, "Because of your unbelief..."- Matthew 17:19, 20a

In today's reading — a continuation of yesterday's story — Jesus is down from the mountain and very much back on earth. In fact, the first encounter He has is with the distraught father of a demon-oppressed son. The father tells of how he brought his seizure-prone, self-destructive boy to the disciples (presumably the ones that didn't accompany Jesus up the mountain) "but they could not cure him."

How Jesus' reply must have cut those disciples: "O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you?"

When they came to Him later and asked why they couldn't heal the boy, Jesus answered, "Because of your unbelief..." Then he talked about how even seed-sized faith was enough to move mountains ("a figure for an obstacle, hindrance, or humanly insurmountable problem" - New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, p. 1322).

Judging from His outburst in verse 17, even Jesus was a little jarred by the contrast of the mountaintop experience with life back in the earth-valley. We're not told which disciples tried to heal the man's son. I hope, for their sake, it wasn't the ones who accompanied Jesus up the mountain. How discouraging it would have been for them after seeing heaven open, to come back to earth and find they hadn't changed one whit and that their faith was still practically non-existent.

For that is the purpose of a spiritual high — to build our faith, to give us fuel for living lives that take God's presence and power into our problem-strewn world. A sidebar article in my Bible outlines how faith grows:

"First God says that you have a measure of faith (Romans 12:3). It is resident within you.


Second, God says that this faith comes alive by "hearing...the word of God (Romans 10:17). [For our disciples, this would have been hearing the actual voice of God conversing with Jesus, Moses and Elijah and then declaring "This is my beloved Son....Hear Him!" For us it's hearing God's voice through the Bible and the myriad ways He communicates its truths to us, including those spiritual mountaintop experiences at special weekend retreats.]

Third God says that you can apply your faith to see your daily needs met. How? You do something as an act of your faith. You sow the mustard-seed-sized smallness of your faith into an action of love... speak to your mountain and watch God set about its removal." - Oral Roberts in "God Has a Way of Getting Your Need Met," New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, p. 132.

PRAYER: Dear God, please help me to come down from spiritual high points with bigger faith so I can be more useful in Your Kingdom. Amen.

MORE: "Only Believe" - a collection of quotes by Smith Wigglesworth



* "When you plant a seed God changes the nature of that seed so that it becomes a plant; and the power of life surges in that tender young plant to such a great extent that even a mountain of earth cannot stop it from pushing upward!" - Oral Roberts in "God Has a Way of Getting Your Need Met" - New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, p. 1322 (see photo above).

"I did the best I could"

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Romans 3:1-20

TO CHEW ON: "Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin." Romans 3:20

Many people, if asked why God should let them into heaven when they die, respond with some version of: "I did the best I could." Even amongst us who claim to trust Jesus alone as our means to heaven, there is sometimes a sense of earning our way by being good enough.

In our focus verse from Romans, Paul squelches any possibility of that. There's a lot to explore in this one short verse.

1. It implies the need of humans to justify* themselves before God.
Way back in His unfolding revelation, God showed at least two things about Himself:
- He is personal: note His personal appearances to Abraham, Jacob, Moses and many others.
- He is demanding: shown by the giving of the ten commandments and the Mosaic law with penalties for failing to comply.

Theologian H. C. Thiessen says, in his Lectures in Systematic Theology: "The specifications of the divine commands with the announced penalty which would follow failures to obey served to arouse a conviction of guilt and fear of the consequences of sin" - p. 276.

2. It tells us that we can't be justified by keeping the law.
Though we do still take the Ten Commandments as our standard of morality, "They are repeated for our instruction as to what the will of the Lord is, but not as precepts that we are to endeavour to keep in order to become righteous. 'That would be useless,' Paul says,'by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified'" - Thiessen, p. 242.


3. It implies there is a way to be justified.
It is through Jesus. He paid the death penalty for our sin. We trust in Him alone.

"Paul declares that by the works of the law no flesh is justified in His sight. The law merely serves to reveal sin and to impel the convicted soul to flee to Christ. Jesus taught that the 'work of God' is to 'believe on Him whom He hath sent (John 6:29).


Men are not saved by 'doing the best they can' as the statement is commonly understood; but they are saved by 'doing the best they can' if thereby they mean that they believe on the Lord Jesus Christ (Matthew 7:12)." - Thiessen p. 365.

No matter how "good" we are, it's not enough to save us. We are all, from the most heinous murderer to the most saintly Mother Teresa, on level ground before God and in need of Jesus' death to be justified (i.e. reconciled with God).


PRAYER: Dear God, thank You for sending Jesus who kept the law, and then died in my stead because I can't keep it. Help me to hold my dependence on You and Your justification through Jesus always in mind. Amen.


MORE: "Welcome to the place of level ground" by Brian Doerksen



"Welcome to the place of level ground" lyrics and cord chart.

*Justify: 
1] To show to be just, right or reasonable; vindicate.
2] To declare or prove guiltless or blameless, absolve, excuse.
3] To cause to be free of grievous sin, and be reconciled with God.

Let it rain!

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Deuteronomy 11:1-17

TO CHEW ON: "And it shall be that if you earnestly obey My commandments which I command you today to love the Lord your God and serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul, then I will give you the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the latter rain, that you may gather in your grain, your new wine, and your oil." Dueteronomy 11:13-14

Moses paints a picture of rain-blessed hills, valleys, and fields producing grain, olives, and grapes as a consequence of obeying and serving God. The patter of all that rain sent me on a little hunt through the Bible to see what else it says about rain. Here are some of my discoveries:

1. In numerous places Bible writers acknowledge rain as God's idea and creation (e.g. Amos 5:8).

2. It is usually viewed as a blessing (Psalm 65:10) which falls on us whether or not we are deserving (Matthew 5:45; Acts 14:17).

3. But God also uses rain as a judgment.

• Sometimes the judgment is too much rain as at the flood, where all humanity but Noah and his family were destroyed (Genesis 7:12, 23).

• More often the judgment is too little rain, as in the case of a three-year famine when Ahab was king (1 Kings 18:1).   

4. Thus it's no surprise that various Bible writers warn that living a life that displeases God will lead to a lack of rain. That's what Solomon  did in his temple dedication prayer in 2 Chronicles 6:26-27. And that's also what Moses does in today's Deuteronomy reading.  "Love God, serve Him with all your heart, and He will bless you with an open heaven," he says. "Or turn away from Him to other gods, and the heavens will be shut."

In fact, God's open heaven in regard to rain isn't limited to physical rain. Isaiah 55:10-11 likens the effectiveness of God's Word freely spread to the effectiveness of rain. Just as rain accomplishes its purpose when it waters the earth, growing our crops and nourishing our bodies, so God's word accomplishes the nourishing of spirits wherever it goes.

And Joel, after predicting a time when people will see "the former and latter rains," culminates his prophecy with the description of God pouring out His Spirit on all flesh (Joel 2:23, 28).

I want to be under that open heaven. I say, let it rain!

PRAYER: Dear God, thank You for rain. Help me to take seriously the admonition to live for You with all that is in me. I want to live under Your open heaven. Amen.

MORE: "Healing Rain" - Michael W. Smith

Perseverance

TODAY'S SPECIAL: James 5:1-20


TO CHEW ON: "Indeed we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord — that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful." James 5:11

Perseverance is not my strong suit. I have more than once abandoned something because it seemed impossible to carry out and I was discouraged. Thus James' encouragement to persevere through the fiery trials he talks about early in the book, and the rich oppressors alluded to in 5:1-5, and the long wait for Jesus' return in 5:7-8 snags my attention.

James refers to the perseverance of Job. We know about him — that man who saw his fortunes turn so that in a matter of a day or two he went from being a wealthy leader in the community to a man who was posessionless, ill, and pathetic. Even his wife encouraged him to give up: "Curse God and die."

We know he didn't. And after he had persevered (we're not told how long his illness lasted), God replenished his state to even greater than it had been before.

Jerry Bridges in his book Trusting God Even When Life Hurts talks about perseverance in the chapter on adversity. He defines perseverance as "the quality of character that enables one to pursue a goal in spite of obstacles and difficulties" (Kindle Location 1897).

He cites Romans 5:3 and James 1:3 — which both speak of adversity and perseverance — noting "We see here a mutually enhancing effect. Adversity produces perseverance and perseverance enables us to meet adversity" (KL 1914).

Then he draws this conclusion about driving force behind perseverance:

"Though perseverance is developed in the crucible of adversity, it is energized by faith...consider the analogy of weight training. Although the weights on a bar provide the resistance needed to develop muscle, they do not provide the energy. That must come from within the athlete's body. In the case of adversity, the energy must come from God through faith. It is God's strength not ours that enables us to persevere. We lay hold of His strength through faith" (KL 1918).

So it is God's strength I need to help me to persevere so that I can get to "the end intended by the Lord." Then, when I have persevered and come out the other side, the realization I will have is that the Lord is compassionate and merciful. I will see that the test or trial through which I had to persevere was for my good and sent because God loved me too much to leave me untried by adversity and faith-flabby from a lack of needing to persevere.

PRAYER: Dear God, it's easy to theorize about perseverance when life is going smoothly. Help me to put these principles about adversity, perseverance, and faith, into practice in my life's small challenges, so that when big ones come, I will have experience with trusting You and knowing that with Your strength, I can make it through. Amen.

MORE: "Whatever Comes" - Brian Doerksen

Wait for God

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Psalm 62:1-12


TO CHEW ON: "Trust in Him at all times, you people;

Pour out your heart before Him.

God is a refuge for us. Selah" Psalm 62:8.

It would be interesting to know the story behind this psalm. One senses betrayal. David, in a kind of aside says (perhaps in reference to backstabbers?), "How long will you attack a man? ... They only consult to cast him down from his high position; they delight in lies. They bless with their mouth, But they curse inwardly" vs. 3-4.

And so in this psalm he again plants his flag. (When you say the words it becomes all the more real and set for you.) MY TRUST IS IN GOD!

Not:
- People - for whether they are poor or wealthy, powerless or influential, in the end they are as short-lived and inconsequential as vapour.
- Oppression - forcing his will on others.
- Robbery - getting his way illegally.
- Riches - buying his way.

For God is "salvation, "defense," "rock," "my glory," "a refuge." He alone has power (vs. 11). He alone dispenses perfect mercy and justice (vs. 12).

As I look at the list of things David doesn't trust in, I say, Oops! Don't I tend to trust in that same lot, to get my way to advance my career, to further the fortunes of my family? Other people — but it's who you know, isn't it? Force? Money? Even underhanded means (deceit, sneakiness, theft)?

David's challenge to trust in God at all times and to the exclusion of all else applies as much to us as it did to him and the people of his time.


PRAYER: Dear God, help me to experience an attitude change so that I trust in, rely on, and hope for You — not other people or my own manipulations. Amen.


MORE: "Pour out your heart before Him" (Psalm 62:8).

This is an invitation to lay our concerns, worries, fears, and disappointments before God just as David did so often in the psalms. You might try that today, praying them out loud or, better yet, writing out your version of Psalm 62:3-4.

Marvelous things without number

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Job 5: 1-27

TO CHEW ON: "But as for me, I would seek God,

And to God I would commit my cause

who does great things and unsearchable

Marvelous things without number." Job 5:8,9

Ann Voskamp's little sister died in a tragic accident when Ann was only four. That incident dyed her life's outlook so that even after she had her own six beautiful children, she lived in the night of mistrust. She writes in her memoir One Thousand Gifts:

"The fruit's poison has infected the whole of humanity. Me. I say no to what He's given. I thirst for some roborant, some elixir to relieve the anguish of what I've believed: God isn't good. God doesn't love me.


If I'm ruthlessly honest, I may have said yes to God, yes to Christianity, but really, I have lived the no. Infected by that Eden mouthful, the retina of my soul develops macular holes of blackness. From my own beginning, my sister's death tears a hole in the canvas of the world" -  One Thousand Gifts, Kindle Location (KL) 139.

Job, whom Eliphaz is addressing in today's reading, had every reason to be skittish around God too after the series of calamities that pounded him. Though not all of Elphaz's advice is worth following, his admonish to Job to shift his focus to God's doings of "great things and unsearchable" is good.

That's what rescued Ann. A friend's challenge to her to identify, name, and list one thousand things for which she was grateful — in other words, to start noticing God's good gifts — outfitted her with a whole new set of life lenses.

I personally have joined Ann's "Gratitude Community." We share each Monday, at her A Holy Experience blog, our lists of gifts from the past seven days. The clincher for me was finally "seeing" the reference to thanksgiving in even my own life verse:

Be anxious for nothing but in everything by prayer and petition with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God...- Philippians 4:6,7.

Why don't you try it? Today, instead of focusing on worries and what ifs, on aches and pains, on dour predictions and dark expectations, turn the tapestry of your life around and study it for blessings. You may find, with Ann:

"The act of naming grace moments, this list of God's gifts, moves beyond the shopping list variety of prayer and into the other side. The other side of prayer, the interior of His throne room, the inner walls of His powerful love-beating heart. The list is God's list, the pulse of His love — the love that thrums on the other side of our prayers. And I see for now what it really is, this dare to write down one thousand things I love. It really is a dare to name all the ways God loves me. The true Love Dare. To move into His presence and listen to His love unending and uncontainable. This is the vault of miracles - One Thousand Gifts, KL 780 (emphasis added).

PRAYER: Dear God, help me, today, to catch that "love that thrums on the other side of my prayers." I want to live with my eyes open to your "marvelous things without number" today. Amen.

MORE: #1

The book trailer to One Thousand Gifts is more than just an advert for a great book. Watch it (below), then count it as #1 on your own list of 1000 gifts.

Fireproof

TODAY'S SPECIAL: 1 Corinthians 3:10-23

TO CHEW ON: "Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one's work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one's work, of what sort it is." 1 Corinthians 3:12-13

Who of us hasn't seen video clips on the evening news of people sifting through the charred remains and ashes of their burned homes? Each time I am chilled by their, "This was all I had. My whole life was here. I lost it all."

That's the scene these verses from 1 Corinthians bring to mind. And I just know I don't want that to be me on "the Day" (of Jesus' return). I'm sure you feel the same way. So how do we avoid this? How do we leave a life-legacy that doesn't go up in flames?

As I view the rubble of the scene, I think of the warning Jesus gave:

"Don't lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal" Matthew 6:20.

Expending our efforts on things that last beyond this life, pouring ourselves out for the well-being of peoples' souls instead of amassing physical stuff and building monuments to ourselves is certainly one aspect of this.

But it seems that Paul is talking about more. The implication is that these people are all busy in spiritual work, building on Jesus, the right foundation (1 Corinthians 3:11). We can conclude that even in that there is a right and wrong way to build, a way to build with lasting materials or flammable ones.

Read any book describing cults and you will, I think, be struck by how many start with Jesus. He is part of their foundation. But somewhere their leaders and/or followers have used other materials than the Word of God, or stressed one part of the Bible ignoring other parts, or compromised in their lifestyles necessitating rationalization with its accompanying potential for false teaching.

A footnote in my Bible says about these building materials:

"To build on the foundation a building of durable material (gold, silver, precious stones) is to teach sound doctrine and live a life of fidelity to the truth, thus leading converts to spiritual maturity. To build with perishable material (wood, hay, straw) is to provide inadequate or unsound teaching or to compromise the truth by demonstrating a lifestyle that contradicts or fails to model it" - New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, p. 1583.

So how do we make sure we "teach sound doctrine and live a life of fidelity to the truth"? I would submit it's by getting very familiar with the building supply depot — the Bible (all of it, not just the red-letter parts, or the gospels, or the epistles, or the Psalms...) and by giving the Holy Spirit permission to apply it to our lives, even when it wreaks a little havoc with our current building projects.

PRAYER: Dear God, I don't want to stand before You someday next to a pile of smoking rubble, having accomplished nothing that lasts. Help me live my life with today's warning in mind. Amen.

MORE: Learning about world religions

There are thousands of belief systems in the world, hundreds of which name Jesus as part of their foundation. One book that helps the layperson through this maze is James Beverley's Nelson's Illustrated Guide to Religions: A Comprehensive Introduction. A part of the book that makes it useful is Beverley's evaluation of how each belief systems relates to Christian orthodoxy. This book would be a valuable addition to any home library.

(My July 2009 review of Nelson's Illustrated Guild to Religions is here).

The bad stuff

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Psalm 119:65-80

TO CHEW ON: "It is good for me that I have been afflicted.

That I may learn Your statues." Psalm 119:71

Three times in today's reading the psalmist refers to affliction as a positive thing.

Afflicted / affliction is not a word we use commonly these days. I'm not sure why as it does a good job of describing bad stuff. In English it means to distress with continued suffering, trouble greatly, cast down, and overthrow. It is sore distress of body or mind.

The Hebrew word for affliction (anah) is also translated force, disturb, do violence to, humble, oppress, mistreat, ravish, silence, treat harshly, violate, weaken.

The existence and continuation of affliction in a world created and sustained by a sovereign and loving God has taunted the intellect and faith of thinkers forever. Jerry Bridges in his book Trusting God: Even When Life Hurts faces this problem head on. He presents various popular views held by people in the light of this seeming contradiction about God (for example, God is good, but not all-powerful, or God is powerful but distant and not involved in the day-to-day events of His creation) then takes the entire book to explore how God can be both good and sovereign even in the face of bad stuff continuing.

The psalmist, here at least, doesn't wrestle with that problem. He is quick to name three benefits of his afflictions:

1. They drive him to God and right living:
"Before I was afflicted I went astray
But now I keep Your word" - Psalm 119:67.

2. They help him focus on and learn God's ways:
"It is good for me that I have been afflicted
That I may learn Your statues" - Psalm 119:71.

3. They test and in the end strengthen his faith in God's love:
"I know O Lord, that Your judgments re right
And than in faithfulness You have afflicted me" - Psalm 119:75.

In his book, Bridges names more benefits:

4. They help conform us to Jesus' likeness:

"God has an over-arching purpose for all believers to conform us to the likeness of His Son Jesus Christ (Romans 8:29). He also has a specific purpose for each of us that is His unique tailor-made plan for our individual life (Ephesians 2:10) - Trusting God: Even When Life Hurts, Kindle location 392.

5. They advance God's glory:

"As we watch tragic events unfolding...we often are prone to ask God why. The reason we ask is because we do not see any possible good to us or glory to God that can come from the particular adverse circumstances that have come upon us or our loved ones. But is not the wisdom of God — thus the glory of God — more eminently displayed in bringing good out of calamity than out of blessing?" - Trusting God, KL 1160.

"... God's infinite wisdom then is displayed in bringing good out of evil, beauty out of ashes. It is displayed in turning all the forces of evil that rage against His children into good for them. But the good that He brings about is often different from the good we envision" - Trusting God, KL 1171.

What great facts to know in our heads. Oh to know them in our experience and hearts, to the extent that we can say with the psalmist: "It is good for me that I have been afflicted."


PRAYER: Dear God, affliction hurts - me, my family members and friends. Help me to live with You so closely and trust You so implicitly that affliction doesn't threaten my faith in You, but only makes it stronger. Amen.

MORE: More on affliction

All quotes are from Trusting God by Jerry Bridges:

"God knows exactly what He intends we become and He knows exactly what circumstances, both good and bad, are necessary to produce that result in our lives" - KL 1180.

"He is the perfect teacher or coach. His discipline is always exactly suited for our needs. He never over-trains us by allowing too much adversity in our lives" - KL 1197.

"Just as we must learn to obey God one choice at a time, we must learn to trust God one circumstance at a time" - KL 461.