I saw tonight where Lisa Marie Presley passed away at the age of 54. She is the only child of Elvis Presley, who passed way in 1977 at the young age of 42. I believe she had a son, Benjamin, who died at age 27.

So much sadness and loss for one family.

I’m not about to speculate about how or why so much tragedy befalls one family over another. I’m not about to try to explain why a good God and evil can coexist. I’m not sure if I could.

I do know that God is close to the broken-hearted. I believe that God weeps with those who weep. I look at Jesus standing in front of Lazarus’ tomb, knowing that he was about to make a dead man rise up and walk out in his grave clothes, yet still He weeps.

I’ve heard it said that it’s a beautiful but a broken world. Sin has marred the original design, and nothing works like it should. People grow old, get sick, and die. Some live to a ripe old age. Others die young. Too often, parents have to bury their children instead of the other way around.

But God is close to the broken-hearted and saves those crushed in spirit (see Psalm 34:18). God knows the loss of an only child. He so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, Jesus, knowing full well what we would do to Him.

I truly think that in the story of Job, the absolute best way his friends helped was when they sat with him in silence and grieved with him. In that moment, they didn’t try to explain the whys or to rationalize the pain. They didn’t offer platitudes. They sat in the dust with Job and wept with him.

Maybe that’s the best way we can be there for those who are grieving loss. Just be close to those who are broken-hearted and crushed in spirit. Then maybe they can see more of God in the grieving.

I am not a morning person. I used to be a night owl, but not so much anymore. I saw something on social media that fits me perfectly — I’m not a morning person or a night owl but more of a permanently exhausted pigeon.

I have nothing against actual morning people. They can wake up at 4 am fully alive and ready to go. They can go on their early morning runs and do their workouts before they go into the office. They can be cheerful and chipper all they want. Just don’t come to me and expect a full conversation before I’ve had my first cup of coffee, because it won’t happen.

Lately, I think there needs to be a day in between work days for me to recover from the previous work day. I need a day to catch up on all my streaming shows, to read all my books, to drink all that coffee to get ready for the next day.

There’s a verse in the Bible that speaks about morning people: “One who blesses his friend with a loud voice early in the morning, It will be considered a curse to him” (Proverbs 27:14, NASB).

That may be my new favorite Bible verse.

If you see me early in the morning without my gigantic Death Star cup of coffee in hand, please be kind. You can speak to me, but hold off on any serious conversations that require thought until after that first morning coffee. Please and thank you.

I started on a new devotional on January 1, as is my usual custom. This time, it’s not exactly a devotional. It’s more of a book of liturgies.

There are liturgies for just about everything you can think of from cleaning the house to preparing a meal to going to work. There’s even one for your first cup of coffee in the morning.

It’s a good way of reminding me that worship isn’t just one hour a week on Sundays. It’s not just a few selected songs that we sing during these services. True worship is declaring the worth of God, and that involves every aspect of our lives from the moment we wake up until the moment we go to bed.

In that sense, every moment lived in an attitude of worship really does become holy. We can worship just as well in the way we fold clothes and vacuum floors as we can at 9:30 on a Sunday.

Here’s the link if you’re interested in purchasing the book (or just finding out more about it):

https://a.co/d/iWABVNi

This one speaks for itself:

I get why so many are drawn to those Hallmark movies.

Are they cheesy? Yes.

Do they pretty much all have the same basic plot? Yes.

Do they all have basically the same actors? Yes.

But do they all have happy endings? Absolutely yes.

And that’s why they’re so popular. People want something that’s designed to make them feel good and that’s guaranteed to have a happily ever after ending.

There’s too much sadness in the world. There are too many stories in real life that don’t end well. There are too many tragedies playing out in real time to the point where we don’t want to turn on the news or pull up a website like CNN or FoxNews.

But I saw an episode of All Creatures Great and Small where everything turned out right in the end and I was reminded of the power of a happy ending.

It’s what we secretly crave in our deepest heart of hearts. It’s what most of us want to see in our books and movies and other forms of media.

I get that sometimes people want sad because they want catharsis, but 99% of the time we want to walk away happy, not depressed or sad or angry or morose.

If you want the ultimate happy ending, all you have to do is turn to the last page in the Bible and read these words:

“The Spirit and the Bride say, ‘Come.’ And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price. 

I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book. 

He who testifies to these things says, ‘Surely I am coming soon.’ Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! 

The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen” (Revelation 22:17-21, ESV).

That’s the ultimate happy ending because it’s a true happy ending. It’s the final happy ending of happy endings. It’s the guaranteed outcome for all those who have put their hope in Jesus.

It’s the end of the last page of the greatest story ever told. Or as C. S. Lewis said in his book The Last Battle, “[b}ut for them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has read: which goes on for ever: in which every chapter is better than the one before.” 

“Take your human feelings, multiply them exponentially into infinity, and you will have a hint of the love of God revealed by and in Jesus Christ. With a strong affirmation of our goodness and a gentle understanding of our weakness, God is loving us – you and me – this very moment, just as we are and not as we should be. There is nothing any of us can do to increase his love for us and nothing we can do to diminish it” (Brennan Manning).

Ultimately, love is not a feeling. Love is a choice. Love is an act of the will. Love is God so loving the world that He gave His one and only Son. Love is not that we loved God, but that God loved us and sent His Son as the atoning sacrifice for us.

Love is Jesus stretched out on a cross of torture, put there not by the Jews or the Romans or our sins but by His own choice to lay down His life for us in our place. Jesus Himself said that no one takes His life from Him but He lays down His own life of His own accord.

Love is God loving us when we were unloveable sinners and strangers from God and enemies to God. God loving us makes us lovable and capable of truly loving others. Love is when we lay down our lives for the sake of our brothers and sisters in Christ.

That’s love.

What is the way of Jesus? What are those who follow Him called to be and to do?

The answer is simple. Repent and forgive.

Self-righteous finger pointing has no place in the Kingdom of God. Neither does condemning those who sin differently than I do. While we are called to speak in love against people when their actions don’t match their faith, neither you nor I get the right to judge their motives or intentions. Neither you nor I get to decide

Jesus never said, “You make sure everyone else is living right.”�

What He said was, “You live right,” or better yet, “You repent. You seek to serve the least of these. You be holy.”

The Kingdom of God isn’t about a political party or platform. It’s not an ideology, either left or right, conservative or liberal.

It’s about the God’s love breaking into the world, one heart at a time.

You might say to Jesus, “But what about these people over there not doing right? What about those people flaunting their freedoms over and above any responsibility?”

Jesus says to you, “But what about you? You repent. You make peace and live in peace with others as much as it’s in your power to do so.

At the end of the day, the question to you and me will be how well we loved. How well we served and ministered to the least of them. How well we made visible the invisible grace of God.

Jesus also said to forgive.

That becomes possible when you and I understand that the kind of inhumanity and evil we’re capable of apart from the grace of God. Also, we need to embrace the fact that those we deem our enemies are still created in the image of God and loved by God.

When we grasp how much we’re forgiven by God, we can in turn forgive others.

“One of their religion scholars spoke for them, posing a question they hoped would show him up: ‘Teacher, which command in God’s Law is the most important?’ Jesus said, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence.’ This is the most important, the first on any list. But there is a second to set alongside it: ‘Love others as well as you love yourself.’ These two commands are pegs; everything in God’s Law and the Prophets hangs from them (Matthew 22:35-39, The Message).'”

I see posts on Facebook all the time about how you can click on the image to find out what the next year will bring. Will it be marriage? A new baby? A new career? Lots of money? Granted, it’s not meant to be taken seriously, but I doubt very much that I’ll be having a new baby at any point in 2023.

What will happen? Only God knows.

That doesn’t mean I shouldn’t make realistic goals and set a plan to meet those goals. That goes for any of us. But ultimately, the best plan is to fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, the only one who really knows what 2023 holds.

I know that in good or bad seasons, I’m in good hands. As Job said, the Lord gives and takes away, but either way, I’ll bless His name. Either way, God is good.

If you go to the end of the Bible, you read that the outcome is already certain. God wins, and all those who trust in Him will overcome. So if you know the ending is secure, anything that happens between now and then, as hard as it may seem at the time, can only lead to good because God is working all things together for good.

So I’m hoping for a good 2023, but I’m counting on a good God in 2023.

I found this as I was scrolling through Facebook. It speaks to the reality and the urgency of prayer in the life of a believer:

“

Prayer…

Is a mysterious thing to me.

Like millions of others, I was watching Monday night football when the 24 year-old player made a tackle, stood upright and then fell to the ground in a most horrible way.

People began to pray.

Players circled up and prayed.

After he was taken to the hospital and after his heartbeat had been restored twice on the field, the outpouring of prayers was immense.

A famous NBA star messaged, ‘sending super prayers’

I don’t know what that means.

How many prayers does it take to convince God to do exactly what we want?

God: ‘So, they’re at one million now. When they get to two million, I’ll get it done.’

Is there a magic number?

Are there magic, secret words?

God: ‘Ok, they’ve inserted the magic word. Get it done.’

Of course we are praying that this young man will survive and thrive. Of course.

‘Teach us to Pray’ they asked.

And Jesus said, ‘Our Father…’

Teach US to pray.

There was a great scene in the television series Mash where a soldier believed he was Jesus Christ. In a conversation with a psychiatrist, he was asked, ‘Is it true that God answers all prayers?’ The soldier replied, ‘Yes, and sometimes the answer is no.’

Sometimes yes, sometimes no, sometimes wait.

Teach us to pray” (Wayne Watson).

Prayer isn’t about getting answers or results from God but getting to know God and God’s heart for the world. It’s where our will becomes aligned with His. Then we can pray God’s will be done as the very desire of our hearts.

“Although the scribes could explain where the Messiah should be born, they remained quite unperturbed in Jerusalem. They did not accompany the Wise Men to seek him. Similarly we may be able to explain every article of our faith, yet remain spiritually motionless. The power that moved heaven and earth leaves us completely unmoved.

What a contrast! The three kings had only a rumor to go by. But it spurred them to set out on a long, hard journey. The scribes, meanwhile, were much better informed, much better versed. They had sat and studied the scriptures for years, like so many dons. But it didn’t make any difference. Who had the more truth? Those who followed a rumor, or those who remained sitting, satisfied with all their knowledge?” (SØREN KIERKEGAARD, Watch for the Light).

It’s amazing that those with the most knowledge about Messiah were the ones who failed to recognize who Jesus really was. They’re the ones giving Jesus the most trouble. They were the ones who wouldn’t even make the journey from Jerusalem to Bethlehem to see the prophecies they had been learning about for years finally coming to pass.

Faith isn’t just knowledge. It isn’t accumulating facts about God and Jesus. It isn’t even knowing who Jesus is. Faith is more than knowing that a chair will hold my weight. Faith is sitting in that chair. Faith is obeying Jesus because of who He is. Faith is putting what you know in to practice and living it out.

I still think that most of us, me included, don’t need another Bible study. We don’t need another book. We need to take what we already know and start living it out like we really believe it. We need to be transformed more than we need to be informed, and that always starts with obedience.