“THE GOSPEL IS BAD news before it is good news. It is the news that man is a sinner, to use the old word, that he is evil in the imagination of his heart, that when he looks in the mirror all in a lather what he sees is at least eight parts chicken, phony, slob. That is the tragedy. But it is also the news that he is loved anyway, cherished, forgiven, bleeding to be sure, but also bled for. That is the comedy. And yet, so what? So what if even in his sin the slob is loved and forgiven when the very mark and substance of his sin and of his slobbery is that he keeps turning down the love and forgiveness because he either doesn’t believe them or doesn’t want them or just doesn’t give a damn? In answer, the news of the Gospel is that extraordinary things happen to him just as in fairy tales extraordinary things happen. Henry Ward Beecher cheats on his wife, his God, himself, but manages to keep on bringing the Gospel to life for people anyway, maybe even for himself. Lear goes berserk on a heath but comes out of it for a few brief hours every inch a king. Zaccheus climbs up a sycamore tree a crook and climbs down a saint. Paul sets out a hatchet man for the Pharisees and comes back a fool for Christ. It is impossible for anybody to leave behind the darkness of the world he carries on his back like a snail, but for God all things are possible. That is the fairy tale. All together they are the truth” (Telling the Truth, Fredrick Buechner).

I love that the gospel is all three– tragedy, comedy, and fairy tale.

I love that the gospel is too good to be true, yet true.

I love that the gospel is for everyone, including me and you.

I love that the gospel is the power of God to save anyone, at anytime, anywhere, at any point. It’s never too late.

“Lord, when I don’t like me, 
You still love me, You still like me, You still lavish me with acceptance.
When I am fed up with me, You invite me to Your feast,
When I am done — with me, with life, with everything, 
You whisper, “Hang on — I am making *all things* — *you* — new.” (Rev21:5)
And when I want to quit, You cup my face: “This great work I started in you? I won’t stop that beautiful work until you are fully, completely, gloriously beautiful” (Phil1:6, 1Cor2:7) 

So this becomes our brave & broken-hearted hallelujah, the one we sing into the dark, even when it’s hard to believe: 
I am His Beloved, His Beloved, His Beloved… and even now I will be held.
In the name of the only One who loved us to death & back to the real & forever life… Amen” (Ann Voskamp).
#SharingPrayerTogether

Maybe this will speak to one person. Maybe this will give that one person hope and courage to continue for one more day.

Maybe the one reading this who needs it right now is you.

Remember, our God is making all things new. Including you. Including me.

Those parts about your character that you don’t like so much? Those intangible attributes you wish you could fix?

They won’t always be there.

Also, remember that you are still fearfully and wonderfully made, despite all the brokenness. The image of God is still in you.

Here’s to making Monday a good day. Here’s to making each moment count because each moment will be a moment filled with counting your blessings and laying down your life in surrender to the One who holds your whole life together.

Amen.

I got to hang out with this little critter mostly all day. I did very little venturing outside of the homestead, choosing to stay indoors and binge some classic Doctor Who instead.

Having dogs or cats around does a lot for your mental health. It also helps lower blood pressure, reduces anxiety, and overall makes you feel like a better person.

This gal climbed up on my lap and took a few naps. She’s very heart-warming (not to mention lap-warming as well).

I think I’ll keep her around for a bit.

“It is a better thing to have a trouble, and know how to get grace enough to bear it. And we get grace enough to bear it — when we run into the arms of Grace who bore it all, into Him Who is more than enough.
I run my hand across the page. Gather the manna up into hands, what really is, and all that feeds:
“Our cries to the Lord — are what give us communion with the Lord. It’s the dire distress that drives us into the deep devotion. 
It’s when all fails, His love never fails — and this is why we are a people who can always give thanks.”

I wish I’d written that, but at the same time, I’m thankful someone else did.

It’s a hard lesson and a tough truth. One writer called it a severe mercy that we only truly know the deep love of God in difficult circumstances. We only know the fathomless grace of God in the midst of suffering and pain.

When everything goes right and all is well with the world, the default setting is self-sufficiency. It’s only when our plans crumble that we cry out to God.

I’m not asking God to give you trials but only that He will be with you in the midst of the ones you’re already in. Jesus didn’t say if you have troubles but when. They are inevitable in this world.

I’m asking for God to strengthen you to bear the burden you’re under. I’m asking for the Grace that is always sufficient for you.

May God always be enough for you, no matter what.

It’s crazy how fast time goes these days.

I looked at my calendar today and realized that it’s only 2 weeks until Halloween.

After that comes Thanksgiving, followed by Christmas, and then 2020.

What?

I’ll just be done processing Halloween when it’s time to sit down and eat turkey.

My turkey will still be digesting in my belly when it’s time to open presents.

I’ll barely have the wrapping paper off when it will be time to ring in the new year.

Well, happy Hallowthanksmas and a happy new year.

I honestly don’t know what it is about fall that stirs up nostalgia in me. It seems like every time an autumn breeze sweeps over me, it conjurs up a childhood memory or makes me feel things I did when I was little.

I can remember one time when I was very little and got sick at my pre-school (or maybe it was daycare). I recall that my grandmother came to get me and take me home. I distinctly remember passing by a courtyard filled with those tiny rocks that they used to use for playgrounds. At least that’s what it seems like in my memory.

That is one of my favorite memories of my grandmother. I don’t know why it (and other memories like it) seems to come back to me in autumnal weather.

Today was one of those days where I could have curled up with a blanket in a hammock and been quite content to take a nap all day. And possibly dream of days gone by.

I do love fall days.

“Trust God from the bottom of your heart;
    don’t try to figure out everything on your own.
Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go;
    he’s the one who will keep you on track” (Proverbs 3:5-6, The Message).

“Place your trust in the Eternal; rely on Him completely;
    never depend upon your own ideas and inventions.
Give Him the credit for everything you accomplish,
    and He will smooth out and straighten the road that lies ahead” (Proverbs 3:5-6, The Voice).

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.”

That’s how I grew up reading this familiar passage.

I probably read over it a thousand times and never really grasped it.

It’s all at once simple to understand and exceedingly difficult to live out.

In fact, it’s impossible in my own strength.

How do I trust God completely instead of trusting in my own understanding?

How do I cling to Jesus when it goes against every natural instinct in me?

My default setting is to lean on my own understanding, incomplete and faulty as it is, and to shun God.

My own experience has been that when I do trust God completely, I’m amazed at what happens. When I trust my own understanding, it doesn’t go well.

Lord, help me to trust You when it doesn’t come natural to me. Help me see that Your ways are always best. Help me remember that You are big enough for my doubts and questions, and You are strong enough to deliver me when I only have the tiniest seed of faith.

Amen.

“It is not only wrong to worry, it is real infidelity because it means we do not believe God can look after the little practical details of our lives; it is never anything else that worries us” (Oswald Chambers, Studies in the Sermon on the Mount).

“Worry is the act of imagining a future without God.

When you strip it down to its bones that’s what it really is. I worry when I imagine a future devoid of God. I worry when I project my current feelings and discouragements and struggles into the future. I worry when I take God’s love and faithfulness out of the equation. When I imagine a stark and bleak future, a screaming void in which my faithful and loving Father does not exist or act on my behalf. Underneath all the anxiety and fear and confusing emotions worry is actually a form of atheism. It’s acting as if God does not exist.

Psalm 18:46 provides three words which destroy worry and fuel faith: ‘The Lord lives…’

Don’t pass over those words too quickly. The. Lord. Lives.

My budget is flatlining and we are financially tanking and I don’t see hope for the future! But the Lord lives. The same Lord who owns everything and provides for ravens and sustains galaxies and calls us his children is real and alive and active in your life. You can’t provide for yourself but your budget is not too tight for God. The Lord lives.

My child is not doing well spiritually and I’ve tried everything and I don’t have any hope that anything will change! The Lord lives. The same Lord who has saved murderers and prostitutes and Pharisees and drug addicts and money addicts and pastors kids is real and alive and active in your life. You can’t save your child but your kid is not too hard for God. The Lord lives.

My marriage is on the rocks and we’ve tried counseling and we’ve read all the books and I don’t see things getting any better! The Lord lives. The same Lord who created a bride for himself out of rebellious, wicked, God-hating sinners is real and alive and active in your life. You can’t rescue your marriage but your marriage is not too hard for God. The Lord lives.

My spiritual life is dry, and I’ve tried a thousand different things to get it kickstarted, but nothing seems to work, and honestly, I don’t think things are going to get any better. The Lord lives. The same Lord who caused you to become spiritually alive is real and alive and active in your life. You can’t breathe fresh life into your heart but your heart is not too dry for God.

Your circumstances may be bleak. You may not see a light at the end of the tunnel. You may not see any silver lining. But circumstances and tunnels and silver linings are not the basis of our hope, God is.

Don’t be a functional atheist today. The Lord lives. Let’s live in light of that reality” (Steven Altrogge).

“Everything about which we are tempted to complain may be the very instrument whereby the Potter intends to shape His clay into the image of His Son–a headache, an insult, a long line at the check-out, someone’s rudeness or failure to say thank you, misunderstanding, disappointment, interruption. As Amy Carmichael said, ‘See in it a chance to die,’ meaning a chance to leave self behind…” (Elisabeth Elliot)

That’s exactly what I needed to hear, so I decided to post it.

When you stop seeing all these annoyances and aggravations and insults and wrongs as things done to you and start seeing them as the means of God shaping you into something brand new, your outlook changes.

When you see every hardship, every pain, and every loss as God’s means of making you more like Jesus, you understand that God really is working all things– even the worst things– together for good.

Every time I don’t get my way, when my plans get frustrated and my dreams come to naught, I can see in it a chance to die– a chance to leave my old self and all its selfishness and self-centeredness behind.

Maybe then I can even start to give thanks in these circumstances, if not for the actual events then what God will bring out of them. Maybe I can learn to give thanks for every no from God because I know there’s a much bigger yes in store down the road.

“In learning to walk with God, there is always the difficulty of getting into His stride. As soon as we start walking with Him we find that He has different ways of doing things, and we have to be trained and disciplined in His ways. Getting into God’s stride means nothing less than oneness with Him. Don’t give up! Get on with it, and before long you will find that you have a new vision and a new purpose” (Oswald Chambers, from My Utmost for His Highest).