A Restful Night

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“O God, who hast drawn over weary day the restful veil of night, enfold us in heavenly peace. Lift from our hands our tasks, and all through the night bear in Thy bosom the full weight of our burdens and sorrows, that in untroubled slumber we may press our weakness close to Thy strength, and win new power for the morrow’s duty from Thee who givest Thy beloved sleep: through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen” (An Unknown Saint’s Evening Prayer).

Once you’ve experienced a night of insomnia, you will never take for granted a good night’s sleep ever again. Those who have trouble sleeping are really good at backwards math, i. e. if I fall asleep at 1:30 am, I can still get 5 1/2 hours of sleep and be mostly awake tomorrow.

But even sleep is a gift from God. Sometimes, I think God keeps us awake to remind us that we’re not in control of even small things like telling our bodies to rest. God also sometimes will keep us awake so that we will finally be free of noise and distractions and ready to listen. Or it could be a kind of thorn in the flesh like what Paul possibly dealt with.

All I know is that sleep is a good gift. No one can or should go for long periods without rest. No one is able. I know there are stories of people who can go for weeks and months with little or no sleep, but for most of us, we need our rest. Something like a good eight hours’ worth.

So thank you, God, for the sleep that I often take for granted until those nights when I can’t sleep. And also thanks for naps. Those were a good idea of Yours.

Speak, Lord

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Right now, I’m having a random memory. I don’t know why, but the words that Chris Brooks always spoke before reading a Bible passage are coming back to me. He’d pray, “Lord, would you go before us in this text and make a way. And together we say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servants are listening.'”

Sometimes, I invite God into my Bible reading. Sometimes, I just plow right in. Sometimes, it feels like God is speaking to me as if He’s been reading my diary. Sometimes, it’s like reading words off of a page that I forget as soon as I’ve read them. Hmm, I wonder if there’s a connection.

I don’t necessarily think that there are magic words that force God to give us new insights into Scripture. There’s not an Abracadabra and then suddenly you understand everything about John 3:16 or 2 Timothy 3:16. But I think praying God’s blessing over the reading of His word helps us to understand that these are His words we’re reading more than simply being an ancient text.

There are lots of ancient texts. Especially religious ones. But none of the others are living and active. None of them can transform. In none of them can a passage you might have read hundreds of times suddenly jump out at you with new insight and application.

I’ve loved reading through the Bible again this year. Even the parts that aren’t always easy reading are divinely inspired. I know that in the more depressing moments that the meta-narrative is still leading me to Jesus. As badly as God’s people fail, that’s how much grace Jesus showed us when He arrived. More and more, I can relate to all the bone-headed decisions and choices that these people made. More and more, I see my need to preach the gospel to myself over and over because I still see my deep need of it every day.

So as we open the pages of the Bible to seek God’s face more than gain new knowledge, we invite You, Lord, to speak, for we are listening.

Faithful

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“One person with a belief is equal to a force of ninety-nine who have only interests” (Peter Marshall).

I read a book once called Not a Fan. The gist is that Jesus doesn’t call us to be fans but followers. Of course, in this age saturated with social media, being a follower has taken on a whole new meaning. You can follow a person or a company with no real investment. But what Jesus wants are those who will lay down their lives for the sake of the Gospel, the Kingdom, and the King.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer said that when Christ calls a man, he bids him to come and die. Sometimes that looks like being martyred for the sake of the gospel. I think of believers living in daily fear of their lives in areas of the world that are hostile to the Christian faith. I think of people who will be disowned by their families and even threatened with death because they chose to follow Jesus.

Here in America, it’s not that bad. Yet. I have a feeling that the days of Christians having a soft and comfortable existence in the United States are coming to a close. One day, it might not just be inconvenient but illegal to be a Christian who exclusively claims Jesus as Lord. One day, preaching or speaking the gospel might not just be considered hate speech, but a punishable offense.

Tonight in my life group, we talked about what it means to suffer for Christ. Right now, it’s becoming less and less politically correct in this country to believe in Jesus and God as revealed in the Bible. In other places, confessing Jesus as Lord will almost certainly mean death. But throughout the Bible, we see where believers were able to endure suffering and even count it all joy because they knew something way better was waiting for them on the other side.

I’m thankful for my freedoms to practice my faith openly without fear. I pray that I will be more mindful of those who share my faith but don’t share the same freedoms. I pray that we in American churches will acknowledge and honor their courage and sacrifices for the sake of Jesus. I’m certain great rewards await them in heaven.

May we be found as faithful as them.

Be Ready

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“If with heart and soul you’re doing good, do you think you can be stopped? Even if you suffer for it, you’re still better off. Don’t give the opposition a second thought. Through thick and thin, keep your hearts at attention, in adoration before Christ, your Master. Be ready to speak up and tell anyone who asks why you’re living the way you are, and always with the utmost courtesy. Keep a clear conscience before God so that when people throw mud at you, none of it will stick. They’ll end up realizing that they’re the ones who need a bath. It’s better to suffer for doing good, if that’s what God wants, than to be punished for doing bad. That’s what Christ did definitively: suffered because of others’ sins, the Righteous One for the unrighteous ones. He went through it all—was put to death and then made alive—to bring us to God (1 Peter 3:13-18).

That’s the key. Be ready. If you live a godly life (or even make the attempt in the Spirit of God to live a godly life) it will draw attention. I heard once that believers should live questionable lives, but not in the sense of believing one way and living another but in such a way that the way we speak and behave will draw questions as to why we’re different (in a good way, hopefully).

I also think we should be praying at every moment for opportunities to have gospel conversations, especially with the family and friends we love and hold dear. I know the famous quote attributed to Saint Francis says to preach the gospel at all times and use words if necessary. I think from the Great Commission, words are always necessary. We simply need wisdom and discernment as to the timing of when we’re supposed to speak up and tell our gospel story.

The more the world slips further away from God, the more we will stand out. The more those not of God will hate us and mistreat us and try to trip us up. But also the more people will see something about us that they don’t have — peace under pain , joy in the midst of sorrow, patience under suffering, hope that never fails. Then some will want to know about that hope that we have. Then we should be ready to give an answer.

I found something that every believer should pray called the Three Open Prayer: “1) Lord, open a door to share the gospel. 2) Lord, open the heart of the lost to receive the gospel. 3) Lord, open my mouth to share the gospel.”

Worship

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“He demands our worship, our obedience, our prostration. Do we suppose that they can do Him any good, or fear, like the chorus in Milton, that human irreverence can bring about “His glory’s diminution”? A man can no more diminish God’s glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word “darkness” on the walls of his cell. But God wills our good, and our good is to love Him (with that responsive love proper to creatures) and to love Him we must know Him: and if we know Him, we shall in fact fall on our faces. If we do not, that only shows that what we are trying to love is not yet God—though it may be the nearest approximation to God which our thought and fantasy can attain” (C. S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain).

As my pastor points out periodically, we worship for an hour or so every week. That leaves 167 other hours during the week. I submit that worship that exists only in the one hour on Sunday but not during the rest of the week is not truly worship.

My Sunday experience flows out of how I worship the rest of the week. I can’t live for myself Monday through Saturday and show up Sunday expecting God’s blessing. I can’t ignore God for six days and then expect Him to speak to me on Sunday.

I read somewhere how Orthodox Jews build their week around the Sabbath. They will spend the first three days reflecting on the past Sabbath and the next three days preparing for the next Sabbath. That makes the Sabbath the focal point of their week rather than just one day out of seven. I like that.

If we made worship the focus of our week, then we could sing those songs of praise on Sunday with meaning. If we really sought to be worshippers not just through music but in how we lived and worked and played, then our worship would truly be a witness to the world and not just a penciled-in part of a church service.

Maybe the best way to worship is to live every moment for an audience of One. If we truly want to worship, we live in a way that magnifies the worth of God. We seek His pleasure and approval in everything we say and do and think and live.

And for me, I confess that I have often looked at worship as something I have to do versus something I get to do. I should never forget that worship flows out of a heart set free, and only someone who has been delivered from death to live, from despair to hope, from slave to son can truly worship because he has something worth celebrating.

The Good Old Way

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“How shall your elect be kept from Satan’s deceptions except by abiding in the truth and walking in the power of the Holy Spirit? Oh, revive your church in this respect, we pray! Give to those who know you a more intense faith in the eternal truths, burning into us by experience the things which we do know; may they be beyond all question to us. And may we never be ashamed to glory in the good old way, the way the fathers trod, the way which leads to heaven and to God.
Amen” (Charles Spurgeon).

As C. S. Lewis once said, all that is not eternal is eternally out of date. All these precious truths that we hold so dear and read in the Bible are eternal truths from the very beginning. We do well to adhere to the faith of our fathers — to the faith of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who looked forward to the Messiah as we now look back to Jesus.

When we try to update Christianity to fit with the times and current thinking, we go astray. We end up with what the Apostle Paul calls “another gospel” different from the one that he preached about Jesus. When we try to progress beyond what orthodox doctrines we have learned from the Bible, we end up with a different faith in a different Jesus that has no power at all to save or transform anybody or anything.

“I love to tell the story;
  For those who know it best
Seem hungering and thirsting
  To hear it like the rest.
And when, in scenes of glory,
  I sing the new, new song,
’Twill be the old, old story,
  That I have loved so long.”
Arabella Katherine Hanke (1834-1911)/ William Gustavus Fischer (1835-1912).

Fellowship of the Unashamed

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I know I’ve probably posted this previously, but it’s still worth checking out. I remember distinctly being blown away by the radical sentiment of the author. I found out recently that he was a young pastor in Zimbabwe who was martyred for his faith and a little poem was found among his papers that went something like this:

“I’m a part of the fellowship of the unashamed.
The die has been cast. I have stepped over the line.
The decision has been made. I’m a disciple of
Jesus Christ. I won’t look back, let up, slow down,
back away, or be still. My past is redeemed. My present
makes sense and my future is secure.
I’m done and finished with low living, sight walking,
small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams,
tamed visions, mundane talking, cheap living, and dwarfed goals.

I no longer need preeminence, prosperity, position,
promotions, plaudits, or popularity.
I don’t have to be right, or first, or tops,
or recognized, or praised, or rewarded.
I live by faith, lean on His presence, walk by patience,
lift by prayer, and labor by Holy Spirit power.
My face is set. My gait is fast. My goal is heaven.
My road may be narrow, my way rough, my companions few,
but my guide is reliable and my mission is clear. I will not be bought,
compromised, detoured, lured away, turned back,
deluded or delayed.

I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice or hesitate in the
presence of the adversary.
I will not negotiate at the table of the enemy,
ponder at the pool of popularity, or meander
in the maze of mediocrity.
I won’t give up, shut up, or let up until
I have stayed up, stored up, prayed up, paid up,
and preached up for the cause of Christ.

I am a disciple of Jesus.
I must give until I drop, preach until all know,
and work until He comes.
And when He does come for His own,
He’ll have no problems recognizing me.
My colors will be clear!”

Whoo boy, that’s good.

Pray for Ramadan

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One thing I started this year that will hopefully become a tradition is praying for Muslims during this time of Ramadan, a holy time in Islam where Muslims are encouraged to fast during the day and immerse themselves in Qu’ran reading.

There is a very helpful prayer guide that the International Mission Board has created to encourage believers to pray for Muslims during this time. There is a daily prayer guide that gives specific prayer points for people groups and practices so that we can better pray for God to reach out to these Muslims.

The website is https://pray4digital.com/prayforramadan. You can sign up to pray at certain times during the day throughout Ramadan. I have committed to pray daily from 7:05 to 7:20 pm (though I confess I have yet to pray during my allotted time slot. I usually end up praying later in the evening).

I truly believe all great movements of God start with prayer. I also believe that we have not because we ask not, so I think we should all be praying for a multitude of Muslims to come to faith in Jesus during this time. After all, Jesus is prominent in the Qu’ran, so it’s natural that they could easily be inclined to want to know more about Him.

I’m fairly certain that God is present when two or more are gathered in His name, but I would love to see multitudes of believers who love their Muslim neighbors and friends enough to pray for them. Remember that the same Paul who wrote 1/3 of the New Testament was originally a terrorist against the faith until an encounter with Jesus made Him the biggest champion of Christianity. Anything is possible when it comes to God.

I hope and pray that you will join me in this endeavor in praying for God to move mightily in the Muslim world. Above all, I echo the cry of every believer when I say, “Come quickly, Lord Jesus!”

From the Worst to the Best

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I love that imagery. The very worst that we could do to God in Jesus became the very best He could do for us. While we were murdering Him, He was forgiving us and in His death, He reconciled us to God. He chose the nails that belonged to us, carried the cross that should have been ours, and died the death that we in our sins deserved.

The author, Malcolm Guite, talks about how the ashes from Ash Wednesday represent mourning and loss as typified by how the ancient people used to express grief by tearing their garments and pouring ashes on their heads. Guite also mentions that ashes can be used for fertilizer in a garden to bring new life.

That’s a perfect picture of Golgotha and Easter Sunday, isn’t it? New life coming out of death? Hope coming out of a grave? That’s essentially the Easter story in a nutshell. That’s the reason why I love the Lent and Easter season so much.

“If man had his way, the plan of redemption would be an endless and bloody conflict. In reality, salvation was bought not by Jesus’ fist, but by His nail-pierced hands; not by muscle but by love; not by vengeance but by forgiveness; not by force but by sacrifice. Jesus Christ our Lord surrendered in order that He might win; He destroyed His enemies by dying for them and conquered death by allowing death to conquer Him” (A.W. Tozer, Preparing for Jesus’ Return: Daily Live the Blessed Hope).

All Things Lent and Easter

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I’m relatively new to the concept of Lent. I didn’t grow up in any liturgical churches so basically Easter snuck up on me as a kid. These days, I have come to appreciate the season of Lent and taking time to prepare for what Easter Sunday truly means.

I know that stores have already switched over to Easter a few weeks ago. I walked into a Hallmark store and there were Easter bunnies and decorations galore. I’m sure all the Easter candy has hit the shelves as well. But for me, I need time to process all that went down between Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday. I need to remember that it was all for me.

I believe that Jesus died with all believers in mind, but I also believe that if any one of us had been the only one, He still would have died for that one. God’s infinite love for each of us is such that He loves us each as if we were the only ones to love.

So for the next 40 days, I will be taking a social media break. That means no Facebook, no Instagram, no Twitter (or X as it’s now called), no Threads. Hopefully, I can use that extra free time in contemplation and worship, in seeking God’s face and in giving thanks for all His good gifts, especially for the one that culminates on Easter Sunday.

“Come, my Light,
and illumine my darkness.
Come, my Life,
and revive me from death.
Come, my Physician,
and heal my wounds.
Come, Flame of divine love,
and burn up the thorns of my sins,
kindling my heart
with the flame of thy love” (Dimitrii of Rostov).