hope

A Friday Eve Prayer

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“O God, 
whose blessed Son came into the world that he might destroy the works of the devil and make us children of God and heirs of eternal life: 

Grant that, having this hope, we may purify ourselves as he is pure; 

that, when he comes again with power and great glory, we may be made like him in his eternal and glorious kingdom; 

where he lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, 
one God, 

for ever and ever. 
Amen.“

I still believe that God never intended for His people to fit in. He meant (and still means) for us to stand out. We’re the city on a hill. We’re the salt and the light. We’re the physical manifestation of Jesus on the earth until He returns. We hold the only cure for this disease of sin that has ravaged the entire planet.

I kept thinking about the passage in James 1:27 where it says that pure religion is to take care of widows and orphans, i.e. the disadvantaged and unprotected, and to keep ourselves unstained in the world. It’s not an either/or proposition. It’s both/and.

We need to be unstained from Hollywood and from politics. I don’t mean we can’t vote or be involved, but I think we stand outside of both political parties and owe allegiance ultimately and only to a King and a Kingdom rather than to a flag or a country or any platform.

We’re called to be a people who show grace, who love our enemies, and who forgive those who hurt us. We’re not called to argue people into heaven but to love them like God in Jesus loved us when He was not willing that we should stay lost in sin but that we should come to repentance in salvation.

I still think the call to American Christians is to come out from among them and be separate. That might mean leaving churches and denominations that have lost the gospel. That might mean not affiliating with Democrat or Republican. That might mean being willing to risk ridicule for standing up for biblical truth.

I’m praying for another Great Awakening. I’m begging God for another revival like the Jesus Revolution of the early 70s. That’s what it’s going to take. No politician or President can fix what’s wrong with this country. Only Jesus can.

Cup of Sorrow, Cup of Joy

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“When we are crushed like grapes, we cannot think of the wine we will become. The sorrow overwhelms us, makes us throw ourselves on the ground, facedown, and sweat drops of blood. Then we need to be reminded that our cup of sorrow is also our cup of joy and that one day we will be able to taste the joy as fully as we now taste the sorrow” (Henri Nouwen).

I love that imagery. I don’t necessarily think that we will at any point sweat drops of blood. That was something Jesus did in moments of extreme anxiety when facing the prospect of the cross. But I do think the sentiment about sorrow and joy is on point.

To think that as much as we taste sorrow now, we will one day taste joy is a joyful statement. As bad as some days are down here, they will be just as good up there. Actually, the worst we go through won’t be able to compete with the best that’s coming. Paul calls it a light and momentary affliction in contrast to the pure joy that awaits.

It’s easy to focus on the crushing and forget the wine that we will become. We can get caught up in how painful the refining process is and neglect that one day Jesus will see His pure reflection in us. What a day that will be. And even in the fire, God is with us.

God’s Will

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The older I get, the more I realize that there is nothing I want outside of the will of God. As I’ve heard before, having everything without God is nothing while having God plus nothing else is everything.

I can’t imagine life without God. Instead of owning stuff, my stuff would own me. I’d be a slave to my fears and my lusts and never know true joy. I’d always be the same broken and miserable person from day to day without any hope of change.

I’m learning that the best place to be is smack dab in the middle of God’s will. I can dream of some pretty wild scenarios, but no one out-dreams God. His plans for me and for the world are so much bigger and better than anything my puny mind can conceive or comprehend.

So I wait and I trust. I keep reciting the first part of the Lord’s prayer where it says, “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” I pray that even if it means that my will be undone, as Elisabeth Elliott used to pray all the time.

I’d rather have my will undone than to get my heart’s desire and be undone by it. I know how people are destroyed by fame and fortune without the grounding to handle that kind of success. I know even the severe mercies of God are better than the praises of men and the rewards of a life apart from God.

So it’s God’s will. Nothing more. Nothing less. Nothing else. Period.

Living on this Side of the Election

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  • “It’s not about how the worship music makes us feel on Sunday morning, but how we live poured-out lives of worship from Monday to Saturday.
  • It’s not about how many verses we can quote to defend our political viewpoints, but how well we embody the Word made flesh to our politically opposite next-door neighbors.
  • It’s not about how pious our prayers sound during Sunday School, but how our hearts hear the whisper of God both in our hidden rooms and in our lived-out interactions with others” (Asheritah Ciuciu).

Now that we’re past the dreaded elections (or at least they were for me), we can hopefully return to normal. We can hopefully reach out across party lines to embrace and love those who voted differently than we did. We can understand that there is room in the Kingdom of God for blue and red (as well as many other colors).

The point is that we’re called to love our enemies, period. It doesn’t say to love them if they show remorse for their bad behavior. It doesn’t say to love them if they promise to reform. It says to love them the way Jesus loved those who crucified Him. And how did He do that? He forgave them. He died for them.

We’re also called to honor our leaders, according to Romans 13. That doesn’t mean only those who share my political ideology. It doesn’t mean those we like and admire and can respect. Remember when Paul wrote those words, the ruler was Nero, who was just about as bad and corrupt as they come. Nero was responsible for the martyring of many followers of Jesus. But Paul said to honor him because God in His infinite purposes sets up rulers, good and bad, to accomplish His will.

Ultimately, it helps to remember that we’re all broken. The problem isn’t just out there. We all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God and can share the blame for the problems of this country. We would be wise to drop those stones we want to throw at the Trumps and Harrises of the world and their followers unless we can prove that we’re sinless.

If we live out of love as citizens of a Kingdom more than of a country, we do well. Our ultimate allegiance isn’t to any president or to any flag or any political party or ideology. It’s to a King and a Kingdom. It’s to Jesus who will still be on His throne long after all the presidents and kings and emperors are long gone.

My Life Summed Up

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I think if I had to sum up my life to this point, it would be something like this: if you keep showing up every day with hope and expectation in God, no matter what each day looks like, God will show up big time.

If you keep on keeping on even when it would be easier to quit, then you find out that God hasn’t and can’t and won’t ever quit on you.

Even if all you have is that mustard seed amount of faith, it’s enough, because it’s not about the size of your faith but the size of your God.

Many times, I’ve found that God worked through me when I was not aware of it. In fact, most of the time God used me when I thought all I was doing was showing up and serving in the best way I knew how. I may never know until eternity how something I said or did changed another’s life forever.

If I can, you can. All you need is to keep showing up to your life knowing that God will more than meet you halfway. Your greatest moments may not be preaching to thousands or writing the hit songs or representing Jesus on the world stage. In fact, you may be completely unaware of your impact in this life.

But I know God honors those who honor Him. God rewards those who keep seeking and serving Him, even when they’d rather be somewhere else doing something else.

God can take the two fish and five loaves of your life and break it and multiply it to minister to the multitudes. You might not see the leftover baskets on this side of heaven, but trust me that they are there.

My life may not have gone according to plan, but that’s okay. It’s going according to God’s plan, and that’s way better.

Even If . . .

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“Even if today didn’t go as planned, Lord
and if it’s not at all what we hoped,
and if “we’re* not yet quite what we hoped,
and if life’s not unfolding to our Plan A
and if it’s not even close to Plan B
and if the diagnosis is not great
and if the forecast is not good
and if not… and if not… and if not…
You still are. You still are Good & You still are God.
And we will be the people who will still…
The people who will still rest in it & sing it into the dark:
‘and if not — He is still Good. He is still God… so we can still & be & be at rest.’” #HonestPrayers” (Ann Voskamp).

Even if today didn’t go as planned. Or this week. Or this month. Or even this year (cue the Friends theme song).

God is still good.

His plans for you are still good.

His timing is still perfect and right on time.

You can trust.

You can rest.

And you can still sing into that darkness.

Convictions and Compassion

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“Having Christian convictions can’t ever negate having Christ’s compassion” (Ann Voskamp).

It’s not a case of either/or. It’s both.

In today’s culture, there are those on one side who let their compassion override their convictions. They preach tolerance (except for those who happen to disagree with them) and teach that loving people means loving their sin.

On the other side of the fence, there are people whose convictions have turned them into people who not only need to be proven right but everyone else must have their faces rubbed in the fact that they’re wrong.

If you truly follow Jesus, you’ll have both. Jesus said to the woman caught in adultery “Neither do I condemn you” with compassion, but He also told her “Go and sin no more” with conviction. Yes, Jesus loved sinners and ate with tax collectors and prostitutes, but He loved them into repentance and transformation. When He ascended into heaven, they weren’t sinners, tax collectors, and prostitutes anymore. They were devoted disciples living a new way of justice and holiness.

Remember, it’s not either/or. It’s both/and. God was compassionate toward you while you were a sinner far from grace but He still calls you through conviction to repent and turn to Jesus in faith.

This is the God We Have Waited For

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“It will be said on that day,
    ‘Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us.
    This is the Lord; we have waited for him;
    let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation'” (Isaiah 25:9, ESV).

“[Verse 1]
A refuge for the poor
A shelter from the storm
This is our God
And He will wipe away your tears
And return your wasted years
This is our God

[Chorus 1]
Oh, hmm, this is our God
Oh, hmm, this is our God

[Verse 2]
A father to the orphan
A healer to the broken
This is our God
And He brings peace to our madness
And comfort in our sadness
This is our God

[Chorus 1]

[Chorus 2]
This is the one we have waited for
This is the one we have waited for
This is the one we have waited for
Oh, this is our God

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Forever (Radio remix)

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[Verse 3]
A fountain for the thirsty
A lover for the lonely
This is our God
And He brings glory to the humble
And crowns for the faithful
This is our God

[Chorus 1]

[Chorus 2]

[Bridge]
Oh Lord You are the one we have waited for
You are the one we have waited for
So You are the one we have waited for

[Chorus 1]

[Outro]
You are the one, You are the one
There is none like You, Jesus
There is none like You, Jesus” (Chris Tomlin / Jesse Pryor Reeves).

One day, our faith will be made sight, then we will proclaim that this is the God we’ve been waiting for all these years. We will declare the ultimate and final victory then.

This is the same God we’re waiting on and worshipping now.

Hold on.

Homesick

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I was listening to an 80s Truth record I picked up recently. I got to the song Homesick. It sounded vaguely familiar, but I felt I had heard or read the lyrics before very recently. Then I remembered I had seen a post with the very same song lyrics less than a week ago.

The song is the heartbeat of any believer who knows this world isn’t really home. A former pastor of mine once compared this life to a very nice, very clean bus station (or airport terminal, if you will). It’s not supposed to be your forever place to live, but a place to be until you can get to your forever home.

“They say home is where the heart is
And I’m finding out it’s true
‘Cause I long to be in heaven
Since my heart is there with You
Reading over letters
That You’ve written to me
Telling me of all You have in store
Makes me start to dreaming
Of the place I want to be
And I get that lonely feeling
Like so many times before

I get homesick
Longing for my home
And for Your open arms
Of lovе and comfort
Waiting for me there
I gеt homesick
Yearning for my home
And for the day
When all Your family
Gets together forever
Our eternal home sweet home

Lord, You living truth within me
Keeps me safe and warm
All its strength and all its beauty
Rise through every storm
Without its presence in my soul
I could not carry on
To face the many battles I find here
Lord, you keep the promises
I build my life upon
And as time goes by, I know
That I will always keep them near

I get homesick
Longing for my home
And for Your open arms
Of love and comfort
Waiting for me there
I get homesick
Yearning for my home
And for the day
When all Your family
Gets together forever
Our eternal home sweet home” (Larry Bryant, Lesa Bryant & Justin Peters).

It’s interesting to be homesick for a home we’ve never known, but that’s what it is. That’s why nothing here will ever completely satisfy the deep longing of our souls. Only God can do that. And our experience of God here is cloudy and partial. One day it will be clear and complete. We will know as we are fully known. And we will be truly home.

In the Waiting

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I’ve never thought about it that way before. I suppose it could be a bit of a stretch to make a connection between waiting on God and working at a restaurant, but it works. When you wait tables at a restaurant, you wait for people to make up their minds on the menu. You wait on the kitchen to prepare the food for you to take to the tables. You wait on the people to finish their meals before you present them with the check.

But it’s not a passive waiting. The whole time, you’re serving. You’re bringing baskets of bread and drink refills. You’re always available to take food back to the kitchen if it’s not cooked right or if it’s the wrong order. You’re never sitting still while you’re waiting.

I think the same applies for waiting on God. Typically, God has revealed something to you that you then need to apply. In Hebrew, hearing and obeying come from the same word. In other words, you can’t hear from God apart from doing what He said. Part of waiting is obedience.

I think part of waiting is also making yourself ready to be used the moment God calls for you. That means you don’t have distractions or detours to keep you from responding to God’s call. As I mentioned before, maturity is the distance between God’s call and your ability to obey. Waiting is where you narrow that gap.

May we learn to wait well. May we learn to worship in the waiting as loudly as after the waiting is over, to sing the same way in the hallway as when we get to where God opens the door to the fulfillment of His promises. Then the waiting will have been worth it.