impossible

Nothing Shall Be Impossible

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“And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren. For with God nothing shall be impossible” (Luke 1:36-37, KJV).

I went to check out the Ice! exhibit and to see the lights at the Opryland Hotel. It hit me in all the right feels as it does every year. I always love seeing the grand old hotel decked up in festive lights and decorations.

On my bucket list is to stay a night in that hotel, preferably in a room overlooking the Delta atrium and ideally around Christmas time. After that, I think I could just about die and go to heaven. But maybe not right away.

But anyway, back to the story. There’s a nativity setup outside the front of the hotel that I always visit. There’s a narrator over a loudspeaker reading from the Christmas story in Luke 1-2. Probably because of public domain, it’s in the ye old King James. Plus, I’m sure everybody over a certain age remembers Linus reciting the passage in A Charlie Brown Christmas.

This year, the line that hit me was about how Mary’s cousin Elizabeth was in her sixth month. She had previously been unable to conceive or bear children, and back in those days it was shameful to not have children.

So I love where it says that she who was previously known by her shame was now known by being the miraculous mother of a boy who would be the forerunner of the Messiah. I mean how cool is that?

Somehow, the ol’ KJV rendering hit me more forcefully this time: nothing shall be impossible with God. Any promise He’s ever made is as good as done. Any dream He’s put in your heart or desire He’s planted in you will come to pass because there’s no such thing as impossible to God.

I always love what I heard a pastor say once that what seems impossible to us isn’t even remotely difficult for God. You might say He specializes in making the impossible possible.

So I snapped my usual 1,000 photos, ate my pizza from Paisano’s, got in my 10,000 steps, and a good time was had by all. Even the weather cooperated.

And I was reminded yet again of the faithfulness of God. How many more times will it take, Lord, before I finally get it? Maybe just one more.

Beauty from Ashes

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“To all who mourn in Israel,
    he will give a crown of beauty for ashes,
a joyous blessing instead of mourning,
    festive praise instead of despair” (Isaiah 61:3, NLT).

On my weekly Radnor Lake hike, I saw something that took a minute to register. There were these beautiful yellow flowers growing out of a pond of green scum. If I knew anything about botany, I could tell you what kind of flowers or maybe what kind of green scum was covering the pond.

I do know that what stuck me is that out of something I perceived as ugly grew something that I saw was beautiful. But isn’t that just God’s way?

The prophet Isaiah speaks about God bringing beauty from ashes. I honestly can’t think of anything more hopeless than ashes. Ashes are what’s left after the destruction of fire. There’s literally nothing left to restore.

But God can take these ashes and turn them into something beautiful the same way He could take a valley of dry bones and make them into a living army.

I heard a pastor say once that what seems impossible for us isn’t even remotely difficult for God. That means even the most hopeless of circumstances can be transformed into the most amazing outcomes. He can make miracles from mud (just ask the blind man Jesus healed).

It’s easy to forget God’s goodness when you’re staring at a pile of the ashes that are what’s left of your life. But God can turn even those into something beautiful, something better than before, something that will always be a reminder of God’s faithful love for you.

God Can Do Anything 

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“God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us. Glory to God in the church! Glory to God in the Messiah, in Jesus! Glory down all the generations! Glory through all millennia! Oh, yes!” (Ephesians 3:20-21)

Repeat after me: God can do anything.

Repeat it again: God can do anything.

Once more with feeling: God can do anything.

Got that?

Nothing is impossible for God. Nothing. And your circumstances are not the exception to the rule. You are not the odd man out, the freak that God looks at and says, “I can’t do anything with this one.”

No matter what you’re facing, God is stronger. No matter how dark it gets, God can still see you. No matter how long it seems to take, God has not stopped working.

I remind you yet again of what a pastor said: “What seems impossible to us is not even remotely difficult for God.”

If God can create the universe in seven days, then He can create order out of your chaos.

If God brought Jesus back from the dead, then He can resurrect the ashes of your dreams into something far more glorious and beautiful than you ever dreamed possible.

If God loved you enough to save you at your worst, what makes you think He will stop loving you now?

Don’t trust your feelings. They lie. Anything and everything affects them, from eating too much spicy food to way too much caffeine late at night.

Make this your mantra: God works all things together for those whom He loves.

Even when your feelings, your senses, your intuition tells you other wise, this is still true. It will always be true.

 

A Legacy of Love That Includes YOU

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“ Do you see what this means—all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we’d better get on with it. Strip down, start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!” (Hebrews 12:1-3)

I attend The Church at Avenue South. Somewhere in the neighborhood of two years ago, some members of Brentwood Baptist Church had a dream about reaching out to the residents of the Melrose and Berry Hill area for Jesus and set out to make that dream a reality. They were told that it was impossible to find a place in the area for a church to meet. God proved them wrong.

45 years ago, Brentwood Baptist Church was the dream in the minds of some people from Woodmont Baptist Church. People told them that to plant a church in Brentwood was a pipe dream– there would never be enough people to warrant a church in the area. God again proved them wrong.

In 1941, someone had the vision to start Woodmont Baptist Church itself. 74 years later, who knows how many people have been affected by that one simple act of obedience? Who knows how far the ripples will reach from that one stone’s throw?

You are part of a legacy of love. Even if you don’t know it, you have a crowd cheering you on and rooting for you. Whether that’s your physical family or your spiritual family or even those who have gone on and are watching from heaven, you have people who are on your side. Even Jesus Himself roots for you and intercedes for you.

It’s easy on the dark days to feel alone, that you don’t matter, that nothing you do makes any difference. It’s easy to think that nothing will ever change for the better, that this is as good as it will ever get.

Don’t let that be the final word. Let what Jesus has declared be the final word. What did He declare? That He would finish what He started in you, that He had plans for you not for barm but for hope and a future for you, that eye has not seen nor ear heard what God has prepared for those who love Him (and those He loves).

Let this Monday be the day that you run your race faithfully, knowing you have a legacy both behind and ahead of you, cheering you on and being inspired by you to run their own race.

 

Another Letter to Myself

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Last year at Kairos, Mike Glenn instructed us to take pen to paper and write ourselves a letter, to be place in a self-addressed envelope and mailed back, to us at some point in the future. The point was that you could see where you were back then and where you are now and how far you’ve come.

Mine came back today. Here’s what I wrote way back in 2014:

“Dear Me,

You probably feel like your life is headed toward a dead end. You feel like everything will always be as it is right now. You feel like you’ll never move out on your own or go on a date, much less ever get married. You feel like you’ll always be behind, trying to catch up.

Remember, God can take anything in your life and turn it to good. What seems impossible to you right now isn’t even remotely difficult for God. One day, you will look back and see God was preparing you for a future only He could see. Remember that you kept putting one foot in front of the other, trusting that God knew what He was doing when you didn’t.

God is good. His promises are always true, in sunshine and rain, joy and pain, good and bad, in daytime and nighttime, as long as forever lasts.

Don’t let your past define you. Don’t let failure define you. Don’t let other people (or even you) define you. Let the Abba Father who calls you His Beloved be the one who defines you both now and forevermore.

A slightly wiser version of you”

 

A prayer for My Future Wife in 2014

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Lord,

You know how tired I am from waiting. You know how weak my faith is and how unstable my belief can be.

I’m still holding onto that mustard seed-sized faith, clutching it with everything I’ve got, with all my heart and strength and soul and mind. I want to rest tonight not in Your promises or provisions, but in Your person, Your character, in You.

Lord, I’m still believing in the miracle that some woman will fall in love with me and want to spend the rest of her life with me. It seems impossible sometimes, but then I remember the words of a pastor: what seems impossible to me isn’t even remotely difficult for you.

I’m praying you will be with her tonight and envelop her with your peace and surround her with your everlasting arms. May her joy be full as she rests in you, completely comfortable in who You’ve made her to be and in Whose she is– Yours.

May she cast aside every hindrance, every distraction, every clamoring voice, and run only after You, her true heart’s desire. May she keep a single-minded focus on Your Son, Jesus, and not fall into the lies and deceptions that tell her she is not enough.

May you bring her into my life, but not until the time that both she and I are ready– and not a moment sooner. Help her faith not to falter and her trust to remain stedfast and secure in You only.

Help me to be the man who can win her heart and guard it until the day you ask for it back. Help me to become the man who will help her to unveil all the beauty and wisdom and lovingkindness you have placed in her so she will become all that you created her to be.

As always, I believe. Help my unbelief. And hers, too.

Amen.

Isn’t It Ironic? Don’t You Think?

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ironic1

Ahh, the irony of it all. And as you well know, the opposite of irony is wrinkly. That was a freebie, totally unrelated to what will follow.

I have to confess something. Again.

I’m really good at patience until I run into someone who’s not. Let’s just say I am very impatient with impatient people. You know the kind. Those who are ALWAYS in a hurry and will cut in front of you to save those precious few seconds.

I’m a big believer in grace and showing it to others. Except for when it comes to legalistic and judgmental people. Like those Westboro Baptist people. I’d really like to give them a piece of my mind, which is probably not a good idea since I need to keep what mind I have left.

I am all for inclusion and welcoming everybody. Except for that guy who is obviously not as socially adept as I am. Or that girl who refuses to join in the conversation.

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Do you get where I’m going?

All this proves that I am, despite all my own protests to the contrary, all the things I detest in those other people. I am impatient, judgmental, exclusivist, and not a loving person. At least not in a way that will make people around me take notice.

Anybody can love someone who loves them back. It’s easy to be kind to a kind person.

But a true test of patience is dealing with those impatient folks. A true test of grace is how you answer those who are always out condemning this group or that person. The litmus test of Christ’s love is intentionally showing love to those who aren’t as easy to talk to or get along with.

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Now isn’t that ironic? Don’t you think?

We– meaning, I– would like to think that this love business is just something we can get down if we try harder, work at it more, eat our greenies, and grit our teeth.

The truth is it’s impossible to truly love someone the way we’re supposed to. Like the way Jesus loves us.

Only Jesus can love like that. Only Jesus’ love for us in us flowing through us can reach other people that we would (or could) never love on our own.

Like the Robert Randolph song says, “I need more love every day of my life.”

I need more of that love.

Maybe the more I make an effort to go to that unsocial person, that impatient driver, that judgmental guy with an open mind and an open heart, the more that love flows out of me and the more I am able to receive.

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May we be less like lakes where love stagnates and more like rivers where love always flows in and out.

Making The Impossible Possible

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impossible2

If you want to see a positive, life-affirming movie, watch The Impossible. It’s set during the 2004 tsunami that hit the coastal areas of several Asian countries and centers around a family trying desperately to find each other.

It seems like an impossible task. There’s so much devastation and chaos that the odds of finding anyone familiar are extremely high. But their love for each other proves more resilient than any obstacle that stands in their way and in the end, they find each other. Sorry if I just spoiled the ending for you.

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Maybe you’re facing an impossible situation right now.

Maybe it’s a friendship that’s fractured beyond repair.

Maybe it’s a marriage that’s fraying at the seams and it seems like it will inevitably fall apart.

Maybe it’s a son or daughter who has gone prodigal and the chance of their returning seems less likely with each passing year.

Maybe it’s a dream that you’ve all but given up on, believing that you missed your best chance long ago and now any hope of seeing that dream come true is fading.

I’ve come to believe that with God, truly nothing is impossible. There’s no such thing as too late. There’s no such thing as past hope. There’s nothing broken that can’t be fixed, nothing so shattered it can’t be put back together again.

In fact, the more impossible the situation, the better God is at coming through. He even makes it look easy.

After all, if he can take a life that was dead and decayed and make it alive again, is anything else really so hard?

If he can take death, hell, sin, and the grave and defeat them on their own terms at the cross and the empty tomb, is there anything left that can stand against him?

I love these words of the Apostle Paul’s: ”

So, what do you think? With God on our side like this, how can we lose? If God didn’t hesitate to put everything on the line for us, embracing our condition and exposing himself to the worst by sending his own Son, is there anything else he wouldn’t gladly and freely do for us? And who would dare tangle with God by messing with one of God’s chosen? Who would dare even to point a finger? The One who died for us—who was raised to life for us!—is in the presence of God at this very moment sticking up for us. Do you think anyone is going to be able to drive a wedge between us and Christ’s love for us? There is no way! Not trouble, not hard times, not hatred, not hunger, not homelessness, not bullying threats, not backstabbing, not even the worst sins listed in Scripture:

They kill us in cold blood because they hate you.
We’re sitting ducks; they pick us off one by one.

None of this fazes us because Jesus loves us. I’m absolutely convinced that nothing—nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable or unthinkable—absolutelynothing can get between us and God’s love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us (Romans 8:31-39).

 

What You Can’t Do (And What You Can)

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I have gathered a collection of some observations that I’d like to share with you. Most of them fall into the “duh” category, but sometimes we need those basic reminders. Okay, I do.

1) You can’t catch up on a bad night of sleep in one night. It’s not like if you only got 2 hours of sleep that you can sleep 14 hours the next night and be back to your average of 8. First of all, I’d be a zombie after 14 hours of sleep. Second, I’d still be tired. Just a very tired zombie.

2) You can’t repeat the past (regardless of what Jay Gatsby says). The only way to do that would be for you to go back to who you were then, which is impossible. Also, everyone else in that scene would have to revert back to who they were then, too. You see the problem? Besides, what lies ahead, what God has for you, is way better than anything in your past.

3) You can’t make people be friends with you if they don’t want to be. You can be a friend for your part, regardless of whether that friendship is returned or not.

4) You can’t succeed if you don’t try. You aren’t guaranteed success if you try, but you are 100% destined to fail if you fail to try. Oooh, that should be cross-stitched and hung on somebody’s wall. That was good.

5) You CAN trust God at all times at any point in your life to get you through anything. It doesn’t matter if you’ve been a choirboy or a saint. The key is asking for help. The key is acknowledging your need and God’s vast supply.

6) You CAN trust God’s perfect timing. It may not be according to your timetable, but it will absolutely come when you need it most. And most likely when you’re least expecting it or looking for it.

7) You can’t be whatever you want to be and you can’t do anything you put your mind to (like me wanting to dunk on a 10-foot basketball goal). But you CAN be exactly what God created you to be and you CAN fulfill the purposes he created you for.

More reminders to come later.

Fighting From Victory

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chariots of fire

I was reminded once again in a Bible study on Wednesday that we fight not for victory, but from victory. That may sound like semantics to some, but to me it is huge. Fighting for victory means it’s all up to me and that it will be an uphill all the way kind of battle with the ending very much in doubt. Fighting from victory means:

1) The battle has already been won. There is no  doubt Who the Victor is and which is the winning side. The only real question is: are you on it?

2) The enemy may scare us and threaten us, but he can never really touch us (1 John 5:18). As long as we are wearing the armor of God and standing firm in His finished work, we are protected from the enemy.

3) You don’t have to live defeated anymore. You can start living out of victory now. You are an overcomer now. Even in the midst of struggle and trial, you can know for sure the promises are true and they are for you!

4) You want to make it very clear which side you’re on. Don’t play both sides and be a follower of Jesus on Sundays and a player the rest of the week. The time has come to be hot or cold, not lukewarm. Those days are over.

5) You never give up on anyone else who is seeking after Jesus, because Jesus never gave up fighting for us until He secured our destiny. You never despair of anyone because if Jesus defeated death and hell, nothing else will ever be impossible for Him to overcome.

6) You don’t let the opinions and actions and attitudes of others dictate how you live. You live now for an audience of One, the One who won your heart forever!

7) You can finally cease striving and be still and rest in the love of Jesus, because that love is more powerful than any hate or power that ever came up against it or will ever face it. Period.

So live out of that victory and claim it every second of every day. Don’t let failure rob you of this truth. Victory is yours and mine– not later at some indistinct point in time, but NOW!

Amen and amen.