world

A Timely Word from a Different Translation

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“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—absolutely nothing can get between us and God’s love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us” (Romans 8:31-39, The Message).

I love The Message translation, even if it does get a bit loose with the renderings sometimes. But man oh man, when it gets it right, it really gets it right. Like this famous passage from Romans 8.

I love that absolutely nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ. Nothing can deter what plans God in Christ has planned for us and the work He has started in us. Everything right now that seems hopeless suddenly has a ray of hope shining through. What once looked like a dead end now has a way out.

I’m thankful every day that my salvation is not about the strength of my faith and my strong grip on God but on the Source of my faith and God’s strong grip on me. I don’t believe you can lose your salvation because if you could, I would have already lost mine a long time ago. But Jesus won’t lose one of those God has given to Him. Not one.

All that brings me anxiety and fear is temporary. What lasts is the love of God. Anything I’m afraid of has already been overcome by the blood of the Lamb on the cross. Whatever keeps me awake at night some nights will seem like nothing in the light of the eternal glory that’s coming.

I pray more and more, “Lord Jesus, come soon.” This world I’m living has lost its mind. Come make it right and keep on making me right while You’re at it. I know I’m not quite finished yet but I’m thankful that one day You will finish what You started in me. All Your promises are truly Yes and Amen. Amen and amen.

Whatever Is Necessary

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“The greatest blessing God can give us is to put us in a position where we must trust him. This is our only path to joy. He will do whatever is necessary to disrupt our self-sufficiency and illusion of control” (Jim Dennison).

I find that both terrifying and comforting at the same time.

I’m terrified of “whatever is necessary” and what it might mean to my current level of comfort and familiarity. I pretty much like things to stay the same and not get too crazy. I have my own plans for how my life should go, and I sometimes want God to rubber stamp those plans, and anything else is a bit scary to think about.

But I’m also comforted. When I remember the goodness of God, I can trust that He knows what He’s doing. When I think back on all the times in the past where He’s safely led me through trials, I can see with my eyes of faith God providing for me in the future.

Self-sufficiency and control aren’t just illusions. They’re the default setting of our sin natures. We are born fighting to assert our own will over and against anyone else’s. We learn early how to make a clenched fist and cry if we don’t get our own way.

But learning to let go is harder. Learning to step out from the comfort of solid ground onto thin air is frightening. But the rewards to stepping out in faith into an unknown country as Abraham did so long ago is more than worth the cost. Learning to relinquish my will and to die to self is the most anti-American dream thing I can do but also the most freeing in terms of the kingdom of God.

God, I want what you want, period. At any cost. If it makes me more like You, it’s worth it. Amen.

Prayer for a Faith that Never Fails

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“Perhaps it is written in the tablets of your eternal purpose that we shall soon end this mortal life and die. It is well if this is so, for then we shall see your face that much sooner and drink gallons of eternal bliss. But if you have appointed for us grey hairs and a long and weary time; only grant us grace that, by infirmity, our faith may never fail us; but when the windows are darkened, may we still look out to see the hope that is to be revealed; and when the grasshopper becomes a burden, still let our strength be as our days, even to the last day.
Amen” (Charles Spurgeon).

The Apostle Paul said that to live is Christ and to die is gain. Both are good. To die is to immediately be in the presence of Jesus and to be free from sin, death, and every form of suffering. But to live is to have one more day here because God still has a purpose for you and a meaning for your life.

To die for the faith is good and noble, but to continually die to self in a million small ways while still living in this world is way more difficult. To hold on to faith in a world that celebrates everything that is contrary to what we believe is hard. It’s like constantly swimming upstream when it would be so much easier to give up and go with the flow, as so many have.

But to hold on and keep believing is to cling to the promise that one day our faith will be made sight. One day we will see all the worship songs we have ever sung come alive in full 3-D 4K Technicolor glory. Whatever heaven is, it will make whatever hardships and loss we experience here seem light and momentary compared to the joy that awaits.

Whether God calls you home or wakes you up for another day, it’s worth celebrating. Either way, you are held and loved. Nothing has the power to remove you from God’s love or harm you apart from God’s sovereign plan that still works all things together for good. No matter what, it’s gonna be a good day.

Go Into All the World

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“To ‘go’ simply means to live. Acts 1:8 is the description of how to go. He takes upon himself the work of sending us. Where we are placed is then a matter of indifference to us, because God sovereignly engineers our goings. That is how to keep going until we are gone from this life” (Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest).

I remember from my seminary days how Acts 1:8 could be translated as “Going into all the world” or “As you go into all the world.” The focus isn’t on the going but on the making of disciples.

I remember at my old church there was a sign as you exited the parking lot that read “You are now entering the mission field.” In other words, the mission field isn’t across the sea or across the country. It could be across the street or down the road. It’s wherever you live, work, and play. Where God has planted you is your mission field and you are a missionary, whether you raise your own support or make a living in a 9 to 5 desk job.

I wonder how that would change how you and I viewed our jobs or our errands if instead of seeing an office or a grocery store or a fitness center, we saw a mission field. I wonder how it would change how we saw the people around us that cross our paths on a daily basis.

I can confess that I am not very good at sharing my faith. When the opportunity comes, it seems like I always chicken out and talk about sports or the weather or anything but my faith. But that doesn’t change the fact that I am a missionary and the place where God has me is my mission field. And I can pray for those God has put around me.

May we pray for eyes to see what God is doing around us and then have the courage and boldness to join Him in what He’s doing. May we shift our focus from being employees and consumers and citizens to being missionaries who have been called and sent out by the same God who sends people to the Middle East and Africa and Europe. We have a mission field. We’re living in it.

To Those Who Grieve

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“Look upon each of us now. There are so many families that have been bereaved, that we pray for all. You take away a mother here; you take away a husband there; you remove a child there; you are smiting on the right hand and on the left. We would kiss the rod and the hand that wields it, but we pray that the richest consolation may be given, especially to those who suffer much.
We pray that richer consolation than usual may be given where it is most required. Sanctify their bereavements. May the whole of the flock feel that when the Shepherd is taking away one after another, it is time for us to be ready for his coming.
Amen” (Charles Spurgeon).

Right now, I’m thinking about Erika Kirk, the widow of recently assassinated Charlie Kirk, who spoke the words “I forgive him” about the person who pulled the trigger and prematurely ended Charlie’s life. That’s not a natural response to loss. That can only happen under the power of the Holy Spirit and in someone whose heart is ruled by the peace of Christ.

There’s something so unnatural about death. It wasn’t in the original design, but sin entered the world and brought death and decay with it. So now we live in a world where life is temporary and fleeting. But we have the hope and promise of the resurrection.

Because Jesus was dead and is alive forevermore, so can we. We can face death with the knowledge that it is a defeated foe and won’t have the final say. We can grieve the ones we love with hope because we know that they currently more alive than ever but have merely changed their address (as the late Billy Graham once said).

I love the illustration about a man told a famous doctor that he was afraid of dying. The doctor responded by pointing to the office door where they both could hear a scratching sound and a whining voice behind it. Once the doctor opened the door, his dog came joyfully rushing in to embrace his master. The doctor said that the dog knew nothing about the office before he entered — only that his master was there.

And so it is with heaven. We know snippets. We don’t know a lot of details. We may not know much about what happens when we die. We just know that our Master is there. And that is enough to give us joy in the midst of our fear. We can rest in the assurance that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. What we know see dimly through eyes of mustard seed faith we will see clearly by sight one day. And Jesus will be there. That’s enough.

In the Furnace

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“One day we took the children to see a goldsmith refine gold after the ancient manner of the East. He was sitting beside his little charcoal fire. (‘He shall sit as a refiner’; the gold- or silversmith never leaves his crucible once it is on the fire.) In the red glow lay a common curved roof tile; another tile covered it like a lid. This was the crucible. In it was the medicine made of salt, tamarind fruit and burnt brick dust, and imbedded in it was the gold. The medicine does its appointed work on the gold, ‘then the fire eats it,’ and the goldsmith lifts the gold out with a pair of tongs, lets it cool, rubs it between his fingers, and if not satisfied puts it back again in fresh medicine. This time he blows the fire hotter than it was before, and each time he puts the gold into the crucible, the heat of the fire is increased; ‘it could not bear it so hot at first, but it can bear it now; what would have destroyed it then helps it now.’ ‘How do you know when the gold is purified?’ we asked him, and he answered, ‘When I can see my face in it [the liquid gold in the crucible] then it is pure’ (Amy Carmichael, Gold Cord).

Some of you are in the furnace right now. It might be the furnace of affliction, suffering, and pain. It might be the furnace of rejection and loneliness. Or it might be the furnace of unfulfilled hopes and dreams. Whatever it is, you can probably think of a million places you’d rather be than in that furnace.

But remember in the furnace is where you’re purified and sanctified. As much as I want it to be true, holiness doesn’t come from happiness. All those glorious spiritual mountaintop experiences aren’t what make you more like Jesus. It’s trudging through the valley where you learn and grow and become who God made you to be.

In one of my favorite books, Hinds’ Feet on High Places, the main character Much Afraid is sent out on a quest by the Shepherd and given two companions to help her on her way. Their names are Pain and Suffering. At first, she recoils and almost rejects them, but after some thought and reflections on the goodness of her Shepherd, she accepts their guidance. In the end, they are as much transformed as she is.

God takes what the world means to destroy us to strengthen us. He takes what was meant to set us back to move us forward. He takes what the enemy meant for evil, and He turns it for good (as the worship song goes). He’s working all things together for your and my good (even the crappy sucky stuff we’d rather move past and not have to deal with).

The end goal is for Jesus to see His likeness in us. For God to see His reflection in us and for the world to see God’s reflection in us as well. Then we know that we are truly being purified.

A Love that Conquers the World

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“The love for equals is a human thing–of friend for friend, brother for brother. It is to love what is loving and lovely. The world smiles.

The love for the less fortunate is a beautiful thing–the love for those who suffer, for those who are poor, the sick, the failures, the unlovely. This is compassion, and it touches the heart of the world.

The love for the more fortunate is a rare thing–to love those who succeed where we fail, to rejoice without envy with those who rejoice, the love of the poor for the rich, of the black man for the white man. The world is always bewildered by its saints.

And then there is the love for the enemy–love for the one who does not love you but mocks, threatens, and inflicts pain. The tortured’s love for the torturer. This is God’s love. It conquers the world” (Frederick Buechner, The Magnificent Defeat).

I think I know what kind of love I want. It’s the same kind of love that I need every single day. It’s the kind of love that infuriates the world, but also the kind of love that can save the world. Give me that kind of love.

God in Unexpected Places

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Earlier today, I wanted some soothing background music, so I turned on a DirecTV channel called Soundscapes that plays vaguely new-agey music. Mostly, it’s instrumental, so I can read or do other things without being distracted.

Then they started playing a song called “If A Rose Could Speak, ” and lo and behold, a woman starts singing. I was definitely not expecting that. But it was mostly generic lyrics about love, so I didn’t really pay much attention.

Then the song went into a kind of counter-melody. I instantly recognized the tune, but I couldn’t place it. The more I heard, the more I knew that I knew it, but couldn’t remember where. Then the line hit me: “Lord of all, to thee we raise / This our hymn of grateful praise.”

It was the melody of the old hymn “For the Beauty of the Earth.”

I’m sure that it could also be the melody to another old song from ye olden days. Hymn writers were known to take familiar songs and add new lyrics to them so that people would recognize them and catch on faster.

But it was an odd moment for me in the middle of my day. It was also a gentle reminder that even with all the evil that seems to run rampant all over the world, the Earth still belongs to the Lord. Jesus is still in control. Even a broken and fallen creation can still glorify and bring praise to the Creator.

For those unfamiliar with the old hymn, here are the words in full:

“For the beauty of the earth, 
for the glory of the skies, 
for the love which from our birth 
over and around us lies. 
 
Christ, our Lord, to you we raise 
this, our hymn of grateful praise. 

For the wonder of each hour 
of the day and of the night, 
hill and vale and tree and flower, 
sun and moon and stars of light,

Christ, our Lord, to you we raise 
this, our hymn of grateful praise. 

For the joy of human love, 
brother, sister, parent, child, 
friends on earth, and friends above, 
for all gentle thoughts and mild,

Christ, our Lord, to you we raise 
this, our hymn of grateful praise. 

For yourself, best gift divine, 
to the world so freely given, 
agent of God’s grand design: 
peace on earth and joy in heaven.

Christ, our Lord, to you we raise 
this, our hymn of grateful praise” (Folliott Sandford Pierpoint).

John 3:16

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“For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16, NLT).

Anybody remember that guy with the rainbow colored afro who used to hold up the John 3:16 signs at sporting events? I do.

Some of you reading this may not be old enough to remember him, but you’re at least familiar with the verse. Perhaps too familiar. Maybe you’re like me and you’ve heard these words so many times that you’ve almost stopped listening to them.

I think I heard them in a fresh new way today at Room in the Inn when the guest speaker chose that as the theme of his message to the homeless men.

“For God . . .” Every great story begins with God. Every story of hope and redemption, every story where good overcomes evil, begins with God.

“For God loved . . .” If your God is known more for what He hates and what He is against rather than what He loves and what He is for, perhaps you’re serving a god instead of God. The defining verse about the God of the bible starts out with “For God so loved . . .”

“For God loved the world . . .” God doesn’t just love white Republicans. God doesn’t just love Americans. God doesn’t just love religious people. God doesn’t just love “successful” people with the perfect resumes and perfect lives.

“For God loved the world  so much that He gave . . .” True love always involves sacrifice. The epitome and the ultimate example of sacrificial love is God giving us Jesus both to live and to die for us.

“For God loved the world so much that He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone . . .” Salvation is for everyone. Not just a select few. Not just for some. Not for those who deserve it (because none of us do). It’s for anyone who asks for it. It’s for you and me.

“For God loved the world so much that He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes . . .” Sometimes, faith gets overcomplicated. Sometimes faith gets reduced to pithy bumper sticker slogans. Faith is simple yet profound. It costs nothing yet it is priceless. Faith means believing not just with your heart or your mind but with your whole life.

“For God loved the world so much that He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.”

That’s it. You don’t have to perish. You have the choice of eternal life. Not just a future pie in the sky by and by kind of life, but real and robust life to the full right here and now. God will always respect the decision you make, whether for Him or not.

The choice is yours. What will you do with it?

 

Held

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Tonight at Kairos, Mike Glenn spoke from John 10:10 about how while the thief came to steal and kill and destroy, Jesus came that we might have life to the fullest. It was another in a long line of great sermons from Uncle Mikey, but that’s not what I’m writing about.

My mind took a tangent during the sermon, as those with ADD can testify happens frequently, and here’s where my thoughts took me.

Sometimes, it’s all you can do to put one foot in front of the other. Even breathing in and out is a tremendous effort of the will. You feel like your life is about to completely fall apart at any minute and your kingdoms will come crashing down.

Know in those moments that it is Jesus holding you together and you are safe.

Sometimes, you feel great. It’s one of those days where the stars align and everything falls into place and all your traffic lights are green. You feel almost invincible, like anything and everything is possible.

Know that even then your world is secure only because it is still Jesus holding you and your world together.

The same Word that spoke the world into being holds it all together. The same Jesus that holds the world in place has your life in His hands. You’ve never been more safe than when it’s Him holding your universe in orbit, keeping you at every moment from spinning completely out of control.

For some of you, that’s a nice sentiment. For others, it may be a much-needed reminder in a stormy season of your life.

As for Mike’s sermon, the gist is that the world around you lies to you about who you are and what you need to be happy and have a good life. Jesus is the only one who delivers on His promise of the good life. What He offers is more than just a good life, but life abundant, where you live out of the overflow of love and mercy, where you are drowning in the love of God, where all that peace can’t help but flow out to those around you.

See? I paid attention. Mostly.