Eagles Wings!

            Wait.  We’re not very good at waiting.  We seem to do a lot of it.  We wait in traffic during our daily commute.  We wait in grocery lines, for our computer to get on-line, in bank lines, and in buffet lines.  We spend countless hours waiting, and still we fuss and fume and our blood pressure rises.  Yet wait is exactly what God tells us to do.

“Yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings as eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary.”  Isaiah 40:31

            Waiting involves sitting still.  It involves inactivity.  At its best, it’s restful.  Waiting on the Lord means staying where we are until He makes His action or His word clear.  Waiting on the Lord means bypassing ethical shortcuts to success and allowing God to provide.  It means doing things His way, in His timing.  Like Jacob, we want to manipulate circumstances to our benefit and allow the ends to justify the means.  Waiting on God necessitates knowing that, to Him, the means and methods we use are just as important, maybe more important than the ends.  Waiting on God implies listening.  Only when we wait, when we get quiet and cease our striving, can we open our spiritual ears to hear what God is saying. 

            It is interesting that the progression in this verse has us slowing down.  When we gain new strength we begin by soaring like eagles.  Often new Believers are filled with a zeal and spiritual energy that older Christians covet.  As we mature we slow down to a more sustainable, consistent run.  As we wait on Him and His direction we gain new strength by doing those tasks He has called us to rather than trying to do every good thing in our own strength.  Older Christians have often slowed to a walk.  As our bodies age we come to understand that who we are is more important to God than what we do.

            Waiting on the Lord takes enormous faith.  We must believe that He is personal enough to see us waiting, and to give us direction when His timing is right.  It’s much easier to rush off, doing whatever seems right in our own eyes, following our own understanding than to take the risk of never hearing God’s clear voice.  It can seem like too much of a gamble, too much to risk our faith on.

            We can trust God.  We can wait and know that our strength will be renewed.

 He who promised is faithful.

Fear God

The writer of Ecclesiastes begins his book by questioning the very point of life.  There is nothing new to discover, and all of life seems vain and temporary. He is very jaded. Twelve chapters later he tells us his conclusion; the only thing that lasts or has any real meaning is the fear or reverence of God and obedience to Him.  We would do well to listen.

“The conclusion, when all has been

heard, is; fear God, and

keep His commandments, because this applies to every person.”  Ecclesiastes 12:13

The fear of God is a rare commodity in our society.  Most people rarely think of God at all.  His name is used casually, as an expression of surprise or shock, or profanely, as an expression of anger or irritation.  Even among Christians, there is little reverence for the name of God.  One Christian leader routinely says “God bless America” to keep himself from swearing.  He doesn’t see this as profanity. 

I wonder if God would agree.  The Old Testament Jews certainly wouldn’t.  They held the name of God to be so sacred they would neither say it nor write it down.  Proverbs 9:10 reminds us that the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom.  God Himself spends four chapters reminding Job of his position in comparison to God.  Job remembered to fear God! 

We do not fear God because we’ve forgotten or chosen to ignore the characteristics of God that are holy and righteous.  We choose to dwell on the characteristics of God’s nature that are love, that provide for us and give us peace.  We like to remember that God loved us so much that He died for us, but choose to forget that His death was necessary because in His very nature He cannot overlook or wink at sin. 

God has not changed.  He no more ignores sin now than when He destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah because of their wickedness or exiled Israel because of their unfaithfulness.  Ananias and Sapphira died because they lied to the Holy Spirit, and Herod was struck and eaten by worms for not giving God the glory that he was receiving. 

We have a wonderful intimacy with God because of the work of Christ on the cross.  Let’s not cheapen it by taking sin lightly, and forgetting God’s opinion of our sin.  Remember to fear and obey God, because He is God.

Father God, forgive us for taking You lightly.  Forgive our casualness with sin.  Help us to live with a right regard of You.  Help us to be holy, as You are holy.

Face Forward!

            The plow of Biblical days was very simple, consisting one handle and the share.  One hand guided the plow while the other held a long goad to prod on the oxen that pulled it.  The plow was very light, and it was necessary for the plowman to lean forward with all his weight on the handle to keep the share in the ground.  If the plowman looked back behind him, any furrow he managed to make would be crooked, and in fact it would be nearly impossible to make a furrow at all.

But Jesus said to him, “No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”  Luke 9:62

            Our Christian walk is much the same.  To accomplish anything that the Lord calls us to do, we must look ahead and give it our all.  We need to see where we are going, and keep our eyes on the task at hand.  We need to look ahead and remember what we are called to and our eventual destination.

            We must not allow ourselves to be distracted by our past, or look longingly for what might have been.  When we look back we are rendered ineffective.  Like Lot’s wife, we become paralyzed and unable to continue. 

            Only by facing forward, by applying our hand firmly to the plow, and remembering why and for Whom we work will we accomplish anything that brings Him glory.  Only by keeping our eyes on the face of Jesus can we walk on water, achieve the miraculous, and become a testimony to others.

            Lord Jesus, keep my hand on the plow and my eyes on Your face.  Use me as You will, and help me to remember all You’ve saved me to instead of dwelling on what’s behind. 

Goodbye, for now...

One of my favorite people in this world lost her battle with cancer on Monday. She fought for a long time, and I am so grateful that she is pain-free and resting in the joy of Jesus today.

And yet my heart is broken.

My spirit is so offended by cancer, and by death. I have to believe that God is offended too. We were not created for death. We were created for life. Sickness and death are results of the sin that is part of our nature, and are the dominion of Satan. I can think of few things as evil as the cancer that took my friend. This evil is the reason Jesus came to earth, became one of us, and healed so many illnesses. This evil is the reason Jesus set aside his power and conquered death by participating in it.

Death is swallowed up in victory. O Death, where is your victory: O death, where is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law, but thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

I Corinthians 15:55-57

Thanks to Jesus, death is temporary. Thanks to Jesus, we have hope. Because of the willingness of Jesus to die, I will live, and I will spend eternity with my friend.

God so loved the world that whoever believes in him will not die, but have everlasting life. John 3:16

I read these words, the words I, and probably you, memorized as a small child, and I am comforted. I am so grateful to know that I will see my friend again, will feel the warmth of her smile and enjoy the feel of her arms around me. She and I together will know true fellowship with Jesus, and with others who have gone before us and are one with us in faith.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort; who comforts us in all our affliction so that we may be able to comfort those who are in affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 2 Cor. 1:3-4

Today, while my heart is hurting, I am choosing to allow God to comfort me. He has provided all I need for life, and I am choosing to rest in him, and I hope I can pass that comfort on to others who are hurting as well. My friend was well loved. She touched the lives of hundreds of the kids she taught, the people she taught with, her family and those of us who were privileged to call her friend. She was a gift to us. Now it's time for us to be the same for each other.

The Truth About Patrick

Today is the day we celebrate all things Irish. We wear Green to avoid getting pinched. People all over the world drink a pint of Guinness and toast leprechauns. We search for four-leaf clover to signify good luck. We march in parades and on this day, everyone is Irish.

St. Patrick’s Day has its roots as a religious holiday. It was a solemn feast day in Ireland, and drinking alcohol on this day was prohibited until the 1970’s. It celebrated the life of  Patrick, the man credited with bringing Christianity to Ireland, to driving out the snakes and to bringing the symbol of the shamrock to the people.

Patrick first came to Ireland as a slave, a captive of Irish pirates kidnapped from his home in Wales. He came from a religious family, but had no faith of his own. During his captivity God worked on his heart and he discovered a way to have peace. After six years of captivity, he had a vision that there was a ship waiting in a harbor to take him home. He ran away from his master, found the ship and returned to Britain. He studied and became a Catholic priest. He had another vision, this time of the people of Ireland asking him to return and lead them to salvation.

The truth is that there never were snakes in Ireland. The pagan druids frequently had large snake tattoos on their arms, so driving out the snakes was a picture of replacing pagan religions with Christianity. There was already a Christian presence in Ireland before  Patrick, and the shamrock was the visual that  Patrick used to explain the concept of the trinity to the people.

The real miracle of  Patrick was that he found a love and compassion for the people who were his captors, the people who enslaved him for six years. He lived God’s love to the people, and we celebrate the day of his death because of the life of sacrifice that he lived.

“You have heard it said, ‘you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you.”

Matthew 5:43-44

However you celebrate, or don’t celebrate, St. Patrick’s Day, remember why he is celebrated. He loved. He loved his enemies, and he dedicated his life to bringing them the good news of salvation. Let your Irish stew, your corned beef and cabbage and your “Kiss Me I’m Irish” sweatshirts remind you of Patrick, and remind you to live the love of Jesus to those around you. We were once the enemies of God, and he chose to love us. How can we do less?

God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us… For is while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. Romans 5:8, 10

Pray like this...

“Pray then, in this way:  Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name.”  Matt. 6:9

            The Lord’s Prayer is one of the best-known passages in the Bible.  Children memorize it in Awana Clubs and confirmation classes.  Churches the world over recite it every week.  Many of us have reduced it to a vain repetition, words often spoken but rarely thought about or intentionally prayed.  Tertullian, a church father, said “How gracefully has the Divine Wisdom arranged the order of the prayer; so that after the ‘Name’ of God, the ‘Will’ of God, and the ‘Kingdom’ of God – it should give earthly necessities also room for a petition!”

            Jesus instructs us how to pray.  We are first to focus on Who we are talking to.  “Our Father, who art in Heaven.”  Prayer begins with a humble faith in God, that He is, and that we have a loving relationship with Him.  We cannot come to God any other way, for without faith it is impossible to please Him (Heb. 11:6).  We must come to Him as trusting children come to their father.

            Next we are told to make God’s name holy.  “Hallowed be Thy name” puts the emphasis on God and His nature.  To ask that His name be holy is not to imply that it is not holy already, but instead to ask that it would be held as holy by men, specifically by me.  To pray “Hallowed be Thy name” is to pray that God be given the unique reverence that His holiness demands.  It is to pray that my life would honor His holiness in every action, in every word, and that I would be ever conscious of His nature.

            Jesus goes on in this model prayer to teach us to align ourselves with God.  Before we ask for earthy needs, we are taught to ask that His kingdom would be established, that His will would be done.  Only then do we look to our physical needs, and then only briefly.  We are led on to pray for each other, for forgiveness, and then for deliverance from spiritual battles.  The prayer ends with amen, not as a statement that says “that’s it.  That’s all I have to say or ask for”, but instead “May it be so in accordance with Your will.”  Our focus is to remain on the Father.

            Prayer is not a shopping list.  Prayer as Jesus taught is to bring us in line with the will and purpose of God.  It is not of way of presenting what we are going to do for God and asking Him to bless it, but instead is a means of bringing us, actions and attitudes, into conformity with the mind and heart of God.

            It has been said that prayer changes things.  Mostly, prayer changes me.

Is your cup clean?

“But the Lord said to him, ‘Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and of the platter; but inside of you, you are full of robbery and wickedness.  You foolish ones, did not He who made the outside make the inside also?’”  Luke 11:39-40

            The Pharisees were a brotherhood of Jewish men who gathered together to study and live the Law of God as closely as possible.  They emerged as a group as far back as the Babylonian captivity, and it is estimated that there were 6000 of them in Israel at the time of Jesus.  The picture we have from the gospels is mostly negative, but historically they contributed many positive things to the Jewish nation.

            When the nation of Israel was exiled all sacrifices stopped.  The people were captive in a foreign land and could easily have been assimilated into a pagan culture.  The Pharisees were the group that studied the law and kept it a part of Jewish thought.  They cultivated a religious consciousness and nationalism that kept the people separate, and after the people were allowed to return to Israel they redeveloped and reorganized religious life.  They put great emphasis on the unity and holiness of God, they believed in and taught the resurrection, and they lived moral lives as an example to the people around them.  Problems developed over time.

            When God gave the law it was an act of supreme grace.  People were in darkness, not knowing what God required for a relationship with Him.  The law revealed God’s standard.  The Pharisees took God’s law, His guide for a relationship and changed it from an act of grace into a burden.  They taught a set of rules.  If you failed to keep the rules, God would punish.  If you kept the rules, God would have to accept you because you were righteous enough.

            They missed the point on a couple of counts.  No one was righteous enough to keep the whole law and live up to God’s standards, including the Pharisees.  They placed so much emphasis on outward action that they forgot about the inner attitudes and heart of man that desired a relationship with God.  They substituted their own pathetic try at righteousness for God’s grace, based on faith.  No wonder Jesus called them white washed tombs.

            Our churches today are amply supplied with modern Pharisees.  We need their better qualities.  We need people who remind us that God is holy, never tolerant of sin.  We need people who remind us to keep ourselves from blending in with the pagan culture around us.  But we must be ever vigilant to wash the inside of the cup as well as the outside.  We need to be people of character, who are good and not just look good, in whom God is affecting change.  We need to remember that the only way we can be righteous is by accepting the covering of God’s grace.  We need to remember that “God sees not as a man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart.”

            The Pharisees, because of their blind legalism, rejected the Messiah and so became irrelevant to the society around them as well as eternally lost.  May we never lose sight of the grace of Jesus and become irrelevant in our society.  May we instead be agents for morality and a beacon pointing the way to salvation. We can speak grace and mercy into every relationship, loving and drawing the people God puts in our lives into relationship with him.

            The Pharisees were so focused on looking good that they used righteousness to drive a wedge between people and God, between themselves and others. They forgot that God looks on the heart, and calls us to reconciliation with each other and with him. God wants to be with us. He wants a relationship with us, and with the people we come in contact with. The outside of the cup needs to be clean; the inside of the cup has to come first.

Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and he has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were entreating through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 2 Cor. 5:18-20

             

In Remembrance

Did you get your free pancakes on Tuesday? Fat Tuesday, or Mardi Gras, is celebrated throughout the world, and is the last hurrah before Lent. In some places it is marked with great debauchery, bright garish colors, the collecting of beaded necklaces, parades and the crowning of a king.

I grew up on the West Coast, and Mardi Gras was a southern tradition. Even when Seattle began celebrating Fat Tuesday, it was more a way to increase revenue and tourism than a religious celebration. Mardi Gras marks the onset of Lent. Here again, I am a protestant, and Lent isn’t something I have much experience with.

Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, and is a time of sacrifice and preparation for the celebration of  Holy Week. Traditionally it lasts for forty days, representing the time Jesus spent in the desert, fasting and ending with his temptation by Satan. This marked the beginning of his ministry. People celebrating Lent typically give up a vice, something like coffee or chocolate or meat. Often it is just a tradition. When done right it is a solemn time, a time of repentance from sin in preparation of the celebration of the sacrifice Jesus made for humanity. It ends with Maundy Thursday, remembering the last supper Jesus celebrated with his disciples in the upper room before his arrest, Good Friday, the death of Jesus on the cross, and Easter, the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus, and the defeat of death.

Keeping Lent isn’t commanded in the Bible. It’s a celebration that the church instituted to remember. I have never celebrated Lent, but I love the idea of preparing and remembering. Jesus tells us to celebrate communion in remembrance of Him. Often times we go through the motions of church, enjoying fellowship with each other and singing choruses together, but rarely remembering why we gather, and at what cost. We go from Palm Sunday to Easter, barely acknowledging Good Friday.

This cup is the new covenant in my blood,

which is poured out for you. Luke 22:20

Jesus told his disciples to go to a certain field where there would be a donkey and her foal. They were to tell the owner than their master had need of it. He rode it into Jerusalem, a king who came in peace. The people called for his coronation, laying their coats on the road before him and waving palm branches. A short time later, these same people called for his death. Jesus had an intimate and meaning filled dinner in the upper room with his disciples. He sent Judas off to do what he would, and took the rest of the disciples to the garden to pray. Well, he prayed; they slept. Judas sold Jesus, and betrayed him to the soldiers with the kiss of a friend. I wonder what hurt more, the lack of support from the sleeping disciples or the kiss of betrayal?

Jesus is arrested, he is shuttled between rulers for trials, and he is stripped and flogged and humiliated before the people. He is made to carry his own cross until his strength is completely gone and he can carry it no farther. He is hung on that cross, and abandoned by both is friends and his Father. He, who knew no sin, carried the shame and guilt and filth of us all. He who created life experienced the most horrible death. For me.

This is my body given for you;

Do this in remembrance of me. Luke 22:19

This is the point of Lent. Lent helps us remember fully so we can celebrate fully. We dip our toe into the pain that Jesus suffered so that we can be immersed in the joy of Easter. Jesus suffered and died, and then he conquered death by rising.

Where, O death, is your victory?

Where, O death, is your sting?

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ! I Cor. 15:55-56

We sometimes feel like we live in a permanent Good Friday. We live the same day of despair and pain and death over and over and over again. Today may be Friday, but Sunday is coming! Because of what Jesus suffered, we know we are conquerors. Because of the life and death and life of Jesus, this day, this life is not all there is. Easter lies just ahead!

Whether you celebrate Lent or not, take time to remember. Take time experience the pain that Jesus suffered in our place so that you can enter fully into the joy that is our reality.

I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this; love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends… John 15:11-14

Count Your Blessings

“In everything give thanks, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”  I Thessalonians 5:18

            The announcements had been made, the offering taken, and now it was time for special music.  There was a stirring from the back of the church, and heads turned to see what was taking so long.  An old man, legs twisted and gnarled beneath him, labored on crutches up the aisle.  His face was as twisted as his legs as he focused his complete attention on not falling up the two steps to the stage.  The expressions on the faces of the congregation were varied.  Some wore knowing smiles, others bore looks of incredulity.  Some just sighed.

The man settled in behind the podium and without accompaniment began to sing.  His face was transformed into a look that bespoke intimacy with God.  His voice, sweet and plain, lifted each one listening from distraction to the throne of God.

  “Are you ever burdened with a load of care?

 Does the cross seem heavy you are called to bear? 

Count your blessings, name them one by one. 

Count your blessings, see what God has done.” 

This man had learned the secret of gratitude.  By looking beyond our circumstances and into the heart of the Giver, we are transformed.

            Often when times are hard we are reminded to count our blessings.  “Got not shoes?  Be thankful you can walk!”  Like Pollyanna, we play the glad game.  We are told to always give thanks, and certainly when times are hard it can be encouraging to remember all that God has done for us. 

But what about when times are good?

            So many of us go through life blindly, ignoring the hand of God all around us.  We grumble about our boss, forgetting to be grateful for the job that was at one time an answer to prayer.  Our kids are messy and inconsiderate, yet we forget how blessed we are to have them as a part of our lives.  It’s raining, again, but how grateful I am for the water that causes my food to grow.

            Complaining becomes a habit.  Break it!  Put on an attitude of gratitude like your favorite jeans; often and whenever possible.  No matter your circumstances you have much to be grateful for.  God has provided life, abundant, free and eternal.  Like the old man who sang at church, draw near to God and say thank you.  You will be changed, and God will smile.