Today is the Day

Today is that day. But one day the door of mercy will close. To those who received and served Christ, He will say, “Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you” (Matt. 25:34). But those who don’t know Him will be turned away (v.46).

Please don't turn from Christ. Go through the open door to embrace the life that only He can give. Please.

When to Draw Close to God

Getting close to God while we are strong and healthy prepares us to lean on Him for support and hope when those “difficult days” in life come.

Read the whole thing. Be sure to read Deuteronomy 8:11-18, too.

No doubt, the most dangerous times spiritually are those when everything is going well, when we feel in control and on top of the world.

New Year's Thoughts: For Anyone Who Does Wrong (Including Me)

From today's edition of Our Daily Bread:

God is still calling to people: “Where are you?” Many run away, trying to hide from Him or drown out the sound of His voice. Yet we cannot hide from God; He knows exactly where we are. Rather than hide in fear, we can respond in this way: “God, be merciful to me a sinner!” (Luke 18:13).

Read the whole thing.

I have a song containing these lines:

What I did was wrong
And there isn't any way I can make it seem that it was right
Which is why I try avoiding detection in Your light
It's a foolish game that I try to play
Running from You, when You see me anyway
What I did was wrong (1)

Thank God that the One Who sees all our wrong is willing to pardon us from the death sentence our wrong warrants us and takes the sentence on His own shoulders through Christ, setting free all who repent in Christ's Name and believe in Him as their God and Savior.

(1) © Mark Daniels [pretty impressive, huh?...I mean the copyright symbol, not the words of the song.]

Sheep Need to Surrender to the Shepherd

Of Psalm 23, probably the most beloved of all the psalms: "The blessings and comfort of this psalm do not come to sheep that do not follow the Shepherd. As Jesus reminds us, 'My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me' (John 10:27)."

Read the whole thing.

Consider the Incarnation

"Consider the awe we should feel for the incarnation. Jesus, who enjoyed the majesty of heaven in partnership with the Father, set it all aside to be born in poverty, to face many dangers, and to be crucified for us." 

Read the whole thing.

Truly a "Happy Ending"

I love today's installment of Our Daily Bread. An excerpt:

Heaven is not an afterthought or an optional belief. It is the final justification of all creation. The Bible never belittles human tragedy and disappointment—is any book more painfully honest?—but it does add one key word: temporary. What we feel now, we will not always feel. The time for re-creation will come.

For people who feel trapped in pain or in a broken home, in economic misery or in fear—for all of us—heaven promises a timeless future of health and wholeness and pleasure and peace.

Read the whole thing, but before you do, be sure to read Revelation 21:1-7.

Yes, marketing's Christmas creeps in earlier every year...

...but remember the gift.

Don't let the baying merchandisers rob you of your "wonder and awe" at the very thought that God took on human flesh to set us free from sin and death.

Eternity with Christ...

...will be better than the best that we experience or can imagine in this life.

That's a comforting, empowering thought.

But when I was an atheist, I thought that the Christians' hope of resurrection life with God beyond the grave meant that they were anesthetized while living in this life--disengaged, heedless of the injustices faced by others, fatalistic.

That's exactly what Karl Marx, another atheist and writer of The Communist Manifesto, thought. He famously wrote, "Religion [by which he meant the Christian faith into which he had been baptized and which prevailed in the Europe of his day] is the opiate of the people."

He got it precisely wrong. There undoubtedly are Christians so focused on heaven that the idea of loving God and loving neighbor, the very things the crucified and risen Jesus set us free to do, is far from their minds and agendas. For Christians like these, Jesus is a private fix, a ticket to eternity.

But for those who seek to take Jesus and His preeminence over their whole lives, the certainty of eternity in God's perfect kingdom for all who believe in Christ, is the freedom to live, to love the unlovable, to speak up for the powerless, to pursue the promise of our lives on earth, to share the gifts of God granted to us with others.

God, forgive for failing to live more mindfully of eternity because in doing so, I fail to live fully here. In Jesus' Name. Amen

Good News

From today's excellent installment of Our Daily Bread:

[God responds to]...prayers...offered by those who are thoroughly convicted of their sin and shame, but, at the same time, are convinced of God’s grace that goes out to undeserving sinners. 

It's when we're broken by the reality of our sin and the depths of our need for God in desperate circumstances--even in the smallest of circumstances, that we learn to truly pray and in dependence on the charity (the grace) and love of God.

King David, confronted for his sins of adultery and murder, confessed his sins. Psalm 51 expresses David's contrition, his abject helplessness, and his total confidence in the grace of God. In verse 17, he says:

My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise.

Verses like that and, most certainly, the death and resurrection of God in the flesh, Jesus, should give us confidence that, in a memorable phrase from an old Curtis Mayfield song, there's no such thing as a "hopeless sinner."

God will not tolerate sin in His presence. We cannot enter eternity covered and filled with them. But we can be made clean by the God Who died for our sins on a cross and rose from death to open the way to reconciliation and peace with God. You may feel "less than the least," but through Christ, you can turn to God in repentance and have your life made new. That's good news!

Does God Care?

Here. The items in the grey box at the bottom of the page are better than the article itself. Check it out.

Keep Your Hands Off

One of my favorite passages of Scripture is Psalm 46:10:

God says, “Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.” (Psalm 46:10)

Joe Stowell writes about it, in part:

When I read Psalm 46:10, I find it interesting that God says, “Be still, and know that I am God.” The Hebrew word for “still” means to “cease striving,” or, literally, “to put our hands at our side.” At first glance this seems to be a rather risky piece of advice, since our first instinct in trouble is to keep our hands on the situation and control it to our advantage. God in essence is saying, “Hands off! Let Me deal with your problem, and rest assured that the outcome is in My hands.”

But knowing when to take our hands off and let God work can make us feel vulnerable. Unless, that is, we believe that God is indeed “our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble” (v.1) and that “the Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge” (v.7). In the midst of trouble, we can rest in God’s care.

I'm one who finds it hard to let go. It's important for me to remember to put things in God's hands.

What Heaven Celebrates

Here.

God is There for Us Everywhere

Here.

Are we willing to soil our reputations in order to help those whose reputations are bad?

That's the provocative question raised by this piece.

Reluctant Witnesses

Today's installment of Our Daily Bread is based on Jonah 1:1-2:2. It's good and I recommend reading and thinking and praying it over.

Jonah, whose story is told in the Old Testament, is the means by which God conveys lots of truths. Jonah didn't want to go to Nineveh (situated in what is these days, Iraq) to be God's witness.

He hated the people in that city and, as he tells God later in the short book that bears his name, he was afraid that if he told the Ninevites that God was angry with them, they would repent, God would forgive them, and they would walk with God.

Jonah didn't want that. He was, to say the least, a reluctant witness.

Jonah was a bigoted believer. That shouldn't shock us. All believers are recovering sinners, helpless beggars wanting to be free of their sin, who find it difficult to daily subject their sins to the crucifixions God uses to build our characters and prepare us for eternity. One of Jonah's prominent sins, clearly, was bigotry.

But it isn't just bigoted believers who show reluctance to be witnesses for the God ultimately revealed to all the world in Jesus Christ. Other sins can cause this reluctance.

One may be a fear of others and their reactions to our witness that's greater than our fear--our holy awe and respect--of God. This can leave believers cowering in the shadows, unwilling to share words of life, love, and counsel from God that may help the people they're with to have a close relationship with God. Fear has the been the greatest source of reluctance on my part and I have to pray all the time that God will help me to "be prepared at all times to give an account for the hope that is in" me and that I'll do so with boldness and humility.

When we fear others more than we fear God, we violate the first commandment: "You shall have no other gods before Me." We allow others to have more power over our lives than we give to God. They become our gods.

Another source for reluctance may be personal insecurity. We may think that we're not good enough or knowledgeable enough. But Jesus once made a blanket statement about all believers, no matter their age, their knowledge, or how long they've been believers: "You will be My witnesses" (Acts 1:8). (This is said of believers who receive the power of God's Spirit in their lives, which is exactly what happens in Holy Baptism. See John 3:5-8.)

God will never make witnesses accountable for how little they know, only for whether they trust Him enough to share what they do know of Him and His grace and love in their lives.

In John 4, we're told about a woman, a notorious sinner, who is so moved by her encounter with Jesus and His grace for her despite her sins that she runs into the village that had long ostracized her to tell them about Jesus. She told people just what she knew about Jesus: “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did," she told everyone she could find. "Could this be the Messiah?” (John 4:1-42)

That's it. On the strength of the witness of this seemingly disqualified, questionable person, the entire village came to learn about Jesus for themselves. And they came to faith in Him.

You may deem your faith in Christ and your knowledge about God negligible. But no matter how small your faith and your knowledge base, God can use you and your understanding of Him to help others experience repentance and forgiveness and new and everlasting life in Jesus' Name.

Another name for reluctance born of personal insecurity is sin. That's because it evidences a secret belief that God isn't bigger than your ignorance or that you are the only person in the world that God can't use. (I know what I'm talking about. Personal insecurity has been a source of my failure to be a witness sometimes. And I repent for it almost daily.)

Having said all of that, there's one more point to be made on this subject: Reluctant witnesses may be the most authentic and effective witnesses that God has.

Another person like Jonah, for example, who hated the Ninevites, might have relished doing what God wanted Jonah to do in Nineveh. He was to announce that God was about to destroy the city and the people for their sinfulness. A hater might really want to speak a word like that to some people, lording things over people, acting arrogantly, enjoying the prospect of God condemning people. 

A person with no fear of God might also want to be a "witness" in a bid to steal the authority and respect owed to God alone for themselves. Many cult leaders and pastors and laypeople have done just that.

And a person with big insecurities might want to be a "witness" for God to make themselves feel more important.

There may be lots of reasons for believers being reluctant to give witness for the God they know in Christ. But often it's the reluctant witnesses who tell the truest stories and touch the most hearts.

If you're a reluctant witness, ask God to help you give your witness for Christ in your own way, at the places and times He creates for you. You don't have to be someone you're not, just the child of God you are when you trust in Christ.

Who Are Big Impact People?

Philip Yancey nails it again!

The problem with most Christian "evangelism" is that it tends to look for people who we think can help us in the mission of the Church. We look for the "qualified" or the "able."

Those aren't the people to whom Jesus reached. He reached those about whom no one would observe, "She/he has so much to offer."

Instead, Jesus offered these outcasts, marginals, and notorious sinners new lives through repentance and belief in Him.

He made of them the only kind of people who ever give God or humanity anything of lasting value: People of humble spirit who know that they're nothing without Christ, but who also know that--in good times and bad, surfeit and surplus, they can do all things through Christ Who strengthens them.

What to Say, When to Say It, When to Shut Up

My French instructor at Ohio State once told me, diplomatically, that I was "loquacious." That was his kind way of saying that I needed to shut up and listen during class. I always appreciated the graciousness with which he phrased his criticism.

"Running off the head," as my friends in northwest Ohio style it, has long been one of my deficiencies, though I hope through the years, that I've learned to listen more. This ability--the ability to speak less and listen more, to speak the right word at the right time and nothing more or less--is an especially important attribute for a pastor. After all, we are allowed to "hold forth" for twenty minutes every week when we preach and to do so also for long stretches if we teach classes, as I do. It's only fair to give others more than equal time when we encounter them in hospitals, nursing homes, the grocery store, church hallways, at sporting events, during shared meals, or at the park during other times of the week.

Listening and knowing when to speak the right words are skills some people possess by inclination or patient application or both. I envy them. More than a few of my friends are "naturals" in these ways.

For others of us, those two abilities, if they ever come to us at all, are gifts of the Holy Spirit, acquired by experience, prayer, repentance, and renewal.

I'm not inclined to be silent and when I was younger, I sometimes set off bombardments of words when I was nervous, scared, or ignorant of what to say. It was as though I was trying to build a fortress of words that wouldn't allow the things I feared to touch me. Or, I confess, I wanted to show others how knowledgeable and informed I was.

Not a good strategy for either end.

And not particularly conducive to building relationships or to helping people who could use a listening ear more than they need word bombs. This is why I often pray, "Lord, give me the right words and the right silences."

I still can get in God's way, saying things I shouldn't, neglecting to say words that might be helpful, or forgetting to simply listen. But now, I usually know it when I do so. (More often than I like, this knowledge comes after the fact. But at least now I do see it.) The connection between my brain and my mouth is getting a bit stronger, though not as strong as I want it to be.

In today's installment of Our Daily Bread, based on Solomon's book of Proverbs, there are thoughts on saying the right things at the right times by being attentive to the promptings of God's Spirit. It's worth reading.

I especially like this part:

The Bible says that there is an appropriate time to speak (Eccl. 3:7). Solomon compared properly timed and well-spoken words with golden apples in a silver setting—beautiful, valuable, and carefully crafted (Prov. 25:11-12). Knowing the right time to speak is beneficial for both the speaker and hearer, whether they are words of love, encouragement, or rebuke. Keeping silent also has its place and time. When tempted to deride, belittle, or slander a neighbor, Solomon said that it is wise to hold our tongue, recognizing the appropriate time for silence (11:12-13). When talkativeness or anger tempts us to sin against God or another human being, resistance comes by being slow to speak (10:19; James 1:19).

That passage from James is particularly important for me to remember, I think:

My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry...

Lord, have mercy. 


 

Patience in Prayer

Although the little story at the beginning of today's installment of Our Daily Bread seems trite and unnecessary, the point is a good one.

Our prayers often revolve around asking God to hurry up and bless what we want to do. What if God’s answer to us is simply, “Be patient. Wait upon Me”? We can pray with David: “Listen to my voice in the morning, Lord. Each morning I bring my requests to you and wait expectantly” (Psalm 5:3).

Patience in prayer is difficult. (Really, patience in anything is difficult, isn't it?) And no matter how many times I have seen God work in me and in circumstances for which I've prayed for long periods of time, I still find patience in prayer difficult. God seems to need to teach me the same lessons repeatedly, including this one about waiting for Him and His timing and His will. Thankfully, He's more patient than I am!

By the way, I'm often asked by people, "What if I'm not certain that what I'm asking for in prayer is pleasing to God?" And, "When should I stop praying for something?" (In other words, "When should I accept that God has told me no and move on?")

In his book on prayer, Ole Hallesby gives great advice on the first question. If we're uncertain about the advisability of the thing for which we're praying, we should own our uncertainty and just tell God, in our own words and from the heart, "Grant this request only if it will bring You glory." God isn't a Ouija board we manipulate to get to where we want to go. He's not an ATM. To pray to the God we know in Jesus Christ is to submit to His will. But there is nothing wrong with asking...ever.

When I pray in this way, I also ask God to demonstrate so clearly that, if He is saying no to my request, even I can understand that I need to stop bringing that prayer to Him.

Until I have that clear sense, I don't stop praying. In Luke 18:1-8, Jesus tells a parable, the purpose of which was, Luke says, to tell His followers, "...that they should always pray and not give up." 

When I pair this persistence in prayer with a persistent desire that God only answer the prayer positively if it will bring Him glory, I feel that I have God's permission to keep on praying.

And I do. 

Read the whole thing.

[Also: Check out Ole Hallesby's Prayer. ]

Gratefully taking a place in the ranks of a forgiven murderer and adulterer...

...a coward, a persecutor of Christians, and a slave trader. Thank God that by His grace through faith in Christ, I'm in special company. You can be too.

Speak Less. Listen More.

Here.

I particularly like the point that in the Old Testament, when friends visited an aggrieved man, Job, they did a wise thing. They just listened to him.

What the piece doesn't mention is that after seven days, they made a mistake. They started talking, offering explanations as to why Job had so much pain in his life. Most of what we palm off on others as wisdom is baloney and, sometimes, hurtful.

Listening is almost always more helpful than speaking. (God, help me to remember that!)